#full pencil blush mode | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

five-rivers · 3 years

Text

Danger First

Chapter 4

Hiya @pocketramblr

While the other ghosts watched poor Izuku more and more, Yoichi gathered a pile of pillows and beanbags, and a small container of popcorn, then dropped unceremoniously onto the pile, ready to watch a bunch of teens beat the tar out of each other. En noticed this, glanced at him, and did a double-take.

"Since when do you have popcorn? How do you have popcorn? Where did you get it? Have you been holding out on me? Can I have some? I'll fight you!"

"Uh... it isn't real," said Yoichi.

"Neither are we!"

"No, I mean, you can't taste it. Or smell it. It's just a construct. For the aesthetic." Something none of them really bothered with, lately, but Yoichi wanted to put the effort in for Izuku. Even if Izuku probably would never be aware of it.

"But... popcorn..."

"Shhh! It's starting!"

The first round was Kouda and Satou vs Yaoyorzu and Kirishima.

If he had to guess, he'd say Yaoyorozu and Kirishima would win. Yaoyorozu's quirk was perfect for setting up quick and simple barriers and traps, and Kirishima's was good for defense as well.

That wasn't to say Kouda and Satou couldn't win as well... Satou had what seemed to be a fairly powerful strength enhancer, perfect for ripping through hastily constructed defenses, and Izuku didn't know if Kirishima would be able to completely counter him.

Izuku also wasn't entirely sure what Kouda's quirk was. His first guess would have been a physical mutation, given his appearance, but thinking back, it didn't seem like he'd used anything like that during the quirk assessment, so those features were most likely vestigial, like Izuku's hair color, which suggested a less physical quirk. It had to be something that could be applied in combat against robots, though. Izuku was the only one who'd passed without villain points.

So, it could go either way.

He could continue to analyze, but his attention was drawn back to the team he'd be facing. Hagakure and Monoma.

A blush rose up in his cheeks. It had to be Hagakure. He still hadn't apologized for running into her during the entrance exam. Hand to hand against her was going to be tough- he could only hope the support department had given her an invisible costume, and she wasn't... well... uncostumed. Again.

But, beyond that, not being able to see her would be a problem. She could get to the fake bomb without him even noticing.

Monoma would be a challenge, too. Given the number of pocket watches on his costume, Izuku suspected he had a time limit for how long he could copy a quirk. But he had no idea how long that could be, and it could be misdirection, too. Izuku certainly wouldn't want to telegraph a weakness like that if he had that kind of quirk.

Another option could be that he could only hold one quirk copy at a time. That'd be trickier for Izuku to deal with. Either way, he doubted Monoma could permanently hold an unlimited number of quirk copies. Monoma's personality was all wrong for that, and he didn't have Iida's engines anymore- unless he could choose to dump quirks? But why would he do that? Izuku's (formerly) quirkless sensibilities rebelled against the very thought.

He was overthinking this. He'd have to assume that Monoma could come at him with any quirk in the class. So. What would be the most inconvenient? All Might's, except Izuku had All Might's, and Monoma wasn't able to use it.

(Oh, and that could be a problem, couldn't it? Could Monoma be able to tell All Might didn't have a quirk anymore?)

Well, judging from what he was seeing right now, Izuku really didn't want him to take Yaoyorozu's quirk. It was sort of terrifying.

Other scary ones would be Todoroki (he'd launched that ball with a glacier) and Tokoyami (a sentient quirk! So cool!) but he thought Monoma would avoid Shouji and Asui (full body mutations). Other than that... Monoma would probably wait and see who did the best, or which quirk would work best with Hagakure's.

He'd have to take Hagakure's quirk into account, too. What if they both came at him invisibly (and naked)? Izuku would die...

Each battle lasted for up to fifteen minutes, not counting the ten minutes the villain team had to set up. That's how long Izuku had to defend the fake bomb. As the defender, Izuku had another handicap. He only had to fail once to fail entirely...

No. Stop that. This was a school exercise, and All Might wasn't going to expell him. Losing would suck, but he'd be together with half the class on that front. The important thing was learning from the experience. And not getting too hurt.

Right. He returned his gaze to the screen as the match started.

"We're a sentient quirk, too," said Banjo. "Aren't we cool?"

"He doesn't know we're sentient, though," said Yoichi. "Also, he spent like two months straight gushing about how cool One for All was when we were with Eighth. Didn't you get enough?"

Banjo sulked. "It isn't the same."

"Speaking of Monoma," said En, "why didn't you slap his little grabby hands away from One for All yesterday?"

"Because a late bloomer is one thing, but someone confirmed not to have a quirk suddenly having bone-breaking super strength? Yeah. No. Yagi might have beaten my brother, but that doesn't mean everyone who worked for him is gone. Eight never knew about Garaki at all."

"Way to bring down the mood, En," said Banjo, elbowing the younger ghost.

"The mood was already brought down by the fake popcorn."

Izuku wrote furiously in his notebook, trying to record every detail of the match. He pulled one of his gloves off with his teeth to get a better grip on his pencil. He'd need to practice writing with gloves on. He was missing important notes. Speaking of which...

"Can we get copies of these recordings?"

"You should be able to access them through your Ultra Account on the school website!"

Izuku nodded and continued writing. As expected, Kirishima and Satou had gotten into a one on one fight down the hallway from the bomb room. Unexpectedly, however, they had seemed rather hesitant to hit each other. At least, until Satou dumped a packet of white powder (sugar according to All Might) into his mouth and started smacking at Kirishima indiscriminately. Kouda, meanwhile, had sent a small army of mice (animal control! Very cool) at Yaoyorozu, who had responded with mousetraps.

The clock ran out, to the villains' victory.

"It was surprisingly hard to hit someone," admitted Kirishima in the debrief.

"We've been socialized to avoid violence," said All Might, nodding. "Overcoming that hesitation is part of our training. As is when not to use force."

Next up were Kaminari and Sero vs Aoyama and Jirou.

Kaminari entered the building first, quickly engaging Aoyama, who had been directed towards Kaminari by Jirou. That fight got loud quickly. Sero, meanwhile, scaled the outside of the building with his tape.

Kaminari ultimately defeated himself with his own quirk (that was a pretty severe drawback- maybe Kaminari should consider other fighting styles?), which allowed Jirou to hear Sero climbing up the wall. But Aoyama couldn't get back fast enough to prevent Jirou from being captured by Sero.

"I think Kaminari was the MVP," said Izuku. "He did hurt himself, which was bad, but his sacrifice allowed his teammate to safely reach the objective. If he hadn't, um, shorted out...? It would have been better, of course, but..."

Yaoyorozu shook her head. "Sero managed to capture one of the villains and safely reach the bomb. Additionally, he's the one who came up with the plan of attack."

"Ah," said Izuku, "that's- that's true..."

"Regardless, it is a plan that only bore fruit due to teamwork! Excellent work! Jirou, Aoyama, your division of labor was also a good plan, but don't forget the enemies you don't see! Time for our next match!"

This time, Asui and Tokoyami were defending against Todoroki and Uraraka.

"Good luck," Izuku said, waving slightly to Uraraka.

"Thanks!" She gave him two thumbs up as she trailed slightly behind Todoroki. "So," she said, as they walked out through the door, "how are we doing-?"

The door closed. Izuku winced. Surely, they had strategized beforehand...

"Young Todoroki," said All Might, somewhat sternly, "you... that was certainly an impressive display, but even when dealing with real villains, a hero has to be conscious of the damage they may do. A large number of villains are only minor criminals, or even otherwise ordinary citizens having a bad day."

"That's not what the media says," mumbled Todoroki, though he looked pale as medi-bots carried Asui from the scene.

"The media is full of sensationalists. And even if it weren't, Asui isn't a real villain. There is a difference," he said, very gently, "between going beyond and going too far."

All Might paused. Todoroki hunched his shoulders. There was something familiar about his posture, something that made Izuku's stomach knot.

All Might continued. "It was a good strategy. Against another team, or against real villains, it would have been a more than appropriate strategy. In fact, it was even an appropriate strategy in this case, since you didn't know Asui had trouble with cold temperatures. But when you encountered her in the hall and noticed how poorly she was doing, you should have hit the emergency stop button."

Instead of laying down mode ice when Asui struggled to get free, which was what actually happened.

"Why didn't you stop the match?" He didn't sound accusatory. Just flat and resigned.

All Might made a face and gestured to the screens on the wall. About half of them showed static and the rest blurry shades of white and gray. Like the rest of the building, they had been iced over.

Todoroki sighed. "How much trouble am I in?"

"You aren't," replied All Might. "In trouble, that is. As your teacher, this is entirely my responsibility. I shouldn't have set you against Asui or should have gone over safety concerns more clearly..." All Might paused, his face that of someone who knew they weren't getting their point across but didn't quite know what the problem was. "Injuries are inevitable in heroics and hero training, but you don't want to maim your classmates. Or minor villains, really, if you can help it. So... consider this a learning moment."

"But it was just ice," said Kaminari.

"Cold kills people frequently," said All Might. "People lose fingers and toes to frostbite regularly. Again, for anyone but Asui, this level of ice for such a short time period wouldn't have caused lasting damage, but it is something to be mindful of. Does... that make sense, young Todoroki?"

"Yes," said Todoroki, head bowed.

"All right. Young Uraraka, thank you for hitting the emergency stop button. It showed good thinking and good awareness. Young Tokoyami, your decision to hide the bomb in the basement was a good one, complimentary to your quirk."

Izuku glanced over at Monoma. He had a sinking suspicion he knew what quirk he would copy.

After moving to a new building, Iida and Ashido managed to pull a win as heroes from Ojiro and Shouji by melting a hole in the ceiling above the bomb and then jumping through to tag it after Iida confirmed its location with a scouting run. The general consensus of the class was that it was surprisingly clever and out of the box, but that it probably wouldn't have been feasible in real life. Ashido had then sheepishly admitted that she'd come up with the idea after hearing Izuku mumble about it.

This, of course, made Izuku blush. Strawberry would probably bee his nickname from now on.

Better than Deku.

It was his turn to go set up, now.

He was unlikely to be able to beat Hagakure and Monoma at the same time, even if Monoma didn't copy any quirks at all. Assuming they didn't split up, a ridiculous course of action, he'd have to find a way to protect the bomb other than physically defending it.

This was the problem that had been plaguing him all afternoon.

He had to hide it. Then, he either had to hide himself or use his location to steer them away from where the bomb really was. His capture would also lose him the match, so he had to be careful.

He carried the bomb to the top floor. Uraraka's quirk could get them up there, but Izuku didn't think Monoma could handle the nausea. And if he did have a time limit, he wouldn't want to be airborne when it ran out. Sero had demonstrated his quirk could get him up the side of the building, but that had clearly also required a lot of skill in climbing, not just the quirk itself.

Iida's quirk would get Monoma to the top of the building fast, but since he'd have to go room by room... Either way, the top floor would slow them down the most, buy Izuku the most time.

The room he picked was full of prop boxes. Izuku had to rearrange them to completely hide the bomb, and there was a chance Monoma and Hagakure would remember what it looked like before, from the camera feeds, but he hoped they'd overlook it.

He still had time. Next...

The second floor had office equipment in it. Clearly old junk the school didn't mind loosing. Izuku pulled as much of it out into the hallway as he could, his experience from the beach helping him maneuver quickly. He dumped a lot of it into the stairwell. The rest he left in the hallways.

How much time did he have?

Not long.

He ran up the stairs, to the fourth floor, where Ashido had melted a hole in the floor. Here, he had multiple egress points. It would be harder for them to corner him. Also...

He randomly closed half the doors on the floor. He could pretend to be guarding one of them. Delay them. How much longer?

No time at all.

Right on schedule, the air went dry and cold. Izuku, having planned for this, leapt for one of the door frames and held on. A thin layer of ice, not as thick as the one on the floor, crusted over his gloved fingers.

Izuku counted to five, then let his hands slip out of his gloves and dropped to the floor. Then he reached up and tugged his now empty gloves out of the ice.

He inspected the ice momentarily, and tested his ability to move on it. It wasn't as even or as thick as it had been when Todoroki used it, and the surface was a difficult and unpredictable mixture of smooth and rough... but it would become slicker as it melted.

Good. Izuku had predicted this. It made his closed doors and stacked boxes much more formidable obstacles. The ice wouldn't allow doors to open easily, and the boxes would also be reinforced and hard to move.

Izuku was glad for the conversation All Might had with Todoroki. Although it probably hadn't been his intention, the way he had phrased his commentary on Todoroki's freezing strategy had made it seem like an automatic win, given that it wasn't used against someone who'd be seriously injured by it.

Izuku hadn't been sure they'd do it, since it would handicap Hagakure so much. She couldn't walk around on ice barefoot. Unless she had a secondary mutation that made her skin tougher, or less sensitive to temperature- that would be so cool! No, focus, focus.

Monoma wouldn't have Iida's quirk, either with this strategy. Even if was unfamiliar with speed quirks, he would know that high speeds and ice didn't mix... Unless you were a speed skater, Izuku supposed. But Monoma didn't have ice skates- Unless, unless he took Yaoyorozu's quirk and made ice skates. But that would be horribly impractical with this uneven ice, and probably wouldn't work with Iida's quirk at all. So.

He'd probably have Yaoyorozu's quirk anyway. And after that, for this exercise, Jirou's would be the most valuable. With Jirou's quirk, Monoma would be able to locate Izuku quickly.

Another reason to separate himself from the bomb.

They were coming.

He hid himself out of immediate sight, in the room with the hole, on the off chance that Monoma couldn't hold that many quirks.

There was a clatter from the stairwell.

They were coming.

Muffled voices. A louder thump.

"Maybe if you hadn't frozen everything-"

A sort of fwoosh brought an oddly warm breeze and Izuku hissed. Todoroki's quirk must be more than ice. Given his overall appearance... Fire? Izuku was screwed.

Well. Hopefully his precautions would at least get him a good grade.

There were more scrapes and clatters as Hagakure and Monoma forced their way through the stairwell. Then, relative silence.

They were coming.

"I thought you said he was on this floor," said Hagakure, plaintively.

"He must have gotten free," said Monoma.

"Can't you listen for him again?"

There was a pause. Monoma must have responded nonverbally.

"We'll just have to be careful checking everything out," said Hagakure. "The bomb must be on this floor, after all."

Okay. Okay, great, this was good news for Izuku. He eyed the hole in the floor. Part of him really didn't want to jump through. His brain was supplying him with all the things that could go wrong with such a jump. Especially with the layer of ice. Ugh, he should have dragged one of the office desks up underneath it.

Too late now.

Minding his visibility, Izuku crept over to the side of the hole and lowered himself until he was hanging by his finger tips.

It was still a long fall. Monoma and Hagakure's footsteps were growing closer.

He let go.

He tried to hit the ground properly, but his roll turned into a slide, and he hit a wall at a higher speed than he would have liked. Reflexively he grabbed at his left arm. Ow.

He knew this was going to happen.

"He's on the third floor!"

"What?"

"He jumped through Ashido's hole!"

Izuku forced himself to his feet and sprinted towards the stairs. The second floor had more hiding places than the third. At the last minute, something twinged in the back of his mind, and he tried to stop. Tried. The ice made this difficult.

His legs went out from underneath him, and he went skidding down the hallway on his back, taking a mercifully, mercifully, clothed Hagakure out at the ankles. They slid together into the bottom of the stairs descending from the fourth floor, further battering Izuku's poor arm.

He dodged Hagakure's capture tape and briefly considered pulling out his own, but there was Monoma, cautiously coming down the icy stairs.

Icy stairs.

It seemed neither Izuku nor Monoma had fully considered the obstacles that would result from coating a building like this in ice. Todoroki's ability to maneuver easily on this terrain was, in retrospect, a keystone of the 'freeze everything' strategy, not incidental.

He needed to get away.

He pushed Hagakure off of himself (and noted that she was just as muscular as he was) and slid on his knees to the banister. He pulled himself up and slid down the rail, using the ice to his benefit. Using his uninjured arm, he gripped the end of the banister connected to the wall to slingshot himself down the second floor hallway.

... and almost right into a desk he'd half forgotten he'd put there. He dodged it and recovered quickly before scrambling over the other obstacles in the hallway. He came to a scraping halt and tucked himself into the leg well of one of the desks. A convenient bar meant he could keep his feet off the ground and out of sight as well.

Just like hiding from bullies. Only less dangerous and more fun.

How much time was left?

It had taken them about five minutes to get past the desks on the stairs, then maybe two or three to get to the fourth floor? They hadn't been moving quickly, probably because of the ice. Then, they'd been on the fourth floor for another couple of minutes before Izuku dropped to the third, even if it had felt longer to Izuku. The tussle on the third had taken a minute, tops, so he had... Four minutes left? Less, now.

He could win this. He could run out the clock. Maybe it wasn't the most heroic way to win, but he was supposed to be playing the villain, and he hoped Mr. Yagi would be proud of him anyway.

"Show yourself!" called Monoma. "Or I'll freeze you out."

Could he do that? Maybe he had Jirou's quirk at first, but switched to Todoroki's later, and lost access to Jirou's? If only he knew more about how Monoma's quirk worked... It could be a bluff, too. Even if it wasn't, why would he reveal himself? This late in the game, even if he was frozen in place, he could still win.

And winning... it wasn't something he got to do very often.

A buzz signaled the end of the match. "Villains win! Or, rather villain wins? Good job everyone! Come on out for the final debrief."

"MVP, MVP, MVP," chanted Yoichi, Banjo, and En, arms slung around each others' shoulders.

"Our boy is MVP!" cried Banjo.

"You know what this means, of course," said Hikage during a pause in the noise. The other ghosts looked at him. "It means, my quirk is the most valuable. The greatest power in the universe is the power of anxiety."

"Take that back!" said Yoichu, throwing an imaginary kazoo at Hikage. "The most powerful thing in the universe is the power of friendship. Everyone knows that!"

"What about those two?" asked Hikage, pointing at Second and Third.

"Unfortunately, the power of spite is also great," said Yoichi. "Even so, they will soon find themselves defeated."

Nana rubbed her temples. "If I hadn't given up on sanity within ten minutes of waking up in here, this would be what did me in."

After an intense practical, the next stop was the nurse's office. There, the class found Asui already mostly recovered, and Izuku found out that he had, in fact broken his arm.

"Are you sure it isn't just a sprain? It is broken?"

"A fracture, and, yes, quite sure. But a sprain can actually be worse than a break- many true sprains never quite heal correctly... either way, with my quirk you don't have to worry about it." She pressed her lips to Izuku's forehead. He felt his energy ebb to a new low. "You should talk to Mr. Aizawa about falling techniques. Your body type is more like his than your other mentor's."

"I- I will," promised Izuku.

"Good. You can go get changed, now."

"Thanks," said Izuku, not quite wobbling out of the room.

"Midoriya!"

He almost jumped out of his skin. "A-ah! Uraraka!"

"Sorry to startle you!"

"No, no, it's fine. What is it?"

"Oh, well, Iida and I were wondering if you'd like to come out with use to a café after school? It's nearby and apparently it has discounts for UA students?"

"Indeed! My older brother talked about it frequently when he was a student here!"

"W-well," said Izuku. He looked at All Might, who was awkwardly supervising and directing other students in the hallway to the locker rooms. All Might caught his eye and nodded. "Sure! That sounds like fun!"

This would be the last time Shouta would have to nap after school for a while. From tomorrow on, he'd be alternating quirk counseling with Midoriya with hero work. Why did he agree to do this again?

Kan opened the door to the break room. With him came the acrid smell of smoke and hot dust. "Which companies did the first year costumes this year?" he asked, voice dangerously soft enough to impress Aizawa.

"Why?" asked Hizashi.

"Because I want to... talk to whoever thought it was a good idea to give a fifteen-year-old with no training in demolition not one, but two weapons that could level buildings at full charge. I just want to talk."

Judging by the expression on Kan's face, Shouta seriously doubted that.

Kan took a deep breath. "What about your hellions?"

"Don't know. Yagi had them today."

"And you didn't watch?"

"I was in court."

"What's wrong with Yagi, anyway?"

Shouta, Hizashi, and Kan all turned to where Yagi was splayed in a chair. If the scene were a painting, it could easily be titled 'depression.'

"I'm a failure as a teacher and a hero," he moaned.

"Huh?" said Hizashi. "Why?"

"Young Asui nearly became hypothermic, and young Midoriya fractured his arm."

There was a beat of silence as the others waited for him to go on.

"What?" Kan asked. "Is that it?"

#bnha #boku no hero academia #fic #fanfic #danger first #danger first au

92 notes · View notes

aestheticsuwu · 3 years

Text

Baby Project

Robby Keene x Doug Rickenberger

Robby and Doug get paired together for a project to look after a fake baby .

~~~~

The percentage of amount of the students that actually pay attention would probably be low in percentages , Robby wasn't sure he could give an exact number . He wasn't paying attention to Math either .

His head rested in his palm, doodling in his notebook since he got in trouble for writing on the desk last time. Drawing was much better than listening to the teacher explain about human bodies and etc.

Beside him, Tory was hunched over the desk sleeping and giving no fucks about where she was, Robby couldn't help but giggle everytime the blonde would let out a snore.

Upfront Robby could see Demetri scribble down words in full concentration mode dispite Hawk moving his chair to get his attention with his foot . Robby makes a mental note to ask for his notes .

"Psst"

Turning to the voice that was few chairs ahead, Rickenberger makes a hand movement to wake up Tory , Robby pushes Tory's elbow making her body jolt with the sudden movement .

Instantly she threw daggers with her eyes seeing him smiling over his action ." What!" She hissed quietly , not wanting the teaching to hear her .

He points at Doug's direction who was holding up papers that made Tory lighten up forgetting that she was rudely awaken .

Tory mouths 'thank you ' to Doug once the papers were in her hand. Robby took a guess the paper was for her to copy, She was smart girl but having to work and take care of her brother kinda took up most of her time and once in awhile she just needs a bit of help .

" If i was Doug i wouldn't let you copy for free ."

" Guess why i don't copy from you keene, if you care so much why don't you make it up to him and start dating . The guy likes you ." Tory gives him a look , she contines to tease "And apparently you do too if the way you blush everytime he calls you... pretty boy " She mimicks making a really bad impression of the boys voice .

" Apparently he likes anyone " Robby says bitter .

" Are you still not over that fact Hawk and Doug dated," She asked incredulously " if i knew you would act like a bratty princess over that i wouldn't have told you . " She sees Robby give her his signature eyeroll feeling slightly bad for her friend who just looks like a sullen puppy .

Huffing she stops and drops her pencil to face Robby . " He really likes you, Your the only one allowed to call him Doug and not Rickenberger like the rest of us. The guy is so love with your ass and your to dumb to see it ."

They looked at each other and laughed until the teacher cleared his throat to get everyone's attention .

" Okay now were done with this topic it brings up todays project , Congratulations you're a parent !" Mr.Rodriguez shouted with mock enthusiasm.

" You will all be handed a baby stimulator to take care of with one of your peers and no you can't choose your partner and this will be graded ." Mr.Rodriguez simply explain and started calling out the pairs on his clipboard .

" -LaRusso and Nichols-"

"ughh great " Tory sarcastically says as she gathers her stuff why she flicks him off while smiling , he returns the gestutre with a laugh that makes him distracted almost not hearing his name .

-and Moskowitz, Keene and Rickenberger-" Mr. Williams is cuts off .

" Sir, isn't there a chance i could switch partners with someone else " Doug ask, like if the idea seemed so repulsive , that was what Robby thought by the face of Doug .

"No Mr.Rickenberger ."

" Damn your baby daddy is ditching you already " Tory snark with an evil laugh before walking to Sam's table who doesn't look as miserable as Miguel that got paired with Kyler .

" Haha ."

~~~

The babies were a bags of rice and beans , the school decide that if they succeded not to destroy it they were be given the baby stimulator. It was smart to think that a baby wouldn't last in the chaotic hands of teenagers full of energy .

Each student recieved one and a form to fill in with information like a birth certificate that both 'parent' had to do together like a family .

Robbh stared dumbly at the small bag of rice in his hands while waiting for his so-called partner that was nowhere to be seen , he waited near Doug's locker but no sign of him .

" Tory was right. My baby daddy just ditched me ." Robby sighs . Feeling a bit dumb talking to the bag of rice .

" Hey!" Doug shouts making Robby jump almost dropping the bag .

Doug look sheepisly down at Robby who was avoiding to make eye contact with the taller boy , after all he was still mad .

" What happened in class it wasn't what it seemed like "

" Oh really ? it seemed like to me you'd rather have anyone else as a partner but just not me because you weren't exactly jumping of joy when the teacher paired us " sarcastically Robby says .

Gosh, he couldn't belive he likes this douchebag . Except he really does , because sure at first he was a real jerk but in reality Doug was big softie like a cute bear . The tall brunette would walk him to class, always lend him his hoodie whenever Robby felt cold , and he made Robby feel all bubbly inside .

" Mikey got paired with Mitch and he was nervous , he didn't want to embarrass himself . I had to help him even though he forced me and,"

Doug shows his right hand that held a flower that he was hiding behind his back and places it behind Robbys ear with a lopsided smile, " We both know how much i enjoy having you near me, pretty boy. " The 'i like you' was unsaid but it was loud and clear .

Robby of course was oblivious at first to the signs and chalked it off to just Doug was simply flirting but Robby wasn't so sure anymore .

Robby always felt it was never the right time , but in reality he was just scared Doug would just get bored after he didn't meet his expectations .

" Where did you get the flower from?" Robby questions try to subtly change the topic, he was already sporting a blush . He pressed his back to the lockers and fixed the stem of the yellow flower behind his ear .

" From the teacher's lounge, I thought they look pretty like my pretty boy ." Doug simply shrugged with a cute smirk . He stepped closer to Robby making the blonde to look up at the boy .

Robby really disliked how everyone seemed taller than him even Anthony was almost taller than him with his sudden growth spurt , and Doug clearly knew, if by everytime the boy cornered him with a taunting smirk gave anything away .

But disturbingly enough Robby kinda got a thrill out of it when Doug got close up into his space , not in a way that was intruding but ... He didnt know but he liked having him close .

Sue him .

" Hold this .We need to fill out the form and we have to name it ." Robby gave the baby to Doug and started walking to his next class with Doug who walking a tad bit slow, it was a rule that Doug couldn't walk in a normal pace because Robby shorter legs couldn't keep up .

" How about Swayze "

" Better keep your mouth shut , Rickenberger. " He almost gets a whiplash at how fast he turns around to threaten Doug .

But Doug thought Robby looked like a cute angry puppy with his cute nose scruched up and his lower lip jutted out like a pout .

"How about use those damn lips to keep me quiet ."

He didnt get a kiss but a shove from Robby but Doug accepts anything what his pretty boy gives him even if sometimes is a kick or a smile that makes his chest feel so warm .

" Im not failing just because your not taking this serious. please try for me , Dougie ." He pleaded , he wanted to actually try this year to improve his grades .

" Anything for you, doll ."

40 notes · View notes

hizashis-lil-bunbun · 3 years

Text

The Silent Auction- (Hizashi Yamada X Fem!Reader)

This is my contribution to the Citrus Dome Auction Collab! Hizashi is honestly one of my favorite characters to write for and it’s a crime I don’t use him more.

Word Count: ~8.5k

Contains: smut, pet names, unprotected sex, creampie, DDLG (if you squint)

Banner by @ladyshinigami

••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••

“I can’t believe this.” You sigh for the umpteenth time, twisting this way and that to look at yourself in the bathroom mirror. You’re wearing a rich, black, floor-length gown with a high slit up one side and just the right amount of ruching to tastefully accentuate your curves. It was truly a miracle that it fit without the need for alterations, considering you’d had to buy the thing in a rush. Hell, you’d barely glanced at the price tag before slapping down your company credit card, viewing it as a bit of karmic justice for your boss’ callous, last-minute assignment. Sure being a sidekick of Endeavor’s (even a minor one) had its perks, but that didn’t make him any less of a nightmare to work for. As you struggled with the miniscule clasp on your necklace, you replayed this morning’s events in your head.

“The Heroes Gala?” You’d questioned, cocking your head in confusion and earning an irritated groan from the Flame Hero.

“Surely you’ve heard of it.” He’d snarked, the flames that ring his face seeming to flare in annoyance. “The Commission holds it once a year as a way to celebrate our achievements in hero society today and raise money for future endeavors. Dignitaries and heroes from all over the country– the world really– are expected to attend.”

“I’m aware of that, sir.” You’d chirped back, straightening up to make up for your lapse in decorum. “I’m just confused by what this has to do with me.”

If looks could kill, the glare he’d shot you would have put you in a coffin.

“Unfortunately, I’ve been called away on an urgent mission and can’t make it to the gala this year. But since I am the Number One Hero, my agency must provide some form of representation. That’s where you come in.”

Your eyes went wide at that, heart jumping into your throat as the gravity of the situation sank in. As far as your job was concerned, Endeavor’s word was law. There was no bargaining or substitution to be made. He didn’t even wait for a response before continuing.

“Your role for this event is simple: smile, wave, and maybe bid on a few of the auction items as a show of good faith. If you win something, fine. Just make sure it’s nothing… distasteful.”

You were tempted to question the noticeable shudder that ran through him as spat out the final word. But the careless wave of his hand was the signal for you to bow and leave, giving you no room for queries. However, just as you were about to walk out the door, he decided to toss some parting remarks your way.

“Make sure to wear something appropriate. It is a black tie event, after all. And one of my other sidekicks will be escorting you this evening. Call it insurance to make sure you don’t do anything to embarrass me.”

“Asshole.” You hiss under your breath, successfully hooking the clasp shut and putting a few loose hairs back in place. “What does he think I’m going to do? Get wasted and swing from the chandelier?”

Still muttering a litany of colorful curses, you march to the edge of your bed and plop down to slip into the matching stilettos you’d picked out during your brief shopping trip. Shoes like these were normally well out of your comfort zone (not to mention your price range), but you weren’t the one paying for them. Call them compensation for sacrificing one of your precious nights off. Once they were on, you stood up from the bed and carefully made your way over to the full length mirror in the corner of the room. You smooth down the fabric of your dress, picking away a few stray pieces of lint and checking for any “embarrassing” blemishes or stains. But everything is almost irritatingly perfect, not a stitch out of place. You’re about to launch into another tirade against Endeavor when your work phone chimes from it’s spot on the nightstand. No doubt it’s your “escort” (you refused to call him a date) texting to let you know he was coming to get you. Or worse, already here.

“No turning back now.”

••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••

“This is it.” You hear Endeavor’s other sidekick grunt, forcing you to snap out of your daydreaming and look towards him. You hadn’t batted an eye when you stepped out of your apartment to find Endeavor had sent a limo, driven by one of his fleet of personal chauffeurs, to pick you up. He did have a knack for flashing his wealth and status whenever possible. What did surprise you was his choice of escort for the evening: a man by the name of Buru (or Taurus if you were to use his hero name). Buru was a fair bit older than you, sporting a pair of bull horns and hooves, and corded with so much muscle it was a wonder how he managed to squeeze into a tux. You seem positively miniscule compared to his hulking frame, making you look like a rather odd couple. The driver pulls up to the curbside, quickly putting the limo in park before getting out to hold the door open for you. He courteously extends a hand to you, which you graciously accept before snagging your evening clutch from the seat beside you. You gracefully step out of the vehicle and onto an honest-to-god red carpet leading towards one of the glitziest hotels in the heart of Tokyo, blinking in the wake of what feels like a hundred camera bulbs flashing around you. Reporters and cameramen are clamoring to snap pictures of the various celebrities and heroes, asking questions that run the gamut from classy to trashy.

Buru plods around the limo to join you by your side, giving you a subtle nod to signal that it’s time to start walking. You set off down the plush runway, walking with more confidence than you felt as reporters peppered you and Buru with questions about your relationship to the Number One Hero. Evidently they’d been tipped off regarding Endeavor’s absence. Buru remained stone-faced, his long strides quickly outstripping your much more delicate steps.

“So much for being an escort.” You think, deciding to pick up the pace so as to not be left behind. And that decision quickly reveals itself to be a terrible mistake. Your pencil thin heel catches on a hidden snag in the carpet, causing your ankle to twist and buckle beneath you. You’re thrown off balance, teetering wildly before plummeting headlong towards the carpeted pavement. But before you can fall flat on your face, a set of strong, slender hands wrap themselves around your torso and pull you upwards, your back coming in contact with your savior’s chest.

“Woah there, little listener!” A familiar voice trills in your ear, their hands releasing you once you’re back on stable footing. “You almost took one helluva stage dive! You good?”

You turn over your shoulder to find a smiling face, framed by outrageous orange sunglasses and a well-trimmed mustache. Hypnotic, emerald eyes seem to sparkle back at you and his long blond hair is tied up in a messy, half-bun. You know this man. Everyone in Tokyo with a radio knows him: Present Mic, the Voice Hero.

“Thanks, Present Mic.” You mumble, an embarrassed blush rising on your cheeks. It was bad enough you’d stumbled in front of the press; the incessant clicking and flashing of cameras was reminding you of that. But to be saved by another hero on top of it… it was a little too much. However, the blonde doesn’t seem to care, giving a hearty laugh and clapping a hand on your shoulder good-naturedly.

“Don’t mention it, baby!” He chortles, winking in a way that would seem forced or cheesy coming from anyone else. “Always happy to help. Besides, it doesn’t seem like your boyfriend is too keen on stickin’ around.”

“Boyfriend?” You ask, cocking your head before remembering who you came with. You blush an even deeper shade of red, sure your face is about to burst into flames akin to your employer’s own. “Oh! No, no, no! He’s not my boyfriend. We just work together at the agency.”

“No kiddin’?” Mic says, his grin spreading impossibly wider before straightening up and offering an arm to you. “In that case, how ‘bout I lend you a hand until we get inside? No offense but those heels ya got on seem closer to stilts than kicks, ya dig?

While his radio slang is a bit confusing, you can’t help but find it a little endearing. With a sheepish nod, you grab a hold of his jacket-clad forearm and allow him to smoothly lead you down the remainder of the red carpet. He’s in full ‘Present Mic mode” as you walk together, all winning smiles and carefree waves as the press peppers him with questions.

“Mic who are you wearing this evening?”

“Present Mic! What’s the name of your damsel in distress?

“Mic! Is it true you’re involved in a scandalous affair with fellow Pro, Eraserhead?”

He lets their shameless inquiries roll off of him like water off a duck’s back, only blowing a dramatic kiss to the crowd before you both disappear behind the front doors. Once inside the lobby, Mic walks you over to one of three elevators, ushering you inside with a crush of other gala-goers once the doors open. It’s a short ride up to the venue space, and you can’t help but gasp when the elevator doors open onto an immaculately decorated ballroom. Every wall and archway is decorated with banners in the Hero Commission's signature black and gold colors, festooned with matching sprays of floral arrangements. There’s a live band somewhere in the room, playing soft jazz in the background to create an elegant atmosphere for the evening. But most impressive of all is the view; the farthest wall is made up entirely of floor-to-ceiling windows, offering a panoramic view of the Tokyo skyline. The sun is just starting to dip below the horizon, washing the room in an amber light that gives everyone a coppery glow. You’re so spellbound by the scene before you that Mic’s low whistle causes you to jump slightly. How long has he had his arm draped over your shoulders? Come to think of it, when had you slipped your own arm around his waist?

“Damn.” He breathes, carefully walking out of the elevators with you in tow. “This place is bitchin’. So much cooler than last year’s venue.”

“Is that so?” You say, your head swiveling around as a waiter breezes past you with a tray of finger foods. You don’t notice the way Mic watches you, nor do you see the crooked smile that crosses over his face as your tongue darts out to wet your lips.

“Oh yeah.” He says, leading you away from the elevators and further into the crowd. “Last year the Commission rented out some–”

“Mic!” A deep voice calls above the steady thrum of conversation, cutting him off. An equally deep, if not more irritated voice calls out your own name simultaneously. The two of you look in opposite directions, the blonde towards a pair of dark-haired individuals waving him over and you towards your forgotten escort. Buru is fuming, smoke practically pouring out of his ears as he marches towards you.

“Where were you?” He growls while grabbing the hand closest to him and pulling you away from Mic harshly. “You’re not supposed to leave my side. Boss’ orders!”

“Stop it Buru!” You snap, yanking your hand out of his grip. “If you didn’t want me to leave your side, maybe you should have waited for me back on the red carpet. I nearly fell and busted my ass thanks to you! If Present Mic hadn’t been there–”

“No excuses.” Buru snaps back, “I shouldn’t have to wait around because you can’t keep up. We’re Mr. Todoroki’s sidekicks, so try to act like it!”

“Todoroki?” You hear the blonde hero echo behind you, “As in Enji Todoroki? Endeavor?”

You wince at Mic’s words, grateful your back is turned to him at the moment. Endeavor may be a hero, but being associated with him didn’t evoke a lot of warm, fuzzy feelings in folks. And many tended to react poorly when they found out who you worked for. With a dejected sigh, you turn back towards Mic, ignoring the way Buru impatiently stamps his hooves behind you.

“Yes, that’s right.” You say glumly, putting up your mask of professionalism. “I’m one of Endeavor’s sidekicks. He was called away on urgent business and sent me and my associate here to represent him and his agency. Forgive me for not telling you earlier.”

You offer a quick, apologetic bow, hoping to slink away as quickly as possible. But to your surprise, Mic doesn’t scoff, jeer, or even try to suck up to you for favors. He laughs. Not in a cruel or condescending way, but a real, mirthful laugh, infectious to the point you feel your own tension ease slightly.

“So that’s why I didn’t recognize ya!” He chortles, smacking his palm to his forehead. “Although it’s not too surprising. That dude cycles through more sidekicks than a jukebox does music.”

The nonchalant way he insults your boss causes your mask to slip and you let loose a giggle of your own. Buru, on the other hand, is clearly not amused.

“How dare you insult the Number One Hero!” He roars, stepping forward to point a scathing finger at Mic. “Endeavor is twice- no, three times the hero you could ever hope to be!”

“Woah, woah, woah! Take it easy, dude!” Mic says, putting his hands up before shooting you another playful wink. “All I meant was I definitely would have remembered meeting a pretty little thing like your partner here.”

You find yourself blushing and batting your eyelashes at him, returning his obvious attempts at flirting in a more surreptitious manner. Buru just places one broad hand on your shoulder, giving Mic a derisive snort before he starts to drag you away.

“You’re not worth the effort.” He huffs, “Just stay away.”

You can’t resist adding one more match to the fire of Buru’s rage, looking over your shoulder and belting out a cheerful, “It was nice meeting you!”

“See ya around!” The blonde calls back, giving you a chipper wave before disappearing into the throng. Buru leads you to a table at the far end of the room, set with fine crystal stemware and gold place settings. He stiffly pulls out a chair for you, allowing you to sit down before taking up residence beside you. You’re amazed the flimsy looking things can support any weight at all, much less the mountain of horned muscle currently glowering at you. He crosses his arms and leans back with a grunt.

“So… now what?” You ask, absentmindedly fiddling with the gold napkin ring in front of you.

“You stay put.” He commands, “No leaving my sight for any reason.”

“You’re joking right? Do you seriously expect me to sit here with you all night?”

Buru doesn’t answer, instead turning his glare onto the crowd. You groan and flop forwards to rest your elbows on the table, opting to occupy your time with people watching. The ballroom is crawling with high-profile attendees: pros and sidekicks, politicians and CEO’s, celebrities and VIP’s. All of them with money, power, and prestige oozing out of their pores. You watch as the tuxedo-clad waitstaff scurry amongst the party-goers, offering up trays of hors d'oeuvres and honey-colored champagne. Every once a while, one of them makes their way over to your table with some delicious little morsel to offer. And in your famished state, the already excellently prepared food tastes like heaven. But when a server carrying a tray of champagne comes by to offer you a glass, Buru grabs your wrist before you can partake and rudely waves the poor girl off.

“What the hell was that for?” You hiss, rubbing at your now sore wrist.

“No alcohol. You’ve embarrassed me and Endeavor enough as it is.”

That does it. You can deal with villains, Endeavor, even your parents if necessary. But this “personal babysitter” schtick has gone far enough. You stand up from the table with a huff, swiftly moving out of Buru’s reach before he can grab you again.

“Sit down!”

“No! I have to go to the bathroom. Can I at least do that?”

“I’ll accompany you.”

“Like hell you will! I’m a grown woman. I can go to the bathroom by myself without getting in trouble.”

Buru narrows his eyes and scowls deeply at you. You stare him down, refusing to back down from this fight. After a few tense moments, he relaxes slightly and gives a curt nod.

“You have ten minutes.”

You grab your clutch, turn on your heel and march off into the fray, doing your best to avoid stepping on other people with your dagger sharp heels. As you make your way across the crowded dance floor, you begin to recognize the more popular Pro Heroes among the sea of faces. Some of them you’d had the privilege of meeting personally, like Hawks and Miruko, both of whom were currently surrounded by fans and admirers. Others you’d only seen on TV or in newspaper clippings, but that didn’t make them any less impressive. In fact, you were too busy watching Fatgum scarf down a whole tray of artisanal onigiri by himself to notice a certain blonde standing in your way until it was too late. You bumped right into him, bouncing off with an embarrassed “I’m so sorry!” before coming eye-to-eye with those striking green whorls again.

“Oh hey, it’s you!” Mic exclaims, grinning down at you like he hasn’t seen you in ages. “No need to be sorry, baby. This thing’s a rental anyways!”

“But you’re all wet now.” You say, watching him while he wipes the remains of his spilled champagne off his tux jacket. “I can pay for the cleaning fees if necessary. I wasn’t looking where I was going.”

“Honey, trust me. There are worse things to be covered in than free champagne. I’ve been to enough of these gigs to know!”

You giggle and open your mouth to respond, but are cut off by a velvety voice coming from your left.

“Is this the little songbird you were telling us about, Zashi?’

You turn to find one of Present Mic’s companions from earlier, a dark-haired woman sipping her own drink and watching your exchange. She’s dressed in a skintight, scarlet gown with a neckline that plunges almost to her navel. A matching pair of horn-rimmed spectacles are perched on her nose, framing her striking cerulean eyes. Even without their signature harness and flogger, you recognize her as Miss Midnight.

“Yup! She’s the one!” Present Mic confirms, casually slinging his arm back around your shoulders. “What’d I tell ya? Pretty cute, right?”

The R-Rated Hero turns her gaze on you at his words, the sultry look in her eyes causing your stomach to flip a little. Seriously, it should be illegal for anyone to look that sexy.

“Very cute.” She assesses with a nod, “Zashi says you work for Endeavor, yes?”

“Y-yeah.” You fumble, slightly flustered and tongue-tied in the face of her scandalous beauty. “I’m one of his sidekicks.”

“I’m sorry.” Midnight quips back, her lack of manners shocking you slightly. But judging by the booze-bitten blush on her cheeks, you suppose the liquid courage in her system is to blame. “I know he’s the Number One Hero, but I’ve been his colleague long enough to realize how intense he can be. He must have you on a pretty short leash, huh?”

“I’ll say!” Mic chimes in, “He sent along some “nanny cow” of a sidekick to watch her all night. Speakin’ of which, how’d you manage to shake him?”

“Well…”

You glance back in the direction you came from, only for your face to drain of all color as you see a tell-tale pair of horns bobbing up and down amongst the crowd. Hizashi follows your line of sight and instantly sees the danger. Quick as anything, his arm snakes around your midriff and he turns to Midnight for assistance.

“Hey Nemuri, I got a gig for ya. See that guy with the horns? Big, mean, and ugly lookin’? Think you can distract him for a few minutes?”

“No problem!” She chirps without hesitation, tipping back the rest of her brightly colored cocktail before readjusting the neckline of her dress. It makes you wonder how much cleavage someone can possibly show before it crosses the line into pornographic. You’re too busy looking over your shoulder for Buru to notice the subtle wink that passes between the two heroes. And then Hizashi is moving, seamlessly flitting through the crowd and keeping you firmly glued to his side as you duck and weave around the other guests. You have to admit the speed at which he navigates the crowded space is impressive as he heads for one of the darkened archways lining the walls. Soon the crowd thins out and you reluctantly pry yourself out from under Mic’s arm to get your bearings. He’s lead you into a dimly-lit, side hallway, with tables and doorways lining the farthest walls. The din of party conversation and music is more muffled now, making you feel like you’re in a state of limbo.

“Where are we?”

“Silent auction.” Mic answers plainly, “Figured I’d take you somewhere quieter while we let Midnight do her thing.”

“And what exactly is her ‘thing?” You ask skeptically, wandering over to one of the display tables to check out the wares.

“You’ll see.” He says with a smirk, silently following behind you with his hands in his pockets. There are miniature spotlights shining down on the auction items, with slips of paper and pens for people to write in their bids. All the prizes are exceedingly lavish, from baskets overflowing with expensive spirits and goodies to exotic trips around the world. And the bids themselves leave your head spinning, shocked and a little sickened by the amount of money being casually thrown around.

“I’m sorry, the minimum bid for this is how much?” You scoff, pointing at the high price tag on what appears to be a singular bottle of wine. Mic leans over your shoulder to read the number himself, letting out a low whistle.

“Must be some good stuff.” He says with a smirk.

“I’m totally bidding on it.”

“You’re kiddin’ right? Last I checked, sidekicks don’t make that kind of bank, even if they do work for the Number One Pro. What are ya, some kind of secret billionaire princess?”

“Sadly no.” You say, digging into your evening bag to pull out a sleek, black card. “But I’m not the one who’s paying. And Endeavor did say to bid on a few items, ‘as a show of good faith.”

You end your sentence on a terrible impression of the Flame Hero, earning another snicker from the blonde as you place your bid. The pair of you wander the auction area for a while, gawking at the ludicrous prices and talking quietly. Or at least, as quietly as the blonde can manage. You fall into easy conversation, mainly discussing work in the hero world and Mic’s teaching career. Present Mic, or Hizashi as he prefers to be called, is a surprisingly eloquent speaker and his high-energy demeanor ensures there’s never a lull in the conversation. It’s honestly refreshing after dealing with the snooty, intense people you’re used to at the agency. Not to mention, he has no qualms about encouraging you to be a little mischievous when it comes to spending your boss’ money.

“How ‘bout that one?” He says, gesturing to a particularly gaudy piece of abstract art. “I think that would look rad on the big man’s mantlepiece, yeah?”

You giggle and lightly push against his arm, as mild punishment for his goofiness.

“No way. Endeavor specifically said to not bid on something too ‘distasteful.’ And I’m pretty sure that thing is towing the line. What’s it even supposed to be?”

“It kinda looks like All Might.” Hizashi offers, “If you stand really far away and squint. I don’t really know much about fine art. But I do know ‘distasteful’ and I’m tellin’ ya now, this aint it baby.”

“And what would you qualify as distasteful?”

A grin that can only be likened to the Cheshire Cat spreads across Hizashi’s handsome face.

“I’ll show you.” He says, extending a hand to you. You grab a hold and allow him to guide you towards one of the doors along the wall. As you get closer, you realize there are small placards inscribed with a number on each of the handles. Hizashi is currently leading you to a door marked with the number seventeen, opening it for you and allowing you to step inside ahead of him. You find yourself in a much smaller room, washed in the same dim lighting as the rest of the auction area. It’s just big enough for two people to stand inside (three if they’re thin), and the oak paneling and cramped quarters almost remind you of a confessional booth. But there’s no man of the cloth here; instead there’s a screen set into the farthest wall and a small, black button resting on a shallow shelf below it. The screen only displays a three-digit number, every so often flashing red before going back to the number.

“What the hell?” You breathe while stepping farther into the room, allowing Hizashi to squeeze in behind you.

“Welcome to the main event of the Heroes Gala.” He says, closing the door. “The Anonymous Auction.”

“The Anonymous Auction?” You parrot back quizzically, turning around to face the blonde.

“You’re aware that most of the Commission's funding comes from public taxes, yeah?” He asks, waiting for your nod before continuing. “Well taxpayer dollars can only go so far. Especially when hero and villain activity has only gone up over time. Rebuildin’ a city you just smashed like an old record ain't cheap you know.”

He pauses to jerk one thumb behind him.

“That’s why they started holdin’ auctions– this whole gala, really– in the first place. It’s all just a fancy way to supplement the Commission’s budget. And due to the popularity of the auctions, they started offering some more… exclusive items in recent years.”

“What do you mean by exclusive?”

Hizashi gives you another playful smirk, looking at you over the rim of his sunglasses.

“You’re a smart girl. What do you think it means?”

He steps a little closer to you and places his hands on your waist for emphasis, thumbing small circles at the swell of your hips. You unconsciously lean into his touch and your eyes flutter closed for a moment before snapping open once more, realization crashing over you like a tidal wave.

“You mean like sex stuff!?” You squeak bluntly, earning a laugh from the Voice Hero.

“Well not all of it! But there have been some bizarre and kinda risqué items up for sale in the past.”

“Such as?”

“Well, I know for a fact that Nemuri donates a part of her “collection” to the auction every year.” Hizashi states, putting air quotes around the term. “And rumor has it that last year All Might auctioned off a pair of his underwear. I don’t know about that one, but if that’s true, then it explains how UA paid for it’s new training grounds and why the staff got a nice Christmas bonus.”

You can’t help but giggle at the thought of some snobby billionaire drooling over a pair of All Might’s underwear. Maybe they’d had them framed, mounted on the wall like a hunting trophy. You’re too caught up in your ridiculous daydreaming to realize Hizashi has stepped even closer to you, not until you can feel his hands sliding a little further down your sides and a little farther behind you. You’re now chest to chest, breathing in tandem as he leans down to speak directly into your ear.

“So now that we’re in here… what do you say we play a little game?”

His voice is low and smooth, audial honey dripping into your brain. Your breath unconsciously catches in your throat as your body moves of its own accord to press closer to him. The energy between you is shifting palpably, from friendly strangers to something much more intimate and heavy. The room feels like it’s heating up and your dress suddenly feels much too snug.

“What kind of game?” You murmur back, a delicious shiver running down your spine when he hums in response.

“How ‘bout the quiet game?” He says, his bristly mustache tickling your cheek when he speaks. “But we’ll make it a little more interesting.”

You can feel him begin to gently push against you, forcing you to walk backwards until you feel the top of your tailbone bump into the low shelf. Hizashi’s hands never leave your body, roaming lower to finally settle on the plush curve of your ass. If anybody else was doing this, you’d have kneed them in the jewels and run for the nearest exit by now. But for some reason, you trust Hizashi. You want Hizashi. And if the steady throbbing in your core is any indication, you need Hizashi.

“Here’s the deal, babygirl.” He says, lifting his head to rest his forehead against your own. You can’t help the way your thighs tense at the pet name, something that definitely doesn't go unnoticed by the Voice Hero. “You’re going to try and stay as quiet as possible. And every time you get too noisy, you’re going to press that little button.”

His eyes flit over to the device in question before locking back on yours.

“That button raises your bid on whatever item is currently up for grabs. So the less noise you make, the less bids you make. And you wouldn’t want to end up winning something distasteful, yeah?”

You subtly shake your head and crack a small smile at his joke, bringing your hands up to rest on his clothed pecs. You’re surprised to feel powerful muscles rippling underneath his rented dress shirt, along with the heat rolling off of his body and the steady thrum of his heartbeat. Clearly that rented tux is doing nothing for his figure.

“Well what are you going to do?” You tease, running your hands up the plane of his chest and underneath the jacket to grip his broad shoulders. “Seems like I’m the only one playing this game of yours.”

One of his hands leaves your ass to hook a finger under your chin, forcing your head to tilt upwards. He gives you a sinfully wicked grin.

“Oh but that’s the best part, baby. I’m going to try and make you scream.”

Suddenly his lips are crashing into yours, sloppily at first but soon smoothing out into a steady push and pull. He takes your bottom lip between his teeth, biting gently before letting it spring back into place. You sigh into his mouth, a sound eagerly returned by the hero. Your nails dig into his shoulders, bunching the fabric of his shirt as he deepens the kiss. There’s tenderness in the kiss to be sure, but also a fierce dominance that has you fighting against the moans rising in your throat. Hizashi uses the shelf behind you to force and arch into your back before kissing his way down the sensitive column of your throat. He licks and sucks at your pulse point, not hard enough to leave marks but enough to remind you that he’s in control. You tuck your bottom lip between your teeth, even going so far as to clap a hand over your mouth when he gives a particularly sharp nip. He clicks his tongue against your skin, bringing up his free hand to pull yours away.

“Ah ah ah. No cheating, baby.” He says, moving farther down your chest until his chin rests between the supple swell of your breasts. “If you try to put yourself on mute again you’ll have to press that button regardless. Ya dig?”

You nod and he releases your hand, allowing you to curl your arm around and place it at the base of his neck. Pleased with your compliance, Hizashi hooks his thumbs under the straps of your dress and gently shrugs them off. The top half of your gown falls away, pooling around your waist as your breasts are fully exposed to the open air. They pebble and peak instantly, despite the perceived heat in the room, and you feel Hizashi’s hum of appreciation rumble through your sternum. His hands come up to cup them, indulging in their full weight and supple give as he squeezes them lightly. His head dips down to kiss your right breast, ghosting over the pert bud of your nipple as he places featherlight kisses around the areola. It’s maddening, far too light and teasing for your liking. The hand on the back of his neck suddenly fists in his hair and you pull him closer to you, squishing his nose against the pliant flesh.

“Damn baby. Feelin’ needy already, huh?” He chuckles against you, pulling away slightly to look up at you through half-lidded, golden lashes. You whine softly, still pulling his head closer to your body. Hizashi resumes fondling your breasts, taking one nipple into his mouth while using his thumb and forefinger to toy with the other. His tongue swirls around the sensitive nub, every deft twirl and brush mirrored by his fingers. It’s a blissful sensation, heating licking across your nerves and shooting straight to your core. Suddenly, he gives a particularly hard suck and pinch, pulling an involuntary gasp from you. You can feel his smug grin before you even look at him, and he pulls off your nipple with a soft pop.

��Strike one, princess. You know what you have to do.”

“I thought you said no cheating.” You whine, feeling the fresh slick coating your panties and relishing the lingering sting emanating from your nipples.

“It’s not cheating, it’s part of the game. Your job is to stay quiet, my job is to break the silence. Now are you going to play by the rules or not?”

You look over at the seemingly innocent button and furrow your brow. It’s only just dawned on you now that you have no idea what you’d be bidding on and a bolt of panic shoots through you. What if it was a piece from Nemuri’s collection? Or something worse! Hizashi, seeming to sense your trepidation, briefly raises his head up to plant a soothing kiss to your temple.

“Hey, we can stop if you wanna.” He says, removing his hands from your breasts to cup your cheeks. “You don’t have to do anything you’re not comfortable with. I’m not gonna push ya.”

Your eyes bounce between the little black button and Hizashi’s face, biting your lip in your moment of indecision. It was a gamble for sure, a gamble that could easily cost you your job should you end up winning. But then again… how much humiliation and strain had your nightmare of a boss put you through in the past year? The past month? The past 24 hours? Taking a deep breath, you tentatively press the button, the screen behind you flashing green to signal the successful placement of your bid. Hizashi smiles down at you, impressed with your boldness.

“Fuck it.” You breathe, stretching up to press a chaste kiss against his lips. “I’m all in.”

Hizashi returns the kiss with interest before fully sinking to his knees, running one hand up the slit of your dress to rest on your exposed thigh.

“Okay then, baby.” He purrs, “I need you to spread your legs a little more for me. Lemme see what we’re workin’ with down here, yeah?”

You willingly comply, widening your stance as Hizashi sweeps the bottom half of the dress out of the way and tucks it behind you. The black, lacy thong you’d picked out for the occasion is soaked through, your essence already starting to coat your inner thighs. Hizashi runs one finger up your barely clothed slit, whistling when he feels how damp they are.

“Damn baby.” He breathes, almost like he’s in awe. “These are fucking ruined.”

You resume biting your lip when you feel two of his fingers hook underneath the material and pull it to the side, fighting against the urge to close your legs.

“Such a pretty girl…” Hizashi coos against you, planting a soft kiss to your right thigh before resting his head against it. “Everything about you is pretty.”

You can’t stop the blush that rises to your cheeks at the whispered praise, nor help the way your cunt clenches around nothing. It certainly doesn’t go unnoticed by the blonde as he leans in closer, using his thumbs to gingerly pry your labia apart. He looks up at you hungrily, pupils blown wide with desire as he tongue darts out to wet his lips.

“Hold on tight, baby.”

Hizashi uses the flat of his tongue to lick a hot stripe up your slit, letting out a low, filthy moan at the taste. You realize now why he gave you a warning. He’s using his quirk to amplify his moans tenfold, turning his mouth and tongue into the most attentive sex toy on Earth. The vibrations send shockwaves of pleasure coursing through your body, clouding your senses with desire. Whatever restraint the hero possessed dissolves the moment he tastes you, as he latches on to your rapidly swelling clit and sucks roughly. You gasp at the new sensation, hips unconsciously bucking to force his face further into you. He hums and willingly obeys your body’s command, replacing his mouth with a heavy thumb and delving his tongue between your folds to lap at your quivering entrance. The increase in intensity causes your thighs squeeze together, caging in the hero’s head as he dutifully tongue-fucks you. You can already feel an orgasm mounting deep in your core, his earlier teasing and stimulation paying off in spades. But his tongue isn’t enough, even with his quirk.

“M-More!” You cry out, unable to quell your pleading voice. “I need more. Need to cum. Please let me cum!”

Hizashi pinches the back of your thigh, a silent reminder for you to follow through with the rules of the game. With a groan you bring your hand down on the button, ignoring the flashing screen as you grind your hips down onto his face. But just when you’re about to tip over the edge, he pulls away from you, breathing heavily and his face coated in your sticky juices. You whimper at the loss of contact, but his hands keep your thighs spread apart to deny you the friction you seek.

“Good girl.” He pants, still swirling his thumb over your aching pearl. “So good for me, baby.”

“Then why’d you stop?” You softly moan, tears of frustration pricking at the corners of your eyes. You’d been so close.

“Because,” he says, wiping his mouth with the back of his hand. “The only way I want you to cum is on my cock.”

Before you can fully register his words, he grabs you by the hips and flips you around, pulling your dress up and bunching it in one fist. Your panties are roughly yanked down around your ankles and you have to brace yourself against the shelf as you feel the hard bulge of Hizashi’s pants rub against your bared ass. A sharp smack to one cheek causes you to yelp, and a quick smack to the other forces you to bring your hand down on the button.

“Cheater.” You pant, earning a dark chuckle for the man behind you.

“Name-calling are we now, baby? Just for that, you don’t get to cum until I say so. Understood?”

You nod quickly, glancing behind you when you feel him start to fiddle with his belt and zipper. Your eyes widen when you see his painfully erect cock spring free: long, thick, and with a silver ring adorning the reddened tip. He gives the length a few short pumps, coaxing out a pearly bead of precum that quickly winds its way around the Prince Albert piercing.

“I think someone likes what she sees.” He says coyly, flicking one finger against the metal for emphasis. “Ever been with a pierced guy before?”

You shake your head and Mic smirks.

“Then trust me. You’re gonna love this, babygirl.”

He lines the head up with your entrance and starts to slowly push into you, the initial stretch causing you to hiss in pain. But the burn soon melts into pleasure as Hizashi buries himself to the hilt, bottoming out with a grunt of his own. You can feel the metal ring bumping against your cervix already, a low moan escaping when he gives a few shallow thrusts.

“Good girl. Takin’ me so well. So tight and perfect.” He mutters breathlessly, voice barely above a whisper. The praise makes you whimper and clamp down on his cock, earning a moan of pleasure from Hizashi. He starts to move in earnest, pumping in and out of you at a steady pace. Each forward thrust pushes your face closer to the wall, your breasts brushing back and forth across the cool wooden shelf and stimulating your pebbled nipples.Your mind is floating in a haze of hedonistic bliss as the air around you fills with the sounds of slapping skin and the scent of sex. You can already feel your orgasm racing towards you at a breakneck speed, the coil in your belly tightening with each thrust. Hizashi suddenly sinks his teeth into your right shoulder with a an almost feral growl, blunted teeth nearly piercing the skin. You squeal at the brilliant pain, only to feel his tongue lave over the forming welts, soothing them. You automatically bring your hand down on the button and his pace quickens in response, rewarding you by maneuvering his hips until he finds the spot that makes your vision go white and your mind go blank.

“Th-th-there!” You sputter out, smacking the button before instinctually backing into him. You don’t give a damn about your boss or the money anymore. All you can focus on right now is chasing your own mind-numbing pleasure. He gives a hum of acknowledgement and straightens up, angling his thrusts to hit that spot every time. He can feel the way your walls flutter and shiver, right on the edge of release.

“That’s it, babygirl.” He grunts, licking the pad of his fingers before reaching below your bodies to find your clit. Slender digits rubs tight circles on the swollen bead, the rough touch making you almost sob in relief. “Cum for me. Cum all over my cock!”

It’s a demand, one that your body is more than ready to obey. With one final circle of his thumb, the pressure snaps and you cry out in toe-curling ecstasy. It feels like your entire body locks up from the intensity of your orgasm and Hizashi gives a cry of his own when he feels the way your pussy clamps down on him like a vise. He forgoes gentleness in favor of animalistic rutting, gripping your hips to set a brutal and unforgiving pace. His cockhead and piercing continually slam into your g-spot and cervix, lengthening your own orgasm to an almost unbearable extent.

“Shit.” He curses, pistoning into you like a rabbit while his balls slap against your clit. “I’m fuckin’ close. Where do you want it?”

“Cum in me!” You wail, the game forgotten as fireworks explode behind your eyes. “Please! Hizashi! I need it.”

Hearing you beg so sweetly for him snaps what little composure he had left. Hizashi lets loose a guttural howl and after a few harsh thrusts, his hips stutter to a halt. You can feel his cock pulsing deep within you, filling you up with rope after rope of thick, white seed. He stays inside you for a moment, breathing heavily and feeling the way your velvety walls throb around his length. Your body feels hot and heavy, head swimming as you gradually come down from the high. Eventually, Present Mic pulls his spent dick from your abused hole, pausing to admire the way his cum oozes out and drips onto the wood floor before pulling your panties back up. Your legs might as well be made of jelly for how useful they are right now, wobbling on your stilettos as you hold onto the shelf for dear life.

“That…” You pant, “That was good. So good.”

“Yeah?” Hizashi says behind you, tucking himself back into his trousers before smoothing one hand up and down your exposed back. His gentle touch causes goosebumps to rise on your skin, your nerves still overly sensitive.

“Yeah.” You breathe, “I needed that.”

Hizashi smirks and leans down to pepper kisses along your shoulder blades, basking in the afterglow alongside you. You practically melt under his affections, never wanting this tender, warm feeling to end.

“Can you stand?” He asks after a few minutes and you weakly nod. Carefully, he helps you stand upright, brushing a few stray pieces of hair behind your ear while you fix your dress and cover your chest once more. Hizashi then moves to fix his own half-bun, smirking at the way you’re dreamily looking up at him.

“Hey space cadet.” He teases, tapping the tip of your nose with one finger. “Come back to Earth for me, will ya? We better get outta here before your nanny cow calls the cops. Or worse, Endeavor.”

You blink slowly and hum in agreement, lazily looking over at the button one last time. And then you freeze. A new message is scrolling across the screen:

Congratulations! You have won lot #114. Please collect your prize.

“Oh my god…” You whisper, feeling your blissful headspace drown under an icy wave of fear. “Oh my god, NO! What the fuck did I just do?”

“Hm?” Hizashi turns to the screen and it’s too-cheerful message. “Oh! Well wouldja look at that?”

“Why are you being so calm about this!?” You shriek, grabbing him by the lapels of the tuxedo and frantically shaking him. “My boss is going to kill me! I have no idea what I– what he just bought! It could be a dildo in the shape of All Might’s dick for all I know!”

“Hey, hey! Chill out, baby!” Hizashi says, placing both hands on your shoulders to steady you. “Just breathe for me, okay? Nice and slow. You didn’t buy anything like that, I promise.”

“How do you know?” You squeak, trying not to hyperventilate.

“Because I know exactly what they were auctioning off with that lot number.”

“Then spare me the dramatics and spit it out, Hizashi! What did I just win!?”

“... Me.”

The world seems to stop for a moment as you stare up at Hizashi’s sheepish face. You open and close your mouth like a goldfish, your overloaded brain trying to find the right words to say. It settles on a neanderthalic, “Huh?”

“You won me.” He repeats, “Well not forever anyways. Just for 24 hours.”

“I don’t understand. Are you trying to be funny?”

“I’m dead serious, baby! The Anonymous Auction doesn’t just offer material stuff. People can bid on and win “dates” with Pro Heroes. The more popular the Pro, the more money comes in. I volunteered to do it this year since a couple of my buddies did it last year.”

You blink slowly, allowing your panicky brain to process this new information.

“So… is that why you brought me here? Because you knew it was time for the bidding to start on your date?”

“I swear, I had no idea.” Hizashi says, crossing an X over his heart for emphasis. “I just wanted a chance to talk to you more and get ya away from that creep of a partner you came with. It was honestly just a lucky coincidence.”

“And the quiet game?”

“I came up with that on the fly when I saw my lot number on the screen. But I didn’t expect you to actually win the auction. And if you don’t wanna go through with this because of your boss or me, then I totally get it. You can always defer to the second highest bidder. That kinda thing happens all the time.”

You step back from Hizashi and turn away, muttering a quick, “Give me a minute.”

Looking past the insanity of the situation, you had to admit you were a little impressed, even grateful, for Hizashi’s scheme. He’d saved you from dealing with Buru, at least for a little while, and made sure you had a fun time doing it. And besides, it’s not like you weren’t attracted to the man. Sure he was loud and goofy, but he was also sweet and charismatic. Not to mention a damn good lay.

“... Okay.” You say after a few moments of thought, snapping your attention back to Hizashi. “Here’s what I want to do.”

You hold up one finger.

“First of all, I want to find a bathroom and get myself cleaned up. This is a nice dress and I don’t want it to get stained, if you catch my drift.”

Hizashi nods in understanding. You put up a second finger.

“Secondly, I’m absolutely starving. So I want to get some water and food. And maybe a glass of champagne.”

Hizashi cracks a smile at that, giving a chuckle of “You got it, baby.”

“And finally,” You say, stepping forward to grab Hizashi by the front of his jacket and pull him in for a kiss. “I want to collect my prize.”

#hizashi yamada #hizashi x reader #bnha #mha #bnha x reader #hizashi yamada x reader smut #mha x reader #citrus dome collab

243 notes · View notes

theresawritesstuff · 3 years

Note

First sentence for a Sherlolly fic: "Well this is another fine mess you've gotten us into." :D

"Oh I'm sorry. Was I the one who said 'no need to check their schedule, Molly. They're never home on Saturdays,'" Molly shot back, dropping her voice low in immitation of Sherlock's baritone.

"I don't sound like that." Sherlock winced as he attempted to maneuver around the wire hanger currently digging into his shoulder blade. "And for the record, my mother has had bridge club every Saturday for the past fifteen years. She knows we know that. Asking about her schedule would make her suspicious."

"And your father?" Molly asked, turning to look up at him with some difficulty, given the tight confines of the coat closet they found themselves hiding in.

Sherlock grunted, finally dislodging himself from his father's 1980s windbreaker. "I don't know... He pops off to the local cafe for a coffee and a scone or something."

Sherlock blinked, finding himself nearly nose to nose with the petite pathologist.

"Perhaps they ran out of scones," Molly teased, though she sounded nearly as breathless as he suddenly felt.

Just then, they heard someone clear their throat, the door to the closet swinging open.

"You know, brother mine, I do remember some speculations pertaining to you being in the closet. Though I must say, they were a tad off as to who exactly would be in there with you."

"Mycroft! What are you doing here?" Sherlock demanded, flummoxed and blushing.

"Arranging a surprise party for our parents, same as you," Mycroft replied, nodding to his PA as she walked passed. At least Anthea was the most likely candidate. All that was visible beyond the giant bouquet of anniversary balloons and flowers was a pencil skirt and heels.

The elder Holmes brother smirked. "Well perhaps not quite the same as you."

"Boys? What are you doing here?"

The Holmes boys turned to find their parents standing in the doorway.

"You're home early."

"It was Molly's idea!"

Mrs. Holmes raised a brow at her sons, knowing they only spoke over each other when they were trying to hide something. "Good to see you again, Molly."

"Happy Anniversary, Mister and Missus Holmes," Molly greeted with a little wave, painfully aware that she was still pressed up against their younger son like a teenager caught in the middle of a round of seven minutes in heaven.

(Thanks so much for the ask! It's a little extra long to make up for the delay in answering :) My daughter has been getting her molars in so the past few days around here have been full "teething toddler mode")

#sherlolly #fuve sentence fic asks

21 notes · View notes

langdxn · 3 years

Note

imagine handing your infant child to any of Evan’s characters and going ‘here you left this in my vagina’ lol Kit would be like ‘can I leave another one in there’

hahahahaha i love this so much, thank you for making me properly cry laugh over here! i’ve taken this from the perspective of a newborn child rather than handing over a ten year old, i hope that’s okay!

Your blossoming relationship with Tate Langdon, slipped into turbo mode by your unexpected pregnancy, is packed full of quickfire jibes just like this. “That food baby of yours is getting out of hand,” he quips as you stuff pizza into your face like your life depends on it. “Why didn’t I knock you up sooner? You’re so much hornier when you’re pregnant,” he mutters as he peppers butterfly kisses over your bump in the middle of a spontaneous 3am session between the sheets. “Here, let me help you with that, preggo,” he chuckles to himself as you strain to get up from the couch, however his only form of assistance is grabbing your baby bump and pretending to haul you up. You’ve planned this one bite back for the entire 9 months and Tate’s jaw drops as the words dance off your tongue. “Becoming a mother’s turned you into a smartass now?” He jokingly scoffs through a cheeky pout. “That’s it, no more babies for you!”

Just as you said, Kit’s first thought is knocking you up all over again. “You mind if I leave another one in there?” His determined smile proves your Walker boy definitely isn’t joking, and the glimmer of a dozen children running around your sprawling country lot sparkles in his eye. “I’m serious!” He asserts as you let out a giggle. “I’m getting you pregnant again as soon as I can,” he curls his lips into a confident smile, pulling you and your newborn into a protective embrace. “My entire world is right here, in my arms. I’ll always look after my girls,” he coos as he smooths your baby’s little brown curls. “Can we have a boy next time though? I need someone to teach baseball.”

Jimmy doesn’t hear a damn word coming out your mouth; your Darling boy is far too lost in the sight of you holding his daughter, your child together, his legacy about to land in his waiting (if slightly shaky) arms. He’s been such a nervous expectant father these last nine months, he’s almost looking down at your tiny bundle of joy like he could break her if Jimmy looked at her the wrong way. “We made her? This beautiful angel, we really made her?” As naive as that inquisitive little question sounds, he’s looking for reassurance that if you’ve both made it this far together, you can make it through anything. In fact, he’s more concerned about his future confrontations with your daughter’s prospective boyfriends… and exactly how many of them he needs to scare away with his claws and fellow freaks.

James, being the customary 1920’s man, would refuse to be in the room when you give birth, but that doesn’t mean he isn’t flinching and squirming out in the corridor whenever he hears each cry of pain. His involuntary wriggles in his seat stall as soon as he hears the distinct cries of a baby, your baby. “Oh to hell with tradition,” he barks to himself, casting his cane aside and storming into the hotel room where Iris and the Countess hand you a little swaddling bundle, somehow smiling from ear to ear. Your words barely leave your mouth before James’ pencil moustache tweaks into a wry grin — “Then you have gifted me the greatest joy, my dear,” he coos softly, gazing at the child in his arms. “And I shall happily spend the rest of eternity creating more just like him.”

It’s been a long time since you’ve seen Kai’s intoxicating smile curl across his lips, cinching his chin, blushing his cheeks. He’s had a hard time running for councillor, so much that your pregnancy has flown by in the blink of an eye. The rushed apologies down the phone as he tells you he can’t make your first scan while he’s stuck in a council meeting, the hanging of his head when he comes home to find you cooking a meal for both of you, the throb in his throat when he wonders why he hasn’t heard from you for an hour while you nap your exhaustion away — it all stings and eats away at his soul. As he bundles into the delivery room spitting frantic apologetics, his weary eyes find you holding your baby out toward him, quippy remark in tow. That enchanting smile comes rushing back to his lips. “Well put it back in there, I need an action replay!”

#evan peters fanfiction #tate langdon x reader #kit walker x reader #jimmy darling x reader #james patrick march x reader #kai anderson x reader

308 notes · View notes

minniepetals · 4 years

Text

butterfly.05

— summary: the final series but with a promising tomorrow that your love will last until eternity

— pairing: bts x reader

— genre: fluff, slight angst, poly!au, ceo!au

— word count: 14.0k

— warnings: a scene with a car accident, besides that, just fluff fluff and more fluff

╰ part 1: buttercream / part 2: buttercup / part 3: buttermilk / part 4: butterscotch / part 5: butterfly

Soft music played from the kitchen and curiously, still half asleep with a bed head, Hoseok popped his head in to see what was going on.

It was a sight he never knew would ever make him fall more in love with you; making pancakes with hair tied into a pretty messy bun in your pretty white nightgown Yoongi once gifted you. It hugged your frame perfectly, silk, short, small straps, lying just against your thighs. Your head shook from side to side lightly to the beat of the music, soft hums escaping from you.

He never knew he'd ever witness you being awake before any of the guys. It happened once in a while, rarely, but only when you've had a good night's rest. Yet he knew you hadn't gotten your full hours of sleep but there you were, a soft expression resting on your face as you continued making breakfast without noticing him leaning beside the doorway leading into the kitchen.

Hoseok could still remember every moment of the night before filled with soft giggles, soft whines, soft embraces, and soft kisses. You fell asleep peacefully in his arms, snuggling up close to him and he swore he caught you purring. Luckily Taehyung got all of it on camera for the memories they'd never want to forget.

He was left waking up beside Yoongi and Seokjin, you nowhere to be seen on the bed. He called your name a few times and when there were no responses except the whines from Yoongi wanting more sleep, he stood up, put on a white t-shirt, before going on for his short expedition to find you. It was the first morning of the honeymoon, surely you'd want to sleep in some more, right? Weren't you exhausted from the night before?

As if on cue, a cute kitten's yawn escaped out of you and Hoseok silently cooed.

"The things I do for them," you giggled to yourself afterwards and finally Hoseok decided to make his appearance clear to you.

He stalked up behind you, letting his arms pull you into a sweet back hug (and you gave out a cute squeak) where he propped his chin upon your shoulder, nuzzling his head against your neck.

He breathed in. "Smells sweet."

You grinned excitedly. "I know right? The pancakes are going to taste so delicious and-"

"I wasn't talking about the pancakes, although they smell sweet too, but nothing can smell sweeter than you, my lovely wife."

Your heart soared and a short moment of silence passed, confusing Hoseok because he knew by then you should have stuttered your way out of trying to cope with his sweet talks like you always did. But when Hoseok looked up, he found a beaming sun glowing right in front of his eyes instead.

"You look like you're about to explode," Hoseok chuckled lightly as he pinched a cheek of yours, still unsure of the reasoning behind your smile.

"Doesn't it sound nice?" You asked him, turning your body fully to face him. "Hm? My handsome hubby?"

Hubby.

A curse left his lips almost breathlessly. "We really did that, huh?"

You squealed and he couldn't help but laugh aloud at how cute you were. "It's been what? Four? Five months? Since you've all proposed to me on Christmas."

"It really has, hasn't it?" Hoseok chuckled as he let his arms wrap around you to pull you in close, his body naturally allowing the both of you to sway to the soft sound of music that was still playing.

He could still remember the process that led up to the proposal.

࿐ ᶠ ˡ ᵃ ˢ ʰ ᵇ ᵃ ᶜ ᵏ

"Let's get married," Jimin said and they all looked up from the papers that laid in front of them on the long desk of the meeting room. Hoseok blinked and for a moment and Taehyung was about to give a silly remark but they could all see the serious gaze Jimin held, something he didn't often have when talking about other things besides being in his business mode. Only when he was truly serious about a certain topic.

"Married?" Namjoon repeated.

"We promised each other," the younger male reminded them all, "since we were kids, we promised each other that if we didn't find someone else to love, we'd end up marrying each other. Who would have thought the seven of us would actually end up together?"

It was a silly little promise they made during one of the very few sleepovers they had in the earlier years. They were playing truth or dare, something Jungkook had proposed he wanted to do, and with Yoongi asking them all whether they had anyone they loved and them responding with no's, Jimin pulled up a ridiculous dare for them to bet on, a promise of them marrying each other in the end if nothing worked out with their partners in the future.

Seokjin laughed but agreed and Hoseok placed his hand in just for the fun of it. Jungkook and Taehyung saw it as a competition so of course they weren't going to miss out, and the last two just shrugged it off as something that'll probably never happen but placed their hands in anyways.

Jimin was right, no one had saw the big relationship coming, not especially for Jungkook to confess one night when he was crying after Namjoon said he was about to leave to study in the states. A cute heartfelt confession with lots of tears and flushed cheeks, his bunny eyes looking at Namjoon with hands that held onto the man tightly, begging him to not leave because he had been his first crush.

Namjoon, one who cried only rarely, had a few tears slipping from his eyes and pulled the maknae into his arms, telling him that he felt the same.

Their relationship didn't last long, not before Jimin joined and then the rest of them came along on the ride, a relationship meant to last until the longest time because they knew and loved each other for the longest. It was the only spark they've actually felt, contrary to previous relationships with the ones before them, the first time something actually felt right.

Jimin reminded them almost every moment he could remember about the promises they made to each other that one beautiful night. It was something he had never forgotten because he was so in love and happy. He never missed a time to remind them, not until a few years prior to where they were now.

"And...Y/N?" Hoseok queried.

As if on cue, the door to the meeting room opened slightly with a light knock and in you came with a pretty floral blouse and white pencil skirt, beautiful as always.

"Just a reminder, Mr. Park, you have a meeting with the Yoon Corporation's executive leaders in half an hour and I have the meeting agenda here if..you'd..." You trailed off the second your eyes looked up and scanned the room, noticing every one of them looking at you with a serious gaze and Hoseok could see you visibly tense up.

Poor Y/N who knew nothing of what they were thinking about. But then again, it was good that you didn't.

"What...what's wrong?" You stuttered, voice small with the loss of confidence.

You always hated when they made you feel little in that sense.

"Nothing, baby," Jimin was first to say with a small smile. "I'll see you in a few minutes, okay?"

Your smile was a little lopsided but nonetheless nodded as you bid your goodbyes and left without another word. They wanted to say something more, Hoseok knew, to soothe your little worries but he also knew that the sudden proposition was placing them in a sudden overwhelming situation. A good overwhelming situation.

"She deserves a proposal," Yoongi said with his eyes still remaining on the door where you left just minutes ago.

"So..." Jimin trailed off, smiling, "we agree?"

"I agree," Hoseok mirrored the same excitement and the rest were quick to follow.

࿐ ᴱ ᴺ ᴰ ᴼ ᶠ ᶠ ᴸ ᴬ ˢ ᴴ ᴮ ᴬ ᶜ ᴷ

"Hoseok, you distracted me!" You chided at the man, quick to leave his arms as you picked up the spacula again with a distressed groan the moment you flipped over a pancake only to find it clearly burnt. "Look at what you've done."

"Me?" Hoseok laughed in disbelief while you dumped the burnt pancake into the garbage can. "It's my fault you forgot you were cooking?"

"Yes!" You reiterated as you poured another batch of pancake mix into the pan. "I'm trying to make as plenty of pancakes as I can before the rest of you wake up because today's a special day and I don't wanna ruin any part of our honeymoon, especially on our first day."

Hoseok cooed. "Aww, you pretty little thing. So you decided to wake up bright and early just to make us breakfast?"

"Why else?" You mumbled through a cute pout. "You know I cherish my sleep but you also have to know that I love you all more than anything."

You were so, so precious.

"I love you more," Hoseok challenged and you were quick to hold the spatula right up at him with a playful glare while he flinched back just as playful, both hands in the air.

"You can't love me more than I love you."

"Watch me," he dared and almost instantly, you were swept off on your feet and a squeal quickly left your lips as you laughed along while Hoseok spun you about.

"Hoseok, you—oomph.!" He held you steady in his strong arms, leaning up to kiss you right then and there while you tried your best not to let the spatula slip away from your fingers. The kiss was searing and hot like the passionate man he was but to have it so early in the morning while you were trying to cook, you lightly tapped him with your wrist, trying to get him to relent because you still had to cook before the others woke up.

"What's the matter?" The man let you go with a swipe of his tongue on his upper lip, smirking. "Too intense for you? Can't take anymore after last night?"

You frowned at him to show your displeasure but it only turned out into a pout with a beautiful blush Hoseok could recognize almost instantly. "I'm trying to be romantic here and you're ruining my moment." He laughed aloud, only to inject a whine out of you. "Why can't you just let me spoil you guys for one morning? It isn't even for a day because I know you'd never let me go that far but I've been spoiled enough from the moment we started dating and it's making me upset."

"Baby Y/N-ie's upset?" He feigned a cute teasing pout. "Haven't we told you plenty of times already? As long as you're with us — which will be for the rest of your life because we've already declared our vows, by the way — you're going to be spoiled until death takes us apart." With the pout still resting on your face, Hoseok couldn't resist and let out a sigh as he placed you back onto the floor. "Fine, just this one time."

You jumped with joy the instant that came out of his lips. "I love you, thank you! But..!" You gave him a pointed look with a finger hovered just below his nose. "I still hate you because you ruined my surprise for yourself."

"Hate me?" A dramatic gasp left him. "You can never, baby."

You giggled. "Fine, you're right. But I'm still upset with you."

"Hey listen, I think you're going to be even more upset and this time it really isn't my fault just because I'm too charming for you to resist but," he placed a quick peck on your lips before moving on to stroll out of the kitchen, "your pancake's burning."

You gasped immediately. "Hoseok!"

The only thing you could hear was his laugh fading away.

"What are you wearing?"

"A..swimsuit?"

"No," Seokjin decided as he grabbed your wrist to drag you right back into the vacation home.

"What? But Seokjin—"

"If you think me and the guys are going to let you walk around out there in that swimming suit of yours, think again darling."

Your lips pouted as he opened the door to the bedroom before letting your hand go. "Do I look that bad?" You asked him as you stood in front of the closed door while looking down at yourself, suddenly feeling self conscious.

He could immediately tell what that voice indicated and the man was quick to hold your shoulders together, walking you over towards the bed to have you sitting on the edge. He gave you a pointed look while you sat there refusing to meet his gaze with a sad frown. "The exact opposite of that is the reason why I will not allow you to step a foot outside." Seokjin's voice was deep, maybe deeper than the sea, and to hear him say such possessive words made you feel some type of way.

"Do you not understand? Hm?" He prompted with a raised brow before letting his eyes fall. A hand rested right on your stomach and chills were quick to fall. "I don't want anyone else seeing this pretty tummy." It rose, hovering up and along your breast before brushing lightly on your collarbones. "Your pretty chest, your pretty collarbones." He held your chin, rose it for you to meet his sharp gaze.

"The pretty face that accompanies this pretty body. And above all, I don't want them approaching you and finding out not only is your body pretty but your heart is too. Guys can be animals, some do not respect women, and many will go after the pretty vulnerable ones who hates violence, ones who can't stand up for themselves not because they're weak but because they're too kind to say no."

"I-I can say no," you tried to reject.

But his brow raised. "You've learned to say no to us, darling, you haven't learned to say no to your friends nor strangers," he reminded you.

You let out a little huff as you pushed him back just slightly so that you could breathe again. "I'm a married woman, no one will come up to me."

"Married or not, pretty is pretty and no man will want an opportunity to miss that."

You groaned. "I'm not you, okay? I don't attract attention that easily and have everyone looking my way just by walking around. I won't get—"

Suddenly you were pushed down against the mattress with full force and Seokjin hovering above you, his body supported by the two arms that stood trapping you from both sides. "Why can't you see that you're the most beautiful woman in the world?" He asked, so frustrated it almost came out into a whine. "Do you know how many guys we have to glare down whenever we're walking beside you? You're so freaking oblivious because you're always in your own little world and—"

"Exactly."

"What?"

You rolled your eyes before sighing as you looked back up at him with a serious gaze. "I'm in love, Jin, I don't care about anyone else watching me from a distance. I'm so oblivious because the only ones I see are you and the other six, who cares about those other men? They can flirt all they want, you know I won't react to them like I'd react to you. Sometimes it gets scary and I'll always want one of you by my side but you don't have to be so jealous, my love, I chose you and I love you, not them. I'm yours, I belong to you and you're mine. We're married and there's no way anyone can ever break us apart now."

Sometimes he wondered how you got the courage to say such endearing words he loved so much. When you first began dating, feelings were a little more held back on your side because you didn't know how to show your love. Your first relationship didn't teach you anything and your previous one left a scar that had you overthinking everything because you were afraid they'd leave you if you ever did something they didn't like.

But truth was, there was nothing you could have done to make them leave you. You were naturally a kindhearted woman, they knew even before the dating phase, and you've always put forth your best efforts to work hard each and everyday, even on days when you were sick but refused to stay in bed.

You'd worry about the slightest things they'd pay no mind to, your insecurities being a big role that kept you back from saying the things you wanted.

And what he hated the most was when hoarding your feelings became too overwhelming and tears would fall from your eyes. Like the first time they saw you cry when someone touched you but you had been too afraid to speak up, or the second time when you went to Namjoon about the jealousies that ran around the whole building.

࿐ ᶠ ˡ ᵃ ˢ ʰ ᵇ ᵃ ᶜ ᵏ

Seokjin fired his secretary but did it in an orderly manner even though he did wanted to act like Jimin for once and just fired people right on the spot without giving them a pep talk. Jimin was definitely not happy about the situation, none of them were, but the man was more willing to fire anyone that had so much as glared your way. Namjoon had to calm him into going about things in a rational way.

They watched you closer ever since you spoke up, kept an eye on you at all times in case someone were to mess with you. And if they were too busy to watch over you, they'd have someone else doing the job and reporting to them whether someone had said anything to you or about you.

Things were looking much brighter, you looked happier, and the company was back to being a hardworking environment without the envious situation thrown into the mix.

But there was still one little problem.

You stood next to Seokjin wearing pretty black trousers with a pretty white blouse while your hair was up in a pretty ponytail. Jimin had asked you to be Seokjin's acting secretary for the night since the older man needed one and he had already fired his a few days prior. He didn't thought much of it when some lady approached him to spark up a conversation, only noticing a few minutes later with the way you stood there, hands fidgeting with the sleeves of your blouse and fixing your hair every three seconds.

You didn't feel comfortable but didn't leave his side because you took orders seriously since Seokjin himself asked you not to stray from him.

He held on a small tight smile, not liking the way the lady had begun to stray away from business talks and opted with a less formal conversation. But he couldn't just stop the conversation mid-sentence, it would be rude. Yet the second she tilted her head back from a soft laughter and lightly hit him on the shoulder, his small smile began to fade.

Sure she wasn't that bad looking but she wasn't you. Not as gorgeous as you who didn't need to wear a dress to impress because you were already pretty without it. Not as sweet, not as kind. He didn't like her laugh. It wasn't bad, it just wasn't like yours, not like the way your sweet laughter would immediately light up his heart.

But then again, it was probably because he was in love with you and not her.

"Care to go out for a cup of coffee some day?" She asked him.

Years before, even before he understood what love was, he would admire the bold ones that approached him and got straight to the point. He wasn't too keen on being the one who chased after someone, he liked being chased instead.

The guys wasn't much of a task to chase after, he had not much of a need to chase after them at all. It was more of a childhood to lovers story. After Jungkook confessed to Namjoon, it was then that got him to realize being chased after the ones he didn't care too much about wasn't his style. It began to annoy him a little. But Seokjin was still a stubborn man who refused to chase after any of the guys, instead playing the hard to get card while they all trailed after him, rolling their eyes because he liked playing with them.

It was until you showed up did he realized what chasing meant.

You were so shy, a cute worker, quiet and soft, got scared easily but could never get mad at anything or anyone. You'd stutter your words whenever you'd talk to any of the higher ups (aka them), and he found himself curious as to what kind of person you were and what went on in that little head of yours.

It was a bit of a surprise when Yoongi deemed he fell in love at first sight all of a sudden but it did sparked more curiosity in the man.

Seokjin liked talking to you whenever he got the chance. He loved the way your cheeks were so easy to turn into rose pink, loved your soft voice, and got a little frustrated you weren't part of the group of ladies that showed love and admiration for him.

But your focus and hard work was something that made him fall more for you, made him realize he was the one chasing this time rather than being the one to be chased after.

And he liked it.

"Actually.." Seokjin took ahold of your fidgeting hand without any hesitation and while you began to panic, worried for the onlookers and the lady in front of you, he held your clasped hands up in full view, surprising both you and everyone else that looked your way. "I will be occupied until the day she decides to leave me." He paused, turning to look at you with a confident grin while you stood there, eyes silently asking him what he was doing but Seokjin paid no mind. "Which I hope will never happen, my love."

My love.

Seokjin wasn't one to declare his feelings out into the public, he liked to keep things private and hidden behind closed doors. But with the way you kept looking down on yourself and the previous events beforehand, he knew validating your feelings was so much more important.

"Shall we go?"

It wasn't a question, it was a declaration. And before you could protest or say anything, the man whisked you away.

"Seokjin?" You called upon his name the moment the two of you were alone and he turned around, prompting you to go on. You let go of his hand to hug yourself before speaking again and he frowned at the way your eyes refused to look at him. "H-How'd you know?" You asked him in a small voice.

With a small sigh that left his lips, Seokjin took a step forward to wrap his arms around your smaller figure, letting his chin rest atop your head. "It's kind of my job as a boyfriend to understand the feelings of my girlfriend, don't you think?" You kept quiet. "No matter how many ladies approach me, approaches any of us, just remember that we are yours and yours alone. There's no need to worry, baby, I'm not going anywhere anytime soon...ever."

࿐ ᴱ ᴺ ᴰ ᴼ ᶠ ᶠ ᴸ ᴬ ˢ ᴴ ᴮ ᴬ ᶜ ᴷ

"Why are you like this?"

You cocked your head just slightly, brows a little creased in confusion and he groaned again because you looked so adorable. "What do you mean?"

"I'm supposed to be mad at you, Y/N, you can't just be perfect all the time and think you can get away just by saying sweet words to me because guess what? I fall for it every time!"

"But I mean it!"

"Exactly!"

Dramatically, he clutched his chest and fell beside you, letting you have your moment of disbelief laughter because of the sudden change of heart.

Smiling, you leaned up against him to snuggle close. "I like this."

"What?"

"Being in love," you sighed.

"Yeah," he chuckled, agreeing before the sudden ding from both your phones alerted the two of you that the other six were waiting outside on the beach.

"I almost forgot we were going to see the dolphins today." You gasped, letting out an excited squeal as you hopped off the bed but not before Seokjin grabbed your wrist so that you couldn't leave the bedroom.

"Just because I'm no longer upset does not mean I'm letting you go out like that."

"But Jin, they—"

"I'll tell them you're being a brat and us being late won't be the only reason they'll be upset."

You huffed. "Fine."

࿐ ᶠ ˡ ᵃ ˢ ʰ ᵇ ᵃ ᶜ ᵏ

No matter how long time had passed since you've joined their relationship, Taehyung could never not fall in love with you more and more as each day passed.

You laid in bed, the last one left to wake up as always when it came to mornings, hair sprawled almost all over, your right hand laid on your chest while your left laid on your side. That morning, however, was a little more special.

After all, the day before they had just discussed wanting to get married and propose to you.

Taehyung took your left hand into his, playing with it for a moment as he examined each finger with gentle touches, kissing each fingertip before holding your hand out palm to palm and giggling at how much smaller your hand was compared to his. He had the largest ones after all, while yours came in last, smaller than Jimin's cute fingers.

You groaned softly in your sleep, squeezing his hand just slightly and he smiled, pressing a soft kiss against your lips. "Shh, it's okay. Sleep some more, baby, you don't have to wake up just yet," he said in soft whispers and as if hearing what he had just said, you turned your body just slightly to relax in your sleep again.

He chuckled at the sight before leaving one last kiss on your head and walking out the bedroom shirtless and feeling happy for what he had just done.

"I got it!" He announced to the group as he walked into the kitchen and was greeted by the smell of coffee and eggs.

They looked up at his arrival, chuckling when they saw Taehyung holding out a string that was curled into a circle. A string that he had apparently wrapped around your ring finger just minutes before to get your ring size.

"That'll work," Yoongi shrugged as he took a sip of his coffee.

"It'll have to work," Taehyung said, plopping himself on a chair next to Jimin, "I can't just ask Y/N what her ring size is without being discreet, it'll ruin everything."

Jimin chuckled while ruffling his soulmate's head. "Good job. We knew you'd come up with something creative."

"She's still asleep?" Seokjin asked and Taehyung nodded. He looked up at the clock that indicating the time being eight in the morning. "Someone should wake her up soon, breakfast is almost ready," he said, the scrambled eggs in the pan almost done and ready to serve.

As if on cue, small little stomps made their way down to the kitchen and in you came still in your pajamas, hair cutely ruffled while a hand rubbed at your sleepy eyes and they almost melted in sight.

"You can't do that." Your voice came out whiny and croaky and oh so adorable, a cute pout adoring your face. "You know I don't like waking up alone in bed," you reminded them, a little grumpy and still clearly tired.

Gosh you were so adorable.

Jungkook chuckled lightly as he walked up to you to pull you in more towards the kitchen, a hand ruffling your head and making it more messy. "Sorry baby, you woke up a little sooner than expected."

"One moment Taehyung was whispering something and then the next no one was there."

"I know, I know," the maknae cooed as he held you in his arms, swaying your bodies from side to side and placing little peppering kisses all over your face. "We're sorry, okay? It won't happen again."

You were so spoiled but they wouldn't have it any other way.

You giggled at the feeling of his lips and tried to push him away but along with how sleepy you still were and the fact that Jungkook would always be much stronger than you, you couldn't escape the tickling sensation.

"You're so sappy," you whined cutely, wiggling in his arms.

"You love it," Jungkook said as he let you go running over to where Namjoon stood, almost stumbling into him because you were still half asleep.

"Oof, I'm sorry Joonie," you quickly said while wrapping your arms around him and looking up at him with adorable eyes.

The man chuckled as he leaned in to greet you with a morning kiss. "It's okay baby."

"Baby," you repeated the word, sighing as if awestruck with a brilliant smile lifted upon your face. "I love you," you told him like a small child and he allowed you to snuggle up against him.

"My baby koala," Namjoon cooed.

࿐ ᴱ ᴺ ᴰ ᴼ ᶠ ᶠ ᴸ ᴬ ˢ ᴴ ᴮ ᴬ ᶜ ᴷ

Even if he was on his honeymoon, Namjoon could never truly stay away from work. Not only because he was the big boss but also because he was a workaholic who often found himself handling the portion of the burdens that needed at least one of them to stay connected to their business. And he wasn't going to let anyone else do the work though you guys did chime in from time to time whenever possible.

Namjoon liked working independently.

But sometimes it could get a little tiring and for that, he always found you tumbling towards his way wherever he was at the right times.

Your tinier self would walk into his study room at the vacation home, sometimes half asleep or just plain tired, sometimes fully awake and ready to help, asking him whether he needed a helping hand or not. And whether Namjoon would say yes or no, you'd remain by his side either way.

He found both your tired and fully awake side adoring, liking the small surprises you'd greet him with each day.

When you were awake and ready to help at any time, he knew that would be the right time to let you help him out even with the smallest things. You liked helping him after all, always finding something to do because he knew you wouldn't leave unless you did something to help ease his burdens.

And on times when you were tired from whatever you had been doing, he'd allow you to just crawl into his lap, legs rested at both side of his body, head leaning to rest against his chest as he worked independently, happy for your comforting presence.

"Y/N."

"Mhm?" You answered him, voice a tired hum.

"Were you with the maknaes?"

You nodded at his question, groaning slightly as you leaned up to rest your cheek against his shoulder, having it squished right there. "Jungkookie and Jiminie tried to push me into the pool while I was all clothed and I asked Tae to help but he was just laughing so now I'm a little upset at them," you informed him while huffing.

Namjoon chuckled. "They like to play around."

"I was trying to read," you complained in a whiny tone. "And it was coming to the exciting part too!"

"You can go get your book and read it here if you'd like."

"No it's okay," you said, snuggling in closer and placing a few little pecks against his neck. "I like it here, don't wanna move."

"Okay," he smiled, fingers still typing away, multitasking as he both spoke to you and did his work. "Stay here for as long as you'd like, baby."

You giggled, nodding.

࿐ ᶠ ˡ ᵃ ˢ ʰ ᵇ ᵃ ᶜ ᵏ

You were drunk on sleep again and it's become a similar pattern that whenever you were like that, the one thing they often found you talking is about how you loved their eyes, eyes that (in your words) glowed of a thousand starlights.

"The stars are pretty."

"The stars aren't even up, Y/N," Hoseok laughed. "It's barely dusk."

"I'm talking about your eyes!" You frowned, pouting for a moment before smiling all over again. "I'm so lucky you know," you said, head on the desk in front of you, looking at them with a smile so whipped. It was a late afternoon where they had all gathered, the meeting long over and you couldn't keep yourself awake for longer. After all, you had been up all night the night before with no rest in between and they felt bad. But watching you like that was cute. You were always cute.

"Stars are pretty, I've always liked stars ever since I was little," you told them and hearing that, they listened in closer, grinning at the mention of your childhood self that must've been even cuter than you were now. "But mom couldn't bring me to the, um...what's that place called?" Your brows furrowed, losing your words and they giggled. "The aquarium? No, that's where the fishes are, what are you talking about, Y/N?" You grunted, the word not coming to you. "You know, there's a place where you can see the stars outside of Earth but it's indoors. Ugh, why can't I remember?"

"A planetarium?" Taehyung guessed and you exclaimed.

"Yes, that's it!" You were too endearing like that. "So mom couldn't bring to me the planetarium so I asked her to bring me stargazing instead but she was always so busy with work she never had time for me. Which was why I snuck out of the house one day."

Yoongi raised a brow. "A good girl like you actually snuck out?"

Just to see the stars.

What a cute little girl.

"It was fun!" You remembered. "But it was also scary because I was alone so I didn't really have time to look at the stars for long. Mom never found out though," you giggled proudly.

"Still wish to see them?" Seokjin asked you.

"It's okay, I already see them everyday," you told him. "The stars are all in your eyes and it's so much more pretty like this," you giggled again and their hearts swayed.

How lucky they were to receive a love so pure.

Still, it would have been nice to let you see the real stars that laid up in the sky, brightening up the night with its lovely glow.

And then, they thought of it. That empty room towards the attic, glass walls and ceilings that allowed you to see whatever was outside, lying right under the stars with nothing to block its view.

It was the perfect place and you deserved something perfect.

࿐ ᴱ ᴺ ᴰ ᴼ ᶠ ᶠ ᴸ ᴬ ˢ ᴴ ᴮ ᴬ ᶜ ᴷ

"Y/N, are you still here?"

"Mhm," you hummed at Jungkook's call while his eyes were still glued on the large screen in front of him, sat on a gaming chair with a console in his hold, headphones on and a curse muttered under his breath for a quick second.

"For what, baby? Why aren't you sleeping yet?" He asked you, continuing on to game. You couldn't really blame him. After all, if it wasn't for the honeymoon, Jungkook wouldn't have much time to game just as he'd like it.

"Because you aren't sleeping," you pointed out.

"Aww," he cooed, a smirk curled at the corner of his lips, "does baby not want to leave me alone?"

You nodded but then remembered he couldn't see you and answered with a yawn. "Yeah."

"I'll be done in a few, okay?" He promised and you nodded again, letting him be.

But the game lagged on and you were growing more and more tired.

"Guk," you called his name after fifteen more minutes had pass, tugging at his sleeve. "It's getting late."

"Just one more round, baby."

You groaned and shamelessly slid your body under his arms to plop yourself right on top of him (to which he easily allowed you) while resting your head on his shoulder. "Come on," you whined.

"Okay, okay," he said, letting the headphone fall off on one ear with a light chuckle. "Just let me die first." He let himself end the game faster than what he wanted at first but with you there, straddling him and being a whiny tired baby, Jungkook's love and focus was shifted.

"Done?" You asked after he took off his headphone and placed his console down.

"Yeah baby," he chuckled again, allowing you to lean back just enough to meet his eyes with a tired smile. "You're cute, you know that?" He said, pressing two kisses on your lips. "Come on, the hyungs are probably wondering where we are."

With not much effort, Jungkook picked you up easily to lead you back to the bedroom where the rest of your husbands were.

"There you are, I was just about to come get you," Namjoon greeted the second the two of you arrived to the room.

"Sorry, she was waiting up for me," Jungkook said sheepishly as he greeted him back with a kiss. The others were already asleep with Namjoon kept up catching up with some work so he was the only one left to wait up for you and Jungkook.

"Babygirl's tired," he noted. "But we'll have to wake up early to catch our flight."

You whined at that. "Don't wanna leave."

"I know, baby, I know."

If only the honeymoon could last a little longer but as long as they had each other, there was nothing more Namjoon could ever ask for.

Light pink suit on with a white shirt tucked under and white pumps and your hair up in a ponytail, Jimin studied you carefully as you went over the meeting schedule for the busy day again. Your brows were slightly creased with a firm serious expression resting on your face, a few small baby hairs sticky out just slightly from having to run around that morning, and although he wanted to smile and praise you for how quickly you were to get right back on track despite whining for some extra sleep when you had to wake up, he held his blank demeanor as he stood there, waiting for you to finish.

Luckily for Jimin he could multitask. Luckily he could both focus on your words and study you in however way he wanted.

Because although his eyes stayed on your face looking as if there was nothing else but work occupying his thoughts, his head also swarmed with thoughts of you and how he wished the vacation hadn't ended so soon.

"Have you compiled the reports that I've asked of you?"

"I will have them ready the minute I return to my desk, sir."

"Good." He nodded, satisfied. "And the phone calls?"

"Already done, sir."

"There's an event coming up in a a few days."

"I got their phone call this morning and ran over there. Everything is organized and just needs a few more last minutes touches before the final day but besides that, there isn't any problems that needs to be dealt with."

"The meeting."

"I have the meeting agenda here if you'd like to look over them," you said, handing him your neatly organized notebook to which he quickly took to look over.

"And my coffee?"

"Ah."

Jimin looked up, raising a brow. Perfect as you were with everything, sometimes you did forget to do a thing or too. You were human after all, maybe a little better than most, but still human.

"Forgive me, I'll get right to it, sir."

"Go on." You hesitated and before he could ask what was wrong, you went on to walk up to him to the tie that wrapped against his collar, your soft perfume hitting his nose.

"It was a little crooked," you told him and the corner of Jimin's lips curled up just slightly enough to be playful as he leaned in for a quick steal of your lips.

"Thank you, honey." You giggled, losing the professionalism for a moment and he smiled at the sight. "Have you checked your messages?"

"No, I haven't. Why?"

"Jin hyung texted, demanding for some attention," he informed as he held out your phone that he stole an hour prior.

Seeing the screen lit up with text messages from the eldest, you chuckled in response. "I guess he'll be whiny if I don't give him what he wants, huh?"

"Can't blame him," he shrugged. "You're around me almost every part of the day while the rest of them sometimes only gets to see you before and after work." Your phone went off again, silently vibrating against his palm for just a moment. "It's Yoongi."

"We've got a meeting in half an hour, can I quickly check in on them afterwards?" You asked and Jimin nodded with no protests, giving you a soft kiss on your lips.

"Don't let them distract you though."

"Of course not," you giggled.

"Did you know that when a male penguin falls in love with a female penguin, he searches the entire beach just to find the perfect pebble to present to her?"

"Oh my gosh," you gasped, almost squealing at how cute it was as you began to imagine a scenario of cute penguins in love with each other. "How adorable!"

"Isn't it?" Taehyung bubbled from the other line of your phone call just as you had taken a right turn as you drove.

"Why do you know this?" You wondered with a soft laugh.

"I think back in primary school," he said.

"And it hadn't slipped your mind."

"Mmn." He laughed. "I remember it then, I used to have a crush on the teacher that told me this fact and I thought, you know, that she was hinting on the fact that I should go and find the perfect pebble for her because she liked me back. But turns out poor little Tae Tae was just dreaming in a delusional reality because she already had a boyfriend."

"Oof," you giggled, "how did poor little Tae Tae react?"

"He went to little Jimin and they cried together because little Jimin always hated seeing his soulmate cry."

"You guys are so cute!"

"You're not jealous?"

You chuckled. "Why would I be?"

"Because!" Taehyung exaggerated almost as if offended you weren't jealous of his story. "I learned that fact from another woman and I'll probably never forget her because it was that memorable."

"Tae, we're married. I'm your first and hopefully last wife so how are you ever going to forget me?"

"Oh crap, you're right." You laughed. "Wait, what do you mean hopefully you'll be my last wife as well? Are you doubting my love for you?"

His comments were amusing and you shook your head, smiling at how cute your husband was. "Hmm..I wonder," you teased.

"I'm telling you!" he declared, "No matter what happens, we're never letting you go so you better be prepared for what we have to offer."

"I was prepared the day I accepted your proposals," you told him and a look to your ring finger was enough to send butterflies your way.

You looked up again towards the road in front of you. There weren't many cars passing through, just about one or two but they were both going the opposite way of you. You hit your signal to make a right turn, pressing onto the breaks to slow down yet the pace of the car never did as you expected it to be and you frowned. You pressed the breaks again, and then again, and your heart began to race as your eyes widened with fear.

"Ooh you're smoother than I thought you'd ever be. You're catching on pretty well." The light tone in Taehyung's voice was the one thing that reminded you that there was still hope in the world, that one of the six of them had just been on the other line of your call and you bit your lower lip.

"T-Tae." Your voice came out more shaky than you expected, scared for your life.

"Yeah?" He replied casually, not realizing what you sort of situation you were in just yet.

"The breaks isn't working," you breathed.

"What?"

"The breaks, Tae, it isn't working, I can't slow down!"

With your voice growing louder and tears escaping your eyes as your heart raced rapidly against your chest, Taehyung's heart stopped.

"Taehyung please, I..-" you choked, "what do I do?"

"Where are you?" He immediately asked. "Just stay calm for me okay, baby? Take deep breaths and-"

"I'm going to hang up."

"No." His heart began beating fast as he stood up abruptly. "No baby no, don't do that. Don't-"

"I love you," was the last thing he heard before the line was cut off and Taehyung flew out the doors to his office, legs running faster than ever before with his fingers punching against his phone to try and call you again.

He had no time to remember to warn the rest about what had just happened, mind with only thoughts of you and how he could get to you on time.

Hot tears fell from his eyes, blocking his views while he continued wiping them away so that he could see properly on where he was driving. A hard knot constricted his throat, making it hard to breath as his heart ached and his stomach contracted into a tight ball.

Taehyung was panicking, knuckles white from gripping onto the steering wheel way too tight and cars beeped at him for going way too fast but he couldn't care any less about anyone else when you, his baby, his wife, one of seven reasons why he continued to wake up every day, was out there somewhere alone and isolated with nowhere near help.

'I love you,' your voice echoed into his head and he shook his head vehemently.

No, no. It couldn't. It couldn't be. He couldn't even say it to you, to let you know that he loved you too and that—

No.

Taehyung took a deep breath though it was so hard. He couldn't let himself think that way, if he did then it would mean...it would mean you wouldn't return to the seven of—

And that was when he remembered.

Seven.

Right, seven.

He still hadn't informed them and they out of anyone else should know what was going on as well. Who cared about the company at the moment? You were in trouble for goodness sake.

"Hel-"

"Y/N's in danger." He took no time to waste, taking a harsh turn that made the tires squeal in turn but he couldn't care.

"What do you mean Y/N's in danger?" Hoseok's brows furrowed, confused by the bitter taste in Taehyung's tone.

"Forget about going to that stupid meeting you have in less than ten minutes, Y/N's breaks stopped working on her way back here and now I can't get ahold of her and she's probably all alone out there with no one to help because that rode is away from the cities and isolated." He spat out a curse. "Hyung, I'm trying to get to her as soon as possible."

Normally Taehyung would never be so rude as to call Hoseok's meetings stupid but he was too worried and afraid for your life and at that point, none of them cared about his words lacking respect.

"I'll tell the rest and try to get ahold of her, just try to get there as soon as possible."

"What do you think I'm doing?"

It was harsh but understandable. "Taehyung."

"What?"

"Be careful," Hoseok warned, feet already taking him away from the meeting room and leaving his assistant to blink in confusion. "I'm not going to lose you in an accident because of your careless driving."

"Hyung, what if," he cursed again, "what if Y/N-"

"I'm going to end this call right now and inform the rest but you are not allowed to think that way, do you hear me?"

"I..-" Taehyung took a deep shaky breath, running his forearm against his eyes for the hundredths time. "Okay," he said, sniffling. "Okay."

"Okay?"

"Okay."

The call ended and in less than ten minutes, he was on the familiar road of where you were when you called him, head stretching out to search for someone, anyone. A car, your car. Whatever sign that told him that you were alright, that you were safe.

But he hated how he couldn't see anything.

There were no cars that drove by, a street not many frequented and he wondered where in the world you were. Were you safe? How were you safe if there weren't any drivers driving by and could have coincidentally stumble upon you? They could have phoned the police, the ambulance, anything.

But he heard no sirens, no distress cry that warned him a wreck was nearby.

Neither was his phone called by any paramedics as he had been the last person you were on the phone with.

He could only hope, hope that you would be okay. Even if that meant you'd end up in the hospital, even if it meant you'd get hurt. He could only pray that everything would turn out alright.

And then, he saw it.

A body sat on the side of the road opposite of him.

Your body.

You.

He hit the breaks as soon as he was close enough and ran out the door as if his own life depended on it.

"Y/N!"

You looked up at his call, tears falling and falling from your precious cheeks and his heart shattered even more at the state you were in but he ran to you, crouched down, and pulled you into a tight hug while his own tears continued escaping from his eyes.

You were safe.

Safe.

In his arms.

Crying and scratched with your clothes a bit dirty but safe.

So, so, safe. Safer than he could ever imagine.

"I love you, I love you, I love you," Taehyung repeated over and over again, words he never got to say before you hung up on him in the middle of the crisis and his heart had ached before you never did get to hear those words when you were alone and had no one else but yourself to rely on. "I love you so much."

The images of your body having to be wheeled into the emergency room fell from his mind as he held you close, crying yet hushing you gently as you cried inherent words against his chest, hands holding onto his blazer with a grip tighter than his because you could have lost your own life.

"It's okay, baby, I'm here now. I'm here."

He let you go just a little to have a look at how badly the incident had caused. Your white blouse were ripped from the sleeves, dirty, with signs of scratches that you had probably dived yourself out of the car just in time before it could crash and stop itself against a tree. The scratches fell down to your legs and when he touched your left foot, you winced in pain, tearing up all over again.

"Does it hurt?" He worried. "I'm so sorry. Help is coming soon, Hoseok should have called. They're on their way too so there's nothing to worry about right now. You're going to be alright, Y/N, we'll get you fixed up. They're just little scratches, you'll be better in no time. Anything else beyond that, we'll figure out a way to make it right again, you don't have to worry about a thing, my love."

"M-my car.." Crashed and ruined. Even if it could be repaired again, Taehyung wasn't going to let you ride in the one thing that could remind you of all of this.

"We'll get you a new one," he vowed but you shook your head, not wanting that from them.

"My phone..-" Probably lost and damaged in the wreck.

"We'll get you a new one," he repeated and you shook your head again.

"T-Taehyung...I was so scared," you sobbed and he pulled you in against him again, holding your head, rubbing soothing patterns, and giving you a soft kiss there.

"I know, baby, I know. It's okay now." Truth was Taehyung was way too terrified to imagine what had happened after you hung up on him but he wasn't going to tell you that. You needed the comforting more than anything and he vowed to be the bigger person as Hoseok was for him. "I'm right here, baby, I love you."

"I love you."

Barely a month into the marriage and he almost lost you but it was your body that he could feel as he held onto you with a secure hold, a promise of tomorrow, that kept him sane. It was when Hoseok held onto him later that night when he woke up unable to rest, crying against his husband's chest in the bathroom, that kept him alive.

You were alive.

Awake the next day, pressing a soft kiss against his forehead with a whisper of a soft thank you because he had gotten there before anyone else, had been the one to inform the rest. Because if it wasn't for him, who would have known how long it'd taken before they found out where you were and what had happened.

It was him that you thought of, reminding yourself that Taehyung knew, that Taehyung would run over in no time, and that you were going to be alright.

Because Taehyung knew.

So he leaned up to press a sweet and gentle kiss against your lips, careful not to hurt you, afraid you'd shatter like a fragile glass in his hold, and silently thanking the angels that had kept you safe.

"Y/N is that you?"

You turned around to come into a halt as your eyes widened at the sight in front of you, heart suddenly doing something you weren't quite fond of. "C-Chan..." You breathed, surprised by how much the years had changed him. "Wow, hello."

Years before your heart would have broken at just the sight of him alone and you wouldn't be able to face him without tearing up but now? Now that you've found seven lovers who promised to cherish and love you for the rest of your life? Your heart ached slightly but it wasn't anything that had to do with missing him as a lover. He was your childhood friend after all. And if you missed him, then it'd be as a friend who fell apart after what had happened.

"It's been years." He sighed at the sight of you, smiling softly as he studied you for a moment. Autumn had come, winter being so close by so you were beginning to wear thicker clothes as the seasons began to grow colder each passing year, a pretty white capelet coat with white furs surrounding its collar and sleeves, making you look so soft. You changed, you looked more beautiful but still had on that lovely smile that he always remembered back when the two of you were children. "How have you been?"

"I've been great!" You said with a bright smile and it almost made him falter to see you look so happy like that, moving onto a life without him in it.

"That's wonderful, Y/N," he chuckled. "You look a little too fancy for someone out casually grocery shopping."

"Do I?" You laughed, looking down at yourself. Ever since you've began dating your seven princes, they've done nothing but spoiled you rotten and clothes were definitely not an exception. You loved the coat though, a Christmas gift given one year from Taehyung.

"Listen..." Chan began to trail off and you watched how he bit his lower lip, looking a little too nervous.

You knew what was coming and quickly shut him down. "It's fine, Chan," you said almost too quick for his liking.

He looked up again, blinking. "What?"

"Whatever happened between us is all in the past."

"The past...right..."

He looked like he wanted something more, regret and guilt shown in his eyes and maybe if he was a few years earlier, you would have easily gave in but he wasn't. The years had long passed and you were completely over him, love given for others whom have stolen your heart.

Just as he was about to say something else, someone interrupted the two of you as your grocery bags were snatched right out of your hands, causing you to look back and find Yoongi frowning.

"What did I tell you about calling me over so that I can carry these things for you? You're not allowed to carry anything except your purse, Y/N, your hands should be free of heavy things," he scolded the second you met eyes.

You shook your head lightly, smiling because they were always like that even though what you had been carrying wasn't heavy at all.

But they always refused to let you give them excuses.

"Um..who's this?"

"Oh!" You almost forgot Chan was still there. "Um, Chan, this is Yoongi," you turned back around, introducing with an awkward smile, "my husband of two years."

Chan's eyes widened at your words and the mood grew uncomfortable all of a sudden, being stuck between a previous lover and one of your current lover.

"And who's he?" Yoongi asked, voice monotoned as he raised a brow, not completely liking the fact that your sentences were informal as if you knew the guy.

"Ah, my um..childhood friend."

"Oh." An uncomfortable silence passed for a moment before Yoongi let out a scoff, knowing exactly what you meant. Seokjin told them about your two previous lovers, the two both leaving you heartbroken in the end and now seeing him in person, Yoongi wasn't going to make sure the meeting would last for much longer. So he handed over a few bags from his right hand on over to his left and took your hand, clasping it tightly. "Anyways, we're busy so goodbye," he said bluntly and turned around, dragging you away with him.

You panicked for a moment, turning around and waving at your speechless childhood friend. "Um, b-bye! It was nice seeing you!"

"Nice my ass," Yoongi muttered, scoffing bitterly.

"Hey, be nice," you chided softly after turning back and the two of you walked on towards his car.

"You really want me to treat your exes with grace and kindness?" He raised a brow, asking curtly.

Your lips pressed together into a small pout. "I...I don't know," you shrugged, unsure because yes, he did hurt you, but he was also your friend before the whole relationship happened. "He sounded nicer," you said ruefully.

Yoongi rolled his eyes as he took out his keys to press the button that unlocked the car and opened the trunk. "Oh please, didn't you catch his eyes? The man totally wanted you back," he huffed, shutting the trunk close after putting the bags in.

"That's why I specifically told him that you were my husband," you told him, allowing him to open the door for you before getting in, "To make sure he knew I was completely over him."

"Still." A sigh left him as he leaned against his car, a pout resting on his lips.

"Don't be too mean," you laughed.

"Mean?" He raised a brow. "Imagine the maknaes were with you instead, or Jin hyung," he said. "They'd be all over you if they knew that was the childhood friend, showing affection out in the open where everyone else can see that you're clearly are taken, making that Chan even more envious."

"Ah," you bit your lower lip, "I guess you're right."

"Of course I'm right. But just because I'm not too into that pda crap," Yoongi said, head leaning in close to where his forehead met yours and your face began to flush, "doesn't mean I don't like claiming what's meant to be mine."

"Y-you.." you stammered, "you don't have to. He's already long gone and I'm long over him." A kiss to your lips and your cheeks reddened some more. "Yoongi there are people-"

"Being a husband is nice," he smirked. "If I were to still be your boyfriend, I don't think that would have shut him down so easily, he would have seen me as just a competition." Another kiss, a little longer, a little softer. "Good job though," he patted your head, "for telling him that I was your husband right away."

One last kiss, softer and gentler and sweeter, before he pulled away and closed your door, smirking with a light chuckling as he watched you from the window, sat in your seat with your face all flushed because he had just done that out in the open.

࿐ ᶠ ˡ ᵃ ˢ ʰ ᵇ ᵃ ᶜ ᵏ

"Can we have our wedding in Spring? And outdoors? I want an outdoor wedding in Spring. It'll be warm by then and the flowers will have bloomed and everything will be so pretty. Oh but," you paused, pouting as you realized something and they all look on over at you, wondering what was wrong. "Spring is so close and I've heard that wedding preparations can take quite a while to perfect everything. We're all so busy, I highly doubt we can get it all done that easily and then Spring will come to an end."

You sighed, letting yourself sit in front of your vanity as you took out a brush to run through your hair. "We can always have a Summer wedding," you said. "Or whenever preparations gets done," you shrugged not caring much for the date anymore as you met Namjoon's eyes from the mirror.

He walked on over with a soft smile on his face, resting his hands atop your shoulders and squeezing it lightly. "Whatever you want, baby, we'll get it done."

You made a face. "This isn't just my wedding, you know, you're in it too," you said, turning your chair around so that you could face him and look up with a pointed look, "I can't get married without my grooms."

"Of course not," he chuckled, pinching your cheeks gently. "We'll split up a few tasks, tackle this together. With the eight of us plus a few help, it won't take that long. We're used to big events and deadlines and so are you."

"And this is our event so it's even more important and special," Hoseok said nodding.

"Aren't you forgetting the fact that we're all so busy with the company already?"

Seokjin chuckled. "Since when have we let that stop us?"

"Don't think about the details just yet, Y/N," Jungkook told you. "If you want a Spring wedding then we'll make your dream come true."

You pouted. "But what about what you guys want?"

Taehyung smiled as he took your chin to let your lips meet his in a soft assuring kiss. "We're fine with whatever. Honestly."

"You sure?"

"Mhm," Yoongi nodded. "I'm just honestly looking forward to seeing you in a wedding dress," he admitted and you blushed just thinking about it.

"I can't wait," you breathed, smiling as you met all their gazes. "I love you so much."

"How was the cake tasting?"

"They were all so good," you whined when Jimin brought it up after you walked into his office to hand him the reports. You, Taehyung and Jungkook had gone to choose the cakes that morning and it was safe to say that you were all stuffed by the time it was all over. "Everything was sweet and pretty, I don't know what I'm gonna tell the wedding cake designer when we meet," you said, frowning.

"She's an expert," he reminded you, "she'll know what to design in the end after giving it a few ideas."

"I think I gained some weight after eating cakes all morning," you pouted, looking down at your tummy with a huff. "How am I gonna fit a wedding dress now?"

Jimin chuckled at your cuteness and stood up from his desk to walk around it and over to you, hands both tucked behind your waist as he pulled you in close. "Gain as much weight as you want, I don't care," he vowed sincerely with a smirk curling at his lips, "We'll still love you all the same."

You giggled, smiling into the kiss that he gave you. "Kookie said he's gonna go and burn some calories in the gym after work," you informed. "I planned on going with him and Taehyung but maybe I'll skip out."

"Good job," he smiled. "Do whatever you want, as long as you're happy."

"Should the cake be grand?" You asked. "Layered?"

"Of course," Jimin nodded. "The bigger the better."

࿐ ᴱ ᴺ ᴰ ᴼ ᶠ ᶠ ᴸ ᴬ ˢ ᴴ ᴮ ᴬ ᶜ ᴷ

"You okay?"

"Hm?" You looked up towards the door where Seokjin walked into the bedroom just as you had gotten done changing into your nightgown. A confused glance was made his way as you wondered what he meant by that and why his brows were a little furrowed as he walked your way, settling himself onto the large bed.

"Yoongi told us what happened this afternoon," he said. "You met him again."

Him.

"Oh." You shook your head, laughing lightly as Seokjin held an arm out for you to sit onto his lap, accepting it without a word. "There's no need to mention him anymore," you told him. "It's all in the past."

"I just thought, you know," Seokjin shrugged, "since you looked a little upset the last time you spoke about him. How he left you scarred."

Your heart melted at how considerate he was for you so you leaned in to place a soft kiss on his cheek. "I promise you, I am beyond over that. I've got you guys now, what more do I need?"

He chuckled, not able to stop himself from kissing you. "Good," he sighed. "I don't want any other man occupying your thoughts."

"Don't worry," you grinned, "they're all claimed by the seven of you."

࿐ ᶠ ˡ ᵃ ˢ ʰ ᵇ ᵃ ᶜ ᵏ

"Y/N? Why are you awake?"

At first Jungkook had woken up with the idea of needing to use the restroom but then he found you nowhere in bed and saw a silhouette outside the balcony doors. So when he opened it and found you resting your forearm against it, a warm cardigan hung over your shoulders as you looked up at the stars, he could only wonder what had gone wrong.

You weren't one to usually wake up in the middle of the night just to watch the stars. Sure your love for the stars were big but you loved your extra hours of sleep more than that.

"Something wrong?" He asked as he walked in further after you turned your head around and remained silent. Jungkook wrapped his arms around you from behind, feeling your body colder than it should have been. "You're freezing, baby," he shivered. "What's wrong, hm? Tell my what's wrong, baby."

There was a clear sign that he had recently woken up, voice groggy and tired yet Jungkook was clear on not heading back to bed unless he made sure you were alright again.

"I can't sleep," you told him, leaning back against him to welcome his cozy warmth. "I had a nightmare."

"Mhm," he pressed his nose into your neck, trying to warm more of your cold body, "want to talk about it?"

"No," you shivered as a chilly night breeze passed by though he could probably guess it was one of the few nights where you'd dream of the accident all over again. They had come around less and less as the months passed but that didn't mean you could ever forget. "Wanna sleep," you pouted.

"Then come on," Jungkook said, beginning to tug you along back into the bedroom.

"But the nightmares." Even as you whined, you still followed his steps back in, feeling too sleepy to remain stubborn especially when the night breeze was too chilly to handle.

So you let him pull you back into bed where the two of you laid in between Seokjin and Yoongi.

"It's okay," Jungkook whispered as softly as possible, "I'll fight the bad dreams off for you."

You snickered in a gentle tone. "And how will you do that?"

"By singing you to sleep."

A smile was quick to light up your face at his suggestion and without any hesitation, you let Jungkook hold you against him, lying onto his chest and having you listen to his heartbeat. Not long after the two of you settled into each other's warmth, Jungkook's soft voice was whispered into the night as he sang a lullaby for you.

Listening to his heartbeat on one side while your other ear was blessed with his voice, you fell back to sleep sooner than you thought you would.

࿐ ᴱ ᴺ ᴰ ᴼ ᶠ ᶠ ᴸ ᴬ ˢ ᴴ ᴮ ᴬ ᶜ ᴷ

"Y/N, it's three am, what are you doing up so early and..." Namjoon blinked though his eyes were still clear with drowsiness accompanied by a cute bed head, "..cooking...?"

You giggled as he walked further into the kitchen, greeting his tired self with a ruffle on his head as he let out a cute yawn. "I couldn't sleep," you told him. "I woke up and tried to go back to sleep but I was too awake and energized to dream again."

"So you decided to make pancakes."

"Yup," you nodded, exaggerating the last sound with a pop. "Doesn't it smell nice?"

He didn't answer but you were far too excited on your own to worry about it so you returned to the pan to flip two pancakes. There was soft upbeat music in the background and Namjoon shook his head, chuckling at the sight of his wife up so early in the morning flipping pancakes with nothing but an oversized grey hoodie that belonged to Jungkook.

You were quite the sight, pretty and adorable.

He walked up to you, wrapping his arms around you from behind and allowed you to sway the both of you from side to side while you hummed to the beat of the music.

"Hey, if you're going to have a party, you can't just not wake us up."

The two of you turned around to find Hoseok walking in followed by Jimin who let out a grumpy huff with hands stuffed inside the pocket of his hoodie.

"It's not a party," you insisted, "it's a late night snack I'm having."

"Even worse!" Hoseok pouted with a whine and you and Namjoon giggled.

"You can join if you want," you invited with a cute grin plastered on your face. For moments before, Jimin wanted to scold you for waking up so early just for that but who could get mad at such a sweet face?

"You're lucky you're cute," he said huffingly and your head tilted back, colliding with Namjoon's shoulder as you laughed. "What are you doing up anyways?"

"Y/N here can't fall asleep," Namjoon informed with a ruffle of your hair.

"So you guys decided to wake us all up by being loud?"

At the new voice, the four of you all turned to watch Seokjin walking in as he pouted, a clear tired expression plastered on his face.

"I'm so sorry," you quickly said, "it was my fault, don't blame the rest. We'll be more quiet so you can head back to sleep if you can."

"And miss all of this?" He scoffed stubbornly and took his seat next to Jimin, "No way."

Hoseok laughed. "You pretend to be mad but you love us anyways."

"Doesn't make you any less annoying," the eldest retort with rolled eyes.

"Is that pancake I smell?"

"At three in the morning?"

"Heck yeah!"

Jungkook and Taehyung both filed in no sooner than later and soon the kitchen was filled with all of your husbands. All but one who was a heavy sleeper and loved his sleep just like you.

"Is everyone awake now?" Jimin asked with a yawn.

"Yoongi isn't," Jungkook replied.

"Should we wake him up?" Taehyung asked.

"I think babygirl should do it, don't you think?" Seokjin said with a small raised brow and a smirk your way. "You're the reason we woke up after all."

A hesitant blush your way with Hoseok stealing the spatula from your hand and them pushing you out of the kitchen, you were left to sigh without a protest, dragging your feet up the stairs towards your shared room.

Even though you were the one to always leave the bed later than everyone else, Yoongi could get a bit grumpy when he's woken up unexpectedly — especially on purpose when there was nothing important to wake up to.

Nothing a few kisses and cuddles couldn't fix.

So you opened the door to find Yoongi alone, looking small against the large bed that took up a lot of space in the master bedroom. A soft smile curled along your lips as you walked up to him and bent down, shaking him lightly.

"Hey, Yoongi?"

You didn't get very far.

Not before he had grabbed your arm and pulled you right into his hold where his body held you tightly.

"What?" He grunted.

"You're heavy," you whined at his body weight but still he wouldn't move.

"You love it," His voice was deep and low, tired and groggy and you were already starting to feel bad for waking him up. "Well?" He asked, urging you to go on from what you wanted to tell him. Instead of answering him, however, you remained quiet to just listen to his soft breathing, the warmth given off by him suddenly making you sleepy. "Here because you want me to join your little party downstairs?"

"How'd you know?"

"Not hard to tell," Yoongi said, "they're pretty loud."

They definitely were. The two of you could hear their complaints and booming voices and laughter all the way from the kitchen to the bedroom.

You laughed lightly and he mirrored your amusement. "Not complaining?" You asked.

"Not going to convince me?" He remarked.

"I don't know," you shrugged, moving in closer to his warmth and he allowed you without protest, "I like it here."

"They're going to know something is up if you don't return soon."

You frowned. "Are you trying to kick me out?"

"No," he chuckled in a deep tone, soft and soothing, "I'm trying to keep you to myself for a moment," he said, "just until they all come barging in and ruin this peaceful quiet time."

"Mmn," you giggled, "you're so greedy."

"So are you."

You responded with a whisper of an 'I love you' and he replied with a kiss on your forehead to say the same thing.

"Aren't you forgetting something?"

There they were. A little late, a little early. You didn't know what to mark it as but as they barged in, you and Yoongi remained holding onto each other before Taehyung excitedly jumped onto the bed and pouted.

"You love us too yet you're ditching us for more sleep?"

"Weren't you too energized to go back to sleep?"

"How dare you?"

Yoongi simply laughed while you left his arms to quickly sit up and try to defend yourself.

"No, no! I didn't mean it I promise!" You insisted. "It was just so warm and soft and Yoongi was holding onto me so tightly and I loved the feeling and..-" You met their disapproving look and your eyes fell, pouting. "I'm sorry."

"Stop it, it's not fair."

You blinked as you looked up at Jungkook. "What?"

He grabbed your face, squishing it against the palm of his hands with a cute pout of his own. "You're too cute to stay mad at!" He chided and you fell back against Yoongi as you laughed. "You can get away with anything with just this face alone, it isn't fair."

"Actually, I think it's quite a gift," you replied with a playful grin and they were upset because they couldn't actually stay upset.

"See what you've done, Jimin?" Taehyung glared at the other 95 liner, "She's caught up to us. I told you Y/N isn't the same girl we first met years ago."

"What? It's Jin hyung's fault too!"

"Hey!"

"Nah, I'd say she's still the same," Namjoon stated with a soft scoff. "Watch this."

You didn't know what he meant by that but the next thing you knew, Namjoon had caught ahold of your chin, tilting your head to meet him before soft yet passionate lips fell upon your own. A kiss that had his tongue dancing along your lower lip before it entered at your gasp and had you gripping tightly onto the sheets below you.

When he pulled away to give the both of you the breath of air you needed, you were left lightheaded and quickly fell back against Yoongi's hold to hide your blushing red face against the crook of his neck.

Chuckles escaped them at the sight and Namjoon licked his lips with a smirk. "See?"

"Cute," Seokjin commented with a grin. "Remember when we first kissed?" You whined against Yoongi and stomped your little feet in protest. "Gosh, Y/N was the cutest thing ever with her eyes so big and round and cheeks so flushed," he continued either way.

"Remember when you first came over?" Jimin added. "Or when we first shared a bed?"

"And the first time you had to stay over because the blizzard outside was too harsh?" Taehyung said.

"Guys, stop it," you whined, "I already embarrass myself enough, stop bringing the embarrassing memories back."

"Embarrassing? Y/N, they were precious," Yoongi insisted gently as he trailed his fingers along your jawline to get you to face them again. You did it with bits of hesitation and they almost melted in sight. "So, so precious," he said as he placed an assuring kiss to your temple.

"I still can't believe someone like you fell in love with us in the first place."

Your brows furrowed at Hoseok's words. "What are you talking about? You were like the most sought out men of the industry even though the relationship between the seven of you was clear from the beginning. You were so untouchable someone like me was lucky to even breath the same air as you."

He chuckled. "No, Y/N. You didn't know it then but from the first moment we saw you, something about you was different and special. You only proved to us each day with your hard work and efforts that what we saw then was not a mistake."

"So we started to observe you more as time when on," Jungkook said. "That's why Jimin and Jin both started to flirt around, eventually moving on to flirt with others to try and grab your attention."

"But you always acted so unfazed," Jimin pouted.

"That's because I had to remain professional," you remarked. "Plus how was I supposed to know you took an interest in me then?"

"That's the problem, Y/N," Namjoon sighed. "You're always stuck in this little head of yours, thinking you aren't good enough or pretty enough but you are, and you are so much more than that."

"And a little braver than we imaged you'd ever be," Taehyung smirked as he was reminded of something. "You were the one who took the initiative after all, confessing your true feelings first hand."

You blushed thinking about that moment. "I was drunk."

"On sleep," he laughed. "Still, your sleepy self was braver than any of us could ever be at that time."

"And we love you," Seokjin smiled as he leaned in to place a sweet kiss on your lips. "So much."

You returned the smile, heart fluttering. "I love—" you gasped, suddenly realizing you had forgotten something and they all gave you a confused gaze. "The pancakes!" You jumped out of bed, groaning as you slipped on your slippers. "Aw man, my late night fun time is all ruined because you guys decided to love me."

Jimin scoffed. "Did you not like that?"

You stopped yourself before you could run off towards the door and down the kitchen, feigning an innocent smile their way as you leaned up to press a quick kiss on Jimin's lips. "I love you!" You said and bounced away, leaving them to frown at your absence.

Not long after, however, their heads came popping into the kitchen, too awake to return to sleep now.

"It's gotten cold," you pouted as you turned to them, showing them the plate of pancakes that would have made the perfect early breakfast snack if they hadn't lost their heat. "I'm gonna cry."

"Really now?" Namjoon chuckled.

"We can make some more," Jungkook suggested, not liking the idea of heating them up in the microwave because microwaves scared him.

"But then these will all go to waste," you said.

"It's okay, you didn't make that much in the first place because you thought it'd just be you," Hoseok said pointing out and you nodded.

"Okay," you sighed. "Let's make another batch for the eight of us then!"

And so you got to working with a bit of help, adding in berries and chocolate, each batch with a little something different so that you could all choose whatever you wanted to eat. It was fun, being up so early in the morning with nothing to do for another hour until you had to get ready for work. Together. You and them.

Back then you'd always wonder on the thoughts of why they had chosen you, what they had seen in you in the first place. And sometimes you did find yourself going back to those thoughts.

"You know," you said as you all sat around the dinner table, "sometimes I wonder why you choose to enjoy these kinds of food when you can be enjoying those exquisite dishes that they always serve at those parties. You know, like the rich people you are?"

"It's good once in a while," Jimin said with a light shrug, "but we prefer this because it's better, it's more, it's true and it's made with love. It's made of your love. Our love."

And when Taehyung fed you a slice of the blueberry pancakes on his plate, you smiled because you understood.

You didn't have to be perfect to be loved by them (though they always insisted you were perfect), you didn't have to be the prettiest or the most hard working or whatever anyone previous had always told you. All you had to do was stay true to your heart and love them with your true heart.

It didn't have to always be pretty as long as it was you and them in the end.

A love stronger than the day before but less than the next.

With a promise of tomorrow and more tomorrows to come.

2K notes · View notes

picassho-18 · 4 years

Text

Art of Fire (II)

Zuko x Reader; Part 2; 2k words

A/N: disclaimer! I have not read the comics set after the finale, but this is set a little after Zuko’s coronation

Summary: The recently crowned Fire Lord Zuko meets a new friend of his Uncle’s, a special fire bender that quickly grabs his interest over a cup of tea and the discussion of the arts.

ALL CURRENTLY POSTED PARTS: Part 1 Part 2 Part 3 Part 4

Apprehensive, you began to walk up the steps leading to the Royal Palace doors. While you were confident, maybe borderline cocky, with your skills and artwork, the idea of seeing Zuko again made you nervous. And you most definitely did not want to make a fool of yourself.

Iroh had obviously encouraged you over a cup of tea. He had admitted to intentionally having you meet his nephew. He may also have accidentally let it slip that Zuko wasn’t socializing with anyone since things with him and his past girlfriend Mai had split up.

Iroh seemed to think that the pair of you would be good together. It was nice to hear, especially because of your rapidly developing crush on his nephew. Yet it did not give you enough confidence walking up those steps, a sketchpad and pencil in your arms.

A servant at the door saw the materials in your hands, “Hello, are you the fire-painter to see the Fire Lord?”

You swallowed, no chickening out now, “Yes, that's me!”

“Excellent, he has been hoping you would come. Follow me.” The servant turned, walking you down majestic hallways throughout the Royal Palace. At one point you walked past a courtyard, so extremely lovely with a pond that had turtleducks swimming gently through the clear water.

Not really thinking about your actions, you stopped following the servant, slipping silently into the courtyard while the servant continued to walk away, not aware that you stopped following. Checking to make sure no one was watching, you walked to the pond, the turtleducks quacking softly as you approached.

“Oh how adorable you are!” you exclaimed, sitting down at the edge as they all swam closer to you. “I wish I had something to feed you!” you said sadly, as they watched you intently, their adorable eyes following your movements.

One of the turtleducks got close enough that you were able to reach out, giving it’s head a little scratch. You let out a little awe as it swam closer, nuzzling against your fingers.

Suddenly a voice rang out, causing your hand to jerk away from the turtleduck, “So I see you’ve made a friend.” You looked up to see Zuko leaned against a column to the entrance of the courtyard gesturing to the turtleduck you had been petting, obvious that he had been watching you.

“Ah, I’m sorry Fire Lord” you stood up quickly, giving him a small bow, “I just couldn’t resist them, when I saw how adorable they were.”

He waved you off, a soft smile on his face, “It is of no concern. They are extremely cute creatures.” Zuko walked over to you, standing next to you, both of you still watching the turtleducks.

“So, um, what was that emergency that last time we spoke?” you asked him, your curiosity getting the better of you.

Zuko’s eyes darkened, the little bit of shine that they earlier vanished, “Politics” he stated simply. As if that cleared everything up. When he saw your confusion, he continued, “Ever since my coronation not everyone in the Fire Nation has agreed with my new ideologies. Lets just say the Palace has been attacked every so often by insurgents.”

“Ah” you responded, you didn’t know that there were insurgents, everyone you’ve encountered always seemed so supportive to the end of the 100 year war.

A silence overtook the pair of you, both looking at the sparkling pond in front of you, thinking about the world you lived in. While the end of the war seemed so full of hope, a sense of completion and promise of a better future, yet the struggles have not been lifted. With his eyes on the turtleducks, you took the opportunity to really look at him.

You could see the stress on the frame of Zuko’s body. Dark rings hung under his eyes, possible from the lack of sleep or constant stress. He was a walking image of exhaustion. His shoulders sagged slightly, as if the weight of the world was resting on them. In a way it actually was. The Earth Kingdom, Water Tribes, along with his own Nation were all looking to him in this time of change.

He cleared his throat, pulling you from your thoughts, “So how about we plan out this piece of art?” he asked, sitting on the grass, you following suit, nodding. Zuko suggested, “How about a mural? I was thinking possibly for that wall?” pointing to a wall just outside the courtyard.

Instantly, your brain kicked into art mode, “Oh yes! That wall is big and empty, and it can be seen throughout the whole courtyard. Any ideas of what it would be of?”

He hesitated before answering, taking a deep breath as he stared at a nearby tree next to the pond. “I was thinking it could be a portrait of my mother.”

You looked between Zuko’s face, and the tree he was staring at. You saw the sorrow buried in his face, his eyes seemed distant, like he was not present, but instead inside a memory.

“Underneath that tree, my mother and I would watch the turtleducks. In her arms, she made me feel so safe, so loved. I think a portrait of her would be perfect.”

You nodded, understanding the pain he was feeling, “I think that would be lovely.”

“My only request would be that she's smiling.” His voice trailed off, his mind devoured by more memories, as he laid his head down on the grass, staring up at the sky.

“Of course” you said softly. At your voice his lips quirked upward in a slightly smile

Next to him, you began to sketch. You have seen Ursa’s portraits before, and sketching one with a smile would not be too hard. It remained silent, the pair sitting close together on the edge of the pond as your pencil worked rapidly on the paper, and Zuko’s eyes had begun to shut. His breath had slowed down, as if he was on the edge of sleep.

You had finished the sketch, but when you saw the Fire Lord asleep next to you, you had no clue on what to do. Silently, you place the sketchpad and pencil at your feet, trying not to move much. It looked like he needed all the sleep he could get. The fact that he could fall asleep that fast was an indicator of that. What you would have never guessed was how much Zuko found your own presence soothing.

Suddenly, a gust of wind hit the courtyard, the branches swaying slightly. A young boy appeared, sliding between the pillars; his orange wardrobe and blue tattoos obvious to who he was.

What you should have done was instantly stand up and bow to the Avatar, giving him your respect, yet when he began to open his mouth to speak, probably quite loudly from the stories you have heard about him, you instinctively shushed him, gesturing to the sleeping Zuko.

You froze, finger over your lips, as you realized you just shushed the Avatar. Thankfully, he appeared to not take it the wrong way, and snickered at the sleeping form beside you. He glided softly over the grass to sit down silently beside you.

In a quiet whisper, he spoke, leaning close to you so as not to wake Zuko, “Hello. My name is Aang.”

With a small grimace, you whispered back, “I’m so sorry I shushed you. I probably shouldn’t have because you are the Avatar, but it looked like Zuko needed his sleep”

Aang nodded, “That he does. The past few weeks have been hard on him.” You looked at the young boy, yet he appeared anything but. While he was small, and no taller than the average 12 year old, his face told a different story. That he has seen things. Experienced things that no person should. It was eerily similar to the face that you had been quickly associating with Zuko.

Aang continued, “So how do you know Zuko?” He was slightly confused at how someone appeared so close to a friend of his without knowing.

Still with a soft voice, you whispered, “Um. Well I am actually close friends with his Uncle. But I’ve actually only met Zuko twice. I’m sort of surprised that he has fallen asleep right here.”

With a wistful tone, one coming from experience and knowledge, Aang responded, “He must be very comfortable with you. Zuko is not one to let his guard down with others. He is typically very closed off to others.” While he said this, you looked at Zuko’s face. It was more serene, like the stress had vanished as soon as he fell asleep.

Zuko suddenly stirred, a quiet groan rumbling in his chest as he began to rub his eyes. He sat up, glaring slightly at the sun, before he noticed Aang and you beside him.

His voice deeper than usual, Zuko grumbled, “How long have I been asleep?”

“Um, probably around an hour. You looked like you needed it so I didn’t wake you.” you replied sheepishly.

“And it appears you’ve met Aang,” he replied, his eyebrow cocked up slightly, but a warm smile resting on his face.

Aang laughed, his boyish nature showing a little more,“We have met but not before she put me in my place, stopping me from waking you.” You shyly smiled at Zuko when his eyes widened as he realized what you did, blushing.

He stood up, clearing his throat, “Well um, thank you Y/N, but I uh, must continue my duties for the day.”

“Of course.” you stood as well, along with Aang, “I finished the portrait, but uh, will tomorrow be a good day for me to bring the supplies and start?”

“Yes, of course. Midday will be perfect.” Zuko responded, trying to ignore the looks that Aang was shooting at him. The air had grown awkward, like Zuko and Aang were having their own conversation with simple looks.

Confused at the sudden change in atmosphere, you said, “Alright, then I’ll be off!” Quickly left the pair behind as they said their goodbyes, leaving the courtyard.

Aang turned to Zuko, “Well, do you have something to tell me? Or am I supposed to ignore the way she spoke about you? Or the way you were looking at her?”

***

Read Part 3 HERE

ART OF FIRE TAG LIST:

@haylaansmi

@wasntpriscilla

@justholdthesun

@furblrwurblr

@writers-thoughts09

@alrightberries

@fitzsimmons-is-forever

@katieisntcranky

@ari-shipping-stuff

@ayo-cowbelly

@ctrl-alt-jeon

@tardis-is-mine

@catraismygf

@celamoon

#zuko x reader #avatar the last airbender #firebender!reader #zuko fic #prince zuko #fire lord zuko

599 notes · View notes

artzychic27 · 3 years

Text

Evillustrator Part Deux

These people have some nerve. Barging into the art classroom, his safe space, the only place in school where he can be himself without people looking at him weirdly. He can be loud and goofy and show his art without fear of being judged. But they just had to ruin it. By 'they' he means his classmates. Not the smart ones like Marinette, Alix, Rose, and Juleka. Yes, that sounded a little rude, but it was the truth! Ever since Lie-la came along with a big mouth full of lies, it's like the rest of the class had lost a good chunk of brain cells. He knows they're trying to be nice and accommodate for the 'disabled student', but they can't tell a con-artist when they see one!

Lila's been nothing but a thorn in the art club's side since she arrived, and all because they knew she was nothing but a lying, manipulative creature. So far, she's lied about Marinette doing a bunch of stuff she'd never do to her and almost got her expelled, Alix spray painting half of her wardrobe so Mylene, Sabrina, and Alya had to buy her more clothes with their money, Juleka cornering her in the bathroom and telling her to kill herself so the goth girl got detention she didn't deserve, and Rose stealing her lunch money which is how she afforded those cute new ballet flats and the other students had to buy Lila's lunch for her. Now it was Nathaniel's turn.

What has Lila said about him? She didn't really lie, but more like got on his bad side by suggesting he should find a new writer since Marc's work was "amateur", making little jabs at his art by saying loudly for the class to hear that her work has gotten many comic book artists' attention which then led to the class telling Lila that she should introduce them to Nathaniel. He said no, of course, since the artists were either dead or not real and they did not react well. They said he was rude, Lila was trying to help, and that's how he became one of the bullies of the classroom.

But then one morning, Lila told everyone that he stole her artwork. They were hesitant to believe her even despite believing Nathaniel was a bully since they knew he HATED art thieves with a passion, probably more than Marinette hated Hawkmoth. But when she showed them the hideously bright orange sketchbook with a crudely drawn cursive L on the cover in black sharpie and flipped through the pages slowly so the class could admire what Nathaniel realized was other artists' work he saw on Instagram that she was claiming as her own.

After seven long minutes, Lila finally stopped on a page that had the class immediately go off on Nathaniel when they recognized that it looked exactly like the art, the original art, on the school website. Alix and Marinette tried to defend him the best that they could, but the sausage-haired brat was a step ahead, saying that she sometimes brings her sketchbook to school and keeps it in her locker because she was always so nervous about what people would say about her art, and Nathaniel must've broken in, took a picture of the page, traced the art, and passed it off as his own. The class was torn, but they were leaning more towards Lila’s side because 'Why would Lila lie?'

Throughout the entire day, Nathaniel was forced to listen to the class asking if he was jealous of Lie-la's art being 'far better than his' (Her words), interrogating him to see if he stole anyone else's art, and they even had the gall to tell Mme. Bustier what Lila had told them. He missed his lunch and was instead tortured by Mme. Bustier lecturing HIM on why art theft is wrong, and that he needed to be the bigger person and apologize for stealing Lila's art. No matter how many times he explained to the woman that Lila lied, she just wouldn't listen! He had so much more respect for Marinette than he already did. She would go on and on about Mme. Bustier telling her to be an example and apologize when she was the one who was wronged. He was going to learn how to bake and make that girl some macarons. When she finally let him go, lunch was already over! Thank God Marc, the best boyfriend in the world saved him half of his sandwich and an apple. He did not apologize, and he had no intention of doing so.

The rest of the day was spent with his actual friends coming to his defense every five minutes when one of them would try and get him to apologize for stealing Lila's art. And when they weren't doing that, they were tracking down the people whose art was stolen by Lila when Mylene found the art Lila had traced on Instagram and Twitter. It's like they're her personal guard dogs. He wanted to knock some sense into them and go- what Lila inappropriately calls- 'feral-mode' on them; a nod to his bipolar disorder. Going against his instincts, he went to Mme. Bustier about what Lila had said about him being Bipolar, but she told him, 'Oh, but Lila doesn't understand your condition. It's your job to explain it to her.' ... He just wants Hawkmoth to come in here and have an Akuma pummel this woman.

Finally, the day was over, they were all gone, and he could now spend time with his friends and a real teacher without being yelled at or accused of being an art thief... For about seven minutes.

"Just apologize," Alya urged.

With a glare, Nathaniel yelled, "For the last. Damn. Time! I didn't steal any art!" Where was M. Haberkorn when you needed him?

"Then explain why Lila's art is in your sketchbook!" Kim demanded.

Lila sniffed, "Nath, if you're jealous of me, I could have-"

"Why the hell would I be jealous of you of all people?"

"Don't be so rude!"

"Why are you saying this stuff?"

"Lila didn't do anything to you!"

"Guys," Alix snapped her fingers to grab their attention and quiet them down, "Nathaniel loathes art thieves. Why would he steal someone else's art? And what would he have to gain from it? He's already the illustrator for one of the best damn comics in Paris, and he's won contests with some of his work." She shot the redhead a proud look before turning back to her classmates, "So do tell us. Why would Nathaniel steal another person's art?"

None of them could come up with an excuse. None of them except Lila just when the art club thought they had won, "Well, maybe he was just insecure," she ignored Nathaniel's offended look and continued, "I didn't want to say anything, but some students were looking at his art on the school website and said it seemed... Amateur compared to mine."

Marinette whispered to Juleka, "Oh, she did not just say the A-word."

Alix coughed into her fist, "Bullshit!"

Alya glared at the pinkette, "Stop ganging up on her!" She turns to Nathaniel, "And Nath, you need to stop being jealous of Lila just because some people prefer her art-"

"Will you shut up already?!" Nathaniel screamed, stunning his classmates at his outburst. "I am not jealous of Lila! I never will be jealous of her because there's nothing to be jealous over!”

Nathaniel let out a sigh. He didn't mean to yell, but they were all just so frustrating. He was telling the truth and they couldn't see it. They're choosing to believe a liar they've known only for a few months over someone they've known for years. They all knew Nathaniel was the resident class artist and not once has he stolen another person's art; it was a level he would never stoop to, not even if you paid or threatened him to.

"Dude, you need to chill," Nino calmly said.

"No, he doesn’t." Everyone turned to the source of the new voice and saw Marc standing at the doorway with his red pencil case. The art club students became relieved when they saw the writer. Marc was a reasonable, level-headed person who could find red flags easily. He'd talk some sense into them all and maybe their Lila nightmare would be over. During lunch, the art club explained to him why Nathaniel was missing, infuriating the green-eyed boy. Because of Rossi, his boyfriend was forced to miss lunch and endure a lecture by a teacher who should really consider pursuing a different career. "Nathaniel is not an art thief." He brushed past them and made his way over to his boyfriend before kissing his cheek.

"Marc, don't defend him just because he's your boyfriend," Mylene said. And in response, Marc rolled his eyes.

"Even if we weren't dating, I'd still defend him." He points to Nathaniel's sketchbook as if asking for permission to hold it. With a nod, Nathaniel hands Marc his sketchbook, and the writer flips through the pages until he stops on the page with the sketch that started this mess. On the page is a full-body sketch of Ladybug, running with her hair out of its pigtails and flowing through the breeze. It took all of Marinette's will-power to not blush when Nathaniel showed her and the others before posting it on the school's website. What she loved most was that she was not wearing a skin-tight bodysuit, but instead, she was wearing battle armor and actually had on shoes. Maybe she could ask Tikki for an upgrade on her current suit.

"Nathaniel always uses the same art style," Marc pointed out. "During lunch, I caught a look at some of the pages in Lila's sketchbook and noticed that she had about ten different art styles. The sketch she claims Nathaniel stole looks very similar to his usual style." Before Lila can defend herself, Marc continued, "And I also noticed that your line art is very dark."

Marinette realizes what her cousin is insinuating and adds, "He's right. Most line art is light so that when an artist makes a mistake, they can easily erase it." She smirks, "So, care to explain why your line art is so much darker compared to Nathaniel's?"

Lila stammered for a response, "I... We-well my wrist-" Before she could say anything else, Alya rested a hand on her shoulder and said, "You don't need to explain anything to them. We know your innocent." After nodding in agreement with Alya, the students headed out of the classroom. Alya pulled Lila out and didn't notice her smirking viciously at the art kids or Alix giving her double middle fingers.

With a sigh of exhaustion, Nathaniel sat down and rested his head on the table. "What is wrong with them?" he groaned. Rose patted his shoulder sympathetically, "It's okay, Nath."

Marinette shook her head, "I try to remind myself that it's not their fault; Lila's manipulating them, but it takes a lot to convince myself that."

Marc took the empty seat next to Nathaniel and brushed his bangs to the side so Nathaniel could see him. "Are you okay?" Nathaniel nodded and mumbled, "Thanks, Rainbow." With a smile, Marc kissed his forehead, slid Nathaniel's sketchbook toward him, and pulled out his journal, "Let's just enjoy the quiet while we still have it."

Juleka nodded as she grabbed her bass, "Yeah, maybe I'll just fake being sick tomorrow."

"Nope!" Alix exclaimed. "There's strength in numbers, Jules. If we all have to suffer, then so do you." Juleka responded by strumming a few cords on her bass.

The rest of the class, sans Chloe and Adrien, decided to spend the rest of their day, cool off from earlier, and cheer Lila up by getting some of André's ice cream. Poor Lila didn't have any money on her because she donated almost all of her cash to her favorite charity, one that helped children from lower-income families. Ivan, being a nice guy, paid for her cone and Lila promised she'd pay him back... Yeah, like that would ever happen. Five euros and all she got was plain vanilla because André couldn't see her being in a relationship with anyone.

"Girl, maybe he just messed up," Alya told her. "André is getting old."

Nino reluctantly nodded, "Yeah. Maybe that's it." He's been getting ice cream from André since he was five, and the man was never wrong. He predicted his first love by giving him cotton candy, peach, and blueberry ice cream, and his future love with tangerine, lemon, and raspberry. If André gives you vanilla, that's it. No love for you. 'But why would Lila end up without love?' he wondered. She's nice, charitable, always meeting exciting people. It confused him.

If Nino could hear what was going on through Lila's head, he'd take it all back. 'Stupid Marinette. Stupid Alix. Stupid Rose. Stupid Juleka. Stupid Marc. AND STUPID NATHANIEL! That idiot has some nerve going against me! Just wait, Kurtzberg. I'll ruin your reputation so bad that not even your freak boyfriend will look at you! With that spineless coward of a Principal on my side, I'll make sure no school will take you!' "Guys, this was sweet of you, but I just wanna go home," she said in a tone that contrasted her inner voice.

Alya smiled and pulled her in for a hug, not noticing the scowl on the Italian's face, "We understand. Maybe you can draw something to make you feel better."

'Yeah, I'll find a sucker on Instagram, make a few tweaks, and have you all eating out of the palm of my hand.' "Yeah," she sighed. "That always cheers me up. I'll see you all tomorrow!" She waved then headed off in the direction of her home. Then once she was out of view, she ran towards the school and threw her ice cream on the ground, not caring about the pigeon she just hit. She was not going to let that stupid redhead get away so easily. She already had a ton of sinister ideas going on in her head about what'd she'd do to Nathaniel the second she caught him alone and those art club brats aren't there to help him.

Once in the school, Lila waited around a corner for him. So that no one would suspect anything, she pretended to be texting on her phone. It took five minutes until finally, Nathaniel walked out of the classroom with his sketchbook in his hand. Lila's original plan was to jump him and drag him into an empty classroom so she could threaten him to comply with her or she’d drag his reputation through the mud, but Marc was with him. She couldn’t have witnesses, or this would never work. But then everything worked out in her favor. The idiot was too distracted by his boyfriend to notice her or that he dropped his sketchbook on the floor when trying to put it in his messenger bag.

She quickly picked up the sketchbook once they were gone, and darted for the locker room. She looked around to make sure no one was there and opened Nathaniel’s prized possession. She scowled at all of the drawings of Marinette with hearts around her. “Obviously has no taste,” she muttered scornfully then continued flipping through the pages full of drawings of Ladybug, and her frown worsened the more she looked. He should be drawing a REAL hero like Volpina. Then she found a few pages with drawings of that boyfriend of his.

“Disgusting,” she sneered, then immediately tore out the page with a drawing of the two boyfriends hugging. She aggressively threw the book to the floor and stomped on it with the dirt sole of her boot, tearing and crumpling a few pages and damaging the spine. She picked it back up and proceeded to tear out more pages before getting a cruel idea. She went into the girls’ bathroom, turned on the faucet, and dropped the sketchbook into the sink. A twisted smirk spread on her face as she watched the water turn an array of colors. Satisfied, she pulled it back out and turned off the water before leaving.

She wasn’t done just yet. She looked for Nathaniel’s locker, which was easy. All she had to do was open every locker until she found the one with photos of Marc taped inside. Lila gathered up the pages she tore out, crumpled them up, and threw them into the lockers along with Nathaniel’s ruined sketchbook. By the time he opened his locker tomorrow, the pages will be dry and everything he’s drawn will be unrecognizable. Slamming the locker door shut, Lila walked out of the locker room feeling proud of herself, but not before she added a little insult to injury and taped a sticky note with an insulting message onto Nathaniel’s locker door. Tomorrow morning, Nathaniel will learn what happens when you cross Lila Diabla Rossi.

Nathaniel was not having a great morning. He accidentally set his alarm clock for the wrong time last night and woke up and three in the morning. He couldn't go back to sleep so he decided to do some late-night sketching until he felt tired. The only problem was that he couldn't find his sketchbook. He wanted to tear his room apart and look for it, but he didn't want to risk waking up his mom and having her come in, wondering why he was up so early. So he waited until it was 7:00 am when his mom was up and getting ready for the day.

He looked all around his room but couldn't find his sketchbook anywhere. 'It could be worse,' he thought to himself. He lost his personal sketchbook and not the one he used for his and Marc's comic. Now that would be awful. But losing his personal sketchbook was just as bad and embarrassing. It still had some of the sketches he did of Marinette back when he had a crush on her and some fanart from animes he wasn't comfortable showing anyone except for Alix and Marc, who showed him some fanfiction that only he was allowed to read.

"Maybe I left it at school," Nathaniel told himself once it was pretty clear that his sketchbook was nowhere in his room. Taking a few breaths to calm down and assure himself that maybe someone found his sketchbook and took it to lost and found, he got ready for the day.

After getting showered and dressed, Nathaniel made his way downstairs to have breakfast with his mom. Hearing him walk into the kitchen, Aya looked away from the stove and greeted her son with a smile, “Morning, sweetie.” Despite Nathaniel smiling, she knew something was wrong. She could tell by the way he was clutching his messenger bag and darting his eyes around the room like he was looking for something. “Is everything alright?” she asked. When he didn’t answer, she asked, “Did something happen at school? Was it that Rossi girl?” Ever since Lila first lied about her son, Aya would always take some time out of her schedule to listen to him vent about the dreaded girl. And in Aya’s opinion, she sounded like a real nightmare in need of a spanking.

“Yeah, but she’s not what I’m upset about,” he answered. “I can’t find my sketchbook. The black one?”

Aya immediately turned off the stove and went to hug him. Nathaniel loved that sketchbook. His father got it for him when he was seven and used up all of his other sketchbooks. It was one of the things he had to remember him by. “Well, maybe it’s at school. I’m sure you’ll find it, sweetie.” Seeing him smile, Aya kissed his forehead and went back to making breakfast, “Now go sit down sweetie; the hash browns are almost done.”

With a nod, Nathaniel sat at the table and thought to himself over and over, ‘You’ll find it, you’ll find it, you’ll find it.’

When he arrived at school, Nathaniel only had fifteen minutes to look for his sketchbook until class starts. He rushed into the library where the lost and found box was stored and asked the librarian for access to it. He took Nathaniel into the break room where a large bin sat in the corner of the room between two shelves filled with items too large to go in the bin. Quickly, he sifted through or tossed aside anything that wasn't his sketchbook. Textbooks, jewelry, one shoe, pants, a purse, but no sketchbook. With a frustrated groan, he put the items he tossed back in the bin so the librarian wouldn't get on his case for messing up the break room. "Where is it?!" Once out of the library, he kicked a wall in frustration and continued to look around for his sketchbook.

He remembered walking out of the art classroom with it, so it wasn't in there. If it fell out of his bag, someone must’ve found it. But why didn’t they take it to the lost and found? Maybe they put it back in his locker. None of the lockers have locks, so if a student finds something that another student lost, they put it in that student’s locker. Maybe someone did that. He still had seven minutes left, so he ran down the stairs, moved through crowds of students in the courtyard, and went into the locker room.

Once at his locker, Nathaniel furrowed his brown in confusion when he saw the orange sticky note stuck to his locker door. He took it down and read it, “‘You deserve this.’”

Still confused and a little anxious by what the note meant, Nathaniel slowly opened his locker, expecting a bucket of paint to fall on top of him or a spring-loaded boxing glove to knock a couple of his teeth out… This was way worse. There at the bottom of his locker was a dingy black book with crispy pages like someone had poured water on it and left it to dry in his locker. He found a few crumpled pieces of paper and unfurled them. He felt like he needed to throw up. These were sketches of Marc, Marinette, and some rough sketches for comics. He realized that they were from his sketchbook and a look of dread spread across his face when he realized that the dried-up book in his locker was actually his sketchbook.

“No, no, no, no!” He quickly took it out and tried flipping through the pages to see if anything had been salvaged, but he could barely turn them without a piece breaking off due to the dry paper. He flipped to the back of his ruined sketchbook and immediately started crying. There was smudged writing that he could barely read, but he could make out what was written at the bottom, ‘Make something amazing, kid. -Dad’ He clutched the book close to his chest and slowly slid down his locker and sat on the floor where he silently cried to himself.

The butterflies fluttered around as the window opened and illuminated on Hawkmoth. He smirked cunningly when he felt a powerful wave of emotions coming from Francoise Dupont. The Akuma hotspot.

“Such feelings of rage, and even more of sorrow.” He beckons for a pure white butterfly to land in his open palm. “This poor, disturbed boy.” He covers the butterfly with his other hand and fills it with dark magic using the Miraculous. Hawkmoth uncovers the butterfly, now an Akuma, and it flutters out of the window. “Fly away my beautiful Akuma, and evilize that boy!”

The Akuma flew over the city and towards the school where its target was. It phased through the walls so no students or teachers would see it, and went into the locker room where Nathaniel was still crying. He lifted his head up at the sound of its wings flapping and with a yelp, he got up and ran around the room to avoid the Akuma. Soon, he was backed into a corner with no way out. He turned his head away from the Akuma and shut his eyes tight as the evil butterfly merged with his sketchbook and turned it pitch black. The glowing, purple Akuma symbol appeared over his face. Nathaniel gripped his hair as Hawkmoth spoke to him, “Welcome back, Evillustrator.”

“Stop it,” he cried. “Not now.”

Hawkmoth paid close attention to the emotions he was feeling right now. It was mainly anger from having his sketchbook destroyed, but he was also grieving. A feeling Hawkmoth knew all too well. He could see the Akumatized object in his head and saw the damage that had been done to it. As a fellow patron of the arts, he knew the importance of a sketchbook to an artist. But there was something special about this one. Perhaps someone he lost gifted it to him. He spoke, “But why not? I too understand the pain of losing a loved one. Let me help you.”

“You’re not going to help me.”

“But I will. That sketchbook must mean something to you. Don’t you wish to find the one responsible?”

"..." Nathaniel’s look of fear morphed into a scowl when he realized who could have done this, “Yes.”

Hawkmoth smiled, “I won’t stand in your way this time. As long as you bring me the Miraculous, you may use your powers however you please. Do we have a deal?”

“Yes, Hawkmoth.” Black mist bubbled up from his sketchbook and engulfed him. Seconds later, Evillustrator stood in place of Nathaniel with an upgraded outfit. His windswept hair is brighter and more vibrant, fading from orange to purple, to black. He had on a white v-neck tailcoat with four dark purple stripes and three circles colored red, yellow, and blue printed on, a black shirt that had darker cuffs with red, yellow, and blue buttons and a red swan neck collar, white gloves, purple pants, and red boots with a slight heel.

He lifted his right arm where his tablet was attached, tucked his repaired, dark purple sketchbook under his arm, and began drawing. Materializing out of thin air was a fake Nathaniel. With a smirk, Evillustrator handed the Akumatized object over to him and said, “You know what to do.” With a nod, fake Nathaniel opened the sketchbook to an empty page and pressed it to Evillustrator’s chest. Immediately, he disappeared in a flash of purple light. Nathaniel turned the book towards him and saw a sketch of Evillustrator motioning for him to leave. He closed the book and made his way to class.

Lila tried very hard to suppress a scowl when she saw the fake Nathaniel walking into the classroom with the sketchbook, she was so sure that she destroyed it. Was it all just a wonderful dream? No! She knew she destroyed that thing! But, wasn’t it black? She needed to destroy it so that redhead would learn his place. Before she could make her way to his and Marinette’s desk in the back, Mme. Bustier walked in, “Alright class, take your seats!”

‘Later,’ she thought to herself then went to her seat next to Alya.

Mme. Bustier began writing on the board, "Today, we'll- OW!" Out of nowhere, a baseball hit the side of her head, much to the shock of the class. She picked up the ball while rubbing the side of her head, "Where did this come from?"

Lila immediately shot her hand up and pointed to the back, "I bet it was Marinette!"

"I am way back here and it hit the side of her head!" She yelled, "If I had thrown that ball, it would have nailed her right in the back of the head!" The students on her side and the students on Lila's side got into a heated argument. Adrien tried to calmly tell Lila's side that Alix was right, but they just talked over him. Chloe, who didn't care, filed her nails. Mme. Bustier clapped her hands, trying to grab their attention, "Class, please!" They settled down, making her let out a breath of relief. "Now, Alix is right about the ball hitting me on the side," Alix shot Lila a victorious smirk. "We'll figure out who did this later, but let's just get to our lesson." She set the baseball down on her desk, eyeing it warily before turning back to the board.

Marinette rolled her eyes. It was way too early for Lila to be pulling this kind of crap. Also, where did that baseball come from? The windows aren't open, so it didn't come from outside. She turned to Nathaniel, intending to ask what he thought. None of the art club students really paid attention to Mme. Bustier's lessons since she rarely taught anything. And when she was teaching, Lila would steer the lesson over to an hour-long discussion about how she was related to some major historical figure. Marinette was pretty sure Vlad the Impaler and Catherine the Great weren't related.

Before she could say anything, she noticed him just staring at a page in his sketchbook. Just staring, not drawing. She couldn't see what he was looking at because he was holding the front cover of the book up. And what's even weirder was that he seemed to be nodding. When he saw her staring, he immediately closed his sketchbook and turned his attention to the front.

'Strange,' Marinette thought to herself then continued half-listening to the lesson.

Ten more minutes in, and Lila was telling a story about being the distant relative of some witch hunter from the Salem witch trials in the states. This allowed the art club kids to text each other on their group chat while everyone ate up whatever Lila said. But Marinette made a new group chat without Nathaniel.

Something's Up

Alix: Care 2 explain??

Rose: Is something wrong?

Juleka: You forgot Nathaniel.

Marinette: That's what this is about. There's something... Off about him today.

Alix: Oh, thank God! I thought I was the only one who noticed.

Rose: What's wrong with Nathaniel???

Alix: He's just all zoned out or something.

Marinette: I caught him nodding at his sketchbook.

Alix: I don't even recognize that one. All his sketchbooks usually have designs on them but that one is just solid purple. 🤔

Juleka: Now that you mention it... When everyone was arguing about the baseball, I noticed he didn't say or do anything. Just stared at his sketchbook.

Rose: That's odd.

Marinette: Maybe he's having an off day?

Alix: I did see him bump into the door frame when he walked into the classroom. So... Off day?

Juleka: Off day.

Rose: 👉🏻Off day👈🏻

Marinette: Off Day. Okay, Lila's wasted twenty minutes and we have two minutes left of class... Any weekend plans?

Rose: Family reunion! Can't wait!

Juleka: Luka and I are gonna watch a bunch of trashy high school movies from America. I'm interested in this one called The Outcasts.🍿🎥

Alix: Promised Jalil I'd do some nerd stuff with him.🤓

Marinette: Baking 🥐, sewing 🧵, typical day.

BRRRRIIIIIIING!

Marinette: And once again, we've learned nothing.

Alix: Ah, the glorious history of nothing.

Rose: My cousin majored in the Fundamentals of Nothing.

The students gathered their things and headed to their next class. As Nathaniel was packing, Mme. Bustier called out, "Nathaniel, can you stay for a minute?"

"Are you gonna be okay?" Marinette asked. At fake Nathaniel's nod, she left with the others, leaving him and Mme. Bustier alone.

The first thing she said was, "Nathaniel, I hope you apologized to Lila." When he didn't answer and just stared at her blankly, she sighed, "Nathaniel, I understand that you're upset."

"Upset doesn't even begin to describe how I feel, Caline!"

"But it's not Lila's fault," "Excuse me?!" "She just wants to make friends, and by antagonizing her," "You mean exposing an art thief?" "you'll be preventing her from doing so. Now, I expect you to apologize to Lila before the end of the day." "Or else, what, Caline?!"

The fake Nathaniel opened the sketchbook slightly, and immediately, a flaming arrow shot out of it and was dangerously close to hitting Mme. Bustier's foot. She looked at the redhead in shock before slowly backing away as he opened his sketchbook. "N-Nathaniel, wh-what are you- Aah!" The fake has pressed a blank page on her arm, and she disappeared with a scream. He turned the sketchbook towards him and there was Caline Bustier, now a pencil sketch hitting her fists against the paper and screaming to be let out. She was silenced by fake Nathaniel turning to the page with Evillustrator.

"Make sure there are none of those idiots left." With a nod, the fake shut the sketchbook and left just before the next class arrived.

Seventeen minutes in Mendelieve's class were spent learning about physics until the science teacher left once M. Damocles made an announcement over the PA system, telling the teachers to report to his office. That left Lila to take over and talk more and more about herself without the science teacher telling her to stay silent and pay attention. The art club was just minding their business in the group chat but listened closely when Lila started spewing lies about her famous artist uncle. They knew where this was going, and Alix got ready to fight tooth and nail for her friend. Finally, Lila brought up what happened yesterday, causing the students to give the fake Nathaniel wary looks or glares

"So," Kim said as he approached fake Nathaniel. "are you finally going to apologize for stealing Lila's art?"

Marinette huffed, "Guys, for the last time, Lila is lying! Nathaniel is not an art thief!"

"Well, let’s just see if that’s true," Alya said as she pulled out her phone to record and expose Nathaniel as an art thief. Before she could grab the sketchbook out of his hands, her phone was wiped away from existence. "MY PHONE! Where'd it go?!" Fake Nathaniel looked down at the sketchbook and smirked because he knew Evillustrator had something to do with that.

Alya continued to look for her phone, "It just disappeared out of thin air!" she exclaimed as she looked under the desk, believing she dropped it and didn't notice. "How does that just happen?!" As she and a few other students continued searching for her phone, Mme. Mendelieve walked back into class with a look of concern to replace her usually stoic face.

"Class, you wouldn't happen to know where Caline went, would you?" she asked. Everyone either shook their heads or said no. "Odd. No one can find her, When her next class went in, she was gone." She looks to the fake Nathaniel, "Nathaniel, you were the last to leave. Did she say she'd be going anywhere?" The fake looked like he was about to say something, but nothing came out. He instead shook his head. With a sigh, Mendelieve continued, "If she's not found or we don't hear from her in two hours, the school day will end early so the teachers can call the police to conduct an investigation." There were some scattered whispers. "I'm sure Caline is fine. Now, let's finish the lesson." The students who were helping Alya look for her phone comply and sit back down in their seats, but Alya kept searching for her phone, "Alya, sit down."

"But I can't find my phone," she said. "It just disappeared right out of my hand!"

"Miss Cesaire, you can try to look for it later," she said sternly. "But right now, we need to continue our lesson. Sit down." Alya reluctantly did so, and Mme. Mendleieve resumed what she was teaching the class before Damocles made his announcement. While she taught, Alix glanced over at the fake staring down at his sketchbook like Marinette said he was earlier. It was so weird. He was just staring and not doing anything. And how did Mme. Bustier just suddenly disappear without a trace?

Thirty minutes passed, and the students headed to lunch while Alya stayed behind to look for her phone with Nino helping her.

Fake Nathaniel managed to slip away from Marinette, Alix, Rose, and Juleka who were walking to the cafeteria as a group, something they did in case Lila tried anything, and he was now hiding in the locker room where Evillustrator was giving him instructions. “Kim often goes to the pool during lunch to practice,” he whispered. "Get him when he comes in." Right as he said this, the door was heard opening. The fake peered around the locker he was hiding behind and saw the athlete walking in and going to his locker. No witnesses were around. He opened the sketchbook to a blank page and sneaked over towards the athlete as he was pulling his gym bag out of his locker with some struggle.

When Kim finally managed to pull his bag out, it slipped out of his hands. The force he used flung the bag behind him, and it hit the sketchbook, making it disappear. Kim looked around to see where his bag went but only saw the fake, who shut the sketchbook before Kim could see what was on the pages. "O-oh. Hey, Nath." When he didn't answer, Kim sighed. "Silent treatment. Deserved that; I get it. Look, man I-I don't want to believe you stole Lila's art, but uh... I mean, why would Lila lie?"

"Because she's evil! Get him, now!"

"Still upset with me, huh?" He chuckled when the fake still didn't say anything.

"You have three seconds. Three."

"Again, I wanna believe you didn't do it."

"Two."

"But you and the girls have been kinda... Antagonizing her a bit?"

"One!"

The fake immediately clutched his left hand like he was in pain, getting Kim concerned. "Nath, what's wrong?!" He uncovered the fake's hand and was repulsed to find that his fingers were starting to vanish. "Oh my God!" Before he could say or do more, the fake mouthed, 'I'm sorry'. Then he opened the sketchbook and pressed the blank page to Kim's face. He disappeared with a scream. Fake Nathaniel dropped the sketchbook in favor of clutching his fingerless hand. The akumatized object was opened to the page with Evillustrator's angry glare, "Hesitate next time, and I'll erase your arm!”

The fake nodded frantically before letting out a sigh as Evillustrator drew on his tablet, making his fingers reappear. As he headed to the door, he heard a slight shuffling sound and turned around to see Myléne standing right outside the girls’ bathroom with her mouth agape.

”N-Nathaniel?” Myléne stammered as she began to slowly back away.

Fake Nathaniel approached her with the sketchbook opened to a blank page. Another silent ‘Sorry’, and Myléne was gone and trapped in the sketchbook. He flipped the pages back to Evillustrator, “Better. Now don’t stop until you have Rossi and those assholes!” The fake didn't want to do this, but he had to; it was how he was drawn. He was made to be a pawn in his creator's revenge plot, but he didn't want to do that. Evillustrator gave him the same personality he had pre-Akumatization, so this just felt wrong to him, but he couldn't go against his commands.

When fake Nathaniel nodded, Evillustrator arched an eyebrow and asked, "Can you speak?" He opened his mouth and tried to say something, but nothing came out. He shook his head. Evillustrator started drawing on his tablet, "Hold still." Fake Nathaniel's throat glowed a bright purple before dimming. "Say something."

"S... So... Some... Ting. S-something?"

"So glad I caught that. Now go!" Immediately, the fake put the sketchbook back into his messenger bag and left.

“Hey, Nath,” Marc greeted the fake as he sat down at their lunch table.

Fake Nathaniel smiled. He had his real counterpart's personality and all of his memories, so he knew exactly how to act and what to say (Now that he had a voice). “Hey, Rainbow.” He kisses Marc’s cheek and ignores the stinging sensation he’s feeling in his hand as one of his fingers is being erased. Evillustrator made him and can easily destroy him if he does something he doesn’t like. Apparently, kissing Marc is one of them.

”So, where were you?” Alix asked as she popped a grape in her mouth.

“Oh, I-I remembered that I left my locker open, and went to close it,” he fibbed.

“No point in that, Nath,” she shrugged. “Anyone can just go in and take whatever’s in a locker."

Marinette nodded in agreement, remembering her expulsion, then asked, “So, what do you guys think happened to Mme. Bustier? She couldn’t have suddenly disappeared; we all just saw her.”

Alix leaned back in her seat, uncaring, “Does it really matter? I think we could all use a break from her.” Juleka nodded, “Maybe Mendeleiev will be our substitute and actually put Lila in her place.”

”One can dream,” Rose sighed as she leaned on Juleka, making the goth girl wrap her arm around the blonde.

Juleka looked around the room. She furrowed her brow then asked, “That’s weird. Kim and Mylène aren’t here.”

”Well, Kim probably went to the pool,” Alix said as she looked for the activist. “But where’s Myléne?”

”Maybe she-“ Before Marc could finish what he was about to say, the doors slammed against the wall as Alya stormed in with Nino trailing close behind.

”Nino, a phone doesn’t just disappear like that!” she exclaimed. “There’s probably an Akuma around here!” Immediately, the cafeteria broke out into whispers about if Alya was right about the Akuma. “And Mme. Bustier suddenly disappearing? Explain that. She wouldn’t just ditch her job like that.”

”Tell it to the person doing most of her work,” Marinette muttered, making the students at the table laugh. Mme. Bustier would always force Marinette to do her work for her and say that they’re the duties of the class representative when really, the woman is just lazy to do the work herself. And when Marinette refuses, Bustier will use the ‘I’m disappointed in you’ voice until Marinette complied.

”You think this is funny?!” Lila whined. “Mme. Bustier and Myléne are missing, and it’s probably because there’s probably an Akuma loose in the school!”

Alix groaned, “Mind your own business, Rossi!” A couple of the students that were on Marinette’s side snickered. “And it’s called making light of a situation. Less negativity, fewer Akumas. You're welcome.”

”Why are you guys always so rude to me?” Alya asked before pointing to Marinette, “First you let your jealousy cloud your judgment,” then to Juleka, “you’re always telling Lila to kill herself,” Alix, “you ruined her clothes,” Rose, “you stole her money,” then Nathaniel, “and you plagiarized her art because you’re jealous of her, too! Why do you guys hate her so much?”

”Because she’s a liar,” Marc murmured. "Simple as that."

“I’m not!” Lila yelled with fake tears in her eyes that masked the glare she was sending the boy. “Why does no one believe me?!” Sabrina went to console her.

”We believe you, girl,” Alya reassured. “And we’re gonna prove you’re innocent...” Her eyes trailed to Nathaniel’s messenger bag, “Starting by proving Nathaniel did steal your art!”

Before the fake artist could react, Alya already had his messenger bag in her hands and now the akumatized sketchbook. “Lila, get your sketchbook, we’re gonna...” Her voice trailed off when she saw the moving sketches of Mme. Bustier, Kim, and Mylène, begging to be freed. The other students gathered around Alya and looked in horror at students and teacher trapped in the sketchbook.

Max pointed at the fake, “You-you’re the Akuma!”

With a sneer, he snatched the sketchbook out of Alya’s hands and pressed a blank page to Max’s face. He disappeared and was now trapped inside the sketchbook, alarming the students.

“Th-the sketchbook’s g-gotta be an Amok,” Nino stammered as he pulled Alya away from the fake. “H-he doesn’t even look like an Akuma!”

“There’s no Amok, and I’m not the Akuma.” He flips to the page with Evillustrator. “He is.” As the students stood in shock, the fake tore out the page, and it glowed a bright purple before morphing into Evillustrator, glaring menacingly at the Akuma Class.

”N-Nath?” Marc stammered as he cautiously approached his Akumatized boyfriend.

“Then who’s he?!” Alix grabbed the fake's wrist to prevent him from running and glared at him.

Evillustrator scoffed. ”He's not important.” Then, much to the fake's horror, he put the eraser to his tablet.

”No! Wait!” The fake cried as he was erased from existence, horrifying the students, Marc especially. The sketchbook dropped to the floor with a thud.

“H-how did-“

”Ask her!” He points a shaky finger at the Italian girl. “You,” he draws a lock on his tablet, “will not get away with what you did!” A couple of students, Marinette being one of them, managed to escape the cafeteria right before Multiple locks appeared on the doors, making it impossible for the others to get out unless they were crazy enough to jump out of the window.

”I-I didn’t do anything!” She lied while rubbing her eyes to look like she’s crying again. “Why are you trying to hurt me, Nathaniel?!”

”It’s Evillustrator, now!” He drew a missile on his tablet, and that same missile appeared next to him. The students ran for the doors and tried to pull the locks off, but they were too strong. “NO ONE LEAVES UNTIL SHE’S GONE!” He points his pen towards Lila, and the missile goes after her as she runs around the cafeteria screaming for help. Seeing that they weren't going to get out of this, the remaining students ducked under tables and chairs.

Ismael and Ivan ran towards Evillustrator to try and grab the pen, remembering how that was the Akumatized object last time Nathaniel was Akumatized. Quickly, he jumped out of the way, causing the two boys to collide and fall to the floor, groaning in pain. Evillustrator grabs the sketchbook off the floor and pressed a blank page on them, making the two boys disappear into the sketchbook.

Seeing that the missile was getting closer to her, Sabrina quickly got up from under a table and tackled Lila to the floor before the missile could hit her. It instead crashed into a wall, creating a massive hole that allowed the students to escape. The art club students stayed behind, though, hoping that they could calm their akumatized friend down. Evillustrator was about to run after them, but Akux grabbed his wrist.

”Nath, wait!” she pleaded while trying to not look like she’s afraid of the enraged Akuma that used to be her best friend. “Let’s just talk about this, okay? What did Lila do to you?”

Evillustrator’s glare softened as he looked into Alix's eyes. He needed to get his revenge on Lila but she was keeping him from doing that... “Forgive me, Alix.”

”What?”

Before Alix knew it, she was trapped in the sketchbook, shocking the remaining members of the art club. Marc was about to approach him, but Evillustrator held his sketchbook close to his face, making the writer back away. “Don’t make me do something I will regret, Rainbow,” he warned then ran out of the cafeteria.

Many of the students took refuge in the locker room, their main place to hide during Akuma attacks in the school. They begged Damocles for months to actually build some sort of Akuma safety shelter in the school, but it was always the same thing, 'There's not enough money in the budget.' Well, there certainly was enough for him to create a secret compartment hidden behind the wall for his Owl stuff. Thinking about how much of the money they made during fundraisers being spent by him to create those toy weapons often gave the students horrible headaches.

The students flinched when they heard Evillustrator's booming voice from the second floor of the school, “WHERE ARE YOU LILA?!” A few brave students looked out the window and saw Evillustrator erasing the walls to every classroom he passed by. “YOU’RE WEAK, YOU KNOW THAT?!” He erases the door to a storage closet, revealing two very scared students cowering at the sight of him. The students not targeted by him couldn't help but feel sorry for the Akuma. Whatever Lila did must have been awful to make Nathaniel this upset.

With a frustrated yell, Evillustrator got the two students with his sketchbook. Once they were gone, he jumped down from the second floor and into the courtyard, making the students get away from the window, hoping he didn't see them. Jean Duparc looked around to make sure everyone was safe or not doing anything to attract the Akuma. A few were nervously biting their nails or twirling their hair, others were texting their parents, and next to him, Aurore and Mireille were updating their blog, 'BugOut & CatChat'. Instead of recording Akuma battles like Alya with the Ladybug, they analyzed the akumas and gave descriptions of their powers, let the public know of the Akuma's location so they could avoid it and so Ladybug and Chat Noir couldn't find it. And just for laughs, they critiqued Hawkmoth's fashion choices for Akumas. So far, there was nothing about Evillustrator's new outfit that needed critiquing. He bumped Trouble Maker down to 2nd place on the 'Best Dressed Akuma' list.

“Come out now, or so help me, I will-!” He stepped to the side when Ladybug’s YoYo flew right past him and retracted back to the spotted heroine standing at the top of the stairs. “You’ll have to be quicker than that, you pest!”

Chat Noir dropped in next to Ladybug, “Well, what’s got him so steamed up?”

“Lila,” she groaned, making Chat roll his eyes in annoyance at the mention of the liar. He's given that girl enough chances, as Chat and as Adrien. He was done. ”Let’s get this over with.”

The two heroes ran towards Evillustrator and were already dodging giant boxing gloves, buzz saws, and pitchforks drawn by him. Ladybug threw her yoyo, which he ducked under then drew something on his tablet. A hole that Ladybug would’ve fallen into if Chat Noir hadn’t grabbed her hand in time appeared under her feet.

Evillustrator drew two more buzz saws and sent them at the heroes. Chat Noir quickly got in front of Ladybug and spun his staff, making it act like a shield that deflected the saws. One sliced through the middle of a bench, revealing Lila. He smirked, "FOUND YOU!" He threw his sketchbook at Lila, but she ran out of the way and it hit one half of the bench before coming back to him like a boomerang. Evillustrator continues throwing his sketchbook at the liar while also drawing projectiles whenever the sketchbook was out of his hands. The first round of projectiles was easily deflected by Ladybug and Chat Noir, but there were just too many on their second round. One of them gets one of Ladybug's pigtails, cutting off a few inches and making her hair look weird. Another one nicked Chat on the ankle. He whispered a curse and clutched his ankle.

With Chat Noir subdued, Ladybug had to protect both of them and deflect the rest of the projectiles while Evillustrator went after Lila. As he chased her up the stairs, Evillustrator drew a couple of darts that pinned Lila to a wall by embedding them through her clothes. As she struggled to get free, Evillustrator calmly approached her while drawing on his tablet. "Don't look so afraid Lila. You had this coming after what you did."

"I didn't do anything!" she screamed. "It's not my fault that people like my art better than your-" She's silenced by a cleaver appearing in Evillustrator's hands.

He chuckled darkly, "I am going to enjoy this." After aiming for her head, he threw the cleaver. Lila turned her head away, believing that the cleaver hitting the side of her head would be less painful than it hitting her face. She waited, but the cleaver never came, and there was a 'clank' sound. Lila opened an eye and saw that Chat Noir, being supported by Ladybug, had deflected the cleaver with his staff.

"Took you long enough!" she complained. "Get me down from here!"

Ladybug took a deep breath as she assessed the situation. She could either be a hero and save Lila, or still be a hero and rid the world of Lila... 'Fine!' She made her way over to the sausage-haired girl and slowly took out the darts, and was clearly trying to keep herself from stabbing Lila with the very sharp ends. Once the last dart was removed, Lila pushed Ladybug into Chat, making him stumble a bit and lose his composure before making a run for it.

"WHAT THE HELL?!" Evillustrator yelled, enraged. He grabbed Chat's staff while the leather-clad hero was still gripping it, and flung him over the railing, making him fall and crash onto the hard courtyard floor.

"Chat!" Ladybug called out. Angered, she threw her yoyo at the Akuma, but he caught it and opened his sketchbook, much to Ladybug's horror. Before the weapon could make contact with the page, Chat's staff extended and the end hit the side of Evillustrator's face. He fell to the floor and clenched his jaw. With him down, Ladybug ran for the sketchbook, only for a glass wall to appear between her, the Akumatized object, and Evillustrator. He drew something else on his tablet, and multiple swords appeared, all pointed at Ladybug.

"Stay out of my way!" He growled. Ladybug swung all around the courtyard as the swords chased after her. Seeing that there were still some students around, she led the swords into an empty classroom and proceeded to dodge them there. Seeing Chat Noir about to vault over to him, Evillustrator drew a giant boxing glove that knocked Chat down to the floor. He was in the middle of drawing an anvil when suddenly, a gloved hand grabbed his wrist. He looked up to see who had the nerve to stop him, but his anger diminished when he saw that it was Marc. "Rainbow, what are you doing?"

"Nath, you gotta stop!" Marc pleaded as he intertwined his and Evillustrator's hands.

"You don't know what she did, Marc!" He exclaimed. "You weren't there! Now let me go!" He tried to pull his hand out of Marc's grasp, but the writer wasn't letting go. 'Rossi's getting away! I can't let her get away with this!' With some reluctance, Evillustrator raised his sketchbook and tried hard to ignore the sad look in Marc's eyes. Just as he was about to press the page to his chest, Marc was pushed to the side, and the page instead was pressed to Rose's face, making her disappear into the sketchbook.

"ROSE!" Juleka and Marc cried out.

Evillustrator hit his fist on the metal railing in anger, "DAMN IT! SEE WHAT ROSSI'S MAKING ME DO?!" Hurridly, he drew a jetpack that appeared on his back. He pointed to Chat, "If you or Ladybug get in my way again, I WILL ERASE YOU BOTH FROM EXISTENCE!" Before he took off, he noticed Alya peering from around a corner. She was recording the fight using Nino's phone. When she noticed his eyes on her, she quickly made a run for it, but Evillustrator was faster. He hoisted the journalist over his shoulder.

"You're coming with me!" he yelled. "I want you to be there when Lila finally gets what's coming to her!"

"Wh-what are you- AH!"

Evillustrator flew out of the school just as Ladybug ran out of the classroom with her pigtails missing a couple of inches, one side strand missing, and some cuts on her face. She knew Evillustrator was a dangerous Akuma. He nearly drowned her and Chat and almost killed Chloe with a buzzsaw, but this was next level brutal. Hearing a groan, she looked and saw Chat Noir slowly climbing up the stairs with a slight limp. "Chat, are you okay?"

He shook his head, "No, m'lady. He got my ankle bad."

"Ladybug, Chat Noir!" Nino called out as he and Sabrina approached the two in-pain heroes. "Are you two okay?"

Ladybug gave a nod, "Yeah, we're fine. And don't worry Nino, we'll get Alya back."

Nino let out a breath of relief before Sabrina said to Ladybug, "Hey, after you were helping Lila down, I-I saw her push you. A-and before that, she sounded so rude when you were trying to help her." Ladybug frowned at that. She's saved that girl's butt so many times, and not once has she shown any gratitude. "Are you two having a fight, or-"

"No. We're not."

"Then why-"

Chat cut Nino off, "They're not friends, okay? Never have been, never will be."

"... Lila was lying?" Sabrina whispered to herself.

"And the sun sets in the west," Juleka muttered, making Marc give her a little nudge with his elbow.

The two bespectacled students cast each other looks of disbelief. Lila was lying about being friends with Ladybug, and she pushed the heroine into Chat, knowing he was injured and trying to fight Evillustrator. If she lied about that, what else could she have lied about? Pulling them out of their thoughts was Aurore and Mireille running over to Ladybug and Chat Noir with their phones.

"Ladybug! Chat Noir!" Mireille called out. "Alya's live-streaming right now." She hands the spotted heroine her phone, and the screen showed a live stream of the Ladyblog. Alya was in an odd position with a look of clear terror on her face that she was trying to mask with a brave smile. "He-hey, viewers! So, I am..." She looks down, and her eyes bulge before she looks back at the camera, "About a hundred feet above the ground right now, and I have nothing to hold onto! B-but don't worry. I mean, I'm slung over an Akuma's shoulder like a sack of flour, but at least he's not handsy like Pharaoh." She panned the phone to Evillustrator. "Care to comment?"

Evillustrator looks to the phone with an enraged look. "Lila Rossi, if you're watching this, I will find you! Be sure of it! And I might consider letting you live if Ladybug and Chat Noir hand over their Miraculous!"

Marc felt a tear about to escape out of the corner of his eye. What did Lila do to Nathaniel?

Alya panned the phone back to her horrified face. The fear of falling from a great height didn't phase her anymore. Now she was scared of the possibility of seeing an Akuma murder someone. Finally, much to her relief, they landed on a balcony.

"Wh-what are you doing here?!" A woman yelled.

Ladybug paused the video, "Thanks, you guys." She turns to Chat, "You gonna be okay?"

Chat gives her a thumbs up, "I'll be fine." He extends his baton, ready to vault out of the school. "Let's go!"

The two heroes swing and vault out of the school and head over to where Evillustrator is, leaving Lila's former followers to awkwardly stand with her haters.

"... We tried to tell you," Marc told Nino and Sabrina after a long, uncomfortable silence.

"Evillustrator, this is going too far! Let her go!"

Evillustrator glared at the Italian woman tied up and gagged on a couch. Floating over her were about ten daggers, all of the blades sharpened to a deadly point. "Yes, spare the mother of a demon spawn," he said sarcastically. "You said that you'd stay out of my way!" He turns to Alya, who's trying to inch out of the room. "Don't. Go. Anywhere. And keep rolling! Let's see if Lila Rossi is all she claims to be."

Mme. Rossi lets out a loud muffled response. The Akuma approaches her and rips the duct tape off of her mouth, making her let out a pained yell. "What are you talking about?! What does this have to do my daughter?!"

Evillustrator gives the woman a pitiful look. It's sad how this woman doesn't know what her daughter has been up to. Well, now she'll know.

"MAMA!"

"Perfect timing," Evillustrator smirked as Lila ran up the stairs and into the living room.

"Mama, don't listen to him! He's an Akuma, and he's trying to hurt me!"

Evillustrator chuckled, "Well, that's not the whole story, is it?" He turns to Alya, still recording, "Paris, let's see how committed to her lies, Lila is. Would she put her own mother in danger just to avoid the consequences?" He approaches the scared and very confused woman. "Irene Rossi, your daughter has been claiming many things recently. Confirm a few things for me, okay?" Irene nods frantically. "Great. And if Lila tries to save face, then... I'm so sorry she's your daughter." He draws a ball and chain something on his tablet. That same one appears around Lila's ankle, preventing her from escaping. "Now, Irene. Tell us, have you ever met Prince Ali?"

Irene furrowed her brow in confusion. 'What is he talking about?' She shook her head, no. "What are you-"

"He's trying to make me look bad, mama!" Lila wailed. "Please, don't answer whatever he asks! It's a trick!"

"Damn, Lila," Evillustrator whispered. "I thought you loved your mother." He pointed to one of the daggers, and at his command, it dropped down, dangerously close to hitting Irene's shoulder and embedding itself into the couch cushion. All three women and everyone watching the Ladyblog Livestream let out horrified gasps. "This is what happens when you lie," he taunted. "So, you've never met Prince Ali? So, that would mean Lila's never worked on Go Green charities with him."

"What?!" Irene shrieked. "Prince Ali doesn't even work with Go Grene charities! He's devoted his time to helping children! Lila, what have you been telling people?"

Before the brunette has a chance to speak, Evillustrator interrupts, "Next question. Are you the descendant of a fox hero named Volpina?" Alya's jaw dropped at that question. "Did anyone in the family ever pass along a necklace with a fox-tail pendant down to Lila?"

Irene shook her head, "No! No one hasn't!" She glares at Lila, "The only family heirloom passed down is a wedding veil with the brides' names stitched on!"

"M-maybe you just didn't know about it!" Lila lied, much to Irene and Alya's shock. They saw what happened when she lied, and she's still trying to save herself. "Nonna passed the necklace down to me because she-"

"LIES!" Another dagger came very close to hitting Irene's foot. She managed to move it out of the way at the last second. "So shameful. Letting your mother face the consequences for your lies? Is there no level you won't stoop to, Lila?" When she didn't answer and instead glared at him, he asked Irene the next question, "Why wasn't Lila in school for what was it?... Three months?”

“I was told that school was closed due to an Akuma outbreak and that Ladybug and Chat Noir were too incompetent to stop them.”

”By Lila?”

”...” She nodded, ashamed, “Yes.”

Evillustrator smirked, “Well, while your daughter was relaxing at home, she’s been telling everyone that she was really in Achu with Prince Ali.” He adds, “And it takes Ladybug and Chat Noir about three hours to defeat an Akuma, so they’re not incompetent like your daughter says they are.”

Irene hung her head. How could her own flesh and blood be so deceitful? And how could she risk the life of her own mother like this?

”Aw, that’s so sweet!” Chat exclaimed as he and Ladybug landed on the balcony and made their way inside.

”Nathaniel, you’ve already exposed Lila,” Ladybug tried to reason. “Just hand over your Akuma so no one else gets hurt!”

”My name is Evillustrator!” he growled. “And that wasn’t even half the lies she’s told!” He turns to Irene, who’s gone pale learning that Lila's told more lies. “You thought those were bad? Just wait until you see what else she’s hiding.” He draws a gas mask that appears over his face and a smoke bomb that releases purple smoke all around the living room. There are some scattered coughs that decrease as the smoke clears up due to Ladybug and Chat Noir spinning their weapons. They act like fans and blow the smoke out of the window. When the room clears up, Evillustrator, Lila, and Alya are gone, but Irene still remains tied up on the couch with the daggers still above her.

“Where’d they go?” Ladybug wondered aloud before Chat went to go untie Mme. Rossi.

”Th-thank you, b-both of you,” she stammered while eyeing the still-floating daggers. “I-I am so sorry for what I th-thought of you, I’m sure you’re both-“

”Ma’am, it’s alright,” Chat told her. “Lila was the one making us look bad; you didn’t know.”

"Maledetto," Irene sighed and buried her face in her hands. “Looking back, some things Lila has been telling me did seem far-fetched. The school being closed for months, every student and teacher being akumatized, the people working for the media have been held hostage." The heroes give her unbelieving looks. "Yes. I realize how dumb it sounds now, but I'm new to these... Akumas, and Miraculous. I... I thought I could trust her."

Ladybug rested a hand on the woman's shoulder and gives her a sympathetic look, "We'll set your daughter straight, Mme. Rossi. You can be sure of it." As the woman smiled, Ladybug called her for her, "Lucky Charm!" The object that dropped down into her hands was, "A ram's horn?"

Chat Noir scratched his head in confusion, "You gonna play a little tune?"

"That's also what convinced me you two weren't capable," Irene said. "You rely on random objects to defeat an Akuma?"

Ladybug looked around the room, trying to find a way to use the Lucky Charm, "Well, they do help in battles. I just need to figure out how to use it."

"Hey!" Chat piped up, "Isn't there a Goat Miraculous?"

Ladybug recalled seeing a Goat Kwami when she was battling Kwamibuster, and she wore horn-shaped barrettes. "You're right, Chat! Go and follow Evillustrator, I'll be with you soon." With a salute, Chat was gone. Before she left, Irene told her in a low, threatening voice, "Bring her back, so I may give her the punishment she deserves."

Ladybug tensed, "Well, with what Lila's been doing, she'll probably be out of your hands and in the polices'." She left before Irene could ask what she meant, leaving the Italian woman to sulk in her living room.

'What did she do to him?!' Marc wondered over and over as he sat in the art room with Juleka, furiously writing his feelings down in his journal. Both of them needed a break from the guilty look of Juleka's classmates and decided to spend the rest of the day in the art classroom. It was so quiet without the others.'That sausage-haired jerk deserves what's coming to her!... Maybe not death.'

Juleka takes a peek over Marc's shoulder to read what he's written. Her eyes go wide when she sees the many words Marc has used to describe Lila... Well, he was right. "You feeling better?" she asked.

Marc looked up from his journal and turned to face the goth girl. "... I need worse words for her." Juleka chuckled and took the seat next to him. "I have used every curse word and insult I could think of to describe Lila, and none of them are strong enough."

Juleka pulls out a pencil, "Try this." She writes something down on the corner page of his journal and has him look at it, leaving Marc's face a crimson red. "Eh?"

"Juleka," Marc gasped. "Wh-where did you-"

"You won't believe what mom said around me," she smirked. "One of them was actually Luka's first word." Her amused expression turns sour, "I still think those words are too good for Lila, though."

"Every curse word is too good for her," Marc joked, making Juleka laugh. Cutting off their amused laughter was the sound of something hitting a window. They turned around and saw Ladybug standing on a ledge right outside the classroom. They ran over and opened the window, allowing the heroine to come inside.

"L-Ladybug, what are you doing here?" Juleka asked in awe.

"The Lucky Charm told me to come here." She turns to Marc, "I'm gonna need to borrow you for a while, Marc." The emerald-eyed boy stood, frozen in shock. Ladybug. The Ladybug wanted to borrow him! Realizing that he's just been staring at her for a while, he snapped out of his daze and nodded.

"Y-yes! Of course!"

"Smooth," Juleka whispered.

Ladybug wrapped her arm around Marc's waist and threw her yoyo out of the window. Once it wrapped around something, it pulled the two out of the classroom, leaving Juleka alone.

"... Might as well go home," she said to herself before gathering up her stuff.

Once she and Marc were on top of a roof, Ladybug moved them to hide behind an air vent, away from the public view. "Marc, what I'm about to ask you is very important, okay?" Off his nod, she pulled out a hexagonal box in front of her. "Marc Anciel, here is the Miraculous of the Goat, which grants the power of Compassion. You will use it for the greater good. Once the job is done, you will return the Miraculous to me."

Marc was speechless. He wanted to faint, scream, and jump up and down like a child on Christmas morning. Ladybug. Was asking him to assist her in saving Nathaniel... But what if he failed? Nathaniel would stay an Akuma forever, he'd fail Ladybug and Chat Noir, and-"

"Do you accept?" Ladybug asked, concerned when Marc didn't give her an immediate response like the previous heroes. "Marc, I trust you. And Nathaniel needs you."

"... I'll do it."

With a smile, Ladybug handed him the box. Marc opened it, revealing two hair clips in the shape of horns. There was a bright flash of light that had Marc shielding his eyes for a moment before looking up at the goat-like creature floating in front of him. All he could think was, 'I WANNA PET THEM SO MUCH!'

"Hi!" She greeted, "My name's Ziggy, and I'm a Kwami! It's a pleasure to meet you!" She flies around Marc, making him chuckle. "I love him already!" Ziggy squealed as she nuzzled against Marc's cheek. "Okay, to transform, you just gotta say, Ziggy, Fleece On!"

With a nod, Marc put the clips in his hair, where they turned into crescent moon-shaped clips.

"Ziggy! Fleece On!"

Ziggy flew into one of the hairclips, transforming them both back into their original design. Marc swept his hand over his face, making a black mask appear around his eyes. A golden sheep's bell appeared on his choker necklace. The magic spread from the bell and formed a white hoodie with black trumpet sleeves, white gloves with black fingertips, black pants held up by a white studded belt, and black and white combat boots. He ran his fingers through his hair, making fake goat ears appear atop his head, and his hair became an inch longer with the tips dyed white. Finally, he reached up into the air and caught a shepherd's crook that materialized in the air. He spun it around before tapping it on the ground.

Capricorn was ready!

All of Paris' citizens stood before the Eiffel Tower, eyes glued to their phones as they watched the LadyBlog live stream with anticipation. Firefighters stood all around the structure with large trampolines ready to catch someone. And at the very top of the Eiffel Tower were Alya, filming the fight between Chat Noir, Stormy Weather, and Mime, both drawn by Evillustrator, said villain plucking at a rope tied to the railing, and tied at the end of the rope was Lila, dangling thousands of feet above the ground and screaming to the top of her lungs.

"Come on, Lila," Evillustrator told her as he continued messing with the only thing keeping Lila from becoming a stain on the ground. "Make things easier for yourself, and tell everyone the truth."

"I'M NOT A LIAR!" she screeched.

Evillustrator snarled before ducking out of the way of one of Stormy Weather's lightning bolts. "You'll do anything to keep up your act, won't you?!" He drew a throwing dark on his tablet and aimed it for Lila's head. She managed to swing out of the way just in time, much to Evillustrator's frustration. He let out a sigh before saying, "Fine. Have it your way." He draws a blade on his tablet, and that same one appears in his hand.

"NO!" Chat Noir yelled before he was pinned to the floor by one of Mime's invisible objects. His staff was out of reach, and he could barely move. Stormy Weather approached him with her parasol, and zapped him with an ice blast, freezing him in place.

Hawkmoth's symbol appeared over Evillustrator's face, "Evillustrator! Forget the girl! Take Chat Noir's Miraculous! Unthaw his hand!"

"She's made my and my friends' life a living hell, and you expect me to let her GET AWAY WITH IT?!"

In his lair, Hawkmoth swayed slightly due to being overwhelmed by Evillustrator's emotions. How can one boy feel so much rage? He looked through the Akuma's eyes and saw him putting the blade close to the rope holding up his follower. Hawkmoth didn't care for Lila, but he wasn't that cruel. Plus, if she died, where else is he gonna find some selfish civilian willing to work for him and get rid of a couple of Adrien's bad influences in exchange for the hero's downfall and a modeling contract? "That's enough!"

Hawkmoth was physically restraining Evillustrator from cutting the rope. The Akuma struggled to regain control, "Why are you defending her of all people?! You got a soft side for Rossi, Hawkmoth?!" He sneered, "What is she, your follower or something?..." He gets the use of his body back and smirks when Hawkmoth says nothing. "Your silence says a lot."

Alya and the citizens watching from down below gasped. Some inexperienced model was secretly working for Hawkmoth? She was working against their beloved hero! Hawkmoth felt like he was about to pass out from the massive wave of emotions. For once, he was praying for Ladybug to show up and de-akumatize the victim. Once this was over, he needed a long break. Screw the jewelry, this headache was awful.

Evillustrator hummed, "Well, less of Hawkmoth's followers, fewer problems." He slashed the rope, and Lila plummeted to the earth with a blood-curdling scream.

"OH MY GOD!" Alya screamed as she dropped her phone.

The firefighters tried to pinpoint where she would drop, and the police stood by, ready the question the girl (If she lives). Lila was halfway to her doom. She clenched her eyes shut and waited while thinking to herself, 'I'm lucky enough to have gotten out of there without him exposing me! That pest better get here in time!' Right as she was at the second level of the tower, she suddenly stopped falling. It felt like something was hoisting her up. She opened one eye and turned her head to see who caught her. (Maybe gain some sympathy while she's at it) "Oh my goodness! Thank you so much for-"

"Cram it, Liar Rossi," Capricorn sneered as he pulled Lila away from the balcony using his crook, and set her down. He unhooked his weapon from her jacket and ran off to help Ladybug.

"HEY!" Lila screeched, throwing away her kicked puppy act. "Aren't you gonna untie me?!"

Capricorn just smirked, having no intention of helping her, and vaulted his way up to the summit of the Eiffel Tower.

Ladybug spun her YoYo, deflecting each of Evillustrator’s projectiles while occasionally using her weapon to hit the ice Chat was trapped in and free him.

”So Ladybug, tell me.” He drew a few throwing stars, “Is Lila really your best friend?”

Ladybug flung one of the projectiles into the throwing stars, making it explode on impact. “She hates me! I try to be friends with her, but she swore a vendetta on me!” She backflips away from the sketchbook before it could pull her in. “Hell, I’m pretty sure she wants me dead! When I was fighting Oni-Chan, she tricked Chat into leaving me!” At the mention of her partner, she threw her YoYo at the ice block once again, creating a few cracks along the surface. “So to answer your question, we never will be friends! Ever!”

Alya felt her hands shaking as she struggled to keep her phone up. She owed Marinette, Nathaniel, Alix, Rose, Juleka, and Marc a huge apology when or if this is all over. So far, it’s not looking good.

Ladybug threw her YoYo once more, intending to grab the sketchbook, but it instead wrapped around a sheet of flypaper. When she retracted it, Ladybug had some trouble separating the two, and just got both of her hands and weapon stuck to the paper. Evillustrator drew a ball and chain around the heroine’s ankle and calmly approached her.

”I won,” he sang as he reached his hand over to grab the earrings. Alya cut her phone off and shielded her eyes. She wanted to know the heroes' identities, but not like this.

But a second before the earrings were in his grasp, Evillustrator was whacked to the side and fell to the ground. While getting up, he watched as a figure dressed in black and white used a shepherd’s crook to break the chain connected to the 100lb ball, and the ice trapping Chat Noir. “Who are you supposed to be?!” He snarled.

He smiled, “The name’s Capricorn.”

Without saying a word, Evillustrator furiously drew a missile on his tablet that appeared and went after the heroes. While running, Ladybug finally got the flypaper off and threw her YoYo around Alya. She flung her over to the elevator and yelled, “Go!” Alya complied and quickly went inside the elevator to avoid the fight.

As he and Capricorn ran, Chat came up with an idea on how to get rid of the missile. To the new hero, he shouted, “Launch me!” With a nod, Capricorn ran ahead of Chat, got down on one knee, and locked his fingers together. Once he was close enough, Chat leaped into Capricorn’s hands, and the latter launched him into the air. Chat called out “Cataclysm!” as he went over the missile, and slid his hand across it, turning it into black ash.

”Nice one, you guys!” Ladybug commended as she rejoined the fight.

“Well, I couldn’t have done it without ewe,” he shot Capricorn double finger guns, making Ladybug roll her eyes and Capricorn stifle a laugh. Seeing Evillustrator drawing something else, Ladybug said to the new hero, “Capricorn, use your power. You can connect with Nathaniel and figure out what’s wrong!”

He nodded, “Cover me!”

Ladybug and Chat Noir ran towards Evillustrator, just as he was finished drawing three buzz saws. Chat Noir got in front of Ladybug and deflected them while she called for another Lucky Charm. It was a box of tissues. She set those to the side and went after Evillustrator, wrapping her YoYo tight around him. He kept his sketchbook clutched close to his chest and had no intention of letting go.

With him restrained, Capricorn yelled, “Connection!” And his crook was illuminated by a bright white light. He calmly approached Evillustrator, ignored his threats, and tapped his forehead with the crook. In an instant, Capricorn was no longer at the Eiffel Tower; he was at someone’s home. He looked around and recognized the place thanks to the furniture and photos framed on the wall. He was at Nathaniel’s house.

”Where’s my lil’ Leonardo?!” A playful voice called out followed by some giggling. Capricorn looked towards the door and saw a tall man with dark red hair and turquoise eyes walking in with a bright smile and a bag in his hands. Capricorn recognized the man. He’s seen his photos every time he goes over to Nathaniel’s house. It was his father, Maison Kurtzberg.

The man smiled as a child with long red hair wearing paint-splattered clothes ran into his arms. It was clear to Capricorn that the boy was Nathaniel.

”We really gotta cut your bangs, kids,” Maison laughed as he ruffled young Nathaniel’s hair, making the child laugh.

”Oh, leave him alone,” a voice Capricorn recognized as Aya’s said. “he likes how they look.” The seven-year-old nodded in agreement with his mother, making Maison chuckle.

”Well then, how are you gonna be able to see when you’re drawing in your books?” he asked.

”Oh, our little artist used up all of his sketchbooks,” Aya simpered while Maison just looked astonished.

”All ten of them?” Aya nodded. “Well then...” He hands Nathaniel over to Aya and reaches into the bag his holding, “It’s a good thing I bought this!” He pulls out a black sketchbook with a white outline of a paintbrush, pencil, and pen on the front. The young boy’s eyes gleamed under his bangs, and he made grabby motions with his hands, either to get to his dad or grab the new sketchbook.

Aya giggled and kissed her son’s forehead. “We really need to get him to talk more.”

Capricorn smiled at the scene before it faded away and transitioned to the school locker room. He looked around and saw Nathaniel, standing at his locker and frantically flipping through the torn pages of a black book. Upon closer inspection, Capricorn realized that it was Nathaniel’s sketchbook, the one his dad bought for him.

‘So that’s what Lila did,’ he thought bitterly.

When Nathaniel broke out into tears and sat down on the floor, Capricorn approached and kneeled beside him. “... Nathaniel?” He looked up at him with a tear-stained face and murmured, “I’m sorry.”

Capricorn placed his hands on Nathaniel’s shoulders, “You had every right to be mad. You-“

Nathaniel cut him off, “Took my anger out on everyone! I-I trapped my classmates, I hurt Ladybug and Chat Noir, I tried to kill Lila!” He covers his face with his hands and cries harder, “I almost hurt Marc...”

Capricorn wanted to tell him, ‘No you didn’t.’ But that would reveal himself as Marc.

”My classmates are gonna hate me even more for what I did to Lila. Don’t make me go back out there...”

“I won’t.” He moves Nathaniel’s hands out of the way and cups his face in his hands. “But you can’t stay Akumatized forever. I get why you’re upset. That sketchbook came from someone very important to you and she took it away...”

Nathaniel sighs and holds his hand against his cheek. “...”

”... If it makes you feel any better, Evillustrator exposed Lila as Hawkmoth’s partner.”

Nathaniel looks up, hopeful, “He did?”

Capricorn nodded, “You won’t have to worry about her anymore. She can’t hurt you or your friends again.”

“... The Akuma's in my sketchbook,” he said, right before the locker room faded away.

Capricorn looked around and saw that he was back at the Eiffel Tower. In front of him was a heavily crying Evillustrator, no longer bound by Ladybug’s YoYo. He slowly loosened his grip around his sketchbook and handed it over to Capricorn. The goat hero took it, turned around, and tore the book in half. The pages scattered onto the floor and morphed into the people Evillustrator trapped in the sketchbook. Finally, the Akuma fluttered out of the book.

”No more evil-doing for you, little Akuma!” Ladybug caught it with her YoYo. “Time to de-evilize! Gotcha!” Emerging from the YoYo was a pure white butterfly that fluttered up into the sky. “Bye-bye little butterfly.” She looked around for the tissue box Lucky Charm until she saw Capricorn using a handful to wipe Evillustrator’s tears away. With a smile, she took the box and tossed it into the air.

”MIRACULOUS LADYBUG!”

The tissue box burst into thousands of magic Ladybugs that flew across the city. The people released from the sketchbook were placed back on the ground, all of the damage caused by Evillustrator was fixed, Chat and Ladybug’s cuts from earlier were healed, everything erased was restored, and Lila was no longer tied up. Finally, the Akuma’s magic washed over Evillustrator, leaving Nathaniel curled in on himself.

Ladybug and Chat Noir fist bump, “Pound it.”

Chat Noir looks off to the side and notices something lying on the floor. He walks over to it and picks up Nathaniel’s repaired sketchbook. “Hey,” Nathaniel looks up and gasps when he sees his sketchbook, “this yours?” He hands it over to the redhead, who immediately takes it.

”Th-thank you,” he whispered in disbelief as he flipped through the pages. Everything was there. He furrowed his brow in confusion, “I-I thought the Miracle Cure could only repair things caused by the Akuma.”

Ladybug wasn’t sure how to answer that. Maybe the Miracle Cure could fix Akumatized objects that were previously damaged, she thought. Before Ladybug could reply, he YoYo beeped. She switched it to the phone setting and saw a LadyBlog Livestream, only Alya’s phone was pointed to the floor. Did she know she was live right now?

”Please! All it takes is a few tears, and everyone will think Hawkmoth manipulated or blackmailed me!” It was Lila.

”Did Alya plan this?” Ladybug wondered.

”Clever girl,” Chat said.

“And just wait until tomorrow. Those idiots will fall at my command and attack that asshole, Kurtzberg! Maybe I can get them to tear up his sketchbook again! No doubt Ladybug's fixed it."

Capricorn‘s grip around his weapon tightened when she said that.

She let out a fake whine, “‘Oh, Nathaniel tried to kill me! Lock him away!’ See? It’s that easy!”

“I’ll tell everyone!” Alya retorted.

”And who’s gonna believe some lousy tabloid writer?” She taunted. “One word from me, and you’ll be a social pariah like those f*g art kids!”

Ladybug wanted to punch that girl so badly... Eh, let Paris take care of her.

”What the hell did you do to her?!”

”Well, let’s see... Threatened her, told her she’d lose her friends, and succeeded. Framed her for theft, cheating, and assault. Then I got her expelled so I could have Adrien all to myself."

Chat Noir held back the bile rising in his throat.

”So, I’m gonna go on a limb here and say you’ve been lying about every single thing.”

”Took you long enough, idiot! I hope you like sitting alone tomorrow. Meanwhile, I’ll be rich from taking that dumpy bitch’s charity money, and modeling for Gabriel.”

”And meanwhile, Paris will be hunting you down.” Alya pans the phone over to her smug face. “You heard it here, Paris. Lila is working for Hawkmoth, has been tormenting students and Francoise-DuPont, stealing charity money, and she’s homophobic.”

She pans the phone towards Lila’s horrified face. “So Lila, how does it feel to be the most hated girl in France? Oh, look at that. The comments are rolling in- Wow, everyone really hates you.”

Officer Raincomprix steps in between the two girls, “Miss Césaire, we’re going to need that phone for evidence, please.”

”One minute sir,” the video pans to her face, “Babe, if you’re watching this, I’m sorry. Your phone’s with the cops now. Okay, here you go.” The screen cuts to black.

Chat Noir couldn’t help but laugh, “I love that girl!”

Ladybug ran her fingers through her hair and grinned, “It’s over! She’s gone! She’s finally gone!” She turns to Capricorn with a bright smile, “Capricorn, why don’t you take Nathaniel back home? I’ll meet up with you later.”

With a nod, the goat hero scooped up Nathaniel into his arms and leaped away. Ladybug and Chat Noir swung and vaulted off, feeling very relieved knowing that they would have to deal with Lila anymore as civilians or heroes.

Capricorn landed right outside Nathaniel’s home and gently set him down.

”Thanks,” Nathaniel said as he shyly looked down at the ground. “A-again, I am so sorry about-“

”Nathaniel, it’s fine,” Capricorn reassured him. “You weren’t in control. I’m sure everyone will understand.”

Nathaniel smiled at that, “Thanks.”

Then, without thinking, Capricorn pulled him in for a hug, which Nathaniel returned once he got over his surprise. This lasted for a few more seconds until Nathaniel said, “I- uh... I have a boyfriend.”

Capricorn mentally facepalmed. ‘You’re not Marc right now! Nathaniel is not Capricorn’s boyfriend!’ "Sorry." Awkwardly, he pulled away and the two boys looked away in embarrassment. Finally, after an uncomfortable silence, someone called out, "NATH!" It was Alix, running towards him with Rose and Juleka. The latter narrowed her eyes at the goat hero, making him tense up and worry she'll figure out he's Marc.

"Oh, shit!" Alix cursed and she engulfed Nathaniel in a bone-crushing hug. "I thought we lost you, bud!"

"We could hear everything while we were in the sketchbook," Rose piped up. "They know Lila's lying!"

"Everyone in Paris does," Juleka smiled. "A police car drove by me earlier and I saw her in the back seat."

Alix cackled, "You should have seen their faces, Nath! It was priceless! Bustier was rocking back and forth like a mental patient, Max was face-palming over and over, and Mylene? Whoa! Don't get me started-"

Rose pointed to Capricorn, "Who's this?" Alix and Juleka turned their attention to the new hero.

"Sweet!" Alix pumped her fist in the air. "A new hero! And he helped take down Rossi!"

Capricorn's elation from the compliments turned to concern when Nathaniel asked, "Wait, where's Marc? Is he okay?!" Before Capricorn could come up with an excuse, Juleka answered, "Oh, his moms called him home," she fibbed while occasionally stealing glances at Capricorn. "I was gonna go with him, but my mom needed me home for something, too. He's probably still there."

Capricorn furrowed his brow. Did Juleka know?

"Thanks, Jules!" The four of them watched him run to Marc's house. With them distracted, Capricorn took this opportunity to quickly vault away once he heard his clips beeping and go look for Ladybug.

Capricorn met with Ladybug in an alley near his house and said the de-transformation words. "Ziggy, fleece off." The goat kwami flew out from the hair clip and hovered next to Marc, nuzzling his cheek as he removed the clips.

"That was so much fun!" Ziggy squealed. "Can you call on him again one day? Pleeease?" She put her flipper-hands together and gave Ladybug dough eyes, making her and Marc laugh.

"We'll see," Ladybug giggled. She gives Ziggy a little pat on her head before pulling out the box. Marc set the clips back in and said goodbye to Ziggy before she flew back into the horn-shaped clips.

"Thank you, Marc." She tucked the box away then pulled out her yoyo, preparing to swing away. "I knew I picked the right person for the job. Now, I suggest you go make sure Nathaniel is alright."

Marc nodded, "I will."

"See you soon, Capricorn." Marc wanted to ask what she meant by that, but she was already gone. He let out an excited squeal before running to his house. He waited outside for about three minutes until he saw Nathaniel running towards him.

"Nath!" The two ran towards each other and met each other with a tight, loving embrace.

"Rainbow, I'm so sorry," Nathaniel whispered, taking an exhale before asking, "Are you okay?"

"I should be asking you that. Nath, what Lila was... It-it was fucked up." Nathaniel nodded once he got over the shock of hearing his boyfriend curse. "But she's gone, now. She can't hurt you, me, Mari, anyone anymore."

With a smile, Nathaniel kissed Marc, and he melted into it as he wrapped his arms around Nathaniel.

The next day, the art club kids walked to school together. (Marc made sure to set an alarm for Marinette) They wanted to be prepared for any random apologies from the Akuma class or any reporters swarming the schoolyard looking for Hawkmoth's latest victim. When they realized DuPont was an Akuma hotspot, news crews would always go to get an interview from the Akumatized student or teacher. So far no reporters yet, much to Nathaniel's relief, but there were a few police cars parked outside.

Around them were a few officers questioning the students and teachers as they made their way to the doors. Before they could go in, the doors swung open, and four police officers walked out, escorting Mme. Bustier and M. Damocles to the police cars. Marinette asked Nino, who walked out a second later, "Are Mme. Bustier and M. Damocles getting arrested?"

Nino shrugged, "I heard the school board decided to do an investigation when Lila mentioned missing months of school and getting you expelled without any proof. Some people from the board came, talked to them, and, uh..." He slipped off his cap and ran his hand through his hair. "I don't think we're gonna see them for a while, Mari."

Marinette couldn't help but grin at the news, "I don't have to be the class example anymore!" Nino's eyes bulged at that. "I-it's a long story. I'll tell you later."

Nino chuckled before giving the group a remorseful look, "I... I'm sorry I didn't believe you guys."

"Don't sweat it, Lahiffe," Alix said. "You guys are just too nice and naive to notice when you're being conned."

Nino furrowed his brow as he processed what she just said. After a moment of silence, he said, "Thank... You? Well, school is canceled for today and the class is going to get some ice cream. You guys in?"

"Yeah!" Alix cheered. "Let's get some ice cream and apologies!" She sat on top of the stair railing and slid down.

"There they are," Kim said, pointing to Nino arriving with the art students. The Akuma class tensed up as they approached. Some were going over their apologies in their heads while others were figuring out what to say, especially to Marinette and Nathaniel. "Alright," he took a breath, "let's do this, guys."

Before any of them could apologize, Alix spoke, "Yes, yes. You all were idiots, we're smart, you're sorry, and promise to listen to us when we say someone is lying."

"... Y-yeah. Ba-basically," Kim stammered. "But seriously, you guys, we're sorry we took Lila's side."

"We've known you guys since we were kids," Mylene remarked. "We should've known you guys couldn't have done the stuff Lila said you did."

"Yeah, you should've," Juleka muttered, making Rose nudge her girlfriend with her elbow.

Alya walked over to Marinette with a sad smile, "Any chance you guys might forgive us someday?"

Marinette smiled and pulled the girl in for a hug, "Alya, shut up. I forgive you."

The creole girl smile and wrapped her arms around Marinette, "Thanks, Mari."

"... But if this happens again, I will physically knock some sense into you all until you admit that I'm right and beg for mercy," she whispered. The students just stood there, disturbed by what the sweetest girl in class just said.

Alya slowly back away from Marinette and nervously chuckled, "Got it, girl."

"Now, Alya," Alix piped up, "guys, isn't there someone else you want to apologize to?" She gestures over to Nathaniel.

Alya wasn't sure what to say to Nathaniel. The only time they really interacted was yesterday when she accused him of stealing Lila's art. So, taking a deep breath, she said to him, "Nathaniel, I... I jumped the gun, there, I'll admit it." A few nodded along. "When I think about it, the more I realize that you'd never steal another person's art."

"I mean you went into a fifteen-minute rant during history when we were talking about some art thief," Ivan brought up. He chuckled at the memory before stopping abruptly. "Yeah... Sorry."

"I forgive you guys," Nathaniel smiled. "Just don't do that ever again or I might also knock some sense into you guys."

To change the subject, Max brought up Capricorn, and now that was all anyone could talk about. Marc blushed when some of the girls called his hero persona cute. Was he? He didn't really get a good look at his outfit. As they rambled on about the new hero, he and Nathaniel went to get some ice cream.

"So, what'd you think of Capricorn?" Marc asked.

Nathaniel hummed in thought before answering, "I like him. He really helped me out there... Plus, he's kinda cute." Marc tried to fight back a blush. "Not as cute as you, though." Marc wasn't sure how to respond to that. "He was really understanding about why I got Akumatized and he even convinced me to hand over my Akuma."

Marc feigned surprise. "Really?"

He nodded. "Do you think he'd mind if we put him in the comic?"

Marc pretended to think about it for a moment, "I don't think so."

AO3

~Taglist~

#Evillustrator #marc x nathaniel #Badass Nathaniel Kurtzberg #lila gets exposed #Goat Marc #goat miraculous #ml salt fanfic #class redemption

75 notes · View notes

alexthedrummerboy · 3 years

Text

Crash Into Me

pairing: willex (willie/alex)

summary: Alex, Luke, Julie, and Reggie go bowling together. One problem: Alex is an awful bowler and accidentally throws his ball into the lane next to his. But that's not all: At that lane just happens to be Willie, the guy in Alex's math class who he's had a crush on for months.(aka the reason why Alex will never listen to Reggie's advice ever again)

notes: can i get a whoop whoop for posting my first ever jatp fic!! this isn’t based on anything but i got the idea for it when i went bowling with my mum and her husband’s extended family!! damn i haven’t written fanfiction that wasn’t glee in like............................months

also available on ao3!

Alex was good at many things.

He was a great drummer, for starters. And if Luke and Reggie were to be believed, he was also an awesome singer; he could even dance pretty well if given enough time to observe and practice. But one thing Alex definitely wasn't good at... was bowling.

Which was why he felt more than a little disgruntled to be standing outside The Neon Pins, flanked by Luke and Reggie who were holding onto his arms to make sure he didn't sprint away.

"I still don't get why we're here," he said as they walked into the building. "I thought you said you and Julie were gonna go bowling. Alone."

A light blush grew on Luke's face as they walked to the shoe rental counter together. "She invited all of us, bro."

"No, I'm pretty sure she just asked you," Alex muttered, smiling politely at the cashier behind the register. "I suck at bowling."

"You're not that bad," Reggie replied, resting his arm around Alex's shoulders before turning to the cashier and giving her all of their sizes (and a wink for good measure).

"Do you remember fifth grade?" Alex asked, taking a pair of 10 5/8s from the counter. "Jeremy Matthew's 10th birthday party at the bowl-a-rama?"

Luke winced. "When you got your fingers--"

"--stuck!" Alex finished for him. "Stuck in the ball! I had to go to the hospital!" He looked down at his hands, flexing his fingers uncomfortably. "And my fingers have only gotten bigger since then."

"Dude, you'll be fine," Luke replied, though it was clear he was no longer listening. "There's Julie. When we meet up with her, can you promise me you won't mention your weird finger story?"

Alex and Reggie shared a look. Despite his reservations, he nodded. He knew how important this was to Luke.

"Fine," he said. "I promise I won't embarrass you in front of your girlfriend."

Luke's cheeks turned bright red. "Wh... she... she's not my girlfriend!" he sputtered. He gave the both of them a frustrated look before turning around and walking to where Julie was waiting. She'd already put her shoes on and was sitting on one of the plastic chairs, looking down at her phone. Alex and Reggie chuckled before following close behind.

"Hey, Julie!" Luke said, practically bouncing on his toes.

Julie looked up, a bright smile taking over her features when she saw him. "Luke!" she said, looking just past his shoulder to where Alex and Reggie were standing. "...You brought the guys!"

Luke faltered. "Was that... not okay?"

Julie softened, shaking her head. "No, no, of course it's okay!" She hesitated before a small, more genuine smile grew on her face. "The more the merrier." She pocketed her phone and clapped her hands together, her smile morphing into an excited grin. Alex knew that grin well. It was the same grin he'd seen on her face when Carlos challenged her to a milk-chugging competition. Pure, unbridled competitiveness. "Let's do this thing."

They'd only been playing for four rounds and Alex had somehow managed to bowl four gutter-balls in a row.

Not that anyone but Reggie had noticed; Luke and Julie were both too enamoured with each other to even realise they were there. Alex smiled to himself as he watched Julie try and teach Luke how to bowl a strike.

His eyes drifted to the lane next to theirs where he spotted a familiar head of auburn hair. He narrowed his eyes. "Hey, guys," he said. Luke, Reggie, and Julie all turned to face him. "Isn't that Carrie?"

They all looked over.

"Oh, yeah," Luke said, a mischievous smile growing on his face. "Look who's with her."

Alex twisted his body around and promptly wished he hadn't; because walking towards Carrie's lane was Flynn, Nick, and most importantly... Willie Stewart. The same Willie Stewart who sat in front of Alex in their math class.

He'd turned around to ask Alex for a pencil once six months ago and Alex had harboured a tragic crush on him ever since.

Now, he was here. At the bowling alley. At the lane next to Alex's... where he would inevitably watch Alex humiliate himself.

The world was an incredibly cruel place.

"Hey, guys!" Julie said, waving towards the group. Alex turned to Julie, a pained expression on his face as Flynn, Carrie, Nick, and Willie turned away from the computer to acknowledge Julie.

Alex saw a carefree smile grow on Willie's face, and for a moment he briefly wondered if this was what having a heart attack felt like. What he did next made Alex go into full-on panic mode.

As their groups began to mingle, Willie broke apart from the crowd and began walking towards Alex. He could feel sweat gathering behind his knees.

"Hey, Hotdog!" Willie said, raising his fist for a bump. Alex returned it with a hesitant smile, furrowing his eyebrows.

"Uh..." he said softly, shuffling over to let Willie sit down beside him. "Hotdog?"

Willie chuckled. "Yeah, 'cause of that pencil you gave me," he said. "It had hotdogs all over it."

Alex raised his eyebrows, a blush rising on his cheeks. "The... the pencil! Right! That was... that was a gag gift from Reggie for my birthday last year," he said with an awkward chuckle. "You drop a hotdog on your shorts one time..." he trailed off, rubbing the back of his neck. "I-I didn't think you would remember that. Th-the pencil, I mean."

Willie scoffed, bumping their shoulders together. "'Course I remember."

Alex didn't respond. Couldn't, really. He was too entranced by the way Willie's soulful, soft brown eyes were staring directly into his. That was one of Alex's favourite things about Willie; his eyes. They were just as kind and expressive as the rest of him. Catching a glimpse of those dark irises was dangerous. He never wanted to look away.

Alex heard the distant sound of pins clattering in the distance, but he barely heard them over the sound of his own heart beating in his ears.

"Willie!"

Carrie's voice calling Willie over impatiently shook Alex out of his reverie. Willie smiled at him apologetically.

"Catch you later, Hotdog."

Alex watched as Willie walked to his own lane before looking away quickly, trying to hide his smile.

"Alex?"

He looked up to find Luke looking at him expectantly. He didn't like the cheeky look on his face. "What?"

"It's your turn," he said, nodding toward the monitor where Alex's name was flashing.

Alex sighed heavily, sneaking one last look towards Willie who'd long since looked away. He walked over to the rack and picked up a ball, bouncing it lightly in his hands.

There was a number on the front, but he didn't really pay attention to it; it was pink and that was all he really cared about. He slotted his fingers into the holes with a light wince before walking right up to the lane.

"You got this, bro!" he heard Reggie yell. "Just close your eyes and throw as hard as you can!"

Alex huffed out a quiet laugh as he turned the ball over in his hands. He couldn't possibly get any worse at this, he figured, so, he closed his eyes and gripped the ball tightly, swinging it forwards and backwards for a moment before throwing it as hard as he could.

He didn't open his eyes right away. All he heard was the sound of the ball bouncing against varnished wood, the sound of rolling, then...

Pins. Actual pins crashing against one another and falling to the ground.

He'd hit the pins.

Alex opened his eyes and blinked a few times, trying to readjust to the alley's gaudy neon colour scheme before looking at his pins... all ten of which were still standing.

So... who's pins had he heard fall? And where was his ball?

It took Alex a moment to register the laughter coming from behind him. He turned around and faced Luke, Reggie, and Julie.

Luke and Reggie were laughing so hard their cheeks were turning red. Julie at least had the decency to try and stifle her giggles behind her hand.

"What?!" Alex exclaimed, a horrible feeling swirling in his stomach. Had he thrown the ball backwards by accident? Or worse: had he hit someone?

"Dude," Reggie said breathlessly. "When I said 'close your eyes and throw as hard as you can', I didn't think you'd actually do it!"

Luke sat up, tears forming in his eyes as he clutched his stomach. "Di-did you see it b-bounce?!" the question was so hilarious to him that it sent him into a new bout of laughter.

Alex could feel heat rising up the back of his neck. "Okay, so what? I-I got another gutter-ball!"

"Oh, you didn't get a gutter-ball, bro," Luke said between giggles. "You got a strike!"

Alex furrowed his eyebrows. "A-A strike?" he asked. "Isn't that good?"

Julie snorted before nodding to the side. "Alex, the ball." She looked over at the lane next to theirs. "The ball landed in Willie's lane."

Oh, God.

Oh, fuck.

Alex slowly turned to his right where he could now see Willie was standing, a ball in his hand and a very amused smirk on his face.

"Uh..." Alex stammered.

Willie chuckled and put his ball down. "Thanks for uh... bowling for me, Hotdog." He pointed at the monitor. "I'm winning, thanks to you."

Alex swallowed nervously, feeling embarrassment coating every inch of him like thick, wet paint. "I... I'm gonna..." he cleared his throat and pointed toward the general direction of the snack bar before taking off as fast as he could walk without sprinting.

This day couldn't get any worse.

He walked up to the snack bar and ordered a soda breathlessly, pulling a loose $5 bill from his pocket and smacking it against the counter. He took the can once it was given to him and took a healthy swig, trying to focus on the feeling of tiny carbonated bubbles popping against his tongue. He slammed the can down and grunted, wiping his mouth with the back of his hand.

He hated Luke for putting him in this situation... okay, he didn't hate Luke, he was just very frustrated. And embarrassed, definitely embarrassed.

"Hey!"

Are you kidding me?

Alex turned around and saw Willie walking towards him, looking every bit as attractive and adorable as he had just now after he'd haphazardly thrown his ball into Willie's lane (something that sounded so ridiculous in Alex's head that he would've laughed if he didn't want to sink into a very deep hole). "Hey," he replied, loosening his grip on his soda can as Willie approached the table he was standing at. "Um... how's it goin'?"

Willie smiled and tucked a strand of hair behind his ear. Alex tried not to watch too intently, eyes flickering between Willie's hand and the table. "I mean... pretty well," he said with a laugh. "What about you?"

Alex winced and looked up slowly. When he locked eyes with Willie, he didn't see any mirth or mischief; he didn't even see pity. He just saw that same look of kindness that always seemed to rest on Willie's face. He relaxed his shoulders and allowed himself to smile more genuinely. "I've been better," he said with a self-deprecating chuckle. "I'm sorry I threw my ball into your lane."

Willie shrugged, placing his elbows on the table and leaning toward Alex. He was close enough that Alex could get a light whiff of coconut shampoo. "Don't worry about it, man. It happens to the best of us." Alex gave him an incredulous look before he broke down into a giggle. "Okay, so... it doesn't. Maybe you should stick to drumming."

That comment gave Alex pause. He'd only ever had short conversations with Willie in the past; about their homework, tests, stationary... Alex had never mentioned his band during any of those. He raised his eyebrows minutely. "How did you know I played the drums?"

Willie looked away. The playful smile on his face was replaced by a softer one, more bashful. It was adorable. "I uh... I saw your band play last week at Eats and Beats," he said. "... I may have also seen you guys play a few months ago at Julie's party... and again at The Hollywood Ghost Club."

Alex's mouth dropped into a small, surprised 'o'. Willie had seen him play? Had seen him sing?! And he hadn't mentioned it until now? "Oh! I-I didn't know you... you were there?"

Willie nodded, his smile growing wider. "Yeah."

"You could've told me," Alex said lightly, swiping one finger down the side of the soda can nervously. "I would've loved to see you there."

"I..." Willie shrugged and looked at Alex softly. "We've never really seen each other outside of math class. I didn't wanna make things weird, I guess."

"It wouldn't have."

They looked at each other for a moment. As their eyes locked in the middle of the crowded bowling alley, suddenly all other voices fell away. Nobody mattered except the two of them. Alex couldn't help the grin that grew on his face as he saw Willie's hand move just the slightest bit closer to his own in his periphery. He took the plunge and slid his hand forward too until the tips of their fingers were touching.

"So, um..." Alex said quietly, purposefully not looking at their hands. "Do you like bowling?"

Willie threw his head back and laughed joyfully. The sound was like music to Alex's ears. He never wanted to listen to anything else ever again. "To be honest?" he said, "I'd rather be at the skate park or hanging with my sisters." He paused before moving his hand until it was fully under Alex's, his long fingers curling gently around Alex's palm. "Or hanging out with... someone else."

"Yeah?"

"Yeah." Willie smirked, looking down at their hands. He moved his thumb back and forth against Alex's knuckle. The light touch filled Alex's chest with warmth and an energy he hadn't felt before.

"Do you maybe wanna get out of here?" Alex asked suddenly, looking up into Willie's eyes. "Maybe eat somewhere that doesn't smell like bleach and old shoes?"

Willie grinned. "Totally."

#alex jatp #willie jatp #julie and the phantoms #willex #jatp fanfic #willex fic #booboo stewart #owen patrick joyner #julie molina #Luke Patterson #reggie jatp #writing tag

83 notes · View notes

mental-dilemma · 4 years

Text

A Quick Meeting Part 4?

Damian’s an exchange student in Paris taking it easy until an Akuma attacks and he gets to meet ladybug. -----------------------------------------

Ok before everyone starts pancking: I am Emu-Lumberjack I just decided to create a Sideblog for all my writing so that way those who follow me exclusively for that don’t have to deal with the chaos that is my main blog

also I’m sorry it’s taken so long to post this but just between school and work and school and just general exhaustion it’s been hard for me to write.

and as always all credit to the Au goes to @ozmav

pt.1

pt. 2

pt. 3

“I don’t suppose I could bribe you to drop the matter.” Damian said sitting down in Tim’s office. He and Ladybug were situated next to each other while Tim was on the other side of the desk.

“Nope.” He turned to Ladybug, “I didn’t get a chance to introduce myself, making sure Damian didn’t disappear and all that. Anyway I’m Tim Drake, Co-Ceo of Wayne enterprises and Damians older brother.”

Ladybug turned to Damian and quietly said, “So does everyone in your family constantly talk like they’re trying to impress a victorian lord?” Damian snorted. Tim, unable to hear what she just said, looked to the two agape.

“At least I have a reason.” Damian responded, this time loudly enough for his elder brother to hear. “Anyway Tim is in CEO mode right now, which is pretty rare. Usually he’s a bumbling zombie dependent on coffee to function. In fact I remember one time when Dick took the last cup he----”

“I’d suggest stopping right there or I’ll tell her about the batcow incident.” Tim interrupted.

“Did you just say batcow? Because I understand each of those words separately.” Ladybug said, and even though her mask still concealed half her face Damian could tell she was really confused.

“Don’t ask. Just don’t.” Damian said quietly.

“Anyway. I never caught your name and considering the fact that your in a mask I assume you’re a hero. Which is surprising because none of us knew Paris had heroes.” Tim cut the two of them off before more could be said.

“Yes that’s becoming a common theme I’m finding,” Marinette began. “My name is Ladybug in the mask. I have a partner, Chat Noir, but he’s currently indisposed, something about paint in his hair.” Damian stifled a laugh as Marinette continued, “We have been operating out of Paris for the last few years, early on we tried contacting the Justice league but Green Lantern told us not to prank call him.”

“Oh did he now.” Tim said, leaning his head forward.

“Yes he did. Thankfully my power allows me to reverse all damage done during a fight. Including any lives lost or monuments destroyed.”

“That sounds like a very useful power. I'm sure that the heroes of Gotham would love to work with you.” There was a twinkle in his eye that Damian knew meant Tim was concocting some scheme. He was about to jump in, but Marinette got there first.

“Yes I’m sure you would but the issue is we currently have our hands full here although from what Damian told me you guys sound much more fun to work with. At least the villains have better costumes.”

Tim noting her wording turned to Damian, “Did you tell her the family secret? You know what Alfred will do if he finds out.”

Damian smirked “I’m not an idiot Drake this was all her. She could rival you for deductive reasoning.” Marinette just sat there looking innocent.

“Well that explains why the two of you were sneaking around together, Ladybug should I assume Damian knows your identity as well?”

“Yep.”

“Well this is going to be a nightmare. But this just means I can formally invite you to Gotham at least. Ha just leave it to the Ice Prince to leak the identity on his first civilian trip abroad.” Tim leaned his head back, closing his eyes.

“Actually it was you guys who tipped me off.”

Tim suddenly opened his eyes and looked her straight in the eyes. “Come again.”

“Well it was the fact that no one had spied Robin around Batman while Damian was in France. Then the fact that you were patrolling rather than him tipped me off that Robin might be on a vacation..” Tim just face palmed.

“Of course that would happen, how did we not see it coming.” He muttered to himself. “Wait, that begs another question: how did you two meet.”

Damian blushed and before Ladybug could respond he said “not important, there was an akuma. Now do you need anything else.”

“Actually yeah. Ladybug you mentioned the video you sent to Green Lantern, well Batman found it and wanted us to investigate. He didn’t know Green Lantern had seen it or otherwise he’d be on his way back to Ooa healing from a scolding from Alfred. Dick and Jason wanted to come but Bruce needed someone he could send discreetly and who better than the Co-CEO of Wayne industries who could just be checking up on the Paris branch.” Ladybug was impressed by the scheming having Dick Greyson or Jason Todd come in would stir up villain or media activity but Tim the third son wouldn’t.

“Well if you want we can meet up with my partner later and you can formulate a list of questions. Plus it seems you and Damian have some catching up to do.”

“There was a reason I came to Paris Ladybug. Being forced to talk to Tim was not one of them.” Damian made to leave only for a yoyo to catch his leg. Ladybug smirked at him. “Maybe a five minute chat couldn’t hurt anyone. Family reunion and all that.”

“Great then as long as everyones in agreement I can set up a time with chat later this evening for all of us to talk things through and get a strategy in place.”

“Are you sure about this having the league involved is going to cause a lot of chaos and even more dangerous villains could target Paris.”

“Tim I have dealt with so much crap the last couple of years that at this point I will take Darkseid over Lila…… Oh crap. We forgot about Lila.” Marinette looked at Damian who was coming to the same realization she was. He called out Lila in the bakery, and outed himself as a Wayne.

“Do I want to know?” Tim said rubbing his temples. He did not miss highschool.

“Lets just say school tomorrow’s going to be interesting, and I think we’re going to have to put the meeting on hold till after it. Ladybug and I are going to need to deal with school tomorrow, and caffeine isn’t gonna cut it.” Damian said.

“Then again if we aren’t lucid tomorrow might not be so bad….” Marinette began

“Do not even finish that, you even more than me need sleep. Between fashion, school and heroing you function off an hour.”

“You.. have a point. I’ll brief Chat on the situation on my way home. In the meantime I’ll leave you too to the brotherly bonding I’m sure you need.” she pulled her yoyo from her pocket, “See you tomorrow Damian, and whatever plan you hatch up make sure nit doesn’t include killing anyone.”

“Goodnight Ma--- Ladybug. And no promises.” The boy caught himself before revealing Ladybug's identity. She gave him the look of ‘don’t fuck up my secret identity bird boy’ before jumping out the window to run from rooftop to rooftop.

“So. how long have you had a crush on her.” Tim pulled Damians attention, and Damian was sudden;y very glad he had said nothing about not killing his brother.

--------------------------------------

“Do you think they’ll actually help this time?” Chat’s voice rang over the phone, Marinette had stopped behind one of the chimneys to talk to him in private.

“I don’t know, at least now they are actually considering it rather than just brushing us off as children.” Marinette was tired but they needed to have this chat now, there wouldn’t be any chance to in class tomorrow.

“Yeah, just don’t get your hopes up. They left us to fend for ourselves for 3 years and are only doing this now because of Damian if you didn’t know him then none of this would’ve happened.

“Ok but why does that matter that it’s Damian? They could’ve been doing it because of Jon too.”

“Oh please, you're more dense than our class sometimes. Jon would’ve noted it then forgotten to tell someone, but Damian told Batman right away. Why do you think he did that?”

“Chat I am too tired for this.” Marinette could feel Adrien facepalming through the phone.

“Oh I am not spelling this out for you, this time you get to figure it out yourself.”

“Fine. but next time you need help on your calc homework don’t come running to me.” Marinette hung up on him and made her way home. The parisian streets were nice and quiet for her, no akuma meant maybe another hour of sleep.

Once she was out of the suit she let Tikki rest and got right to work on the new piece she was making for Jagged, he wanted to somehow have the score of his newest piece sewn onto the pants for his next concert, and she had to brainstorm.

Twenty minutes went by.

Then an hour.

Then two.

Finally she put up her pencil and put on her pajamas, as she was falling asleep Adriens words kept replaying in her head, and the meaning slammed into her like a truck. Pulling out her phone she sent one message.

Oh fuck off

tag list: @clumsy-owl-4178 @pawsitivelymiraculous @yuulxd @smolplantmum @inarachi02 @notmycupoftea26 @laurcad123 @unknownvsworld @jeminiikrystal @megawhitleycalderonpaganus

#The dilemma writes #Maribat #damian wayne x marinette dupain cheng #Damianette #Damientte #Chat noir #Kwamii #fics #fanfic #myfic #damian x marinette #platonic ladynoir #platonic adrienette

124 notes · View notes

eleanorbloom · 4 years

Text

Adore You (Bryce x MC) 🍋🍋🍋

Pairing: Bryce Lahela x F! MC (Eleanor Bloom)

Warnings: N.S.F.W. Cursing.

Prompt: Day 23. Dry Humping | Breasts Worship | Frottage (Mods, I know I’m late, please forgive me 😭😭😭)

A/N: Hellooooo everyone! This is my official last kinktober fic. I have still a few half written but I’ll post them some other time. I actually no need a fest to write and post smut at this point 🤣 so I hope you don’t mind if I tag you in smut fics in the future. If you don’t want to be tagged anymore, just let me know!

I swear, I SWEAR I DIDN’T COPY BRYCE WORDS FROM LAST CHAPTER. I had this fic sleeping for two weeks, but I didn’t have the inpo to finish this until a couple of days.

A/N 2: Nikka, whether you read this on Tumblr or AO3, I hope you don’t mind. That’s all I have to say.

A/N3: This fic follows the events of Eighth Deadly Sin, my first kinkntober fic.

Taglist: @romewritingshop @utterlyinevitable @starrystarrytrouble @lahellacute @lahamseiroshoe @princesslahela @hermosaofraleighcarrera @choicesficwriterscreations @lucy-268 @interobanginyourmom @bratzlahela @mercury84choices @openheartfanfics

I hope you enjoy it!

______

The chatting of June and Baz was the first thing she heard when the doors slid open. “Hey, you okay?” Baz said looking at Eleanor from head to toes, her cheeks rosy and her face somewhat shimmering against the artificial light hanging over her head.

“Yeah, why?” She knew why, but she had to play the dumb. Luckily, it would work out with him.

“You’re all blushed.” He chuckled. “Don’t tell me the pager found you at the other end of the building. I hate when that happens.”

Eleanor’s cheeks flushed even more. Not even the light pace and the quick stop to the bathroom to alleviate the heat on her face had been enough.

What could she say? ‘Oh, no, it’s just that I gave my boyfriend a massive blowjob in a supply closet, don’t worry, it’ll pass?’ Hell no.

“Actually yeah, I was heading to the E.R.”

‘They’re fucking diagnosticians, I bet June already knows what I was into. Baz would never, he’s too oblivious, and Ethan… I don’t know if his mind will go directly to the gutter just because I’m blushed. Oh, the hell with it, no one has caught me in anything.’

Eleanor tried to move on by taking a seat beside Baz and asking for an update on the case they’ve been trying to diagnose the whole day. A few seconds later, Ethan walked towards the table and informed her of the last results as he started to cross out some theories written over the whiteboard.

The rest of the day went in a blur trying to discard some other theories, until, finally, Baz came up with the final idea.

Once her shift was over, she changed her scrubs for a gray wool skirt with a green mint sweater, put her black jacket on, grabbed her bag, and after a few minutes of walking under the snow, she took the train towards Bryce’s apartment.

The delicious smell floating around the apartment invaded her nostrils the moment Keiki opened the door. “Hey Ella, glad I get to see you!”

“Hey Keiki, me too.” Eleanor gave her a quick hug before the younger Lahela returned to the table and placed three glasses and three napkins in their usual spots.

Eleanor took a few steps to the couch to set her bag there when she noticed Keiki’s backpack was set there too, but completely full as if it was ready for a trip or something. “Are you going somewhere?”

“Yeah, I’m staying over at a friend’s house tonight. We have a physics test tomorrow and she asked me to help her study, she couldn’t handle some topics.”

“Awww, and as the future astronomer of the family, of course you’ll use your star power to help her. That’s really nice of you.”

“She has been really sweet with me since the beginning, one of the few that didn’t judge me for my parents.” She shrugged and gave Eleanor a shy smile. “And I actually enjoy teaching physics, so…”

“I’m glad you have friends here, Keiki.”

Eleanor smiled at her before sauntering to the kitchen where Bryce was turning off the griller. He was wearing a pine green hoodie with dark jeans. His normal winter outfit at home. “Hey, love. This smells fantastic” She took him by the hips and lean on his tiptoes to kiss him. He smooched back sweetly.

“Hey, gorgeous. And I bet it’s tasting even better” He winked.

“Look at you, four months ago you didn’t even know how to cook pasta and now, all confident as if it was an appendectomy.”

“What can I say? I’m talented and I put everything in me when I’m interested in something.”

“Of course you do, Goldie.” She patted him on his head, teasingly.

Bryce chuckled and without prior notice, he bent down her face and licked her cheek wet and long.

“Bryce!” She giggled. “What the fuck?!” Eleanor brought a hand over her cheek to dry the trail of saliva Bryce had left.

“If I’m gonna be a Goldie to you, I have to be in full mode, don’t you think?” He leaned again, but this time Eleanor moved as a reflex. However, Bryce was faster, so he managed to cup her head with both hands. But he only leaned to brush his lips over her earlobe before whispering, “And once Keiki’s gone, I’ll do it everywhere, so get used to it.”

She gulped and a shiver went down her spine and ended between her tights. Yes, just that simple words, that sole thought left her all wet. She had been imagining to be alone with Bryce in his room every spare time she found that afternoon. But alone in his apartment? Hell, no.

Karma was definitely manifesting.

He gave her a smug grin at her reaction before turning around and grab a spoon from the drawer.

After shaking off the sinful thoughts off her head, she strolled to his side, to help him serve the dinner: grilled beef with rice and vegetables.

Half an hour later, Eleanor was doing the dishes, when Keiki’s cellphone rang.

“Okay, Nikka’s mother is here to pick me up, I’m leaving!” Keiki pocketed her cellphone in her jacket and then flung her backpack over her shoulder in one swift motion. “Bye Ella, nice to see you!” She blew her a kiss fast as she was approaching the door.

“You too, Keiki, have a nice study session and I hope you ace that test tomorrow.”

“Thank you! Bye bro!”

“You have everything you need with you? Phone charger, pajamas, pads, wallet, money, EarPods, books, pencils, pencil case?”

“Bryce! Stop messing. I have everything with me.”

“Well, I may not be your father, but I have to do the usual questions adults do to teenagers when they make sleepovers.”

“Oh, and you’re an adult? I would’ve never guessed.” She snorted before getting out of the apartment.

Eleanor chuckled from the kitchen, “I love that kid.”

“You don’t miss a moment, do you?” He said as he saw Eleanor placing the last plate on the dish dryer, and then walked towards her to wrap his arms around her hips, pressing his body flush to hers.

“You don’t miss a moment when we’re alone, do you?” She teased her hands over his and turning her head to one side so Bryce could kiss her cheek.

“I’ve been wishing to be alone with you here for months, so, no, I won’t miss a single second.” He kissed down to her jaw, to finally rest his lips on the crook of her neck for a couple of seconds, until finally went up to her earlobe, sucking it playfully. His hands slid up to her waist, ribcage until he reached her breasts. “At last. I’ve been imagining them in my hands since you left the supply closet.”

Eleanor lolled her head back, resting it over his shoulder, not doing even the slightest effort to dissimulate the pleasure his hands were provoking in her.

There was no need.

“What else have you been imagining?”

“Well, for starters, getting rid of all your clothes until I have you completely naked over me.” Bryce sank a hand under her sweater and blouse and Eleanor felt his soft warm skin gripping her. Then his hand traveled up her chest, his fingers teasingly percolating under the fabric of her bra.

“Fuck”, she sighed. “And what do you want me naked for?”

“I want you naked so I can touch your tits and pinching them, kissing them, sucking them, hard, so hard, just as you like…” A soft moan escaped her mouth, and then, a whimper died in her throat when he pulled the lace down and pinched one nipple with his thumb and index. “And I touch you… and I suck you until you cum, until you shake over me…”

Bryce was about to tug her sweater out when a noise at the door startled them. The only thing he reacted to do, was pulling his hands out of her clothes, and place them in her hips.

And of course, to perform his best nonchalant face.

“Sorry, tomorrow I have p.e. and forgot my snickers!” Keiki said in a hurry, running to Bryce’s room, where she had all her clothes and shoes.

Bryce feigned to be really focused on only kissing Eleanor on the cheek. “God… this kid… I asked her if she had everything”, he complained loudly like they weren’t doing anything sinful before she got in. They walked to the hallway, Bryce not freeing Eleanor a single inch from his body, always wrapping her from the back, and somehow both managing the blush.

“Dude, give her some space” The girl teased, with her snickers on one hand before disappearing behind the door.

Bryce waited only a couple of seconds before sinking his hands under Eleanor’s shirt again, and whispered sultrily against her ear: “Now, where were we?”

“Let’s check that she goes this time, okay?” Eleanor untangled herself from Bryce’s arms and walked toward the living room window and looked down. After a minute, Keiki ran toward a SUV, where she got in. Seconds later, the car turned around the corner and disappeared.

Completely sure no one would interrupt them, Eleanor turned around and smiled at him “Now, where were we?” She repeated, before pouncing over Bryce and kissing him passionately. As the exchange escalated quickly into desperate bites for their bodies, none of them couldn’t help the ragged breaths and soft moans escaping from their throats.

Bryce, finally, at last, could tug her shirt and sweater off, only leaving her with her indigo bra. The same happened with her skirt, and the only thing that was left was her black pantyhose. “I can help you with that,” She said peeling herself from the delicate fabric.

When she looked up again to resume the kiss, she found her boyfriend already contemplating. There was something soft beyond all that hunger and desire. “You’re always so stunning, babe.”

“And you are beautiful and hot, and sexy, and I need to see more of you.” She purred, sliding her hands under his shirt, feeling his chiseled hips tensing at her touch. She grabbed the hem of his Henley, and pulled it off, exposing his broad and muscled chest, smooth and warm, radiating the most exquisite heat that always characterizes him. That makes him the best hugger in the world. “Mmmmh yes.”

“I thought I was the one who wanted you naked.”

“I didn’t have the chance to tell my fantasy. And my fantasy is feeling your skin and all your heat against mine.”

"You can't resist my body, eh?" He gloated while Eleanor was unbuckling his jeans and tugging them down his ankles.

"No, I can't. Clothes are definitely a nuisance if it’s on you.”

Bryce took two steps to get rid of them and circled his arms around the small of her back. "What, would you want me naked all day if you could?"

“Should be in the ten commandments.”

“I really am nothing but a piece of meat to you, eh?”

“Yeah, that’s why I ate you out so good this afternoon.” She pouted and gave him a knowing smirk.

Bryce bit his lip, fascinated. “In that case, I demand you’re my piece of meat tonight.”

“Bon Appetit, then, mon amour” And she captured her lips in his, thirsty, before circling her arms around his neck. Bryce lifted her up in one motion and carried her to the couch, where he sat down carefully, and Eleanor shifted her legs so they could straddle him.

They kissed passionately, fervently, voraciously. Being alone in the department was being such a turn on, more than they could’ve imagined. It was like all the passion, the longing and desire bottled up in all those months, were finally uncorking with every touch, every breath, every moan. “God, I feel like I’m gonna fuck you in so many ways, and everywhere…” He breathed, leaving a trail of kisses down her jaw.

“Except for Keiki’s bed, right?”

“Yeah, except that, that’s sacred.”

She chuckled, “Thank god you have some common sense.”

He continued pressing his lips now against her neck, sucking deeply when he reached her clavicle.

“Bryce, how many times I have to tell you… fuck”, his hands gripping her breasts roughly stopped her, the pressure on her skin making her anticipation grow inside her. After a few seconds, he moved both hands to her back and unclasped her bra, tossing it to the floor impatiently.

He didn’t wait a second before sucking her nipple with her mouth and pinching the other with his fingers.

She sighed.

“All fucking afternoon imagining your tits in my mouth, sucking them hard... And finally…” When he sucked the other nipple, Eleanor moaned and started to buck her hips.

“Holy shit, baby”

God. His hot breath against her sensitive skin, his expert and quick movements against her buds made her pleasure invade every fiber of her body.

Then, Bryce sank a hand in her underwear and grabbed her butt, but he stopped after a few seconds. “Baby, you’re not as I imagined you.” He whispered sultry, hooking the hem of her underwear with her thumb.

“I can fix that very quickly” She assured, and then stood up in front of him, both breasts wet and shiny with his saliva, and her nipples red and erected in his direction.

Eleanor took both sides of his lacy indigo underwear down, and now was standing completely naked in front of him. “That’s better?”

Bryce leaned to her and slid his hands to her sides, his eyes roaming her body from her toes, up her curvy and rounded tights, and stopping in her hipbones, where he kissed them softly and ceremoniously at each side. Then a trail of kisses following up her waist, breasts, and chest. Eleanor straddled him again, so he continued on her shoulders, neck until he reached her chin and stopped. “My love, you are… god, I think words are not enough this time.” His voice was husky and low. Intimate. His gaze intense and transparent. Breathtaking. It made her heart skip a beat the way he was looking at her. And the way he was calling her.

There were a few times when Bryce would use the words my love. It’s not that Eleanor wasn’t his love, but he only used those when he was completely and perfectly and incandescently in love. Enamored. Bewitched. Like a golden retriever trained only to love and worship her.

Just like now.

“Then show me”

“I will.”

She pressed her lips against his impatiently. She was burning inside, and she knew the fabric of his boxer was already wet with her arousal.

He kissed down her chest again, hands roaming all over her body while his tongue was licking her nipple. “Fuck, yes” She whimpered, rubbing her nub against his crotch, finding some relief, but the desire was too much. The sensations, overwhelming. His soft touch on her skin, tracing the curves of her back, gripping her ass, pressing her hips while his mouth was sucking her breast hard was mind-blowing. She was dizzy, she lost all focus, there were so many places when she was feeling pleasure, and above all that pleasure, she could feel the love, every touch, every studied move he was doing, not only to please her and make her come, but to show her how much he loved her.

He was adoring her.

“Bryce… Bryce…” She moaned “Ohhh, fuck”

Then he parted a little from her, took both breasts with his hands, and brought them as close as he could and began to lick them alternately and quickly like he had two ice cream cones and was tasting one at a time.

“Bryce, baby, you’re amazing.” She cried, sensing her folds almost painfully swollen, and her climax near.

“I told you I’d make you cum this way”

“And I believed the very second you told me so.”

Bryce brought a hand to her waist and pulled her closer to him, pressing her against his tights, her sex tickling, craving for touch, but she needed to reach that so wanted orgasm only with her tits. She knew Bryce would do it amazingly.

He brought the tip of his tongue back to her nipple and Eleanor brought both hands to his head, forcing him to stay there for a while. “Ohh baby I’m so close.”

He frantically slid the tip of his tongue into one nipple, then the other, and when he determined which was the one that caused her the most pleasure, he simply asked to confirm. "You prefer this one, right?" He whispered sucking her right breast, and Eleanor nodded with a small voice.

“Yes…”

Bryce continued to grab both breasts, but he slid his tongue down her right nipple and stayed there, waiting for her release.

“Come on, my love, I’ve got you.” He whispered while his thumbs were drawing circles in her swollen and reddened nipples. “Cum over me, babe.”

He sucked and licked her again, and again until he felt her hips move convulsively and her head lolled back, moaning hard. “Bryce, oh my god, yes!” feeling all her body electrified.

Then, she cupped his head with both hands, pulling his hair to rest her forehead against his. Her body warm with pleasure, and dizzy with sensations still coursing through her body.

Without noticing his intentions, she suddenly felt his thumb rubbing her folds and drawing circles over her clit. “Bryce, what the fuck”, she protested husky, her hips bucking as reflex.

He ignored her and kept moving his fingers, and every now and then sinking his fingers between her folds. “Come on, baby, I know you can do this”, he incited.

And she started to moan again, desperately, her legs shaking. And then, her whole body. The desire killing her slowly.

That was a whole new orgasm, different sensations, and he knew. He perfectly knew she could give him another.

She kissed her frantically, moaning hard, her body convulsing over him.

“Yes, baby, give it to me, you’re just as I imagined you.”

He had two fingers inside her, and his thumb rubbing her clit. His hand all wet with her arousal, just as he wanted.

“You’re insane, you know that?” She said laboriously.

“You like me insane, you love me insane”

“Yes, babe, and please never change.”

Hard kiss again and he brought his two wet fingers to his sensitive spot and drew circles until she came screaming against his mouth “Fuck, fuck, FUCK, BRYCE!” while all her body was shuddering and her tiptoes curved furiously.

Her words drew the smugest and most satisfactory smile Bryce had felt in a long time.

He only stopped moving his fingers until he obtained the last drop of her orgasm, when she became quiet for a moment and then collapsed to one side of the coach, her breath ragging and his skin damp with lustful sweat.

It took her more than usual to catch her breath.

“Are you okay babe?” He asked after a minute, leaning onto her.

“Yeah, I’m great, more than great, actually.”

“Good enough to give me a third?”

“Fuck, yes”

Bryce stood up and lifted her up in his arms and carried her to the kitchen counter.

“And you’re telling me I am the insane here.”

Eleanor sank a hand under his evidently wet boxers, and stroke his hardened cock.

“What can I say? You inspire me”

She directed her length to her core, and stared at Bryce, waiting for him to do the rest. He complied instantly.

“I’m gonna ask this Nikka kid to invite Keiki more often.”

“Mmm, yes...” She squirmed as Bryce began to thrust her slowly. “Seconded.”

Both kept enjoying the rare solitude until, hours later, both collapsed on the bed, destroyed. And shower sex was still pending for tomorrow.

Eleanor couldn’t walk properly in two days and no one could erase the smug grin over Bryce’s face for the next three days.

_____

Yes that line that Eleanor said, I did copy it from yesterday’s chapter 😂

Thank you for reading!

#Bryce Lahela #Bryce x MC #bryce x casey #bryce lahela x mc #open heart #open heart choices #open heart fanfiction #choices fanfiction #Oh fanfic #playchoices #choices #choices stories you play #Pixelberry

69 notes · View notes