#y’know that neighbor the one that I finally put my foot down and (in nicer terms) told her I wasn’t her personal chauffeur

[badolmen]

gorlie….

[baroquebucky]

love

a/n: hi hi !! here is another fic inspired by one of my fave bts songs <33 hope u all enjoy lmk what u think !! pls excuse any typos

bucky was cold and sad before you, now he is warm and happy, most of all, he’s in love

word count: 3k

masterlist

Bucky woke up from another nightmare, a thin layer of sweat on his forehead. He let out a shaky breath, looking around his empty apartment. He got up and washed his face, looking at himself in the mirror before tearing his gaze away.

Bucky didn’t sleep for the rest of the night, busying himself until sunrise, when he left his apartment and walked to park nearby.

That’s where he met you.

You were playing fetch with your dog, nearly tumbling over every time he jumped on you to get the ball from your hand, laughing as he would sprint away from you, tongue sticking out.

Bucky smiled at the sight, wishing he had a let of his own. You caught him staring at your dog and smiled, saying a quick ‘hello!’ and calling for you dog to come back.

Bucky returned a smile, the path he was on leading him towards where you stood. Your dog bounded over to you, ball in mouth and dropping it at your feet.

“do you wanna pet him?” You smiled at bucky, your dog staring at him wearily as he stopped near you.

“uh- he doesn’t seem like a fan” Bucky chuckled and you shook your head, scratching behind your dogs ear.

“he’s just protective, his name is ace” you smiled, walking towards Bucky slowly, ace following suit and sniffing at Bucky’s boots.

Ace warmed up to bucky quickly, sitting at his feet and waiting for his payment of pats. Bucky smiled, crouching down to pet him, the dogs soft fur against his hand made him smile.

You smiled at the interaction, thinking of what to say next, you knew this was the Bucky Barnes and you didn’t want to embarrass yourself.

“I’m y/n” you spoke as Bucky got back up, putting his gloves back on quickly. He turned to face you, a charming smile on his face.

“I’m Bucky” he replied, blushing as he finally saw your face, and wow were you breathtaking.

Your eyes met and you both blushed, you struggled to find words to keep the conversation going, not wanting him to leave so soon.

Is this love?

“why are you up so early” you asked, throwing the ball so ace could chase after it, still full of energy.

He paused for a moment before answering, “just an early bird” he smiled, you nodded. “what about you?” he asked, standing next to you as ace came back, dropping the ball at his feet this time.

“i have to tire him out before i go to work, so i gotta wake up early” you smiled, yawning not long after. You blushed and mumbled a quick ‘sorry’ and Bucky smiled at you.

Ace pranced back, no longer wanting to run around and play, only wanted to get back to his cozy bed and lounge for the rest of the day.

“we should get going, this guy makes me carry him to the car and up the stairs if he’s too tired” you laughed, bucky smiled and said goodbye, giving ace a few final pats before saying goodbye to him too.

Sometimes i know, sometimes i don’t

Bucky thought about you and your four legged friend for the rest of the day, wondering if you had always been there when he went for walks, was he too caught up in his own mind to even realize?

Bucky felt the day go by fast, feeling lighter than he had been the day before, talking to his neighbors a bit more and feeling tired by the time the clock hit 12 am rather than the usual 3 am.

He woke up early the next day, another nightmare shaking him awake, checking the clock it read 5:54 am, the sun barely about to rise.

He got up, changing and washing his face, brushing his teeth and heading out the door in 30 minutes.

The sun was up as he walked to the park, keeping an eye out for you, and sure enough there you were, this time throwing a frisbee to entertain ace. You looked exhausted and bucky felt a pang in his chest, how long did you sleep?

Your gaze me Buckys and you smiled brightly, perking up a bit as he walked closer.

“good morning bucky!” You smiled, ace running towards him, his frisbee in his mouth as he jumped to greet the super soldier.

“good morning y/n, and good morning ace!” He smiled, putting on a higher pitched voice for the dog who wagged his tail happily, hitting the mans leg with the frisbee.

Bucky took the frisbee, throwing it so ace could chase after it, you both smiled at your dog, running as fast as he could to catch the disk.

“how’d you sleep?” You asked, noticing the bags under his eyes, he shrugged.

“as well as i usually do. You?” He asked, trying to mask his concern.

“it was okay, wish i could’ve gotten more though” you smiled rubbing your burning eyes before throwing the frisbee once more.

Bucky nodded in agreement, the two of you making small talk until you and ace left once again.

“I’ll see you tomorrow?” You asked, putting a leash on ace and walking with Bucky towards your car. Bucky smiled brightly, nodding his head.

“yeah, I’ll see you tomorrow” he replied, already looking forward to it.

You are the one who will give meaning to my memories

For two weeks you and bucky met up and played with ace at the park during early mornings, sometimes walking around the park and talking about your days and what you had to do. Neither one of you prying too much, just enjoying each other’s company.

Bucky reminisced on the memories with a fond smile as he told Steve about you.

“no yeah she’s great, her dog is really cute too” bucky spoke, giddy to see you on Monday.

“why don’t you ask her out then?” Steve questioned and bucky shook his head, not knowing how he would even approach the situation.

The following Monday you greeted bucky with a smile, ace bounding over to him in excitement.

As the two of you fell into routine, Steve’s words rung in his ears, deciding to take a leap of faith.

“would you- do you maybe wanna get dinner someday? together?” Bucky asked, a charming smile on his face as ace wagged his tail, looking up at you, almost as if saying ‘do it! say yes!’

“uh- yeah I’d love that” you smiled at bucky, both of you relieved that the you weren’t alone in wanting more time together.

Before i knew you my heart was filled with straight lines

Bucky was excited for your first date, putting on his best clothes and getting some flowers for you on the way, knocking on your door and heading aces familiar bark.

You opened the door, wearing a nice and casual outfit, letting Bucky in and thanking him for the flowers.

“I’m gonna just put these in water, feel free to sit down” you smiled, hurrying around to finish as quick as possible.

Bucky nodded, taking a seat on your couch and looking around, your home was so, homey. Ace smiling proudly as Bucky pet him.

“okay shall we?” You laughed and bucky smiled, saying goodbye to ace as you closed the door and headed out. Bucky offered you his arm and you gladly took it, walking down the stairs with your arms linked.

“ace makes you carry him all the way up these?” He asked in shock and you nodded, letting out a small chuckle.

“don’t let him fool you he is very evil” you teased, Bucky widened his eyes and nodded his head.

“note to self, never get on aces bad side” he smiled as you laughed, continuing to make easy conversation for the rest of the night.

Bucky found himself being nicer to Sam and the rest of the team, hanging out with them more and even cracking jokes.

“you don’t stare anymore” sam spoke, a smile on his face as steve turned to look at bucky.

“Hm, he doesn’t” steve smirked and bucky rolled his eyes.

“got tired of looking at your face is all” he snickered, making the two other men laugh, bucky took a sip from his beer.

“he’s seeing a girl y’know” steve whispered and bucky groaned as Sam cheered. Bucky couldn’t help but smile as he thought of you. It had only been a week since your first date and he already wanted to take you out again, despite having seen you this morning.

I’d like to be in your novel as a lover

Time passed and you and bucky got closer, going on more dates and texting each other during the day, even calling each other when one of you couldn’t sleep.

Bucky told you about his nightmares, telling you how he would always wake up, too afraid to go back to sleep so he would wait until sunrise and go for a walk.

You told him how you had trouble sleeping, sometimes your mind would just never stop, other times you just had too much work.

Within two months bucky has asked you out, a bouquet of roses for you and treats for ace, he has set up a picnic for you during the sunset, getting your favorite foods and talking the entire evening, finally asking you out when the moon had risen.

I’m just a human, you erode all my edges and turn me into love

You made bucky a better person, teaching him his self worth and to be proud of who he was.

“Bucky wake up, angel it’s just a nightmare” you shook him gently, ace watching from the foot of the bed.

Bucky shot up quickly, breathing heavily as you placed a hand on his back, pulling him into you after he has calmed down.

“you’re here, you’re with me you’re okay” you assured him, wrapping him in your arms and holding him tightly.

“it was bad, i was bad” he mumbled, tears falling down his face.

“you aren’t him. you are good, you are human baby, you’re my love” he squeezed his eyes shut, focusing on your steady heartbeat as you ran your fingers through his hair, his arm draping over your stomach as he slowly fell back to sleep.

Buckys nightmares became more scarce, he became happier and less cold, embracing who he was.

He was also helplessly in love with you, constantly buying you flowers, taking you out on dates, taking care of you when he could, writing you letters, and so much more.

You make live to a love

After coming into his life you made bucky a better person, you made him into the person he always wanted to be.

Bucky no longer walked with his head down, rather he walked with a set gaze, giving a kind smile to strangers on the street and helping those in need, helping the others his friends when they needed him and even volunteering at the local animal shelter when he could.

Because of you i know why a person should live by love

Before you bucky would punch his way out of all his fights, he would be hot headed and angry if he got into an argument with someone on the team.

Now he was understanding and patient, listening to what the other had to say and looking to reason with them, taking time to communicate. Bucky was sympathetic, not wanting to fight every villain they came across, instead trying to reason with them. Between him and Sam, usually they didn’t even have to fight.

I live so i love

“angel? I’m home!” You called out, ace greeting you at the door, smiling at the freshly cooked dinner on the dining table, it was your favorite.

“Happy one year doll” Bucky smiled as you turned around, hugging him tightly and kissing him all over his face.

“buck i don’t know what to say” you smiled, still in awe of all he had done.

“don’t say anything, just go get changed and let’s enjoy our night yeah?” He replied, kissing you once more before letting you go.

You were thankful he opted for a night in, exhausted from work and wanting only to be in your lovers arms. And you did exactly that, spending the night dancing in your living room, laughing at his bad jokes and sharing stories.

“okay best pick up line go” you smiled, excited to see what he would say.

“not really a pick up line but” Bucky paused, looking you in the eyes. “It’s a long way from I to U, fuck JKLMNOPQRST, i crossed all the letters and i reached you” he smirked, loving the way your heart raced at his words.

“now i know why you were such a ladies man in the 40s” you whispered, crashing his lips onto yours.

If i go would you be sad?

“God james cant you just shut up and listen to me for one second!” You stated, voice raising out of frustration.

“well maybe if you could get it through your stubborn head that it wasn’t my fault maybe I’d stop having to explain” Bucky spoke angry, his voice steady as he clenched his jaw.

You were upset he had kept you in the dark about an ongoing mission, he was upset you didn’t realize he had done it to keep you safe.

“you keep saying you did it to keep me safe, James i was almost killed because i didn’t know! How is that keeping me safe?” You spoke, anger boiling over as you sat on the couch, wanting to just sleep.

“if i had told you, you would have never let me be as protective as i have been! You wouldn’t have taken your vacation days because you’re too stubborn” Bucky spoke, still standing across from you.

“I just need some time to think” you spoke softly, Bucky’s heart fell. We’re you gonna leave him?

“I’ll go” Bucky mumbled, already moving to pack a bag.

“bucky stop” you spoke, making him stop in his tracks. “sit down i don’t want you to leave, let’s talk about it angel” you sighed, wanting to just work it out and be in his arms once more.

You’re my love

Bucky was excited, everything had been planned perfectly. He had woken up at 4 am, getting everything ready for the following morning.

He had driven to the park with Sam and Steve who helped him set up the picnic, a blanket laid out with fruits and drinks along with dog toys to play with ace.

It had been nearly 4 years since the two of you had met, he knew you were the one for him.

As the sun rose you woke up, getting ready to take ace out with Bucky, only to find the two of them gone.

Just as you finished getting ready bucky walked in, a smile on his face.

“goodmorning doll, let’s get going yeah? already got ace in the car” he smiled and you thanked him, heading out the door and to the park.

when you arrived you immediately saw the picnic.

“buck what-” you began and he cut you off.

“just because” he smiled and you smiled, sure he always took you on dates but this was different, it felt more intimate.

As the two of you sat on the blanket and munched on food ace ate some treats bucky had gotten him, excited to play in a couple of minutes.

“I taught him a new trick” Bucky smiled and you raised your eyebrows, sitting up straighter to see ace perform said trick.

“let’s see what you got Barnes” you smirked and he smiled.

“ace go fetch!” Bucky spoke, ace ran from the blanket in a straight line.

“haha bucky, we both know he already knew that, plus you didn’t even throw-” you cut yourself off as you saw ace pick something up, running back towards the two of you. Bucky stood up, offering you a hand so you could get up.

“y/n, i love you, you taught me what love is, you made me into a better person, from the moment we met i always felt like we were meant to be.” Bucky spoke, glancing over to see ace closer to the two of you, a little over halfway back.

“you’re my person, my desire, my pride, my one and only love” Bucky spoke, crouching down and taking the small box from aces mouth, letting him and giving him more treats.

Bucky got on one knee, opening the box and looking at you with bright eyes. Your vision was blurry, but unlike four years ago, it wasn’t from sleep, but from tears.

“y/n, doll, will you marry me?”

You nodded your head quickly, wiping away your tears and smiling brightly.

“yes, of course yes angel” you replied, wrapping your arms around him as he picking you up and spun you around, setting you down and kiss you, making your knees weak.

He slipped the ring on your finger with a smile, ace barking as the two of you kissed once more, pulling away with a smile.

“that has to be his best trick” you joked, petting ace and kissing the top of his head.

“now i gotta train him to be the ring bearer for the wedding” Bucky laughed and you nodded, squinting your eyes as you saw Sam and Steve running in the distance.

“is that-?” You questioned and bucky laughed, the two men cheering as they saw you and bucky cuddled up.

“she said yes!” Bucky called out and the two men cheered, arriving out of breath.

“thank god, he woke us up at like 3 am to get everything ready” sam spoke and Steve nodded, giving the two of you a hug, Sam quickly following suit.

“I’m happy for you guys” Sam spoke, Steve nodding along side him, squeezing Buckys arm before they left the two of you alone.

You smiled as you looked up at the sky, pinks and reds painting the clouds. You turned to tell bucky, but decided against it when you saw him on the floor playing with ace, voice high pitched as he baby talked him.

Your heart melted, you couldn’t wait to spend the rest of you life with your two favorite boys.

[knybits]

- ̗̀ peonies, white roses and camellias ̖́-

hoooooooo boy guys youre all in for SUCH a ride :)) this is 5k words long so i broke it up into 2 parts!! also, this was LARGELY inspired off of the flower shop and tattoo parlor au that @thunderandrainclouds wrote (im linking it here!) and i thought “why not just write the au but with all our ocs” LMAOOOOO 

she also drew some art, so i hope youll give her art work some love bc it LITERALLY SENDS ME ALL THE TIME 

Akiko is my oc

Chiyo belongs to @thunderandrainclouds

Miyuki belongs to @kny-writings

so without further ado, please enjoy! 

Part One || Part Two

“Have you heard? There’s going to be a new shop across the street,” Akiko says, looking out the window at the construction team that’s pointing at blueprints. 

“Hah? Why the hell should I care?” Sanemi snaps, not bothering to look up from his client. Akiko rolls her eyes, directing her attention away from the busy scene outside and instead to her two co-workers, whom she hates with a passion. 

The ever so quiet Giyuu that once snuck up on her, tapped her shoulder, scared the shit out of her, and made her fuck up on a client. 

Sanemi, a royal asshole that can’t control his temper and snaps at Giyuu and herself. 

Yup, Akiko is living the life at her job. 

Unfortunately, the three of them are the best of the best, and they get clients from all over the world. 

What with Akiko’s talented eye for precision, Giyuu’s incredible watercolor designs, and Sanemi’s bold sense of style, their names are well known by other tattoo artists. 

It’s such a shame they all hate each other. 

Well, maybe Giyuu has no hate in him, but tensions are high. 

At any rate, a few more months pass, and Akiko is able to tell that the new store across the street is a flower shop. There are colorful buckets lining the outside of the store, and the windows are big and tall to allow for sunshine. The two stores line directly parallel from each other, and Akiko catches sight of three people that constantly walk in and out of the new shop. 

She doesn’t even realize she’s looking at one particular guy until he turns around, and their eyes meet. Akiko blinks once, twice, then she quickly turns away from the window of her parlor. 

It’s the next day that Akiko actually meets someone from the new store across the street. 

The bell to their parlor rings, and Akiko looks up from her phone to tell them that they’re still closed, only to see that Giyuu is already at the counter. 

“Hi! Sorry to just walk in, I read your sign I swear. But we’re your new store neighbors!” A bubbly voice says, and Akiko finds herself look at a pearl haired girl wearing a light green apron with a small batch of flowers in a small mason jar in her hands. Her white short sleeved shirt allows for Akiko to see her muscular arms, and she’s impressed by the size. 

Giyuu makes no move to talk, only blinking stoically at the girl. Akiko can’t help but find this odd. 

Sure, he doesn’t talk much, but he would at least greet customers or visitors. 

Her smile turns a bit wry, she looks nervous in Akiko’s eyes, and she awkwardly places the jar of flowers on the corner of the counter. 

“Uhm, anyway, there are two other workers over there, and if you ever want to stop by and say ‘hi’ you’re more than welcome to!  No pressure or anything,” she mutters a quick ‘fuck’ under her breath, twiddling with her thumbs. 

“Yeah, I’m Takenaka Chiyo, and uh… yeah, I think I’m gonna leave now so… bye!” Chiyo jets out of the store, the bell ringing a final time, and the store is quiet again. 

Sanemi walks into the store a few minutes later, an eyebrow cocked at the odd sight of Giyuu and Akiko staring off into the same general direction. 

“What? The fuck you guys lookin at?” 

Giyuu bursts into a fit of red, and both Akiko and Sanemi’s jaws drop. 

---

It’s been a week now, and Akiko finds herself looking out the window more often. 

She hates it.

Why? 

Because she’s looking out of the window to stare at some burgundy haired guy that works at the flower shop. 

He wears a forest green apron that reminds Akiko of a Starbucks employee, and Akiko can see that he also wears hanafuda earrings. There’s also a scar on his left temple, but she finds herself drawn to his bright smile every time he gifts a child a small daisy. 

She’s getting caught more often now though, and it’s embarrassing as hell for her. She tries to play it off nonchalantly, but she can’t help the quick blush that spreads across her face. 

“Oh my! How cute! Did you get these from across the street?” A lady gushes once Akiko is done with her tattoo and is ringing her up at the counter. Akiko turns her attention to the batch of wisteria, peonies, camellias, and white roses. 

Akiko smiles at her customer, handing back the change and replying, “Yeah! Our store smells a lot nicer ever since they’ve come into town,” she laughs, and the lady laughs with her. 

“Well I think it’s a nice touch to the store. Perhaps you’ll get a discount and can have more flowers in the parlor?” 

Akiko glances over at the window, catching the burgundy boy looking at her, before flicking her eyes back at her client with a polite smile. 

“Y’know? I couldn’t agree more!” 

---

“Sanemi go across the street and pick up some flowers I ordered.” 

“HAH?! Why me?” 

Akiko and Giyuu hold up their tattoo guns, continuing to scroll through their phones on a lazy Sunday before chiming in, “We have clients we’re waiting for.” 

Thank god Akiko found out she could purchase the flowers online. 

Otherwise she would have stayed staring out the window and sent in a telepathic order. 

Sure, she wants to walk over and say ‘hi’ to her store neighbors, but she also doesn’t want to meet the burgundy haired boy. Her heart might not be able to handle his smile up close. 

Sanemi glares at the two lazy asses before stomping over to them, his own tattoo gun in hand.

“Fuck that. I have clients too. Akiko you go,” he points his gun at Akiko, and on instinct she lifts her gun to point it right back at Sanemi. 

He’s giving her the nastiest glare now, and Akiko glares right back at him, slowly standing from her seat to square him up. 

“Wait, guys,” Giyuu makes the mistake to point his gun in their general direction, and the two whip their tattoo guns straight at Giyuu within a snap. 

And now Giyuu can’t help but actually point his gun at Sanemi out of feeling threatened, and Akiko slowly slinks back to her work area to grab another gun. 

The two other idiots do the same, grabbing another gun while moving back and forth between each other and glaring menacingly. 

“Put the fuckin gun down you brat,” Sanemi snaps at Akiko, one gun pointed at Giyuu and the other at our golden eyed protagonist. 

She scoffs, “You first, twat.” 

“Guys maybe we should stop before customers walk in-” 

“KEEP YOUR MOUTH SHUT!” 

“YOU HAVE YOUR GUNS POINTED AT US TOO DUMBASS!” 

“How cool! What do you think is going on?” Miyuki smiles, resting her chin on her hand as she leans over the store’s counter to look through the window. She’s watching the three world famous tattoo artists and their stand off, and to say she’s interested is an understatement. 

Chiyo looks up from the register, squinting her eyes at the scene then tilting her head to the side. 

“Are those… Real guns?” 

“Do I call the cops??” Tanjirou suddenly shows up, quickly putting down the watering can in his hand to pick up the store phone, only to be stopped by the two older women. 

“Put the phone down,” they chorus without moving their gaze from the window. 

“Miyu, are you recording this shit?” 

“Do you take me for a fool?” 

“I- I really think we should call in some law enforcement to make sure no one dies…” 

“Oh wait? Oh? Tea? They’re putting their guns down- THEY’RE UP AGAIN!!” 

“This is gonna go viral.” 

“Guys I don’t think-” 

“OH SHIT ABORT ABORT! OLD MAN IS WALKING OVER!!” 

Miyuki scrambles to turn her phone off, shoving it into her apron pocket as Tanjirou scrambles to pick the watering can up again and rushes to the back of the store to hide. Chiyo, for reasons unknown, ducks under the counters and sits there, so Miyuki is left to defend the fort. 

She picks up a random rag, wiping the counter and making sure she doesn’t look into the eyes of an oddly hot hell beast, finally hearing the bell chime. 

“Hi! Welcome! How can I help you today?” Miyuki goes for a smile. 

There’s a crash and a bang from the back of the store, a miserable, “Ow…” then Chiyo popping up from the counter to dash back and check in on a certain baby. Needless to say, the store isn’t making the greatest first impression. 

But Sanemi pays the incident no mind, shoving his hands into his pockets before nodding his head back to the tattoo parlor. 

“I work there, and one of my stupid co-workers bought some flowers from you guys.” 

Miyuki can’t stop staring at his toned chest, which he so brazenly displays with the top half of his silk black shirt popped open. The shirt is tight fitting too, and Miyuki is about to ascend, her mind repeating ‘NICE’ on repeat like some mantra. 

“Uhh, yeah, lemme go get that,” she mutters under her breath, then stumbles to the back of the store. 

When Sanemi gets back to the tattoo parlor with another small batch of flowers, Giyuu looks up from his work and Akiko swings her legs off a nearby chair. She stares at him quizzically, in no way used to seeing him with a light blush on his face. 

“What? You embarrassed you scared the flower fairies?” Akiko scoffs, and Sanemi moves to slam the jar onto the counter but stops himself, setting it down gently instead. 

Now Akiko knows something is up. 

“She kept me there longer than she should have. Rambling on and on and on about flower language and what the flowers we ordered means and the colors and stuff. God she’s annoying,” Sanemi snaps, and Akiko raises a brow and the newly budding love. 

“Yeah, sure Romeo…” 

“CALL ME THAT AGAIN AND I’M CARVING AN ‘L’ ON YOUR FOREHEAD!” 

---

Akiko almost drops her tattoo gun and through her foot when she sees sunshine boy walk through her parlor doors. 

She’s just finished up with a client and rather than setting the gun down onto the metal tray, she starts to cough on her own spit and freaks out a bit. 

Sanemi and Giyuu look over at her, and she discreetly mouths at them to casually ‘fuck off’, before helping her client to their feet and assisting them to the counter. 

Sunshine boy is accompanied by his oddly attractive friend, but they wait patiently while Akiko quickly explains the steps for aftercare while ringing her client up. She’s quick to notice that she better hurry up though, since sunshine boy’s friend looks to be a bit… energetic. 

When her client leaves, Akiko tries her best to smile at her two customers, shutting the cash register door with a clank. 

“Hi! How can I help you guys today?” 

Sunshine boy looks apologetic, gesturing to his friend, who looks around the store at the examples of what he can possibly get tattooed onto himself. 

“Sorry, uhm, my friend Inosuke has been wanting to get a tattoo for a long time, so I thought this would be the best place…” 

Akiko starts tapping into the computer, spelling out Inosuke’s name before frowning at the screen. 

“Sorry, but did you guys make an appointment?” 

“Huh? Why would we do that? Just draw a boar on my arm,” the Inosuke guy stands before Akiko now, his arms buffer that the Chiyo lady Akiko met a few weeks ago. Akiko raises a brow, and sunshine boy quickly rallies his friend back. 

“S- Sorry! I didn’t know we had to make a reservation. We’ll just go now-” 

“Hold up,” Akiko raises a hand, clicking through the computer to check her schedule for the day. When she sees that she’s all clear, she looks up from the screen with a smile. 

“It’s your lucky day. I can squeeze your friend in,” Akiko says, but sunshine boy looks distressed. 

“No, that’s okay! We can schedule a real time and date and come back, honest!” He says, but Inosuke rolls his eyes and starts to waltz over to the chair that Akiko’s previous client was sitting on. 

Akiko smiles at sunshine boy’s abrasive friend, not too bothered by this attitude since Sanemi is leagues worse, so she turns to sunshine boy and winks. 

“Consider this a store neighbor special.” 

Wow. 

When has Akiko ever been this smooth? 

Akiko tunes out her embarrassed thoughts, shoving aside the last 20 seconds to get out her sketch pad and asking Inosuke what he wants. 

“A BOAR!!” 

“You’re gonna have to give me more to work with. Else you want me to ink Peppa on you.” 

So Inosuke rolls his eyes, and Akiko’s pencil dances across the pad of paper. She works quickly, listening to Inosuke ramble on about how cool boars are and how he used to live with a bunch of them when he was a kid (this mildly worries Akiko). 

By the end of it, Akiko’s drawn the head of a boar with sharp tusks, and Inosuke marvels at her drawing, claiming it to be badass and worthy enough to be inked on his arm. 

Even sunshine boy looks impressed, softly clapping for Akiko from his seat across she. 

Akiko ignores her subtle blush, deciding to get to work as she fills up her tattoo guns and swabs the arm that Inosuke wants inked. Then she quickly redraws the boar onto her ipad, gets it printed out, then applies the art onto Inosuke’s arm. 

“Is it done already?! That’s fast!!” 

The sudden buzzing noise from Akiko’s tattoo gun makes Inosuke jump a bit, and his face pales enough for her to notice. Even sunshine boy takes note of his friend’s alarm, and he offers his hand with a smile. Inosuke turns the offer down though. 

But once Akiko starts to get to work, Inosuke becomes oddly quiet, eyes trained on the flowers on the counter with the sound of buzzing clouding his mind. 

Akiko looks up from her work to glance at sunshine boy, who is watching with wide and curious eyes, and their gazes meet once again. 

She decides to strike up a conversation while she has his attention, flickering her eyes back down to make sure she isn’t messing up then casually saying, “I never got you name.” 

He blinks to snap himself out of his concentrated daze, flushing a bit and scratching at his cheek. 

“Oh, sorry! We’ve been store neighbors for months and I never properly introduced myself. I’m Kamado Tanjirou.” 

Akiko smiles to herself, “Finally, I can call you something other than sunshine boy,” she chuckles. 

Throughout the rest of the conversation, Tanjirou remains red in the face and Akiko busies herself as to not flush red too. Of course, the minute she puts down the tattoo gun, it’s over for her. 

hhhh so for some last minute notes, ill,,, explain a few things :) 

that tattoo gun scene? yeah think of that one episode from the office. cant picture it? literally type “the office showdown gifs” into google and bam, a live action of the scene. 

this was such a joy to write!! and i cant wait for you guys to read the next part! this was like,,, the set up of the ships so :) 

a huge huge thank you to mari and chuu for letting me use their ocs!!!!!!!! check our their blogs guys, theyre so so nice and such a joy to collab with :,,) 

[silver-ninja-of-the-tides]

Silver and Gold 4--Not Just a Tournament

Chapter 7--Something Forming in the Deep

Summary

Fractured once, then fractured again. Four of the heroes of Ninjago have hung up their ninja gear and vainly started anew. And they’ve convinced themselves that they’re not going back.

But as Lloyd and Janet try to piece their team back together, a mysterious invitation to a massive tournament tells them that Zane is alive.

Bonds will be tested. Suspicions of everything they know and don’t know will arise. It all goes down at the Tournament of Elements.

(First chapter)

Cole’s POV

Below me, Des merely flipped over to Kai’s balcony right before Lloyd and I landed on the rail. Why am I not surprised they’re neighbors?

Kai let us in just as Janet dropped in, and I couldn’t believe his room! He has a normal bed! And typical Kai just has to have a lavafall.

“Yup. This has him written all over it. Literally,” Des said as she looked at the picture of Kai.

“Ugh. That’s it. His room’s better than mine!” I summed up. “And look at these!” I gestured to the confections on the small table. “I don’t have these!”

“What’s wrong with your room?” Janet asked, leaning against the dresser behind me.

“Oh nothing, nothing . . . except for a stone hard bed!”

“That’s it?”

“I mean that literally!”

“Sooo I’m guessing you don’t have silk sheets,” Des said wryly.

“Absolutely not!”

Kai suddenly slipped inside and slammed his door shut.

“Where’s Jay?” Des asked, and he poked his head back outside.

“Oh okay, heh! Good night, heh heh!” He closed the door again with raised shoulders, and we all exchanged looks. A couple seconds went by before he went back outside.

“You just had to leave me hangin’, huh, Romeo?” Jay retorted, and he and Kai finally came inside. “Woah-ho-ho-ho! Nice digs!”

“I know!” I complained. “His room is so much nicer than mine! Look. Chocolate-covered shell peas! I love these!” After eating a couple I leapt onto Kai’s bed with the peas. “Ohh and look how soft your pillows are!”

“They can’t be that soft,” Des said.

“Try them out!”

With a smirk she jumped onto the bed. “Ooh you’re right! They are soft, almost as soft as mine.”

“Man, mine are made of rock! What a croc.”

“Okay, it was almost impossible to get here,” Jay said. “This place is swarming with guards! Any ideas on how we search the island?”

“We travel by shadow,” Kai answered. “Cover every square inch of this place until we find him.”

My hand brushed up against the wall, and the next thing I knew, Des and I were seeing nothing but black. Instinctively I grappled onto the sheets and Des’s hand to keep us from falling.

“What did you do?” she interrogated.

“How am I supposed to know?!”

“Well whatever you did, undo it.”

“You try and do something! My hands are occupied!”

Looking around, she randomly kicked to the right, and we miraculously flipped back into Kai’s room. “That was lucky.” A few seconds went by before we looked to each other in realization.

“Uh, guys? This bed is uh—”

“Cole! I get it! You like my bed!” Kai barked. “Will you stop playing around?”

“He just found something!” Des argued.

“Like what, exactly?” Janet asked.

“I think I know how we can search the island,” I said. “Hop on, guys!”

The others exchanged looks.

“Just get on,” Des said. We all crowded onto the bed and laid there for a few moments.

“Okay, I feel ridiculous,” Lloyd admitted.

“Took the words right out of mouth,” Janet said.

Jay sighed. “You’re right. The pillows are soft!”

“Is this a joke?” Lloyd asked.

“I must’ve done something to trigger it,” I said. “I was laying here, then I stretched—”

Click!

The bed flipped over a few times before stopping above the same pit of darkness, and we all gasped as we hung from the bed. Well, most of us did. Kai was hanging on to my foot and Des was holding Janet’s wrist.

“Secret passageway!” Jay gushed. “Cool!”

Kai produced a flame for light. “Nice work, Cole. Maybe Zane’s not on the island, but in it.”

Suddenly we heard grunting from another direction, and it seemed to be really close by.

“Quiet! Do you hear that?” Lloyd whispered. Above us were two tiny holes streaming with light.

“Oh! Secret peepholes!” Jay beamed. “Ha hah, super cool!” He scaled the wall to reach the peepholes. “Sounds like someone’s fighting on the other side of this wall.”

“Whaddya see? Who’s fighting?” I asked.

“It’s not a fight. It’s Skylor’s room. And it looks like she’s training.”

“Lemme see, lemme see!” Kai zipped up the wall to get a look.

“Seriously?” Janet criticized.

“Ohhh, looks like Kai’s got the hots for her,” I teased.

“No, she’s competition!” Kai protested. “I just wanna know what powers we’re up against.”

“Ugh, wait your turn!” Jay scoffed.

“We can at least share!”

Janet just face palmed at their antics while Des looked to the roof in annoyance.

“Guys! This is an invasion of privacy!” Lloyd scolded.

“Her room doesn’t reveal anything about her power,” Kai said disappointedly. Suddenly the duo gasped.

“What was it? What did you see?” I begged.

“She’s . . . fire.”

“Wait a minute,” Lloyd started. “If we’re all descendants of elemental masters . . .”

I started teasing him. “Kai’s heart is on fiiire! Kai’s heart is on fiiire! Kai’s heart is on fiiire!”

“Can we please just keep moving?” Kai spat.

“Finally!” Des retorted, throwing her arms up.

“Ooh-hoo-hoo! Looks like someone’s a little jealous!” I joked.

With a growl she doused me with water.

“Hey!”

“Let’s just find Zane and get out of here.” She stormed off behind Kai, and the rest of us exchanged looks before moving on. I, on the other hand, have found the shell peas, and I’m enjoying every one of them.

As we walked, Kai and Des kept stealing side glances at each other before he ultimately turned his head away in embarrassment. As much as I like getting on their nerves, those two need to talk things out if this gets messy.

“It’s like a maze down here,” Kai finally said. “Good thing you’re leaving a trail back to our room.”

“I’m what?” Behind me was a trail of shell peas. “Oh! Yeah, heh. I meant to do that.”

“And a trail of water,” Janet added.

“Yeah. And that . . .”

Coming across a shaft, we all climbed down as we ventured deeper into the passageways. Glancing over my shoulder, Des had her arms folded and was tapping her fingers against them. Occasionally her eyes flickered to Kai. After looking to him and her, I fell into step with her.

“. . . You uh, gonna talk to him?”

“Me?” Des asked. “No. I mean . . . of course I’m gonna talk to him, but now’s not the time. We both have other things to focus on, like finding Zane.”

“Can’t be too hard. You’re neighbors.”

“It’s a delicate situation, Cole. I can’t just waltz up to him and talk about it.”

I glanced over to the others, who were unaware of our conversation. “Look. I don’t want you two to have a similar problem to what Jay and I had about Nya.”

“Had?”

“Okay. We s-still have that problem. But my point is, try to find the time to talk to him. Even though things are getting crazy here, just do it. You’ll thank me later.”

She stayed quiet, and her fingers drifted to her pin. “I’ll think about it.”

“Heh. Don’t think about it for too long.”

She shot me a look.

“All right, that was bad. But hey! If they’re related then you won’t have anything to worry about.”

“Maybe . . .” Man. I wish I could take my own advice . . .

Eventually we came across a stone tunnel, which meant that we were actually making some kind of progress.

“Everyone stop!” Lloyd grabbed Kai’s shoulder and gestured to the trip wire. “Booby traps.”

“Ho ho! Booby traps!” Jay said. “Even cooler, ha hah!”

Lloyd gave his a stern look.

“Or I mean, kinda cool. I mean they’re totally not cool. Y’know ‘cause they’re dangerous.”

“From here on out we have to watch our step.”

“Do you hear that?” Kai asked. “Everyone, be quiet.”

We all fell silent, and we could pick out some form of chanting far ahead of us.

“Where's it coming from?” Des asked.

“Only one way to find out,” Janet replied.

Carefully we made our way further into the tunnel. I wonder if any of Chen’s goons have ever accidentally triggered any of these traps . . .

Footsteps from another part of the tunnel stopped us in our tracks, and we hid behind a boulder. Four of Master Chen’s thugs walked by heading for the source of the chanting. Shortly afterwards, several more followed behind.

“Psst.” Lloyd gestured to the incoming guards, and unanimously we all pulled them aside to knock ‘em out. “Hope you don’t mind if we borrow these.”

We slipped the armor over our suits and put on the snake skulls they had.

“Huh. Good thing we have short hair,” Des said.

“Oh speak for yourself, Destiny!” Janet hissed, pulling her hair back in a tight bun.

“Something doesn’t feel right,” Jay said, unsure. “We got the armor, the hats; what are we missing?”

Lloyd looked down at the unconscious guards in thought. Then his eyes fell onto me, and I stopped mid-bite.

“What?”

Jay’s POV

So here we were in the heart of the action in plain sight. In front of us was a horde of guards all chanting as they stood in front of Clouse. A giant stone statue of a Serpentine head loomed over us, and torches lit the room entirely.

“Stop licking your tattoos!” Kai scolded in a hushed tone.

“It’s chocolate! I can’t resist,” Cole protested quietly.

“Shh! Just try to fit in,” Lloyd said. Hah! I’m already doing that!

As the rest of us tried “chanting,” I could barely see someone up ahead walking toward the assembled group with some kind of glowing staff. With one pound at the ground everyone dropped to the floor, and we hastily did the same seconds later.

“Bring out the loser!” Chen ordered. Two men came in dragging a struggling metal Karlof to the front.

“Get hands off Karlof! Karlof wish he never signed up for this!” He was thrown at the feet of Chen, and he had no choice but to look up. “What is chanting for?”

“They’re saying ‘Only one can remain.’ ”

“He really likes that phrase, doesn’t he?” Des whispered.

“No kidding,” Cole commented.

“Like I said, ‘Use it or lose it’!” Chen quoted.

The same two guards held Karlof back by the arms, and Chen fired his staff at him. An ice-like mist seeped into Karlof before retreating back into the staff, bringing a gray mist with it. Karlof’s metal skin was gone, and he dropped face first onto the ground like he was drained of energy.

“He’s stolen Karlof’s power!” Kai realized.

“And he used ice,” Cole added. “That means he must’ve already stolen Zane’s power, too!”

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