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[strawwritesfic]

Vongola Guardians Taking Care of You Headcanons

Hey, guys! I'm sick again! So you know what that means...dopey headcanons about fictional guys taking care of you, their S/O, when you're sick!

I did it for the Avengers last time, so let's apply it to my current hyperfixation this time around.

Note that this is all regarding the adult versions of the cast, and we are not working with A) COVID (because it's too real) or B) The in-universe original TYL!Time Line (because I don't feel like dealing with the whole Millifiore situation).

Tsuna Sawada

Tsuna's got a lot of work to do, running the Vongola, but that doesn't mean he's going to ignore you when you're sick. In fact, you being sick is probably enough of a distraction that he's not going to get that work done anyway--and he's definitely not above using you getting sick as an excuse to get away from his responsibilities for a little while. If it's really something important, of course he'll do it. Otherwise, he's with you all the way. Unfortunately, Tsuna's kind of useless as a caregiver. His heart is in the right place, but he's not entirely sure what to do, and if he tries to do something, it typically winds up spilled all over you. What he can do is that neat trick with his sky flame on his finger on your forehead. When you can't sleep, that's your ticket to dreamland. Except that once he did that, and you slept for two straight days. Everyone was very worried. Reborn congratulated him on sending his S/O into a coma. When you did wake up, you felt much better, but he's reluctant to try it again. Good thing that his company is enough to make you feel a little better most of the time.

Hayato Gokudera

This is the guy that researches every single symptom you have. He's got medical textbooks. He's got WebMD's symptom checker. He's got...books on exorcisms? So not everything he's going to try is necessarily scientifically accurate. And he's not going to let you rest either, because he's got an enormous whiteboard covered in diagrams of all his research. He even wants to dictate the way you sleep, because he's figured out the only way to do it that will actually get you better! And if you don't let him try to get rid of the evil spirits inhabiting you at least once, you're probably going to wake up in the middle of the night surrounded by candles while he stands by the bed chanting. At least the minute Tsuna needs him, he's gone, so you'll get some peace and quiet.

But Gokudera does make some amazing okayu. It's the worst okayu you've ever tasted. At first, you might wonder if Bianchi's the one that made it. But even though it tastes incredibly awful, it does actually make you feel better. it almost makes him playing nurse worth it from time to time.

Ryohei Sasagawa

Ryohei has probably never had a sick day in his entire life. If he had a cold, he just EXTREMED it out of his system, and that's exactly what he expects you to do, too. You can't let the cold win! You have to get up! You have to get up before sunrise! You have to go for a ten-mile run before sunrise! You have to go for a ten-mile run while carrying cinderblocks in both hands before sunrise! Show your illness how EXTREME you are, and you will never be sick again a day in your life! He's not making you do all of this alone. Ryohei is right there with you, doing the exact same thing but with a lot more enthusiasm. It's exausting.

Thankfully, he's got Kyoko around. Once she realizes what's going on, she can rescue you. She knows how to take care of sick people, and she'll get you set up in a nice, dark room with whatever you need, and she and Haru will make sure that you eat healthy and get plenty of rest--because, let's face it, you're probably worse off now than you were before Ryohei got his hands on you. You will live, but it might be a good idea in the future to call in sick to your S/O next time you've got a tickle in your throat.

Lambo

This 15-year-old guy has literally no clue what to do with a sick S/O. Heck, he has literally no clue what to do with himself when he's sick. He's so covered in girls your age anyway, so what are the chances that he notices that you're slogging your way through your day? Well, he does. That doesn't mean he's going to do anything about it...until I-Pin notices as well and chastises him for being so heartless.

And the truth is, he cares about you, and he hates to see you sick. He's not great at doing much more than playing gopher...but, again, he's 15. What else is he supposed to do? So at least for the day he'll get you whatever you want. Chocolate ice cream? Done. Ramen from I-Pin place of work? Absolutely. He consumes half of it, too, and he moans a lot about how gross it is, but ultimately you'd probably be a lot more lonely recuperating by yourself than with him around.

Takeshi Yamamoto

Does Yamamoto even realize you're sick? That is the question. He's known you long enough to know when something's up, but he also trusts you. When you tell him no, you're fine, please just go get beaten up by an Italian man with a sword like he planned, he's not going to argue. Yamamoto knows that you're tough, and if you don't want his help, he's not going to force it on you. He respects you too much to baby you.

On the other hand, on his way home from sparring with Squalo, he's going to pick up a few things. First, he's going to go to the store, and he's going to grab a couple boxes of medicine that sound like they'll help what he thought you sounded like you had that morning. Then he's going to go by his dad's restaurant and pick up a ton of sushi. If you're still not feeling well when he gets home, then he's got you covered. But if you still want to pretend that you're fine, then he just keeps the medicine in his coat pocket for later. He's fine pretending that you're fine if that's what you want. At least there's good food for a quiet night in so you can rest.

Mukuro Rokudo

I mean, as long as he needs you for something, he'll probably care that your sick. Your organs are still in the right place. There's probably not a good way to illusion away your cold and flu symptoms. So if you're fine, he's probably got better things to be doing, like plotting how to finally possess Tsuna and start a war within the mafia!

Oh, what? Really? You want him to say? Well, then, maybe he can put off the whole bloody war within the mafia thing off for another day or two. After all, it's been ten years and he still hasn't got around to it! But hopefully you know that you're in for a lot of getting your own juice bottles, or at least having him torment you about getting your juice bottles until your fever breaks.

Kyoya Hibari

Hibari doesn't get sick, because being sick is weak. But now that he's older, he can appreciate that no one is as strong as he is, so even his S/O is going to get sick from time to time. He is not going to baby you for choosing to be so weak as to catch a cold, however. You probably won't be seeing much of Hibari while you're ill. He's got important business to attend to.

But without saying it, he does make it clear he cares. He'll adjust your pillow in the morning before he leaves. He'll make sure there's plenty of tea in the cupboard. He'll send Kusakabe to check on you regularly. And since you did decide to throw your lot in with Hibari, this radio silence isn't exactly unheard of or unwelcome. Just make sure none of your other friends are around for a visit if and when he decides to come look in on you himself.

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[strawwritesfic]

i still hate y’all bitches who say oc x canon shit is cringe like bitch you have ANY idea how flattered i would be if someone made an oc for my fantasy world? how utterly PSYCHED my ass would be they loved a character so much they fleshed out one themselves just 2 be with one of mine? fuck y’all haters

[strawwritesfic]

Kelvin!Spock x Female!Human!Reader: Mr. Right

Summary: When one door closes, another opens—perhaps the door you were meant to enter all along.

Warnings/Tags: Starship Enterprise; post-Star Trek Beyond; friends to lovers; breakup; almost kiss; counselor!reader; Star Trek: The Original Series references; Star Trek: The Next Generation references

Relationships: Spock/Reader; Spock & Nyota Uhura; past!Spock/Nyota Uhura; past!Kevin Riley/Reader

Challenge: “160 Collective Drabbles” challenge by BobaPop on Lunaescence Archives.

Requester: @lovemesomeescapism

Tag List: @imaginesfire

Notes: For once, this is not a repost for this challenge…technically. I did write a response to the prompt "Mr. Right" ages ago, but when I was reposting, I decided that the Now You See Me one shot I wrote really wasn't worth keeping. Someone on Tumblr asked me for a Spock one shot, so I slipped him in as a replacement.

It's been a really long time since I finished something new. I realize that I am rusty. This is actually several drafts into attempts to write this one shot. For the first time ever, I actually cannibalized previous drafts while trying to get the meandering dialogue and point back on track. It still doesn't feel quite "right" to me, but it's probably going to take some time before I get back in the swing of things, and I'm ready to let this one go.

Mr. Right

Throughout Terra's history, human beings had sought the comfort of white noise. Quiet droning sounds proved beneficial for many aspects of mental health in the species. As a counselor on board the U.S.S. Enterprise, you'd recommended listening to white noise to dozens of fellow crewmates and patients alike. The best way to do this in the deep space you'd all been exploring for nearly five years was to turn everything in one's quarters down until the low hum of the ship's warp drive became audible. Many of those crewmates and patients reported back to you with decreased stress levels, improved mood, and a distinct uptick in ability to concentrate. Almost all of them said they got better sleep.

Now you learned that every single one of them had lied to you.

You'd spent the better part of the evening-adjacent hours lying face-down on your sofa, trying and failing to take a nap. The scratchy, standard-issue pillow beneath your face was soaked with tears. Your chest ached. Worst of all, any attempt on your part to get your mind off what upset you just ended with you crying harder. All the while, that awful rumble went on and on and on and on relentlessly, allowing you no respite long enough to drift off and forget your current predicament.

A chime cut through your misery. You paused without so much as lifting your head. As of three hours prior, you were officially off duty for the day. Nothing required you to answer the door unless an order came down from a superior officer, and they would call first. Probably it was only Uhura coming by to check on you. Having been through her own breakup during this voyage, surely she would understand when you didn't let her inside.

The chime sounded again, and with it came a surge of possibilities flooding your mind. What if your visitor was dealing with a crisis? Cases of PTSD had been on the rise since the events on Altamid. You could hardly ignore that in favor of your own small, personal crisis. Off duty or not, your role as a ship's counselor would not allow you to wallow in self-pity when someone might need your help.

As your boots hit the floor, you pressed one sleeve of your rumpled blue uniform to the corner of each eye. The gesture wouldn't do much to disguise what you'd been doing over the course of your time off, but you felt a little steadier afterward. Breathing deeply in and out helped too—until you hiccuped. But you could prepare yourself no more. Squaring your shoulders, you stood, walked over to the door leading to the corridor, and opened it.

Just outside stood the familiar, lanky figure of the ship's science officer. The second you spotted him, you wiped your sleeve across your face with greater urgency.

"You're not one of my patients," you said, "or Uhura."

"A very astute observation, Lieutenant [L Name]," Spock replied.

A long moment elapsed during which the two of you stared at one another. Several fellow crewmates in various uniform colors threw curious looks at his back as they passed by on their ways to wherever they were headed. Your friend, meanwhile, allowed a single dark eyebrow to drift toward his hairline. He clearly had no intention of moving on.

"What are you doing here?" you sighed at last.

The wayward eyebrow rejoined its brother. "Lieutenant Commander Uhura informed me that you left your office this afternoon in distress. I note that her assessment was an accurate one. If anything, you appear to be in more distress now than she described to me then."

You couldn't lie to Spock, not when you looked the way you looked after a crying jag like the one you'd just had. So you didn't bother to try. "Fine. I'm in distress. But really, Spock, it's not the kind of distress you can help with. I'm sure Captain Kirk will need you on a landing party any minute now, so if you'll excuse me—"

"Lieutenant Commander Uhura also informed me of the cause of your distress."

"Of course she did." Sometimes you wished your two friends were a little lighter on the "amicable" part of "amicable exes." "Let me guess: You came by to tell me that you told me so."

"As a Vulcan, I have no reason to rub my correct prediction in your face, if you will forgive the Terra colloquial."

You let out a wet laugh despite yourself. "You're pardoned."

"What I have done is stopped by the mess hall. If I am not much mistaken, ice cream is a traditional consolation food in these types of situations."

He produced from behind his back a number of different colored tapes. So startled were you that you found yourself unable to say anything. Never in a million years would you have imagined Spock of all people standing in front of you and offering you junk food of all things. Your silence went on for so long that he had to prompt you to speak:

"Was I incorrect in my understanding of how to handle Terran breakups?"

"No," you said, then, "I just didn't want you to find out about the breakup until I could pull myself together."

"I surmised as much, given that Lieutenant Commander Uhura found out about your circumstances before I did, although you and I are closer friends. It would have been more logical for you to contact me for assistance than her."

Vulcans as a whole were difficult to read. Even factoring in your education and training, as well as your friendship with Spock that had gone on for several years now, you could only guess his feelings the majority of the time. Not so then. Something about his tone made him sound hurt. Maybe you could chalk that up to projecting your own feelings onto him, but you couldn't risk that assumption.

"It's just that you warned me against dating Kevin," you explained. "As ship's counselor, I should have seen the end coming a kiloparsec away."

"Perhaps. But one might also say that your extensive proximity to the crew's emotions might cause some loss in objectivity on your part."

"So you're not here to make me feel worse?"

"I came for consolation purposes. That is all."

"Well, all right, then."

You stepped away from the doorway. Spock followed you in. He paused only long enough to press the button to close the door before he came to join you in your sitting room. A crate sat on the floor along his path, and he looked at you questioningly as he walked by it.

"Those are Kevin's things," you said.

"Expedient," he observed.

Normally, you might have tried to go for a little more decorum around him, but that day you didn't have the energy to do more than flop back onto your couch. At least you were upright. Spock, on the other hand, claimed a dignified perch at the end of your chair. The two of you certainly made an odd pair.

"He had so many hair products!" you burst out when the awkward silence turned unbearable. "I should have known we wouldn't work out. Who brings that much hair spray into deep space?"

"Humanity can hardly be expected to iron out all its flaws when you all cling so hard to your baser emotions."

"Do you mean Kevin's desire to look nice, or my need to be in a relationship?"

Spock blinked, then smoothly said, "In this case, I refer to your former beau's preoccupation with personal grooming."

"Right. Either way, I'm about ready to get rid of all my own baser emotions. Not feeling them would be a blessing." You got back to your feet and thrust one hand in Spock's direction. "Ice cream tape, please."

He offered one to you.

"Spock," you said warningly.

"I do not believe that heartbreak is an excuse to overeat. I only brought so many because I was unsure which flavor you would select."

The glare you leveled at him seemed to make him think better of lecturing you on the dangers of gluttony—as well it should have. This was the same glare that you gave Dr. McCoy when you were tired of listening to him. Unlike with Dr. McCoy, you smiled once Spock dropped the rest of the tapes into your outstretched hand.

"Thank you." You headed for your in-quarters food producer, then turned your head to ask over your shoulder, "What flavor do you want?"

"I do not require ice cream."

"Come on, Spock. If you're going to spend the evening commiserating with me, you have to have some ice cream, too. That's a critical part of the Terran breakup process."

One corner of his mouth twitched. "I'll have pistachio, then."

You fed the yellow-green tape into the slot. A quiet beeping noise covered the hum of the warp drive as the computer worked. While you waited, you flipped through the remainder of the flavors until you found the one you wanted.

"I don't think it would be a good idea for you to give up emotions," Spock said.

"Huh?" Frowning at him, you replaced his tape with yours. "Aren't you the guy that's been talking about doing the Kolinahr when we get back to Earth?"

"That's different. I am a Vulcan."

"Half Vulcan."

"Vulcan enough."

A shriller beep put an end to this potentially sticky subject. The ice creams were ready. You dumped the rest of the tapes in a basket next to the food producer, picked up the bowls, and brought them back to the living room. Spock took his with a grateful nod, though he waited until you sat down again before taking a bite.

"Maybe I'd be a better counselor if I didn't have emotions," you mused. "If I wasn't blinded by my own feelings, I could help the crew more with theirs. I shouldn't have the same problems as they do after all the studying I've done."

"While that may indeed make sense, it is hardly realistic. Besides, if you did not have your human emotions, you would no longer be the [Name] that I know, and I believe that I would miss her."

You couldn't help but smile around the spoon in your mouth. Popping that out, you said, "I bet you say that to all the Terrans you like."

"Hardly. In fact, that captain may benefit from an hour or two without his usual emotions."

"I appreciate you saying that, Spock."

"I am only speaking the truth. I have no intention of bolstering your ego artificially, even if doing so is a part of the Terran breakup process."

"I know." You slowly lowered your spoon back to the bowl, staring off into space. Something was dawning on you—something that might have dawned on you sooner had you not been so enthralled with your own feelings. "You know what else I appreciate? You coming here to help me today. Not every first officer would go out of their way for a ship's counselor like that."

Spock fixed you with an unblinking gaze as he said, "You mean a great deal more to me than most ship's counselors mean to their first officers."

"I don't care what Captain Kirk says. You sure know how to make a woman blush."

"I have had some practice with the activity."

"Remind me to thank Uhura later."

"Thank her for what?" Spock asked.

Maybe you were reading the signs wrong. Maybe you were just desperate. If he had to ask, you had to be wrong. But you took a deep breath anyway, and said, "Helping me realize that maybe the guy I've been looking for this whole time has been my best friend all along."

How could it have taken you this long to work it out? No one else spent as much time with you as Spock did, not outside of your office hours. It didn't matter if you were in the mess hall asking for a round of Fizzbin after dinner or you wanted a quiet night in your quarters. He always seemed to be there. You felt comfortable around him. Maybe you didn't always understand Spock; maybe Spock didn't always understand. But you didn't enjoy anyone's company the way you did his. And you had to wonder when your eyes met just then if he felt the same way, and if this coming-to-see-you-with-ice-cream thing was his way of showing you that.

"Well," he moistened his lips before going on, "I certainly feel that our relationship is founded more steadily upon mutual interests and desires than it is upon a passion for hair products."

You leaned forward. "You know, that sort of relationship sounds really appealing right about now."

"It does?" Spock shifted closer to you.

"I think it's about time that I dated someone whose first thought in the morning isn't beating me to the sonic shower, don't you?"

By that time, you both had come so close that it wouldn't have taken much more movement on either of your parts to touch lips. Your heart gave a painful leap inside your chest. Was this too much too fast? Even if you had just realized you'd had a thing for Spock for a while now, you had only just broken up with your last boyfriend that morning. Treating Spock as a rebound was the last thing you wanted to do. He didn't seem to mind, though. His mouth drew closer and closer to yours until you could feel his breath on your face.

The communicator in your room chirped. You jumped. Spock paused before sitting back up in his chair. Then you rose wordlessly, stepped over to the panel, cleared your throat, and pushed the button.

"[L Name]," you said.

"[Name]?" Uhura did not remark on how breathless you sounded, thankfully. "I need to talk to Spock."

"It's for you," you said unnecessarily. Spock had already reset his face into its typical blank mask and made his way to the communicator himself.

"Spock here. What is it, Lieutenant Commander?"

"Captain Kirk needs you on the bridge. We have a situation up here."

"What kind of a situation?"

"There's a former United States President floating outside the ship. He says he needs our help."

"I will be there right away."

A second chirp signaled that communications between your room and the bridge had ceased. Spock turned back to you.

"My presence is needed on the bridge," he said.

"So I heard."

"I apologize. I believe we were in the middle of something."

"It's all right."

He didn't move.

"Spock, go. Don't you want to know why a deceased historical figure has asked for the Enterprise's help?"

"I'd prefer to stay here," Spock said. "But you are correct. I must leave. Will you still be here later tonight?"

"Yeah." You surprised yourself with the eagerness of your answer. "Yeah, I will. I promise I won't run off with any other lieutenants while you're away. I'll save the rest of the ice cream. We can share it when you get back."

There it was: The slight curl to Spock's mouth that told you that you weren't making up the mutual attraction between you both after all. "To use another Terran phrase, it's a date."

He hesitated another moment longer before he quickly exited your quarter. You grinned as the door slid shut behind him and the white noise returned full force. As you sunk into your couch and pillow this time, you found you didn't mind the hum as much. In fact, the sound did exactly what it was supposed to do: Relax you. Kevin and his excuses from that morning felt farther away than your own home planet. Maybe you owed him a thank you, too, because if you were still with him, you wouldn't have slept as well as you did that night knowing that Spock would be back soon.

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Future Arc AU where Yuni and Tsuna swap roles. TYL!Tsuna gets drugged, so the Vongola Rings are distributed through the Millifiore, and some of his Guardians become Black Spell. Aria gets shot after destroying the Mare Rings, and Yuni has to convince the past versions of the Giglio Nero to help her fix the time line.

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YOOOOOOOO I finally finished a one shot that's brand new and actually was on my to-do list!

Not sure when it'll be posted because it's still just in handwritten form so I gotta type it up, but I'm looking forward to posting something people might actually care about!

[strawwritesfic]

Ryohei Sasagawa x Female!Reader: Cootie Catcher [Ch. 4]

Summary: You liked it better in the old days, when boys had cooties and didn’t talk to you.

Challenge: “What to do, oh, What to do?” by crimsonxtearx5 on Lunaescence Archives.

Ratings/Warnings/Tags: T (Friends to lovers; idiots to lovers; childhood friends; happily blended family; embarrassing parents; civilian!reader; bookworm!reader; opposites attract; Namimori Middle School; TYB!KHR Cast; no honorifics; boxing club; tutoring; Seven Minutes in Heaven; birthday party; mild language)

Relationships: Ryohei Sasagawa/Reader; Original Character/Original Character; Kyoko Sasagawa & Reader; Ryohei Sasgawa & Kyoko Sasgawa; Tsuna Sawada & Hayato Gokudera & Takeshi Yamamoto; Hibari Kyoya & Reader; Hibrari Kyoya & Ryohei Sasagawa; Kyoko Sasagawa/Tsuna Sawada/Haru Miura

Tag List: @imaginesfire

Master List

Chapter 4: Should Have Made Up Sooner

Getting ready to take your high school entrance exams was hard work. Even for someone as dedicated to school as you, the studying took up a lot of your time. Several months lay between you and those tests, but you wanted to go in completely prepared—which was why giving yourself a rare evening to read a book you actually wanted to read meant a lot to you. You could curl up in a chair in the corner of your room and forget about the stresses of reality for just a little while.

“Honey?”

You turned a page in your novel without giving any indication you heard your mother rapping on the outside of your bedroom door. She’d been coming upstairs with excuses to check on you for the last hour or so. Why did she need your attention this badly? Katsuro had given her a cell phone so that she could constantly text you; now she wouldn’t give you any alone time when you were home either.

“Honey?”

Whatever she needed you for, she wasn’t about to give up and go away this time.

“What, Mom?” you asked with your eyes still glued to your page.

“Aren’t you going to answer that?”

“Answer what?”

“Your phone.” She pointed at the device sitting at the little table next to you. “That’s the fifth time it’s gone off since you came home from school.”

“It’s not ringing right now.”

“But it was about ten seconds ago.”

Could she not tell you didn’t want to talk about it? Of course not. Even the person calling you incessantly couldn’t take the hint, so why should you expect your mother to? You did not attempt to continue the conversation. She didn’t get that either. When you remind tight-lipped, she crossed the room to kneel next to your chair.

“That nice Sasagawa boy has been leaving you messages, hasn’t he? Don’t you think the polite thing to do would be to call him back?”

“I’m not going to call him back,” you said flatly., and turned another page in your book as loudly as you could. “If he needs to talk to me that badly, he can talk to me at school.”

Or Ryohei could talk to you at school, if he could find you. He hadn’t managed to do so yet. Hibari had given you permission to skip tutoring for the week, which left you free to leave the school grounds as soon as class was over. Throw in eating lunch in a different place every day, and Ryohei shouldn’t ever have a chance to discuss the Seven Minutes in Heaven incident with you before you left Namimori Middle forever.

“When you have a crush on someone, you aren’t supposed to avoid them. Not all the time, anyway. And I really don’t think he’s the kind of boy that wants someone who plays hard to get,” your mom put in.

“Mom, I am not playing hard to get. Okay? And I don’t have a crush on Ryohei.”

“Didn’t you say you get butterflies in your stomach when you seem?”

“Well—”

“And that your face gets all hot when you say something dumb around him?”

“I mean—”

“And that you get annoyed when you see him spending time with his sister’s best friend?”

This was what you got for opening up to your mother. Ask her to take you to the doctor for all these crazy symptoms, and what did you get instead? Constantly heckling about the wonders of puberty. She’d even refused to let you stay home from school for those first few days after Ryohei’s party. Maybe if she had, you wouldn’t be forced into such drastic measures to keep Ryohei away from you!

“I’m just coming down with something,” you mumbled for what felt like the fiftieth time.

Your mother reached up to hover the back of her hand against your forehead. “You don’t feel warm to me.”

“Well, then I must be starting to get over it.”

“Then I think you’re healthy enough to call the boy. He’s your best friend, [Name].”

“I know.” You couldn’t help sounding so miserable. Did she think you enjoyed eating lunch all alone every day? “But I don’t know what to do.”

“It’s okay to have a crush on him, you know. It’s perfectly normal for girls your age. And mine! All those things you feel? I feel them when I look at Katsuro. And I’m normal, right?”

“Debatable.”

“Hey! He’s my best friend, just like the Sasagawa boy is yours.”

“Mom, you’re only making me feel worse. I don’t want to like Ryohei like that.”

“Why not?”

You chewed on your lower lip in lieu of answering.

“Before all this started, you two were inseparable,” she went on. “I hardly saw you around the house without him attached to your hip.”

“I don’t want that to change! I mean, he’s the only person at school that talks to me, other than Hibari.”

“And you’re repaying his kindness by refusing to talk to him?”

“I…” You swallowed roughly. For once, your mother was completely right—not just about how you felt about Ryohei, but how badly you were treating him. Your throat felt tight with tears as you said, “I just hoped it would go away.”

“Your crush?”

You took a deep breath, placed your book on the nearby table, and curled into yourself on your chair. “Yes.”

“It might, Sweetheart. But do you want him to have found another best friend in the meantime?”

“No,” you moaned.”

“Then I really think you should call him back, or at least pick up next time he calls you. I get the sense he really misses you, and for what? A silly game of Seven Minutes in Heaven?”

“You’re right. Thanks for the advice, Mom.”

“Anytime.” She stood to walk out of your room, but paused before she exited entirely. “I’m going to go make dinner. If you need anything else, you know where to find me. Don’t spend all day reading. Okay? At least try to talk to your friend.”

“I will. I promise.”

“Good.”

With one last meaningful glance at your cell phone, she left you alone. You looked at it yourself. A blinking light indicated you had another voicemail. No points for guessing who had left it. And while, yes, you’d just given your word that you’d quit ignoring him, you didn’t feel ready yet to discuss the Seven Minutes in Heavens debacle—especially not with Ryohei himself. What would you say? How could you convince him hurt feelings weren’t the cause of your sudden disappearance? Obviously, you couldn’t tell him the truth.

“Ten more minutes,” you told yourself. You’d nearly finished chapter five anyway, and focus would come easier when you didn’t have outstanding words to read. One chapter was surely better than the entire book in terms of procrastination.

Picking your book back up, you settled back against the chair cushion just in time for your phone to start buzzing once more. The sudden flood of nerves felt like a punch to your stomach. No! You weren’t ready! But you had promised.

“Hello?” you said after accepting the call.

“[Name],” the voice on the other end roared. You winced as you wrenched the phone away from your ear. “Finally!”

“Hi, Ryohei. Listen, I—”

“Can you open the door? It’s sweltering out here!”

“Can I—where are you?” You twisted in your seat to push back the curtain hanging across your bedroom window.

“Outside your house, of course!” he said, just as you spotted a head covered in short, silver hair below.

“What? No!”

Despite your protests, you were already up and dashing for the front door. Ryohei, however, did not know this. He rambled on, “Well, you wouldn’t talk to me at school, and I can never find you after school, so I—”

You yanked the door open and interrupted him mid-sentence. The two of you stared at one another until you took your phone away from your face and ended the call.

“Hi,” you said awkwardly.

“Hey,” he said, just as awkwardly. “I’ve been trying to get ahold of you for ages.”

“Yeah. Sorry about that.”

You both stared again. Heat crept up the back of your neck. Your lips twitched. Those awful stomach butterflies returned with a vengeance. Could this really be as normal as a teenage crush? The mere sight of Ryohei hadn't ever made you feel like you wanted to run and hide under your bed before, and standing there at your doorstep, you would have traded just about anything to not feel that way again.

“Do you want to come in?” you asked at last.

“Only if you want me to.”

“Why wouldn’t I want you to come in?”

“Because I didn’t kiss you!”

Your mouth fell open. Sure, you’d heard Gokudera tell Ryohei the truth behind Seven Minutes in Heaven, listened to the voicemails begging you for a call back, and endured Kyoko’s suggestions you could just talk to her brother for a minute to straighten things out, but never in a million years had you considered that Ryohei actually believed you’d stopped talking to him because he hadn’t kissed you.

Ryohei must have taken your shock as space for further explanation, so hurried on, “Octopus Head told me everything about the game we played at my party after you felt. I’m extremely sorry that I didn’t kiss you, but I didn’t know that was the point!”

No matter how many times you opened and closed your mouth, no sound came out.

“[Name]? Are you extremely mad at me?”

“I—” Success! A single word! Now to string a few more onto it before Ryohei had any crazier ideas. “No! I’m not mad at you at all.”

“You’re not? Are you sure?”

“Positive!”

“Then why have you been avoiding me?” he demanded.

You took a deep breath and prepared yourself to lie your butt off. You hadn’t felt very well the last couple of weeks; please just go home; maybe you’d talk to him this weekend. But Ryohei looked so upset that your fibs died on your lips. How could even look him in the eye when you were going to treat him like that?

So you didn’t. You moved your eyes to your feet and told him the truth: “I was just embarrassed doing that in front of your friends. I’m really glad you didn’t kiss me.”

“You are?”

You nodded. “I’m just not used to playing games like that.”

“So you forgive me?”

“There’s nothing to forgive.” Finally, you worked up the nerve to face him again. “I’m sorry I’ve been such a jerk.”

“It’s no problem! Kyoko says sometimes people can do weird stuff when they experience an extreme shift in their homelife.”

Well, Katsuro wasn’t what you’d call an extreme shift in your homelife. He’d been a fixture there for quite some time before he and your mother tied the knot. But you had no intention of weaseling out of the excuse Ryohei had offered you. You wanted your best friend back at school. At least he had other friends to spend time with when you were giving him the cold shoulder.

“Thanks, Ryohei.” You smiled. “And next time you have a party, maybe we can play something else?”

Ryohei did something strange when you said that: He frowned. Before you could ask him why, though, he hitched his usual grin back in place.

“If it makes [Name] extremely uncomfortable, we’ll never play Seven Minutes in Heaven again.”

“Good.”

Perhaps his disappointment had just been in your imagination. Why would Ryohei be disappointed about not getting shoved into a dark closet with you again? You doubted he had much actual interest in kissing. An underclassman had tried to him a lunch just a few months ago, and he’d only promised to remember to bring his own lunch from then on so no one felt obligated to sacrifice their own meal for him.

“You want to come inside?” you asked. “We have Yakult.”

“Yes, please!”

You stood aside to let him in. Ryohei stopped in the entryway to take off his shoes, and you marched into the kitchen, pulled out the Yakult and some coconut water, and got busy mixing the drinks.

“Two glasses?” Your mother asked as she wandered into the kitchen. You could tell by her smile that she already knew, but you answered anyway:

“Ryohei’s over.”

“Oh, that’s wonderful! Did you two make up?”

“Sort of. We weren’t really fighting.”

“Oh, I get it.” She winked at you. “Don’t worry. Your secret’s safe with me.”

“What secret?” asked Ryohei. Of course. Now he showed up, just in time to overhear that.

“Hi, Ryohei,” your mother said.

“Hello, Mrs. [L Name]! How are you doing to the extreme?”

“I’m fine. Just lonely lately, what with [Name] off at school so often and Katsuro working long hours.”

You waggled a finger at her over your stirring. “Quit trying to make him feel bad. Grandma visits almost every day. And you know Ryohei isn’t the one keeping me at school so long. I already told you that’s Hibari.”

Your mom did not reply to this. For several blissful seconds, you thought she might wander off to go do her own thing. But you could not be so lucky. The next words out of her mouth were:

“So Ryohei, are you and [Name] dating yet?”

“Oh, my God!” you shouted before Ryohei had an opportunity to comprehend the question. Thankfully, your apparent distress got his attention at once.

“What happened? What's the matter?" he asked.

You grabbed his wrist. “I just remembered.”

“Remembered what?”

“I left my umbrella at school today. It might rain tomorrow. We need to go get it!”

“But your mother just—”

“Right now!”

Without waiting for her to say anything else to keep either of you there, you dragged Ryohei by his arm out of the kitchen and toward the front door. The Yakult would have to wait for a safer time. At least for now you had your best friend back…so long as your mother’s big mouth didn’t put an end to that once more.

[strawwritesfic]

Happy birthday to the movie that fundamentally changed my brain chemistry

[strawwritesfic]

Ryohei Sasagawa x Female!Reader: Cootie Catcher [Ch. 3]

Summary: You liked it better in the old days, when boys had cooties and didn’t talk to you.

Challenge: “What to do, oh, What to do?” by crimsonxtearx5 on Lunaescence Archives.

Ratings/Warnings/Tags: T (Friends to lovers; idiots to lovers; childhood friends; happily blended family; embarrassing parents; civilian!reader; bookworm!reader; opposites attract; Namimori Middle School; TYB!KHR Cast; no honorifics; boxing club; tutoring; Seven Minutes in Heaven; birthday party; mild language)

Relationships: Ryohei Sasagawa/Reader; Original Character/Original Character; Kyoko Sasagawa & Reader; Ryohei Sasgawa & Kyoko Sasgawa; Tsuna Sawada & Hayato Gokudera & Takeshi Yamamoto; Hibari Kyoya & Reader; Hibrari Kyoya & Ryohei Sasagawa; Kyoko Sasagawa/Tsuna Sawada/Haru Miura

Tag List: @imaginesfire

Master List

Chapter 3: Should Have Lost the Invitation

As you walked up the familiar path that led to the Sasagawa house, butterflies nipped your insides. They did not seem to care how many times you’d been to visit Ryohei over the course of your lifetime. Merely pressing the doorbell sent them into such a frenzy that you nearly turned around and sprinted away. You planted your feet in an effort to resist the temptation. Did you really want to ruin Ryohei’s birthday party over something like random nausea? Thankfully, you were able to fix a smile on your face before anyone came to let you inside.

“[Name]! You made it!” said the person that did, a younger girl with honey-colored hair, matching eyes, and a smile as bright as her older brother’s.

“Hi, Kyoko,” you said as she stepped aside to let you cross the threshold. “How are you?”

“I’m fantastic! And Big Brother will be so glad that you came.”

She waited until you had taken your shoes off, then gestured for you to follow her down the hallway. You did.

“Did he really think I’d miss his party?”

“He just said you’ve been extremely busy lately. Something about Hibari roping you into after-school tutoring? I think Tsuna said the same thing.”

“Well, yeah, but I wouldn’t prioritize Hibari over Ryohei.”

Kyoko peeked over her shoulder at you, then smiled at you in such a way that suggested she knew exactly what you were thinking about. You hoped she didn’t. “Big Brother knows that.”

The butterflies bit harder. In the hopes of hiding your reaction to this, you pulled the gift bag you’d brought along high enough to hide your burning cheeks behind the tissue paper. Thankfully, you were spared thinking of a natural segue to this statement by the sound of loud conversation coming from a nearby room. This startled you enough to get you to lower your shield. In previous years, Ryohei’s parties had included you, his sister, and his parents, but you heard a lot more voices than that in the roar.

“Big Brother! [Name] is here!” Kyoko called.

You caught only a quick glimpse of the Sasagawas’ living room and the many underclassmen inside it before your vision got blocked by a very large, very bright grin.

“[Name]! You made it!”

You would have recognized that delighted roar anywhere, but you were given no time to respond to it. Ryohei’s well-defined arms (what were you thinking?!) wrapped around you, squeezed, and lifted you into the air.

“Ry-Ryohei!” you stuttered.

Yes, stuttered. First the nerves, now this? Something had to be seriously wrong with you. Or maybe, you mused with your face smashed into your friend’s chest, something was wrong with him. Yes. That had to be it. All the weird things you’d been feeling lately were Ryohei’s fault. And continuing to let him hug you like this would only make things worse.

“Can you put me back on the ground, please?” you asked in a muffled voice.

“Oh!” You found yourself back on your own two feet in a flash. “Sorry.

“It’s fine. Happy birthday, Ryohei.”

Your second attempt to hide behind your slightly-crushed bag did not succeed as well as your first. Ryohei took it from you with a loud “Thanks,” then dropped it into a nearby pile of similarly-festive boxes and gift bags. Now you were even more exposed in front of a group of people you didn’t know—well, mostly.

“Hey, senpai! I didn’t know you and Ryohei were friends,” said the tallest of the bunch. Of course. Even your tutoring students had to see you in such an embarrassing embrace.

And it didn’t end there. Ryohei threw one arm around your shoulder, and used his other to give you a noogie. Since you couldn’t wiggle out of his grasp without looking even dumber than you already did, you had to grin and bear it as he said, “[Name] is my best friend to the extreme!”

“Hello, Yamamoto,” you said. “Did you finish your homework?”

“Sure thing! I’m doing much better now. I just have to remember to pay attention!”

“[Name]’s extremely good at classwork!” Ryohei put in.

“I can tell!”

“Sawada!” Ryohei barked at a second familiar boy. “This is [F Name] [L Name]!”

“I know.” Somehow, Sawada looked about as uncomfortable as you felt. “She tutors me, too.”

“And you’re doing your homework as well, Sawada?” you asked weakly.

The question only seemed to make the boy more miserable. “Reborn would literally kill me if I didn’t.”

Who? “Okay. Good.”

“Haru is here, too!” The dark-haired girl sitting next to Tsuna waved at you. At least you knew her from somewhere other than Hibari’s required tutoring sessions. But why had all of Kyoko’s friends turned up for Ryohei’s birthday party?

“So we all know each other!” Ryohei shouted.

“I’ve never been to after-school tutoring in my life,” snapped the last boy in the room, this one with long silver hair. This was true, but you thought you knew him by reputation.

Ryohei finally stopped clamping you to his side so that he could brush away the other boy’s concern. “Yeah, well, you heard her name.”

“And that’s supposed to count as an introduction?”

"If it matters that much to you, introduce yourself!”

“I never said it mattered to me.”

“Fine. [Name]. this idiot is Hayato Gokudera. You can just call him Octopus Head.”

“Hey!”

“Pleased to meet you, Gokudera," you said.

“Whatever.” Gokudera didn’t spare you another glance. Glaring at Ryohei, he downed another mouthful of soda. “This is a pretty shitty party, Turf Top. What do you expect us to do? Talk to each other?”

“Haru and I made cake,” Kyoko offered.

This did not appear to impress Gokudera in the slightest. “Cake. Wow. Since there’s no sushi, I can only call this the second shittiest party I’ve been to.”

“Oh, Haru loved the party at Takesushi!” said Haru.

“No one asked you!”

As the two of them quarreled (which must have been a common occurrence, because no one else paid the argument much attention), you watched Ryohei. His expression grew darker and darker and darker—until he punched the air with a triumphant whoop.

“I’ve got it! We’ll play some extreme party games!” he said.

Gokudera and Haru fell silent. Neither they nor anyone else spoke until the first said impatiently:

“Games like what?”

That stopped Ryohei’s enthusiasm cold.

“Oh! Oh! Haru knows!” Once she had everyone’s attention, she blushed, looked down, and pressed her fingers into her pink cheeks, “We should all play Seven Minute in Heaven.”

Again, Gokudera broke the stunned silence: “That’s stupid!”

Haru slapped her hands onto her legs and glowered at him. “It is not!”

“And just who are we all supposed to get in a closet with? I’m sure as hell not getting in a closet with you!”

“Haru didn’t want to get in a closet with you anyway!”

“You only came up with this batshit idea because you want an excuse to kiss the Tenth!”

“Well, so do you!”

“Hold it!” Ryohei stepped between them before they could come to blows. He looked back and forth between them, then said: “What’s Seven Minutes in Heaven?”

“Tell me you’re not that stupid,” Gokudera said.

Stupidity had nothing to do with it, at least on Ryohei’s part. You, on the other hand, felt stupid standing there mutely. Surely you could do something to salvage this situation! But your voice had left you. Seven Minutes in Heaven wasn’t a game you played at the parties you went to, which were, obviously, the same parties Ryohei attended. The thought of being shoved in a closet with any of those present sent a cold sweat across your skin. The thought of being shoved in a closet with him made you feel even worse.

“Well, Big Brother,” Kyoko spoke up when no one else did, “each person pairs up with someone else, and then they get in a closet for seven minutes so they can—”

“It’s an adventure in a closet?” Ryohei asked.

“Sort of, but—”

“Let’s do it!”

“Are you kidding me?” said Gokudera.

“Sounds fun!” Yamamoto said.

“Let’s not! Let’s definitely not!” Sawada said.

But it was too late. When Ryohei’s eyes started flaming like that, you knew you couldn’t talk him out of whatever he’d got it in his head to do. He didn’t acknowledge Sawada or Gokudera’s protests. “Who goes first?”

“I think you should go first,” Yamamoto said. “It’s your party, after all.”

“Sounds fair!”

Ryohei threw himself in the direction of the nearby door. His bandaged fingers wrapped around the knob, but he didn’t get to open the closet before Gokudera said:

“Did you forget something, Turf Top? How about the person you’re taking with you on your ‘closet adventure’?” he added when Ryohei only stared at him blankly.

“Oh! Right! [Name], let’s go!”

“Wh-what? Me?”

“Yes, you!”

“But—what about—” Though you looked wildly around the room, you found no one else suitable for shoving into a closet with Ryohei in your place. Kyoko was related to him for goodness’ sake, and almost every other guest was male. That left Haru, who you could already see giving furtive glances in Sawada’s direction even as he eagerly eyed Kyoko. Defeated, you sighed. “Okay.”

He wrenched the door open to reveal the closet’s dark interior. “Come on! We’re wasting time!”

You kept your eyes on your feet as you hurried inside. Ryohei threw himself in after you. Just as he pulled the door shut you heard Gokudera’s mocking voice call out:

“Have fun!”

And then everything went black. On the bright side, this meant Ryohei wouldn’t be able to see your face, which was surely blazing by then. You blinked as you waited for your pupils to dilate. Only by grasping blindly in front of you did you find a space on the wall not taken up by dusty boxes and the Sasagawas’ winter coats.

“Isn’t this extremely fun?”

You jumped at feeling Ryohei’s whispered voice on the back of your neck.

“Sorry,” he said, and this time he sounded like he meant it.

“That’s—That’s all right. I just didn’t see you.”

“That’s the point, I think. We’re supposed to have extreme spelunking adventure!” He pushed past you to the very back of the closet. “I don’t know how we’re supposed to explore such an extremely small space for seven minutes, though.”

At least he wasn’t trying to kiss you. Nothing more embarrassing could have occurred. You pushed a few articles of clothing aside and joined him. In the very small amount of light creeping in from the crack beneath the door, you could see nothing but a white-painted wall.

“Maybe we’ll find a lamppost?” you suggested.

“What? Why would there be a lamppost in my closet?”

“Never mind.”

“Oh.” He dropped the sleeve of the coat he’d been holding and looked away from you. “Right.”

You frowned at this uncharacteristic behavior. “Ryohei? What’s the matter?”

For a moment, Ryohei didn’t speak. He rubbed the back of his head and purposely avoided your eyes. Then he said, “Name, do you think I’m stupid?”

“What?”

Of all the things you might have guessed would come out of his mouth, that question came entirely out of left field. You opened your own to assure him that you didn’t think anything of the kind—but at that very moment, the door opened. So startled were you that you leaped away from Ryohei before the light from the sitting room had the chance to reach your socks.

“Times up!” Yamamoto said as he peered inside. “Did you guys have fun?”

“Extremely!”

Ryohei strode confidently out of the confines of the closet. You, however, crept after him while trying to make yourself look as small as possible. Maybe no one would ask anything else if they forgot you were there. But you had no such luck.

“What did you get up to in there?” Gokudera asked sarcastically.

“We looked for lampposts! We didn’t find any, though.”

“Why would you be looking for lampposts?” Haru wanted to know. “That’s not how you play Seven Minutes in Heaven. You’re supposed to—”

“I have to go.”

The words tumbled from your lips. They had to, or you would never have had the courage to say them. But you knew for a fact you didn’t have the courage to stay where you were while the rest of Ryohei’s friends explained the concept of Seven Minutes in Heaven to your him. You made a break for the hallway as soon as you'd said it, but not quickly enough to keep from seeing him look at you with obvious dismay.

“What? You’re leaving already?”

“We haven’t even had cake yet,” said Kyoko.

“I know. I’m sorry. I just—I promised my mom I wouldn’t stay too long,” you said. They knew you were lying. How could they not? It was the most obvious lie in the world. “I’m sorry,” you said again.

“[Name]? Are you okay?” Ryohei asked.

“Fine!” You answered shrilly. “But I really, really have to go. Happy birthday, Ryohei!”

You turned and ran from the room, shoved your shoes on your feet, and opened the front door. Just as you stepped outside, you heard one last exchange between Ryohei and Gokudera:

“She looked extremely upset!”

“Moron. You were supposed to kiss her.”

[strawwritesfic]

Ryohei Sasagawa x Female!Reader: Cootie Catcher [Ch. 2]

Summary: You liked it better in the old days, when boys had cooties and didn’t talk to you.

Challenge: “What to do, oh, What to do?” by crimsonxtearx5 on Lunaescence Archives.

Ratings/Warnings/Tags: T (Friends to lovers; idiots to lovers; childhood friends; happily blended family; embarrassing parents; civilian!reader; bookworm!reader; opposites attract; Namimori Middle School; TYB!KHR Cast; no honorifics; boxing club; tutoring)

Relationships: Ryohei Sasagawa/Reader; Original Character/Original Character; Kyoko Sasagawa & Reader; Ryohei Sasgawa & Kyoko Sasgawa; Tsuna Sawada & Hayato Gokudera & Takeshi Yamamoto; Hibari Kyoya & Reader; Hibrari Kyoya & Ryohei Sasagawa

Tag List: @imaginesfire

Master List

Chapter 2: Should Have Worn a Cuter Bra

Today had not been a good day. It wasn't even a mediocre day. No, this was full-on [Name] and the Horrible, No Good, Very bad Day territory. With such an auspicious start as waking to the sudden realization that your mother hadn't made it to her doctor's appointment time should have clued you in. You'd spent twenty minutes convincing her to get out of bed, followed by fifteen minutes prying her out of your stepfather's arms. That left you with exactly five minutes to make sure she'd actually left the house and get to school. Shortly after arriving at Namimori Middle School entirely out of breath, your teacher asked for a history paper still sitting on your desk at home. And on top of all of that, tutorials that afternoon turned out to be a special kind of torture. The underclassman you'd been assigned to help in math didn't really seem to need much help once you'd actually sat down—and yet you still had to sit there and watch him go through his worksheet until he finished up.

"Thanks, Senpai! See you tomorrow!” Takeshi Yamamoto waved before he sprinted for the stairs.

“Do your homework!” you shouted after him.

He had his back to you, but he waved again to show he had heard. With a shake of your head, you gathered up the leftover pencils, crammed them into your schoolbag, and stood up. Why, exactly, had he bothered to show up to this tutorial session? Yamamoto's head was so filled with baseball and some mafia game that he'd hardly been able to sit still during your review of logarithms.

Maybe why you'd agreed to spend your afternoons helping struggling second-years was a better question. You pondered it as you made your way down the hall. A perfect grade point average meant you were good at school, sure, but hardly fit to teach your fellow students. But the reason behind your walking out of the school building two hours after classes had finished was an obvious one: Kyoya Hibari. Just the suggestion of you tutoring coming out of his mouth had had you failing to comply, lest you find yourself on the wrong end of his tonfa. Then again, just why he cared where two specific second-years flunked out, you had no idea.

Such thoughts carried you to the school gate. Your mental complaints so preoccupied you that you didn't think much about the fluffy, gray sky hovering overhead. You just wanted to go home, change into something more comfortable than your uniform, and study in peace for the rest of the evening.

And then you realized the rhythmic popping noise on the pavement was not, in fact, coming for your shoes. Raindrops the size of bullets were falling to the ground at breakneck speed. Had you checked the weather before racing to school that morning? Bothered to grab an umbrella just in case? Done the very simple task of grabbing one of your school-issued navy sweaters as you exited the house?

After pressing your lips together as hard as you could for several seconds, you finally lifted your head to the sky and shouted, "Oh, come on!"

“Come on what?”

“Ah!” You turned around to see Ryohei, as usual, standing right behind you. “Ryohei! Don’t do that!”

“Sorry!”

He grinned at you, clearly not sorry, and you felt your heart flip over. You scowled. No. You were supposed to be annoyed at him, not happy to see him. Thankfully, Ryohei seemed pretty intent on making sure you were annoyed, too, if his next statement was anything to go by:

“You’re cute when you’re startled.”

That slapped the frown right off your face. Forget being annoyed. Now you were just horrified. “Wh-What?”

He waved your stammered question away. “Never mind. You extremely missed practice today!”

“Ryohei, I told you I can’t come to boxing club anymore. Hibari has me tutoring.”

He nodded slowly. For one wild moment, you thought perhaps he actually understood. Maybe he could get frustrated and flippant with the school prefect, but not all of you were so fortunate. Some of you actually had to ask how high when Hibari said "jump."

“Do you want to be a teacher, [Name]?”

The question was such a startling change in subject that you actually laughed. “Definitely not.”

“Then come back to boxing club!”

He laughed as well, and threw his arm around your shoulders. Again, you felt like you were being hit by a large rock. Over the years, though, your knees must have gotten used to it, because they barely buckled under his weight at all. Ryohei tugged you toward the school gates before you registered he was speaking again:

“Hibari can get over it, right?”

“Easy for you to say,” you grumbled. “He can’t easily beat you up.”

“Hey! What do you mean ‘easily’?”

"Nothing!”

Oh, sure, that Ryohei understood. Time for a rapid change the subject. As you looked around, you noticed that Ryohei was not, as he normally did after boxing club, taking you to the baseball field to watch his group of second-year friends get up to...well, whatever they'd be getting up to that day. Instead, with his arm still firmly anchored around you, he appeared to be guiding you home.

“Where are we going?” you asked.

“You don’t recognize your own walk home?”

“No, I do. I just want to know why we’re taking it.”

“It’s raining to the extreme!”

“And?”

“I’m taking you home to make sure you don’t catch an extreme cold!”

“Oh, no!” You tore yourself out of his grasp, then took several steps away from him, just to be safe. “Oh no, no, no, no. You are not coming over.”

“Huh? Why not?”

“Because!” You threw your hands in the air and then clamped them across your chest again, suddenly hyperaware of the lack of sweater over your thin, white uniform short. Could this day get any better?

It sure could, because apparently you also got to have a shouting match with your best friend in the middle of the street.

“That’s EXTREMELY not an answer!” Ryohei said.

“Yes, it is!”

"You're not making any sense!"

"I'd make perfect sense if you just thought about what I was saying from time to time!"

Because you couldn’t tell him that you didn’t want him around your mother. Ever since the cruise, when you and Ryohei had been nearly inseparable, she hadn’t shut up about how handsome he was. She wouldn't just say that for Katsuro’s benefit either. He was perfectly athletic in his own right. And so who could your mother be dropping all these hints for except for you? For the past few weeks, even just you being in her presence threw your mother into a fit of “girl talk” giggles. You paled at the very thought of what would happen if Ryohei happened to arrive in time for one of these episodes.

“No, it wouldn't.” He cocked his head to one side.

Your face heated up. Thank God Ryohei never noticed the opposite sex. You could probably relax your arms, but what if someone else walked past? Not that anyone would in this downpour.

Then Ryohei walked toward you, and pressed his hands into your shoulders with a concerned glint in his eye. Something else to worry about? Really? “[Name]," he said very seriously. "Is everything okay at home?”

You could not believe you were having this conversation. Stupid tutoring. Stupid Hibari. Stupid best friend. “Yes. Why?”

“Are you extremely sure?” The concerned look had not left his face. “Because you know…I was thinking…maybe Katsuro is a zombie.”

You deadpanned and peeled each of his hands off your shoulders in turn. “Zombies don’t exist, Ryohei.”

“Maybe you only think that because they’ve extremely turned you into one!”

“My mom and Katsuro are not zombies.”

“How do you know?”

“Because no one has eaten my brains yet.”

“That’s because they know I’ll punch them before they can!”

“Yeah. Sure. That’s it.” You turned away and rubbed your temples. A headache pressed tentatively above your left eye. “Look, thanks for the offer, but I’m already soaked. Kyoko is probably worried about you. Just go home yourself, okay?”

“No.”

“What?”

Ryohei crossed his arms over his chest as he lifted his head to stare down his nose at you. “No. Extremely.”

“Ryohei! I know the way home!”

“I’m not a member of the boxing club!”

“Yes, you are,” he said stubbornly. “I say you’re in it, so you’re in it.”

“That’s not how it wo–”

He lifted his voice to speak over you: “As a member of the boxing club, it is my duty as captain to make sure you get home safe before you catch a cold. It could extremely hamper with your practice.”

“I’m not coming back to boxing!” Even you could hear the whine in your voice now. “Hibari will kill me!”

"No, he won’t!”

“Ugh! Whatever!”

You whirled around and stomped up the street. In some remote corner of your mind, you realized how unreasonable you were being. Normally, you were the calm one, the one who made sure Ryohei didn’t get into fights. Perhaps you could chalk your attitude up to the rest of your bad day, but there was something else niggling at the back of your mind. Try as you might to ignore it, it continued to gnaw its way to the front.

“[Name]!”

“What?” you asked, quietly this time. Ryohei was walking right next to you again, and you didn’t bother trying to run off. He would just catch up with you again anyway.

“I’m sorry.”

“Eh?” You looked straight up into his face. “About what? You don’t have anything to apologize for! I’m sorry I got mad at you and–”

Ryohei shrugged. His concern had been replaced by a distinct aura of awkwardness. “I knew you were having an extremely bad day. I was just trying to make you laugh.”

“Well, thanks.” Without realizing it, you had started to walk along with him in the direction of your home. Maybe Ryohei was crazy and loud, but he was still the best friend you had in the world. “Sorry I got so mad.”

“We’re all entitled to a little extreme anger now and then!”

“Yeah. So…we’re cool?”

“We’re always EXTREMELY cool, [Name]!”

“We are, aren’t we?”

“Are you sure you don’t want to come back to boxing practice? I can have an extreme talk with Hibari.”

“Yeah.” You could see the gate to your yard approaching. “Save yourself. Besides, I kind of like tutoring.”

“You do?”

“Uh-huh.”

“Good! Because I wasn’t going to let you do it if you extremely hated it.”

“It’s nice, you always looking out for me.”

“Of course!” Ryohei must have realized this was you'd come to your stop as well. He came to a halt and grinned at you again.

“Well…bye.”

“Hey! [Name]!”

Ryohei's voice stopped you just as your fingers touched the knob. You turned around. Already anticipating the soup your mother was sure to force down your throat when she caught you in this state, you were not expecting Ryohei’s next exclamation:

“If you can’t come to practice anymore, can I come to tutorials with you? Maybe I can teach your students something extreme!”

A chuckle escaped your lips. “You can only come if you need tutoring.”

He frowned at that, and paused to wipe some sweat–or was it rain?–off his brow. Then he looked up at you with another of his trademark smiles. “Mr. Hatachin says my grades are extremely terrible! Will you help me?”

This time you laughed. You opened the door, and, just before you snapped it closed, you answered. “Of course. See you tomorrow!”

“Bye, [Name]! And thanks for all the help!”

[strawwritesfic]

Cootie Catcher Master List

Summary: You liked it better in the old days, when boys had cooties and didn't talk to you.

Challenge: “What to do, oh, What to do?” by crimsonxtearx5 on Lunaescence Archives.

Ratings/Warnings/Tags: T (Friends to lovers; idiots to lovers; childhood friends; happily blended family; embarrassing parents; civilian!reader; bookworm!reader; opposites attract; Namimori Middle School; TYB!KHR Cast; no honorifics; boxing club; tutoring; Seven Minutes in Heaven; birthday party; mild language)

Relationships: Ryohei Sasagawa/Reader; Original Character/Original Character; Kyoko Sasagawa & Reader; Ryohei Sasgawa & Kyoko Sasgawa; Tsuna Sawada & Hayato Gokudera & Takeshi Yamamoto; Hibari Kyoya & Reader; Hibrari Kyoya & Ryohei Sasagawa; Kyoko Sasagawa/Tsuna Sawada/Haru Miura

Notes: Another old KHR fic that I'm going to post in lieu of putting other things off to write something new to indulge my current return to hyperfixation with this series.

This one isn't as old as But Uh-Oh the Summer Nights...mostly. Some of the chapters I wrote back in college, and then some of the later ones I put together several years later when I rediscovered this in my drafts. I'll still be doing a lot of heavy editing to post it. And by "heavy editing," I mean basically rewriting the entire thing line by line.

I know that TYB!Ryohei isn't exactly the bishie that people look for in this fandom. But honestly? I wish I'd written a ten-chapter story for all of these kids, because they are good boys, and I love them all equally.

(Earlier Today!Straw: I don't care much for Mukuro.)

Posting Status: In progress

Chapter 1: Should Have Had a Staycation

Chapter 2: Should Have Worn a Cuter Bra

Chapter 3: Should Have Lost the Invitation

Chapter 4: Should Have Made Up Sooner

[strawwritesfic]

Ryohei Sasgawa x Female!Reader: Cootie Catcher [Ch. 1]

Summary: You liked it better in the old days, when boys had cooties and didn't talk to you.

Challenge: “What to do, oh, What to do?” by crimsonxtearx5 on Lunaescence Archives.

Ratings/Warnings/Tags: T (Friends to lovers; idiots to lovers; childhood friends; happily blended family; embarrassing parents; civilian!reader; bookworm!reader; opposites attract; Namimori Middle School; TYB!KHR Cast; no honorifics)

Relationships: Ryohei Sasagawa/Reader; Original Character/Original Character; Kyoko Sasagawa & Reader; Ryohei Sasgawa & Kyoko Sasgawa; Tsuna Sawada & Hayato Gokudera & Takeshi Yamamoto)

Tag List: @imaginesfire

Master List

Note: Book quotes taken from The Two Princesses of Bamarre by Gail Carson Levine, one of my all-time favorite books.

Chapter 1: Should Have Had a Staycation

“My tattered skirts caught fire, and I screamed. Vollys spat and put out the blaze. ‘Ah, you have a voice.’

I bit back another scream. Half my skirts were cinders, through which I saw bright-red skin. My left thigh roared with pain.

‘Now speak.’”

“[Name]?”

“‘When will you kill me?’”

“[Name].”

“‘Vollys wagged her head. ‘That is not a fit subject for conversation between us. It cannot—'”

“[Name]!”

“Huh?” Returning to the real world never failed to leave you disoriented. Only a few minutes before your mother shouted you name, you’d been lost in a world of princesses and child-eating dragons. Now you stood on the deck of a gently rocking cruise ship with an entirely different terror staring you down: Your mother’s glare. You remember all at once where you were—and that, unfortunately, this place had exactly zero dragons. “Did you say something, Mom?”

Your mother sighed and shook her head. “Young lady, need I remind you what you’re supposed to be doing?”

The honest answer was no, but you knew she wouldn’t want that answer. Your eyes drifted around the massive boat as you fought for time to let your brain catch up with you. Chlorinated water sloshed in the pool nearby. Tourists made their ways to seats while carrying trays piled with artery-clogging food. Sunlight beat down so hard from above that you had to squint to see even that much.

When your gaze found your mother again, her frown had grown larger.

“Relaxing?” you finally guessed.

“[Name].” Your mother dropped into the seat next to you. You could tell by the way she wrapped her arm around your shoulders that you were in for it. That the heat had turned her skin warm and sticky didn’t make you feel any better. Knowing that it would hurt her feelings if you scooted away from her, however, you remained motionless. “Yes, I want you to relax, but come on. You can read at home. Katsuro went to all the trouble to get you your own room so you could come along with us on this trip! Can’t you at least try to enjoy the cruise?”

And there it was: the “your new stepfather loves you” guilt-trip. Being used every hour or so only made this argument more ineffective as time went on.

“Enjoying things isn’t really my…thing, Mom.”

You ducked your head and fingered the page in your book. What other argument could you make? She didn’t want reminding that you hadn’t asked to come along on her and Katsuro’s honeymoon, or that you hadn’t wanted to come along on her and Katsuro’s honeymoon in the first place. Fortunately, this thought didn’t seem to occur to her.

“That’s not true,” she said. “I’ve seen you get excited with your friend…what’s his name…Ryoto?”

“Ryohei, Mom.”

You shifted back in your seat and lifted your book again. This was partially in the hopes that she would give up and go in search of another ice cream come, and partially to hide your rolling eyes. Trust your mother to constantly forget the name of the one best friend you’d had since the beginning of middle school.

“That’s the one! The Sasagawa boy. You always seem excited when he comes over after a soccer match.”

“Boxing, Mom.”

“Right, right. Oh, Katsuro!”

“Hey!” Katsuro himself plopped down on your other side, and his arm joined your mother’s around your shoulders.

You gave him a watery smile, or as much of one as you could muster. Didn’t they know they were slowly boiling you like a frog?

“How are my two favorite girls?” he asked.

“Great!” your mom chirped. God, she was so embarrassing. You’d have thought finally marrying the man of her dreams would make her act a little more her age, but so far you had had no such luck.

“Fine,” you answered. Honestly, though, all you wanted right now was for the two of them to go away so you could get back to your book.

“That’s wonderful!” Katsuro threw his arms up and, much to your relief, got up. “Because guess what?”

Your mom squirmed happily. “What?”

“I got us a trip inland for some zip lining!”

“Oh, my gosh!” Your mom practically squealed as she shook your shoulders. Your book fell off its perch on your lap and landed with a soggy thunk on the slat flooring. “That’s so exciting! Isn’t that exciting, [Name]?”

Both she and Katsuro grinned expectantly down at you. You forced yet another smile as you bent to retrieve your paperback before it got too wet. “The best.”

“That’s the spirit! Let’s go! We leave in ten minutes! Come on!”

“Yay!” A quick ruffle of your hair, and your mom took off after him.

You shook your head. You didn’t dislike Katsuro, but hanging out with her and him at the same time felt more like babysitting than family-bonding time. You could understand why they were head over heels for each other, but you’d rather they just let you stay in your room and read. Socializing wasn’t exactly your forte.

By the time you made it downstairs to the ship’s exit, a long line of day-trippers already stood waiting for permission to leave the boat. In the center of it all, of course, were your parents.

“[Name]!” They waved as soon as you appeared. You made a beeline for them despite the grumbling of those behind.

“Katsuro forgot his backpack,” your mom said upon your arrival. “Could you stand in line for two minutes while we run back to the room and get it?”

“Sure.”

“That’s my girl!” The two of them stepped out of line. Your mom flashed a smile at you before she disappeared, apparently having forgotten the most important bit, because she shouted over her shoulder, “And try to talk to some of the other kids, okay, honey? Don’t pick up your book again!”

After that stunningly kind reminder, she and Katsuro both vanished. You looked around the crowded area. No one looked to be about your age, and those that didn’t seem like someone that would want to talk to you. Only a few screaming toddlers toddled about, but other than that, you couldn’t see any children. Well, this was a honeymoon cruise, but far be it from your mother to listen to that line of reasoning when you were arguing for staying in Namimori on your own.

So far be it from you to listen to her line of reasoning about being social. A quick look at the glass elevators showed Katsuro and your mother already busy making out on the way up. There was no telling if they’d be back in time to leave. Your money was on probably not. Instead of skulking off somewhere to hide like you wanted to, you simply dug around in your backpack until your fingers found your damp book again. You’d hardly found your place again when an overly-chipper ship worker bounded up to the front of the group to perform some sort of cheerleading routine as she spoke.

“Alright, everybody! We’re going to be opening the door in ten minutes! But before we do, there are some rules we need to go through!”

You’d already stopped paying attention. Her words became nothing but a low buzz in your ears. You peeled the wet page away from where you’d left off, and began to read once more.

“[Naaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaame]!”

Shrieking, you threw your book in the direction of the sudden noise. The source of that noise easily blocked your projectile. Your heart pounded inside your rib cage as you watched your poor, soggy projectile, slip out of sight. Only once it vanished from sight did you think to find out who it was that had screamed your name so hard your ears still hurt.

“Hey, [Name]!” said the boy.

You stared, then blinked, then blinked some more. Standing right in front of you was a muscular young man with short, silver hair and the widest grin you’d ever seen. But surely, surely it wasn’t who you thought it was. What were the odds of ending up on vacation with someone from school? Especially this particular someone?

“Ryohei?” you said.

He laughed and clapped your back. The force propelled you forward a few feet—not that he noticed. “I thought that was you, [Name]! When Kyoko saw someone with [color] hair and her nose buried in a book, I knew!”

“Yeah.” You took several wobbly steps back toward him. “What are you doing here?”

“We’re on an extreme family vacation!” he shouted. You didn’t even wince; two years with Ryohei had probably damaged your eardrums for good. “I was extremely surprised to see you! What are you doing here?”

“Oh, well, Mom and Katsuro just got married…” Now you winced. Ryohei already knew that. He’d been your guest to the wedding, even if the pair of you had spent more time eating than paying attention to the ceremony.

“And?”

“It’s their…honeymoon…”

“Oh! Right! How extremely awesome of them to bring you along!”

“Yeah,” you said, because there was no way that Ryohei of all people would understand how much you didn’t want to be there. Then something even worse occurred to you: “Wait. Ryohei, you’re not going–”

“Zip lining? Of course I am! It’s an extreme sport!”

You were pretty sure it wasn’t, but there was no need to burst his bubble.

“Why? Are you going zip lining?”

“Katsuro signed us up.”

“Where are your parents? I should give them an extreme congratulations for getting married!”

“I don’t know,” you answered weakly. The one time you’d like them there to save you from this mortification, they weren’t there. How very typical. “They went up the elevators and I don’t think they’re coming back.”

“Huh? Why not?”

“I saw them…” For some reason you could not bear the thought of telling Ryohei that you’d caught your mother and Katsuro with their tongues in each other’s mouths. Strange. Normally you would say it anyway and laugh off an explanation when your friend voiced his confusion. All you could do manage just then was shaking your head. “Just intuition, I guess.”

“That’s great! Kyoko always says that women have an extreme intuition! I’m glad to see that yours is developing!”

“Thanks?”

“You’re welcome!”

The two of you stared at each other in mutual silence. Ryohei’s expectant grin did not fade one bit. Meanwhile, you continued to shift awkwardly from foot to foot. Why was Ryohei being here making you so nervous? You didn’t know the answer, but it was clear to you that it was time to bail.

“Well, I guess I better go make sure they’re okay. Have fun zip lining!”

Without waiting for him to respond, you turned around and attempted to force your way through the now-moving crowd. Something large and warm wrapped around your wrist and pulled you backward before you could get very far. The force of the yank upset your balance, and you flailed desperately to avoid falling to the ground and getting trampled.

Instead of the floor, however, you hit Ryohei’s chest.

“Hey, I have an extreme plan!” he said.

Did he see your obvious blush as you pushed off of him? You busied yourself pulling at the clingy tank top and shorts you wore over your swimsuit so that he wouldn’t get a chance to notice your face. “Plan? What plan? We don’t need a plan!” And your voice didn’t need to go so high either!

“Sure we do! You wanted to go zip lining, right?”

“Not re—”

“So you should come with me!”

“What?” No! No! Really, I should go find my parents and—”

“Call them!”

“Eh?”

“Call them!” He shoved his cell phone at you until you lifted your hands to take it from him. “Just ask if you can come! Your mom is extremely cool! I’m sure she’ll let you come on this extreme trip!”

“But…” You trailed away, then heaved a sigh and dialed your mother’s number. With Ryohei looking down at you like that, so excited, you just couldn’t tell him no. His grin widened as you lifted the phone to your ear. It rang six times, but just as it was about to go to voicemail, someone answered.

 “Hello?”

“Mom? Are you okay?” The dreamy quality of the female voice was throwing you off.

“O-Oh! [Name]!” Something that sounded an awful lot like bedsheets rustled in the background. “What’s the matter?”

 “We’re starting to set out. Where are you?”

“Oh! The trip! I’m sorry, honey, we won’t be able to make it!”

“Why?”

“Katsuro is…sick!”

“I’m sorry to hear that,” you said in a tone of forced patience. “Is there anything I can bring up to you guys?”

“No! You just go find something to do and have fun. I’ll come find you later, okay?”

“Okay.” Ryohei flashed you two thumbs up. No way were you getting out of this. “Hey, Mom, is it okay if I go zip lining anyway? You know, without you and Katsuro?”

“Well…I don’t know how I feel about you going that far by yourself. You don’t have a cell phone. What if something happens?”

And she thought you were calling her how? “I ran into Ryohei. He says I could come with him.”

“That’s different.” Oh no. She sounded thrilled. “Have fun, honey!”

Before the word “bye” even formed on your lips, you heard the telltale beep of your own mother hanging up on you. You hit the end button yourself and, defeated, look up at Ryohei.

“So?” he asked, hands clenched up by his chest.

It pained you to admit it a little, but “I can go.”

“Extreme! And it’s our turn to leave! Come on!”

The last you saw of your book was it being trodden to a pulp as Ryohei tugged you down the rampart.

[strawwritesfic]

some days you just wake up and realize, "Oh, I do ship WrightWorth."

[strawwritesfic]

Hayato Gokudera x Female!OC: White Day Chocolates

Summary: Gokudera can learn to endure anything given the right motivation.

Rating/Warnings: T (Post-Canon; high school!Gokudera; foul language; White Day; chocolates; dinner date request; Namimori Middle School; Namimori Middle Disciplinary Committee)

Relationships: Gokudera/F!OC; F!OC & F!OC; Hibari & F!OC; referenced Tsuna/Kyoko

Tag List: @imaginesfire

Notes: This is a very humble, very fluffy one shot written for my most long-time Internet friend, Selina. We've been buddies since something like 2006, and while our interests vary, we've both recently returned to our love of Reborn, and thus resurrected our old OCs. She draws sketches of my main OC, Daisuke Fukuda, regularly, so I wanted to return the favor and write her a quick one shot to celebrate her main OC, Lin-Mei.

Just a few quick notes to make here without going into lengthy descriptions of Lin-Mei's character:

1. There's is no actual love triangle involving her, Gokudera, and Hibari. Although there are some storylines we follow where she ends up with Hibari instead, in the Gokudera "route," if you will, he's just paranoid about Hibari because he doesn't like him, and Hibari is a smug asshole who won't go out of his way to assure Gokudera that he isn't interested in "stealing" Lin-Mei from him.

2. While Lin-Mei is slightly younger than the main cast, there's not a huge age gap here. My head canon is that Hibari is old enough to be in high school during the main plot of Reborn!, so it stands to reason that Lin-Mei stays a little longer after she takes over the Disciplinary Committee as well.

3. If it matters at all to you, Lin-Mei's flame attribute is lightning. She's more affiliated with the Cavallone than with the Vongola (having been under Dino's care for several years), but she actually belongs to a specific Chinese assassin family and works for hire.

White Day Chocolates

Hayato Gokudera never had enjoyed his walks to Namimori Middle School. What a shitty trek to what was inevitably wasted time learning from teachers that didn't know what they were doing—or have any idea the massive disservice their dumbass lectures did to the great man within their midst! And there were so many obstacles to get to that waste of time, too. If it wasn't Haru cropping up to annoy everyone, it was that stupid cow causing problems. If it wasn't that stupid cow causing problems, it was Yamamoto breathing in the Tenth's general direction. If it wasn't Yamamoto breathing in the Tenth's general direction, it was group after group of girls who couldn't seem to stop giggling whenever they caught sight of Hayato. And while the first three issues weren't cropping up that afternoon, the last aggravation seemed worse than ever before.

"What are they teaching these idiots these days?" he grumbled as the latest bunch all elbowed each other at his approach. When one dared to meet his eyes, he finally snapped, "Don't you have more important things to do?"

His anger only caused them to titter more. Gritting his teeth, Hayato stalked off on his way. Clearly, there was no getting through to girls like that. Even Haru hadn't learned her lesson yet, and now he and she shared the same homeroom!

Soon the tall, faded school building rose above him. Even more girls in navy sweaters walked past him as he neared the gate, but they didn't stop to giggle. These girls were in more of a rush, and the air of nervousness about them was almost palpable. None of them so much as glanced at Hayato when he came to stop to look up at the clock. The positions of its hands told him he'd made it right on time.

He hadn't been back to Namimori in a long time. Why would he bother? Hayato was in high school now. The responsibilities placed on the Vongola Family grew every day, thus the responsibilities placed on the Tenth's right-hand man grew every day as well. Only people with nothing better to do would bother coming to their middle school just to loiter around the place and reminisce about where they had met their friends, held so-called sumo tournaments, and nearly died countless times. But the one person he could think of like that didn't seem to be around right then.

"Hayato! This is a surprise."

A cheerful, girlish voice in his ear made him jump. He turned to level a glare at whoever dared to giggle at his shock—but the girl standing next to him didn't giggle. She simply hid a smile behind her sleeve before clapping both her hands behind her back.

"Sorry," said Lin-Mei. "I just didn't expect to see you here."

The minute Hayato spotted her, the urge to scream had left him. In fact, he couldn't find his voice at all. His stomach felt a little like it did whenever he spotted his sister sans mask, only more pleasant somehow—probably because he could actually appreciate the way Lin-Mei looked. She'd pulled her brown hair up into a sweeping ponytail, and her spotless uniform differed from the rest of the girls' solely by the vivid crimson band pinned to her upper arm. She had earned that armband, too, so Hayato felt more pleased than irritated to see it, despite his distaste for the person that had worn it before her.

Lin-Mei's smile faded a little as she cocked her head to one side. "Hayato?"

"Hey, jackass. She wants to know you're doing here. Besides trespassing, that is."

Much to his chagrin, Hayato started again. He hadn't bothered to pay attention to Lin-Mei's companion, a tall woman with bleached blonde hair and thin eyebrows that looked even older than he was. Probably he'd met this Disciplinary Committee member before; they were always trailing after their leader, after all. But he'd be damned if he went to the trouble of remembering her name now.

"If you don't have a good reason to be here, screw off," the woman went on.

"I—I have a good reason," Hayato managed to blurt out.

"Do you? Then why don't you cough it up?"

"Because it's none of your goddamn business!"

"Any business taking place on Namimori Middle School grounds is the business of the Disciplinary Committee."

"Arisa."

Lin-Mei didn't raise her voice. Hell, she didn't even change her tone. With a single word and a motion of her hand, she shut her second-in-command's mouth. Arisa sent Hayato a look of purest venom, but marched away in silence, He hoped she'd been sentenced to patrol one of the less pleasant corners of the schoolyard—perhaps Ryohei's old haunt. Chances were slim they'd gotten all the sweat stink out of there yet.

"Hayato."

This time, Lin-Mei grasped his wrist as she spoke. This time, he didn't jump. He just looked into her deep brown eyes—and felt vaguely, again, like he was going to throw up in some unimaginably satisfying way.

"What's the matter?" she asked as she released him. "Do you have a message for me from the Tenth?"

"Well —"

"You know we'll do whatever he needs, me and the girls."

"Right. But —"

"I don't have to tell them who the order comes from if that's what you're worried about. I'll be discrete."

"I didn't come on behalf of the Tenth!"

Why the hell did that take so much effort to spit out? Hayato wasn't a coward, and Lin-Mei absolutely was not his sister or anything like her. He ought to have been able to come in, say what he had to say, and move on. If Yamamoto asked him how things went later—and he certainly would just to spite Hayato—Hayato was not going to tell the Baseball Idiot that he'd chickened out.

"Okay," Lin-Mei said slowly. When he didn't launch at once into an explanation of why he'd come, then, she went on, "Then what gives? I will have to punish you for trespassing if you don't really have a good reason for being here."

Hibari would be pleased. Hayato knew she meant it when she said it, too. Before he could make an even bigger fool of himself then he already had, he screwed up his eyes and said:

"It's March 14th."

Of the whole host of reactions he had expected to result from this proclamation, last on the last was a blink and a curious, "What?"

"It's March 14th," he said again through gritted teeth. "Valentine’s Day was a month ago."

"And?"

The most infuriating thing about this conversation was that Lin-Mei wasn't attempting to raise his blood pressure. She obviously did not understand what Hayato was trying to say. And since he'd come this far, he didn't want to walk away now.

"And I came by...to bring you...some chocolates."

With this last ludicrous confession out of the way, he produced the box he'd been carrying around in his school bag. Lin-Mei's eyes went wide. She gazed at Hayato with open astonishment.

"But Hayato, I didn't give you any chocolates for Valentine's Day."

"I know!" He shoved some hair from his face, hardly noticing when Lin-Mei lifted the box lid to examine the chocolates inside. "I just walked in on the Tenth making some for Kyoko last night, and Reborn was there, and he kept going on and on about the importance of White Day, and how Hibari would understand it, and if the whole chocolate-giving thing worked for the Tenth, it would definitely work for Hibari, and...and...I don't know! I just panicked!"

Lin-Mei swallowed a mouthful of chocolate before stating, "Hibari hasn't given me any White Day chocolate."

"He-he hasn't?"

"No." She pulled the box from his grip and took a bite of another piece of chocolate. "But did you really think a package of store-bought candy would have put you over the top if he had?"

"As though I could cook anything without Bianchi getting into it when she found out who I was making it for," Hayato muttered. Lin-Mei stare made him squirm. How could she just stand there mowing through the chocolates without saying anything? Before she could polish the whole damn thing off and be on her way, he took a deep breath and barreled forward: "That's why there's a part two."

"Part two?"

"Ye-Yeah. I also wanted to know if you'd...if you'd come to dinner with me tonight."

Lin-Mei said nothing. He fixed his eyes on his shoes and did not look up. The minutes crawled passed with nothing to break them up except for her continued chewing. At last, he could take it no longer. He risked glancing upward to see her reaction. Was she gawking at him, shocked that someone like Hayato would do something like ask her out? Was she bright red with embarrassment because he'd confused her signals? No. She really was just steadily eating her way through the box, though she paused long enough to ask:

"Can we talk about the latest post on Mysterious Universe over dinner?"

He could hardly believe his luck, or the fact that her question made him grin fit to put Yamamoto's usual expression to shame. "Of course!"

"It's a date!" Lin-Mei shoved the remains of her gift back into his hands. "But we'll have to go later. I already promised Arisa that we'd go over some budgetary concerns after patrol this afternoon."

Well, that sucked some of the buoyancy out of his grin. But he didn't dare try to talk her out of her Disciplinary Committee duties. He knew from experience that would only end badly for him. "Am I allowed to wait here?" he asked. Facing Yamamoto or the Tenth after this would be a nightmare. Better to put that off as long as possible.

Maybe she understood that, because Lin-Mei appeared to consider his request for a moment. Then she said, "Only if you promise not to smoke on school grounds."

It was the same tone she'd used on Arisa earlier. And just as Arisa knew better than to argue, so did he. "Fine."

Her final smile caused the butterflies from earlier to surge back into his stomach. Hayato thought the sensation couldn't get worse until she leaned forward and kissed him on the cheek. Before he could recover—hell, before he could even string two coherent thoughts together—Lin-Mei turned on her heel, looked at him over her shoulder, and fluttered her fingers in his direction.

"See you later, Hayato. Happy White Day!"

She was gone in a flash, leaving Hayato standing at the school gate and holding a half-empty box of chocolates, probably looking like the biggest moron in the world (and given his competition solely in the Vongola Family, that was saying something). A few straggling students leaving their approved after-school clubs laughed as they walked by him. He found he didn't care. As he settled against a wall to wait for Lin-Mei to return, he thought to himself that he would endure every agony of walking to Namimori every day, giggling girls and all, if it meant getting to see her smile...and to pull the rug out from underneath Hibari's feet.

[strawwritesfic]

Thank you for your patience

Hey all.

I know I haven't posted anything in the way new of fics in months, and this won't change that. But I wanted to give you a very quick update and heartful thanks for sticking with me during this lull.

About two years ago, I graduated from my third round of post-graduate schooling, passed a difficult test, and was finally able to find myself a career. One year ago, I quit the work I was doing with a local freelancing firm and went entirely self-employed--which, as I'm sure you can imagine, required a lot of hustle, a lot of on-the-job learning, and a lot crying when I messed something up and was informed that the screw up entitled an entity in town to throw me in prison.

(They didn't, and they thought it was weird that I thought they would; apparently they have the power to but aren't going to enact over something as minor as my screw up.)

Needless to say, it's been difficult. There's been burnout. When I haven't been working, I needed to clean and exercise. So when I had the rare chance to do something with my free time, I rarely had the spoons to do anything more than watch some YouTube videos. I injured myself a couple years ago, and am dealing with chronic pain resulting from that injury to this day, and it tends to manifest itself when I sit at a desk for long periods of time. Last weekend, my mental health hit a pretty bad low--but a long-time friend said I could vent to her, and I did, and I am feeling much more optimistic.

I have been offered a full-time position doing what I do. The good news is that means a a salary! No more scrambling to get a paycheck when someone cancels on me! Actual medical insurance (if you couldn't tell, I'm based in the USA)! The bad news is that it's an hour long commute, at least until such a time as I can prove to a bank that I make consistent enough money that they'll give me a mortgage.

(Last October, I made about $200 total even though I was scheduled to work almost every day. That's the kind of thing I've been dealing with.)

I'm not really sure what the future is going to hold, but I'd like to get writing again. After my crash and burn on Saturday, I made myself sit down and squeeze out a couple of pages of a Spock one shot (I know it's not what's on my request list, but this Loki thing is being birthed through difficult labor, and I needed to be excited). God willing, I'll be able to get back into a little more. There are things I really want to share with you all, and things I'd love to actually get out for the people that were kind enough to ask them of me.

So from the bottom of my heart: Thank you. Thank you for following even when I haven't produced anything in a long time. Thank for showing enough passion for my work to request things. Thank you for the reblogs. Thank you for the replies asking for parts twos. Thank you for the recommendation shoutouts in posts on your blog. Although I rarely respond (because I don't want to be seen as bragging), I look at each and every one of them. When things are difficult, sometimes I'll pull out my little collection of especially kind comments, and they help me feel a little better.

Sincerely,

Straw

[strawwritesfic]

hello! I love your fanfictions and I was curious if you have any recommendations of authors that you read (for lord of the rings fandom)

Here's where I have to confess that I haven't read a serious fan fiction in a very, very, very long time. Due to personal issues with jealousy that weren't fair to either the person or myself, I just sort of stopped reading anything that might be intentionally good.

Even from back when I read fan fic, the only Lord of the Rings-related reader insert I even vaguely recall involved Legolas and the reader fighting over him eating the last slice of pie and just spiraled out of control from there. And that was on a website that no longer exists.

HOWEVER: I do want to get back into reading fan fic, so if anyone who stops by the blog sees this and knows of some good authors and/or Lord of the Rings-specific fics, please leave a comment or send an ask! I'd like to check them out, and this anon would, too!

[strawwritesfic]

Enma Kozato x Female!Vongola!Reader: Coda

Summary: Can we try again?

Rating/Warnings: T (post-Inheritance Ceremony arc; Friends to Lovers; Enemies to Lovers; Love Confessions; Face Slapping; Slapping; Delivery Person!Reader; Adelheid & Enma; Adelheid/Julie)

Tag List: @imaginesfire

Notes: I've been in a Reborn mood lately, reviving some old OCs of mine with a friend via email. I'm even rereading what little of the official English translation manga there is. So I thought I'd brush off some of my old one shots for the series and post them, especially since I've had such kind feedback on the ones I've got on my Tumblr.

This was written back when I was in college, so probably circa 2011/2012. I did polish it up for this repost! Although there's really no helping the abrupt ending. I suppose I could have tacked something on, but the style would be so obviously different that it would really only make the original ending seem even more painful.

The reader character is based on (and originally written as) an OC in a roleplay group that I was in on DeviantArt at the time. I no longer recall the username, but credit where credit is due, so much as I can give it. The character's name was LaRae Souma.

Coda

Enma’s heart had never beat so wildly in his chest. Ba-thump, ba-thump, ba-thump. In the silence of the growing evening surrounding him, the noise felt abnormally loud. He lifted a trembling hand to his chest and pressed it against his rib cage.

“Why are you doing this?” he mumbled.

His heart, of course, gave no answer. Or maybe it did. Maybe its attempts to tear itself free from his insides were its way of telling him how downright crazy this entire plan was. Whatever the reason, Enma really wished his traitorous organ would stop. This whole situation was hard enough without adrenaline rushing through his veins.

Trying to calm down was a vain effort. Enma knew that. He’d been trying to do whatever that would take since school got out hours ago. How many girls had passed by, giggling because of how weird he looked standing at the gate? How many bullies had come by to exact their “standing” tax?

Maybe that was why his heart was still going crazy. Maybe he was finally running out of blood, and this was its last, desperate attempt to get what was left to the rest of his body before it gave out. Enma supposed that wouldn’t be too bad, really. At least if he was dead he wouldn’t be picked on anymore. He wouldn’t fail any more tests, either. And, for the love of God, he would not have to do what he was planning to do next.

The bag at his side buzzed. His head turned toward it. He blinked before slowly plucking his cell phone from the bag's pocket. Who would be calling him now? It was nearly dark, and the Vongola had no reason to contact him.

“Hello?” he said.

“Enma. Are you all right? It’s late.”

Oh. It was only Adelheid, then. He probably should have known, but Aoba had stolen his phone and changed all the contacts to pictures of himself flipping the camera off, so now Enma had no way to tell who anyone calling him actually was.

“She hasn’t been by.” He stared down the street again. Still no shadows appeared to be growing against the bright red sky. “Maybe she’s not coming.”

“It’s nearly dark. I would say she’s not.”

“She could be working overtime.”

“Enma, just come home. We’ll order more food, and you can talk to her then.”

“I don’t want to say it front of Julie.”

“He’s not going to say anything. If he does, I’ll hit him.”

"I'll wait a little longer.”

“Okay.” This time, her voice sounded a little warmer. “Call me when you’re on your way home.”

“Yeah. Bye.”

“Goodbye.”

He ended the conversation with a simple push of a button. Why hadn’t he taken the out Adelheid offered him? This was her idea to begin with, and Enma was seriously beginning to doubt her understanding of the matter. Her relationship wasn’t really comparable to his. All Julie had to do was grope her every once in a while.

Oh, God, was he going to have to grab your breasts? Did you even have those? It had been so long since he'd seen you that he didn’t remember. And Adelheid usually still slapped Julie when he did that. Enma didn’t really feel like being slapped. 

Was this what hyperventilating felt like? He had never done it before, so he didn’t know.

A rapid tapping came from down the vacant street. Enma looked up. Running down the shadowed walk was a figure moving at a quick pace. He stood straighter. Was it you? It had to be. His hands had started to sweat again. This did not make him feel any less like an idiot. He wiped them on his pants. That only made it worse; now he had wet patches on his legs.

The figure continued to draw nearer. The golden pool of light surrounding him was soon the one they stepped into, bringing their features were placed in high relief. [Color] hair, [color] eyes, waitress uniform. Yes, that was definitely [F Name] [L Name]. It didn’t take the painful lurch in his heart to tell him that much.

The moment of recognition must have been shared because you froze mid-step, one leg stuck awkwardly in the air. Enma reached up to ruffle the back of his head. Now he was completely lost. What was he supposed to do? You were just staring at him like he was a particularly disgusting bug that had fallen directly in your path.

Then your expression hardened. Your normally warm eyes he grown so accustomed to turned more brittle as you smacked your heel back down against the pavement. For a split second, he thought you were going to say something. Instead, you started moving again, your movements now choppy and stiff.

“[Name],” he said as you passed. 

You didn’t even spare him a second glance. 

“[Name]!” 

You did not even so much as twitch in his direction. 

Enma sighed. Now what was he supposed to do? Adelheid hadn’t described her plan past his finally making contact with you. Still, he was not the same boy you had known a year ago. Steeling himself, he moved off the wall and into step beside you. It was only be the grace of God that he didn’t fall flat on his face doing so.

"[Name].”

"What?” He had never heard you speak with that much venom in your voice before, at least not directed at him. He gulped. Maybe this was a dumb idea.

"I need to talk to you.”

“I’m in the middle of a delivery.”

“I know. It's for me.”

Thankfully, this was enough to get your attention. Once again, you stopped completely, though at least this time you remembered to put you foot down. Your mouth fell open in an “o.” Then you narrowed your eyes.

“What do you mean, it’s for you?” you asked.

“I ordered it. Can I have it, please?”

“No! I’m not giving you anything!”

“I’m going to pay for it.”

You continued to watch him for a few more seconds, then tossed the container at his head. Enma flailed. The box knocked straight into his temple before falling open on the ground. 

“Fine, then!" you snapped. "Eat it! See if I care!”

“Thank you,” Enma murmured. 

He bent down to retrieve the contents of whatever food he had asked for. He was so nervous that he didn’t remember, nor did he think he’d actually be able to stomach it if he tried. If he remembered correctly, most girls didn’t think it was cool when boys threw up their food. Once he had the scattered contents all gathered, he rummaged in his pocket until he found the wad of cash he had stuffed in it that morning–more than enough for both his food and a decent tip for you. 

“Your money." He held it out to you.

You said nothing as you snatched the cash out of his hand. And then you stood there. And continued standing there. Apparently you were intending to watch him eat the food. 

Groaning inwardly, Enma picked up the chopsticks and dug in without looking at what he was digging into. It was probably good, but he didn’t get to taste much before he started to choke. Seemingly satisfied with this development, you hopped on the wall and crossed your legs, the better to see him.

“Why’d you order from there anyway? Thought I didn’t work there anymore?” you asked.

“N-No,” Enma stammered. He was still coughing up bits of rice. “I needed to talk to you.”

“So you ordered food from my workplace?”

“It was the only way I could talk to you. You were avoiding me.”

“Because I didn’t want to talk to you.”

“Right.” 

Enma gazed forlornly at his eating utensils. Why had he done this? Of course you didn’t want to talk to him. After what he did…The look of betrayal on your face as you stood there with the rest of your family, the way your eyes seemed to grow dim as you watched him mutilate your friends…His gut clenched every time he thought of it. Who was he kidding with this? You weren't going to want to hear him out. You didn’t even want to be his friend anymore.

He took a deep breath and looked up toward you. It looked like he was still Loser Enma after all. What he realized, however, was that you were no longer looking away. Instead you had the full force of your glare on him. He flinched.

“Why didn’t you tell me?” you asked.

There could be a million things he hadn’t told you that you were asking about, each a worse secret than the one before. But Enma thought he had a pretty good idea what you were talking about. 

“I didn’t want you to get hurt,” he said.

“And why would I get hurt?”

He licked his lips. “My family…what we were doing…”

“Yeah, it was pretty stupid,” you snarled. “And thank you so much for showing such faith in me.”

“I didn’t want you to tell Tsuna. It was important. What if you said something and they found out?

You snapped straight up. Enma stumbled backward, managing to stay on his feet but spill what was left of his meal. This did nothing to stop you. In one easy movement, you jumped off the ledge, landed on your feet, and marched up to him. For a moment, all you did was look into his eyes. Then you launched yourself forward and started trying to smack every bit of him you could reach.

“Are you kidding me?" You all but shrieked. "I thought you trusted me! I thought I was your friend!”

“Ouch. [Name]. Stop." 

Your punches, if anything, merely increased in number. Enma groaned. What would Aoba and Julie say if they saw him now? Probably something along the lines of “You’re totally whipped!” Without thinking, he grabbed your wrists. You sucked in a breath. He supposed he had surprised you. The him of a year ago wouldn’t have tried to defend himself at all. One split second later, however, and you were back on the offense.

“You.” You tugged. “Are.” You tugged harder still. “Such a jerk, Enma Kozato!” You arched backward as far as you could. Still he did not let you go.

“I know," he said. "I’m sorry.”

“Sorry isn’t good enough! I don’t care what you have to say to me. Just go away!”

Enma took a deep breath. Now was good as ever. He didn’t think you were going to let him stick around much longer anyway. “I think I love you.”

The anger drained slowly from your face. Feeling that it might be safe to let you go, Enma released your wrists at last. He stuffed his now-free hands into his pockets and stared at his feet. The silence stretched on for several more minutes, and then there was a sudden whoosh and the sound of flesh meeting flesh.

Enma’s eyes went wide. The sound of the slap echoed in the empty road.

“That’s for avoiding me for a year!” When he looked up, you were rubbing at your wrist and scowling. “Did you think I was going to yell at you?”

“Well, you’re doing a good job of it now,” he said as he pressed his palm against his stinging cheek.

“Because, Enma, you are an idiot.” You scowled at him again, then whirled on your heel and marched over to your delivery box. Without looking at him, you continued, but he noticed your voice was quavering a bit when you spoke: “If you’re just going to say empty words, then you can leave me alone. For good this time.”

“They weren't empty.” he mumbled at the ground. Enma thought that maybe he heard you pause before going on your way. “I won’t bother you anymore.”

Before you could answer–if you were going to answer, which he didn’t believe could be true at all–he started shuffling away. He didn’t get far before he managed to trip and crash face-first into the sidewalk. A sickening crunch sound coming from his nose told Enma that he had just seriously screwed up. Perhaps it would be best if he just stayed there in the dirt until you left. He didn’t want the last thing you saw of him to be the blood spilling profusely from his face.

“Enma? Are you okay?” 

Oh, crud, you were standing right above him. He craned his neck so he could see, trying to make sure you couldn’t get a look at the newest disfigurement on his face. You knelt down next to him and then dragged him to his feet.

“You’re bleeding.”

“Yeah. Don’t worry about it.”

You frowned. “No, I will worry about it. Sit down.” 

You pushed down on his shoulder and Enma obeyed without thinking. What were you doing? Why were you still talking to him? Hadn’t you already left, glad to have him out of your life? While he was pondering all of this, you were digging around in your own bag. A few moments later, you pulled out a first aid kit. 

Enma leaned back. “You don’t have t–”

“Yes, I do.” 

Enma fell silent as you began to work on him. It almost felt like old times, except for the part where the girl he was in love with hated him. He could probably do without that. Well, that and the broken nose.

“Hold still. I’m going to set it. It’ll hurt.” 

He braced himself. Sure enough, you pressed your fingers onto both side of his nose and pushed. There was a loud pop and pain streamed into his face. Enma lifted his hand to feel his nose.

“Why did you…?”

“Did you mean it when you said you loved me?” you asked.

“Y-yes.” Did you find him terribly stupid? Were you going to laugh at him? 

You turned, face hidden as you placed your kit back in your bag. “Then why didn’t you talk to me for so long?”

“I was afraid you hated me. I didn’t want that.”

“I didn’t. I just wanted to hear from you. When I called and you didn’t answer…” You trailed off. He could see your eyes again. They were filling with tears. “I thought we were friends.”

“You’re my best friend, [Nickname].”

"It doesn’t feel like it.”

Enma stared at you. You looked away and dabbed at your eyes with your sleeve. “I’m sorry.” 

You didn’t answer. 

His eyes darted about the street. What he was about to do was risky, but maybe it would work out? Maybe this time he could actually do it. Maybe this time he wouldn’t be a loser. “[Name].”

You looked back. He shifted his bag so it was behind him, then opened his arms. You gawked at him, and he lifted them slightly. For a few more seconds, you did not move. Another flurry of anxiety rushed through him. Was he being dumb? Should he put his arms down? Were you just going to hit him again?

You blinked back another set of tears. Then you leaped forward and threw yourself into his arms. Enma closed them around you, shut his eyes, and buried his face into your soft hair.

“I love you, [Name]. Can I try again?”

“Only if you promise,” you sniffed, “to never lie to me again.”

Enma smiled. “I promise.”

In return, you wrapped your arms around him. “I love you, too, Enma.”