#reload headers

[still-breathing-au-p3r]

[continued from here] [first post for October 18th]

Akihiko lets the words roll off him. He can tell by Shinji’s tone– soft, grave– that he’s being serious rather than trying to get a rise out of him, but he’s still tired of indulging those morbid remarks.

He tugs the glove off of his right hand and reaches out to Shinji, an offering.

Shinji eyes his hand like it’s an entirely alien object. Akihiko might have been insulted if he hadn’t completely expected it.

There’s no hesitation in his answer. It’s not even a question, really. Despite everything, that’s one truth that Akihiko could never doubt. 

He knows Shinji too well, cares about him too much. He hadn’t given up on Shinji even when he’d been fighting tooth and nail and venom to push Akihiko away, and he’s not about to do it now. 

The look on Shinji’s face is…complicated, and Akihiko can’t quite read every nuance knitted into the expression, but he can tell at least that Shinji hadn’t been expecting that response.

He seems to mull something over for a few more seconds before slowly reaching out to take Akihiko’s hand. Shinji’s palm is dry and calloused. His skin is cool to the touch but the contact sends a current of warm static curling up his arm. Akihiko beams– he can’t help it.

Akihiko squeezes Shinji’s hand. He never wants to forget this moment; he wants to sear the scene into his memory– a perfect, permanent afterimage left behind by a lightning strike.

Shinji shakes his head a little like he’s exasperated, or just humoring him, but his smile is so soft and sincere. Akihiko’s heart flutters in his chest like a charge is being run through it. It’s been a long time since he’s seen Shinji look so at peace. Far, far too long.

Restless energy snaps through Akihiko’s limbs, but it’s different from the aimless, frustrated jittering that plagued him through the hours he’d sat vigil in this room.

[raven]

[wijin-sama]

Persona 3 Reload Yukari Header

[editcentral]

Time never waits. It delivers all equally to the same end.

☆ Makoto Yuki/ Minato Arisato Layouts

☆ Like/reblog if using!

[imaginationblur]

I literally cannot remember if I shared this here or not but just incase, you know those big ass sparkle holo stickers you got with quarters as a kid in restaurants or the dollar store?

Yeah, wanted to make something that felt like that. ✨✨✨

[larperwithastaff]

desperstely trying to change my header image and IT WONT CHANGE

IS IT A "i wont financially recover from this" MEME OR IS IT A PHOTO WITH "should not be left unsupervised" ON IT.?? hELP-

[sergeantbarnessdoll]

obsessed with bodyguard x mob 😫

what about something where reader actually fights for bucky's life, maybe some attempt to k*** him, lot of fights, gunshots, just action with angst but happy ending😖

xoxo ly! tysm for your writing! 💗

Fighting For You » Bucky Barnes (AU)

Pairings: Mob!Bucky Barnes x Bodyguard!Female Reader

Summary: You fight to keep Bucky safe and to protect him.

Warnings: Angst, Fluff, language, guns, violence, blood, kissing, pet names

A/N: Thank you to my 🕷️ anon for requesting this🩵

Written on my phone. My apologies for any mistakes.

Header made by @buckys-wintersoldier

GIF IS NOT MINE! Credit goes to the creators. I found it on Pinterest.

“Boss?” You poked your head in his office. “Are you ready to go home?” You asked.

“I’ll be done in 5 minutes.” Bucky tells you. “Wait for me in the lobby.” He says.

You nodded and closed the door to his office behind you before making your way to the lobby. You sat in one of the chairs in the waiting area and scrolled through your phone while waiting for him.

That’s when you got a weird feeling. You glanced up from your phone to see a small group of people. You assumed they were just walking by so you didn’t think much of it and tried not to let it bother you. You were pulled from your thoughts when you got a text from Bucky.

Boss: On my way to the lobby

You smiled at the text and continued to wait patiently for him. You heard the elevator ding and Bucky got off of it. As you stood up from the chair, you seen one of the people outside pull out a gun and aim it at Bucky, making your eyes go wide.

“Get down!” You shouted.

You used all of your strength to pull Bucky down behind the chairs to avoid the bullets and glass flying towards you guys. Your hands scrambled to get your gun out of your bag. It was already loaded so you poked your head out from the side of the chair and aimed your gun at them and shot at them, taking one of them down.

“Stay here.” You whispered to Bucky.

He nodded and watched you quickly move behind a different chair on the other side of the room. The people thought it would be the perfect opportunity to come inside and fight Bucky or try to shoot him. Bucky did a good job trying to dodge them. What the people didn’t know is that you were on the opposite side of the lobby.

You shot at the person throwing punches at Bucky, purposely missing just to get him away from him. That’s when he started coming towards you. You shot him in the leg to slow him down causing him to fall to the floor.

What you didn’t know was that there was someone behind you. He put his arm around your throat, putting you in a headlock causing you to drop your gun on the floor. You used all of your strength to elbow him in his side hard enough to get him to let go of you. You turned around and punched him hard enough to knock him out.

You quickly picked up your gun from the floor and shot at the another person. That’s when you ran out of bullets. You seen your bag by Bucky and couldn’t get to it.

“Bucky, bullets!” You say, pointing at your bag.

Bucky nodded and rummaged through your bag, finding extra bullets with ease and tossed them to you. You reloaded your gun and aimed it at someone trying to get to Bucky, but someone came up next to you and smacked it out of your hand. You turned your head without thinking and got a punch in the face.

You quickly regained your surroundings and fought back. The person kept making you walk backwards as the two of you fought till your back hit the wall behind you. You didn’t have much leverage without your gun so you threw punches and kicks to defend yourself.

Bucky seen your gun on the floor a couple feet away from him. He made sure the coast was clear before grabbing it.

“Y/N!” Bucky quickly caught your attention. “Catch!” He says.

Bucky tossed your gun to you and you caught it with one hand with ease. You held the barrel of the gun against the person and shot him. The guy screamed in pain and grabbed his shoulder before falling to the floor.

“I’m gonna give you guys 3 seconds to get the hell out of here before I blow each one of your brains out!” You shouted, pointing your gun at them.

The remaining people could tell you weren’t lying when they heard the sound of your gun making a cocking noise. They quickly picked up their unconscious and injured friends and left. Bucky stood there, watching them run away in amusement. He was more than impressed that you scared them away.

When they were out of your sight, you let out a breath you didn’t even know you were holding and unloaded the bullets from your gun into your hand. You put your gun and bullets in your bag and looked at Bucky. Bucky immediately got concerned when he noticed a cut on your lip and your bloody nose.

“Your nose and lip are bleeding.” Bucky says with concern in his voice.

“I’m fine.” You gave him a reassuring smile. “Let go home and get cleaned up.” You say.

When you and Bucky got home, you two got out of your bloody clothes and took showers. You grabbed the first aid kit from underneath your bathroom sink and went to Bucky’s bedroom.

“Your cuts need to be cleaned out.” You say, taking a seat on his bed.

“I’m fine, sweetheart.” Bucky says.

“It wasn’t a question, Mr. Barnes.” You said in all seriousness. “Sit.” You demanded, pointing at the spot of the bed next to you.

Bucky obeyed your demand and sat down next to you. You checked out his injuries before getting anything out of the first aid kit. He just had some bruises and a small cut on the bridge of his nose and a small cut on his jaw. You used a tissue to wipe away the excess and dry blood before putting alcohol on his cuts so they didn’t get infected. Bucky made a small hissing noise and slightly winced when the alcohol got in his cuts.

“You big baby.” You giggled. “You’re a mob boss and alcohol getting in your cuts is making you flinch.” You teasingly say.

“No…” Bucky lied. “I’m taking it like a man.” He says.

“Yea, sure you are, boss man.” You say with a small giggle.

You went back to focusing on patching his cuts up which didn’t take long. You were about to get up to put the first aid kit away and throw away the bloody tissues, but Bucky grabbed your arm and sat you back down on his bed.

“You need to be patched up too.” He says.

“I’m fine, Bucky.” You insisted.

“You have a cut on your lip and bloody nose.” He points out.

“My nose stopped bleeding before I got in the shower.” You said.

“At least let me take care of the cut on your lip.” He pleads.

“Fine.” You mumbled.

Bucky used to tissue to clean the dry blood from your nose and the excess blood from the small cut on your lip. He was being very gentle with you. He has a soft spot for you. He then applied alcohol to the cut on your lip. You made a hissing noise when you felt the sting of the alcohol getting into the cut.

“All done.” He says.

“Thank you, Bucky.” You say with a smile.

“You’re welcome, darling.” He says softly.

You grabbed the first aid kit and put it away and threw away the bloody tissues. You then went back to Bucky’s bedroom to see if he needed anything else before going to bed.

“Do you need anything else, boss?” You asked.

“Actually, I do need one more thing.” Bucky says.

“What is it?” You asked.

Bucky didn’t say anything. He walked up to you and kissed you passionately, catching you off guard. You immediately kissed him back. He pulled away after a few seconds, looking deep in your eyes.

“Thank you for fighting for me and protecting me earlier.” He says.

“You’re welcome.” You smile. “I’d do it again.” You say.

Bucky kissed you once more, but this kiss was more like a goodnight kiss.

“Goodnight, sweetheart.” Bucky says softly.

“Goodnight, Bucky.” You say, looking in his blue eyes.

You walked out of his bedroom and went to your own room down the hall. You laid down on your bed, smiling contently. You’re happy to know that Bucky can count on you to fight for him and to protect him. That’s how you went to bed. So did Bucky.

🩵🩵🩵🩵🩵🩵🩵🩵🩵🩵🩵🩵🩵🩵🩵🩵🩵

-Bucky’s Doll

[changes]

Friday, November 10th, 2023

🌟 New

You can now change your default dashboard tab between “Following” and “For you” by going to your dashboard tab configuration settings (it’s in the tab bar itself) and pinning one or the other. This is out to everyone now on web, and everyone using version 31.9+ of the iOS app or version 31.8+ of the Android app. Setting your default tab on any platform updates the other platforms the next time you reload them.

On web, group blogs that have the “Show author portraits” option enabled now have the author portrait visible in the post header, as well as the group blog’s avatar. (This is how it worked with the larger floating avatars, but has now been included in all places we use the smaller avatars in headers.)

We’ve made some visual tweaks to the reply input’s blog selector, to help make it more obvious that you can click it to select other blogs than your primary blog.

🛠 Fixed

We’ve improved the contrast ratio for the close button when viewing a blog or post in a popup on the site. It was using the blog’s theme colors, but we’ve updated it to force better contrast when a blog is using a low contrast color combination.

We fixed a visual glitch happening in Safari that could cause the left and right arrows in blog and tag recommendation carousels to flicker when hovering over them with your mouse.

🚧 Ongoing

We’re aware of a very rare issue which can make 1:1 direct messaging conversations unusable if one blog accidentally blocks and then unblocks the other participant. Unblocking the other blog should make the conversation work again, we’re not sure why it’s not. If this has happened to you, please reach out to Support and we can help fix the conversation manually!

🌱 Upcoming

Nothing to report here today.

Experiencing an issue? File a Support Request and we’ll get back to you as soon as we can!

Want to share your feedback about something? Check out our Work in Progress blog and start a discussion with the community.

Wanna support Tumblr directly with some money? Check out the new Supporter badge in TumblrMart!

[jcollinswrites]

New update 29/11/24

This update is more technical than anything. There is not a big pile of new content, but there are lots of small changes.

Chapter 2 is officially completed! It still needs some editing, but the bulk of the writing is done.

I changed the scene where priests can visit Tia in the hospital if she survived. Hudjefa isn't there anymore but Tia's parents are. This is probably the biggest change made in this update.

I did some editing and fixed a few awkward sentences here and there.

Changed the description of the warnings for the age choice. It's a bit more vague now, but I prefer it this way (if anyone wants to know the specifics, here is the FAQ that explains it)

I made clarifications for the options in the age-choice, just to make sure that readers know that the option "late teens" does NOT mean an underage MC.

Made the magic system a bit clearer in-game when you choose your patron god, and added it to the Stats screen.

Added a lot of extra variations in the text (1-2 sentences in a lot of places) that will make reading a bit more immersive.

These issues with the game are still ongoing. The admin is working on fixing them, but as I saw, Weeping Gods is not the only one suffering from them.

So far, the best way to prevent an error from popping up: 1) before you start reading, hit restart. 2) do NOT close the tab while you read. 3) if you notice that the Achievements button is not showing up on the header, save and restart the game.

If you still get a game-breaking error, try this:

Cancel the error message

Reload the browser page (or hit F5)

Cancel the error again, now the save function should be available, even if you only see a blank page

Save the game

Hit restart

Load the save. It should continue without an error.

Old saves won't work because I changed both chapter files. I will not do this again for a while because like I said before, the regular weekly updates are going to move to patreon. Starting from CH3, I will also make a quick character creation option so that you can skip the first 2 chapters, even if the saves restart.

I think that's all. This week was horribly tiring for me, so I'm sorry if I'm not as chipper as before. Troubleshooting the errors and everything else kinda drained me.

LINK

Thanks for reading!

JC

[hamsterbellbelle]

Floating Beach Ball

- polycount: 320 - Island Living needed - 14 swatches

⚠️Gameplay instruction:

Select ball and click "Start Drift", this will call up an action queue on the sim's panel.

Manually cancel the action for the object to start drifting. The drifting action is unreversible unless purchasing a new ball.

The drifting action will also be cancelled upon exiting lot or reloading game.

DOWNLOAD - end of post

⬆️Click on the ball and select "Start Drift"

⬆️Cancel the interaction on your sim. If the ball doesn't start drifting, repeat this interaction a few more times. ⚠️Balls may also not move if insufficient space.

⬆️x3 speed of the balls floating around. The header-video is normal speed.

⬆️swatches. slightly transparent except for the ones with pattern.

[DOWNLOAD] alt. DOWNLOAD 2

[atlas-starfield]

Toyhouse HTML stuff

Decided to make a big post to share the coders, information and sheets i saved cuz why not. All of them are F2U, check the coders to find their other works and support them!

Folders Directories and Folder Descriptions may look the same but i know why i divided them trust me. It may also be a bit messy with other things

Useful information, tools & others

Live code - Shows you the code you're making / editing in real time. Has many variations depending on what you're working with

Icons - Little symbols / icons used as decoration

Animations (works for images too)

Folder look

Coder's Quarters

Content Warning

Content Warning (2)

Species (folder)

Coder's Quarters

CSS Cheat Sheet

Coders & Codes

Coders (Some with their freebies folders)

Pinky

ChiiAka

Icecreampizzeria

Jiko

Raccodes

Sealkitty

Vicodes

SparklyCodes

Ashecodes

Cheerikos

Aurorean

Codes

Target

Elements

Polaroids (Works as folders too)

Aurum

Air Bubble

Capsule

Seafoam

Bubbly

Little Ink

Cloud Nine

New Moon

Simple Things

Tactician

Out There

Eclipse

Amphidromic

Panels

Reload

Browser History

Cyber user

Netrunner

PhylusUI.exe

Nebula

Sunny Boxes

[P2U] Peashes

Forest

Frosted

[P2U] RED SUIT

[P2U] PARLIAMENT

BLOODSHOT

Lux

Rigor Samsa

Seaside

Lyrical

Sleek

Warriors Remind

Misty

Find yourself

F2U Code - 2.0

Watershed

Folders

Folder Directories

Story Palettes and Themes

Decay

Folder Code 2

Folder Directory

Blocked Folder Directory

Directory

Directory Banner

Fancy Folders

Custom Folders

Folder Descriptions

Story Tabs

Subfolder Headers

Cyberpunk (Folder)

Enjoy the show

Universe Folder

Landscape folder

Story folder

Labels

Setting Overview

Character Directory

Warrior Cats (Clans)

Character Directory Redux

Flat Character Directory 02

Flat Character Directory 06

Flat Character Directory 07

Kinlist (Works as folder directory too)

.05 | multi-page

CSS

[P2U] Mood

[P2U] Float

[P2U] Condensed

[P2U] Float

[P2U] Autumnal

[P2U] Gridsy

Char Emulator

NovasEnd

[P2U] Furthermore

[P2U] FULLPAGE

[still-breathing-au-p3r]

[continued from here] [first post for October 18th]

Akhiko can’t remember a single time when the silence between them felt so awkward. 

Tense, sure– especially recently. But never like this.

Akihiko wonders if Shinji can tell just how frustrated he’s getting. Probably; they’ve always been able to read each other pretty well, Shinji especially– with the uncanny talent of getting even better at it whenever Akihiko particularly doesn’t want to be read.

Dammit, this is not how he’d wanted this to go. This isn’t how he wants to feel while talking to Shinji after facing the uncertainty of whether he’d ever get the chance to again. Why the hell is it happening this way? Why can’t things just make sense? 

With all the knowledge Akihiko has now, things feel too different. The fact that Shinji had kept quiet about all of it just makes it even worse, and he doesn’t even have the decency to be apologetic about it. It’s like he doesn’t even care that he could still drop dead at any given moment, despite all they’ve been through. Like it doesn’t matter to him at all what that would do to the rest of the team, to Mitsuru, to Akihiko–

It’s ridiculous. It’s infuriating.

Akihiko takes a deep breath in and out through his nose in a way he hopes is subtle enough to go unnoticed. He needs to change the topic again.

Akihiko groans. Of course. Of course that’s the first thing Shinji remembers. Why on earth should he have expected his luck to be any less terrible than that? As if he didn’t feel shitty enough.

He doesn’t sound sorry in the least. Fresh, caustic heat flares in Akihiko’s chest. The last thread of his self-control is getting more and more taut and frayed, and one stray spark really will make it snap. He can’t hide how high his temper is rising anymore, even if he could still be bothered to.

One stray spark. Akihiko surges up to stand, fists clenched at his sides and shaking with fury.

Shinji blinks at him, slack-jawed and stunned, and Akihiko is torn between an ugly sort of satisfaction and feeling even more infuriated, because how the hell could any of this come as a shock to him? Isn’t this exactly what Shinji’s been goading him on to since the moment Akihiko walked through the door this morning?

Since long, long before then– Shinji’s been pushing and prodding and herding him towards this cliff since the moment he walked out of the dorm with no intention of ever coming back, and now he has the audacity to act surprised that Akihiko’s gone over the edge?

“What do you think would’ve happened if Amada had actually killed you, huh? Did you really think he’d be just fine after that? Did you think that would’ve solved anything? That it would be anything other than taking the easy way out?

“I never would have thought you could be that much of a coward,” Akihiko sneers, venomous. Poison for poison, repaying what Shinji had spat out like a cobra a month ago. Shinji winces and looks away, but he remains silent.

Good, because Akihiko isn’t nearly finished. “And did you even stop to think for one second about the people who give a shit about you? About what it would do to us if you just went off and died without saying a word?!”

“Aki–” Something odd has crept into Shinji’s expression, but Akihiko steamrolls over it, too caught up in his own vehement momentum to spare a thought for curious inconsistencies. Blood roars in his ears and his throat singes and stings.

“What would I have told Miki if you went out like that? Were you fine with breaking your promise to her too? Is that it?!”

“Aki.”

“Because you’ve gotten so good at that, haven’t you? Going back on your word, leaving people behind–”

“Aki.”

Shinji barely raises his voice, but it still cuts right through Akihiko’s even though he’s practically shouting at this point. It’s only now that it dawns on Akihiko how loud he was being. Just like that, all of his anger snuffs out, so suddenly that it leaves him dizzy and cold.

Dizzy, and cold, and ill– every malignant word of his tirade echoes punishingly around his skull. The blood drains from his face.

“I– Shinji, I’m–” His voice has gone thin and shivery. “I’m sorry. I didn’t–”

“Don’t be sorry,” Shinji replies quietly, not looking at him. “The only reason I stopped you was ‘cause I don’t want them to kick you out.”

Akihiko can hardly wrap his head around what Shinji’s saying. He has every right to want to get rid of Akihiko by any means necessary after all of that. He should want to, why wouldn’t he want to–

God, and for him to bring Miki into it? Akihiko’s never felt so ashamed in his life. Using her memory as a weapon– what kind of person does that?

Akihiko wants to tear into his hair in frustration– at Shinji, at himself, at everything. He wants to climb right out of his skin. “I shouldn’t have said any of–”

“Yeah, you should have.” Shinji locks his gaze pointedly to Akihiko’s. “You needed to say it, and–” His eyes slide away again. “...and I think I needed to hear it.”

Akihiko collapses back into the chair, slumping forward over his knees. “Why aren’t you angry?” The question is pleading, almost desperate.” I– I was awful to you just now.” 

“You weren’t wrong, though. Not like I didn’t earn pretty much all of it.” Shinji laughs– laughs– and Akihiko feels like he’s going to be sick. “‘Sides, it…sounded like that’s been building up for a while.”

What is he supposed to say? What can he say?

Nothing. That’d be best.

He’s already said enough.

[pixiel]

hi! ive been using the old tumblr dashboard style you made and recently like in the past few days its been glitching... my reblogged posts don't show up on my dashboard and when i click on the posts in my archive and click to view it on my blog it glitches and reloads and kinda freaks out and then my blog only shows original posts i made...

i checked on a different browser and on my phone to make sure it wasn't a problem on my end and i reinstalled the style with the latest update. I'm not sure if this is fixable but i wanted to bring it to your attention.

thank you! <3

Hello! This is something that's physically impossible for Old Tumblr Dashboard to do! All my code does is move things (the sidebar to create a header, some menu items, etc) around on the screen, it cannot force your page to reload or hide any posts.

I've heard some people having similar issues with Dashboard Unfucker too. If you're not using dashboard unfucker as well, then it sounds to me like something else might be causing these problems for everyone!

After some quick testing, I can recreate these issues WHILE UBLOCK ORIGIN is turned on. I turned off all of my addons and tested each one by one, if I turn Ublock off and on again I can see my reblogged post being hidden.

Anyone who has been having weird glitching test out firefox with Ublock Origin or any other filter list/adblock/etc turned off. Edit: Or do the below. I don't know if this will fix the issues people were having with Dashboard Unfucker but it might!

After testing out what might be the cause, I believe it might be one of the filters applied, everything seemed to work again when I removed it; ww​w.​tum​blr.​com##div.W45iW.KYCZY.rZlUD:nth-of-type(1)

So click on Ublock Origin, click the three cogwheels on the bottom right, go into My Filters, and see if you have that or something similar flagged to be blocked by Ublock Origin. If you don't, remove all filters that have https://w​ww​.​tu​mblr​.co​m written above/next to them and start fresh.

If that doesn't fix it, I'd definitely recommend turning literally every extension/add-on off and seeing if you still have the issue - even extensions that are unrelated to Tumblr, every single one! If you still have issues with Tumblr after that definitely contact Tumblr support tumblr.com/support

If you don't have any issues, turn each extension/add-on back on one by one until you find whatever one is causing problems!

[lotus-lamps]

pt. 2 of im bored so im gonna post my ao3 works here lmao (yes i AM just going to copy the format)

(ao3 link if you prefer to read it there)

I didn't ask for an adventure (but i got one anyway)

(help i spent an embarrassing amount of time making this header only for it to look mid lmao)

word count: 6.4k | date of creation: 5/26/2024 | status: incomplete, may be updated soon | fandom: Project Sekai + Vocaloid | relationships: Miku & Kaito (platonic)

synopsis: Miku encounters Kaito carrying out his hitman duties in the middle of her nighttime stroll. He offers her the choice to be his partner in crime. (fantasy au in the making, though the fantasy hasn't taken form yet.)

tw: violence, references to depression & nihilism.

1. Fateful Encounter

Miku meets a strange man during her midnight walk. Surely this will end well, right?

Miku walks down the nearly empty streets of Yokohama, idly tossing a green apple up into the air and then catching it when it fell. The reflections of bright, neon signs of shops and advertisements shone brightly in the large puddles on the pavement. Miku feels the rain dampen her hair as she hops over each one pool of water, not caring to bring an umbrella with her for her walk. She takes out her pocket knife and spins it in the air once, before starting to peel the apple in her other hand, casually strolling down the street. 

A loud bang! echoes through the city streets, followed by a scream and the sound of a body hitting the wall. Miku pauses for a moment, a section of the apple peel falling to the ground. She tilts her head towards the sound, and stealthily makes her way to the alley where the sound came from. She finds a man standing in front of a bloody corpse, reloading his gun as bullet casings falling to the ground with a clink . Despite remaining mostly hidden, the man turns around with a knowing grin and cocks the gun at Miku. 

“Sorry!” he says sweetly, innocently tucking his hair behind his ear, revealing a brilliant red ruby earring. His grin grows feral and unhinged. “I can’t be having any witnesses.” 

He fires a perfectly aimed shot, but Miku just flattens her body against the wall, and the bullet hits a brick wall instead. The man uses this distraction as an opportunity to quickly dash towards Miku, firing several consecutive shots from two shiny pistols with insane precision. Miku swiftly dodges past all of them, spinning her pocket knife and slicing through the last bullet. She grips her half peeled apple and languidly takes a bite. 

The man smiles at her, almost as if he were pleased that none of this bullets landed. He calmly puts his pistols back in his holster and wipes his hands on his pants. 

“Why’d you peel the apple if you’re just going to eat it with your bare hands?” He asks casually, and then grins again. “If you say it’s because you don’t like eating the peel, I’ll shoot you again.” 

Miku takes another bite, purposefully chewing as loudly as possible. “Because I was bored.” She responds nonchalantly with her mouth full, before raising her eyebrows. “And besides, you wouldn’t be able to hit me anyways.”

The man just laughs, turning around to crouch down and inspect the dead body. He rummages around the corpse’s coat pocket, pulling out a wallet and flipping it open, taking out anything of value and slipping it inside his own pockets. Miku steps closer, spinning her knife around before pressing it against the back of the man’s neck. The man flips the wallet shut and returns it to the corpse’s pocket.

“What makes you think I won’t kill you right now?” Miku leans forward, asking in an icy tone. She presses the blade with a bit more force, drawing a small amount of blood.

The man turns around with an equally cold smirk. “You won’t,” he responds firmly, before turning back around and poking at the body for more valuables. “Besides,” he continues cheerily. “You’ll only do it if it’s fun. I guarantee you it isn’t.”

Miku raises her eyebrows, but retracts her knife anyways. He’s not exactly wrong, and she’s not nearly as violent as she presents herself as. She’s never killed anyone, since the consequences are a lot less fun than the killing itself. After deeming the body as fully looted, the man slings it over his shoulder and makes a halfhearted job of cleaning up any blood left behind. He grins at Miku before turning around to go. 

She snorts, taking another bite from the apple. “So much for no witnesses.” 

The man turns around with a shrug. “You won’t report me, so why bother? I don’t like disposing bodies anyways, that work is for my clients.” 

“You make your clients get rid of the evidence? What kind of hitman are you?” Miku questions dubiously. She doesn’t really give a shit either way, but she’s curious about his response. 

“A damn good one.” He lies with a toothy grin. Miku just rolls her eyes. He tosses a bullet at her, and she catches it with artful precision. “Nice to meet you, stranger.” He says simply, and walks away. 

Miku inspects the bullet carefully under one of the glowing signs. A barely noticeable phone number is engraved into the side. She stuffs it back into her pockets, staring up into the night sky with an unreadable expression.

Just what kind of bullshit am I getting myself into?

Kaito absentmindedly tosses the remote control up and down, uncaring to whatever conspiracy theory the news reporter is currently babbling about on the television. He scratches his head and groans loudly. There’s nothing for him to do in this stolen hotel room. Maybe I should go rob another jewelry store. He thinks to himself. Or perhaps a gun shop? A few more firearms never hurt. 

He had just shown his client his target’s corpse for proof of work, and the client happily paid him his due salary. Unfortunately, the man also wanted Kaito to dispose of the body himself, thankfully with some extra pay. With annoyance, he found some random trash bag to stuff the dismembered body parts in and halfheartedly dropped it in a nearby dumpster. Who cares if somebody finds it? It’s not his problem anyways. He’ll get a move on sooner or later. Sure, he’s a pretty skilled criminal, but he’s not that good at avoiding the authorities. He’ll probably sightsee at some bars tomorrow and then get going. 

Kaito was just about to head out when he heard his phone ring. He smiles to himself. Must be the new girl. He thinks to himself, before pulling out his phone and picking up the call.

“Hiii~,” He croons in an obnoxious, singsong voice while raiding the mini fridge of drinks, popping one open and taking a loud sip. “Is it the little girl I met today?”

“Little girl my ass,” the caller responds with a pissed voice. “I’m a few years younger than you at best. Also, saying it like that is going to make you sound like a lolicon,” she adds with a hint of disgust.

Kaito chokes on his drink, coughing and wheezing loudly as he spits it out. The girl snorts from the other end. “I’d like you to know I only date women my age,” He says in between hysterical coughs. 

“As if you’ll ever get any,” She responds. Kaito can almost hear the eyeroll through the phone. “So, why’d you give me your number?

“Why’d you call my number?” He responds snarkily, taking another sip from his drink.

“Bored, I guess,” The caller deadpans. 

Kaito just snorts. Guess that’s all there really is to this girl.

“Also I wanted to see if the number was real,” She adds.

“Fair enough,” he responds. “What’s your name, mystery girl?”

“Why should I tell you?” She deadpans again.

“Because I asked,” He croons obnoxiously, fluttering his eyelashes. 

“Has anyone ever told you how fucking punchable you are? I’m gonna hang up on your sorry ass if you keep being an irritable bitch.” The caller curses through gritted teeth.

“NOOOO I’m so sorry I’ll never do it again!!” He absolutely lies through barely contained laughter. He settles down again, and continues calmly. “The name’s Kaito. I gave you my number because you’re good at whatever it is that you’re doing. I want to partner up. You can take care of all the shit I don’t want to do.”

“So much for sweet talking. Straight to the point, huh?” She says in a bored tone. After pausing for a moment, she responds quietly. “Hatsune Miku. I’ll consider your offer.”

Kaito grins. “Good,” he says cheerfully. “Meet me at Bar Lupin tomorrow. Midnight, sharp.”

“Whatever you say, man.” Miku responds halfheartedly before hanging up.

Kaito lets out a laugh and drops his phone back into his pocket, staring at the stained ceiling.

Good. he thinks to himself. I win.

2. Newfound Partnership

Miku stares at her watch. 12:07 a.m. So much for “Midnight, sharp.” She thinks to herself, rolling her eyes. She’s hardly punctual herself, but she assumed Kaito would be at least a little decent with time. How the hell does he still get jobs with such a shitty work ethic, anyway? Miku taps her feet impatiently, spinning the umbrella in her hands. She’s glad she brought one at all; today’s rain is much heavier than yesterday’s. The sound of rainfall was so loud that Miku felt like it was filling her eardrums, and the rain was creating large pools of water beneath her feet that soaked into her shoes, much to her dismay. Kaito said to meet up at Bar Lupin, but he never specified whether or not she should be waiting inside. She knows she probably looks extremely suspicious loitering outside the bar, but she can’t be bothered to care. 

Miku was just about to give up and head inside the bar when a man comes sprinting over, splashing copious amounts of rainwater onto himself. She quickly steps back to avoid getting drenched, half expecting Kaito to do a full body shake like a dog to get the water out. He takes a few breaths before running a hand through the wet hair that covers most of his face, revealing a deranged smile and a dark, manic glint in his eyes. 

“Sorry for the wait!” He says quickly between hysterical laughs. “Let’s just say my target wasn’t nearly as compliant as I expected him to be. Luckily, the rain washed all the blood out though! Well, I hope so.” He adds, rubbing at his cheek just in case. “Can I stand under your umbrella?”

“No.” Miku deadpans immediately. Kaito starts making puppy dog eyes at her, but she just quickly closes the umbrella and whacks him with it. 

“Hey! Not nice! Very rude, in fact!” Kaito complains halfheartedly, only to get hit by the umbrella again. 

“Okay okay I get it! Jeez. Women these days,” He mutters under his breath, before his back is immediately whacked by the umbrella at full force, causing him to yelp out a string of curses.

“Your persuasion skills are horrendous. If there were any chances of me joining you before, there definitely aren't any now.” Miku says in an annoyed tone, opening up the umbrella again. 

Kaito rubs his back, muttering a series of “ow”s under his breath. “Aww, are you really turning down my wonderful offer?” He says sadly, making puppy dog eyes again. 

“Yes.” Miku replies sternly, but she’s not sure if she means it. 

Kaito straightens himself and he loses all his playful demeanor. He stares at Miku with a cold and almost mocking gaze. “Really now?” He questions with an icy tone. “Why not? It’s not like you have anything in your life that’s worth meaning.” 

Miku whips around, eyes dark and furious as she glares at Kaito. “What makes you think you know anything about me?” She snaps angrily, voice laced with stingy venom. She grips her pocket knife. 

Kaito’s grins cruelly, eyes losing its light. “I’m not wrong though, am I?” He says coldly, voice devoid of kindness. “And what did you expect? A teammate who’s loving and supportive?” He lets out a manic laugh. “Oh please. You already know what I do for a living.” He rests his hand on the pistols in his holster as his grin grows more feral. “So, what do you say? Are you interested in teaming up with a blatant, irredeemable murderer?”

Miku narrows her eyes but simply lets out a tch and turns her head away. “You really are bad at persuasion.” She finally comments after several moments of silence. 

Kaito smiles enthusiastically, his bubbly persona returning to him. “Hey now, nobody’s perfect!” He extends his hand and leans forward. “So do we have a deal or not?”

Miku remains quiet for a long moment before she lets out an exasperated sigh. She hates the fact that he’s right. She really doesn’t have anything meaningful in her life. She doesn’t like how accurate he’s been with his predictions about her, especially since they just met. “Fine. It’s not like I have anything better to do anyway.” She replies half heartedly, shaking the man’s hand.

Kaito grins smugly, eagerly shaking her hand. “Told you.”

“I’ll kill you if you continue to be a smartass.” Miku responds with a cold, emotionless voice. “I don’t care what you think about me and whether or not I’m dangerous enough to harm you. Just know that if you try anything funny, you’ll be dead before you can even breathe.” 

Kaito’s smile turns crazed again. “How lovely. I’ll be looking forward to it.”

“Really? Robbing a jewelry store?” Miku deadpans. She shivers and rubs her arms, trying to keep warm in the cold weather. “In the rain, too. Aren’t you supposed to be smart or something?”

Kaito scoffs at her with wide eyes, dramatically holding his hand to his heart as if her words were extremely offensive. “You wound me, Miku-chan!” Miku lets out a groan. She can’t believe that they’re already on a first name basis, but more importantly, she can’t tell if she’s offended or flattered. Kaito continues, ignoring her: “There’s nothing wrong with a good old heist. It’s a classic! Besides, I get the feeling that you’re not up for some murder anyways.” Miku says nothing, but still feels upset that he’s deciphering her scarily well. 

She lets out an exasperated sigh. “Why are we doing this again? If you want more money, you might as well become a drug dealer.”

Kaito snorts. “Relax,” He responds with a wink. Miku imitates a gagging motion, which just causes him to laugh again. “I’m only a burglar because I can’t get these things legally. I have the money to pay for it, but I can’t just stroll in and purchase it like any other citizen. I’m a wanted criminal.” He replies logically and calmly, adjusting his position. They’re both crouching on a low rooftop, and Kaito would rather not have one of them slip and die of fall damage before they even get to rob anything. What a waste that’d be. 

“Speaking of which, how have you not been caught yet? You’re anything but secretive with your crime, so how are you even allowed in public spaces without immediately getting arrested? Also, if you really want the jewelry, can’t you just get someone to deal it to you?” Miku questions, pulling out another apple and taking a bite. 

“...where do you keep getting those? Apples don’t even taste that good.” Kaito replies, staring at the fruit in Miku’s hand. It’s the first time she’s seen him look both genuinely curious and concerned. 

Miku raises her eyebrows. “I do have a bag with me, you know. You’re a lot more stupid than you let on.” Kaito pretends to be offended again, and Miku just rolls her eyes, chewing on the fruit. “Also, stop avoiding the question.” 

Kaito laughs coldly, eyes devoid of humor. Miku narrows her eyes at him. He keeps switching his personas. It’s pissing me off. “Well,” he starts, “First of all, I’ve been in this city for about a week, not long enough for me to get caught. I have decent connections to underground societies, so I don’t usually run out of hitman work. If I do happen to lose business, I can always just rob some random store or stranger.” He says casually, as if it was any normal thing.

“Second of all, I’m a hitman with deadly skill in the art of killing.” He grins maniacally. “Do you really think any ordinary person would want to mess with me? If they’re barely a threat, I’ll just threaten to shoot them. I tried to kill you right away, because I could tell that you could be dangerous.” Miku’s eyes widen and she can't help but smile to herself. So he isn’t underestimating me after all. Good. Kaito seems to notice her smile, because lets out a small laugh. Miku has to use what little self control she has left to restrain herself from just pushing him off the roof.  

“Lastly, I can survive the authorities well enough. I can either bribe my way out of it with the corrupt, or just shoot them if they threaten me with jail time or violence. Those two tactics almost always work on the cops I have to deal with. Authorities that I can’t use either strategy on are actually rarely on my case.” He shrugs with an easygoing smile. “Even though I’m a murderer, I only really take on offers where my victim is someone…insignificant. Someone who will be grieved, but only by other, unimportant people. That way, the consequences become fairly inconsequential. I won’t kill anybody influential, that’s far too much of a hassle for an ordinary person like me.” He laughs it off, as if he were any average person. 

Miku raises his eyebrows at him. “As if you’re anyone ordinary,” she responds, but her mind was occupied with something else. Someone insignificant. Grieved only by other insignificant people. Kaito was being brutally honest. It was true that those people were undoubtedly ordinary and average, someone you wouldn’t notice and someone you wouldn’t remember. Just an insignificant number to be added to the total population count. Someone with a life that doesn’t matter. Miku stares at the apple in her hands. She fits his description perfectly. She may not be as ordinary as your average citizen, but her life was anything but meaningful. She had no friends, no family. She does not contribute to anything nor anyone. If Kaito were to kill her right then and there, no one would have ever noticed. That’s why she accepted his deal, wasn’t it? She feigns boredom because she’s lonely. She’s not suicidal. She never wanted to die, but her life is so pointless that it’s hard to see why she’s still living.

Miku shakes her head, clearing her thoughts. She turns to look at Kaito instead, nudging him with her foot. “Hey,” she says quietly. “Why’d you start crime anyway?”

Kaito smiles softly, staring up at the rainy sky. “I was bored.”

Miku’s sure she misheard. “...What?” She asks dubiously. 

Kaito turns to look at her. His gaze is soft and gentle, unlike anything she’s seen from him before. “You heard me. I was bored,” he replies simply. Miku’s still staring at him like he’s insane, so he continues, leaning forward and resting his elbows on his knees. “We’re not that different, you and I. Let me guess, you’ve been thinking about how well I correctly guess your thoughts and predict your behavior, right?” Miku almost chokes on her apple, but Kaito goes on regardless. “It’s because I see myself in you, Miku. I was like you once, and that’s why I understand you. Why did I start crime? I was bored. I lived a meaningless life with no friends or family. Nothing to look forward to, nothing to enjoy. I woke up, and then I went to bed, and I don’t even remember what I did in between. That’s how pointless it all was. I had no dreams, no thoughts of my own, no simple pleasures or hobbies. You start behaving like a mindless robot, and you forget the fact that you’re even alive at all. You don’t fear death anymore, because in the end it’s no different than being alive.”

He lets out an almost bitter laugh. “I know crime isn’t the best outlet for nihilism. I’m sure there’s plenty of beneficial and positive ways to overcome a meaningless life.” He shrugs. “I guess murder and robbery just stuck with me, for some reason. I won’t pretend like I’m a good person. I’m well aware that human life shouldn’t be taken lightly, and that homicide is morally incorrect. I’m sure my clients have a good reason to kill whoever they see fit, I’m just the middleman in charge of making sure the job gets done. I’m not a vigilante, I don’t kill whoever I think should die because of justice and righteousness. I do it because I get paid to, and there’s a sense of exhilaration with it all. Twisted as it is, frankly, it’s fun. It brings meaning to my life, no matter how morbid it is. And hey, I guess I get some cash out of it too. I get to momentarily pretend like I live a life of luxury.” He shrugs again. “It’s really no different to a nihilist. It won’t give your life any meaning, but at least it makes things easier.”

Kaito smiles at her. Miku thinks it’s the first real one he’s given her since they’ve met. “I suppose that’s why I wanted to partner up with you so quickly. I’m not the best influence, even if we really are so similar. You’re not a criminal yet, and you don’t have to be one. You still have a chance to live a meaningful life, and a beneficial one at that. I know I shouldn’t be saying this after I invited you to a life of crime, but I mean it. Even if you already agreed, you can still turn back now. I won’t ruin any more lives than I have to.” Miku knows he’s being honest. He’s letting himself be vulnerable so that she can truly trust him. 

She knows that he’s right. She’s never committed a crime before, even if she does enjoy a bit of chaos and isn’t the most law abiding citizen, it’s definitely nothing on Kaito’s level. It’s true that she could make a meaningful life out of something legal and positive. But where would she even start? Miku felt like Kaito was her first and only friend, even if she would never admit it. He’s right about the fun part with crime too, even if it’s messed up. The adrenaline rush and the excitement of it all- it’s surely better than living a life of nothing at all, right? 

Miku looks at Kaito and smiles. It’s the first real one she’s given him since they’ve met. Hell, it’s the first time she’s smiled a real smile in a long time. “I’ll stay,” she says gently. Kaito’s eyes widen. “I don’t mind it. I can’t say that I was ever a good person anyway. I don’t want to kill, but I’m fine with other petty crimes. It’s not like the rich bastards who would’ve been the ones to get their hands on the stuff deserve it anyway.” She pulls her hood down and stares into the distance. The city lights are bright and shiny. “...I’m not looking for meaning, necessarily. I’m okay with living a life that doesn’t matter. Most people are living ordinary, insignificant lives anyway. It’s just so pointless, living such a boring and worthless life. It doesn’t feel like living anymore. I don’t need it to be special or important, I just want it to be something, anything.”

Kaito stares at her. He feels seen, for the first time. He already knew that Miku was like him, but he didn’t expect them to be so strikingly similar, almost exactly the same. He smiles softly. “Good,” He responds. “I can’t promise you any meaning, but I can guarantee that it’ll be something. It may not be a good life, but in the end, it’s worth it. To me, at least. It’s worth something.” He grins again, pushing himself up and extending a hand to Miku. “C’mon!” He shouts enthusiastically. “We have a heist to do.”

Miku glances at him for a moment, before letting out a grateful laugh and taking his hand, letting him pull her up. “Sure, sure.” she replies, unable to hide the smile that’s forming on her face. “Jeez, how have you not caught a cold? It’s been raining all …night?” She mutters, holding out her hand. Oh, she thinks to herself. It stopped.

She looks up at the night sky, and not a single cloud is in sight. The moon shines a brilliant, liquid white, and thousands of stars dot the beautiful, shadowy midnight. A soft blue glow is cast onto the entire city, and the distant sound of chatter and laughter fill her ears. Miku feels her breath getting caught in her throat, and she can’t help but let herself laugh freely, the sound resonating through the air. 

Oh, but if it’s not raining anymore, why is my face wet?

Miku places a hand on her cheek. Oh, she realizes. They’re tears. I’m crying. Why am I crying? She looks back at the sky, and she suddenly understands why. 

Because it has meaning now. It’s worth something, this pitiful world. There’s something beautiful about it regardless, something imperfectly special. 

She lets out another joyous laugh. Thank you. The world sees me. It really is something meaningful now, after all. 

Miku tosses the half eaten apple up and down, catching it lazily. Kaito eyes her with a disgusted look. 

“Dude. You need to stop. That only works when it’s an untouched, uneaten apple.” He says, voice laced with concern and revulsion. 

Miku catches the apple only to take another, loud bite out of it, and then immediately goes back to throwing it into the air. Kaito makes a gagging motion, to which Miku snorts.

“I’ll throw it at you if you keep this going,” She replies calmly, a smug smirk growing on her face. 

“This time I’ll really shoot you.” He deadpans, so genuinely that Miku can barely tell if he’s joking or not. Miku just snorts again, taking another bite. 

“You sure have a lot of problems with the way I eat apples,” She adds nonchalantly, speaking through chunks of apple.

“Yes,” Kaito responds, completely serious, staring at Miku as if she’s absolutely delusional. “I do.” He sighs and rubs at his temples, as if eating apples strangely was the world’s most unforgivable crime. Miku half heartedly throws the fruit at him, to which he yelps out a high pitched shriek and narrowly dodges it. 

“I am THIS close to pulling out my pistols and firing at you until you have so many bullet wounds that the doctors won’t be able to identify who you are even after several autopsies,” He threatens lovingly, with a faux sweet and absolutely pissed smile. He grips the handles of his guns as if he means it. Miku honestly can’t tell whether he’s being serious or not at this point, but she smiles anyway.

“Awfully specific. Sounds like you have experience,” She banters cheekily, voice dripping with sarcasm, but she gets back on topic. “But let’s get a move on. What’s the plan?”

Kaito straightens himself, seeming to drop his irritation with Miku’s (fairly questionable) apple eating habits and shoots her an easygoing grin and a wink. “I’m glad you asked, partner!” Miku groans and drags her hands down her face. Sure, they just had a touching moment, but this man has the cringe energy of thousands of wannabe cool fathers trying to talk slang to their kids combined. Kaito’s honestly not even doing anything too bad, he just somehow makes everything insufferable. It’s impressive, really. 

“This one’ll be pretty easy, since it’s still your first time. This jewelry store is fairly new, but nothing special enough to garner popularity. Since they’re new to the business, security measures are still fairly loose, but it’s still a jewelry store with valuable items, so we need to be cautious nonetheless. Our first objective is to get in.” he says, pulling out two hairpins from his coat pocket and spinning them around. Kaito smiles at Miku, jerking his head towards the back of the shop and then motioning for her to follow.

“It’s late at night and the store is closed, so getting in won’t be much of an issue. There aren’t any guards posted, and getting in through the back entrance should be no problem, as I doubt the owners are meticulous enough to install alarms here.” He clicks the pins together and carefully inserts them into the lock of the door, twisting and turning them around until he hears a quiet click, grinning to himself as he turns the doorknob and pushes the door open with ease. Miku sticks her head through and tries to look around, but it’s far too dark to see anything. Kaito opens the flashlight on his phone and waves it around. It seems to be some sort of messy mini office, the floor littered with half opened boxes and supplies. 

Kaito flashes Miku a toothy grin and winks. “Step one done.” 

Miku stares at him incredulously. “That easy?”

Kaito lets out a bark of laughter in response. “I wish,” he begins, stepping further inside, twirling the hairpins between his fingers. “If only it was that easy for every heist. And this one’s just barely started, so don’t fool yourself into thinking it’ll go smoothly at all.”

He picks through a few more locks and doors, mentioning something about teaching Miku how to do so as well, but she only registers parts of the conversation, caught up in her own thoughts. Ironically, Miku finds that she’s not nervous at all. She doesn’t feel the fear of getting caught, the guilt of immorality, the adrenaline of danger, nor the excitement of something new. She doesn’t feel anything at all, which bothers her. Of course, Miku knows they only just got in and that things will start to get more exciting, but her only thought is that everything is incredibly boring so far. She can’t help but feel disinterested in everything going on. As if Kaito could read her mind again, he turns around and shoots her a knowing but smug look.

“Relax, it’ll get more interesting sooner or later. You may not feel much now or even afterwards, but it’s still fairly fun regardless.” Miku lets out a long sigh and shoves her hands into her pockets. Just because she understands why Kaito can see through her so well doesn’t mean that she’ll ever get used to it. Miku’d be lying if she said that his scarily accurate statements didn’t still freak her out a little. Kaito motions for her to come over as he opens the door to the main section of the jewelry store. 

“Now, our second task is to snatch as many of these babies as we can. I’ll give you two options. Do you want to get as much valuables as possible and have a movie style chase scene, or would you rather play it safe and get out as fast as possible?”

Miku considers it for a moment. “Eh, let’s just take the safer choice. Yokohama’s okay enough for me to want to stay a little longer before we’re inevitably forced to leave.”

Kaito nods at her and then at the jewelry shining in the glass cases. “Alright. In that case, we’ll have to move quicker. Go check out what you want to take. I suggest you go for style rather than value, unless you consider yourself a good black market dealer. Once we start breaking the cases, the alarm will go off. I assume it’ll directly contact the police station as nobody’s manning it here right now, and so we’ll have to act fast. Plan accordingly ahead of time for the route you’re going to take when you’re grabbing the jewelry. The station isn’t particularly close, so we’ll have a bit more time.” He checks his watch, and then looks back up at her. “It’ll take around seven minutes and thirty nine seconds for them to get here, so you’ll have approximately six minutes to take whatever before we need to bail. Sounds good?”

“Sure, I guess. What’s the escape route?” 

He gives a halfhearted shrug with a questionable grin and his professional facade immediately disappears. “I’ll figure it out from there,” He replies nonchalantly.

Miku couldn’t believe her ears. Holy shit, I’m one crime in and she’s already going to get arrested. “What the fuck do you mean, ‘I’ll figure it out from there’ ?!?”

Kaito laughs heartily and waves it off, turning away from a thoroughly pissed Miku. “As I was saying, I’ll need to destroy the evidence so we don’t get caught immediately. I’ll locate every security camera in the location and shoot them. To maximize our time, I’ll signal you so we can break through the cases and get rid of the cameras at the same time.” He tosses her a pair of latex gloves and then a hammer. “You don’t want to leave your fingerprint, so wear these. I’m sure the hammer is self explanatory.” He pulls out his beloved pistols with a maniacal grin. “I’ll get to work.”

Miku groans with exasperation, but begins to check out the jewelry anyway. She mentally notes some of the ornaments she finds interesting, such as a pair of large, silver hoop rings and earrings and multiple glittering diamond accessories. She slips on the gloves and turns toward Kaito, watching for his signal to go. He loads his pistol and aims at a security camera, giving a wink towards Miku and starts a countdown.

“3, 2, 1…” 

She raises the hammer above the glass case.

Kaito grins. “Go.” 

BANG!

Miku drives the hammer down and ducks down as glass goes flying into the air, the deafening ring of alarms and the blinding red of the emergency lights filling the room. Kaito shoots the security camera and crushes it under his foot, using the broken device as a step to turn and leap towards the next two cameras, successfully destroying both with two consecutive fires midair. Miku jumps up and snatches everything she can from the broken case and stuffing it into her pockets, before picking up the weapon and dragging the hammer through another case of jewelry, broken shards of glass trailing behind the heavy tool like glittering beads of water. She scoops up all the valuables as she hears more gunshots in the back of the store. Running out of space in her jacket, Miku instinctively chucks the extra accessories at Kaito, who had just ran back inside the building. The jewelry almost hits him square in the face, but luckily he catches it just in time and mockingly shakes his finger at Miku.

“ Tsk tsk,” He scolds her with a smug grin. Somehow she can hear him perfectly despite the sound of the blaring alarms flooding her ears. Kaito takes the hammer from her hands and smashes through the front door, pocketing the spare jewelry thrown at him in the process, shooting Miku a self satisfied smirk. “Careful with throwing stuff that hurts, not everyone has outstandingly fast reflexes like meEWOAHauH-”

“You should be grateful that I’m not holding that hammer anymore,” Miku retorts through gritted teeth, harshly grabbing Kaito’s arm and dragging him through the broken front door. “And shut up, we don’t have time for your idiotic and egotistical remarks.” 

Kaito lets out an operatic and offended gasp, dramatically holding his free hand before his heart. He begins to make another stupid comment but immediately gets interrupted by a hard punch to the ribs from Miku, who then continues pulling his body away from the store. 

“oW FUCK OKAY WE’RE GOING-” Kaito wheezes loudly, covering his ribs but recovering quickly. This time he begins to drag Miku, looking around before he notices an unguarded motorcycle by a nearby shop and pulls her along there. He hops on the vehicle with Miku following and starts it up, laughing maniacally as he begins to hear the sounds of a police siren from behind the jewelry store. 

“START DRIVING, DUMBASS!” Miku yells, pushing him forward.

“Where’s the fun in that?” He responds sweetly, but he presses his foot onto the gas pedal anyway. They propel through the city streets, nearly crashing into several different buildings as the loud sound of the engine and Kaito’s crazed laughter fills the night air. 

“TreetreetreetreetreeTREE THERES A FUCKING TREE THERE!!” Miku screams, reaching over and turning the handles just in time to avoid ramming straight into it, the bark just barely grazing Miku’s shoulder. Kaito shrugs and gives a halfhearted oops. “YOU DRIVE LIKE A DRUNKASS BITCH! WHO THE HELL DO YOU THINK YOU ARE, A GTA 5 PLAYER??” She pulls him backwards to her seat and jumps up to take her place at the front. She turns up the speed and races through the city street, the sound of the police siren long gone. 

“agh MOVE YOUR HAIR IT'S IN MY FACE!” Kaito says, shielding himself from Miku’s long green twintails, which flap wildly in the wind at him. “Wait do you even know where you’re going?”

“No but it’s infinitely better than trying to stop you from crashing into EVERY GODDAMN OBJECT ON THE SIDEWALK!!” 

“Okay come on, my driving wasn’t THAT bad!!” He replies, pretending to be offended. Kaito leans forward and begins pointing directions for Miku, who effortlessly glides through the city streets with zero casualties whatsoever. 

Soon enough, they skid to a stop in front of a large, abandoned parking lot originally meant for a hotel of some sort. Miku hops off the motorcycle, parking it in a dark and hopefully inconspicuous corner. She lets out a long groan, leaning against the wall and plopping onto the ground tiredly. Kaito laughs airily, sitting down next to her. 

“Fun, wasn’t it?” He asks softly. Miku just throws her jacket at him, which makes him laugh again, slinging an arm around her shoulder and ruffling her hair playfully. She can’t help but laugh too, the warm sound resonating through the quiet night. 

Fun, huh? She can’t say for sure whether or not she enjoyed it. But it was something, it was certainly something alright. And Miku supposed it was better than being alone for another night, doing the same thing over and over again every day until it was so repetitive that she forgot what day and week and month and year it was. Maybe it wasn’t the best, but it was something. And she was glad that it was something, rather than nothing at all. The laughter of a friend, the peacefulness of a gentle night. She looked up to the starry sky, and smiled to herself. 

It’s beautiful, isn’t it?

“That driving was fucking terrible though, remind me to never let you near a vehicle again.” Miku says suddenly, completely out of the blue. 

“OKAY NO IT WASN’T!! I’d never drive MY car that badly. Blame it on whoever owns the motorcycle.”

that's it for now, thanks for reading :)

fic was last updated on 6/17/2024, this one may receive an update soon but we'll see.

[spacejip]

hey sorry just wanted you to know that your header image has me riding and rolling and reloading

LMAO same though, it has the same effect on me 😫😫

also a good way to show that punch is one of my favs🤭

[mediaheart]

i dont think your header is loading properly for me... what is it :O ?

I was gonna say 'thats weird it looks fine to me' but I reloaded tumblr and the header was like super zoomed in what 😭😭 I reuploaded it now it should look fine I think!