#unnoticed for a while sure but eventually it kills you

[prokopetz]

One of the occupational hazards of being so preoccupied with game design as a discipline is that sometimes I'll have dreams that are just some unknown force explaining an idea for a game to me, and last night I dreamed what is possibly the most obnoxious mechanical premise for a game I've ever come up with.

In brief, it was a traditional JRPG-style game with an atypical levelling-up scheme. Rather than gaining XP or levelling up at milestones, party members would grow in power by finding and absorbing or ingesting these little extradimensional parasites, represented in the dream as small grub- or fetus-like creatures with smiling humanoid faces. These parasites would be found as treasure and enemy drops, and could freely be given to any party member, except for the player character; the player character alone was unable to use them for Plot Reasons, and was entirely reliant on equipment to grow in power instead.

Absorbing a parasite both granted permanent stat boosts and unlocked weird psychic powers. However, they'd also cause progressive personality changes in the party members to which they were assigned, reflected by changes in dialogue and interactions, and eventually in granting or denying access to particular side quests. This function of the parasites was undocumented, and would likely go unnoticed by the player on their initial playthrough, as they'd level up as they went and would never see the unmodified dialogues.

A further wrinkle is that this effect was mediated by the game's expected progression. Farming parasites and "over-levelling" beyond where the game expected you to be would accelerate the personality changes, while going deliberately under-levelled would slow them (i.e., by giving your party members more time to acclimate to having bugs in their brains); like the personality changes themselves, the existence of these hidden modifiers would not be hinted at to the player.

If you spent a long enough stretch of the game sufficiently over-levelled, you'd eventually receive a non-standard game over where your party would betray, kill, and eat the player character. Furthermore, this non-standard ending had a deliberate "eclipse phase" whereby it would wait for a while after you hit the required threshold before pulling the trigger, in particular making sure that you've saved at least once, leaving your save file irrevocably fucked.

As a final twist, the non-standard game over would only trigger after resting; though the game's mechanics would heavily incentivise resting on a regular basis, it would theoretically be possible to massively over-level your party on purpose and avoid the bad ending simply by never resting again, potentially as a speedrun strat. However, doing so would alter the game's ending to replace the usual final boss with a hopeless solo boss fight against your own massively over-levelled party.

[theempressofthenile]

Lilith The Enchantress: Lilithian Energy In The Houses. How Each One Brings Their Own Tempting Flair.

So you're probably wondering, where am I going with this?

I wanted to focus on the temptation of lilith, and why she is so oozing and attractive as is she.

For this reading, I will focus on the houses. In my later post, it'll be in each sign.

So lets dig in! Shall we ;)

Lilith in the first house - Pleasing to the eye. Can have a very sultry appearance. There is a point where they must undergo a transformation of the self, and at some point they will have a divine, sensual aura. There sensual power comes through the way they look at you, and often times they can tell when they're being a little too flirtatious. But that is so they can get the person of their choice. Like a siren, they go in for their target and come out on top. They use their attractive persona as like a spell, think of the girl on who framed roger rabbit with the beautiful red hair and dress.

Lilith in the second house - They have an eye for detail. This is the time to take you to their home and show you the rose petals on the bed with the red and white candles everywhere. They know how to make a person want them, by adding to some flair into their home. While also using different aesthetics for they're look to match with the energy that is being shared between them and they're lover. Very picky with who they spend their time with you know. They aren't for everyone. These are the type to make you wait for it.

Lilith in the third house - These are the lovers that can write erotic letters and make you think about them all night. The way their minds can carry a story, and then when you meet them in person its even better than the books. They hold their composure well, but deep inside they are ready to be explored in more ways than one. My my my, they sure know how to right a love spell. One that lasts til the very end.

Lilith in the fourth house - It's actually so much harder to get them to show you who they truly are, thats what makes their mystique so awe dropping. The way these lilithian beings share themselves is with the power of their emotions, and eventually they will bring you right into their beautiful dungeon they call a home. Where you will find all them in just one bite. Very sensual with the right one. The one that makes them feel good, the one that knows them from the inside out. These lilith babes will let you have all of them if once you have succumb to their power.

Lilith in the fifth house - The sensual energy these lilithians carry is a one of a kind. Their magnetism never goes unnoticed, and they take you on a roller coaster of emotions with their performance. They are intimate with their audience and can put you under a spell with the way they make things look. Their hearts are in it with this one. Very gentle to the eye, but to the soul its much more deep and profound. Can't take them anywhere because their wild manes get stuck in the pursuit of love, where they will drenched you with all their sweet and tears to make more use of the bloody romances they've indulged in. They will have you thinking about them for many moons, due to them putting their all into what they do in the matters of the heart.

Lilith in the sixth house - To be loved by a lilith babe with this placement, is to have made yourself fully devoted to them. Worship is what they want, and it is what they need to pursue them. They don't let just anyone in, so you must be prepared to give yourself as an offering. Very pleasant, and freaky to ones they want most. Most never see this coming, which is why they always get away with it ;) The sensual energy they carry is very smooth, abundant and hard to describe. Mysterious auras that you want more of, so much so you will spend every hour, every day of the week wanting to get to know them.

Lilith in the seventh house - The die hard lovers who goes in for the kill. What they want wants them, and they oozee it in with their attraction spells. Their auras are unique, fresh and able to commit to their partners. It's just that they have so many options to choose from so they have no use to sticking around if you're not pulling in your weight. Im sorry, its hard having to be loved by so many! The sensual power in them is hot, tempting, and alluring. You just can't get enough of them. Can see right thru you and can captivate you with just a look!

Lilith in the eighth house - The way they just make things easy with how they seduce people is something I feel nobody else can relate to. The way they come in and take the throne with how they please their partners as well as themselves, It may be that nobody could come close. But thats the thing about being in a scorpion house, is that you touch people in a way that people are not able to control within themselves.. yet you've already mastered it. Very pleasing, pulsating, bold and full of passion. The sensual nature in them could have you feel things you've never felt before, and that will have you in a panic. because the way they are able to get you to come out of that shell and move deeper into them . Will have you begging for more & more & more. Bewitching auras indeed!

Lilith in the ninth house - The delicacy mixed with erotic power. The angels and the demon. The artist and the muse. They have the power to seduce anyone with just their mind alone. They can seduce you with their wit, their humor, their charisma and just their soul in general. But on a sensuality note, they are abundantly clear on what it is they want. And they know just how to get it. They waste no time in going after the energy it is they feel desires them. They are devoted to themselves and the power of a Godly force and nobody comes close. So to the ones who get to experience them, they feel a closeness to the divine that makes you tremble a bit. Because they show us a sense of carefreeness thats been missing, so the way they seduce you is in how they free themselves in a world that is committed to self restraint.

Lilith in the tenth house - Enchanting and mysterious in nature. The world wants to have them but cannot get enough of them. The secret to these characters is that they know what it is you're looking for, but you just won't get it from em. Not immediately that is. They'll make you wait for it. Hell, they'll even charge you for it if your a beggar. They know you want it, but they aren't easy. Like a coquette, they'll have you waiting for years, and their energy will be intact and while yours feels depleted. Lilith tenth housers just know how to work it with their sex appeal. It can transform you, to say the least. ;)

Lilith in the eleventh house - A special energy is unlocked in these lilithians because not only do they have the capacity to seduce the whole world they can be someone close to them too. Be careful with them, because they might bite! ;) Their sensual power comes from the ability to be close with them and they have a compassionate nature too! This makes them way more likeable and seductive. And even if you're close to them, there is still something else about them. Almost hard to ignore, so its no wonder friends and associates try to get it on with em.

Lilith in the twelfth house - If all the other placements are tempting to the eye, then these beings are tempting to the soul. They have a capacity to entice others with the way they carry themselves. They have a gift in pulling you in, and telling a story with just their body language alone. The moment you are seduced by them, is the very moment you come over and have a meeting with God. They are no angel, but they can just about make you feel things that where never present before.

Lilith in these houses can show the tempting, seductive energies of a person if they learn how to tap in. There is a short story about lilith being the tempting 'devil' we kind of all known of her to be. However, learning more complexities of her story. She is so much more. So this just a small version of what we know as lilith, there will be many more to come!

[inside-lees-mind]

I’m sorry for all the requests but Dr.stone brain rot is killing me 😭:

May I order a headcanon (once facking again) where their s/o’s family was extremely poor in the past, so when Ryusui made currency they spent the least amount of money, rarely eating out of habit and trying to not make the same mistake their family did before?

If there was a Tsukasa part I believe that would only fuel his anger more for the rich and greedy ngl 😭

Anyways, if you do my request once again. Thank you from the absolute bottom of my heart! And remember to always take care of yourself pookie <3

- Sincerely, 🍙 Anon

Reader’s Family was Poor in the Past

Hi!!! Thank you for the request! :) and do remember to take care of yourself too! Sorry this is so late to when you sent this in 😭 there is so much in my inbox, I jump around.

I chose Senku, Gen, Tsukasa, and Ryusui for this.

Senku Ishigami

He wasn’t too concerned with what everybody was doing, but your behavior doesn’t go unnoticed.

He watched as you picked through almost thousands of drago and only spent a few, and it almost seemed like you were scared to.

Ryusui had practically thrown drago at you because you were nearby and he complimented you and gave you plenty of money, so why were you spending SO cautiously like you were down to nickels and dimes? (I know nothing about Yen so I don’t know if there is an expression equivalent in Japanese)

You have nothing to really save the money for, so why were you debating so hard over spending it on a shirt. You wanted the shirt, didn’t you?

Eventually, he’d found out from somebody that knew you that your family was poor. He had thought something like that must have been the case, but now he knows for sure.

He’d likely encourage you to spend a bit more. Either that, or he’d bluntly tell you there is no reason to keep the money so close to you anymore.

Gen Asagiri

If he had that much money, he’d be blowing it.

You had thousands of drago that Ryusui had just handed you. And you were clutching onto it like you’d be robbed of it and be left for dead without it if you loosen up just a little.

You hesitated to get cotton candy, despite how much you said you missed the taste.

He watched you and soon noticed your behavior was like those who were less fortunate to have to ration to survive.

You didn’t need to do that here, the money isn’t that important. At the end of the day, the hunters in the kingdom of science would bring home food rather people paid them for the meat or not.

The community doesn’t run off of money, so your behavior is unnecessary. So he’d probably talk you out of it.

He’d come stand beside you, talking to you softly.

“Money isn’t that important here. You don’t need it to pay for a house. And the beasts of people we have here do the hunting for us, and never once have they asked for money. Nor would they deny you food if you couldn’t pay. You can save some… but maybe spend half? Plus…” he leans in to whisper, “Ryusui would gladly pay for you if it ever came to it. I’m sure a man like him will never run out of money.”

Tsukasa Shishio

Dragos have been around for a while, but you’re still clutching onto them like it’s life or death.

Francois doesn’t make you pay them for food. The hunters (him, Hyoga, etc) don’t make you pay them for meat or anything.

So your behavior has got to be engraved into you.

He might be on the side of kingdom of science, but deep down, this rise of currency and capitalism bothers him.

watching you struggle to let go of money makes him angry.

The world they used to live in had brought you to this point, and that pisses him off.

He knows what that’s like. He fought for money. He became famous for money. All for money for Mirai. Just so his sister would live.

He had to pay people to keep his sister alive.

And old men paid for the rights to land and he had no grounds to even do anything about getting beat down by one for picking seashells. That man OWNED those seashells.

He doesn’t know exactly what you went through, but he’s got an idea.

He doesn’t say much, but he makes sure to give you plenty of food and he’ll buy things for you and give them to you.

Honestly he’s so sweet.

Ryusui Nanami

Spend money, get bitches. Yk. (This man would hate the word bitches for sure. But I had to say this. Like side note, but he’s an advocate for the word to be offensive when leaving a man’s mouth)

Ryusui gave you thousands of drago and stepped back. He expected you to spend it, give to the economy, etc.

But you held onto it like you were gonna need it soon.

He doesn’t really know what that’s like. He’s always had lots of money.

Well, once he had a smaller allowance, but even that would be a lot to most other people. He doesn’t realize this so much, not until he sees you.

He’s confused at first.

What else is there to do in life than get all that one wants when they want it? Get your money up, keep your money up, spend your money up. Yk. The 3 pillars to life. (This is not what they are)

He gives you more money.

But you try to deny it.

He insists. Then he watches you clutch onto it like you’ll need it all in an hour.

He probably goes over to encourage you. Telling you to see things how he sees it.

And then you probably explain why you just can’t. You’re scared you’ll end up like your family was as a kid.

He begins to see what you mean, and he’ll probably spend some money on you.

“Don’t be scared. There isn’t anything to worry about money about here. Even if everything had a cost soon, I’d pay for whatever you needed. And all these people would surely do you a favor even if.”

[kabr0ztrousers]

Hiya ! I love your posts, they are all amazing 🫠

I'm not sure if you're really into poly relationships, but i've got this on my mind for a while now.

Reader is dating two monsters, the monsters know each other since kids and get along very well, they are predators, they like to play with their mate as if she is a prey.

Someone tells her they'll eventually hurt her for real and now they're upset, to make her feel safe again, they decide to show off to the whole village how they take care of their mate (if you know what i mean 🫦).

Kabr0z Writes Episode 60: Beauty and the Beasts

Find the rest of the Kabr0z Writes anthology here!

CWs: Lashings of oral sex; public sex; exhibitionism; interspecies; knotting; enthusiastic consent; restraints;

A/N: This one sounds like fun, and it's not gonna kill me to write this one and the other I have planned to make up for missing Wednesday.

Plus I get to put out a little more exposition on why there are werewolves in a low-magic world. If there's one thing you've probably worked out about me, I love me some ✨Exposition✨

As always, requests go to the ask box or DMs so they're in the queue when I check it. I won't not do stuff asked for in comments or reblogs, but they won't be in the queue so they're very likely to fall through the cracks

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The year is 1670. Almost twenty years since everything changed. You were only a small girl then, when the sun darkened and the menfolk of your village changed. You remember them falling to the ground as bones cracked and rearranged, blood streaming from broken faces as snouts and muzzles replaced human mouths and noses, tails bursting from the smalls of their backs, and the fur spreading in patches to cover their skin. Then, the sky lightened again. Those who had changed picked themselves up, strong limbed and sharp toothed, but still themselves despite the monstrous form they had taken.

Other villages suffered the same, boys and men who saw the shadow over the sun turning into monsters. A royal decree came a week later. The changed men were to leave the towns, banished to the forests and woodlands where they would bother the women and the unchanged no longer. So it came to pass that the lupines were driven out. Most were never heard of again, but you still heard stories of children being born in villages with tails and fur, the get of the banished wolfmen.

You were approaching your twenty-fifth year. Despite them being banished you never lost touch with your close friends from youth, a pair of boys named Leo and Michael, if anything, you'd grown even closer to them over the years. You could well understand the tales of wolf-children being born.

Your rendezvous with them had not gone unnoticed either. The men of the village gave you a wide berth, not wanting to get too close to you for fear of your wolfen lovers. The women who would still speak with you warned you to no end that the lupines you cavorted with under the stars and the treetops would be the end of you. Of course, over the years, fewer and fewer women spoke to you. They were all getting married, their husbands forbidding them to consort with the strange woman of the village, warning their children away from you. Little by little, life in civilisation became quieter and quieter, lonelier and lonelier.

You head leant on Leo's belly, complaining about the villagers, gently stroking Michael's back as he topped off the cuddle pile. Michael's tail began to wag as you saw a mischievous grin spread over his features

"What are you thinking" you were starting to match his grin. Michael had the best plans

"Well, if you're miserable there, why not join us lupines? They see you as one of us, why not leave?"

You hummed, it's not like you hadn't thought about it "I don't want them using it as an excuse to come after you..."

Leo snorted "They wouldn't have waited if they weren't so scared of us, though I like the idea of giving them a show of things... They want to banish you? Let's give them a reason"

Michael's grin widened "I have an idea... Mind if Leo and I talk a few minutes alone? I wanna make this a surprise"

That's how you knew this was gonna be good. "Sure, I'll be by the river, need a piss anyway"

You took your time. You couldn't hear them over the flowing water, but you could see them discussing intently from your spot. Every time one of them spoke, the other would get more excited until they were both looking at you. You stood up, letting your skirts cover your ankles again as you walked back to them "Made a decision?"

"Yeah, just about... Oh, one quick thing"

Leo tapped Michael's hand and held up two fists "left or right?"

Michael chose left, the fist was empty, the other revealing a crumpled leaf

Leo smiled "I win"

Michael laughed "Right, now we're ready. Do you trust us?"

"Always" you nodded. You'd known these two since you were children, you helped them get used to walking again on their back-turned legs, you brushed their fur and spent every spare moment with them. You'd trust these two men with your life.

Good thing too. The moment the word left your mouth, Leo tackled you and both of them took off in a sprint. Towards the village.

A lupine can outpace a stallion if they have a mind to, and over a longer distance. Many of the changed men had left the country and were living as condottiere in Italy and France if the tales were true. You could feel why, the wind rushed through your hair as the two wolves charged down the path to the village centre, alarmed cries coming from behind you as the furry blurs sped past terrified peasants.

They stopped at the pillory, placing your head and hands in the wooden frame and shutting it, keeping the latch closed with a stick jammed where the shank of a padlock would fit. You knelt there a moment, head waist-high off the ground, knees on the paved stone below you, a crowd gathering and murmuring as the wolves howled around you, stomping and snarling at the villagers. You tried not to laugh. They're trying to make a scene.

The crowd must have grown to their liking.

"You there! Priest!" Leo pointed at the local clergyman "Come here!"

The crowd pushed the hapless man forward, clutching his bible ahead of him like a shield "W-what are you going to do with me?"

Michael laughed at him, trying to make it sound scary, but only making it harder to keep the grin from your face "You're going to marry us"

The priest stammered a protest, but a showing of sharp teeth from both wolves silenced him. He cleared his throat "We are gathered here today to witness the union of this woman with this" a snarl "These, sorry, these... men? Er, that is to say if any know of any reason why these... people should not be wed, please speak or forever hold your peace" The priest held his eyes shut. Silence fell for a moment, a voice yelled from the back of the crowd "Get on with it!"

"Ahem. Yes. Er" the monk stammered again "Do you take these wolves to be your lawfully wedded, er, husbands?"

You nodded your head "I do" you croaked out, mouth still dry from the run

"And do you-"

"We do" both of your wolf lovers said in unison

The priest drew a cross in the air in front of the three of you "in which case I pronounce you man and wife" The last words were said so quickly it took a moment to process. Then the wolves were upon you.

Michael stood in front of you as Leo stepped behind, tearing the skirt off your rear end, showing you off to the villagers behind you. His tongue went at you, licking your cunt vigorously, making your jaw drop at the ferocity of his touch as he held you open and ate you out. Michael craned his head to watch as he gripped his sheath, the cock inside starting to poke out. The pillory kept your mouth at crotch-height as he slapped his cock on your cheeks, teasing you with the feeling of it as he painted you with his scent. You tried to catch it again and again as the crowd jeered, every time it rubbed against your face, giving you another sniff of his shaft. Until, of course, it didn't.

The crowd cheered as his cock slipped into your mouth, and you started to suck it. Michael grabbed the pillory and started to fuck your face while Leo brought a hand to your clit, sending an orgasm rocking through you as the pad of his finger circled your sensitive nub.

Leo stood up behind you and leant over, his hard cock between your thighs "I'm gonna take your maidenhood, alright?"

You nodded, the cock in your mouth stopping you speaking, the roar of the crowd would drown out any muffled grunts of approval. Thankfully, Leo saw the slight move of your head as you looked into his eye.

The cock pulled out from between your thighs, then plunged into your pussy. Your eyes widened as he pushed in, gently at first but gaining speed with confidence. Your legs bent as your toes curled, the canine cocks ramming into both sides of you building up to another orgasm as the braying, yelling crowd surged your adrenaline.

You felt your pussy squeezing on Leo as Michael hilted himself in your mouth, spraying hot cum down your throat. There was just so much, you felt it dripping from your nose and leaking out of the seal of your lips.

Michael's grunts set Leo off. His knot started to swell in you as he howled, the first load of cum your womb had ever taken, filling you to the brim and over the top. You tried to lock your legs around him, but needn't have bothered, the knot stuck the two of you together.

The crowd started to disperse now, the show was over, all that was left was the gentle licking of your new husbands as their excitement wound down. You each knew the villagers wouldn't do anything about this, there wasn't a watch to speak of and by the time a magistrate blew through you'd be long gone.

It took almost an hour before Leo's knot deflated enough to pull out of you. You opened the pillory with a single push from your back, the flimsy stick giving way immediately. It was only there for show, after all. Together you walked back to the forest where you met with the rest of the lupines. After all, you're family now.

When you finally came with child, you weren't sure which of your men had actually fathered the pups, but you didn't care, they were sure to be great fathers. Plus, you'd even started seeing familiar faces from the village again, moving in with new, furrier husbands.

All's well that ends well, you suppose

####################################

Don't be alarmed that this episode is being published in the evening, rather than 1am, I'm not getting all responsible on you, rather just making sure I'll have steam in the tank for tonight when the next regularly-scheduled episode is going to be written!

One of these days, I'll write a couple ahead of time to build a backlog. Until then, this shit's happening live!

[devicecontact]

Accidently made images perfect for a reference while working on something else so I made one for them yaaay.

A really long sloppy lore summary under the cut smile

All subject to change but! Heres whats up with them as of right now.

Shitboy (SBTV493)(full clone agent code could change but the SB part will always be there) is a faulty soldat clone made in an incredibly poorly maintained aahw facilty. The facility is really far away from all the others and barely supplied or given any attention by the rest of the agency or even the other factions of Nevada, making it a place that has never even had a single sighting of Hank or any real fighting. The poor quality equipment and low monitoring of the place led to SB being made wrong. Clones set for soldat programming got sent in too soon after clones for engineering, and it ended up having SB be a weird mishmash of both types instead being of a proper soldat or an engineer. Nobody (including SB) knows this happened and they are still assigned to be a soldat and expected to properly preform as one. This leads to them being a real shit soldat that dosent really do their tasks that well or fit in with any of the other groups and nobody likes them. He lacks any of the real aggression that soldats are supposed to have and dosent seem to have the expected physical skills either, but since they never get sent on any real missions due to the facility being far away and bad, they don’t die or get “fired”. He does well enough to survive. Despite being treated kind of awfully and not really fitting into any part of the aahw, they would never consciously think about dissenting.

Once one agent has a failed dissent attempt and is dealt with, tensions get really high in the facility. Then one day another agent is fed up with it all and loudly discusses dissenting, which leads to a big facility wide brawl. SB was just floundering around not sure what to do when a stray bullet hit them right in the soldat optic and wounded them badly. Caught up in the panic of the situation the only thing they could think of doing was just running away while everyone was distracted. The fact they ran away and abandoned the place only hits them once they are already much too far away to go back without consequences, and they have to quickly accept the fact they basically dissented. And that they are now missing an eye.

After poorly patching themselves up and trying to hide the evidence of them being from the aahw (not very possible to do when you have special yellow atp blood and a huge wound on your face) they just kinda wander the desert and drift between the sparse communities. Nobody wants to go near them due to them being dirty yucky and clearly caught up in some agency mess. Eventually they get approached by a Fellow who tells them 1) you aren’t being discrete about dissenting at all it’s a miracle you weren’t caught already and 2) there’s a place they can go to get a new job. SB tries to deny it all (still not really coming to terms with the fact they accidently dissented) and brushes them off but still stews over the offer with a lot of confliction for awhile after that.

During their time wandering around the Nevada wastes trying to stay alive and unnoticed by the aahw, SB was taking refuge in random abandoned buildings. It had been going well enough for them until one day they accidently choose a building someone else already taken claim to and that person attacks SB while he's sleeping, resulting in a minor head injury. SB had never been in any combat encounter in their life besides their initial fleeing of their facility and they are left on edge ever since then. This makes it so he retaliates far more extremely than necessary against the intruder and they become his first kill. The combination of a terrifyingly unpleasant new experience activating broken instincts they've never used before and the fact that they got wounded Again with no way to patch it up this time leads to them realizing they need to take up the SQ job offer. They finally recognize that the way they have been living is unsustainable and will surely lead to them dying. Driven by the idea that they just cant keep it up anymore, they go to SQ.

SBs gets hired, cleaned up, and given tasks to find out what their niche job in SQ will be. They refuse to take on any combat jobs as their one experience in that type of situation went so poorly that they simply don't ever want to experience that again. Eventually doc calls him in and talks about what SB can do. During the talk, doc mentions how SB has uniquely odd programming and SB is very confused. Once its elaborated on they realize Oh so I was Never a Real Soldat. It’s a second blow to his psyche and identity as the pieces fall into place as to why they experienced life the way they did in the aahw. In the end they are assigned to help to plan and direct minor missions and is pretty good at it due to the mishmash of engineer and soldat programming.

Despite not fully feeling like they belong in SQ due to their accidental dissent, life is going pretty okay for SB for awhile. Then they find out that SQ sometimes works with Hank J Wimbleton (they never had to encounter any of the members before at the shitty old facility and just simply didn’t know about it). This is when the soldat aggression finally kicks in for the first time in their life at full force and they cannot even stand the idea of Hank being in the same building as them. This gets to be such a problem that their loyalty gets called into question and they are given the ultimatum of learning to be normal enough about situation or just. Leaving SQ. It’s normal to still not like Hank after dissenting but it’s effecting their work so bad to the point of them almost being a concern for sabotage.

This does not go over well with SB at all and is the final blow to set them into an incredibly over dramatic and overdue identity crisis. They struggle with the fact that they didn’t really truly dissent on purpose, the fact they never really belonged in the aahw in the first place especially with their defective programming, pin pointing if their hate of Hank is even their own real feelings or just an effect of being from the aahw, and not really wanting to leave SQ but not being able to stand their current circumstances. This guy sucks. Radiohead in their headphones on loop.

Eventually they figure out how to manage it and stick around with SQ. They learn from another fellow that their old facility ended up collapsing soon after the scuffle that lead to them leaving and it kind of acts like weird closure to that part of their life. Hurray! They still hate that guy though just a normal amount now.

thanks for reading take these images. my bobo

[imissgamebreakersarc]

Dutch Duo is so fascinating. They both have two characters, one on Lifesteal and one one on The Realm, and their characters on The Realm parallel the other on Lifesteal. Let me explain.

To me, LS!Clown and Tr!Pangi have a lot of unnoticed parallels, both of them being pretty damn powerful (though not the most powerful, examples being Sneeg and Tr!Clown above Tr!Pangi and BFB above LS!Clown) on their respective server, with a select few people they care about (or just one with Clown cough cough branzy) and just about everyone else being irrelevant to them, aside from the people they hate, who generally have a pretty tough time. Clown is a little more selective with who he trusts, but that’s pretty easily explained by being on Lifesteal and general paranoia. They’re both violent and unashamed of that. They’re not afraid to play dirty, whether it’s based off honour a whole damn exploit, or getting paid 500$ to empeach your teammate *PMC*.

When considering their counterparts (LS!Pangi and Tr!Clown), they too are surprisingly similar to each other. They both still care about specific individuals, such as Derap and Zam for LS!Pangi or Ros and [idk I don’t watch yellow I just know rospierce] for Tr!Clown. But they never really harbour hate towards any specific individuals. The only two times Tr!Clown ever seemed properly upset was after Pili killed Ros twice. He didn’t even seem upset during the fight itself, more like he was fulfilling a duty. The other instance is Owen but do I even have to explain this one? As for LS!Pangi, he was upset like, after Empire Duo breakups? And like after Mapicc kept killing him? And literally nothing else off the top of my head. They don’t kill for no reason either. While you can argue LS!Pangi doesn’t kill or fight on Lifesteal so people feel safe at his recordings (since he’s the only person making chill ass videos on that server), you have to acknowledge that aside from his hunger games event, he has no proper kills this season (source being the Lifesteal wiki) unless you’re counting Jepexx, which he didn’t get the heart from (and lowkey bro had it coming 😭). While I’m not sure how many kills Tr!Clown has, the only ones I remember are when people were hurting those he cared about, specifically Ros. They’re both quite based on rules and grind for what they need instead of fighting for it. A lot of the time, their actions are completely intertwined and associated with one of the few people they care about (Empire Duo, Cringe Duo, LoSA, etc.) and never only them, partially because of how much of their character revolves around others. They both get the chance to be different from what is typically assumed of lifestealers. They are selfless and not quite pacifists, but they’re pretty damn close for Lifesteal.

One of the reasons I’m a big fan of Lifesteal cannibal headcannons is because of how accurately it portrays their nature in a way others can understand. They are violent, selfish and unpredictable, killing on a whim with behaviour that would come off as insane on more casual SMP’s or ones based on storytelling like The Realm. However peaceful you are when you join the server, everyone is eventually corrupted by it. And no matter how well you hide or push away the corruption, it always comes out somewhere. In LS!Pangi’s case, his violence has been entirely oppressed due to his efforts of keeping people comfortable during his recordings, and that violence ends up coming out on The Realm, where thanks to the power of “out of character” and the fact he barely hosts realm recordings leads to him being able to kill more freely. Meanwhile, Clown has no need to fight on the realm, since he does nothing but whenever he actually logs on LS. Lifestealers are always in one of two states, those being “I care about you and I will protect you with all my power” and “I literally dgaf fucking die”, and it’s never been more clear with these two.

In conclusion, Dutch Duo is fucking awesome and I need more of them. Thank you.

PS: It’s kind of ironic that Clown and Parrot are Parallel duo, since at this point it might be Clown and Pangi.

(Sorry if the Tr!’s and LS!’s makes this hard or obnoxious to read it’s so annoying but I have to distinguish argh)

[selfaware-bungou-stray-dogs]

For your safety

Self-Aware! BSD x SAGAU Imposter crossover

Self-Aware! Tetchou Suehiro x GN! Reader

Description: Monster followed after you. Tetchou won't let him hurt you.

Warning: OOC. Implied torture. Mentioned of serious injuries. Nightmares. Panic Attack (heavily inspired by "Puss in Boots: The last wish" scene), English is my second language. Dehumanisation (Capitano calls Reader 'it', Captaino is called an 'it' by Hunting Dogs). Tetchou is a soft protective yandere (yandere, if you squeeze) towards Reader.

________

Who would think, that Watasumi will let Fatui into Enkonomia.

But, catching Imposter was more important, than honoring old traditions.

Because Imposter was here.

And it was finally in Capitano's clutches.

Dirty Imposter, a creature, that dared to walked on the land, blessed by the Creator.

This thing was hiding in an old ruins.

Dressed in rugs, it was biting huge chunks from mushrooms it cooked earlier.

Capitano adjust his hold on claymore's hilt. Just one swing, and it will finally stop poisoning Teyvat.

Capitano took a step forward.

And he made a mistake. He stepped on a twig.

It turned around. It looks scared. It has dried tears on its cheeks.

It ran. As fast, as it can.

And Capitano followed after it.

He catches it.

He raised its claymore.

And Bathysmal Vishaps attacked him.

The damned oversized lizards were attacking non-stop. Keeping Capitano away from it.

Fatui Harbinger saw, how it was riding away on one of the vishaps.

Capitano failed.

_______

It, eventually, was caught.

Justice was almost served.

Until it disappeared.

_______

Capitano, the strongest warrior of Teyvat, head of the Holy Guard, was laying on a deck of a small boat. The boat itself was covered under camouflage awning from camouflage net, seaweeds, rotten wood, old bones of sea serpent and dried dead fish. Few mechanical birds finish the picture. The camouflage was done so skillfully that even from a close distance the boat could easily be mistaken for a dead creature, entangled in garbage and slowly driven by the waves.

The navigation was hard, almost impossible. But Capitano didn't utter a word of protest. He must find, where the dreaded Imposter was hiding.

One month ago, right during their execution, they disappeared. And ever since then, Capitano was ruthless.

If it weren't for vishaps, Capitano would kill it. Capitano was too weak.

So, it was his fault, that Creator was in distress. That, while they were remaining perfect in every way, their cheeks have wet trails from tears on them.

But, this time, Capitano will do it.

He learned about a strange portal in one of the coves, located on a small island in the sea.

Capitano destroyed all documents he had.

No need to worry Creator even more.

He will get to the island unnoticed. And he will get Imposter's head.

The boat finally reached the island.

There were no humans, no animals.

And the portal was here.

Capitano stepped into the portal.

________

Tetchou tuck you in, making sure, that you are laying comfortably under your blanket.

"[Y/N], I will go and bring you some flowers, okay?" softly mumbles Tetchou, looking at you. You nodded, the corners of your lips weakly quirked upwards.

"Sounds good." whispered you. Tetchou's finger ran through your hair. He liked, that you started to smile. He didn't like, that smile didn't reach your eyes.

Tetchou left, and Atsushi Nakajima walked inside your room to stay with you.

Tetchou heard Atsushi's voice behind the closed door. It seems, he was telling you a story.

Tetchou bit his lip and headed to the first floor. He needs to go outside and pick you some flowers.

Maybe, they will lift your mood, at least for a moment.

But, before going here, Tetchou took his sword from his room. In case, people, who did this to you, appeared.

Two months ago, you disappeared. No matter, how hard they try, they couldn't find you. Until, one day, one month ago, you reappeared again.

And you looked awful.

Every part of your body were covered in burns, woulds and scars. You were starving, thirty, and terrified.

Doctor Yosano treated your wounds.

All of them made sure, that you are well-fed and always have water.

And they were doing whatever it takes to help you regain your mental health.

You were terrified of being alone.

And there were always at least one of them next to you.

You were terrified of being hit.

And they were treating you like the most fragile thing in the world.

You were terrified of Mori's voice.

And Boss of Port Mafia spoke only through Elise, whispering in her ear. He never raised his voice.

You have nightmares, waking up in the middle of the night, crying, shouting, that you are not an imposter, begging someone invisible not to hurt you.

And they were always near you, hugging you, drying your tears.

And mentally thinking about killing people, who did this to you.

Tetchou's hate was focused on Capitano.

________

A heavy foot stomped on your stomach, just below your ribs. It took all of your air out of lungs. You gasp, your mouth was wide open, but couldn’t get any air.

Capitano's booming voice filled your ears.

"Got you, little Imposter. Now, let me take that. We don't want you to miss it, aren't we?"

Two fingers pressed against your eyes.

A sharp, unbeatable burning pain.

"Here. Now, you won't be able to close your eyes ever again. Well, it's not like this ever will last for long."

Capitano raised his claymore.

You wanted so badly to close your eyes. But you don't have eyelids anymore.

The blade quickly sank down. Right in your face.

_______

Blood ponded in your ears.

You were breathing heavily.

Your heart was beating fast. You won't be surprised, if your whole body was shaking because of your heartbeats.

You can't focus your gaze in anything. Everything seemed like in a fog.

No sound escaped from your lips. Your moth and throat feels dry. Like you spent all your life without single drop of water.

You were choking. You were crying. You were sweating. You couldn't hear anything.

A heavy stone hand was put over your eyes. Now you were surrounded by darkness.

A heavy stone head was put on your chest. And it was moving.

up... down... up... down...

up... down... up... down...

up... down... up... down...

up... down... up... down...

up... down... up... down...

in... out... in... out...

in... out... in... out...

in... out... in... out...

in... out... in... out...

in... out... in... out...

You put your hand on Tetchou's head, that he laid on your chest. You whisper.

"Thank you... Tetchou..."

He took his hand away from your eyes. You two were silent. Tetchou were still breathing in the same rhythm.

And you were breathing with him.

______

Tetchou never told you, that you were screaming one name in your sleep.

And it was a scream of terror.

Capitano.

His enemy.

Tetchou was halfway to the flower beds, that Kenji made specifically for you, when he heard a loud crash coming from an empty barn.

_____

This man was huge.

Much taller, than Tetchou, dressed in strange armor, the man was towering over the member of Hunting Dogs.

Both males stood on the opposite sides of the barn. Tetchou was still standing near bars gates, while strange mad stand on the furthest wall.

Yellowish-ember eyes stare right into the black void of a mask.

"Who are you?" Tetchou's voice was emotionless. The man's booming voice echoed off the walls of the empty barn.

"I am Capitano, one of the Fatui Harbingers. I am searching for a sinful creature. Have you encountered an ugly creature this big?" Capitano moved his hand forward to show your height. "It has hideous..."

The rest of the words stuck in Capitano's mouth. A thin blade pierce through his palm, shoulder and sword's tip draw blood from his neck.

Tetchou didn't even move an inch. His eyes shrink.

"So... You are the same Capitano, who dared to hurt My Sakura Blossom... Our [Y/N]."

Tetchou dash forward.

And the floor cracked under his feet.

______

Tetchou never moved so fast in his life.

His sword was bending in impossible corners, piercing through Capitano's armor. Wounding, drawing blood.

Not killing.

The Strongest Warrior of Teyvat couldn't land a hit. Tetchou's determination to protect you, to avenge you, to keep you safe gave his strength.

The fight ended, when Tetchou manage to grab the hilt of Capitano's claymore.

Tetchou never used his ability on two-handed sword. Yet, a sword is a sword.

Without his legs, Capitano wasn't so tall anymore.

______

Capitano woke up in a room, that looked similar to Dottore's lab. He was suspended from the ceiling. Heavy chain was holding his arms together.

Hunting Dogs, except for Tetchou, were here. Jouno was the first one, who noticed, that Capitano was awake.

"So, it is finally decided to wake up." Jouno's voice was cold. Deadly.

Tachihara used his ability, to tie chains tighter. Accidentally' breaking Capitano's arm in a process.

"Here. It won't escape."

Teruko was almost dancing in one spot.

"Finally, I was dreaming about the moment I can get my hands on anyone, who dared to hurt our dear [Y/N]."

Fukuchi put his hand on Amenogozen's hilt.

"You aren't the only one, Teruko-kun. Doctor Yosano, should we start?"

Yosano, who was sitting in the dark corner, nodded.

Capitano got a taste of her ability for a few thousand times.

_____

Tetchou put flowers he picked for you in a vase. He noticed, how brighten up your eyes.

"They are beautiful, Tetchou. Thank you."

And a small smile. And this time, it reached your eyes.

Tetchou opened his arms, offering a hug.

And you hugged him, laying your head on his chest.

His arms wrapped around your frame. Protecting you from the outside world.

Tetchou promised to himself, that he will go beyond limits to protect your smile. No matter what, he will do anything he can.

For your safety

_____

Tag list: @withered-blossoms

[yourjughead]

Boyfriend

Sweet Pea and Y/N have been seeing each other in secret for some time but as a new serpent enters the playing field, tempers flare but is it all what if seems?

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

SP POV

"So when are you guys gonna stop pretending it's just sex and actually just sign the marriage licence, it's been like 7 months which is basically decades in the Serpents"

The water I gulped down nearly took deathly grip at Tonis comment.

"N-o no no" I managed to choke out between rapid taps to the back from Fangs.

"Toni please don't kill the man, I'm sure YN wouldn't like if you bumped off her play thing" Fangs quipped while watching the colour return back to my face.

"I'm not her play thing, if anything she's mine"

"And who exactly could you be talking about like that" of course she's going to join the conversation at the most inconvenient time. I wish the water had just finished me off.

"Y/N, we were just messing with him"

"Ah yes Toni because I love when my sex life is the topic of conversation amongst my friends, although I suppose you've nothing going on in your own lives" she dropped your tray next to me before sliding in across.

"And how is Cheryl?" you added, Toni sunk down on the seat with a groan.

"And Kevin?" sending Fangs sliding too, leaving me grinning into my soup. I caught her hand beneath the table as the other two tried to take back hold of their pride. We shouldn't have even been talking about this so openly in school, I'm really not trying to put a target on my back.

"If you do marry eachother I'll officiate"

"That's very nice Fangs but don't you need to be able to read to do that?" Fangs caught his chest in feign hurt at Y/Ns joking tone. We shouldn't be talking about this, they know I'd never be allowed to marry her, I can't even openly date her.

As if on que, Y/N dropped my hand quickly to place both in front of her tray, her eyes following the newest recruit to the Serpents. Jughead Jones. Now there's the only person her father would let her marry, another serpent legacy.

"Hey guys"

"Hey Jughead!" She responded very much too excited to him in my opinion.

"Y/N, I'm heading to Pop' wanna come? I know you really want to try it" how could he know what she wants? I'm what she wants. Right?

"Sure, see you later guys" y/n smiled and I could feel my other best friends shuffle awkwardly in their seats as y/n then strutted off with her future husband.

"SP-"

"Don't" I silenced Toni's saddening tone with a raised hand, I don't need their pitty.

~ 3rd Person

Over the next few weeks you spent more and more time around Jughead. Your father approved massively of this budding relationship, not going unnoticed by Sweet Pea or the rest of your friends. You and Jughead would go on jobs together, meet up before and after meetings together and just in general be together. It was becoming more and more difficult for Sweet Pea to be around and he began to retreat into himself.

~

5 weeks later - 3rd Person

Sweet Pea sprawled out across the tattered sofa of his very own trailer. Trying to take his mind of you and Jughead, he flicked through tv channels, then the books in his reach before finally landing on reading his history book absentmindedly. His eyes eventually weighing more than the book and closing. Dreams of you in eggshell coloured dresses waltzing up a flower covered aisle to meet a groom with a blurry face but a very prominent crown beanie splashed across his mind. The image jolted him from his sleep, crashing him to the floor.

Sweet pea rubbed his face with the blanket thrown across him, trying to remove the image from his thoughts. The soft glow from his ajar bedroom door across the darkened living room caught his eye. His hands ran down the blanket that was not there when he drifted off. Your hushed voice eventually met his ears from the bedroom, his senses waking one by one. He misses you breaking into his trailer nightly, the last time having been a few weeks ago.

Sweet Peas Pov

Collecting myself from the floor I snuck over to the door where I could accidentally on purpose hear her speak more clearly on the phone.

"Yeah there's just no future there - yeah - I really like being around him but what's the point when I don't want to continue - yeah yeah - I don't want any more feelings to grow - mmm - I just have to be with him to get where I need to go - yeah you're right- talk later love you Sis - bye - bye - bye" oh god it's happening, the end, she's ending it with me. I don't care if she's using me, just as long as she's with me. Right?

I heard her jump up from mattress. Crap crap crap. I went to scramble back to the sofa, sliding along the laminate in the blanket she had wrapped on me, flying straight back onto the floor. Ugh god my head. As I blinked her shape standing over me came into focus, I gave a small nervous laugh.

"Sweets, are you having fun down there?" She laughed offering a hand and instantly regretting it as I pulled her down on top of me.

"Now I am" I rolled her into the blanket and deep into my chest, squeezing as if letting go would mean she's gone forever. The closest we'd been in awhile.

"Sweet - Pea - You're - Crushing - Me" she attempted through my chest and began go gently push from me. It's already happening. She rolled her head up and gently kissed my cheek and I released my grip.

"Why are you on the floor"

"Why are you in my house?"

"Touché" she smiled before sitting up to retrieve her buzzing phone from her pocket.

"Who's are you giggling at?" I hate myself for asking but seeing her smile at her phone the way she smiles at me gave me reason.

"It's just something Jughead said -" ugh god why why why "- and I don't giggle" she gently hit me into my chest as I rolled from her and then up off the floor. I crossed the room towards the fridge where I rooted around.

"He was telling me about the book he's writing over lunch today, he's really got something for making up elaborate plans, we actually decided to -"

"We?" I almost growled at her as I pulled a beer from the fridge and turned to her disapproving stares. I know she doesn't like when I drink on week days, we were brought up in bar culture and she hates bringing it home with her. I'm not even sure she'd call me home anymore.

"Sweet pea don't get like that over Jughead, you like him I thought" she moved towards me in the kitchen, the blanket drapped over her still. I leaned on the fridge across from her and watched her prop herself up onto the countertop, her phone now next to her.

"Y/N, he rocks up into our school, parades around, Mr. Prince of the Serpents, takes you from me all the time so we can never have any alone time together and then -"

"Ah so that's what this is about, you miss the sex" she seemed to toy but I definitely wasn't in the mood to joke.

"No! Well yeah but that's not all I miss, this is the most we've talked in over a month and it's still about him!"

"Sweet Pea don't get angry at me!" She slid from the blanket and the counter. Too late, I was very much very angry which was only increased when her phone lit up, with the one word I'd never heard her use before, boyfriend.

"What the fuck?!" I lunged for it, almost forgetting my height, giving y/n a bit of a fright, something I had never done. Seems to be a day of firsts for everyone. Boyfriend?! Boyfriend?! She tried to reach for the ringing phone, this time I didn't forget my height, answering the phone and hoping I didn't hear the person I knew was on the other head.

"Hey y/n/n, I'll meet you at the usual spo-" I cut Jones off before he could finish, hurling the phone at the cabinets. This time I gave y/n a very noticeable fright as the phone screen came seperate from the motherboard.

"Sweet Pea!! Calm down! You're acting like a raving lunatic, let me explain!" She shouted back, more firsts from her, she had never raised her voice at me before but I suppose I started it. No she did. Jones did. I'm gonna kill him.

"Explain what?! What's there to explain Y/N/N" I used the name he called her like the curse word it was to me.

"Me and you have been seeing each other for like almost 9 months and that has meant something to me, clearly not so much to you" okay Sweet Pea that was probably a bit harsh. I breathed out deeply, trying to release any amount of pressure from chest. She moved from the kitchen and into the bedroom, returning again and putting on her jacket. Damn.

"You have no idea the kind of pressure I'm under Sweet Pea" she almost bit at me as she zipped herself up.

"Yeah I'm sure there's a lot of pressure straddling Jones" I was shocked I said that, she was shocked I said that. I think I don't even believe what I said but then again, he's her boyfriend. Boyfriend?! She's never called me that, would never call me that. This thought pushed the regret for what I said from me and replaced it back with anger.

"Oh whatever Sweet Pea, talk to me when you recover from the concussion you clearly got from the fall" She flew open the trailer door and stormed out into the cold night. I slid down the fridge, her smashed up phone alongside me. Nice one Pea, you really messed up this time..... except she messed up too, she's dating Jones and didn't tell me. She's dating Jones and didn't tell me. She's dating Jones and didn't tell me. I could feel my neck rise again with anger as I stood and went to the front door. I need to pay the serpent prince a visit.

Part 2

[pedrointofolklore]

This is me trying

pairing: joel miller x f!reader

summary: joel hated you. he hated the risks you took, the danger you put yourself in, the total lack of value you had for your own life. he hated how much he worried about you. click here for part two.

warnings: detailed depictions of depression, heavily implied suicidal ideation, slight violence, angst with a sprinkle of fluff, no explicit smut but it does get very suggestive (minors do not interact), minor character death, enemies to lovers, poor communication, misunderstandings, these fools don’t know how to act, joel is an asshole but then he’s sweet, brief mention of drug use, lots of swearing, age gap (unspecified), no use of y/n, boston era/ellie era.

word count: 2.6k

a/n: hey y’all. i just wanted to thank everyone who supported my last story rosebud (here’s a link if you want to read it). this story is a lot different and a lot sadder. i got the title from my favourite pop girlie taylor alison swift.

Joel hated you. It had to be his worst kept secret.

You hadn’t done anything to him. You used to think about it constantly, desperate to know what his reason was for despising you like he did, but you eventually accepted that he didn’t need a reason. He just didn’t like you. 

Joel wasn’t particularly likeable himself. He was rude and intimidating and one of the most morally bankrupt people you’d ever met, but you didn’t hate him the way he hated you. You were Tess’s lackey—Joel tolerated you, and you supposed he wasn’t obligated to do any more than that. Although, he didn’t do it very well.

You’d existed in each other’s orbit in the QZ for a while, and finally met one night in the boarded-up old mall when you’d gotten to a stash of painkillers just before them. Joel wouldn’t have hesitated to shoot you between the eyes if Tess hadn’t been there.

Tess saw something in you—not a friend, not a life worth sparing by virtue of humanity; a business investment.

And it was a smart investment. You were young, agile and clever, incredible at slipping by unnoticed and gathering information. You knew all the best routes, the best times to take them, and you could swindle anyone out of their rations just by batting your eyelashes. You were willing to take the lead, to be the first one in and out to make sure the coast was clear.

It wasn’t the threat of death or the promise of mercy that made you join them—it was the sense of purpose it gave you.

Joel was adamantly against it. Things worked fine the way they did them, and he saw no reason to add another person into it.

“Don’t need to fix something that ain’t broken,” was how he’d put it.

You didn’t dispute that. Joel and Tess had survived for years, and they were clearly more than capable of getting the job done, but what you lacked in experience, you made up for in stealth and speed—something their aging knees struggled with.

Tess convinced Joel, which you soon found out she was very good at. You also found out that his compliance didn’t mean hiding his resentment.

He thought you were a careless, impulsive loose cannon, and he’d told you so after a particularly dicey deal with a particularly dicey FEDRA agent.

“You’re gonna get yourself killed one of these days.” He followed you into your apartment uninvited. Tess made him walk you home, and you were sure he only did it because he wanted to berate you.

“Why do you care?” you asked, tossing your keys onto the counter. They slid off and hit the floor.

“You’re with us,” Joel replied. “You'll get us killed.”

You scoffed and rolled your eyes—you knew that infuriated him. “Am I on crack or have you not doubled your profits since I showed up?”

“I think you’re dangerous,” Joel said, ignoring you. “Always sneakin’ around, goin’ places you shouldn’t, playin’ mind games with FEDRA. Your luck’s gonna run out sooner or later, and I just hope I’m not around when it does.”

Your face burned with red-hot anger as you tried to fight the stinging in your eyes and the blurring of your vision, but you were too far gone. The tears fell, and they were ceaseless. You felt pathetic, but you knew this would happen. You didn’t often cry from sadness or pain, but anger always managed to bring it out in you.

“Who the fuck are you to tell me that?” you hissed. “You’re saying you don’t sneak around? You’ve never scammed anyone? You’re a smuggler, Joel! Be fucking real with me.”

“It’s different,” he said, clenching his jaw.

“Why, because you’re older? Because you have more experience?”

“‘Cause I don’t think I’m fuckin’ special.”

If his words were the dagger, the pure contempt in his tone was what plunged it into your stomach, twisted it, and left a gaping hole for all of your despair to come pouring out of, leaving behind a puddle of melancholia for him to gaze at in all its miserable glory.

It was the only time you might have hated Joel as much as he hated you. Working with him and Tess wasn’t perfect, but it was all you had, and now he’d managed to make it all meaningless. Your help wasn’t helping.

“Fuck you, Joel,” you spat.

You should have quit then, and you thought about it. After pounding your fists into Joel’s chest and screaming at him to get the fuck out of your apartment, you sunk down onto the floor and cried. You cried until you ran out of tears and were left with a nothing but a throbbing headache. You took a pill, passed out, and woke up to you discover that you’d lost the energy to really care about any of it.

You didn’t quit. If anything, you became even more audacious, but you never confused it with courage or bravery. Bravery was perseverance in the face of terror. Joel and Tess were brave. You weren’t like them.

Joel laid off after that. He wasn’t anything close to nice, but whatever animosity he held towards you was only ever expressed as quiet seething, and you could live with that.

Any fulfilment you got out of working with Joel and Tess dissolved, but for what it was, it still worked.

Until it didn’t.

Tess was dead. The buffer between you and Joel was gone, and you had no choice but to work together and get the immune girl to Wyoming.

You wondered if there was a silver-lining in this wreckage. You thought that circumstance might force Joel to finally get along with you, and so you did the one thing you never did—you tried. You tried to help him, tried to speak to him like he was someone you actually wanted to speak to, tried to rein in some of your more annoying traits so you wouldn’t get on his nerves.

None of it worked. All you could get out of Joel seemed to be irritated mumbles and blank stares, and you couldn’t even blame him after what happened to Tess.

You never really knew if Tess actually gave a shit about you, or if she only ever cared about having an extra pair of hands around. Either way, you cared about her.

So, once again, you tried. When Joel and Ellie were sleeping—or at least pretending to—you walked down to the stream and tried to cry for her, but you couldn’t muster the tears. You even tried to get angry, mentally cuss her out for leaving you behind, but your eyes were dry.

You stared into the water, gazing at the way it sparkled in the starlight, and thought that the world didn’t deserve such a pretty sight. You couldn’t cry, but a deep sadness overtook you, weighing you down like lead.

Joel didn’t hate you.

He just hated how impulsive and reckless you were. He hated that you were smart, intuitive, and so maddeningly beautiful. He hated the risks you took, the danger you put yourself in, the total lack of value you had for your own life. He hated how much he worried about you.

There was a time he had disliked you. He used to think it was arrogance—that you truly believed you were so special that you could get away with anything. It was when he called you out on it that he realised how wrong he was.

Your reaction was frightening. You cried and screamed at him, pushed him out of your space. He didn’t know you were capable of such a strong display of emotion, but he’d struck a nerve, and those were the repercussions.

He recalled how the blows to his chest didn’t hurt, like there was no force behind them. You weren’t weak at all, you just couldn’t find the willpower to really hurt him. He wished you had hurt him. Maybe getting it out of your system would have helped. Maybe he wouldn’t have had to feel so guilty.

It became so obvious to him what was happening, and he felt like an idiot for not understanding it sooner. It wasn’t that you thought you were special, or immune to the consequences—you just didn’t care what happened to you.

Now Tess was gone, and he had this horrible feeling that he was going to lose you too.

His way of dealing with it was to push you away even more. He told himself it would make things easier when you inevitably left him.

Things came to a head one night after the three of you left Lincoln. Joel had been driving all day, and he would be doing it again the next day. He was in desperate need of sleep, but as he stared out into the eerie darkness of the woods, he couldn’t shake the feeling that something terrible would happen if he didn’t stay awake.

He heard the rustling of a sleeping bag sometime after midnight. He thought it was you just rolling over in your sleep—something you often did—but then he heard the faint sound of dead leaves crunching under feet, and you were by his side a moment later.

“What are you doing, Joel?” you asked in a soft, sleepy voice that made his chest ache.

“Keepin’ watch,” he replied bluntly.

“But you’re driving tomorrow,” you said. “You need sleep.”

“I’m fine.”

“I’ve slept, so I can take over,” you offered.

“I just told you I’m fine.”

“I’m just trying to help—”

“I don’t need your fucking help.”

You backed off, hanging your head in shame, and he instantly felt horrible—you were being nice to him and he was still being a complete asshole.

Joel tried to tear his gaze away from you. He wanted to pretend this wasn’t happening, that he hadn’t just done that, but his eyes stayed on you. He watched the shame dissolve and replace itself with indignation. You pulled your head up and glared at him with a fire in your eyes that threatened to burn right through him.

“I get it, okay? I’m sorry.”

“What are you talkin’ about?”

“I never meant for you to get stuck with me. I know it’s your worst fucking nightmare. If I could switch places with Tess—“

“Stop.” He wouldn’t hear that. He couldn’t. It would kill him. “That’s not—I’m not thinkin’ that. I’m glad you’re here, understand? I need you with me.”

You let out a bitter laugh. The sound hit his ears like a gunshot. “You just told me you didn’t. All you’ve done—all you’ve ever done—is act like I’m a fucking waste of space.”

Joel’s mouth when dry, his heart dropped to his stomach, and he thought he might vomit. It shouldn’t have shocked him like it did, but hearing you say it made him sick. He put the gun he’d been clutching down on the ground, disarming himself in more ways than one. “I don’t think that…I’m sorry. I’m so sorry. I just—fuck—I don’t know. I don’t know anything. Are you gonna leave?”

“Leave this mission or this mortal coil?"

“Either, I guess.”

“Do you want me to leave?” Your voice was just a whisper, and it felt like you were ripping Joel’s heart out and crushing it in your hands.

Fuck no, he didn’t want you to leave, and that was what scared him the most; feeling attached to someone so detached (and yes, he was a hypocrite). He wouldn’t be able to take it if he woke up one day and you were gone.

But he couldn’t keep doing this to you. It was selfish and cowardly and it just made everything worse. He made everything worse.

“I can’t do this without you,” he told you. He hadn’t known how true it was until he said it.

“Okay.”

“I’m serious.” He felt suddenly impassioned. “You can’t…if you…just don’t. Promise me you won’t.” He couldn’t say it, couldn’t let the words out of his mouth and into the universe. You both knew what he meant.

“I promise,” you said. You sounded oddly tranquil, but Joel was destroyed, even though he knew he didn’t have the right to be—this was entirely his fault.

“Can you let me keep watch so you can get some sleep?” you asked again.

He shook his head.

“Why not?”

“Just need to know where you are.”

You stared at him, eyes wide and glossy, and for a second he thought you might start crying. Before he could think of something to do or say, your hands were on either side of his face, pulling him down into an urgent kiss.

He didn’t know what was happening, what you were thinking, or what he was thinking, but it didn’t matter, he just knew he needed to kiss you back. One of his hands found your waist while the other splayed out across your back, pulling you flush against him.

It was nowhere near sweet. It was intense and unyielding—a frantic clashing of teeth and bruising of lips. It was intoxicating, earth-shattering, but felt so right, like it was always meant to happen—or needed to happen.

Your arms wrapped around his neck, somehow bringing him impossibly closer to you. You hiked a leg up around his hip and tugged his pelvis forward. He ran a hand down from your waist, brushing it over your ass and gripping your thigh.

You rolled your hips into his, eliciting a deep, involuntary groan from him. He was painfully hard. He knew he would regret this, but he set your leg down and managed to tear his mouth away from yours. 

He missed the feeling immediately, and he didn’t have the self-control to pull away completely. His hands were still on you, pressing you against him. You looked so pretty and ruined gazing back at him; breathless and flustered with pink, swollen lips.

Fuck.

You had just kissed Joel Miller, the man you hated. 

You didn’t hate him.

You kissed the man who hated you.

He didn’t hate you.

You kissed the only person you had left. You kissed him even though it made no sense. You kissed him because you wanted to.

You started it, but then he stopped it. His eyes were dark, his face was flushed, and the bulge in his jeans was not going away. He looked like he was in pain, struggling with his own conscience.

“Sorry,” you whispered.

“Don’t be sorry.” He grinned softly and reached a hand up to tangle in your hair. It was an unexpectedly sweet gesture. “I liked it.”

Your heart melted. He was so lovely, so dear. You never imagined in your wildest dreams that Joel Miller could be like this.

“Just don’t wanna take advantage,” he said.

“You’re not. I kissed you,” you reminded him.

“I know, but you're upset, and you don’t like me much, and you’re tired. Don’t want you doing anything you don’t actually wanna do.”

You did want it, but you were also overwhelmed and exhausted, and more importantly, it would have been a majorly fucked up thing to do with a 14 year old sleeping 20 feet away.

“But if you still want it later”—he gave you another chaste kiss—“you can have it.”

You giggled, kissing him one more time. You didn’t know when you'd be able to again.

His gentle smile faded, and he looked into your eyes with devastating sincerity. “I got you now, okay?”

“I know, Joel.”

“Do you have me?” he asked.

“I’m trying.” You hoped that would be enough, because it was all you had.

“That’s all I need, sweetheart.”

a/n: so i wrote most of this when i was sick with the flu and i fully intended for it to be a one-shot, but i love this dynamic and i’m thinking of exploring it further. let me know if y’all would be interested in seeing more of these two. (edit: this a/n is now redundant bc i did in fact write the sequel).

[system-to-the-madness]

Blessed (2/2) - Fushiguro Megumi x fem!Reader

SPOILERs for up to ch. 235 - canon complient until then Pairing: Fushiguro Megumi x fem!Reader Genre: angst (Part 1), fluff (Part 2), hurt/comfort Word Count: 7 946 Warnings: death, injury, stitches, blood, pain Summary: Megumi woke up after having been saved by you, but will you recover, too?

Part One

The air smelled of wood and tatami. Megumi groaned slightly as he tried to stretch, feeling the soft blanket and the warm futon engulf him. His limbs felt stiff, like they had done when he had been bedridden for weeks with the flue when he had been thirteen. He grabbed his hands and intertwined the fingers, stretching them above his head, before eventually blinking his eyes open. The room he was in was lit up only by the orange light of a small lamp at the headend of his futon. Beyond the traditional room separations made of washi and wood the darkness of night lingered quietly. The tatami floor filled him with the comforting sense of familiarity. He was back at Jujutsu High, strangely enough the one place he had always felt safe at. Maybe because you had always been there.

A sudden noise at his feet drew his attention to it, and sitting up a little he was met with a sight that let his heart almost stop in his chest. Curled up at the end of his bed, hair dishevelled and one hand resting on Megumi’s ankle as if to make sure he wouldn’t get up unnoticed, lay Gojō.

His snow-white hair seemed to glimmer in the low light of the room. His eyes were closed, white lashes resting on his cheeks, even breaths moving his torso in a slow and steady rhythm. Megumi wondered when Gojō had lost so much weight. His cheeks seemed fallen in, exhaustion was written into his features, even while asleep.

The last time Megumi had seen his teacher and guardian had been before Halloween, before Gojō had been sealed away. And now it was… what day was it? How much time had passed since…

Megumi stopped, memories suddenly flooding back to him. Sukuna taking over his body and killing Tsumiki, the fight in Shinjuku on Christmas Eve against Gojō. And then? What had happened since then? How much time had passed since Christmas? Why was Gojō here, but you weren’t? Had something happened to you? Where were Yūji, Inumaki, Panda and Maki? Had something happened to them?

Slowly, not sure how strong his body was, he propped himself up on his elbow. Gojō looked peaceful, sleeping like this, and Megumi realised that in all the years he had been under the powerful sorcerer’s protection, he had never seen him sleep. Considering how exhausted he looked, Megumi was reluctant to wake him, but he needed answers. Badly. Especially concerning the question of where you were.

But before Megumi could reach out to shake Gojō awake, he stirred, blinking his eyes open. Over the years Megumi had gotten used to the stunning blue of Gojō’s eyes, but now, after all that had happened, after he had thought he had lost the only father figure he had ever had, he felt like all breath was knocked out of him, looking at Gojō with his dishevelled, white hair and those huge blue eyes.

Gojō seemed to take a moment to realise what he saw, as he slowly lifted his head, disbelieve written into his features.

“Megumi-“

No sound left Gojō’s lips, that formed the name of his protégé, and Megumi felt himself shrink under his teacher’s intense gaze, before the white haired man lurched forward and wrapped his arms around his student.

Megumi gasped in surprise as Gojō squeezed him in a hug, hesitantly returning it. Gojō was not the kind of man to hand out hugs just like that. Over the years, Megumi could probably count the times Gojō had hugged him, really hugged him, on one hand.

“I didn’t think you’d wake up,” Gojō breathed, pulling Megumi tighter against himself. “I thought I had lost you.”

Megumi nodded, trying to swallow down all the questions that were burning on his tongue and instead focus on what Gojō had said.

“You got locked away-,” he recalled. “I thought you’d be imprisoned forever.”

A beat of silence passed and all it took was an inhale by Gojō for Megumi to know the emotional reunion was over.

“Aww, did you miss me,” Gojō asked teasingly, pulling away, and causing Megumi to roll his eyes at him.

But then he stopped, looked at his teacher for a moment before he nodded.

“I did,” he admitted, knocking the wind out of Gojō’s sails, whose eyes widened in surprise at the honesty.

He swallowed thickly and nodded, pulling away far enough to sit up normally again.

“How are you feeling,” he asked instead of continuing his intended teasing, his eyes now scanning Megumi carefully.

“Pretty okay, I think,” Megumi answered, “A little stiff, maybe... wait- what happened to Sukuna?”

Gojō took a deep breath, making Megumi fear the worst for a moment. What was the worst? That Sukuna had possessed Yūji again? No, it would be worse if he were to possess you.

“Sukuna’s dead,” Gojō answered, and Megumi was glad that this time his usually annoying and always teasing teacher hadn’t made a big deal out of revealing the answer. “Yūji killed him through (y/n)’s technique.”

Megumi nodded, even though he was not sure what exactly Gojō had tried to say beyond that Sukuna was a problem of the past.

“So, he’s gone?”

“Dead, gone, never gonna possess or kill anybody again,” Gojō confirmed, a soft and relieved smile on his lips.

Megumi could feel the weight off the world fall off his shoulders, and he dropped back into his pillow, looking up at the wood panelled ceiling. Another question rose to his mind, and just as quickly the weight on his chest had disappeared, it increased again. What had happened to you? He was not sure he’d be able to ever get up from this futon if the answer was anything other than that you were fine.

“(Y/n)-“

The silence that followed his single word question made his heart plummet to unknown depths, and he screwed his eyes shut, but the tears welled up regardless. Why had he gone through all of this, all of it, if he could not even protect those he loved? Not only had this war demanded Nobara’s life, but he would have to spend the rest of his days living with the knowledge that his own hands, guided by an ancient evil, had killed his sister. And now the girl he loved, the girl he had thought was the one, the girl he had scolded himself over because you were basically still kids, how could he know you were the one, the girl he had secretly imagined he would marry one day… now you were gone, too?

Had it been summer, the silence would not have been as loud. Cicadas would have sung, and frogs would have quacked in the ponds outside. But in winter the school ground were quiet.

Gojō’s voice broke interrupted the quiet.

“She’s- well, her hear is beating, but she’s unconscious.”

Megumi���s eyes flew open again.

“What happened. Didn’t you say she helped Yūji kill Sukuna?”

Gojō deflated, shuffled his long legs around to sit more comfortably before he continued.

“We don’t know what exactly happened. One moment she allowed Yūji to reach through her to finish of Sukuna, the next she collapsed. Yūji and I are both certain we felt a… a wave of power at the moment of Sukuna’s death, so our best guess is that something happened on a level of their souls the moment Sukuna perished. He released so much energy that it would have torn all of us apart and she used her soul to protect us, you, me and Yuuij. Her soul couldn’t process all of it at once, but she tried absorbing it anyway…”

Gojō’s voice died down at the expression on Megumi’s face. Megumi looked exactly how Gojō imagined he had to feel. Grief, pain, self-reproach, hatred towards Sukuna, despair- all was written in his eyes, as he exhaled and let his head rest heavily into his pillow. Gojō almost expected him to send him away, to demand privacy, but the request did not come.

“Where is she now,” Megumi asked, closing his eyes in an attempt to shut the world with its cruelty out of his mind.

“She was in the hospital wing, but Shoko suggested she should better be in her own room. There isn’t really much she can do at the moment; anyone can do at the moment. If her soul wasn’t destroyed completely, she might recover in time, but there’s no way of knowing if it will work. A normal sorcerer would have died immediately, the only reason she’s still alive is her cursed technique. If she can manage to patch her soul back up-“

“Please-” Megumi’s voice was strained as he interrupted his teacher. “Please stop talking.”

Gojō immediately shut his mouth, his eyes flickering over the boy’s features.

“Do you want to be alone?”

Megumi hesitated for a moment, before he shook his head, keeping his eyes still closed. “No,” he answered truthfully. “I’m scared of where my mind will go when I’m alone.”

“Do you want me to talk to you?”

This time Megumi nodded. “Just not about her,” he asked, and Gojō complied happily.

He told Megumi about how he had been released from the prison realm, about the fight between him and Sukuna. He tried to make it sound funny, but he felt the pain radiate of Megumi, so he went on about his friends. Gojō told Megumi about Yūji, who had spent the whole first day glued to Megumi’s bedside, until Shoko had sent him to bed. It had only been less than 36 hours since the battle had ended. And Gojō told him about Inumaki and Panda, who had kept wake with Gojō since then. He told him about Maki, who had tried reading to them all, and then he told him about anything and everything that came to his mind, about all the things Gojō was looking forward to doing and eating again, now, that the threat of Sukuna was over. And he kept talking long after Megumi had fallen asleep again.

-

When Megumi woke for a second time, Gojō had resumed his position at Megumi’s foot end, curled into a tight ball, but this time with his back to Megumi. There was no clock around, but Megumi had the distinct feeling, dawn was closing in. Nightmares had plagued his sleep, and he was overcome with the sudden urge, like every time he had a nightmare, to seek the comfort of your presence.

How many times had he gotten up at night and walked over to your room just to stand in front of your closed door for half an hour, not having the courage to knock? How fast had his heart beaten when you had eventually caught him one time, and made him swear he would knock in the future? How many times since then had he rapped his knuckles against the thin wood of your dorm door, only to be called in by your sleepy voice and how many times had you beckoned him into bed beside you where he had spent the rest of the night sleeping peacefully?

Throwing another glance at Gojō, Megumi carefully peeled back his blanket, and rolled off the futon. He was dressed in a pair of loose grey sweatpants and an oversized, dark blue sweatshirt. With naked feet, he tapped over to the door, taking a last look at his fast asleep mentor and slipped out of the sliding door. The air in the corridor was cool and smelled of snow. Even though it had been months since he had last walked around the school and there was no light source to guide him, he easily found his way towards your room in the dark building. Halting in his steps, he found himself once again in front of your door, hesitating to knock or even enter. How many hours had he stood like this, shifting his weight from the left to the right and back? Bouncing on his heels, walking a few steps back towards his room, only to turn around and stare at your door again? But this time you would not randomly return from a midnight-snack trip to the kitchen and scold him for hesitating in asking for help. No, you were unconscious, laying in your bed on the other side of the door that separated him from you, and there was no one who knew if you would ever wake up again.

Even though he knew there would be no answer, he lifted his hand to the thin, wooden door and knocked. Silence followed, silence he had expected and still hoped would be interrupted by your voice. He pressed down the handle nonetheless, letting himself into your room, and closed the door behind his back.

Your room was warmer than the corridor, but smelled fresh, as if someone had aired it out just a few minutes ago. Through the glass of the window beside your bed, he could see that outside the sky began growing slightly brighter. White dust – no, snow – covered the small garden in front of your window and the yard beyond. It seemed to have snowed a little since the battle in Shinjuku, and Megumi desperately tried not to think about how today a year ago, on the 26th, you had dragged him around Tokyo to go looking at all the Christmas decorations together. Back then, too, snowflakes had fallen from stormy dark clouds, and had caught in your hat and scarf, had splayed over the dark fabric of your coat like stars in the night sky as you had tucked on Megumi’s sleeve to get him to follow you to the next attraction. You had known each other for just two weeks back then, but Megumi’s mind still had played with the idea what it would be like if this trip had been a date, had even toyed with the idea of asking if this was a date. Now, when his eyes flickered over to the sleeping form in your bed, his heart reacted so differently than it had last year to the touch of your gloved hand on his. Instead of excitedly skipping a beat, it felt like it sunk into the ground.

Your hair was spread over the pillow, the blanket neatly pulled up to the middle of your chest, with your hands resting on it at your sides. You were wearing a long-armed sweatshirt, one that Megumi had gifted to you for Christmas last year. On the first glance it looked like a plain sweatshirt, but on the lower hem and on the arms, small, stitched-on flowers ranked around the seams, reaching a few centimetres up into the fabric. Megumi had seen the sweatshirt on a trip to Shibuya the day before Christmas Eve, and it had made him think of you, so he had bought it spontaneously, even though he had not planned on getting anything for you. You had smiled so brightly and admired the details when you had unwrapped it, that Megumi completely forgot how embarrassed he had been about it at first. The embarrassment returned tenfold though, when you ended up wearing the sweatshirt to the movie nights with all the other students, telling them how Megumi had gifted it to you. And now someone had dressed you in it, as you lay in bed lifelessly, the only sign that you were not dead being the shallow movement of your chest with each breath you took.

Carefully Megumi stepped further into the room. Usually when he had come to your room at such late hour, you had sleepily waved him over to join you in bed. You had always attempted to pull your blanket over him as well, but he had refused. It seemed inappropriate to join you under your blanket when he could not even confess his feelings for you, and he was certain, feeling you sleeping this close beside him would drive him mad. The temptation of wrapping you in his arms, tangling his long legs with your shorter ones, burring his nose against your hair, and inhaling your familiar and calming scent would have been too big. So instead he had always preferred the protective barrier of the blanket between your bodies. Now he wished for nothing more than you to attempt to tuck him in next to you, to feel your arms wrap around him securely and hold yourself close to him.

Feeling like it was not appropriate to join you in bed as he had done so many nights before, he instead grabbed the chair from your desk, and pulled it over next to your bed, sitting down in the dark. He didn’t dare turning on the lights, the little bit of morning grey that fell through the window illuminating enough of your features for him to know that the state you were in was worse than he had seen in his dream. Your cheeks were hollowed out from when you had poured all your energy into healing Megumi through Sukuna. There were cuts and not yet healed bruises all over your face and doubtlessly other parts of your body too. Megumi wondered where those had originated, but the thought that they were a result of Sukuna’s death were not too farfetched. Your skin had a grey hue to it, sickly and dead, and your hair was matt and void of any of the vibrancy Megumi knew. It looked like at one point it had been drenched in sweat but had dried since, single strands of hair sticking together.

Megumi’s eyes wandered to your hand laying on the blanket next to you. Small cuts and lacerations littered your beautiful skin, and even though it had only been less than two days, they already seemed to have started healing. He wondered if you’d be in pain if he were to take your hand in his. If so, would the pain be enough to wake you up? Was it even a good idea to wake you up? Wasn’t it better to wait until you woke up by yourself, when your soul was completely restored, assuming Gojō’s theory was correct? Megumi bit down on his own teeth, and quickly pushed his hands underneath his thighs, sitting on them to resist the urge to take your hand in his.

Beyond the window, in the grey light of the slowly approaching morning, sparrows tweeted in the yard, already up and making a fuzz as they always did. Megumi tore his attention away from your unconscious form, and directed it into the fading night beyond the glass instead. In front of your window was a small garden, conifers cut into bizarre shapes, ferns and different kinds of moss covering the rocks that lined a tiny brook that lead past the students’ dorms into a bigger garden behind the house. Beyond the small strip of carefully curated nature, a plastered yard opened up. Many afternoons he had spent training with you or Maki there.

A smile threatened to tuck at his lips at the memory of both of you facing off, afternoon sun beating down on you, sweat running down the side of his face and catching in the collar of his uniform. Even though you were smaller than him, you were almost equally matched. Unlike in his sparing sessions with Yūji, where Megumi almost always won, the chance to come out on top in a match with you were pretty much 50/50.

Well, not entirely. There was a third option, in which both of you were really equally matched, going on for sometimes hours without neither of you resigning or getting defeated. Those were his favourite sparing sessions with you. When in the end you both would all but collapse on the cobble stones, breathing heavily, and staring at each other for a moment before breaking out in tired laughter and laying on your backs on the hard ground, staring up at the sky with its clouds changing colour from white to yellow and orange to deep red and pink, before they turned blue in the sunset.

Oh, how much Megumi would give to get these times back. Sure, it had not always been easy, it had not always been fun. But you had been there with him, safe and uninjured, and Megumi had bathed in the illusion of having at least a little bit control over his life: when to study, when to eat and sleep, when to train. When to seek you out to hear your beautiful laughter.

Megumi turned back to you. Somehow you looked cold, he thought. As if the air in the room was too cool, giving you a chill.

Quickly he got up and fetched the woolly blanket from your wardrobe, which you had bought so Megumi could have a blanket too, when he was staying over in your room more than twice a week most times, since he always had refused to join you under yours. Working as quietly as possible, Megumi unfolded the blanket and threw it over your sleeping form before he settled down on the chair next to you again.

You still looked cold, but at least now your arms were covered as well, and there was an additional layer keeping you warmer. Megumi looked over your body, noticing that there was still the tip of your pinkie finger poking out from underneath the blanket. The same thoughts as before shot through his mind. Would you be in pain if he took your hand? Would you wake up? But this time he did not have the strength to deny himself the feeling of your hand in his, and very slowly, very carefully, he pulled the blanket away from your hand, pushing his own underneath your fingers. They were cold, as they rested in his palm, and quickly he brought his other hand down over it, covering it in hopes of offering a little warmth.

His fingers ghosted over the healing cuts and bruises on the delicate skin of the back of your hand. He wished he could do something to make them heal faster, something to warm your fingers up quicker, something to help you heal and wake up with the memories of what had happened no stronger than the memories of a distant nightmare.

He exhaled shakily. How long could he stay here with you? His heart screamed As long as it takes her to wake up!, but his head was more rational than that. He’d need to eat soon. Or use the bathroom. He needed to wash up and dress into something fresh, something he had not slept in. And if you stayed unconscious for longer, he’d need to get back to training, to studying. Sure, Sukuna was defeated, but there were still curses out there that needed to be dealt with.

Then there was the matter of the Zenin clan, the Zenin clan, which’s head he now was. By the gods, he really didn’t want that position, but he held it now, and even with how Maki had decimated the ranks, and the decision of the other clans to cast the Zenin clan out of the Big Three, there was still a lot of responsibility to bear, a lot of politics to learn. At least he did not have to worry so much about the Gojō clan, with Gojō Satoru, his guardian, being the head of it. But then again, he already dreaded the meetings. There was no way Gojō would behave maturely during those, was there?

What came after? After studying and training and fighting curses and handling clan politics? His fingers tightened around yours, not squeezing, but just enough for him to feel your hand rest heavily in his. After all that, he’d come back here, hold your hand, pray for you to wake up. He didn’t really believe in the gods, but he’d also daily go to a shrine, and make an offering to them, asking them to bring you back to him.

Megumi slumped deeper into the chain. He felt sleep already tuck at his eyelids again, his thoughts growing fuzzy, dizziness taking over his vision, even when he tried to fight it. It made sense, he guessed, that he was still easily exhausted after everything that had happened. And he had a feeling Sukuna had not really cared to take good care of Megumi’s body while he had possessed him, so that he was weakened from months of physical neglect. Still he tried to refuse his body the need for rest, and instead turned to watch your face once more. The sky outside had brightened enough to give him a clearer image of what state you were in, and Megumi’s heart tucked painfully as he was able to make out the cuts across your face more clearly now. A deeper one, that had been stitched up, ran from the corner of your mouth to the side of your nose, another one right underneath your left eye and countless shallow ones were littered all over you face.

Megumi blinked slowly, exhaling shakily. He wished he could help you somehow, could do more than stare at you and hold your cold hand. He wove the fingers of his left hand through your right, continuing to brush over the tiny cuts on the back of your hand with the other one.

Was it just a figment of his imagination, wishful thinking, or had your hand become a bit warmer between his, your skin regained a little bit of its colour? No, he told himself, he was just exhausted, beginning to confuse reality with what he wanted to see. Looking back at your face, he inhaled with a shudder before he closed his eyes. He needed to sleep. He was of little help as it was, but completely exhausted he’d be even less useful. If you stayed asleep for a longer time, he wanted to be in shape and back in the game before you woke up. Maybe even have figured out all the clan business by then. And if you woke sooner, which he hoped for, he at least wouldn’t look quite as battered as he felt at the moment if he napped a little now.

His mind began drifting off eventually, the dizziness of exhaustion pulling him under, back into memories of spring afternoons sparing with you under the fall of Sakura petals. He wished he could summon those memories at will anytime he wanted, the feeling of the soft spring breeze on his skin, the touch of petals brushing over his face, the sound of your breathless laughter, the strain in his muscles and the shock in his bones whenever your staff hit his with unbroken ferocity. He was on the strange border between waking and sleeping, just wondering if he could manipulate the memory enough to stir his time with you away from the sparing exercise and instead convince dream-you to take a break sitting on the stairs, when suddenly there was something moving against his hand.

Half asleep, Megumi tried shooing the sensation away, wanting to stay in the beautiful memory of this afternoon in spring he had spent with you, but the motion in his hand returned and he jolted out of the dream.

The third time around, Megumi was certain that he was not just imagining it: Your fingers were weakly flexing against his, and before he had time to sit up or even direct his attention to your face, your raspy voice broke the silence that otherwise was only interrupted by the chirping of the birds outside in the snow.

“Megumi?”

It felt like Megumi’s whole world began collapsing in on itself, his heart first stopping and then beating with twice the speed at the sound of your familiar voice whispering his name.

“Megumi, is that you?”

Along with your question you tucked at his hand, and he finally looked up at your face.

Your eyes were still heavy, but open and fixed on him, flitting over his features as if you were searching for any indication that the boy in front of you was someone else, someone who just looked like him.

Megumi wanted to answer, but his throat closed up painfully. So he just nodded, grabbed your hand tighter into his, and nodded. At the gesture a smile began tucking at your lips, a sad smile that he desperately wanted to turn into a happy one, and panic began gripping his heart, when he suddenly noticed tears springing into your eyes. Quickly he shifted from the chair to sit beside you on the mattress of your bed, the softness of it familiar under him, your body pressing heavily against him through the blankets.

“It’s really you,” you answered your own question, a tear running down you’re the side of your face and into your hairline. Megumi wanted to brush it away, but he still held your hand with both of his and refused to let go. Instead, he just held your hand tighter, bringing it up to his chest. He was not sure if it was a gesture to comfort you by letting you feel his heartbeat, or a gesture to comfort himself.

Leaning a little closer to you he finally managed to press out a few words, his voice raspy and thick with unshed tears of relief. “’s me.”

You moved, pulling your other hand from underneath the blanket, and reached up towards Megumi’s face. Leaning in further, he met it halfway, letting you brush your fingers over his face. Cold fingertips traced the skin along his chin, over his forehead and over the bridge of his nose. It was only when your featherlight touch ran along the thin skin under his eyes that Megumi understood that you were tracing the parts of his skin where Sukuna’s marks had once been. A shiver went through him at the thought, suddenly uncomfortably aware of how much his body had been violated by the ancient sorcerer.

“He’s gone,” Megumi whispered into the narrow space between you, scared that if he spoke any louder, you might draw your hand away. He wanted to avoid that desperately. After all, your fingers left a sweet, tingling sensation in their wake.

“I thought I’d never see you again,” you replied, drawing back from the subtle touch, and instead cupping the side of Megumi’s face. Instinctively he nuzzled into your palm, not minding that your cold fingers set the little hairs on his neck standing up.

“I was scared you wouldn’t wake up,” Megumi voiced his own confession.

Now that he was so close to you, close enough to smell the faint fragrance of the laundry detergent you used, and the dullness of the scent that only engulfed you when you were sleepy, he could no longer hold the thoughts at bay that had scratched at the surface to his consciousness since his conversation with Gojō. He had leant in close enough to feel your warm breath ghost over his cheek, and all of a sudden he was not sure why he had ever been scared of being anything but honest with you. Honest about his feelings for you, honest about how scared he was at the prospect of you getting hurt, or even worse, dying.

“Gojō said, you took the blow of Sukuna’s soul, when he died,” Megumi pressed out, his voice hoarse and scratching in his throat. “That you shielded our souls with yours. To protect us…”

You nodded at his words, your eyes carefully watching the emotions on Megumi’s face, as he furrowed his brows slightly.

“You could have died,” he accused. “Your soul could have gotten blown to bits and you could have died-“ Megumi was not sure if he was sad, angry or despaired at the thought. “Why did you do that, put yourself on the line like that?”

“What would have been the alternative, hm? Let Sukuna blow all of us up? Sure, my chances certainly would have been better if I hadn’t tried to absorb the blast, but then you’d be dead now. Yūji and Gojō-sensei too.”

Your breathing had gotten heavy over the few sentences you had spoken, as if it took great physical effort to talk. Worriedly Megumi shook his head at you.

“But did you think for one moment about how I’d feel if something had happened to you?”

You laughed, but it was one of the humourless laughs you paid Megumi whenever he had missed the point in something you had told him.

“Did you think for one moment how I felt? Watching you being possessed by Sukuna?” You took a deep breath, trying to counteract the strain the conversation put on you, and had Megumi not been as desperate to hear your voice as he was, he would have asked you to continue the conversation another time. “How I felt watching him use your body to fight against the strongest sorcerer of our time, letting Gojō blow you to bits?”

Your fingers tightened around his left hand, the faint memory of searing pain tucking in his mind somewhere.

“And just for the record, I did think about how you might feel. And I came to the conclusion that I’d be lucky if you’d feel anything close to the despair I felt, watching you go through all that.”

Megumi stared at you, your argument only half registering in his mind, as his eyes stayed fixed on your chapped lips moving around the words you spoke.

“You’re an idiot Fushiguro Megumi,” you continued, slightly out of breath, and pulling your hand away from his face to softly flick his forehead, “if you think I’d risk your life if I might as well safe it.”

The flick against his forehead pulled Megumi back into the moment, your cold fingers smoothing over the spot where your nail had gently snapped against his skin, and then cupping his face again.

“I just don’t want to see you hurt,” Megumi mumbled, his eyes wandering to your lips before he hung his head.

He was tired, physically and emotionally. It felt like his body had been drained of all its energy over the past months, and now even the shortest conversations tired him out immediately. And he was sick of fearing getting rejected by you. He finally wanted to tell you how he felt, wanted you to know that in him you would always have someone who would look out for you, even if you turned him down. But was now really the right moment to spring this on you? Hardly.

“Me neither, Megumi,” you replied, “me neither.”

He felt you gently tuck at his chin, making him look up at you again. You were carefully observing his face, the way your eyes skipped to his lips again and again not escaping his notice, while he watched their flickering in a mixture of hope and anticipation as well as amusement. He wasn’t sure for how long you sat and simply observed each other, but when the first beams of winter sunlight began blinding him, he finally gave into the question that had been on the tip of his tongue since you had reached up to cup his face.

“May I kiss you?”

The question was but a breath in the little space between your faces, and he could feel your breath hitch once you had processed the meaning of his words.

For a terrible second Megumi thought you would deny him, would turn him down with the way your eyes widened and stared at him in surprise. But then they softened, and you nodded.

“Please,” you whispered back, your breath fanning over his skin like a gentle caress.

Megumi watched your face for a moment longer, wanting to see if you really meant your answer or if you had just agreed in order to please him. But the expectant nervousness, the anticipation and slight giddiness written into your features was proof enough for Megumi to slowly lean down to where you were still resting on the pillow. His eyes fluttered closed as his lips were but a hair width away from yours, hesitating to close the last bit of distance. His heart was doing summersaults in his chest, your hand he was still holding clutched to his chest, the only lifeline he had to hold onto to stay in control of the spinning in his head. For a second he waited, let the tension between your lips and his sizzle and burn him, felt the heat your skin radiated, the shaky up and down of your chest as you patiently anticipated him kissing you.

And when it all got too much, when his senses got so overwhelmed with your presence, when his ears were ringing with his own heartbeat, he eventually gave in, closing the last bit of distance and pressed his lips to yours in a sweet kiss.

Neither you nor Megumi had much, if any, experience with kissing, which an outsider would have been painfully aware to, watching the way Megumi was leaning over you, almost like frozen as his brain tried to process the sensation of your soft, sweet lips against his. But when he lifted one of his hands away from yours, and cupped your face instead, pushing his fingertips past your hairline, pulling you closer to him, the tension seemed to fall away, and he melted into the touch. Carefully he moved his lips against yours, his heart stuttering at the way your hand at his chest closed more tightly around his fingers, while the other moved from the side of his face to his neck, beckoning him closer and closer. His senses narrowed in on you, his world consisting of nothing but the sound of your hitching breath, the taste of your lips, the smell of your skin, the warmth of your body.

Megumi had often imagined what it might be like to kiss you, but never in his life had he imagined that your kisses might be so sweet, so soft and warm and gentle. The way our lips moved against his was heaven, and Megumi found himself wishing he could stay in that moment forever. Thin morning sunlight brushed over the two of you, warming his skin beyond the blush that hard started to burn on his cheeks, and his heart felt like it was beating in rhythm with yours as a soft gasp slipped over your lips when he ran his tongue experimentally against it.

That little sound was what made Megumi decide that he had to pull away from the kiss, lest his heart might give out, and with a shaky exhale he turned his head just enough to break away. Only then he noticed how out of breath he was, how shaky his hand on the side of your face had become. He rested his forehead against yours, playfully brushing his nose against yours, eliciting a small giggle, that made his heart swell.

“I’m in love with you,” he confessed, not caring anymore about whether it was a good or a bad time to talk about matters this serious. From where he was standing – or rather sitting – the two of you had barely escaped death, had won a battle against the most powerful jujutsu sorcerer of all time, and now had kissed in a morning-sun flooded room while outside snow crystals glimmered in the light. When would he ever have the courage to tell the truth if not now? “I know it sounds stupid, like a cliché or something, but I think I’ve been in love with you since we first me. It feels like that day in Shinjuku, when Gojō sent me to pick you up… I knew who I was looking for, as if my heart knew something my head didn’t.”

He expected you to say something, but instead you stayed quiet, only breathing heavily from the kiss you had just shared, and Megumi almost wondered if you had fallen asleep again, when you suddenly tucked on his sweatshirt.

It took him a moment to understand that you were wordlessly asking him to lay down with you, so he hastily swung his legs onto the mattress, and when you tried pulling the blankets over him this time, he did not protest, but settled under the soft and warm fabric like he had secretly wanted to do since the first time you had invited him to stay the night. Next to him you shifted, and before Megumi knew what you were doing, you had rested your head on his shoulder, just where his arm connected to his torso. Your ear was pressed to his body, as if you were listening to his heartbeat and you brought your arm over his chest in a comfortable hug.

Ignoring the way his heartrate was spiking, Megumi wrapped the arm you were resting in, around your back, pulling you closer to him, settling you more securely against his chest, and linked his ankle with yours. In response you shifted again, shifted more of your weight unto Megumi until you were both laying comfortably in each other’s arms. It felt like a puzzle made of two pieces with very difficult patterns had clicked into place, and it took everything in Megumi not to start crying at how happy it made him to have you rest by his side like this. Even though you had not answered to his confession.

As if you had read his mind, you suddenly spoke up.

“It wasn’t your heart,” you whispered against his shirt, tilting your head up a little to be able to look at him. “It wasn’t your heart that knew something your head didn’t. It was your soul. That’s how I found you that day. There was this call… not for the new student at Jujutsu High, but the call for me. As if your soul had been looking for me. And when I saw you, it felt like something had fallen into place and I knew that our lives had been meant to be intertwined even long before we first met.”

Megumi blinked into the by now sun flooded room.

“What are you saying?”

“I’m saying that I don’t know if something like soulmates exist, but if they do, you’re mine.” Megumi felt your lashes against his jaw as you leant up to press a kiss to his chin, and then the side of his neck, sending a warm shiver down his spine. You settled back against his chest, before you asked: “Is that stupid?”

Megumi shook his head. “No,” he answered, “No, it’s not.”

He remembered how he had just followed an instinct that day, trying to find you, how he had been magnetically pulled towards you. He was certain soulmates were nothing but a fairytale made up by media trying to sell love to young girls, but the idea that there was someone out there destined for him was addicting. Especially if this someone were you. Scrap that. If that someone weren’t you, he wouldn’t want them either way. With you in his arms, he had everything he had ever dreamt of.

Megumi knew, that when he woke up again, there would be work he had to do. He’d have to deal with Yūji’s doubtlessly overly enthusiastic response to see him alive and well, and with Panda and Inumaki too. Yuuta and Maki probably would have the decency to greet him without violating his personal space. And then there’d be Gojō, who, now that his biggest possible enemy was gone, would turn into an unsufferable source of stupid ideas and childish behaviours. Megumi was almost looking forward to seeing the man he considered perhaps not his father but at least an older brother, back to his old, happy self. Then he’d have to deal with the Zenin clan, and the other clans. Maybe Gojō could help with that. But in between, whenever he wasn’t busy, he would come and find you, and maybe you’d allow him to steal a kiss or two.

“Hey, Megumi?”

Your voice was already thick with sleep as you pulled him out of his thoughts again. He hummed in response, too tired to form a coherent answer.

“I’m in love with you, too.”

Seemed like the chances that you’d allow him to steal a kiss or two were pretty good then. He hummed again, this time with a smile on his face, burying his nose in your hair, and you pressed yourself closer to him in response.

-

It was around noon, when Gojō made his way towards your room. When he had woken up, Megumi was gone, and there was only one place really the raven-haired boy would run off to. Not bothering to knock, Gojō pushed the door to your room open, fully prepared to find his protégé slumped in a chair beside your bed, holding your cold hand or staring at your lifeless features.

Indeed, there was a chair pushed to your bedside, but Gojō had not been prepared to find Megumi laying in bed with you, your arm dragged over his middle, head resting on his chest. It was obvious that both of you were exhausted, but the colour had returned to your skin, nothing like the last time Gojō had seen you, all grey and void of life. Even your hair seemed to have regained some of its old glow. It seemed like you had woken up at some point and dragged Megumi into bed with you. The way the boy had his arm wrapped around your shoulder and his face buried in your hair, not to mention the way Gojō remembered him looking at you for the past year, indicated that Megumi had been only all too happy to join you.

For a while Gojō watched his two students quietly. A part of him already wanted to tease Megumi, and he knew eventually he could, but he would also make it abundantly clear to both of you, how happy he was for you. After all you had been through, you deserved happiness.

Steps in the corridor approaching the room made Gojō pull out of his thoughts, and a moment later Yūji pocked his head in. Just like Gojō he took in the scene, and his mouth formed a little o before a grin split his face.

“About time,” he whispered with a grin, and Gojō couldn’t help but join in with one of his own.

“Finally, huh,” he agreed before he turned towards the door. “Come on, let’s let them sleep a while longer.”

Yūji nodded and bounced back into the corridor, the happiness for his friends unmistakable in the way he skipped away. Gojō turned to look at Megumi and you one last time.

There was a lot of work to be done when you woke up, but for now you deserved to rest. You had almost been killed and Megumi had been possessed by the mightiest sorcerer there had ever been. At least until Gojō had been born, the white-haired man thought smugly to himself. Megumi had lost so much, his father and mother, his sister, and almost the girl he loved. It was time that the wish that resonated in his name finally came true, that Megumi finally could live a blessed life.

Gojō quietly closed the door behind him as he stepped into the hallway. If there was one thing Gojō was certain of, it was that Megumi already considered himself blessed for getting to hold you in his arms, for getting loved by you and being allowed to love you back.

Tags: @natriae

[imdead770]

omg love the idea of steve x childhood friend reader!! could you do that for soda too

Sodapop Curtis x Reader - Childhood Friends

Authors Note - Slowly (but surely) getting back into writing. Fingers crossed I don't have another words aren't wording era. Enjoy!

▪︎ Dear, darling Sodapop

▪︎ I know exactly how you met Sodapop

▪︎ I'm third grade, you got paired up with him for some art project

▪︎ And he sucked ass

▪︎ This kid couldn't do anything

▪︎ He can barely read, his hand writing sucks, he can't color inside the lines

▪︎ But for some reason you liked him enough to stick with him all these years

▪︎ Maybe it was how he apologized at least 50 times that you were carrying the project

▪︎ Or maybe it was how he'd still try his hardest to comprehend the big words on the instructions

▪︎ One of the big words including 'instructions'

▪︎ I personally believe Sodapops dyslexic, you can disagree, go for it

▪︎ But the moment he realized he wanted to stick with you was that project

▪︎ How patient you were with him

▪︎ How you helped him read the instructions

▪︎ How you whispered in his ear whenever he forgot half the words to his presentation

▪︎ He didn't really know what love was, he was a kid

▪︎ But looking back on it, that's the moment he fell

▪︎ Fast forward a few years, middle school.

▪︎ I think around 7th grade Sodapop realized just how hot he was

▪︎ He could've pulled a sophomore if he wanted to

"Ya' see that! She was lookin' at me!"

"Every girl looks at you, Soda, it ain't a big deal."

▪︎ You two still did a lot of projects together

▪︎ Normally you did the work

▪︎ But hey, he was good emotional support

▪︎ Eigth grade

▪︎ Somehow both of you managed to have glow ups the exact same year

▪︎ With his jawline being as sharp as Micheal Myer's knife

▪︎ And your body doing its weird maturing thing

▪︎ Which didn't go unnoticed by Sodapop, by the way

▪︎ He fell for you all over again, only this time he had hormones and you had a body that could kill

▪︎ You hung out around the gang a lot

▪︎ Dallas flirted with you a lot

▪︎ Everytime Soda would butt in

▪︎ Everytime the gang teased him about it when you left

"Ya' like 'em."

"What? Na'"

"So can I date 'em?"

"I'll kill ya'"

"Told ya', likes 'em. Gimme that 10, Two."

"Aw, fuc-"

▪︎ Whenever Soda dropped out of high-school he was all freaked out your friendship would end

▪︎ He thought you'd stick with your school friends

▪︎ Instead you two just got closer

▪︎ You'd catch him up on what drama he was missing while he told you stories from DX

▪︎ It was a daily tradition

▪︎ If you were swamped with homework he wouldn't even try

▪︎ He'd still talk until his lips hurt though

▪︎ YOU COMFORTED HIM AFTER SANDY

▪︎ He came over to your place, all quiet and teary eyed

▪︎ That was the second time he cried in front of you

▪︎ The first being the time a bunch of socs picked on him in 6th grade

▪︎ Anyways

▪︎ Eventually the gang got fed up

▪︎ He was well over Sandy

▪︎ He was head over heels for you

▪︎ You went of your way to see him

▪︎ I think someone bet that Steve couldn't get Soda to date you

▪︎ And Steve went all out

▪︎ He practically threatened Soda

▪︎ Soda did it on his own but Steve takes credit

▪︎ He asked you on one of your catch up nights

"So, remember that sophomore gi-"

"I like ya'."

"What."

▪︎ You just sat there for a second, completely awestruck

▪︎ You were gonna say that sophomore girl that liked him got knocked up

▪︎ But that was pushed into the shadows of your brain

"Uh.. I like you too."

▪︎ This man smiled

▪︎ Like pure

▪︎ '😀'

▪︎ He didn't really know how to express emotions after Sandy

▪︎ So he just kissed you

▪︎ Flat out, lips on lips, kissed you

▪︎ After you pulled away he hugged you, smiling into your neck

▪︎ And you were smiling right back

▪︎ Not that he could see it, but still

▪︎ Took a second and ran to tell the gang

▪︎ They all either

A) Flipped out

Or

B) Expected it and didn't care

▪︎ Either way he was jumping up and down

▪︎ Dallas had to tell him at least 10 times to shut up about you

▪︎ He didn't let you go home

▪︎ Cuz like, he was your boyfriend now, he had to be within 10 feet of you

▪︎ After you two started dating he held your hand every single day

▪︎ Cuz like, he's waited over 5 years for this moment

▪︎ Other then the PDA and dates, nothing changes

▪︎ Yay

[nocturnalrorobin]

STOLEN

(Mihawk x reader x Shanks)

cw: selfharm, minor medical procedure

Taglist: @animefreak818

Minors DNI

AN: Finally a bit of lore. I hope you enjoy it! :) Thanks for being my beta @hannahbarberra162 <3

Prev. Chap.

Chapter 4: Nobody's Soldier

Mihawk made something proper to eat for Lilly without uttering a single word. The air was so thick one could cut it with a knife. He put a plate of scrambled eggs, bacon, and two pieces of toast, and a bowl of yogurt and fresh fruit. He walked over and placed it in front of her with juice and coffee. His index finger gently lifted her chin to force eye contact with him. “You got something you want to say to me, darling?” Lilly could feel heat rising to her cheeks and she rubbed her thighs unconsciously together, which didn't go unnoticed by either of the men. 

“I-I'm sorry I broke my promise, sir.” Lilly silently cursed at herself - the two of them always turned her into a mumbling mess. “I know it's not an excuse, but I heard such a loud groaning from Shanks’ room and got worried.” She looked him anxiously in the eyes, her body tense. Shanks who sat right from her squeezed her thigh gently and comfortingly. 

Mihawk showed her one of his rare smiles, she really was adorable like this he thought and patted her head. “Good girl. Now eat up.” Mihawk kissed the top of her head and circled behind her to check the nape of her neck. He carefully moved her shirt with his finger and even if Shanks tried his best to disinfect it, the bite was infected and needed to be looked at. Mihawk sighed annoyed and put his head on Lilly’s trying to calm down. He wasn't just angry with Shanks he was furious for being so careless about biting her. Mihawk wanted to to tear him to shreds, but he also knew that they needed to have a more important conversation for now, he could still kill Shanks afterward. He walked around the table glaring at Shanks and eventually sat down. “By the way darling I bought you a couple of things. Some clothes and necessities you might need. I'm not sure if you will like them,  but at least you don't need to wear our clothes all the time and have something to wear until you buy your own new wardrobe.” Mihawk said matter of factly while watching her munching on the food. 

Shanks chuckled at the sight of her eating faster. “Slow down baby girl, the food won't run away.” Shanks rubbed her back soothingly as she coughed because it went down the wrong pipe. 

“Is it ok if I check the items out?” Lilly looked excitedly between her men. 

“Of course darling. We will be there shortly. I just want to talk to Shanks first.” Mihawk answered her with a thoughtful look in his eyes. After Lilly left the kitchen Mihawk got up and took out a big folder from a cupboard. He took the chair next to Shanks, his expression darkening. “Take a look at this.” He placed the folder in front of Shanks. 

“What is this?” Shanks’ tone was serious as he opened it and found Lilly’s picture in there but instead of a name was a subject number. 

“The truth. It's doubtful she knows about any of this.” Mihawk swirled some more wine in his glass. “Look through it, but don't do anything foolish, mutt. She's gonna need you here!” Mihawk huffed. 

Shanks growled, he usually ignored Mihawk's name-calling, but he felt personally attacked by him. “Will you let it go? It's been years!!! YEARS! What will it take for you to forgive me?” Shanks snarled at him, frustrated that they couldn't see eye to eye even when they had the same lover. 

“Just read through the damn file and then come to the living room.” He forcefully cupped Shanks’ cheek with his thumb and index finger and tilted his head upwards. “You don't get to raise your voice at me. Are we understood?” He said in a pointed tone. 

“Yes sir.” Shanks wanted to lean into his touch so badly, but he controlled himself just this once.

Mihawk came close to Lilly and wrapped his arms around her waist, gingerly kissing her shoulders. “I missed you, darling.” He rested his head on hers and sighed. 

Lilly turned in his hold to face him. “Are you ok? Did you fight with Shanks?” her hands reaching out for his cheeks carefully holding his face and pulling him in for a kiss. He sighed into the kiss with content. 

“You always know how to cheer me up, darling. Don't worry about me and Shanks. He will get disciplined just like you will.” His voice was pointed, his ringed irises stared deep into her eyes, his thumb slowly tracing her lips. Before she could suck or bite it he withdrew his thumb. “You like the things I bought?” 

“Hmm yes. Thank you, they fit perfectly. How did you know my size?” She wondered. 

“I pay attention to you darling that's how.” He saw her puzzled expression and chuckled. “I saw the sizes on the clothes we had to wash.” He pecked her forehead. He was not looking forward to what was happening now. “Well darling if you are done, then follow me to the living room.” Lilly wore the black and red wine dress with frills at the top, just like Mihawk's shirts. “Stunning. Absolutely gorgeous.” He twirled her around to inspect his buy. He intertwined his fingers with hers and led her to the living area, he felt restless and he hated that feeling

 As Mihawk opened the heavy wooden door they already saw Shanks sitting on a red velvet couch that was made out of dark brown heavy wood, it matched the rest of the furniture. Lilly didn’t like the expression on his face, she wasn't sure if it was because he made her his mate but she could feel his rage and it wasn't just because she looked at his face. It made her very uneasy. She moved past Mihawk and walked over to Shanks sitting down on his lap. “Are you ok?” She leaned her forehead against his, and he smiled sadly at her. 

Mihawk placed a heavy chair in front of them, causing Lilly to look in confusion as she knew something was going on and could feel her anxiety rising. “Did you bring the folder with you?” He glared at Shanks. 

“Ok, time out, both of you. What's going on? You are freaking me out! And Mihawk please stop murdering Shanks with your eyes.” Lilly stood up and moved around making dramatic hand gestures. Her boys looked at her with remorseful looks and both walked over to her. 

“I am sorry my dear, I didn’t mean to scare you.” He softly kissed her temple while embracing her. “And for the record, I’m not ‘murdering’ him with my eyes, I’m stabbing him in my mind. Very different.” He huffed and made quotation marks with his fingers.

“I’m sorry too Baby girl. There is just something we have to talk about with you and it’s not easy for us. Do you think you can listen to Mihawk for a bit?” Shanks caressed her cheek and looked deep into her eyes. She nodded nervously, looking between the two of them. “The file is still in the kitchen.” He pointed to Mihawk who left to retrieve it. “Baby, do you know what Mihawk's job is?” Shanks asked her while pulling Lilly back into his lap as they sat back on the couch. 

“Well I always thought the Dojo was his main job, but after he left the other night I’m not so sure anymore.” She contemplated.

“Hmm. The Dojo is just something I picked up doing because I was bored.” Mihawk hummed when he came back into the room. “I just had so much free time when I stopped working as a doctor. I’m the security chief for the Mayor Sir Crocodile.” He sat down in his chair with a huge folder on his lap. Lilly’s eyes widened at this new information. “The other night when I was asked to go to work, I asked my partner Perona to look into your parents, because everything about your story bothered me love. And to clarify it was not because I thought you were lying it's just your father's behavior and also the fact that you are human.” Lilly looked very confused at that last statement, but let him continue before she would say anything. “You see humans can’t see us. You shouldn’t be able to interact with us at all. When I drank your blood I fully expected some resistance or that I couldn’t drink it, but you darling tasted divine.” His hand reached out and traced over Lilly’s wrist.

“Focus Dracule!” Shanks scolded the older man. 

“Right. Forgive me.” A blush tinted his cheeks. He was too embarrassed that Shanks just called him out. He opened the folder with a sigh, but before he could continue she interrupted him. 

“Maybe I’m special? My parents can see you too after all.”  She mumbled mostly to herself. 

“Indeed they are, but they modified themselves with wolves' blood. Have your parents ever taken you hunting, love?” He inquired while looking through the file. He really didn't enjoy this, because he didn't know how to approach this topic. 

“Wolves… blood? What?” Lilly asked, perturbed. “They did. When I was young they always took me hunting but I didn't like to hurt animals and always threw a fit so they stopped.” She continued. “What is this about?” She looked between Mihawk and Shanks. 

“For goodness sake, just tell her. Even I’m getting anxious.” Shanks tried to reason. He grew out his tail and wrapped it around Lilly so she had something to ground herself with. She instinctively cuddled close to it. 

Mihawk pinched the place between his eyes and took a deep breath. “Your parents are monster hunters and you are not their biological child.” He opened the folder and handed her the first page. It had a baby photo of her on it and a subject number, underneath was a long text. 

“T-That's me. What is this?!” Lilly looked at him in utter confusion and distress. She wasn’t too surprised to learn that she wasn’t their biological child though, there was just always a barrier of sorts that she couldn't explain. Over the text was a big stamp in red saying ‘FAILURE’. 

“In short. You weren’t adopted, nor were you kidnapped. Your existence is a mystery, you are an enigma if you will. They were training in the forest when you, just a baby appeared out of thin air before their feet. Since your ‘father’ has medical training he did blood tests and only found human traces. So they took you in and trained you, but you weren't supposed to see us nor fall in love with us for that matter. Your purpose was to be bait more or less and to kill us if we attack.” Mihawk stopped there, Lilly was as white as a ghost. 

“I-I'm sorry. I need some air.” Lilly felt as if she was suffocating, her chest was so tight. Everything around her started to blur as she wobbled through the big living room towards the big glass door. There were three pine trees in the huge backyard and it's all she saw, the noise of the crunching snow as she walked barefoot on it, the feeling of it and the blistering burning cold sensation vanished into the distance. As she reached them, she stopped and could feel her thoughts racing.

“I KNEW IT!” 

Bam! Her fist hit the tree, covering her in more snow. 

“THOSE ASSHOLES. I CAN'T BELIEVE THEM!” 

BAM! The other fist hit the tree. 

“HOW COULD THEY DO THIS?” 

She rapidly kept hitting the tree, until two warm hands cupped them. They were raw and bloody, but she didn't feel the pain. A warm and fluffy bordeaux blanket was wrapped around her and she was picked up bridal style. “Let's get you inside baby girl.” Shanks held her close as he carried her inside. “It's gonna be alright baby.” He consoled her as he sat down on the couch and she sniffled in his arms. He licked her knuckles and whined in worry. 

Mihawk returned to the living room, handed Lilly a hot cup of tea, and sat down next to them. “I'm sorry if I overwhelmed you darling.” He rubbed soothing circles in the small of her back. She shook her head, because she didn't blame him at all. “I called the hospital though, love, I have friends there and they are willing to take a proper look at you if you want.” He explained he wanted her to go for his own peace of mind but he wouldn't force her. 

She turned in Shanks’ lap so she could face Mihawk. “I-I would never hurt you. Either of you.” She sobbed. 

“Oh darling I know. We both do. I just want you to get a proper check up and your knuckles definitely need to be treated, love. But we are not angry with you, we have no reason to be, you are a victim too.” He wiped her stray tears away with his hands when he lovingly caressed her cheeks. She leaned into both of her lover's touches, it grounded her and calmed her down. 

“Ok, I will see your friends if you think it’s necessary.” She finally agreed, making both of her boys breathe a sigh of relief. 

“I think it would be for the best.” He pecked her forehead. “Are you done with your tea?” She nodded and handed him the mug. “Then get ready, love.” 

She left Shanks’ lap and went to the bedroom to put on some stockings and the winter Lolita shoes he bought that went well with the dress. 

She closed the entrance door behind her after Shanks made sure to wrap her in his scarf, he really just wanted his scent on her. She sat in the middle seat in the back so she could talk easier with both of them. “How long will the ride take?” She inquired. 

“Not that long, maybe 15 to 20 minutes.” Mihawk answered looking through the rearview mirror. 

“Was there more that I should know? I mean I just ran out.” Lilly let out a frustrated sigh and pinched the bridge of her nose. 

Mihawk and Shanks shared a concerned look and there was a thick silence in the car. “Darling, are you certain you want to discuss this now?” Mihawk

“Hmmm.” She hummed. 

“All of your belongings were gone, Perona investigated and found traces of a new child already living there, but no one was at home that day so it could also be that they just prepared while they got a new victim, orphans by our investigations. Street kids. Kids that don’t have a home to return to.” Mihawks voice was somber and low. 

“EXCUSE ME?!” Lilly raised her voice. “WHAT DO YOU MEAN, THERE’S ANOTHER KID?” She yelled. 

“They watch them 24/7 baby girl, trust that sir is doing everything he can.” Shanks tried to calm her down. 

“I-I know. I’m sorry for yelling at you sir, I’m not upset with you, it’s the situation.” Lilly closed her eyes, her head was spinning. The rest of the ride was quiet and uneventful. 

The hospital wasn’t too big and they immediately headed to the office of the Chief Physician Dr. Marco Newgate. “Did you have to call him?” Shanks sighed. 

“Behave yourself. Don't make me throw you out!” Mihawk glared at Shanks. 

“You are still as annoying as ever, aren’t you? Yoi.” The door opened and a handsome man with glowing blue and yellow eyes opened. “Hi you must be Lilly, I'm Marco. It's nice to meet you. Yoi. Please come in.” 

After the door shut, there was a brief silence between the two men. “We probably should have a talk with her about Werewolves and Vampires at least. Don’t you think? Are you in any pain? You usually try to avoid going out in the sunlight.” Shanks knew there was little choice in the matter now, but he was concerned for him. 

“Hmmm indeed. For now, let’s focus on her well-being though.” Mihawk seemed in thought for a second. “I’m fine though, it's luckily cloudy today so it’s not too bad. I thank you for your concern though and maybe you and I should have a proper talk as well.” He softened his stern gaze as he looked at Shanks. 

“Mihawk informed me about your situation, and he also mentioned you were with Shanks during his rut. Did he bite you by chance?” Marco’s eyes never left Lilly, it almost made her uneasy. She felt like a little mouse being hunted by yet another bird of prey. 

“He did,”  Lilly said,  revealing the bite on the back of her neck. “But didn’t Mihawk tell you?” 

“Oh we talked when you were still in his room, so he did not know. That said he told me you might be stopping by when he called me earlier. Yoi.” Marco walked around her and pulled a stool close. He cleaned the bite mark and touched it to see if there was any pus, as he couldn’t find any he used his flame to heal it.    

Lilly relaxed at the feel of his flames. They felt so soothing and she whined a little when the sensation was over. “Do your eyes always glow like  this?” 

“Nope. Only when I'm excited or have to use my flames. Yoi. It's a bit irritating to look at. Sorry.” He rolled in front of her with his stool and took both her hands in his and looked at them, carefully touching it.

“It’s not OW!” She cried and tried to pull away her hands by reflex. “I think they are pretty.” She admitted. 

“Thanks. I'm sure Shanks would agree.” He chuckled. “Luckily you don't need stitches on this hand, but your right one does.” He sighed.

Lilly frowned but couldn't really say anything it was her own doing after all. “I know the answer might be obvious, but you and Shanks have a history. Yeah?” 

“Ha! You can say that again. Yoi.” He chuckled as he got up to prepare the anesthesia and sutures. “I'm his ex. We weren't that long together, he was too intense for me. If he could have, he would have chained me to a cage.” His half-lidded gaze softened as he smiled at her. “Sorry, that's gonna sting. A bit.” He said, but Lilly didn't notice a thing. 

“Yeah it certainly helps if Mihawk keeps a leash on him.” Lilly laughed and Marco joined in while he pictured Shanks on a leash wagging his tail. 

“Can you feel that?” He started to push the needle through her skin, but as she showed no reaction and just shook her head he continued. “You know, I have a proposition for you. Me and my brothers were all orphans, until Edward Newgate took us in, he gave us a home and a family.  He died two years ago, he was,” Marco paused and sighed. “Murdered. So me and my brothers are running the place now. We take in orphans and give them a home. To be honest I would like for you to join our crazy family. All done, just need to bandage it. Yoi.” He got up and got two bandages for her hands. 

Lilly was deep in thought. “You realise I'm an adult though?” She was flattered, but would there be a point to this. 

“Oh sure, but we all need a place to return to,? And I'm not talking about the space we share with the ones we love. Yoi. Just think about it is all I'm saying. Now on that note, is it OK if we keep you here for two nights? There are a couple of tests that I'd like to run. You can decline though.” Marco switched back to Doctor mode. 

“That is alright, but you tell Shanks.” Lilly smiled. 

[jqmalikhsgib]

quest

six

warning: mention of abuse, sexual assault, kidnapping, guns, knives, and mention of miscarriage, murder, sexual themed

darius was a troubled kid. you couldn’t really blame him. his father was an abusive alcoholic and his mother just took the punches like a ‘good house wife’ while darius watched it all unfold.

his troubled behavior started when he was in the first grade. he’d push other kids and make fun of them. darius father blamed his mother and she’d become a punching bag.

the older darius got, the worse he became. and watching his father only made him crave more destruction.

his first crime was as simple as stealing. he started off small. a pack of gum from a corner store would give him a small drive. but over time he needed more. so he started to steal more items. some chips, a soda, hell he even stole a box of tampons once.

he loved the rush! but it still wasn’t enough. he needed to go big! so he’d started to pickpocket. took him awhile to become smooth and unnoticed. it’s why he would steal from people in different neighborhoods as practice.

when he got better he went to the north side of the neighborhood. he’d steal from the rich preppy kids and get away with it each time. none of them noticing their wallets had been gone until they arrived home.

he couldn’t believe how much cash they’d have in their pockets. it was unbelievable how stupid they were by not having a card or carrying a smaller amount. but he was making money.

still, he felt something missing. he needed a bigger rush. he just didn’t know what exactly was missing. that all changed the night his father came into his room, drunk out of his mind, thinking he was his mother.

darius tried to push his father off of him. he tried to get through to him. but this only made him angrier.

“do we have to go over this again brenda?! you’re my wife! i can take it any time i wanna.” he slurred in his sons ear.

darius just gave in. letting his father do whatever he wanted as he cried from the pain. when his father was done he zipped up his pants and spit right on darius face.

“going out for nother beer.”

darius had no idea what his mother really went through with his father until then. but he promised she would never have to suffer like that ever again. that was his first awakening.

darius planned how he’d do it. he had to carefully make it look like a stupid drunken accident. he knew he could! his father had a record.

he knew he’d get away with it. took him months to finally come up with a carefully skilled plan. he made sure his mother wasn’t home and he sat right next to his dad. darius simply asked if he wanted a beer.

he’d get up, go to the kitchen, poison said beer, and handed it to him. darius would just wait. he’d watch as his father drinks his beer and watch the football game. he would ask for another, and another, and another. until eventually he’d finally get sick.

darius smirks as he watched his father die. he’d bend down as his father eyes watered and got blurry.

“you sick fuck! i hope you burn in hell.” darius would wait upstairs. when he heard his mom screamed he knew she had found his fathers lifeless body.

he’d rush downstairs and pretends to be shocked and broken. his mother called the police. after a few days of investigation they ruled it as alcohol poisoning.

that was his first kill.

darius and his mom moved on. they moved to texas, darius mom found a new lover, got married, and smiled way more than he’s ever seen her smile.

darius even graduated high school. he met the most beautiful woman he’s ever seen and had to marry her.

she got pregnant with their first kid, tim y/l/n. darius loved being a father. but deep down he was missing something. his wife started to notice his change in demeanor.

he was distant. it was like he was a different person. so when she fell pregnant with their second child she became depressed. he was never around, never present. this caused her to lose the baby.

his wife was devastated. darius promised he’d change. he would go to therapy and figure out what was wrong.

but he never went. instead he did something he hasn’t in a long time. he stole. and it gave him that rush back. the happiness he was missing. it would work for a while. the rush of not being caught.

darius wife noticed his changes. she wanted to try again. and a few months later her and darius had their second baby boy, john y/l/n.

for two years darius was happy. he was content with just stealing. but he needed more. he knew what was missing. that rush of killing. he had never felt so much power in his life until he killed his dad. he needed more.

so darius would find his next victims. women who worked the streets. no one would miss them! they were perfect for his plan. he’d start with a woman who went unnoticed first.

he would stalk them and see who would get less customers. the one that hid in the shadows the most. when he finally found the one he’d wait patiently.

the night he picked her up he drove into a wooded area. he would park his car, be friendly, even allowed her to give him head. when she was done he’d caress her face.

darius would kiss her lovingly before wrapping his hand gently around her neck. he’d look her in the eyes as he choked her.

fighting for her life she scratch his arm. but he would only squeeze harder until she was lifeless.

darius smirks. he felt that rush again. this was exactly what he was missing.

when he finally came back to his senses he would get out of the car, walk to the passenger side, grab her lifeless body, and walk into the wooded area. darius had already dug a six foot grave hours ago. he would drop her lifeless body into the grave and bury her before going home to his wife and two children and pretending like nothing happened.

and this would last for five years.

five years after the first prostitute he killed, darius would have killed about fifty woman after that.

he couldn’t believe he got away with it for so long. no one suspected a thing. at least he thought.

his wife noticed a few things. it started when they found out they were having a girl. the way darius face would turn white. and when they had their daughter he treated her differently than the boys.

almost as if she didn’t exist. she would bring it up but darius would shrug her off. the years soon went by and darius would still ignore his daughter.

whenever abigale would climb on his lap he’d lift her up, sit her on the other couch, and go back to his chair.

he wouldn’t feed her, change her diaper, bath her. nothing! darius would only take care of the boys. his wife couldn’t stand that!

she had enough and yelled at him. this was the start of their rocky marriage. time went on, darius kept killing, the kids were getting older, and their marriage was practically over.

when the kids were teenagers, tim 17, john 15, and abigale 14, they’d noticed things.

how their father would be gone all hours of the night, their mother would cry herself to sleep, their father smelling like perfume, their mother not even being emotionally present. at that point they took care of themselves and each other.

one night they’d come home to their parents yelling. it wasn’t anything out of the ordinary but it was louder than usual. the could nearly hear them a block away.

when they got inside their mother was holding a pair of panties and shoving it in their fathers face.

“who the fuck is she, darius!”

“i told you it’s nobody’s!”

“how the hell did it get in your car then?!”

their father would walk away.

“i don’t know! do you know how many people get into my car a day?! it could have been anybody.”

“oh, fuck you! that is the most lamest excuse ever. tell me who she is!”

they’d continue to fight. moving to their bedroom and closing the door. the three siblings would sigh before turning on the tv and trying to shut out the noise. that is until they heard silence.

they got nervous. not knowing what to do tim told his siblings to stay put as he walks over to his parents room.

he knocks on the door and waits for one of them to answer.

when his dad finally opened the door he gasped. he had blood on his hands and was holding a knife.

“i—i didn’t mean to. she just—all i saw was red and i—shit!”

tim didn’t know what to do. he didn’t know how to feel. but seeing his mom lifeless body he knew he had to protect his siblings. tim knew what could happen if the police found out about this. his siblings would be put into foster care, he would be sent but eventually kicked out when he turned eighteen, trying to find a home, only to most likely live on the streets or turn to a place of crime. that would just ruin them all. he knew he had to hide this.

his siblings unfortunately didn’t listen. they ran to him after he was gone awhile and cried when they saw their mom.

“listen! you two wanna stay together right?”

abigale and john both nod their heads.

“then we have to help dad hide moms body, okay? we have to protect dad so we can all be together.”

and that’s what they did. the helped darius grab her body, dug a hole in the backyard, and buried their own mother.

that was darius last murder. but it was far from his last crime.

a year went by. tim decided to stay with his siblings despite him being eighteen. he didn’t trust his father. he was currently in school.

after what happened last year he decided to study law. he needed to know what could happen to them if the truth came out. and he would do anything in his power to protect himself and his siblings.

they didn’t talk much to their dad. he was rarely home after killing their mother. they didn’t care to know where he was. he would leave them money for food and leave until they needed more.

they were better off without him around. but their dad had other plans. he missed his wife so much.

he never meant to hurt her. he lost it and killed the one woman he could ever love. he needed to find someone similar.

that’s when he spotted her, sarah. oh was she beautiful. she looked so much like his late wife. he had to have her.

unfortunately she was with this man. he didn’t like that. he had to get rid of him somehow.

darius had made many connections over the years. living the life of a criminal he had to. he found dirty cops, scammers, thieves, drug dealers, everyone and every department you could think of.

darius even had a buddy who had connections with the military. he called him up and explained his situation. two months later the man was shipped off.

that’s when he’d make his move. he needed to be very careful though. he drew up a plan to make her his forever.

but as the months went by, her belly got big. oh, she’s more perfect for him than before. she was carrying a child. his child!

after failing his other three children he thought this was a sign. they belonged together.

but he knew he couldn’t lie to his children at home. he had to tell them the truth. they had to know everything. he promised to never hurt them like he did a year ago, ever again.

so when he got his friend from the military to finally capture sarah, take her to his home, and threw her in the basement, he told them everything.

“she’s gonna be your new mom.”

they all thought he was sick. but they kept their mouths shut. knowing if they went to the police everything could have come forward.

and as the months went by, you were finally born. and your siblings, they wouldn’t allow anyone to hurt you. even if you weren’t biologically tied to them.

“and that’s the story. our father told us everything that night. from his parents, him pickpocketing, his murders. everything!”

“why’d you stay so long? after yn was born? she wasn’t tied to you in anyway? why did you wait until she was thirteen to leave?”

“despite her not being blood she was our sister!”

“she was a little girl who got caught up into our fathers twisted ways.”

“the moment she was born we fell in love with her. she was our sister! but ultimately we had to move on with our lives. we were all happily in relationships.”

“i wanted to start my career in law and start a family with my then girlfriend, current wife.”

“i had lived near by. a few yards away and got pregnant. i knew being near my dad and the body of my mother could cause me to lose my baby.”

“and i wanted to start school myself. we were too close to our father. all of us had homes near by but we just couldn’t do it anymore. we couldn’t live so close to a monster.”

“and we knew he’d never hurt her. he was capable of hurting her mom. but never her. to him this was his fresh start to do right. and he loved yn like his own. in his sick twisted mind she was his.”

“did your father ever tell you where the other bodies were? the sex workers he killed?”

“no, but,”

“he use to take us to this woodsy area when we were kids. there was a tire swing he built and he had a shed.”

“we believe he bought land there. it’s where we think he buried the bodies.”

“do you remember where it was?”

tim, john, and abigale nod.

“can you take us?”

“yes.”

the search was set. they had the dogs sniff around and already found thirteen bodies.

they wanted to wait to go to the house until they’ve found enough evidence against darius. currently they only had bodies. they needed proof he was responsible for this.

they knew just who to get it from. chief peterson. he had no idea he was being interrogated. thinking they were waiting for another potential unsub he sat at the table.

derek and rossi sitting right across from him.

“where is this unsub? who is it?”

“just be patient. they’re coming.” rossi states.

“i don’t have time for patience! i have to prove my goddaughter did not do this crime!”

“oh? so you know miss y/l/n? we didn’t know that.”

“yeah. im a family friend.”

“pretty close to the case? don’t you think you should have sat this one out?!”

“not when it comes to my family. i don’t care about the rules!”

“how long have you known the y/l/n family?”

“forty years. why?”

“no reason? it’s just interesting how you didn’t bring this up before.”

“i don’t have to answer to you!”

“you see, charles. may i call you charles?”

officer peterson gives them a look.

“we’re here to help you solve a murder! that girl, miss y/l/n, she was the perfect unsub! at the crime scene, finger prints on the knife, on the will. everything about her was perfect. yet she was held in a cell for majority of the forty eight hours you held her, never once did you interrogate her, hell, i don’t think she knew about her godfather being a cop. you had your men speak to her for, how long did they say rossi?”

“ten minutes.”

“ten minutes before putting her back into the cell and keeping yourself hidden. because you know if she would have saw you she’d be confused.”

“we talked to miss y/l/n and asked her if she knew you. she told us you’re her godfather. you and mister darius play golf every thursday and had the impression you worked at an auto shop.”

“now how would she get that impression, derek?”

“because you told her! in fact you bought an auto shop when she was fifteen, renamed it petersons auto repair store, and took her there to see. because you had to keep up with the charade. she was turning sixteen soon. which meant she was gonna learn how to drive, get a car, and cruise down the highway. and guess what? just in case something was wrong with her car,”

“her godfather had an auto repair company she could go to get get it fixed with a family discount.”

“kinda genius, right?”

at this point peterson knew he was caught. he knew they knew more and lying would only get him in more trouble.

“i always knew this day would come.”

“why don’t you tell us everything you know chief peterson. maybe we’d cut you a deal.”

and he did. he gave them all the evidence he had on darius. all the times he broke the law and he covered it up for him.

he even went as far as helping them catch darius red handed. getting him to confess to everything.

they arrested darius along with everyone that worked for him. no charges were pressed against you any longer.

the only thing that mattered was getting your mom help. she was gonna need to go to some form of therapy. reid helped you find a program fitting for her.

you had no idea how long she would have to stay. but you were glad she could get help. being help hostage for over thirty years could really break someone.

when you reunited with your children you hugged them tightly. thanking jj for taking care of them. your siblings were shocked to learn you had been married, divorced, and had triplets. but they already adored their nieces and their nephew.

aaron stayed behind and watched. you look at him and frowned. you knew what was coming next. but you couldn’t talk now. you just wanted to get some rest with your babies.

your sister nudged you.

“stare much?!”

you looked at her. “huh?”

“i get it. he’s cute. but no need to drool.” she smirks.

“oh.”

your sister looks at you suspiciously. she looks down at your kids and looks back at you with her eyes widened.

“holy, shit! that’s him isn’t it?!”

“who’s who?” your brothers walk over to you.

“that hot fbi guy! that’s the ex husband and baby daddy!”

“seriously?!”

“a cop sis?!”

you blushed. “shut up! yes, it’s him. can we not act like children?”

“how could you possibly leave that?! fuck! if my husband looked like that id never leave the bedroom.”

“gross! abby! i don’t wanna think about you in the bedroom. i especially don’t wanna think about our little sister in the bedroom.”

“he’s coming over. go away! all of you.”

they walk away with their nieces and their nephew to give you two privacy.

“hi.”

“im gonna be staying here for awhile. i think tomorrow we should meet up. ill have jj stay as well to keep the kids—”

“we can watch them.” abigale buts in.

“are you sure abby?”

“yeah! you can drop them off at mine. im sure they’d love to meet their cousins.”

“alright. um—sure. where—where do you wanna meet?”

“ill have emily send you the information. but i think its best you unblock me as well. ill see you in the morning. goodnight yn.” aaron states before walking away.

you bite your bottom lip. you were happy this was over with your dad. but you were not ready for this conversation with aaron.

“come on darlings. let get to bed.”

finally! darius is arrested and you aren’t going to prison

but now you have to deal with aaron.

you have no idea which is worse :/

if you wanna be added or unadded to the taglist let me know

taglist:

@ivebeenthearchersstuff @shergoretzxx @slut4ethan @rosiehale23

[devilsvenom]

@reidhalstead

sms — golden boy: promise me you'll get your shit back together, big brother. sms — golden boy: our sister is going to need you. sms — golden boy: i'm sorry.

Phone switched off, leaving it behind before grabbing her bag and heading out the door. She'd waited, until Gemma was preoccupied, until she knew she could slip out unnoticed. 

Annalise had thought this over so many times, and though it still wasn't making sense she needed to do this. It was calling to her, through fractured mind. Even as she took steps closer and closer to her destination, she wasn't sure what the outcome would be, had no idea what her true intentions were. Answers were what she was looking for, justice, but no matter what happened she imagined there would be some kind of consequences that would be... unpleasant at best and not just for her.

By the time she had reached the house, she had made peace with the fact that she didn't think she would be walking back out of it. Not with what she had to say, the views she was going to impart on them. One way or another, he would shut her up, she was sure. Perhaps it wasn't a pleasant thing to think about your own father, but if he would rather pretend one child dead as to not face the realities, then she truly did not know his limits. Despite her lack of involvement in anything related to The Brotherhood recently, whispers still made their way back to the Halstead. Her father was organising a hunt. It wasn’t unusual, sure it had been a while since he’d had much more input than helping young hunters to train. Yet as more details were fed to her, the picture became clear. The patriarch Halstead finally meant to hunt down the son he tried his best to bury almost a decade ago and finish the job. Annalise couldn’t let him. 

The youngest child still had a key, though it burned in her hand as she couldn't remember the last time she used it. Sliding it into the lock, the front door opened with a click and she walked over the threshold. Her mother would likely be busy somewhere, but she wasn't her concern at this point; Lis made her way straight to her fathers office, entering without knocking and setting the bag down on a nearby coffee table. She said nothing, for a moment. She didn’t need to, and he barely looked up from his writings. Eventually, whilst unzipping her bag, she took his silence as invitation.

"You knew that Reid wasn't dead.” Blunt, to the point. No use in beating around the bush now. “You hoped he would do what you believe is the honourable thing and kill himself once he knew what he'd become. There's been whispers, that you know he's back, that you are planning something. I cannot let you rip this family apart again."

One thing about her father is that, he had never been one for words. He had slammed his journal shut and closed the gap between them quickly, grabbing her by the wrist as though to start a punishment as he would have were she still a child under his roof disobeying him. The only cause for his hesitation was the point of a blade against his abdomen. "You did nothing, after he died. You tried to leave your daughters defenceless. One of them is still, because you were too scared to allow us to continue our training. You have put her in danger, and failed in your job as a parent, again.” She paused, though she didn’t wait for an explanation she knew wouldn’t come. "I came to warn you, that is all. If you go after my brother, I will break every code and do whatever it takes to stop you."

Put the weapon away, foolish girl. If you see that monster as your brother still, then I taught you nothing. I will go through any sympathisers to get to him. He is a stain on our family name.

She had long known that her father did not love them. Rose may still hold onto the hope that they were once a functioning family and could be again, but Annalise had seen the changes. Her father became closed off, colder and more calculated. Instructing the hunts rather than taking part in them for the most part, and all this time part of her thinks he did that because he was chasing intel on his golden boy turned vampire. Her thoughts distracted her, tangled in the fractures of her psyche and mind but it allowed him time to grab her, to attempt to restrain her and take the weapon from her. She had come home with dubious intentions, knew that she wanted her father to pay for the lifetime of hurt he had caused, but hadn't known how. The attempts at disarming her, the flashbacks to a childhood that was never meant for a child had the anger collapsing any last sanity left in her mind. It was beautiful, really, if you could see inside. It had felt like how she would imagine a star would combust and collapse in on itself, taking everything in its radius with it. If she had to be the dying star to protect the few people that hadn't truly left her, then she would do so.

The knife sunk into his abdomen, and whether by accident or on purpose Annalise truly couldn’t say. She was a shell, running on fumes only lasted so long and now her empty stare met her fathers gaze. Time had stopped, it was just the child, her father and the knife. Until he backhanded her, sending her stumbling back — the knife came with her, blood wetting her fathers shirt. He hit her again, and again, until she was on the floor and fingers wrapped tightly around her throat. A scream that wasn’t her own pulled her from the void of her thoughts, one that after a few moments she recognised as her mother. It brought her as close to reality as Annalise was going to get, fighting back against her father until she was free from his grip. She chased her mother out of the study, knife forgotten on the floor, “Mommy, please. You were always too good for him, he wants to kill your son, would kill me if I got in the way.” 

Leave, I will handle this. Her father had barked to her mother, his youngest daughters knife in his hands. Her mother looked like she was going to pass out, all she could do was keep backing up away from them as if it were going to dissolve the reality they found themselves in. “Mom–!” She fell backwards down the stairs, and whilst Lis tried to rush forwards her father pulled her back. It was never her intention to hurt her mom; she had come to the conclusion a small while ago that she was as much a prisoner of those walls and their life as Annalise had felt. “Mom! Mommy, get up. Please, get up!” She stirred, which meant she was breathing at least. 

Get out of the house. No care, no concern for if she were injured; just more orders from the patriarch. She watched long enough to see her mother at least start crawling towards the front door, before she turned on her father. A gutteral scream left her as she charged at him; he had the knife, he had the upper hand, but she had a lifetime full of trauma and anger and a lack of care as to what happened to her so long as she took him down with her. As she knocked him to the floor and climbed on top of him, she felt the knife slice through her skin, deep into muscle and scrape the bone of her ribcage. Breath felt harder to grab at, but was that her actions or a punctured lung? It didn’t matter. Nothing mattered. She would end this, here and now. It was him, or her. It was more than that.. It was him or everything she cared for. Him or Reid, him or her mother, him or her sister. Him or a chance of healing, even if that meant death for her. Perhaps she had learned some sloppiness from her father. He had left the knife in her, a weapon right where she could grasp it. Annalise pulled it from her flesh and held it to his throat, hands shaking. Did she have to do this? He was still bleeding from his abdomen, wasn’t that enough? Wouldn’t he bleed out and die? The chance of him not was one she couldn’t take; not when the vendetta for this would be the death of her, and Reid. 

Tip of the blade pressed down on her fathers neck, cutting only slightly. It was barely there, enough for small beads of blood to form as she watched down on him. He was struggling now, experiencing a slow death from what she imagined was internal bleeding as well as that which already pooled outside his body. She had to have mercy and end it for him. End it before her own lungs gave out, and she no longer lived in the world to see what she had done. 

“Invite me in, now!” She heard, faintly. Blood was rushing through her veins, her heartbeat pounding in her head, the sound of her sobs filling the family home, but she was sure… was that Reid? 

Their mother was the one that held the deed to the house, though their father treated it as though it was his by all rights. It had been in their mothers family for generations, and it was her and her alone that could allow a vampire inside, or watch her husband and daughter die.

[stararch4ngelqueen]

Now You See 'Em, Now You Don't (18+)

Part 1 of Ghosts and Mirages

Warning: Heavy mentions of blood, gore, violence, and smut. Choking, finger fucking, mirror sex, voice kink. Plenty of smut.

!Please beware!

Summary: After a dangerous encounter leading towards your own capture and torture, you; Codename "Mirage", went from one of the best snipers on the task force with a bubbly sense of humor and strong wit, to a stone-cold demeanor woman who let her vendetta get the better of her, almost costing her the lives of her teammates.

Ghost wasn't too happy about this, and based off experience, he refuses to let your mind head down that path any further.

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

A Mirage can be many things: A body of water in the middle of a desert, an assassin in the dead dark of the night on a rooftop, a glimmer of light reflecting off hot pavement before the sun set, all disappearing from the eye the moment you get too close.

People could say that the words ghost and mirage have pretty similar meanings, but not towards those who took the names to identify themselves by.

You wished you could say you worked hard to earn that name, which you slightly did. Once the name was put to the wind, it permanently stuck to you ever since.

Your top specialty was your excellent aim, always volunteering yourself to take the liberty of helping the squads you were assigned to. If there was a group of snipers, you would take the lead and give orders. If you had to work alone, you gladly did so.

Your actions didn’t go unnoticed, gaining the attention of those who took an interest in your talents. You couldn’t fully admit publicly that you were proud of your skills, believing that karma could come back and bite you in the ass one day, but you definitely felt a swell of pride with every compliment that flooded your earpiece.

You couldn’t exactly remember when you found yourself working alongside the men of Task Force 141, eventually fully assimilating yourself into the team. While being unaware if any of the higher ups had officially approved it, you doubt they were going to say anything against it now.

Price definitely wasn’t complaining, that was all you really cared for.

After a short while during a mission, an interesting game of name picking occurred after completing your objective to eliminate any enemy snipers. While the option of using a suppressed rifle was possible, there were only five camouflaged snipers along the cliffs, allowing you to sneak up on them one by one and jam a knife into their necks, severing vocal cords before they could even scream.

Soap had taken the liberty of giving you the name “She-Ghost,” which caught you off guard as you hid in the dry grass, a few feet away from your recent victim. Why She-Ghost? None of your enemies saw you coming.

You’re pretty sure Ghost had his own name and reasoning trademarked. You were alright with the man, but you never saw anything between the two of you that you shared in common, let alone enough to share a code name. Price shut down any future commentary on the topic before reminding everyone to focus on the mission at hand.

“She-Ghost sounds kind of sexist, by the way.” You couldn’t help but pitch into the silence that followed after.

“It does not.” Soap retorted.

“It does.”

“Enough,” The gruffy voice of Ghost spoke up. “Calling her She-Ghost makes her sound like she’s my sister.”

“You’re right. I just remembered yer’ old enough to be her dad.” Soap retorted, making you bite your lip to suppress a laugh.

“Thanks for making me feel young, Johnny.”

You wish that night ended much easier than it sounded, but it wasn’t.

Somehow, you missed a sniper to kill, who then alerted his comrades of the lone assassin hiding up on the cliffs. The loud struggles and muffles were heard by everyone through your earpiece before connections were cut, your attackers knocking you out with the butt of a rifle to your right temple.

Where you were dragged off to was a mystery. Where you had woken up was also a mystery, but not the enemies who surrounded you when you were woken up via water being poured over your head, bound and gagged to a chair. You were stripped of all your equipment, leaving you in your simple garments. The room smelled dank, the air heavy with expensive, putrid cigar smoke. The only source of light hanging from a bulb over your head, your vision too blurred to fully make out the faces of the men standing in front of you.

Their were four people in the room: one of them you recognized straight away as your crew’s target. He grabbed ahold of your jaw and forced you to look at him, speaking to you in a language you didn’t really care to learn all that well just yet. He stepped to the side, directing your head towards a camera stand a few feet away pointing straight towards you. A tiny red light confirmed that whatever was to happen was all being recorded.

Saying you were scared was a ridiculous understatement. You were at mercy to the men inside this room inside a building in the middle of god knows where, who planned to torture and kill you before sending the video off to your team. Hell, it might even be broadcasted live to those who fought for the enemy, setting an example to what happens to enemy soldiers, especially women such as yourself, for fighting against them.

You were tortured inside that small, dimly lit room for hours, maybe even longer. There was no way you could tell the time, your hands kept tightly bound behind the backrest of the wooden chair. You were pretty sure they even took your watch away.

After constant punches to your face and body, the leader began speaking to you again in his common language. When you didn’t answer any of his questions, you were beaten even more until he tried again. This process went on for a good while, not a single word leaving your lips.

Then, he got smart enough to speak to you in broken English, but the only response he got from you was a wheezy laugh. He wasn’t satisfied with the response, extending his hand, being gifted a knife by his comrade. After asking you one more time and receiving nothing in return, he dug the blade down the side of your face. The sharp sting of the knife scraping your right cheekbone down to your bottom lip made you cry out.

What made it worse was their unique creativity, forcing you to talk once more while slicing the tips off Cuban cigars before igniting them. When you didn’t, their leader proceeded to blow smoke in your face before deciding to cauterize your fresh wound with the burning end of the cigar, laughing at your screams when they twisted it deep into your cheek.

“Hurts, no? You talk now?” He questioned you, gripping ahold of your chin.

“Go... to fucking hell!” You gritted out before spitting blood to his face, making him wince and retort. You laughed at his reaction, seeing him wipe it off with visible disgust before grabbing ahold of your neck, squeezing hard and tilting your attention upwards. He held the end of the blade right in front of your right eye before pulling it back, preparing to kill you right then and there.

Seeing you weren’t afraid, or he was just as chickenshit as he looked, He lowered his hand, clicking his tongue before handing the knife back to his partner, who carelessly left it on a table near the door. Gesturing towards the two others, they yanked you off the chair and dragged you out of the room, leading you to god knows where in this building.

You would think that their expensive taste in cigars meant that they could afford better quality tape. The water they had thrown on you prior had weakened the adhesive just enough for you to allow your wrists some wiggle room.

Releasing one of your hands, you yanked yourself from the men's grips, pulling the tape over the closest man’s neck to act as a last-minute choker. You tugged hard, hearing him choke while his partner quickly pulled out his gun. The bullets he fired naturally hit your new man-shield, quickly pushing the slumping body towards his partner before wrestling for the gun, headbutting the man before firing half the mag into his skull.

Faint bursts of bombs echoed from the outside, letting you know that you were close to an exit, and something was definitely happening outside. The exit was reasonably tempting, but with you now being in possession of a gun, you proceeded to stumble back the way you came from.

A man quickly stepped out of the room when he got notified of the commotion, immediately getting shot in the head before he could draw his own weapon.

You fired the last two bullets towards the only remaining man in the room, sending him to the ground in agony as the bullets punctured the back of his knees. Throwing the weapon aside, you reached for the knife from the table, getting down on the ground to turn the man over to his back.

It wasn’t the leader, you quickly realized that. It was just some goddamn man dressed in a similar uniform. The man you were after had gotten away after you were dragged off.

He pulled a gun from his belt, pistol-whipping you to throw you off guard. He fired, the bullet barely grazing the shell of your ear, making a piercing ring rattle your throbbing head.

You jammed the knife into the man’s neck before he could shoot you again, shouting in his face while you pushed his arm away. Refusing to stop there, you pulled out the knife to embed it straight into his chest, puncturing his left lung. You repeated the action over and over, watching his mouth fill with blood as major arteries were struck. The substance stained your hands and blade, splashing onto your face every single time you retracted. You screamed out your rage with every stab, feeling the knife repeatedly scrape against rib bones and puncture his heart.

The camera had fallen over from the chaos, the cracked lenses capturing an angle of your body sitting over his, witnessing the bloodshed that stained the ground.

A sudden rush of footsteps came running down the hallway towards the room you were in. Those who entered first witnessed firsthand when you jammed the blade into the man's right eye, your throat raw from screaming.

You looked up, seeing familiar looking clad soldiers entering the room, led by an all too familiar man scoring a black mask with a white painted skull standing beside another familiar mohawk wearing man.

“What... took you so damn long Lieutenant?” You panted while raising yourself from the corpse, tasting blood on your tongue from the throbbing gash on your bottom lip, bleeding even more after your consistent screaming.

“Been here for a while actually, I was just enjoying the show.” Ghost set aside his rifle, watching you finally release the knife, wiping your stained hands on your ruined shirt before tugging the remnants of tape dangling off your wrist.

“Sorry it ended so soon,” You muttered, bringing a hand over to your chest while catching your breath, feeling it grow difficult as a tight, painful sensation started under your ribs. You stood slowly, stumbling onto your feet as your relief diluted your adrenaline rush, reminding you of the pain your body was experiencing prior.

“Woah, woah... easy.” Soap brought you into his arms after you took a couple steps forward, allowing you to lean on him for support. “Easy there, lass.” Soap gently held onto your sides, feeling your sharp wince and immediately relaxing his grip. You trembled a bit, your breathing growing raspier than a few moments prior.

“I think they broke one of her ribs Lt.”

“If they did, she’d still be screaming. Punctured lung sounds more like it, go easy on her.”

“I didn’t think.. I just didn’t think you guys would come for me.” You admitted with bated breath, feeling Soap hoist your arm over his shoulders to provide additional support while you stood.

Ghost picked up the abandoned camera from the floor, pulling it off of its stand. It had still been recording this entire time, wondering what kind of footage this thing had received: Important discussions between the enemies next hideout location or our torture. Most likely both. The time he saw in the far corner of the screen showed just how long you were left victim to these men, finding it a miracle you were still alive before it could’ve gotten worse.

He wasn’t a fool to how these men treated women, especially female prisoners.

He dreaded having to watch every single minute of the footage later.

“And lose the best sniper we got on my watch? Don't think so little of yourself, (Y/n).” Ghost came closer, black painted eyes staring at the state of your face. Despite the bruises hidden underneath your ruined clothes and along your jaw and left eye, the intense gash across your face looked nasty, darkened with dirt and ashes as it continued to seep thin ripples of blood, trailing down to the bottom of your jaw.

“Let’s get you out of here, kid.”

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

Enjoy the chapter so far? Full (smut) version on my Ao3!

Read here as well on my Wattpad!

[reeding-your-mind]

Meet Touya - Stand Out

Yandere Dabi x MHA OC One-Shot

I'm under a spell, I'm in over my head And you know I'm goin' all of the way till the end To stand out above the crowd Even if I gotta shout out loud Till mine is the only face you'll see Gonna stand out till you notice me, yeah

one-shot, soft yandere fic, isekai’d oc, yandere!dabi, child!dabi, child!oc, dabi x oc, references to neglect, manipulation.

Jogging down the street in the nice area of town had it’s pros and cons.

It was great because Ashi didn’t need to worry about being mugged while she was there, but it sucked because she was technically exercising. You see, working out was something that Ashi definitely avoided in her past life. Bad knees at 40 something years old, plus a little extra weight on her body made cardio uncomfortable, so in the end she just avoided it.

However, in this new body, Ashi was determined to do better this time. She had goals and part of those goals included staying alive this time around, only dying when she was at least eighty, surrounded by those who loved her. And in a world where the majority of the population had dangerous super powers, with those who held ill intentions often roaming her usual neighborhood and stomping grounds, surviving to a ripe old age was harder than anticipated. She’d just been mugged the other week, throwing Pops into a tizzy and Kai into a rage fueled fit, and she wasn’t looking to be a victim anymore.

And if that meant getting faster and stronger in order to protect herself, even at so young an age, then so be it.

Asking Pops to train her in self defense was easy, getting him to agree wasn’t. Even though this time around she wasn't very cute, this new face of hers had killer puppy dog eyes and eventually after a few hours of begging and bargaining, he gave in.

Kai finding out kinda killed her good mood after that, because he demanded that he be there for every session. “To make sure that Hime-sama’s sparing partners don’t bring her any harm.”

Overprotective nerd.

That was a second reason she was out jogging in a different neighborhood. Getting away from her local sociopathic BFF, better known as Chisaki Kai.

Don’t get her wrong, she loved the guy to death, but ever since she picked him up off the street and introduced him to the Shie Hassaikai, the controlling 10 year old was dead set on keeping her in his sights.

So, to get a breather from him and his borderline stalking, she decided to start exercising away from her usual neighborhood a couple days a week. Just to be on her own for once.

Luckily she was a sneaky six year old and had a knack for slipping away unnoticed. This had the side effect of causing Kai to mother hen her once she got back of course, but the time to breathe without her friend and housemate watching her every move was worth the fussing later on.

Today was an especially bad day for Kai. He had had a longer than usual breakdown over a spot on a supposedly clean glass he was drinking from that morning which caused not only his usual hyperventilating and hives, but vomiting as well.

Ashi loved Kai, and was used to his attacks, but it didn’t make the hours spent reassuring and monitoring him for accidental self harm any less stressful. At the end of the day, she ultimately decided he was stable enough for her to get out of the compound for a bit and get a sweat in at the same time.

Ashi at this point had reached the end of her usual route, panting. Wincing at the burn of her lungs and the dryness of her throat, she took a drink from the small water flask she always kept in her back pocket.

She didn’t want to go back yet, she was really enjoying her time in the uncharacteristically nice weather for this time of year. And not to mention not having to look over her shoulder as often as she usually did was doing wonders for her cortisol levels.

Mid gulp, she suddenly spotted a worn dirt path that lead between some bushes and trees.

Was that there the whole time? How come I’ve never seen it before? She thought, putting her now half empty flask away.

Deciding she could waste a few minutes exploring a nice neighborhood at sunset, she began walking through the foliage, but not without drafting a text to Kai with her current location attached.

“Quirkless” little girls can never be too careful.

The trail actually wasn’t that long, just dense enough to hide what looked like a pretty awesome, yet empty, kid’s playground.

…

Wait, scratch that. It wasn’t empty. There was a kid there, all alone it looked like.

Who would leave a rich kid out by himself at a park in the middle of what looked like a suburban forest near sundown?

Muttering to herself about irresponsible parents, Ashi determinedly walked towards the boy, intent on helping him either get home before it got dark or calling his parents using her own phone to come pick him up.

“Hey kid!” Shit, other children don’t talk like that dummy. “I mean, hiya! Whatcha doing here so late? Does your mom or dad know where you are?”

He didn’t look homeless, so she felt relatively safe mentioning parents.

Gasping, the kid looked over at her from his spot on the bench he was sitting on, nearly causing her to gasp as well.

Because not only did the motion startle her, and not only was she surprised to see the young boy was in the middle of ugly crying, but because his hair was an unmistakable mix of dark red, splotched with snowy white.

Brilliant teal eyes stared wildly up at her.

Ashi’s face paled.

Fuuuuuuuuck, it was Dabi.

Prepubescent babyface Dabi albeit, but a future serial killer nonetheless.

As if sensing her distress, even though the damn thing turned itself on every time Ashi met a new person (plot relevant or otherwise), Bond activated itself. The tinyass HUD glowed faintly at the center of her vision, overlaying the shocked young boy’s wet face and bloodshot eyes.

Bond Target?

(3/4 Slots Remaining)

YES NO

Shit, shit, shit. She thought, starting to sweat all over again. What do I do?!

Using her quirk on Kai was purely out of impulsive self preservation. He was one hundred percent going to overhaul her into a billion little specks of blood and guts if she didn’t.

But she’d been thinking about it lately, her quirk, and her goals for living a life in this new, crazy world.

The plot was already starting, and she was at the very least affecting the fourth season what with her involvement with this kid version of Overhaul. There was no going back from her place in this world now, not with her being smack dab in the middle of the yakuza and their future leader slash dictator.

Did she really want to involve herself with the Todoroki’s of all families too? With Dabi of all villains?

That’s basically getting herself on the future LOV’s radar without even having to commit a crime if she went through with this!

But…?

But what if she could stop that from happening in the first place?

Stop Dabi from becoming, well, Dabi?

What if, she thought manically, I could become his friend? Just like I did with Kai, and stop him from going to the peak? Or stop All for One from taking him afterwards? There has to be a hospital capable of saving his life nearby… Or! Stop him from going rouge after leaving the facility and use our relationship to prevent him from going all super villain on everyone!

As ideas of basically grooming a seven year old ran through Ashi’s mind, Touya stared up at the strange little girl who walked up to him without hesitation.

Everyone that lived in this neighborhood avoided the Todoroki children like the plague, not wanting to get on Endeavor’s nerves for “distracting” his spawn from their training. But this kid came right up to him! She must not be from around here, he thought sullenly. Once she found out who he was, she would run away from him, just like all the others…

Suddenly, her steel gray eyes seemed to gleam with a sort of look only the adults in Touya’s life did, a strange mixture of intelligence and determination.

CLICK

As the sun set behind the strange girl, it haloed her crimson red hair. A breeze of wind tousled it, turning it into a glowing fire crowning her little head. Her pale skin looked translucent next to the tan sand that surrounded them and her slight stature just screamed “protect me!”.

Touya had a sudden and uncontrollable urge to touch her feathery red hair, so close in color to his own.

“Do you have a fire quirk as well?” he blurted out, not knowing what to say in the presence of a pretty girl. He blushed as red as his tiny burnt hands as he heard just how thick his throat was with snot and tears.

He quickly rubbed his face on his t-shirt and sniffled in an attempt to hide the evidence of his breakdown.

Ashi barely heard the future villain’s question, too busy staring incredulously at what she had done.

Bond Complete!

[New Entry!]

Todoroki Touya Quirk: Flame Age: 7 Bond Level: 1

Fuck. She had done it. They were stuck together now, no going back.

Focusing back on Touya’s chubby, blotchy face she realized he was waiting for an answer to his question.

Shit… “Uh, sorry, but no. I don’t have a quirk.” She muttered, doing her best to appear a little sad about it. “Do you have a fire quirk?” She asked right back, widening her eyes in semi-genuine curiosity.

Fire based quirks were a dime a dozen at this point in this quirk laden society, but few of them were the son of Endeavor. And even less were the future villain Dabi.

The fangirl in her desperately wanted a look at his flames before they turned blue.

Touya straightened up, grinning. His teal eyes shone with pride. “Yeah! I gots a flame quirk! I’ve been training it and everything! Do- Do you wanna see it?” He deflated a little bit, as if she was going to say no or scold him for his enthusiasm.

Damn you, Todoroki Enji. Ashi seethed silently. She knew that the story did it’s best to humanize and redeem him, but she could never fully forgive or understand the actions of an abuser. Look at poor baby Touya here, so self conscious about his own innate power. At this point in the story, he’d probably been told not to use his flames too often, lest he burn himself.

If only he knew he had his mom’s quirk too. Ashi sighed mentally. But no one will realize that until it’s far too late for him.

Ashi widened her shiny childish eyes and drew in an only half-faked excited breath. “Would you show it to me? Really?”

All hesitation and shame left Touya’s face as he nodded fiercely and brought a lobster-red hand forward. He must’ve been practicing for hours before she came here.

“Watch me!” He declared before igniting his palm. A playful orange flame danced in the middle of his hand, about the size of a grapefruit. Ashi knew he could have easily made it larger and hotter, but it seemed like he didn’t want to scare her away with too big of a flame.

“Waaah! It’s so pretty!” She gushed genuinely, holding her hands close but not too close to feel the gentle warmth. It was hard to imagine these same flames causing so much pain and destruction later in his short life. “What does it feel like? When you hold it?”

Touya winced a little, but pushed past the stinging pain of using his quirk after practicing with it for so long. “It’s warm and tingly.” He lied.

Ashi could smell deceit a kilometer away, but let it go this one time. They’d just met after all.

“Can I sit next to you?” The sun had set by now and it was getting chilly without clouds in the sky to insulate the Earth. “You’re really warm and I’m cold.”

Touya flushed pink but nodded and scooted over to make room on the bench he’s been crying on all evening.

There was a semi-uncomfortable pause before Touya spoke up. “Are, uh. Are you a new neighbor?”

“Nah.” Ashi smiled. “I was just training in your neighborhood.”

He perked up. “Training? I thought you said you didn’t have a quirk?”

Poor social elite, unable to fathom the quirkless getting stronger. A snarky, cynical part of Ashi sneered.

Coughing a bit, she tried to answer nicely.

“I’m just training my body.” She swung her tiny legs back and forth. Despite the playground being made for kids her size, the benches were mainly for adults so her feet still hung a ways above the ground. “I get in trouble sometimes, so I decided to get stronger so that I don’t get hurt again.”

Ouch, that was maybe a little too honest there.

Luckily Touya seemed to understand, or at least tried to.

“Yeah, I get it. But… why do you get in trouble? You don’t seem bad to me.”

“Sometimes good people get hurt, no matter how well they follow the rules.” She said, staring at the play set blankly before turning to face Touya with a sly grin on her face. “But I don’t really follow the rules.”

A rush of excitement ran through Touya. A trouble maker? Her? “What rules do you break?” He couldn’t fathom anything worse than sneaking sweets or not studying.

It would break his sheltered little mind to know about her pick pocketing, larceny and accessory to murder, so Ashi just hummed. “I’ll tell you when you’re older.”

“Hah? What do you mean older? I’m definitely older than you, pipsqueak!” Touya scrunched up his face and frowned. “I’m already seven years old!” He puffed out his scrawny chest in pride.

Damn he really was older than her. Curse this tiny body!

“I’m six.” She grumbled.

“Yay! I’m older!” Touya jumped up, extinguishing his flames. “And since I’m the older one, I’m in charge!”

Ashi scoffed. “No you’re not, silly. I’m in charge.”

Touya was about to fight back, say something in defense of his declaration, when he looked into the strange girls eyes. The steel gray seemed to glow with power and experience. Touya’s knees felt weak and his skin felt hot. He swallowed the saliva pooling in his mouth, parching his dry throat.

What was this feeling? Why did her eyes, those enchanting eyes, make him want to say-

“Y-Yeah… You’re in charge.”

Wait just a minute! Just who was this girl? Why did he just give in like that? His little sister was her age, and he always bossed Fuyumi around easily. What was with him?

Touya searched his mind and heart for any scrap of indignation or disappointment, but came up blank. He was totally okay with giving in to- to?

“What’s your name?” He whispered, staring probably a little too intensely at the girl.

“Tsunagari Ashi.” She said. “But don’t call me Tsunagari.”

“Shi-chan…”

“What’s your name?”

“Todoroki Touya.”

“Touya.”

“Yeah?”

Ashi tilted her head at him. “Why were you crying earlier?”

Crud, and he tried so hard to hide it too! “Uh well-”

Ashi pouted and crossed her arms. “And don’t lie to me! I always know when my friends lie to me.”

Touya stopped functioning for a few seconds.

Friends?

Him?

And Her?

As in, the both of them, together?

All thoughts of lying to Ashi dissolved with just that one word. Friends don’t lie to each other, even Touya knew that.

Only villains lie, and I’m no villain! I’m going to be a hero! He thought, solemnly.

Touya joined her back on the bench and reignited his flames, having noticed her shiver. The cold never affected him much, but she looked chilly and he didn’t want his new, first and only friend to be uncomfortable. Not when he knew he could help.

“Okay, I wont lie.” He began. “My dad, Endeavor, is the number two hero. He said I’m gonna be the one to beat All Might and take his place as number one some day.”

Ashi nodded along patiently, warming her freezing palms against the edges of Touya’s gentle fire. She already knew all of this, but hearing it from the boy’s mouth felt special, precious somehow. He was trusting her with a part of himself that he obviously didn’t like sharing.

“I’ve been training my quirk since before I can remember. Dad says my quirk could be even stronger than his one day, but for some reason I keep getting burnt. It didn’t stop Dad from training me but one day I heard my parents talking, yelling actually, about how my body isn’t compatible with my quirk.”

Ashi saw Touya clench the fist that wasn’t on fire, scrunching up the fabric of his shorts.

“And now, it’s like whatever I do isn’t good enough! My quirk isn’t good enough. My body isn’t good enough. I’m not good enough…

“And to top it all off, Mom’s pregnant again! It’s like they just keep trying to replace me! First with Fuyumi then with Natsuo and now with this new baby!” Frustrated tears began leaking from Touya’s eyes as he shouts. “All I want is for Dad to look at me again! All I want is to be seen!”

Ashi contemplated what she wanted to say for only a moment. This conversation was an opportunity to gain an advantage in their relationship. But did Ashi really want to manipulate a child, on purpose this time? She knew what her quirk was capable of by now, was that really the fate she wanted for Touya?

But any fate is better than his canon one...

“I know I’m not family, and I know it probably wont mean much when I say it, but I see you, Touya-kun.” Ashi cups her hands closer around his soft flames as their eyes met. She meant every word this time. She saw his pain, his pressure, his strong will and powerful quirk.

Congratulations!

Todoroki Touya has reached Bond Level 2

Well that was way more effective than she anticipated.

It took all day and literally giving him a home for Kai to reach level two, but with just a couple words, Touya was already there. Was the poor kid so desperate for attention that even a stranger’s acknowledgment meant so much to him?

Ashi had found out after her experience with Kai that her quirk worked for the most part without her input. Once she initiated the bond with someone, afterwards it was all on them. Back when Kai reached level two, she hadn’t done anything to trigger it, it was all his own thoughts and emotions at work.

Basically, she figured that it was all up to how the target felt about her. Not her unlocking levels via actions like in a video game. For all she knew, Kai could one day level up even if she wasn’t in the room, just based on how he felt about her at the moment.

Although, Ashi supposed, Touya was an option for her mental examples now too.

“What did you say…?” Touya’s flame flickered, threatening to go out as he whispered. His pupils were blown out and he was trembling despite his resistance to the cold air that whipped around them.

Ashi didn’t want to fuck this up. She actually really liked this kid and genuinely didn’t want to hurt his feelings by saying the wrong thing when the poor child was so sensitive to feedback. “I see that you’ve worked really hard to get to where you’re at. Your control over your flames is impressive for someone you- our age! I see your hard work. I see your pain. I see you.”

Touya’s face scrunched up and he began to sniffle. Big blobby tears ran down his face as his fire dissipated leaving Ashi cold again.

Her phone buzzed in her pocket. It was a one hundred percent chance that it was Kai, calling her to ask where she was.

She ignored her phone in favor of opening her tiny, skinny arms out for an optional hug. Seeing her obvious offer, Touya fell into the smaller child’s embrace, sobbing.

“It’ll be okay, Crybaby.” Ashi hummed into his ear, the hug warming her up just enough to avoid shivering. “It’s okay.”

Touya’s voice broke slightly as he wailed into her neck, holding her so tight she wondered if his stupid dad made him lift weights, cause damn.

Ashi must’ve spent another ten minutes petting his hair and shushing him for his outburst to soften until all that was left was his hiccups and her wet shirt.

Touya leaned back, finally yielding his grip on the young girl’s body. I swear to whatever deity that brought me here if he accidentally gave me bruises and Kai sees them, I will personally find and kill you.

The boy sniffled and rubbed his face against the back of his arm. “’M sorry. I didn’t mean to be such a crybaby. I don’t know what happened.”

“You just got a little overwhelmed, that’s all.” Ashi began to shiver again. “It happens to all of us, honestly. And you may be a crybaby, but that’s not necessarily a bad thing. You’re my crybaby, after all.”

Touya looked like he was about to start crying again, so Ashi spoke once more. “Why don’t we make this a regular thing? Like, coming here to the park, not the crying bit. I don’t want you getting dehydrated all the time.”

Smacking his cheeks, Touya gave a watery smile. “Mm. Dad doesn’t practice with me anymore so I had to make my own schedule. Saturdays are my rest days, we can meet then?”

“It’s a deal.” Ashi smiled back.

Her phone rang again, incessantly this time. Kai must be calling her back to back now.

“Is that a phone?” Touya asked, a weird expression on his face. “Do you need to answer it?”

Ashi sighed. “Yeah, it’s probably important.”

“You have to leave, don’t you.” Touya pouted before suddenly brightening up. “I know! You can come to my place for dinner. I can show you my room too!”

Ashi took a look at her text messages and cringed. Yeah, Kai was going bananas without her.

“I’m sorry Touya, but there’s people that are worried about me and I need to go home.” Home. The concept was still new to her.

“Kay…” He crossed his arms. “But on Saturday, it’ll be you and me all day, okay?”

“It’s a promise. A pinky promise.”

“Deal!”

-

After an extended hug goodbye from her new buddy, Ashi ran to the street where she had been jogging and called Kai back. “Hime-sama!” His throat sounded horse and Ashi felt bad now for making him worry so much.

“Kai! I’m okay! I just lost track of time-”

“Hime-sama, I’m begging you, please don’t do this again.” Kai wasn’t one to plead often, even to her. “I thought I lost you! You weren’t answering your phone and it’s dark and-!”

Fuuuuuck. “You didn’t lose me Kai, I’m right here and I’ll be home soon. Give me twenty minutes and I’ll be right there.”

“Don’t leave me!” Kai raised his voice. “Stay- Stay on the phone, please. And tell me where you are, send me your location.”

“Kai, I’ll stay on the phone with you but I don’t need to tell you anything.” Ashi scolded. “Remember what we promised each other? You would respect my boundaries when I’m outside of the compound and in exchange I let you sleep over whenever you want. Please honor our agreement.” Ashi had long since given up on pretending to be a child around Kai, although she still kept up the façade around Gramps. Kai was too smart and Ashi was too lazy. Luckily, her BFF hadn’t called her out on her adult-like personality. Yet.

“… I know.” Kai took some deep breaths from over the phone. “I know.”

“Then let me walk home while you tell be about your day.”

“Yes, Hime-sama.” Now there was her antisocial best buddy!

-

As Kai told her about his day after she left, Ashi couldn’t help but worry about little Touya and his future as the mysterious and destructive Dabi. About his painful end and torturous existence.

As a fan of the franchise in her previous life, Ashi always felt bad for his character. His scars, both physical and mental called to her. All she wanted was to give him a hug across the screen.

And now here she was. Given a chance to make things right. To prevent Kai and Touya from going down paths they couldn’t come back from.

Little did she know just how much darker their paths would develop due to her existence in their lives.

What they would become for her.

What they would do in her name.

But that wasn’t for some years to come. For now, Ashi would befriend and tame her adorable little psychos, blissfully unaware of the consequences her actions would have on all of their futures...

-

YANDERE AU MASTERLIST