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randomguywithwords · 4 years

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As The Dust Settles: Chapter 9 (Dabi X Geten Slowburn)

Previous Chapters: 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1

Geten barged into the room.

Trumpet eyed her through his tinted glasses. “Apocrypha. To what do I owe the pleasure?” He said coolly.

“I know about Takame. Why is he under me, why do I not know about him, and what do you and Skeptic know that I don’t?” She slammed the door behind her.

“So many questions. Ever the curious one, aren’t you?” Trumpet got up from his chair, sighing. “To answer them: Shigaraki made the call, not me, to assign him to your squad. You might not have known because you’ve simply been becoming more nearsighted. Losing your touch, perhaps?”

“No meta ability was listed on the database. Takame’s was omitted. It’s not you, nor Skeptic’s, to oversee this mistake, is it?” She pushed on with her questioning.

“We’re all flawed. Do pardon my error, won’t you? And it is my error, not Chikazoku’s. Leave him out of this.” Putting his hand on his heart, he gave a bow towards her. She balled her fist at this mockery.

“Your theatrics might work on the masses, politician, but not on me. We both know why you’re hiding him – them, from me.” She growled.

“Then I have no need to explain them to you.” Trumpet pushed his glasses up, fixating her with a cool stare.

“You’re trying to remove me from my position, aren’t you?” The words burst from her mouth in her fury, and desperation. She needed to hear the affirmation, even though she knew that it was mutual knowledge.

She wanted him to say yes, but no – he laughed, the sound of glee melting her hardened glare.

“So afraid...so, so afraid,” He said. “You must be mistaken, Apocrypha. I’m simply protecting them. For their safety.”

“From me?”

“Yes…” A flicker of annoyance passed over his face before he smiled ruefully once more. “From you.”

The silence that followed only heated the tension in the room.

Kill him. Quickly. He’s threatening you. She would have, but she recalled what Dabi had said about Shigaraki. Would she be punished if she killed Trumpet right now?

He’s lying. Dabi. Shigaraki. Trumpet. They’re all deceiving me.

She raised her right arm.

Trumpet immediately swung his right arm forward. A band on his wrist expanded and morphed into…

As Geten brandished her icicles at the politician, she found a gun aimed directly at her forehead.

“Bastard.” She whispered. “Guns aren’t part of meta abilities. This violates what we stand for.”

“I don’t take chances.” Trumpet’s eyes were narrowed. “I had Skeptic make one for me. After all, my meta ability has no effect on you.”

“Also, what do we stand for, Apocrypha? What is becoming of our army, now that our supreme leader is dethroned, and in his place, a boy?” He continued, his voice rising, cadence building. “While we establish a new army from the old, and pretend that order is present, I don’t see the same within us lieutenants. Then again, I never did even when Re-destro was in power.” He rested a finger on the trigger.

“If you kill me,” Geten blurted out, her heart thumping against her chest, “Shigaraki will kill you. Will you take that chance?”

One second passed. “No,” he answered. Then he enunciated his next words, as clear as her ice. “Leave.”

Geten stared at Trumpet the same way she would stare at a wolf. Her expression was like iron, as was his. His gaze bore into her. Show no weakness, she told herself.

She took a step backwards.

She wasn’t afraid. She knew she had the same amount of leverage as he did. One discreet movement of her fingers, and he would be impaled against the wall. The same could be said about her. One step back.

She was not afraid. Trumpet had never killed a man before, much less fought. She was the highest ranking soldier in the Front. He would never pull the trigger. He was bluffing. One step back.

She had never been afraid of Trumpet. The man cowered behind his cannon fodder and meat shields, barking orders to them, while she fought with a vengeance and had seen blood spilt a thousand times. He’d probably vomit at the sight of a corpse. One. Step. Back.

Her fingers felt for the door handle, grasping blindly. Had she even blinked once the whole time?

His hand is shaking. He’s going to shoot! She screamed at herself, her skin prickling upon sensing danger. Alarm bells rang in her head. But she forced her hand to stay. She kept staring at him.

His face remained impassive throughout. The politician had perfected his mask, but Geten saw through it. He was panicky, terrified of her power and superiority over him. That made him unstable. He was not a calm assassin, but a boy wielding a gun. It made him dangerous.

She found the doorknob. She paused. Will the creaking startle him? Will he shoot? Put up a wall, damn it. She kept her hand steady.

The door opened. She took a last step back and moved to the left in a swift motion. There was no loud bang. No pain in her chest. What did it even feel like to be shot? She began to walk in that direction, her legs moving faster than her mind could tell it to.

She walked, her pace brisker than normal. Her heart was beating...her hands were shaking, her legs felt as though they were liquefying, but she didn’t make a sound nor stop walking.

Finally, she turned the corner. She collapsed on the floor and exhaled the breath she had been carrying. The breath came out in a horrid gasp, with tears spilling down her face. She quickly looked to the left and right. No one.

Placing a hand on her heart, she took deep breaths, breathing as though she had resurfaced on land after an eternity underwater.

Then she pulled herself against the corridor wall, tucking her knees towards her, and permitted herself to sob into them.

She thought, I’m scared. God, I’m scared.

...

Why?

–––––

The crimson feather at the top of the corridor where Geten was vibrated with the most minute of movements, relaying the sounds back to the winged hero, who was walking right below Apocrypha. He listened to her.

Hm, guess she’s afraid of guns. Problem solved, he joked with himself. The humour went sour at the thought of whose expense it was at, as well as the controlled sobs that both dampened his mood and confused him.

He’d marked Apocrypha as one of the more dangerous soldiers on his list, having heard of the sheer power of her quirk from other Deika residents and from Twice. He had rattled on about how she had unleashed a massive glacier that killed both friend and foe during the battle, in order to eliminate his army of clones. Bubaigawara had said it as one of his jokes – Hawks assumed – that he had both cried and laughed at, and while Hawks had chuckled in return, a chill went down his spine at the thought of such a soldier fighting the heroes.

She had seemed so merciless and – to his disgruntlement at the unintentional pun – cold, that hearing her cry was odd. Why was she crying? If he was to believe the stories surrounding this mysterious figure under a hood, Apocrypha had faced hundreds or thousands in combat and probably looked death in the eye many times, something he himself could attest to.

And now here she was, just a few metres above him, sobbing in what he assumed was fear. He was tempted to ask her, but decided against it. Doing so would either stoke more animosity or suspicion. As far as she knew, he was on the League of Villains, the group she considered an enemy.

Still, it seemed that the MLA was no longer her home either. Hawks knew Apocrypha no longer followed Re-destro, albeit she still subscribed to the beliefs of the latter’s father. She said as much during that contemplation of hers. He shook his head. Poor girl.

And judging from her earlier interaction with one of the other lieutenants, Hanabata, he doubted her loyalties lied with anyone in particular. In essence, she was blindly following a path she had been misled into in the first place.

Perhaps, and this was a far-fetched idea, even to himself, if he could convince her to join him, the heroes would have a powerful ally when the fight came. Still, his mission was unchanged, and she was not on his list of priorities.

It was someone else within the PLF.

–––––

3/6/20 Update: Because of the retcon I edited this chapter.

#bnha #mha #bnha fanfic #bnha fanfiction #mha fanfic #mha fanfiction #bnha dabi #mha dabi #bnha geten #mha geten #boku no hero academia #my hero academia #dabiten #dabi x geten #dabixgeten #geten #ATDS

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scribeofmorpheus · 5 years

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Robin’s Girl [3/4]

Pairing: Robin x (OC) Clara | Steve Harrington x Reader

Sequel to: Meet Cute | Chapter List

Chapter Title: Bad Reputation | Words: 1.8k

Note: I know this chapter is short, sorry for that, I just lost my writing mojo these past few days and I’m hoping to get it back for a long and fluffy finale. And who knows, I may just do another Christmas Special for this series too, somewhere down the line.

If you enjoyed this story don’t be afraid to like, reblog or comment. I don’t bite. Taglist is open just send an ask.

Playlist by Ari ♥

Clara rubbed circles onto her best friends back while they sat in her empty bathtub, legs dangling out of the tub just like when they were kids.

A box of tissues placed between her folded legs so she could easily reach down and hand Y/N a new tissue when she needed it. The room was filled with sounds of soft hiccups and stuttering breaths between silent sobs.

Y/N had always been a silent crier, it panged at Clara's heart to see her so conflicted.

Robin had stayed with Steve to carry out her own respective best-friend duties that consisted of throwing things at Steve while asking him "Hey dingus, what the fuck did you do?" repeatedly. At least that's what Clara kept picturing after she left Steve's big, empty house with Y/N tucked under her arm.

"I- I… just, ugh! I hate this!" Y/N grumbled. "We've never fought like this before!"

"I don't get the big problem here," Clara handed her a tissue. "I thought you wanted to have the whole small town family, white picket fence and four-bedroom house aesthetic. Not to mention, raise the perfect two and a half ratio of kids with Mr Perfect Hair?"

Y/N laughed feebly, before sniffling. "Yeah, eventually. When I'm like thirty-five and have already started working on my crow’s feet after having spent my twenties doing dumb shit like getting a terrible tattoo and renting a shitty apartment with no heating!"

"I take it he isn't planning on leaving Hawkins anytime soon?"

Y/N shook her head, her hair bouncing about. A stray strand hit Clara in the eye, making her recoil and blink agitated tears away.

"And to think, if we'd been popular, we'd probably be in the same situation as him," Clara tried to cheer her up, but Y/N just kept her chin tucked under her neck.

"Don't joke, you're bad at it," She said flatly. "Besides, it’s not just about him being reluctant to send out college applications. There’s something else... He's got a secret, I can feel it. I was fine with it at first, I mean everyone is entitled to their secrets. I just always figured he'd tell me, you know... when he was ready, too. But..."

"But it's been a year and he still hasn't told you," Clara finished.

"Yeah..." Y/N sighed. "Whatever his secret is… It's part of the reason why he won't leave."

"Okay, that's it!" Clara sat up from the tub and yanked Y/N with her.

"Wha--"

"We aren't going to sit in here and mope about like those women in that shitty TV drama my mother lives and breathes by!” Clara’s face assured Y/N that she wasn’t having any of this mopey bullshit. “We're young and deserving of a good weekend! Now wipe those tears away, put on some tacky makeup and dust off the most questionable outfit in my wardrobe. We're long overdue for a girl’s night."

Clara marched Y/N into her bedroom and pried the untidy closet doors apart, clothes falling out in the process.

"Where are you going?" Y/N asked when Clara turned to leave.

"To hotwire my dad’s convertible!" She flashed her pearly whites mischievously.

"Can't you just look for the keys?"

“Don’t want to waste any time!”

***

Robin lifted her hands in hopeless prayer that Steve would see reason.

"Why won’t you just tell her why you're so afraid to leave?" She threw a pillow at Steve's head for the umpteenth time in a row.

Steve deflected the pillow easily, using it to lean his chin on instead.

"Yeah, because that would go just swimmingly," Steve rolled his eyes before rambling in a fake voice: "Oh, uh, hey Y/N I have to tell you something. The reason I don't want to leave is... well, believe it or not, Hawkins is smack-dab in the middle of some sort of hot spot for a creepy mind-flaying creature from a dark dimension known as the Upside Down and no matter how hard I try to move on from that act, every time I close my eyes I'm reminded of all the very real things that go bump in the night!"

Steve's hands shook subtly as he ran them through his hair, clearing away long stray hairs.

"Okay, but Steve, you do realise if most people knew what we knew they'd want to leave Hawkins because of the fact it was a hotspot for weird shit!" Robin tried to reason with him.

"And if everyone who knows about this shit leaves, what happens then? What happens if that thing returns and there's no one to stop it?"

Robin slammed her hands on the table, "You're one guy Steve. You're not Eleven or Hopper, you don't have superpowers or a badge and gun. What could you do all by yourself? Yeah, you managed to knock out one Russian, but that was once. What would you do if it was an army or... that creepy flesh monster? Throw a firework at it and hope for the best?"

"I've got my trusty bat!" Steve said defensively as he looked away from his best friend.

Robin groaned, "That bat isn't even yours, it's Nancy's!"

"Hey, don't shit talk the bat," Steve pointed at Robin.

"Whatever," she shook her head before plopping down next to him on the couch. "I just don't get why you'd risk letting this amazing girl slip away from you just for a hypothetical. You love her Steve! I know you do. If you didn’t, you wouldn’t have nearly crashed your car twice in one day when we went to pick her up from the bus station."

Steve rested his head on Robin's shoulder, eyes turning glassy, "It's just… what if something happens and he needs me and I'm not around to be there for him?"

Robin lowered her voice when she saw how conflicted Steve appeared, "You mean Dustin?"

"Yeah..."

A small smile crept onto her face, "You mean the kid who was able to build a super radio tower just so he could talk to his girlfriend from camp, that kid?”

“When you put it like that...”

”Trust me, if he needed you and you weren't around, you best be damn sure he'd find a way to get a hold of you."

Steve chuckled before he sat up, the phone's high pitched ringing disturbing their moment.

"I'll get it," Robin offered.

Steve tucked himself into the couch with a blanket as he stared blankly at the muted TV screen.

"Hello," Robin's voice barely a whisper from across the room. "Yeah? Oh- uh… I'll see how Steve feels about it first, he's kinda down. Yeah, sure. I'll call you back in a sec."

Robin set the phone down and stood in front of the TV screen to get Steve's full attention.

“Hey, can’t you see I’m pretending to watch that?”

"So… Clara called. Said she's got something planned and asked if I could make it. Just say the word and I’ll call her back and cancel."

Steve took a moment before he pulled the blanket closer to his chin, "Nah, go. I'll be fine. I think some time alone with my thoughts is just what I need."

Robin bent down to look him in the eye, "You sure?"

"Yeah, no point in both of us being miserable. Go, salvage what's left of the day."

“Fine,” Robin gave in. “But I’m going to call you a babysitter.”

“A babsitter?” Steve sounded confused.

“Right after I call Clara back.”

Robin ruffled his hair affectionately before making her way to the phone to dial Clara's number.

"Just make sure to write down the address of where you're going in case you guys need me for anything!" Steve shouted as he unmuted the TV.

***

Clara honked the horn of her dad's convertible, the top rolled down, night lights beaming brightly against the pitch-black road with no working street lights.

Her best friend was laying across the seats in the back, forearm draped over her eyes as she let out less than eager noises.

Robin rushed from Steve's house still in the clothes she borrowed from Clara earlier.

Robin motioned to open the passenger door but child lock was still on, Clara reached across her seat and opened the door from the passenger side.

"All set?" Clara asked with a large smile on her face.

"I think so," Robin shrugged.

Clara reached into the glove compartment, her hand grazing Robin's knee making them both exchange heated looks. After an awkward laugh, Clara grabbed a handful of cassette tapes and placed them on Robin's thighs.

"You're designated DJ! Y/N is in no state to operate the radio unless you want to listen to sad romance ballads by Heart!" Clara joked.

"Ugh, love is deeeaaaaad!" Y/N said bitterly.

Robin's eyes went wide, her lips pressed closed to keep a laugh from escaping. "What do we want to listen to?"

"Dealers choice," Clara winked before shifting gears and driving away from Hawkins for the night.

Robin read all the song titles written in different colour pen or marker and finally made a decision. She popped open the plastic case, took out the tape and jammed it into the radio. After rewinding the tape she pressed play on the clunky button and Bad Reputation by Joan Jett blared out of the cars static fizzling speakers.

***

The queue to get into the club was long. Clara, Robin and Y/N had been standing out in the cold in less than warm apparel for about twenty minutes.

"Ugh, Clara it's been forever! Let's just go back home so I can drown in a tub of chocolate chip ice-cream and watch re-runs of Baywatch!" Y/N groaned childishly, tugging on Clara's leather jacket.

Clara sighed, "Not a chance. Those two things are ingredients for disaster. Gimmie a sec."

Clara excused herself from Robin and Y/N and made her way to the bouncer at the door. After a few minutes of conversing and pointing to the back of the line, Clara wore the bouncer down -they seemed quite chummy with one another- before she flagged Robin and a moody looking Y/N over.

Robin ducked her head to try and block out the glaring looks from the people still stuck in the line while Y/N apologised to each person her eyes landed on.

Once through the heavy steel doors and down a corridor that was so tight it felt like the walls would cave around them, Clara opened her arms with a smug smile on her face and a slight nod to the beat of the loud music coming from the live band.

"Alas, ladies… Welcome to my mecca!" Clara said excitedly as she turned to look at the bewildered Robin and droopy faced Y/N. "Now, let’s get us some drinks!"

"Uhhh, finally, a good idea!" Y/N cheered as she led the charge to the cramped bar.

Clara bit back a laugh as she leaned in to whisper in Robin's ear, "Something tells me I’ll have my work cut out for me babysitting Mrs Perfect Hair!"

Robin chuckled, "Sometimes I think we are practically their guardian angels!"

Clara cocked her head to the side, a sneaky grin toying with her facial muscles, "Did you just call me an angel?"

Robin blushed, "Wha- No, no… I- I didn't mean it in that way."

Clara laughed as they tried not to get separated in the large crowd, "No, I think that's exactly what you meant."

Clara winked just as she heard her best friend shout without any reservation, "Give me whatever has the highest alcohol to sugar ratio! In fact, make that two!"

"That's my cue to make sure she doesn't give herself alcohol poisoning," Clara yelped with wide eyes as she raced passed the still blushing Robin.

***

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#stranger things #steve harrington x reader #robin stranger things #stranger things imagine #robin x oc #robin x clara #meet cute sequel #robin's girl #st3 #robin buckley imagine #robin buckley

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