analogwriting

[analogwriting]

im so sorry to leave yall hanging like that its been crazy. i just moved 13 hours away from where i was at. currently settling in. the. i gotta go to dc from sunday to tuesday. ill try to update soon but i didn't forget i promise 😭

[analogwriting]

Im rooting for all knights/bodyguards who are in love with their charge/the one they are sworn to protect

[analogwriting]

The Other Side of Paradise

Chapter 27: White Roses

Killer x gn!reader word count: 3k a/n: hohoho we have about 2-3 chapters left! and i move next thurs! things are going to be busy busy the next week, but i'll try my best to wrap it up. i already have a good idea how i want things to roll out, it's just motivating myself to type it. i have a bad habit of just writing it in bullet points on paper and then just never hyping it up and fluffing it out lmao anywayyy sorry for so much dialogue but hopefully it's not too boring! taglist: @kattywhomper @tremendoushorsepatrolgoth @h0n3y-l3m0n05 @ttalgi @animesailor9 first|next

A wave of nausea washes over you as you stare at the small pamphlet in your hand. Just how far did Doflamingo go? This was obviously much deeper and more complicated than you could’ve ever imagined. You needed to talk to the boys. You needed to put this to rest. To hell with revenge, to hell with being complacent. What the hell was happening? 

You quickly fumbled around for your phone, dropping the CD in the process, but you didn’t care. You’d pick it up in a moment, you needed to get a picture and send it to someone before you were caught. This was important. 

Once your phone was out, you opened your camera, snapping a picture. As if you were in a movie, the timing couldn’t have been more perfect. The second you sent it to Hop, the door burst open. Your heart stopped and you turned, your eyes wide. 

Doflamingo door there, the raging aura surrounding him. You swear you saw flames of anger around him for a split second once he saw you. Wasn’t he supposed to be in meetings all day? Fuck, must’ve been a decoy. You should’ve known.

“YOU.”

He began to make his way to you and you backed up, running back into his desk. You reached back to grab your mask so you could start recording, but since you were also moving at the same time and grabbing blindly, you just ended up knocking it down and it scattered along the floor. Just like that - you were trapped with nowhere to go as he towered over you. He looked at you for a long moment, his eyes narrowing as if he was trying to figure out who you were. You didn’t have your typical mask on but you weren’t showing your face.

Then it clicked in his head as he glanced at your mask that now laid on the floor.

“You.” His voice had toned down significantly. He looked down towards the paper in your hand and he took it, looking at it. He looked from your obituary to you. He snorted, shaking his head. “I should’ve seen this coming. A loose end I never cleaned up,” he grumbled, tossing the obituary on the desk.

He steps back slightly, but you still have no hopes of getting around him and out the door. You were a sitting duck and you weren’t even able to secretly record because your dumbass didn’t put your mask on and ended up knocking it off the desk.

Fuck you were screwed.

“You might as well take that tiny face mask off, y/n, I know it’s you.” He snorted, putting his hands in his pockets. He might’ve done that to seem like he wouldn’t attack. Like a predator pretending to put its claws away. However, you weren’t going to try anything. You weren’t stupid.

There was no point in trying to play games now. You took it off, glaring at him. A smile spread across his face. “It’s nice to finally meet you. You’re quite famous, you know. And I’m not talking about your alias.”

Confusion spread across your face and he nodded. “It's true. Towards the beginning, the boys talked about you all the time. They had planned on you being their manager, after all.” You were still confused about what was going on. Then what happened? Also, was he about to do one of those villain monologues?

He shakes his head as if debating something in his head. Then, you could see him come to a resolution. The fact you could read him so well was terrifying. Something told him he was allowing you to see all his thought processes. That he wasn’t hiding it for a reason.

“I saw such potential in them. I knew they could make it big. I knew they could rake in serious money. The only problem was they had a fall back plan.” Here went the monologue.

“They weren’t giving it their all because they weren’t pushed into a corner. They had a fall back plan. If things didn’t go well, they could just scurry on home and act like none of this ever happened - but I couldn’t have that. They were an untapped goldmine that I planned on getting every ounce of money from.” He shook his head, beginning to pace as he spoke.

“So, I needed to make sure that they didn’t have somewhere to crawl back to. I needed this to be their only option. I needed them to be completely malleable and easy to control. I needed them to do exactly as I said - no hesitation. I didn’t need some little wannabe manager to join the fray and screw everything up when they graduated.” He looked pointedly at you and you couldn’t help but flinch.

“I needed you out of the picture. I needed to break their spirits.”

“Sounds like you needed a lot of things.” You immediately stopped talking as he glared at you. This wasn’t the time to be a smartass. You weren’t in the position to be able to be one and you somewhat forgot.

“Anyway, I needed to get rid of you and all of your friends. Only, I didn’t know how to do that. I started with having people hack into their phones and start blocking messages from coming in and sending. Slowly at first, to make it seem like you were just drifting apart.” He rolled his eyes and shook his head.

“Then they went and got new phones like that was the issue. I let them have that a little longer before I started everything back up again. Slower responses until there was nothing. However, that wasn’t working. They just insisted that they needed to go and visit you guys. That maybe that would help things. Especially Killer.” He rolled his eyes again and your chest tightened. “He was so disgustingly in love with you that he couldn’t focus the less we let the messages go through. Everything wasn’t working. I knew I had to take it further.”

He turned towards you. “When they proposed visiting all of you, I was in full support - I had to be. I had to be all they had once they realized you were all gone.” He chuckled, clearly proud of himself as you looked at him with a confused expression. “At this point, I already had someone watching you guys. I knew you had been staying at your friends’ house and working for the most part, hardly going home. I knew if they went, you wouldn’t be there, which would help.”

You felt sick. The amount of planning and thought that went into this just to control some people was insane. He could’ve decided on a different group. A group that didn’t have ties. Why did he have to go so far? Was his greed for money really so large? And how the hell did he know they’d be so successful? Was he desperate and willing to do whatever it took to succeed? You didn’t know and frankly, didn’t want to.

“They had even stopped by your work, but I had staged it so perfectly and had someone help them in such a way that they stalled them without them even realizing. Enough for you to leave from work. I had another person that worked for me that the boys didn’t know pretend to work at your job. They falsely told them that you had quit some time ago and they didn’t know where you were.” He sent them on a wild goose chase essentially.

He sighed, folding his arms. “They came back, bummed. I didn’t give them too much time to look around anyway. I couldn’t risk them running into one of your other friends. Though, this was also during the summer, so luckily a lot of your friends were away.” He shrugged as if it was the most obvious thing. “It was a lot of work, but I knew it would pay off in the end.”

He snorted. “Though, I almost gave up. They were gaining popularity, yes. They were doing well, but not as good as they could. They were still bummed about the whole…situation. They still wanted to go see you. They were still attached. They were saying they were concerned about you - ‘this wasn’t like you’ or whatever.” He shook his head. “Annoying, really. I needed to take this as far as I could go.”

“Some of their theories were a little funny.” A small laugh came from him. “One of them was that you were dying and you didn’t want them to know. So you were texting them less and less, trying to get them to hate you, until you eventually just died!” He was fully on belly laughing at this point and you could only look at him completely horrified. How the hell was that funny? That was awful!

He straightened himself back up, wiping a tear. “However, that did give me the idea to kill you off.” He snorted. Your eyes widened, face paling.

“I sat them down in this office right here and I gave them the devastating news along with a copy of that obituary that you saw. They couldn’t believe it - they were besides themselves. I could see the life draining from their eyes. They were close to being exactly how I needed them. Victory was so close I could taste it.”

He licked his lips in a way that made your skin crawl. You wanted nothing more than to run away, but he was still blocking the damn exit.

“They wanted to go to your funeral, but I also had to break the news that it had already passed and you had been cremated.” His face soured slightly. “The big lug nearly tore my office apart at the time, throwing a damn chair across the room.” He shook his head as he told you about how Killer reacted. You had never seen him act in such a way, so it was hard to even imagine.

“They asked for some time off to grieve and as the kind and generous CEO that I am - I let them go. They tried to text your friends but my people had all the messages deleted before they even reached the phones of those friends.”

You blinked. Wait, he let them go? But, you would’ve been -

Then it dawned on you. The timing. You had just left on vacation. None of you were in town, so they wouldn’t have been able to disprove that you were still alive. 

“I even had a fake grave made for you in the cemetery and everything.” He pulled up a picture and showed it to you like someone showing off their dog. “Pretty proud of myself for pulling that one off.” He snorted, shaking his head. “And on such short notice? Money really can buy anything.” He set his hands on his hips, grinning to himself.

“I knew you were on vacation, so when the boys said they wanted to stick around for a little bit, I let them. I knew you folks wouldn’t be back for a good minute. Celebrating graduations, summer, and the likes. It fell perfectly into place.” There was a sick smile on his face as he clasped his hands together. “They were devastated when they came back. Husks of the people they used to be.” It was disgusting how happy he was that they were so miserable. Doflamingo was so much more evil than you could’ve ever imagined. Going this far? That was diabolical.

“They were the perfect little soldiers after that. I worked them until they couldn’t anymore and then I kept working them. They never questioned anything, doing whatever I said. Hell, I’m not even sure they remember the first few weeks after the news hit them. It was a bit of a learning curve but then the money really started coming in.” He snorted and it dawned on you. What you had seen on the TV back then, Killer more than likely wasn’t in the right state of mind. He had no idea that you were alive and kicking. And he was probably told to do it.

Oh, you were absolutely going to be sick.

“Eventually, they gathered their bearings. They wanted to go to their hometown one last time. To really make sure what they had seen was real - so, I let them go. They were met with a big ‘FOR SALE’ sign on that house that you owned. It had been cleaned out and ready to be sold as if no one ever lived in it. The last little piece they had left - it was gone. They had nothing now.” He cackled again and you flinched slightly. You felt tears stinging the corners of your eyes. You couldn’t imagine the pain they all felt.

“Thanks to you, they had no fall back plan anymore.” You wanted to throw up.

“When they came back, they were ready to give everything their all. Oh, they were flying up the charts. They made a promise that everything they did was for you. That they’d made it to the top for you and whatnot.” He snorted, rolling his eyes. “Whatever other sappy shit you wanna say, but they did it in the name of you. I didn’t really care what they did it in the name of as long as they followed what I said, they’d rake it in. And they did. We earned so much and we’re still earning so much.” He cackled loudly. “And it’s showing no signs of slowing down anytime soon!”

Tears were falling down your face. Endless streams. You couldn’t believe it. The thought never crossed your mind because you didn’t think someone would be so fucking evil to do something like that. Or if they were, not be smart enough to pull it off. Doflamingo was both. He had money, brains, black tar evil in his heart. A shitstorm of a terrible human being that shouldn’t be allowed to be in the position he is.

After he calmed down, he turned to you once more. “Which then begs the question - what the hell are you doing here? Was Corazon trying to get you to do his dirty work? Find something incriminating on me so he can get out of our contract? Are you two in cahoots?”

Now you were confused and Doflamingo saw it. He nodded. “He’s using you to speak out against me, if you can find anything to do so. He can’t legally say anything due to the contract he’s bound by. He’s not allowed to say anything against me unless he wants a shitstorm.”

You’re hesitant, but you bite. “What happens if he does?” Surely it was some kind of fee. What was at risk that Corazon was willing to let someone like Doflamingo do whatever he wanted? Unless Corazon wasn’t as good as you thought he was.

“I kill Law.” Doflamingo shrugged like it was the most obvious thing in the world. It felt like you’d been sucker punched in the gut. Fucking WHAT?

“Law isn’t aware of this, but I have people around him that are ready to kill him at any moment. I just have to say the word. People that Law trusts. His manager being one of them.” He chuckled. “He thinks Vergo is on his side, but little does he know that the man would kill him without a second thought if I so much as said so.” Why would he do that? Does Corazon have some kind of crazy evidence on him? What would provoke him to do something like that? 

Fucking fuck dude. Just how evil could this dude get? Then something hit you like a freight train.

“Wait…why are you telling me all of this?”

A slow, sly, disgusting smile stretched across his face as he slowly walked over to you. Your heart started racing, but there was nowhere you could go. You were stuck. There was no ducking and dodging. Not with a man as large as him. “You’re smart. I know you’ve already figured it out.”

You swallowed hard, sweat starting to form on your forehead. He’s right. You’ve already figured it out. He didn’t plan on letting you get out of here alive. You were going to die here with all of his secrets. The classic villain confessing everything before killing the hero. 

“B-But my friends. They’ll notice if I go missing. The band. Our fans.” You were grasping at straws but you knew it was useless. He already made up his mind and you knew too much.

Doflamingo shook his head. “You and your counterparts are faceless. I could easily replace all of you and do to your other friends what I did with Victoria Punk. Slowly have you all pull away. History repeats itself. Fans are none the wiser because you never showed your face on screen before.”

Panic is set deep in your bones. “The fans aren’t dumb. They’d know if we were replaced. They’re too smart. I create stories for them to decipher - they’ll know.”

“Guess I’ll figure it out then. Perhaps fame was too much for you and the pressure pushes you over the edge.” His hands find their way around your throat. They’re large, easily wrapping around the entirety of your throat. Killing you was going to be so easy for him. He’s not going to have to put much effort forth at all.

“You’ve brought me a lot of money and I thank you for that.” He slowly started squeezing and you started clawing and trying to pull him away, but he’s just too large, too strong.

“You know, admitting all that really got things off my chest. I feel a lot better now - lighter.” He grinned, your vision going blurry. He says something else but he’s too far away. You can’t make it out. You’ve started to accept you’ll die here. This time you were really going to die and you possibly just got your friends killed too.

Everything goes black.

[analogwriting]

reblog and put in the tags the 13th sentence from any WIP

[analogwriting]

so im back from my vacay. got to see my new niece and say by to the fam before i move next week. been working in the next chapter and holy toledo batman its a lot of dialogue

[analogwriting]

The Other Side of Paradise

Chapter 26: Mama's Gun

Killer x gn!reader word count: 2.9k a/n: pumped out another one for y'all. i'm going to be out of town for a few days to see my brand new niece before the big move. then when i get back i'll finish this sucker. i think we have two to four chapters left??? depends on how much i ramble on lmao it's been a wild ride and thanks for sticking around, lovelies. taglist: @kattywhomper @tremendoushorsepatrolgoth @h0n3y-l3m0n05 @ttalgi @animesailor9 first|next

“You're lucky as shit that I just finished your mask or I’d be madder n hell right now,” Bubblegum said, shaking his head and chuckling.

You were back at the apartment, telling him about how you accidentally busted the mask you had. You were expecting a full scolding, some yelling, but none of it came. Just because your timing was fantastic and he was done with the new one. You still expected some light scolding even if it was done, but it never came.

He must’ve been really excited about what he had created.

“It's just not going to be worth as much if Dive sells it,” he said with a shrug. Money wasn’t exactly something you all worried about anyway, it was just a thing that you did for the fans mostly. All the money just went back into the band to do more fun stuff for the fans.

Dive spoke up. “Eh, they'll still pay crazy money for it so I'm not too bothered.” She was draped on a recliner, playing on her Switch, not even bothering to look up as she spoke. “You act like you can’t fix it anyway. A couple tweaks from you and it’d be good as new to sell anyway.”

Bubblegum snorted, but didn’t argue. It was true. You knew he could fix it with no problem, you had just been worried that he’d have to fix it so quickly but also work on the new one. But with the new one completed, he could just fix that one whenever.

“Gives us plenty of time to let you test drive this and make any tweaks we might need before the tour,” Bubblegum said, handing you the new mask. You took it into your hands and blinked.

Immediately, you could notice the difference. Yes, the design was different, but it was also so much lighter and breathable. It was like holding just a couple of papers in your hand rather than a mask that held multiple functions. “Holy shit, Gum. How did you do this?” You put it on, moving your head around. 

It was so light and wasn't getting as warm as the others did. You barely even noticed it on. 

Hop and Dive joined you, taking the masks for them. They had the same, astonished reactions you did. Performing was going to be so much easier. Having to wear them all day around the building wasn’t going to suck as much.

Bubblegum grinned, folding his arms across his chest as he basked in compliments. “I know. I'm great. Keep going.” He snorted. 

“Also,” he started, moving towards you. “Speak.”

You blinked in confusion. You started just speaking random lyrics from your songs and he adjusted a slider on the side of the mask. Your tone changed then he pushed another one and you grew louder without shouting. 

Your eyes widened. “Holy shit??” You could now change the tone and volume of your modulator? And so easy? This was absolute insanity. Bubblegum was operating in the year 3025.

He snorted and nodded as he stepped back so you could play with the slider. “Figured it would help going from on stage to off stage. It should also help with microphone feedback too.” Occasionally, when you would perform, the masks would produce awful feedback that just ruined the whole vibe. Luckily, it had only ever happened in practice, but it was a fear that you had.

“Also,” Pomp started, drawing your attention to him as he walked out of Bubblegum's room. “You can now record video and audio around you as per your request.”

Bubblegum nodded, pressing a couple of buttons. “Now you can record anytime you are around that slimeball to keep yourself safe.”

A large smile spread across your face. “You really outdid yourselves.”

Pomp grinned. “There's one more feature, but I still have to test it out.”

“What is it?” You removed the mask, handing it to him. 

He took it with a shake of his head. “I'm not saying. It's a surprise.” He smirked at you. you narrowed your eyes, but you left it. You trusted him. You also knew there was no point in trying to figure it out. He wouldn’t crack. He was hard headed like that.

“Oh, Hop said something crazy happened after we left?” Bubblegum switched the topic, looking at you with slight concern. 

You immediately felt drained with the question and sighed, anger tickling the back on your brain as you told him everything that happened. From the fight with Kid to the weird statement from Wire. 

“The fuck he mean someone they ‘lost’? The only person they've ever lost death wise was Victoria.” Bubblegum rolled his eyes. “But that was so long ago and you're not like her at all.”

You nodded and sighed, putting your hands on your hips. “Trust me, I know. There's also the death of his parents and my mom, but I also don't act like them either. My mom was much softer - kinder than I am. Besides, we’re the ones that lost them if anything.” You rolled your eyes.

“Do you think he's talking about you?” Dive piped up from her spot on the recliner. She had switched off her game, giving the conversation your full attention. 

You looked at her and shook your head. “It wouldn't make sense. They never lost me, they fucking ditched me. Us. They better not be spinning that kind of narrative or I'll have to take care of this in a different manner and I might end up in prison.” The thought pissed you off. 

“One text to literally anyone would be enough to disprove the fact you're dead. Or fucking visiting.” Hop rolled her eyes, folding her arms. “Our friend group is large as hell. Surely they could’ve found out the answer in no time at all.”

You nodded, sighing. “That's what I'm saying. Like, you're telling me that if someone told them I died, they wouldn't even go to my funeral? Going to a funeral should be enough to figure out whether or not someone was dead.” You grimaced. 

The more you thought about the cryptic statement, the more it pissed you off. If they really thought you were dead, then what kind of piss poor investigating did they do? It just would really show how much they didn't care and that hurt more to think about. 

Things didn't add up and you needed to snoop. How would you do that? No idea. What were you snooping? No clue. There was a fleeting thought, maybe Doflamingo had something to do with it. It was a thought you didn't really entertain before now. What if he made them stop talking to you and your friends? That didn't make sense though. None of you got in the way of their work. Hell, none of you were here when it was happening. 

Ugh, all the thinking hurt. 

“I propose we switch gears,” Papas spoke up from his place in the kitchen. He poked his head out with a large grin before showing a large platter of shots in his hands. “Let's have some fun since we don't work tomorrow.”

You snorted as some of your friends cheered. Everyone could use the break. Some drinking games would be a good way to relax. Sleep in tomorrow. Just take a slow day. Everyone could use the recuperation. 

You headed over with everyone else, taking a shot glass from the platter and cheering your friends.

--

The next morning, you woke up bright and early. Yes, it was your day off, but you were going to use it to your advantage. People weren't going to expect you at DQE, so snooping would be a lot easier. 

Yes. You were going to go snoop around. The more you thought about the idea of it last night, the more you convinced yourself. It might have been the liquid courage for the most part, but you were sober now and still thought of going through with it.

 You had too many questions and not enough answers. You didn't know where to look, but you'd figure it out when you got there. You also remembered Corazon saying that Doflamingo was going to be out of office today. Perfect time to snoop there too. Maybe find that contract that Law had been talking about. 

You hear your phone buzz and you jump. For a split second, you forgot where you were and when it was because you quickly grabbed your phone, thinking Killer texted you. Then you remembered. You blinked in confusion. You hadn't done that in years. 

Fuck, being around them was throwing you off. Had you all kinds of confused. Honestly, you felt kind of embarrassed and silently thanked the heavens above that no one was up to see you. 

You shake your head, unlocking your phone and seeing you had a text from Corazon.

You snort at his emoji use, rolling your eyes. He was so dramatic, but you also didn't doubt him. He was a large man and stronger than he looked. You’d have to be even more cautious because you knew he'd keep his eyes peeled for you. He knew how you were, which bit you in the ass at this moment. Only, he’d think you’d go to work. He had no idea that you were going to go information hunting.

You shower and get ready, not really worried about waking anyone up. Everyone was still passed out and hard. They'd all partied like crazy the night before so they'd be out cold well into the afternoon more than likely. Which gave you plenty of time to sneak around and get back before anyone woke up.

You slowly and quietly make your way out of your room and into the darkened livingroom. The curtains were drawn to not wake anyone. Everyone wanted to sleep as much as possible and catch up on what they'd been missing the last few weeks. Understandable. Couldn’t let the sun ruin that plan.

You make your way to the coffee table, grabbing your mask when the lamp clicked on, revealing Hop sitting in a chair like a mother catching her kid sneaking out. 

“And where do you think you're going?”

You stop in your tracks, eyes wide like a deer in headlights. “Uh…”

She folds her arms across her chest, waiting for you to explain. 

You sighed, groaning. “I'm gonna go get answers.”

“And how do you plan on doing that?”

“I don't know, I was gonna figure it out when I got there.”

She shook her head with a sigh. “Going without a plan is stupid.” She wasn’t wrong. You had nothing but hope.

“I have to at least try.”

She looks at you for a long moment before shaking her head, standing up. “You're a grown adult. I can't stop you, but please don't get caught. I don't need you getting hurt or fired. We still have a long way to go.”

You nodded, smiling widely. “Aye aye. Dont worry. I'll come back with answers.” You paused. “Hopefully. I don’t plan on staying too long.”

You knew she was curious too. She also wanted to know if there was a reason behind the actions of your friends. She must've had the same thoughts last night. That someone was behind everything. 

With that, you headed out. 

--

To make sure that you weren't caught, you didn't take your van. You took an Uber. Sure, it might make getting away a little harder, but it’d be harder to end up caught in the first place this way. It balanced out. You just hoped you wouldn’t get caught and have to come up with an escape plan. Fingers crossed

You didn’t quite put your mask on yet - that was the most recognizable feature about you, after all. A dead giveaway. You left it tucked under your arm, under the jacket you were wearing. You did, however, have a face mask and a ballcap on to at least keep your features hidden still. The boys knew what you looked like, after all. 

Though, since your group had a day off, you imagine they took off too.

You stuck to the shadows, careful not to be spotted. You moved slowly, keeping an eye out at every turn and corner. You were determined not to get caught. You felt like some kind of super spy.

Passing by the studios, you noticed the boys in one of them. You blinked, surprised they were there. They seemed to be working hard on whatever they were working on. 

Now that you were able to see them in their candid nature, they looked exhausted. More than just a restless night. This looked like years of hardwork and exhaustion built up and weighing on them. A small part of you felt sympathy for them. You could only imagine what Doflamingo put them through. How hard they had to work to get where they were. 

You took a deep breath, reminding yourself of why you were here. You spent all this time being angry at them. What if…none of this was their fault? The thought plagued you. 

But, you had tried to come and see them. Killer had been with someone else that time on TV. What else other than to tell you they didn't care about you anymore? Ugh. Everything was so confusing. 

You walked off, trying to stay on track. 

Now, where was Doflamingo's office again? You'd only really been once and the entire building was a maze, so it was easy to forget. You usually just stuck to your typical haunts because you knew how to get there.

You figured you'd start in his office since he was out and it was as good of a place as any.

You find what you're looking for, taking a deep breath and turned the handle. Of course, it was locked. You grumbled, pulling out a lock pick kit you swiped from Dive. You knew she wouldn't mind and you'd give it back. Or buy her a new one if needed. It also wasn’t her favorite one, so you’d be in the clear anyway.

Snooping would naturally lead to locked doors, so you knew you'd need it. 

After a couple of minutes, and a few failed attempts, you made it inside. Immediately, you hated the vibe. It just felt slimy being in this office. You could only imagine all the cons and cheats that happened in this room. The large mural of himself hanging above his desk, looking down on you didn't help either. 

You set your mask down on the desk, trying to think of where to start. You started rifling through drawers, not even sure what you're looking for. What? Were you hoping something would just jump out at you? 

Though after you thought about it some more, someone as smart as him wouldn't leave anything in his desk. That was too obvious. He definitely would hide it somewhere else. What was it? You had no idea. You were still going off hopes and hunches.

You move to the bookshelves, looking through them. Maybe something over here would give you a hint. You grabbed a few, flipping through them, and putting them back. Ugh, there was nothing here! How could-

Something fell out of the book you were currently holding. You picked it up and looked at it. It was a newspaper article. 

“FAMOUS RECORD LABEL FOUNDER AND WIFE FOUND DEAD” followed by a picture of two people that both resembled the Donquixote brothers - it had to be their parents. 

You dangle the book, shaking it and something else falls out. Another newspaper clipping. 

“COLD BLOODED MURDER TURNS INTO COLD CASE” It talks about how the Donquixote murders weren’t able to be solved. Not enough evidence, they never found out who did it. Though, you had an uneasy feeling in your stomach that you knew exactly who it had been. However, he would've been a child at the time. Surely a child wouldn't murder his own parents. Or even be capable…right?

You put the clippings back and put the book back where it was, a bad feeling washing over you. Closing your eyes, you take a deep breath to calm yourself down and try to think of where else to look. You notice some CDs. The demo CD for Victoria Punk catches your eye and you frown. That was the you helped them make. The very one that you helped hand out randomly to spread the word about them. The one that you had spent a good amount of time in photoshop to make the cover for.

Slowly, you walk over and grab it. A soft, fond smile appears on your face. You remember the boys working so hard on it. All of you were amateurs then. You were sure if you listened to it now, you would've cringed. As any artist - any person - does that when seeing old works or photos of themselves.

You opened it, wondering why Doflamingo would have something like this in his office. 

That question is immediately answered. Your blood runs cold as you stare at it. How the fuck did this happen? Just how far did Doflamingo go? So many questions answered but so many more popped up from just one small piece of paper. 

Your obituary.

NEXT

[analogwriting]

BOOM ANOTHER DRAFT DONE 🗣️🗣️

im hoping to have this chapter edited tomorrow. get it all posted. im going to be out of town for a few days because i HAVE A BRAND NEW NIECE!! so imma go visit my hometown to see her before i move 13 hours away lmao. when i get back I'll lock in and pump the rest of these chapters out.

we dont have too much left, so thank you for sticking around this long. esp considering i had that unexpected long hiatus from it and writing in general. i promise the next one i do wont take that long to get done 🙂‍↕️ tho i probably wont start another until im all settled in the new place and secure a job. imma be quite busy the next couple months.

anyway outie!

[analogwriting]

my cat brokey tv last night so i guess now i have nothing else to do except finish this fic lmfaoooo

[analogwriting]

The Other Side of Paradise

Chapter 25: Gooey

Killer x gn!reader word count: 2.5k a/n: ope ope ope it just dawned on me how close we are to the end taglist: @kattywhomper @tremendoushorsepatrolgoth @h0n3y-l3m0n05 @ttalgi @animesailor9 first|next

After beelining straight into Corazon's office, you locked the door and leaned against it, trying to chill out your racing heart. You could hear your heartbeat in your ears. You waited for a few moments, making sure Killer didn't follow you. Panic was seeping into your bones and every part and molecule of your body.

Once you were in the clear, you sighed, walking over and plopping into Corazon's chair. You closed your eyes and leaned back, calming yourself down. What was that all about? How did he know? This whole time? Or maybe he just thought it was you and had no idea. A long sigh escaped your lips.

Your thoughts were disrupted as you heard the door handle jiggle. You froze, staring at it for a moment as your eyes widened. Then you heard it jiggle again before opening and revealing a very worried looking Corazon. He rushed over to you, looking you over. “Are you alright? I saw you rush out of the conference room looking upset. I tried to end the stupid mini meeting with Doffy asap so I could come and make sure you were okay. What happened?”

You blinked, shaking your head. A sense of relief had washed over you the moment you laid eyes on him. You were worried Killer was trying to finagle his way inside to get to you.

You take off your mask, not having realized you still had it on and sighed deeply. You set it on the desk and began to explain what happened. Corazon listened, sitting in the chair across from you. He now sat between you and the door so if anyone did burst in, you would be blocked by his large frame, giving you plenty of time to throw your mask back on.

After you finished telling him what happened, you couldn't quite read the expression on his face. He looked like he wanted to say something, but didn't quite know how to say it. Did he know something? Did he tell him? Is he trying to play matchmaker?

However, before you could ask him, Hop burst into the office. “Where are they?” She looked at Corazon who moved slightly, revealing you. You gave a sheepish wave before looking at your manager with a raised brow.

“I wasn’t sure if I was going to be able to get away from Doffy, so I sent Hop a text.”

Hop came over, looking you over. “What happened? Cora just sent the SOS and then his office so I don't know what's going on.”

You filled her in, her own expression souring.

“What the actual fuck? How does he know?” She turned to Corazon who put his hands up and shook his head. 

“I swear it wasnt me.”

You signed, shaking your head. “I don't think it was him either. Maybe…he remembers me more than I thought.” You sighed, shaking your head. Maybe there was a way you acted that was the same? You weren’t sure. Maybe he heard you talking at some point? But you were very cautious. Nothing made sense.

“So, what now? We give everything up? Tell them what's going on?”

You shook your head. “I think I threw him off track enough by asking who I was. So, business as usual.”

Hop nodded, putting her hands on her hips and thinking. “Should we just tell them?” Honestly, the four of you were exhausted from hiding your identities. It was just an extra step and anxiety that you were tired of, but there was something telling you not to do it just yet.

You shook your head. “Not yet. Something is telling me to hold off just a little bit. When the time comes, we'll know.”

She looked at you for a moment before nodding. “Okay. I trust you.” With that, the three of you changed the subject to the tour and preparations.

--

Today was the dreadful day. Today was the day you started recording with Victoria Punk. You weren't looking forward to this. You knew that this was going to end badly. Every time Kid saw you, he'd just glare at you, looking like he wanted to pummel you into the ground. It was only a matter of time before the two of you got into a real argument and not just a petty spat.

Part of you hoped he would, then you wouldn't have to deal with all of this anymore. All the stress would magically go away. 

Luckily, ever since that weird encounter with Killer last week, you haven't really seen him since. If you did, he didn't speak or look at you, so you were in the clear as far as you could tell. Thank fuck for that. He seemed almost embarrassed at times. Good. Feel like a fool.

You weren't looking forward to the collaboration. You knew that Kid was just going to be difficult because he didn't like you. This was going to test every bit of your patience and you honestly didn't have a lot left. In general your patience for them was short and now you were worn out from everything else you've been needing to do, you didn't need this extra shit but what could you do?

When you arrived at the studio, you weren't even surprised that your group was the first one to arrive. No one in this place seemed to know what the fuck a clock was. The four of you just chilled out, checking equipment, doing some tests, overall just waiting for them to show up. 

Eventually they did, Kid immediately was in a bad mood and you could tell. Wire spoke up. “Sorry we're late, Doflamingo had us held up in a meeting.” 

Kid spoke next, looking directly at you. “I'm not here to fight or argue. I'm here to work, got it?” There was no way he was talking to you, right? You never started anything - it was always him.

You didn't even acknowledge him, knowing whatever you said would just spark some kind of argument. 

“Oi, did you hear me?” Kid walked over to you as you gathered your notes. 

“What do you think?” You looked towards him before going back to your notes. 

“Why you lit-” 

“Didn't you say you weren't going to fight? Let's get to work,” you said. You wanted to get this the fuck over with. You weren't about to waste ANY time. 

Kid looked like he was going to blow a gasket but Corazon walked in with Diamante and he managed to bite his tongue. “Whatever.” 

Corazon looked at you with a raised eyebrow and you shook your head, signalling that you'd tell him later and he nodded. 

From then on, things went relatively smoothly. Once Kid pushed his petty attitude aside, he was serious about his work. That much you were thankful for. He'd been like that before and it was nice to see it hadn't changed. However, with how well you worked together, it pained the hell out of you. You knew it was painful for your friends too. This is how it had been before. All of you trading ideas and helping each other. Fuck, the whole reason you went to college was so you could be their manager one day. 

“Hey, space cadet.” You were pulled out of your thoughts when Kid spoke. Everyone else had taken a break, so it was just you two in the studio now. “Could you pay attention, I was asking you something.”

You looked at him, silent, waiting for him to specify. Every time he spoke, you were biting your tongue.

He rolled his eyes. “You know, it'd be easier to communicate and read you if you didn’t have that stupid fucking mask on.”

You just shrugged at him. “It's not necessary for you to read me. Now, what did you ask?”

“Maybe it's not necessary, but it would be a little less uneasy interacting with you. It's weird talking to someone I've never actually seen.”

“Sounds like a you problem.”

“Why are you such a dick?”

“I'm literally not. You're the one making a big deal out of a non issue.”

“It's so an issue! You make everyone uncomfortable!” 

“Literally not my problem. I'm here to work and make music for my fans. I honestly don't care what anyone else thinks. My bandmates and my manager know what I look like and that's good enough. Let’s tell the truth, not to be rude. But we’re all irrelevant.” You shrugged. In the grand scheme of things, you were. If you guys faded out, someone would replace you. It was a constant moving and changing cycle.

Kid tried moving fast, reaching for your mask to rip it off, but you were faster, dodging out of the way and ending up on the other side of the room. 

“What is your FUCKING PROBLEM?” Your voice grew louder with every word. “I'm trying my hardest to fucking just make this work and youre being such a fucking asshole.”

“Just take the stupid fucking thing off!” 

“No!” 

Corazon burst into the room with Hop just as Kid ran at you. Your manager stopped him in his tracks and Hop pulled you out of his line of projection and out of the room. “I can’t take this place. I just wanna go where I can get some space,” you mumbled, head beginning to throb.

 She guided you down the hallway and into Corazon's office. You ripped your mask off and dropped it to the floor, all the energy leaving your body as you dropped to your knees. You couldn't breathe, you were hyperventilating, tears were running down your face as your head was racing. 

You weren't even sure why you were wigging out like this. Were you upset? Was it just a panic attack? Were you afraid he would find out? Was it just the pure shock that your own family would try to hurt you? Well, he didn’t know it was you, but it stunned you nonetheless. You didn't know. You couldn't tell if it was fear or just flat out being overwhelmed. Probably just a combination of everything finally coming to a head.

Hop was saying things, taking your face in her hands. You couldn't make out what she was saying or even make out her face at all for that matter. Everything was spinning and blurry, your ears ringing. You closed your eyes, trying to calm yourself down. 

Slowly, Hop’s voice was reaching you. “...Just focus on me. Focus on now.”

You did just that - focusing on her voice, listening to it and her words. You focused on her hands, where she was touching your face. You opened your eyes, focusing on her in front of you. She gradually came into focus and she smiled. “There you are.”

You sighed, frowning. “This shit fucking sucks. I just want to go home.”

“Well, we're definitely going to call it a day and I'm going to make it so you don't have to do anything tomorrow.” You jumped as you heard Corazon's voice. You looked over at the door, seeing him standing by it. You have no idea when he got here, but you didn't even notice him enter at all.

Shit, you were out of it. 

“We don't ha-” You started, but he held up a hand. 

“I'm stopping you there. I've been letting this go far too long. I know how much you've been pushing yourself. You seemed to be fine because you were delegating pretty well, so I left you alone. It's very clear you're at your wits end. You need a damn break.”

You pouted, slowly standing up with the help of Hop. 

“The entire group and your friends who came to help, you're all taking tomorrow off and getting some rest. You’ve all just been pushing yourselves. A break is long overdue.”

You opened your mouth to protest but he gave you a stern look that made you shut it quickly. “Yes, sir,” you mumbled, looking at the ground. He really was the father figure for all of you.

Hop sighed, looking at your manager. “Thank you, Cora.” He nodded, folding his arms. 

Before anything else could be said, there was a knock at the door. All of you looked at each other like deer in headlights. You frowned. “I’ve had enough of today’s emotions. Why can’t they just leave me alone,” you mumbled.

Corazon answered it, using his large frame to block the view into the office as he opened the door. “Yes?”

“Is Rev in there?” It was Wire. You could still pick out their voices in a lineup if you had to.

“They are.”

“Can I speak to them?”

“You are.” You silently thanked the heavens for sending you a manager as fantastic as Corazon.

Wire was quiet for a moment before speaking again, louder. “I'd like to apologize on behalf of Kid. You just…remind him of someone we lost and with it being that time of year, it's been difficult.” 

You and Hop look at each other with confused expressions. Someone they lost? What the hell did they mean by lost? Who? Was it you? You knew damn well that they weren’t about to pull the ‘all our friends ditched us when we got popular’ card.

“I know that's no excuse for him to treat you like that and I'll make sure he apologizes himself, but I just wanted to try to clear the air. We all want this collaboration to happen. We need this collab to happen, so we don't want our short-tempered singer to blow it.” Needed it? Were their sales tanking? Their hype dying down?

With Kid and his temper, who knew what kind of shit he was getting into.

You didn't speak. You currently didn’t have your mask on, so no modulator to disguise your voice. You didn’t trust that he wouldn’t recognize it. Also, a part of you was pretty sure you broke it when you threw it off earlier. You silently begged the gods to let Bubblegum forgive you when he finds out.

Corazon spoke for you. “Thank you for stopping by. It's also been difficult on our side as well. They're going to take tomorrow to rest and recuperate. We'll all meet back in the studio the day after tomorrow and we'll see what happens. Alright?”

“But-”

“Alright?” Corazon brought out his stern voice again. He could be a very serious guy when he needed to be.

“Y-Yes, sir,” Wire said before walking away, his heavy boots fading into the distance with every step. 

Corazon closed the door with a sigh and turned to look at you. 

You just stood there, trying to process what he said. You reminded him of someone he lost? That couldn't have been you. You didn't leave them, they left you.

“Now what the fuck did he mean by that?” The fucking audacity. NEXT

[analogwriting]

y'all, i TOLD you i was lockin in.

finished the rough draft of the next chapter last night 😏

[analogwriting]

The Other Side of Paradise

Chapter 24: Melon and the Coconut

Killer x gn!reader word count: 2.5k a/n: well, we're getting closer and closer to the end. only a few more chapters. depending on how much word vomit i have, at least. might double if i end up writing too much for some of these chapters lmao. i've got most of my apartment packed away and everything is ready to go, so i'm hoping i can focus on this now so ill have it finished by the time i move (two and a half weeks) which means it's lockin' in time babeyyyyy taglist: @kattywhomper @tremendoushorsepatrolgoth @h0n3y-l3m0n05 @ttalgi @animesailor9 first|next

After you dropped the news of who you would be touring with, everyone locked in even harder than before. You tried to tell them what they were doing had been perfect, but they wanted it to be more than that. They wanted to go above and beyond for you. They wanted this tour to be unforgettable and completely wipe the floor with Victoria Punk.

Papas, Rek, Quincy, Emma, and Pomp all end up flying in despite your protests. They had even cleared whatever schedules they had, they were fully committed to this. As much as you didn't want them to burn themselves out on your behalf, it did fill you with a new sense of motivation. You wanted to work even harder so their hard work wouldn’t go to waste. 

Papas, Rek, and Quincy all worked with Hop. Quincy worked on the outfits, she had planned on making a few different outfits for each of you with different themes and all tying together. Her plan was to make a whole story for your outfits, she had even come up with a timeline in which you should wear what. Whatever she planned, you’d listen to. She was the professional with this, after all. You were just going to show it off.

Papas and Rek flew in for everything to do with the stage. They were going to plan lighting, props, sound mixers and effects, everything to do with the stage - that was their expertise. They were going to work with Quincy as well to make sure the outfits still looked good with their lighting ideas. They planned on telling the story right along with her. They all had something crazy planned and you were going to let them just do it.

Honestly, if this worked out, you thought about just hiring them all full time. Once you started really making money, you wanted your friends with you. You had already planned on asking Papas and Rek if they wanted to tour with the group to do sound and such. They were freelancers anyway, so it worked out perfectly. They could do what they wanted.

Pomp locked himself up with Bubblegum to help him work on the masks. He just finished his engineering degree and said he had come up with some programs to help you with your idea and make it better. He wouldn’t specify what about it that was different from your idea, but he was excited to try it out. You just let them do their thing.

Emma worked with Dive for the giveaways. She helped find items and made them look presentable. She even went as far as helping Dive livestream some giveaways. She was never on camera to keep the facade of the group being anonymous and to keep Victoria Punk from figuring out who you all were. She always operated behind the camera. She was very good at slight of hand and changing her own voice. It was amazing to watch.

Everyone was working even harder than before and there wasn't a doubt in your mind that this was going to be one of the best tours anyone has ever seen. Though, you could just be biased with your friends, but you genuinely thought it as well. You had full faith in them. Even if people ended up not liking it, you would love and that’s all that mattered. But you knew in your heart that it was going to be loved by a lot of people.

You, on the other hand, still had those stupid meetings with Doflamingo. You could've sworn he did it on purpose just to try to sabotage you in some way - try to eat up your time. You knew he didn't really like you, just liked the money you brought in. Didnt offend you any because you couldnt care less what the he fuck he thought. You did everything for the fans. 

You assumed that he thought by eating up your time, things wouldn’t get done. He knew you were smart and clever, but he didn’t know that you had full faith in your crew to get things done without you overlooking their every move. Everyone was working in their expertise, you trusted them to get things done and do them well. You’d let Doflamingo think he had the upper hand. You’d be his distraction if it meant that your team could get everything else done in a timely manner. The days were going by quickly, there wasn’t a lot of time left.

However, even the king of petty couldn’t keep up the daily meetings. Rather than every single day, they were now every other day or couple of days. It seemed even the self absorbed CEO was too busy even for his own pettiness. Thank fuck. You weren't sure you could take it anymore. You already wanted to ram your head into the wall at full speed when you listened to him speak.

Today's meeting was just like any other. As usual, you and your manager were on time, but the other two always just waltzed in whenever they pleased. Well, Doflamingo came in whenever he pleased, Diamante was just up his ass. The ceo didn’t care or respect you or your time and it showed, but what could you do? You weren’t near big enough to go independent and with a company as big as DQE, you knew if you tried, they’d squander whatever success you had without even trying.

Corazon was busy zoning out, staring at the wall as he usually did during these meetings. You were messing around in your bag, looking for a pen. You heard the door open but didn't bother looking up until you felt your manager tense next to you. This makes you look up at him, then the door, before freezing alongside him - nerves clenched, bones go cold.

Coming in with Doflamingo and Diamante was none other than Kid and Killer. Of course it was the two people that you didn't want to see most - though, it was hard seeing any of them. You had been fortunate enough to not see them since your last encounter. Until today. Fuck.

You could feel Doflamingo's eyes on you, an amused smirk on his face. Does he know? Your eyes flickered to Corazon. Did he say something? No. He wouldn't do that. You trusted him and you didn't do that lightly. You didn't mean to brag, but you were a great judge of character…well aside from the four that fucked you over most, but other than that, you’ve had a perfect record. 

Your eyes go back to the group that just walked in. The universe just wanted to fuck with you, thats for sure. 

Kid's eyes landed on you and he immediately glared at you. He opened his mouth to say something but Killer put his hand on his shoulder and he grumbled, pouting. You knew he wanted to chew you out, continue the tiff from last time. He was a person who kept grudges. It seemed Killer still kept him in check too. That was like the blind leading the blind though. They’re both trouble makers.

At this moment, you were so glad you had your mask on. It added a layer of protection in a way that you couldn't explain and it was easier to recover and act like you weren't just shocked to your core. It was a lot easier to play the role of a serious band leader. You weren’t about to give away everything and let Doflamingo have the satisfaction of messing with you. Fucker.

You took a silent, deep breath, composing yourself. Corazon looked at you and you just nodded, reassuring him that you were fine. You'd be fine. Just stick to the role that you played, they were none the wiser. Everything was fine. 

The meeting was mostly the same as every single other pointless meaning that was held. You didn't know why you were here - it was just a waste of time. Doflamingo just yapping away and no one else really cared what was being said, except ass kisser Diamante who chimed in to just agree and inflate the man's ego. 

Your eyes wandered around the room, falling on the two from the other band. They looked a lot different than they used to. They looked more grown up, rugged. Tired. Seeing them like this in a more natural state, you were really able to take them all in. They looked the same yet so different. The years were rough on them, weren't they having the time of their lives? They ditched the rest of you, so surely they were just fine.

Your eyes stopped on Killer and you noticed he'd gained quite a bit of muscle. His hair was much longer and bigger. You wanted to put your hands in it. You caught yourself looking a little too long and cursed at yourself for doing so. You were slowly accepting you’d never fully be over him.

You turned your attention back to the piece of paper in front of you full of notes. Not necessarily from the meeting, just your own thing outside of all of this. It was notes about the tour, the next album, a to-do list, some doodles.

Your eyes wandered back to Killer. Fuck, you missed him. You missed everything about him. You missed coming home to him, his comforting words, the safeness he made you feel. He was your home for so long. Now that he was close, you just wanted him to take you into his arms again - to tell you it was all going to be okay. You wanted to be home again. Maybe he also still thought of the two of you? There was no way he completely just cut out every thought of you, right? All those years just tossed aside? There was no way, right? He walked out of your life and you couldn’t help but wonder sometimes - what the two of you would’ve been now.

These oceans were far between your hearts - the breathing has gotten too hard. It was slowly getting to you. You can’t fight it, you can’t breathe.

You felt a tug on your sleeve, pulling you out of your trance. You looked over at Corazon who gave you a raised eyebrow look. The universal sign of asking if you're good. You nodded, patting his arm. You would be fine. You weren't going to let them get completely to you. They already had a little bit, but you wouldn't let them make you break. One deep breath later and you felt a little better. Took a moment, but you were good now.

“Alright, that's all for today. Don’t forget, we start recording in the studio next week for the two groups.” Doflamingo said, clapping his hands together, pulling you out of your thoughts.

Kid immediately jumped up. “Thank fuck. I thought I was going to have to ram my head into a wall,” he said, stretching and popping his back. “No offense, Mr. CEO, I just don't like sitting cramped up in a room this long.” He chuckled, shaking his head and heading for the door.

Doflamingo didn't even pay him any attention, instead looking at Corazon. “I need to speak to you in my office for a moment, if you will.” He nodded at him before heading out the door. 

Your manager glances at you and you nod. You'd be fine. You planned on going to see Papas and Rek. They needed a third opinion on lighting. When you looked at lights and bright colors all day, it helped to have a fresh pair of eyes look at things to make sure it was fine. Corazon nods at you in response before heading out with his brother. 

You didn't realize until now how much you didn't need to verbally speak with your own manager to communicate with him. You two would basically talk the whole meeting without saying a word. Neither of you spoke the last couple hours yet quite a bit was said. You realized you did this often too. Always during meetings. You were always just exchanging looks.

You were quite thankful for that. 

You were putting your notebooks in your backpack. The noise in the room died down as everyone left. The door closed and you let out a deep breath you didn't know you'd been holding. All the tension left your body as you were able to relax a little bit. You closed your eyes, taking a moment to steady yourself and reground. Then you take a deep breath once more, turning around only to see Killer standing there. 

You jump, holding yourself back from yelping. Fuck, how long has he been there? Why the hell was just just standing there? Why didn't he say anything? Shit. Did he figure out who you were? Hold on, why didn’t you notice him? Dammit, were you still relaxed around him? You usually weren’t too aware of his presence because he didn’t pose a threat before, but you figured that would’ve changed. Maybe you were tired.

You just nod at him, planning on just leaving before realizing that he was blocking the door. Your only exit. Fuck. Tension started seeping back into your bones. Was this planned? What did he want? Your mind drifted back to the thought of him figuring it out.

The two of you stood there at opposite sides of the room just staring at each other. Neither of you said a word. You didn't know why. You couldn't bring yourself to say anything. Hell, what was there to say? He wasn’t saying anything else either. You couldn’t tell what he was thinking either. You used to, but not anymore. It hurt.

Eventually you were able to shake yourself out of your funk. 

“Can I help you?” You kind of already started the façade of someone who was kind of a dick, so might as well keep it. Your tone was sharp and crisp. You didn’t have time for this.

Killer didn't say anything, just stared at you. It made you squirm. A wave of unease passes over you. Something feels wrong. What was going on? Was this planed?

“Well, I'm going to he-”

“Take off your mask.” You froze, taken aback. Several blinks at him later, you found your voice.

“Huh?”

“Take off your mask.”

You take a step back as he takes a step forward. “Why would I do that? It's kind of my whole schtick.” 

He walked towards you and you kept backing away. He began to reach his hands out, clearly going to rip your mask off himself. You made a face, putting your hands up to defend yourself. “What are you-”

“Y/n, please.” His voice was soft and barely above a whisper and it broke you.

The stars aligned in that moment because without a beat you said, “who the hell is that?” Which startled him enough to let you maneuver around him and run out the door and to Corazon's office for safety.

NEXT

[analogwriting]

The Other Side of Paradise

Chapter 23: Wonderful Nothing

Killer x gn!reader word count: 2.9k taglist: @kattywhomper @tremendoushorsepatrolgoth @h0n3y-l3m0n05 @ttalgi @animesailor9 first|next

Time stood still. You stood still. All this talk of being able to face them became real in that moment and…you couldn't do it. It was too much. You thought plenty of time had passed but apparently not. Turns out a couple of years isn't enough time for decades of time. 

Everything came crashing down around you and the world started spinning. You began to feel nauseous. Gently, you reached out, gripping the back of Corazon's shirt as you tried grounding yourself. Their voices were starting to sound further and further away. 

You kind of heard Corazon say something and a door shut. He was probably making some excuse to leave the conversation so you could have a proper breakdown. You were shaking at this point, unable to breathe. You let out a small sob, knowing the door was closed and the voices stopped. 

You felt Corazon begin to move but you stopped him. “A moment,” you said softly, your voice cracking and barely audible. 

“Take your time,” he said, his voice also soft. 

You stood there, gripping onto his shirt, under his large coat, trying to keep yourself together. It was a battle you were quickly losing as the tears began to fall more and more. 

“I know you don't want me to see you like this, but I'm sure it's hard to breathe under your mask and my coat. 

He was right. It was getting hotter by the second, which wasn’t helping your lightheadedness. You let go of him and felt him move. He took the coat off of himself, but left it around you as he turned around. You didn't move a muscle, you didn't dare to as you were barely holding on yourself.

He reached to remove your mask, you letting him. As soon as he did and the cold air of reality hit you, you broke. Tears streaming down your face and you just ugly sobbed. He wrapped his arms around you and you buried your face in his torso, just hanging onto him. 

He didn't say anything, just held you. It was a parental comfort you also hadn’t felt in a long time and honestly it just made you cry harder. 

--

You weren't sure when, but Corazon had sent out an SOS text to your friends and all three of them burst into the office. No knocking or anything, just letting themselves in. 

Luckily, you were done with the ugly crying part; now dealing with a damp face and a migraine from your breakdown. You had apologized to Corazon a million times and he reassured you every time that it was okay. 

Hop immediately beelined as she took her mask off, taking your face in her hands and examining you. “What happened? Cora just mentioned you were crying and we rushed over.” A deep frown set on her face. She didn't like seeing you crying. None of you liked seeing one another cry in this fashion. Tears of joy were one thing. This? No thanks.

You paused, trying to think of how to tell them before ultimately deciding on ripping off the bandaid. “I saw them.”

The air in the office tensed and everyone froze. “What?” Hop’s voice was small, shocked. 

“I thought they weren't supposed to be back yet.” Bubblegum looked at your manager. 

Corazon shook his head. “I don’t have any idea. They’re not due back for another month or so.”

“What the hell could they be doing back? We had their schedule, this doesn’t make any sense,” Hop mumbled, looking at you one more time to make sure you were okay before letting you go.

“I really thought I'd be fine. But everything came rushing back and it just…shocked me, I guess.” Your voice was soft, tired. 

“Did you talk to him?” Dive looked at you, a small frown on her face.

You shook your head. “No. Corazon hid me in his coat before they saw me.”

Dive nodded, looking at the floor. “Good. Good.” None of you were ready for a reveal to them yet. Or in general. You enjoyed your anonymity. 

Growing up, Dive didn't really have present parents. They had always been gone doing lord knows what. When she met you and Killer, she had somewhat attached to the two of you like you were her parents. Even though she was only a year younger, she'd often joke she was your long lost daughter. 

You held out your hand towards her and she looked at you for a moment before she took it. You pulled her in for a hug and she clung to you tightly. “This fucking sucks,” she mumbled. 

“Yeah…” You took a deep breath. 

“I just wasn't expecting them quite yet. Just caught me off guard is all. I'll be fine. We will be fine.” You nodded, kissing her head before she pulled away. 

“Feeling better?” Corazon held out a cold water bottle to you. You thanked him, nearly downing the whole thing in one go. Crying really wore you out. 

You stood up, nodding. “Now I am.” You stretched, sniffling a little. “Minor setback but we got this, yeah?”

Everyone nodded and, next thing you knew, you were in a group hug. You looked over at Corazon just standing there and waved him in. “C’mon, you big lug.” He smiled widely, wasting no time in joining in. For a moment, what Law had mentioned about Corazon earlier flashed in your mind. There was so much you didn’t know. So much you needed to learn.

You pulled apart and grabbed your mask. “Alright. Let's head back. All this crying has made me so hungry.”

Everyone mumbled in agreement. It'd been a long day and you all had been working hard - as you did every day - so you were always starving by the end of the day. And crying did help today. 

Once everyone had their masks on and secured, you double checked to make sure everyone was ready. You didn't want to risk the boys seeing your faces. Now, you were more on edge about it since they were here. 

“Alright, let's fuckin’ go.”

You opened the door only to see the four of them standing there, Heat having his hand up for mid going for a knock. The four of you froze, the tension building again.

“Oh, well. That saved time.” Heat grinned. The shit eating grin you had been all too familiar with and your chest tightened.

The four of you were stone silent, not sure what to do. You felt Dive grip onto the back of your shirt. 

Corazon spoke up. “Boys. What are you still doing here?” He was back to serious businessman mode. He maneuvered himself to stand in between your group and theirs. Had they heard your conversation? How soundproof was this office? Was everything spoiled?

Though, by the looks on their faces they didn’t hear anything. Kid had never been one to have a solid poker face so you knew if they had heard anything, he would’ve said something.

“We saw three people burst through the lobby and run, so naturally we were nosey and had to know about it,” Kid said with a shrug. It was crazy how he was just nonchalant about everything. Without a thought or care of what he had done.

“Then we noticed the masks and realized it's the people we're supposed to be working with so we figured we'd introduce ourselves,” Wire said with a small incline of his head. “I hope we weren't interrupting.”

Corazon shook his head. “Not really. We were wrapping up. However, they are running late for an appointment so I know they dont have a lot of time to talk.”

Kid folded his arms and raised a brow. “That why you talking for them? What? Do these rookies think they're too good for us?” He snorted, rolling his eyes. 

“No-” Your manager started speaking, but you cut him off. You had a voice modifier so you weren't worried. Your cousin was a bit dense so you knew he couldn't catch on. Besides, it had been years anyway and he was known to throw massive parties so he probably doesn’t remember for shit either. The only worry here was Killer but he was quiet and stoic behind his own mask in the back of their little group.

“No. It's just our dynamic. If you really cared to know about us, you probably would've done prior research about us. Corazon usually takes care of the talking. TV interviews, radio shows, the likes.” You mirrored him, folding your arms. 

Kid narrowed his eyes at you, leaning in close. “And who the hell do you think you are talking to me like that?”

“I think I'm just someone who is here to help you check your ego.” He irritated you like a little brother would irritate their older sibling - just by existing. The addition of everything he’d done on top of that only irritated you more.

“EGO?” He bellowed, but you didn't even pay attention to him as you turned to your friends. “We're running late, let's go.”

“Absolutely not. Not until you kids learn how to resp-” Kid was inflating himself and you stuck a hand up to stop him. He probably thought he was older just because they had started their careers earlier. A lot of people forget that you didn’t have to debut as young as possible. You could start music at any age.

“I'm older than you, I don't want to hear it. I really don't have time right now. We don't have the luxury of a large team to take care of stuff for us, so if you don't mind, we'd like to get going.” You nodded at them, leading your friends out of there. 

“This isn't over!” Kid called. 

“I don't doubt it!” You called over your shoulder, the four of you beelining for the front doors. 

--

After running out the door, piling in your car, and driving off. The car ride was silent, no one speaking. Everyone was processing. They now got to experience what you did. Though, it was a whole other ballgame now that you spoke to them.

“You're right. It is completely different in practice,” Bubblegum finally said. 

Everyone nodded in agreement. “It's like it all happened just yesterday.” Hop ran a hand through her hair with a sigh. Had you started the ban for another reason than getting back at them, it probably wouldn’t have stung as much but since they are the whole reason your own group existed…it was harder to move on.

“And they're cheerful as if they didnt cut off their whole fucking friend group.” You could hear the anger in Bubblegum’s voice. 

“I don't know if I'd call an argument cheerful,” Hop said with a snort. 

“Well, they sure acted just fine.” He folded his arms, looking out the window.

Dive finally spoke up. “Their arguing kind of reminded me of then.” Her voice was softer than normal, not as crazy. “Back when we'd all hang out. You two would always end up arguing about something.”

Silence fell over the four of you again. 

“Only then it would end in laughter,” Dive’s voice wasn't very loud, but since it was silent, she might as well have yelled it. It stung your heart in that regard as well.

She was right. You and Kid bickered all the time back then, but you always made up and it was always fun. You two were never seriously mad at each other. Sure, you argued like any family did and grew annoyed at each other, but you were never genuinely angry at each other. You would always end up in a fit of laughter or at least some kind of truce.

“Why do you think they came back early?” Dive looked at you in the rearview mirror and you shook your head. “I don’t have any idea.” A small sigh escaped your lips. It was just your luck that something like this would happen. You thought you’d have more time to prepare - as if a couple years wasn’t enough. Your original plan was going just as you had planned it only this time you didn’t want it.

“All I know is that we can’t let them get to us, okay? We still have a lot of work to get done and not a lot of time to do it.” You just wanted to move on from this right now. It was too much to handle. You felt sick to your stomach. 

--

Later that evening, Corazon was at the penthouse. “Well, I found out why they’re here early.” He plopped on your couch like he owned the place. Which, he is the reason you had it so it was just as much his place as it was yours. 

“Why?” You were on the other couch across from him with Dive laying in your lap. Bubblegum was in the hammock and Hop in the recliner.

“Well, as you know, Diamante is the world’s largest idiot.” The four of you nodded. You had the displeasure of listening to his idiotic self almost every single day in those stupid meetings with Doflamingo.

“He wrote everything down wrong. Their international leg of the tour ended yesterday, which is why you saw them today.”

“What the hell kind of manager doesn’t know-” you cut yourself off, shaking your head. This was Diamante you were talking about, all he knew was how to kiss ass. You had no idea how he was able to be the manager for a band as big as theirs. With a dumbass like that running everything…

“I see. So…does that mean we’re going to go on tour sooner now? Are we in more of a time crunch than we already are?” The last thing you wanted was to work your friends even harder than they already were. You were already burnt out and knew everyone else was too.

Corazon shook his head, earning a collective sigh of relief from all of you. “To go along with Diamante being a dumbass and getting the dates wrong, now that I think about it, they do take this time every year. I don’t know what they do, but they usually take a couple weeks off. Probably to recharge and recuperate.”

That raised a flag in your head. They weren’t the type of people to take so much off like that to ‘recuperate’. They were all about going hard and nonstop. Though, you hadn’t seen them in so long so maybe they were different now.

You doubted it.

“So it’s still business as usual then?”

Corazon nodded. “Everything will still go according to the schedule, we just might run into them more. They take the weeks off of activities but sometimes they still hang around the building and bother people.” He rolled his eyes. It was clear they got on his nerves frequently, which didn’t surprise you. Seems like some things didn’t change.

That wasn’t too bad. It would help you lot adjust to having them around before you were trapped with them on tour for months.

“Well, as long as things weren't sped up, I'm all good with it.” You shrugged. There was nothing you could do about them lurking around. It just sucked becuase you knew you were going to be on edge more.

“It just means we'll be more on edge with the whole identity thing,” Bubblegum grumbled. 

“I was actually thinking, maybe we'll do a big reveal after the tour. Have, like, this huge successful tour. Then just admit to who we are. Rub it in their face a little.” You snorted, shaking your head. It would be funny to see the looks on their faces when they realized who you were.

“We can be the past that haunts them,” Hop mused. 

“Good to see you lot are in better spirits.” Corazon smiled, looking at each one of you. It didn't take a genius to figure out he had been concerned. 

“It took a minute for us to adjust, but I think we'll be fine,” you said, looking at your friends with a fond expression. The four of you worked so hard and you were gonna be damned if you were gonna let them fuck it all up. 

--

That night, you realized you hadn't told your friend group about who exactly you'd be touring with. You were trying to think of how to tell them but decided to just do it as blunt as possible. 

You felt yourself tearing up. You really did have the best friend group in the entire world. As long as they supported you, you could survive anything. To be honest, you did it for them. They had all worked so hard to help that you wanted to go above and beyond; show them that their time and effort paid off. 

You wiped your tears and took a deep breath. A new wave of determination coursed through you. You were going to give the best damn tour anyone had ever seen and rub it in the faces of those who hurt you most.

NEXT

[analogwriting]

hey so im not dead. im working on the next chapter now. hopefully putting it out tonight lmao. the last few weeks have been crazy. work, the packing, and i went to visit my family for the last time before i move. went to my sisters baby shower, finally saw my favorite band of all time (asking alexandria) that i put the lyrics to in all my fics lmao i still can't believe i saw them in the flesh (except benny but that's okay bc i understand love u boo) but yeah. hoping to lock in the next couple weeks and finish this fic up before the big move and then when i get settled down out at the new place, i can start a whole new fic ;) (this time it WON'T take a year to finish trustttt)

[analogwriting]

it may take me a month to put out a chapter but at least im not using ai to write it.

it may take me a month to put out a chapter but at least im not using ai to write it.

it may take me a month to put out a chapter but at least im not using ai to write it.

it may take me a month to put out a chapter but at least im not using ai to write it.

it may take me a month to put out a chapter but at least im not using ai to write it.

IT MAY TAKE ME A MONTH TO PUT OUT A CHAPTER BUT AT LEAST IM NOT USING AI TO WRITE IT

[analogwriting]

y'all i just looked at the hit count on ao3 for my law fic and it has almost as many hits as people in my hometown this is crazy.

[analogwriting]

The Other Side of Paradise

Chapter 22: Life Itself

Killer x gn!reader word count: 2.8k taglist: @kattywhomper @tremendoushorsepatrolgoth @h0n3y-l3m0n05 @ttalgi @animesailor9 first|next

The next day you're back at the company building in Corazon's office. He's got a concerned look on his face as he sits at his desk. He's watching you carefully. You know why he called you here. He's worried about you and everything that's been decided. He knew how you felt about the boys, so it made sense that he was worried.

“Are you sure?” You look at him as he spoke. Neither of you had said anything since you arrived. You had just been sitting there in silence for a while. It wasn’t uncomfortable or anything, which was nice. The silence was letting you really think and process, something you hadn’t really given yourself time to do.

You sigh, looking at your mask sitting and staring at you from the couch. You nodded. “I'm sure.” You'd done a lot of thinking last night even after your little episode on the balcony with Hop. “I think it'll be okay.”

You closed your eyes, leaning your head back. 

“I can talk to Doffy, maybe we can-”

You held up a hand to stop him. “No, it's fine, Cora. Really.” You looked at him and gave a small, albeit tired, smile. “It'll suck for a little bit, but I'm sure the payoff will be nice.” More fans, recognition, good numbers. It would be worth it.

You straightened yourself up in your chair. “At the end of the day, Doflamingo is right.” Your face turned into a grimace to admit that fucker was right about anything. “They have a large fanbase and there is overlap in our music and fans. It'll be easier to gain fans this way. Grow our fanbase, get people talking about us…”

“But you guys are also doing just fine on your own. You're already in the big leagues without having help like that. Sure, you collabed with Law, but for the most part it's mostly just been you guys, so I don't see why you need the help.”

You shrugged. “For what they did to us, I don't mind using them as a stepping stone to soar even beyond what they are. We will become number one. If we can make it this far, then I don't doubt our abilities.” You never really doubted it in the first place. You guys were the ones that helped Victoria Punk become who they were now, you just used the same things for yourself. After all, you went to school to be their manager. 

The thought stung.

Corazon looked at you for a long moment before nodding. “Okay. If that's what you want to do. I won't fight it. If there's anything you need, let me know. Cause I already know there's no changing your mind once you're determined about it.” He chuckled, leaning back and relaxing in his chair. 

Only for it to break and send him crashing to the ground. You immediately stood up. “Cora are you alright?!” You went around the table to see him just laying there, not trying to get up. 

“I'm fine. Just leave me. I think I'm just gonna lie here a while.” There was slight pain in his voice. You were sure with his age and the constant falling wasn’t good on his body.

“Are you sure?” 

“Yes, yes. Now, skedaddle. I'm sure you have a lot of work to do.” He waved you off. 

You snorted, putting up your hands. “Very well then.”

Then you donned your mask and headed out. 

--

There was still some time before the boys came back from the international leg of their tour. You still weren't happy to work with them, but you'd keep it strictly professional. You wouldn't do anything more. This revenge plot was left behind a long time ago. You were moving forward, the world just decided to test your patience. 

You had an entire laundry list of things you still needed to do. Part of it was also a bunch of nuance stuff that could wait until you were touring or after touring, but you needed to keep yourself busy and not think about your impending doom and struggle to keep yourself sane. 

While you were on tour with these guys, you knew you'd hardly get work done being constantly stressed, so you wanted to also get a lot of things out of the way and give yourself a good outline. You had a checklist and a timeline. You would make sure that you had everything planned out before you met with them again because you already knew it was going to be a lot of work to keep face. 

You were in the living room, all your papers, computers, soundboards, etc. scattered about the coffee table as you sat on the floor next to it. 

“You're gonna let us help, right?” You looked up, seeing your friends standing there, looking at you. You blinked, processing. You had been in the zone so it took you a minute to come back. 

“We want to be just as distracted as you. This is gonna be a lot for all of us, so you better share that workload cause we also don't want you dead.” Hop folded her arms, narrowing her eyes at you. 

You nodded, having already known how they’d be feeling too. You took that into account, of course. They were your friends and their well being and emotional state were important to you. “Well, I have several different groups of things. And I did have tasks for you guys.” You looked through the papers on your table. You knew they'd be in the same position. They'd want distractions too. You also knew it was too much for you to do alone. 

“We'll stick to working on the new music and ironing that out when we're on the tour. Keep ourselves busy and away from the boys.” You found what you were looking for, standing and giving them all one. 

“Your checklists.” You smiled at them as they all looked them over, placing your hands on your hips.

“Hop, I want you on friend duty. All our friends that are going to help us, you're in charge of the zoom calls, helping plan out the stage, outfits, lighting, arranging flights, and that shit.” She was up along with you when it came to being organized. She was your platonic soulmate, your other half. You two had the same brain so you knew you could trust her to take care of that part of things. “I’ll take the notes you get from them and give them to the techs at the company to let them know what we’re thinking.”

“Bubblegum, I want you to make some modifications to the masks if you can. Add a new function.” You watched as he read the paper, narrowing his eyes. Dive and Hop looked over his shoulder at the paper he was handed, curious as to what you added. They both nodded in agreement with your decisions. “You really think we'll need this?”

“With someone as slimy as Doflamingo, yes.” He nodded in agreement. You could see the gears turning in his head. “I'll get the new functions in, it shouldn't be a big deal. I'll wait to put on finishing touches after Hop gets the costume designs planned out with Quincy. I'll make completely new masks for these modifications. We're going to need a completely new layout. But it should be done before the tour begins. And we can keep wearing the old ones until then.” 

You nodded, smiling. “Perfect.” You shifted your focus. “Dive, I need you to run the social medias like you do. Only I was thinking we can do some promos and giveaways. Merch, signed stuff, cds, vinyls. Hell, old costumes and things too if you want, we probably won’t reuse them. Do lots of behind the scenes photos, lots of hints to something big coming. All that. You're the genius at it so I'll leave it to you.” 

Dive grinned widely, clasping her hands together. She loved doing social media. “I'll probably do some fun ARG thing to really make it interactive.” She nodded at her own idea. “I'll recruit some of our friends to help, oh this is gonna be fun!” She pulled out her phone, immediately texting her little group chat she had with her and the friends she ran everything with. 

“What are you gonna do?” Hop narrowed her eyes at you, not wanting you to put too much on your own plate. You snorted, shaking your head. 

“Don't worry. I really did make the workload pretty even. My job is to attend meetings with Cora, Doflamingo,” they all made a face, including you, “and Diamante to iron out details. And on my own downtime, I'll probably think about a theme and what to do with the next album. Nothing too crazy, just concepts and ideas, as I'll probably save the actual work for the tour so we can all have an excuse to always be busy and away from them.” 

They all nodded in agreement on that note. If you kept busy on the tour or at least had the excuse for it, you all didn't have to hang out with them as much. You could just disappear in between performances and hole up in your tour bus. You only had to actually work with them for one song and the plan was finishing all of that before the tour. 

The other thing that was nice about your friends was that you didn't have to oversee what they were doing. They were good with keeping you updated but you also had full faith in them. You didn't need to check in on them, you knew they'd get the jobs done and done well. You could focus on your own tasks without having to worry about their tasks as well. 

That settled everything. Everyone had their tasks and things to do. There was a slight time crunch, but you knew you could all do it. 

--

Everyone went straight to work. You hated the meetings with Doflamingo and Diamante. Both you and Corazon would just periodically share looks when the other two weren't paying attention. The two would always end up talking about how much better the boys’ group was and how massive they were compared to you and your band. 

Which, your numbers were nothing to scoff at. You wouldn't be sitting here if that were the case. You wanted to strangle Doflamingo every time he went off topic to just gas up their band. Honestly, you didn't give two shits. You just wanted these meetings to end and get shit taken care of. 

And Diamante always kissing Doflamingo's ass in a way that made you want to bash your head into a wall. Always agreeing, telling him every single thought he had was a fantastic idea and best he's ever heard. You wanted to throw up. You hated yes men, they annoyed the hell outta you.

Corazon was mentally checked out in most of the meetings - as were you. You understood why he acted the way he did in that first meeting. Doflamingo just talked to hear him talk most of the fucking time. It was insane how much he just talked about nothing. 

Occasionally, he'd say some dumbass, somewhat out of pocket shit and that's when you and your manager would just look at each other. Both of you were over it, but you had daily meetings with these fuckers. Didn’t they both have more important things to do? You surely did. It’d be different if these meetings held sustenance, but they didn’t.

You had to report what your group was up to as was Diamante. But honestly, you hardly listened to him. He was kind of just insufferable to listen to. You weren't sure what it was about him. You just wanted to shove a bunch of kleenexes down his throat and get him to stop talking. 

On top of the pointless meetings with Doflamingo, you also had to meet with several other people as well to iron out specifics. Basically, waste time with the CEO and his ass kisser, then figure out your own tour. Without Corazon to help with that part, you would've been lost. 

It was also odd to see Corazon in other situations and around other people. He was much less silly and more serious. He didn't seem to enjoy his job either and it made you wonder why he was here. He seemed to hate everyone the two of you encountered. Maybe you'd talk to Law about it. 

You couldn't help but text him on day while sitting in Corazon’s office waiting for him to get off the phone.

Hm. That raised a lot of questions, but you didn't feel like it was your place to ask Corazon about it. Plus, you didn’t want to put him in a sour mood.

You stared at the text Law had sent. Really? You thought he'd been wanting to sign a group for ages but Doflamingo didn't let him. Or he couldn't find the right one. But you were the first and only one he ever showed an interest in? Why? 

You looked at Corazon who was currently on the phone talking to the guy who was in charge of the tour buses. His eyebrows were knit and he looked insanely irritated. It kinda of made sense what Law was saying. He really didn’t like most people it seemed. At least around here.

He saw you looking at him; his face immediately softened and he flashed a smile as if reassuring you it was okay. You just smiled at him back and nodded before looking back down at your phone. You had so many questions. Why your group? What was going on? It made things seem a lot more sketchy. But not in a bad way about Corazon. You still completely trusted him. 

You thought about what Law said about Corazon being stuck. You were suddenly filled with a new determination. You weren't sure how you were going to do it, but you were going to get him out of this. You wanted to help him. He was such a good person inside and out - he didn't deserve to rot away at a company he hated just because his brother trapped him here. 

You had many questions and no answers. You also knew that if you'd ask questions, you'd probably not get any real answers. 

“You good, kiddo?” You looked up, seeing Corazon was off the phone now, looking like his normal self. The negative aura around him dissipated.

You nodded, grinning. “Perfectly fine. Just thinking about some next album stuff.” You felt slightly bad about lying and part of you had a feeling he knew you were, but he didn't question it. 

He snorted, shaking his head. “You just dropped one. Don't push yourself too hard to finish another one. You have ample time.” He stood up, straightening himself out. 

“Shall we head out? It's getting stuffy in here.” Another thing you noticed was that Corazon was hardly in his office. You could tell he hated being cooped up and now you wondered if it was just the whole building he hated being in. You also wondered what he used to do before you guys and what he did when he wasn't at your place killing time. You assumed bothering Law. 

You nodded, standing up and throwing your mask on. You were honestly over wearing it all the time constantly. It was different before when it was only on stage but now it was almost a constant. Now, it’s probably going to get worse. You were going to have to be hypervigilant and careful on tour with the boys. 

“I'm ready to get out of this damn building,” you mumbled. 

“You and me both, kid,” he mumbled right back as he opened the door to lead you out. 

You went to follow him only to run straight into him. You opened your mouth to say something when you suddenly felt his fluffy jacket encapsulate you. He was still wearing it but he put you under it too. You moved for a moment, wondering what kind of prank he was pulling when you heard him speak and you stopped. 

“What are you boys doing back? I thought you weren't due back for another month and a half.”

Then you heard a laugh. A laugh you knew well. It was as if you just heard it yesterday. Everything suddenly flooded back to the front and you wanted to cry. 

“You should know why we're back. Just take a look at the calendar.” 

The voice belonged to none other than your cousin, Eustass Kid.

[analogwriting]

I'm sorry but I have one draft that I never finished but I laugh every time I see it