#i also accidentally made him hot in like a fish way and im mad about it

[burntcactii]

Inkvember cause I'll be posting then before I finish all these. RIDICULOUSLY UPSET he came out anything more than cryptid and weird.

#aqualad #teen titans #ANYWAY UGLY GARTH RIGHTS #let him be. a cryptid #why does every make him like. Hot. hes not #i also accidentally made him hot in like a fish way and im mad about it #traditional art

[alreadyblondenow]

You and your words | Hendery

❤︎ Prince!Hendery x female!reader ❤︎ Fluff, Smut, Smut, Angst, Royalty AU, best friends to lovers, fuck buddies for some time hehe ❤︎ 3/4 for LOVE MONTH SERIES: Boys Don’t Cry One is a big number

One is a big number | You and your words | Sweet | He loves me, he loves me not |

Summary: You and prince Hendery are good friends... who lust for each other and trying so hard not to fall in love. But your mother, an ambitious woman, wants to use prince Hendery to improve the status of your family.  

Word count: 9,614k

Warnings: Unprotected sex, virginity loss, making out, best friends but they lust for each other, masturbation (male), mentions of masturbations (female), they think of each other when they masturbate ano ba, fingering, a lot of kissing, dirty talk, corruption, slight exhibitionism, mentions of oral sex, fuck buddies for some time, dirty talking... but through love letters.... haha, mentions of other idols, strict parents, mother issues, Hendery being a spoiled prince, slight cheating, a lot of bad decisions, you might get mad to Hendery or reader?

A/N: PURE FICTION. PURE FICTION. PURE FICTION. inspired by the Netflix series Bridgerton and First Burn from Hamilton. 

For my baby’s Love Letter event, @neosmutcollective​ HAPPY CUPID DAY!

February 14

My dearest best friend,

I am inviting you to my family’s soirée and ask you to accompany me the whole night. In return, I will sing praises about you to my cousin Xiaojun.

Prince Hendery

Everyone knows that an invitation to the queen’s soirée is the holy grail and it is very hard to be invited especially if the queen or king does not know you personally. But you, the ever so beautiful Y/n, is friends with their son Prince Hendery. So it’s up to you to claw your way to the top and to honor your family. At least that's what your mother wants you to do.

You don’t request anything from the prince, no. Everything that he does or gives to you is voluntarily and because he loves you dearly. As a friend.

It all began when he accidentally bumped you a little too hard because he was in a hurry to avoid a certain dance with someone he does not know. You were both in your teenage years at that time and it was a season where young people were rather picky. The young gents always look for the prettiest most flawless lady, and the young ladies always.... well, avoid anyone or everyone unless he's the prince.

You were quite young by that time and you didn’t care about courting, suitors, love letters, or expensive flowers. That’s why you didn’t know what the prince looked like nor his name, because you didn’t care at all.

“My apologies my lady, I didn’t see you” he offered his hand and pulled you from the ground. It was so kind of him to help you get up and straighten your dress. Not to mention he kissed the back of your gloved hand and apologized again.

“It’s fine. Is someone running after you?” you pursed your lips and hugged yourself to protect yourself from the cold. The palace gardens have it’s unique February breeze, you thought.

“Here,” he smoothly removed his coat and put it around you. “I’m Hendery” he smiled when he finally realized that you don’t know who you are with right now.

“Y/n. The ball is kind of boring and quiet. N-no offense to the queen and her family but everyone seems so uptight and pushing us, the young people to entertain the adults- I’m sure you understand what I’m saying here” your tone was a little loud and the annoyance caused by your mother is slowly showing.

“Very much. In fact, I was running away from a dance that I don’t want to be a part of” he giggles so handsomely to show his support for what you’re feeling right now. "Love is the last thing that I desire right now but my mother wants me to entertain a bunch of women and converse for some time with their mother or father"

“How many girls did you entertain tonight?” you asked back, and also giving back his coat because you’re about to leave him.

“Two. My mother and my sister” he answered proudly which made you smile and let out a small laugh. At least between the two of you, he has the freedom to say no.

When you finally got back to the boring party, your mother was quick to fix your hair and fluff your dress before she pushes you again on the dance floor and dance with the prince. She told you she went to great lengths so you could have some time to dance with the crowned prince even if it’s just for a few seconds.

“Work your magic young lady, enchant the prince, and try to make him interested in you. Be useful like your sisters, be engaged to the prince soon and all is well” your mother’s exact words.

Ah right. Of course, your mother’s priority is to use you as bait to the bigger fishes so you could earn their love and respect. So with a heavy heart and feet, you walked in the middle of the dance floor, feeling so ashamed and humiliated for you were so sure that the prince will not show up because he does not have any interest.

Tears are starting to ball at the corner of your eye but you felt a shiver on your spine when someone tapped you from behind.

Lo and behold, prince Hendery came and graced you with his attention.

“Are those tears?” He was quick to grab your hand and waist to save you from the humiliation but the place started gossiping in no time. You can hear people asking one another if you’re royalty, where did you come from and why is the prince only interested in having a dance with you.

“I’m sorry my prince,” you cleared your throat and hope that your face is pleasing, “we meet again, I have no idea that you’ve been gracing me with your time already. My apologies”

He let out a small laugh before he twirled you. “That’s Hendery, not prince Hendery. The quick moment that I shared with you outside made me feel that I’m free” he whispered beside your ear. So sincere, so true, but it sounded like he’s calling for help.

“Thank you prince Hendery, my mother is pleased”

“I too. I mean, the queen is pleased”

“How about you, your grace, are you pleased?”

“Very much pleased. Tell me, what’s your name?” You stepped back and bowed down to him, as low as you can.

“Lady Y/n L/n, your grace” you smiled and slowly recovered from your bow.

And in that very moment, while a unique friendship is slowly blooming in the middle of the dance floor, everyone started hating you even before knowing your name or family name.

But for prince Hendery, it’s a name that he will never forget and love starting that night.

From there on you and prince Hendery became the best of friends, making the whole town jealous and making everyone crave your attention, begging for you to answer the golden question which is, “Are you two in love with each other?” Something neither you nor Hendery can’t answer because you do love each other, but not deep enough.

Months and years have passed and still, you and prince Hendery please your mothers by being sweet whenever you have eyes watching. Balls, birthday parties, luncheons, soirées, all to which you and prince Hendery had a great time making everyone jealous. Like tonight, where prince Hendery should be right beside you because you are his guest but he is nowhere to be found. Until one of his guards came to you and told you, “Prince Hendery is asking for you in his bedroom, my lady” thankfully it was a whisper, or else it could have been a big scandal.

You have never stepped foot into prince Hendery’s room even though the two of you are incredibly close. No one can enter a royal bedroom except family, guards, maids, or his future fiancé. That’s why you were nervous while you continue to question yourself, ‘what are you doing here?’ until you found yourself in front of the prince’s bedroom and his guard opened the door for you.  

“Are you going to marry me?” You asked after the guard shut the door, teasing your best friend and not coming any closer to him.

“Will you please come join me to bed? I’m sad” he pouted so cutely and lie on his side. “You look lovely tonight. The flowers I sent you this morning match your dress perfectly, I picked it from the garden where we first met” he added.

You giggle and told him to look at your head, there he saw a flower from the ones he sent you. “Creative,” he says and pats his bed one more, still asking for you to lie beside him. Of course, you gave up eventually, but you lie so far from him that he had to pull the sheets a little too harshly to get a hold of you which completely startled you and made you nervous. “Much better,” he says, face closer to you than ever that his breath touches your skin.

“No more games my prince, why did you summon me here?” you’ve never been close to Hendery like this. If the queen hears about this, you and your family will be in trouble.

“Nothing special, I just want to be free before I become the night's hot topic” he admitted.

“That's why I'm here. I promise to drag you away whenever someone is coming” He smiles at your effort to cheer him up, “or would you prefer dancing the whole night so we don't get disturbed?” you offered him a hug while you two lie in bed comfortably. “Everything will be fine as long as Im here” you added.  

“Exactly, that's why I called you here” he smiles and closed his eyes, listening to the distant violin playing from downstairs. And to make him feel better, you threw away your shyness and rest your head on his chest. He automatically wraps his arms around you and giggled while his eyes were still closed. Secretly happy that you’re slightly on top of him while his embrace becomes tighter and tighter by the second until your face is much closer to his face again when he rolled on the side dragging your body with him.

Shyness creeps in your bones again as he looks at you deeply. Making your body incredibly warm by just looking at you and keeping your body close. You tell yourself, ‘look away, it’s improper to look at your prince like this’ but you can’t and you don’t want to.

“If I ask you to kiss me, will you say no to me?” he bravely asked, eyes hoping for you to say yes. But when you’re taking too long to answer, you saw the disappointment in his eyes, and his embrace was becoming loose. “I’m sorry for being a fool-“

To his surprise, you didn’t answer him through your words but through your actions. You kissed your prince friend on the lips which he returned without hesitation. He was happy and he’s proving it by the way he kisses you, smiling in between taking breaths, letting out a soft moan whenever he’s being too carried away. You didn’t expect to love the way how his lips touch yours, you didn’t expect him to be a good kisser but it was so good that when you closed your eyes you thought you were in a cloud and an angel is kissing you.

It was slow and not rushed. It is as if time stopped while your heads were turning and your tongues were fighting for dominance while no one noticed that your fingers are intertwined. When he pulled away and kissed your forehead to end the moment, he thanked you for not refusing and even asked you where did you learn to kiss like that. “I’m glad the first lips I ever kissed is owned by a woman who truly, cares for me” he smiles and kissed the back of your hand one too many times before he got up from his bed, and offered his hand to help you.

That night, while you and prince Hendery were kissing privately, something sparked inside him that he had never felt before. You may not know but during the party, prince Hendery noticed that you can be someone he can be in love with.

February 19

My dearest Y/n,

Have you been well? When can I see you again? Did you receive the flowers that I sent you and your mother? Perhaps I could pay you a visit and we can have a picnic somewhere private.

I can’t stop thinking about you. I can’t stop thinking about the kiss we shared.

Prince Hendery

Days after that beautiful kiss, prince Hendery sent you beautiful flowers, one for each corner of your home that even your mother was impressed and had the wrong idea. Of course, she thought the prince is courting you and that sending you many expensive flowers is a sign that he is now ready to show his seriousness to you.

“May I see that letter, dear?” she reached out her hand, waiting for you to hand prince Hendery’s recent letter.

“Mother, I’m sure the prince will not be pleased with your idea," you said in the nicest way but the tone of your voice had a hint of begging. Why must she put you in this position? Your own mother. She walked slowly towards you and snatched the letter from your hand and watch your mother betray you in front of your eyes.

After reading, she was very much amused and happy by what she just read. “the kiss we shared, eh?” she said with a smirk. “Write back-“

“I will not” you talked back.

“Write back or I will” she said with a stern voice, “you are to write back and flatter the prince. Tell him you want to happen again, tell him to invite you again to one of his family’s events”

“Mother, I don’t talk like that”

“Whatever, just do as I say For our family’s name, for our family’s sake. Be useful like your sisters” she straightens up her posture and told you to go to your room and write the letter.

You thought that your mother understood the friendship that you have with Hendery but turns out she still wants to use you as bait and to get the attention of the royal family. It sickens you, to be honest. Because Hendery is a decent person, always nice to you and your family and also you love him dearly as a friend.

As you look at the blank paper and arrange your thoughts, trying so hard to talk like how your mother wants but you just can’t. So instead, you told him the truth and what your heart says.

February 19

Dear Prince Hendery,

You care for me always, I am well thank you for asking.

Apologies for not being around these days, I was catching up with some readings. I did receive the lovely flowers, they were very beautiful my mother was pleased.

I miss you awfully. And the private picnic you offered sounds wonderful and can be arranged for tomorrow.

Lady Y/n

“No mention of the kiss?” prince Hendery whined to his best friend Ten while he watches him clean his hands from their afternoon hunt.

“Maybe the story that you told me is just part of your imagination,” Ten laughed.

“It’s not. It’s much real- how can I bring this up to her again? I want it to happen again”

“Oh, you’re a spoiled prince. When will you change? Tell me my, friend, do you love her, or you’re willing to use her for your desperateness?” it was a bold question to open the eyes of the prince.

“I do love her but, it’s very little and I’m sure I’m driven by my lust” the prince admitted.

“Then court her. Feelings can grow and the next thing you know, you now have a queen. And your mother will be pleased”

Hendery shook his head to show his disappointment to his friend. He may be the prince but he believes that he’s not born in this world to merely please his mother but to follow what his heart really wants. Like to marry the one he loves.

On the next day, as promised, the prince planned a private picnic for just the two of you and it was perfect. Being with prince Hendery is like an escape from the reality of your home and for prince Hendery, being with you makes him feel normal. “The sun feels good, doesn’t it?” he put a strawberry in your mouth and watch you chew it while you lie comfortably on his lap.

Since when did you two start to exchange flirty glances? you asked yourself. But you shrugged it off and continue to mind your thoughts. You may not know but it’s obvious that your mind is not in this picnic and prince Hendery can see right through you, he knows something is bothering you so he asked you. “Nothing my prince, I’m just thinking and admiring the perfect weather,” you said with the slightest of interest.

“Why are you so proper when you’re writing to me or when you’re with me? What's the matter? Speak your mind your prince demands it,” he ate another strawberry and you got up from your comfortable position.

“That’s not fair,” you said because you can’t tell him what’s really on your mind.

“It was meant to be a joke, what’s wrong?”  

He will never give up until you tell him something that will stop his curiosity, so you didn’t have a choice but to lie. “Having no suitors and my desire to escape from reality. That bothers me” you said and tried diverting your attention by indulging at the feast in front of you.

“Maybe there’s a reason for that. Look for a suitor that's very much like me” he says boldly, looking at you deeply like he’s telling you the answer is right in front of you already. And to be honest, a suitor that’s very much like the prince doesn’t sound so bad. He’s a gentleman, has good intentions, and also a good kisser.

“I will keep that in mind. Now read me poetry and tell me stories,” you went back to your comfort on his lap and listen to him talk while you two bask under the beautiful weather. He reads you tons of poetry that sounded real and full of emotions, tells you stories about his childhood and the things that he wants to do in life, even fed you with the palace gossips, and made you laugh. Again, the picnic is perfect and prince Hendery once again provided an escape from your ugly thoughts.  

You watch the sun go down while you both finish the wine in your cups and eat the leftover cheese because there's nothing left anymore. Both a little tipsy from the wine already, laughing and giggling before midnight strikes then out of nowhere, the rain poured so hard that it got you both soaked in a matter of minutes.

Running hand in hand to look for a shade as the field becomes darker each second, good thing prince Hendery saw a thick tree that can provide shade in the meantime. With soaking clothes and wet skins you stand closely together behind the thick tree, waiting for the rain to stop. But the prince is thanking it silently for giving him this moment with you. A moment with you where he can admire you closely again, a moment with you privately where he can keep you close to him, and a moment with you where he can try and ask for a kiss again.

You’re not stupid. You can feel the warmth of his body like he’s sharing some of it to you, you can feel his fingertips dancing on your exposed back all the way to your nape, letting you feel the wetness of your skin which you very much love but you can’t admit it to yourself.

“You said you wanted an escape well I too,” he leaned forward to give your jaw a soft kiss that’s very much addicting, leaving you for wanting more. He pulled away to look at you for a few seconds, waiting for you to return the kiss and accept his offer. And without any hesitation, you kissed him on the lips and showed him what you want.

“An escape and nothing more-“ you said because giving the prince false hope is the last thing you want to happen.

“I understand, he says with a smile. Very much pleased to see you give in to him and his charms. He kissed you to show you how happy he is, reaching for your right leg and lift the skirt of your dress so he could feel the wetness of your skin further. You moaned and gasp sharply near his ear as you feel your leg locks automatically around his waist as he pushed you on the tree with a grunt and kiss you even more harshly.

Soon you feel his fingers creep in your inner thighs, closer than ever to your sex. “Hendery-“ you moaned when he finally swipes his finger on your sex, wetting his fingers in front of your eyes using his spit and putting it back to your sex and continue to make you feel good. He is holding you tightly as your grip on his shoulder tightens even more. Oh he knows what he’s doing. You smile at that thought while parting your lips, furrowing your brows, and moaning even more deliciously near the prince’s ear.

And while he continues what he’s doing to you, you felt something hard poking your other thigh while his lips were leaving marks on your chest, just right above your breast. Is that what you think it is? Well, if yes then his cock is big, and thinking about it makes you horny even more. “Are you happy?” he whispered, disturbing your lustful thoughts, nod your head yes, and returned your lips to his. Biting it and sucking his tongue, showing him that you are very much driven by lust too.

When he finally found the spot that instantly made your legs shake and your knees weak, he watched you let go right before his eyes and watch you bite your lips and make sinful sounds that he’s very much proud of. Satisfied with the pleasure that he provided, he removed his fingers from your hole and helped you fix your dress. You feel very tired and exhausted, that your legs are about to give up but Hendery will never let you fall. He kissed you more, asked for more and you gave him more until you’re both happy and satisfied with the long kisses that you shared. “Let me bring you home safely” he sweetly requested when he noticed that the rain was long gone and you’re in a middle of a dark field.

Walking hand in hand back to his carriage where his guards are waiting, you two remain unbothered with your wet clothes and stayed happy with the remaining time you have with each other on your way home. And when it’s finally time to part again, he thanked you for a wonderful day which made you incredibly shy as what happened earlier flashes in your mind.

As you settle in your bathroom, sitting on the tub filled with warm water, you can still hear Hendery’s sweet whispers and miss his touch terribly. Smiling through the idea of a gentleman such as Hendery touched you for the first time, and it was quite an experience. But still, you love him as a friend and that will never change because you will not let your mother win and use Hendery’s name to up the status of your family.

He offered you an escape, and that’s what you’re accepting. No more, no less.

February 23

Dearest Y/n,

I am lying to myself if I don’t admit that I miss your lips on mine. How I miss seeing your parted lips, touch the softness of your breast, and the wetness of your sex. I’ve been thinking about you every night since we parted ways after that eventful evening we shared.

But the purpose of this letter is to invite you to my uncle’s ball this evening and accompany me, be my guest and let’s enjoy the night.

Prince Hendery

Knowing that the prince misses you and your lips, is something that can surely make you smile while writing back to him and accept his invitation. Sealing the letter with the slightest of love but flowery words that will surely make him smile too.

This action can be accepted as playing with fire but no one reads your letters aside from the prince himself so you know that whatever you say to him will always be safe.

But right after you sent the letter, you regret writing those filthy words on paper and realized that you are sending it to your best friend.

February 23

Dear Hendery,

The invitation is accepted and I will be delighted to accompany you. But before I close this letter, I want you to know the truth about my impure thoughts.

I think of you at night whenever I touch myself. Imagine that your fingers are the ones inside me and not mine, I spread my legs so wide under the sheets, eyes closed while I try to remember how you please me.

When can we meet privately again? I hope it happens again soon.

Lady Y/n

As expected, while reading the letter that you wrote back privately, the prince’s cock got hard that he had to take care of it at once. So in his quiet room where the doors are locked, he sat on the edge of his bed and pull out his cock from his trousers. Stroking it slowly as he imagines you again, teasing himself so he wouldn’t release so soon.

Holding the letter in his left hand and reading the second phrase over and over again, trying so hard to picture you in his thoughts with your nightgown lifted all the way up until your sex is exposed and you touching yourself. Closing his eyes so tight while he strokes his cock faster than before as he pictures you gripping the sheets so hard and very much near to your orgasm.

Until finally he shoots his cum and lets it drip on his sheets, moaning and grunting deliciously as he enjoys the warm feeling while catching his breath. Wondering how can he control his lustful feelings towards you and turn it to love.  

When the most awaited time has arrived and Hendery’s carriage is waiting outside your house, you didn’t quite expect to feel nervous as this never happened to you before. He was quiet and smiling handsomely when you sat in front of him, waiting for his carriage to move before he does as well.

“You look beautiful as always,” he sat beside you and completely startled you with his actions. A kiss on your gloved hand, and a kiss on your lips.

During the ball, Hendery was busy gracing the place with his presence on behalf of his mother so the two of you did not have much time to talk and dance, although he promised to dance with you once for tonight and that is perfectly fine for you understand his duties.

So while you’re drinking a glass of white wine on the corner, you can’t help but think and foresee the future that you can have with Hendery if you let your mother succeed.

A comfortable life, the wife of the future king, a loving husband, of course, he will give you children, but he will always be away to take care of the country’s current affairs because he is the crowned prince. And you well know that you don’t want a life like that. You want a life where a husband goes home to you every night and makes love to you until you're exhausted and tired.

“I’m sorry” Hendery whispered from behind which startled you. “Are you ready to dance?” you gave him your hand and guide you towards the middle. Careful to put his hand on your waist, trying so hard not to pull you towards him and plant many kisses on your neck.

“I read your letter” he started and completely clueless about your regret about it. You gave him a shy smile and looked away.

“So?” he started again, hoping to hear a response from you this time.

“So what my prince?”  

“Do you still want my fingers inside you?” He teases, whispering beside your ear and smiling as if he’s not making you shy in the middle of the dance floor.

“I beg you-“

“Oh, she begs” He interrupted you and teased you further. But that’s not all, you feel his hand roam on your lower back, bravely did it still despite being guarded with many judging and watchful eyes. Slowly your patience with your friend is wearing thin and so you stared at him long and hard and thankfully he understood what your eyes were saying and stopped teasing you.

“Thank you for shutting up and remembering that you’re a prince,” you clear your throat and continue what you were saying earlier, “your fingers do felt rather nice inside me and... I wish what happened the other night would happen again. But Hendery I beg you, do not tease me like this because someone might hear you. At least talk softly,”

The prince let out a small laugh, so small that only you can hear it while he continues to dance with you and fool everyone for pretending that you’re having an innocent conversation.

“After what happened I can’t seem to forget how you purred beside my ear that night” he stared at you, holding your lower back to assist you more on the dance. “Your tight grips on my shoulders still ghosts my skin, how you say my name as if I am not a prince. But it came out from your mouth in a very sinful way because I am pleasuring you”

“I made those sounds, those sounds that you oh so loved because you knew what you’re doing in between my legs... Hendery” you said it as quietly as possible and smiled so innocently at your prince, feeling every turn and every step became closer than required. Bodies becoming warm in less than a minute that you even felt his skin became instantly hot.

“If you loved how I sound that night, well, I love how you pushed me behind that tree your grace... because I felt your manhood poke my thigh. And my my,” you shook your head from left to right and giggle beside his ear, then decided to stop teasing him and making him hornier than ever when you heard him clear his throat and see the blush on his face.

“The next time we are to be alone again, I want your lips to never leave mine, your body never be covered by layers and layers of silk, and always keep your body close to mine because next time, my fingers won’t be the only one going inside you”

The promise of a very sinful and lustful next time instantly made you feel hot and you feel like your dress is about to pop and your corset will give up in no time. But even though it sounded like it was all about lust, the promise of seeing each other alone again because he loves your presence made your heart swell with happiness and smile from ear to ear as he sways you slowly under a fading string quartet music from the background.

“I never want the song to end, I beg you, not as your prince but as Hendery, keep close to me. Please”

You didn’t want to ruin the moment and feel every note of that beautiful song come to an end. This time you’re no longer fooling anyone, you are simply showing that you adore each other in the middle of the dance floor with a sea of young people.

“Tell me, what else do you love your grace?” You asked him just before you part from the dance and bow.

“You. I love you”

Usually, when someone confesses their love to someone, positive reactions are expected from both persons. And when Hendery said it out of nowhere he wanted to take it back in an instant because it is not sincere and it is not true. Yet.

“Take it back, you don’t know what you’re saying. You don’t love me” it was so hard to breathe at the moment. But you say it over and over again, very close to being mad but you can't make a scene “Please Hendery, take it back it’s not true and what you’re feeling is lust not love” you said sternly completely offending the prince with the truth.

“Alright, alright I take it back. I’m sorry, I’ll get you a glass of water. Come”

And so, the lovely night has ended earlier than expected. Hendery brought you home safely without a promise of seeing each other soon again.

Everything changed and it’s all because of lust.

March 2

To my dearest prince Hendery,

It’s been many days since the last time that we saw each other. Are you mad at me?  

Word is spreading that you’re leaving the country for several weeks to attend an important meeting representing your mother. Is it true? Were you planning to tell me?

Please write back and meet me soon. I miss you.

Lady Y/n

After reading your letter and keeping it safe in his drawer, prince Hendery admitted to himself first that he misses you too, and that no he’s not mad at you. He’s just humiliated and he’s not yet ready to show his face.

It’s his mistake in the first place. He promised to offer you an escape, no more no less. “Unbelievable Hendery,” he murmurs to himself.

After a few days of self-pity and gathering his courage to face you again, he finally gave in to your request and meet you. He apologized while you two walk around town with his guards on the side, ate lunch at his favorite restaurant, and chat until your hearts are happy. Everything felt normal again, you can hear people starting to gossip about you and Hendery so you figured all is well between you and him.

“Tomorrow is my last night here, please accompany me. My mother insisted to host a ball, I told her no need but she still made preparations” he scoffed and finished the tea he’s drinking.

You didn’t want to ruin the mood and ruin the peace between you two but you have to tell him the truth, “Xiaojun- uh, asked me to accompany him and I accepted his offer,”

“Well, you could have said no. Didn’t you thought of me?” his voice was suddenly higher and stern. He wanted to shout at you but you don’t deserve that, you’re very much important to him so he won’t do that.

“I’m sorry my prince” you murmured and lowered your head.

“Don’t lower yourself for me. I think so highly of you, please” he reached for your hand kissed your knuckles, “It’s alright. My cousin is good company” he says, comforting you further.

When you and Hendery parted ways and while the prince is on his way home, he finally admitted to himself that he is jealous. Jealous because he knew you and his cousin Xiaojun used to like each other, and now he’s clueless if you still like each other.

He can’t eat properly and kept thinking if he should steal you from his cousin. He can’t sleep despite being so tired physically and kept thinking about how he’s not spending his last night here with you.

And when his last night in town comes, during the ball, Hendery is forcing himself to smile and greet his guests. Trying so hard not to look at you and his cousin Xiaojun for he doesn’t know if he can control himself from being jealous.

“Unaccompanied, huh?” Ten teases Hendery and looked around the place for you. Only to find out that you came with his cousin, “Ah... I see” Ten smirks and continues drinking his wine.

“I’m jealous so go ruin someone else's night-“

“No my friend, I’m here to rescue you,” he whispers and called someone from afar. “Prince Hendery I want you to meet my cousin Lady Lisa,” the beautiful lady bowed to the prince to give respect, complimented the prince, and soon earned his attention and invited her to dance.

Of course, a royal attraction such as Hendery with a different woman in the dance floor can awaken the gossipers in an instant. But it's not the gossipers that irritate you the most. It’s her giggles, Hendery’s hold on her waist, his beautiful smile when he talks to her-

“Are you alright dearest?” Xiaojun whispers, completely bringing you back to reality. You breathed in deeply and exhaled sharply before drinking your wine in one go.

“Excuse me for a moment, I need air and privacy” you request from the gentleman in front of you. Nodding with a lot of questions in his mind, Xiaojun did not even dare to stop you.

And away you go to the palace gardens to breathe and let out your jealousy. Breathing deeply over and over again, wishing to be separated from the corset that’s suffocating you. Until you finally calmed down and had the need to admire the stars in the sky and listen to the distant chatters from the ball.

“Did my cousin offended you? Violated you perhaps? Are you hurt?”

Hendery came out looking for you immediately when he did not see you by his cousin’s side. He knew that this is the only place you will go to breathe because this is where he first met you.

“No no, I’m fine. Your cousin is a gentleman like you, I just needed some fresh air. Go back to your guests” you shoo him away and suddenly you feel suffocated again.

“I care only about one guest. And she’s standing in front of me right now” Hendery says boldly, walking towards you and pulled you close by the waist and kissed you. Motioning you deeper into the gardens to hide while you share a heated kiss that’s saying, ‘we belong to each other’.

Soon the heated kiss becomes rougher while the prince’s hands roam freely around your body, undoing your dress, trying to free you from this tight corset, and said, “Make love to me tonight”

There was no sign of authority in what he said, you’re sure that it’s not a command from your prince, his voice was serious but full of love and passion. And that’s why you agreed, nod your head and kiss him again, and felt his charming smile in between the kiss.

Not even a single soul from the guests knew that he sneaked you to his bedroom again, dismissed the guards before shutting the door close and locking it.

The room was dark and cold and only the moonlight and the lights from the outside illuminates his room. But when his lips touched your skin again, suddenly it became hot and you feel weak while Hendery is the opposite because you noticed he’s full of energy and burning passion.

“Lie in bed,” he says sweetly but his actions say otherwise for he pushed you, hovers you, and continue removing your clothes. X by X he loosens your corset until you’re finally free and you’re all exposed in front of him. “Better?” He asks and you nod shyly.

When he proceeds to remove his clothes next, it is as if your shyness faded when you saw Hendery’s body in the dark but everything seems clear to you even with minimal light. “Can I spread your legs?” he asks, caressing your knee while he lies beside you and waiting for your consent.

Slowly and gently, he parted your legs and hovers you again, hands exploring around your body without barriers of cloth, kneading your breast while kissing your neck as you listen to him breathe and moan. And when his hands continue to explore your inner thighs, a sharp gasp escaped from your mouth and you spread your legs wider. This time, it’s your turn to feel his naked body and explore it with your hands. Feeling every muscle tighten whenever he makes you moan accidentally.

Then he stopped. Came closer to you until you’re bodies to bodies and his forehead rests on your temple.

You know exactly what’s going to happen next. You knew that it will hurt, and it did but you asked for more, begged rather. You see his handsome face contort when he finally pushed inside you, loving your tight walls, moaning like a mad man. He lifts both of your hand at the top of your head and witness him look at you with eyes full of lust that watches your breasts bounce up and down for every thrust he gives you.

For someone who’s inexperienced like your prince, he surely knew what he was doing. Folding your legs and pushing them closer to your chest so he could thrust deeper. Even he surprises himself.

With quick thrusts, filthy words here and there, and deeper kisses you finally reached your euphoria and moaned his name again. Something he oh so loved hearing and that made him lose his mind and let go. Pulled out immediately and shoots his cum on the sheet, while grunting and moaning so loud that you didn’t even know he’s capable of making such sounds.

When he’s finally calm and has enough energy to move, he gathered the ruined sheets, threw them on the floor, and covered you with the thicker ones. “What happened was special, don’t you think?” He asks and joined you under the thick sheets and kept you close to his still exposed body.

“Special indeed,” you said and reached for his lips to plant a soft kiss.

Now you know that you do have feelings for him.

“I want you to take this, as a promise that I will soon be home” you watch him remove his silver necklace and transfer it around your neck, leaving sweet kisses on your shoulders before pulls away. He promised to come home soon so he can replace the necklace with something even more expensive when he gets back. “Oh I wish to see you more like this wearing nothing but my necklace”

“Then don’t go. Stay here, the world will not go into war if you chose to stay” He smiles so sweetly at you, happy that you’re on the same page.

“Just for a couple of weeks, my love” he says and kissed your hand many times.

“So we're in love, huh?” You tease him.

He scoffed and looked deeply into your eyes, “I think we started being in love on the night first met. We were too young to think about love but I know we loved each other for years now”

And just like that, after years and years of going against your mother, you’re finally defeated because what Hendery said is true.

On the next morning, you and your prince spend the whole morning making love quietly and making sure that your time left with each other is not wasted. Exploring each other’s bodies further and diving headfirst to lust.

“Please “ you giggle quietly, covering your mouth as you moan with every flick of his tongue on your clit. You both came several times now and you feel so weak already in the middle of the morning. “You need to prepare,” you reminded him before he starts again and asks for one last. Finally, you feel him spread kisses on your body all the way up until his head appears from the thick sheets.

When the time of parting has finally come, he put you on a carriage first before he leaves. “You’re going to be a great king” and he wishes for you to be beside him always and forever. “Safe travels, my love. Write to me every day” you whisper to him and kiss him before you go inside the carriage.

“Expect love letters from now on. I’ll be home soon, think of me always” he says and kissed you goodbye.

The promise of receiving love letters from Hendery every day was kept. You read them in the morning when you wake up and at night before you sleep. Smiling like a fool and giggling alone as you remember his sweet words and miss him even more.

This has been yet your happiest time with Hendery. Although you’re not together physically, but through the continuous exchanges of love letters, your hearts felt closer than before. And you find it amazing because being oceans apart from each other should be hard and heartbreaking but no, your words and his words give comfort to your hearts.

March 10

To my love who’s oceans apart from me,

My heart longs for you and I miss your presence.

The country is treating me well with their good hospitality and pays high respect to my mother the queen. It feels like I’m on vacation rather than an important royal matter.

It’s morning here and I’m sitting by the beautiful garden with beautiful flowers as I write this letter and think of you. Now that it’s clear that we are deeply in love, I realized that I am in love with my best friend and the mere thought of it makes me blush and makes me smile naturally.

I think of you every second my love, imagining you reading a book in front of me or sleeping right beside me in my huge bed. I want to wake up and see your smile first thing in the morning or feel your warmth for as long as I want. But let us not worry for time will pass by so fast and we will be together again.

When I get back, we should have more picnics, share longer kisses, make love every night. Let us never let go of each other.

I love you.

Hendery

March 15

To my loving prince,

My heart aches for you too but your words give great comfort to my heart. This distance between us is nothing compared to our patience.

I am more than glad that the country is treating you well. Tell me everything you do there, I miss your stories. You’re going to be a great king and I wish you won’t forget to take care of yourself there. Eat plenty and rest when needed. My heart won’t take it if you get sick or become tired.

As promised, I always think of you too. My head is so full of you that you visit me in my dreams more often than usual. And I too my prince, want to see your charming smile in the morning and even at night.

Stretch your patience more my love. When you get back, I will never leave your side. But for now, I am happily and patiently waiting for your return.  

I love you.

From the woman you love who’s oceans apart from you.

And for days and days of being apart, you and Hendery exchanged love letters and make each other smile through the paper. You tell him stories and gossips from home and he tells you stories and gossips from the country he’s staying.

“My prince, I brought bad news” The voice of his royal guard disturbed his peace while reading one of your letters. “How dare you ruin my peace, what now?” he says, still smiling from the letter he’s reading.

“Your stay here is extended, my prince” the royal guard informed him and did not dare to look his prince in the eye for he knew it will make him angry. “Your presence is requested at a royal gathering that your mother can’t attend to” he added.

And right then and there, Hendery thought about you and wanted to tell you the news immediately. He wrote as fast as he could and told his guard to send the letter immediately for Hendery was scared and disappointed with himself to give you false hope.

April 30

My dearest prince whom I love,

I waited for your arrival but you did not come. For days I was worried and could not eat or sleep well and all I did was think of you. Pray that you’re safe and wait patiently for you.

But now that I have received your letter I can finally stop worrying and stop imagining unpleasant scenarios. How are you?

I miss you terribly.

Y/n

May 20

My love,

Thank you for understanding further.

My purpose and responsibility here are becoming more tiring each day that passes but the promise of seeing you once I’m done here is the only thought that gives me energy.

Unpleasant scenarios? Imagine only me showering you with love, imagine us strolling across town and shock the gossipers and silence them once and for all when we finally announce our relationship.

Think only happy thoughts, my love, I will be with you soon.

I love you.

Hendery.

And that is the last letter you received from him for the month of May.

Hendery was told that someone is plotting to assassinate him and for his own safety, he has to leave the country secretly and go to a country where no one knew he is there. Even you.

For your own safety, Prince Hendery stopped writing you letters for the assassins can and might track you because of him. He will not forgive himself if you are to be tracked and hurt by an assassin because of a love letter.

Little did you know that he did not send his last letter on the 20th of May, and a very heartfelt love letter is on its way to you.

“A normal mail? For me? Not from the royal mail?” the mailman nods and hands you the letter.

“Put it on the basket together with the normal mails dear,” your mother said. Oh this house completely has no care about any other letter unless it’s sealed by the royals.

As weeks and months pass by quickly, you continue to wait for a letter from Hendery, and continue to wait for his arrival. But sadness had you by the neck that whenever you think about Hendery your heart will suddenly hurt and tears will automatically fall from your eyes.

Waiting is a long suffering and you understand that well before you decided to love Hendery. You knew what you signed up for… but you did not expect that it will hurt like hell while waiting for someone. It’s like waiting for a ghost to come back, you feel hopeless.

But even though you’re hurting so much, you grew more desperate to hear anything from him that you asked for his cousin Xiaojun’s help. Still, your efforts are wasted. And you’re reminded why you didn’t want to pursue your love with Hendery in the first place. “The pain that I’m feeling right now will double once he is crowned king, I’m sure of it. Is it wrong for me to ask for the man that I love? Why am I being punished?” you cry your heart out in Xiaojun’s arms, keeping you safe while he listens to what pains you and try so hard to provide comfort.

But just as you thought that you couldn't be any sadder, you are wrong. Now that everyone is expecting you to marry soon to save your family and fix the financial problem, sadder days continue to happen in your life.

“Stop your nonsense now young lady, you will marry prince Xiaojun and live with him in a new country. Stop humiliating your family and stop waiting for the crowned prince to come back. He may be all wedded and bedded by this time while you, you’re becoming even more miserable”

And that is the reason why you agreed to marry prince Xiaojun.

YEARS LATER

One night at the queen’s ball, you found yourself alone and looking at the stars again on the exact place you and Hendery first met. Breathing in, breathing out, and closing your eyes as you clear your mind and think about Hendery.

“What are you thinking about?”

You hear someone ask you from behind, you’re not sure who he is because your eyes are still closed but it can only be Xiaojun because he’s the one who knew where to find you.

But perhaps no. There’s another man who always knew where to find you even without telling him.

“Open your eyes my love, I’m home”

You turned around in an instant, looked at his face, and suddenly tears started to fall from your eyes, you can’t move and all you can do is cry. You have so many questions to him, so many sincere words left unsaid, but all you said right now is, “are you real? Or my mind is betraying me once again?”

“I am very much real,” Hendery says and gave you a tight hug, lifting you off the ground and kissing you as many as he pleases to make up for last time.

“I don’t understand, why did you leave me like that?”

“Didn’t you receive my letter?” he asks, wondering why are you so clueless when he is completely sure he told you everything. “Maybe it never reached you, I’m sorry. But now I’m back, come now let’s announce our love to my mother and ask for her blessing so we could marry soon” he was very excited but you are not.

How can you be excited? You’re already married.

Is it possible for a person to leave you and come back many years later then suddenly asked he wants to marry you as if you did not suffer greatly from waiting and being sad for months?

You remove your hand from his tight grasp and saw the ring. Now, everything is clear to him but he is very angry.

“Please don’t be mad-“ you begged.

“How could you- If only that letter reached to you, then you will know why I’m very mad right now!” He shouted at you, face turning red, eyes with tears on the side. “We were separated for years, give me a chance. Please come back to me. You told me you love me”

“And you told me you will come home! But they were only words, Hendery. And I do love you, still love you but I have a duty for my family and you have a duty for your country” He refuses to listen but you knew he needed to know the truth from you, “Please understand that you were gone for years, and I was arranged to be married to Xiaojun. I said no to Xiaojun for as long as I could, hurting him over and over again because I was waiting for you like a fool. Love someone with a strong heart, whose love is unconditional. Not like me. I can't turn my back on Xiaojun just because you're back”

"But you turned your back on me, just because I was away"

"I waited!" you shouted frustratingly back at him.

“Are you happy with him? Do you love him?”

Slowly you walked towards him to dry his tears with your hand and he’s quick to catch it kiss it before he finally lets you go.

“I am happy and no, I don’t love him but he loves me”

He nods his head slowly. Heartbroken and afraid to let go but what can he do now?

“Before I let you go, I want to let you know that... I asked you to marry me too. The man you love still asked you to marry him” he hugged you once again so you won’t see him cry because he doesn’t want you to remember him like this. “Why must our love should end tragically? I am not close to being happy but it’s good to know that you are”

He dries his tears and tried to stop crying for a moment so he can say his goodbye properly. “Go back to my cousin he must be waiting for you now. I will stay here, I will be fine. Go, it’s getting cold”

When you gave him what he asked you to do, he turned around and did not watch you leave for he doesn’t want to see you walking away from him.

Love is sacrifice and he understands that all too well now.

May 27

Dear Y/n,

This letter will reach to weeks or maybe months after I send it through a normal mail. I am being hunted down in this country that I’m staying and I have to hide and leave secretly with my guards for my own protection.

The assassins can track me through the royal mail and can use you as bait to find me. I will never forgive myself if that is to happen. I know you understand my situation right now because that’s how much you love me, let’s extend our patience together and meet when it’s safe. I am sorry my love but this is the only way.

But enough about the bad news. Last night I had the most beautiful dream because you’re in it and we are living peacefully in a country away from my responsibilities. The dream was short but it made me imagine a life with you and gave me the courage to ask your hand in marriage.

Will you marry me, when I get home?

I promise to be a good and loving husband while being a king and fulfilling my duties. I promise to never be away when you need me for I know that family is very important to you.

In the morning when you wake up and until you close your eyes to rest at night, I am going to be your husband and not your king.

I love you. Wait for me to get home safe and you will be loved by the man you love.

Hendery

#nct-writers #neowritingsnet #kpopscape #cznnet #neosmutcollective #kwritersworldnet #kdiner #nct smut #wayv smut #hendery #hendery smut #hendery x reader #nct x reader #wayv x reader #hendery fluff #hendery angst #wayv angst #wayv fluff

[jisungsplatforms]

[Chapter II: The Red Beanie Cutie]

Pairing: Producer/Music Major! Han Jisung x Photographer! fem! reader

Genre: NSFW! Smut; non idol au, college au, strangers to lovers

Warnings: Mature Content! strong language, sexting, masterbation (m&f) + kinda guided masterbation (f), nudes/unsolicited pictures of *certain areas*

Chapter word count: 1.5k (relatively short chapter)

Taglist: @hyunjeongins @seungstarss @es-kay-zee @hyunjinsplaything @formidxble @freckledquokka (want to be added? send an ask or a dm! <3)

Min’s ho3: uh- hi? 👋🏻

this is minho’s “fine ass friend with the red beanie” 👁👁

shitshitshitshit SHIT.

Your mind was jumbled and your palms were sweaty. How the hell did I even get his number? You backtrack to an hour ago, back at the party….To when Minho asked for your phone.

...Minho…...

You bit your lip, trying to think logically. No no no. It’s probably not the red beanie cutie, Y/n. It’s probably just Minho being an ass again and pretending to be his friend. That’s it! At least...That’s what you hope.

Min’s ho3: uhh hello? you still there?

im hoping that this is the cutie who was babysitting hyunjin earlier lol

Your blood ran cold. You really didn’t want to believe it. No way was it really the red beanie cutie.

Me: If this REALLY is the cute boy with the red hat...send me a picture.

You sighed. This should prove something. Your phone ‘pinged’ a second later.

Min’s ho3: damn straight to the point, are you? youre a lot more bold than i thought

You shivered, turning red. As much as you wanted to fuck him, you didn’t want to look desperate.

Me: I meant an INNOCENT picture. Of your face, I mean.

Min’s ho3: uh- duh! that’s what i meant???

what did YOU think??

Your face burned at the thought of misinterpreting his “innocent” message.

Me: Just thought I had to clarify for you! Nasty

Min’s ho3: whatever you say, babe 😙🤪

You gave him a minute for him to respond, putting down your phone to give yourself a breather. You sincerely hope that this was Minho cause that option is MUCH better than accidentally texting the person you’re thirsting over. After about 30 seconds, your phone pinged twice. One from Min’s hoe...and one from Minho ho ho. Oh dear lord.

You decided to read Minho’s messages first. Tapping on his notification, the phone directed you to your chat, revealing the conversation you two had during the party.

Minho ho ho 😼: You’re welcome 😉

You were seriously panicking at this point. Your fingers tapped onto the keyboard like a madman. You didn’t know if you wanted to hug Minho or murder that bitch.

Me: shutupshutupshutup You did NOT

Minho ho ho 😼: Oh but I did, my dear best friend haha gross

Better play your cards correctly, sweetie. Just keep in mind...he asked for your number!

His name is Jisung btw! Be nice to him! He’s a shy, sensitive boy. I’ll kill you if you make him sad!

You ignored Minho’s last sentence and nearly squealed at the information, trying to play it cool. You giddily switched to Jisung’s tab. Huge mistake. You should’ve prepared yourself, at least a little. You knew he was hot but the picture he sent you? Oh boy. His hair, which you now know is blond under that beanie, was tousled, falling perfectly on his gorgeous face. In the picture, he was now wearing a grey hoodie and posed like a model, the expression had was absolutely fierce. Oh yeah, he knows he’s hot shit.

Min’s ho3: *image*

it’s a little messy. srry i tried making it a little nicer for you, you know. since you’re a photography major and all that.

Me: No, It’s fine!! I think you look hot! 👍

You wanted to slap yourself. Oh Lord, please end me. Your phone lit up with another text.

Min’s ho3: oh really? 😏

well i think you’re hot too, y/n 😉😚

AHHHHHH

Me: Wait how’d you know my name? And my major?

Minho’s ho3: uhhh you are minho’s friend right??? cause that’s what he told ME and i’m really hoping he didn’t give me the wrong number…

cause honestly. it is something he would legit do alkskdjks

Me: Rest assured. This really is Y/n the photography major

Min’s ho3: well y/n the photography major

i’m jisung and i think youre hot too

and not to be nsfw or anything but i’d like to fuck you too 😉😉

ohmygoshohmygosh. This is really happening. Taking the little bit of confidence you had, you texted him something you thought was bold.

Me: Oh really now? Think you can fuck me good, pretty boy?

Min’s ho3: oh baby i know i’ll have you seeing stars

fuck you so good you won’t be able to think about anything but me and me only

You had to put down your phone to take another breather. Now, not only were your palms wet but so was between your legs. You’ve never texted with anybody like this but there’s a first time for everything, right? Your dominant hand slid down to your pajamas to tease your clit over the cotton material. Shy, my ass…

Min’s ho3: wait wait wait. before we do anything, just let me confirm something

you are single, right? youre not dating hyunjin or anything??

You stopped your movements on your clit. Am I seeing this right? You reread the message a few more times before bursting out in laughter.

Me: HAHAHAHAHA NO WE’RE NOT

Hyunjin’s my best friend. Been friends since we were 5. Dating Hyunjin would be like dating your brother ew

Min’s ho3: LOL OKAY OKAY. just making sure

infidelity is NOT my thing

You were heart warmed. He made sure you weren’t with anyone before getting nasty. Which shouldn’t make you so touched, it should be a basic common courtesy, but nonetheless, it still made you happy knowing he’s a respectable person.

Min’s ho3: okay now that i know i can have you

do you still want to continue?

Me: Yes daddy ;)

Min’s ho3: oh fuck okay

since you left so early, we didn’t get to talk, beautiful

we could’ve been fucking right now instead of texting

Me: Well...we could do both

Your hand went back to your clit, this time reaching inside your bottoms.

Me: You make me so horny baby

I want you

Min’s ho3: already touching yourself babe? how naughty

I barely even said anything but here you are. playing with yourself like some desperate whore

You whimpered, putting more pressure on your clit. You were never that into degrading but with Jisung? You’d gladly take it any day.

Me: Please tell me what to do sir

Min’s ho3: finger yourself. only one finger tho

You removed your pajamas and panties and flung them to the floor. You rubbed your thigh with one hand and slowly moved it to your sopping core. Gathering your wetness, you fondled yourself before inserting your middle finger inside you. “Hmm...fuck,” you moaned. With your other hand, you checked Jisung’s text when you saw your phone light up.

Min’s ho3: are you doing it baby?

Me: Yes sir

Min’s ho3: really? good. keep playing with yourself

i’ll tell you when i want you to stop

You sighed, pumping your finger. You wanted to enjoy it but it wasn’t enough. You definitely needed something more than just one mere finger. You contemplated whether or not you should disobey Jisung and grab your dildo from between your mattress. But you also wanted to see how much he could make you cum with just his words.

Min’s ho3: one finger babe?

You moved your phone and angled it to show your pussy. You wanted to moan seeing your finger deep inside you. Snapping a pic and sending it to Jisung, you threw your phone beside you and started pumping your middle finger faster, circling your clit with your thumb. Immediately, your phone lit up again.

Min’s ho3: fuck baby you’ll be the death of me

you know what? add two more fingers for me, beautiful. you deserve it

You cried, slipping your pointer and ring finger into your core. Now you definitely feel a lot fuller. You pumped your fingers in and out, breathing heavily. You felt so dirty, taking orders like this from a man you barely even knew. There was something so erotic about the whole thing that it drew you closer to your orgasm.

Jisung, on the other hand, was going insane as well; who wouldn’t be when he’s sexting with the most attractive person he’s ever seen? His right hand pumped his cock like a maniac. He was sweating, biting his thin lips so that no noise can come out, potentially waking up his hyungs. He knew he would die of embarrassment if they caught him masterbating to someone he just met today-or just masterbating in general-but it was getting harder to control himself. Especially with that little surprise photo? Shit- he thought he was in heaven, feeling like he would cum in that moment. The sound of a notification from his phone made his grab it from his desk.

Y/n the cute photographer: Closr! I’m so fuckinf ckose

Wsnna cum si bad

Me: yeah? then cum fir me y/n

With Jisung’s permission, you let your release taint your once clean bed. You shook as you orgasmed, moaning so loud you were glad your roommate was out of town. Once you finished, you slowly pulled your fingers out, wincing when the emptiness kicked in. You laid like a dead fish, trying to catch your breath. Your orgasm was so intense that you almost immediately fell asleep. Almost. A notification from Jisung shook you out of your trance.

(3) new message(s) from Min’s ho3

Min’s ho3: *image*

look how much you drive me mad, baby

hm you’re probably tired now after hopefully cumming so much so i’ll leave you...goodnight, y/n! hope you sleep well tonight cutie 😚

You sighed in frustration. How dare he switch from daddy to baby so fast. How are you supposed to sleep when he sent you a clear, mouthwatering image of his dick and abs covered in his cum?

[PREVIOUS CHAPTER] 📱 [NEXT CHAPTER]

#stray kids smut #stray kids fanfic #stray kids imagines #stray kids scenarios #skz scenarios #skz imagines #skz fanfic #skz smut #han jisung smut #han jisung series #han jisung scenarios #han jisung imagines #han jisung x reader #Late Night Indulges

[bitch-out]

OKAY i know you didn’t ask for a full length fic but... i couldnt help myself. here it is: 

Four times Alex saw signs that the world was changing to become more accepting of people like him, and the one time he actually realized it.

1. TV SHOW

After finishing practice for the night, the band walked into Julie’s house. Luke immediately walked into the kitchen, wanting to see what meal her dad was whipping up. His obsession with watching lifers eat was starting to get a little concerning. Reggie followed after him, wanting to hang out with Julie’s dad. That was also a little concerning.

Julie plopped down on the couch next to her little brother, Carlos, who was watching a TV show that she didn’t recognize. Alex hopped over the couch and took a seat next to her, looking at the screen intently.

“What is he watching?” Alex asked, reclining into the couch.

Julie shrugged in response. “I’m not sure…”

Carlos looked over to her with a questioning expression. “Huh?” Oh crap. She needed to stop talking to the boys while other people were around. It made her look absolutely bonkers.  

“…what you’re watching! I’m not sure what you’re watching.” She said quickly, trying to avoid any awkwardness. “What is it?”

He seemed to buy it, letting her weirdness go. “Oh, I’m watching this new show. I forget what it’s called. It’s about this girl who accidentally gets musical superpowers after getting stuck by lightning.”

“Cool,” she answered, settling into the couch. She and Alex watched for a few minutes before looking at each other in confusion. They had absolutely no idea what was going on in the show. They looked at the screen as the main character sighed dramatically, slamming her door while running out of her house. “I’m lost. What’s happening? Why is she so mad?” Julie asked.

Carlos rolled his eyes. “She’s in a fight with her dads right now because they won’t let her go to this big party. Now shhh! It’s getting juicy!”

Luke’s eyes went wide as the scene switched to the main characters dads, who were sharing a tender moment while discussing their child. Two dads? On television? Without it being played off as a joke? He couldn’t tear his eyes away from the screen.

Julie looked at him inquisitively, noticing his surprised expression. She raised an eyebrow.

“I see.” A soft smile settled on his face. “Cool.” He bit his lip and leaned back.

“Cool.” She agreed. She almost said something, but then decided it would be better for her to wait for him to tell her.

2. PUBLIC DISPLAY OF AFFECTION

“People watching in 2020 is way better than people watching in the 90’s.” Reggie stated as they walked through downtown LA. They were killing time while Julie was at school. They passed a man in a superhero costume who was taking pictures with tourists.

“I know right?” Luke agreed. “I love looking over people’s shoulder and watching what they’re doing on those… high tech cellphone things.”

“Smartphones,” Alex offered.

“Smartphones, right.”

Reggie ran over to a middle aged guy in a suit sitting on a bench who was looking intently at his phone. “Look at this guy! He’s looking at an article called ‘How to tell if you have foot fungus’.” He wrinkled his nose. “Gross. You might wanna get that checked out, buddy,” patting his shoulder, his hand passing right through.

Luke looked around for someone else to observe. “Okay see the one over there in the blue striped shirt eating a chili dog?” He pointed over to his left to a man walking away from a hot dog stand.  

The man went to take a bite out of his chili dog but dripped it all down the front of his shirt. “Oooooh…. Missed his mouth on that one,” Luke said, cringing.

“That’s nasty,” Alex chimed in.

A guy who looked to be around their age speed walked past them, looking down. He brushed his shaggy blonde hair out of his face as he grinned down at his phone. He was obviously walking with a purpose.

“This guy is hustling! Cmon!” Reggie grinned, jogging after him. Luke and Alex ran over to catch up, all three of them following in pursuit. They all looked over his shoulder to read his text messages. He was texting someone he had named “babe <3” in his contacts.

Can’t wait to see u, his text read, im right around the corner

Reggie whistled. “His girlfriend’s probably a complete hottie if he’s that excited to see her-”

As they turned the corner, the blonde stranger they were following put his phone away as he caught sight of someone. He broke into a run and bear hugged the person, wrapping his arms around them and lifting them off the ground. As he pulled away, it was revealed that the person he was hugging was a brunette guy around the same age as them.

The brunette murmured something, his lips quirking into a smirk. The blonde teen let out a laugh, then pulled him into a kiss.

Alex nearly gasped in surprise, looking around to notice that… not a singular person was looking over. Everyone was just going about their day as normal. No glares, no sneers, not even a scoff.

It felt like the breath was sucked out of his lungs. Was this… normal? The couple broke apart and joined hands, continuing down the street. Alex couldn’t help the smile that spread across his face. No one had even batted an eyelash at the public display of affection.

To him, it hadn’t been that long ago since 1995. When even looking at someone for too long would get you called a slur. When his own father would call him a-

“Alex? You good?” He was broken out of his thoughts by Luke looking over at him concernedly.

Alex opened his mouth to respond, but was cut off by someone else.

“There you guys are! I’ve been looking everywhere for you!”

They turned around in tandem to see Julie standing there, her eyes sparkling. And they continued with their day, moment forgotten.

3. MUSIC

Alex found himself once again alone with Julie, hanging out with her in her room. He was the only member of the band she would let hang out with her in here, which filled him with an odd sort of pride.

They were currently listening to one of her Spotify playlists. Julie was doing homework on her bed and Alex was tapping his drumsticks on his knee, following the beat of the song they were listening to. He was getting into the groove of the song “This song has a good beat!” he exclaimed. “What is this?”

She grinned at him. “It’s called ‘Girls like Girls’ by Hayley Kiyoko!” She stood up on her bed, dropping her homework and singing into an imaginary microphone as the chorus hit. She belted at the top of her lungs, “Girls like girls like boys do, nothing new~” She laughed as she flopped back onto her bed.

He gaped at her, surprised that she was treating it with such nonchalance. In the 90’s, this would have been music you listened to at 2 am when your parents were asleep. “Is this a… popular song?” he asked.

“Yeah, I mean it’s from like 2015 so it’s basically ancient but it’s still pretty popular.” She turned back to her homework and picked up her pen. “I think the music video has like over 100 million hits on YouTube or something like that.”

His jaw dropped even further “100 million?”

The timer on her phone went off. The words BAND PRACTICE blared across the screen with the chime of her ringtone. “I’ll show it to you later! But we have to go to rehearsal right now.”

He shook his head and followed her out of the room.

4. COVINGTON

As both his friends were pulled away by girls saucily dancing in feathered blue outfits, Alex stood awkwardly like a fish out of water. Covington slid up to him with a sly smirk on his face. “Come now. You can’t be the only one not dancing.”

“No, I… I know.” Alex sputtered. “I’m just…” Not into dancing with girls? No, he couldn’t just say that. He didn’t want to cause a scene. He pointed over his shoulder. “I’m looking for Willie,” he finished lamely.

Covington seemed to read him like an open book. He smiled and gestured with open palms. “Dante! Fuego!” Two handsome men slid up to either side of him. “Meet Alex.” The linked arms with him.

Alex looked at them, surprised. How did he know? Is this like a theater thing? Or… “You’re welcome,” Covington smirked, ducking down. Is this normal here…?

His thoughts were cut off as he was lifted up over Covington’s head and pulled into a fast-paced dance.

5. PRIDE

“Slow down Willie!” Alex shouted, running after his brunette friend as he skated through lifers and tore down the street.

Willie laughed and hopped off his board, picking it up off the ground. He waited for Alex to catch up with him “Relax, we’re almost here…”

Alex was too busy catching his breath to realize they were in the middle of a giant crowd. Lifers walked through them every few seconds like it was nothing “Wh-What is this?” Alex asked, looking around. Everyone was wearing colorful clothing and most were wearing some kind of glitter.

The skater laughed and grabbed his hand, pulling him toward the street. “We’re skating the floats, dude.” He pointed at the bright floats that were parading down the street.

Was this some kind of festival or something? Alex wondered. “Why is everything so… colorful?”

Willie looked at him like he was missing something obvious. “It’s June. Pride month.” Alex didn’t know what that was. He looked around, trying to figure it out. “You’ve never seen a pride parade before?” Willie questioned. Then, he realized. “Right. Right, you’re a 90’s ghost. I keep forgetting about that.” He slapped his forehead.

Then, he realized what this was. Alex turned to his right and saw two women kissing. A couple of guys his age were holding hands right next to him. Signs as far as the eye could see read ‘here and queer’ and ‘all you need is love’ and ‘love is love’ and countless other sayings. His breath stuttered in his chest “This is…”

“I know. Pretty cool, right?” Willie asked, sounding pretty nonchalant. He was scouting out the floats, focused on his task.

“And this is all for…” Alex hesitated, “For gay people?”

“All LGBTQ+ people, technically, but yeah dude.” Willie clarified. He grinned, his eyes set on a float just down the road. He found the perfect route.

“So it really is different now, huh?” Alex asked, his voice cracking slightly. Willie looked back in alarm, not realizing how much this was impacting the drummer beside him. A tear rolled down his cheek, but his smile could not be bigger. Alex continued, “Like I had hoped it was, and there’s been some signs, but this is…” He covered his mouth to hide a sob.

Willie walked over to his side, dropping his skateboard and taking his hand gently. “Yeah, Alex. It’s different. Better. Not perfect, but... a lot better.” He squeezed his hand.

“It’s amazing.” Alex said, wiping the tears from his eyes with his sleeve and grinning. He let out a laugh as a drag queen passed by and waved at the crowd, blowing kisses.

The skater couldn’t take his eyes off of Alex. He was absolutely glowing, basking in the atmosphere of the parade. “You know what? Let’s forget the skating.” Willie decided, taking his skateboard from the side of the street and tucking it in an alley.

“Huh?” Alex was confused. Willie wanted to... not go skating?

“It’s time to get your pride on, Alex.”

Together, they spent the rest of the day exploring every area of pride, ducking through crowds and sneaking onto floats. There was even one point where they ran through a huge glitter cannon, getting absolutely covered in glitter.

After it was all done, Willie teleported back to Julie’s house with him to drop him off.

“That was the most fun I’ve ever had.” Alex admitted, his smile seemed to be permanently glued to his face.

“Me too. I’ve been to tons of pride parades, but none of them were as fun as this one.” Willie admitted.

“Really? What was different about this one? Was it the glitter cannon? It was probably the glitter cannon-”

“It was you, Alex.” The skater said quietly, brushing a couple stray pieces of glitter off of the taller boy’s cheek.

“Oh,” Alex breathed, looking down at Willie. His heart was racing a mile a minute. He hadn’t realized they were standing so close together.

Willie hesitated for a moment. Was this the moment? He didn’t want to rush Alex. He was probably overwhelmed enough after experiencing his first pride. He smiled up at the blonde and patted him on the shoulder. “Goodnight, Alex.” He stepped away and turned to leave.

He was just about to teleport when he heard “Wait!”

Willie turned around Alex kissed him.

He stiffened at first, surprised. Before he could respond, Alex pulled away and looked at him in panic.

“I’m so sorry, I thought-”

Willie grabbed him by the lapels and dragged him down, kissing him heatedly. Alex responded with enthusiasm, wrapping his arms around his waist.

“ABOUT TIME!” someone hollered from behind him.

They broke away to see Luke and Reggie beaming. They both ran over and hugged them both in a group hug. “We thought you two would never figure it out.” Luke said, causing Reggie to laugh. 

“Happy pride, Alex”. Willie murmured, squished up against his side. And Alex couldn’t have been happier.

#julie and the phantoms #alex x willie #willie x alex #willex #fic #this was entirely too long im so sorry #anyways... send me prompts!

[takerfoxx]

IM Swiftly Descending Darkness, Chapter 5

Mokou already felt that something was wrong, and the moment she came into view of the Aoki Yume’s Children’s Home all but confirmed it.

The house was quiet. The lights were on, all of the outside lanterns were lit, but there was no one in sight. The surrounding fields and the garden were all empty.

If there was something that could be counted on at the orphanage, it was that it was never quiet. Even in the evening after the kids had been brought it one could count on seeing someone about, such as Joshua up on a ladder along the side of the house, repairing a loose window, or Haruna relaxing on the porch.

But there was nobody in sight, and while it was late afternoon, it was still before the time when the kids would be brought in.

Mokou felt a rare flash of fear, a very rare sensation for her. She tightened her fists and threw everything into a final burst of speed.

The house rushed up to her. She spun around, directed her feet toward the front path, and hit the ground running. From there, she sped up the path, her bare feet kicking up clouds of dust, and leapt up the stairs toward the-

Front path.

Mokou skidded to a stop and looked around in bewilderment. Now she was facing away from the house, as if she had been running away from it instead of toward.

Also, she was pretty sure she had heard someone yell “Ow!” from inside.

Mokou turned back toward the house. For the most part it looked the same, but there did seem to be something off about it, something she hadn’t noticed coming in.

Tilting her head to one side, Mokou squinted her eyes. Sure enough, all around the front porch were strange refractions of light, rippling out like the surface of a pond disturbed by a pebble.

Huh.

Mokou took a slow, deliberate step forward into the field of disorientation. Her vision quickly spun around, and she found herself facing away from the porch again. At the same time, someone yelped, “Damn it!”

It Mokou a moment to realize what was going on. That had to be Haruna. Haruna’s particular gift was the ability to essentially flip reality, to turn it back around on people. Which sounded like something that would be immensely useful, but unfortunately she was unable to maintain it over a large area for very long, and if anyone or anything actually got flipped by it, it gave her a massive headache.

Rather than subject her friend to a skull-splitting migraine, Mokou cupped her hands around her mouth and called, “Hey! It’s me! Let me in!”

Immediately a clamor of voices sounded within. “It’s Miss Mokou!” she heard Tomohiro say. “Let her in! Quick!”

“How do we know it’s actually her?” Shinji retorted. “Maybe it’s another youkai, one that just sounds like her!”

Melissa said something very quick and frantic-sounding in Spanish.

Rolling her eyes, Mokou called out again. “Look, either you guys let me in, or I’m gonna start walking toward the porch over and over again until Haruna’s head splits like an egg, okay? It’s me!”

“That’s her,” Satoko’s voice said. “Let her in, Haruna.”

The shimmers dropped, and Mokou heard the sound of the front door’s heavy lock being unbolted.

She rushed inside. There, she saw the most of the kids huddled into a tight group while some of the other adults stood protectively over them. Mokou hastily shut the door behind her and relocked it.

“What happened?” she demanded.

Haruna was sitting on the bottom step of the staircase with her aching head clutched with one hand, with Haruhi standing over her, holding onto her other hand. Sniffing, Haruhi glowered at Mokou with wet and puffy eyes. “Where were you?” she said.

“What? I was getting information like I said I would!”

“Well, you should have been here! You could’ve stopped this, stopped them from…from…”

“Enough!” Satoko said. She was standing with Akito crying in her arms, her normally stern features now a mix of anger and fear. “This isn’t the time to tear into one another! I know we’re all scared and upset, but I’m the one who asked Mokou to go look for answers. If you have to be mad at someone, be mad at me.”

Haruhi just shook her head and ran off.

Mokou took a deep breath and hissed it out through her teeth. “What. Happened?”

“It was youkai,” Satoko said. Her eyes were wet with tears, her face shimmering with sweat. “Wild spider youkai apparently. Five of the kids accidentally wound up outside of the charms during flying lessons. The spiders just…just showed up and took them.”

Mokou looked over the group and took a quick headcount. Noba was sitting in a nearby chair, his head in his hands, with his friends Shinji, Tomohiro, and Kazuchika with him. Check. The younger boys, specifically Yoshi, Hiro, Keiichi, Dai, and Yuuki, were in another group, whispering amongst themselves. Check. Melissa, the only girl present, was pacing back and forth, wringing her hands together as she muttered under her breath in her native language. Check, And Akito was in Satoko’s arms. Check.

However, more than five children were gone. Both of the terrible trios were absent, as was Melissa’s fellow oddball Kana.

“Who?” she said.

Satoko sighed. “Hayate, Haruko, Eiko, Kana, and Keine.”

Each name felt like a hammer-blow to her heart, but when she got to Keine Mokou felt something hot and powerful unlock deep within her. Because while she was fond and protective of all the children, Keine was kind of her favorite. Keine had been part of the trio that had rescued her from the snow in the first place. Keine had been the first to reach out to her after she had been brought in, the first to form any kind of relationship with her when all the other children had been too scared to talk to the mysterious and dangerous stranger now in their midst.

“What about the rest?” Mokou said. “Where’s Kohta and Rumia?”

“Upstairs,” Satoko said. “They, uh, understandably wanted to be alone.”

Right, that made sense. After all, it was their friend that had been taken.

Five kids. Five little girls, taken by spider youkai.

Mokou knew the habits of wild spider youkai, she knew them very well. Some spiders were nice. Some were quite friendly people, in fact. But others were not. Others were the sort that did terrible things to other people, that did terrible, horrible, absolutely monstrous things to children. And she felt quite certain that these were of that latter category.

Mokou closed her eyes and mentally counted down from ten. “And you just let them?” she snapped before she had even gotten to four.

Haruna quickly cut in. “We did everything he could, kid,” the rough-looking woman said. “Joshua tried to stop them, we both did. But they were ready for us. Hit us with some kind of web. Then they just flew off.”

Joshua. He was missing too. And so was Shion.

“Where is Joshua?” Mokou said. “And where’s Shion?”

“Shion flew to go get help,” Satoko told her. “Old Pine Village still supports us, and it’s the closest, so she went there.”

Old Pine Village. Right. That also made sense, but Satoko had only answered one of her questions. “And Joshua?”

Satoko bit her lower lip. “He went after them.”

The air around Mokou was starting to grow hazy. She heard several of the children whispering to one another, saw them draw away from her. “After them,” Mokou repeated. “After whom? To where?”

“The youkai. He went after the youkai. He said that he couldn’t let them take…take them to…”

Of course he did. Mokou closed her eyes. “And where did the youkai come from?” she said, her eyes still shut. “Where did they take the kids?”

“We don’t really-”

Mokou’s eyes snapped open. The haze around her vision was now a film of red.

Satoko gasped and backed away. Akito stopped crying, and just stared.

“I know,” Mokou growled. “I know where they came from. I know where they took them. The Youkai Forest. Of course it is.”

“Mokou, your eyes,” Satoko said as she covered Akito’s with her hand. “They’re glowing!”

Mokou knew this. Mokou didn’t care. “They took them to the Youkai Forest, and Joshua went after them! That’s where they are now, that’s where he is now, isn’t it?”

Satoko’s mouth wordlessly opened and closed like a fish’s, then she stuttered. “Y-Y-Yes, th-that does seem to be the most likely-”

“Most likely my ass! Look, I’ve spent the last few days hunting down whatever news I could, and what I found out is that some weird shit is going on in that damn forest, and someone from outside the forest is causing it!”

“Wait, say that again?” Haruna said. “You mean to tell me-”

“I said what I said, now get out of my way!” Mokou roared.

Haruna backed up. She hadn’t backed away from anyone in years, but she did so now, though not quick enough. Mokou shoved her aside and made for the stairs.

Children parted like ants from a flood, and Haruna hastily made herself scarce. Mokou stomped her way up, leaving blackened footprints sizzling on every step.

She was coming close to losing it. She was coming close to losing all control and just letting the raging fires that burned within her at all times just burst free. That didn’t happen often. Even at her most violent, when her life had been an unceasing cycle of pain and death, she had been careful to restrict it to a single person, someone who both deserved it and could take it.

But there had been a small handful of times, oh so very few, in which she had been pushed too far, when all other options had failed, when she had been confronted by an evil so sickening that her own monstrous soul paled in comparison and the only option was to cleanse everything with fire.

Mokou was not at the point yet. But she was getting close.

She threw open the door to her room and went straight for her dresser. She yanked the bottom drawer straight out and hurled it aside. Then she reached into the empty cavity and pulled out a small oak box.

It was this box that she set on the bed and opened up. Inside were two stacks of aging, yellow paper rectangles, all covered with a series of characters. In between them was a pile of old red-and-white ribbons. The characters on the left-hand stack were all the same, indicating them to be charms that protected against fire. Similar characters were written on the ribbons.

Mokou took those charms and stuck them all over her pants. Then she picked up one of the ribbons and muttered a word. In response, the entire pile fluttered up into the air. They surrounded her like a swarm of butterflies, and then dove in, tying themselves into bows through her long locks of hair. Mokou anticipated violence where she was going, and that meant a great deal of fire was probably going to be slung around. If that happened, then she’d rather not come home naked.

The second stack was smaller, and the runes and glyphs inscribed on each card was different. They were spellcards, each one containing an easily unleashed burst of offensive magic. Along with the glowing magical bullets known as danmaku, Spellcards were the preferred weapon of Gensokyians, and having a few on hand could be the difference between life and death.

Mokou picked up her stack of spellcards. She flourished them like a magician playing a trick to impress children, folded them back up again, and stuck them into her pocket. All right. Now she was ready to go.

Then, before she went through the door, she paused. Wait a minute.

Mokou took the cards out of her pocket and inspected them. It was as she had thought. She was supposed to have twelve cards, but there were only nine. Three of them were missing.

“Satoko!” she yelled.

“What?” Satoko was already at the door, sans Akito. “What is it?”

“My spellcards!” Mokou thrust the nine she had at her. “Who took them?”

Satoko blinked in confusion. “What do you mean? You’re holding them.”

“Only some! Three are missing! Did Joshua take them?”

“Uh, no? H-He took one of the usual anti-youkai packs we have in storage. I don’t think he even knew you had those.” Satoko frowned. “Actually, I didn’t know you had those. Did you have a stash of spellcards this whole time?”

Mokou barely heard the question. Her mind was racing, filtering through the list of likely culprits.

She ruled out Satoko, Haruna, and Haruhi immediately. Of the three, only Satoko had ever even been in her room, and if she had taken her spellcards she would have told her without apology. Besides, she probably would have taken the whole deck if it meant protecting the kids.

Shion, maybe? To give her some extra protection on her trip? Incredibly unlikely. Shion also had never been in her room and had no way of knowing of her stash. So it had to be one of the kids. But which one would-

“Wait,” she said. “Wait, wait, wait. You said Rumia and Kohta are up here, right?”

“Well, yes,” Satoko said. “They had locked themselves in the playroom. But-”

Then realization washed over her face, draining it of color. Her hand went to her mouth, and she turned and ran.

“Kohta!” Mokou heard her calling. “Rumia? Answer me!”

Mokou didn’t follow. She didn’t need to. She already had pieced together what had happened.

Those little idiots. Those brave, loyal, infuriating idiots!

The spiders had five of their kids. There was one adult looking for them, and he was just as helpless as they were in his own way. And apparently two more kids had gone in on their own.

That was eight people she needed to find in a large and dense forest, eight people that were in very mortal danger and weren’t even all in the same place.

When Satoko returned to Mokou’s room after having confirmed that Rumia and Kohta were nowhere in the house, she found it empty with the window shattered outward and a trail of smoke still rising in the open air beyond, one that led all the way to the Youkai Forest.

…

Rumia and Kohta’s decision to sneak out and go after the spiders that had taken their friends had been easy enough. After that display in the market, they could not trust anyone to come to their aid, and while Mr. Joshua was a good guy, he wasn’t exactly the first person that they would have selected to mount a successful rescue operation, especially by himself.

Getting out of the house had been easy. Mr. Joshua and Miss Shion were both gone, Miss Haruna had her hands full with shielding the house, Miss Haruhi was a flustered wreck, and all of Miss Satoko’s attention was given to trying to keep things in order. So the second no eyes were on them, they had broken into the emergency defense closet, already left conveniently unlocked by Mister Joshua, and took a pair of anti-youkai knives and some charms. Then Kohta had snuck up into Miss Mokou’s room to raid her own stash of weapons, coming away with three of her spellcards.

Once they had been appropriately armed, the two of them had crept into the basement, stole through the larders to the outside door so as to bypass Miss Haruna’s shield, and off they went.

It had been so easy, but when the two of them were actually away from the fields and taking their first steps into the forest, Rumia found herself kind of wishing that there had been more resistance. After all, the Youkai Forest was not quite as notorious as its larger and darker cousin, the Forest of Magic, but its reputation was plenty dark enough.

As it was in the middle of autumn, most of the trees had shed their needles, with left the pair with plenty of moonlight to see by. It was a small comfort. The naked branches reminded Rumia far too much of gnarled skeletons grasping at the sky with bony fingers. The ground was painfully uneven and covered with a thick layer of rotting needles and bark, which made moving forward slow and tedious. Though morning was still hours away, a wispy mist lay around the trees’ base, further slowing their progress.

And of course, there were the noises.

Every hoot of an owl, every snap of a twig sent shivers down the two children’s spines. Rumia had heard plenty of stories of children who wandered into woods such as this and were never seen again, at least not in one piece. Normally she loved those stories, with their macabre tones and gory endings. But it was one thing to recount such ghastly tales to her trembling friends while using her scary voice and laughing at how much it made them shake. It was something else entirely to be willingly stepping foot into one of those tales herself.

Then there were the other stories, the ones with similar set-ups but different endings, the ones in which the lost children would also never come home, but not because they were killed, but because the forest ended up changing them, turning them into something other than human, dooming them to forever wander the forest’s dark paths, looking to become the monster in someone else’s story.

Though she would never admit it, those were the stories that scared Rumia the most. Her own family had been killed by marauding youkai. Had any of them been lost children themselves? What if the same happened to her? What if she were doomed to become some red-eyed, sharp-toothed thing that devoured the families of other children? The first time she had heard one of those stories, she had been unable to sleep for most of the night. Every creak of the old house had sounded like the soft footsteps of some dark thing, every whisper of wind at the window seeming to call her name, while the moonlight made even the smallest of shadows elongate across the floor, stretching out and reaching for her.

Rumia’s hand was clasped tightly to Kohta’s, and for once neither of them had a joke.

They moved forward as quietly as they could, taking care not to disturb the forest debris beneath their feet. In this they were doing…poorly. It felt like something crunched with every footstep, and by the time they had gone out of side of the forest’s edge Rumia was convinced that every animal and youkai for kilometers had been alerted.

Crunch. Crunch. Crunch.

“Maybe-” she started to say.

Kohta flinched. “Ah! Gods, you scared the crap out of me!”

“Sorry. But maybe we’d better go back.”

Kohta stared at her like she had grown two heads. “And let Keine get eaten?”

“No! But we don’t know where she is. We can’t help her if we get eaten too!”

Kohta sneered at her in disgust. “No. I’m not abandoning her. Go back if you’re too scared.”

“I’m not scared,” Rumia said stubbornly. “I just don’t, you know, I just don’t think-”

“Shhh!” Kohta clamped a hand over her mouth. “Look!”

There was a light up ahead, bobbing through the trees. The two children looked at each other. Rumia gulped. If there was one universal truth in all the stories they had heard, it was that mysterious lights floating through creepy old forests at night were bad news!

The two crouched behind a tree and peeked out. The light hadn’t been their imagination. It was slowly moving through the woods about twenty meters from where they were. What was more, there seemed to a dark, shadowy figure following it. Rumia couldn’t make out their features, but it didn’t seem very tall.

“Is that a ghost?” Rumia whispered.

“There’s no such thing as ghosts,” Kohta whispered back.

Despite the severity of their situation, the stupidity of that comment made Rumia just stop worrying about the light and stare at her friend in shock. “Kohta, that might be the dumbest thing I have ever heard you-”

“Keeeeeiiiiiiinnnnnneeeeee!” the dark figure suddenly called out, its warbling voice echoing through the night.

Rumia and Kohta both ducked out of sight.

“Kaaaaaaannnnnnnnaaaaaaaaa!” the voice called. “Eeeeeiiiiiiiiikoooooo!”

Rumia was shaking all over. It was a ghost, a dark phantom mournfully crying out the names of their probably dead friends, doomed to forever wail the names of the deceased like an eternal eulogy for the-

“Oh,” Kohta said. “It’s him! Mr. Joshua!”

Rumia slowly breathed out. He was right. “Great. I thought we were in a different part of the forest than him.”

“I guess not. Let’s go before he sees us.”

Kohta started to leave, but Rumia tugged sharply on his hand. “Wait,” she said. “Maybe we’d better go to him.”

“No way!”

“But-”

Kohta wrenched his hand from hers. “Look, if you’re too scared, then you go talk to him! He’ll probably just have to take you back, and he’ll just stop them from searching! Keine and the others could die while he’s doing that! We came out here to help find them, not make the rescue take longer!”

Rumia winced. That was a very good point. Sighing, Rumia just nodded and got up to follow.

The pair stealthily moved away from the other search searcher. It felt like it took forever, but eventually the light disappeared, as did the sound of Mr. Joshua’s voice. The only sound was that of their footsteps crushing leaves and sticks.

Crunch. Crunch. Crunch.

When she was absolutely certain that they were alone, Rumia said, “There’s no such thing as ghosts? Really?”

“Well, I’ve never seen one,” Kohta said, somewhat defensively.

“Wow,” Rumia said. “Wow.”

“Look, everyone knows that when you die, your soul gets taken across the River Suzune by the Shinigami! That’s just the rules! You don’t get to stick around haunting your old house and-”

“Shhh!” Now it was Rumia’s turn to slap a hand over her friend’s mouth.

Kohta shut up, though he was obviously bursting with questions.

Rumia pointed a finger. When Kohta saw what she did, he made a low whimpering sound.

There was a clearing up ahead, a circle clear of trees and bathed in moonlight. There wasn’t much in it other than patches of wild grass and some small stones. However, sitting directly in the center was a…something, something that Rumia could only see the basic shape of. It was large, hulking, and had a pair of great elk antlers protruding from the top.

Rumia shied back. It was one of the great monsters of the forest, it had to be! How many stories of had she grown up hearing of the dark spirits that wandered these woods, of their bloodthirsty dispositions and their taste for the flesh of children?

She tugged on Kohta’s hand and tilted her head back the way they came. Maybe if they crept away as slowly and quietly as they could, they could get away without attracting its attention.

“Wait,” Kohta whispered, his eyes somehow narrowing even further as he studied the towering silhouette.

Rumia gawked at him in disbelief. Wait? Why should they wait? They needed to get away from that thing right the hell now!

However, Kohta didn’t seem to share her rational fear of whatever the thing in the clearing was. “I don’t think it’s alive,” he whispered again.

Rumia quite frankly didn’t care. Lots of things weren’t alive. That didn’t make them any less likely to kill the two of them!

However, Kohta was not to be deterred. He began to slowly creep around the clearing, keeping his eye on the thing. And since she couldn’t pull him away without making a racket, Rumia was forced to go with him.

The silhouette didn’t move as they circled around it. Rumia bit her lower lip to keep from whimpering in fear as she watched its horned head, just waiting for it to suddenly turn toward them.

It didn’t.

“I think-” Kohta started to say, right before Rumia slapped a hand over his mouth. She gawked at him for being so stupid as to talk with that thing so close.

Kohta rolled his eyes. He pulled Rumia’s hand off and inclined his head toward the silhouette.

Rumia looked again. Come to think of it, it didn’t look like any kind of creature. Instead, it seemed kind of rough and misshapen. However, it did have a definite shape, one with a high and wide back and-

“It’s a chair,” Kohta sniggered. “That’s all it is. A chair.”

Rumia shot him a dirty look, but he was right. It was a chair, a great big chair made of stone and covered with moss, sticks, and even a few mushrooms.

“A chair. You were scared of a chair!”

Rumia flicked him in the ear. “That still doesn’t mean it’s not dangerous and evil! It’s probably like some kind of cursed throne!”

Kohta shrugged. “Well, okay, but it’s not doing anything.”

Rumia ignored him. She wanted to see what the horns were all about.

She continued to circle around the clearing, bringing the front of the chair into view. It was still hard to make out the details, but her eyes had adjusted pretty well to the darkness, and there was plenty of moonlight to see by. Just a little further, just a little further…

Then Kohta inhaled sharply. Rumia swallowed.

There, seated in the chair, was an amalgamation of bones, seemingly collected from a dozen different creatures. Big bear bones, slender bird bones, and even Human bones, all carefully pieced together in a massive humanoid shape swathed in ragged clothes that swirled in the night breeze.

And seated on the top of its shoulders was a grinning bear’s skull affixed with a pair of elk antlers.

“What the hell?” Rumia said.

“I…” Kohta took a step backward.

Rumia shot him a look. “Still think it’s not scary?”

“I…” Kohta’s face had gone pale. “Maybe we’d better, you know, leave it alone.”

Then the horned bear skull turned to fix its empty eye sockets right at them.

Rumia gasped and Kohta made a sound like he had gotten kicked in the gut. The two spun around and ran from the clearing as fast as their feet would take them.

…

“Eeeeeiiiiikoooooo!” Joshua called.

There was no response. He had been tramping through the forest for the better part of an hour now, and still had found nothing. No response, no tracks, no any sign of the kids or the monster that had taken them.

He was starting to get frantic. The youkai had flown through the air during their retreat. What if they simply had dropped down into the forest right at their lair? If so, then there was probably no trail to be found. He was just going to wander around aimlessly until something ended up picking him off as well.

Pushing those dark thoughts from his mind, Joshua muttered a short, terrified prayer under his breath. Those had been coming with greater regularity the longer his search went on, and they were becoming increasingly desperate.

Then something cracked under his feet.

Joshua paused, and then stepped back. He knelt down.

It was another pile of bones, those of some kind of big cat. From the look of things it had been dead and picked clean of meat for weeks, and now all sorts of things were growing all over its ribs and vertebrae.

Joshua closed his eyes. Actually, he hadn’t found nothing. He had been finding plenty of bones. No Human bones yet, thank God, but that might have already changed.

In his mind’s eye, he saw the ravaged and defiled remains of the children, their flesh and meat ripped from their bones and gobbled down, their bloody skeletons left for the scavengers and the remains of their clothing left to rot, until exposure to the elements erased all trace of their existence, leaving no evidence that their had ever been a Haruko, a Kana, a Hayate, an Eiko, or a Keine.

It was a horrific fate, and it happened all the time. There were probably bones from a few hundred children scattered all over the forest.

Joshua refused to let it happen to his.

He rose up and set off again. “Haaaaaaruuuuuuuuukooooooooo!” he called. “Can you hear-”

Something seized him by the back of his collar. Before he could react, he was swung around and slammed backfirst into a nearby tree trunk, with a forearm thrust across his windpipe.

Gasping like a fish, Joshua looked up to see two blazing red eyes in a coldly beautiful face, one framed by locks of shimmering silver hair with bared teeth.

“Quiet, you idiot!” Mokou hissed. “Do you want to get yourself eaten? Because this is how you get yourself eaten!”

…

“Stop,” Kohta panted. “Stop. It’s not chasing us.”

Rumia might have argued the point, but to tell the truth she was willing to take any excuse to stop running. She was young and active, but hadn’t had to run that fast for that long before. Even footraces back home had only lasted a few seconds.

The two children collapsed in the shelter of a gnarled tree as they tried to catch their breath. Despite being completely out of breath and nursing aching legs, Rumia still made a point of checking to see if Kohta was correct.

Sure enough, there was no sign of a bony amalgamation pursuing them, though honestly it was so dark that simply not being visible didn’t count for much.

“What was that?” Kohta said.

“How the hell should I know?” Rumia said. “Seems like no matter how many stories we hear about this place, someone always has a new one.”

“Well, I guess now there’s one more.”

“I guess.” Then, despite the direness of their situation, Rumia couldn’t resist sneering at him. “So, still don’t believe in ghosts?”

Kohta sighed. “Oh, shut up, Rumia.”

“Seriously, that is easily the dumbest thing I have ever heard you say.”

“I said, shut up, Rumia!”

Rumia did so, though she didn’t stop smirking.

After a while Kohta said, “Hey. Do you hear that?”

Rumia did, actually. In fact she had been about to ask Kohta the same question.

There was a low buzzing sound, like hundreds of insects beating their wings, barely perceptible over the sound of their own breathing, but now that it had been pointed out it was clearly not her imagination.

“Yeah.” Rumia’s face twisted up in confusion. “What the hell is that?”

Kohta shrugged.

Now there was a second sound, a deep, bass pulsing, like a sluggish heartbeat.

Something rustled the leaves nearby, beyond a tall tree. The two children tiptoed toward the tree. As they did, the buzzing grew shriller and shriller, until Rumia could feel it in her teeth. As for the thumping pulse, that only grew deeper and deeper, until Rumia could feel it in her gut.

They pressed their backs to the tree and peeked out around it.

Beyond the tree was a short but steep incline into a leaf-covered depression. And standing in those leaves with its back to them was a…a thing.

It was humanoid, with two legs to stand upon, a torso were a torso ought to be, two arms dangling from its shoulders, and an oval-shaped head on those shoulders, but that was where the similarities ended. Its was just so horribly long and thin, with sticklike legs taller than either one of the children were, an emaciated body twice the length of a normal Human man at less than half the thickness, and arms that hung down to its knees. Its head was completely hairless, with beams of moonlight shining off of its pale dome. It wore a form-fitting outfit of black, and its flesh was as white as bleached bones.

The pulsing grew louder, or maybe that was just Rumia’s heartbeat. There was no question about it now, no “maybe it’s evil and maybe it’s just a pile of rocks and bones.” This was an actual youkai monster, one of the evil wanderers of the Youkai Forest.

The slender creature didn’t seem to have noticed them. It was calmly loping forward, taking long and slow strides, its footsteps barely disturbing the leaves. Rumia looked over to Kohta and tilted her head in the opposite direction. Kohta nodded.

Then the creature paused, and everything fell silent. The buzzing stop, as did the pulse.

Rumia and Kohta went stiff.

The creature raised its head, as if sniffing the air. It reached up with one disturbingly long arm to touch the branches up above.

Then the buzzing returned, and Rumia swore she heard voices in it. The pounding returned as well, staring off slow but building to a thundering percussion, as the slender creature slowly turned around to look over its shoulder directly at them.

It had no face. From its pointed chin to the round dome of its head was nothing but a blank expanse of skin.

Oh, screw this!

With nothing left to gain from hiding, Rumia and Kohta again spun around and fled.

…

“Mokou, wait!” Joshua said, holding up a hand. “Just calm down, okay?”

“Calm down? You want me to calm down?” Mokou shook her head in disgust. “Damn it, Josh! The hell are you even thinking? Walking about in the open like this, hollering away like a crazy person, it’s a miracle that every youkai in a hundred kilometers hasn’t zeroed in on you! Hell, maybe they have! Maybe you’re just lucky I got to you first!”

Joshua had to admit that she had a point. Certainly his way of searching hadn’t exactly been wise. But damn it, what was he supposed to do?

“I was just-”

“I know! You wanted to go save the kids! I heard the whole thing. But by the gods, Josh! How the hell are you supposed to help anyone if you get eaten before you even find them? Or for that matter, even if they do hear you hollering, how are they supposed to answer? They got taken by spiders! Spiders always at the very least gag their prey, and you’ll just let those crawly fucks know you’re coming!”

To this, Joshua had no answer.

“And if your God decides to blow all of your accumulated good will in getting you there unnoticed and undevoured, the hell where you planning to do then? Fight them? Sneak the kids out without any of them noticing? They’re spiders! They probably got them all webbed up, and you don’t even know how to fight to begin with!”

Joshua slowly breathed out. “Yes, I do.”

“What?”

“I do know how to fight. I’ve done it before. A lot, actually.”

Mokou stared at him. “Oh, yeah? You mean back where you came from? In the Outside World?”

“Yes,” Joshua admitted.

“Well, that’s great and all, but that won’t help you here! The rules of fighting are totally different, and you don’t have any of your fancy Outside World weapons to help you!”

“I know how to use danmaku,” Joshua said. He pointed a finger at a nearby bush, and a spray of glowing blue orbs shot out to pulverize its leaves. “I can shoot bullets just fine.”

“Well, goody golly-licious for you,” Mokou said as she sarcastically clapped her hands. “So do they! And they’ve been using it a long longer than you, and definitely more regularly! Have you ever even gotten into a danmaku battle before? Ever had to shoot your bullets at someone outside of fun or practice?”

Joshua bowed his head. “No.”

“Well, I guarantee that they have! Probably pretty regularly at that! You’ll be lucky if you even managed to nick one of them before they riddle you full of holes! And then they’ll eat you!”

“I brought this though,” Joshua said as he slid the anti-youkai knife from its sheathe. He held it up so Mokou could see the runes on its handle. “This will-”

Mokou’s hand suddenly came up, smacking the bottom of the knife. Taken by surprise, Joshua’s hand reflexively popped open and the knife sailed up and away.

Mokou snatched it out of the air. “You see how easily I did that?” she said, pointing the blade at the dumbstruck man. “You are completely out of your depth here. So go home, Joshua. Go home and let me handle this.”

As flustered as he was, and as embarrassed as he was, Joshua still managed to keep his shaking legs planted on the ground beneath him. “No,” he said.

“No?”

“No. I’m not going back.” Joshua said. “Don’t you understand? I was the ones watching those kids. They got taken under my watch! I can’t just stand aside and do nothing!”

Mokou’s face twisted up in annoyance. “Oh, spare me from kind-hearted fools!” she groaned as she slapped a hand across her own face. “Josh, I have exactly zero time for your guilty conscience, so back off and leave this to the professionals! Specifically, me!”

Joshua was a fair bit shorter than Mokou and thus had to incline his head to look her in the face. As such, he was in the perfect position to take notice of something moving in the branches behind her. Something with gleaming orange eyes. “Mokou…” he said.

“Because if any of those kids got hurt because you held me up, then I swear-”

“Mokou, watch out!”

The shadow had leapt from its branch right at Mokou’s back. Joshua reached up to grab Mokou by the arm in hopes of pulling her out of the way.

Several things then happened, either at the same time or in such quick succession that it might as well have been at the same time.

First, the moment that Joshua’s hands closed around Mokou’s arm, it abruptly swung to the side, lifting him right off his feet and hurling him to the ground.

The second was the sound of something whistling through the air right over his head, something fast enough for him to feel the wind of its passing.

The third was a feminine voice grunting in pain and surprise.

Joshua rolled onto her back and sat up. He wasn’t exactly sure what he was expecting to see, but what he found waiting for him surely wasn’t it.

Mokou was standing balanced on one leg, the other held straight out, her foot shoved up against the throat of another woman. The woman was of medium height and slender in build, with grey-ish blue skin, softly glowing orange eyes, and bright orange hair tied into a pair of pigtails. She was wearing a sleeveless black-and-blue striped blouse, a tattered purple skirt, and black-and-orange stripped leggings. On her hand she wore a sort of cap that had a pair of floppy horns made of felt.

Mokou had her pinned up against a tree, and she was clawing at the foot pressing at her larynx.

“Juniper Spice,” Mokou said. “Well, as I live and breathe.”

Joshua gawked at her. “Wait, you know this person?”

“We’ve met,” Mokou said. “We’re not friends.”

The youkai woman identified as Juniper choked and coughed. “I…I didn’t know…it was you,” she said. “I didn’t!”

“Yeah, well, tough.” Her foot still keeping Juniper trapped, Mokou flicked Joshua’s knife up between her fingers.

A second later Joshua realized what she intended. “No! Mokou, wait!”

It was too late. Mokou hurled the knife. It sailed straight and true to embed itself right in Juniper’s forehead, neatly between her eyes.

Juniper’s whole body jerked and she let out a small squeak. Then, as bright red blood ran down her nose, her whole body started to convulse.

As Joshua stared in horror, Mokou lowered her foot. Juniper stayed where she was, shaking and writhing as black steam rose up from where the knife was stuck. Foamy spittle bubbled up from her mouth to drip down her chin.

Then she slumped lifelessly, and her body began to dissolve.

Orangish vapor billowed into the air to disappear, and when it had all dissipated, nothing was left of Juniper Spice, no evidence of what had happened to her save for the knife itself, which was still partially embedded in the trunk of the tree.

“You killed her,” Joshua said in disbelief.

Mokou calmly grabbed the knife’s handle and yanked it out. “Uh, yeah? She was trying to kill us. Hell, she probably had been stalking you for some time. If I hadn’t come along she would’ve gotten you.”

“But…”

“Relax, Josh. She’s a youkai. Getting smoked like that is part of their everyday life. Give it a few minutes, and she’ll come right back with a bad mood and a healthy amount of respect.”

“You…Wait, are you sure?”

Sighing, Mokou tossed the knife into the dirt in front of Joshua. “Yes, Josh. I’m sure. I’ve killed her before. For fuck’s sake, you’ve been in Gensokyo how long? This is basic youkai stuff.”

“Oh.” Despite having lived in Gensokyo for many years, there were still some aspects of it that he had trouble wrapping his head around. He picked up the knife and stood up.

Mokou looked around and sighed. “You’re really set on saving the kids, aren’t you?”

Joshua slid the knife back into its sheath. Then he looked up into Mokou’s eyes. “Yes,” he said. “I am.”

“Fuck,” Mokou muttered. “If I send you back you’ll just get snapped up. Gods only know how you made it this far.” She shook her head and sighed. “Fine, fine. Tag along if you must, but stay out of my way, don’t slow me down, don’t do anything stupid, and as much as I like you, if it comes down to either saving you or saving the kids, I’ll be sure to say something nice at your funeral. Got it?”

Harsh, but completely fair. “I understand.”

“Fine.” Mokou turned and headed off. “Keep up, then. Rumia and Kohta went off on their own to search as well, so we have to find them too.”

Joshua stumbled. “Wait, they did what?”

“You heard me! Now shut up and keep up!”

…

“Okay,” Kohta panted as he leaned up against a tree. “I think…I think we lost him.”

The effort of trying to catch her breath had bent Rumia down over her knees. “You think?” she got out between gasps.

“Well…he hasn’t…caught us…has he?”

“Maybe…maybe he’s…in the trees…and…” Something tickled Rumia’s ear. “Stop touching me!”

“I’m not.”

“Then…what was…”

Crunch. Crunch. Crunch.

The two children froze.

Crunch. Crunch. Rip. Snap.

“Is that it?” Rumia whispered. “Is it coming?”

“I don’t…it doesn’t really sound like footsteps.” Kohta tried to straighten up, but then suddenly jerked back. “Hey!”

“Huh?”

“I’m stuck! Something’s sticking to me!”

Something tickled Rumia’s ear again. She slapped it away.

Her hand was suddenly filled with several silky, sticky strands.

“Uh…” She pulled it away from her head. In her hand was something thinner than paper and glistening white.

She then slowly looked up to where Kohta was still trying to free himself from the trunk of the tree. The tree was covered with the stuff, like a paper sheathe.

“Kohta, stop,” Rumia whispered.

“What?”

“Look…up.”

Catching her tone, Kohta swallowed and obeyed.

The entire forest around them was draped with what looked like a silk net. It covered the tree trunks, it was laid across the tree branches, it was even laid across the forest floor in places. Here and there things that looked like giant moth cocoons hung from the branches. One or two of them were twitching. Most of them were not.

Rumia felt the blood drain from her face. Those were no cocoons.

“Webs,” Kohta said hoarsely. “Spiderwebs.”

Crunch. Munch. Slurp.

The two children exchanged one brief look. Then Rumia hastily ripped the web from her fingers and seized Kohta’s arm with both hands and yanked with all her might, ripping him free from the trunk.

“We need to-” Kohta started to say.

Crunch.

Something had broken under Rumia’s feet. The two of them looked down.

A half-buried Human skull grinned up at them, webs draped over it like a burial shroud. Rumia’s foot had landed right onto its right eye socket, caving it in.

“Ah!” Rumia was about to run again, but then Kohta’s hands clamped down on her bicep.

“No!” he hissed. “Get a grip! You start running and screaming again, and the spiders will hear us!”

Every instinct in Rumia was screaming for her to completely disregard Kohta’s point and run as fast as she could while screaming as loud as possible.

But she had done that twice already. And each time it had just sent her into an even scarier situation. So she bit back on the screams she felt rising and slowly removed her foot from within the skull.

Then they turned in the direction of the sounds. Up ahead was a ring of web-covered trees, and within seemed to be a small clearing.

The sounds were coming from the clearing, and between the web-covered trees she could see movement.

Rumia and Kohta exchanged a glance. Then, gripping tightly to each other’s hands, they crept toward the clearing, careful to avoid the webbing on the ground and anything that might be another pile of remains.

The clearing was playing host to a ghastly scene. The whole place was draped with webs, and weirdly enough there was furniture scattered about. Rumia saw a bookshelf filled with what looked like odd trinkets and weird bones; a hat stand holding a top hat, a bonnet, a straw hat, and a weird thing that looked like a stripy inverted funnel; a grandfather clock; a few easy chairs; a cabinet holding chipped tea cups; and four beds. Strapped to four of the trees along the perimeter was a child, each of their bodies partially wrapped up like decaying mummies. Rumia’s heart skipped a beat. Keine was among them, her face pale and her body limp. Rumia couldn’t tell if she was breathing or not.

Fastened to another tree was Kana, who for once was silent. And next to her was Haruko, and next to Haruko was Hayate.

Unlike the others, Haruko was wide awake and staring. Her mouth was gagged with webs to keep her from screaming, but judging by the look in her eyes she would if she could. She was staring at what was happening in the center of the clearing.

There, the four spider-youkai that had attacked the Children’s Home were gathered. Now that Rumia saw them up close, they seemed even more monstrous than they had when viewed at a distance in the bright sunlight. They seemed to be the kin of that slender thing in the woods, with limbs that were twisted, elongated, and malformed, with twice as many joints than they ought to have. Their necks were longer than they had any right to be, and their grey hair almost looked like spiderwebs themselves. Two of them were wearing torn and filthy dresses, one that once had been white with blue stripes and the other a color that might have been orange once. Another had on a long, red coat over a shredded black shirt and a black skirt. The one male had on the remains of what had once been tailored black slacks, a black vest hanging unbuttoned over a filthy white shirt, and a grey tie hanging loosely around his neck like a noose.

All four of them were paying little attention to their ensnared captives. They were crouching on their haunches around a dinner table, tearing at something with their hands and mouths. Rumia couldn’t make out what it was, but she caught glimpses of something red. One of the spider-youkai raised its head. Blood was running down its gaunt face, and there was something white and stringy hanging from its mouth. It gulped it down and ducked its head back down again.

Then a human arm flopped out of the cluster. It was wearing a black sleeve, and a pale hand hung limply at its end. Blood ran down the fingers to drip to the ground.

Rumia’s hand went to her mouth. By process of elimination there really was only one person that could be.

Eiko.

“Oh my gods,” Kohta whispered, so low that even Rumia barely heard him. “Oh my gods, oh my gods, oh my gods.”

As for Rumia, she didn’t have the stomach even for whispered curses. Sour nausea twisted up her gut, and she was able to keep from retching by constantly reminding herself that the spiders would hear the noise and eat them as well.

The two of them had never liked Eiko. She had been whiny and nosy and pretty mean most of the time, always doing whatever Haruko had told her to do, always butting into their business and helping push around the smaller kids.

But sweet spirits, nobody had ever, even in their darkest, most private fantasies, wished something like that upon her!

If there was one blessing that could be gleaned by the whole terrible scene, it was that the four spider-youkai were so absorbed with feasting on poor Eiko’s remains that they were paying no attention to either their remaining captives or the two invaders that had trespassed on their nest.

It was time.

Rumia knelt down to spit out the wad of saliva her nausea had produced and swallowed back as much of the sick feeling as she could. Then she tugged on Kohta’s sleeve and angled her head toward where the other kids were being held.

Kohta’s eyes went wide and he emphatically shook his head.

Baring her teeth, Rumia pointed to where Keine was hanging. Then she pointed at the gruesome feast.

Kohta’s face twisted up as the impulse to flee joined forces with the sheer terror surging through him and waged war on his desire to save his friends. In the end the latter won out, and he let out a small sigh through his nostrils and nodded.

The two of them crept around the clearing, careful not to step on anything too loud, especially careful not to keep glancing over at what the spiders were doing, but it was difficult.

Fortunately, the other kids weren’t fully cocooned like the other bodies they had seen. They only had a couple silk restraints splattered onto their wrists and calves, pinning them to the tree trunks. Webs were also smeared over their mouths as gags, though the spiders had left their eyes free, probably to make them watch.

The first that they reached was Hayate, unfortunately. Rumia and Kohta produced the knives they had brought along and went to work. The webs were strong enough to keep her from tearing away on her own strength, but they parted like grass beneath the steel blades. The enchantments were working.

Hayate seemed to have passed out, but after they managed to free one leg and one hand she began to stir. She didn’t look at all well though. Even with the tremendous scare of what she had been through, her skin felt cold and clammy. Even in the pale moonlight Rumia could see dark veins on her arms and around her neck.

As they worked to bring her down, Rumia glanced at the other kids. Haruko, the only one still awake, had noticed them. She was staring with wide eyes, her hands twitching beneath the webs. She glanced quickly at what the spiders were doing to her friend and then back at them, silently begging them to hurry.

As Rumia and Kohta lowered Hayate to the ground, she started to come around. Rumia started to cut away the gag, but then Kohta covered her hand and shook his head. For a moment Rumia was confused, but then she understood. Hayate was going to be confused and scared when she woke up, and if she screamed, that was it for all of them.

Sure enough, Hayate opened her eyes moments later. She blinked groggily and squinted up at them. She frowned in bewilderment, as if she had no memory of where she was or why she was there.

But then enough pieces apparently pieced themselves together in her mind and her eyes suddenly bulged out.

“Shhh!” Rumia slapped a hand over Hayate’s gagged mouth to prevent any sound from escaping. “Quiet!” she hissed into the terrified girl’s ear. “We’re here to save you, but you have to be quiet!”

Hayate was trembling violently, but she managed a slight nod.

Hoping that she would keep her word, Rumia and Kohta then turned their attention to the next bound captive, which thankfully was Keine.

Keine also had weird veiny blotches on her skin, but she started stirring more quickly when Rumia and Kohta touched her. They hastily cut the sticky strands away and brought her down to the ground.

“Keine!” Kohta whispered. “Can you hear me?”

Keine sleepily blinked her eyes. She moaned beneath her gag.

“Shhh!” Kohta put his face right in front of hers so that she would be able to read his lips. Don’t say anything. Youkai are near. Stay still and quiet.

Keine blinked. Then she stiffened as the memories caught up with her. She glanced at him and Rumia and nodded as well. However, she did sit up and throw her arms around the two of them, and they did the same. Though she was still tense with fear and revulsion, Rumia finally felt a small bit of hope. They had gotten Keine back. They weren’t out of the woods yet, but they at least had her.

Keine, at least, could be trusted. She angled her head to one side and let her friends cut away her gag. Once it was out of the way she started clawing at her mouth and silently gagged as she tried to get rid of any remaining strands. One particularly large wad made her shiver with disgust.

Rumia caught sight of Hayate staring at them. Once she had Rumia’s eye, the other girl pointed at the wad of silk covering her mouth. Rumia shook her head. Hayate blinked, then she scowled and let out an angry snort.

Two down, two to go. And the next was the one that they wanted to save the least. Still, there were some things that even blood feuds were suspended for.

Haruko had been watching the whole time. As they approached, the only two fingers she had free started to rapidly beat against the tree trunk.

“Stop it!” Rumia hissed. “Do you want them to-”

“Oi!”

One of the spiders suddenly turned toward Haruko, his neck curving around like a snake. Rumi and Kohta ducked out of sight.

“Stop makin’ dat noise!” the spider growled, his voice thick and gummy. “If yer so impatient, den it’ll be yer turn once we’re done wit’ yer itty-bitty friend ‘ere!”

The other spiders laughed, and they all went back to their meal.

Rumia forced herself to release the breath she had been holding. Her heart was still pounding away like a war drum though.

Baring her teeth, she set back to work, cutting away at Haruko’s left hand and leg while Kohta worked on her right side.

Once she was free, Haruko had no problem with being led behind the tree and out of sight. She immediately threw both arms around Kohta’s shoulders and squeezed him tight while she hyperventilated.

Rumia’s right eye twitched, but she did nothing.

Kohta winced but tolerated it, though Rumia suspected that was more due to no wanting to risk attracting attention than respecting Haruko’s feelings.

“Okay, okay,” Kohta muttered with an awkward pat on the bat. “Um, you gotta let go. Seriously. I need to go help Kana. Let go, please.”

Rumia rolled her eyes. Then she saw that Hayate was up on her knees and was slowly crawling toward Haruko, her hands outstretched and tears pouring from her eyes.

That should work. Rumia took her by the elbow and helped her come in closer. Then she jostled Haruko’s shoulder to get her attention. Once Haruko saw that Hayate was near, she immediately abandoned Kohta to seize her remaining friend in another squeezing embrace, and unlike Kohta, Hayate was more than happy to reciprocate.

Kohta shook his head and sighed. Then he caught the look Rumia was shooting him.

What? he mouthed.

Rolling her eyes, Rumia just went over to where Kana was hanging.

The weird girl looked like she was the worst off. The dark veins were more pronounced on her skin, and she was sweating profusely. What was more, she didn’t stir at all when Rumia and Kohta started working to free her.

Rumia swallowed. She prayed to whatever meager gods that would hear her that Kana was still alive and kept cutting.

The girl barely seemed to weigh a thing as they took her to the others and laid her down. Keine, who seemed to have shaken off whatever the spiders had done to her quicker than the still tearfully embracing Haruko and Hayate, knelt down at Kana’s side. She leaned over to place her ear against Kana’s chest while holding a finger under her nose. Rumia held her breath as she waited for the diagnosis.

Keine sat back and nodded. She held up a hand with her index finger and her thumb only a few centimeters apart. Rumia and Kohta understood. Kana was breathing, but only just. They needed to get her back as quickly as possible.

Kohta crouched down and lifted Kana onto his back. He nodded to the others and tilted his head back the way he and Rumia had come. They started to creep away, but then Hayate seized Rumia by the arm. She jabbed a finger at the web still covering her mouth.

Oh, fine. Rumia pulled out her knife and went to work cutting it away. Like the others, Hayate gagged as she spat out all the gunk in her mouth.

“All right,” Rumia whispered. “Now let’s go!”

Hayate looked at her like she had lost her mind. “No!” she whispered back. “What about Eiko? We can’t leave Eiko!”

Rumia felt like she had been kicked in the gut. Oh gods, Hayate had passed out before Eiko had been eaten. She didn’t know!

Seeing the way everyone was looking at her, Hayate just stared back in confusion. “What? Why are you guys-”

“Welp, dis one’s ‘bout done,” one of the spiders said suddenly. “Onta da second course!”

“All right, all right, keep yer pants on. Which one?”

“Betta make it da ‘ickle blonde bit. She dun’t look like she got much left in ‘er, so we’d bedda get ‘er on da table while she’s still fresh.”

Oh shit.

“Go, go, go!” Kohta whispered.

The hurried away, with Haruko practically dragging the still-confused Hayate along.

“Hey, da fook?” a spider called out. “Where’d da ‘ickle morsels go?”

“Are ya fookin’ serious?  Dey was jus’ dere!”

“Well, dey ain’t now!”

“Damn it all. Spread out and search! Dey couldn’t ‘ave gone far!”

The horrible sound of scrabbling filled the air. The children increased their gait.

Then a horribly long arm snaked out of the trees in front of them. It ended in a slender hand with fingers that looked as long as Rumia’s forearms, each topped by a pointed nail caked with dirt and drying blood.

The hand planted itself on the ground, the elbow bending at an unnatural angle. Another such arm came into view, the hand grabbing onto a tree trunk.

A gaunt face followed, one with hollow cheeks, a pointed chin, and dark hair that hung around the face like a funeral shroud. The face’s eyes were sunken and dark, each with four tiny white pupils that glimmered like candles in the dark. Dark blood still was smeared around its pale lips.

The face swung around on its elongated neck to leer at the children. “Well, well, well, what have we ‘ere?” the spider said as she ambled out of the clearing. “A wee ‘ickle rescue attempt? ‘ey, chaps! C’mere!”

The other spiders ambled their way toward her, one loping his way on the ground while the other two crawled across the trees. “You ‘ave got ta’ be fookin’ kiddin’ me,” growled the male spider.

“Nah, see? Dey missed deir friends so much dat dey come ‘ere ta’ try ta’ save ‘em! Ain’t dey precious?”

“Precious ‘ickle dumplin’s,” growled another. “So kind dey are. Now we ‘ave enough for breakfast an’ dinner tummarah!”

Rumia couldn’t move. Fear had frozen her feet in place. She couldn’t even blink. All she could do was stand stiff and still and stare as the four malformed monsters crawled ever closer.

This is it, she found herself thinking. This is how I die. Ripped apart like my family. And I still couldn’t save anyone. What a stupid way to go.

Then some blue and glowing shot through the air to splash against the lead spider’s cheek.

The one that had been hit flinched back. She held a claw to the point of impact. “Da fook was…”

Then everyone, spider and child alike, turned to stare at the culprit.

Haruko was standing with one hand outstretched, index and middle fingers pointing out, while she held onto her wrist with the other hand. Every centimeter of her was shaking with fear, but it was clear that she had been the one responsible.

“You can shoot bullets?” Kohta said in disbelief.

Haruko glanced at him and nodded. Then she inhaled sharply and fired another blue projectile.

This one glanced off the spider’s shoulder. This time, she looked more annoyed than anything. “Really?” she growled. “Fookin’ danmaku. Sorry, chitlins. But youz is playin’ a grown-up’s game.” She lifted a hand, which then began glowing purple. “But if it’s a danmaku battle yah be wantin’, den Auntie Edna is more than ‘appy to play!”

Before Edna could fire off her first round, Kohta let go of one of Kana’s legs to thrust his hand into his pocket. When he drew it back out, it was holding onto a small piece of paper.

“Uh, hit the deck!” he screamed as he tossed the paper forward. Then he threw both himself and Kana to the ground and covered his eyes. Everyone else did the same. Even the spiders flinched back in anticipation of the spellcard attack.

Nothing happened.

Rumia looked up. The spellcard was lying on the ground, obviously not activated. The spiders, who had all retreated back and covered their faces, were now lowering their arms and glancing at one another.

“Huh,” the male said. Then the four of them leered back down at the children. “Well den.”

“You idiot!” Hayate screamed. “You have to say the spellcard’s name!”

“Huh? Oh, right!” Kohta snatched the card back up and thrust it forward again as the spiders resumed their advance. “Phoenix Sign: Magnificent Inferno!”

And then the forest erupted with light.

…

I have a new policy. If I get an idea that would certainly have upset and disturbed kid me, I do it.

Until next time, everyone.

#the touhou project #touhou #imperfect metamorphosis #fanfic #rumia #mokou #Fujiwara no Mokou