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lanadelnegan · 7 months

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My Past, My Future - Part 5 (Final part)

Negan x Reader x Daryl

part four here / part one here

Warnings: 18+, smut, angst

Note: I'm sorry this took so long for me to post. Been kinda out of it lately, but probably gonna start posting regularly again.

Red = Negan / Blue = Daryl / Pink - Reader

"Negan..." Your jaw lowers slightly in disbelief as you look up into his tired eyes. Before your brain has time to stop you, you lunge forward, wrapping your arms around his neck and inhaling the familiar smell of him. "God I am so glad you're okay." A tear falls from your cheek as he nuzzles his face into the side of your neck and holds you tight.

Pulling back slightly after a moment too long, you clear your throat awkwardly and drop your hands to your sides. You quickly wipe the tear slipping down your cheek as Negan tilts his head at you empathetically. "Baby.."

"No..." You shake your head, remembering how Negan left you - alone and worried to death. "Negan, I - I don't understand. Why? Why did you leave?" You ramble, letting the hurt and anger wash over you all over again. "I looked for you for three weeks straight. I didn't eat.. didn't sleep.. just cried until I couldn't anymore."

"I saw you two.. kissing.. I thought -"

"You thought wrong, Negan. I wanted it to be you. I told Daryl that after the kiss. I came back to Alexandria that night to tell you, and you - you were gone. How could you do that to me? Just leave and not even look back like I never meant anything to you?"

"C'mon, You know that's not true... Was I supposed to just stay there and fuckin' watch you be with him?!"

Before you can respond, the front door swings open behind you and Daryl quickly appears at your side, wrapping his arm protectively around your waist.

Negan scoffs, glancing down at Daryl's hand gripping you possessively. "Seriously? You two are a thing now, huh? And you expect me to believe you were gonna fuckin' choose me?"

"Believe what you want. It's the truth. Not that it matters anymore. You left. You made your decision."

"Yeah." Negan nods. "I guess you did too."

"You dunno what the hell you're talkin' about. Got no right to talk to her like that when you just up and left." Daryl's jaw clenches as he glares at Negan.

"Seems like it worked out for you. I dunno why you're fuckin' complainin'."

"Cuz I'm not selfish. I wanted her to by happy."

"And I'm selfish? For leaving behind the love of my fucking life just so I wouldn't get in the way of her and another man!? If anyone's selfish it's you! Throwing a fit because the girl you were too scared to admit your feelings to wanted me and not you."

You grab Daryl's wrist, pulling him back as he lunges forward at Negan. "Enough! This is too much. I can't - I can't deal with this right now." You cry as both men reach out to comfort you.

Negan lets out a long sigh. "Look, it's getting dark. And I know you're tired. Let's call it a night and sort this out tomorrow."

Daryl hesitantly nods, accepting Negan's offer when you look to him for an answer and you both follow Negan into the house. It's old and wooden and Negan's smell fills the air. Your heart aches at the thought of Negan here by himself all this time... he is here by himself right?

"Do you.. live here alone?" You ask, looking around for any signs of other company.

"Nah. Girlfriend should be back any minute."

You roll your eyes at the teasing tone of his voice, trying to hide your smile when he winks at you.

"Hungry?" He points behind himself to the kitchen.

"No.. thanks. Just tired."

"You two can take the bedroom.. I'll sleep out here on the couch. Just let me clean up and change first." Negan says before heading to his bedroom. "Make yourselves at home." He calls out before shutting his door.

Six months ago you were confessing your love for each other and having sex on your couch. Now he's offering up his bed to you and another man? Daryl rests his hand on your lower back and you turn around to hug him, laying your head on his chest.

"Daryl.. I want you to know you have nothing to worry about. We'll leave in the morning."

"Not worried." He reassures you by planting a gentle kiss on your forehead. He knows he is, but the last thing he wants is to put more stress and pressure on you right now.

Negan enters the room again, announcing his presence with an awkward clearing of his throat. "Room's ready. Changed the sheets."

Daryl leads the way, bumping past Negan rudely as he disappears into the master bathroom. You walk past Negan, brushing your hand against his before he gently wraps his hand around your wrist and looks down at you. "The idea of you in my bed with another man fucking infuriates me. Everything I do.. everything I did.. was for your happiness. Not mine... Just so you know." His hazel eyes fall to your lips for a moment before he slowly looks back up into your eyes. You restrain yourself from kissing him, remembering the way his soft lips felt against yours as his stubble pricked at your face. You can't deny you miss kissing him. Having long deep conversations with him.. Fucking him. All your memories together flow through your mind as you stare up at him.

"Are you happy with him, y/n?" Negan's eyes dart back and forth between yours.

"...Yes."

"Good..." He nods before walking away and you watch him sink to the couch as you enter his bedroom. You find Daryl already laying in bed and immediately climb in the bed behind him to comfort him. You know this must be difficult for him. You nuzzle your face into the back of his neck. "Baby.. I told you not to worry."

He doesn't say anything as you run your fingers comfortingly through his thick strands of hair. "I love you, Daryl."

"You love him too." He says matter-of-factly.

You don't respond, knowing you'd be lying if you tried to argue with him. So instead, you wrap your arm around him and settle into the sheets. The pillowcase smells like Negan as you shut your eyes and drift off quickly, dreaming of a world where you don't have to choose between the two men you'd die for.

As soon as Daryl hears your light snore, he slips out of bed, quietly finding his way into the living room where Negan is wide awake on the couch staring at the ceiling.

"We need to talk."

Negan's chest rises and falls as he lets out a long sigh. "Nothin' to say."

"Oh.. now you wanna stay quiet?"

"Now you wanna fuckin' talk?"

Daryl ignores Negan's comeback, sitting in a chair across from the couch. A long moment passes before Daryl finally speaks again.

"I know you love y/n. I know you've changed. But I'll never forget what you've done. When we came back to Alexandria and realized you were gone... I hoped you'd never come back."

Negan huffs, leaning back further into the couch before Daryl continues.

"Until I saw how much it broke her. She wouldn't eat. Wouldn't sleep. Unless I made her. Was so worried about her I couldn't let her outta my sight. You did that to her."

Negan gulps down, fighting back tears as he hears how much he hurt you.

"And for some stupid reason.. she still loves you."

Negan scoffs, shaking his head slightly before gazing back up at the ceiling. "...When Lucille passed, I knew I wouldn't be able to love anyone the way I loved her. Lucille was.. my everything. Hell, named a fuckin' baseball bat after her just so I wouldn't have to say goodbye... You know where that bat is now?"

Daryl grunts, waiting for Negan's answer. Negan's head nods towards the fireplace, as they watch the wood crack underneath the flames for awhile.

"I said goodbye to Lucille that day because I finally found someone I could be happy with again... When I made the decision to leave, that was for y/n. Not for me. I knew you'd be there to take my place, and I thought that's what she fuckin' wanted. But me? I didn't eat either. Didn't sleep. Worried about her every day. Still fuckin' do."

Daryl's head drops forward as his elbows rest on his knees, carefully taking in Negan's words.

"She misses you."

"Why are you tellin' me this?"

"Cause I want the same thing as you. Just want her to be happy."

"So what? You're.. giving her back to me?" Negan's head shakes sarcastically, mocking the idea.

"In your dreams.... What I'm sayin' is, we love her and she loves us. Why make her choose?"

Negan's nose scrunches as he looks to Daryl, sitting up now and leaning forward. "Wait, wait, wait. You're not serious. Are you seriously suggesting a... throuple?"

"Nah. I ain't gay." Daryl grunts. "It's not about me and you. Just her."

"Too bad. Thought you were finally comin' around." Negan raises his brows suggestively, making Daryl stand and roll his eyes annoyed. He stops at the bedroom door, looking back to Negan expectantly. "You comin'?"

They both quietly enter the bedroom and slide in bed on either side of you. Still asleep, you snuggle against the warm body in front of you, roaming your hand along his stomach before stopping suddenly, realizing it's not Daryl. Your eyes jolt open to meet Negan's gaze in the dim lit room as he smirks down at you.

"Wha-"

"It's okay, babe." Daryl whispers in your ear from behind.

"You still love me, baby?" Negan asks, tilting your chin up and hovering his lips over yours.

You answer him by pressing your lips to his, closing the small gap. You can't help the involuntary moan that escapes your mouth as you taste him again for the first time in so long.

Negan's hand cups the back of your neck, bringing you closer as he deepens the kiss and flicks his tongue against yours. His mouth opens slightly as a throaty groan escapes and you almost whimper at how turned on you are. Finally turning your attention to Daryl behind you, your arm reaches behind you to grip his hair and pull him in for a kiss. He kisses you back hungrily as his rough hand glides down the side of your body, tracing your curves before reaching your ass and firmly squeezing.

After a moment, you pull away from his mouth to adjust yourself, leaning up for a moment to remove your shirt and bra before laying flat on your back between the two of them.

You stare vacantly at the ceiling, blinking a few times as you attempt to wake yourself from the obvious dream you must be having. But to no avail, your men remain pressed against your body as they nip at your skin and tease you with their fingers.

Shifting lower in the bed, they both take a hardened nipple into their mouth, making your head push into the pillow below you as you bite your lip to suppress your moan.

Negan flicks his tongue lightly over the sensitive bud, while Daryl's lips suction around the other, sucking over and over. You can't hide your noises anymore as you let them hear what they are doing to you. "Ohh my god. Fuck... that feels good."

Negan grins, letting his teeth gently squeeze your nipple before lowering his hand. He easily pops open the button on your jeans before roughly pushing them down your legs. Daryl raises to his knees, helping you get your pants and underwear off your ankles until you're completely bare in front of them.

You've been with them both one on one on multiple occasions, but this feels.. much more intense with both of them at the same time.

As Daryl bends down, getting ready to position himself to eat your pussy, Negan stops him. "Look man, not tryna be selfish here. But I've been deprived of that pussy for way too long. So please, allow me." He pleads.

Daryl glares at Negan for a moment before finally moving out of his way and letting him devour your cunt. Negan's face is buried between your legs the second Daryl gives him the go ahead and your jaw lowers as you make an o-shape with your lips at how good his mouth feels. His stubble tickles your inner thighs while his tongue repeatedly flicks deep inside of you.

"Fuck!" He comes up for air, before pressing his nose to your hole and inhaling the smell of you. "Goddamn I missed this sweet pussy."

"Move." Daryl demands, taking Negan's place and tossing your legs over his shoulders. His fingers spread your pussy lips apart, allowing him better access to your clit and sucking it harshly, urging you to orgasm.

Your gaze is focused on Negan as he stands by the bed, quickly discarding his clothes.

"Daryl!" You moan his name as your orgasm rushes through you, letting your eyes stay locked on Negan's, hoping to bring out his possessive side. A smirk appears on Negan's face as he chuckles darkly, knowing you're trying to make him jealous.

Just as Daryl comes up for air, wiping your juices from his chin, the bed dips as Negan crawls over you, taking your lips in his.

"You tryin' to tease me, baby? Cause it's fuckin' working."

He kisses you rhythmically before pulling on your lower lip with teeth and grinning at you. While you're busy locking tongues with Negan, Daryl positions himself on his back beside you. "Come mere baby. Need you."

You roll over on top of Daryl, letting your knees rest on either side of him as you hover your wet opening over his hard length and slide down slowly and completely, filling your cunt to the brim as your head falls back in pleasure.

Negan settles in behind you, bumping his hard cock against your ass. His hand wraps around your long strands of hair as he pulls, bringing your head back further and exposing the front of your neck.

Chills run down your spine when Negan whispers throatily in your ear. "Think you can take us both sweetheart?"

You answer him with a frantic nod and he chuckles, biting at the sensitive spot behind your ear and making chills spread over your arms.

"Fuck. Bend over him. Now." Negan grunts, pushing your back until you're laying over Daryl with his cock still inside you.

Negan's hand spreads one of your ass cheeks as he leans back slightly, watching you slide up and down on Daryl's cock. "Goddamn. You are creaming all over his fuckin' dick, darlin'." Negan's thumb reaches out, gathering a line of your juices from Daryl's shaft and bringing it to his mouth. He groans at the taste, eyes rolling in the back of his head as he sucks his own thumb. "Fuck." He whispers, dropping his thumb to your tight asshole now and circling it slowly. "Where do you want me baby?" He asks, pushing this thumb through your tightness. You cry out at the unfamiliar feeling.

"In.. in my pussy." You whine.

"Yeah? Such a big girl, so confident that you can take two big cocks in your little cunt at the same time." Negan chuckles darkly, pulling his finger out of your ass and rubbing his tip through your folds from behind as Daryl's breathes loud and heavy while you ride him.

Negan's hand grips your waist tightly, holding you in place as he guides his cock to your already filled hole. He slides his tip along Daryl's length before ultimately pushing through and burying himself deep inside you. Daryl grunts, adjusting slightly at the feeling of Negan's dick against his own.

You cry out as your walls are stretched further than they've ever been, and the thought of your men rubbing their cocks together inside of you makes your stomach flutter.

"Oh my goddd." You cry, overwhelmed at the intensity of being so full. Not only are your walls stretched to their limit, but both of them are painfully deep. Pressure and heat build in your abdomen as you feel yourself embarrassingly close to coming already.

“Holy shit, feels so fuckin’ good.” Negan whimpers, dropping his head back heavily as he thrusts into you.

Daryl’s jaw clenches as he stares up at you through glazed over eyes. “Is it too much babe? Tell us to stop if you need-“

“No. Please. Please don’t stop.” You beg, crashing your lips against Daryl’s as you moan into his mouth. Negan brings his hand down roughly, smacking your ass cheek and making you yelp into Daryl’s mouth.

Negan grunts, grabbing the back of your hair possessively and pulling your back against his chest. Your head turns as he kisses your lips sloppily from the side, bringing his hand around to wrap firmly around your throat as his throaty whisper flows in your ear. “I might be willing to share, but kissing another man when I’m balls deep in this cunt? Not gonna fuckin’ happen, doll.”

From this angle, one of their tips press repeatedly into just the right spot, making your cheeks burn hot. And Negan’s filthy words are just what you need to send you over the edge.

"Daryl! ... Negan! Fuuuck." You scream out, feeling warm liquid rush out of you. Both men groan at the feeling of you soaking their cocks as Negan's moans become faster and louder and Daryl grows quieter - an indicator that he's close.

"Come in me..Please.” You breathe out.

"Who?" Both men say in unison.

"..Both."

"Can't hold it anymore. I'm comin' baby. I'm fuckin' coming. Ahhh, fuuuuck." He lets out a long groan, spilling deep inside of you.

Daryl groans at the intense feeling of yours and Negan’s warm liquids surrounding his cock. He bites his bottom lip as he shoots his load in you, following each pulse of his dick with a mix of raspy whimpers and moans.

Negan slides out of you as you lift yourself off Daryl, falling to the bed next to him. When Negan joins you on the other side, you lace your fingers in both of their hands as you lay there out of breath.

"What the hell just happened?" You chuckle, not able to hide the ridiculous smile on your face.

"We don't wanna make you choose. Just want you to be happy. If you want us both, you've got us."

"But.. that's.."

Negan leans in, kissing your cheek before settling into the sheets and closing his eyes. "There's no rules in the apocalypse, baby. Shoulda learned that a long time ago."

tagging my babies: @loganlostitall @chaospossum @negansbabydoll66 @redqueenphoenix @n3g5nx @crustyweirdo @youngpersonaathletebear @sadgirlzluvdilfs @ilovebill-and-gustav @neganscumbucket @manipulatorpoem @im-a-goddamn-cat @raininhell @mahogany-cherry-wine @daryldixmedown@munsonslovergirl @sanctuaryforthelost @thelauraborealis @carlgrimesbbg @c3linesworld @blueheisenbergtragedy @dekuumademecumm @midnight-dixon @arthi-s

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randomshyperson · 1 year

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Spring Break - Cheerleader!Wanda Maximoff x Reader

Summary: Every year during Spring Break, you travel to a camp filled with outdoor competitions. It comes with a bonus of facing your rival from back when the whole thing started, and there's nothing more attractive than Wanda Maximoff kicking your ass in every game. Some might say you let her win just to see her smile, but maybe that's loser talk.

Warnings: (+18), enemies to lovers, so much teasing and bickering, a lot of making out and kissing, bottom!Cheerleader Wanda being a tease, soft first-time smut, semi-public, gays who can't keep their hands off each other, fluff, mild angst when they’re being stubborn, friends being done, high school but summer camp vibes, happy ending i promise. Words: 11.176k

A/N-> I’m back with enemies to lovers (and some smut finally). This fic is quite old, but it was abandoned; after seeing Wednesday and Bianca dueling I regained inspiration for what I was doing in the 5k that was already done. You can thank Netflix for this one. I wasn't sure whether to split it into two parts or not, but I think I have longer fics than this one so I decided to post them all together. If you notice there's a pause, because I wrote it as two different parts, you didn't.

General Masterlist | AO3 | Wattpad

--//--

There was something about pissing you off that made Wanda twitch.

It started so long ago, when you first bumped into each other at Avengers Camp three years ago, and Wanda had the best and most stressful Spring Break since high school began; all because you were there and she was winning.

Now, senior year had arrived, and the annual tradition of joining the spring games for an entire week in the middle of nature at one of the most renowned vacation camps in the United States was going to happen again.

Wanda likes to believe that she was not expecting this. It would actually be absurd to admit that she waited, every year, for the familiar image of your old Danvers cap and your bored expression leaving the bus that brought your schoolmates, but if Wanda would be honest, now sitting in the driveway waiting for their driver to finish unloading the car while she lets her gaze run across the entrance courtyard of the Camp, pretending not to look for someone and yet feeling her whole body warm-up when she recognizes the female figure in the crowd of students from the rival school, Wanda has to admit a few things. First, you grew annoyingly attractive every year. The second, she couldn't wait to beat your ass at every game.

"Man, I can't believe we're competing with the Skrulls again, it's the third year in a row." Her twin's complaint made Wanda blink away, her face half-reddened with fear that she had been caught staring. But Pietro seemed busy enough with his own complaints.

"Well, at least we're winning." Wanda retorted making him laugh.

"Fair point." He said and looked at her. "Speaking of which, do you know what games you'll be competing in this year yet?"

"Um, I think I'll check with the girls first. I don't want to end up alone in swimming like last year." Wanda mutters and Pietro nods in understanding.

Soon the monitors are addressing those who have already arrived, and Wanda loses sight of you - not that she was looking - and busies herself with going to the cabin that would be hers for the next week.

You, on the other hand, lose your bag in a pile.

"God, why does this always happen." You grumble in irritation as you manage to see the handle of your blue suitcase, below a few hundred others.

"Every year, Y/N. And I keep saying, carry your bag on your lap, and you keep ignoring me." Your sister, Carol, comments beside you, throwing an arm around your shoulders. You roll your eyes, gently pushing her away. Carol is happy, with her dark, safe suitcase under her arm.

"Stop bugging me and help me." You grumble and she laughs before trying to find a better position for you two to pull your bag together.

With a little effort, you manage to pull your backpack out, and you stumble backward with a grunt - bumping into someone who keeps you from falling to the ground - as Carol pulls your bag out of the pile.

"Yay, teamwork!" She celebrates on the other side, but you are busy turning to thank her who held you up, only to face your best friend with a small smile.

"Bucky!" you greet him excitedly, turning your body to hug him tightly by the neck, and laughing when he spins you in the air.

You met Bucky at camp, and despite going to a rival school, you had enough things in common for the friendship to grow strong even though he was studying and living almost on the other side of the country. Fortunately, Skype and Whatsapp existed, and even as spring ended, you were still friends.

"Hello, my favorite Danvers. " He greets like that only to annoy your sister behind you, who rolls her eyes and chuckles, moving closer to hug him as well as soon as you let go. "How was your trip, girls?"

"Y/N slept the whole way." Carol replies.

"And Carol ate the whole way." You accuse taking your bag from her hand and ignoring the grimace to add, "Oh, no, wait, I made a mistake. She was actually daydreaming about Natasha Romanoff."

"Shut up!" Carol grunted quickly, trying to hit you, a soft pink appearing on her cheeks. You fled from her hands, laughing and running toward the check-in booth where the monitors were calling out names, and Bucky shook his head for interaction watching your sister run after you.

Avengers Camp was huge, and besides the cabins divided up among all the students who stayed there during the vacation seasons, there was a lake, volleyball and tennis courts, an auditorium, and even an arcade.

You were lucky to end up in a cabin with your sister and the other girls in your class - the brilliant Gwen Stacy and Darcy Lewis - who didn't seem too interested in the sports competitions but would surely win any of the scientific tests.

After packing up, all the campers were called to the main cabin, where there were tables scattered throughout the area, where the teenagers were seated ready to enjoy the delicious lunch and listen to the welcome speech.

Nick Fury was the Camp Director and no one could ever tell the real story behind his eye patch, each year new campers came up with new legends that made you laugh - like the story that an alien cat had been responsible for cutting the limb off.

"[...] It gives me great pleasure to welcome the honorary Skrulls from California!" Announced Fury and all the students of your school made a chorus of claps and shouts of celebration, banging on their desks. Fury laughed from his seat in the center of the room, waiting for the commotion to pass before announcing the other school. "And equally welcome, the so-far undefeated champions of the Spring Competitions, the Avengers!"

The rival school made an even better commotion, almost starting a food war. But you were having fun, even though your school had never beaten the Avengers in their home, it was to be expected that they would want to keep their camp as an undefeated venue. Even though last winter during the interclass event, the soccer team lost badly to another school. There was a taunt among the students that if the Avengers played away from home, they would lose. But you and the rest of your school were more interested in proving that you could beat them anywhere, and this was your last chance to be part of it.

As Fury continued with the general announcements - about the rules, and the competitions, concepts that were already very familiar to you after three years - you felt Bucky pull your cap off your head, muttering something about manners that made you laugh.

You were adjusting the tousled strands of hair when Carol gave you a gentle nudge.

"Your majesty will speak now." She sneers and you aren't even confused, knowing full well what this is about before you even raise your eyes to the center of the room again, and feel your stomach do a full turn at seeing Wanda Maximoff step up to the podium with the confidence and posture worthy of a queen.

You met Wanda in first grade, and from the first conflicting interactions, you have an obligation to call her a princess. Because the perfect little girl's posture is too annoying for you not to do so. This, and the fact that her father is a famous politician, and the family is deep in the money, kind of lives up to the nickname. Also, it gives you real amusement to see the pink in her cheeks when you call her that.

And Wanda, of course, is the representative speaker at the games. So every year until she graduates, she announces the competitions and collects the names, as well as basically running the whole thing with the other monitors. It's like Queen Bee and her subjects, and neither you nor any of your friends stop making fun of it.

"I didn't think the Maximoffs were going to come this year." Bucky comments low beside you, as Wanda announces that year's games. And you frown in confusion.

"What, but Wanda has basically been representing this competition forever." You reason, but Bucky shrugs his shoulders.

"I know, but I heard they were going back to their country for college." Bucky retorts. "And you have to admit, while Avengers Camp is fun, it's not worth much here for us to get admission points."

Carol murmurs in agreement. "Man, now I'm pissed they didn’t leave. Imagine a year without having to put up with Little Miss Perfect, a stolen dream." She mocks and you force a laugh, a strange feeling in your stomach. You should be happy at the possibility of not having to put up with Wanda. But it occurs to you that the games wouldn't be as much fun without her.

Clearing your throat, you poke at your food with your fork.

"I think I'll sign up just for racing this year." Bucky comments beside you. "We have Football season, and I don't want to end up accidentally hurting myself before the games."

"But you love wrestling." You say but he shrugs his shoulders, offering you a small smile.

It occurs to you as the announcements end, and students have to move to leave their names for the competitions, that the seniors are not very excited. Probably the stress of college admissions, you can relate to that yourself, still, it's a little sad to see how little participation from classmates your age.

"Danvers sisters, good to have you back for another year." Fury greets you excitedly as soon as you and Carol approach the registration stand - where there is a small crowd of students trying to choose which games they will compete in, and put their names on the prepared murals.

"Hey, Nick!" Carol greets back, doing a handshake that she never taught you with the principal. You merely offer him a smile. "How's the family?"

You took the attention away from your sister as you approached the mural that read Wildness Competitions, adjusting your cap slightly as you did so. There were many options for activities at Avengers Camp, and you usually chose mostly the ones that the public school wouldn't give you access to for the rest of the school year, like Hispism or Fencing, the latter being a secret talent.

"Well, if it isn't the Skrulls’ Golden Armor Knight." A female voice mocked behind you, and you were smiling before you even turned around.

"Maximoff, it's always a displeasure." You retorted sarcastically, your hands in your pockets. Wanda doesn't flinch at your rudeness, tossing her hair to the side as she approaches with some buttons which she as a representative, needs to put on the murals to signal about the teams.

"Having trouble picking your sport this year, Danvers? A suggestion, try to remember that you are going to lose no matter what."

"Really? 'Cause as far as I remember, that shiny trophy up there has my name on it." You retort nodding to where the fencing awards are set in the corner of the main hall. Wanda rolls her eyes. "But don't worry, princess, I'll go easy on you this year."

Wanda lets out a wry laugh, her eyes glittering in defiance.

"I guess it's more the other way around, huh?" She retorts. "Or in case you've forgotten, the highest number of wins is still mine."

Wanda had a point. You could win at Fencing all you wanted - and get the ridiculous nickname of Skrulls’ Golden Armor Knight from the girl just to annoy you - but Wanda still won everything. From archery to fighting to spelling. Never in a million years would you admit that maybe you were losing because you were busier trying not to be distracted by her annoyingly pretty face.

"Let's see how this year turns out." You tell her with clear defiance in your voice, and Wanda smiles, moving closer, and you swallow dryly, your body tensing up. But she is just reaching for something behind you - a jar with other buttons - and offers you an innocent smile.

"Game on, Danvers." She says, grabbing one of the items and placing it in your hands before turning around, hips swaying more than necessary as if she knew exactly where you were going to look, and you choke softly, your face heating up before you shake your head and focus on the badge in your hands. The symbol of your school pinned on it.

–//–

The first day of competitions was a complete success for the Avengers, which means it was complete hell for you.

Unlike basically all the rest of your colleagues who were taking it easy, you almost destroyed a snack machine that refused to deliver your energy drink after you finished in second place for the fourth consecutive activity. If anyone asked, you were annoyed because of the little victorious smile Wanda had on her face all morning, but no one asked, because Carol had to drag you away from the brunette to avoid you jumping on her neck and pulling that little smile off yourself.

"It's so strange to see you like this." Your sister comments as soon as you guys are so back at the cabin, and you flopped down on the bed, grunting irritably against the pillow.

Gwen - who participated in the short race and was still wearing the same uniform as you - handed Carol the small bottle of energy drink that the machine released after you and Wanda got into a heated argument.

"Like what?" you asked confused with your voice muffled by the pillowcase. Your sister laughed.

"So angry." She clarified by sitting down in one of the armchairs to take off her shoes. "I'm the hothead Danvers, you know? You're like, so good vibes all the time."

"I agree, and I don't even hang out with you guys that much." Gwen remarks before moving to grab her shower stuff. You prop yourself up on the bed with a chair.

"What are you trying to tell me?" You ask your sister, and she gives a short chuckle, shrugging.

"Nothing, I just think it's weird." She mumbles. "You're so calm usually, but just walk into the same room as Wanda and you turn into a ticking time bomb. It feels like she has some sort of switch, or as that other saying goes, of the matchstick and the spark-"

"This conversation doesn't make any sense." You interrupt by frowning and standing up. "I am as I have always been, and it's not my fault if Wanda is the most annoying creature on the planet who keeps wanting to beat me at everything. I'll be taking a shower before you come up with any other weird sayings."

The locker room was a complete mess, but at least you were distracted by Gwen's comments about the competition and about the Avengers planning a sleepover to care about.

Since the next competitions were not until the afternoon, you finished your shower and decided to put on a comfortable sweater to spend the next few hours with Bucky at the lake, and were just finishing putting on your socks when giggles attracted your attention.

Well, you recognized the sound, and you had a hundred insults ready to use, but when you turned your face and had the image of Wanda in a towel, they all disappeared with any other coherent thought.

She was laughing at some comment her colleague made, but when her gaze met with yours, her smile faltered.

"Hey, Danvers, nice running today." She complimented, the sentence loaded with sarcasm.

"Yeah, Y/N, congratulations on the silver medal." Wanda's friend, you think her name is Monica, said and unlike the brunette, she seemed completely sincere.

You didn't respond with more than a hum of understanding, suddenly hyperaware that Wanda was without clothes just a few feet away from you. Turning your attention back to your socks, you cleared your throat softly, trying to keep your gaze in front of you.

Wanda took up a locker three feet away from yours. You could see her figure out of the corner of your eye. Long legs exposed and-"

You cleared your throat again, shaking your head quietly.

"Are you going to watch the boys' race, Y/N?" It was Monica who asked - from the locker behind yours - and you frowned slightly.

"Hmm, I'm not sure." You muttered, feeling your face heat up when you saw Wanda take her underwear out of the cabinet. " I don't really have anyone to watch there."

"Really? But I thought you and that long-haired cutie were going out." Monica comments excitedly, and you turn your head to her with confusion. "What's his name again? Ben?"

"Bucky." You correct and don't notice the way Wanda is glancing at you out of the corner of her eye, pretending to be busy with her own clothes. "And we're not dating, he's just my friend. Besides, he decided not to run."

Monica makes a noise of agreement, and you look away because she is suddenly changing and you don't want to be disrespectful.

"We'll watch Pietro race, but I'd honestly rather hang out at the arcade." Monica continues. "We can play something after the race, can you call your sister to join us?"

"Sure, Monica." You mutter finishing your shoes. You stand, and turn around, ready to say goodbye, but you face Wanda without a towel and simply freeze.

She, despite the soft pink appearing on her cheeks, holds your gaze, a small smile threatening to leave her lips as she works to put on her bra. You let your gaze lower, your heart racing in your ears as the image of full breasts and down to her belly and-"

"O-kay, I'll see you later." You gasp with a very hot face, stumbling off the bench and running so fast from the locker room that you leave Monica with a confused expression.

"What was that?" She asks, and Gwen, who you didn't even remember to say goodbye to, shrugs her shoulders.

"I think she may be trying to avoid arguments." She suggests, and the comment makes Wanda sigh softly as she finishes dressing. "Speaking of which, Maximoff, any chance you'll go easy on Y/N? She gets stressed when she loses to you."

Wanda chuckles. " Not a chance."

–//–

One of the afternoon competitions, besides the boys' race, was archery. Which meant watching Kate Bishop, a girl from the year before yours, destroy all the older students. Her coach, Clint Barton, kept smiling proudly with each completed trial, and you overheard some students from the Avengers saying how he was sure to write a letter of recommendation there when the time came for Kate to enter the university.

However, this year you were distracted. Bucky and Carol were sitting next to you, clapping and whistling for Kate along with her friends - Yelena Belova, who was coincidentally the sister of your sister's long-time crush, Natasha Romanoff, and Steve Rogers and Sam Wilson, the latter two being on the soccer team with Bucky.

While everyone was impressed by the long-range targets, you were trying to keep the image of Wanda out of your head. The problem was that ever since you saw her without a towel in the locker room, the curve of her waist, and of her breasts seemed to have stuck.

"Are you okay?" Bucky's voice snapped you out of your fantasy. "Your face is red."

"I'm fine." You mumble grudgingly, stretching out your legs and letting your cap cover your eyes. "I'm just resting my eyes."

"Kate just hit a target in the sky." He comments. " It was pretty incredible."

"I bet it was." You merely reply, the image of something far more interesting in your head. Bucky makes a confused face but doesn't insist.

When the next contestant was announced, you grunted softly and started to get up, muttering that you were feeling queasy and were going to get some air. The ironic comment about you being outside already made by Carol was ignored.

You ended up in the back of one of the huts, and as you leaned your back against the wood, you took a deep breath.

Stop thinking about her. Stop thinking-

"Victory is already ours but you didn't have to skip the game." The teasing made you flinch. On any other day, before what happened in the locker room at least, any comment from Wanda would have been rebutted with an equally sarcastic one. But the image of her naked torso was still fresh in your mind, insistent, and you just wanted to be left alone.

"Fuck off, Maximoff." Aggressiveness failed in your tone, as your voice faltered hoarsely over your thoughts. You didn't have time to fix your mistake - Wanda was already mockingly chuckling, slow steps toward you.

"You know, I've been practically fencing back home. I even have a private tutor now." She informs you, to which you just roll your eyes without patience, trying to look at everything but the girl in front of you. "Maybe it's time for that trophy to stamp another name."

You chuckled dryly, stealing a glance at her. "In your dreams."

"No, I'll just kick your ass in reality." She assures you finally close enough. "It'll be too easy, you're all distracted this year..."

Your breath hitched in your throat as Wanda simply began to move closer, eyes intense and provocative as her tone of voice. You stared at her in shock at the magnetic tension between you, wondering if she would have the courage to break the distance as you wished to do. Wait, since when did you-

"Maximoff, Danvers." The voice of one of the monitors broke the momentum completely and made you both jump in fright, away from each other as if you had been burned. "The game is still going on. What are you two doing alone here? I hope it's not another fight-"

"No, sir-"

"Go mind your own business, Logan." You cut off the apologies of the good girl next to you, practically pushing her out of your way as you moved away from the cabin wall. The monitor grimaced at the hostility, but you knew him long enough to know you wouldn't have a problem. Logan was like an older sibling, and you didn't need another in this position. "We were just talking, or rather, Maximoff was bugging me, as usual."

Wanda snorted angrily, but Logan rolled his eyes impatiently at the whole thing. "Back to the game, girls." He ordered, ignoring your grumbling that you were already walking anyway and waiting for Wanda to do the same.

She followed you back to the bow field - Surprisingly quiet. You were too busy trying not to think about her to notice, and at some point, you both took completely opposite directions, drifting apart in the crowd of students.

Carol, however, noticed you coming, and as soon as you were seated again, she looked at you with a frown.

"What were you and Wanda doing?"

The question startled you as if your sister had been able to read your last thoughts. You grimaced immediately, knowing that your face was blushing.

"What? Nothing." You assured quickly, irritation in your voice. "We just bumped into each other in the entryway."

Carol didn't buy the lie judging by the look on her face, but she didn't have time to question - Kate won the event undefeated, and a crowd of clapping and celebrations erupted in the open field.

With the last match of the day, and having won the vast majority of the challenges, the Avengers were happy enough for a Victory party - Which was nonetheless a direct tease to the Skrulls, who by some miraculous luck, if manage to win all the next day's matches, could win the tournament. In this way, the crowd took the celebration back to the camp's main campfire, where the staff arranged dining tables and benches for the first outdoor meal of the holidays.

Alcohol was obviously not allowed, and that never stopped campers from smuggling it between disguised water bottles.

As one of the athletes for tomorrow's competitions, you decided to stay away from alcohol - quite unlike your sister, who took advantage of vodka shots to build up the courage to talk to Natasha Romanoff.

You were watching her awkward attempts from a safe distance with Bucky beside you, laughing softly when the boy announced that he was also going to try his luck with the one he liked tonight.

The thing was, Bucky didn't like anyone - As far as you knew. So the information caught you by surprise.

"Wait. What?"

But he chuckled, waving to a front with his glass, and you frowned trying to find the person. It took you a moment to realize that it was Sam Wilson, Co-Captain of the American Football Team. Avenger.

"Wow, he's..."

"An avenger, I know."

You chuckle, hiding your smile as you look down at your soda glass. "I was going to say handsome."

Bucky was blushing. You gave him the privacy to keep your gaze on Sam, knowing it would get worse if you stared at your friend.

"Fuck, yeah, I know." He gasped softly making you laugh.

"When did this happen?"

He shrugged. "I don't know, back at school?" He starts half uncertain. "We played together and he started to follow me on Instagram. One day, just playing conversation and even insults until it turned into a habit..." He jokes with a short laugh. "We came back here and it made sense. You know?"

You giggle at your friend's nervousness and clumsiness, finding the whole thing kind of adorable. "Yeah, I guess so." You say. "Go ahead, talk to him."

He sighs, deciding to turn his glass all at once before waving at you and heading off to talk to Sam Wilson.

Alone, you think about joining some colleagues closer to the fire, but nearby laughter catches your attention.

There is something about Wanda Maximoff's beauty that takes your breath away. And it's not fair that it seems to grow in the dim light of the moon and the stars. And Wanda, surrounded by her friends, laughing at something she has been told, with soft dimples in her cheeks, it is even more unfair the way the image makes your stomach turn nervously.

Has she always been beautiful like this, since her first win, and you were too busy with the game to notice? Or somehow, the school has changed you enough in the last year to notice that although Wanda was the most insufferable person you knew, she needs to be recognized as the most beautiful girl you have ever seen.

And then, if you think about it as you notice her not minding having her moment with her friends interrupted to help a freshman camper who seems lost as to where their cabin is, you'll realize that Wanda, when she's not competing with you and testing all your buttons, is not so insufferable. You will notice that she has always been kind and thoughtful and that people don't make her the leader of everything because she is rich or beautiful, but because she is the best at organizing games, and guiding people. And if you think about it, you will recognize that Wanda is just as tired as you are at the races, sweaty and breathless, and just as bright and hard-working at everything.

You suddenly think that Wanda deserved to win for the first time, as you have never acknowledged before. She must really be much brighter than you, because she surely wouldn't have taken all this time to realize what she was feeling.

Did it occur to you, so many years after you first laid eyes on her, that now you were really seeing her. There, near the campfire, accepting some more soda, so, so gorgeous.

'Fuck." You gasped in realization under your breath into the night, feeling something burn behind your eyes.

Wanda, as if she could guess, even sense the moment you pined for her attention, looked away for her friends until she met your gaze. She hesitated before assuming the same expression as always - Ready to torment you - but this time, you looked on the verge of tears when you stared back.

The second she noticed, she frowned in concern, all the masked arrogance falling from her face. But you didn't give her any time to react, you left your glass on the first table you could find and practically ran away from there. From her.

And of course, Wanda would be stubborn and insistent enough to follow you. Not daring to call your name on the way as if she guessed that you were going to run until you disappeared, or worse, turn to her and tell her to mind her own business.

When you walked inside the fencing hall, empty of course, she let her head work without thinking straight about what she was accusing you of.

You barely reached the sword cabinet when she walked in through the ajar door.

"I should have known you would try to cheat." She sneered convinced that she had caught you in the act. You froze, not for the reasons she imagines, your hands still on the closet lock. "That's sad, even for you, Danvers."

"Shut up."

She chuckled wickedly, crossing her arms as she stopped a little behind you. "Come on, if you admit it, I might consider not reporting you to the juries."

It was your turn to chuckle - Unlike her, almost tearfully. Wanda hesitated, confused, even more so when you turned to her, and your face had tears dried on the way there on your cheeks.

"Get out of here before I do something stupid."

But Wanda uncrossed her arms, concern on her face. "I've never seen you cry before."

"Wanda, I swear to god-"

"Not even when you broke your arm back in the first year." She recalls as she takes a step forward, and another, raising one of her hands toward your face slowly. You know you should move away, push her before she could realize how much you were trembling, how hot your skin was, but you couldn't move a muscle it. Wanda touched your cheek and you gasped, unable to keep your eyes open. "Sweetheart, what happened?"

It was so tender, so loving that your heart jumped in your chest. You almost sobbed, but instead, your emotions mixed and you raised your hand to her wrist, gripping hard but not pushing away, your angry eyes hiding insecurity that Wanda could only see because she knew you well enough, perhaps better than anyone else, even if neither of you had ever admitted this.

"Why do you care?" That's what you retorted, and it took her by surprise because Wanda didn't expect to have to answer that question. Not to her father, when she insisted that she was going back to Camp this year and he demanded a reason, nor to Pietro who questioned her why she still kept the brooch with the Danvers name on it that you lost to her in a card game in sophomore year. And even less to you, with tears in your eyes inside the hall of the only game she could never win. Her hesitation made you let go of her wrist, a tired sigh leaving your lips. "You don't. I...please, Wanda, just leave me alone."

You scared her. You looked so small, so insecure and uncertain, vulnerable. You? Never in a million years had you allowed Wanda to see you like this. She didn't know how to cope with it.

Your footsteps moved away, and by your breath, you were crying. She came closer but lost the courage to break your privacy. Her mind filled with anxiety - It didn't matter how long you had known each other. You were rivals, nothing more than that. Wanda had no right to invade your space.

"Go away." You insisted seriously with a voice hoarse with emotion and Wanda shuddered. It was different from the anger of losing - It was almost as if she had stabbed you in the back. Or had hurt you.

She swallowed dryly, and before you could repeat the order, she spoke:

"If I win tomorrow, you will tell me what happened."

The deal hangs in the air for a few moments, carrying the tension between the two of you. Wanda almost decides to leave without an answer when you sigh.

"What if I win?"

She smiles even though you can't see it. "You can pick your prize." She says and doesn't wait for you to think about it, clearing her throat before murmuring goodnight and leaving the hall.

You walk away to the trophy cabinet again and stare at one of the photographs of last year's Fencing team. You and Wanda are in it, in opposite positions. And for the first time in three years, you wish she were standing right next to you.

–//–

Sleep puts some sense into your head.

You were practically mortified with shame after thinking about the whole interaction with Wanda the night before, imagining that it now gave her enough power to somehow humiliate you and then hating that you thought that way of Wanda, who despite the rivalries, didn't seem the sort of person who would use a moment like that to mock you in the least.

So you had a foolproof plan the next morning: You would win fencing, and ask Wanda to stay away from you for the rest of the summer as your prize, succinctly hiding any unwanted feelings until it was time to leave Camp so that you would never have to see Wanda Maximoff again.

You think you were lucky this whole thing was happening in the last year.

The next day of competitions seemed to have been more aggressive than the previous one. To your complete happiness, the Avengers were irresponsible enough about the previous day's party to get careless.

The Skrull won the day's activities - Tight, you have to admit - but still champions. It wasn't all of them, unfortunately, but it would put both teams through to the final day of matches the next afternoon.

Fencing was one of the last competitions.

You managed to avoid Wanda and her worried glances all morning, and consequently, your friends and sister, who noticed the lack of fighting between you.

The fencing hall was considerably full when you arrived. Although most people didn't share much interest in the sport, everyone enjoyed watching you and Wanda compete.

She was already in uniform when you arrived, and you ignored with a tightness in your chest her attempt to search in your face for any discomfort from the previous night.

"You're late, Danvers." Professor Jacques Duquesne warned, also in uniform and with a sword at his waist. You sighed wearily, taking off your jacket to put on your uniform.

"Sorry, I... I didn't want to come." You muttered quietly, and the man frowned in confusion.

"What was that?" he asked without having heard, but you forced a smile.

"Nothing. Shall we get started?"

The spectators arranged themselves around you just as the teams were getting into position to compete. As Captains, you and Wanda were the last.

Your team won most of the duels, which on any other occasion would have cheered you up infinitely. But not today, because you spent most of the competition stealing glances at Wanda, who did the same, unsure of whether or not to approach you.

You had to face the champions of her team, as did Wanda with yours, and so when you finally went to face each other, you shared the slightly breathless but undefeated posture.

Wanda removed her protective helmet to drink water, and her slightly ruffled hair and rosy cheeks made your heart soar.

Somehow, you decided that teasing her was a better idea than complimenting her on how pretty she looked.

"Hey Maximoff, did Daddy pay for private lessons for the rest of your team as well?"

Your team laughed at the joke, but Wanda finished a long sip of the water leisurely, staring at you long enough to make you feel completely clumsy.

As soon as she returned the bottle to the table, she stared at you again.

"Are you really going to pretend nothing happened yesterday, Danvers?"

Everyone who was paying attention to the conversation whispered in curiosity, and your body froze. Wanda didn't seem to mind the audience one bit, but you huffed impatiently when Carol asked what she was talking about.

Without answering either of them, you turned your back and walked to the mat, waiting for the competition to begin.

As it turns out, teasing and ignoring Wanda seemed to have infuriated her. The hall filled with tension once the last duel began, and you, and all your confidence as an undefeated champion faltered when Wanda became a beast in the sport overnight.

She scored two points in a row, moving so quickly and masterfully that if you didn't have a reputation to uphold you would have congratulated her.

"It looks like we're going to have a new champion this year." Mr.Duquesne commented proudly and teasingly, receiving a chorus of soft celebration from the Avengers present.

You've had enough.

She tried hard to maintain a defensive position, but you scored within seconds of the announcement that the round had begun.

With the tip of the sword still on her chest, you teased:

"I guess we can't buy talent after all."

Wanda grunted angrily, without waiting for the next round to be announced, spun the sword striking yours, and resumed the duel. You fought back every blow with the mastery of a champion, but Wanda didn't back down once.

"What's the matter, Maximoff, can't get me?" You sneered between one defense and another, irritating her even more. When it looked like she was going to hit you, you spun your body around and hit her in the arm.

The audience, completely tense, split between boos and cheers of celebration. The teacher laughed impressed.

"It's a draw." He said. "Girls, get back to-"

But Wanda attacked you - For a microsecond, you managed to react in time and prevent her from scoring.

She seemed a lot angrier all of a sudden, and you kept up the defense, waiting for a gap that apparently she wasn't going to provide.

Long steps backward to avoid the sword in your direction, in an albeit hurried, fully coordinated dance, Wanda managed to take the fight to the outside.

The crowd got excited and drowned out Mr.Duquesne's protests about rules, the whole group following you and Wanda outside. Any campers who had previously been uninterested in watching the match took an immediate interest in the fight taking place, and it wasn't long before there was a large number of people in an open circle around the huts, trying to watch.

In one of the deflections, you had to do a somersault between two haystacks to dodge a blow that was impossible to block, stealing certain victory from the girl behind you, who grunted in annoyance.

In the motion, you knocked the helmet off your head.

"Going to play dirty then, Maximoff? Fine." You gasped equally affected at the girl who had paused her attacks. "It's our last year, let's make it count."

Wanda removed her helmet as well, her sword still raised for any attempted attacks. "I'm listening, Danvers." She returns between teeth, and you have to smile.

"I invoke a military challenge." You announce then, surprising her for only half a second. "No masks, no tips." You continue, the audience getting excited. "First one to draw blood wins. I might give you a nice scar to remind you who defeated you."

Some Skrulls laugh, but Wanda is not intimidated. She throws her helmet away and raises her chin in your direction.

"What about our deal?"

You swallow dryly, but try to disguise it. "Still standing."

A glimmer of a smile forms on Wanda's lips, and she has the nobility to wait for you to nod before attacking next time.

It's suddenly much harder to fight Wanda. You blame these stupid feelings on your chest because once you realize that if you hit her, you're going to hurt her, you just can't do it.

Wanda doesn't seem to have much of a problem with that, because she attacks you with fervor. You think you might lose, because of the way she starts cornering you, and no chance for you to do another flip, so you despair. If you lose, you'll have to confess why you were crying, and that's unacceptable.

She throws a low, clean hit, but you jump. Before Wanda can get ready for the next one, you grab her waist and pull her to you.

The protest about the rules is muffled in your ears as your lips crash against hers. Wanda gasps, closing her eyes and dropping her sword to the ground at the same second the entire audience goes completely silent, shocked.

It's good, no, it's incredible. As breathtakingly overwhelming as you imagined kissing Wanda Maximoff would feel. She gasps against your lips, pressing back, and your chest screams.

The audience vibrates and you wake up, realizing what you had just done.

You let go of Wanda with a long step away from her, who opens her eyes at the same moment, her breathing now affected for a completely different reason. She looks at you dumbfounded.

"W-what are you-" She tries as she steps forward, her hand raised towards your wrist, but you flinch. You raise your sword, and with one clean strike, hit her palm.

The cut is small, but it makes her grunt in pain and surprise. You feel like you might start crying again, but you declare in a hoarse voice:

"I won."

Wanda's eyes fill with tears, but you assume they are tears of rage by the way she begins to shout angrily in the teacher's direction, saying that you had cheated while trying to be heard as the audience begins to shout your name and spread out in celebration.

Duquesne is equally in shock and mutters that technically there isn't a rule about kissing your opponent.

They lift you into the air, with the trophy, but when you capture Wanda's head-down posture and the completely hurt look she gives you before turning away, you don't feel like you've won anything.

–//–

With an injury, Wanda was out of all the upcoming competitions, which were sure to count in the Skrulls' favor.

Your school couldn't be happier, and you couldn't be more miserable.

Wanda was walking around the camp with her hand bandaged and you just wanted to get away from the people who kept congratulating you on the duel.

There was also the matter of the angry stares from the other Avengers, especially your opponent's twin, which only made you feel like the worst person in the world.

When night came, and a few groups decided to set up card tables from poker to blackjack, you slipped outside to breathe properly.

The universe was surely testing you when you met Wanda across the door, and to add to your misfortune, she wasn't alone.

Some stupid guy was cornering her against the wall of one of the booths - clearly flirting by whispering things in her ear that made her giggle shyly.

With your jaw locked, you approached them in hard steps.

"Hey, Maximoff, I want to talk to you." You announced impatiently, feeling your chest burn with the scene in front of you.

She flinched at your sudden arrival, but the boy let out a short laugh.

"We're already in a conversation, cheater." He sneered, his hand on the wall coming down to Wanda's shoulders. "Why don't you go back to your cabin?"

"Listen here asshole-"

But Wanda sighed impatiently, pulling the boy's arm off her with a shove. "Fuck off you two, my day was bad enough to deal with this now."

She stormed off annoyed without caring, and you huffed impatiently. When the boy made mention of following her, you stepped in front of him, receiving a wry laugh.

"Back off, Danvers." He warned. "You may be a girl, but if you piss me off I'll break your face."

The kick to the ball made him bend his knees, grunting in pain. You didn't let him fall, holding him by the shoulders to mock against his ear:

"It's more the other way, don't you think?" He couldn't answer, still shaking from the blow. You pushed him away, and he fell to the ground, holding his front. "Stay away from her, she's mine."

Despite the pain, he gasped in confusion, "I thought you two hated each other, you maniac!"

Without bothering to respond, you headed off in the direction the girl had left.

Wanda was clearly not in the mood for conversation, but you had to chuckle as you realized where she was going - or practically running at hard paces.

The fencing hall was empty of course. Even the Professor had joined the rest of the staff for the day's celebrations, and so you followed Wanda without any concern.

"I don't want to talk to you, Danvers." She warned between teeth still on her back, hearing your breaths panting from the rush of having to catch up with her. You chuckle humourlessly, closing the door behind you.

"But you got time for some idiot to flirt with you?" your retort came out so bitter - so jealous - that Wanda turned her face to you with a frown in complete confusion.

"How is that your problem?" She demanded but you shrugged relaxedly. The lack of an answer only irritated her more. "I've had enough of you for today don't you think? Leave me alone."

You snickered taking a step forward that made her lock her jaw.

"Come on, what's this?" You teased. "One defeat and you get tired of all? Don't you even want to try a rematch?"

It was Wanda's turn to chuckle, the tension growing between the two of you with every second.

"So you can cheat again? Hard pass."

You smiled, raising your hands in the air as a sign of surrender.

"I don't need to cheat, Maximoff." You retorted. "Everyone, including you and I, knows I'm the best." You declare receiving a snort and a roll of the eyes. But you continue to smile, not losing your confidence. "In fact, I bet I can beat you even without a sword."

Wanda shook her head. "You know what, Danvers? You must have had a few beers, huh?" She deduced, motioning to the sword cabinet and continuing to speak without giving you a chance to deny it. "Any other day, I'd tell you to fuck off and leave me alone. But you were a brat today, that whole scene and whatever manipulation you were trying to pull off with the crying and then the kissing..."

You hesitate, losing your posture completely. "Wanda, I wasn't-"

But she chuckles, interrupting you. "Whatever it is, let's put an end to it." She says seriously, arming herself with one of the swords. "You got what you wanted. Me, out of all competitions because of this stupid injury and your team winning tomorrow. Yep, I admit it. Everyone knows you guys are going to win baseball, it's your school's specialty, and there's no reason to deny it. But let's be honest about today: you cheated. And I want you to acknowledge that I would have won."

You sigh, deciding to put an end to those games with each other, as Wanda wanted. But not in the way she expects.

Shrugging, you gesture with open arms. "I'm really sorry, Wanda." You say in a false tone of regret. "I'm sorry you're such a bad loser."

Wanda grunted in irritation, and in the blink of an eye, spun the sword around - Hitting your open hand and mirroring your bruises. You gasped in pain, taking a step backward.

"What the hell-"

But your shock was short-lived, Wanda moved and you reacted. Without a sword, your only option was to dodge and that was the hardest task.

"Just admit it, Danvers!" Wanda demanded between one blow and another, growing breathless as the movements went on. "I am. Better.Than. You." Each word was punctuated with an attempt to hit you - Not really to hurt but to lean in and mark.

She finally hit you for the second time when she trapped you between one cupboard and another. You protested in irritation at the gentle burning on your thigh.

"You little shit." You cursed low as you dodged her last. Wanda smiled in satisfaction.

Somehow, you managed to get around her after a miscalculated blow that pinned her sword to a cushion. Wanda got busy trying to pull the item out and gave you enough time to jump on her.

Her healthy hand tried to pull the sword out to hit you but you kicked the handle, and the item flew to the ground. Wanda protested breathlessly, trying to struggle away, but you pressed her against the wall of the room by the waist.

Faces flushed from the exertion and proximity, she looked at you with a fury in her eyes that didn't just look like anger.

"Fuck off, Danvers, let me go!" She demanded clearly affected, her fists closed against your shoulders. You weren't thinking straight - Since when did Wanda look so beautiful when she was pissed off? - She tried to throw punches but you grabbed her fists, holding them tightly against you. "You just can't help it, can you? You know you can't beat me and you just keep cheating!"

"Yeah, I can't help it." You pant, letting your gaze fall to her mouth. Her breathing hitches and when you start to lean in, Wanda gasps, stopping struggling.

"Don't." She asks in a whisper, and you stop leaning in the same instant, worried eyes scanning her face. Wanda's fill with tears. "I can't take it... if it's just a game... if you don't mean it."

Your heart races in your chest, threads of hope burning outwards.

You stare into her eyes, trying to read everything she hasn't explained. "You... You want me to mean it?"

Wanda sighs incredulously, tired.

"I've been waiting for you to notice me for three years, Danvers."

"W-what?"

Wanda looks away, despite her rosy cheeks like your own, she looks sad.

"I'm just tired of all this cat and mouse between us." She continues. "Trying to capture your attention for the few days we have together each year. You've never seen me that way, and I just don't have it in me to keep trying to get you to notice me." She declares with a sigh. "Let me go, okay? It's our last year, you'll never see me again after this spring, it doesn't have to be weird on our last days. We can do a truce, and be mature about-"

Instead of letting her finish her completely meaningless monologue for feelings that Wanda has no idea are much reciprocated, you just kiss her. Though abrupt, your lips are soft on hers. She shudders, first surprised and then affected, ready to reciprocate when you loosen her.

"I notice you, Wanda." You confess in a husky voice and short breath. "Every damn day of this camp, from the first moment I saw you. I noticed you, and I liked you. So much, it infuriated me. All I could think about was you and your face and your jokes and every little smile of victory. I never hated you, Wanda, I just hated how much I cared about you."

She gasps softly, trying to believe the confessions. "B-but you never said anything..."

"Neither did you." You retort with a small smile. "We just competed. Yelling at each other, trying to... just put it out, never saying the right words. Well, I'll do the honors, I guess. Wanda, I like you. I'm in love with you. The whole puppy love, to the moon and back, lovey-dovey, carry a torch for-"

Wanda interrupts your sweet teasing with a soft, emotional giggle. "Shut up, you idiot." She says, pulling you by the collar of the blouse to kiss you again. Slower than the other time, bringing delicious shivers to your entire body. She breaks away only to say she feels the same way.

Then you just kiss her again, just to make sure. It's easy to get addicted to the feeling of her lips on yours until her tongue slides over and starts to get too hot all around. The sound of lips slapping together mingles with affected gasps until the pace picks up and all the accumulated lust from so long of rivalry burns between you.

Wanda grows impatient - Her mouth firmly pressed to yours distracts you from where her hands are moving. You grunt affected as she scratches under your shirt, your back, and your torso, trying to pull you over her.

You press your hips together to keep her against the wall pulling out an affected whimper that makes you shiver - But surrendered to the urge, you forget about recent events and press your open palm to the wall for support. The pain is immediate and makes you break the kiss with a yelp.

Wanda opens her eyes worriedly, trying to push all the arousal away. "What's wrong?" She asks, but you're already bringing your bruised hand to chest height.

"I forgot about it." You mumble, trying to squeeze your hand to make the pain go away. Wanda bites back a smile.

"Karma's a bitch, huh?" she teases, getting a short laugh out of you. Your instinct is to kiss her again at the same intensity as before, but Wanda doesn't let you, breaking the session the next moment. "Easy tiger."

A little breathless and definitely missing kissing her, you ask, "Don't you want it anymore?"

She licks her lips, looking away to try and gain some rationality again. "I don't think you'll be able to do much with a bruised hand, huh?" It's clearly a joke, but you're too turned on to catch it.

"Well, I have another one, and my mouth..." Wanda stares at you in stunned shock, her face burning and her eyes darkening a little. You grunt in shame, hiding your face in her collarbone. "Shit, you didn't mean it."

She giggles awkwardly, wrapping her arms around your waist. "You need a bandage, baby. We'll have time for this later."

You raise your gaze to her again, and Wanda stares at you doubtfully from your expression. "I like it when you call me that."

She smiles, teasing and loving at the same time. "Better than shithead, I suppose."

"They both have their charm, I guess." You joke back managing to make her laugh before stealing a few more kisses.

All the way to the infirmary, all you can think about is how happy you are - And how your friends are going to adjust to the new dynamic.

–//–

Falling into a routine with Wanda was as easy as falling for her.

The familiar teasing didn't end - In a way, it got infinitely better, because, after each little bickering, you and Wanda made up with lots of kisses.

The most absurd thing was your sister's reaction. No surprise at all.

"I mean, everyone saw you two kissing." She retorted unimpressed, continuing to eat her breakfast as if you hadn't spent the previous day preparing the best way to tell. You huffed indignantly, but Wanda sighed, giving you a pat on the back before going to sit down. The same reaction for your friends, who seemed even somewhat reassured that now they wouldn't have to endure the arguing.

As for the rest of the people, well, everyone else had their own lives to take care of to give a damn about what Wanda and you have been up to.

With the baseball game approaching and the end of Spring Break, there was an understanding between you and Wanda that your time together was coming to an end. You didn't want to talk about it - to avoid creating impossible expectations if you considered the distance between California and New York and the hurt of an inevitable goodbye.

For now, you and Wanda were enjoying as much time together as possible, and that included escaping the game to make out before and between breaks.

Wanda giggled affectedly at the tickling your fingers did next to her hips, an attempt to make her relax to what was about to happen between you since the first kisses began. The question hung in the air and the way your breaths were uncompressed and your clothes crumpled.

"They'll start looking for us at some point..." Wanda recalled, the noise of the game resuming in the background, muffled by the closed doors of the empty locker room where you two were hiding. Despite the warning, her hands were entwined behind your neck, and her legs tight around your waist. The cheer skirt pulled up by your hands on her thighs.

You hum in understanding, distracted by the soft skin of her collarbone. You traced a path down to the valley of her covered breasts and Wanda shuddered, moaning in anticipation.

But as soon as your hands reached under her skirt, fingers playing with the fabric of her panties, Wanda tensed anxiously, biting her lips as she sought your gaze.

"Is everything okay?" You asked immediately, stopping your movements and staring back at her. "Do you want me to continue...?"

Wanda let out a broken breath, the look full of anxiety made you frown. You were ready to assure her it was okay if she refused when she replied:

"I want to but... I've never done it before." She confesses in a small whisper, and your heart skips a beat. "And also, I had to talk to my friends about this, and they told me it would be special because we like each other but I just kept thinking that it's going to happen and it will be amazing and when you leave, I'll never be able to do it again without remembering you and I'll be missing you back home..."

"Hey, breathe." You interrupted her anxious babbling with a small chuckle, moving your hands to her face, and squeezing her cheeks for a moment. "God, you're so beautiful." You murmured staring at her adoringly. Wanda blushed, looking away, "Hey, look at me, sweetheart. You want to talk about leaving?"

She swallowed dryly, nodding. "I'm sorry." She mumbles immediately. "I know we kind of agreed not to talk about it, but... fuck, I really like you. If I, you know... have sex with you, I'm just sure I'll fall harder. And I don't know if I want to go through the pain of losing you in a few days."

You swallowed dryly, caressing her cheeks as you absorbed her words. Wanda was even more nervous at your silence.

"Say something, please."

You smiled, staring at her. "I'm sorry, I just... I really am in love with you, Wanda." You confessed tenderly, making her blush. "Sex or no sex, I really am. And saying goodbye to you will hurt."

Wanda nods sadly before hugging you. "Yeah, I know." When she sniffles softly, you kiss her neck to calm her, until her breathing stabilizes again and Wanda releases you to kiss you gently, once and twice, until it starts to get hot again and she sighs against your lips, her trembling fingers groping your body unhurriedly as if she wants to memorize.

"Baby..." She called softly against your lips, her hands moving up into your blouse and making you shudder. "I want to make love to you." She whispered taking all the air out of your lungs. "Give me something to remember you by."

Despite the nervousness and excitement, you managed to tease as your hands retraced their way under her skirt. "What, the matching scars aren't enough for you, darling?"

Wanda lets out an affected giggle at the proximity to your joke about the healed bruises on your hands, but the sound turns to a deep sigh when her panties slip down her legs. You maintain eye contact with her, pulling the item down until you take it off by her ankles. Wanda bites her lip hard as she sees you on your knees, moving up your way again with kisses on her legs.

Her muscles quiver as you kiss the inside of her thighs, and Wanda inhales a shaky breath, her hands gripping the table she's sitting on tightly.

"Be gentle." She asks as she feels the kisses coming closer to where she is burning. You let out a soft laugh, rising again to kiss her on the mouth. Wanda has no time to be eager for the delay of her relief, because you grab her waist and pull her closer, the friction between your hips making her whimper.

Your tongue slides over hers hungrily, kissing her until she's dizzy with arousal, and instinctively starts forcing her hips against yours - The uncovered intimacy smearing the wetness on the fabric of your leg and making you moan against her.

One of your hands spreads her legs open by her thigh, fingers coming up fast to tease her entrance and make Wanda break the kiss with an affected whimper.

"Y-yes, baby, please, no more teasing." Wanda moans, throwing her hips against your hand. "I'm ready."

You grunt softly, tentatively cupping the folds between your fingers, spreading the wetness over the entire length. "Hmm, I can feel that." You teased softly, pulling your hand away to get a taste. Wanda choked, blushing heavily as she watched you suck your fingers one by one, rolling her eyes in pleasure as you tasted her. The next second, you moved your hand back between her legs, staring her in the eye before sliding a finger inside. She moaned at the intrusion, and you let her get used to it, encouraging her with your free hand on her back, relaxing her with a gentle massage.

"There you go... all the way in." You narrated softly, having to maintain all mental control not to fuck her roughly, feeling your body vibrate with the sensation of Wanda's soft wet walls on your fingerprints. She pulsed against you, her hands gripping your blouse tightly as the repetitive motion made her legs twitch. "God, you're so tight." You grunted, hiding your face in her collarbone and angling your palm to press against her clit as well. Wanda let out a loud yelp, wrapping one of her legs around your waist and increasing your reach.

"M-more, please-I just need-" She tried to formulate, starting to follow your movements with her hips. You shushed her against her neck, kissing your way to her ear.

"Relax, I'll give you what you need, baby." Was your only warning before removing yourself from her, only to sink two fingers inside next time. Wanda gasped at the intrusion, but you swallowed her moan with your own mouth, not moving inside her until she was ready.

Soon, your movements had resumed, and with your mouth glued to hers, you swallowed each breathless moan as Wanda began to tremble in your fingers, squeezing as her orgasm built.

Just as she was panting and restless, the locker room door opened. She raised desperate eyes to you, but you covered her mouth with your free hand and sped up your movements.

Your skin muffled her whimpers, and you bit your lips at the sinful image in front of you.

"Danvers? Maximoff? Are you guys here? The coach is looking for two." it was some of the monitors, probably checking the camp behind whoever was running away from the game. You reached a deep sweet spot inside Wanda and she threw her head back.

The monitor grumbled in frustration and the door closed again - You barely noticed, bringing the girl beneath you to her climax. Wanda spread herself in your hand, her body spasming against you and a long muffled moan against your hand.

Her pupils were so dark they nearly hold any green.

"Fucking gorgeous." You praised as you removed your hand to kiss her, and Wanda corresponded with difficulty, smiling breathlessly as she tried to recover from the intensity of her first orgasm.

As soon as she could properly match it, Wanda dominated the kiss - One hand moving up to the back of your neck, to tug at your hair as she bit your bottom lip, drawing a soft moan from you.

"Please, can we go back to the cabin?" It sounded like a request but felt like an order by the way Wanda dug her nails into your waist. A warning. "I want you to be comfortable when you go down on me."

"God, Wanda, you're such a tease." You grumbled in a mixture of arousal and embarrassment, moving like an obedient puppy as she stood up on shaky legs and guided you by the hand back to the cabins.

Her panties are tucked tightly in your pocket.

–//–

Disgustingly adorable, is how your friends would describe the last few days in the company of you and Wanda, who have apparently unlearned how to function away from each other.

Especially the last day - Without any concern for the rest of the world while in an intense make-out session against the bus that was supposed to take you and Carol back to California.

"Jesus, I'm going to have nightmares." Your sister complained with a grimace to her now official girlfriend - Natasha Romanoff - who was putting away the last bag in the family car that was going to take her home. The redhead laughed, looking at where Carol was staring and knowing she was referring to your hand firmly squeezing Wanda's ass as she giggled between the kisses you two shared.

"Why are they behaving like they're never going to see each other again? It's traumatizing." It wasn't Nat, but Bucky who spoke as he arrived with Sam beside him, who laughed in agreement. Carol made a mischievous face.

"Well, maybe that's my fault? I may have forgotten to mention to my lovely sister that Nat told me that Wanda was going to the same college as her next year."

"Pretty mean, Danvers." Nat commented with a certain pride in her voice. Carol laughed.

"When you share a room with a couple in love, you'll understand." She retorted. The group continued to watch you and Wanda, until you kissed deeply in farewell until she let you on the bus. Carol sighed. "Maybe if she starts whining on the way, I'll consider saying that she and Wanda chose the same college without even knowing it."

The group chuckled, saying goodbye one last time.

#wanda maximoff x reader #wanda x reader #elizabeth olsen x reader #marvel imagines

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itonashi · 1 year

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SCENARIOS

[ part 2 ]

older sister reader ! !

warning: multiple timeline, lowercase intended.mentioned of reo mikage, itoshi sae.

note: i literally suck at bowling what in the actual fuck is this... my sec time bowling was so ass it was worse than the first one.....

"nee-san, did you see my phone."

"what's that on your hand?"

nagi looked at his hands and saw his phone.

"oh."

sometimes you don't understand yourself either how you can handle nagi seishiro or understand him. lots of the auntie neighbors pity you for having a lazy little brother. who are they to judge him. sometimes you feel like bashing their heads onto the walls.

"you're very different from your brother."

that's what they all said. saying you were different from your brother. they're blind. in fact, you're very similar to nagi.

"nagi, can you tell me more about your sister?"

looking up to reo, nagi looked at him like he was an alien (he is). side eyeing reo, nagi sigh. it was all too familiar with him. ppl going to him just to ask him about his own sister. nagi thinks it's a hassle to talk about you.

"why don't you talk to her yourself. im lazy."

"erh, if you say so. then, want to come with me to talk to you sister?"

"my sister is not in this school. she already graduated two years ago."

"then i want to go to your house."

"side eye."

cooking as a child was hard. why does your parents always have to go overseas? you rarely see them. do they think this is easy as a child. dumb parents.

ever since you were a child, you tried cooking until you make it. your hand was full of cuts from the knife. some of it even turned permanent scars. why did you start to cook? to feed your little brother ofc.

"sei... wake up. lunch is ready." you smiled upon seeing nagi sleeping. you didn't mind it at all that nagi was lazy. with the right patience, you could handle nagi seishiro. he's your precious little brother after all.

nagi slurred in his sleep and slowly open his eyes. still sleepy, he stayed there for awhile to gather his thoughts. feeling a pat on his head, he knew that it was his sister.

"mmm.. awake."

"im going to pour water on you."

the boy sat up immediately.

one thing nagi knew about his sister. she is never joking.

[referring to this]

seeing the text that nagi send. you swore you almost drop your phone. nagi seishiro? playing football? a sport? kicking ball? him???? your little brother who never play any sports in his life at all? suddenly playing...?

it was all a shock to you.

"what the hell" you mumbled. you were just too shock. you could even die happily.

"im home."

seeing nagi entered the home bringing reo aka his slave. you stared at them for too long without any thoughts in your brain that you didn't even noticed they open the tv to watch some football matches.

"who is that?"

"itoshi sae."

perking up at the name. you finally realized you zoned out too long. too shock. looking at the tv, you saw the itoshi sae on it. you almost tsk.

it's not that you hate football or anything. you definitely like basketball more tho. you won't deny that itoshi guy is pretty. getting up from the couch, you pat nagi head and went straight up to your room.

searching up itoshi sae instagram, you look at his photo. not alot of post.. probably someone who only think about football, boring.

but other than that, you thought to yourself that he seems quite familiar to you..

"i don't want this."

"stop being picky. eat your food!"

"erghhh.."

tbh, you cooked nagi least favorite food because you didn't want him to be picky. he had always been picky. if he doesn't eat it, you're gonna make him eat natto for the rest of the week.

nagi was grumpily munching his LEAST favorite food.

#itomlist!!✧#itoworks!!✧#blue lock x reader #blue lock #you #bllk #nagi seishiro #nagi seishiro x reader #itoshi sae x reader #itoshi sae #reo mikage x reader #reo mikage

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wanderingmind867 · 2 months

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I haven't talked about this in a while, but why not make one more post about my sexuality, for good measure? It's something I vented a lot about a long time ago, partially because I didn't want to discuss it with my dad or therapist. I probably should have told them, but it's too late now. I don't want to turn this post into a vent about the two secrets I've kept from my dad, but maybe I'll reblog that post again later. Sigh...

Anyways, I kept trying to figure out my sexuality because it really confused me, and I wanted answers for my own personal satisfaction. In doing that, I realized I'm aegosexual. I don't want sex and I've never even really thought about wanting sex with others before. I do however masturbate quite a bit. I seem to masturbate multiple times a week, so I don't know if I'm hypersexual too or if this is normal or what. But at the very least, I'm like 99% sure I'm aegosexual.

I'm also mostly attracted to the familiar, which means I mostly only read erotica about men. The male anatomy is familiar to me, so it's what I tend to look for erotica for. And I won't get into anything beyond this for right now, because I'm already feeling a bit awkward writing all this.

On a slightly less embarrassing note, I've figured out I'm probably Quoiromantic. I'm 19 now, and I've never understood romance. I know it's love, but what makes it different from platonic love? You can love a friend or a family member just as much as someone you're romantically involved with, so it all baffles me. And that's why I think I'm Quoiromantic. I simply don't understand the difference between Platonic and Romantic attraction in any major way.

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anyablackwood · 7 months

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Other things to consider when writing about a country/culture not your own:

Maybe it's obvious, but there are some things that I think people might overlook when writing a story that takes place in another country or culture that can actually be very important to look into. I might make this into a series, but as I mentioned in the tags of my last post, one of the most common things I seen people overlook in stories about other countries is the education system.

As I'm only really familiar with American and Japanese school systems, I'm only going to be speaking about those. However, I think this is worth looking into for any culture that you're unfamiliar with!

Unlike the American school system, wherein the school year starts in August/September and ends in May/June with some breaks in between, Japan's school system ends and begins in spring. The first term ends in July, with summer vacation going for just over a month (about 40 days), then continuing into the next term of the year. They have winter, spring, and summer breaks, but none for fall/autumn (at least not for public or international schools; I'm unfamiliar with private schools, but I understand that they operate a bit differently).

The school week is also different. Most schools operate on the standard Monday-Friday schedule, but with the addition of classes every other Saturday. This can vary to some extent depending on the school, but for the most part, this is standard for most high schools and middle schools. On top of that, many students from middle to high (and some elementary) schools are in "cram schools" or extracurriculars (which are technically not required but socially kind of... expected??), which take place after usual school hours and/or on weekends.

Speaking of grade levels, those are also different. "Kindergarten" students are 3-5 years old (this is not considered part of elementary school; more like Pre-K). Elementary school spans from 1st to 6th grade, middle school is 7th to 9th, and high school is 10th to 12th. Which is why many anime/manga will refer to "third year" as the highest high school grade level; they are not graduating younger, the grade levels are just shifted.

So if a character is referred to as a "first year" in high school, they're actually about 15-16, not 14-15. And unlike America, skipping grades or testing into classes isn't allowed. Not that it's rare; it's genuinely NOT allowed, no exceptions given. So regardless, there is no explanation for a 14-year-old to be a high school first-year in Japan unless they've straight up faked their birth certificates/were adopted and didn't actually know their correct birthday until recently. And considering how rare adoptions are in Japan and how difficult it is to make edits to the registry in city hall... those are both unlikely. This is why testing into schools/getting into the "good schools" in high school matter so much in Japan; they're not talking about private schools, they're talking about getting into a school with a more rigorous academic system so that they aren't bored out of their minds in a class too slow for them (also because it looks good to colleges and universities, but that's another post).

That being said, up until recently, the age of adulthood in Japan was 20; this changed a few years ago to 18, but it is worth mentioning, as that would affect characters who have graduated/reached adulthood prior to this change. Side note, the drinking age has not changed; it is still 20. This would affect things such as college applications and the decisions around those, since applicants weren't (until recently) considered legal adults. Especially since most schools don't allow their students to have jobs while in school without their permission (if the family is financially struggling, the parents might tell the school, which would give them special permission to work part-time). This affects things such as financial autonomy, social expectations (it's considered embarrassing to have a job in this context as it implies you're extremely poor, and most teens don't tend to be proud of that). There's much more to be said; uniforms, the extent of control the school/staff have on students off school grounds, social expectations, etc. but this isn't meant to be the essay that it's become so I'll just leave it here.

In conclusion, make sure to look it up! You'd be surprised how much you'd find from such a seemingly innocuous, seemingly unimportant topic. This barely scratches the surface on the differences in these two school systems alone, as well as the many socioeconomic strings attached to them. There's likely way more differences with cultures that are especially on the other side of the equator, with different weather patterns etc. causing differences in schedules!

#writeblr #writing advice #Japanese culture #fanfic #writerscommunity #writing tips #I might make this into a series? Lol #if you have any other questions feel free to ask!#keep in mind I don't know everything though lol

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kates-sweet-escape · 2 years

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KinnPorsche - It's all a ruse (a theory)

Warning: This post contains spoilers for KinnPorsche the Series. Read at your own risk. I haven't read the novel, only bits and pieces that I've found online so this is purely based on the TV Series. Also, this post is based on the work of other amazing Tumblr creators that will all be credited within this post. Brace yourself - this is a long one.

Disclaimer: I am by no means an expert, I am just a german romance-novel writer. Also, I come from a eurocentric perspective as I was raised in Germany by a British mother and a German father.

Additional KinnPorsche Content by me:

KinnPorsche: The question of true privilege (Meta - Episode 6)

KinnPorsche: Kinns Breakdown - I can't believe you still want me (Meta - Episode 7)

Hello everyone.

I swear to god, the things this show and this fandom make me do. I usually don't share theories. Or meta. Or anything. I left the active part of fandoms a long time ago, but here I am, typing away with a facemask on and a half-empty glass of wine right next to me, cause damn I need a little self-care after watching the emotional rollercoaster that was Episode 9.

Ever since Episode 9 aired I've read a lot of opinions about Kinn, his character, and his choice not to trust Porsche. Reactions within the fandom vary from genuine understanding to absolute outrage, a fascinating mixture of empathy and cancel culture.

And ever since that devastating moment at the end of the episode I've been thinking. A lot. Maybe more than what is healthy considering the fact that this is just a TV-Show that somehow managed to take over my life.

Things didn't quite add up to me. I was caught in this weird emotional limbo of I do understand Kinn as a fellow individual with massive trust issues caused by ex-lovers that betrayed us and After what they've shown us last week and with the emotional progress those two characters have made, Kinns reaction does not make that much sense from a writers perspective.

So I went back to watch those last few minutes over and over again (and before you ask me - no, I am not okay! Porsches pleading and soft "Ai Kinn" will haunt me tonight), took screenshots, read the previous meta while trying to fit the puzzle pieces together. And then the brilliant @moerusaii posts this amazing piece of meta that convinced me to share my thoughts with you guys.

Because I have the theory that this might be an elaborate ruse by Kinn and Porsche to trick Tawan and Vegas.

And here is why:

Kinn, Tawan and that one mirror frame

This is that one frame that kickstarted it all for me in Episode 9. @luckydragon10 whom I'm very much a fan of, has talked about what mirrors signify in this post, and ever since then I've been paying a lot more attention to the usage of mirrors in KinnPorsche.

We see Tawan and Kinn alone in Tawans old apartment to retrieve the evidence of who is behind the Italians (which is probably useless anyway - and YES all the shade for this b*tch). While Tawan is "remembering" the real location of the USB stick, this shot happens. We see the real Tawan, but we only see the reflection of Kinn, probably signifying that Kinn has a hidden agenda, keeping the truth hidden from Tawan while showing a side of himself that is not real and only a mere reflection of himself.

It's only a short frame but something about it feels so deliberate that I couldn't possibly ignore it.

Maybe it also means that Tawan is only seeing an old version of Kinn, feeding into the issues he had rather than seeing the real Kinn that has maybe gotten rid of them with a partner by his side he can truly trust, all without his vicious ex-lover noticing who is focused on the reflection he is familiar with.

Kinn breaking the fourth wall

Okay, I've already mentioned @moerusai and her amazing post but I still want to add a little bit to that. (And thank you Mo for sending me a DM so I could use your gifs that looks a million times better than my screenshot!)

When I watched Episode 9 for the first time, this shot made me so uncomfortable. Kinn looks straight at the audience, no filter, no mirror, no nothing. And for the first time, I felt like I am looking at the soul of this man, bruised and bare and begging to be understood and to be trusted. It felt like he looked at me to tell me that things are going to be okay, as long as we keep our eyes on him and see past what is shown, willing to stare into the shadows until we can see everything that's hidden in the darkness.

The lighting when Vegas and Porsche are alone is not green.

We all remember this scene from Episode 7. The scene where Porsche and Vegas stumble into the bathroom. The light in this scene is green, signifying danger as the amazing @antique-forvalaka has pointed out in her "KinnPorsche and the Use of Color" Series that I will mention again later on. It has been pointed out by @yellingaboutkp in this post that Porsche faked being drunk because he already suspected Vegas being shady and wanted him to show his true colors (no pun intended). If we assume this to be true, then Vegas should remain a threat to Porsche, his light remaining green.

Now look at this:

The color in this scene is teal and not green. We've seen this color before, in episode 5, and as @antique-forvalaka pointed out in this post this specific mixture of blue and green is used when there is a danger that Porsche is able to handle. When he is not as helpless as he appears to be. When he is forming a plan.

But Kate, what does Vegas have to do with any of this? He isn't Tawan! Yes, my lovelies, you are correct. He isn't Tawan. But ever since he doubled down on the Kinn Shot His Ex Rumor, I am convinced that he's got something to do with it. Especially considering his disgustingly perfect timing and his offer to Porsche to run away together. In addition to that, we know that he will storm the compound from the trailer. So he is most definitely one of the main villains of the show and just like a snake with its beautiful and shiny green scales, he is able to slither into anything just so he can poison it in one swift bite.

We are still waiting for that handshake (Trailer)

Yes, the trailer. I am even going back that far. I am sure that this scene takes place at Yok's bar (she's a true MVP) and I think it might even be a flashback where Kinn and Porsche talked about their plan, far away from prying eyes and ears. And what could be more romantic than a date night like that? A couple that schemes together stays together!

But all jokes aside, this scene might also take place later on when the two of them have drifted apart, signified by the fact that Porsche is wearing Jeans, something he stopped doing ever since getting emotionally closer to Kinn and adapting part of his style. So I might be completely wrong about this and it's not them scheming but instead reconciling.

When it all goes up in flames - Porsche remains (KinnPorsche: The Hidden messages)

And since we are already on a trip down memory lane, I am taking you guys back to "KinnPorsche. The Hidden Messages" when it was announced that we would still be getting KinnPorsche the Series after months of thinking that it might get canceled.

We see Kinn standing in front of a banner with the word TRUST on it. It goes up in flames, revealing Porsche waiting behind it.

This could mean a great many things, especially now that they've decided to give him a phoenix tattoo that he also adapted into his name as an underground boxer. It could mean that he is rising from the ashes after Kinn burned the trust they've shared. Or it could mean that he is rising from the ashes of the trust that Tawan had broken when he sold Kinns information to the Italians. That Porsche is the one rebuilding Kinns trust from the dustry crumbs that Tawan left behind, willing to survive in the heat of the flames that lick at his skin, threatening to burn him too.

Either way, I think we can all agree that Porsche is the only one that Kinn can and should trust, and I sure as hell hope that my theory is correct and that Kinn knows that too.

#kinnporsche the series #kinnporsche #kinnporsche theory #kinnporsche la forte #kinnporsche brain rot #kinn theerapanyakul #porsche kittisawasd #mile phakphum #apo nattawin #wow this was a long one #i hope i am right about this #but i fear that i will have to put on clown make-up next week

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wardenmages · 1 year

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Okay so after that "didn't die when they should have died" post earlier I just rambled for several paragraphs into a semi-coherent fic about Gavin's PTSD in Detroit Reawakening and Detroit Evolution, with some mention of Detroit Absolution/D3. This is a fair amount of headcanon as well as my interpretation of certain scenes.

So here is some musing on Gavin's presentation of PTSD and how healing isn't linear and doesn't end but sometimes the people we love make it a little bit easier to live with it, and that sometimes healing means leaving situations we didn't realize were hurting us because it was better than where we started.

-----------

Gavin startles easily and violently. One time a rookie who didn't know any better tapped him on the shoulder and he spun around and decked them in the middle of the bullpen before his brain kicked in to follow his fist. He wears a heavy jacket because it muffles the world around him into a dull ache rather than a constant prickling on his skin down to his bones.

It's easy to tell when he's pulled an all-nighter from the pile of disposable coffee cups on his desk - he didn't have time to clean out a mug every time he went back for more. He's even less patient and understanding than usual. On particularly bad days, people watch him roll his shoulders and touch the back of his head to chase away bruises that healed on the surface years ago.

He's made a name for himself handling drug cases, but he can see Fowler wishes he'd take anything else. It makes him bristle and dive even further into his cases, because fuck Fowler if he doesn't trust Gavin, Gavin earned this. As the faces become less and less familiar, Fowler stops giving him that look whenever he goes in for supervision, and Gavin doesn't know if that means he finally proved himself or if Fowler was just waiting for Gavin to run out of options to run.

He keeps just about everyone at arm's length, except Chen and Miller. He's known Tina for years, since he was still an intern and she was working three jobs to pay for college. It's easy to like Chris, who is one of the most genuine guys Gavin's ever met. He jokes to himself that he doesn't know why Chris became a cop of all things, but he doesn't know why he's a cop either, so he lets it sit. Neither of them complain when he smokes, they don't push beers or shots into his hands at the bar, and push back when he's being a shit. For about a week he has a crush on Chris and his big cheesy smile that lights up the room and holy fucking shit he's got it bad, but he pushes it back because he only has two friends at thirty years old and he knows he's not exactly fun to be around.

Sometimes kids come through the station in his cases and it fucks him up for days. He stares at their records, a mess of foster homes, charges written in and then crossed off if they didn't stick, and notes from the overloaded caseworkers who can't even spell the kids' names. He thinks about his apartment and how it feels so big but so small at the same time, there's a spare bedroom he just uses for storage that he could clean out, he has enough savings to get furniture and shit. He keeps a tab open with the sign-up to get certified to foster. He thinks about making the system better from the inside.

He knows that's not how it works, not in the real world. The kids move on to the next house or their parents, and Gavin closes the tab and tries not to look at his badge. The next time he sees their names he pretends he never thought about them and that arresting them actually means something.

He doesn't sleep much, maybe three to four hours a night. It's impossible to fall asleep when you know it's not going to last long before your own brain betrays you. He wakes up from another nightmare, body stiff and covered in sweat, and just curls in on himself until he can force his body back into submission. It's a battle of wills more than something he needs to stay alive.

Nines helps. God, Nines makes everything feel lighter, and he stops sinking from the weight around his neck. It's still heavy and he can't help but bite whatever hand is held out to him, but it's more than bearable, he's alive.

His second near-death experience, lying on the floor of the precinct clinging onto consciousness through the numbing mess of pain and nerves at their breaking point, he nearly fades out just to make it finally stop. He wakes up in the hospital hours later terrified at how easy it was to just slip away.

He won't let it happen again. He's nearly died twice - really, truly close to death, not just in danger - and it didn't take. He's too stubborn to go out, not when he finally gives a shit about his own life and the people around him do more than just tolerate him and his friends are all moving forward and... he wants to move forward too.

So he quits his job alongside his partner. He doesn't push down how he feels about it, how as grateful as he'll always be he feels used by the system that kicked him down in the first place. He works with the kids at the shelter and talks them off the ledge. He doesn't foster, he's still adjusting to living with Nines and both of them love their privacy too much, but sometimes the kids stay the night with permission if they're struggling at the shelter. A few stop by their apartment first before even approaching the shelter.

He doesn't always know what to do or say, how to help, but he tries. He tries, and he tells them he better not read their name in the news unless it's for some kind of award. Newspaper clippings aren't a thing anymore, but he prints them out whenever he sees them, kids taking time to hang out at one of the senior centers or work in one of the urban gardens or a mentoring program with some androids, anything good. He tacks them up on the wall of his small, shitty office that never gets warm enough or cold enough but Nines brought in a couple of his plants and there's some art on the walls from Tayla and a bunch of framed photos around the place so it feels more like home.

He wakes up from a nightmare, body stiff and covered in sweat, to Nines pressed against his back holding his hand and massaging gentle circles into the tender skin where his prosthetic meets his hand. He clenches his jaw and tries to focus on the way Nines' fingers feel, the gentle glow from the edge of his skin overlay, his simulated heartbeat and breathing that Gavin knows he's amping up so Gavin can feel it.

After a few minutes, he closes his eyes and drifts back to sleep to the sound of the cat scratching at the door frame, and breathes.

#detroit evolution #detroit reawakening #gavin reed #detroit become human #dbh gavin #connor writes #I have a lot of feelings about Gavin dipshit Reed and I'm making that everyone else's problem

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sparkymalone · 7 months

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Here is what I have so far for chapter 16. I'm not going to post any of the smut, since I don't know if that's allowed or whatnot.

Feedback is appreciated! Take a look and let me know what I can do to fix this nonsense. I think it maybe just got too rambly? But I don't know.

Maybe there's nothing wrong with it and I'm being too critical. That's possible, too.

Or if you just want to read a chapter early, that's fine, too. Lol

Chapter 16: The One That's Based on 'The Little Mermaid'

The sunlight glinted through the clear ocean water, illuminating the sea creatures swimming below. Warmth permeated the water around Hajime and he couldn't help but smile. He swam along behind a school of fish, his elegant green tail swishing behind him.

Most days in this particular ocean area were like this, warm and serene. The creatures that lived here were all fairly peaceful and coexisted easily (aside from the natural food chain, of course). The merpeople generally got along well, too.

Hajime was pretty well-respected by the other merpeople he knew. Not because he was anything special, really - he wasn't. But he was fairly friendly and helpful, and the others responded well to that. And he generally liked all of them, too.

He pulled away from the school of fish, fins gliding through the water. He swam down to a nearby reef that he had become very familiar with over the years.

Chiaki was waiting for him, dozing off against the coral around her. She smiled at him tiredly. "Good morning."

Hajime smiled back fondly. "You're going to get all scraped up if you keep leaning on the coral like that."

She waved off his concerns. "It's nothing to worry about. Now come on," she grasped his hand and started swimming towards the surface.

Hajime happily followed. As much as he loved his friends and the peaceful kingdom they lived in, he never quite felt like he belonged. There was no denying that his heart yearned for something else.

Hajime was fascinated by the surface world. He had been for as long as he could remember. Whenever he could, he would swim near the shore or climb up onto rocks to watch the land-dwellers. They were all so interesting to him.

He couldn't interact with them, of course. Contact with anyone from the surface was strictly forbidden. Hajime wasn't completely sure why, but he wasn't about to argue with King Kamukura. Still, he loved to watch them.

He didn't tell many people about his love of the surface. None of them really seemed to get it. Chiaki had been the most understanding. She would often accompany him to look at the land-dwellers, even though she didn't find them as fascinating as he did.

Lately, the two of them had begun a new routine. There was a particular time of day when ships would often sail past the reef they had just been in. Chiaki had first alerted him to the regularity of the ships about two weeks ago, and since then, they had gone to the surface to see them almost every day.

Sure enough, as they neared the surface, the underbelly of a large ship passed overhead. Chiaki and Hajime swam up alongside the ship, trying to find the perfect distance to see the deck without being too visible themselves. The ship seemed a bit too large, however, and they couldn't get a good look.

"Let's just wait for a bit," Chiaki suggested as the ship sailed away. "Maybe a smaller boat will come by."

Hajime sighed, but agreed. The two of them floated lazily in the water for a long while, waiting to see if anything else would happen.

The sun was beginning to set and a storm was starting to roll in. Hajime was just about to give up when he heard something in the distance. He turned to look in the direction of the noise and was pleased to realize that a boat was approaching. He glanced over at Chiaki, but the girl was still fast asleep. Hajime contemplated waking her up for a moment, but eventually decided it wasn't worth it.

As the boat drew near, Hajime could see that it was much smaller than the last one. He swam up to the boat once it was close enough, excited to see if he could catch a glimpse of some land-dwellers.

In the orange light of the setting sun, slowly being overtaken by dark clouds, he was able to make out a few people sitting on the deck of the boat (a yacht? Hajime thought he had heard this type of boat called that before). He approached the side of the ship, hoping to get a better look.

Once he was close enough, Hajime decided to push his luck. There was a ladder on the back of the boat and, against his better judgment, he grabbed on and started climbing. He peeked carefully over the edge of the deck.

There were a few individuals sitting along the sides of the boat. They were dressed in lavish clothing (or, at least, that's how it seemed to Hajime) and all seemed rather preoccupied.

Hajime felt his gaze slowly being drawn to one individual, however. There was a man sitting by himself near the back of the ship, gazing off into the sunset with a bored expression. The merman began studying this particular land-dweller, wanting to get a better look - and to understand why his attention was so captivated.

The man had very short blonde hair and sharp, golden eyes. His delicate features were twisted into a scowl. He didn't seem very interested in the other occupants of the yacht. He was leaning against the railing, looking rather annoyed, and Hajime found that he couldn't take his eyes off of him.

A silver-haired woman approached the blonde. "Young Master, a storm is gathering, and the water is getting rather rough ahead."

Hajime idly noticed that this was true. The waves were getting increasingly choppy, and while it didn't bother him at all, he supposed it might be a bit much for someone who was used to solid ground.

"Perhaps you and the other guests should go below deck," the woman continued.

The blonde scowled at her. "Fuck that," he grumbled. "We're almost home, right? How bad could it be?"

The woman furrowed her brow. "I believe it would be better to be cautious, especially since you can't-"

"Hey!" the man hissed, blushing. "Don't fuckin' talk about that here!" He glanced around to see if anyone had heard, but no one else seemed particularly concerned with their conversation.

Bowing, the silver-haired woman apologized. "I'm sorry, Young Master. But please, consider going inside or putting on a life vest."

The blonde rolled his eyes. "Sure, whatever."

As the woman walked away, Hajime continued watching this blonde land-dweller. He seemed smaller than the others. Hajime knew that land-dwellers came in a variety of sizes, but he had always associated it with age. This man seemed to be around his own age, however, so his diminutive size felt unusual… and somehow just made him more captivating.

The waves were indeed getting bigger, Hajime noticed, and the yacht was beginning to rock. Most of the people on the deck started carefully making their way inside. The blonde just grabbed onto the railing stubbornly.

Hajime held tightly to the ladder for a bit longer, but as waves began crashing against the boat, he reluctantly decided it would be better to head back underwater. He cast one last curious glance at the blonde man as rain began to fall, then hopped off the ladder and back into the sea.

He swam a little ways down, looking up at the ship. The water was really roiling now and the yacht was being tossed around quite a bit. Hajime knew he should probably head back to Chiaki, but something kept him there, following the boat still.

Hajime couldn't shake the feeling that something bad might happen. The silver-haired woman's words from earlier came back to him and he idly wondered if the blonde man had gotten safely inside.

There was a flash of light above the surface of the water. Lightning, Hajime realized. The storm was getting worse.

A particularly large wave struck the side of the boat and, moments later, a body crashed into the ocean. The person flailed about, but clearly had no actual swimming form and couldn't get back up to the surface. Their movements began to slow down the longer they were under the water.

Hajime felt panic setting in. He wanted to help, but it was forbidden for merpeople to interact with land-dwellers. If he let this person see him, he'd be in a world of trouble.

Still, he couldn't just let them drown. Hajime made up his mind and sped through the water towards the poor human.

As he drew closer, he realized that it was the blonde man from before. Almost subconsciously, Hajime began swimming faster, feeling an even greater sense of urgency.

He reached the blonde and pulled him into his arms, surprised by how small he seemed. Hajime checked the man, but he was unresponsive. Furrowing his brow, the merman swung his tail and jetted them both towards the surface.

They broke through the surface of the water and Hajime lifted the other man's head into the air. The human coughed and hacked, trying to get a proper lungful of air. But with the storm raging the way it was, keeping his head above the water long enough for him to breathe was proving difficult.

Hajime looked around, but he had lost track of the boat. They weren't too far from the shore, however, giving the merman an idea.

He swam towards the beach, moving as quickly as possible, pulling the blonde with him. He still tried to keep the man above water, but he could only do so much. He just hoped that once they were somewhere safe, he could make up for all the human's lost air.

It took several minutes of swimming, even with Hajime's powerful fins. But eventually they reached the shoreline and Hajime started looking for something specific. He was relieved when he was able to spot the place he wanted.

There was a small grotto set into the rocky shore, offering some slight cover from the storm. He swam into the alcove and pulled the blonde up onto some rocks. There, sheltered from the rain, the man should be able to breathe.

Hajime studied the diminutive man, really taking in the details of his face. His eyes were closed, long lashes fanned over his freckled cheeks. He was honestly stunning, and the merman found himself more enthralled than ever.

However, the man was not breathing.

Hajime could feel panic setting in again. What was he supposed to do? There had to be something. He thought back to all his time studying the land-dwellers and tried to find something useful.

Suddenly, it came to him. He had seen humans pull other humans out of the water and then resuscitate them… somehow. It wasn't super clear, since he wasn't able to get too close, but it looked like they were pushing on the person's chest and then… kissing them?

…Worth a shot, he supposed.

Gently, Hajime placed his hands on the blonde's chest and pushed. If he remembered correctly, the rescuer had pushed in a sort of rhythm. Hajime tried his best to imitate what he remembered. He pushed on the man's chest for a while before leaning down to his face.

He hesitated when he was close to his mouth, however. He felt a little weird about kissing an unconscious man. Although, the more he thought about it, the less likely it seemed that what he had seen the rescuer do was kissing. So what was it, then?

Realization struck him and he quickly covered the other man's mouth with his own, blowing air into his throat. He went back to pushing on his chest, alternating between that and giving him air, just like he had seen the other human do.

After a few minutes, the blonde suddenly convulsed, coughing up water. He took several gasping breaths before his eyes slowly fluttered open.

Hajime froze, hovering above the man's face, hands still resting on his heaving chest. Their eyes locked and, for a moment, neither of them moved.

After a long silence, the blonde spoke. "...What… What the fuck… happened?"

"The storm," Hajime explained unhelpfully. "You, uh… fell off your boat."

"...D-Did you… save me…?" the human asked quietly, voice hoarse.

Hajime gave a slight nod. "Um… yeah," he murmured. His cheeks flushed as he realized that this was the first time he had ever gotten to talk to a land-dweller.

He was so dead if the king found out.

The blonde furrowed his brow. "Thanks… but where the fuck are we?"

The merman let out a startled laugh. "Oh, um… a cave, near the beach."

"Which beach?"

Hajime had no idea how to answer that. "...The sandy one?"

The human scowled at him. "Which one, you jackass. The name." He started listing off names, absolutely none of which Hajime recognized. Seeing his blank expression, the blonde sighed. "Jesus. Okay. I'll figure it out myself, I guess."

Hajime winced. "Sorry. I, um… I'm not familiar with… the area."

"Whatever, it's fine." The human started to sit up and Hajime moved to help him. Once he was upright, he looked around the grotto, assessing the situation. The storm was still raging just outside.

Following his gaze, Hajime hummed thoughtfully. "I don't think you should go back out there just yet. The water is pretty rough, and since you can't swim-"

"I can swim!" the blonde yelped, whirling to face him. "Who the fuck says I can't?!"

Hajime held his hands up defensively. "Sorry! It just seemed like you couldn't. When you fell off your boat, you basically sank."

The man was flushed a dark red. "Wh-! What, were you just fuckin' watching me?!"

It was Hajime's turn to blush. "K-Kinda, I guess…? But," he hurriedly added, "it's a good thing I was, because I saw you fall!"

The blonde frowned at him. "...You definitely weren't on my ship. Were you on a nearby boat?"

The brunette looked away evasively, unable to keep himself from cringing. "...Not exactly."

Arching a brow, the human took a better look at his rescuer. Messy brown hair, intense hazel eyes, a very… shapely chest (shut up, gay thoughts), and a fish tail covered in glistening green scales.

…Wait, what?

His eyes widened. There wasn't much light in the grotto, but that was clearly a tail. "What the hell…?"

Hajime followed his gaze, blushing. "Oh, er…"

"Is that some kinda… mermaid costume or something?" the man asked hesitantly.

"Merman."

"Whatever, answer the question."

The brunette tried to think of something, anything, to convince this man that he was just a normal human. "...Um… no, it's real." Hajime cursed his honesty.

Thoughts reeling, the blonde stared at his tail. "...No fucking way."

Hajime winced. "Please don't freak out. And please don't tell anyone. I'm already going to be in deep trouble for just talking to you."

"...Can I touch it?"

That question was so far out of the realm of what Hajime had been expecting that his brain short-circuited. "Uh… what?"

A flush slowly crept up the blonde's neck. "S-sorry, that's really fuckin' weird, isn't it?" He looked away. "I, uh… I won't tell anyone about this, don't worry. No one would believe me anyway." He shifted, bringing his knees up to his chest, suddenly feeling cold.

Hajime licked his lips nervously. "...You can touch it. My tail. If you want to."

They stared at each other, wide-eyed, both clearly surprised by the offer. Finally, the blonde snorted, a wry grin spreading across his face. "Yeah, fuck it. I'm pretty sure I'm hallucinating all this, anyway. Why not touch the mermaid's tail?"

"Merman," Hajime corrected him quietly, but his eyes were quickly drawn downwards as the man reached one freckled arm out towards him.

They were sitting side by side on the rocks, so Hajime's fins were splayed out against the wet stone. The blonde's hand moved down to about where his knees would be, and gently brushed his fingers against the shimmering scales. He ran his fingers up and down a bit before glancing up at the merman's face to make sure this was still okay.

Hajime was flushed, staring with rapt attention at the hand touching his tail. He hadn't really been touched in such a way before, since his tail wasn't exactly considered special amongst an entire race of people with similar tails. The human's fingers traced the shape of one of his scales and he sucked in a sharp breath.

"Sorry," the blonde quickly apologized, voice barely above a whisper. "Is that uncomfortable?"

But Hajime shook his head. "No, just… different." He watched intently as the man resumed studying his tail, slowly moving down to his fins, which fluttered under the light touch.

The man let out a soft laugh. "Sensitive?"

"Kinda."

Smiling, the blonde sat back up. "It's probably the same as having your feet tickled, huh?"

Hajime just shrugged, having no frame of reference for that comparison. "I guess? What are 'feet'?"

"These things," the human replied easily, raising one leg and wiggling his foot around.

Enraptured, Hajime leaned closer. The blonde was wearing swim trunks, so his movements drew attention to the fact that his legs were on full display. The brunette followed the slender, freckled limb, watching his foot wiggle. "Whoa…"

The blonde blushed at the intensity of his stare. "...Y-You can touch my legs… if you want." He looked away as Hajime faced him in surprise. " 'S only fair," he mumbled.

Hesitantly, the merman reached out and placed his hand on the other man's knee. He moved down slowly, tracing his fingers gently over his skin, running them softly against the top of his foot. He glanced up to see the blonde watching him, straight-faced aside from the crimson blush adorning his cheeks.

Fuck, he was cute.

Hajime carefully moved back up the man's leg, brushing against every freckle he encountered. As his hand moved past the knee and onto his thigh, however, a soft whine escaped from the blonde's mouth. Hajime looked up in surprise.

The human had a hand over his flushed face, avoiding the merman's eyes. "Th-That's enough," he growled, but he didn't move.

Blushing, Hajime couldn't help the little smirk that formed on his lips. "Sensitive?" he asked, echoing the man's question from earlier.

The blonde glared at him, but it was diminished by how red he was. "Shut the fuck up. A-Anyway, it's weird to be touching another man's leg like that."

The merman shrugged, but obligingly removed his hand. "You started it."

"Well, clearly it didn't feel the same for both of us."

Hajime contemplated that. "In all fairness, you didn't touch that high on my tail." He eyed the man's thighs, wondering if it would feel the same.

"...Do you want me to?"

He looked up, startled. "...I… yes?"

The blonde took a deep breath to steady himself before hesitantly reaching out and placing his hand about thigh-high on Hajime's tail. He rubbed gently against the scales there, eyes searching his face for a reaction.

Hajime felt a flush crawling up his neck. The hand on his tail didn't really feel any different than it had further down, but the fact that the other man clearly wanted it to was making him flustered. Plus the way he was looking at him…

The merman carefully slid his hand back onto the blonde's thigh, watching his eyes widen in surprise.

The atmosphere in the cave was suddenly much different. The two of them locked eyes, faces burning, as their hands ghosted over each other's lower half.

The human's hand slid up over Hajime's hip, brushing against the bare skin of his abdomen. The brunette let out a soft gasp, his own hand slipping down onto the other man's inner thigh by accident. Another quiet whine escaped the blonde.

Unable to contain himself, Hajime leaned closer. "...Can I kiss you?"

The human looked up at him, wide-eyed, and nodded.

Hajime carefully pressed his lips against the other man's. Even though he had just given him mouth-to-mouth, this was completely different. He focused on the softness of the human's lips, the hitch in his breathing, the flutter of his eyelashes against Hajime's cheek.

The blonde parted his lips invitingly, and the merman gladly complied. His tongue gently slipped into the other man's mouth, tasting him. His partner's tongue met him halfway, and they moved together in a slow dance.

They kissed like that for a moment before Hajime pressed the blonde back, laying him against the stones so that he could have better access. He kissed him again, enjoying the soft whimpers coming from the human's throat.

Eventually they had to break for air. They locked eyes, both flushed and panting. "...What the fuck are we doing?" the blonde breathed.

Hajime smiled slightly and was about to answer, but a distant shout cut through the air.

"Young Master!"

They both whipped their heads towards the mouth of the cave. The storm outside had calmed considerably while they were distracted. It was still raining, but the wind and waves were mostly back to normal.

There was another call in the distance and the blonde scrambled out from under Hajime. "That's Peko! Shit, she's probably worried sick." He looked at the merman. "I need to get back."

Hajime nodded slowly. "Okay. Do you need help? Not saying you can't swim," he smirked a bit, "but you're not great at it."

Glaring, the human moved towards the mouth of the grotto. "Just get me to my damn yacht."

The merman slid back into the water and gestured for the blonde to join him. He directed the man to hold onto his shoulders before swimming swiftly away.

They were able to spot the boat fairly easily. There were several people shining lights off the sides, searching the water for the man they'd lost. Hajime carefully avoided the lights as he approached, not wanting to explain his existence to any more humans.

Once they reached the back of the boat, Hajime helped the blonde up onto the ladder. He clambered up onto the deck, but when he looked back, the merman was gone.

"Young Master!" He was grabbed by a panicked Peko a moment later, and all thoughts of the mysterious merman were pushed to the back of his mind.

Hajime watched from a short distance away, making sure the blonde was safe. He saw the man look back out at the ocean several times and he smiled, just happy that the human was thinking about him.

Hajime would definitely be thinking about him, too.

Suddenly very embarrassed about what had just happened, the merman dove beneath the water and began the long trek home.

***

"It was… insane," Hajime finished lamely. He had been recounting his adventure to his friends, to mixed reactions.

Chiaki beamed at him. "How sweet! Do you think you'll see him again?"

Kazuichi stopped fiddling with the ship part he had been working on. He often scavenged sunken ships and took them apart for fun. "That's an awful idea. We're not supposed to interact with the surfacers, you know?"

Hajime shrugged in response. "I couldn't just let the poor guy drown."

"No, but you still didn't have to make out with him." Kazuichi frowned at him. "If the king finds out what you did…"

"But he's not going to find out, right?" the brunette asked with a twinge of annoyance. The other man backed off.

Chiaki was still thinking about the positive aspects of Hajime's story. "Hmm… he said it was his boat, right?"

Hajime nodded, not really sure where she was going with this.

"So then there's a chance he might sail through here again… I think."

The brunette felt his cheeks flush. "It's… it's fine if I don't see him again." He recognized the lie for what it was.

So did Chiaki. "It's okay to want to see him again, you know."

Hajime just sighed. "...Okay. I want to see him again. But I know it's not going to happen, so let's just drop it."

All three of them fell silent. After a few minutes, Kazuichi tried to change the subject, talking about some sunken ship he had heard about from a fish, but Hajime wasn't really listening. Even though he was the one who wanted to drop the subject, he couldn't help but still think about the land-dweller.

He knew he wasn't likely to ever see him again, so Hajime took the time to really hang onto the memories he had. He focused on the man's bristly blonde hair, his dangerous golden eyes, his adorable freckles… how soft his lips were…

Chiaki was watching him with a bemused smile. "You really have it bad, huh?"

"Dude," Kazuichi whined, feeling ignored.

"S-sorry, just ignore me," Hajime told them, blushing.

God, he was so fucked.

***

Hajime honestly didn't expect to see the cute blonde ever again.

So when he appeared while Hajime was people-watching at a nearby beach a few days later, the merman was shocked.

He watched, wide-eyed, as the man walked along the shore, gazing out towards the sea like he was looking for something. Hajime's heart leapt into his throat as he realized that he might be what the blonde was searching for.

The human spent a long time watching the waves and looking around. Hajime had to resist the urge to leap out of the water and throw himself at the blonde. Instead, he stayed hidden behind an off-shore rock, just watching.

Eventually, the silver-haired woman from before came to collect the human, who cast one last look at the sea before following her away.

Hajime watched him leave sadly. He would give anything to be able to spend time with him again.

With a sigh, he swam away.

***

"I told you he'd be back," Chiaki told him triumphantly.

Hajime just rolled his eyes. "Technically, you said he might sail by again."

She frowned up at him, puffing out her cheeks. "Hey. This is even better, right?"

They were hanging around in the stone grotto Hajime called home. The two of them had been talking about the land-dweller for a while now. Kazuichi was sitting a few feet away, ignoring the conversation as well as he could.

"I mean, it still doesn't really mean anything." Hajime fiddled with a conch shell, wishing he didn't care as much as he did.

Chiaki sighed. "Maybe, but if he was looking for you, then that means he's thinking about you just as much as you are him… I think."

The brunette ran his fingers through his hair and considered her words. "...This would be much easier if I could just… go to the shore," he mumbled. "Like… on the land."

With a dramatic groan, Kazuichi finally joined the conversation. "Then just go, man."

Hajime furrowed his brow. "What are you talking about?"

"If you care more about this land guy than your own safety, then just go," Kazuichi reiterated, scowling at his friend. "What's the king really going to do?"

"Murder me," Hajime replied flatly. He paused, then added, "And murder the human."

The pink-haired man sighed. "Then… I dunno, become a human or something."

Hajime's frown deepened. "That's stupid. I can't just become a human."

Kazuichi glared back. "Maybe you can, I don't know! I'm just sick of you always obsessing over the surface and not doing anything about it!"

Silence fell over the three of them. "Sorry," Hajime finally offered. "I didn't mean to talk about it that much."

Kazuichi sighed. "I'm sorry, too. I probably sound like a jerk."

There was another pause before Chiaki fluttered her fins in thought. "Maybe you could just go to the shore, though. Just stay in the shallow water and maybe he can come to you."

"I don't know if that's a good idea. He's not a very good swimmer." Hajime smiled at the memory.

Kazuichi perked up as an idea occurred to him. "Wait, maybe you can become a human." Both of his friends turned to him questioningly, so he continued. "The sea witch might be able to do it."

Chiaki frowned. "I don't think dealing with the sea witch is a good idea…"

Hajime nodded. "Probably not."

The pink-haired man shrugged. "I dunno, dude. It might be worth it to at least ask. You like this guy a lot, right?"

Hajime was alarmed to find himself considering it. How much did he like the land-dweller? Enough to make a deal with a sea witch?

…It couldn't hurt to ask her price, he supposed.

***

The sea witch burst out laughing when Hajime described his request. "That's hilarious, little man!"

Hajime frowned at her. "If you can't do it, just say so…"

"Oh, I can do it," she corrected. She tossed her hair behind her, as though that would make any difference underwater. Her strawberry blonde pigtails were just as unruly as before. "But it's still hilarious."

The brunette shifted, feeling uncomfortable. "Why's that?"

The sea witch gave him a toothy grin. "You want to do something so extreme, and just for a man?" She cocked an eyebrow. "Honey."

Hajime was feeling more irritated the more she talked. "I didn't come here for you to laugh at me."

"And yet here you are." She settled in front of him, her strange black and white tentacles getting uncomfortably close to him. "How long do you want to be on land? Forever?"

Realizing this could be his chance to become what he was so fascinated with, Hajime nodded slowly. "...Yeah, if that's an option."

"And what are you willing to give up?"

That question caught him off-guard. "Uh… besides my whole life down here?"

She waved him off. "No, I mean what'll you give me?"

Hajime just shrugged. "I don't really have much… What do you want?"

The sea witch made a big show of considering the question as she turned back to her cauldron. Hajime couldn't help but think that her whole "witchy" decor was a bit much. It almost seemed like she wanted it to be over the top

"How about," the witch began, looking at him over her shoulder, "your voice?"

He furrowed his brow in confusion. "My voice? What?"

"The price for my spell." The woman grinned. "I'll make you human, but I get your voice."

Hajime's hand instinctively went to his throat. "That's… a little bit extreme, don't you think?"

"Says the guy who literally wants to be turned into a different species," she teased. "How about this: you give me your voice, but just temporarily."

The merman thought it over. Something still seemed off, though. "Then, what do you really get out of the deal?"

The sea witch regarded him in surprise, looking almost impressed. "Look at you, catching on so quick! Let me give you the details." She crawled around the cauldron, putting it between the two of them. "I'll make you human for three days. During those three days, I get your voice. If you want to stay human, all you have to do is get your loverboy to kiss you."

Hajime felt his cheeks heat up. "That seems kinda strange, don't you think?"

She shrugged at him. "I don't question your shit, so don't question mine. Get him to kiss you in three days and you get to keep the legs and you get your voice back."

"...And if he doesn't kiss me?"

The witch grinned wickedly. "Then you belong to me."

He frowned at her. "What does that mean?"

"Just what it sounds like, dummy." She turned away, busily grabbing things off the shelves behind her.

Hajime mulled over his options. The deal was definitely strange, but then, his original request was pretty strange on its own. He was certain that he couldn't trust the sea witch, but…

All he had to do was get the blonde to kiss him. They had already kissed before, so theoretically, kissing him again should be easy… right?

"...Okay. Let's do it."

The witch cackled at him again, already tossing things into her cauldron. "Hell yeah! Here we fuckin’ go!” Whatever she was doing, the cauldron started glowing an ominous shade of green. The sea witch waved her hands, chanting something, and a current of green swirled into the water above the cauldron. With a flick of her wrist, the witch sent the current towards Hajime.

He only had a second to react before the water around him was all glowing green. He yelped in surprise, feeling a strange tingle coursing through his body. The feeling wasn’t entirely unpleasant, just odd.

That quickly changed as pain shot through his tail. Hajime let out a pained cry, hands instinctively clutching at his fins. He watched, horrified and enthralled, as his tail slowly split in two. The scales gradually disappeared and, before he knew it, his tail had become a pair of legs.

Pain was still coursing through him, however. He made another noise - or at least tried to. With alarm, he realized that no sound was coming from his mouth. The pain he felt settled in the base of his throat and he knew his voice was gone.

The sea witch was grinning at him deviously. “You better hurry up, honey. Humans can’t breathe underwater.”

Hajime felt panic shoot through him as he realized she was right. Quickly he started swimming for the surface, but it was proving very difficult. Legs didn’t exactly work the same way his tail had.

Eventually he managed to coordinate his movements enough to start progressing towards the surface, but his lungs were already starting to burn. He scrambled to move faster.

Ironic, he thought, drowning trying to get to the person I saved from the same fate.

Just as his vision was beginning to dull around the edges, he broke through the surface of the water. He silently gasped for breath, taking in desperate lungfuls of air.

Once he was breathing again, Hajime took in his surroundings. He was still a ways off from the nearest beach. He really should’ve thought this through a little more.

Just as he was preparing for the long swim to shore, he heard the familiar sound of a ship approaching. Turning, he noticed a vessel slowly approaching him.

Realizing that he no longer had to hide from the land-dwellers, Hajime excitedly waved at the ship, hoping for rescue. Thankfully, the sun was still high in the sky, so he would be easy to spot.

The ship slowed as it passed, and Hajime was shocked to realize that he recognized this particular yacht. What were the odds?

A person hurried down the back ladder of the boat, extending an arm out to Hajime. “Hey! Grab on!”

He swam close enough to take the outstretched hand and allowed himself to be pulled onto the back of the boat. He leaned heavily on his rescuer, unsure how to balance his weight on his new legs.

“Whoa there,” the man holding him chuckled. He was huge and had no problem supporting Hajime’s weight. “Lucky we came along when we did. What are you doing out here in the middle of nowhere?”

Hajime opened his mouth to answer, but of course, no sound came out. He looked up at the man helplessly, suddenly realizing how hard this was going to be. He had no way to communicate.

To his credit, the man quickly figured out that Hajime wasn’t able to answer him. “Something wrong? Are you injured?” He looked over the castaway’s body. “Looks like you lost your swimsuit, at least.”

Hajime looked down. He hadn’t even thought about the fact that he was completely naked. He knew that the land-dwellers had little outfits that they usually wore when they went in the water, but he had certainly never thought about wearing one. He also became aware of the strange appendage he seemed to have grown along with his new legs. But he could figure that out later.

The man gave a boisterous laugh. “No worries! We’ve got extra clothes onboard! Let’s get you on deck!”

With great difficulty and a lot of help from the large man, Hajime managed to climb the ladder onto the actual deck of the boat. He looked around, taking in the sight. For all of his observations, he had never actually seen what a boat looked like from the top, and he wanted to commit the experience to memory.

The other man climbed up behind him and quickly grabbed a nearby towel to wrap around him. “Here, this should make you at least a little more comfortable.” He clapped Hajime on the back, nearly knocking him over, off-kilter as he was. “The name’s Nekomaru, by the way. What’s your-” He cut himself off, noticing Hajime’s helpless expression. “Ah, right. That’s okay, we can figure that out later. Come on, let’s get you some trunks!”

Hajime followed behind him unsteadily as he made his way across the deck. There were other humans here, too, most of whom kept their distance, whispering amongst themselves as they watched him pass. He didn’t recognize any of them, but he was fairly certain this was the blonde man’s ship.

Nekomaru led him below deck and into a small cabin. He rifled through some sort of bag and pulled out a swimsuit. “Here! It might be a little big on you, but we can tie it.”

Of course, Hajime had no idea how to put the thing on. He was still getting the hang of walking. After a minute of panicking, he figured out that he could sit down and try to manoeuvre his legs into the swimsuit.

The large man watched him struggle, arms crossed over his broad chest. “Huh… We should probably get you checked out once we get to land.” He helped Hajime get back on his feet and adjusted the large swimsuit. “Where are you from, by the way?” At the castaway’s blank look, he winced. “Right. Can’t talk.”

Nekomaru led him back to the deck and got him situated on a seat near the back. The large man then left him to go see when they would be heading back to shore. Hajime was alone.

So far his experience being a human was… underwhelming. But Hajime was sure it would get better once he was on actual land. And once he found the blonde man, of course.

As if on cue, a familiar face emerged from below deck, looking as grumpy as ever. Hajime tried to jump to his feet, but his lack of coordination resulted in him falling back into his seat. The action successfully got the other man’s attention, however, and he watched as the blonde’s eyes went wide.

The man approached him cautiously. “You… There’s no way…” he murmured once he was close enough. His eyes fixed on Hajime’s legs and he frowned. “So it was just a costume?”

Hajime shook his head and opened his mouth to explain, but no sound came out. He shut his mouth again, looking frustrated.

The blonde arched an eyebrow at him. “...What the fuck is wrong with you? Can’t you talk?”

The former merman shook his head again. He felt a little sheepish suddenly, realizing he had no way to explain to the man why he couldn’t speak to him. This deal was getting worse all the time.

Crossing his arms, the blonde studied him for a long time. He finally dropped into a seat next to Hajime. “So I guess I can’t ask you why the fuck you’re here… or what your name is.”

Hajime shrugged helplessly. A thought occurred to him and he pointed at his mouth, directing the other man’s attention there. He then mouthed the syllables of his name, hoping he could at least get that across.

But the blonde just seemed confused. “Uh… I can’t read lips.”

“Young Master.” The silver-haired woman that always accompanied him appeared out of seemingly nowhere. She eyed Hajime apprehensively. “I was unaware that we had a new guest.”

“I’m just as confused as you are,” the blonde replied, eyes still fixed on Hajime. “Maybe even more.” He blinked as an idea came to mind. “Hey, Peko, see if you can figure out what he’s trying to say.”

The woman - Peko? - turned fully to Hajime, her piercing red eyes studying his face. The merman swallowed hard before trying again to mouth his name. “Ha-ji-me?” the woman repeated as he formed each syllable, and he nodded excitedly.

“Hajime?”

He whipped his head around to look at the blonde. Hearing his name from the other man’s mouth was oddly endearing, and he felt a broad smile form on his face.

The blonde man, on the other hand, was still frowning. “Is that your name?” When the brunette nodded, he hummed thoughtfully. “Huh. How did you get here?”

Hajime just shrugged, not certain how to explain that without words. He just pointed helplessly at the sea.

Nekomaru approached again, looking as cheerful as ever. “Hey, Boss! I see you’ve met our stowaway!”

The blonde looked up in interest. “Oh, you know where he came from?”

The large man nodded. “He was just floating out in the water, nothing around for miles! Lucky thing we found him, huh?”

Peko regarded Nekomaru coolly. “You shouldn’t bring strangers onboard without alerting us.”

“He was gonna drown,” Nekomaru argued, crossing his arms.

“It’s fine, Peko,” the blonde told her. He studied Hajime again. “...Do you have someplace to go?” When the brunette shook his head, he asked another question. “What are you even doing?”

Hajime shrugged again and Nekomaru laughed loudly. “Yeah, I keep forgetting he can’t answer, too!”

The blonde scowled up at him. “You can leave now.” He glanced at Peko. “You, too.”

“Young Master, I hardly think I should leave you alone with a strange man from the sea,” the woman told him, voice even despite the obvious jab.

“It’s fine,” he hissed. “Fuckin’ go.”

Eventually, Peko and Nekomaru walked away, leaving Hajime alone with the blonde man. He smiled at the man at his side, who just frowned back.

Hajime had an idea. He turned fully to the blonde and pointed to himself, mouthing his name. He then pointed to the other man with a questioning look. It took a second, but the blonde seemed to catch on. “Oh, my name?” The former merman nodded. “It’s Fuyuhiko.”

‘Fuyuhiko,’ Hajime mouthed, not missing the way the other man’s cheeks reddened as he did so.

“A-Anyway, since you don’t have anywhere to go, I guess you can come with me.” He paused, crossing his arms. “Seriously, you’re going to have to explain to me how the fuck you got here and what your actual plan was. Are you just stupid?”

Hajime frowned, giving his head a slight shake. He thought about it for a moment before motioning out towards the ocean, and then pointing at Fuyuhiko.

The blonde regarded him with surprise. “Me? What…” His cheeks flushed. “...You came to see me?”

He nodded, also starting to blush. His eyes widened as the other man started to laugh.

“Dumbass,” Fuyuhiko snickered. “We kissed once and you crawled out of the fuckin’ ocean for me?” Despite his laughter, his face was still bright red.

Hajime couldn’t help but smile. The blonde’s laughter was really cute.

Once he regained his composure, Fuyuhiko leaned in conspiratorially, lowering his voice. “So… Were you just pretending to be a mermaid last time?”

The brunette shook his head, mouthing the word ‘merman.’

Fuyuhiko looked up at him, expression unreadable. “You’re telling me you’re really… seriously a merman?”

Hajime nodded.

“Then how the fuck do you have legs now?”

The former merman sighed silently, pointing helplessly at his throat.

The blonde groaned. “God, this is annoying. Maybe when we get to shore you can write it out?”

Hajime nodded excitedly. He hadn’t even thought about writing. That way he could explain the whole scenario. He’d be able to kiss Fuyuhiko in no time.

***

As it turned out, his plan to write down his explanation had a fatal flaw.

Merpeople didn’t write the same way as land-dwellers.

Once they got to Fuyuhiko’s home (which was startlingly large), Hajime had been given a sheet of something the humans called "paper," plus a writing implement. He had spent several minutes trying to figure out how to use both objects.

Back under the sea, writing was typically done on stone slates, or traced into the sand, if you were close enough to the bottom. Writing on paper was a bit different, but in an interesting way. Hajime was excited when he started getting the hang of it.

He began writing out what had happened to him while Fuyuhiko hovered over his shoulder. Not even two sentences in, however, the blonde interrupted him. "What the fuck is that?"

Hajime looked up at him, confused. He looked back down at the page curiously. Sure, his handwriting was a little messy, but-

"None of that makes any sense." Fuyuhiko grabbed another pen and scribbled something on the page. "Words are supposed to look like this, see?"

Both of them stared down at the paper, at the two drastically different writing styles. Seeing them side by side made it abundantly clear.

Merpeople had a completely different written language than surfacers.

Hajime had really hoped that it would be the same, since they apparently had the same spoken language. That clearly wasn't the case.

Fuyuhiko groaned loudly. "Goddamnit, so much for that plan." He frowned at the other man, trying to figure something out. When nothing came to mind, he sighed. "Ugh, okay, I guess we'll figure out your story later."

The former merman gave him an apologetic look, scratching his head.

"It's fine. For now, let's just get you settled in." He led the way out of the room they were in (some type of study?) and up a set of stairs. He ended up having to help Hajime, realizing that he had never encountered stairs before. "Shit, sorry."

The brunette just smiled at him and accepted his support. He didn't miss the way that Fuyuhiko's cheeks got just a bit pinker.

They made their way into a bedroom on the second floor. "You can stay here until we figure this out. I think there are some clothes in here…" Fuyuhiko went to the closet door, opening it and observing the contents. "Yeah, there's some stuff you can wear. Hopefully it fits. Go ahead and get changed before dinner-" He turned just as Hajime started pulling his swimsuit off and immediately Fuyuhiko turned crimson. "W-What the fuck are you doing?! Wait for me to leave, dumbass!"

Hajime looked at him, confused. Merpeople didn't really wear clothes, just accessories, so he didn't have the same sense of modesty as the panicked human.

Shielding his eyes with one hand, Fuyuhiko headed towards the door. "I'll, um… I'm gonna go! You get dressed, okay?" He paused at the door and cringed as a thought dawned on him. "...You probably need help, huh?" He turned to see Hajime nodding sheepishly. "Shit," he sighed.

Still blushing furiously, the human went back to the closet and yanked out some clothes. He averted his eyes as much as possible while instructing Hajime how to dress himself. When he reached the buttons of the shirt, however, the merman proved completely inept.

Fuyuhiko sighed dramatically before stepping closer to Hajime, who was sitting on the bed. He batted Hajime's hands out of the way and started fastening the buttons himself. He tried very hard not to think about his fingers brushing against the other man's chest, or how close their faces were, or how he was technically standing between Hajime's legs.

As he finished with the buttons, he moved to pull his hands back, but Hajime caught his wrists. Their eyes met and Fuyuhiko's breath hitched. He was even closer to the merman than he had realized.

"...What are you doing?" Fuyuhiko asked quietly, feeling Hajime's thumbs rubbing softly against his wrists.

No answer came, obviously, but the brunette gently tugged him closer. Hajime leaned in, breath washing over Fuyuhiko's lips, hazel eyes searching his face to make sure it was okay.

He was so close now, lips barely a hair's breadth away. Fuyuhiko could feel his heart pounding.

At the last second, the blonde shoved Hajime back, quickly stepping away. "S-Stop!" His cheeks were bright red as he placed a hand over his face. "We can't… You can't just show up here and…" He gave a frustrated growl, unable to find the words he wanted.

Hajime blinked at him, face flushed. He tried to apologize, but no sound came out. 'I'm sorry,' he mouthed.

Fuyuhiko just shook his head and turned away. "It's… it's fine. Just stay here. I'm gonna go." He opened the door to leave, but paused again. "I'll have someone come get you for dinner." And then he was gone.

The merman let out a long sigh and laid back on the bed. That had been awfully close. Maybe kissing Fuyuhiko would be easier than he thought.

Hajime frowned to himself. He didn't like the idea of kissing the other man just for the sake of the spell. If they kissed, he wanted it to be because it was what they both wanted. He had tried to kiss Fuyuhiko just then because it felt right in the moment, and he had thought that the other man felt the same.

It was fine, though. It was only the end of the first day. Hajime still had plenty of time.

He sat up with a determined smile. He was going to kiss Fuyuhiko before the three days were up, and he was going to let it happen naturally.

***

Dinner was an experience.

The man from earlier, Nekomaru, had come to collect Hajime. He led him to a lavish dining room with lots of people gathered around the table.

Hajime ended up sitting between two people he hadn't met before, while Fuyuhiko sat near the end of the table. The blonde didn't talk much during dinner, and Hajime wasn't able to hear anything, anyway.

What he did hear, however, was a lot of chatter from the people surrounding him.

From what he could gather, it sounded like Fuyuhiko was some sort of royalty, or at least someone important. The diminutive man had been tasked with entertaining guests by his father. That was why he had been spending so much time sailing.

The blonde clearly wasn't too happy about his current role and wasn't afraid to let everyone know that. It seemed like most of the people present were used to his attitude, though.

Hajime tore his attention away from the conversation he was listening in on, glancing over at Fuyuhiko. He was surprised to find the other man looking back at him. As soon as their eyes met, however, Fuyuhiko scowled and turned away, leaving Hajime confused.

After dinner, Hajime found himself wandering around the building a bit. He was really getting the hang of walking, but he wasn't sure he was ready to tackle the stairs by himself. Besides, he was enjoying the sights.

He ended up outside on the back patio. The night sky was beautiful, and as he approached the railing, he was treated to an amazing view of the ocean.

Hajime smiled softly. He missed his friends, but he knew they'd want him to enjoy himself. Well, Chiaki would. Kazuichi would probably complain about him getting left behind.

As he was admiring the view, another person approached him from behind. "It's nice out here, huh?"

Hajime turned in surprise and was pleased to see Fuyuhiko coming to stand by the railing beside him. He smiled warmly down at the blonde, remembering why he was there to begin with.

Fuyuhiko ignored the way the merman was looking at him. He leaned against the railing and smirked at Hajime. "Heh, you're probably sick of looking at the ocean, though, right?"

The brunette thought about it, gazing out at the sea. Then he shrugged, shaking his head slightly. He has never seen the ocean from this perspective, after all.

Fuyuhiko hummed in response. After a pause, he sighed. "...I have so many questions for you, but you can't fuckin' answer any of them."

Hajime gave him an apologetic look. They fell silent for a while, but it wasn't uncomfortable. The merman looked up at the stars, thinking that those actually looked better back home.

"...Hey," Fuyuhiko started quietly. Hajime turned to look at him. "Did you… seriously come all the way here just for me?" His cheeks were flushed and he wouldn't meet Hajime's eyes.

The merman nodded slowly, studying the other man's face. Once he was able to speak, he would have to explain that he also wanted to live with the humans, but the simpler explanation would suffice for now.

Fuyuhiko's golden gaze gradually moved up and their eyes locked. "...Why?"

Hajime considered the question for a long moment, unsure how to answer. He wasn't even sure he knew the reason. There was something drawing him to the other man, a feeling powerful enough for him to follow Fuyuhiko onto land.

How could he possibly explain that?

He moved forward slowly, drawing closer to the blonde. Fuyuhiko eyed him apprehensively. Hajime lifted his hands to carefully cup Fuyuhiko's face, feeling the heat radiating from the smaller man's cheeks.

Hajime leaned in, closing in on Fuyuhiko's face. He watched the blonde's eyes slowly close, his long lashes fluttering slightly. The merman felt his heart beat faster and his own eyes slid closed as he neared Fuyuhiko's lips.

Just before they could kiss, however, a voice cut through the night air. "Young Master!"

Both of them scrambled away from each other, turning to face the silver-haired woman who was rapidly approaching them. "P-Peko, it's not-" Fuyuhiko started, face flushed.

The woman swiftly placed herself between the two men, glaring coolly at Hajime. "What exactly do you think you're doing?"

The merman held up his hands defensively, mouthing a silent apology even though he wasn't entirely sure what the issue was.

Peko's piercing red eyes narrowed. "You have no right to lay your hands on my young master. Do you have any idea-"

"Stop it!" Fuyuhiko barked, grabbing the woman by the arm. "He wasn't doing anything! I, uh… had something in my eye," he lied, shooting a look at Hajime. Play along.

The brunette nodded, backing Fuyuhiko up. Peko studied him for a long time, apparently deciding whether or not to buy into the obvious lie. Eventually she sighed. "Fine. It appears that you don't mean any harm, so I can let this slide."

Hajime was flooded with relief, but it was cut short when Peko continued.

"But I would advise you to learn your place."

Fuyuhiko scowled at her. "Shut the fuck up with that. I don't care about being 'above' anybody else. Being the heir to the clan doesn't mean I'm off-limits or whatever."

"Perhaps you don't think so, but your role in the clan does put you above others. You shouldn't be fraternizing with random commoners." Realizing how she was addressing Fuyuhiko, she bowed her head. "I am sorry if I've spoken out of turn."

The blonde was already shaking his head. "It's fine, I get it." He turned to Hajime. "We should probably part ways for the night. Can you find your way back to your room?"

Hajime nodded. He wasn't ready to be separated from Fuyuhiko yet, but he recognized that this was for the best. So he watched sadly as Peko led the smaller man back into the house.

His thoughts were still reeling. They had come so close to kissing again. And there was definitely chemistry between them, Hajime felt it. And it was only the end of the first day.

The merman headed back into the house, more determined than ever

***

Throughout the next day, Hajime found himself in many similar situations. Whenever he was alone with Fuyuhiko, the two of them would be drawn together, as though by some magnetic force. Usually this resulted in them touching in some way.

Several times, they got frustratingly close to kissing before something (or someone) would interrupt. Hajime was just about ready to grab the other man and kiss him senseless the moment he saw him.

He returned to his room in the early evening. He wanted to keep spending time around Fuyuhiko, but the blonde had eventually chased him away, claiming he had to work.

Being on land was still strange to Hajime. There were so many things he didn't know how to do. Nekomaru was nice enough to instruct him how to do a few things without asking why he didn't already know, but he knew he still had a lot to learn.

Now, sitting on his bed alone, it really started to sink in that this could end up being Hajime's whole life. If he met the sea witch's terms, he would officially become a land-dweller. It was a little overwhelming.

A voice cut through the silence. "Psst, hey loverboy!"

Hajime's head whipped around, trying to figure out where the voice had come from. Airy laughter surrounded him and he tried following it to the source.

The voice led him to a vanity set against the far wall of the room. As he drew nearer, the mirror began to shimmer before changing to show the grinning face of the sea witch.

"Surprise!" she shouted. At Hajime's shocked expression, she continued. "Since your time was about half over, I thought it might be a good time to check in, see how you're doing. So? How's it going?"

The brunette just frowned silently at her.

The witch cackled. "Oh, right! You can't tell me!" Her tone clearly conveyed that she hadn't forgotten about Hajime's affliction at all. "It doesn't matter, anyway. I've been keeping an eye on you the whole time!"

Hajime's eyes widened and he opened his mouth to speak before remembering it was futile.

"You and your man have been getting awfully cozy, haven't you?" she teased, chuckling when Hajime blushed. "In fact, you've been getting so cozy that I think I'm going to change the terms of our contract a little."

The merman furrowed his brow angrily. He tried to yell at her, but still nothing came out.

The sea witch waved him off. "No good, can't hear you. Anyway, it looks like you're not going to have any trouble kissing your little human, so how's about we up the ante?" She grinned wickedly. "Now if you want your voice back, you're gonna have to fuck him!"

Hajime felt his heart stop and his brain short-circuit. He shook his head, no way was he going to agree to that.

"I'm not hearing any objections," the witch jeered, "so the deal is done!"

There was a flash of green light, blinding Hajime for a moment. When his vision cleared, he glared at the mirror.

The sea witch was cackling excitedly. "Hell yeah! Look at that fuckin' face!" She leaned closer to the mirror. "Is that despair you're feeling?"

The brunette took a step backwards, feeling overwhelmed by the new situation. He could feel a pit forming in his stomach.

"Good luck, loverboy!" The witch gave him a little wave before the mirror shimmered again and changed to show Hajime's reflection.

He stared at the mirror for a long while, processing what had just happened.

The sea witch had changed the terms of their agreement - could she do that? He supposed she could, since she already did. And now just kissing Fuyuhiko wouldn't break the spell. He had to somehow convince him to have sex - within the next day.

Hajime sat heavily on the bed, mind reeling. How the hell was he going to pull this off?

The merman grimaced. While he definitely did want to sleep with Fuyuhiko, he didn't want to rush into it for the sake of this spell. He had wanted all of his interactions with the blonde to be as natural as possible.

And then, of course, there was the tiny detail that he didn't actually know how humans have sex.

First things first, he supposed. He needed to kiss the other man before he could get any further.

…Tonight. I'll definitely kiss him before the end of the night.

***

Hajime held onto that determination all throughout dinner. He ended up sitting a bit closer to Fuyuhiko this time but there were still multiple people between them. The merman didn't let that deter him, however, and he spent most of the meal giving the blonde longing looks.

He knew that Fuyuhiko was aware of his staring. Even though the blonde was deliberately not looking back at him, his cheeks and ears were flushed.

When the human finally did meet his gaze, glaring at the brunette in embarrassment, Hajime just responded with a slight smirk and a pointed look at Fuyuhiko's lips.

After dinner, the blonde cornered him just outside the dining room. "Come on, we need to talk," he growled, grabbing Hajime's arm and pulling him along.

They ended up in a very nicely furnished bedroom with a healthy layer of clutter. Hajime wondered briefly if this was Fuyuhiko's room before he was pushed to sit on the foot of the bed.

The smaller man stood in front of him, arms crossed, glaring at him. "What the fuck is your problem?" At Hajime's blank stare, he continued. "You can't just keep… fuckin'... staring at me!" He gestured angrily and his cheeks turned red.

Hajime felt a little embarrassed. Maybe staring hadn't been the best move, but really, he didn't have any other way to get Fuyuhiko's attention. He gave the blonde an apologetic look, shrugging slightly.

Fuyuhiko sighed. "Look, I know… I know that there's something between us," his blush deepened, "but you can't just keep mad-dogging me until I… Shit, I don't even know what you expect me to do!"

His grumpy expression was adorable, and Hajime couldn't help but smile a bit.

"And that!" Fuyuhiko pointed at the merman's face. "Quit, like, smiling and shit when I'm mad! It pisses me off!"

God, that was even cuter. Hajime started laughing silently.

"Seriously, asshole! Knock it off!" Fuyuhiko moved forward to grab the front of Hajime's shirt. He realized his mistake as he became painfully aware of how close they were now, but he didn't back down.

The brunette looked up at him, expression an odd mixture of surprise and mirth. This close, he could really see how many freckles the other man had. His eyes slowly trailed down to Fuyuhiko's lips.

Drawing in a shaky breath, the blonde tightened his grip on Hajime's shirt. "Stop looking at me like that," he said, voice low.

Like what? Hajime mouthed, not even thinking about the fact that the human couldn't hear him. He gently grasped Fuyuhiko's wrists but didn't move them.

"Like you wanna fuckin' kiss me," Fuyuhiko murmured, and he was so close now, and there wasn't anything to stop them. Hajime couldn't resist.

The merman closed the distance between them and kissed him. The blonde pulled on Hajime's shirt, tugging him even closer as their mouths pressed together.

Lips moved slowly, sensually, savoring the moment before parting invitingly. Hajime licked into the smaller man's mouth, hands moving to cup his face. The memory of kissing Fuyuhiko in the cave came rushing back vividly.

The blonde made a soft noise, kissing back eagerly. Their tongues met as the kiss deepened, all of the anticipation from the last two days coming to a head.

Fuyuhiko nipped at Hajime's lower lip, letting go of his shirt in favor of burying his fingers in his hair. The merman pulled him closer and he allowed himself to be drawn into the taller man's lap, straddling him.

After a moment, the blonde pulled back, panting. "Shit," he breathed. He clearly wanted to say something else, but instead he dove back into the kiss. Hajime answered in kind.

They kissed for several minutes, quiet moans escaping from Fuyuhiko's throat. Hajime's hands moved to the other man's hips before sliding down his thighs, marveling at the way his legs were able to bend.

Fuyuhiko growled against Hajime's lips. He pulled away again, but not very far. "What the fuck is happening?" he asked between kisses. "I don't even know you, why the fuck do I want you so bad?"

Hajime laughed silently before his mouth was occupied again. He willingly gave up control as the blonde kissed him harder, clearly taking out his frustrations on Hajime's mouth. The merman slid his hands back up Fuyuhiko's legs, coming to rest on his ass, earning a breathy moan.

Eventually they broke apart. Fuyuhiko took a deep breath to ground himself, frowning at the taller man. "We have to stop. I can't… I don't want to do anything I'm gonna regret."

Hajime furrowed his brow, but he understood. He let go of the human, allowing him to stand up.

Fuyuhiko straightened his clothes. He was still trying to catch his breath, and he wouldn't meet Hajime's eyes. "...Sorry," he muttered. "I'm not trying to be a cocktease, I promise."

The merman wasn't sure what that meant, but he shook his head to show that there were no hard feelings. He stood up from the bed and indicated the door.

"Yeah," the blonde hurriedly agreed, clearing his throat. "It's probably better if you go."

Hajime walked to the door with Fuyuhiko following behind him. As he stepped into the hallway, he felt the other man's hand on his shoulder. He turned to face him, curious, and was caught off-guard as Fuyuhiko leaned up and kissed him again. The merman was surprised, but happily returned the kiss.

The blonde didn't linger, however, pulling away just as suddenly. "I'll, um… see you tomorrow, yeah?"

Hajime nodded and watched him close the door. As he made his way back to his room, the brunette couldn't help smiling to himself. He had successfully kissed Fuyuhiko! Now he just had to get a little further.

He sighed at the thought. The blonde had definitely been into the kiss, and it certainly felt like he wanted to do more, but it also seemed like he was hesitant. Hajime couldn't blame him, really. Asking him to jump into bed with a man he barely knew was unfair.

The merman reached his bedroom and busied himself with getting ready for bed. He tried not to think too much about the beautiful human, but it was proving truly difficult.

Especially because the strange appendage between his legs was standing at attention.

***

After breakfast, Fuyuhiko told Hajime that he had to actually work and pawned him off on Nekomaru. Hajime didn't mind, of course. He knew Fuyuhiko would have something else to do eventually, and he liked spending time with Nekomaru well enough.

When the blonde continued avoiding him after lunch, however, Hajime started growing concerned.

He was quickly running out of time. He had to get Fuyuhiko to sleep with him by the end of the day, and he definitely wouldn't be able to do that if the man in question wasn't around.

Hajime allowed Nekomaru to lead him outside, hoping to catch a glimpse of Fuyuhiko somewhere. The huge man commanded his attention, though, trying to explain some game involving kicking a ball. The former merman watched his demonstration incredulously, knowing full well that he didn't have the coordination for that.

Before he realized it, another couple of hours had passed. The sun was already starting to descend and Hajime still had no idea where Fuyuhiko was.

Luckily, Nekomaru saw his searching glances and understood immediately. "You looking for the boss?" When Hajime nodded, he laughed. "Man, you two sure like each other a lot! Young love sure is cute!"

His statement was a little confusing to Hajime, since he was under the impression that Nekomaru was the same age as him, but he blushed nonetheless.

The huge man just grinned at him. "He's probably meeting with his father right about now, but you should be able to catch him before dinner."

Hajime sighed. He didn't like waiting, since he was rapidly running out of time, but he also didn't want to disrupt Fuyuhiko's life anymore than he already had. He nodded to Nekomaru and went back to trying to kick the ball without falling over.

***

He wasn't able to find Fuyuhiko before dinner, and the blonde gave him the slip again right after the meal. Hajime ended up just going to Fuyuhiko's room and sitting slumped against the door.

It was probably a pretty pathetic sight, but Hajime didn't care. If this is what it took to be with the human, then so be it.

Glancing out a nearby window told him that it was getting late. The sun had set long ago. The merman sighed for what felt like the hundredth time since he sat down. This might be the end of his land adventure after all.

Just as he was getting ready to start the long walk back to the beach, he heard footsteps approaching. He looked up hopefully and was pleased to see that it really was Fuyuhiko.

Gold eyes met hazel and they stared each other down for a moment. "...What the fuck are you doing?"

Hajime climbed to his feet and just indicated the human.

"Waiting for me?" Fuyuhiko snorted, but his cheeks still turned pink. Well, pinker. "That's kinda sad, you know." He came closer, stopping right in front of Hajime. "What exactly do you want?"

The question was so blunt, and the man's face was so deadpan, it caught Hajime a little off guard. He stared back blankly for a second before pointing at Fuyuhiko.

The blonde frowned, brow furrowed. "Me? What, like… you wanna fuck me? 'Cause I'm not into that casual shit, okay?"

The merman shook his head. Obviously he wanted to sleep with the human, but that wasn't all he wanted. He reached out and gently laid his hand on Fuyuhiko's chest, directly over his heart.

It took the smaller man a moment to catch on, but when he did, his face and ears turned a deep red. "You…! What the fuck are you saying?!"

Technically I'm not saying anything. Hajime really wished he could speak instead of having to keep his snarky comments to himself.

Fuyuhiko grabbed the front of his shirt, pulling him closer. "...You're so fuckin' embarrassing." Despite the insult, he leaned up and kissed him.

Hajime gladly kissed back, carefully wrapping his arms around the other man, bringing their bodies flush together. As the blonde's lips parted, he happily took advantage. Their tongues met and the kiss deepened.

When they broke for air, Fuyuhiko glared up into Hajime's eyes. "I don't know what this is between us, but you better be taking it seriously, you hear me?"

The merman nodded in agreement, leaning in to nuzzle the other man's ear. There was so much he wanted to tell him, and the thought that he might be able to soon kept him on target.

Fuyuhiko made a soft noise as the brunette started kissing his neck. "Fuck… Let's get out of the damn hallway," he muttered, pulling away from Hajime. He grabbed the merman's wrist and pulled him into his bedroom.

Once inside, he shoved Hajime backwards onto his bed and slammed the door. Fuyuhiko stood over him, brows knitted and cheeks flushed. "...I'm serious about not wanting anything casual. If we… If we do this, you have to… promise…" He cut himself off, seemingly too embarrassed.

Hajime sat up and pulled the smaller man closer. He cupped his cheek and gazed up into his golden eyes, knowing that he felt the exact same way. I promise, he mouthed, though he wasn't sure Fuyuhiko would understand. I want to be with you… More than you know.

The blonde let out a nervous breath before kissing the taller man deeply. He moved closer so that he was standing between Hajime's legs, his own legs pressed against the bed. He pulled back just enough to speak again. "...You're not, like… going to leave me to go back to the ocean, are you?"

Shaking his head, Hajime leaned in, pressing soft, reverent kisses to Fuyuhiko's freckled cheeks. If only he could explain that this was exactly what he needed to stay here.

The human pushed him back onto the bed again, but this time he followed, covering Hajime's body with his own. He kissed the merman hungrily, straddling his hips.

(cue the smut)

A couple of notes:

So I wasn't sure if I wanted to make Fuyuhiko a prince, or just keep him as the heir to a yakuza clan (a yakuza prince lol) so I left it kinda vague. But I definitely leaned more towards the yakuza explanation. Should I make it more clear?

And I don't know why Nekomaru is there, lol.

I think I could probably take a lot of the beginning out, but idk. What do you all think?

#kuzuhina #fuyuhiko kuzuryuu #hajime hinata #fanfiction #writing process #Live or Die You And I Are Together #sparky writes

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lune-de-miel-au-paradis · 3 months

Text

The attack

Summary: Nina found a new job which leads to serious complications with Felix and a bounty hunter

Pairing: Darth Maul x OC Nina Cerasus

Warnings: Mention of violence, wounds, medication, hospital, anxiety, mutual pining, idiots in love, angst. (Let me know if I left out something.) Minors DNI!

Sentences in italics is an inner monologue, a thought.

AN: This fic means a lot to me and I worked on it a lot. If you have any advice or comments, please share them with me kindly. I'm posting for the first time in years and I don't want nasty comments to discourage me from posting again. Remember it’s a slow burn! If you don't like it, please go to another blog. I did my best to translate it, so pls forgive me, English is not my first language.

Also huge thank you for lovely @hellhound5925 to beta reading it and help me arrange my messy mind.💖💖

Please enjoy reading!

previous chapter

divider by the lovely Saradika

The smell of detergent wafted through the air. Nina coughed a little and began wiping the surface until the sticky jam stain was gone.

"Why are you doing this job, would you mind reminding me?" asked Polina via comm.

"Because it was the only job that hires quickly in the long-term and pays well." Nina explained and continued wiping up the shiny surfaces.

"I understand, but couldn't a droid do that job?"

"Not in this household. The husband is a bit paranoid since the last time their system was hacked. And the credit is good for me anyway."

"But why now?"

"Because if I don't work, I will never have a bank deposit nor my own life. By the way, the new med treatment is a bit more expensive."

"But why don't you simply ask Felix? That bastard owes you at least that much."

"HA! I'd rather chew on shard glass than borrow from the person I hate the most in the Galaxy! Polina, have you fallen on your head?! What a stupid question. "

"But still, he is your father..."

"I don’t have a father!” sighed ” Polina I don't feel like deep diving about this topic at the moment, okay? The bottom line is, I'll finish in two hours, and we can have dinner together at home."

"About that... yeah sorry but I'm stuck in the library, I have to write two papers till the end of this standard week."

“Okay, then. Good luck with that! Text me when you're done.”

Nina found this job two standard days ago. A wealthy family was looking for a humanoid cleaning crew for their house on Naboo for the season. They had some big brokerage company, they received the young woman with respect, maybe a little coldly, but Nina didn't mind. They did not disturb her while she was working, so she could listen to the course material through her headset.

Everything was going well until it wasn't. While cleaning, she noticed the presence of a familiar man. Felix! ... Her father. Nina felt a bitter taste in her mouth, she didn't want to see the man she despised more than anyone in the Galaxy. But it seems she can't avoid him since he moved back to the city of Theed, running into him twice in two weeks. These two meetings were more than the young woman would have liked.

Nina tried to do her work out of his sight, which she succeeded, only for a few hours.

That man made her nervous, rightfully so because he approached her quite harshly. When she was putting away a few items, she cleaned the workroom. As soon as the host left them alone. Felix spoke in a stern voice, his whole presence projected hatred toward his own daughter, roughly pulling out the holopad from her hand.

"What are you doing here Nina?!"

She was silent only staring at him with her green eyes full of hatred. There was no point talking to him when she knew Felix felt her defy and elude towards him.

His grip tightened.

“Do not test my patience to know what your silence does to me when I expect answers.”

"What do you think I'm doing? I'm doing my job. Cleaning." she said as in a 'matter of fact' tone, she didn't even raise her voice.

She tried to get away from him, but he was gripping her upper arm too tight.

“You know what I’m thinking girl? That you are up to something sneaky. What is the plan this time? Burn the whole house down? Ruin my engagement party? Why was this in your hands?” he lifted the datapad.

“First of all, let me go, you are hurting me. Secondly I have no intentions with you. In fact, I wish to see your traitorous face or be in your presence! I work here. You know people do that, for credits who don’t lie and cheat.”

Nina could feel the tremor in her own voice, even if it was just a little she hated it. She hated to sound weak. But no matter how much she tried to hold herself together, Felix managed to get under her skin every time, grabbing and turning the dagger straight into her heart.

She turned into that lonely little girl again. The one, this man left alone more than sixteen years ago now stood close to her. She sobbed to this man, clinging to his clothes in fear, begging him not to leave her. He left anyway. Because of this, she was ashamed to this day. How could she be so pathetic?!

Now here he stood facing her, he didn't look so tall and he didn't look so scary. He was a middle-aged man with good connections and a brand new perfect family that Nina didn't quite fit into, like an old lost puzzle piece.

Thirsty for revenge, Nina wanted to tear off his hold that made her feel disgust. She wanted to hurt him back, scream and make him feel fear of her.

It was the first time they had been so close physically since she was a child. She felt overwhelmed. The hand that last time caressed her puffy little face now holds her arm violently, causing her pain.

So many years have passed. The passage of time caught up with both of them. Nina wondered if her father would notice the similarities between them that she so hated in herself. Or does he hover over them and continue to be selfish, only concerned with his own discomfort?

As it turned out, the latter turned out to be true.

The man seemed angry, he pulled her closer as she gripped her upper arm, she knew it would leave bruises.

“Don’t play games with me. There will be no next time! When I withdraw the report and pay to delete the data in the police system.”

“I’m not playing. And I never asked any of that. I don't’ want anything from you” she spat at him

“Impossible girl! You are ungrateful and pathetic. You are like a stain in my life that doesn't come out, but tries to spread to the other layers. I want you to tell Nigel that this job is not for you and leave.”

"Not gonna happen! I need the job.”

“I don’t give a damn about it. You do as I said. “

“I am not your subject. You have no power over me!”

“You are stubborn just like your Mother. Look where it took her.” he taunted her, trying to push Nina’s buttons, trying to break the young woman.

“Breathe. Breath Nina. Don’t let him see you weak.” she thought to herself.

"Don't you dare talk about her! You have no right to! Now let me go or I’ll scream and you can begin to explain why you raised your hand to a young Nabooan female citizen. You don't want to tell Nigel about your embarrassing old family, do you? I thought so.” she never broke the eye kontakt, instead elegantly lifted her brow projecting an “I dare you!”

“Is that so? So defying me makes you feel brave? Hmm… If I weren’t so annoyed by your actions I might find your little games of trying amusing.”

He caressed her cheek with false love and his mockery made her grind her teeth. Stars above! How much she despised him.

“Be careful Nina don’t play coy with me. In this game you’ll never win. You have no chance! Maker! You didn’t even have it in you to be in the field. Have I made myself clear, young lady?

“Bright like the sunlight!" she spat the last word with disgust in her tone and ripped her arm out of the grip.

“One day. One day she’ll beat him. He will pay. He will fear him, beg for mercy and she will not give it to him.”

She left the house in fury and went back to her studies. She decided to focus her pent up anger on something more useful.

In the post meridiem of the day she was sitting in the park reading a holo book for her law classes when a man approached her, blocking the sunlight from her face, casting his shadow over her. She looked up slightly annoyed, her eyes were forest green in the light.

He was an average looking guy with messy dirty blonde hair, he looked down at her and smiled. It was a kind of smile that melted a girl's heart, but his eyes were sneaky and calculating, not matching the smile on his lips, exposing the appearance of warmth,and showing the fakeness underneath.

Nina didn’t like his vibes either; it felt filthy and not in a good way under his gentlemanly mask. Nevertheless she never showed her fear to him.

“What a lovely sunny day we have.” he spoke to her and sat closer than she’d like.

“Indeed.” she stuck her nose back to her reading.

“What are you reading If I may ask?” he leaned in and she decided that she was done talking with this stranger, her gut told her to get away as soon as she could.

“Evidence procedures on business in law” she answered dryly

“What an interesting topic. Mind if I ask a few questions about it?”

Nina turned to look at him. He was trying to make her think his intentions are flirtatious, but she saw it in his black eyes that she wasn’t his type. That he wanted something else.

“Actually I have a class that starts in 5 minutes.”

“It won’t take long. Well.. I can’t promise that since it depends on how short your answers will be. Maybe I can buy you a coffee." He raised a brow at her and opened up his coat sleeve to show her his blaster.

A couple of students noisily passed by, distracting the man's attention, so Nina gained an advantage to escape.

She picked up her bag, and quickened her steps, he followed her with honey glazed words she wasn’t hungry to buy. It all felt wrong, he was not someone he showed he was.

She considered the decision of the path of escape this situation and putting bigger space between them. If she goes towards the school, the guards in the building or a teacher can help her, while if she goes towards the park, it is not certain that anyone is there right now, and the park is a bit further away. She walked up the steps of the university and looked back. The man did not follow her, there was no sign of him. He was gone, just like the morning dew around the first sunlight.

“You’re okay. He is gone.“ she felt relieved.

She went in and waited inside for a while, then started home, barely reaching the end of the columned aisle when she turned a corner towards the stairs and someone caught her hard.

It was the weird guy from the park. He waited her

He pulled her close, so Nina could feel his breath on her face. It wasn’t pleasing.

Both of them were breathing heavily, Nina because she was caught off guard and her attacker because he was impatient.

“Now, do you have any idea what you are doing Miss? You waste my time. And you can guess because I know you are a clever little girl that I hate it when my time is wasted. My client is sure that you have done some nasty things and stole some files. He wants to get back what is his property.”

She wanted to put space between them, but when he noticed she was not paying as much attention as he wanted decided to show her his real face.

Suddenly the man's shape turned. He wasn’t a blonde guy anymore nor a humanoid. He was a reptilian with greenish - gray scales. She read about it before, so she knew her attacker was a clawdite.

Nina just shook her head in denial.

"I have no idea what you're talking about. I don't have anything, I just go there to work, to clean" she said in a thin voice, as she pressed her throat with both hands at the attack.

"You’re lying, pretty girl, I know. Stop being stubborn, and give me the kriffing drive or else, I might need to break that pretty neck of yours."

“I don’t have a clue what youre talking about.“ she still whispered “ Go on and look through my bag”

The clawdite grimaced, but hesitantly took the bag. As soon as he started to scatter its contents on the ground, Nina pushed him and wanted to run away, but strong hands grabbed her by the nape.

"What do you think you're doing? My client knows you're the thief to blame for the information. If you give it back, he's willing to waive the report."

"It.Wasn't.Me." Nina pronounced each word with emphasis.

Her attacker just shook his head at her.

"Tsk tsk, stubborn girl. You must leave my client alone! And give back the stolen files. Or else…!”

His eyes were near feral, unhinged and ready to violate her. His hand was on the blaster on his belt.

She cursed herself that she chose the steps and not the sidewalk through the park. This location is more sheltered from others who might witness her now restraining her assailant.

“I’m not quitting. I didn’t do anything, and I don’t have those files!” she yelled back, hoping someone might hear them.

A thin lawyer of sweat formed on her body, and she felt her chest tight and her stomach cramping. Her breaths picked up speed, the chill of the afternoon air burrowed into her bones. Her attacker didn’t let her go, when she tried to run from him as he cornered her.

“I need to get out of here.” she thought.

He pinned her to the wall of the school, her head banged against the carved marble decoration on it. Her vision blurred at the impact and she let out a small cry.

“I don’t have it!” she said again, this time louder and voice tight.

“Don’t lie to me!”

She was scared and angry. How dare this man try to frighten her! In one week she got pinned harshly twice by males and she was sick of it. She was sick of being overpowered and harmed. The blood in her veins turned ice.

“Even if I had it I would get rid of it already.” she spat back

Nina felt her heart pound so quickly she was afraid she might pass out, so she concentrated on her breath which isn’t easy when someone holds your neck and has a blaster.

“Everything will be fine. Everything will be fine. Breathe Nina. One. In. Out. Two. In. Out. Stay calm and collected. “

This method failed to make her calmer, her vision still blurry, she tried to think with a clear mind as much as she could and her oxygen supply let her.

This was not like with Maul, the Zabrak held his power back when they met at the old castle ruins. She knew it back then and she was able to compare the two situations now. Plus the clawdite was stronger than a human and wasn’t here to negotiate. He wanted something she couldn’t give him. So he was here to kill her.

She clawed his hold but he was stronger than her, and tightened his fingers around her throat and banged her head again to the hard wall. Dots started to dance before her vision, when she remembered what she learned in self defense class.

With all the power in her body she could gather she grabbed his lower arm close to his wrist - which hand he was holding her throat - and started to twist it to the right direction and push it downwards.

She wasn’t strong enough to fully twist it out or cause serious pain to her attacker, but it distracted him, and she could use the situation to knee him in the balls with every ounce of strength she had.

His howled in pain let her go to double over. The moment she felt the release on her neck she sucked in a big amount of air to fill her lungs, kicked him on his shin and stumbled toward down the stairs that led to the street.

Unfortunately, she was only able to take a few steps before she felt a strong jolt from a hand on her back. She didn't even have time to scream before she crashed down the hard stone steps. She felt painful bruises forming in several places on her arms, sides and shoulders. Then she hit her temple on the edge of one of the stairs, causing in her ears a shrill whistling hum, then everything went black.

next chapter

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#darth maul #star wars #maul #oc nina cerasus #nika's writing #darth maul x oc nina cerasus #maul x nina #original character #backstory #my fic writing #naboo #romantic story #star crossed the fic #star crossed lovers #star-crossed #tragic love story #before the phantom menance #starcrossed #nina cerasus

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