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ficbrish · 1 year

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ME4: Aftermath Chapter 1

"Rubble" [AO3]

Rating: Explicit, 18+ only

Tags: Post-Reaper War, Destroy Ending (Mass Effect), Shepard Survives (Mass Effect), Biotic Shepard (Mass Effect), Colonist (Mass Effect), War Hero (Mass Effect), Sentinel (Mass Effect), Paragade (Mass Effect), Novel, Slow To Update, POV Alternating, Plot, Established Relationship, Queerplatonic Relationships, Eventual Relationships, Adventure & Romance, Fluff and Humor, Angst and Hurt/Comfort, Grief/Mourning, Found Family, Rebuilding, Reunions, Canon-Typical Violence, Dorks in Love, I Will Go Down With This Ship

[[TW/CW: Grief, alcohol]]

[All Chapters]

Major Kaidan Alenko was familiar, too familiar, with the feeling of cold steel in his hands, but nothing ever froze between his fingers like the plaque he gripped tightly now. It was engraved with the name of his favorite person.

The crew of the Normandy were all used to sad, difficult things. Some of them had even gone through Commander Shepard’s death before.

It would all be okay.

And yet…

They found themselves wishing they were back in recent time, still in the heat of the Reaper War; even with billions being harvested, because that's when seeing her was as simple as turning a corner. When Shepard was around.

It was a stupid, selfish thought.

The Major's team stood behind him, well, most of them... The holes that EDI and Shepard had left behind cratered into vast gulfs and filled with a mess of stinging, burning grief. It was a glue between them that broke them apart. They were anxious about Kaidan losing it again, and a part of himself was too.

The time had come to add her name to the wall. They’d all agreed it would be good for him; to be the one who... It’s what she would’ve wanted.

To hold her one more time.

Sort of.

Kaidan breathed deeply and shakily as he stepped towards the memorial. All he needed to do was put her to rest above her Cap- her father’s name. Admiral David Anderson—that call had come once they got their comms restored. Anderson and Shepard confirmed dead.

“What does ‘confirmed’ mean? Do they have a body?” he’d asked, bearing down over Liara’s shoulder while gathering himself together after a particularly rough fit. She was plastered to the computer screen by her wall of monitors.

Liara had been more patient with him lately considering the circumstances, but she still shrugged his added weight off her back.

“She’s gone, Kaidan. I’m so sorry.”

“Did they find a body?”

“Kaidan…”

“Did they?!”

“It’s not going to be like the last time,“ Liara stated mechanically, still not meeting his face.

“You don’t know that,” he said, and repeated, “Did they find a body?”

“It wasn’t clear.”

It was enough to give him hope. Shepard was capable of anything.

He felt a bit silly standing there in front of that wall, another funeral with no body to mourn. It was Tali’s idea, people needed to say goodbye to EDI, Anderson, and… and Shepard. Now that the extranet was partially up and the Normandy was space-worthy, it was time to head out again. It was the perfect moment for closure.

But Kaidan wasn’t ready to say goodbye.

He hesitated a moment before encrusting her name on the tomb. His expression twisted up with the loss of her, and then—

Oh Goddess! Liara thought.

Kaidan turned around and announced to the crew, “She’s not dead! We’re going to find Shepard,” with a gleeful mania about him.

They all groaned.

Liara let out a half-choke, half-inhale. Then burst into tears and fell into Tali’s arms.

“I’m just so stressed out,” she said to reassure everyone, as if that were better.

Vega wasn't trying to be a dick when he asked, “And you all still think putting him in charge was a good idea?”

“Hey now,” Garrus warned, one hand resting on Tali’s shoulder as she comforted Liara.

“Why is everyone upset?” Kaidan asked, “This is great news!”

Garrus gave Liara a look that said, Go get Chakwas.

Liara understood. She nodded, wiped her eyes, and began to sidle out of their small crowd.

“Hey! No! You’re not going to get Dr. Chakwas. I’m fine,” Kaidan insisted.

The way the old crew could effectively communicate without words still impressed and intimidated everyone else. Traynor looked at the floor, shuffling her feet, and suggested, “I could try to strengthen the comms, you know, once we resupply and do some more minor repairs.”

“Now you’re encouraging him,” Vega reprimanded, crossing his arms.

“I think the Major is right,” Javik stated, glaring at Vega.

“Liara, you’re the one who found her last time, and now you have more resources than ever.”

“Exactly, Kaidan. I have more resources than ever and no news,” she snapped.

His face began to fall.

A moment of silence followed that had nothing to do with respect for the dead.

After a while, Joker blankly said, “I’ll get the ship ready to go,” and hobbled over to the elevator.

Traynor left for the bar. Vega and Javik followed her, arguing.

Tali put a hand on Kaidan’s arm, a gentle and pitying gesture.

“You have to be prepared for the worst,” she told him in a kind, but hard, voice.

Kaidan covered her hand with one of his, “I know.”

Garrus nodded at him, Kaidan nodded back. He watched Garrus lead Tali away.

Liara remained.

“She was my best friend,” she stated.

“I know. You were hers.”

“And you just ruined her memorial service.”

He didn’t respond.

“And now you’re sending the rest of us on a fruitless search—”

“How can you say that?”

“Joker saw the whole thing explode! This isn’t like the last time. Last time she was ejected into space, not incinerated.”

Kaidan was quiet for a while, then said, “I’m sorry I’ve made this so hard on everyone.”

He stepped heavily into the elevator, cradling that plaque in his hands like it was precious.

Humans were terrible at letting go.

* * * * * *

Gasp!

Dying hurt a lot more this time.

Cough—Cough! Gasp! Cough!

Everything was so dark. At least death in space had given her the stars.

There were no stars here.

And a lot of pain.

Last time had been painful too, but only for a little while. This time it was constant, a steady wave of excruciating sensations that dulled together into a new feeling of normal. It was so bad it even woke her up.

Woke her up?

Shepard tried to open her eyes but couldn’t see. She tried to move.

But couldn’t do that either.

She was alone.

Then that blissful nothingness enveloped her once again.

* * * * * *

The baby was screaming.

“I want everyone able on this search! Scrounge through the rubble until your hands bleed. We need her found, dead or alive.”

The furious voice boomed and filled the room, even over the wailing child. Wrex had not slept in days, and the baby was screaming in his ear. The war had nothing on its aftermath.

Wrex growled, “A body! You hear me? I want a body!”

The other Krogan feared and respected him too much to argue, but they all thought it was pointless. Days had already passed, and they'd found the body of the former Human councilor on the first. Fear and respect aside, there were females to fertilize and extractions to be made. Earth was less populated now, but the Humans would want it back. They needed terms, not a pile of ashes. They needed their leader to lead.

The baby was screaming.

Wrex threw the little monster in the air and caught it. A peaceful smile replaced the noise. He repeated the gesture again and again, grateful for the momentary quiet, and sunk into his thoughts.

“Have communications been able to reach beyond the Sol system yet?”

“No, sir. At least not from us. But people have been able to get news outside of the system via travelers,” answered one of the Human Alliance soldiers assigned to assist him.

Wrex grunted, which made the human nervous. The baby continued to giggle and squeal as she flew between gravity and her father’s arms.

It had been almost a week, but Shepard could still be alive. That window was closing more every day, and it was dangerously close to being shut for good. Wrex couldn’t let that happen. If they brought back a body, it wouldn’t be one that had expired after the explosion.

“You saw it Wrex,” Bakara kept insisting when he'd come back at night, “With your own eyes. We all did.”

The sky had lit up.

They’d been losing, and they all knew it.

Then the sky lit up, and the Citadel began to rain down into the atmosphere. Hell had come to take them all home.

Then—

A pulse of red energy swallowed the world, and the monsters went away.

The Reapers were all gone.

Just like that, while the ruins of the Citadel still fell in brilliant streaks across the red-blue sky.

The Reapers were gone! The Genophage was cured!—He held his own child in his hands! And everyone was telling him to give up on the person who'd made it all happen.

His own sister.

Wrex caught the baby one more time, then pounded his free fist on the desk.

“I’m going. Somebody get Bakara, or watch this baby.”

He handed the now-delighted child off to the nearest guard.

“Here, you’re her uncle now. Uncle…?”

“Quash Brax”

“Ugh,” Wrex sighed. “Okay, well, uh, have fun with Uncle Brax, kid.”

Then Wrex stormed out of the room.

Why did he always have to do every damn thing himself?

Except when Shepard was around. She never let him work alone.

“And somebody feed those fucking cats while I’m out!” Wrex roared as he barreled through the city’s ruins.

* * * * * *

Kaidan could still smell her on the bed, but he knew it was only a matter of time before that was gone too. He was lying on it now, looking up at the stars like they did in those last weeks together.

“I get the same feeling when I look at you, you know?” Kaidan had said then.

Shepard smiled and squeezed his hand, “I always wanted to show you this.”

It had been one of the first times they’d spent just lying there on their backs and watching the stars from her bed.

“If I wasn’t such an ass, you could’ve shown me sooner,” he responded.

She laughed at him the way she did when she thought he was being ridiculous.

“You weren’t being an ass, Kaidan. You were being realistic, and I needed that.”

“Heh, was still a bit of an ass, though.”

They could have had one more year together.

There was a knock, and the doors slid open.

“Sorry, automatic,” Liara shrugged apologetically.

Kaidan patted the spot on the bed next to him. Liara took his invitation and joined him. He held out an arm, and she sidled up to his side.

“You need to sleep,” she said, yawning and resting her heavy head on his chest.

“Yeah, well…”

“Yeah,” Liara agreed.

Kaidan sighed, “I’ve been getting on everyone’s nerves, haven’t I?”

“Especially mine,” she joked, and it made him smirk.

“Thank you for, for everything,” Kaidan said, feeling his face turn hot. Twice she had seen him completely surrender to loss. She’d witnessed his wailing. She'd held together while he fell apart; only once joining in his lament, that night as they flew away.

“You were there for me after Benezia. And after Thessia… It’s what friends do.” Liara said.

He squeezed her shoulder, pressing her against him. Somehow, slowly, they’d become each other’s family.

“But with Benezia, I wasn’t hurting too,” he added, “And Thessia was devastating, but it wasn’t my planet.”

Liara shrugged, “I’ll be fine, Kaidan, “Do not worry about me.”

“Do you remember that last fight?”

Liara tensed up. Kaidan kept talking about everything she just wanted to forget.

“What about it?” she asked.

“I just really thought that was gonna be it. Shepard had that fear in her voice I’d never heard. We all did, and we all kept going—Well, they kept coming. And I kept losing sight of you and Shepard, but you were both right there. I know I won’t shut up about it, I’m sorry, but I never had any siblings and… I’ve just never felt as close to anyone as I have with you and her. I got through all that because we were a team. Now I’m getting through this, I think, I don’t know... But I’m only able to stay together because—”

“We’re a team,” Liara finished for him, and patted his hand. He nodded.

“I wouldn’t worry about it, Kaidan. Everyone’s been getting on everyone’s nerves,” she said kindly after a bit.

“I feel like we should do something about that, don’t you?”

“Like what?”

“I don’t know. Get everyone together in one room? Air it out? Do something fun together?”

“I have no energy for that," Liara sighed, "but it sounds necessary.”

“I just don’t want it all to fall apart like the last time she—,” he stopped.

“I know, me neither,” she agreed tiredly and yawned, “So Alenko, what do you have in mind?”

The two friends began planning how to null the Normandy’s growing chasm, their eyes lazily tracing the stars as they passed by above them.

* * * * * *

It was an awkwardly wide chasm. What had erupted into a stir-crazy, spiraling rash once they’d gotten back into space began with a restless itch inside them all from being trapped in the unknown on some random planet.

They’d landed on fucking Pragia. That haunted, overflowing jungle planet.

“I’ve been here before,” Tali said on their second stuck day, “It’s fucking Pragia.”

What Cerberus had done there to biotic children made Brain Camp look like a nurturing environment. Thankfully, they seemed to be nowhere near that facility, or what was left of it.

Ghosts weren’t a problem. The vegetation was.

“This is bullshit,” Vega complained, unloading a round of ammo into a patch of vines woven thickly around the Normandy. Kaidan had commanded them to work in groups; food, water, repairs, plants. Vega and Cortez were on vine duty again. They grew back with madness every few hours.

“I know,” Cortez agreed, panting. The humidity turned the suppression of their rifles' recoil into a real fight, “These vines are as aggressive as Turian Twinks during Pride.”

“Huh?”

Cortez sighed, “Nothing.”

The day they'd crash-landed was indescribable. It took only a few moments to turn everything hopeless. Months of scrounging to save the entire galaxy parred down to overwhelming seconds of FUBAR. It was agony, and then it was over.

Just like that.

Most of them were alive; some didn’t make it.

But most of them were alive. The galaxy was going to continue.

There wasn’t room for much else other than deep relief, but loss was so damn loud.

The second day was just as surreal but structured too. Kaidan had limped out of the Med-bay to address everyone. He looked rough, but spoke kindly and with consideration. They'd all agreed without words to put him in charge.

“I know you’re all eager to get back in the sky, but we have to do this right instead of fast,” Major Alenko told them.

Kaidan knew what it meant to be led by a monster—Vyrnnus, and a legend—Shepard. He was sure he could at least accomplish middle ground. It was the same thing he'd told himself when commanding his biotic squad.

He’d expected to hear opposition, but no one made a sound. They were all looking to him the way they’d looked to her.

“We have fuel, but not much,” Kaidan went on explaining, “Communications are still silent, so we don’t know what’s waiting for us up there. If we rush, and there’s no active fuel stations—Well… So, we have to wait until we know for sure.”

Everyone just looked at him, waiting for more. Kaidan didn’t know what else to give them other than blind hope.

“We’ve got this. We’re Shepard’s—We’re the crew of the Normandy.”

And, oh god, there it was: Pity.

“First things first,” Kaidan continued in a lighter tone, “We’ve gotta do something about those fucking vines before they trap us here forever.”

The windows had grown thick with them overnight.

“What about the engine?” Tali asked.

“That too,” Kaidan said, “It needs some repairs. Luckily, they’re minor. By the time we get in touch with anyone, we’ll probably be good to go.”

“What if there’s no one out there?” asked a faceless voice in the crowd.

People parted and revealed a member of the crew, Hiverson. They’d picked him up sometime towards the end. He'd only been there for the assault on the Cerberus base and battle for Earth. The Normandy wasn’t his sanctuary; home was far away. His face was pale brown, and afraid.

“They’re out there,” Kaidan said stubbornly.

Hiverson didn’t nod his head. The crowd, still strangers to him, swallowed up the staring crewman. His concern hung in the air.

They had to be out there.

“Any more questions?” the Major asked with a clap of his hands.

“No?” Kaidan repeated after more expectant staring, “Okay! Then let’s get into groups. Tali and Garrus, I want you on the engine with Joker. Help out Adams, Gabby, and Ken. Liara, you work with Traynor and try to get a signal. Vega, Javik, and Cortez, I want you to find a water source. Chakwas, come with me. Maybe we can find something edible to lessen the pressure on our stores. The rest of you, grab a gun and clear these vines before they cover every inch.”

Everyone took part, and everyone rotated roles—except for Tali and Garrus. It became apparent by the fourth day that they were only ever on repairs. Truth was, Kaidan was afraid to risk his dextro-amino friends on a world made for levo-amino life. They were cut off from the galaxy. If anything happened to them here… but he wouldn’t let it. The food and medicine remaining for them was another story though, and out of his control. The Normandy's dextro-supplies hadn't been restocked before the last battle.

They had to get out of here.

“Hey, L2!” Vega called out when he saw Kaidan coming back from the jungle, “How about you go get your pals to give us a break?”

It was Anderson who taught him that poking fun at command was a good thing. It built trust, and relieved tension. Annoying each other could be a beneficial type of play. Let them have fun and they’ll listen. Even after that whole incident when… with her visit. Just let it happen, Anderson had advised him. Be in charge, but be a person.

Vega could call him “L2” all he wanted. At least for now.

“Because my pals are already working on another very important task,” the Major answered.

“Yeah, but Adams has already been out here with Gabby and Ken.”

“Watch it, Meathead,” Cortez warned, “the Major might start to think you’re questioning his orders.”

“Question away,” Kaidan said, “There’s no reason to keep anyone in the dark concerning my decisions. Especially now. That being said, you want a break? I can take over.”

“That would be great!” Vega said, joyfully shoving his gun over to Kaidan and walking briskly towards the ship’s entrance. Traynor ran into him on her way out.

“So sorry!” she apologized as she continued her mad dash over to Kaidan and Cortez.

Traynor was out of breath when she reached them, but spoke anyway. “Major! Liara—go!" she panted, hands on her knees, "A message!”

Kaidan took off at a run, bumping into Vega on his way in.

Oh god, was the elevator always this slow?!

He bolted from its doors as they opened to the crew’s quarters, and flew over to Liara’s cabin.

“Do we have a connection?” he asked desperately, bursting inside.

Liara nodded.

“There’s a message,” she said. But something was wrong. There was no enthusiasm.

He joined her side to stare at the screen.

Reaper forces defeated. Citadel moved to Earth and destroyed. Council safe. Captain Anderson and Commander Shepard confirmed dead.

The message was signed by Admiral Hackett, broadcast out into the vastness of known space to anyone who could receive it.

“Comms are back online,” Liara stated dryly.

That’s when Kaidan lost it. He stopped breathing when he read those words, and it returned in violent shudders.

Liara shut the door, and a sound like a wounded animal crept along the Normandy’s walls. She spared him from being seen, but they’d all heard their commander break.

So, Tali thought it would be a good idea to have a memorial service.

* * * * * *

Could somebody turn the lights down, please? They’re too bright.

She saw white and red before she was aware of anything else. Snow and blood.

“Shepard?”

A voice like roasted gravel.

Her throat was dry-locked, so she couldn’t get the question out.

Is this death?

A rough, hot hand pressed her arm.

“Take it easy, now.”

She closed her eyes and opened them again.

The sight before her was so beautiful it brought tears to her eyes.

* * * * * *

Kaidan’s hope was infectious, a pathogen born out of refusal, not fact. Joker was doing his best to not let it grate on his nerves.

Their fragile friendship had started to mend over the war but frayed again after the funeral. It was almost like the last time Shepard died, but with no one to blame. Over the past few days, they’d gone from brothers-in-loss to colleagues who tolerated each other.

Joker’s own hopes refused to shut up when Kaidan’s were so loud. It was cruel. They were never going to get them back, and they both needed to accept that.

Kaidan got in the way.

“What are you doing in here?” Her voice startled Joker from his thoughts.

She caught him over by the fried blue box again, with the body laid out respectfully underneath. She found him standing around here a lot lately.

“Jesus, Traynor. You scared me.”

“Sorry," she quipped, smirking shyly and looking at her feet, "I didn’t know I was scary.”

“Yeah, well…”

Traynor nodded. Joker looked away.

Déjà vu, they’d done this before. A few times now. One would run into the other whenever they came by here.

Liara's smooth voice suddenly came over the loudspeaker, “Normandy crew to the bar. Port Observatory, toodle sweetie to the lounge!” Something in her tone was playful.

Then it was distant, small, and matter of fact. “The what? I don’t understand… I said tooth sweet. No, I’m not still—” rang her voice through every room.

“Oh, great. What are they doing on my intercom?” Joker asked frustratedly, masking his relief at the interruption. He let Traynor exit first.

He took one last look after she left, then tried to sneak his way back to the helm but was intercepted by Vega at the elevator.

“You’re coming with me, sad boy,” he said, grabbing him by the shoulders and spinning him around.

“Easy! It’s like you’re a yeti and you’re trying to maul me,” he chastised as Vega guided him, captive, towards the Port Observatory.

“Yeah, you’d like that, wouldn’t you?”

Joker rolled his eyes.

Everyone else seemed to spill into the room behind them.

Liara and Kaidan were already behind the bar, mixing drinks. The way they were smiling and joking was, frankly, a little scary.

“Thank you all for coming,” Kaidan started, “My lovely blue friend and I realized something. In all the commotion and stress, we, ah, never really celebrated our victory.”

“We thought it would be good for us all to get together and share a drink,” Liara said.

“Or a few drinks, and clear the air,” Kaidan continued.

“Like a party?” Tali excitedly asked.

“Yes!” Kaidan said a little too loudly, pointing at her with the bottle in his hand, “Exactly like a party!”

“It’s like survivor’s guilt, but fun!” Liara added.

Kaidan entered something on his omni-tool and music started playing. A deep, electronic beat thrummed through the room.

Joker didn’t like the unhinged, unblinking look in both their eyes.

“I’m in!” Garrus exclaimed, and Tali stood on her toes to give him a high-five.

Cortez walked up to the bar and picked up two drinks, “¿Qué dices, Vega?”

“Wait!" Liara shouted, holding up two others, "Those are for Garrus and Tali, take these.”

They all crowded around the bar until each had a glass. Then they looked to Kaidan.

He nodded at the group and said, “To us, and to… to our girls. EDI and Essie.”

As one, they raised their glasses and drank deeply. It was going to be a long night, but at least there was alcohol.

Suddenly, Traynor threw her top off and stood there in her bra. Everyone turned to her, astounded.

“What?" she asked the room. "It was going to happen anyway. Might as well while I can still remember it.”

“No fair!” Tali whined, desperate to join in.

“If she’s doing it, I’m doing it,” Cortez announced, halfway free of his shirt already.

“That’s why I don’t mess with buttons," Vega undressed a lot faster than Cortez, "Takes too long.” His sleeveless undershirt flew to the other side of the room.

“Double no fair!”

Garrus draped his arms around Tali to comfort her.

Joker actually chuckled as he walked back over to the bar.

“I saw that,” Kaidan said, taking Joker’s glass to refill it.

“Yeah, well, fuck you,” he said with a weak smirk.

“Love you too, Joker.”

“You can’t use the L-word unless you’re really serious about us,” Joker quipped, grinning.

Dammit.

Joker was planning to sulk, but there was Kaidan getting in the way again.

* * * * * *

Shepard blinked. The pain was different now.

She was lying down on something soft.

It was still way too bright.

Before Shepard was aware of anything, her vision began to clear. Something large and alive was there with her, wherever she was.

She closed her eyes and opened them again.

“Wrex?!”

“Shepard!”

“Wrex!”

“Shepard!” he shouted again, jumping up and clapping his hands against his head, “Grunt! Get in here!”

The younger Krogan slammed through the door, making it burst off its hinges. The surprised screams from the hospital staff could be heard through the walls.

“Shepard!

“Grunt!”

“Shepard!” Wrex called again.

“Wrex!” she cried out.

“Shepaaard!” Grunt grumbled.

“Grunt!”

It went on for a while like that, even after they started embracing and crying.

She'd made it! They'd made i—

“Oh, fuck! She passed out!” Wrex called out, “Nurse!”

“Nuuurse!” Grunt shouted, barreling out of the room. The door hit the floor with a loud smack.

* * * * * *

“Luckily she’s the fastest ship in the galaxy, but we’ve never been without relays before. All our ships were built with them in mind,” Joker explained, slurring very slightly.

Javik chuckled, “So were ours.”

“Presumably, so was everyone’s,” Liara added.

The three of them were sitting off to the side while everyone else was gathered around the poker table. These days, having been stuck and then coming back from nowhere, it was rarely without a crowd. Chakwas and Adams had even come over to join the game.

“I’ve got you now, Vakarian!” Vega exclaimed.

Liara could see Garrus glaring without even turning her head. Maybe it was the effect of her fourth drink, but she smirked.

“Is it harder without the robot?” Javik asked.

Joker sighed. His eyes moistened.

“Yeah, it’s been really hard. Thanks for asking.”

“I meant the navigation,” Javik corrected blankly.

Joker stared back.

Liara couldn’t help but laugh a little, and Joker joined in.

“What?” Javik asked.

Liara and Joker laughed a bit harder.

“You smug prick fuck!” Traynor shouted, startling them.

Kaidan had just won another round. “Your hatred only feeds me,” he chuckled proudly, gathering the pile of chips on the table into his arms.

Joker answered Javik’s original question, “Thanks to that firecracker over there, it hasn’t been as rough to navigate as it should be. She’s crazy, but she’s a genius.”

Liara took another sip and said, “That’s because all women are crazy to you, Joker. Non-Humans too!"

“What can I say?” he shrugged, “I’m a man, a Human man at that!”

Vega called over to them from the table, “What’s he saying over there about Human men? Joker giving us all a bad name?”

“Being fair,” Adams said, “Human men give us all a bad name every day.”

“Ouch! I happen to like Human men,” Cortez replied.

“Yeah, you do!” Vega said, holding up his hand for a high-five that Traynor met with a loud slap.

“Joker was just being a bigot, nothing new,” Liara informed the group.

They all groaned.

“I might have to meet you outside after school,” Tali warned, an obvious smirk in her masked expression.

“That’s right, everyone pick on the guy who can’t hit back without breaking something,” he said.

“Come on, Joker. What did you say this time?” Kaidan prodded.

Liara saw a certain expression darken Joker’s face. She turned to Kaidan and gave him a look from across the room that told him to back off. She saw him nod in acknowledgment.

“Joker thinks all non-Humans and women are crazy,” Javik stated.

“Might someone remind Mr. Moreau that his doctor is a woman?” Chakwas asked.

“I wasn’t serious,” Joker said defensively, “It’s in the name. Never listen to me.”

Liara smiled and leaned back in her seat. There hadn’t been banter on the Normandy like this since…

And it was nice.

It made her think of the party Shepard had on the Citadel, and suddenly she really missed Wrex. She hadn’t thought about him since they'd left Earth. Where was he now? She hoped he was okay.

The game finished with Tali sneaking up from behind and wiping everyone out. Unlike the party Shepard just had a few weeks ago, everyone decided to go to bed before they got through about a bottle each. They all cleared out after, leaving Liara and Kaidan behind to clean. The gathering had been their idea, plus biotics made the job easier and quicker.

“I’d say that was a success,” Kaidan stated, satisfied.

“I just hope it lasts for a while,” Liara added, floating the dirty glasses left lying around and placing them on the bar. Kaidan then cycled them through the automatic washer.

“Yeah," he agreed darkly, "I, uh, wouldn't want things to go back the way they just were."

They continued in silence for a while, then he said, “I just wish she were here.”

Liara stopped what she was doing.

“I know,” she said.

“I’m sorry,” his voice was breaking, “I don’t want to drag us down.”

She sighed and put a hand on his shoulder.

“Kaidan, you’re okay. Just be sad if you’re sad.”

“You’re right. I’m sorry.”

“And stop apologizing,” she added. He looked up at her and smiled weakly. His eyes were red.

She wanted to comfort her friend. “We’re going to find her,” Liara said, taking his hand, “I promise.”

She didn’t know if she was lying, or if she actually believed it.

Fuck you, Kaidan. Liara thought, You were right.

It felt better to hope.

[Next Chapter]

[All Chapters]

#shenko #angst #estrella shepard #kaidan alenko #mass effect #post me3 #full fic #fshenko #kaidan x shepard #shepard x kaidan #aftermath fic #BrishFics

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denimini · 7 months

Note

Time for conspiracy…

I’ve been shipping jikook for 4 years and counting and this is the first time my belief is shaken to a significant level. Jikook has always been weird. I remember when Goldy was still active on her former blog, we used to speculate a lot on their hot and cold interactions. Jikook has always been like that. Smooth sailing for a couple of months and then they just change the vibes for the coming ones. The problem is that jikookers will never agree something is wrong😩😩. They used to attack Goldy then when she speculates that they were on a break or they had a fight. Jikookers place them on a pedestal. Anyone with eyes could see something was off but jikookers wouldn’t listen. The same thing happened last year/ this year. Jikook was weird. Simple!!!. The 2 members that sticks to each other like glue suddenly are not spending time together anymore. Jk began visibly spending time with tae when that had never happened before. People excused it as jimin too busy but I call bullshit. The jimin before 2019 would give up a lot of things to see jk. No matter how busy he was, he would find the time. Jk of the past would have moved heavens to stay with him or find another arrangement that suits them better rather than jm staying with pdogg. It was that intense between them. Tae began to invalidate jimin in jk’s life and that was the biggest clue. Tae would’ve never been brave to keep name dropping jk as he did this year unless something changed between jikook. And Jm wouldn’t have allowed it. We know jimin. He would’ve claimed his man in public no matter the consequence. Jk doing those lives, being sad, crying on live was a clue something was wrong. There were isssues. I saw jikookers claiming ex doesn’t behave like that (I mean the few times they interacted and seemed fine)etc. lol, Jikook behaves like that. It isn’t their first rodeo but jikookers wouldn’t listen because they thought they are perfect. When something was obviously wrong with them in 2020, they kept a front, smiled at each other, touched each other, flirted on camera but something was happening during ON era. So if jikook breaks up, you wouldn’t be aware because they will keep being cordial. Jikookers swore nothing was wrong but it was obvious to those who were not fooled by their bright smiles😩😩. Here is my theory about what happened:

They had issues somewhere in 2022. Simple!!! Their Instagram was another giveaway. Even tkkrs were shocked that they never acknowledged each other. That was how bad it was. They were the only 2 members who avoided themselves as much as possible. They settled on platonic probably around late 2022. He wished Jimin happy birthday and everyone thought things were back to normal. Jimin continued making his album while jk spent time doing whatever he wanted. He spent a lot of time with Tae. Then after jm album promotions was done, they probably agreed to get back together and that is how we got the jikook of today. The leaked video got me thinking about a lot of possibilities and none of it makes me happy:

1. Jk fucked around during their separation time and he just got caught.

2. they were never broken up but they were on agreement to hold up on things and jk stepped out on jm. Don’t say never. Even Beyoncé was cheated on. We don’t know them personally.

3. they are still broken up but trying to get back together hence the New York trip in July

4. They broke up and he stepped out and jm already knows since it’s technically not cheating and now they’re on the path of reconciliation and finally

5.the video is not jk but a smear campaign against him. The theory of them having issues still stand

6. they were in an open relationship and jm gave consent which I doubt because my man is madly in love with jk. None of these possibilities makes me happy especially if it turns out that was jk. Jm would be broken. I say this as someone who is sure they have a thing going on. All in all, I pray it isn’t jk because I don’t want to consider what it means for them. I just want jikookers to forget the notion that ex doesn’t behave like jikook does because jikook do😭😭. When they have issues, jm tries his best to cover it up and present as if nothing is going on. Pls God let it not be jk😩😩😩

Well, I'd say so far it looks like Jungkook, but here me out: it isn't the end of the world! Firstly, we don't know if they were ever together. Second, if they were broken up for months by the time JK started hooking up, then he has every right to. Yeah, it would have probably hurt Jimin but we can't know for sure. Maybe Jimin also had someone in his life? Let's not act like Taekookers and turn him into a victim when we don't know anything.

I think points 3 and 4 are the most logical ones. I don't think them being in an open relationship is very feasible. They both strike me as very jealous, in or out , type of people and I don't see them liking to share.

That being said, if something along the lines of point 3 or 4 is going on, this is their business. If they're both ready to put the past behind (possible other partners included), then this is their business.

I believe it is very important to keep some distance from the whole thing and not take it personally. In those lines of thought, we should be able to discuss all different scenarios and not move like a cult, saying "all is marry and happy all the time".

Considering this, I'm curious about you guys' thoughts on Jm possibly not spending time with Jk on his bday? What are your thoughts on this?

#kookmin #jikook #jimin #jungkook

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sepublic · 2 years

Text

About Emira...

Honestly, Emira being a healer outside of illusions and only that is just. SO implicitly sad, because she clearly has Eldest Child syndrome and it was even kinda confirmed canon by Disney at one point! And you can see it with how Emira is always being a big sister to Amity, always trying to encourage and bring forth her best (telling her she can pull off the fire spell, advising Amity on her crush, healing Amity), while she also has to keep Edric in line, make sure he doesn’t get into trouble or harm; He definitely could’ve with Batric or eating snow, and canonically has with his fireworks!

So it’s no wonder that her worst fear in Grom was being stuck with Edric forever... She still loves and enjoys and appreciates him, but it really is suffocating and confining to Em how she’s defined by the role she has to play for her siblings; It’s almost adultification in that Emira had to be the mom and attentive parent for her siblings, not their actual parents! At most there was Alador but even he drifted away...

Which means I get the sense that Emira is just left wondering; What about me? What about my childhood? Why can’t I goof off and be the one who’s saved? I can’t blame her for being a bit selfish in that desire and fear. It’s no wonder she wants to be a troublemaker who can do whatever she pleases, because life is already hard and even being a natural prodigy has its expectations! Which then contribute to Emira’s saltiness when Amity feels the need to undermine Emira and Edric, because Em is already doing so much for this family as-is, almost as the forced central pillar/glue; Why can’t she goof off, doesn’t Amity know and appreciate that it’s NOT as easy as it looks???

Which could tie into the twins having to put in the effort to appear flawless; Not just in terms of talent but also their physical appearances, hiding their imperfections. Meanwhile Amity doesn’t need a concealment stone and so she kind of takes it for granted how the twins struggle in their own, meaningful, equally valid way... That isn’t to say she shouldn’t be frustrated over her own situation, but lording it over her siblings isn’t fair either. The twins also had to change their appearance.

There’s honestly something almost meta about Emira’s storyline this episode; Amity and Edric get their arcs and focus, while Emira has to focus on supporting them, getting the ball rolling by taking Edric’s concealment stone, which thematically sets up his storyline with Eda and King, and then healing Luz and Amity between battles. But then when all is said and done, when Emira sees that Edric got his little arc that culminates in a Bad Girl Coven T-shirt...

Well, SHE wants one too! And the hurried way Emira butts in, almost desperately; It’s like she realized that in her efforts to keep her siblings ahead, she got left behind and she’s trying to catch up before it’s too late! Trying to get that approval and love before the episode’s screen time literally runs out! I could honestly compare it to Luz, how they’re both so concerned with helping others and their growth, that... What about their story? Did they forget about themselves???

...Anyhow, I hope to TITAN that we get an Emira B-plot later this season. I wouldn’t be surprised if it would’ve happened in Season 3 instead, but it got cut due to the show being shortened. I’m still desperately hoping that if the writers gave Edric development this season, then they may as well have given Emira some later on... But I also have to wonder that we have seven episodes left. And later episodes might’ve been changed to focus on the plot more, to tie up loose ends and transition better into the Season 3 specials.

So it’s not looking good for Emira and purely by Disney’s fault. If not, I’m gonna be really sad for Emira, because she really is that kid who was born first and seemingly ahead of her siblings in everything, from wisdom to competency; Only to be left behind in making sure Amity and Edric aren’t! Edric got Eda and Amity got Alador, Emira deserves some parental love too! A part of me is hoping, without much evidence, that Labyrinth Runners will have an Emira B-plot; Since I speculated on that episode being about the coven tryouts, which Hunter mentioned as including a maze...

Who knows, maybe Odalia will shift towards Emira as a last-ditch attempt to get a kid into the Emperor’s Coven? Because Emira is already more talented than Amity and actually sixteen, the bare-minimum age to compete. Maybe having expectations shifted from Amity to Emira, as a result of Amity’s development, will prompt some sadness and maybe even some guilty jealousy from Em; That in helping her siblings grow free, she’s left to handle the remaining burden of their parents’, mostly Odalia’s unlived expectations. Emira probably doesn’t want to join the Emperor’s Coven, but who knows, maybe she can get away and choose something for herself?

...Obviously not, the show has made it clear the coven will make any issues about recognition worse instead of fixing them. But god I can kinda see the parallels to Lilith, who felt unnoticed due to the more troublesome Eda needing attention, wanting to stand outside of Eda’s shadow... Maybe something similar can happen with Emira, and Lilith can stop her? Maybe Hunter? Luz? I just want my girl to get some healthy development.

Her siblings got to address THEIR worst fears from Grom, Em deserves to as well, and maybe have them understand just how much of a burden she’s carrying and why she wants some alone-time; Not unlike Amity realizing this episode how Luz has been struggling with a weight, prompting Amity’s guilt in not noticing and helping her out any sooner. I’d just hate for any Blight kid to be left behind, when the rest have made it; Especially if the show planned to explore that by thematically have Emira’s arc come later than sooner, only for that to backfire when DISNEY steps in...

Dammit. I’m getting the same vibes and angst as that one Grom art Dana did of the twins, being stood up by their dates; But at least they were together in their rejection! Now it’s just Emira. Now it’s just Emira who’s been left behind while she’s happy for, but also envious of a sibling’s development and growth. And while back in Grom her and Ed didn’t get brought up because screentime issues... Emira leaping to hitchhike on Edric’s arc this episode feels like she’s just starting to realize how far behind she is, and Em’s desperately trying to fix that now that her twin brother is ahead of her too! But at least she isn’t stuck with him in the back...?

It’s sad. Comparing their fears, Edric and Amity’s were based on how they wanted, needed another person and were so scared to lose that. Meanwhile Emira’s was just being stuck and tied down, so theoretically she’s perfectly ready to be her own person, while her siblings are still struggling! And yet by cruel irony, Em is in last place... And now even Edric, who Em admittedly saw as kind of a liability, is beyond her now; So if anything, Emira might be the one dragging people down! Or at least she now has a new understanding of Ed’s fear, because she doesn’t want to be left behind and thus not alone. And maybe the twins’ fears have reversed for them to understand each other, with Edric wanting to hang out with Eda and King instead of his sister, especially since he admittedly doesn’t feel as stupid around them.

God it just feels like these twins have a LOT of subtle angst and pain and pressure going on the background. Some unique tragedies of their own, a lot of it based on irony and a reversal of positions. I just hope Emira gets her dues... Maybe with a graphic novel if the show can’t fit it in, but those are looking less and less likely as Disney continues to sabotage TOH. DAMN YOU DISNEY!!! Maybe all I’ll have is a fanfic I can write exploring Emira’s angst, like I did with the twins for Grom... But never a resolution for Emira, especially not from canon! Which hurts because I figured/hoped that both twins would receive that, but in the end it’s just Edric...

I just want to see Emira’s feelings explored too. There are many ways to be lonely, and being surrounded by loved ones who had their development while you didn’t is one of them. I want to see the loneliness and resentment leading to guilt for being jealous. And the horrifying question; Did it always require a loser? Did their happiness have to come at my expense and vice-versa? Why didn’t anyone ask how I felt about the sacrifice, consider it from my end?

And worst of all... If they didn’t need me, if they still would’ve done it without me, just longer; Then did I neglect myself for nothing?! Does she feel forgotten by fate, and even by her siblings, and so ironically doesn’t want to be alone and without them, as Edric once felt?! Because who else would stick with a loser like her, besides out of familial loyalty!? And just some gratitude for what she did for them, can Emira get at least that, is that too much to ask for???

Even the magic we see these kids use is kinda, arguably indicative; To overanalyze, we know Emira is a healer outside of illusions. Healing magic is all about existing for others, in support of them; Beastkeepers and Abomination witches at least exercise some control on others and get to be on the top. Edric has control over beasts albeit not absolute; He isn’t AS developed as Amity but he’s there at least. Amity has absolute control over her Abominations, and is the most self-actualized. Her Abominations are only really an extension of herself, while Edric’s beasts are still their own thing; Because Amity can and has devoted the most to herself, followed by Edric. But Emira?

She’s the oldest and first child; Yet left behind and the least developed. Eldest, yet gets hand-me-downs in the form of a complimentary shirt that started as a reward for her brother. Emira has to ask herself; I’m looking out for them, but who’s looking out for me? Are my siblings even doing the same in return, and why should I do that if they won’t do it for me? Because it’s the right thing to do of course, and once I operated from a position of power, having the luxury and privilege to focus on and help others, being the most mature and self-assured; But now I’m left behind at the bottom, so shouldn’t I receive instead?

...Well, if there’s one thing we could possibly look forward to; We know Viney was brought back by popular demand, and now we know she and Emira are both dual-type kids, with one of their skills being healers. Given how the writers have been attentive to the fandom and even ascended Steve in response to his popularity, and with how queer the show already is... May as well make it extra queer out of spite towards Disney for cancelling it over that, right? So maybe we’ll get a bit of Vinira confirmation at the end. Seeing Emira get a girlfriend who she can trust and count on, be herself around, the way Amity is around Luz... That’d honestly sate me a LOT in my desires for Emira development, because that would be a brief yet entire story on its own that speaks for itself, the way a picture is a thousand words.

(Honestly I’m almost definitely overthinking and over-angsting and putting out a lot. But it’s fun, at least and good inspo!)

#the owl house #emira blight #edric blight #amity blight #luz noceda #character analysis #angst #speculation #meta #vinira

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iwadori · 3 years

Note

Hiiii can i request prompt 53 with tsukki? My annoying cousin u may know @chibiiichan(i cant tag her its a surprise) recommend ur account and well she never been right more than now I LIKE UR ACC TOO URM JUST TAG HER IN THE POST (bcs its actually her birthday next week monday so....the least i could do this bcs she likes tsukki and shes recently talk abt the iwazumi story of yours....lmao shes cringe but in the same time got mad n i was besides her hearing her whining like bruh 'its 1 am'...i know i should buy something for her but she got spoiled enough 💅...that mf-) thank you ✨

‘ALWAYS AND FOREVER’

TSUKISHIMA X READER

2K WORDS

GENRE: ANGST,FLUFF

TW: SLIGHT AMBIGIOUS MENTION OF SUICIDE/ASSISTED DEATH, AND DEATH, CURSING (IN MY A/N)

THIS IS FOR @chibiiichann Happy birthday, I HOPE YOU ENJOY THIS (BECAUSE I HATE IT :D ) SOOOOO YEAH I HOPE YOU ENJOY YOUR BIRTHDAY.

NOT PROOFREAD AT ALL. EXPECT SLIGHT MISTAKES

You were dying. You knew it. Your husband, Kei, knew it. Even friends you haven’t spoken too since high school knew it.

So why did you all pretend that everything was okay?

5 year old Y/N:

You were running around your neighbourhood park chasing after butterflies, without a care in the world. As you were frollicing in the grass, you manage to trip over a rock tumbling to the ground scraping your knee making it bleed. Looking down at your slightly injured knee, your lip begins to quiver which eventually leads to wails of tears streaming down your face.

“you don’t have to cry you know?” said a slightly quiet voice towering over you. Above you was a boy, quite tall with a fat pair of glasses, golden eyes and a head full of blonde locks.

“Well when I get hurt, I cry” you say matter oh factly (is that the phrase?) rubbing your nose as you sniffle. He held out a hand to you, which you immediately took shooting upwards and brushing yourself off.

The boy, after looking at you wildly, turns around and walks back to the actual park. “Oi wait,” you call at the boy swiftly following him “aren’t you going to ask my name?”

“no.” he says simply, proceeding to walk ahead.

“well my names Y/N L/N pleasure to meet you,” you say jumping in front of him so he doesn’t move, waiting for him to tell you his name...which he doesn’t. “you don’t have to be so rude you know”

“I’m not being rude” he says stiffly “ it’s just my brother says not to speak to strangers” a smirk appears on his face to say ‘you can leave me alone now.’

As if on cue, his brother approaches the both of you given the boy a slap on the back making him cringe “Hey Kei, who’s the friend you’ve made here?”

“My name is Y/N L/N and I'm here to be KEI’s best friend!” you said putting the emphasis on the word Kei after just learning that was the blondes name.

Kei rolled his eyes and sighed saying “nii-chan can we go home now” he folded his arms in annoyance.

“No Kei, you’ve got to get to know your new found friend Y/N-Chan right?” his brother said teasingly, knowing it was the last thing Kei wanted to do.

“Yes ofcourse!” you say with a toothy grin, dragging Kei along with you to his demise.

Until the sun went down, you spent the rest of your time with Kei getting to know eachother (well him getting to know you more, since you did all the speaking.) Regardless of his previous annoyance in getting to know you in the first place, Kei would be lying if he said he didn’t want to know you now.

As the sun was setting, Kei’s older brother (who’s name you learned was Akiteru) called him to tell him he had to go home because dinner was ready. Before he left, you grabbed his hand and wrapped your pinky finger around his saying “As long as we shall live, we will always look out for eachother as we are forever bestfriends, agreed?”

back to present -

In some odd way, this was Kei’s way of looking out for you. He knew what you had was uncurable and would weaken you even more as the days go by, so pretending like nothing was wrong seemed to be best in his eyes.

Everything you and Kei did was a game or some nostalgic act that you once did when you were children. It was sweet to say the least, seeing Kei all engrossed and determined to make you happy.

Your alarm rings snapping you out of you daydream, ‘it was time for medicine’ you thought with your face scowling at the thought. Immediately on time, as always, Kei comes In the room with all your medicine thats needed.

“Aren’t you my perfect little nurse Kei” you say teasingly giving him a wink, laughing as you see his face turn red.

“Do you have to do this every time y/n?” he asks rolling his eyes at your childish behaviour.

“Oh I'm just showing love to my best and favourite nurse” you continue laughing at your own words

“Im your only ‘nurse’” he deadpans giving you your medicine as you talk.

“Well that is more reason to make you the best nurse.” you say smiling.

Silence falls between you, and you stare down at your arm watching as your husband gives you the medicine making you frown. “Do we have to keep doing this?” you ask which is probably the 1000th time you’ve asked.

“Of course we do Y/N as I’ve said yesterday and the day before that and the day before that it-”

“But do we really?” you interrupt “I can’t keep doing this. You can’t keep doing this.”

“Do you doubt me Y/N, I can do this forever” he says “ I can take care of you forever”

“But I don’t wan-”

“I’m finished, I’m going to start on dinner” he gets up and leaves the room yelling “I’ll call you when it’s done.”

Sometimes you and Kei have these conversations. And all the time it ends the same way. You complain, he ignores and then you go and have dinner.

You can understand why he doesn’t want to have this conversation. Who would want to hear about their partners complaints about practically being alive. Kei was torn, ever since he met you all he wanted to was to keep you happy. But could he compromise his own happiness for it.

15 year old Y/N - flashback

“Kei Kei, aren’t you excited!” you yell smiling widley

“Excited for what?” he asks, amused by your enthusiasm “it’s just highschool.”

“Well it’s a new highschool! Karasuno high school, to be exact.”

“And that is still just a school.” he says

“Not just any! That’s the school nii-chan went too, and even tho he lie-”

“Let’s not talk about it Y/N” he murmurs “we should go now, don’t want to be late on our first date.”

Going to Karasuno was fun, at the start everyone was pleasant and nice. But after a week or two when you and Kei were still stuck to eachother like glue, people weren’t so pleasant. Kei was like a pop idol, being gorgeous and over 6ft at just the age of 15, caused alot of attention, especially when he was always around you.

At the start, the hate you got was bearable, it was the petty bitchy notes in your locker or just people blatanly talking badly about you infront of you. People didn’t do it when you weren’t around Kei, so when he had volleyball practice (which you were so excited that he joined the team) you were a big target for the bullies to come around.

Kei didn’t really know of the bullying that happened towards you, especially since he was mainly in practice or not around when it happened. But one day in practice he heard some of his teammates, kageyama and hinata who seemed to talking about a student in one of their classes that was always getting picked on by the other girls in the year.

“Yeah and I heard that Nana-san was planning on getting her and her friends to attack Y/N-san soon.” said Hinata

“Shrimpy, who are they planning on attacking?” Kei asks to make sure he just heard the ginger correctly.

“Oh this lovely person in our class their name is Y/N-san” he says, looking at Kei’s reaction he also asks “Why? Do you know them?”

Kei doesn’t respond, and immediately leaves the gym, ignoring Hinata’s and the other members of the teams yells of ‘Where are you going tsukishima.’ He didn’t care, he just had to get to you.

He searched all the classes, asking every student if he knew where you were. Someone directs him to the toilets, where he burst through the door to see the other girls in your year surrounding you and beating you up.

“What the fuck are you doing to them?” he yells startling the girls.

“T-T-Tsukishima-san" one girl says “It’s not what it looks like.”

“Oh fuck off” he says, with them still frozen in shock “I said go!”

“And don’t think I don’t know your names either” he calls after them.

He rushes towards your bruised body on the ground and cradles you gently, confused on what to really do. “Oi Kei,” you say weakly catching his attention “I would’ve won if you didn’t come to stop the fight.” you joke making him scoff.

“Whatever you say Y/N.”

After you heal up, Kei already told on the girls that beat you up getting them suspended, and you explain how they were treating you because of their infatuation of him. And how they only did it when he wasn’t around.

Once he learns this information, he decides to quite the volleyball team, to your surprise. But you demands on making him not quit were ignored, as he excused it by saying “I have to make sure you’re always alright remember, and if that means quitting some volleyball team then so be it.”

That was one out of the many times that Kei put his happiness before yours.

Flashback over.

When you first got diagnosed, Kei was immediately researching on it as it was a very rare condition. But sadly, he only found what the doctor already told you both. It was uncurable and your immune system and your body will weaken as the days go by.

Which it did, you were a shell of your past self. It was always shocking for Kei to see, especially with you only being 25. ‘It wasn’t supposed to be this way,’ but he never let you see his sadness.

Whenever you knew Kei was sad you always reminded him “Kei, I may be dying but please don’t cry over me” every time you said, there was a slight undertone of humour in your voice which always worked in boosting Kei’s spirit.

AN: IVE GOTTEN TO THE POINT WHERE I HATE THIS SOOO IM SORRY IN ADVANCE FOR THE SHITTING RUSHED ENDING IM GOING TO PROVIDE FOR YOU LOL.

The days passed and the years went by, and you and Kei were still alive and kicking it. Doing your daily routine of you making some joke, Kei giving you your medicine and then you eating dinner. You eventually stopped complaining, realizing and remembering your promise you gave to Kei at 5 years old in that park. “As long as we shall live, we will always look out for eachother as we are forever bestfriends, agreed?”

Of course you had your rough days, everybody did and it was even harder being sick with a terminal illness. But having Kei to guide you through the storm made It better for you.

However, Kei isnt a miracle worker. He couldn’t save you, noone could. And you both knew that. That didn’t mean it made it any easier when the medicine stopped working and your pain got too hard to bear. Kei couldn’t watch you do this anymore, “the choice is yours” he said with tears in his eyes.

So you knew what you had to do, you got in your bed pulling Kei with you, and letting him envelope you in a big hug as you both cried.

“I love you,” you say “You know that right?”

“Of course I know that, idiot” he replies “And I love you.”

“Always and forever?”

“Always and forever.”

AN: how did I END UP CRYING WHILST WRITING THIS WHEN IT MADE NO FUCKING SENSE, I WAS TRYING TO DO THIS COOL NOTEBOOK (I HAVENT EVEN WATCHED THE NOTEBOOK) ENDING WHERE ITS AMBIGIOUS AND SHIT AND I JUST GIVE UP OKAY? I APOLOGISE LOOOOOOL. I HOPE YOU ENJOY ATLEAST A SENTENCE OF THIS AT LEAST.

#haikyuu x reader comfort #haikyu angst #haikyu x reader #haikyuu fluff #haikyu scenarios #haikyu headcanons #haikyu #tsukishima kei #tsukishima imagine #tsukishima fluff #tsukishima angst #tsukishima x reader

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kenmasangel · 3 years

Text

you get shot infront of tsukishima

synopsis : you and tsukishima work as police officers and it is known that this field isn’t safe from dangers, in fact it’s one of the riskiest jobs out there. so what you tsukushim’as reaction to see his s/o getting shot right infront of his eyes?

characters : police-officer!tsukishima; f!reader

genre : angst, fluff

warnings : injuries/blood, cursing, grammar mistakes

masterlist

request : i have one AU in where y\n is a spy or work for police or something like that in which she get's shot or something like that and how the haikyuu boys react to it or more specific tsukishima or any other will be ok if you do it

“straighten your arm, so you are sure to have a good aim,” tsukishima explains, holding your hands so he can guide you correctly.

the sound of the bullet being shot echoed in the practice room, lending on your target perfectly, “see? this is what i’m talking about,” he adds his warm breath carresing your neck. it would’ve sent shivers down your spine but you were taught to keep your composure, to have this poker face and to numb down any type of emotions; after all this was your work and you knew what you signed up for when you decided to join the police. “okay now that i got it let me do it alone,” you straightened your position and he got away from you

3 other shots, 3 other perfect lendings earning a smirk from the both of you. you turn around getting rid of the soundproof headphones, “don’t say anything,” he says before heading out of the practice room

“what? say what?” you hide your smile, now walking next to him

“you know what i mean y/n, i am not gonna tell you did a good job,” he rolls his eyes

“oh honey, i don’t need you to tell me, i know i did a good job,” he scoffs at your reply

you and tsukishima kei have been working together in the police for 9 years now

he was here before you and he didn’t miss a chance to tease trainee you every time he could

at the time you were focused and had one objective : integrate the police forces

and him butting in your buisiness everytime he could didn’t help and you weren’t afraid to twist his arm and threaten him to break his balls when no one was looking

as you finally got into the police, making yourself a name among all those cocky officers, fake peace guardians and mysoginist dickheads whose ego would get hurt easily by seeing a woman outshining them

tsk, poor things

one thing was sure is that you could always rely on tsukishima

and despite all the bickering, arguments and teasing, you couldn’t help but fall for the man who represented your pillar

of course you could count on yourself more than anyone, but kei was that breeze of fresh air that you inhaled pleasently after getting out of a suffocating room

needless to say he had also fallen for you, fallen really hard

he was known for being the brain of the team, very rare were the people who could go past his cold, inaccessible shield

to say it in another way, almost no one passed his vibe check

by now you guys were living together, everyone knew that you were a thing after you dramatically announced it once the contract’s interdiction to date was over

“omfg y’all, i made it! 4 years in the forces wohoo!” you held your glass in the air making your teammates scream back in entusiasm.

your teammates told you -lowkey forced you- to go celebrate this new chapter of your life in the police forces, it was the end of an era after all; an era that prevented you from many things because of that goddamn contract. you had alos gotten a promotion, everything was doing just great for you.

what no one knew was that you were dating tsukishima for quite a long while actually, you weren’t planning on telling everyone so soon but the events that happened that night lowkey forced you to do so.

“thanks everyone for celebrating with me tonight the beginning of a new era for me! let’s enjoy the night!” you weren’t one for emotional speeches.

everyone was drunk by then but tsukishima, of course, (mr. i am a mature man who doesn’t drink). he was watching over you, laughing at himself when he saw you fighting with your collegue about who would win a spicy ramen competition between, “i don’t care that you’re built like a whale or a blob fish, it doesn’t even matter! i would win that eating competition, i’m tiny but mighty narita-san! let’s wrestle so i can show you,”

“she really called him a blob fish,” he comments amazed at how incoherent what you said sounded. “need someone to share your thoughts with?” a feminine voice made an apparition next to him

“no,” he didn’t even bother looking at the woman next to him

“oh c’mon handsome, playing hard to get?” she gets closer to him. “just take a look at me and you’ll change your mind,” she whispered

“ew you stink, get away from me,” he pushed her off him

“you’re gonna make me sad,” she tried to get closer to him again

“and i am gonna make you feel pain, get the fuck away from him,” you appeared in front of them, pretty pissed

she looked at you up and down, scoffed “are you his mom? leave us alone, we’re having a great time,” she tried to put her hand on his thigh but he pushed it away “most definetely not,” he answers

“i am his girlfriend, so back tf off don’t make me repeat myself,” you added getting closer to them. “you really don’t wanna mess with me,”

“is she really your girlfriend?” the glue chick insisted

before he could answer you grabbed his arm and dramtaically pressed your lips against his making all your collegues and the people around you in that club gasp.

i mean the people who don’t know you started cheering and your collegues gasped, that glue of a girl included.tsukishima couldn’t help but smirk against your lips as he wrapped his long fingers holding the back of your neck pulling you closer, it lasted until you didn’t have any more oxygen in your lungs.

he grabbed your hand and led the both of you out of the club, “but baaaabe i till get to wrestle with blob fish-kun,” you pouted

the day after was supposed to be a weekend but you’ve been called for idk what reason

needless to say everyone was off, some remembered few snippets, some thought it was their imagination

anyway, everyone knew but no one really talked it out you know ? some type of unspoken rule or whatever but no one minded

anyway back to the present moment

you’ve been tracking for months a drug network or whatever the heck it is called

after months of intense tracking, following clues, interviewing suspects, sleepless nights and living of caffeine here you were going to finally stop the mfs

and tonight was the night

all your team was ready to catch them it was a matter of hours only

“areyou ready for tonight?” asked you tsukki handing you your coffee

“of course i am, especially after practicing my aim,” he smirks. “thanks by the way,” you add, head still down readeing your reports

“hey... hey yn,” he tris to catch his attention but you just hmm in response. “tsk, dumbass,” he flicks your forehead

“ow, what ? i am busy!” you retort. “yn i know you; you’re not busy you’re stressed, everything is gonna be fine okay? you’ve got this, we’ve got this,” he held your hand

kei was not big on affacetion, he never really showed it especially in public he was more of a sarcatic remarks and teasing type of boyfriend but it never stopped him from showing affection when it was needed, like this moment. it was also not your type to show affection or feelings as you learned how to control them; it was much needed in your job. yet it didn’t bother you when each of you got out of your way to be comfort each other

you smiled at him and peckd his lips quickely before anyone could see, “you know i love you right,” you smiled at him

“well, i’d love me too. i mean who wouldn’t after all,” you roll his eyes at his smugness

“excuse me sir, but i don’t mix up between my personal and pro life. would you please stay 6 feet away from me,” you nag at him

“so petty and for what?” you stuck your tongue as an answeryou continued checking all the reports and files before you went on the spot, everyone was getting ready by now and you were alone in the office when you received a very much unexpected call

“hel-,”

“hello? please come help me i’m in depot 5, building 3, neighborhood koenji, in front of the subway station please hurry before they find me,” the call ended brutally

you place that person mentionned was familiar to you, of course it was where you were going to catch the heads of that network of drug trafficking. you quickely went with the procedure to report the call and the emergency to the central

“yuki please be quick we can’t let them go, i am going now tell the others to join me there and send more men,” you blurt quickely before taking your protection and gun and leaving

once you arrived there you parked the car where no one could see it

wearing your protection and your gun tightly held in your hands, you looked for a discrete entery where you could sneak inyou finally ended up getting in from the back stairs leading to the 3rd floor before taking the stairs to go to the depot basement

you tried your best not to make any noise, and when you heard some noise you quickely hid behind a broken furnitureyou mentally asked yourself if you team was going to be there soonyou heard the voice of many men, plastic and metal sounds, anyway; sounds you’d hear in a depot filled with drug dealers, ya know the drill

at some point you heard the sounds vanish and going awayyou waited a few minutes before you thought it was a good idea to come out your hiding spot

as you walked closer to their previous spot you stumbled into a metalic box that was on the floor, “who’s there?” you quickely hid behind a pillar

“i said who the fuck is there ?” the man shot in the air but you didn’t budge

“it’s rats, Mo’, let’s go,” another man added

great, just great yn you mentally scolded yourself

you decided to go wait for your collegues in the third floor since they would get there soon

as you saw the police car parking next to yours you hurried quietly to join them

“y/n you sick fuck they could’ve caught you,” tsukki hurries out of the car to see you

“shush! i couldn’t let them go, i wanted to make sure they didn’t leave,” you explained. “so they are there, all the heads are there. i couldn’t find the person who called thoough, and of course there are many bodyguards; 4 in the main entry, 2 in the back, i also heard there are some on the roof.” you explain when the others came in. “i got there through these strairs leading to the 3rd floor,” you add, everyone nodding

“okay so here’s how it’s gonna go,” starts daichi; since he is the captain of your team. he proceeds to explain how things are gonna go, the way you’re going to catch them ...ect

you, kei, and two others were teamed up together

the plan was going perfectly fine, everything was in order and it was bound to succeed

heads were being captured one by one, everyone getting neutralized

but nothing can go 100% fine, right ?

the four of you were going up to the roof so you can capture the guards there and finish the mission

you slightly opened the door and entered the opened space, before you could comprehend what was happening you a felt a horrible pain in your leg and a compilation of balls being shot in the air

“YN! yn, stay with me, don’t you dare close your eyes,” kei hurries to you after him and the two others had shot the guards and called back up

you felt him wrap his jacket around your thigh tightly, “yn baby please, everything is gonna be fine you-,” he gasps after he felt his hand getting wet after he took your head, his eyes widden seeing how bloody his hand was and as he realized you hurt your head when you fell due to the shock

“kei,” a feint smile appeared on your face before you succumbed to your succumbed and let your heavy eyes take a rest

“YN? YN? no, no, no, no, are they fucking coming?” he asked your teammates who nodded. “baby stay with me,” he squeezed you tighter before scooping you up and deciding it was better to take you down himself and not wait for the emergencies to come since he thought they were taking too long

༺═──────────────═༻

you woke up with a horrible headache and how your muscles felt so sore, only the febril rays of the moonlight getting through the window illuminated the room. the annoying beeping of the machine next to you increased the pounding in your head

a nurse quickly came in, “hello there, how are you feeling?” you looked at her confused, finding a difficulty in letting the words slip from your dry throat, the only thing you managed to say was ‘pain’. “it’s normal,” she proceeded to ask you a bunch of questions, checking that machine and do her work

after she left you tried to remember what happened but the last thing you could remember was when you opened the door of the rooftop, hearing bullets getting shot and that’s it

“at least i’m not dead,” you sighed, going back to sleep

you woke up due to yelling in the hallway

“i told you to call me as soon as she woke up! you had one job!” you recognized your boyfriend’s voice

“sir, sir!” the nurse called him out but he opened your door and his expression softened as he saw you awake, softly smiling at him and rolling your eyes

he hurried to you, taking your hands in his softly, “i really want to hug you, but i don’t want to hurt you,” he started. he let out a shaky sigh, “ i was so scared, i didn’t want to believe i had lost you,” he burried his face in your chest, you noticed his shoulders started shaking slightly

“hey it’s fine baby, i’m here, you can’t get rid of me easily,” you started playing with his hair. “we’re gonna be old and bitter and people are gonna say how i aged like fine one and how your wrinkles are covering your grumpy face,” you chuckled

he lifted his head to look at you, “what?” you ask, your voice in a whisper

“i love you,” he said, you smiled soflty and carressed his cheek.

“i really want to kiss you but my breath stinks,” you chuckle, he rolls his eyes. “how long has it been? you ask

“week and a half, it felt like forever,” he pressed his forehead against yours, cupping your cheek

“i’m back now, right?” you smiled. “come, ow,” you tried to make somle place for him

“omg careful dumbass,” he leaned next to you and held your hand

“how are the others?” you ask, looking at your interwined fingers

“everything is alright, we got all of them we’re done with this case,” he tried to end the topic. “i’m glad,” you voiced your thoughts

“i’m glad you’re alive,” he added. “i don’t want to be away from you, i want to spend the rest of my life with you,” surprised, you looked at him with wide eyes. “love, life is short especially with our job and i don’t want to take the risk to spend one more day without you being my wife. i want to bicker with you over the dumbest things, see you tease me back when i tease you, wake up everyday next to you and your horrible bedhead, enjoy our food together and i can keep on listing what i want to live with all day long. i know this is not the best proposal ever but i’ll make it up to you,” he balbbered all of a sudden, you just kept staring at him this whole time, tears blurring your vision but you blinked them away, the situation itself was already way too emotional for you

“so, y/l/n y/n, do you want to become old, bitter and grumpy with me?” his eyes were full of hope

“i wish i could hug you right now,” you started. “but yes, i want to!”

he cupped your cheek and kissed you deeply, he still tried not to hurt you

“but you are the one with the horrible bedhead,” you pulled away

“right, you’re the one with the stinky breath,” he teased you

“hey, are you crying? i should be the one crying,” you noticed his glossy eyes

“what are you talking about, it’s allergies, tsk,” he flicked your forehead, you winced in pain and hid your face, over exaggerating, making him worried. “didi hurt you? omg baby i’m so sorry love, i didn’t mean into, should i call the doctor?”

you finally showed your face and stuck your tongue out, “dumbass,” he smiled.

he cupped your face and pulled you into another kiss

145 notes · View notes

mirkwoodshewolf · 4 years

Text

Family reunion; Sirius Black x daughter teen reader

*Author’s note*

Okay so this is my first Harry Potter fanfic in awhile so if I get anything wrong, I apologize in advance. So this takes place during POA and I know it kinda drags along in some parts but I promise it gets better in some parts. Now idk if I'll make a sequel to this part, maybe with enough encouragement from you guys, maybe I'll get around to writing a part 2 that takes place during Order of the phoenix. But for now please enjoy this oneshot of Sirius Black.

Warnings: Swearing, mild violence, death of parent(s), bit of angst and fluff.

Taglist:

@plethora-of-things

@waddles03

@psychosupernatural

@ixchel-9275

@jd-johndeacon-or-jackdaniels

@queen-paladin

@platawnic

__________________________________________________________

If you had told me that when I first walked through the halls of Hogwarts that in my 5th year that I would reunite with my dad, honestly I would believe it. I always believed my father was innocent, even at just 3 years old I remember that night very clearly. Because it wasn’t just the night that my godfather James and god mother Lily were killed, but my mother was also killed that day.

I saw with my own eyes (my mum had borrowed my godfather’s invisibility cloak to hide me) as Peter Pettigrew killed my mother with the ultimate unforgivable curse. I remember crying over her dead body pleading for her to wake up, I remember daddy walking in and seeing us on the floor and him crying alongside me.

I especially remember when he left me at uncle Remus’ place for protection to go hunt Pettigrew only to be framed for murder of not only him but 12 muggles.

Since then my uncle was next in line to take care of me should anything happen to either my parents or godparents (my mum had no other living relatives and my dad wanted to ensure that I had no ties to the Black family tree should the worse happen).

For years I’ve been under my uncle Remus’ care who believed every word the Ministry said about my dad. He didn’t want to but the evidence was stacked against my dad (even though no deep investigation had been made).

Anyways—oh wait I’m getting ahead of myself. I tend to do that a lot. The name’s (Y/n) Lupin-Black, I’m currently a 5th year Hogwarts student in Ravenclaw (my mum’s house). Even though I’m in Ravenclaw I’ve been friends with the Weasley twins Fred and George since our first year when the two of them stole my notes and wouldn’t give it back till I could tell them apart.

Amazingly I did and since then they’ve stuck to me like glue. The three of us do cause a bit of trouble at times (I get my mischievous side from my dad and brains from my mum, according to Gryffindor’s head professor, Professor McGonagall).

I also have an ability that I also inherited from my dad. I am a legal animangus, in fact I’m the youngest animangus the Ministry ever recorded.

It took a lot of hard work and training in order to focus but by my second year I had mastered the ability. My animangus form is a puma, and I’ve used it to help with my uncle’s—condition. In fact that was the reason I wanted to become one.

He was at first against it but with a letter recommendation from Professor McGonagall and my head of house, Professor Flitwick, my uncle had no choice but to allow me to go through it.

Now as a 5th year, things have been—hectic these past few years since Harry Potter came to Hogwarts. The Chamber of Secrets had been opened last year, and we had an incident with a troll, lost 2 DADA professors (but what else is new with that), but this year my uncle is the new professor for that class, and so far according to the Golden trio, everyone loves him.

But back to this story about my dad. This year everyone at Hogwarts was on alert because my dad had escaped from Azkaban, the first ever wizard to ever do such a thing. Now our school was to be housing for the Dementors until my dad was found and captured.

I tried to keep a low profile about it but at nights whenever I helped my uncle out during his ‘wolf-trots’ I would also try to see if I could find my dad.

Then one night it happened.

I was out with uncle Remus but I had lost trace of him through the Forbidden forest. As I walked along in my puma form, my ears soon picked up the sound of barking. Not werewolf barks, they were—dog barks? But why was a dog all the way out here? Dogs are the sort of creatures allowed within a mile of Hogwarts, nor can they get pass the barrier.

I raced on ahead and when I stood over a cliff but lowered myself down behind the rocks. There I saw a scruffy, lean, but massive black dog barking at a few Acromantulas. God I hate those things, I don’t care what Hagrid says, spiders can’t be trusted! And I was right because right now this dog was being attacked by about seven of these things.

As one of them knocked the dog down and pinned it to the ground, ready to bite it and fill it with its venom, I let out a protective roar. The spiders all looked up at me and I leapt down from the cliff and stood protectively in front of the black dog.

With a slash of my paws, I struck one of the spiders across it’s many eyes before biting down on it and tossing it like a paper ball. I then leapt forward and pinned one of the other spiders down. Another one tried to attack me but as it reared upward, the dog suddenly came up and rolled around with the spider.

I bit the head off the one I had pinned before racing across and swiping the legs off another one. Soon realizing that they couldn’t win since a few of their siblings had already fallen, the rest of the spiders retreated back into their burrows and caves. I let out a loud and aggressive roar before turning towards the dog.

We walked towards each other till we stood face to face of one another. As I stared at this dog, something about it was familiar to me. Through the scruffy, madded fur and the very lean body I looked into it’s eyes and if I were back in my human form I would’ve gasped.

This wasn’t any ordinary dog, it—it was him. My dad. Of course this was his animangus form, I remember! All the times he’d chase me around in his dog form when I was little, our nights curled up under the stars whenever mum wasn’t home, it was him!

My ears bent back as I sniffed at him. When he noticed that I wasn’t any ordinary puma, he came up and sniffed around me. He let out a surprised grunt as his ears perked up and his tail went up as it softly began to wag.

I leaned my head up against his letting out a loud, affectionate purr and he nuzzled against my head as well. His paw would reach up and lightly touch the side of my head, almost as if he were embracing me. We continued to nuzzle each other and I knew that if we could both show our human forms, we’d both be weeping hysterically as we’d hug and kiss each other.

But for now, our animangus forms would have to do. As his head rested on my chest, I licked down his neck where I had seen a pretty bad scratch. I licked his wound when we both heard the sound of a werewolf’s howl. Uncle Remus.

We both turned towards the direction of the howl before looking back at each other. Dad gave me a gentle nod. I looked between him and the direction of the howls hesitantly while giving him sad eyes. How could I leave him when I just found him after 12 years. He came up to me and licked my muzzle up to behind my ears. He then backed up and let out a couple of confident yet soft barks.

I nodded and nuzzled him again purring before licking his face affectionately. I backed up and walked to where uncle Remus was but turned back to dad one last time. He let out another bark before I let out a low meow before racing on ahead to find uncle Remus.

That was over a month ago, but here is where our story truly begins. Harry and his friends were slowly starting to piece together the story of my dad and Peter Pettigrew but with some straying doubt from my uncle, Harry still believed that my dad betrayed his parents and sold them to Voldemort.

I myself have tried to get him to see that my father wasn’t a threat but Harry has shut himself away from me. He’s called me practically every name in the book and refuses to listen to me, hell he barely can even stand the sight of me. Ron’s also elected to ignore me and treat me just like the school and the whole wizarding world has treated my dad.

Hermione on the other hand tolerates me just a bit more. She wants to believe what I have to say but due to the 12 long years of ‘evidence’ against my dad, she can’t seem to fully understand why the wizarding community would lie about framing an innocent man.

I sat alone by the Black lake looking up at the gloomy sky and stared out into the still, calm lake. I let out a heavy sigh when I heard a voice behind me.

“You should really started heading back to the castle, it’s almost curfew time.” I turned around and there stood uncle Remus. “And I would hate to give my niece a detention.”

“Please. You couldn’t find it in your heart to ground me for a week when the Weasley twins and I exploded the supply closet in the potions classroom in our second year.”

“Yes but I did give you a stern good lecture about messing with those chemicals.” He sat down beside me on the rocky surface and stared out the lake alongside me. “This reminds me back to my years at school with your father and the rest of my friends. We always snuck out here to this lake for late night swims.”

“Now, now uncle don’t go influencing me. You never know I might just run it by the twins.” I teased.

“(Y/n).” he started in that lecturing manner of his.

“Kidding, kidding. I know of the dangers of this lake.”

“Plus I never approved of us coming here to swim. It was always James and…….” He trailed off.

“Uncle do you really believe dad did what people said he did?” I said as I looked up at him. He sighed deeply and said in a soft manner.

“As much as I want to believe it didn’t happen, I wasn’t there to say it wasn’t your father.”

“But I’ve told you countless times about my mother’s death! I saw with my own eyes who it was that killed her.”

“And I don’t doubt that. But with your godparents and those 12 muggles……your father’s family ties…..”

“Don’t define him! That’s why he made sure to not let anyone of the Black family tree get custody of me! Why he made sure that you were to be my guardian after papa James and mama Lily died!”

“If I‘m being honest he shouldn’t have done it to begin with.”

“Because of your condition?” he went silent. “Uncle……I never cared about that. You were never a monster to me. Why do you think I studied to be an animangus?” he turned to me.

“I’m just thankful you didn’t do the same thing your father did. Going ‘bout it the illegal route.” He cupped the side of my face, “You know Harry’s not the only one with his parent’s appearance.” I smiled solemnly.

“I know. My mother’s face but I have my father’s eyes.” It’s true. Throughout all my life I had been told of people, especially uncle Remus here that I look practically identical to my mother, my eyes however are just like my father’s.

“I wish that she did get to see the women you grew up to be. She would be very proud of you.”

“Sometimes I—fear that I’m starting to forget about her.” I admitted to him. Uncle Remus stroked my hair and allowed me to rest my head on his shoulder as an arm wrapped around me.

“Just think of how you succeeded throughout your schooling. That’s your mother right there. She was far too clever for her own right, even more than me. I’ll even admit that at times I was jealous of her at times.” We both softly laughed.

“I do recall dad telling me some of your little competitions you and mum used to do to prove just who was the most clever. She always beat you.”

“Not at everything!”

“I’m kidding. I know you did beat her at some stuff.” I looked up and saw my uncle looking toward the sky. He almost seemed deep in thought about something. “Uncle? Uncle? Uncle Remus?”

“Hmm? Oh sorry love. But back to the reason why I came here; even though I am your uncle and guardian, I’m still a professor at this school and I order you to get back to the castle.”

“Yes Professor Lupin.” I said as I got up and walked away. However I snuck behind a tree because I wanted to see just where he was going.

If he wanted me to get back to the castle so urgently, why not just take me all the way there himself? What’s he up to? So I quietly followed behind him in my animangus form. Sticking to the shadows and any tall shrub or bush to hide myself from my uncle, I crouched down low behind a rock as he now stood before the Whomping willow tree.

He took out his wand and said a spell which made the tree go still. Once the branches went still, I saw him enter inside a small entrance of the tree and I quickly followed, now phasing back into my normal form.

I noticed that this place now suddenly looked like some sort of shack. It was haunting and creaks and groans were heard all around me. I reached out for my wand but before I could even grab it, I felt something touch my neck and a low, graveled voice said.

“Don’t. Move.” Ahh bollocks!

“Professor Snape.” I said lowly, trying to not be a threat. Yeah much like my dad, Professor Snape pretty much hated me since day one (I’m pretty sure he hates every student that isn’t a Slytherin).

“Sneaking out past curfew, allying in your father’s hiding, I would have the right mind to have you expelled from Hogwarts and have you be taken to Azkaban alongside your fugitive of a father.” Oh man did I really wanna punch him at this point.

“Professor you know he’s—” I felt his wand press harder against my neck as he hissed in my ear.

“It’s your word against the Ministry’s. Now follow me and do as your told.” Knowing I had no other choice, I allowed him to lead me up the stairs where I heard my dad’s voice say.

“Peter Pettigrew. And he’s in this room! Right now!”

“Take your wand out, and if he’s armed, disarm him.” I took my wand out and as my dad was calling out for Peter to come out, I stepped forward and cried out.

“Expelliarmus!” I saw as a wand fell out of my dad’s hand and that’s when my dad turned to me in shock.

“(Y/n)?” he gaped at me.

“(Y/n) what are you doing here?! I thought I told you to go back to the castle!” uncle Remus said.

“You should’ve realized that she’s more like her father in every way. Including disobedience.” Professor Snape soon made himself known as he now aimed his wand at my back, making sure to let my dad see it. “Vengeance is sweet. How I hoped to be the one to catch you.”

“Severus—” my uncle started off. Snape sent him one dirty look and as usual my uncle submitted as Snape hissed out.

“I told Dumbledore you were helping an old friend into the castle and now here’s the proof.”

“Brilliant Snape. Once again you put your keen impenetrating mind to the task, and as usual it comes to the wrong conclusions. Now if you’ll drop your wand and step away from my daughter, Remus and I have unfinished business to attend to!” his wand moved from my back to my throat.

“Give me a reason. I beg you.” He challenged my father.

“Dad.” I pleaded with fearful eyes.

“It’ll be alright darling.” He assured me. His eyes then turned cold as he stared at Snape. “It’s one thing when you put your nose where it doesn’t belong, but when you force others to do your dirty work for you, that’s where I draw the line. If you don’t let my daughter go now, then I will show you a reason why I belong in Azkaban!”

“Sirius don’t be a fool.” Uncle Remus said.

“Well he can’t help it Remus it’s habit.”

“Quiet Sirius!”

“Quiet yourself Remus!”

“Listen to you two quarreling like an old married couple.” Snape said but that’s when dad sassed back at him.

“Why don’t you run along and play with your chemistry set!?” I was then shoved out of the way as Snape now had his wand right at my father’s neck now. I fell to the ground but was quickly brought back up and held in my uncle’s arms.

“I could do it you know. But why deny the Dementors? They’re so longing to see you. Do I detect a flicker of fear? Oh yes, a Dementor’s kiss, one can only imagine what that much be like to endure. It’s said to be unbearable to witness but I’ll do my best.”

“Severus please.” My uncle tried to reason with him again. Once again Snape glared at my uncle and sneered once again.

“After you. Then we can deal with that rebel daughter of his next.” The tension was so thick you could cut it with a knife before suddenly Harry called out.

“Expelliarmus!” then Snape went flying back towards an old rotten bed which collapsed right on him.

“Harry what did you just do?” asked Ron.

“You attacked a teacher!” Hermione exclaimed.

“Tell me about Peter Pettigrew.” Harry demanded as he pointed his wand at my uncle and I.

“He was an old school friend of theirs.” I answered him.

“No. Pettigrew’s dead. You killed him!” Harry said as he now pointed his want towards my dad.

“No he didn’t. I thought he was too till you mentioned seeing Pettigrew on the map.” Uncle Remus said.

“The map was lying then!” Harry argued.

“The map never lies! Pettigrew’s alive! And he’s right there!” my dad said before pointing towards Ron.

“Me? He’s mental!”

“Not you Ron! Your rat!” I told him.

“Scabbers? But he’s been in my family for—”

“12 years?! Curious long life for a common garden rat. He’s missing a toe isn’t he?”

“So what?” demanded Ron.

“All they could find of Pettigrew was his……” Harry started off.

“Finger.” Both my dad and I said. The two of us looked at each other and softly smiled before my dad continued.

“The dirty coward cut it off so that everyone would think he was dead. And then he transformed into a rat!”

“Show me.” Harry ordered. At this point my dad went to grab Ron’s rat but of course he refused to let go. Once he managed to get Pettigrew out of Ron’s grip, Ron pleaded for my dad to leave Scabbers alone. Hermione and I held him back so that my dad and uncle could finish the job.

Unfortunately Pettigrew was too fast for them to get a good shot to change him back. So I quickly whipped out my wand and right as the rat went for a hole in the wall, I shot the spell and he soon morphed, for the first time in over 12 years, back into the stout, pudgy man that killed my mother.

My dad and uncle pulled him out of the wall and for the first time, Harry, Ron and Hermione saw Peter Pettigrew, the real man behind my father’s framed crime and the person responsible for Harry’s parent’s death and my mother’s killer.

“Remus…….S-Si-Sirius? My old friends.” Pettigrew praised before trying to make an escape for it, but they wouldn’t have it. When his eyes soon lay on me, I felt my blood boil. “Ohh little (Y/n). So much like your mother, and with your father’s eyes. You remember me right? Your old uncle Pete—” as he came closer to me, I allowed my puma claws to come out as I scratched him across the face. He whimpered as blood now began to seep down his face.

“You have no right to talk to me!” I growled at him. “I saw what you did that night! I WAS THERE YOU BASTARD!! YOU KILLED MY MOTHER!!” this time Ron and Hermione had to be the ones to hold me back from tearing that rat apart.

He shielded away from me in fear before turning to Harry who was just stunned in shock.

“Harry, look at you. You look so much like your father. Like James. We were best friends you know……”

“How dare you speak to Harry!” my dad hissed protectively. “How dare you talk about James in front of him!” soon the two of them had Pettigrew pinned by the piano, their wands at the ready.

“You sold James and Lily to Voldemort didn’t you!?” my uncle demanded.

“I didn’t mean to.” Wept the rat man pathetically. He then began to go off on a ramble of how Voldemort was powerful and had weapons we had no idea he possessed. “What would you have done Sirius? What would you have done?”

“I would’ve died! I would’ve died rather than betray my friends or the woman I love!” my dad exclaimed as Peter tried to make his escape. Harry blocked his escape but Peter whispered into his ear about something.

Finally I decided to step in and I pulled the rat away from my godbrother and aimed my wand at him. Without even hesitating my father and uncle joined at my side and I said.

“Then you should know uncle. That if the Dark Lord didn’t kill you, then we will!”

“No wait!” Harry exclaimed. My breathing sharpened as I said.

“Harry, this bastard……”

“I know what he is (Y/n). But we’ll take him to the castle. Together.” He placed his hand on top of mine and he softly whispered, “Would you mother want this?” I looked at him, tears starting to form in my eyes.

I turned back to Pettigrew who was now on his knees praising Harry for his mercy.

“Bless you boy. Bless you sweet boy.”

“Get off!” Harry snapped. “I said we’d take you back to the castle. Afterwards the Dementors can have you.” oh now this I like. The traitor’s face turned from pure bliss to absolute horror as he fidgeted fearfully trying to make himself smaller.

After leaving the Shrieking Shack and exited out of the Whomping Willow, I watched as my dad walked ahead and stood to look up at the school.

I looked to Harry and gave him a soft nod. His eyes showed hesitation but with a gentle shove he walked towards my father and I watched as the two of the proceed to talk with each other.

“You knew he was innocent?” Hermione said to me.

“Yes, I did. As I said back there it wasn’t just uncle James and Aunt Lily that died because of Peter. I was there to see my mother die right before my eyes. She had the invisibility cloak at the time, probably stole it from uncle James just to spite him or something. But she hid me with it and I saw as Peter came in and killed her with the last of the unforgivable curses.”

“I’m so sorry (Y/n). To think you had to see something like that.”

“We’re sorry we’ve been wankers to you about this (Y/n). Harry and I especially, can you forgive us?” Ron said. I softly smiled and ruffled his hair.

“There’s nothing to forgive Weasley. Although you’re gonna have to do a lot of kissing up to your brothers Fred and George. They’ve been wanting to slug you for your behavior towards me.”

Then something happened that I wished never did. The clouds slowly began to move away to reveal the full moon. Oh no!

“Uncle Remus!” I exclaimed but it was too late. He was starting to transform into his werewolf form.

My dad quickly ran up to him trying to hold his transformation back, but it was no use. The agonizing groans and screams coming out of my uncle as his bones snapped and broke before changing and morphing to fit his upcoming werewolf body. And to make matters worse, Pettigrew seized that opportunity to escape from our grasp.

Even though Harry disarmed him with an Expelliarmus spell, it still didn’t stop the rat from turning into true form before making his escape. My dad knowing he couldn’t hold uncle Remus any longer told us to run.

Soon my dad was thrown down the hill and I exclaimed out.

“DAD!!” I quickly ran towards uncle Remus hoping I could knock some sense into him before his final transformation came around. “Uncle Remus you can fight it! The monster does not control you, you control it! Fight it! Think harder on your human senses!”

Just like my father, I too was sent down towards the hill as the last thing I heard was the sound of my uncle’s werewolf howl.

When I opened my eyes, I saw myself in Madam Pomfrey’s nursing wing.

“(Y/n), oh thank goodness you’re awake. Can you stand up?” Hermione’s voice said over me. My vision finally came back and I said.

“What happened?”

“There’s not a lot of time to explain (Y/n) but your dad’s in serious danger. The Dementors are going to suck his soul.”

“What!?” I said fearfully as I shot up. “They can’t do that. He’s innocent!”

“Which is why I need to ask if you can stand and walk?”

“Yeah I can but why?” she pulled me up from my bed over to Harry who stood at the center of the room.

“Sorry Ronald but you can’t walk.” She then took a necklace out from her shirt and placed the chain around Harry and I before holding out what looked like a mini-hourglass.

The pendent began to spin around and soon right before our very eyes, the world around us seemed to go backwards. Night turned into the gloomy afternoon once more as the medical wing was now abandoned and Hermione stopped the pendant’s spinning and she said as she took the chain off of mine and Harry’s neck and tucked it back into her shirt.

“Where were we at this hour Harry?”

“Uhh going to Hagrid’s I think.”

“And (Y/n) where were you at this time?”

“I was down at the Black Lake with uncle Remus, why?”

“Alright come on!” she took off running. Harry and I ran after her confused asking her just what was going on.

That’s when she explained to us about the time turner necklace she had been given by Professor McGonagall, and she explained to Harry that that was how she was able to do all her classes this term.

So throughout the day we went down to Hagrid’s and I even got to see Hermione sucker punch Malfoy right in the nose (which I praised her on). We went down to Hagrid’s hut and we made our plan to save Buckbeak the Hippogriff (apparently Professor Dumbledore said that more than one life could be spared today).

As the day went on, it was nearly time to try and save my dad. So we sat just down the hill from the Whomping Willow. We watched as uncle Remus came in and made the tree stop it’s swaying for a brief moment before entering inside, followed by me shortly after him.

“Wait you’re also an animangus?” Harry asked me.

“Surprised?” I asked him.

“When did you become one?” asked Hermione.

“I was roughly around your age when I took my test before the Wizard council to get my official license. They said I was the youngest registered animangus there ever was.” I looked up and said, “And there goes Snape. Right in after me.”

The two young teens turned and saw that Snape did go in shortly after me.

“Now we wait I guess.” Harry said. We all made ourselves comfortable because we knew it would be awhile before we all left the Shrieking shack and came back before the Whomping Willow.

Then after seeing us come out, I watched as Harry went down to talk to my dad and that’s when he told me.

“You see me there talking to Sirius? He had just asked me to come live with him, you as well (Y/n). He talked about you and your mother a lot. As well as my parents.”

“I know. They were really good friends Harry. Even at just 3 years old, I knew my dad would never have betrayed yours. Never, not even if he were tortured. That’s why he named your parents my godparents.”

“I guess we were meant to be siblings either way.” I softly grinned at him and ruffled his hair before pushing his glasses back up his nose.

“I remember be so excited to have a younger ‘sibling’. Though I’ll admit I wanted you to be a girl, but you eventually grew on me.” Hermione giggled while Harry turned away embarrassedly.

Then that’s when the trouble began. We saw uncle Remus transform into his werewolf form, the fight between him and my dad (who was in his animangus form), and then even be chased by him when Hermione howled to stop him from attacking Harry.

I phased into my animangus form to protect Hermione and Harry in case my uncle came around to find us. When he did, I stood protectively in front of my brother and Hermione snarling and roaring at him. But before we could charge at each other, Buckbeak had came in and fought my uncle off.

Man poor uncle Remus is having a really rough night. I then felt a coldness in the air and when we looked up we saw the Dementors flying towards where my dad must’ve been at after the fight with uncle Remus.

I gestured for Hermione and Harry to get on my back and once they were on, I raced on ahead and we stopped across the frozen lake and we all watched with horror as the Dementors began to suck out both Harry’s and my dad’s souls.

“Now just wait Hermione, my dad will come. He’ll be standing right there.” Harry said as he got off my back and walked a few steps ahead of us. Hermione and I looked at each other sympathetically and she got off my back as well and stood beside him.

“Harry—your dad’s…….”

“Dead I know but just watch. He’ll cast the Patronus right there. Just like he did before.” We waited and waited but all we saw were my dad and Harry dying right before our eyes.

“You’re dying Harry. Both of you.” I said as I morphed back into my normal form. God I had heard of witnessing a Dementor’s kiss is something awful but—god this was torture. I wanted to step in and save my dad and Harry from the Dementors but what could I do? I’m not strong enough to conjure a Patronus charm, plus I would be outnumbered even if I tried any other spell I could name.

Next thing I saw was Harry racing forward to the spot where he said his dad was standing at.

“Harry!” Hermione called out but I wrapped my arms around her to stop her from racing towards him and that’s when we saw him lift up his wand and exclaim.

“EXPECTO PATRONUM!” Soon a bright light came from out of his wand and a bright wave of light shot out, which sent all the dementors away, saving Harry and my father from a terrible fate.

As I stared at my godbrother, I couldn’t be more proud of him. Not even I was able to conjure up a spell like that at his age, hell I can barely do it now. He truly was a gifted young man, and I couldn’t be more proud of him.

After saving himself, we were now flying on Buckbeak heading for the highest tower where my dad was being kept. I was sitting right behind Hermione while she was terrifyingly holding onto Harry for dear life.

“You were right Hermione. It wasn’t my dad I saw earlier. It was me! I saw myself conjured the Patronus before. I knew I could do it this time because—well I’d already done it. Does that make sense?”

“No! But I don’t like fly-AHHH!!!” She screamed as Buckbeak took a dive down towards the school, while Harry and I were cheering our heads off.

When we reached the tower, there we saw locked up in a cage, my dad looking forlorn as he awaited his fate. He quickly turned to us and I took out my wand and pointed it at the lock as I proclaimed out.

“Alohomora!” the doors unlocked and swung wide open. “C’mon dad, we’re busting you out of here.” I extended my hand out to him and he immediately took my hand.

The four of us now flying on Buckbeak with Hermione up front, me behind her then my dad and Harry.

And for the first time in 12 years, my dad finally felt free as a Hippogriff flying high in the sky. Never have I heard him sound so happy and it brought a smile to my face as I heard him cheering.

We landed in the garden wing of the school and as my dad helped Hermione as well as me off of Buckbeak he said as we walked towards the corner of the garden.

“I’ll be forever be grateful for this. To the three of you.”

“I want to go with you.” said Harry.

“One day perhaps. For some time my life will be too unpredictable. Besides, you’re meant to be here.”

“But you’re innocent.”

“And you know it Harry.” I told him. “Just like I’ve always known.”

“She’s right. And for now that’ll do.” As Hermione left the three of us to have our little family moment, my dad then turned towards me. He stood before me and gently cupped each side of my face. His calloused thumbs stroking my cheeks as he said to me, “I expect like Harry you might be tired of hearing this, but you are a splitting image of your mother. Except your eyes, you have……”

“Your eyes.” I finished for him. Tears flickered in my eyes but I tried to hold them back. “I’ve only dreamed of something like this happening, and—even now I fear this still feels like a dream.”

“I’ve told you once when you were little; Dreams can feel like many things. Whether to make us feel happy or afraid, but in dreams you can never feel what is happening to you. So this, right here, is real my darling kitten.”

He took my hand and gave it a gentle squeeze. When I felt it, I knew that this was real. My dad was free, he was here, and he was right in front of me. I embraced him as tightly as I could, burying myself into the ragged cloth of his prison uniform. Slowly a few tears dripped from my eyes one by one as I felt my dad embrace me back just as tightly while rocking me from side to side.

“I’ve missed you so much dad.”

“Not as much as I’ve missed you. I’ve missed so much of your life. You were just a little girl when I was taken away and now I’ve seen you’ve become a beautiful young woman, just like I’d hope you’d be. Your mum would be so proud. Just as I am. I’m so sorry I put you through this.”

“I know why you did it dad. If I were older I would’ve done the same thing. I just……wish none of this had to happen.”

“As do I kitten. As do I. There hasn’t been a day that I don’t regret leaving you like I did. I made you lose both your parents.”

“That’s another thing I’ve inherited from you.” he looked at me confused. “Uncle Remus has always said I did get your stubbornness.” He softly chuckled before grabbing the back of my head and pressing his forehead against mine.

We stayed in that position for what felt like forever till he pressed a kiss to the center of my forehead before he guided me over to sit next to Harry. He knelt down before the both of us as he said to us.

“It’s cruel that I got so much time with James, Lily and (m/n) and you both so little. But know this. The ones that love us never really leave us. And you both can always find them,” he then placed his left hand over Harry’s heart while his right hand pointed towards mine, “In here.”

Dad stood up and walked over to Buckbeak and mounted on top of his back once again, gently gripping onto the chained reins. As Harry and I came up and stood beside Hermione, my dad complimented to her that she was indeed a bright witch for her age.

Buckbeak then reared as he let out a proud roar before taking off running before flapping his proud wings and taking off high towards the moon with my dad on his back.

Two souls finally free from the law.

The clock tower began to gong loudly and that’s when Hermine told us we needed to get back to the hospital wing. We quickly raced towards the medical wing before the last strike of the belltower.

We saw Professor Dumbledore with his back towards us as he peeked through the doors before closing them.

“Well?” he asked us.

“We did it. They’re free.” Harry said.

“Did what? Goodnight.” The headmaster gave us a wave before descending down the stairs. Oh that crazy old man. The three of us walked towards the door but before we went in, we had to watch ourselves disappear to start the whole rescue all over again. Once we disappeared, that’s when we came in the room.

“How did you get there? You were just over there. And now you’re there!” Ron said to us in shock.

“I don’t know what you’re talking about Ronald? Do you Harry? (Y/n)?”

“No clue. Maybe you should have your head examined Ronny, think you might be going mental.” I teased.

“Yeah Ron. How can people be in two places at once?” Harry joked alongside me.

Things after that were pretty crazy. After it had been leaked out about my uncle’s condition (damn you Snape!) my uncle resigned as professor at Hogwarts, Harry had gotten the new firebolt broom (curtesy of my dad) and he got to test it out.

I was in my bedroom just finishing the last bit of my packing to return home for the summer when my owl Arella came flying in. Her familiar grey and white feathers ruffled as she landed on her perch and she made her trilling sound.

“What have you have there, girl?” I noticed she had a small jewelry box tied to her back along with a note in her beak. I took the note then untied the box from her back as she shook herself out and ruffled her feathers.

I set the box down and opened up the note and inside was a letter written in my dad’s hand writing.

My beloved kitten,

This once belonged to your mother (I gave it to her just shortly after you were born) and I figured she would want you to have it. Keep it close to your heart and her memory will never leave you.

Your father,

Sirius Black

I set the note down and opened up the box now and inside was a necklace. It was a silver heart-shaped locket and I noticed a little button at the side of it. I pressed down on it and it opened up to reveal something that not only broke my heart, but also filled it with joy.

The moving picture inside was my mother holding me as a baby. Her wide smile as she held me in her arms, her eyes filled with nothing but love. When she looked up and her smile softened, I really did get to see what my uncle and dad were talking about.

I really did look like my mother. Same hair, same mouth, same face, almost everything was of my mother. A single tear fell down my cheek as I kissed the picture and held it close to my heart.

Soon I began to get brief flashbacks of various moments with my mother. I remember how she’d always sing me to sleep while having the windchimes of various creatures softly ring above me. The way she’d make breakfast, and how we’d play together at papa James and mama Lilly’s place.

I unhooked the chain and placed it around my neck and saw as the heart shaped locket actually rested against my own heart.

“Thanks dad. And thank you mum. I miss you, but you can rest easy now. Dad’s free.” I said as I stared up at the sky holding the locket closer against my heart.

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fenixburnedarchived · 2 years

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Matthias + the other crows

I’ve been thinking about this for so long & Rooney’s post rearding Nina’s relationship with the other crows inspired me to do one for Matthias, so here we go!

Kaz : They are pretty much polar opposites in their convictions, especially in the beginning. Matthias is all about honour and righteousness, while Kaz is outwardly driven by greed and perfidy, so exactly what Matthias despises. And yet I feel like as he experiences K.etterdam (& Hellgate) Matthias begins to understand, that you have to be at least a bit like Kaz to survive & he adapts accordingly (”trickery is not my native tongue but I may learn to speak it yet”). I feel like there’s just a mutual respect forming between them & that’s the foundation of how their relationship might progress. He will still always call him demjin, thank you very much.

Inej : Lbr Matthias has been drinking his respect Inej juice ever since that moment on the boat after the escape from prison. He instantly recognizes that he underrestimated this girl & that this is a mistake he won’t make again. What really makes them click is their strong faith in their respective gods, because this is something the others don’t understand. I feel like Inej is (with Wylan) one of the people Matthias warms up to quickest. Matthias sees how she’s the glue that keeps the group together & that’s why he immediately jumps in during c.k & insists that they can’t abandon her (& obviously because he deeply cares about her at this point). I think they are the type of friends who can spends hours sitting together with different tasks & simply enjoy the company in comfortable silence.

Wylan : It’s quite clear in Matthias’ early chapters that he feels sympathy for Wylan. They’ve both been thrown into this world more by force than not and often have difficulties understanding it. I’m sad there aren’t many scenes with them, because I feel like they really bonded. Also Wylan sometimes reminds him of the younger sister that he lost. Frida would’ve been about his age & naturally Matthias begins to feel quite protective of Wylan because of that.

Jesper : Their very different personalities naturally make them clash (similiar to Nina tbh), but in the end they really work well together and Matthias begins to appreciate Jesper’s warm presence & his humour (sometimes). An important element is also Jesper’s influence in Matthias unlearning the hatred towards g.risha. I made a whole post about that here, but Jesper is such a different case to Nina, because Matthias didn’t meet him as a f.abrikator, he saw him as companion just like the others and that plays a big part in the whole process to humanize grisha. Also I love that scene with them & Kuwei fighting on the island so much and it highlights how well they can work as a team. Matthias having a lil g.risha army was just 👌

Kuwei : another g.risha friend!! I mean, the fact that Matthias, the former g.risha hunter, stopped Nina from killing him in s.oc speaks volumes. I think for Matthias Kuwei is a way to make something right, a small step to undoing the damage done by him & the d.rüskelle. So he wants to get that boy to safety, give him a life, after so many other had to lose theirs. also I love that he values his opinion & asks for his input when it comes to the whole parem issue & how to help Nina.

Nina : I don’t think I need to say much about Nina, as this is the most discussed relationship. He loves her beyond measure & reason, he lives & would die for her. ok thanks.

#✦ [ 𝙲𝙷: 𝙼𝙰𝚃𝚃𝙷𝙸𝙰𝚂 𝙷𝙴𝙻𝚅𝙰𝚁 ] - the ice does not forgive #this got quite long omg jfksdhfsajfhsjl #i just ... love them all so muchhh 😭😭#they're his FAMILY

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my-arlington-academia · 3 years

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Cliffany (Claire×Tiffany) part 1

Hello there!!! It’s been a while. Yes, you’re not dreaming, this is a crackship fanfiction between Claire and Tiffany from sweet elite. I wrote this a couple of weeks ago and posted it on the Dulcet discord server. I’ve decided to post them on tumblr if anyone is interested (or not, that’s fine too.)

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"Cut the bullshit, Claire. I told you to stop sticking to me like glue!"

Tiffany was tired of it. No matter how many times she showed Claire how terrible she can be and how her words can cut deep, Claire kept coming back to her, looking for an explanation that doesn’t exist. Saying nonsensical one-liners like "are you really okay?" Or "You can talk to me if you need someone to listen." Tiffany found it pretty funny at first. Like, she could do any atrocity and this blond haired dumbass would come back to her anyway, thinking that she had some issues that needed fixing or something. After a while though, this shtick got annoying real quick. It was like Claire was completely unaware of who she was talking to and was blindly following the childish belief that everyone is kind and understanding on the inside.

"I’m just worried about you Tiffany, you keep pushing people away from you. That’s not good for your mental health. If you have troubles you can share them with someone..."

Tiffany sighed in exasperation. Was this girl senseless? Is that it?

"Listen here. I know you like to believe that everyone is good deep down but that’s not always the case. Not to mention, we’re not exactly close, you and I. If I wanted to "share" anything, it wouldn’t be with you."

"But..."

Claire’s eyes wavered for a second and she looked around, checking to see if there’s anyone nearby.

"...Honestly, the reason why I’m offering is because I don’t feel like you have anyone truly close to you. At least not in Arlington."

"Excuse me?"

One of the things that pissed Tiffany the most about Claire was that she could say the most insulting things with the best intentions, without any ounce of malice.

"Ha. And you’re the one to say this? You’re pretty much a wannabe psychiatrist who goes around being a punching bag for your classmates. People rely on you when they need you, but really? They don’t give a shit about you, honey."

Somehow, Claire’s gaze stayed on Tiffany, unchanging. This made her want to be meaner, more vicious, strike the parts she’s sensitive about. Claire was known to be patient like a saint and understanding like a mother. How nice would it be to finally put this dumb bitch in her place? Tiffany wanted to get a reaction from her, not only to make her leave but also because she was kind of interested to see what face she would make when she got upset.

"Oh, my apologies. What I told you just now, you were already aware of it, weren’t you? That you’re only needed as long as you’re useful. You might think that people like you Claire, but don’t get the wrong idea. You’re only useful, not lovable. Tell me about it sometime, how is it to be a walking doormat?"

Tiffany could feel it. Despite the fact that Claire’s expression still hasn't changed, there was a certain glow forming in her eyes. If she went on for long enough, she may be able to get the reaction she wanted.

"...Are you done, Tiffany? Can we talk like two civilized people now?"

"Hm. What was that? Do I hear some bitterness there, Miss I-Have-A-Savior-Complex? You probably got a lot of praise, huh? For your stupid speech at the department competition with your whole "people gather in front of misfortune" bullshit. Or- Ah! How could I forget, you also volunteer at the city’s hospital during weekends, right? You get all the praise and credit needed to get into Gold Tier even though all you really want is acknowledgement for your sorry existence."

Claire grabbed her skirt’s hem and kept tugging at it, looking down. In reality, Tiffany knew that there was no ill-will whatsoever behind Claire’s benevolent actions towards the people she took care of at the hospital. That was, however, the reason why she was so pissed right now. Instead of protesting against those baseless insults, Claire kept her silence, swallowing up her pride, waiting for this storm of verbal abuse to be over. At this point, Tiffany’s small conscience was telling her to stop. Yet, she couldn’t. Not now, not when she was getting closer and closer to results. And so, she kept pushing, wondering when Claire will finally talk back.

"Is that really what you think of me, Tiffany?"

"What’s wrong? Are you unable of taking any criticism, Claire? Or maybe you’re not used to being called out for your BS. You want it, don’t you? You want everyone to love you and have them keep you by their side while you’re playing the role of a perfect little girl who helps the weak but who’s just no fun to be with. The truth is that you just never learned to say no when people asked favors of you and it stayed as a habit. But instead of fixing that habit, you just went along with it, enjoying the attention."

Claire’s lips were starting to twist downward. There it was. The anger of being so blatantly insulted, the frustration of having to play nice even in front of someone who’s rude to you, the need to get all of those negative feelings out on someone and hurt them back either mentally or physically. Come hit me, yell at me and insult me. I finally get to see what you’re always hiding. No matter how ugly it is, I’ll accept it and laugh at it once you’re done pouring it out. When it comes to belittling others and making them feel worthless, I’m just the best at it.

"Honey, what’s going on? Want to turn back after coming so far? Well, I wouldn’t blame you. This is about the time when anyone would leave. Ah, by the way. Did you know that there was a certain rumor going around about the Durand family? Something like... a family member having a real nasty disease or something? So tell me who it is. Your mom, your dad? Surely not! He’s still working diligently everyday to take care of his little research facility in Florida. It would be terrible if he was actually pushing himself too hard to keep the business going, right?"

Tiffany finally went silent, grinning to herself, waiting impatiently for the crack to open and let the ocean out. Show it, Claire. Show that you can fight back so I can ridicule you even more for overselling your annoying "sweet girl" image.

However, none of that ever came.

"...Why... did you have to..."

Claire finally raised her head, showing a face full of tears. Despite that, she was trying to keep a smile on her face. "I’ve never seen anyone cry like that." Tiffany uselessly thought at first, until a wave of guilt she wasn’t even aware of went through her small conscience. There was something so upsetting about someone getting insulted to no-end and choosing to cry instead of letting their anger out. If only she exploded and hit her or yelled at her, it would’ve been better. But now, Tiffany felt like she just did something illegal. Attacked someone who didn’t have the means to defend themselves, who *didn’t* want to. Like she just robbed a homeless person who had barely any change left. It may have been the first time in her life that Tiffany truly felt pathetic for what she did. Shame, guilt, confusion. It was all welling up inside of her.

"Wh-why... *sniffle* Did you have to go so far... *sob* That was uncalled for..."

And yet you’re still not leaving? What’s wrong with this girl?! Before she even knew what was happening, Tiffany’s arms were reluctantly holding Claire into a tight embrace.

"A-are you a complete lunatic?? Why would you let me say all of this shit and cry afterwards?! That’s not how it works, you should’ve insulted me back and told me to fuck off!"

"I-I can’t... *sniff*"

"Why not?! Why can I and you can’t? You’re such a fucking moron, what the hell is wrong with you... When someone hits you, you hit them back! That’s basic knowledge every little kid has ever since kindergarten."

Claire’s hands slowly went up to return Tiffany’s hug. Through that small gesture, Tiffany felt every bit of emotion Claire was trying to communicate to her.

"Because... *sniffle* If I did you’d get sad and this conversation would end with both of us feeling sad... *sniffle* I know that you always act like you don’t care but, the truth is that you always get upset about what other people have to say about you, right? ...Especially with all of your social media accounts and the exposure you get. It must already be so hard to get so much unwanted criticism everyday even though you never asked for it..."

For some reason, before she even knew it, Tiffany’s heart rate picked up ever so slightly. To the point where neither she nor Claire even noticed it. After a relatively short amount of time, Tiffany let go of Claire, finally noticing how wet her blazer had gotten.

"Ugh. Seriously? Couldn’t you have at least- Oh God... You look like complete shit, go wash your face."

To that rude remark, Claire smiled gently, knowing that it didn’t have any malice behind it. Tiffany caught herself thinking that Claire really was an angel. She quickly erased it though. She didn’t want them to get involved in each other's business again, seeing how it can end. She didn’t want to make her cry again, no matter how weird that sounded coming from someone who never misses the chance to be a jerk. While parting ways, Claire’s crying face went through Tiffany’s mind again, filling her up with the desperate need to punch herself.

#sweet elite #claire durand #tiffany #cliffany #fanfics #this story has only 2 parts although I had planned more #I don’t think I’ll ever finish it but I might as well share

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phebia · 4 years

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Making Family, Chapter One

I still feel like I’m not the best at capturing these character’s personalities so I apologize if anyone is too OOC.

Also, formatting might be weird because I’m transferring this off of Wattpad and I’m too lazy to fix it hehe.

Tags(?): @khearts14

"Selina! Mija, can you get the door?" Geny's voice rang out from somewhere inside the house, momentarily distracting me from coating my lips in the mauve colour I had picked out for orientation this morning. "Yeah!" I shouted back, pursing my lips and taking one last lingering look in the mirror before making my way to the front door. I opened the door just enough to peak out, remembering Ruby's "Lessons of Freeridge" presentation. He gave an updated version every time he saw me, the most recent of which came last night after everyone had cleared out. There was a slightly familiar girl stood on the front porch, but it took me a minute to recognize her. The boys had told me stories upon stories of Monse and there had even been a brief, slightly awkward, group FaceTime call more than a few weeks back. While I was trying to figure out where I knew her from, she was seemingly also confused about my identity. "Monse, right?" I raised my eyebrows and nervously chewed at my lower lip, praying that my confidence was just and she was in fact who I thought she was. A moment later a flash of realization moved through her dark chocolate eyes and then she was smiling at me. "Selina." She pointed a finger at me and nodded, her answer pulling a relieved smile from me. "It's nice to finally meet you. The boys talk about you a lot." I spoke shyly and opened the door wider so that she could step inside. "Likewise." We stood in the doorway for a few awkward seconds, a silence enveloping us until I couldn't take anymore. I awkwardly cleared my throat and looked down at my Jordan's before vaguely gesturing behind me to Ruby's new room. I let Monse lead the way, not wanting to disrupt the reunion about to occur after an entire summer apart and mentally smacking myself for my momentary loss of social skills. "I'm back." Monse sung, clearing her throat and smiling widely as she crossed the threshold into the room. Ruby turned to her, not blinking, instead his eyes moved from her to his end table multiple times. "Can you move that side table?" I arched an eyebrow at the lack of enthusiasm the girl's arrival received. The big talk around the house was that this was supposed to be the reunion of the century, but what I was witnessing was far from that. The boy's effort was lacklustre and underwhelming. Frankly, I had given the girl a better welcome than her two best friends. "No, seriously don't make such a fuss." Monse's smile fell into a sneer and she had no problem displaying her displeasure with the boys. "I've only been gone all summer, but really, it's no big deal." She wandered further into the room, stopping to stand directly in front of her sad little welcome party, eyes narrowed into a glare. Ruby shrugged, a slight nod acknowledging his fuck up while Jamal just smiled by his side. "How was camp?" My cousin's eyes were empty and bored, Ruby surely unimpressed with having to take a break from his big bedroom plans. "Camp was fine. Notice anything new?" A smile of my own appeared on my face as Monse grinned widely, showing off her perfectly straight smile in hopes of a compliment or two. "You got boobs." Both boys spoke simultaneously, their stares never leaving her face and their answers causing Monse's smile to slip off her face. Mine followed soon after, my eyes flashing between the group of three in slight disbelief, not missing the way the younger girl crossed her arms over her chest. "You guys are shit friends." I spoke up for the first time, leaning in the doorway snickering. "She got her braces off." My laughing stopped and I stared directly at the boys, clearly unimpressed at the fact that they didn't seem to realize they were making their friend uncomfortable. All three young teenagers turned towards me; Ruby and Jamal blinking in surprise and Monse shooting me a shy and thankful smile. "We knew that." Jamal nodded, casually waving me off as if they were about to mention that next and hadn't completely missed it. "How did you even know that?" Ruby narrowed his eyes at me, irate as he often was when things weren't going his way. A tiny smirk played on my lips and I took a moment to look him up and down. "Try thinking with your brain instead." I raised my filled in brows for emphasis, the corner of my lips quirking up when Monse thanked me for noticing. "You can wait for Cesar to help." She turned back to the boys and just like her that her frustrated awkward attitude was back. I had better things to focus on now though, my ears perking up at the name. Cesar Diaz had alluded me for far too long and he was one mystery I was dying to know more about. That was most likely because Ruby was so tight lipped about whatever had went down between them. All I knew was that he used to be best friends with the three kids in front of me, but something changed that. Ruby had even gone as far as to prohibit Jamal from telling me what their old friend looked like, just in case I ended up seeing him around town. Despite the boy's best efforts, there was no hiding the fact that something had gone down. Although I was surprised Monse, someone so close to the source, had no idea what had happened either, the immature part of me was just happy I wasn't the only one out of the loop. "Then we'll be waiting a really long time." Jamal revealed as he sat back on his chair and Ruby brushed past Monse with an eye roll. "Why? Where's Cesar?" Monse continued her questioning. "We're not talking to him." The girl either missed the irritated looks Ruby was shooting at her or she simply didn't care. And, based on what I knew about the girl, I'd say it was the latter. "You in a fight?" Her eyes briefly flit to me for a possible answer but all I could do was shrug, just as in the dark as she was. "Well, it wasn't really a fight. It was more like a-" "We're not getting into it." Ruby caught Jamal off, his voice harsh as he shot his friend a pointed look and then turned back to Monse. "Trust us, Cesar's not cool." There was a brief moment where his firm eyes flashed in my direction. His silent attempt at scolding me as well earned him an unimpressed scowl and had me wondering who the fuck he thought he was. "I don't know, I heard he's pretty cool." I hummed, simply commenting to annoy my cousin even further. Ruby snapped his head in my direction and pointed his finger at me, spitting a few words in Spanish at me before humphing and returning to his half made bed. My features melted into confusion at the foreign language. A part of me was glad I wasn't very familiar with it at all so that his words just rolled off of me but the other part of me wanted to be able to sass him right back. Maybe I could at least get Mario to teach me some not-so-nice phrases long distance. "Well, I'm not cool not being cool. And why aren't you at football?" Monse had clearly mastered the art of ignoring Ruby years ago, which was something I was envious of after only a day of living with him. The mention of the sport made Jamal look up from the book he was reading, eyes wide yet refusing to meet anyone's gaze. "We should really get to orientation before those lines get too long." He stood up, his words rushed. "Yeah, I don't want to be too sweaty for my ID. Like Mario said, "It's all about the right first impression." It was slightly impressive how well they changed the subject, neither of them closing their mouths long enough for anyone else to get a word in. "And sticking together!" Then again, Monse seemed to have no problem talking over them. "You're totally deflecting this whole Cesar sitch. So stop being bitches and tell me." I looked on with eager eyes but just when it looked like she was about to break them, Geny's voice once again interrupted things. This time my aunt had the intention of making sure we weren't late to orientation and the boy's used the distraction to start pulling Monse and I out of the house, barely giving me enough time to grab my sunglasses and place them on my head. We were only a few steps down the sidewalk when the shortest of the bunch began complaining about having to walk everywhere and pestering me about when my car would arrive from Waterdown. If I was being honest with myself, I was dreading the entire orientation process and couldn't decide if it would've been better to have the journey take more or less time. Chances were that I'd be the only upperclassman around and if that didn't draw enough attention to me, my size would do the rest. People loved to notice me, and not for the right reasons. The snickers were rarely muffled and the comments were never quiet enough, because nobody really cares if you hear them. The only thing keeping you together is the fact that you've heard it all before. Said it to yourself before, because if you hurt yourself no one else can. But it's only a matter of time before someone gets a little creative and you have another thing to think of when you look into the mirror. After years of ridicule there were countless hateful things lingering in my mind, just begging for a weak moment to escape and push tears out of my eyes. But just thinking about them almost made the tears well up, so instead I focused on the argument Monse was still valiantly keeping alive as I walked between Jamal and Ruby. The boys had taken to staying silent, refusing to even indulge her with argumentative words anymore. The silent treatment was smart, but I wasn't sure it would be enough to deter the fiery girl next to Ruby. "He's the glue of our crew." Despite the lack of responses, she was still trying to force answers out of them. Ruby had previously told me that once you get Monse going there's no stopping her, but I had had doubts. I had always wondered why it was so important to Ruby that I know that, but as I witnessed her grilling the boy's I was very certain it was a warning. Needless to say, all my doubts were gone and I had no intention of being on the receiving end of the Afro-Latino's rage. "That was then, and this is now." Jamal insisted, breaking the stretch of silence much more politely than Ruby could have ever hoped to do so. "Yeah, Cesar ain't shit." As if only to prove my point my baby cousin chimed in as well. The group of kids took a sharp turn into an alleyway and Ruby had to grab me by my elbow to keep me with them. "What?" I asked lowly when he shot me a look. "I don't know where the hell we're going." With a simple shake of his head Ruby was back to staring straight ahead, avoiding Monse's gaze until something he saw made him froze. "Shit, Prophets." The words made me flinch and my heart rate quickly began to pick up. Throughout all my visits to Freeridge I had surprisingly not encountered a Prophet nor a Santo, but everyone made sure I understood who they were and what they were capable. As I watched the trio decked out in green and yellow it wasn't hard to decide I would've much preferred to see a group of Santos as we rounded the corner. They'd be less likely to kill me because I lived on their block. (Another wonderful tip from Lessons of Freeridge). "Be cool." "Ditch your colours." Waterdown wasn't the safest place on Earth but it might as well have been a safe haven compared to Freeridge. I had never been involved in the violent side of Waterdown but moving to Freeridge had thrown me into the middle of a gang war and I very obviously didn't know what to do in this situation. The kids on the other hand were clearly well versed in the danger. Ruby didn't hesitate to pull his hoodie over his head and then proceed to ask if he had ruined his hair after we passed the gang affiliated teenagers. His nonchalant attitude shocked me but I didn't say anything about it. My life before wasn't all sunshine and daisy's, but I was well aware it was better than most people's here and privilege was a tense subject here. I wasn't about to advertise mine. "Yeah." I scrunched my nose up, exaggerating the damage done to his beloved locks, grinning as he pulled out his phone to play with his hair. "Code dread. Code dread. Approaching on your six." My eyebrows furrowed in confusion and I was much less discrete about looking behind me than the others were, fully turning my body to see who was approaching. Recognition flooded me and I did my best to smile at Jasmine but memories of her... lively personality at my welcome party played through my mind. "Yo! You guys going to orientation?" I stayed put, waiting for her to catch up, only for two hands to grab at me and start pulling me away. "Hey, you know my cousin Berto, the fine one, hey?" I was still facing Jasmine, doing my best to listen to her and not fall as my ass at the same time. "His daughter Letty said it ain't nothing, unless your stupid and you can't spell your name. And then you hold up the line and then people get mad." The pace we were moving kept increasing much to my chagrin. The longer this went on the more likely I was to fall and twist an ankle or something, despite my flat shoes. Grace was something I did not have much of. Jasmine frowned as she too noticed that this was no leisurely stroll. "Hey, why are you guys walking so fast? You know I can't keep up. I have asthma." A frown pulled at my features and for a moment my heart hurt, a pit instantly forming in my stomach. I knew what it was like to be that girl. Trying so hard to be friends with people who don't want anything to do you, and then realizing when it's too late. It sucked. Before I knew what was happening I was stopping, my emotions not allowing me to do Jasmine dirty in the same way that so many girls had done me before. "Selina!" Ruby turned and returned to my side when he realized he no longer had a hold on me, whisper yelling at me and shooting me a pleading look. I pouted at him but that didn't do anything, his stare remaining steady and frantic. With a pitiful sigh I turned, keeping pace with the group as they began walking once more. "Sorry, Jasmine, we're having a private convo. Real sensitive stuff. Catch you next time." Monse looped her arm in mine and called out to the other girl, not even bothering to turn her head. The tiny whine that came from behind made my eyes widen and my frown deepen but the others gave me no time to dwell on it as they continued their brisk pace. "That's what you always say." Her voice was steadily fading until all of a sudden her footsteps were fast approaching. A quick glance behind showed Jasmine running towards us, a look of determination on her face. "Is it really that big of a deal?" I turned to where Ruby used to be only to find him and the others running ahead. Out of instinct my legs began to move faster, my head moving between the small squad and the lone girl, my jog light. "Monse, this isn't nice." I scolded the teen closest to me, my words making her turn her head to look at me incredulously. "If you don't run now, you're never gonna get out." Her words made me groan but with one last sorry look back I began sprinting to catch up with the others. Jasmine seemed like a nice enough girl but the last thing I wanted was to get suckered into hanging out with a 14 year old that wasn't a relative or friend of said relative. My cousin and his best friends were bad enough. Besides, I could always get Ruby, Jamal, and Monse to befriend her. As I ran a part of me was unravelling with insecure thoughts about what I looked like running, but a larger part of me was just desperate to keep up with the kids. I would be lost without them, literally. And the last thing I wanted was to be stumbling through Freeridge streets alone. Yet, despite the slight urgency of the situation, I couldn't help but slow down to smile and wave at a woman and her baby as I passed them. However, a moment later I was cursing my baby fever when I heard Jasmine scream my name. A few more blocks passed and I had finally managed to escape Jasmine and catch up with my three original companions. "Man, she is relentless." Jamal gasped as I stopped behind them, placing my hands on my knees as I caught my breath. It had been a long time since I had run at all, let alone ran with that much intensity for that distance. Once my lungs stopped screaming and I no longer felt like I might vomit I straightened out and joined the ranks once more, pulling my sunglasses off the top of my head to untangle them from my crimped hair. "That was mean, guys." I sighed, torn between not being impressed by the childish actions but also being the slightest bit amused. "Come on, Selina. It was a nice save." Jamal shot me his cheesiest smile and I knew I had lost that debate already. "Oh, you're not safe." Monse disagreed, back onto the Cesar issue as if Jasmine had never made an appearance. "Your threats aren't penetrating, okay?" I placed my tinted shades back on my head, allowing them to push back some of the hair that normally framed my face, doing my best to fix my appearance without a mirror. "I'm not telling you what Cesar said." My head shot up at Jamal's slip up, my hands momentarily stopping their adjustment of my cleavage. "Ah ha! So he said something!" Monse had also caught the admission and she had turned around before I could even remove my hands from my bra. "Jamal! Do you need a muzzle?" Ruby growled at Jamal, who had his hand clasped over his mouth, before turning to his other longtime friend. "Monse, no offence, but you're a loose cannon." Although his tone was soft for Ruby, my cousin was digging himself into a deep hole and I instinctively moved to walk in between the two. I wouldn't put it past Monse to jump on his ass, not that she would've been unprovoked. "We're telling you for your own protection." His next words had my jaw dropping and my eyes narrowing. "My own protection?" Monse scoffed, seemingly just as shocked and offended as I was. "Eat a dick." I whirled around and stepped in front of Ruby, getting in his face with my resting bitch face in full effect. If we were being real, Monse had every right to know what caused the rift in the group and Ruby's ignorance and way of handling it was quickly becoming tiresome to me. "Thank you!" Monse exclaimed, nodding at me and turning on her heel to continue walking away from the boys. "Okay, you just made our case in point." Ruby swirled his finger in my face as I backed up and left him and Jamal behind to walk with Monse. "You don't even know, and you're already at Defcon Solange." His matter of fact tone made glare at the stop sign further down the road and run my tongue over my teeth. "Look, I may be nosy about the Cesar thing, but that's all it is. Nosiness. But, don't you ever pull shit like this and tell a girl you're doing it to protect her. That's a dick move, Ruby. Okay?" Upon being met with my fiery glare the Latino swallowed thickly and nodded, but before he could speak grunting filled the street. My eyes immediately moved to find the source of the noise, my pace subconsciously slowing as I saw a group of guys kicking the shit out of someone in front of a dumpster. I gasped quietly as Jamal and Ruby were suddenly squishing me between them, doing their best to block my view of the beating. "Don't look. Keep walking." Jamal scolded me, as if I didn't have the Freeridge street knowledge of a toddler and should know better by now. We silently walked past the alleyway and as hard as I tried I couldn't resist sneaking a few looks over my shoulder. "Why would anyone want to get jumped into 19th street? If it were me, I'd join first street, only one second of pain." Jamal voiced his judgements once we had cleared the side street and no one would be able to hear his lowered voice. "Agreed. And who wants a lifetime commitment at our age?" Ruby nodded in agreement, his voice even lower than Jamal's. A lifetime commitment at 14 might've sounded like a lot to a normal person, but I've been dying for one since I was around that age. My parents were gone the majority of the time, and although they were assholes when they were around, there was nothing I wanted more than to have them with me. Eventually I gave up on that and tried to find a significant bond in my friendships. But, when you're friends with the pretty girls and there's never more than a month where they're single there's too many guys trying to get close just to get into their panties. Flashbacks of fake flirting only to ask about my girlfriends made me shiver. It was the unfortunate reality of being the fat, ugly friend and it was also the story of my life. This time it wasn't the arguing friends to pull me from my thoughts, but the sound of rap music and the rumble of a car approaching. I couldn't stop my head from turning, eyes eager to see what was coming. I also couldn't stop myself from biting my lower lip when I saw the cherry red Impala cruising down the street. "That's hot." I hummed lowly, eyes remaining trained on the vintage Chevy despite the groans my praise received from the boys. My fingers pushed my gold glasses further up my nose as I continued to stare, it was the first nice car I'd seen in Freeridge and the sight of it practically made my toes curl in excitement. "We can't tell you what Cesar said." I looked away from the Impala long enough to see Ruby shake his head in one final plea, that went ignored by Monse. "Fine. Then I'll ask myself." With that she boldly stepped out into the street, forcing the driver of the car to slam on the brakes. "Hey, you crazy?" My view of the driver was obscured even when he yelled out the window at Monse, but his deep voice sent a small shiver up my spine. I found myself shifting closer to the edge of the sidewalk, doing my best to sneak a peak at him and get a better view of the car. A hand grabbed at my wrist to stop me but I yanked away from the touch immediately, turning to look at Ruby who was watching me worriedly. "You know who owns that car?" He gulped and looked at his shoes, avoiding my eyes and refusing to answer my question. When he met my gaze a few moments later I arched an eyebrow at him, silently questioning if he was going to answer me or not. "That's Cesar's older brother, Spooky." My interest was officially through the roof with that answer. I stepped off the curb without hesitation but all my confidence faded as soon as I was stood in the road and I remained a couple meters in front of the car. Monse was looking though the window but I didn't pay her much mind, distracting myself from my anxiety by admiring the vibrant paint and gleaming chrome. It was only when I felt eyes on me that I looked up and glanced through the windshield. A blush quickly warmed my cheeks and I felt a lump forming in my throat when I found that I had gotten caught staring by Cesar's older brother. He tilted his head at me, dark eyes drinking in my appearance, making me insecurely cross my arms over my stomach. Monse glanced in my direction as well, and it was Ruby and Jamal's quiet cursing that was the clue that told me I now had to go join the younger girl. "Selina, you don't have to go." Ruby's whispers came from behind me and I knew he was trying to reassure me. He had witnessed me have a breakdown courtesy of my social anxiety once before and I was sure he would do anything to avoid another one right now. I knew I had to go though, and despite my intimidation and sudden rampant insecurity, something inside of me wanted to get closer to the unfamiliar man anyways. I bit the inside of my cheek and let my arms fall to my sides, clenching my clammy hands into fists and shuffling my way to Monse. By the time I had joined her side and leaned down to see into the car, Cesar's brother was speaking to her again. "It's all good. You just look a little different. What is it?" The sound of his voice made me shiver and I hated to admit that he was undeniably hot. Probably too attractive for his own good. As he waited for a response from Monse his attention turned to me. He shamelessly looked me up and down, his eyes particularly focused on my exposed cleavage. I was sure that by now the small bit of attention had turned me the same shade of red that his car was and when he looked back up and met my stare, it was a surprise that my knees didn't buckle. I shifted my weight around, getting antsy under his gaze, but unable to stop myself from mimicking his actions when he licked his lips. He chuckled at that, the discovery of his dimples making me nibble on my lower lip. "My boobs." For a moment I had forgotten that Monse was there, but I was thankful for her blatant answer. It gave me a chance to shake away the tingles that had been buzzing around my body. "Nah, you got your braces off." Spooky nodded at her, raising an eyebrow as his eyes drifted to check out the assets she was newly sporting. The ever familiar pit of disappointment settled in my gut until a laugh rumbled from his chest. "Let me know when you look that." He tilted his chin towards me and I couldn't stop my face from morphing into one of shock. However, it wasn't long before a shy smile was pulling at my lips and I looked to the ground coyly, not missing the smirk stretching across his face. Most girls might've been uncomfortable under his intruding stare and bold words but the only thing making me queasy was the flashes of hope and insecurity tightening my stomach. I might've stood there and let him talk to me like that for hours if it wasn't for the affronted look Monse shot us both. I met the girl's gaze, instantly seeing her desire to leave in her shining eyes. "You're tripping." I looked back at the cholo behind the wheel and shook my head, doing my best to keep my voice steady. "Nice '63." I patted the bottom of the open window and pursed my lips into a smile as I began to stand up straight. His eyebrows furrowed and he huffed, looking at me as if I had just confused him, but his cocky smile never faltered. I followed Monse back towards the boys, missing the way that Spooky craned his neck to get a better look at my retreating form. "Hey!" His voice stopped me in my tracks, and it took me only a second to turn around and see him leaning out his window again. "I'll see you around princesa." He kissed his teeth and gave me one last once over before ducking back into the car and beginning to drive off, his chuckles barely reaching my ears over the loud rap music and sound of my heart racing. My brain was a muddled mess of thoughts, the excited and happy buzz clashing with the negative realism that always lingered in my head. I stood in the street, the warm feeling lingering in my stomach despite the fact that I was reminding myself that guys like him don't go for girls like me. Caroline would've called that thought a personal attack, but in my eyes it was just a simple fact. He could have any girl he wanted on her knees in front of him with a single smile. That didn't match up with my rolls and squishy bits, which pushed people away. The more I got lost in my thoughts the more stupid I felt about how easily I had gotten my hopes up. Apparently I had learned nothing from my past experience with boys. "Selina." Jamal's voice shattered through my spiralling thoughts, making me realize that I had been watching the car disappear down the street. I mumbled an apology as I rejoined the group, shaking my head to rid myself of the possibly impending breakdown. Ruby appeared behind me and tossed his sweater over my chest as we all waited for Monse to say something. "When did Oscar get out?" The faintest hints of a smile pulled at my lips at the revelation of his real name. "Six weeks ago." Ruby admitted, hovering over me as if I had just been assaulted and wasn't simply trying to get rid of the butterflies swirling around my stomach. "Now it makes sense. Whatever Cesar said, he said to impress Oscar. Cesar's terrified of his brother." Monse had fizzled out a bit after her interaction with Spooky, but the determination in her voice never wavered. "Along with everyone else." Jamal piped up from behind us all. His words made me furrow my eyebrows and I couldn't keep myself silent. "Why?" Sure, there had been something about the man that made me freeze up but I put that onto my anxiety. The look the younger boy was shooting me said that there was something else going on, though. "Oscar's the leader of the Santos." He explained and suddenly the tattoos and Spooky made sense. The naive part of my brain said that just made him hotter but I refused to be that dumb. Stupid thoughts like that would get you killed in Freeridge. As the others bickered I came to the realisation that I hadn't even glanced at Cesar during the entire ordeal and I still had no clue what the shunned squad member looked like. I didn't dwell on it for very long though, distracted by a sound coming from behind us. "Tax time, bitches!" "Shit, Latrelle." I froze in place and shakily turned around with the others, but most of the intimidation factor was lost the second I landed eyes on the scrawny kid behind us. The only keeping me weary was Ruby's countless tales of Freeridge muggings. "Hands up, money out." I was surprised at how quickly the squad's hands shot up, and despite my urge to say something I bit my tongue as I raised mine. "How can we take money out with our hands up?" Ruby rambled from his spot next to me, his comment making me shift uneasily. "I know you bookheads got that back to school gwop." He sneered at Ruby before meeting my wide eyes and I was suddenly glad for the black hoodie tied around my shoulders. "It's orientation day. So technically, we're neither back to school nor out of school. We're-" I slowly reached over and clamped a hand over Monse's mouth before she could say anything else. "We don't have any money." Ruby shook his head, but it didn't take more than a glare from Latrelle for Jamal to mention the $20 Geny had slipped Ruby before we left the house. "Really?" I hissed, reaching over and smacking Jamal on the back of the head as Latrelle walked off with the money. "At least you have your own room." He swatted my hand away and grinned at a fuming Ruby, the change of subject luckily enough to distract him.

My plans for after orientation had been to go home, avoid all mirrors and drown my feelings in ice cream. Maybe let my thoughts wander to a certain cholo for bit. They had not been to walk Jamal and Monse home. But when the girl looked up at me with wide eyes and an even wider smile, I couldn't say no. I should've said no. I realized that as soon as we stopped across the street from a house with a multitude of Santos outside of it. Most of them were spread out drinking or playing cards. My eyes moved over a younger boy sitting on a couch who I assumed to be Cesar, before they finally settled on Oscar who was sat on a crate next to his brother. My tongue peaked out of my mouth as I watched him lift a weight over his head, the veins in his arms and the way his face scrunched up with effort distracting me from Jamal and Monse's persistent bickering. "Selina, if someone breaks up with you over text, is it official?" The question caught me off guard and forced me to pay attention to the teenagers once more. "Uh, yeah." I answered, not following where he was going with the question. "Then consider me the text." I chuckled, surprised at his metaphor. "You've been dumped!" Monse rolled her eyes and grabbed my wrist, turning towards the house, clearly done with Jamal's antics. A flash of panic flooded through me at the thought of accompanying her to the front yard, not jumping at the idea of standing in front of the intimidating group. "Wait, please don't go." Jamal grabbed her one again, relief washing over me when she turned back to him. "Please, you're... You're not safe." Suddenly my anxiety was no longer my biggest concern. "Why?" Monse and I both questioned at the same time, earning us an exasperated look from Jamal. "Because you've... blossomed." He didn't even bother looking at me, all his focus directly on Monse. "Blossomed?" A small smirk appeared on my face at the stupid euphemism, but Monse hadn't caught on yet. Much to Jamal's chagrin. "Popped. Busted out. Puffed your party pillows. Whatever you want to call your new cha-cha-bingos. These new homies he's hanging with, they're thirsty." All I could do was blink at the rambled outburst. Jamal was something special, and I wasn't sure if I'd ever get used to him. With one last glance at Monse's chest he shoved his sweater into her arms, earning a giggle from me which was quickly silenced by Monse's next words. "That's why I'm bringing Selina." My jaw dropped and I whipped my head towards her. It was one thing to stand across the street and make sure she was okay, but I had no business strutting up there with her. "Mine don't have anything on hers." I smiled for a moment at her words, my face quickly falling when I remembered what her plans for me were. "Besides, Oscar was practically foaming at the mouth for her." I spluttered and smacked her hands away as she reached to perch my boobs up higher. "He doesn't give a shit about me." I urgently whispered, wildly pointing at the gang leader who now had a beer in his hand. Both kids ignored me in favour of continuing their staring contest until Jamal broke. "I hate when you're right." He muttered as I rolled my eyes and swallowed the lump in throat, coming to terms with the fact that I was going whether I liked it or not. I shifted my weight around anxiously as I appeased Monse by emphasizing my cleavage a bit more. "Okay! Don't worry, girls! I got your back... from right here." Jamal's voice faded away as we approached the house together. "Why did I have to come?" My words were practically a whimper and I found myself clasping my hands together in front of me, nervously picking at my nails as we got closer. "Shh, it'll be fine." Having a 14 year old shush me made me blink and look around, embarrassment warming my face a bit. As much as I wanted to trail behind, I remained in step with Monse and when she came to a stop in front of Cesar I just so happened to stop in front of his big brother. Spooky's eyes met mine as he peered at me and took a long sip from his Corona, my eyes following his movements when he ran his hand down his face and wiped the lingering drops of alcohol away from his mouth. "I need to talk to you." As Monse spoke, my eyes flit around the yard and I anxiously shifted my shoulders, noticing all the eyes on us for the first time. "I'm listening." I arched an eyebrow at Cesar's response, very aware of how out of place he looked amongst the Santos. No matter how hard he tried to appear, his act was anything but convincing. "Privately?" Monse pushed, her request making Cesar sigh and look away from her. I could still feel Oscar's gaze on me but I clenched my jaw and continued to focus on the kids. "Yeah, we can go inside." Cesar nodded but almost seemed reluctant to say the words, still looking anywhere but Monse. Spooky's heavy stare was suddenly no longer on me and he was clearing his throat loudly, his actions causing both his brother and I to look in his direction. He looked up at me as he took a sip from his beer, the eye contact causing my stomach to clench. As he lowered his drink he nodded his head at me, shooting me the same grin from our earlier interaction. I tilted my head towards the ground to hide my red cheeks and pursed my lips to fight off a smile. "But, uh, if you wanna sit on my face, you gotta put that mouth on pause so I can concentrate." Cesar's words made my head snap up and my jaw drop, my shocked stare drilling into the side of his face. The guys around the yard all began to laugh at the comment and our reactions, and before I knew it Monse was gone. "Monse!" My head turned and I called out for her retreating form but she never looked back, and I couldn't even blame her for abandoning me there. If it were me in her position I probably would've ended up crying in front of the gang members. Earlier, all I had wanted was to be as far away from this place as possible but now that I had my chance to leave something was holding me there. Monse had spent the entire day defending Cesar and I'd be damned if I let him disrespect her without a care in the world. With Monse gone all eyes were on me, but I ignored the other Santos in favour for bending over to be face with face with the boy stretched out on the couch. I clenched my jaw and narrowed my eyes at him, too angry to notice Oscar leaning over for a better view of my ass. "You might wanna start using your fucking brain if you want to stop jerking it to pictures of Ruby's Abuelita and get some real pussy." His brown eyes widened with every word I spoke and flashed to my hand when I momentarily jerked it along to my words. Murmurs and laughter came from the onlookers but I never took my attention off of the teenager in front of me. A part of me expected some sort of response from him, but all he could do was stare at me, proving for a fact that he was far from hard. I dragged my eyes over his form, visibly unimpressed and humphed, standing back up and turning to leave. "Hey mami, you're more than welcome to stay." I hadn't gotten more than a few feet away when Spooky's voice froze me in place and had my heart climbing into my throat. I shakily turned back around, eyes starting on him before moving across the other Santos. "Looks pretty packed." I ignored the empty spots next to Cesar and licked my lips nervously, not missing the way Oscar's eyes followed my actions. "I got a spot for you right here." As Spooky patted his lap, his friends whistled and jeered but all I could do was leer at him in embarrassment. My arms instinctively crossed over my stomach in an attempt to make myself smaller and as he pursed his mouth into a self-satisfied smirk I had to look away, before I ended up perching myself on his lap. "Where'd all that spice go, hyna?" Oscar called out to me again but I couldn't hold his stare for long and soon I was rushing away, not bothering to wait for Jamal or Monse. "Selina? Are you okay?" The two of them were hurrying to catch up with me, and even though we were well down the street from the house my pace didn't slow. "What did they do to you?" I finally stopped and whirled around to face them, throwing my arms out to the side and shrugging. "Nothing." I admitted, hating how easily flustered I became around people. All it took was a few suggestive comments and I turned into a useless pile of mush. Maybe my anxiety was to blame, or my lack of experience with boys. The guys in Waterdown would never even bat an eye at me, let alone waste their time flirting. It was strange to be seen. Scary to be seen. And yet, I wanted him to see me. "Look, I'll catch you guys later." The friends stared at me with concerned eyes before sharing a look between them. "You're good from here, right?" They were much safer on Freeridge streets than I was currently, but I still found myself asking. Jamal looked like he was going to protest but Monse spoke before he could. "Yeah. We're good." She smiled. "You know how to get back to Ruby's from here, right?" I nodded, forcing a smile onto my face before saying goodbye and starting the short walk home.

When I got back to the house I decided not to mention the short visit to Cesar's house to Ruby, not knowing how'd he react or what he'd have to say. There wasn't much to say anyways, nothing had really happened between Oscar and I, and I was sure that Monse was looking forward to telling Ruby about what an asshole Cesar had been herself. I was glad I chose to keep my mouth shut because the moment I entered the house I was affronted by a glowering Ruby. I listened to him whine and complain about his new living situation while helping him move Abuelita's things into his room. But the moment he suggested bunking with me I was out, telling him that I had promised his mom I would take the twins to the park. That had been a complete lie, but I would've done anything to get out of that situation. It took me a while to wrangle the twins but eventually we were ready to go and Geny had given me the okay to take them. As we were stepping out the door a hand clamped down on my shoulder making me jump. "What?!" I cried, half expecting to see Ruby or the boogeyman behind me. However, spinning around showed Abuelita, the keys to her Station Wagon in her hand and a knowing glimmer in her eyes. "Thanks." I smiled as I reached out for the keys, pleasantly surprised that she trusted me to take her car even though I might as well have still been a stranger. "You have your license, right?" She pulled the keys back momentarily, her voice laced with suspicion. "Yes, Abuelita. I'll let you laugh at the picture when we get back." I sighed, rolling my eyes softly. "Good. Have fun, mija." My promise returned the smile to her face and she handed the keys over without another problem. If getting the twins out of the house had been hard, getting them into the car was near impossible. I managed though, and within a few minutes we were pulling away fro the house. We had hit our first red light by the time I realized I had no clue where the nearest park was, much to the twins amusement. Luis was ready to tell me the moment I offered to buy them juice at the park, but Luisa made him hold off until I made the promise of ice cream, then they were more than happy to shout out directions to me. When we arrived I forced them to run around for a bit before buying them both a Popsicle off of the slightly unnerving ice cream man. I sat down on a bench facing the play structure and opened their ice cream for them, letting them run wild and wincing at the thought of how sticky they'd be when they returned to me. A couple hours passed and I spent most of my time closely watching the twins, paranoid that something might happen to them. Luckily for me they had worn themselves out before sunset and I had them home in time to take a bath before supper. After dinner I helped Geny wash up and tidy the house, despite her assurance that she was perfectly fine doing it alone, and on my way to my bedroom I dropped my drivers license into Abuelita's lap, smiling tiredly when I heard her laugh of victory. The sun had dipped below the horizon a while ago and that made me feel a bit better about how tired I was. I shamelessly swapped out my proper clothing with an oversized t-shirt and pair of panties, crawling under the blankets after scrubbing my makeup off my face. Just as I closed my eyes my phone buzzed from it's place on my side table, a text from Ruby lighting up the screen. Cesar thing explained tomorrow.

Next Day*

"And then Cesar said that he smashed Monse!" Ruby finished his long explanation with a gasp for breath, filling his lungs with air after ranting without a breath for a solid five minutes. He had dragged me out of bed at noon and sat on the toilet as I did my makeup, obviously ready to relieve himself of his secrets. His final outburst made me pause, my orange lipstick hovering over my pouted lips. "And did he?" I prompted, chancing a glance at the boy to my left. My casual tone and question left him bewildered, almost offended at even the simple suggestion. "Definitely not." Ruby shook his head with a scoff, both of us rolling our eyes at each other. I mumbled out an apology simply for the sake of moving on with the conversation, smacking my lips together and leaving the bathroom with Ruby trailing behind me. The twins barrelled past in a storm of chaotic energy, forcing me to stop in my tracks and causing Ruby to run into me. The two of us shared a tired look, continuing to the kitchen where I began rummaging around for some sort of breakfast. Ruby sat at the table, his head in his hands and his mouth finally still, allowing me to pour myself a bowl of cereal with some peace and quiet. "Mijo, I need your help with something." "Can't Selina help you?" I paused my hunt through the fridge when I heard my name, eyes finally landing on the milk as I kept my head in the fridge and waited for Abuelita's response. "No. She's eating." Ruby's groan of defeat meant that I was in the safe. I slowly pulled my head out of the fridge, spoon hanging out of my mouth and wide eyes finding what I had escaped from. "Heh, my bad." I chortled, sarcasm leaking from my fake sympathy as I spotted the sewing kit and bright pink fabric. The spoon muffled my words but my cousin had heard them loud and clear and I could feel his glare on me as I sat at the table. His cold stare barely wavered as I ate my cereal and he was forced to stand on Abuelita's small pedestal. I shot him a teasing wink as I stood and placed my dishes in the sink, eagerly making my way to the living room to get a better view of the show. I dropped down onto the empty sofa with a slight bounce, tucking my legs to my chest and resting my chin on my knees. The longer we sat there the more the dress came together and the better things got. At some point I had pulled out my phone and hadn't stopped taking Snapchats since, my distracting laugh the soundtrack to most of the videos. We were meant to meet Jamal and Monse a while ago to discuss the Cesar issue but now that I knew the big secret, I didn't really care all that much. While Ruby begged to leave I remained content on the couch, shifting around every so often to get another angle of him in his princess dress. His phone had been stolen by Abuelita, so it wasn't that surprising when Monse burst through the front door wondering what the hold up was. "What's going on?" She asked, annoyed eyes taking in the sight before her. I sat up and aimed my phone at the irate girl for a moment before focusing back on Ruby. "I think it's pretty obvious." "Something wonderful." Ruby wallowed in self pity while I laughed, probably enjoying his misery a bit too much. "Great. So, walk me through the moment Cesar said what he said." My eyebrows raised and my lips puckered when I realized Monse had come over for the information I had been told this morning. "Don't worry about it." Ruby's refusal to tell the girl anything wasn't making any sense. Monse already knew what Cesar said, what was the point of trying to hide anymore from her? The kid was making things unnecessarily hard on himself. "There you again." Monse scoffed, back to square one with Ruby. "There you go again what?" The short boy snapped back at, looking more like a sassy princess than anything else at the moment. "Keeping things from me. You gotta stop withholding, God damn it!" I sighed, already tired of the argument. With my mood deflating by the second I rubbed the bridge of my nose and put my phone down as Monse apologized to Abuelita for her language. "You should just tell her." I suggested, throwing my hands up exasperatedly when I became the target of Ruby's short temper. Before I could bite back Monse was pulling Ruby out the front door, leaving me to squeeze my eyes shut groan loudly to myself. "He's a puto sometimes, you know that?" I opened my eyes and looked to Abuelita, sliding myself forward to sit on the edge of the couch and try to catch a glimpse of the duo on the front porch. "Si." Abuelita's casual tone and solemn nod made me stare at her for a few seconds before a loud laugh burst out of my chest. "Bravo." We both leaned in and winked at each other, but our laughter came to a halt when Ruby came running in yelling about Monse was on her way to kill Cesar. He fumbled trying to get the quince dress off his body and I stood up to help, not getting any time to brag about how I had used a Spanish term correctly all on my own. I waited at the door and texted Jamal while Ruby rushed to his room to change, following after him when he ran out the door. Albeit my pace was much more relaxed than his, a part of me hoping that Monse would at least land a solid hit before someone broke things up. We met Jamal on the way and I made sure to stay relatively close to the boys, not wanting to get lost in the dark streets alone. I slowed down as we approached Cesar's house, letting the boys break through the crowd of Santos to reach Monse. I lingered behind, a proud smile pulling at my features when I saw that she had gotten her hands on Cesar. Ruby and Jamal pulled her slender form off of their old friend and I crossed the lawn as they continued to tug her backwards. I didn't even spare a glance at the barking men behind me, too invested in the struggle going on. I stood off to the side, hands slid comfortably into my back pockets, unable to hide my wince when the boys told Monse she was being crazy. "Crazy? I'm crazy?" As expected she pulled herself out of their arms and turned her anger onto them. "Calm down. Breathe." I shot Ruby a pitiful look and groaned through my teeth, his words only making Monse's fury burn hotter. "Don't you patronize me! I don't need you! Any of you!" She pushed Jamal out of her way, her actions making me tilt my head in surprise. It was obvious she was pissed off, but she was about to cross a line. "I was just trying to keep our crew together, but since I'm the only one who cares, you're all dead to me! I'll survive on my own!" Her fiery eyes met mine and a second later she was gone, her angry tirade of hurtful words having silenced everyone. "God damn, you guys pissed her off." I broke the silence after a few seconds, a smile of disbelief turning my lips upwards even though the situation was far from funny. Both boys turned their shell shocked stares onto me but I had already turned and began walking away. "Yeah, and what are we supposed to do about it?" Ruby yelled after me, frustration and worry lacing his voice. I threw my arms out to the side and shook my head. The last thing I right now wanted was to play therapist or life coach. "Not my problem." I called over my shoulder, not bothering to look back at the defeated friends. As I continued my casual stroll down the street my eyes flashed around the darkness and it didn't take long for the shadows to put me on edge. Walking around Freeridge alone, at night, was not a smart thing to do. So, I quickly turned around, slight panic setting in when I saw that Ruby and Jamal had already started down the opposite end of the street. "Hey, wait though! I'm gonna walk back with you guys!" I called out to them, the darkness sending a shiver up my spine and pushing me to lightly jog to catch up. I breezed past the house where all the Santos still stood, chancing a quick glance at them and catching Spooky's eye from where he sent on a ledge. I shot him a quick grin before turning back to the boys, my light jog turning into more of a sprint until I caught up to them. "You know, I've ran more during my two days in Freeridge than I did in two years in Waterdown."

Next Day*

The next day Monse had spent her morning across the street at Jasmine's house in an act of rebellion against the boys, and I been peer pressured into going over there and trying to get her to forgive them. I had meandered over there in a pair of grey sweatpants and a cropped Coca Cola t-shirt, white sandals on my feet and sunglasses covering my tired eyes. "What's good?" I yawned as I entered the front yard, ignoring the suspicious look Monse shot me and stretching out on the steps next to her. Jasmine accepted me eagerly, talking excitedly about we were all going to join dance together. To conserve her joy I remained silent, eyes admiring my white pedicure and not mentioning the fact that I would most certainly not be joining dance. Or any other extra curricular activity for that matter. I just wanted to get this stupid fifth year over with. I had been so close to graduating back home, but when things started to go down the drain school was my last priority. Which left me here, doing an extra year of high school, which was far from common in the US as Ruby had pointed out to me. Despite my refusal to join dance at school, I couldn't help myself from standing up when Jasmine added music to her awkward moves. I bopped over to her, an ear splitting smile lighting up her face as I joined her dancing, not particularly caring if anyone currently around saw me. As I twisted my hips I saw Monse wandering towards the boys out of the corner of my eye. "Damn Selina, you gotta teach me that." Jasmine had suddenly grabbed my arms, her eyes flashing between my face and my hips, effectively preventing me from watching whatever would happen between the three across the street. I smiled sheepishly at her, unsure about how to tell her I didn't know how to each her because it wasn't something I could explain, I just did it naturally. Despite that, I still ended up spending most of my dad attempting to teach the young Latina how to move her hips to the music. By the time I got home Ruby, Jamal, and Monse had made up and I had worked up a sweat. I knew that Ruby would take control over the bathroom tomorrow morning so I did as much preparation for tomorrow as I could before going to bed, ready to fight the short boy in the morning if I had too.

Next Day*

"Selina, let's go!" I clenched my jaw at Ruby's shout, releasing the last section of my hair from Geny's curling iron and quickly unplugging the heated tool before rushing out of the bathroom. If Ruby hadn't taken 45 minutes to perfect his hair this morning I would've been done ages ago, so it was technically his fault we were running late. I slung my backpack over my shoulder and followed Ruby out the door, both of us calling a goodbye over our shoulders. We eventually met up with Jamal and Monse, the kids abnormally silent until Monse slowed to a stop across from Cesar's house. She stared, as if she was waiting for said boy to make an appearance. She'd wanted to kill him the other night and yet here she was waiting on him, and I was reminded that I couldn't keep up with freshman drama anymore. "He's not coming with us." "And why would you want him to?" I remained silent as the boys spoke in defeated tones, disappointed to be going into high school without Cesar even if they had been the ones to kick him from the group in the first place. Monse ignored them both and crossed the street, Jamal calling out to her and the three of us watching her go. "See, bitches be bonkers." Jamal turned to Ruby as he began to follow Monse, his comment earning him an offended look from me. "And boys ain't shit." I retorted, crossing the street as well. The three of them gathered at the end of the walkway while I stayed further back, leaning against a tree and noting the Impala was missing from the driveway. After a few tense moments of waiting the front door opened, the sight of Cesar making me stand up a bit straighter. Surprise flooded my body at his appearance. I watched him walk towards the group, a small grin appearing on my face. The four of them turned and started down the sidewalk again, Monse and Cesar walking behind Ruby and Jamal. I trailed behind, watching Monse and Cesar with a knowing glimmer in my eyes. Something had happened. "I can't do this. I can't keep a secret." Jamal broke the group silence. "It's gonna make me implode. I don't know why anybody keeps secrets." The stress of his false football career had been driving the boy insane, and if I were to guess I'd say he didn't have much pretending left in him. "There's something I need to tell you." My eyebrows raised in interest when Monse shared a nervous look with Cesar. Whatever she was going to say though was disrupted by the sound of gunshots ringing through the air. The noise made me jump and look around in a panic, looking to the kids in disbelief when they didn't even flinch. ".44!" They all called, laughing meanwhile my heart had jumped into my throat and my hands were suddenly clammy. In all my days spent in Freeridge I hadn't heard or seen a gun, and that was shown in my reaction. I knew I'd have to get used to it, I just hoped it happened quickly. I didn't want to spend forever on edge. "Cesar." A voice that always sent shivers down my spine came from our right, and sure enough there was Oscar in his red Impala. He nodded his head at him and we all came to a stop at the same time the car did. An expectant purse of my lips was the only reaction I had to the boy backing up and immediately getting into his brother's car. Spooky eyed the others for a second and took one last lingering look back at me before slowly driving off. I remained on the sidewalk while the others traversed into the road, all of us watching the car disappear. "What were you gonna say?" "Cesar... we need to save him."

#spooky x reader #spooky imagine #oscar diaz x reader #oscar diaz imagine #on my block #on my block imagine #plus size fic #plus size imagine #plus size reader #oscar diaz #spooky

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rebecaca · 3 years

Text

always | eijirou kirishima

pairing: eijirou x reader

contains: fluff to angst to fluff, sfw

!songfic¡ song: always by panic at the disco

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when the world gets too heavy, put it on my back. i'll be your levy.

for as long as you can remember, had you been in any danger, eijirou was the first person you called out for. though you'd never admit to it, your parents never let you forget about how when you were seven, there was a spider in your room and you screamed for eijirou to come help.

his helping hand was always available to you, whether it be pulling you back to your feet after tripping in a puddle or lending you his umbrella on rainy days, even if that meant getting soaked himself.

you are taking me apart like bad glue on a get-well card.

puppy love. being in elementary school, dating wasn't really something you could call your relationship with eijirou, but friends wouldn't exactly fit either. zoning out in class thinking about how he pushed you on the swings and how he always let you hide in hide-n-seek wasn't an uncommon occurrence. twirling your pen around your fingers, dreamy (e/c) stared out the window and your mind was anywhere but lessons.

it was always you falling for me, now there's always time calling for me. i'm the light blinking at the end of the road, blink back to let me know.

as your last year of middle school came to end, it became almost worrisome how much eijirou stressed over his own quirk and his UA application. you were always more than willing to provide genuine words of encouragement, but as time went on, he seemed to become immune to them. as time went on, he spent less and less time talking to you and more time training and working out. as time went on, you became a memory to him.

i'm a fly that's trapped in a web, but i'm thinking that my spider's dead.

chasing after eijirou was a game that was rigged from the start. the summer after eighth grade, communication with him was scarce and practically impossible. you began growing accustomed to "read" and "seen", and even managed to make yourself believe that these were good things. at least he was opening your messages, right? at least that meant he was safe? that summer was spent with restless nights and puffy eyes, and the the insidious feeling of loneliness creeping up on you. "wait for me," he'd always tell you. but waiting on him felt like staring at a casket, waiting for the corpse to sit back up and tell everyone it's all going to be okay. saying it out loud was too painful to bear, but it was becoming increasingly obvious that eijirou had moved on from you.

lonely, lonely little life, i could kid myself in thinking that i'm fine.

as the cold weather set in, it found a way to seep into your body and mind. some may call it foolish, letting losing a childhood friend affect your mental state this severely. but eijirou wasn't just a childhood friend; you loved him. finding new companions wasn't hard at all, but no matter how much you tried, you couldn't bring yourself to have romantic feelings for anyone. eijirou had consumed so much of your heart that when he faded out of your life, it seemed that he took it with him. any flash of long, black hair that caught the corner of your eye made your heart skip a beat, only to be overwhelmed with disappointment when the face was anything but familiar.

it was always you falling for me, now there's always time calling for me. i'm the light blinking at the end of the road,

heartache, or rather lack of feeling at all in your heart turned out to be temporary. of course, you accepted the fact that you would never be able to love anyone else the way you loved eijirou. but quick, shallow-rooted relationships were a fun pass time. high school went by in a blur, and by the time you walked the stage with your cap and gown, eijirou was but an afterthought. ultimately, your focus was your future. a career in medicine awaited you, and you stopped for no one. sure, on nights where you snuck your parents' alcohol into your room and made stupid decisions, his bright eyed smile brought tears down your cheeks. but that was in your drunken stupor. you had bigger things to worry about now.

blink back to let me know that i'm skin and bone, just a cane and a rusty throne.

off-balance footsteps echoed through the dim alleyway as the drunk pre-med stumbled home. being intoxicated and alone in a big city was far from safe or smart, but your shitty friends had ditched you after a long night at the bar. "it's okay, i'm not that drunk. i'll be fine. i just need to make it home," you repeated to yourself, words slurring into a mess only you could understand. after using the rough brick walls of buildings for support, blisters formed on your palms and your stomach turned every which way, causing you to stop dead in your tracks before vomiting on the ground the contents of everything you'd consumed in the past day. in the midst of your hurling, a hand tapped cautiously on your shoulder before offering you support. in any other situation, this would've startled you and caused you to jump back out of reflex, but the alcohol flowing through your body dulled your senses and you didn't even notice it at first. with a final cough, the bile had successfully exited your body and you stood back up straight to look at the person who'd lent you brace. eyes still not adjusted to the dark, you could make out a boy around your age, with spiky red hair and...a hero costume? his face presented a sympathetic smile that was only slightly twisted with disgust. you couldn't blame him, though, for you'd just thrown up all over yourself. as his gaze lingered on you for a second longer, a noticeable change in demeanor rocked his body. the smile transformed into pure shock, leaving his mouth hanging open and his eyes wide. confused, you knit your brows together and muttered, "huh?" he drew his hand back and thought hard on what to say, initially being at a total loss of words.

"is, um, is your name (y/n)?" he questioned. his voice was warm, not raising any red flags in your mind despite his knowing your name.

"yes, i-i mean, no? how do you know my name?" your words were shaky and slurred, but being in the presence of a man whilst you were drunk subconsciously pulled your mind closer to sobriety. the man's expression softened, and a small smile returned to his features.

"oh, you probably don't recognize me. but i'm a pro hero, so you don't have anything to worry about. let's get you home."

the last thing you remember before passing out was allowing him to take you home, and him removing your shoes and jewelry before placing you down on the couch. his eyes lingered on your figure for a quick minute before he silently slipped out the door, leaving you confused yet thankful.

oh the castle's under siege, but the sign outside says, "leave me alone."

your heartbeat sounded like a hummingbird from how fast it pounded against your chest. your hands cupped the warm mug sitting on the table as your eyes darted around the cafe, hoping to see tufts of red hair make their way through the door. after being walked home by that pro hero, you woke up to a note on your coffee table with a phone number and a message that read, "call me when you get the chance. please." it was strange, definitely. but he practically steered you out of harms way while you were in a vulnerable state, so you kind of owed him one. the chiming sound of the door's bells snapped you out of your thoughts and your gaze caught on the man who walked through the door. bingo. once he caught sight of you, he wasted no time sitting in the seat across from you. he was still wearing a hero costume, so apparently he was legit. he opened his mouth to speak but failed to find anything to say, instead settling on fiddling with his thumbs and looking down at the table. a small sigh escaped your lips as you realized you'd have to make the first move.

"thanks for walking me home last night. i appreciate it, really. but why did you ask to meet me here?"

he stared down for a few moments more before raising his head to look at you, and for a split second you swore his eyes were glossed with tears.

"do you remember me..? at all?"

his words caught you off guard, but you studied his features, trying to entertain the idea that you might know him. as both of your gazes met, your heart practically stopped. a pit dropped in your stomach and your hands started shaking. is it..? no, it couldn't be. he'd forgotten about you. but those eyes...

"e-eijirou..?" your voice cracked.

his face twisted into a sad smile and he nodded, and that was enough to send tears flooding down your face as you stared at the light of your childhood. a hand flew to your mouth, trying to conceal your sobs in the busy cafe. you tried to speak, but any words that attempted to come out got caught in the back of the throat. eijirou reached a hand across the table, and you hesitantly took it. the feeling of his skin against yours after all these years was like electricity, his touch that once grounded and rooted you to earth now made you feel like you were walking a tightrope.

"let's, uh, go back to my place, maybe? and talk? but i understand if you'd rather not-"

you didn't need to be told twice. you stood up and pulled him from his seat, and taking the hint he led you out the door and to his car. he opened the door for you and sat down, still completely shaken by the fact that he'd somehow found his way back into your life.

eijirou entered the other side and started the car, and the silence between the both of you brewed a tension thicker than oil.

"so, um, what are you doing now? like for a job, or college i mean." his voice cut through the air like a knife, and sent shivers down your spine at the realness of it all.

"i'm a premed student." you replied, slightly more composed than earlier. eijirou nodded in response, pleasantly surprised.

"what kind of doctor do you want to be?" he asked.

you looked over at him for a second, smiling softly at his curiosity. his voice, body, and even hair had all undergone drastic changes, but his personality seemed to remain the same. some things never change.

"pediatrics."

he nodded once more in response, and you chuckled under your breath.

"do you know what that means?"

and with that, the heaviness in the atmosphere lifted. he let out a nervous laugh and shook his head no.

"nope, not a clue."

you smiled down at your lap.

"pediatrics means children. i'm going to be a doctor for children." eijirou had never been the brightest.

his eyes softened and sent a smile of admiration your way. your heart fluttered and a warmness grew in your cheeks. he was just as beautiful as you remembered.

idle chatter occupied the rest of the car ride back to his house. while you were busy studying to be a doctor, he had been in the streets fighting villains and saving lives, and his home reflected that. being a pro hero must have great pay, because with your part time job as a receptionist, you could barely afford a small one bedroom apartment.

"wow...we're literally both twenty two, how are able to afford this??" you joked. he laughed while parking the car and got out before you to open your door once again. you were proud of him for turning out to be a gentleman; the guys at your college could never, you'd be lucky if they even texted you after hookups. leading you to the front door, he held it open and beckoned you inside, and you looked around at the living room. the inside wasn't very fancy, it was more so cozy and your shoulders relaxed as your senses were overwhelmed with his scent. he closed the door behind him and sat down on the sofa, you following suit while continuing to let your eyes wander around his home. he looked at you nervously, unsure of what you were going to say.

"i...i'm sorry." he muttered. your gaze met his once again and you let out a deep breath. it was nice reuniting with him, but you knew that sooner or later it would have to be brought up how he abandoned you.

"sorry for what?" your tone was sharp, dissimilar to your nervous and timid voice from the car ride. you turned your body to face him, and he lowered his eyes out of shame. his cheeks were tinted with red as he didn't even attempt to make eye contact.

"i got so caught up with becoming stronger that i didn't make time for you, a-and once i got into UA, it felt like i had no free time to meet up...but i know that's not an excuse."

you closed your eyes and swallowed, trying with everything in you to remain cool and level-headed. but when he choked out a teary-eyed, "i'm sorry", you couldn't hold it in anymore. your cheeks were already soaked as you lunged at him, wrapping your arms around his torso for dear life. he encased your frame in a tight embrace, burying his face into the crook of your neck. the two of you stayed like that for a moment, sobbing like babies. you were the first to pull back, but you still kept two hands on his waist.

"please, be honest with me eijirou. if you don't plan on keeping me in your life, we should just say our goodbyes right now and i'll leave, because i-i don't think i can handle you walking out on me again."

your words caught him off guard and he took in a soft gasp.

"what are you talking about, (y/n)? of course i want to keep you in my life. i know i made a horrible mistake, and i don't think a million apologies would ever be enough to fix that. but i wouldn't have brought you here if i didn't want to keep you by my side..."

he paused.

"i love you, (y/n). i always have, i never stopped loving you."

it was always you falling for me, now there's always time calling for me. i'm the light blinking at the end of the road, blink back to let me know.

as a little girl, you'd always dreamed of walking down the aisle with eijirou standing at the altar waiting for you, but never in a million years could you imagine all the events that would happen in between. that was in the past, though. arm linked with your father's, you slowly walked down the aisle while butterflies danced in your stomach. eijirou stood at the altar, looking unbelievably handsome in his black suit. tears rolled down his face as he watched you, in utter disbelief at how beautiful you looked and how amazingly lucky he was to be with you. once you were finally stood across from him, you both read your vows and placed the rings on each other's fingers. the deep voice of the preacher hit you like a train as he announced, "i now pronounce you man and wife."

your lips eagerly found their way to his as applause and "aww"s rang out from the family and friends who'd been invited.

blink back to let me know (it was always you.)

as eijirou stared into the darkness of the bedroom, he felt nothing but content and peace. with his beautiful wife clinging onto his right side and his four year old daughter asleep on his chest, no amount of joy he had ever felt in life could compare to this. all of his best days put together couldn't even come close. as his eyelids grew heavy and he drifted to sleep, one thought and one thought only occupied his mind.

it was always you.

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ships-and-what-not · 3 years

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The fact that we never saw more of zuko and katara after the agnai kai with azula is actually very dumb. It was such an intense pivotal significant moment, in which they would have been feeling very emotional and vulnerable with one another, with such heightened emotions spiraling, and relief of having each other come out of it, and the intimacy in holding each other afterwards... katara being their to support zuko with what would be conflicting and sad to see his sister in that state (like how zuko was there for katara with her conflicting feelings after finding the man who killed her mother), but also the relief he would have of having katara be ok, the relief katara would have of him being ok, and how she would feel after just having him take a fucking bolt of lightning, jumping in front of her and risking his life for her, on top of him already being there for her, supporting her, respecting her boundaries, needs, decisions and feelings. The mutual respect and admiration they have for each other, the feeling they would have afterwards while standing side by side, katara helping to support him and looking at each other, tell me their hearts wouldn't have been racing and an unspoken pining for each other wouldn't have been shared. Tell me once katara took him back to tend to his wound that he didn't reach for her hand to thank her again, him saying how scared he was of something happening to her, tell me she wouldn't have cupped his cheek in her hand looked into his eyes before reaching up to kiss him gently, tell me he wouldn't of been taken aback for like point 5 of a second before being over taken with his mutual feelings and kissing her back pulling her close against him with her hair clasped between his fingers and his other around her back to draw her closer, tell me when they slowly pull away that she wouldn't second guess herself and apologize before he stopped her to bring her in again and softly kiss her, and that they weren't flushed in the face and katara almost speechless struggling to think clearly stuttering out about going to get some healing supplies, that they didn't spend the time together smiling at each other, blushing and katara sticking to him like glue while healing him, tell me she didn't lie down with him after she had finished all she could with the wound being exhausted, and they didn't drift off in each others arms and wake up remembering what had happened and specifically between them, maybe feeling vulnerable and exposed, katara going to tend to his wound again, or maybe being sleepy and after having been so close then stayed there laying by each others side sleepily gazing softly into one another eyes, katara gently tracing the outline of his face, a form of contact that we've seen him not let anyone do except katara, and zuko gently running his fingers through her hair and placing his arm around her while they lay there for a moment.

Or that there wouldn't have been at least some unspoken mutual pining for each other while katara helped heal his wound, that they wouldn't have had stolen glances, pauses and moments of physical touch that lead to blushing or fast heart rates, and feelings that would've confused them both that would've lead to not being confident in the canon pairings they were paired off with, leading to katara not kissing aang in the final episode, but instead a group gaang hug, zuko gone to talk to mai face to face openly and honestly after learning that face to face communication is always best from his previous misstep, and that mai would sigh and say she already knows, him having no idea how but her saying she was going to break up with him anyway because there's someone else she's caught feelings for, he asks if he knows him and she says you know her, zuko momentarily taken aback and then smiling saying he's glad they could end things mutually and wishes her the best. That mai would go and find ty lee who's in her kiyoshi warrior attire and struggle to tell her through blushing how she really cares about her as a friend but also more than that, and ty lee taken aback at first before super thrilled throws her arms around her kissing her before pulling back to say she loves her too, and smiling in each others embrace with their foreheads gently pressed together. Tell me that katara and zuko wouldn't continue to have moments of stolen glances, prolonged eye contact, blushing and tension between them, tell me there wouldn't be a gradual build up of them clearly liking each other, and that aang wouldn't gradually let go of non-reciprocated feelings, that he wouldn't be focused on other post-war matters, that he wouldn't find another girl his age who he would fall for, tell me that as him and toph grew older and had more moments of them two together that they never had soft moments, of them having fun together, of them meditating together, going for walks in nature together, of sparing and practicing together with moments of aang airbending who into the air catching her off guard and swooping up and catching her smirking at her, tell me that as she got older that she wouldn't have started to blush at stuff like that, that she wouldn't yell at him for cheating and calling him twinkle toes and that he would catch her off guard when he smiled and kissed her cheek instead of pushing back against the name, that they wouldn't talk again about what happened with appa and how bad she felt and him assuring her he understands it wasnt her fault and that he's glad that she cares for appa, and she let's him know she also cares about him, and how glad she is that he found her and let her join them, how glad she was to have gotten to be with him, and that they wouldn't have felt vulnerable and connected, a paused moment of eye contact before aang leans down and softly kisses her, the way they mutually saw and felt about each other gradually shifting as they got older.

Look all I'm saying is opportunities for realistic character interactions and moments, and character relationship development were robbed, and they didn't have to not have katara and zuko just never talk about one of the most intense scenes and moments they shared together that was literally life or death type life changing. I'm sorry but as if they wouldn't have talked about what happened, and him literally risking his life for her, in addition to their chemistry and mutual respect for one another, as if that wouldn't have lead to then having feelings for each other that are finally realised between them.

Mai and zuko don't work, and aang and katara don't either, not the way their characters interactions and moments together had been written throughout the series, it just makes making them canon in the end super forced felt. Aang shouldn't have gotten with katara, katara deserved to be with zuko, and zuko deserved to be with her, both mai and zuko deserved to be in a healthier more compatible relationship rather than a forced one that feels like plot convenience or at least bad writing if they had been intended to be canon, same applies to aang and katara, if they were intended to be canon then they were extremely poorly written. Not to mention what katara and zuko have that aang and her just don't have in terms of passion, mutual pining, compatible ideologies and maturity levels, the whole yin and yang symbolism, the political power couple they would make with post-war reparations, etc., and how soft they would be? There would be nothing dark and edgy about them at all, they would be such a sweet soft couple, zuko would be so caring, responsive, thoughtful, respectful and soft towards her. And she would have someone who was her equal, who understood her and worked well together, someone who would carry their weight and try to help out when they can, someone who would take her with him if and when he had to go and wouldn't leave her alone for periods of time, someone who would make sure she didn't feel left out or hurt, who would have the emotional maturity and awareness to pick up on things like that after he himself has grown so much and can tell things like that. Someone who would love her but never be forceful or entitled about it, someone who would love her selflessly without expectation of reciprocation, someone who wouldn't kiss her without consent or when she clearly is not ok with it, someone who wouldn't let other girls flirt with him right in front of her because he knows how that hurts, happily show off his amazing water tribe lady to the world. Someone who would respect and learn about her culture rather than expecting her to do so for his without much reciprocation, someone who would make sure all of their children feel loved equally and unconditionally as he knows very well what it feels like to feel like there's unequal love and regard with siblings, and he would make sure they all feel loved and cared for equally without any favouritism, and he would actually make sure that's the case as he would actively want to not repeat generational trauma/abuse.

#rant #avatar the last airbender #avatar: the last airbender #atla #zuko #toph #katara #mai #ty lee #gaang

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monomonomagines · 4 years

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hey there! if it's okay, would I be able to request a similar thing as one of your recent posts with the V3 characters being taunted abt their s/o's death except it's for the v3 girls with a fem s/o? and otherwise p much the same if that's okay?? thank you!!!! yall are great!!!!

Thanks so much for requesting this. I’m sure since you read the last one of these I did, you know I can’t go into too much detail about gore/blood but I’ll still try my hardest! I’ve been working harder to make all of these imagines better written so I hope you enjoy this and if not please feel free to tell me where I goofed so that I can fix it up. Also for anyone that isn’t familiar with the previous version I did of this request with the V3 boys you can find it here.

Kaede

Kaede dreaded those awful announcements more than anything.

Whenever another body was found so was another murderer, both being the very people she knew to be her friends.

It was too much for her most of the time but she was determined to remain positive. As long as you were with her, she had nothing to worry about.

That’s what she thought at least until she entered the Gym and realized she couldn’t pick you out from the crowd.

She felt her heart suddenly sink but before she could even confirm her suspicions Shuichi pulled her by the arm to drag her aside.

He didn’t want her to have to see the horrible state your body was left in but even as he told her of what happened she couldn’t believe it, not until she saw it with her own two eyes.

When she did see you though, with your lifeless eyes crumpled on the floor like some forgotten rag doll with the murder weapon next to you she knew.

She knew but she couldn’t accept it at all.

The whole investigation she’s trying her hardest to still help Shuichi and during the class trial, she’s staying fairly strong.

However, that all comes crashing down as soon as the murderer is cornered by the two and begins to mock you.

Kaede couldn’t believe her ears but she definitely heard them mock the way that you didn’t even see them coming, the way that you thought of them as a mere friend passing when you saw them, and how you simply fell to the floor lifeless without even knowing what happened.

Kaede had discerned with Shuichi that the cause of death was instantaneous and was a result of blunt force trauma but she still didn’t want to hear about your suffering at all.

You were always so kind and for someone to betray your trust like that was just unacceptable!

She’d push Shuichi to finish things off as tears streamed down her cheeks but she couldn’t bring herself to watch the execution at all.

She knows you wouldn’t have wanted this but she had no choice but to do this for your sake and everyone else’s. That murderer had to pay for their crimes!

Kirumi

Kirumi had taken a while to dedicate herself to one person but now that she had, she had never been happier.

That’s why she was prepared to investigate as soon as she heard the Body Discovery Announcement with you and your remaining friends.

However, when she opened your lab only to find you hung up like some oversized ornament with the murder weapon laying below your dangling body she was in total shock.

She still wasn’t prepared to have someone like you and she wasn’t prepared at all for you to be taken out of her life.

She was normally so calm and so composed but just like when she had fallen in love with you she had only been able to fall to her knees and begin to wail like a child.

Everyone was shocked but no one dared to disturb her, not even Kokichi.

This was such a rare explosion of emotion from the Ultimate Maid and all of them knew it wasn’t a good idea to make things worse.

That is everyone other than the murderer.

As soon as there were a few pieces of incriminating evidence used against them they immediately turned to try to rile up Kirumi, telling her about how you cried for her to save you, how even as you died you were spouting nonsense about how she’d get them even if you didn’t make it, and most of all how she failed to do either.

Unbeknownst to them though, Kirumi had no tears left to shed. She was only filled with ice-cold rage.

Her expression didn’t change but her eyes certainly glared daggers at them.

She was ready to end this and if she had to she’d do it herself.

Kirumi brought things to a swift end, putting together the pieces without even investigating herself.

She thought she’d feel relieved but even as the execution played she felt sadder than she ever had before. This wouldn’t bring you back, nothing could.

Angie

Angie was rather carefree even when it came to the Killing Games so when the Body Discovery Announcement reared it’s ugly head she barely paid it any mind.

This just meant that she’d go spend more time with you, get through another Class Trial guided by Atua, and then she could go back to the dorms to hang out with you.

She expected you to already be there as you normally were a lot quicker about these things yet something was odd.

The place of crime was your room somehow?

She merely thought it coincidence at first but when she saw everyone but you crowded around the outside of your dorm she knew something was amiss.

Before anyone could stop her, she pushed her way through, calling for you.

However, once she saw you, she realized that you weren’t going to respond anytime soon.

There you lay on your bed as though you were just sleeping, the only difference on you being some blood on your hands.

She wasn’t ready to comprehend the intricacies of your murder though.

All she could comprehend was that she was back to being the world’s loneliest girl and that you’d never return to her.

Surprisingly she wasn’t emotional at all. No, instead her normally aglow face just held a strangely foreign downcast look.

It was so unusual for Angie to not be her usual smiling self but even when it was time to begin the Trial itself she still just stood in her place with that same expression on her face.

It was all she had done during the investigation. No one had heard a word from her within the entire Trial even.

That is until the murderer had dared to mock her.

She couldn’t feel anything but sadness and anger swirling inside her despite her lack of expression.

She didn’t retort at all she knew that you probably would’ve called for her.

She knew you’d believe in her to the last minute just as much as she believed in Atua but what use was it when those beliefs weren’t granted?

She knew she had to end this so finally acting like her old self she put on a smile urging Shuichi to finish things up.

She didn’t watch the execution at all she just would wait until she could return to her room before she could wail and scream at the heavens to give you back.

Tenko

Like Angie, Tenko can get carried away with her own interests.

She always cares if she loses a friend (including degenerate males even) but she doesn’t always help out the most during the investigation process.

Again not because she doesn’t care but rather because she has her priorities, priorities which happened to be you.

Because of dating you she’d be stuck to you like glue most of the time. That and you were what was always on her mind even in this awful Killing Game.

So when that blasted Announcement played itself she knew she would be needed. You were probably scared without her there to protect you.

She quickly sprinted to the Dining Hall, prepared to be a source of comfort for you in these trying times when her eyes didn’t spot you.

Huh? That’s odd. Perhaps she had just missed you?

She kept scanning all the standing students gathered around, not even bothering to look at the body until it sank in.

You weren’t here so that could only mean one thing. That body she saw sprawled out in the corner was none other than you.

Tenko always had trouble being a bit overemotional but this just made things worse.

She was equally angry and sad and she really couldn’t pick between crying over you and threatening the others even when they had to touch your body for the investigation.

She impeded the investigation more than helped it but no one wanted to blame her for that.

You two were so close, she always made sure everyone knew it too so for someone to do this was just plain cruel.

And that couldn’t have been more true.

The murderer just had to add insult to injury by mocking her about how you cried out for her, that she’d protect you because she swore to, and how you still died with the foolish hope that she would come in time.

It was too much for her and if not for Gonta holding her back they might’ve had another murder on their hands.

Tenko would push Shuichi to finish things, not being much help herself this time around.

She wouldn’t watch the execution but she wouldn’t be quite the same afterwards. Compared to Angie, she isn’t good at faking going back to her old self and wouldn’t seem like it until a good while had passed.

Then she’d decide to keep living on for you! Even if she couldn’t have protected your body, she’d protect your memory for sure!

Miu

Miu had made some basic walkie talkie like devices for you and her to keep in touch but you hadn’t been picking up.

She assumed you were just ignoring her or sleeping or some shit so at first, she was just anticipating you to send a message back.

However, more and more time passed and there was no word back.

She had begun to grow a bit worried by then so she decided to go by your dorm but even when she knocked there was no answer.

The only other option was the dining hall then! She quickly made her way over to the hall but something on the way stopped her.

Because of being in such a hurry she had tripped over something but when she looked down to see that it was a literal arm she couldn’t help but let out a shriek.

Soon all the others came running and as soon as they did that terrifying Announcement played.

At first, Miu was confused, but as she looked a little further beyond the arm she had tripped over she knew why you didn’t answer her.

She couldn’t look as they looked over your body, all she could do was dejectedly pick up your walkie talkie laying next to you.

Both of her newest favorite things were now in pieces and she didn’t even know how to react.

Throughout the investigation, she’d be rather angry impeding more than helping like Tenko.

However, that anger wouldn’t subside even in the Class Trial.

The whole time she kept both walkie talkies in hand ready to incriminate the asshole that killed her lover in a heartbeat.

In fact, she was so angry that even when the killer began to mock her she didn’t get meek like normal at all.

She didn’t care if you tried to call her with the walkie talkie or if you screamed or whatever. What she cared about was getting rid of the asshole that stole you from her!

She’d actually somehow wrap up a Class Trial herself, surprising everyone there.

But when the execution played she was more focused on fiddling with that walkie talkie. She had made it so that it wasn’t just like any old one. She could still get your chat logs if she fixed yours.

And once she did she’d just sit and listen to the sound of your voice. Now all those, “I love yous” and “Good mornings or nights” felt so long ago.

Himiko

Himiko was normally woken up by you so that she didn’t have to worry about getting up herself but weirdly enough that awful Announcement woke her instead.

It wasn’t like you to just suddenly not come to wake her up so she made her way towards the crime scene in the pool rather leisurely.

She didn’t feel hurried at all until she saw something that caught her eye in the pool.

Was that you?

She couldn’t comprehend it and even though she was always so relaxed she couldn’t help but feel panicked.

How was this happening? This was really happening, right?

Himiko felt her legs give out underneath her, falling to the ground in a small heap as she looked on in horror.

She couldn’t cry or scream, all she could was look on in a terrified stupor.

By the time she felt even slightly more balanced the whole investigation had gone by.

As far as she was concerned the investigation was a total blur but as soon as the Trial began she had some newfound anger.

She was demanding answers even before Shuichi had a certain suspect pinned and even then her questioning only grew in ferocity.

She wasn’t backing down at least not until that awful murderer mocked you.

That was a whole other story. She couldn’t believe that she didn’t hear you calling for help, that you believed in her even then, and that you died with such faith in her never being realized.

She felt awful and before she knew it she was a crying screaming mess.

She wanted this to end. She needed Shuichi to finish this for her. She was too weak to do this even with her magic.

After the Trial, she’s still just a sobbing mess. Tenko would have to take her back to her room, trying to comfort her.

But she doesn’t want to come out of her room again. You’re not there so what’s the point?

She’ll be down for a good while but with her friends encouraging her she’ll try to follow Tenko’s example, living to honor the memories of you she held in her heart.

Tsumugi

Tsumugi was used to eating breakfast with you in the morning so when you never came to the Dining Hall she immediately began to worry.

She’d run out before she even registered that her legs were moving towards your dorm.

She’d knock and knock but you wouldn’t respond and that’s when she knew something wasn’t right.

Running out to check whatever rooms she knew were nearby, she never expected to find you by the top of the stairs on the second floor.

Who could’ve done this!? She was overwhelmed by the sudden sight that all she could do was fall to her knees as a few tears began to trickle down.

She had to call for the rest of your friends, she knew she did but she didn’t want to acknowledge that this was really happening.

Even though her voice felt like it barely came out she was able to yell loud enough for a few others to come, signaling that terrible Announcement.

She was far too shaken up for the investigation and she wasn’t any better in the trial.

That’s why when the murderer began to mock her everyone was sure it was going to break her.

Instead, though, she looked very angry.

She didn’t ask to hear about how you screamed for help or how the life left your eyes. She only cared about delivering the final blow to this scumbag.

Even after the Trial is over though she can’t look anyone in the eye. She just feels so lost without you that she ends up being rather distant.

She’ll make a lot more cosplays to try to cope but she just ends up making all of your favorite characters even when you can’t wear their outfits.

Maki

Maki was used to losing people that she cared for.

That’s why she expected something like this to happen. She just didn’t know it’d happen so soon.

It was only last night when the two of you spoke. She had warned you to be careful, to not get yourself killed and you promised that you wouldn’t.

She didn’t know why but the fact that promise was broken only made that ache her heart worse.

She didn’t express anything even when the Announcement played after everyone showed up to the Gym.

She could tell what was going on. You were the only one not here so it had to be you laying in a puddle of your own blood there.

You were such an idiot. You promised her and now here you were.

As much as she wanted to avenge you, she knew she couldn’t kill to get back at your killer. She needed to do this right and that’s why she’s stepping up for the investigation.

She knew everything there was about murder obviously and she was going to use it to her advantage.

It was this very knowledge that helped incriminate the brute that killed you but they didn’t want to give up hurting others apparently.

Maki wasn’t too fazed when the killer mocked her but when they talked about how you cried out for her, an assassin of all people she was beyond mad.

How dare they talk about you like that!

She makes sure there’s a swift finish to that trial and she watches that execution with cold eyes.

She wasn’t happy to see another classmate of hers die but she was more concerned about one thing.

How could they look so scared to die? How scared were you with her not there to save you?

It all just left a bad taste in her mouth. It was worse than failing a mission. She had allowed herself to get close to someone and for what?

She was all alone in the world again.

#danganronpa #danganronpa imagines #drv3 #danganronpa killing harmony #danganronpa x reader #x reader #imagine #kaede akamatsu #kirumi tojo #angie yonaga #tenko chabashira #miu iruma #himiko yumeno #tsumugi shirogane #maki haruwaka #ask #mod toko

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bnhablessings · 4 years

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I was thinking about a one-shot in a modern AU where Mina is a really successful fashion designer and fem!Reader works at some lame retail job but dreams of becoming a model. That's all I really have for a concept and was hoping to leave the rest up to you haha. My bi-ass heart needs more best girl content;;

Challenge accepted for taking this anywhere. Mina deserves love and it is my first female character request so thank you omg. I have been waiting for this moment.

I use everyone’s last names but with Mina, I always use her first name, yes I know that it looks weird because of that haha

Warnings: All characters are aged up, Fluff and silliness, just a wee little bit of angst

Words: 2693

Ashido Mina x Female Reader

The clock seems to take forever as your shift comes to a close. Soon, just soon you can go home and have the next day off. You desperately needed it. This week and the hours here have been so long. If only some entity would have mercy on you for things to by faster.

Unfortunately, you were tasked with dealing with the last three customers before closing time. Your manager of course already dealing with the cash registers, not in use, and fixing up the store. Your eyes remained glue to the three adults that seem your age. They looked awfully familiar too.

“Dude! Look, look! I fucking told you she would grow! She has her own section here,” The black-haired male states.

The redhead looks to be entranced and the dorky blond with them starts to take photos immediately. You gave them a few minutes but now… It appears they have no sense of the time. Or they don’t care about making the employee suffer.

“Kaminari, you’re smallest of us, you should try on the clothes for her. Don’t you think so Sero?” The redhead asks with a stunning smile.

Sero just snickers and Kaminari seems to actually consider the idea. Not wanting them to risk endangering the clothing you are quick to sneak up behind them and speak.

“Is there something you are looking for in particular?” You force a smile that shows the exhaustion you are feeling.

However, they seem dense to your state as all three of them share a look and somehow come up with an idea. It’s written all over their faces and somehow you fear they are all sharing one singular brain cell between them.

“What the hell is taking you guys so long?” A new voice questions behind you.

It nearly made you wet yourself from how aggressive the voice is and how it came from out of nowhere. However, when you turn around to see the person you smile from seeing the familiar face. “Kaachan!”

You ignore the wince Bakugou makes from the nickname and throw your arms around him. To your surprise, he doesn’t push you away at all. Instead, he returns the hug but with complete rigidness.

“What? You know the pretty lady?” Kaminari asks.

You ignore the flirty tone he uses as Bakugou nods his head. He really has changed a lot from the last time you saw him in your primary school years. He’s not as… aggressive. It’s still there but he appears more gentle.

“Yeah. She’s my childhood friend. (Nickname), these are the stupid extras I’ve hung out with during high school,” Bakugou says looking away.

You can see he truly cares for them. You also realize that is why they all look familiar. You recognize them from Bakugou’s social media posts and tags he was included in.

The redhead smiles even brighter (somehow that seems so impossible from how smiley he already is). He shares his idea that the other two boys had with him earlier. “Well, I am Kirishima. That is Kaminari and Sero. Right when you asked us if we were looking for anything particular we had an idea! We were wondering if you would be willing to try on some of these clothes for us. You see our friend loves this brand and wasn’t able to come shopping with us-“

Bakugou is already trying to disuse the idea planted within their heads. The whole thing is rather endearing. It’s been a while since you last saw a group of adult friends like this. It definitely reminds of your high school days.

“Don’t say anymore. I would love to model for you guys. It will have to real quick though we are closing soon,” You state.

The three boys cheer with victory as Bakugou just huffs. The three choose a few pairs of clothing to mix and match before sending you off to the dressing room. Bakugou thankfully keeping your manager busy and away with his glare. Like the manager even cares.

In the dressing room, you observe the clothing brand they want you to try. The brand name is Ashido but the name is in a heart. It was cute. The clothing itself is to die for if you were being honest. It wasn’t exactly cheap but not too expensive either. From the clothing, they gave you it looks as if the designer was trying to aim for a cool “hip” chic design. Almost tomboyish but could be matched with other clothing to find a perfect match for someone’s personal taste.

It honestly makes your chest start to bloom with excitement.

Your personal dream of becoming a model trying to rise with each passing moment of putting on the clothes. You manage to ignore it until you come out of the dressing room and all four boys’ mouths drop open.

It takes a few seconds before one of them manages to snap the photo. “Holy fuck, you look gorgeous!” Kaminari states.

“Here try a few more poses than one more outfit, please! We owe you one for this!” Kirishima says trying to get the heat he’s feeling on his cheeks to go away.

You shrug but do as asked and honestly you live for it. They start hyping you up and you end up trying on two more outfits. Time passed by the blink of an eye and your heart wanted to burst from how much fun you were having with this small group.

Eventually, though, all good things have to come to an end. Bakugou breaks things up from becoming too restless which is good since your manager was now giving you the even eye. You looked at the time and saw it was half an hour past closing. Oops.

You are quick to change to your clothing and kick them out with a goodbye, clocking out, and apologizing to your irritated manager. Thankfully you get off with just a warning since you both have a good relationship with each other which is all just bonding over the sadness of working at this stressful job.

By the time you reach your car you get a message from a number, you don’t know and a smile spreads on your face as you see it’s signed from Bakugou.

Bakugou: *Sent Image* You don’t look half bad. Sorry, those damn extras took their time.

That was it but it made you happy to see that Bakugou has grown from such an intolerable little brat to a little bit hostile but tolerable man. And his friends? You already adore them but too bad it was only for a moment.

The new thought makes your heart have that sinking feeling and gives you a small feeling of dread. You quickly try to reverse the thought. Tomorrow you get your day off!

“Then it is back to the normal schedule,” You mutter.

Wow… There goes for trying to be positive. You rest your head for a moment on the steering wheel before gathering yourself together.

~*~

“Whoa! Who is she?! She’s so pretty! Look at her! Look at my clothing! They fit her so well she could be a model!” Mina states while holding onto her phone with an inhuman grip.

The pictures Kirishima sent were spectacular.

Kirishima laughs and points to their blond friend. “You got lucky then. Kaminari was the one ready to model your clothing. You’re getting pretty big with your name out there, keep it up, bro!” He says happily.

“Yeah, I would’ve been a great model too! You two joining us. It’s been a while since we all played a game,” Kaminari says changing the subject as he pulls out a few remotes to his console.

The two ignore him and Sero is the one to take a remote while speaking up. “That girl though? She was so cute and nice! You would’ve liked her Mina.”

Mina nods with excitement as she observes your features in the picture. “Oh my god. I just had a great idea! She should actually model for my designs!”

“Really? Are they hiring?” Kirishima asks.

Mina can feel the excitement grow as she latches onto the idea. She replies to his question, “Well sort of! I need to get my designing team in on it but once they agree they’ll hire her. We need her to create a portfolio though…”

“Why not go and ask her?” Kaminari asks.

The suggestion makes Mina feel rather light and fuzzy and the desire to recruit this astonishing female is too strong. Of course, her three close friends had to crush her hope immediately. “I don’t know man, isn’t that weird? Shouldn’t you get to know her first? See what type of worker she is?” Kirishima questions.

“I don’t know. If Bakugou was that nice to her I think that is equivalent to being an amazing worker.”

Mina decides to ignore them now. With one final look at the photo, a feeling of giddiness enters her. It’s final. She decided that this beautiful girl is going to be her model! Of course, that means she has to have her roommates take her to the store. So that is exactly what they do the next day.

The group minus Bakugou went straight there to look for her only to see that she wasn’t there. They did ask if she was working today from the employees saying they aren’t allowed to disclose any information.

“Well, what about the manager working last night? I would like to report him for…” Kaminari starts only to not come up with anything.

It was truly a good try but nothing came from it. They are on the verge of giving up when (Name) herself comes out of the employees’ area with a small box in her arms and her eyes slightly red and puffy from obvious crying.

~*~

You hate getting all emotional but truly you have a good reason. You just wish you could hold it in longer. The slight sniffling is the dead giveaway that you are coming close to crying. The feeling worsens only slightly upon seeing the familiar faces from last night with a brand new face.

However, you don’t interact with them all and even ignore their concerned looks.

You can’t talk when you are on the verge of tears so you rush past them and ignore their calls. Without any second thoughts, you hop into the car of your friend’s and start bawling your eyes out as he starts to take you home.

Thankfully, he doesn’t say a word until he reaches your place. Though you can feel his dread and worry for you that is practically leaking from him.

“Do you want me to come in and make you a warm beverage?”

You shake your head and hold the box tightly. “No thank you. You driving me home was enough for me. Thank you so much Izuku. You’re my best friend and you’re always there for me. I don’t know what I would’ve done without you.” You are quick to give him a brief hug so you don’t worry him any further.

Then you leave his car and disappear into your apartment where you feel the dread of what happened sinking in. Not knowing what else to do you go into defense mode and curl up into a blanket on the couch.

You are unsure how much time passes by but when you do come to it is because someone is knocking on your door. The knocks are gentle before turning harsh. There are multiple voices and that confuses you until you open the door.

Bakugou stands in the doorway and he is quick to say, “Sorry these damn extras wanted to come over and stupid Deku told me the address.”

The other three boys give you the puppy eyes, begging to know what happened. The girl with them stares at you with curiosity and concern. You invite them all in deciding the company is worth it rather than the dread you would feel by yourself.

“I got fired. So did my manager.”

All of them fall silent as they suddenly piece together what happened. “It’s our fault,” Kirishima murmurs.

You shake your head. “No. It was my fault. To be honest, the management team was looking for any excuse to get rid of a few employees. Not my loss but the panic of not having a job is slowly setting in. I’ll be fine but it is a bit scary.”

They stay silent not knowing what to say. That is until Bakugou stands up. “C’mon, let’s leave them to talk.”

The three perk up making you confused and a bit worried until the girl smiles at you. Her pink locks bring out the brightness of her smile and ease your discomfort. As soon as you hear the door close the girl takes a seat close to you and puts out her hand.

“Ashido Mina! Apologies for the late introduction but I wish to be your friend! That and I went to the store earlier because I saw the pictures of you trying on the clothing I made and I want to offer you a job as a model!” Mina states.

You need a moment to process this. It is obvious as you just stare at her with an expression of a fish. She laughs lightly at this but waits for a reply with the patience of an angel.

“Well nice to meet you Ashido. You probably know already but my name is (Last Name) (First Name). I didn’t realize that you were the designer of the clothes. That’s pretty cool but… You want me to be model them?” Your voice shows an obvious lack of confidence.

That is no problem to Mina. You are a beauty and she is going to make it her goal to prove it to you. She nods her head eagerly. “Yes! My breath was literally taken away for a moment when I saw the photos. I… Think you should be the face of my brand! My team is already on board so you are practically hired! I wouldn’t be your boss either but a co-worker so we can still have fun! We would just need to create a portfolio of you modeling the clothing and other clothes to send to my boss but besides that, you are in only if you want!”

It… Is a lot of information but your heart starts to pound. It’s the same feeling you got last night when the boys hyped you up. Clarity seems to wipe over you for a moment and it feels like the turn of events were meant to happen just for this moment.

You agree.

Mina jumps up and down before pulling you into a very much needed hug on your part. She is then quick to pull away after realizing what she has down. Her own heart feels like she’s drinking a bunch of energy drinks from how fast it is beating.

“I, oh wow. I don’t want to push my luck but I feel like I have to. I want to get to know you of course as friends would but to celebrate you being hired when you do, I was wondering if you would like to celebrate with a date? Oh my god, sorry that must be weird and too straightforward-“

You shut her up by laughing. It made her wince before she realizes your laughter isn’t one of malice. It is one of joy.

“I don’t think it is weird at all. I do want to take it slow of course but I think I already like you from what I’ve seen. We’ll see where it goes… But… Ashido, thank you for taking an interest in me. It means a lot.”

You two have a moment, sharing a smile with each other before sadly it is ruined by the door awkwardly opening and three out of four boys peek in who have eavesdropped on what was said. Mina’s face turns a deep red before you just burst out laughing again.

You are honestly so glad those three came into your work last night.

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