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littlesoka7567 · 6 months

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It's Not Your Fault Ch. 2

Summary:

“If it was Omega, would you say it’s not a big deal?” Echo asks softly, shifting his weight. “If it was Crosshair, or me, or anyone else?” Hunter works his jaw, looking to the sleeping pair in annoyance. “I’m not Omega.” “No, you aren’t. You’re Hunter, our sergeant and our brother. We care about you, and we worry about you, the same way we all worry about each other.”

Notes: Progress is being made by all batchers!!

Warnings: Whump, trauma, major injuries, issues with eating, probably inaccurate medical discussions.

Rating/WC: T/4450 words

~~~

Tech is curled up again, tapping slowly at his datapad. Wrecker is still asleep, unmoving. He walks past both of them, striding over to Crosshair’s bed.

Cross looks up from Omega, watching Hunter. His mouth is set in a displeased frown; he isn’t buying the act either. “Sorry about that, Omega. I’m back now. Are you hungry?”

Omega pries her face away from Crosshair’s chest, looking up at him. She nods, wiggling her way out of Crosshair’s arms and taking his hand again.

“Hunter,” Cross drawls, right as Hunter is about to lead them out.

Hunter looks up, forcing a smile. “Did you need anything?”

Crosshair doesn’t respond for several seconds, before he sighs and stands. “I want to go too.”

Hunter blinks in surprise, but nods quickly. “Yeah-yeah, okay. Let’s go.”

Echo comes back in and sits at the chair beside Tech, watching the trio leave. Hunter pointedly ignores them both.

The mess hall on this ship is always half deserted, but never fully. Most of the people who use this rebel ship don’t use it as a home base, only as an HQ. It houses mostly rogue clones like Rex, refugees from the Empire that don’t have their own ships, and the occasional leaders of the rebellion who never want to stray too far from home base. Everyone else simply visits, or comes in for missions only.

Today, it is thankfully almost completely empty. There is a set of high ranking rebels discussing plans in low voices in the corner, and a few clones littered around which Hunter doesn’t recognize, all sitting by themselves. Perfect.

Hunter leads them to the mess line, using one hand to lead Omega and the other to scoop food onto his own and Omega’s trays. Crosshair follows silently, looking over his shoulder an almost worrying number of times. Hunter wonders if it’s simple paranoia, or if Crosshair is hearing something that isn’t real.

“Can you hold your own tray?” Hunter asks Omega softly, making sure his voice doesn’t carry. He can already feel curious eyes of the fellow clones watching over them, and he wants to minimize Omega and Crosshair’s discomfort as much as he can.

Omega nods, grabbing it. He balances his own tray and leads them to an empty table by a wall. He sits down with his back to the rest of the mess hall, allowing Cross to have the peace of mind that comes with a covered back. If anyone were to approach them, Hunter would hear it long before they got there.

They eat in silence for a long while, Omega’s left hand on his right elbow, moving with him every time he has to move his arm to get another bite. Which isn’t often; he’s more concerned with making sure she eats her own tray, and watching Crosshair out of the corner of his eye.

“Hunter,” Crosshair murmurs, voice low but on edge. “Is that person staring at us?”

Hunter looks up from Omega’s tray, looking around the room to find the person Cross is talking about. “Where do you see them? There’s no one looking at us.”

“Oh,” Crosshair says, and Hunter turns just in time to see him looking away from the entrance down at his plate.

“Do they look different?” Hunter asks, turning to encourage Omega to take another bite before looking back at Crosshair. “The people in your hallucinations?”

“No,” Cross answers shortly, stabbing another bite and chewing slowly as Hunter waits for elaboration. “If I could tell the difference, I wouldn’t have to ask, would I?”

Hunter chews on the inside of his cheek for a minute, doing his best to not show his annoyance. “They’ll go away eventually,” Hunter clips, turning his attention back to Omega. “Once all the drugs are out of your system completely and the detox stage is over.”

Omega puts her fork down, looking up at Hunter and then to his tray.

“How much longer will they last, medic Hunter?” Crosshair drawls, sarcasm dripping from every word. “It’s already been a week.”

“I don’t know,” Hunter says, scooping some food onto his own fork and letting it hover just above his tray. “The actual medic said it can take a few weeks or even a month to completely detox, due to the levels of the drug in your system. It was a lot.”

Omega taps his wrist, and Hunter sighs and forces the bite into his mouth. He puts his fork down, trying to chew through the nausea and not let it get to him. It’s just food, his body is made to consume it; why can’t he just eat it like he used to?

“So I could still have another two or three weeks of this?” Crosshair hisses, gripping his own fork hard enough it turns white.

“Yes,” Hunter says, because Echo is the optimistic one and if Crosshair wanted optimism he would have eaten in the medbay like he usually does. “But they’ll get easier to handle and further apart in appearance every day.”

Cross slams his fork on the table with a bang, and Omega whimpers and throws herself into Hunter’s side. Hunter just wraps an arm around her, pulling her closer and trying to make her feel as safe as possible. “Sorry, Omega, I didn’t mean to scare you,” Cross murmurs, looking down in shame and wrapping his arms around himself.

“I think it might be time to head back anyway,” Hunter says softly, petting Omega's hair to coax her out of his side. “It’s okay Omega, it was just Crosshair. Nothing scary. Nothing is going to hurt you.”

“You haven’t eaten much,” Crosshair says, looking between Omega and Hunter’s tray.

“Not hungry,” Hunter replies without thought, smiling when Omega pulls her face away to look up at Hunter. “There you are. Ready to go back to the room?”

Omega nods, looking around to reassure herself where she is before grabbing onto Hunter’s hand.

“Do you ever eat?” Crosshair asks, narrowing his eyes. “Because you don’t eat with us in the medbay. When you take Omega here do you just watch her eat and then take her back?”

Hunter shoots him a look, before helping Omega stand. He stacks their trays so he can carry it on one hand, and stands up himself. “I’m not hungry right now, Crosshair, just drop it.”

Crosshair takes the trays from him, glaring at him as he pushes past to walk in front. Instead of taking it to the trash like Hunter was going to, he simply walks out of the room and starts heading towards the medbay.

Hunter sighs, looking down at Omega with a tired smile. “Do you want to go see Tech and Echo, or go to our quarters to take a nap?”

He had hoped the question would encourage her to speak, but she simply shrugs and holds his hand in a death grip.

“Okay. Let’s go check on the boys first, at least.” Hunter leads the way, and the walk there is uneventful. There aren’t many people milling about, and there are no loud and sudden noises.

He opens the door to the medbay and frowns when he sees Echo and Crossair whispering in the far corner, Crosshair gesturing with the tray of food every once and a while. “Everything alright?” he calls, just loud enough to be heard but not so loud it scares Omega.

Echo looks over, a deep and disapproving frown in place. He walks over and smiles down at Omega, patting her head softly. “You look tired, Omega. Why don’t you curl up with Crosshair and help the both of you get a couple hours of sleep?”

Omega’s heart starts to quicken, and she looks to Hunter with wide eyes.

“I’ll be here,” he promises, squeezing her hand. “All of us will be right here.”

Omega clings to his arm, biting her lip as she looks between Crosshair and Echo.

“It’s okay, Omega. Hunter will stay here the whole time and none of us will let anything happen to you. I promise.” Echo brushes some hair behind her ear, and Omega leans into the touch.

Crosshair has put the tray down and crawled into the medical cot, settling down for a nap he probably won’t take if Omega isn’t there with him.

Omega takes a deep breath, and slowly lets go of Hunter’s hand. She looks up at him, and Hunter smiles reassuringly at her. “I won’t leave the room, I promise.”

Omega nods slowly, and then quickly makes her way across the room. Crosshair lifts the blanket and she dives in, cuddling into his side and turning to face Hunter and Echo. Crosshair puts a protective arm over her, and closes his eyes to either pretend or actually try to fall asleep.

Echo waits for Omega’s eyes to shut and her yawning to stop, before turning to Hunter. “Have you not been eating?”

Hunter sighs in annoyance. “I have been eating, just not a lot all at once. Look, I’m sorry I blew up at you guys earlier; you don’t have to start keeping tabs on me and worrying. You all have enough to worry about as it is.”

Echo frowns deeply, crossing his arms over his chest. “Hunter, we all take care of each other. It’s not your job alone to take care of us, and it isn’t your job to neglect yourself.”

“I’m fine!” Hunter hisses, careful to keep his voice low enough the others won’t hear. “I’m not hurt; I didn’t get blown up, I didn’t get shot, I didn’t break my back or hit my head, I wasn’t tortured. Nothing happened to me, I’m fine.”

“You have survivor's guilt,” Echo argues, and holds his hand up when Hunter starts to argue. “No, don’t. You know what I mean. You’re punishing yourself and blaming yourself because you didn’t get injured when the rest of us did. And that makes you feel guilty, so you’re torturing yourself and hurting yourself to ‘make up for it’.” He uses air quotes on the last part, and Hunter scowls at him. “It isn’t your fault you didn’t get hurt, and it isn’t your fault we did. It’s not your fault. You have to stop blaming yourself, to stop hurting yourself, if you really want to help us.”

Hunter shakes his head. “I’m not hurting myself, Echo. I just wasn’t hungry. It happens from time to time. You’re both blowing this way out of proportion.”

“Crosshair said that the only time you took a bite was when Omega encouraged you to,” Echo argues.

“Because I’m not hungry,” Hunter says, feeling so very tired suddenly. “It’s not deep, there’s no hidden cry for help in it. I’m just not hungry. I eat when I’m hungry, I promise.”

“Why aren’t you hungry?” Echo challenges. “Are you getting sick?”

“No, I’m just-” Hunter sighs, rubbing a hand over his face. “I don’t know why. Sometimes when I eat I’m fine, I finish a whole plate. Sometimes I’m only hungry enough for half, sometimes less. Sometimes I get nauseous when I’m eating so I don’t eat more than a couple bites. It’s not a big deal, it only happens every once and a while.”

“If it was Omega, would you say it’s not a big deal?” Echo asks softly, shifting his weight. “If it was Crosshair, or me, or anyone else. Would you still say it’s not a big deal if Omega was skipping meals or only eating half?”

Hunter works his jaw, looking to the sleeping pair in annoyance. “I’m not Omega.”

“No, you aren’t. You’re Hunter, our sergeant and our brother. We care about you, and we worry about you, the same way we all worry about each other.”

Hunter rubs at his temple, wishing he had some caf right now. A nap doesn’t sound all that bad, if he’s being honest. If he could close his eyes without seeing everything he’s trying to escape. “You don’t need to worry about me, Echo. I’m fine, I just-”

Echo suddenly moves to stand in front of Hunter’s line of sight, and he looks angrier than Hunter has seen from him in a very long time. “Hunter, how are you supposed to protect us if you’re half dead?”

Hunter’s eyes widen, and he staggers a step backwards. “Echo-”

“No, tell me. If Omega is in danger, how are you going to save her if you’re weak from exhaustion and hunger? How are you going to tell Crosshair his hallucinations aren’t real if you can’t keep your eyes open long enough to tell? How are you going to help with Tech’s physical therapy if you aren’t strong enough to hold his weight?” Echo steps closer, and Hunter feels like an animal being hunted. “Tell me, Hunter. How is you killing yourself going to help you do your job? How will that benefit us?”

Hunter turns away from Echo, from his accusatory stare, breathing heavily as he glares at the floor. “I’m fine.”

“For now,” Echo says, letting Hunter have that. “What about in a week from now? Two? What about a month from now, when you haven’t eaten or slept or worked out or done anything except look after us? You wanna know what you’ll look like? Just look at Crosshair.”

Hunter balls his hands into fists, feeling the nausea return. “Kark off.”

Echo scoffs, placing his hand on Hunter’s shoulder. “You’re only saying that because you know I’m right. You’ll be too weak to protect us soon, you’re working yourself down to the bone. You have to take care of yourself if you want to keep protecting us long term.”

Hunter finally turns back to Echo, his whole body shaking. He’s almost at another breakdown, he can feel it. And he doesn’t want to do that to any of them again. “What if something happens when I’m asleep? What if I go take a shower, and she needs me?”

Echo finally gives him a sad smile, his anger seeming to drain away. “Then we can take care of it. You’ll be down the hall, not across the galaxy. If we need you, you’ll be a few seconds away. Isn’t a few hours where you’re asleep better than you being awake but too exhausted to do anything?”

Hunter looks to Omega and Crosshair over Echo’s shoulder, sighing deeply. “I don’t…”

“You’re worrying her,” Echo says softly, making Hunter look at him. “She knows you aren’t okay, and it’s giving her unnecessary anxiety. Us, too, you know. You’re stressing me out.” Hunter flinches away from the accusation, looking down in guilt. “All you have to do is take care of yourself too, and that’ll stop. It’ll help all of us get better.”

Hunter runs a hand over his face, and finally nods. “Okay. Okay, yeah. I get it now.”

Echo smiles, clapping Hunter’s shoulder gently. He politely doesn’t say about time or point out how many ways he had to say it before Hunter accepted it. “Good. So you’ll take care of yourself?”

Hunter nods, wrapping his arms over his chest and sniffing once. “When she wakes up, I’ll let you and Cross distract her for a while so I can shower. I’ll grab something to eat and then I’ll-I’ll figure out how to sleep. Maybe we can all stay in here together and…I dunno. I’ll figure it out.”

“I’ll get some sleep after your shower, and when it’s your turn, I’ll keep Omega in here and you can sleep in the room. Away from the beeping and potential of being woken up by nightmares. I’ll watch her the whole time.”

“I don’t know if she’ll be able to sleep without me beside her,” Hunter mumbles. “She can barely exist without holding onto me.”

“She’s going to have to learn how eventually, Hunter. If she’s going to recover from what she’s been through, she’s going to have to do some difficult and scary things sometimes. But we’ll be here to help her through them, and she will get better.” Echo squeezes Hunter’s shoulder, before dropping his hand. “Your tray is still over there, if you want to try and finish it now. Then you can shower when she wakes up and I can get my own sleep in.”

Hunter sighs, looking at the tray. “I wasn’t putting on a brave face when it comes to that, I really don’t feel hungry.”

“Eat anyway,” Echo shrugs.

Hunter sighs and goes over to the tray, forcing himself to swallow every last bite. It tastes like shit, and he has to fight the urge to throw it all back up, but he gets through it.

It’s only a few minutes after he finishes eating that Omega’s eyes blink open. She finds Hunter quickly, and seems to relax immediately.

“Hey, kid,” he murmurs softly, not wanting to wake up Crosshair if he’s actually asleep. “How ya feeling?”

She nods and sleepily gives him a thumbs up.

“I finished my breakfast while you were asleep,” he tells her, pointing to his empty tray. She smiles at him, seemingly genuinely happy that he’s eaten. “When Cross wakes up, I…”

Echo comes over, having seen that she woke up too. “Me and Cross are gonna stay with you in here, with Tech and Wrecker, and Hunter is gonna take a quick shower, okay?” Omega’s eyes widen, and her breath starts to come quicker. “‘Cause he stinks really bad, doesn’t he?”

It startles a laugh out of her, and she looks to Crosshair to make sure she didn’t wake him up. But she laughed. She laughed, and Hunter was starting to wonder if she ever would again, but she did. She laughed. At his expense, sure, but he doesn’t even care.

Echo grins at her, taking her hand and squeezing it gently. “And if that goes well, and you’re not scared, we might even let Hunter take his own little nap later in our room, while you sleep in here with us. You can even pick who you bunk up with, yeah? You could try to sleep in Crosshair’s cot again, or you could try in my cot over there. Just to try it out, ‘cause I wasn’t there either, right? So if you wake up, you’ll see me, and you can still know that you’re safe.”

Omega worries her lip between her teeth, looking between Hunter and Echo. “‘Cause Hunter can’t sleep when I’m there?” she asks softly.

“No,” Hunter denies immediately, but Echo holds up his hand to stop Hunter.

“He struggles to sleep, because he wants to make sure you’re okay and you don’t need him. I think that if he knew you were taken care of, and that me and Cross were here to help if you needed anything, he could sleep a bit easier. He’s just overprotective, is all. It’s not because you’re there.”

Omega swallows thickly, but nods slowly. “Will you take me back to him if I…”

Echo nods quickly. “We’ll go peek in on him as many times as you want. But hopefully you won’t need to, ‘cause you’ll be asleep.”

Omega nods again, looking to Crosshair’s face again before looking back at Hunter. “You can go shower now, if you want,” she says, and then her heart speeds up and she grips the blanket over them tightly. “But-but a fast one, please.”

Hunter smiles at her, putting his hand over hers. “You won’t even miss me, that’s how fast I’ll be,” he promises.

Echo nods to Hunter, and grabs a stool to sit next to their bed. “Thank you, Hunter,” he whispers, and pats Hunter’s arm as he stands.

“I’ll be back soon,” he promises, patting Echo’s shoulder and heading towards the ‘fresher.

Hunter had trouble after the shower, feeling his exhaustion hit him in full force. He ate half of lunch and all of his dinner, keeping Omega awake and mostly entertained with the help of Crosshair. That part wasn’t hard; the hard part was taking care of Tech without the help of Echo.

Tech doesn’t blame Echo, he doesn’t get annoyed with everything Echo does. He doesn’t fight being fed by Echo like he does with Hunter. He lets Echo sit next to him and even hold his hand, he doesn’t push Echo away and ignore him in favor of his datapad.

Crosshair took pity on him at some point, telling Hunter that he was having trouble with hearing things and wanted help. When Hunter had gotten over there, he whispered to Hunter that he would watch Tech and if he needed something he'd just let Hunter know.

But finally, Echo wakes up and comes back, checking on Tech for a few minutes before walking over to where Hunter and Omega and Cross are. “Hey, guys,” he says softly.

Hunter smiles at him and nods. “Echo. Did you get enough sleep?”

“Yeah,” he says, smiling back. “Everything okay in here?”

“Tech’s eaten, Wrecker hasn’t changed, me and Cross and Omega ate in the mess. Everything is going fine, all things considered.” Hunter stands up and stretches, looking back at Omega sleepily. “Are you sure you’re willing to try this, Omega?”

Omega bites her lip and looks between him and Echo, who’s nodding at her encouragingly. She looks very nervous, but she finally nods and looks back to Hunter. “I can try. And-and I can come get you if I-”

“Of course,” Hunter is quick to reassure, putting a hand on her shoulder. “You can get me as soon as you need me, okay? I’ll be a minute away the whole time.”

“But we won’t need you,” Echo promises, squeezing Hunter’s shoulder. “Because Omega is going to do great, and she’ll fall asleep quick and she won’t even notice you aren’t here.”

Hunter smiles at them both, and then sighs softly. “Okay. Can you go check on Tech, and I’ll say goodnight?” Echo nods, shooting Omega one more reassuring smile. Hunter turns back to Omega. “He’s right, you know. Crosshair will be here the whole time, and so will Echo and Tech.” And Wrecker, but he doesn’t feel like pointing that out will help. “I promise, you’ll be just fine.”

Omega sniffles but nods, crawling into Crosshair’s arms who had been watching silently. “Sleep well, Hunter,” she whispers softly.

“You too, Omega. Night, Cross,” he says, nodding to him.

“Goodnight, Hunter,” Crosshair mumbles.

Hunter turns and checks on Wrecker once more, making sure he’s still out and stable. He sighs and starts to head to the door.

“Hunter?” Echo asks, and Hunter turns to him where he’s looking after Tech. “Can you come here a second?”

Hunter hesitates, but nods and detours to Tech’s bed. “What’s up?”

Echo looks to Tech, nodding at him encouragingly. Tech sighs and holds out his datapad, looking at Hunter expectantly. “He’s been working on this all day. He wants you to read it before you go to bed, but not in here.”

“Hm,” Hunter says, looking down at it. It’s still hovering over the instructions he gave Echo. “Okay,” he says, rubbing his thumb along the side of the device. He looks back up, smiling sadly at Tech. “I’ll read it.”

Tech nods once, before looking to Echo and signing get down to indicate he’s ready to lay down and sleep.

Hunter nods to them both and starts off towards their private quarters. He sits on his bed after locking the door, staring at the datapad without scrolling through it. He doesn’t know if he wants to read it, doesn’t know if he can handle it tonight. He’s so tired.

But he said he would, so he sighs and rubs a hand over his face before scrolling past the instructions.

I am very angry with you, Hunter.

Hunter lets out a heavy sigh, closing his eyes. He wants to say that’s enough for tonight, but he said he would. He said he would. Okay.

I am very angry with you, Hunter. I could not figure out why I was so angry at first. It has taken a lot of thinking and self reflection. Luckily, this past week has given me nothing but time to think and self reflect. (That was mostly a joke). At first, I thought I was angry at you because I blamed you for what happened to me. But I do not, and have never, blamed you for what happened. I made a calculated decision based on the information I had at the time, and given the chance to go back to that exact moment and try again, I would choose to do the same thing. Therefore, you cannot be blamed.

Then I began to wonder if I was mad at you despite this realization. I came to my conclusion earlier today when you looked at me the way you had been while doing my tests. Yes, I was still angry with you, and the feeling was very intense.

When Crosshair brought up that you have not been taking care of yourself, and you yelled at him about how everything was your fault, I finally figured it out. I am angry with you because I am angry that you blame yourself so thoroughly. We are a team, and we are all equals. You have said so, many times before. So why are you keeping all the blame for yourself when we all made our own decisions? I chose to shoot the car. Crosshair chose to warn us instead of fleeing and saving himself. You and Echo and Wrecker all chose to come back and save us, no matter the potential consequences, such as getting hurt. We made our own decisions, you did not make them for us.

Echo has told me what happened with Omega, as well. And even her capture was a result of her own decisions; her decision to leave the room you hid her inside and try and rescue you. That was her choice, and her consequences. If she had done what you told her to do, she would not have been captured.

You blaming yourself is what makes me so angry. If you put half as much effort into helping us recover as you did in feeling guilty, we would all be cured by now.

Take a nap and reread this if you need to. But stop spending so much time blaming yourself for the past and spend more time on helping us all get to the future.

Hunter has to reread it three times before he’s sure he’s read it right. Then he puts it down and lays down, staring up at the ceiling. He decides to take Tech’s advice-he’ll take a nap, and then think about it again when he wakes up.

#the bad batch #hunter bad batch #tech bad batch #echo bad batch #omega bad batch #crosshair bad batch #my writing #fanfic #tw: whump #tw: injury #tw: major injuries #tw: trauma

16 notes · View notes

landinoandco · 3 years

Note

Hey could you do one with max verstappen, where the reader a fight about him not helping around the house (witch he doesnt do because he is just tired from working hard but the reader dont know) so they yell at max and he suddenly walks away but then they find him crying in bed, because hes overworked and feels like hes never gonna be good enough at being a driver and the readers boyfriend. And feels like he can only dissapoint the reader, his dad and cristian. But the reader comforts him. Tnx

Because I'm not good enough...

Max Verstappen x Reader

Warnings: angsty

Word count: 2 k

Requests are open :)

You were sat at the dining room table, staring out at the empty seat in front of you. Your arms crossed across your chest and your lip in between your teeth. You had been sat there for an hour - in the grand scheme of things an hour didn’t seem like such a long time but it was his final warning and an hour was just long enough to allow for your anger to boil over.

Dinner was in the fridge - the same dinner you had cooked an hour ago, your phone lay screen up on the table - the same phone you used to call Max two hours and a half hours ago, he told you he was on his way home. Home whilst you were in the UK was 25 minutes away from the Redbull HQ. This was becoming a regular occurrence, some nights he would come home so late that you had already taken yourself to bed. The atmosphere in the house seemed to freeze over whenever he was around even though you were yet to come out of summer, there was something hanging over the pair of you - unspoken feelings and as of now a red hot anger that threatened to escape from your usually composed nature.

Ever since the championship had taken a turn in the favour of Redbull, Max had started to become much more distant. It started off with him not inviting you along to the races, leaving on the Wednesday before race weekend and sometimes not seeing him until the following Tuesday and that was on a stand alone race weekend. On the triple headers, it could be nearing two weeks until you two were spared 5 minutes alone and even then it was a brief conversation before he rushed back to the factory or to train.

You thought you knew what you signed up for and since yours and Max’s relationship and that was three years ago so you thought you had seen it all - been through it all with him, witnessed every high and every low. This was a new territory and you knew that if it wasn’t tackled soon -

The click of the door lock echoed in the hallway, you straightened in your seat - eyes locked ahead of you and your knee bouncing.

Max sighed loudly and wiped his hand over his face, it had been a long day - he had been at the factory up until Christian had invited him out to lunch, it was nice to catch up with his boss and Max felt like he owed the man so much; guiding him through the years that had led up to the moment they found themselves in. Max felt like over the past years he had matured as a person, sometimes still short tempered but being an F1 driver it wasn’t necessarily a bad trait. After his lunch with Christian, his dad had called him - the less said about the conversation the better. By the time you had called, the last thing he wanted to do was come home and risk upsetting you. He had taken himself on a run - to clear his head and focus on what he was going to say to you because he felt like something definitely needed to be said.

He also owed a lot to you, you had put up with so much over the years and standing by his side even when he had made a mistake - although you were very quick to tell him when he was in the wrong. You seemed to be on his level, a blunt and forward look at life - there was no time for dawdling about when you had things to be done. Life was short and there was no time to waste.

Recently however, he was putting so much pressure and stress on himself about work that the hours slipped away from him and so did the time spent with you. He felt the atmosphere change around the pair of you - as though he was always walking on thin ice, the cracks beginning to show. The guilt he felt was nothing like he had ever felt before, all he wanted to do was talk to you but he was scared of pushing you away - which is ironic because not talking and letting the pent up anger build up was having the same effect. He was never that good when it came to talking about how he felt - as much as he wanted to he felt as though he would be a burden and that he would put too much pressure on you. He could never tell you what he really felt like inside. It was embarrassing, he knew that a professional athlete should never feel what he felt. It weakened him and having weaknesses in a sport like Formula 1 was not an option.

Max shrugged his coat off and walked through to the main room of the apartment - the room where you were sat waiting to pounce as though he was your unsuspecting prey.

He offered a tired smile, in response he got a sneer. Swallowing hard, you felt the anger take over, like some monster escaping from a cage.

“I have been sitting here for an hour, Max -” You shot to your feet, pointing at the table, your voice cracked slightly. “For months, you’ve been leaving me - it’s me who’s been cooking for us both, cleaning, washing - everything, Max. By myself.” You were shouting now, your heart threatening to break free from your chest. Max just stood there, a blank expression on his face - his gaze fixed to the ground. “I don’t understand what went wrong, Max. We were happy, hell, we spoke to each other. Now, I’m alone. In fact, I may as well be alone if this doesn’t change.” The words had fallen out of your mouth before you had any time to consider them - or the consequences. Your eyes went round with shock and you fell back to your seat. A loud silence filled the room.

Max, too, had not expected the words that had initiated the silence. He opened his mouth, eyes still on the ground, then closed it again before raising his head and looking you dead in the eye.

“You don’t mean that.” He managed to mutter, barely being able to raise his voice any louder. He felt a tired emptiness, this was the last thing he had wanted to happen.

“That’s all you have to say to me.” You rounded on him again, angry tears threatening to fall from your eyes.

“No - I -” He stuttered, then closed his eyes, inhaling slowly, “I just don’t think we should talk things through whilst you’re angry -” He saw you about to interject, when he raised his hands. “You have every right to be. That’s not what I’m saying. I think we should wait to talk about it so we don’t say things we are going to regret later.” Max could feel his throat constricting, he was battling to keep his emotions at bay.

You sniffed and nodded slowly, placing your head in your hands - hot tears escaping and shoulders tensed.

Max swallowed thickly, his eyes swimming with tears. He made a move and after no interruption left the room. He had only made it to the stairs before he collapsed, the fatigue getting the better of him. He was such an idiot, a fact he was certainly aware of now, how could he have let things get this bad. Did that make him a selfish person?

He couldn’t hold it in any longer, a harsh sob escaping from his mouth - fingers shaking and his head a loud mess.

As soon as Max had left the room, you had gotten up to get some water - when you paused, a sound catching your attention - a deep sounding sob. You waited, a line appeared between your brows. Slowly and carefully, you inched towards the door - waiting with baited breath for the sound again.

It was coming from the stairs and there was only one person it could be. Regret instantly pooled in the pit of your stomach, you hadn’t meant for him to cry. You were just so angry and he needed to know that.

“Max.” You called out softly, unsurprisingly there was no response. You went in the direction of the stairs and hunched over in front of you was your boyfriend - attempting to stifle his sobs. You rushed forwards, placing your arms around his shoulders and pulled his body into yours. Instinctively he wrapped his arms around your waist. You kissed the top of his head, stroking his hair as he continued to cry - you allowed him to empty his emotions out; some tears of your own betraying you entirely.

“I’m sorry, I really am.” Came a muffled voice. Pausing, you released your hold of him and placed your hands either side of his face - offering him a watery smile. Then, using your sleeves you wiped his tears away - he watched your every move, waiting for you to say something. When you didn’t, he braced himself - lips trembling; he knew it was now or never. He had to tell you how he really felt.

“I’m not good enough.” He stated simply, his eyes glossy. Your forehead furrowed. “I’m never going to be good enough to take the championship, I’m going to let everyone down. Everyone that has ever believed in me - it doesn’t matter what I do, how much work I put in - I’m never good enough. And you -” He paused, meeting your gaze, a lump forming in the back of your throat. “I keep letting you down, time and time again. I was the one who caused this, I’m never going to be good enough for you.”

“If you believe that -” You began, kissing the newly formed tears away, “Then I will eat your race shoe.” You moved to sit next to him on the stairs, pulling him into your side. “Why didn’t you tell me that’s how you felt.”

You felt Max shrug, the side of his head resting on yours. “I didn’t want to burden you with all of my problems, you already put up with so much.”

“I will always have time for you, Max.” Grasping his hand in yours, “You are enough, you are more than enough. You are Max Verstappen, the fastest, strongest guy I know.” You chuckled lightly, “I know it may sometimes feel like that and that’s ok. You are putting yourself through so much - maybe, it’s time to give some consideration for your personal life. It’s unhealthy to work all of the time - then we run into issues like these.” You spoke softly, almost whispering but you could tell he was hanging onto every word you spoke. “I love you, Max. I don’t know what I would do without you.” You admitted, turning your head to look at him. He chewed on his bottom lip, processing your words.

“I love you too, more than anything.” He murmured, placing his forehead on yours. You lifted your head slightly to leave a soft kiss on his nose, earning the corners of his lips to quirk up.

Closing your eyes, you relished being in his arms again, to have him close to you. You had missed it. You had missed him. Both of you knew you had a lot to work through, that it wouldn’t simply disappear but both of you were going to do it together. Hand in hand. And that was more than enough.

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realcube · 3 years

Text

HQ BOYS REACT TO YOU FAKE CRYING

characters ♡ yaku, kenma, kayegama & iwaizumi

content warning ♡ fake crying, mentions of murder, hurt/comfort, fluff & timeskip! iwaizumi (no mature themes, just domesticity)

credit ♡ thank you to 🍦anon for this request

morinosuke yaku

♡ why did you need to need to practise in the bedroom?? in his bedroom, no less

♡ your show was quickly approaching and you recalled the scene where you were to burst out into tears on stage, and you hadn’t yet rehearsed how you were going to do that

♡ honestly, you were under the assumtion that yaku would have no problem with you practising while in his bedroom bc he has ran lines with you in the past and this was hardly any different

♡ so sat, thinking about the most horrible, morbid, grotesque things you possible could, all while keeping your eyes wide open and not blinking so soon enough, the tears started rolling

♡ proud of yourself, you smirked before burying your face into your hands; now to add sobs!

♡ it started out with mere snivels but then as you got more confident, it built up to full on bawls which were loud enough to gain yaku’s attention from the kitchen

♡ he was quick to rush over to his bedroom, his soul audibly leaving his body when he saw your upset weeping figure on the bed

♡ he basically pounced on you and engulfed you with his embrace, ‘dear! what’s wrong? are you alright? who hurt you?!’ the questions were fast falling off his tongue as cradled your head, leaving no room for you to speak without being muffled by his chest or arms

♡ and when he noticed that you were trying to speak, he simply hushed you, ‘shh! it’s okay, dearest.’ and continued to whisper ‘comforting’ stuff like that in your ear

♡ he thought he was helping but really he was just preventing you from getting you point across

♡ eventually, you managed to escape his steel grip and gasp, ‘yaku! i’m fine! look — no tears!” you gestured to you damp cheek, “i was just practising for my role! i’m not actually sad. though, it’s cute that you care so mu--”

♡ as soon as yaku heard the word ‘practising’ he immediately recalled how you mention you have a sad scene where you need to cry and his natural reflex was to lean backwards, grab a massive teddy bear that sat behind him which he had won at a carnival for you but you insisted that he keep it bc you didn’t want to carry it home

♡ ...and he threw it straight at you, causing you to fall backwards and burst out laughing at how you were currently being straddled by a big teddy bear

♡ ‘(y/n)! i thought you were hurt! you can’t just fake cry without telling me first- i was so worried! like i thought it was real and--’ this went on for an elongated amount of time, yaku ranting while you added a faint ‘sorry!’ whenever you saw the opportunity

♡ eventually, he stopped only to take a deep breath, visibly calming doing as his chest heaved, ‘alright. what’s done is done; it’s fine. you worried me though, (y/n). i thought you were being for real, what then?’

♡ you nodded, smiling at his softened expression as your lips twisted into a smirk at his final comment. cocking a brow, you purred, ‘so...you think i’m a good actor? tha--’

♡ pow! another plushie to the face! K.O!

kenma kuzome

♡ as a joke, you dabbed water under your eyes a few times so you could send your friend a snap of you ‘crying’ and ofc kenma had to walk in at exactly the wrong time

♡ you were over at his house, chilling on his couch while he was upstairs talking to kuroo over the phone— he said he’d only be a moment but almost half an hour had passed and he still showed no sign of coming back downstairs, though you couldn’t blame him as kuroo does have a tendency to be overly descriptive when spilling tea

♡ anyway, as soon as you had sent your snap, you placed your phone down and scanned the room in search of some tissues to wipe you eyes with, when kenma barged in

♡ ‘hey, (y/n). i’m sorry that took so lo--’ when his gaze shifted from his phone onto you, sitting on the couch with tears streaming down your cheeks, he immediately cut himself off

♡ at first, you were frozen, simply staring at each other; as if he had just walked in on you committing a violent act of homicide in his living room

♡ honestly you were too stunned to move at first but if you could, you’d probably say something along the lines of ‘this isn’t what it looks like’ but before you could even open your mouth, kenma edged towards you until he was able to outstretch his arms and wrap you in his warm embrace

♡ with your cheek pressed against his warm hoodie, basking in an uncommon blissful silence, you postponed your explanation until you were finished enjoyed how his nimble fingers caressed your back

♡ you hummed, your lips curling a smile at how comfortable you felt in his arms and how nice his hoodie smelt, since it usually reeked of an unholy mixture of body spray and monster energy

♡ he planted a kiss upon your head, murmuring into your hair, ‘baby, what’s wrong?’

♡ you were quick to swipe away your ‘tears’ with the back of your hand, ‘i’m fine, don’t worry.” you chirped, beaming at him to reinforce this point, ‘it’s just water, for a silly video i sent to my friends.’

♡ kenma blinked rapidly, staring down at your seemingly genuine smile

♡ honestly, you expected him to tease you or be irritated that you made him reveal a hidden soft side of himself for no reason, since he’s usually quite private with his emotions

♡ but instead, the corners of his lips just lifted into a slight smile as pushed your head back against his chest, then resting his head upon yours, ‘oh, that’s cool.’ he breathed, his warm, calming voice causing your eyelids to become heavy — that and the fact you had went on a run not too long ago

♡ kenma felt your eyes flutter shut against his chest so he slowly leaned backwards, holding you against his hoodie as he laid down, allowing himself to doze off with you snuggled up on his heaving torso

hajime iwaizumi

♡ you were making iwaizumi dinner, cutting onions and cooking curry

♡ so it was not surprising when tears started brimmed at your eyes, eventually slipping from your lashline and trickling down the soft skin of your cheeks, leaving you to blink rapidly to lubricate your burning eyes

♡ iwaizumi had just came out the shower, he had dried off but when he came downstairs and peered into the kitchen, he was wearing just a towel which was draped around his hips, ‘mm, something smells good. whatcha cookin’, baby?’

♡ he didn’t plan on staying downstairs for long, which is why he didn’t throw on a shirt; all he wanted to do was get to the bottom of what that magnificent aroma was that he smelled from upstairs, then once he figured it out, he’d go back upstairs, get changed, then head back down for dinner

♡ but his plan was cut short when he noticed crystalline tears pouring from your red, puffy eyes

♡ without thinking or taking into consideration why your eyes are red, his immediate reaction was to dash over to your side and slip his arms around your waist, puling you in so that one of your hands had no choice but to rest on his back while the other continued to stir the pot

♡ noticing that your watery eyes were still fixated on the curry, he took your chin inbtween his fingers and forced you to cook at him, ‘why’s my angel crying? hm?’ he cooed, features painted with genuine worry and concern

♡ you lifted a brow, stifling a chuckle at how silly he was being, ‘what do you mean?’

♡ before you could process anything else, iwaizumi bought you in for a passionate kiss with the his hand pressing against the small of your back, only pulling away so he could rest his head on your shoulder and hum into your ear, ‘you can tell me anything, angel, so what’s on your mind?’

♡ you bottom lip quivered at his intimate action — you might just start crying for real

♡ biting your bottom lip, you resisted your tears and forced out a laugh, ‘what’s on my mind? well,’ you started, momentarily letting go of the ladle so you could hug back, ‘i have to make dinner for my himbo husband, but the onions and spices are burning my eyes. pray for me, iwa.’

♡ it took him a moment to register what you just said. he’d been in the kitchen many times so by now he was basically immune to the way onions and spices affect the eyes, so he completely forgot that stuff like that happens. he honestly, wholeheartedly thought that you were crying real tears of sadness while making dinner

♡ he impulsively pushed you away, crossing his arms over his chest and his initial kind expression lowering into a scowl, ‘who are you calling a himbo?! i just forgot that some people have weak-ass eyes. bye.’ he spat, clearly trying his best not to laugh as he stormed off to his room, keeping a firm grip on his towel the whole time

♡ don’t worry, though. he was back ten minutes later — fully clothed — to eat dinner with you :))

♡ but don’t mention it ever again or else he’ll blush and tell you it ever happened

tobio kageyama

♡ you were scrolling on your fyp and found a video of a person explaining how to cry on command and you didn’t believe it’d actually work so you tried it

♡ as it turns out, it does work and now you are sitting on your bed with tear stained cheeks and a dry throat, completely zoned out until kageyama came marching into your bedroom

♡ it was in that moment that you recalled that you had invited him over for a movie night and you had left your front door unlocked for him, hence he must’ve invited himself in

♡ ‘sorry i’m late, but i brought doritos.’ he spun on heels after closing the door, doritos in hand but not for long because as soon as he noticed your cheek glistening the lamplight, he instantly dropped them to rush over to you

♡ ‘eh? (y/n)? are you crying?’ he asked with a harsh voice, which wouldn’t help if you really were crying. instinctively, he reached out for your hand and began pressing kisses to the back of it

♡ he wasn’t really too sure on what exactly he could do or say to comfort you, so he recollected on the time you tried to cheer him up after he lost a big game. you lay beside him on his bed, humming a distant tune that matched the one playing in his ear from his earbuds. one hand threading through his hair while the other cupped his cheek so you could press occasional, soft kisses on his cheek while he set to himself. it was calming, and it definitely worked in making him feel better. usually, it’d take him months to recover after a devastating loss like that, but with you by his side and giving him support, he was back to his normal self in a couple weeks

♡ well, as normal as it gets for kageyama

♡ you gently shook your head, admiring his adorable actions and allowing his to continue as you used your spare hand to wipe away your artificial tears

♡ ‘oh, sweetie, i love you so much.’ you mused, thinking up a way to start your story without sounding foolish

♡ but perhaps you shouldn’t have began your explanation with a term of endearment as his impulse with to promptly throw his arms around you, holding onto your torso tightly

♡ you were taken back for moment, wheezing slightly as kageyama squeezed the air out of you but finally able to speak once he relaxed his arms, ‘tobio! nothing’s wrong, don’t worry. i was just testing to see if i could fake cry or not. i’m not actually crying.’

♡ kageyama’s eyes widened and he paled

♡ you weren’t actually in need of comfort? then why did he just get all soft? for nothing?

♡ ‘no.’ was his simple response which he punctuated with another kiss on the back of your hand

♡ you couldn’t help but giggle, taking advantage of this opperuntiy to reach out and ruffle his hair, ‘yes. i’m seriously okay. i’m happy, actually, because i get to spend my evening watching movies with you!’

♡ surprisngly, he didn’t glare at you for messing up his hair — since it was already untidy — and just took a seat beside you, keeping ahold of your hand as if it was a fragile gem, ‘i don’t believe you.’

♡ you laughed, realising that he was clearly making excuses for openly showing affection and being soft so you just let him, hopping to your feet and tugging your hand away from him so you could grab the doritos he dropped, ‘whatever you say, tobio.’

♡ he pouted but it was only brief as he was soon able to take your hand once more, ‘yeah..’ he grunted, averting his eyes so you didn’t see the blush creeping onto his cheeks, ‘whatever, just put on the stupid movie...stupid (y/n)...i love you..’

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bokutosworld · 3 years

Text

no place like home | hq boys with their kids!

characters: schweiden adlers boys with their kids - kageyama, ushijima, hoshiumi!

wc: 1.2k words, pure fluff!

summary: part two of home sweet home where we now take a look at how the three men from schweiden adlers spend time with their little ones.

a/n: a second part that no one asked but i wanted to do cos i’ve been feeling soft and having baby fever again lmfao hehe oh and i hope everyone’s enjoying a happy holidays!

KAGEYAMA TOBIO Unlike most parents, Kageyama's job as a professional volleyball player didn't allow him the luxury of doing what most moms and dads do with their kids. It's not as if he's neglected his parental responsibilities, he's the type to spoil his four-year-old Kaito with gifts and toys, he was just unfortunate to not have enough time to spend with him.

But on a particular day off, the stars seemed to have aligned when you asked him to pick up Kaito from daycare. Kageyama looked forward to this opportunity and he had planned an afternoon for a long overdue father-and-son bonding. However, due to his celebrity athlete status, Kageyama was mindful of being swarmed by fans so he took it to mind to wear his best disguise (see: black cap, black shades, white shirt and jeans, finished with a denim jacket).

As soon as he's parked across the daycare center, Kageyama immediately earned the attention of the moms who were also waiting for their children. It didn't help that when he stepped out of the car, they all swooned over him and recognized that he was the star setter from Schweiden Adlers. And when the bell rang and footsteps came running from the building, all the kids also stood in awe as they noticed the familiar tall person who they looked up to and only watched in the TVs. But to Kageyama, the one attention that only mattered was that of his son's.

"Kaito, over here!" He waved over the little boy, and seeing his father's presence in the crowd, Kaito sped off to where Kageyama was. He welcomed the young boy with open arms, peppering his cute face with kisses and lifting him up from the ground. The audience that have gathered were starstruck to see the usual stoic player break his facade and become a doting father to his adorable mini-me.

"You made it, Papa! I thought Mama was joking when she said you will fetch me after school," the child said through his fits of giggles.

Kageyama pressed his forehead to his son's and whispered, "I never break my promises." He put Kaito down and held his hand as they began walking to their car, saying goodbye to his classmates. "Now, let's go get some ice cream!"

USHIJIMA WAKATOSHI It was the first summer festival that you wouldn't be attending with your family, and your five-year-old daughter, Isuzu, was extremely heartbroken. What she didn't know was that you've made Ushijima promise that he would still bring her to the festival and catch the fireworks show.

So there they were standing at the entrance to the festival, your husband and daughter are clad in matching yukatas that you prepared. Ushijima was wearing a midnight blue yukata that was adorned with white stripes and strapped to his waist with a white sash. Meanwhile, your little girl was donning a pink yukata with blooming flower patterns. For her finishing touch, Ushijima tied her hair up in a bun and used a beautiful kanzashi that he gifted to you to tie it up. Before they left home, he sent you a photo and bragged about his hair tying skills.

The father-and-daughter duo leisurely strolled around the venue, checking out booths and trying different food stalls. The people around them gushed over how Ushijima was wrapped around his daughter's fingers, complying to her requests and winning her stuffed toys from games. And when the announcement about the fireworks show blared through the speakers, they joined the crowd to the viewing area.

Ushijma noticed how Isuzu was jittery from the spectators that have gathered in the viewing deck. He bent down and wiped the tears that were forming on her eyes, "Princess, don't cry. I'm here." Isuzu only clung tighter to her father, and it was then that he decided to offer his back to her.

"Come, wrap your arms around me and hop on. I'll lift you closer to the skies." The young girl stopped her crying and smiled a little, moving to his back and encircling her arms around her father's strong shoulders. Ushijima helped her adjust and secured her on his shoulders, making Isuzu gasp as she was now safe and towering over the crowd.

Her eyes flitted above as she heard the sounds of fireworks and enjoyed the colorful sparks that were painting the evening skies. Ushijima reveled in how his daughter was looking at the clouds in awe, clapping and laughing along with each bright explosion. But what he would treasure the most was how his precious Isuzu was glowing under the fireworks light.

HOSHIUMI KORAI The Hoshiumi household was a lively and loud one. Chaos often ensued with the twins, Mako and Kohei, and the youngest girl Nanami, as they were currently at that age where they always seemed to be full of energy and liked to run around the house. And Korai was the type of dad who would join in on the fun and play with his beloved children.

Moments of peace and quiet would be found at night when the kids are tucked in bed and getting ready to drift off to dreamland. However, they wouldn't be able to have a proper good night sleep without their father reading them a bedtime story.

It was another night when you returned home late and opened the door to dark, silent house. A sliver of light can be seen coming from the kids' door upstairs and you assume that it was bedtime for them. You tiptoed carefully and was nearing their room when you heard the gentle voice of Hoshiumi reading a passage from The Little Red Riding Hood. You leaned on the door and watched your boys and little girl enjoying a classic tale.

When Hoshiumi finished reading, he turned to the kids and saw the twins passed out and snoring. But his princess seemed to be wide awake, and terrified at the thought of the wolf eating Little Red Riding Hood. "Papa, will a wolf come and eat you and Mama?" She asked with her trembling voice.

You and Hoshiumi chuckled at her question, but your husband put the book down and scooted closer to Nanami. He hugged her, patting her head so slowly as he assured, "If you become a good girl and listen to Mama and Papa's warnings, then no wolf will come to eat us." He kissed the top of her head, "Now, go sleep. I'll be here, I'll never leave your side."

The little girl seemed to relax in his hold and Hoshiumi turned towards you at the door. He sent you a sweet smile, "I'm sorry, love. You'll have to sleep alone in bed tonight." You shaked your head but sent him a flying kiss as you closed the door to the kids' room, smiling at the thought that Hoshiumi always seemed to be the perfect father to your kids.

#haikyuu x reader #haikyuu scenarios #haikyuu imagines #haikyuu headcanons #haikyuu fluff #haikyuucreations #kageyama x reader #ushijima x reader #hoshiumi x reader #kageyama fluff #ushijima fluff #hoshiumi fluff #hq x reader #hq x you #haikyuu!!

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andraaste · 3 years

Text

I am not your enemy - Lance fanfiction part 14

And finally, it’s doooone ! Forgive me for the wait 💕

Chapter 14 : I just stopped hoping for your awakening

- Andraste, is everything okay ? Nevra asked, somewhat surprised at my sudden reaction.

I was about to tell him that it was none of his business when the pain, much more throbbing, resumed again, literally cutting my breath. Without warning, panic started to take me over and it was with confusion that I stood up and dodged his piercing gaze as he remained leaning over me, being too ashamed to tell him everything that was wrong with me.

The vampire still maintained the idea of helping me to stand up completely and, when his hand finally let go of my shoulder, I immediately stepped back in order to establish sufficient distance between us, which didn’t escape him.

- Yes, it's nothing, I finally replied, feigned levity.

Falling back into the void, his hand remained inert along his side as his mouth opened and closed again without any sound coming out.

A wind much colder than before I fell asleep began to blow between us, causing my hair to fly and goosebumps on my bare arms. In order to warm myself up, I put my hands on them as the chills that ran through my skin burned my back unpleasantly.

I think my head was starting to spin.

- Are you sure everything is fine ? Didn't you hurt yourself somewhere or anything ?

- No, don't worry, I replied quickly. I hadn't planned to doze off here, the ground was too hard and I must have hurt a bit, but nothing serious.

I especially didn't want Nevra to know what was happening to me, I didn't think I would be able to bear this shame again in the eyes of another person.

Much to my dismay, the vampire didn't seem convinced. He took a step in my direction, reducing the distance I had deliberately created. An eyebrow raised, his gaze fell on mine.

- Do you know that I still know you by heart ? I can see you're in pain, there's no point in trying to hide it from me.

I breathed out as much air as possible against my poor acting skills. He would never let go, I was sure.

We had left each other angry earlier, though, so why didn't he take his eyes off me right now ? I felt confused, I didn't know how to react.

What's more, I had to admit that I was seriously starting to wonder if constantly blowing hot and cold wasn’t an Eldaryan custom.

Or maybe I was drawn to complicated relationships, who knows.

- Really, it's my luck, I said ironically. So you decided that I existed in your eyes, today ?

His features imperceptibly hardened as his gaze darkened so quickly that I thought I was dreaming for a moment.

- Andraste...

- What Nevra ? Are you going to tell me to pretend nothing has happened ? I was starting to get carried away. It's all well and good to behave towards me as you see fit, but it doesn't work that way.

It was his turn to exhale for a long time. Coming even closer, he took me completely by surprise, lowering his head until he came to rest his forehead against my shoulder, his dark hair brushing my shoulder blade. I remained frozen in place, unable to make the slightest movement as his breath caressed my skin.

I could no longer get my ideas clear.

- Listen, I don't know how to behave when I see you anymore, he finally blurted out, his voice slightly muffled by his probably uncomfortable position. You were the center of my world and overnight I had to relearn how to evolve without you by my side. Everyone was only talking about your sacrifice, he almost spat, but all I wanted was for you to come back to me.

He slowly lifted his head from my shoulder and came back to fix his gaze on mine. I was hanging from his lips, totally mesmerized by the words he finally addressed to me.

- Every day, for a little over a year, I didn’t stop making this wish, however selfish. Sometimes I would spend hours watching you, convincing myself that at any moment you were going to wake up. Except that it never happened, he added quietly, as if saying it out loud could shatter the dreams of this memory of him. I ended up decreasing over time my visits to the Crystal Room, I could no longer distinguish a vague sleeping figure. So to protect myself, I think I just stopped hoping for you to wake up.

The emotion Nevra was feeling at that moment overwhelmed me. I suspected that he must have suffered from this situation, but given his behavior towards me since I woke up, I had difficulty in realizing how he felt. On the other hand, I hadn’t imagined for a single second that it could still affect him at this point now.

- I didn't know all this, Nevra, you never told me about it until now. I never imagined you could feel this, I'm so sorry...

A wistful smile appeared on his lips.

- It's in the past now, even if I don't hide from you that I thought I had serious hallucinations when I saw you again.

Following these words, the vampire leaned down until his face was only inches from mine, allowing me to admire his scarred gaze under his thick black hair.

- I was a complete idiot to you, Andraste. I only took my feelings into account regardless of yours, but it was the only way I found to protect myself again. I'm terribly sorry, you absolutely don’t deserve this indifference, he confessed to me while placing a light and icy hand on my cheek. I hope you will forgive me.

Nevra was standing close, way too close for my breathing to calm down. I swallowed the air with more and more difficulty and, seized by strong emotions, the currents of energy began to circulate again in anarchy under my skin.

The young man finally withdrew his hand before standing up to his full height. Looking up at the sky, he quickly returned to plant them in mine with deep attention.

- Night has almost fallen, we better get back to HQ, he said softly.

I nodded and turned in the direction of HQ when his hand grabbed my arm the same way it had several hours earlier.

I was taken aback to find that his face had suddenly closed completely, brows furrowed.

- You're bleeding, what's happening to you ?

I widened my eyes.

- What ?

- I can smell your blood, it's not normal, he explained to me while making me rotate back to him.

Instinctively, I slapped a hand on the small of my back as my fingers slid over the thick streaks of liquid that flowed against my top.

No.

Not now, it wasn’t possible.

Nevra only took a fraction of a second to react when he saw my fingers red with hemoglobin.

A strong concern marked the tone of his voice as he spoke again :

- What's the matter with your back ? You tell me that everything has been fine since earlier, and now you start to piss blood !

- It's nothing serious, I promise. I just have to go see Eweleïn, she'll know what to do.

I still had the words he'd had when he saw me come out of the infirmary, but I think I just had no choice but to have to go back.

- I'll take you there immediately.

Binding action to word, he grabbed me under the knees and lifted me off the ground to carry me in his arms. The journey was surprisingly short to the entrance of the large building of the HQ while the abundant loss of blood finally got the better of my lucidity.

When they reached the door of the infirmary, Nevra began to pound forcefully on the door. It opened wide, revealing an Eweleïn with suddenly astonished features.

- Nevra, what happened to her ?

The vampire quickly explained the facts to her as he laid me down on the bed. The ground was turning dangerously, or maybe it was just my head that couldn't follow.

- Turn around, the nurse ordered him with authority, before leaning over me. Andraste, we're going to have to take this garment off.

I let her withdraw my sticky top without flinching before falling into a deep sleep.

I blinked several times in an attempt to focus, only seeing blurry elements around me. It was far from the first time I had woken up in this bed in the past few days and it made my lips pursed in frustration.

How did I end up in the infirmary again ?

Head heavy, I struggled to sit up on the soft mattress, looking for any sign of life in the room. But no one seemed to be standing here. Swallowing my saliva with difficulty, I realized that my throat was so dry that no sound could have come out anyway immediately, I felt like I had swallowed razor blades.

Feeling obstructed, I lifted my top and found a large bandage wrapped around my chest, with red spots marking the fabric as far as I could see. I was really hoping that my miraculous healing system had reactivated, like the time my stomach wound closed on its own in a very short time, because I wasn’t going to put up with this situation much longer. Moving slightly, I noticed that the pain had practically disappeared. I lowered the garment over my wounds then stood up slowly. The world was still spinning a little too fast for my liking, but I felt fit to get out of here.

I was finishing putting on my shoes when the door finally opened, revealing a long white hair in my field of vision.

- Oh hello Andraste, you're finally awake. How do you feel ? the elf asked with a soft smile.

- Hello Ewe, I think I’m okay. I’m not feeling at my best, but I’m no longer in pain.

- Perfect, I'll give you a quick test but I think you're fit to go out.

Sitting back on the bed, I let the nurse auscultate me without batting an eyelid.

- Your back is much better, even your skin has started to reform normally. I hope this story of stuck wings will get better soon.

- Oh reassure you, I hope so too, I said in a mirthless laugh. Can I go, now ?

- Yes, just a second.

She grabbed the same jar of cream as the last time and handed it to me, a smile on her lips.

- Here, you’ll have to brush your back with this until your skin is better.

- Very good, but it may be rather complicated, since it’s not an area necessarily accessible for me...

I saw Eweleïn's smile widen even more.

- Oh, I understood that someone could take care of it for you, but if it doesn't, you just have to come see me and I'll take care of it.

I narrowed my eyes at her suspicious expression.

- What are you talking about ?

- Nothing at all, and hurry up to see me if it starts again, don't wait any longer to bleed ! Come on, go, she ordered me with a wink.

Too tired to try to understand, I opened the door to rush into the hallway. But how long had I slept, exactly ? It was still dark !

Entering the guard corridor, I walked past several doors until I reached Lance's room, just before mine. I paused for a moment, hesitating, observing thoughtfully the image of the dragon towering over it at full length. Was he busy, right now ?

Heart pounding, I was about to knock when my arm caught in the air.

I didn't have to turn around to see who it was, letting myself be completely taken in by his mere presence.

- Good evening, my little dragon, his voice whispered with an amused grin.

Light streaks of ice were already drawing a multitude of abstract shapes on my skin as my lips stretched on their own.

Giving way to a huge smile on my face.

(Chapter 15)

#eldarya #eldarya new era #i am not your enemy #eldarya lance #lance eldarya #lance #eldarya the origins #ashkore #beemoov #eldarya fanfic #eldarya ane #eldarya fanfiction #fanfic #fanfiction

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nadisabug · 3 years

Text

Plus One

Pairing: Oikawa Tooru x reader

Genre: angst, hurt/comfort, fluff

Warnings: cursing

Word Count: 3.1 k

Summary: You would do anything for Tooru, but is he asking too much when he asks you to be his plus one to his sister’s wedding?

A/N: Thank you to my lovely betas @luvnami and @snoozless !!!!! This is for the HQ Hangout Net’s Spring Formal Event! Everyone check out the other amazing works everyone else did @hqhangout !!!

This was too much.

You felt like imploding.

The pressure in your head was just too much to bear; tears welled at your eyes and a solid lump was forming in your throat. This was just too much.

However, you kept up your facade. You were still smiling, eyes dry, looking up at Tooru.

And he was smiling down at you.

“Well?” He asked again.

There were a lot of things you could do. You were talented, not that you recognized it yourself. But you were strong, you could do anything you set your mind to. You could say ‘no’ and stand up for yourself. You have done it before.

Like when that chump from your class asked you for your homework. Or like when he then asked you out on a date. Or like when he had asked to put his name on a project that he had done now work for.

You could say no.

You should say no.

So why didn’t you?

-------------------------

“Hajime, I am going to die,” you groaned into the phone. Tooru had just dropped you off at your house. You called your best friend as soon as you could, still reeling from the life-changing conversation.

“Well, I mean, what did you say?” His voice was level and calm like always, even though you were in hysterics.

“I don’t have a dress,” you sighed.

“Y/n, that’s basically a yes.”

“I am aware!”

“What did he say?”

You fell silent.

“Y/n, what did he say?”

You mumbled your response, pressing your mouth to the end of the phone.

“Well I for one can’t fix that. You’re screwed,” he said matter-of-factly.

“Don’t say that Hajime! You’re supposed to make me feel better!”

“He wants to go dress shopping with you, on top of being his date to his sister’s wedding, you’re doomed. I'm sorry that’s just how it is.”

“Hajime!”

“What, what am I supposed to say? I want to be optimistic but this is kinda the worst it can get. Especially since you’ve been in love with him sin-”

“I am not in love with him!”

Hajime didn’t respond. You sighed.

“Fine I am, but how does saying it help anything?”

“I’m just trying to get a better sense of your situation.”

“Oh really? It sounds like you’re trying to rub it in.”

“You know I would never,” Hajime sighed.

“Yeah, you’re a good friend,” you paused. “A really good friend, the best friend. How long have we been friends? Quite some time right, I was thinking-”

“I am not coming with you and that is final.”

“Please, Hajime, I’m begging you.”

“Well beg someone else, Y/n, because I am not third wheeling.”

“Hajime, it won’t be third wheeling!”

“Yes it will, it’s a no and that’s final!” He paused for a moment. “Sorry, Y/n, but I just can’t. It’s already too much having to play therapist to you both talking about each other.”

“Oh shove off,” you rolled your eyes. “He does not like me.”

“Whatever,” Hajime sighed.

“He does not. If he did, why wouldn’t he just ask me to be his date like a normal person?”

“Really? This is Shittykawa we’re talking about.”

“Okay true, but still. He had plenty of chances to date me back in high school and he never did.”

“You never made a move either,” Hajime noted.

You didn’t respond to that.

“How long has it been since you last saw him?”

You had to think about that for a minute. It had been years since you graduated high school, back when you saw him on a daily basis. You guys still talked all the time, but you really didn’t see him that often.

“The night that he came to my house to tell me goodbye. The night before he left.”

Hajime hummed. He knew all about that night, you had called him as soon as you had gone back inside. It felt like he had something else to say, but instead he changed the subject.

“When are you guys going?”

“About that…”

“Oh no…”

“He’s waiting outside for me right now.”

“Right now? What are you doing talking to me then?”

“I said I had to do a few things then I’d be out. It’s fine.”

“Well you better get going. We’ve been talking for a while.”

“Please come with me?”

“Ahaha, no. Bye.”

“Wait don’t hang-”

You were greeted by the click of the receiver. Great. You tossed your phone beside you and sighed. You were sprawled out on your bed, in the same position as you were when you first threw yourself onto it.

You laid there for a second, cursing your luck. Well, it wasn’t really your luck, you were the one who said yes anyways. You felt tears beginning to form in your eyes, but you shook them away. You got up and changed out of your work uniform and into better clothes for dress shopping.

------------------------------

“I am not wearing that,” you spat angrily.

“Aww, why not,” Tooru purred, sliding up to you while holding the offending dress out in front of him.

“Because I like my privates to be private, thank you very much,” you rolled your eyes and pushed him away.

The piece was a strapless, v-neck dress with a slit up the side. It also had holes in the sides, like those vintage swimsuits you saw in old magazines. It was a pretty color, but you knew you could not wear that in front of Tooru.

“Okay, fine.” Tooru put the dress away. You knew he only plucked it out to tease you; he didn’t actually think you were going to wear it.

“Why do you need a date again?” You asked while perusing the dresses.

“Because,” he sighed. “I begged my sister to allow me a plus one and she finally granted my wish so I can’t show up alone.”

“But she knows me. She won’t believe that we’re dating,” you sighed.

“Well…”

“What?” You whirled on Tooru.

“I already told her that I asked you out… and you said yes.”

Your jaw dropped. What were you supposed to say? Tooru had that look on his face, the one where he knew he had done something wrong but was trying to weasel out of it. It never worked on Hajime, but on you… you could never resist his honeyed eyes.

“What did she say?”

“Finally.”

You laughed, genuinely. As if anyone would think that you two would get together. Tooru was just… out of your reach.

“What? Is it that ridiculous that we could be dating? I’m hurt,” Tooru pouted.

“Yes it is, as if you would ever date me,” you answered honestly, knowing in your heart he could never love you.

“And why is that?” He asked. You missed the look in his eyes as you pulled out another dress.

“Because,” you shrugged. “You only see me as a friend, a little sister if I may be so bold. Now what about this dress?”

“But what if I didn’t,” Tooru smirked and leaned on the dress rack.

You rolled your eyes.

“Then I’d eat this dress. Simple. Now come on, what about this one?”

“Let’s try it on.” He smiled. “Then we’ll see.”

----------------------------

“I’m gonna throw up,” you groaned. Tooru just rolled his eyes at you.

“No you’re not, you’ve seen my family a thousand times, this is no different.”

“Yes it is!” You hissed. “Back then I was a little sister, now I’m a fake girlfriend.”

“Well, they don’t know about the fake part, so can you keep quiet about that?”

“Whatever,” you sighed. You watched as he knocked on the familiar door, an unfamiliar sensation in your gut.

You heard clamoring behind the door and suddenly you were swept up in Mrs. Oikawa’s arms.

“Aw, Y/n, I am so, so, so happy you are here, and especially why!” She pulled back and you saw tears glistening in her eyes. “I always knew you and ‘ru would get together, I am just sad it took this long!”

A sharp pain ripped through you. “Yeah, of course.” You forced a smile.

“And ‘ru, how dare you take so long to confess!” She whirled on Tooru and hit him lightly on the shoulder.

“Ah, sorry Mom.” He shrugged it off, scratching the back of his neck with his other hand. “I guess I am just slow to the uptake.”

“Yes.” Mrs. Oikawa nodded solemnly. “It was obvious you both liked each other way back in high school.”

“It was?” You stammered.

“Yes, of course, the way you guys used to look at each other.” She smirked. “And still do.”

“Yeah,” Tooru said softly when you did not say anything.

“Now let's get you two inside, we have a lot to do!”

You were then rushed inside and whirled around as preparations fell into place. The rehearsal dinner flew by quickly. You didn’t have many responsibilities as a guest, so you spent your time talking to members of Tooru’s family. Which was… awkward, to say the least. You already knew all of them (you found out that this was supposed to be a very small family event) so it was awkward reintroducing yourself as Tooru’s girlfriend. It was harder because technically you weren’t supposed to be here.

You found Tooru in a gap in his busy schedule and pulled him to the side.

“Why didn’t you tell me this is a family affair?” You seethed.

Tooru smiled shyly. “That’s why it was such a big deal that Sis allowed me a plus one, that’s why I just had to take you.”

“I hate you,” you spat angrily, but Tooru just smiled. “Do you know how many people asked me if we were engaged?” He leaned down and kissed your forehead.

“Now is that anyway to talk to your fiance?”

Your jaw dropped. “You didn’t.”

“Just kidding, love. Don’t worry, we’re not engaged yet.”

“I hope your family gives you so much shit when we ‘break up.’”

Tooru frowned. “About that I-”

“Tooru? Where the actual fuck are you?” Tooru’s sister nearly screamed.

“You better go,” you sighed.

“Yeah.” Tooru frowned.

He looked like he wanted to say more, but decided against it when his sister screamed for him again.

--------------------

The wedding was beautiful. It was a small affair at a local meadow, with blooming wild flowers surrounding the guests. It was ethereal, overflowing with the spirit of spring. You sat alone next to family, as Tooru was a part of the wedding procession. After the ceremony, the reception took place at a nearby banquet hall. You were shuttled off into a separate car from Tooru, but you didn’t mind. You had made friends with one of his cousins and you had been talking with him to pass the time.

“So when did you and Tooru meet?”

“Back in high school,” you responded easily, recalling the memory fondly. “He came up to me randomly in class and demanded that I be the volleyball club’s manager. I had said no, of course, until his friend had asked me a bit nicer.”

“Sounds just like him,” he scoffed. “Only concerned with himself.”

“Yeah,” you agreed absentmindedly.

“So what made you date him? I mean, no offense, he’s my cousin and all, but why do you even like him?”

You paused for this question. What did you like about Tooru?

“I… well… everything. I didn’t like him at first, I actually hated him. He was so arrogant and cocky and rude, but after a while I realized that there was so much more to him. He’s dedicated and strong. Tooru puts on this facade for other people so that he can be strong for them, too. He understands people and helps his teammates, he treats them like family. He’s so receptive and intuitive, you really can’t hide anything from him. He’s just… so perfect, yet so layered. He is so raw and human and I love that about him. I love that side of him, the one no one ever sees. So I guess I just love everything about him.”

“Wow,” he laughed. “Wasn't expecting that.”

“Sorry.” You shrunk in on yourself.

“No it’s fine, I was just gonna say I’ll shoot my shot if it doesn’t work out with him, but it turns out you really like him.”

“Oh,” was the only thing you could say.

“Can I have a pity dance?” He extended his arm towards you.

You smiled. “Sure.”

He led you out onto the dance floor and swept you up into his arms. You followed his lead, not really sure how to dance, but he assured you that you could just follow him.

“You know, you look amazing in that dress.”

“Ah, thank you,” you smiled. “You don’t look so bad yourself.”

“Thank you, I can clean-”

A person behind you cleared their throat. You turned to see Tooru. If you were anyone else, you would have thought he looked pleasant, with the soft smile on his face. But you weren’t just anyone else. So you knew that there was a rage in Tooru’s eyes.

“May I speak to Y/n?”

“Actually, we’re in the middle of a dance so-”

“That wasn’t a question,” Tooru smiled, closing his eyes and tilting his head.

“Tooru,” you hissed. “Just let us finish the-”

Instead Tooru grabbed your arm and tugged you away from his cousin. The cousin scoffed and threw his arms up.

“Calm the fuck down, Tooru. She’s all yours.”

The cousin walked off, and right after you whipped around to face Tooru.

“What the actual fuck is your problem?”

Tooru looked around him and then grabbed your arm again. “Let’s talk somewhere else,” he urged. You looked around to see a commotion beginning, with you guys at the center. You bottled your rage for a moment and allowed him to lead you outside.

Once you were out of earshot of the guests, you let loose.

“Oikawa Tooru, you explain yourself right now, because that just now was not okay.”

“He was hitting on you, I heard him,” Tooru responded, his face set into a scowl.

“So? And if he was? What right have you to step in?”

“I-”

“No,” you cut him off. “You have no right. I’m not even your girlfriend!”

Something flashed in Tooru’s eyes, but you were too angry to analyze it.

“You’re right, I’m sorry.” Tooru hung his head.

“You should be. You’re just so obsessed with your image that you don’t want a guy to hit on your supposed girl.”

“That’s not it,” Tooru bit out, looking up to meet your gaze.

“Oh? Then what? Do you have such little faith in me that you think I would leave you for your cousin at your sister’s wedding?”

“No.”

“Then what? Then what Tooru? What in the world could drive you to do something so fucking stupid-”

“I was jealous, alright!” When you didn’t respond to him he took a deep breath. “I was jealous,” he said again, except much calmer.

“Why?” You breathed softly. The air was tight between you two, and you felt like if another person yelled it might shatter.

Tooru slumped. “Don’t make me say it.”

“No,” you shook your head. “No you don’t.”

“Yes, I-”

“No, Tooru, you don’t. You are just hurt over your girlfriend and you're reaching out for something, anything, and I will not be it so don’t you dare say it.” You felt tears welling up at your eyes but you willed them down.

“Y/n, I’m not. I actually-”

“Don’t you dare,” you warned again.

Tooru sighed. “Y/n, do you know why she broke up with me?”

You didn’t respond.

“Y/n… she broke up with me because she realized that I was in love with you.”

You blinked once. Twice. You took a deep breath and tried to process what he just said to you.

“How…” It was the only thing you could mutter, you were too taken aback.

“I was just talking about you and she asked me. She asked me if I loved you. I couldn’t lie to her any longer.”

Your heart raced in your chest and you looked into eyes, searching for any dishonesty. The sheer earnestness in his gaze made you swallow thickly around the lump in your throat.

“How long?”

Tooru sighed and reached up to scratch the back of his neck. “Dunno. Been a while though.”

It fell silent.

“So what do we do now?” You asked.

“Well, will you give me a chance?”

“Pull that shit with your cousin again and it is a no.”

“Okay, okay, I said I was sorry I just didn’t like the way he was looking at you and you technically weren’t mine yet and I-”

You reached up and kissed him. It was a passionate kiss, years of pent emotion behind it. Once Tooru reciprocated, it just felt like he was smashing his face into yours, desperate to be closer. You pulled away, Tooru chasing you with his lips.

“Calm down, I’m not going anywhere,” you smiled at him, cupping his face.

“I know I just-” Tooru stopped mid sentence, but he really didn’t need to say more. You understood.

“Tooru, where the- oh.”

You tried to look behind you to see who it was, but Tooru was holding you too tightly. The best you could do was crane your neck to catch a glimpse of white. Tooru’s sister.

“About time, bro,” she laughed.

You looked up at Tooru. He had a sheepish smile on his face. The gears in your mind suddenly slotted together.

“She knew it was fake? But… then… why…”

Tooru didn’t answer, instead his face grew red and he averted his eyes.

“He wanted to take you the whole time, sweetheart. He’s just emotionally constipated so he can’t ask like a normal person.”

“I am not!” Tooru cried indignantly.

“Whatever, I need you back in there so you got five minutes with your new girlfriend before I drag you back in there. Got it?”

Tooru nodded. You heard the door close behind her and looked back up at Tooru.

“You’re lucky I like you,” you sighed, shaking your head.

“I really am.” Tooru smiled brilliantly.

Then he leaned down and stole your lips in another kiss.

Taglist: {OPEN}

@tanakas-hugs-and-kisses , @snoozless

#ahh thank you for those that filled out my tag form ily #looking at you meg <3 #oikawa x reader #oikawa tooru x reader #oikawa imagine #oikawa tooru #haikyuu tooru #tw: cursing #oikawa angst #oikawa fluff #hqhangoutnet #Hqhangoutnet's SPRING FORMAL #haikyuucafe

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myelocin · 4 years

Text

01:39 and the world keeps spinning | hq

synopsis: where you are in the world when the clock clicks to 01:39 in the quiet of the night.

characters: miya osamu, azumane asahi, bokuto koutarou, sakusa kiyoomi, akaashi keiji

tags/warnings/gen: domestic fluff, dad!sakusa >:3, for linette

++click keep reading!

miya osamu:

it’s when you’ve chosen to keep him company when he promised your eight year old neighbor he would help her with coming up with a recipe for her bake sale. you’re sure he’s compared different flours and sifted them at least twenty times by now, but you choose to stay quiet and watch him from the couch you’ve settled into for the past hour. the two of you are still only so young and still in the process of assembling the foundations for your future—but you’re happy that it’s osamu you’re shoulder to shoulder with as you weave through the webs of the real world. he’s seated in the kitchen table dipping his spoon then tasting the fourth variation of the recipe for the filling. you lay your head on your elbows against the back of the couch as you watch his expressions change before shaking your head no when he catches your eye and offers you a taste. “you should head to bed, it’s late,” osamu says as he peeks at the wall clock that shows 01:39, but you shake your head no again saying you don’t mind keeping him company. the wind from outside rattles, the wall on the clock keeps ticking, and the both of you know the sun will rise in just a few hours as your side of the world spins towards the sun—but the at the moment it’s still 01:39 and you’re in apartment with the love of your life as the two of you exchange light laughter that echoes in quiet halls. you think that your love for osamu is much like this moment—timeless in the infinite.

bokuto koutarou:

you’ve always loved how tokyo thrived best when the night took over the day so you figure that must be the reason why racing through the streets in shibuya with bokuto’s hand steady around yours feels nothing short of what you think movie magic is. the soundtrack to the scene you imagine you’re in changes after every building you pass with him. bokuto’s laughing with you as he tries to sing along to lyrics that linger in the air and you’re grinning, genuinely, from ear to ear because his presence just brings you so much joy. you know that by next week you’ll need to look through job listings again because college is as expensive as living in the city and you’re in that stage of life where being broke and in college goes hand in hand with each other—but those worries fly away momentarily when bokuto’s beaming at you again. you know being out in the streets at 01:39 at night just to eat ramen at the conbini isn’t an ideal date, but you can’t help thinking that moments like these are what you know you’ll treasure the most when you look back at this stage in life 10 years down the road. time will always keep moving and the future is as uncertain as your motivation to finish that lab report still sitting on the back of your folder, but bokuto makes you feel like everything will turn out okay. the moon’s out somewhere behind the buildings and the streets are as bright as they are in the morning thanks to the neon lights in every corner—but bokuto feels like day next to you as he takes the sunshine with him where ever he goes, so you suppose that’s another reason why every moment with him feels like movie magic.

azumane asahi:

asahi’s as much of a hard worker as you are, so you think that’s one of the reasons why the two of you flowed so naturally with one another. staying up late into the hours of night to finish doing or researching a new project at work wasn’t an uncommon occurrence. the lights everywhere else in the apartment you share with him are clicked off save for the dim lighting your kitchen is providing. you’re laying your head on the crook of your folded elbow on the table as you’re watching asahi flip between the notes in his laptop and notebook across from you. “azumane,” you call out and extend one hand across the table to lightly play with the loose string dangling from his sweater. you watch with mild amusement as he’ll hum his eyes before peering at you through his glasses. he’ll give you a knowing look and push them up because he knows you’re about to tease him by saying he looks like a grandma with his hair tucked back in a loose ponytail and his glasses slipping down his nose. “it’s 01:39,” you say when asahi’s still typing on his laptop. “i know, a few more minutes,” he says and it sounds like a promise because he stops typing to intertwine your hands together and kiss your knuckles. you’re well aware that tomorrow’s your day off and it still may be 01:39 in this part of the world you share with asahi but when you lean forward and let him rest his cheek on your palm, the stubble of his beard scratchy but his cheek baby soft—you can’t help but think that even if staying up this late for work wasn’t a good idea, the two of you make a pretty good team.

sakusa kiyoomi:

you know your husband is a man who’s always worked with effort. his perseverance and determination was unparalleled so it didn’t surprise you much when he decided to ask for your help in learning how to dance for your daughter’s approaching father daughter dance. you’re biting your lip from laughter when he silently curses from stepping on your foot for the third time that night. the house is quiet while your whispers to each other are hushed because her room is right down the hall and the both of you know how much of a light sleeper she is (much like her father, you muse.) you’re humming a soft tune right by his ear while his hands are soft around your waist, the streetlights from outside trickle into the wooden flooring you and his feet pad over along with the rhythm of your voice. kiyoomi groans in frustration time to time because he realizes even if his whole career is built from his extraordinary coordination—when it comes to dancing he has two left feet. his brows scrunch together and you think for a second he looks hopeless when he steps on your foot again but kiyoomi only mutters a soft sorry that resonates his frustration in the quiet room. the clock ticks to 01:39 when you stop him from his movements and hold his head to face yours as you tell him, “you’re a great father. you’re doing amazing, and i’m proud of you.” It’s still 01:39 when sakusa buries his face on your shoulder and wraps his arms around you in an embrace instead as his thank you while you rub circles on his back because even if he wasn’t around for many of your daughter’s firsts—you know how much effort he’s willing to go through to make sure her first father daughter dance is everything she’d dreamt of. the world will spin into new years, new decades, and will mold her into a new person—but in this snapshot in time at 01:39 AM, you’re in your bedroom teaching a loving father how to dance to a silent tune you hum into his hear.

akaashi keiji:

he’s as quiet drunk as he is sober, but the way he’s gripping your hands and burying his face on the crook of your shoulder while you walk down the sidewalk speaks differently. akaashi was a man who knew his way around words and still does despite the occasional slur at the end of his sentences. you’re holding his hand and slightly supporting his weight on your left side as you let the heels of your shoes clack slowly on smooth pavement and he’s rubbing his eyes after every yawn that escapes him. akaashi exhales a deep sigh and it puffs out in the winter air (which he giggles at), and tells you, “i really really love you,” as if it’s the ultimate truth that will save the universe from collapsing in itself. and you allow yourself to feel the weight of the truths that spill from his lips at 01:39 AM on a quiet night during your slow walk home. the world’s spinning (much like akaashi’s head), but you’re holding on to a hand whose warmth anchors you in the earth giving you the best views of the stars in the sky. you’re thinking being with akaashi is the most steady you’ve felt in your life even as you’re helping him take step after step in the staircase. when he collapses on the bed and wastes no time in pulling you on top of him you let him press a kiss on your forehead, then your nose, then both cheeks—before you eventually pull away from him laughing and telling him to get ready for bed before crashing. you don’t even recall what time it is anymore but akaashi’s telling you that he really really loves you with a slight slur in his words despite the truth of his message so you sleep pretending it’s still 01:39 because at the moment—you feel a halt in time even as the world continues to spin around you.

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heyitsjay03 · 3 years

Text

Fighting for Tomorrow: Chapter Five

Disclaimer: Unfortunately, I haven’t bought AOT or a few characters would still be alive/not in mental anguish

Reiner x Fem!Reader, eventual Captain Levi x Fem!Reader, Sasha x Sister!Reader

Word Count: 8.8k

TW: gore/blood/violence/death, adult language/swearing, slight PTSD, reader woke up and chose violence

You can read parts one, two, three, and four just by tapping the lovely numbers!

Stumbling down the street towards the alley, I grip my thigh. As I round the corner into an alley, I slam my back up against the brick and risk a peek. The Abnormal stomps away- not even looking over at me.

What the Hell just happened?

A hiss leaves my mouth as the wound opens up more and weeps blood onto my palm.

Whatever happened doesn’t matter- if I don’t get some medical equipment soon I’ll pass out on the street. My eyes dart to the roof just above me. If I can get up there, I’ll be easier to spot and can get help faster. But it puts me more at risk at getting snatched… again.

But if I stay down here and wait for help, I can bleed out.

Taking a deep breath, I look to the clouds in the sky. If I get out of here, I’m going to watch those clouds with Reiner and the others.

I can hear his voice.

‘When,’ he says gently, firmly. ‘When you get out of here’.

‘What a big lug,’ I tell him mentally, getting to my feet again. ‘Always the motivator, though.’

I can see his head fall back with laughter- the sound of it reverberating around me and wrapping me in its embrace. Strong and something that shakes his whole body from the stomach out. Each laugh like he’s never laughed a day in his life.

‘Just get on the roof already, darling,’ he says. I can feel his always-warm hand wrapped around mine, his fingers aligning with mine on the triggers.

My body shoots up and I release the triggers- allowing myself to fall back to the earth. The collision forces my feet from under me and I fall forward, breathless. Coughing, I roll onto my back. ‘That sucked,’ I tell him.

‘Didn’t look fun,’ I can hear him say as I stare up at the clouds. ‘But when you’re back, I’ll give you a massage.’

I scoff and roll back onto my stomach, tucking my foot under me and pushing me to my feet. ‘I just want to get back.’

‘You will.’

I’m panting now as I hold my thigh. The streets are emptied completely, only debris and bodies scattered on the cobblestone. Titan heads bob over houses- too far away to notice me. My eyes strain even more to hopefully catch a glimpse of any of my comrades.

“Oiii!” Someone yells, much too light-heartedly.

I turn to the voice as two people land on the roof behind me. They’re both tall- one only slightly taller than the other. The man has perfectly-styled hair and presses his mouth into a thin line. The other has long brown hair hastily thrown up into a bun and glasses strapped to their face.

“What’re ya doing down here?” The shorter one of the two squawks before a long drawn-out gasp comes from their mouth. “Did you just fight that Abnormal?!” they ask, hands holding either side of their blushing face.

Blinking slowly, I consider my options. I can’t be honest with them. I’d be locked in a mental institution for the rest of my life if I did. “...kinda,” I wince, gesturing to my leg. “I didn’t fight it as much as it tried to rip me apart.”

The man hurries to me and examines my leg. “...did you make this yourself?” He asks, looking up at me as he gestures to the contraption wrapped around my leg.

I nod. “Just outta some stuff from that store over there,” I mumble, using my blade to gesture to the crumbling building.

Shocks of pain shoot up from my leg as the man prods at my thigh. “Sorry!” He blurts, jerking his hand away from the wound.

The other person hums, eyes flicking behind their glasses as they examine my wound. “Bit of a nasty one there… You’ll bleed out soon… And we can’t have our best piece of evidence go to waste!” They grab my arm and pull me to their side, tucking an arm around my waist. “Hold on tight- we’ll get ya back to the wall and stitch you back up- and then you can tell me all about that Titan!”

Did this nutcase just call me ‘evidence’?

“I’ve heard you’re a bit of a reckless one,” the medic mutters as he wraps my leg with bandages.

I chuckle and hide my blushing face in my shoulder. “How’d ya guess?”

The medic gestures over his shoulder to the town below us. “My boyfriend was one of the ones in that lift in HQ. Told me about you jumping off the lift and charging a Titan head-on without gear.”

“...ah…” I laugh again, feeling my face heat up even more.

“Don’t worry,” the medic chuckles as he puts his tools into a medkit. “He told me how you and some other basically saved their asses, too.”

“At least I’m a reckless nutjob instead of a reckless brat.”

The medic laughs and gets to his feet. “Don’t expect to use that leg any time soon, alright?”

I nod and the medic walks away from me. Sighing, I look up to the clouds.

Gods, I hope they all made it okay. I hope Eren plugged- or plugs- the wall. I hope this all can just… be over. I want it to be over with. One day. Just one day of rest. That’s all I want. I don’t even want to rest. If I can have one day to breathe- I’ll shut my mouth and do whatever’s asked of me for the rest of my short life.

But I guess this will have to do for the time being.

Closing my eyes, I take a deep breath in.

“__________!”

My eyes shoot back open and my head lolls to the side. Connie, Marco, Jean, and Annie run to me. A smile crosses my face as I wave them over. “Glad t’see you’re alright,” I laugh as they slide to the floor beside me. “Surprised Freckles here hasn’t chided your ears off.” I tease, looking up at one pink-faced Marco.

“Not for lack of trying, eh, Annie?” Connie laughs, elbowing Annie’s arm.

Her lips turn softly into a smile behind her gold curtain of hair. Jean nudges Marco as Marco’s face continues to grow in redness. “She’s not wrong.”

Marco rolls his eyes and gestures down to my leg. “I’m just surprised you haven’t gotten yourself killed.”

The group turns to face him- shock very plainly on our faces. Marco’s ears suddenly grow even more red as he tries to backtrack over his words. “...would ya look at that!” I laugh, “Kid’s got jokes!”

The group chuckles. “So…” Connie says, poking the bandage wrapped around my thigh. “How’d ya get this one?”

“And how are you explaining it to Reiner?” Annie adds, a small smile on her lips.

I groan. “...I’d rather take my chances with another Abnormal.”

“‘Another’?” Marco asks, eyebrows furrowing. “You fought an Abnormal?”

Flashes of that grocery store play in my eyes. The arm reaching in, grabbing my leg and dragging me out into the street. The mouth- the eyes. Red. I can see it clearly now. Red. And glowing.

“Well?” Jean presses, arms crossed over his chest and an eyebrow raised. “Did you?”

It put me down. It listened to me and put me down- and then it walked away.

“I just…,” I stop and shrug. “I got my ass beat by one. Does that count?”

“I can see that,” Connie mutters as he stares at the various wrappings around my body. “What’d it do to you-”

“Nothing I can’t handle,” I interrupt, flicking the back of Connie’s head. “Now, don’t you kids have some orders to fulfill?”

“Yeah,” Marco says, tapping a finger on his gas canister. “We had to fill up. Now that we’re done, we should get back and help with… everything.”

“So nonchalantly stopping to talk to me while everyone’s down there dying was just…” I shrug, “Like passing an old friend in the market?”

They all pale in color in front of me.

“That’s what I thought,” I snap, gesturing towards the town just past the soles of my shoes. “Now get your asses down there.”

“Cadet Braus!”

My whole body jerks as I shoot up, clutching my shirt. Colors and shapes merge together as I frantically try to find the voice.

When did I fall asleep? How long was I even asleep?

“Aye, sir!” I yell, sleep still clouding my vision. Where did the voice come from…? My eyes lazily slide around for the voice as my fist is planted against my chest. No sign of Connie, Marco, Annie, or Jean. Did I dream that? Are they still… Are they still down there?

A soldier- clothed in a Military Police uniform- stands in front of me with a folded piece of paper in his hand. “A message,” he states, handing it to me. “From Squad Leader Hange Zoë.”

The soldier leaves without so much as another word. I look down at the paper, running my fingers over the edges of the folds. Hange Zoë? The scientist?

Slowly, I unwrap the paper. Memories of that day in ODM training flash in my vision. The pair of strangers in the back of the crowd observing us- the taller one, wasn’t that Hange?

Scrambled handwriting is hurried along across the page, like the hand was too eager to get the words out the poor pen couldn’t keep up. Every letter is connected in unsteady lines.

Cadet Braus,

Upon your recovery- partial or otherwise- you are to be interviewed by me on the topic of your engagement with an Abnormal.

-Hange Zoë

PS: we’ll be accompanied by Captain Levi- don’t let him intimidate you :)

The Captain Levi?

Gods, as if my day couldn’t get any worse.

Folding the paper back up, I tuck it into my bra. I’m now to be put through two wonderful events. Go see Reiner first and get a new asshole and then go see Hange Zoë and try to explain to them how I had my entire body slammed against a roof multiple times.

I’m too tired for this. With the amount of blood I’ve lost in the past few hours, I should be chained to a hospital bed for days- which I can only hope to be the case. A pit begins to eat away in my stomach as I stare out at Trost just below me.

I should’ve died.

My fingers brush against the familiar fabric of bandages around my torso.

This… This wound alone should have killed me.

Why… why didn’t it?

And then the roof? My skull should’ve split- my body shouldn’t have been able to move at all, much less end up here. Why did I…?

And then the Titan. Abnormal or not- it should have killed me. I should not be alive. Why did it put me down? Why did it walk away? It was going to eat me and I wouldn’t have been able to do a damn thing about it.

So why didn’t it? Why am I still here?

Why did I get lucky so many times when my comrades are dying for much more insignificant reasons?

I turn my gaze from the hellfire below me to the cloudy heavens above me.

I need to talk to Reiner about this. He’ll understand- he can help.

I hope.

“You need t’get some sleep,” I say quietly, my hand resting against Rei’s face. “You look exhausted.”

“...I am,” he chuckles coldly. The movement causes the prickle of stubble to graze against my palm.

“You also need t’shave,” I tease, “Or are you finally gonna try out that rugged stubble look that I’ve been begging you to try?”

Reiner rolls his eyes and scoffs, “Never.” His hand comes up from his lap and rubs against his jaw in thought. “...I’ll shave later.”

My lips turn downwards into a pout. “Boo… Maybe one day?”

“...nope.”

The room goes quiet. I can see him clutching his thigh and the way his eyes keep drifting to the various instruments surrounding me- the blood bag oozing blood down into my arm, the bag of saline beside it. His hands twitch in his lap again. The soft-green room smells too much like metal. And it’s freezing. Reiner’s eyes finally settle on me. His golden gaze is just that; glimmering and seemingly hard but soft in all reality.

“How is it out there?”

“...it smells like death everywhere you go,” he says quietly, his face sinking deeper into my palm. “There’s so many… so many dead.”

“Have you found him yet?” I ask gently, praying he says… I don’t know. I don’t want him to say yes. I don’t want him to say no. I just… I need to know where he is.

“Marco’s still missing.”

My lip trembles as he speaks. Taking a sharp inhale in, I look to the ceiling and close my eyes. There’s still hope. It’s only been a day- there’s still hope. I can still see him. He’s going to be okay.

Slowly, I nod. “...okay. Okay. Just… keep me updated, please?”

“As soon as we find him, you’ll know.”

I sigh. “I’m glad everyone else is okay,” I mumble, “I’m glad you’re okay.” Reiner’s eyes dart to my body again. Taking his face into both of my hands, I duck into his gaze. “Don’t do that. Don’t you dare.”

“__________, if I had been there-”

“If you had been there…” I trail off, remembering the shape I was in. “...I don’t know what would’ve happened- but it wouldn’t have been much better.”

“You could’ve died.”

“I know. I know but… listen to me- I’m… I’m not dead. I’m here. I’m alive. I… I don’t know how but I am, okay?,”

“So you can stop gripping your knees to stop yourself from touching me- I’m not glass.”

Reiner’s hands come up and wrap around my wrists gently. “__________… I need to tell you something… if anything were to happen to you and you didn’t know- I don’t know…”

Softly, I press my lips to his and rest my forehead against his. “You can tell me anything... and when you’re done… I have something to tell you, too.” I chuckle lightly, “And I need you to keep an open mind about it, alright?”

Reiner’s eyebrows furrow, “...okay… but only if you do the same for me.”

A smile crosses my lips as I pull away, letting my hands trail down his face, his neck, his chest before resting on the bed. His hand follows after mine, wrapping it over mine. “I can do that,” I mumble. My eyes flick up to his, “As long as you aren’t gonna confess something like ‘I’m your classmate that stalked you for years and then blackmailed you into marriage’.”

“Damn,” Reiner mutters, rubbing the back of his neck. “Took the words right outta my mouth.”

I scoff and punch his shoulder, “Shuddup ‘nd tell me.”

Reiner’s smile quickly fades- breaking down into something crooked and broken before disappearing completely. Something in the depths of my gut tells me whatever it is isn’t good. I brace myself as Reiner opens his mouth to speak.

“Cadet Braus?”

My eyes tear away from Reiner’s face to the group that walks into my hospital room. The two Scouts from the rooftop are in the doorway- accompanied with a sharply-dressed, shorter man with no expression. The way he carries himself, the way he looks up and down the walls in disdain- his arms crossed and hands tucked under his biceps- without a doubt, he’s Captain Levi.

And he’s… surprisingly underwhelming. Even in memories, he was always tall. Tall and broad-shouldered and with a commanding aura. Maybe I’m thinking of Commander Erwin. Or Reiner when he’s tired of mine and the others’ shit.

“Yes, sir.” I state, placing my fist over my heart.

Reiner gets off his seat and goes into a salute, only to be eyed up and down by Captain Levi.

“Who’s the extra brat?” He mutters, arching an eyebrow.

Something flares up in my stomach as Captain Levi continues eyeing Reiner like he was something he stepped in. Fists clutching my blanket, I breathe in slowly. It’s just intimidation. It’s always just intimidation. It’s fine.

“Cadet Reiner Braun, sir,” Reiner says firmly, his chest slightly puffed and shoulders taut. He’s nervous. He always goes rigid when he’s nervous.

“Relation?” Captain Levi asks, eyes drifting between the two of us.

“We’re uh…” Reiner trails off, looking back over his shoulder at me. “Romantically… involved.”

Hange laughs, grabbing my attention from the encounter between Captain Levi and Reiner. They tug a chair that leaned against the wall. They sit down on it and scoot it closer to my bed, looking at me with unadulterated glee.

...I can see where the ‘Mad Scientist’ jokes came from.

“...are you going to stay?” The man from the roof asks Reiner.

Reiner looks back at me, worry very obviously etched into his face. His jaw clenches before his mouth opens. I cut him off. “You’ve been here with me for way too long… Go get something to eat. Maybe go take a nap. I’ll be okay.”

Reiner’s mouth opens again. I beat him to the punch again. “That’s an order, Cadet Braun.” He caves without another word. Slipping past the man in the doorway, Reiner offers one last smile- before disappearing down the hallway.

My attention is quickly grabbed by Squad Leader Hange. They squeal, grasping my arm and running their fingers along the length of the plastic tube pumping blood into me. “How fascinating!” They hum with a smile on their face. “Moblit- gimme my notepad.”

The man from the doorway dashes forward into action, pulling a beaten notepad from thin air. Captain Levi silently sits in a chair in the corner of the room. I notice he doesn’t lean up against the wall- he doesn’t even touch the wall, actually. He sits just far enough away from the wall that he doesn’t touch it but not far away enough that he’s in the center of the room.

What a strange man.

“Eh?” Hange looks up at me, pushing their glasses further up their face. Their eyes flick between me and Captain Levi before a laugh passes their lips. “Oh, don’t mind Shortie over there. He’s only here to make sure I don’t… overwhelm you.” Their eyes turn back down to their notepad as they hurriedly scribble something down. “I’ve been known to… get carried away…,”

“Moblit!” They suddenly squawk- sending the already-frazzled man into a hurried pace to the Squad Leader’s side. “Hand me Cadet Braus’ file.” Moblit nods once and lifts his coat to reveal a… rather thick file with various papers jutting out.

Is that… is that really only about me? I haven’t gotten into that much trouble, have I?

Hange hums to themself as they open the file and scan through the pages before flipping to another page. Their eyes meet mine as I stare worriedly down at the file. “Oh, don’t worry!” They laugh, “I take the liberty of delving into my subjects- interviewees! Interviewees. My... interviewees’ backgrounds.”

Slowly, I nod. This person is obviously a tiny bit unhinged. But there’s something about them that sparks some morbid interest in me. Besides- aren’t all Scouts a bit unhinged?

Hange sighs happily and plucks a paper out from the file. “I’ve another interview so I’m a tad pressed for time- with your boss’ son, actually! So we’ll just get into it, yeah?” They ask with a smile.

“You’re seeing Eren?” I ask, excitement bubbling in my throat. “He’s alive? He’s okay?” Hange goes silent, their mouth pressing into a thin line. “He stands trial today,” Captain Levi answers from his corner- all flat and emotionless. “To see what’s going to be done about him.”

‘What’s going to be done about him’...?

They wouldn’t… kill Eren, would they?

He sealed the wall- he saved Trost, why would they?

“Shall we begin?” Hange asks, peering at me over their glasses. I nod silently and Hange hums. Adjusting their glasses, they scan the paper. “You’re __________ Braus of the 104th Cadet Corps… age twenty-one years… Sister, Sasha Braus...,” Hange stops and looks up at me. “You were living in Shiganshina when it fell?”

“Yes.”

“...but you previously lived in Wall Rose? Until you were…,” Hange stops, flipping through the papers before settling on one. “Fifteen?”

“Yes.”

Hange nods and marks something down on their notebook. “...and you’re romantically involved with Cadet Reiner Braun,” they ask, not taking their eyes off the paper.

“Yes.”

“...Squad Leader of Squad Thirty-Two with members… Floch Forster, Franz Kefka, Hanna Diamant, and Gordon Bov.”

“...just Floch and Gordon now.” I answer quietly.

Hange’s eyes flick up over the top of the file. Their voice is softer now, “Oh… I’ll… I’ll be sure to note that.” They start to write something down- much less hurried and with more care. I take a slow breath in, forcing the memories of Hanna and Franz back down into my gut instead of at the back of my throat.

“Um… what was I…? Ah, yes,” Hange clears their throat and leans forward. “The good part,” they whisper, raising their eyebrows with a small smile. “What happened that caused you to be separated from your squad? Your commanding officers had told me that you were reassigned to a new squad with new members- your sister being one of them.”

“We had just led a ten-meter towards the wall,” I start, remembering the scene. “We were heading back out towards the middle of town- someone in our squad had seen a Titan roaming around near the shopping district.”

I sigh and shake my head, “Nobody knew it was an Abnormal… We all just thought it was a fifteen-meter.” My eyes widen as I see it pounce forward- its jaws snapping shut and crushing our Squad Leader. “...I remember seeing it jump and decapitate our Squad Leader… his head… his head landed at my feet,”

“...I gave the order to retreat to the wall almost immediately. It was just us five Cadets- we couldn’t have taken an Abnormal on by ourselves. As we were making our way to the wall, the Abnormal- it waited until I shot my ODM wires out and grabbed them… and it didn’t even pull me into its mouth,” I mumble, eyebrows furrowing. “It just… It just grabbed my wires and used them to slam against a rooftop. Over. And over. And over again.” My fingers subconsciously rub the bandages around my thigh as my eyes turn from Hange. I focus on the bedsheets covering my wounds, remembering each detail.

“When it finally let me go, I rolled off the roof, shot myself into a window and took cover in a store… I made that brace and wrapped myself with whatever I could when…” I can hear the crackling of wood and shattering of stone and glass as the hand reaches towards me.

“When what?” Hange asks, excitement plainly in their voice. The grip on their pen makes it tremble in their fist.

“...it came back,” I mumble, “It dragged me out into the street and then it-” My eyebrows unfurrow, face dropping as I remember. It lifted me up, opened its mouth and when I screamed at it- it just… put me down. Walked away. And its eyes. Its eyes were glowing.

“It… it put me down.”

Hange’s head snaps up from their notepad. “It what?”

“It… put me down?” I laugh breathlessly, running a hand through my hair. “I dunno either; I just remember it was opening its mouth and then it just… put me down and left.”

Hange can barely hold still as they hurriedly scribble down my words onto their paper. “And what then? Did it even look at you after? Or did you immediately go to the rooftop where you were found? Oh, what am I saying- of course you went to the rooftop. Did you get a look into its mouth? Or! Did you see its eyes? Any of its facial features? Anything at all worth noting?!”

“Oi, oi, oi, oi,” Captain Levi speaks up from the corner of the room. “Four-eyes, calm down. You’ll scare the shit outta this brat if you keep it up.”

Hange takes a deep breath in and steadies their hands. “Shortie’s right,” they mutter, adjusting their glasses. “I got carried away… can you tell me anything about the Abnormal?”

Red eyes- they glowed only after I started yelling at it. They glowed and it put me down. It. Put. Me. Down.

No, no. I just imagined it.

“Just that its eyes were brown.”

I was picked up and put back down but its eyes were normal.

“And that its breath smelled like shit.”

Nothing else happened.

“I was pretty out of it.”

Nothing.

“I had lost a lot of blood when you found me.”

Else.

“I’m just glad you did.”

Happened.

“__________, please,” Sasha pleads as I stumble down the hallway.

Tugging my new Cadets jacket tighter over my shoulders, I keep moving forward. “I’m not taking up a hospital room when others need it more,” I mutter, scanning each doorway plaque as we walk down the hall. “Besides, if I was going to stay in that sterile nightmare any longer, I was gonna attack someone.”

“You’re still healing, the doctor hasn’t-!” “I’m perfectly capable of diagnosing myself,” I laugh quietly, “Doctor Yaeger taught me well.” Sasha groans behind me. “Oh- quit your whining. You act like you’ve never acted like this.”

“I haven’t!”

“Lies- the winter before you turned six, you got sick with a cold. Had to have Mom basically drug you so Dad and I could go hunting.”

“I wasn’t even six!”

My eyes catch the plaque I had been looking for. “Shuddup, we’re here,” I mutter, grabbing the handle of the door and pushing it open slightly. “You comin’ with?”

Sasha sighs and shakes her head. “I’ve got… I’ve got body duty.”

I let go of the door handle and take her into my arms, squeezing her slightly. She returns the hug with a shuddering sigh. “...we can talk about it after you get back, okay?” I suggest softly, running my fingers up her back. “And when we’re all free, we can go sneak down to our lake and go for a swim- alright?”

Sasha pulls away and nods. “I’ll see you tonight.”

“Bye, love.”

Sasha heads back down the hall before calling over her shoulder, “Don’t pop anymore stitches!” and disappearing out the door.

What a brat.

I turn back to the door and knock gently. “It’s __________, Eren,” I call softly. “Can I come in?”

“Yeah.”

Pushing the door open, I step in and immediately gasp. Eren’s bloodied and bruised- covered in gashes and cuts. “What the Hell did they-” I stop, noticing the other presences in the room. Captain Levi stands against the wall opposite Eren, arms crossed over his chest. He eyes me up and down coolly before returning his gaze to Eren.

I immediately go into a salute, slamming my fist against my chest. “I- I’m sorry, Captain- I didn’t-”

He waves me off without a word. His eyes are trained on Eren- the steel grey hard and immovable from Eren’s form across the room. There is something… ancient in the Captain’s eyes. Like a primordial guardian. Something that has seen ages past- and awaits for the next twist.

Something twitches deep in my stomach.

Why am I staring so intensely at this man- why am I so intrigued with this man?

I tear my eyes away from the deceptively youthful face before me. They instead settle on Eren, who huddles against the wall with his legs pressed to his chest. Blood is pouring from his nose- which sits jaggedly on his face. There’s various bruises and cuts that slice through his skin. Purple and blue, this poor kid...

Rushing over, I start to poke and prod his face. “What the hell happened to you?” I hiss, forcing one of his eyes to open as I examine the damage to his actual eye. Eren is silent, only mildly twitching in pain away from my fingers.

I growl. I didn’t bring my medical bag. Why would I have?! It was a hearing- not a goddamn boxing match.

“Who did this to you?” I ask firmly, staring deep into Eren’s eyes. Eren shakes his head. Sighing, my eyebrows furrow as I look at his broken nose. “I bet it was those Military Police jackasses, wasn’t it?”

“__________…”

I scoff, “It was, wasn’t it? Those sick assholes- thinking they can shit on us because they deemed us ‘less worthy’... makes me sick-”

“__________-” Eren hisses.

I shake my head, allowing the spew of words to slice past my lips. “Which one’a them was it? You point them out next time and I’ll swing, I swear. Cut for cut, hit for hit- they’ll get it back-”

“__________!” Eren snaps, eyes locked onto me.

“What?” I snap back, eyebrows furrowing even more as I stare up at him. Eren’s eyes widen and then narrow back to their original shape before he glances across the room. I squint in thought before turning around.

Captain Levi is still reclined against the wall- portraying a false sense of relaxation. His eyes are still fixated on Eren but… from this angle I can see the way the hardness in his eyes blends with determined ferocity. And an absolute lack of remorse.

I turn back to Eren, fists clutching the leather straps around my thighs. “...did he do this to you…?” I ask quietly- not even a whisper.

“It was for my own good-”

With that, I’m standing back up and whirling around to face Captain Levi. He’s impassively staring up at me as I lunge forward- fist tightened and cocked back. Eren’s off his seat and grabbing at my arm, “__________! Calm down, would ya?!”

A growl bubbles up from my throat as I let my fist fly forward. Eren yells my name again, grabbing my forearm and pulling it back. I struggle against him for a moment- chest heaving with breath as I stare unblinkingly at Captain Levi. Strands of hair fall onto my face, now free from the messy updo I had it in as I walked out of the hospital.

The door swings open.

The three of us turn towards the noise. Hange is standing in the doorway, medical supplies in their hands. Their eyes dart from each person in the room before an awkward smile crosses their face. They hold the medical supplies up, “...I’m back?”

Commander Erwin stands back up, walking to my side. I bristle as he nears me- having allowed one of his highest-ranking officers to beat the living shit outta my kid doesn’t exactly sit right with me. My eyes are locked on said officer as he pushes himself off the wall and plops down beside Eren. Something churns in my stomach as I watch Eren’s eyes light up.

He had worshipped Commander Erwin and Captain Levi. Would go on and on about them- even as a kid living in Shiganshina. Even I had come to appreciate their efforts for the advancement of humanity. But now-

“I take it you’re Cadet Braus,” Commander Erwin comments from beside me.

“Yes sir,” I say curtly, not taking my eyes off of Captain Levi and Eren as the two talk quietly.

Commander Erwin chuckles, “Hange mentioned your past with him.” He gestures to Eren with his hand. I note the various patches and slices of lighter, tougher skin on the back of his hand.

Even the Commander himself has not gone unscathed when it comes to Titans.

“I worked under his father- his mother was like one to me in a time where I needed a mother to guide me,” I explain quietly, “...I spent years looking after him. Him and a few others.”

Commander Erwin nods solemnly beside me. “...I admire your ferocity.”

My eyebrows furrow and I finally tear my eyes off Captain Levi. Almost attacking a senior officer isn’t something I would think gets rewarded in the Scouts. “Sir?”

“Not everyone would be so willing to charge Humanity’s Strongest Soldier,” he explains, blue eyes staring down at me with slight amusement. “It speaks for your character, Cadet.”

A sudden blush rises in my cheeks at his words. Admiration? By Commander Erwin himself? I swallow quickly and slam my fist over my heart. “Thank you, sir.”

Hange walks up to us, smiling widely. “I just ran out of supplies for Eren and thought I’d take you along to help me carry some things,” they suggest, grabbing my arm and tugging me out of my salute. “You don’t mind, do you Erwin?” Erwin shakes his head, “Cadet Braus and I had just finished talking.” Hange lets out an ecstatic squeal and tugs me outside. I turn back to look at Eren, only to note the Commander’s eyes still locked on me as Hange pulls me out of the doorway.

The door clicks shut behind us. Hange lets out a long sigh and runs a hand down their face. “Whew!” They exclaim as they lead us down the hallway. “Heard ya almost attacked Shortie,” they giggle and sigh. “I’d love to see that fight.”

I scoff a bit, “I’d end up dead- that’s for sure.”

Hange’s head snaps towards me. My eyes widen as I realise I spoke out of turn. Feeling the heat in my face, I open my mouth to speak- but instead get cut off by their raucous laughter. They clutch their sides and wipe a tear that streams down their soft skin. “Finally!,” they yell triumphantly, “A Cadet with a sense of humor.” They sigh happily and continue leading us down the hallway. “It’s so much like talking to scared cats sometimes... Boring answers from boring Cadets.”

A warm feeling starts to seep under my skin. Pride. Pride and joy. I was becoming close to a Scout- a veteran. Smiling, I puff out my chest slightly. “I’m glad to be of service.”

We round the corner. Hange continues their rambling- somehow enrapturing me with their tales of Titan experiments and expeditions outside the walls. My eyes remain focused on them as we continue down the hallway. They’re so animated, so passionate. It’s truly a breath of fresh air. I was honestly so, so, so goddamned tired of being surrounded by straight-laced soldiers.

Minus Jean, Marco, Connie, and Sasha. Soldiers, yes. Straight-laced, no.

My lips quirk upwards as I remember their collective habit of running around in the woods at night, giggling like little kids. Marco even would go- as serious he is at times. He’d be more hesitant, more quiet but eventually he’d warm up to the idea. ‘I’m already out here,’ he would say, ‘Might as well make it so the punishment’s worth it.’

I miss that kid.

“Oh?” Hange asks, turning to face me. “Did I bore you?”

I shake my head and laugh, “I don’t think that’s possible, Squad Leader.”

Hange’s oak-colored eyes narrow as they scan me. Not in suspicion. Concern. Finally, they nod to themself and continue discussing the possibility of experimenting on two new Titans their squad had found on their last expedition. I’m clinging to their words, their plans. As they glance over at me from time to time, it becomes obvious they’re making sure they haven’t lost me to boredom or indifference.

It’s plainly obvious there’s not many interested (or willing) listeners in their acquaintance.

“Hange!” Someone behind us yells, boot-heavy footsteps clunking down the hallway. “Squad Leader Hange!”

Hange stops their rambling and turns, pushing their glasses up their nose. “Eh? What is it, Eld?”

Eld?

I spin around, smile widening at the sight. Eld stops just in front of us. “Hange, Captain Levi asked me to find you.”

“What is it Shortie wants?”

“Eren’s…” Eld trails off, his eyes flicking over to me. His face visibly turns pink as Hange’s eyes narrow- shifting between Eld and I. “Eren’s Titan… T-Titan powers… They’re… uhm…”

I arch an eyebrow, smile turning into an amused smirk as I watch him keep himself together. How he managed to become some big-shot Titan slayer handpicked by Captain Jackass is beyond me. He’s always been some skittish pup with his tail tucked between his legs. To see him in any other light is… Unnatural.

Eld notices my smirk and turns even more pink. “They’re healing him!” Eld finally blurts, shoulders and back rigid.

“Oh?” Hange taps their chin with their finger in thought. They mutter to themselves under their breath before turning back to us. “Take us back, then! If you can find your way, of course.” They smirk mischievously, eliciting a stifled laugh from myself.

Eld nods once, turning on his heel to lead us back down the hallway. I can still see the blush reaching his ears. As we walk through the winding hallways, Hange leans down and whispers in my ear. “I had no idea where the medical supplies were,” they admit with a small giggle, “It was simply an excuse to get you out of that room.”

“I appreciate it,” I sigh, remembering I’ll have to be in the same room as Captain Jackass again.

“So…,” they hum, arching an eyebrow, “What’s the deal between you and Ponytail?”

‘Ponytail’. I’ll have to remember that one. “...he helped me out a couple years after Shiganshina fell,” I mumble with a small smile, “It had been a rough time and he… Eld gave me a place to sleep, helped me get into the Cadets program.”

I had prayed he would be alive.

I can only hope my prayers are enough for Marco.

“Has he always been this…?” Hange trails off, gesturing vaguely to the man just a few steps ahead of us.

I nod, “He’s always been flustered.” Hange’s eyebrows furrow as they ‘hmph’ in thought. I turn to look at them. “...is he not…?” Hange shakes their head. “Not normally…”

…?

We come back to the room and I take a deep breath. Hopefully, Captain Jackass has left. As I take a step into the room, something at the pit of my stomach tells me otherwise. Commander Erwin is standing beside a wall, arms crossed over his chest. His eyes are on Eren- and Captain Levi, who sits beside Eren. Arm slung over the back of the chair, Captain Levi looks over his shoulder at us.

“About time.”

My fists tighten as I will myself to not attack Humanity’s Favorite Jackass. A deep breath is taken once more as I walk to stand at the window. I cross my arms over my chest and stare daggers at the group as Hange excitedly pulls something from their pocket. Eld stands beside me, still blushing.

Something strange creeps under my skin.

Is he really only like this around me?

How could I not have noticed?

We watch as Eren opens his mouth, allowing Hange to peek inside. Hange’s eyebrows furrow as they look. They reach out and grab Eren’s chin and turn it downwards to get a better look. In buzzing excitement, they tug a notebook out of their coat and frantically scribble down something. My eyes drift from their work to Captain Levi- who’s already glaring at me.

My eyes narrow in response. Only slightly, not enough to be classified as insubordination. But enough. He turns away, back towards Hange.

Gods, if I didn’t have to worry about insubordination, I’d have already swung.

It was late. Way late. Too late, even for me. ‘Night owl’ was a badge I wore with pride but tonight? Tonight all I wanted was sleep. Deep sleep, dreamless sleep. Sleep, sleep, sleep, sleep, sleep. Those nights in the hospital- plagued with nightmares of Hanna, of Franz, of the Red-Eyed Titan. Cold and cruel and filled with the pained moaning of my comrades; both in sleep and in wake. I didn’t get much sleep there.

All I wanted was to curl up in my bed with my favorite blanket and my favorite brawny blond bastard.

I stumble down the hallways, passing by dimly-lit rooms and muffled snores. My eyes are lead-heavy and blinking is an ungodly chore. My footsteps are shuffled as they echo down the hall. I’m too exhausted to pick them up completely with each step.

All I want is sleep.

Finally, finally, finally, I come to my door. I can hear Sasha’s snoring from the other side. A warm feeling smooths itself over my skin and deep into my chest. Home. Wherever she is- it’s home. Limp, my hand lands on the doorknob and I lean into the door to open it. It squeaks open slightly and casts a ray of light onto the bunk bed across the room. Mikasa’s mouth hangs slightly open- her black hair fanned out over her pillow.

A small smile crosses my lips. I’m glad she didn’t wait up for me. She needs rest.

Something clatters behind me.

I turn around. My head swivels as the exhaustion fades away. It’s replaced with that buzz again. Adrenaline. Eyes darting down the empty hallway, they settle on a slightly open door. Voices echo down towards me- too distorted from the walls to be heard properly. Someone passes by the doorway. Blond hair and golden eyes as they shut the door again.

Reiner.

I had hoped he had gone to bed, too, but…

I sigh and run a hand through my hair. “Gods,” I mutter, “I am going to rip him a new asshole.”

With another huff, I walk down the hall and grip the handle- only for the door to crack open on its own. Bertholdt and Annie are in there, arms crossed and eyes hard. What are they all doing up? It’s nearly morning and by the bags and circles under their eyes, they haven’t slept yet. Weren’t they all out on city cleanup today? They should be-

“You can’t tell her,” Bertholdt hisses, eyes widening in disbelief. “You want to put her in that position?”

“I know her- she’d… she’d understand!” Reiner shoots back. He’s on the other side of the door- I can’t see him but I can hear him perfectly. “__________’s good like that.”

“You really think she’d understand?” Annie asks, an eyebrow arched as she tucks a piece of hair back. “Are you absolutely sure?”

Reiner sighs. I can picture him running a hand down his face- his eyes pinched closed. “...I can’t keep... lying to her.”

Lying…?

“You can’t just… tell her!” Bertholdt’s voice raises before his eyes dart to the door. I tuck back into the shadows in response and pray he didn’t see me. His eyes turn back to the inside of the room. “...how do you know she’ll react the way you think?”

My brain feels like it’s being pulled fourteen different ways- up and down and backwards and forwards and upside-down and inside-out and-

What are they talking about? What has Reiner been lying to me about? Why are they all talking about it like this? How bad is it?

I shake my head. No, no, no, no. Reiner’s my… He’s my other half. Fight and flow- that’s what we are. He… he wouldn’t lie to me if it wasn’t necessary… Right? He’s just… keeping me safe Just like he always does. He keeps me safe…?

“Look,” Annie says, eyes gliding to Reiner from behind her bangs. “If you do tell her, make sure you know what her response is gonna be, got it?”

I can hear Reiner sigh again. Much heavier, much more broken. “...fine.” A long pause filled only with small yawns from Annie and Bertholdt. “I’ll wait.”

Footsteps start heading for the door. I should stay- I should talk to him, talk to them. If there’s any time for this to be a reasonable conversation, it’s now.

But I panic. I scurry back down the hallway and spin into our room- closing the door behind me. I press my ear against the floor, watching the shadows slink past the door. Swallowing thickly, I watch as one shadow stops in front of my door.

It gets closer.

I get up and grip my clothes. I’m still in my uniform-

The doorknob starts to turn.

Fisting the fabric, I lift it over my head as the door swings open.

“Woah-” Reiner’s voice comes from behind me. “I thought you were still in the hospital?”

I swallow my fear and turn to face him. “I… signed myself out.” Reiner’s eyebrows start to furrow- I cut him off before he can tell me off for anything. “Lucky you’re you,” I laugh quietly, “I would’a punched your lights out if you weren’t.”

“I sure am lucky,” he chuckles, letting his eyes run up and down my body. His features relax and become more and more enraptured with me.

I shudder.

Not in pleasure.

I have never shuddered like that with him before. And Reiner notices. “...is something wrong?” he asks gently, eyes softening.

Get the words out. Just say them. Let them be said.

“...I thought you were already asleep,” I mumble, “Why are you still up?”

Reiner shakes his head and smiles softly. “Had a talk with Annie and Bertholdt about today.”

“...are you okay?” I ask gently, staring up at him in the darkness. “Do you want to talk to me about it?”

Reiner shakes his head again and wraps his arms around my back, tugging me into his chest. “Not yet.”

As I stand there, basking in his warmth, the thoughts overflow within me.

Maybe it was just a bad day.

Maybe he’s having another one of his… days.

Maybe he’s lying about his mental state for my sake.

Maybe he’s keeping me safe.

Maybe he had to make a tough call in the field.

Maybe he did something that got someone hurt.

Maybe he can’t forgive himself for it.

Maybe he’s just scared.

“You can tell me anything,” I whisper, “Whenever you want to talk, love, I’ll be here.”

My grip on him tightens. My anchor, my rock, my foundation. I cling to him like he’s my tether to sanity. And it’s true. Sasha, Eren, Mikasa, Armin, Jean, Connie, Marco- I am their anchor. Their rock. Their foundation.

But who is to be mine except him?

“I’ll always be right here.”

“Cadet Braus!”

Sasha and I straighten up, going into a tight salute. The officer eyes us both- his already-narrow eyes narrowing further as he takes in our appearances. “...Cadet __________ Braus?”

“That’s me, sir.” I say, tightening up my back even more.

He seems to smirk to himself, a huffing laugh passing his lips. “Squad Leader Hange has requested you join the experiments scheduled for later this evening.”

“It would be my pleasure, sir.”

The officer nods once and walks away, grumbling to himself as he stares at the clipboard in his grubby hand. Sasha and I relax and turn back down to our food. “So…” she mumbles, taking a bite of food and staring up at me through her lashes. “You tell Reiner you almost killed Captain Levi yesterday?”

I scoff, poking the remnants of congealed porridge. “No. Why should I?” My eyes turn from the globs of oats to Reiner- who sits with Annie and Bertholdt with his head in his hands. “...he’s going through enough without me piling more shit on him.”

Sasha sighs, pushing her bowl away. My ears perk up and I turn to face her. Whatever’s bothering her must be important. It’s not like her to just push food away. “What is it?” I ask softly.

“...Jean, Reiner, Annie, Bertholdt, and I have clean-up duty today.”

“Again? You had it yesterday- why aren’t they-” I stop. I know exactly why they aren’t letting them rest. This- the hurry to do away with the bodies- it’s to prevent a pandemic. A ‘secondary disaster’ as I remember. The amount of sickness festering within the fallen bodies of our comrades- it’d wipe the remaining soldiers and civilians out faster than any Titan. And we couldn’t fight it with blades and ODM gear.

All our resources as a society are focused on military strength. If we can’t fight it with our cannons and blades, there’s little chance we can fight it at all.

I sigh and grab her hand, running my thumb along her knuckles. “We can talk about it tonight,” I whisper, “I know I said that last night but… it was a long day for us all.”

Sasha nods and a faint smile plays her lips. “...sounds good.”

“I’ll even see if I can sneak something out from the cafeteria,” I tease, smiling.

Sasha’s eyes brighten and her smile widens. “Sounds great!”

“__________!”

I don’t even have time to completely turn around as Hange charges straight for me. “Aren’t they beautiful?!” They cry, wrapping an arm over my shoulders and spinning me to face the two Titans. They’re chained to the floor- nails and spikes driven into their hands, legs, and feet to prevent them from moving. I can, however, see Hange’s persuasion in action. The chains wrapped around their necks, while still tight, are loose enough to allow for some movement.

“They’re… quite something,” I mumble, uneasiness settling at the pit of my stomach. I knew they were Titans, real Titans, but it’s just… strange. Seeing them so chained up and docile. The way their glazed eyes stare up towards the sky or the way their digits twitch under the steel of the nails or even the way their wounds give off steam- it’s so underwhelmingly calm when it comes to Titans. I’m only used to fast-paced training and battle, not so much the cerebral calm that Hange seems to specialise in.

“Here! I have to introduce you!” Hange lets out an excited squeal and tugs me closer to the blond Titan on the left. “This! Is Sawney! Say ‘hi’, Sawney!” Sawney does nothing, simply blinks slowly as it looks down at us. Tutting their tongue, Hange shrugs. “Sawney’s a bit shy. Not good at expression, ya know. But Beane!”

Hange tugs me to the other Titan. “Beane here is much more expressive! Say ‘hello’, Beane!” Beane- a brunet Titan with dark brown eyes- is chained lying down. Its eyes slowly glide to look at us before a long exhale passes its lips. A low groan echoes around the sectioned-off area. Hange jumps up excitedly before gripping my shoulders again. “He likes you!”

Moblit runs up behind us, “Squad Leader! You’re too close!”

“Tch,” Hange rolls their eyes, “__________ ‘nd I are fine! Beane even said hello to her!”

Moblit runs a hand down his face, “Please, take a few steps back. If you’re too close-”

“No great steps are ever made without risk,” Hange cuts in. “But fine. Seeing as Cadet Braus is with me.”

The three of us walk away from the Titans. Peeking over my shoulder, I watch as the Titans watch us. Glazed eyes- dead eyes- but they just… watch. Emptily. Soullessly.

I remember red eyes.

“Squad Leader Hange?” I ask quietly as we turn to face the Titans again.

“Always with the formalities,” Hange hums, the touch of a joke playing their tongue. “Just call me Hange.”

“Hange… have you… ever encountered a Titan with… abnormal eye colors?”

“Eh?” Hange turns to face me, “No… I don’t think I have. Why? Did you see something?!”

I swallow and fake a smile, “No, no… I just… I noticed the Titans always have eye colors like ours. Their basic anatomy is like ours, down to the most minute detail- eye color included! I just wondered if maybe…”

“Maybe what?”

My eyes glide over to them. Their eyes are glistening with excitement and their whole body seems to tremble with adrenaline. “...maybe Titans have some sort of… biological connection… with humans?”

Hange lets out a triumphant scream and takes me into a tight hug. Jumping up and down, Hange continues to yell. “I knew it! I knew it! I knew it! An intellectual! A genius! A visionary hiding among the ranks of Cadets!” They sigh happily, panting as they stop jumping. “You’re joining the Scouts, yeah? You’ll be within reach?”

“Yes, Hange,” I smile awkwardly. “I’ve wanted to join since I was-”

Another scream. “And a dedicated Cadet! ...the Choosing ceremony! You’ll be choosing…” They trail off, eyes pinched closed as they mumble to themself in an attempt to remember when the ceremony is.

“I think it’s next week-”

“Perfect! Next week, you and Eren will be within reach at all times!” Hange continues rambling to themself about all the possibilities now in store.

My eyes turn from them to the Titans. If someone as invested and experienced in Titans as Hange hasn’t seen a Titan with red eyes before then…

Why did I?

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unloved-cadillac · 3 years

Note

i'm going to make you cry -Evil laugh sounds- what about overhaul Angst/Fluff with a S/O who lost the ability to walk in a fire (She has an absorption quirk that allows her to acquire characteristics of everything she touches, for example, if she touched Shigaraki she could have her physical characteristics and copy her quirk) you can make it headcanon or scenario, The one you prefer,thank you!

C/n: Firstly: WOW! What a request. Secondly: I love Overhaul so a fluffy Overhaul makes me melt. And YAY, you’re my first My Hero Academia request! Thanks for the request, Anon and I hope that you enjoy🤍

———————————————————————

I’m a Burden(An Overhaul x Reader Oneshot)

I can’t...move.

Y/n lays on the ground while she tries to regain consciousness.

Everything...hurts.

Screaming. That’s the first thing she hears. When she opens her eyes, everything was on fire. The roof was missing, wood was cut down and bodies were everywhere.

“Y/n! Y/n can you hear me?”, she hears Chronostatis speak to her. “Ha-Hari. I can’t feel, anything.” She tells him. Chrono looks at her body and sees her legs...badly injured.

“Y/n, don’t worry. I’m getting you out of here.”, he says looking around. “Where’s Kai?”, she asks. “I don’t know. I didn’t see him before the explosion.” Explosion? Y/n feels her eyes closing but before she lost consciousness she heard his voice.

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

Ugh what is going on?

Y/n wakes up in a warm bed. When she opens her eyes, she adjusts to the bright lights.

Where am I?

She feels all these types of wires in her and all those beeping noises. Trying to move up, she feels it.

Her legs...they’re...gone.

Lifting the blanket up she sees her legs cut off from her knees downward. Y/n widens her eyes and starts to cry. “Oh my god..”, she puts her head in her hands and ball her eyes out. “No..no this can’t be...this can’t be real.”, she cries out.

Hearing her cries, a doctor and nurse come to her aid. “Ms Y/n. It’s okay, calm down. Let me explain what happened.”, the doctor says while rubbing her back.

Apparently, Y/n had caught the impact of the explosion back at HQ and it really caused a lot of damage to her body. Her legs being the worst. They were practically burnt by the time the ambulance arrived and there was no hope in saving them.

“Where is Kai Chisaki, doc? Have you heard of him?”, y/n asks the doctor. “Mr Chisaki is fine. He is actually waiting to see you.” That makes your breath hitch. How will Kai react to this? He already has so much trouble taking care of himself since his hands were taken away, and now...You couldn’t do that to him.

“No, Doc. I don’t want to see him. Please tell him not to come and don’t tell him of my status.”, you tell the doctor and nurses. Confused, the doctor obeys your wish. You lay in the hospital bed and look out the window. It was raining. I hate rainy days.

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

Two weeks have passed since the accident and Kai had been trying to get to you. But nobody allowed him through since he wasn’t family. He saw your mom and sister go to see you. Why didn’t you want to see him? Was it because he wasn’t there when the explosion happened? Because he was too late in protecting you? Have you finally come to your senses in realizing that he couldn’t take care of you the proper way? No. You weren’t the type of person to leave someone because of a disability. You were kind, warm and loving. And you loved him. At least, that’s what he hoped.

The day had come when you were discharged from hospital. And instead of going back to your shared home with Kai, you went with your mom. She said that she wanted to take care of you and promised to never leave you. A mother’s love, huh?

You had your own wheelchair and within a month, you would start treatment and your prosthetic legs were going to be ready for you.

The hospital also recommended therapy so you could come to terms with what had happened. Which you gladly accepted against your will.

Your mom and sister helped you with everything. You felt bad, and you had told them that. But they slapped your head and told you “Family is family no matter what.” Currently laying on your bed, you scroll through your phone checking messages and missed phone calls. And you see his name.

Kai💜

56 messages

67 missed calls.

Oh my god. You resisted the urge to call him, to hear his voice or to read those messages. You couldn’t...

“Y/n?”, you hear your sister call you. “Yeah?”, you answer back. She comes into your room. “There’s a visitor for you.” Oh god. Please don’t let it be... “It’s Haru? Hari? Anyway he has white-grayish hair and said he was a friend of yours.” Oh thank god. “Hari. Yeah allow him in.” She leaves and you put your phone away waiting for your guest.

“Hey, you.” , you hear Chrono’s voice. “Hi, Hari. How are you? Were you hurt?”, you ask him. “Just a couple of scratches.”, he says walking up to you to sit on your bed. “How are you?” He asks. You look down and feel a few tears slip. You pull off the covers to show him your bandages.

You hear him gasp. It’s soft but it was there. “Y-Y/n. Oh no. I-I’m so sorry.”, he tells you while holding your hand. You shake your head. “It’s okay. Don’t feel sorry for me. I’m fine.” “Can’t you heal them? Your quirk is to absorb other powers. So if you absorbed a healing quirk maybe your legs might-..” “I can’t.” You say bluntly which makes Chrono sigh. “Why not?”

“It wouldn’t last. The doctors said that if I had to absorb a regeneration quirk, my legs would grow back, but I won’t have them forever, so in order to have them forever I have to have someone who is willing to give up their powers for me and I can’t do that. I can’t take someone else’s power for my personal greed. It’s too much of work and too much of trouble.”

Chrono listens intently. Your pure heart always was a pain. Overhaul thought so too. But, none of them argued with you because once you put your mind on something, no one could change your mind.

“Did you speak to Kai?”, Chrono asks you. “No. I can’t have him be with me anymore.” “What? Why not?” “Hari, I’m a burden to him at this state. I would only bother him and make things worse. I can’t have him leaving everything for me. He has a life.”, you explain to him. Chrono pinches the bridge of his nose. “You might be the dumbest person I have ever met.” You widen your eyes. “Huh?” “How could you think that, Y/n? Do you really think he would give up on you that easily? He loves you. He tolerates you. He lets you kiss him, without the mask on. Do you know special you are to him? Y/n, I’m calling him. And I’m telling him where you are.” “No, Hari. Wait..” but he called already. He paced around your room until Kai picked up and when he did Chrono started speaking.

“She’s here, Kai. Come and see her.”

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

Chrono left shortly after and you waited. The wait killed you. What was he going to say? Would he break up with you? Your overthinking corrupted your mind until there was a knock on the door.

“Uh, come in.”, you say. The door opens,’and there he was.

“Kai...”, you say softly. He looked so hurt. His eyes were black underneath and although he had his mask on, you could tell he was so disappointed.

He walked up to you and sat on the chair next to your bed. He hadn’t said a word to you yet. “K-Kai say something, please.”, you whisper to him.

But he doesn’t. He just slowly lifts your blanket up with his prosthetic hands and looks at the damage. You heard his breath hitch and saw his eyes widen. You looked down and covered your face with your hands.

“Why didn’t you let me see you?”, he asks softly. You lift your head up and look at him. “I-I..felt like..I would..bother you.” He meets your eyes and shakes his head. “Bother me? How?” He asks simply. “Kai, I won’t be able to walk for a month. I would just be a burden to you.” As soon as you said those words, Kai kissed you. He pulled his mask down, and kissed you. “Dont. You. Ever. Say. That. Again.”, he says in between kisses. “I’m sorry I didn’t get to you in time. I’m sorry that this happened. It’s all my fault.” He apologizes. “No, Kai. Don’t. It’s not your fault.”, you cup his face. “God, I can’t even be mad at you right now. I’m just glad that you’re safe. Chrono told me about how you can’t or better yet, won’t use your quirk. Which is fine. I love you but I’m taking you back home.” He says hugging you. “I love you too.”

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

Kai brought you back home, after much debate with your mother. He carried you, bridal style everywhere around the house just to see you smile.

He paid a home doctor to come check up on you and took you to every appointment that needed to be attended. Your mom and sister came to visit and help around but Kai always did the most.

When your prosthetic legs came, Kai helped you learn how to use them. He caught you when you fell, and lifted your spirits up when you felt you couldn’t do it.

“Yes you can, angel. Don’t lose hope. I’m right here.”

You both helped each other with your respective prosthetics. You helped him with his hands and he helped with your legs. You weren’t ready to go out yet and Kai did not mind. He didn’t force you. You were ready, when you were ready.

You joked around about your disability with Kai quite often which made him roll his eyes and chuckle at you. But the best one he heard was when you two were cuddling.

“You know, since you don’t have your hands and I don’t have my legs, we complete each other.”

He smiled and kissed you softly. Yeah, you did complete each other.

———————————————————————

“This came out long af. But I hope that you enjoyed it.”

🖤🤍Thanks for reading🤍🖤

-Caddy.

#overhaul x reader #my hero academia x reader #my hero academia #kai chisaki #chisaki x reader #chisaki kai #fluff #overhaul fluff #my hero academia fluff

127 notes · View notes

incorrectbandofbrothersquotes · 3 years

Text

Dear Heart - Chapter 8

Dick Winters x Melanie Davis

Summary: Melanie Davis is a nurse from North Carolina who has lived a sheltered life since her father died. Her father’s best friend, Colonel Sink, invites her to experience more as a regimental nurse for the 506th PIR of the 101st Airborne. She embarks on the adventure of a lifetime.

Tag list: @thoughpoppiesblow If you’d like to be added, let me know!

Word Count: 4.5k

A/N: I hope y’all enjoy this update! Sorry I left on the cliffhanger for so long!

Warning(s): stuff that resembles domestic violence at the end

Chapter 1 Chapter 2 Chapter 3 Chapter 4 Chapter 5 Chapter 6 Chapter 7

Chapter 8 here we go!!!

Mentally, Dick was kicking himself. He closed his eyes and tried to forget, but the image of Melanie being pulled from beneath the rubble was all he could see. Her watery eyes as she blinked them open, the soft way she said his name, and how he became absolutely helpless. Somehow, both relief and worry swirled around inside him. He was grateful she was alive but the blood oozing from her hairline couldn’t be good. He was filled with remorse as he recalled how it was Dr. Clarke - he’d learned the man’s name later - who leapt into action and began looking over Melanie. And Dick watched, frozen with the shock of it all.

He opened his eyes again. The sight of the Bois Jacques replaced his shameful memory. Melanie was safe now, which was what he tried to remind himself. They had gotten her to battalion HQ, where Colonel Sink had given up his own billet so Melanie could have a bed. Another man who could do more for her than Dick could.

Dr. Clarke determined that Melanie had gotten miraculously lucky. While the blow to her head looked bad considering how much she bled, she only had a concussion. And it was fairly mild. The rest of her body had come through with only scrapes and bruises. Dick was thankful, but still felt an inadequacy about the whole thing. With nothing to do for her, he returned to the line. It had been two days since he’d left her there. Two days of feeling like he failed her somehow.

“Dick.”

Dick turned his head at the sound of his name. He knew already that it was Lewis’s voice, so he did his best to appear somewhat content. Difficult in this kind of cold, but Lewis was unlikely to pry regardless.

“Hey, Lew,” he said.

“You alright?” Lewis asked.

“Yeah, I’m fine,” Dick returned. “How’s everything back at battalion?”

Lewis almost smirked. Dick didn’t want to seem like he was asking about Melanie, but Lewis knew he was asking about Melanie.

“About the same, as far as the war’s going,” Lewis told him. “At some point, we gotta take Foy, but who knows when we’ll get it together?” When Dick only nodded, Lew continued. “Melanie’s awake now. Properly awake. She was sitting up and eating when I left there.”

That piqued Dick’s interest. He faced his friend and tried not to sound too eager. “She was?”

Lew nodded. “She asked about you.”

Dick might have laughed if he weren’t feeling so torn. Of course Melanie didn’t care a thing for herself. But he hardly felt he deserved her concern.

“Did she?” he asked.

Lew nodded again. “I think you should go see her.”

Dick wanted to see her. Desperately. He just couldn’t bear the thought of facing her when he felt like such a let-down. Then again, she had forgiven him for worse.

“I probably shouldn’t leave the men,” Dick said, and it was partly true. He also harbored guilt for abandoning them for the sake of Melanie, something he recalled swearing back in Toccoa would never happen. But Melanie meant more to him now than she did back then.

He realized just how much she meant when a future he had barely hoped to dream of seemed lost. When he thought she was dead, all those visions he had of a pretty white house with his beautiful wife and their children had been obliterated. He knew he loved Melanie back in Paris. Now he realized just how deep that love went. And all his inaction once again haunted him.

“Go see her, Dick,” Lewis said. “The men will survive without you for a couple hours. Even if they are relying on Dike.”

Dick grimaced at that. He agreed with the sentiment, but he didn’t like to think about Easy in the hands of yet another incompetent CO. While Dike was a step up from Sobel, the improvement was meager.

“There’s a jeep back in the woods,” Lewis said. “It’s waiting for you.”

“Thanks, Nix,” Dick replied, clapping his friend on the shoulder.

With that, Dick climbed out of his foxhole and made his way to the jeep. It was manned by Sink’s personal driver, which told Dick that Lewis was not the only one eager for Melanie to see the man she asked for. With a sigh, Dick took the passenger’s seat and prepared himself.

When they arrived at HQ, Dick took a deep breath. The last time he’d been this nervous was when he asked Melanie to walk with him after what took place in Eindhoven. He wondered if she was upset with him. How much had Dr. Clarke told her about what happened, if anything? Her father’s pocket watch suddenly felt like it was lead in his breast pocket.

HQ was relatively quiet. Dick nodded to the officers he recognized, but didn’t stop to say hello. Now that he was here, he only had Melanie on his mind. He needed to see her. His feet felt heavy as he climbed the stairs to her room. As he approached her door, through the wood, he heard her voice. It was sweeter than any music he’d ever heard in his life. It meant she was really there, alive and well, and his hopes for the future were not dashed. He knocked.

“Come in!” she called.

He opened the door to reveal her sitting up in bed, a tray of food on her lap, and - to Dick’s disgust - Dr. Clarke sitting beside her on the bed. Thankfully, her smile was enough to melt any bitterness. And she beamed at him.

“Dick, hello!” she said. “I’m so glad to see you! Have you met Terry?”

She nodded at the doctor. Dick smiled at her.

“Yeah, we’ve met,” he said. “How are you, Mel?”

He registered now the bandage on her head, and the other, smaller ones on her arms. She reached out a hand toward him, and his heart ached at the scabs he saw forming on her knuckles. He took her hand and let her pull him closer so that he stood beside the bed.

“I’m alright,” she said. “You really are a darling to come and see me.”

It warmed him to hear her say it. She was happy to see him. Not disappointed at all. Hopefully, her forgiveness would help him forgive himself.

“Melanie,” Terry interjected. “The check up.”

“Oh, yes, sorry,” she returned. “Is it alright if Dick stays?”

“Sure,” Terry allowed, looking at Dick. “Have a seat.”

There was a chair behind him, and Dick took it without releasing Melanie’s hand. Terry scooted closer to her, cradled her face in his hands, and looked her in the eyes.

“Eyes are still lovely,” he said, and before she could offer any sort of rebuff, he continued. “And seem fairly focused. No glassiness, pupils are the same size, all good signs.”

He started to move his hand away, and Dick watched uncomfortably as the doctor slid his hand down her neck, briefly stroking her skin with his thumb before letting go. He glanced over at Dick for a fleeting second, meeting his eye. Dick swallowed every possessive impulse that was churning inside him.

“Really, I’ve just got a terrible headache,” she said.

“That’s to be expected,” he said. “Do you remember the accident or the events before?”

“Not really,” she said. “The last thing I remember clearly is…” She trailed off. This was her first significant stint of time awake since the collapse of the hospital. The last thing she could recall was her rejection of Terry on the steps. “Well, when you and I spotted the planes coming. Everything after is a blur.”

“Alright, so there is some amnesia, but it seems like it’s pretty minor,” he told her. “You really are lucky. Best to stay off your feet, relax, and come back to work in a couple weeks.”

“Weeks?!” she protested, and Dick gave her hand a supportive squeeze, which she returned.

“That’s being generous,” Terry said firmly. “I’d like to have you resting for a month just to be safe, but I know how much you’re needed.”

He placed a hand on her leg, just above her knee, casting another superior look at Dick. To Dick’s immense pleasure she drew her knees in toward her chest, forcing Terry’s hand off. Terry frowned and cleared his throat.

“Sure you can’t eat anymore, Melanie?” he asked.

She shook her head. “I couldn’t eat another bite.”

“Here, I’ll take the tray for you,” he offered.

Dick watched her hand over the tray, the food on it barely touched. He looked over Melanie again, and once more something new struck him. She was thinner than he remembered. Her cheekbones were more prominent in her usually round face. Her collar bones stuck out too from beneath the neckline of her shirt.

Terry excused himself and left. Melanie turned her full attention on Dick, meeting his eyes. It felt like coming home. It had been far too long since they had seen each other and they were both eager to catch up.

“How are you, Dick?” she asked kindly. “And the boys?”

“We’re hanging in there,” he said. “The line is still spread too thin and we don’t have enough…” he trailed off. “Never mind. I don’t wanna burden you with all this right now.”

He wanted to apologize as well, but he knew she’d never understand what for. Nor would she blame him if he tried to explain himself. He held her hand a little tighter. Her brow furrowed with concern.

“Are you alright?” she wondered.

For some reason he was disappointed to not hear an endearment at the end of that question. He liked “darling” from the way she said it a moment ago. And now that she was in front of him, talking and holding his hand, those pictures of a post-war life returned to him.

“Yeah,” he said. “Yeah, I’m okay. Just glad you’re safe.”

“Me too,” she half-joked. “When those bombs started coming down I was so afraid I might not -”

Her pale cheeks flushed and she looked away. He swore to himself he’d never take that sight for granted again.

“You might not what?” he pressed gently.

“I might not ever see you again,” she blurted out.

For a fleeting moment, he considered telling her everything - that he loved her, that he saw a life with her, and that he wanted to protect her until the last breath left his body. But he didn’t. He couldn’t overwhelm her just now, and besides, the war was not over. The argument he always had came up again - he could get killed, and where would that leave Melanie?

“I was afraid of the same thing,” he admitted. That much, he would allow himself to say. And the way she smiled at him told him she got his message. Loud and clear.

“You’ve got no business worrying about me,” she said. “You’re running a battalion.”

None of them are what you are to me. More words he couldn’t speak.

“Well, they mostly look after themselves,” he replied, forcing his tone to be light. “Y’know, with NCOs like ours.”

She smiled. “Very true.”

A beat passed and he decided to ask one more question on his mind. “Why aren’t you eating?”

“Well, I’m afraid this bump on my head is making me pretty nauseated,” she said.

“This kind of change didn’t happen in a few days, Mel,” he insisted.

“Is it bad?” she asked. “I haven’t properly looked at myself in a while.”

“You’re just awfully thin, that’s all,” he said. “Didn’t they feed you at the hospital?”

“Oh, that,” she said dismissively. “Well, I gave away a lot of my meals. I didn’t need it as bad as the wounded did. And we were so limited.”

He resisted the urge to roll his eyes. “Mel, you gotta eat.”

“I will when I’m feeling better, I promise,” she assured him. “But please don’t fuss over me. I’ll be just fine.”

“Alright, I won’t fuss,” he returned. “Just look after yourself. For me, if not for you.”

“How the tables have turned,” she remarked with a smile. “It wasn’t too long ago I was telling you the same thing.”

He smiled back at her, remembering fondly how she tended to him. How could it be that Carentan felt like it was both years ago and only yesterday?

“I’m just asking you to return the favor,” he said.

“I will,” she said.

He could see that her eyelids were getting heavy, but she fought to keep them open. He wanted her to rest if that was what the doctor ordered.

“Want me to let you sleep?” he asked.

She met his gaze again. “Are you going to leave if I do?”

He nodded sadly. “I’ve gotta get back to the line.”

Her mouth turned down in almost a pout. She moved her free hand then to cover his, sandwiching it between her palms.

“Just one more moment, please,” she said, and he was surprised to see tears welling up in her eyes. “Being away from you has been more difficult than I imagined and I can’t bear the thought of it happening again.”

He wondered what was drawing all this brutal honesty from her - the concussion or almost losing her life. Whichever it was, he was moved with sympathy.

“Alright,” he said. “I’ll stay right here.”

She blinked when she smiled, and a single tear fell down her cheek. She brushed it away as she settled back into her pillows. And Dick remained there with her until she could fight it no longer and she fell asleep. Her eyes closed, her breathing evened out, and she was peaceful. Dick almost wished he could join her. He was exhausted as well. With everything happening on the front and his worry about Melanie, he felt he’d aged about ten years.

He stood up, slipping his hands carefully from hers, before pulling the blanket over her shoulders. She snuggled down further and let out a deep sigh. He allowed himself to stroke her hair, moving it off her forehead, before leaving. After one last look at her serene face, he closed the door. He was back out in the hall and dreading his next steps. Back outside into the cold, back to the line, back to his worry.

Before he could make it out, he was stopped. Dr. Clarke stood in the hall, blocking Dick’s path. The doctor looked even less friendly than he did in the room with Melanie, so Dick braced himself for whatever this could mean. Clarke approached.

“Look, I don’t really know you, but I have to say something,” he began. “I think what you’re doing to Melanie is horrible.”

Dick’s brow furrowed. “What am I doing to her?”

“Leading her on,” Clarke explained. “You’ve known her two years now and you haven’t committed to her. Which tells me you’re not interested, but you don’t want her to lose interest.”

Dick was shocked by what he was hearing. It was the first time since knowing Melanie that someone was telling him he didn’t have feelings for her.

“Doctor, I don’t know what Melanie’s told you, but -”

“It’s not hard to put it together,” Clarke interrupted. “You’ve somehow convinced her you’re worth waiting for. At the expense of people who really care about her. So what is it? Have you...made love to her or something?”

Dick blinked. Several emotions happened to him at once. Further shock at the forwardness of the question. Anger at the suggestion that Dick was that sort of man. And annoyance. He was so tired. Why did he have to deal with this sort of juvenile jealousy when there was a war on? He took a breath to collect himself. Squaring his shoulders, he looked Clarke in the eye, fed up before he even started speaking.

“First of all, anything that’s happened between Melanie and myself is our business,” he began. “Second of all, Melanie doesn’t belong to me. She’s free to pursue any sort of relationship she likes. If she’s chosen not to be with you, that’s not my doing. If I had to guess, it’s because she sees through your bravado. And so do I.”

Clarke huffed. “What the hell does that mean?”

“You march up here and accost me about a situation you’re only guessing at, putting on airs about protecting her,” Dick shot back. “When you were the one who put your hands all over her under the pretense of doing your job. This isn’t about Melanie, it’s about you.”

“I love that girl,” Clarke insisted, and he took a step toward Dick, who did not step away.

“You’ve got a funny way of showing it,” Dick said. “But if that’s how you feel, take it up with her.”

“You really are a coward,” Clarke scoffed. “You won’t even fight for her.”

“Is that what you’re after?” Dick challenged. “Do you honestly think the two of us duking it out is going to make her love you?”

“She needs to know she has options!” Clarke insisted.

“She knows,” Dick said levelly. “You’re just upset because she’s made a choice you’re unhappy with.” He was getting impatient now. This sort of thing was for little boys on a playground, not two officers in the US Army. Then, he said something that even surprised him. “I’m not going to fight you for something I already have.”

Clarke flared up at that, but he said nothing. Somehow, Dick defending himself made him realize the truth - that he did have Melanie’s affection, and he felt more deserving of it than before. He was annoyed by Clarke not out of jealousy, but because the man saw himself as more of a threat than he really was. And Dick truly, honestly did not have time or energy to entertain something of so little consequence.

“And by the way, Lieutenant,” Dick said. “I’m a senior officer. The next time you address me, you will say ‘sir.’”

“Well, fuck you,” Clarke seethed. “Sir.”

Dick chuckled, clapped him on the shoulder, and pushed past him without another word.

***

Melanie healed up nicely in the two weeks she was out of work. She slept and ate as if she were making up for all the sleep and meals she’d missed out on the last month or so. Unfortunately, she didn’t get another visit from Dick. The death toll in the Bois Jacques was rising, and he couldn’t leave the men now.

On January 9th, Melanie was finally free from her bedrest sentence. She had been issued new uniforms since the belongings she’d had with her at the hospital in Bastogne were lost to the destruction. Luckily, she’d thought to leave her valuables - including the dress from Dick - in Colonel Sink’s care, and they were safely in his billet. The fresh fatigues were surprisingly comforting to her. She preferred the dresses and heels, but they were no good in the cold and snow. She was getting ready to put up her hair when there was a knock on her door.

“Who is it?” she called.

“It’s Terry!”

“Come in!”

The door squeaked open and Terry stepped through, closing it behind him. She abandoned her hair and turned on her stool to face him.

“I’m glad you stopped by,” she said. “I wanted to thank you again for taking such wonderful care of me. With all the wounded, I know it couldn’t have been easy.”

“Nonsense, I was glad to do it,” he replied.

He paused a long moment and looked at his feet, which caused him to sway a little, but he didn’t fall. Her brow furrowed as she stood up and went to steady him.

“Are you alright, Terry?” she asked.

He looked at her again and she realized right away what the problem was from the smell of bourbon on his breath.

“I’m fine,” he replied, waving a dismissive hand in her face. “Look, Melanie, before Bastogne got bombed to hell, you and I were talking about something.”

She held back a sigh. She had hoped that he’d gotten the message back then that there was someone she loved. But clearly he wasn’t letting it go.

“Terry, I’m sorry,” she said. “But there’s no use in discussing that any further.”

“No, listen to me,” he said sternly. “I’m telling you, love is wasted on a man like Dick Winters. Especially your love. You deserve someone who is ready for you - right here and now. Someone who wouldn’t let something like a war stand in the way of loving you.”

She frowned, stung and affronted. “That’s a cruel thing to say. You don’t even know him.”

“I know you,” he returned. “And I know that he’s breaking your heart. That’s enough not to like him.”

“You’re sadly misinformed if you think -”

“I love you!” he cried. “And I could give you the life of your dreams after the war if you’d only give me a chance!”

She blinked. Such a confession should have been flattering, but the feeling she got from him made her hair stand on end. He was not saying it out of genuine feeling, he was saying it to win an argument. And that didn’t feel very much like love.

“Terry, what you want from me are words I can’t say,” she replied gently. “Would you really have me accept you and live a lie?”

“You’d learn to love me, I know it,” he said. “I just want you for myself.”

There was a dangerous gleam in his eye at those words that made her take a step back from him. He stepped closer. Her stomach turned.

“I think you should go now,” she said timidly. “You’re upset, you’ve been drinking -”

“Give the diplomacy a rest, Melanie,” he spat. “I’m going to say what I feel and you are going to listen!”

She sighed. “It won’t do any good, Terry. I can’t change how I feel.”

“God-DAMMIT!” he bellowed, shoving the dresser beside him so hard several of the knick knacks toppled off of it. Melanie gasped and jumped back, breathing heavily. “Do you see what you do to me, Melanie?”

“I - I haven’t done -” she stammered, but he cut her off.

“Just the thought of you with him!” he growled. “With ANY MAN!”

To emphasize that point, he snatched a framed photograph off the same dresser and hurled it across the room, right over her head. The glass shattered against the opposite wall, drowning out Melanie’s yelp of surprise. She covered her face with her hands to protect herself from the shards. Before she could say anything in return, he picked up a small globe and threw that at her as well. She ducked to avoid it, and the base snapped against the wall. The globe rolled under the bed.

“Terry, stop it!” she cried.

He moved even closer to her. She tried to recoil, but he snatched her by the wrist and yanked her towards him. With his free hand, he took hold of her face, his fingers digging painfully into her cheeks as he pulled her within inches of him. She could feel his breath on her skin. A whimper escaped her at the pain of his grip, but she couldn’t look away. She was frozen, trembling at the thought of what he might do next.

“I could crush your skull, you know,” he warned. “Right against that vanity. Would that get Dick Winters out of your mind?”

Her eyes went wide, but because of his hand, she couldn’t answer him. His palm covered her mouth. She couldn’t even call for help. She could only shake her head and plead with her eyes. He moved his hand and she drew breath to scream, but he was too quick. He grabbed her by the throat and slammed her into the wall. She winced and prayed for someone to hear the commotion and put a stop to this.

For a brief moment, she remembered when Corporal Biding tackled her that night in Toccoa. She recalled how frightened she’d been before she realized he was no real threat, he had just made a drunken mistake. Nothing like now. While Terry had been drinking, he was far from drunk. And she was so much more afraid. This was an intentionally vicious attack. She saw in his eyes something sinister and heartless. And of course now, Dick and Easy Company were not going to come to her rescue.

Her vision got blurry as he cut off her air. She thought of Dick and how much she’d relied on him after the Corporal Biding incident. She wished he was here to help her again. But he wasn’t. And she was not that scared little girl she was in Toccoa. She had survived D-Day, Market Garden, the bombing of Bastogne, and she’d be damned if she let this pathetic excuse for a man get the best of her.

With all her might, Melanie shoved her knee between Terry’s legs. He groaned at the impact and released her as he doubled over. She took a moment to gulp in fresh air before she reared back and slapped him hard across the face. The sound cracked like a whip. His head lurched back, throwing him off balance enough to stumble. Melanie, adrenaline coursing through her, wasn’t satisfied, so she shoved him, which made him fall to the floor, landing on his rear with a grunt.

“Don’t you ever put your hands on me again!” she yelled.

While he licked his wounds - and his pride - Melanie gathered the last of her things in silence. Rage compelled her every move as she shoved her belongings into her bag. He was still on the floor when she marched for the door. She opened it to reveal Colonel Sink behind it, fist raised, about to knock. He shot her a confused glance as he took in the scene - Melanie, stormy and furious, and Terry in the fetal position on the floor of her room. He noticed as well, the broken trinkets from the unfortunate family who lived here previously. Sink’s eyes flicked between Melanie and Terry.

“Everything alright up here?” Sink asked.

“It’s fine,” Melanie said shortly. “Get me out of here, please.”

“Certainly,” he assured her.

He put a protective arm around her shoulder and led her away. When they made it down the stairs, she stopped him, turned into his chest, and burst into tears. He held her close, patted her on the head, and let her cry. He didn’t ask her what happened, and she was grateful. She never wanted to relive that scene if she could help it. She looked up at Sink with desperate eyes.

“Please don’t make me go back to the hospital, Colonel,” she pleaded. “I’ll do anything else, but I can’t work with him again.”

“Actually, I was about to offer you a change of scenery,” he said.

“Like what?” she sniffled.

He sighed and looked away, which told her she wouldn’t like it. “The Bois Jacques.”

#band of brothers #dick winters #dick winters x ofc #band of brothers fic #hbo war #melanie jo davis #dear heart series

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nicknellie · 3 years

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Context so people who haven’t seen Ghosts can still read and enjoy this: Alex is the ghost of a WWII Commanding Officer. In this fic he relives his army days before he died, telling Julie all about it, focusing on another soldier in particular - Lieutenant William Havers.

Sidenote for people who have seen Ghosts: Alex is the Captain, Julie is Alison (because I would pay real money for them to have a conversation like this in the show), and Willie is Havers.

This is the saddest thing I’ve ever written. I wanted to include Willex in the longer Ghosts AU I’m writing but I couldn’t find a natural way to fit it in so I wrote this as something completely separate. Every interaction between Alex and Willie is taken from BBC Ghosts and is very gay.

Here’s to Buried Secrets

Alex could remember it like it was yesterday. Late June in 1940 – hazy spring had bled into a dazed summer, his troops were getting restless after going on a year of work, and he was just about ready to lose his mind. That day had been one of startling revelations and hard-hitting truths, painful decisions that felt like betrayals, stagnant silences and hurt.

With the war dragging on endlessly, his troops had been getting complacent. They did critical work at their base, top secret and crucial to the war effort, but there were times where nothing would happen for days at a time and the troops would get bored. Their behaviour was beginning to waver, and though he wasn’t too against it overall (he understood why they were acting up, he was bored to death too) Alex had to do the right thing and set them straight.

“Now,” he said, “that brings me neatly to point sixteen. There is still a great deal of noise going on at night – laughing, giggling, horseplay. Now, we all get bored – that’s inevitable in our circumstances – but may I remind you, we are at war. I wo…”

He had let his sentence trail off. At that moment, the doors at the back of the room had swung open and in walked Willie. Lieutenant William Havers was Alex’s right-hand man and close friend. There couldn’t always be much room for friendships when at war, and living in such close quarters with everyone in the house could make bonding difficult, but there was something about Willie and Alex that had allowed them simply to click. They understood each other – they cared for each other. Perhaps a little too much.

“Ah, Lieutenant,” Alex greeted, interrupting his own speech.

Willie walked towards him, hand outstretched, holding a small, folded piece of paper. “Communique for you, sir, from HQ, marked urgent.”

“Ah,” Alex returned, taking the note. “Finally! This’ll be my requisition for a service revolver.”

Willie smiled gently as Alex unfolded the note, and Alex suppressed his own. But as soon as he read the note, there was no smile left to hide. This was that first striking blow, that devastating loss; the note brought with it the news of a surrender.

“Good God,” Alex exclaimed, skimming the note over again, making sure he’d read it correctly.

“Sir?” Willie prompted, sounding concerned.

“France has surrendered,” Alex explained.

“My God,” muttered Willie. The troops, still assembled to the side of the two men, began murmuring amongst themselves, the tension in the room much higher now than when Alex had been telling them they needed to go to bed on time.

Alex looked out the window, scanning the sky for any sign of attack. It was silly, he knew – nothing could have happened so quickly – but as it was wont to do, his anxiety began to overwhelm him.

“The Germans are coming,” he said, breath hitching in his throat.

“I don’t think they’ll be here just yet, sir,” Willie told him.

Alex shook his head, regained control. Willie was always good at doing that; he could sense when Alex needed help to calm down, and he could do so with an easy joke, a clever quip. Coming from anyone else, talking to a commanding officer that way might have been a sign of disrespect, but from Willie it was just what Alex needed.

“What? Right,” Alex agreed.

Willie could see he was still distressed. “May I suggest we initiate the emergency lockdown protocol, sir?” he said easily.

“Yes!” Alex exclaimed. He was eternally thankful for Willie – God only knew where he would be without that man by his side. “Yes, jolly good.” He turned to address his troops. “Now, it’s vital that nothing fall into enemy hands.”

“You heard the CO,” Willie said to the troops as Alex turned to watch out the window again. “Get to your duties.”

The troops dispersed in a cloud of excited but nervous chatter, getting to their stations, hiding their work. Alex was left alone with Willie, his only comfort. As Willie came to stand by the window with him, that easy, dashing smile on his lips, Alex felt himself both tense and relax. His worry ebbed away, but it was replaced with the hammering of his heart and a shortness of breath.

“Er… exciting times, Willie,” he ventured. He knew he should have called Willie by his proper title, or at least his surname, but when in private the two were much more open and colloquial with each other. Besides, in the wake of such a bombshell using his first name didn’t seem so scandalous. “If they do invade, we might get a proper pop at Jerry.”

“Yes,” Willie said through a chuckle. But the smile on his face dropped after a moment. Alex felt his heart plummet – Willie was usually all smiles and it was never good when they fell away. “About that, sir… I know we do vital work here, sir… but I want to get involved in the fighting. I’ve put in for a transfer.”

Alex felt like his breath had been stolen from him. Here again, that blow to the gut, that crushing feeling of betrayal. He knew distantly that Willie wasn’t betraying him and he could understand why he wanted to go. What stung was that he was only finding out after the fact. Though he knew also why Willie hadn’t told him: because they both knew that Alex would have done everything in his power to stop him, and it would have been too painful for either of them to bear.

Neither of them had ever mentioned it, but there was something magical about the bond they had. It was like they shared a soul, improved each other, completed one another. Alex didn’t want to think too hard about it. The thought of what he and Willie could have been was painful in innumerable ways.

He still didn’t voice those thoughts now, even though he knew it may be one of the only chances he had left. Instead, through a hitch in his voice, he said, “You’re leaving?”

Willie didn’t reply for a moment, a pregnant pause growing between them, pushing them apart. It stung, and Alex couldn’t feel anything.

But then Willie gathered himself and said, “There’s talk of a North Africa front.”

“Yes,” Alex replied, nodding like it all made perfect sense, like he didn’t feel as if he were going to die. “Yes, well, I totally understand, of course. Carry on.”

He ended it like a command, an order. It wasn’t because he wanted to be apart from Willie - no, he wanted to keep him close by forever - but he needed to grasp some semblance of control and giving orders, doing his job as CO let him do just that - be in control, understand what was happening.

“Thank you,” Willie replied, excruciatingly quiet, ducking his head.

He left the room and Alex in musty silence, the air heavy with revealed secrets and suffocating like gas. Alex’s mind was swimming, fogged with hopeless fantasies, weighed down by the knowledge that the one person who kept him going would soon be leaving him.

Alex had almost forgotten that Julie was there until he looked around and saw her watching him. He was dragged back down from his own mind, his own dredged up memories, and instead reminded himself that he had been telling her all that, not reliving it for no good reason. Perhaps he’d got a bit too caught up in it all, lost in his own head.

He cleared his throat. “Yes. Willie was wonderful. A very fine soldier. I never found what became of him, though, after he left for North Africa. We exchanged letters for a while, but it was difficult – what with the top-secret work I was doing, we couldn’t have addresses being traced and whatnot. We soon fell out of touch, and then… well, I died.”

Julie reached out as if to take his hand, but then seemed to remember they couldn’t touch, so rested it in the space between them on the sofa. Alex smiled weakly, laid his own hand beside hers. He tried to avoid looking her in the eye – her expression radiated pity and it was the last thing he wanted to see.

“I’m sorry, Alex,” she said gently. “It must have been awful.”

“Luckily, a true soldier like me becomes adept at hiding his feelings,” he said, trying for light and joking but clearly missing his target. “Besides. I couldn’t worry my troops. Had to keep morale up, which was difficult enough in itself. It was… it was rather a lot to come to terms with.”

“What happened when he left?” Julie asked softly.

Alex sighed. “Well…”

Alex had been in his office just a few days later. He was staring down at an envelope, carefully sealed. In it was the blueprints for a new limpet mine, a prototype bomb that would perhaps revolutionise the war had it not been so unstable – Alex and Willie had been trying to create a version that was safer, easier to use, but so far had come up empty. They had been instructed to dispose of the bomb and its blueprints; the mission would be dropped.

The envelope was marked simply with the word ‘William’. That was what the operation was called, its codename. Alex had been the one to decide upon it, uncreatively naming it after the first thing he saw, which just so happened to be his lieutenant sat by his side. Willie was the only other one to know about Operation William and when he left it would just be Alex.

Alex had imagined many a time that the contents of the envelope were something entirely different, that the name on the front was to address someone rather than to hide something. In his dreams, there was a letter inside written in his own handwriting and it spilled every deep dark secret he was keeping. It would be addressed to Willie and for his eyes only. In his dreams, Willie would write his own letter in return, addressed to Alex.

He would never write that letter, he knew. It could get him killed.

He was snapped out of his reverie by a knock at his office door.

“Come,” he called, tucking the envelope into the inside pocket of his jacket.

The door opened and Willie let himself in, shutting it behind him, standing to attention.

“Ah, Willie,” Alex greeted, glad to see him as usual. “At ease, at ease. I was just thinking about you, actually. How’s the emergency lockdown coming?”

“Very good, sir,” Willie returned, smiling sweetly. “Most items have been squared away, as per the order.”

“Excellent,” Alex returned, beaming. He moved to stand behind his desk, closer to Willie but with a barrier between them. As he tried to speak, Willie began too. “I see–”

“I’ve come to tell you that–”

Both laughed, nerves buzzing between them. Alex knew what his were about – he could only guess and hope as to why Willie seemed a little on edge. The space between them felt charged with expectation, though what it was for Alex didn’t know.

“Sorry,” he said, returning Willie’s genuine but faltering smile, “you first, Lieutenant.”

There was a pause. Uncomfortable, excruciatingly anticipatory. The last remains of Willie’s smile crumbled and he swallowed before he said those few words that would tear down the last of Alex’s resolve and ruin him forever, haunting every dream and nightmare and waking moment. The words that would echo in his head whenever there was silence. The words he would fall asleep thinking about every night from that day forward.

“I’m afraid I’m leaving you, sir… At eighteen-hundred hours this evening.”

The world stilled. Alex wasn’t sure his heart was beating anymore. The part of their shared soul that was Willie’s was torn away from him. He came up blank.

“So soon?” was what came out of his mouth, weak, desperate, small. He hated himself for it, so tried for light-heartedness and gestured to the shining new gun on Willie’s belt. “That would explain your new service revolver. I don’t suppose they sent one for me, did they?”

“Only for front-line personnel at this stage, sir,” Willie said, a light but forced smile on his face.

“Of course. Yes.”

“It’s North Africa, sir,” Willie said. There was something like hope in his voice – it felt like he was asking Alex not to be too upset. Be proud, he was asking. Be happy. For me. “I’ll be able to have a proper swing at Fritz!”

“You make sure you give them a bloody nose,” Alex joked.

He answered Willie’s silent plea for his blessing, his reassurance, his pride, and he tried hard to be positive. He attempted a half-hearted fake punch, throwing it in Willie’s direction and was delighted when Willie responded (if only subtly) as if he’d been struck. Willie was grinning, looking happy, looking excited. Alex had to try and be excited for him too.

But still he said, “I shall miss you, Willie.”

Willie’s face fell again. Alex half-hoped his meaning hadn’t been easy to decipher. He knew what he meant, he knew why he’d said it, but it was a stupid and dangerous thing to say – a stupid and dangerous thing to hope for. Willie swallowed heavily, his throat bobbing, and Alex couldn’t read his expression. Though he was fairly certain it was something similar to his own.

He had always known that Willie felt it too, this forbidden and electric thing between them, whatever it was. This shared soul that was now breaking in two, never to be repaired, never to be recreated. It was this moment that Alex realised he and Willie could never have what they wanted.

So he backtracked.

“By which I mean, of course, that we shall miss you. And I know the Wilson House XI will certainly miss your cover drive.”

Willie’s smile came back too slowly. Alex knew his lie hadn’t come quick enough. He knew the unspoken words and unwritten messages were still there between them, heavy and quaking and full of fear, sadness, silence, and things neither wanted to put a name too. They danced around it, though they wouldn’t have to for much longer. Just a few more hours and whatever they had would be shredded forever as Willie said goodbye.

“Thank you, sir,” Willie said. “Well… if that’s all?”

Alex collected himself, simply looked at Willie for a moment before making himself reply. “Yes.”

Willie nodded, took it as his cue to leave. He pulled the door open and was on his way out of the room.

There was so much Alex wanted to say, so much he wanted to do. He wanted to spend a hundred more sleepless nights with Willie, working on secret projects and perfecting weapons. He wanted a thousand more late night conversations spoken in metaphors and riddles, deciphering each other, growing closer, learning more about their relationship than was permitted. He wanted a million more moments just to look at Willie’s face, to dream of what he couldn’t have.

All he wanted was to speak this silent truth that hung between them like a noose – damn him if it killed them both.

He called him back. “I say, Willie?”

Willie turned faster than lightning, hand rested on the doorknob but eyes trained on Alex like his face was all he ever wanted to see.

He tried to say all he wanted to, but knew he could never. It appeared he just had time for one last metaphor, a final riddle, one last waltz around their dire and doomed reality.

“It’s a bally shame we won’t get to finish the operation together,” he said.

Judging by the look on Willie’s face, the message was received loud and clear. Willie offered a smile, genuine but bittersweet. And without a word, he left the room.

Alex took the little envelope out of his pocket again, stared down at it. He had wanted to bury Operation William alongside Willie – they had both worked so hard but for nothing and it seemed only right they should rid the world of this failure together. But Alex would have to do it alone.

If only he could write that imaginary letter now, he thought. There was so much he could say, but not enough words in the English language to say it. There weren’t words to describe the abject loss he found himself steeped in, the gaping hole that had opened in his chest, the weeping wound that would never quite heal.

That night, alone, he went into the garden with the blueprints and the prototype bomb and he buried them both. With it, he buried all memory and evidence of himself and Willie, all their hard work, all they had built and experienced together.

He bottled those emotions to never let them out.

“He left that night,” Alex said to Julie, “six o’clock on the dot. The rest of our crew saw him off, waving from the doorway, but I stayed in my office. I told them I had paperwork to do.”

“Did you get to say goodbye?” Julie asked.

Alex sighed. “That conversation… well, that was our goodbye. The rest of the house was in chaos so I didn’t have another chance to speak with him alone, everyone needed either my assistance or his.”

Julie’s eyes were brimming with tears; Alex didn’t look at her, or his own eyes would have watered too. “So that was it? That was the last you saw of him?”

“Sort of. I watched him leave from my office window. He… he gave me one last wave from the gate then disappeared, off on his own adventure. Without me.”

“Don’t you wonder what happened to him?” Julie asked, shuffling closer to Alex on the sofa.

“All the time,” Alex breathed. “I looked for his name in every newspaper and every message I received after we lost contact but I never heard of him again.”

“Would you like me to Google him?” Julie suggested. She had explained this whole ‘Googling’ thing to him a while ago and from Alex’s understanding she simply had to type Willie’s name into the little search bar and all his information would come up in an instant. It was quite remarkable, really, and perhaps it would give him that last little bit of closure. And yet…

“No,” he said, “no, thank you, Julie. It’s quite alright. I… I have this version in my head of who he became and I shouldn’t like to spoil it. I shouldn’t like to taint what memory I have left of him, should his life have turned sour.”

Julie smiled softly. “What’s the image in your head like?”

Alex cleared his throat. “Well… I suppose I like to imagine that he was the best soldier out there on the North Africa front. He rose to a position of command – that was where he thrived, really, but good Lord was he good behind a gun. He was well-respected and kind and his men adored him. And I pray that he survived the war, that he made a living for himself, that he got everything he could have ever wanted in life. Really, I suppose… I suppose I just imagine him to be happy. That’s all I could have ever wanted for him. And if I were to find out he were not happy, well… no, I quite like the Willie I remember.”

Julie left a pause before she spoke again. Alex could see the cogs turning in her mind, could see her wondering if she should say whatever was on the tip of her tongue. He knew what was coming the moment she opened her mouth.

“Did you love him, Alex?”

Alex stood, crossed the room and stood by the window. His hands clasped behind his back, swagger stick gripped tightly, he looked outside, eyes trained on the gate. How many times had he stood here during the war and after, waiting for what he had lost to return, hoping in vain that by some miracle he could be granted his happiness? How many times had he wished for what he could not have? How many times had he replayed those final moments in his head, watching Willie wave goodbye?

It happened again as he stood there. It was as if a cloud came over him, throwing him back decades, putting him right back where he started. Willie stood by the gate, thick coat donned, hat atop his head, his bag slung over his shoulder. He waved up at Alex, and Alex smiled back.

“Yes,” he said at last, so quietly that he thought Julie may not have heard him. A great weight was lifted from his shoulders, decades of repression undermined in that one admission of his true feelings. It wasn’t enough – it never would be because he’d never said it to Willie – but acceptance was a start.

Slow as death, Willie – Alex’s version of him – ceased his waving and walked through the gate, disappearing into the darkness to where Alex would never follow. And for the first time after reliving that agonising memory, Alex let himself smile.

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realcube · 3 years

Text

waking up the hq boys at midnight to get ice-cream hcs🍦

characters: tsukishima, tanaka, nishinoya, ushijima, sugawara, oikawa, kageyama

note: yes, this was very much inspired by that one tiktok sound where the girl wakes up her bf to get ice-cream-

also, i use midnight as like..the middle of the night- not actaully 12AM lol

tw// fluff, sangwoo-

Tsukishima Kei

you did not need to wake him up at 1AM to get ice-cream

man was already up, having just came off his phone and laying like this 😐 in bed as he either waited for himself to fall asleep or was thinking about an awkward interaction he had earlier that day

anyway, as soon as you turned to him like ‘tsukki, do you wanna come with me to get ice-cream?’

he was suddenly 😴 fast asleep, fake snores and all

you were stubborn though, so you hopped out of bed up to go get ice-cream by yourself if he was just going to ignore you

although, once you threw your coat on, tsukishima decided to start questioning your unusual behaviour, ‘why do you want ice-cream? it’s night; can’t you just sleep like a normal person and have ice-cream in the morning?’

honestly, tsukishima probably finds your nightly antics more endearing and cute rather than annoying

he’d never admit it though-

if you talk to him after midnight, on the outside he always looks displeased but really, he loves talking to you period

whether it is at 5PM or 1AM

you shrugged, without an explanation for your craving, ‘i don’t need to reason my midnight urges to you.’

with that, you turned on your heels to head out the door with the full intention of going to get ice-cream - this wasn’t a game

tsukishima groaned as he finally deduced that you were being dead serious and not just doing this to irritate him

‘ugh, wait.’ he scoffed, forcing himself out of bed to follow you, ‘we have ice-cream downstairs, dumb-ass. don’t bother going out.’

you didn’t spare him a glance, continuing to venture to the front door, ‘yeah, but we don’t have strawberry.’

tsukishima glared at you, realising that persuasion would not work in this situation so he’d have to resort to brute force and trickery

‘ah, alright.’ he let out a sigh of defeat, ‘at least give us a hug before you go then.’

you paid no mind to how he referred to himself as plural, which is something he only does when he is lying or guilty as he is talking on behalf of his two faces

also, you should’ve realised something was up when he actually asked for a hug instead of just expecting you to give him one

obliging, you wrapped him in a hug; allowing him to scoop you up into his arms, throw you over his shoulder and carry you to the kitchen

‘let me go, you whore!’ you squealed, lightly slapping his back as if that’d make him let you go

tsukishima snickered at how childish you were being, ‘you can’t go out in the middle of the night to get ice-cream. you’ll die.’

‘i won’t die!’

‘you definitely will.’

anyway, he ends up making you both a bowl of ice-cream and eating it with you at the kitchen table while watching Spirited Away

and despite the fact he had some too, he’ll tease you about this for..the rest of your life

like sometimes he’ll just wake you up in the middle of the night (during holidays ofc - he respects your sleep schedule) and whisper in your ear, ‘(y/n), do you wanna come get ice-cream with me?’

Tanaka Ryūnosuke

IORFHIEBGEGBO THIS MAN

ik most ppl would think he’d just go with you without a second thought or that he’d be the one asking you to go out for ice-cream but- no-

well, yes; he wants to

but when you wake him at 1AM

(which he doesn’t mind btw bc sometimes he accidentally wakes you up at like 3AM bc he’s ragin’ on Battlefield oop-)

and you’re all like ‘ryū, wanna go get ice-cream?’ *puppy eyes*

he’s like ‘sure!- but i ain’t got money so- no ❤’

then he goes back to sleep

however, if you say that you’ll pay..he’s already standing with your bags by the door

so you’re definitely gonna have to fork up some cash for that good quality pistachio gelato for him if you want his presence 😌

but tbh, if you said that you were just gonna pay for yourself, he’d come anyway-

Nishinoya Yū

y’all go out at midnight for ice-cream at least once a week-

and it literally began bc you were watching ASMRs and Mukbangs together at 1AM during a sleepover

and one person was having some lemon gelato and it looked 👌✨ immaculate

in that moment, you both looked at each other and neither of you had to utter a single word for you both to know that there was a mutual goal in mind; to get ice-cream, ASAP

so yeah ig you didn’t have to wake him up but you did need to awake the desire for ice-cream inside him

needless to say, y’all ran to the nearest ice-cream place

and you made a race out of it

(you won, ofc)

AND YOU BOTH SHARED A CUP OF GELATO AND IT WAS SO CUTE ! q(≧▽≦q)

and y’know the trope where you have food on the corner of your lip/chin etc and the person kisses you to get rid of it?

yeah he tried to do that with the trope in mind but he deadass LICKED you IWFBVBBFRI

he was like ‘omg (y/n), lemme get that for you’ 😋👅

honestly, ig it depends if you are into that kinda stuff but ik some ppl would leave fast af ( ﾟдﾟ)つ Bye

Ushijima Wakatoshi

sorry i might have a bit of favouritism going on but i feel like ushijima would be a bigger bitch about it than tsukishima (at first)

but it’s like- solely bc you woke him up y’know?

‘ushijima, wanna go get ice-cream?’

he’s just laying there with his bed-head like :/

silently livid bc you messed up his potential 9 hours of sleep

‘no.’

pester all you want but that is the best you’re getting out of him that night

HOWEVER, the following afternoon (after practise ofc), he took you out for ice-cream 😊

and unlike some would believe (by ‘some’, i mean myself 2 secs ago.) i don’t think he’d be all ‘ice-cream is horrible for your health, (y/n)’ or ‘i can’t believe you’re eating that filth. your body is a temple.’

but that rather he’d just happily eat gelato with you; everything in moderation ig :)

OH AND HE’D PURPOSELLY BUY A DIFFERENT FLAVOUR FROM YOU SO HE COULD BE LIKE

‘(y/n), do you want a bite of mine?’ and give you a spoonful to try like the romance king he is

Oikawa Tōru

you wouldn’t wake him up bc mf needs his beauty sleep

plus, it was during a sleepover at your house so ofc you didn’t want to wake up your guest

but he’s a light sleeper so when you’re shuffling through your stuff at 1AM, sneaking around the house to find a jacket (trying to be as quiet as possible so you don’t wake him up); his eyes are open and he’s speculating that sangwoo is near

until he turns around to notice that you’re not laying next to him and he is in fact being spooned by a large pillow (probably a sangwoo body pillow smh)

after that, he hops to his feet and storms through the house in search of you so he can yell at you for ruining his sleep grr

however, once he finds you and realises that you look ready to head out, he feels inclined to firstly ask, ‘where are you going? you know it’s 2AM, right?’

you replied by explaining your plan to sneak out for ice-cream and he just stared at you, absolutely bewildered for a few moments

he stood like a statue with that stupid expression on his face for ages so you asked him if he was alright, to which he responded, ‘that’s such a stupid idea.’

‘so, you’re not coming with?’

‘of course i am.’

so you both ended up sitting with your ice-cream cones, in your pyjamas, on a park bench somewhere, admiring the moonlit sky along with the stars adorning it

oh, and that was actually the first time he said ‘i love you.’

Sugawara Kōshi

if feel like suga would be exactly like the guy in the sound/video: confused, tired and extremely reluctant but ofc inevitably he ends up standing outside of a dessert place, hand-in-hand with you

he’d wake up, weary from fatigue and he barely has the strength to argue with you during the day - so how exactly was he supposed to do it in the middle of the night?

thus, he lugged himself out of bed and threw on a coat but as soon as the cold winter air bit at his nose, he was flooded with the energy and will-power to try convince you stay in with him

(It’s his parental senses)

‘you’ll catch a cold, darling!’ (yes, he does call you that.) ‘and it’s night too, there’s probably a bunch of creeps out and around!’

at that point, it was just a battle of will

bc you both had each other’s wishes at heart

you wanted him to have peace of mind and he wanted you to have ice-cream

(and he was kinda craving some himself tbh)

so you both decided to stay in, tucking into the half-eaten tubs of Ben & Jerry’s in the fridge

and after that, neither of you got any sleep bc you both stayed up watching movies and cuddling 🥺

Kageyama Tobio

he was wide awake at 2AM, laying beside you on the bed, practising sets

so ofc the time wasn’t an issue

but kageyama wasn’t big on sweet treats so when you suggested that y’all should go out for ice-cream, you were shocked - to say the least - when he simply replied

‘sure’

like why would he oppose? he was already awake. plus, he was kinda craving something sweet tbh

also, he could tell it’d make you happy and he’s whipped tbh

so you took advantage of this indifferency by immediately jolting up and dragging him to your favourite dessert place

the whole time, he acted as usual - it was as if he was just on a regular walk to school

when you got there, you both shared a sundae and he paid; what a king (❤´艸｀❤)

(it was bc you had forgotten your wallet/purse at home- but still a kind gesture 💕)

you both just sat in a booth, pecking away at the sundae while talking about anything and everything that came to mind as the low, distant R&B music from the shop’s speakers played in the background

‘it is flat. have you ever been on a plane before, (y/n)? did you see a single curve? no.’

you rolled your eyes, finding it physically painful how stupid kagyeama could be sometimes, ‘it’s science, kags. the earth is round! the curves are just very subtle.’

‘no.’

‘YOU CAN’T SAY NO! IT’S SCIENCE!’

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deadontheinsidebut · 4 years

Note

Hi! I really love your works! Is it ok to request the one night stand one for tsukki, Kenma, akkashi and Kageyama •\\\\• thank you so much! ❤️

AWW ANON THAT’S SO SWEET OF YOU IM CRYIN! But yes, I loved that prompt sm n I love all the boys you chose so this will be a blast!! Thank you for your request. Sending you love 😌💗💌✨ also, I limited this post to 3 characters because it was getting too long. Im soso sorry in advance.

Request: you’re their bestfriend and you wake up only to find out y’all had a one night stand

Part 1: Suga, Oikawa, Kuroo

Warning(s): some hq spoilers, aged up

—Tsukishima Kei

You’ve always been special to Kei

How could you not be when you were the only one to see him break down due to his brother’s lies

How could he not care for you when you held him close for countless nights in hopes of comforting his broken heart

So was anyone really surprised when you two remained best friends all throughout high school and past that?

Not really. Even Yamaguchi believes that you two will end up dating if one of you just mans tf up and admits your feelings

So no one was surprised when he was sitting on your floor, crying into your chest about how people would look down on him due to failing a university course

His inferiority complex really does have a toll on his mental health and you’re the only one he can confide in

The night went on and the talk extended past 2am

The emotions coursed through you, and you both couldn’t hold yourselves back anymore...

You wake up to Tsukishima sitting at the edge of the bed staring at his hands in confusion

You begin to sit up and feel something slip off of you

It seemed as though Tsukki had wrapped you in his sweater after the... eventful night

“Ah... Tsukki are you okay?” You ask as you tug on his shoulder

He looks a little upset and refuses to meet your eyes

“Hey... I’m sorry about last night. Should I leave? We can talk tomo-“

You’re cut off by him grabbing onto your wrist and sucking in a breath

You wince, afraid that he’ll tell you that he regrets it and wants to stop being friends

But instead, he just looks at your adoringly and holds you close

Then... Yamaguchi barges through your bedroom door

Tsukki pushes you away and glares at Tadashi in hopes of erasing his memory

But it’s too late. The image is burned in his mind

“Well... it’s not like this is news to me anyway..” Yamaguchi starts, his face 50 shades redder than usual

Tsukki is pinching the bridge of his nose in exasperation but you don’t miss his fingers interlocking with yours from under the sheets

—Akaashi Keiji

You see, Akaashi and you had a strange meet cute

He was at a cafe editing a shounen manga when you bumped into him with your coffee and spilt it all over his laptop

You apologized profusely and after he reassured you that everything was fine, you giggled and called this a cliche

Akaashi was kind of baffled to be honest because he loves literature and the last thing he wants to be is a cliché

So he orders you another coffee and interrogates you about cliches and how he aims to stand out

And the friendship just kind of blossoms from there

you spend many days at the same cafe elaborating on your thoughts about cliches and how they were cliches for a reason

and Akaashi always listens intently

yes, you were his best friend. And yes, he wanted more. But wasn’t it a cliche to fall in love with your best friend?

but he couldn’t help himself... and neither could you

and what do people say? that the nighttime madness brings out the most honest versions of people?

so here you two were, an entangled mess, too late to back out...

which leads to him waking you up and apologizing desperately in hopes of restoring your friendship

but you’re quick to reassure him, just like that day he reassured you

and instead of babbling on about last night’s events, he listens to you while maintaining his composed demeanor

you two sit crossed legged on the bed and resume your conversation about love and cliches and he mumbles that maybe cliches are not so bad after all

and you lean in to taunt him with an “i told you so” but he grabs your face and plants a soft kiss on your lips

“a better love story than twilight?” you ask jokingly

—Kageyama Tobio

Kageyama was the reason why you became the manager

in his third year, he recommended you to Yachi and you became the new Karasuno manager

he had always looked out for you despite his brash personality and the 2 year age difference and you looked up to him for his dedication to volleyball

you two formed a friendship of sorts and bickered frequently

you’re the only one who can calm him down when he’s heated or break up a fight between him and Hinata

you and Hinata became his balls of sunshine and when those two graduated, you and him kept in contact and you frequently watched his matches to cheer him on

but this was his most important match yet

it was against the MSBY Black Jackals and he was versing his long time rival, Hinata

after a soul-breaking loss to them and congratulating his friend, he made his way over to you and smiled a shy smile

it was normal to be disappointed at the loss, but he felt immense pride for Hinata so that was alright

you two walked off to celebrate in your own way

and that means getting lost in the much needed alcohol

you two laughed your way through the night drinking cheap wine and old beer that made you gag

the events that followed were a spontaneous mess

you two woke up with your legs intertwined and hands in each others’ hair

Kageyama was flustered as hell and you were sputtering nonsense as you two realized what had happened

you two sat up quickly at either ends of the bed and waited for the other to start the conversation

this lasted a couple minutes before Kageyama scooched over to you

“y/n, im so so sorry. you shouldn’t have had to deal with... that. How can I make it up to you?”

this poor baby had already suffered a lost and now he’s apologizing to you??

that’s not allowed

so you know what you do?

you two go on a milk run and you buy him the best milk in Japan

the tension definitely eased up after this and you two were able to actually look each other in the eye

it might take a few more “accidental” one night stands before you’re able to start anything else, unfortunately

Taglist:

@janellion @personality-still-downloading @darkdinosaurpeanut @sugacookiies @anianimol @sstardusty @fangirlwithlissa

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tamcitrus · 4 years

Text

Senior year.

I had fun writing this. It’s my first time writing Ushijima and I like what I did.

A big thanks to @loneveenas for beta-reading my work and all the great advices she gave me 🥰 🥰 🥰 🥰

I wrote this for the HQ Writers’ Net monthly prompt! My prompt is: New Beginnings.

pairing | Ushijima x f!reader

words | 4k (!!!)

warnings | curse, insult

work is under the cut ~

Who the hell changed school in their senior year? Probably only you. It's not like you had a ton of friends to left behind anyways. On top of that, the last person you dated turned out to be a shit, so maybe this family drama and moving to another city was good. More so when you got a recommendation to enter a great Academy, Shiratorizawa, your mom's contacts finally put to good use, or so she said.

You became friends with a guy in your class who saw you playing guitar after lunch and approached you.

"Do you play? That's cool," he said, casually, as if he didn't spot you from across the campus.

"Uhm yeah, thanks," you forced a smile.

"Semi-semi, is this the new girl in your class? Hi! I'm Tendou Satori, Semi's best friend," a redhead sang from behind this Semi guy.

"No you're not, ugh," Semi pushed the other boy off him and he smiled at you.

"Hi Satori, hi Semi. I'm [y/n][l/n], nice to meet you both."

-*-*-*-*-*-

Within a few months, a lot of talks and pranks and a ton of hours playing guitar together, you and Semi Eita became best friends. Your taste in music, your passion in pursuing dreams, your humor, it was like you were siblings.

With him, and Satori, you got to know the whole Shiratorizawa Volleyball Club, and of course their ace: Ushijima Wakatoshi.

You and Ushijima had encountered each other a few times. Well, a “few” to say the least. He had seen you multiple times hanging out with Eita-kun outside the gym, just killing time until he had to practice. Today was not an exception.

“Ushijima-san! Is it practice time already?” Semi stood up and dusted his pants.

“No, it’s not. I’m here early,” the tall guy said, serious as usual.

“I can set for you,” Eita offered.

“If you want…” he said and kept walking.

“Do you want to watch, [y/n]? You can stay until it’s really the time for practice” Semi said, offering you his hand to help you get up.

“Am I allowed to?” you said. “Your handsome captain kinda intimidates me,” you said, entering the gym behind Semi, and loud enough for Ushijima to hear you.

If he did he didn’t react, Semi set ball after ball for him to spike, and it was interesting to watch. You grabbed your sketchbook and pencil and started drawing a few lines here and there from both boys playing.

“Ooooh~ will you draw me too?” Satori appeared out of nowhere and was crouching by your side, looking at your sketches.

“Of course I will, if you play,” you answered. The boys in the court were looking at your interaction with the middle blocker.

“Are you drawing us?” Semi said, walking your way. “Let me see.”

Ushijima was intrigued, he’s not gonna lie to himself. All of you intrigued him and it was so confusing to him. He walked to the bench and drinked water while you showed his teammates your drawings.

“Wakatoshi! Yours is great, come to see it!” Satori pulled him from his shirt, and you held your notebook for him to watch. “This is great, you should be a mangaka,” Satori said.

“It’s just a hobby,” you laughed. You saw Washijo-sensei arrive to the gym. You got your belongings together quickly so the old sensei couldn't scold you for intruding his practice. “See you later guys!” you exited the building from the contrary door where the coach was standing.

Ushijima was flattered. No one before had drawn him and showed said draw to him. You really were intriguing.

-*-*-*-*-*-

The next day you get to the volleyball table, as people called it, looking for Semi. You were one of the few affortunates outside the team, if not the only one, to sit there from time to time.

“Can I help you?” Ushijima asked.

"I was looking for Eita," you said. Your eyes were red, as if you were crying.

"He's sick, he isn't coming today," Leon answered.

"Oh, that's why I couldn't reach him… Thanks and sorry for interrupting."

You turned around, leaving a table full of volleyball players confused. Satori took his food and followed you to another table.

"Are you ok?" He said, sitting in front of you and offering his food.

"Yep. All good," you forced a smile. "Just needed Eita."

"You're catching someone else's attention~" he said, gesturing with his head to his previous table. Ushijima was looking at you, no intentions of being subtle. Not that he cared about what anyone else thinks but he really wasn't trying. "I can get you his address if you want to check on him," Tendou offered.

"I'd like that, thanks Satori."

You ended at Semi's house after school, sitting at the end of his bed while he was just lying there recovering from a fever.

"I'm sorry to come and bother you when you're like this," you ended telling him your newest family drama. The fact that your father tried to convince you with material stuff, such as a car or money, so you went to live with him made you upset, it made you feel like he didn't love you, he just wanted to win something to your mom. You were almost crying again.

"It's ok, I told you I'd be there no matter what and I'm keeping my promise. I can't hug you right now so just hug my pillow instead."

"I'm definitely getting sick after this," you laughed.

"Ushijima texted me. He was worried about you," your friend said and waited for your reaction.

"Bullshit," you scoffed and Semi lent you his phone.

Eita-kun, [y/n] was looking for you and didn't look good. Is she ok? you had read the text a few times but still didn't believe it.

"I told him it was a family business and I'll keep him updated," he waited a minute for you to say something and took his phone back. "Oh my, you're speechless."

"This doesn't make any sense," you looked at Semi. "He doesn't even talk to me."

"He's just like that," he shrugged. "But obviously he has you in mind. Maybe you actually have a chance to get your crush."

"I don't have a crush on him," you lied.

You were observing him since you started the year at his same class. Besides his looks, he was handsome, his personality was intriguing. He was interesting. His stoic face, his direct manners, his apparent lack of interest in anything but volleyball, his persistence with practicing, all about him and the intensity he did anything with was outstanding for you.

"Yeah the ton of sketches you have of him don't say the same," your friend scoffed.

You thought Eita didn't notice it, but he did: how your gaze lasted a few seconds longer on him than on anyone else, the way you blush when he greets you every morning, the sudden shyness when he approached Semi and you when you were playing guitar on the breaks, the fact that you had an obvious fixation on drawing the ace of the team, and he could go on the whole day.

You left Semi's house that day finally admitting that maybe, just maybe you did have a crush on his captain.

-*-*-*-*-*-

A week later you were sick. It's your fault so come over here and bring me some snacks and any homework we get, you texted you friend. And of course his only brain cell found a way to try and help you become close to your crush.

"Ushijima-san, can I ask you a favor?" Eita took the captain away from everyone after class and when he nodded, Eita continued. "[Y/n] couldn't come today and she asked me to get her the homework from math class. I can't bring it to her today but she lives near your house, maybe you can drop it on your way home? Only if you want, I don't want to bother you," he didn't even have an excuse, but he hoped his teammate didn’t ask why. "I'm sorry, I don't really trust anyone else to do it," he bowed.

"I can do it, no problem," Wakatoshi said. He could be reliable, it was his duty as captain, right?

And there he was, knocking on your door. He would just drop Semi's notes and leave, maybe he'd have time to practice some more on his house.

"It's open!" you said from inside.

"[Y/n]-san? It's Ushijima Wakatoshi. May I come in?" he was standing at the entrance. He closed the door behind him and noticed that your house smelled like you. He heard you cough in surprise.

"Yes, come in!"

He saw you in the living room, on the couch and wrapped up in a blanket.

"Hi, Ushijima-kun. I'm so sorry to bother you. I don't know what happened to Semi, he's a douchebag. Thanks so much for coming," you stood up and got the notebook from his hand.

"You shouldn't have left your door unlocked" he commented. "Are your parents home?"

"Mom works late today, so, no," you stood up and started walking to the kitchen.

"And your father?"

"Not in the picture," you smiled but it didn't reach your eyes. You were mad and still avoiding him after the 'come live with me and you'll get a car' thing, it wasn't the best thing Ushijima could ask at the moment. "Can I offer you some tea? Or coffee?" You walked behind the kitchen counter.

"I’m sorry. Just a tea please," he sat at your table. He wasn't planning on staying but he made you uncomfortable by asking things about your family and he couldn't just leave now.

"It's nothing. He barely was around so now that I grow up it's not a big deal," you set a cup of tea in front of him and another in front of you. "Is your family waiting for you? I don't want to keep you."

"I let them know I was coming to a classmate's house, so it's ok."

He drank his tea in silence, your tv playing softly in the background. He felt something touch his leg and saw a big grey cat.

"Grape, leave him alone!" you scolded. "Sorry, he's excited to have visits. We don't receive much people besides Eita," you smiled. Ushijima thought this was the first genuine smile he saw on you, and he liked it. The cat made his way to your lap and purred.

"He's nice," he stated. What was it about you that he found so fascinating?

"Oh, I drawed something to make a flyer for the next tournament. Do you want to see it?" you offered and went to find it. You were back with a big drawing with him in the middle and the rest of the team from major to minor by his sides. "This was fun to do, and the fact that you're the tallest also made it easier."

"It looks good. Thanks for doing this, I’m sorry we can’t repay you," he felt kinda bad about it.

"I like to do it, so it's fine. Semi buys me snacks for this so he’s repaying," you giggled. You took his empty cup and yours and went to the kitchen to wash it.

Ushijima couldn't help himself and went through your drawings while he waited for your return. You were really good, Tendou was right. He saw there were a lot of him: him in lunch, him looking absentmindedly at the window in class, him in the court and spiking, him and Semi talking. Each one was better than the last. This was how you looked at him? You made him look way cooler than he thought he was.

You took a little longer than usual to wash two empty cups but you needed a minute to recompose yourself, you felt nervous and flustered, the fever you had wasn't helping either. Then you turned around, ready to talk about nothing again, and Wakatoshi was looking through your sketchbook. He was looking at your drawings. To be more specific, he was looking at his drawings. Shit, he wasn't supposed to see those. You walked slowly back to the table.

"Oh I'm… really embarrassed, you shouldn't have seen that," you were now standing at the opposite side of the table, his eyes still fixated on your sketches. “I can discard them if it makes you uncomfortable,” you held your hand open for him to return your notebook. He looked up. You were blushing.

“I like them. I really like that you draw me,” he admitted and returned your sketches. “I have to go now. Thanks for the tea.”

“Thanks for coming,” you said and watched him leave. You exhaled a breath you didn't know you were holding as you saw his back fading at the distance.

That was fucking unreal. You felt overwhelmed and there was only a person to blame. No, not Ushijima, he was being nice, in his own way. I’ll fucking kill you tomorrow istg, you texted Semi. He felt triumphant and didn’t care about your death threat. Yeah you can thank me later, he responded.

-*-*-*-*-*-

The next day Eita received glares from you all morning, you refused to talk to him. He didn’t really care, he knew his little trick yesterday had been put into effect when Ushijima asked him that morning if you were coming to school today. You avoided your usual table and sat alone at lunch, away from the volleyball club table and away from your friend, maybe when he didn't find you he'd leave you alone for the day.

“Hey,” he said when he found you and he sat in front of you. “Come on, you can’t be mad forever [y/n], I’m your best friend,” he whined a little.

“Shut up, he saw all my fucking sketches. He might think I’m a stalker and it’s your fault,” you hissed. You felt Ushijima’s stare all morning and now you saw him looking at you and Semi when he stood up and followed the team to exit the cafeteria.

“He’s looking this way, isn’t he? He asked for you today, before you arrived. So, I won. You’re really on his mind!” he grinned.

"You're way too excited for this. He's probably thinking how to tell me that I throw all of the drawings I did of him!"

"I wouldn't ask you that. I like them."

Suddenly, a tall figure was behind you. You glared at Semi for not warning you and turned around to greet Ushijima.

"Can I talk to you for a second?" he said in the same casual tone he used before.

"I'll leave you two alone. Find me later, ok?" Eita smiled at you and at his captain before leaving.

"Hi Wakatoshi-kun," you felt your cheeks turn red. "Thanks again for coming yesterday and keeping me company. I enjoyed it. I'm sorry that Eita bothered you."

"I'm… I had a good time too," how could he explain what he felt? It was all too confusing. "I was thinking if you would like to come and see me at our practice game tomorrow after class?" that couldn't fail. He saw his teammates asking their girlfriends to come and watch their games. Well- you weren't his girlfriend. Not yet. But this could be a good start.

"Oh… yeah I'd like that," you smiled.

Wait, did he just think about you being his girlfriend?

-*-*-*-*-*-

And there you were. Sitting on the floor by the door, sketching again while the guys did their warm up. Ushijima had seen you arriving and slightly bowed his head to say hi.

"Hey." Semi approached you. "I didn't tell you we were playing. What are you doing here?"

"I'm sorry? Someone else invited me, you shitty friend," you smiled.

Eita knew that smile wasn't for him, you were still pretending to be mad at him. He turned around to follow your gaze and saw Ushijima looking back at you. It was almost imperceptible but he was smiling too. Wakatoshi was smiling at you.

"Oh, you so owe me one," Semi said and went back to the court.

You were going to insult him again but he was too far when you reacted. Well, maybe you did owe him, but you had something else in mind at the moment. When the game was over, and Shiratorizawa obviously won, Ushijima approached you.

“If you want to wait a bit I’ll walk you home, we’re having a meeting and then I’m done,” he explained.

“Of course, I’ll be sitting outside waiting for you,” you smiled. You were smiling a lot that day.

Ten or twenty minutes later, you didn’t really know, he was standing behind you and observing how you finished a drawing.

“Oh, Ushijima-kun! Sorry, didn’t hear you were here. Are you ready to go?” you closed your sketchbook and put it back on your backpack.

He nodded and offered his hand to help you stand. Remember Wakatoshi, ask her about how she feels and if she has someone in mind, like a crush or something, Tendou said before he left. No, he couldn’t do that. He couldn’t have a casual talk like that out of nowhere. But he could try.

“You played well today. I mean, you always do, but you were like even better today,” you said when you started walking out of school.

“I didn’t know you understand about volleyball,” he said. He felt in better shape today too, for some reason.

“Uh yeah, my… the last guy I dated played too. He was good and he explained it to me, so I have a pretty decent knowledge and I can tell when someone is good. You’re awesome.”

“You don’t… anymore? Date them, I mean,” well maybe he can do small talk.

“No!” that was too enthusiastic. “I mean, no, I don’t. That was one of the reasons I moved here, besides from my parents divorce. There’s this saying that goes like better be alone than in bad company. Well, my mom and I sticked to that,” you laughed. He liked that, your laugh and how you can laugh from the bad experiences.

“Am I a good company?” he was genuinely curious but it sounded like he was flirting, though he had no idea how to do it.

“Yes you are!” you said quickly, you didn't even need to think, of course he was. You stopped and looked at him. “I uhm… I like you, Ushijima-kun. Like romantically? I don’t know if that makes sense to you but…”

“I like you too, I think. I keep getting distracted when you’re around at school and today I wanted to impress you, so I tried to play at my %120,” he interrupted.

“Yeah, that sounds like you like me,” you giggled. He was so bold and sincere. “Can I kiss you?”

His mind went blank for a minute. Had he even kiss someone before? Yeah, at that dumb 'spin the bottle' game, on the party his teammates organized for the beginning of their senior year. Had he kissed someone he felt something for? No, definitely no. He wasn't even sure he liked someone before. His mind was put on volleyball the whole time.

He was staring at you. Your eyes were on his, expectant. He sighed and put his big hands on your waist, instinctively closing the distance between your bodies. You felt his warm through your shirt. You put your hands over his and made your way up his arms slowly. Even on your tiptoes you didn’t reach his mouth so when he finally nodded you pulled him down by the collar of his jacket.

It was a soft and chaste kiss, his chapped lips felt so good against your own. You caressed them with the tip of your tongue, hesitant. He mimicked your actions and your tongues explored each other's mouth shily. You retreated for a second to look him in the eyes. He smiled and kissed you again, this time with the same passion he did everything else on his life. It was more insistent, almost clingy. You tangled a hand on his hair, it was incredibly soft, and the other rested on his chest. When you separated looking for air, his hands were still holding firmly to your waist.

“Semi… Eita-kun told me you had a bad experience with your ex. I would never do such a thing. If you want, I can try and give you a new beginning, a new experience…”

“Ushijima, are you asking me to date you?” you interrupted, surprised. You also made a mental note to punch Semi. “Oh my, the Ushijima Wakatoshi is asking me out, for god’s sake” you didn’t want to tease him but you couldn’t help yourself.

He looked at you, unamused. This wasn’t a joke to him but he learned that your way of coping with things was through laughter, so he waited for you to pass the surprise and be serious again, the whole time holding you from your waist against his body.

“You’re not answering,” he said after a minute. You were just looking at him and blushing.

“I want to,” you said and caressed his face. “I’d like that, yeah. So… can I call you my boyfriend now?”

“Yes you can, you're my girlfriend now,” he simply said. He let you go and started walking again as if nothing happened.

“Can I hold your hand?” when he hummed in response, you kept talking. “And can I kiss you tomorrow at lunch? Oh everyone’s gonna be so surprised!” you looked at your hands held together.

He laughed at your silly questions and comments about how your classmates were going to react when they saw you together. You arrived at your home and he walked you to the door.

“For real, can I kiss you in front of everyone tomorrow? I don’t want to make you uncomfortable,” you were just joking before but now you really wanted him to voice his thoughts.

“Yes, just not in class,” he answered. “Sadly, I have to go now so I’ll see you tomorrow.”

“Text me when you get home,” you said and he kissed you one more time before leaving.

-*-*-*-*-*-

"Maybe, just maybe, I owe you a big one," you said the next morning after greeting Semi.

"Yeah, how's that?" your friend asked with a satisfied smile.

"I confessed yesterday. And it went even better than I thought."

"Yeah, I know. Tendou told me. I can't believe you didn't call me yesterday after it happened," he whispered, he was offended. "Maybe the whole school knows by now."

You laughed out loud. Ushijima told you he mentioned the situation to Satori, he was his best friend and the one who advised him to confess his feelings, so you texted him too to thank him.

"I wanted to surprise you, I didn't expect the rumor to spread throughout the school like fire!"

And in fact, by lunchtime the whole school was talking about you and how could it be that the new girl conquered Ushijima’s heart in a few months? If the girls didn't like you before, now some of them definitely hated you. It didn't really matter, you would make it work. After almost a year of bad experiences, you were happy again.

-*-*-*-*-*-

Your relationship with Ushijima was easier than you expected, somehow your opposite personalities balanced each other. Your routine didn’t change that much, but now you walked home in your boyfriend’s company everyday. Your mom loved him, of course she did, he was a gentleman, he even bought her a present the day you asked him to come dinner to meet her.

Your senior year was coming to an end, and you were more than happy with all the new things that came with it.

"Would you come to prom with me?" Ushijima asked at the end of the day.

You were chilling on your couch after his practice, watching a volleyball game of a team he liked. Your legs were tangled together, your back resting on his chest and his head resting on top of your head.

"Of course, Toshi! I wouldn't want to go with anyone else," you took his hand and kissed it, both of you still focused on the game.

He didn't think you'd say no, but he had to make sure, just in case.

Almost five months have passed since the day he asked you to date him and he was sure of two things about his future: he wanted to be a professional player and he wanted to spend as many time as he could with you, maybe not necessarily in that order.

Neither of you believed in 'happily ever after', not with your respective parents' divorce, but you did believe in spending many years together, making each other happy.

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