#i think i understand now what my college classmate i befriended meant

[garlichoisan]

Singing in the shower | liu yangyang

➸ Genre: Fluff

➸ Pairing: Yangyang × f reader

➸ Word count: 7 197

➸ Information:

college!au, childhood friends, friends to lovers, friends!NCT Dream 00 line, bestfriend!Yeji (ITZY), very slight NoMin references (Jeno + Jaemin), mention of Mark Lee, reader is a few months older than YangYang (born in the same year)

➸ Warnings: A lot of fluff as usual.

➸ Plot:

You're forced to learn how to live without your closest friend from childhood who has to go live in Germany with his parents, leaving you heartbroken. You thought YangYang was going to be by your side forever. As years have passed and you've almost started to forget about him, he suddenly appears in your life again, turning it upside down, and this time, nobody's leaving.

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➸ A/N: This oneshot took me over 2 months and a half to write and was written as a part of my dear @renjunniehome's song fic challenge (?)

Not really a challenge, but it's an event where diffent NCT writers write fanfics based on songs so make sure to check it here: PLAYLIST FICS MASTERLIST

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“I don't know, it's just something about ya

Got me feeling like I can't be without ya

Anytime someone mention your name

I be feeling as if I'm around ya”

YangYang and you have always been a package deal; you were so close as children that at one point people couldn’t imagine one of you without the other and honestly, you also couldn’t imagine what your life would be without your best friend. There was something about him that made you feel butterflies in your stomach, even though as a child you could not identify and understand clearly what it was.

Besides that, your parents and YangYang’s were very close so you sometimes had family dinners together; that happened often, since you were neighbors and your houses were literally right next to each other. Your parents loved YangYang like their own son, maybe because he spent so much time in your house, had dinner there, and even stayed the night quite often for your sleepover parties. Of course, his parents were also very happy when you went to his house in order to spend time with him. Everyone in the neighborhood thought you’d end up marrying each other when you grow up, even if your child selves denied it with disgust. However, you couldn’t deny that your face always lit up when your parents told you YangYang and his parents would be coming over for dinner. Just the mention of his name made you start jumping with excitement.

But apparently everything good had to end sooner or later. You could still remember the shock you felt when you learnt YangYang would be leaving his house which was right next to yours in order to go live and study in Germany. He explained with glossy eyes that his parents have found better work opportunities there and that this probably meant you wouldn’t see each other very often. When you first heard this, you burst out crying, hugging him tightly, begging him not to go. Even though he also didn’t want to go, he was just a child so he had to leave with his parents. That left you heartbroken; you tried to text him in the beginning in order to keep in touch but it was getting difficult because of the time difference, as well as the lack of personal contact. Slowly you started to get used to life without him, no matter how much you wanted him back, but you couldn’t really learn to be happy without him.

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“Ain't no words to describe you baby

All I know is that you take me high

Can you tell that you drive me crazy?

'Cause I can't get you out my mind”

As the years were passing and you were growing up, you started to understand what your feelings for your childhood friend meant. Before you heard the word “crush”, you thought you just loved to be next to YangYang because he was funny and was making you laugh. But as a teenager, you realized you still missed him, even though you had no idea what he looked like now, how much he had changed, and most of all, you felt how you haven’t gotten over him at all. People your age started to date, but you weren’t interested in anyone, since subconsciously you kept comparing them to your childhood friend. You never even went to dates, and you realized how childish your behavior was, but honestly, nobody seemed like your type anyways. You barely had any friends, since the overly-romanticized idea of YangYang has turned into a standard for your friendships as well. You felt as if you were going crazy because of him as you only thought of him and how you would feel if you could meet him now.

* * *

A few years have passed and you were now in university, trying to live without the thought of YangYang as you realized you were probably never going to meet him again. Now you had some amazing friends who were bringing colors into your life and sometimes distracted you from thoughts about your childhood friend.

You were currently having lunch with your friends from your class. Suddenly you saw Jaemin, one of your friends, running towards your table and finding a place to sit, as he looked as if he was excited for some reason.

"Guys, big news! Apparently we're gonna have a new guy in our class. I heard he's German. I can't wait to meet him! European peopleare so good-looking!" Jaemin said with a dreamy gaze.

“Why would there be a German in our class?” You asked confusedly.

“I don’t know, that’s what the rumors are.”

As you heard the word ‘German’, you suddenly thought of YangYang again, trying to stop the association in your mind before it was too late. For the rest of lunch time you were a lot more silent than usual, quietly eating your food as Haechan was telling jokes, Renjun was laughing, and Jaemin kept annoying Jeno.

The next day you had an early class and as you heard your alarm ring, you groaned softly in annoyance, turning it off and literally rolling out of bed, as you fell to the floor, hugging your blanket, together with your bunny plushie which was actually a present from YangYang.

“Stop overreacting, you drama queen. Nobody has ever died from early morning classes,” your roommate and best friend, Yeji, said.

Sometimes you wondered how could she be so energetic, enthusiastic and optimistic, even early in the morning.

“Yeah, I might be the first one though,” you cried out, while holding the plushie tightly, refusing to accept the reality.

“Come on, if you get up now, I’ll buy you something delicious after classes,” Yeji promised, taking your hand to help you get to your feet.

When you heard her offer, your eyes lit up.

“Really?” You were still a little skeptical about believing her, even though you wanted to.

“Yes, knowing you, you’re probably just going to ask me to buy you a chocolate. Completely affordable,” Yeji chuckled, knowing she was right.

“Correct. Make it two, though. I feel this is going to be a difficult day.”

You finally took her hand and let her help you get up from the floor. After that you quickly put your plushie back in your bed, laying its head on your pillow, as you took the blankets from the floor and put them over the plushie, wanting it to feel warm. Yeji watched your actions with a wide smile on her face.

“Aww, you’re so cute. Now go get ready, or we’ll gonna be late.”

“Oh, how tragic that would be,” you said sarcastically, before going to the bathroom to wash your face and brush your teeth.

* * *

When you and Yeji entered the lecture hall, you found your classmates being more energetic and chattier than usual. You also noticed your friends, who were talking to a new guy, probably the one Jaemin mentioned the day before, as you recalled.

“Honestly I was a little disappointed to find out you weren’t actually German,” you heard Jaemin say and you giggled quietly.

“If those weird comments don’t scare the new guy off, I’d be really impressed,” Yeji noted, as she found a place near the window and you sat next to her.

“I agree,” you laughed, turning around to look at the new guy once again.

He looked somehow familiar to you, but you couldn’t tell why. When he noticed you looking at him he just stared at you for a couple of seconds while Jaemin and the rest of your friends were probably bothering him. You could swear you’ve seen those shiny dark brown eyes somewhere else before. But as you realized you were still looking at the guy, you quickly averted your eyes, so that he wouldn’t think you were some kind of a creep. You thought that maybe there was not a particular reason for his familiar vibe: maybe he just looked like somebody you’d befriend, that’s why he looked as if you already knew him, or at least that’s what you believed.

“I see the new guy has already caught your eye. The question is, how did he achieve that? You’re not usually interested in others,” Yeji pointed out.

“I-I’m not looking at him,” you denied, shaking your head. “Guys are basically a loss of time, except for my friends. But they’re too dumb for me to date one of them. Besides, only two of them are boyfriend material, they are Jaemin and Jeno, and they’re basically almost dating each other, even though they don’t know it yet,” you explained, taking your textbook out.

As you mentioned Jeno, you saw him coming to you and you looked at him questioningly.

“We promised to show the new guy around after this class, and then we’re going to have lunch with him. You and Yeji can also join us,” Jeno suggested and Yeji nodded.

“We’d love to!” You smiled and Jeno smiled back, returning to his seat, next to Jaemin.

When English class ended, you and Yeji went out of the lecture hall, waiting for your friends and the new guy. They were soon here and you all started walking around the hall, as you heard Haechan talking about the variety of books in the university’s library even though you’ve never seen him actually go there, so you were wondering how he knew this information. Meanwhile you and the new guy continued looking at each other and then averting your gaze without saying anything. You realized he still hasn’t introduced himself to you, but you couldn’t ask him for his name, because you were shy, so you just continued walking in silence, as the ones who were talking were mainly Haechan and Renjun.

When you went to the cafeteria and found a table, you left your things, so that the guys could watch over them, and you went to buy food with Yeji.

“Seriously, what’s going on between you and the new guy? You can’t stop looking at each other. You’ve never looked at a guy like that, so you can’t convince me you don’t like him,” Yeji stated, demanding an answer, as she took a bowl of rice.

“He just looks familiar, I don’t know why though. That’s all.”

“You know that when you meet your soulmate for the first time, you feel as if you already know each other?” Yeji asked, as you paid for your food and started walking back to the table with your best friend walking after you.

“Shut up,” you hit her arm playfully; you really wanted her to stop saying things like that.

When you went back to the table, you noticed only Jaemin and Jeno were there. Jaemin was feeding Jeno, holding a spoon of rice which he put into his mouth.

“Eat a lot, handsome,” Jaemin winked at Jeno who averted his head with discontent. “Do you want some kimchi?” He asked, as Jeno nodded, even though he didn’t want his best friend to feed him.

“Why are you feeding him? Can he not hold the utensils himself?” Yeji asked, as you hit her arm again.

“Be quiet, you’re ruining the romance,” you scolded her, as you continued looking at your two friends, as you sat across from them.

“What romance are you talking about, I just lost a bet,” Jeno groaned in disagreement with your statement.

“Was the bet letting Jaemin show his love for you freely?” You questioned him, as Jeno looked too flustered to answer.

“Something like that,” Jaemin confirmed. “Ah, Jeno, you’re such a messy eater! Here, let me wipe that off,” he said, as he wiped the rice off Jeno’s lips, using a tissue.

“Cute,” you whispered, looking away as you started eating your own lunch.

“Jaemin’s actions are making me want to throw up,” Yeji confessed, taking her fork and starting to eat her food in silence.

“You’re not the only one, I feel the same way,” Jeno agreed quietly, looking at Jaemin as if he was going to kill him every second now.

A few minutes later the new guy approached your table, holding his own tray of food, setting it down and sitting next to you. Your heart skipped a beat just because of his decision to sit next to you. You didn’t know why him being close to you was making you feel this special, so you tried to brush it off, but you couldn’t; so during the rest of the lunch you were actually in a very good mood, even though you and the new guy still haven’t talked to each other directly at all. When Haechan and Renjun joined you, you talked to them a lot, trying not to think about the stranger next to you, since you were too shy to ask for his name, and he apparently didn’t want to say it to you or ask you about yours.

As you were done with lunch, you stood up from the table and took your tray in your hands, looking at the new guy as he was doing the same. When he took his own tray, though, you noticed he dropped something. You quickly bent down to get it and give it back to its owner. But before handing it to him, you took a quick look at it – it was a discount card for the food in the cafeteria. You saw his picture and you read your name, saying it out loud as you realized something.

“Yang… Yang?” You looked up in disbelief.

He looked at you with a smile and he nodded.

“Yes, YangYang is my name, not a nickname as people usually think. Sorry for not introducing myself to you earlier, I was just distracted since you seemed really familiar for some reason,” he said, as you handed him his discount card.

“Um, I… My name is Y/N,” you introduced yourself quietly, as you waited for his reaction.

There were two possible ways this could go: he would either recognize his own childhood best friend, or he would take your hand, as he hears your name for the first time, if he wasn’t your YangYang, but some other guy with the same name. But to you, now it all made sense. The visual resemblance, his voice, his cheerful personality… But you still wanted to be sure it was actually him, before hugging him excitedly.

“You… Bunny?” He called you by your nickname he came up with when you were younger. He thought you looked energetic and playful, just like a bunny.

You nodded, as you couldn’t stop smiling.

“You don’t know how much I missed you!”

Before you could do anything, he put his tray and card down on the table as he hugged you tightly. You were a little taken aback for a couple of seconds, slowly realizing your wish has come true. You and your best friend were finally together.

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“Thinkin' of ya when I'm goin' to bed

When I wake up think of ya again

You are my homie, lover and friend

Exactly why”

As you and Yeji went back to the dorms, you didn’t even have any motivation to study, because you were too busy thinking about your amazing day. You still couldn’t believe this was actually him, your childhood best friend who you were meeting so many years after he left for Germany, after you had lost hope of seeing him ever again. You were hugging your plushie, as you were jumping around the room, repeating that tomorrow you were meeting YangYang after classes in a café, where you could talk to each other and get updates on his life, even though everything seemed as if it was still the same; even YangYang haven’t changed in your opinion, except for becoming more handsome now as an adult.

Yeji was smiling at you, as you told her about your long story with your childhood friend. She was sincerely happy to see you so excited and she wished everything would turn out well for you. You kept thinking about him before going to bed and even after you woke up, starting your day with a smile on your face.

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“You light me up inside

Like the 4th of July

Whenever you’rearound

I always seem to smile”

A few weeks have passed since your reunion with YangYang; now you were used to hanging out together all the time, just like before, realizing that neither of you really changed. You craved each other’s attention and presence just the same way as when you were kids. Today you decided to visit a café with a nice atmosphere, suitable for a cozy afternoon and long conversations. After classes were over, you said goodbye to Yeji, as she wished you to have a good time on your date, but you were quick to correct her this wasn’t a date (even though you secretly wanted it to be) and went out of the classroom together with YangYang.

On the way to the café you couldn’t stop talking to each other. Your topics were never ending and it was always exciting spending time together for both of you. You couldn’t stop smiling as he said funny things to you, or even when he didn’t say something that entertaining; you just loved his company so much, that you enjoyed every second you spent with him. Around twenty minutes later you got to your destination and he opened the door to the café for you, then you found a nice table near the window. You both ordered hot chocolate as you continued with your conversation.

“Do you wanna go watch a movie tomorrow? They’re projecting a Marvel movie,” YangYang asked as he gave you a little additional information.

You smiled, even though you honestly disliked these movies, but you only watched them so that you could spend time with YangYang. You’ve watched every single Marvel movie, since your best friend was obsessed with them for some reason.

“Of course, I’m so excited!”

“Great, I’ll book the movie tickets now,” YangYang said with a wide smile on his face, as he unlocked his phone and typed the website’s name to book the tickets.

“Um, Yangie,” you hesitantly started speaking, not knowing if you should continue your sentence.

“Yeah?” He asked, not looking away from his phone.

“I’m going home this weekend, in my hometown. Do you wanna go with me?” You suggested, even though you felt a little shy to be inviting your childhood friend in your house and have the same sleepovers you used to.

“Really? That would be amazing!” Fortunately, he seemed really happy to hear your idea. “Your parents are also going to be there, right?” After you nodded, he continued speaking. “Can you tell your mom to please prepare my favorite cream cheese muffins for her special guest?” He looked at you with pleading eyes you could never say no to.

“Hey, YangYang! Do you only care about food?” You scolded him, as you playfully hit his arm.

“This is my main priority, yes.” He answered, matching your energy. “But you take the second place, you’re the second most important thing to me other than food.”

He looked at you and for a moment you forgot how to breathe. You were looking at his eyes, getting lost again and again; it felt like you were getting out of the trance he put you on, only to fall deeper the next time you looked at him.

“Are you okay?”

His voice showed concern, but his face had a unreadable look; not worried, but also not calm. It was like he knew exactly how he made you feel.

“Uh, yes, sorry, I just zoned out for a second,” you explained as you avoided his gaze. “I’m gonna call my mom later and ask her to prepare the muffins,” you informed him, as you took a sip from your hot chocolate.

“You know I don’t really care, right? I just want to be with you,” he admitted, as you coughed when you heard that. “Are you alright? First you zoned out, now you can’t drink your hot chocolate… So my theory must be true,” he said with a content tone and you looked at him in surprise.

“What theory?” You asked as you continued coughing until you were okay.

“Never mind. Just be careful next time.”

You nodded as you silently took another sip, trying to avoid his eyes.

Around an hour later it was time for you to leave, so you went back to the dorms. He smiled and waved at you, and after you waved back, you finally entered the room you and Yeji shared. You closed the door as you rested your back on it, breathing loudly. Your heart was beating fast and you wanted to make sure you’ve calmed down before you greet Yeji. Now you were absolutely sure you were in love with your childhood best friend and that fact made you quite nervous. You never felt that way before and you weren’t even sure if he felt the same way about you. But despite your worries, you smiled widely before knowing it. You felt like you couldn’t even control your emotions and it made you very confused. You slowly went to your room, then you left your bag on your chair and you took a step towards your bed and you just laid on it for a minute, staring at the ceiling, trying to stop thinking about YangYang, but it was more difficult than you expected.

“What’s wrong? Didn’t the date with YangYang go well?” She teased you and you turned to look at her, rolling your eyes with annoyance.

“It was nice, except it weren’t a date,” you corrected her, sighing loudly. “But why is my heart being like that?” you whispered, putting your head on your heart as you kept looking at the ceiling with concentration, as if you expected to find all the answers of your questions there.

“Maybe because you wanted it to be a date?”

You decided to ignore her, but then she spoke again.

“Look at me, the ceiling won’t talk to you like I can,” Yeji reminded you as you looked at her discontentedly.

“Yes, but it also won’t make fun of me like you do.”

“Look, I’m sorry. I just find it amazing that you’re finally interested in somebody,” she said, as she smiled excitedly.

“You could have stopped after ‘sorry’, you know?” You shot her another annoyed look and she raised her eyebrows as if to say she didn’t care. “Never mind, I’m going to take a shower.”

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“And people ask me how

Well you’re the reason why

I'm dancing in the mirror and singing in the shower”

As you felt the hot water running down your body, you felt a wave of calmness washing over you. Your mind kept going back to thoughts of YangYang and your incredible day with him, as well as the excitement of going home together with him. It was something you wished for so many years, just having him back with you, the two of you together in your room, playing Plants vs. Zombies or Mortal Kombat, some of your favorite PC games back at the time, when you both were around 10 years old.

Without realizing it, you started singing a random song you’ve heard in school today that somehow happened to be a romantic one, matching perfectly with your good mood and your feelings for your childhood friend. Around half an hour later, you got out of the shower and wrapped a towel around your body. Then you took the hairdryer and stood in front of the mirror, drying your hair, but you felt so energetic and happy that you started dancing in front of the mirror. You were holding the hairdryer and you were moving your body randomly, keeping a smile on your face, even though that way drying your hair took much longer time than usual.

When you finally turned the hairdryer off, you noticed Yeji standing in the doorway of your room, looking at you with a wide smile. You rolled your eyes at her for the millionth time today, realizing she may have witnessed at least a part of your dancing in front of the mirror. She giggled, but you decided to act as if nothing out of the ordinary happened, as if you were always that cheerful.

“Why are you laughing?” You asked, as you put the hairdryer back in its place.

“Someone has a crush,” Yeji almost sang that sentence. “I’ve never heard you singing in the shower and seen you dancing in front of the mirror before… Is it really possible that YangYang is the reason behind all that? Could he have changed your usual grumpiness into cheerfulness?”

“What do you mean? I’m the same as usual,” you denied all her claims coolly, sounding credible enough, since you weren’t such an inexperienced liar; you couldn’t say the same for your love life though – you really lacked experience in that part, knowing that calling yourself a “dater” would be factually incorrect.

“Yeah, okay. But if things between you really do work out, I want to be the first one you’re going to share the news with! You’re gonna tell it to Jeno, Jaemin, Renjun and Haechan later,” Yeji stated, as you were looking at her with confusion.

“Calm down, there won’t be any news to tell,” you laughed as you quietly went back to your shared room.

But the part of you that you tried hard to suppress, really hoped you were wrong.

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“All I want, all I need is your lovin'

Baby you make me hot like an oven

Since you came you know what I've discovered

Baby I don't need me another”

The next day was Friday, the day you would come back home together with YangYang, being there with him for the first time in many years. A few days ago you’ve told your mother about reuniting with him and to say she was ecstatic would have been an understatement; she felt as if she was welcoming her second child who has been away for a long time, so she wanted to make sure everything was perfect for him. She even cleaned your room since you weren’t there to do so and its usual state was beyond messy; definitely not the best place to show to such an important and dear guest.

You couldn’t wait to go, but before that, you had classes that seemed endless to you; time seemed to be passing too slowly and for a moment you even thought about suggesting YangYang to skip school today, but your good girl reputation prevented you from doing so.

When the professor said his last words for today, concluding the lecture, you took your backpack. You had put your stuff in it a few minutes ago, while the professor was explaining something about an exam or an “extremely important” group project; you weren’t sure, since you weren’t listening after all. You took out the little mirror you kept in your bag to make sure you looked alright. You tried to comb your hair with your fingers, then you applied a new layer of your favorite pink lipstick; you took so much time with your make up today, even though you usually didn’t wear a lot. When you were ready, you ran to the exit of the auditorium, as YangYang was already waiting in front of it.

“You might need to turn Yeji down,” he said, as you raised your eyebrows questioningly. “The group assignment Mr. Lee mentioned, groups of two are also allowed, so you’re with me.”

So this was what you missed as you were too busy putting your stuff in your backpack in order to be able to leave as early as possible. You smiled at him when you heard his words that made a warm feeling blossom in your body.

“Are we ready to go? All I need is in my backpack, so I don’t need to go back to the dorms, unless you want to.”

“I’m also ready. Let’s go,” he smiled, taking your hand and leading you to the exit of the university.

As you were walking next to him, your hand in his, you felt your heart beating unusually fast; but instead of this making you feel nervous, you felt the same warm feeling spreading through your whole body and this time, you were ready to let go and have fun, without holding back anymore.

“So we have a bus in 15 minutes,” you informed him, as you looked at your phone.

“A bus?” He asked before he stopped walking and you stopped looking at the phone and noticed an expensive black car parked in the university parking. “Why don’t we take a ride in my car?” He leaned on it, tapping the roof softly.

“This car is yours? I can’t believe it, you’ve really grown up, Yangie,” you said with a disbelieving voice in order to tease him, but you still sat next to the driver’s seat in his car, as he has opened the door for you before getting on himself. “Even though I’m a few months older than you, I still don’t have my driver’s license, but I’m working on it,” you said with a discontented tone. You were nervous about driving and when you were stressed, you couldn’t do well so you were trying to get your driver’s license for quite some time now.

“You can do it,” he encouraged you with his usual cheerful tone, holding his fist in the air for a second as a sign of encouragement, as he started the car and left the university parking.

* * *

When you were finally in front of your house, you quickly got off the car as you started jumping around with excitement. He smiled at you as he also got off and when the both of you took your backpacks from the car, you rang the bell of your house. A few seconds later your mom opened the door, welcoming you with warm hugs and her usual good mood, as well as a wide smile.

“Wow, I haven’t been here for such a long time,” YangYang mentioned, as he kept looking around. “Wait, what is this smell? It’s amazing!”

“Oh, it’s the muffins,” she smiled again. “By the way, Yangie, you’ve grown so tall! And my little Y/N is still the same as before, she didn’t really grow up a lot,” your mom teased you,

“Hey, you’re shorter than me, so you aren’t allowed to make fun of me!” You playfully scolded your mom, as you sighed in annoyance.

“But you like girls shorter than you, right, YangYang?” Your mom asked your childhood best friend and you wanted the ground to swallow you up right now since you were so ashamed.

You knew she was only asking this since she shipped you and YangYang romantically ever since you two met. She was truly scared for you not to end up single, while you were living your life, rejecting every guy that tried to flirt with you, especially because they weren’t YangYang. You perfectly understood your own feelings so you knew that you didn’t need and didn’t really want a relationship if it wasn’t with him.

“Actually, yeah, I really like girls like that,” YangYang smiled confidently, looking at you. “They are adorable,” he looked away and only then you could breathe. “And they make me feel tall even though I’m not,” he laughed, as your mother was looking at him with pure adoration in her eyes.

“Ah, you’d be such a perfect son in law! Handsome, good mannered, with a good height and you also know a lot of languages, just like my Y/N! I’m honestly so jealous of your future mother in law,” your mom continued to make you want to disappear and you were on the verge of just taking YangYang’s hand and leading him somewhere far away from that house.

“Believe me, you do not need to worry about that,” YangYang said as he kept smiling at your mom.

Even though you didn’t know what he meant, you really wanted to take him somewhere else, where he wouldn’t be able to talk to your mom.

“Dad is still at work, right? Please ask him to buy iced tea and tell us to come when dinner is ready, see you later,” without waiting for your mom to answer, you took YangYang’s hand and led him upstairs and then into your room.

He was looking around as if he was visiting a foreign place he has never been to before.

“You changed your room color…” He said as he touched the wall. “Baby pink suited you though. Also your curtains are different. I liked the old ones with teddy bears on them, but these are fine too. And the bed… It’s seems suitable for more than one person,” he kept commenting the details about your room, but this time his tone was different, and his look was honestly making you nervous. “Have you invited many guys here, Y/N? In this room, on this bed?”

His question made you choke on air; you were looking at him with shock written all over your face.

“W-why would I…”

You wanted to be honest with him, but then realized that this would probably make you look so boring to him.

“It’s not your business.” You quickly answered, sitting on your chair.

“Ah, my innocent Y/N… I guess I’m the only guy who is not a family member that has been to your room,” he continued teasing you as you glared at him warningly.

“That’s not true! Jaemin, Jeno, Haechan and Renjun have been here too!” You quickly denied his claims.

“Yeah, but I doubt you felt something for any of them.”

You stayed silent for a few seconds before deciding to change the topic.

“Do you wanna play Plants Vs. Zombies?” You suddenly asked.

“Of course! Let’s go!” He answered enthusiastically, seating on the chair next to yours.

It was a whole miracle how you could change the atmosphere and his demeanor just by mentioning a PC game. You started playing and suddenly he was the same old YangYang you knew and loved.

“Plant a sunflower, quickly!” You said, as you were looking at your laptop’s screen.

He did as you said, waiting to get another sun so we could buy another plant.

“Quickly, the zombies are coming!” You were clapping excitedly, looking at your childhood friend play the game you used to play all the time when you were kids.

You were so happy that you got closer to him without realizing.

“You’re making me nervous by staying so close to me,” he confessed, giggling softly.

“A-ah, s-sorry,” you quickly apologized as you moved away from him.

When you decided to take a break from the game, you offered him to watch a movie and he agreed, laying on your bed and you reluctantly laid next to him, trying not to get too close to him. You opened Netflix on your TV and the two of you took some time to choose a movie.

⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯

“No, no all I know (know)

Only you got me feelin' so (so)

And you know that I have to have ya

And I don't plan to let you go”

You haven’t watched the movie even halfway when he pressed the pause button.

“I can’t do this anymore,” he said, sighing deeply as if he had something that caused him a great amount of stress.

“Do what?” You asked him worriedly.

Was he sick? Was he bored? You thought of so many different things that you could have done which could have irritated him.

“Pretend that everything between us is still the same. Pretend I don’t want to kiss you right now.”

Your eyes widened with shock when you heard his confession, but before you could say anything, he continued talking.

“We’re not kids anymore, Y/N. And I think we did change through all these years. It’s our chemistry that’s still the same. Tell me that you’re feeling it too,” he was talking in a husky voice which made you imagine things you thought you shouldn’t.

YangYang looked at your eyes hesitatingly, then at your lips, or at least that’s what you thought you saw him looking at, even though for you, it didn’t make any sense for him to be looking there, even after hearing him say he wanted to kiss you. You felt as if that whole situation was just a dream and nothing that happened was going to affect reality in any way. But as you were busy overanalyzing things as usual, you felt a strange, yet addicting sensation. As your eyes were still open, you looked at YangYang who was kissing you. You couldn’t believe that was happening, but you quickly closed your eyes, enjoying his lips on yours. Your heart was beating fast as you tried to remember this sweet feeling, savouring the taste of his lips. When he moved away, you slowly opened your eyes, looking at his with confusion, yet with trust. You were sure that whatever was going to happen, you were safe and happy with him.

“I- You… Uh, did you like that?”

You nervously nodded, as you were wondering what to say.

“Great, I did too. Does that mean you like me back?” YangYang wanted to check in with you, before officially asking you the last question he wanted to ask ever since he realized who you were back in the canteen that day.

“You’re so special to me, YangYang. I like you a lot,” you confessed, feeling a little shy, but still trying to keep his eyes on him, because you thought he deserved to know exactly how you felt about him without finding out how nervous you actually were. “By the way, that was my first kiss and I’m so happy it was with you,” you looked at him adoringly.

“Really? That’s so cute!” He exclaimed with a sweet smile. “So you’re sure you haven’t kissed anyone from your friends group?”

“Actually I kissed Jaemin and Jeno on the cheek once at a party because of a dare. And on the same night Haechan and I got so drunk that we almost kissed, but our friends stopped us before we ‘unlock a whole another relationship’, as they said.”

YangYang sighed with annoyance before mustering up the courage to ask you the most important question.

“Do you want to be like… Uh, you know?”

You were looking at him with confusion written all over your face.

“You sound just like Mark, he’s a friend of mine who’s one year older than us,” you teased him, since you really found his nervousness to be cute.

“Come on, you know what I’m trying to say,” he tried to avoid saying it out loud, but you weren’t going to let him do that.

“Do I know, Yangie? How can I know if you haven’t said it yet?”

“You went from a shy girl to a smug girl in just a second,” he mumbled with discontent.

“But you’re the same! You were teasing me earlier and now you sound like Mark Lee!” You complained.

“Who is Mark Lee?” YangYang asked even though he didn’t really insist on knowing; he just wanted to postpone asking his main question for as long as possible.

“That Mark guy I told you about! Are you even listening to me?”

“Should I be jealous of him?” He pouted as he was waiting for your answer.

“Maybe you should,” you continued provoking him in order for him to properly ask you what he wanted to.

“Come on! Aren’t your four handsome guy friends enough people to be jealous of? When I see how you’re looking at Yeji, sometimes I’m jealous of her too! I also can’t stand it when Haechan looks at you as if he has so many improper thoughts. Or when Jeno and Jaemin ask you if you have eaten. Or when Renjun is smiling at you and laughing at your jokes! Ah, I hate it so much that I want to punch-“

You interrupted YangYang with a kiss.

“My answer is yes.”

“You’re going to be my girlfriend?” He asked, hoping you would agree.

“No, I’ve never heard you ask that,” you crossed your arms, smiling at him playfully.

“You’re going to be my girlfriend because I said so~,” he almost sang that sentence, as he decided to make sure you were incapable to refuse by suddenly making you fall on your bed as he trapped your body under his.

“No, I’m not going to do it~,” you answered in the same tone, as you tried to flip him over, so that you could be on top of him.

But when he noticed what you were trying to do, he caught your wrist and kissed your lips deeply, making you forget everything else. In that moment you relaxed under his touch feeling safer than ever. You kissed him back with the same lust as his, as your fingers threaded through his fluffy hair. You continued passionately kissing each other for a few minutes, taking very short breaks to breathe, since you both missed each other’s lips too much to stay separated even for a few seconds that felt like an eternity for you.

But when you heard a knock on your door, YangYang quickly got off you and he sat on the bed innocently, as you followed his example. You quickly fixed his hair which was quite messy because you were running your fingers through it all the time.

“Y-you can come in,” you said with a voice that was a little distorted, while you were trying to normalize your heavy breathing.

When you said that, the door opened and your dad came in.

“Hi, Y/N. Here’s the iced tea,” he said, giving you the bottle of iced tea which you contentedly took from his hands and left on the ground. “YangYang, it’s great to see you again,” he smiled and YangYang smiled back. “Dinner is ready, so you can come downstairs,” your dad said and you nodded synchronously. Then he turned around and walked out the door, closing it.

YangYang got up from your bed as he gave you his hand, which you took. He kept holding your hand as you were walking down the stairs.

“I guess your parents are really going to have the best son-in-law,” YangYang said and as soon as you realized he was talking about himself, you hit his arm as you laughed.

You were finally truly happy again; you felt having YangYang by your side meant that nothing was impossible and all your dreams could come true, just like the seemingly unrealistic dream of having him back while you were longing for him all these years. It turns out your long wait was absolutely worth it and now that he was here with you again, you weren’t going to let him go.

#nct #wayv #nct fluff #wayv fluff #yangyang #yangyang fluff #nct scenarios #wayv scenarios #yangyang imagines #yangyang scenarios #song fic

[max-is-tired]

bad things happen request: A1 + roceit? -ren

Remember me (for centuries)

Pairing: the AU is queerplatonic Roceit and romantic Analogicality, but the ships are not very prominent in this installment

Characters: Roman Sanders, Janus Sanders, Remus Sanders, Patton Sanders, Virgil Sanders, Logan Sanders

Words: 3.835

Warnings: superhero AU, implied morally grey Janus, Remus and Roman, superpowers, swearing, a muzzle is used, fighting, there’s a character (OC) that has very black and white views and definitely goes too far because of it, if I need to add anything else please tell me

Notes: guess who’s back babey!!!!! After two months of writer block, I’ve managed to churn out this little monster in less than 3 days and I’m honestly lowkey real proud of it sjkcndjkscn it’s inspired by this idea I had the other day and after I remembered this specific prompt I just went full feral writer mode. I even have a few ideas for a sequel, so there’s that I guess!!

First fic for the @badthingshappenbingo!! The red squares are prompts that have already been requested, feel free to send more in though!! I don’t know how long it’ll take me to get to them but hopefully you won’t have to wait too long. Hope you guys like the fic!!!

Commission me!!  Buy me a coffee!! Join my Discord server!!  AO3!!

Once upon a time, there was a King.

He was as regal as he was mysterious, powers so strong he might as well have been able to make literal mountains kneel before him. Everyone knew of him, from the filthiest criminal to the richest man. He saw everything, heard everything, nothing and no one could escape his power. He was the judge and the executioner, protected the city in the way he saw most fit with the Puppeteer and the Duke standing at his sides.

The government called him dangerous. The people secretly called him a hero.

Once upon a time, there was a King. Until one day, he was no more -exactly how Roman had wanted it to be.

+++

Parting ways with Janus and Remus hadn't been easy. They'd been at his side since the very beginning, from the first appearance of his power to his decision to do whatever it took to protect those who couldn't.

"I'm always down to fight the government," Janus had said with a smirk, easily slipping into his Puppeteer alter ego as Remus simply swung his morning star around with a feral grin.

In the end, though, the King had had to go, and even then those two had supported his decision. What Roman had done to deserve his brother and his partner, he still had to understand. And besides, it wasn't as if he had had to cut them out of his life or anything! They still hung out lots during the day, either at the twin's apartment or at Janus' penthouse (being the only heir to a very rich family could have its perks, he supposed).

But at the end of the day, when the sun left the sky and the cover of the night fell over the city, it was the Puppeteer and the Duke who patrolled along the dirty rooftops, taking on those crimes Lady Justice seemed to overlook -Roman was nothing but a college student now and could only watch from afar, some part of him stubbornly longing for days that had since come to an end.

Or at least, that had been the plan. Then, well, Patton had happened.

They had met during a Psychology class they were both taking -for Patton, it was for his major, while Roman was just there for the credit. They had hit it off almost immediately, the both of them bonding over the pain that were morning classes and bemoaning how much money they were probably going to spend at the local coffee shop in order to survive the semester.

As much as he prided himself of being way smarter than people gave him credit for, Roman couldn't say he had figured his classmate's secret identity out immediately. It had taken him a few weeks and even then, he had needed Janus' help for his brain to click the dots into place.

Well, actually, it had been thanks to the recordings of one of the Puppeteer and the Duke's patrol sessions, during which the two had managed to stumble upon the new ragtag trio of superheroes, Storm, Heart and Logic, taking care of a small robbery downtown.

Janus and Roman had been analyzing the video, with Remus unhelpfully chucking pieces of popcorn at the back of their heads, when video-Heart had thrown his head back and laughed, grinning from ear to ear as Logic seemed to pinch the bridge of his nose in frustration.

Roman had frozen, the laugh ringing clear as day in his head as the last piece of a puzzle he hadn't known had been there slid into place -he knew that laugh, heard it every Tuesday and Friday morning before class as he sipped at his coffee and watched Patton try to fit as many puns as he could into a single sentence.

Patton was Heart. His friend was a superhero. Well, shit.

So yeah, Roman had figured it out and immediately started panicking about the newfound information. Janus and Remus, of course, had found the entire thing hilarious, teasing him about having somehow managed to stumble upon and befriend a superhero without even knowing it.

In the end, though, what exactly could he do? Roman was only a college student, and it wasn't like Patton was doing this alone -he had Storm and Logic by his side, keeping him safe and watching his back. His friend would be fine.

Then, of course, in came Virgil and Logan, the infamous roommates Patton had wanted to introduce him to since day one. In less than an hour, Roman had managed to help Pat gently bully Virgil out of his binder for the night and start a debate with Logan about the scientific accuracy of Elsa's powers and just how theoretically powerful she could have become based on the abilities she had showed in the movies.

(Olaf's existence had sparked a whole other tangent about conscience and the existence of souls on a metaphysical level, but Roman was not going to think about it lest he ended up having another existential crisis).

The real plot twist had happened much later into the night, when Roman had woken up to frantic whispering and soft rustling coming from somewhere to his right. Still keeping his eyes shut, he'd managed to catch the words "robbery" and "be careful" before hearing one of the windows gently slide shut.

Making sure to not alert anyone about his eavesdropping, Roman had waited until all he could hear was steady, even breathing before quietly sitting up, eyes shining gold into the darkness for a second before spotting Logan and Patton's figures on the ground -as for Virgil, he seemed to be nowhere to be found, the apartment being completely silent beside the two sleeping soundly beside him.

Roman had a suspicion. A very nagging suspicion in the back of his mind that was probably going to bother him until he got to the bottom of his. So, in the morning, he'd said goodbye to his new friends and headed to Janus' place, pondering over alternative explanations on the way over. Not that it would have been of any use since Janus did confirm that a robbery had taken place the night before, and that it had been halted by no other than Storm himself.

So. Virgil was Storm. Which, by taking the most logical leap, meant Logan was no other than Logic. Cool cool cool. No doubt no doubt no doubt.

… There was no way Roman could sit back and watch, was it?

And so, Prince stepped into the light, flames dancing on his fingertips and on the blade of his katana -a gift from Janus, who had reacted to Roman's sheepish smile with an eyebrow raise- and a bright red sash crossing his chest.

Logan and the others had been rather welcoming to the new superhero amongst their group, if not a little skeptical about his motives -Roman could not quite tell them he was doing all of this to give them an additional layer of protection, since he knew from experience just how dangerous the superhero gig could be. They thought all he wanted was to protect the innocents like a knight in shining armor, and he just never bothered to correct them. It wasn't like that was a lie, anyway so he didn't really feel guilty about it.

… Okay, maybe he felt a little guilty about keeping his former identity a secret. So what? It wasn't like he could go to his new friends and say "Hey, remember that one dude that scared the shit out of everyone? Yeah, that was me, fun times am I right??". And besides, it wasn't like King was going to do a comeback anytime soon, if ever. Right?

Wrong. So very, very wrong.

+++

It had started as a normal night-time patrol around the outskirts of the city. Roman had been joking around with Virgil, jumping easily from rooftop to rooftop as they exchanged dry remarks and teasing nicknames with Logan and Patton watching on in amusement.

Then, suddenly, an explosion.

They'd all frozen, exchanging quick glances as a cloud of smoke started to rise into the distance. Without a word, the four had bolted, the easy atmosphere that had surrounded them up until that moment gone in an instant as they prepared themselves to deal with whatever was expecting them.

They reached the plaza in a few minutes, immediately setting out to assess the damage. Strangely enough, there didn't seem to be much out of order -there were no civilians around, the few that had been around at that time of the night having been probably startled away by the explosion -which had probably gone off at the center of the square, judging by the debris and fairly-sized hole. Though the cause of it didn't seem to be anywhere to be found.

At least, until an amused chuckle resounded from behind the four.

They turned around, ready for a fight, only to be met with a grinning Nautilus.

"Oh, how nice of you guys to drop in!" the hero chirped, his grin only widening even more -Roman did not like the crazy glint in the other's eyes, his hand moving to hover a little closer to the hilt of his sword as a bad feeling started to pool in the pit of his stomach.

"Hello, Nautilus!" Patton greeted, his smile now a little tense around the edges -Roman couldn't help but feel glad he wasn't alone in his distrust, not missing the way Logan and Virgil also seemed to be a little more on guard.

It wasn't like Nautilus was a villain or anything, at least not for the public opinion. He meant well, Roman knew that, but the way he viewed the world -black and white, good vs evil with no space for anything else in-between those extremes- was something Roman just couldn't trust, knowing all too well how such a way of thinking could very easily skew someone's morals way too close to ruthlessness and self-justified cruelty.

So yeah, Nautilus might have been a hero, but Roman wouldn't trust him with the life of the most innocent of kittens.

"Nautilus, do you know the cause of that explosion?" Logan spoke up, his expression unreadable.

"Oh, that was me, nothing to worry your pretty brain about my dear Logic," Nautilus responded, waving the concern away with way too much nonchalance for Roman's liking. "I was just taking care of some little pests, nothing to worry about."

"By making the fucking square blow up?" Virgil asked, scoffing.

The other simply shrugged, once again dismissing the remark. "Sometimes you gotta do some harsh things to get rid of a problem, don't you agree?"

Oh, Roman did not like that smile one bit.

"What do you mean?" he asked, forcing himself to keep his voice neutral as his grip on his sword tightened.

Still smiling, Nautilus snapped his fingers, a water tendril appearing from behind him. And in its grasp, a familiar figure uselessly struggled for freedom, brown eyes glaring daggers at the hero's back. Faintly, Roman could easily picture the snarl currently adorning the Puppeteer's lips.

Lips he could not see, because Janus' mouth was currently being covered by a muzzle.

"Pretty cool right?" Nautilus grinned, stepping onto another tendril to let himself be carried at Janus' level. "A friend of mine made it, perfect to stop our local charmer from using his nifty powers."

Ignoring the way the other heroes were staring at him in various stages of horror, he grabbed Janus' chin, tugging his face forward until they were barely inches apart.

"Not so cocky without that silver tongue of yours, uh?" he purred, before pushing him back. "It's high time you face the consequences of your evil doings, you slimy snake."

But the Puppeteer's eyes were no longer glaring at Nautilus. No, they were trained on Roman's form, on his clenched fists and the way his eyes kept flashing a familiar golden color.

"Well, look who's gone and fucked up!" a voice chirped from above, attracting everyone's attention to the top of one of the surrounding buildings. The Duke gave the heroes a toothy grin and waved, legs swinging into the air with his signature morning star resting idly on his shoulder.

"Ah, the Duke," Nautilus hummed, crossing his arms with a cocky smirk, "I was wondering when you'd show up. Are you here to rescue your dear teammate? Please, do try, I'd love to bring down two villains in one day."

For the surprise of almost the entire square, the Duke let out a hearty laugh, throwing his head back as his whole body shook with the force of his cackles.

"Oh, please! As if I'll need to do literally anything," he said, amusement lacing every word. "This is your funeral, dude. You really angered the wrong royal."

Nautilus frowned, opening his mouth to reply -probably to ask what in the world the other was talking about- but all that left his lips was a startled yelp, fighting to keep himself steady as the earth started to rumble and shake beneath his feet. Because of the sudden distraction, all the tendrils of water broke off, included the one holding the Puppeteer. Without missing a beat, Remus jumped down and grabbed Janus before he could pummel the ground, holding him bridal style while sporting his best shit-eating grin.

"Told ya!" he sing-sang, sending Nautilus a mocking glare. Not that the hero was looking at him, mind you. He was more focused on his fellow "hero" standing just a few feet to the center of the square, his eyes blazing golden.

"Duke," called Roman, his voice clear and authoritative as it carried all around the plaza, "get him out of that damned muzzle, would you?"

"Aye aye sir!!" Remus chirped, easily ripping the piece of metal away. "Do you think you could leave a few bones intact for me to break? I wanna have some fun too!"

"Sorry, Duke-" the other chuckled, the sound sounding almost haunting to everyone else's ears- "but I don't know if I’ll have enough self-control left to do that."

A circle of golden light appeared at Roman's feet, rising up in the air and enveloping his body as it went. And then it was gone as suddenly as it had appeared, leaving behind a vision no one had ever thought they'd see again.

Bright, golden eyes. Hair as dark as the night. The uniform of a royal, a burgundy sash crossing his chest from shoulder to hip. In his hand, a familiar sword glinted under the artificial light of the street lamps, the hilt the same golden as its owner's irises.

The Prince was gone, lost in a circle of golden light. And at his place stood a very angry-looking King.

"That- that can't be!" Nautilus exclaimed, taking a step back. "You're gone, you can't be here!"

"Can't I?" The King -Roman, the King was Roman- asked, cocking his head to the side. "Who are you to tell me where I can and cannot be, Nautilus?"

"I'm a hero!!" the other snapped, his words laced with the desperation of a man who is standing face to face with his impending doom. "I'm a hero, you rotten king, and I after tonight I will be remembered as the one who wiped you and your villainous reign out of this city!"

Roman hummed, looking absolutely unimpressed as he calmly inspected his sword.

"You call yourself the hero… and yet, you are the one using downright torture-like methods to try and squash down those who don't fit your narrow view of good. All the Duke and I did was rescue our companion form your grasp. So tell me, Nautilus -are you really sure I'm the one you should call "villain" here?"

The hero growled at those words, eyes flashing in barely contained rage as tendrils after tendrils of water rose up behind him. "By the time I'm done with you, you'll be begging for forgiveness at my feet."

"Oh honey," the King drawled, lips stretching into a feral grin, "at the end of this, I won't be the one begging for their life."

And off they went, crashing into each other in a whirlwind of water and metal.

Taken as they were with each other, the two supers barely spared a glance to the huddle of five people looking on from the side of the square.

"What the fuck." Storm whispered, staring shell-shocked at the scene in front of him. "What the fuck what the fuck what the fuck-"

"I know, right?" the Duke exclaimed, completely ignoring the hero's obvious growing panic.

"Duke, play nice," the Puppeteer drawled, with the heat of someone who had had to deal with the other's antics for way too long to really care anymore.

"Storm, please take some deep breaths for me," Logic said, stepping into Virgil's line of sight. "Do you remember your breathing techniques, yes?"

Storm nodded, visibly trying to get his breathing under control to do just that. Heart, obviously worried, moved to sit beside him, resting one hand on his shoulder to tap a regular rhythm there.

Virgil looked up at him with a small, grateful smile, raising his own hand to cover Patton's before closing his eyes to focus on his breathing.

Once it was clear Storm's panic wasn't going to advance any further and risk affecting his powers, Janus let his eyes wander towards Logic's standing figure, the hero's gaze fixed on the ongoing fight.

"You don't seem too fazed with the revelation," the Puppeteer pointed out, arching an eyebrow. "I mean, it's not every day you find out your teammate is actually the very ex-vigilante that used to terrorize the city."

"If I remember correctly, the people targeted by the King's actions were almost all corrupt politicians and crooked cops," Logic pointed out, turning his head to look at the vigilante. "And besides, I already had my suspicions."

Janus couldn't help but let out an amused chuckle. "What was it that tipped you off?"

"Honestly, I started growing suspicious during the Prince's first day on the field," the hero shrugged, pushing his holographic glasses up his nose. "He looked way too familiar with fights involving supers to be a newbie. Add in the pseudo he chose, plus the somewhat similar outfit… once the doubts started creeping in, it was relatively easy to connect the dots."

"Roman," the Puppeteer piped up, "I know you guys know him outside of the mask, so we can use his name -all the royal pseudonyms can get real old real fast."

Logic gave the vigilante a long look before nodding, letting out a soft sigh. "I suppose that makes sense, since you all were allies prior to the King's disappearance. I suppose you won't be sharing the reason of that, by the way?"

Janus shook his head. "It isn't my story to tell -I'm a keeper of many secrets, Logic, and I'm not about to go divulge them without a valid reason to. If he wants to tell you, he will. In his own time."

"Normally, I would point out that we cannot be sure that Roman will even be able to tell us, since he's currently going against one of the heroes with most raw power," Logan pointed out, "but I have heard enough stories about the King's power to be fairly optimist about his odds in this fight."

Janus chuckled, nodding in agreement.

"Case in point-" he said, gesturing back towards the square- "it looks like the winner has just become clear."

Just as he finished speaking, Nautilus came skidding on the pavement towards them, bruises and cuts covering his whole body as he struggled to get up again.

"Told you I wouldn't be the one praying for mercy on my knees, hero," the King drawled, his uniform looking barely crumpled by the fight.

"I will never bow to you, villain," Nautilus growled, fighting to keep himself upright.

Roman arched an eyebrow, an infuriatingly amused smirk tugging at his lips. "Are you sure about that? because you look just about to fall over."

"You may have defeated me, but soon the entire world will know the truth!" the hero shot back. "Their beloved Prince, hiding such a rotten secret… how do you think they will react? Every hero will not rest until you and your companions are locked shut behind bars. Your time is coming to an end, King, and I'll make sure to save myself a front-row seat for the day you'll finally be kicked down from your throne of evil."

"A very poetic imagery, I'm sure," the Puppeteer drawled from behind them, gathering everyone's attention on himself, "though I'm afraid you won't be able to reveal jack shit, you pompous asshole."

Nautilus frowned in confusion until he felt a slight tugging at his hand. Eyes widening, he snapped his head down, eyes zeroing on the yellow string wrapped loosely around his wrist.

"Sleep now, and forget," Janus ordered, eyes flashing bright yellow, and down Nautilus went, knocked out cold.

Silence fell, only interrupted by the faint sounds of sirens approaching from afar. After a few seconds, Heart went to open his mouth, hand outstretched towards the King's back, only for the vigilante to suddenly bolt without a single word and disappear into the night.

Janus and Remus exchanged a look, obviously debating something between themselves without using any words.

"Go," Logic called, catching their attention. "We won't tell, we promise."

The two vigilantes looked at the trio, watching as both Storm and Heart nodded in agreement. Then they smiled, saluted, and took off.

"Do you think Ro will come back?" Heart asked worriedly, eyes traveling from the direction the three had taken to the quickly-approaching blue and red lights in the distance.

"He better, or I'll go and find him myself," Storm muttered darkly, biting at his thumb.

"Only time will tell, there is no use in worrying about that now," Logic sighed, just as the first police car drove into the square. "For now, we better come up with a believable story. They'll want to know what exactly caused the square to blow up in the first place."

"Why lie?" Heart asked, giving his friend a small smile, "after all, Nautilus was the one who did it, wasn't he?"

Logic smirked lightly, nodding. " I suppose that is true."

"You know, sometimes I forget just how much of a little shit you can be," Storm commented, tone laced with amusement. "Then you go and pull things like this, and I get reminded all over again."

"Kiddo, language!" Heart gave an exaggerated gasped, eyes twinkling in mischief. "I just don't like lying, you know that."

Logic watched as the two snickering heroes approached the police, shaking his head with a small smile. Tonight might have raised quite a few questions, but he had no doubt the answers would come, eventually.

All in due time, he supposed.

+

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[moonriverandkamila]

I’m feeling 22! (Part 1)

Today, May 4th of 2020, I turned 22 years old. 

When I was in kindergarten (although it was more of a daycare), I remember being scared of going to class without my mother. I was a fast-walker, and my house and my school was just a-minute-distance. I am still not sure if it was my shy personality or the fear of making mistakes - and being scolded for it, that made me fear being away from a guardian who could defend me from a teacher. 

When I was in elementary:

On first grade, I experienced having a crush at first sight, who was a boy that was smaller than me, and a girl that I decided would be my best friend because she gestured me to sit with her during the first day of class. I remember during a math class, our teacher was not in the classroom and she had us answer, or maybe copy some addition and subtraction from a textbook. Maybe it was pride that didn’t make me stop, but I ran around the classroom during our whole period while I watch my classmates do their work. I was scolded by my teacher, and I had to stay in class during lunch time. Looking back, I think my shyness disappeared during elementary. 

On second grade, I met new classmates. I had a feeling that my adviser didn’t like me, but I was a child who wanted attention so I think I wasn’t the only one who worried about not being liked. One afternoon, a mischievous classmate, who sat behind me, told me he’s going to whisper something in my ear. I leaned closer to him, and he kissed me on the cheeks. Back then, I was laughing and cringing. Now, I wonder if he actually had a crush on me. My father was the one to drive and fetch me to/from school, but I remember commuting in a tricycle because the driver told me he was routed to my subdivision – and I was afraid to say no. I rode the tricycle, literally saw my father on his motorcycle less than a meter away from me, but I didn’t call him. I told the driver to drop me off at the municipal office (where my mom is still currently working for) because I had no money for fare. I came there, with my mom on the phone because my father was so worried that I had gone missing. That was my first commute experience.

(There was also one particular memory that I had with my subdivision friends. We went to play in the subdivision court, where these rice/palay crops were left under the heat of the sun. My friends went running on them, playing, tossing them around – and I watched from the side, telling them to stop. They ignored me, so I joined them instead. A wrong choice, now that I think of it. But hey, I was a child. One of the house owners near the scene saw us, and shouted her lungs out, calling us. She sounded very angry. She was angry. My friends ran away, but I froze on the spot. She kept shouting at us, telling us how it was so wrong that we would step on and play with food. Or maybe she kept on shouting because I was still there. Maybe she was just scaring us, and she had no intention of scolding us face-to-face. But I walked towards her, scared but, ready to be scolded. Alone. I don’t know how to put it into words now, but the tricycle driver incident and the angry woman incident made me think if I was a people-pleaser, a person who couldn’t say no, or just a girl who didn’t want to be bad.)

On third grade, I met the teacher who changed the path I thought I was destined to take. I didn’t know I had potentials, but somehow, she saw it (whatever they were) and encouraged me to take an admission test for the fourth grade special class - called SPED, at that time, but it literally just meant the highest section. I took the test, at that time I didn’t know what it was but, I just did. She came to our classroom one afternoon and she told me the proudest “congratulations” I would ever hear from a teacher, or from a stranger, when I passed the exam. I decided I want to be that for someone. Someone who sees potentials. Someone who encourages to taste and see.  I was good with those window drill cards, with M1 (Multiplication 1) and D1 (Division 1). Answering those was like an unspoken competition between my classmates, and I always finished first. No kidding, I think my longest record for that was a minute. Around our fourth grading period, we did A1 (Addition 1) + S1 (Subtraction 1) again. I took a longer time, while my other classmates finished them - not in a flash, I must say, but way quicker than I did. I remember looking at my adviser in the eye at that time. She wasn’t judging me, but I felt so embarrassed. I realized that time, that we are not always the best. That there are things other are better at. It made me humble, for a few months, until I became very self-centered – this one I hadn’t quite realized until college.  For some reason though, I comforted myself that I was good at the ‘higher’ level Math: multiplication and division. But none of it mattered when I went to high school, because I sucked so badly at Math.

On fourth grade, I attended the highest section class. I had no idea though. I had this slam notebook that I passed around for my classmates to answer – with their names, birthdays, favorite things, crush, own definition of love. Maybe it was just a girl thing, those slam notebooks, but I knew I really liked knowing about people. Not gossip, but just knowing. My adviser confiscated that slam notebook one morning, and she kept it until the afternoon. I don’t remember when, perhaps a few days after that, she changed our seating arrangements and she made me sit on the front row desk, on the third column – which made no sense because only shorter people are ‘allowed’ to sin on the front. But it would make sense if I sat with my crush from grade 1, the boy who was smaller than me. She read my entry in the slam notebook. That was the only explanation I could think of. I do not know the term, but after being loyal to my grade 1 crush, I ‘picked’ another crush as a joke, and it became an inside joke between me and my classmates. That crush lasted until sometime in high school. Then two real crushes in high school. If I count it, I actually have few real crushes that lasted me YEARS before I could move on from one crush to the other. I couldn’t really remember if I was attracted to them, or if I just picked a crush and stick to it. However, it mattered to me that I didn’t easily change my picks. I was loyal. When I was 18, rather than picking, I chose a guy I wanted to date. It was the same guy who, according to him, liked me and waited for me ever since I was in high school. Despite my indecisiveness, I was sure of him. At 18, I started believing that love is a choice and not just a chance to pick.

On fifth grade, I first experienced being unable to see at far distances. We had these cute wooden tables to ourselves, way different to the classic desks we were all used to. I was on the farthest corner from the blackboard. I remember my adviser telling me to get eyeglasses – there was this medical mission activity just outside our school that focused on giving eyeglasses to those who need it. But I didn’t come. I reasoned that we have a Math quiz and I don’t want to miss it.

The truth was I couldn’t go there alone. And I never had my first eyeglasses until around the third grading of my first year in high school, so I became so terrible at Maths and Algebra because I couldn’t see the equations on the board – and no words would help me understand Math without visual representation, not now and not ever. Because of my near-sightedness, I decided that Math wasn’t for me. It lasted until college, and maybe it will for the rest of my life.

On sixth grade, I saw two of my teachers cry. One was out of embarrassment. One was out of worry. Seeing the first teacher cry made me think “I don’t want to be like her.” Maybe I judged her. But after some thinking, it changed to “I don’t want that to happen to me.” It was a major shift of perspective for me, because that time, I realized that our mistakes or situation do not define us as a whole. There are just some ugly things that happen to us no matter how hard we try. The next day, she came to school and we had our class normally. Maybe it was an adult thing, just moving on after a bump. But crying, I thought at age 11, was not an adult thing. The second teacher cried out of worry because she thought one of my classmates had gone missing, after messing up an errand. Maybe it was relief? Or anger? I thought negatively (but not really) of my teachers who cried, but at age 20 (no matter how I tried to be professional, refusing to accept their Facebook friends requests until the school year was over), I cried out of frustration in front of my (practice-teaching) students. But on that day, my grand demo teaching, I was so proud of them as well. I made sure I told them. I wanted them to be assured, that I believe in them. Always.

In my first year in high school, I met my first official best friend. I first befriended her because she was seatmates with my crush from grade 4 (my second pick), the one that lasted until sometime in high school. It was a ‘bad’ motive to befriend someone, I know. But it wasn’t like I did it to harm her or anyone. (Are our motives justified if we think that way?) And she couldn’t care less about him being her seatmate, that we became friends just because. No idea how, but we just did. Whenever I open my Facebook, and those Facebook memories pop up, our posts and conversations appear – and I realized that I was really self-centered. It made me thankful that she remained being my friend. It was too late to ask her now if I annoyed her or offended her. The dislike I felt from my other high school friends was so obvious – but no matter how I try, I couldn’t remember a moment that I felt that she disliked me. Maybe she was just good at concealing her feelings. After several years, despite the differences in our streams and boats, she is still one of the few friends I trust and treasure. Maybe I wish things were different, but remaining on one place just because is good for me, too.

In my second year in high school, I met new friends who introduced me to Kpop – and I had no idea how they would bring colors to my high school life. They all said high school is the best part of life. I used to think it was because my high school life had Kpop in it. Maybe it was one factor, but what were the odds of nine high school girls being friends and making colorful memories? Whenever I hear the word nostalgia, those were the memories, and the people I think of the most. The people who first pointed out my self-centered personality, maybe out of anger or frustration, or concern. I figured as adults, such feelings often roll into one honest remark that we often mistake as hatred or judgment. One of them, I remember, was so guilty when we talked about it after some years. Maybe she reflected on it. But I did, too. Maybe she regret saying them, maybe she regret ‘being mean’ but looking back, it was a good reminder to me. Maybe we identify our ‘mistakes’ or ‘bad attitude’, and feel sorry for them, and that’s a good way to go – but I love how God makes it for the good of others, too.

 In my third year in high school, I won my first competition (ever) in an essay-writing contest during our Buwan ng Wika (Filipino Club’s event). I remember my eight girl friends sitting beside me during the programme, and we were waiting for the announcements. The second placer was in the same year level as me, only she was in the highest class. And let’s be honest, I sucked in a science high school and often felt like I didn’t belong there. One of my friends comforted me, accepting defeat, I didn’t dislike the gesture. It felt nice, that her first reaction was to comfort me, and it was enough for me. But I was expectant, for some reason. Maybe it was my self-centered personality, although I didn’t really think I was the best. I just believed I was good. The host announced that the first placer, the winner, was in the third-year too. My friends cheered and screamed, the whole batch screamed. They knew it was me. I knew it, too. I went up the stage to receive my certificate, and on my way down the stage, I caught a glimpse of my adviser coming towards me, she was proud. I missed the steps, and I slipped in front of the whole gymnasium. They laughed, but I wasn’t really embarrassed – because I won. And even if it was a third placer award, I wouldn’t feel embarrassed too, I was sure. Because I won. I was laughing when I went back to my seat, my friends waiting but still laughing so hard. Two of my friends won, too. It was a great afternoon. I won in a writing competition, and my friends whom I treasured more than anything, as a fourteen-year-old, were there, not just for me, but with me. I became a total introvert in college, had social anxiety issues that made me miss classes on my final year. I started to say that I don’t like people, but that wasn’t true. I wanted company. Not people who would always agree with me, but people who were sure they would be with me.

In my final year in high school, I saw the remark of my teacher in one of my essays for her subject. She said I had a unique, good style in writing. It made me feel good, so good that if I think about it now, I would have bragged about it to my friends. But I can’t remember that now. The same teacher saw me and told me that I should join the campus’ school paper. But maybe I was lazy, or I didn’t see the point of joining in my final year. But I remembered thinking maybe I was worth being on a school paper, so I joined one in college. I remember graduating, and my friend crying to the song Long Live by Taylor Swift, as we huddle up, all nine of us. I remember enjoying the moment, the idea that I graduated in a science high school despite being so bad in Maths, or maybe everything except English. This high school had influenced me so much, making me think I am not good (after years of realizing that it was my perspective that lowered my self-esteem and not the curriculum) – but also giving me the privilege of being in good company, my friends. The future was set for me after that graduation. I already had a university to attend, with one of my friends. Most of us would study in Manila, and we could meet from time to time. That was my plan. That was what I was expecting. I was 15. I didn’t know that it would change for me. All of it.

College was not easy for me. I remember being an outcast in my block section because they disliked the university publication I was a part of. But I had two friends who stayed with me. We were inseparable. Not until we reached second year and had different majors. This was when I wondered if I was a bad friend who was not good with maintaining friendships.  I had many friends from when I was young and until now, and I came to a conclusion that I am the friend that you couldn’t remain friends with if you don’t see me often. It still applies up to this day, with few people merely making it. Not that I was a price or something. I was a bad friend, I admit. In my final year in college, in the year of social anxiety, depression, and missing classes – I told my college friends to “leave me alone” but in the nicest way possible. They were mad that I missed classes. They talked it out with me, communicated with me, but all I asked was for them to let me do what I want and have to do, all by myself. But I have a reason! Now that I think about it, it was so immature. I felt guilty that they had to deal with the “Where is she?” “Is she coming to school today?”  and being stuck with an irresponsible friend who does not even speak whenever she comes to class.

I was wrong. I realized I was just being ignorant of the company I have in them, refusing to admit that I need their help. Or that I need anyone’s help. The next day after I told to leave me alone, they let me do what I had to do. Of course, it would be wrong to think that they abandoned me after I tell them that. But I never really thought that way. They were the nicest friends, the deepest friends. We refused to badmouth our classmates (but not always, haha), refused to “help” each other by cheating, refused to do anything that is wrong. Instead, we pointed out what was wrong. We pointed out what we needed to do properly. Pointed out what was wrong with me. Pointed out what I need to do properly. They were not the type to get sick of a friend and leave them hanging. They were the friends who communicated with me, and friends who wanted to be my company. We didn’t graduate together, of course. I stayed for one more year in college, completing the required courses for me to graduate. I stayed for one more year, and they were with me. I was not with them for their final year in college, but they were there for mine. I learned a lot of things in college. My darkest days, yet, were in college. But in those dark days, I was enlightened by one realization: It is a gift to have a friend who corrects you; communicates with you; comes to you even in during your stormy seasons.

 Today, I turned 22.

I’m feeling 22.

Unsure, afraid, but thankful.

Joyful.

I looked back in my life so far. Suddenly, all the things I expected and wanted to have and achieve at 22 weren’t as important as the things I learned from my past.

If it weren’t for Jesus and for the people He allowed in my life to be my company, I wouldn’t have felt this joy.

#kamila's words #kamila's thoughts #moonriverandkamila #moonriverandkamila's #essay #personal essay #words #spilled thoughts #spilled memories #spilled ink #i'm feeling 22 #i'm feeling 22 part 1 #I crammed this without proofreading #Please understand

[queen-swagzilla]

Born in Dreams, Forged in Blood -  Chapter 1

Rated: M (largely for profanity)

Summary: Katsuki Bakugo was not a good communicator. To be fair, neither was Izuku Midoriya. Looking back on their dumpster fire of a friendship, communication was probably the most significant missing piece in their interpersonal puzzle. Luckily, their translator is back in town, and they're about to take UA by storm.

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She kept her eyes glued to her phone, scrolling lazily as she ignored the whispers that sprang up around her. As each person entered the classroom, the murmurs grew louder.

“Who is she?”

“You think she’s in the wrong classroom?”

“She looks kinda mean.”

“She looks like a delinquent.”

Idiots. Did they really not realize how loud they were being? She kept scrolling, opting to read through the hero analysis forum instead of indulging their curiosity. There was some excellent information about Bubble Girl and Centipeder that she wanted to dive into. Nighteye’s sidekicks were always fascinating, and she’d much rather learn about them than deal with petty high school crap.

“What the hell are you doing here?” A gruff voice demanded from the doorway. Finally, she looked up.

“Nice. Really welcoming.” She replied dryly.

“Answer the fucking question.” Katsuki snapped.

“If you’re looking for welcoming…or friendly, Bakugo’s the wrong person. He’s more of an acquired taste.” A girl on the other end of the classroom joked. The one who had said she looked mean. She snorted but didn’t respond.

“Shut the hell up, Kirby.” Katsuki glowered. “Seriously Sana, why are you here?”

“BAKUGO! You are being very rude!” This time, it was an uptight dude with glasses.

“At least he fucking greeted me directly instead of insulting me within earshot.” She snapped, finally turning to glare at them. “You don’t fucking know me, and I don’t need you to tell me how shit works with Katsuki.” Glasses and Kirby both looked affronted, but Katsuki was grinning.

“Good. For a minute there I thought you’d lost your teeth.” He dropped into the desk next to her. “But you still haven’t answered my question. What are you doing here?”

“What does it look like?”

“It looks like you’re sitting in my classroom and not explaining yourself.” He grunted. “Does Deku know you’re here?”

“Nope! It was supposed to be a surprise. Where is he?”

“How the fuck should I know?” He demanded. She leveled him with an unimpressed stare, and he rolled his eyes. “He’s in the infirmary after breaking his entire fucking body during training.”

“He’s still in the infirmary?” The annoying girl yelped. Sana rounded on her, eyes flashing.

“Hey, I’m trying to have a conversation. Wanna keep your big nose out of it?” She snapped.

“I MUST ASK THAT YOU TREAT US WITH RESPECT!” Glasses shouted.

She scoffed. “Like you treated me with respect? Whispering about me while I was right here? I don’t think you even tried to lower your voice. You—“ she pointed at the Kirby. “Said I look mean, and you—“ she pointed at Glasses. “Said I look like a delinquent. So step the fuck off me and stay out of my business.”

“Easy, Sana. They’re Deku’s best friends. Round-Face is Uraraka and Four-Eyes is Iida, our class rep.”

“If these are his best friends, we need to talk to him about his shitty taste in people.” She muttered to him. He snorted.

“Deku likes everyone. If he didn’t, he wouldn’t be Deku. His friendship requirements are breathing and having a pulse.” He rolled his eyes.

“Whatever.” She turned her gaze back to the now tremendously offended duo. “Keep your noses out of my business. Same goes for any of you who were talking shit when you thought I wasn’t listening.”

“Seriously, dude, take it down a notch. You don’t want to be lashing out when Aizawa gets here. Pay them back in training.” Katsuki muttered. She grinned at him—a sharp, toothy, vicious-looking thing.

“Figured it out?”

“I’m not stupid.” He snapped. “I was surprised.”

“A good surprise?” She prodded. He glared at her mutinously, and her grin widened.

“No. You’re a pain in the ass and I hate you.”

“Liar.”

“Woah!” A surprised voice sounded from the doorway. “You’re talking to him and he’s not yelling! That’s awesome!” A spiky-haired redhead bounded toward them, followed by a blonde boy, a black-haired boy, a pink (like literally head-to-toe pink) girl, and a purple-haired girl.

“What, does he usually just scream at everyone?” She asked dryly.

“Yeah! Our boy’s feral, but it looks like you’ve got the magic touch. Only like…three people do, and it’s not exactly reliable.” The blonde one explained. She snorted. That sounded about right, but—

“I thought you’d grown out of that.” She muttered. He glared at her.

“Maybe they understand each other. She seems like she’s basically the girl version of Bakugo, ribbit.”

“Shut the fuck up Frog-face.” Katsuki snarled. “I don’t care what you think of me, but don’t you dare talk shit about her. You don’t know her.”

The silence that boomed through the room was deafening. “Being the girl version of you isn’t an insult. It’s not really true, but it’s not an insult.” Sana said after a long, surprised moment.

“Trust me, she meant it as one.” He snapped.

“Alright, problem children. Sit down and shut up.” Aizawa grumbled as he dragged himself into the classroom. The class hastened to comply. “First of all, as I imagine you’ve noticed, we have a new student—Sana Kimura. She was scouted by Principal Nezu after an incident with a villain in Kyoto. I trust you’ll all welcome her to 1-A.” He drawled. “Second, Midoriya won’t be joining us today due to his most recent set of injuries. Recovery Girl has informed me that she will not be relaxing visiting hours, so if you want to see him, you see him before 8 pm and leave as soon as visiting hours are over. If you try to overstay your welcome, you will be barred from future visiting hours indefinitely.”

Sana raised her hand. “Excuse me, sir. He usually bounces back faster. Is something wrong?”

“No. The damage was too extensive to be healed in one pass, so she’s keeping him longer. Her quirk drains stamina, so she’s keeping him in the infirmary. No need for concern.” He assured her. “You’ll find that Midoriya spends about half his time in the infirmary. The shock and concern will eventually fade.”

Katsuki snorted. “She’s more of a mother hen than my actual mother. Not a chance.”

“Shut your face.” She grumbled, kicking at his chair.

“Anyways,” Aizawa said, interrupting before they could start arguing.”We’ll be skipping team exercises until Midoriya returns, just so that we can keep the playing ground fair. Since we have a student with abilities that we aren’t familiar with yet, I’d like for you all to be on the same page when we start sparring while she’s included.”

“Sensei, Deku already knows what her quirk is.” Katsuki interrupted.

“That may be, but I’d wager he hasn’t seen it used in quite some time, let alone fought against it. The more information his classmates can gain, the less objective I can be regarding your ability to make quick evaluations or learn from previous experiences. I’d rather you all take on those challenges together. Besides, I’d like to have more teachers available when we do our initial evaluation of Miss Kimura’s ability and potential.”

Katsuki seemed to accept that logic, so he slumped back in his seat.

“So we won’t be training today? At all?” The candy-cane looking dude from the back asked, voice monotone. Iida looked rather sour at the thought, frowning deeply. She didn’t really care unless he yelled about it later. The guy was fuckin’ loud.

“I’m going to allow you to use homeroom as a study period, and for hero training, you can choose to either train physically or continue to develop your coursework. Some of you are performing disastrously in your core subjects, and I’d strongly advise you to prepare for your exams.” His eyes skated over the room, landing in a few key spots that she didn’t pay attention to. “Use the extra time wisely, and don’t do anything stupid.” Sana watched in amusement as the adult-in-charge whipped out a sleeping bag and curled up in a cocoon on the classroom floor.

“Yo, Bakubro—could you help me with the calc homework? I’m stuck on number ten.” The redhead spiky dude asked.

“Why didn’t you ask me last night, Shitty Hair?”

“You were asleep by the time I got to it!” He complained.

Katsuki sighed…well, growled, and held out his hand. “Let me see what you tried so far.” He turned to Sana. “This is Eijirou Kirishima. The blond one is Denki Kaminari. That’s Hanta Sero, Pinky is Mina Ashido, and AirPods is Kyoka Jiro.”

She gaped. “Woah, you actually learned their names? You must really like them.” She chuckled incredulously. He muttered under his breath, so quickly that it sounded like a growl to their companions, but she heard it clear as day.

“Shut the fuck up.” He’d said. “If they know that I actually like them, they’ll want to hang out even more.”

She threw her head back and laughed, but acquiesced. “Well, I trust your taste in friends. You’re more discerning than Zuku. He’d befriend a serial killer if he had the chance.” She said, still chuckling. “It’s nice to meet you guys.”

The redhead grinned. “Nice to meet you too! How do you know Bakubro and Midoriya?”

“Her mom went to college with our moms. I’ve been stuck with her since birth.” Katsuki snapped.

“Right, that’s definitely why you called me and Deku-screeched at me for an hour when you got accepted to UA.” She drawled. He glared at her, snarling.

“Deku-screeched?” Earlobe girl—Jiro—snorted.

“You know how Zuku mutters super fast under his breath? Well when he gets super excited about it, sometimes he does it really loudly. He sounds kinda like an auctioneer, but with Present Mic’s quirk.” Sana replied. “I thought he was trying to blow my eardrums out when he called.”

“First of all, shut the fuck up. Second of all, at least I told you that I got in. Third, Aizawa said you were scouted after a villain attack. You haven’t said shit about a villain attack. Start talking.” Katsuki demanded.

“I thought you wanted me to shut the fuck up.” She teased. The glare he shot her this time was different. Yeah, it could have melted glass, but it was a little more pleading. She sighed. “Can I tell you later? When Zuku’s here? I figured we could catch up on everything at once. I think between the three of us, there are some things we don’t want to talk about more than once, if possible.”

He glowered but conceded. “Fine. But we are talking about this.” His voice dropped again, too low for the rest to hear. “You and fucking Deku are going to give me heart attacks.”

She ducked her head, inky black hair falling into her eyes. “Of course we’ll talk about it. Sorry, Kacchan.” There was a dramatic collection of gasps, and she glanced at Katsuki’s friends. “What?”

“N-nobody but Midoriya is allowed to call him that!” Kaminari stammered. She laughed.

“Sorry, Zuku might have started it, but it’s a childhood friend privilege.” She replied. “He couldn’t pronounce Kacchan’s name when we were younger, and I liked it because it sounded cute. It’s really just for me and Zuku, though. At least, as far as I know.”

“Yeah, because I hate it, but I can’t get you two to stop.”

“Yeah? Then why did you blow up your couch the last time I called you Bakugo?” She snickered.

“Stop exposing me, asshole.” He growled, turning to the messy homework that Kirishima had slid onto his desk.

“While he’s making sure Kiri doesn’t fail, why don’t you tell us about yourself?” Jiro suggested, pulling her chair closer.

“YOU ARE SUPPOSED TO BE STUDYING!” Four-Eyes barked. “PLEASE FOLLOW MR. AIZAWA’S DIRECTIONS! MISS KIMURA MUST HAVE WORK TO CATCH UP ON!”

“What did I just say about minding your own business? I can make my own decisions.” Sana snapped. “But if you guys need to study, I can help! Kacchan and I can tag team!” She offered, switching gears from being pissed at Iida to smiling pleasantly at Katsuki’s friends, who were making her feel substantially more welcome than the rest of the class had.

“We’re actually caught up for once, and I think we can revise later.” Mina smiled. “We’re supposed to make you feel welcome, right? We wanna get to know you! But thanks for offering.”

“Yeah, I might take you up on that later. Bakugo’s smart, but he can be vicious.” Kaminari joked.

They all ignored Katsuki’s answering snarl. “Alright, then. Well, what do you want to know?” She asked, a little nervous. It was always nerve-wracking being the new girl.

“Where did you transfer from?” Jiro asked.

“Shiketsu. I didn’t apply to UA—it would have cost too much for me to get an apartment.”

“Even though mom and Auntie Inko both said they’d let you stay with us,” Katsuki muttered. She ignored him.

“Since you’re living in the dorms now, accommodations are taken care of. It all worked out. Even if I hate the reason the dorms were built.” She continued, shooting a nasty glare at the back of Katsuki’s head.

“I didn’t want to get kidnapped by shitty, delusional villains.” He growled.

“What’s your quirk?” Kirishima asked, leaning in.

“Uh…well, it’s called Kinesis. But I guess vibration is a simpler way to explain it.” She shrugged. “My hero name will be Aftershock.”

“That’s way better than King Explosion Murder.” Kaminari sniggered. Sana pinned Katsuki with another glare.

“That is not your hero name. Zuku and I worked really hard on your hero name! AND you helped me with mine!” She pouted. He ignored her. “I swear, if I see King Explosion Murder on your provisional license, I’ll start ruining your perfect, disciplinarian life routine, starting with your sleep schedule. You know I can.” She threatened.

“Give it a rest. It felt weird to use it with the shit going on between me n’ Deku. Doesn’t mean I don’t like the name.” He mumbled. She pinned him with a completely unimpressed look, and he knew exactly what it meant.

It meant ‘you can stop the shit between you and Deku whenever you decide to stop being a jackass, and you know it.'

“What hero name did you come up with for him?” Kirishima asked. Sana grinned.

“Ground Zero.” She stated proudly.

“That one’s awesome!” Mina cried. “Did you pick one for Midoriya too? I mean, Deku isn’t the worst hero name, but it’s not really as awesome as his quirk.”

She bit her lip. “Kacchan and I have differing opinions on that.” She stated, deflecting. Sure, she had an idea, but she had no idea if Katsuki did. Hell, she hadn’t even seen them since Izuku had mysteriously developed a quirk, and her little broccoli boy had seemed to want to keep his late development under wraps.

She’d still seen that quirk of his in action at the Sports Festival. It was amazing, and she wanted answers.

“Well, what’s your idea?” Mina pushed, leaning closer.

She pursed her lips. “I came up with it when he wasn’t that good at using his quirk. You know; he’d break his bones if he used it, but he still stood up for everyone and tried to keep his friends safe, even if that meant fighting off bullies quirkless. I thought he should be called ’Stronghold’.” She explained.

“And I thought that screwed with our theme—battle focused heroes with conceptual names.” Katsuki supplied, annoyed. Sana raised her eyebrows in surprise. He was willingly sharing information about his relationship with Izuku? “I thought he should be called Last Stand. Like the person who’ll keep going, even when they don’t think they’ll win.”

“Those are both great!” Kirishima cheered. “Super manly!”

“Why would you need his name to match?” Kaminari asked, face screwed up in confusion.

“I can’t believe I’m saying this, but that’s a good question.” Jiro agreed, annoyed that Kaminari had thought of it first. Sana glanced at Katsuki who looked a little constipated if she was being honest.

But he surprised her again, dropping Kirishima’s homework and turning to the group. “When we were young, the three of us wanted to be a hero team.” He barked. “When we were coming up with names, it felt weird that our ideas didn’t fit. But that’s not a fucking problem anymore since we’re not a fucking team."

Sana pouted. “We’re not?”

Katsuki refused to look her in the eye when he replied, “Absolutely fucking not.”

“But Kacchan—“

“No.”

She huffed. “I go to school here now, you know. I’ve got three whole years to wear you down.” She reminded him. All of a sudden, Katsuki looked like he wanted to jump out of a window. “If you make it to graduation without caving, I’ll still have family dinners and holidays. You might as well accept it, Kacchan.”

“I don’t have to accept shit.” He grunted, going back to the homework in front of him. His four friends watched them bicker, eyes bouncing between them. They had to wonder—who would come out on top? And if it wasn't Katsuki, they wondered if he’d really consider it a loss.

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#bakugou x midoriya #bakudeku #katsuki bakugo #izuku midoriya #kirishima eijirou #denki kaminari #kyoka jiro #mina ashido #original character #hitoshi shinso #hanta sero #class 1-a #eraserhead #all might #bnha fanfiction #bakudeku fanfic #queen-swagzilla #swagzilla writes #s_the_queen on ao3 #born in dreams forged in blood #bnha

[sky-casino]

Competitive as Hell

Genre: Angst, Fluff Pairing: Jaehyun x Reader Word Count: 7,472 a/n: I was inspired to write this fic based on two facts about Jae: 1) he can drink 3-4 soju bottles according to the members themselves 2) he's competitive as hell. Enjoy!

Monday morning. First day of college. You were right in front of your university's tall and intimidating gates, hesitant to enter as you watched your fellow students excitedly do so.

Originally, you were thrilled to start this new chapter of your life. But the heartbreak caused by your ex overpowered the excitement. You've been with him for the last two years of high school when he suddenly broke up with you last week. After all the summer adventures that brought you happiness and made you think he really was the one, he dumped you out of the blue. When you asked him why, he couldn't even form a single coherent sentence. A few mumbles and stutters later, he simply said that he wasn't so sure anymore. That's it.

As you slowly entered the gates, you felt like a fragile porcelain doll that might crumble anytime. Your cheerful self is dead and gone and the excitement of entering college has turned into pressure and discomfort. 

You were not in the mood to be friendly to anyone. But during the freshmen orientation that morning, you found yourself sat beside a very talkative Japanese student. His name was Nakamoto Yuta. He kept trying to befriend you and you were a little bit pissed at the beginning. However, you realized that your ex and what happened between the two of you shouldn't dictate how you treat others. You started to talk more and smile more, even just a bit. 

After lunch, your professors dispersed you into your respective courses and sections, separating you from Yuta who was taking up Sports Education.

"I'll go this way. Let's keep in touch, okay?" He said after you exchanged numbers.

"Sure. See you!"

And with that, you were alone again. You realized how harder college life would be if you didn't have any friends. You told yourself that you needed to bring back your old friendly self, but it was difficult and you might come off as fake if you try too hard to make new friends. So you decided to just go with the flow and not overthink.

Going with the flow earned you another friend, Seulgi. This girl shares the same course as you, Psychology. You sat together during the first official class and you were thankful that you clicked right away. From then on, you were pretty inseparable.

Fast forward to the end of the school week, Friday. You were having lunch with Seulgi who was talking about the welcome party that the student council was throwing for you and your fellow freshmen that night. It was meant to encourage camaraderie and sense of belonging. Seulgi was excited about it and wanted to go, but you weren't really hyped.

"Come on, Y/N. Let's go! It sounds fun. Please~" She said with her hands clasped together.

Before you could reply, Yuta suddenly showed up and sat beside you.

"Hey!" You greeted the boy. 

Instead of greeting you properly, Yuta took a couple of your fries.

"Seulgi, meet Yuta. Yuta, meet Seulgi. My BFF and classmate." 

"Wow, it's just the first week and you already have a BFF?" Yuta retorted at you as he chewed. "Nice to meet you." He said, nodding at Seulgi. "Oh, by the way. You're not the only one who made a friend, Y/N. Meet Winwin. He's in my Literature class." Yuta said as he introduced the shy and cute Chinese boy.

"Hello. Take a seat!" You said as you gestured him to sit beside Seulgi. 

"Are you going to the party later?" Yuta asked you and Seulgi.

"I want to! But Y/N is thinking twice." Seulgi said with a pout.

"What? Are you serious? It's gonna be fun! I heard there's gonna be a huge bonfire and lots of food and booze. Winwin and I are going." Yuta said as he playfully tugged your left arm.

"Fine, fine! I'm going! Jeez." You said in a defeated tone which made your three friends cheer.

"So where do we meet up?" Winwin asked.

"Hmm, how about here in the cafeteria at around 5pm? It starts at 5:30 and will take place at the open field." Seulgi replied and to which all of you agreed.

Yuta and Winwin had to leave earlier for their Laboratory class and a few minutes later, you and Seulgi headed to the library.

"I'm so excited for later! It's great we're gonna be with those two. The more the merrier. Are you excited?" Seulgi asked.

You hated to admit it but yes, you were starting to feel the thrill. "Hmm, I guess? Yes, I'm excited." You replied with an embarrassed chuckle.

"See! You need to enjoy and loosen up! We're gonna help you forget that jerk who broke your heart." Seulgi said in a cute but supportive tone before you entered the library. You really appreciate your friend.

A few hours of studying and boring lectures later, you and Seulgi are with Yuta and Winwin again on the way to the open field.

The bonfire is not yet ignited but you could already see the huge logs of wood being drenched in gasoline. People were starting to swarm around it and tables of food and drinks were being lined up already.

When the clock hit 5:30, the student council president went onstage to deliver his welcoming speech and to announce the beginning of the party. He along with the other student council members lit up the bonfire and it was one of the most beautiful things you've ever seen. The sun was setting and the fire complimented the sky.

You quickly found a table for you and your three friends while Yuta and Winwin got food and drinks for the four of you, which were all free of charge.

"Here you go! Samgyupsal, ttokbokki, and sausages with some cider and soju." Yuta said as he and Winwin placed down the plates and drinks.

A few seconds after you started munching, you heard a loud voice from the neighboring table.

"Yuta!" A tall boy with brown hair yelled as he approached your table.

"Hey, Johnny! I didn't know you're just near." Yuta replied as he high-fived the much taller guy.

"Hey guys! Are you all having fun? I'm Johnny, Yuta's roommate." Johnny said as he shook his hand with each of you. You were pretty sure this boy is friendlier than Yuta. 

"Do you guys want to merge your table with ours? That way, it'll be more fun." Johnny suggested.

"Oh, sure. It's.. it's fine." You said as you looked at Winwin and Seulgi for confirmation, to which the two of them nodded in agreement.

Johnny single-handedly pulled your table right next to theirs and when you finally took a good look to see who he's with, you were intimated and overwhelmed because all of them were boys, good-looking boys.

"Meet Taeil, Taeyong, Doyoung, Mark, and Jaehyun. We all live in the same floor in the dorm so Yuta already knows them." Johnny said.

You were too shy to say anything so you just smiled at them before focusing on your plate of food and bottle of soju. 

Doyoung suggested for all of you to introduce yourselves one by one. You didn't expect it to be that fun because along with the usual introduction, the boys also said some weird and funny stories that happened in the dorm.

"One time, Taeil was choking on ice but we just kept laughing because we thought he was just joking! We didn't know he was actually choking!" Yuta said and all of you laughed out loud. 

You drank the last drop of your first bottle of soju and was about to open your second one when Jaehyun called your name. He sat diagonally from your spot.

"Hey, Y/N."

"Hmm?" You asked with wide eyes. You weren't sure but hearing him say your name felt nice yet so foreign. You could get used to it, though.

"How many soju bottles can you take? Like, the maximum? Before you completely pass out?" He asked with a slight smirk, showing his dimples.

"F-five? Why are you asking?" 

The entire table let out a loud and long "Woah~" after you replied.

"I'm asking because you're already on your second bottle while the rest of them is just reaching half of their first. I'm opening my second bottle right now, just like you." Jaehyun said. 

"Damn, girl. Five?!" Doyoung asked loudly.

"Yes." 

"I don't believe it." Jaehyun retorted as he slowly shook his head.

You were starting to get pissed at this guy. He's handsome as hell, yes. But a bit arrogant.

"You don't have to." You said as you rolled your eyes, drinking from your second bottle.

This time, everyone let out a low "Oooh~". They're feeling the tension from you and Jaehyun.

"I'm sorry. I didn't mean to offend you." Jaehyun began. "I just found it unbelievable that a girl can drink five bottles. I can only drink max of four."

You didn't even look at him and just continued eating.

"Alright. I understand you're pissed. I have a suggestion to settle this down. Let's have a showdown." Jaehyun said and Mark's jaw dropped. 

"Showdown?" Seulgi and Mark asked at the same time. The others were looking at each other, realizing that this has turned into something serious.

"Yup. With that, Y/N can show us that she can actually finish five. Plus, it'll be fun." Jaehyun replied, smirk still plastered on his face.

"I don't need to prove anything to anyone. But your competitive and stubborn ass needs to learn, so alright. I accept your challenge." You said, finally looking at Jaehyun and finishing your second bottle with ease. 

Everyone is getting pumped up except for Seulgi. "Y/N, calm down. As you said, you don't have to do this. We can leave if you want to." 

"No, I'll be fine. I can really finish five bottles." You smiled at your friend. 

"Game?" Jaehyun asked before finishing his second bottle.

"Game."

"Alright. Both of you have finished two bottles already. So in order to win, each of you have to finish three more. Got it?" Doyoung announced.

"Yep. No problem for me. I don't know with him, though. He said he can only finish max of four." You said confidently as you looked at your competitor.

Honestly, Jaehyun was very surprised yet impressed by your confidence and fighting spirit. It's his first time to invite a girl to a drinking showdown and he didn't expect that you'd actually accept it. While everyone were making weird cheering noises, he chuckled awkwardly as he looked down at his bottle. His cute dimples were distracting you a bit.

The game has started and by the end of the third bottle, you were starting to feel a little tipsy. Just a little. While Jaehyun was now as red as tomato and had his eyes closed, struggling to keep them open. 

"You know, you don't have to do this. It's clear for everyone to see who's gonna win." You told him not with the intention of mocking him, but because you're honestly concerned. 

"No need to worry about me, darling. I can hold my own." He said after massaging his temples, finally opening his eyes to look at you. You wanted to deny it but your heart fluttered a little when he called you "darling". Just a little.

"Fine." You said as the two of you twisted the cap of your fourth bottle. You looked at him more carefully to observe how he is when he's drunk and you realized that he was actually cute. He's still arrogant but it's really cute how red his face, neck, and ears were and how his smirk that has become a smile showed his dimples. And to top all of these, he had his eyes closed, obviously wanting to just doze off right there and then. He was letting out subtle giggles too.

You gulped your fourth bottle fairly smoothly, but not as smoothly as before. You were starting to wince. Jaehyun on the other hand only took a couple of gulps when he started vomiting.

"Ugh I knew this would happen." Taeyong panicked a little as he held both sides of his head.

"Okay and the winner is-" Doyoung playfully announced but got interrupted by Jaehyun.

"No! I'm not yet done. There's still no winner here." Jaehyun said as he wiped his mouth. He quickly grabbed his bottle before anyone could stop him.

To your surprise, he successfully drank the alcohol bottoms-up. You were about to open your fifth bottle with more determination when Jaehyun suddenly passed out. Right. His max was four, remember?

The rest of the boys either let out yells of complain or were laughing and clapping hysterically. 

"That was fun, Y/N!" Yuta patted your shoulder before giving you a high-five.

"I recorded the whole thing!" Mark said as he played the video for everyone to see.

"Jaehyun is the most competitive and the best drinker among us. I'm sorry for what happened." Taeyong told you with a solemn expression.

"It's fine. Don't worry. I should be the one to say sorry." You replied, looking at Johnny and Doyoung supporting Jaehyun from both sides as they walked slowly to the dorm.

"I think we should go? It's kinda late already." Seulgi whispered to you.

"R-right. Yes." You replied.

"We'll go now. Thanks. I had a good time." You said as you slowly stood up, careful of losing your balance. 

"Bye! We had a lot of fun because of you!" Mark yelled.

Yuta walked with you until you found a cab to ride together with Seulgi. "Like what Taeyong said, Jaehyun is competitive. Expect him to invite you for another showdown." 

"What?! Another one!" You exclaimed.

"Uh, yes? You can turn him down, though."

"Yeah, will do that. Or not. It was fun to beat him." You said and the three of you laughed.

A cab eventually arrived and Yuta bid you and Seulgi goodbye. "See you on Monday!"

"They.. they are a weird but fun bunch of guys." Seulgi said with amusement.

"I know right. Really weird but really fun." You replied with a giggle, secretly thinking of Jaehyun's cute drunk face.

The next morning, Jaehyun woke up with an almost unbearable hangover he couldn't get up from his bed.

"Fuck!" He said after a long and loud groan.

"Oh, you're awake." Doyoung, his roommate, said non-chalantly.

"Meds. I need meds. Give me painkillers." Jaehyun begged as he was so close to crying.

"They're right beside your bed, dumbass." Doyoung replied.

Jaehyun struggled getting up because even a slight movement caused the throbbing pain in his head to worsen. He took the pill and laid down again.

"You looked so stupid last night." Doyoung said as he laughed non-stop.

"Shut up."

"But it's true! She defeated you so easily. Johnny and I had to walk your unconscious ass back here while Y/N walked to the taxi bay just fine to get a ride home. That's how huge your differences are! You can't beat her. Never." 

"I'll drink with her again and again until I beat her. Remember that." Jaehyun said groggily but still with determination.

"What the hell? Fine. If you wanna look stupid in front of her again, then be my guest."

"How stupid did I look anyway?"

"You were beet red and giggling for no reason and then the worst: you vomited." Doyoung hit the table repeatedly as he laughed.

"Oh, for fuck's sake." Jaehyun groaned.

Mark entered the room with a pot of hot beef soup. "Morning, here's the hangover soup Taeil and Taeyong made for you."  

"Thank you so much. Just put it on the table, I'll get up soon." 

"Mark, guess what."

"What."

"This loser is planning to invite Y/N to another showdown just to get defeated again." Doyoung said.

"Hell no."

"Hell yes." The two high-fived and kept laughing and laughing.

"Can the two of you fuckers get out? You're making my headache worse."

"Sure. We'll get out now to announce your stupidity to the others. Bye!" Doyoung said sarcastically, leaving Jaehyun alone in his agonizing headache.

Yuta was right when he told you to expect another invitation from Jaehyun.

It was Monday morning, right after your first class ended. You were surprised to see Jaehyun leaning on the locker beside yours after you closed it.

"Jeez, you scared me. What do you want?" 

"Uhh, okay. First of all, good morning." Jaehyun replied as he followed you.

"Okay. Good morning. What do you want?"

"Why are you so snappy? I'm the one who lost the showdown last Friday. If there's someone between us who should be irritated, it's me." Jaehyun protested as he took a closer look at your face.

"I'm just asking, what do you want?" You said as you continued walking to your next class, not sparing him a glance.

"Are you free this Wednesday? Let's do it again! I swear this time, I'll win."

You scoffed in response. You expected this.

"Can't. I have a 7am class the next day."

"How about Friday night again?"

"Why are you so confident? You should practice drinking five bottles without passing out first before you challenge me again." You raised your brow at him.

"That's what I did this weekend, as a matter of fact."

"Oh, is that why you don't look.. your best?" You teased.

"What? What do you mean?" Jaehyun asked with a slight panicking voice, trying to fix his hair and straightening out his shirt.

"Hmm.. I'm not really sure, but you look exhausted? Eyes a bit red and dark spots under them. You should just give up. What's in it for you, anyway?" You said as you examined him from head to toe.

"I don't like losing. That's all. And I have my reputation." Jaehyun said as he suddenly cornered you against the wall with his arm, smirking at you.

"Oh please, it's not like you're gonna lose your friends just because of this."

"Ugh, can you just say yes? Please?" He backed off and looked at you with pleading eyes. Which surprised you because you realized how much this matters to him. Like what Taeyong said, he's competitive.

"Fine. But this will be the last time, alright? Whether you win or lose, it'll be the last."

"I promise! Thanks, Y/N!" Jaehyun said before going for a quick hug that was so quick you weren't even able to hug him back. 

"See you on Friday night! I'll text you the place!" He yelled across the hall as he ran away. 

"Yeah, see you. Loser." You whispered to yourself with a blank face as you watched him.

Yes, you had another drinking showdown with Jaehyun that Friday night. But no, unlike what you told him, it wasn't the last. 

In contrast to his snarky and confident self the first time he challenged you, he was more quiet and serious this time. But still, you beat him the second time and the other boys were present to witness his downfall. There was no improvement in his performance, still passed out right after finishing his fourth bottle. 

Another Monday came and he challenged you again while you were having lunch with Seulgi at one of the benches under the trees. 

"Nope."

"Please, Y/N?"

"I already told you that Friday night would be the last, remember? Or did forcing yourself to drink five bottles has affected your memory already?" You scoffed.

"I.. I only agreed to that because I thought I'd be able to beat you." Jaehyun admitted.

For the first time, you just looked at him because you didn't know what to say. 

"Alright. See you. Same time, same place." You replied as you picked up your chop sticks. You weren't exactly sure what it was but looking at him convinced you to say yes, again.

"Yes! Thank you and sure, same time, same place! Bye!" 

You continued eating as Seulgi looked at you with a displeased face.

"Why did you agree?

"No important reason. Just realized I'm actually having fun with this stupid showdown." 

"You're... you're not catching feelings for him, are you?" Seulgi asked cautiously.

You choked on your drink upon hearing the weird question. "Excuse me but what?"

"I'm sorry. I just can't help but think-"

"For the record, no. I don't feel anything for him."

"Well, that's great. Because we both know you just..." 

"Got my heart broken? Yes, I'm very much aware of that, thank you. But that's also the reason why I should put my mind on other things, to distract myself."

"And drinking with Jaehyun is your way of distracting yourself?"

"Seulgi, I'll be fine. Okay? It's not like I'm gonna hook up with him. I'm not like that. Just relax. Yuta and the other boys are with us too, it's not like it's just me and Jaehyun."

"Fine. Just text me if something happens."

As the weeks passed by, the other boys ended up getting bored of your showdowns because you always won, anyway. There was no thrill anymore. And so it was just you and Jaehyun, eventually. 

Besides his competitiveness, you got to see different sides of Jaehyun when he's drunk. He's not only giggly but he could be very dramatic as well. There were nights when he'd just laugh and be silly and nights when he'd sulk and rant about life. He amused you to no end, which was why you ended up saying yes to each of his invitations.

Jaehyun always waited for you to arrive at the bar before he took a single sip. So you were a bit surprised when you saw that a quarter of his first bottle was already empty that night.

“Aww, you didn’t wait for me?” You asked sarcastically.

“Sorry, I just needed a sip.” He sighed deeply, not looking at you.

“I was just joking, jeez. I don’t mind. Are you okay? You seem... off.” You replied, taking off your backpack and signaling the bartender for a bottle.

“Hmm, so-so.” Jaehyun replied curtly.

“That’s not good. Want me to invite the rest of the boys?”

“Nope. I like it like this. Just the two of us.” He smiled bitterly.

“Oh, alright.” The bottle of soju came at the right time to distract you as you felt your cheeks heat up. You finished it without stopping.

“Damn Y/N, relax.” Jaehyun said with a chuckle.

“Can’t. You started without me so I had to catch up.”

Instead of replying verbally, Jaehyun finished his own bottle as his response to you. “Now we’re fair.”

Second bottle.

Jaehyun was unusually quiet and serious, just looking down at his bottle and swirling the alcohol in it around. Looking at his phone from time to time and overall just avoiding your gaze. You were worried about him.

Third bottle.

Jaehyun was starting to get giggly and laughing for no reason. You felt relieved for a few moments until you realized that his laughs and smiles weren’t genuine like before. There were sadness and bitterness in them that you couldn’t exactly point out.

Fourth bottle.

He was showing a mixture of dramatic and silly and you were very weirded out by what you were seeing. He was laughing one second and then sobbing the next.

“Jae, maybe now is not a good time. We can disregard this night and just start again tomorrow. Let’s go home?”

“No! I wanna defeat you.” He protested while stomping his legs repeatedly like a child.

“Oh my god, Jeong Jaehyun. I swear to god.” You placed your bottle down with a thud.

The both of you just looked at each other with polarizing expressions. You looked exasperated and he was starting to smile flirtatiously.

“You know,” He began as he leaned on the table, studying your face more closely. “You’re actually pretty. Really beautiful, if I do say so myself.”

You were pretty sure your breath hitched and your heartbeat started to race as you looked away, unsure of what to say.

“Oooh, you’re turning red!” Jaehyun teased you, pointing his finger at you as he laughed heartily.

“Shut up, Jaehyun. It’s the alcohol, not you and your stupid cheesy words.”

“Whatever, Y/N. What you say doesn’t matter… because…” He said in between hiccups.

“Because what?”

“Because all I know is that I really like you.” He continued, looking at you with serious yet sleepy eyes.

“You don’t know what you’re saying.” You shook your head.

“No, honey. I actually do.” He said with a bitter smile. “All this time, I thought I was just spending time with you because I wanted to defeat you. But along the way I realized that I genuinely enjoy your presence. When we’re not together, I miss you so bad. I always think of you. I want to text you and invite you to hang out without getting drunk and just spend the day sober, doing normal things. But... but I was afraid. I am afraid.”

You looked at him as tears threaten to fall from your eyes. Is this the reason he’s been acting strange the whole night? You asked yourself.

“Well, congratulations. You finally won, Jaehyun. You have defeated me in this game of yours.”

“What? What are you talking about? We’re not yet… done.” He said right before he passed out.

That’s when you finally let the tears fall. You didn’t know why but seeing Jaehyun so hurt and sad broke your heart.

“Hey. Pick up your passed-out friend here at the bar. I asked the bartender to watch over him until you arrive. I’m going home now.” You told Yuta as you looked at Jaehyun sleeping soundly.

“Wait! Why are you in such a hurry? Wait for me there and I’ll drive you home too.”

“No need. I’m fine. And also…”

“Also?”

“This is the last time I’m doing this with him.”

“Doing what? The drinking showdown?”

“Yes. This is the last time, no more next.”

“Woah, that’s surprising. But why?” Yuta asked as you heard his car starting up in the background.

“Nothing. I just don’t find it fun anymore. I’m tired. I’ll be hanging up now. Bye.” You ended the call even before Yuta could say anything in reply.

You hesitated to bring yourself closer to Jaehyun but you realized that this might be the only chance you’d ever get to look at him so closely. You laid down your head next to his, your noses almost touching and you could feel his hot breath hitting your lips. You stayed in that position for a few seconds before you ruffled his soft dark brown hair. You loved the smell of his shampoo.

You bid goodbye to the bartender and reminded him about Jaehyun. This bartender, Yukhei, became your and Jaehyun’s acquaintance due to the frequent visits at the bar.

10:34 AM

"Good morning, Y/N. I lost to you again last night. As usual, I was gonna challenge you again. But Yuta told me just now that you don't want to do it anymore? He said you no longer find it fun. May I know why?"

2:15 PM

"Hey, Y/N. Did I do or say something inappropriate last night? Please tell me. I want to apologize properly :("

4:48 PM

"Looks like I really did something you didn't like. I'm sorry. But please tell me what exactly happened. My memory always betrays me the day after I get wasted. You know that. Really hoping to hear from you."

You didn't reply to any of those messages because you had no idea what to say. Obviously, Jaehyun wasn't aware of the fact that he confessed to you and you decided that it's better to stay that way. Telling him about it would just embarrass him and make things awkward between the two of you. Or worse, he might completely deny everything. 

While you laid down on your bed looking up at the ceiling with these thoughts in your head, Jaehyun couldn't stay still in the dorm, never letting go of his phone as he waited for at least one reply from you.

"Jeez, Jaehyun. You're making me dizzy. Can you sit down for a while?" Doyoung asked irritatingly.

"She's not replying. What the fuck did I do last night?" Jaehyun let out a deep and loud sigh.

"Who knows? We weren't there, were we?"

"Yuta, is that really everything she said? 'It's not fun anymore'?" 

"Yeah, that's all."

"How did she sound like? Was she mad or anything?"

"Hmm, no. She wasn't mad. She sounded.. tired and.. a bit sad." Yuta rubbed his chin with his thumb as he tried to remember his call with you.

"What if you accidentally confessed to her?" Mark innocently asked before filling his mouth with potato chips.

"Accidentally what? Confessed?" Jaehyun squinted his eyes at the boy.

"Y-yeah. Confessed."

"And what will I confess to her?" The taller boy defensively asked as he approached Mark.

"That you like her, duh?" Winwin said, playing on his phone.

"W-what? Excuse me? I do not like her."

The rest of the boys snorted in response.

"Wow you guys. You don't believe me?" Jaehyun asked with wide eyes and scrunched brows, obviously taking full offense.

"Okay, listen. First, you are so worried about her not wanting to drink with you anymore and not replying to you. Second, you called all of us here in your room to ask us for advice. Those pretty much confirm our theory that yes, you do like her, Jae." Johnny declared.

The other boys nodded their heads in unison and Jaehyun's face and ears were red as tomato.

"I think you should just talk to her in person on Monday." Taeyong suggested, realizing that the discussion must be ended soon for Jaehyun's sanity.

"Yeah, I agree." Mark replied.

"There's nothing wrong if you like her. But you should act fast or I will." Doyoung wiggled his eyebrows.

"Oh, so you like her now too? Sorry but I won't allow you to make a move." Jaehyun smirked at him.

"There goes our third confirmation." Taeil said before sipping his tea.

"You're not yet her boyfriend but you're already possessive." Mark said, shaking his head.

"Nah, Jae. I was just playing with ya and you fell for it." Doyoung was laughing hysterically.

Realizing what just happened, Jaehyun couldn't help but let out a loud groan of defeat.

You always dreaded Mondays but you dreaded this particular Monday even more. You've been so cautious about your surroundings and deliberately moved faster, hoping that you wouldn't bump into Jaehyun. 

But it's Jeong Jaehyun you're avoiding, the most determined and persistent guy you've ever known. So of course, any attempt was futile.

"Y/N. Y/N!" You heard him calling from a far but you didn't look at him. His running footsteps were getting louder and closer and you mentally gave up.

"Hey, good morning." He said as he was catching his breath.

"Morning." You replied, focused on the ground.

"Uhm, so... Did, did you get my texts last Saturday?" The dreaded question.

"Y-you texted?" You pretended.

"Yeah! Several times. You didn't get any of them?" 

"No, I don't think so. I was on digital detox the whole weekend so I turned on my phone's airplane mode." You tried so hard to sound normal so he wouldn't catch you lying.

"Oh, digital detox. Yeah, I've heard people have been doing that lately. That's.. that's great."

You didn't respond and so he continued.

"So I texted you because Yuta said you didn't.." His voice faltered and you swallowed hard. "He said you didn't want to drink with me anymore?" You felt his eyes focused on you and it made your whole being jittery inside.

"Y-yes. I said that."

"Because it's no longer fun?"

"Yep." You never thought that your classroom was this far from the main gate. You wanted nothing more but for it to suddenly appear so you would have an excuse to end this awkward conversation with Jaehyun.

"May I know why?" Jaehyun asked, putting himself right in front of you, stopping you from walking any further. For the first time that day, you looked him in the eye, causing you to stop breathing for a second. His eyes are full of worry and you never saw him this sad before. Was he really this affected by your decision?

"No special reason. I just.. don't enjoy it anymore. As simple as that."

"But why? You kept on winning against me."

"Maybe because winning is not everything, Jae."

Jaehyun was left speechless for a short while before he continued, "Did I do or say anything that offended you? I'm sorry-"

"Don't worry, you didn't. As I said, no special reason." 

"Okay. Well, we can do other things. Things that are fun for you. What do you want to do? We don't have to drink anymore, if that's what you really want." He asked, a glint of hope in his eyes. A hope that you weren't sure if you're ready to entertain.

"I..." You began as Jaehyun anticipated your full reply.

"I'm already five minutes late, Jaehyun." You stated with a tight smile and you saw his face turn from hopeful to disappointed. 

He slowly moved out of your way and you ran to your classroom quickly, with him watching your back from a far.

You had a hard time focusing on your classes for the rest of the day, extremely guilty that you have hurt him. You were on your way to meet with Seulgi at the main gate before going home when you saw Jaehyun again. This time, he was sat on one of the benches. You saw him looking at you and he just gave you a slight smile before turning back to Mark who was chatting passionately. It didn't look like he was going to talk to you again about the same topic. He must have accepted your reason and moved on, you thought to yourself.

It was Saturday night and Jaehyun is back at the bar with the other boys. 

"I have no intention of passing out, thank you. One bottle is enough." Jaehyun announced after they settled in.

"You're no fun." Yuta replied before the others started booing Jaehyun. But the latter didn't change his mind.

While the other boys were having fun drinking, dancing, or fooling around with girls they just met, Jaehyun only took a couple of sips from his first bottle of soju.

"You look so out of it. Sorry if I forced you to come with us. Just wanted to help in taking your mind off things." Yuta comforted Jaehyun.

"Oh, no it's fine. Thank you. It's just.. this was the place where Y/N and I had our last drink exactly a week ago. I wonder what really happened. She wouldn't tell me. Or maybe I'm just overthinking."

"Jaehyun, Yuta! What's up?" Yukhei called out as he began his shift for the night.

"Hey, Yukhei. We're good. You?"

"Great. By the way, Jae. How did Y/N respond to your confession? Been curious about it the entire week!" Yukhei excitedly inquired as he started working on a drink requested by a customer.

Both Yuta and Jaehyun looked at him, very confused. "What did you say? What confession?" Jaehyun asked.

"The confession last week. Oh yeah, you were already drunk that time. No wonder you forgot about it. You even passed out a few minutes later. But dude, I gotta be honest. That was so sweet! Didn't know you had that romantic side." 

Jaehyun's heartbeat gradually got louder and faster as he realized what Yukhei was talking about. 

"So I actually confessed to her?" He asked Yuta with wide eyes.

"Looks like Mark's guess was right."

"I need to talk to her." Jaehyun said as he ran out of the club, so quickly that Yuta didn't even manage to say anything.

Jaehyun drove to your house and in thirty minutes, he was already slamming your doorbell button.

"Jaehyun?" You asked, surprised to see him on your doorstep on a Saturday night. "What are you doing here?" 

"You told me I didn't say anything that night." He replied, face and ears beet red. You didn't know if he was mad or whatever.

"What?"

"I asked you, remember? I asked if I said anything inappropriate or something you didn't like that night."

"Are you still on about that? I thought we're already done-"

"No. We're not yet done." Jaehyun's aura was so strong that you were starting to get a bit scared and intimidated. 

"I honestly don't know what you're talking about, Jaehyun."

"Yukhei said I confessed to you while I was drunk last week."

You couldn't help but widen your eyes and open your mouth in shock. You had no idea that Yukhei heard everything.

"So it's true, huh?" Jaehyun scoffed before rubbing his face with his hands. This was what you were avoiding, seeing him extremely embarrassed. 

"That's the reason why you suddenly decided to stop drinking with me, am I right? Why you started avoiding me. Why didn't you tell me about it? I already asked you what happened that night so I can apologize." Exhaustion and frustration were apparent in his eyes and voice.

"And I already told you not to worry about it because you did not say anything that ticked me off. You don't have to apologize for anything!"

"Then why did you suddenly act like I'm the worst person to be with?! No calls, no texts. Just pure avoidance and you didn't even have the guts to tell me face-to-face that you didn't want to drink with me anymore because it's no longer fun for you. Why? You think I won't be able to handle that? If you don't like me back, you can just tell me. Instead of acting like we never knew each other."

Listening to his tone and words made you realize how much you have hurt him, which was totally unintentional on your part. 

"Y/N, don't cry. I'm.. I'm sorry. I didn't mean to yell at you. Oh my god, I'm so sorry." Jaehyun hesitantly reached for your arms to caress them.

"I'm not ready." You said and Jaehyun just squinted his eyes and scrunched his brows in confusion.

"I'm not ready for feelings. I got hurt last summer and so now I'm scared."

"To get hurt again?" You nodded.

"But I won't hurt you. I'm not like that bastard. I'll even help you forget."

"By what? Drinking the night away? Jaehyun, please-"

"No. Like I told you before, we don't have to drink ever again and I'm totally fine with that. We can do other things that you want to try or things that you already enjoy doing. Watching movies, cooking together, visiting coffee shops, reading books, whatever you want. Just tell me and I'll join you so we can do it together. Please, just let me spend time with you. Let's do something where I'm not gonna pass out." He said the last sentence with a chuckle, an attempt to make you smile even just a bit.

"You deserve someone better." You said with a bitter smile because in your head, that's what you believed to be true. Even though it was painful for your heart.

"But all I want is you."

"No, Jae. You deserve someone who's not scared, someone who's willing to love you and be with you right here, right now."

"But I can wait. I will wait until you're ready."

 "Jae-"

"I promise!" 

You looked at Jaehyun and given that you knew how stubborn he was, you were certain he wasn't going to back down in any way.

"Fine. But I'm not gonna blame you if you end up leaving. I'll understand."

"Honey, I know you underestimate me when it comes to drinking. But I'm telling you, you shouldn't underestimate my feelings."

You and Jaehyun spent the last few months of the semester still a bit distant from each other but in better terms. Now that he confessed his real feelings and you admitted your fear, things have become clearer and you knew how to treat each other better. 

He constantly exerted efforts to let you know that he still likes you and he's still waiting, but he also made sure to give you some space so you wouldn't feel pressured. He sent you flowers every two weeks with some chocolates and sweet messages and even though the two of you were not seen physically together, you always texted to see how each other was doing or just to talk about anything. He assured you that you would always have him, whether as just a friend or something more. He made you feel at ease and the jokes he sent through texts always seemed to erase all the exhaustion from your stressful days. Jaehyun was always the last person you text at night before sleeping.

While finals week was approaching and everyone was busy studying and working on projects and papers, Jaehyun was at the rooftop waiting for Yuta.

"Where's he? He's fifteen minutes late already, damn it." Jaehyun asked himself as he looked at his watch.

The door slowly opened and Jaehyun stood up ready to complain to Yuta when he saw you instead of the Japanese boy.

"H-hey, Y/N." He greeted you with wide eyes and rosy cheeks.

"Hey." You replied with a smile as you walked to him. 

Jaehyun seemed so speechless so you decided to continue, "You're alone?"

"Y-yes. Actually, I'm waiting for Yuta. He asked me to tutor him for Chemistry. But as you can see, he's late." Jaehyun stuttered as the two of you walked to his original spot and sat down.

"Hmm.. actually he's not coming."

"What? Oh.. okay. So did he ask you to come here to tell me that?"

"No. It's the other way around. I asked him to tell you to come here so I could meet you. I wanted to surprise you."

Jaehyun just looked at you with mouth slightly open.

"I'm sorry I know that sounded confusing!" You said in embarrassment as you fanned yourself, feeling your cheeks burning up.

"Don't worry, I got you." He laughed.  "This feels a bit... weird. Don't you think?" He continued.

"What feels a bit weird?"

"This." He replied as he pointed to the two of you. "It's been a while since we actually spent time together like this. We text every day and night but we haven't been with each other, right?" 

"Oh, yes. You're right." Your heartbeat started to go faster as you realized that you were in Jaehyun's presence again, that he was right next to you and you were only three inches apart.

"But I like it." He continued. You quickly looked at him and you saw his dimples that you missed so much. 

"It feels weird but I like it. I missed you so much, Y/N. No amount of texting can replace being with you." 

You looked away and shook your head after hearing his words because you literally couldn't take his sweetness and cheesiness. "Still as cheesy as ever, Jeong Jaehyun."

"But I mean it." He said with a pout.

"I know. Here, I have a gift for you." You said as you brought out a bottle of soju and placed it in his hands.

"Woah, darling. You're the one challenging me now?" 

"Oh, this is not a challenge. I only bought one for each of us." You showed him your own bottle. "It's not a challenge, but a celebration."

"Celebration? For what?" He asked as you opened both your bottles.

"Because I'm saying yes." You smiled warmly at him.

"Yes?"

"Yep." Jaehyun just squinted his eyes in response.

"You know Jaehyun, you're smart and competitive as hell, but you're real slow sometimes." You rolled your eyes.

"I'm sorry..."

"I'm saying yes to you, Jae." 

You said and the two of you shared a moment of silence as you waited for Jaehyun's reaction. When you saw his eyes lit up and his mouth about to move to say something, you quickly pressed your lips on his. You could feel that he was taken aback but in just a second, you felt his arms wrap around you to hold you tight.

You pulled away to catch your breath. 

"So this is what you mean by 'yes'?" Jaehyun chuckled.

"Uh-huh. That's the answer you've been waiting for, remember?" The two of you laughed for a while.

"But I'm sorry." You said.

"For what?"

"I feel like I made you wait too long. You didn't deserve it. I just didn't know how-" You started sniffling.

"Baby, don't worry about it. It's totally fine. I understand, okay?" Jaehyun said as one of his hands caressed your cheek and the other your hand.

He kissed you again before raising up his bottle, "Cheers?"

#ivy writes #jaehyun #nct jaehyun #nct 127 jaehyun #nct u jaehyun #jung jaehyun #jeong jaehyun #nct fic #nct fanfic #nct 127 fic #nct 127 fanfic #nct jaehyun fic #nct 127 jaehyun fic #nct u jaehyun fic #fluff #angst #jaehyun fluff #jaehyun angst #nct jaehyun fluff #nct jaehyun angst #nct imagine #nct scenario #nct 127 imagine #nct 127 scenario #nct angst #nct fluff #nct 127 fluff #nct 127 angst #jaehyun x reader #nct jaehyun x reader

[ask-serious-sans]

PTA Reader (Platonic!Reader and PTA Sans) Part 1

Summary: A PTA meeting where Linda thinks attempts to befriend someone is the highest form of treason, Helen challenges you to 1v1 on Club Penguin, and Betty gets dunked on.

You walked down the hallway of the combined elementary and middle school your younger sibling attended, glancing at your watch. 5:58. You had two minutes to locate the room where a PTA meeting was being held that evening. Usually, your mother attended these meetings, but today she had to work late and had sent you in her place. You weren't entirely sure what to expect from the meeting; your mother never seemed to have anything positive to say about them, but she always attended them anyway. Finding the correctly labelled classroom, you opened the door with a bit of hesitation, glancing inside. A group of parents rather larger than you had expected stood inside, as well as a fair number teachers, and a skeleton. This didn't surprise you as much as it might once have, considering your younger sibling had mentioned being friends with a few of their new monster classmates, and anyway, you'd heard all about the monsters' recent release from their imprisonment under Mount Ebott which had been all over the news since its occurrence. One of the parents looked up from a stack of papers that you really hoped wasn't a list of things that would be discussed at the meeting, because if so you would probably be here til midnight. Actually, your mother generally got back from these meetings at around that time, so this did not bode well. "Look, sweetie, students aren't allowed in here. This is a very important meeting, for adults. If your parents brought you here thinking there would be daycare provided, they were mistaken." You knew you were short, and yes, sometimes you were mistaken for a high school student, but really? She thought you were in middle school? "Actually, I'm in college," you explained, smirking slightly at the shocked expression on the lady who had spoken's face. "And I'm here in place of my mother. She has to work late today." The response was in about as condescending of a tone as you had expected. "If you're in college you're still technically a student and can't be here." "My mother spoke with the principal about it and she said it was fine," you comment, trying not to sound as annoyed by the excuses as you actually were. One of the teachers spoke up, probably wanting to get the meeting started as soon as possible. "Yes, the principal did mention that older siblings could attend these meetings as long as there is an adequate reason for it. Now that that is settled, can we proceed with the meeting?" Looking just as irritated, the lady continued, "Well, if you really are the sibling of one of the students attending this school, who are they?" Wow, you hadn't been expecting an interrogation. Inwardly sighing, you stated your younger sibling's name and grade, half expecting the lady to pull out a full list of every student currently attending the school and start searching through it for the name. She didn't, but what she did instead almost made you wish she had. "Oh, right. That other kid who's closer friends with the monster children than their fellow humans." If you'd been drinking water, you would have done a spit-take. "Well, if the human kids act anywhere near as condescending as you have been, I understand the reasoning behind it." you retort before you could stop yourself. For a second afterward, you felt embarrassed- perhaps you'd taken it too far?- especially under the glare of the lady, who you by now were pretty certain was the one named Linda. Your mother often mentioned the self-proclaimed leader of the PTA, and it generally was not due to anything positive she might have said. Fortunately, your embarrassment was interrupted by an amused laugh. That was enough to give you the confidence to approach the table everyone was seated around. Many of the parents were looking at you with disdain, so you avoided any empty seats next to them and instead sat beside the skeleton, who no one else seemed to be making an effort to sit next to. The skeleton was smiling, and even if it was a permanent, unmoving one, it was still more comforting than the expressions on most of the humans' faces. Though, you noticed a few of the humans were trying- with varying degrees of success- to hide smiles. Perhaps some of them were secretly just as annoyed with Linda as you were. "Anyway, as I was saying before we were so rudely interrupted," Linda continued, with a very obvious glare in your direction, to which you responded with an innocent smile that only irritated her more, "Today we need to discuss several important matters. We will start with the new lunch plan I mentioned in the last meeting..." An hour into the meeting, which had thus far been spent discussing the pros and cons of various changes to the school that different parents had addressed, with no actual decisions being made- or any real debate, for that matter, as any time someone tried to bring up an opposing point, a trio of parents whose names you had by now learned were Linda, Helen, and Betty immediately rejected it without giving the opposition a chance to explain their reasoning- you noticed the skeleton seemed close to falling asleep. Honestly, you weren't far behind, and if your mother wasn't counting on you to fill her in on what she missed in the meeting, you probably would be. The entire meeting seemed rigged by the trio of parents; no one else was given much of a chance to speak, and everything the three said sounded rehearsed. Now you knew why your mother always returned from these meetings seeming so frustrated. Listening to these three talking for upwards of twenty minutes at a time without pause was more exhausting than sitting through four hour physics lectures. "Now, we should discuss the upcoming bake sale," Linda said, interrupting your thoughts. 'Well, at least I'll get to hear about delicious stuff like cookies and brownies for awhile,' you thought, attempting to remain optimistic. "First of all, we have compiled a list of everyone who has offered to bring something for the bake sale," Linda continued, nodding at Helen to pass around a sheet of paper. The parents and teachers read over the list before passing it along with a nod, at least until the list reached the skeleton. Now fully awake, he looked over the list several times before looking up from it, an annoyed expression on his face. "Excuse me, but you left off Muffet's spider doughnuts." "We didn't leave anything off. We told you last week that we will not be serving monster snacks at our bake sale." "Muffet and Frisk have been working for hours to create a version that's designed specifically for human consumption! You said that as long as it was safe for humans to eat, Muffet could participate in the bake sale." the skeleton stated. "Well, we changed our mind." Betty spoke up, "Too bad." The skeleton looked beyond annoyed, but didn't seem to have any way to counter the statement. You found yourself feeling bad for him; based on what he'd said, it had sounded like it meant a lot to him, Muffet, and Frisk. "These spider doughnuts," you spoke up almost without thinking about it, "are they doughnuts, decorated to look like a spiderweb?" "Yeah," the skeleton replied, seeming a bit surprised by your curiosity. Then again, it didn't seem too far-fetched to guess none of the others at these meetings had bothered to show any interest in the spider doughnuts. "I think those sound great! You'd probably get a lot of business, kids love creative stuff like that. I mean, anyone can whip up a batch of cookies or something, but decorating doughnuts? I've never heard of anything like that at a bake sale. Plus, it's October, so making them look like spider webs? That's a great touch." You say, noticing Linda, Helen, and Betty's scowls in your direction hardening with every word you said. "I hardly think your opinions are in any way necessary for this discussion," Betty said in a scathing tone. She'd probably been planning to bring cookies. "Actually," you say with an innocent smile, "I'm a student! Who knows better than another student what students would look for in a bake sale?" Linda, Helen, and Betty looked furious with this statement, the skeleton seemed impressed by it. "Kid's got a good point," he commented. "You-you...." Linda stammered out, looking irritated you'd been able to use her own argument against her. "Fine! You can bring your spider doughnuts!" You grinned, the expressions on the trio's faces more than making up for the awkwardness of speaking up as the lone teenager in a room full of adults. Linda hurriedly moved on to the next topic of the meeting after that, something about complaints about a piece of playground equipment potentially being dangerous, and you sat back to listen. Another half-hour or so passed without incident, until Helen spoke up, bringing up a new topic. "I am sure you are all aware of the planned field trip to the Museum of National History," she stated. You smiled; your sibling had been talking about that for weeks, they were incredibly excited for it. The smile dropped immediately when Betty spoke up a moment later. "Well, we're cancelling it. We believe the funds would be better used for other purposes." "Such as what?" demanded one of the parents who had seemed more friendly than the others throughout the meeting, frowning slightly. They sounded almost as annoyed as you felt. "For one thing, new uniforms for the softball team," Linda stated. "New uniforms? They just got new uniforms at the beginning of the year!" the lady pointed out. "Besides, you've already cancelled the fifth grade field trip in favor of one of your sports teams, and my daughter was really looking forward to going to the aquarium!" "Now, now," Linda said, trying to sound reassuring, "The uniforms are only part of the reason, and I'm sure you'll agree that this is for the best-" "I have to agree with Alicia," a man spoke up. "You can't keep cancelling field trips like this. The sports teams have plenty of funding already, and there's no reason to change uniforms halfway through the season." "Look, we've already made this decision, it's not up for debate," Betty commented. The two who had spoken up stopped arguing, looking irritated but apparently accustomed to accepting Linda, Helen, and Betty's decisions, no matter how unfair. But you weren't. "What do you mean, 'it's not up for debate'? Is this not the Parent Teacher Association, where parents and teachers alike discuss all potential changes before making a decision as a whole? What makes the three of you so special, that your opinions drown out those of everyone else?" "Listen, child. You're new here, so you don't understand how things work," Betty began with a fierce glare that was so well practiced you figured it was how she'd gotten her way so many times in the past. "Forcing everyone else to go along with what you want isn't an association, it's a dictatorship!" you continue, not letting her glare faze you.... or at least, not letting her know if it did. Several of the more friendly looking parents were glancing between each other, their expressions a mixture of surprise and agreement. The skeleton beside you was grinning, a more genuine grin than the permanent one etched on his face. Linda, Helen, and Betty seemed ever so slightly worried, their control over the meeting seemed to be slipping. However, they reacted by intensifying their glares. "Look," Betty said in a tone that clearly stated arguing was not an option. You had to feel bad for whoever her kid was. Unless they were just like her, since then she'd probably be approving of them rather than scaring them into submission. "You are not a parent or a teacher, in fact you are a child, so you should leave this discussion to the adults who are actually supposed to be here." "It's not like you let the adults who are actually supposed to be here have much of a say in the discussion either," you note, just to show her you weren't intimidated. Or at least, not intimidated enough to back down. "You do kinda act like you own the place," spoke up the man from earlier hesitantly, followed by a few whispered agreements from Alicia and a few others. "Silence!" Betty hissed, and the whispering ceased. "Look, the talking Halloween decoration was bad enough, we don't need some self-righteous teenager telling us what to do-" Your blood boiled at this, not as much at the comment about you but more at the insult directed at the skeleton. After all, from what you'd heard of the monsters, they were nice individuals, and this one hadn't done anything to make you question that opinion. Besides, you disliked bullying in general, and such blatant disrespect to another individual annoyed you. "If you're going to insult me, fine, but leave those who haven't even said anything in this conversation out of your tirade. It's extremely unprofessional." The skeleton snickered, whether at your comment or the look on Betty's face you weren't sure, but either way it gave you the confidence not to back down under her fury. "I am the adult here, who are you to tell me about professionalism, you little brat?" Betty asked. "You're right, this is pretty ridiculous," the skeleton spoke up, and you couldn't help but feel a bit hurt, after all you had just been trying to stand up for him, until he continued, "It's a real shame when adults need to learn something from children." At that, you grinned, a quiet laugh escaping your throat. It was kind of a relief to have someone on your side, particularly since Linda, Helen, and Betty were all glaring daggers in your direction. "The PTA was running just fine before you monsters showed up," Linda stated with a glare at the skeleton. "Ever since you... things... showed up, we've had so many issues to deal with-" "Let me guess, the majority of those 'issues' are simply you three having a problem with anyone other than humans attending this school and being annoyed when you don't get your way about it?" you interrupted, frowning at Linda's comment. "Pretty much," the skeleton said at the same time as Linda all-but-shouted some incoherent babble about how the monsters 'ruined everything'. "Well, I'll have you know that the monsters have been a horrible influence on my son," Linda stated after calming down. You raised an eyebrow, waiting for her to elaborate. "Frank has been playing with monster children after school recently, and even wanted to invite some to his birthday party!" You blinked, waiting for her to continue. When she said nothing else, you stared at her in disbelief. "So what you're saying is... They're being a horrible influence... By befriending him?" "Yes!" Linda replied. "They're trying to turn him against his own kind!" "I'm pretty sure they're not doing that," you state in a deadpan tone. "How would you know? Maybe they turned you against us humans too! Why else would you stand up for them?" Helen spoke up. "No one's turned me against anyone," you say, exasperated. "I just don't like hearing people insult others when they haven't even done anything." "Haven't even done anything? I know you weren't at any of the previous meetings but I'll have you know that they were plagued with puns, all because of Sans!" Helen argued. "Sans?" "Sup." Oh, that must be the skeleton's name. "So, you guys are mad at him because he makes puns?" you asked, surprised. That was their big reason for insulting him? "You have no idea how many puns he makes!" Linda replied. "So many puns," Helen shuddered. "A skele-ton of them," Sans added. A snicker escaped you at the pun. "Anyway," Linda attempted to regain control of the meeting with a glare at Sans, "The field trip is cancelled, and with that decided we can move on to the next topic-" "Woah woah woah," you piped up, "From my count, it's three of you who want the field trip cancelled and at least three who don't. Probably more, if you didn't just intimidate everyone else into keeping their opinions to themselves. What happened to majority rules?" "What, you want to put this up to a vote?" Linda scoffed. "Yeah, I do. Isn't that how these things are supposed to go?" you reply. "Fine. We'll have a vote." Linda said, before casting a glare around the room. "All in favor of not cancelling the field trip, raise your hands. But I suggest you consider it carefully." You raised your hand, even if you doubted they would count it. Some of the more vocal parents, and most of the few teachers present, also raised their hand. Sans also raised his hand, looking as though he was only barely keeping himself from saying several hand or bone related puns. You probably would have encouraged him to do so if this wasn't such a tense moment. A few of the parents' hands wavered under the glares of Linda, Helen, and Betty, but they remained up. "Hmm," Linda said with an expression of displeasure. "Ten of you, huh?" Then she smirked. "No matter... There's a lot more than ten of you who don't have your hands up." "Please, if not for yourselves... Stand up for the kids," you say. A few more parents and the rest of the teachers rose their hands, a bit hesitantly, but though they shrunk under the withering glares of the angry trio, they kept their hands up. Linda sighed. "Fifteen. But there's sixteen more of us," she announced triumphantly. You felt your hope fade a bit at this. Despite all your efforts, were they still going to win? It felt like you'd let your sibling down. "Now, all in favor of cancelling the field trip, raise your hands." She, Helen, and Betty's hands were all up in an instant. You could only watch as several other parents raised their hands, succumbing to the pressure of the trio's glares. Linda began to count the raised hands with a smirk, though it disappeared quickly when she finished. "Thirteen?!?" Your eyes widened in shock and excitement as you noticed three of the parents who hadn't raised their hands before kept them lowered now. "Raise your hands," Betty instructed them with gritted teeth. All three stared back defiantly. She repeated herself, a glare forming on her face, but the three remained still. "Well, I suppose that ended in a tie. Guess we'll have to make the official decision next week," Linda stated finally, when it became clear the three were only embarrassing themselves in their fruitless attempts to sway the parents' minds. You frowned, knowing they were trying to put it off since you wouldn't be there next week to stand up to them. "A tie? Last time I checked, fifteen was larger than thirteen." "As someone with a degree in mathematics, I can confirm this," the fifth grade Math teacher agreed. Linda, Helen, and Betty scowled, realizing they had lost. All three glared at you in a way that clearly said 'I despise you,' but you were too relieved to care at the moment. "Wow, you managed to get the glare that's usually reserved for me," Sans commented. "Pretty impressive for a first timer, kiddo." You weren't sure whether earning the undying hatred of three PTA moms was really something to be impressed about, but you decided to just smile and accept it. After all, you figured that would annoy the three more, anyway. "Fight me 1v1 in Club Penguin," Helen said to you in the most serious tone you could imagine anyone saying that exact statement in. "I-what?" You replied, honestly confused. Did she really just challenge you to 1v1... In Club Penguin? "You heard me! Or are you too chicken?" Helen said in the same totally dignified tone of a nine year old making a similar statement. "Alright, you're on," you say, because at this point... Why the heck not? Linda grinned, "Ha! Now you're done for! Helen is the best at that game!" "You're about to get owned, noob!" Betty added. '...Right....' You decided to just let them continue with the smack-talk as two computers were set up for what, if Linda, Helen, and Betty's comments were anything to go by, was going to be the battle of the century. Once everything was ready, you and Helen took your places at either of the computers. Linda and Betty had taken up a position on either side of Helen, who suddenly had a bandanna wrapped around her forehead. Well, they certainly take things seriously... Less than a minute later, you and Helen were locked in a fight for your lives... based upon two penguin avatars sledding down a mountain. Honestly, you weren't sure what your life had become at this point- this seemed more like something that would happen at a party where everyone's drunk rather than a PTA meeting- but you strangely enough were enjoying it quite a bit. Currently, you and Helen were tied, and despite Linda and Betty's efforts to distract you, you were able to ignore them well enough to keep up with Helen. Helen managed to get a slight lead over you as you missed a jump trying to avoid one of the obstacles, but then your avatar went over a patch of ice and suddenly you were way in the lead. "What./WHAT?" you and Helen said simultaneously, you in confusion and Helen in anger. When you crossed the finish line first about ten seconds later, you were still confused, and Helen was still angry. Despite your confusion, you still accepted the high five Sans offered. "How dare you attempt to take my title of Penguin Champion?!?!" Helen demanded, looking furious- and possibly a bit embarrassed?- as she stared you down, awaiting your answer. "You guys take this waaaaay too seriously," was your response. Clearly, it was not the response Helen wanted, as her glare intensified. "Hey, you're the one who asked for this," you remind her, shrugging. "That's enough, we're moving on now. No more wasting our time, child." Linda stated, trying to regain control over the meeting. "You guys are literally the ones who asked for it," you can't help but point out, feeling a bit annoyed they're trying to pin the blame for that little distraction on you. Linda huffed, but changed the subject rather than continue the argument, something for which you were grateful. It was now approaching nine thirty pm, and you had classes tomorrow. "Now we need to discuss some safety regulations for a few sports teams..." Sans seemed to have fallen asleep after hearing only that sentence, and you couldn't really blame him. Yes, safety regulations were important, but listening to a list of regulations wasn't exactly the most fascinating thing in the world. You'd almost prefer a rematch with Helen. Almost. Because you figured you would need at least five people to hold her back if you somehow managed to beat her in a race again. When the meeting finally drew to a close around eleven pm- and hour of which had been spent listening to Linda read through an entire handbook of regulations- you were relieved. That had certainly been something, you had to admit. And even if it had gotten a bit crazy at some points, you were glad you had attended the meeting. When you arrived back at your house, your mother looked at you apprehensively. "So, how did it go?" she asked, as if expecting you to burst into a rant of how infuriating everything had been. "Not bad. Think I can go again next time?"

#undertale fanfiction #pta sans #platonic reader #linda helen and betty get dunked on in a pta meeting

[deepdickdaniel]

Hwang Minhyun | Soulmate!AU| Touch

prompt: when you and your soulmate make skin-to-skin contact for the first time and then you look into your soulmate’s eyes, you see all of each other’s important memories.

note: this is a mix of a soulmate!au, best friends to lovers, and angst to fluff all in one! 

you had been minhyun’s best friend and he had been yours for as long as you could remember

all you recalled was meeting him in middle school

he was the shy, polite kid who mostly stayed quiet in and out of class, only talking whenever his more outgoing friends spoke around him

then one year, his friends weren’t in the same homeroom as him, and you noticed that he always sat alone near the window in the mornings, simply staring out with an unreadable expression

he looked especially lonely whenever everyone else in the room gathered before classes began for the day

so you decided to befriend him, having seen how sweet he can be when he actually interacts with people

it took a bit of effort for you to get him out of his shell and grow comfortable with you, but eventually he trusted you and his mornings weren’t so lonely anymore

you ended up becoming even closer to him than his old friends that you became an essential part of their little circle

you were essential because he wouldn’t show up without you anymore -  when it came down to it, he would always pick you over them and vice versa

you were there for him throughout all of his awkward experiences (and let’s be real, this is MINHYUN, so you KNOW there were a lot)

...this included his first ‘girlfriend’

you remember sitting next to him as he texted her and feeling oddly satisfied when he avoided her gaze in real life

“minhyun, do you actually even like her.....?”

“i don’t know...”

you also remember treating him to a meal after school when she broke up with minhyun because she found her soulmate by accident when he caught her from tripping over a stair

he understood the situation, but he couldn’t help but still be a little sad

you, on the other hand, wondered if he was your soulmate for the first time that day

you had heard the rumors of a few upperclassmen finding their soulmates the first time they held hands

and your neighbor, who was a lot younger than you!!!, had found her soulmate at the playground after stealing a pair of binoculars from a little boy

so you purposely tried to brush your hand against his under the disguise of kindly taking his empty cup of ice cream to throw out

but he avoided your hand swiftly, grabbing your trash instead without touching you, and walked away before you could say anything

this made you hesitant, afraid you would push his boundaries if you were to try again, so you didn’t and figured that if the two of you were meant to be, you’d find out naturally

eventually, the two of you entered the same high school and still remained close

but over the years, minhyun still had never actually touched your skin with his, shrugging it off and giving you a playful smile,

“i guess i’m just conservative”

he would wrap an arm around your shoulder from time to time when he was feeling particularly joyful or give you a quick hug, but he always happened to do it whenever you were both fully clothed in winter gear or the like

what you didn’t know was that all of this was intentional

you didn’t know that this was because minhyun wouldn’t be able to handle it if you weren’t his soulmate

minhyun had always found your outgoing (at least, more outgoing than him) personality to be charming and was always grateful to you for choosing him to be your friend

minhyun had always known that you were special

he just didn’t expect to fall in love

but one day, in your last year of high school, your smile became so attractive to him

the swing in your step, the way your arms swayed close to his, and the sparkle in your eye over the smallest things - all of these became irresistible

he started to notice that the little things you did ended up meaning the world to him

he had heard about people who developed feelings for each other, just to lose it all once one of them found their true soulmates

he knew that if that were ever the case, he’d let you go because you deserved to be with someone who was created for you

minhyun wasn’t completely oblivious; he saw the way you looked at him and he saw the way your hand was itching to reach for his every time the two of you were alone

at that point, he knew you better than you knew yourself, and he could tell that you didn’t completely understand the extent of your feelings for him - but he did

so he avoided all of your attempts to touch him in an attempt to save the both of you from the reality of heartbreak

minhyun feared feeling your skin’s warmth just to be doused with the cold realization that you would never be his

the two of you graduated high school and entered different colleges, but luckily your schools were relatively close to one another

but for some reason, ever since the two of you started college, he had been pushing you away

you hadn’t seen each other in over a month - which was equivalent to years for the two of you - and his texts were always brief, despite texting being his forte

so you decided to pick him up from his campus one day when your last class was cancelled

you were slightly nervous - the last time you came here, he gave you some half-assed excuse, grabbed his nearest acquaintance, and said they had plans

normally, you would’ve given up if someone showed you that they didn’t want to put effort into your friendship anymore

but this wasn’t just someone - this was minhyun

you couldn’t believe yourself for your timing, but the distance minhyun had put between the two of you made you realize the extent of your feelings for him

this was minhyun...and you were in love with him

you knew the dangers of getting into a relationship with someone who possibly wasn’t your soulmate, but you’d rebel against the rules of the universe to be with him

so you waited at the gates of his school at the time you knew he was getting out, your eyes scouring the hoards of people for your best friend

finally, after about half an hour, you spotted him walking with a classmate and then waving as they separated

he made eye contact with you as he turned, and you felt your heart clench as his eyes widened in what you saw to be fear

minhyun smiled weakly at you and then turned back, calling out to his classmate as if trying to go with them instead

that was it for you - you marched over to minhyun and grabbed his clothed forearm

“minhyun, are you seriously avoiding me right now? really? do you think i’m dumb and that i wouldn’t see how you suddenly had to talk to someone you just said ‘bye’ to?!”

you were about to go on a rampage when he put his hands up in front of you, urging you to stop before you made a scene on campus

“come on, let’s walk together for a little bit and then i’ll drop you off at my house”

he urged you to follow him, waiting at a crosswalk 

you were seething and hurt - you did not commute just to be given a small amount of time when you knew he was free from exams this week

“i did not come all this way just to be given leftover time, minhyun! you’re supposed to be my best friend but you haven’t talked to me in weeks! when i do visit you, you talk to me for five minutes and then send me away!”

“that’s not true-”

“it’s not? then let’s eat at our favorite place right now”

“...i’m sorry, i can’t”

you laughed humorlessly, practically giving up on your plan to confess to him, and started crossing the street without looking both ways

a car was going over the speed limit and making its way towards you

and in that moment, minhyun forgot all about spending the past decade avoiding your touch

he reached for your hand without hesitation, pulling it so hard that you ended up turning around 

you faced him in surprise, your body not yet registering how close you had been to getting hit

but when you looked into his eyes to ask him why he grabbed you so hard, all you could see was a blur of flashbacks in minhyun’s perspective

the first was of him in a daycare, playing by himself - at first, you were confused as to why this was significant

but you immediately found out the answer

through minhyun’s eyes, you recognized your 4-year old self stumble into the room, your mom waving to you and reminding you to be good before she left

your younger self screamed out your name to minhyun, wanting to play house and pretend to be a married couple, so you tried to hold his hand

“avoid touching as many people as you can! you can always meet your soulmate later in life” you recognized minhyun’s mother’s voice echoing in his memory

so you watched minhyun avoid your hand and your younger self walk away, pouting from his rejection

the next memory was of the first day he met his group of friends - he had always told you about it, but you didn’t realize you were in that class, too

you were with your own crew, not paying minhyun any mind

his next memory was the day you befriended him, and you felt his surprise and feeling of recognition when you told him your name

you were surprised to see how bright you looked in this memory: it was like the sun was shining on you and you alone

another memory popped up: it was of you meeting his friends and getting accepted into his circle

a few memories passed after that, but the next one that shocked you was the day his ex-girlfriend broke up with him

you saw how he noticed that you tried to touch his hand that day and how he clenched his fist in pain after he avoided your touch

the next memory was of you and him in the library; minhyun looked up from his book to stare at you smiling at him, and you jumped at the realization that it was like everyone else in the room had disappeared

you felt his feelings at that moment and you saw how he saw you - that was the moment he knew he was in love

his memories continued to flood your mind, but...they all had you in them

suddenly, you saw yourself staring at him in shock, but you realized that you were wearing the outfit that you put on before you visited minhyun

that’s when it hit you - this moment, the one that you were having right then and there, was his most important memory

your mind traveled back to your conscious and all you saw was minhyun staring back at you, a new kind of smile slowly forming on his lips

“minhyun...?”

he didn’t register your voice at first, stuck in an awe-filled trance, “to think, all of this time we could’ve been together already...”

so you shook your arm since your hand was still in his, breaking him from his thoughts

“hey, what was all of that...?”

he simply smiled even brighter and brought you a walkway since people were complaining that you were in their way

minhyun stopped walking in a secluded spot, under trees with leaves colored in bright orange to signify the beginning of their end

he held your hand tightly and stared deeply into your eyes,

“when you touch your soulmate for the first time, you see their most treasured memories through their eyes...every moment i’ve spent with you, those are the ones i’ve treasured the most”

even though you were ecstatic that the man you’ve loved for so long turned out to be your soulmate, a part of you was still curious as to why he avoided you

“then why? why did you push me away as soon as we got to college? i can understand why you never touched me, but why didn’t you at least speak to me after college started?”

he blushed lightly and looked away from you, biting his lip in a mix of guilt and embarrassment

“i...came to pick you up about a week after classes started”

“what? you did? i didn’t see you at all”

“yeah, you were around a couple of guys and i...just thought i didn’t belong”

you squinted your eyes in disbelief, “you were jealous?! that’s why you almost threw away our friendship?”

“not jealous! i was just afraid that you’d find your soulmate in one of them and i don’t think i would’ve been able to handle seeing you fall in love with someone else. i would’ve been happy for you, but i needed time to build my defenses so it wouldn’t hurt as much”

you almost sighed in annoyance that it was over something so trivial, but you knew that to minhyun, it was a very real problem

you decided to forgive him and took a step further, marveling at how close you finally were to his face - he had always stepped back before you could get too close

he smiled gratefully when he saw you were no longer upset with him and took your cheek in the hand that wasn’t holding yours

he normally didn’t like public displays of affection as intimate as this, but this was a special moment. he was finally able to touch your skin, to feel your warmth

“you’re annoying”

“i know, but you love me”

“...how do you know this?”

“i’ve seen your memories and the way you look at me. i know i’m oblivious but i’m not that oblivious”

“fine. i love you or whatever”

“i love you too”

and after all of the trouble minhyun had given you with avoiding your touch, you soon learned that he would hold your hand every chance he got

#hwang minhyun scenarios #wanna one scenarios #hwang minhyun #wanna one #hwang minhyun imagines #wanna one imagines #minhyun #minhyun scenarios #minhyun imagines #everyong #NO ONE TALK TO ME FOR FIVE YEARS THIS TOOK FOREVER

[yellow401]

In His Defense, Evan Already Hated Himself

I remember the first time I listened to Dear Evan Hansen, really listened. Up to that point, I had heard snatches of it here and there. It sounded catchy, but I was under the impression that it was a bit too first-world-problemsy for my taste. Oh, no, an angsty teenager is angsty! More touchy-feely musical theater that wouldn't interest me.

I'm not a huge musical theater listener, but my wife does have a couple of Pandora channels that delve into modern musicals (don't knock doing family history to the Hamilton mixtape 'til you've tried it). So it was that one day when my house was unusually quiet (the children not being at home) I was in the room when "Waving through a Window" came on Pandora. I listened:

 I've learned to slam on the brake

Before I even turn the key

Before I make the mistake

Before I lead with the worst of me

 and I thought, oh no. Oh no. I like this. I really, really like this.

Give them no reason to stare

No slippin’ up if you slip away

So I got nothin’ to share

No, I got nothin’ to say

I was unmade. I was not okay. If Dear Evan Hansen was too first-world-problemsy, then so was I, because Evan Hansen's problems were my problems. I identified with Evan Hansen on a level I wasn't comfortable with. I wasn't okay for days. This was middle-school me, sung by someone with a much better vocal range than I had, but it was exactly how I felt. Exactly. And I suddenly understood why so many people were going cuckoo for this musical. Because I was hooked.

I listened obsessively to the music. I wept. I apologized to my family for not treating them well enough. I've referenced it every time social anxiety comes up in conversation. It's been go-to listening for me when I'm in a bad mood ever since. It speaks to a part of me that I didn't know still existed. I've since graduated high school, and college twice; I successfully interact with scores of people each day at work. I can have the whole room in stitches when the mood is right. I regularly teach classes and give talks at church. I have three kids, a house, and a minivan, and we go to CostCo in our minivan, and I wonder what happened to my life as I'm loading boxes into the back of the minivan--but underneath all that, it turns out, is still a scared, socially anxious teenage boy. I've learned to deal with him, even befriend him, but he's still there, and Evan Hansen's words might as well be his. I didn't realize he was still there, but I feel more whole now that I can recognize that fact.

Because, for me, Dear Evan Hansen is ultimately a story about healing and forgiveness. In explaining why, I'm spoiling everything but the last thing--so if you aren't familiar with the plot, you could go listen to the music for free on the official Dear Evan Hansen YouTube channel. That's a good start.

When Connor Murphy tragically takes his own life at the beginning of his senior year in high school, Evan Hansen must overcome his crippling social anxiety and self-doubt to make sure his best friend's life is not forgotten. Nobody knew Connor and Evan were friends, but after Connor's family finds a note to Evan in his pocket and Connor's name written on Evan's cast, they learn the story and welcome Evan into their lives. With his friends Jared and Alana, Evan launches the Connor Project, a school-wide initiative dedicated to preserving Connor's memory. Evan speaks at the school assembly about how Connor was there for him when he broke his arm the previous summer. His story goes viral, softening hearts and driving home the message to people all over the country that no one ever has to be alone, or as the song puts it, "You Will Be Found." Evan gains confidence, finds love, and learns that he matters—he can make a positive difference in the world.

Except that it was all a lie. Connor and Evan weren't friends at all. A set of unfortunate coincidences combined with Evan's abject inability to stick up for himself leads to ever more convoluted manipulations of reality. The suicide note Connor's family found? A therapy letter from Evan to himself. Connor being there for Evan and taking him to the hospital after he fell? Nope—Evan was alone, and his boss drove him. And so it goes—Evan digs himself deeper and deeper; the cracks begin to show in his story and he becomes increasingly desperate to hang onto what he has gained. His efforts backfire: the original "suicide note" gets shared online, prompting a frightening internet backlash against the Murphys.

Evan finally comes clean to the Murphys in the song "Words Fail." He makes a last-ditch effort to explain why he let the lie go on for so long: he wanted to be part of the Murphys' perfect family.

I guess . . . I thought I could be part of this

I never had this kind of thing before

I never had the perfect girl who

Somehow could see the good part of me

I never had the dad who stuck it out

No corny jokes or baseball gloves

No mom who just was there

‘Cause mom was all that she had to be

This hail Mary fails utterly—the Murphys all walk out without saying a word. It is here that some critics have taken issue with the story, because they believe Evan got off far too easy. There is no retaliation, no public humiliation in store for Evan Hansen, just silence and loneliness. Evan manipulated the lives of Connor's grieving family for his own benefit, including dating Connor's sister, Zoe, on whom he's always had a crush. He manipulated the sympathy of other students and many people on the internet for his own fame and gain. He ruined his relationship with his hardworking single mother because he wanted something better. And his defense for this is that he didn't come from a loving, stable, two-parent household? That's it? Screw you, Evan. And screw all the fans of the show for being taken in by all this.

I understand where these critics are coming from, but I think they are wrong. I think this is because they hate themselves insufficiently to truly understand Evan Hansen.

Previous to his confession to the Murphy family, Evan has been conversing with the demons in his head via Imaginary!Connor, who has visited him before under happier circumstances. Connor mocks Evan's desire to come clean, stating that Evan can't even be honest with himself and reminding Evan that if he confesses, he will lose everything he has gained by lying. He will be all alone. And indeed, when the Murphys all wordlessly walk away from Evan's confession, the light slowly goes out on Connor as well, and Evan is left alone onstage to finally indulge his self-hatred.

I use the word "indulge" deliberately, because it matches my own experience. In our society, we are often encouraged to "stay positive" and to "believe in yourself." There are expectations that we will react positively to certain events deemed "good" and negatively to others deemed "bad." These expectations are not in and of themselves evil, but can break us as it is simultaneously exhausting to keep up appearances and unrewarding to be honest about our situation. For example, last year when we found out we were expecting a child, the traditional response was presumed to be one of joy. But we were also worried because the doctors had identified potentially life-threatening complications with the baby. It ultimately became too tiring for me to pretend to be excited about the baby or explain away why I wasn't, so I wrote a sappy email to my co-workers explaining some things. And it was awkward, and I'm sure it was TMI, but it was much easier emotionally after that, because I didn't have to pretend anymore.

Easy for me to say. But Evan is seventeen and has been pretending one way or another for most of the show while hiding his true insecurities and dark feelings from a world he has found through experience will be unsympathetic. After all the whirlwind of emotions and changing relationships as Evan became someone he wasn't, after ignoring all the lingering feelings of guilt and inventing ever-more-complex fixes for growing inconsistencies, after being "encouraged" to be positive by his mom and lifted up as a viral example to a fickle society, it must feel good to let it all fall away and just sit and HATE himself for a while.

Because here's the thing. Evan already felt that way about himself.

Make no mistake, Evan has effed up pretty bad by this point. But all this is just that he has found a particularly good reason to hate himself today. Even if he hadn't been involved in a large-scale deception involving the family of a classmate who took his own life, he would have found some minor error to loathe himself about. The lines

I never meant to make it such a mess

I never thought that it would go this far

could have been sung, for all we know, about the fact that he had an awkward conversation with Zoe at the beginning of the show. I know I've beaten myself up at length before for things that would be embarrassing to admit because of their triviality. I have practiced no large-scale deception, but the other day at work when I was discussing an upcoming unpopular decision, I sardonically said, "I've spent some time alone in the dark thinking about this," and one of my employees said, "Calm down, Evan Hansen."

So Evan is left alone in the dark to sing his anthem to self-loathing:

This was just a sad invention

It wasn't real, I know

But we were happy

I guess I couldn't let that go

I guess I couldn't give that up

I guess I wanted to believe

'Cause if I just believe

Then I don't have to see what's really there.

No, I'd rather

Pretend I'm something better than these broken parts

Pretend I'm something other than this MESS that I am,

'Cause then I don't have to look at it

and NO ONE gets to look at it

No, no one can really see

including a devastating reprise of the words he sang at the beginning, with soft piano and guitar-as-percussion replaced by passionate strings and devastating silence:

'Cause I've learned to slam on the brake

Before I even turn the key,

Before I make the mistake,

Before I lead with the WORST of me.

I never let them see the worst of me!

'Cause what if ev’ryone saw?

What if ev’ryone knew?

Would they like what they saw?

Or would they hate it too?

(emphasis Ben Platt's)

All has come crashing down. "The mistake" is no longer an abstract concept. It's just as he feared, just as the Connor in his head warned him. Or is it? At the end of "Words Fail," Evan finally confronts his real self:

Will I just keep on running away from what's true?

All I ever do is run

So how do I step in

Step into the sun?

Step into the sun

Evan goes home, where it turns out the demons in his head were wrong about one thing. Evan's not alone. His mom is there, and she's figured everything out. But despite Evan's asserted fear to the contrary, she's not mad at him. In fact, she apologizes for not being there for him when he most needed her. She sings him a song about the day his dad left, ten years before—a song that would make me ugly cry even if I'd just been handed a check for ten million dollars. (As an eclectic pal of mine remarked, "What do [people] mean, 'He got off too easy?' He's been punishing himself for the last ten years!") She promises him this will one day all seem like a distant memory. Evan just walks away, as she says, "You'll see. I promise."

So begins the redemption of Evan Hansen. Most of the rest of his redemption is shown off-camera, because it's not actually all that important just how it happens. There are plenty of other stories about how someone is redeemed, and we can assume it was heavy work for Evan to confront his demons and face life as a real person instead of a constructed one. Rather, we are granted a glimpse into life a year later that shows evidence of progress, but also an act of forgiveness. Because forgiveness, as I mentioned 1,666 words ago, was actually the point.

It's clear from Evan and Zoe's conversation that it's been a hard year—they both admit it out loud; Evan hasn't been on speaking terms with the Murphys since his confession; he's never even seen the orchard he spent so much time talking about earlier in the story.

But there's also evidence of progress. Though Evan is feeling a range of emotions here, being intimidated by Zoe isn't one of them. Their conversation is bracingly honest. Evan's working in retail—so much for social anxiety! And when he starts another therapy assignment, the letter he writes is as to a friend: ". . . today, you're you . . . And that's . . . that's enough." He's clearly not done progressing, but he accepts himself, which was unthinkable at the beginning.

None of this should really be a surprise. Even in middle of all the lies, the fear Evan overcame when he spoke to the school assembly was real, and the relationships he formed were real while they lasted. The message of hope he shared resonated with thousands because it is, in fact, a message many of us need. Even though it didn't go well, he's been able to stand up to people, including the "voices in [his] head." Even in the midst of his despair, Evan has grown and can find new strength to stand.

And it is enough, honestly, that Evan's progressing, because who didn't have something to regret or move on from, here? Larry and Cynthia Murphy, whose marriage was on the rocks and who were deferring their guilt over the loss of their son by replacing him with Evan? Heidi Hansen, who flaked out on her son so many times he's not even surprised by it anymore? Jared and Alana, who each had their own personal reasons for prodding Evan further down the path he was on?

No, I'll tell you who—Zoe. Zoe, who got treated like trash by her brother and was told that it was she who needed to be more “constructive” with him; Zoe, who reached out to loser Evan in compassion when he got shoved to the ground; Zoe, who forgave her brother as soon as Evan mentioned that they said nice things about her; Zoe, who assured Evan that he was relationship material even as he apologized for apologizing. There's a poignant irony in the fact that Evan spent the whole show trying to build up Connor, who shoved him to the ground, who freaked out at his therapy note, as a nice guy, as his secret best friend; but it's ultimately Zoe, who was only ever good to Evan and who was truly hurt by his lies, who shows Evan the orchard, who tells him that everything turned out all right in the end. It's a small glimpse, but Zoe's act of forgiveness toward Evan ultimately shows us that everything can turn out okay.

If there's a moral to the story for me, it's that everything turned out all right—but maybe it didn't have to happen at all. It's hard to imagine how Evan would have gotten himself out of the mess he was in, knowing what we know about him, but we aren't him; we don't have to be him. We can stick up for ourselves. We can speak the truth, even when someone desperately wants it to not be true. We can take a good, long look at ourselves and accept ourselves for who we are—and we can work to change ourselves and our circumstances rather than simply pretending to be something we're not. Unfortunately, it won't be enough to "just believe [we] can be who [we] want to be," but it will be infinitely better in the end when we do achieve lasting improvements in our lives.

And we can reach out to the Evans in our lives. It turns out that, as much as teenage me identifies with Evan Hansen, 34-year-old me is closer to Heidi. I have three beautiful children that miss me when I'm not home and pester me when I'm on my phone. I can "just gimme a minute" my son out of playing a game together until it's past bedtime unless I consciously make an effort not to. The stresses of my day don't matter to my kids. They just need to be loved (and put back to bed 1,000 times, which is an expression of my love for them, I guess). I am, against all probability, a leader in my own congregation, and the responsibility is partly mine to help these people feel God's love and understand they don't need to be a different person to be a better person. I'm not a licensed therapist, but people do ask my advice about being gay and a Latter-day Saint, and I hope I'm helping them get their questions answered in such a way that they loathe themselves, maybe, a bit less when we're through. I've received much and now I must give much, probably for the rest of my life.

When I hear Evan sing "And oh, someone will come running," I weep inwardly with weariness at the thought that I have to be the one who comes running, and that there are so many people "broken on the ground." And then I have to look at myself honestly, make sure I am not "[running] faster than [I have] strength (Mosiah 4:27)." What can I do? So little. But it's something. "And that's . . . that's enough."

(Thank you, Evan Hansen.)

[afoolsingenuity]

Looking Forward // January 2017

I’ve realised that these Looking Forward posts have become a bit of a staple for the beginning of each month for me so I actually need to start labelling them with the year. The awful thing about these posts is that this year I hope to implement a spending limit upon myself and as such I won’t be able to get a hold of many of the books I am looking forward to each month. It’s almost cruel to write this post each month but I love seeing the books I’m excited to read in a list, don’t you? Luckily for me, my birthday is next month so maybe if I start a list now my family can get me a few… although there are several I still haven’t got from last year. Maybe I should prioritise?

I struggled with which books to choose this month as there are books I’m looking forward to being released this month but I got review copies so have already/am reading them. I decided to give those special mentions below and stick with all the rest.

Roseblood – A.G. Howard

Genre: Retelling, Young Adult, Fantasy

Release Date: 10th January 2017

Windwitch – Susan Dennard

Genre: Fantasy, Young Adult

Release Date: 12th January 2017

In this modern day spin on Leroux’s gothic tale of unrequited love turned to madness, seventeen-year-old Rune Germain has a mysterious affliction linked to her operatic talent, and a horrifying mistake she’s trying to hide. Hoping creative direction will help her, Rune’s mother sends her to a French arts conservatory for her senior year, located in an opera house rumored to have ties to The Phantom of the Opera.

At RoseBlood, Rune secretly befriends the masked Thorn—an elusive violinist who not only guides her musical transformation through dreams that seem more real than reality itself, but somehow knows who she is behind her own masks. As the two discover an otherworldly connection and a soul-deep romance blossoms, Thorn’s dark agenda comes to light and he’s forced to make a deadly choice: lead Rune to her destruction, or face the wrath of the phantom who has haunted the opera house for a century, and is the only father he’s ever known.

Sometimes our enemies become our only allies The Windwitch Prince Merik is presumed dead, following a lethal explosion. He's left scarred but alive and determined to expose his sister's treachery. Yet on reaching the royal capital, he's shocked to find it crowded with refugees fleeing conflict. Merik haunts the streets, fighting for the weak. This leads to whispers of a disfigured demigod, the Fury, who brings justice to the oppressed.

Hunted by the Cleaved, Iseult is struggling to stay free while she searches for her friend Safi. When the Bloodwitch Aeduan corners Iseult first, she offers him a deal: she'll return what was stolen from him, if he locates the Truthwitch. Yet unknown to Iseult, there's a bounty on her head - and Aeduan intends to claim it.

After a surprise attack and shipwreck, Safi and the Empress of Marstok barely escape with their lives. They find themselves amongst pirates, where a misstep could mean death. And the bandits' next move could unleash war upon the Witchlands.

Why Am I Excited?

I always end up adding Hoard’s books to my TBR despite the fact I have yet to read a single one. I mean, that is truly a skill to possess as an author. How do you stay on my radar when I don’t know if the woman can even write? I want to read it, though, it sounds like a really original retelling.

Why Am I Excited?

I know not everyone loved the first book in this series, Truthwitch, but I did. I mean, I think the poor book suffered from overhype as I was hearing about it for months before it was ever released, but it was still a good fantasy which centred around two friends and poor decision making. I liked it and I want to see how the story continues, there is a whole heap of potential for the story to progress.

Carve the Mark – Veronica Roth

Genre: Sci-fi, Young Adult

Release Date: 18th January 2017

After The Fall – Kate Hart

Genre: Young Adult, Contemporary, Romance

Release Date: 24th January 2017

On a planet where violence and vengeance rule, in a galaxy where some are favored by fate, everyone develops a currentgift, a unique power meant to shape the future. While most benefit from their currentgifts, Akos and Cyra do not — their gifts make them vulnerable to others’ control. Can they reclaim their gifts, their fates, and their lives, and reset the balance of power in this world?

Cyra is the sister of the brutal tyrant who rules the Shotet people. Cyra’s currentgift gives her pain and power — something her brother exploits, using her to torture his enemies. But Cyra is much more than just a blade in her brother’s hand: she is resilient, quick on her feet, and smarter than he knows.

Akos is from the peace-loving nation of Thuve, and his loyalty to his family is limitless. Though protected by his unusual currentgift, once Akos and his brother are captured by enemy Shotet soldiers, Akos is desperate to get his brother out alive — no matter what the cost. When Akos is thrust into Cyra’s world, the enmity between their countries and families seems insurmountable. They must decide to help each other to survive — or to destroy one another.

A YA debut about a teen girl who wrestles with rumors, reputation, and her relationships with two brothers.

Seventeen-year-old Raychel is sleeping with two boys: her overachieving best friend Matt…and his slacker brother, Andrew. Raychel sneaks into Matt’s bed after nightmares, but nothing ever happens. He doesn’t even seem to realize she’s a girl, except when he decides she needs rescuing. But Raychel doesn't want to be his girl anyway. She just needs his support as she deals with the classmate who assaulted her, the constant threat of her family’s eviction, and the dream of college slipping quickly out of reach. Matt tries to help, but he doesn’t really get it… and he’d never understand why she’s fallen into a secret relationship with his brother. The friendships are a precarious balance, and when tragedy strikes, everything falls apart. Raychel has to decide which pieces she can pick up – and which ones are worth putting back together.

Why Am I Excited?

Honestly, after reading the Divergent series I was all ready to abandon all hope for Roth’s writing as I grew more and more frustrated by that series as the books progressed, but then Roth had a really fantastic short story in Summer Days & Summer Nights and I realised I had to give her another chance in the form of this book. Hopefully, I won’t be disappointed.

Why Am I Excited?

I ‘m not sure why I’m excited about this book. It doesn’t necessarily stand out against a lot of other YA contemporary but I know I want to read it. It’s one of those books that comes onto your radar and you end up being stuck wanting to read. Not exactly a ringing endorsement but you know what I mean, right?

Accidentally on Purpose – Jill Shalvis

Genre: Contemporary, Romance

Release Date: 24th January 2017

By Your Side – Kasie West

Genre: 31st January 2017

Release Date: Young Adult, Contemporary, Romance

Accidentally On Purpose is the third in New York Times bestselling author Jill Shalvis's Heartbreaker Bay series, featuring her trademark gift for humour, warmth and romance. Perfect for fans of Jill Mansell, Debbie Macomber, Nora Roberts and Marie Force.

Elle Wheaton's priorities: friends, career, and kick-ass shoes. Then there's the muscular wall of stubbornness that's security expert Archer Hunt - who comes before everything else. No point in telling Mr. "Feels-Free Zone" that, though. Elle will just see other men until she gets over Archer...which should only take a lifetime...

Archer's wanted the best for Elle ever since he sacrificed his law-enforcement career to save her. Their chemistry could start the next San Francisco earthquake and he craves her 24/7, but Archer doesn't want to be responsible for the damage. The alternative? Watch her go out with guys who aren't him... As far as Archer's concerned, nobody is good enough for Elle. But when he sets out to prove it by sabotaging her dates, she gets mad - and things get hot as hell. Now Archer has a new mission: prove to Elle that her perfect man has been here all along...

Want more warm, funny romance? Check out the other Heartbreaker Bay novels, Sweet Little Lies and The Trouble With Mistletoe, visit gorgeous Cedar Ridge, spellbinding Lucky Harbor or experience some Animal Magnetism in Sunshine, Idaho in Jill's other unforgettable series.

In this irresistible story, Kasie West explores the timeless question of what to do when you fall for the person you least expect. Witty and romantic, this paperback original from a fan favorite is perfect for fans of Stephanie Perkins and Morgan Matson.

When Autumn Collins finds herself accidentally locked in the library for an entire weekend, she doesn’t think things could get any worse. But that’s before she realizes that Dax Miller is locked in with her. Autumn doesn’t know much about Dax except that he’s trouble. Between the rumors about the fight he was in (and that brief stint in juvie that followed it) and his reputation as a loner, he’s not exactly the ideal person to be stuck with. Still, she just keeps reminding herself that it is only a matter of time before Jeff, her almost-boyfriend, realizes he left her in the library and comes to rescue her.

Only he doesn’t come. No one does.

Instead it becomes clear that Autumn is going to have to spend the next couple of days living off vending-machine food and making conversation with a boy who clearly wants nothing to do with her. Except there is more to Dax than meets the eye. As he and Autumn first grudgingly, and then not so grudgingly, open up to each other, Autumn is struck by their surprising connection. But can their feelings for each other survive once the weekend is over and Autumn’s old life, and old love interest, threaten to pull her from Dax’s side?

Why Am I Excited?

Come on guys. Was there really any doubt I’d be wanting this book? It’s a new Jill Shalvis and it’s in a series I’ve already started. Of course, I’m all over this. I am guaranteed an enjoyable romance. I may not be adding it to my favourites list but I will most definitely be adding it to my warm fuzzy guaranteed to enjoy list.

Why Am I Excited?

I always look forward to Kasie West releases (although I’ve yet to read the last one let alone this one). She always delivers fun and cute contemporary YAs which I almost always enjoy. She's one of those authors and this sounds no different. Sure, these last two choices aren’t those I’ll be raving about but they’ll be ones I will most enjoy.

  Honourable Mentions

These books are ones which would have been on this list if it wasn’t for the fact I’ve already got myself copies to read. As you can see, fantasy tends to be my things, especially this month. I would recommend these books and am glad I got my hands on them. Lucky me.

What books are you looking forward to most this month? Are there any which I’ve missed?

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#a fool's ingenuity #books

[queen-swagzilla]

Born in Dreams, Forged in Blood - Chapter 1

Rated: M

Summary: Katsuki Bakugo was not a good communicator. To be fair, neither was Izuku Midoriya. Looking back on their dumpster fire of a friendship, communication was probably the most significant missing piece in their interpersonal puzzle. Luckily, their translator is back in town, and they're about to take UA by storm.

Like the story? Consider buying me a coffee! I’d really appreciate it!

Don’t know what’s going on? Read it all on Ao3!

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 She kept her eyes glued to her phone, scrolling lazily as she ignored the whispers that sprang up around her. As each person entered the classroom, the murmurs grew louder. 

 “Who is she?”

“You think she’s in the wrong classroom?”

“She looks kinda mean.”

“She looks like a delinquent.”

Idiots. Did they really not realize how loud they were being? She kept scrolling, opting to read through the hero analysis forum instead of indulging their curiosity. There was some excellent information about Bubble Girl and Centipeder that she wanted to dive into. Nighteye’s sidekicks were always fascinating, and she’d much rather learn about them than deal with petty high school crap. 

“What the hell are you doing here?” A gruff voice demanded from the doorway. Finally, she looked up.

“Nice. Really welcoming.” She replied dryly. 

“Answer the fucking question.” Katsuki snapped. 

“If you’re looking for welcoming…or friendly, Bakugo’s the wrong person. He’s more of an acquired taste.” A girl on the other end of the classroom joked. The one who had said she looked mean. She snorted but didn’t respond.

“Shut the hell up, Kirby.” Katsuki glowered. “Seriously Sana, why are you here?”

“BAKUGO! You are being very rude!” This time, it was an uptight dude with glasses. 

“At least he fucking greeted me directly instead of insulting me within earshot.” She snapped, finally turning to glare at them. “You don’t fucking know me, and I don’t need you to tell me how shit works with Katsuki.” Glasses and Kirby both looked affronted, but Katsuki was grinning. 

“Good. For a minute there I thought you’d lost your teeth.” He dropped into the desk next to her. “But you still haven’t answered my question. What are you doing here?”

“What does it look like?”

“It looks like you’re sitting in my classroom and not explaining yourself.” He grunted. “Does Deku know you’re here?”

“Nope! It was supposed to be a surprise. Where is he?”

“How the fuck should I know?” He demanded. She leveled him with an unimpressed stare, and he rolled his eyes. “He’s in the infirmary after breaking his entire fucking body during training.”

“He’s still in the infirmary?” The annoying girl yelped. Sana rounded on her, eyes flashing.

“Hey, I’m trying to have a conversation. Wanna keep your big nose out of it?” She snapped.

“I MUST ASK THAT YOU TREAT US WITH RESPECT!” Glasses shouted. 

She scoffed. “Like you treated me with respect? Whispering about me while I was right here? I don’t think you even tried to lower your voice. You—“ she pointed at the Kirby. “Said I look mean, and you—“ she pointed at Glasses. “Said I look like a delinquent. So step the fuck off me and stay out of my business.”

“Easy, Sana. They’re Deku’s best friends. Round-Face is Uraraka and Four-Eyes is Iida, our class rep.”

“If these are his best friends, we need to talk to him about his shitty taste in people.” She muttered to him. He snorted.

“Deku likes everyone. If he didn’t, he wouldn’t be Deku. His friendship requirements are breathing and having a pulse.” He rolled his eyes.

“Whatever.” She turned her gaze back to the now tremendously offended duo. “Keep your noses out of my business. Same goes for any of you who were talking shit when you thought I wasn’t listening.”

“Seriously, dude, take it down a notch. You don’t want to be lashing out when Aizawa gets here. Pay them back in training.” Katsuki muttered. She grinned at him—a sharp, toothy, vicious-looking thing.

“Figured it out?”

“I’m not stupid.” He snapped. “I was surprised.”

“A good surprise?” She prodded. He glared at her mutinously, and her grin widened.

“No. You’re a pain in the ass and I hate you.”

“Liar.”

“Woah!” A surprised voice sounded from the doorway. “You’re talking to him and he’s not yelling! That’s awesome!” A spiky-haired redhead bounded toward them, followed by a blonde boy, a black-haired boy, a pink (like literally head-to-toe pink) girl, and a purple-haired girl. 

“What, does he usually just scream at everyone?” She asked dryly.

“Yeah! Our boy’s feral, but it looks like you’ve got the magic touch. Only like…three people do, and it’s not exactly reliable.” The blonde one explained. She snorted. That sounded about right, but—

“I thought you’d grown out of that.” She muttered. He glared at her.

 “Maybe they understand each other. She seems like she’s basically the girl version of Bakugo, ribbit.”

 “Shut the fuck up Frog-face.” Katsuki snarled. “I don’t care what you think of me, but don’t you dare talk shit about her. You don’t know her.”

The silence that boomed through the room was deafening. “Being the girl version of you isn’t an insult. It’s not really true, but it’s not an insult.” Sana said after a long, surprised moment. 

“Trust me, she meant it as one.” He snapped.

“Alright, problem children. Sit down and shut up.” Aizawa grumbled as he dragged himself into the classroom. The class hastened to comply. “First of all, as I imagine you’ve noticed, we have a new student—Sana Kimura. She was scouted by Principal Nezu after an incident with a villain in Kyoto. I trust you’ll all welcome her to 1-A.” He drawled. “Second, Midoriya won’t be joining us today due to his most recent set of injuries. Recovery Girl has informed me that she will not be relaxing visiting hours, so if you want to see him, you see him before 8 pm and leave as soon as visiting hours are over. If you try to overstay your welcome, you will be barred from future visiting hours indefinitely.”

Sana raised her hand. “Excuse me, sir. He usually bounces back faster. Is something wrong?”

“No. The damage was too extensive to be healed in one pass, so she’s keeping him longer. Her quirk drains stamina, so she’s keeping him in the infirmary. No need for concern.” He assured her. “You’ll find that Midoriya spends about half his time in the infirmary. The shock and concern will eventually fade.”

Katsuki snorted. “She’s more of a mother hen than my actual mother. Not a chance.”

“Shut your face.” She grumbled, kicking at his chair.

“Anyways,” Aizawa said, interrupting before they could start arguing.”We’ll be skipping team exercises until Midoriya returns, just so that we can keep the playing ground fair. Since we have a student with abilities that we aren’t familiar with yet, I’d like for you all to be on the same page when we start sparring while she’s included.”

“Sensei, Deku already knows what her quirk is.” Katsuki interrupted. 

“That may be, but I’d wager he hasn’t seen it used in quite some time, let alone fought against it. The more information his classmates can gain, the less objective I can be regarding your ability to make quick evaluations or learn from previous experiences. I’d rather you all take on those challenges together. Besides, I’d like to have more teachers available when we do our initial evaluation of Miss Kimura’s ability and potential.”

Katsuki seemed to accept that logic, so he slumped back in his seat. 

 “So we won’t be training today? At all?” The candy-cane looking dude from the back asked, voice monotone. Iida looked rather sour at the thought, frowning deeply. She didn’t really care unless he yelled about it later. The guy was fuckin’ loud.

“I’m going to allow you to use homeroom as a study period, and for hero training, you can choose to either train physically or continue to develop your coursework. Some of you are performing disastrously in your core subjects, and I’d strongly advise you to prepare for your exams.” His eyes skated over the room, landing in a few key spots that she didn’t pay attention to. “Use the extra time wisely, and don’t do anything stupid.” Sana watched in amusement as the adult-in-charge whipped out a sleeping bag and curled up in a cocoon on the classroom floor. 

 “Yo, Bakubro—could you help me with the calc homework? I’m stuck on number ten.” The redhead spiky dude asked.

“Why didn’t you ask me last night, Shitty Hair?”

“You were asleep by the time I got to it!” He complained. 

 Katsuki sighed…well, growled, and held out his hand. “Let me see what you tried so far.” He turned to Sana. “This is Eijirou Kirishima. The blond one is Denki Kaminari. That’s Hanta Sero, Pinky is Mina Ashido, and AirPods is Kyoka Jiro.”

She gaped. “Woah, you actually learned their names? You must really like them.” She chuckled incredulously. He muttered under his breath, so quickly that it sounded like a growl to their companions, but she heard it clear as day. 

“Shut the fuck up.” He’d said. “If they know that I actually like them, they’ll want to hang out even more.”

She threw her head back and laughed, but acquiesced. “Well, I trust your taste in friends. You’re more discerning than Zuku. He’d befriend a serial killer if he had the chance.” She said, still chuckling. “It’s nice to meet you guys.”

The redhead grinned. “Nice to meet you too! How do you know Bakubro and Midoriya?”

“Her mom went to college with our moms. I’ve been stuck with her since birth.” Katsuki snapped. 

“Right, that’s definitely why you called me and Deku-screeched at me for an hour when you got accepted to UA.” She drawled. He glared at her, snarling.

 “Deku-screeched?” Earlobe girl—Jiro—snorted. 

“You know how Zuku mutters super fast under his breath? Well when he gets super excited about it, sometimes he does it really loudly. He sounds kinda like an auctioneer, but with Present Mic’s quirk.” Sana replied. “I thought he was trying to blow my eardrums out when he called.”

“First of all, shut the fuck up. Second of all, at least I told you that I got in. Third, Aizawa said you were scouted after a villain attack. You haven’t said shit about a villain attack. Start talking.” Katsuki demanded.

 “I thought you wanted me to shut the fuck up.” She teased. The glare he shot her this time was different. Yeah, it could have melted glass, but it was a little more pleading. She sighed. “Can I tell you later? When Zuku’s here? I figured we could catch up on everything at once. I think between the three of us, there are some things we don’t want to talk about more than once, if possible.”

He glowered but conceded. “Fine. But we are talking about this.” His voice dropped again, too low for the rest to hear. “You and fucking Deku are going to give me heart attacks.”

She ducked her head, inky black hair falling into her eyes. “Of course we’ll talk about it. Sorry, Kacchan.” There was a dramatic collection of gasps, and she glanced at Katsuki’s friends. “What?”

 “N-nobody but Midoriya is allowed to call him that!” Kaminari stammered. She laughed.

“Sorry, Zuku might have started it, but it’s a childhood friend privilege.” She replied. “He couldn’t pronounce Kacchan’s name when we were younger, and I liked it because it sounded cute. It’s really just for me and Zuku, though. At least, as far as I know.”

 “Yeah, because I hate it, but I can’t get you two to stop.”

“Yeah? Then why did you blow up your couch the last time I called you Bakugo?” She snickered.

“Stop exposing me, asshole.” He growled, turning to the messy homework that Kirishima had slid onto his desk. 

“While he’s making sure Kiri doesn’t fail, why don’t you tell us about yourself?” Jiro suggested, pulling her chair closer.

“YOU ARE SUPPOSED TO BE STUDYING!” Four-Eyes barked. “PLEASE FOLLOW MR. AIZAWA’S DIRECTIONS! MISS KIMURA MUST HAVE WORK TO CATCH UP ON!” 

“What did I just say about minding your own business? I can make my own decisions.” Sana snapped. “But if you guys need to study, I can help! Kacchan and I can tag team!” She offered, switching gears from being pissed at Iida to smiling pleasantly at Katsuki’s friends, who were making her feel substantially more welcome than the rest of the class had. 

“We’re actually caught up for once, and I think we can revise later.” Mina smiled. “We’re supposed to make you feel welcome, right? We wanna get to know you! But thanks for offering.”

“Yeah, I might take you up on that later. Bakugo’s smart, but he can be vicious.” Kaminari joked. 

They all ignored Katsuki’s answering snarl. “Alright, then. Well, what do you want to know?” She asked, a little nervous. It was always nerve-wracking being the new girl. 

“Where did you transfer from?” Jiro asked. 

“Shiketsu. I didn’t apply to UA—it would have cost too much for me to get an apartment.”

“Even though mom and Auntie Inko both said they’d let you stay with us,” Katsuki muttered. She ignored him.

“Since you’re living in the dorms now, accommodations are taken care of. It all worked out. Even if I hate the reason the dorms were built.” She continued, shooting a nasty glare at the back of Katsuki’s head.

“I didn’t want to get kidnapped by shitty, delusional villains.” He growled. 

“What’s your quirk?” Kirishima asked, leaning in. 

“Uh…well, it’s called Kinesis. But I guess vibration is a simpler way to explain it.” She shrugged. “My hero name will be Aftershock.”

“That’s way better than King Explosion Murder.” Kaminari sniggered. Sana pinned Katsuki with another glare. 

“That is not your hero name. Zuku and I worked really hard on your hero name! AND you helped me with mine!” She pouted. He ignored her. “I swear, if I see King Explosion Murder on your provisional license, I’ll start ruining your perfect, disciplinarian life routine, starting with your sleep schedule. You know I can.” She threatened. 

“Give it a rest. It felt weird to use it with the shit going on between me n’ Deku. Doesn’t mean I don’t like the name.” He mumbled. She pinned him with a completely unimpressed look, and he knew exactly what it meant. 

It meant ‘you can stop the shit between you and Deku whenever you decide to stop being a jackass, and you know it.'

“What hero name did you come up with for him?” Kirishima asked. Sana grinned. 

“Ground Zero.” She stated proudly. 

 “That one’s awesome!” Mina cried. “Did you pick one for Midoriya too? I mean, Deku isn’t the worst hero name, but it’s not really as awesome as his quirk.”

She bit her lip. “Kacchan and I have differing opinions on that.” She stated, deflecting. Sure, she had an idea, but she had no idea if Katsuki did. Hell, she hadn’t even seen them since Izuku had mysteriously developed a quirk, and her little broccoli boy had seemed to want to keep his late development under wraps. 

She’d still seen that quirk of his in action at the Sports Festival. It was amazing, and she wanted answers.

“Well, what’s your idea?” Mina pushed, leaning closer. 

She pursed her lips. “I came up with it when he wasn’t that good at using his quirk. You know; he’d break his bones if he used it, but he still stood up for everyone and tried to keep his friends safe, even if that meant fighting off bullies quirkless. I thought he should be called ’Stronghold’.” She explained. 

“And I thought that screwed with our theme—battle focused heroes with conceptual names.” Katsuki supplied, annoyed. Sana raised her eyebrows in surprise. He was willingly sharing information about his relationship with Izuku? “I thought he should be called Last Stand. Like the person who’ll keep going, even when they don’t think they’ll win.”

“Those are both great!” Kirishima cheered. “Super manly!”

“Why would you need his name to match?” Kaminari asked, face screwed up in confusion. 

“I can’t believe I’m saying this, but that’s a good question.” Jiro agreed, annoyed that Kaminari had thought of it first. Sana glanced at Katsuki who looked a little constipated if she was being honest. 

But he surprised her again, dropping Kirishima’s homework and turning to the group. “When we were young, the three of us wanted to be a hero team.” He barked. “When we were coming up with names, it felt weird that our ideas didn’t fit. But that’s not a fucking problem anymore since we’re not a fucking team."

Sana pouted. “We’re not?”

Katsuki refused to look her in the eye when he replied, “Absolutely fucking not.”

“But Kacchan—“

“No.”

She huffed. “I go to school here now, you know. I’ve got three whole years to wear you down.” She reminded him. All of a sudden, Katsuki looked like he wanted to jump out of a window. “If you make it to graduation without caving, I’ll still have family dinners and holidays. You might as well accept it, Kacchan.”

 “I don’t have to accept shit.” He grunted, going back to the homework in front of him. His four friends watched them bicker, eyes bouncing between them. They had to wonder—who would come out on top? And if it wasn't Katsuki, they wondered if he’d really consider it a loss. 

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