#but. we'll get our cats next weekend. I'm trying not to think that something will go wrong to prevent that from happening... | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

moosekateer13 · 7 months

Text

Wonderland

For @unnuevosoltransformalarealidad

Happy birthday 🎂.

Noe x Jared Padalecki

Warnings: Angst, Smut, Protected Sex, Fluff

Summary: Noe and Jared seem like the perfect couple; they've got everything going for them. They are parents to two wonderful boys and CEOs of the book company they built together called Wonders. That can't be further from the truth. Sometimes people forget the difference between real and fake. That's just in the soap opera they filmed called Wonderland. In reality, they can't stand each other. The cast and crew end up having to stay over the Thanksgiving weekend when an unexpected snowstorm hits.

Will they be able to handle an extra few days in Wonderland or will they both go mad?

Inspired by Taylor Swift's Wonderland.

Didn’t they tell us, "Don’t rush into things"? Didn't you flash your green eyes at me? Didn’t you calm my fears with a Cheshire cat smile? Ooh, didn't it all seem new and excitin'? I felt your arms twistin' around me . It’s all fun and games 'til somebody loses their mind. But darlin'.

I was looking forward to seeing my family when the snowstorm hit. Now I'm stuck here on the set of Wonderland with Jared.

This room feels tiny despite it being huge.

After 10 fucking years of these intimate settings you'd think I'd be used to being stuck in a room with him. I haven't and probably never will.

I fiddle with the hem of my green dress. We had just filmed a 10th anniversary for our characters.

"Jared, stop looking at me with a Cheshire Cat smile and just stay in your half of the room," I said as I looked down at the tape I put down to divide the room. I feel like he's up to something.

He smirks at me and flashes his hazel eyes at me. Jared crosses the line dividing the room.

He backs me into the bed.

Damn, now there is no room between him in the king-sized bed.

"Jared, this isn't a scene between Tara and Noah. You are confusing fiction and… He cuts me off with a kiss. I hesitantly kiss him back. It feels like an electric current flowing through me. Shamefully I'm both excited and aroused at the prospects of his next moves. I feel him smirk against my lips as he grabs the zipper of my dress. I don't know what has come over but I find myself pulling down the zipper on his black dress pants. Non-verbally permitting him to continue his actions. In a blink, all our clothes are scattered across the room.

We grip each other like our lives depended on it.

The red silk sheets that were once cold are now warm and covered in sweat.

Jared's name escapes my lips as we simultaneously come. In our haste, I think we forgot to use protection. The feeling of his seed never filling me makes me come to the realization in our lust-filled haze. He must have put on a condom.

Before I know hours have gone by and the sound of one of the co-stars yelling at us to keep it down brings us back to reality.

Jared and I pull away from each other.

We lay on our sides facing each other.

I see the sheen of sweat and his messy hair. He is marked all over. There's even a smudge of my red lipstick on him. I do not doubt that my body is fully marked up as well.

He looks handsome even in that dishevelled state. Then reality hits me like a ton of bricks at the realization of what we just had done.

"Still hate me, darling?" Jared said with a smirk. I feel the heat rise in my cheeks. Unable to get any words out I simply shake my head no.

I know where this is heading, but that's one thing I know for sure.

I find myself thinking that this may head somewhere. Who am I kidding? By tomorrow we'll go back to the way we were.

Jared senses my unease and pulls me closer to him. His multi-spectrum eyes bore into my eyes.

"I don't know where we are going either darling but I'm willing to try a genuine relationship," Jared said.

"Okay if you are sure," I replied.

I don't really know what really sparked these sudden changes between us but I like it.

He kisses me on the forehead before sleep overcomes him.

I swear before sleep overcomes him I heard him murmur something I never hated you. I just hated that you weren’t mine. I’m too tired to think straight. I’ll make a note of that to ask him about that tomorrow. It’s time for me to get some rest too. If I can even fall asleep. I still feel the euphoria of today’s activities.

We found Wonderland, you and I got lost in it (In Wonderland)

And we pretended it could last forever (In Wonderland)

We found Wonderland, you and I got lost in it (In Wonderland)

And life was never worse, but never better

In Wonderland

#Wonderland #Noe x Jared Padalecki #unnuevosoltransformalarealidad #supernatural fanfiction #moosekateer 13 #Angst #Smut #Protected Sex #Fluff

1 note · View note

losingitinjersey · 2 years

Text

Almost four weeks.

Four weeks from my cat, Saki, acting totally normal to the day we had to put him down. My 15 year old, grumpy man, best friend furrever. No one loved him like I did because he never let anyone get close to him. He was a crotchety old grump but was the absolute sweetest to me (he tolerated Kevin and the girls well enough).

From the day I picked him out at Miller's Feed Store as a kitten in 2006 , he was all mine. We went through a lot of shit together over the last 15 years. 7 homes and a cross-country traveler with me. It's weird being home alone now. I never was alone when he was around. I didn't realize it until he was no longer here and his absence is deafening. There was always a little buddy waiting for me somewhere. I still think I see him sometimes, out of the corner of my eye. Or I think I'll hear him walking around the room, or feel him jump up onto the bed to cuddle and purr on my chest as I fall asleep. My love for him was so deep and so fierce.

When he was a few years old he befriended an old bra of mine. It became his security blanket. Every day for the rest of his life I'd find that raggedy old black bra somewhere new around the house and I'd smile, knowing he could be found with it clamped in his mouth as it dragged in-between his legs with him mewing all the while.

The day he passed, this past Thursday, I didn't know it would be my last day with him. Kevin had that day and Friday off so I was calling to schedule something for the weekend or next. But they said they could come over within two hours. Fuck. When they arrived at my house the vet assessed him and said he was in a lot of pain. That it was time. That helped. It helped knowing I was doing the right thing and that this wasn't something he was going to recover from. I'm grateful I got to hold him as he passed. I'm grateful he's no longer in pain. It was a beautiful way to say goodbye. I miss the fuck out of him. Constantly. There will never be another little angry buddy like him. My ferocious feline friend.

Besides being consumed in the fast/slow decline of my friend, Erp was home for 12 straight days due to a close encounter exposure at daycare. Plus working full time, and taking care of Aug of course. It's all been a lot. Amazingly, Kevin was able to get Wednesday, Thursday and Friday off work last week. He stepped up in such a huge way, allowing me to both focus on work and grieving.

On Saturday I cleaned for four hours straight. It was a fresh start that I desperately needed. As much as I'd trade anything for more time with a healthy Saki, I tried to find silver linings in vacuuming the stairs knowing they won't collect fur on them again. Scrubbing the urine soaked carpets knowing they wouldn't just get peed on again. Airing out the house and trying to start to relearn life without a tiny sidekick.

On top of all of this, we're in the process of starting to put in offers on homes in Philadelphia. Today my realtor did a video walkthrough with me on a home I fell in love with. It's still early so I don't think we'll go far above asking price (we're not desperate yet), but it's exciting to get our feet wet and start dreaming about what this next chapter will bring.

92 notes · View notes

everythingsinred · 3 years

Text

Let's Talk About NatsuMikan: Natsume (pt. 5)

I'm back on my bullshit. I decided I'd post these, once a day, four days a week. Then I'll go on breaks for the weekend to let interested readers catch up while also further writing more entries. At the time I'm posting this, for example, I'm in the process of analyzing Chapter 39. That way, it's easier for everyone to enjoy this essay. Which I hope people do.

Anyway, this can finally truly be called a ship essay, because one of our key players has FINALLY developed feelings! Going forward, Natsume's behavior will heavily feature his growing affections for Mikan. We'll be analyzing Natsume's self-preserving hesitation as well as his immediate instinct to give up any chance he has from the get-go.

Chapter Seventeen

Natsume next shows up to walk into Class B during a commotion of Mikan’s retelling of the Reo incident. The kids all gather around him now too to ask questions and press about his condition. One kid even asks if he should teach Mikan a lesson for bragging about his rescue. Mikan smiles at him, under the assumption that their shared trauma has brought them closer and maybe even made them friends, but Natsume’s response is to simply turn away and ignore her.

He’s still Natsume after all. This is the first girl he’s ever liked, and she used to be somebody he despised, so the change in feelings is probably very strange to him. He’s confused and possibly embarrassed. He doesn’t know what to say or how to act.

Can't have her getting any ideas that he's completely changed his mind about her or anything.

Most of the people that Natsume likes at the school (although that is just Ruka and Youichi… so… you know) know that he likes them. He spends time with them, is gentle with them, does things for them, and can openly say kind things to and about them. Mikan is different. He used to be her number one enemy, so all of a sudden switching gears and becoming her friend would be quite odd.

Over time, Natsume will find ways to be gentle and sweet to Mikan, but for now his crush is brand new and he doesn’t know how to act quite yet. He’d rather avoid her entirely, or pretend like nothing happened, than openly approach his new feelings.

Furthermore his behavior is always and under all circumstances inseparable from his status as Persona’s favorite and as the Black Cat. He may have some loved ones, but he keeps the number low and tries to avoid getting close to people for a reason. Naturally, nobody could ever really understand his experiences so there will always be a divide between him and the rest of his peers, but even more than that is that considering people precious turns them into targets.

Natsume has probably learned the hard way that displaying closeness and affection for his friends can have dangerous effects, so he might now think of showing that kind of affection as selfish or even cruel. Why subject somebody to something like that, merely because he has feelings for them? It’s not fair.

In either case, it’s really not that Natsume is naturally mean and cold. He just doesn’t trust his situation enough to properly act. It’s safer in every way to just pretend like nothing changed. It’s too much to deal with otherwise. But sooner rather than later, the hard thing will be staying away. Eventually, maintaining coldness with her will be almost impossible.

Chapter Eighteen

This chapter further touches on Natsume’s new-found crush and its consequences.

Class B is used to being in an environment where Natsume hates Mikan and is bothered by everything she does. He gives in to her slightly, in small ways, and it shocks his classmates. Now, it’s understandable that, even if he hadn’t developed a crush on her, he might still be softer to a girl who risked her life to save him, but it’s still odd.

Mikan recalls asking Natsume for help training her alice. She needs an offensive alice to nullify, so Iinchou or Hotaru’s would be ineffectual in training. Natsume is really the best person to ask, and, to everyone’s surprise, he actually agrees to help.

Natsume doesn't need any convincing to help her, but what did she think practicing with a fire alice would entail?

And yes it does seem like he’s only doing it to torture her, because his alice is capable of genuine bodily harm and his admirers snicker with amusement at his antics, but I can’t help but assume there’s more to it.

He doesn’t really hesitate to help. He doesn’t need convincing at all. In some ways I think he did genuinely want to help. Her alice helped save his life, after all. Why not repay the favor by using his alice to help her train? To him, there's a lot of value in her alice, so training it is beneficial in his perspective as well.

And later still, Mikan spots Natsume sitting amongst the principal students. He stands out, as an elementary student next to upperclassmen. This moment is a good introduction to the arc. His crush on Mikan only grows stronger as the festival goes on, but there’s something looming over him too--he’s different from the rest of them. He stands out so much during the festival. He’s a dangerous ability type who’s not allowed to participate while also being a principal who has to sit on the stage for the opening ceremony. That's horribly ironic, but also shows just how singled out and under the spotlight he is. It’s a huge part of why he acts the way he does, so cold and mean and distant despite his growing affections. It’s all he can do.

He may see potential for a future, but he’d be foolish to think he should be able to acquire it, because his current circumstances have not changed at all.

The chapter ends with Natsume being asked by Koko if he wants to try out the special ability class event. He’s looking towards the special ability area, and we can tell the next chapter will be fun.

Chapter Nineteen

And how!

Natsume is here to see Ruka, his best friend, but he’s also here to catch a glimpse of the girl he has a crush on.

Sumire is also there, and it’s interesting to see that Natsume hasn’t changed in his attitude around her either, even though she also helped save him. She tries to embrace him and he dodges her.

This catches some people’s attention and they start to whisper about his presence.

In the anime, this moment is a bit more potent, hearing the murmurs and seeing a darkness over the gossiping kids, but the manga still establishes that the people waiting in line are by-and-large unhappy to see him. They whisper amongst themselves, rudely asking why he’d bother to come here, but that gloom only lasts for a moment (one singular panel and then Natsume’s responding bitterness) before Mikan appears jumping over the wall, calling his name and even smiling.

It’s almost like she was waiting for him to show up, running off from her post the second she heard Natsume was there. The dark looming screentones are replaced with flowery ones, and it’s hard not to think of this as his perspective: all is gloomy and then there is Mikan. All of a sudden, after hating her for so long, he thinks of her as bright sunshine, and he must have showed up just to see her and feel nice for a change.

It's Natsume seeing Mikan through floral-filter lenses for me...

Of course, he ruins the mood. It feels almost as if he does it solely because he knows it will upset her. She was so excited to see him, and he manages to completely turn her mood from eager to angry, just the opposite of how she was able to unwittingly turn his mood from gloomy to... as close to content as he can get.

He’s okay now. He doesn’t want her getting any ideas.

Now, in my opinion, his method of bothering her could be anything and the plot would remain the same. What matters is that he wants to piss her off, and this just so happens to be the way he does it, partially because it’s intended to be funny. Mikan has to get angry at him for this chapter to progress the way it does, but his actions could have been replaced by any other irritating action and it could’ve gone the same way.

Tsubasa then appears, drawn to the sound of a loud commotion. He sees Natsume and vaguely wonders why he’s there. Everyone knows Natsume, at all grade levels, because he’s famous. For Tsubasa, whose only real knowledge of Mikan’s relationship with the kid is that he causes trouble in Class B, it would be strange to see him at the RPG.

Natsume, meanwhile, has no idea who Tsubasa is. Seeing Mikan crawl all over her senpai, seeing him easily comfort her, is something that bugs Natsume. He glares at Tsubasa, somebody whose name he doesn’t even know, and then starts leaving with Ruka.

At first, Tsubasa is confused to be treated like this, until he hugs Mikan tighter and sees both Natsume and Ruka turn in jealousy. Tsubasa gets it immediately. Thus begins a strange and tumultuous frenemy relationship between Tsubasa and Natsume, where they both begrudgingly understand each other while also irritating each other beyond belief.

Natsume is not interested in playing the game, insulting it and wondering how anyone could get hooked on it. Ultimately, it’s not even Mikan who convinces him to give it a shot; it’s Tsubasa taunting him, “then you should be able to win, no problem, right?”

Tsubasa will come to regret saying this, because the answer is yes.

The RPG is designed to be tough. Nobody has won the whole game yet. Beating one or two students is one thing, but being able to outsmart or outmaneuver the entire special ability class is a difficult feat.

Natsume agrees to play, and gets a robot cockroach as a weapon.

Tsubasa is hugging Mikan as Natsume is about to enter, and that pisses him off even more. He decides that Tsubasa will be his slave, his motive being get your hands off her. This is silly considering that just a short time ago, Natsume hated Mikan. His feelings really did a 180.

The challenges pick up in difficulty as he goes on. The first one is effortless. He doesn’t even move from where he’s standing. The mirror-alice girl just freaks out about the cockroach and sends him on his way after two seconds.

The next one is trickier, and Natsume will need to put in more effort than just standing and waiting for the cockroach to do its job. But not that much effort. He sits next to Megane, lights a fire, and waits. It’s a scorching flame, and although Megane tries to tough it out, he gives in with two seconds to spare. Natsume, a smartass, quips sarcastically that he’s sorry--he really can’t tell how hot it is. (This is not actually important or anything, it’s just interesting that Natsume is not affected by his own flames and can’t feel the heat of them. I might end up referring to this a couple times.)

With the exception of the first and last challenges, Natsume uses his alice to beat the maze; either by heating Megane up so his soul goes back into his body, or by writing with fire instead of chalk. The next challenge is the one Natsume has been waiting for and he’ll use his alice here too.

Tsubasa is shocked to find Natsume has progressed so quickly, but he proceeds with the challenge: Natsume has to touch him in thirty seconds, but it’ll be tricky ‘cause he’s held in place by his shadows. He toys with Natsume’s shadows a bit, which really pisses Natsume off. Tsubasa even apologizes nervously, even though he’s the one in control. Or he is, until Natsume uses his alice again and gets rid of the shadows.

Natsume’s anger towards Tsubasa all stems from jealousy. It’s not just that Tsubasa was hugging and comforting Mikan, it’s that he can. Natsume needs to distance himself from Mikan in order to keep her safe, and he’s aware of that right from the start, but there’s more to it. He’s busy establishing himself as an enemy to Mikan, doing things to bother her to make her angry with him, but nobody rushes to their bully for comfort, and Natsume knows this. It’s not just that Tsubasa was hugging Mikan; it’s that he feels like he will never get the chance.

And so the next and final challenge is where he gets to be selfish.

Mikan is aggravated to see him, obviously not thrilled that he was able to make it in such a short time. Her task is that he has to get her off the carpet in thirty seconds. He can’t hurt her or force her off the carpet, and because of their alice training together, he can’t use his alice on her either. (They’d apparently practiced so much that she was able to sharpen her skills significantly. Before, her alice was a wildcard and she struggled with using it, but now she’s able to use it with relative ease. That’s a lot of training in a short time, and I’m sure Natsume wasn’t upset at all the time they had to spend together as a result.)

Natsume must feel relief regarding Mikan's nullification alice. She's nullified his alice in pretty big ways already, one time to save his life. The girl he's crushing on is capable of turning off the thing that decreases his lifespan. She really is a breath of fresh air, in more ways than one, and his appreciation for her alice, even if he doesn't voice it, will only grow. This is important, but I'll talk way more about this in the other POV.

He tries the cockroach, but she’s a country girl and unaffected.

Natsume is genuinely stumped by her challenge, admitting to himself that it’s a tough one. He then comes up with a risky idea, no doubt influenced by her rescue of him when they were kidnapped by Reo. He plays sick. This act only works if Mikan falls for it and is concerned enough to jump off the carpet, but he’s a good actor on account of all the sick experience he has and she does fall for it in no time. Her being concerned was a given.

She jumps off, meaning he’s won the game, but that’s not enough of a victory for him. He acts sick until she’s closer, so he can grab her and put his arm around her. Yes, he calls her an idiot, but this is the closest he can get to a hug… for now. It doesn’t matter that she’s annoyed and dismayed that he won. All he cares about is that he got to touch her.

She jumped down. He won already, but it's not enough! (Also sorry about two pictures. If it ruins the format, oh well.)

Natsume was jealous that Tsubasa got to do something he thinks he'll never be able to, and so he got a taste of what he wanted some other, convoluted way. He gets angry that Tsubasa is so touchy, but that's only because he wishes he could be touchy too. Natsume will get bolder and bolder with his physical affection, because he will want more and more to show it. When he starts being honest about this affection, she will be more eager to return it.

Natsume is the first winner, and Tsubasa admits it was never expected for somebody to be able to pass all the challenges. Part of the appeal is that it’s an unbeatable game, but Natsume’s feelings of jealousy and spite were enough to get him over the finish line. Though perhaps knowing it's beatable but only one person could is also appealing. It's possible to pass, but very rare for somebody to be able to, so they can draw in crowds by capitalizing on kids who want to the next person to beat the game.

He gets to choose a lamp, but he has no idea which one is whose. He cheats by asking Koko to tell him which one is the right one, but he ends up picking Mikan’s, because Koko assumed that’s the one he wanted. After all--Natsume was thinking about her. Natsume is lucky that Mikan was too anguished at being a slave to care about Natsume thinking about her, but it’s interesting to know that even when he’s supposed to be angry at Tsubasa, he was only thinking of Mikan.

Chapter Twenty

This chapter’s premise is pretty simple and light: Natsume can’t think of any use for Mikan other than to follow him and Ruka around the festival and carry their stuff. They navigate the technical ability class area and even encounter Hotaru, though only for a short time because she’s quite busy.

Most importantly, their time in the technical area makes Mikan insecure. Everyone in the tech class seems to know what they want to do with their lives, with their alices being perfect for research or creation. I’ll go into more detail with this during Mikan’s essay, but it’s important to note that Mikan asks the people around her if they’re prepared for their future only to see that they all are. Hotaru, Sumire, and even Ruka all have dreams for the future, even if Ruka won’t share his. Natsume has decided to leave the conversation and we don’t hear what his dream is, which makes sense because he doesn’t have one. Natsume doesn’t think he’ll live long enough to graduate, so why even bother wasting his own time and getting his hopes up for something unattainable?

It’s then revealed that Ruka is also a triple, and Mikan can’t tell, but the mood has been soured for Ruka. His triple-star status is a touchy subject that he’s unhappy with. His star rank is representative of Natsume’s suffering and he doesn’t like talking about it. He only says that he didn’t mention it because he didn’t get it on his own talent or effort before Natsume forces Mikan to walk in another direction, claiming to be hungry.

This is literally just a scan of the TokyoPop version, which is better than the other version I see floating around.

He can tell Ruka is uncomfortable and is ready to step in so that his friend can feel better.

As a result, they end up at the cafe where Anna is working (after all, Mikan has been perfecting her puppy-dog eyes routine and I think both Ruka and Natsume are affected, even if the latter would never admit it).

Natsume takes the first bite of Anna’s hell pie, just to see a rot demon (or whatever that thing is) taunt him about the trouble his stomach will be in soon. He really doesn’t have a choice but to throw the tea over the pie. Ruka is grateful, but Mikan is outraged at how rude Natsume is acting, and even angrier when Natsume explains that the pie was horrible. She demands he apologize but Natsume simply walks away, content to be the bad guy because he saved his friends from getting food poisoning while also sparing Anna’s feelings and reputation at her cafe.

"Your stomach will writhe" is such a potent threat. I feel sick just looking at that demon/scoundrel/rot thing.

This scene has more substance than in the anime. In the episode, Natsume sees the rotten scoundrel (or WHATEVER IT IS) before he can take a bite. He tosses the tea for all their sakes and ultimately nobody is hurt. But here, in the manga, Natsume has already taken a bite. We see the missing part of the pie, the residue on the fork. Natsume is already screwed. He's going to have food poisoning from Anna's pie, and he still puts her feelings before his own. He'd rather say that the pie is terrible according to his own tastes than to let everyone around know that she made such a health-risking mistake. He drenches the pie so that Mikan and Ruka don't get food poisoning, even if it's too late for him. Natsume leaves, knowing he will look like an asshole, AND with stomach problems on top of that, but at least he's the only one who will be seriously hurt.

This is a pretty insignificant example of a trait that we have seen before with Natsume but haven't really fully explored. It's going to play a major role for the rest of the manga, because Natsume has something of a martyr complex, where he is quick to sacrifice himself because he sees little to no value in his own happiness. This is a small example, and I'm not saying it's not kind of him, but there are consequences with his line of thinking. He's fine with looking like an asshole to protect people, or giving up things he wants so someone else can have it, or blowing himself up so two girls can escape safely. Whenever there's a chance to sacrifice himself, Natsume will take it every single time.

This may seem noble or romantic or admirable but it's not healthy at all. The way he was raised (no shade to Papa Hyuuga and Kaoru but also.... tentatively side-eyeing them for putting so much responsibility on him) and the way he is now tortured by the school has put him in a position where his self esteem is horribly low. This complex of his results in suicidal tendencies, even after he falls in love with Mikan (and even exacerbated by that love). For Natsume, love is sacrifice. He simply cannot love without feeling like he has to give something up. Ideally, he would grow out of this and maybe start seriously choosing himself sometimes. It's not evil to want yourself to be happy and to choose your own well-being, even if it occasionally makes others sad or upset.

In the context of the actual story though, we have yet another glimpse of a complex that will cause a LOT of trouble down the road for Natsume and Mikan.

Conclusion

Natsume has new feelings for Mikan and is having trouble navigating them. They will cause even more trouble in the next essay. We also touched more on Natsume's self-sacrificing tendencies and how devastating they will turn out to be. These tendencies will be consistent and persistent throughout the manga in regards to NatsuMikan's relationship, and cause more problems. These problems will pop up a bit in the next part, so stay tuned!

Also, small note: I call him Ruka and not Luca because I got used to it after watching the anime and through scans and fanfics. I heard his name pronounced that way and at first thought it was a Japanese name so I simply copied the pronunciation. When I found out it was supposed to be Luca, I'd already been using Ruka for a while. I don't really want to switch to using Luca most of the time because I know people in real life named Luca/Luka and I talk enough about GA on the daily where it might feel strange to me. I use Luca sometimes when I'm talking to others who prefer it, but Ruka is what I'm used to. I hope this isn't frustrating, but understand that I pronounce Killua's name (from HxH) like "Ki-ru-a" as well and in my head "Gakuen Alice" is pronounced "Gakuen Arisu" because I pronounce things based on what I hear when watching the anime ;-; These are things I have no real desire to change because they sound right to me. I'm sorry. (Nobody has said anything or complained, and this is not a vague or anything like that! I just wanted to say that I know it's supposed to be Luca and it's not my intention to be disrespectful when I pronounce/spell it Ruka. I am fucking crazy, but I am free.)

<- Previous Next ->

#gakuen alice #alice academy #hyuuga natsume #natsume hyuuga #natsumikan #sakura mikan #mikan sakura #my meta #ga #mine #ga meta #ga meta: nm #ga meta: manga #ga meta: manga nm #let's talk about natsumikan #let's talk about natsumikan: natsume #because of how jam-packed the alice festival is with nm content this might take two more parts to complete #stay patient with me please i am trying my best ;-;#i couldnt go into the haunted house knowing id only have two pics to work with. it would kill me.#theres just too much #the ten image limit is genuinely such an obstacle so if u wish there was more then blame tumblr and maybe theyll raise the limit to fifteen #they wont. tumblr is a disgusting landfill of a website.#edit for song: stupid by brendan maclean #theres some jealousy and tsundere behavior. love that for early love natsume

33 notes · View notes

rosemarypasta · 4 years

Text

➤ pairing : oikawa tooru x female reader (karasuno manager)

➤ chapter warnings : slowburn (?)

➤ summary : You just recently joined the Karasuno boy’s volleyball team as their first year manager. As you grow closer to your teammates, you also unexpectedly grow closer to one of their biggest rivals, Oikawa Tooru

➤ chapter word count: 3183

-ˏˋ chapter one ˊˎ-

Friday

12:50 PM

"Pleaseeee." The red haired boy nagged.

It was your first year in Karasuno High. You had lots of expectations on what your high school experience was going to be like but you had absolutely no intentions on being involved in any sports whatsoever. Yet, there you sat in your seat, bombarded by two students from the neighboring class during your lunch break. You barely even know them.

"Hinata stop shouting! We're in someone else's class, idiot." The raven haired boy ironically yelled as he hit his shorter friend on the head with a roll of documents, which were being forcefully shoved into your hands just a second ago. "I don't even know the first thing about volleyball! Besides, I don't know anyone there, won't it be awkward?" You whined, trying your best to decline their ridiculous offer.

"That's not true! You know us!" Hinata smiled. That was in fact, false. The only reason why you even know their names was because they forced Hitoka, your classmate, to tutor them for the exams and unfortunately, she caught a cold a few days before the exams so she forced you to cover for her for a few days. It's not like you disliked them or anything, you just didn't know anything about them other than their names and the fact that they both have very short tempers.

"Come on Y/N-chan! It'll be fun." Hitoka followed, smiling in the same manner as Hinata. You shot her a look, expressing your disgust at her betrayal. "Well if it's so fun why don't you do it instead, Hitoka-chan?" You replied to which she reacted by furiously shaking her head and hands, "My mom would never let me." She playfully sighed, though you knew damn well she was relieved in the inside to have her mother's strict wishes as an excuse to pass on the burden to you.

After another minute of bickering, the bell finally rang, dismissing everyone from their lunch break. Kageyama swore silently under his breath as he heard the familiar melody. "Look, just come by the gym today after school. Just um... think of it as a free trial. Let's go Hinata." He swiftly said, putting the club application form on your desk as he dragged his friend by the collar before escaping to their respective classrooms. You turned towards your blonde classmate who was already giggling at your suffering.

You sighed as you watched the teacher walk in your classroom. You slid the stack of papers under your desk and tried your best to forget your worries for the time being.

3:00 PM

The bell rang for the final time for the week and you quickly packed your bags. You had no intentions to stop by the gym whatsoever. You knew if you stopped by even for a second, You'd definitely get roped in and they'd guilt you into signing the form before the day was over. You were hurrying so much, planning to not bump into Hinata and Kageyama on the way home that you were practically shoving anything and everything into your bag. You said your farewells as quickly as possible to Yachi and your fellow classmates to avoid Yachi's comments about skipping the meeting and rushed out to the hallways but unfortunately, you underestimated how eager the students were when it comes to going home for the weekends. But despite the tightly packed hallways, you were determined to slip into and nook and cranny available to get home safe and sound. It took a whopping five minutes for you to just get to the staircase. And as you were getting ready to finally reach the first floor, you overheard something peculiar from behind.

"Oh! Shoyo mentioned that there'll be a new manager dropping by today."

"Really? Damn I hope she comes cause if not, I guess we'll just have to take her to the alley."

The stairwell was filled with chatter but your ears oddly picked up the conversation revolving around the short first year volleyball player and the manager he was invited.

They were talking about you.

Take her to the alley? The alley? A million intrusive ideas came up to mind. Were they planning to kill you if you didn't show up?

You laughed at yourself quietly. There was no way a high schooler could commit such violent crimes over something small like a sports club. Though curiosity got the cat and you slowly turned your head as naturally as you possibly could to see what they looked like. You caught a glimpse of the two boys conversing about you and felt like you could wet yourself. One was tall and had a buzz cut land the other though not as tall and was actually around the same height as you had spiky dark hair with a blonde streak which fell on his forehead. They looked like thugs.

Feeling terrified was an understatement. Were they members of the volleyball club too? The sight of the two unfamiliar menacing men changed your mind. No highschooler would commit such crimes but if one was to get murdered by two highschoolers, they'd probably look like them.

The conversation you overheard made you subconsciously turn on your survival instincts. As soon as you reached the first floor, your body turned towards the gym unwillingly. It was too late now, you could hear their footsteps trailing not far from you. You pushed open the gymnasium doors and was greeted by the sounds of squeaking volleyball shoes rubbing against the floor.

Everyone's eyes turned towards you and the squeaking stopped abruptly. You couldn't do anything but watch as their towering bodies slowly walked towards you. You have always avoided sports in general because you were short and naturally bad at it so you assumed that volleyball players were at least closer to normal people unlike the basketball players that looked like skyscrapers from a distance since Hinata was in the club but boy, you were wrong.

"Are you Y/N?" A deep voice right in front of you said. His shoulders were broad and big, though he wasn't the tallest person in the crowd, his presence was still overwhelming. "Oh the new manager?" Another deep voice joined in. You turned to the new source of voice and froze at the sight of the volleyball player.

He had a beard.

You have heard a rumour circulating the halls about a third year in Karasuno that has been held back for five years because he was dealing drugs and had a favorite past time that consisted of beating up the younger students. Could it be him?

In the midst of the sea of terror, a vibrant familiar voice yelled, "Oh, Y/N!". You looked up and felt tears of joy pooling around your eyes as you saw the red haired boy.

"Asahi, scoot over, you're making her cry." A grey haired senior laughed as he pushed the now concerned bearded man away from my sight. "So you're going to be our second manager right? Y/N-san?" He continued, "My name is Sugawara Koushi and i'm the vice-captain of this club." He had a soft and prince-like voice which helped calm you down. His smile was bright and charming, fit for royalty. He extended his arm gracefully and you carefully shook it.

It took a full ten minutes to get to know everyone in the club. Sawamura Daichi, the first person who spoke was the captain of the team. He definitely seemed intimidating at first but had a fatherly aura to him which made him a perfect fit for a captain. Azumane Asahi, the bearded man immediately cleared up all the rumours I've heard about and clarified that he was just an innocent 17-year old student. Then you were introduced to the second years and the rest of the first years who you weren't familiar with. Tsukishima shocked you the most since he was pretty much the tallest member of the club and he was only a first year. You didn't know how you went three months of school without knowing he was in the class right next to yours. With his height and blonde hair, you wondered how you could possibly miss him. Lastly, Hinata and Kageyama showed you the current manager, Shimizu Kiyoko.

She's breathtaking.

Her silky black hair flowed in the air as she turned to greet you. All you could do was stand in front of her and be stunned. You felt like you definitely stared at her a second too long before introducing yourself which made things awkward but fortunately, she didn't seem to notice. She was about to ask you about something but she didn't get to finish her sentence as two screams filled the echoing gym.

"Kiyoko-senpai!"

You turned around to the entrance and fear took over your body once again.

The buzzcut and the blonde streak duo.

They were preoccupied with Shimizu so you tried your best to avoid attention and inch closer to the two boys you actually knew but before you could even make it anywhere close to the red and black haired duo, the two upperclassmen shifted their gaze from their senpai to you.

"Ah, Shoyo! So it worked!" The shorter of the two exclaimed as he jumped up and down, pointing at the red hair opposite him who was jumping up and down in the same manner.

You stood in the middle of the court confused. Work? What worked?

"Don't tell me you actually went through with the plan." Daichi scolded, his hands already crossed in front of his chest, to which the other third years responded with a laugh while the buzzcut, blonde streak guy and Hinata froze in the presence of their upset captain. "Oh so that's why you're here Y/N! Don't tell me you actually believed the things Nishinoya and Tanaka were saying." Sugawara attempted to sigh before chuckling himself as he put his hand on the captain's shoulder in an attempt to calm him down.

"I told you it would backfire." The tall blonde sniggered alongside his olive green haired partner.

After a few minutes of scolding, Daichi made Nishinoya, Tanaka and Hinata apologize to you, which took you a few moments and an explanation from Sugawara as to why they had to apologize to why they had to do so. According to Suga's explanation, the volleyball club was desperate to find a new manager since the third years would be graduating soon. As an act of desperation from Hinata, and a drive to impress their senpai for Nishinoya and Tanaka, they came up with a plan that would intimidate and scare you into joining the team. Though Hinata claimed and insisted that the second years went overboard and tweaked their plans on a whim.

"Well, now that everyone is here, Y/N, I think you can finally properly introduce yourself since all the distractions are out of the way." Daichi sighed, shaking his head at his troublesome players.

You held your breath and faced your future, much taller teammates. Even though they are intimidating, they seemed much more fun than you thought. This moment may not be that pleasant in real time but you're sure you could laugh back at this moment in the future.

"My name is Y/N and I'm in class 1-5." You started, glancing from left to right. "I guess I'll be your manager from now on so... I look forward to working with you all." You bowed towards the unfamiliar faces. Your words were shortly followed by a series of cheers. "I guess this would be my life from now on for the next three years." You thought to yourself.

6:00 PM

Three hours later, the Friday sun began to set. Though you have done the bare minimum of only watching balls get thrown across the room for several hours, you felt exhausted. The boys had three-on-three games amongst each other and you felt like you've aged ten years after watching a handful of them. If matches against their own teammates are that intense, you wonder what would happen in a real match against actual rivals. You prayed that you won't get high blood pressure by the end of the year.

"All right, that's all for today. Don't forget that morning practices are still on for tomorrow and that the practice match against Aoba Johsai will start at two in the afternoon so make sure to pack a lunch." The coach, Ukai Keishin, who you didn't notice was the coach until thirty minutes into practice because of his youthful hairstyle, announced before the whole room scattered to clean the gym. You were in the middle of folding the chairs and storing them when it hit you.

Tomorrow is a Saturday.

You have also just realized that unlike the other clubs you've barely joined in the past, the vast majority of sports clubs train on the weekend as well. You mentally facepalmed yourself and cursed at Hinata under your breath for getting you involved in the club. A distant sneeze was heard from the red haired boy.

The clean up was easier than you thought, you were only halfway done picking the balls up from the ground when Nishinoya and Tanaka proudly announced that they were done mopping the floors in an attempt to impress their senpai manager. Shimizu quietly chuckled with you as the two of you continued to fill your arms up with more volleyballs.

"So, Y/N, I think you should get one of the boys to walk home with you. We don't usually stay back until late at night like today but it might be scary to walk home alone." Shimizu advised you as the two of you stored the balls away in the storage room. But before you could even ask for anyone's help, the bright red-head started bouncing off the storage room walls. "I'll walk home with you Y/N!" Hinata proposed eagerly as he dropped the folded net in the corner of the room. "But Hinata, don't you live in the mountains? That's the opposite way from my house." You said, turning him down but despite your rejection, he was still keen to walk you home and insisted on going.

"I'll walk you home instead, I don't think I burned as much energy as I wanted to today so I don't mind a longer walk home." The black haired first year suggested. You raised your eyebrow and found it baffling that he felt like he didn't burn as much energy as he wanted to despite just finishing a three hour long practice where he constantly had to run and jump.

You and Kageyama began to walk together. The sun was already out and the yellow tinted street lights were the only thing illuminating the streets besides the pale moonlight.

"Um, Y/N, we are headed towards your house right?" Kageyama abruptly spoke as the two of you began to enter your neighbourhood. "Yeah, why'd you ask?" You asked back. "That's a weird coincidence, I live on the same street." He stated, with a concerned and focused look, probably thinking of a reason why the two of you have never seen each other despite having the same route to and from school. It took you a few minutes to realize that you never go to school as early as him and go home as late as him because you're never had morning and afternoon practice before.

"Oh, yeah! I've been in sports clubs for so long that I forgot that normal people don't have the same schedules as we do." He lightly chuckled after you voiced your thoughts.

"Gah! Teddy, NO! Don't piss on my leg!" A voice yelled in the midst of the serene and empty night. Kageyama stopped abruptly as the voice filled the deserted street. The voice began to quiet down and started mumbling muffled words but It didn't die down. In fact, it started to grow clearer and you and Kageyama started walking again. Shortly, you and Kageyama stood in front of a sweaty brown haired boy walking a small brown poodle.

"O-Oikawa-san?" You turned to your teammate.

Kageyama knows this freak that has been yelling and talking to himself?

The boy shifted his gaze sharply from the dog to you and Kageyama. "Oh, it's Tobio-chan!" He sniggered as he ran his fingers through his hair.

His face was pretty and fair. Even under the yellow street lights illuminating him, you could see his sparkling brown eyes matched his equally as captivating brown hair perfectly. You rarely found deep interests in random strangers even if they were attractive but you can't seem to take your eyes off the one standing right in front of you.

"What are you doing here?" The stranger in the turquoise and white jacket asked. His voice was stern, as if he demanded an answer from Kageyama. "Er- I live in this neighbourhood." Kageyama mumbled but it was loud enough to be heard by you and the boy standing in front of him. "Really?! The one time my family decided to move to a new neighbourhood, you happen to be my neighbour?" He groaned, face palming dramatically while Kageyama continued to stand beside you awkwardly in silence. You began to question the identity of the stranger. He seemed like he hates Kageyama a lot but Kageyama isn't doing anything. In practice, it seemed like any little thing Tsukkishima and Hinata did and said made him scream in annoyance but this guy who was so blatantly rude to him isn't triggering him at all.

"Alright, alright! I get it, you need to pee!" The irritated brunette screamed at the odd acting dog that has been scratching his trouser for the past five minutes. "Tobio-kun, I look forward to destroying you in the match tomorrow." He declared with his chin up, pushing his concerns for the dog away momentarily before walking past you two Karasuno students towards a nearby park.

You questioned and interrogated the now, much more quiet teammate and squeezed as much information you could in the remaining two minutes you had with Kageyama before you reached your home.

His name is Oikawa Toru and he goes to Aoba Johsai, the school Karasuno is playing against the next day. You tried to squeeze more information about the memorable stranger from the raven haired setter but all he told you was that he was his senpai back in middle school

12:00 AM

You plopped on your bed after a long day and closed your eyes to process the things that have happened in the last twelve hours alone. Even reliving the events that occurred earlier that morning overwhelmed you. You couldn't believe you went through all that in a single day. Despite the variety of chaos you endured that day, you went to sleep that night with an image of a peculiar yet oddly endearing brunette stuck in your mind.

next: -ˏˋ chapter two ˊˎ-

#oikawatoru_mondayafternoons #haikyuu!!#haikyuu #oikawa x reader #oikawa toru #oikawa tooru #tooru oikawa #kageyama tobio #kageyama #tobio kageyama #oikawa #haikyuu x reader #haikyuu!! x reader #fan fiction #haikyuu fan fiction #haikyuu!! imagines #haikyuu imagines

203 notes · View notes

f4irymxri · 3 years

Text

- 𝘵𝘢𝘯𝘢𝘬𝘢 𝘹 𝘣𝘭𝘢𝘤𝘬 𝘧𝘦𝘮! 𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘥𝘦𝘳

chapter 11

Y/N

Today I was supposed to make a shit ton of desserts for my bake sale and Jemila was helping me out. I put her in charge of making the cookies and cherry cheesecakes and she went over to Kageyama's house with the supplies so that it could be done faster. Tanaka was knocked out in my room while I made the cake and donuts. I was mixing the cake batter in a pan while the donuts were frying. I had some music playing in the background as I hummed to the tunes.

I was about to add the cake mixture into the pan when I felt someone's arms being wrapped around my waist. "Good morning," a hoarse voice whispered in my ear. "Good morning," I smiled. I turned around and saw Tanaka shirtless, with his volleyball shorts on. Damn... "You need help?" he said. "Yea, but put a shirt on and go wash your hands, please," I said, scraping the batter out of the glass bowl. "Yes, ma'am," he said, walking back to my room. I placed the cake pans in the oven and started making more dough for the donuts.

Tanaka came back to the kitchen, and I explained to him what he could do. I taught him how to roll the dough and use the cookie cutter. After a couple of minutes, he was actually doing pretty well and things were going by much quicker. We spent the next two hours making donuts and cakes and when we were finished, the kitchen was an absolute mess. We were both covered in flour and food coloring. I dusted the flour off Tanaka's face and he dusted the flour off mine.

Kageyama and Jemila came back with all the desserts and everyone helped me load them into the trunk. After we got all the food in the trunk, I went to take a quick shower. I put all my flour-covered clothes in the hamper and got in the shower. I did my business and did a little extra so I would smell nicer. I put on my lotion and my clothes and went to the kitchen. Everyone else was still getting dressed and I was looking for the cat food so I could feed Almond. Then the doorbell rung. I put Almond's bowl on the floor and went to open it.

I swung it open and there were 2 girls standing at the door. One of them had frizzy black hair in two ponytails and had on this cute pink sanriocore themed dress. The other girl had a light grey lace front and she was wearing a grey top with matching baggy pants. She had a small chain across her nose and she had an industrial piercing. "Are you Y/N?" the girl with the grey hair said. "Yes...?" I said, confused. "Oh, we're your new business partners," she said. At first, I was confused then it hit me. "OH. Are you guys Amie and Angelique?" I asked them.

They both nodded and smiled. "Oh you're supposed to show me where the bakery is right?" I said. "Yea. Koharu told us to come here," the girl with the pink dress said. "Okay wait, who's Amie and who's Angelique?" I said, shaking my hands. "I'm Amie and this is Angelique," the girl with the grey lace front said. "But you can call me Angie," she smiled. "Oh okay," I nodded my head. "Okay well let me get my stuff then we can go," I said. I ran back to my room and got my phone and my bag. "TANAKA," I yelled. He came into my room, dressed with his outfit suspiciously coordinating with mine. "Nigga- ok," I said.

"I'm about to go see the bakery, do you wanna come?" I said, tilting my head. "Nah. I'll stay here, when you come back, I'll take you out," he smirked. I nodded my head and smiled. "See ya later, my dude," I said. "Y/N, I'll kill you," he laughed. "Try it," I said, shutting the door before he could respond. I went outside and Amie and Angie led me to the bakery. Surprisingly, I had passed it a million times and hadn't even noticed. "THIS PLACE IS OURS?" I said. "Hell yea. Koharu did what she had to do," Angie said. "Damn," I said. The bakery was right next to Sakanoshita Market which meant I would probably be seeing Coach Ukai a lot more now.

The bakery was literally amazing. There was like a light blue theme and everything in the bakery was either painted or colored a pastel light blue. "But there's one problem," Amie said. "Which is?" I said, tilting my head. "We don't have a name," Angie said. "We'll come up with one. It'll come to us one way or another," I said. "Well, when do we start working?" Amie said. "Well, who's the boss here?" I said. "Technically, Koharu since she owns the place but without her presence, it would be me," Amie said. "Okay well I got a million desserts in my car," I said.

We then made a plan. Kageyama and Jemila were gonna pass out the fliers Tanaka made earlier around school that there's a new bakery in town. Then everyone from school will come down to try the new desserts. Then we asked Koharu to come down here to tell us all about the schedule, how things would work, etc. I learned a lot about Amie and Angie, including how they would be transferring to Karasuno High next week. Finally, some more black females.

We had just finished arranging all the desserts into the freezers and displays when we started getting a few customers. This first girl came in and she looked so much like someone I knew. She had short, blond hair, long eyelashes and she was wearing this black tank top. I couldn't put my finger on who she looked like but I just brushed it off. "My brother told me to come and check out this place. Could I get a cupcake please?'" she said, in an energetic voice. Brother? "Sure," I smiled and I gave her a red velvet cupcake in a light blue box. "Thanks, Y/N," she winked at me and left. Wait, how the hell does she know my name?

I furrowed my eyebrows in confusion as she left. Then in my head, I put the pieces together. Brother. Familiar face. Y/N. "Ain't no way I just met his sister," I said. I went on my phone and called Hinata. I waited for the line to ring and it clicked. "Hello?" his cheery voice said on the line. "Hey Shoyo, does Tanaka have a sister?" I said. "Yup. Saeko," he said. "Does she have short blond hair and long eyelashes?" I asked. "Yes...?" he said, most likely confused. "Okay thanks," I said. "Bye," he said and hung up the phone.

Koharu had made her way over to the bakery and helped us out. She told us we would be switching days meaning after school and on weekends, except for Saturdays. I would be working Mondays and Wednesdays after school, Angie got Tuesdays and Thursdays and Amie got Fridays and Sundays. Tanaka and Kageyama said they would help out whenever they could so for now, everything was inset. Tanaka picked me up from the bakery and I grabbed a red velvet cupcake for him. I exchanged socials with Amie and Angie and got in the car.

"Hi," I smiled. "Hey," he said. I handed him the cupcake and put on my seatbelt. He opened the box. He took a small whiff of the cupcake and his eyes instantly lit up. I laughed and he pulled out of the driveway. "So where are we going this time?" I said. "Fair," he smirked. I nodded my head and leaned back in my seat. I was looking out the window as I dozed off. Something about his car was so relaxing. Whether it was the pleasant aroma of sandalwood or Tanaka's presence itself.

I woke up when I felt my body being lifted. I opened my eyes to see Tanaka carrying me out of the car, bridal style. He put me down but my legs wobbled, causing me to almost fall on the ground. "Woah there," he said as he grabbed my love handles. He kissed my forehead and held me until I fully woke up and could stand on my own. "Thank you," I said, pecking his lips and grabbing my bag from the car. Tanaka took my hand and led me into the carnival. There were a lot of people around so I held onto his hand tightly.

We paid for our tickets and we started going around the park. Tanaka and I were both what you would call daredevils and we went on every single ride in the park. By the time we finished riding everyone, it was now dark out. "Wanna get some food?" He said. I nodded my head and we went to look for a booth. They didn't have any places that sold actual food so we just got a huge roll of cotton candy to share. Then this man came up to us and asked if he could take a picture of the both of us. At first, we were hesitant, but he showed us his Instagram page and he seemed legit. He had all this equipment and he got me and Tanaka into a pose.

Tanaka looked at me, holding the cotton candy as I looked down, taking a piece. The photographer took a couple of shots and showed us the pictures. They actually came out pretty good. He followed us both on Instagram and said he would share them with us. He also gave us his number in case we wanted pictures taken in the future. We thanked him and we continued with our trip. It was very dark outside and all you could see was a few lights here and there but the illuminating glow of the Ferris wheel stood out to me. "Let's go on the Ferris wheel," I said.

"A little cliche don't ya think," he said. "Oh shut up," I said and I took his hand and led us to the Ferris wheel. We got on and it started going around. As it went higher, I saw Tanaka fumbling with his fingers. "You okay?" I asked, taking his hand in mine. "Yea, I'm okay," he smiled. The Ferris wheel was going in circles at a slow pace and of course, as soon as we got to the top, it jammed. "We'll get it up and working in a minute, guys," someone yelled from the ground.

𝗢 𝗠 𝗡 𝗜 𝗦 𝗖 𝗜 𝗘 𝗡 𝗧

You sighed in distress and laid your head on Tanaka's shoulder. He wrapped his arm around you. The scenery was relaxing and tranquil so it wasn't all that bad. "Y/N," Tanaka called your name. You had closed your eyes and were half asleep. "Y/N, thank you so much for being my peace. I have no idea how I lived my life without you and in these past few weeks, you have truly been my everything. Thank you for that," he said. Tanaka kissed your forehead, not realizing that you had heard everything that he had said.

↭

Tanaka was now driving you back home and you were about to doze off until you got a notification on your phone. The photographer had sent you both the pictures he took earlier. You smiled at the picture and chose one. You posted the picture to your Instagram and dozed off.

#haikyuu x black reader #tanaka x reader #blackreader #blackyn

14 notes · View notes

estrxlar · 3 years

Text

The Ghost Of You

12 - Coincidence

This chapters songs:

Beach Bummer; No Vacation

Goodie Bag; Still Woozy

Sports; Beach Bunny

- Y. L. Perspective

I wasn't sure what to think when I had read the message aloud. "I want to talk." What could that possibly mean?

"Y/n, I'm sure you're just being dramatic. Maybe he just wangs to check up on how you've been doing, " Toruku suggests, sipping from his box of apple juice. The two of us sat against the brick wall on the outside of the cafeteria, discussing my issue. Giki and Hikishi couldn't join us for lunch because of school work that they had to finish up, and Suga had to meet his friends.

Ever since the party, the only thing that stuck to my mind was my situation with Koushi. But other than that, I had forgotten about certain things that happened. As an example, bumping into Oikawa. And as crazy as it was, the moment completely left my mind for a good five days. Until I got a message from him, saying, "I want to talk."

Oikawa, Toruku, Iwaizumi, and I have known each other ever since the beginning of junior high. The only reason we had separated was because of Moku's tragic death, and our schools. Toruku and I had decided to stick together and go to Karasuno, while Oikawa and Iwa felt their volleyball was more important than staying friends. But honestly, it wasn't that big of a deal. The older we grew, then we realized that we wouldn't stick with our middle school friends.

But what Oikawa had caused between the four of us is what made things awkward.

Around the summer of my first year of high school, we all subtly kept in touch with each other. But then after he had thrown a party around July a fight had broken out between him and Toruku because of me.

Oikawa was telling others cruel things in a group of people that were discussing school, lying about how I acted around him. That I had messed around with him, or how I was jealous of Moku for being with Toruku and took it out on Oikawa. But truth was that Oikawa was the one who liked me, and I never paid too much attention to him because of how guilty I felt for liking my best friend's boyfriend.

Iwaizumi, Oikawa, Toruku, and I all knew what Toru said were false claims that he only told for attention from other girls that he would talk to. Oikawa let his popularity get ahead of him, causing a ruckus to occur that day. The further he would go with these stories, the angrier Toruku and I had grown. Eventually, his mouth ran far enough to drive Toruku to punch him more than I had expected. Oikawa was all bark and no bite, therefore, he didn't fight back. That night is when Toruku and I had realized that we needed to move in from our past and find lives of our own. Ones that wouldn't have to ever run into the two obnoxious duo Oikawa and Iwaizumi.

So you could imagine my anger when seeing him at a party that didn't involve him.

"Uhm.." Toruku takes a bite out of his egg sandwich, munching while talking. "Just text him back! Say 'about what?' I bet that would get you answers."

I groan at his stupidity. Today wasn't the best day to have lunch with Toruku, but who else could relate to me as much as him? So, I do as I am suggested, texting back a simple reply and hoping it would lead me to the best possible outcome.

—

Oikawa

I want to talk

About what?

...

—

"Oh my god, he's typing," I say quickly, dropping any items in my hand to hold the phone in front of Toruku and me. He finishes his egg sandwich and crumbles the wrapper to throw into a bin not too far away from where we sat before crossing his arms in concentration.

It wasn't that I was excited to talk to Oikawa. I was nervous as to what he wanted to discuss with me. Other than school, there wasn't much to talk about with him. All I knew was that he turned into a jackass with an ego.

'What does he even wanna say?'

When my phone vibrated in my hands, I had thought my questions were answered. But only a simple reply was given to me.

—

Oikawa

I want to talk

About what?

I just want to see how you've been doing. How about lunch on Saturday?

—

Toruku frowns at the message. "Why would he want to have lunch after what happened?" He asks me. "Say you're busy." A protective tone overtakes him.

"Ok, ok."

—

Oikawa

I want to talk

About what?

I just want to see how you've been doing. How about lunch on Saturday?

I have a tight schedule, so I don't think I'm free that day.

Hmm

Sunday?

What would we talk about, Toru?

Honestly

I just wanted to see you again

You know, talk?

Mhm

But why? Soon it won't matter

Cause after I saw you on Saturday I realized I had some things to say

Please?

Okay

We'll figure something out

—

"Do you think he still likes you?" Toruku pops in.

"No, I don't think so. But I also haven't been able to see his development, so I wouldn't know," I reply to him. I could either ruin or glorify my relationship with him. That was a bet I wasn't sure I wanted to take. And not only that, but he also had beef with Toruku. Why didn't he ask him to lunch as well? Was it because he didn't run into him during the party?

Now I had yet again another thing to worry about. Right now, my current concern was my first volleyball practice this afternoon. Kiyoko had informed me that this weekend they were to have a practice game with one of the competitive teams. I wasn't sure if I would enjoy it or not, but I mine as well have given it a shot.

To be honest, I was a little bit excited. Not only would I be able to see Suga more than in the afternoon, but I could get to know the underclassman more. That was if they even liked me.

"Whatever. I don't need to be worrying about this right now," I tell Toruku as I get up from the wall to throw my trash away. He nods, tossing his trash in the basket as well, before picking up my bag and bento, handing it to me. "Thanks for having lunch with me."

"It's no issue. Just tell me how things go with texting Oikawa and have fun at practice."

"Sure thing."

I waited at the front of her classroom. By her, I mean the beauty herself: Kiyoko. She told me earlier that she would run through the rooms the volleyball club uses so that I could get familiar with where I'd be going every day I attended practice. I was in good hands when it came to Kiyoko, one of my very close friends.

Finally, her classroom door opens, followed by the many students held inside to flood the hallways, including Kiyoko. "Hey there!" She throws a hand over my shoulder as we begin walking to the exit of the hall. "You excited?"

"I guess. I'm more nervous than excited," I reply.

"Don't be. The boys are very sweet. If you'd like, I can try giving you a summary of what to expect!" She exclaims, her excitement practically glowing off of her skin.

Once I nod, Kiyoko begins her full explanation of the players. "Well, we have the three third years. Me, Sugawara, and Daichi! And you already know about us. And there are only four second years. There's Tanaka, Ennoshita, Kinoshita, and Narita. Tanaka is a loud person, but he's super hard working and nice to me, so I guess he's okay. As for Ennoshita, he doesn't talk very much, but I wouldn't be rough with him. He seems like the insecure type. And Narita and Kenoshita are like him, except a little more wild! They usually stay in the back of the crowd, though. Then there are the first years— man are they talented. We have this amazing pair of first years, Kageyama and Hinata. Hinata is so good at jumping, probably the best I've ever seen, and a very rowdy boy. Kageyama is usually a prick to everybody, but he's learning to be a team player. Then there is Tsukishima and Yamaguchi. They're pretty simple to predict. Tsuki just bosses around Yamaguchi all the time and they both talk crap about everybody, but they're good friends and good players."

I can't help but widen my eyes at how fast Kiyoko had explained the players. It was as if she had a lite notebook in the back of her mind where she stored every detail about them, knowing every word she wrote like the back of her hand. "...wow, so there's some personality in the team! That's good to hear," I say, taking a deep breath before we both leave the school building and make our way behind it. "I think I know about Kageyama, though. I went to middle school with him and my old friends that were on the team with him weren't very fond of him— but that's all I know. Sugawara just tells me that he's a very talented person, which doesn't say much about his persona."

"Oh yeah! How're things with Sugawara going?" Kiyoko has no hesitation to jump towards the subject. I couldn't blame her, though. It had been a while since we had a girl-on-girl chat.

Embarrassed, I chuckle, staring at the ground as we discuss. "Nothing much. I mean— he did ask me to be his girlfriend, and we made out a couple of times, but that's it!" I act as if the actions weren't such a huge thing.

Kiyoko gasped. "Y/n! You didn't tell me that you were so close to him, I would have teased you way more than I already do! You kissed him?! How many times? When—where?!"

"Shimizu, stop talking so loud!" I exclaimed, raising my brows as the girl pipes down. Kiyoko wasn't ever the type to get so rowdy about things, that is if it didn't have to do with romance. As for that, she was a downer. And if her friend was involved with it then she wouldn't stop with the blabber. "Anyway, after the party, we both spent the night in his car. We didn't do anything but make out. Still, it was so nice," I whine. "He was so gentle and confident at the same time, and I'd never had somebody want to kiss me so badly— y'know? After that, he took me home, and we both slept in my bed for a couple of hours. Once I woke up, he wasn't anywhere to be found. Only my cat and a letter were left on the pillow next to me."

"A letter?" She questions.

"Yeah, explaining his feelings—his feelings,

Shimizu! Isn't that so sweet?! He told me that he was in love with me and never felt so passionate about anybody the way he does with me. But the thing is, I'm not even sure I wanna be in a relationship. And it's hurting both of us. I think I'm just so confused about everything that I can't even make up a decision."

"Hm, that's understandable. It's a big surprise two of my friends are getting together without telling me! Especially since they're so in love with each other. But now you're saying you don't know what to say?" Kiyoko hums. "Well, from the way you talk about him, are you sure that you're not just scared? You seem like you're head over heels, Y/n. What's stopping you?"

Suddenly, a tall shadow stops us in our tracks, interrupting our conversation. "Yeah, what's stopping you?!" A deep voice says as Kiyoko nudges him.

"Daichi, you don't even know what we're talking about!" She says. It was no other than Sawamura, acting silly again.

He wore a black jumpsuit that I assumed was his volleyball uniform and white tennis shoes, topped off with his grin. "Hey, Y/n! You excited for practice?" He asks in enthusiasm, crossing his arms. If I was being honest, Daichi always scared me when confronting me, but I knew he had my back. Therefore, the goosebumps that crawled up my spine had disappeared once I settled into his smile.

"I mean... I'm a bit nervous. But yeah, I'm excited."

Daichi claps his large hands, then points towards a grey building that was only a few meters away from where we stood under the school roof. "Great! Kiyoko can lead you to the locker rooms and the team will meet you in the gym!"

I look to Kiyoko, who's nodding. "Sure thing. Let's go, Y/n." Her hand lightly pushes me towards the direction of the changing rooms.

Once we arrived at a certain locker room, Kiyoko showed me around the place. There were sixteen lockers on each side of the wall and two benches in the middle. Lots of different sports instruments were piled up in a corner, while a few bags were tossed in another. Overall, it seemed like a regular changing room.

"Here, you can use this locker here. No one ever does." Kiyoko points to an empty silver cubby. The others that surrounded it had posters and locker decor on them, telling me they were already claimed by other girls.

I open the locker, placing a few of my things in it like my bag, school vest and tie, and my shoes. After, I turn to Kiyoko, who's standing right behind me with a black bag in her hands. "Here, this is your new uniform. The team will take you more seriously if you have it on."

Taking the baggy, I pull open the zipper, revealing folded clothing inside. It was the same that Daichi had on earlier, except it didn't come with shorts and tennis shoes. Kiyoko told me that I would only need to bring some sport shoes and a white tee to wear under my sweater. "Thanks! Are you gonna be wearing one too?"

"Not today. My uniform is dirty, so I'll be using one from him. Don't worry, once the team is used to you, you'll be able to bend the rules a bit as I do. They don't care very much." She says as she makes her way towards her locker, pulling out a light lavender jumpsuit.

'Crap, does this mean I'm going to have to undress in front of other girls? That's gonna be awkward.' I tell myself, as I hid behind the door of my locker to pull down my skirt and quickly put on the black pants. I exchange my button-up for a comfortable white tee and black sweater, before taking off a few accessories that I had on and slip them into a pocket of my bag. After, I sat on the bench to trade my black long socks for some normal ones and tie on my shoes.

"Ready?" Kiyoko turns to me, fully dressed in her uniform.

"You bet."

I hadn't realized how awkward interrupting a practice was until the deed was done. It was sickening, embarrassing, and terrifying.

"Hi everybody," Kiyoko says in a soft tone, setting our bags down near the door while I avoided eye contact with anybody. That didn't help the fact that every one of the players was staring at us, sitting in a circle on the ground.

A loud, raspy voice echoed through the gym, interrupting the bitter silence that ate me up. "Hi, Kiyoko! How was your day today?" I glance up at the person who jogged towards us.�� He had a huge smile and short buzz cut, already telling me that he was a rowdy one. "And as for you, welcome! You must be the new manager! I'm Ryonosuke Tanaka, one of the best players on this team!" He holds out a hand for me to shake.

'So this must be the second year Kiyoko told me about. Great, I like him already.' I think, bowing before shaking his hand. "I'm Y/n L/n, nice to meet you."

"Tanaka! Show some respect for your upperclassman, will you!" Daichi comments, coming up from behind him. "I'm sorry about him. He's a wild one."

"Oh, that's alright."

When Daichi realizes I'm comfortable enough to glance at the teammates, he quickly moves out of the way. "Oh—let me introduce you properly. Everybody, this is our new manager that Takeda Sensei told us about: Y/n! She's a third-year and is here to help out Kiyoko. She's friends with us third years too, so no funny business!" He looks towards Tanaka. "That means you, Tanaka!"

He yells out, "I—I was just being friendly!"

Daichi simply playfully rolls his eyes. "Why don't you first years come to introduce yourselves, hm?" He suggests as a few boys shuffle through the small crowd to get a better view of me.

"Hey! It's good to see you again, L/n! I'm Shoyo Hinata." He bows. I recognized him immediately when he approached me. The player was short for somebody on a volleyball team and had bright ginger hair that was rough and fluffy, and he practically radiated energy when I was near him. "I hope you have a great time on the team!"

After giving him a brief smile, I shift my eyes towards a pair of first-years that seemed suspicious of my presence in the club. But one of them stepped up to shake my hand and grin. He had brown yet green-tinted hair that appeared soft, and many freckles on his face. "Hi, I'm Tadashi Yamaguchi. A pleasure to meet you!" He cautiously nudges the tall boy next to him.

He rolls his eyes at the slightest, tossing the volleyball in his hands to the ground. "Hi, I'm Tsukishima." He says in a proud tone, bowing.

Then, I fixate my eyes on the boy who stood behind Hinata, staring intently at me. Once he notices that I had caught him, he began stuttering. "I—Uh...I'm Kageyama! Tobio Kageyama." The ravenette puffs up his chest, bowing towards me.

"Ah, yes! I know about you. Did you happen to go to Kitagawa Daiichi during middle school?" I ask, tilting my head to take a mental picture of him.

"Uh..yes. How did you know?"

"I used to hang around the volleyball club a lot and knew a bit about you. But I never would have thought you would go here!" I quickly realize how rude my response appeared. "Oh, crap! I didn't mean it like that."

He shakes his head violently, shutting down my apology. "It's no issue, Y/n! It's great that you know me— I mean— thank you for recognizing me," he says loudly, bowing once more. It became obvious that Kags was a bit nervous to meet me, but it wasn't anything threatening. His bright pink cheeks were more warming than scary.

"Well, Kageyama, it's great to see you again," I giggle. Then, three boys are seen in the corner of my eye, seeming eager to say their hellos. Taking initiative, I greet them. "Uh, hi guys."

"Hey!" They say, maneuvering towards me. The black-haired one shakes my hand first, squeezing it gently. "I'm Ennoshita. Pleased to meet you." Then comes the other two: one with a buzz cut, and the other with dirty blonde hair. "I—I'm Kenoshita! And this is Narita!" He points to the buzz cut boy. "We're all second years, by the way!"

Surprised by so many greetings, I can't help but hold my hands out in front of my face. "Oh— okay! Nice to meet you, too."

Somebody abruptly suggests, "Why don't you guys give her some space?" Knowing the voice too well to forget it, I grew excited. Sugawara had arrived, finally. I was looking forward to seeing him more than anybody else. "Hey, Y/n. Glad to have you," He says, secretly winking at me.

"Thank you."

"Let's talk positions for the practice game," Daichi commands, lifting a dry erase board to face everybody."Here's the plan I came up with."

The club was sat in a big circle on the court facing Daichi and Takeda. I accompanied them as well, pretending I knew what they were talking about.

"I'd like to have you two working as a pair." Daichi points to Kageyama and Hinata, who gave each other low growls. "And since Tsukishima is our tallest player, I think that would give us a benefit against Seijoh."

'Seijoh? Isn't that short for Aoba Johsai?' I think, raising my hand slightly. "Uh, so you guys are playing against Seijoh?"

Daichi nods. "Yes, Aoba Johsai. We have a practice game with them this week. They're a very strong team, so we need to be in our top game. Are you gonna be joining us..or?"

"Yeah, I will. I'm asking because I know a bit about the players on that team. If you'd like, I can give you guys some advice on their style."

"Wait! Why is Hinata in the one position that needs a tall guy?" Tanaka blurts, as he points towards Shoyos name that was written on the board. It stood in front of the net doodle, telling us he'd be playing as a blocker.

Hinata takes notice of this and grows annoyed. "You're saying Tsukishima and I are playing middle blockers?!" It seemed that he wasn't very fond of Tsuki.

"Timeout!" Takeda strikes the air with his hands, before reaching to his side to unfold a small handy book. "I think I need an overview of the positions.. let's start with the setter. That's the basic control tower— the ones who set people up for attacks. Then there are the wing spikers. They're the rounder that sort of.. maintains the balance between offense and defense. And middle blockers block the other teams' attacks and score points using quick attacks. They also act as a decoy to lead away from the opponent blockers! Is that right?" He asks, looking up to the team captain for reassurance.

He nods his head, putting his palms together. "There is a position that specializes in defense, but we don't need to worry about that right now. So far, that's the positions!"

"Well, Hinata should be the 'number one decoy'!" Kageyama quickly rises, looking towards the redhead. I look towards Kiyoko who is just as confused as me about what he blabbered. "Why don't we use you as a distraction to get points? We'll be using quick attacks, that way the other spikers can do some damage! You'll take down guys like Tsukishima and take them right down the garden path like the idiots they are." Kageyama spoke in a determined manner.

Yamaguchi defended the boy, saying, "Hey! Don't imply Tsuki's an idiot!" But is quickly shut down by Tsukishima, being told to shut up. "Oh.. sorry."

'These first years sure are interesting..and rude, if I'm being honest. Why is it that they're so bossy and demanding?' I say to myself, bringing my knees up and resting my head on them. Although we hadn't done anything physical, I was beginning to grow tired.

"Hinata, when we play, you better be on your best level! If you mess up even one bit, all of our attacks are gonna start to fall apart, got it?" Kageyama strikes Hinata, making him feel frightened and cornered.

"Come on, Kageyama. Hinata is already under a lot of pressure, why say things that make him feel bad?" I whisper to him, as he began to feel concerned for Shoyo.

Tanaka pats Hinatas back, attempting to calm him. "Yeah but- blocking is the most important thing here! No matter how high he can jump, he's still a shorty pants."

What he had told everybody started a riot between the players. Each of them argued about whether or not Hinata should be one of the middle blockers. As for the third years, we rubbed our foreheads in frustration. But it wasn't as if I could expect anything different from these boys.

"Don't you worry, Hinata. As long as you do your best, the team will be proud-"

"R-right! I promise I won't mess up!" Hinata perks up while his face turned a crimson color out of stress. "I'll block as much as you want me to and be the best decoy! I'll serve, I'll do attacks, I'll block! I'll do whatever you say, captain!"

Because of how anxious he grew, he dropped onto the gym floor not long after his rant, breathing heavily. Hinata had made it clear to me that volleyball was a very serious thing for him, and other players' opinions on him meant almost everything. But thank goodness, our third years reassured him that he would be just fine for the practice game.

From how much I'd seen, I thought that the club wasn't too much of an issue to attend to. That was if I wasn't helping first years get back up onto their feet after short-circuiting. Kiyoko had even told me that I did a great job on my first day at practice. So I was sure that I'd be a benefit to the team.

Now, my biggest concern was seeing Oikawa.

Comments and votes are super appreciated! Pls give me recognition for my chapters, I work so so so hard.

- sugawaras beauty mark☆

1 note · View note

lovetheplayers · 5 years

Conversation

Taylor's interview on Smallzy's Surgery | Nova 969 (April 29, 2019)

Taylor: Hello, how are you?

Smallzy: I'm very good. It's been a little while.

Taylor: It's been way too long.

Smallzy: It has.

Taylor: We're both too excited. We're, like, saying the same thing.

Smallzy: Yes, absolutely. Congratulations. TS7: the era commences. How are you feeling?

Taylor: Thank you. I'm feeling really, really happy and, like, joyful to be honest. Like, this has been such a fun video and song to make and I'm so proud of the album that will come out eventually. It's just really exciting that the fans are excited. I love my job. It's just really fun and I'm having, like, a really fun time doing this.

Smallzy: Lovely. Well I have got a lightning round of questions to go through, so let's hit it. Number one, you have a new cat Benjamin Button. How is the cat? Is he good?

Taylor: He's good. He's literally right next to me. He's such a good boy.

Smallzy: What about Meredith and Olivia? Are they okay with the new addition? Or was there some getting used to?

Taylor: Well, okay, so, my first cat's Meredith and when I got Olivia there was a lot of, like, hissing. She'd hiss at Olivia, Olivia was tiny but would hiss back and I was like, "Oh god, this is going to be so much hissing." But then when I brought him home they'd hiss at him and he would just, like, lay down on the floor and I'm like, "dude." He's just a very chill cat. They kind of realized that he doesn't really care that much. He doesn't really wanna fight. He'll pounce on them every once in a while. He's like the annoying little brother.

Smallzy: Lovely. You posted something on Twitter over the weekend saying that you gave away the title to the album somewhere in the music video of the new song. Now I'm just gonna, like, you can say "warm" or "cold" or you can say "I'm not gonna comment." There's a fan theory: kaleidoscope. Is that warm or cold?

Taylor: I'm not gonna comment because I really do respect their theories so much, you know. I'm gonna tell them all the information when I tell them.

Smallzy: Okay, let's do it like that. I do have to talk about the music video. You and Brendon Urie. Congratulations on the song. Now I'm not sure but—the shoulder shimmies in that video clip are to die for, so congratulations to you both.

Taylor: Thank you so much. I will tell him that you said that because we worked very hard on them. Thank you so much.

Smallzy: Do you feel like he shoulder shimmied better than you do and you had to step up or were you teaching him a thing or two?

Taylor: Yeah, yeah. I mean, I had to step up the whole video. I have to step up just every time I'm around him because he's like the best performer, and he has so much energy. Oh, my god. He goes into rehearsals and you have to really keep up. He's so amazing.

Smallzy: Well, your new song is called ME! with Brendon Urie of Panic! At The Disco playing now. Taylor Swift on the air.

Smallzy: Now when you were here in Australia with the reputation Tour it bucketed down with rain at the Sydney show. Now with that stadium tour did that happen many times or was there only a few shows where it rained as crazy as it did that night?

Taylor: t happened more times on the reputation Tour than it did on any other tour I've done, but it was so much fun because we all just, like, danced in the rain together. It was really just, like, joyous and I think that the crowds not leaving—when I was younger I thought, like, if it rained everyone would leave. And I was always so scared of it raining. And then the first time I had a rain show I was like, "Oh wait, people are staying?" Like, that's when it became something that we all welcomed because I'm literally not going to cancel a show no matter what unless physically, like, they tell me that none of us can be on stage or whatever. If it's raining, like, bring it on. It's fun. I mean, the crowds—the more that they embrace that, the easier it is for, you know, for all of us to feel like it's not even raining. It turns it into even more fun. We just try not to slip because I slip and fall sometimes.

Smallzy: Oh, my god. Yeah. You don't need that. Hey, our time is running out but I just quickly wanted to know, is there a message for the Aussie fans? They're very excited for the new song which, congratulations is like number one already here in Australia. And of course they want to know if you're planning on coming back anytime soon.

Taylor: well I'm definitely working on the schedule right now and I love the Aussie fans more than I can even say, like, more than I can even verbalize. And I just love them for their passion, for caring about me and being so wonderful, and for making it number one. Thanks guys. That's amazing.

Smallzy: Lovely. Well thank you very much for chatting. I will leave it on if the album is called Kaleidoscope, Lover, or Home, I called it first. If it's none of those three we'll pretend I never said it, alright?

Taylor: Hey, hey, amazing. You have the theories. You're so sweet for even having a theory. That is so nice of you.

Smallzy: I'm a Taylor fanboy, what can I say? Taylor Swift, thanks for chatting. I appreciate it.

Taylor: You're the best. Thank you! Bye guys.

Smallzy: Bye, bye!

#taylor swift #smallzy #me! radio promo #she said something else about brendon but I don't know if she said he lits everything up?#she says #he just ___ everything #he ___ every situation he's in

755 notes · View notes

running-in-the-dark · 27 days

Text

it's been a month since we moved into the new apartment -

I'm so stressed. everything is stressful. we're still not done building the kitchen but it's getting there (slowly). mostly we just need to wait until we get a couple parts that weren't in stock when we ordered the rest. I'm hoping it'll be done by next weekend.

some of it is very frustrating with my brain specifically. I'm so bothered by all the tiny little things that no one else would even notice - like, some of the handles on the drawers are very slightly crooked (as in, less than a millimeter higher on one side) - but for me it's so obvious that it's impossible to ignore. my husband didn't even know what I meant when I pointed it out to him. there's also been a few slightly bigger issues, but we've solved them now (I think).

my eye has been twitching for like three to four weeks. not all the time obviously, but every few minutes. it's very, very annoying.

we still have no new info about when we'll have internet finally. it could take a while still.

on Monday a guy has to replace something in the electric roller shutters in one room - but we don't know which one yet. so either I'll have to let him into my room (awful, uncomfortable, will have to tidy up tomorrow so he could even get to the window), or I'll have to get both our cats into their carrier if it's the one in my husband's room (awful, difficult, one of them doesn't like that so he'll be scared and I'll feel bad).

also on Monday the electrician will install our stove (if he has time). then we're getting two ikea deliveries. and I've got an appointment with my (new) GP because I need a prescription, and I'm very (verrry) nervous about it.

I miss watching TV. I miss tumblr and YouTube and messaging my friends whenever I want and sending them photos all the time. I miss order and structure and (some level of) routine. I miss using real cutlery (we still haven't found ours lol).

when I was finally starting to get used to the noises in this place, the family above us moved in with their baby that cries all the time very very loudly and most of the time right above my room. so now everything is different again and I'm not adjusting well and once again I can't sleep.

but, I've listened to 14 audiobooks since we moved! that's been nice. it was the same way when we moved the last time (just over a year ago..). my favourite by far was The Thursday Murder Club. I've got the other ones in the series but I'm trying not to listen to them too quickly, so I'm gonna listen to three other books first (one is done already, so I should get there on Monday or Tuesday hopefully).

#long rambly post sorry #I miss talking about the random uninteresting shit that happens in my life on here all the time #I've got data on my phone again now at least so that's good. but the phone signal is still awful indoors so it's not that useful #but anyway.... logically I know I'm doing an okay job with unpacking and everything but it doesn't feel like it #also I'm probably gonna have to try to find at least a part time job pretty soon and I'm really really really scared. terrified.#not just of trying to find something and interviews and all that #but that I won't be able to handle it. physically and mentally. again.#I've only had one full time job (an apprenticeship actually) and I lasted 3 months.#and at my part time job I only lasted a month #like. I can barely get anything done in a day as it is. I have so little energy. everything is so fucking hard and exhausting #I truly don't understand how everyone does it. I don't understand how it's possible.#but if I don't find something we won't have money for food next month sooooo it is sort of kind of important #it sucks so fucking much. I can't stand or walk for long periods of time. can't do too much with my hands. I'm not good at dealing with #people/customers. I panic and can't think when I get nervous (which is most of the time). I can't remember shit.#so like. what job am I supposed to do??? everything hurts all the time already and I'm always tired and I'm barely keeping it together #fuuuuck this #😭#personal

8 notes · View notes

stanbillyhargrove · 4 years

Text

Ghosts chp 13

Billy x Katrina

A/N: this is a multi chapter series that will contain smut, angst, fluff, substance abuse

This is a sweet fluffy Steve chapter, boy deserves it 💜💜 also we get little hints of what's to come next week 😈

Steve's POV

"Oh, hey! Do you guys mind if we pop in here for a minute?" I asked, pointing at a little apothecary.

Katrina glanced around, noticing a coffee shop across the street, "yeah, sure, we'll go get some coffee."

They took off across the street as I ducked into the little shop. Plants filled the deep windowsills, except for a little spot cleared for a plush, purple pillow. All around the shop were white shelves filled with all sorts of soaps, lotions and little bags filled with flowers and herbs. I could have spent all day just soaking in all the different smells.

I was holding a bag to my nose, inhaling deeply when I heard a voice.

"Love charm, smells good, doesn't it?"

I whirled around to see a girl who had just come out of the back of the store. Long brown hair hung in waves down her bare shoulders when she leaned on the counter.

She stared at me, waiting, "hello?"

"Oh, I, ah..yes, smells...pretty."

She smiled, "you trying to attract someone?"

"What?"

"The charm. You looking for something to attract love?"

"N-no," I stammered, putting the bag back on the shelf, "I just...like all the smells."

"Follow me," she said, leading me to a different shelf.

She pulled out a bar of soap and handed it to me, "smell this. I just got the recipe right."

I held it up to my nose, inhaling deeply. A warm scent filled my nose, deep woodsy musk and sharp spices. I hummed, my eyes closing.

"Good, huh?" She giggled, "it's one of my new favorites."

"This smells amazing, you made this?"

"Yeah, I run this place with a couple friends. I make most of the soaps and charms."

"Wow, that's...amazing. What is this one?"

"Cedar, clove and cinnamon for prosperity, protection and love."

I looked up at her, "but...I'm not.."

She smirked, "who doesn't need a little love in their life? And even if you don't need it, it still smells great, right?"

"Yeah," I murmured, "it does...my name's Steve, by the way."

"Riley," she answered, extending a hand to me.

Her hand was so small and delicate in mine, soft like rose petals. Our hands lingered for a moment, neither wanting to let go.

"Hey, uh...are you, would you like to get coffee or something later?"

Her cheeks flushed a light pink, "yeah, yeah I would."

"Steve?"

I hummed, glancing up from Riley's cup, away from the stick that seemed to spin around the cup for too long on its own.

"I said, what brings you to Salem?"

"Oh, my friend Katrina. She's looking for someone to help her."

"With?"

"Ghosts."

"Oh? Is she haunted or is she a medium?"

"A medium, I guess? She sees them, talks to them. She's trying to find someone to help her control it."

She was quiet for a moment, thinking to herself, "I might be able to help, I'll have to ask."

"That would be great, she'd really appreciate it."

"Oh! A Scream marathon!"

I looked over at Riley, who was smiling from ear to ear, "you're a horror fan?"

"They're my favorite!" She wiggled her eyebrows at me, "are you a scaredy cat, Steve?"

I could feel my cheeks heat up when she giggled, "don't worry, Riley's here to protect you."

We'd been here for a little over a week now and I'd spent every moment possible with Riley. Slowly getting closer and closer until.

"Steve," she murmured.

I pulled away from her, just a little and opened my eyes.

"I think we should talk."

My heart sunk to my knees when she leaned away from me, "oh, okay."

I was preparing myself for the heartbreak of 'I think you're a nice guy but...I just don't like you like that.'

But what I wasn't expecting was, "I really like you...but I don't know if I want anything physical. I, we...I just don't know if I want to be in a long distance relationship y'know?"

I let out a relieved sigh, "I thought you were about to tell me I had misunderstood, that you didn't like me. We don't have to start anything if you don't want to, I can deal with us just being friends if that's what you want."

She smiled and leaned into my shoulder, "thanks, Steve."

"Dude, you gotta fight for her! Prove you're worth the distance!"

I rolled my eyes, "Billy, I can't force her into a relationship."

He grabbed my shoulders, "we leave in two hours, Steve. You make it sound like she's the love of your life and you're willing to just give up on that?"

I shrugged, "if that's what she wants."

"Screw that. What do you want?"

I knocked his arms away, "it doesn't matter."

"It does matter, what do you want?"

I felt my eyes starting to sting and looked away from him, clenching my jaw.

"Steve!" He yelled, "what do you want?"

I glanced back at him, my eyes watering, "I want her to choose me...I want to try."

His expression softened and he smiled at me. Smug bastard.

"Then go tell her. Tell her that's what you want, that you're willing to go the distance. That you care about her."

But, I didn't. Couldn't muster up the courage to lay myself bare before her.

We were just finishing packing up the Camaro, shuffling around our bags in the truck to make them fit. Katrina and Billy moved out of the way so I could close the trunk and there, standing in the door of the house staring at me, was Riley. I gave her a tight smile and moved around the car but was stopped by her yelling.

"Wait! Steve, wait!"

I looked up just in time to see her running at me, dark hair streaming behind her before she jumped into my arms. I wrapped my arms around her waist and felt her legs tighten on my hips, holding herself up. Her hands were warm on the side of my face, her lips soft against mine. She broke away after a moment, moving just far enough to tip our foreheads together.

"I couldn't just let you leave," she murmured, "if you still want to try, I do too."

"Yeah," I murmured, a slow smile stretching across my face, "yes. I want to give us a shot."

I could see Billy's smug grin from the other side of the car. He must have said something to her, the bastard.

-- March

"Hey, it's okay, Riley. I understand. We'll see each other next weekend though?"

"Of course," she replied, voice soft and sleepy, "we'll have a movie marathon?"

"Anything you want, I'll load up on snacks just for you."

She hummed, "ice cream too?"

I smirked, laughing softly, "super fudge chunk?"

"You listen so well."

I smiled, "night, Riley."

"Night, Steve."

I hung up and walked out into Billy's living room, still smiling. He was sitting on the couch, fiddling with the Xbox controller in his hands.

"Took you long enough," he teased, "thought this was boy's night."

"Sorry, Riley was just letting me know she can't come this weekend. Family stuff."

"Well, you can hang with Katrina and I. She's been a little spacey so we're just staying in."

I flopped down beside him, "she okay? Do you think it's cause of what happened?"

He shrugged, "she says she's fine, thinks it's just stress."

I could barely contain myself as the minutes ticked down to when Riley was supposed to be here. I had taken forever to set everything up. Snacks covered my kitchen counter, dinner was waiting on the stove, ice cream was in the freezer. I'd even built a blanket fort in my living room, though I was starting to second guess that decision. Whenever I'd done things like this for Nancy, she always said it was too much. Too childish.

I was pulled out of my thoughts by a knock at the door. There was no backing out now.

I swung the door open to see Riley, a duffel bag over one shoulder and a big smile on her face.

She dropped her bag inside the door to wrap her arms around my neck and give me a soft kiss before murmuring, "it smells amazing in here."

I stepped backwards, leading her into my apartment and closed the door behind her, "I made breakfast."

She hummed, "breakfast for dinner? I love it."

She broke away from me and stopped, staring at the living room, "oh my god."

"It's too much isn't it? I'm sorry, I can take it down."

She shook her head and turned to smile at me, "no, it's perfect."

I kissed her again before going to the kitchen to start dishing up our food.

Riley padded up behind me, wrapping her arms around my waist, "so, what did you make us?"

"French toast, I used Katrina's recipe, Billy swears it's the best thing he's ever had, scrambled eggs and sausages. I hope that's okay. I have snacks and ice cream too."

"Steve," she soothed, running her hands up and down my chest, "everything is perfect. Relax."

I let my shoulders drop, let out a long breath and held a plate out to the side for her, "what movies did you bring?"

She let go of me to grab the plate, "I figured I'd start you out with a funny movie so I brought 21 Jump Street to watch first. Then I have Texas Chainsaw Massacre."

I smirked, "isn't that a little backwards? Don't you leave the funny movie for after the horror?"

She shook her head, "if I did that, you wouldn't need me to comfort you."

-- April

"Thanks for coming to get me," Katrina murmured, wincing when the seat belt of my car put pressure on her bandages.

"Yeah, no problem."

We were quiet as I started to drive towards Katrina and Billy's apartment building. We were about halfway there when I cleared my throat.

"Why didn't you call Billy?"

"I didn't want to give him another reason to worry about me."

"He's worried anyway, he called me saying you were hurt and disappeared. Maybe I should call Riley, get her to talk to Audrey.."

"No!" She turned to me, "no, don't do that. I'm fine, I promise. It's just stress or anxiety or something."

I glanced over at her and huffed, "okay.."

-- May

"Bye, Audrey! Bye, Brooke!" I called from the the front door of their house.

I could hear them call back as I backed away from the door, Riley trailing behind me. She followed me to my car and leaned into my chest after I'd thrown my bag in the backseat.

I wrapped my arms around her and kissed the top of her head, "it's just a few weeks, it'll go by fast, you'll see."

She sighed, "I know, it just sucks."

I ran my hand up and down her back, "I know, but Billy said Katrina needs to get away from the city for a bit and we planned for the three of us to go."

She looked up at me, "call me though?"

"Of course. I'll call you so much you'll be sick of me."

She smiled, "love you, Steve."

I leaned down to kiss her gently, "love you, Riley."

I made a mental note as I drove away to get something delivered to her house every weekend we were apart, just to make her smile.

@charmed-asylum @champagnesugamama @alias-b

#billy hargrove #stranger things #billy hargove imagine #billy hargove x reader #billy hargrove fanfiction #fanfic #stranger things fanfic #stranger things fic #billy hargrove fic #stranger things fanfiction #steve harrington

8 notes · View notes

pbandjesse · 5 years

Text

I'm feeling very lazy and I don't want to do my post. But I will do it right now so I can get it over with so I can continue to be lazy.

Today was the first day of baseball season. James told me about 40 times. So I wore my Orioles shirt to make him happy. And it was a nice day. I woke up at like 10 am. I hate sleeping out late but I didn't mind too much to buy. I needed it.

I got out of bed and I got dressed. I had a nice breakfast and continue to work on organizing. Me and James made good Headway last night but I wanted to do more. I brought the boxes that we had separated last night and then I got my three drawer things from downstairs. Just the desk size ones. And then I took everything out of my multi drawer storage thing. The little one with the 30 drawers.

I dumped all of it out on the ground. And I proceeded to make files. This is jewelry stuff. This is nature stuff. This is little animals. This is little pieces of metal. Stuff like that. I was able to organize everything and felt really good about it. I did leave all the jewelry stuff for later in the day but the morning I got a lot done.

Around 11:30 James came over to give me some cookies he made. They were very small and good. It was nice to see him in all of his Orioles swag. And I left here around noon to go get the bus.

It was a pretty good day. Me and Chelsea have the kids interview each other for the journal prompt. Trae tha Truth think more positively will practicing talking to each other. It mostly worked. I had a pretty good day. The kids were nice for the most part. I'm I feel bad because demon had hurt his neck and so he was very weepy all day. He went through three cold packs. And I kept having to hug him and just kind of like be very gentle because he was in a lot of pain. Chelsea says I baby him too much but I understand where he's coming from he has a lot of frustrations with focusing and we're working on it but I do sometimes just give up and be like oh well it's just even. I need to be better about that.

It was a pretty good day drawing wise. The kids did a good job. They probably could work on it for another day and get something out of it but like I push it too much. We're starting a new project next week and I think they will like it. It was just a nice day.

I went and caught the bus home. I sat next to a really nice man. He said he was glad somebody sat next to him it wasn't one of the crazy teenagers that kept getting on and off the bus. And then I got home.

I heated up some of the pizza from yesterday and finished organizing jewelry stop. I put all of the jewelry stuff in my multi drawer storage container. And I'm thrilled. It's and be way easier knowing that it's just jewelry stuff and nothing else. There's like two drawers of other stuff but it's stuff that is tangential to jewelry. I'm so I feel like it's fine.

I texted with James for a bit and then he came over around 8. I kept laying on the couch and he said the chair and we hold hands and just play on our phone separately for half an hour. And then he went home and I've been watching videos and playing with sweet pea.

Me and my cat got into a big argument earlier because he stepped on my boob. But now he's trying to make it up for me by being very close to my face. I'm going to pick it up soon to wash my face and get ready for bad. This weekend is going to be a killer. Double constellation overnights and the first one is with someone who I do not like. I'm going to try to make the most of it because I'm also doing it with someone I do like so I'm hoping it's not too bad. In the morning I'm hoping to go to the mall and walk around for a bit. And then I need to pack my bag for both overnights because I would like to leave my backpack at ships. But we'll see how it goes. I hope you all get a good night's rest. Be safe out there

#ootd #work #babe #selfie #organizing #thursday

7 notes · View notes

xiaojuun · 2 years

Note

hiii sorry i'm late again but!!! i'm here hehe

i'm really sorry that you're having a hard time, i hope the concert does cheer you up a bit! Plus there's just a little bit left, so try to just hang in there. I wish i could give better advice but tbh idk what to say... i'm still here for you if u even wanna talk more in depth about it!! i'm also manifesting some better weather soon hopefully.

I saw the rehearsal today at work and i'm just so excited to see them do everything live!! they didn't spoil much so i'm glad for that + just seeing them puts a smile on my face <3 I hope catsitting goes well (i love cats sm they're so cute) and lmk which plushie u took!

Uni has been going okay for me, not much to do yet but i'm already struggling with the amount of classes plus work hour plus commuting.. and i know it's only gonna get worse but alas!!! i'm just not thinking abt it and taking it day by day. I've also made some new friends which is nice!! But since i'm in engineering they're all boys T.T i need some more female energy up in here!!!

anyways yeah that was long lmao sorry, i hope you're feeling better especially since the weekend is here!!!

(im on the computer so pretend there's a honey emoji here)

pls don't worry about taking time between visiting ! i remember you mentioning how much would be on your plate with uni in the mix, so take care of yourself first, i def understand juggling work and school and commutes takes a lot of energy <3 you're just getting into the routine so i'm sure it will get easier as you get used to it. and making friends who know what you're dealing with is important ! [i'll put the rest under the cut]

haha we have the opposite in nursing, it's 99% women in my cohort, although i do get to work with a couple male RNs quite often at clinical and i really enjoy working with them. it would be nice to see a better balance in both of our fields for sure!

i actually met with one of my instructors yesterday who teaches our main med-surg class but was also my clinical supervisor last semester, and i think that helped to just talk to her about how hard the semester has been. she said she knew something was up when my grade on this last exam wasn't my usual haha. but she was reassuring and basically was like, take this one loss which isn't even that bad, and i know you know what you need to do to get the next one. but she also said that if i really find myself in a rut to come talk to her again and we'll figure it out. i'm glad to know she's got my back but i'm hoping it won't come to that, i feel more motivated today to try and get ahead on some stuff and just like you, i will take it one day at a time <3 it seems we've swapped the snow for rain and the flooding has posed its own problems, but i'll take some mud and slightly better temperatures for now until it fully warms up and the sun comes back out ~

i didn't watch the rehearsal but i saw tutu is blonde now! i'm gonna have to stay away from twt tomorrow so that i don't see any spoilers for the concert before sunday. i'll probably bring my jumbo romy since i'll be sleeping (well. more like napping) there and i usually hug him in my sleep haha. whenever i am waking up at these weird hours for concerts my tradition is to have a mimosa so i'll go pick up some supplies for that today too while i'm out hehe. gonna try to get all my work done so that i can just enjoy the show without worrying about other stuff after. i'm so excited to see what they have prepared for us !!!

#and the cats are very cute they are kind of menaces though 😂#they also belong to the fam i nanny for so they are very comfortable w me and i'm very comfortable in their house haha so it's nice #i hope they enjoy the concert too 😂#erimail #mail from: mimu! 🍯#long post

1 note · View note

pbandjesse · 5 years

Text

I looked over my post last night and a couple of those sentences were absolutely incomprehensible. One of them started with the word bacon. I usually am watching while doing this type to text thing but sometimes I don't even know what it's doing. Sorry if more posts have been like that. I'll try to be more careful in the future.

If there is a future. Because Tumblr seems to be dying. With this new announcement that not safe for work posts are going to be deleted and that it seems like some posts are already getting flagged as inappropriate that have no nudity in them While others that have lots of nudity in them are fine. I worry about losing this platform and all of my posts. I've tried to back this up in the past but because I have almost 8 years of content I haven't been able to find something that can hold all of that information. What I would like to do is just back up the text posts. The photo post that have text on them that is. But I can't seem to figure out how to do that. Hopefully just want you to realize I found can be some help. Since I don't have a computer right now I don't really know how I'm going to be able to back it up. But hopefully when I go home for Christmas I can figure something out on the desktop computer. We'll see.

Today was pretty nice. I tried to use my morning as best I could. I woke up around 7:30 without an alarm. And while I stayed in bed until 8 I feel pretty good. It was just cold in here. Once I got the heat on and it warmed up I was able to get up easily. Easily enough. I washed up and got dressed. Fed sweet pea. And then I made a list for groceries and I liked over to Eddie's. I got some stuff and quarters to do laundry. And then I came back home. I made an omelet. And collected plastic bags for the kids project today. I basically rewrote my whole lesson plan in my head on the ride there when I caught the bus. But it's going to be a much better project now.

The morning was nice. And the weather was beautiful today. So I had the back door open for most of the morning so sweet pea could run around. And I was very comfortable in just a sweater. But I did bring a coat with me. It would get cooler later on.

The bus was late but I was only like 5 minutes behind by the time it showed up. It was just running really slowly. And work was fine. Me and fitsum got ready for the day. He was cutting cardstock for his project next week. And I was creating the interior structure for the kids puppet project. Originally I was going to have them build puppet structure but the way I want them to do it would take way too long. So I just did the interior part and they will paint them. For how short of an art time we have I think that's my best bet.

I went down to collect the kids and I ended up having to break up a fight between two students who are not mine. And then I had no support from the actual daytime teachers which pissed me off. Like I get your stuff out but I don't know these kids names and you're just telling me Oh yeah those boys don't listen. Like that's not an acceptable answer. But I'm just going to let it go for now. If I see it again tomorrow I'm going to get there resource Aid involved.

My kids were great for the most part. He had a couple kids you decided that they were allowed to leave the classroom. And that is still not okay. But they are trying to be better. We watched some videos about puppets which about half of them paid attention to. and they sort of understood my sketching prompt. They mostly understood that they were supposed to draw a chicken wing shape as their base but then they didn't understand that they were supposed to draw on top of that. So I had to re-explain the project. Which was pretty funny. I have to be a little clearer I guess next time. I thought I was pretty clear but apparently not. We put on some family YouTuber that they wanted to watch while they worked. And that was nice just to have a video on. But I think I'm going to have to pick some videos beforehand for them because trying to find them while they're there is not working. But also for some reason it won't let me play any of my videos on playlist. Hopefully I can sort that out going forward.

The rest of the day was fine. We worked on our drawings and fitsum did vocab with them. We played a game with the vocab words. We cleaned up the room and then it was time for pickup.

Fitsum took me home and I had planned on hanging out with James. But he wanted to have a little bit of alone time after such a hard weekend. And that work out for me because I wanted to do laundry and play with my cat. I made manicotti and put away all my clothes. And it's just been a good night. Listening to scary stories and watching Tumblr Fall Apart.

My beautiful new wallet came. It's a little bit bigger than I was anticipating but it feels so well constructed and if it's my tissues inside and my Chapstick. I'm very very pleased. Hopefully this will replace the wallet I got stolen last year and I won't have to keep trying to search for anyone like I have been this entire year. I'm very excited about this purchase.

Hopefully tomorrow will be a better day. Not that today was bad I just always hope the next day will be better. I'm going to be doing a morning shift at the BMI and then teaching where I'm going to be observed apparently. And then me and James are going to go see a play. I'm hoping it will be a very nice day for everybody.

I hope you all sleep well tonight. Stay warm.

#ootd #work #tired #sculpture #monday

4 notes · View notes

estrxlar · 3 years

Text

The Ghost Of You

11 - Volleyball Practice

This chapters songs:

Beach Bummer; No Vacation

Goodie Bag; Still Woozy

Sports; Beach Bunny

- Y. L. Perspective

I wasn't sure what to think when I had read the message aloud. "I want to talk." What could that possibly mean?

But what Oikawa had caused between the four of us is what made things awkward.

So you could imagine my anger when seeing him at a party that didn't involve him.

"Uhm.." Toruku takes a bite out of his egg sandwich, munching while talking. "Just text him back! Say 'about what?' I bet that would get you answers."

—

Oikawa

I want to talk

About what?

...

—

'What does he even wanna say?'

When my phone vibrated in my hands, I had thought my questions were answered. But only a simple reply was given to me.

—

Oikawa

I want to talk

About what?

I just want to see how you've been doing. How about lunch on Saturday?

—

Toruku frowns at the message. "Why would he want to have lunch after what happened?" He asks me. "Say you're busy." A protective tone overtakes him.

"Ok, ok."

—

Oikawa

I want to talk

About what?

I just want to see how you've been doing. How about lunch on Saturday?

I have a tight schedule, so I don't think I'm free that day.

Hmm

Sunday?

What would we talk about, Toru?

Honestly

I just wanted to see you again

You know, talk?

Mhm

But why? Soon it won't matter

Cause after I saw you on Saturday I realized I had some things to say

Please?

Okay

We'll figure something out

—

"Do you think he still likes you?" Toruku pops in.

To be honest, I was a little bit excited. Not only would I be able to see Suga more than in the afternoon, but I could get to know the underclassman more. That was if they even liked me.

"It's no issue. Just tell me how things go with texting Oikawa and have fun at practice."

"Sure thing."

"I guess. I'm more nervous than excited," I reply.

"Don't be. The boys are very sweet. If you'd like, I can try giving you a summary of what to expect!" She exclaims, her excitement practically glowing off of her skin.

"Oh yeah! How're things with Sugawara going?" Kiyoko has no hesitation to jump towards the subject. I couldn't blame her, though. It had been a while since we had a girl-on-girl chat.

Kiyoko gasped. "Y/n! You didn't tell me that you were so close to him, I would have teased you way more than I already do! You kissed him?! How many times? When—where?!"

"A letter?" She questions.

"Yeah, explaining his feelings—his feelings,

Suddenly, a tall shadow stops us in our tracks, interrupting our conversation. "Yeah, what's stopping you?!" A deep voice says as Kiyoko nudges him.

"Daichi, you don't even know what we're talking about!" She says. It was no other than Sawamura, acting silly again.

"I mean... I'm a bit nervous. But yeah, I'm excited."

I look to Kiyoko, who's nodding. "Sure thing. Let's go, Y/n." Her hand lightly pushes me towards the direction of the changing rooms.

"Ready?" Kiyoko turns to me, fully dressed in her uniform.

"You bet."

I hadn't realized how awkward interrupting a practice was until the deed was done. It was sickening, embarrassing, and terrifying.

A loud, raspy voice echoed through the gym, interrupting the bitter silence that ate me up. "Hi, Kiyoko! How was your day today?" I glance up at the person who jogged towards us. He had a huge smile and short buzz cut, already telling me that he was a rowdy one. "And as for you, welcome! You must be the new manager! I'm Ryonosuke Tanaka, one of the best players on this team!" He holds out a hand for me to shake.