#also in middle school i had some blood tests and they supposedly came back saying I'm anemic + i had strep but they didn't do anything

[moosoobi]

Revelation

In the night: Chapter 1

T.Jeffy- Hamilton: the musical

Thomas’s interest in Y/N pulls him into a position he was previously blind to. They say every girl’s another mystery, but definitely not like this. Buckle your seatbelt Tommy, you’re in for a ride

Finally finished the first part of ITN (which is ironic since the moment I wrote this message I still haven’t finished it). I really hope I’m able to bring this story to life the way I want to and I hope y’all enjoy 😔💕. Here’s some stuff to expect:

Told from Thomas’s POV

Modern Au

College talk even though I’m literally in my second year of high school (so please bear with me) 

Ruh roh moments

Sorta weird POV/storytelling (I’m new to writing fics and stuff so this is definitely a learning opportunity) Also excuse my English errors: Though this is my only language, my school system seemed to fail in teaching me how to write

Word count: 6.7k (including separators) 

2 DISCLAIMERS:

TW: itty bitty angst, themes of injury/blood, etc. 

I’m not the best story writer, so after reading this chapter you may have many questions. Please keep in mind that this is one chapter out of (about) 10. Things that you may not understand in this chapter will most likely be explained in future chapters.

-Now Playing: In The Night by The Weeknd-

My God, she’s perfect 

     The way the sunlight reflects off of her glass skin. The sincerity in every word, every letter that she writes with her only pencil. To be that flawless, it’s a mystery to me. She takes a glance at me. Did she feel me staring? I duck down my head in embarrassment. 

“Jefferson, you oughta put that scholarship to good use”

     Professor Washington boomed to the entire class. I hear a fragment of her giggle. Her laugh is soft and naïve. I couldn't help but smile at the sound of her happiness.

     Washington is right, though. It's my first semester after I came back from my student exchange program over in France and I can already feel my sanity slipping. France was a beauty to visit, so many customs and cultures I wish I could be flourished in right now. 

     But there was one thing great about going to school in New York: I get to sit in a classroom with Y/N L/N. 

     I’ve never talked to her formally, at least not yet. She’s always sitting alone, never answers any questions, but Professor Washington makes the class acknowledge her perfect test scores and fascinating interpretations 

     As the bell rings I watch her stand swiftly. Is she in a rush? I can't help but watch as her hair is flung over her shoulder. She stuffs her notebooks and singular pencil into her burgundy-magenta backpack. Hey, at least she has good taste in color. 

I don’t think you understand

     She sits alone everyday during lunch, yet she never looks bothered. Her energy is so compelling to me. A feeling about her that I cannot comprehend, something that feels greater than my existence. I just got to know. 

“Thomas, you gotta work on staring at people less noticeable” James catches my attention by pointing his fork a little too close to my face. 

      I was staring? Again?

     I shake my head to snap back to reality

“The great Thomas Jefferson is interested in someone for longer than 30 seconds. I gonna be honest with you Thom, that’s impressing”

     I hear James laugh as he violently stabs a few pieces of pasta onto his fork. 

     James has been my best friend for as long as I can remember. We went to the same middle and high school down in Virginia, and just coincidentally ended up going to the same college in New York. 

     We’re always there for each other. I remember cheering for him at a high school assembly after he won a story writing challenge, he’s such a nerd. Then again, he had to drive me home a couple of times after I failed multiple driving tests.

     Back in high school, James was the Chess Club Champion, a title he always shoved down my throat. It’s no secret why, though. He’s really good at thinking things through, While I on the other hand tend to dive headfirst into the abyss.

“Shut it James” I sarcastically retort, taking a sip of the expensive chocolate milk which my scholarship supposedly pays for 

Hey, can I sit here?

     I talked to her during class. Her voice is angelic: Now, I’m not one to be religious and all, but that voice could get me on my knees praying for forgiveness. My ego couldn’t get me anywhere at all, as if she already knew my tactics, she knew my flirts, and how? I guess it just adds to her mystery.

“C'mon! that one works every time!” I whine

“Don't be so full of yourself Jefferson, I’ve heard them all before” A smile danced across her face

     She did, however, laugh at some of my remarks. It's good to know that she has a sense of humor. My jokes of Professor Washington’s shiny, bald head. The jokes of Professor Washington’s assistant, John Adams, who’s suspiciously absent considering he signed up for this job.

     Heck, I would even make fun of myself if it meant I got to hear that graceful laugh one more time- actually, that might be a little too far.

     Many days of giggling in class came after that day. I can see her starting to open up to my friends and I, like she’s spreading her wings and showing us the greatness that lies behind the social wall that she put up years ago. Even when we got in trouble for a little too much giggling in the back of the class, I sacrificed my own pride so she didn’t have to. Yes, I, Thee Thomas Jefferson, did that. 

---

     Even though I could see the social wall she put up, I knew one day Y/n would fall for my charming pick up lines, or maybe I just happened to have a lucky day:

“Y/N I need some a some help with my math homework” 

     Y/N glances over to me in concern. I fake a scared expression.

“Quick!” I swiftly grab her shoulder and shake her “What’s your phone number?”

     She playfully smacks my arm

---

     Obtaining her number felt like a rite of passage, like I’m important to her, like she wants me in her life. I couldn’t stop smiling that day, and of course James just had to make a comment on it. 

“Thomas, if you keep smiling like that I’m going to start thinking that your sick or something”

      James said as he shut my laptop, tired of waiting for me to pack my things.

“Now that's REAL ironic coming from you, James” 

      I raised an eyebrow as my laugh begins to come up my throat. I take my closed laptop and shove it somewhere into my backpack.

“Okay, leaving for a month in sophomore year just because of a little fever doesn’t make ‘being sick’ as part of my trade mark” 

     James playfully smacked the back of my head. Thankfully, my curls serve as protection, not just to make me sinfully handsome. James and I walk out of the freezing lecture hall and were hit with the crisp-coldness of New York.

     To the right of me I catch a glimpse of that eye catching burgundy-magenta backpack as it’s thrown into the trunk of a shiny, expensive car. My feet keep its motion as my head turns to see Y/N standing at the door of the car. 

“Yo, is that Y/N?” I hear James whisper behind me “and who’s that?” 

     My attention is suddenly drawn to the tall man walking around the car to open her door. His curly hair is pulled into a small bun and the smile he had on his face broke apart the stubble on his jaw. I furrow my eyebrows in confusion. 

“I’m just as clueless as you are”

     Keeping my glance on Y/N and the man, I watch as the man opens the door for her. My stomach turns as I watch Y/N smile back at him as she sits in the car. 

     For a split second, I swear I saw her shoot a soft glance at me. My feet almost stop in their tracks before I feel James’ hand yank me onto another pathway. 

“I’m all for you being head over heels, but we’re gonna be late to our study session with Angie” 

     Reality starts to set back into my head. 

“Right, lets dip.” 

---

“So little Tommy is Infatuated with this woman?”

     Angie’s eyes are piercing, and her luscious hair frames her face in a saintly manner. She slips off her baby pink coat to ease into her library seat. Her eyebrow raises as she takes a sip of her steaming coffee

     Of course James wouldn’t shut his mouth, especially around the notorious Angelica Schuyler.

     Angie’s pretty popular here, I find myself wondering why she has so many connections, yet it’s not just any reason(s) why she seems to be in the spotlight.

     1: She’s the oldest Schuyler. Her last name definitely got her places, not like I’m one to talk. Everyone seems to know her, not just at school, but all around New York City, and with her 5,000 Instagram followers, her first name’s starting to catch up with her last name in popularity

     2: Angie’s Daddy has money money. And that’s no secret when she decides to walk around campus with her designer handbags and shoes. I tend to think she always gets what she wants, but I know deep down, she’s never gonna be satisfied. Maybe it’s just a side effect of growing up with a silver spoon in your mouth

     And finally,

     3: Miss Schuyler here is Bold. She’s never afraid to put both me and James in our place. It’s almost as if she can’t be touched by anyone’s thoughts of her, then again the gossip in NYC is terribly insidious. With such grace and respect, Angelica is not afraid to throw your opinion into the ground.

“Yeah I swear, Jefferson would’ve gotten run over if I didn’t pull him onto the pathway” James attempted to tone down his laugh so the librarian wouldn’t stab him with those old, sharp eyes

“She-...”

For the first time, I didn’t know how to recoil

 “..Just caught me off guard.”. In an attempt to change the topic, I flipped through the pages of his textbook. 

Angelica and James shared an astonished glance at Thomas before looking at each other. I could hear James shrug and flipping open his textbook. I lift my head as I hear Angelica dig through her bag

“Alright let’s get started” Angie claps her hands together with determination

—-

     It’s been 2 hours of studying in the ghostly library. Unfortunately, I can’t avoid the talk forever.

“Hey Thomas, why don’t you invite her to our next study session?”

     Angelica smirked as she rudely shut my laptop. I desperately imagine the day where both James and Angelica leave me alone. I angrily glare up at her, but she has a good idea

“Actually, that’s not to bad of an idea” I ponder for a moment before retrieving my phone from my pocket

Thomas: Hey Y/N, u free this week?

     Hmm. Is this okay? Nah it’s too straight forward. I sigh as I deleted and retyped the message

Thomas: Greetings Ms. L/N, this is Mr. Jefferson from class. Would you delight me by partaking in a study session? 

What the heck Jefferson? I began to get frustrated from this nonsense. It’s just a text, why am I getting so anal over it?

Thomas: Hey Y/N, ds@insdas/19z7dnesdc-

     Angelica, who was watching me the entire time, snatched the phone from my hands. I attempted to protest, yet Angelica Schuyler knows how to hold her ground.

“Angie wh-” 

“I’ll do you a favor, Jefferson.” She said sternly. There was no way I was getting that phone back, heck, I would be lucky if I got it back in one piece

“Aaaaand sent!” I heard her squeal 

     Angelica suddenly tossed the phone to me and I fumbled it between my hands before I held it stably. I check to see the text that Angelica sent from my phone

Thomas: Hey this is Thomas from class, wanna come study with us at the library sometime?

Oh. It was that easy.

“Thanks Angie”

I shove my phone back in my pocket. Part of me was excited to have an excuse to text Y/N, yet I do wonder how awkward it would be if she rejected the offer. I mean, she already has the perfect grades, why would she need the extra help?

I start to rethink my decision.

—-

     It wasn’t until 11 pm at night until I got a reply from Y/N. Beforehand, I arrived at my apartment around 8 pm. As soon as my door shut, the room was filled with growls indicating my current problem: hunger. That could only be solved with one solution: microwavable mac and cheese. 

     My phone dinged while I was laying motionless on my bed. My apartment was right next to the street, and all I could hear was the busy streets of New York City.

     My eyes opened as I turned to my charging phone. 

Y/N: yeah I’m down :) just send a time and place and I’ll be on my way

     I was filled with joy, so much that I couldn’t wait another second to reply. 

Thomas: Alright, we meet at the library after our class. Can you make it? 

     Seeing the three dots jump melodically made my stomach feel as if two fairies were dancing throughout my body. Any second now, any second. ding!

Y/N: sounds good!

     I guess it’s settled, I get to hang out with the puzzling Y/N L/N, and maybe I’ll get to learn a bit more about her. But just because it’s a study session doesn’t mean I can’t show her what a southern gentleman looks like, and for the first time, I’m so excited to study

---

     James, Y/N, and I walk out of professor Washington’s class, laughing our asses off over some stupid joke. Everyone around us appears to be annoyed, especially with having to sit through almost two hours of my friends and I laughing in the back of the class, but it’s not like I care.

     Once we’re hit by the bitter cold of New York, my eyes are immediately drawn to that expensive car. So familiar and so faint in head, the memory of Y/N smiling as she hopped into his car replays in my brain.

“I’ll be back guys”

     Y/N excuses herself from the group before lightly jogging to the car. Her hair was graceful in the wind, and her burgundy-magenta backpack didn’t seem to weigh her down at all. For a split second, my brain acknowledges that mysterious man in the driver’s seat. There was a moment of awkward eye contact with him, his cold eyes pierced through me before my attention was drawn back to Y/N. She fixes her hair and jacket.

That was cute.

What?

     James and I watch Y/N before turning to each other. I suggest to James that we wait for her, show a little southern hospitality. Even though Y/N seems to be fond of this man, he gives off a mysterious vibe similar to Y/N’s, but I do not want to unravel that mystery at all.

     Seeing him throw a smirk at Y/N causes discomfort in my stomach. 

     Y/N comes prancing back to us, an embarrassed smile on her face. Behind her, that shiny, expensive car begins to drive away.

“My bad, I forgot to tell my roommate that I would be out late”

“That’s your roommate?” James asks, attempting to hide his curiosity and shock

“and he takes you home after class?” I interrupt briefly

Y/N nervously laughs before nodding “something like that, he just..”

     That pause was a little too long

“..doesn’t like me out of the house too late so he volunteers to drive me home all the time”

     I shrug it off before jumping at the feeling of James’ warm hands pulling Y/N and I to the direction of the library. Y/N and I look at him with confusion

“What? Angie doesn’t like when we’re late, remember?” James says, practically dragging us to the Library

—-

“Nice to meet you”

     Angelica and Y/N got along pretty well. I can tell Angie was happy to finally have a girl to hangout with rather than having to deal with me and James only. She’s already starting to resemble a sisterly figure to Y/N, then again, growing up with two sisters must’ve prepared Angie for this moment.

     I don’t hear much about the other Schuylers, but I am familiar with them. Angelica is the oldest, as we know. Her first sister, Eliza Sch- I’m pretty sure she got married, is the nicest person you’ll meet. Whoever won her surely must be worthy, because we all know people like me wouldn’t get anywhere near Eliza thanks to her older sister. Her youngest sister, Margarita Peggy Schuyler, is just like Angelica.

     Stubborn. As. Fuck.

     I’m confident that Angelica has taught her that philosophy since she was born. Anyway, Peggy is currently living her dreams in Southern California. Not sure what she does, but I’m sure she’s financially stable, she is a Schuyler after all.

     All of us struggle to not annoy the librarian, let alone the entire library. I watch as Y/N opens up, just a little more, to Angelica, James, and I.

     Hours pass as we clown around in the library. From actually completing class work to a small drawing competition between James and I, I was certainly having a good time, and so was everyone else.

     It was pleasing to see Y/N more laid back rather than how she acts in class. In front of Professor Washington she’s so ‘put together’ and organized, but surrounded by her friends she’s such an amazing person, her range in professionalism and humor is astounding.

     I can’t seem to ignore the fact that Angelica notices the way I look at Y/N. It’s definitely not in my strong suit to be ‘low key’, I’m known for dramatic entrances and stealing the spotlight. She smiles when I make eye contact with her, and I’m pretty sure it’s just her way of annoying me, but I can’t help the way I look at Y/N. She really is an angel sent down from heaven, disguised as a college student, and I’m just lucky enough to be her friend.

     I’m blind to her flaws. When I see her, I feel like a tourist glancing at the Mona Lisa, memorizing every curve of her face, the way her hair falls around her shoulders, and the way the library lighting reflects off of her glowing skin.

     What felt like a sledgehammer breaking a slab of fragile glass, I see Y/N’s phone light up. Even across the table I can read the word “Lafayette” off of her phone. I can’t lie, it surely sounds familiar.

     When she finally noticed her phone flash on, I feel her ease turn into worry, and it definitely didn’t go unnoticed by James, Angie, and I. She starts to pack away her books

“My bad guys, I really gotta go”

     Y/N said notably panicking. Her phone flashes once again, yet the only thing that seems to catch my eyes is the bold “7:30” spread across the top of her phone.

“Are you okay by yourself?” I asked, trying my best not to pry into her business

“Yeah, my roommates here to pick me up, I don’t want to make him wait” she tried to play it off, but I’m learning to see right through her

“Alright, see you next time Y/N” I shrug it off

     She sends my friends and I a quick smile before replying

“for sure”

     Angelica and James got back to work without saying a word, and I could tell they were waiting until she was gone to start teasing me. I eased back into my chair before flipping the pages of my notebook

     I watched as she shoved open the library door and disappeared into the darkness. She’s such a mystery, when I feel like she’s opening up, she just shuts the door and we’re back at square one. Though I do claim to love a good challenge, Y/N L/N, I will never understand you.

—-

     And that’s when it started. It wasn’t just one time where 7:30 was Y/N magic number, oh no, it was oddly consistent. I’m convinced that Y/N is some variation of Cinderella; her polite attitude and the beautiful little things she does without acknowledging it all vanish when the clock strikes 8:00, but that’s just one of many theories made by James.

     Another study session with James and Angelica, and Y/N’s flashing screen still compelled Y/N to leave the library without a trace. On some occasions we don’t even notice her escape, we just turn to see her seat empty and feel the faint wind from outside as the library door slowly closes.

     One day Angie bought us all tickets to see the preview to the newest, scariest movie I’ve ever watched. I was accompanied by Y/N, James, and Angie, yet their presences made it worse. Halfway through the bucket of popcorn and the movie, Y/N suddenly stood up and left after saying those 5 words. Before she left, I felt the warmth of her hands leave the place on my arm.

I never knew how addicting her warmth would be until it was already gone.

“Sorry guys, I gotta go” The weak smile on her face instantly resonated feelings of sympathy and understanding.

     From then on, Y/N and I grew closer as friends. We’d fool around at a local park before heading to campus, obviously sparking a few observations and remarks from James. I’d invite her to fancy dinners, or maybe even a small festival down the road from my apartment, yet her response would always be proven false at the moment she’d leave me and my thoughts at 7:30.

     But that hasn’t stopped me from attempting to hang out with her. Even on the days I wouldn’t have class with her we’d go out and get ice cream, study at the park, I guess you can say we’ve gone on a few ‘dates’ since our initial study session.

     Whenever we’re apart, I can feel every second expanding to its maximum capacity of time. I wouldn’t see her for a day and it will already feel like years since I’ve seen her. The days I do see her, time seems to maneuver a little too fast. When I recall hanging out with Y/N, all I can imagine is the feeling of floating above the clouds every time she and I made physical contact. Like a rock being dropped into still water, ever touch ripples throughout my body, sending shivers down my spine.

Truly incredible.

—-

     She doesn’t like to talk about her personal life, and I find that quite odd. I’m usually one to continue rambling every detail of every trait of mine, yet I find myself yearning to learn more about her. 

     We text every now and then when we’re outside of class, a little more to be considered ‘just friends’. There’s always a story which unravels just a little more of Y/N’s past, and she’s left me on my own to connect the dots. I must say, she’s definitely an interesting gal, but I know there’s more to discover. 

     She’s a native New Yorker, born and raised, surviving by splitting an intense rent with her mysterious room mate. Y/N doesn’t talk much of her family, other than faint memories of her mother single handedly raising her and her little brother, who I’m fairly unaware of.

     Going into college undecided, Y/N describes her want to learn more about herself before she’s able to make any life determining choices. I’ve noticed that her schedule seems like a labyrinth avoiding life problems and obstacles, so perhaps being placed in the same class coincidentally was just fate playing its part.

     Y/N loves to explain her dream for workless weekends, moments in the week where she just gets to sit back, close her eyes, and breathe a little. With finals starting to appear from thin air, I can’t blame her for a dream so far from reality.

     Even with the knowledge I hold of her, something never seems to change: her disappearances at 7:30.

It’s always that damn 7:30.

     7:30--the cliffhanger your favorite show leaves you desiring for more

     the end of a fun night of laughter and glee, wishing it lasted just a little longer 

     the off-set energy in a room when those around you know something you don’t. 

     As days, weeks, and months pass since my first text proposal to hang out at the library, Y/N and I become a little closer than just friends. It’s been obvious, especially to James and Angie, that Y/N is more than capable of holding my attention.

     Though James is worried that Y/N will just become ‘another girl’ to me, concerning my tomcat nature in the past, he can see the potential I see in her. I find myself wishing I did spend more time with her, maybe I just need to make a better effort.

     I’ll prove James and Angie wrong. 

     Filled with determination and confidence, in the midst of my silent room, I whip out my phone and direct my attention towards forming a text message for Y/N

Thomas: let’s get coffee sometime?

     Jefferson charm, don’t fail me now.

---

     Before I knew it, Y/N and I were feasting on exotic cheeses and aged wine in my New York apartment. I hit play on a random romcom which helps to fill the emptiness in my apartment and ironically the thin space between Y/N and I. 

     I have no idea how to make my move. Though I’m not aware of my competition, I imagine if Y/N could attract someone of My caliber, I should be well aware of the things she’s capable of. Originally I planned to court her-- I know, I know, I’m a man of tradition--yet after James caught on to my recognizable frustration, He suggested I go for it. 

     This is surprising on multiple occasions, especially since James possesses the ‘brains’ between the both of us. Being the chess club champion, ‘talk’ won’t aid you when you're struggling in a chess match. Just like how he meticulously plays chess, he examines my situation and provides his Virginian insight, or so he prefers to call it, and they always proceed the way his scheme describes. 

     I’ve adhered his advice to my life ever since we were kids, and when I didn’t, he’d simply reply with: 

“I told you so” 

     His smug smirk accompanied with a finger pointing to his temple would soon transform from clever to annoying. 

     I feel a vibration come from my pocket. Well, of course it’s not Y/N texting so must I really answer it? I pull out my phone despite my doubts and I can’t help but roll my eyes.

James: 👍

Speak of the Devil.

     But enough about James. I understand that both Y/N and I are mature college students, yet I still fear the disruption in our friendship I can provoke just by making my move. I’ve gotten this far; If she wasn’t interesting I’m sure she would’ve rejected me sooner. 

     She’s different, she’s unique, something about her that I just can’t place, but also something missing. Anyway, this is probably my best chance at shooting my shot at Y/N, and it’s too late now to back down. 

     As my lips part in an attempt to speak and make a move, Y/N’s motionless phone (currently laying undisturbed on my coffee table) suddenly brightens with the most obnoxious ringtone I’ve ever heard. The words “It’s 7:30!” flash on her screen, almost as if it was warning her rather than reminding her. 

“Y/N—” my eyes follow her body as she swiftly stands up

“I gotta g—” I watch as she attempts to grab her purse, yet her body is limited when I firmly grab her arm. She looks back to me with tiredness in her eyes.

     Part of me thought maybe, just maybe, Cinderella here wouldn’t have a curfew. That I somehow would be the exemption to this consistent confusion . But you can only daydream so far into the day until you’re pulled back into your reality

     Her entire demeanor seems like it was reconstructed after her alarm went off. Moments ago she was just enjoying tasty cheese and cheesy movies, and the worst part is, I have no idea why.

“Let me speak, darlin’”

     I stand up to avoid the way her eyes look down on me. I can’t stand that pitiful glare; she looks at me as if I’m a child incapable of understanding her situation, but she’s too stubborn to let me know. I’d be wise to use this time to make a move on different circumstances.

“Now, you’re always leaving at seven thirty..”

     Her sigh is almost enough to interrupt me

“..why’s that? Talk to me.”

     I maintain my eye contact before it’s abruptly broken. She looks everywhere but my eyes, and I wonder where in my apartment she would find an excuse, yet still manages to dodge the question.

“..you wouldn’t understand..” she scoffs almost intentionally, honestly scratching a part of my ego. I hate to admit she’s right, I really don’t understand what’s going on.

     I cock my head to the side. Where’s this coming from?

“Darlin’, I’m sure I’m a very understanding person—”

“—I need to leave”

     I could tell by the look of her face that she wasn’t trying to argue, but it’s inevitable.

“Why can’t you just tell me?..” I put my hands up as a sign of defeat, but I’m not giving up yet. “We’ve been friends for a while and you’re always leavin’ at seven—”

“I know! I know..” she removes my hand from her arm, clearly refusing to look up at me.

“Let’s just say..I got a job..?”

     Oh. That’s what this is all about? A job? She couldn’t spare at least an explanation for a part time gig?

“See? That wasn’t so hard”

“It’s..really embarrassing..” The glance she takes around the room makes me wonder if she’s really telling the truth. it’s not really my place to speculate, there’s no going back from this.

“It’s alright, it’s just a job after all” I claim, trying to get this conversation back on track

“This is exactly what I meant but ‘you wouldn’t understand’”

Huh?

“You don’t know what it feels like to have your life rely on minimum wage—” she sounds like she’s holding something back.

“Y/N wher—”

“A-and here you are makin’ me late for work” her eyes appear on the verge of crying.

“darlin’ look..”

“God, you’ve never had to work for anything in your life!”

Silence.

     Both of us refuse to speak. Y/N phone, still on the table, chimes again. “7:35” it said on its bright screen.

“Is that really how you feel?..” I take a step back to give her space. She still refuses to look at me.

     There’s no way she’d cause all this chaos just because of a job. And even if she believes I’ve piggy backed off of my name for my entire life, why would it matter to her?

“I..I should leave” before I could process what just happened, she swiftly tosses her phone into her bag and heads for the door.

“Y’know, I had a nice time..” was all I heard before the harsh shutting of my apartment door.

     And that was the end of it.

     My first thought after the door shut wasn’t to whip out my phone and attempt to text her, it certainly wasn’t to call James and inform him of his miscalculation, but instead to attend to the matter at hand. This cheese and wine won’t clean itself.

     And the night continued normally, as if nothing had ever taken place. I couldn’t help but microwave another cup of Mac and cheese to cope with what Y/N said. Nothin’ like a good meal to divert your attention away from your problems. But even a good cup of cheese and pasta can’t stop me from thinking’: 

Is that all I am to her?

A southern snob incapable of functioning without their father’s last name?

     After an introspective shower, and a few episodes of a random Netflix show, I’m finally alone with my thoughts and feelings. I lie in darkness, tussling and turning at every occasion, unable to extract her words from my mind. 

     If there’s someone whose opinion I care about the most, it’s Y/N L/N. I consider texting her at this very moment, yet I’m sure that I’m the last person she wants to talk to. The weight of my actions falls heavily onto my shoulders every minute, and there’s nothing I can do about it.

Give her space, Jefferson, and maybe you’ll be able to fix this tragedy. 

---

Knock! Knock! Knock!

     The knocks on my apartment door were enough to jerk my body back to consciousness. Sadly pulled from the warmth of my dreams, I’m hit with the cold, noisy reality of an average night here in New York.

Can my day get any worse?

     Coming straight from the depths of slumber, I take a few minutes to process reality. Maybe the knocks were in my head. Did I dream about someone knocking on my door? Perhaps it’s

The sun’s still not up yet, why am I?

     Groggily sitting up, I decide to check the time, yet it takes me multiple attempts to grab my phone in the dark before I catch a sight of the time.

2 am?!

     Who is so out of their minds so show up to my apartment at this time? Who do I know that would show up at this time?

James is too sensible for that,

Angie would never waste her time on me, for whatever reason,

And Y/N—

well.

I don’t know our circumstances right now.

     I debate whether or not I should answer the door. Perhaps it’s just rock that happened to hit the door of my apartment, and even if it is a person, I’m not aware of anyone so mad to show up in the middle of the night. it’s not worth my time.  

...

...

Knock! Knock! Knock!

     So much for ‘Not worth my time’. A groan is all my body can respond with while I gradually stand from the comfort of my bed. I grab the nearest shirt, which was draped over my desk chair, and scramble to put it on. Passing my cramped kitchen, my hands subconsciously flip on the nearest light switches, while my eyes struggle to comprehend the sudden light. 

     Before I reach the door, I couldn’t help but attempt to fix my hair. Just because someone happens to show up outside unannounced doesn’t mean I can’t present my best rendition of a southern gentleman. 

     And finally, through my fatigue and irritation, I’m finally urged to grab the doorknob and twist it open in one motion. 

“Uh, it’s two a.m. so I hope--” 

     I nervously scratch the back of my head, attempting to add spice to this awkward encounter. It wasn’t until my eyes caught sight of the blood dripping down her glass skin and the meeting of our eyes did I have any words

“Y/N?!?”  

     Her cold, pale, and hurt body would’ve hit the concrete floor if I had answered the door any later.

--- 

     And there she layed half colorless on my bed. Her smile was full of embarrassment and gratitude as I sat beside her, tending to the evident cuts and Injured areas of her body. “I hope I’m being a great house guest” she joked, causing her to laugh, yet hurting herself in the process. 

“Hey, Hey, Take it easy..” Y/N’s presence usually fills me with carefreeness, or perhaps stability, but for the first time I can’t help but react seriously. Her demeanor changed as she saw my retaliation to her joke. 

“I guess…” she looked down to her fragile body, a sigh released, seeming to be an attempt to calm down. “...I owe you an explanation for earlier. And especially for showing up at your place at 2 in the damn morning. ” 

     Thomas’ hands, full of wipes and hydrogen peroxide soaked cotton balls, froze in their tracks before he looked up at her, eager to listen and visibly confused. Y/N visibly winced as the cotton balls stuck to her cuts for longer than they should’ve, yet with Thomas’ reflexes at their all-time-max, he pulled them away with a worried expression.

“Explanation? You said you got a job, and I’m sorry for not respecting it..” I continued to clean her up, consensually of course, how could I call myself a gentleman if I were to act upon improper motives? 

“Again..” I utter quietly “..I didn’t know you felt that way, and I’m ashamed you feel that way” 

     I attach an ivory-colored band aid to her glass skin, careful not to damage it any further. I look up to her watching, pitiful eyes. “You were saying?” I reciprocate the attention to her, awaiting a so-called answer to come out of her mouth 

“I didn’t know where else to run to..” she attempted to sit up, lifting her weight off of my satin-covered sheets, yet quickly stopped when being hit with a wave of pain from her right shoulder 

     Though my first thought would’ve been ‘Damn it, my darn sheets are ruined’, it was quickly drawn to Y/N and her current problem 

“Y’know, I think an apology and explanation can wait, Y/N. you need a little sleep, it’s already three in the mornin’ for god’s sake” a small laugh erupts from her

    I sent her an assuring smile, trying to remind her that everything is always going to be okay in a Jefferson household. And surprisingly I received a smile in return, a smile of trust and security that I’ve never felt so glad to see. Of course, I wish I could’ve seen that smile under different circumstances, but I’ll work with what I got. 

     I stood from my beautiful satin sheets and reached for a hoodie on my swivel chair. (everything but your closet is a closet, change my mind) I braced for a cold night on my apartment couch while Y/N enjoys the warmth of my bed, but Y/N had other plans. 

“Wait- Thomas.” She said firmly 

     I turned tiredly to her direction, my arm already extended for the door, yet frozen in place as I awaited a response 

“Can you just..” she scoot herself over, as much as possible with her frail body “..hold me?” She watches me anxiously 

“I mean— you don’t have to b—” I didn’t hesitate at all to gently slide under the sheets of the bed. As soon as I turn to her direction, I can’t help but feel scared to touch her in fear of hurting her; my hands don’t know where to reside. “Where do I..” I’m truly perplexed 

     She giggled at my confusion and shyly grabbed my hand “I’m not so fragile you know” 

     She brought my hand up to the side of her head, and all I could process was the texture of the bandages under my fingertips. I don’t know what's going on, but I couldn’t just leave her out there. 

“..Right..” I wait for her eyes to close before I can even think about closing mine, and soon the texture of the bandages seem to melt onto my fingertips as I’m finally able to return to my slumber. 

“See you in the mornin’..” 

---

     I didn’t wake up until I felt the sun rays kissing my back through my so-called ‘blackout curtains’. Such a scam. The room seemed a little too quiet; I gently turned onto my other side just to find an empty bed. I consider the possibility of last night’s encounter with Y/N was all just some messed up dream, but when I saw the faint stains of blood on my sheets, I knew I was far from dreaming. 

     My body doesn’t want to move, and I’m stuck sitting up in my bed for another ten minutes. What the heck is going on? One minute she yells at me, then next thing I know she’s outside my apartment at 2 am. 

And that explanation. 

     I guess I was such a fool to think she wouldn’t continue to run away from this matter. My thoughts are interrupted by my buzzing phone. I know for sure that it’s not Y/N hittin up my phone right about now. 

James: Let’s try that new coffee place a few blocks from your apartment? 

     He really read my mind, or maybe it’s a response made from calculating my failure yesterday. But a distraction sounds tremendous. 

Thomas: bet. 

     I throw on a cleaner, more professional jacket, if such a thing exists, and swiftly get my feet out the door. Everything seems the same, as if nothing had taken place last night. The world still spins and I’m expected to spin with it. 

I don’t think I’m anywhere near capable of unraveling your mystery. 

Y/N L/N, I will never understand you.

#thomas jefferson fanfic #thomas jefferson #Daveed Diggs #daveed x reader #thomas x reader #alexander hamilton #hamilton fanfic #hamiltonau #Angelica Schuyler #james madison #marquis de Lafayette #lafayette x reader #lafayette #george washington #washington #John Laurens #hercules mulligan #thomas jefferson x reader

[papermoonloveslucy]

LUCY SHUNS AUDITIONS

July 21, 1950

[In the below article, reprinted verbatim, Johnson writes using a lot of imagery and insider jargon.  This sort of article was common in trade papers like Variety, but seems odd in a daily newspaper.]

Hollywood—(NEA) Lucille Ball slipped me the lowdown on her failure to pin to the canvas the dumb chick role in “Born Yesterday” and make it holler uncle. (1)

She’s got a touch of Francis the mule in her when it comes to auditions. (2)

Instead of scrimmaging for the role with Evelyn Keyes, Judy Holliday, Marie Wilson, Shelly Winters and Jan Sterling, (3) Lucille went bolting the other way. 

The “let’s-see-if-you’re-it” boys pleaded and cajoled. 

But Miss Anti-Auditions wasn’t having any of the competition, thank you. 

“I figure if they want you, they want you,” Lucille plainspoke it. If you’ve got to read and test for it, to heck with it.’

She isn’t chronicled in Hollywood history, but once, badgered by her RKO bosses, Lucille went tripping over to David O. Selznick’s office for a whack at the Scarlett O’Hara role in “Gone With the Wind.” 

That’s what curdled her in the first place. 

“It was awful,’’ Lucille shudders. I was shaking all over when I hit Selznick’s office. My knees gave way. I did the whole audition in scrubwoman position. Selznick laughs and says thanks a lot. (4)

Judy Holliday landed the junkman’s doll role and Lucille grabbed a railroad ticket for a personal appearance tour with hubby Desi Arnaz. She strutted to Latin rhythms, swung a glittering purse in a manner dear to runaway girls and wisecracked for the customers. (5)

MIMICS OSCAR WINNER 

At the last moment she nixed a dancing and singing routine. The star with the forest-fire hair shrugged: 

“I decided it would be silly to compete with Grable.” (6)

A lot of movie queens laid in fresh supplies of smelling salts, ice beanies and copies of “Release From Nervous Tension” when word got around that Lucille was about to whoop it up on the six-a-day circuit. (7)

She’s a blister-raiser from way back and the air was shrill with ouches about a year ago when she whipped up an impression of an Academy Award winner. 

But the girls can go back to worrying about other things—like shrinking from larger-than-life to television screen size. 

Lucille didn’t let any “furriners” see the routine. 

“It's for Hollywood only," she said. “I should take radio-active material on the road?” 

Her Oscar-grabber routine is strictly for unreal anyhow, she says. and no blood relation to Bette Davis, Olivia de Havilland, Ingrid Bergman or any other Screen Duse. (8) She insisted:

“She's any movie star, even me. This character has to go up on that stage and act surprised. She’s only been rehearsing what she's going say flor eight weeks. So she says, ‘Ye gads, me?  But I’m so unprepared. Really, I didn’t dream...” Lucille is generally is as unflinching about the movie queen business as Pearl White was about onrushing trains. (9)

But her knees executed some wobbles that aren’t in Arthur Murray’s rhumba dance book when she checked into her first vaudeville dressing room. (10)

“Those stages—they’re so big.” she gasped. “Hey, I’d hate to get caught in the middle of one of those stages without bread and water.” 

Lucille didn’t take any chances with out-of-town press interviews, either. “I once did a personal appearance tour with Maureen O'Hara and had to show up at a press party,” she grinned. (11)

My sinus - I just die from it - was acting up. The reporter next to me didn’t understand my puffed eyes and cold sores. He called Maureen a lady in his story. But he referred to me as a whisky tenor with red-runny eyes.” 

Lucille’s brain cells work on direct current and she’s not one to make with the figure eights when a straight glide to home base would get her there quicker. 

They still laugh about her exit line to Louis B. Mayer. (12) Mayer always referred to her as a thoroughbred and sometimes compared her to his famous horses. "Yes, and like your other nags, I'm leaving your stable," Lucille said when she decided to bow out of her contract. 

She has high hopes for her new picture “The Fuller Brush Man.” Not that she enjoyed it: (13)

“Honey, this ones that I don t enjoy turn out be the best ones.  This one put me in the hospital. My feet are still bandaged up. I’m a mess. No more physical-type pictures for me.”

#   #   #    FOOTNOTES FROM THE FUTURE

(1) The 1946 Broadway hit comedy Born Yesterday by Garsin Kanin was bought by Columbia Pictures. Things got complicated when its stage star, Judy Holliday, swore she would not do the film version. Columbia used this as fuel for publicity about who would win the role.  Naturally, Lucille Ball was considered a top contender.  As the article states, she was not eager, however, to prove her worth to the ‘let’s-see-if-you’re-it’ boys (aka producers).  There was talk of Lucille performing the play in London, or summer stock, but her film contracts would not allow her time off for a stage run. 

(2) Mules are supposedly notoriously stubborn animals - just like Lucy. Francis the Talking Mule was the star of seven popular Universal-International film comedies. The character originated in the 1946 novel Francis by David Stern III, adapting his own script for the first entry, simply titled Francis.  On “I Love Lucy” Fred Mertz sometimes called Ethel “Francis” to indicate she was being stubborn about something. 

(3) These were some of the Hollywood stars looking to play the part of Billie Dawn in the film Born Yesterday. Evelyn Keyes (1916 – 2008) was best known for playing Sue Ellen, Scarlett O’Hara’s kid sister, in Gone With The Wind (1939).  Judy Holliday (1921-65), changed her mind about playing the role she originated on Broadway, but by then the casting net was cast, and she was just another performer on the short list. She eventually got the role, which defined her career. Marie Wilson (1916-72) was a zany comedic actress in the style of Gracie Burns. She was widely known as the star of radio and TV’s “My Friend Irma”. Shelley Winters (1920-2006) would be nominated for an Oscar the year after this article. She was adept at playing drama and comedy, and had a long-lasting career in Hollywood.  She appeared on “Here’s Lucy” in 1968; Critics raved about her Jan Sterling’s portrayal of Billie Dawn in the Chicago touring company of Born Yesterday and Columbia brought her out to the West Coast to test for the film. At one point, she was actually announced to play the part but the role ultimately went to Holliday.

(4) Lucille Ball did indeed read (not screen test) for the role of Scarlet O’Hara, just like nearly all of the women in Hollywood in 1938. Ball told the story several times on television, each time with varying details, but probably most completely on “Bob Hope’s Unrehearsed Antics of The Stars” (1984).

(5) This is a vivid description of the “Cuban Pete / Sally Sweet” portion of Lucy and Desi’s nightclub act to convince sponsors to buy them as a couple. 

(6) Betty Grable (1916-73) was considered one of the most famous pin-up girls in history. In addition to her million dollar gams (legs), she could sing, dance, and act, too. She guest starred with her then-husband Harry James on “Lucy Wins A Racehorse”, an installment of “The Lucy-Desi Comedy Hour” aired on February 3, 1958.

(7) “Release from Nervous Tension” was an actual best-selling book by Dr. David Harold Fink, published in 1950. Vaudeville and Burlesque shows were often known as the ‘six-a-day circuit’ because sometimes there would be as many as six performances of the same act in a day.  Naturally, this did not apply to Lucy and Desi, who were big film and radio stars at the time. 

(8)  These were some of Hollywood’s top-line dramatic actors. Bette Davis (1908-89) had won two Oscars, and was nominated for several others during her long career. She was supposed to guest-star on “The Lucy-Desi Comedy Hour” in “The Celebrity Next Door” in 1957 but dropped out after a horse-riding accident, leaving the role to Tallulah Bankhead; Olivia de Havilland (1916-2020) had also won two Oscars, the second the year this article was published. She was best remembered for playing Melanie Wilkes in Gone With The Wind (1939); Ingrid Bergman (1915-82) was a Swedish-born actress, who, by career’s end, had scored three Academy Awards.  When Johnson talks about “any other screen Duse” he is referring to Eleonor Duse (1858-1924), an Italian-born stage actress known for her grand, dramatic style.  

(9) Pearl White (1889-1938) was best known as the silent film actress who was tied to the railroad tracks in “The Perils of Pauline” (1914).  

(10) Arthur Murray (1895-1991) was a ballroom dancer and businessman best known for the chain of dancing schools that bear his name. Murray was often a punchline on “I Love Lucy,” especially when the subject of dancing came up. The Rhumba was a Latin dance that took America by storm in the late 1940s and 1950. Desi Arnaz often called his orchestra a ‘rhumba band.’ 

(11) Maureen O’Hara (1920-2015) and Lucille Ball had starred in Dance, Girl, Dance in 1940. As a result, the two went on a promotional tour that took them to several US cities, including the nation’s capitol. 

(12) Louis B. Meyer (1884-1957), along with Samuel Goldwyn and Marcus Loew of Metro Pictures, had formed a new motion picture company called Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM) in 1918. Over the next 25 years, MGM was "the Tiffany of the studios," producing more films and movie stars than any other studio in the world. Mayer became the highest-paid man in America, and one of the country's most successful horse breeders. Both he and MGM reached their peaks at the end of World War II, and Mayer was forced out in 1951, just a year after this article was written. 

(13) Erskine Johnson gets the title wrong. Lucille had madeThe Fuller Brush Girl, a sequel to The Fuller Brush Man (1948).  The film was released in mid-September 1950. 

#Lucille Ball #Erskine Johnson #Newspaper #Fuller Brush Girl #Born Yesterday #Judy Holliday #MGM #Louis B. Mayer #Pearl White #Olivia DeHavilland #Bette Davis #Ingrid Bergman #Release from Nervous Tension #Eleonor Duse #Betty Grable #Desi Arnaz #Gone With The Wind

[soaringlanddormitory]

Title: The Risks [1/?]

Summary: A supposedly new head of the family quits his role to make his own gang. It was his choice to make, and this was the path he decided to take.

Word Count:  2756

Notes: 

A bit gorey in a way for like some parts !!

This will most likely be a multi-chapter thing because I noticed that making it one whole story would be too much kjbg this is about Kaoru’s gang, and this chapter will focus on canon characters!! Also his first gang which he wasn’t the leader in [+ his first recruit when he actually became a leader but they break it off quickly]

The next chapters in order will probably be [Masae/Emile - Hanako/Tetsuji - All of them together] !! It could change though jkfdbf Basically they may appear in other chapters but in this order, they’ll be the main focus!!

I hope you guys enjoy the first multi-chapter thing I’ll make !!! <3 <3 Comments are appreciated uwu !!

It wasn’t a surprise that there were Yakuza members even in schools. They could be spotted anywhere, but you wouldn’t be able to identify that they were a part of such a thing. They could be your closest friends, and no person would be able to tell unless they finally open their mouths to reveal the truth.

A horrible truth that was hidden from such a tainted world.

A male caught the attention of the school once he was facing against a grown man. “Who the fuck do you think you are?!” The grown man shouted at the teenager in front of him who only smirked and placed his hands in his pockets. “Brats like you should just die! Thinking that you’re all great just because you’re a fucking kid!”

The younger male closed his eyes, a smirk still plastered on his face. “I think I’m a mere human who has the moral decency to know that women should be treated right.” He insulted the man, before he opened his eyes to glare. “Objectifying a woman is never correct. And saying people like me should just die? That’s such a stupid insult!” He shook his head. “I thought someone looking so angry can do better than that.”

The older man threw a fist at the male and some students gasped or screamed out of worry for their fellow schoolmate. Some even covered their eyes, worried that they’d see a bad injury on his face.

Much to their surprise he dodged the hit, and he dodged all the punches that were supposed to make him bleed. “Try harder than that, sir. this is getting quite boring. I’ll give you 5 more tries before I hit back, got it?”

He lifted up a finger each time the man tried hitting him again, and once all his fingers on his right hand was up, he went close enough to punch the man’s solar plexus hard enough to knock him down. “It’s over.” 

“Atitarn.” Someone called his name and he only turned around before going back to his happy demeanor.

“Oh hello there, Miss Kinokuni.” A large grin appeared on his face and he got a paper handed to him, and he only began sighing. “A warning?”

“Even if you did this to protect a fellow student, violence is prohibited inside school premises.” She gave a cold glare before turning around and walking away again. “You have 2 warnings left before you’ll be suspended, 7 more before you get expelled. Take note of that.”

The male slipped in the paper in the pocket of his shirt before he eyes the girl. She didn’t know it yet, but there would be people who’d be aiming for her. Maybe not this year, or the next... but knowing how the Yakuza is, they’d probably be make her a target. She was from a rich clan, and she would be the new head in a couple of years.

He folded his arms before observing her stance, whispering to himself. “I do respect you with my entire being, but I might not be there if they finally aim for you.” He gritted his teeth. “My father wouldn’t allow me to protect a schoolmate or risk our name for this. Hopefully any other Yakuza family will be able to protect you.”

“Kaoru!” A familiar voice was calling his name and he instantly turned around to see a male who he was pretty close to. “You were talking to yourself... Are you mad at Nene for giving you a slip.” He asks, a bit worried. “Please don’t be, she’s only doing her job as a Student Council member.”

“Sir Isshiki, you’ve got it wrong. I was only talking to myself, no worries. No hate, I swear.” He smiled at the fellow student before he flicked his forehead. “I’d never look at a woman with hate... At least I hope I don’t.” 

He was also worried that this person may be a victim for a quite similar reason as the girl he was thinking about. He might have been hard to aim for, since he did seem like he was hiding something- a talent. But he couldn’t help but overthink about the situation.

He didn’t want any of them to be hurt.

This scenario? Happened years ago back in middle school.

“Kaoru.” A male with dark hair and green eyes called out to him. He was quite similar in terms of appearance, but he looked much more strict. His eyes were filled with worry despite how he was expressing it.

“Yes, dad?” Kaoru looked up from the gun he wielded. He was cleaning it up after an incident he was in. He shot a couple of people dead together with “Contanti” and “Dragon”. His father got the gun from his son and it only made him a bit surprised by his gesture. “What do you want to tell me?”

“I respect your decision. You know that well.” 

“I do, dad.”

“But I still want you to be careful. Even if you cut off your ties with our own family Yakuza gang, I hope you know making one yourself is much more dangerous.” He paused, before continuing. “You’re going to be a leader, everyone is going to aim for your head. One mistake could kill you, son.”

Kaoru became quiet for a moment and the last word did hurt him a lot. He was the only child of his mother and father, and they were always so protective over him. “I know the risks, dad. But I want to gain my own name with mother’s, since Chankul is known around the whole Thailand and even Japan.” He grinned a bit. “Plus, I’ve got the talent of the most amazing man in the world, I’ll survive.”

His father hid the tears really well, but he was definitely proud of him. “I believe in those words. Be sure to drop a message every week.” He handed back the gun to his son. “Be sure to shoot those fuckers dead.”

“Yes, I will.” He laughed a bit before winking. “I’ll make sure that they’re down before they even lift their gun at me.” 

“You better.” His dad playfully slapped his back and there was a woman’s voice ringing in both of their ears.

“Sakda, Kaoru. It’s time to eat dinner.” She peeped from the door, her gold eyes filled with tears and her silver hair all messed up in a bun. “We should be sure to have a feast before our little boy starts his little life by... by...!”

“Mom, please don’t cry over this...” Kaoru smiles sadly as he approached his mother. “I’m going to be renting a little house for now, I’d not immediately start this whole life yet with a single finger. Contanti and Dragon wouldn’t be down to kill every single say, you know?”

“But you’re in high school!” Her mother yelped. “The last year of high school! You’re still a minor in my heart and knowing that you’re growing up so fast-!”

“Mom...” He knew he’d miss her. He knew he’d miss the dinner she’s make every day. The smile she had the moment he came home and the sweet hugs she gave every time it was time for him to go to his bed.

In the house he rented, he wouldn’t be able to have these, and he’ll miss that. 

“I’ll be okay.”

His mom hugged him tightly and began crying on her son’s shoulder and his dad finally allowed himself to cry and he patted the back of Kaoru, sadness yet happiness in his tears at the same time.

He’d miss his dad giving him playful remarks and the tiny bickers he has with him He’d not see the grin on his face every time he lifted up a test result. He’d not hear the loud voice of his father, telling the world he had the best son in the world.

Kaoru gave up, he couldn’t handle it. A smile was present on his face and he began crying with his parents. “I love you so much, but I’ll come back... I’ll make you both proud.”

There was a trio in an empty house and they were drinking different things. One was drinking coffee, another was drinking tea and the last was drinking whiskey.

Yesterday, they were able to perfect practice and eliminate 20 people inside the most wanted criminals. They decided to celebrate with a tiny party of drinks and a couple rounds of gambling.

“Are we going to do anything today, Kaoru?” 

“No. I think Eizan doesn’t want to deal with you right now.”

“I don’t want to deal with him either! Why can’t we like... you know, shoot people together? Without that...” He went closer to whisper. “Greedy Shit.”

“I heard that, you midget.”

“Hey... What the fuck did you say?!”

Kaoru was currently sitting on a chair, and he sipped his tea while the other two were glaring at each other. “I know you two hate each other, but we’re practicing to be leaders all together.” He sighed. “Shoot each other once we’re done with our training.”

Right before they could draw out their gun at each other, the male who tried to deal things peacefully already stole it from them. To his annoyance, they brought out their knives. “For fuck’s sake...” He slammed his mug on the table, and it was strong enough to break the mug. 

“Oh. Red Hair Clips is mad.”

“Atitarn, don’t take this personally.” Eizan stared at the man who broke his own mug. “But it would have been a miracle if that was this stupid man’s head instead.”

“Why the fuck would he take it personally?! He wasn’t the one being insulted now was he?!”

“If you weren’t so easy to insult, then maybe I wouldn’t make fun of-”

Kaoru shoved a cigarette stick inside their mouths before lighting it up.  “Both of you calm down, if you guys don’t kill each other first, you’ll probably both die by fucking high blood.” He walked away from the two of them. 

Kuga spat the cigarette, and he cringed at the taste of smoke while Eizan accepted it and only puffed out smoke. 

“We only need 3 weeks left, and we’ll stop being with each other. You two won’t need to deal with each other anymore. So please just... try to control yourselves in that span of weeks.”

“Fine then, Red Hair Clips.” Kuga jumped on the table before sitting on it. “Three weeks and I’m out of here. I’ll miss you.” He turned his head to Eizan. “But nooooo way am I going to miss you.”

“Well, I’m not surprised because I won’t miss you or your height either.”

Before they could fight again, Kaoru brought up a question.

“Who are you two protecting once we’re finished with this, if I may ask?”

“Not so sure yet.” Kuga replies before he crossed his arms. “My parents still hasn’t thought of anyone I’d be assigned to yet. They want them to be at least pretty independent.”

“And you, Eizan?”

Eizan didn’t give an automatic response, but he blew out some smoke once again. “I don’t have anyone to protect yet either. They should be worthy before I even try and protect them. It should be a good exchange.” He eyed the only one person left. “And you, Atitarn?”

“Don’t know, really.” He laughed. “Because all I want to do is make my own gang first.”

“I expected that from you, Atitarn. You never mentioned being the next head of your family’s clan.” Eizan pushed up his glasses before noticing the smile plastered on the man’s face. “You could have been richer if you chose to stick with the Chankul name.”

“He doesn’t care about the money, Greedy Shit. He’s out here trying to bring a lighter name to the Yakuza, remember?” Kuga cleared his throat. “A vigilante.”

“That’s my original plan, but who knows. It’s possible for it to change.” Kaoru shrugged but poured tea into a new mug and lifting it up in the air. “I know that you might not be in the mood, but since you owe me a ton of favors, can I use it now?”

“What the fuck are you planning?”

“What do you expect I’ll say, Eizan? My favor being get a girlfriend? I mean, yeah, I’d day that, but you know- not now. I better be there on your wedding by the way but-”

“Shut the fuck up, get to the point.”

“Simple. I want to have a glass for the three of us... You know, “cheers”, if you may?”

Kuga laughed a bit before jumping off the table and pouring whiskey into his mug. “Sure! It’s a stupid request, but why not?”

At first, Eizan hesitated but he ended up sighing. “This isn’t a truce for the night. I only hate being in debt. Money or not.”

“Thank you.”

Once the three glasses made a sound, the three said one simple word- with different tones and expressions.

“Cheers!”

It’s been some months after getting his first recruit but he didn’t know it’d break so easily but he believed it was for the best.

“Aroon... Aroon... Kaoru... Masae...” A ginger was shaking Kaoru, who had his eyes dull. “She... She’s...”

“Dai... I know.”

“Fuck! Fuck!” There were several punches that could be heard, and he only punched the wall harder. “My mother may have died, but God shouldn’t be cruel enough to get Masae too!” He yelled before curling up to a ball. “Her family... Murdered... In such a humiliating way...”

Kaoru thought that his best friend since childhood was safe. She was protected by a gang but they turned against her and her own family. It hurt him too much because her family was his second family.

Valdez Milas. Her father. He was tortured to death with a knife and some burns. Right before he was killed by blood loss, there were evidences that the bite marks all over him belonged to dogs. His body was found and it was barely identifiable because of the bones seen.

Kaori Milas. Her mother. There were burns on her body, but this was not caused by fire. Detectives leaned in to the possibility of getting electrocuted and she was tied to an electric chair. Her body was found in frozen water and some guessed she could have also been drowned to her death.

Saniya Milas. Her sister, the youngest. Her body was not found during the crime scene, but she was missing in action. People believed that she was buried alive, but there are no evidences proving that this can be true.

Masae Milas. Their friend. A scar all over her back and stomach. She was found bleeding on the ground, and she was trying to drag herself to her parents, but she fainted before she could reach. Her life was spared, but maybe this was worse than death.

Kaoru began clutching his chest, his eyes being filled with tears and that was the night where he could only scream and throw objects around. Some of the bones of his hands were broken because of so much hitting and punching but the last thing he did was stay in a corner and tremble in sadness and anger.

Dai, despite how much his heart pounded with guilt because he couldn’t do anything about it approached Kaoru and placed his hand on his shoulder. He had no words to say but once his supposedly leader faced him, there was only one thing present besides tears. It was hatred. 

“We’re breaking this gang.”

“What do you mean-”

“You make your own gang, I make mine.” He slowly stands up, but his hands were clutched tightly. “... We’ll need to work faster.”

“Kaoru...”

“We have to eliminate them. We’ll kill them. We’ll be the leaders of our own gang, and get revenge...”

“Is this for her?” 

“Yes.”

“You already know my answer...”

They’d do anything for her.

#writing #yakuza au #au ideas: groups #nene kinokuni #isshiki satoshi #kuga terunori #etsuya eizan #shokugeki no soma oc #kaoru atitarn #dai adachi #masae milas

[kr210]

Mafia

Notes:

And with that we have reached chapter 12 in the manga. I hope you are all enjoying the story so far. I would also like to apologize for the month long Hiatus as I was helping my mom move but now that she is settled in updates will continue regularly once again.

Summary:

We have entered the daily life Arc and boy is it busy. For our Yakuza Princess she is more busy than she wants to be but she is also getting to meet the 10th family. Its nothing but adventure and excitement in this installment

Sakura’s Character Page 

Chapter 1 | Chapter 2 | Chapter 3 | Chapter 4 | Chapter 5 | Chapter 6 | 

Reborn

Sakura stood there at the entrance of her home looking at this baby dressed in a suit. Both Kai and Bai were on edge to see this child in their home standing before their princess. "Ciaossu" he greeted them. The twins moved in front of Sakura guarding her and being protective. Sakura frowned, totally confused as to what was going on.

It was a Sunday morning when she was greeted by the doorbell on her way to the kitchen to get breakfast. She had just been passing the entranced and decided to answer it anyways since she was the closest. As she opened the door though she felt like she had sensed something wrong and took a step back. Some instinct told her to get away from the door and that instinct had spread to the house like wildfire. In an instant both Kai and Bai were standing next to the princess along with six other guards around her.

The door opened anyways and there stood a well dressed baby in his black suit and tie. "Ciaossu" he greeted them again. "Who is this?" Sakura asked. "I am Reborn" he introduced himself to her. "Reborn?" she questioned confused. "The number one hitman in the world" Bai explained. The baby named Reborn nodded.

"I came here today as a formal greeting. Perhaps we can sit down and talk somewhere?" he asked, looking directly at Sakura. Blinking confused on why everyone was so on edge, Sakura took the stance to say, "Prepare the tea room."

A bit of bustling and rushing along with a few guards, the Yakumo Yakuza welcomed the hitman. Sakura sat across from the baby at the tea table as a maid poured the tea and served some small cakes. Reborn looked at the princess once the maid was gone. "The formality is that the Vongola mafia has hired me to train the next leader of the Vongola. That leader is here in Namimori. Since you are the residing mafia here, it's only formal that I introduce myself along with my intentions" he explained to her.

Sakura frowned and shook her head a little in disbelief. She was educated in the mafia world enough to know who the Vongola familia was and the influence they held in the world. "I understand the formality but what does the Vongola get from telling us? My Yakuza is small compared to them. And it would make no difference what you do versus what you say." she commented frowning.

Reborn chuckled. "Your tutors have been educating terribly then," he told her, shaking his head. "The Yakumo Yakuza are the ones who first welcomed the Vongola Primo and his guardians here when Primo decided to retire. Your founding members even helped Primo get all his paperwork and housed him like family while he stayed here on vacation" Reborn explained to her.

Sakura was shocked at that. She had no clue her family had close ties to the Vongola like that. Reborn on the other hand saw the shock on her face and reached into his coat pocket to pull out a letter. "Here you are. A letter from the current Vongola leader" he said, handing it to her. Sakura sat up slightly and took the letter from the baby.

She briefly read over it and her eyes widened as she read the letter and the history that the Vongola and Yakumo family had in common. The Princess also read the request of the Ninth to look out for this new Vongola leader. After she folded the letter to read in better detail later, she turned her attention to the baby. "I can agree to these terms. Watching over and helping out the Vongola benefits my Family more than it benefits the Vongola" she commented. Reborn nodded his head. "Very good. I'll let Ninth know that the Yakumo Yakuza is in agreement and an ally of the Vongola" he commented. Sakura nodded and bowed her head. "Thank you."

Reborn excused himself and left to do Reborn things. Sakura on the other hand excused herself to her officeIn her office she began reading over the letter in more depth. According to the Vongola history, Primo, the first Vongola leader and founder, moved to Japan to retire and thanks to a set of twins named Yakumo Ryunotsuke and Yakumo Tsubaki. The twins were leaders of the Yakumo Yakuza which helped people just like the Vongola. The older twin Ryunotsuke and Primo got along very well and Ryunotsuke did whatever he could to help his new friend settle into the country including getting papers and a home to live out his life.

The other twin Tsubaki took on the role of hostess in helping Primo settle in and helped him dress his home. She was also the person who suggested a couple of japanese names for Primo to take on. She had beautiful calligraphy and wrote the kanji for Promo's new name. Supposedly she was fond of the cloud guardian Alaudi but there was nothing more written in the letter.

Sakura put the letter down. She knew who the Vongola Familia was and the power they had. She knew the fact that they allied with her small Yakuza would allow a lot of opportunities for her. But she also knew that entering this alliance meant that she could be married off to build bonds in the Vongola and Yakuza. She let out a sigh feeling a little stressed.

New Member

Later that afternoon, the little Yakuza Princess heard a commotion out in her backyard. Confused, the princess got up to see what was going on. She made her way down the stairs, across the tatami mat of the formal tea room and slid open the paper doors to see Bai standing behind his brother, Kai. Kai on the other hand was holding up a young teenage boy who was borderline beaten bloody. The princess felt her Yakuza self kick in as she stared down at this teen. He on the other hand, with his black eye glared at the princess.

"Who is this?" she asked Bai, ignoring the teen. "Some brat that decided to climb the wall," Bai explained to her. Kai on the other hand dropped the kid letting him cough up some blood and try to regain his center. Kai looked at her. "Are you done working in the office?" She nodded. "Yeah I reread the letter from the Vongola and I'm okay with these conditions. Even if it means I might be married off one day" she said standing tall. Kai nodded not happy with her choice but in agreement with it because this was a good business move.

The teenager saw them all distracted and went after the princess. He moved as much as his body would let him. The twins froze when they saw this teenager but the princess was calm. As soon as the teen reached for her she grabbed his arm and threw him over her shoulder and knocked him on his back flat on the wooden porch. The teen was surprised. As the princess turned her attention to Kai and Bai. "I'm gonna head to my room to do some homework. Please take out the trash" she commented before she turned to go inside. Instead the teen rolled over and took the servant bow. "Please let me serve you." he begged. Sakura glanced at the teen then looked at Bai. "I think I need some help with math." Bai nodded and said, "I will be up shortly." Then the princess took her leave. The kid on the other hand didn't move. He was surprised how a child could easily flip someone twice her size and weight. Kai looked down at him. "It'll be up to the Princess to decide what happens to you. I'd suggest you stay there and wait for her command." he told him going inside.

It would be a few hours before Sakura stepped out to see that same teenage boy unmoved. She went over to him and placed her foot on his head. "Your name?" she asked him. "Miki, miss" he said. He sounded tired and sluggish. "And how old are you?" He glanced up at her but her foot shoved his face to the wooden porch again. "I will be 16 this year." he said. "Have Kai take care of you and prepare for the Namimori High School test in Spring. I expect everyone in my household to have a proper education." she said then left him there. "Thank you." he said, grateful.

Sawada Tsunayoshi

The next day at Namimori Middle School nothing too interesting happened other than the rumors of a first year confessing to another first year in their underwear. Sakura rolled her eyes finding this all to be a rumor until she was summoned by Hibari at lunch. Another member of the disciplinary committee met Sakura at her classroom. "Sakura-san, Hibari-sama wants to see us." he told her. She blinked surprised but nodded her head. Yuna looked upset. "You've been spending a lot of time with him." she commented. "It's part of being in a club. You should join one" The princess suggested to her best friend. Yuna continued to eat her lunch.

Sakura and this other member met Hibari in the empty stairwell. "After school there will be a student fight in the dojo. I expect you two can handle it." he commented. "Yes, sir." they both said and he took his leave. The other student nodded to Sakura and headed off following Hibari. Sakura on the other hand headed back to her classroom to finish lunch with Yuna.

After school Sakura headed to the dojo to see what this whole fight was about. She made her way inside as students made way for the second year once they saw her badge. Quickly she grew bored seeing how this fight was over a girl. She sighed thankful she didn't want to deal with another girl having a crush on Hibari. Instead she folded her arms waiting for the fight to start.

Boy was she shocked to see a first year student in his underwear getting in a fight with the older student named Mochida. She watched as he destroyed this student pulling out his hair and playing off the word of Ippon or one hit. She scoffed amused greatly by this. After the fight was over she made her way out so she could make the report to Hibari.

Gokudera Hayato

"A transfer student?" The princess was caught off guard to hear such a request from Kusakabe. Kusakabe coughed "Yes, I would normally create a file for the student for Hibari-sama but unfortunately I have a bit too much going on that I cannot make the file. Could you please do it for me?" he asked her once more. Sakura blinked and took the name from the second in command. "Thank you" he told her.

After school Sakura made her way to the committee room. She knocked on the door and waited a moment but there was no response from the leader. Cautiously she opened the door expecting Hibari to start a fight with her instead though she was greeted to a quiet empty room. Hibari wasn't by the window staring down at the students nor was he taking an afternoon nap on one of the couches.

She shut the door behind her and went over to the kettle so she could start making a cup of tea. Then she went over to the desk to boot up Hibari's computer that allowed her to access information about the students so she could start this new transfer student's file.

The girl spun the chairman's chair and then took a seat in it. Her face then started to heat up as she realized that she was sitting in Hibari's chair. The same chair that he gave orders in and looked down on them. A giggle escaped her as she leaned back in the chair. To sit in Hibari's chair without trying to hide or sneak around to leave him gifts was so different than having permission to actually sit in his chair and work. "Ah right, I'm supposed to be working instead of fangirling" she muttered to herself.

Finally starting to work, Sakura began to write up the transfer's file.

Name : Gokudera Hayato

Age : 13, First year

Birthday : September 9,

Gokudera Hayato comes from Italy as a first year transfer student to Namimori Middle School. He is transferring under the status of his half Japanese blood. Grades from Italy are unknown.

Sakura stared at the quarter filled sheet on the computer. "This isn't a very filled out report" she muttered leaning back in the chair. "I don't think Hibari will approve of this..." she commented frowning. She looked up at the new student's name and then looked at where this student came from. She pondered a bit...before she pulled out her phone.

She called Kai. "Is something wrong princess?" he answered shortly after the first ring. "No nothing is wrong. I'm working on something for the committee." she quickly explained. "Alright." he answered. "It's a first year transfer student named Gokudera Hayato. He comes from Italy. So I was curious to see if he has any mafia connections" she explained why she was calling. Kai pondered it as he headed over to his brother who was more informed about other mafias. He put the phone on speaker so his twin Bai could hear. "Gokudera... I don't know a family by that name from Italy." Bai let himself be known. Sakura pondered a moment. "Could he be an illegitimate heir?"

"How soon do you need that report?" Kai asked her. "Ah it needs to be done today." she commented frowning. "If we had more time we could look into him more but with such a short deadline I do not think it's possible..." Sakura nodded. "Alright I'll settle for what I have." she commented. "Okay. We will see you tonight." the twins told her and they hung up.

Sakura printed out the very short report and put it in a manilla folder. She then left it on Hibari's desk to read it when he returned to his office. Sighing she got up from the desk and went to get her now cold cup of tea. After she drank it, she cleaned up and locked up the office for the day.

I trust you.

Sakura was staring at the hole in the middle of the school ground. "A freshman apparently did it to avoid being expelled after a low score on a science test." Another member of the committee explained to her. "So that means we have to clean it up?" she asked, shocked and not fond of physical labor. "No." The committee leader arrived. annoyed Sakura and the other committee member stood up quite stiff.

He looked at Sakura. "I trust you to handle this clean up." he said to her anger radiating off his body. Sakura turned to look up at him confused. "Handle the clean up? Why me?" she questioned him. Usually one wouldn't question Hibair's orders but that would be completely unlike this girl to not question the fearless leader.

"Your report on the transfer student was short and precise. It was excellent work. It shows that I can trust you to handle other jobs." he explained to her. Sakura blinked surprised but quickly nodded her head. "Yes sir" she said with a huge smile on her face that quickly turned to a smirk as she looked at the other who would have to listen to her now to clean this up.

Hibari nodded his head and left the work to the Yakuza Princess.

Yamamoto Takeshi

"You don't know who Yamamoto Takeshi is?" Yuna asked Sakura as they were rushing down the hallway with the other students. "I don't know all the students like the disciplinary committee leader does" she said, dodging one student who opened the window and sticking their head out the window and looking up.

Just as the girls were about to turn down the hallway to head down the stairs Sakura's phone chimed. She read the text from Hibari demanding she go to the third floor and be prepared to catch the freshman that was ready to jump. Yuna sighed. "Orders from the scary leader?" she asked her friend. Sakura frowned but nodded. Yuna sighed again. "Alright I'll keep you updated on the ground." Sakura smiled and said, "Thank you" before she took off heading up to the third floor.

Sakura entered one of the classrooms and opened the window to make sure she was just below the student that was hanging off the railing. Once she was in the right spot she texted Hibari letting him know she was in position. She was nervous and antsy. Many what if questions when through her head.

"Ciaossu" Sakura was pulled out of her thoughts by the baby hitman. "Ah Reborn-san" she said surprised. "Are you here on orders?" he asked her. A nod. "Then do you mind ignoring this situation?" "Does this have something to do with the freshman Vongola leader?" she asked. He nodded. "Then yes, I can ignore this whole situation." she commented. "Thank you Yakuza Princess" he told her and took his leave.

Sakura smiled as she sat in the open window now to simply sit and watch the show.

The Cow Print Baby

Sakura and Yuna were eating lunch in their classroom along with the rest of their class. "It's true, I saw it yesterday" one girl said standing up from her desk creating quite a commotion. Yuna and Sakura both turned to look at the girl. "What's that about?" Sakura asked. "There's a rumor going around about some cow print baby here at school. Sakura raised an eyebrow at that. "Uh huh... well I haven't heard anything from Hibari about it so therefore I wouldn't worry about it" she said. Yuna nodded.

The Rice Ball Present

All the girls on this day in Namimori were making rice balls in Home Econ class. That also included Yakumo Sakura and Hinamori Yuna. Sakura was staring at her rice balls. They looked a little too perfect for her. "Are those for Hibari-senpai?" Yuna asked, sticking her head into Sakura's station. "Ah yeah I guess I'll give them to him." she commented frowning. Yuna noticed that frown and looked at Sakura. "Is there something wrong with them?" Yuna asked her, looking at the rice balls.

"Don't you think these are a little too good looking?" she asked her best friend. "Sakura-chan you've always been good at cooking so of course your rice balls look perfect" her friend encouraged her. Sakura ended up pouting and let a long sigh. "They look so good that they look fake. I don't think he'll like them." she muttered packing them up as the class was coming to an end.

The best friends said their goodbyes and went their separate ways. Yuna would give her rice balls to someone else in their class while Sakura would head up to the next floor. This is where she found herself running into the third year that made her heart rush and face blush. "Yakumo," he said surprised to see her up there. "You should be in home ec right now." he narrowed his eyes at her. She pulled out her perfect rice balls. "Actually, I just came from the home ec classroom to give you these." she said presenting her perfect rice balls to him.

To say Hibari was surprised was an understatement as he looked down at the younger student. He then looked at her rice ball and took them from her. "Get back to class" he ordered as he entered his committee room and locking the door behind him. Sakura let out a long sigh of relief and headed back to her classroom.

[tehfloridaman-blog]

Canary: Or Something Screaming in the Silence of Space

Hey all! Another one of my shorts here--this one having earned an honorable mention alongside another I’m likely to post soon (if not today). This story’s more or less taking a much larger plot I had and condensing it as to show the story’s unique premise in a more contained span of pages. I’m likely to start writing on the full story soon and intend to post that here~! What I intended to focus on for this story was sound and color imagery, hence the prevalence in it. So enjoy...a story whose name I’m still undecided on. Toodles!

Wallace looked out onto the infinite horizon, colored blots of white light evenly speckled throughout the black void. Among them was a metal, iceberg shaped object. It had a rounded base and two protrusions, one rising upward and the other down, various yellow, glowing holes--windows--peppering its surface. The cockpit of the small ship was dimly lit by the consoles in front of Wallace and O’Connor, casting blue shadows onto the men’s faces and the ceiling, creeping out past them along the walls. Near the back of the room, two yellow lights filled in most of the dark gaps left by the console’s glow, though the corners of the room were still drenched in blackness.

           The steady hum of the ship’s engines was pierced a moment by the clicking of buttons, being pressed in a precise manner by O’Connor as the grey and yellow-dotted station grew closer on the horizon, blotting out the stars near it. Wallace sat up, grunting as he adjusted his ballcap and gave his stubble a quick rub. O’Connor barely glanced at him until a few seconds later, resting his hands on his knees as he glanced over to Wallace.

           “How long?” Wallace asked, blinking his eyes to get rid of the fuzziness of the lights. The whole cockpit was blurred for a few moments, steadily coming back into focus as O’Connor gave his answer.

           “An hour. Also, three minutes.” An hour of sleep? It felt like a day’s worth, what with the relaxing drone of the ship providing a background ambiance equal only to specialized white noise generators.

           “Drop it, check the station and leave?”

           A pause from O’Connor, giving him a nod after a few second’s silence. The man stood up, disengaging his seatbelt with a sharp click as Wallace did the same. Their footsteps echoed down the hallway, each step being accompanied by a brief thump as they trudged along. Thump, thump, thump all along the hallway.

           “It’s been unresponsive for a week now. Corporate wants to know what happened.”

           “Stations don’t just go radio silent like that. It’d have an error message if the radio-”

           “Suddenly died.” O’Connor said with him as they stood by the umbilical, the few meter-long space coated in an ominous red glow. O’Connor lifted the dirtied, clear plastic cover of the umbilical’s engagement system, some more click, clicking coming from the panel. Not a minute later, the lights switched to green, the blast door opening as the white and gray corridor lit up in front of them, barely illuminated by the blue lights along its top.

           Thump, thump—down the corridor. The two men lacked any sort of caution in their strides as they casually walked down the length of the umbilical, Wallace pressing his ID against the scanner at the corridor’s end; the scratched, white door deeting in confirmation before sliding open with a woosh.

Cold air immediately poured through even before the door had fully slid open, Wallace zipping up his jacket most of the way as he stepped into the lobby beyond. O’Connor and Wallace flicked on their flashlights, the click of the buttons echoing throughout the silent lobby. The two pillars of light penetrated the area like swords, hacking away at the darkness as the copious amounts of discarded luggage were revealed. The area was built much like a typical airport, with benches and luggage areas and various stores—all closed with their bars down.

           “Smell that in the air?” Wallace pointed his flashlight upward, hitting the vents in the ceiling. The air supply ran throughout the station, he internally prayed that this horrid, burnt smell didn’t circulate into the other areas.

           O’Connor snorted, shinning his light over to a defaced billboard, darkened pink words covering its surface. The way the spray-paint had dried made each letter seem like a melting candle. “Reminds me of the bathrooms back in high school. All those anti-drug lectures were for nothing.”

           Wallace chuckled, nodding in agreement as he took a step over to examine the words with O’Connor, the duo’s lights fully illuminating the message:

it came from canary

           “Canary’s a kind of bird, isn’t it?” Wallace asked, reaching over to trace his hand along the strange writing. Made about a week ago, certainly a few days before they arrived.

           “It’s the nickname for the mining planet.”

           “The cold one, right? Same system as this station.” A pause from Wallace, rubbing his chin as he pondered the odd name of the planet before speaking. “Why Canary?”

           “It’s an old legend. Old-old. Back on Earth, y’see, miners used canaries in cages to see if noxious gases were building up in the mines. If the bird died, they knew to leave before they suffered the same fate.”

           “Bit of a…eerie name, don’tcha think?”

           “Mhmmm…supposedly they test stuff over there, too.”

           “No kidding, what kinda-” A thump nearby turned both men’s attention to the stairs just a few meters away, faint lights spilling out from the top of the flight to partially illuminate the figure standing at the stair’s bottom. Only its eyes were fully able to be seen, wild bloodshot eyes. It was holding something, an item that was long and cylindrical in shape. “-hello?”

           O’Connor blinked, turning his flashlight the entity’s way to expose the true nature of the object. A revolver. The rescue worker put one hand in front of him in surrender, opening his mouth to speak. “We don’t-”

           Wallace’s ears rang as the bright orange projectile flew through the air and hit O’Connor’s face with a wet, distant smack. The deafeningly loud crack of the gun’s firing came with a brief illumination of the man’s face—a wild, crazed look on it. As Wallace slid down against the billboard, clutching his ear, and O’Connor fell to the ground with a sudden thud; the man ran off, taking back up the stairs after giving the ceiling the swiftest of looks.

           Wallace remained crouched there, the side of his face and shoulder having a spatter of his friend’s blood on it. Steadily he slid down the graffitied wall like a slug until he reached the bottom, huddled against it as though it was the only thing providing heat on Canary’s cold surface. The irony of this wasn’t lost on him. Summoning the courage to look at the corpse, Wallace found a neatly shaped, dark red hole in the middle of his forehead, blood trailing down it on a line as it went along O’Connor’s nose—curiously also bleeding with two thicker globs of blood leaking from his nostrils.

Then the corpse’s head fell forward, and Wallace saw the back of his skull. What was left of it. On the wall behind him--some skin, bits of bone, brain, lots of blood. Somehow the exit wound was ten times as bad as the entrance.

Eventually, Wallace summoned the strength to move on—giving his friend’s deceased form a momentary glance before stumbling forward, placing one hand on the wall to steady himself before rounding the corner, finding to his surprise that the dimly lit stairs were dotted every so often by a drip or two of blood.

           Temporarily having to will himself up the stairs, Wallace continued further still—up the staircase and into the dark corridor, the lights having long gone out. He could hardly see the environment around him, angled walls with a crate or two placed for added scenery, he supposed.

           In that dark, dark corridor he heard a thump above him.

           In the vents.

           Behind him.

           Then another, closer. Yet one more—closer still. Something was walking in the vents toward him, so Wallace ran. He jogged down the corridor, glancing behind himself to confirm that, yes, there wasn’t anyone there, but the noises continued. The thing in the vents was running now, the thump-thump-thump-thump giving away its location as a ceiling panel fell from above, hitting the floor with a drawn-out clack-clack clatter. Light! Light ahead, through a door frame that had to be a maintenance closet of some kind! A pure, golden glow keeping the entire room open for view, Wallace did not hesitate when running in and slamming his hand down on the door’s button, the sound inaudible over his own panting, the locks clicking in with a second push, this one more tiresome than the first.

           The thumping was gone, Wallace collapsing against the nearby tool shed. After spending a few minutes catching his own breath, the man took a glance over at the nearby desk and chair where a corpse casually sat, a gun in its hands.

           The brown haired, white-shirted person from the stairwell was dead. Blood inching steadily from his eyes, his nose, his mouth. Staining the top of his shirt, he had died only recently. Surely whatever had been in the vents had done it. Yes, that was the only explanation. Noticing the recording device on the desk by the body, Allen shakily reached over and pressed the button with a tiny click.

           “My name is Toby. Toby…err…I don’t remember that part. My last name. That’s not important. I’ll cut to the chase, yeah. Three or four days ago this shuttle arrived from Canary. Some dude was on it, guy named Crowley. Said he was a guy who worked security detail at one of the labs there—told us that what was in the package had…caused folks to go crazy. Said a…a monster was…”

           A pause, the speaker taking a moment to sniffle, seemingly to compose themselves.

           “Some monster had followed the crate, that we couldn’t open it or else it’d kill us all. Folks had reservations, obviously. Why should we believe some guy from an, uh, a planet that’s…it didn’t sound right, is what I’m trying to say. Obviously, some people said that it could’ve been from that research facility—bioweapons and all. A monster would make sense from there, but maybe they uncovered something? Like...under the ground?”

           Another pause followed by the ruffling of papers, Allen took note of the semi-nonsensical writings next to the corpse, a few dots of dried dark red blood on them.

           “So, we opened it! By we I mean the folks who worked down in cargo. Whatever they uncovered they…they all went mad. Crowley disappeared afterward, then the people who opened it started dying. Like something had hunted them down, killed them. Must’ve come from the vents, they said, must’ve come from the vents and left no trace. What else could’ve done it? Folks said they saw things, heard things. Said it was the monster.”

           A pause followed by the person standing up and the click of the revolver’s hammer.

           “Heard something. Might’ve just been the station, it’s falling apart as I speak. Gonna try to find a way outta here in the terminal, I think it’s hunting me.”

           One more brief entrance into the realm of silence.

           “I can hear something screaming in the silence of space.”

           Then it ended. Allen looked beyond the man and his desk, spotting a section of the floor that had been moved, exposing a maintenance tunnel below it. Where this led was presently unknown…perhaps that’s how the…whatever had been hunting Allen had snuck in and killed this man before retreating to…

           Allen heard a thump in the vent just behind his head.

           He wasn’t sure how he ended up in the maintenance tunnel so quickly, but before he knew it Allen was crawling on his hands and knees inside the darkened veins of the ship, certain that he had to be safe.

           Then the pipes around him began to clatter, the sound vibrating throughout the space as whatever was causing the noise began to frantically chase him. It followed him, it followed him, it followed him. Allen was sent scrambling like a roach, clawing his way forward through the pitch-black environment while the clink-clack-clink-clack of the pipes only grew closer and closer and closer and-

           They stopped. He was on the ground; the vent having popped out beneath him. He wasted no time in sprinting like a gazelle through the doorway in front of him, punching the button to slam the doors in front of him shut with a force that seemed to have shattered his bones.

           When he turned around, he was in a completely smooth, rectangular corridor. White walls surrounded him—the entire space not more than a few feet in length and width. Just enough for him to be able to walk forward comfortably. The entire area was awash with a pinkish red light, originating from nowhere but filling the whole space. As Allen walked forward, in a daze, the environment twisted around him. Bending, becoming flexible like rubber all while he stayed in the same position. Once it evened out, the walls were covered in the same graffiti from before: it came from canary repeated over and over, on top of each other to leave only fleeting spots of space where the white wall could be seen.

Allen continued forward to the door that looked ever closer but always oh so far away. After walking for what seemed to be ages, Allen was finally able to lay his palm upon the button of the door and open it with the same click as always. The door opened with a woosh, air spilling into the corridor as Allen stepped into the cargo bay beyond, shelf upon shelf of items were in front of him.

           Sitting on a box in front of him was O’Connor, upright with his hands on his knees. His eyes were glazed over, the bullet hole in his forehead leaking blood which was frozen as it flowed down the bridge of his nose, forever stuck in time. The same two globs from his nostrils, hanging above his lips and sticking to his mustache. 

           “Is this really what you want, Allen?” It asked in a distorted voice, giving him an almost bored look. “You’re a canary. You’ve gone down into the mines and the gas is getting to you.” The corpse looked behind itself, an area in the middle of the room seemingly dedicated to an odd, rectangular white-topped, blue-bottomed box with other orange and green markings along its surface that had a singular beam of light shining down on it like an altar. “It came from canary.”

            Allen limped over, putting both hands on the half-opened box as he read the black, printed words on it in the yellow, revealing light. A few drops of red blood stained the top of the crate. It was getting hard to see. Hard to breathe.

UNITED EARTH MILITARY RESEARCH

BIOWEAPONS DIVISION

HALLUCINOGENIC #HX-20

           The canary fell over, croaked his last breath and died on the spot.

           The sound fluttered into the air and was snatched away by the void.

#writing #my writing #literature #sci-fi #science fiction #horror #sci-fi horror #The Mines

[canaryatlaw]

So today was all around pretty sweet. Got out of bed at my alarm at 7, like a good girl, and went to work. Work was a bit of a scramble, I did a lot of different things so I may not recount all of them perfectly. I started with more jail phone calls, which I did at other points in the day as well. Nothing super interesting came out today other than the mom like cursing out her 16 year old daughter and saying she didn't want to see her when she gets out of prison, because she's clearly an awful person. But like, mom's not even a party on this case because she never came forward, despite giving birth to the child???? Idk, it's weird. Stupid. So I did that until around 11 when I had the interview scheduled for, so I called the juvenile correctional facility (proper name) and got bounced around a few times until I got the guy I was talking to yesterday who then put the kid on the phone. I know it's like, basically a jail, but it still kind of bugs me that they refer to them as "offenders" or "inmates." We're always very intentional with our language because they're our clients, so we make sure to always refer to them as such. But anyway. I wasn't sure what to expect from him, I want to say he's like 17 or so, and basically I was interviewing him because he's set to get out at the end of the month and there's a CIPP next week for him to try and figure out a placement. He was actually really polite, very "yes m'am" and such, and he seemed to be in a pleasant mood and I'm sure fairly excited at the prospect of getting out. He gave mostly one word questions, which to be fair is all that was really required for a lot of the questions. He was not enrolled at school at the facility (don't know how that works) but when he gets out he wants to get his GED and go on to college to study music, with his future plans being to "inspire people in the same situation I'm in through my music" so hey, good for him. As far as placement he wants to go live with his aunt in Texas, which is somewhat questionable because she used to to be his guardian but he got returned to the system because his behavioral problems were giving her "high blood pressure" (smh). But relative placements are generally a good thing, so that may work. Overall it was pretty short, but I got all the info I needed so I'm counting it as a win. I wrote it up as a narrative afterwards then went back to the phone calls. At one point my boss gave me some stuff to work on, but I ended up going back to the phone calls until I could review them with that lawyer towards the end of the day. I had gone through my notes and highlighted the important stuff, where they talked about evading DCFS or when their relationship was particularly evident (given that they're not supposed to be together, according to his testimony). So that was good. Afterwards I didn't have very much time left, but I started on an assignment my boss had given me regarding a client who essentially went missing, but is supposedly living in a city in Illinois with her mom, so she wanted me to call the caseworker and see if I could find her on Facebook or anything. Caseworker didn't answer, so I moved on to Facebook. Apparently another lawyer had tried a few months ago and didn't get any results. Well, my web sleuthing skills tend to be pretty good, and I was able to locate a potential profile for the mom that was friends with a profile with the same name as the daughter, with other contextual clues pointing to them, so that could be a potential lead, though there's no information posted publicly so we'd have to have the investigation unit message them apparently. I also did a people search on lexis which is apparently something you can do, and it turned up one Illinois address in a town not too far from the one we were told they were living in, so that's a potential lead to probe when I get back. And yeah, then it was 2:30 and I headed out. Got an uber pretty quickly, nice driver if a little quirky, when he heard I was gonna head to O'hare shortly after going home and grabbing my things he asked if he could hang around and do it as one trip and I said sure, so when we got home I just ran in and changed, then through some things in my bag and headed back out, which was all I really needed to do. My downstairs neighbor, the dad, was outside playing with his two adorable children, and when I was walking in the little boy stood in the middle of the sidewalk and tried to like, growl at me, but it was actually the cutest thing I've ever heard and I could not stop laughing lol. Then on my way out a few minutes later he decided he was a puppy and wanted me to pet him, and then his sister decided she was one too and between the two of them it was just so darn cute it made me smile. We hit the road again and hit a little bit of traffic getting to the airport but still got there right on time so no worries there. It's probably my most expensive uber trip, it came out to like $65, but I was in the car for like, 2 hours, so it was a significant amount of distance lol. The airport wasn't very crowded, which is always a relief in this city. Checked my bag quickly, then got through security in just a few minutes. When I stepped out of the scanner machine the guard made a quirk about having to do a field sobriety test because I had two different socks on, and I was like.....really? And he was like no I'm just joking haha then asked if it was intentional and I told him it was. It was a bit of a trek to the gate, all the way at the far end of the terminal, and I thought I was lost at one point but I was actually headed in the right direction. So I got down there and surveyed the scene, saw that they hadn't started boarding yet and probably wouldn't for a little bit, so I walked back and bought a sandwich and some granola since the flight wasn't gonna get in until 8:46 (supposedly, anyway). So I sat at the gate and ate my sandwich, as we waited, and waited, and waited. We were told we were just waiting on the crew and we should be boarding "soon," and it would only set us back 15 minutes. Alright, fair enough. We did eventually board, and there was some confusion with seating and I got bumped up one row from where my ticket said but that wasn't a big deal of course. So then we boarded the plane and waited some more. We were like, set to go, phones on airplane mode and everything, but then ended up sitting for a while longer waiting for our turn to go, and soon enough it was 6:30 when the flight was supposed to take off at 5:30....sigh. So I turned my phone off airplane mode for a second to let the guy who was picking me up know this, and then we took off shortly after that. The flight itself was fine, it took them pretty long to get the drinks out but I didn't really care lol. As has been my tradition for flights lately, I read the fanfiction I had earlier downloaded offline to my phone. Read some short stories and one fairly long one, and enjoyed them all quite a bit. We ended up landing around 9:10, so not too bad from our expected arrival time (note the time difference as well). Got off the plane and headed to baggage claim, the terminal was pretty much deserted, our flight was the only people there. Baggage came soon enough, and then my ride showed up. Since my parents absolutely refuse to go to laguardia airport since they're slightly nuts and hate it (it is a pain in the ass but they're unreasonable about it) they always just have our family friends who own a limo service send somebody out to get me. Tonight it was the dad of the family, who I know pretty well of course. It was a decent length ride back, so we talked about different things, I shared about my job and he wanted to know how I handled the more heartbreaking elements of it and such, and we talked a bit about the current political climate, though I chose my words very carefully since I knew he was a Trump fan (or used to be anyway, I don't know how he feels about him now). We were talking about the poverty problem and I basically just framed it as whether you believe in public or private funding, as Christians we are called to help the poor, and the attitude of simply being apathetic and even demeaning towards them is all too common in Christian circles and simply antithetical to what the bible says, and I think he definitely agreed with that. Overall it was a pleasant ride. Got home around 10:30, but everyone was still up and around (save my younger brother, who's always out doing something with somebody and never really around). So we talked and ate and just hung out for a little while, and made some more plans for tomorrow after the baby shower as well as for our city trip on Sunday, just figuring out the mechanics and all that. I'm excited for the baby shower for sure. They asked that instead of cards everyone bring a children's book and inscribe it, so they could read them all to their child. I had gotten the book Corduroy off amazon and had it shipped to the house since that was my favorite book when I was a little kid, so I wrote a little message in the front entitled "dear little one" and signed "Aunt Rachel" which just made me feel really happy to write because ahhhhh I love children and no matter if I end up in New York or not I am most definitely going to be around for this child's life and be Aunt Rachel, just as she was my cousin growing up and her mom was my aunt (though of course we have no blood relation, I always still refer to her as my cousin and she does the same). So yeah, I'm super excited for that. And then I'll apparently go to the fair that's in town with my sister for a bit and then I'm making sure we go to see Wonder Woman because I need to see this movie and cannot wait any longer. But yeah, good day and I'm happy to be home. Should be lots of fun over the next two weeks and I'm looking forward to it. That's it for now. Goodnight sweethearts. Hope you have a lovely weekend.

#daily journal #June 2017