#when a typo turns you into a gang of pirates

[cursedvida]

SAD EYES, BROKEN SMILE p.II (Buggy x f!Reader)

HERE PART 1 // HERE PART III

Warnings: violence, swearing a lot, reader being a little tsunedere. Little age gap between the reader and Buggy, she's like 25/26.

A/N: i didn't plane this for having more than one chapter but here we go... Again sorry for the typos, English isn't my first language. I hope you enjoy this :D

You don't know much about seduction. In fact, you don't know anything. Throughout your life you've had very little interest in love affairs. You had a pretty rough teenage years, so you were too busy surviving to think about boys. Therefore, the whole thing with Buggy is something totally new to you. Not being in control of the situation gets on your nerves. It's irritating, nauseating. To think that right now you could have collected a nice reward and you could be quietly enjoying your money, but instead you're in that crew thinking about a clown all day is something your pride can't take. You often wonder how you could have stooped so low, but as soon as that red-nosed idiot pops into your head there is only room for daydreaming. 

Now your goal is no longer to kidnap him and hand him over to people who will probably kill him, but to try to make him notice you. But really you, as a possible love interest, and that's much harder than your first mission. It's like ten billion times more complicated. Killing people is a lot easier than attracting them. 

You were trained to kill people, so you're not a person who knows very well how to relate to others. Social skills aren't your strong suit and being nice for more than fifteen minutes isn't either. You've at least tried to be friendly with the rest of the crew, but by continuing to pretend you're a wimp you haven't had much chance to blend in either. 

Today the whole crew went to the nearest tavern for a drink. Buggy claims to have landed a deal that will bring in a lot of money, so he's in a good mood. At first the tavern keeper didn't seem too happy to welcome a gang of pirates to his place, but Buggy can be quite persuasive when he wants to be. 

Now they're all drunk. Buggy is the center of attention, as usual. He boasts of his great wit and everyone around him cheers him on. The alcohol causes all emotions to intensify. You watch him from the bar, this time you're drinking because it's the only way you don't feel ridiculous about being hopelessly attracted to that idiot. 

You have conflicting feelings all the time. You like him, but you think he's a dumbass. You're attracted to him, but at the same time you think he does terribly ridiculous things. You have no idea how to handle all those emotions, but you're also unable to take your eyes off him or ask yourself absurd questions, like how experienced he should be, or how he should look without makeup. You also often think about whether he'll like younger girls, because he's got more than a decade on you and you might not be his type. In fact, what his type is also comes to your mind all too often. 

Fuck, you're a mess. 

You order another mug of beer, turning away from staring at Buggy with an intensity that could break solid concrete. You've always had a good tolerance for alcohol so you're not drunk, just dizzy enough to make it all the same to you. The perfect state. 

"What's a girl like you doing surrounded by this bunch of weirdos?"

Suddenly you see a guy next to you, he doesn't belong to the crew. He's a big man, looking menacing. He must be one of the few people who have decided to stay in the bar despite the pirates. You decide to deliberately ignore him. 

"Hey gorgeous, I'm talking to you.”

You take another swig of beer, completely evading. You decide to turn around again, now Buggy is doing some sort of demonstration. He has detached his hand from the rest of his arm and swings his clenched fist at full speed. You don't know what he's talking about, but he sure has exaggerated the whole thing. You smile to yourself. 

"Who the fuck is that fucking clown?" asks the heavy one, still standing next to you. 

You don't even deign to look at him. 

"Shut the fuck up" You tell him in the coldest voice you can. 

"Don't tell me you're going with him and his whole gang of freaks" The guy lets out a huge laugh "Honey, a beauty like you is wasted among all those creeps."

"And the oxygen you use is also a waste considering it could be useful to someone who isn't useless to society."

"But what the fuck is wrong with you, does it bother you that much that I pick on that loser?"

"I told you before to shut the fuck up" You repeat calmly and without raising your voice. 

"Uh, you scare me" he laughs "almost as much as your big nosed captain". 

"All right, you asked for it”

The guy can't even react, as soon as he wants to realize you've already stuck an ashtray in his mouth, wedging it in such a way that he can barely breathe. And, before the others can even realize what's happening, you grab one of the stools and hit him so hard in the stomach that the guy goes flying towards the other end of the bar, hitting the wall with such force that the ashtray comes out of his mouth. 

You calmly return to your seat, taking another sip of beer as if nothing had happened. But it's at that moment that you come back to reality to realize that Buggy is no longer the center of attention, but you, and that everyone is staring at you in disbelief, including your captain. 

Fucking shit, for fuck's sake. 

Now you've really fucked up. You're supposed to be a rookie with barely any physical skills, not a killing machine. Let's see how you get out of this now, though at least Buggy is paying attention to you. God, you have to be a moron to think something like that at a time like that, you're totally losing your mind. 

"What the hell was that?" Buggy ask to you.

You just answer simply, as if everything that just happened was not with you.

"He was bothering me"

Buggy approaches you, something that makes you nervous. Not because he might be angry, but to have him around. You almost killed a guy just two minutes ago but having the man you're obsessed with looking at you makes your legs tremble.

“You broke all his teeth, Y/N.”

You look at the man across the bar. It's true, you've left his mouth in a mess, all his clothes are stained by the blood that falls on him. But hey, he asked for it, you warned him.

"Why hadn't you said you knew how to fight like that?" He insists, and you don't know if right now he's thinking of killing you, kicking you out of the crew, or both. 

You can't tell him that you were hired to hunt him down and that you've abandoned that task because you have a huge crush on him. Especially the crush part, you would never admit that, so you must think of a good excuse as soon as possible. 

"My parents trained me" and that's not a lie "but they always said to only use my skills if necessary" that's a lie, and a big one at that. 

Buggy looks you up and down, which makes your stomach tingle. You are so close to him that you can almost feel his breath on your skin. So close that it would be very easy to get a couple of centimeters closer and see what red lips taste like. You wonder what his skin must feel like against yours, or how your hands must feel tangled in his hair. You look like the narrator of a romance novel, it's pitiful but you can't help it. 

"You've been swabbing the deck since you came in, how did it not occur to you to say you could be of more use to us?”

"I'm sorry, captain."

Buggy lets out a sigh, there is something paternalistic in his attitude, that condescension that is so typical of him. That makes you relax, he believed everything. Probably because he's drunk, but you don't care about that now.

Buggy puts his hands on your shoulders, making you jump. It's the most contact you've had since you've known him and it's not even real contact because he's wearing the fucking gloves.

"Y/N, look at me" And you obey, although the fact of having him so close to you, being able to smell his alcohol breath mixed with that smell of gunpowder that characterizes him makes you a little dazed. You feel more and more like kissing him. "You can't keep such important information to yourself. But don't worry, I'm going to look for a better position for you. With how good you are at fighting, we're going to do great things together, huh."

You nod without further ado. It's a shitty proposition, he's just telling you that he'll use you as a weapon, like he uses the strongest members of his crew. But you don't care, because Buggy is touching you and because from now on you will be able to talk to him a lot more.

Maybe you should go talk to that guy from earlier and thank him.

Oh, god. Yeah, you're definitely going from bad to worse.

[rackofsass]

"Hit me, you can't hurt me Suck me kiss Got a touch o' scurvy? Citrus, bitch. Walk the plank ya limey Arrrrrrrr, give to me sweet sacred bliss Your mouth was made to suck me kiss." Red Hot Chili Pirates, Suck Me Kiss.

[goldenkamuyhunting]

Ramblings and crazy theory time about GK chap 263 “Oosawa Fusatarou, also known as Boutarou the Pirate”

And so we’re ready to talk of the chapter we got as a (rather sad) present for Christmas and of someone we shouldn’t forget…

Yeah, Oosawa Fusatarou, better known as Boutarou the Pirate

(for who’s wondering the quote below his name is actually based on this quote: "Stories are for joining the past to the future. Stories are for those late hours in the night when you can't remember how you got from where you were to where you are. Stories are for eternity, when memory is erased, when there is nothing to remember except the story." by Tim O’Brien)

So okay, now let’s dig into the chapter.

We first follow some of the escaping knights, the ones who were tailed by Hijikata. Hijikata shoot them but he’s displeased to discover he chased the wrong group as the sack they were carrying is filled with barley and that he didn’t manage to kill them at the first shoot as they stand up again and try to gang up on him. At this Hijikata takes his sword...

...and since Hijikata is not bad with the rifle but he’s usually much more awesome with his sword I don’t expect them to last long.

We then move to Tsurumi’s steam pumper where Sugimoto has his rifle in his hands... and he’s ready to use it as a primitive club... because he has figured not even that up close he would manage to shoot something. Okay so he is also holding himself up with his other hand so shooting would be difficult but really, I see Sugimoto using his rifle as a club way too many time to think this is an one time thing motivated by emergency.

Sugimoto favours to use it as a wand, if this can’t be done, he revert to using it as a rifle.

Anyway with hit he tries to break Kikuta’s head but Kikuta manages to lower himself right in this so Sugimoto gets close but manages to make no harm... well, apart from managing to knock from Kikuta’s hand one of his PRECIOUS Nagant.

This is a hard blow for Kikuta, more than if Sugimoto has managed to hit him, because everyone has his priorities.

Tsurumi too has his priorities and tries to shoot at them.

I doubt he genuinely bothered aiming as Tsurumi is usually much better with his gun (though yes, they’re on a moving vehicle, but really Tsurumi is good and they’re close). I’m sure he thinks hitting Sugimoto would be preferable but he wouldn’t be above getting rid of Kikuta whom he never fully trust... so Kikuta complains that what Tsurumi is doing is dangerous. I doubt Tsurumi cares.

But we go back to Boutarou and Shiraishi. The bottle car enjines are still roaring but the car is still. Boutarou is still alive but no more in shape to drive.

Shiraishi, sweating a little, is asking him ‘what the hell came over him’ as saving Shiraishi wasn’t Boutarou’s normal behaviour in Shiraishi’s books.

Boutarou, who’s clearly dying, tell him that he has messed up and therefore, since he saved him, Shiraishi will do better not to forget him and tell his children the reason they exist is ‘thanks to Oosawa Fusatarou, also known as Boutarou the pirate’. Shiraishi agrees and Boutarou tells him he also has to make something of himself as he can’t live his life as nothing more than the escape king.

As he says so... Boutarou hands him the skins he got from Kadokura.

Shiraishi says he understands...

...and Boutarou pulls him closer to reveal him the info he got from the Ainu about where is the place where the Ainu first gathered up all the gold. This surprises Shiraishi greatly but when he asks Boutarou for confirmation the latter is dead.

The next we see is Shiraishi driving the bottlecar, a dead Boutarou on his side, as he promises him he won’t forget him... OosaKA Fusatarou, also known as Boutarou the pirate (Boutarou’s surname is actually ‘Oosawa’).

Okay so I stop here to say Boutarou’s whole death felt very underwhelming. Shiraishi, who up to the previous chapters seemed concerned and worried for him even though Boutarou had betrayed them, now doesn’t really look like he’s feeling much, even though Boutarou has just saved him from death taking the bullets that were meant for him.

Sure, it can be that Shiraishi is a bit in shock, hence the lack of expression but really, I’m not particularly impressed. The only moments in which Shiraishi seems genuinely affected are when he’s surprised at hearing the location of the gold and when he says to a dead Boutarou that he won’t forget him. Though since it seems Noda wasn’t in his best shape when he drew this chapter, maybe this scene will be revised later on. Shiraishi seemed a lot more emotionally involved when Kiro died than now... and it doesn’t help that Shiraishi, at the end of the scene, spells Boutarou’s name with the wrong kanji. If it’s a joke to say that Boutarou’s name couldn’t even be remembered correctly, well, that’s not funny, placed at this point. If it’s a typo though, this is also something we can only find out in the volume version.

Overall, okay, I was expecting for Boutarou to die, and it was great how Boutarou, in his last moments, passed everything to Shiraishi while pretending to remain himself (oh, I made a mistake in saving you) yet still showing he cared for him by telling him to get a real life, something that was more than escaping from prison to prison, and something Boutarou has always insisted Shiraishi should search for himself so it’s not like he’s saying so just because he’s dying.

And I think that Boutarou’s death will affect Shiraishi’s future, the way Kiro’s death will affect Asirpa (will Sugimoto too have someone whose death will affect him? Kikuta? Hijikata? Ogata? We’ll see...) but really, I wanted to see Shiraishi reacting more to his dead, at least as much as he has reacted to seeing him wounded. Well, whatever, we’ll see if this gets improved in the volume version.

Meanwhile back to Sugimoto we go.

Tsurumi has given up on trying to shoot him and is merely driving the steam pumper carriage, while Sugimoto is pinning down Kikuta, taking care of not getting shoot by another of Kikuta’s beloved Nagants.

Sugimoto, with his irises white in full murder/beast more, demands to have Asirpa back and that he’ll send them all to hell. Now that Kikuta is lying flat on his back and Tsurumi couldn’t shoot him too by mistake, Tsurumi is taking good care not to try to shoot Sugimoto. I guess if Sugimoto kills Kikuta Tsurumi will consider it as a personal favour.

Anyway, at Sugimoto’s statement Kikuta says to do it as ‘they’ll be rolling out the red carpet for him’.

This rings a bell in Sugimoto, whose eyes return normal, and should ring a bell in us also as Sugimoto said this same sentence in chap 2.

With an almost vulnerable look Sugimoto seems to realize the man he’s strangling is ‘Kikuta-san’.

As he calls him that this rings a bell in Kikuta as well who realizes ‘the immortal Sugimoto’ is the one he knew as ‘Norabō’ (ノラ坊 “stray boy”)…

...which draws a funny parallel with how Ushiyama called Ogata ‘Nora Ogata’ (のら尾形 “stray Ogata”)…

...but this nick is more likely meant to be here to tell us the truth is Kikuta met Sugimoto prior to the war, when Sugimoto was wandering after he left his village, which might explain why Noda was very vague when answering to a question asking what Sugimoto did in those 2 years.

Q8: What did Sugimoto do in the 2 years between leaving the village after burning his house and coming back to Ume’s wedding? Noda: He travelled to places such as Tokyo and Kyoto. [translation courtesy of @piduai]

This might also explain why Sugimoto and Kikuta, despite knowing each other, didn’t recognize each other.

Sugimoto was younger, without his distinctive scars, with longer and more straight hair so Kikuta, who apparently never learnt his name, didn’t connect him with the boy he knew. As for Sugimoto evidently he didn’t pay Kikuta any attention when the latter was in Karafuto with Tsurumi and now he was so knee deep in the heat of the battle he likely paid no attention to Kikuta’s face, only seeing an obstacle in front of himself.

I’m genuinely curious to see how things will go between them, especially because, at this point, Tsurumi decides to try to shoot Sugimoto again (no idea if because he’d heard their talk and understood things could turn out unfavourably or because he decided the chance Sugimoto were to kill Kikuta wasn’t worth carrying Sugimoto with them, especially because, once he had dealt with Kikuta, Sugimoto would try to kill him), the shoot distracting an already confused Sugimoto and Kikuta, instead than taking advantage of this to try again to shoot him, just kicks him off the cart.

Sugimoto rolls on the ground with his rifle...

...again Kikuta making no attempt to shoot him and then resumes running after them, calling Asirpa.

At this point we see Asirpa’s face as she tries to call Sugimoto...

...but we can’t know if she’s with Tsurumi because the scene switches to Koito, Tsukishima and Nikaidou’s group and really, I would totally LOVE if Asirpa’s with them (so yes, I’m biased and therefore not reliable in trying to guess where Asirpa is) because, as they think they’re safe because no one is pursuing them, Koito’s horse gets shoot down by someone in front of them, causing Koito to fall.

Tsukishima thinks someone is following them when, in that moment, Sofia, MY QUEEN, jumps from the roof on Tsukishima’s horse.

So you see, of course I want Asirpa to be there and end up with Sofia as I’ve been anticipating their reunion for YEARS. On another side Koito and Tsukishima are in a really bad spot because not only Sofia is very strong and her men are probably with her (hence Koito’s horse could be shoot by someone ahead of him), but Sofia knows they had a hand in Kiro’s death and wants revenge, sweet revenge.

Now, I don’t want those two to die but it was high time the tiger curse were to come bite their backsides and Sofia is such a formidable foe even alone she could spank Koito, Tsukishima and Nikaidou with a single hand considering how she had no problems holding her ground with a tiger and with Gansoku.

On another side I really wanted Sofia to have a chat with Koito as there’s a huge chance Koito too talk French and I think it would be really good for our Bonbon if he could talk with a lady who used to be a bonbon herself but grew out of it to became such AWESOME revolutionary leader.

Really, I’m so happy Sofia is back to the plot I can barely wait for the next chapter!

Anyway the story ends here, with Sofia ready to spank the boys while Sugimoto runs after Tsurumi. I expect Shiraishi will reach Sugimoto with the bottlecar and they’ll resume the chase and that Hijikata might possibly join them. That or Hijikata will join Sofia.

Will the Hijikata group join their boss as well?

We’ll see.

I doubt someone will catch up with Tsurumi though, and it’s entirely possible the next chapter won’t even spend a word on this as we’ve left Ogata and Vasily in the middle of attempting a sniper duel so next chapter might be about them.

We’ll see.

[n7inky-fanfics]

One Day at a Time

The destruction of the Reapers did not mean galactic peace. While the treaties Shepard had brokered during the war remain mostly intact, there is no shortage of pirates, criminals, gangs, and terroristic organizations bent on creating chaos and destruction. The Council began directing their Spectres towards overseeing and protecting reconstruction efforts and maintaining peace. Now that scientists are close to unlocking the key to repairing the mass relays, the galaxy has settled into unease. No one knows if crime will get better or worse with the relays back online. All factions are getting agitated, and more fighting is breaking out.

Sometimes, Kaidan pities the poor soul on the wrong end of Shepard's gun. More than once, he has heard all sorts of people shout something along the lines of "Oh shit, it's Shepard!" as they realized they were about to die. Shepard is a skilled soldier who dominates the battlefield with equal parts strength and grace. Fighting alongside her can be almost beautiful in an odd and violent sort of way, especially when she used her biotics. It took her almost a year of practice fighting on her military grade prosthetic leg, but she has now found that grace on the battlefield again. In the end, her skills and her career could not be taken by the Reaper War. The galaxy kept its greatest protector.

Today, they are both back on Mars, of all places, fighting a remnant of Cerberus that is attempting to steal more data from the archives. If intel is correct, their goal is to find weapons they can use "for the betterment of humanity", which is their way of saying anti-alien terrorism. Kaidan does have to admit that some part of him enjoys taking down pieces of Cerberus. After all the horrible things he's seen them do, including all that they have put Shepard through, he's glad to eliminate every last cell in the galaxy. It's a worthy career goal.

As the smoke clears, Shepard begins checking the bodies for data pads, hoping to find anything to indicate how many of them are at the archives and what their exact plans are. After all, if this was just an outdoor lookout team, there's bound to be more already inside. She freezes as she reads one of the data pads. Kaidan can barely see her face through her helmet, but her reaction to the data pad can't be good. "Shepard, what is it?"

She clears her throat and says calmly "It's not pertinent to the mission. Let's move on." She drops the data pad and continues towards the entrance. Kaidan trusts Shepard, but curiosity gets the better of him and he glances down at the data pad as he passes by. It currently displays the owner's profile. He can see an image that he guesses matches the body they found it on and a name. "Andrew Mason".

As they enter the archive, they happily find a distinct lack of civilian and scientist casualties. This time, intel learned of the plan early and decided to evacuate the scientists and ship in more soldiers. Unfortunately, Cerberus still puts up a good fight and many of the Alliance soldiers were injured or killed before the Spectres arrived (travel between systems takes more time now that the relays are gone). Shepard hops on to the nearest terminal and accesses the system logs. "Ah, here it is. Someone opened an archive five minutes ago. We can take the tram there."

"Perfect. Maybe this time we'll make it through without getting shot at." Immediately after making the joke, Kaidan winces at the realization that bringing up their last mission on Mars might not be a good idea. Sure, they've worked everything out, but it still could be a touchy subject. He was pretty cruel to her last time, before he almost died in front of her.

"Doubtful." Shepard laughs lightly as they board the tram.

They ride quietly for a moment before Kaidan asks "So, will I get to know who Andrew Mason is?"

"Maybe later. Now's not the time."

"Fair." Kaidan says. He smiles at her, hoping she can see it through the helmet. His is much more open and visually blocks less of the face. Shepard's preferred gear usually allows less visibility, but it also has fewer structural weak points. He noticed a change in her treatment of her armor not too long after he got back on the Normandy, but he's never said anything. Without asking, he already knows why Shepard chooses armor with the most reinforced environment system, and why she carefully and almost obsessively maintains it. He would, too, in her shoes.

He refocuses himself on the task at hand as they begin approaching their destination. They've almost made it when a Cerberus soldier begins firing at the car. They both take cover behind the wall and the dance begins yet again. As the car docks, Shepard throws up a barrier and runs out, shooting at several men in a row as she charges to cover. Kaidan focuses on the heavy trooper slowly approaching from a distance and Reaves. Together, they feed off each other's energy. The can move in sync, watching each other's sixes and supporting each other throughout the entire battle. Before long, the docking zone falls silent as the battle ends.

They take turns clearing doors until they finally get to the archive. They take cover on either side of the door. He opens it carefully, and Shepard immediately swings around to cover him with her pistol. The immediate entryway is surprisingly empty. Shepard gestures for him to follow, then slowly and quietly moves inside the room until they reach a sharp turn. She takes cover against the wall and peers around the corner, gun at the ready. As soon as she does, she is thrown backwards by a large biotic force. Her gun fires before she even hits the wall. Kaidan swings around and unleashes a singularity that pulls the target into the air. Shepard fires again, making several headshots that eventually pierce the armor and hit their mark.

"Thanks for the cover, Alenko." She says, her smile coming through in the sound of her voice. She pats him on the back and pushes further into the room, where the target had been collecting data onto a drive. She plugs the data into her omnitool and runs it through analysis softwares. Liara would be able to tell them more, but it appears that intel was correct. They had been here for advanced weapons blueprints. Shepard begins forwarding the information back to the Normandy, then turns to head back to the LZ. Kaidan follows her.

Getting back to the Normandy and conferencing with Admiral Hackett is no big deal. After the verbal debriefing, they retire to her cabin to write their mission reports. Kaidan's ship, the SSV London (named for the Battle of London that ended the Reaper War), is still getting it's final touches before he'll be able to take it out on a shakedown run, so he rode along with Shepard for this mission and their last several. As they settle into the couch with their tea and data pads, he can't help but smile. This is a good life, one he hadn't expected to attain. Every day, sometimes several times a day, he still finds himself thankful that they had found Shepard after the Crucible. When the Alliance had formally declared her missing in action, with the caveat that she was most likely dead, Kaidan refused to lay down and wait for them to declare her death. He contacted Hackett with an emergency QEC on the Normandy and told him that until they found a body, Shepard was to be considered alive and in need of assistance. They all owed that to her. Seeing her here and now, living her life with him, is something he is grateful for every day.

As Kaidan is putting the final touches on his report, Shepard sets her data pad on the table and walks to her shower, stripping off articles of clothing as she goes. He fumbles over the keyboard, leaving a line of text that reads "ghdhshgdg" as he watches her go. Knowing that he's watching, she calls "finish your report first, and then you can join me." He deletes the line of typos, hurriedly wraps up the report, and follows her for an enjoyable interlude.

Their activities eventually end with them cuddling in her bed. She lay with her head resting gently on his chest, her hand absentmindedly rubbing circles on through his chest hair. He has one arm around her back and gently brushing strokes down her upper arm. He can feel her back subtly rise and fall with her breath. They lay this way for a while before he feels a slight dampness on his chest, where her head is. "Hazel, are you okay?" he asks, looking down at her. Her face is buried in him. She stifles a sob, and he feels the shift in her breathing as she forces herself to cry silently. He wraps his arms around her tighter. "Sweetheart, whatever it is, I've got you." Slowly, she pulls herself back and looks at him. He reaches up to her and gently wipes the tears from her cheeks. She pulls herself into a sitting position against the headboard, and he follows so that they are sitting side by side.

She leans her head on his shoulder and quietly says "You asked about Andrew Mason?"

"Yeah. Do you want to talk about it?"

"I knew him... from before the Alliance." she ends the sentence at barely a whisper. Her shoulders tense and she looks down at the floor. "He was one of the younger kids in the Reds before I left." He gently reaches for her hand and takes it in his as she continues. "I heard he'd gotten out, that he'd joined the Alliance some time after my death. I had hoped he'd do well and go far, but it didn't work that way. I checked his records when we got back to the ship. His team got ambushed by some pirates about seven months before the Reapers invaded. He was discharged honorably for medical reasons, for PTSD. I guess that's when Cerberus got to him."

"Hazel, I'm so sorry." he says.

"The hell of it is that I can see myself in that kid. In what he came from, in his escape. What if I somehow influenced his decision to leave like that? How many kids joined after hearing fantastical stories about my life, only to be swooped up by Cerberus when the Alliance didn't live up to their expectations or to die in battle before they got the chance to reconsider?"

"Hey, stop that. It's not your fault, Hazel."

"How many people died because of me? Will continue to die because of me? Because I failed?" Her voice cracks and she lets out a shuddering breath.

"Whoa, whoa, whoa. Backup. Failed at what?"

"I couldn't save them all. I can never save them all."

"Hazel, stop. Look at me." He gently places his hand under her chin and guides her to look at him. "You are not responsible for every person in the galaxy. You've spent far too much of your life fighting galactic wars practically on your own. Enough is enough. We stopped the Reapers. Now, we just do what we can to make things a little better. One day at a time, okay?"

She nods and he pulls her into a tight embrace. "One day at a time." She sniffles.

[backyardi-gan]

Updated Backyardigans fanfic rec list

You said “send me the link privately” and I went, “actually I’m an overachiever for now I’ve decided” so here’s an updated version of the list of fic recs that other anon dropped a while ago. Now with more fics and little descriptions for all of them. Lemme know what you think of these! Might update you later if I find any other good fics. Happy Reading! (Note: I’d put all this under read more but I don’t know how to do that when submitting from mobile. If you want this to not take up as much space on your blog, you can like, copy/paste all this under a read more or something. I dunno) Hopefully these links work Backyardigans MiniAdventures and Randomness by WildImaginationGirl21 A collection of oneshots. Creative scenarios, and you can tell WildImaginationGirl21 was really passionate about Backyardigans at the time. A few oneshots are Austin/Uniqua A Nightmare’s Dream by casslass A fluffy little hurt/comfort fic I guess. Pretty well written. Uniqua has a nightmare. Her friends are there for her. There’s some Austin/Uniqua at the end. Very cute. Robot Rescue by Ruki Ki A sequel fic to robot rampage written in script format. They’re trying to fix all the robots. Backyardigans To The Future by cardsharks87 Goofy but in a good way. Uniqua turns an old car into a time machine and she and Pablo accidentally travel to 2050, where everything’s screwed-up and weird. Script-like format again. The Backyardigans: The Mouse Problem by Katy-Kale The Backyardigans are all staying in a hotel together for some reason and there’s a mouse. Some Easter Eggs/ references to episodes of the show, and also other things, including repurposed songs. The ending’s pretty cute. It’s All About the Paint by Sir Mustapha Tyrone and Austin are running competing paint companies and are also at war? Uniqua is a reporter that gets roped into the whole thing. Actually really well written! For a Backyardigans fic, anyway. The Masked Retriever II by Katy-Kale A 7 chapter sequel to The Masked Retriever. Pablo reads about knights and then tries to be one. Also he ditches Don Austin. Contains Pablo/Uniqua. Also contains some pretty funny scenes. Katy-Kale once again outsources songs Morning Commute by ZombieCatTookMyPudding A short crossover with the Wonder Pets about cartoon logic. Not much else to say. Smugglers Cove by backyardgameboy Quite a few typos, but still pretty good. Austin’s parents take the gang on a vacation to a touristy town called Smugglers Cove, where, rumor has it, pirates used to bury their treasure. Obviously, the Backyardigans are going after that treasure. Pablo is portrayed as really dumb here for some reason?? Austin has a dream where he turns into Sonic the hedgehog?? Austin/Uniqua. Minor Tyrone/Tasha. Lots of references to various episodes. What Is Love by casslass Short, sweet, and shippy! Takes place within the world of Robot Rampage. Robot Roscoe/Robot Reba, Austin/Uniqua. Return Of The Bug Goddess by Musk-ox-Leia Structured like an episode of the show. Tasha erases Uniqua’s memory in order to win a competition of Gods. Uses songs from the show-sorta, the lyrics are completely different Solider Boys by Bat138 Script format. One of the first Backyardigans fanfics on Fanfiction.net. Features original “songs” (though I guess it’s just text so... poems? IDK) Tyrone and Pablo have to save Princess Tasha, who was kidnapped by Austin and Uniqua Backyardigans of Madagascar by cardsharks87 A crossover with the penguins of Madagascar. Sherman got left behind when the wormans were going to Wyoming and ended up in New York via wacky hijinx now the Penguins of Madagascar and the Backyardigans need to take him to Wyoming. A Light in the Sky-The Backyardigans by Cyberstorm4 A suspenseful, supernatural Backyardigans story that takes place during summer break. Ongoing, and undergoing rewrites. Last updated March 11 of this year. The writing is okay, but the dialogue in the first few chapters feels OOC. It’s tagged creepypasta, but I genuinely have no idea why. Lastly, there’s a surprising amount of Backyardigans fanfics on deviantart. Most of them are pretty OC-heavy, I’ve noticed. Luckily, a deviantart group has already compiled a lot of them

[fantastic-bby]

Business Is Business - Mafia AU

Chapter 1

Word count: 5k

Warnings: Mafia involvement, murder, suicide, self harm, violence

Chap.2 || Chap.3 || Chap.4 || Chap.5 ||

Their breaths came out as fogs as they walked through the streets of Seoul. His hands were full of bags as he tried to keep up with his sister, his whines never ceasing to how she was making him carry all the bags. 

“Hyun Jae, why can’t you carry any of the bags?” He whined out. Hyun Jae turned around to him, walking backwards, and lifted the tiniest of the bags that was in her hand as well as her clutch in her other,

“My hands are full, Hongjoong. Sorry.” She snickered at him before turning back around. He let out a groan, the sound of the bags dropping to the floor making her stop her footsteps and turn around to face him. 

“Why did we buy so much shit again? It’s not like we’re going to stay in that apartment often anyway.” He grumbled as he looked at the amount of bags that were sitting on the pavement. 

“Most of it is either food or your stuff.” She shrugged, finally helping him to carry some of the bags, “Four of these bags are from the music store and only one of them is mine.” Hongjoong stretched his back, 

“God, I feel like an old man.” He let out another groan, a small crack coming from his back before peeking into the bags, “The heavier bags are the ones filled with things you bought from Typo and Miniso.” He said to her matter-of-factly. Hyun Jae stuck her tongue out at him, putting down one of the bags and picking up one of the lighter ones, 

“I was about to carry a heavy bag but now you carry all the heavy bags.” She turned on the heel of her boot and started walking. He quickly picked up the bags and jogged to keep up with her. 

“Yah! Kim Hyun Jae!” He called out with a sigh as he chased after her. 

“We’re almost at the train station so you’ll be able to rest.” She said as she pulled one of the bags from his hands, the softer side she had for her brother starting to show as they approached the entrance to the train station. 

They made their way down and into the station, stepping into the train. They were lucky there were two empty seats right as they stepped in and Hongjoong quickly sat down and dumped the bags on the floor with a sigh. Hyun Jae took a seat beside him and watched as he stretched. 

“My entire body is going to ache so bad tomorrow. Why did we go shopping a day before dance practice?” He groaned, finally relaxing in the plastic seat of the train. “I’m just glad we’re going home.” He leaned his head back against the glass as Hyun Jae pulled her phone out of her poofy winter jacket, her eyes widening and her lips parted slightly. 

“Joong,” She held her phone up in front of his face, his eyes widening at the sudden action. His wide eyes squinted as he read the message, 

“No way.” He reached into the pocket of his jacket to pull out of his own phone. He let out a laugh, quickly stifling it when he received strange looks from the other passengers. “I can’t believe he actually got caught.” He lowered his voice and continued to read the news article sent by his members, “I actually thought he would get away with it.” 

“Yeah, you did.” She snorted as she held her hand out in front of him. He rolled his eyes as he reached into his pocket and pulled out a 10 thousand won note, slapping it in her hand. “Min Yu may be smart but he’s not thorough enough at hiding evidence and I had to clean it up for him once.”

“I know, I was hoping I could just win some money.” He sighed, “What did they find?” He asked as he pulled his earphones out of his pocket. 

“According to Jongho he left his beanie at the murder site. What a genius.” She rolled her eyes before locking her phone and putting it in her pocket. He plugged one of his earphones into his ears and held up the other. “New song?” She asked when she saw the earphone. She plugged it into her ear, “Tell me again how you’re going to debut as a Kpop idol and have time for the business?” She asked as he scrolled through the audio files on his phone. 

“The other guys can handle on their own if we’re busy. They can always call me if they need me.” He shrugged, pressing play on one of the songs. “We finally finished it. It’s called “Treasure.” The song was amazing, leaving Hyun Jae speechless and in awe as she listened to the song. 

Both of them had a musical passion but Hongjoong was the only one actively pursuing it by becoming a trainee at KQ Entertainment. Hyun Jae on the other hand, was more interested in psychology. She spent her time studying the human mind, emotions and body language. Her ability to read a person by just talking to them for a moment was a key benefit for their ‘side job’.

“This sounds amazing.” She said as she pulled out the earphone, “Is this the song you’re debuting with?” She asked him, her eyes sparkling with admiration for her brother. 

“Treasure and Pirate King are the title tracks for the first EP.” He nodded. He had already played Pirate King for his sister a few days back and told her he was only going to play her the rest of the EP after they officially release it. 

“I can’t wait for the release. I’m so proud of you, Joong.” She smiled at him, “I’m sure if mum and dad were still here they’d be proud too. You know how much they wanted you to become an idol.” She bumped his shoulder with hers.

“Thanks, Jae.” He smiled back, his eyes trailing to the floor of the train, “If they were still here they’d probably laugh at Min Yu too.” He snorted. They shared a look, taking a moment to silently mourn their late parents. 

“If they were still alive they would whip us so bad for the way we handle the business.” Hyun Jae spoke up with a chuckle. 

“Oh yeah, definitely.” Hongjoong laughed. “Dad would be so upset that we don’t spend all of our time at the office.” He looked at Hyun Jae, “Mum would be so pissed that I dragged you into it.” 

“I couldn’t leave you to do this alone. We haven’t been separated since we were born, what makes them think we’d part ways if one of us had to join the mafia.” She laughed, shaking her head slightly. 

“Are we ever going to part ways?” He asked after a moment. The question was sudden and it made his sister look up at him in slight shock. She didn’t know how to answer him. They were bound to part ways and the thought of it saddened both of them as they were hoping it wouldn’t happen too soon. “I meant before one of us ends up getting married. We’re not going to separate before that, right?” He looked up at her, the glint of anxiety in eyes making her understand that he was as scared as she was about losing one another. 

“I won’t leave you, Hongjoong. I promise.” She raised her pinky finger out in front of him and he smiled slightly, raising his own to lock their pinkies together. 

“Twins forever, right?”

“Of course.” She nodded. Once the train reached their stop, Hongjoong was more than ready to just get home and lay down to soothe his already aching body. They were lucky that the stop was literally right outside their apartment building which meant less walking for both of them. They made their way up the building and stepped into the apartment, the sound of bags almost violently rustling as Hongjoong struggled to make his way into the apartment. Hyun Jae was following behind him, locking the door and laughing at his effort.

“It’s not funny! I might fall and die!” He whined out when he heard her laughter. 

“Okay! Okay, sorry!” She laughed as she helped him with the bags. They dumped the bags on the carpeted floor of their living room, Hongjoong letting out a sigh at the relief of letting go of the weight on his arms. 

“Please tell me we don’t have to do another shopping spree too soon.” He groaned out as he massaged his arms. 

“I think we’re pretty set for now. We have all the food we need for what looks like the next month.” Hyun Jae answered as she looked through the bags. She went and started to restock their kitchen, letting her brother use the shower first. She carried her bags into her bedroom, looking through everything she had bought. She pulled out a vintage polaroid camera from one of the bags and placed it on her shelf among other vintage items. 

She took a step back and admired the shelf, her collection was slowly growing as the years were passing and she felt a sense of pride fill her heart. The sound of the bathroom door opening and closing made her grab her robe, heading out of her room only to be faced with Hongjoong in the living room, full moon on display and towel on the floor.

“JOONG!” She screamed as she covered her eyes, “What did I say about being naked?!” She scolded him.

“Sorry!” He quickly picked his towel back up off of the floor, “My towel dropped on the way back to my room!” She only opened her eyes when she heard his bedroom door shut. 

“Next time your towel drops just run into your room!” She yelled out, receiving a muffled ‘sorry’ from his bedroom. Being roommates with her identical twin brother meant she had to set ground rules so that he wouldn’t do dumb things out of his bedroom. 

Hyun Jae was slightly more mature than Hongjoong was when it came to family and whenever they were at home but Hongjoong was, in general, more mature than his sister was; especially when it came to business. Hongjoong was the leader of their mob. After their father had passed away a few years before, their mother had to take charge. But with a scuffle with a rival gang, Hongjoong was forced to take charge along with Hyun Jae. 

The original plan was that he would be a mob boss on his own, but knowing his tendency to trust people more easily that he should, his sister took to his side. She didn’t doubt his ability as a leader for once second but she was worried he would overstep certain details when running the mob. He wasn’t as thorough as she was. She was a perfectionist - not meticulously - and she was way more observant than he was, meaning she would be able to pinpoint a person’s behaviour before he could and was able to judge whether they could trust them or not. 

Their bond was strong. Most of the men that worked under them felt as if them working together was better than if only one of them was on their own. They had that connection only twins would have, being able to understand each other’s feelings and thoughts on a level that seemed as though their minds were one. It was almost telepathic and it seemed to scare new people. No one had been able to get between them. Attempts made by rival mobs to try and turn them on each other failed miserably and soon most mobs and gangs already knew better than to try and make tear them apart. 

Hyun Jae took a quick shower, stepping out of the bathroom in her robe. Hongjoong was stood in the kitchen with his phone pressed to his ear, 

“It’s not that fucking hard!” He yelled into the phone. Hyun Jae stood at the counter, drying her hair with a towel as she listened to the conversation once she realised he was using his work phone. “Do we have to clean his mess every time? Exactly. Tie him up, Hyun Jae and I will be there soon.” He sighed as he ended the call, squeezing the bridge of his nose with his fingers. 

“The rookie again?” Hyun Jae asked and Hongjoong nodded. 

“God, he’s actually incompetent.” He angrily put his phone on the counter, standing with his hands on his hips for a moment, “We have to go down there. We gotta get rid of him.” He sighed once again. 

“You messed up too many times, kid.” Hyun Jae said, her arms crossed over her chest as she glared at the rookie. His hands were bound behind his back and he was sitting on a chair, fear etched on his face.

“I-I’m sorry. P-Please d-d-don’t k-kill me.” He whimpered out. 

“There’s nothing else we can do. We can’t just let you off the hook that easily. You know too much already.” She looked him dead in the eye, “I already gave you a warning before this mission. It’s not that easy to fuck up that job especially with Yunho’s guidance. All you needed to do was get information and get out. How the fuck did you fuck that up?!” She exploded. He winced at the sudden change in tone of her voice. “Now the government could be on our tail and it’s your fault. Too many fuck ups and too big of one. You’re out.” She moved away from him. 

“Sorry, kid. We just can’t let you run free.” Hongjoong shrugged as he turned to one of his men, “Don’t let his body be found.” He ordered him. 

“No! Wait” The rookie cried out as two men started to pick him up. “Please! I won’t tell anyone!” He continued to cry as they dragged him out of the room. Hyun Jae massaged her temples with her fingers, 

“I told you he would fuck up. He’s a kid.” She groaned, her eyes shut as she heard Hongjoong let out a sigh from beside her, 

“I was hoping we could save him. Who else did he have?” 

“Hyung,” The voice of one of their younger members made them look up. Jongho had peeked his head into the room.

“What is it?” Hongjoong asked. 

“Yunho hyung and Yeosang hyung cleaned up the trail. It should be okay now.” He said, gesturing for them to leave the room and to follow him. The twins followed him out and into the computer room, one of the walls lined with a small row of computer monitors. They were met with the other members of the group Hongjoong was going to debut with; their most trusted members of the mob. 

“Sorry about that, Hongjoong hyung and Hyun Jae noona.” Yunho sat up from one of the desks, his face full of regret. “I shouldn’t have let him do it but I wanted him to learn. Yeosang managed to wipe our digital trail and attach it to another device offshore.” He explained. 

“I don’t blame you. I shouldn’t have let him into this in the first place.” Hongjoong sighed, giving Yunho a light pat on the back. They all nodded, lowering their heads slightly.  All eight of the members had their strengths, making their mob stronger in multiple different methods. 

Right under Hongjoong and Hyun Jae was Seonghwa, the oldest among all of them. He was the most mature out of all of them; slightly more mature as Hongjoong was. He came from a background that wasn’t exactly too wealthy but he was worth more than anyone else in the mob. He was good at theft - more specifically grand theft - and was able to steal loads of money and valuable items without being caught. He didn’t need anyone to clear his footprints, he was able to leave clean and fund the mob without much hassle. 

Yunho was in charge of stealing information physically and often worked with Yeosang. He knew how the inside of the Korean government worked and was able to provide information on how to work around their system. His ability to sneak into buildings had found them the plans for advanced weaponry, the most hunted mobs, and ways to evade the government. His ability had managed to save the mob from being slaughtered after he had found out when and where the government were going to look next. 

Yeosang was their tech guy. Years and years of gaming had led him to building a strategic mind. He knew how to break every firewall and knew how to get into the digital database of any top secret government facility. His digital knowledge combined with Yunho’s ability had allowed them to successfully complete break ins cleanly. His love for drones had also led him to pick up creating and inventing multiple devices that only needed him to work from a computer, making it easier for them to cover up their trail when he needed to complete a job. There were times where he didn’t leave the office, sending in other men with his creations to finish the job successfully. 

San was among the top three in their group. He was the best at bribery and knew every corrupt police officer in South Korea. He had the most connections in and out of Korea. He could get his hands on any information required on any government and his strength in martial arts also made it easier for him to travel around without any extra people to keep him safe. He could blend into groups and disappear from anyone that was targeting him. He and Seonghwa’s families had worked together prior to joining Hongjoong, both of them sharing their abilities to commit multiple crimes together for the benefit of their mobs. 

Mingi was the riskiest out of all of them. He was the most willing to do everything and anything and he was the best at handling weapons. His aim on a gun was the best, his knife skills were peaked and he could learn how to use any weapon within a short span of time. He was their shield, leaving misleading evidence to keep cops off of their trail and was the only one who had ever let off a C4 before. He was also their sniper. His precise aim could take out anyone from miles away and he was usually the first one to let them know whether it was safe to continue or not. 

Wooyoung was their interrogator. He knew his way around torture and kidnap, bringing back useful bodies for information. He was in charge of every interrogation and had been successful for a good majority of his torture. He seemed to have a knack for interrogation, originally wanting to join the police force but had to change his path when he had accidentally stained himself with a criminal record with a petty crime. After he met Hongjoong, his desire for being in the police force quickly changed to him growing on being on the opposite side. 

Their youngest and strongest member was Jongho. His strength could take down guards and officers almost twice his size and he knew Hongjoong and Hyun Jae even before he joined their mob due to their father’s being allies. He was feared by most gangs and even the men that worked under the twins for his strength. He was the only one among them that could fight the longest due to his stamina, typically working alongside San to make the job easier since Jongho wasn’t that good at working alone. He couldn’t disappear as well as the other members and working with San was slowly teaching him how he could blend into the crowd when needed. 

All of them were close. Their relationships with Hongjoong also bloomed a close relationship with Hyun Jae. They were able to separate their lives in the mafia from their personal lives. Business meant business and family meant family but they had created a bond together that was stronger than family. All of them willing to die for each other. Hongjoong knew they could make mistakes but he also knew that they were capable of picking themselves us and taking their own consequences, making him trust them even more. Both him and Hyun Jae knew that without them, the mob would’ve been caught long ago. 

“Hyun Jae noona, has Hongjoong hyung played you Treasure yet?” San asked as they left restaurant that was hiding their office.

“Yeah, it’s really good.” She nodded, “He played it for me just now when we were on the train. It has a great melody, good rhythm and amazing vocals.” She winked at him, a small blush creeping on his cheeks. 

“Whose voice do you think is the best?” Yunho asked, knowing that question would most likely put her on the spot. 

“If I had to choose? Mine.” She joked, earning a whine from him. “I don’t want to make anyone feel shitty, but Jongho’s vocals are always the most impressive.” She commented, sticking her hands in the pocket of her jacket as the temperature seemed to drop a bit more.

“Of course they are,” Hongjoong scoffed, “That’s why he’s our main vocalist.” He turned to Jongho who was smiling proudly, feeling himself fill with warmth at the praise he was getting from his older members. 

“ATEEZ is going to be huge. I can feel it.” Hyun Jae smiled at them, all of them flashing her smiles with their eyes full of excitement. 

“Noona, are you going to follow us on tour?” Wooyoung asked. They were all hoping she could tag along, but with having to take care of the mob, she was too worried to leave Korea with her brother. 

“I don’t think so, Wooyoungie.” She shook her head, Hongjoong quickly turning his head towards her, 

“What? Why?” He asked. He hadn’t officially asked her to follow along but he was hoping she would, not wanting to leave her on her own. 

“I don’t want to leave the mob alone. At least if I stay, I can try and keep things in line until you get back.” She explained. 

“Jae, come on, they can handle themselves. I trust Jung Hee hyung has been here since dad was, so I trust him to take care of everything.” Hongjoong put a hand on her back, “Please, Jae?” He pleaded, a small pout of his lips. 

“Okay, fine.” She nodded, looking at the happy expressions on all of the faces of her friends, “I’ll come along. It’ll be fun, right?”

“Definitely!” San nodded excitedly, “We’re gonna have so much fun. We’ll teach you how to dance!” He skipped. Hyun Jae giggled at how happy he was. 

“Are you guys going home?” Hongjoong asked when they reached the entrance of the train station. 

“Jongho and I have something we need to do.” Seonghwa shook his head, “My brother needs help.” 

“You guys gonna be alright on your own?” Hyun Jae asked. They all nodded, 

“We’ll be fine. It’s not too big of a deal, just need to beat some people up.” He shrugged in response. She nodded at him.

“If anything happens, just give any of us a call, alright?” Hongjoong gave Seonghwa a pat on the back, waving at him and Jongho as they walked the opposite direction. 

“We’re gonna head back first.” Wooyoung spoke after waving at Seonghwa, “We’re super hungry right now.” He gestured to him, San and Yeosang.

“We haven’t had dinner yet so we’re gonna grab something to eat in this area. You wanna join us?” Yeosang asked. 

“It’s fine, I’m super tired.” Hongjoong shook his head, “Jae and I just got back from shopping when Yunho called and my body hurts.” He grimaced as he thought of how much his arms and back were going to feel the next day. 

“Joong’s a baby and he had to carry heavy bags.” Hyun Jae snickered at him, earning a punch to her shoulder. She scowled at Hongjoong. 

“She didn’t help me carry the bags at all.” He crossed his arms over his chest.

“You shouldn’t make a girl carry heavy bags, hyung. Even if it’s your sister.” Mingi teased his hyung.

“Whatever, I’m going home.” Hongjoong threw his arms up and grumbled as he walked into the train station, laughter erupting from his friends. Hyun Jae gave all of them a quick wave before chasing after her brother. 

They all shared apartments with each other to ensure the safety of their group. It was too risky to let them live on their own and they all agreed on a roommate system. Jongho and Seonghwa shared an apartment nearby Mingi and Yunho’s. Wooyoung, Yeosang and San shared an apartment that was in the same area as Hyun Jae and Hongjoong which led to them being constant uninvited guests at each other’s places. 

Wooyoung was constantly at the twins’ apartment whenever Yeosang and San were out, emptying their fridge and claiming that he was too lazy to buy his own food even though there was a convenience store right beside his building. Wooyoung’s habit of eating their food was the reason Hongjoong insisted on bringing home so much food when they were shopping. He knew his fellow member would come over constantly and was sure the fridge would clear even before they were to debut in the next month. 

The ride back to the apartment was silent between the two, both of them tired and ready to head to sleep. The moment they stepped into their apartment, Hongjoong made a beeline to his room. Hyun Jae instead made her way to the cabinets and pulled out a whiskey bottle. She pulled a glass out of another cabinet and filled up the glass with alcohol before putting away the bottle.

 She went out to the balcony and made sure to close the door before pulling out a cigarette and lighting it. She lifted the cigarette to her lips, taking a puff. The burning in her throat from the smoke as it filled her lungs brought a sense of peace to her mind. The added burning sensation when she drank the liquor warmed her body in the winter temperature. 

The habit of smoking was something inherited from their parents. Hongjoong stayed away from cigarettes, not wanting to stress his throat and lungs too much but Hyun Jae didn’t. She didn’t mean to pick up the habit but curiosity led to her using cigarettes occasionally. It wasn’t an addiction. She told herself that since she could go a few days without smoking before she felt like she needed to. Hongjoong wasn’t exactly bothered by it but the only rule he set down when they got the apartment was that she wasn’t allowed to smoke indoors and was only allowed to smoke on the balcony if she was home. 

She pulled her phone out of her pocket after feeling a buzz, looking at the notification. 

You reach home okay?

It was from Yeosang. 

Yea, I’m on the balcony right now.

That’s good. I’m glad you’re coming on tour. We can spend more time together.

The relationship she had with Yeosang was different and slightly complicated. There was no denying that there was chemistry between the two but for the sake of Yeosang, they had to hide their relationship. If Hongjoong was to find out that he was interested in her, he would beat him up or do worse. He was protective over his sister; especially when it came to the mob. The last member of the mob who took interest in Hyun Jae ended up being hidden in the ocean. The unspoken restrictions from Hongjoong still didn’t stop them from letting a relationship blossom between them. Yeosang would always make sure Hyun Jae would get home safe after the twins would leave the office. 

The sound of the balcony door opening made her turn around to see Hongjoong stepping out onto the balcony. Hyun Jae quickly slipped her phone in her pocket and put out the cigarette on the ashtray that sat on the metal rail. 

“What are you doing out here? I thought you were tired.” She questioned as she watched him lean against the rail. 

“Didn’t feel tired enough.” He shrugged. They looked out at the town, watching as cars and people passing by. 

“Hongjoong,” She spoke up, earning a hum from him. “Should I really go on tour with you guys?” She asked, turning to her brother who was still looking out. “I don’t know how I feel about leaving the mob alone like this.” She said. He pursed his lips before turning to face her,

“I really want you to come along, Hyun Jae.” His eyes were asking her to come. She didn’t want to say no but she was paranoid. “I know you’re worried about the mob but I seriously feel like they can handle things without us. I mean, we’re already bringing along eight of our members. Why not we bring you as well?” Her eyes were unknowingly scanning his body language as he spoke and she knew that he was worried too. But his trust in the men that had worked with their parents for years was strong enough that he could push past his worry. Maybe she could too. “If you don’t come they’re gonna bully me.” He joked. 

“They bully you either way.” She rolled her eyes with a laugh, “Just because I’m one minute older doesn’t mean I have to beat up your bullies for you.” 

“That’s what older sisters are for!” He whined. “You’re supposed to protect me!” He grabbed her shoulders and started to shake her back and forth, “Jae, come with us, pleeeeeaaaase!” He pleaded as he shook her. 

“Okay, okay, okay!” She yelled as she tried to get him to stop. He stopped once she spoke. “I’ll follow you guys, sheesh.” She moved her hair out of her face and watched as he started jumping in excitement. 

“Yay! You’re coming with us!” He looked like a child who had just gotten candy, jumping up and down before running into the apartment. Hyun Jae laughed as she watched. The paranoia in her heart quickly disappeared. The decision to follow them on tour felt like a good idea. It felt right.

[yawninginf]

Fade: Childish Ch.1

Summary of series: Wind feels he doesn’t fit in because of his age. He just needs an oportunity to prove his worth to the others, and himself.

Notes: Look at that I wrote a second fanfic! I’m sorry it’s not the sequel ti Instict cause I just couldn’t get it flow. Let’s just hope I manage finish this series. Expect grammar/vocabulary mistakes cause English is not my native language, typoes etc. If you bother to read this and spot a mistake while doing so, please correct me.

Warnings: blood description, death (but not death), very little minor angst

Universe by @linkeduniverse

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Wind is upset.

He feels burried under a ton of worries, questions troubling his mind and lots, lots of anger. He can’t seem to stay still. He wanders around the camp, picking up random rocks and throwing them into the campfire that is slowly turning small branches as well as large pieces of wood into ashes.

He prefers not to look at Hyrule, or his glare will fall onto the head wound he carries and is still pulsing pain into him because of Wind.

The injured hero is sitting on a fallen tree log covered in wild mushrooms and dark moss, surrounded by plenty of ancient, towering oak trees. A bandage stained with mud is poorly wrapped around his scalp and the dried blood makes his tuffs of hair glue together in an unpleasant way. His hairstyle is messy, there are hairs dyed red from the blood that has fallen onto them and mixed with dirt and dust. His expression gives out the rough day he’s been through, but that doesn’t stop a faint smile from forming on his face when he sees the youngest hero.

Wind sighs in annoyance, trying to get away from the guilt and nausea stiring up his stomach. It isn’t his fault the rest of the group always assumes he needs to be pampered.

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“Wind watch out!” An ambush. Nothing more than a few bokoblins and even less moblins. Piece of cake. It should hage been. “I’m fine-I’m fine I swear!” Wind is in the middle of a bokoblin gang, three or four of them staring aggressively at him and softly but threateningly tapping their wooden clubs on the back of their ugly hands. Wind doesn’t wait for them to strike.

He sprints towards the biggest of them who seems to be their chief and lets out a loud clear battlecry. With his increased speed he raises his sword and is ready to stab the flesh of the vicious creature but it turns to the side just before the fatal strike lands at it’s target. Wind stumbles upon the gap in front of him and uses all of his strengh to keep his balance, dangerously leaning to the front. He is about to sigh in relief when he hears the floppy footsteps of the creatures a breath away from him. A raised bokoclub, he turns to try and reflect the hit but he knows he can’t manage on time.

Hyrule is nearby. He doesn’t hesitate to try and protect his younger friend. He runs, not being aware of his surrounding, not hearing Wind’s unfinished protest against his action. Time stops as he falls to the ground, drifting a scared Wind below him.

The bokoblin lowers it’s weapon and it’s mark is now Hyrule’s head. It goes down with a hollow thud and red blood starts to ooze from the wound.

Hyrule feels dizzy. The world beside him starts to shake and he can’t keep his eyes open. He feels stinging pain pulsing from the side of his head and a sudden heat has taken over the upper side of his body. His lips are trembling and when his look falls on the scratched but unharmed Wind, he fades away, closing his eyes.

“Please….I won’t forgive you if you die on me” a whisper and Wind’s terrified, panicked face meets with his injured friend’s. He doesn’t have time to care for the injury since the monsters are still threatening their lives. He turns his head up and realises with terror that he has lost his sword.

Warriors is the nearest to them and as Wind sends his glare up to him, he is already pulling his blade out of the dead body of the last bokoblin. Everyone pays their attention to the badly injured Hyrule quietly sleeping on Wind’s lap. Blood is everywhere; on Hyrule’s hair, on Wind’s clothes, even on the ground and the club that did the damage.

“QUICK!…..HELP HIM!” shouts Wind with a cracked voice and immidiately looks down at his friend, then at the vast amount of blood on his hands, feeling terror and a glimpse of disgust at the same time.

Warriors kneels down by them and checks Hyrule’s pulse, the rest of the heroes running towards them, showered in worry. “Is he…” Legend says with a low tone, afraid to let out the words.

“No. But he will if we don’t get him a red potion right now. He’s lost a lot of blood.”

Sky rummages through their stuff and relievingly takes out a glass bottle with a red liquid inside. It has something…magical in it and you can tell by giving it a simple look. You can’t explain it. As you watch the liquid flow in harmonic circles inside the bottle, form assymetrical waves and move like a dancing fairy, a creature made by pure magic, ready to take away all of your pain. Observing it feels like the soft soothing by a mother to her child, it’s gentle movements wash away every worry, they relax every tense muscle of your body.

Hand by hand the bottle is passed down Time’s grasp and with the help of Four he pours the healing potion into the limb mouth of the fallen hero. He subconsiously gulps it down his throat and his breathing immidiately becomes easier.

He mumbles something like an ancient saying in his sleep, then suddenly opens his eyes wide and stares at Wild. His eyes become slits from the pain as his palm touches his wound. He makes an effort to get up and before he can collapse to his knees, Wind pusses him up from his armpits and along with Sky they support his weight until he is ready to count on his own legs. “I’m okay” he says “I just need to wash the blood off, and a bandage…”

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Wind ignores the gesture politely ment for him because the back of his mind is always returning to the morning battle. He sould have been quicker. And they should have let him take the blow. Why was acceptable for Hyrule to be injured and not for Wind? “Like I haven’t been hurt before” he murmurs under his breath and soon the cook of the group catches his attention.

Wind watches as Wild makes their lunch, a soup made of garlic, boar meat, carrots and….other ingredients he isn’t able to identify. He looks so absorbed into what he’s doing, and the way he lovingly stirs the soup in the pot gives out his passion for cooking. This is the only time his characteristics seem to be relaxed and his muscles not tense. He expertly knows exactly what to add in the pot, when, how and the right amound of it. After a while Wild notices the young pirate’s soft glare pinned on him. He feels confused for just a second, then gifts Wind with an akward, yet pure smile, coming right from the depths of his finally calm soul.

The pirate continues walking around the place their camp is set. On the corner of his eye he can spot Time and Twilight practicing with their swords further at the nearby glade, showered by the light of the midday sun.

A peacefull feeling, able to break into the hearts of the coldest soldiers. A gentle breeze softly moves the leaves to the direction of the dense forest, all tints of green mixing together in a feast of nature. Bright and long grass turns golden under the sunrays randomly falling onto the petals of the prettiest flowers one has ever seen. They say an image is worth a thousand words. A pity Wind doesn’t care for words at this moment. He lets the two related heroes bond together without being interrupted and walks away, taking his moody disposition with him.

Every occasion the other heroes had shown their disbelief that he can manage what they can, comes to his mind as a blury memory, for his brain has found the perfect time to mess with him and play games. He can’t control it.

He tries to get his attention elsewhere–ah, Four is just coming back from the deep of the forest, carying a bunch of cut tree branches that will be used to keep the campfire lit for Wild to cook.

The weather surrounding their camp may be all nice and lovely, but their destination is covered in thick fog and dark mist, so they aren’t moving forward yet.

Four is struggling under the weight of the wood on his hands and is tilting right and left while he’s walking, as if he is about to fall every second.

Wind’s eye shines, the thought of being helpfull washes his pondering away. He starts walking towards the shortest hero, eager to help as he can. He is cut midways by a running Sky that offers a helping hand to Four. “No thank you-I-I don’t need help but it’s kind of y–” he trips over an anomaly on the ground and the hero of the sky grabs him on time to not fall face flat on the dirt.

Unfortunately or not, the branches he was carrying don’t avoid that fate and slip off his hold with a loud thud. As Four turns to face a bright-smiled-Sky and thank him, Wind is brought back to his misery.

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“We need more wood to last us until we start venturing again” Time announces, “any volunteers?” Wind felt more excited than ever to bring the resources back to the camp. He raised his hand up, feeling restless as he put his weight on one foot then the other playfully, imperceptibly hopping from his desire to make himself usefull.

Time looks around in unsatisfactory. Everyone has an excuse to not take the task and so far Wind is the only one available, his eyes faintly screaming “me, me!”. Time sighs and is about to announce Wind the responsibility of the chore when Four puts himself in. “Wind can keep his rest. I’m sure he is tired from the fight.”

“But I–”

“It’s okay, I’ll go. I don’t have anything important to do either way.”

Wind crosses his arms and huffs in annoyance. His breath blowing out of his mouth drifts some of his bang hairs out of the way but they come back at their original place right after.

He accepted it. Partially. Although now, it all makes sense to him. In the back of his head, he always has a suspicion that the others find him too young and a fear that, maybe, they’re right. Now he considers it’s all clear. But he will prove them wrong eventually.

“Right?”

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Dawn. Everyone is gathered around the campfire, its light seemingly becoming brighter as the colours of the sky begin to fade, taking their last form before nightfall. The majority of the clouds are dyed in a breathtaking way by the setting sun; shades of pink, like the petals of a young rose, darker in some parts and even velvet red in others. The whole sky has surrendered its light blue colour to an orange tint that makes you feel as if you were living inside a dream you wish you wouldn’t wake up from. It feels like observing the life of another being from a far away realm, like dwelling on a parallel universe.

“Technically, we are” Wind points out to himself in an imaginary, sarcastic tone and he feels nausious out of a sudden. He feels moving in all directions, as in a mysterious dance that shakes every bit of his existence. Glaring at a wide eyed Warriors swallowing earlier than he should have done, at Wild tripping over nothing and his bangs moving like choochoo jelly when he manages to get up, at Four as the sword he was inspecting slips through his hands, at Legend cursing under his cut by the seizures breath, at Sky supporting his body by pushing his belly and looking ready to throw up any moment now, at Time and Twilight sending looks of agreement to eachother, he knows he is not losing his mind. It is shaking, just not in the way an earthquake would. Not in the way the sea would move his ship, had it wanted to shake the life out of every member of his crew. No, the place around them still seems as peacefull as a graveyard near the time the sun should start its journey to the top of the morning sky.

They’re changing worlds.

Again.

The beautiful view of the sunset changes to that of the pitch dark, starless night, earlier than it should have, the colours fade more quickly than normal. The trees fall even though they are still proudly standing skyward, the ground is on fire even though the grass and wildflowers remain unharmed.

And suddenly, it starts to rain. Peacefull are the salty droplets, they follow gently one another until they reach their landing spot and meet with falling petals of the blooming nature that were lifted to the sky by the whole process. Wind looks around in surprise. His mouth opens widely, slowly, without being ordered to, as he realises they are still at the same Hyrule. He directs his head to the others and their expression is as troubled and surprised as he feels. “Is it over yet?” the younger hero thinks and a tint of hope brightens his eyes.

He of all people should have known.

It’s calm before the storm.

There’s a fallen tree log covered by various mushrooms, a lot of them could kill you if you attempted to make them your next and presumably last meal. They all subconsiously look at it like they have just witnessed the destruction of the most precious treasure to be guarded in the deepest and most secure place in all of Hyrule.

And just when their eyes are settled on the log, it happens. The sky seems to tear open in a deafening sound not easy to be defined and starts to pour all the mass of water Wind’s Hyrule would offer for the fish to live and the sailors to travel.

Thunder strikes right on the tallest tree in the whole forest, cracking it open just as an apple would be torn in two pieces after you cut it with a decent knife. The Links all flinch back at the sight and their shocked gasps can be heard echoing all over the place.

Wind tries to gulp his fear away but he just can’t escape the panic forming on his face, he can’t slow down his ever increasing heartbeat. With his eyes he searches for a way out of the storm, a way to stop the shivers running down his spine.

Another sharp lightning tears the sky. It doesn’t fade in the horizon, it travels all the way to the more and more unstable ground, it lands a breath away from a hyperventilating Wind and the sock makes the pirate fall to the earth.

“WIND!” He hears a worried cry from one of his friends, he is too afraid and shocked to find who the voice belongs to.

The youngest hero crawls a few steps back and with panic he turns his head, realising the others are slowly turning into dust. Wild is layed on the ground, his hands reaching out and slowly vanishing and leaving a hole where they should have been. Twilight is kneeling beside him, staring at his trembling fingers, slowly turning into dust soon to be caried away with the raging gusts of the wind.

Four glares at the little left of him, his arms and legs are gone, his torso starts decaying as well, the spots his parts once started are covered in mist and dust, spreading all over his body like an infection. He looks up to Hyrule running towards him. His eyes have nothing left of the courageous hero he thought he was.

“FOUR!!” Hyrule screams in despair watching as the last bit of his friend’s existence fades away. “No…no no no, NO!” This can’t be happening. Not to them, not now, not so quickly.

He looks around. Time is now starting to go through the process. Twilight is gone. Wild, Four, gone. Wind is still on the ground when finally he gets up seeking for help and decides that Warriors’ protective arms are the closest to safety.

Wind is sobbing now, not because he is afraid to go, he is just afraid to let go of his new friends, his family.

“Why..?”

The rest?

They fade too.

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The pirate feels like falling.

He is falling and he lands hard as well.

He looks around him. He sees the others. They have some bruises and scratches and most are rubbing their head.

“Are we…dead?” He mutters seemingly confused and scared.

Wouldn’t they not feel pain if they were dead though?

“I–I don’t think so.” Twilight replies.

Wind stays silent and makes an effort to get up. He shoves the dirt off his pants ignoring the stinging he feels from the various scratches all over his body.

Just like everyone else, the youngest hero looks around in awe and tangled emotions. They haven’t died, they have just moved to another world. Nobody seems to recognise this place and address it as his Hyrule. It doesn’t feel like Hyrule at all. The trees are few and odd, they look like none the heroes have ever seen, or every one of the species combined.

The Links are trying their best to understand what has just happened, without success. Whispers and theories are exchanged but the pieces do not seem to stick together.

“Anyhow, wherever we are at the moment, we can’t be assured that the inhabitants are not hostile nor that there aren’t monsters lurking in the corners of this world.” Time lectured, implying they should not be caught off guard. At the sound of the eldest’s voice, everyone stood quiet.

“Now, check your stuff and what we lack. Cherish your wounds and ready yourselves; we have some exploring to do.”