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i-need-entertainment · 4 years

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Haikyuu!! Boys getting accidentally flashed by their girlfriend

Characters: Akaashi, Washio, Konoha, Kita, Suna, Ushijima, Yahaba, Iwaizumi, Futakuchi and Daishou

TW- second hand embarrassment, flashing someone, mentions of cleavage and underwear.

Akaashi Keiji:

You knew he was coming over today, you just forgot..that he....was coming over today....

In all fairness, you tried to look at least a little presentable, but after you threw on some sweatpants and a sports bra, you kind of got distracted?

And seeing as at the moment it was just you, chilling around in a sports bra didn’t seem like that big of a deal.

Which is why when you heard a soft knock at your door and your name being called by your boyfriend, you didn’t hesitate to say ‘come in’, not realizing your mistake until he walked in.

As soon as you saw his eyes widen and the tips of his ears turn red, you remembered not finishing getting dressed.

Being the gentleman he is he promptly turned around and let you put a shirt on.

I’m sure you’ll laugh about it someday but until then...suffer lol.

Washio Tatsuki:

You had been invited to the beach with your boyfriend’s high school volleyball team, Fukurodani.

Seeing as they are a volleyball team, they decided to play a game of beach volleyball, you and the two managers were of course included.

Everything was going great. Your team was winning, Bokuto hadn’t gone into an emo mode, and everyone was having fun.

Everything was perfect until a wonky spike made by Konoha went a little further than you had anticipated, causing you to drive for it.

Surprising even yourself, you successfully got the ball up. But as soon as you stood up, Washio pulled you into a tight hug, looking up to him from your place at his chest you were met with the reddest face you’ve ever seen from your boyfriend.

We’re talking redder than when he asked you to be his girlfriend red.

You asked him ‘What?’ and he said in a small voice, ‘your top came off’.

Looking down, you indeed realized that your top had come completely off, but thanks to your boyfriend’s quick reflex’s, no one other than you and poor, poor Washio saw anything.

Continuing to shield you from your friends, he quickly picked up your top, dusted it off and handed it to you, turning around so you could put it on, and tying it so you both could be sure it wouldn’t come undone again.

Konoha Akinori:

You and your boyfriend had been hanging out at your house during the summer.

It had become increasingly hotter throughout the day, so you ran up to your room to change into something a bit cooler. You didn’t think anything of it when you chose a comfortable tank top to wear, figuring you were at home anyways so it didn’t matter.

You of course missed the slight widening of your boyfriends eyes when you came downstairs.

You two were just chilling at the table drinking some iced tea, scrolling on your phones and what not, when you leaned down onto your elbows.

The tank top you were wearing was less than helpful, because along with you leaning forward, your top was cut quite low.

Fortunately you caught it pretty quickly and of course apologized to your boyfriend. He muttered a ‘it’s fine’ before awkwardly laughing and moving on, leaning down so his hair could hide just how pink his cheeks had gotten.

Little do the two of you know how long that will haunt both of you.

Kita Shinsuke:

The two of you were on a date, you guys had just gotten out of the movies and were talking and walking around the nearby park.

The two of you were walking hand in hand, just enjoying being in each other’s presence really.

You were just about to tell him something when the wind picked up, picking your skirt up along with it.

You of course were quick to grab the hem of your skirt to tug it back down, but the damage had already been done.

He had been looking at you waiting for you to speak when your skirt had lifted. Giving him a...view. You were quick to apologize, and so was he. He assured you he didn’t see anything....but the thing was level with your waist so you know he did, he’s just too much of gentleman to embarrass you further.

Suna Rintaro:

Every morning, one of the first things you do is send your boyfriend a ‘good morning’ snap.

It was a normal, everyday thing, so you didn’t think much of it when you sent the first picture you took.

Unfortunately for you, you didn’t look back at the picture you had taken.

About five minutes later you received a snap back from your boyfriend.

It was a picture with his hand over his eyes and a caption that said ‘look down’, and after doing so and realizing the shirt you had slept in had slipped down, you were quick to send back another picture (this time with a fixed top) apologizing.

Him being the chill guy he is let it go, but it did end up being quite the wake up for both of you.

Ushjima Wakatoshi:

You had expressed to your boyfriend that you had wanted to start exercising more, and with him being the fitness buff he is, he was more than happy to help.

The two of you were working out at your house, just a simple warm up and some lighter exercises so you could get used to it.

You got into a plank position and got started, or did your best, him being the great boyfriend he is encouraged you and kept his mouth shut.

Well, about the pushups anyways. Not long after you had started he had leaned over and pulled your top further down your back, telling you it was showing your chest as he leaned back like nothing had happened.

Realization kicked in not long after for you, realizing that not only had you flashed your boyfriend, but he had nonchalantly fixed your top for you like nothing had happened at all.

Then again, that’s only because you were too focused on your own embarrassment to notice the light pink dusting his face.

Yahaba Shigeru:

Every morning Yahaba picked you up for school and the two of you drove together.

And seeing as it was now in the warmer months of the school year, you no longer had to wear tights and could now just wear the skirt.

When you guys got to the school Yahaba exited the car and made his way to your door to open it like he did every morning.

And after months of not having to worry about showing anything you had swung your legs out of the car like you had in the winter.

Except that now there were no tights to stop from showing your underwear off when your skirt had lifted, giving an unintentional ‘show’ to your chivalrous, albeit now red, boyfriend.

You now wear shorts under your skirt.

Iwaizumi Hajime:

You had a habit of taking your boyfriend’s clothes, his sweatshirts being your favorite item of his to leech.

Currently you were wearing a gray hoodie he had bought recently, but let you borrow since he knows how much you like wearing them.

Usually he has no problem with you wearing his stuff, but for this particular look, he just so happened to need the one you were currently wearing.

He asked for it, and you being the benevolent girlfriend you are, gladly gave it to him.

Er, you tried to, you had a little trouble getting it over your head. In other words, you were stuck.

Calling for help from your beefy boyfriend you tried once again to get it off.

Iwaizumi, being the benevolent boyfriend he is, tried to help you untangle yourself from the sweatshirt. Only to be flashed when you finally got it off your head.

The particular sweatshirt you were wearing was a bit of a tighter fit, and it caught the sleeves of your shirt juuust right to where when you two finally got it off, it took your shirt along with it.

Iwaizumi froze before picking up another sweatshirt of his and shoving it over your head, mumbling things before he stopped when he heard your laugh mixed with apologies.

He now makes sure to ask for his sweatshirts in advance.

Futakuchi Kenji:

The two of you had decided to get something to eat after school since Futakuchi didn’t have practice and your afternoon was free as well.

For the entirety of the school day, your uniform top has been giving you issues.

When you initially got your uniform it had come in a size too small, so you of course got another one, but yesterday you had spilled something on your shirt and needed a replacement.

It still fit well enough, it was just a tad bit too snug in some areas.

Specifically your chest.

The two of you had sat down, waiting for your order to be called when you noticed your boyfriend had gone uncharacteristically quiet.

You looked at him and he just nodded down to your shirt before whispering that ‘you’re button came undone’.

You were of course quick to button it back up and were about to apologize when he hushed you, choosing to instead place his blazer over your shoulders, assuring you that it was fine and ‘you just need to pay more attention dummy’ and some other witty remarks.

Although it was very obvious they were made to distract you from the burning red adorning his neck and ears.

Daishou Suguru:

I know what you’re thinking ‘oH sUrE iT wAs An AcCiDeNt’ BUT IT WAS.

You two have been dating for a while now, so it wasn’t unusual for the two of you to barge into each other’s rooms.

On this specific day, you had just finished taking a shower when he had come over. He was not aware you had just gotten out of the shower and you didn’t know he was there.

You made your way to your room dressed in a bath towel, drying off as you got your clothes and such ready.

You were just about to drop your towel when your bedroom door opened, revealing your boyfriend.

You were quick to tighten your grip on the towel and he was quick to turn around and leave your room, loudly shouting apologies as you yelled his name.

You were able to laugh it off later when he assured you he only saw a bit of your chest, but that doesn’t make up for the utter hUMILIATION you were feeling. And probably will feel for the rest of your life :)

#akaashi x reader #washio x reader #konoha x reader #kita x reader #suna x reader #ushijima x reader #yahaba x reader #iwaizumi x reader #futakuchi x reader #daishou x reader #y/n #Haikyuu!!#haiku x reader

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immergladsss · 3 years

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Moonacre Week 2021

Day 1: Zoom/Video Call

On AO3: https://archiveofourown.org/works/31641653

“For next class, please read chapter 9 and be ready to discuss the social and political impact of the Norman Conquest on England—and don't forget, your essays are due this Friday. Have a wonderful day and stay safe!”

Maria watched, unblinking, as square after black square disappeared from the virtual ‘room’. Not even the professor had their camera on.

‘This meeting has been ended by the host.’

The zoom window finally closed.

Maria blinked.

4:56 pm read the time centered against the starlit wallpaper of her Mac book screen. She turned to look at her planner that was strewn over her bed.

No more classes for the day.

Maria fell back onto her bed with a groan. She rubbed her dry eyes, not caring one bit that she was smearing the little make-up she coaxed herself into putting on that morning.

“ 'Dress the part’ they said. ‘It'll make you feel normal’ they said,” Maria mumbled to herself.

She didn't feel normal, all she felt was drained. It was the start of her second year at university… and well over six months into a pandemic that showed no signs of stopping.

She raised her iphone. 4:57 pm. The locking screen was of her family. A picture taken the day of her nephew’s first birthday, December 2019. Georgie was centered in the picture, sitting between her uncle Benjamin and Loveday. Maria stood next to her uncle, leaning over his shoulder, while Ms. Heliotrope, their nanny, was by her side with an arm around her back. To Loveday’s other side was Loveday’s father, Mr. De Noir, and her brother, Robin.

Maria wiped her eyes with the hem of her t-shirt. It felt like an eternity since she last saw them. She missed them. Unlike her roommates, she didn’t move back home at the beginning of lockdown. She had just started an internship, one that was supposed to go well into the summer. Yet only 3 months later, she and the rest of the interns were dismissed, with promises to still receive full class credits.

With public transportation being the only way to get home, she didn’t want to risk her or her family’s safety. Yet day after day, her longing for home depressingly grew like the number of covid cases.

María turned on her side and clicked her laptop back on. She opened her FaceTime app and typed in Loveday’s name.

She propped herself on her elbow and began the call. As she waited, she grimaced at her disheveled appearance. Her red curls were in a messy bun, black mascara smeared around her eyes, her university-themed t-shirt was slipping over her shoulder. The very picture of a work-from-home student.

Lately, she and Loveday had begun a new game, ‘Fashion: Covid’. They would jokingly judge each other's "outfit”, as well as the rest of the family’s, as though they were judges on Project Runway or Next in Fashion. Maria smiled. She couldn't wait to see what Loveday would tease her about today.

“Maria!” A husky voice greeted, “It's been a while—”

Her eyes flew open as she slammed her laptop shut.

She scrambled out of bed and ran to her bathroom, stumbling over her laptop’s charging cables. Maria washed her face with cold water and soap, doing nothing more than smearing her make-up.

“Oh bugger...” Maria pried open her mirror cabinet, spilling some products as she grabbed her make-up remover. ‘What was Robin doing at the Manor?’ Maria hastily squirted the remover onto the cotton ball, splashing some on her shirt and cursing under her breath. She scrubbed her eyes, ignoring the sting of the remover seeping in.

She rinsed off her face. Grabbing her hand towel, she rubbed her face dry, and ran back to her room, diving right into her bed.

She opened her laptop. 5:01 pm. ‘Crap’. she took longer than she intended. Maria redialed Loveday, hoping he would still be there.

“Maria, what happened?” Loveday answered the phone. Her blond curls were tucked into a fish-tail braid that draped over her shoulder. She was wearing her uncle’s faded brown jumper from his university days.

“Hi Loveday… sorry my internet went down for a bit. You know how it is.”

Loveday nodded with a frown. “Your face looks a bit red, are you running a fever?”

“No, I—”

“Fever?” She heard Ms. Heliotrope shriek from the back. Maria was startled as Loveday’s camera began to shake, before finally settling a bit too close to Ms. Heliotrope’s face.

“Oh, my goodness, Maria you’re red! I must go to you at once!”

“Ms. Heliotrope, I’m fine! I just washed my face.”

Ms. Heliotrope narrowed her eyes, bringing the phone so close to her face that Maria could only see her forehead.

“I don’t believe you. If I take a plane, I can be there by the end of the day.”

“Hang on! Look, I’ll prove it.” Maria climbed out of bed and pulled out the thermometer gun her family had sent in a care package. Sitting back down in front of the camera, she pointed the gun to her head.

Beep. 36 C.

“See, I’m healthy. Besides, it’s much too dangerous for you to travel.”

Ms. Heliotrope looked crestfallen, almost as though she wished she had a reason to be with Maria. “Hmm… Alright my dear. Make sure you check your temperature every day and report to us any symptoms. Please take care and let me know if you need anything! I love you and miss you dearly.”

“I will Ms. Heliotrope, I love and miss you too.” Maria waved goodbye as the phone was passed back to Loveday, but her uncle intercepted it, planting a quick kiss on Loveday’s head as he took the phone from her grasp.

“Maria,” came her uncle’s gruff voice. Even during a pandemic, he was dressed smartly with his hair neatly combed. “How are you doing? Do you need anything?”

“Hello uncle, I'm alright, thank you though. The care package you sent is not yet half empty.”

“Good, good. Only say the word and I’ll go pick you up myself. We miss you.”

“I miss you too but it’s too risky.”

“It’s worth the risk if it's to have you back with us.”

Maria’s heart ached. “Thank you, uncle, I’ll let you know if I change my mind.”

Finally, the phone was handed back to Loveday. “I’d ask how you were doing but it seems everyone’s done so already.” Loveday chatted away, telling Maria about how bored they’ve been. How Marmaduke’s cooking expanded to include various intricate pastries and bread. She recounted with a laugh how only Wrolf and Georgie seemed to love their constant presence. Though Maria laughed and nodded her head to Loveday’s words, her eyes kept darting to the background trying to see if she could spot him. Loveday grew quiet, she watched Maria with a raised brow and crooked smile, waiting to see how long until Maria noticed.

“Oh, er sorry Loveday, I don’t think I heard you. Were you waiting on my response?”

“Its alright, it seems you’re looking for someone else?”

“No, no…” Maria said sheepishly, “but earlier, Robin answered the phone. He’s back?”

“Yes love. He returned about a month ago but was quarantining at the castle. He’s now running errands and getting groceries for both of our families. I always offer to help, but he insists, and you know how he gets.” Loveday bit her growing grin. “Do you want to talk to him? He’s playing with Georgie at the moment.”

“Sure, why not,” Maria tried to say nonchalantly. Though she never outright confessed to him, her childhood crush on Robin was no secret. But with four years her senior, Robin always brushed off any comments made about them, saying she was just his best friend. Once he compared her to a little sister. That one stung. Though Maria tried to grow out of it, even having a few boyfriends through her teens, that never stopped Loveday from trying to set them up.

The camera turned black momentarily before turning back on. They were in the parlor now. Robin was on the floor, playing with Georgie and his action figures. Maria’s heart warmed.

His hair was much longer and held up in a messy bun much like hers, though she hated to admit he looked better in it. He wore a black t-shirt with faded black ripped jeans. There were a couple of black and silver chain bracelets on his wrist.

“Oh Robiiin,” Loveday teasingly called. “Seems like someone misses and wants to talk to you.”

“Loveday stop playing!” Maria hissed under her breath, feeling her cheeks grow warm.

Robin jogged over to the phone with a merry grin on his face. Loveday flipped the camera back around, blew a kiss at Maria with a wink, and passed the phone to Robin.

“Hey,” Robin greeted. “Cleaned your face?”

“No!” Maria lied against the growing blush.

“It’s alright princess, not all of us can look as good as I did in smeared eyeliner.”

“Oh please, you mean that emo phase you went through?”

Robin stilled. The corners of his mouth turned up into a faint smile. He shut his eyes as he threw his head back and clutched Georgie’s toy like a microphone. “I got your picture! I'm coming with you! Dear Maria count me in!” Robin sang at the top of his voice.

“Oh god no! Not that song again! You were so annoying! I’ll hang up if you don’t stop right now!” Maria threatened through Robin’s laughter.

“It wasn’t a phase. It was a lifestyle! I’m thinking of bringing it back. Reckon I’ll look better with it now.”

“Ugh, your ego has grown along with your hair.”

“Wouldn’t yours too if you looked this good in a bun?”

“Please, I’ve seen better.”

“Oh yeah, name a few.”

“Chris Hemsworth, Ben Barnes, Jason Mamoa, Orlando Bloom, Timothée Chalamet—”

“Alright, alright, I get it. And please don’t get me started on that Chalemutwat. Such a sap, can’t believe that’s what girls are into nowadays.”

“You're just sore you don't fit the profile anymore. Face it Robin, the rock and leather days are long gone. It's all about k-pop and softbois now.”

“Softboys are just fuckboys with flowers in their hair,” Robin grumbled in disgust.

Maria snorted, thinking about the time he wore a flower crown for a May Day festival. “So, I heard you got back a month ago?”

Robin was walking out of the manor. She could see the setting blue sky and moving landscape in his background. “Yeah… The parks closed down. Figured it was time to come back home. I’m surprised you aren’t here.”

“Aww miss me?”

Robin shrugged his shoulders and looked away. “Want to see the gardens?” Robin flipped the camera, showing her around the manor grounds. As he walked her through, he talked of how covid affected his job. The craziness of people. How some thought escaping to the outdoors was the solution, only to end up trampling on preserved wildlife and littering about.

Maria had settled down, resting her cheek on the palm of her hand, she wore a wistful look across her face with a soft smile. Robin paused. His eyes focused on the screen, and he swallowed.

“Such a shame that happened to the park,” Maria said. “I’d be heartbroken if something like that happened to your forest.”

Robin cleared his throat, “Erm-yeah. Really annoying.” He forced his eyes back to the gardens as he continued on his way.

The camera stopped moving as he sat by a tree and flipped the camera back on him.

“You got an earring?” Maria asked leaning closer to the screen.

“Yeah, was thinking about it for a while.”

“Ooh! Show it to me.”

He brought the phone close, it was a black stud, with a charm of a red feather.

“I like it.”

“Looks good on me, eh?”

“Bring that ego down a notch and then we’ll see. How’s your father, I’m guessing he had to stop with his falconry lessons?”

“Yes, we shut down the school temporarily. The castle feels lonely.”

“I’ve always wanted to learn.”

“Really? I’ll teach you when you get here.”

“Okay! Oh, I took up archery—Well before covid shut it down.”

“No way.”

“Yeah, I can teach you that!”

“Sounds like a deal,” Robin paused, “are you really not coming back soon?”

“Oh, I don’t know. What if lockdown ends?”

“Don’t bet on it. Words going around it’ll be like this until the vaccine comes out. Give it another six months, maybe a year.”

“A year?”

“Yep.”

“Bloody hell.”

Robin frowned. “When did you start cursing?”

“I’ve learned a thing or two at uni. Even got drunk!” Maria said with a proud grin.

Robin’s face fell. “When was this? Who were you with?”

“Oh, lay off. You’ve gotten drunk plenty of times. Don’t forget about that time you broke your arm after trying to climb my tower.”

“That’s not the problem. You’re tiny. Were you with trusted people? Who took you home?”

“Relax birdboy, I was with friends. We went to a pub. I got tipsy, not black-out drunk. My roommates and I walked ourselves home. I didn’t even have a hangover. And I’m not tiny, I’m average.”

“Just barely,” Robin said with a snort though he seemed to relax back against the tree. “Never, ever, get drunk without someone you truly trust. And remember the pack rule. People are shifty.”

“I know, I know. I still remember your lesson before I left for school. Besides with this pandemic, doubt that’ll be happening anytime soon.” Maria told him about school. The weird things she’s seen on her classmate’s cameras. How everyone seemed to care less and less. She was over it all.

“You should just come back to Moonacre. Study from here. Even my friends are back, they’ve been helping me fly the falcons.”

“The gangs back too? So not fair. I miss them,” Maria whined. “I want to, but it’s too dangerous. My uncle’s the only one working right now, and the upkeep of that old manor is so expensive. I can’t risk their health. If I could get home safely, I would be there in a heartbeat.”

Robin got pensive. “Alright. Well, hopefully I’ll see you soon.”

Maria rolled her eyes. “I just told you that’s not likely. I already feel bad enough as it is. Don’t rub it in.”

Robin shrugged his shoulders, “Never say never. I should let you go now, it's late and Loveday’s phone is about to die.”

Maria pouted, surprised to see the clock in the corner of her screen read 8:47 pm. “Wow, we don’t speak for ages and you’re already wanting to hang up. I see how it is.”

Robin shook his head with a chuckle and a sad look across his eyes. “You know that’s not the case,” he said softly.

“I know. I’m only teasing. Good night Robin. I…I miss you.”

“Good night princess. I miss you too.”

The screen turned black. Instead of Robin’s face, she now sat staring at her own glum reflection.

8:49 pm.

She closed her laptop and stared at the photo collage above her desk. Pictures of her adventures with friends and family adorned the board. In the middle was one of her and Robin competing in a race at that May Day Festival. Still wearing the flower crown, Robin was giving her a piggyback ride. She was laughing. They lost after Maria freaked out when a bee landed on a flower in front of her nose, causing Robin to trip. It was the last thing they did before her leaving to school.

Sitting back up, she opened up her essay and began to type. Wondering when she would see him and her family again.

…A few weeks later…

A resounding knock came from the door. Maria frowned. She hadn’t ordered dinner yet… It was probably some package getting delivered. Shrugging her shoulders, she went back to work, deciding to deal with it later... Until the knocking came again. Then her phone lit up. Maria glanced at the screen, wondering who could be calling: Robin.

#moonacreweek2021 #incorrect-quotes-of-moonacre #theres supposed to be a second part to this... but i havent finished it #oops #the secret of moonacre #robin x maria #modern au #covid-19 #pandemic #marias bored #all time low #dear maria #i totally think robin had an emo phase #and he works the man bun #this was fun #i wish i could participate more #the prompts are soooo good #the possibilities

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residentanchor-writes · 3 years

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Downside Ch. 2

Summary: Clyde tries his hand at ‘robbing’ a bank. << Chapter 1 Watch the animatic here. Check out the Downside au @robinsdownside! TW: Cursing, mental manipulation

Clyde was anxiously sitting in his trashy car in front of the bank. He wasn't too sure of the thing he was about to do. But he needed the money and he couldn’t crash at Remy’s place forever.

Checking his face in the rearview mirror again, he gladly noted that the makeup still hid his scales that seemed to like to appear more often on his face than anywhere else now. He also let his hair grow out quite a bit to hide them a little behind bangs that fell over the left side of his face. By now he nearly looked like an emo. Working with that style, he wore a gray scarf that hid the scales that had appeared on his neck as well.

Looking down on himself he wondered if his yellow shirt and black leather jacket were casual enough.

Yeah, probably. He was thinking too hard about this. Or not hard enough.

Breathing in through his nose and letting the air slowly out through slightly parted lips, he got out of his car. He could see his breath in the air in front of him. It has gotten pretty cold since he left his parents with the most valued things he had, including his pet snake, a few weeks ago.

With a faked confident walk as he squared his shoulders, he got closer to the glass door and stepped into the building.

He was extremely lucky, there were only three other people inside. Two women who worked there as the tellers and one man who was talking to the woman on the left, so Clyde went to the other teller on the right.

“Hello, sir. What can I help you with, today?” the brunette in the white blouse asked with a sweet smile.

Clyde put on as much charm as he could muster as he smiled back. “Hello there, I hope you're having a lovely day. I'm here to make a withdrawal.”

He was good at pretending to be a more likable person than he actually was. He always wanted to be an actor, but never went to any auditions for school plays because of his social status as one of the “cool kids” that smoked and drank alcohol behind the school. The entire thing was an act in his school days, but he was good at adapting to change.

“Very well, your name sir?”

“Oh, no.” He chuckled “I was under the impression that you just wanted to give it to me,” his smile widened a little.

The woman gave him an amused sound, taking it as a joke. Out of the corner of his eye, Clyde could see the other man leaving the bank. It was just him and the two tellers alone, now.

“Good one, sir, but this would be easier with a name,” The woman spoke with a chuckle. The other teller woman went into a back door and slipped away for the moment. Perfect.

“Well if you want to call me something, I think you could just go with Deceit,” He spoke with a calmness he wouldn’t have thought he could muster at this moment. He felt his hands shaking and start to sweat as he held down his nervousness.

The woman’s smile faltered a little. “Excuse me?”

Clyde looked back over her shoulder to make sure the other girl was really gone. Then, he looked back into the sweet face in front of him which got more confused by the second.

The perfect opportunity.

He looked in her deep blue eyes.

“You wanted to give me $50,000, right? That’s why I’m here.”

His left eye shimmered and glowed with a light yellow and he noticed the familiar sensation of an itch on his left forearm.

He still looked at the woman who stared back with a face he couldn’t quite put into place. It was nearly blank but still a little puzzled at his words.

That happened every time but he always felt the nervousness at that moment again and again. A million thoughts rushed into his head, like what if it didn’t work (again) or what if he phrased it wrong? Happens to the best, and this scenario was new to him.

This was the first time he did something really bad. Usually, he used his powers to get out of trouble for smaller things or to get free booze, but stealing $50,000 directly out of a bank, in bright daylight? That was insanity!

He had felt a weird sensation in his gut since he began ‘planning’ this. Honestly, this whole ‘rob a bank’ thing was an idea he and Remy had the night before while they were balls drunk in the basement of Rem’s parents. His parents that had no clue Clyde was even hiding there.

Rem was two years younger than him but was a pretty chill dude he had hung out with in school. He was the only one he could count on that wouldn’t snitch him out to anyone about his powers and where he was, because, well, he had powers too. Powers Remy’s parents weren’t very fond of, so they generally stayed away from the cellar.

The woman blinked as she awoke from a daze. The moment surely wasn’t longer than a second, but to Clyde, it felt like years.

The brunette locked eyes with him again and put her smile from the beginning back on.

“Of course, I remember now. It will only be a second, Mr. Deceit.”

--------

“Fuck! I did it!”

Clyde opened the basement door so fast he nearly broke it out of the old, rusty hinges. A very startled Remy, who looked like he had just been woken up, fought his way out of the blanket that had been lying on him.

He had been sleeping on his disgusting makeshift bed, which was made of just two stacked mattresses on top of the cold concrete ground. The basement looked like it should have been finished years ago but no one ever bothered to finish the job. At night, they took one of the mattresses off and slid it onto the floor next to the other so that Clyde didn’t have to sleep out on the bean bag. They had tried that the first night, but it resulted in a stiff back and a very grumpy Clyde in the morning.

Clyde-- er, Deceit moved a few steps forward, to click on the floor lamp that only had an old light bulb screwed on top and no lamp shade. The lightbulb was a normal, fluorescent bulb which somehow exclusively produced greenish light. Clyde had asked about that the second day he had stayed here but Remy too didn’t exactly know why either, not that he cared.

With the light, the messy room had become a little more visible. It was even dirtier than Clyde's old room had been, especially since he had moved in. They both didn’t really care enough to clean all the filthy clothes of the ground except when they ran out of fresh clothes, in which case Remy had to go upstairs with a decent sized pile that was unsuspicious to his parents since they didn’t have to know about Clyde’s existence in Remy’s room.

If they found out about the other kid with powers in their basement? That would mean massive trouble for both of them.

Remy’s guardians were already not on best terms with their son since he had intruded their dreams by accident on more than one occasion. They didn’t hate him but Remy had sometimes messed up their sleep so much that they were first confused what was happening, then they screamed at him to stop and at last, they started to get him out of the way.

He was ok with that. He was just in his basement room, enjoying his life without the worry that his parents would storm in.

But if they knew that he invited someone else to live at their house without their knowledge, they would be very mad. They would probably scream at him again and would call Clyde’s parents, even though he was actually old enough to live on his own, as a 19-year-old. Clyde just didn’t have the money to live on his own. He had been fired a few months ago from his job at the pet shop.

He had to leave his home weeks ago in order to hide his powers from his family as the scales became more and more obvious, so he came to the only one he knew that would at least understand.

It wasn’t much fun sleeping next to someone who had the ability to go into your dreams whenever both of them slept at the same time. Rem didn’t do it on purpose of course, the closer you sleep next to him the more likely it is that he just stumbles into your dream by accident. That's why he had to sleep in the basement, while his parents slept on the third floor. They simply wanted him as far away at night as possible.

What the two did all day now was lying around in the dirty cellar on the green bean bag and the mattresses and talked about everything and nothing. Somedays they played games on the old arcade machine Remy had or they had matches on his kicker, all while smoking pot or drinking beer Clyde brought back every time he went out.

But not this time. This time he brought something better. Money. And lots of it.

Remy tried focusing on the guy with the weird scales in front of him as he blinked the sleep from his eyes, “Wha-?”

Deceit ripped away the blanket and threw a full plastic bag him. It hit him in the chest, where you could read ‘Never SLEEP again’ on a gray shirt, and caused him to lay down again with the bag sitting on top of him.

“I said I did it! I actually did it, I stole the money!” Deceit stood proudly next to the ‘bed’, hands on his hips, with the broadest smile Remy had ever seen on the guy. It kinda creeped him out, to be honest.

Then the bank robber turned around into the direction of the old foosball table and lifted his arm triumphantly into the air and tilted his head back so he looked at the ceiling.

“Oh my god! I feel great! This was way better than drugs!” he screamed in euphoria.

Remy leaned up on his elbow and let the bag fall next to him on the bed.

“Flippin’ shut up, man! You're gonna wake the whole street shoutin’ like that.”

Deceit turned his head back to his friend, puzzled.

“It's 5 in the afternoon?”

“Oh really? I'm up early,” the sleepy head grinned.

Deceit made a face at him that could only have meant ‘you fu**king serious?’

Rem's eyes fell on the plastic bag next to him. With one hand he lifted a handle and looked inside. His eyes widened, only now had he realized what Deceit had actually done. He shot up straight on the mattress and put the bag on the ground so he could take a bundle of hundred dollar notes out. He ran a finger across the stop slowly as the reality of the situation began to sink in.

“Jesus Christ, you actually did it?!” he looked up shocked at the criminal who now faced him again. With the head movement, the green shade sunglasses that had apparently been lying on his purple dyed and messy hair the whole time he slept, fell onto his nose.

“Hell yeah, I did! And it was so easy too! Like stealing a lolly from a baby.”

The seventeen-year-old sitting on the mattresses gathered himself enough to get a little of his sass back.

“Cliché.” He looked back down to the pile of money. “Jeez, how much even is this?”

“50,000 bugs,” Dee’s eyes sparkled saying that.

“Holy shit. Holy shit, I can't believe it! I thought we were just joking around yesterday! We were drunk for fucks sake!”

Remy would have never thought that Clyde would actually do something this incredibly stupid. They just talked like idiots about how they could have anything they wanted if they used their powers more, not that he ever actually considered doing so.

“Come on, just imagine what we can do with that much money!” Deceit stepped closer to him, gesturing with his hands.

“With the stolen money.”

“No one knows that!”

“Babe, don't you think 50k will be missed? Where did you even get that from? The bank like we said?” he took his shades with his forefinger and thumb on the rim of the glasses and slid them down a bit so he could look into Deceit's eyes.

“Yeah and no, no one knows I took the money. I made sure the woman was the only one there and I just made her give it to me.”

“50k in cash. Someone will miss that! They’re going to notice that much missing! Did you think of the cameras?” Rem’s eyebrows furrowed as he put his shades back on properly.

“I do not like to repeat myself. She just handed it to me! It looks completely innocent on camera. And as far as she knows, that money belongs to me.”

Deceit got frustrated with his friend. Just the night before he also loved the idea and now he was lecturing him?!

“You can't keep the money here, babe. I'm not ok with that much stolen cash under my roof!”

“It will be gone soon anyway.” He tried again to reason. This was a good thing, why couldn’t he see it?

“You need to leave,” The voice sounded monotone.

Deceit’s shoulders fell. “What?”

“Clyde, sweetie, don’t get me wrong. I'm totally up for all kinds of stupid shit but that's a bit too far man and I really don't want to get in trouble because of you.”

“So, you're throwing me out?”

“You have enough money to rent a hotel room,” he said gesturing to the bag at his feet.

Deceit looked with disbelief into the green-tinted sunglasses that hid Remy’s emotions pretty well.

How could he just throw him out? He thought the other would be happy about the money. He would have even shared it with him for letting him stay here, but now…

He growled “Fine. I'll leave. I don't need you anymore anyway. I can do whatever I want without you. Just don't come crawling back to me when I'm ruling the city.”

“Sure thing rip-off Disney villain.”

“You've seen the last of me.”

With that Deceit took his luggage, bound the bag of money to it and lifted a small terrarium with Terrence in it under his arm and left the basement.

Remy let out a shaky breath into the stifling air of his room.

For a second there, he had been afraid that Clyde- no, Deceit would use his powers on him.

---- Chapter 3>>

#downside au #Sanders sides fic #sanders sides fanfic #ts deceit #ts sleep #ts janus #non canon name deceit #superpower au #ts downside au #ts remy

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panic-at-the-fiction · 4 years

Text

Hello Darling pt3

Summary: (y/n) is the salvatores younger sister and she is low key in love with one of the originals. You know which one. The only problem is he is a low key psychopath and neither of them remember that this isn’t their first meeting.

Warnings: just harmless flirting

A/N: I’ve been in love with Kol Mikaelson for 3 days now. I’m being forced to watch vampire diaries with my mom and Kol and the rest of the original family are like the only reason I’m still watching it.

You hadn't gotten any sleep last night. You spent 3 hours in the emergency room with Matt because he wouldn't drink your blood. He didn't want to risk becoming a vampire. But you were trying to be a nice person nowadays so you respected his decision and waited with him at the ER. You didn't get home till 4 in the morning, and it took you at least an hour to get out of that stupid dress you had worn. You really wish you hadn't had gone to that stupid party. It had been filled with one disappointment after another, but now you were home in your apartment. With no annoying brothers, no doppelgänger sluts, and no originals. The sun was coming up and you were finally able to get some sleep for the day.

You didn't wake up till about 12 in the afternoon. By the time you showered and left your apartment it was already 1 o'clock so you were shocked when you arrived at your brothers house in time to see Rebekah Mikaelson leaving in the same dress she had worn to the party the night before. She only ignored you and walked out of the house. Not even making eye contact with you.

Damon walked down the stairs barely dressed after having obviously just taken a shower.

"What was Rebekah doing here?" You knew exactly what she had been doing, but you needed your brother to admit it.

"She was just leaving." He smiled and walked away trying to ignore your question. You followed him into the library.

"No Damon, I mean why was she here in the first place?"

"I may or may not have gotten drunk and brought her back here after Elena shut me down last night." He poured himself a drink.

You couldn't help but laugh at your ass of an older brother. It was only a couple hours ago that he accused you of sleeping with an original and here he is brushing off his one night stand like it didn't matter that he's a big fat hypocrite. "You know what? Eat Shit Damon."

"Aww come on (y/n) so what if I slept with Rebekah. Why do you care?"

"I care because last night when you weren't busy fawning over Elena you were slut shaming me for being around an original but today you're sleeping with one of them like it's no big deal. So yeah, Damon. eat shit and see if I care!" You stormed out of the house, not wanting to be around your brother any longer. He was a jerk and he never made an effort to apologize for it. Not like he did with Stefan at least.

You decide it was best if you went back to not caring and day drinking. So you headed back to the mystic grill and picked back up where you left off yesterday, half way through a bottle of whiskey.

By the time ten o'clock rolled around you were on your fourth bottle of whiskey and you were starting to crave something stronger, something that didn't come from a bottle. You looked around the room eyeing everyone in the bar. It was really packed since it was ten-o'clock on a Saturday. You were sizing everybody up to see who you could snatch away and take a bite out of. You notice some girl walking towards the bathroom. You quickly finished your drink and tried to go after the girl. But when you turned to leave your seat Kol was standing in front of you, blocking you from going after the girl.

"Hello Darling, I see your day drinking again. Whiskey of all things. Most girls are into champagne and fruity cocktails nowadays but you really aren't must girls are you." He set his coat on the back of the chair and set down next to you at the bar.

You really didn't want to see Kol right now or really ever. You saw another girl head to the bathroom so you gave up trying to feed from them and refilled your whiskey glass. "Not like most girls? Was that supposed to be a complement? You're gonna have to do better than that after what you did." You kept staring at the wall in front of you. You didn't want to look at him right now. Hell you didn't want him to be there right now.

"Oh yes how is the quarterback? All hyped on vampire juice and healed now?"

"No, he wouldn't take my blood. I had to sit in the ER with him all last night."

"Oh so is that why you're here drinking?"

"Why are you here Kol?" You turned to face him.

"Would you believe if I said that I care about your problems?" You rolled your eyes and you could tell he was just being sarcastic. "Yeah I wouldn't either. I'm not usually the one to care about other people and their problems. That was usually Elijah. Though I do feel different after having been daggered and living in a coffin for so long maybe I can give it go. So how about you tell me your problems and I'll tell you mine?"

You ignored him, just went back to staring at the wall and drinking your whiskey. "Well fine then I'll start first. Today my brother and my mother tried to kill me and all of my siblings, but then your brothers accidentally stopped them by killing my brother, permanently this time, before my mother could complete her spell. So now she's off in the wind trying to figure out how to finish us off."

He took the whiskey bottle from you and grabbed an empty glass to fill it up. You just stared at him, you felt bad about what had happened to him. You couldn't even imagine what he must be feeling right now. "I'm so sorry about what happened with your mother and for what my brothers did. I had no idea they were planning any of this. Which one of your brothers was it?"

"Finn." He downed what he could of the whiskey and refilled. He was obviously having a bad day.

"Were you two close?"

"No not really. He was a lot older and he spent the better half of the last millennium in a box for having a stick up his ass."

"Your family is something else."

He laughed a bit "You're telling me. So what happened to you today? Couldn't be any worse than my day."

"No but it wasn't any good." Kol just kept drinking and nodded along. "Went to my brother's house this afternoon to check in on them and make peace after last night. Turns out he and your sister hooked up last night. So I called him a hypocritical dick for yelling at me last night and for accusing me of sleeping with you then stormed out of the house and came here."

"So that's where Rebekah was last night. I'll have to remember to torment her later with that." He raised his glass and clinked it with yours, "Cheers."

"Cheers." You couldn't help but to stare at Kol. Despite everything he did last night you didn't hate him. He was different tonight, he wasn't cocky and confident he seemed genuine. About an hour and a bottle later. You were both pretty drunk, even for vampires. You found yourself once again wanting to spend more time with the jerk. After everything he did to your friend you still liked him, more than you probably should have. Everything about him just seemed so familiar and comfortable.

You decided it was best that you left before you tried to do anything you might regret. "I should probably get going, it's late."

"Do you need me to walk you home or get you a cab?" Kol started to laugh, "I'm trying to be nice here, I'm not sure it's working for me."

"No, I'll be okay. I don't live far from here." You got up and started to walk towards the door as Kol stopped you about half way.

"Hey (y/n) wait!" He grabbed your wrist and turned you around to face him. "I'm sorry about what I did at the ball yesterday. I was mad at my sister and I took it out on your friend Matt and your brother."

It fell silent between you two for a moment. Kol was still holding your wrist in his hand. You started to laugh, "What's so funny?"

"Nothing, it's just, you're apologizing for trying to kill my only friend and my brother and I've just forgiven you. I'm not even upset about it, Because I've been there before, when you're so mad at someone that you take it out on someone else. It's just so weird I should be mad at you right now but I'm not. Part of me likes you even more now." You just kept laughing at yourself. You were totally drunk off your ass. You didn't even realize you said you liked him out loud.

"Wait did you just say you like me more now? So you actually did like me before?" Kol smiled at you. You were mad at yourself for saying that out loud but glad you got Kol to perk up a bit. You noticed him moving a bit closer to you.

"Maybe" the alcohol was really kicking in. You felt more confident than you had in a long while.

Kol leaned down a bit so you two were closer together "Does that mean I still have a chance?"

"Maybe." You saw him glance down a few times to stare at your lips too. You both were waiting for someone else to make the first move. You were as close as you two could get without touching.

Tired of the waiting, Kol closed the gap between you. He pulled you closer by your wrists before moving his hands to the side of your face. Your hands ran up through his short brown hair. You could already taste the whiskey on him. It didn't take you long before you both were gasping for air and had to pull apart slightly. Neither of you could seem to decide what to say next.

You broke the silence, "You know on second thought I might need a walk home. My place is just two blocks over."

Kol pulled away from you and laughed. He quickly grabbed his coat from the back of his chair. He smiled and held his hand out to you "Well then, lead the way."

I just want to say thanks again to @hellish-ramblings-of-an-emo for helping me edit these and get these first few chapters out here. You have been such an inspiration to me and you make me want to write more everyday!

Also thank you to all the people who have been liking this story and I’ll be posting new chapter from now on every week! I would also love to take request for fic ideas to help me fill up this blog with stories.

#kol mikaelson #kol mikaelson x (y/n)#kol mikaelson x reader #kol x (y/n)#kol x reader #kol x you #vampire diaries #vampire diaries x reader

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rosemarypasta · 4 years

Text

monday afternoons ♡ 9

➤ pairing : oikawa tooru x female reader (karasuno manager)

➤ chapter warnings : slowburn (?)

➤ summary : You just recently joined the Karasuno boy’s volleyball team as their first year manager. As you grow closer to your teammates, you also unexpectedly grow closer to one of their biggest rivals, Oikawa Tooru

➤ chapter word count: 2355

♡ masterpost ♡

-ˏˋ chapter nine ˊˎ-

WEDNESDAY

4:45 PM

“Kindaichi, nice kill!” Iwaizumi’s voice boomed in the midst of the constant squeaking of volleyball shoes against the wooden floor. It was yet another busy afternoon practice session for Seijoh’s boy’s volleyball club for Iwaizumi Hajime. As the vice captain, he has a range of responsibilities to fulfill.

These responsibilities include keeping trouble makers in line.

“Kyotani! You’re late! Start stretching already!” Iwaizumi yelled at the second year student who came almost two hours late. The blonde buzzcut haired boy clicked his tongue at his senior but complied anyway.

Additionally, a vice captain should also help those in need.

“What’s the matter, Yahaba?” Iwaizumi approached his troubled looking junior who was staring at the volleyball in his hands. “Ah, Iwaizumi-san, I can’t seem to set the ball accurately enough in a high toss.” He muttered out of frustration. Iwaizumi being the resident wing spiker swallowed the lump in his throat as he attempted to find advice for the younger setter.

Of course, Yahaba’s worry can be eradicated with a snap of a finger if the club had one of the best all rounder players in the whole prefecture. Iwaizumi’s workload can certainly also be lifted if he had a reliable captain on his side.

If only Seijoh had such a good ace setter as their captain.

In reality, Seijoh did have one. Until that specific player, who happens to be the captain, decided to throw an emo fit suit for a thirteen year old boy going through puberty.

“I’m sorry, I know I should be asking Oikawa-san for advice but he’s just er…” Yahaba quietly said, confused on how to act around Oikawa with his sudden character change. “It’s fine, I’m sorry I can’t really help you with this but I’ll try asking that idiot when I can.” Iwaizumi sighed and rubbed the back of his neck, embarrassed at himself that he couldn’t help his junior.

As Yahaba shuffled away to practice his tosses, Iwaizumi caught the coach signaling him to come over. “Iwaizumi, are you sure you can’t do anything about him? We have a practice match after this.” Coach Irihata sighed, his eyes signalling to the brunette setter sitting absent minded in the corner of the gym. Iwaizumi closed his eyes and took a deep long breath before answering his head coach, “I’ll get him moving, don’t worry.”

Coach Irihata gave the vice captain a sympathetic smile. It has been two week since Y/N last spoke to Oikawa and his performance as a setter and human being in general has quickly deteriorated. Two to three days into the last two weeks, he was still acting normal though Iwaizumi has caught him spacing out a bit too much than usual but now that the two week mark has passed, Oikawa appeared to be a completely different person.

“Oi, Shittykawa.” The wing spiker huffed, kicking the setter’s foot lightly.

“What.”

“Get up.”

“You’re not my mom, you can’t tell me what to do.”

“I said GET UP” Iwaizumi snapped, kicking Oikawa’s foot harder than before. Oikawa rolled his eyes at his best friend but did as he was told.

Iwaizumi gathered the rest of the team towards Oikawa and him with his broad shoulders wide. “Alright everyone, we have Date Tech coming in a few minutes for a match or two so we better get straight sets okay?” Iwaizumi announced to the rest of the team. “Alright!” the array of high schoolers chanted.

“Whatever.”

4:50 PM

“Oikawa, it’s your turn to serve.” Matsukawa said as he handed the ball to his captain. Oikawa turned to the score board and sighed as it showed the ten point gap between his own team and Date Tech’s.

Oikawa walked over to the end of the court with the ball in his hands, bouncing it up and down before cracking his neck in an attempt to focus though all efforts diminished as high pitched screams filled the room.

“Oikawa senpai! Good luck!” A second year girl who Oikawa doesn’t even recognize screamed from the bleachers. The collection of high pitched squeals filled OIkawa’s ears. Iwaizumi smirked at himself, thinking that his girl-crazed friend would at least improve his mood by a little bit from hearing his female fans’ support but instead widened his eyes as he watched OIkawa click his tongue and gave them a death glare.

The court immediately fell silent from the unexpected gesture of the usually charismatic captain. Hanamaki and Matsukawa’s jaws dropped at the sight of him ignoring his fans he usually fawns over.

Oikawa took several steps back and proceeded to run forwards towards the court, throwing the ball up and slamming his hand hard at the ball.

“Out!” Sakunami, Date Tech’s libero yelled out a second before the ball slammed against the area beneath the white line that marked the court.

“Shit.’ Oikawa swore out loud as the rest of the Seijoh team swallowed the lump in their throats.

6:12 PM

Oikawa walked home under the quickly dimming sky with his hands in his pockets. His heart was far from content especially after losing to his opponent of the day. His phone was still in his right hand. His fingertips still had a sliver of hope for a buzz or two signifying Y/N’s texts.

“Quit following me.” Oikawa stopped in his tracks to whip his head back towards the ace of the team who was five steps away from him

Iwaizumi walked over to his friend and put his dominant hand on his shoulder before hitting him on the head. “We’ve been going to the same train station for three years now, don’t get ahead of yourself, Shittykawa.” Iwaizumi growled.

Oikawa giggled, contradictory to Iwaizumi’s expectations. “What’s so funny? Have you finally lost your mind?” Iwaizumi raised his eyebrow at the boy.

“Nothing, it’s just that...Thank you, Iwa-chan.” Oikawa sighed softly, a bittersweet smile on his face.

“Ha? Are you thanking me for hitting you? Cause I can do a lot more after your shitty behaviour today.” Scowled Iwaizumi.

“I know I’ve been such a pain in the ass, I mean, more than usual, and surely if I were you I would’ve ditched my ass ages ago.” Oikawa started as Iwaizumi gawked at his unusual self awareness. “I know it sounds silly but hearing you call me that just made me relieved. At least someone in my life doesn’t hate me, y’know.” He continued softly.

“She doesn’t hate you.”

“She does.”

“You’re right.”

“Iwa-chan’s an idiot! You’re supposed to comfort me more. Boo!” Oikawa pouted, throwing a fake tantrum before starting to walk forward again towards the station.

Iwaizumi jogged to catch up with his best friend, whose head was tilted down once again. Though he couldn’t see his face clearly through Oikawa's obnoxiously big hair, he could tell his facial expression went back to the one he has had for over two weeks.

“What would you say to her if you get to talk to her again?” Iwaizumi started the conversation again after walking in silence for a handful of minutes.

Oikawa hesitated, fumbling his walking pattern for a second. “I don’t know. I just want to see her again. Am I bad?” He asked though it sounded more rhetoric to Iwaizumi.

“No.” Iwaizumi put his hand on the lighter haired boy’s hair and ruffled it.

“But you better have something to say.” he said under his breath, quiet enough for Oikawa to not notice at all.

THURSDAY

6:08 PM

“Goodbye everyone!” You exclaimed to the rest of the team before hopping off the steps of the gym. You ran your fingers through your hair as you began to walk towards the school gates. It has been a while since you walked back home yourself. Kageyama had an english test the following day so Daichi made him and Hinata stay back so Tsukishima could tutor them for a while. Though you insisted on helping them, Kageyama affirmed that you should go first before it gets too dark. Though Kageyama was never the talkative type, not hearing a second set of footsteps along with yours made you feel a little bit lonely.

You skipped your way to the gates, feeling oddly happy before your eyes unexpectedly caught sight of a certain school’s white jacket. Your legs stopped moving instinctively. With the turquoise text printed on the back of the jacket, you had no doubt that it was an Aoba Johsai student.

Though upon further inspection, you sighed in relief as you noticed the back of the person’s head was nowhere close to Oikawa’s hair style. There was just simply no way for OIkawa’s curls to stand spiked up like the boy’s hair.

You quietly began to walk again, not giving the student a second thought before he promptly called out your name with his unrecognized raspy voice.

“Y/N?”

“Y-Yes?” You turned your head slowly towards the Seijoh student. You didn’t know how he knew your name or what business he had with you but you already had a bad feeling in your gut about him.

“Ah, Um, please don’t be afraid, I mean I guess I would be if I were in your shoes.” He said as he scratched the back of his neck, lowering his head slightly. “You might’ve heard of me. I’m Iwaizumi Hajime.”

The hairs on the back of your neck stood up immediately. That name didn’t take you long to recognize. With the amount of times Oikawa brought him up in conversations, only an idiot would forget the Iwaizumi Hajime, despite never meeting him.

Though fear, quickly turned to anger. Your head started to heat up as you balled your fists, turning sharply to face Oikawa’s best friend directly.

“Look, if Oikawa-san told you to come here just ge-”

��He didn’t tell me to! I’m not here for him- well, I am...but whatever you have in mind, it’s not it.” Iwaizumi frantically said, his hands waving in front of him though he retracted them quickly, avoiding giving you the wrong idea.

“Please. Just let me explain.” He started to speak again, but this time much softer. You watched as his thick eyebrows drooped as the amount of hope slowly began to slip in between his fingers.

“Make it quick.” You crossed your arms and prayed that none of the Karasuno team would bump into you and Iwaizumi.

“Oikawa...He really does care for you.” Iwaizumi started, biting his tongue right after to avoid the cringe expression he was dying to show after saying the phrase he just said to you. “And I don’t want to overstep anything, well I guess I already am since Oikawa doesn’t know that I’m here, but I’m not lying Y/N. I-It’s amazing how you actually managed to tame that bastard, actually. I’ve never seen him act like this before in the whole twelve years I've known that idiot.” He sighed.

Your eyes widened at the things the stranger you just met have said. Tame? Acting differently? You didn’t know what he was saying and you hate yourself for even having a conversation with Oikawa’s partner in crime but your curiosity got the better of you.

“What do you mean by acting differently?” You tried your best to remain indifferent and unbothered though snippets of your true intention probably have slipped out in between your words.

“Where do I even start! Man, Matsukawa and Hanamaki have been going insane after seeing him like that for too long.” Your ears perked up at the sound of two more familiar names you recognised from Oikawa’s conversations. “Well, for a start, all life and light has been sucked dry from him. He has resorted to one word replies and sighs to everything compared to his usual sickening monologues he drops every now and then. He, the guy who checks the mirror as many times as he blinks, shows up to school without even brushing his hair anymore. He has abandoned his pride and joy, volleyball, completely now, not even being able to serve properly without hitting the net or out of the court.” By the time he had finished saying his last word, Iwaizumi was gasping for air which you admittedly laughed at.

“Trust me, I could go on and on and I’m even sugar coating all this shit I’ve had to go through ‘cause of his dumbass!” He sighed.

“Now, I’m not going to force you to do anything but please, could you hear him out just for a while at least?” He begged, the desperation evident in his eyes. You bit your lip as your gaze traveled from the third year to the ground.

Before you could open your mouth, a sudden ringtone filled the surroundings of the deserted Karasuno school gates. “Ah shit, it’s Oikawa.” He swore as he checked his ringing phone. “I gotta get going, he’s not supposed to know that I’m here. Y/N, I’m sorry if I crossed a line, you don’t have to give me an answer now, just think about it, ‘kay?” He calmly sighed after sliding his still ringing phone back into his pocket. You didn’t know how to respond so all you could do was nod and bid him farewell.

The moment you got home, you threw all your belongings to a corner of your room and jumped into bed face first. It was all too overwhelming. You didn’t know what to do or what to say.

To forgive or to not forgive?

Did you want to see Oikawa again? Of course you did. But could you take the truth he would reveal? You knew deep in your heart ignoring him and leaving him without even hearing an explanation was childish and unfair but you knew you wouldn’t be able to take the truth. It would hurt even more if you heard it from his mouth instead of Hinata’s.

You grabbed your pillow and shoved your face into it harshly, drowning all light and letting yourself seep into the comforting darkness.

“I just want all of this to be over.” You whispered to yourself.

next: -ˏˋ chapter ten ˊˎ-

previous: -ˏˋ chapter eight ˊˎ-

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salvatoreschool · 4 years

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Vampire Diaries Universe: The 25 Best Characters, Ranked

For the first time since 2009, we’re entering a fall season devoid of any new offerings from the Vampire Diaries universe. And like Stefan Salvatore without his daily diet of forest friends, we’re insatiable.

Like so many longtime TVD enthusiasts (those of us to whom the word “thesmatos” really means something!), we’ve spent much of quarantine revisiting the weird, wonderful universe — from Mystic Falls to New Orleans and back again. We’re suddenly spending a lot of time with characters we haven’t seen in years. And we’re having a lot of feelings about them.

In celebration of the franchise’s 11th anniversary, TVLine has assembled another totally non-controversial ranking, this time of the 25 best characters from the Vampire Diaries universe — a category that also includes familiar faces from The Originals and Legacies. (In Legacies‘ defense, the franchise’s latest offshoot hasn’t been around as long to endear itself to us, but that didn’t stop four Salvatore School students from making their way onto our list.)

In lieu of new content from the TVD universe this fall, TVLine is looking back at our 25 favorite characters from the entire franchise, including stand-out favorites from its two spinoffs.

SPOILER ALERT: This ranking discusses major plot points from all three shows. If you haven’t finished The Vampire Diaries (Season 1-8), The Originals (Season 1-5) or Legacies (Season 1-2), proceed at your own risk. Don’t say we didn’t warn you!

25. VINCENT GRIFFITH

Thanks to the magic of body swapping, the Mikaelson siblings have inhabited multiple physical vessels throughout the years, but none have remained in the family’s orbit quite like this Southern gentleman. Powerful, thoughtful and downright Shakespearean in his delivery (Yusuf Gatewood, ladies and gentlemen!), Vincent always has the greater good in mind. And as we learned in The Originals’ series finale, he helped Freya and Keelan pass that good along to the next generation.

24. LANDON KIRBY

Even though we’re still getting to know him, there’s already so much to like about this pure-hearted Mystic Falls townie. Not only is he the franchise’s first-ever phoenix, but he also looks like he could pass for Damon and Elena’s offspring — and that’s never a bad thing. We could tell he had a long future in this universe the moment he danced with Hope in The Originals’ final season. (So far, so good!)

23. JENNA SOMMERS

Like so many paved paradises, we didn’t fully appreciate what we had with Jenna until she was gone. Her death marked the end of Elena’s innocence — which is saying a lot, considering she was still mourning her own parents when The Vampire Diaries began. And if we’re being honest, Jenna was the ghost we were most excited to see again in the series finale. (For the record, Joseph Morgan has apologized on Klaus’ behalf for killing Jenna several times.)

22. TYLER LOCKWOOD

The First Son of Mystic Falls was kind of a jerk when we met him in The Vampire Diaries‘ first season. He was arrogant, aggressive and reckless — so it actually made perfect sense when he was revealed to be a werewolf. Fortunately, Michael Trevino’s character developed a little more nuance from that point on, especially via his Romeo and Juliet romance with Caroline. (After everything that’s happened since 2013, can you believe that they were once in a love triangle with Klaus?)

21. JEREMY GILBERT

Elena’s little brother (er, cousin?) went through a number of different, wonderful phases during his tenure in Mystic Falls. We loved him in The Vampire Diaries’ earlier seasons as the human embodiment of all things emo (he literally dated a ghost!), and we… um… appreciated his unexpected evolution into a shirt-ripping, wood-chopping vampire hunter.

20. CAMILLE ‘CAMI’ O’CONNELL

The Clarice Starling to Klaus’ Hannibal Lecter, this brave bartender was able to tap into the show’s darkest, most complicated character’s psyche in ways that no one named Mikaelson (or even Forbes) ever could. She helped him conquer a number of his demons in the few short years they spent together on The Originals, and like most people who play a significant role in Klaus’ life, she suffered the consequences. (Side note: Are we the only ones who really dug Cami as a vampire? Justice for that short-lived story arc.)

19. SHERIFF ELIZABETH FORBES

Of The Vampire Diaries’ many maternal figures, none put us through the emotional ringer quite like Caroline’s mother. We weren’t her biggest fans in the show’s early seasons, given her penchant for hunting the undead (including her own daughter), but hey, what was this show if not an endless series of redemption arcs? Also, if you don’t get a little choked up when Caroline felt her mom’s presence in the series finale, you don’t have a soul.

18. FREYA MIKAELSON

The long-lost fifth Mikaelson sibling was a little rough around the edges when we first encountered her on The Originals, but the poor woman was in the midst of escaping a centuries-long imprisonment, so we cut her a little slack. And we’re glad we did, because Freya has since become one of the strongest, most inspiring and all-around likable characters in the Vampire Diaries canon. #FreelinForever

17. MARCEL GERARD

While it’s easy to get swept up in Marcel’s charm and swagger (we were robbed of a second karaoke number, by the way!), it’s important to remember just how far back his time with the Mikaelson family goes. When you consider that Klaus literally freed Marcel from slavery and raised him to lead New Orleans as his right-hand vampire, it adds a whole other layer of tension to their passionate power struggle on The Originals. Though he’s treated like an unofficial Mikaelson sibling, Marcel often feels like more of a Mikaelson than Kol — and definitely more than Finn.

16. REBEKAH MIKAELSON

Arguably the funniest (and most glamorous) member of the Mikaelson family, the woman Damon once referred to as “Barbie Klaus” never fai to tell it exactly like it was, beginning with her thoughts on then-lovebirds Stefan and Elena. (“Honestly, I don’t get you two as a couple.”) And Bex only became more complex as the years went on, from her desperate desire for humanity to her undeniable love for Marcel. Just don’t call her insane — she prefers “spontaneous.”

15. ALARIC SALTZMAN

In hindsight, Alaric’s journey from hot history teacher to hot headmaster of a supernatural school makes perfect sense. Still, it was impossible to predict back in The Vampire Diaries’ first season just how much of an impact the man formerly known as Warner Huntington III would have on this franchise. A drinking buddy to some, a father figure to others and a literal father to a lucky pair, Alaric has truly woven himself into the fabric of this universe like few others. (That said, we still wouldn’t recommend dating him if you value your life.)

14. SHERIFF MATT DONOVAN

Only one full-blooded human survived all eight seasons of The Vampire Diaries, and you’re looking at him. The pinnacle of mortal goodness, this blue-eyed patriot hasn’t always been on the same page as his vampire brethren, but that’s only because he didn’t want to see any more his friends and family get eaten. And we can sympathize with that!

12-13. LIZZIE AND JOSIE SALTZMAN

Asking us to choose between Jo (by way of Caroline) and Alaric’s daughters is an impossible task, which is ironic, considering the Gemini twins are literally destined for a fight to the death on their 22nd birthday. Besides, these sisters have always felt like a package deal, from the moment we witnessed their birth on The Vampire Diaries to the day we reunited with them as teenagers on Legacies. (They also popped up in The Originals’ penultimate episode, putting them in the prestigious category of characters who have appeared in all three series.) Despite their inherent connection, Lizzie and Josie really have grown into two very different people, a journey we hope will continue for years (and shows) to come.

11. MALACHAI ‘KAI’ PARKER

The fact that this remorseless, pork rind-loving psychopath ranks so high on our list speaks volumes about actor Chris Wood, who brought a refreshingly sassy vibe to The Vampire Diaries’ sixth season. The guy was so likable, fans were even ‘shipping him with Bonnie… as if that poor girl hadn’t been through enough already! You also have to give Kai points for longevity — even after his head got knocked off, he managed to make two encore appearances on TVD (Season 8) and Legacies (Season 2).

10. HOPE MIKAELSON

As we mentioned with Lizzie and Josie earlier, we feel like we’ve watched Hope grow up before our eyes… because we have. Given the epic circumstances surrounding her conception, birth and upbringing, an adult version of this character had a lot of hype to live up to, and Danielle Rose Russell has proven herself more than up to the challenge. Imbued with her parents’ best qualities, Hope’s power and passion make her both a formidable foe and an invaluable ally. Besides, Legacies showed us what the world would be like without Hope, and it was not a good place.

9. HAYLEY MARSHALL

We can’t even think about this fierce, fearless mama wolf without shedding a single tear. Hayley’s story was basically one long tragedy, from her complicated marriage with Jackson to her tumultuous relationship with Elijah. And then there was her untimely demise in The Originals’ final season, which… actually, let’s not talk about that. From the moment she gave birth, Hayley’s heart belonged to Hope, and it was in her most extreme maternal moments that Hayley’s true strength was on display. That’s how we’ll remember her.

8. ELIJAH MIKAELSON

Suits? Pressed. Hair? Immaculate. Vocabulary? Thicc. With his smooth moves and cunning intellect, Klaus’ extremely respectful brother could do it all — well, except keep the people he loved from meeting horrific ends. (Seriously, this guy’s track record for dead lovers is right up there with Alaric’s.)

7. BONNIE BENNETT

Simply put, this is the witch you want in your corner when things go south. Endlessly powerful and selfless to a fault, Kat Graham’s character spent eight agonizing seasons sacrificing herself — often literally, hence her multiple deaths — in order to keep her friends and family safe. No amount of bloody noses or dead boyfriends could stop this badass from crushing her enemies.

6. CAROLINE FORBES

Getting smothered to death was honestly the best thing that could have happened to Caroline, who evolved from a basic, boy-crazy cheerleader into a bad-ass vampire overnight. And that was just the first phase of her franchise-long evolution into the empowered, globe-trotting mother of two she is today. She’s also responsible for all of The Vampire Diaries’ memorable musical moments, from her sweet song for Matt to her devastating performance at Sheriff Forbes’ funeral. (Now if only she’d pay her old pals at Legacies a visit…)

5. ELENA SALVATORE

She may not have Katherine’s chaotic flare, but Elena deserves credit for carrying much of The Vampire Diaries’ dramatic and romantic weight for six years. And for that pink hair she experimented with in Season 4. On top of that, Elena also rolled with the punches better than almost anyone. (You’re vampires? I’m a doppelgänger? Now I’m a vampire? Now I’m human again? Now I’m in a coma? Sure, let’s do this.)

3-4. DAMON AND STEFAN SALVATORE

Two sides of the same brooding coin, these brothers were as proficient at breaking hearts as they were at breaking necks. And while their love triangle with Elena will remain the stuff of TV legend, their relationship as brothers was revealed to be the real heart of The Vampire Diaries in its final two seasons. Honestly, it’s too hard to choose between them, so we’re not going to.

2. KATHERINE PIERCE

Come on, when were you not excited to see this leather-clad lunatic on your screen? Deliciously twisted and infinitely more interesting than her human doppelgänger, Katherine was behind many of The Vampire Diaries’ most jaw-dropping twists, from her iconic encounter with John(’s bloody fingers) to her long-awaited return in the series finale. Honestly, putting Katherine on hell’s throne in Season 8 was merely a formality — she was always a queen.

1. KLAUS MIKAELSON

The man, the myth, the legend. To think that the monster who slaughtered poor, defenseless Aunt Jenna on The Vampire Diaries is the same person who gave it all up to save his daughter on The Originals… well, there isn’t a clap slow enough to commend that kind of growth. (Again, Joseph Morgan is very sorry about the whole Jenna thing!) By the time Klaus evaporated on the streets of New Orleans, it felt like we had explored every conceivable nook and cranny of his existence, from his traumatic childhood to his fatal romances — and we relished every second of it.

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dailysuna · 4 years

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Hello, yes, I heard requests are open!! I would like to know your thoughts on the economic repercussions of Suna losing the battle of the chunnin exams? I thought they were already in a depression before and I think I remember that things ere pretty dire to have them need to make Gaara, but the loss at the Leaf must have hit even harder. What do you think some likely strategies were, and by whom, to stave off complete economic ruin and widespread starvation among their citizens? Thank you!

Okay first off thank you so so so much for sending these in! I kid you not we were overjoyed at seeing them because they are just the type of content we like to see!!! We think about these types of things in depth so its great to see others thinking about them as well. Now let me separate these questions and answer them for you.

Question One

You are very right! Canonically Sunagakure never had great economic standing, but during Rasa’s reign as Kazekage it got worse. Now, this has nothing to do with Rasa’s way of ruling himself, but rather that the Wind Daimyo, ruler of their specific country, not Suna, started giving shinobi missions to Konohagakure instead of Suna. So, Rasa used his abilities to extract precious metals to sell so Suna didn’t collapse; however, their economy never really got back onto their feet because of many reasons I will not get into at this moment. The economy was already suffering under Rasa’s leadership, which was good even if he sucked as a father, so the sudden absence and loss of the battle during the exams would cause much chaos.

Rasa was killed meaning the country lost their best source of procuring income as well as their main leadership position (although the fact they have a council means they won’t be thrown into complete chaos without a kage good job Suna). His death alone would cause much turmoil and trouble. With the added loss of ninja, supplies (any war requires supplies and loss only means losing all that effort put in), and already strained relationships would not help. How can they even come back from this?

Well first, who is the one implementing the methods? The way we see Suna formatted almost seems to be based on a democracy where the kazekage is but one voice amongst that of the council, thus, the kazekage and the council would be the ones to brainstorm and make the changes necessary. We think that their main method in fact is to lower wages. When shinobi cash in on their missions, they take some of the profit and the government takes the other amount. They would need to start taking more from their already small amount of missions. (In fact in a discussion us mods had about similar situations one time I, mod K, have an oc family I have based in Suna that we figured would be the first to have wages cut.) In consequence I believe they would order local businesses to drop their prices. Suna has no fertile land in sight, their small plot of land in the Land of Fire they acquired years ago their only place where growing is possible, so they rely heavily on importing goods. The government would likely prioritize trying to keep the country running, while reforming relationships with Konoha. I could see them purchasing larger quantities of non-perishable food or ingredients to give out rations. They are also going through a change in power which most likely made the situation very difficult and required the council to do most of the work while Gaara listened and learned.

The important thing to remember is Suna shinobi are extremely patriotic and loyal, so here at dailysuna we think the village as a whole would do their best to cooperate and help one another should it mean the success of Sunagakure, aka a more stable economy.

Question Two

I briefly addressed some of these questions at the end of the last one, but yes we actually have planned a lot of this out in varying degrees of depth. As for the change in power, I already established Suna was facing ruin and shifting power creates another hard element in harsh times. Sometimes it is what you need but sometimes it doesn’t help in the slightest. In the case of Suna, the job of the kazekage isn’t one where someone can jump in after assassination and immediately change it all. The council is there to provide checks and balances for the kazekage as well as advice, its no coincidence we see council members mostly i their middle ages or later. This abrupt shift in power from the dead fourth kazekage to his 12-13 year old son is just a crazy change. Gaara is continuously not trusted by the council, in Shippuden they even discuss his death being beneficial in a meeting, so Gaara needs to not only learn the ropes in his young emo preteen years but to foster a better relationship with the council and the citizens as well. I don’t believe it is actually ever confirmed when Gaara officially took the seat of kazekage, so there could be a few months or even years in there where there was no official fifth kazekage. During this time, the council likely ran Suna, as they have the power to do so. Even a bit into Shippuden I believe the council was still pulling a majority of Sunagakure’s puppet strings as Gaara simply lacked the life experience for certain decisions. As far as for Gaara, we are told that he had a very rough time gaining everyone’s trust but had started doing so before being stolen away by sparky sparky boom boom man and Suna’s original angsty emo preteen, but they never really explain it? Either way, its clear based on everything I said so far that Gaara’s main focus in his transition was mostly on building those relationships others had decided to break out of fear. He is very successful and everyone loves Gaara now including us mods!

Baki. I love this man so so dearly. In an old rp discord server that no longer exists, may it rest in peace, I actually role played Baki so I workshopped an entire backstory for him based on our millions of Suna headcanons that us mods have all accepted as our canon (you’ll find we all share the same exact headcanons). As far as his ascent to council member, I thought long and hard to develop it. Everyone starts out as a basic ninja, and, without going into my headcanons for his childhood, Baki was the same. He slowly rose with his skill, as he is extremely skilled - his stamina is awful but I am convinced its because he is so good none of his battles last long and thus no need for it anyways - and became a trusted aide to Rasa. In our collective brain that contains headcanons we have also determined this is due to the personality we gave Baki, which is he is so dedicated to the village he doesn’t stop to take care of or think of himself. In other words, he can be a pushover when it comes to doing work because he only wants to be of use. This makes him the perfect target for paperwork which we believe is how he got closer to Rasa. Baki and Rasa are never explicitly said to be close or anything of the sort, but the fact that he is entrusting his precious children, one of which has a giant chaos beast inside of his little emo body, plays to the fact that he is familiar with Baki in some regard. Serving as the Kazekage’s aid, aka errand boy in this case, Baki would gain experience with paperwork, the jobs of the council and kazekage, form connections, and display his skill in all assets.

Now, there are some nasty little children needing to be taken care of. Who better to send than the man who you know will do anything for you, for the country? I am convinced very few ninja would willingly teach preteen Gaara, I mean, I don’t think I would even want to, so no one would be willing to have such an assignment and would do anything to get out of it. Even Baki was likely wary of it and for the longest time debated quitting, although, after some time, the siblings likely began to realize he cared about them (this is something I would love to talk about in more depth some other time) and weren’t as awful towards him. Hence a successful team. Did being the kazekage’s children’s sensei help Baki? Because he was their teacher? No. Because he was able to gain their trust and lead them? Most definitely. This experience likely helped him gain prestige and respect for his abilities which is how we mainly believe he got his position on the council, as that is what the council members seem to have as well as dedication to the village.

As far as being kazekage goes, we love Bakikage! This is what I mentioned earlier about a role play server. What happened is we had a plan for Rasa to be taken out of power in this AU but we didn’t wish for Gaara to suddenly be ripped from the rest of the role play by being stuck with kage duties. So, we sat down to think and realized Baki would actually be a great person to wear that fancy greenish hat. As stated earlier, he has the respect, the strength, the intelligence, the ability to prioritize things, as well as many other necessities for a good leader. The big thing that stood in his way was Gaara’s character development because the angsty emo preteen needed to turn soft boy cottage core obviously. But in all seriousness, I believe what stood between him and his theoretical throne - which he deserves - was honestly himself. Baki serves the village. Baki loves the village. Baki wants the best for the village. Baki is, as we call it, villagesexual. He only desires to be of use, not to gain power or prestige, they just happened to be given to him along the way. His own lack of drive, as well as care for Gaara, because of course if his adopted son wants those fruit snacks he will get them for him. Please Baki, you spoil them too much. So yes, Baki could be the kazekage, he has all the equipment for it, but Gaara’s own desire to be something no one expected and show them he wasn’t a monster was all Baki would have cared about. Even in our rp AU Baki was going to be reluctant about taking the power. Even if he did have that desire and drive, his care for Gaara would likely win out.

Honestly, it might be best he didn’t have that drive. You know, all the kazekages are assassinated and Baki is not an important enough of a character to Kishimoto to be brought back to life. I will gladly hold onto council member Baki if Bakikage means he dies. But its nice to think how Gaara would actually get to be a kid while Baki gets a hard earned role, huh?

I hope you enjoyed my very very long winded answers - believe it or not I tried to keep it short - and that they actually answered your questions. We all look forward to more submissions/asks from you as well as others! And we’re working on getting those lovely drawing requests planned out.

#dailysuna #suna #sunagakure #headcanons #asks #gaara #baki #rasa #mod k

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hi-epervier · 4 years

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I’m in a writing funk. Have a Naruto/Sasuke + make-up thingy while I wrestle with my muse.

There was a washroom, at the end of a corridor on the third floor of the school's science building, that went up in flames back in the 80's. They had renovated it since, but it retained a certain je-ne-sais-quoi that made one instantly ill at ease the moment they stepped past its treshold. Word had it between students that it was haunted, by Bloody Mary, or kids who hadn't managed to escape the fire, or something else entirely, depending of the version of the story you listened to. And, it was a boys washroom. One that smelled.

That washroom's entrance door creaked open.

'I'M TAKING A SHIT!' Naruto bellowed, hoping the interloper would hurry up and scram already, like the previous ones did.

He'd holed himself up in there specifically so that no one would bother him. So why the hell did it have so much trafic?!

Naruto listened for clues of what was going on, sagging in relief when he heard the door close.

Yet, just as he was bringing the brush to his face again, footsteps made themselves heard in the heavy silence.

Naruto bit back a groan. Great. Just his luck. They hadn't left.

And they were approaching, rather than retreating.

Whoever it was (one person, light steps, the presumed dude taking his sweet fucking time, like this was a stroll through the gardens or something) strode forward and past the first stalls, pushing doors open as he went.

Slowly, a pair of checkered sneakers came into view in the space visible under the locked door of Naruto's stall, and lingered there. Naruto glowered at them, trying to make them go away with the force of his mind alone. He slav squatted on the toilet seat, feet up high, so that shouldn't be a problem unless the asshat bent down and peeped under the door, but, still.

The sneakers and black jeans connected to them shifted, slightly to the right, (no!), then away, towards the urinals on the far wall of the room. Yes! Naruto thought frantically. Fuck off! Get lost!

Then, the sneackers angled themselves toward him again, the door handle gave, shitfing down, leaving Naruto plenty of time to feel a brick drop in his stomach when he realized that the lock was at the horizontal. He'd forgotten to turn it up!

Whatever protest he might have conjured stayed stuck in his throat as the door opened a few inches.

The dude (because it was a dude) looked every bit as much of a shithead as every other time they'd met, and was glaring down his stuck-up nose at Naruto.

Naruto gave him the finger.

'What.' Sniffle. 'Come to watch, creep?' He shoved his forearm under his runny nose, leaving a streak of snot on the sleeve of his lucky jacket, but who even cared at this point. That other shit had gotten into the corner of his eye, and it stung like a bitch.

The boy didn't react. He just hovered there, watching Naruto like a fucking statue, so, never breaking eye contact, Naruto lifted a buttcheek from where it rested on the closed toilet seat, and gave a big old fart.

Fraganced, too. One of his better ones, if he said so himself, and Naruto was a connoisseur.

The boy grimaced, but didn't run for the hills.

Why wasn't he leaving?

'Like to watch little boys on the toilet, eh, Uchiha freak-o? Does your mommy know?'

The boy finally moved, only to step inside the stall and lock himself up with Naruto in it.

Suddenly, Naruto wasn't so sure about this anymore.

'What the hell?!'

'Give that here,' Uchiha said, his voice gravelly. Whether from disuse or smoking or puberty was anyone's guess. Though perhaps not the smoking: Uchiha's teeth were all freakily white and clean, like the photoshopped models in the magazines he'd spied Sakura's bossy friend reading.

His stupid hair was always so perfectly styled and soft-looking, and his skin so clear, and his make-up thingy so sharp. Meanwhile, no god nor gel bottle could make Naruto's hair do anything else than stick up every which way, and girl stuff like hair pins made him look like a clown. It wasn't fair.

Uchiha held out a hand, palm up. Following his gaze, Naruto looked to himself, pausing on the small rectangular box he was craddling to his chest.

'Like hell!' he snarled. 'This is mine, go find your own!'

'I don't want to steal your stupid palette, you idiot.'

'Then what the fuck do you want?!'

'Give me that and find out.'

That! That right here! That's why Naruto couldn't stand the guy! (Well, one of the many reasons, anyway). The nerve of that guy, like he thought he was better than the rest of them or something! Like, like he couldn't be assed to make friends, like they were wasting his time! Well, though luck. Naruto had seen past his bullshit, he was nothing special!

'Sometime this year.'

'Fuck you!' Naruto hissed. 'Why the fuck would I do that? So you can laugh at me?!' Something dawned on him. 'You can't tell people about this! Not anyone! I'll kill you if you do! I-I-It isn't mine! Well, it is, but it's not for me! I-I'm not a girl!'

'Naruto.'

'It's for my cousin!'

'Idiot. Does it look like I'm laughing?'

Uh.

Naruto lifted a hand to his painted face. That's right. Somehow the fact that he looked like a fucking raccoon had managed to slip his mind for a hot minute.

'Well... no. B-But that doesn't mean anything, with a freak like you! I bet you don't even know how to smile, you... you... vampire!'

'Original,' Uchiha drawled, 'and inaccurate as ever. I assume you're referring to the iteration of the mytho dating back to the nineteenth century, which matches my skin tone, and let me guess, you're saying my eyes look lifeless? Internalized racism isn't a becoming look on you, you know that? Especially given your own heritage, but I guess what they say about blonds really is right after all, don't you agree?'

'Err...' said Naruto, who had switched off at 'inaccurate' and hadn't recovered since. 'W-whatever! It's true! And your big words don't scare me!'

Sure, Konoha High's dress code was lax, but Uchiha made it look like it was nonexistent, with his strange emo getup. It was unfair how he always got away with it. And people kept riding Naruto's ass about orange! Orange was a great color! The best color!

'Whatever,' Uchiha said, unlocking the door.

Naruto gaped at him, aghast.

'What are you doing?!'

'You're wasting my time.'

'You can't do that!' Naruto squacked, waggling a scandalized finger at the other boy. 'You can't barge in on people, and just... just... leave!'

Uchiha turned back to face him. 'No?'

'No!'

'Hm.' Uchiha held out his hand again.

Naruto stared at it, suspicion warring with curiosity for first place at the forefront of his mind.

'...Fine!' he decided at last. 'Fine. Whatever. Fine.' He shoved the palette into Uchiha's hand.

Uchiha inspected it, and snorted.

'What? You said you wouldn't laugh! What is it? Why are you laughing?!'

'Nothing. Brush.'

Oh. Right.

Naruto handed over the brush.

'Remover?'

Uh?

'Figures,' Uchiha grumbled, stuffing the make-up in his pocket.

And just like that, he left.

'Hey!'

Oh God, he'd just offered his mom's favorite palette on a silver plater to a fucking thief! He knew he couldn't trust this guy, he should have listened to his instincts! Kushina was going to skin him alive!

Wait.

Running water?

Naruto poked his head through the door. Sure enough, there Uchiha was near the single sink, picking up paper towels and putting them under the trickling water. Their gazes met in the mirror. It had a long gash near the lower corner.

'What are you doing?'

Uchiha ignored him. Several seconds later, the bastard walked back into the stall, pushing past a flabbergasted Naruto and telling him to 'sit'. In his confusion, Naruto obeyed, plopping down his ass on the toilet seat.

'Buy remover,' Uchiha ordered. Then, he set to work.

He started with the eyes, dabbing water against the corners of each of Naruto's irritated eyes, cleaning up the lashes with care once Naruto caught up and closed his eyelids. Next, he moved on to the area right over them, soaking up rivulets of soiled water with the paper before they had a chance of falling in Naruto's eyes. Sheet after sheet of paper got discarded as he worked his way around Naruto's mess, each coming off as brightly orange as the last, and with every bit of powder he removed, Naruto felt himself relax. It was... soft.

Weird, and soft. And wet. But soft. But weird.

And then the other boy used yet another paper towel to dry him up, and all at once it was over.

'Thanks,' Naruto mumbled in the silence.

Uchiha gave a short shrug.

'So,' Naruto spoke up, 'Er, so, I'll just... go!' He jumped to his feet. '...Thank you. I guess.'

Man, two thank yous. Kushina would be marking the day on the calendar if she could see this.

'Where are you going?'

Naruto stopped dead in his tracks.

'I. Somewhere?'

Uchiha looked at him as though Naruto had just grown a second head.

'Didn't you want some make-up?'

It felt a bit dumb lying about it now, so: 'I guess? But it can wait, so, um.' He could pester Uchiha into giving him back his palette later. Probably.

But as the boy peered at him with the first thing approaching hesitation to grace his face in all the time Naruto had had the displeasure of knowing him, it dawned on Naruto that perhaps Uchiha had meant to put it on him himself.

'Did you...?'

'Shut up,' Uchiha snapped, color tinting his cheeks. 'Get your ass back here!'

This time, when Uchiha grabbed his chin to manhandle him into position, there was nothing soft about his grip. Naruto must have hallucinated things earlier. He was fucking brutal!

'Hey, watch it!'

'Hold that,' Uchiha sniped back, fishing out the palette with his free hand and waiting impatiently until Naruto opened his fist to accept it. Uchiha worked open the latch, a frown creasing his brow while he considered the small array of orange-adjacent hues. Finally, he settled on a less saturated shade, swatching some of it on the back of Naruto's hand, ignoring the protest that 'that's the shittiest one!', and, seemingly satisfied, gathered more on the brush to put on Naruto's face.

'Close your eye.'

He worked in quick, light vertical strokes that tickled, squeezing on Naruto's cheeks when the later shifted; flitting from one eye to the other, back and forth again.

At some point, the washroom door swinged on its hinges.

'FUCK OFF!' Uchiha snarled, utterly vicious, his voice breaking near the end. The intruders hadn't finished scampering away like the devil was on their tail that Uchiha was already moving on to a vibrant copper, Naruto's sniggers drowned out by the door banging shut.

Uchiha ducked his head, the tiniest hint of a smile ghosting over his profile.

From there on, the atmosphere shifted to an amicable silence. The grip on Naruto's chin relaxed, and no more words were uttered.

He was starting to get drowsy when all movement of the brush stopped. Uchiha took a step back, frowning at his handiwork.

'Is it all gross?' Naruto joked. By now he'd started suspecting that Uchiha was one of those people with a perpetual case of resting bitch face.

'You're gross,' the boy replied, picking up the eyeshadow palette and letting Naruto see for himself in its pocket mirror. 'I guess it's not totally horrible on you.'

Naruto squinted at his reflection.

'Wow,' was all he could say.

'Calm down, Narcissus.'

Naruto knew that one. 'Yeah, well, that guy was super hot, and so am I! Thanks, dude.'

He accepted the palette Uchiha was handing him back.

'It won't stay on long.' Uchiha warned. 'Normally you should at least put on a proper base first.'

'Er, yeah.'

'...Just google it, dumbass.'

With that, he was gone.

Naruto shook his head at the boy's retreating back. What a weirdo.

#naruto uzumaki #sasuke uchiha #sasunaru #narusasu #sns #i'm not 100% satisfied with it but heck #finished is better than perfect #or something #sasuke the god-tier make-up artist #oh woe is he working in sub-par conditions for the sake of his crush

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incarnateirony · 5 years

Text

My frustration with fandom never really ends. SPN is now more alchemical in it’s structure than Full Metal Alchemist, but because it’s not literally titled that or ELI5′ed to the crowd as specifically that, while even using direct quotes from major books in the study, people handwave it away *still*, to this *day*, or act like they’re being giving saying “I guess they might nod to it sometimes”. S 4-5 wasn't titled Full Emo Christian but everyone figured it out. That’s about the equivalent of saying S4-5 “nodded to the bible sometimes”. Honestly worse. Back then it wasn’t related bible verse titles or full cinematic color work and framing and yet here I am, hearing people say things like “I mean I guess if we got there,” like no, guys, we’re already there, we’ve been there for years. That’s like being halfway through S5 and acting generous saying “I mean I guess if they started using the bible I could see it happening” like guys-- guys-- GUYS.

It’s one thing to not UNDERSTAND it all because it’s so niche. That’s what asking questions and study and meta is for. It’s another to just keep walling it off and refusing to even think of it. Hell even if you don’t want to engage the alchemical stuff consciously, even that’s fine, but the passive aggression of dismissal is e x h a u s t i n g

I’ve even been called dogmatic for pointing this out. So in season 4-5, if literally nobody knew what Christianity was except you because IDK, AU where everybody’s been gargling Zeus for thousands of years instead, the One Random Person -- you knew about all the related biblical, apocryphal and other texts and kept trying to point out the Whore of Babylon, and angels, and seals, and Lucifer, and revelations, and orders of operations in the text -- and people kept going “MEH SEEMS FAKE” without actually trying to get it how fucking absurd would it seem? Or when someone goes “NO” and throws down their collective textbooks about literally everything happening in the show, and you sit here literally trying to explain why the show is working the way it is and how the Book of Revelations is applicable -- is that dogmatic, or simply aware and studied in a topic?

I mean, someone could say angels are a totally made up thing for TV and had no foundation, or someone can explain to the reader where these things come from. Now, if the person does not get knocked off their viewpoint, because they can point out all the bible verses quoted or story-enacted, and point out that it is literally the plot, are they being dogmatic or are they just being based about wtf the story is using as its inspiration/playbook?

I really don’t know where I’m going with this post beyond venting, because I’m exhausted of enduring microaggressions over this kind of thing just because people don’t WANT to-- I dunno. It varies person to person. Conflicts with what they want out of the show? Just don’t understand it and have zero reason to pursue it? Hell the latter is fine unless you turn around and slap at someone over it.

The question is, is it truly dogmatic to just get outright annoyed at the passive aggressive mentality and deletion of alternative traditions per convenience when you literally won’t get budged off of the source text, or is this something fandom really needs to think about a little more? There’s people to defend others for their queer lens, their poc lens, their gender lens, whatever. Imagine if you had not a single soul defending you for, say, seeing Destiel, even, to make it simple for the average reader. No queer lens defense. “But it’s queer stuff not religion!” and yeah. And some of us have followed paths of whatever sort before we even admitted to ourselves we were queer and the stuff is JUST as attached to your mental lens and identity as anything else. Come on y’all. Be more mindful, and more open. You don’t have to pursue a path but it’d be great if I could stop leaving group chats because I’m tired of getting slapped at and diminished because it’s not the one Western Approved Religion being used, and instead I’m enjoying thoughtful use of a niche philosophy I’ve spent my life on.

Don’t understand it? Cool, fine, awesome. Nobody’s saying you have to. Shit on it because you don’t want to understand it, or act generous in denial of dismissing the core elements entirely but going like “if it happened”, miss me with that. Again, to put this in public perception, what about people going “I don’t see anything at all whatsoever with Dean and Cas being a unit but I guess if they went there it’d be fine” here in season fucking 15. And there being. ZERO PEOPLE. ZERO SAFE SPACES. Where you can avoid being slapped at, and then, IDK, get accused of Gay Agenda when you’re pointing out “But 15.03 and 15.09 and like the entire history since S9???” -- seems pretty stupid, doesn’t it. If not outright assholish, even if it’s not consciously being an asshole.

Every time you hear that shit about Destiel you get annoyed, right? You probably hear it about once a month or every few months? Try like, almost daily on something else important to you, with zero defenders, zero safe spaces, and zero thought about why you’re investing yourself in something impacting and deeply seated in you. There is no hermeticist group chat. There’s in fact three hermetic and hermetic-adjacent people to hide in our corner together trying to enjoy this. Four if you count the one approaching it from an angle of academia which, not to be offensive, but from the inside over here I can see all of the weirdly angled trajectories that don’t actually sit right in the usage of it but bless them for trying. The difference between knowledge and understanding, if you will. Five if you count my Jewish friend that intrinsically understands about half of what I talk about because of the overlap with Qabbalah. That’s it. That’s what we have. And I don’t think people really understand how toxic and destructive to enjoyment it is to catch it from everywhere.

Like has it occurred to the “MEH”ers that I literally built an entire spec series based on this structural theology use in plot last year that not only came true, but continues to, to the point I’m now remastering the videos with new content to make new spec moving forward, or--

Like c’mon y’all. I’m not a magic 8ball, I just know the goddamn source text for reasons that would be REALLY great if people stop using passive aggressive language to dismiss. Engage it, don’t engage it; understand it, don’t understand it. That’s fine. It’s the slapback and phrasing of rejection that’s the issue I deal with often.

I’m now at a point where I’m hanging in Daf Yomi servers and niche holes in the wall in fandom just to avoid this shit and it’s just P E R S I S T E N T.

Thanks.

#pagan life #mildew #tired #rant

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infinitesimal-grey · 5 years

Text

Prince Starved

Prinxiety G/t College AU

Online friends Roman (Giant) and Virgil (Human) meet for the first time when they find they've been going to the same college. They're both nervous gay wrecks.

Story Warnings: Swearing, bullying, Roman, feeling of helplessness mention of blood, bruises, fighting, violence, mention of abusive parents, abuse scars, attempted murder, maybe more

Chapter Warnings: Swearing, bullying, violence, choking (not the kinky kind)

Word Count: 2,514

Prologue

Roman Knight and Virgil Rivers have been best friends for two years now, but they’ve never met in person.

In fact, they lived on opposite coasts, Roman from California and Virgil from Rhode Island. They both were mutuals on Discord for the longest time before a mutual friend, Talyn, put them in the same group chat together with a few other people. At first they seemed as if they would never get along, at least that was what it seemed to everyone else. Roman and Virgil would argue constantly, filling almost all interaction with insults and banter. That just brought them closer together, and soon they were video calling outside of the group chat. One hour calls turned into two hours turned into twelve… The two were inseparable on any social media. It came as a surprise to their friends who witnessed their interactions that they were so close, but the insults and arguments were quickly known just as proof of how close they are that even the biggest of arguments would be resolved within hours or a day at most. Underneath all that banter both friends were quickly falling in love despite the distance. It was pretty obvious to everyone; except for the two clueless morons involved.

Virgil had lived in a completely segregated human neighborhood with his mom all his life before college, that is. His mom hates giants so she never let Virgil go to any non segregated towns or schools, as a way of rebelling Virgil chose an integrated college. Even so, he was still scared. He spent most of his time avoiding the giant side of campus at all costs. So he had never really seen giants up close before. Virgil lets slip which college he's at during one of their 12 hour facetime sessions and Roman was elated because he also went to that college.

But because of everything around them being to their scale, they never found out the other’s species.

He asked if Virgil wants to meet up and Virgil managed to stutter a yes.

Roman suggested an integrated coffee shop on the border of the giant side of campus. Virgil, in his flustered mind, doesn't even consider the possibility that Romans a giant. Virgil didn't want Roman to think he's afraid of, or hates giants so he said yes. Then they awkwardly both said goodbye while trying not to blush on camera.

Roman, in his excitement, forgot to mention that they're a giant. Virgil didn't mention his species either. And they don't bother to wonder why they've never seen each other around campus at all. They were so busy freaking out because they were meeting each other that neither of them even thought about species.

Virgil gets there early and bites his nails as he went up the human elevator entrance to the cafe. There's human walkways lining inside and outside of the walls so they could walk around the cafe without needing help. Periodically around the room there would be platforms against the wall with tables humans could sit at.

There were also human sized tables built into the giant wooden round tables of varying sizes around the room. The only way to get to those was by being carried by a giant. If the human arrives first when meeting a human, they can wait at a designated platform near the door.

Virgil sat close to the human pickup platform knowing giants would walk by. Specifically so that he could prove to Roman he wasn’t a pussy.

Chapter 1

Roman smiled brightly as he approached the coffeeshop, confidently straightening his white button down top with his free hand. He'd been waiting since forever to meet Virgil; he damn near screamed when he heard Virgil mention his college. The beautiful emo was his best friend in the world and the news had prompted him to invite him out for coffee without even thinking. Roman hadn't thought about his hopeless crush at all, only the fact that he had to see that goofy smile in person as soon as he could. He twirled the black rose he had in his hand, staring at it in debate. He bought it as he had made his invitation, that is to say without thinking. Roman ran his thumb up and down the stem in indecision, popping off a thorn. He watched it fall to the pavement and sighed. No, Virgil was still just a friend, he didn't want to risk it. Roman wouldn't want to make their first meeting uncomfortable.Instead, Roman sadly the rose down on an abandoned iron bench outside the cafe.

Virgil had gotten there a bit too early; but who was he kidding, you could never be too early. After all, the other person could easily decide to arrive early, and then you'd seem late getting there on time, so the obvious solution was to get there even earlier. He'd already finished a first cup of coffee, humming to himself as he messed around with various designs in a small sketchbook while he waited for Roman to arrive. Virgil wasn't too much of an artist, but doodles never failed to help distract from the worries his mind threw at him. Roman’ll actually show up, right? Of course he would, we’ve known each other for ages... But you never know…

The bell above the door dinged.

Roman pushed open the door of the coffee shop, eyes scanning the tables and bar seats for any sign of Virgil. He walked in to avoid blocking the door, now towering right over the human pick up platform to his right. Roman looked over the students in the busy shop again. Maybe he was late...? Roman quickly pushed down the thought that he was stood up. Virgil would never do that to him.

Virgil was still humming to himself, making the unavoidable glance up toward the door as a Giant walked in. The door was right there and Virgil just couldn't ignore the movement. He had sat himself down at the platform nearest the human pickup platform to impress Roman. Only slight regret, he lied to himself. So, as usual when a giant or a human came in, Virgil glanced over, went back to his sketchbook... And only then did a double take. "Wait what??" The humanspoke under his breath, feeling his heart skip a beat as he scanned the features of this giant... He couldn't believe his eyes... could it be him? No way. "...Ro?"

Roman jumped when he heard his nickname called to his right. He whipped around to where he heard it and locked eyes with a familiar face sitting at a human table. "...Virgil?" Roman crouched down, hooking a hand onto the side of the platform to keep his balance. His eyes widened as the miniscule, unmistakable features of his best friend came into focus,black eyeshadow and all. A blush dusted his cheeks, Gods Virgil was even more beautiful in person…

Virgil felt conflicting feelings wash over himself. His heart was skipping beats, and thank god for his foundation hiding the blush he felt forming on his face. But Virgil’s stomach was doing flips, and not just the usual kind for a crush. Roman was a giant. No wonder they'd never seen each other before, despite living on the same campus. Jesus... Virgil didn't move, just sitting there with his mouth slightly open and eyes wide with awe, pencil still in his hand but forgotten.

Roman got concerned when Virgil went silent. He hooked his hand behind Virgil’s chair supportively, "Are- are you alright Virgil?" Roman’s arched brows knit together. Oh no nono did he already screw up? Was Virgil scared of him? Was Virgil having regrets about meeting already??

Virgil's mind followed the hand that was now behind him, but his gaze didn't move from Roman's face "Er--" Virgil swallowed, looking to his sketchbook and closing it up, tucking it into his messenger bag. "Um.. Yeah. I'm good. I'm good." Virgil nodded, seeming to reassure himself more than Roman, slowly putting the bag over his shoulder and standing up. "So, uh.. I guess... To a table..?" The human gave a sheepish grin in a somewhat faulty attempt to hide the swirling emotions that his eyes still betrayed. Damnit Virge, Calm down!

Roman grinned, scooping up his friend into his palm without thinking and holding him close to his chest. He gazed over the cafe, "Any preference, Emo Nightmare?"

Virgil felt his voice catch in his throat as he suddenly found himself in the grip of a Giant-well, his best friend, but they'd never met in person before. "Uh--Wherever there's not people as close." As Virgil stared forward with wide eyes, he thanked fuck for his bangs making it hard to see them anyways. He'd always acted really confident about, well, everything in his calls with Roman. How had their sizes never come up? That was, like, an important thing???

A secluded high top bar style table in the corner caught Roman's eye and he made his way towards it. It was set up like a breakfast bar with a series of five stools, a smaller version with more stools was installed onto the surface; he went straight to the one furthest in the corner. Roman used his ankle to hook the leg of his chair and sat down, resting his hand on the countertop in front of him. Roman found he was once again cursing himself for being 6 foot 5; he had to hunch down to be more level with Virgil due to his height.

As Roman was distracted with the whole 'sitting down' ordeal, Virgil took a deep breath to calm his fluttering heart., Though the fact that he'd just been carried over with no effort at all by his best friend was... something. He got off Roman's hand, forcing himself to ignore how weak his legs felt as he stood there.

For once in his life, Romane found himself at a slight loss for words. Words kept slipping through his grasp. Roman went with "So, how's my handsome stormcloud?" and grinned down at Virgil.

"Uh--Surprised, I guess. But it’s Chill." It was not Chill.

"Me too, haha,I didn't expect all that sass to fit into a human body." Roman joked, playfully poking the emo's side. Once Virgil was safely standing he rested his arms on the table, propping his head up on an elbow and gazing down at Virgil. He tucked his left hand into a fist so Virgil couldn't see it shake. "I always pictured you as shorter than me but I hadn't considered this much. It's cute though, it fits you."

Virgil set his messenger bag down, but jumped out of his seat and turned up toward Roman as the giant spoke. "Hey!" Even the (probably too much) makeup Virgil had put on today couldn't entirely hide his flushing face, but he hoped that the foundation toned it down. Emphasis on hoped. "Yeah, n' I didn't expect ya' to be tall but I Wasn't gunna' make comments on it!" Why did you say that, Virgil? Now he's gonna think you're mad at him or something.

Roman narrowed his eyes and smirked. "Of course I'm gonna comment on it, you're adorable~" -What are you doing stop flirting you useless gay paperclip-"Why not comment on it? Besides, I expected you to sass me even if you weren't a giant.I'm obnoxiously tall even to my own species." Roman kicked back gesturing to his long, muscled torso.

Virgil snorted at that. Oh fuck he's ripped. "I am not adorable! You've seen me just fine from our cameras, and you know I work very hard on this look." Virgil gave a half-offended, half just playful look as he sat down with a quiet huff. Damnit Virge stop BLUSHING oh my God.

"I can tell." Roman winked. He looked up and glanced towards the coffee bar. "We should order, do you want me to order for you or would you like to come up?" He asked, with Virgil's social anxiety in mind.

Virgil hummed quietly, glancing toward the bar as well. He'd ordered earlier, and even then it had been a bit... terrifying. "I would appreciate it if you could, yeah." Virgil smiled softly. Roman might've been way taller than he was expecting, but ,well, at least Roman still acted the same.

"What would you like? My treat of course, I dragged you here after all," A charming smile painted Roman’s chiseled features, dimples shining as beautifully as his pearl teeth.

Oh fuck. He's hot. Virgil took a breath to calm himself down, hesitating a moment before speaking. "I think ah, hot chocolate with cinnamon sounds good." Virgil normally got coffee, but since he'd had the one while waiting, might as well get something sweeter.

Roman nodded, sliding off the bar seat and standing, not noticing how even with the higher table he still towered over Virgil. He pushed in the chair and made his way over to the counter.

Virgil felt his heart flutter as Roman stood, watching as he walked to order with wide eyes. He quickly shook himself, lightly hitting his cheeks a few times.

The barista with a name tag reading Camden greeted Roman with a friendly smile. "What can I get for you?"

"Two large hot chocolates with cinnamon, one human and one giant." Roman returned the smile; it noticeably was absent of the flirtatious warmth it held with Virgil on the receiving end.

Camden pressed a few buttons on the register. "Nine dollars, name?"

"Roman." Roman handed over the exact change and was informed brightly the order would be right up. He waited anxiously for the hot chocolate to be ready, he didn't like leaving Virgil alone for so long. He should've insisted on him at least coming along.

As the seconds ticked by, Virgil felt himself growing a bit more anxious, being alone in the middle of a giant's table. Back at the human tables with Giants walking through it was admittedly more bearable, but this... wasn't quite as manageable. Virgil bounced his leg anxiously, eyes fixed on Roman and praying the drinks would just get done already so that Roman would come back again.

The cafe was fairly packed and a small group of what looked like juniors and seniors came in scanning for a table like vultures. By that time, several of the tables were filled.

Virgil's eyes snapped to the group as they approached. Please go to another table please go--ugh. They walked straight up to the table Virgil occupied and the leader with red hair planted his hands on either side of the human, purposefully looming over and creating a shadow by blocking the rustic exposed bulb above. "These seats taken?" He asked, no intent to care in his voice. An ugly sneer crept over his triangular face.

Virgil took a breath, putting on a brave face. His heart was racing, and he was absolutely terrified to look up at the Giant, but the human wasn't going to let him know that. But he locked his jaw leaned back. "Yes, actually. You'll have to sit somewhere else."

...

A/N: Run.

Thank you to the wonderful R who tolerates my trash mammal mind and co wrote this with me. And of course the lovely @hiddendreamer67 for doing some amazing beta reading!

Tag list in reblog, please ask to be added/removed in a comment or reblog

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retrauxpunk · 4 years

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Rain, I ask you: ALL the quarantine asks!

Animated character that was your gay awakening? not really an ‘awakening’ so much as a ‘hint’, but Azula from Avatar: the Last Airbender ... yep

Grilled cheese or PB&J? GRILLED CHEESE

What show/YouTube video(s) do you put on in the background when you when you don’t have anything to watch but you want something on? I don’t really experience this mood, but my go-to watch is the vlogbrothers YouTube channel

Your go-to bar order, if you drink? if it’s a low-key/work outing, lager or cider (esp the ones with non-apple fruits too); if it’s getting more serious (lol) or with closer friends or a more celebratory mood: vodka with sparkling apple juice

What’s your favorite pair of shoes that you own? these Doc Martens that are white with red hearts got ’em with my first ever full time design job paycheck. i did not take care of them well so they’re super scuffed/beat-up and very much not Perfectly White ... but they’re still comfy as heck, i still love the design, and they’ve lasted 3 years so far, let’s see how much longer we can make it ... also i think they’re a limited edition so i likely won’t get my hands on any replacements...

Top three cuisines? my cheap-ass answer would be, like: East Asian, South-East Asian, Western European ... but my non-shit answer is... Japanese, Chinese, Italian (ftr i’m not a seafood fan ... i just love the ramen and non-seafood stuff that japan makes hehe)

What was your first word as a child (that wasn’t a variation of “Mom” or “Dad”)? i have no clue

What’s a job that you’ve had that people might be surprised to find out you’ve had? cold-calling strangers to ask them to do market research phone surveys (y)

Look up. What’s directly across from you? the kitchen

Do you own any signed books/memorabilia in general? i have a messenger bag that i got signed by Jeph Jacques of the Questionable Content webcomic that i once adored ... and I think my boyfriend has gifted me a signed Matthew Reilly hardcover.

Preferred way to spend a rainy day? curled up indoors wearing something cosy, reading and eating something delicious. playing animal crossing lol. aaaaand listening to music, a good podcast, watching stand-up comedy, drawing, getting intoxicated...

What do you get on your bagels? What WOULD you get if you had access to anything you wanted? occasionally the standard smoked salmon and cream cheese, but i slightly prefer the meat to be, like, prosciutto

Brunch or midnight snacks? ehh fuck it, both???? both!!

Favorite mug you own easter limited edition waitrose mug, squat and round and yellow, painted/shaped like a very round chick. a Borb,,,,

What coffee drink would you describe yourself as? i actually thought about this and, uh, peppermint mocha. not for everyone, slightly weird, never fitting in with the regulars/being a default, but???? obviously awesome?? also: about 65% on the mainstream/hipster scale

Pick a song lyric to describe your current mood (and drop the name and artist!) The Wombats is the artist. lyrics are either “Let's dance to Joy Division / and celebrate the irony / Everything is going wrong, / but we're so happy” from Let’s Dance to Joy Division or “the edge of nowhere’s such a beautiful place” from Emoticons

Fruity or herbal teas? herbal but i agree with @queenofslime, black tea is the best

What’s that one TV show that you’re a little bit embarrassed to watch but you still like nonetheless? ...do i experience embarrassment about what i like to watch on TV? i don’t know if i do, because i watch relatively few shows ... and have relatively little shame? maybe???

That book you were forced to read for class but actually ended up enjoying? ftr i wasn’t bitter about this before reading, i had no preconceived biases against, and i was pretty open to liking it -- The Namesake by Jhumpa Lahiri

Do you match your socks? if they’re of a really nice design then yes always, if they’re of a more standard/generic design then ... not necessarily

Have you ever been horseback riding? yes a few times ... on the last time which was like five years ago ... the lady said i was a natural and asked if i’d ridden much before, which was. flattering. and yes this is a Brag.

What was your “phase” when you were younger? (i.e., Mythology Nerd, Horse Girl, Space Geek, etc) didn’t have much of a hardcore phase but i was pretty much always into fantasy ... oh wait yeah i did! i had a spy phase :)

Have you ever been to jail? to closed-down ones, yep

What’s your opinion on Lazy Susan’s (the spinning tray in the middle of tables)? pretty great idea unequivocably, right?

Puzzles? i tend to enjoy riddles/lateral thinking puzzles, i am impartial about jigsaw puzzles. i enjoy escape rooms.

You can only have one juice for the rest of your life, what is it? apple ... but elderflower if i’m feeling reckless (y)

What section do you immediately head for when you walk into a bookstore? young adult ... or stationery

What’s one thing you’re trying to learn/relearn in your downtime right now? Russian language :( it’s going не так хорошо

Who’s your go-to musical artist when you’re feeling upbeat? not sure if i have a go-to artist so much as go-to playlists i’ve made but some good ones are The Wombats and Bastille

Where could someone find you in a museum? mammals/birds in natural history

What’s that one outfit in your closet you never get the chance to wear but want to? i swear i was talking about this recently but i clean the fuck forgot what it was ... oh yeah, i have this short-sleeved black minidress festooned with silver buckles/buttons and also featuring decorative suspenders ... which, yes, does make me look like a sexy military officer,,, anyway it’s pretty badass and somehow it hasn’t occurred to me till now that i can just wear that every day now if i want? ftw i do get the chance to wear it, it’s just a little bit Extra so i get self-conscious. i’ve worn it a few times though. including to work. because fuck it, right? i didn’t become a graphic designer to be shy about sometimes looking like a prototypical emo/scene kid-turned-adult??? (ftr i was never an actual emo/scene kid. i lacked the requisite guts, commitment of feeling, and permissive parents.)

Rainbows, stars, or sunset colored clouds? sunset-coloured clouds :)

If you could own any non-traditional pet (dogs, cats, fish, rodents, etc), what would it be? how about a shapeshifting feathered dragon that could range from, like, two thirds of a foot long (20cm) to sit on your shoulder, to ... the size of a massive draft horse? (but longer and thinner)

Do you have more art on your walls or more photographs? photos, though if i didn’t live with a partner, it might be art

You have to get one meme tattooed on your body, what meme is it and where does it go? i’ve already got a meme tattooed on my body ... a private meme i have with my boyfriend, one on each leg (left: outer side, just above knee; right: outside, a few inches above the ankle)

Pick a superhero sidekick to hang out with ?????? is this a sidekick to a known superhero, or a superhero to act as your sidekick? also i don’t know? who are the standard heroes? i’m not up to date on this.

Lakes, rivers, or oceans? rivers or oceans

Favorite mid-2000s song i can’t decide a favourite, it’s too stressful, but one that i like is Rob Thomas’s Little Wonders

How do you dress when you’re home alone? either a t-shirt and PJ pants, or a dress (usually short-sleeved/sleeveless minidress)

Where do you sit in the living room (we all have a preferred spot, and you know it)? on either side of the couch haha

Knives or swords? BOTH but ok swords.

A song you didn’t think you’d enjoy but ended up loving hmmmmm like all of Linkin Park’s first three albums with some exceptions? hahahah

Pick an old-school Disney Channel Original Movie i don’t think i.....know any????

Are you a “Quote that relates to the photos” caption-er, an “explanation of where I took the photos” caption-er, or a no caption kinda person when you post pictures online? explanation, though on instagram quite often the photo and caption are unrelated

Name a classic Vine there’s only one thing worse than a rapist...

What’s the freezer food that you stock up on when you go to the grocery store? dumplings! as in the gyoza type.

How do you top your ice cream? that ‘magic’ chocolate sauce that hardens into chocolate. that stuff. i watched those ads all childhood long but my parents were immigrants and therefore very thrifty so we NEVER bought it iirc and then in my adulthood i got it a bunch of times. but now i live in the uk and can’t find it. and forgot it existed. and have never seen it anywhere.

Do you like Jello? the kind that’s served on a plate as a dessert? meh. the kind that are found in asian grocery stores as individual fruit-flavoured serves in little plastic cups? YES

What’s something that you don’t have a picture of that you wish you did? future stock prices? LOL ... or i’m gonna go with @queenofslime‘s answer again -- how others see me. it’s a great answer.

How are you at climbing trees? not............ good. i mean, i like climbing, but i have absolutely terrible upper body strength. i did bouldering for a couple months but only stuck to the first like... three out of nine difficulty levels.

#thanks!! hehe #quarantine asks #queenofslime #asks

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redwoodwrites · 4 years

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Coffee, Quirks, and Tigers

Summary: Ootsuki runs a kirei shop in a popular shopping district, but he mostly keeps to himself. And then Fukuda shows up with his boss, who tells him to stay and pick out something for someone's birthday present. He stays, it's awkward, but apparently not that awkward because Fukuda comes back again. And again. And pretty soon it becomes a weekly Thing for the two of them to go get coffee together. Now if only Suzuki and his henchmen could leave the two of them alone.

A/N: Starring Ootsuki and Fukuda from Mob Psycho 100!! (Two of the guys who helped Shou in the finale of Season 2.) They had basically five seconds of screen time...so I got to make up 99% of their personalities! BWAHAHAHA THE POWAAAAAH!

Ootsuki squinted. He'd been drawing a sketch of two fish swimming through trailing willow leaves. It was a commission for a prestigious high school, but he couldn’t get it right yet.

He sat back and stretched, glancing at his shop. His drawing desk was in the back. Framed kirei hung on the left and right walls, showing lacy outlines of flowers, people, even whole cherry trees. Delicate three-dimensional paper animals hung from the ceiling, and three patterned kimonos were displayed in the window.

Outside, the Tatooin Shopping District was swarming with tourists. Street loudspeakers played a constant pop culture soundtrack barely audible over the roar of people. People came here for the chic cafes, high-end clothing stores, and a few electronic places - he got free cable from the flatscreen TVs displayed across the street. It was usually news stories about heroes, although lately there had been a few missing person cases mixed in. Specialty stores like Ootsuki’s kirei shop didn’t get a lot of customers. That was fine with him. Most of his business came from commissions, anyway. He sighed and turned back to his drawing.

Ding!

The front door opened and a giant strode into his shop, accompanied by a rush of street noise. He had spiky orange hair, electric blue eyes and a blazer swung over his shoulders like a cape.

“Now this is more like it!” he proclaimed.

“Shou, be careful!”

A second man appeared behind the first, following close enough to be his shadow. He was built like a bear, with short black hair and anxiety written all over his face. “Did you bump your shoulder in the doorway? You did, didn't you? Are you alright?”

Shou’s eyes caught Ootsuki and he jumped. “Oi! This your shop?”

“H-hai! Irasshaimase.” He started to bow, realized he was sitting, and scrambled to his feet, but the giant had already turned away.

“Pretty impressive,” he said, inspecting a paper sparrow hanging from the ceiling. “Even got the texture of the feathers in there. Nice.”

“Shou, please!” the other man insisted. “Be careful, you could get a paper cut -”

“Fukuda!”

This time both men jumped. “H-hai!” Fukuda stammered.

Shou jabbed a thumb at a framed kirei piece. “Find me something like this for Mom's birthday. I don't want you back at HQ until you've given it at least two hours of thought – after all, it's the thought that counts!”

“But –”

“Two hours! Countin' on ya!”

Shou waved and slipped out the door faster than Ootsuki could follow, vanishing instantly into the crowd. He glanced over. Fukuda was doing such a perfect impression of a sad puppy that Ootsuki snorted with laughter.

“Oh – er, sorry,” he said, catching himself.

Fukuda sighed. “No, no. I apologize for the disturbance. I tend to get a bit...overprotective...and Shou is my boss. I’m Fukuda Itsuki, I’ll be in your care.”

“Ootsuki Souta,” he said, and repeated the greeting. After that he wasn’t sure what to do. He ran a hand self-consciously over his bangs, glad they were long enough to cover his eyes. “Er, well...would you like help picking something out, or…?”

“Yes please,” Fukuda said. He nodded at the bird Shou had inspected. “I've never been in a shop like this before. What kind of art is this?”

“It's kirei. Most of what I sell involves cut paper. That includes the sculptures, but most of it is two-dimensional.” He stopped there - most people’s eyes glazed over at that point - but Fukuda was looking at him as if genuinely interested. Ootsuki gestured to the framed pieces leaning in neat rows along the walls. “Those are all made with a single sheet of paper each, and a very sharp knife. I make faces, landscapes, animals – there's one I did of paper fans, just for the irony. They're all organized by size and category...”

He led Fukuda on a brief tour of the shop, discussing his favorite pieces and the techniques he’d used to make them. Fukuda was much calmer now that he wasn’t fussing over Shou, and asked questions about the types of paper he used and the tools he worked with. Ootsuki grinned and pushed his bangs back from his eyes. He never got to talk about this in such detail, but Fukuda made it easy. Fukuda made it fun.

They made a full circuit around the shop, ending at the window display. The kimonos were beautiful even from the back. Each of them had been printed in a tiny repeating pattern: a lotus blossom, a seashell, or the kanji for “jewel.”

Fukuda looked at them with obvious admiration. “They’re gorgeous. Although I'm a little surprised to see clothing in a kirei shop.”

“It’s the patterns. I stamped it onto the fabric by hand.”

Fukuda's eyes actually boggled. “That's hand-stamped? I thought that was machinery!”

Ootsuki grinned. “Nope, it’s all me. This one was especially tricky.” He reached for the one with seashells.

“Ah – your hands!”

Ootsuki glanced down. The light from outside caught the sheen of all the tiny, nearly invisible scars covering his fingers and palms. “Oh, that. Well, to get the best cut in a piece of paper, you have to drag the blade toward you. Better control that way. But the knives I use have to be quite sharp, and it took practice learning how to do it.”

“And your palms?”

“Pardon?”

“Knives wouldn’t cut your palms like that, look.” He took Ootsuki’s left hand and gently turned it over. The scars were thicker, darker.

Ootsuki flinched and pulled away. “I don’t like people touching my hands.”

“Sorry, I’m sorry. It's just, my quirk is healing, but I can't heal scars...it bothers me when I see wounds that haven't been properly tended.”

“They were tended just fine,” Ootsuki said, a little too sharply. “I just wasn't good at controlling my quirk when I was little. So!” He turned away. “I think that wraps up the tour.”

“Of course. I'm sorry to have taken so much of your time.”

He sounded so sincere about it that Ootsuki softened. “No, it's just that your two hours are almost up,” he said, and realized it was true. How did it go by so fast?

“Then, if it’s alright...could I have that one?” Fukuda asked. He pointed to a piece hanging on the wall, a particularly intricate kirei with cuts so fine you could almost see the texture of the fur.

“You like it?”

Fukuda smiled. “Suzuki-san did always have a fondness for cats.”

Ootsuki sat at his desk again, doodling.

He was done with the fish commission, and now he had nothing to do while he waited to hear back. It didn’t help that his thoughts kept wandering to Fukuda. The visit had been two days ago. Ootsuki was sorry he’d been rude at the end, and it felt worse every time he thought about it. Why did he have to be so - so emo and awkward? He tugged anxiously at his bangs. He could be clever. If Fukuda ever did come back, he’d -

Ding!

“Fukuda!”

“It's good to see you, too,” Fukuda said, grinning, and he realized he'd jumped to his feet.

Ootsuki flushed. “Well, um, yes,” he said. With zero cleverness at all.

Fukuda didn’t seem to notice. “I’m sorry to bother you again, but Shou's mother wanted to commission a piece of her cat. Is that alright? I brought a photo.”

Familiar territory! “Of course, I do commission pieces all the time. Can I see it?”

“Right, here…” Fukuda started digging through the bag slung over his shoulder. “Sorry, sorry, I keep everything in here. I don’t even know how old that granola bar is...ah, here we go!”

He held out a photo of a small white cat. Ootsuki moved to take it, and when he did, two coupons for the Golden Bean fanned out from behind it.

“Oh, isn’t this that shop down the street?” Ootsuki asked, glancing up.

He stopped cold. Fukuda’s warm brown skin was suddenly ash-gray, and he was staring at the tickets like they were vipers poised to strike.

“I don’t...remember these,” he whispered.

“It’s okay!” Ootsuki said quickly. He wasn’t sure why the coupons had unsettled Fukuda so deeply, but the look on his face was unbearable. He yanked them out of Fukuda’s grip.

“Wait, wait -”

“They’re just coupons!” Ootsuki said, holding the coupons well out of sight. “Look! I’ll just throw them away - oh.”

“‘Oh’?” Fukuda said, his face practically slate gray. “O-Ootsuki, quickly, those tickets might be from -”

“From ‘Shou’?” Ootsuki asked drily, holding them up. The silvery foil on the back of the coupons was covered in thick red scrawl.

Yo, Ootsuki! Thanks for looking after Fukuda. Take him for a walk, wouldja? Have a cup of coffee, my treat! - Shou

Immediately Fukuda’s shoulders slumped and color flooded into his face. “Oh thank goodness. It’s just Shou.”

Yes, pegging you like the lost puppy you are, Ootsuki thought. Aloud he said, “I guess you’d like to have these back then?”

“They seem to be addressed to you,” Fukuda said. “Would you want to go? I feel really silly for reacting like that, and I’d like to make it up to you. Do you like the Golden Bean?”

Ootsuki shrugged. “I’ve never been there.”

“You’ve nev - you work five minutes away!”

“The streets are crowded,” Ootsuki protested, but it sounded lame even to his own ears.

Fukuda’s lips twitched like he was hiding a smile. “I’m big enough to make a path for us. Please?”

It was that unbearable puppy dog look that did him in. Ootsuki found himself locking up the shop and heading out into the street behind Fukuda. At least he was right - his bulk really did carve an easier path.

The Golden Bean, however, was even worse. It was easily three times as crowded. People kept bumping Ootsuki and hitting his hands and he was about five seconds from bolting, self-conscious anxiety or not.

Fukuda, oblivious, looped an arm through Ootsuki’s and somehow stepped right up to the counter.

“What do you want to order?” Fukuda yelled cheerfully over the noise.

Ootsuki looked at the menu, which was the size of a billboard and crammed with 12-pt font.

“Are you kidding?” he gasped out.

Fukuda grinned, turned to the cashier, and shouted something else. Somehow Fukuda managed to place an order, grab their cups, and find the last table left, in a little corner of the shop where the noise was down to a dull roar.

“I am convinced this is your Quirk,” Ootsuki said, practically collapsing into his chair.

“What, ordering coffee?”

“Finding tables in this madhouse!”

“It comes from having to keep a sharp eye out.” Before Ootsuki could ask what that meant, Fukuda passed him his coffee. “Here, drink. You’re looking a little pale.”

“I’m not used to dealing with people,” he said faintly.

“But you work in one of the busiest streets of the city.”

“Most of the people stay outside my shop. Being near people is one thing, interacting is another. I get nervous when people are really close to me.”

“Oh.” Something in Fukuda’s tone made Ootsuki look up. He was staring at Ootsuki’s hands again, and there was something behind his eyes that made Ootsuki remember how big he was. “Ootsuki, is someone...hurting you?”

“What? No!”

“Because if they are, I’d really like to do something about it.”

“They’re not, no one is, I promise,” Ootsuki said, barely managing to keep his hands above the table. “Look, the scars are my fault. I couldn’t control my quirk when I was younger. I can channel kinetic energy through thin, flexible objects. Plastic works, but paper is best, and school was full of paper. Every time I picked up a piece of homework or a quiz…” He gestured, indicating an explosion. “It made school interesting, I'll say that much.”

Fukuda stared at him. “But you work with paper.”

“I learned to control it.”

“You saw a quirk counselor?”

“Er...no…” He shifted in his seat. “When I was little, we had a neighbor three apartments over who liked origami. He’d make tigers or cranes and blow into them. They’d come to life, just for a day or two, and he’d leave them out for other kids in the complex to play with.”

Fukuda’s face lit up. “That's amazing! So he taught you origami, too?”

Ootsuki fidgeted anxiously with a napkin. “No. I thought it would be fun to blow his tigers up. I'm not like that anymore!” he added quickly. Fukuda’s shock made his guts twist. “I thought choosing not to control my quirk was easier than admitting I couldn’t. I pretended it was funny. So one day I blew his tigers up, and then I turned around and - and saw him standing there. I saw his face. And after that it wasn’t funny anymore.”

“Ootsuki...”

He ducked his head. “I avoided him for months. Then I got it into my head that if I could put the tigers back, everything would be alright. So I got a book on origami and a bunch of paper and practiced. Even with homework. Before I’d moved it around with erasers, but now I actively tried to manage it all the time, because if I didn’t, I couldn’t make the tigers. When I was done, my hands looked like this and I had a dozen or so crappy tigers lined up in the courtyard.”

“And? What did he say?”

“Nothing,” Ootsuki said quietly. “He wasn't there anymore. He moved away. I was a coward for so long that I never got the chance to apologize.”

“And I think a kind person like that would have been happy with the gift you made for him.”

“It wasn't a gift. They weren't even all that good.”

“I beg to differ.”

Fukuda caught Ootsuki's wrist and he looked down, startled. He'd been folding a napkin into a paper tiger without realizing it, and he'd been about to rip it in half.

“It's quite good,” Fukuda said. “And one more thing. I don’t think you’re a coward, Ootsuki.”

“I literally hide behind my bangs,” he said flatly.

“You came to coffee with me,” Fukuda countered.

“That was just because -” He stopped short, flushing. He wasn’t about to mention that obnoxious puppy dog face. Mostly because Fukuda was doing it right now.

“You’re braver than you think you are,” Fukuda said. “And I’m taking this to keep as proof.”

He plucked the tiger from Ootsuki’s hand and tucked it safely into his bag.

Fukuda came back two days later, and again two days after that. He said it was because Shou's mother had more orders, but Ootsuki secretly suspected that Shou himself was responsible. He was probably the littlest bit annoyed with being watched like a hawk for stubbed toes and sent Fukuda off for two straight hours of peace.

Ootsuki didn't mind.

Fukuda, meanwhile, seem to have extended his overprotectiveness to Ootsuki, and was frequently checking to make sure he didn't have any fresh paper cuts, got eight hours of sleep a night, and took breaks from drawing so he wouldn't strain his eyes.

Ootsuki didn't mind that, either.

The two of them took to buying coffee and walking around to look at all the shops. Once in a while Fukuda saw a window display for a fluffy sweater and just had to have it, and Ootsuki bought a new halogen lamp for his desk. Fukuda finally got Ootsuki hooked on pistachio-flavored coffee, which Ootsuki hadn’t even known existed (and wasn’t convinced that it should).

Two weeks into their coffee tradition, Ootsuki was hanging a new sparrow sculpture when he heard the door open behind him.

“You’re early,” he said, turning. Then he stopped short. “What happened?”

Fukuda was standing in the doorway, face pale, hands shaking at his sides, clothes rumpled like he hadn’t slept for days. He was looking around the shop like he didn’t even see it.

Ootsuki jumped off the stepstool and hurried over. “Are you alright? Are you injured anywhere?”

“Huh? No, I...no…”

“You look like hell!”

Fukuda laughed weakly, but it wasn’t a joke, and they both knew it. “Sorry. I’m, uh, I had a rough day. Should we get going?”

“Now? Like this?”

“I really will be fine after some tea. Or something.”

Ootsuki hesitated, thinking. “Alright,” he said slowly. “But it’s getting kind of cool out. Come on back, I need to grab my jacket.”

“Sure.”

Ootsuki headed for the back of the shop - without letting go of Fukuda’s hand. He trailed along after him like an oversized puppy. Ootsuki reached the employee’s door and pushed it open. He even got a few feet inside before Fukuda drew up short.

“I-I’m sorry for intruding,” he stammered. “I didn’t know you lived back here.”

Ootsuki had converted the back room into a one-room apartment. There was a western-style bed on the right, a table in the center, and a kitchenette on the left, with the bathroom door in the back left corner. Most of his expendable income had gone into a TV and game system set up next to the bed. The place was spare but functional.

He shrugged. “My budget’s pretty modest, and anyway I don’t see the point in buying a second place just for a bed and a bad commute.”

Fukuda’s lips twitched. “You do have a point.”

“Sit down anywhere, I’ll just be a second.”

Ootsuki went to the kitchenette and Fukuda sat down at the table. A few copies of Ootsuki’s best works hung on the walls, and Fukuda was looking at the cityscape one with interest. Then he blinked and seemed to come back to himself again. “What are you doing?”

“What does it look like?” Ootsuki turned around, a mug in each hand. “Making tea.”

“You didn’t have to,” Fukuda said weakly.

“It’s just instant tea, nothing fancy.”

“We were gonna get coffee.”

“Next time.” He set the mug down. “Sit. Drink. Breathe.”

Fukuda obeyed while Ootsuki grabbed the quilt from his bed. He sat down next to Fukuda so their legs were touching and wrapped the blanket around their shoulders.

“Let me know if this bothers you, but sometimes pressure helps me calm down.”

“I’m the same,” Fukuda murmured. “When it’s someone like you.”

Ootsuki’s face felt as hot as the tea. “Okay. Um. Anime. I mean - let’s put on an anime or something. Or not. Or we can talk if you want. Or not.” Stop talking, stop talking, stop talking.

“Anything is fine.” Fukuda lowered his mug to the table, eyes down. “You really didn’t have to do this.”

Ootsuki rolled his eyes. “Pretty sure I did. You worry a lot about other people, Fukuda, but not enough about yourself.”

Fukuda gave a tiny smile. “You know, in your own way, you're nearly as stubborn as Shou.”

“Your boss?”

“And longtime friend. We met doing underground hero work.”

“Ah,” Ootsuki said. Then the words sank into his brain. “Wait, what? Underground heroes? How is he an underground hero with that bright red hai – I'm sorry did you say you're a hero?!”

“Yes?” Fukuda glanced up, eyes twinkling. “Is it that much of a surprise?”

“I mean – you're so – lost puppy –”

“I'm a what now?”

“Mild-mannered! Is what I meant to say!”

“Yes, I'm a hero,” Fukuda said, grinning. He had absolutely heard the puppy comment. “My healing quirk isn't particularly useful for offense, but it's invaluable as backup for the others in our agency.”

“I can imagine,” Ootsuki managed. Fukuda didn't fit Ootsuki's image of a hero at all. Fukuda wore fluffy sweaters and an open expression and exuded the kind of warm calm people normally associated with a good cup of hot chocolate. Being a “hero” seemed to involve more exaggerated muscle development, primary colors and...teeth?

Fukuda chuckled as if he could read Ootsuki’s thoughts. “That's exactly why I'm so useful as an underground hero. I know how to dress and act a certain way. How to give off a certain impression or persona. If you drop me in the middle of a city anywhere in Japan, I could disappear in an hour and never be found. I mostly work on organizational crimes, but sometimes I get asked to pursue missing person's cases.”

“Missing...but don't kidnapped people usually end up –”

“Yes,” Fukuda said. His voice was low and his shoulders were trembling. Ootsuki wrapped him in a hug.

“It must be hard,” Ootsuki said quietly.

Fukuda leaned into him, eyes cast down. “I can - I can usually find them in time. And heal them. I’m very, very good at both. But Shou - there’s a man we’ve been tracking - you’ve seen the rash of missing people in the news?”

“I think so,” Ootsuki said slowly. It sounded vaguely familiar.

“The man we’re tracking is responsible, and today we found one of his facilities. They’d known we were coming and abandoned the place. But we found evidence of some of the missing people, and the - the Quirk research they were doing -”

His voice broke. Ootsuki rubbed his back in small, slow circles. “I can’t even imagine what it’s that’s like,” Ootsuki said softly. He wished he had something better to say. “I guess this explains why you were so scared when we found Shou’s coupons in your bag.”

Fukuda rubbed at his eyes with one hand. “I’ve been wondering lately if I’m being tracked. One of the man’s top followers is very good at electronic spying. We’re closer to finding them every day, and I think they’re finally feeling the pressure. We’re going to have to face them soon.”

“Shou doesn’t seem like the type of person to lose,” Ootsuki said.

“He’s not. He really doesn’t need my help most of the time. But with the man we’re tracking, he will. Soon. Even then we might not be enough to beat him. I have to make sure he’s at the top of his game. If I don’t, if he’s even a little bit tired, a little bit slow, if I’m not enough, then he might – he might actually –”

Fukuda folded into himself. Ootsuki pulled him gently so that Fukuda was leaning into him, head just below Ootsuki’s chin. He knew there was nothing he could say, nothing he could do. For the first time he wished he knew how to use his quirk for something...more. His heart ached.

When Fukuda was calmer, they drank their tea and quietly watched anime movies on Ootsuki’s cell phone. Ootsuki pulled the blanket off his bed and wrapped them up in it, shoulder to shoulder. They stayed like that, pressed together in quiet, comforting warmth, for a long time.

It was two minutes past coffee time.

Ootsuki sat at his desk, trying not to fidget. He glanced out the window. Back to his desk. Back to the window. Then he got up and looked down the street, shoving his face between the kimonos, trying to peer through the crowd. Five minutes past coffee time. Still no Fukuda. He pulled his phone out of his pocket.

Fukuda picked up on the second ring. “Yes?”

“You’re late.”

“I’m five minutes late,” Fukuda said, and Ootsuki could hear the smile in his voice. “I’m rubbing off on you. You didn’t worry so much last week.”

“Last week I didn’t know that you regularly risk your life for a living,” Ootsuki retorted.

Fukuda laughed. They’d texted a few times since the last time he came over, but it wasn’t the same. Ootsuki was glad to hear him back to his usual self.

“You’re almost here?” he asked.

“Yes, yes, I’m almost there. You can probably see me from your window. Look.”

Ootsuki looked. An arm in a fluffy green sweater sprouted from the crowd three stores down, waving.

“You look like a bean sprout,” Ootsuki told him, just to hear him laugh again. “Alright, alright, I’m hanging up. But you owe me coffee for making me worry.”

“It’s a deal.”

Ootsuki pocketed the phone and realized he was smiling. A new coffee shop had opened next to the Golden Bean. There was a semi-playful war between the two on which was better. Even the music on the street speakers was interrupted with updates on which shop had gotten more likes on Facebrick. Ootsuki and Fukuda both thought it was hilarious.

And Ootsuki wanted to try the new shop. More specifically, he wanted to try it with Fukuda.

His friend’s face finally came into view, swimming toward him in the crowd. Ootsuki’s grin widened and he turned for the door.

Suddenly the street speakers screeched. The sound was so loud Ootsuki felt it in his teeth. He jerked badly and people outside shouted in pain and surprise.

Then the security gates on every shop came slamming down.

“HEY!”

Ootsuki flung himself at his door. The bars were on the outside, but Ootsuki couldn’t even get to them; the door had locked and wouldn’t open. He heard screams and saw that some people had been crushed under the gates and were struggling to get free. The electronic store across the street had a safety gate that swung down like a garage door, and it had someone pinned by her shoulder. Fukuda was already cutting through the fleeing crowd, hand outstretched and glowing. Ootsuki took a shuddering breath. That’s right, Fukuda was a hero, he could help –

“AH-AH-AH,” tutted a voice from the speakers.

The electronics shop exploded. Every single device inside suddenly burst through the windows, walls, and ceiling. Fukuda dove right into the falling shards, shielding the pinned woman. Pipes and cables ripped up from the street. The electronic devices whizzed toward them and the wires and metal wrapped around them, rising up to form a many-tentacled octopus shape. A multitude of cables coiled and writhed ceaselessly around a bulbous conglomerate of tech, studded with cameras that blinked in every direction and crowned with three flat screen TVs. The screens flashed to life, showing a composite view of a pale man in square-framed glasses. .

Fukuda snarled. “Hatori!”

“You really made it too easy to find you,” Hatori sneered. “For an underground hero, it’s surprising that you’d risk falling into a routine.”

Ootsuki sucked in a breath. The electronic spy! Fukuda was right, they’d been watching, they knew he’d been meeting with Ootsuki every week!

Fukuda’s hand plunged into his bag. Immediately Hatori’s cables lashed out, striking Fukuda’s chest so hard Ootsuki could hear an audible crack from across the street. He flew through the air until he hit a telephone pole and the cables immediately caught him, ripping his bag from his shoulder and lifting him into the air.

“Fukuda!” Ootsuki slams his palms against the glass, desperate. Kinetic energy vibrated painfully through his wrists and the glass buzzed but didn’t break. No, no, the villain had him, it was going to kill him!

He backed up and a hanging sculpture hit his head. All that paper – but he wasn’t a hero, he had to call the police, had to get help –

“Rats are really more trouble than they’re worth to keep around,” Hatori said, smirking. Fukuda gave an airless scream, and Ootsuki heard a terrible, organic pop.

The cables were squeezing.

“GET AWAY FROM HIM!”

He wasn’t sure how it had happened. He’d been standing in his shop, frozen in horror, and then he was outside and his arm was moving in slow-motion and the paper fan he was holding cut clean through the cables holding Fukuda.

Fukuda hit the ground with a gasp, still wrapped in the metal coils, but his eyes were on something past Ootsuki. Immediately he turned and swung the paper. Again time skipped and there were stripped wires and computer bits littering the street in a circular blast radius, and Hatori’s metal octopus was hissing and stitching three of its limbs back together with angry clanks.

“Not another one!” Hatori snapped, face red. “Why – are – there – heroes – everywhere?!”

“Ootsuki!” Fukuda gasped.

Cables reared up behind the octopus and struck like snakes. Ootsuki tried to dodge but his legs were frozen. Fukuda tackled him and they went rolling seconds before electrified prongs gored them to the street. Fukuda grabbed a metal trash can and flung it hard. Ootsuki winced when he heard the noise Fukuda’s chest made, but the trash can slammed down on the prongs with extra force and it lodged in the asphalt. The two of them ducked into a narrow alley.

“The hell do you think you’re doing?!” Hatori demanded.

“I don’t know, I don’t know, my body just moved! What do we do?!”

“I need my bag, you stay here!”

“Somehow I don’t think he’ll let me!”

“Correct!”

Ootsuki shrieked and flung his arm up right before a huge muscled octopus limb came sweeping down on them. The blast broke it in two and they darted out of the alley. Fukuda grabbed a loose bit of the broken limb and jammed it into another tentacle as they ran, forcing it back. Ootsuki sent two more blasts at the tentacles darting into Fukuda’s blind spots and they sprinted out of range.

Hatori snarled. “Hold still already!”

“No thanks!”

The street was almost empty of shoppers except for the few who had been pinned or those trying to help them. Ootsuki saw the moment Hatori caught sight of two teenagers wedged in a clothing shop entrance. Something blazed in his chest and he slammed the fan down through the air, again and again, actually forcing Hatori back.

“Agh! Little freak!”

“Ootsuki, your hands!”

He glanced down. He saw the red dripping down his fingers and wrist but couldn’t feel the pain or even the wetness.

“Forget it, get the bag!”

“But – you – fine, just don’t die!” He turned and sprinted down the street, where his bag was sticking out from under someone’s discarded shopping bag. Ootsuki darted forward, scooped a handful of receipts off the ground and hurled them. The paper burst into confetti and was immediately attracted by the static cling of the TVs, blocking out all the video cameras facing their way. Hatori shouted with rage.

Ootsuki stumbled back, gasping. He was starting to feel the pain now. His hands were shaking and blood dripped from his skin, under his fingernails. He knew he’d cracked his bones because he suddenly knew exactly where they were in both hands.

He turned and sprinted for Fukuda, who was desperately hunting through his bag.

“Where is it, where is it, where is it,” he muttered.

“What are you looking for?”

“The EMP gun. Small, black, yellow tape – I know I packed it, I definitely grabbed it off the counter –”

“THERE YOU ARE!”

Something sharp and hard slammed into the side of Ootsuki’s head. He hit the ground. The drone that had hit him banked hard and circled, two more joining it. Ootsuki realized his hands were empty and rolled away before their blades could slice his arms. Fukuda had done the same, but his broken ribs had hampered his movement and a lucky hit had knocked him flat. Immediately a cable burst out of the ground and bound him tight.

Ootsuki’s hand plunged into Fukuda’s bag and pulled out what he’d hoped he would find - his little leatherbound book. He tore out a dozen pages and struck, kinetic energy blasting the drones away.

He’d forgotten the octopus, though, and just as he made to cut Fukuda loose a cable came out of nowhere and slammed him in the stomach.

He lost time in a daze of gray and yellow pain until sharp hit his shoulder and he fell to his knees with a cry. His vision slowly cleared.

The drone that had been aiming for his shoulder had switched off at the last second and now lay cracked and silent on the ground. The other drones hit the ground beside him, and the cable that had been whipping out to grab him suddenly collapsed on the asphalt, limp, live wires still sparking at its tip.

Fukuda was standing in front of him, a small, buzzing gadget the size of a cell phone in his raised fist.

Hatori’s octopus spasmed and flailed. Chunks of machinery were already falling off. For a second Hatori looked livid, but then his face twisted in a vicious sneer and an octopus leg sliced clean through the whole front wall of a restaurant, peeling it away from the building like a slice of cake. The people inside screamed. Ootsuki readied his fan, but apparently that had been the most Hatori could do. The TV screens distorted to static and went black. With a final, ear-splitting shriek of tearing metal, the octopus slumped over, dead.

Ootsuki hadn’t realized he was about to join it until Fukuda grabbed his shoulder to keep him upright. The two of them stared at each other for a few seconds, breathing hard.

“You,” Ootsuki said finally, “are going to owe me so many coffees after this.”

“You can have them after I murder you for jumping into the line of fire,” Fukuda said. But there wasn’t any venom in his voice, and his eyes had the puppy dog look cranked up to eleven. “What were you even thinking?! You have zero battle experience, and that guy was - villains aren’t a video game, Ootsuki! He would have actually murdered you!”

He ducked his head. “Sorry.”

“Don’t - don’t apologize, just -”

“Hero-san!” called a voice. It was one of the teenagers Hatori had almost attacked. They were in the store right next to the restaurant, and it looked like he’d managed to squeeze himself out, but his companion had a thick river of blood running down their face that Ootsuki hadn’t noticed before. “Hero-san, I - please help him - ”

“Coming,” Fukuda called immediately. “And stay put, Ootsuki, you’re next.”

“Not going anywhere ‘till I get my coffee.”

Fukuda shot him a look, part concern, part exasperation, then turned to help the teenager.

Ootsuki leaned on a trashcan, catching his breath. His hands hurt. He was trying to avoid looking at them because he was pretty sure they were fractured and he’d pass out if he saw it.

It had felt...strange, to be out on the battlefield like that. Not natural, not exactly, but like he had fit perfectly into place. As if the universe had simply been waiting for him to do it and the response was simply, “Of course.”

Shock gave people such weird thoughts. He shook his head and looked around. Little shreds of torn paper drifted through the air, like scattered snowfall. Bits of computer modems and gaming consoles covered the street, torn open, their silicon circuits glittering in the sun. The security gates had retracted. Some of the trapped shoppers were cautiously poking their heads out of the buildings, checking that it was safe. It wasn’t; there were a lot of live wires sticking out of the ground and the octopus carcass, throwing sparks.

It didn’t smell all that great, either. His senses were still sharp from all the adrenaline pouring through him. He could smell the burned plastic from the machines and the ozone of the sparking wires. He could even smell something odd from the restaurant Hatori had sliced open. Something burning?

He looked closer. A dark shape was sticking out of the wall. It looked like a pipe with a little yellow sticker on it.

Gas.

He saw everything in perfect clarity. The brilliance of the sky, so bright blue it looked painted by a child. The shadow of Fukuda’s back, the exact way his head turned when he smelled it too. The hot metal of the trash can under Ootsuki’s broken fingers. And floating gently past, torn free from that little book by the explosions, a napkin folded like a tiger.

He grabbed it and slashed with everything he had.

The blast he made created a huge vacuum down the middle of the street, sucking away the explosion and heat and gas. Hot blades drove up the bones in Ootsuki’s arms, splitting them in half. Blazing pain seared his brain. Sound warped and distorted like it was coming from underwater. He thought he heard someone screaming, realized it was himself.

He was on the ground. His arms were on fire. They had to be on fire. They hurt so badly. Shadows were moving over him. One of them reached out to him, familiar, calling his name, but before he could answer more shadows came down like a curtain and he sank into the heavy black.

Ootsuki woke up slowly. He was lying on a bed that crinkled loudly whenever he existed, and the ceiling was styrofoam-white. The smell of rubber and cleaner filled his nostrils. A hospital.

“I guess it’s nice that I survived,” he mused aloud.

“Gee, you think?”

“Fukuda!”

He bolted upright. Fukuda was sitting on a chair next to him, a book on his lap. He smiled and put a warm hand on Ootsuki’s arm. “Relax, the doctors saw you but you’re still going to be pretty tired.”

“You’re okay!”

“Yes, yes, I’m fine, but how are your hands?”

“My - oh…”

He held them up. The last thing he remembered, they were bleeding like crazy and felt like he’d fractured every bone in his fingers. Now they looked perfectly fine. In fact…

“No scars? They’re gone?”

Fukuda looked apologetic. “You, er. Sort of blasted most of your skin off. So when I healed it, all the skin grew back more or less uniform. I hope you don’t mind. We’re mostly here because it’s standard procedure to bring someone to the hospital just in case there’s something a field medic missed.”

“But you’re okay?” Ootsuki asked again, searching his face. “Last time I saw you, you were covered in blood and I think your rib had broken.”

He grimaced. “Ribs, plural. But I promise I’m okay. I just - the way you nearly got killed - ” He broke off, shaking his head. “Are you sure you’re alright?”

“I...I guess so?” He looked around, trying to distract himself. It wasn’t just a hospital room, it was a private room, with a flatscreen TV, a vase of fresh flowers, and a window with a panoramic view of the city. “I can’t afford all this.”

“Don’t worry, heroes get free private rooms.”

“I’m not a hero.”

“I don’t see why not,” said a voice from the door. They looked up as Shou phased through the doorway, a tray of hospital goop in his hands. “Whoops, almost lost the Jell-O. I pulled a few strings and got you a temporary hero’s license about thirty minutes after the whole Hatori thing. So technically you’re a hero for the next three months. Welcome to my agency.”

“I-I’m not a hero!”

Shou raised an eyebrow. “Again, I don’t see why not. How do you feel? I’m not asking about your physical state. Do you feel horrified, apathetic, jittery - or do you feel like you’re ready to do it all over again?”

Ootsuki blinked a few times. “The second one, I guess. How did you…?”

He nodded. “I saw the fight. You got thrashed because you’re a total noob, but you have good reflexes and use your quirk in creative ways. My agency could use you. And Fukuda’s obsessed with you now and not me, which is a plus.”

“Shou!” Fukuda protested. “I’m not obsessed with him -”

“You use the first sweater he ever bought you for ‘emergency hugs’ and set his picture as the background on your phone. Besides,” Shou continued cheerfully over Fukuda’s sputtering, “Hero work pays well. Unless you have another source of income I don’t know about, because your shop is basically gravel.”

“What?!”

He leaped for the TV remote and flipped channels frantically. He found the evening news and, there in the background, was his shop - or rather, a lot of vacant air and broken plaster where his shop used to be. He could still see a few strips of paper fluttering through the air.

“Oh, no no no no no,” he moaned. “Everything I owned was in that shop!”

“Everything?” Shou asked curiously.

“He lived in the storeroom at the back,” Fukuda explained.

Ootsuki dragged a hand down his face. “I have a little money saved up, but I’ll need that for food and inventory until my insurance kicks in.”

“I have an extra bedroom,” Fukuda said. “I mean - it could be only temporary, if you like. And only if you’re comfortable with it. I have about three bonuses I haven’t even used yet, we could buy furniture or paper or anything you’d need.”

Shou made a muffled-sounding squeak.

“What,” Fukuda said flatly.

“You two are actually sharing an apartment?” Shou asked.

Ootsuki turned red. “I - I guess you could say that? We never really - I

Shou was grinning like a cat that had drunk half the cream and intentionally spilled the rest. “So, to be clear. You met by chance, had a coffee shop AU side story, fought a villain, and then…”

“Don’t you dare,” Fukuda warned.

Shou was grinning from ear to ear.

“And then they were roommates,” he whispered.

Then he phased through the door, laughing, dodging pillows from two very red-faced heroes.

#mob psycho 100 #mp100 #ootsuki #fukuda #rarepair #boku no hero academia au #bnha au #my hero academia au #hatori makes a brief cameo #shou #shou is also in here #queerplatonic

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