#worked overtime this week. will not get paid for it. YAY

[upontherisers]

can’t wait to get to fic reading this weekend! please tag me if you’ve posted something this week and i haven’t liked it yet to bookmark

[goshdangronpa]

When I'm not writing Danganronpa fan fiction, I moonlight as a professional content/copywriter. All the fresh discourse about plagiarism is reminding me of some formative experiences in my work life, and certain people I've met ...

My first job was with a fast-paced marketing company. The in-house writing team maintained weekly blogs for a bunch of clients, and each writer had to write two 1000-word blog posts a day. That's tough, especially for someone who was still pretty fresh in the field. We were salaried rather than hourly (!), so there was no incentive to staying late ... but that also meant the company didn't have to fret about overtime pay, so we could stay late if we needed it. I'd regularly be the last one in the office, still pumping out words in the struggle to meet deadlines.

Much of my time was spent on research. I knew little about the subjects at hand, which were sometimes highly technical, so I couldn't just BS my way through assignments. I even requested and received permission to take one client's worker education course, just so I could know what the heck I was writing about. It didn't seem at all remarkable to me. It was a job. My job. Although I could've been better, or at least faster, I simply did what needed to be done.

I learned that others took a ... different approach.

One supervisor was on sabbatical for the first couple of months I worked there. I respected them as my superior. Then I was assigned to peer-edit one of their articles, something we did with everything we wrote. One uncited claim led me to Google ... where I found a nearly identical article already published. Supervisor did the ol' switcheroo of amending sentence structures and swapping words for poorly chosen synonyms. I brought it up with them, saying I wouldn't report the incident but urged them to not do that. I can't recall what happened next, other than not trusting Supervisor anymore.

After three months passed, I was up for employee review. The bosses liked what they've read - yay! And then they said, "Here's why we're not giving you a raise." My stomach dropped. Apparently, they checked how many articles everyone wrote. I was behind on a quota I knew nothing about. If I wanted more money, I should take a page from the writer in the lead. Champ had somehow written 60 articles in the past month. Amazing! My employer set a goal much humbler than what my work friend had surpassed. If Champ could do that much, surely I could do this little.

Reader, I did my best. I stayed at the office later and later, especially as the date of my next employee review drew near. Due to my salaried status, I wasn't even paid for that overtime, but I put in the time anyway. It was all for nothing. Just a week before the next meeting, where they would've decided whether I deserved a raise or not, they laid off virtually the entire writing department. Apparently, underpaying freelancers who don't get benefits was easier.

Only one person from the crew stayed. If it was gonna be anybody, it was golden goose Champ, who maintained their insane pace. I wished them well.

Anyone wanna guess the secret behind Champ's prodigious output? It's the same reason they got fired just a few weeks later.

The reveal was a betrayal. We were friends, Champ and I, getting each other through the grind of the content mill with sarcastic humor and deep conversations. They encouraged and motivated me to keep up, all the while hiding some dirty tricks that eventually helped them stay in the race while I spun out. I was shocked to discover that I had zero empathy for them. But they deserved none, the filthy plagiarist. Haven't spoken to them since finding out.

This may not be as sordid as everything H. Bomberguy discusses in his brilliant new video. My coworkers and I were literally anonymous, with no clout to speak of, let alone abuse. Our clients were small businesses with little platform, which is why they contracted a marketing agency in the first place. Still, it hurt the hell out of me, and I wasn't even the one being copied! Plagiarism is a curse word in my household, lowest of the low (without getting into, like, actual atrocity).

And you know what? Years later, what I wrote for that company still holds up in my eyes. Those old blog posts aren't exactly the Great American Novel, or even on par with what I'd write as I gained more experience, but I put the effort into writing high-quality and original stuff. I worked hard. I still work hard. As self-deprecating and even self-loathing as I can be, I'll always pride myself on this. May you writers out there be able to pride yourselves on this, too.

[cognitiveleague]

Truly one of the more frustrating recurring experiences of trying to navigate life as a grown-ass person with ADHD is that like… it’s so goddamn hard to keep my brain (which is, y’know, diagnosably deficient in Reward Self for Accomplishing Task juice) motivated to put forward the effort to take care of chores and errands and shit, because I have so many unpleasant memories of failing at that sort of thing and I feel so little sense of reward (or even relief) when I do get things done that it’s this huge effort to not just… ignore tasks until they develop into a Bullshit Avalanche that I can no longer ignore? And when I do force myself to Do Something, running into obstacles can make me feel so frustrated and embarrassed that it’s almost as if I’m being punished for trying to accomplish the task and it would have been better not to try in the first place

Like today I noticed that I’d worked about an extra hour over the last few days, and instead of doing overtime I was like “ok, it’s payday and the ‘get your oil changed, bitch’ light has been on for a while, let’s clock out at the 40 hour mark and go do that before it’s time to pick my wife up from work so I don’t have to try to make that happen this weekend”

Which meant not just the actual task of taking the car to the oil change place, but also sheepishly explaining to the folks there that a) I did not have the financial means to be upsold on anything that was not likely to be a life or death issue before tax refunds come in so please don’t bother unless you are literally afraid for my life if I don’t get the additional service, and b) I actually already know about the headlight that’s out and the old-ass air filter but please don’t replace them, I have the replacements in the car and just keep forgetting to install them myself and only remembering about it when I don’t have time or the engine is too hot for me to go feeling around for where the fucking headlight bulb goes

And to add insult to that injury, they finish up and I’m like, oh. Right.

I lost my debit card like 2-3 weeks ago (yay, absolute garbage perception of time) and KNOW it’s on the floor of the car or maybe in my apartment somewhere so I haven’t reported it lost to get a replacement I just need to find it but the car’s a huge mess and I keep always being too tired or busy when I think about it. And also it’s hard to not be underemployed when I don’t have the spoons to look for a better paying job on top of holding down the job I have, and my wife has similar issues, and the cost of living these days, guys, am I right?? And we’ve got a little windfall coming soon that will help us pay off our debts, but crucially. That is still ‘soon’ and hasn’t happened yet. Anyway so the credit card is apparently maxed out from us having to use it to get around not being paid a living wage the last couple of years :))))))) And the “emergency use only because the bill goes to my parents’ house and I don’t want to abuse the privilege of having parents who can afford to and are willing to help financially when I really need it or to keep being a burden on them, and also they WILL judge me if anything unnecessary is on there” card in my wallet is expired and the new one is somewhere in the kitchen (or living room?) mess at home so I can’t use that right now either

So I had to explain in front of the other customers that I just straight up forgot that the only functioning card in my wallet was maxed out and like, stand there while she looked at records to confirm I was a regular client who’d never pulled shit like this before and also put a note on my file so they could like, know about it and refuse service in the future if I didn’t make good on my promise to come back and pay once I pick my wife (and their debit card) up from work in an hour and a half

And the embarrassment of all of that so thoroughly outweighs whatever minuscule satisfaction my brain can derive from “but I got the task done!” that it feels like I didn’t accomplish anything and also like I put myself through a shitty awkward experience for (what feels like) nothing. And it’s that, but with like…. every fucking thing that I have to deal with when I get home from work and I’m tired and my meds have worn off. So I just have to keep powering my way through a wall of experiences telling me “you will have all of the suffering and experience none of the reward, OR you could not bother and do something that does make you feel nice instead because wow fuck that” for EVERY GODDAMN LITTLE THING.

Anyway I love my brain for so many things, but goddamn it would be great if the “positive reinforcement machine broken” issue impaired me as little as ableists seem to think it should

[parabelled]

Other good things which explain why I've been MIA for the past few weeks:

Have been taking French fluency tests for work/ potential other jobs.

Have the opportunity to take financed French workplace fluency training while I continue to look for other jobs.

Will have a pretty solid tax return thanks to "bring forward" amounts from other years: Plan to put parts of it towards paying off my car I bought off a family member (70 percent, yay!), a possible vacation to Austria/Hungary, and savings.

Had performance review.

Being forced because I've worked at least three days of overtime to use three days in the next few months along with my vacation. So get an extra 3 days of paid vacation days free.

Dentistry being set for early May to fix my teeth.

Been attending therapy for intimacy sensitivity training to help open myself to the idea of dating and intimacy.

Sent off a cheque to save my spot for the master's program I have been accepted to as my backup.

Still waiting to find out about my first choice in April, which would be much more ideal because it wouldn't require me to move. Wish me luck!

Will find out about external scholarship I applied for on Monday.

Using the Easter long weekend to catch up on bits and bobs.

[obey-the-company]

Steel, iron, nuts and bolts

Poor man's gold in rusted vaults

Scrap, tin, wheels and gears

Shift by shift and year by year

Rod, beam, sheet and plate

Ironclad, you sealed your fate

All that shines shall fade in time

Welded put the day you signed

The production line

You better do your best, forget about sunshine

'Cause you won't see it where you're going

And the only thing you know is

You won't get to have your lunch on time

Or ever again, 'Cause every second you spend

That isn't meeting an end that an executive penned

Is another debt that you render that'll let them extend

Upon the length of your tenure where you're ever condemned

Well, would you look at that, life's coming thick and fast

I run and zig and zag amid the tat, pick and pack, bric-a-brac

Click and drag, mix and match, stick a stack in my sack

'Til it could fill a skip of scrap then bring it back quick as a flash

We're scrappy and resilient, we're happy and we're diligent

But that's just if you're listening to marketing transmissions

Contractually itinerant, a dastardly predicament

Entrapped within a system hauling scrap for the omnipotent

Voices in the radio that point us in which way to go

The base we're excavating

What we're paid and then the pay we owe

Uncertain of the purpose to the service that we're slaving over

Purge the lunar surface of its worth to meet the daily quote

Some of us are living to work

Some of us are working to live

Some of us are making while others are just taking

And some of us are dying to give

Whoop! Yay! Hooray! Another day at the office

Slaving away and generating the profits

Heading straight for the pockets of the laziest bosses

If it wasn't for me, then they'd be making a loss

It's a struggle working double shifts, selling my soul

So my landlord doesn't have to do any at all

I'm clearly very important while you're merely a drone

Giving me steady employment just to dwell in a hole

That I can barely afford, belly unfilled like Oliver Twist

Begging for more, I don't want to exist

No longer stomaching it, wanna be somebody different

But I'm stuck as it is, so stuff it, double my shifts

Rub out the family time in your diary, erase it all

They'll only hire me if I'll be reliably available

Yet, I appear, clearly entirely replaceable

The irony's I find it to be kind of inspirational

Anxiety will make you more inclined to reach a greater goal

Until you find me crying quietly against the wall

I miss my wife, I miss my kids, I miss my life, can't live like this

Perhaps for once if salary might rise in line with rent

We'd have the funds to rise and shine, not rise in line, content

To sacrifice our family lives to those on high, hell-bent

On empires founded on the thousands drowned in the cement

I am the very model of a model employee

I never leave my shuttle, can't afford to pay those fees

My overtime does overtime, I work nine days a week

And I never hit that bottle 'til it's time to take a pee

Some of us are making a killing

While some are barely making a living

Is a life worth saving without life savings?

It's a nine-to-five, 25-to-life in prison

Lift off, ticktock, the big clock's a-ticking

Drift in, dropped off at the drop ship's position

Sod tip top condition, a tip's what you live in

Drop shipping top tip - "Tips will not be given"

With this cost of living what do lives cost?

Well, the customer ain't fussed over the lives lost

We're discounted, under the counter, half off

In stocks, at the gallows for the price drop

To rock bottom, ba-da-da-dum

Sing the jingle, give a whistle, here's your lot, plod on

It's official, sacrificial, sing the company song

Before they bop the stop-button on your oxygen

Two guys moonlight on a new moon nightly

Tryna find loot like, "Ooh, that'll do nicely"

Lamp, cookie mold, jar, fish, stop sign

Pan, whoopie, gold bar, gift box, MINE!

No, mine

No, mine

Should you be hurt in our place of employment

It'll be worse than a band-aid and some ointment

There isn't a nurse with whom to make an appointment

There's really just certain doom, painfully poignant

Each day tossed upon the scrapheap

Struggling to meet pay, care to mind the gap, cheap

Labour can be replaced when there are fatalities

Several men a week slayed, tumbling from the gantries

In what kind of dimension is debris so decrepit

Worth more than all the lives amongst the men you send to get it?

The minions paid a pittance from the millions you inherit

And then billed for the equipment

Before they get to spend the credits

Have you had an accident at work that wasn't your fault?

No, you haven't, it absolutely was your fault!

Some of us are living to work

Some of us are working to live

Some of us are making while others are just taking

And some of us are dying to give

We all bought the production line

We all toe the production line

We all march in production line

We all signed the production line

It's a hell of a show, better the devil you know

Just another shift, try to keep a grip

Haven't slept a wink and my vision starts to drift

We're here to sell you your soul, next day and ready to go

Filling up the ship, just another trip

Maddened, on the brink, in no position to resist

The wheels of progress, they turn, so get ahead or go home

I got a quota to meet or else it's over for me

And when my rota's complete then I can hopefully leave

Just never question what burns to run the engines below

We were sold on a dream but now they won't let us sleep

Take a moment to grieve and you'll owe them a fee

My school careers adviser couldn't be any nicer

She was just like, "Might as well give up and die, bruh"

It isn't that likely we'll experience retirement

When staying alive's a minimum requirement

I've trained, I've tried, 'til I'm strained, I'm tired

I'd trade my trade for a train driver's

But I'm afraid that the end of the line

Isn't a place I'll arrive 'til the end of my life

I am the very model of a model employee

Because I'm used to being toyed with by those far bigger than me

Painfully aware my fate to bear's as cog in a machine

Just one more face cast off to space for products on a screen

Production line

Production line

Production line

Production line

Production line

Production line

Production line

Production line

We all bought the production line

We all toe the production line

We all march in production line

We all signed the production line

Some of us are making a killing

While some are barely making a living

Is a life worth saving without life savings

It's a nine-to-five, 25-to-life in prison

Some of us are living to work

Some of us are working to live

Some of us are making while others are just taking

And some of us are dying to give

It's a hell of a show, better the devil you know

We're here to sell you your soul, next day and ready to go

We all signed the production line

*DEATH STARE*

The bloody fuck pal.

[caeliflammae]

yay i love working a 12 hour shift 😍 i love working an almost 60 hour week 😍 i love not getting paid for overtime 😍 i love making 12 dollars an hour 😍 i love being overworked and underpaid and 😍 i love being expected to do even more just to have people even think about giving me a single dollar raise 😍

[themirokai]

Vent post:

I spent all evening working overtime (but, like, salaried so I don’t get paid extra) instead of posting my fic. So bummed.

But my boss told me that I’m “crushing it this week” so… yay. 🙄

[shuuen-no-cimory]

So, long short story:

My HDD broke around 2 weeks ago, glad I backed up everything from my old HDD but yea practically I almost can’t do any work

Big s t r e s s o

So I draw some Skirmishers to calm myself down

 I always says how much I want to sleep on Hydrogunner’s stomach because it’s gonna be so soft and relaxing, so I did draw it! A very good kind-of vent art honestly

I just realize how much resamblance Fatui Mirror Maiden has with Rider Medusa (FSN) AND I REMMEBER INSTANTLY LOVE BOTH OF THEM. So I must draw them together

Summer! Beach! ‘But it’s autumn?’, pssssh, if Kama-chan can make a Summer Event in FGO on Autumn so who cares~? So yup! Here’s the boys on their summer outfit....! Or at least Pyro that is wwwww

I met up with my and my brother’s friends from campus, most of them are those already become part of workforce and only a few of us (including me) are those on their last senior year at campus. We shared stories, and that makes me wanna draw Geochanter as salary man wwwwww Also here’s translation for each notes (from left to right) *Work ain't for passion but to clear up house credit *His third glass of coffee *Got his overtime paid only if his boss remembers to *Work for 7 hrs/day with under-minimum payment *Sleep right away once he gets home *Taking his bosses tasks

And now, new HDD yay! but no scanner driver yet so can’t scan and color them up, aside from having to nyooming the progress with my works. So here has some sketches!

[millenialfanfictionaddiction]

MAAAAA!!!! I didn't get any notifs from you for a long while then suddenly bling bling bling bling in the last few days, and I was like "yay!" but didn't get around to popping in until now lol

Man, a lot has changed for me since I last came by. I got a new job! A construction job, which I'm so happy about! I'm still pretty early in (only a few weeks), but seriously, every time I have an issue at work, or have a moment when I would normally debate, "maybe this job isn't for me..." I just- don't. I seriously think this is the job I've been waiting for. My supervisors are so nice. The safety lady cares about everyone, for real (she let me take a mental health day off. I have never had that or seen that actually happen before). Also, she has ADHD, and understands autism, which is so lucky for me! My site supervisor is also awesome. We had it the one day that a few of us had to stay a bit late cuz the truckers delivering our stuff came late (which was not supposed to happen. Very annoying). My supervisor not only helped us finish, he apologized to each of us for having to stay late, immediately made some calls to make sure it wouldn't happen again, and paid us extra overtime! The other workers are all so awesome too. We have lots of laughs.

It's working outside (I live in Canada... so it's cold af...), but it's building a solar farm, which is cool! I get weekends off, and am getting paid pretty well too. I might get to operate some machines (which is what I went to school for, and is kinda my dream job atm), which will be awesome. I'm just- so happy with this job. :,)

I'm so glad you (and yer kiddos) are starting to feel better, Ma! I missed you and the other anons so much!

- Dragon anon

Ahhh Dragon anon 🥹 I missed you so much!!!

Ahhh that’s so awesome!! Congrats on your new job and I’m so happy to hear that they are awesome to work for/with! It’s such a relief when you have people who understand you and can help ease the issues you are having!!

Ugh Canada is so cold! I live in Minnesota so I understand the cold and let me tell you, those of you who work in the cold deserve everything! And honestly operating machinery sounds both exciting and mildly terrifying 😂

I’m glad too! Things are finally starting to turn around here and I’m so glad!

[emilx311]

Life Update

Hey all, so I pretty much vanished off the internet for the past few months (whoops sorry about that) but things have been crazy irl! Here’s a bit of a summary for those who were wondering what happened to me:

So, for context sake a few fun facts about me. I work as a night auditor at a hotel and have done so since August 2019, I graduated Uni with a degree in Justice Studies in 2018, and I have several minor but chronic health issues that lead to me being very low energy-ie having less spoons than a normal person and needing more sleep.

Aside from the issues already inherent with 2020′s....everything we had several more personal issues at my (I say my because I work there) motel. Mainly around staffing, and especially around night audit staffing.

Since I was hired we’ve gone through 5 or 6 other night auditors (I think? maybe more). And they often.....quit with barely any notice. So, being our only consistent night auditor I’ve been called in last minute several times over the past year leading to 6 or even 7 day weeks. (Not Fun!)

Even when we have had another trained night auditor with us they often also do day shifts since we only need them for 2 nights a week. Turn over for day-shift people has been barely lower than turn over for night shift, which has led to them having to be called in last minute to cover day shifts when people left which means I also had to be called in last minute to cover the night shifts they were no longer able to do, leading to us all working 6 or even 7 day weeks (Super Not Fun!)

In summary: I’ve worked more overtime days than I have had vacation days in this last year. Heck, the last time I tried to go on vacation for like 5 days I got called in every other day and my boss (our regional manager) paid me double for the shifts I worked and refused to touch my vacation pay because even he acknowledged that was in no way a real vacation at that point (this was at the beginning of September btw...)

This was all compounded when our general manager (gm) left in late July. Her reason for leaving was super fair since she got a better job offer, similar pay to what she was making, less work since she would no longer have to do all the duties our boss should have been doing but was instead pushing off unto her. Super sad to see her go but wished her the best (still miss her) :(

This left our under manager (gsm) and me as the main people in the hotel (ie those who have been there the longest, only the gsm and housekeepers had been there longer than I had at that point-and I had not even reached my 1 year yet). Which, not super great, but the other people we had were okay so we would manage. So the gsm and I held things together and started basically running the hotel (shout out to the gsm here because I love her and she is actually like 5 years younger than me but has accomplished so much more, I am in constant awe of her tbh). Our boss (who is....kind of dumb sometimes) realized this. We became his golden girls (he plays favorites hard).

It is at that point that someone above our boss’s level in the company (he’s in charge locally, but we do belong to a large corporation, ah capitalism) hired disaster #1 as our first new gm. Disaster #1 was creepily cheerful and utterly dismayed to find out his job actually involved him doing work! Like working at the front desk during his shifts and doing manager stuff instead of it just being him sitting in the back looking important and giving us encouragement occasionally. He payed no attention to his training. He did very little of his basic work let alone the manager stuff. He took credit and praised “the team” whenever something went right and pushed blame off him unto everyone else as hard as he could when something went wrong (I once pointed out he forgot to do something and he legit said to me “can you prove it was me?” I said “yes” very firmly.)

Now, as the auditor my job is to spot, point out, and fix errors. He hated coming in to to work after me because I spotted and pointed out everything he missed or did incorrectly. At first just because I happened to notice them. Then it became personal, he cornered me one morning at shift change and told me that he dreaded coming in to work after me because I was always so critical, and he had so much to do during his shifts other than just front desk stuff (he did not, most of the “manager” stuff he was even trained in doing at this point he shoved off unto the gsm) he then disparaged the gsm. I was done, I was pissed (you do not say mean things about my gsm, nope, not okay, I will cut and slab you*) and kind of hurt (why are you taking my corrections as personal attacks? Why are you saying I’m mean for doing my job?) So, if he wanted to make it personal I decided to make it personal and made it my mission to find and point out everything he did wrong, no more overlooking small things as I had been. The pressure of actually having to work made him quit (shocking, not!).

It was also around this time that I signed up for an LSAT prep course. Because I hate myself and now that I’ve been working for a couple years and have some money saved up I want to follow through on my plan to get either a Law Degree or a Masters Degree and so am working on taking the LSAT and applying to law schools. No, studying has not been going well, time and energy have also been preventing that.

Fast forward a couple months and 2 of our best employees went on holiday (one they had scheduled months before). It’s the start of January, they will be gone for two months. In that time our boss had hired our next gm, idiot #2. Just as these two leave the other front desk person we’d been training quits with no notice. We are short staffed....again (yay more 6 and 7 day weeks, ack). To fill in this gap our boss brings in idiot #3 from one of the other 2 hotels in the area our company owns.

Idiot #2 is semi okay, he is not manager material, even months after he was hired to be gm he does not have the training and is basically just a front desk agent. He is bad about doing things himself unless you specifically direct him to with very clear instructions, but he can do the minimum (although he failed the coffee test. After idiot #1 I wrote out very, VERY specific instructions for how to clean our coffee station....he is not able to follow them. The gsm and I joked about the coffee test after I first wrote the instructions, that someone actually failed it....we despair). So, he does not think ahead, do any extra, or solve many problems but at least he rarely creates problems.

This brings us to idiot #3. I do not know what goes on in his head (very little likely) but man oh man. Some examples: the time he-after being asked like 4 times-actually sign off on the checklist after cleaning the laundry room (as everyone is supposed to once a shift) but did so in sharpie instead of one of the many dry-erase markers left around the front desk for no other reason than the clearly laminated sign off sheet. Or the time he decided on his own to give someone a satisfaction refund, far larger than it should have been (which only managers and those with special permission can do in any of the hotels, so he should know better but somehow....)

We have a book for front desk to write messages on about issues for the next people. Usually we have a note or two on any given day. Pretty much every day he worked it was full and even going onto the next page. Idk how, it’s like he touched something and issues sprung up. and Guess who got to be the one to fix all of them (woooo).

For the past few weeks I have had 2 days a week where the only people who worked were me and idiots #2 and #3. It’s been horrible. In addition, my days off were changed for these months so I haven’t been able to meet my one bubble inclusive friend to vent like we usually do once a week, because that time no longer fit in my schedule. I have been living in exhaustive hell for the past couple months, and even before that as I tried to lighten the gsm’s load as much as I could as she took on a lot of the gm stuff. My house is a mess, tbh my life is a mess because work has left me so tired and stressed that I basically get home, shower, collapse onto bed, read a bit, sleep, wake-up, find some sort of food, get ready for work, go to work, and repeat. Even on my days off I’m sleeping 75% of the time and resting to try and shore up my spoons (of which I already have fewer than most people) to get through the work week.

tl;dr Due to ridiculousness I ended up unofficially co-running a hotel and it’s sucked up so much of my energy that all my free time is pretty much spent sleeping just to ensure I’m able to get through my work weeks semi-functionally. Everything about my life has been a mess, to the point where I’m legit not sure how I’ve been keeping myself fed, clean, on meds and just generally....alive.

[xmxisxforxmaybe]

Bliss

I feel like there’s been a slight uptick in the amount of Snafu content being produced (YAY) and I got inspired. This is just a smutty little one-shot look into what it might be like to be married to Merriell “Snafu” Shelton. Hint: see title : )

Warnings: Smut, so 18+, please!

 “Hey, baby girl. How was ya day?” your Cajun husband greeted from his perch on the stool in your kitchen, a grocery list and a cookbook spread out on the island in front of him.

 “It was good—same old, same old. I’m gonna head back and take a shower. What do you want for dinner?” you asked as you peeked over his shoulder, squinting to try to figure out what was scrawled on the list.

 “It’s already warmin’ in the oven for ya.”

 You smiled and kissed Merriell’s temple, whispering in his ear, “What did I do to deserve you?”

 Merriell chuckled, “I gotta make sure one of dem sailors don’t make off with ya. Need to give ya a good reason to come home only to me.”

 You reached out and took his chin in your hand, his dazzling green eyes meeting yours.

 “Wild horses couldn’t drag me away from you,” you replied, kissing his lips softly before making your way down the hall to the bathroom.

 After putting your hair up in a bun and throwing on a shower cap, you let the hot water work its magic, relaxing your muscles and washing away the day’s labor. You liked working for the Port of New Orleans as a secretary; it paid better than most secretarial jobs, but it did get monotonous.

 When you opened the shower door, the steam followed you out, filling the modest bathroom. You wrapped a towel around your body and went to the sink and swiped at the mirror to make sure you had removed the day’s makeup. Merriell loved you made up. Merriell loved you barefaced. He just loved . . . you.

 You took your hair down and shook it out of its bun, letting it hang loose.

 When you exited into the bedroom, Merriell was laying on the bed, propped up, eyes closed, shirt off, of course. He had been working overtime at the lumber yard for the past few weeks, so when the day turned stormy and the sky opened up, he took the opportunity to come home a little early. He could’ve went out gambling, or drank and smoked his free time away, but instead, he cooked for you and had put away the clean laundry that had been threatening to overtake the bench at the foot of your bed.

 When you entered the bedroom clad only in a towel, Merriell peeked one eye open before closing it again.

 “Come over here,” he said in a husky voice.

You knew that tone, and his voice went straight to the juncture of your thighs. It had been awhile since you’d had the time or the energy for sex. Sometimes, life just got in the way, even for your little sex-god.

 Playing along, you dropped your towel, making sure it made an audible plop when it hit the floor. Merriell grinned, a lazy but predatory smile.

 You walked to the edge of the bed, just within Mer’s reach, and it surprised you when he didn’t take advantage of your exposed skin.

 He kept his eyes closed and began talking, in that same husky tone.

 “Sometimes, baby girl, I just can’t get you outta my mind. I think about the way you smell, like lavenda’ and vanilla, so sweet, and I think about the way you smile, lookin’ at me with those beautiful eyes as they tighten up in the corners. You always smile with ya eyes, Y/N, and I love that.

 You listened intently, your emotions swirling in a weird combination of amusement, love, and arousal. Merriell opened his eyes and locked them on yours; you knew what was coming next, and your breathing picked up a little bit.

 “And sometimes, I can’t stop thinkin’ about fuckin’ ya, legs in the air, body spread out in front of me so I can see everythin’.

 Arousal flooded your body—between that look and those words, you knew you wanted whatever Merriell had spent the afternoon thinking about because you knew it would be so, so good.

 “Would ya like that, baby girl?”

 You fixed Merriell with a seductive gaze before whispering in a low voice, “Yes.”

 Merriell sat up and swung his legs over the side of the bed. He stood up and wrapped his arms around your body, running his hands over your ass, your back, your arms, and into your hair.

 “Smell so sweet,” he mumbled as he inhaled before kissing down the side of your face and to your lips. He nibbled and sucked on your lips before dipping his tongue into your mouth. When Merriell kissed you like this, you wanted to melt into him, become so pliant that every touch would feel like the first touch again and again.

 “Lay back on the bed, darlin’.”

 You climbed up and lay back, your legs dangling over the side. Merriell looked down at you and ran his hand down your middle, from neck to lower abdomen.

Merriell moved even further in-between your legs, spreading them a little wider. He reached up and pushed your arms above your head.

 “You best hold on ta somethin’.”

 You could feel the wetness increase between your thighs, Mer’s words flowing through your body.

 Merriell knew the effect he was having on you, and he was amazingly restrained with his touch. He lightly ghosted his fingertips over every inch of your naked body, forehead to toes, not missing a single spot except where you were dying for him to touch. He casually avoided your aching core, smirking when you let out a small whimper of frustration.

 Instead of touching you, he pulled your wet heat directly to his pants front. You could feel his hard cock through his pants and used your leverage of the edge of the bed to push yourself into him, grinding a little to get some relief, and Merriell didn’t stop you. Instead, he grasped your hips and pushed you further into him, thrusting forward just a little.

 “Do ya want me, baby girl? Do ya want me to spread your legs and fuck ya until you come all over ma’ cock?”

 “Fucking, YES, Merriell! Please, please fuck me,” you said wiggling into him, the friction just not enough to do anything other than get you even more stimulated.

 Merriell stepped back, unbuckled his belt, and undid his pants. He slipped out of them and then his underwear. He was already barefoot, as usual.

 Because he was such a shit, he bent down and licked a single stripe up your soaking pussy, pausing only for a moment to flick his tongue up and over your clit.

 You growled, low and deep, and Merriell chuckled.

 He licked his lips, clearly savoring the taste of you and you pushed your hips further off the edge of the bed, seeking his cock.

 Merriell hooked one of your legs under the knee and positioned the other leg on his shoulder. He used his free hand to line up his cock with your entrance, swirling his tip in your wetness, dipping in just a little until he was slick.

 He thrust into you, hard enough to scoot you back on the bed, and you swore, crying out from sheer relief of being filled.

 “Mmm,” Merriell hummed, pulling his lower lip between his teeth and closing his eyes for the first few thrusts. “Mmm, mmm, mmm.”

You were gripping the edge of the bed, enjoying how deep Merriell could get at this position, when he turned his head to kiss the arch of your foot. Then, he moved your leg from his shoulder and said, “Straighten your legs, baby girl. Spread them for me.”

 You looked up and watched as you straightened your legs and spread them out in a perfect V, toes pointed. It looked sexy as fuck, watching Mer thrusting slowly between your legs. Then, he moved your legs even further apart, his arms spreading as wide as they could to hold your legs in position.

 The friction caused by Mer’s cock was nothing short of divine. Being so spread open, so bared for him excited you, your nipples impossibly hard despite his lack of attention to them. You continued to grasp the edge of the bed, pushing back into Merriell’s thrusts.

 Merriell’s face was the perfect picture of aroused bliss; his eyes were open, locked on watching his cock disappear into your body.

 “So fuckin’ hot, baby girl. You should see how sexy ya look.”

 You groaned, his voice again washing over you, again exciting you impossibly more. Mer’s cock just felt so goddamn good like this.

 Merriell picked up his pace, your breasts bouncing with every thrust. His chest broke out in a light sheen of sweat, his pecs flexing as he moved his grip on your legs, spreading you just a little bit wider.

 Your orgasm took you by surprise with a simple shift of Mer’s hips as he leaned in, just a little, over you. You clutched and clawed at the edge of the bed, your back arching up and your eyes rolling back as you moaned and panted Merriell’s name.

 “Fuck, Y/N, fuck!” Mer cursed, unable to last between watching your intense orgasm as it washed over your body and watching as his cock thrust so perfectly into your pussy.

 He came, cursing in English and French, your name littered amongst the profanity as he buried his length in you, his come filling you up until it slowly leaked out from around his spent cock.

 Merriell bent your legs and they trembled a bit with relief as you rested them on the edge of the bed.

 Merriell slid out of you, reaching under you to push you back a little on the bed. He crawled in beside you, laying half on top of you as he kissed your face and neck. You brought up a hand to twist in his curls, enjoying the feeling of his sweaty hair as he laid his head on your chest to catch his breath.

 “Mer.”

 “Hmm.”

 “I’m starving.”

 Merriell laughed softly into your skin, pressing a sweet kiss to it before lifting his head.

 “I love ya’ baby girl.”

 “I love you, too, Merriell Shelton. Now feed me.”

 Laughing, the two of you put on just enough clothes to not be mortified if there were a fire and headed into the kitchen, hand in hand, the very picture of bliss.

[ohcoolnice]

Late

It’s a full story, I swear it’s just...I can’t figure out a title so we’re gonna just title each chapter. Also, each chapter’s title may seem like it connects to an insignificant detail, but it has deeper meaning. I’m known for my especially angsty works. MWAHAHAHAHA. 

SUMMARY: 

Marinette seriously just cannot afford mistakes, so, naturally, there are so, so, so many. First, four of their models call in sick, thanks to the lovely flu going around, meaning they don’t have anyone to model for most of their women’s pieces. Then, Adrien’s bright idea to have Marinette model her own pieces gets approved by Gabriel, and, obviously, it all backfires spectacularly-on him.***This is set in the future, The character’s are 19 and 20-ish. it’s all messed up tho bc i can’t figure out timelines so whatever. 

(THIS  CHAPTER IS A BIT BAcKSTORY, But also plot yay :) 

-----

Marinette could not afford to have anything go wrong today.

The new Gabriel HERO™ Collection was going to launch in two days, and with the delay she’d experienced last week with the fit models, she’d only gotten Gabriel’s approval on the final designs three days ago, stayed up all night to do the flats and came in the next day, sleep deprived and sure she’d have a heart attack with the amount of caffeine she’d consumed.

The department had been a great help. Ellie had agreed to touch up some small errors Marinette had made will working on the flats at four in the morning, enlisting Jonah, who was a wizard with Illustrator, to help her.

Samantha was great with construction, she knew every single stitch, and Marinette was sure she’d invented at least twenty of her own. She could work fast without making any errors, all the while making the rounds and helping anyone and everyone.

Marinette oversaw everything. Technically, on paper, she was an Intern. But she had been working with Gabriel for three years now, and not even out of Fashion School yet. At seventeen she’d begun interning, still surprised she’d got it, though she suspected guiltily that Adrien Agreste may have had some influence over the matter once he’d congratulated her when she’d never told him in the first place. They barely even spoke. Every so often she had nights where she felt so bad, maybe taking some other more talented girl’s spot only because she had gone to school with the designer’s son, that she would cry and sob until she passed out from exhaustion. It didn’t help she heard it often.

She learned to ignore comments and overtime the public perception of her grew more positive as people began to see her designs once Gabriel became her Mentor and put her in charge of design for several collections. She knew people knew her name as she often accompanied Gabriel to shows, taking notes on the pieces but also making notes on every work that came from Gabriel’s mouth, but she didn’t want to be too known. Even in fashion school, most of her classmates, obsessed with knowing everything about the fashion world, didn’t know who she was, just that she interned with Gabriel, perhaps. Marinette liked it that way. She wasn’t a big fan of too much attention. She preferred if she could wait until she graduated to make a name for herself.

Gabriel had admitted, in an awkward moment once two years ago, that he wasn’t overly sure as to why he decided to become a mentor to the baker’s daughter, but he remarked on the similarities he saw in his younger self and her.

She didn’t really believe him. She wasn’t sure she’d ever seen him smile, not once, even when she knew he was kind of proud of the work she was doing. Over the years she’d come to notice it wasn’t hard to read his expressions- okay, it was hard, just not impossible- once you’d spent enough time studying him. And Marinette took note of everything he did. Alya often wondered aloud how the designer wasn’t creeped out by her.

Marinette didn’t know how she could possibly be like Gabriel. He showed no emotion on most occasion, but she was the complete opposite. Another reason why the media often wondered what it was he saw in a seventeen-year-old intern. He knew her designing and construction skills from the competition she’d won three years prior, but that was really all he’d seen up until her portfolio, which she’d snuck onto one night before the leaving on what was supposed to be the last day of her internship. The eight days after that where she’d heard nothing had been the most depressing days of her life. Then she’d gotten a call from Nathalie, Gabriel’s assistant, asking her to come in, and she almost passed out. She’d cried so hard after that Alya had thought Marinette’s parents had died. Sometimes she wondered how Alya came up with the conclusions she did.

Everything afterwards hadn’t been smooth sailing, but it was all incredible. Every stressful task was worth it. She was being paid as an intern, since there weren’t technically any positions available at the time. There since had been some, but she didn’t dare ask for a raise. She liked being able to do everything without being confined to the title of “designer” or “dressmaker” or whatnot. She liked doing all of it. The customer service, the finances in accounting (she was terrible at it, but overly grateful), and obviously out of everything, the hands-on fashion was her favorite, but she was getting to experience working in every single aspect of one of the most successful Fashion Companies in the entire world, under the tutelage of Gabriel Agreste himself. She really didn’t think she deserved to be that lucky.

Of course, there were times where she’d broken down at two in the morning, struggling to finish an assignment while balancing school as well. Gabriel had the sort of connections where she was able to miss classes and take them at home thanks to a recording of the class, and while she utilized it, she didn’t really prefer it. She liked being in the class and learning hands on, in an environment electrified by the excitement of young adults itching to get out there and create art. She also knew she did tend to do the work for Gabriel before her studies, and it often resulted in stress and a rush the complete assignments and projects.

If she’d ever felt stress before, it was nothing in relation to the stress of the last two years. And even that was nothing in comparison to the stress of being late to a photo shoot that needed to be perfect because the entire goddamn collection would be public in two days and if she wasn’t ready, no amount of fondness Gabriel had come to feel for the girl would be able to save her job. This was a HUGE deal.

Her car pulled into her spot and she grabbed her things and breakfast for the crew. Next to her, Alya, who had taken the day off to help her best friend, took the trays and boxes from her hand and pushed her towards the entrance. “You’re already late girl, get out of here!”

“Thank you, thank you, thank you.” She pressed her hands together, blessing her friend for being so helpful, before rushing inside, hands full with the last pieces she’d finished last night before, thankfully, getting a good night’s sleep. She was glad the people from Vogue wouldn’t have to see her when she looked as if she’d been attacked by a bear and hit by a train. She didn’t want to wear makeup and risk the chance of feeling anything uncomfortable enough to distract her from her work.

She struggled with the door, grateful when she saw a glimpse of Adrien walking past inside from behind the garment bags covering her view. She knocked on the glass and the door opened a few seconds later.

“Thank ymph.” Her voice muffled behind the garment bags were met with a chuckle from Adrien as she felt the weight in her arms lessen a bit.

“Let me help you, Marinette, you look like you’ve got your hands full.” She gave him a blank look.

“That wasn’t even good. I don’t even know if that can be counted as a pun.” They were almost at the dressing station now, people rushed about, voices mixing as people rushed to prepare the stations and models. Chloe Bourgeois was the only superhero who had shared her identity, so, unfortunately, she would be modeling for the Queen Bee themed women’s pieces. Thankfully that was not until later.

“It can so be counted as a pun. But I’ll spare you because you’re so busy today. I’ll just have to write down my puns and attack you with them later.” She laughed softly, shaking her head as she gently let the bags rest on a table, hanging them up one by one as she took them out of the bags. Adrien’s eyes widened. “Oh wow. These are incredible Marinette. This is- wow.” He looked at her, his eyes sparking with…admiration? She wasn’t sure, but either way she didn’t understand his reaction. She was proud of her work, yes, but she hadn’t expected Adrien of all people to be so impressed by them.

“Thank you.” She replied, ducking her head to hide her blush. No, she had work to do. Focus, Marinette.

“So y-” She shushed him, placing a finger to his lips as he widened his eyes, face warming as he stared, cross-eyed at the finger on his lips.

“Nope, no talking. Let’s go, Hair and Makeup Chat Noir.” His face paled and he stammered and she raised a brow. “Adrien! Your father wants you as Chat Noir, so please don’t make me tell him you can’t do it and we have to find someone else because we really don’t have the time and I really don’t want to have that conversation with him.” He seemed to relax ever so slightly, the color returning to his face. Odd.

“Yeah, sorry, sure. I’ll go be Pat- I mean Chat!” He huffed in frustration and dragged a hand over his face tiredly, emerging with a weak smile that, despite getting over her crush ages ago, still sent her stomach into a frenzy. She pushed down the feeling and giggled. “Sorry, I’m tired.”

“We all are don’t worry. You’re just lucky it doesn’t show because this only can be done today. Now go before I kill you because I am very busy.” She scolded him and pushed him off as he tried to speak, hitting him with the papers in her hand. He laughed and stumbled out, turning to watch her walk back to her station, lost in her work, with a smile on his face.

As he turned to make his way to Hair and Makeup, he narrowly dogged Alya and she ran her way to Marinette, calling, “Hey, Blondie!” as she ran past.

“Who am I to you, Rapunzel?” He called back, eyes following her and landing back on Marinette, smiling with relief as her best friend arrived with food for the crew and Marinette’s purse. 

She’d really seemed to come into her own skin these last few years. For at least three years it was so hard for them to hang out. She was so awkward and stumbled over her words around him. Slowly it began to change and improve, and he found himself spending more time with her and his own mood began to improve as he did. He’d spent lots of time with her before, wearing the mask. He would steal her food and they would talk, laugh, play video games, board games. He loved watching her design and sketch. It was peaceful for him, hanging out with her as Chat Noir. It never was as Adrien. It bore down on him, kept him awake at night, not that he realized that until things changed, and he found himself able to hang out with her both in and out of costume. He realized how awful it was when he wasn’t sure if Marinette hated him or not. She was so different with him in his different personalities that he’d worried about it constantly, without even knowing it. It was all so confusing.

Looking at Marinette now, he felt a smile tug at his lips and a flutter in his heart.

She really was special. He couldn’t ask for a better friend.

[keto-kitty]

I am not doing great this year

I was back on keto after Christmas and then I ran out of money. Yay! There was no overtime at work so we were all on the standard 16 hours which at minimum wage is not a lot, so I was living off the free food from work which I'm sure everyone can guess was the complete opposite of keto-friendly.

But, I seem to now be getting some extra hours, and I'm getting paid from my second job some time soon so I can actually now afford to eat! Yay! I feel awful, I've been to see my parents and while my mum's cooking is very nice (although sometimes somewhat experimental, we got savoury bread pudding with ham for dinner today) it doesn't half give me digestive issues. So I've been doing a bit of research in to a carnivorous diet and decided that's what I'm going to do for a couple of weeks. I figure if I restrict what I eat to only a few things, I'm not going to have issues deciding what to eat and it's going to be really simple to stick to.

Tonight I'm eating malt loaf in the bath before I clamber in to my new PJs and my gloriously empty bed which I have to myself for the first time in forever, and tomorrow we're doing a lot of tidying before my partner comes home and screams at me and eating a lot of sausages!

[ghostlycroissantpainterdrea-blog]

My work is really accommodating. I was recently asked by my Church Choir director, to become a choir Intern. It's two days a week, for 4ish hours, salaried.

Which, yay. I get paid to sing. So, I told my boss, I would love to be in the Center on Wednesdays, see my friends who's main location is the center, but also be able to go to choir practice, at church on Wednesdays. I told my boss, I was asked to be an intern for our Choir. And it was a really big deal to me, because this is my high school competitive choir coach who is our choir director, I was never asked in HS to do solo's or be part of the 1st class choir team. So, for me it felt like a really big honor for her to ask me, especially since my range changed so significantly, and I would be getting paid to do it.

My boss said "Oh, my goodness Lorna. I know that is a really big deal for you, and you're so excited. We can absolutely have you work in the Center on Wednesdays, that our small drive days, and most people want Wednesdays off anyway."

Friday, she went to my director, whom I also adore. And said "Problem solved Lorna wants Wednesdays at the center."

I didn't even know that it was a staffing problem. But apparently there are only two drives on Wednesdays that are always historically low turn out. And the mobile units only need three phlebs for those. And the center only needs 3 total whole blood phlebs. No one wanted to stay at the Center for those days, because of how deadly slow it is.

And everyone wants Wednesdays off. For some reason. They also, asked if I wanted to continue just to work on Saturdays twice a month and have the following in Monday off. I said "Either Proceeding or following. Doesn't matter to me. I just need two Saturdays off a month, that I can rely on for social stuff and to get my hair cut. My normal Salon is closed on Mondays and I don't trust anyone else to cut my hair."

I got a compliment for being really flexible. And how most people who come to work there aren't so flexible. I said "Well, they've never been salaried, and weren't allowed to say no to their boss. I don't mind picking up extra hours at all, especially if I'm getting the overtime. It's not gonna bother me one bit. What would bother me is if I went to salaried and had to work 60+ hours a week and be on call."

There are a lot of people at the company who, really don't appreciate how good they have it. Now, don't get me wrong there are some really dumb policies we have. And the pay is shitty. But, at least they don't have the stress of having to plan out people's lives, deal with their boss's personal vendettas for clients, and all the investigations with the state, on top of shit pay, drama and stupid policies.

When, I was a manager I was always super lenient with absences. I would work with you, and I didn't have to. I was lenient with tardies too, especially if you had kids and were coming from a different county to work.

Those staff just took that for granted. My boss is real lenient with tardies which I appreciate. I mean, greatly. It is an adjustment for me, to transition to be on the floor staff, and not a manager who gets to roll in to whatever shift they want. But, the real kicker is the not on call part. I love that. And I don't have to have my email set up to my phone either.

I love what I do. I love my company and believe in their mission. There is some bullshit with working for them. But, it's everywhere. My coworkers love me, and I get to work with a primarily male team, which is great because, I tend to exude the masculine energy. Which, most cisgender conservative straight women hate. But, I was blessed to have such an amazing team.

[sheslegit-archive]

// I’m going to be taking about a ten day hiatus from being on the dash. Nothing is wrong or anything. I just have a really busy work week ahead of me (getting paid overtime though so yay for that). I’m not sure how tired I’ll be when I get home or if I’m going to have any motivation to want to be on dash. Plus a small break from worrying about replies does sound rather nice. If I do have muse then any replies will be drafted until the hiatus is over. In the mean time, I can do some text threads or smaller length threads over discord since those can be a lot easier. Austin #4258

[selenecrown]

Take Your Time for a Vacation - A Phantom Thieves x Female!Reader - [Part 1: A Week in a Hot Springs Town of Summer Break]

Author's Note: Holy Crap I wrote this whole fanfiction while listening to the Persona 5 soundtrack and a little bit of Kiss Me Thru the Phone, but shush! That's not important right now. And, that soundtrack an interesting soundtrack. But if you guys haven't listened to it, I would recommend it.

Warning! This will contain dark themes of suicide, severe depression, very dramatic panic attacks, and implied self-harm and drug use (If you have played Persona 3, that is). I wrote this to be a much lighter and cheerful, but apperantly all I got was angst. So, sorry about that guys. If you want to skip this, sure. It's basically just how you got to the place you will be staying. So, It's nothing hugely important.

[ Introduction in case you missed it ] 

[ Part 1: You Are Here! ] 

[ Part 2: WIP ]

"A trip to a hot springs town in the mountains?" You asked the cheerful person on the other side of the line.

"Yeah! Come on, Summer Break starts next week and our break aligns with Akira's Summer Break and he said he wanted to spend so time with all of us!" Ann Takamaki said. 

You sighed as you lifted your hand not holding the phone towards the ceiling of your room unconsciously and then dropped into your hand on your head. Which hurt a little, but was nothing compared to how hot it was in the apartment. The hand currently unused at the moment covered your eyes from the burning sun rays coming through your window. You were laying down on your bed about to take a nap after you had finished an research paper that would be due the next day, when you received a phone from Ann Takamaki.

She asked you a question about how available you would be during summer break. 

You said you weren't sure due to your job and then asked why she wanted to know. 

She explained that Akira proposed the idea of your whole group of friends going to a hot springs town for a week because everyone had summer break at the same time. Everyone else had accepted, even Akechi had accepted Akira's proposal, you were the last person they needed to talk to. 

But, since your schedule seemed occupied by your part time job working at famous restaurant as a waitress, it would be hard convincing your boss to give you a week off because they would lose a valuable asset and the job paid really well for a student like you.

You said to Ann, getting up from your bed and standing up, "I will try my best to convince my boss to give me a week off, Ann." 

"Wait, but what if your boss doesn't let you have a week off?" Ann worryingly asked.

"Then you guys can have fun without me. All I will ask is you bring me some souvenirs or take me there some time." You said, plainly. Honestly, you were tired at the time, so that was affecting your ability to think properly. 

"But, Akira said he wanted everyone to come! And plus, you'd feel left out when we come back! I don't want you to feel like you aren't part of our group! It's either we all go, or we don't go at all! That's what Akira said!" Ann pouted to you.

"Alright. If Akira says it's all or nothing." You sighed. Even if Ann was lying about either all of us going or all of us don't go, this was going to be a challenge. You looked at the time, and saw you had to go to work soon. 

You wouldn't be so lucky with a nap today.

So, you told Ann you needed to go. When you got there, you did ask your boss about having a week off.

He said, "A week? For what?"

You instantly knew you needed a really good excuse, and fast. "Family issues. My uncle got into the hospital for driving drunk, and someone needs to take care of my cousins. Please, sir!" You begged him.

"Family issues, huh? Alright. I will give you next week off. But that's it, you are a good worker, (Your/Name), and we do need you here because you work so well." Your boss told you.

You nodded. "Thank you." 

You did work overtime mainly because you wanted to impress you boss a little bit. But after your shift was over, you went home and told Ann the news.

"Yes! So, we can go! Yay!" Ann jumped for joy over the phone. After other small talk, Ann hung up, and went into the chat room and told everyone the good news. 

"That's a relief. I was scared for a moment we wouldn't make it." Yusuke typed.

"So, do we know where we are going?" Makoto asked. 

"Oh! What about Kurokawa Onsen?" Ryuji asked. 

"I don't think we can afford that, Ryuji." Ann pointed out.

"Then, what about local hot spring towns? Does anyone know of any?" Futuba asked.

"Well, there is one I know of." Haru answered.

"Okay, which one?" Makoto asked.

"Well, I don't remember the name of the town right now, but I do know it isn't super far from us. But, it is still far from the city." Haru stated.

"Hey, if it will get us away from the city, I will go anywhere." You commented.

"You seem a little more flexible about for this, as long as we get away from the city, huh (Y/N)?" Goro added.

"Hey, I'm getting off of work. That's a huge plus for me. I finally have more free time!" You said to Akechi, who probably knew what that was like more than anyone else in the chat room.

"Then, we will talk about it when Haru remembers there the town is, I guess." Ryuji said. 

Everyone agreed to wait for Haru to remember. It was only Monday, after all. 

We had time. 

Akira did read the chats, which he missed because he was eating dinner with his family, but he repiled nothing back to the chatroom, since there was not much to comment about.

Haru remembered the name of the hot springs town, which was apparently was named Golden Fog and everyone agreed to go there. You all had made a plan to pick up Akira from his hometown, mainly because he said he couldn't just drive to the hot springs town by himself. So, everyone agreed to pick Akira up and all of you would drive there, since you couldn't get a plane there and you definitely couldn't just walk there. So, you guys were going to have a road trip to the hot springs town in the mountains. The day that all of you were going to leave Sibuya was fast approaching. 

And soon, the Sunday before summer break had finally come upon you. This was the day that everyone agreed to to pick up Akira and go to the hot springs town. 

The drive most likely would take the whole day. 

But, nevertheless, the day of the road trip had come upon you. You ready for this day. 

Or so you thought you were.

Nothing could have prepared you for the fun day ahead of you, even though most of it was purely because people got bored.

You had finished packing up your suitcase and then looked at the time. You had packed some food for yourself during the trip, since you had somewhat of an idea of what a whole day road trip would be like. And you realized it would be a while before everyone came to pick up, since you were the closest to the outskirts of town.

But waiting was the hardest part to do on this trip.

"'Patience is a virtue', my ass." Is what Ryuji said about situations like this. And he wasn't wrong.

You decided to distract yourself by watching TV. When you turned on the TV, a TV show you haven't watched since before high school came on. You remembered your time before even becoming a Phantom Thief, or even Shujin High School. You rememered when you were little and didn't have to worry about things like the things you do now. The feeling gave you nostalgia, but also, a little bit of pain as well. You wished you could go back then, were you didn't have to worry about all that crap you do now. 

Then, you heard a knock on the door in the middle of an episode of that show.

"Coming!" You yelled as you turned off the TV in your apartment. When you answered it, there stood Ann Takamaki, who seemed very energetic today.

"(Y/N)! You ready? Come on, everyone is dying to see you and Akira! Futuba is getting impatient!" Ann smiled and grabbed one of your hands, as you grabbed your suitcase from where you hid it behind the door.

"Okay, okay! I'm coming!" You laughed as Ann tried to pull you out of your apartment before you could make sure everything in your house was going to be okay. After you did a check to turn everything off so your bills wouldn't go up when you weren't home, you closed and locked everything and then Ann escourted you down to the apartment parking lot. When you got down there, a familiar silver Citroën H van appeared before your eyes. It was the same sliver van that you brought Akira home in. Outside of the van standing there was Ryuji, arms crossed and had a scowl on his face. When he spotted you, he waved and his scowl changed to a smile. 

"Hey, you ready to pick up Akira?" Ryuji asked you.

You nodded. "Yeah. Let's go." 

You put your suitcase with everyone else's in the back of the car. In the back of the car was Haru and Futuba. Akechi was sitting next to Yusuke in the middle seat, where Ryuji got in as well. Ann sat next to Makoto, who was driving the car. You got into the backseat with Futuba and Haru, and after everyone had made the preperations to start the car, Morgana came out from the front seat and jumped back to where you were. 

Morgana jumped unto your lap, "Alright. That's everyone. Let's go."

Makoto started the car, and the nine former members of the Phantom Thieves of Hearts went off to go find their leader in his home town.  

But, as soon as everyone got on the toll road after getting lunch, everyone seemed tired.

Futuba and Haru fell asleep an hour after lunch was served. Yusuke said he was going to take a quick nap before he sees Akira, and Ryuji agreed to do so as well. Leaving you, Makoto, Ann, and Akechi in each other's presence. 

Akechi turned to you.  "Hey, Makoto doesn't look so good. Can you drive? I can if needed." 

"Yes. I can drive. Hey, Makoto, Ann, do you guys want to take nap before you see Akira?" You asked the other girls in the car, leaning up against the seat you where in.

Ann nodded. "Yeah. I woke up super early because I was one of the first to be picked up by Makoto. So, I'm going to try and take a nap. Thanks, (Y/N)." 

Makoto nodded in agreement. 

You moved Morgana unto Futuba's lap until such time as you could put him on Ann's lap, because you didn't want him bothering you. Morgana had decided to stay on your lap for the rest of the car ride until Akira comes and Morgana, being a cat, decided to fall asleep on you as well. Makoto pulled into a gas station to check the car and see how it was doing, and to switch places with Akechi. Ann said she wanted to sit in the back with the other two girls, while Makoto didn't seem to care where she sat, as long as she could take a nap. When Makoto and Ann fell asleep, you placed Morgana on Ann's lap. Akechi went into the convenience store to get some water for himself and you incase the two of you needed it. But, you got into the driver's seat and then waited for Akechi to come back. He came back with a whole package of medium-sized water bottles. Akechi got into the shotgun seat, and after making sure you had paid for the gas, the two of you buckled your seatbelts, and drove off. While it was just you and Akechi, he brought up an interesting topic. 

"Do you think it is possible that I could have been different when the two of first met?"

"What do mean by that?" You asked him, trying not taking your eyes off the road, but still smirking at Goro.

"If I was different, you think we could have been teammates? By which I mean, maybe we could have started out our own group before the Phantom Thieves of Hearts? And maybe have been a rival to the Phantom Thieves?" Akechi asked, as he put his arms and head on the dashboard looking at you. 

Even though you didn't take your eyes off the road, you did let a small laugh escape you. You said to Akechi, 

"Probably. I'm still not competely sure why I was suppose to find my powers, but I still did. If that truly were the case, I suppose it could have been possible. I'm not sure, Akechi. I would have prefer that then being enemies, but it is what it is." 

You and Akechi did talk more about what could have happened, or what life could have been like if none of us had known each other. You know, normal teenager stuff.

While doing so, you did take note of the nice scenery, which Akechi did make comments like, "Impressive." Or "Akira is used to this scenery? I envy him." and an area of somewhat familiarity came into your view after who knows how long of other sights of wonder. 

Your car had gotten closer to to your destination, and soon enough, the sliver van had pulled up the entrance of Akira's hometown. 

"Here we go!" Futuba exclaimed, as she pumped her fist in the air, and hit the roof of the car. Futuba seemed to retract her arm and grumbled in pain a little. Futuba and the others woke up about the time you and Akechi started commenting on the scenery all of you saw on your way to Akira's hometown. Well, if Futuba's fist pump didn't get people's attention, then that Phantom Thief sure must love being put to sleep in battle.

"Ah. Yes, we are finally here." Yusuke agreed with Futuba. 

"Yes!" Ann and Ryuji said at the same time. 

"Finally!" Ann smiled.

"It is about time!" Ryuji smiled too.

"We are so close! Who is going to go pick Akira up?" Makoto asked the group. 

"Well, both Akechi and (Y/N) haven't gotten their turn. And, they drove almost all the way there. So, they should do it." Ann commented.

"Yes. Let's leave it to them." Haru nodded. Everyone seemed in agreement that you and Akechi were to pick Akira up.

"Well then, let's get this over with." Akechi said to you. 

You nodded. 

As you pulled up to Akira's house, Akechi got out of the car and said, "Let us both go to his house in case one of us cannot talk to his family." 

"Funny. Because all you have to do is charm them into finding out where their son is. You can do that, right, Detective Prince?" 

Akechi laughed. "I will try my best." 

The two of you walked up to Akira's house, or where you remembered it to be the last time you came here. When you knocked on the house door, a feminine voice yelled, "I'll be right there!" But the door opened right as someone had said that. A man appeared, who you had assumed to be Mr. Kurusu, and said, "Are you the people Akira mentioned was coming to pick him up?" 

You nodded. "Yes. Is he home?" 

The man shook his head. "No. Akira went to the store to get something."

"Is that so? I suppose it cannot be helped then." Akechi sighed.

"How do you know Akira, anyways? Did he go to your school? Or you his friends he keeps talking about?" Akira's father asked as he leaned against the doorway oh his home.

"We became friends when Akira was on probation. We went to the same school." Akechi stepped in as you going to say something.

"Alright, then-" 

"Hey. You guys are earlier than I thought you would be." You heard a voice from behind you, and there stood Akira. With his cocky smile and all. 

 He did talk with his father for a second and then he and his father went inside. After a little while, Akira came out with his grey suitcase you remember when you went to Hawaii.

"Well, sorry for keeping you all waiting." Akira jokingly said as he rubbed the back of his neck.

"Don't be. We still have some time." Akechi said.

You nodded.

"As long as we get there tommorrow." You said as you and the boys walked to the car. As the three of you walked to the car, Akira did talk with both of you about everyone else and when the three of you got into the car, everyone greeted Akira very warmly. After all the greeting and happiness of your leader being back, Makoto asked you and Akechi, 

"Are the two of you okay?" 

"Yeah, why?" You answered for the two of you. Even though Akechi felt differently then you.

"I mean, everyone else in the car got a nice nap. Do you guys want one?" Ann cut in on Makoto, who was about to say the exact same thing.

"I will take you up on your offer. A nap is a good opportunity for getting energy." Akechi informed you.

You sighed. "Sure. Why not take a nap? You guys have fun." You waved at your teammates as you stretched out your arms and put your head against the window of the van. The boys were all squished in the middle seat, while the girls had plenty of space. As you stared out the window hoping to drift off into sleep, you noticed scenery of the town start to fade away, and in its place a view of mountains came in. But slowly, that scenery faded to black. 

While you and Akechi about taking a nap before everyone was to meet at the town in the mountains, everyone else seemed to be bored out of their minds.

"Darn it! My computer died! Argh! Now what am I suppose to do?!" Futuba growled.

"Um, read a book?" Ann offered from the front seat.

"Akechi mentioned brought something didn't he? What did he bring is the question." Yusuke said.

"Wait, are we going to go through a sleeping person's stuff? Hell no! Who knows what he will do if we get caught!" Ryuji said. 

"He won't know if we don't tell him." Akira pointed out. 

"But we are driving. We are not pulling over on the side of the road." Makoto said, she had this look in her eyes she really didn't want to do that. Like, at all. 

"Mona!" Futuba said. "Go to the back and get me a source of entertainment!" 

"Why me?!" Morgana said. 

"Because, you are smaller then us and can sneak past the sleeping (Y/N)!" Futuba said. 

"Fine. But I don't expect much from either Akechi or (Y/N)." Morgana said, as he jumped back to the suitcases. When he looked at the everyone's suitcases, your suitcase was easy to open. Akechi's suitcase, however, was being guarded by Akira's, which was on top of it. 

"Good news, (Y/N)'s suitcase is completely unguarded. Bad news, Akira's suitcase is covering Akechi's. Should we open (Y/N)'s first?" 

"Yeah," Futuba said, leaning over the seat to watch Morgana do his work. "Why not?"

And, so, Morgana opened it. 

"Clothes . . . Towels . . . Toiletries . . . Aha!" Morgana excliamed as he had found your snacks. "What is this? Maybe she's loaded with food!" 

"What?!" 4/5ths of the car exclaimed. Even Makoto took her eyes off the road to look back and see Morgana had your bag of snacks. Then, realizing she took her eyes off the road, she immediately turned her focus back on the road. The rest of the car watched as Morgana open the bag. When he did, the treats you packed for yourself revealed itself to the rest of your team. 

"She's got food! She has pretzels, apple and watermelon slices, a large pack of mixed nuts, and popcorn! She also has dressings to go with it! She's got cheese and chocolate!" Morgana told the rest of the van.

"Hell yeah!" Ryuji said. "We scored big time!" 

"And, they didn't drink all of water bottles while they were driving! Double big time!" Ann cheered. 

"Alright!" Futuba said, "Let's split the loot!" 

When you and Akechi woke up, all your snacks had been completely devoured, and the water bottles where gone. They also threw away all the evidence, except the bag you brought your snacks in, of course, since it looked like it was reuseble so they put it back in.

Also when the two of you woke up, the van had arrived at the springs town. And, now you were looking for a place to park a car. 

The town itself was beautiful. The mountain that looked like it was watching over the town. Below the mountains was a forest that seemed to surround the mountain, almost like a barrier in between the mountain and the town. Most of the buildings looked new, or at least modern. There were shops and places to eat scattered everywhere. But all the shops seemed to be pointing to this huge traditional castle which the group learned was actually the hotel. The hotel, looked huge compared to the rest of the buildings. It was mostly red, green, and white. There were roads, but it was more used for streets then roads since so many people were walking on it. But, thankfully one of the locals told them of a back road to the hotel with no people. 

It was getting somewhat dark, and by then, almost everyone felt guilty about invading your suitcase and eating your stash, when most likely, you would have happily shared it with them if they asked. Well, everyone but Morgana and Futuba. 

"Hey, (Y/N)? You awake?" You heard Haru say to you as you were half-awake. Futuba, looked over at you to see if you had woken up. At this point, all of you were getting closer to the parking lot.

You and Akechi had been sleeping for three whole hours. And only once, had you woken up because you smelled chocolate and cheese. After a small amount of panicking from the car, minus the driver Makoto, Haru and Akira were able to put you back to sleep without too much trouble. 

You sat up from the window and rubbed your eyes. "Mmm . . . Yeah, I'm awake." 

"Good. We're almost there." She informed you. 

"Nnn . . . Is Akechi up?" You asked, looking for Akechi.

Haru shook her head. "No, the boys can't seem to wake him up. You've known him for a while, can you try?" She asked. That explains why all the boys were looking at you. When you saw Akechi, you saw Akechi still sleeping. 

You nodded at everyone, as you reached your hand to Akechi and had to lean over Haru to get to where Akechi was, and then you said,

"Hey~, Hey~ Akechi. Wake the hell up before I get over there and beat your ass." You said sternly, poking Akechi's face not-so-gently, but it didn't work. The boys, minus Akechi, seemed to flinch at the way you said "beat your ass." 

Plan B.

"Are you dead yet~? Heeeeeey, Death Metal~! Are you dead yet~? I'm gonna go steal all your shiiiiiit~!" You sing-songed Akechi. Then Akechi grabbed your hand, which scared the hell out of everyone watching. This was, kinda new for everyone. They knew the two of you had fought for many years, but they didn't know exactly what kind of people the two of you were once like.

"Shut the hell up," Akechi growled at you. His face of anger was enough to scare everyone watching but you. "Why you little piece of---Wait a moment. I thought he agreed not to call each other that in front of them." He protested, as he had now somewhat regained his composure in front of the other Phantom Thieves. 

"Well, we tried everything else." You said, retracting your hand when Akechi let you of it.

"Ah. And that is what makes you an Airheaded Pigeon." Akechi threw back the insult he gave you years ago.

Okay, now you were pissed at Akechi. Even though normally you would stop with teasing him, it seemed like he really wanted pick to fight. Or, was that just your muscle memory speaking for you? "You wanna fight? You wanna fight me punk?" 

"I would, but you're the one who started it." Akechi said. "And we both know that I'm going to be the one to beat the shit out of you."

"Hahaha! How funny! We both know I'm going to beat your ass into the ground even if you win or not!" You laughed as everyone else was starting to get concerned about the two of you. 

Then, Morgana stepped in and hit the two of you on the head by jumping on the both of your heads, twice. 

"Ow!" You cried as Morgana had knocked you off balance and you fell down by Haru's and Futuba's feet.

"Ow!" Akechi cried as well, as he tumbled back unto the window. Luckily, the window didn't break.

"The two of you need to chill out. We aren't here to watch the two of you destroy a town." Morgana growled at Akechi and you. Morgana didn't speak because he knew how the two of you used to fight but he said what he felt like saying. "At least try to act to mentally sound people." 

Akechi and you responded nothing to that. While, Morgana jumping on your head was painful, you knew he had a point. 

"Fine." Akechi said. Then, he looked down at you in concern. "Are you alright?" 

"My heads hurts. But other than that, I'm little dizzy." You said, as you tried to get up by yourself, but Haru and Futuba saw you struggling to keep balance and helped you get up. Man, Morgana knew how to beat you into submission.

Makoto had found the hotel all of you were ment to be staying in. Luckily, they had a place to park a car. Everyone got out of the car, and Akechi helped you walk to where the lobby was.

The lobby was more modernized than the outside of the building. It was a mostly light brown and white room, with the front desk being black and the floor being made of tile. There was mostly windows around the lobby, but since it was getting dark lamps placed around tbe lobby had lighten up. The front desk had a single bamboo plant on the right, and with a women standing behind the desk looking absolutey bored doing paper work. There was also a huge window behind her. The lobby also had an area with four light brown couches, with a table in the center decorated with grey stones and pens and fake plants in a bowl. While to the left and right of the front desk was stairs, seeming to go up. There didn't seem to be an elevator in sight. The lobby smelled like a mix of chlorine and lavender. 

Akechi and you sat down next to each other, with you sitting down and laying your head on one of the armrests of the couch for support. Morgana didn't hit you that hard, right? Makoto and Akira went up to the front desk to ask about rooms, while everyone else was in the waiting area. Either talking to one other, or not doing anything.

"Sorry about earlier, Akechi." You told him, as you put one of your hands over your forehead. "We really couldn't wake you up." 

Akechi shook his head. "No. I shouldn't have pushed that much to tease you." 

"Apology accepted. Where on earth is a drinking fountain?" You asked him.

"I do not know. But shouldn't we wait until Makoto and Akira are done asking about room arragements?"

"Fair enough." You said, leaning your head against the armrests. But, Morgana came up to you by sitting in your lap.

"Hey. Hey, (First/Name)! What's wrong? I didn't hit you that hard but---"

"It's not that, Morgana." You said plainly.  "It's just my head. I need some space, I'm not mad, it's just my head hurts."

That, right there, was a big fat lie.

It wasn't a headache that was bothering you.

It was memories of the past trying to come back and haunt you. Something about Morgana knocking you down and sassing you must have hit you harder than you thought it would.

Memories of when you and Akechi were enemies, and Palaces of people when the two of you would fight in.

And. . . People Akechi killed that you couldn't save.

"But, you're shaking, and breathing really fast." Morgana commented. And, he was right.

It wasn't enough to notice without intensely staring at you, but you definitely were having problems.

And it was getting worse. 

"Hey girls, we finally have---(Y/N)? Hey, are you okay?" Makoto asked you when she went to announce to the girls where their room was. 

But, you couldn't hear the room number at all. 

Everything was spinning and you couldn't hear what they were saying. 

And, you didn't notice it at the time, but you were starting to cry.

"(Y/N)! Hey, what's wrong?!" Ann called to you, as you started mumbling about someone was after you. Your paranoia was already on the scene, huh?

"No . . . ! I can't die here. . . ! If I do he's gonna . . . ! Gah!" You let out a small scream, and saying other things like, "No, nonononononono! Stay away!" 

"Hey, what's gonna on over there? Keep it---What the---?" The employee said as she saw you. 

"What is going on here?!" Yusuke asked, 

By this point, almost everyone wasn't sure what the hell was going on. That is, until Makoto said something.

"She's having a panic attack. Something must have triggered it, but whatever it was, now she's having flashbacks." Makoto explained. "We need to calm her down before we can do anything else. Can you get some wet towels or clothes ma'am?" 

The employee ran to do just that, hopefully.

Makoto took you off the couch, and into the open floor next to the couches. The others rushed around you, most were unsure of what to say. Makoto had an idea of where to start. 

"(Y/N)? Listen to me! You're having a panic attack!" She said.

You didn't respond. You kept crying and covering your face.

"Look! The Man in the Black Mask isn't here! You are in the real world! Look! Look around you!" 

"No!" You said, moving your arms from your face to your ears. "He's, he's here! He's-he's gonna kill me!" You shook your head.

"No! It's only Akechi! The Metaverse is gone now, he can't hurt you! Look! Look around you!" Futuba said, she once had hallucinations and was trying to do what Sojiro had done for her back then.

You refused to listen to them. But, soon enough, other hotel staff came in, one of them claiming he could help, since his mother went through panic attacks as well.

The man, with help from your teammates, was able to talk you through the attack.

When you had regained your composure, basically the hotel staff didn't think it was safe for you to walk up stairs especially by yourself. So, they showed the team to an elevator and asked someone to go with you. Haru decided to go with you. 

The elevator ride itself wasn't all to bad, and most the time Haru tried to keep your mind off of the Metaverse instead talking about coffee and random trivia about it Akira had shared with her. When the doors opened, there was a business man waiting in front of it, seeming a little ticked off. You and Haru were able to find the room the girls would stay in, room 330. The boys had the room across the hallway, room 329. You were on the third to the top floor of the hotel. You did ask Haru and see if you could open a door, and you were able to unlock the door without too much of an issue. 

When you opened the door, you noticed the room was very spacious. The room looked more modern compared to what you had seen in flyers about hot springs rooms. When you first walked in, to your right was a closet. To the left was a kitchen, with small dining room in front of it. While next to the dining room was a TV, and a single long couch, and a long window with the curtains drawn. There was a door a few inches from the couch, which you assumed was where the bedroom was going to be. 

"Wow." You said. "This is a lot bigger than I expected."

Haru nodded in agreement. "It is big, isn't it?"

"Hey Haru, how did you know about this town, anyway?" You asked Haru. It had been on your mind for a while, but you didn't get the chance to ask the question.

"My father and some of his associates loved this place. It was a small, rural town and the hotel we stayed at was pretty nice." She explained to you.

"Wait a minute, did you pay for the trip all by yourself?" You asked without thinking your thought through.

Haru looked shocked for a second and blushed, "Actually, no. Akira insisted he pay for it. Then, Makoto asked everyone else to chip in, but she forgot about asking you."

"Eh?" You now had a face of confusion as you sat down on the couch.

"Yes. Makoto didn't ask for too much from me, but she asked a decent amount from everyone."

"So, I have to find and pay her sometime during the trip, right?" You asked. 

"Or whenever she remembers, she'll probably ask." Haru said. 

The room got quiet as Haru sat down next to you. She opened her mouth but closed it again. She turned to you. She looked nervous. 

"I'm sorry, I scared you earlier didn't I?" You said to Haru. "I didn't mean to scare everyone like that."

"It's alright. Have you always had panic attacks like that?" She asked. 

And there's the question you didn't want to answer.

Because along with it, comes other questions about your past.

"No. When I was first fighting Akechi I was fine. But, we fought for years. And, slowly, things started to make itself known. Like, how I was becoming passively suicidal because I couldn't beat Akechi. I gained anxiety because I couldn't stop thinking of him or how to beat him. Akechi became the one thing I actually cared about because everything else around me was pretty much crumbling. My parents died, and none of my family cared too much for me. So, I had to get a part-time job just to pay for a place to live. And school in and of itself was pretty horrible to balance on top of all that, I had to fend for myself in a world like this. And it took a huge toll on my self-esteem amd mental health. I do remember this though: Shiho, Ann's friend who tried to commit suicide, gave me a huge wake up call. I remember the day she did. Shiho made me reconsider everything, after I had seen what was going to be my fate if I kept up what I was doing. Even though me and Akechi fought less and less, it still heavily worried me about what he was going to do next. And, I really didn't want anyone to have deal with my problem. I hadn't done anything to help everyone with Kamoshida, and I only met Akira, Ryuji, Ann and Morgana by chance." You told Haru.

"I see." Was all she could say to you. Haru seemed to be a little sympathic with you, but she just wasn't sure what to say to you. 

But, luckily, she didn't have to. As the rest of the girls came in with worry written all over their faces. Namely, Ann seemed to be the most worried. 

"(Y/N), are you okay?" She asked as she sat down next to you. 

You smiled at Ann. To Ann, you had the exact same smile has what Shiho had when she was recovering from her suicide attempt. "I'm okay. Sorry to worry you." 

She sat down next to you and leaned on you shoulder. While Ann seemed a little less worried, she seemed like she didn't want to move.

Makoto set down the luggage that they brought with them and walked right in front of you. "How long?"

"What?" You said confused. It was Makoto's turn to bombard you with questions.

"How long have you had panic attack like those?" She asked you.

"Longer than the Phantom Thieves of Hearts have been around." You answered bluntly.

"When? When did those start? You told the school you had no history of mental illnesses."

"Yeah? The school doesn't need to know everything about me. And really, since Kamoshida was around, I didn't really trust most of the staff at the time. So, I didn't find it necessary to tell the school anything." You answered. You knew you were being mean to the student counsel president, but it wasn't a lie.

"You do have a point. So, what was it like? To fight with Akechi, I mean."

"Well, I have panic attacks, so that says something about it." You made the comment to try and lighten up the mood, but that didn't work. ". . . It was the same as how you fought him in Shido's Palace. But, you saw how the two of us fought. It's like that." 

"That, you call the fighting you and Akechi did normal?!" Futuba said.

"I have fought him for years, Futuba. Yes, a fight like that is normal to me." You said.

"So, you fought for so many years just like that? Because the way you fight with the Phantom Thieves is much differently." Futuba commented.

"Because I suppress most of my abilities. After all, I did need to hide my identity from Palace rulers since rumors spread fast in the Metaverse." You answered.

"Wait, if you were suppressing your powers then---" Makoto said.

"That's right. I never fought at my true strength when I was with the Phantom Thieves." You admitted.

"What?! Why?! Why not?!" Futuba growled at you. As the former navigator of the team, she was indeed angry you hide your true power from her. 

"Because I'm a monster!" You yelled as you started to cry. As soon as you realized you had yelled at Futuba, you had buried your face in your hands in both shame and sorrow. At that moment, you were breaking down. 

"You saw me when I fought Akechi that day! I'm not the girl you think I am! I just wanted to fix a mistake I made, but it's unfixable! I'm just as big of a monster as Akechi! I didn't want any of you to suffer because of a mistake I made!" You cried into your hands. 

Now, you had broken. All those years of your hidden feelings and desires had been let free and shown to your female teammates.

But because of your true power being hidden from your group, you thought you were protecting the rest of the group of the true horrors a Persona User can do to themselves. 

You had spent years using unsafe and dangerous methods to gain more power as a Persona User just to beat Akechi.

But, it seemed the more power you gained, Akechi gained equal power. 

All the methods your friends had used were healthy, normal methods to gain strength. You originally used those methods, but they didn't work for you after a while. So, you turned to more dangerous methods to try and gain more power. 

But, the more power you gained, the less stable you became. 

But when you were given a wake up call, you realized something. Your power, unless it was suppressed or gotten rid of, would kill you. So, you choose to suppress it by using a drug used to help you suppress unwanted memories. 

But, that had now failed you. Because of the most recent panic attack you had, all of your memories of the past had returned. 

But what you didn't know at that time was, you had hope.

Because your former teammates now understood your hidden suffering. And, there was someone else who needed healing just like you. 

You didn't understand at the time, but your broken, scarred self was on its way to be put back together by your dear friends.

Ann was the first to respond. She wrapped her arms around you and pulled you into her chest for a hug. While she said nothing to you at first, the message she made was clear: 

I care about you, (Y/N). 

Haru was the next to join in on the hug. She didn't say anything either, but she was crying, too. Even enough she didn't understand your past, she understood your pain. For, she had felt the same thing when her father died.

She felt alone, and she felt it might never be happy again.

But, now she had been proven wrong, as now, she had hope.

Futuba joined in next, and she, out of everyone else in that room, knew how you felt the most. Since, she went through something very similar in her lifetime.

Makoto joined in last. She was crying too. Though she probably didn't understand exactly what was going on, she understood a part of the pain you felt, and the feeling of how hard it was trying to let those feelings go.

Even though all of the girls spent most of the night hugging and comforting you, it had been a healing experience for you.

And so, the night fell onto the small town of Golden Fog. 

After all that crying, most of the girls had fallen asleep from physical and emotional exhaustion. Not in the futons you had been given, but mainly on the floor in living room. 

You were surrounded by your female teammates, all hugging one another with you in the middle of the group cuddle. Makoto and Futuba were hugging one another in their sleep on your left, while Haru was on the far right sleeping by herself. Ann had cuddled unto you, as if she was being somewhat clingy.

You woke up to the sound of knocking on the door. You untangled yourself from the mess of girls to answer the knocks. When you opened the door, there stood Akechi, in his summer outfit. 

"Ah. You are awake. If I maybe a bit of a nosy person, did you happen to come with a bag of treats?" Akechi asked. 

"Uh, yes, why?" You asked him.

"Akira mentioned something about them having a bag of treats, and that he would count that as dinner today. But, he seemed to not what to tell you about it." Goro said.

"He---What?!" You said. "So that's why my snacks were all gone when I checked my bag! Go figure. Then, should we get dinner then?" 

"Huh?" Akechi said. He was somewhat shocked on how you took your situation so lightly. Also, because you were offering food.

"Well, Mister Detective. Do you really think just Akira was in on this? Most likely, everyone else had apart to play, too. They most likely ate when the two of us were asleep. But we haven't eaten anything. I'm offering you food." You said.

Akechi got into his normal thinking pose, with his hand on his chin and everything, and thought about your theory. And, it was probably what had happened from what Akechi could assume. 

"I'll take you up on that offer, (Y/N)." Akechi said, putting his hand down from his chin. 

"Then let's hurry. We don't know where any shops are, or even when they close for that matter." You said to Akechi. "Anything in particular you want? Pancakes?" You teased him.

Akechi nodded at your comment about the shops closing times, but then frowned at the pancakes offer. "Are you guys going to tease me about that? That one comment I made a long time ago?" 

"At least, I will." You said. "Everyone else is up for debate."

Akechi laughed at that. 

While wandering the town, you noticed they were pretty diverse. You had many options as where to eat, and the two of you decided on a sushi place. Since it seemed decent in both cost and food quality. 

Or, so you thought. 

They gave you sushi bigger than your fist. And they had a lot of choices for dessert. It was pretty cheap to!

Aw hell yeah! Now that's the kinda stuff I'm talking about!

Freaking they stole your snacks, but you got a whole bunch of sushi and sweets in exchange. 

Now that, was a great way to start off your summer vacation!