#or the Sato gang had always been around and I just have not been seeing it

[vulpiximisa]

Can’t tell if this Satoshi-loving energy is because we no long we have him but I wish it’d been around when he was still there

#pixi text post #re pokeani #or the Sato gang had always been around and I just have not been seeing it #I mean I trust my moots but it seemed like the majority of the internet still hated him #maybe it was post alola #hm

[notiddygxthgf]

6. 佐藤 (sato)

★ pairings: rindou haitani x f!reader

★ synopsis: rindou haitani is drawn to your purity, and he's determined to be the one who takes it from you.

★ c.w.: smut, slow burn, corruption kink, obsession, slightly toxic relationship, princess complex, rindou is a huge simp for reader lmao, but he would never admit it, reader is an innocent lil virgin child, ran is the supportive older brother we all need. tw: use of the name y/n (im sorry I had no other choice).

★ a/n: good afternoon people of whoville. I may or may not have downed a Buzzball my roommate got me as a gift on an empty stomach at 10 AM today because I thought my mom would be coming. Idk why I keep underestimating white girl liquor, that shit has me fucked up every time. ANYWAY!! that being said, this chap is obv beta, unedited, virgin. I hope u all enjoy!

★ w.c.; 4k-ish

chapter index

THE GIRL HAD SOMETHING CLUTCHED tightly in her small hand. It was a crinkled brown baggie. Rindou eyed it up rather dubiously.

“Good morning,” he said, though it sounded rather uncertain.

The two of you were standing beneath the tree where he had met you the last time, the one in front of your apartment. Rindou was wearing a baggy sweater and jeans. You were wearing a similar sweater over your uniform, oddly enough, but it looked a lot cuter on you.

She dropped the little baggie into the palm of his hand. 

“I made it for you,” She said.

He tilted his head. A quick scan down the side of the bag revealed that her statement was true. His name was written in girly lettering on the bottom of it.

The corner of his lip twitched. “What’s this?” He asked.

“Lunch for you!” She answered rather cutely, putting her hand over his and closing his fingers around the bag. 

Rindou paused, glancing down at the bag and then back up at her. Back down at the bag, and back up at her. He felt himself begin to smile.

I want her to fall in love with me .

“I got your text,” she fiddled with the strings of her bag. “Figured I’d make you one more sandwich to eat. It’s not the best, but–”

“Thanks, angel,” He grinned. “Wanna eat together today?”

It became something of a ritual. Every morning, Rindou would wake up an hour and a half earlier than one normally would for school. He would make the trek to her apartment – yes, trek, he had a bike but he didn’t want to use it. Not because he wanted to save gas or anything, he just wanted to stall. He would wait for her beneath the tree outside of her place – usually only for about a few minutes. You were very punctual.

And every morning while you walked down the sidewalk to him, he would make note of the accessories you wore with your uniform. Yesterday, a headband. Today, who knows. It seemed incredibly mundane, but he enjoyed doing it. 

She would hand him his lunch – usually a grilled cheese sandwich, sometimes something else, but always some sort of sandwich – and he would walk her to school. The little baggie almost always had a note of some sort inside of it. 

She didn’t know he had been collecting them at home, of course, but that wasn’t the point.

He liked to think he did a good job of making you feel safe. The people at school parted like the red sea when you strode through the halls. That was because he usually wasn’t too far behind you, but still.

Eventually, word of mouth spread. She began to be known as “Rindou’s Girl”.

Rindou, shockingly enough, did nothing to stop these rumors. He didn’t care if it made people steer clear of her. No, in fact, much of what he did spurred the rumors onward. It was almost too perfect.

He would meet up with her between classes, walking her here and there whenever it aligned with his own schedule. Even if he had gang duties to attend to, he would make sure to be back in time to see his ‘girl’. 

Rindou would have his arm thrown over her shoulder while the two of them bickered down the hall. Nine out of ten times, she would punch him in the side. He didn’t care. It was well worth the (nearly nonexistent) pain.

Again, it was almost too perfect.

Almost.

“I think you like her,” Ran noted. He stabbed the straw a little deeper into his milkshake, breaking up a few chunks somewhere near the bottom of it. He sucked harshly on the other end of the straw, and when nothing came up, he furrowed his brows.

“I think you might be fuckin’ stupid,” Rindou offered back. He hadn’t bothered to order a milkshake of his own, sticking to a plate of steamed veggies and beef. He had broken his diet for her, and now his stomach pudge was paying the price. “I told you what my intentions were with her.”

“Mmh,” Ran popped one of Rindou’s beef chunks into his mouth. “Your intentions can mean one thing. Don’t matter if what happens is unintentional.”

Rindou took a brief moment to ponder his older brother’s wise words, and very quickly came to the realization that they didn’t make a lick of sense. “Ran, what the fuck does that mean?”

“Means… you can say whatever you want, in theory. Don’t mean that’s what’s actually goin’ on,” Ran picked up his chopsticks and tapped them gently against the side of his ceramic plate. “I could believe I’m, fuckin’... Queen Elizabeth. Don’t mean I actually am. Don’t lie to yourself.”

Rindou leaned back against the leather covering on his booth seat, crossing his arms with a stubborn scowl. “I’m not lyin’ to no one, Ran, It really is not that deep.”

Ran quirked a brow at that, a mischievous glint flashing briefly through his eyes. “Really? So, you’re just casually leaving an hour early every day to walk her to school? Just Buddies? Just casually obsessing over her personal life? Just casually–”

“We are buddies,” Rindou cut his brother short. Technically, that wasn’t a lie. No label, no problem. 

Ran took another sip from his stubborn milkshake and actually succeeded this time. “Sure, yeah,” he teased. “Buddies that just casually make out from time to time, right?”

“Exactly,” Rindou accepted it. At least it was something. “Kinda like the 13 girls you keep on rotation in your phone. Just buddies.”

“Those are fuckbuddies,” Ran rolled his eyes. “Not the same. Unless you’re pipin’ her, in which case–”

Rindou’s frustration seemed to be growing by the second, as seemed to be the trend with Ran. “I’m surprised you’re so invested in my love life – or lack thereof.”

“Woah,” Ran whistled. “ Thereof . That’s a big word for you.”

“You should invest the energy you put towards that into getting a fuckin’ degree,” Rindou snapped back.  

“I’m just saying, for someone who claims to have no emotions attached to this chick, it seems uncharacteristically emotional to go threaten her bullies after school,” The older of the two noted with a pleased hum. “Or how you claim to only wanna use ‘er, but judgin’ by the way you described your little…” Here he paused to wave his hands around, like he was trying to find the words to express his thoughts. “Session… yesterday, I think you’re totally into her.”

The booth the two brothers sat in was small, crammed into a corner in the back of the restaurant. It seemed even smaller now that Rindou was being faced with the daunting possibility of catching feelings for his prey.

“That’s literally not even true,” Rindou tried to defend himself.

Ran raised a brow. “You went through her diary.”

“I was curious,” Rindou replied.

“Why the hell would you be curious if you didn’t give a shit about her?” Ran offered in response, and Rindou hated that he was actually right about something for once. “I think it’s a little more than just a game.”

Rindou knitted his brows together, “I’m just ‘tryna get inside her head.”

“You can barely even get in ‘ya own head half the time, dumbass,” Ran leaned in conspiratorially, his tone dropping to a mock whisper. “You should ask her to the festival if you’re just buddies. I hear the whole town’s goin’.”

Rindou groaned, though his cheeks turned slightly pink. “I’m not goin’ to no fuckin’ fair, bro.”

“Girls love that shit,” Ran pulled his straw out of the shake to point it towards his brother – who tried in vain to ignore the droplet of shake that was flung into his face. “Wanna win her over? Make her feel special.”

Rindou’s chin jutted out defiantly. “I’m gonna win her over. ‘Jus… trying to figure it all out.”

Ran set his milkshake to the side. “Right,” He hummed, sucking the leftover shake off the straw and popping it into the glass. “Well, when you figure things out, extend your girl an invite. Give her a night to remember.”

Rindou sighed, feeling the resistance melt away from his shoulders. “How about I extend my foot up that ass?”

Ran grinned, ruffling his brother’s hair in what would have regularly been considered an affectionate gesture if Rindou weren’t already at his wit’s end with him. 

“Just lookin’ out for you, bro,” he remarked. “Careful playin’ with fire like that. Too close and you can get burnt.”

“Look out for AIDs,” Rindou huffed. “I hear that’s an epidemic these days. You might be in danger.”

“I’ll keep an eye out for you,” Ran’s grin didn’t even falter. “You should go to that fair anyway. ‘M havin’ my girl over that night.”

“Which one?” The blond rolled his eyes.

Ran sat back in his seat, folding his arms over his chest and releasing a content sigh. “Dunno,” he answered. “I’ll find out when she shows up.”

.

Rindou had decided that he was going to do it today. He was going to walk up to her and ask if she would attend the festival with him tonight. Inevitably, of course, she would say yes. She would say yes, and she would thank Rindou for offering to go with her in the first place.

“I can’t,” The girl lowered her eyes with a frown. “I’m sorry, Rindou.”

His smile dropped. He shook his head. “What?” He asked.

He didn’t think he heard that correctly.

“I already have a date to the festival,” She added, like he was supposed to know that.

He raised a brow at her as she shut her locker behind her. “Who?”

She looked him up and down, gaze climbing over his shirt that most definitely violated the dress code. “Um, a kid who sits behind me in history class… why?”

“You never told me about that,” Rindou pursed his lips, suddenly very angry at this faceless man. 

She shrugged. You know, like it was casual. “Never came up in conversation. I felt bad saying no… so I told him okay.”

On the outside, he was the image of composure. On the inside, he was clawing at the fucking floor. He looked down the now empty hallway, and then back at her. 

“Cancel on him,” He said.

“What?” Her eyes widened at the proposition. “No, why would I do that?”

“What’s his name?” Rindou asked her, leaning down to get a better look at her face. 

Rather than answering his question directly, the girl looked away, tugging on the sleeves of her sweater. “He wants to walk me home today… if that’s okay.”

His eyes shot wide open. In his gut, a deep, rancid feeling began to bubble. It felt as if a hole had opened up somewhere deep within, boiling his blood and making him squirm. 

Is this jealousy?

He thought about the kid walking her home instead of him. He didn’t like it. Not one bit. That was his thing. 

Still, attempting to keep his cool because that’s what Rindou Haitani did in the face of uncertainty, he licked his lips and nodded, “That’s fine, ‘jus figured I’d ask you. My date bailed.”

That was a lie, of course. There was never a date. He was only trying to soften the blow.

Her words were like a knife into his ego. He thought about her showing up with this… this kid, holding his hand. Would he try any funny business with her? Not like he cared, of course, he just didn’t like someone toying around with something he had very clearly called dibs on.

His comment must have missed its mark on her, as she looked at him with all the sorrow of a child that had just been caught stealing a cookie from the jar. 

“I’m really sorry, Rindou. I can’t just flake on him, that’s not right,” She sighed. “But the ladies love you. I’m sure you’ll figure something out!”

I don’t want them, briefly flashed through his mind. I want you.

“Yeah,” He replied, sucking his teeth. His eyes had already wandered down the hallway. “I’ll figure it out.”

.

The rush in the hallway had died down a bit after the dismissal bell had rung. There were faint echos of chatter and laughter somewhere down the hall, maybe even in a different wing. Rindou leaned casually against the wall, attempting to blend in with the flow. 

The wounds on his ego were still fresh, the sting of jealousy gnawing at him on the inside. So, when the coast was mostly clear, he seized his chance. He slipped through the classroom door that had been left slightly ajar, steps silent as he made his way to the teacher’s desk.

She was an older woman with grey hair and a colorful sweater on. He recognized her as his brother’s old history teacher… and also from the picture he had snapped of the girl from apartment 12A’s schedule.

That’s all she was. Just some chick from apartment 12A. It hurt a little less when he thought about it that way, though it made it a little difficult to justify his actions.

Her back was turned, but she spun around when Rindou knocked twice on the cool surface of her desk. Her eyes went wide as they locked onto his figure. 

“Boo,” Rindou grinned.

“Haitani, what are you doing here?” The woman’s hand fluttered to her chest. Her breath had already gone ragged. “I already told your brother that there was nothing I could have done about him failing– It was administrative, I swea–”

“I’m not here for him,” Rindou sighed, folding his arms and stepping forward. His eyes scanned the room. “You got a ‘[Y/N] [L/N]’ in here during final period, yeah?”

The teacher’s expression shifted from panic to confusion. Slowly, she nodded, still looking at him like a deer in headlights. 

He tried to play it cool. Like he didn’t already know that after practically memorizing her schedule.

“Where does she sit?” Rindou asked, tone hardly veiling his true intentions.

With a trembling hand, she pointed towards a seat by the window. It was empty, of course, but Rindou still nodded, making a mental location of the seat. He could almost picture her there, the sunlight playing in her hair while she absentmindedly twirled a strand around her finger.

His interest shifted, and he inquired further, “Who’s the kid who sits behind ‘er?”

The teacher seemed a little more at ease with this question, but she was still nervous. Poor thing.

“Behind her?” She trailed off. “That would be that quiet kid… what’s his name… Sato, I think. Black hair, big glasses.”

Her vague description painted a vivid image of Sato in Rindou’s mind, glasses perched on his nose, absorbed in his own little world behind her. He probably fantasized about her, little pervert…

He was the only one who was allowed to do that.

“Thanks,” Rindou nodded his gratitude to her. Before he turned to leave, he hesitated. Slowly, he pivoted back towards the teacher, a glint of mischief dancing in his eyes. “Oh, by the by,” He hummed. “I start this class soon. Figured I should stop by and get to know my teacher-to-be.”

The old woman’s brows shot up in surprise. “Tomorrow?” She thought aloud. “But… you’re not on the roster.”

Rindou’s lips curled up at that. “You should have that fixed,” he replied.

Then he was out the door like nothing had happened.

.

Rindou’s patience had reached a breaking point. Standing behind the tree he knew far too well – the one he stood before every morning at the same time, his heart pounded. He gazed dutifully at the apartment complex where he knew his target would be around this time.

The school was a 20-30 minute walk. He had left the school around 15 minutes later than the other two had so that he might get there in time to catch the kid coming back.

And there he was, standing no higher than 5’3, exchanging goodbyes with the girl from 12A. His girl from 12A. 

Wait. No, that’s not what he meant.

The door closed. Sato smoothed his hands over the front of his uniform, then stepped away. As the boy returned from her doorstep, an unsuspecting prey. He treaded down the concrete path, turned onto the sidewalk where Rindou was hidden, and approached the tree unknowingly.

Rindou stuck his foot out.

Sato tripped over it, falling to the ground rather unceremoniously, undoubtedly scraping the pale, unblemished skin on his arms and palms. Kid probably never had to defend himself a day in his life.

Today would be a great day for him to start.

Sato’s head jerked to the side, visibly disoriented. Before he could comprehend what had happened to him, Rindou landed his second blow, a kick to his gut that left him gasping for air. 

He was glad he had decided to wear his Doc Martens today.

“The hell are you ‘doin with her, huh?” Rindou’s voice was a low growl, edged with danger. His eyes bored into Sato, aflame with an emotion that bordered on madness.

Once Sato recognized his attacker – and, really, Rindou could see the gears turning in his pretty little head – his eyes went wide. 

“Hait… Haitani?” Sato’s voice was shaky, breathless, words barely forming while he tried to catch his breath. Rindou’s boot struck again, silencing any further attempts at speech.

“How do you know her?” He demanded.

Sato’s glasses now lay a short distance away from him, and he fumbled blindly to retrieve them. Rindou sidestepped, placing his heel on Sato’s wrist and pinning it to the pavement below with a brutality that elicited a yelp from the boy.

“You gone deaf or somethin’?” Rindou tilted his head down at him. “How do you know her?”

He knew exactly how Sato knew her. He would never admit that aloud, though.

“Who?” Sato’s voice quivered with confusion, pain etched over his face.

“The girl whose door you just came from, dumbass,” Rindou’s impatience began to seep through his facade, punctuated by another kick to Sato’s side after he took it off of his wrist. “ How do you know her?”

Sato hurled, arm pressed protectively against the area Rindou had struck. 

“She’s… She’s in my class,” He finally admitted, trembling beneath Rindou in a way that made him feel a lot better about chasing him down. This was always his favorite part. “I thought she was cute, so I…”

Rindou stepped on his back, knocking him back down to earth after he had just gotten onto his hands and knees. “So you asked her out?”

Sato nodded hurriedly.

Rindou’s lips curled up in disbelief. “That was my date, asshole,” He seethed, putting a bit of pressure on his back to keep him down.

He was a squirmy one.

“I’m sorryyyy ,” The kid whined, voice cracking with desperation. “I had no idea, I swear! If I knew I never would have–”

Rindou rolled his eyes at Sato’s excuses. He hated whiners. So much, in fact, that he decided to kick him again. Reaching down, he tugged the boy’s arm up harshly, pressing it against the back of his leg.

One wrong move, and his arm would be broken.

“ Ah –” The nerd grunted, teeth gritted. 

“You’re not going to that festival with her,” Rindou warned him. “You know that, right?”

Sato nodded, peering back at Rindou through pained, teary eyes. “I was stupid, I’m sorry,” he pleaded. “I didn’t know she was your girl– girlfriend.”

Rindou pulled on his arm like a warning. “It’s complicated,” he bit out, control slipping a bit while he gave way to the emotions he felt at the prospect of being claimed as someone’s… boyfriend.

Sato’s breath came in ragged bursts. “I’ll never talk to her again, I swear,” He said.

Rindou’s grip on his arm relented, but only slightly. “You’re gonna stay away from her too. Let me hear you got even three feet close to her–”

“We’re in the same… history class,” Sato noted with a grunt.

Rindou stepped harder on his back in response. 

“Switch classes,” he hissed.

“Okay, Okay!” He cried. “I will! I’ll switch, I swear, please don’t hurt me.”

Finally he dropped Sato’s  shaking arm. “Not a word about this to anyone, got it?” he warned him. “I’ll put you on the side of a milk carton.”

Sato’s head bobbed in frantic compliance. 

The younger Haitani stepped back, and the Sato boy immediately scrambled to his feet. Then, without another word, he fled the scene. Ran as fast as his short legs would take him.

In his absence, Rindou sighed, dusting imaginary residue off of his hands and onto his black zip-up hoodie before going the other way.

.

Rindou watched the water turn pink as it ran over his battered knuckles. They were a little sore, but it was nothing he wasn’t used to.

Must have hit his glasses, he thought.

He rubbed some soap into the reddened skin and over his palms, rinsing the grime of his sins away beneath the faucet. He turned the current off, shaking his hands dry. Then, after a brief struggle, reached blindly for his glasses and cologne – popping the cap off and spraying a bit on each of his pulse points.

And on his navel. You know, just for good luck.

The sound of Beyonce’s ‘Naughty Girl’ got louder as he walked towards Ran’s bedroom, carelessly leaving the bathroom door open behind him.

He smoothed his hands over his traditional garb – which he had a particular distaste for, although he knew a traditional festival would require traditional attire. It clashed with his usual style, but he was willing to endure it for the sake of his commitment to a cause. 

It flattered the waist he had been working so hard to thin out, though, so that was nice. 

Flexing his arms downward, Rindou hit a pose in the mirror-desk-thing. 

Ran was sprawled out on his stomach behind Rindou, flipping through a glossy magazine from the comfort of his bed. His hair was done up into a messy bun, a few stragglers cascading down the back of his neck and over his plush Walmart robe. He glanced up at the sight of his younger brother’s choice in attire for the evening.

“Is that my Yukata?” He inquired, sucking his teeth and then turning another page.

“Yeah,” Rindou answered. “You said you weren’t going to the festival. Figured you wouldn’t need it.”

Rindou saw his brother’s brow quirk, though he made no effort to tear his eyes away from the page. “You said you weren’t going either,” Ran remarked.

Rather than glorifying him with a response, Rindou pulled out the chair beneath Ran’s… beauty desk? He didn’t really know what those things were called. Anyway, he made himself comfortable on the seat.

“You’re goin’ all out tonight, huh?” Ran teased, rolling onto his back.

Rindou shook his head. Reaching for Ran’s signature eyeshadow pan – the one that he would never, ever admit to using, but for the sake of this story it should be known that he uses a Covergirl single in the shade Onyx  – he popped the case open. He dabbed the little sponge-brush thing into the pan, applying the deep shade to the outer corners of his eyes. He shaped it into a subtle, smokey point, one that added depth to his gaze.

“Don’t get used to it,” he offered, clicking the single shut and setting it off to the side. 

His attention then turned to his damp hair. He reached for a hair tie he had found on the desk and carefully gathered his blond locks into a fistful. With practiced ease, he tied it up and away from the back of his neck. With the side of his pinky finger, he pulled a few strands out to frame his face. 

The Haitani Slut-Strands were making a comeback.

“She say yes to you when you asked ‘er?” Ran asked somewhere behind him.

Rindou smoothed his hands over the semi-slickback ponytail he’d done. “Nah. Some kid beat me to it.”

He could hear Ran turning the page slowly. “You beat his ass?”

“Maybe,” Rindou grinned.

“I feel, like… so proud,” Ran continued anyway. “Like, this is a proud big brother moment for me. ‘Lil bro, going on his first date with his crush… at 17 years old.”

“Not my first date,” Rindou said, even if it technically was. He wasn’t so sure that the random hookups he’d taken on walks to the park counted. 

“Let me have this,” Ran sighed. “What are you waiting on?”

“Her text,” He answered. He knew it was coming. The festival had started an hour and a half ago. It was only a matter of time before she came crying to him about how this kid she had given a chance decided to stand her up and embarrass her in front of the whole town. Only a matter of time before Rindou would swoop in like Superman and save her night.

On cue, his phone buzzed. He took it out of his pocket, turning it on to read the message he had received.

Just now

Pretty Thing: he stood me up :( can u come get me pls

He glanced at it a second time, his smirk deepening. “Looks like I’m needed,” he said, lifting his phone to show his brother the message.

Ran whistled. “This plan seems awfully well-thought for someone who don’t care about this girl.”

Rindou couldn’t help but reply with a hint of amusement, thumbs already working up a text back, “Worry about the girls in your phone first.”

ME: b there in 15 angel

a/n: Trying not to think about the fact that bc Rindou wants to be a dj he probably listens to like, dubstep or some shit....... also I used the word Yukata here which is Japanese traditional attire to wear to festivals, I looked into it, but like I said im off a Buzzball so if I misused it or was culturally insensitive in any way shape or form it is purely accidental, please let me know and I'll correct! AS always, comment, inbox, let me know how yall feel! I love u bunches <3

I obviously do not own tokyo revengers or anything related to it. please do not reproduce, copy, or translate my works anywhere. dont fk w me im a bruja.

@midtwenties-angst, @sleepysnk, @enneadec, @noaabean, @galactict3a, @em1e, @drakensdarling, @wakashawty, @satanlovesusall666, @sin-and-punishment, @mztoman, @sanzuicide, @bontensbabygirl, @strawberrychrome, @scaraphobia, @bertholdts--butt, @xiedoll, @missgab, @keiskyutie, @slvdsjjk , @ilyrmsha , @novacrystalli , @hanmastattoos , @kodzuksn, @mikeys-bike-slut, @kzuyii, @menrami, @darlettie, @simpfully-heartbroken

wanna join the 'haitani brothers' taglist? | pretty thing; chapter index

#notiddygxthgf ˚ ༘♡ ⋆｡˚ #rindou haitani #haitani rindou #ran haitani #haitani ran #rindou haitani x reader #rindou haitani x y/n #rindou haitani x you #haitani brothers #rindou x reader #rindou #tokyo rev x reader #tokyo revengers #just read it #trust me

[whatisreggieshortfor]

Vigilante Part Four

Sato was concerned when you pulled him aside one day, asking if the two of you could bake in his room instead of the main dorm kitchen, but he agreed nonetheless. He let you set the pace of the conversation, though something was clearly weighing on your mind. He was relieved when you finally turned to him, “I’m going to be honest with you.” He nodded, watching as you took a deep breath before continuing, “I haven’t been this open with anyone but my father…but you put me at ease. As a kid, I always had a target on my back. Bullies, quirkists, teachers, anybody who wanted to feel a little bit of power would gang up on me. And throughout all of that, my father had been my anchor in the storm. When I lost him, I was honestly just…lost.” You could his eyes swimming in different emotions, but he didn’t speak. He just waited for you. So you finally told him what you were trying to. How you first started, how you made your contacts in the underground, how you had developed your original gear on your own. He held back his concern when you mentioned your previous scars, you were okay and that was enough to know. And then you told him about why you always said you’d never need a pro to save you. It had started as a reassurance from your father, but after you first encountered Endeavor, it became a pledge to yourself. While the number two hero wasn’t the template for how most hero society acted, most of the ones you had met through your father’s agency had the same thought about Quirkless people. You were useless. You were nothing to them.

“You are not nothing.” Sato finally replied, his voice soft, but sure. Like he had never been more sure of anything. “You were given a shit hand, but you still won. No matter what anyone thinks, every day you get up, you go to class, you become stronger than you already were, and you show them what you can do. You show us all. Even Bakugou has started defending you from other students degrading you for not having a Quirk, and he and Midoriya are very open about the way he used to be.” Sato’s hand came up to take hold of yours, squeezing it gently, “You are changing people’s minds. Not just about yourself, but about the people that go through life like you do. I feel…I don’t know, lucky maybe, that you’re letting me be there for you while you do it.”

“Remember a few weeks ago? When I got hurt on a job I was doing?” He nodded cautiously, “The villain I went after wasn’t some low level gang member like I told you guys. He had been the one that hired the villain team my father’s killer had been a part of. I was trying to figured out who he worked for. But after I got hurt- When I saw you guys again, I realized I had been losing sight of why I did what I did. It was becoming more of a vendetta to me than just a way of keeping people safe. So thank you for helping me remember.”

When the summer training camp finally came around, you were stuck with a sinking feeling in your gut. Even after the dirt monsters the WWP sent, you couldn’t brush it off. And Aizawa noticed. He saw the way you practically stuck to Sato’s side. Saw the way you kept the entire class in your line of sight. Saw the way you would adjust where you sat whenever Mandalay’s nephew would walk away, so you could still see him. And he wonders, to himself but never out loud out of fear a student will hear him, and he asks himself what you are expecting. So he stays on alert the best he can. He may have more hero experience than you do, but he doesn’t have the ego to try to believe that your senses aren’t good, maybe better than his own at sensing a threat. He’s seen you in the real world enough times to know, if you have a feeling, you should follow it. He’s never seen you be wrong.

During the scare walk, he told Mandalay to keep an eye on you, as he made his way back to the cabins for the remedial classes, and she watched your eyes as well. There was a smile on your face as you listened to friends around you, but your eyes told a different story. There was joy in them, sure, but beyond that there was a wariness. A sharp edge, like you were breaking down every detail around you.

And then they heard a scream.

You were moving before anyone else even realized that scream was different. It wasn’t the surprised fear they’d been hearing as their classmates did the scare walk. It was full of real terror.

You pulled on your goggles from Hatsume, climbing up a tree for a better vantage point, and you peered down into the forest. Recognizing the heat signatures of your classmates was easy, you’d done it during training, so it wasn’t hard to pin point the extra sources. But what bothered you most was the two heat signatures you caught on a mountainside. When you leaped from the tree, your attention was set on Mandalay, demanding how to get to that cliff, and the answer had barely left her before you were sprinting away from the clearing.

You had faced tough villains, but never with a bystander around. You always selected your time to struck when the target was alone, or only had their own henchmen around. But this time you couldn’t make that decision. You needed to protect this little boy, who lost his parents the same way you did, no matter what.

And you did. Left the villain tied up and unconscious as you felt the blood drip down the side of your face, Kota firmly held in your arms as you moved as quickly as you could back to camp. When Aizawa appeared in front of you, you were thankful your goggles were still on your face. This Aizawa was emanating such a small heat signature, there was no way it was human. So you took him down, and watched as he turned into a mess of dirt.

Everything moved so quickly after that. You had gotten Kota to safety, and you had followed Midoriya into the woods to help your classmates, the two of you helped Shouji and Tokoyami, but next thing you remember was being caught. You never get caught. What had you miscalculated?

You hadn’t miscalculated. As you sat in a room tied to a chair, you stayed quiet at first. You thought about what had led you to this, and the conclusion was obvious. You didn’t screw up, and you could have gotten away. But you protected your friends. You never had to look out for anyone but yourself before, so you never had to take the chances that you did today. But you saw the villains go after them. And when you’d heard Mandalay relay that Bakugou was the target, even though the two of you didn’t get along, you moved to help. And you ended up saving Tokoyami as well, which meant Sato and Shouji would breath easier. And you knew that when it came down to it, you would’ve done it all again to keep them safe.

So no, you didn’t miscalculate. You got taken on purpose. You had the training for this. When there was a window, this would be over.

“Why did we take this one?” Toga had asked, just after Shigaraki had announced they caught the Quirkless one and left the room.

Kurogiri straightened his back more as he answered, “The Master has a plan for him.”

You snorted in your seat, “Is it trying to brainwash me into using my skills? Or does he plan on using me as a test dummy for Quirks in a body not designed to use them?”

“Quite frankly,” Dabi scoffed, “I’d prefer if it was the second one, maybe then you’d be in too much pain to speak.”

“Ooh~” you cooed, “Says the one who’s body can’t handle his own fire.”

“You wanna feel that fire, dick?”

You smirked at how easily you riled him up, slumping back against the seat they’d restrained you to, “Fire dick? Sounds kinky, but I’m bored though. Can we do something?”

“I could cut you!” Toga chirped, enthusiasm oozing out of her.

“Hard pass. But maybe later if all else fails.” At this point you were just screwing with them, not something you often got to do when you were in enemy territory. It was usually stealthy, quick, and then you were gone before the other members realized you’d even entered. But this was one of the things you’d always enjoyed. Annoying the enemy until you were able to use the distraction against them. “Where’d Crusty go? To finally put some lotion on?”

“Please refrain from speaking of the boss in such a manner.” You looked at the warp gate of a person curiously, something about him to quite add up.

But you nodded, “My apologies, Mister. I do not mean to offend.” You started humming, just looking around the room for around an hour as you waited for them to decide what they wanted from you exactly, “Am I allowed to use the bathroom? Or is this one of those you’ll bring out a cup situations?”

“Very well.” Kurogiri brought himself over, untying you from the chair, but keeping your wrists tied together.

“Why thank you!”

“Oh my god, shut up!” You stuck your tongue out at Dabi as he groaned, ignoring the fact that he wasn’t looking your way.

The evening dragged on. You were actually getting bored at this point. But you knew to wait. Aizawa would save you.

You stiffened as soon as that thought entered your brain. Since when did you- Did you really trust him that much? You knew that was a silly question. He was the only pro you trusted, aside from Chasm. But he wouldn’t so much be saving you, as helping you get out.

Vigilante Masterlist

Main Masterlist

#my hero academia #my hero academia x male reader #my hero academia x reader #my hero fanfic #Quirkless reader #vigilante reader

[lostboiking30]

Legend of Korra Rant about queer representation, capitalism and police

Okay...so if you have been following me or liking/reblogging my stuff then you know that I was an OG Korra stan. Last year when Avatar and legend of Korra came back on Netflix a lot of queer people watched, anticipating the queer representation only to be disappointed in the surprising lack of overt on screen queerness As a side, I still just don’t understand how people think that Korra is straight or cis. Idk, there is this theory/head canon I have that Korra is Two-Spirit because she is indigenous, exudes both masculine and feminine energy and literally had hundreds of past lives inside of her for the first 17 years of her life. 

Anyway, a lot of queer radicals that I have met who have watched the show have complained about Legend of Korra being queer bait and pro police-state, and pro capitalism and it kinda pisses me off, because that’s not true.  This show doesn’t take a side. For better or for worse, It shows the complexities of a city in the middle of an industrial boom, but that doesn’t mean it is pro-capitalist. The show wouldn’t have even touched what hoarding wealth does to communities if that were true. There would have been no representation of poverty or how KIDS get caught up in gangs in order to survive, nor would they have shown how Hiroshi Sato’s alliance to the Equalists almost destroyed his company or his daughter’s WHOLE LIFE. Like Asami was straight up on the verge of financial ruin in Book 2. THATS A LOT FOR AN 18 YEAR OLD TO DEAL WITH.  Concerning the Metalbending police force: I don’t know why people tend to forget this EXTREMELY IMPORTANT AND PIVOTAL SCENE in Book 1 where the police cut the electricity to the homes of nonbenders. Police Chief Saikhan was kettling the nonbenders and  threatening them with violence if they didn’t go home and follow that ridiculous curfew instated by Tarrlok that SCREAMED McCarthyism DESPITE the police INSTIGATING the situation. One of the nonbenders says “Please help us, You’re our Avatar too!” and Korra steps in threatening both the police and Tarrlok before he has Asami arrested for breaking curfew and throws Mako and Bolin in Jail for good measure.  That’s police brutality. And that scene in Book 1 should have been enough to show that this show was not pro police or pro police-state (See: Kuvira being an evil dictator -_-) 

The police aren’t shown in a good light in this show. In fact they are almost always seen as an oppressive force, even when Lin Beifong is Chief.  

As far as queer representation goes, it was 2014. Gay Marriage wasn’t legal in the USA. Nickelodeon was fucking with the creators. They gave us what they could without having the show be outright cancelled. Korra and Asami holding hands while walking into the spirit portal was SO important to us! 

ALSO it wasn’t like Mike and Bryan pulled a JK Rowling and was like yep Korra’s gay and then NEVER delivered. Not only did they immediately deliver Korrasami content, they told people that Korrasami was canon and everyone who disliked that could die mad about it. Then They gave us the continuation of the story in comic book form with LOTS of sweet Korrasami moments, and THENturned around and said YOU KNOW WHAT? KYOSHI’S BI TOO! HAVE SOME BOOKS ABOUT IT.  Mike and Bryan and the whole creative Team Avatar have delivered some of the most culturally aware content that I have ever seen in my entire life, and I hope they keep creating more. Avatar the Last Airbender, Legend of Korra and The Rise/Shadow of Kyoshi are gifts that we should be so lucky to have. 

#Avatar The Last Airbender #legend of korra #atla #TLOK #lok #asami #korra #mako #bolin #aang #avatar #korrasami #kyoshi

[dejwrites]

sculptures, chapter nine.

↠ characters: ran haitani, mentioned in story all the other bonten members.

↠ warning: profanity, smut, slight dc, mentions of gangs & yakuzas,

↠ pairings: ran haitani x [black fem coded] reader, rindou haitani x fem!oc, kakucho hitto x oc, slight oc x reader,

↠ timeline: timeskip, doesn’t really follow anime/manga

↠ chapter summary: it's time to discuss more about the huge heist that's about to make everyone rich, however shuya warms everyone just how crazy someone from his past really is.

↠ a/n: as i'm writing so many things at once, i think i'm just thinking of what day i want sculptures update date to be and it could be sunday. anyway, thank you to everyone who still reads this fic. i know tumblr isn't the best site for multiple chaptered fics, but this fic is deeply one of my children...so i'm not letting it go even if it's a small number of people that's reading it. this somewhat a filler chapter tbh.

[ &. playlist + aesthetic ]

[ &. previous + masterlist + taglist form ]

— tags: @misss-chrisss @indiecursor @maydayaisha @po3ticb3auty @gemimaya @massivelynervousprincess @erentoes @hufflefluffwh0re @todo7roki @littlemochi @xngelsau

YOUR FINGERTIPS TRACED ALONGSIDE THE DRESSER AS YOU WERE CURRENTLY IN SHUYA’S APARTMENT. Three days had gone by since you showed Ran the sculpture and now Shuya wanted to show both you and Shao something. You let out a chuckle seeing the brown cowboy hat, you picked it up motioning to Shuya who was looking for something.

“What is this?” You questioned. “Well, I know what it is. But why do you have it?”

Shuya who finally had found what he was looking for in his walk-in closet had looked at you and smirked. “That’s my party hat.”

“Your party hat?” You questioned while your eyebrows knitted together in confusion.

“Yes, it has many memories of when I was in college,” Shuya said as he took it out of your hand and placed it on your head. “When is your boyfriend coming? Someone from Bonten is supposed to be here.”

You followed behind him out of his room to where Shao was at. Despite the childish tour of Shuya’s penthouse, your eyes still wandered around like a kid in a candy store. It was much bigger than your studio. It also overlooked the glamorous district of Ginza. To your shock it was nicely decorated also, the eldest Sato sibling had nice interior design taste.

“He’s not my boyfriend,” You argued as you sat down next to Shao who was in the living room.

“Sure, whatever helps you sleep at night,” Shuya commented as he laid the blueprint on the large coffee table in front of them.

It was a blueprint for the museum. The huge heist was only coming closer and closer and they all spent countless times going over the plan. Although you weren’t going inside the museum, you were going to be with Karma and Aisha, the three of you still had huge roles to ensure the guys did the mission correctly.

“As I was up last night going over the plan, I have found a hiccup in my plan.” Shuya sighs. He had stared between Shao and you before continuing to talk. “There are three overnight guards that guard the floor where the sculpture is.”

“But you said that you already have men guarding the museum,” You commented as you looked at him.

“I mean, I do. But I didn’t expect for them to be assigned a certain floor for that night.” Shuya responded. “They have to stay on whatever level they’re on so it won’t be suspicious while Karma’s hacking into the camera system.” He explained.

“So what are you implying?” Shao asked his brother. Then he notices the devious grin on his face, “No, we can’t engage physically with them, it’ll get messy.”

“But it’s not like we can’t just knock them out for a couple of hours,” Shuya threw his hands up in defeat. “We can take them, brother.”

“I know we can, but you always have to make things messy and violent.” Shao rolled his eyes taking a sip of his scotch that was in the glass.

“We’re the sons of Seiko Sato, our life has always been messy and violent,” Shuya shrugged.

Shao’s lips parted to speak, but the loud doorbell interrupted his words. You pushed yourself off the couch to go answer the door. When you opened it, you saw Rindou, Ran, and Karma. You gave each of them a smile as you stepped aside to let them in. Karma was the first to step in, her eyes scanning over the place. She soon turned to look at her boyfriend and he would shake his head. She was itching to ask if they could move into something like this.

“No.” was the only thing he said before he’s guiding her further into the penthouse towards Shao and Shuya.

“What’s up with the hat?” Ran plucked at the brown cowboy hat on your head causing you to laugh.

“It’s Shuya’s party hat,” You said as you walked to join the others.

Ran could only shake his head. “I can’t believe we’re the same age,” he sighed as he walked into the living room with you.

It seemed like Shao and Shuya had already explained the situation to Rindou. “I mean it would be messy if we do engage in fighting them, but can’t we like spike their coffee or anything.”

“You guys are not understanding, these men are trained fuckin’ assassins. No melatonin droplets in their damn coffee are going to take them out.” Shuya sighed.

“But fighting them can get messy. I mean yes, Karma is altering the cameras to make it seem like everything is normal. But if they wake up from us knocking them out, obviously it proves that something happened.” Shao explained.

“Unless you guys take them out before their shift. Which means that they won’t have a choice but to move Shao and Shuya’s men that’s undercover to the floor that the sculpture is on.” Ran said.

The room grew quiet before you spoke up, “That seems like the best option.” You said.

“Agreed. We each take a guy out.” Shao says looking at them.

“I think Ran and I should get this fucker,” Shuya opened the file showing the biggest guy. “I did research and he's in the military, well he used to be in the military. Until he got kicked out for beating his comrade to death.”

“How the hell is he not in jail?” Karma asked.

“He works for the Yakuma yakuza. They’re pretty known to be wrapped in politics compared to our family being wrapped in the business industry in Japan.” Shao explained.

“Does anyone even know who's the head of that yakuza? I mean, if they find out your ex told you about their profits being in the sculpture…aren’t they going to kill her or hurt her?” You asked.

“Well, the Yakuma Yakuza don’t have a head right now,” Rindou explained.

“A headless yakuza?” Your head tilted to the side as you watched all the men nod.

“My ex’s father died three years ago, no one knows if he has a son or not to pass the torch. His pride didn’t particularly let him pass it to his daughter though,” Shuya explained. “Which I don’t understand, the woman is bat shit crazy.”

“How crazy?” Karma asked as she looked at him.

“Well, she threw a knife at my head once because she thought I was cheating on her,” Shuya explained.

Ran was sipping at the brown alcohol in his glass, “Well, were you?”

Each set of eyes in the living room stared at the eldest Sato brother. “No. Why would I cheat on a crazy woman?”

“Maybe you deserved the knife being thrown at you. You do say some quite snarky comments every chance you get.” You spoke up gaining a glare from Shuya.

He kissed his teeth before he was leaning over and taking the cowboy hat off your head. “You’re supposed to be on my side. Taking my party hat from you.” He placed the hat on his head and leaned back into his seat.

“But we’re about to steal from said crazy woman.” Shao sighed.

“She’s not going to figure out we took it. With the number of enemies they have and them investing so heavily into that museum, many people already assumed something special of the Yakuza yakuza was locked up in there. We just know what.” Shuya sighed.

“So, Rindou and I take out these two guys and you two are going to handle the military dude? That’s the task before the heist comes?” Shao questioned for clarity.

“Yes. They won’t have no choice to move some of our men to the floor where the sculpture is at.” Shuya adds.

Karma was fishing through her bag before handing everyone their security passes. “I did a little technology research on the art museum and did you guys know when they’re closed the elevators stop working. Only security guards can get them to work again because of this little barcode right here.” She was holding Rindou’s fake security badge up to show everyone the barcode. “It’s going to be a bit challenging hacking into their cameras, but it’s nothing I can’t handle.” She shrugs her shoulders.

“Gosh, you’re so attractive for you talk about technology,” Rindou complimented as he gave his girlfriend a wink causing her to smile.

“Kiyoshi.” Ran said as he was staring at his fake name.

“Riku?” Shao questioned as he was staring at his security badge.

“Now why do I have to be a Todd? They get cool names and I get Todd.” Shuya pouted. “But I must admit, I look wonderful in this picture.”

Karma rolled her eyes at him. “You’re just going to be using them for one night. You can be a Todd for one night, stop pouting.”

You couldn’t believe that you were about to partially participate in a heist. You were hoping that everything would go smoothly considering that it was going to take place during a time when the majority of people in the district would be sleeping. Then on top of Karma’s hacking. It seemed like it would be as easy as possible. Each of you would be swimming in wealth soon.

But deep down you had a feeling that someone was going to get hurt.

#ran haitani x reader #ran haitani fic #ran haitani fanfic #tokyo revengers x reader #x reader #tr x reader #black reader #tr x black reader #anime fanfic #ran x reader #ran haitani x black reader #x black reader

[korissideblog]

working on a longer fic rn and felt like i needed to post something <3

today we've got Aito, Lupe, Sato Sensei (@dantelionwishes ) and a mentioned Ikuto (@the-heartbeat-hero ) <3

[no warnings from this fic! just gets a little sad at the end, but it's still a happy ending!]

[also no art for this one, still working on my art for compound's fic <3 next fic may have a couple sketches though!]

Click-tak

Click-tak

Click-tak

It was easy to tell when Lupe and Aito were walking towards the classroom, between the mother’s white cane and the heels of Aito’s boots, the two could be heard from down the hall. Aito perked up immediately when she saw Sato Sensei, but stayed obediently at his mother’s side instead of her usual aimless wandering around the classroom.

“Sato San, I’m happy we could meet,” Guadeloupe said, smiling as her eyes focused vaguely on the area of Sato’s desk. She was led by her daughter to a chair that Sato had set up for parent teacher conferences.

“This is Sato Sensei,” Aito said, focusing on her mother. “He’s a tallish man with brown hair and-” Aito started to describe Sato, but was stopped by his mother

“I’ve read up on him angel, you go wait for me in the hallway, yes?” Lupe asked, kissing her cheek and watching as Aito sprung from her side, quickly skipping out of the classroom. “Sorry about that, he’s just a bit wound up right now.” Lupe said, chuckling with a bit of exhaustion.

“Oh, don’t worry, I know how he can be.” Sato said, politely, but with the same tinge of general tiredness. “She’s a good kid, just a bit too much energy from time to time. Speaking of, I have her grades right here.” he continued, flipping through a file with a few other report cards till he found one for Takao, Aito. “He’s doing well, low Bs and high Cs. I started pairing him with my more advanced students, and she seems to match their pace well. She just needs the motivation to work.” Sato explained in the vague way that teachers were supposed to when they had no idea what to do with a student.

“Ah, yes,” Lupe said, immediately recognizing the tone. “She’s very good at keeping up when faced with a competitor. Aito used to come to work with me, and I would see her learn something from one of my students and replicate it almost perfectly. I’m sure he’s got the smarts, he just needs a reason to show it off.” Lupe offered, tapping her finger on the desk, as if she wanted to say something, but was a bit nervous to bring it up. “Uh, I’m sure you’re not in charge of this, Sato San, but… Aito’s medication…?”

“Yes, Takao san, I’ve seen your note. Aito’s been taking it regularly.” Sato said, reassuringly.

“And you’ve been-”

“Wrapping it in little pieces of cheese, yes.”

“And when he-”

“Gets bored of cheese, switch to ham. Yes, I keep a careful eye on Aito.” Sato chuckled, looking out the classroom’s windows to Aito waiting patiently in the hallway. Guadeloupe’s visits always seemed to calm the boy down in ways Sato’s never seen. If he had asked Aito to wait in the hallway, she’d have wandered to the other side of the school before Sato could get to her, but by just a simple request from his mother, he seemed to have grown almost docile, staring at his feet as he waited. Aito perked up a bit, looking down the hallway and smiling, waving to someone walking up to her.

“Ah, Ikuto Maekawa. He’s a quiet boy from 1-Y, the classroom next to ours.” Sato said, gesturing to the student who had approached Aito.

“Yes, I’ve met him before. I’m glad Aito has good friends, I was worried that he would fall into some sort of delinquent gang or…” Lupe trailed off, watching her son carefully as he spoke to Maekawa.

“She’s going to steal from him.” she said quietly.

“How can you tell?” Sato assumed the same thing, but that was just because of her track record. If Guadeloupe had some sort of knowledge he didn’t, he definitely wanted to know.

“Look at her ear.” she said, pointing to Aito. “Her left one. It has a small tick. It’s only about a couple degrees, and it’s fairly random-about 40 bpm- but it’s noticeable when you look for it.” she explained. Sato looked at the ear and noticed it wasn’t moving at all, and caught on to Lupe’s strategy. “She’s thinking about how she looks right now.”

“And he’s thinking about it because he’s trying to look innocent.” Sato finished, watching Aito put her arm over Ikuto’s shoulders, something she did normally, but also noticed how quickly her hands moved while she talked- again, something completely normal for her- but also something she did when she wanted her target to lose track of her hands. “I’ll call her over-”

“No no, if you tell her you caught her, she’ll feel bad.” Lupe said, reaching out and taking Aito’s report card in her hands. “You have to make it seem like you didn’t even notice. Give her something else to do, and make it more interesting or important than stealing.” she advised.

“Aito, can you come here for a second? I can’t read this very well.” she called out into the hallway, Aito perking up at the mention of her name and immediately appearing at his mother’s side. “This right here, what is it?” Aito quickly explained that it was just general information that the school needed, like her student ID and contact numbers, and read it all aloud till his mother stopped him. “Thank you, you can go back to the hallway dear.” Lupe said, patting her daughter’s head and watching him run out of the classroom again. “He won’t try again, it’s very rare that he’ll try and steal from someone after his first attempt didn’t go through.” she said, smiling fondly at her little monster of a child.

“Wow, I’ll definitely be keeping that in mind.” Sato said, watching her again and almost noticing the boy’s ear twitch. It was one of those things that you could convince yourself you imagined, but maybe it was just different when you raise a child. “Any more tips on Aito’s behavior?” he asked jokingly, to which Lupe responded quickly.

“He doesn’t like bright lights, and he sometimes needs to be moving to really remember something. He’ll be most annoying when he wants attention, and I think being alone for even one second will kill him.” she said, looking back to Sato. “and sometimes she’ll get quiet and stand around you, just quietly watching whatever you’re doing. That means her tummy hurts and he’s trying to be brave about it. Ask him to make you yerba buena- mint tea, ask for honey with it- and he’ll make some for himself as well. He’ll brighten right up.” she advised, her gaze immediately going back to Aito and Ikuto. “He acts tough, but he’s a delicate boy under it all. He needs to be held and talked to and loved on, just like all of us.” she said, a bit more vaguely as she watched Aito laugh at something Ikuto said, the latter looking confused about why it was so funny. “I know that can be easy to forget sometimes… because of all the… you know…”

Fighting

Yes, Sato knew. He could recall every time Aito was dragged into his class by the collar, and feared for the times she wasn’t. “She… She just sees everything as a challenge. And sometimes she challenges the wrong people.” Sato offered, trying to soothe Lupe as best as he could.

Lupe was quiet for a bit, just watching as her daughter roughed up her friend’s hair, her fangs sharp in her smiling mouth. “She’s just a clever little girl, and she doesn’t know how to show it without hurting people she cares about.” Lupe said quietly, a silent sort of pain in her face, one she’s been holding for a long while.

“She’s been making a lot of friends recently.” Sato said, hoping Lupe caught on to what he was really trying to say. “Even outside of the classroom, I’ve seen him talking with students and staff all over the school.” He may be lacking in empathy “she does especially good during group work, she’s a natural leader.” but she’s trying so hard. “I’ll try to give her a bit more attention during solo work, just so she can stay on track.” that has to count for something.

Guadeloupe nodded, a gentle smile on her lips. “Yes… Thank you Sato San.” she said quietly, a little bit of hope sparkled in her eyes as she finally dragged them away from Aito. “I trust you know what’s best when it comes to Aito’s education. If there are any problems, you know my number.” she finished, her own secret message hidden in her tone.

You have no idea how much he means to me.

Please keep her safe.

Lupe shook Sato’s hand, collected her things, and waved Aito over. Aito again ran to her side, Ikuto next to her as they both chattered on, leading Lupe out of the classroom. Sato still didn’t know what he was going to do with Aito Takao.

But at least he knew more than before.

#UGHHHOIESHFDIDSOIFNLMVCXIUDFHKXFVJ SSUDBHKXCZD #i feel like this ended really unsatisfyingly #whatever #it's just a warmup for my next fic #i'm actuality pretty excited for the next one #ikuto nation how we feeling #i got some content coming for y'all #anyways #aito takao #guadeloupe takao #ikuto maekawa #osamu sato #bnha oc comeback #Kori stories

[cherrychonk]

The Transfer Part 2:

Lin’s POV

She was late, the sleeping tea Kya had given her knocked her out real good and now she was rushing to the station. From all the days to be late, it had to be the day the transfer was arriving. This wasn't the first impression she wanted to give. She managed to get to the station just fifteen minutes late. Rushing to the front desk she threw some paperwork before speaking.

“Jia, is the transfer already here?”

The girl looked at the clock. “She's been here for about forty minutes. Got here before her shift even started.”

Lin groaned. “How was she?” At least you were responsible, you started on a good note.

“She's dreamy and also charming.” Jia mused over you with dreamy eyes.

Lin rolled her own in annoyance. “I need important details like her name Jia, and stop flirting with the newbie.”

“Her name is Y/N Y/L/N, her documents say she's from Ba Sing Se’s middle ring police department. Chief’s Lei Ba firebender unit.”

Lin nodded. “I’ll get the rest from her.”

The chief walked towards the elevator and out to the top floor. Where she stood she could see you from behind, your long back hair softly braided. She walked by you towards her office unlocking it and looking back to see you staring at her. Weird kid.

“Y/N my office now.” She said walking in.

When Lin sat down she was already annoyed at your talkative behavior. She could see the paperwork you were holding and she extended her hand to take it. For some ungodly reason you took her hand, firmly. You didn't even shake it, just took it. Lin had so many emotions going through her head. Confusion, uneasiness, annoyance, anger and a bit uncomfortable.

“Soft.”

Lin snapped her hand back. Who the hell is this little shit?!

“WHAT THE FUCK DO YOU THINK YOU’RE DOIG?!” Lin already disliked you very much.

Your cheeks had gone deep red as your body tensed, The Chief could see the terror written on your face.

“CHIEF YOU EXTENDED YOUR HAND-”

Is this kid brain dead or something?!

“THE DOCUMENTS YOU IDIOT!” Lin wanted to smack you in the face, you were dumber than a rock.

You froze and Lin snatched the paperwork not waiting any longer. The hell is wrong with her. Isn't she supposed to be the best at her job? Rookies. She stared at the document, reading only the important information.

“What was your division back in Ba Sing Se?”

“Undercover and special forces, Chief”

Lin flipped the page to the next one. She could see a few notes her previous boss had left for her.

‘Officer Y/N Y/L/N

Element: Fire

Age: 25

Nationality: United Republic of Nations

Abilities: Fire and lighting bending, good swordsmanship, able to work under pressure, quick learner.

Injuries: None

Disabilities: None-’

Lin kept reading more descriptions on your job and the things you did in Ba Sing Se. Your previous boss had given you a wonderful recommendation letter and was probably the only thing keeping you there at the moment.

“Not bad, not remarkable either.” Lin sighed internally. She would give you at least one chance to redeem yourself and not make a fool again.

“We have a few rules we do- LOOK AT ME WHEN I'M TALKING Y/N.” What the hell is she looking at?!

Lin explained the three capital rules keeping her eyes glued to yours. It was an intimidation tactic that she enjoyed very much, it helped her see who had backbone and who didn't. You? You were confusing to her. You looked petrified but also confident at the same time. An absolute idiot in her words, and after everything was said she sent you off.

“Get the hell out of my office.”

Lin starred as you walked out of her office not daring to look back. The officers were going to chew on their new toy, probably embarrassing her even more but it wasn't Lin’s concern. The Chief just sat and waited for the office to renew their chatter and noise before continuing reading the paperwork you left her.

Idiot. She thought. But she couldn't help massaging her hands together as a blush covered her own cheeks. They were indeed soft.

______________

You groaned letting your head fall on the coffee table. Jia decided she had to take you out of the office at lunch time, keeping you far from the officers that were making fun of you.

“I'm never going to live this down.” You felt like crying.

“Don't worry, new rookies will arrive and soon someone will do something far more stupid.” The woman spoke as she ate her food.

“I GRABBED HER HAND!” You yelled punching the table. “DIDN'T EVEN SHAKE IT! I JUST-” You remake the movement.

Jia laughed. “Relax Y/N, just don't do anything stupid for no on and she'll forget it. It's not like she's going to replay the same thing over and over again. You did something stupid once, i'll pass.” She said nonchalantly.

The waitress arrived with your food settling down on your side.

“Eat Y/N, you don't get breaks.”

Taking her advice you start eating. You find Jia’s company as a big relief. She talked about life in the city and the things going on around it. After forty minutes you already knew all the gossip in the city and celebrity drama.

“Do you know what the Chief would like? I want to give her an apology pastry.”

“Black coffee with a glaze donut.” Jia responded as she finished her drink.

“Noted!” I got up and ordered, making sure they placed it in a nice little box. “Okay, you were saying something about Zhu li and Varrick?”

“Oh yes! Well like I was saying-” She started as you both exited the cafe.

“-And then the Avatar came out and it turns out she is dating Asami Sato! The engineer and CEO of Future Industries.” Jia said as you both stepped into the station.

“That's so cool.” You respond as you watch the clock. It's time to head back, Jia waves and you return it. “See ya later!”

Both of you part ways and you head to the elevator. As you walked holding the box, the Chief steps next to you. You were trying to muster the courage to give her the box but couldn't find it. You decide that the floor is fascinating and keep your attention on the noise the door opening would make. Her boots catch your eyes as you slowly trail up your gaze, you inspect her armor until it reaches her neck. From the corner of your eye you see her face, she's staring at the door so you stare some more. Then she looks directly at you, a terrifying stare that maybe lasted less than a second as you snapped your eyes towards the door.

“It's disrespectful to stare, officer Y/N.” She says sternly.

“M-My apologies chief. I- I” You studder. Fuck!

“If you used your mouth less you wouldn't get yourself into uncomfortable situations.”

“Actually my mouth has gotten me out of uncomfortable situations.” You shoot back.

She looks at you with a frown and rolls her eyes.

“J-Just not at the moment.” You speak nervously.

She looks down at the small box and you decide it's now or never.

“Chief I- Well- You know- I- '' You stutter, making things worse.

“For crying out loud, spit it out!” She barks.

You thrust the box to her hands, she stumbles lightly, a soft confused look on her face. “THIS IS FOR YOU- AN APOLOGY MA'AM! I'M SORRY FOR BEING AWKWARD, YOU ARE JUST VERY INTIMIDATING.” Your face was redder than a flame and hotter than one.

With that the door rang and you ran out without giving her a chance to say anything, good or bad. You ran to the bathroom and stayed for a few minutes until you felt it was safe to come out again. Walking back to your desk you continue working. Maybe I can fix this, you thought.

___________________

Mako was assigned to be your partner. The guy wasn't so bad, just moody like a teenager. He liked to act like a tough guy but he was also kind to people. The chief had ordered for him to take you on patrol so you could see the city and get used to it.

“Down that street is the entrance to a few gang lands, you don't want to go there alone.” He said as you two passed through a neighborhood. The rest of the ride was silent as they kept driving around.

“Hey Mako, can I ask you something?”

“Go ahead.”

“Is the Chief always that rough and intimidating? Like, is that her real self or like a persona?”

Mako chuckled. “You'll have to find out. As long as you follow orders and don't barge into her office things will go smoothly.”

You nood and start talking about gangs and wars. The topic of the avatar came out and you found out Mako had dated both Asami and Korra. The conversation drifted to past relationships and you disclosed your past experiences, Mako relaxed and opened up about liking both men and women but not wanting to be out.

“No judgement here. It looked like you needed to tell someone.” You said softly and finally you saw him smile.

“Thanks. And the Chief isn't always rough, she's actually really kind and has a huge heart. Don't tell her I told you.”

You beamed. “I KNEW IT!” Something in you felt warm and at that moment you promised yourself that you would make her smile or laugh even just once.

He shakes his head. “Time to go back, the next patrol unit will be here in a few minutes.”

The rest of the day went slow, mountains of paperwork and a lot of coffee. Your shift had ended an hour ago but you still had to finish a few documents before heading out, Mako had already left along with everyone else. Glancing at the Chief’s office you could see her light on.

‘Well if Mako isn't here I'll give her the paperwork myself’ You thought as you walked over knocking on the door.

“Come in-” Her irritated voice boomed.

You walked in with your work and placed it on her desk. “Just finished this, didn't want to leave it for tomorrow.”

She narrowed her eyes. “What? You want an award or something?”

You couldn't help but smile, this was just her facade. “Just doing my job. See you tomorrow Chief.” You started to walk out.

“Y/N-” She spoke. “Do your job and nothing more. You don't get extra stars for things I didn't ask.”

“I know Chief! Good night.” You wave goodbye and start to head back to your satomobile. Tomorrow would be better.

#the legend of korra #lin beifong #fanfic

[fyregrayfong]

Under Pressure

Bonus Scene: Questioning

Summary: After Lin searches your apartment you get called in for questioning following Mako’s arrest.

You spent the remainder of the night cleaning up your apartment. You were just about to finally head to bed when your phone rings and you grudgingly answer it. “Hello, y/n residence” “y/n, morning.” his obvious identifiable gruff voice that irks you as you sigh “Saikhan” you state plainly “No need to tell you the news, huh?” “Chief informed me. I guess you’re no better than me” you can sense that smirk on his face and you snarl looking at the receiver “I don’t know about that. At least I wouldn’t kiss some councilman’s ass” you smirk and can hear Saikhan grunt at the other end. “Since you know, what’s the point of the call?” “You need to come in for questioning” “Questioning? Sure” “I can get my secretary to send a car” Saikhan surprisingly nice confusing you since the both of you always have this angry banter. He probably finds this amusing. Is he pitying me? “That’s not necessary, Saikhan” you grit your teeth as you hold the receiver to your ear “I don’t have to see you right?” You ask and you here him sigh “I hope not. Just get your ass here. Chief’s waiting”

“Well best not have her waiting long then. I’ll be right over within the hour”

*

You shower and change into a white flow button up and some black pants. You turn yourself at the station and get escorted over to the interrogation room. Pak and Lee greet you with Lee taking out a pair of cuffs. you sigh rolling your eyes as you bring your wrists up and let Lee cuff you. You voluntarily walk over and get sat down in the interrogation room with your wrists cuffed "the cuffs really necessary, men. I thought this was a questioning" you smirk as the two officers walk by the door "Sorry, just following orders"

“Who’s?”

“Chief’s”

you shrug as you bring your arms up on the table "I get it, roughing me up for her? How is she by the way?" you look at your two fellow officers who glance at one another before one of them looks at you. "She's pissed off at you, detective"

"Not surprised, when isn't there a time we don't piss her off" you give them a smirk and they shake their head "no, y/n. She's pissed. Never seen her this upset. It’s like she took it personally"

"what do you mean?" you suddenly lean back in the metal chair intrigued at what you're hearing. "Well I mean Mako is her favorite. We all see it even though she tries not to show it, she’s kept tabs on him since he was in the academy." Pak stated and the Lee added "and you....well you're the lead detective on her team. You two are always figuring out cases so for Chief to have both her rookie cop and detective suddenly under fire...."

"It's suddenly puts a red dot on Chief's back from the press and public. Questioning her position as chief" you finish as you look down and sigh feeling guilty for your actions. "Lin Beifong is an amazing Chief. No one should question her skill sets or her roll as chief of police."

A window opens from the wall "is y/n ready for questioning?" a Chu asks and the two men look at you and you nod as they give Chu a nod and they walk out. A minute passes by when Lin walks in the room and sees your head hanging low "Ready to confess your involvement?" she asks sternly with her arms behind her back.

you keep your head down not meeting her eyes lacing your hands together"You can't arrest me. You don't have proof of evidence. You've searched my apartment. Trashed it for precise." you look up and give her a face "thanks by the way. I'll send over the clean up bill" you wittily remark.

"I can arrest you for simply being an accomplice. You confessed to working with him on that stupid stint operation" She snapped "You have me there" you smirk looking at her, trying your best to seem unbothered by your pain of not being able to have her in your arms. You close your hands as you try to compose yourself and not lose focus, you inhale deeply as you close your eyes for a moment "you alright there?" you bring a finger up to Lin so she'll give you a moment before lifting your head up and opening them. Seeing her again after that heated discussion causes your throat to tighten up and dry a bit. you lick your lips and gulp to keep your throat wet. "I'll tell you what I know. I have nothing to hide." your voice soft yet strong.

She scoffs “Only because you got caught.” she pinches the bridge of nose and sighs “Let's cut to the chase" Lin pulls out the other chair across from yours and takes first notice at your eyes. They show a deepen green, the golden specks that Lin would sometimes gets lost in, gone. The slight bags under your eyes to give the indication that you haven't slept at all. She stays harden still upset that you lied to her.

"Sure, but may I have some water? my throat is kind of dry" you give her a soft smile as you tug on your collar and unbutton the top button of your tunic. Lin grants your request soon there is tray with two glasses and a pitcher of water. Lin reaches to pour you a glass and slides it across to you, you give her a nod and drink half the glass, "thanks, Let’s not waste your time. What do you want to know?" you get serious as you look at her stoic. 

"Start from the beginning, when and where"

"Right after questioning the captain. Outside headquarters. Asami wanted answers. Mako had the idea. Varrick offered the ship."

"and you?" Lin interrupted as she analyzed your face and you returned her gaze sitting up on the chair moving your cuffed hands to your lap "I wanted the truth....I did it for Asami. Her company is all she has left. If the press ever got wind that Asami was involved in a stint operation. Future Industries would plunder to the point of no return."

"Answers?"

"Lu and Gang haven't moved fingers to investigate this case. I've been scrapping left and right at whatever evidence I can find. Mako is the only one who keeps to have an idea, but like you I didn't completely trust Mako. If I was going to trust him I had to risk my neck to see what he was doing. So I had to go along and see what this operation was going to be like."

"Hiring the triple threats?"

"I didn't know Mako hired them until I got to the docks. I was at the office working while the deal took place"

"How can I believe you?"

"Trust?" you look at Lin then scoff looking away "Never mind, you don't do that" you lean back.

Lin grits her teeth as she looks at you analyzing her face and body language, nothing seems to set her off of any indication that you're lying. "Why keep it from me?"

your ear perks up as you look at her then at the one way mirror "anyone listening in?"

"No"

you sit up and place your arms on the table as you scoot the chair in "The less you knew the better."

Lin scoffs "How does that justify your actions. You had the chance that morning."

"It doesn’t justify it. It would've been the same discussion. How I'm being blinded by Mako. I sound like a conspiracy theorist. My gut told me to trust him so I went with it, Lin" your voice strained from the hurt, but you look down to control yourself. Lin suddenly softens a but when she caught that strain in your voice but you continued on having composed yourself.

"I just started here in the city.... Sure, I've moved up the ranks fairly quickly, but in the chance I was wrong-Which I know I'm not wrong about Varrick-” you stressed “I was willing to throw my job on the line. No one would miss me or care if I lost my job on the force."

"That's not true. The officers would" Lin suddenly going soft on you and your brows furrow but you brush it off and shrug "They'll move on. There will be other detectives, better ones. There won't be a better chief than you, Lin. Rather I go down before bringing you down."

Lin looks up and meets your glance "There's always another. Saikhan for instance"

you smirk and let out a laugh "we've seen just how great a job he did the last time he was put in charge. He practically torn down everything you built"

Lin grits her teeth, even though she somewhat agreed to your comments "He wasn't ready"

"Sure as hell wasn't ready. Tarrlok said jump and the son of bitch jumped." you snap

Lin slammed her hand on the table starling you a bit "that is your Assistant Chief, show some respect" she seethed glaring at you

"was" you plainly stated not showing emotion

"you're suspended, not fired"

"Right...” you look away then back at her “will you be making an arrest on me, chief?" you lean back again on the chair losing interest in the matter.

"No. There were no evidence in your apartment. There were witnesses that saw you in your office when Mako and Asami were dealing with the Triads. Your story tracks out with Ms. Sato."

Your jaw clenches when Lin mentions Asami. So she brought her in for questioning too. "So I'm free to go?"

"yes, but you're still suspended"

"Thanks for the reminder.” you say dryly “So can you take these cuffs off or I should I ask the guys?" you look at her as you bring your wrists up to her. Lin stands up and takes out the key walking towards you and starts undoing the cuffs 

you look up at her as she slides the key in the socket as you spoke to her softly "you know this wasn't what I was picturing"

"what was?" Lin too focused on the cuffs

"me cuffed up with you. my image was more in the bedroom" you whispered as Lin turned the key and the cuff opens as she slips. Lin glares at you as she steps back while you uncuff the other yourself before placing the platinum cuffs on the table and hand Lin the key, "thanks" you give her a slight smirk. 

Rubbing your wrists as Lin walks to the door and knocks on it, the door opens. You stand up and walk over to the door stopping in front of Lin "I'll see you....whenever my time is done, Chief" you give her a nod before you acknowledge the officers by the door and walk down the hall. Forcing yourself not to turn around as you balled your fists at your sides and focused on keep moving your feet forward.

Lin watches you leave a part of her hoping that you would turn around. She couldn’t help but feel conflicted and upset that she could've been played this whole time. Though nothing gave her the indication that you lied to her or had any mal intent, your breathing and heart rate was normal. there is no US. My career IS my life Lin's own voices races back to her head and she turns away from you and walks back to her office. Lin, please…. trust and believe me. Now your voice was popping in her head. Honey....please. You’re making a mistake. Lin! 

Once Lin got in her office she slammed it shut and gripped on the edge of her desk. She doesn't make mistakes, she's Lin Beifong. Respected Chief of Police who has worked her entire life at perfecting herself for the job. She isn't going to allow some young detective and a rookie cop, questioning her skills as a cop. She beats them both on experience alone. So then why are your words ringing in her head and causing doubt to enter in her mind. There is no concrete proof in what both of you saying, yet your voice was so sure. Lin could only focus on what she knows and can do that was keeping the city safe. What do you and Mako know that she hasn’t picked up on. 

#linbeifong #lin beifong #tlok #fanfic #lin x reader #lin #lok #tlok2underpressure #linbeifong x reader

[comicgeekscomicgeek]

Their Hero Academia – Chapter 81: Turning a Corner

Presenting the next installment of my on-going, nextgen, MHA fic! Earlier chapters can be found here

The instant Katsuki had asked to “borrow” Park for a bit, the Shiketsu students had erupted into chaos. Shida looked on the verge of panic, those extra limbs of hers twitching, while Tsuchikawa looked only slightly worried.  Shinji looked nervously between him and Park, but ultimately settled into a kind of hard look that mixed protectiveness of his classmate with a trust in Katsuki.

Smart kid.  Respectful too.  Always used his Sir’s around Katsuki.  Exuberant as his old man though, which meant he was best in small doses.

It wasn’t surprising that Tatsuma was the one who had a problem with it.  The giant girl stepped between Katsuki and Park protectively.  “With all due respect, sensei” she began, in the same way Katsuki had used countless times over the years, where no respect was actually intended, but the performative aspect of it was required, “I’m not sure I should allow you to be alone with my classmate.”

For fuck’s sake, what kind of monster did these kids think he was?  And sure, he’d spent more than enough time threatening to blow Villains apart, or shove their heads up their asses, or take out enough of their teeth that they’d be drinking from a straw the rest of their lives, but he wasn’t some psycho who’d explode at the drop of a hat!

Just because he was known for having a temper and this little brat had beat the shit out of his daughter was no reason to think he was going to enact some kind of brutal revenge!

“Sticking by your friend’s a good quality to have,” he said, holding Tatsuma’s gaze and not backing down in the slightest.  But neither did he put up any more of aggressive posture than he already was. He was here to build bridges, not burn them.  “Your classmates are lucky to have you looking out for them.  But I promise you, I’m not here to dish out punishment or anything like that.  I just want to talk.  We won’t even go far, in case you hear something that makes you want to come running.”

Tatsuma frowned, but dropped her challenging stance.  She looked over at Park, her eyes seeming to ask what do you want to do?

And that was the scary thing, wasn’t it?  Park hadn’t flinched, hadn’t budged.  She’s shown no fear whatsoever.  But she hadn’t shown any other kind of reaction either.  It was as though she was just resigned to whatever happened to her.  What the hell had they done to this girl?  Who the hell had done this to this girl?  Even with what he’d read in her file, it didn’t all add up to this.

“It will be fine,” Park said.  “There’s nothing he can do to me.”   That hasn’t already been done was left unsaid, but Katsuki heard it hanging in the air all the same.

He had worked with Heroes who fought traffickers and some of the worst scum the world had to offer, serial killers, rapists, and even cannibals.  Some of them managed to find the balance separate themselves from the job and live at least something like a normal life.  But some of them saw the worst and lost a part of themselves to it. Something inside them died.  You could see it in their eyes.

Park’s eyes were the same.

***

Park followed quietly behind Katsuki, stopping when he did once they got closer to one of the compound’s utility sheds. She remained stoic, almost uncaring, but there was an element of readiness.  He’d been on the receiving end of any number of lectures and chewing outs over the years. He knew what it looked like when you knew you were getting one of those.  This wasn’t it.

It was the kind of readiness where you were prepared to, at a moment’s notice, either physically defend yourself or hold yourself to a dignity that would not give your attacker satisfaction.  He had a brief flashback to being violently restrained and muzzled at his first Sports Festival.

“I am ready, seon seang nhim,” she stated in a neutral tone. She used the Korean phrase for “teacher,” which he vaguely recalled included not using the teacher’s name as it was considered disrespectful to show familiarity.

Katsuki frowned, briefly, but forced himself to keep a more professional expression.  As much as part of him wanted to tear into this kid for beating his daughter, that wasn’t something an adult did to a child.  It wasn’t something a teacher did either.  Katsuki would have to ask the damned hobo how he’d kept himself from killing kids like him.

“Okay,” he said, carefully. His anger rose up in him, like a threating to spill out like a bomb, but he forced it back down.  “I’m not going to lie to you.  I’m mad as hell.  And I’m not saying there wasn’t blame to go around.  But I want to hear your side of things first, before anything else.”

“There is nothing to tell,” Park explained plainly. “The arrogant one had us fight each other to demonstrate a lack of practical martial training as some sort of lesson in not becoming arrogant with our quirks. I treated it as I would any fight in the line of duty.” She tilted her head back at where Hokori and the other Shikestsu students still were. “By the instructor’s own logic, I acted accordingly. If anything, I exercised restraint.” She said all this was stone cold logic, but the expression on her face indicated she didn’t expect him to accept that logic.

Park’s description of Boost-Rush as “the arrogant one” nearly had Katsuki laughing.  If that wasn’t the truth!

“You get you’re a student, right?” he asked. He was trying not to be sarcastic, but some of that bled through. “There’s giving your all in training and there’s going all out in the field.  And even with that, there’s proportionality of a threat.”

His own words came back to haunt him again, ringing in his ears.  HE WON’T DIE IF HE DODGES!

That wasn’t who he was anymore.  Not most days, anyway.  He pushed that particularly unsettling memory down.  “Is that how you do your training at Shiketsu?”

She looked him straight in the eye. “No, I learned that by simply surviving in the neighborhood my parents were dumped in when they fled the Humanist bigots back home. They didn’t realize they would be even less welcome here. Some were very explicit in their disdain of our presence.”

She was speaking calmly, but there was the barest hint of a murderous rage in her eyes, simmering and growing steadily, the lid barely holding it back.

Katsuki knew all about rage. His is irrational, a fire that flares up like one of his explosions and takes out everything that’s nearby.  It’s a flashfire anger, lashing out at whatever upsets him, whatever perceived wrongs the universe or some specific individual has committed against him.  It’s rarely as justified as he’d like to pretend it is.

On his good days, he’s tamed his.  He learned to use it, fueling his actions in battle.  Outside of that, the worst he usually gets these days is yelling. There’s times, like earlier with Boost-Rush, where he did lose his control, and unleashed his anger on someone through violence.  But it’s not like before, not like when he was a child, where would sometimes vent his anger on Izuku for perceived slight of challenging his status as “top dog.”

He hadn’t been a rich kid, like Glasses or Ponytail or IcyHot.  But he’d been remarkably well off as a kid.  Nice neighborhood, never had to worry about anything.  The struggles this kid or others like her had faced, he couldn’t have begun to imagine.  And add being an immigrant on top of that…

“You had to fight just to survive,” he said.  It wasn’t a question.

She stared at him for a moment, then lifted her shirt slightly above her waist. This revealed the scar of a deep gash.

“That was at the hands of Japanese motorcyclists who objected to a “chon” being in their neighborhood.” She turned and exposed her lower back, which revealed a series of jagged scars. “A Zainichi gang leader ran barbed wire over my back for “drawing the Japanese back on us.”

She then kicked off her shoe, leaned down and took the sock off, revealing her little toe was missing. “And that was some of my own “countrymen,” gangsters who wanted me to join them for “solidarity.” I refused. They beat me, then cut that off as a reminder not to be a “race traitor.” And none of that accounts for the casual racism and hate from the “polite aspects” of society. A police force that doesn’t care unless the public outside knows about it, along with no pros to look after my people when this country offered “sanctuary” to us, so yes, Teacher,” she said in Japanese this time, but without the implication of respect. “I have.”

With great effort, Katsuki kept himself under control as Park went through her litany of injuries and injustices.  She was no older than Katsumi or the others, but in terms of life experience, may as well have already been an adult Pro-Hero for all the horrors she had seen.  No wonder she was so ready to strike out during simple training exercises.  The school of hard knocks had nothing on her.

It made his blood boil. Kids should get to be kids, not have to worry about gangs and their neighbors threatening their lives and bodies.   He knew that things had improved some in the last few years, but the Hero Public Safety Commission was still playing a light hand with making inroads to minority neighborhoods.  The really good Heroes went wherever they were needed, but they still played it light with actual Agencies.  That this shit was still happening and no one was really doing anything about it..!

“You got dealt a shit hand,” he growled.  “A kid, no, a woman your age, shouldn’t have had to deal with any of that.  But you survived and showed them you’re tougher than anybody who tried to kick you down.”

He gestured around, broadly. “Most of the kids here, they grew up with pretty cushy lives.”  He thought of Katsumi, when Eijiro had been beaten within an inch of his life.  Of Sato and his kid, when they’d lost his wife. Of Izumi’s infected with a debilitating influence as a means to hurt her grandfather.  Of the small, but still somehow too great a number of close calls, when Villains had tried to cross lines and come after their families.  Of the myriad others who had to worry about whether or not mom or dad was coming home.  

“Not always easy.  And not without their own tragedies.  But you’re operating from a whole different perspective.  Not one they’d understand easily, and not one you’re obligated to explain to them.”

Katsuki continued.  “I was an angry kid too.  Ready to take on anything and everything that pissed me off. I had legitimate issues that were driving my anger.  But I didn’t have real reasons for being angry. I invented them, lies I told myself about why it was okay to be so anger.  But you, you have real reasons.  And don’t let people tell you otherwise.”

He looked her straight in the eye.  “But you’ve got to use that anger.  Direct it at the right people.  And the people at this camp aren’t it.  Everybody’s here to get better.  Everybody’s here because they want to be a Hero and help people.”   He frowned.  “And yeah, my kid was ready to pick a fight with your classmate.  Or you.  She knows she screwed up.”  

It was a good thing he couldn’t share the details of this conversation with Katsumi.  She’d have been pissed at him for admitting that, even if it was the truth.  Or at least, an approximation of it.  She knew it was a bad decision.  Whether or not she’d internalized it as a screw up was a different question.

“I can’t change what happened to you, personally, or to your people or neighborhood.  My job’s to help put you on the best path to being a Hero. And I can’t do that if you’re treating your fellow students or instructors like they’re the enemy.”

He’d managed to get through that without yelling once.  Impressive. Maybe he was getting soft in his old age

She hadn’t gone to put her sock back on. Instead she’d listened to all of what he had to say. It was obvious she’d been expecting a variety of directions for this conversation to go: an angry lecture, threats, self-righteous condemnation, head-in-the-dirt denial, but hadn’t been prepared for acceptance or validation. Especially given his reputation for a short fuse and quick judgements. She’d paid attention to all of it, but had made no movements, nods, or sounds to indicate her stance.

When he finished, Park was quiet for a long time. Unknowingly she had begun to hold her cross in her hand, a thumb rubbing across the metal.

“I..I know, but..it’s so hard.” There was the tiniest of breaks in her voice, but she composed herself. She reached down to put her sock back on, probably distract herself from her conflicting feelings.  “I’m used to seeing enemies on all sides.”

“It is,” he agreed. “I’ll let you in on a little secret. Walking around with all that anger, even with plenty of therapy, it’s something I deal with every damn day. It’s something I’ve got to constantly be aware of, be on guard against.  I find healthy outlets.  Or, at least, mostly healthy ones.”

He thought back to some of the conversations he’d had with Eijiro over the years, questioning whether he was a good enough person to deserve love and family.  Of long talks with Izuku, about all the wrongs he’d done to him.  Of the making amends part of his therapy and the long time he’d spent grappling with realizing he’d been chasing after a goal without ever truly understanding what it meant.

“There’s days I don’t do that good of a job,” he said, finally.  “The internet’s full of clips from times I lost it.  But I don’t stop trying.”

Park had long since put her sock and shoe back on and was once more listening. She had resumed fiddling with her cross, but not quite as frantically as before.

“Outlets.” She spoke the word with a familiarity that indicated she had heard it multiple times before now. “My parents have tried to find such things for me. A friend of my father’s instructed me in Yongmudo since I was small. Such things have been known to instill discipline, peace of mind, and perhaps even an “outlet.” In truth it just gave me a means to start fighting back. I “want” peace, Teacher, but to strike at those who wronged you...feels very good.” She squeezed the cross, hard enough that he saw her knuckles turn white. She chuckled bitterly.  “Probably what drew them to me to begin with.”

“Them?” he asked, unable to keep the surprise out of his voice.  Was someone using Park?  It only took him a few seconds to connect the dots.  He may have been a brawler at heart, but not for nothing did he have an investigative record second only to Tintin’s.  “The Commission.  Dammit, I thought Hawks had all those programs shut down!”

Park gave him a confused look. “I’m not sure what you mean, but yes, your Hero Commission. I had been rounded up more than once by police for getting in fights with local thugs, but nothing on my record. So I thought anyway. One day a Japanese man in a suit knocks on our door and asks to speak with me. He knows who I am, apparently from the police, and asks me “How would you like to take them down legally?”

She sighed, crossing her arms. “Of course I knew these were the bastards who left us without Heroes to protect us. The same ones who unleashed Ignition on Chinese civilians. All the same, they were also the only ones who could arrange Pro protection in the future. I love my family, my community...if it meant working with them, then I would do it. Our neighborhood is poor, purposely nondescript, no way for the big schools to notice. So they arranged for my name to end up on Shiketsu’s radar.”

She shook her head, a rue smile actually crossing her lips. She said some words in Korean, caught herself, then said, “I don’t know why I’m telling you all this. I’ve only ever told my parents and Chie.”

“It must be my winning bedside manner,” he said, putting on a small smile of his own.  He was still going to give that bird-brained Deputy Commissioner a piece of his mind, even if the programs didn’t sound quite the same. It was still predatory as hell.  

“But that’s a good goal,” he said.  “Sounds like you’re doing it for the right reasons.”  Maybe a little revenge, but it still sounded to his ears like she wanted to help, to make a difference, more than she wanted to hurt.   She was sticking up for people who didn’t have anyone else.  Izuku’d like that.  “So I’ll cut you a deal…  You’ve got my permission to walk away from anything here, anytime you get too mad to function.  But in exchange, you’ve got to talk to somebody after, and you’ve got to stop trying to beat the stuffing out of my students.”

Park looked visibly shocked, the first time her usual composure had completely cracked. She was clearly not used to Japanese people in authority being on her side. For the first time since the conversation had started, she finally seemed to show her age.

“Teacher,” she stops, realizing she was using Korean phrasing. “Sanada Sensei in Shiketsu has actually been trying to get me to see their counselor. I have refused every time.” She seemed to think for a moment. “Maybe I should reconsider that.”

At the mention of beating up his students, she closes her eyes. They seem to vibrate a bit, closing them had been a means of hiding intense emotions. A hand squeezed her cross tightly. There was the very smallest hint of wetness to her eyes, but it was brief. Park opened her eyes again.

“I can do that.”

***

Isamu gulped, not for the first time.  Aizawa-sensei made him nervous on a good day, when he was just being his usual brooding self at Class 1-A.  He made him even more nervous when he was giving him direct attention, like what was happening now.  Like several other students, he’d been pulled aside for one-on-one, individualized or small group training.

“You’re getting good with your Quirk,” Aizawa said, flatly.  “Your father must have taught you well.”  Was it just his imagination or was there a little more warmth in his voice when he said that?

“As best he could, Sensei,” Isamu said quickly.  “Though he never got good enough with it for Hero work.”  Why would he say that?!

Aizawa gave him a flat look, one eyebrow slightly raised.  “You really want to dance around this, kid?  I know you know that I know.  Maybe not everything, but enough.  Your parents were pains in my ass, but they did good work.  Especially the Sky Egg.”

This wasn’t a surprise. But it was a surprise to be talking about it so openly.  Sure, he was the kid of a couple of Vigilantes, not Heroes like just about everyone else here.  And sure, Aizawa had worked with his parents multiple times, as had Midnight.  So it wasn’t like he really thought he was hiding anything.  At least not from them.   Deku had figured it out too.  And there were probably more people he hadn’t figured out.  But he hadn’t told any of his friends.  He trusted them, didn’t think it would come back to bite him in the ass.  It was just… something known but not talked about.

“Ah, thank you, Sensei.” That seemed like the proper response. And he didn’t even incur another round of foot in mouth disease.  “I’ll tell him you said that.”

Aizawa gave him a look. “You’ll do no such thing.”

Isamu gulped.

“All of which means I’ve got a pretty good idea of what your Quirk’s capable of,” Aizawa went on. “Yours is like his.  Almost identical, but subtly different if you know what you’re looking for.  I’m surprised Deku didn’t figure it out, honestly. But since you think you’ve got an identical Quirk, you’re limiting yourself.  He figured out ways to use his propulsion offensively and even for short bursts to launch himself, but you’ve already mastered all those tricks.  I’ve even see you firing repulsion blasts without having to brace yourself.  You don’t actually need three points of contact.  And I’ve seen you launch yourself during training too and steer yourself once you’re in the air.  So I want you to try something.”

There was, perhaps, a slightly maniac look in his teacher’s eyes.  “You’re going to fly.”

Isamu gulped yet again and his eyes went wide.  “Sensei?” He definitely couldn’t fly.  He could use a repulsion burst to launch himself and steer a little in the air, even keep himself from too bad of a landing, but he definitely couldn’t fly.   Could he?

Dad has said that he’d been able to slide through the air as a baby.  He’d even been able to recover something like it with boosts through the air. But that was really just not falling, not flying.  Wasn’t it?

He managed a nod. “Okay,” he said.  “I’ll try it.  What do I need to do?”

“Unfortunately,” Aizawa said, “I’m not allowed to just push you off the roof of the compound.  Sink or swim tactics work wonders.”

That was a joke, right? He had to be joking about that! Someone tell him Aizawa was joking!

His teacher’s expression betrayed no hint of emotion.  “So instead, what I want you to do is concentrate your power on pushing against the ground under your feet and the air under your hands.  You’ll need steady output from all four limbs to control it.”

Right.  He could do that.  He could do that.  He could probably do that.  He could possibly do that.

He took a deep breath and concentrated on his Quirk.  Just like when he was sliding along.  Energy out from his feet, energy out from his hands.   Steady, smooth, power.  

Nope!  Not steady!  Too much power flared from his feet and launched him into the air.  Cursed laws of physics!  Isamu cut his Quirk, but it was like trying to stop a bullet after it had already left the gun.  His arms and legs flailed uselessly as he launched skyward, until gravity began to reassert itself and drag him back down. Aizawa wouldn’t just let him go splat, would he?

Boy, was that a stupid question.  

So he had to save himself!

He scrunched up his eyes and concentrated on his Quirk again.   Steady, consistent, power.

Isamu felt the energy flow from all his limbs again, the pressure fairly equal.  Quickly, he realized he wasn’t falling.  His eyes snapped open.  His was only a few feet off the ground, but he was holding himself up in the air, unsteadily.  Trails of blue-white energy from all his limbs filled the air.  He kept his hands pointed carefully down, using them for stabilizing bursts while his feet provided the thrust.  

“Whoa!”  It was extremely unsteady.  His head was already beginning to hurt from concentrating so hard.  But he was doing it!  

And just as easily as it had come about, his concentration wavered and his power faded.  He hit the ground with a soft thump, landing on his butt. Isamu looked up to see Aizawa standing over him, offering a hand up, but also smirking knowingly.  Isamu took it.

“Good,” Aizawa said. “Keep practicing that.  I’ll send Ground Zero over later if you’re still having trouble.  His explosive-powered flight is similar.”

He needed to get very good. Immediately.

And he really needed a conversation with his friends.

***

Kimiko was fuming. Lunch had ended and they hadn’t even been able to begin the big shipping operation!  Even worse, it was entirely possible they wouldn’t get to do it at all! She hadn’t been able to tell what anyone was saying, but it sure looked like Koda and Aoyama had had a major heart-to-heart.  And since it hadn’t ended with any slaps or either of them walking away in tears, it was probably good news!

Which was, in and of itself, a good thing.  Koda definitely deserved all the happiness in the world.  She was probably the sweetest person that Kimiko knew.  And Aoyama was… not exactly a friend, but someone she was definitely friendly with.  Even if he didn’t particularly like Takuma, he was good people under the fancy-pants attitude.  Plus he loved listening to gossip and always had the best dirt on foreign celebrities. If they got together, it was a good thing!

But she didn’t know!  And since she didn’t have her phone, she couldn’t even share her speculation!  There was major league gossip going on and not only couldn’t she share it, but she didn’t even know the full story!

What was the world coming to?!

So many of Class 1-A was dating now!  Midoriya was dating Sora Iida, Takuma was dating Tensei Iida, Mineta was dating Yoarashi, Shoji had his girlfriend Shiryoku from the Business Course, Kaminari was apparently dating Monoma (What?  What was the story there?!  Why didn’t she know any details?!), Haimawari was dating Tetsutetsu, Koda and Aoyama were a maybe, and she was dating Kenta!

So that left… Kirishima-Bakugo, Kocho, Tokoyami, and Shinso, right?  Todoroki wasn’t interested in romance or sex, her loss, but Kimiko could respect boundaries. Sometimes.  And she wasn’t even sure what kind of people Shinso was interested in. He was only about six months younger than most of them, but he sometimes seemed like a kid by comparison.

None of which was relevant to the task in front of her.  Namely, personal medical training with the Metabolic Hero: Bioshock!

“Eri, ah, Doc Clock, sent me over files on everything she’s been teaching you,” Bioshock explained. “Including all the scores from your practice tests.  She’s definitely proud of you.”

Kimiko felt a smile spread across her face.  She’d actually really been applying herself to her medical studies.  Schoolwork didn’t come easily to her, but this was definitely worth it.

“So, pop quiz,” Bioshock said.  “Best way to treat a broken arm in the field?”

This one was easy. “If there’s bleeding, use a sterile dressing to stop it.  If there’s no skin puncture, use my Quirk to assess the extent of the break.  After either one, immobilize, construct a splint if possible.  Once I’ve gotten them to safety, ice packs can help with the swelling.”

He nodded. “Good.  And what’s the most important thing to keep an eye out for when doing search and rescue?”

She knew this one!   “Structural stability and my own safety. Don’t want to make a problem worse and I can’t help anyone if I need someone to rescue me!”

Bioshock nodded again.  “Good,” he said.  “And where in the body would you find a squeedily spooch?”

Panic gripped Kimiko’s heart as she realized she didn’t know the answer to that.  Squeedily spooch… squeedily spooch... what the heck was a squeedily spooch?!

She frowned as she realized he was struggling not to laugh.  “Hey!  That’s not fair!”  Her arms waved wildly through the air as she voiced her displeasure.  He was a teacher, so she couldn’t actually hit him like she would Kenta or Takuma, but… “There’s no such thing as a squeedily spooch!  You can’t just make stuff up like that!  What the heck is wrong with you?!  WHY WOULD YOU DO THAT TO ME?!”

The Rookie held his composure for a moment longer, before breaking into laughter.  “Sorry, sorry,” he said.  “I shouldn’t laugh, but I just wanted to see what you’d do…   Which reminds me, actually, I’ve got a theory about your Quirk…”

He was cut off as a shrill alarm cut through the air.  Bioshock’s face instantly went serious as he looked around.

“Perimeter breach!  Perimeter breach!”  An electronic voice sounded in the space between alarms.

“Come with me,” Bioshock said.  He was clearly trying not to let his worry show. “I’ll get you to the compound…”

If I can was left unsaid.

***

The second the alarms went off, the Rookies and teachers leapt into action, with a speed that would have impressed just about any Hero, forming a defensive circle around the U.A. students.    Uncle Kacchan set off small explosions on his palms, working himself up into the agitated state needed to sweat and use his power to its fullest.  Aizawa unraveled his capture cloth and lifted his goggles to cover his eyes.  Super-Ball dropped into a fighting stance, lightly bouncing on the balls of his feet, his rubberized features set into grim determination.    

Ravenous unleashed several of his Binging Balls, the chomping spheroids floating about him like small planets orbiting the sun.  Small puffs of thrust flared from Boost-Rush’s arm pipes.  Bezoar dropped to all fours, his canon emerging from his mouth as he swept the tree line.  Aunt Mahoro pulled a small metal cylinder from her belt, which expanded into a staff.

Aunt Mahoro looked back, as though wanted to assure them that it was going to be okay.  She waved a hand in their direction and the world went a hazy green.  She had to have cast some kind of illusion over the twenty-odd students, probably making the training field look like they weren’t there at all.  Most of them had been on the main grounds, working on their Quirks.  The Shiketsu students, Ojiro, and about a dozen others had been elsewhere on the grounds, receiving their own training.

“We’ll stop or hold off whatever it is,” Toshi heard Aizawa say. Was he imaging it, or was his teacher’s voice shaking?  “You’ve all got full permission to use your Quirks to escape or fight off anything that tries to stop that escape.  The other Rookies are either on their way or protecting your classmates.

As it was, Toshi felt his heart racing in his chest.  A quick glance around revealed a sharp divide in reactions.  Some, like Kocho, along with members of Class 1-B like the bat-like Koumori and Kaniyashiki looked worried, but not overly frightened. They probably even wondered if this was just a test or one of Aizawa’s famous “logical ruses.”  It was absolutely a reasonable reaction to the presence of danger.  But they were all also Hero-students, quickly pushing past it to at least take up basic defensive stances, some of them calling up their Quirks.

The kids who had Hero parents reacted differently.  There was fear first.  They’d all been told the stories of what had happened during their parents’ first training camp.  The injuries. The kidnapping.  The fact that the League of Villains had nearly killed so many of them.  Would have killed so many of them, if not for a lot of luck.  Haimawari too, was reacting similarly.  His experiences between the Internship and the incident on I-Island had stirred up a great deal of courage in his friend, but also shown him how bad things could get very quickly.

This was supposed to have been a safe place.  The world was supposed to have been a safer place. The worst Villains had been faced and defeated.  And yes, it still needed Heroes, still needed people to stand up and say “I am here!” in the fight against evil.  But the past was not supposed to repeat like this.  

Their parents had fought hard so that their lives would not be as filled with trauma.

Already, the Nomu incident has put a lie to that.   Was it becoming even more of one?  Some of them had been tested in that, scarred, made afraid.  Some of them had been spared, aware of the terror but not a part of it.  

The fears of the past rose up to claim them.

But beneath the fear was grim determination.  Katsumi was already scowling, putting herself in front of Izumi.  Asuka had deployed Frog-Shadow and she and Haimawari had both put themselves around Shota.  The Twins looked ready to take off at a moment’s notice.  Tetsutetsu had transformed her arms to metal.  One by one, everyone was activating their Quirks. Even Kocho was extending her wings.

“I don’t need you to protect me, dammit!” Kaminari snapped, pushing Monoma so that she was standing shoulder to shoulder with him, instead of behind him.

Monoma himself looked very pale.  If Toshi didn’t know better, he’d swear the other boy was shaking. He didn’t have any of his support items with him, Toshi realized.  “I.. I was just trying to…”

“Look,” Kaminari said. “I appreciate the sentiment, but I’m a big girl.”

If ever there was a sign of how seriously his classmates were taking this, it was that Mineta did not make a joke about Kaminari’s statement.  Even Sero was quiet.  This was deadly serious.

“Do you think we are really under attack, Toshi?” Sora asked.

“Quit yapping, all of you!” Katsumi snapped, before he could answer.  Toshi recognized her body language.  Feet planted, knees slightly bent, arms out, fists clenched.  She was spoiling for a fight.  That was Katsumi all over.  Always spoiling for a fight.  After the beating she’d taken, he suspected she was looking for a target even more than usual.  He hoped and prayed that she had the good sense to recognize the odds were very good they were outmatched.

“This is bad,” Fukidashi whispered.  The animated girl’s face had gone blue and covered with hashlines.  “The background music’s getting really scary!”

***

For just a moment, Katsuki was fifteen again.  An arrogant, hot-headed kid with too much rage and an inferiority-superiority complex he won’t even begin to really unpack until he’s failed his Provisional License Exam, and won’t have finished unpacking until…  Well, it’s a work in progress.  But he’s back there, more than twenty-five years ago, thinking that Villains—murderers like Muscular and Dabi, master criminals like Mister Compress, deathrow inmates like Moonfish—don’t stand a chance against his barely trained ass.

He was wrong.  So wrong.  He was captured, perceived as a Villain, with All Might unable to properly fight because he was there.  And then he had to live with the shame of having to be rescued.  Of knowing that Izuku would stage a rescue for him, when he definitely wouldn’t have done the same.  He’d have let those Villains have the “worthless Deku.”

The knowledge of how much of a shit child he was still fills him with shame.

But here and now, even broken and bowed, he will not allow the same thing to happen to his daughter and her classmates.  He’d be cold and dead before he allowed that to happen.

“Just heard from the others,” Mahoro said.  “Sandblast and Locksmith are with the Shiketsu students.  Petal Princess and Lady Luminous are with the other students, and my brother and his student are hooking up with them.  Everyone’s accounted for.”

Boost-Rush tapped the side of his helmet.  “Getting data from the security feed…whatever it is, it’s coming up on us.  It’s managed to evade or disable our entire security system.”

“Any chance it’s a false alarm?” Fujii asked.  The rubberized Hero wasn’t joking.  It was a genuine statement.  “Nobody should know the students are here.”

“No one was supposed to know the first time either,” Aizawa snapped.  “Don’t let your guard down.”  Bakugo had to give the hobo credit.  Even in his mid-fifties, he still looked more than ready to kick anyone’s ass who trifled with his “kids.”

“Not a chance,” Mahoro said. “Hatsume and Shield designed all of it. But if it’s not an attack on them, it’s an attack on us Rookies.”

Either way, it wasn’t good.

There was a rustling in the grass of the tree line and suddenly, something emerged.  At first, he didn’t see anything, until he looked down.

“What the fuck?”

It was a… dog?  A Shiba Inu, if he was any judge.  

“What the fuck?”

Not just a dog, he realized. A dog wearing clothes.  It had on a dog-version of a Shiketsu uniform, complete with a peaked cap that its ears were poking through, and a backpack.

“What the fuck?”

The dog looked around and seemed to smile.  There was a strange, human intelligence to his eyes.  Eyes that finally fell on Bakugo, the other teachers, and the Rookies.

“Hi!” the dog said. “I’m Hachi Inuzaki from Shiketsu! Sorry I missed the bus!  It took me forever to get here!”

Katsuki felt like someone had just punched him in the face.  Aizawa, Fujii, and the Rookies were equally dumbfounded.

“What,” he said, “and I cannot stress this enough, the fuck?”

#my hero academia #their hero academia #katsuki bakugo #toshi midoriya #kimiko ojiro #mahoro shimano #katsuma shimano #fan fiction #fan fic #my writing

[houseofvans]

ART SCHOOL | IN SESSION WITH ROB SATO

From vibrant rainbows to familiar yet alien landscapes occupied by strange beings, LA based artist Rob Sato’s works are filled with creative energy in a loose minimalistic style. From watercolor, digital medium to acrylics and oil, Rob’s artworks and illustrations have been shown in various galleries from Giant Robot 2 to the Oakland Asian Cultural Center, where recently his original paintings for a comic called 442 were exhibited. We’re excited to chat with Rob about his work, his various collaborations and what he’s got coming up for the rest of the year.  Take the Leap!

Photographs courtesy of the artist.

Introduce yourself Hello, my name is Rob Sato. I’m an artist, illustrator, and writer. Something people might not know about me is that I was a kid I was so fanatical about the Oakland A’s that when they lost in the World Series I threw a tantrum so big that I destroyed my bedroom and after that I felt so stupid I quit following baseball. Also, I’m told I have maybe one of the great poop stories of the world. It can only be related in person, so ask me about it sometime if we ever meet.

How would you describe your work and style? Eclectic? Kaleidoscopic? I’ve never had a concise answer to this question. I tend not to pin myself down because I think if I did, I’d stop making things. 

Art is my outlet for the cryptic and obscure as well as the gushing spillover of foolish idealism and wild fantasy. It’s the only place I’ve ever found where you can healthily play with unhealthy thoughts, where you can explore undefined emotions, things that lurk out in the corners of consciousness that may be embarrassing or uncontrollable.

I love to make entertainment and decorative work, things that tend to be obvious, that communicate very clearly and reveal all their cards, but I also love to make work that hides things, that actively resists easy understanding or recognition and risks being super personal or unrelatable and strange. This can make things difficult, especially in the ongoing deterioration of attention spans, but I can’t help but pursue things outside of a pop sensibility and logical thought. I have to be, much of the time, in mental wildernesses. It’s hard to get there, hard to be there, and hard to come back, but it keeps me going.

Tell us about how you really started getting into art, and how that turned into what you do now? Was it something you always intended to pursue? I’ve drawn every single day for as long as I can remember. I never really thought about it. It just seems to be what I do. It’s how I have fun, how I solve problems, how I think. I’ve wanted to pursue other things like make movies or write books, but I always find myself drawing. Before I know it, it’s time for bed again.

When you are working on a new piece or upcoming exhibition or show? What’s your process like? What themes do you find yourself taking on? I explode. I used to plan things in a very directed way, but lately I’ve just let my brains spill out everywhere. I make a ton of drawings and paintings, and try my best to be fearless and open. Most of it produces failure after failure, but it shows me what might be worth building on, plus many exciting surprises reveal themselves in the process. As a show nears I start seeing what things fit together, what needs to be edited out, and how it all might form a cohesive exhibition. Sometimes the subject matter is the glue that makes everything stick, other times it’s the aesthetics. Alongside the explosion I usually have 2 or 3 pieces going at any given time that I’ve had long term plans for. These pieces can take take months or even years. 

Thematically I’m all over the place. War and peace, realism and surrealism, grim realities and escapism, sober observations and dumb jokes.

What are some of your go-to art making materials? Are there mediums you want to explore that you’ve yet to get your hands on? I feel pretty comfortable with anything you can use to make a mark on a piece of paper. I’ve mainly used watercolor and various drawing tools for the past several years. I’m been having fun with acrylics and oils again, and I’ve started to play around with photography a little. I’ve had ideas for sculpture and film for years that I’d really like to finally get to. What I really want to get my hands on is more time.

Where do you find inspiration? What kind of things or people inspire what you make? Watching someone pick their nose listening to headphones and singing softly to themselves in line at the grocery store. Just watching my cat live her weird life. Even though the final artwork may not really show it, these places are usually where my ideas originate. Art has also been a place where I can put memories that have some abstract need to be recorded.

I made this series of drawings called “Bad Hands”, which started out with me laughing at these dumb hands I was drawing with academically incorrect anatomy. Abandoning correctness felt so good. In the process it triggered a memory from High School. I had been forbidden from drawing in one of my classes, so I was contorting my hands into different shapes at my desk to amuse myself. There was a hysteria over gang activity in the school at the time and the teacher freaked out thinking I was throwing gang signs and I ended up getting sent to detention. 

At detention I was talking with a friend and made fun of the teacher for her mistake. A kid who was in a gang overheard and then HE misunderstood and thought I was making fun of gangs or something. On my way home from school he and a couple dudes punched and kicked me for a bit while I tried and failed to explain. I think it’s funny. 

So embedded in that piece is this tumbling series of misunderstandings, these multiple layers of hands being perceived as bad, speaking in an absurd language that communicates different things to different people. I know people aren’t going to see all those layers in the final piece, but that’s where it comes from and I hope it at least sparks some thoughts about talking with our hands, and where else can you follow this kind of train of thought except in art?

I get inspired by artists who seem to approach art as an intuitive discovery process rather than a  pursuit of mastery, that play is one of the more important aspects of making things. My wife, Ako, has been a huge influence on me in this respect. She’s continuously playing with various materials around her at any given time and finding out what she can do with them. Everywhere she goes she abandons a nest made of fresh creations she’s manifested out of mud, string, packaging, plants, uneaten rice, her used drinking straw, lint and whatever else was within her reach

You’ve done a lot of collaborations with companies, museums and art galleries. Do you have a favorite collaboration, and what about the collaboration do you enjoy the most? I’ve recently been collaborating with Tiny Splendor, an indie publisher and printer who have studios in LA and Oakland. It’s been really great working with them, Cynthia Navarro in LA on risographs, and with Max Stadnik, who runs the print shop in Oakland. 

Max has been returning to lithography, my favorite traditional printing medium, and he printed a piece of mine inspired by mushrooms called “Growerings". It’s a full 5 color print, which means it took five separate plates and each print had to go through the press 5 times. It turned out more beautifully than I could have hoped for. Litho is a super difficult but also very fun process and the results are so rich. 

I think I particularly love this collaboration because the image fits the medium so well, and the combination of the two elevates the final piece of work, When it works, the artwork and the print become more than just an image on a piece of paper. It’s more alive in some undefinable way.

Since we’re called Art School, we always ask the artists to give us their favorite art tip? Never force the thing you think you want, you’ll probably miss out on the really interesting thing that’s happening. Also, don’t drink too much coffee. I have trouble taking both of these pieces of my own advice every day.

What do you enjoy doing when you’re not making stuff? How do you chill out? I read and run. I love coffee and I love gossip and talking nonsense with friends. Also, I cannot stop watching Terrace House.

What is the last art show that you went to? What artists should folks keep an eye out for? I recently went to the Velveteria in LA’s Chinatown, which is one man’s collection of paintings on velvet. A very entertaining and very fucked up experience. I went to a life drawing session at Subliminal Projects and got to draw surrounded by Chad Kouri’s fun abstracts. I’m actually typing this interview inside an art show right now. 

I’m here at my wife, Ako Castuera’s, show “Soil” at the Weingart Gallery at Occidental College. We’re here feeding worms. She sculpted this beautiful ceramic vermiculture composter for the show. It’s a grand temple for worms. The show is an act of gratitude for the exchange we have with the soil which provides the clay for ceramics, and for the worms who turn decay into healthy earth to grow new life in. 

She sculpted a menagerie of creatures out of the worm poop that also populate the show. Super fun. Speaking of Ako and Subliminal, her show there with Hellen Jo and Kris Chau this past December was one of those once-in-a-lifetime powerhouse gathering of forces. That may have been the best show I’ve ever seen.

What advice would you give someone thinking about following in your footsteps? What’s something you learned that you want to pass along to art making newbies. Don’t listen to advice if it is extremely quotable. Pay no attention to it especially if it accompanies a photo of a famous artist and fits perfectly into an instagram post. If it’s easy to remember then it’s probably empty, crap inspiration. Those things are entertainments and not words to live by.

 If you’re interested in making art you’ll keep making it. It takes day in, day out patience and exploration and mutation to discover how you really work, not some idea of how an artist works. 

Sometimes it will be very hard, sometimes it will be so breathtakingly easy you think that your problems have been solved forever. Neither situation ever lasts, but cultivate and nurture your curiosity and what you love, and you’ll find ways to make it through the rough times and keep on making things one way or another.

Who are some of your favorite artists to follow and/or see in a show? Lately I’ve been really enjoying the work of Nathaniel Russell whose work makes this great space where funny, grounded matter-of-factness and sweet nothingness sit comfortably together. His drawing also reminds me of Ben Shahn, my all-time favorite drawer. 

I really like Amy Bennet’s oils, these intimate studies of isolation in suburbia where mundanity overlaps with quiet drama and melancholy. Her work obliquely reminds me of Edwin Ushiro’s work, though his stuff is the opposite of melancholic. He captures almost incidental but haunted moments from growing up in Hawaii and infuses them with warmth, and it’s in a style influenced in a super personal way by animation. It reminds me of Satoshi Kon’s movies in its well observed, slice-of-life elements. Edwin’s sketchbooks are a treasure too.  Esther Pearl Watson’s recent autobiographical paintings, Hellen Jo’s latest badass watercolors, Amber Wellman’s funny, playful oil paintings, and Matthew Palladino’s watercolors are also favorites. 

Megan Whitmarsh’s work is some of my favorite to see in person. Her installation with Jade Gordon at the Hammer’s “Made In LA “ show was maybe the funnest work I’ve ever seen and interacted with. I went to see the Ai Wei Wei show at the Marciano Foundation, which I thought was impressive in scale and execution but still somehow lame, but I stumbled on a Mike Kelley installation/ video piece I’d never seen before in the upstairs collection and loved it so much, but I can’t remember the name of it at the moment. 

It’s 2 videos shown side by side of the same guy wearing a cape singing almost the same song simultaneously, but each version has different words at different points. It’s a love song but one version is more bitter and mean and one is sickly sweet. Anyway, highly recommended!

What do you have coming up the rest of the year that you can share with us?  For just a few more days there’s a show up at the Oakland Asian Cultural Center with a bunch of my original paintings for a comic I illustrated about the 442, the Japanese American Army unit of World War II. Plus it has some personal work about Japanese American Incarceration and images from my family’s experience in the concentration camps. My grandfather was incarcerated in the Arkansas camps, and he was a soldier in the 442. 

Next up, I’m in a slew of group shows all happening within a few weeks of each other this month. Poor scheduling on my part as usual, but it’s nice to be invited to so many. I just sent off my piece to the “Seeing Red” show curated by Jeff Hamada of the BOOOOOOOM art and culture blog. That show will be at Thinkspace in LA. Giant Robot has been kind enough to host another solo show for me in September. 

I’ve been busy experimenting with some more 3d stuff that pushes the more narrative side of my work which I hope to show there. We’ll see how the experiments turn out. I’ve also been working on a ton of prints and ideas for books. This year I want to focus on working in print, making zines and comics, and writing a lot more. 

FOLLOW ROB | INSTAGRAM | WEBSITE | SHOP 

#Art #Vans #Vans Art #Rob Sato #Art School #painting #interview

[loopy777]

in your version of republic city, how would you have rewritten the sato family to fit into it? would asamis dad dislike his roots(secretly or openly) and how would that have affected his daughter(i know he essentially started from the streets too, but i cant really say i ever got the impression he was a low class man who rose up to become the highest of the high)? there seems like there was a lot of potential in his backstory and how it would affect his life, but its never really fully used.

For the record, Hiroshi describes his own backstory as, “I, too, came from humble beginnings. Why, when I was your age, I was a mere shoe-shiner and all I had to my name was an idea: the Satomobile. Now, I was fortunate enough to meet someone who believed in me and my work ethic. He gave me the money I needed to get my idea off the ground. And I built the entire Future Industries Empire from that one, selfless loan.“

That’s a fairly textbook version of the Ideal American Success Story, so I don’t think there’s a lot to change with it. But I agree that he’s little more than an archetype, and his rather extreme belief in the Equalistsnever seemed to reallymesh with it.

Let’s see how we can improve things.

Regardless of my new vision of the character, I think it’s safe to say the he dislikes his roots. I mean, who wouldn’t dislike being poor? All those dumb “There are some things money can’t buy!” and “Money is the root of all evil!” aphorisms ignore the fact that being poor is a bad thing, and no one likes it, and all the nice things it’s still possible to have while poor – like family and love and purpose and health and whatnot – are even better with a good income.

So, yes, I think Hiroshi dislikes being poor.

I’m not sure what you mean about getting the impression of him being low-class.  To me, “low-class” is more a state of mind and behavior not tied to actual income class. Plenty of poor people know how to behave or can be taught, and lots of people who start out on the top of the world and get the best education all their lives still somehow wind up behaving like neanderthals.If you mean things like HIroshi having a taste for hotdogs over caviar, I consider those kinds of characteristics to be pretty superfluous.

If you mean that his accomplishments don’t fit with his education, I think it’s safe to say that he’s both a genius and got himself either a formal or informal education. Perhaps he used that loan to take some classes, or maybe he just hung around places where professionals were building things and picked up enough to design a car in his head. I expect he also employed some engineers with degrees, and made sure that Asami got the best education money can buy, and he himself probably picked things up as required to fulfill his vision. Him being a visionary seems to be what made him such a success, and that’s the type of thing that a disadvantaged background can aid; if you have a close-up view of difficulties in people’s lives, you’re well-poised to come up with ideas to solve those difficulties.

I think there was an attempt on the part of the storytellers to portray Hiroshi as not being a snob because of his past, but that was with Mako, and unfortunately that got eaten by his Equalist alignment. Still, no one acted like it was out of character for Hiroshi to give help or opportunity to the disadvantaged. Although I do think poor people who become rich are certainly able to develop into snobs, I think the idea is that Hiroshi isn’t entirely lying when he says he remembers his big break and wants to pay it forward. One could even say that his Equalist involvement, which at least paid lip-service to empowering the disenfranchised, is partially motivated by his desire to help lift up people like him.

So I don’t think the Satos need to be rewritten much to fit into my vision of Republic City; I had Hiroshi’s backstory in mind for it. I do think some more could be made of his savvy; he was portrayed in LoK as being of use to the Equalists mainly as an arms-supplier, but I think more could have been done with him being a Man Of The City, able to advise Amon and make connections on all levels of society. In fact, I could see Hiroshi being at the root of the Equalist movement’s rhetoric. It’s revealed at the end of Book Air that Amon is mainly about self-loathing and a death wish, so perhaps all that stuff about equality and opportunity for nonBenders came from Hiroshi. Hiroshi is the one who wants to transform society, and Amon went with it as a cynical way to lash out and drag people into misery with him.

Something I would change, though, is making the root of Hiroshi’s evil the death of his wife via A Firebender. It’s minimally plausible, but there’s no way to keep it from sounding stupid. At the same time, baking a nonBender resentment into his whole life would make his double-life a little more implausible; racists are usually bad at hiding it.

I think my ideal origin for his hatred should be the organized crime in Republic City, especially the Bender-based gangs. Hiroshi rose up through the ranks of the city the ‘right’ way, and I can see him as being resentful of the criminals who rig the system against honest people. The thing that makes those gangs so powerful is their muscle and money, and their Bending makes both of those things a lot more attainable. It’s a bit less random than A Firebender, because any single criminal can punch above his weight by acquiring a deadly weapon, whether it’s Firebending or a good knife, but a whole underground society of such people who were all born with built-in weaponry is a worrying trend, and I think that would be more likely to inspire the kind of systemic hatred that Hiroshi showed.

So, I think Hiroshi’s origin should be changed so that, when he refused to bow to some demand of the Bender gangs, his family became their target. Perhaps Lightning Bolt Zolt tried to lean on Hiroshi to allow his workers to form a (super corrupt, fully infiltrated by mob stooges) union, adding a little ambiguity to Hiroshi’s supposed commitment to helping the disadvantaged. So Zolt or whoever ordered Hiroshi’s wife killed. Nothing could be proven, but Hiroshi knows what happened. He arranged, by donating to the police and politicians, for the guy who did it (a low-level Firebender gang member) to go to jail for something, but he couldn’t get the bosses. Hiroshi only has money, while the bosses have both money and a ruthless tendency for violence. And that’s eating at him. Society is too corrupt to deal with those fiends. They claim to help the poor, but really they oppress anyone who doesn’t pay and serve them. And it’s all brought about by the power they’re born with, power they wouldn’t have if they had to deal with the same circumstances as Hiroshi. Their Bending gives them an advantage, and they use it to build a city-wide system designed to hurt good people.

Then Hiroshi meets Amon, they inspire each other, and the Equalists are born.

The nice thing about this is that it also lays the seeds for Hiroshi’s redemption. Because if Korra and Mako and Asami take down crime boss who had Hiroshi’s wife killed, while he himself is in jail for his part in Amon’s grand attempt at suicide-by-cop, then what does that say about his prejudices? Hiroshi is smart, and he’s an engineer, so he can’t completely dismiss evidence like that. Perhaps it eats away at him for a few years, combined with his guilt at how he fought against Asami, and then he realizes how wrong he went. (Perhaps the story should be changed so that he didn’t consciously try to kill Asami? That always seemed a bit much to pair with his easy off-screen conversion.) He realizes he went about things all wrong, and the people he tried to kill did what he originally wanted better than he could. Power isn’t what corrupts; it’s hate. And so he relinquishes his hate, devotes himself to love, and winds up sacrificing himself to save Asami out of love.

Except I wouldn’t have it happen against a giant robot. That thing looked stupid, as deliciously ironic as it was for Hiroshi to lose his life against a bigger version of stuff he made for Amon. Perhaps he dies going up against Amon II, some dude who took up Amon’s name and cause.

#thekingofwinterblog

[iamwhelmed]

The Jisatsu Experiment: Chapter 2

Some people were interested, so here’s the second chapter!

EDIT: If you like my writing, consider my ko-fi? <3

Read it on AO3

Read it on Fanfiction.net

Summary: Years after Conan leaves with no explanation and Haibara becomes a distant Miyano Shiho, Ayumi graduates and heads off to Himura University-- as far away from Tokyo as she can get. She finds it hard to leave Conan and Haibara behind her despite Mitsuhiko and Genta moving on, but the mystery she's about to take on is going to begin unraveling a past she'd repressed, and it's very possible she's bitten off more than she can chew. Just how deep does this case run? Shinichi may just have to step in, but can he and Shiho stomach the mess Ayumi has gotten herself into, or save her from herself?

Katashi was ambitious, very by-the-book; he wanted to join the police force, become a detective, put away the bad guys. He almost hadn't believed her when she told him who she was, that she was a part of that little group of kids who went around foiling illegal plans ten years ago. The Detective Boys, even after Conan's departure and Ai's return to the adult world, had remained in the news for a good while. They spent summers in junior high solving cases around Japan, and Shinichi kept it no secret that he'd taken them under his wing. The Detective Boys were as much a household name as Heiji Hattori or Kaito Kid, though their individual names were little known. When they graduated to high school, that's when their name died down, (that was the year Mitsuhiko found his place at the lead of their class, the year Genta found his love for cooking). Her name stayed out of the papers. She wanted it that way. The Detective Boys were on hiatus, that's what she said. She'd flashed Katashi her badge (she held it on her person still; she told herself it was just in case). Katashi's nose wrinkled before he said "so what are you doing here?"

She didn't have the heart to tell him she was getting away from those memories.

He was a straight-A student, didn't appear to try very hard to keep it that way. He was focused on cracking a case that the police had sort of given up on-- kidnapping cases, a string of them, spanning at least two decades. All children, ages one to three. No suspects, no bodies, nothing. Just a place of suspicion that'd been burned to the ground twelve years ago. They'd found bodies of hired guns, sure, but nobody important. They suspected a trafficking ring, but had never found any trail, and the kidnappings had stopped eighteen years ago. Katashi, smart as he was, couldn't find anything to open the case up again. "Those kids are still missing. They were your age, Yoshida-san. That could have been you." She resisted pointing out that it could have been him, too. The kids would be adults now, and Ayumi admitted she didn't want to think about the grim life those children had lived-- assuming they had. Katashi plopped the case files on the library table, eyes looking as deep with death as Takumi's regularly did. If her face portrayed concern, he'd ignored it with a wave. "I gotta find a way to bring these sick bastards to justice."

She peeled back the first page of the folder and looked one child in its grey eyes. A school photo, black-and-white. She turned the page to find an in-color picture of an even younger child, ball in hand, reaching just far enough so that the puppy sharing the frame couldn't grip it between its small, barred teeth. "Do the police know you took this?"

Katashi's cheeks burned, and he waved her off with a snort.

That didn't answer her question, so she'd take the plausible deniability. "Why this case? If it was closed 10 years ago…"

"Trafficking rings don't just disappear, Yoshida-san. They either got better at hiding, or something even worse got to them first."

She turned the page to find photo after photo of ash, charred skulls beyond recognition, and symbols. She frowned. It was hard to see the carving under the ash, but it was an eye, egyptian-looking, eyelashes looking more like the rays of a sun, lower lid looking like a river thick with eyeliner. Claws, razor sharp, sat below and threatened to swallow the eye in their paws. She'd seen it somewhere before. "Did anything come up about these symbols carved in the floor?"

Katashi shook his head and plopped unceremoniously into the seat across from her, huffing and pouting as he leaned forward and dug his jaw into his palm. She nearly giggled at him; instead, she bit the inside of her lip and shook herself of the tickling urge. "No, a friend told me there was nothing and I didn't believe him. Did some digging myself and he wasn't kidding. No mobs, gangs, individuals, cults- anything- associated with that symbol. It's like it was a company brand or something but…"

"That would have come up in the search results."

"Especially in the police database."

"Did you," Ayumi raised an eyebrow "have clearance for that?" Katashi didn't respond, so she made a mental note. Not as by-the-book as I thought. She frowned and skimmed the rest of the folder. The only thing tying the kidnappings back to that burned down building was a small tuft of unburned hair belonging to one of the kidnapped, even more confusing when the body itself didn't turn up in the wreck. "Have you found anything?"

"No. That symbol doesn't show up anywhere else in this city, and I checked abandoned compounds. So if they're still here, they're well-hidden."

Ayumi frowned. She'd have to do some research herself if she was going to help him with this case. She thought about asking Haibara-- Miyano-- because maybe she'd know if she'd worked for that organization Conan took down before he left, but the thought left as quickly as it came. No, she wouldn't answer the call, Ayumi knew this. Stupid. She shook her head. "I'll do some research myself, see if my friends back home may know anything." Sato and Takagi may be able to help. Katashi's eyes leveled with hers, and he looked at her almost quizzically. He huffed into his hand, chin digging into his palm.

"Oi, Yoshida? Don't breathe a word about this to the other two, okay? I don't think that toe-haired idiot would ever let it go if he knew I asked for…" help. The word was right there, but he was too proud to say it. Ayumi didn't dare refrain, she giggled.

"Right, right, not a word to Youta-kun or Akiko-chan! And Katashi-kun?"

"Hm?" He was avoiding eye-contact with her now, taking the folder and stuffing it into his bag. She smiled to herself and placed her hand on his.

He blinked. "You can call me Ayumi-chan!" Katashi seemed to stare at her for a moment. Was he perplexed? Guilty? His eyes read something of sorrow, and she wondered if she should regret saying anything. "Ah, unless…." Her hand twitched, pulled only centimeters away, and he moved agiley to grab her by the wrist. Ayumi glanced down at their hands, then back up at Katashi. His eyes had narrowed with skepticism, or maybe it was vexation. He was hard to read, always looking like he was hiding something, always thinking, and now he seemed to be thinking about her. She only wished she knew what.

"Oi, give me a chance to respond before you get off pouting."

She blanched, nose wrinkling as she tugged her wrist back. His hand followed, grazing the thin of her arm before letting her go. She crossed her arms and stuck her tongue out, like a petulant child. "I wasn't pouting!" Yes she was, and she knew it. She was always the type to open her heart to the world despite the universe's apparent urge to squash that bit of her at random opportunity. She was just trying to be friendly. Katashi was a friend, last names didn't feel right.

"Heh," he stuck his hand in his pocket and threw his bag over his shoulder, nose in the air as he went for the staircase down. "Fine, fine. Whatever you say, Ayumi-chan…"

This ice cream was, no contest, the best she'd ever had. She didn't know how Youta found the place, or how that little old man got the chocolate of her frozen choice to be so creamy, but she found a piece of heaven on earth every time she got a perfectly rounded ball on a perfectly folded cone. Youta pointed out that she'd gotten some on her nose; she wiped it away anxiously.

They took this route on the way to class every other day, treated themselves and each other to a snack whenever they could, not that dairy and ice were all that nutritious. Youta practically insisted every time, and there was no way she could say no when he could so plainly see the drool hanging over her chin. The walk was longer than the closest route to class, but this route was better. She'd missed the company in her high school years, and Youta was nothing if not talkative. She found not a moment dull with him yammering on about football or grades or this case his dad was working on; it made her smile. Youta was smart, she could see that, if not overly sure of himself, and he was kind. He got good grades, knew how to wrap up a wound, did statistics like an actuary. He expressed no interest in following his father's footsteps, least of all in becoming a lawyer. He loved the field, the grass-- the ball and the sneakers. Some evenings, she and Akiko watched Katashi and Youta sparring in an empty lawn, feet moving so fast that she could hardly see the ball until it was dead center in the bushes the boys had deemed "the goal". Youta was so alive, then, always shot her and Akiko a smile and a wink, flexed until Katashi kicked the ball right in his face. He was comfortable, warm, like the first ray of sunlight on an early morning. She eschewed his arrogance and his flirting, but she'd dare say she was warming up to the idiot.

Ayumi laughed at the way Youta tried to lick ice cream off the bridge of his nose, then she glanced at the television display lighting up the store window as they passed. The local news station, playing footage of what looked like a convenience store taped off with yellow. She paused, waited for the Headline to go from "National Donut Day" to something more menacing. The suspected trafficking case was still cold for the moment. Sato and Takagi had been unable to help, had never even heard of the case before she'd brought it up. She was left with little challenge, and a small mystery to quench her thirst was just the thing she needed; the local news did not disappoint.

Kidnappings, so far there had been three of them, one for each month of the new semester. All girls, kidnapped from campus as far as last known witnesses could tell. They each turned up seemingly at random, one at the school's pool, another at the cafe, this one at a convenience store. They were each beaten within inches of their lives, burned, shocked, cut, but it was all done with some form of precision (if she was right about the markings she saw in one photograph). The oddest thing, the woman on the screen narrated, was the inexplicable amnesia each girl had. None had a memory of being kidnapped, nor their time in captivity or kidnapper. It was as though their memories had been erased the way one erases footage from a camera, unnerving to say the least when the human brain was involved. Ayumi frowned and took a contemplative lick of her ice cream.

"Ah, don't worry about all that kidnapping stuff," Youta raised a naked arm, other hand pressing his sleeve up until his bare muscles (of which, she would admit, he had plenty) for the whole street to see. He gave her a wink and a boisterous grin, boyish in nature and cocky. "Nobody's gonna take you while I'm around!" Most men, they'd be joking, and some men, like Genta, would be barking about what they'd sooner cower from. Not Youta, she could tell. He was too genuine, too proud and believed himself much too capable to fear much of anything. She couldn't help herself, she giggled.

"Thank you, Youta-kun, but I'll be just fine!" She waved a dismissive hand his way as she passed him. "One white knight is more than enough…"

She couldn't see the way he watched her behind her back, the tender manner in which his brows creased, or the disquiet settling in his eyes.

The library was quiet at night. University students rarely spent time in its great halls studying on the weekends, and even those dutiful enough were kicked out minutes before the sun began to set. She knew some student librarians stuck around, but there were so few in a building with so many floors. Himura, truly, was a school to behold. For the night though, she would be spending her time scouring the shelves, as there would be plenty of time to stare in awe, later.

The second floor overlooked the first floor on a balcony, green carpeted steps leading up with golden accents and chocolate rails that adorned the railings like artsy fences scaling the outlook. There was another staircase to her right, leading to the third floor, but the second floor's closest wall, filled window to hall with books, was her target. She padded up the staircase with a careful hand at the rail, steps light and slow to avoid detection-- theoretically. She just needed to look at a few items, that's all. She wasn't taking anything. She glanced from right to left and bolted (on the tips of her toes) over to the shelf where the recent magazines were. The one from the top, she snatched it and flipped it open on the table behind her.

The articles didn't have much more than the news story did, but it had pictures. Every girl had blue eyes, light, pretty, like polished angelite. They were all eighteen, new to university like she was, though their backgrounds differed. None of them seemed to have gone to high school in the same area, but they all had the same skin tone with some variations in tan. None of them had any family around, maybe that was the key? Ayumi shook her head. No, she didn't have enough information to go there yet. It would help if I knew exactly what was being done to them. If I could get into the hospital…

There was a creak in the wood; Ayumi jumped.

A girl with two braided pigtails leveled her with an even stare despite the proximity of Ayumi's pepper spray posed inches from her face. Hands on her hips, she raised one to her head with a sigh. "Yoshida-san, what do you think you're doing?"

"Chihiro-chan!"

She readjusted her round glasses with one finger, then waltzed by on feather-light feet. One hand slammed down on the table as Chihiro read over the open page, tossing one ribboned pigtail over her shoulder. Ayumi stood by, awkwardly, uncertainly, shifting from foot to foot and twiddling her thumbs. "I- I was just looking--!"

"At the kidnapping case?"

"Just in case!"

Chihiro watched her, one eye glazed over in the light of the window, the other watching her from the other side of her glasses with contemplation. Ayumi did her best to stand her ground, unsure if a librarian was obligated to report her trespassing to the school. That would be quite the way to end her first semester, she had to admit. Going back to Tokyo with her hopes of moving on, dashed before she had the chance to solve as much as one case. She gave Chihiro her best please-don't-get-me-expelled smile. Chihiro took a deep breath. "You have nothing to worry about, Yoshida-san. The girls this creep is going after are all major loners."

Ayumi, still somewhat unsteady from the generous bout of adrenaline processing in her system, approached the table to point at the headline, Third Kidnapping This Semester. "That's nothing new. Most kidnappers go for easy targets. Girls new to the school and unfamiliar with the area are less likely to have friends."

"That's not all, you know. All of these girls had prior write-ups for misconduct."

"What?"

Chirhio pointed to the first girl, then the next, and the last. "This one punched a guy in the face first week. This one was suspended for a whole month after she got caught bullying some girl. This one cheated our second exam week." Chihiro folded the newspaper into the neat square she'd pulled it in, fingers moving with such grace that Ayumi took a moment to notice how few paper cuts she had for somebody who worked vigorously with textbooks and novels. "Besides, you don't have to worry anyway, Yoshida-san," Their eyes met as Chihiro made one last vertical fold.

Ayumi watched her, patiently. Some part of her worried that this was the moment the mallet would fall, that Chihiro would tell her she was reporting her to the campus heads, that she'd have to fight to stay in a university she'd worked so hard to get into.

Chihiro placed the newspaper back on the shelf, turning to her with a red-cheeked pout, and a side-eye that could kill. "No kidnapper would dare take somebody surrounded by admirers seven days a week."

Ayumi's cheeks lit up, and she hurried to deny, deny, deny.

She knew she was groaning a lot, perhaps the measure would be more than that of a bearable amount, but she was tired. Despite hounding and bugging and, in one case, jumping out from behind a tree and startling, the local police about the hospital the kidnapped girls resided in, she'd come back with hands so empty she swore the skin had been scraped off. They'd been kind enough to give her some details-- internal bleeding, burns to the scalp, lots of scarred tissue, and yet no trauma to the cranium (as far as x-rays could tell). They wouldn't let Ayumi see them, talk to them, no matter how desperately she pleaded (though they let her know, when she grew distraught, that the girls were expected to make a full recovery-- which helped, it helped a lot). A lesser girl, or maybe just a girl a few years greener, might have stooped to crying. But Ayumi was a woman now, and no way was a case going to frustrate her to tears. So instead, she'd toss and turn at night and grumble all morning.

"Oi, oi, Ayumi-chan," Katashi nudged her with his arm. "You're annoying. What's with all the unattractive moaning?"

She perked up, unintentionally raising a hand to her lips. "Unattractive?"

"Yeah, you kinda sound like a hungry mountain lion!" Youta's warm smile usually helped, but she was on the receiving end of his taunts this time, and dammit if she didn't feel like making the jerks carry her to class.

"It's nothing, I just didn't sleep well."

"Yeah," Youta taunted on. "What kept you up? The evil witch of Himura stealing your youth?"

"Cut it out! I'm already losing sleep! I don't need to be scared out of bed!"

"Hah hah! Look at your face! You don't think the Witch exists do you?"

"What witch? Stop making things up!"

The group of three passed by the store once more, where the TV display was alive and blaring, painting the screen with cross tape and blue headlines. Katashi watched it as they passed, eyes narrowing as blue and yellow seemed to twist and fall into misshapen hues, fading until the screen was red.

#detective conan #Ayumi Yoshida #Conan Edogawa #shinichi kudo #ai haibara #shiho miyano #genta kojima #mitsuhiko tsuburaya #Katashi Sasaki #Youta Oshiro #Chihiro Akiyama

[the-daylight-here]

new yandere blog? nice! i read your platonic dadmic one and that was so good! would you consider doing an aizawa one where an orphan kid managed to get into UA and he surprises her later with adoption papers?

||you’ve got an ‘older sibling’ in this who will act like your boyfriend for either shits and giggles or generally to keep stalkers away from you. Basically, he can pass on his emotions by being within a certain distance, and physically touching him can give you the full force of what he’s feeling. he’s bakugo sized and fairly strong, so picking up people is not an issue. holding in his emotions makes him cry a lot from the mental and physical stress.

Shouta had been watching that student since the entrance exam. She was extraordinarily fast, and that wasn’t the only thing she could do with her quirk. It was interesting, to say the least. Much like Midoriya Izuku, her quirk could destroy her body if used recklessly. She had to wear body braces on almost all her joints during exercises like hero training. Still, it was enthralling to watch her grow and improve.

And finding out about her status as an orphan saddened him for some reason.

++++++++++++++

“Sora!” you yelled, looking for the person you recognized as your family. Your crybaby ‘sibling’ swung his head in your direction and ran towards you, scooping you up into his arms with cheerful laughter. You started laughing and hugging him too. You knew it was merely an effect of his quirk. He held a lot of his quirk in, but it was hard to contain when he was physically touching someone, as well as just happy.

A lot of the customers outside the bakery smiled and cooed gently, mumbling something about ‘what a cute couple’ or something like that. After years of correcting people, the both of you just gave up. This was also probably an effect of his quirk. Containing it was a hell of a job, but at least the negative ones weren’t as difficult. You think the last time you actually felt he was stressed was in middle school when he had to find a job in order to help your caretakers keep the half-decent roof over your heads and good clothing on your backs without sacrificing money for food.

“Should we feed more into the illusion or should I put you down?” he asked softly. You giggled and ran your hands through his silky, midnight colored hair. “Put me down, I’ve got good news,” you laughed. He did and took a couple steps back to spare you from the full, smothering force of his quirk. You practically jumped up and down, still feeling the pure elation from earlier, atop the excitement of the news. “I’ve got my provisional license!” you told him, pulling it out of your wallet. Sora gaped.

“(Y/n), that’s awesome!”

“I know! How should we celebrate?”

“Me getting you your own snake?”

“Sora, NO! Why can’t you have normal pets?”

“Hahaha! Kidding. How about I bake some stuff and your entire class comes to celebrate for even taking the exam?”

“You’re not making it alone. How about I bring Sato-san and Bakugo-san by, and we can all bake stuff for it.”

“Or I can come there with ingredients and--”

“Alright, alright. I’ll grab you in a couple hours,” you laughed, turning around and bumping into someone. “Sorry,” you apologized with a squeak. You looked up to see your teacher, who was glaring at your sibling. All of the glowy, happy warmth was sucked from the air, and you saw Sora’s genuinely jovial expression melt into the professional ‘I am a good employee and will deal with you with a smile,’ face. “Hello sir, how may I help you today?” he asked. Anyone else would likely have been fooled by this, but growing up around him gave you an edge to tell you when he was hiding his feelings. Not to mention, everything usually seemed quite bright and colorful when he was cheerful. Now, as he went into professional mode, things seemed duller and grayer.

“I was told you typically handled adoption interviews, considering you'll be taking over when your aunt and uncle retire,” your teacher answered. Sora hummed lightly at that. “I'll talk to you later on it. I'm swinging by your class’ dorm to help celebrate the exam,” your blue-haired sibling answered, turning curtly on his heels and returning to his job. Sora told you when you were moving into the dorms that Aizawa's general vibe felt off to him.

You gave a short greeting to your teacher and began walking back to the dorm, your teacher in tow.

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

Shouta understood the blue-haired boy’s concerns and dislike concerning him. After all, who would trust a full grown man who seemed to lurk in the presence of a fifteen or sixteen-year-old girl? Not to mention an observant, caring brother-figure. Ito Sora seemed like a cheerful, happy-go-lucky idiot with the potential to be an idol or something like that. He was scared of dogs and cared about the other orphans under his and his guardians’ watch. He seemed like he wouldn’t be of much interest, but he paid attention to hero, villain and gang activity.

The boy’s skills and quirk made him a prime hero candidate if he’d been interested.

The only reasons Sora was of any concern was his skills and quirk, as well as the fondness of the speedster student. The two seemed particularly close because of their ages, as well as the girl having been among the earliest to come into the care of Ito Sayaka and her husband.

As he entered the courtyard that night, during the celebration, he saw the blue haired male sitting on the steps, whittling away at a wooden arrow.

The teacher sat next to him.

“You’ve been following (Y/n) since shortly after the entrance exam, and particularly closely after the USJ incident. I know about the USJ incident because she told me. Then, after the training camp and Kamino Ward mishaps, UA started using a dorm system. So, sorry, I don’t necessarily think the best of you,” the freckled boy said flatly, not looking up. Shouta laughed bitterly. If he’d been in the same situation, he would have definitely been more protective over the student.

“I understand that. I don’t understand why you won’t approve the adoption papers.”

“Call it selfish, intuition, whatever. But (Y/n) has always been able to handle herself. Sure, she thought it was cool that I can shoot arrows precisely or run through uneven terrain like a monkey, but I was never really much more than emotional support. And I honestly kind of think you might end up coddling her or pushing her too hard if I let this go through.”

“Or is it you’re in love with her?” Shouta teased. He wasn’t much one for jokes, but it could’ve been a possibility.

“Maybe. Don’t know. But, as long as she’s happy, I’m okay with it.”

He was surprised to see a sloppy signature of approval at the bottom of the paper as the boy held it out. “Take it before I use it as target practice,” Ito muttered. Shouta quirked a brow but took the paper. He hoped (Y/n) would like this surprise.

++++++++++++++++++

You stole the last slice of cheesecake right from under Todoroki’s nose, going to sneak off before you felt ice around your ankle. Shit. You turned around with a nervous laugh and grinned shakily. “Heyyyy, Todo-chan,” you greeted. He looked done with your crap and went to take the cheesecake as you held it away, whining. “My brother maaaade thiiiiiiiiiiis,” you whimpered. “You didn’t have to steal it, (L/n).”

“I’M NOT SHARING. ESPECIALLY SINCE IT’S CHEESECAKE.”

“You’ve had three slices.”

“YOU DIDN’T EVEN PASS! And you’re rude too!”

“Rude?”

“You’re supposed to refer to people with honorifics and your dad emotionally fucking stunted you, so you’re socially inept and have no filter.”

The Pepsi-can boy thought about it long enough for you to phase through the ice and run to your room, protecting the pastry best as you could.

Ten minutes later, Aizawa knocked on your door and entered, holding a packet of papers out to you. You recognized the messy signature and your name, and your eyes widened. Sora approved Aizawa adopting you? That was unexpected. You two had been going back and forth on it for a week or so now, so you smiled widely.

#yandere blog #yandere imagines #platonic yandere #teacher yandere #yandere bnha #yandere aizawa shouta #yandere aizawa #yandere eraserhead #yandere x you #yandere x reader

[the-nazario-chug]

Before The Fall

Pairing: Tom/MC (Margot) 

Summary: After the long night is over, Margot and Tom talk about where they're going next. 

Warning(s): Grief, Trauma, Injury, PTSD Symptoms, Cursing, Fluff. 

Word Count: +1,500

Disclaimer: Tomoichi Sato and It Lives Beneath are owned by Pixelberry Studios. This fic was also inspired by @littlecrookedheart fic Glass Houses so you should definitely read that! right here! (It's really good, I really admire their fic ethic and writing though I think mine seems more flowery and idealistic lol) (it’s also 18 so kiddies beware)

It was over.

Josephine was dead. Really dead. Briny water lapped at Margot’s ankles, her clothes soaked to the skin. Her ears were ringing and blood trickled from the graze on her neck, she didn't know how bad it was but she felt lightheaded and dizzy. Beside her was Arthur, slumped against the wall with the marlinspike in his chest. 

Margot dropped to her knees at his side, she said something she couldn't remember. It felt like her head was still swimming.

“I’m not going anywhere kid, you did good.” Her grandpa smiled at her and stroked her hair with his free hand. Her mum use to do that too. “C’mere. You look like shit.” Margot leans into him as he wraps his arm around her. She felt so tired. It was really nice to hug him.

“Rest up, kiddo. Your friends should be along any minute now.” His voice sounded farther away.

Yeah, It would be nice to sleep for the first time in what felt like forever. Maybe she could just sleep it all away for good.

…

“Mara… you’re supposed to be recovering.” Tom frowned when he finally found Margot with her knees tucked to her chest, sitting against a tree near her grandpa's house.

“Tom, I was already discharged from the clinic two days ago. I don't need constant bed rest!” She laughed and tugged Tom down to her when he got close. He sighed and shuffled so he could hug her from behind while she sat on his lap. Together they soaked in the sunlight dancing through the trees in the glade. She looked beautiful as always with the beams dancing across her skin, but he could see the dark circles under her eyes.

“You wouldn't if you slept,” Tom sighed and lay his cheek against her hair, “You collapsed before, can you blame me for being worried?” Margot looked down sullenly, she forgot that it would worry him when she didn't look after herself.

“Sorry… I didn't want to worry you, I just.” Everything she wanted to say got caught in her throat, there was so much on her mind she couldn't think form any cohesive thought to say. She understood that she should be resting, but she felt restless, and useless. He said he wanted to travel the world and save people, but stayed more than two weeks just to take care of her. She felt insecure, but she knew the things she felt were unsaid Tom didn't even know were going wrong. She just didn't really know how to say it.

She didn't feel right for him, right for anything at the moment. How could she when she didn't even feel right in her own skin anymore. She said she was happy to be in love with him and date him, and it was true, but what if she was wrong? What if she was too traumatized to love someone properly? She didn't realize she'd be feeling this scared, this different. She wasn't usually like this. Some small part of her knew her thoughts were rushing, that she was overreacting. It wasn't fair to Tom to doubt things like this but her head was like a maze and she couldn't find the exit.

“Margot, I don't know what you're thinking,” Tom's voice took her out of her mind, a gentle whisper close to her ear, his use of her full name worrying her in its seriousness, “But I know this is all hard on you. It hasn't been that long since we stopped Josephine, and you've never had time to mourn or process your emotions… so, uh.” Tom trailed off in uncertainty, and Margot felt her heart stuck up her throat.

This was it, this is where he tells her she's too damaged to be in a relationship with. That she couldn't love him when she didn't even love herself. She realized none of that was wrong but she didn't want to let him go. She loved him too much for that, god, how could she doubt even for a second.

“I texted Dan and I thought we could take a trip together down to Westchester to visit him and the gang again. Maybe you could talk to him about how you're feeling, you know, if you wanted to- and when you're better obviously!” He tripped over himself as hesitantly gave his offer, and suddenly it was too much for Margot. Her eyes stung and tears began to fall down her cheeks.

“Woah-! Mara? What's wrong? Did I say something dumb? That was dumb, right?” He jumped and turned Margot so they were sitting in front of one another with his hands on her shoulders. She sniffed as Tom peered into her eyes in worry. She didn't know if she wanted to laugh or cry more.

“No, I just… I was sure you were gonna break up with me.” Margot’s lips trembled and Tom stared at her in shock.

“What? Why would I do that? Why do you think I would do that?” Tom looked so stricken that Margot felt herself fill to the brim with love and guilt.

“I thought… you would think I was too messed up to be with. I mean, it's just the truth right? I've been a state since Josephine died. We're supposed to be moved on and happy but I’m just… not.” Margot cussed under her breath and rubbed her fist against her eyes. She realized how melodramatic she sounded, but she couldn't express herself any other way.

“Yeah, you're grieving Mara, of course you're gonna be in bits. Not to mention everything you've seen, you haven't had the chance to process it,” Tom frowned and ran his thumb along her cheek to wipe away her tears, “I know some people say it's not good to stay in a relationship after a traumatic experience, but, I don't want to leave you while you need me most. I love you so much and I hate to see you in pain like this.” He moved closer and wrapped her in a hug, which Margot couldn't help but cling to.

“We don't need to rush right now, we can take our time and recover from everything that's happened together. And I think we're really in need of a break, don't you?” Tom pulled back to look down at her, giving her that goofy grin she loved the most.

“You goob…” Margot sniffled and moves her arms from his waist to his neck, hugging him tight, “I don't know how you can be so sexy caring, you're too good for me.” Her strange comment startles a laugh out of him.

“Wha- sexy? How is this sexy? I've got your snot on my hoodie!” Tom sputtered incredulously and Margot huffed then thumped him harmlessly on the chest.

“Caring is the new sexy! You’d be a panty dropper if you weren't so wonderful and faithful to your girlfriend…” Margot exhaled a shaky breath and chuckled wryly, the torrent of emotions must have made her joke about weird things and ruined the atmosphere. She breathed in the fresh outdoor air and tried to compose herself.

“Do you really want to go on a trip with me…? And then what would we do?” She couldn't hide the worry in her tone, Tom sobered up as well and rubbed her back while she was still in his arms.

“Whatever we want to, Mara. You don't need to worry about the future right now. But one thing I do know is that I’ll be here for you as long as you want me to be.” He moved his hand up her spine and ran his fingers through her hair. Margot let out another long sigh and snuggled into him more.

“I guess there's always gonna be an uncertainty of what will happen next,” Margot murmured with her cheek pressed against his chest, “Just instead of ‘if we’ll survive tomorrow’ it's ‘would this cheese ketchup combo enhance or ruin my fries experience’ ‘who wins our bet on who gets dumped on Wiped Out first’ or…’where will our relationship be a few months- years down the line… and is it worth it to try at all if it doesn't work?’” Margot pulls back to look at him, taking in shock before the fall in his eyes. He didn't say it but he was waiting for the other shoe to drop too. She, however, only wanted this wonderful man to grin and be happy so she didn't hesitate this time when she said;

“We don't know what's going to happen from here on out… that's why I want to keep trying with you, Tomoichi. Especially when we screw up or misunderstand or fight. Because I want to remember everything we've been through and how worth it this was. And seeing your face makes me remember it… so if you're really okay with settling for me… I won't let you go.” Margot looked up at him hopefully in return, seeing his expression morph from shocked to awed and finally… delighted. He really was happy.

“Settle?! I’d be thrilled, Mara!” Tom all but tackled her and they both fell to the leafy forest floor in laughter. He kissed her cheeks, her eyelids, her temples before finally pecking her lips. Then they nuzzled their noses together like two nerds doing their damnedest to navigate this strange, radiant world of love.

Since they met, Margot and Tom had made unimaginable risks to stay alive for themselves and each other. It wouldn’t get any easier, but they knew this risk would be more than worth it.

#tom x mc #tomoichi sato #ilb #choices ilb #it lives beneath #it lives beneath fanfic #it lives beneath choices #playchoices #fanfic #choices:stories you play

[softlyspunsilver]

Snippet where shikako meet Todori-Kakashi

“This is beyond ridiculous” Shikako mutter looking out from the dirty alleyway into the streets.  The few people passing by at this time of night was taking clan traits to a new level.   And looking at one individual with snake hair, possibly clan traits time 100%

“Well there goes my hope of this being modern Japan.  Or at least modern Japan from my original world “ mused Shikako.  “Lets hope the internet is the same. And that libraries still exist.”

—

There a hokage.

There is a god damn hokage.

not the easiest to find but some digging into the world of hero and villains lead straight to the grey side of vigilantes.    This site.   This site while being criticised by every hero out there was run by a hokage.   “This could be more like kohona then I thought.”  Muttered shikako as she hit send.

To anyone it would be random letters and symbol.   To anyone not trailed in basic level Kohona messages.  Anyone chunnin and above needed a basic understanding of this level of code.  This was always the first one taught, and then they came out with a new version every so often but this version I sent to this person claiming the title of hokage. This is always the first level.

Even if they are simply someone trying to get noticed they are a start.   I have noticed.   Hopefully you can help me get home.

—-

Translated

To the honoured hokage

Leader of kohona

If you are loyal to Kohona and willing to assist its ninja let us meet.

Do you know a good place where the Will of Fire can be seen?

The Nara Clan offers its assistance in return.

—-

“Hey Shouto, we are planning to train a bit tomorrow at the UA pools! We are allow to use our quirks and everything! You in?” kiminari asked loudly before he could slip out the door.

“ Hmmm,” Todoroki eye smiled at the kiminari and the other males from the class that were excited for some quirk friendly competing “ I afraid I have plans this weekend. Next time. “ he turned and waved over his shoulder as he left.

“ehhhh what are you guys up to then? I thought you were coming along? “ Denki moaned to Shoji

“We have no plans. “ responded Shoji

“Well other than the training at the pool we already agreed on” Sato reminded hm.

“ Todoroki could have his own training planned guys or .. or family stuff you know?!?” Midoriya tried to distract “ Either way training at the pool seems like a perfect way to enhance our quirks and, “  The muttering of midoriya’s planned training for everyone was a workable distraction.

But there was no distractions when Todoroki didn’t respond to any texts and phone calls.

When the school week came around it became clear that last conversation was the last time anyone has seen or heard from him.

—-

“his sister”. 

“Had no plans with him, last spoke with him on Wednesday”

“ Brothers”

“No plans, last conversation was apparently at endeavours residence”

“And endeavour..” Almighty trailed off, That was one harsh glare “ of course you have already checked that.” All might force out a laugh

“I checked Endeavours whereabouts when todoroki went missing so Yes, Endeavours cleared.”

“clearly if any of our students knew anything they would have mentioned…” all might muttered

Aizawa narrowed his eyes at the symbol of peace as he completely ignored the Endeavour situation.

“ He had plans this weekend, that was it. The tracking of his phone have proven inconclusive so its either off or in a location with zero cell service. “ Aizawa rubbed his eyes, and looked back down to his phone “ Tech-heroes are trying to see if they can find where he went by security footage.  Hopefully it will turn up something soon.”

“ He wants to be a hero Eraser-Head!  He will be fine!” Claimed all might pulling up to his muscled form.

“ Yeah keep that up for the kids will you, they are already planing a search party tonight” Aziwa rolled him eyes and started for the door, it was time to start searching to street again for his problematic student.

All might coughed at that and shrunk back down to his smaller form “WHAT! Do they not understand that they do not have there licences yet!”

“oh they understand” Aizawa turn back to glare at All might “ They don’t care.  They are coming off Bokugo being kidnapped by the league of villains, That someone has decided to take Todoroki so soon after doesn’t leave then with much interpretation”

“To say its the league is too much at this time!” Said All might shaking his head.

“yeah, but that’s what happens when heroes are working off limited information. Its a good lesson for them.” 

“Lesson, Aizawa there friend is missing!”

“ And they are working on plan with missing information,” Aizawa was cut off as president mic rushed through the door 

“ The last few texts tech - heroes have managed to pull off was a meeting place and time early in the morning to an number with no contact information.” He passed the tablet with the copy of the texts to Aizawa.   “The number belongs to a student from a local middle school student who reported it missing after school.  Said student has never had any contact with todoroki or any online friends so the number shouldn’t have created any trust for him to go meet them.” President mic stared at the screen with the video image of Todoroki waiting infront of a war memorial.  The most famous one in the area, for all the world war’s victims over multiple wars on and off Japan’s soil.

“ Weird location for date.” Muttered all might as he glared at the screen.

“ Its not a date” Hissed Aizawa “shadows don’t move like that.”

And they watched as Todoroki got up and walked off screen

-

“So a nara”

“Yep”

“how come your charka works here? I got the whole quirk thing.” Asked todo-kakashi - oh this is going to be hard

“ I think its because my body is still from kohona even though I’m not in the right place its still going to keep producing charka to keep me alive.”

“handy”

“so your jealous is what your saying.” The nano, Kako glance over at his with an amused smile.  Like it was expected.  She was the same as she waited for him to clear each corner of the alleyways before they headed down.  She expects his style of paranoia as a fellow shinobi would.

“you’re not from my kohona,” to be honest kakashi didn’t even know why he was surprised.  Oh course she wasn’t.  There had been no one at any other point, for one to turn up now it makes sense that she’s from a completely different life. “ Well I hope that stays true for the next few years.  Make sure Danzo doesn’t take over, it turns out terrible for everyone.” He deserves to warn them of this at least, everything else he could say sounds crazy and paranoid but Danzo being a dick.  100% beleivable.  Unless she is root but then he’s screwed anyway.

“ Oh so Danzo fucked up your version of kohona.  Great all my nightmares coming true.  No problem.” She sighed “Only one universe where he’s a nice guy, and that was the freakiest one” She shuddered and wrapped her arm arround herself.  He could almost feel his one eye bulge out of his head.  Danzo…. Nice?  What weird world that would be.  Nicer, but still disturbing.

“Do you need help with anything before you help me? Its only fair after all.” Shikako was definitely a nara, all slouched over and looking at him with party shut eyes in the middle of a random dirty alley.  Body language screaming ‘ it will be so troublesome but I guess I have to ask…’

God he hadn’t released how much he’s missed the Nara clan.

“  There is a little issue with a gang I’m having a hard time with.”

“oh really” she grinned and repositioned herself at parade rest “What’s the mission Hokage-sama?”

-

Aizawa ran across the rooftops with president mic close behind him.  He was exhausted they all were but things just kept escalating.

In just four days things have gotten out of hand.

Torodoki missing and yet to be found

Investigation into the eight precepts of death set back by months by an explosion happy vigilante or rival gang

And now this.

The sky above Japan had split open. Only for a second.  But a quirk powerful enough to open up the sky for who know what purpose.  Well, that kind of quirk has to be looked at to make sure it isn’t in the hands of a villain.  It could be a start to a brand new plot after all.

Finding the centre would be impossible was it not for the concerned citizens calling about an earth quake.  An Earth quake effecting one block of housing.   The chances of the quirk originating from here was high.

Hence, Eraser-head was called off the hunt for his student and ordered to head straight here.

Evacuations had already begun on the buildings but the one that was most damaged held the pro heroes attention.  The abandoned building was surround by police and pro-heroes waiting for the clearance to engage.

One pro-hero, a sensor able to track heart beats, was making her way through the crowd “Eraser good your here,” she grinned flashing her fangs and love heart face paint “Could be a villain or just an out of control quirk at this point.  Only one heart beat in that building’s basement. Its not moving and pretty slow, so either they have a physical quirk to slow the heart rate down or they are unconscious”

Eraser quickly nodded and headed off to the building letting president mic kept slight behind him to take anyone out in combat quickly once Easer has cancelled their quirk.

The hallways were silent as they quickly made there way to the collapsed stairs and jumped straight to the bottom.  There were two sleeping bags tucked in the corner and some non-perishable food. Eraser made a notice to look out for any accomplices incase one had a way of disguising there heartbeat.  Rare but possible.   

But through the next door there wasn’t any enemies.

The room smelt heavily of blood.  Blood and paint.   There were symbols drawn on every surface of the floor and in the centre was Todoroki.

—-

“In the end the medical result wasn’t as bad as we thought” kakashi mused, “ surprised her blood plus mine was enough to get her home to be honest.”

“Todoroki, I’m afraid I don’t understand.” Officer Naomasa said, but the tightening of his hand on his notebook and Aizawa narrowed eyes showed how off put they are.

“She need some my blood to go home.  But you can only take so much before you pass out.”  He knows Office Naomasa quirk.  He need to keep this factly true.  Or at least true from a certain point of view, otherwise UA will not be an option any longer 

“And where is her home Torodoki?”

“Kohona.”  Aizawa pulled out his phone.  The search engine is generally helpful but he’s googled kohona time and time again.  There is nothing there to find

“Todoroki,” Aizawa makes sure he make eye contact despite, kakashi trying to avoid it. “kohona doesn’t exist.”

“It does.” He has to insist so the next question will be..

“how do you know it exists Todoroki?” Naomasa asks keep his tone level and patient

“Nara and I were trained in Kohona.” Naomasa breathed in sharply.  

“oh did you, I thought you Trained at UA”

“before UA”

“so she’s an old friend”

“mmmhmmmm”

“and now she’s back at kohona because you put both your blood into the paint, which almost resulted in you bleeding out?”

“ The symbols were important too but fundamentally yes.” Naomasa gave him a small strained smile 

“I’ll be talking with some of your teachers Todoroki, please stay in bed while you recover.” Officer Naomasa rose to his feet and held open the door for Aizawa and after a awkward eye contact that Todoroki doesn’t think he will even understand, Aizawa left.  Naomasa turned right before he went out himself “ No trips back to Kohona planned then Todoroki.” 

“ Ah no officer, I am afraid I got a bit lost on the road of life and have forgotten the way.”  He eye smiled hard at the officer as he wished him a nice afternoon and dropped it once he had left.

He got a Nara home and helped her rescue a little girl held captive by monsters.

“Its been a great weekend” Todo-kashi thought as he fell back asleep.

—-

[project-sefirot]

‘Thank God I Am Here For My Dumb Girlfriend,' Says Gisei Employee || Nadezhda || RE: Theo, Jun || ATTN: Jun. Noburu, Theo

Nadezhda had let out her bark for her vote, and she was constraining her bite not to go rip Jun Kuromuha's head off. She didn't care that he slammed on the table, she didn't care that he had that look in his eyes. He didn't scare her. He was a coward, and a fool. He always has been, and continues to be. Now, he just goes on to prove that he is ignorant as well. "You want my honest answer, Kuromuha?" She had gritted teeth as the jeweler had captured her attention. "I would. You wanna know why?" She leaned in towards him, however not going as far as Yasu had by jumping up on the table. "Because just like Ueda, they would be a filthy coward." The words were laced with ice, as she bore her sights into the man. "Did you perhaps miss the part that has been repeated and proven multiple times now that this was all meticulously planned, and had used one of the worst known ways to die? Or were you perhaps too blinded to realize that your seemingly darling dearest who could do no wrong there is a cold blooded murderer?"

She waited for a moment to let that one sink in for him. "I don't care if you think I'm wrong, because unlike your track record, I have been right, and everyone who has enough sense in their brains right now that you are the one with your head so far up his ass." Her grip loosened, choosing to just stay with the verbal route. "Were it Sonoda, were it Sato, were it anyone here. I would. Because while the last two times had reason for sympathy or were by accident, this one was no accident. This was murder. True, real, and outright cruel, murder. And no justification is making it any better. So yes. I would be out for their blood just as much I am his, even if I don't agree with the use of fucking execution either. Because I have enough moral sense to recognize that to do this is to be nothing but a bastard."

A bastard named Noburu Ueda. "I don't think this is even a debate anymore. We all know that this piece of shit did it." She now once again focused on the flea market vendor. He's squirming, but she knows that it isn't real. "Stop crying you little bitch. You know you aren't sad about it. You're just putting on a show, trying to convince everyone that you did nothing wrong. It's what playing the role of a salesperson is all about, lying and squeezing your way into the sympathetic heartthrobs just to stab them in the back." She then raised an eyebrow at him. "Or in your case, I guess just prove that you're just an insect, just like the clown bugs. So where did you get the kicks out of choking the life from Hera and Ueno, huh?" For many, they would realize long ago, that Nadezhda had gone too far. Perhaps even she was realizing it now, but she didn't care. "Making us all run around in circles, while you sit there playing the fool, trying to worm your way out of what is coming to you. Frankly, I would rather you be imprisoned for the rest of your life, but I guess the company sees it fit to make you suffer. Make you beg for your life like you made them. Make you scream for help, just like Hera had when they texted Cadiz." It was all simply swatting the fly on the wall. And eerie silence came from her, as her attention then drifted.

Theo had spoken. Or more aptly, she had fallen. Fallen once again into that pit of agony that Nads has seen her crash into too many times now. Yasu had gone over to try and speak form their heart, and appeal to Theo's reason. "Theedee-" She reached out a hand, before stopping herself. She knew she did not have the words like Yasu did to reach that side. Airi had tried earlier and this still was the result. But she knew something that would try and break Theo out of this cycle. Something she didn't feel comfortable mentioning here, but she knew she didn't have much of a choice. "Theodora!" She yelled over to her girlfriend. "Don't go quitting on me like this now. What did you tell me before?!" If no one could reach her through sympathy, then Nads would reach her by using the facts. "You said you came to this company to pay for your family's debt! You have worked so hard to keep on surviving to earn the money to provide! And now you're just willing to lay down your life over guilt for something that isn't your fault?!" Even if it hurts to hear, even if it is not want she wants to say, she has to. "Your mom didn't die just to have you join her on the other side over something that this cockroach is trying to pin the blame on you for!" She points once again to Noburu, but doesn't look at him. "You didn't struggle through gangs, and hunger, and losing those you love just to die."

It was at this point that she finally slammed the table. "So fucking survive! If not for yourself, then survive for them! If not for them.... Then survive for me."

#ic #nadezdha #chapter 3 #trial 3 #submission