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gamerbearmira · 2 years

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A little more for the baby Mirabel au- I'm playing around with the idea that there are baby instincts and things that she instinctively wants to do and can't help doing so let me know how you feel about it

Mirabel just wanted to die. This was the worst thing to ever happen to her. Not even that time she ruined her favorite fabric by spilling paint on it was worse, sad but not terrible. This was even worse then when her abuela found her birthday gift early with her in the room and assumed it was finished and 'gladly' took her gift half finished, that was slightly mortifying and a tad bit embarrassing but livable. Forget about her failed gift ceremony. Having the conscious memory of her Mami bathing, diapering and then putting her in what she assumes is an old outfit (she must of had her papi wash and hand dry it while she was in the bath) of hers will forever be the worst thing to ever happen to her. So what if the bath had made her feel warm, safe and like she was in a place that she couldn't quite remember but did at the same time. And who cares if the outfit her Mami picked makes her feel warm (she's felt oddly cold since waking up) and as equally as safe as the bath. The only plus side she could think of having the diaper on was not making a mess on herself other than that it was pure hell. She wasn't given a bottle yet so she's still hungry.

But there's nothing she can do about that. Not when she's laying in her Mami's arms squirming in part because of the diaper but mostly because she was under the intense gaze of her family who are all surrounding the kitchen table since Mami decided that she needed to sit down after bathing her. Papi was sitting beside her Mami moving his finger in front of her face in a way that was probably supposed to distract her and made her want to grab at his finger but she refrained. She wasn't able to see anyone from where she was laying but the looks she had been able to see on their faces had varied from shock, confusion and panicked.

While she might not be able to truly see her family she can definitely hear them; screaming and yelling over each other. She can't make out much of what they're saying but she definitely hears a few things that they say; her sister Luisa kept asking questions like 'What happened?' 'Why couldn't I see this coming!'' and 'What can I do to help!' , Isabela was talking in a high pitched voice asking 'how is she a baby?! She was 15 yesterday!' over and over again, Camilo was completely silent which was unlike him but so was the wide eyed look of panic and fear she was able to quickly see when he first saw her. Poor Dolores wasn't actually saying anything either instead she was squeaking over and over again probably still had her hands over her ears. Antonio was one of the only ones she could still see since he was right next to Mami (almost trying to crawl into her lap) he was asking her Mami question after question none of which Mirabel could hear because of how fast he was asking them he was staring at her with one of the most intense looks Mirabel has ever seen on his face. Tio Felix was trying his best to calm down tia Pepa who was storming (which sounded like it was turning into a hurricane) pacing and yelling things like 'HOW IS THIS POSSIBLE? IT SHOULDN'T BE POSSIBLE!' And 'MY POOR LITTLE SOBRINA IS A BABY! A BABY!'. The more noise that was created the more she felt the need to cry which she had just stopped doing but that didn't seem like it mattered.

Just as Mirabel's bottom lip started to tremble and tears started to fill her eyes does the voice that had been trying to cut through all the chaos and take control as she always does finally had enough and *weeehavvv* a loud whistling sound shot through all the noise making Mirabel jump and everyone else quite.

But before her abuela could take that chance to try and take control a wail takes the place of the chaos of the familia madrigal. Mirabel feels her small body shaking she shouldn't be crying this hard but she can't help it that whistle scared her and she just can't stop. She feels herself being rocked and could hear faintly the sounds of shushing and a conversation being had above her head 'really mama was that necessary?' 'i'm sorry Julietta I was just trying to calm everyone down.' When she's finally calmed down enough to actually hear the conversation going on around her they are all sitting at the table her abuela was the one talking everyone else was looking back and forth between abuela,her and each other. Mirabel settled with looking at her abuela.

".... There is no way to know if or when this will be reversed so for now we need to gather supplies from the attic and stay out of the village for the moment to keep things quiet. So things aren't too suspicious Dolores you will go around for an hour today telling people that there has been a small infestation of mice in our pantry and storage room and that we will be unavailable for a couple of days trying to figure out how much was damaged and what needs to be replaced. Julietta you will make a small batch of food in the morning using food provided by the pastor seeing as ours could be 'contaminated'."

Alma continues to talk but the mention of food made Mirabel feel her stomach growl she looked away from her abuela to look around to see if anyone else heard but no one did she starts to try and think about a way she could ask for food without crying but can't. The more she thinks about food though the more she feels the need to cry and squirm and whimper 'this sucks!' and to make matters worse for whatever reason her eyes keep looking to her side that's pressed against her mother. More specifically her breasts a little voice in the back of her mind says that that's were food comes from and while that voice isn't entirely wrong Mirabel doesn't think that that's going to work.

But it doesn't seem to matter what she thinks because she finds herself leaning towards her mother mouth open and looking for food 'WHAT AM I DOING?!' is the only thought screaming in Mirabels head. Just as her mouth is about to hit the cotton of her mother's shirt she hears a voice that kinda sounds like her tia say "Juli!" There's a slight jerking feeling and shes a lot farther from her weird forced but not destination than previously. She can't help the crying that makes it out of her mouth either. "Oh Mirabel baby Mami's sorry. Mami can't do that for you. There nothing there for you this time. Not that you really understand that. Oh my poor bebé this must be so confusing for you." She's being rocked again (Do you really have to do that this much with babies or is she just a special case? She remembers having to rock Antonio but not nearly this often. Then again she was ten when he was a small baby so maybe she's not remembering it right.) Her papi jumps up "I cleaned a bottle when I cleaned that outfit. I can try and make some homemade formula using some evaporated milk, water and some minerals like everyone else does or I can try and see what the doctor-." Dolores cuts him off "Dr. Santiago has some but he can't keep his mouth shut to save his life if you walk in there to buy formula the entire Town will know about it." Mirabel sees her father frown then sigh deep "Well I'll just scramble together something in the kitchen. I'll be right back!" Alma held up her hand indicating for him to stop "Luisa and Felix will join you that way breakfast can be made as well as a bottle."

There was a moment after her papi left were the only noise you could hear was her small little crys and whines. Almost as if everyone was unwilling to break the weird peace that they found in this horrifying and strange situation. Then a little voice broke through and asked something that no one had considered before "Does this mean Mirabel has to grow up all over again?" Little Antonio was looking all around at all the older people at the table looking to Mirabel from time to time. His question left the room feeling heavy and tense making the others at the table look uncomfortable and shift in their sits gazing back and forth from each other. All of them willing someone else to say something first because the conversation that is about to happen is not going to be easy and no one wants to take the first leap.

But as always the impatience of youth reared its ugly head and Antonio repeated his question this time tia Pepa takes a breath pulls herself out of her chair going to her knees next to Antonios chair pulling his hands into her making sure to look into his eyes "We don't know Antonio. Right now we don't know why this has happened or how. All we know is that Mirabel needs us and we need to be there for her right now."Mirabel watched with slightly teary eyes as Antonio seemed to take that in nodding his head. "She needs our help because she's a baby and they can't take care of themselves." He says that with all of the confidence a small child who just figured something out could have. "Yes exactly!" Just then her papi comes rushing in with a bottle and just about falls when he makes it to the table almost dropping the bottle in the process.

"whoops almost lost it here you go mi amore!" He happily presents her Mami (who has not stopped rocking her) the bottle she wastes no time and immediately presses it into Mirabel's open crying mouth. She didn't realize how hungry she was until that moment and it quickly took hold of ever priority she had. Nothing else mattered right in this very moment but drinking as much as she can and curling into the warm body of her mother who makes her feel just so safe. She isn't sure the room is supposed to be getting this dark this early in the morning but she isn't going to question it. Not when she's so comfortable and warm and safe feeling 'I'm going to rest my eyes just for a minute. Yeah just for a minute.' she's asleep before the bottle is fully gone.

As always let me know if you liked it.

LETS GOOOOOOO‼️‼️‼️‼️

Ok one I love this <333 Poor Mirabel, what will she do <\\333 She fr be out here struggling, she can’t catch a break 😭😭 She just tryna save the miracle, live her best life and what not and. Now she’s a baby and doing things she basically can’t control. And the way she was knocked tf out by the end, shiiii 💀💀

Is this who we are? 😦 Is this what we represent? 🤨

#encanto #my asks are open #my asks #encanto au #au #encanto mirabel #encanto julieta #encanto agustin #encanto alma #de aged au #de aged mirabel #de aged mirabel au

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askpokemoncrossover · 2 years

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The Meaning of ‘Family’

From This After hearing the fact that Dravol was actually discarded by her parents, the lucario looked at the Delcatty/dragon hybrid and he looked back at Laivan with sorrow in his eyes. He sat down next to the Dragonair and he sighed. “Hey… Let me tell you something…” He took a shakily deep breath and he remembered each and every detail like it was yesterday, telling it all to the Incarnate of Hope, entrusting him with a secret he kept close... Until now.

One day after learning the truth…

Sai felt dead, he was alive, but at the same time he wasn’t. He couldn’t feel the pulse of a heartbeat in his chest. Yet he could feel… Something beating beneath his flesh and fur. The scar throbbed along with it as if it was pulsating and spreading the life throughout the body.

The lucario remembered that rainy night. The mental wound through his chest. The hospital bed, the… the experiment. He didn’t see what kind of crystal was placed in his body, nor how did it bring him back. But he needs to know more, if this is truly going to be a part of him. More importantly… he wants, no, Desire to know why his parents agreed to… to them about this.

He was mad, mad because of the fact that he found out a different way… and his parents kept it from him. Why? Why did they do this to their own son?

He put on his usual clothes and went downstairs and was met with darkness. Strange, did the power go out? No, the electricity was working a few minutes ago…

“Huh…?” He tried to feel for the lightswitch when... CLICK

“SURPRISE!!!”

“W-wha-?!” He jumped, shocked by the sudden greeting he was given.

Not only were his parents there to greet him, but there were also others, friends, classmates. Including Iris, Trigger and a bunch of others he hadn’t seen or heard of in a long while. He wanted to be happy, but the events of last night were overwhelming him again. He teared up, looking at his parents before stuttering a single word:

“W-why…?”

Olivia, the delphox approached him and embraced him softly, her inner fire warming up her beautiful son as Victor’s soothing aura joined in and hugged his flesh and blood. They only said three words: Giving him the answer to the question he asked as well as the one in the back of his mind: “We love you…” For the first time since that day, he smiled warmly and he let his tears of joy and light fall, his parents giving him the time he needed to enjoy the moment he had before joining the wonders and exciting moments of his birthday. It was truly a moment to remember…

“T-t-thank you…”

He would burn that memory into his heart and soul, remembering the kindness that they showed on that fateful morning.

PRESENT.

At one point during the story, he placed a hand on where his scar is and found out that it's less painful that it was when he start telling the story and more so upon finishing

“...Eventually, I chose to keep what I learned that day away from them. I mean…having your own child die right in front of them, it would leave a wound like no other… I kinda understood why they went to such lengths to bring me back. But the one thing I hated about all of that was they didn’t tell me sooner and explain why. But… that’s okay. I’ll figure out what this… crystal does, Somehow.” He looked at the unconscious Delcatty before sighing. “...She didn’t have a family that loved her. She was discarded the moment their dragon lineage found out that she wasn’t the child they desired, but they didn’t have that right. A mother would love and care for her child while the father looks after and helps them grow. They aren’t actually parents if they actually did this to her willingly.”

He looked back at the Dragonair, his eyes were different than the time Sai approached him. Much softer... more understanding.

“If she… had that kind of love that I was given… Well, Things would’ve been different. For both herself and for the people she met…” His lips slowly rose up. “...I don’t actually blame my parents about the things kept from me but... They saved me, that's all they really wanted. Not for power, not for an alternative motive... but because i was their son. Without them, I wouldn't be here… to be able talk to you and the others that I met along the way.”

A small tear dropped from his eyes as they mist, looking at the dragon-type.

“And… I’m grateful for that. To meet you and the many worlds around me, letting me talk, see… experience, learn. I think I can finally say to you... everyone, that- “

A smile that was warm as the crystal that now bears his heart

“...I’m thankful to be alive.”

@asksavel

#askpokemoncrossover #saisei #Olivia #victor #lucario #Laivan #asksavel #Trigger #Iris #plot post #I hope you enjoy this #The truth finally comes out #Interaction #plot

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ugly-sweater · 11 months

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i have got to complain about this im sorry

so last January my dad turned 65 and retired. he sold his business and moved to west Virginia with his girlfriend (who is not retirement age?? but she worked for him so) (yeah) (she's like 25 years younger than him too) he was apparently planning this for a while because he already had bought a house and gone down to do some work on it before then. he took my grandma out to dinner to break the news to her. she seems fine with it now whenever i talk to her but my brother said she was kinda pissed at first. ok. thats fine whatever. except that i haven't seen or heard from him since my uncle's wedding last june. he did not send any of my siblings a message on christmas. we didn't even know if he was coming up or not. he didn't send me a birthday card - presumably my older brother either but i don't talk to him. my birthday is the beginning of june, fathers day was yesterday. my grandma, my only relative to send me a birthday card, asked me to send him a father's day card. but I'm mad at him! he just retired and dropped off the face of the planet! he wasn't like, a very communicative parent before that, but he sent me birthday cards and i saw him on holidays. i didn't send him a card but i did text him. he's not a big texter but i didn't even get a reply. idk if my younger brother is mad or not its hard to tell. he has resisted my familys nasty temper lol.

but. like of all people he deserves to be the most mad. he lived with my dad up until he sold his house here, he didn't find out where he was moving until like right before it happened. they are like. presumably closer than the rest of my siblings? theyre similar in personality and he's the only one who has lived with my dad since 2006 and like. my brother got him a christmas present and when he found out my dad didn't come up for xmas he kept it for himself like.

to be fair even before he moved he has been especially bad at communication there's lots of family events ive missed because no one told me about them, probably because they expected my dad to. i remember a couple years ago we had a birthday party for grandma in july in his backyard and my brother texted me the Day Of to ask if i was coming and i said no i had no idea it was happening and what did he say? me neither i just got home (when he lived with my dad) and people were here.

like. i know don't diagnose other people with things etc etc but my father is the most undiagnosed autistic man alive. also at my uncles wedding he looked like he had aged 10 years or something it was wild. idk. im mad. my mom sometimes talks about how he was so bad with communication when they were together like he would just show up at his friends house and be like oh hes not here i wanted to see if he wanted to go fishing. like. call??? btw this particular friend owned my dads business and was his boss until he retired and my dad bought it from him, and is like, 25 years older than my dad. also my dad only has one other friend, a guy he's known since high school, they go to car shows together.

idk i don't need my dad to be a lot of things. as far as dads go he is not actively harmful. i don't doubt that he loves me. he just absolutely doesn't know how to maintain a relationship with anyone. and i don't like feeling like its my responsibility to maintain it when he has just like given up or gone off to live in his own little world.

also not to complain about my own autism but i feel so much like there are things people expect me to do but have not explicitly laid them out or shown me how to do them ever so i don't do them and then i feel anxious because i don't know what people expect of me!!! also its sexist because clearly theyre not expecting it of my father. ok im done. might update in September for my younger brothers birthday (hes the baby and hes very doted upon) (the favorite but like. he is my favorite too its not a weird thing)

#diary tag 👽#content warning i am complaining about my dad but thats the only warning specifically

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lucifer-is-a-bag-of-dicks · 3 years

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Part 2 baby, I'll put these up on my ao3 soon as well so they're in one place together

-------

"Dad... you're dead."

Jack laughed. He probably shouldn't have, Danny seemed to be very genuine in his assessment, and Jack recognised that he should probably take this more seriously. But still, dead?? It was laughable.

"Come on Danny be serious." Danny's face remained stoic, "I'm not dead, I'm right here."

"You're a ghost, dad." Danny's lips were pressed tight, his entire body tense. "You died."

Jack was feeling a little ill at this point, was Danny okay? Was there a ghost messing with his head? He leaned toward Danny and grabbed his hand, it was cold, Danny's hands were always cold.

"Listen to me son, you're not talking sense, there's probably a ghost somewhere tha-"

Danny stood up fast, impossibly fast, his chair skidded behind him and toppled over.

"No! Dad can you just- how did you get to bed last night?" He asked.

Jack hadn't been expecting the question, he'd gone to bed... the usual way right? Like he always did, took a shower, brushed his teeth, got into his pyjamas, kissed his wife goodnight, although for some reason the details felt a little fuzzy.

But before he could answer Danny continued.

"When did we leave the party?"

Party? Jack's brow furrowed, oh the party! It was his 50th, how could he forget his own party, had he had that much to drink?

Oh, oh of course. He'd gotten drunk and done something stupid, said something upsetting. That's why everyone was mad at him, that's why last night was foggy.

Danny kept going, he sounded frustrated, angry, but his voice cracked a little. He was upset, oh boy Jack must have done something truly awful.

"What happened after the toast?"

The toast... He had just blown out the candles on the enormous cake Vlad had bought for him, ah that's right, Vlad had been there! He'd hired the venue, planned the whole party, it had been a surprise.

He had handed him a drink...

Danny asked another question, Jack knew it was the last, it felt heavy and final, it didn't even sound like a question.

"What's the date today."

Jack knew the date, of course he knew the date, it was the day after his birthday why wouldn't he know? He'd never been particularly good with dates but not even he could forget his own birthdate.

He glanced over to the calendar on the wall, just in case, he had a sneaking suspicion this was some kind of a trick question.

Jazz was the one to mark off the days, she used it to keep track of her assignments and her tutoring sessions. Each day would be marked with a tidy little line, not an X because they had 'a negative association with failure' or... something. He didn't really understand a lot of Jazz's ideas.

The days were marked off up to June the 18th... the 18th, it should have been the 10th. His birthday was yesterday, on the 9th, today should be the 10th.

How could he have missed a whole week? Maybe this was a joke, a way to get back at him for getting drunk and embarrassing everyone.

But this... didn't feel like a joke.

Maddie's sobs hadn't felt like a joke, Jazz's silence hadn't felt like a joke.

Danny's eyes gouged into him. Danny had always been an awkward kid, he took after Jack in that way, he was shy when he was young, always had difficulty maintaining eye contact. He had no such difficulty right now. They were so bright, had they always been so bright?

It was unsettling.

Why couldn't Jack remember what happened after the toast...

The drink had tasted strange, bitter. He never particularly liked champagne, he assumed that it was normal. Vlad had been smiling, his teeth were sharp... his eyes...

Danny's hands were clasped together tightly, his knuckles bumping against his lower lip as they shook. His gaze had shifted from Jack's face to the gravy-stained tablecloth.

"You're dead. I'm sorry, I know this is hard, I know you still feel like everything is the same but it isn't. You... you're a ghost, dad. Not the kind you're used to, you're just a haunting spirit right now, nobody can see you, nobody can hear you. You can't interact with anything, not yet."

Danny dropped his hands away from his face and looked at him sadly. Jack felt as though there was more to his expression, but he'd never been particularly good at reading people. Vlad had always been better at that sort of thing, it often felt like Vlad could speak a whole other language Jack simply couldn't understand.

Vlad... something was tickling the back of his mind but he couldn't quite grasp it, like a word on the tip of his tongue.

Vlad had given him a drink. Vlad had smiled. It looked like a real smile, but Jack felt like... there had been something more to it, Jack had never been good at reading people... Vlad had smiled, his teeth were sharp, his eyes... red, they were red.

The champagne was bitter. He could almost still taste it.

Jack jumped to his feet, startling Danny as he balled his hands into fists.

"Vlad." he growled, Danny breathed a sad sigh.

"Yeah, it was Vlad, he-"

"He was overshadowed by a ghost!" Jack roared, "It's still got him doesn't it? Mads is out there looking for-"

"No! Fuck, dad- SIT. DOWN."

Jack sat. Without thought or question. Danny's command was loud, not deafening but loud in a different way, like he'd heard it through not just his ears but his entire body. It reminded him a little of the concerts he and Maddie used to frequent back in their college days, where the music was so loud it vibrated through them, head to toe.

It took him a moment to realise he was shaking, Jack always considered himself fearless, and that was generally true, so true that he almost didn't recognise the feeling as it swept coldly over him.

Danny closed his eyes and rubbed at them in frustration, Jack was almost certain he caught a flash of vibrant green beneath his fingers.

"I'm sorry I... I didn't want to use that- I didn't mean," he sighed heavily. "You just never listen."

He was listening now, if not simply because he felt too shaken to do anything else. His thoughts rattled around trying to piece themselves together, something within him was screaming like he'd just touched a hot surface or a live wire. Danger danger danger danger.

"Vlad wasn't being overshadowed," said Danny, leaning against the kitchen bench, his body almost sagging with exhaustion. "It's... a lot more complicated than that."

"I can't be a ghost." Jack muttered, indignant, "They're monsters, they don't even look human. They don't wake up and hug their wives, they don't want to sit down and eat breakfast with their daughters."

"Not all ghosts are the same." Danny's voice was quiet, it had none of that fierce intensity like before. What was that? It wasn't normal, it definitely wasn't human. Jack glared up at him as a hot flush of rage washed over him.

"How do I know you aren't the ghost. That you haven't done... something to my family, to make them think I'm dead!" Jack growled.

He wanted to stand up, but under Danny's icy stare he felt locked into his seat. His expression was mostly blank, but Jack could see a twitch in his brow and tilt to his lips. He could see it, but he couldn't read it. Ghosts were easier to read than this, ghosts weren't usually very subtle.

"Not all ghosts are the same." Danny repeated, his voice was so quiet now, tentative and fragile.

He walked over to the sink, Jack wanted to get up, wanted to keep his eyes on Danny and the ghost that might be controlling him, but he couldn't seem to make his legs work. The command still rang in his ears. Sit. Down.

"We aren't going to get anywhere like this." Danny filled up a glass of water and placed it in front of Jack. "Pick it up."

It wasn't a command, Danny's expression had softened once more.

"Please."

Jack narrowed his eyes in suspicion, but he did as requested. He could feel the cold glass in his hand, the condensation on his fingers, but as he tried to lift it... the glass remained as it was. His hands simply slipping over it.

He tried again, and again, it wasn't as though it was slippery, or heavy, or even that he couldn't grip it. The glass felt normal, his hands felt normal, the glass just wouldn't... move.

Gritting his teeth in frustration he grabbed the glass and squeezed with all his strength, it didn't break. The water didn't even ripple.

"This is a trick..." said Jack. "It's just a trick..."

Red eyes and a bitter drink, people stood around him, faces blurred. He was falling, someone screamed.

Danny started rooting around in a nearby drawer, he pulled out a ragged newspaper cutout. The ink had run in some spots, he placed it down in front of Jack.

It was an obituary. It was his obituary. Tear stained and rough around the edges, torn from the rest of the paper instead of cut, he skimmed over it, almost unable to take it in.

Jack Jonathan Fenton... age 50... survived by his wife Maddie and two children Danny and Jazz...

There was a list of his degrees, complete and incomplete, engineering, physics, mathematics, it listed the names of his high school and university, his reputation as a local ghost hunter, a blurb about his dedication to his work and his love for his family. Jazz had written it, he could tell. She was so good with words.

"Don't make this harder than it needs to be, please." Danny's voice cracked, his eyes were bright with tears as he righted the knocked over chair and sat back down across from Jack, gripping his hand tightly.

Vlad leaning over him, Vlad gripping his hand, he was smiling, his teeth were sharp. Glass smashed, he'd dropped the drink. It was bitter.

He could almost still taste it.

"No..."

Maddie running past him in the lab, like he wasn't even there, crying. Jazz at the breakfast table, not seeing not hearing, eyes red and puffy. They hadn't looked at him, not once had they looked at him. They couldn't see him, they really couldn't see him.

But Danny could.

"If... I'm a ghost," the words tasted foul and heavy on his tongue, "and you aren't... why can you see me?"

Danny sighed, still holding tight to Jack's hand.

"It's complicated." he said, staring down at the table.

"Vlad, he did this. I'm..." Jack whispered. "But his eyes were... he was overshadowed. It was a ghost that-."

"He wasn't overshadowed." Danny kept his gaze averted, his expression was hard and cold. "It was the accident with the proto-portal, it changed him. He-"

Danny choked up, tears were slipping from his eyes, he gasped a few unsteady breaths.

"He blamed you, he blamed you and wanted to kill you, he's been trying since the attack at the reunion. I tried to protect you dad I tried I tried I'm sorry, I didn't know about the poison until it was too late I'm sorry, I couldn't get there in time I couldn't-"

Danny's sobs shook his whole body, he buried his head in his arms, shaking hands still clasped around Jack's.

Red eyes, sharp teeth, the reunion...

"The Wisconsin Ghost," how had he not seen it? "He's the Wisconsin Ghost."

Then another thought struck him. He looked at his son like he'd never seen him before, sobbing loudly, painfully, his body wracked with spasms as he choked on every breath. He had been trying to protect him, all this time he had known and was protecting him, alone.

When Jack had been told to sit, compelled to sit, unable to move and paralysed with terror, had he imagined the glint of green in his son's eyes? He knew a ghost with green eyes, who could incapacitate someone with a single terrifying scream, who was mortal enemies with the Wisconsin Ghost, who claimed to be a protector, who looked just like a kid.

Danny had been in the lab that day, when the portal turned itself on.

Had the portal turned itself on?

Jack stood, his legs finally acting of his own accord once more, and he rounded the table to pull his son into a tight hug.

"Oh Danny, it was you, the ghost boy, it was you."

"I'm sorry dad, I'm so sorry." The words wouldn't stop pouring from his lips, tumbling over and over. Jack's chest grew tight from the pain in his voice.

He ran a hand over his son's hair and shushed him gently.

"It's okay Danny-boy, it's not your fault, you did your best. I'm so proud of you son, we should have realised, you did so much all on your own, I'm so proud of you." It was Jack's turn to start blubbering.

"I should have told you." said Danny, voice muffled against Jack's chest.

He and Maddie always talked about all of the things that they would do to Phantom if they had ever caught him, they'd talked about it during family dinners. Danny had sat there listening, the whole time he had been right there listening.

"I... understand why you didn't." said Jack.

Danny had stopped shaking, he pulled away from Jack and wiped his eyes.

"Vlad told mom that he'd been overshadowed, she's been out hunting for the Wisconsin Ghost all week." Danny sniffed, "I wanted to tell her the truth, I wanted to so badly but Vlad he... he said he'd go for Jazz next. Said if he got past me once he could do it again. I couldn't risk it."

Jack had never understood why a ghost would choose to remain tethered, why they couldn't just move on and leave the living to go about their business in peace. He always told himself that when he died he would never return, he would take what was to come with open arms.

But that wasn't what happened. He'd gotten up to start his day as usual, but he was already dead. There had been no choice, and were he given one now, he didn't think he could bring himself to take it.

His family still needed him, how could he leave them behind? It wasn't wrong if he stayed to protect his family, right?

Jack placed a heavy hand on Danny's shoulder, and gently knocked his chin with a large fist.

"Buck up kiddo, I might need to get a handle on this whole bein' a ghost thing but when I do," Jack's voice dropped into a low, dangerous growl and, for just a brief moment, his eyes flashed a vibrant green, "I'm not gonna let him hurt anyone else."

#lula's fanfics #danny phantom #Bitter #jack fenton #am I projecting my neurodivergant ass on this man absolutely not how dare you sir #I just find not being able to tell if people are lying to me super relatable #danny phantom fanfiction #thanks y'all who told me how to do the readmores

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queenshelby · 3 years

Text

My Friend’s Father (Part Seven)

Pairing: Cillian Murphy x Reader

Warning: Age Gap, Smut

Words: 4,498

Notes:

I have decided to make this into a series.

Alright, no judgment. This was a dream of mine and I felt like I had to write it down. Everyone in this Fic is over the age of 18 and this Fic is in no way based on Cillian’s real family life. It’s pure filth.

*********

Throughout the entire night, you couldn’t help but think about Cillian. You dreamed about the kiss you shared, the touch of his hands on your face and even the scent of his skin.

You knew you shouldn’t think this way about your best friend’s father but it was something you couldn’t control even though you were angry with him.

But there was one person you who you were even more angry with and this was Connor, the man you were actually dating.

You got up early that morning to confront Connor about his behaviour at the art gallery opening and the truth was that you were pretty much done with him. You never had feelings for him in the first place and the truth was that he had simply become a distraction for you. You wanted to distract yourself from having taken a liking in your best friend’s father which, in itself, you knew was wrong.

Connor embarrassed you in front of your friends and Cillian was right when he said that he was acting controlling, even though you didn’t want to hear it, especially not from him.

You knew you had to end it and you knew that it wasn’t going to be a difficult task for you. You had always been a strong woman and you didn’t want to be with someone like that and, just when you arrived at Connor’s house you took a deep breath and did what had to be done.

‘It’s your loss Y/N’ were his words when you eventually left his house after a ten minute conversation but you didn’t feel like you had lost anything. In fact, you’ve gained something and that was experience in standing up for yourself.

***

Just after you encounter with Connor that morning, you went to have breakfast with Denise and her friends at the G Hotel in Galway.

They were all staying at the five-star hotel, courtesy of Denise’s father who had organised the weekend for Denise for her birthday and as a reward for her achievements after she had worked so hard on her project.

‘Happy Birthday’ you said as you greeted her and the others and Denise immediately told you off for being too loud as her head was pounding. It was obvious to you that she was rather hungover from the night the before.

‘You had too much champaign, huh?’ you giggled before handing her the present you had bought for her.

You usually didn’t spend much money on each other for birthdays but, since she was your best friend, you had spent a few hours’ worth in wages and gotten her something meaningful.

She was collecting vintage tea-cups and you had recently found a beautiful Royal Dalton set in a second-hand shop which you knew she would adore.

‘This is absolutely beautiful, thank you so much’ Denise said as she unwrapped it before hugging you gently.

‘You are welcome. I knew you would like it’ you said with a warm smile and, just as you did and sat down next to her, your mobile phone went off.

You received a text message from a number that was unfamiliar to you and when you opened it, you were none the wiser.

‘It was good to see you’ the message said and you were rather confused by it. You had some job interviews recently and wondered whether this was sent by one of the interviewers. Or perhaps someone from university, you wondered?

‘What is it?” Denise asked as she saw the look of confusion on your face when you glanced at your phone.

‘Someone just send me a message saying that it was good to see me’ you chuckled before explaining to her that you didn’t know the number.

‘Maybe it is this guy from university you were talking about a few weeks back? You know, the lecturer in the science department?’ Denise wondered before suggesting to you that you should text back and ask for a name, but you already knew it wouldn’t be him. There was no way he would have your number and you certainly were no longer interested in getting to know him after you had found out that he was married.

You texted back to the unknown number, enquiring who this was and, within a couple of seconds, your phone went off again and you almost choked on your coffee.

‘Cillian’ the message read and you quickly changed the angle of your phone so that Denise wouldn’t see it.

‘And? Who is it?’ she asked while trying to look at your phone.

‘Uhm…just a guy I met a few weeks ago…I ran into him again yesterday morning and I totally forgot about it…’ you stammered quickly but Denise didn’t buy a word you were saying.

‘You forgot?’ she giggled, winking at you as she did and your cheeks blushed almost instantly. ‘Well, he obviously didn’t and you must have given him your number for a reason. Is he hot? What’s he like? I need to know everything…’ she went on to say as, suddenly, without you haven’t sent anything back to Cillian, you received yet another text message from him.

‘For what its’s worth, you looked beautiful’ the next text read and you couldn’t help but smile as you continued to sip on your cup of coffee and Denise most certainly noticed the look on your face and asked you what he said.

‘Just that I looked nice’ you stammered, feeling awful about lying to her about who texted you but there was no way that you could have told her that it was, in fact, her father who you were texting with.

‘Uh, he likes you’ Denise then giggled before carrying on. ‘Well, since you ditched Connor now, you should go and meet up with him and have some fun. After Connor’s one-off ten-minute performance, I have no doubt that you really need it’ Denise said and, just as she did, the conversation across the breakfast table took a turn. Like so often, it now was all about sex and you realised that dissatisfaction was a common occurrence in women your age.

‘I believe that the whole talk about the female g-spot is load of rubbish. It’s a myth’ Amalie observed eventually after everyone across the table complained about the lovers that they had.

It was at this point that you mentally checked out from the conversation and, whilst you thought about the one pleasurable experience you had in your life when it came to sex, you certainly didn’t want to talk about it in front of Denise. Especially not Denise.

Instead of engaging in talks about vibrators and the male anatomy, you decided to respond to Cillian’s text messages after you had received yet another one, telling you that he was sorry. Clearly, he was desperate to hear from you.

‘I see, you kept my note?’ you responded quickly, ignoring his compliments and apologies, and, just moments after you sent it, you received a response from him.

‘Kept it in my wallet. Can we meet?’ Cillian asked and you couldn’t help but roll your eyes just before you received yet another message from him which read ‘BTW this is not a booty call. I just want to talk with you. Please.’

His message made you laugh but you agreed to meet him nonetheless.

‘I have an apartment at the Docks. Can you come there?’ Cillian asked in his next text message.

‘Alright. How does 4 o’clock sound? Text me your address’ you texted back and it wasn’t long until Cillian sent you the address of his apartment.

‘And?’ Denise asked as she watched you text with the mysterious stranger and you simply blushed again and responded with a short and somewhat embarrassed ‘nothing’.

‘Oh common, tell me Y/N. I am your best friend’ she then said and you confirmed that you would quickly meet up with him this afternoon before Denise’s birthday dinner.

‘Oh la la, you are having a date’ Denise then said somewhat excitedly.

‘We are just catching up to talk Denise. It’s not a date’ you then said.

‘Sure…whatever you say Y/N’ she then said sarcastically which is when, finally, she backed off and you received yet another text message from Cillian.

‘Looking forward to see you, xx’ it read and your heart skipped a beat pretty much then and there.

***

After you went home to have a shower and get changed into some nice jeans and a black shirt as well as some nice lingerie (just in case) you made your way to Cillian’s apartment.

You parked around the corner and walked the rest of the way just to be sure that no one would see your car being parked there.

‘Jesus’ you said somewhat surprised when you walked into the lobby of the apartment building and took the elevator to the top floor after Cillian had buzzed you inside. You had never been to a building like this. It was luxurious and right on the harbour.

When you arrived on the top floor, Cillian already waited for you, glancing through the door of his apartment.

‘Wow, these are some good views. Do you own this place?’ you observed as you stepped inside and set your purse on the desk by the door.

‘Yeah, bought it a few years ago’ Cillian said as you began to shrug off your jacket, but Cillian came up from behind you, and caught your hands. You looked down at your hands, noticing that yours dwarfed in his. They were warm and soft.

‘Let me take this for you’ he said like a gentleman and you were somewhat surprised by his gesture. This was not something you were used to but you liked it, a lot.

‘You know, I didn’t expect that you would text me, especially not after last night. So, what is it that you want to talk about?’ you asked nervously and, just as you did, Cillian cut straight to the chase.

‘I wanted to tell you, in person, that I am sorry about last night. I shouldn’t have lectured you about this guy who you are seeing and the truth is that, yes, I was jealous and I know that I had no right to be jealous and for that I am also sorry. I should have acted differently, especially knowing that you are my daughter’s best friend’ he admitted just before you cut him off.

‘Well, for what its worth, I ended it with Connor this morning because I think you were right about him’ you said with a nervous smile, causing Cillian to cock an eyebrow.

‘I can’t say that I am not happy about that’ he said jokingly before continuing on. ‘But, regardless of this, I think that we need to talk about how we move forward from what happened between us for Denise’s sake’ he then said, causing you to nod.

‘Yeah’ you then said somewhat disappointed before building up your strength in order to say something else. ‘The thing is, Cillian, I know what I want. I just think that you don’t’ you said, cheeks blushing.

‘And what is that you want Y/N?’ Cillian asked curiously as if he didn’t already know the answer to his question.

‘You’ you then admitted and, just as you did, Cillian’s hands caressed your face and he pulled you close and kissed you yet again.

The kiss was slow and passionate and, unlike the night before, you allowed yourself to give into it until, eventually, your lips drifted apart.

‘Are you sure Y/N? Because, I am much older than you and you probably have better offers with more assurances that I simply cannot offer you’ Cillian then asked as he was standing directly in front of you and held you against his body.

‘The fact that you are older actually turns me on’ you admitted before pressing your lips onto his again and then pulling away. You adored his wrinkles and greying hair and you were surprised that he had no idea how attractive he actually was.

‘But what is it that you want Cillian?’ you then asked as you felt his firm chest against you while his warm breath fanned against your neck, sending shivers down your spine.

‘Honestly, I don’t know Y/N. I have never been so fucking confused in my life’ he explained reluctantly, not knowing where to place the feelings he had built for you. You were over twenty years younger than him and his daughter’s friend and this clearly bothered him. He knew that this wasn’t something he could easily overcome.

‘Well, I am confused too but I like you, a lot’ you admitted, also unsure about what this was that you were feeling for him but, what you knew was that you wanted to give whatever this was a chance. You were curious and you were filled with desire for this man standing there right in front of you.

‘And I need to know that you feel the same and that this isn’t going to be just another mistake you are making because, if you are going to walk away after we have sex, then I am not up for it’ you then explained, wanting to ensure that he wouldn’t pull away from you this time.

‘No more mistakes Y/N. I like you and I want this’ Cillian whispered as he pressed his lips firmly right under your ear, slowly kissing down your neck.

‘I want you’ he then said as his breath tickled your skin and the firmness of his kiss made your stomach flip.

‘Then that’s good enough for me’ you huffed out in a laboured breath and just, as you did, Cillian used his hands to spin you around, causing you to face away from him.

Then, his hands dropped to your waist where his fingers gently edged themselves under the hem of your shirt, barely touching your skin. His lips moved, and he left a trail of kisses down your shoulder and towards your arm.

‘I knew this was a booty call’ you teased as you couldn't help but move against him.

‘Do you want to stop?’ he asked as your hips rocked and shifted while he gently brushed his fingers against your skin.

‘Hell no’ you giggled before you lifted your arms and he began to pull your shirt up.

You felt like you were performing some secret dance that we both knew, but that you'd never realised you'd known.

Cillian lifted your shirt inch at a time up off you, and let it fall to the floor. He sighed in satisfaction as he looked down at your breasts.

‘Why are you so fucking perfect?’ Cillian asked and you opened your mouth to answer but it came out as a sigh as his hands tightened around your waist.

‘Let’s take this off’ Cillian said determined as one of his hands inched up towards your breast, and he squeezed it gently. Then, his hands came away from you, and unsnapped your bra.

You practically shook it off of you, and then dropped your hands to your jeans. You needed his hands back on you again as soon as possible and turned to watch him as you kicked your shoes off and shoved down your jeans, your underwear coming with them.

‘Eager, are we?’ Cillian chuckled as he quickly began to undress himself as well after you had given him a look full of hunger and anticipation.

‘We are short of time’ you said as you were momentarily distracted by the sight of him unbuttoning his shirt, but you hurried to kick off the fabric wrapped around your ankles.

‘We’ve got at least two and a half hours Y/N’ Cillian then said as you finally stood there in front of him completely naked.

‘Exactly’ you chuckled as Cillian was still fighting with the buttons on his shirt, and you grabbed the fabric of it and pulled him against you, crushing your mouth against his.

Cillian made love to your mouth with his lips and his tongue. He was firm, slow, and demanding.

You breathed together, tasted together. He dragged a soft moan from your mouth with a caress of his lips. He explored you, letting his tongue run along the roof of your mouth. Your teeth crashed. He sucked your tongue into his mouth, and your stomach clenched and you let out an embarrassingly desperate sound.

Before your first night with Cillian, you'd never been kissed like this. The kisses you shared were more intimate and more sensual than anything you'd ever experienced in your life.

As you were kissing, you finally managed to unbutton his shirt and shoved it open. Your hands ran up and down his chest, exploring his toned body all the while he was relentless in his kiss. His arms wrapped around you, one hand pressing into the small of your back, and the other working his fingers into your hair.

With a small tug of your hair, he pulled your face away from him.

‘I could kiss you all day Y/N, but you said that we are short of time so you better get onto the bed’ he winked and you snaked your arms around his neck and kissed him while he walked you back into his bedroom and towards the bed.

As you were moving towards the bed, he fought with his belt and his pants all while his lips never left yours.

You shuffled awkwardly backwards until the backs of your knees hit the bed, forcing you to sit down. You kept your arms behind you to prop yourself up, smiling as you watched him finish undressing. He was just gorgeous and so goddamn perfect.

‘You are so sexy, you know that?’ you said full of desire while you watched as he pushed his pants down, kicking them off his ankles and standing in front of you completely naked, and... Sweet. Baby. Jesus…your mouth watered at the sight of his hard cock.

‘So are you’ he winked and, just as he did, you met his eyes again after having stared at his cock for a little while. That terrifying intense stare was back, and he looked like he was going to eat you alive. For all you knew, he would.

Without breaking eye contact, Cillian bent down and went to his knees at the foot of the bed, grabbed your legs, and pulled you closer to him, spreading your legs wide as he did so.

‘Lay back’ he ordered and you couldn’t help but bite your lip in anticipation.

‘What are you going to do to me?’ you asked as he was still staring at you. A slow smile graced his face.

‘I am going to make love to you with my tongue until you cum’ Cillian smirked and the idea of his face between your legs made your breath catch.

‘Oh, Sweet Jesus’ you moaned as he let go of one of your legs and put a hand on your shoulder. He pushed you back and then he lowered his lips to you.

Sweet bliss washed over you in an instant. You gasped, and moaned, and shivered. Cillian lapped at you like you were the sweetest treasure he'd ever put in his mouth. A slow, deep rumble from his chest travelled straight into your body through his lips, shaking you to your core. His tongue dove inside you, exploring you. He sucked on the lips of your sex, and the circled his tongue around your clit, sending powerful shocks of pleasure straight to your centre.

He was building you up to something big. Something beautiful.

He eased off right before you exploded, and you cried out.

‘Cillian, don't stop, please’ you moaned and, just as you began to plead with him, his fingers began to gently run through your wet slit.

‘Don’t worry, I won’t’ he said as he slowly pushed two of his fingers inside you before his tongue resumed its work on your clit.

Curling his fingers slightly upwards, he reached an unfamiliar spot deep inside you and, as soon as he reached this spot, you cried out in pleasure.

‘Oh god, fuck, Cillian’ you moaned as his fingers began to gently thrust in and out of you while he made love to you with his tongue.

With his skilled tongue and fingers working you, it didn’t take you long to reach an orgasm. Your legs began to shake almost violently as a wave of pleasure erupted through your body and your walls tightened around Cillian’s fingers.

When you finally came down from your high, Cillian stood up, pushed his hands against your hips, and slid you farther onto the bed.

‘You sound so fucking sexy when you cum like this, without having to hold back’ Cillian observed as he climbed onto the bed. He crawled towards you like a wolf stalking his prey.

‘I want you inside me, please…I am aching for your cock’ you moaned, spurring him on and, without losing any time he spread your legs wide and pressed the head against your slit, gently working the tip in and out, teasing you.

‘Oh god, please, stop teasing’ you whimpered, trying to wiggle against him. You wanted to feel all of him so badly.

‘Be patient, we will get there’ he whispered, and leaned forward so his arms were on either side of your face.

You felt him push a little deeper into you.

‘Oh god yes’ you gasped and winced and Cillian tilted his head and took your mouth with his, kissing you slowly as he rocked in and out. His lips and his tongue matched the pace of his thrusts, and you felt overwhelmed with desire as he slid deeper and deeper inside of you.

‘Fuck you feel so good Y/N’ Cillian groaned as he stretched you and pushed you until he was all the way in, and he pulled his mouth away from yours just long enough to let out a string of curses before he took your mouth again.

You couldn't breathe. Everything about him was amazing. The way he felt inside you was just perfect.

He held your head firmly in place as he kissed you, thrusting into you and grinding his hips so that he hit every single spot you didn't even know you had. Right as you were nearing your climax, he pulled all the way out and pushed himself off of you, pausing to catch his breath.

‘No…don’t stop…I was so close’ you whimpered.

‘Don’t worry, I am not done with you yet but I do enjoy teasing you’ he gasped and you could tell that he enjoyed edging you which is something no other man you have been with had ever done to you before. Unlike them, Cillian had amazing self-control which you thought might come with age.

Almost an hour later, after he edged you numerous times and made you change positions on several occasions, you ended up with Cillian on top of you once again. He slid back inside you, resuming his relentless pace. With every thrust, he ground his pelvis against your clit, and with only a few careful movements of his hips, you exploded in pleasure around him. There was no way you could have held back any longer as waves of heat and ice crashed onto you, and you fought to breathe through the intensity of your orgasm.

‘Fuck Y/N’ Cillian groaned shortly thereafter, feeling your walls contract around his shaft. He collapsed forward onto you, and you could feel him pulsing inside you and filling you with rope after rope of his warm cum.

You loved the feeling of him cuming inside you and his breath was hot against your neck, and he kissed your neck and your mouth again as he pulled back and out of you, giving you a chance to breathe.

***

‘Cillian’ you whispered, barely able to speak even after five minutes had passed since you came down from your high.

‘Yes Beautiful?’ he said, and moved slightly so he could wrap his lips around your nipple. He sucked and tongued at it, and pulled at it with his teeth.

‘Careful’ you laughed, and shifted under him slightly. ‘I’m super sensitive now’ you said.

‘I certainly hope so’ he murmured. ‘Although, I am not done with you yet. We still have an hour before dinner’ he smirked and your eyes widened immediately.

‘Oh really?’ you asked surprised and, when you looked down on him, you noticed that his cock was already hardening again just after a short five minutes of relaxation.

‘Really’ Cillian then chuckled as he rolled you onto your stomach, spreading your legs and crouching behind you.

Without losing any time, he lined himself up with your entrance and pushed back inside of you, eliciting a loud groan.

After doing you from behind for what felt like forever, he'd hauled you up into his lap and made love to you with his arms around you and our foreheads pressed together. You'd watched his eyes widen and roll back in his head as he came inside you again just after you reached your own high as well.

He then kissed you as he slowly pulled out of you, and then carried you in his arms like a bride into the bathroom where he'd showered you, washed your hair and your body, and treated you to another mind-blowing orgasm with his fingers.

‘I am fucking sore Cillian’ you huffed out as you were standing in front of the mirror and retouched your make up with a white towel wrapped around your body. You had only limited supplies with you in your handbag but were somewhat lucky that Denise had kept a few items in one of the bathrooms in the three-bedroom apartment.

‘I am sorry’ he then said as he stepped behind you and applied some more aftershave before kissing your neck.

‘Are you?’ you asked, looking back at him before pressing a gentle kiss on his lips.

‘Not really’ he then smirked before buttoning up his shirt.

You knew that you couldn’t arrive at the dinner together and, after you got ready, you decided to walk to the restaurant first so that Cillian would allow you a ten-minute head start.

But walking was difficult in itself and Cillian had a slight chuckle when he watched you waddle out of his apartment.

Your core was stinging but it was defiantly worth it.

Tag List:

@lilymurphy03@deefigs @theflamecrystal @desperate-and-broken @weepingstudentfishhorse @livinginfantaxy @rosey1981 @atomicsoulcollecto @peakyboyslover @nerdy4itall@elenavampire21 @hanster1998@mariapaiva13 @fairypitou @harry-is-your-sunflower @zozeebo @lauren-raines-x @kasaikawa @littlewierdalien @sad-huffle-nerd @theflamecrystal @peakymalfoyscullymulder @themissthang@0ghostwriter0 @stylescanbeatmyback @1-800-peakyblinders @datewithgianni @momoneymolife @ntmynouis @lilymurphy03 @mcntsee@cloudofdisney@missymurphy1985 @peakymalfoyscullymulder @otterly-fey @janelongxox @uchihacumdump @basiclassy @being-worthy @chaotic-bean-of-smolness @margoo0 @chocolatehalo @vhscillian @ysmmsy @littlewierdalien @crazymar15 @stickyknightflowerbailiff @im-constantly-fangirling @goldensunflowe-r @tellingyouastory @captivatedbycillianmurphy @namelesslosers @littlewhiterose @ttzamara @ttzamara @cilleveryone

@peaky-cillian

@severewobblerlightdragon @ysmmsy

#cillian murphy smut #cillian murphy #cillian murphy x reader #cillian murphy imagine #cillian murphy x you #cillian murphy x y/n

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fireflykaizoku · 3 years

Note

Heya! I know you’ve done 3 soulmate fics now, but with the sort of angsty feel with Mimi-ya’s request I was wondering if a Katakuri x reader, in regards to the age difference he had given up hope that it was even possible for him to have happiness outside of his family, would make for a good read and also possibly dangerous for reader to come face to face with Big Mom and all those siblings! Thank you x

Hii! i'm sorry i took long to finish it, but i kept watching OP and reading more about Katakuri, since it's my first time writing for him. Since i'm still on episode 850, i was afraid it'd be a bit ooc. If it is, i'm so sorry! my writing for Katakuri will improve as i finish the arc. I hope you like it anyway, it was fun to write it ❤

Your family was rich and well-known around the Grand Line. Being the only daughter, they were trying to find a husband for you, a political marriage that could be good for both families, especially yours. They had a list of potential husbands, but you didn’t bother checking it since you were too focused on your birthday party. It was a small party, just with close friends and family, but you wanted everything to be perfect.

And it was. You had so much fun around people you loved, it was hard to fall asleep after that; you were genuinely happy.

Before opening your eyes, you could already feel the sweet smell, something like candy, donuts or cake. Thinking it was maybe a belated birthday breakfast, you opened your eyes and was ready to jump out of the bed when you realized the bedroom was completely different from yours. And as soon as you looked down, you realized that body definitely wasn’t yours. The toned chest, tattoos and the scarf around your neck weren’t yours.

You could only feel happiness and relief, you were glad you already switched bodies with your soulmate. Who knew it’d be that fast? But you wanted to see more of him, so you got up and started looking for a mirror in his room. The reflection surprised you at first, not being the kind of soulmate you expected to have. He had tattoos, crimson hair, and apparently was very tall. In fact, he was huge. When you put the scarf down a little, you noticed he had scars, and you assumed that’s why he covered his mouth. He also had fangs, which you thought were extremely charming. He wasn’t ugly, in fact, he was far from that. He was very handsome. Intimidating, of course. But very handsome.

Looking around, you found a vest, and on the back, you noticed “Charlotte” written on it.

— Charlotte? — you whispered to yourself, thinking you’ve seen that name somewhere until you finally realized after a couple of minutes.

— He’s one of Big Mom’s son!

You remember when your parents were trying to find a husband for you, his name came up a couple of times. It was probably Charlotte Katakuri. You’ve never seen any pictures of him, but you knew he was a very strong and powerful man.

After a couple of minutes just looking at his figure in the mirror, admiring his traits, a knock on the door brought you back to reality.

— Katakuri-sama, it’s almost time for Big Mom’s tea party. — someone said, outside the room before leaving right away.

You heard about the famous Tea Parties, but you didn’t even know how to behave. You knew there would be so many people, powerful people, and some probably well known as well, so you couldn’t take the risk of things going wrong.

You couldn’t describe the relief you felt when you noticed a den den mushi in the corner of the room. Perfect! You’d call him, explain everything and hopefully he’d be there just in time for the party.

It took a couple of minutes, but finally someone answered. You got quiet for a moment, not knowing what to say.

— Charlotte Katakuri? — you asked, a bit nervous.

— It’s me. I assume you’re (L/N) (F/N)? — you hummed in response. — I see you’re my soulmate and we switched bodies.

— Yes, and you have a Tea Party to attend today. Do you think we can switch back before then?

— Unfortunately, no. Your island is quite far from the Whole Cake Island. Can you go instead? You’ll just have to sit without saying anything. It won’t last too long, and when it’s over you go straight to your room.

— But what if… I need to fight? I don’t know how to… — he interrupted you.

— Don’t worry, it shouldn’t have an attack. But if anything happens, look for Brûlée and explain everything. I’ll be there before the sunrise, and we’ll be able to switch back, hopefully.

He seemed so calm even in a situation like this. But following his advice, you went to the party. It was fun and there was delicious food everywhere, but you couldn’t disrespect your soulmate and remove the scarf off. Maybe when you switch back you can ask Katakuri to let you eat a few.

You started sweating whenever Big Mom or any of his kids got near you, trying to talk. So to avoid raising any suspicions, you just nodded the whole time. And whenever you heard a fuss, your soul felt like it’d leave your body, worried it’d be a confront. If you had to fight today, acting like Katakuri, you wouldn’t know what to do.

You were hungry, but too shy to ask for anything. As if someone heard your thoughts, a few small men knocked on your door, bringing donuts. Not just two or three, but many donuts. They bowed and left quickly.

After eating half of it, you fell asleep. You were very anxious since you’d meet your soulmate in a few hours, but your eyelids got heavier and you couldn’t fight the sleep anymore. You woke up a few hours later with someone gently tapping your arm. When you opened your eyes, you realized Katakuri had arrived.

You were still sleepy, and sat on the bed, rubbing your eyes until you actually felt awake. The height difference was quite a lot, and it was funny. You had to sit on the floor so the two of you would be face to face.

— Hello, Katakuri. — you felt incredibly shy now.

— Good morning. — he tried to hide the fact he was embarrassed, and was hoping you couldn’t hear how fast his heart was beating.

— This… Is it the time when we kiss?— you suggested, looking away. Would he think you were being too straightforward?

— Yes… We should… Kiss.

You pulled the scarf down slowly with your now cold hands. You closed your eyes, feeling very nervous. You kissed a few times before, but it still felt like something new. Especially now that it wasn’t just a random person, it was your soulmate.

Noticing you were waiting for him to make a move, he moved closer, sealing your lips together. Just a peck at first, until you gave him permission to deepen the kiss. Both of you were shy, and the kiss was a bit clumsy. Maybe he haven’t had many kisses too.

You didn’t have to open your eyes to realize you two had switched back, his big and strong hands holding your face was a sign that it worked. You rested your head on his hand, looking at him with eyes full of admiration and a soft smile on your lips.

— Aren’t you… Scared or disgusted? — he asked, feeling insecure now that his face was exposed to you.

— Why would I be? — you genuinely asked, smiling softly.

— Because… Of my mouth. I’m not how you probably wanted your soulmate to look like, and I don’t want you to think you have to put up with me because we’re soulmates. Now that we switched back, you can go if you want to. — his voice didn’t seem angry, as if he was demanding you to leave. It sounded sad, as if he had been through a lot.

You heart ached just to think that someone had the courage to hurt your soulmate.

Little did you know that many people treated him differently, not wanting to be around him or making fun of him because of his appearance; little did you know that while most of his siblings found their soulmates already, and he spent most of his life thinking he didn’t deserve his other half. Little did you know that he gave up on finding someone and started to deal with the fact that only his family would be able to love him.

But now, after meeting you, he threw his rational self out of the window. He felt like he could love someone; marry someone for a reason other than just a political marriage. But would you want him just like he wants you?

— We switched back, right? — you caressed his face softly. He wasn’t expecting it, no one has ever been this gentle with him before. — That means we’re in love.

— I don’t want you to be with someone like me, you’d only be in danger. — he turned his face not to see you. — You wouldn’t be able to deal with my siblings. It won’t be like playing house, and it won’t be like the marriage you might be expecting.

You got quiet, taking a deep breath. He wouldn’t push you away easily. Katakuri noticed your silence, and was expecting you to leave the room, agreeing that life with him wouldn’t be the perfect calm life you probably wanted. Instead, before he could even use his haki to have a glimpse of the future, you turned his face and pecked his lips.

— I won’t give up so easily. — you crossed your arms. — You’re my soulmate and I won’t leave you just because you think I can’t deal with a dangerous lifestyle. I want you, and if you want me too… We can make this work.

Looking at your face that was looking at him with love in your eyes, how could he say “no”? Maybe Big Mom would be willing to accept this relationship and give her blessing, and his siblings would be happy for him. He could even pretend it was all because of your family and their power at first.

His stomach started growling before he could say anything.

— I’m sorry, I only ate a few donuts while I was in your body. — you felt a little embarrassed about what you were about to ask. — But I wanted to eat some of the sweets yesterday. Do you think… — he didn’t let you finish the question.

— You can have the sweets, I’ll ask to get them delivered for breakfast. — he covered his face with the scarf again. — For now, you should sleep. We’ll have a long day meeting my family tomorrow.

#charlotte katakuri #katakuri x reader #one piece #one piece x reader #one piece scenario

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kool-kelp · 2 years

Text

Statement of Remus Lupin, 1st Nov. 1981

CONTENT WARNING: Major character death, violence, mentions of torture and starvation. Basically, Remus talks about the war and the murder. It’s real sad.

Remus was sweating through his robes. He had showered several times before leaving their apartment. He couldn’t quite wash the disgusting feeling off his skin.

“Can you tell us your name, please? For the records of course,” Dumbledore asked him.

“My name is Remus Lupin,” he told him. His voice was shaking, embarrassingly. He thought he was going to be sick.

“And you are a werewolf, correct?” Remus heard gasps echo throughout the chamber. It made him almost want to laugh. Like him being a werewolf was the most shocking thing of this whole ordeal.

“Yeah, I had to register on my seventeenth birthday. You can check it if you’d like, Professor,” he said, trying to sound less embarrassed than he was.

“I’m sure it’s all in order. As you all know, we are here today to determine whether or not Sirius Black should be given a trial. He has been sent to Azkaban for the time being, and I hope to determine whether we should use ministry resources to grant him a trial. I believe Mr. Lupin’s statement will be instrumental in this decision,” Dumbledore said. By this point, Remus pretty much hated Dumbledore, but the man did know how to talk.

“You mean that we are to take the word of a werewolf, a dangerous creature, in order to decide the future of a known murderer?” an official looking man said, Remus flinched at this. Remus wasn’t able to vote and therefore didn’t see the point in following politics so he didn’t know the man's name.

“As you can see, Mr Crouch, it is not currently a full moon, so Mr. Lupin is perfectly capable of recounting the events that, I think you’ll find, can shed more light on the situation than we could ever hope to have without him,” Dumbledore didn’t seem fazed by this. Remus looked around the room to try to gauge people’s reactions. Half of them looked at him like he was about to fall apart, the other half looked like they were worried he might suddenly leap out of his chair and kill them. Remus found that he only recognised three people in the entire room: Dumbledore, who was using Remus to further his own agenda, whatever that may be. Nothing different there. McGonagall, who looked at Remus with so much pity that he wanted to curl into himself and cry over the mess that had been created forever. And Snape, who looked at Remus like he always had, with disgust and that ‘afraid but trying not to be’ look that Remus had never seen anyone else pull off quite so well as Severus Snape. He vaguely recognised the other from the papers, but he had always passed those sections off to Sirius.

Mr. Crouch nodded his head to tell Dumbledore to proceed with whatever questions he was going to ask.

“Mr. Lupin will now be given Veritaserum to ensure his complete honesty from this point forward,” he paused as Remus was presented with the drink. He knew this was coming. It had made his stomach turn to think about the secrets that he could be responsible for spilling. Then, he thought, all of the people he had kept secrets for were already dead or close enough to it. He drank it.

“Mr. Lupin, what exactly was your relationship to the Potters?”

“We were friends,” he said confidently. It had been an easy question. He had no doubt worse was to come. “We met at Hogwarts. Lily and I were prefects together and James and I shared a dorm. They were like family.”

“Were?” Dumbledore asked. Although the question was ambiguous, the potion knew what Dumbledore was asking. Remus wanted to punch him already. Or scream at him. Anything would do.

“They had to go into hiding. You made me go on missions, secret from them lot. They knew there was a spy and I looked suspicious, disappearing for days and weeks. I hadn’t spoken to them in months. I knew that they believed that I was the spy. I didn’t know where they were until yesterday evening. Saw it in the papers,” Remus told the court that had been gathered, laughing dryly at the last part. There were tears in his eyes but he would hold them in for as long as he could.

“And how were you acquainted with Mr. Pettigrew?”

“Peter…. We were friends… but he was always a bit afraid of me, I think. He was always kind, though. He would bring me food and homework when I could go to class. I thought he was always a bit on the outside of James and Sirius, like I was. That made us closer, I guess. He always seemed just a little bit out of his depth, in school and the war. He tried though,” Remus didn’t like to think about Peter. At least James and Lily had each other when they died. Peter died facing Sirius alone. He must’ve been afraid out of his mind, knowing that Sirius was going to kill him. Remus tried not to imagine the fear that poor boy must have felt. He’d never even been in love. Even Remus had had that, despite what it looked like now. He had felt it, if Sirius hadn’t.

“And lastly, if you would tell us about your relationship with Sirius Black, then we can get on to the events that led up to last night?” Dumbledore asked. Remus looked him in his eyes with the most fury he could muster.

“You know well what my relationship with Sirius Black was.”

“I do, and I think it’s important that everyone understands the context of your statement to grasp the importance of it. I remind you that everyone in this room has been Magically sworn to secrecy. Whatever you say cannot leave this room”

“Fine. Sirius Black and I were…. together .” Another round of gasps went around the room, he looked at McGonagall instead of anybody else. She was the only one who’s opinion he still cared about. She didn’t seem shocked by the news. Remus saw his anger reflected in her face.

“We met at Hogwarts and we became friends. We got together in 4th year. I loved him. We broke up for a time at the end of 5th year, but we got back together around 7th Year.” Remus felt ridiculous talking about his boyfriend problems in front of this group of ministry officials. He felt like they were looking at him like he was a fool. Like he should have known, somehow, what Sirius was going to do. You were all fooled too! He wanted to scream. You all trusted him!

“Would you mind telling us what caused the separation?”

“I don’t really have any choice in this so you can stop acting like you care about what I want. We broke up because Sirius almost killed another student. He told Severus Sanpe,” the crowd turned to look at the man in question, “where to find me during a full moon. He told him how to beat the safeguards that stopped me from hurting other students. Snape and him had been fighting. They were always fighting. Snape had figured out what I am and was telling other students. I don’t know what Sirius was thinking. Maybe that Snape would get scared when he saw me and stop. Maybe he wanted me to kill him. James stopped it somehow. I never got the full story. I didn’t speak to Sirius for almost a year after it.”

“How did Sirius know how to beat the safeguards?” Dumbledore asked him. No, Remus thought, I can’t tell them. They’ll think I put James and Peter in danger. They’ll put me down. Fuck, I can’t lie. He was panicking. ‘Then don’t’ a smarter part of his brain said.

“Sirius was always very good at figuring things out when he wanted to. Especially when he wasn’t supposed to,” he said. The serum accepted his half-truth. It wasn’t a lie, it just wasn’t the whole story. If Remus was entirely human he thought that it probably wouldn’t have worked. If Remus was entirely human, he mightn’t have even been there.

“And yet, after the incident, you forgave him?” Dumbledore raised his eyebrows over his half moon glasses. Remus wanted to break the fuckers by punching him right in his nose.

“I couldn’t stay angry at him. It hurt too much. Hating him turned into hating myself for still wanting him. It was killing us both, the shame of it. I felt like I was walking around with half of myself missing and the other half too angry and ashamed to do anything. I don’t think I ever forgave him fully. I tried to. But then we joined the Order and there wasn’t any time for long talks. You saw to that, Professor.” Remus said sharply. The slight at Dumbledore did not go unnoticed as several heads turned to look at the old man. Yeah, that’s the man who tore us apart. Every last one of us.

Dumbledore held eye contact with Remus for a moment. “I think we’ve got enough context to begin questioning about the war, don’t you?” he said, mildly. That only made Remus hate him more.

“I think it’s time we took a break,” came a quiet but confident voice. It was McGonagall. He had as much respect for her as he had hatred for Dumbledore.

“You’re alright, Professor,” he told her, trying to sound okay with his current situation. “If I leave this room, I don’t think I’ll be able to walk back in.” She smiled at him apologetically and nodded.

“Go ahead,” he said to Dumbledore.

“Tell us about the very start of the war, how you became involved with the Order of the Phoenix.” He said. Remus was glad that he had dropped the false questioning tone he was using earlier.

“I never had a choice. My war started when I was bitten. It started when I was five, not seventeen. Fenrir Greyback,” murmurs spread throughout the room “Bit me. And then I went to Hogwarts. I think you’d had my future laid out when you first pleaded my case to the Wizengamot, Professor. You helped my parents keep me alive, told them it was wrong to put down a five year old werewolf. You gave me a life, and for that I thank you, but you did not give me a choice in this war. You were training me from the minute I stepped foot in Hogwarts. You knew that Voldemort,” people flinched at the name. Remus was too pissed off to care, “was on the rise, and that eventually, he would turn to the werewolves for support, and that they would support him because what reason had they not to.” Remus knew he was crying. He could feel the tears rolling down his cheeks. He didn’t bother wiping them away. He didn’t have any dignity left to protect. “You knew what you could use me to do. What I could do to fight your war.”

“That may be your opinion,” Remus scoffed at him, “but I am not on trial. You must stick to what is relevant to the murder of Lily and James Potter.” Dumbledore finished.

“To be frank, Professor, I think you are a lot more relevant to their murder than my relationship status,” Remus snapped at Dumbledore, glaring at him. People seemed shocked at the disrespect shown to the headmaster, very few knew how justified it was.

“Please continue, Remus,” he said.

“Don’t you fucking say my name. Like we’re friends. Like you didn’t make me this,” he was practically yelling at him.

“Make you what?” Dumbledore sounded less patient than normal. Remus felt proud of himself.

“I don’t know. Whatever you’re called when you’re the last one left. A soldier? Whatever it’s called, you did this to me so you don’t get to say my name.”

“Okay, please continue, Mr. Lupin.”

“Go fuck yourself,” Remus told him but he did continue. He had to. “Dumbledore had started to send me on these missions the second I turned seventeen. I would spend full moons with packs and plead with them to join our side,” he was now addressing the people instead of Dumbledore. “Then I would report whatever information they had given me to Dumbledore and I would go back to potions class or whatever. I usually ended up in the hospital wing after the moons. That wasn’t much different to how it normally was, except now, the scratches and bites mostly came from other wolves rather than myself. Things didn’t really change when I left school. I would leave for longer periods of time. Stay with the packs longer. I had normal missions too, in between the moons. Werewolves have certain abilities, even when we’re human. We’re stronger, faster, spells don’t have as much of an effect. It takes a lot more to kill a werewolf than it does a wizard. That combined with enhanced senses meant that, more often than not I was on a mission. I began to forget what month it was. I would come back from missions unable to tell anyone where I had been, they were all secret. I guess Dumbledore knew what the Potters and Peter and… Sirius would say if they heard about what I was doing. I don’t think I need to tell you exactly what I did as a member of the Order?” he asked.

He didn’t look at Dumbledore, he looked at the faces up in the gallery. Politicians that hadn’t been killed or outed as Death Eaters. None of them were members of the Order. They didn’t know what the fighting had been. Remus knew that they didn’t want to know what he had done to survive.

“I think it’s best that you tell us a bit about your work, so we understand your state of mind these last few months.” Dumbledore said. Remus still refused to look at him.

“You know all of my missions, Professor. Which one would you like me to tell you about?” he was asking Dumbledore but his gaze was focused on the reflection of the light of one of the black marble stones that covered the floor.

“Tell us about your run in with Bellatrix Lestrange,” he said. The people looked at each other, clearly unsure whether they wanted to hear this story.

“Bellatrix Lestrange is a very talented witch. She and her husband have been sent to jail and I’m sure you all know about what they’ve done,” the tears had stopped. Remus had always talked about his missions very impersonally. He had to think about them like they had happened to someone else in order to get to sleep. Moody had taught him that trick. “Bellatrix was arguably Voldemort's most dedicated follower. As well as her undying loyalty, she truly loved the work she carried out on his behalf. She took joy from each and every murder and torture. Each ungodly act was treated like it was a prayer. She took pride in a job well done, is what I’m saying. She found me. Found out who I was, what I was, who I loved and she took it upon herself to torture me. She planned to kill me at some point. All of the werewolves she had encountered were muggles that had turned. Turning wizards is a lot more of a hassle, I suppose,” Remus’ attitude towards this story unnerved many of the politicians. Remus himself had told it many times, to many members of the order. The information he had discovered was useful and it needed to be shared. At this point, the story was an old routine to Remus.

“She had me. Tied me up in silver chains. No other death eater ever came to help. I was supposed to be her kill and her kill alone. There’s probably a plaque with my name engraved on it somewhere, waiting for my head. I was there for over three weeks. It was just me and Bellatrix. She told me that she planned to starve me, she never gave me food. Wanted to see what it would do, but she didn’t have long enough. I can still feel the hunger, sometimes. She began to test spells on me, saw what would work on a werewolf and what wouldn’t. The information was useful but painful to obtain. Greyback didn’t allow it. He had made Voldemort take an Unbreakable Vow back when Voldemort still needed followers. He made sure that the werewolves that joined them weren’t to be tortured or killed without cause. They weren’t to be treated like animals so long as they were loyal to Voldemort. This worked out well for him. It ensured absolute loyalty. More werewolves joined for protection rather than belief in the cause, I’d say.” The crowd looked at each other guiltily. Remus saw tears in McGonagall’s eyes. She had heard the story before and had held them back until Remus had left the room. It was harder, this time.

“I was an opportunity for her to figure out what exactly makes werewolves tick. There’s not a lot of research. Or wasn’t, before this. Wizards would just use petrificus totalus and then transfigure something into silver to kill us. If a werewolf is being put down, they inject us with melted silver, it’s meant to be quicker. More humane,” he smiled darkly as he said this, he liked watching the looks on the people’s faces. He knew that they didn’t like to think about werewolves when they were human. He liked watching them look at him, someone they respected, and try to combine the two ideas.

“She tried the first two unforgivable curses first. The imperious doesn’t have much of an effect, if you were curious. You just sort of know what the person wants you to do. You have an urge to do it but it’s easy enough to resist. The cruciatus hurts a bit. Nothing crazy. I don’t know if it just doesn’t hurt us as much, or if transformations make it seem okay. This went on for a while. You can find the research, I’m sure. She went through almost every spell meant to harm a person, some that I hadn’t heard, some that their side had created. The last spell she used was the killing curse. I guess she never wondered why no one used it on werewolves. As I said, there really wasn’t any research. She must have just assumed the silver was because the curse was banned. Other Order members had found me somehow and she was running out of time. She hit me straight in the chest but couldn’t stay to see whether it killed me. It hurt, I’ll give it that. It hurt like nothing I had ever felt. Knocked me out for two days and took me out of missions for two weeks. But it didn’t kill me,” Remus paused and enjoyed the shocked looks on the faces staring down at him. He felt an odd sort of pride about how difficult he was to kill.

“Bellatrix saw me again. She looked furious that she had failed her mission. I helped arrest her. I have no doubt that if she’d had the time, she would have found a spell to kill me,” he finished.

Dumbledore let everyone sit with the story for a while. To let the reality of the war sink in, Remus guessed. They had heard plenty from the other side, but not many from their own. The stories they had heard were the victories. The arrests of death eaters or how they had been caught. Not what had been endured to get there. Not from someone who lived to tell it.

“How did Sirius react when he’d heard?” Dumbledore asked. Remus laughed properly for the first time in days. He remembered the look on Sirius’ face and the words he had shouted at Dumbledore.

“He went a bit mad. He was sick with worry. No one knew what had knocked me out. I woke up, two days after the curse, to him screaming in your face,” Remus smiled at the memory, “it was the most he ever learnt about my missions. He looked frightening. After that, we talked more than we had in months. He was given the mission, if you could call it that, to make sure I didn’t die. I had to tell him exactly what she had done to me so that he could write the report. Also for my medical care. It took days. I would only be able to stay awake for a few hours the first couple of days. Even then, I was in shock. I could barely speak, let alone about that.” he told them.

“Then what happened?”

“I went back to work, eventually. As I said, I was barely home and we barely spoke. I didn’t sleep at home. I would go to get clothes or whatever I needed and I would leave. We weren’t together except for a shared meal every now and then. Sometimes, I think we had very different wars. He had partners on his missions, I had handlers. I didn’t go to many meetings. I didn’t strategise. I just went where I was told to and did what I had to. I didn’t have much of a say. I was only told what information I could use in a fight. I learnt how to fight a battle, not how to win a war.

“Then, somehow, it came out that there was a spy. I didn’t know enough to be a spy, but I was suspicious enough. I knew what it looked like. I’m a werewolf. They said that it didn’t matter but that changed when Harry was born. They were suspicious of everyone. I didn’t want to put them at risk by being around them. More Death Eaters knew my face than most members. Greyback made sure of that. I spent most of my time with werewolves. While I might have been a good person, they still saw the other werewolves as dark creatures. I knew that they thought I was the spy, I would have too…” he trailed off. There was a lump in Remus’ throat. He understood why they thought he was the spy, he did. It didn’t mean that the betrayal didn’t hurt any less. He was their friend. He believed them when they said that they didn't care that he was a werewolf. They said that they loved him, and he believed them.

“When was the last time you spoke to James and Lily?” Dumbledore asked him gently.

“The Order meeting back in August, just after Harry’s first birthday,” Remus told him.

“What did you talk about?”

“They told me that they were going into hiding and that they thought I should know. They didn’t tell me where and I didn’t ask. I never saw them again,” Remus’ voice cracked. The words hit him. He cried silently, tears rolled down his cheeks freely. Knowing that you would never see someone again and admitting it felt very different. Admitting it made it more true, somehow. Like before, he still had some chance of seeing Lily smile again or hear James say something dumb to make her laugh. But now that he had said it, they were gone for good.

“Lily told me that she was pregnant. James promised that we would talk about everything once it was all over. They said goodbye. I thought that it might have been the last time I would hear them say it. I thought I was going to be the one to die, not them. I never thought that the Potters would die. In all this death they had made life and love and I thought it would be enough to save them,” he said through the tears. He was half-sobbing by that point. He saw several other people, including McGonagall wipe their eyes. They hadn’t known about the baby, he guessed.

“When did you last see Mr. Pettigrew?” Dumbledore asked, gentler than he had said anything all day.

“A week ago. I had to go to headquarters to give a report and I ran into him. He smiled and told me that he was sure that this would all be over soon. He was right, I suppose,” Remus remembered his smile. He looked at Remus, very hopeful. Remus had almost believed him. He wanted to believe him.

“When was the last time you saw Sirius Black?”

“Two days ago. The day before the… murder,” it hurt his throat to saw the word. “We were on a mission together. After it was done, he cornered me and said that he was going to find the spy and end this. He looked manic. He was threatening me. He was paranoid, didn’t trust a soul in the Order other than the people who were already dead.”

“Do you think Sirius was the traitor?”

There it was. The real question. The only part of this that actually mattered. Remus took a minute to breathe. He’d thought about it since he heard the news. He managed to calm down and stop the sobs. He needed to sound sure. He had to convince them.

“I think that Sirius Black was capable of many things. I think that he was capable of betraying the Order. If I was dead right now instead of the Potters, with the evidence we have, I would say that without a doubt, Sirius Black was responsible. But I’m not. James and Lily Potter are. Their son is an orphan. Sirius would have betrayed the Order, however, nothing would make him give up James. He would have let every other person, including himself, die if it meant that the Potters could live.

“Thank you, Mr. Lupin. You are free to go.”

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x-reader-theater · 3 years

Note

Hey hey! Could I ask for a BAU x reader where the reader is a teenager and see's the BAU as family. They would all be really close to the reader, you know. Can I ask for something really cute and wholesome? Oh! Maybe they could have like a' family dinner' at Rossi's 😅

So, my friend and I were talking about this after we watched that one episode with the foster kids wanting to kill their old foster parents and using the kids and how amazing Derek was with that one kid who was given the gun and we kept talking about how amazing of a father he would be, so this is what I'm writing. The reader is like, 13/14 in this as well because I didn't want them to be too old at this point since Derek's still very young. Hope you like! Edited by @mystic-writes

Gif by @captainchilly

"Dad, do we have to? I saw Uncle Dave yesterday! It's my birthday, I want to go bowling with you or something," you say, pouting and crossing your arms as you sit in the passenger's seat of the car. You had finally grown tall and heavy enough to sit there.

"Yes, we have to," your dad, Derek says with an amused look on his face. "I promise you'll like it."

You fold into the seat more and mumble, "I'd better like it. It's my goddamn birthday after all."

"[Y/N]. Language," he says and you roll your eyes.

"Please. You say worse around me. Uncle Spencer told me I could say “fuck” around him," you say with a grin.

"[Y/N]!" Derek shouts though you know he's not really mad. You just laugh.

Derek parks and you all but run out of the car, sprinting into the mansion, throwing open the door, to see your family, the BAU.

You grin and run up to Penelope, launching yourself into her arms, and screaming, "What's up fuckers!"

She screams back, "Why do you have my phone?

"Fuck you, that's why!" you yell back and the two of you laugh.

"Hey, watch your language," Hotch says and you just stick your tongue out at him. You wave at Jack and Henry who are playing with some hot wheels on the carpet. Henry ignores you, but Jack smiles and waves back.

Dave comes up and gives you a hug, before JJ, Spencer, and Emily all grab you one at a time for their own hugs.

You grin for the rest of the night, thinking this is the best birthday ever.

#bau x y/n #bau x you #bau x reader #bau x gender neutral reader #bau #derek morgan and son reader #derek morgan #criminal minds reader insert #criminal minds x y/n #criminal minds x reader #criminal minds #my work #my writing

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alienaiver · 3 years

Text

Half the Battle, pt. 1

Kuroo Tetsurou x gn!reader

find part two here!

warnings: slight angst about childhood/parents fighting/divorce, one (1) bottle of wine is opened, someone is betrayed in Mario Party, NOT beta-read! apologize for any mistakes! (lmk if there’s any warnings i missed!)

wordcount: 5.5k

content: soulmate AU, mild angst, fluff, post-timeskip but slight canon divergence (i haven’t read the manga yet so this is loosely based off of their canon timeskip lives), gender neutral reader, reader is a video editor, reader is bad at eye contact but the details as to why are vague/up for interpretation!

notes: this was made for @gg9183 ‘s wonderful birthday event, a soulmate collab! (go read the other wonderful works!) happy birthday once again, gray!! this was meant to be a 2k one shot but.... plans and inspiration changes sometimes, right? 🥺 so this ended up as a 5k part ONE lmfao i hope thats alright w u!!! part2 will be up asap, i promise!! i hope you enjoy this!!!!

—————————

Not meeting his soulmate was fine, Kuroo often found himself thinking. The odds of finding your soulmate’s way too low to be realistic anyways, he supported the thought. It’s illogical to spend so much time fretting about it, he finally added for good measure.

Soulmates were a natural part of life, always had been. But with the big wide world filled with over seven billion people, meeting yours wasn’t completely unheard of. But given the powers of soulmates even existing, it wasn’t unrealistic to also believe that some kind of fate would pull you towards each other throughout your lives so that you would meet each other. Kuroo however, prided himself in not caring about soulmates. His life was rich enough. People explaining their feelings about “something being missing until they finally meet them” was incomprehensible to him.

Kuroo had lived for 29 years without being able to see color. And you know what? His life was damn well fulfilling enough. He had a beautiful apartment, an economy that flourished, an adorable cat named Cucumber and good people around him. What would he really need a soulmate for? He could ignore his friends comments on how wonderful the world was in color, if only he would just start looking for his soulmate, how much meaning it gave life. Just because the people in his closest circle had all magically met theirs – not to mention how many of them had already met in Goddamn high school, Kuroo scoffed and was always able to move on.

Even though a lot of people actively made eye contact with everyone they met, even people on the street, to make sure they would meet their soulmate, Kuroo kept his eyes down. He wasn’t insecure, come on, he was perfectly happy! He just didn’t need to be late for a meeting because he got eye contact with some stranger, you know?

His life was in perfect balance as is.. Until yesterday, of course. It had turned out there was mold in his apartment complex so they had to evict it for a month while a crew would go through everything to remove it. He didn’t want to go to his mother’s place, that was too far from his work, but he wasn’t in the mood for a hotel, that was way too expensive, so he turned to his best friend of many years with the biggest set of puppy eyes he could muster and the prospect of making every dinner while he lived there.

“Fine… but don’t get in the way,” was all Kenma had to say.

And so Kuroo spent his last weekend in his own apartment packing things down to make it accessible to the cleaning crew. Cucumber hated other cats with a passion so he couldn’t bring him to Kenma’s, where three cats already happily lived, so his mother would pick him up tomorrow afternoon.

He sat on his couch, scrolling his phone mindlessly with Cucumber on his lap who had been stressed with all the packing down, sensing something was up. He was being extra cuddly towards Kuroo who, honestly? Didn’t mind at all. He loved when Cucumber was in mood for cuddles, though it wasn’t very often. He had been told his cat was orange and while he didn’t have a measure for what that color actually looked like, he was happy with his gray cat.

His mother was supposed to arrive any minute now, so he should have gotten up and put the cat in his carrier but it was easier to get him in it if you had two pair of hands. He scrolled through Instagram, reaching a photo put up by Tsukishima of his soulmate, the light-haired manager of their high school volleyball club, with a tooth-eating grin on her face and proudly showing off a ring on her finger, the caption said, This smile makes me wanna brag. Kuroo could physically hear the provocative tone of his voice, knowing he was one of the first in his circle of friends to actually plan a wedding. Kuroo clicked his tongue with a smile on his face and double-tapped to like the picture.

He didn’t know if it was the combination of that post and the fact that his mother was on her way but memories of his parent’s wedding flooded his mind. For a lot of people, weddings felt obsolete in the face of the whole “you already got your soulmate and you know this” thing, so a lot of couples were happy not getting married but just being together. But there was also the benefits of marriage in the practical sense, so some people did anyways, some hosting parties, some not. His parents weren’t married when he came to, but after he turned five they decided to do it so he would be protected by both of them, in case of any emergency.

It had been a small wedding, only the closest family and friends but Kuroo was vivid, so excited about being part of that whole romantic ordeal, even helping his mom find a dress and everything. He had been a huge and important part of the wedding – if he did say so himself. Everyone had been glowing at the day, the food was delicious, there was laughter, song and cheers and everyone had brought so many presents – even some for little Tetsurou, who had been very excited about his new train tracks.

But when Kuroo was seven years old, it wasn’t as romantic anymore. His parents were fighting a lot, he wasn’t entirely sure why or about what because they would never tell him about it, no matter how much he asked. When he tried to listen in, the words he heard didn’t explain anything to him because even though they were yelling at each other, the important words were always whispered, as if they knew Kuroo was listening in.

When he was eight his mom had come into his room, hugged him and with tears in her eyes and said that they were going to move away.

“Where are we going?” he asked simply, no emotion to be read on his little face. He was exhausted from his parents being this way – they were soulmates, right? Why did they fight like that?

“To Tokyo, just you and me, my love.”

That’s when he met Kenma. He had been very closed-off and shy back when they met, he reminisced. He had been a regular kid when he was younger but the way his parents split up – his soulmate parents – had closed him off pretty bad, so it was a miracle he met Kenma and started opening up again.

Kuroo smiled to himself bitterly before scratching Cucumber’s ear. He supposed this was also why he wasn’t interested in his soulmate. So many people had romanticized the whole soulmate ideal so a lot of people forgot that relationships still took work, took effort and just because they were made for each other, didn’t necessarily guarantee that they would stay together. His mom and dad didn’t officially talk anymore, but when he asked his mom as a child whether or not she still saw color, she said that she did. He also found long letters in her bedroom when he was nine, letters from his dad, so he supposed they still talked together, though Kuroo wasn’t let in on it – nor was he particularly interested. And he definitely we wasn’t interested in ending up in a relationship with someone who would end up not wanting to put in the effort for the relationship to flourish.

After Cucumber had been picked up by his mom it was time to leave for Kenma’s place. He carried the last boxes of valuables down to his basement and locked them in before trekking down to the subway with his suitcase and sports bag.

_____

You were late for work, so you scrambled to pack your things. It was Wednesday afternoon and you were supposed to meet in at 3PM, because that was around the time that Kodzuken had planned to finish his recording, he told you yesterday. You were a video editor and had met Kenma through your old part-time job in his favorite convenience store quite a few years back, back when he had first bought his house when he was 24. You remembered talking to him about video games in the store since you also played some, and after a good while of polite customer service and talk about new games, you had started hanging out outside of work as well. When you had then told him you were actually a freelance video editor but just didn’t get many jobs, he had almost instantly hired you to do his YouTube videos for him and general editing and set-ups of his streams. I know video games, not recording equipment, he had told you so many years ago.

Your original thought had been wary, because working for a friend might get messy but Kenma cared a lot about keeping it professional when you were on the clock, which you appreciated very much. In his house, down by his game room, there was a room next door with screens and all the best editing software just for you to play with. Your pay was higher than average for such a “simple” but regular gig but when prompted about it, he simply shrugged and told you it wasn’t up for negotiation and no one was being treated unfair – and who were you to go against such a good pay for a job that you loved doing and wanted to do full-time? With Kenma being a famous streamer and gamer, he often made lots of different videos for various sites so your job hours resembled a nine to five job, easy, even if the hours were off from the more conventional jobs and you usually came in later in the day and sometimes finished off late in the evening – some of his videos had a time limit for a release date of a game, so there was also days where you were extremely busy and scrambling to get the video done right for a release of a game.

As you closed your bag and ran out the door towards the subway, you checked your phone for any updates. If he’d finished early, he would’ve texted you about it, so you put your phone in your pocket and hurried towards his house.

When you arrived you immediately rang the doorbell before catching your breath, you were used to Kenma spending a few minutes before reaching the door and opening it, so when the door opened almost instantly you took a step back before looking up. The one opening the door was taller than Kenma and in a loose dress shirt that was unbuttoned at the top - that’s all you saw before your eyes darted down to your feet.

“...Hi! I’m uh… Where’s Kenma?” was all you got out while fidgeting with your purse strap, it certainly wasn’t his boyfriend Hinata opening the door today.

“Oh, hey! You must be his video editor, right? He told me about you!” The man said, pointing to himself with his thumb,

“I’m Kuroo Tetsurou! Kenma’s childhood friend! Sorry to intrude, I’ll be living here for the next month, I promise not to get in your way!” As he finished his introduction, he moved aside so that you could enter. As you took off your shoes you heard Kenma’s feet shuffling towards you, “oh hey, welcome, you’re early,” Kenma said with his usual deadpan expression but you could clearly hear the teasing in his voice.

“At least I’m here now, right?” You smiled back, instantly relaxing at the sight of your boss and friend. You turned to Kuroo again, bowed and introduced yourself before taking off your coat and putting it on a hanger, while Kenma and the guy named Kuroo seemed to bicker a bit about whether or not Kuroo should answer the door while he lived there.

“I’ll go set it up, have you transferred the video files to the hard disk?” you asked Kenma as you moved towards ‘your’ office, sending Kuroo a polite smile while keeping your eyes on his neck.

Eye contact was hard for you, it always made you extremely uncomfortable and you didn’t really have any before you felt comfortable with the person. Your mother had often scolded you, saying you’d never find your soulmate at this rate, which you always acknowledged with a hum or a simple yes without starting a discussion.

You honestly weren’t sure whether or not you cared for a soulmate. Your biggest argument to wanting to find one was so that you could see colors, because it’d help your career. Kenma already had his soulmate, so he was the one deciding the color scheme for his videos and helped with the color-related editing, which worked fine as of now, but you would probably appreciate to be able to do it yourself. You had also spent some years coming to terms with your struggles with eye contact and accept that this was just how you functioned. If you missed your soulmate in a random supermarket thanks to it one day, well, you’d be none the wiser, so you felt sure you’d survive without one, but you also couldn’t deny that the sound of a soulmate sounded really nice and comforting. That someone out there existed to fit you, that you were born to love someone who was also meant to love you. You were sure that finding your soulmate wasn’t a dance on roses, it was sure to still be hard, frustrating and maybe even painful sometimes, but you also couldn’t just have all the good, there was a balance that was sure to exist within soulmates as well.

After hours of going through the raw footage from his video game play and slowly editing while watching it, you popped your shoulders and stretched your arms for a moment, yawning as you did so. Your hours were always a bit intense, but that couldn’t be helped when you had six hours of raw footage to work with. Looking at the clock you saw that it was 5.30PM which meant that soon Kenma would wake up from his pseudo-sleep (which was more like a nap in your opinion) to look at your process and ask what you wanted for dinner.

Soon after a soft knock was heard followed by the door opening slowly, Kenma standing in sweats and a hoodie with bags under his eyes, “do you like hotpot?” he asked, and you smiled at him, “sure, are you cooking tonight?” he yawned while he shook his head, “Kuroo is. He insists on a ‘fulfilling meal’, whatever that means.”

You giggled before beckoning Kenma in to see some of what you’ve done so far and making minor adjustments along the way. “Now, something smells delicious and I’m thirsty,” you stated after the two of you had talked a bit about the rest of the video’s plans. As you went towards the kitchen you could hear the sound of of a nameless tune being hummed, pans sizzling from something being cooked and kitchen utensils being used.

Inside, the table was already set with plates and prepared ingredients lying ready for the pot that Kuroo was just about to put on the table. It seemed he had made an endless supply of different side dishes and really put in a lot of work for it, so you looked really forward to eating it and it smelled delicious. You grabbed a glass from the set table and went to the sink to get some water and just as your hand reached it, Kuroo had extended his hand as well to the sink and you accidentally touched.

You both recoiled as if you had been burned and you couldn’t stop the gasp that accidentally left your lips. A feeling was rushing through your body you hadn’t experienced before and you immediately apologized to Kuroo and went back to the table, foregoing the water. You didn’t notice how Kuroo was frozen in place from when he touched you before Kenma called out to him and he immediately started moving again.

You ended up eating shortly after, Kuroo serving the food and talking animatedly about him and Kenma’s childhood, making you laugh quite a bit at their (or more, Kuroo’s) antics and their volleyball days. Kuroo was the type of person to make you relax in his presence and have fun which you didn’t even notice until you got home later that evening and really thought about what a great time you had had. You found yourself surprised by how easily you clicked with Kuroo, a total stranger. It must be his charm, you thought to yourself before going through your night routine. You had to come back tomorrow and finish work, after all. You estimated the video would take you a few more days to finish but that would end up fitting well with the weekend coming, so as you went to bed you felt yourself more relaxed than you had in a while.

_____

“What are they like?”

It was Friday and it seemed you had finished Kenma’s video and therefor you weren’t here for dinner – for the first time in a few days, which did let down Kuroo just a tiny bit. He had talked a lot with you during dinner preparations when you came out from the office and during dinner as well and while you did answer all his questions (which, he admitted, there were quite a few of them) and follow up with your own for him, it still felt… off… talking to you – and Kuroo didn’t like not knowing why. “What do you mean?” Kenma asked, taking another bite into his mouth.

Kenma swallowed a piece of meat before looking up at Kuroo who was stabbing his plate with his fork in what seemed like a useless purpose. He knew he was being a little weird but meeting you was weird, even though he had no reason to explain why.

“I mean, is this how they usually act?” He didn’t even know what that question meant or why he was even asking it, nothing made sense! But he had a desperate feeling that he needed to get to know you – he was afraid of what that implied and what suspicions he needed to hold onto, but he was sure it was his gut telling him you were dangerous for Kenma to be around – that had to be it! Kenma was his best friend, his childhood friend, it had to be a gut feeling meant to protect him!

“Who knows, they’re being more polite than usual, I think. But that makes sense,” Kenma replied calmly before adding, “I mean you are a stranger who’s really intent on being social with them over our dinners, they were a bit shy as well when I met them,”

Kuroo nodded and finally took a bite of his own food. He didn’t notice Kenma’s raised eyebrows or the questioning look that was sent his way, so Kenma decided to let the subject rest.

Not seeing you today felt weird to him too and he couldn’t help the irritation building up inside him – you had just met a few days ago and only in the evenings when he was done with work and ready to make dinner – and yet, the thought of you kept invading his mind. He had gotten through work today thinking you were going to be there for dinner so when he came home and found out you wouldn’t be there, the first seed of irritation had been planted – why was he suddenly looking so much forward to seeing you? Had it been like this yesterday too? Why was it suddenly important that you weren’t there? He ended up sitting in front of the laptop in the guest room for the rest of the evening, the document left open and completely untouched.

Kuroo, however, didn’t let the subject rest in his head for the rest of that evening. Hinata was in town, having time off after a big game yesterday so Kuroo was left to his own devices – which really wasn’t a problem considering he had to make the paperwork for a promotional deal for a meeting Monday morning that he had procrastinated making – which wasn’t like him at all, he usually never pushed assignments to last minute and he then realized the reason he wasn’t done yet was because he had spent so much time over the dinner table with Kenma and you, talking even after dinner had been done for a while. You always offered to help him with the clean-up so you also spent some time talking there, drifting off to various subjects far passing the cleaning duties and sitting down again with a glass of water.

He enjoyed your company, it felt... easy, somehow, the sensation that something was off was there but it didn’t really settle in his stomach until every time after you left, as if it was left to grow a bit from a small sensation to a problem, which worried him – Kuroo prided himself as an impeccable people-reader, he was captain for both the volleyball team in high school and college, he knew how to act around business relations so well because he could read them so flawlessly – so the feelings he got from you was unsettling and unreadable and it took some control away from him – and Kuroo always felt uneasy when he wasn’t in control.

____

Kuroo heard your name and almost got whiplash from how fast his head moved towards Kenma, “what?”

“I asked if we should invite them? To game night? Being three is a little annoying in Mario Party.”

“Oooh, that’s a good idea! I’d love to see them again!” Hinata happily exclaimed before taking another bite of the lasagna Kuroo had prepared tonight. It was Saturday and Kuroo had been in a daze the entire day, first at the office for a quick meeting with his boss about a potential partner he might be able to reel in soon and then doing his laundry at Kenma’s and continuing to try and make the stupid paperwork but ultimately failing before he had to make dinner.

“Isn’t it a bit late to invite someone? I mean, they could have plans already...” Kuroo tried, knowing what a pain it could be to be asked to something an hour before it happened and he didn’t want to let you go through that – that’s what he tried to tell himself, at least. In truth? He was a bit afraid of seeing you again, afraid of his potential reactions, since he had spent his entire Friday in a stupor just thinking about you. His thoughts didn’t mean much for Kenma and Hinata though, who was already texting you to ask. “Oi, no phones at the table, have you parents taught you no manners?” Kuroo chided and Hinata immediately shrank back and apologized – Kuroo smirked, yea the Chibi-chan still had respect for his seniors. But he was quickly pulled back to thoughts about you by Kenma’s phone lighting up again, “they’ll be here in an hour. They’re asking if they should bring anything?” Kenma looked up to gauge Kuroo’s reaction, having noticed something about his friend had been off the past few days. He immediately made a funny grimace before turning it into a smile. “Yea, they can bring a bottle of white wine, if I have to beat you all at Mario Party, I would very much like to be a tiny bit buzzed,” Kuroo said, and Hinata looked at him with wide eyes, “you drink wine!? So grown up!” Hinata exclaimed, to which Kenma just muttered, “or just an old man…” Kuroo didn’t hear that though, too busy to fidget with his hands under the table, suddenly feeling nervous that you were showing up.

Hinata plopped down between Kuroo and you with a controller in hand, “I’m gonna beat you all in this Mario Kart!” to which you laughed loudly, “good luck since we’re playing Mario Party.”

“Huh? Is there a difference?” Hinata asked, making Kuroo belt out a loud laugh as well, holding his stomach, “you just told us you’d beat us but you don’t even know what we’re playing!” Kuroo couldn’t contain his laughter for a bit until he noticed how you were looking at him and instantly retracted his laugh, sitting up straight with a cough, and apologizing for being loud, which confused him to no end. He had never been self-conscious of his own laugh! He knew it could be obnoxious and loud, but he also liked it himself, and-

“That’s a really cute laugh.”

The comment earned you the stares of the century from the three other people in the room, with Kenma in genuine shock – he wouldn’t say he disliked Kuroo’s laugh, just that it was… special.

“Uhm… Uh. Thank you?” Kuroo could feel that his blush went all the way to his ears but he hoped that the light in the living room wasn’t bright enough to catch it. “Yeah uh! Sure! Mhm,” you awkwardly coughed a bit as well before reaching for your glass of wine.

You had brought a bottle of white wine for Kuroo on the promise that you’d get a glass too, saying he was your first friend who also liked wine. The word ‘friend’ had dumb-founded him and he’d just answered “you can have it all,” to which you had laughed and said it’s fine with half, you weirdo.

The game was about to begin but Kuroo was still sitting stuck on the fact that his laugh was cute – cute? Had anyone else found it cute before besides Bokuto and his mom? He wasn’t sure – he sure couldn’t pinpoint them right now anyways. He tried to shake it off and focus on the game, though quite a bit of time was spent explaining the rules to Hinata who apparently had thought they were just playing Mario Kart.

When you were 12 laps into it, it seemed that you were set to win with your four stars and 121 coins. Kenma was right behind you with three stars and Hinata and Kuroo had been left in the dust with zero stars. You had stolen Kuroo’s first (and only) star early in the game, so he was plotting his vengeance in quiet but was getting afraid that the game would end before he could do anything to you – but just as his hopes were at the smallest during the last round of the game, you were put in the same team as him in the last mini game.

Kuroo had a wide smirk when you cheered and said, “this’ll be easy then!” because no, it would not be easy for you. If he had to go down in order to take you down a notch, then so be it. He’d rather Kenma win than you did with stolen goods!

The last mini game was “Tow the Line” where two players were put in a sewing box shaped with nine dots as a grid and two players tied together with a string and the objective was to make the shape with the string as shown in the middle of screen. As soon as the whistle sounded, Kuroo lowered his hands and stopped using his controllers, all with a big grin on his lips.

“Kuroo, what the fuck! Get moving, we’ve started!” you yelled at him as Kenma and Hinata won the first round, signaling the next round began, Kuroo started whistling and looking away from the screen, to which you got up from your seat, “fine, I’ll just take your controller and do it myself!”

Kuroo put his arm with the controller behind him, “nah-ah-ah! You’re not winning this, fiend! That’s what you get for stealing my star!” He grinned up at you with his eyes closed as you stood with your hands on your hips, “come on man! I stole that star in the fourth round! Kenma stole a star from me as well!” you tried, “maybe he stole the one that was yours, who knows! Get over it so we can win!”

But as soon as you’d said that, the third round had just been won and you sighed and flopped down on your seat again, “not cool Kuroo, not cool. I’ll remember this!”

You both laughed as the game made ready to announce the winner, Kenma and Hinata entertained by your antics.

“You can’t avenge something that I avenged in the first place! I only did it because you did me wrong, you know!”

“You can’t use logic on me, it doesn’t apply!”

To no surprise, you won the entire game, even winning one of the two bonus stars given at the end of the game.

After the last sequence and a bow from you there was a quick break before you decided to play some Mario Kart for Hinata’s sake, since his argument was that he lost due it being Party instead. You played quite a few hours and after another toilet break you had switched places with Hinata so Kenma could cuddle up against him. You yawned, drinking the last of the wine in your glass and said, “I should head home, I have a friend coming over for lunch tomorrow.”

Hinata and Kenma both started to get up to say goodnight but you waved at them with a smile, “I can walk out myself, it’s fine!” But Kuroo had already gotten up from the couch as well, so you walked with him towards the hallway where you put on your shoes. There was a comfortable silence between the two of you, which Kuroo noted and scowled a bit - he might have only known you for less than a week but for some reason he felt like it had been a lot longer, like you were old friends – it felt strange, to be so close with a stranger. He didn’t know anything about you, really. He knew your name, your job and how you liked some of your vegetables and which meat was your favorite, he knew you also loved cats but didn’t have one (he couldn’t remember if he knew why) and he felt pretty sure he would recognize you in a crowded area – why it was so intense, he was unsure of, he hadn’t tried meeting someone this way before. It had also seemed like having this game night had made you considerably more relaxed in his presence, even joking around with him instead of being polite, which made Kuroo somewhat giddy, though it didn’t really make sense to him as to why.

“I hope you had fun,” Kuroo said awkwardly, as if he had been the host and scratched the back of his head.

“Yeah, I did! I’m sorry I stole your star, though,” you laughed, buttoning your jacket.

“Nah, no worries, as they say, all’s fair in love and war, right?”

You giggled and picked up your bag from the dresser while Kuroo opened up the door for you. As you exited, you turned around with a bright smile, “well, thanks for toni-”

Everything ended up a blur, too bright, too much, too noisy, too… colorful? Kuroo was still looking into your eyes as all that went through him, completely blindsided. As he took a proper look, he could see that you looked just as surprised as him, your eyes wide but still never leaving his either.

“Is… Is this? Are you? Is…” You asked after what felt like both days and milliseconds, I could stare at them so much longer, he thought to himself, the colors only making your face more clear to him. Had you really not had eye contact at all? Had you seen each other for several hours – more than a few times, without looking each other in the eyes at all? Kuroo was more baffled by this happening so late than the fact that it was happening.

He was about to say something, anything, when you promptly turned around, nervously yelling, “I-I uh, I gotta go! Goodbye!” as you hurried out of the driveway and down towards the subway.

“W-wait!” Kuroo belatedly and unhelpfully yelled out as you turned a corner, too late. You were gone. A hand was dragged down his face as a sigh left him, what the fuck had just happened? He obviously needed to talk to you about this, but he also needed to gather his thoughts about all of this, so he slowly closed the door and went back towards the living room, greeted by Hinata and Kenma who looked up at him curiously, “why did you yell?” Hinata asked with his head tilted.

“I think I just found my soulmate.”

#haikyuu!!#kuroo tetsurou x you #kuroo tetsurou x reader #hq x reader #waaaaah im so nervous about this!!!! i basically cranked it out in less than 24hrs ngl.... i had 1.5k of beautiful words before i came u #P WITH A WHOLE OTHER PLOT!!!! :-)#if any of u get the ref of the title i love u and we need to play mp together lmao <33333 #also kenhina and tsukiyachi is mentioned!#both reader and kuroo r A MESS #stay tuned for part 2!!!!!!#nohr.writing #half the battle series #im gonna dig a hole real quick to hide in hehehe #honestly im not sure this is entirely coherent i had so much.... i wanted to force into it im afraid some of it feels out of place but!!!#here we go!! face the fear lmao!!!!

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lubdubsworld · 3 years

Text

City Lights . ( Namjoon x OC)

Pairing : OC x Kim Namjoon.

Genre : Angst. Romance.

Rating 18 +

Word Count : 2900

Warnings : Mature Themes , Explicit Sexual Content . Slow burn. Like slower than a snail.

Summary :

Widowed and destitute, Son Yang Mi leaves the comfort of her small , secluded fishing village and travels to the intimidating city of Seoul with her young son. She has a plan, one that involves finding a job, getting her son into a good school and building a life for herself.

Now, three years later she has a job , working as a live in house keeper for the Kim family, specifically for the son, Kim Namjoon, a famous rapper and producer.

Its a job that puts a roof over her head and she’ll do anything to keep it.

But fate has other plans.

Chapter 1 ~

Akogare (ah-koh-ga-reh)Often translated directly as a sort of frustrated “yearning”, “desire”, or “longing” .

Seoul in summer was a sight to behold. I blinked back against the bright sunlight, staring out into the stunning skyline of the city as the sun rose over it , and although it was just a little past seven in the morning, the air was warm and invigorating. The mid July sun shone down with no mercy, and there was no trace of the rain that had lashed city just the previous night.

It had been three whole years but the relief that came from breathing fresh air, untainted by the damp musk of fishing trowels and sweaty men, was still unrivalled.

I shook off the feather duster in my hand, moving to carefully clean the wicker woven chairs on the artificial lawn in the balcony. Dusting the entire condo down was a mind numbing exercise in patience, so i tried to get it out of the way, early in the morning when my son was still asleep.

At six years old, Junsu was a bright , happy child. Summer vacation meant days sleeping in and evenings spent frolicking with the other kids in the building and he was content with being alone in our small shared room, reading or playing with his toys while I went about the day’s work.

I glanced at the clock, grimacing.

It was almost eight . And although Mr. Kim wasn’t due back home for another twelve hours, I felt a little jittery and nervous.

Kim Namjoon , renowned rapper, producer, writer , poet and what not. The apartment was his but he was usually on tour, traveling all over the world to promote his book and to perform in sold out stadiums. For an A list celebrity, he was surprisingly humble.

For the past three years, him and his model fiancée Lee Mina had spent a total of maybe seven months in the condo. They were a sweet couple, or so I’d always thought , a bit formal with each other but clearly in love . Mr. Kim was a kind, soft spoken young man and I’d never heard him raise his voice unless he was in the company of his very dear friends.

Just a little over a week ago , both of them had left Korea for the States , the tabloids screaming about a luxurious destination wedding in the Caribbean and I had been asked to take a few weeks off . The newly weds wouldn’t be back for quite a while and they would let me know when I had to come back to the condo.

I’d been toying with the idea of visiting my in laws in Gwangyog, maybe even dropping by to see some old friends there but yesterday , Mr. Kim’s mother had given me a call letting me know her son was coming home.

[

The conversation went something like this :

Yang Mi, I hope you haven’t left yet?

No, Ma'am, I haven’t.

Joon-ah is going to be back tomorrow.

Oh, is Ms Lee arriving as well?

No, Just him He’s going to be alone.

Yes, Ma'am.

Please don’t mention anything about Mina or the wedding.

No ma'am of course not.

I’ll drop by later . Cook him something warm and filling. And make sure the house is cleaned well.

Yes, Ma’ am.

]

And that was that.

~~~~~~

It took the better part of the day to finish cleaning and setting up the house . I washed the window slats, changed the sheets, arranged the books that had been left scattered all over his bedroom. The walk-in closet was littered with a bunch of his clothes and I made sure his gym bag was stocked with fresh towels, spare clothes and his favorite head and wrist bands.

For someone so careful and calculated, he was really quite a messy man.

i did his laundry, making sure he had ample clothes at least for another two weeks, creasing the handkerchiefs and carefully removing lint from his jackets.

I also carefully sorted out the feminine clothing from the laundry and from the cupboard, folding them neatly and placing them in the lowest shelf of the closet, where he wouldn’t find them. It wasn’t hard, hiding traces of his fiancee from the condo, because it had never really been her home. other than a few spare pieces of underwear and a couple of t shirts and skirts, there weren’t many articles of clothing belonging to Ms. Lee.

But I still got rid of the bobby pins and hair ties, the spare lip gloss and mascara.

Junsu spent the entire day in our room, reading and drawing, only venturing out every few hours to grab a snack. I left him with his drawing tab ( a gift from Mr. Kim for his 5th birthday ) and his favorite book, asking the security guard at the end of the hallway to keep an eye on the door, while i went out to buy groceries.

Lots of meat, no sea food, healthy snacks and high protein fiber bars. I stocked up on sauces and bought a fresh batch of eggs, oranges and grapes . Mrs. Kim had sent a large amount of kimchi a few weeks ago and that was still in the pantry.

i stopped for a second, staring around at the almost deserted store. Most of the other housekeepers shopped at the bigger, more exclusive store on the other side of the residential complex. But Mr. Kim had a very selective palette, which meant that I had to be very particular about the brands i bought.

When i came back home at around six, Junsu was on the floor in the living space and i felt my heart jump in panic.

“Baby!! I’ve told you not to come out here when I’m not home!” I protested bleakly and he pouted.

“I need to show you my gift for Mr. Kim!!” He said softly. I smiled moving to put away the groceries and glancing at the clock. It was a little past six. I had to call Yungyu.

“Did you draw him something ? “ I asked curiously, checking to see if the beer shelf was stocked. probably should have done that before going out for the groceries, I thought regretfully.

“Yeah! Look!!” Junsu held his tab out and my heart dropped.

For a six year old, Junsu drew very well. And there was really no mistaking the very obvious wedding scene on the screen.

Oh, Good God.

“ That looks amazing honey.” I said gently. “ But, I heard that Ms Lee isn’t coming over this time..”

Junsu frowned.

“Why?”

“Well, I’m not sure. But remember how we spoke about saying the right things? When something upsets someone, we do not bring it up.” I reminded him gently. My son hesitated but nodded.

“Okay. I’m sorry. “ He said softly.

“No baby, its not your fault. It’s just that we want Mr. Kim to be happy right? We don’t wanna upset him...”

He smiled at that.

“When he’s happy, his dimples come out.” He said with a giggle. I laughed.

“yes they do... So let’s try and get those dimples out as often as we can alright? Why don’t you show him that picture you drew of yeontan the other day? He’ll really like that....”

“Okay...but i need to go color it!” Junsu yelled, already running back into our room. I watched him go before reaching for the phone and dialing, Yungyu, the chauffeur.

“Are you on the way here? ” i said briskly.

“Just starting from home...” Yungyu muttered, “ I’m supposed to be on vacation now! Why is he coming back so soon?”

“Just hurry up !! We can’t keep him waiting!!” I said sharply, before hanging up.

I made a quick check of all the rooms, filling up water bottles for his gym routine in the morning and stashing them in the fridge before moving to get dinner started.

i set the water on boil for the stew, before moving to peel cucumbers for the salad. I chopped the cucumber , along with some fresh cherry tomatoes . I watched the water boil, thinly slicing an onion and adding it to the bowl as well. The dressing was pretty simple, soy sauce, rice vinegar, honey and sesame oil . I sprinkled some sesame seeds on the bowl, used the salad tongs to give the whole thing a nice toss and set it aside.

I braised the chicken first , peeling and chopping potatoes and carrots to add to the stew . In a few minutes, the rich smell of lightly spiced chicken and garlic and perilla leaves began filling the kitchen and I turned on the rice cooker as well.

The door bell rang at six forty and i opened the door to reveal Yungyu.

I grabbed the keys to the Palisade, handing them over to him.

“Did you hear?” He whispered urgently.

I frowned.

“What?”

“They say Mr. Kim called off the wedding!” He whispered, wide eyed.

I glared at him.

“Who told you that?” i demanded...

“Seojoon from the gate said-”

“Why don’t you ask Seojoon from the gate to mind his own damn business?” I snapped.

Yungyu looked suitably chastised. i felt a little bad. Yungyu was still young and curiosity was hardly a sin.

“His flight lands at eight exactly. Hurry okay?” I said with a smile, ruffling his hair.

He brightened, peering over my shoulder into the house.

“Where’s the little one?” He asked curiously.

“ Painting something for Mr. Kim... Go ahead, hurry up.” I shooed him away, locking the door behind him. I fixed a plate of food for Junsu and sent him to eat, before moving to check on the stew. +

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~`

By the time eight thirty rolled around I had the table set and ready. I washed my face quickly in the small bath attached to our room , making sure I was dressed well. Junsu wasn’t allowed in the main house unless Mr. Kim specifically asked for him and my son usually stayed in.

Junsu and I stayed in a bedroom , not large by any means but big enough for a queen sized bed, a table and chair for Junsu and small dresser where I kept a comb and a tube of night cream. I stared at my face, licking my lips as I smoothed my hair out.

I glanced at the bed.

Junsu was asleep , having dozed off while coloring his picture and I carefully extracted the tab from under his fingers, moving him around to lay on the soft pillows. I tucked him in gently, brushing the hair off his face.

“In peace , I will lie down to sleep, for You alone will let me rest in safety.” I whispered gently against his forehead, kissing the soft skin. I felt my lips wobble , a debilitating wave of affection flooding me as the sweet scent of my baby, filled my senses.

I would die for you, I thought fiercely, kissing him again.

The sound of the front door opening made me jump.

Swearing, i smoothed the fabric of my skirt, running to the kitchen.

“Thank you for picking me up Yungyu, I’m sorry you had to cut short on your vacation.” Mr. Kim’s deep voice filled the hallway and I quickly grabbed a glass, filling it with water and placing it on the dinner tray.

“Not a problem, Sir. “ Yungyu’s cheerful voice responded.

“How are you going home?” Mr. Kim asked.

“I’ll take the bus.”

A pause and then,

“Here’s some cash. Get a cab.”

I could hear the relief in Yungyu’s voice as he let out a , “ Thank you sir.”

I fixed his plate carefully, the bowl of rice, the bowl of chicken stew, and the salad neatly arranged next to the napkin and the chopsticks. I heard him move across the condo, the sound of his suitcases as he wrestled them towards his bedroom and I frowned. Yungyu should’ve have brought those in for him.

I finished reheating all of the food and carefully carried the dinner tray to the bedroom.

Mr. Kim’s bedroom was right at the end of the hallway and the door was open. The full length mirror on the opposite wall showed him sitting on the small couch in his room, legs spread and elbows resting on his knees as he ran his fingers through his hair.

I raised my hand, ready to knock on the wood.

“Fuck!” He shouted, kicking out at the coffee table with enough force to send the furniture skidding half way across the room.

I froze in the hallways stunned.

“You’re such a fucking fool , Namjoon !!” He muttered angrily and I swallowed, turning on my heel and quickly walking back to the kitchen.

Maybe I ought to wait till he asked for dinner.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

He didn’t ask for dinner.

I stayed sitting on the floor of the kitchen, waiting and lightly dozing as I heard him talk to his parents on the phone. I heard him open the liquor cabinet in his room, the sound of ice sloshing against glass, the sound of whiskey being poured carefully and i sighed.

I had to get to bed. It was already a little past eleven.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Sometime in the night, I woke up sweating....

Wondering what woke me up, I blinked groggily, glancing at Junsu. He was still sound asleep.

Sighing, I climbed out of the bed, carefully making my way to Mr. Kim’s room, peering in carefully.

He was asleep on the sofa.

I stared at the way his long legs stretched over the armrest, his lean hips twisted to accommodate his broad shoulders on the couch and I winced. He was definitely going to regret that in the morning.

I stared at the half empty bottle of whiskey on the table and sighed, moving to take off his shoes carefully. He didn’t stir.

I grabbed a pillow from the bed, carefully lifting his head and slipping it under. I placed a comforter over his shoulders, pulling it down to cover his legs.

Force of habit almost made me brush his hair off his forehead but I stopped myself.

The clock on the wall read three fifty am. God, I was going to feel terrible tomorrow. I carefully tip toed out, shutting the door behind me

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I picked the comforter from the floor, carefully folding it and placing it on the bed, before grabbing the empty bottle of whiskey and glass . i could hear the shower running. The curtains were still drawn in and I tugged on the strings to get them to open. Sunlight spilled in through the floor length windows. The bed wasn’t slept in, so I opened the closet to grab a couple of towels, laying them on the bed for him.

The bathroom door opened and i quickly straightened, wanting to race out of the room but it was too late. Thankfully he was dressed, a pair of loose sweats and a loose t shirt . He was running a towel through his hair and his face brightened at the sight of me.

“Yang Mi! You’re here....” He said cheerfully.

“Good morning sir.” I said softly, offering him a small smile.

He smiled brightly, hair damp and dimples deep. The white t shirt he had on was almost fully soaked through and he shook his head, sending stray water droplets all over the place, a few landing on my cheeks.

“I didn’t see you last night...” He said casually, moving to drop the wet towel in the hamper, grabbing one of the fresh ones I’d laid on the bed.

“I thought you would like your privacy sir, you looked exhausted.”

He smiled.

“ Thank you for the blanket and the pillow by the way. And the shoes.”

I bowed quickly.

“I’ll get your breakfast done, sir.” I bowed again before quickly getting out.

I moved to the kitchen grabbing the oranges I’d got the previous day . Mr. Kim wasn’t fond of traditional korean dishes in the morning. He preferred freshly squeezed juice and toast, sometimes with an omelet perhaps.

I fixed his breakfast quickly, setting it all in the tray . He was still moving around in the bedroom and I heard him drag his worktable to the windows, which meant he was going to stay in the bedroom.

Pouring his coffee into a cup, I carefully picked up the breakfast tray , moving to his room slowly.

I used my foot to knock on the door.

After a pause of a few seconds,

“Come in Yang Mi!”

I carefully moved to the small table in front of the couch, placing the tray right in front of him. The scent of his body wash, green apple and strawberries, hit me hard.

“Where’s Junsu?” He asked casually.

“Still asleep sir. It’s Summer so school’s out.” I smiled, grabbing his phone from the table to make space for his tray.

The phone buzzed just as I was about to place it back down and I blinked.

Mina calling.......

I swallowed, not sure what to do, placing the phone down quickly.

“Uh..you have ...” I waved vaguely at the device before bowing again and moving back.

“close the door on your way out, Yang Mi...” He said gently and I quickly obeyed.

I moved to the kitchen to grab a cup of coffee for myself. I stayed leaning over the counter and even through the locked door, I could hear him .

“Just don’t call me Mina...i don’t want to talk about this!!!”

I swallowed, glancing out of the window again. It was a bright, clear morning.

A second later, the door to his bedroom slammed open and he stormed out. I watched him from my spot in the kitchen, his fists clenched as he rushed out to the front door.

The door shut behind him and I exhaled.

Once I as done with my coffee, I moved to his room to clear the breakfast tray. His phone was still on the table.

It began ringing again just as I left the room.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"Mrs. Kim.” i said respectfully, bowing . She gave me a short smile.

“Where’s Namjoon? I’ve been calling him for the past hour.” She pushed past me into the house and I bit my lips.

“He went out about an hour ago. He left his phone behind.” I explained.

She stopped, sighing.

“Fine, I’ll wait for him. “ She moved to sit on the couch, glancing around the room.

“Should I get you something ma'am?” I asked softly and she smiled.

“Get me a glass of lemonade, Yangmi.” She said brusquely and i nodded, running to the kitchen.

“Did Mina come over?” She called out as I got the lemons out of the cooler.

“No ma'am.” i replied.

“Did she call?”

I remembered the phone ringing, how upset it had made Namjoon, how he had stormed out.

“I don’t know ma'am!” I said softly.

She nodded.

“Okay. You can leave.” She said quietly. i bowed and went back into the kitchen.

I peered out of the window as I fixed her a glass , and my eyes fell on a familiar figure, coming back in through the front gate. Even from this distance there was no mistaking the long legs and messy blonde hair.

I bit my lips, mind racing.

Mrs Kim and her son had a volatile relationship, to say the least.

And something told me that Mr. Kim was probably not in the right frame of mind to argue with his mother, now. The man was upset but apparently, neither his mother nor his ex fiancée understood that. instead of giving him space they were hounding him.

I hesitated for a second before making a quick decision.

I grabbed the tray with her lemonade and moved to her quickly.

“Thank you.” She said sharply. “ Turn on the Air Conditioner for me, will you?”

I fumbled with the remote, grabbing his phone from the table , turning it on before moving to the front door and rushing out.

I almost ran into him as he came out of the elevator , and i jerked back stumbling a bit to stop myself from crashing into his chest. He let out a , ‘ Whoa, “ his hands reaching out to grip my elbows.

“Careful. What’s wrong?” He asked gently and I swallowed.

“Your mother’s here.” I said quickly, “ Sir.”

“Oh, fuck.” He groaned. I swallowed.

“You can leave.” I blurted out. “It’s Tuesday. She has her charity work meeting at ten. Its almost nine. She won’t stay long....”

His eyes met mine, lips parting in surprise.

“I really can’t meet her now.” He said apologetically.

I nodded.

“Of course, I understand , sir. Just be back in an hour , she’ll be go-”

The elevator buzzed , the doors nearly closing over my shoulders and I flinched. He swore and stuck his arm out to keep it open.

I stared at him before holding his phone out.

“Here you go sir. “

He chuckled taking it from me and shaking his head.

“i feel like a kid, sneaking away from my mom.” His eyes reached mine, twinkling, “ Who would’ve thought the quiet, timid Yang Mi would be my partner in crime. “

I didn’t reply, just smiled.

And then he hesitated. “ Is Junsu awake?”

I blinked.

“Uh...yes sir,...he’s playing in the park downstairs with the other kids.”

“Great... Would you mind if i take him out for ice cream?”

I stared at him.

“Oh..uh...of course not. Sure.. I mean.. he’ll love that... Sir. Thank you.. You don’t have to -”

“Consider it thank you for helping me with my mother.” He smiled again and i found myself staring at his dimples again. i swallowed.

“in that case, he loves butter scotch.” I smiled.

The dimples appeared and i bit my lips.

“Thank you Yang Mi.” He said slowly.

“Yes, Sir.”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Author’s Note : Finally a hyungline fic !!! ugh... I’ve been wanting to write a Namjoon fic for ages and I really hope you guys will like this one :’( Feedback is much appreciated.

#namjoon smut #namjoon au #namjoon hot #namjoon fics #namjoon x reader #namjoon fic #bts smut #bts fanfics #bts au #bts fics #houseofddaeng

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heyheyloki · 4 years

Text

First Year Feels

Summary: Tsukishima can’t help but notice his attraction to Ushijima’s younger brother.

Tsukishima x M!Reader

Requested? Yes.

Word Count: 3251

“Huh?” You muttered, the book you were reading coming onto your chest as you made eye-contact with your older brother. “You want me to come to the training camp? Why?”

Your brother remained quiet for a moment. “The others want you there.”

“Others?” You cocked a brow up. “You mean Tendo?”

“Yeah.” Wakatoshi bluntly put. “But I thought you could help too.”

“Help?” You questioned. “How so?”

“Bring the team’s spirits up.” He replied, the words making a soft smile stretch across your lips.

“Sure thing.” You hummed as you went back to your book. “I might be a bit late though.”

You were luck that you said that yesterday because you were, indeed, late to show up when your brother told you too. It wasn’t your fault that your body required a few more hours of sleep.

Unlike your older brother by only a year, you didn’t play volleyball. You liked the sport, you loved it. You just had no intention to play it like Wakatoshi. Since you went to the same school as your brother thanks to passing the entrance exam, you helped out his team whenever you could. At first, they all thought your brother and you were close friends so it came as a shock to them all when they found out you two were related. Sure, you shared the same surname, but you looked quite different.

You were a bit shorter than your brother, maybe by a few inched. You didn’t really know, you haven’t checked in a while. You also had a completely different personality from him. It was like he was a calm, stoic and cool guy while you were a complete snotty brat at times. Perhaps it was cause you were the younger one, hence the youngest in the family, but you didn’t think to hard on it. It helped you get along with a lot of amazing people, especially on your brother’s team, so you didn’t complain much. Though, a lot of people found the difference slightly disturbing at times.

You let out a few deep breaths to catch your breath before sliding open to door to the gym, all eyes immediately locking onto you as you entered with a plain white tee under a Shiratorizawa jersey. Even though you weren’t part of the team, the guys on your brother’s team got you one for your birthday last year to wear at times like these.

“Ah, [Name]’s here.” Wakatoshi muttered to himself, watching as Tendo ran up to you with wide arms.

“[Name]!” He shouted before embracing his favorite Ushijima brother. “Did you come to cheer lil ol’ me on? Well, did ya?”

You let out a soft chuckle as your rolled your eyes. You patted your hand on Tendo’s back to tell him to let you go already as you sarcastically stated, “Yes, Tendo, you and only you.”

“Would it kill ya to make it sound genuine?” Tendo whined as he removed himself from you, but kept an arm around your shoulders.

“I will when I mean it.” You cracked a smile as you watched the red-heads face turn into a scowl. It didn’t take long for the others to huddle around you. They smothered you with friendly-love and thanks for coming to support them. To give them some spirit as they played, even if it wasn’t an official match.

Though, Wakatoshi never greeted you like the others, instead his eyes somehow traveled to a first year, one first year he knew. He didn’t know him well, after all, all they played was one game against each other. Though, it was the game that cost Wakatoshi nationals. Along the sea of souls that all stared at his younger brother, he saw a pair of eyes that were different from the others. It was more direct, more searching than the others. Tsukishima Kei, a middle blocker on Karasuno’s volleyball team.

It wasn’t the first time Wakatoshi had seen that look thrown at his brother before, and he knew it wouldn’t be the last. But, even with his calm and cool personality, there was no way in hell he’d ever let a guy like him made a move on his younger brother.

After greeting everyone and introducing yourself to the unknown people that came to this camp, you sat next to your brother’s couch and watched the practice match go underway.

You would always have your eyes on your brother, and from time to time maybe Tendo or Goshiki. After all, they were very interesting players to watch on the court. You never really payed attention to the other time, like, at all. Perhaps, though, there is a first for everything.

For some reason beyond you, you couldn’t take your eyes off of a certain blond, but then again he was playing harder than anyone else on the court. Which, didn’t come as a surprise to you since remembered him from the Spring Nationals. He was a middle blocker, the middle blocker that completely made your brother start to sweat during a game. You couldn’t remember his name, sadly, but in a way it sorta made it better. In your mind, the first thing that popped in your head was a way to talk to him. An excuse by asking for his name and then rolling with conversation from there.

It wasn’t much of a surprise to you when Shiratorizawa won against the camp kids, but it was a surprise to see a little ginger haired kid running around to clean and pack the volleyballs up. You knew him as well, he was also on Karasuno, though, you thought with his abilities he would be playing instead of cleaning up. It didn’t take long for you to decide to walk over to him. It wasn’t like you had much to do anyway, plus, it would be better to learn about the blond from a team member.

Hinata kept his eyes locked on a stray ball in front of him, his main focus to grab it and put it away. That focus making him miss the very obvious male walking towards him until an unknown hand gripped the ball with a single hand. The ginger looked up with slightly parted lips, studying the male in front of him. He saw him earlier this morning and thought he was a new recruit, a first-year like him, for Shiratorizawa.

“Want some help?” You asked with a friendly smile, watching as the shorty in front of you looked almost cautious of you for a second. Though, you knew that would happen.

“Why?” He questioned.

You shrugged. “Look like you need it. Plus, it beats listening to Tendo talk crazy.”

“But you’re on Shiratorizawa, no?”

You shook your head. “I go to the school, but I’m not in the Volleyball club.”

Hinta cocked up a brow, his head leaning in with suspicion. “Then why are you wearing their jersey?”

“Cause my older brother is on the team.” You hummed without a care as you began to walk away.

Hinata was close on your tail as he bombarded you with questions about your brother. When you told him who it was, he definitely freaked out. He was truly clueless. As the two of you chatted and cleaned up the gym, you got to know him as Shoyo Hinata while you greeted him as [Name] Ushijima. You had this idea that the two of you would chat for a bit longer, but sadly, today wouldn’t be that day.

You turned your attention to your brother when his deep pitched voice called your name and said that dinner was being given out now.

“Sorry, I have to go.” You said kindly to the shorter male. “I’ll help you out tomorrow too, if you don’t mind.”

“No! Of course not!” He yelled with a wide, bright smile that made a soft one magically appear on yours. Honestly, you just wanted info on the blond from before, but Hinata seemed like a pretty cool guy in your book, so you thought it would be nice to hang with him to kill your boredom.

“Cool,” you hummed. “See ya!”

You watched Hinata waved you off from the corners of your eyes as you jogged up to your brother. When you reached him, he stood still for a moment, eyes locked inside the gym before turning to you with a gentle, yet small smile.

“You enjoying yourself?” Your brother asked as you two began to walk, following the scent of well-made tasty food that filled the chilly night air.

“Yeah, it’s not as bad as I thought it was gonna be.” You replied with a smile, your hands digging in your pockets. For some reason, your mind began to bug you at the worst times. In the back of your mind, you wanted to see if your brother knew the blond’s name. And yet, at the same time, you knew you’d blow your chance to talk with him if you did.

When you came around to the cafeteria, everyone was mingling and eating casually with one another. It was a complete 180 in atmospheric change from the court to here. Here, everyone seemed like themselves. Though, you did notice a few missing faces. Some were still practicing, but you thought the others already went to bed after a tiring day.

You separated from Wakatoshi quickly after entering to get some food. You didn’t pay much attention to those in front of you, though, when you felt a presence suddenly come from behind, you moved your head around curiously. You thought maybe you could bring up some conversation with the person, maybe make a friend if you didn’t know them already. What you didn’t expect for the person to the blond you were eyeing on the court. Seriously, sometimes you had the worst luck.

“Oh, it’s you.” You hummed out without thought, your fingers twitching subtly when you noticed the words leaving your lips. Though, the damage was already done and now, in that moment, you had the full attention of one of Karasuno’s middle blockers.

“Huh?” He mouthed. His eyes having to move down a tad to make eye-contact with you. “Oh, Shiratorizawa, right?”

You nodded. “I’m not on the team though, I’m only here to support my brother, really.”

You didn’t know why you said that. It just came out like word vomit. Honestly, you just didn’t want him to think of you as a enemy in a way. Or perhaps even that was a stretch.

“Brother?” He asked curiously.

You nodded once more before turning your gaze over to Wakatoshi who was, thankfully, distracted by Tendo’s ramblings. “Wakatoshi Ushijima.”

“Seriously?” You heard the blond ask to himself in a deflated tone. It was kinda funny in it’s own way, but you didn’t want to come off as rude, so you were quick to swallow that chuckle.

“I’m [Name] Ushijima, second-year at Shiratorizawa Academy.” You said with a friendly smile. “How about you?”

The blond went silent for a moment, his eyes almost searching you without a care in the world if you saw or not. It was addicting in it’s own way, but it also made you nervous to your very core. You never notice people looking at you like this, and the ones that do are too scared of your brother to even try it face to face with you. So, when you noticed his eyes wonder all over you as if he was scanning a favorite food item over and over, you gulped hard.

“Kei Tsukishima.” He replied. “Karasuno High, first-year.”

The camp lasted a total of five days, and it was easy to say that coming here was either a blessing or a curse thrown at you by the gods. You weren’t sure which one it was yet, but you were leaning towards either one throughout the day. You helped out Hinata the next day like you promised, but sadly you wouldn’t be able to do that anymore thanks to Shiratorizawa’s couch putting you on the medic duty. Basically wrapping up fingers if they began to hurt, help the irritation marks along their forearms or palms of their hands if the players hit it too hard, and bandage any scraps players might get. It wasn’t like they had any other choice since you were the only one available, but that quickly turned into a dreadfully wrong choice.

Players left and right, mostly players from Shiratorizawa, came to you for the most minor and basic things. Even if something didn’t hurt they’d ask for you to check them since you’d basically have to do a psychical exam. You could tell something was off with your brothers team, but when it came to the minds of the other players from all over, you were clueless to their intent.

Tsukishima knew that and immediately took the chance that was basically begging him to take it. When it was time to block, he made sure that you at least saw the ball hit his fingers. After that and the ball landed back in his opponents court, he held onto his finger to give off the act before walking over to you. You jested Tsukishima to sit down on the bench that you previously occupied, standing in front of him.

“Just your fingers?” You asked kindly as you got out some white tape.

“Yeah.” He simple put, his eyes watching your hands attentively.

You didn’t wrap the tape around first, instead you began to feel his ‘injured’ hand up. You squeezed each of his fingers and checked for a response, you noticed it didn’t hurt too bad but you didn’t want to take the chance. It’s best not to have a broke finger. Next, you used your thumbs to snuff out the tension in his palms, you did both even if you didn’t need to. It was only after that you put the tape on his ring and middle fingers.

While you were solely focused on him, you missed your brother’s cold hard start that was aimed right between Tsukishima’s eyes. It didn’t take long for the blond to notice, and when he did, he just gave a cocky smirk in Wakatoshi’s direction before going back to watching you.

“Huh?” You asked your brother with a confused look. It was finally the end of the second day of camp, and as soon as Wakatoshi got the chance he came up to you with bizarre statements. “What are you talking about? Tsukishima and I literally just met.”

Your brother stared you down. “Just because you just met him doesn’t mean he can’t find you attractive.”

“I think you’re overrating.” You hummed out as you cleaned up all the used medical supplies from today.

“If you don’t believe me then the next time he asks you to wrap his fingers up, make sure they actually hurt first.” Wakatoshi suddenly suggested.

You sighed, ignoring him for a moment as you tried to give yourself peace of mind with some quiet noise. Though, that didn’t last long when a loud smack was heard. You knew it well and already could tell multiple people were practicing after hours based on the number of squeaking shoes.

“Look, I gotta make sure these guys don’t hurt themselves so you should go eat.” You said in a flat, disinterested tone. “I’m not ten anymore, Waka. I can handle myself without you.”

Wakatoshi stared down at you for a moment, his eyes closing themself off from your analytical mind. “Fine.”

You watched your brother walk off and out the gym, the moment you lose sight of him is when you let out a breath that had been stuck in your lungs. You wasted no time to take your seat back on the bench and watch some of the boys practice.

Your eyes were half-lidded with something unknown to you as you kept your gaze entirely locked on Tsukishima. There was just something about him to you that made you want watch him for all of eternity. It wasn’t like you haven’t felt attraction towards someone before, but this one was odd, after all, it was as if something wouldn’t let you look at anyone else, consider anyone else. Not that you would want to date him, no, of course not. It was just, you felt like you wanted to keep him as close to you as humanly possible.

You leaned your head into the palm of your hand, your elbow planted on your thigh as you watched the practice match. You watched as a set was beginning to get underway. Your hues followed the ball as it got closer and closer to the wing spiker before moving your sight solely on Tsukishima and see him block. Now that you think about it, he really was tall. Not that it mattered to you, but a simple observation. Kinda like the observation that when he jumps his shirt rides up just enough to get the idea that he has a solid build for such a skinny guy.

“Hello?” A voice called out to you.

It effectively pulled you from your daydreams, your gaze moving up slightly to aimlessly stare at the tall blond in front of you. “Oh, hi.”

His face turned into a small scowl before turning his sight away from you and moved his hand forward. “I just need some more tape.”

“Sure,” you replied with a smile. You took some tape from the kit before standing up. You didn’t speak for a bit as you removed the older tape from his fingers, but you swear you could feel his eyes dig holes in your head.

“Yanno,” you hummed out. It wasn’t like you would ever see him again, you thought. So, you just spit out what was on your mind as you calmly stated, “You should tuck your shirt in your pants.”

“Huh?” You heard Tsukishima ask. It was clear to you he didn’t quite get it. “Why?”

You couldn’t help but let out a small chuckle. You thought this guy was smart, but you supposed that only applied to school. “It could save you a few unwanted eyes.”

Once that sentence left your mouth, he shut up. The only sound you could hear from him was his subtle breathing. You smiled softly to yourself, the unknown creeping into your mind. It was fine to you if you just ruined a potential friendship or if he found the way you shamelessly flirted with him gross, in your mind, it was risk that had to be taken.

“Alright, you’re all good.” You said as you placed the tape back down by the other supplies. When you gazed back up at Tsukishima, you noticed him taking off his team jacket. Curiosity took over making your head go on a slight tilt before saying, “Whatcha doing?”

“What’s it look like? I’m taking the advise.” He confessed before effortlessly wrapping his jacket around your shoulders. It was a bit bigger, but not by much.

You moved your hand up to grab the side of his jacket, slipping your arms into it without protest. When you looked back at him, his sight was already glued to you.

“Am I holding onto this for you?” You asked with a soft, teasing smirk.

“Yeah, why else would I give it to you?” He questioned with a look that mirrored yours. While both of you had an inkling of why, you thought it would be better to keep the other guessing. It made for a fun game that just began, a mutual game of pining.

“No clue.” You chuckled. “Try not to hurt your fingers again, Tsukki.”

You watched as the taller male turned around and jog back onto the court. Though, while you watched him, you couldn’t help but notice the tip of his ears colored with an easy shade of pink.

#haikyuu x reader #haikyuu x male reader #kei tsukishima #kei tsukishima x reader #tsukishima x male reader #tsukishima imagine #haikyuu tsukishima #haikyuu hcs #kei tsukishima x male reader

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levathia · 3 years

Text

I know that this isn't the same AU that I posted about, but I've been really wanting to share this one as I work on my first scenario/short scene that follows my Time Traveler AU💗.

AU: Big Brother! Inosuke x Demon Sister! Female Reader

Scenario Title: "Happy Birthday"

Pages: 29-30

Scenario: (Y/n) Turns Into A Demon

(Y/n)

I woke up from my dream, but my eyes remained shut. I cracked them open, finding myself laying in bed back in my old home once again. It didn't process through my mind that I was back home at first, but once it did, my eyes shot open. I sat up in a second, my heart pounding with confusion but for some reason, excitement as well. In the distance, I can hear the sound of sizzling, perhaps someone was cooking in the kitchen?

Wait… Someone's cooking in the kitchen!

I quickly jumped out of my bed and raced to where I heard the sound. The smell of my favorite food filled my nostrils as the sound grew louder.

'Could it be…'

Once I made it to the kitchen, I found none other than my older brother: Inosuke.

A wide smile spread across my face as he sensed my presence and looked at me, a tiny smile tugging at the corner of his lips as he looked at me with soft eyes.

"Inosuke!!!" I happily called his name as I ran to him, my arms open and ready to give him a bear hug

He stopped what he was doing and bent down to my level, embracing me in his arms once again. It's been a while since I've gotten to do this with him. I wanted this moment to last forever. I didn't want to leave my brother's side ever again. Not even for a second.

But, of course, all good things have to end at some point.

We pulled away from each other

"You're just in time for breakfast" Inosuke said

"What is it?" I asked, excited

"(Your/Favorite/Food)"

"Yay!"

Inosuke ruffled my messy hair as he chuckled, then returned to his work. I stood right next to him, happily watching as he finished making our breakfast.

Finally I'm home once again…

"(Y/n), wake up"

I opened my eyes, only to find myself lying in my current bed.

"Hurry up and get changed, we'll eat breakfast at the Headquarters" I heard Mr. Tomioka's voice

Before he was able to leave my room, I spoke up with my mind more than half asleep.

No One

"Mr. Tomioka?" (Y/n)'s voice stopped Giyu in his tracks, making him turn back around and face her back

"Hm?"

"Can I call you"Big Brother"?"

The Pillar was taken aback by the 10 year old's sudden question. But it only made sense once you thought about it. Today marked the fifth year that they've been living together.

"Can I?"

"Sure" And with that, he left her alone once again.

(Y/n) rubbed her eyes as she rolled onto her back, opening her eyes and staring up at the ceiling as her mind became more awake by the second. Finally, she was able to think straight again. She thought about what she had just asked Giyu, and her eyes widened.

'What did I just do?!?!'.

(Y/n)

I got ready as quickly as I could. Mainly to get to Mr. Tomioka and explain myself for asking what I asked him this morning. I guess it's a result from missing my brother, Inosuke, too much. Ever since the day he and I were separated because of that dang mudslide that happened on our mountain. It was my fifth birthday, too, everything was supposed to be perfect.

And on the same night, I encountered a demon for the first time. I guess my screaming and crying for Inosuke was heard by Mr. Tomioka. He was the one who saved me not only from getting devoured by a demon, but from having to struggle on my own. After I told him why I was all dirty and lost, he basically decided to take me under his wing and bring me to his home, which is here. And this is where I've been living ever since.

That night was the last time I'd ever said my brother's name out loud, more so, addressed someone as a part of my family. I hope Mr. Tomioka understands.

No One

During the walk to Headquarters and down to the moment where Giyuu, Shinobu, Kanao and (Y/n) were on their way to a joint mission, (Y/n) didn't get the chance to explain herself. She was comfortable with being open around the rest of the Pillars, given that she's been surrounded by them for three years already, so she didn't mind that Shinobu was around when she seized the opportunity to explain herself.

"Um, Mr. Tomioka?"

Giyu looked down at the girl, his brow raised.

"About this morning, w-when I asked to call you"Big Brother", I didn't know what I was saying at the time. I hope you can understand" (Y/n) said

Giyu really liked the thought of (Y/n) addressing him so familiarly Giyu didn't really mind what she called him, as long as she addressed him respectfully.

"Call me whatever you want"

That was when (Y/n)'s eyes lit up with happiness

"Really?!"

"Mhm"

"Thank you so much, Big bro!" (Y/n) said as she embraced her caretaker, taking him by surprise once again as Shinobu simply chuckled at the kid.

Once they reached their location, Shinobu's workers immediately went to work. As they treated all of the injured Mizunoto, the four Demon Slayers made their way deeper into the mountain, in search for the Demon who was responsible for everything that had happened earlier that day.

"Big Bro?"

"Hm?"

"Can I go alone?"

Giyu looked down at her

"It's too dangerous"

"Please~?"

Giyu thought about it for a second, before simply sighing

"Fine"

"Yay!"

"I don't think I have to tell you to be careful"

"Nope!"

"Just meet us back at the spot where all of the injured Mizunoto are"

"You can count on me! See you soon!"

And with that, (Y/n) waved at her three comrades as she took off. Giyu watched her as her small figure grew even tinier as she drifted further and further away from them. Suddenly, he remembered what had happened earlier that morning.

"Oh? Working on your birthday now?" Sanemi asked after he first noticed the little girl at Headquarters,"You seem to be maturing"

"Already though?" Mitsuri whined,"But it still seems as if Mr. Tomioka had just introduced her to us yesterday! She was just eight!"

"That's alright!" Kyojuro bent down to the newly turned 10 year old, then started to pat her head,"(Y/n) will always stay cute no matter how old she gets, isn't that right?"

"Of course!"

~Time Skip~

"Be safe on your mission!" Mitsuri said as the four were leaving

"Especially you, (Y/n)" Kyojuro looked down at the kid,"Afterall, it'd be a shame to get hurt on your birthday, wouldn't it?"

"I'll always be careful, Mr. Rengoku!"

Giyu looked away from (Y/n)'s direction as he and the other two all separated from each other.

After a while of running, (Y/n) finally came to a halt. She had spotted two boys, not too far from her. The katanas that they wore made her know that they too were Demon Slayers as well. One boy had a green and black checkered Haori along with short, burgundy hair. But the other boy was the one who caught her eye.

He wore only the pants of the Demon Slayer uniform with fur aligning his waist, but he remained shirtless. He only wore slippers on his feet and he held two katanas on his back that were wrapped in white bandages. His face, though, that she couldn't see. Because his face held the familiar head of a boar over it. It looked just like the one that her brother, who she had been separated from, had.

The two boys were about to leave the spot when (Y/n) finally spoke up.

"Excuse me?"

The burgundy haired boy stopped and turned around to see who it was, that was when he saw (Y/n). The other boy ended up walking a few feet ahead of his friend when he too stopped and looked back.

"Hello there!" The other boy greeted with a warm smile,"Is there a problem? What's a little girl like you doing in an area as dangerous as this?"

"Oh, uh, I'm (Y/n), I don't know what my last name is, but I'm rank: Hashira." (Y/n) spoke up

"Huh?!" The boy exclaimed in shock and disbelief, there was no way a Demon Slayer as small as her could already be with the Hashira's, he heard it during final selection, you'd need to defeat a Kizuki in order to earn a spot!

The other boy stayed silent the whole time. Though, he did lift his mask above his face to get a better look at the girl ahead of them. His green eyes were wide, his face riddled in almost disbelief.

"Yeah, it's fine, take your time to think about it…" (Y/n) looked down as she rubbed the back of her neck

It was only after two years of being a Hashira when (Y/n) started to take the surprised reactions of people in a more negative way. Yeah, she was happy to have the ability to amaze people like that, but then she'd remember that given her age, people still doubted her. People always doubt kids like her. They always will.

"Well then, I'm Kamado Tanjiro, and this is my friend, Hashibira Inosuke. We're both rank Mizunoto's" Tanjiro stated,"Are you perhaps experiencing any troubles-"

Tanjiro cut himself off as he noticed his friend suddenly dropping his mask onto the ground and sprinting in the girl's direction.

"Inosuke!"

'Oh God! Now I regret ever speaking up!' (Y/n) thought to herself as she started to fear the boy who was running towards her,"I-I'm sorry, Mister!" The (Hair/Color) girl lifted her hand up,"I just thought you were my–"

Inosuke dropped to his knees once he had reached (Y/n), and interrupted her speaking by embracing her in a tight hug.

"brother…"

Her hand slowly lowered and hung over Inosuke's broad shoulder.

'Is it really him?'

"Damn it, (Y/n)!" Inosuke said,"It's been five years and I haven't heard a single thing from you!!"

All Tanjiro did was watch and listen along with (Y/n).

"Not a letter or anything!" He pulled away from her, but kept his hands on her shoulders,"Did you even bother looking for me?!"

"The mudslide, it washed me away until I was too far from you and got lost…" (Y/n)'s gaze lowered, her expression saddened,"If I knew where I was, I would have looked for you all day and night… I wouldn't sleep until I've reunited with you once again... I'm sorry..."

Nobody noticed Tanjiro approaching them until he was right behind Inosuke, a tiny smile etched onto his face.

"So this is your sister that you said you had, Inosuke? She's beautiful, just like you"

Inosuke scoffed before standing up

"Don't we still have a mission to take care of? We'll talk about this later" He said before walking all the way to his mask and throwing it over his head once again.

~Time Skip Because I totally didn't forget wtf happens next~

(Y/n) and Tanjiro had both gotten separated from Inosuke right after defeating another demon. After spotting two more demons together, one of the demons ordered the other to take care of the rest or the Demon Slayers around the mountain, and they did as they were told. (Y/n) decided to follow her while Tanjiro dealt with the other one.

As (Y/n) followed behind the demon, who was still running, she hopped off of her feet and into the air, stomping the girl down onto her stomach. She cried out in pain. (Y/n) lifted her blade up, ready to slash the demon's head off while she laid stuck on the ground. But before she was able to do anything else, the demon placed her hands onto her leg. That was when the demon's nails grew much longer than it originally was, and within a second she had dragged her nails all the way from (Y/n)'s knee down to her ankle.

(Y/n) cried out in pain, but the demon wasn't done yet. She grabbed onto her ankle and threw her to the side, causing her to hit her back against a tree and hitting the ground with a thump. The demon took the time to run away, leaving (Y/n) injured and in pain.

'What the hell?!?!' (Y/n) clenched her hands into fists out of agony,'Why didn't she… Why didn't she kill me? Oh God, it hurts so much!!'

All of a sudden, (Y/n) started to feel light headed and grew tired by the second.

'Am I passing out from the pain? Is it that bad?'

And before the girl knew it, she was out like a light.

"YOU WAIT RIGHT THERE!!!" Inosuke yelled at Giyu, causing the Pillar to stop walking and turn to face the lower rank,"FIGHT ME! YOU MISMATCHED HAORI!! YOU DEFEATED THAT KIZUKI THEREFORE IF I CAN DO IT IT'LL MAKE ME THE STRONGEST THAT YOU ALL COULD EVER GET!!!"

The whole time he yelled at him, Giyu showed absolutely no emotion.

"Keep on training, idiot." Giyu said, taking the boy aback

"WHAT THE HELL DID YOU JUST SAY TO ME?!?!!?"

"That demon wasn't even close to one of the 12 Kizuki." He said while unraveling a rope,"Couldn't you tell that?"

"OF COURSE I COULD TELL!! IT WAS TANJIRO WHO SAID THAT HE WAS A KIZUKI!! I WAS ONLY REPEATING WHAT THAT WEAKLING SAID!! OF COURSE I KNEW THAT WEAK DEMON WASN'T A KIZUKI THE SECOND I LAID MY EYES ON IT!!!!"

Giyu started clapping his hands off of dust. Inosuke looked down, his breath hitched after seeing that he'd been tied up and hung from a tree branch and never even noticed it.

'When the hell did he manage to tie me up?' The green eyed boy thought to himself in shock,'Clearly he's quick with more than just a sword'

"Before I leave, I'd like to ask something" Giyu started,"Have you seen a little girl around here by any chance? She's wearing a (Your/Design) Haori, has (Your/Hair/Color) (Your/Hair/Style) and (Your/Eye/Color). She might have even told you her age, which is 10."

"hUh? What the hell do you have to do with my sister?!"

Giyu's face filled with confusion, which then faltered within the next second.

"Forget it, I'll look for her myself" And with that, he was on his way

"HEY! GET BACK HERE!"

"If you can't even tell how severe a condition your body's in, you shouldn't be fighting…" He said

"HUH?! WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU EVEN SAYING?!?! YOUR VOICE IS TOO SOFT AND YOU WALK TOO FAST!! DON'T YOU HEAR ME?! I SAID TO WAIT!! GET ME OUT OF THESE ROPES ALREADY, WILL YOU?!!!" And Giyu didn't listen to a single thing he said

"HEY!"

"HEY!!"

"HEEEEEEEYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYY!!!!!"

~Big Time Skip~

After defeating the apparent Kizuki, Giyu was now holding Shinobu in a headlock to buy Tanjiro and his sister some time to run away. Shinobu finally decided that she had enough of him, she was going to slay the demon that Tanjiro called his sister and that Giyu was trying so hard to protect at any cost. It was their job after all. After exposing the blade from the heel of her shoe, she quickly brought it up to Giyu's face. Giyu was quick to notice, and he pulled his sword out before the blade was able to touch him.

Though, right before either of them were able to hurt each other, something immediately caught their attention, causing them to freeze in their positions. They both looked in the same direction and before they knew it, they had been knocked away to the side. Shinobu caught herself midair and landed a graceful flip while Giyu simply spun in the air and landed on his feet while in a fighting stance.

"Huh?" Shinobu said

'What the hell…' Giyu thought to himself

They both looked at whoever had knocked them over, and it was none other than (Y/n). For some reason, she was acting feral. She was on all fours and it almost looked like she was staring at her comrades with rage as she growled at them. Without a warning, the 10 year old launched herself at them, who easily dodged her. She then went after Giyu, jumping at him.

Giyu held her away from him, she was surprisingly stronger than she used to be. Much stronger. As they fought against each other, (Y/n) chomped her teeth at him several times as if she was trying to get a bite out of him.

"What the hell has gotten into you!?" He asked, before quickly spinning her around

He held his blade between her teeth and wrapped his other arm around her arms and torso. The two fell onto the ground with Giyu's back against a tree. (Y/n) continued to struggle inside of Giyu's hold for the next minute.

"Stop it… This isn't like you…" Giyu said

"I think she understood you" Shinobu chimed as she bent down to the two's level,"Just look at all of the tears streaming down her poor face"

Giyu looked down at (Y/n), and sure enough there was a river of tears coming down both of her eyes.

"Big Bro!!" (Y/n) mumbled through the sword,"Help!! Help!!"

It seemed that even (Y/n) was struggling against her own actions.

"Call me whatever you want"

That was when (Y/n)'s eyes lit up with happiness

"Really?!"

"Mhm"

"Thank you so much, Big bro!" (Y/n) said as she embraced her caretaker

It was clear that the girl from that morning was gone. And Giyu just couldn't seem to blame anyone else but himself. If only he didn't let her out of his sight earlier that day. Such a simple thing to do to prevent such a tragic incident from happening.

'Forgive me…' Giyu thought as he raised his hand

He struck the newly transformed demon with the side of his palm, knocking her out in an instant.

"Poor thing…" Shinobu said,"What are we going to do with her?"

Just then, the voice of a messenger crow caught their attention. Apparently Tanjiro and his sister were both to be brought to the Headquarters for trial. Once the crow had finished getting its point through, it took off once again. (Y/n) had regained her consciousness by then and sat up.

"What happened?" (Y/n) asked tiredly

Giyu got up and walked in front of (Y/n) before bending down to her level once again. He stripped his Haori off of himself, revealing his uniform. He then draped it over her shoulders, the thing was basically oversized compared to her. So it was perfect for protecting her from the sunlight. The man picked (Y/n) up, placing his hand over her head as he held her in his arms.

He looked over at Shinobu, and with a nod from each other they were on their way back to headquarters. During that time, (Y/n) had regained all of her memories from earlier that day.

'Why? Why couldn't she have just killed me?' The poor girl thought to herself,'So it really is true… I only survived the Final Selection and beat that one Kizuki purely out of luck… I don't deserve a spot in the Hashira…'

Giyu felt his shoulder slowly become more soaked with her tears as they continued to walk. She'd even shake in his arms and let out a low pitched cry every once in a while. He too hated it. He hated how he wasn't able to help her before she was turned into a demon and after.

~Later That Night~

(Y/n) ended up crying herself to sleep, and she stayed asleep for the rest of the day. Giyu stayed with (Y/n) in her bedroom as he continued to mourn the demon she'd become in his mind. That was until he noticed that she was awake.

"Was it worth it?" The first thing he said to her,"Was it worth going out there alone?"

(Y/n) took a second to gain strength to speak, before a tiny smile grew on her face.

"I found him, Big Bro…" She barely whispered,"I found my brother…"

Giyu's eyes slightly widened out of surprise. So it really was her brother who he had bumped into in the mountains. Giyu looked back at (Y/n), who had fallen back asleep. He sighed to himself.

'Happy Birthday, (Y/n)'

PLEASE READ BISSES:

These are just scenarios for the many AU's I've come up with, I am not planning on making a whole story/fanfiction of this with full chapters. I do not take requests as well💗.

#demon slayer #demon slayer au #female reader #demon slayer x reader #kamado tanjirou #kamado nezuko #agatsuma zenitsu #hashibira inosuke #tomioka giyū #kocho shinobu #tsuyuri kanao #tokito muichiro #kanroji mitsuri #iguro obanai #tengen uzui #rengoku kyoujurou #shinazugawa genya #shinazugawa sanemi #gyomei himejima

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kaibacorpintern · 3 years

Text

the wound

word count: ~2500

summary: kaiba has some pointed thoughts about yuugi’s recent cooking injury. platonic rivalshipping. post-DSOD

a/n: a woman has too many unfinished one-shots in her google drive so i’m making time to finish them instead of overthinking them (and never finishing them.) yes this is about cooking and yuugi and kaiba and depression. yes i have already written about this. whatever man. enjoy.

++++

Same time as usual. Two in the afternoon, on Saturdays. Same place as usual. The picnic table under the massive oak in the park, two blocks away from the Kame Game Shop and twenty minutes by subway from the station under the Kaiba Corp tower. Seto took the subway mostly out of scientific interest, taking a professional curiosity in the world Atem had wanted to live in, and because Atem had told him to enjoy it. What had he seen here, in the faded orange seats and bright pastel advertisements and the quiet scattering of human-not-Puzzle bodies? What had he felt, as the subway swayed around the curve in the tunnel, unseen in the darkness and known only by its momentum, making everyone sway with it? Hands curled around handrails and books. Fingers on phones. The train burst into daylight. The side of that girl’s head against the glass, watching Domino slide by with an equally glassy look in her eyes. Two layers between her and the city. Missing someone? Or just bored of life?

He slunk off the subway, unnoticed and unknown, in an immaculate white hoodie and aviators, stainless steel water bottle dangling from one hand. Yuugi was waiting for him at the park entrance, as usual, wearing some kind of fashionable belted dark purple romper, with the usual tote bag full of games hanging from one hand. On the other hand, something unusual: his fingers stuck out from a half-formed mitten of gauze, giving his slender hand a clumsy, snub-nosed silhouette. He was having trouble holding his iced tea, thumb and fingers alligator-clamped around the lid. Someone had drawn a pair of flowers in pink marker across the back of the mitten, a bumper sticker of cheerful admonition: 🌺 BE CAREFUL! 🌺 Not Yuugi’s handwriting.

“Hey,” Yuugi said. “How’re you doing? You sleeping better?”

Seto pushed his sunglasses to the top of his head, over his bangs, crown-like.

“On and off,” he said, which was true. His nights were now vast, tossing oceans of insomnia between shores of just good-enough sleep. Last night he’d simply given up trying to swim and instead, for the first time in years, read a book for amusement instead of education. Some sci-fi novel Yuugi had mentioned and Seto bought on a lark from the bookstore in the subway station. Most of his amusement came from correcting the bad science in the margins, until he woke up at dawn with his glasses bent and his bed linens blotted like calico cats with black ink. “What happened to your hand?”

“Oh, this?” Yuugi said, lifting his mitten-hand. “So, I was making a ceviche yesterday…”

He told the story as they walked through the park to the oak tree: the protagonist was a ripe avocado, its tough, disingenuous alligator hide concealing a soft, buttery-green flesh. The arc of the conflict: avocado against knife, a natural antagonist. The climax: the knife, ignorant of its own bluntness and made arrogant by the shine of its own steel, slid off its trajectory like a failing rocket and plunged at speed through plant skin and plant flesh straight into human skin and human flesh. The resolution: two identical cuts, a half-opened avocado and a half-opened hand. Man versus fruit.

"There was so much blood Otogi almost fainted," Yuugi said, thumping the tote bag onto the wooden table and straddling the bench sideways. "So we went to the ER and they stitched me up, and then when we got back home I finished making the ceviche. What game? You pick."

"Hive," Seto said. He couldn’t stop looking at his bandaged hand. It drew his attention like a glitch on a screen, an inescapable aberration. “Does it bother you?”

“I mean, it hurts, but whatever, you know?” Yuugi said, digging into his tote bag for the drawstring bag of wooden tokens. He spilled them onto the table in a clattering cascade of wood against wood. They rapidly sorted them out. “It’s not my first cooking accident.”

Seto raised his eyebrows. It was a testament to the amount of time they’d been spending together lately - every Saturday afternoon for a handful of hours, until he made some excuse to leave, and Yuugi accepted it not because he was gullible but because he knew Seto had a battery and it ran low - that he didn’t even need to ask a question, and Yuugi simply provided an answer, with examples.

“So, here, I was frying onion rings for Jounouchi, and I splattered hot oil all over my arm,” Yuugi said, lifting his hand and pointing out a haphazard constellation of white scars over his forearm. “Then here - I was baking cookies for Shizuka’s birthday and touched the tray fresh out of the oven with my bare hand, like a moron, I dueled Jounouchi after and drawing my cards was like, ow - ” he waggled his fingertips - “and this one is another burn - ” a long white ink-stroke across his wrist - “from when I was making ramen for Anzu, ‘cause she was home from New York. And this one - ”

More interesting than how and what were who. This burn for Honda’s birthday barbecue, that cut for Otogi’s game night. A violent kiss between blade and fingers behind a frothy veil of soapy water, cleaning up after a movie night. Another spray of oil splatters, frying tempura for his mother. A lot of meals for her, his grandfather, Jounouchi. Every scar Yuugi showed him had a name attached, almost all of them below the elbows, as though collected there for easy reference. Seto frowned as Yuugi's fingers flew over this map of friendships and family, their routes landmarked by midnight breakfasts, lazy brunches, beautifully-wrapped bento boxes. Something about it tasted sour to him, his tongue held tight and bitten between his teeth. All of his own scars had only one name.

“You probably think I’m a klutz,” Yuugi said, with a sheepish smile, sliding one of the wooden tokens into place around their hive.

“I told you to stop doing that,” Seto said briskly. “I’m not some dumpster for all your insecurities. You think you’re a klutz. You have no idea what I think.”

“I - ” Yuugi started, and huffed, with another smile, his chosen defense against causing offense. “Sorry, force of habit - ”

“Forget it. You don’t ever cook for yourself?”

“Duh. Of course I do. And I eat what I make with everyone else. It’s not like I make a pizza for all my friends and just sit there watching them while they eat it,” Yuugi said. “But I like cooking for people. I love... nourishing them. Knowing they’re not going to go to bed hungry or anything, and I can make something for them that makes them feel good.”

Seto tapped a wooden token on the table, under the guise of thinking about the game but really thinking about the kind of friends Yuugi made, and how he made them. Jounouchi. Honda. Atem. Himself.

“Did you ever cook for Atem?” he said, because he couldn’t help it, and braced against the soft look that came his way, with a default smile, a pre-emptive look, I'm fine. this didn’t hurt me smile.

“Yeah,” Yuugi said. “I did.”

Like what? Did he like it? Did he help cook or did he just watch? Just the two of you or with everyone else? Tell me. What did you nourish him with? What do you think he’s eating now? I ate pomegranates when I was there. Bread and honey and figs and garlic and beer. Nothing I ate makes me spend six months with the living and six months with the dead so instead I trade off day and night. Sometimes I leave for a few minutes, mid-afternoon, and I can hear my own name clattering through me as Mokuba calls me back. Seto kept all these comments to himself. There was only so greedy he could get with Yuugi’s grief; only so much he could share of his own.

He slid his wooden token into place around the honeycomb of pieces. Yuugi swiftly countered. Seto lapsed back into thought.

Yuugi took a quiet slurp of his iced tea, gave it a shake, rattling the ice until it settled, and took another, watching ducks paddle into the reeds at the edge of the pond and paddle out, a portrait of calm patience. It had taken him some time to get comfortable with Seto’s long silences. In concession, Seto made the effort to shorten them.

It was the kind of day where stepping into the shade made a difference. The air was darker and cooler under the trees and the flowering bushes that lined the park paths, while the rest of the earth baked in a cloudless dry heat. Seto made his move and pushed the sleeves of his sweatshirt up to his elbows.

“How about I cook for you sometime?” Yuugi said brightly, nudging another wooden token against the others with a single fingertip.

Seto scowled, not at the suggestion but at the way his thoughts splintered apart, like two halves of a wooden log split by an axe. He had no doubt Yuugi would pull out the stops for him, slave and sweat for hours over some seventeen-course feast of modern art finger foods. Or maybe something cozy that made him feel like he was just nineteen instead of nineteen and exhausted. Whatever it was, Yuugi would put in the effort. But.

“No,” he said, and made sure to clarify this refusal before the clouds finished gathering over Yuugi’s face in a dejected overcast grey: “I don’t need one of your scars named after me.”

“I - what?” Yuugi said, flashing him an uneven, sideways smile, and Seto felt a flicker of irritation. Atem would’ve understood immediately. But, in fairness to Yuugi, he was being a little obtuse.

“You have a way of suffering for your friends,” he explained. “And I think part of you likes it.”

Yuugi straightened up in his seat, suddenly electric.

“What the hell? It’s just cooking,” he said, with a stormy flash of lightning in his violet eyes. “You’re reading into this way too much. I cook because it’s fun and artistic and I like feeding people, not because I like… self-flagellating or something. Seriously, you can’t just spout off - ”

“You misunderstand me,” Seto countered. “There’s no reason to… hurt yourself on my behalf. If you want to eat together, I’d rather go to that kitschy little ice cream place down the block and get a fucking waffle cone. I don’t want you unable to duel because you burned your hand trying to pan-fry a steak for me.”

Yuugi opened his mouth, brows furrowing together… and scoffed, a surprisingly affectionate sound. He rolled his eyes around the park, his gaze swinging across the sunlit grass, and looked back at Seto.

“Okay. First of all, I've mastered the art of the pan-fried steak, and you should try it,” he said. “Second of all, what makes you think you’re not someone worth suffering for?”

Seto snorted, masking his inwards flinch. Mokuba already suffered enough, thank you. And for what? A ghost of a brother. A black hole, a perpetual collapsing. Things went in and they crossed the event horizon and the pressure squeezed them for eternity without ever letting them reach the center and nothing ever came back out, as much as it wanted to. The scientific term for such distortion of effort, stretched to an immeasurable length without breaking, was spaghettification. Even a black hole needs to eat!

He slid one of his tokens back and forth with his fingertip, short, scraping jerks of wood against wood, thinking.

“Direct attack on my life points,” he muttered.

“Yeah, you also got me pretty good,” Yuugi chuffed. “Let’s call it even. But relax. It’s just cooking. I love the process, and I love the result, and I love doing stuff for my friends. It’s not some big… metaphorical… symbol of something. This - " he lifted his mittened hand - "doesn't mean anything except I mishandled a knife. It’s not like… you and Duel Disks.”

But Seto also loved the process and the result and more than once he'd injured himself, machining parts or fiddling with wires that, like all wild living things, bit back in fear of his touch. He splayed his hand over the table, watching blood drip onto his work station, knowing he should get up, clean it, bandage it. But it was only two in the morning and there was work to do.

“The Duel Disk is a symbol of Kaiba Corp’s future,” he said, closing his hand into a fist. "I know what you've done for your friends. I’ve seen it. Doesn't that merit the same... mythology?"

Yuugi gave him a funny look, half skeptical, half knowing.

"That’s nice of you, thank you," he said, and an uncomfortable blush crawled up Seto’s neck. Sometimes he did understand. “Are you sure you don't want me to cook for you?”

Seto opened his mouth, closed it, folded his arms on the table. He felt like he was trying to explain the feeling of the color blue, or the arguments for why numbers do or don’t exist, or what it was like to dream. Well, you see, the last time I saw Atem, he told me - correction: the last time as in the most recent link in a chain of time, not the last time as in the end of the line, because he also told me we’d see each other again - he told me to enjoy this, and you know me, I never do what I’m told. And I can’t do what he told me to do because he was my friend, and if friendship is just getting caught in a great sticky web of small cuts and large cuts and burns and bruises and tears and suffering because they’re here and suffering because they’re not, then just go ahead and let the spider drink me up and dump what’s left of me in the dirt. I am so sick and tired of pain. Mine. Yours. Ours.

But he did enjoy these afternoons. He was enjoying the process of making this: he had more with Yuugi now than he ever had before. He reached across the table and took Yuugi’s bandaged hand between his own hands, running his thumb carefully over the inked warning. Yuugi's hand relaxed in his. Yes, Yuugi was wrong. It was the same as Duel Disks. In any act of creation there was pain, there was power, and there was glory. What difference was there between a hologram of a dragon and a steaming bowl of soup? Both nourished something. Both were an answer to hunger. Discovering an emptiness and filling it.

“Okay,” he said, releasing Yuugi’s hand. “Alright. Cook for me.”

“Yeah?!” Yuugi said, with rising excitement, beaming. “What should I make? What do you like?”

“Make me a steak,” Seto said, smiling. It felt good to see Yuugi smile. His hypothesis neatly undermined. See? It’s not all damage. “No. Surprise me.”

#fanfiction #intern memo #rivalshipping #a lite snack... once i've written up a few more i'll cross post to AO3 #okay good Night i am. wiped the fuck out

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sanktnikolais · 3 years

Text

Invisible String

The three major events of Zoya's life that Nikolai has had glimpses of, and he feels her emotions all the way to his side of the invisible string connecting them.

or that zoyalai psychic/emotional connection au

@grishaverseonline mission 12: favourite character - nikolai lantsov

A/N: guess who’s posting a new content after months of hiding? HAHAHA. This was supposed to be posted yesterday for my birthday but I wasn’t able to finish early. So have this late birthday treat from me. ;-;

Warning tho, contains some RoW spoilers, and contains the alternate version (Am’s version LMAO) of the garden scene.

Word count: 5174

They said that it would take a lot for one to get accustomed to the pain that came with losses.

Nikolai never realized he had lost so much until he had everything within his reach.

He didn’t know it was already a loss when his mother had decided to be unfaithful to the King of Ravka and bore an illegitimate child with a Fjerdan merchant. He didn’t know it was already a loss when he had met a certain brown-haired boy in one of his private classes, not knowing that he would be the reason why that same boy would be drafted early for the war that would take his life later on. He didn’t know it was already a loss when he still tried to seek the approval of the older brother that never wanted him, and that would end up in him developing a cunning personality to gain acceptance from everyone around him. He didn’t know it was already a loss when he dropped the guillotine that would imply that his father was guilty of such a heinous crime, exiling both him and his queen to a faraway place, never to set foot on the country they had sworn to protect yet failed in every possible way.

It only came to him, when he was finally sitting on the throne and overseeing a broken country, that he hadn’t really gained anything along the way. Only nightmares that weighed on his shoulders and kept him awake at night, and the black scars that were just as dark as the blood of every life lost in the war coating his hands.

And pain.

Both the ones he had known and acknowledged, and the sudden, unexplainable bursts of physical or emotional pain that came to him in the most random times throughout his life.

Nikolai didn’t know when it started. Being a young royalty that grew up doing everything in his own cunning way had taught him to mask the pain into something less hurting. Whether it was telling horrible jokes or making something more complicated by talking too much—it was his way to beat around the bush and away from the impending truth, thinking that if he ignored it long enough, he would forget it.

It worked, somehow, but it only pent up the emotions in his heart that were bound to explode later on.

Even though that fact was clear to him, it still wasn't enough to justify his first, sudden outburst when he was twelve.

It was quite a normal day—he had another hour with the extra reading on chemistry and Kaelish history he had requested from his tutors, and he was stuck in the library until the late hours of the afternoon. But the truth behind it, however, was to have time to sneak in and out of the palace to visit Dominik and his family in the countryside.

The whole day of learning to braid Dominik's sisters' hair had ended happily, with Nikolai able to finish tying all of them, albeit resulting in tangles that would need more attention to fix later.

You'll get used to it, Dominik had mused with a light laugh. I didn't learn this in just one day.

Nikolai thought of them on his way home, seeing how their smiles seemed to reach their eyes when they laughed around each other, something he never saw or felt in the Grand Palace. An unwanted pricking stung his eyes, and he immediately reached up to wipe the tears away. It was foolish to be longing for something insignificant when he already had everything he needed. He could just ask anything from his servants and tutors, and they would appease his request without question. So why was he suddenly—

His throat clogged up with muffled sobs, the sickening feeling of both anger and sadness constricting his heart as if there was a fist was trying to crush it. The next thing he knew, he was collapsing on the palace gardens, and the tears were endless.

The wind picked up around him, followed by the sound of thunder. But they fell deaf in his ears as the wails tore from his throat.

Then it happened. The dreadful images of a ruined church and a horrified expression from the face of an old man flashed before his eyes, along with the searing feeling of anger directed to him.

But then the images faded as fast as they had come, and there was the sudden hollow feeling in his chest.

Palace guards found him in the same spot a few hours later, curled into a fetal position as if to shield his body from harm. The King had demanded he explain what had happened, and knowing their judgment to anything Nikolai had ever done and said made him lie. He told them he had hurt himself when he tripped and fell in the gardens, and they easily believed it as it was his own foolishness. There was no way they would believe him even if he tried to tell the truth.

He had been sent to a Healer right after that to check for other injuries, even when he knew to himself there wasn't any.

Except for the sudden hollowness in his heart that could never be filled.

***

The next one didn't happen until three years later, when Nikolai was fifteen.

He would never know what had given him away, but years of sneaking back and forth in the palace made him careless, and it was only a matter of time before Vasily, his ever cruel brother, knew about it.

"You're just turning sixteen," Vasily said with a sneer. "But you're already tumbling peasant girls. You're no better than father."

Fear gripped at his mind almost instantly when he realized that this mistake would befall on Dominik. Nikolai knew too well how commoners who had done something wrong would be punished by being barred from the palace in disgrace, sending them back to their families with nothing else but their clothes and themselves.

Nikolai had begged Vasily to hold his tongue, to keep a secret for him. But if there was one thing he knew about his older brother, it was that Vasily never cared about him.

So why would Vasily care about some boy with no name?

"Do you understand what you have done?" Nikolai asked furiously the next morning when he had cornered Vasily in the lapis drawing room.

Vasily merely shrugged. “Your friend won’t get to study with his betters, and you won’t get to keep rambling in the fields like a commoner. I’ve done you both a favor.”

“His family will lose their stipend. They may not be able to feed themselves without it.” His rage was boiling into something much worse, and he could feel it coursing through his veins. But he still held back. It was his weakness, he realized, that he didn’t have the heart to lash out his anger on someone close to him, no matter how cruel they had treated him. “Dominik won’t be exempt from the draft next year.”

“Good. The crown needs soldiers,” said Vasily. Then he scoffed, giving Nikolai a once-over. “Maybe he’ll learn his place.”

Nikolai had expected his anger to explode, all the pent-up emotions to finally be let go. But he felt disappointed instead, as if he had lost something important. It took him a second to realize that he had lost his respect and admiration for his older brother.

For years, he thought that Vasily was better than their father. Whereas their father sat slouched on the throne and shoulders hunched when he stood, Vasily was the exact opposite of him. He always stood tall, chin held up high. He was the spitting image of what Nikolai had imagined a royal should be.

But Nikolai had never been ashamed to admit that he was so wrong.

"You should be ashamed," said Nikolai quietly.

But Vasily only jabbed a finger to Nikolai’s chest. “You do not tell me what I should or shouldn’t do, Sobachka," he snarled, his voice laced with poison, the same one that Nikolai almost drank when Vasily had mixed a droplet of it into Nikolai's cup. "I will be a king, and you will always be Nikolai Nothing.”

Then it happened again, the strange images appearing before his eyes. Where Nikolai expected it to be the same ones he saw four years ago, they were different this time.

The drawing room morphed into a rough terrain full of snow, and an enormous white tiger had replaced the spot where his brother was in front of him, its teeth bared and hind legs laid back to pounce.

It was then he felt the sudden feeling to protect himself, his survival instincts kicking in, and he did just that. The images faded, his surroundings fading back to the drawing room.

With a strength that came from nights spent roughhousing with peasants and workers alike in some shady fight club in Os Alta's outskirts, Nikolai snatched his brother's finger that was on his chest and twisted hard.

Vasily fell to the ground with a yelp. He looked impossibly small. A satisfying feeling settled itself in Nikolai's chest. It was most likely the worst he had seen his brother, and if Nikolai had only known that his older brother was nothing more than a facade to hide such a vile and weak face underneath, he wouldn't have wasted his whole life trying to be like Vasily.

"A king never kneels, brother," Nikolai hissed before he left his brother's prone form on the ground.

He was sure that Vasily wouldn't let him forget what he had done to him.

But the next time his brother would try to come for him, Nikolai would be ready.

***

The worst one happened almost five years later.

He was finally fulfilling his dream as a privateer in the seas, and the name Sturmhond was born right in the middle of the True Sea, never to be forgotten by all sailors and pirates as the years would go on.

It was supposed to be a diplomatic meeting with the Fjerdan traders that came from Djerholm. They were set to talk about the territories, with Fjerda claiming that they didn’t allow enemy ships to sail freely at the northern True Sea without permits unless they wanted their ships obliterated by Fjerda. Nikolai had wanted to laugh when he saw the ship; it was too enormous and too sturdy-looking to be of trading purposes only. He assumed that it had to be a warship since its captain and crew were too confident to stop the Volkvolny. No one ever dared to go against the Volkvolny —the black sails that had guided them for years were already a familiar sight to all the sailors and pirates. Though it was smaller than any warships in the seas, it could still go on par with ships twice as big as it, and it had sunk numerous vessels and gotten away unscathed.

These Fjerdan ‘traders’ should have known better than to get in the Volkvolny’s way.

True enough, when Nikolai had stepped into the enemy ship to negotiate the terms, he immediately noticed the heavy artillery carelessly covered by a rag on the main deck. They had even attempted to blend it in among the cargo crates scattered on the floor, but the canons were obvious underneath the thin material covering them. He let out a breath. He suddenly wasn’t sure if going here with only his two Shu mercenary turned personal guards was ideal. At least twenty rough-looking men were surrounding them, and their captain, Captain Hjar, was only a bit shorter than Tolya, and yet he still looked impossibly tall than all of them. His hair had been cropped close to his skin, exposing the lined scar that ran from his temple to the spot behind his ear.

Tamar had voiced out her concerns then, telling him that something was not right, and Nikolai acknowledged it greatly. The Shu mercenary’s gut instincts already saved their lives countless times before, and he wasn’t going to ignore that. But he knew the Fjerdan crew’s taste for dominance. He wasn’t just going to let these men do as they please to the travelers that would pass their private routes.

He could only hope that this risky meeting they were doing would turn in their favor.

And yet as soon as they stood in front of Captain Hjar and his men, the wooden bridge that connected the two ships was cut off, causing shouts of protest from his crew back in his ship.

“Oh, wow," said Nikolai with mocking surprise. Tolya and Tamar tensed behind him, their hands already poised on the weapons strapped to their belts. He turned back to Hjar. "We haven't even started the meeting yet."

Captain Hjar only smirked. "Better not waste your time, little wolf," he said, his voice scratchy as if he had been shouting his whole life. "Why try to prolong this when it would still end in the same result?"

"Lay down your sword, Hjar."

"These men would be making bread from the bone and skin of skinny Ravkan boys tonight, little wolf. And I can assume your ship has plenty of valuables, aye? I cannot promise not to hurt your men," he said, and his men laughed together with him. When he stopped, his cold eyes held a dangerous glint as he stared at the twins behind Nikolai. "And it'd be fun to have some nice, warm campfire with those two Grisha of yours."

Something in Nikolai's mind had quieted, shutting out anything logical from coming into his head. The thoughts halted. His rage slowly took over like a monster finally overwhelming its prey. He felt numb and empty, and he realized that the rage was focused on the Fjerdan captain.

Then for the third time in his life, it happened again. Everything else faded around him and threw him under the landscape of complete darkness. It was like he had been thrown into the Fold. After a moment, it blurred and shifted to another—a small, empty shop in some town he couldn't recognize where. Then it shifted again, and this time, it showed him a man who was on his knees, clawing at his throat as if he were struggling to breathe.

Nikolai held onto those images in vain, so he could make sense of them earlier on. But the rage inside him had him forgetting them in a snap, and all he could feel was anger. Anger towards everything.

With that, his body relaxed, and he regarded Hjar with a calm tone. These men needed to know their places. "Maybe you're right about that, Hjar," he asked, and he saw the Fjerdan captain acknowledge him with mocking curiosity. "But it wouldn't be my men who would be butchered today."

He saw the shift of expression from the Fjerdan captain's face, and Nikolai pounced with his own sword.

The fight hadn't even lasted for a minute. Hjar's men had completely underestimated the mercenary twins by just being Grisha, but they were just as deadly as any well-trained assassins. Soon enough, Nikolai’s crew had the Fjerdans tied up and shoved them down their knees, with Hjar at Nikolai’s mercy. But he felt nothing at all.

"You want to know something, captain?" asked Nikolai mildly as he went behind the burly man and held up his tied hands on his back. Hjar gave a pained grunt. Then Nikolai leaned down near the man's ear. "Foolish old captains aren't fit meat for Ravkan men."

Then he took out his knife and cut the Fjerdan captain's fingers.

Nikolai barely heard the man's screams or even felt the blood gushing out from the wounds. He just felt numb all over. If his crew noticed the sudden change in his behavior, they didn't voice it out. Only the twins were the ones who showed a bewildered reaction as Nikolai held the decapitated fingers in his bloodied hands.

He threw them over his crew's guard hound dog at the side. "Eat up, Razjen," he said. "I'm pretty sure the dogs would appreciate that kind of meat given to them."

That same night, he and his Volkvolny crew had drunk and eaten to their guts' limits from the spoils they had divvied up from the Fjerdan trader ship. From the night until the earliest hours of dawn, they had laughed, celebrated, and sung until their throats were raw and their bellies full.

But when the night ended and Nikolai had retreated into the confines of the captain's quarters, he had thrown up everything he had eaten until tears stung his eyes. He had expected them to stop when he was done, but it only worsened as sobs and wails tore from his lips again, just like it had almost a decade ago, when he had collapsed in the palace gardens and cried himself out for a reason he had never known.

And as the hours passed and night broke into dawn, the tears had finally stopped. Nikolai fell asleep, but the hole that had made its way to his heart from the first time he felt the sudden shift in his emotions now only felt deeper than before.

***

Nikolai blinked as he felt the heavy tug in his heart again. It was much more painful than before as if whatever at the other end of the string wanted him to hurt on purpose, and he was left to choose whether to still follow her in or not.

The funeral had ended hours ago but he could still feel the heaviness and gloom lingering in the air. He wanted to visit Genya in her quarters for the night, just to extend whatever he could offer her for the meantime. But he decided against it when he rounded the corner leading to the Tailor’s chambers, and that’s when he saw Zoya coming out from the door. She had lingered outside for a moment, her hand clutching at the handle as if to hold herself upright. If he looked harder, he was sure it really was the reason as he saw her shoulders shaking and her head was bowed down, something his general never did.

A searing pain in his chest made him wince, the hurting so painful it felt like he had just been burned by a branding iron. The want—the need—to reach out for her was the only thing he had wanted to do at that moment. But he willed the thought away, remembering how the things were between them.

They did not look to each other for comfort, and he knew the last thing Zoya would want was for him to give her his sympathies. It had been their unspoken agreement ever since Ravka was put on their shoulders. There was no time for sentiments, they would only spiral them down much worse.

After another minute of silence, Zoya had quietly left, her form completely blending in with the gloominess that surrounded the palace walls. Nikolai decided to follow her out then, and it led him to now, following her through the dark, narrow walkway that led into someplace he wasn’t sure of. Tangles of vines pricked at his skin as he walked further. Eventually, he reached the other end of the path, and the sight of the place astonished him.

Flowers and shrubs of every variety were lined up in the soil beds, overwhelming the ground in different colors. The open ceiling of the area had allowed frost and snow to fall over the plants, and it coated the leaves and petals alike. It looked almost like a small world of only peace and serenity, and yet it felt like a garden of sadness, with grief dripping on every plant and bleeding through the four walls that surrounded it.

Nikolai spotted Zoya in the middle of the dim garden, her back turned to him as she looked around. Snow was starting to fall, and it caught in the dark waves of her hair. Under the moonlight, she was glowing, a saint watching over the people. But behind the light that masked her real face, something was wrong. What once was her perfect stance and chin held high, she was now hunched, bent down, as if she were hiding from the world.

Then he felt it again, the sharp and painful tug in his chest. But this time, it felt different. This time, it was leading in a direction.

And it was leading towards her.

Nikolai blinked, his eyes widening a fraction. Could it be—

"I'm running out of room," she said, her voice barely a quivering whisper.

Had she known he was following her all along?

"Do you—" Nikolai shook his head, unsure of what to say. He tried again. "You tend to this place?"

Zoya was silent for a moment. Her shoulders had gone stiff the same way she was poised for battle. But Nikolai had merely asked a question, and he wondered if it was prying enough to cause that reaction from her.

"I needed somewhere to go to distract myself, and this has always been the place my feet would lead me to," she said quietly. "It was an old vegetable garden. I found it years ago, back when—" Her voice broke into a muffled cry, and yet there were no tears, like she refused to let them fall. She shook her head, her hands lifting as if to brag about the wonderful bunch of plants around her. But the gesture looked so helpless, so lost, and she let her arms fall back limply to her sides. Then in a broken whisper, she repeated, "I'm running out of room."

Nikolai's eyebrows drew tight in concern. He took a step towards her, and stopped almost immediately. It felt like he was treading across a dangerous line that neither of them ever had the guts to cross. Things were already too complicated, whether it’s about Ravka or about them, and he didn’t want to make things worse. But he refused to leave her on her own. Not like this.

Slowly, he made his way towards her, feeling the tug become stronger and stronger until he stopped at her side. He felt the cold seep through his clothes, harsh and biting like Zoya’s daily demeanor. But tonight, there was only grief and sadness, and it made everything even colder.

There was a long silence between them as he waited for Zoya to speak. Or if she wanted to speak. He wasn’t going to force anything from her. It was already a painful day for them to get through, and he wouldn’t add to the burden they were all carrying on their shoulders. He was grateful for the silence either way.

But when Zoya spoke later, her voice was quiet, lacking the usual sharpness it always had. “I plant something new for every Grisha lost,” she started. And there it was again, the heavy feeling in Nikolai’s chest that weighed down on him and made him struggle to breathe. It took all of Nikolai not to reach out for her. Then she lifted her hand and started pointing to the plants. “Heartleaf for Marie. Yew for Sergei. Red Sentinel for Fedyor. Even Ivan has a place. He was once a soldier like us too, before the Darkling corrupted him.” She touched her fingers to a frozen stalk near the edge of the soil bed. “This was for Harshaw, and they will blossom bright orange in the summer, just as bright as his ridiculous hair.”

Nikolai felt a small smile twitch on his lips. There was an obvious jest in her tone, but her words were sad, still haunted by the past war they could never be free of. He reached for the plant, letting his fingers touch its leaves delicately. He dusted off the frost from the leaves’ surface, and it almost looked as new as ever. The Inferni had once fought beside him in the mountains and with Alina and the others in the Fold, proving his loyalty up until the very end. It was unfortunate that he didn’t get to see past the war as it had already taken his life.

“These Dahlias were for Nina when I thought she’d been captured and killed by the Fjerdans,” Zoya continued, her hands reaching out to the flowers next to Harshaw’s. “They bloom with the most ridiculous red flowers in the summer. They’re the size of dinner plates.” Then as steady as her hands were when she first reached out to touch them, they began to tremble badly. “This was the last one I vowed that I would plant. I kept promising myself over and over and over. But they only kept increasing. There was no end. And now David—” She stopped abruptly, her throat clogging up with a quiet sob. “I’m running out of room, Nikolai.”

A tear escaped Nikolai’s eye, and he quickly wiped it away. He didn’t know why he did that. Earlier in the funeral, he didn't shed a single tear when he gave the eulogy, only the prickling pain that gave the first signs of tears. But they didn’t fall. Guilt had been clawing at him ever since, thinking that he hadn’t cared enough to show that he was mourning the loss of an old friend. It was only reasonable to cry; they were all grieving, after all. So why still hide, when there was no one else to see him?

Then he realized it was what he had been used to. This was what they were taught. You don’t let yourself wallow in sadness—you get back up and continue on. No matter how heavy the weight on your shoulders was.

Soldiers did not cry. Princes did not weep. And kings should never get fazed by such sentiments and emotions.

But what if it was the only thing left to do?

Nikolai glanced at Zoya, seeing tears staining her cheeks as well. She wiped at them hastily and tried her best to blink them away. He heard her draw in a shuddering breath.

“They will continue to thrive and bloom as long as they get taken care of,” said Zoya, her fingers curling around a stalk from the dahlias. “But what if they don’t? What if they stopped even as I tend to them everyday?”

He immediately understood the deeper meaning behind her words. Every life lost under her watch; every Grisha blood staining her hands. It was the weight on her shoulders she had always carried, a weight that existed ever since she had been a soldier, up until now that she was their general.

If he could only take all the burden from her chest and carry it along with his own, he would have done it. But that wasn’t how it worked. They were all bound to have their own burdens—it would only be a matter of difference with the people around them that would help them get back up on their feet whenever they get too tired from carrying it all.

Nikolai let out a long breath, his gaze landing on the twisting gray branches that ran along the perimeter of the garden. He recognized it right away. “Thorn wood,” he murmured. He felt Zoya’s confusion even before she could voice it out, so he continued speaking. “It grows around, protecting everything within these walls, stronger than anything else in the garden, weathering every season. No matter the winter it endures, it still persists, all prickles and thorns and spines anger just to keep protecting everything here.” Then he turned to her, looking down at the bright and never-ending flames behind her eyes. He gave her a lopsided smile. “Those thorns, they remind me of you. Prickly and sharp, just like you are. But its purpose was to protect all these flowers and plants, like the way you protect our people.”

Zoya almost looked like she was on the brink of breaking, but her questions persisted. “And what if the winter is just too long and hard? What if it can’t continue protecting them all?”

He was afraid to reach for her, but he did it anyway. He took her gloved hand in his, and when he expected her to pull away, she didn’t. Instead she folded into him like a flower closing its petals at nightfall. “Then it would still be there, watching over all the flowers and plants, giving them the sense of protection, keeping them strong until the summer comes, even as its life withers away.” He gave her hand a gentle squeeze, a laugh escaping his lips. “I do hope I made sense with all that blabbering.”

This earned a huff from his general. “Who says you ever did?” she said, but he felt her hand squeeze his back, gratitude evident even from that smallest of gestures. That was when tears fell from her eyes again, and Nikolai felt some of his own as well.

Trusting what his gut told him to do, he wrapped his arm around her.

And in the same exact moment, Nikolai didn’t feel the painful tug in his chest anymore. It was as if he had undone all the tangles and knots between, and he could finally pass through the thread without difficulties.

Zoya seemed to hesitate for a moment, and then with a soft breath, she let herself lean against him. Zoya the deadly. Zoya the ferocious. The weight of her against him felt like benediction, the long lost piece from the puzzle that he had been trying to figure out for years. For the first time in his short life, he felt at peace. He had been strong for his country, his soldiers, his friends. It meant something entirely different to be strong for her.

When he thought that they did not look at each other for comfort, he had just been understanding it quite differently. No, they gave each other comfort in their own way—whether it was through sharp wits and harsh words that kept their will stronger, or even just through knowing looks and long silences. It was their way to tell each other that they were always there to keep each other marching on their feet, and pull each other from the darkness they were both continuously fighting their way out of.

There would still be a lot of problems to face, obstacles to get past with, lives to be lost. But they would be alright. They still had each other to get through everything, and it was enough.

Together.

And that’s how it would be from then on until the very end.

***

He used to believe that the other end of the string was just like any other end, blunt and empty. Not once did he ever think that he could be wrong.

Now, Nikolai knew one thing. It would always lead towards her.

#zoyalai #zoya nazyalensky #nikolai lantsov #king of scars #my writing #hHNNNNGGGG #guess who came back to post some shitty mess #HALJKHASDFLJAS #the canon events in their childhood are so close to their ages so it's quite fun to make these parallels #and it's sad sad #;-;#i hope i did justice with the garden scene rewrite/alternate version #tiff came up with this idea some time ago and i only finished it today T-T #everyone go support tiff and her galaxy brain plz #no that is not a request #it's now time to disappear again for another few months HAHAH

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