#i did my best to find moments where the taros wear what they wear in the op - but ultimately i had to improvise

[koifishart]

I want to be Your Koi Fish

Warning: +18 content, criminal underworld, intercourse, strong language - and so on

Fanfiction based on: "Baki" by Itagaki Keisuke

>22<

She hasn't lost consciousness for a long time. Fortunately, it was enough to get enough sleep and eat a decent breakfast to make feel good again. Nevertheless, Hanabi preferred to check it. She planned a visit to the doctor. As left, she glanced at her reflection in the glass in the clinic door. Think long hair is bored. So decided to take advantage of the goodness that the hairdresser was capable of and cash the excess weight off the head. The woman with the scissors in hand was almost crying, greatly shortening the long legacy of her hair follicles, but Hanabi didn't care much. Wearing a new, much lighter haircut, she went to the Akita's house, having made sure he was in place. Again, she wasn't warmly welcomed by the hostess, who this time looked particularly closely at the young woman's hair. She didn't really care, especially since her husband's grandfather showed up quickly. She bowed, and he led her to a separate room. Didn't quite know where to start, and she wanted Akita to know.

- What brings you to me, my child? - he asked with a benevolent smile.

- There is one thing I wanted to share with you first, Taro-san. - she began, humbly bowing her head. - I know how important Kaoru is to you...and with reciprocity.

There was a moment of silence. Akita took a sip of tea from a mug standing next to him. She did likewise. Felt a hand that wasn't very skilled in the ceremony, although matcha itself was one of the best she tasted. Looked at the man in front of her. He was over 80, and despite everything, he was doing great, relatively well, apart from minor, obvious injuries in their world. He spat at her as if a little suspiciously, then smiled kindly.

- Guess what it is... - he muttered. - How long has it been going on?

- Six weeks.

- Thank you for your trust, Hanabi-chan! - he laughed. - My grandson will probably be terribly surprised. He will be angry to find out later...

She thought. In fact, he won't be pleased. In her mind's eye she saw the expression - calm, but with a twitching eyelid and eyebrows lowered closer to his nose. He always did it when didn't like something, whether it was the color of her clothes, the look of the food, or a task to do. He wasn't very picky, rarely said anything was wrong, but his face was always filled with emotion. She was very curious to see what mix would come after this information.

- There was no occasion to tell him. - she replied, shrugging shoulders slightly.

- Enlighten him as soon as possible. Should know. - the old man added, sipping his tea.

- Yes... one very suitable day is approaching... - she muttered, scratching chin.

She finished her drink and bowed as she left, followed by Akita's gaze. 

- Hanabi-chan! - he tossed after her, then added as she turned around. - I hope to meet him. 

She was counting on it too. Was of good cheer... why not?

She came home completely tired. Left her shoes on the threshold and collapsed on the leather couch, sighing heavily. He found her in such a state. This time, surprisingly, Hanayama was not in a purple shirt, but a t-shirt and sweatpants tightened on the body. A sight at least rare. He frowned, as if trying to remember something. She sat down on the couch, tucking hair behind ear.

- Something happened? - she asked uncertainly. 

- I hardly recognize you... - he muttered, coming up. - Where's the rest of your hair? 

- In a plastic bag at the hairdresser. - She replied waving hand a little. - Every now and then I sell them when they grow back. Someone has a natural wig, my head is lighter and wallet harder. 

- Don't you feel sorry? - he asked aggressively, brushing the strands down on her face and cupping her jaw gently. 

She was really crazy. She had the left half shaved almost to zero, the right half to the shoulder. A very pleasant change, and didn't seem to mind her husband either. 

- They will grow back! - she laughed, kissing him.

>>><<<

He thought they had known each other long enough that little could surprise him ... until one evening he entered the living room and didn't recognize his own wife. To say that she got rid of half of her hair is not enough! Nevertheless...he liked it in the new edition. What he liked about her was how willingly, with effortless ease she expressed herself with appearance. He guessed that he was, indirectly, the reason for choosing this and not another hairstyle. He quietly lamented the fact that he had lost all his thick hair because of the operation, and she, as if by the way, expressed her solidarity with her husband. His hair was growing back pretty quickly, but she gestured for him anyway. Not all were of the same opinion. Some half openly (only with him) said that it isn't fit for a yakuza wife. He had their opinions deep in his nose. Fortunately, the topic quickly turned to the target one, buying a gift for Akita - the absolutely safest car created by man. The idea came from Toramasa Nakamura, the third boss of the Gokumon family. Everyone came together, a model was chosen that was advertised as resistant to all possible options of attack by humans or nature. He was very curious if it would actually survive anything. Hanabi shook her nose at what they had spent the money on, but, stouted by comments about how "women don't know cars," she raised a white flag. He knew perfectly well that she didn't win their favor with open resistance, but he didn't hold her back. They agreed to watch the car in secret when Grandpa went fishing. By the way, Hanayama was asked to test the alleged indestructibility of the "fortress on wheels". After all, if it was to be an incomparable vehicle, it simply had to endure his unmatched blow. Hanabi was standing behind him with Kizaki. It was probably the first time he had ever seen her in a suit - black jacket, red shirt with a black short tie, equally dark high-waisted trousers, and low shoes tied with thin laces. He smiled under his breath at the sight. She folded her arms under her breasts. She still wasn't convinced of the armored Hammer standing in front of him waiting for "everything". He took off glasses and put them in pocket. Snapped knuckles. He did it many times. All it took was the right grip, weight, speed... He struck, and the rest rolled by itself. The clink of metal, the clink of glass, the crackle of rubber. The entire undercarriage had collapsed, translucent debris and finer parts littered everywhere, the front door had fallen nearby, and a thick spring had rolled past his leg. After a while, even the engine couldn't withstand the pressure, the shot crushing on the hood. He heard his wife's heavy sigh from behind him, and the slap of hand against forehead.

- And what...is that already? - Hanayama was surprised. - This is that "miracle"?

- Yeah...well...it was... - Obu, Akita's security chief, muttered resignedly.

- Damn...with one blow...it's ruined! This won't protect the boss! - Nakamura groaned.

- No, it won't. - Tatsu snapped. - The fuck...

- Wh...what the hell?! - Toramasa was breaking down more and more.

- What we do? - the Immortal asked.

- You tried to cheat us?! - someone growled, tugging at the man who was about to sell the vehicle. - How are you going to explain that?!

They didn't hear the answer, though he doubted it was of any sort. The man crouching on the ground was drowned out by the sound of the engine, at least quite pleasant. A fairly elegant, yet somewhat clunky, appearance appeared before them, as he took a closer look, an SUV with tinted windows. The navy blue paint glistened with a pearly glow, reflecting the rays of the sun breaking through the trees. It stopped next to a parody of an indestructible vehicle. The door swung open without the slightest click, and a rather frail woman jumped out, wearing a skin-tight green knee-length dress of bland green and brown high-heeled shoes. She flashed a golden, subtle necklace and colored lenses of aviator glasses, which she then tucked into her loose red hair, revealing striking blue, almost turquoise eyes.

- Hi there! - she said happily.

- And who is that? - Tatsu asked.

- My older sister, Shizuka. - Hanabi explained coming up. - Time for test number two. If you would listen to me, we'd all be at home a long time ago.

- Soga-san? - said the surprised owner of the wreckage.

- Oh...hello again...this time coldly. - the woman muttered, tossing her curls gleaming with rust.

- You know each other? - asked the younger one.

- Oh, yes, yes...this is my would-be boss. - she replied, then glared at the destroyed vehicle. - Do you play scrapping? I told you, you need papers for that.

- We are looking for an indestructible car, do you have one? - The black-haired girl said without pardon. - Kaoru tested...it...and unfortunately it fell apart.

- I'm not really surprised. - The redhead muttered as she mirrored the vehicle, then spoke enthusiastically to Hanayama. - Kaoru-san, go ahead! From the heart, right into the mask!

He walked over to the SUV quite hesitantly. It looked inconspicuous, as ordinary as possible, quite fragile and destructible. He glanced at Obu. The man shrugged. Don't think they had anything else to choose from. He gathered himself up, curled hand into a fist, and delivered another blow. The car swayed, the tires blasted... and nothing else. There was only a scratch on the hood, perhaps a dent from his knuckles. He saw Tatsu and Naito's jaws drop for the first time. Obu stood there like struck by lightning, while Nakamura looked like he was about to pee with happiness.

- Oh, no! I forgot to replace the original wheels! They're in the trunk! Excuse me! - The redhead moaned, scratching her head. - I don't ride the bulletproof ones, because don't have what for, the usual ones are enough for me. I rarely take it anywhere at all.

- Impossible... - the salesman of the previous vehicle sighed in shock.

- Possible, possible... this is a project that you rejected when I applied for a job because, and quote: "women don't know cars." - she replied ironically, wrinkling her nose. - And now you are trying to push the yakuza a car made at cost? Bravo!

There was a deathly silence. They all looked at each other, wondering what to do. The man from the factory looked like he was planning an escape, but the steel arms of the mafia didn't give him much of a chance.

- Is it...for sale? - Obu said. - Enter the price, Soga-sama.

- It is yours...on two conditions. - She thought, waving the keys in front of his nose, exposing a perfectly painted, delicately decorated, long nail. - First of all: it's to appear on the street often, and if who asks you, you will contact the designer. Second: someone has to drive me home.

#hanayama kaoru #baki the grappler #fanfic #fanfiction #oc x canon #hanayamaswife #hanayamahanabi #baki hanayama #kaoru hanayama #yakuza #+18 only #+18 or +adult only #baki headcanons #baki hanma #baki son of ogre #baki dou

[itsmoonpeaches]

The Ocean Meets the Sky

Chapter 2: Together

Please note: Every prompt for this Kataang Week connects into an over-arching story.

Prompt: Blending Cultures

Story summary: After his battle with Fire Lord Ozai, something lingers within Aang's spirit. Katara is the one that pulls the seams back together. No matter what, Aang and Katara find each other.

Chapter summary: The day was beautiful, the sun high and bright and hopeful. Almost a signal to signify the start of new, brilliant things.

The day started out softly, quietly, on the outskirts of sunrise. It was the calmest Katara had ever felt in her whole life. Light streamed through the slit between the heavy curtains, a line of gentle yellow hues. It cast a sweet shade of peacefulness upon her as she got ready for the day.

-

Or, Katara, Aang, and their friends share a feast.

Written for @kataang-week

Read on ao3 or ffn.

---

The day was beautiful, the sun high and bright and hopeful. Almost a signal to signify the start of new, brilliant things.

The day started out softly, quietly, on the outskirts of sunrise. It was the calmest Katara had ever felt in her whole life. Light streamed through the slit between the heavy curtains, a line of gentle yellow hues. It cast a sweet shade of peacefulness upon her as she got ready for the day.

The dawn before Zuko’s coronation was a marker for the beginning of her real life. The kind of life where war did not exist.

She had made it out alive. She survived. She was always a survivor, but this time it was different.

As a child she never thought that the world would ever reach this point, that she would reach this point. It seemed impossible to a fault. Katara was a master waterbender, she had a group of friends from different nations, she was a world traveler. They were all things that helped define who she was now. They were things that she had only ever dreamed of before.

A kind of giddiness filled her when she thought of all the possibilities. That joy and lightness only increased when she finally pushed open the door for her chambers and stepped into the gilded corridor outside.

The Fire Nation palace was not a place she would have called magnificent, especially before, but it had a sort of regal grace to it that she now noticed. It was a helpful bonus that she and her friends resided in the palace for the past few days in preparation for the event that would define their generation.

The wind from the tall, unlatched widows that lined the halls swept past her. A sense of freedom came over her, like she was floating above the world and seeing pinpricks of miniature people below her. If this was what being an airbender was like, she suddenly understood why Aang was the free spirit he was.

She heard his laugh as she neared the entrance to the kitchen, and her heart swelled for him.

When she opened the door, she was met with the sight of his back to her. He was clothed in muted red Fire Nation garments while he waited for the new robes that he would wear for the coronation ceremony later in the afternoon to be ready for him. He stood there, chopping skinned lychees into smaller pieces on a chopping board, humming a song she did not recognize to himself.

A frazzled-looking middle-aged woman with an apron and a disheveled topknot fretted around him like a bee buzzing over a flower. “Oh, please, Avatar Aang…please let me do the cooking!” she begged, clasping her hands together and practically about to fall prostrate on her knees.

Aang chuckled, shaking his head. “It’s baking, Aika,” he admonished good-naturedly. “Besides, today’s a special day!”

To her credit, Aika did try to coax him into letting her do the work herself, but Katara interrupted them with a cough as she stepped through the entryway.

Aang straightened at the sound of the door sliding closed. He glanced over his shoulder at her. “Good morning, Katara!” he said with an enthusiastic tone. “Here for the feast?”

She laughed, walking toward the stove. “You’re here early,” she observed. She started searching through the cabinets for a pot. “I have to say I’m a little concerned over what Sokka has planned,” she mentioned, tossing the comment at him with a levity that she had not felt in years.

“He mentioned something about replicating arctic hen yesterday.”

Katara grimaced. “I don’t know if I trust him with that,” she said. “I’m making seaweed noodles. Hopefully that will cover up whatever mistakes Sokka wants to create.”

For the next few minutes, they worked in tandem, side-by-side. The way they danced around each other in the kitchen, from moving at just the right moment when someone was grabbing for a bowl, to blatantly ignoring the cook who desperately wanted to assist, it felt like they were exactly where they were meant to be. Like they were always together, always comfortable, always understood.

Katara liked it…being by Aang’s side.

It was easier to think of things like that now that the war was over. She glimpsed Aang from the corner of her eye as he made his way around a mixing bowl, stirring ingredients to make dough. The way the soft light framed his face made him look just like the boy she knew he was, the person she knew he would become. She felt the blush that rose in her cheeks and swiftly turned to focus on the dried seaweed that she mixed into her dish.

As time trickled by, more and more of their friends arrived. Toph and Sokka were more bleary-eyed than Suki and Zuko who were more awake than Katara thought should have been allowed.

Aika was groveling at Zuko’s feet as soon as he entered. He held a pot of steaming tea that he looked rather proud of himself for having.

“Oh, Prince Zuko, please forgive this lowly servant for—”

Zuko himself simply raised an eyebrow at her before cutting her off. “You could set us a table, Aika. That would be helpful,” he suggested.

Aika snatched the teapot from him with a bow. When she left with such haste that there was a stunned silence in her wake, Zuko added, “What? She likes feeling useful and she wasn’t going to leave any time soon.”

After a moment, movement resumed. Katara and the others continued their work, some finishing quickly. Aang was already sitting at the island in the center of the kitchen when half an hour passed, his hands and arms covered in flour. There was some that dusted the side of his nose. He was watching the clay oven and would occasionally stand to regulate the flame underneath with his firebending.

Toph stood there nodding or shaking her head with each taste she was offered from Suki. Zuko had taken it upon himself to cook on one of the many stoves that was closest to Sokka. Katara appreciated his foresight because Sokka had begun to raid the pantry for spices that he clearly did not need.

Then, a handful of hours later when it was midmorning, everyone was ready with their food. Just in time, Aika was at the door ready to lead them. Katara took her pot of noodle soup, careful with the handles, and followed behind.

In a sitting room not far from the kitchen was a rather extravagantly set table with polished chopsticks and porcelain plates with high backed chairs that had intricate carvings of dragons. The teapot was in the center, standing atop a short pedestal with a lit candle beneath it to keep it warm. Matching cups were set around it.

They all set out the dishes, laughing and smiling when they sat down to eat.

Katara and Sokka had made traditional dishes from the Southern Water Tribe: seaweed noodles and an unfortunate botched version of arctic hen that Katara was sure was burned at the edges. (And probably burned in the center too.)

“This is jook,” presented Suki, sweeping her arm out to gesture at her pot of food. “It’s boiled rice porridge. You can add any of the garnishes Toph and I prepared. There’s ginger, salted eggs, and bamboo shoots.”

Katara saw Zuko give the porridge an odd look.

Toph shrugged. “I didn’t really help, but I can tell you it tastes good.”

Zuko nodded to his dishes. “I’m not the best at cooking, but I made something easy…Komodo sausages. There were already prepared. I just fried them.” He smirked and pointed at a dish next to it. “I’m pretty proud of making this though…it’s taro leaves with coconut milk and chilies. My mom used to make it.”

Content with the introductions, all of them started to eat. Katara was suddenly so aware of the fact that they could openly sit here in what used to be enemy territory to share their cultures with each other. She was able to try food that she never would have if she was still living in the Southern Water Tribe.

The jook was a perfect blend of starchy textures and the snap of ginger. Zuko’s contributions added a spicy kick that she was not used to, but she appreciated the smooth blend of hot and cool that the taro leaves offered.

When the meal ended, her gaze set upon Aang who had stood up. He glowed with excitement, and the thought of him sharing his culture with them made her eyes water. Air Nomad cuisine was special, not only because there was one Air Nomad left, but because it was part of Aang.

“I’ve always wanted to share this with you guys,” said Aang with a grin. He gestured to the spread laid out on the table. Katara giggled when she noticed that he pointedly ignored the horrified expressions that cycled along the cook’s face who had tried to help him with the reveal. “An authentic Air Nomad fruit pie! Oh boy, Monk Gyatso and I used to airbend these onto the Council of Elders. He said that it was to test my reflexes, but I always thought it was hilarious when Dote said that it was really to test their reflexes.”

His hand made a whirl of air above the round pie, and a bouncy top of swirled yellow cream appeared at the center. He cut into it with a knife, offering pieces to everyone.

Katara let the taste of sweet lychee settle on her tongue. “This is delicious, Aang!” she exclaimed.

He smiled at her. “I’m glad,” he replied. The answer was bittersweet somehow. He took a bite, and he looked lost in thought, rubbing the back of his head in a constant, subconscious motion.

Katara was worried for him. She placed a hand on his, hoping another kind expression from her would urge him to bring up his mood.

“I just wish Gyatso was here,” Aang informed her in his quiet way.

“I know,” she said, just as quietly. “But in a way…he is here. He taught you how to make this.”

For a while that was all Aang needed to hear.

It was a simple thing from then to go to the coronation. Their stomachs were full; a warmth was there because of it. The bustling crowds were not a hindrance when all of them had spent the time they needed with each other before the world needed them again.

Katara had put on her best clothes, and she stood in the courtyard near Sokka and their father. She watched as Zuko was introduced as Fire Lord, as he officially announced the end of the war, as Aang walked up to the forefront in his new Air Nomad robes, a golden beacon of faith and peace.

He gazed out into the crowds below, and she could not take her eyes off him.

“The war is over!” people yelled over and over. It was thrilling and it felt like an illusion that could not possibly be true. But Katara basked in it anyway.

There were celebrations commencing right in front of the palace as soon as the Fire Sages had adjourned the coronation. People shouted their praises, dancing to tunes only they could hear. She searched for her friends, wading through the people from all over the world, blending cultures in a fashion they had ever gotten to before.

She saw a flash of yellow, and she reached through the armor and the fabrics that separated her from it. She caught Aang’s sleeve.

She met Aang, who looked both happy and exhausted. A tiredness around his eyes that no one else seemed to have. He rubbed the back of his head. Too many people were talking at him, over him, trying to get his attention. She grasped his shoulder and leaned in. “Let’s get out of here,” she whispered in his ear.

He looked at her and she saw an understanding there and gratefulness.

He took her hand. His eyebrows scrunched together. He raised his free hand to his temple.

Then, without warning, he looked scared. Terrified even. He turned his head as if searching for something, but unable to find it.

He gripped her hand tighter, and his eyes flashed into a daunting purple light.

#kataang week 2021 #kataang week #kataang #kataangtag #katara #aang #itsmonpeaches fanfic #atla #atla fanfic

[junicai]

RELAY CAM; 3am - 4am

| warnings | none

-> aria gets to show an hour of her morning/night routine, feat. some star-talk and a plushie

the camera turns on, facing the floor before it is twisted around to capture Aria’s smiling face, looking far too chirpy for the hour of the night 

“hello~” she chirps, speaking in a whisper, waving at the camera. it takes a moment to focus, before her aria comes into view, wearing a small t-shirt. when she steps back from the camera her black workout leggings become visible on the small screen

it appears like she has just come in the door from somewhere, the little light barely illuminating the front door behind her 

“good morning, or good night?” she giggles, already moving away from the room she is standing in

from the looks of her surroundings, she is in the dorms’ hallway, the members’ shoes lining the doorway. she passes through the kitchen, giving the camera a quick glimpse of the clean counters before she is moving swiftly into another adjacent room

the door creaks open quietly, and aria shuffles inside before shutting it behind her slowly as to not make a loud bang

the camera focuses again, the decorations in the room brought into view by a burst of yellow light when aria flicks the light switch on with her free hand

by the fake flowers on the wall and the soft yellow covering on the bed, it is clear that this is her bedroom - the soft winnie the pooh plushie on her bed being a dead giveaway

the room is small but cosy, the yellow blankets complimented by the plants lined up along her window - the room looks well lived in and comfortable

“everyone, i’ve just come back from the gym so i’m going to clean up before i continue, ok?” she looks to the camera before checking the time on her phone 

“i’ll be back quickly!” aria blows a quick kiss from her palm, before placing the camera down on her bedsheets 

aria re-emerges from the bathroom with slightly damp hair and a large sweater on, her eyes void of contacts and instead framed with gold wire glasses

aria picks up her phone to check the time before showing it to the camera

her lock screen is a picture that is slightly blurry from her hand’s movement, but appears to be a group of people standing in front of the sea, all making various dramatic gestures 

“only seven minutes! i was quick right?” she looks proud of herself, although the shower definitely made her sleepier by the looks of her drooping eyes 

she looks down at her sweater before laughing softly at herself, fingers pulling at the material

“i thought this was one of mine, but i think it might be mark’s one,” she explains, but makes no move to take it off. “i’ll take care of it markie~”

aria props the camera up on the small table beside her bed, making sure it was resting against several books so it wouldn’t fall before she settles herself against the opposite wall

she takes the yellow blanket and tucks it over her legs, pulling a pillow into her lap to hug as she talks. 

“ah, my room is so quiet, right? i’m used to rooming with someone else now, but here i don’t have a roommate so i get to decorate the entire room. i like the space, but i miss jisung’s laughter a bit.”

aria looks around her room, eyes scanning for something before they land on the small plushie beside her

she picks him up with a small delighted gasp, face splitting into a cute smile

“czennie, this is pooh-san,” she begins, holding the plushie close to her chest after holding him up to the camera so it could focus on his face. “he was a gift from donghyuckie when i first moved in; I made him watch the Winnie the Pooh movie even though he complained.”

aria pet the plushie on his head softly, smiling cutely at the black button nose

“is it, six years now? nearly six years? woah, it doesn’t feel that long.”

aria looks down at the plushie in her lap. “i was really thankful to oppa at the time, because i wasn’t sure how i was meant to live with the others - but he tried his best to make me comfortable.” 

aria tilts her head up from the downward angle she was holding it at, holding out pooh-san to make the stuffed toy wave goodbye to the camera before she was tucking him in beside her beneath the blanket. 

“what shall we do today?” aria ponders, fingers tapping against her chin.

“i had wanted to take you skating with me, but all the rinks are closed right now, so i can’t,” she pouts, fingers curling in the blanket. “i wanted to show off to czennie, is that bad?”

aria is laughing now, the tops of her cheeks going slightly red. “all the other members have talents that they can show whenever, but i need ice to show mine.”

she turns her head to look out the window briefly before refocusing her attention on the camera

“like taro! shotaro, his whistle through his nose? he tried to teach me, but i just kept sneezing in the middle of it, i didn’t realize it would tickle that much,” aria looks fond as she remembers the memory

aria trails off with a hum, pressing her lips together

“ah!” she exclaims, holding up a hand. “i’ve been reading a book~ it’s really interesting, let me show you.” 

aria leans forward out of view of the camera and a few seconds of fumbling can be heard before she pulls back with a book in her hand

she lifts it up to the camera with two hands to hold it steady, one underneath 

“this is Pachinko by Min Jinlee; jungwoo recommended it to me and i’m really enjoying it,” she explains, letting the book come down so the camera re-focuses on her 

“i wanted to improve my reading skills in korean, but i wanted to try a book of a new genre, and jungwoo said this one might be interesting for me.”

"jungwoo, i asked him to help me with my korean, because i want to be able to communicate myself better - so he's trying to teach me when he has the spare chance."

aria talks about the plot and the book briefly, before stopping herself “ah, i can’t talk about the book anymore, i don’t want to accidentally spoil something.” 

she leans down again to replace the book from where she had got it, before coming back up and picking the camera up in her left hand

as she stands up, her back audibly cracks and aria giggles at the noise

“i think my back is sore from the gym everyone,” aria pouts to the camera before putting it down on the windowsill 

she turns around as if looking for something, her sweater riding up against her back as she lifts her arms above her head, before she drops them to her sides and turns back around

she’s looking at something over the top of the camera, a small smile finding its way onto her lips 

“from my window, you can see the stars tonight,” she starts, hands reaching to spin the camera around “that doesn’t really happen often, normally it’s too cloudy here.”

her voice sounds sadder, softer, when she speaks about being unable to see the stars

“when i was younger i learnt a lot about astrology and constellations, so i used to lie in my back-garden on the grass and see what constellations i could find in the sky.

“i think there’s another full moon in a few weeks, so i’m hoping i can see it when it happens. it’s called the snow moon, did you know that czennie?”

aria turns to the camera to pose the question. 

“when i want to see the stars - i can never see them from my window here, so i found a place where i can always see them, no matter how cloudy it is.

“they help me relax, because if i can see the stars then the pictures in the sky are there then i’m not the only one looking at them *unconfirmed translation*  

aria turns back to the window, picking up the camera and flipping it around to show the stars outside

“czennie i hope you can see the stars from where you are; i’m looking at them too”

she waves out the window excitedly, the camera shaking slightly with her enthusiastic movements “hello czennie~” 

a timer going off on her phone distracts her from the window, pulling her away and into the centre of the room

“oh! oh its four o’clock now, which means i have to stop recording,” aria explains, holding up her phone to show the time. 

“czennie, i hope you enjoyed my relay vlog, and say hello to Xiaojun-ssi for me!”

the vlog cuts out after aria waves goodbye, scrunching up her face into a smile

replay? [yes]

#*aria.promotions #nct 22nd member #nct dream 8th member #nct 24th member #nct additional member #nct #nct 127 #nct dream #nct 2020 #nct 2018 #kpop additions #kpop!oc #kpop addition #kpop #nct female member #nct female member au #nct female oc #nct extra member #nct addition #nct additions #superm #wayv

[dudeandduchess]

Uzui x F!S/O: Movie Date (Fluff + Smut, Taro Commissions, Modern AU, Slight NSFW Scenario)

Summary: Uzui and his lover went out on a date to the movies, but someone gets a little too frisky.

Note: Uzui is not married in this. Also, thank you sooooo much to everyone who’s donated! I’ll be sure to write things up for all of you soon. Thank you so much, my bby loves! 🥰💜

Warnings: Smut, Public Sex (Movie Theater), Clitoral Stimulation, Teasing, Daddy Kink

***

It had been such a long time since (Y/n) had last gone out on a date with her long-time boyfriend, Uzui Tengen. So, suffice to say that she felt like she was so over the moon when he had taken the initiative and asked her to go out with him during the weekend.

Mostly to have some time together, and partly because Uzui had been wanting to try something out. Especially after he’d heard his co-teacher, Rengoku, talking about how erotic it was to get frisky with his wife in a semi-public area.

So, he wanted to see if his friend was right. There really was nothing wrong with doing so. He could chalk it up to taking one for the team, or merely doing it for science.

A chuckle slipped from the young man’s lips, as he walked down the street with his arm wrapped snugly around (Y/n)’s shoulders— holding her close to his side, as he had found that she liked snuggling up to him.

She felt so warm and protected— according to her, when he had asked her about it a few years before.

It worked out well for him too, since he liked having her close to him.

“So, where are we going next?” (Y/n) asked brightly, tilting her head to look up at him, as she lifted a hand up to lace it with the hand that dangled from her shoulder.

Uzui swore that he almost melted at that; because that breathtakingly beautiful smile of hers, partnered with such an angelic face was a lethal combination. He felt the corners of his lips twitch upwards in a smile, just as he plopped his free hand directly onto her face— which had her immediately moving to tug it off.

“Hey, hey! What are you doing, Tengen?” She cried, almost helplessly, as she tugged on her lover’s wrist. “You’re going to ruin my make up!”

“Don’t smile at me like that,” Uzui leaned down to whisper in her ear; earning a shiver from (Y/n), especially when he parted his lips and nibbled on the shell of it. “Or I might just bend you over and fuck you right here.”

The young woman’s eyes widened in surprise, as a vibrant and warm blush crawled up her neck and settled on her cheeks. “T-tengen!”

Along with her squeak of protest, (Y/n) pushed her lover’s arm off of her shoulders before walking ahead of him— fanning her still warm face with her hands, in an effort to get her blush to go down.

Tengen couldn’t help it then— a loud laugh bubbled free from his lips at the memory of (Y/n)’s embarrassed and highly scandalized expression. He almost doubled over in the middle of the pavement, but pushed himself to go chasing after his lover.

A few people looked over at him with weird expressions as well; all of them wondering what he found so funny, yet giving him a wide berth.

“(Y/n)! Wait!” The young man cried out, all while reaching a hand out so he could grab his lover’s hand. But, unfortunately, she kept walking away from him— or more like hastening. Though she had taken to only fanning her face with one hand, at that moment.

Thankfully, he managed to catch up to her in just a few strides. It really wasn’t any big effort on his part, since he had the long legs to match up to her fast strides— but the people bustling around them made things difficult for him.

Because, if he were to be honest, he would say that he was a hulking size compared to all of the other people around. And that made it hard for him to squeeze between other people on the street.

“(Y/n), baby, wait.” With those words hanging in the air, he held an arm out— instead of just trying to grab her by the hand— and wrapped it around her shoulders once more, pulling her into his side and leaning down to press a kiss to the top of her head. “Did I upset you? Sorry about that.”

It wasn’t like him to be apologetic about anything to anyone— but she was the exception to every single one of his rules and personality traits. That was how much he loved her.

He found himself smiling at the thought of it: being in love with her. Especially when she wrapped an arm around his waist and shyly burrowed her cheek against the side of his chest; which earned her another kiss to the top of her head.

“How about I make it up to you with a movie?” He had been planning on taking her to a restaurant, and getting frisky in the bathroom, but the movie theater was another good option for him— even more so since she was wearing a dress.

He just hoped that she would pick out a movie that didn’t have a lot of people watching it.

***

For once in his life, Uzui was thankful that his lover was very into romantic comedies, because the theater was almost empty— save for another couple at the very back of the place; huddled together in a corner, with popcorn and drinks between them that it erased any suspicions about them.

Meaning: they had food, so clearly, they weren’t there to fuck or anything.

A smirk lifted the corners of the young man’s lips at that, as he ushered (Y/n) onto a seat in the very middle of the theater— providing both of them a good view of the screen.

And, in no time at all, both of them were huddled together— with the arm rest between them lifted up, and with (Y/n) hugging his right arm with her cheek resting against his bicep.

Once his patience had run out in waiting for the previews to end— and for the movie to begin— Tengen gently placed his right hand on his lover’s left thigh, which she didn’t mind at all, as he usually did that when they were watching movies at either of their houses.

But what was different, however, was when he began rubbing his hand up and down along her smooth skin. He inched his pinky further and further up her dress, to the point where he could feel her warm pussy just a few centimeters away from his reach.

“Tengen, what are you doing?” She whispered, as softly as she could, since she was trying to be polite to the few other people in the theatre with them.

“Relax, baby, I’m going to make you feel good, okay?” The young man tried to reassure her, all while growing bolder and pressing the tip of his pinky against her panties— lowering his hand to grip her inner thigh, as he waited for it to brush against her clit.

And when he did find it, (Y/n)’s legs jerked involuntarily as a gasp fell from her lips. “Tengen, there are other people in here.”

With a smile, he dropped another kiss to the top of her head, before pressing one to the side of it— and then nipping at the shell of her ear, much like what he had done earlier on the street. “They’re not going to see, as long as you’re quiet. Can you do that for daddy?”

That did it for (Y/n)— although she was a little bit hesitant what with her shyness coming to the forefront of all her emotions. Still, she trusted Tengen, and it wasn’t as if she’d never thought about asking him to do it before…

So, with a quiet sigh, she clung on tighter to his arm and parted her legs even more for him.

“Good girl,” And with that praise caressing (Y/n)’s ears, Tengen snaked his hand to press against her panty-clad cunt; running his middle finger up and down her slit, while his index finger focused on rubbing her clit through the slowly dampening material.

(Y/n) bit down on her bottom lip then, trying to muffle her moans and gasps as best as she could— especially when her lover tugged her panties to the side and began to toy with her exposed cunt.

Uzui looked down at her face, relishing in the fact that he could make her look so blissed out and embarrassed at the same time. And that look on her face only spurred him to do more, so he found himself pinching her clit between his fingers and watching her squirm in her seat with her legs already shaking in pleasure.

But it wasn’t until he had begun to rub the tip of his middle finger along her entrance that she looked up at him with those captivating eyes of hers, before asking him, “Please, daddy. I want to feel… your cock inside me.”

Suffice to say that they couldn’t finish the movie after that, since he had put her panties back in place and had dragged her to the nearest love hotel— all so they could pick up where they left off.

If you liked this, please consider donating to my Ko-fi to help me pay for Taro’s vet bills. Thank you! 💜

#uzui tengen x reader #tengen uzui x reader #uzui x reader #demon slayer x reader #kny x reader #uzui tengen #kimetsu no yaiba uzui #kny uzui #demon slayer uzui #demon slayer #kimetsu no yaiba #tengen x reader #demon slayer tengen #jen writes

[the-melting-world]

The Empress | Side B: “Time is Dancing”

Art by @markmefistov

~ In which a humble gardener reunites with a cheerful mage…

The Trio Appearances: Kipling | Khleo | Ozy

Arcana LI appearances: Asra | Nadia | Muriel 

Track Origins: “Time is Dancing” by Ben Howard

Not sure if this is the right track? The full album can be found here: The Empress

cw: none

~ 1.8k words

Kipling wakes up after having spent the night at Muriel’s hut. She opens her eyes to find Asra, gently rubbing her forehead. When he asks if she’s ready to return to the Palace and talk to Ozy, she says yes. Ozy spent the night at the Palace while Kipling was away. There he and the Countess await Kipling and Asra’s return.

The next morning Nadia Satrinava entered her library to discover that Oz’mandias was the only one there. He sat perched on the edge of a desk with a hardback text open and balancing on his leg while he sipped his tea. The clothes he wore were different from the day before. Instead of loose, comfortable robes and a sheer tunic, he sported something more crisp and scholarly. This time it was tailored trousers, and a white dress shirt tucked under an embroidered vest the same color as the jewel that dangled from his left ear. 

Although Nadia’s heels were not quiet against the hardwood floors, the grey mage did not look up as she approached. Nadia took advantage of his distraction to absorb his features at a closer angle. She was so used to his jolly disposition that the thoughtfulness and concentration he gave off as he studied the text caught the Countess off guard.

The other day when Ozy had arrived, everything that had followed happened so fast, as if the four of them had been caught up in a sudden maelstrom. Nadia began to doubt whether accepting him into the company of her close friends had been a good idea. But it was Asra who reassured her that she had done the right thing. According to him, there were things from Kipling’s past that she needed to work through. Apparently this Oz’mandias was the key to helping Kipling overcome whatever it was that had been blocking her magic and robbing her and Asra of their peaceful nights.

Though Ozy was an outsider, Nadia got the feeling that he wanted to help Kip just as much as she and Asra did. What was more, he seemed determined to stay close until he achieved his goal. There was something about the grey mage that told Nadia that underneath all the affable smiles and innocent head tilts, there was wisdom there. A deep, vast well of it that Ozy wouldn’t dip into unless it was absolutely necessary. Ozy seemed like the person who relied on this wisdom to work through conflict. Nadia wondered exactly what sort of things she would see from him going forward.

“Oz?”

The Countess was only standing a few feet away, but it wasn’t until she called his name that the grey mage finally lifted his head. 

“Countess? Sorry. Is it too early for me to be here? I can leave.”

Knowing that Ozy could easily make himself scarce through one of his portals, Nadia gently rested her hand on his shoulder to keep him from going anywhere.

“You’re welcome to stay in the library as long as you’d like. I just came here to let you know that Asra is bringing Kipling back to the Palace today. I wanted to ask if you knew what you were going to say to her when she arrives.”

Ozy closed the book and quirked an eyebrow. Training his hazel eyes to the cover of the text, he said, “Sometimes I don’t always say the right things. I have to keep reminding myself that Kip isn’t sixteen anymore. I can’t talk to her like I used to. So this time I’m going to show her what I think she needs to see.”

Before Nadia could utter her next words, something small and feathery darted past her head. It spun aerials around her and Ozy. A few moments passed before she realized that she was looking at a bird.

“This is Abaco,” Ozy explained with a light chuckle, “my familiar. He’s been a bit more nervous than normal since we arrived in Vesuvia. I’m hoping that Kipling will have Taro with her today. Our familiars used to be good friends. I think Taro’s the only one who could calm Abaco down right now.”

Nadia pulled her hand away from Ozy’s shoulder so the nervous bird could have somewhere to perch.

“What do you think is bothering him?”

Ozy waved his hand, an easy smile forming on his lips. “He’s just worried about me is all. New city. New experiences. He’s been with me for a long time. Actually, he’s the only one who looked out for me while I was learning how to master grey magic.”

Nadia noticed the slight quaver in Ozy’s last sentence. Gingerly, she asked, “How long did it take you to master your craft?”

When Ozy told her, the Countess did her best to stifle a gasp. Instead, she raised her eyebrows and regarded him evenly down her nose. 

“Ten years…” She noticed how Ozy closed his eyes as she said it. “That’s a long time.”

Abaco, who was now resting on Ozy’s shoulder, momentarily stopped ruffling his feathers to nuzzle against his human’s jaw. The grey mage shot the bird a grateful smile and leaned into his affection.

“Time is a funny thing.” He kept his head tilted against Abaco’s as he lifted his gaze. Smiling ironically, he added, “Except when it isn’t.” 

Nadia opened her mouth, but quite honestly, she didn’t know what to say to that. It didn’t seem like Ozy needed her to reply. He gracefully changed the subject.

“I thank you, Countess for inviting me into your home and giving me somewhere to stay while I try to find a way to help Kipling.”

Nadia sighed. “I wish I could do more.”

This time, it was Ozy who straightened up and placed his hand over Nadia’s where it rested on the desk.

“You watched over my cousin when I couldn’t. And more importantly than that, you were a friend to her. You’ve done more than I could ask for.” Ozy withdrew his hand. “More than I’ve ever done for Kipling in fact.”

Nadia started to shake her head when more footsteps sounded off near the entrance of the library. She and Ozy both stopped to look.

Ozy’s face lit up by several degrees when he saw Kipling walk in with Asra. He could tell by the ease of her gait and the relaxation in her posture that she had spent some time meditating. Still, as Kipling came closer, Ozy noticed that there was something distant in her syrupy brown gaze. Eventually, when the two of them embraced, Ozy was able to recognize what it was that claimed a portion of Kip’s attention.

Khleo.

Of course. Ozy wasn’t surprised. And he wasn’t worried. It just meant that he had his work cut out for him. But he had a plan.

“Kip, we don’t have to talk about anything heavy right now.” Ozy was relieved to see the gratitude in her eyes.

Kip nodded, keeping her gaze open and receptive. “Okay. I’m not ready yet, but I will be.”

She was giving him a chance.

Ozy took a measured breath and looked from her to Asra and then at Nadia before coming back around to Kip. “There’s something I want to show you. But it would mean leaving the Palace and going through one of my portals.”

Kip glanced between Asra and Nadia. “Is it okay if my friends come with us?”

Ozy hugged Kip a second time. “That’s more than okay.”

Abaco hopped onto Kip’s head and chirped. 

She gasped, “Is that Abaco?”

Ozy grinned. “It is!”

Kipling laughed warmly as she gave Abaco some affection and said, “Taro’s somewhere around here. Probably in the gardens.”

Ozy and the others followed Kip until she was able to locate Taro. While the two familiars reacquainted themselves with each other, Asra and Nadia asked Ozy more questions about where he would be taking them. Kipling remained silent throughout the line of questioning. She had a strong feeling that Ozy would take them to the place where he studied grey magic. It didn’t come at all as a surprise when he confirmed it. 

When they were ready to depart from Vesuvia’s realm, Ozy gave everyone clear instructions. They were to hold hands and follow him with Kipling in the lead. They were not allowed to touch the walls of the portal. By the time Asra reached for Kip’s hand, her heart was pounding.

“Kipling?”

She looked up at her partner and without even thinking, placed her other hand on the side of his face to help steady herself as she arched onto her toes. Normally, Kipling wouldn’t kiss Asra like this in front of bystanders, but she needed to anchor herself in him somehow.

As if he could sense the need through her touch alone, Asra wrapped his arm around her waist and hugged until their bodies were aligned. He cradled the back of her head, holding it steady while he opened the kiss. Reassuring her, reminding her what she had to look forward to at the end of the day, no matter how hard it might be.

“Thank you, Asra,” Kip whispered as she sank back down to her heels. She didn’t pull away completely. Her fingers were still tangled in one of his tassels, massaging the side of his head. The hand that held her other hand stroked the back of it with his thumb.

Taro and Abaco chirped loudly in unison, breaking the trance between them. Everyone in the garden laughed. 

“I think I understand now why Abaco and Taro were good friends,” Nadia chuckled as she attempted to hide her smile behind her sleeve. 

Kip looked from her to Ozy. “They probably realized neither of you would have interrupted us, and decided to do something about it.”

Ozy shrugged. “We’re in no rush, coz. Whenever you’re ready.”

It was then that Kipling realized Ozy was wearing something over his hands.

Gauntlets. 

Ozy must have noticed where her eyes went because he came up to her and said, “Hey Kip. Do you think you can do me a favor while we’re in the portal?”

Kip tried to tear her gaze away from the ancient tech attached to Ozy’s hands. 

“Uh sure.”

Ozy hooked his thumb over his shoulder. “Don’t take your eyes off the back of my head until we get there. Doesn’t sound too hard, right?” Then he gave a little wink.

Kipling knew what Ozy was doing. Still, she decided to play along. After inhaling deeply and taking a good look at her support group – Nadia, Asra, Ozy, Taro, and Abaco – she nodded.

“I can do that.”

Ozy smiled warmly, the gold ring in his lower lip catching the light as he spun around and moved his arms in a familiar circular motion.

Kipling’s breath caught in her throat. She hadn’t seen someone move like that in years. Ozy’s form was so advanced, sublime by any Elder’s standards. The Door he opened didn’t groan or creak or give any sort of resistance while it grew.

The gasps from Nadia and Asra were audible in Kip’s ears as the Door came to life before them. Taro gave a curious chitter and Abaco swiveled proudly around Ozy’s shoulders.

The Door arched high above everyone’s heads. The seawater that churned inside was evenly layered, as if the gods had installed artificial waterfalls rotating on a turbine. The waters glimmered and pierced through the layers of blue and green like they were infused with crystal gems. 

It reminded Kipling of glimpses of sea dragons and bike rides through ocean mist. 

“Remember, Kip.”

Ozy’s voice pulled her out of her childhood reverie.

“Eyes on me.”

#arcana albums: the empress #arcana albums #kipling the apprentice #ozy the grey mage #asra alnazar #asra #nadia satrinava #nadia #my writing #the arcana #asra the arcana #nadia the arcana #the arcana fic #the arcana fanfic

[itsuki-minamy]

“K - THE FIRST STORY” (Novel)

CHAPTER 1: THE BOY NAMED ISANA YASHIRO (Complete)

Translation: Naru-kun Raws: Ridia

*PROLOGUE: SIDE: THE BOY

A great sword floated in the sky.

As he looked at that, he felt his chest was crushing, and he wanted to scratch his chest and start screaming.

He thought it shouldn't be like this.

He doesn't know where to go from here, his feet are not clear.

His cold body began to tremble and he felt a warm, soft, small object touch his forehead.

Open his eyes.

So, he sees a fluffy kitten with a small forefoot on his forehead. The pad on his forehead is warm and soft.

"Ah... good morning?"

"Meow."

The kitten screamed to reply.

He thought he was sleeping with his head dead, but the haze of drowsiness faded vaguely and cleared, the mysterious dreams in his head that made him feel very sad begin to clear up.

He is Isana Yashiro. Second year of the Ashinaka Academy.

Finally, acknowledging the reality, the boy, Isana Yashiro, got out of bed.

He gives a big yawn, stretches. This is the school bedroom where he lives. A room like an apartment with kitchen and bathroom, which is alarming for a student dormitory.

The wall is a video projection technology that has been popular recently, and it was designed so that the wallpaper can move in any pattern you want.

"I had a mysterious dream. I don't remember, but I think it was a sad and painful dream.”

When he petted the kitten, he worried that the kitty would yell, "Nyaa" again, and rub his face against the boy's palm and give him a little lick with his little tongue.

"I have to go to school. Breakfast is... just white rice and sausages, but you eat it too, right?”

"Nyaan."

This kitty is not a domestic cat. The cat that lives in the Ashinaka Academy, called "Ashinaka School Island", whose land belongs to the entire school, is one of the cats that had become familiar with the boy.

The boy acknowledges that they are friends rather than related to being held back. So for some reason, he did not name this kitten. Even if he doesn’t feel like giving a selfish name, calls his using the "you"

He divides the remaining rice from the rice cooker into its own portion and the kitten portion, take the sausage out of the refrigerator and place it on top of the rice. It is a varied meal, but it is the best that someone who has never cooked can do.

He thinks he can easily eat breakfast and think about what to do with lunch. He has eaten all the rice in the rice cooker.

"Okay."

The boy takes a bowl, washes the rice cooker, and weighs the rice. Gently and quickly, pour clean water on the scale and place it in the rice cooker.

He hung his backpack over his shoulder, carried his favorite red protective umbrella, and picked up a rice cooker. The kitten jumps on the boy's shoulders, knowing he is ready to go.

"So, let's go."

The boy leaves the bedroom. In the hallway, he meets his classmate Sota Mishina, who was about to go to school.

"Oh, Shiro. Good morning... what have you got?”

Shiro is his nickname in that place. The boy replied with a smile.

“It is the restaurant's rice. It's fluffy, moist and sweet, I don't think it's as delicious as freshly cooked white rice.”

The boy likes white rice. And he will spare no effort for what his like. Among the rice cooker in his possession, the rice is probably slowly absorbing water. After that, if he presses the rice cook switch at a good time, another rice will cook at noon.

Mishina has an angry face and sighs.

"You... are you going to school with a common rice cooker? Weird kid. You don't seem to have any worries, you're always happy.”

He certainly is not concerned with the current situation. The boy was in a good mood and went to school lightly while holding the rice cooker.

++++++++++

There is a classmate who is interested in Shiro.

It doesn't mean she's in love.

The boy has a strange atmosphere, and sometimes he seems to fly like a fluffy balloon, and you can't take your eyes off him.

Today he brought a rice cooker to the classroom. In class before lunch, white steam was coming out of the rice cooker, and the teacher was angry, saying, "Who's cooking rice in the classroom!"

However, when his teacher was angry that he was cooking rice, he wrapped his teacher in smoke with a strange smile and a speech, which allowed his to cook rice in the classroom.

This boy, Isana Yashiro, was a very mysterious young man.

His look is not flashy, and the facial features are quite mature, but as he always has a loose smile, he makes a bright and warm impression like a sun. He's a skinny guy, he has cute round eyes and there's nothing intimidating about him, making him a guy that even girls can't make a wall for the opposite sex. He seems clueless, but he's surprisingly smart, and his big eyes sometimes shine wisely. He is wearing a uniform, but he does not look bad or fashionable, he plays with the knot of his tie, he wears brown shoes, without socks. For some reason, he always has a red umbrella as a trademark, and he's dressed as a free person.

Now he is blowing the cooked rice in the rice cooker.

"No, today I forgot the side dishes!"

With a lunch box full of white rice alone, the boy rushes over to his classmate Mishina.

"You lie!"

"Please!"

"Not good! By the way, don't bring the rice cooker with you!"

The boy was already a show at the famous Ashinaka High School, for begging for side dishes for lunch. For some reason he always has a diet of just bringing white rice and getting side dishes from the people.

Whether it's Mishina, whom he's begging now, and who is fighting with the boy for wanting to get his favorite side dishes, many students enjoy giving side dishes to the boy. They feel like they are feeding a sweet cat.

Kukuri stared at the boy's appearance, and spoke to a friend, Inaba Sumika, who was trying to open a lunch box next to her.

"Hello, Shiro-kun."

"Shiro? Ah, Inaba-san.”

"I wonder if he has no friends."

"What?"

Inaba bowed her head. Her long black hair falls out of her shoulders.

"No, he's popular, no matter how you look at it."

What Inaba says is correct. Even now, the boy has managed to catch Mishina's fried chicken and laughs as Mishina locks him up. The students around them look at them with great fun.

"But you know, if you look closely, he doesn't seem to really get close to anyone..."

The boy who walks in the classroom with everyone's garnishes seems to have fun with everyone, but he is not around a specific person. They all like the boy, the boy likes them all, however, he does not approach anyone deeply.

Such a mysterious sense of distance is like a fluffy balloon, and it's something Kukuri can't help but worry about.

"Also, he doesn't have enough vegetables."

Kukuri said it very seriously. Inaba has a strange look.

"Vegetables?"

"He is stealing all the main garnishes, so he is partial to the meat."

Kukuri took the bento box out of her bag and placed it on her desk.

There are two bento boxes that Kukuri has prepared. One is for her, and the other is for the boy.

"Therefore, today prepare boiled foods, salads, hot vegetables, etc. to improve nutritional balance."

She showed Inaba a homemade lunch box full of vegetable garnishes. But in the meantime, the boy has already left the classroom with a spongy step.

"Ah, come on!"

Kukuri hastily covers the lunch box and follows the boy. Inaba looked at Kukuri with an astonished look saying, "You will do well."

When she took the lunchbox and went out into the hallway, she could no longer see the boy.

"Where did he go?"

If you take your eyes off for a moment, he will disappear. This is another characteristic of the boy. Maybe he has its own secret route, he should have been there a little while ago, but suddenly when you realize it, he instantly moves to another place.

Kukuri ran out of the hallway, saying she would definitely catch him.

She sees him through a window, walking along the terrace of the cafeteria with a garnish.

When Kukuri rushed to the cafeteria, he disappeared. Then she saw him receiving candy from a girl in the hallway through the school window.

When Kukuri returned to the school building, he was gone again, and witnesses told her that they saw Shiro go to the dining room, but when she went to the dining room, he was no longer there, and the chef said in the kitchen, "Also, took the garnishes…”

While collecting sightings, she searches the yard, runs down the hall, and out the window again, finds the boy walking in a good mood in the opposite hallway. He had a lunchbox in one hand and a red umbrella on the shoulder of the other.

The place where the boy is is close to where she is.

Kukuri ran as hard as she could down the hall of the student council, but when she got there, the boy was gone and there was only a cleaning robot Tsukumo 99. Kukuri meets Tsukumo with too much energy.

A cleaning robot that speaks the samurai language, which is loved at this school, complained to Kukuri, who had beaten him "Be careful."

"By the way, he's a runaway boy!"

Kukuri looks around and walks towards the missing boy.

At that moment, she could hear the sound of tinkling and bells, and although there was no one around her, she felt a cute aroma like a girl's shampoo for a second.

After all, she couldn't catch the boy, and Kukuri decided to eat the two bento boxes side by side.

The boiled taro in her mouth tasted delicious as she'd tasted it, but she wasn't going to eat it herself.

Besides Kukuri, Inaba, who had already eaten her bento, grabbed onto the table with her chopsticks and took a garnish from Kukuri's bento box and brought it to her mouth.

"Is love. It is not love?"

Kukuri chased the boy, perhaps because he was supposed to have lunch with people, Inaba said in a bored voice.

"No, that is not the case."

Kukuri dropped her shoulders.

"Somehow, that person seems to disappear when I take my eyes off him..."

That is the reason why Kukuri cares about the boy.

He talks to everyone so happily and is loved by so many people, he eats a lot of side dishes at lunch, but she feels like he is leaving when they find out.

Like today where she could see he right there but couldn't catch he, someday really, she thinks he's going to disappear out of reach.

With such a strange emotion, Kukuri chased after the boy with the feeling that she should catch him if he was not strongly connected to anyone.

++++++++++

Thanks to everyone's favor, collecting side dishes for lunch was a great catch.

The boy eats the delicious white rice and the side dishes recommended by all in a lunch box, on a rooftop of the school building.

There was a screech and a bell noise, and a kitten appeared that was going somewhere during class. The boy smiles, "Welcome." and he place a snack on the lid of the lunchbox, for the kitten.

Having eaten a full meal, the boy lay down at the wind blowing across the rooftop. He put the red umbrella open and start taking a nap.

This umbrella was something that the boy found in the school warehouse. He was disappointed because he felt it was something that was used at some school festival, and the dusty umbrella was very attractive. The boy loves this Japanese style umbrella.

The boy spread his arms and legs and stretched.

"Japan is a peaceful country."

He feels sleepy and tired.

The boy who swims between reality and dreams saw a golden light in the dark.

Who is…?

A very tall man was in the golden light. An old man with a strict gaze. He has a hard body and his back is straight. An old man with terrifying intimidation and terrifying atmosphere, but the boy felt the nostalgic light of his light.

The old man opened his mouth.

"This country is over, Weissmann."

It was a heavy voice. It was like scolding and begging for something.

Suddenly, he hears someone laugh.

When he noticed, there was a man in his twenties and a white man who had long silver hair on his back and was smiling mysteriously.

Looking at the silver-haired man, the boy felt as if his head was shaking.

This is different from nostalgia. However, the intense sensation of seeing and discomfort builds up, making the lower stomach feel uncomfortable.

Quickly, the boy opened his eyes.

On the rooftop of the school, it seems that the boy had a strange dream at this time.

He was suddenly surprised by what happened, but the kitten who had curled up due to the boy's weakness, withdrew.

"Now... what did you say?"

The boy asked the kitten that way, but the kitten tilts its neck.

It is not surprising. There is no way for a cat to speak. First of all, this is just a dream.

The boy was able to fight for a fortune in a strange dream that was different from the sad dream it did not remember this morning.

He returned to the classroom at the last minute of class, but everyone in the classroom was humming with their thoughts, and it wasn't as if the class was starting soon. The boy bows his head.

"How about class?"

Mishina, who was working in the front seat, has an astonished face.

“Preparation for the school festival in the afternoon. Work hard!"

That was. It was less than a week before the school festival. The Ashinaka School festival, commonly known as Gakuen Island, which is a gigantic school, is a festival that literally lists the entire island, and the budget and enthusiasm are enormous.

To ensure that no one other than relevant persons can enter and exit the school island, you cannot enter inside the island gate without a student pass or a staff pass installed on the PDA. It is a mechanism that remains. However, on the day of the festival, the door will open and visitors from outside freely.

The Ashinaka School Festival is not just a school festival; it is also a great event that the general public outside the school is looking forward to.

All of the students took the school festival seriously with the goal of not only creating their own memories but also entertaining the people, and in December, when the school festival is held, there were often days when internal students were given allowed preparation work until midnight.

The fact that the school festival is held in December is a little different, but this is because the school festival on Gakuen Island is held at the same time as the annual shrine festival on the island.

The boy looked around the classroom. Everyone seems to be busy practicing theater, making costumes, combining costumes, and various gatherings. When he was watching the scene without help, Kukuri quickly entered.

"Hey, someone asked me to use student council! We are recruiting people who are free!”

Kukuri raises her hand and recruit’s volunteers. Although there is a small natural place, Kukuri, who is a solid, cheerful and kind person, is a member of the student council and everyone can trust her.

In the eyes of the classmates who worked, she walked over to the boy holding a kitten. If you are a leisure person, stay here, everyone's eyes said.

Go to a downtown store to collect fireworks for the event. Even if he rushes from Gakuen Island, it takes over an hour to get to the center of Shizume-cho. Certainly, he was the right one to go as he currently has no job.

Kukuri operates the mission, makes the purchase note, and hands it to the boy.

"Then Shiro, I will send you a note."

The boy thought he would say that and smiled. By the way, what happened to his PDA? He feels like he hasn’t seen it recently.

He looked in his pocket, but couldn't find it. Does he leave it in the bedroom or did he lose it? The boy is not in the habit of playing with his PDA, so he is not in the habit of carrying it.

"Don't you have a PDA?"

Kukuri rolled her eyes. The boy somehow makes a fake smile. Kukuri feels it is a bit strange, but says, "Well, I'll write it down on paper." However, on the way, he realized that...

"Oh, I can't leave school without first looking for it to use."

The pass to enter and exit the Gakuen Island gate is on the PDA designated by the school and that each student has. At school, the PDA serves as an identification card.

However, the boy did not remember wearing it these days. The boy is familiar with the secret passageways at school.

Security seems to be disabled, but the boy knew that even if he didn't have a PDA, he could do anything.

Taking the memo from Kukuri, who had a worried face, the boy laughed and said, "Ok."

The boy has many friends on Gakuen Island, although the relationship is wide and shallow.

There were many "friends" among teachers and staff, as well as among students.

Teachers who are taking lessons directly can be the best people if they really care about a particular student, (Still, old school teachers tend to listen to the boy's requests.) Staff, other than teachers, like security guards thought the boy was like a stray cat.

That is why the boy walked out of the school, not through the gate, but through the guard station. He laughed and said, "I don't use it for long, but I lost my things." The man said, "Please order another one again soon."

Even with good security, there are places where a person tends to be able to pass.

The boy was walking on the bridge connecting Gakuen Island and the mainland, reviewing the shopping notes with the kitten on his shoulder.

All travelers and those on the main island use monorails that pass under the connecting bridge, which is primarily for vehicles and few people walk on foot. However, you need a PDA to travel on the monorail. The connecting bridge is long to walk on foot, but the boy liked to walk on the bridge looking at the sea.

Illuminated by the falling sunlight, the sea is blue and glowing.

The boy leaned on his side and watched the landscape from the bridge. A gentle breeze blows with the scent of the tide, making the boy's hair flutter.

It was a beautiful and calm sight.

Suddenly he feels like staying there forever.

Good weather. Soft breeze. A kitten that clings to his shoulders, and has many bright and fun friends on the way home.

What is here and now seemed calm and terribly difficult to find.

He wondered if something smelled bad about it.

He smiles at his thoughts and is yelled at that he is in the process of being used. He must collect the fireworks she ordered and get a receipt at Shizume-cho, and he must return at six o'clock.

++++++++++

A young man was sitting on top of the building.

He is called "black dog". It is a popular name that sounds like a derogatory name, but he is proud to be the servant of a "King", so he is proud of himself.

Her long black hair in a ponytail flutters in the wind.

Shizume-cho's bustle extends below him.

He saw a boy trying to cross a crowded intersection.

A 16 or 17-year-old boy with a little pink kitten on his shoulder. He's small and has a soft girlish look, with an atmosphere that won't warn anyone.

But…

He saw a guy with a red shirt and a cap who was walking away from the boy with the umbrella a little and made his way through the crowd. The conscience of the guy in the hat is completely directed towards the boy with the umbrella, and his expression is disgusting. Probably a "Homura" member. It's a bad job as a follower, but the umbrella boy doesn't seem to notice.

Looking up at the boys from a height, he took his precious recorder out of his pocket and pressed the play button. The recorder is an important treasure that preserves the voice of his late master and guides his actions.

"The king's shadow lights up."

A deep, slightly bright voice is heard from the recorder. He closed his eyes and listened to the voice.

The boy with the umbrella walks with an unprotected face. Well, he was quiet walking around Shizume-cho city. He doesn't know if the boy has something to think about or if he's dumb.

He put his hand on the sword at his waist. The famous sword "Kotowari" entrusted by his master. He draws that sword only when he fulfills the orders of his master.

"Please look, Ichigen-sama."

He murmured to pray and stood up.

++++++++++

The boy received the fireworks that the student council had ordered at a fireworks store called "Kadamaya" in Shizume-cho. Mainly fireworks, but there are some weird types too, and it was quite interesting that the store owner lectured him on how to use them.

He leaves the store with the receipt received from Kukuri.

There is still time until dusk. Even if he deviated a bit, it looks like he'll be back at six o'clock, and when the boy started walking, something loud was heard slipping on the ground behind him.

When he looked back, he saw a young man on a skateboard hitting a metal bat and approaching.

"Eh?"

The boy opened his eyes and made his thoughts and body stiff for a moment. He visually saw the metal bat swinging toward his head, the stiffness of his body dissolving before he thinks, and he jumps with a reflex.

The downed metal bat destroys the storefront, and the desks and products placed in the store were crushed and scattered.

The boy like a fluffy rice cake on the way was surprised, looking at the young man who swung the metal bat.

A young man who looks like a high school student, wearing a knit hat and a red hoodie around his waist.

He put his foot on the skateboard, put the metal bat on his shoulder, looked back slowly and observed the boy who was confused.

What? What is happening? He wanted to ask, but suddenly the words don't come out of the boy's throat.

The young man on the skateboard manipulates a clock-shaped device on his arm and projects a screen in the air. Carefully compare the boy's face to something projected there and he laughed violently.

"Eh?"

The boy smiled with a cheat, but felt the aggressive will that was near the murder surging from the skateboard guy's body, and he stood up.

Not good. Perhaps this person does not speak. He means, he's so angry he won't have ears.

However, he is not a demon. He doesn't know why, but this young man with a skateboard is angry at "Isana Yashiro".

Why?

The boy tried to engage in boring dialogue while slowly backing away.

"Oh, what is that so sudden? I don't think you have any reason to hit me.”

The skateboarder's brow furrows. That's not good. The boy wanted to cover his face when he responded by pouring oil on the fire. On his shoulders, a kitten clings to the boy with its claws, escaping from the young man on a skateboard.

"Don't you remember being hit? You are brave, shit. So is. I will not stop.”

The body of the young man on the skateboard seemed to sway in red.

The boy scratches his eyes. It is not an error. A bright red light bursts from the young man's body.

When the boy stepped back, the red light appeared, enveloping the young man on the skateboard. Hot. The boy's bangs are slightly burned. The overflowing red light turned into a flame and filled he.

“It's not enough just to catch you. I'll kill you!"

The young man on the skateboard screamed and kicked the ground. He jumps high with his skateboard and shakes the red flame at the boy.

The boy screamed miserably and started running at full speed.

The young man on the skateboard lightly brushes the boy's hair. The sound of the street being destroyed, the explosion and the heat entering from behind, but there is no room to look back.

The boy ran to death.

Run between pedestrians and obstacles, cross the railings and choose a stepped street, he can run on routes that are difficult to ride a skateboard.

He couldn't even pretend and jump onto the street, and he fell onto the back of a truck that stopped at the signal.

With the truck that started to work, he managed to catch his breath.

The kitten looked up at his knees with its front paws. The boy strokes his head.

The man believes that it is problematic to take this boy because it is dangerous, but if he throws it in such a place, it will be difficult for him to return alone to Gakuenjima.

"Sorry for involving you."

With a miserable face, the boy smiled at the kitten.

It's okay to be scared, but in this situation, the kitten doesn't seem particularly dependent and stands on all fours, looking out from the platform with his round eyes. In that figure, he felt a strange sensation as if to say, "You should beat this."

Who is it that attacks the child? Given the appearance of that skateboarder, the boy has probably been mistaken for the person who bought his grudge. He thinks the boy may have unknowingly bought a grudge, but he doesn't think there was a point of contact between the boy who lives in Gakuenjima and the boy on the skateboard who holds so much grudge that he tries to kill him.

The boy had a difficult face, the kitten jumped on the boy's shoulder again, and bit his cheek to tell him to stop thinking.

The sound of the skateboard mixed with the sound of the car. The boy is resistant. Looking at him, the boy on the skateboard just before putting his hand on the shoulder of a young man straddling the back of a two-seater motorcycle, borrows the speed of the boost and drives the skateboard, approaching.

The man who rides the motorcycle is a man with big fat sunglasses, and behind him is a young man in a red jacket and a helmet over his cap. He took a wood with his hand, and was excited to attack the boy.

The truck suddenly stopped when the boy pressed his cheeks saying that the number of pursuers was increasing. The boy hits the load on the stepped platform.

"Ouch!"

The young man on the skateboard jumps while screaming. Jump on a skateboard and shake a metal bat wrapped in a bright red flame. The boy screamed, but managed to dodge the blow.

The two men on the motorcycle approached without interruption, and the young man in the back seat shakes the wood that is still burning.

The boy rushed out of the truck, avoided him, and ran away.

He escapes to the sidewalk, but a skateboarder walks down the road and a motorcycle duo closes behind.

The boy glanced around and immediately found a narrow alley between buildings where a person could pass and jumped over there.

Passing through the alley against the back of the scream and the sound of the chase. He ran down the alley as he listened to his breathing sound as it bounced, and he moved as far away as he could, but it turned into a dirty, secret alley.

When he started running again, he saw a tall man smoking a cigarette in the distance.

A handsome man in his twenties, wearing a tight jacket, with a red scarf around his neck, and blond with sunglasses, creating an atmosphere that is not solid. The boy ran towards the man who was like a host or bartender during the break.

"Sorry! Stay away!"

He is chased by men who wield weapons that eject flames. It is irresistible to be involved in an incident like the mysterious burning of a man in Shizume-cho.

However, the man slowly exhaled cigarette smoke in front of the boy who was working with a sign saying "It's an emergency."

On the back of the boy, there is a bad feeling.

The tall man shook his cigarette in his hand with his thumb.

Burning cigarettes fly in the air.

A small fire at the end of a cigarette puffed up, turning into a fireball, which looked like slow motion. The boy stops.

The fireballs that were born in the air were divided into numerous pieces and flew towards the boy at once. It is a rain of flames. There is no short wish.

But mysteriously, the fear of death was far away. He think your senses are on fire for a series of unrealistic events.

"Ah." While looking at the many high-speed flying fireballs, the boy was prepared to receive the flames.

But the flames did not burn the boy.

A black mass falls from the sky and lands between the boy and the fireball.

A person.

A young man wearing a black coat and long black hair.

He looked up and blew up all the fireballs with his right hand.

At first glance, it looked like he was playing with his own hands, but his hands and the fire were not in direct contact. The space where he places his hand becomes distorted, and the trajectory of the fireball changes. The fireballs whose orbits changed landed everywhere on the back streets and generated smoke.

From behind, the skate boy attacks the young man suddenly and without fear.

The young man with long dark hair raises his hand towards the skate boy.

In the next moment, the skate boy was drawn to the black-haired young man and pushed at the slot with his elbow, as if moving instantly.

It was as if the space between the black-haired young man's hand and the skate boy was compressed in an instant.

The boy was surprised, looking at the skate boy who flew in the air slightly through the groove and the black-haired young man who did a series of things without moving an eyebrow with a simple face.

The young man with black hair grabs and pulls the boy's loose neck and clutches it to himself.

As he was, he shrugged at the black-haired young man and looked him in the face a short distance away.

Their faces are close.

He felt that he had not sensed another person at such a close distance in a long time.

There is a strange tension in the boy's body that may be stronger than when he was chased by a murderer.

"Wooh!"

The boy's feet floated in midair with the sensation that the body was dragged heavily.

The young man with the black hair is reaching the distance. The air at the tip of the palm seemed distorted. The space at the end of the hand was compressed, and it seemed that the boy holding the body of the black-haired youth was up.

The boy, who decided to fly at high speed in the air, hurriedly clings to the arm of the young man with black hair and holds on tight. A fallen skateboarder, a stupid fat young man, and a young man in a red cane cap, and a tall blond man looking at him with a calm expression, the sight of the back alley turned distant and the landscape around him flowed behind.

"Who you are?"

The boy muttered while holding on.

The young man answered nothing, looking at his destination, with a well-organized and determined face.

++++++++++

Kusanagi Izumo suddenly lowered, reported the situation, and gave a small sigh when he saw the young man who flew away with the target.

"Damn... who is that guy?"

Misaki Yata holds his belly that was hit with a strong elbow strike.

"Black dog. Yatogami Kuro. I'm getting in trouble again.”

Kusanagi smiling, looking in the direction the targets disappeared.

However, he confirms the face of the target. A handsome boy with a pretty face, but that's the person in the video.

Kusanagi repeatedly watched that annoying video over and over again.

If he closes his eyes, he will see a child with a terrifying smile on the back of his eyelids.

He will never let him go. No matter which hand he use, he will catch him and mark his fall.

Kusanagi took out his PDA.

"I do not know. Next move.”

The preparation has been completed. Kusanagi tapped to activate it from his PDA.

++++++++++

The boy was taken to the roof of the building on an aerial walk like a roller coaster.

Upon landing, the young man with long dark hair throws his body on concrete. The boy hit his butt hard.

The kitten holding on to the boy is also thrown out, but unlike the boy, it landed well and emerged immediately.

The boy stood up getting ready. Looking around from the rooftop, he saw a large, symbolic monitor in front of the Shizume-cho station.

"Oh, here in front of the station? Thanks for your help! Well then…"

At a glance, with a sense of security that escaped the crisis, the usual boy returns to base. He felt it. It was a little difficult, but it seemed to have worked. Then he would return to Gakuen Island with his goods.

A sword in the sheath of the young man with long black hair blocked the boy's path.

(Huh? Yes, it's a sword, this... Why does this person have a sword?)

The black-haired young man swings the sword in the scabbard, rolling it onto the concrete again.

"I am a disciple of Ichigen Miwa, the previous Seventh King, I am Kuro Yatogami."

The black-haired young man drew his sword quickly as he spoke in a low voice.

The boy cannot understand the young man's words at once, and he bows his head.

"The Seventh King Ichigen Miwa?"

After repeating it as a spell, something comes to his mind.

"Oh, is it a name? My name is Isana, Yashiro Isana.”

He introduced himself as cheerfully as possible, but as if trying to silence the company, Ichigen Miwa's royal envoy shook his sword.

The blade flew at such speed that only a silver trajectory was visible, slicing off the school emblem on the boy's neck.

The school emblem near the boy's throat was cut by a sharp sword and rolls on the rooftop concrete with a little noise.

As expected, the boy breathed silently and looked at the young man in front of him.

Looking seriously, the black-haired young man with the sword, Kuro, seemed to be younger than expected. He may not be much different from the boy, he may be a boy too.

He had a clean and drifting atmosphere with a sharp face. He was like a young warrior appearing in a movie, combining a place where a sword with a naked body looks good with a burn, a hairstyle that combines long straight black hair in a high position, a place where the back seems be serious and upright.

Kuro walks towards him a few steps with a calm expression that does not express emotions.

"Under the orders of my late master, I will defeat the evil "King"."

The voice with which he declared it was calm. But deep in his voice, it seemed that a tragic determination was lurking.

The boy does not know what to accept and what to do, and makes a confused voice.

"What…? King…?"

Everything was strange to him today.

As always, calmly and carefree, he cooks rice at school, he made everyone share a garnish, he ate rice with the kitten, he took a nap, seeing everyone prepare for the school festival happily, Kukuri asked him to help her.

So he was supposed to go back to school and repeat a similar, calm and happy life.

Kuro, who holds a sword, does not have the murderous feeling and burning anger that the skate boy felt.

Instead, he felt a mission sensation like steel that is definitely determined to cut something.

When the boy is stuck, the image on the large monitor in front of the Shizume-cho station, where the promo video was streaming, is suddenly altered and another stormy video appears.

In an abnormal scene, the boy's conscience and Kuro moved together to the monitor.

The monitor screen suddenly changed, and the image that was taken by a hobbyist with a camera was displayed, which was completely different in quality from the beautiful advertising image that had been streaming so far.

The image is rough. It looks like it was taken with an old camera.

At the bottom of the screen, "07.12 23:45", the date and time are displayed.

What was projected was a scene that appears to be the rooftop of the building at night. There is a boy's back resting against the fence.

He was humming.

The voice made the boy aware. Singing Beethoven's Symphony No. 9 "Song of Delight" in a voice he has never heard.

"It's a nice night."

A different voice than the person in the back humming said that. Probably who was recording.

"I came to film the night view, what are you doing here?”

The person in the back doesn't seem to respond to the one who is recording, and he's shaking himself.

Cold sweat pours from the boy's body.

The boy doesn't know about this. He swears to God, an unforgettable sight.

However, he had a bad feeling and his heart was racing.

"I am Totsuka Tatara. And you?"

The person behind looked back. He had a gun in his hand. He fired and fired without any scrutiny.

Bang, the shot sounds.

The image is blurred. The camera appears to have dropped. The screen went black for a moment, and immediately after that, he saw what appears to be the cameraman collapse.

After a while, the camera moves as he whispers. It looks like the person who shot just adjusted the camera with his foot to show himself.

The person's face is clearly projected.

It was the boy. It was the face of Isana Yashiro.

The face he sees in the mirror every morning. However, he had a crazy smile with narrowed eyes and raised corners of his mouth, instead of his usual tense expression.

Someone in the boy's face said,

"I am the Seventh King, 'Colorless King'. Waiting for someone here. Is it a good night? Oh, sure, it is a good night."

In a euphoric voice, someone in the boy's face pointed the gun at the camera and fired again.

Then the video stops.

The boy continued to stare at the large monitor that stopped when the gun was fired and another person's face just looked up.

"Is that correct for you?"

Kuro's voice is heard.

The boy took off the line of sight from the monitor and looked at Kuro.

Without anger or hatred, Kuro, who looks at the boy with a clean face and points his sword, seems like an ideal executioner.

The boy couldn't help but smile at him.

"Uh... does it look like this?"

#K #k project #k the first story

[rvmmm21]

. you know who i am? .

k, so i didn’t mean for this to get so out of hand. also, my first time writing in present tense? idk how to feel about it, but i guess it’s different. it felt so different writing for like actual humans lol. my first ‘normal’ fic, this is!

please for the sake of this making sense can we all pretend jennie, joy and irene are around the same age? also look who had fun with brand names. moi.

anyways this is [badgirl/bully!joohyun ‘persuading’ clumsy freshman!seungwan to be her assignment buddy] 

...

University culture is grating.

It’s overwhelming and it suffocates her. She has no time to prepare herself for the apparent runway the halls have become, what with the stupid-rich kids treating every day like it’s a fashion show; Seungwan can barely blink from one person to the next without being smacked across the face with fur coats from Chanel, Louis Vuitton sunglasses hidden under Prada nylon bucket hats and Off-White tracksuits tucked into Balenciaga socks. She hadn’t considered a future in law enforcement, but had she done so, anyone who tucked their trousers into their socks mid-calf would find themselves behind bars with the rest of the criminal scum. End of.

Just as she dusts her hands of that smug little sentiment, Seungwan finds herself with a face full of hair, and an even bigger nose full of what smells like laundry detergent. She lets out an embarrassing squeal, and the girl turns round to face her. A ghost of a scowl brushes across her face before she fixes her with an indiscernible gaze.

That scowl is an awful colour on a face as pretty as yours, she impulsively thinks.

Seungwan knows no more about the history of art and the intricacies of sculpture than the average Joe, but she’s sure Michelangelo missed the mark with David. She inwardly laughs at the thought of the man dedicating his entire being to crafting his flimsy idea of ‘perfection’ when she’d just bumped into it; the real thing. Of course, if that was defined by forming new constellations from faded freckles on flawless skin, or vantablack tresses framing sharp features like a painting, then yes; she was, by very definition, ‘the perfect (wo)man’. Easily outdoing anyone within a 50-metre radius.

Heck, make that 500.

The girl glares intimidation and Seungwan manages to save herself the humiliation of drooling in front of the white-hot beauty and her friends with a quick gulp, already feeling crimson seeping into her cheeks.

Perfect; now that she’s watched whatever new potential friendship this was blow up in her face, all she has to do is avoid her at all costs from here on out.

She mouths a haphazard apology and zooms past before anything can come of it, keeping her head down even after she’s well out of sight. Seulgi, Seulgi, Seulgi, save me, she brisk walks and begs all the way to class.

~~~~~~~~~~

A small commotion rings through the lecture hall of keyboard clicks and lethargic shuffles, calling to attention the girl who’s just spilt her drink down her front, now frantically digging around in her backpack for anything she can use to soak it up. A few jeering giggles are stifled, meanwhile students close by donate tissues and sympathetic looks. They are gratefully accepted with rapid-fire bows and machine-gun stuttered apologies.

“That freshman’s just ruined her rep, huh?” Jennie chuckles, “blindly walking into people… can’t even keep liquid in the cup. Give her a dog collar and a sign and she’s good to go.”

“Eh, I thought it was cute.”

Jennie’s retort comes quick.

“Sooyoung, you think anything in a skirt is cute.”

“What,” the girl says, ignoring the implication, “Haetnimie doesn’t wear skirts. And she’s not even wearing one right now. Plus, I didn’t say ‘she’s cute’, I said ‘it’s cute’. Learn the difference, idiot… it’s not like I wanna have at her or anything…”

Jennie shoots her an incredulous look and Sooyoung relents the banter. They both turn their attention to the girl sitting next to them, completely un-present in the moment. Sooyoung notices who she’s looking at and leans in to nudge her.

“Joohyun,” she whispers, poking her in the ribs when it’s obvious their friend is well on her way to signing a contract with NASA with how apparently well accustomed to space she is, “what do you think of her? Or are you still mad she walked into you?”

“Nah, forget it,” Jennie waves her off before she’s even had a chance to respond, “she’s not interested. I had to literally pay her money to go on a stupid double date with me in high school. I washed five cars for her to not even hold his hand once during the movie.”

Instead of participating, Joohyun sighs, casting the girl in question a seemingly uninterested stare. Unbothered eyes take in the sight she’s presented with: frustrated brows knitted together under a wispy caramel fringe and a blot of taro milk tea the size of Canada staining her baby blue jumper.

“I want her.”

The words are so simple her friends almost miss them entirely.

Sooyoung and Jennie battle for first place in an impromptu competition of ‘who’s-the-most-shocked’.

“You’re joking! Yah, you’re so annoying seriously, now?! You couldn’t have ‘wanted’ Min-seok in year nine?! I paid good, hard cash for that stupid boy!”

Joohyun looks at her, smug as a cat.

“I did it for you, Jennie. I didn’t even remember his name was Min-ho.”

“Min-seok.”

“Yeah, right.”

Sooyoung, wide-eyed and on the verge of passing out, grabs Joohyun by the shoulders, ignoring the glare she receives for it. “Joohyun, seriously? You’re serious. You want her like want her? Or want her like you wanted that cookbook after that trial week of Food Tech during summer break?”

Joohyun regards her, absolutely blasé. “I don’t follow recipes.”

“Exactly. Are you play-”

Sooyoung’s statement dies down with the rest of the class as the lecturer walks in. Furious clicking, hurricane scribbles and flipping pages are all that remain as the lesson kicks off, Jennie and Sooyoung casually scrolling through Instagram while the professor speaks. Joohyun leans forward, elbows on desk and chin resting on interlocked fingers. Her full attention is on the poor girl on the other side of the hall, intermittently peeling the cold, damp fabric away from her body, face flushed and avoiding all eye contact. Joohyun snickers at how uncomfortable it must be to have to sit through class in a wet jumper, how awkward and squeamish she looks.

Strawberry-tinted lips curl into the faintest smirk.

Hello cutie.

~~~~~~~~~~

“Yah! Kang Seul-Gi!” Seungwan calls out to chocolate-swirly space buns and baggy gym clothes hurtling towards her from across campus grounds, “where the heck were you?!”

“Sorry sorry! Overslept!”

“What!? Your class starts at noon! … and this is like… day 1!”

The girl looks like she’s barely had the chance to screw her head on the right way as she joins Seungwan on the steps of the university entrance.

Seungwan’s sweating buckets; physically and metaphorically, both from the waves of humidity and her all-exclusive one-idiot circus show this morning in class. That little muck up makes it to the tippy top of the endless list of embarrassing things Seungwan has stored in her long-term memory.

“You okay?”

Seungwan palms rosy cheeks as she takes another mouthful of her rainbow sherbet cone.

“You wouldn’t believe what happened to me.”

Seulgi chortles as her best friend recounts her ordeal, trying to subdue the sea of smart alec remarks bubbling under her skin.

“So that was great, too. And now I’m a laughing stock. A meme. They’re probably editing my stupid face as I speak…”

Seulgi reverts back to the first incident. Of course she would.

“Sooo… not like in the dramas then?”

Seungwan hangs her head, “not at all… she looked like she wanted to kill me.”

Seulgi lets out a snort before prodding her with more curious questions. The cogs in Seungwan’s brain churn and stutter as she tries to filter as many redundant adjectives as possible, only using ones she deems absolutely necessary to describe the most beautifully terrifying girl she’s ever seen.

Just then, as if Seungwan had meant to conjure hell itself, the three girls make an appearance from round the corner, chatting amongst themselves and taking Seungwan and Seulgi by surprise. The latter glances down where steely fingers are squeezing her wrist, as if that’d activate some magical cloak of invisibility. Seungwan’s as good as swallowed her tongue, shakily motioning to the girl in the middle of the black velvet storm with her eyes and a few nose twitches.

“H-her…” she stutters, finally getting her brain into gear after they leave, “… her.”

Innocent eyes double in size at the realisation.

“Wha-wait no, her?! You bumped into… her?! Her, Bae Joohyun leader of killer senior pack Bae Joohyun?”

Seungwan’s heart only thumps faster at the panic in Seulgi’s voice, but her words still mean nothing. The other girl swipes the dangling question marks off the top of her friend’s clueless head.

“Yo Wan-ah, you have to lay low. I mean why would you even – oh geez wow you really messed up. Can’t you look where you’re – I can’t even begin to – why would you – oh my gosh!”

Seulgi’s disjointed sentences allow enlightenment to trickle in and Seungwan slaps a hand over her forehead, mortified.

Oh god no. That’s the Bae Joohyun?

She’d heard the rumours. Many, rumours. Bae Joohyun who makes her juniors cry. Bae Joohyun; precious daughter of the most elusive mafia gang leader in all of Korea. Bae Joohyun; ice queen senior, sole roost-ruler of Hanyang University and the biggest bully you’ll ever meet.

Positively preposterous, empty claims with no evidence whatsoever to back them up… she hopes.

“Pft yeah okay she’s… mean, but she’s not like… jesus or anything she can’t… like… part the Red Sea or, turn water into vodka I don’t know,” Seungwan tries and fails at consoling herself, receiving nothing but an apologetic pat on the back from the girl beside her.

“Yeah well… she’s not the messiah but everyone treats her like it. And for the sake of your own neck, you’d better start too. Watch out, Wan-ah.”

Seungwan hadn’t paid any mind to those wet-eared freshmen whom she’d overheard during orientation gossiping about Joohyun and her charming little posse; but perhaps she should have.

She gulps, too afraid to think of anything else.

~~~~~~~~~~

Seungwan often fantasizes at work. There has to be some way to pass the time, after all.

Deep down she’s a sucker for romance, she knows it far too well; she envisions herself ten years down the line, letting whoever she has on the other end of the phone know that she’ll be home soon, that work has just been extra grueling today, and that she cannot wait to give them a cuddle. She’ll stir the dinner pot while she tells them stories, pausing in between to remind her lover how beautiful they are. Perhaps one day, the honour will be hers, to see her soulmate walking down the aisle.

But as the tinkling of the doorbell rings through her café, Seungwan files those cloudy fantasies for later and greets her first customers with a smile.

She hasn’t been sleeping very well, worrying her mind with ridiculous thoughts and impossible scenarios. All involving Joohyun as a tick-tocky alligator and herself as none other than Captain ‘I’m-actually-innocent-why-are-you-still-trying-to-eat-me’ Hook.

~~~~~~~~~~

It’s five minutes to closing time. Seungwan suppresses the yawn in her chest and blinks away the moisture in her eyes. Just zero to sixty, five times in your head. You got this, Seungwan. Gosh, there’s no one in the café and hardly anyone outside. She briefly contemplates closing early.

“Small iced Americano.”

“Coming r – aii!! Ai…!”

Seungwan’s adrenaline spikes so high she could serve it ice cold in a coffee cup right now. Caught completely off guard, she begins stammering nonsense behind the till, crinkling the leather of her dark brown work apron and then using the hem of her polo shirt to wring clammy palms none the drier. All the while her customer stands there, brow quirked and card held out between slender fingers. Her expression, although slightly amused, threatens her to take her money, or else.

Before she can open her mouth, a buttery voice snaps her out of her trance.

“Hello, Seung – wan… hey, don’t we have Korean Literature together?”

Seungwan tries not to spontaneously combust on the job as she instinctively slaps a hand over her name tag. It’s useless though, it is now known. Known to her, of all people. The notorious Bae Joohyun; dressed in Acne jeans and an over-sized midnight Balenciaga cardigan, she looks like any other young, caffeine-dependent university student. But Seungwan knows a lot better.

Oh god save me… what the hell is she doing here!? This has to be a set up. She’s here for me. I’m going to die tonight. Mummy, daddy I love you.

“J-J-Juh…”

She can’t say it. All the years of schooling; learning the alphabet and how to enunciate your words drain out through the holes in her ears. She gawks dumbly, moving her head in what could be considered to be a nod.

“Ah, I thought I recognised you,” she doesn’t even bother trying to sound surprised, “I’m Joohyun.”

Don’t I know.

All Seungwan can do is nod again, hating herself for even breathing right now.

Joohyun clicks her tongue and fiddles with the card in her hand, impatient, “soooo… is this Americano free, or…?”

Yes, yes it’s free, please just take it and go! I’ll upgrade it to an extra-large if you want, on me! If it means I’m spared for the rest of my student life, take it all! Jesus, how did you even find me?!

“Ah, yes. Sorry! Uh, yes that’ll be um two fif – two… two thirty.”

There’s a shaky exchange of a debit card and a forgotten peace treaty iced Americano before Seungwan takes an unconscious shuffle back from the register, eyes glued to the smudge on the toe of her right sneaker, unable to meet Joohyun’s piercing gaze for too long.

“Thank you, Seungwan.”

The way she lingers on the ‘S’ whispers shivers down the girl’s spine. She glances up at the worst possible time, too, nearly jumping out of her mismatched Muji socks when she sees Joohyun’s hibiscus-tinted lips bloom into a coy smirk.

“I’ll see you around.”

And with what a shivering Seungwan could’ve sworn was a terrible attempt at a wink, Joohyun is gone. Clutching at her chest, she tries to slow her accelerated heartrate, praying she doesn’t need heart surgery after what she’s just been through.

Seulgi’s so hearing about this.

~~~~~~~~~~

“Daebak,” Sooyoung scoffs, side-eyeing Joohyun as she twiddles her pen.

“What else did you say?” Jennie presses, taking a sip of her chai latte.

Joohyun merely hums, disclosing no further details of her little cafe incident. She misses Jennie’s disbelieving grin when the walking, talking definition of awkward bumbles into the lecture hall, just on time, armful of texts and messy cinnamon locks matted to her face.

Sooyoung can’t resist a jest. “Joohyun, look. It’s idiocy on legs.”

Joohyun bites back a snort as her eyes follow the girl stumbling and murmuring apologies all the way to her seat. She slumps into the chair with burning cheeks, brushing her hair back with her fingers and fiddling with her gingerbread fringe. Too cute, Joohyun thinks, gritting her teeth.

It happens about mid-way in the class. The mention of pair work triggers the uniform eye-roll, groan and grumble combo, more so from the seniors, who sure as hell don’t want to be paired with icky, snot-nosed first-years who can barely lift their spoons to their mouths. The grumbling evaporates when it is stated that, although compulsory, it is not a fixed-paired assignment.

Seungwan breathes a sigh of relief along with a few others, content to set up camp in the aisles of the library, perfectly undisturbed. But she suddenly feels paler than chalk; flashbacks of heeled boots, midnight cardigans and heart surgery flooding into her veins once more when she catches a pair of stealthy pupils regarding her from across the room. A deceptively sweet smile sparkling on those dreaded lips, breath-taking and utterly petrifying all at once. Even from the other side of a bloody lecture theatre, Bae Joohyun has Seungwan sweating bullets and unconsciously fidgeting at her collar to release steam no one else can see.

About a minute away from hurling herself out the nearest window, Seungwan diverts her attention to her notebook at the last second. 

~~~~~~~~~~

Seungwan stabs her chopstick into the egg yolk, watching it dribble all over her rice. She’s jealous of her own best friend who doesn’t have to live every waking hour with a red sniper laser dot on her back.

Should’ve majored in art too, goddamnit, she curses, poking her lunch in a dazed stupor.

“Wan-ah!”

She scoffs at the familiarity, but Seulgi’s crescent moon grin makes Seungwan momentarily forget.

~~~~~~~~~~

The black cursive of Han Kang’s literature stares up at her as she tries to digest what she’s reading, but she swears her brain allocates the worst times for that sneaky Bae Joohyun to pop up like an unwanted advertisement. Seems like now, she’s going to have to sit through an entire trilogy.

Despite the crippling dread, Seungwan can’t help but wonder. They’re so silly, but she wonders them anyway. She feels free to let her mind wander in the safety of the university library.

Bae Joohyun; Seungwan’s mind is unchanged; she’s the most beautiful girl she’s laid eyes on. It’s a unique kind of beauty; mysteriously edgy, knife-like and femme fatale. The grin Joohyun gave her in class this morning, she knows she should be running from it, but it doesn’t stop the fact that it’s been playing in her head on repeat ever since.

Seungwan unintentionally imagines what it would be like to kiss that sunset-infused smirk right off her face.

Too bad she’s a mean one, she sighs.

She doesn’t get much further with the actual task at hand when her blood-pressure plummets; she watches leader of the killer senior pack, Bae Joohyun, artlessly sit down in the chair next to her. It’s like the world stops spinning for the second it takes their eyes to meet, and Seungwan quivers in her seat, thoughts of literature fleeing out the back of her brain.

Trying to be polite, she gives her a courteous nod and returns to her reading. But Joohyun just sits there, staring, peppering her body with smoking bullet holes – it frightens her in the weirdest way. She can’t help the tiny bubble of… excitement? At the fact that Hanyang’s notorious Bae Joohyun is sitting next to her. Probably to get close enough to kill her, of course, but she’d count her blessings, no matter how terrifying. The thread finally snaps, and Seungwan is able to channel her inner stone statue no more, wordlessly excusing herself and stumbling to the bathroom.

It’s empty and silent; exactly what she needs. She flicks some cool water over the burning in her cheeks and dabs at the heat welled in the corners of her eyes.

But just as she’s about to leave, Joohyun’s standing in the doorway; cloaked in all her intimidating aura and eclipsing her only exit.

“Bathroom break so soon?” Joohyun’s voice drips into her ears like melted honey as she observes a wry smile crawl onto her face, “we’ve barely gotten started. Let’s get back to work… partner.”

It’s kicking in only now what Joohyun is saying. And it takes everything Seungwan has to formulate a pathetic response.

“Oh right, a-about that,” she nervously chuckles, averting her gaze and scratching the back of her neck, “uh, I-I was just um… I don’t wanna drag anyone down with – you know because you’re a senior and all – was m-maybe thinking –”

She doesn’t get very far when Joohyun begins advancing, walking towards her with such sure, dominating strides Seungwan has no choice but to back away, the piercing squeaks of Adidas sneakers easily drowning out the clicking of Louboutin heeled boots. Joohyun sports that coy smirk the whole time she’s cornering poor Seungwan, further and further back, until…

A tiny yelp is torn from her as her back hits the wall. Seungwan strains up to meet her eyes, 5 inch boots are a very useful intimidation tool. Her heart feels about as fragile as sugar glass, and she thinks it would do her good to invest in those styrofoam packing peanuts and a roll of caution tape.  

Joohyun observes the little caramel-haired mouse girl she’s caught; pressed against the cool, beige tile, both hands out in front of her, quivering like a jello pile. She quickly notes the way the top of Seungwan’s head just about grazes the bottom of the wall-mounted paper towel dispenser, and it stretches her grin even further. She looks irresistible, those doe eyes the colour of warm cocoa. Who knew she had a thing for sweet faces, well-intentions and weak-hearts?

Realising her hands aren’t doing anything to keep the other girl at bay, Seungwan drops them like a tonne of bricks - she’s never felt so small and helpless in her life. The rich scent of vanilla and mint tickles her nose; Joohyun’s too close, and she really needs those fragile stickers to go over the thumping in her chest. But she also wants to nuzzle in closer to that intoxicating shampoo smell.

“P-please… I-I didn’t mean to…”

Her voice sounds so tiny and fragile, it tugs on Joohyun’s heartstrings.

“You know who I am?” she demands in somewhat of a growl, caging the smaller girl in with both arms pressed on either side of her head, causing her to gasp out, “you’ve heard?”

Seungwan shrinks a little more, petunias searing onto her milky cheeks at the proximity, but terror-stricken nonetheless. It’s burning, and it’s too much.

A small ‘mm’ and a teary nod is all she can offer.

Joohyun shoots her a challenging smirk, a kaleidoscope of obsidian pebbles flicker in her darkened eyes as she brings a single finger under the girl’s chin, tilting her so she’s forced to look up.

“And you still think you have a choice?”

Seungwan wishes she could rear up at the challenge, hammer some humility into that smug attitude in front of her; put Bae Joohyun in her place. But who is she to change the way the world works? Girls like Joohyun toy with what they want, and get what they toy with; the natural order of things Seungwan has no hope of re-routing. Her resolve, her dignity and everything she’s built up in her 20 years on earth crumbles at her feet; she doesn’t bother picking up the pieces.

With that, she looks up at the girl who still has her locked in with her eyes alone, and meekly shakes her head.

Seungwan can finally breathe when Joohyun detaches herself from the wall and runs both hands down the front of her blouse. She hears a chuckle and before she knows it, there’s an arm around her waist, moving them in tandem.

She doesn’t see the triumphant smile etched into Joohyun’s rosebud lips, like she’s swallowed a coat hanger. All she knows is that they’re now bound by this assignment, and that Joohyun is leaving with exactly what she came for.

Seungwan hides a shy grin of her own.

#wenrene #university au #bully irene #red velvet #i got carried away #seungwan the cafe worker #seungwan doesn't mind #red velvet scenarios #red velvet imagines #kpop scenarios #girl group scenarios

[randomoranges]

re-reading these is such a throwback. again, i know i could take a knife to them and rework them, but i feel that if i were to do that, some part of their original over the top essence would get lost. also, im forever amused at how from the height of my 15-16 yrs of age, being 18 was so Cool. haha

taro is a ridiculous bean and ill forever be fond of him. he’s also like the genesis of literally all my other oc - the one common ancestor and such XD

So Totally OP!

Part 3

 As I opened the door to his office, I was shocked by what I saw. My sister was there with Ben my manager and the person sitting in the director’s chair, was the last person I was expecting to see…

 -

I was sure that the director was a respected man in his late forties or early fifties. Instead I found a young woman who was about eighteen if not younger. Now I am not one to normally protest against women’s rights, but I refused to work with someone who was a woman and that could easily pass for my sister. The girl was probably younger than I was! My talent could not be wasted for some amateur production!

 “Mr. Taro I assume? I’m so glad you’ve finally joined us. You know punctuality is something that I value a lot in my company. I do hope that your flawless talent won’t be sullied by the likes of tardiness.” She was flattering me and I was wearing woman’s attire! Of course, I knew that she knew that I was a man but still. Why was she trying to buy me? Maybe she couldn’t resist my charisma. That was probably the case.

 “Ben, did you know about her being, well a she?” I asked my manager. Didn’t this go against anything written in my contract? Didn’t this go against any law in Hollywood or something? It seemed as though fate wanted to stop my talent from reaching the outside world. Oh cruel, cruel world!

 “Of course Taro, I knew that the director was a woman. I also didn’t tell you because I knew that you wouldn’t want to do any production with someone such as the director herself. But since she is quite skilled in her field, that’s why I trusted her with your career.” I didn’t really care about that right now.

 “How old is she anyway? How old are you? Eighteen, nineteen?” I asked as my cerulean eyes went from my manager to the director.

 “Mr. Taro, I am only a few days shy from my seventeenth birthday, but that doesn’t mean that I am not qualified.” She answered back coldly. Honestly, she freaked me out. She reminded me of a character from some show I had watched years ago. I couldn’t believe that she was two years younger than I was. Never had I heard of something so outrageous.

 “Ben, you’re leaving me in the hands of a child, a minor, a girl who can’t even vote yet! Why is my life tormented by these incidents over and over again?” The incident with Mr. Luke was still fresh in my mind.

 “Taro, get over it. She’s the director and she’s going to be in charge of our careers for the next five years.” My sister Emily told me. How could she be in charge of my future face for the next five years if I hadn’t even signed a contract yet!

 “Your sister so conveniently signed the contract for the both of you. I wasn’t convinced at first but the moment you walked in with your costume I knew that you were my perfect match.” The director said with a smug grin.

 “Of all the stupid things you’ve done in your life Em, this is the one that takes the cake. I am an actor. A flower with talent made of pollen in full bloom. I cannot spend my time making movies with some amateur!”

 “Mr. Taro, what did you think of the script?” She asked me with her brown eyes looking directly into my clear blue ones.

 “It’s a very interesting story. Only someone with talent could come up with that.” This was the truth; the script was good.

 “Thank you for the compliment Mr. Taro. I’m flattered that you think so highly of my writing skills.” SHE DID WHAT?!

 “I assume you must be jesting with me.” I told her. My sister and my manager rolled their eyes.

 “It’s the honest truth. So now that I owe you for the next five years of your life, I expect the best performance out of you. I have enough power to make sure that you find yourself on the streets if I’m not pleased with your work.” She replied in her scary like tone.

 “But, you’re a minor!” I shouted back in my defense.

 “And you are currently dressed up as a woman.” I knew that no matter what age she was, she was right. This was the start of my living nightmare. The only thing that I wanted was to wake up in the middle of it and go back to my perfect life where everyone told me that I was beautiful and had talent…

 PREVIOUS: II CURRENT: III NEXT: IV

#so totally op! #original fic #original old fic lamao #old fic

[every1studio]

“UNIVERSITY OF KQ” [ateez]

genre: reverse harem + fluff + fem reader

ficstyle: bullepoints + oneshot + long

prompt: You just moved back to Korea to enroll in the University of KQ.. Little did you know, that you attracted some attention from some of the most popular guys on campus.. (YOU ARE V OBLIVIOUS/CLUMSY)

note: did a high school one for SKZ so I thought I would draw inspiration and do a college one for ATEEZ

You got into the most hard-to-get-in art university in South Korea and since it was your first choice; you gladly took the offer and moved there. You wanted to find some sort of hobby or interest since you’ve been so focused on school up until now. You wondered how was your life going to be here at University of KQ when....

WOOYOUNG

“you’re blocking the stairway..”

you turned to see a well-built guy wearing a black tank top, gray sweatpants and a duffel, leaning on the railings waiting for you to move

he looked like he just came from the gym or something

not gonna lie, you took a while to register that he was talking to you

he smirked at you by your flustered actions as you moved out of the way

he walked up to you so that he was standing in front of you 

“checking me out?” he asked as he leaned in closer to you

“n-no, I was just-”

you were taken back by his actions, you stumbled back; almost falling down the stairs

but he swooped his arm in around your waist in time and pulled you in close to his sweaty body

“you’re the cute and clumsy type huh..” he chuckled as he detaches himself from you

he points to the door next to yours, “that’s my place”

then he points to himself, “and I’m Wooyoung”

Wooyoung pinches your cheeks then waves to you as he makes his way to his apartment

“see you around, Y/N~”

you furrowed your brows, “how do you know my name?”

Wooyoung was known to be a playboy; a heartthrob

but he seemed to have broken his character after seeing how innocent and oblivious you were

he snorts as he looks at the ground for a bit, “it’s on your school ID that you’re wearing on your lanyard..”

before you could open your mouth to say something, your alarm went off

you were late for class

“oops sorry! see ya, Wooyoung!!” you dashed down the stairs as he watched you crossing the street

he liked how his named rolled off your tongue

(she’s interesting... and cute) Wooyoung would think as he ruffles his hair 

MINGI

you were trying to make it to your first class of the term; philosophy 

Mingi was munching on his burger as he saw you running

he saw the whole incident

it was like a scene out of a movie

you had tripped on flat ground and fell quite comically

he never put down his burger so fast; he ran to you

“you good??”

as you looked up, his heart skipped a beat

the sun was shining on your face and you brushed off the pain 

“oh yeah, this is no big deal” you jumped up and straightened yourself up

“I gotta go, I’m late. thank you!”

but he felt an urge to make a move and he did

he held you back by your wrist

“what class are you going to? how are you gonna go to class all bloodied up?”

you looked down to see both of your knees covered in bloody skid marks 

“I can’t walk into philosophy like this...”

his eyes lit up, “you have it with Dr. C. Williams?”

you nodded as you found a classmate, “yeah! I’m Y/N!”

“I’m Mingi”

“...aren’t we going to be late?”

he realized that he was holding onto your wrist a little too long so he embarrassingly shook his hand off of you 

he seemed like a cold person, but if he, a stranger, helped you out.. that would mean he wasn’t a bad person, right?

you looked at your phone 

“class is in 1 minute and I still don’t know where it is..” you sulked, you didn’t want late to your first class on your first day

“didn’t you check the email last night? class is cancelled..”

you frantically checked your email and he was right

you slapped yourself on your forehead, “are you fricking kidding me??”

he gave a small smile as he led you back to his table “at least you have time to clean yourself up”

you watched him take out some Hello Kitty band-aids; they were the opposite from his tough-boy exterior so you chuckled under your breath

he notices it and tries to clarify with you as he cleaned your wounds and patched you up, “I needed some band-aids the other day and these were the only ones they had left okay!”

“HEY MINGI, CAN I GET A BAND-AID TOO!!”

both you and Mingi turned to see..

SAN

you both saw a smiley-eyed boy dashing towards the table

but was stopped by a couple of what seemed like high schoolers visiting the campus

you heard them asking him for directions and squealed as he helped them out with a smile

they thanked him and loudly whispered some things on the line of “omg I cannot believed we talked to him”

San was known in the area for busking by himself on Friday nights

when he looked back at you and Mingi, he became a little shy

“oh I didn’t know you were with sucha pretty friend, Mingi.. sorry for intruding” 

he was about to walk away until you spoke up, “didn’t you say you needed a band-aid?”

you reached out for his visibly-cut hand, “what happened?”

“I was trying to pet a cat but it obviously didn’t like me..”

he watched as you were cleaning his cuts; he hissed in pain

you looked up at him and back down at his cuts as you whispered, “sorry..”

you continued as you blew on the area as you wiped it over with sanitizing wipes so that it wouldn’t hurt as much

he couldn’t help but smile as he watched you put band-aids on him so lovingly and with care

he felt the jealous glares from Mingi and he spoke up

“so how do you know Mingi?”

you looked at him after you finished tending his wounds, “I just met him, didn’t know I had philosophy with him.. oh! I’m Y/N!” 

“oh yeah?”

you reached out your hand for him to shake

but to your surprised, he looped his arms through yours

“I’m San, guess we’ll all be best friends since I have that class with him too~”

he was excited to be friends with someone as pretty and loving as you

maybe.. you could be even more than a friend to him one day...

SEONGHWA

you had to split ways with Mingi and San since they had another class to head to 

with nothing else to do that day, you decided to go onto your online classes for the term to see what you can work on so that you won’t have to worry about them later

you are the type of person to get things done as early as possible; which got you ahead of classes so that you can have more time for other things

the grumbling of your stomach made it hard to focus on anything than your hunger so you went over to the campus map to find out where was the closest eatery was

you sighed as you scratched your head; your stomach grumbled again but this time, it was louder than the first one

there was a little chuckle as you closed your eyes in embarrassment before turning around

you saw the literal statue of a Greek God

“I assume you’re hungry.. this cafe has a stacked menu and it has good wifi too..”

you thanked him and bowed as you went back to the maps to take a picture of the cafe so that you won’t get lost

you missed a couple of turns and blocks but you finally arrived at the cafe

it was pretty big; there were 2 stories and it had a veranda seating area

you walked in to the comforting smell of roasted coffee beans

there was a long line; with females taking up 89% of the cafe

(I wonder why there were so many girls here at this cafe..)

that was when you got to the counter and you finally understood

that Greek God guy was behind the counter giving you a smiled widely as he saw you; you felt the glares of the other girls on you since he only gave them a retail-worker smile

but you didn’t know that

“oh! I was wondering what was taking you so long to get here..” he continued to smile at you as you were trying to fiddle with your phone case

“I got lost...”

he bursts out in a kind laugh, “at least you’re here now, what can I get you?”

you bit your lips as you scanned the menu, “honestly I don’t know what to get, I’m not picky and I’m indecisive...”

“you look like you’d be into something simple... how about a taro latte and a hearty chicken avocado sandwich?”

you laughed, “that’s a simple order? I’ll take it”

that was when Seonghwa wanted to see more of that smile

“can I get a name with that order?”

you looked down at his nametag before answering, “Y/N”

you went to go get your wallet from your bag but he spoke up, “my treat!”

“Seonghwa, you don’t have t-”

but he slid his employee’s card already

“I’ll get your order ready for you,” he winks at you

YEOSANG

after you got your order from Seonghwa

you walked up to the veranda seating area

there were outlet on the tables so you didn’t have to worry about sitting near a wall or anything

you sat down and saw a boy sitting on the table across from you

he was munching down on a big slice of chocolate cake 

he looked so cute and happy to be eating 

but then he looked up to you smiling at him; he quickly looked down in embarrassment

but so did you

(I probably looked like a lunatic eating such a big piece like that)

(I probably looked like a creep watching him eat like that)

for some reason you both looked up at each other and nodded at one another in acknowledgement

you went back to working from your laptop and eating

Yeosang looked up at you again; you were focus on your work as you used your electric pen to scribble across your screen 

he too took out his art materials; the typical sketchbook, #2 pencil and a trusty eraser 

you both were in the moment; enjoying the sunshine on your skins and the refreshing breeze tingle through your hair

after a while, Yeosang had to get up to leave

he was contemplating on giving you a drawing of you; was it creepy or was it romantic?

he signed his name and number after he finished but he didn’t want to actually give it to you because he wasn’t that confident in himself yet

so he purposely left it on his table and packed up

he nodded at you once again before dashing downstairs

you noticed there was a piece of paper on the table

“wait! you left this!” but he was long gone

you flipped the paper and saw a stunning sketch of yourself

you didn’t think you were pretty or anything special but the drawing gave you a sense of confidence

“Yeosang..” you read out loud as you smiled at his artwork 

JONGHO

you packed up a while after that

you were planning to explore the campus even more

to find out where your other classes were so that you didn’t have to struggle trying to find them later on

you went to the closest bus stop

when you walked around to find a seating area, you saw a young lad wearing headphones

he was totally in his own world; jamming out to his music

seeing how he was into his music made you want to listen to music too

you sat down next to him and opened your bag to try to find your headphones

but OF COURSE, you probably left them at home

around that time was when another guy appeared; it seemed like he was a music major or something because he was trying his best to woo you or something 

you smiled at the ground with wide eyes because you were overwhelmed by his “swag”

the guy sitting next to you finally realized that you were sitting next to him and you looked super uncomfortable by this obnoxious rapper

you were probably one of the prettiest girls he’s ever seen and he wanted to do anything to help you out

he took of one of his earbuds out and nudged it to you

he nods at you for to you take it and you do

BLESS HIM; you rather block one ear off than to have both of your ears bleed from bad rapping

you listened to the music a little bit more before turning to the guy sitting next to you, “hey I listen to this artist too!! I’m obsessed with them!”

he smiled at you as he tried to keep eye contact; the way you just looked at him without blinking much made his heart flutter

“they give me inspiration..” he comments

the bus catches his attention but he doesn’t want this conversation to go to waste

“OH THE BUS IS HERE!” you got up, forgetting that you were sharing earbuds with him; causing his phone to drop out of his hands

“OH GOSH I’M SO SORRY!”

“it’s oka-”

you both reached down for his phone as your smooth fingers grazed his guitar-calloused fingers; he pulled away first

“here ya go~” 

you both saw the rapper get on the bus first and you quickly grabbed the guy’s hand 

“let’s find a good spot on the bus.. uh..” you weren’t sure if you guys introduced yourselves yet and you had already forgotten

“Jongho..” he beamed at your contact

“Y/N~”

YUNHO

you and Jongho separated ways after getting off the bus

he was headed to the studios and you were heading over to the performance arts building

you’ve always been interested in dancing and you had intro to hip hop the next day so you wanted to prepare yourself 

maybe even bust some moves to be hyped for the next day

you heard the muffled sounds of music playing in one of the dancing studios

the sounds of footsteps and floor scuffings became prominent

you found yourself became immersed with the dancer in the room

he had strong movements yet they were fluid?

he probably had one of the best facial expressions ever

right when he was done, you quietly clapped as your jaws were still on the floor

he looked through into the mirror at you standing at the doorway in awe

you probably couldn’t tell but he was getting even more red from blushing

“you’re probably the BEST dancer I’ve ever seen!!”

he ruffled the back of his sweaty hair, “no way.. I definitely have room to improve..”

you blinked furiously at him, “room to improve? if that’s the case, I need one whole building to improve. you’re seriously amazing, I was totally captivated”

captivated is what Yunho felt when he saw you for the first time 

“wait, you dance too??” he felt a light surge of excitement knowing that you dance as well

you scrunched your face as you shrugged, “I like to dance but I’m not good or anything.. just a little hobby..”

“if you’d like, I have a class tomorrow here in this room if you wanna swoop in and dance!”

you cocked your head in confusion, “wait, you have a class here tomorrow? are you Jung Yunho?”

he broke out into a smile as he nodded, “yeah, that’s me!”

“I didn’t think they would have young and good-looking teachers here..” you mumbled as you looked over your classes again; double-checking what time you were going to be in his class tomorrow

but Yunho was caught up with the fact that you called him good-looking

“what’s your name?” he manages to ask

“Y/N-”

“excuse me~ we’re gonna clean this room soon so if you could pack your things, I would be grateful~” the tired custodian announced

you looked back at Yunho, “I’ll see you tomorrow.. teacher~”

he smiles into his fist as he picks up his duffel, “well, you can say your goodbyes after I walk you out..”

HONGJOONG

Yunho only walked you out to the entrance of the building

“where are you heading off to now?” Yunho wanted to walk you back to your apartment but he had work to do 

“I wanna check out the campus a bit more...”

“alright I’ll see you tomorrow~”

“see ya, teacher~”

you both waved until you swiveled around to make your way to the recording studios

it was golden hour; the sun shined against the windows making it look like mirrors

the performance arts building was sitting on top of the slope; giving you full access to the whole campus

you were admiring the view as Hongjoong was also on his way to the recording studio

he was frustrated

he had no inspirations; no muse

and that was when he was walking behind you; he didn’t notice you until you turned around and ran into him

you were literally so sick of how many times your clumsiness caused problems for other people, “I”M SO SORRY!! I’m the clumsiest person ever...”

“it’s okay, it was my fault too..”

you bent down to collect the guy’s notebook and mp3 player

“I haven’t seen these bad boys in a long time,” held up the mp3 player to him

you were just squatting there, basking in the golden sunlight

Hongjoong finally found a muse and it wasn’t just any muse; it was you

“o-oh yeah... if I record songs, I rather not have distractions like games and social media..” 

you got up and you nodded in agreement, “that’s pretty smart”

he smiles as he walks over to the doors to the recording studios and waits for you, “are you coming to the studios too?”

you nodded as you waddled on over

he couldn’t help but smile at your cute little actions

“what brings you over here?” he asks as he sees your backside looking around the building

you look back at him as you answered, “I’m just exploring. seeing if anything sparks my interest.. wondering if I should pick up a new hobby.. finding a new routine for myself here at the University of KQ.. you know?”

he was already so in love with you

was this what it was like to fall in love at first sight?

“I’m Hongjoong, by the way..”

“I’m-”

“HEY Y/N!!” you heard a group say in unison

You looked over to see Wooyoung, Mingi, San, Seonghwa, Yeosang, Jongho and Yunho walk over to you and Hongjoong. You thought it was weird that everyone who you ever interacted with today was all gathered here in one area. They were all confused, “wait how do you know Y/N?” 

You furrowed your brows, “y-you all know each other?” 

Hongjoong nodded, “yeah, we’re called the KQ Fellaz. Just a little group we made for ourselves.”

Yunho chimed in, “we make our own songs and choreography.”

“Would you like to be our manager? Since you already know all of us, we don’t even have to do an interview to look for one!” San asked as he looped his arms around yours. You looked around the group and they all had puppy eyes, “guess I know what to do on my free time now..” 

~end

#ateez #ateez scenarios #ateez fluff #ateez fanfic #ateez au #ateez wooyoung #ateez writing #ateez seonghwa #ateez san #ateez reactions #ateez fic #ateez yunho #ateez yeosang #ateez hongjoong #ateez drabbles #ateez blurb #ateez jongho #ateez kpop #ateez imagines #ateez oneshot #ateez ot8 #kpop scenarios #kpop imagines #kpop oneshots #kpop fluff #kpop reactions

[wardencommanderrodimiss]

Witches, Chapter 22: catching up with some old friends

[Seelie of Kurain Chapter Masterlist] [ao3]

[Witches Chapter Masterlist] [ao3]

----

At the end of August, a hand-drawn - some of the graphite or charcoal or whatever it is that smears off onto Apollo’s hands when he opens the envelope - invitation arrives at the Wright Anything Agency. Addressed to Mr Justice, Ms Trucy, and Mr Wright, it cordially welcomes them over to Deauxnim Studios on Saturday. “Guess Larry finally found a place he wanted to get settled,” Phoenix says, picking up the envelope and turning it over. “He’s been bouncing around for a while.”

He passes the envelope back to Apollo, and on the back side of it, a scribble on the flap in a childish, spiky scrawl, very different than Vera’s writing, reads, V. says your new lawyer can come too, forgot about her. 

“Better not let Athena see that.” Phoenix chuckles. “She’d hate to think she’s forgettable, even to a girl she’s never met.”

Apollo and Trucy arrive first on Saturday, after grabbing ramen for lunch somewhere that isn’t Eldoon’s, leaving Apollo with a strange guilty feeling that he isn’t patronizing Salt Hell. It’s a weird thing to think. Like he’s grown attached to that place, whether he wanted to or not.

He spent the morning, before he left his apartment, arguing with himself about whether or not he needed to bring iron with him. He doesn’t want to hurt Vera by accident, but he’s wandering into an unknown household of Mr Wright’s acquaintance, and that gives him a real sense of fear. Like sure, he’s met Larry before, but the guy accidentally became a witch. Doesn’t really inspire much confidence. And Apollo can’t even ask Clay’s opinion, because he never told Clay that Vera is a changeling, and he doesn’t want to get into that. In the end, he decides that he’ll be careful, but it’s better to take precautions, and slipped the iron ring onto his finger. 

No one answers the door but Trucy tests the handle, finds it unlocked, and bounds right in. Apollo decides that he can’t really be faulted if he’s following her to keep her out of trouble, and heads in after. “Helloooo!” she calls, cupping her hands around her mouth. “Vera! Uncle Larry! We’re here for the artists’ loft grand tour!”

Apollo wouldn’t call it a loft, but the fact that it’s an artist den is obvious. On the wall right in front of them there’s a half-finished mural of a snowy landscape. To the left, canvases and poster boards spill out through a doorway, resting on the floor and propped up against the walls, depicting landscapes and fruit bowls, the Steel Samurai, a portrait of Vera with her face divided down the center as human and fae both, and one that is just splotches of blue like someone dipped a sponge and threw it. They pick their way carefully between the canvasses and enter the room, brimming with more paintings and charcoal sketches. There’s one of an orca leaping out of the water; another depicts a demon that, all considered, appears a bit like Tenma Taro would it drawn by someone who got a third-hand description. It doesn’t have arms, simply wings where its arms would be that have talons at the joint, and the drawn tongue reaches halfway down its chest, while its head lacks its weird batlike ears. But it’s definitely Tenma Taro, enough to send a shudder through him. 

A year ago, examining the paintings to find that someone he never met had been following along to every case Apollo defended, and an accompanying feeling nothing short of horror in discovering it. This time, this is - she is - a friend keeping up with what’s going on even when they haven’t spoken in months. It’s nice to know. 

Footsteps hurry down the hall. “Hey, Vera!” Trucy says, and did she say it before or after Vera actually appears in the doorway to let them know that it’s her and not Larry? “We arrive! Good to see you!”

Vera looks better than Apollo remembers last, bright-eyed and not as pale as she used to be. Written in her face, the color in her cheeks and the curve of a smile, is that she is not a scared shut-in anymore. She explains that she lives here now, got her father’s house sold to escape the trauma associated with it - well, she doesn’t say the latter clause of that statement but they all know it well enough - and Larry bought this place and she’s subletting a room from him. “Though I asked him a month ago how much it would be and how to pay him and he said he’d get back to me and hasn’t.” Vera frowns at the wall. There’s a framed photo of her and her father hanging there. “I should probably remind him.”

“God, I wish my landlord would forget to collect,” Apollo mutters.

Trucy laughs. “I think that’s Polly telling you not to remind him,” she says. 

“I’m a lawyer,” Apollo says. “I would never say that.”

The three of them stop in front of a painting of a weird-looking but familiar dog and in silence, stare at it. Loud, exuberant knocking on the door heralds Athena’s arrival. “I’m not late, am I?” she asks. “I know the rule is that you’re not late unless you get here after Mr Wright, but that’s for work and not social events, right?” Apollo shrugs. Athena thrusts her hand out toward Vera. “Hi! I’m Athena Cykes, the new lawyer at the Wright Anything Agency! Nice to meet you!”

“Uh - h-hi.” Vera hesitates a moment and then shakes her hand. “I’m Vera Misham. Nice to meet you.”

“Trucy and Apollo said you were a client of theirs - oh! Did you paint all these?”

The panic in Vera’s eyes subsides. Wondering what all they’ve told Athena about her, why she was their client or whatever else. But Athena’s asking about her artwork now, and Vera is good about talking about her art, so she waves Athena back into the room they were just in and shows her the sketch of the orca. Trucy circles around the desk at the wall, and after a minute calls over, “Hey, Vera, who’s this?” She waves a large photograph of a woman, standing in the snow, her black hair tightly twisted on top of her head, her tired lined face wearing a knowing smile. Apollo would swear she’s familiar. When Apollo goes over to the desk, he sees a few pieces of scrap paper with hasty sketches trying to copy the woman’s face, pushed to the edge and onto the floor. 

“That’s Mr Larry’s mentor,” Vera says. “Ms Elise. She’s the one who began the Deauxnim name. I wanted to paint a portrait of her, as a gift for him, but I haven’t figured her face out yet. I—”

“Is that guests I hear?”

Vera snatches the photo from Trucy and shoves it and the loose papers in between the pages of a sketchbook. Larry leans up against the doorway. “Long time no see, Trucy!”

“Uncle Larry!” She charges him and nearly knocks him over. “Yeah, it’s been practically forever! Since like, since we saw Gourdy!”

“Who’s Gourdy?” Athena asks. 

“You’ll see,” Trucy says with a grin. Apollo sighs and resolves to find some sort of excuse to miss this event this upcoming December. Clay will be in space then, and Apollo is going to use that time to sleep in and not be heckled for it. 

“Apollo, hi,” Larry says, now that he’s gotten his wind back from taking a magician to the stomach. “And Athena, hey, nice to meet you, I’ve heard all about you.” He extends a hand for her to shake by resting his elbow on Trucy’s head. “That you’re the crazy kid who helped Nick out with his first case back.”

“Did you get to meet the orca?” Vera asks. “How do you defend an orca? I followed in the news as best I could, but I still don’t really understand.”

“Well! Let me tell you.” Athena, thrilled to have someone new to regale with her tales of penguins and orcas from the aquarium, immediately launches into it. Apollo still doesn’t know how much of her telling is exaggeration. When he and Trucy had questions about the investigations, Athena was always quick to be the one to answer, and Phoenix and Pearl left her to it. Was the penguin as finicky as she said, and so freely allowed to roam the aquarium when it would be very easy to consequently steal the penguin - probably. Apollo will believe anything, when it comes to their cases and clients. 

“I’m never gonna live this one down, am I?” Phoenix appears behind them, from the entryway, and Athena and Vera both jump. 

“What, you just barge in and don’t even knock?” Larry asks. “Rude! What kind of guest are you, Nick?” Phoenix grins, and that’s the weird thing that has struck Apollo the few other times he’s seen Phoenix and Larry together. That Phoenix almost reminds him of Clay, then, now, whenever it isn’t Larry reminding him of Clay. The way they gleefully give each other shit. The strength of that many years between them. 

“You defended an orca in court, Boss,” Athena says. “You are not going to live it down.”

“You co-counseled the defense of an orca!”

Larry takes them back to the sitting room - he and Phoenix bickering about whether or not his decor and entire vibe is pretentious - and pretentious is not the word coming to mind for Apollo. Now he feels the artist loft thing, mismatched furniture and clashing decor. A polished wooden table has a lace tablecloth and six all-slightly-different wicker chairs, while the couch makes him think of the Victorian era. A candelabra with lightbulbs sits on the end table. Landscapes and watercolor illustrations hang on the walls, and in between two of them hang a deformed analogue clock that looks like that famous melty-clocks painting. There are three pedestals around the room, like what a museum would keep vases on. Two of them do have vases, one empty and one filled with some wilted flowers, and the third has a small statue, about a foot tall, that again looks like another famous painting, the distorted face of the screaming man on the bridge. 

“When’d you get back into metalworking?” Phoenix asks, eyeing the statue and then the clock.

“Oh, nah, that’s just way old stuff I had boxed up and finally had some space for,” Larry says. “Clock’s ancient, you’d been talking to me about some course you were taking where Dalí kept coming up. Other one’s a vent piece - last metalwork I did after the Thinkers.”

“Don’t tell me it’s a clock too,” Phoenix says.

Larry, halfway into the next room - from what Apollo can see, it might be a kitchen - leans back out. “Dunno, why don’t you try it and find out?”

Phoenix watches him leave and then turns back to the statue. He casually hefts it in one hand, bouncing it a little to test the weight, and then he grabs the head and twists it to the side. A scream emerges from it. Not a very convincing one, with the canned sound of being recorded on a device with not great quality, and made by someone who is trying not to disturb the neighboring apartments - but the suddenness of the sound still makes Apollo jump, and Athena and Trucy both scream in tandem with it. 

With a heavy clonk, Phoenix sets it back in its place. He sighs, but with a smile visibly threatening to break through. “Real cute,” he says to Larry, who returns with a shiny, fancy metal tray of plastic containers of store-bought cookies. Why did Apollo think that the aesthetic clash would subside. “The Scream. Absolutely hilarious.”

“Hey man, it’s an accurate representation of my mental state at the time.” Larry sets the tray down on the table and gestures to them all to sit down. “I thought about giving it to you as a representation of how you probably felt too, and then I thought that might be—”

“Poor taste, yeah,” Phoenix interrupts.

“Yeah, so I had that in a box for a decade, and honestly probably gonna put it back because imagine like, an earthquake hits in the middle of the night and it falls over and just screams.”

“You could probably have it put in a gallery as a piece of performance art, or something,” Phoenix says. “Have it set just precariously enough, and cue screaming.”

“I don’t think I understand art,” Athena says, grabbing two cookies. “I mean, I get it, but also don’t at all.”

“That’s not about the art,” Phoenix says. “That’s just Larry.”

Larry slaps Phoenix’s hand as he reaches for a cookie. “You can’t be rude to me in my own house! My own house in which I have so graciously invited you!”

“I think Vera invited us, actually,” Trucy says. Larry rolls his eyes. 

“Yes, I wanted to tell you all,” Vera says, and the silent scuffle between Phoenix and Larry ceases immediately. Trucy sets the screaming statue back in its place with a guilty look, having been about to unleash it on the unexpected audience of everyone but Apollo who wasn’t looking in her direction. “I’m going to be published!”

“Woohoo!” Trucy throws her arms around Vera’s shoulders and hugs her from behind. “Look at you go!”

Vera’s cheeks start to turn pink, and then in the center there’s a growing bluish tint. “Nice work, kiddo,” Phoenix says. “When’s the book come out?” His eyes flicker toward Larry. Had they talked about this before, that Phoenix, specifically, knew there was a book? - Or maybe he just knows Larry’s career enough to expect, of course it’s a book. 

“Um.” Vera thinks for a moment. Trucy flings herself into the chair next to Vera that she had previously abandoned. “The beginning of November. Advance copies were just sent out and we got ours last week.”

“Can we see?” Apollo asks. “Or is that trade secrets?”

Vera drums her fingers on her cheek. “I suppose we could show you. If I know where we put it?”

“Somewhere beneath five sketchbooks, probably,” Larry says. “I’ll go take a look in a bit.”

“So you write children’s books, right?” Athena asks. “That’s what Mr Wright said. Write or illustrate? And-or?”

“Vera came up with this idea, I wrote it, and she did all the illustrations,” Larry explains. 

“I kept thinking about everything you said about names, that one time, Trucy,” Vera says quietly, and though all of them can hear her, and Athena especially looks interested as the only one of them who wasn’t here before, who is shut out of this particular shared history, but even she doesn’t say anything. “So,” Vera continues, a bit louder, “I’ll be a published illustrator under the name ‘Verity Deauxnim’.”

“That’s a good name!” Trucy says brightly. “Verity Deauxnim! A real solid sounding stage name! Or whatever it is for authors. Nom de plume? That always makes me picture just like, a really bushy mustache. Get mustache glasses for your author portraits!”

“You know—” Larry begins, and Phoenix groans and places his head on the table. “Hey! Nick! Why’s your daughter more supportive than you are? It’s not a bad idea!”

“It’s a silly idea,” Phoenix says. He lifts his head. “But I’m glad to hear you’ve got that figured out, Vera. It’s not gonna lead you wrong, picking up the Deauxnim name for yourself.”

“It’s already done so much work saving Uncle Larry from the worst surname known to the world,” Trucy says.

“Yeah, was a whole real tragedy that I wouldn’t be known as ‘Larry Butz, the guy who was on trial one time for murder and did nothing else good ever’. Except like, that time I was the Steel Samurai on stage, that was pretty cool, even if I’d thought I was signing up for tech crew.”

This is the man who accidentally became a witch, isn’t it? That tracks. “What’s the book about?” Apollo asks. 

Larry ends up answering first, Vera wide-eyed startled at being asked a question while she was trying to eat. “It’s an Ugly Duckling-type story, with the vaguest amount of actual animal research.”

“How vague is vague?” Phoenix asks.

“I’m a storyteller, Nick! I can’t be getting, like, neurotic about having all real true facts in there if it’s gonna get in the way of telling a good story, you know?”

“I feel like that’s how all of our witnesses treat their testimonies,” Apollo says. Athena shrieks with laughter and drops her cookie onto the table. Phoenix is silently and pointedly conveying something to Larry with just eyebrow movements and grimaces. Larry is pointedly ignoring it. 

“Fortunately,” he says, pointedly, so that his ignoring Phoenix has looped all the way back around to Phoenix obviously having his attention, “Deauxnim picture books are not witness testimonies! And if we want to fudge it when we’re talking about ducks, that is our right!”

“Then don’t leave us hanging,” Phoenix drawls. “I’ve learned more about orcas than I ever wanted to, so what’s this about ducks, besides the ugly one?”

“I can’t believe you didn’t want to know about orcas,” Athena says. “What’s not to love about orcas?”

“There’s a kind of duck that lays its eggs in the nests of other birds, like the cuckoo bird,” Vera says. “But the baby duck is nicer than the cuckoo babies because it doesn’t, um… throw the other eggs out of the nest once it hatches.”

“Ah,” Trucy says faintly.

“That would not make a great children’s story, I don’t think,” Apollo says. The secret extra-dark Ugly Duckling tale. Maybe even, if Apollo really thinks about it, that’d be the kind of shitty story that Datz would tell them. The interloper successfully makes it in to toss aside the ones who are supposed to be there; the usurper wins. That’s the kind of shitty story they lived.

“That’s why we didn’t do cuckoos,” Vera says. “That’s why it’s the duck that - that ends up put into a family where it wouldn’t naturally belong. The actual ducks in real life realize, because that’s part of, um, how they are, and they leave right away. But that’s not exactly what the story is. We stretch it a little. Like Mr Larry said.”

It should have hit him sooner, the reason that Vera had the idea for an Ugly Duckling story - the child of a different species dropped in a nest and left there to figure it all out for herself. It makes so much sense from that perspective. The swan that doesn’t know it’s a swan and thinks itself an odd duck is a just changeling.

“So then you got to draw a lot of fluffy cute ducks?” Athena asks. “I’d have gone with penguins, myself, but I see the appeal.”

“You said you got to meet a penguin at the aquarium, right?”

“Yes, but she hated me.” Athena still sounds like she’s about to start wailing when she talks about it.

When the familiar tune of a cartoon theme song starts up, Apollo figures it’s Trucy fiddling with something else. “Is that the Steel Samurai?” Vera asks. 

“Yeah.” Phoenix pulls his phone out of his pocket. “Ringtone. Friend of mine won’t let me change it. Ah, hello, what’s up?” He doesn’t look concerned when he answers, but he starts to frown, slowly, his eyebrows creasing together, and everyone else at the table glances at each other. Phoenix turns around in his chair so that his elbows rest on the back of it, a finger pressed against his free ear to shut them out even though no one is talking. “You don’t remember? That - no, yeah, I can - yeah. I can just meet you there.” His chair scrapes on the floor when he pushes himself out from the table. Athena winces. Phoenix doesn’t move for another moment after he pulls the phone away from his ear, a blank stare fixed on it. “Sorry,” he says, finally standing and pushing the chair back in to the table. “I’ve got to go. Friend’s having an - issue.”

“What’ve They done now?” Larry asks, with such particular emphasis that even though he doesn’t name them Fair Folk or fae, they all know. 

“Oh, for once it isn’t them,” Phoenix says, much lighter than Larry did, like they could be just any group of human friends. 

“Then tell Edgey I say hi.”

“I have human friends other than Edgeworth, you dick.”

“Name three.” Larry looks very smug. 

“Gumshoe, Franziska, and - Ema. Notice I’m not including you.”

“Is this what people mean when they say ‘male bonding’?” Athena asks. “Is that what this is?”

“Something like that,” Apollo says. He thinks of Clay, again, Clay needling him this morning that almost all of Apollo’s social life is now based around his job. (Apollo can’t leave the Agency. Apollo would have one friend left.)

“Yeah, I noticed when I had to find out from Edgey that you got your badge back and were off to court for an orca! You couldn’t even give me a call for that, huh?”

“I was busy with, you know, defending and being in court.” Phoenix claps a hand down on Vera’s shoulder. “Sorry I’ve gotta run out on you like this. But it’s good to see you again, glad you’re doing well. And I can’t wait for the book, too.”

“O-oh.” The poor girl sometimes looks so shocked whenever Phoenix talks to her so casually, so supportively. Like after she ruined his career she doesn’t understand how he can be so happy about hers. Even if he did set her up with it. “Thank you.”

“I guess I’ll go look around for our advance copy,” Larry says, watching Phoenix leave. “A sneak peak for everyone who’s staying here.” Phoenix flips him off over his shoulder, without turning around. “Not in front of the children!” Larry yells, standing himself. “And Nick, yo, next time I wanna hear about your stupid court stunts from you and not Edgey.” Larry turns, disappearing from the room the other way. “You kids hang out and talk about memes or whatever kids talk about.”

“Did you hear who Daddy was talking to?” Trucy asks Athena.

“I don’t listen in on phone calls unless it’s like, a case, usually,” Athena says, which is a statement with a lot of qualifiers there. Leaving her bases open while not technically lying, so no tells for Apollo or Trucy to call her on. 

“Ugh.” Trucy slumps and her head falls back against the chair. “What good are cool powers if you can’t help me pry into my dad’s private life with them?”

Vera coughs softly, a gentle nudge to the nosy gang to, ideally, stop being so damn nosy. Trucy stands up and goes to sound the screaming statue again, startling no one because she’s snickering the whole time too. “If this weren’t so heavy I’d use it in a magic show,” she says. “Watch as the beautiful, talented magician pulls the mysterious screaming statue out of her Magic Panties!”

“Really would prefer not to,” Apollo says.

“Coward,” Trucy says. 

“How is the magic show going, Trucy?” Vera asks. “Have you made any progress on finding a venue to perform in?”

Trucy catches them all up on her latest exploits in her attempts to become a professional stage magician. She’s convinced, utterly, that while the era of magicians on tv saw its heyday decades ago, she’s going to be the one to bring it back, and without “cheating” by using her real magic. “Like if I wanted to use real magic, I’d set up a shop on the streetcorner peddling suspicious plants as having come straight from the realm of the Fair Folk themselves, and then when angry repeat customers come back, I use Mr Hat to distract them and make off with their wallets!”

“Trucy, that’s how you get arrested on theft and drug dealing charges,” Apollo says. “I don’t want to have to deal with that.”

“Oh, yeah,” Trucy says. “I guess selling random plants would be suspicious. Someone at my school tried to sell kale pretending it was weed, once.”

“Sometimes I get sad that I missed out on all those stupid weird high school experiences that people get to have,” Athena says. “I mean, sure, I get weird court stories, and I don’t regret the path I’ve taken at all! But sometimes I just feel - I don’t know, something, about missing out on those regular growing-up experiences.”

Apollo opens his mouth to say that there’s really nothing Athena missed, because grade school and secondary school sucked, and everyone’s “funny high school stories” are just them repressing the rest of it that sucked, but Vera speaks first and says, “I do too, actually.”

“Oh?” Athena asks. She probably figured there was something more going on in Vera’s story when they mentioned that she’s a former client of Apollo’s, but being a nineteen-year-old professional is Athena’s normal. Though there’s higher odds of it in artistic fields than law, probably.

“I was homeschooled,” Vera says. “By my father. I… I didn’t really go out much.”

Athena nods sympathetically. She sits with her chin resting in her palm for a while, as Trucy spins a few more stories of what’s happened at school lately - repeatedly assuring Apollo that she and Jinxie stay far to the sidelines of it - looking at Vera. After a few minutes of this, Vera seems to notice, casting a quizzical glance at Athena. “Something about you reminds me of a friend I had when I was little, before I moved away,” Athena explains. “I can’t put my finger on it.”

“It wouldn’t have been me,” Vera says. “I didn’t have any friends when I was little.”

“Oh, that’s not what I meant,” Athena says. “I had only the one friend back then - I was a real shut-in, actually, myself. Her name’s Juniper. She was a real quiet, sensitive type, didn’t have any other friends like me, didn’t go out much at all. Not really an artist, other than a couple years ago she said that she’d taken up knitting, but there’s just - a certain je ne sais quoi.”

“Oh,” Vera says. She starts picking at her nails, which now appear to be whiter and pointier than they were before. Another slip, from wondering, perhaps, if the similarity Athena sees is just in personality, or something she doesn’t realize she’s picked up on. Do the inner voices of human and fae sound different? Is that something Athena can notice - something she even knows she notices?

“Found it!” Larry reenters the room, waving the book around a little too much for Apollo to get a good look at the cover yet. “It was on the unused sketchbook shelf.”

Vera nods in understanding. Athena doesn’t follow so easily. “You have a shelf full of unused sketchbooks? How many do you need at one time?”

“Different kinds of paper work better with different materials,” Vera explains. “So when there’s a sale, we stock up.”

“Part of being a writer is having a lot of cool notebooks that you never actually plan on using,” Larry says, which is coming close to almost offering an explanation, but a much worse one than Vera’s. He sits back down at the table with them. “So doing traditional art is also a lot like that, except I do eventually use the sketchbooks. Mostly.”

“Oh, so it’s like how Mr Wright never uses all the law books we have in the office, right?” Athena asks. 

Trucy takes the book from Larry and drags her chair around the table to squish herself in between Apollo and Athena, so they can all read from the same angle. Vera is chewing on her nails now, watching them with apprehension for any reaction, though they’ve barely even considered the cover yet. “That’s exactly what it’s like, I think,” Trucy says.

-

The lights in the office are off, though the door to the back room is open, and Phoenix always closes that one before he leaves. Though, he figures, if she’s gotten here before him, it’s not like she would actually have need to turn the lights on. That’s the thing about being blind - the dark isn’t any different than the way it usually is. 

He finds Thalassa sitting next to his desk, leaning up against the side with her knees pulled up to her chest and her head rested against them. Phoenix scuffs his feet noisily across the carpet and her head turns, just slightly, while keeping her face buried. She knows he’s there and doesn’t want to acknowledge him. He lowers himself to the floor across from her and rests his back against Apollo’s desk, and he waits in the dim light that Mia has only partially switched on. 

“I almost forgot.” Thalassa raises her head, and because Phoenix doesn’t have his magatama on his person - he left it in his desk, next to her soul - she looks perfect, statuesque and glamorous, not a wrinkle or hair out of place. Perfect enough that she’s wholly unnatural, armored as she is in glamour to become something cold and stony. “I almost forgot everything.” Her hands, clutched tightly in her lap, unfold from around her mitamah, deep blue like a twilight sky. “I left myself a memo that should I find myself slipping, I was to call you for help - but I thought it was just that, slipping somewhat, and the most I would forget was your office address or phone number, not why it even was that you were the one who could help me at all.”

“And it wasn’t,” Phoenix says. 

She nods. “It was everything. About you, about my children, about everything from when I came to this office after the trial. And then everything before I was shot. I was left again with that darkness, and Borginia, and the two trials here.” The duration between losing her life, and finding her soul. 

“Do you think, because of the length of time you’ve not been around it?” Phoenix asks. “Or perhaps distance - but you’ve stayed in LA this whole time, right?”

She regards him for several second; blind though he knows she is, her Sight remains, and with that she can pinpoint his own Sighted eyes. Just hovering ominously above a necklace-shaped noose. A bit weird, no doubt, and Phoenix doesn’t have to doubt because Godot told him it was weird in a stronger term than weird. (Speaking of weird, there’s something thematically to contemplate that magic gone wrong, the fae crossed, so often deprives humans of their eyes, even when they are left with Sight. Ema would tell him that two isn’t a large enough sample size to draw any actual conclusions, scientifically, but for his purposes, Phoenix is going to ahead anyway.)

“Not quite,” she admits. “I did return to Borginia for a short time. I wondered, as I did, if I could uncover some connection or reason as to why it was there I was sent following my death.” Her tone is so casual, so calm, that it’s uncomfortable. This huge blank in her past, why she was there at all, and she speaks of it like it’s no concern to her. “And more than that, there were some last affairs of Lamiroir’s to put in order - Lamiroir, the duo, Machi and I, I mean. He can never return to Borginia, and so there is nothing more there for me.”

“Shit, yeah, the smuggling charges, that’s…” Machi, fifteen years old, functionally exiled from his homeland, sitting in jail knowing he won’t even have a foundation to build off of when he gets out, because Borginia’s draconian cocoon-smuggling laws are a sword over his head for the rest of his days. “I hope they didn’t give you any trouble over it.”

“Thankfully, they seemed satisfied that I truly had no part in what Machi and Daryan did,” she answers. “Or - considering that the country has been in an uproar since last year, with a very long debate about what we owe the rest of the world when something so dangerous could also save lives - perhaps the customs officers were very tired of talking about cocoons.” She smiles faintly. “Perhaps Borginia will have its own legal reforms, as you are striving for here.”

Nothing like a high-profile celebrity case to catch the public’s eye, if the lawyer on defense doesn’t fuck it all up.

“So it could have been the distance that you traveled that caused this problem,” Phoenix says. “Or the combination of time and distance, or just time.” And with magic, nothing ever easy. “But either of those could be dealt with,” he adds. “You could drop by the office more to - to refresh your memory. Could say hi to the kids, too.”

He means - or, if she had asked, he would have said he meant - she could say hello as Lamiroir. The kids helped her out by defending Machi, and they still, quite regularly, listen to her music. (The only place where their musical tastes converge, really.) But she decides what he means without asking, and with a curl of her lip, hiking her shoulders up, she says, “I will not reenter my children’s lives while there is a chance that I will only cause them further grief.”

She reaches up and runs her hand up along the desk, finding its edge to hold on to and pull herself up to her feet. For a moment Phoenix fears that she will leave the conversation on that note and walk out, but she seats herself delicately on his desk, her hands primly folded in her lap and one leg crossed over the other at the knee. As classically poised as she ever is, and Phoenix is glad she’s decided to stick around. Maybe Mia would stop her, but Phoenix knows he wouldn’t have gotten on his feet in time. Why did his bones stop being able to take any kind of pressure as soon as he hit thirty? Why do humans live at all; merely to suffer back pain?

But he doesn’t really like carrying on this conversation with Thalassa looking down on him, either, and with a groan he drags himself upright and sinks into Athena’s chair. “Perhaps placing my soul back in the hollow it was carved out of will simply drop me down into the grave I so narrowly escaped all those years ago,” she continues bitterly. “Or perhaps one day my memory will have regressed to the point that I will only be Lamiroir the amnesiac even while I sit with my soul held in my hands.”

“But we don’t really even know that will happen,” Phoenix says. “I very much doubt that will happen.”

“Do you,” she says curtly. “Pray tell, how? Even I do not know - could there have been some other spell cast by Magnifi to keep me alive, or was my soul’s separation all that was necessary? Can you tell me that? Can your friends know unless they have bought the souls of some unlucky damned humans and then watched them die, as an experiment?”

Pearl is the one researching how to set this right. Neither she, Maya, nor Iris knew when he first asked, but Phoenix isn’t the type to give up on someone, and Pearl has a vested interest in becoming as powerful as she possibly can to support Maya, so she won’t be giving up, either. As far as Phoenix knows, anyway, there have been no souls experimentally bartered about. And Pearl had agreed that if anyone was likely to know the nuances of these particular magics and how to help her, it would be them, that faraway hidden place that the Winter fae branched from thousands of years ago. She and Maya just - couldn’t divine where in the world that is, that one final Court they know nothing about, know no one who has ever been.

No one besides Thalassa.

“Fine,” he says. “Yes, we’re still trying to figure it out - yes, we don’t know that it won’t, but we don’t know that it will, either. And say, for argument’s sake” - because that’s what lawyers do, argue, and a smile twitches onto her lips - “that you were actually to die or have your memory wither away. That you think that may happen. Shouldn’t you meet your children now, tell them the truth, while you can? They deserve to know, at the very least, that they’re siblings.”

Her smile vanishes; her brows furrow. “Then if I am dead or in essence lost, you of course may tell them.”

Of course, she says, after she has not made that obvious. It would not have truly shocked him if she’s instead said that she would bury her childrens’ relationship with her. “And when they ask how I found out and how long I’ve known? Why I hid it for that long? Do you think they won’t hate me if they know that I knew you, and kept the chance for them to ever meet their mother from them? It’s not like I can lie to them about anything!” There’s nothing satisfying about making a point that shuts her up. Both sides of this argument are the the losing ones. “Do you think that either of them would simply not care about what happens to their mother?” 

Trucy is hurting, daily, ever since she learned the truth of her grandfather’s magic; she doesn’t hide it with a smile at home. She wants to be a stage magician because that’s the kind of magic that will only make people happy, will never hurt anyone. And Apollo’s never talked to Phoenix about it, but Trucy informs him that there were several foster homes in the picture, none ever stayed in the picture, and that Apollo always changes the subject (“Conspicuously,” she says, over dinner, no idea that she’s talking about her half-brother, “changes the subject. Polly’s really bad at lying.”) if she asks him about family.

“I do not know,” she says. “You are the one who knows them—”

“And I know they would care! That they’d want to know you!”

Thalassa goes quiet. She presses her fist against her mouth and closes her eyes, inhaling loudly and exhaling even louder. “This is precisely the trouble, that you are the one who knows them.” She lowers her hand, curls it tight around her other hand and her mitamah. “You, you reckless, stubborn, fool of a man! What may I expect from you next as you think you may - go about trying to set this right? To save me - do I wait for you to bargain away your own soul to your fae friends, so that they may better understand, because their help you ask of them has a price? Or do I let you search for the Summer Court and their reserves of knowledge - so that you may die there, as Jove did, seeking something from them that they will never offer you?”

“What was Jove looking for?” Phoenix asks. It’s a new piece of an older story, that at the end of last year (one of the few times they communicated between October and now) he’d asked for clarification on two points. First, if she knew where the Summer Court was, and when she shut him down she preempted his second and third questions, too: no, she would absolutely not tell him where the Summer Court is, and yes, Jove had died there. She hadn’t then said that he was looking for something. 

A sharp, searing pain bursts through his chest, launching his heart up into his throat where it pounds with the staccato rap of anxiety. It echoes in his head the same way, thumping at the forefront of his skull, not quite painful but nonetheless a weight all the way down behind his eyes, settling in with conflicted feelings; exhaustion wants them to close and burning wants them to leak. He wants to run, he wants to hide, there’s no fight in his instincts, only flight and freeze, and a powerful cold seeps down his skin, from across his shoulders down his arms. Shuddering, he crosses his arms together tightly, as though the gesture will form a physical barrier that will spare him from the ice in Thalassa’s eyes.

It’s her, he realizes, belatedly. It’s just glamour, just manipulated perception. Just, hell of a word to use when she’s decided that rather than project her stony detachment, beauty that refuses to show an emotion behind it, she’ll put the fear of god in him instead. Fear of her. “You’d rather I not ask that question,” he says. 

“Forgive me, I did not mean to be so emotional,” she says, and that would, genuinely, be comical. Her face had not changed at all, not a quiver at the corner of her mouth or between her brow. The only sign of her emotionality is what she made Phoenix feel. She squeezes her eyes shut, pressing her hands together in front of her mouth, taking a few silent seconds to recenter herself. The pressure in Phoenix’s chest loosens. She’d probably understand if he went to grab the magatama, stop her from doing this to him again. “But understand this, in everything of yourself that you risk for my sake, every time you dig for something new and dangerous - my children know you.” Implying that he’d have something else to want to research in the Summer Court, were she to say more. She’s not that good at deterring curiosity. “It would be much more painful to them if they were to lose you, than if I were to wither away.” 

Implied: the cynical weighing of lives to determine which one of them it’s better to save. Implied: we can’t both come through this in one piece. It’s the calculations that Rimes and Prosecutor Blackquill made and tried to toss on Phoenix: Sasha or the orca, you can’t save them both. 

And how, again, did that trial work out?

“Fortunately,” Phoenix says, “it’s far from guaranteed that those are our only two options. In fact, I’d say that it’s very unlikely.”

“You could have been a Gramarye,” Thalassa says. “Because there is one thing besides magic that the men of this name are skilled at, and that is pulling unearned confidence out of their asses.”

“Ah,” Phoenix says, with the vague sensation of being smacked in the face. “We could call it optimism. That might be nice.”

“Of course,” she says, not sarcastic but instead sounding pitying, and that might be worse. “I admire the faith that you hold, truly, I do.” Which is why she just called it overconfidence, no doubt. “But this way you stick your neck out for others means that it is your neck on the line.” She touches her fingertips to the base of her neck, her blue, blue eyes fixed on one of the few aspects of him that she can see. Funny, that; she doesn’t know what color his eyes are beneath the Sight or the way his hair refuses any and all attempts to flatten it or the shape of his face, but she knows the worst moments of his life, his greatest enemies, secrets that he never intends to share. On the other side, to balance their scales, he knew her before she remembered her. 

“I fear where it ends,” she says finally. “Because you and I are not lucky people, darling.”

Both so unlucky that it almost doubles around - that it’s frankly a miracle they’re alive. “Yeah,” he says. “But you don’t know me at all if you think I’m just going to give up on someone.”

#roddy fanfics #fic: the witches of los angeles

[frauleinjustice]

Oumasai Week Prompt 6: Birthday

@oumasaiweek

I just had to write something for Kokichi’s birthday, too! Wanted to make it super soft and fluffy, ehehe, so as always: I do hope you all enjoy and thank you to all who do choose to read it! ❤

Today is Kokichi’s birthday. While he doesn’t expect most of his classmates-save for a handful of them-to really care that much, that was fine. Not only will he and DICE have a big party at their base much later tonight, but there was a certain someone he especially wanted to spend most of the day with before then: Shuichi. He expected to see him in class that morning, just like the others. He got a few birthday wishes here and there, which was nice, but he didn’t see Shuichi there. He huffs: of all days Shuichi doesn’t come to school, he dares does so on the day to worship the supreme leader. Demanding Kaede tells him where he’s at, she told him best guess is to check his dorm.

Not caring about staying in class any longer, Kokichi instantly starts making his way to the dormitory buildings, mumbling under his breath: “Saihara-chan’s got a lot of nerve not coming to school... “ Did he not want to see him? Kokichi tries not to think of the surely irrational thought, but it made him anxious over the possibility. He knows Shuichi wasn’t busy with a case at the moment, so he can’t think of any other reasons why he didn’t show up.

Meanwhile with Shuichi; he actually was in his dorm. The reason he didn’t show up to class was because he was organizing several of the presents he’s gotten for Kokichi. A sketch of Kokichi he drew himself, teabags of pretty expensive and rare flavors like red velvet and chocolate tea, dice block keychains… and then a special present he’ll want to surprise Kokichi with last. He knows he probably overdid it with the gifts, but for Kokichi; he felt it was worth it.

Albeit a bit nervous on how much he’ll actually love all this: the thought of Kokichi very happily accepting all of these gifts makes a big smile appear on Shuichi’s own face. He hasn’t told it to the other yet, but… he fell hard for him. The harmless lies, mischievous nature, and his rather silly and eccentric nature overall… what Shuichi would initially find taxing at times, grew to it being traits of Kokichi he grew fond of.

Kokichi also grew to love Shuichi, even if he was too scared to ever say that. Shuichi delighted him in so many ways. He can’t figure him out, can’t always expect the detective to say or do certain things… his reactions amuse him, he gets delighted when Shuichi even plays along with his antics at times. It made Kokichi become more and more intrigued by him overtime… and how he eventually comes to fall in love with him.

“Alright…” Shuichi mutters under his breath. “Everything can fit in here.” All his presents were fitted neatly inside of the colorful gift bag he bought. The special present will be nice and secure in one of his pockets, once he actually gets dressed. He had practically rolled out of bed to start organizing these gifts so he was still in his pajamas. A yawn leaving his lips, he stretches his arms. “Now to just find him and-?!”

The sudden sound of his door being knocked on made him jump in his seat. “Ah? Who is tha-”

“Saihara Shuichiii!”

“O-Oh…” He was honestly a bit worried it’d be Kokichi at the door, mostly because he hasn’t put the gift bag away yet. And because he made a yelp when he jumped, Kokichi knows he’s in there, so Shuichi can’t pretend he isn’t. “Uh, one moment! Let me just-!” Grabbing the gift bag, Shuichi scurries over to his bookbag and carefully places the gift bag inside before closing the bag back up.

Kokichi crosses his arms, impatiently tapping his foot while pouting. “I’ve come here to finally carry out my mission of assassinating you, and you dare tell me to wait?”

“Comiiing…!” He heads over to the door to open it. “G-Good morning, Ouma-kun. Sorry, I had to..do something for a second.”

Kokichi eyes the detective up and down. Bed hair, still in pajamas, still looking a bit sleepy… it couldn’t help but make Kokichi snicker. “Wow, you look like crap! Did you sleep past your alarm or something? How irresponsible! Nishishi!”

“S-Shush, you. I just haven’t gotten ready, is all. Just give me a minute and I’ll be-woah!”

“Coming through!” Before he could even finish, Kokichi invites himself in by ducking under Shuichi’s elbow and squeezing past him.

A sigh, Shuichi closes the door and looks towards him. “So um, did you need something..? I was going to come to class once I was dressed, you know..”

“Forget about class right now! If you want to live to see another day… you’re going to spend the entire day with me!” Kokichi declares with a point.

“Huh?” He gives a small tilt of the head. “What did you want to do…?”

“You’ll know when you know!” Meaning: Kokichi really didn’t have a set plan, either. He just wants to spend some time with Shuichi and exploring the different shops in the city with him. “And I won’t take no for an answer! U-Unless…” Kokichi lowers his head. “S-Saihara-chan will refuse and force me to get out. He was already so cruel as to try hiding away from me in his room, a-after all…” Voice sounding like it’s breaking, Kokichi looks up to him with watery eyes. It was just his usual crocodile tears act, but there was still that small genuine hint of worry Shuichi wouldn’t want to deal with him that long. He wanted to hear it from Shuichi himself he wants to spend time with him.

“Ah! H-Hold on, it’s not if I said ‘no’, did I? Just...give me a minute to get dressed and we can do whatever you have planned, okay?”

“.......” And in a flick of a switch, Kokichi was beaming. “Good! Don’t keep me waiting too long, now~!” He heads back over to the door. “I’ll get dressed in different clothes, myself. Meet me outside in the hallway once you’re done. Oh, and fyi: other colors than black do exist, emo!”

“O-Ohh, whatever!” Swatting his hand in the air, he rolls his eyes before chortling. Snickering, Kokichi exits the room and heads back to his own. He changes into more casual clothes: specifically a black shirt, short-sleeved Panta hoodie, white pants, and checkerboard patterned shoes. Along with this, he still kept on his scarf and wore a clear bookbag with his clothes, too. A nice and simple look, but he internally hopes Shuichi will like it, too.

Shuichi throws on a brown button up shirt and beige jacket, along with black pants, brown loafers, and his bookbag. Kokichi was already waiting outside in the hallway when Shuichi came out. For a second, he couldn’t help but stare. Shuichi looked nice in his regular clothes, but in casual wear… he found him even more attractive. Shuichi in turn couldn’t help but blush lightly at seeing Kokichi. He thought he honestly looks cute in his normal clothes as well, but especially so in his own casual outfit. “Hmm… so even Saihara-chan can look good in something other than black, huh?”

“I can’t tell if I should take that as a compliment or an insult… just kidding. T-Thank you. You look nice, yourself.”

The already light blush on Kokichi’s face grows a bit worse from that, quickly turning around. “Aww, you flatter me, so!” But then in a more genuine tone, he says: “Thanks! Now come on, off we go!” In his burst of excitement, he grabs Shuichi’s wrist and drags him outside. The walk to the main parts of the city was about 10 minutes, so it wouldn’t take too long to get down there. It gave Kokichi some time to think about where he wanted to bring Shuichi with him to, first.

“Hmm… I’m kind of hungry. Let’s go to a cafe first. I’ll order me a Monster Chocolate Volcano Parfait! It cost about  ¥4,000 and you’re gonna pay for it!” Kokichi declares excitedly.

“What? I highly doubt such a drink exists. ...Or even costs that much.”

“You’re right, that was a lie! Really though, let’s go to one! I have trusty intel that lets me aware of alll the good joints in town, you see.”

“I-I’m sure you do…” They continued to talk and joke around and whatnot until they reached the specific cafe Kokichi wanted to come to. “Ahh… Milk Bread Cafe? I think I came here before, one time…”

“Ohh? Good, then! I’m still ordering that Deluxe King Mocha Parfait that I mentioned before, by the way.”

“That’s not even the same dessert you mentioned!” A playful roll of the eyes as Kokichi laughs, they enter inside. The hostess brings them to a booth that was near the windows. It had a nice view of the street, people and cars going to and about their way. The two take their time browsing the menu to see what they’d like before their waitress comes over.

“Welcome to Milk Bread Cafe! I’m Yumi and I’ll be serving you today! Just so you know, we’re doing a Couples Discount today~! Everything on our specials section of the menu will be half-off!”

“C-Couples Discount? Oh, well, um-”

“We’ll do that!”

“!” Shuichi looks over to Kokichi in surprise. His cheeks turn red, surprised he actually went along with it. Though he figured: he was only just going for it solely for the discount, and hence why he’ll play along and nods his head. “Y-Yeah! Me and my ...b-boyfriend will do that, then.”

Even if Kokichi was the one who spoke up; still hearing the word ‘boyfriend’ out Shuichi’s mouth makes his heart bounce around in his chest a bit, masking it with a big smile on his face. “So we’ll do that! Give me theee… purple velvet cake slice with vanilla bean ice cream and taro milk tea!”

“And I will have the marble chocolate milk bread with an iced medium caramel macchiato, please.”

“Right away, sirs! I’ll put that order in riiight away and be out in a second with your drinks.”

A nod from them both, the waitress heads over to do that. Kokichi looks back at Shuichi, having an amused smile on his face. “I’m surprised you actually went along with it.”

“W-Well, yeah? I mean, it would’ve been awkward if I said ‘no’ after that..” That, and Shuichi wouldn’t exactly complain over the thought of them having been mistaken as a couple.

“Nishishi! Well, I would’ve had you executed if you called me out for it. So good…” Their drinks and food eventually came. Kokichi takes a bite out of his cake and ice cream, a smile practically beaming on his face from how delicious it was. “This tastes so good~!”

Shuichi didn’t eat his food yet, instead finding himself spacing out. That big, bright smile on Kokichi’s face… he found it so precious. It makes a small smile appear on his own face, giving a content sigh under his breath.

“I want to steal one of your bread slices, too, Saihara-cha…?” Now he noticed Shuichi staring at him. Being looked at with such a content smile on Shuichi’s face: it flustered him a bit. He had to wonder how one boy could just look so handsome without even trying. Before he’d also find himself being lost in his eyes, Kokichi waves a hand in front of Shuichi’s face. “Helloooo? Earth to Saihara-chan!”

“!” He quickly shakes his head to snap out of it. “O-Oh, uh: sorry, did you say something?”

“Pfft, don’t go spacing out, silly! Eat your stuff already or I will!”

“Ah, right. Not that I mind if you really want to have a slice… I doubt I could finish all this myself, anyways.” He chuckles, actually just placing two slices of his bread on Kokichi’s plate before trying one, himself. “Ohh… this is really good! I love milk bread…”

Kokichi also tries one, nodding in agreement. “Yeah! Since you shared some of your stuff, I gueesss I can be nice to you for once and let you try a piece of my cake.” Now he simply would’ve just cut a piece with his knife, but to be a tease… he breaks off a piece of the cake with his fork and hovers said piece to Shuichi’s mouth. “Say ‘ahh’~!”

“H-Huh??” Shuichi blinks. “Wha, c-come on, that’s embarrassing… …..”

“Nishishi!” Snickering, Kokichi knew he was going to get that kind of reaction, and was about to bring his fork back when…

“....Ahh…” Shuichi leans in a bit to actually eat the piece. Flustered as he was for actually doing that, he mutters: “...I-It’s good…”

“..........” Kokichi didn’t say anything, save for a more noticeable blush on his face appearing. Bringing his fork back over to his plate, he gives a disinterested sigh. “...I knew you were super cheesy like that, but wow.” He scoffs, mostly to distract that he also felt pretty embarrassed.

“E-Eheheh...that’s what you get f-for trying to tease me.” It really did feel like they were a cute couple on a date. Shuichi would feel far too shy to even say it jokingly, but just thinking about it that way was making their little trip to this cafe even more enjoyable for him. For the rest of their meal, they chatted a little but ate silently for the most part. With Shuichi paying for them both and Kokichi at least wanting to leave a tip, they were off.

“Alrighty! Next, we’re going to go tooo… oh!” There’s a glint in his eyes. “One of my favorite shops!” He looks up at Shuichi, smiling mischievously while holding a finger up to his lips. “Only the bravest of souls can survive there.... Even for me, it was quite a challenge to overthrow the former leader of that place. I wonder if Saihara-chan will be able to live to see the light, afterwards…”

“I’m not sure if I even want to guess what kind of shop you’re talking about, now…”

Responding with only a snicker, Kokichi gestures him to follow him. A couple of streets later and they were in front of said shop Kokichi was talking about: a novelty shop that primarily sold props and items for pranks and tricks. It was no surprise he is a regular there, even being pretty good friends with the owner. They both enter inside, the shop being a small one with lively music playing in the background. Shelves and bins were filled to the brim with prank items like airhorns, firecrackers, fake mice/snakes/insects/etc., silly string, and much more. “Aaand here we are! Isn’t it perfect?!”

“A… shop that sells prank items. Oh my god… it really is perfect for you.” He remarks jokingly, curiously viewing around. “I’m guessing this is where you get most of your stuff for pranks…?”

“Yup! I need to restock on more. Maybeee…” He looks towards the firecrackers. “I put those in a pot and set it near Momota-chan on his bed while he’s asleep...then set it off and scare the shit out of him! Orrr…”  He directs his attention to a fake rat. “I hide this in Amami-chan’s locker and maybe this time, I’ll get an actual yelp out of him!”

“...Okay, I admit: sometimes it’s honestly funny whenever Momota-kun gets startled. So imagining someone like Amami-kun letting out a scream i-is kind of… p-pfft…”

The smile on Kokichi’s face widens. “Whaaat? Is Saihara-chan actually encouraging me to prank someone? I knew our super serious detective had a mischievous side~!”

“I-It’s not like that! Hahaha…!” He couldn’t even say that without his voice breaking before he started laughing. “Listen, if you buy that and try getting them with it, I take no shared responsibility for the consequences!”

“Ohh yes you will! It’s what you get for showing me your secret dark side, detective!” He declares in anything but a serious tone. Really though, he was super delighted whenever Shuichi jokes around with him like this. He didn’t act as stiff or serious as he normally would with things like this… or in general, really. Kokichi normally did not let others try to become close with him and yet… seeing how Shuichi gradually acts more casual and relaxed around him: it was such a wonderful feeling.

Grabbing two of those items he mentioned, Kokichi heads over to the counter, where the owner of the shop greets him. “Hey, Kokichi-san and friend! I see you got some stuff? Going to acquire more prank victims, hm?”

Shuichi gives a small ‘hello’ in response, while Kokichi gives a much more livelier: “Namoru-chan! Nishishi, you’ve got that right!”

“Nice. Oh, we actually got some new stuff in that I’m sure you’ll love.” And what turned from Kokichi simply buying two things instead turned into him buying almost 10 things, carrying two bags worth of pranking material.

“Good ol’ Namoru-chan always has the deets!” Glitter bombs, shock pens, airhorns, fake snakes… just a variety of different things he could utilize for any prank victim of his choice. This will especially come in handy when he and DICE really go crazy on the weekend and pull off as many pranks as they can.

“I-I can see that. Hahaha, Ouma-kun really does have his own dealer. But with pranks…”

“Mmmhm! By the way… you’re the only one I’ve shown this shop to. Don’t go telling anyone else, okay? Else I’ll subject you to Deep Web level torture!”

“Your secret is safe with me.” Which sounded sarcastic, but Shuichi really will keep it a secret. In a way, he felt a bit flattered he was the first person Kokichi wanted to bring to his favorite shop.

From there, Kokichi continued to drag Shuichi to several different shops. They window shopped in a few places, browsed the mall and popped into a few stores like a candy store and video game shop, and then Shuichi treated him to one of his favorite ramen joints once they became hungry again. All the while, the two continued to have nothing but fun together. His birthday was going so wonderfully, even he had to wonder how it could become any better.

Over the course of their activities, evening soon came. Having walked around all day and gone to several different places; the boys were pretty tuckered out, but didn’t want to part ways just yet. In fact: there was one more place Shuichi wanted to bring him. “...Hey, Ouma-kun?” Shuichi speaks up. “I want to bring you to one last place...is that okay?”

“Hmm?” Kokichi gives a curious tilt of the head. “Where to?”

“Yoyogi Park. The bus that leads there is just around the corner. Just to relax for a minute and… to show you something specifically there. Ah, but it’s a surprise.” He smiles, playing giving the gesture of placing a finger against his lips.

“A surprise, huh…?” Further intrigued, he gives a nod. “Alright, then let’s go. It better not be a boring surprise, Saihara-chan… but that’s a lie! Even I have high expectations you’ll impress me. Be honored!”

“Ah, I absolutely am. Though, I really hope you will like it…” There was slight uncertainty in his voice, but Shuichi told himself it will be okay. A short bus ride later, they were at the park. Shuichi loved to come here, as no matter what time of the day, it always seemed so quiet and peaceful. The view of the trees and ponds as one walks alongside the path was very beautiful. Shuichi often liked to take a stroll through it on foot or on his bike a lot of the time.

Gesturing Kokichi to just follow him, their walk was mostly in silence; but, the comforting kind of silence where it didn’t feel awkward if they weren’t saying anything. Kokichi may not seem like the type, but even he found parks nice to walk through every once in a while. It made him wonder even more where in this park that Shuichi wanted to show him as a surprise. After walking on the path for a while, Shuichi would start walking off it and towards the areas with lots more trees. “Just a little further…” He tells him. It wasn’t exactly easy to traverse past all the trees with no clear path, and it could be easy to get lost if you strayed off the path even just a little: but thankfully Shuichi knew exactly where he was going. After several minutes, the two would finally make it out of the secret path. Going through two big bushes, they were finally at the area Shuichi wanted to show him. “Well...here we are!”

“....!” What Kokichi was greeted with was a small garden area surrounded by bushes and shrubs. Petals of jasmine flowers from the shrubs they grew on litter parts of the ground. In the middle of the area is a fountain, with two benches on the left and right of it. Kokichi had never seen this area of the park before, so he was mesmerized. “Wooow…. Is this Saihara-chan’s secret base where he conducts shady deals with clients? I like it!”

“Very funny. But, ah…! Y-You do?” Relief washes over him, along with a bright smile appearing on his face. “I’m so glad…! I found this area a long time ago. It’s...pretty out of the way, as you now know, but… it’s so pretty, it’s worth it. I like to come here at times to relax, read, study… and whenever I just need to get away from it all and clear my head, coming here always helps. I haven’t shown anyone else this area before, so… I wanted you to be the first.” He admits with a soft chuckle, blushing lightly as he bashfully rubs the back of his head.

“....Me?” He feels his heart leap in his chest. He could tell it was a pretty special spot to Shuichi, so it made him far happier than he even realized that Shuichi trusted him enough to want to bring him here. Blushing, Kokichi darted his eyes away. “S-Saihara-chan’s being super cheesy again…”

“Ahaha… anyways, come over here…” Shuichi gestures him to sit at the bench with him. They put several of the bags from their multiple shopping trips down on the ground before Shuichi takes off his bookbag and opens it. It was finally time to give him the presents he had gotten him. He takes out the gift bag. “I know it’s awfully late to actually say it, but… Happy Birthday, Ouma-kun!” He holds the gift bag out to him. “This was why I didn’t show up to class this morning: I wanted to organize the presents I’ve gotten for you.”

“Oh…?” Kokichi accepts the gift bag. “I see, I see… so it wasn’t Saihara-chan trying to avoid me to escape being assassinated, after all…” He looks up to him, beaming. “Thanks! Let’s seeee…” Kokichi first takes out the dice block keychains. “Ohh! I’ve been needing to spruce up my keyring with new stuff!” Then he takes out the dessert teabags. “Chocolate and red velvet tea! The perfect tea to have at the round table with my most trusted generals…” He jokes with a snicker. He was loving each present so far, already. He then takes out the sketch Shuichi made of him. He was doing a goofy smile while doing peace signs with both hands, as if posing for a picture. It was light-hearted and cute, yet well drawn. He even drew him with his hat and cape on. “Ah….”

“D-Do you like it? No lie, I had fun drawing that, eheheh… I thought to myself: ‘What really captures Ouma-kun?’ And so...yeah!”

“......” He could feel his heart thumping harder in his chest and his face heating up worse. Yet, he couldn’t stop a genuinely happy smile from spreading across his face and gives Shuichi’s nose a playful poke. “Nerd! You forgot my super menacing supervillain chair and flying car, so it sucks… just kidding! I love it!”

The poke to his nose makes him giggle. Though hearing he loves the drawing, and overall all the gifts: it made much more worth it to have gotten him it. “I’m happy that you do…! But there’s...one more. One more th-that...I wanted to save for last.”

“?”

Shuichi exhales softly to try mentally keeping himself calm. From his pocket, he pulls out a small box. Inside would contain the special gift: a silver sterling bracelet. Being made of real silver, it was definitely expensive. It had a design of a crown on it, but not only that: Shuichi had this bracelet personally customized. In the middle of it, ‘Kokichi Ouma’ was engraved. He opens the box and takes the bracelet out. “Let me have your wrist for a moment…” Shuichi carefully places the bracelet around Kokichi’s wrist. “S-So what do you think?”

Kokichi does not say anything. The expression on his face is unreadable as he twists his wrist around to get a full look of the bracelet. Even just by looking at it, he knew it was not cheap. The tiny crown on it was a very nice touch, he thought. And then seeing it had his name on it… that Shuichi went that extra mile to make it even more personal and special to Kokichi… “......” He could not even come up with a mocking or teasing jab right away. He was touched. “I….I….” He utters softly: “I love it, Saihara-chan…”

Kokichi’s straightforward response surprised him, but made his heart swell up with happiness. “I’m glad… I wanted to save the best for last, haha.” Then there is a pause. This would be the perfect time, Shuichi tells himself: the perfect time to confess. The thought of doing so makes him extremely nervous, but he told himself to just get it over with. He didn’t want to keep holding it in. Shuichi speaks up with again with: “O….Ouma-kun?”

“Hmm? Got another surprise for me? Oh! Is it that you’ll fiiinally join my organization?”

“N-Not exactly. Um...a-ah…” Another exhale. He didn’t want to clam up right now: he wouldn’t allow himself to. He hesitates for a second, but… Shuichi would go to cup one of Kokichi’s hands in his own. “I just wanted to say that… I hope you had a lot of fun today. I most certainly did, anyway. Ouma-kun...deserves to have a nice birthday, after all. You always deserve to feel happy. You have such a… nice, genuine smile. And to be able to see that for myself multiple times today; I loved it. It was, um: w-why I was distracted staring at you in the cafe, honestly.” He chuckled shyly. “You’re...really cute.”

Kokichi’s heart leaped in his chest when Shuichi cupped his hand. He silently stared at him as Shuichi went on. Always deserves to be happy ... His genuine smile is adoring… to the point that even Shuichi found himself lost in it… were words he never believed anyone would tell him, before. Being called cute didn’t help the only worsening blush on his cheeks, either. He would slowly come to intertwine his fingers with Shuichi’s. “...Is Saihara-chan tr...trying to imply something?” His gaze softens, but there is still that hint of anxiousness in his eyes.

“I-I’m guessing it’s a bit more obvious by now, but…” He gives his hand a soft squeeze. He takes another second to just keep himself calm. Shuichi didn’t want to stammer at all once he finally says it. He looks towards Kokichi once more. “Ou… Kokichi.” Shuichi goes to cup his other hand. His thumb rubs the back of Kokichi’s palm gently. And that nervous look on his face… softens to a warm look in his eyes and a loving smile. “...I love you.”

Kokichi’s mouth is slightly agape. His eyes slowly widen and for a second, he gives Shuichi’s hand a tight squeeze. Did he hear that right, he wonders? Did he really hear Shuichi say just now that he loves him? “..........” Eyes lower to his lap. “...You better not be teasing me, Saihara-chan. Even to a liar like me, that’s a really cruel thing to lie about.” He doesn’t say it as if doubting Shuichi’s words: but rather, his anxiety making him believe such a worst case scenario could even happen.

“I am not. I would never be as heartless as to joke about this. I really do love you, Kokichi. For a long time, I have.”

Kokichi slowly looks back up at him. The way he says that, and the way he smiles at him: he knew for an absolute fact Shuichi meant every word he said. “A...Ah… pffft! Hahahaha!”

“Uh?” Shuichi was caught off guard when he suddenly started laughing. “Wh-What’s so funny?”

“N...Nothing, just: pffttt! Here I thought it’d be impossible for someone like Saihara-chan… to ever feel that way about me! He has a lot of friends… probably has other people crushing on him… then I find out he loves me! Has this been just a super long and incredibly realistic dream? Hahaha…!” Tears were streaming down his cheeks. But not from laughing so hard…. “Ha...a-ah…” His laughter dies down and he goes silent again. Sniffling, he wipes away the tears. At first, he didn’t know why he was suddenly doing so, but now he guessed it: he was just that happy. So overwhelmed from happiness; he couldn’t control the tears streaming down his cheeks.

“H...Hey. You okay? …Oh!” Next thing he knew, Shuichi was pulled into a tight hug. “K….Kokichi?”

Kokichi buries his face in Shuichi’s chest. Quiet sniffles leave him as he wipes more tears away, needing a moment to try readjusting himself. Shuichi feels warm in his hold… he didn’t want to let go. Once he felt he was okay enough to finally talk coherently, he looks up to Shuichi. “My beloved made me so happy just now, even I was at a loss for words… no fair! Pulling that kind of sneak attack on me!” He giggles, but then his voice softens again. “I guess you deserve a response. I…” He almost looked away from him, but forced himself to sit back up for a moment so he could look clearly at Shuichi. “....I love you, too, Sh...Shuichi. Just like how I stole your heart, you stole mine, so… you’ll have to take responsibility, mister!” He declares comically before quickly burying his face back in Shuichi’s chest. The smile that now adorned his face: Kokichi couldn’t remember the last time he was ever this happy. This was not what he expected to happen on his birthday… or at all, really. For once, just once: he was so happy to have been proven wrong.

“Kokichi…!” His initial reaction had him really scared he would regret confessing, but now hearing Kokichi in turn loves him.. In a burst of extreme happiness, Shuichi gives him a tight squeeze in the hug and pulls him even closer against him. His face is slightly buried in Kokichi’s hair, giggling in it. “Ah, I’m so...so happy right now, I-I… I was honestly so scared you maybe wouldn’t feel the same, you know…?”

“Yeah… if I had bad taste! Which I clearly don’t!” He snuggles up against him and nuzzles his head against his chest before eventually looking up at him. “To want to show me a special place of yours and confess to me, on my birthday, no less… what cheesy shoujo manga inspired you, huh? Nishishi!”

“H-Hey! I’m not hearing any complaining either way, am I?” He remarks while playfully poking Kokichi’s cheek, which makes the both of them start laughing. “So I… g-guess that makes you my boyfriend now, huh? Ahh…” Just even being able to say the word ‘boyfriend’ in regards to Kokichi makes him feel warm inside. “....Kokichi?” Shuichi goes to gently cup Kokichi’s cheek, gently stroking it. He leans in closer to his face before he softly mutters: “M...May I…?” Gazing at his lips for a second, it was apparent what he was hinting at.

“I-Idiot, you don’t need permission to kiss your b...boyfriend.” Which was his roundabout way of saying yes, he was more than okay with it. Kissing Shuichi was something he’s wanted to do for a long time.

Shuichi’s eyes slowly come to a close as he leans in closer. His lips softly press against the other’s, a soft sigh emitting from him. In turn, Kokichi also closes his eyes and leans more into the kiss. His heart was fluttering. Shuichi’s lips felt nice and soft to him… he wanted to bask in this as much as he could. Once they pulled away, Kokichi wraps his arms around his neck and… makes them both fall down. A surprised yelp leaving Shuichi in response, he was now laying on his back with Kokichi on top of him. “Ah...a-ahaha! Geez…” He quickly goes to wrap his arms around him, again. They softly nuzzle their foreheads together while getting lost in each other’s eyes. The look Shuichi gives him is filled with so much adoration and love. Kokichi gives him a similar look, bringing a hand up to stroke Shuichi’s hair. It felt soft and smooth as he combs his fingers through it.

“Shuichi always looks so attractive… it should be illegal. But, he’s mine now, so! I can have my beloved Shumai all to myself… and I’m not sharing!”

“Hehe… y-yes, Kokichi. I don’t want to share you, either. I’m all yours… and only yours. Once more, I love you… and Happy Birthday.”

With that, Kokichi leans in to initiate the kiss this time. A longer, more loving and passionate kiss. He’d joke about it, but: being able to do cheesy, lovey-dovey things with Shuichi from now on… he was looking forward to it. He was going to make sure to be a wonderful boyfriend for Shuichi, make him happy as he can… and in turn, Shuichi will absolutely do the same.

#oumasaiweek #Shuichi Saihara #Kokichi Ouma #saiouma #danganronpa #Kay's writings

[adens-x-adventure]

I barely know what to say... today was.. difficult and... eye opening. Where do I start on this? Well how about we start with where I am now. I am back in Geosenge town again. I did attempt to make my way to Shalour but the events of today have canceled any travel there for the future. I can't risk trying to go there until we get better.... Until I get better.. I am hoping writing this down will give some ideas on how to move forward, though honestly I am unsure of if that is even possible. Let me start from what happened this morning.

The day started actually very nicely as I woke up to find the eevee snuggled up on the bed near my head. I felt blessed by them and it was a fantastic way to start the morning. They were quietly snoozing away on the pillow curled up in their tail. Absolutely adorable. Iggy and Erin shifted on the end of the bed, before continuing to sleep as per the usual. Skyler was kneeling asleep next to the bed on the other side of me, making little grunts in there sleep. Taro was passed out in the cushioned chair sitting in the corner of the room, his bag of sticks and trinkets hung off the edge of the chair. Just a normal peaceful sunny morning as usual for the team.

I did my best to move slowly as to not wake up the others. I took a quick shower to prepare for the long journey to Shalour city. There was a good chance at this point I would need to camp out on the route there or in the mountains before the city. I needed to do some stocking up on supplies and make sure the tent I had in my bag was in good shape. I had lucked out so far being able to afford a room everywhere I went but I had no choice now. Probably would not be bad to get in the habit of camping to save some money too. Being a traveling trainer really can get expensive sometimes. The mountains can be confusing enough to slow down progress and that is after whatever challenges the route brought forward.

I started doing a mental checklist of all the parts I would need to check before departing. Tent, sleeping bag, and food were priority right now. I took a look at my clothes and decided washing them would be a good idea as well. I had no idea when I would get to wash them again and I really did not to want to be stuck wearing gross clothes on the mountain. Hygiene products in general would be a must I thought as I squeezed out my last bit of toothpaste from the tube.

I departed my room for my shopping endeavors, whole team at my side. Sklyer carried the eevee (I really do need to give them a name) on their back. I strongly hoped I didn't have another lazy pokemon on my hands. I had created a physical list of what was needed and Taro was looking it over. I asked him if he could even read. Taro without looking whacked my arm with one of his sticks. Nice that we had moved up from leg hits to arm. Was not looking forward to face. He handed the list back, yipped, and looked at me expectantly. Confused I asked what he wanted. He poked me, pointed at the list, then gestured around. It took me a moment before to figure it out. I asked if he was asking where we were going. He nodded then pointed at the list. It makes sense he can't read him being, you know, a pokemon. With how intelligent they can be I always seem to forget that their actual knowledge is comparable to a small child's. I wonder if they would want to learn but that is a thought for another time. I told him if he wanted to we could split up the work. Taro nodded excitedly.

I thought over the tasks. What sort of tasks can a sassy Braixen do without supervision. I looked over the list a few times and found what I thought was a good few items. I handed them another list I had which consisted of foods and meals for the trip. I told him that he could get the items on the list. He looked at the list, then to me, and then back to the list. He tapped my arm a bit sharply but much lighter than before. He looked at me perplexed and pointed at the list. I looked at the list again and nothing standing out as wrong to me at first. I was about to hand it back before I face palmed at my own stupidity.

I looked at Taro staring at me, tapping his foot and stick, giving me an annoyed look. I apologized and started to draw pictures of the items next to them. He grinned and nodded. I am not very skilled at drawing so this took a good while but I thought I did a good job. I explained to him what the items were as well just to make sure. Skyler headbutted into my leg (ouch) and started bleeting at me wanting attention. I rubbed his horns with one hand and pet the eevee with the other. I asked if he wanted to accompany me or Taro shopping hoping quietly he would choose me. Not going to lie, I really wanted to spend more time with the eevee and Skyler was the deciding factor on it since eevee was attached to them right now. So, of course, he ran up to Taro immediately, no hesitation. Traitor.

Anyway, I told the Taro to keep an eye on them and make sure they stayed out of trouble, gesturing and pointing at Skyler not so subtly. I gave him some money from my wallet to shop with and prayed this would not be a terrible idea. Taro took it grinning and ran off with Skyler towards the local grocery store. They were out of sight before I realized what very well could have been my second mistake. Did Taro know how to count properly? He had ordered room service in the past and bought things so hopefully it worked out.

I turned my attention toward Iggy and Erin now who were trudging along with glazed over looks in their eyes. Certainly not morning mons that was for sure. I enthusiastically told them it was up to the three of us to test the camp gear set up. The response i got back was some less enthusiastic complaining followed by them both curling up under a tree. I sighed and got to work. It's not like they were going to be able to help much anyway.

About a hour or so later I had properly built the tent, set out the cooking gear, and checked over all my camping tools. The cooking gear needed a clean but was fine and the tools I had were still mostly unused and in good condition. The tent was just big enough to hold me, my gear, and maybe three of the smaller mons like Iggy, Erin, and the eevee. This was going to be the problem. I swore to myself to not put anyone in the balls if I could avoid it. Perhaps I could buy another pup tent when I got a chance but I had checked in at the shops and the only tents available were on order. I wanted to ship out today and was getting antsy. Serena and the others were no doubt ahead of me. I really wanted to be the first in the group to get mega evolution too. I started thinking how I honestly envy the others a bit but my thoughts were interrupted by a loud yip and baa.

Taro and Skyler returned now with the groceries. I was surprised to see that Sklyer had a little saddlebag now which was how he was carrying all the groceries back. I asked them where that bag came from. Taro did his best to explain through gestures. He mimed carrying something heavy at first then sprung up like he had an idea and pointed to the bags Skyler had. It took me a few moments to piece it together. I hesitantly guessed that Taro bought the bags because they were having trouble carrying the groceries. Taro nodded excitedly and gave that smirk of his, probably thinking he was clever. I had not thought about how they were getting the groceries back so it was a clever solution, I will give him that. I asked if he had got a receipt. Taro was sweating a bit and looked confused. I explained it was a slip of paper with how much everything cost. Taro nodded understanding. He rummaged through the bags and found them, then cautiously handed it to me. He was acting real suspicious i thought. He was hiding something. I read the receipt and realized why.

That damn bag cost me a fortune. I wondered if they had got conned by someone because those bags could not be worth the price I saw on the receipt. I asked Taro for my wallet back. Again, hesitation. He reached in the bags again and pulled it out. He passed it to me and I took a fearful look.

Almost three quarters of my money was gone. I walked over to a tree nearby and collapsed. That money was supposed to last me for at least a week and a half. Now I had just enough to pick up the essentials in Shalour and maybe 4 more hotel visits. My planned budget was out the window. I would need to find some more income than from battles quick or I would be broke and stranded in whatever town I ended up in.

Skyler noticing my anguish kneeled next to me and leaned his head in my lap. I pet his head gently. It felt like a nice moist but soft moss. I was able to calm down a bit and decided to take a few deep breaths before going anywhere. Taro approached cautiously, head down to avoid eye contact. This time he didn't need to do anything for me to understand what he wanted to say. I took another deep breath. I told him that it would be ok. He looked at me confused. I told him again that we would be fine. I invited him to sit down next to me. I commended him for thinking of the saddlebag, I had not thought of that and it would be very helpful. We would be need to be super careful on spending moving forward from now on though. Taro finally looked me in the eyes with a bit of remorse but seemed to understand. He sat down next to me and pulled out a stick to chew on. Honestly he looked a mixture of cute and cool nibbling away on it with his hands behind his head, a the rest of the stick hanging out of his mouth like a large toothpick. I observed the tent across from us now.

The eevee trotted towards the tent, sniffing around. He found Iggy and Erin and slowly approached them, cautious to not wake them up. Despite this Iggy opened an eye to them. The eevee stopped in their tracks petrified. Iggy nodded slowly before going to sleep again. The eevee resumed their advance and cuddled up with them.

I asked Taro if he had any thoughts of why they were always sleeping. He uttered a few yips that meant nothing to me. We locked eyes and both laughed. I said that one of these days I should find a way for us to communicate clearer. I felt bad that Taro clearly understood me but I never understood him. A thought for the future.

I resigned myself to another half hour to just enjoy the moment. It was honestly a beautiful day, sunny with the wind gently blowing through the field outside the town. The stone structures loomed and bent around the scenery. The lazy trio napped in the tent together, while Skyler enjoyed pets to the head from me. Even Taro joined in. Such a spoiled skiddo he was.

Half hour later we departed on our way through the route. I was greatly appreciating those saddle bags now. It took so much weight off my shoulders and Skyler seems fine with it. Only risk being when he would run off somewhere but that bag was showing just how sturdy it was. Still keeping the fragile items to myself for now.

As we wandered the route I noticed pointy crystals coming out of the ground. They looked super cool. They oddly felt cool to the touch. Very smooth. I caught out the corner of my eye Erin staring at them for some reason. I attempted to approach but she just glared at me and flapped her ears as a threat. We were still on rough terms it seemed.

We had a fair share of battles on the route with other trainers. It was good practice and things were looking good. Also due to the custom of money being rewarded to the winner we were a bit less in the red. The eevee was still not quite fit enough to fight despite my efforts but he tried his best. Poor thing was very timid. Even the wild pokemon seemed to be beat him. It was wonder he had survived in the wild less than a week ago.

Eventually we had the cave entrance in view. I pulled out my map and tried to determine whether we should find camp nearby at this point or brave finding a gap in the cave system to camp out. Despite knowing the cave was well lit and traveled I still would rather not be camping inside. My planning was interrupted by a familiar voice. I looked up from the map to see the spiky skater girl with the lucario again. She asked if I was planning on going through the cave today. I told her that I was just trying to figure out whether to roll though it or camp out and push through tomorrow. She looked over from me to my team. She asked if this was all of my team. A odd question but I told her yes it was. She looked to her lucario and back at my team thinking. She then offered some very brash advice.

She told me that I should probably wait until I was stronger. I winced at that comment a bit. It hurt a bit to hear that and I asked why she thought that trying my best to hide my indignation. She told me that my team had no good types against rock or fairy types which the cave was full of. In fact some of my team were even weak to those types she said looking to Taro who had joined the conversation. I explained that I had no problem with those types when I fought them before. Why would now be a problem? I could tell by her expression that my irritation was clear as she now sternly told me that I would be risking me and my teams safety going in now. The caves were deep and winding. The wild pokemon could be violent and rescue was difficult if something happened.

Now my whole team was watching. I felt like I had been openly insulted by her advice and remarks. My face felt red now and I yelled at her we would be just fine. My team was strong, I had gear ready, and I couldn't waste anymore time getting to Shalour city. I felt like she was looking down on me at that point. Disappointed. What bubbly personalty she had before was gone and now she stood almost menacingly facing me down. She sternly told me that I was the leader to my team. They had put their trust in me to make the right decisions. Any risks you take they shoulder for you she told me. She now whispered so the group could not hear. Do you want to make them take that risk to save some time? Are you selfish enough to do that? I turned away from her and saw my team looking at me concerned. I took a deep breath to try and regain some composure. I could feel how red my face was and my breathing was heavy.

I thanked her. She nodded pleased thinking I had agreed with her assessment. Then I added that we would be trying this cave though. She looked at me in a bit of shock then anger. I told her that I did trust my team. They could do this. It might be hard but I had seen them overcome the odds before. She looked at me disappointed in my choice yet again. She shrugged and said that this was my journey to make mistakes on but I shouldn't let my hubris harm the others. With that she skated away.

I turned to my team who looked a mixture of confused and scared. I told them that I really did trust them. We are strong and capable. I pointed towards Iggy. "You were able to almost solo the rock gym yourself despite your weakness to it." I saw a small hint of smile from him. Then I pointed to Sklyer. "You have been able to tank through the hardest hits from our opponents. A true tank of a pokemon". He bleated excitedly. Now to Erin. "You carry so much power in a small package" i stated. "With a bit more practice and refinement you will be one of the strongest among us" For once the look in her eyes was less creepy and more determined. I picked up the eevee. "You have a ton of potential" I said while stroking his head. I was not sure what to say here to be real. The little guy was still fresh. Finally I looked to Taro. "And you made it here with me from the start. Present for all our victories and key to getting us this far" His smug grin was back and he patted himself on the back. I told them we would rest for 15 minutes then embark into the cave. I pulled the map out again to plan our route. I was going to show that skater girl I was not weak.

And how foolish I was to think that.

I gather the others up after a short lunch. I prepped myself mentally. While we were eating I found a spot using an older map I found online that could be a good stop point. It was opened up out of the caves and was only a bit off the well worn path. I wondered why I had not found this earlier searching and asking around. Only this map has it and it seemed to be erased from the others. Weird but after some quick checks other maps from 3 years ago had it too. I would normally be cautious but at the moment I was too determined to prove that girl wrong.

Everyone was ready. Skyler was packed up bags and all with the eevee on their back again, Taro was leading the pack next to me, and even Iggy and Erin looked ready for once. We embarked into the cave together in pride.

It was a bit dark but well illuminated by trail markers built inside. The true beauty of it was what gave it the name reflection cave: the reflective crystals. They spanned entire walls and twisted in different ways around. I was impressed even more that most of them were clear in their reflections with little distortion. It was like a mirror maze at a carnival. I told my team to stay close. I didn't want anyone getting lost.

Occasionally we would run into trainers who normally would spy us behind them in the crystals. They were clever to use them to their advantage too, making it harder to find their mons and being evasive. Luckily I caught on and was able to advise my team on what to do to counter them. Taro and Iggy picked it up quick and were able to the use the mirrors for their own evasion and countering. Tricking them with reflections and making the direction of attacks hard to find. Both of them also got some good vanity from looking at themselves in the crystal mirrors. Didn't think Iggy would be as vain as Taro but there he was posing in dramatic ways. That was until he saw I was watching him, then he grunted and walked off. Taro had to be pulled away, kicking and yipping. I told him that yes he looked very good and tried to pull him further. Little monster got free and made me look in a very distorted crystal that made my head look huge and gave me tiny irregular sized limbs. He gasped and pointed back and forth between me and the mirror. I knew what he was getting at, mocking me. I told him I did not look like that. He wagged his finger at me and pointed to the mirror. I let a little chuckle go. Dumb fox was great at roasting me per usual.

Erin figured out how to launch small blasts off the crystals and shoot them around like a pinball. Unfortunately her aim could use some work. She almost blasted me and the others a few times. Taro and the team got a really good laugh from me jumping around to dodge the blasts. It was not too funny for Taro though when one zinged over his head. Then I got a good laugh. Iggy stepped in and seemed to tutor her, giving her guidance. The relationship with those two was adorable. Iggy would be a mean grumpy jerk to anyone else about that but he was gentle with Erin and now the eevee as well to some degree. I honestly almost felt left out.

Skyler struggled hard. Poor dude was running full speed and bumping off walls trying to orient himself. I tried to guide him but the crystals really confused him. I rubbed his horns gently and told him stick with me so he wouldn't get hurt more. One of the few times I think I have seen him sad. Little quiet beets came from him instead of the loud joyful ones like normal.

With the eevee i didn't even try much to get him to fight. Most of the time he was at a disadvantage with level and type. Taro was strong enough so far to overcome it but he was certainly not. I don't think he minded though. He seems to thrive in the dark actually. It was getting later and he was becoming more energetic. Probably from napping all day though. Iggy and Erin could attest a bit for that.

We approached the area where the stop should be. Most of the team seemed ready to quit for the day and I felt that too. It took a careful eye but I saw a path not illuminated with a small exit on the end. Despite knowing that you should never go off the lit trail, I did anyway.

That was warning 1 I ignored.

It definitely had not been used in a long time. The path was filled with debris. I didn't think anyone had been down here in a long time.

Warning 2 ignored.

We exited out to open air for the first time. It was refreshing being outside again. A nice breeze blew through. The sky was clear and pretty with stars everywhere. The eevee seemed particularly entranced by them. The area was like a bowl surrounded in high rock formations. The grass was tall and overgrown. It didn't look like much of a site people would use to camp.

Warning number 3. Ignored.

I wandered around trying to find a spot to set up the tent and gear. I kicked a hard metal object and cursed loudly, it echoing a bit. Taro was first there, checking my leg then me in general to see if I was ok. I appreciated my foxy nurses help and picked up the object. A very old and worn sign that had fell and read:

WARNING

This site has been closed due to Carbink infestation. Carbink are a protected species under the pokemon preservation act and as such can not be forced to relocate. Until further notice this site is a refuge. Intruders are warned that Carbink are dangerous in large numbers, especially in their territory. It is highly advised to leave the area immediately.

Signed and posted by

Kalos Preservation Society

My blood turned cold. I heard what sounded like gentle pitter patter of little rocks and humming all around. I glanced around trying to identify where exactly but found the sound coming from all around the site.

A single small Carbink came over the ridge first. It looked like a small rabbit shoved into a floating gemstone. It hummed and the light tinkle of rock came from it. A few more came over the ridge. I felt relieved. They didn't look that fierce. Still I motioned for the others to try and leave.

Suddenly, small technicolor lasers shot out across the field. A few hit Taro and Skyler who both were knocked over over with a pained yeep and bleat respectively. I ran to help them and told the others to go. I helped Taro up first and Sklyer was already on his hooves again. We ran to the exit. Erin fired back a few shots in retaliation. They were effective, taking out a few but more of them arrived in their place. Lots more of them.

We were close to the exit when an avalanche of rocks came down. Luckily no got caught in it but the Carbink had moved in blocking the way out. It was clear to me now that we were fighting our way out.

Taro launched fire and psychic blasts at them all around but they were ineffective. They staggered them but it was clear Taro was losing ground. Skyler was dashing through and butting them out of the way with a sharp leaf attacks thrown in. He was our savior at first with his type advantage but he was tiring and there were so many left. Iggy was trying his best with Erin assisting him. He was also at a disadvantage, yet again faced with rock types. Everyone was fighting hard.

Except me. I could do nothing but watch and hold the eevee. Even he eventually jumped from my arms and tried to help with a weak effort, tackling a lone carbink to little effect. I was useless. I tried giving orders but what was the use. They were doing what they could while I stood there watching us get surrounded. I was relegated to throwing whatever potions I could at them to heal but it was clearly not enough.

It went through my head again and again. This was my fault. I brought us here for my pride. My hot headed ego wouldn't let just stop and wait. I tried to reason it as desperation due to our money but that was a lie. We had time even then. I was responsible for us being stuck here.

All of us became closely packed together by the carbink, surronded. Skyler collapsed at my feet. I stroked his head gently. He was hurt bad. He had pushed past his limits. I started to tear up. I couldn't help it. I was so frustrated how much harm I caused. The eevee fell next, thrown into our pathetic circle, bruised and beaten. Then Iggy fell after a few blasts protecting Erin. I pulled towards us and out the fray. Erin let out a loud screech and went berserk launching blasts everywhere taking out a large portion of them. The carbink fired back and she collapsed from the sheer force thrown at her. The carbink marched forwards filling in the gaps of the ones before. Taro, our last hope, was barely standing. Shaking and breathing heavy. He looked scared. Tears in his eyes. I wanted say things were going to be ok. I wanted to tell him... no everyone... that they were great companions on this journey. Taro fell to his knees, unable to stand any longer. The carbink moved in, us at their mercy. I was sure this was it. The carbink glowed ready to attack further. I pulled my team in tight as I could to me, trying to comfort both them and myself as the carbink readied the final blows.

A loud roar erupted over the valley, catching mine and the carbinks attention. I had moments to recognize the source.

It was a lucario but it looked... different. It was much larger, more jagged, and a powerful aura emanated from it. In seconds it had zoomed from the top of the valley to the bottom with incredible speed. It launched through the carbink, defeating them with ease. Punches and blasts were exchanged but it was clear that the lucario was winning. A long bone staff in hand he swept them away then followed up with a large blue sphere piercing through their formation.

I caught it out of the corner of my eye. Skater girl was there with her other lucario in tow. She peered down at us from the ridge, a fierce look of determination to win and disappointment in the mess she saw in front of her. That menacing look was still there but now I welcomed it.

The carbink retreated back to where they came, doing what they could to pull their defeated away. It eventually was just my defeated team, me, and skater girl with her squad. The jagged looking lucario took a deep breath then changed back to a normal form, the aura from before fading.

Skater girl grabbed my shoulder and turned me around to face her. She looked into my teary eyes and I could feel the contempt, the frustration she had. She glanced away from me to my defeated team. The lucarios were emptying her bag of medical supplies healing the others. She looked back to me and said two words that destroyed me.

Be better

I broke down as the weight of the those two words crashed down on me. I wept and could not stop. She stood there awhile letting me weep. Then she told me she was taking me and my team back to Geosenge. She explained the situation now. I was to either figure out my issues and get better... or quit. She would be waiting in Shalour for me. She told me to put my team in their balls to bring them back. I told her I couldn't. I promised that I would avoid it if I could. She looked at me at first with anger then pity. She nodded and helped get the others up.

"The only reason I am not telling you to just quit and leave your team to someone better is your compassion for your team. Only a caring trainer would make a promise like that to their team" She stated to me. "Despite your promises though, you need to do what is best for your team"

I relented and slowly but surely returned my team into the devices I captured them in. I didn't like it. It was so... Lonely. Skater girl or Korrina as she reminded me her name was escorted me back to Geosenge. She left me quickly after that.

I honestly right now still don't know what to do. The team is in the infirmary being thoroughly checked over and staying the night. Luckily other than some nasty gashes and bruises they will be ok. I am alone in this room for the first time since my journey began. And I hate it. I am going to spend some time deciding on my next move. I need to reflect on the events of today. I will consult the team tomorrow for thier input. I owe my team a lot.

Sorry for the long post. I will update this when the decision has been made.

#aden's x adventure #Pokemon #x adventure

[g-on-ef]

The Dragon’s little ice Angels

A/N: Just so there is no confusion this canon divergence. It takes place after the Daphne arc, Sting is Sabretooth’s Guild Master, there will be no seven year gap where everyone was asleep for seven years, Zeref doesn’t exist, and this is a Gray/Sting fic ^^ alright now that we have that outta the way on with the show ^^

Summary: After a one night stand with a member of Sabretooth, Gray finds out he is pregnant and has a choice either ask for help from the guild that is slowly starting to hate him or run as far away as he possibly can; he of course choses the second option and leaves Fairy Tail. Five years later he gives birth to two adorable children the problem? His little miracles have a dangerous ability that everyone wants to get their hands on. Gray will do whatever he can to protect his children even from their own father.

Prologue

Gray stared at the tiny stick in his shaky hand. He had to blink multiple times to make sure that what he was seeing was really there and not his mind playing tricks on him. Although he did wish for the latter he knew better.

He knew what the answer was before he even took the test, he just…a large part of him was hoping that it would be wrong; that he was being delusional and psyching himself out sadly he was right. Never in his life has he been upset that he was right; the test in his hand just proved that his deepest fears and worries were exactly what he was thinking.

He was pregnant. From a Sabretooth member, Fairy Tail’s greatest rival. He couldn’t stop staring at the test with a stupid smiling face on it and the large positive word spread across it.

He threw the test across the bathroom and curled up into a ball, he couldn’t help but cry; he was scared, not only did he go and sleep with someone who was a rival against his guild but he also got pregnant by him.

He should have taken the morning pill or asked the guy-Sting-to wear a fucking condom, he should have been more prepared instead he was to angry, to upset, and a little bit tipsy to think properly. He lost his virginity in a one night stand and ended up pregnant.

His mother always told him if he has sex to always be prepare because sometimes you’ll get lucky and not wind up pregnant other times you won’t.

Guess he was one of the few unlucky ones. He buried his face in his hands as he kept crying, he felt lost and alone. He couldn’t go to Makorav or Erza. They along with the rest of Fairy Tail-including Natsu-were still pissed off with him because of the whole Daphne thing. Which if he was being honest was fucked up on many levels.

One how can they look at him as a traitor when they allowed people like Gajeel, Juvia, and the Thunder Legion into the guild when they caused more damage to their family then he did. Granted his plans had flaws but he knew that if he and Natsu spoke Natsu would ruined everything and let’s face it, the boy was the worst actor in the history of actors.

Yes, what he did was wrong and he deserved to be paid for his mistakes but did he deserved to be isolated and ignored? Whenever he walked by any of his so-called friends they would either sneer at him or flat out ignore him or worse ask him if it was them that he was going to betray next. Not to mention that Master banned him from going on missions for a month and was only allowed minor missions that were in Magnolia and nowhere else, he claimed that this was Gray’s punishment for what he did but Gray knew that that was nothing but bull. If that were the case why did Erza, Mirajane, Natsu, Lucy, Gajeel or even Gildarts (who decided to come back) came and check on him and went through his house like he was some criminal. Why did Gildarts and Erza accompany him to his minor missions and followed his every movement waiting for him to give them a reason to attack.

He hated it, he didn’t want to sound like a spoiled child but he couldn’t help but think of how unfair this was; he hurts one person and he is the criminal meanwhile Gajeel, Juvia, and the Thunder Legion were given a slap on the wrist and were allowed back in the guild with open arms. As if they didn’t even cause harm to them and their guild hall. He continue to cry and wonder what he was going to do.

There was no way in hell he was getting an abortion, while he was pro-choice he knew in his heart that he couldn’t bring himself to terminate his pregnancy. Mainly because he promised himself that when he had kids he will protect them with his life and that is what he intended to do. Protect his little bundle of joy and make sure that they are always happy and have the childhood that he never had. But how could he do that when he was surrounded by people who were pissed off with him?

He couldn’t help but cry harder; if anyone found out that the father of his baby was a Sabretooth member and not just any member but their own guild master the entire Fairy Tail guild would throw a fit and hate him-and the little one-more.

He cried harder, thinking how his little one was going to be hated all because of who their parents were, they didn’t deserved that, they deserved happiness; to grow up in a healthy environment, as much as he hated to admit it…Fairy Tail was not a happy nor was it a safe environment.

Seriously what guild let criminals into it’s home? What sort of master punishes only a selected few members but not everyone else? If Gray thought long and hard Fairy Tail…and the message…was nothing but a lie.

What family turns its back on others just because someone told them to? Granted Laxus held the girls hostage but they could’ve thought of other ways to save the girls; they didn’t have to fall prey to Laxus and his games.

The more he thought about it the more he begins to wonder if Fairy Tail was truly what Master Makorav said or if everyone was lied to.

Before he could dwell on it any longer his thoughts were interrupted by a coughing sound.

Looking up he saw Laxus and Loke standing at the door way, he relax seeing the only two people who still viewed him as a friend and not the enemy, the ones he told about his dilemma. He would forever be thankful to Loke for running to the nearest pharmacy to get him the test so that he could avoid looking suspicious.

“So, judging by your tears the answer is not a good one?” Laxus ask looking at the young bluenette. Hearing those words just made it more real causing a new wave of tears to fall from his eyes.

“Whoa, whoa, Gray it’s okay no need to cry,” Loke said as he kneel down beside his friend and pulled out his handkerchief and wiped the boy’s tears.

“It-It’s not o-okay LoLo my-my ba-baby,” he covered his face as more tears continue to fall, different scenarios continued to flow through Gray’s mind, none of them were good.

Loke hugged his friend as tight as he could, knowing Gray’s fears and the thoughts that were currently plaguing his mind.

“Gray,” Laxus landed on his knees and grabbed his hand; he then lifted his head so that he could look at Laxus in the eye.

“If you’re worried about your baby don’t be, me and Loke are going to do whatever we can to protect you and your little one. No one is going to lay a hand on that baby and as long as I am still breathing that baby will never have to live in fear,”

“Laxus,”

“The same goes for me,”

Gray turned to look at Loke.

“Loke?”

“No matter what happens Gray I am going to make sure that you and your little one are safe even if I have to spend another year here in the human world,”

“But wh-what about Lucy?”

“If Lucy needs me fine I’ll be there but she never summons me; hell the ones she summon the most are Taros, Virgo, Aquarius, Gemini, and Sagittarius other than that she really uses me so I can come and help you in any way that I can,”

Gray looked at his best friend and at Laxus, these two were willing to give their lives for him and his child. They were going to do whatever they can to help him no matter the cost.

Gray couldn’t help but cry again only this time he was crying tears of joy, wrapping his arms around both Laxus and Loke Gray cried and thanked them for their support and for not abandoning him.

Laxus and Loke hugged their friend back and comfort him as best as they could, knowing that he needed their support now more than ever.

After calming down Gray pulled back and wiped his face,

“Thank you, you guys have no idea how much I appreciate the things you have done for me,”

“Think nothing of it,”

“Laxus is right, if it weren’t for you Gray I would never know what it means to have a family. You’re the reason why I survive this long so I owe you,” he smiled at his friend who couldn’t help but return it back with his own.

“Now let’s think, you can’t stay here anymore,” Laxus said. He didn’t want to ruin the sweet moment that they were having but someone had to think realistic and there was no way he was letting Gray do all the thinking plus worrying about the guild and their thoughts on him was something that Gray did not needed right now.    

“I’m not concern about money, I have plenty of that,”

“Right because of your parents, right?”

“Right, coming from a wealthy family does have its perks,”

“Okay so we don’t have to worry about money since you’ll be financial stable for a while we do have worry about were you will live, not to mention we will have to make sure that it’s somewhere no one will recognize you and-“

“Laxus?”

“Yeah?”

“Why don’t we wait until tomorrow to discuss all of this?”

Before Laxus could say that right now was a good time to talk about it Loke gesture to Gray who looked like he was ready to pass out. Laxus understood what he meant by discussing this tomorrow. The ice wizard looked like he was ready to pass out any moment.

“You’re right, this can wait till tomorrow right now we need to get some rest,”

Loke gently picked Gray bridal style and took him to his room Laxus following close behind, Gray couldn’t help but smile as he was laid down on his bed and Loke tucked him in, Loke then got in bed with him Laxus told Gray to scoot down so that he could fit in the bed.

Once the three were settled they closed their eyes and decided to fall asleep. Gray didn’t mind that he was squished in the middle between his two friends, the three cuddle one another as they drifted to sleep, Gray’s last thoughts before he fell asleep were of two small little children; a boy who looked just like him, and a little girl who resembled her father. He smiled as images of his future child filled his dreams and he knew he was going to be alright.

A/N: good ??? Bad ??? should I continue this ??? Let me know please ^^ Next chapter will be up tomorrow along with my ereri story ^^ 

#fairy tail #stingray #sting eucliffe #gray fullbuster #sting x gray #mpreg #angst and fluff #smut #fanfiction #fanfic #writing