#I wonder how the quiz will be...I assume practical

[blessedcactus]

Messed up the rigging for Kurumi which is so embarrassing sjdjd so this time I'll draw it all properly from the start but I'll draw gen Tamawo design! Hopefully it turns out better...

[jaggedamethyst]

circuit breaker 🔬🌌 (part five)

tutor!jayce talis x reader, ekko x reader college au

content: after what happened, jayce is committed to helping you learn the physics material. even if it means daily sessions and spreading himself extremely thin.

harsh language (cursing, off-hand kms jokes), jayce mom angst, actual physics but I hope it makes sense…I swear I chose relatively simple concepts!! (If you need more context for the graph Jayce made, legit just google physics electron progression 1s 1p and a chart with arrows should come up on google) 

notes: might fuck around and post the next part asap because its that good

word count: 1.9k

series master list

。·:*:·ﾟ★,。·:*:·ﾟ☆　　 。·:*:·ﾟ★,。·:*:·ﾟ☆

Somehow the next week was even more stressful than the last few. With the looming stress of this week’s quiz and the strenuous schedule Jayce had you on—you were beginning to wonder if these study sessions were even going to pay off. 

He agreed to meet at your place. He’d show up every day, on the dot, supplies in hand. The happy expression on his face made you feel optimistic at first. You were ready to take on physics with a new level of confidence.

That was Monday.

By Wednesday, Jayce’s upbeat mood and cheery outlook just drained you even more. When Thursday came around, one day before the quiz, you were sure you were at your limit. 

“Hi, Jayce.” You spoke in monotone, opening the door before he could even knock. You turned away from him, allowing him to step into your apartment and close the door himself. 

He poked at your disinterested tone. “Someone’s in a good mood.”

“Yes, well I think that I’ve consumed enough physics this week that I might be reincarnated as Bohr…but that’s fine.” You stalked to your room, “That’s assuming my brain cells aren’t stuck in their own orbits or whatever the fuck.”

“Wait,” he paused in the middle of the hall leading to your room. 

“What?” 

“You…just made a physics joke.” He pointed to you, his tone increasing in amazement. “And it actually made sense-“ 

“It should.” You turned away from him, continuing into your room. “If I have to hear about atomic structure, valence electrons, or nucleus-es any more I might kill myself.” 

“Nuclei.” 

“Huh?” You pulled out the chair at your desk, allowing space for him to sit at the chair next to yours. 

He sat beside you, grabbing your notebook. He flipped to a fresh page as he spoke, “Nuclei is the plural…for when you mean more than one nucleus.” 

“Not to be that person but I think we may have bigger fish to fry than my grammar, Jayce.” 

“You’re right.” He rubbed his hands together, “Where should we start?” 

“Well we left off with electron configuration. I understand the concept…kind of…but I can’t remember all of these damn numbers. The pattern is weird.” 

Jayce reached toward the floor, seeing some of the papers from the previous day still thrown about. He grabbed one with the electron chart—clearly marked with notes and color coordinated to help you remember. 

“I think its best we start with this…if you’re trying to remember and do the problem at the same time you won’t understand it.” He slid the paper in front of you, setting it aside from the book. He then reached for another paper he’d bought—a worksheet. “Here’s some more examples for you to work on. Why don’t you try the first one like we practiced?”

You whined a bit, “Do I have to?” 

“Do you want to get a good grade?” 

You paused, snatching the pencil from the table. “Just because you have a good point doesn’t mean I like it.” 

He remained silent, stifling a laugh. He looked over your shoulder, watching you work out the questions. Somehow you’d made an already long question exponentially longer—working through a method that seemed to work for you. It of course tacked on extra minutes to each problem, though.

“How’s this?” You looked to Jayce for approval. 

“This is…” His eyes scanned your writing. Among the many cross outs and faint eraser marks was not a correct answer, but one extremely close. “This is almost right. You just messed up at the end here.” 

“What? No way-“ You looked at his finger pointing between the chart and your work, spotting the error. “Oh…I see what I did wrong.” 

“Good…wanna try and fix it?” 

You didn’t make direct eye contact, but honed in on the paper—encouraged to get the correct answer. He lingered over your movements with a watchful eye until you were done. 

“Okay…how about now?” You held the book out to Jayce.

“Amazing.” 

“But you didn’t check-“ 

“I did—watched you do the whole thing.” 

You turned to Jayce, “Sure you did.” 

“No, really.” He pushed the notebook back to you. “In fact, I think you’re ready to do three of these.” 

“You sure?” 

He nodded, pushing the materials back in a group for you to work on. “You got this.” 

Jayce sat silently again, catching the way you’d twisted your lips in concentration. Your grip on the pencil was harsh, the wood pressing into your skin in a way he was sure should hurt. Even so, you didn’t give up. The process became longer than he expected. His vision started to blur, his focus becoming less sharp, but he stayed watching. 

Eventually, you turned to him, several minutes having passed. To both of your surprise, you did rather well. Jayce traced over your handwriting, noting the simple mistakes you needed to keep an eye out for. You nodded alongside him, physically writing down the notes he gave you. Before you continued, you decided on a quick break. 

“I’m gonna go grab something to drink, do you want anything?” 

“No,” Jayce yawned suddenly, “I’m good.” He moved to rub his eyes, sorting through some of the papers that had found their way to the floor. He turned a bit, watching you leave the room. 

You rounded the corner, beelining for the refrigerator and cabinets for a snack—you needed fuel immediately.

With an inhale, you leaned back into the kitchen countertop. Truthfully, you were feeling a bit more confident now, but if you were feeling drained you could only imagine Jayce. You made quick work of grabbing a few more snacks for him and a bottle of water before heading back to the room. 

Before crossing the threshold, you froze—the sound of light snores filled the room. 

Jayce had fallen asleep. 

A crooked smile found a way to your lips, the sight of him admittedly being very cute. Despite him being asleep, his lashes fluttered a bit. His lips parted and let out the sound of his breath. In an occurrence that should provide him comfort, intensity still lingered in his brows; they were pinched together in worry. You didn’t miss the way his lip would occasionally twitch—fighting off the pain that lived in him. 

With a quick motion, you quietly set the things you’d grabbed to the side. Making sure you stepped lightly—you swung open the closet and grabbed a blanket to lay over him. You gulped at the action, not even giving it a second thought. The thought left you just as quickly as it had appeared, your feet moving you back toward your desk and open notebook. 

Your eyes scanned over your work and the example problems pensively—immediately feeling an overwhelming sensation fill you. Your palms began to sweat, fingers and hands shaking in front of you. A slow blink and deep breath allowed you to calm yourself, enough to grab your pencil and start in on the example problems. Jayce turned then, still sleeping but fidgeting a bit. You had to try to do this—on your own. 

For a while, you worked on the problems only, afraid to crosscheck for the answers. Eventually, you’d grown confidence to check. There were a few you’d gotten wrong, circling back to check what you did incorrectly with a motivated scribble. Others, you’d gotten right, though. A warm feeling sat inside you, a pride over finally understanding the material. 

Beside you, Jayce started to stir before quickly sitting up in panic. “Fuck, when did I fall asleep?” 

You looked to your left, the clock hanging above. “Like an hour ago.” 

“Why didn’t you wake me up? I’m supposed to be helping you.” He moved to stand, folding the blanket you’d placed over him. 

“Figured you could use the down time.” 

He moved closer to the chair, watching you lean your head up to look at him. His shoulders slumped at the optimism in your gaze. “I feel like I’m fucking this up.” He drew in a dramatic breath, “Am I a bad tutor?” 

You pushed the chair back a bit, letting him look at your self-graded work. “You tell me.” 

His eyes raked over the paper, bending over the blanket in his grasp. He took his time surveying all the written out problems. His nostrils flared when he would let out an amused chuckle at the ones you went back to fix. He leaned away, “You’re pretty smart, huh?” 

“Well,” You stood, grabbing the blanket from him. “I have a not so bad tutor.” 

Jayce folded his arms, “Right.” 

You turned to put the blanket away. When you got back to your desk, you gestured for Jayce to find his seat next to yours again. As the two of you were finally sat, Jayce spoke up. 

“So,” he cleared his throat, “How are you feeling? I mean, like mental health wise. I know it’s been a lot.” 

“I think…I’m working on it.” You nodded, “As best as I can.” 

“That’s good. You should be proud.” 

“Thank you, I try to be.” You swallowed, seeming to look off into the distance. The quietness of the room made you want to speak to fill it. “How’s your mom?” 

Jayce watched you grimace at the abrupt question, but felt grateful you asked. “She’s okay. I spend a lot of time with her—helping and doing whatever she needs to feel comfortable.” He looks down at his hands in his lap. “Think it’s just a hard time for her, feeling herself be weak in a way she’s never been before.” 

You nodded then, looking at his downturned gaze. “I get that.” 

“I’m trying really hard to be what she needs me to be, whatever that looks like.” He readjusted, “Sometimes I think that’s a good student…to keep my grades up. Other times I think it’s to just be a good son…show up every day after class. It’s exhausting trying to figure it out.” 

“I can only imagine.” 

“It’s different with you though.” He jumped a bit at the way your head snapped to him. He spoke quickly, “I just mean that…I know what my purpose is. I can physically see you improving.” He rubbed his neck, “I’m not making sense am I?” 

You shook your head, “I’m attempting to follow-“ 

“I guess I should just thank you, then.” 

“Thank me? For what?” 

“For letting me help you. For letting me have a purpose outside of just student, son, friend, whatever.” He placed a hand on the desk in front of you, closing the gap between you. He finally let his eyes meet your again, a sincere look on his face. “Thank you.” 

A tight feeling ran through you, pushing from your chest outward. You didn’t break the eye contact, though. “I think you’re giving me too much credit, Jayce.” 

“I don’t think I give you enough.” 

A breath caught in your throat, suddenly overwhelmed by the lingering look Jayce had on you. The both of you stayed there, looking between one another’s eyes. Jayce’s movement forward was almost imperceptible; you wouldn’t have noticed had you not been studying every feature on him.

His phone dinged—piercing through the palpable tension in your room. He looked away, a reluctance in his motion. You looked toward the door in a huff, pushing away the feeling that had creeped up on you so quickly. 

“Sorry, it’s Mel.” 

“Oh,” you turned to him expectantly, “Do you need to go?” 

Without missing a beat he turned his phone face down and folded his hands in front of you. “Nope…I’m good here.” 

“Okay, then.” 

He slid the book from in front of you, splitting the distance. “Let’s get a better look at this amazing work you did.” 

Your tongue pushed on the inside of your cheek, the skin puffing out and heating at the praise. 

“Alright, then.” 

chapter six

taglist

@juskonutoh @sseleniaa @aerina127 @sleepysoldier @angelicmisty @1800latenitecreep @venus-in-roses @myxticmoon @rando-no-5

[demonslayedher]

Hi!

I love your blog, it such an interesting resource and a fun cache of information and fanwork!

So... for the ask proper, I was wondering how well do you think Nezuko would do with each the five classic breathing styles, (and possibly flower breathing, for fun) and why?

Thank you for your time!

"Cache of information and fanwork" is such an apt blog description, thank you. ( ´∀`)

Let's throw in Sun Breathing for fun:

Sun: She wouldn't have the advantage Tanjiro does since it seems only Tanjiro practiced Hinokami Kagura, but she's got the family history to give her this aptitude. I assume this is also what lead to her Exploding Blood.

Flame: In a post-canon AU, I really loved giving Nezuko this Breath because it was the closest she could get to applied her propensity for bursting into flames back in her demon days. Since Nezuko's probably always had a spark of that in her like how she stands up to injustice, I like this potential for purely human Nezuko too. (Bonus: In that AU, even though I didn't have her fully pick it up I had her pick up some Love Breath techniques too.)

Water: Nezuko adjusts to new situations and works flexibly with circumstances that are not ideal. She'd take to it well.

Stone: The quiz in the first fanbook implies that this is a Breath that requires a patient temperament. Nezuko might show promise but I'm betting she'd have limits. Plus, it probably requires more physical strength than she possess as a human.

Wind: Post-demon Nezuko might find some knack for it, but I think she doesn't quite have a natural ability for it. She has amazing willpower, but doesn't display the desire to blow others down with her will.

Thunder: I bet she'd attempt it out of idolizing Hisha-like Thunder Breath users, but she'd likely soon determine she's not cut out for it.

Flower: I theorize that a lot of Flower Breath is evasion, which Nezuko has never shown much concern for, whether as a demon who waltz into situations that get her limbs blown off or as a human child standing up an abusive adult. That said, her leg strength might help, and her asanoha motif (a plant known for rapid growth) does give her a little fitness for this, perhaps.

[attorney-anon]

Hey, I’m a law student and I’m also autistic and ADHD and I was wondering if you have any tips for working in law as a neurodivergent person? I love my course and I can’t wait to work but the 85% unemployment statistic really scares me.

This is a long answer, so I'm going to cut it for the sake of mobile users. I do link some products below; I'm not getting paid, and I'm only linking them because they honestly work for me. Also, as a caveat, a lot of this advice assumes that you're American and/or working in-person at a private law firm; unfortunately, that's my only experience other than a month doing part-time intake for my regional legal aid service.

The biggest hurdle you will meet is the bar exam*: you need a study buddy who does not have ADHD and can help keep you on track. Don't study separately then meet up; do things like watching lecture videos together and keeping pace with one another in person. I'm not ADHD myself, but my best friend and forever study partner is, and she struggled to self-start.

Buy a bar prep course. This is not the time to be a scrooge; don't buy Kaplan just because it's cheaper (it also sucks). Barbri and Themis are both good - of these, use whichever you can get for cheapest or, if the costs are comparable, use Barbri if structure gives you comfort and use Themis if you need some control over the order in which you do things. Also use Themis if humor engages you; the Property and Contracts lecturers are hilarious. Stick to your bar prep program, but be gentle with yourself if you fall behind pace - realistically, you need to get through all the topics at least once, but you don't have to do every practice MPT, every practice essay, and every practice MBE quiz. Use the same study techniques that got you through law school. IMO, useful supplemental tools include the Critical Pass flashcards (get them used if possible, or get a referral code from somebody) and the Finz Multistate Method guide. Do your best to treat the bar exam as a game - because it is one.

There's a strategy for every section, and you should practice these strategies. For the MBE, use the Finz method - it works. For the MEE, or any other essay exam, use IRAC - and make up the R if you need to. The UBE, and most state bar exams, are graded such that you do get more points for knowing the rule, but you can still get points if you make up a reasonable-sounding rule and then apply it correctly. For the MPT, just throw in as many case and rule cites as possible. Try to cite every document you're given.

Join a bar prep FB group if you use FB; I was in Themis Memes for Should-Be-Studying Teens, but I know there's a Barbri group too. I found that being able to laugh at my bar prep course made it less miserable to do it. Don't be afraid to turn the videos on 2x or 0.5x speed - or faster or slower as needed. Some of the Themis lecturers talk to slowly that we went up to 3x; one of them talks so fast I had to slow him down.

Practice for the test in as many different environments as you can. I took the 2020 Pandemic Bar, so my bar was different than standard (I took it in a hotel room with my back to the door and proctors patrolling the hallways, it was mildly traumatizing fun), but I highly recommend getting used to noise while you're taking the test. Your ADHD/Autism hyperfocus will help here - make the bar exam your hyperfixation to the extent possible.

Once you pass the bar exam, your next hurdle will be the job search. You are going to have to mask for interviews, there's just no getting around it, but how much you mask will depend on your area of law. Big Law firms and intense, litigation-focused practice areas (e.g., business lit or criminal law) will expect you to be gregarious, friendly, and charming from the get-go; less litigation-focused practice areas (e.g., probate or family law) will often have more tolerance for quieter, less aggressive types.

Do not panic if you wind up at a less-than-favorable firm on your first or even your second job; a lateral shift between firms won't kill your resume as long as you can give a tactful reason you left (e.g., "I found that I prefer to focus on X instead of Y," or "I found that I had more opportunities to explore X at Y firm, and I am interested in focusing on X"). It is not normal to cry every day after work. It is not normal to routinely have panic attacks in the bathroom.

Once you have a job, billing is going to be difficult unless you gamify it. I use the Finch self-care app, so I have a task at the end of every week to make sure I have billed my time. My friend rewards herself for every day she bills by buying herself a new pen. Some people thrive off of timers (MyCase and Clio are popular case management software programs; both have timers built-in), but if nothing else, simply note when you start tasks and when you finish them by sending e-mails to yourself (or others, if relevant) at the end of every task. If your case management software can integrate with your e-mail (MyCase can integrate with Outlook, for instance), then use that to tag outgoing e-mails so you can be sure each one gets billed.

Outside of Big Law or intense practice areas, very few people bill 8 hours per day - a lot of the work you do will be non-billable, but also you will suffer from exhaustion or burnout if you try to bill 8 hours per day (my minimum is 20 hours per week, which is just 4 hours a day). You also will usually have some discretion in billing - use that to make yourself feel better if inattention issues make something take longer than you feel is fair. As for billing enough, if you find that you are most productive outside of work hours, find a firm that will let you access client files offsite - work at home if they'll let you.

I do a lot of my best billing either in the mornings right when I get to work or at 10:00 at night. That's okay so long as you take breaks during the workday (I watch a lot of TikTok during my breaks, but I also fiddle with various online games and such); you'll need mental rest to reset between cases. If you struggle with task-switching, use a break to help reset your focus. I strongly recommend setting an alarm for yourself during breaks so that time blindness doesn't derail you. Make your alarm kind of annoying; something you won't just mindlessly ignore.

Let yourself hyperfocus on things; all of that time you spend researching and drafting and correcting and perfecting that motion or brief is billable, and it's also good practice of law - your client and your partner will appreciate your thoroughness, and the judge will almost never hate it (some judges prefer brevity, but I've never had a judge upset at me for wordiness).

I also recommend getting apps that can automate things for you; I use Espanso to make my life easier by having easy-to-type shortcuts for common phrases and information (e.g., the current date, my bar card number, my work e-mail address, etc.). You can customize these things to make sense to your own brain - your process doesn't have to work for anyone but you. Similarly, I use macros in Word to make drafting go faster by letting buttons do all my formatting for me.

Excel sheets make excellent task lists because you can split them up by case, and set them up to highlight things (e.g., today's date) automatically. Most firms will have some kind of "docket meeting" where everyone goes over the status on each case - some people prefer handwritten notes (my best friend does), some people prefer digital notes (I have an excel workbook I use). Find a method that reduces distractions but lets you keep up with the flow of conversation.

On the topic of technology, if your firm provides a computer for you, or if your firm will provide accessories to supplement your own computer, push to have multiple monitors - I use my own laptop, but my boss provides monitors and I have two plus my laptop screen. It is WAY easier to keep up with billing if you can keep your time entry software open and visible on one of your screens.

You will be spending a lot of time in your office; make it comfortable. Once you are making enough to get by, invest in a good office chair (that you own, so you can take it with you if you leave the firm) and some basic office supplies that you like, such as a post-it note dispenser (mine is a cat!). My office chair is designed to let me sit cross-legged - I highly recommend having an office chair that matches your most comfortable sitting style. Having some things that are yours will make any future moves less awkward. I also strongly, strongly recommend getting some simple and quietish fidget toys - I have several spinners, wacky tracks, tangles, and clicky fidgets in one of my desk drawers, amongst others, to help me self-stim, as well as a sensory sticker on my desk pad (on the linked set, I have the rough version of the bottom middle sticker, the rainbow finger labyrinth one).

For me, I find that actual litigation requires scripting. Whether it's an oral argument or just a temporary orders hearing, I typically have every word I intend to say written down as much as I can (re-direct examination or re-cross examination can't be scripted before the day of, but I usually at least scrawl a summary of the question I need to ask as I'm taking notes). I don't necessarily read from it, and sometimes I veer off-script, but there is a specific comfort in having the words scripted out. On the few occasions I have ad-libbed things, I find that I come off less authoritative and confident, which gives the judge the impression that I am guessing. I also find comfort in having a copy of the code I need (which is always the Texas Family Code for me) on-hand at the counsel table. You are allowed to tell the judge you'd like to consult the statute when the judge asks you a question.

I also find that, for courtroom litigation, it's worthwhile to make sure your court clothes are comfortable. Courtrooms in my area are universally a little too warm, so I have a linen blazer that breathes and a variety of shell tops that don't have sleeves. I also have bad ankles, so I wear exclusively flats despite the fact that I am less than 5 feet tall. For me, heat sensitivity is a part of my sensory issues so I am all about setting myself up for success. It's also worthwhile to bring extra water bottles; at my firm (we are almost all ND in some regard), the standard is 2 per attorney and 1 for each support staff, then 1 for the client.

For out-of-court days, even "business" can be comfortable if you're a creative shopper. My last firm required business attire, though not necessarily courtroom attire. I wore a lot of dresses to stay cool, and a solid-color dress in a modest cut paired with a black blazer (which you can remove when you're just working in your office) almost always makes the cut. For those who don't like or can't wear dresses, comfortable slacks and a modest blouse or dress shirt, paired with a blazer, also works. My current firm only requires business casual for client meetings, courtroom attire for court, and otherwise as long as we cover our shoulders and don't wear shorts, we're good to go. I use a cardigan to cover my shoulders when I'm outside my office, as most of my blouses are sleeveless. It's worthwhile to invest in a good office sweater anyway; I like a thin t-shirt material cardigan for me, but my officemate uses a pullover knit sweater. Do what's comfortable.

Office meetings, or even court hearings, can sometimes get loud and overstimulating - buy you some Flare Audio Calmer ear inserts, they really do help take some of the 'sharpness' off of the noise. I also recommend a playlist that contains binaural beats (assuming you like them) or colored (white, brown, pink, etc) noise and a solid pair of ANC headphones or earbud, depending on your preference (the linked products are far from the only options, they're just reasonably-priced options that I know work; I personally use first-gen Airpod Pros). If you don't like binaural beats or white noise, instrumentals of pop songs are also excellent.

You can also get phone apps that layer binaural beats over your music - I find that it sometimes helps me calm down when I'm close to a meltdown, though I personally feel worse at the lower frequencies (I usually stay around the alpha-beta frequency line, but ymmv). I think there are probably also some apps for colored noise over your music, but I haven't looked. If you haven't before, I recommend experimenting with binaural beats and/or colored noise - I find that they can help calm down some of the staticky feeling I get from overstimulation.

Offices also sometimes involve other sensory dangers - like, for instance, food texture issues (another big one for me). You can often get out of things like that by simply explaining that the food doesn't agree with you, or that you're not very hungry - or, if your boss knows that you have sensory issues (mine knows I'm autistic), you can just quietly explain that it's a sensory problem and you have it under control. Keep some safe snacks in your office. You can avoid alcohol, if you're picky about it or just don't like it, by explaining that you're not in the mood to drink (or that you don't drink, period) and that you'll stick to soda/tea/water/whatever. Only major assholes will push past that.

Most coping mechanisms for sensory issues can be justified with "I don't feel good" or "I have a headache."

If your office chair hurts your back, get up and walk around. You are not in elementary school; at most firms, you can step out and just let your coworkers know where'/how to find you, and when you'll be back.

For intra-office and extra-office communications, if you have any doubts about the quality of the communication, you can put it in writing afterwards. A quick e-mail saying, "Okay, so this is my understanding of X, please let me know if I've misunderstood anything or if anything changes" is a good CYA to cover any communication difficulties; don't use idioms or shorthand in these e-mails - actually spell out exactly what you think happened, or what you think you've been asked to do.

If you're worried about your tone in written communications, Chat GPT is good at doing a first draft. It can also do a first draft of your attorney bio, if you're asked to write it yourself. Tell it the message you want to convey, and the tone in which you need it said. For instance, if you need to convey to a pro se opposing party that your world does not revolve around them, but you want to do it professionally, you might tell Chat GPT, "Write a professional e-mail to my opposing party conveying that my world does not revolve around them and that I will get to them when I get to them." That won't give you a perfect e-mail, but it gives you an idea of how to set the tone. Never trust any citation the thing gives you, but you can also use it to simplify complex thoughts for motions that you need to be simpler.

Law practice is also emotionally draining. Take the time to cry if you need to, or to go outside or into a breakroom and breathe.

Essentially, working in law when you're ND means finding tools to help you. It's definitely doable (as I said, most of my current firm is ND), but you'll need to find coping mechanisms to soothe yourself. If you've gotten into law school, I think it's clear that you're competent enough to work. The trick is not burning yourself out entirely, which I hope the above can help with.

* - This is not and never will be an endorsement of bar exams as a measure of competence for new attorneys. The bar exam is a racist and classist institution born from the desire of old white men to keep their good-ol'-boys club exclusive. Fuck the NCBE and abolish bar exams nationwide.

[sivellevossen]

Just An Act

~part 4~

Prompt: You and Sebastian broke up following the events of 5th year. Now it is 7th year, you and Ominis are together and all seems well… until you and Sebastian are casted as lovers in a play.

Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, Part 4, Part 5, Part 6, Part 7, Part 8, Part 9, Part 10 *completed*

~

Practice started in three days, and you and Ominis made the most out of that time while you had time and everything was calm. You both had unspoken feelings of anxiety about the upcoming weeks, both revolving around the same boy. You were both up in the library in the back corner of the second story, your head on his lap while you both studied for an upcoming quiz. These nights were your favorites, quiet, alone, candlelit and cuddly. Ominis made sure he held you tighter, reassuring both you and himself that everything will be fine. In reality, it was just a play, you two were probably making it out a lot worse than it really was.

“MC.. I know you’re falling asleep..there’s no need for you to try and stay up for me” Ominis smiled, running his fingers through your hair.

“It’s nice up here..” You smiled tiredly, “Plus, my room wouldn’t have you in it” You joked, turning your head to look up at him. He smiled, leaning down to kiss the top of your head,

“Are you nervous about the play?” He asked softly, putting down his book and holding your hand.

“A little.. you?” You asked. He nodded in reply. He was comforted by the fact that no matter how close Sebastian could get to you during the play, he knew you would always end up with him at the end of the night.

“You’ll be a great director” You reassured him, avoiding the obvious reasons behind both of your discomforts. You were nervous for two reasons… the first being Sebastian. It had been so long since you interacted with him, you wondered if it would be the same as it was before. And secondly, you didn’t want to make your boyfriend uncomfortable or uneasy. You knew you had to tread carefully. Although your thoughts were messy, your loyalty to Ominis was never in the question. He was your rock, and you were his star, both playing vital roles in each other’s lives.

“And you will be a great lead.. I will enjoy every moment of you on stage.. perhaps even being your number one fan” He whispered.

“Poppy might argue that.” You chuckled, squeezing his hand.

“There’s no competition there, little dove” He smiled, caressing your face. A comfortable silence followed, enjoying each others company for the remainder of the night. No words needed to be spoken, your bond was strong.

~~~

“Merlin!..” Sebastian sighed, alone in his room as he thought about the upcoming days. What did he want? Truly. He liked Octavia, but you were going to be right in front of him. How was that even fair. He raked his fingers through his hair, was he overthinking this? You two weren’t even friends anymore and here he was comparing you to his girlfriend!

“Such an asshole..” he muttered to himself, although it didn’t stop his thoughts from wandering. He decided he needed some air, assuming the library was empty at this time of night, it was past curfew anyway. He threw on his robe, wandering out into the library, the silence reassuring him his assumptions were right. He made his way up the stairs, stopping dead in his tracks at the sight that greeted him. MC and Ominis, asleep together in the back corner. For a split second, his heart stung. It was easy to ignore these two when you’re avoiding them, but to see the reality was different.

He chuckled too himself knowing it was definitely you who had convinced Ominis to come out here after curfew. There was no way that innocent boy would even think to do this. However, the thought reminded him of the past. You hadn’t changed, still charming enough to get your way, still sneaky enough to manage slipping through the halls past curfew. Only a year and a half had passed since you and Sebastian would be in the same position, just down underneath in the restricted area. However being upstairs had shown your maturity, there was comfort in familiarity and not the unknown below. He shook his head, reversing back to his room with a heavy heart.

~~

Today was the day! You and Ominis got ready together, making sure you both looked as good as possible. You wanted to look good because all eyes would be on you, and looking pretty would boost your confidence overall. Ominis, on the other hand, wanted to show off to a specific slytherin boy, proving his worthiness of you in his looks. You, Ominis, Natty, and Poppy all met up outside in the courtyard so you could all go together.

“I’m so excited! MC you look dashing as ever! It was definitely the right choice to make you the lead!” Poppy smiled, “your costar will be jealous!” She smiled, clearly not thinking of the weight those words held. Ominis bit his lip, unsure of how to even go about replying to the doe eyed girl.

“Poppy shush! I appreciate your compliment but you dont have to exageraste!” You smiled, avoiding the elephant in the room, trying to play it off.

“Everyone should be jealous.” Ominis stated, smiling down at you, making you blush.

You made it to the auditorium, students already gathering and waiting for direction. The four of you found yourselves secluded on one side of the room, waiting for the professor to arrive. Sebastian and Octavia stood parallel to you on the opposite end of the room, Sebastian letting his eyes wander a little too much, comforted by the fact there was no way Ominis could notice. You felt lingering eyes on you, but through the sea of students, you couldn’t tell if your mind was just playing tricks on you.

“Good morning everyone! I am glad to see you all this morning! We have lots of work to do!” The professor exclaimed as she made her wait into the room. The students all welcomed her with a combined “Goodmorning Professor!”

“First things first, introductions! I would like all of you to find your counterparts! For example, directors group up, set design group up, supporting and lead actors!” She smiled at the class. Ominis’s stomach turned at the thought, simply squeezing your hand before going off with Natty. You scanned the room, looking for your ex companion. You saw him kiss his girlfriend goodbye as she went off to find her people, you timidly approached him from behind, tapping on his shoulder.

“Sallow.” You greeted, anxiety creeping up on you. You hadn’t interacted with him in over a year and so much has changed. You secretly longed for his companionship again..platonically of course. He turned slowly, a slightly nervous look on his face. You can’t remember the last time Sebastian was nervous around you, it had been so long. He paused, carefully piecing his words together, or lack there of,

“MC.”

It was officially the most awkward thing ever. You glanced over at Ominis and found him looking down at the ground while Natty watched and narrated. You felt this awkward pressure to keep Sebastian at a distance, but you didn’t know how. Sebastian looked over as well, unsure whether he should keep his promise to Ominis or try stepping over the boundary. You both looked back at each other in sync, a small smile creeping up on both of you. Maybe you guys haven’t changed as much as you thought. However, the awkwardness definitely had not stopped, both of you standing awkwardly in silence. The professor noticed this and marched her way over to you

“Come on guys! You’re costars! Costars must get to know each other and form that special bond! Chemistry is important you know! Come on MC, I promise he doesn’t bite!” She chimed, trying to break the tension between you too. You both awkwardly smiled, the poor woman had no idea the chemistry that was once present between you two.

You both continued to stare at one another, waiting for the other to make the first move. However, that was definitely not happening.

“Alright you two! I’m sending you both off to fetch some supplies for us! Normally that would be another team’s job…but it seems you two need an extra push. Go on now! Off you go!” She insisted, practically pushing you both towards the door and then out. On your way out, you glanced at Ominis, mouthing the words ‘I’m Sorry!’ So that atleast Natty could deliver the message for you. You felt terrible, you knew Ominis would be anxious but there was truly nothing you could do in this situation, and you definitely were not allowing Sallow to ruin the play for you.

The heard the door lock behind you once you were both shoved out with a piece of paper scribbled with items you needed. Of course. Now there was really no way out. You looked up at Sebastian, repeating to yourself how Sallow would not ruin this for you and reminded yourself to be the bigger person.

“Shall we go Sallow?”

He stayed quiet, choosing his words carefully “Lead the way L/N”. You smiled, looking down at the paper and shoving it into his chest as you passed by him. He smiled, laughing to himself, the spot you touched him feeling as though it was set ablaze. It was just like old times..

[twistedwonderlandsimps]

Hi! You can answer this whenever you like ^^

I want to ask if you could also make more scenarios for characters, other than Ace, having a mishap in Ramshackle’s weirdness (with ???!Yuu maybe coming to the rescue or not)

You could do the rest of the first years or the characters you think would have interesting interactions with the rules/creatures in Ramshackle ٩(^o^)۶

???!Yuu [ft. The First Years]

Ace Trappola and the 20-sided Dice

He found this peculiar little dice when he was walking around Ramshackle, looking for the Red Door again.

He was just really curious about the different versions of the Yuus that he saw from behind the Red Door and wanted to take a closer look.

No, not of them taking a bath! No!

He just wanted to talk to them and all that, alright?!

He was pretty sure he saw a Yuu that looked like Malleus Draconia so he was wondering what was up with that.

But Yuu didn’t help them find the door so now he was left with his own devices.

It didn’t take him long to find a room he was unfamiliar with and in the middle of the room was a glass case with a dice propped on top of a fancy pillow inside of it.

It was pretty easy to take and Ace assumed it was somewhat safe since Ramshackle didn’t do anything to stop him from taking it.

Ace looked at the dice, trying to see what kind of abilities it had since there was no way this thing was just a normal dice especially when he found it inside Ramshackle.

He turned it over with one hand before releasing it down to the floor and watching as it landed on the number 20.

The redhead waited patiently and looked around to see if there was anything dangerous coming after him. 

When he saw nothing, he shrugged and pocketed the dice and resolved to ask what was the dice’s purpose when he sees Yuu later.

Though oddly enough, throughout the day he seemed to find himself eerily… lucky?

There was a surprise pop quiz in class but that got canceled right as they were about to take it, his class got dismissed early so he was able to buy the delicious limited edition bread that was usually always sold out by the time he arrived in the cafeteria, and he even single-handedly carried his team in basketball practice earlier!

It was as if luck was on his side!

Of course Ace, the sharp man he was, immediately realized it was because of the dice’s influence.

He immediately verified this to Yuu but when the Ramshackle prefect heard that they had used the die, they gave him a pitiful look while Grim looked at him with an expression that said ‘are you stupid?’.

Ace: “W…What? Why are you looking at me like I’m a dead man? Shit, don’t tell me this dice is going to take my lifespan away?!”

Yuu: “Not your lifespan, per se… Also, it doesn’t take anything away. Eh, but you might want to buy yourself protective gears and be alert for tomorrow. You know what, it’s better if you don’t go to school tomorrow.”

Ace: “Oi…! What’s going to happen?!”

Grim: “Nyahaha! You’re gonna be extremely unlucky tomorrow! What a stupid human! Why would you use something you found in Ramshackle?”

Yuu: “...Didn’t you also–”

Grim: “THE GREAT GRIM DID NOT!”

Suffice to say, Ace had a really bad time the next day. He was forced to go to school because Riddle caught him trying to skip classes and collared him. And for some reason, things were falling from the sky out of nowhere and hitting him square in the head but good thing he had a helmet on or else he’d already have a concussion over his concussion. There were also surprise quizzes on his classes for topics he didn’t study for, ALL his classes! Even PE! Worst part was, he couldn’t do anything to stop this because he had to wait the whole day out!

The 20-sided Dice: Yes, it’s the DnD dice. Ultimately, it’s harmless when it’s not used. The higher the number one gets, the luckier they become. However, it’s not without its drawbacks because just as how lucky one may get, the more unlucky they become the next day. It’s like having a predetermined amount of luck assigned to you every day and other days ahead. The dice siphons your luck from tomorrow so you can use it at the present time but that means that tomorrow, you’re significantly less luckier. Normally it wouldn’t be noticeable but the higher the number someone gets, the more luck the dice takes from an individual’s tomorrow. It’s just unfortunate that Ace rolled a 20. Heh.

Deuce Spade and the Children’s Show

This happened earlier when he still didn’t know much of the true dangers in Ramshackle.

Although this man sometimes has small brain moments, he knows how to assess danger.

Sometimes, anyway. Because really, remember the Dwarf’s Mine? He really tried to try his luck and play russian roulette with the blot monster just to get a magic stone.

Anyway, this sense of danger mostly only applied to direct physical threats.

So stumbling into Ramshackle’s Lounge and seeing the television was on, he thought nothing of it. 

He assumed Yuu bought a new TV to entertain themselves. 

There didn’t seem to be anything much to do in Ramshackle aside from trying to escape with your life so he gets why Yuu would get a television.

Even if the television switched to a scene of a well with S*dako crawling out of it, Deuce was fairly confident in his ability to fight.

He decided to look and see what the show the television was showing and it was actually a children’s show!

Unfortunately there wasn’t a remote anywhere and the television oddly didn’t have buttons to change the channel so he had no choice but to watch the children’s show that was kind of similar to D*ra the Explorer.

When the cartoon character asked the viewers a question, Deuce would jokingly answer it, not knowing the entity he was luring in.

He didn’t find anything wrong until the television screen showed a cartoonized version of Ramshackle far in the distance. 

That was when Deuce began to feel that something was wrong. He tried to look for the TV’s power plug, only to find that it didn’t have any.

Finally realizing that this thing was an unknown entity, Deuce panicked and began talking to himself on what he should do and inadvertently giving indirect answers to it.

The cartoon character got closer and closer to Ramshackle with each scene, its face becoming more distorted and demented the more it got closer.

That was when Deuce realized that the show’s scene would change if he answered the character’s questions. 

Even joke answers, or any answer for that matter, counted.

So he closed his mouth shut before he could make anything worse for him but at this point it was already too late.

The character had already arrived at the cartoon version of Ramshackle’s front door.

They knocked on the door in the television, asking to be let in, and Deuce heard a series of knocks on Ramshackle’s front door in real life.

It had already arrived…

That was when a ball of flame suddenly headed towards the television and engulfed it in flames.

Deuce heard a high pitched shriek come from the outside as the cartoon character in the television show caught fire and screamed in agony.

He looked at the direction to where the ball of flame came from and saw a grumpy-looking Grim by the doorway.

“Fgnah! You almost tried to invite that thing inside! Be glad I was here before anything could happen!”

The Children’s Show: Yeah, it’s pretty much Am*nda the Adventurer except it’s a television show. Gotta love me some horror and children tropes. Anyway, no one knows the entity’s true form since they hide it behind the cutesy cartoon character in the television. Any type of answers given whenever the cartoon character addresses the viewers counts and it will continue to the next scene. That’s why staying silent is the best option but that doesn’t mean the cartoon character will let this slip by. When they inevitably realize that you find out their true purpose, they won’t hesitate to pull the punches. They’ll use any means to make you answer, whether by taunting you and picking on your insecurities or even creating a cartoon version of your loved ones getting hurt and screaming in pain. The only way to neutralize this entity is to destroy the television. It doesn’t mean it’s gone, just neutralized. It will be back again later with a different cartoon character…

Jack Howl and the… Thing?

He has a good head on his shoulders so he knew not to touch anything in Ramshackle or go into rooms he had never seen before.

Though, just because he’s careful doesn’t really stop the dangers from seeking him instead.

Unlucky for him, it seems that a murderous entity got impatient and forcefully took over control of Ramshackle's layout to trap Jack in a room with it.

Of course, such a crude way of taking control of Ramshackle’s layout definitely wouldn’t escape Yuu’s notice but it seems this entity was betting everything on its life that it would be able to harm Jack before either Yuu or Ramshackle could intervene and bring him out of danger.

Jack couldn’t do a thing but try to evade this… thing, whatever it was… since the door that he had just closed by itself and couldn’t be opened.

Then the room began to expand as Jack turned around to see whatever had just trapped him in the room.

The entity was a monstrous thing. It was disgusting to look at and even more disgusting to smell.

Even when Jack had a bit of distance from it, he could still smell the coppery smell of blood emanating from it.

The thing looked fleshy and had a lot of eyes of different colors and twitching limbs poking out of its body. 

Its flesh seemed to be made of human skin, if the vague shapes and figures of human faces stretched on the surface was anything to go by.

Jack had an ominous conjecture that those limbs and eyes came from the thing’s previous victim and he definitely didn’t want his face to be on there, no thank you.

So Jack did the best thing to do in a situation like this – Run away because he was sure as long as he could get out of this entity’s territory then it wouldn’t be able to chase after him anymore.

The only problem was that despite the entity looking all stout and plump from all the flesh it assimilated, it was still able to almost catch up to him!

Just as the entity was closing the gap between them, a wood beam suddenly burst out of the floor and hit the entity, throwing it out of Jack’s path as it hit the wall.

The door that was locked earlier opened and Jack could see that Yuu was holding the door open while reaching their hand out to him, screaming for him to take their hand.

It seemed that Yuu was struggling to force the door open, which was quite understandable since the entity didn’t want its prey to escape and they were technically playing a game of tug of war with the territory.

Still, looking over his shoulder, Jack could see more wooden beams bursting out from the walls, the floor, and the ceiling as it kept hitting the entity and breaking its momentum from catching up with Jack. This was the first time he had seen Ramshackle at work.

More beams burst out from the walls and created a barrier between the entity and Jack and Yuu.

Finally, Jack could reach out to Yuu and take their hand as he was pulled to safety. The door closed behind him and it disappeared from view. 

“I… huff… I’m so sorry…” Yuu panted, leaning on the wall. “We’ll make sure it… wheeze… won’t be able to… haa… to cause trouble ever again…”

“That’s… huff… great.” Jack replied, also out of breath.

The Thing: A malevolent entity obsessed with assimilating creatures into it. With the amount of mass it’s gained, it must have hunted in Ramshackle for a long, long time now. It actually has a second form where its flesh around its ‘stomach’ area splits open to show the seemingly alive and screaming heads of the previous victims still being digested and assimilated. Current status: pending elimination. :)

Epel Felmier and the Statue Room

Ah, the statue room. 

It’s a relatively harmless room. Relatively harmless unless the entities find you interesting enough to be a part of them, that is.

And that’s what exactly Epel is to them – a potential candidate for their ‘eternal paradise’.

He first stumbled upon the room when they were staying at Ramshackle for VDC practice.

At first he was curious about the statues that he was seeing littered all around Ramshackle when he and the rest of the NRC Tribe were moving in.

The statues were very detailed, like Greek sculptures.

Yuu seemed to have a strained expression on their face as they said, “Ah… Don’t mind them. They shouldn’t be out and about, trying to… recruit… new potentials for their cause.” 

Yuu said it loudly, as if purposely trying to let the statues hear their words.

The next day, the statues were still scattered around Ramshackle but this time their positions and poses changed. Additionally most of them were now inside of Ramshackle.

It was creepy but since Yuu reassured them that the statues were mostly harmless, it was no problem.

That was until Epel woke up in the middle of the night with a parched throat so he got up to get himself a glass of water.

As he opened the door, he was met with a statue pointing down the hallway.

It would be a lie if he said he wasn’t jumpscared to be met face-to-face with the statue but it would also be a lie if he said he wasn’t curious at what it was pointing at.

So he followed the direction down the hall where he saw another statue that was pointing down another hallway.

Realizing that the statues were actually leading him somewhere, he followed the directions they were leading him to and landed himself in the Statue Room.

Unlike the statues scattered outside, the ones inside the room were on pedestals that had plaques with description of the statue on it. 

Not only that but the depictions of the statues in the room were much more gorey as opposed to those scattered outside. 

The descriptions were all brief, something along the lines of: ‘Here lies Eveline, she who never stayed’, ‘Esmeralda, burned as a witch’, ‘L is for Larry who bled and bleed’ and the like.

It didn’t need much description when the emotions the statues exhibited were already telling.

Despite it all, the statues managed to look somehow elegant and beautiful even if the faces the statues expressed were of sadness, anger, or agony.

It was like a museum exhibit in the room and Epel actually enjoyed looking around.

It was all fine until Epel’s sight landed on an empty pedestal. He got curious why that lone pedestal had no statue on it so he looked at the plaque to see the missing statue’s description but…

EPEL FELMIER - Join us.

“Aw hell naw!”

His peewpaw and meemaw ain’t gonna be visiting his statue-fied body if he can help it, thank you very much!

Just as he was about to book it, he found himself surrounded by the statues that were on the pedestals earlier.

And that was how the story of Epel fistfighting the statues in the statue room happened.

The Statue Room: Despite the name and how they look, the entities inside of it weren’t really statues but they definitely act like one. They love passion, beauty, and eternity. They were once humans who wanted to stay as they were for eternity that they were willing to freeze themselves in time forever, whether they were on the brink of death or not. Now they’re just ‘statues’. Although not aggressive or hostile, it was best to stay away from them since they were persistent if they wanted to. It’s more of an minor annoyance for Yuu when they decide to break out of their assigned territory to scout for new people to join them. Still, they were ultimately harmless since the only way for them to successfully recruit people was if those people themselves willingly wanted to be a part of the Statue Room.

Sebek Zigvolt and the Boundary

Sebek didn’t really have any reason to visit Ramshackle but he had heard plenty of the odd things that happened in it.

But as he slowly got integrated into Yuu’s group of friends which mostly consisted of first years, visiting Ramshackle became more and more frequent.

In turn, him encountering whatever logic-defying thing that happened in the weird dorm became more common.

Of course, a sleepover was going to happen one of these days and it did.

And of course, just as Sebek closed his eyes and decided to go to sleep, he suddenly jolted awake and found himself in a white void, surrounded by cloudy smoke that lazily drifted all around.

Sebek was pretty sure he wasn’t the type to sleep-walk so he assumed it was just the Ramshackle shenanigans acting up again.

Still, being in the unknown place didn’t shake him a bit. He knew he could get out of the place, though he didn’t know how exactly.

Just as he was about to take a step forward, a hand landed on his shoulder and Sebek was alarmed but he calmed down when he saw that it was just Yuu, although they seemed to be looking at something past him.

An outburst was bubbling on his throat but Sebek paused when he saw the look on Yuu’s face. 

The pure and raw fear on Yuu’s face was concerning because if something can make Yuu that scared then whatever it was that scared them was very, very dangerous.

“Don’t…” Yuu said in a low voice, almost in a whisper, as they tugged Sebek back. “Don’t go there…”

Sebek let them, noticing the slight shaking of Yuu’s hand but he didn’t comment on it.

Yuu slid their hand down to Sebek’s own and intertwined their fingers as they began to walk backwards, Yuu never taking their eyes off what unseen things Sebek couldn’t see in front of them.

He didn’t say anything but he squeezed Yuu’s hand as a small reassurance to the Prefect.

Slowly, step by step, the surroundings transitioned to the wooden floor and moldy walls of Ramshackle and the two only stopped walking backwards when they couldn’t see the white expanse anymore.

Once they couldn’t see the white void, Yuu allowed themselves to collapse on their knees.

“Never,” They started as Sebek tried to help them up. “Never go past the boundary… please.”

The Boundary: It’s the boundary. Whatever happens outside of it is out of Ramshackle’s control. There are much more terrifying creatures outside than the ones within Ramshackle’s territory. More crueler, more inhumane. Had Sebek taken a step forward, Yuu wasn’t sure they would've been able to retrieve the half-fae’s body to mourn. Glad he didn’t, aye?

[toki-is-the-king]

More Toki/Dethklok headcanons

Early Dethklok:

• When the guys first accepted Toki into Dethklok, they found him to be a bit strange, aside from Skwisgaar, who wouldn’t admit that he was actually happy to have another Scandinavian to talk to. Toki’s English wasn’t great at first. He could say some things and understood more than he could speak, but there was still a lot he had to learn. So of course Skwisgaar took it upon himself to help Toki learn, which the rest of the band laughed at because Skwisgaar’s English was even worse than Toki’s, and he’d lived in America even longer. Once Toki was able to speak English more fluently it seemed like he never shut up. He liked to make a huge point to show he could speak the English language but all he did was state the obvious. “oh this ams called a hot tub! It’s likes a tub what’s hot and you sits in it.” The rest of Dethklok just had to suffer through it.

•After becoming more familiar with English, Toki and Murderface would quiz each other on how to spell stuff. Murderface claimed to be an excellent speller, and was dog shit at it. Toki would’ve gone along with the terrible ways Murderface spelled words and thought they were legit if Skwisgaar hadn’t told him otherwise. “I mights be nots da best at speakings Anglsih but I’s knows how’s to spells it and dats wrong, Toki.” The two of them would gang up on Murderface argue over how to spell things.

• Aside from learning his English from Skwisgaar, Toki learned most of what he knows from watching tv. Once he joined Dethklok he was exposed to the wonderful experience of watching cartoons and movies whenever he wanted. He enjoyed cartoons the most and was glued to the tv for hours instead of practicing his guitar. He would pick up on phrases from his favorite shows and try to use them accordingly. Sometimes it backfired and he’d completely butcher the whole sentence.

•Toki wasn’t always so happy and carefree though, and the guys knew close to nothing about his past, but they suspected something bizarre and disturbing had happened just from the way Toki acted. He wasn’t a bad kid but just really…off at times, like he was traumatized and trying to hide it. The first time everyone saw Toki’s scars they were speechless and uncomfortable,expect for Murderface who tried to pry about what caused them and Toki cried. Murderface actually felt guilty and apologized. After that no one really asked Toki about his previous life for a long time.

• Sometimes Nathan would wake up in the middle of the night to find Toki hiding food and water in his backpack. He never understood it then but began to realize later on that Toki must’ve been starved at some point and was worried he had to fend to for himself again. Nathan never scolded Toki for hiding food, but made a point to tell him that the apartment was all of theirs and so was the food and water. Toki seemed relieved when he heard that and slowly stopped his food hoarding behavior. Nathan was relieved as well when the behavior stopped because Toki would often forget where he hid his snacks and they’d go bad and he wouldn’t find them until later when they were moldy and rotten.

•The guys realized early on that Toki was the youngest of the band, and they all did their best to keep an eye on him. The kid was oblivious to basic things that they all took for granted, like how to work a microwave, use the shower, or even boil water to make ramen. They all just assumed he had lived a really sheltered life, like homeschoolers or something. But it was still weird to see a teenager who didn’t know how to use a radio or television. Nathan or Pickles, depending on who was around, showed Toki how to use the tv and how to use a phone in case he needed to call anyone.

• Teenage Toki had a lot more anxiety than adult Toki does. He had a difficult time adjusting to his newfound social life, and struggled with social anxiety quite badly for the first couple years. He wasn’t used to being around people, aside from the band. He was anxious going in public and would whisper in Norwegian to ask Skwisgaar to hold his hand when he got too nervous. Skwisgaar would briefly hold Toki’s hand but tried to hide it from everyone else, but over time he didn’t care so much, he was used to leading Toki around like he was the older brother.

[firstginger]

In the color quiz, what are the different "color families" and what characteristics does each one have?

oh thank you for this question, i should have typed this up earlier!

i think i mentioned this before, but the quiz is designed with color families, shade within that family, and the potential of mixed shades, and there's three separate categories of questions that probe for those.

core color family are innate features of the taker's personality, such as their strengths and weaknesses.

color shade are their intensity and how they interact with the world around them, whether they withdraw or confront.

color mixes are what they present as, how does the core color combine with their aesthetic.

so here are the color families:

reds -- [ blush, red, crimson ] the reds represent intensity and strength, leaving their mark on the world and refusing to regret the things in their past. at their best, they are protective, energetic, and a leader. at their worst, they are domineering, aggressive, and defiant.

coral, fire, and bronze are red mixed with orange. they are enthusiastic but headstrong, the adventurer type.

orange -- [ apricot, orange, amber ] the oranges represent enthusiasm and warmth, finding the silver lining in things and embracing new opportunities. at their best, they are creative, adventurous, and supportive. at their worst, they are superficial, noncommittal, and uninspired.

peach, honey, and marigold are orange mixed with yellow. they are energetic but considerate, the older sibling type.

yellow -- [ cream, yellow, gold ] the yellows represent serenity and imagination, creating harmony and seeing dilemmas from all perspectives. at their best, they are understanding, strong-hearted, and uniting. at their worst, they are wary, sensitive, and lose themselves in fantasy.

honeysuckle, chartreuse, and moss are yellow mixed with green. they are creative but withdrawn, the quiet artist type.

green -- [ sage, green, forest ] the greens represent contemplation and internalization, wondering at the big picture and fearing it at the same time. at their best, they are introspective, thorough, and intuitive. at their worst, they are guarded, single-minded, and easily overwhelmed.

seafoam, jade, and teal are green mixed with blue. they are endlessly deep but individualistic, the free spirit type.

blue -- [ sky, blue, navy ] the blues represent emotion and sensitivity, devoting themselves to what needs them the most and always dreaming of more. at their best, they are passionate, artistic, and empathetic. at their worst, they are assuming, over-emotional, and self-critical.

periwinkle, mauve, and indigo are blue mixed with purple. they are confident but abstract, the aristocratic type.

purple -- [ lilac, purple, royal ] the purples represent eccentrics and ambition, championing their own causes and never apologizing for self-expression. at their best, they are inspiring, approachable, and unique. at their worst, they are arrogant, judgmental, and absorbed in their opinions.

lavender, orchid, and amethyst are purple mixed with pink. they are expressive but performative, the theatrical type.

pink -- [ rose, pink, magenta ] the pinks represent vibrance and connection, wearing their rose-colored glasses and bringing others together to follow their heart. at their best, they are gregarious, positive, and supportive. at their worst, they are shallow, impulsive, and disingenuous.

pearl, wine and amaranth are pink mixed with monochrome. they are protective but perfectionistic, the societal type.

monochrome -- [ ivory, grey, noir ] the monochromes represent resolve and perspective, developing an internal framework and not deviating from their purpose. at their best, they are strong-willed, honest, and practical. at their worst, they are inflexible, unemotional, and see in black and white.

ashen, chiffon, and hickory are monochrome mixed with brown. they are moralistic but self-critical, the lone hero type.

brown -- [ beige, brown, umber ] the browns represent comfort and resilience, shouldering burdens without complaint and finding contentment in what they have. at their best, they are gentle, reliable, and patient. at their worst, they are unmotivated, passionless, and self-sacrificing.

tawny, terracotta, and garnet are brown mixed with red. they are dutiful but intense, the guardian type.

[suupernovalight]

- Haikyuu Boys Making You Insecure

Includes: Tsukishima, Oikawa, Ushijima, Bokuto

Small Note: uhh- sorry for suddenly disappearing, I had family issues and soon forgot about this acc. Though now I’m starting to make a few stuff as I slowly come back, so here’s some light angst :D

Tsukishima Kei

Trouble with math

You and Tsuki have been together for about a year now

You two first met when you were struggling on a test and he decided to help you… by cheating

He secretly passed you a pen with a paper of all the answers written on it

Ever since that encounter, you two kicked it off and started talking more

Tsukishima even tutored you on the subject you were having the most trouble on

It was math

Currently, school finals were coming up and you had to take a math quiz

Tsuki’s tutoring helped you with your confidence a lot but sometimes, you weren’t to sure about yourself

To gain some extra confidence, you decided to study your ass off

Tsuki also noticed that you were studying a lot more than usual but never mentioned it and went along his day

It was the day of the test and you were sure you were gonna get a good or at least decent score on it

You did horrible

You got a 25% on it

Feeling embarrassed and losing your confidence in yourself, you decided to keep it a secret

However, your boyfriend somehow found out

Now Tsuki loved making snarky comments, no matter the person

That included even you but you would know that he was joking

This comment however, stuck to you

Feeling dejected and depressed about the score you got on your test, you decided to take your mind off of it and go home with Tsuki after school.

You tried your hardest to stay the same usual s/o you always were but Tsuki knew that you were putting up a face.

Once you two got to his house and went to his room, Tsuki decided to ask how your test went.

“It went good,” you lied.

Tsuki raised his eyebrow. “Do you mind if I ask what score you got?”

“I think I left my paper in my locker,” another lie but he didn’t have to know that. “May I use the restroom?”

Nodding his head, Tsukishima watched as you quickly shuffled away out of his room. Just by the look on your face, he knew that something went bad.

Curiosity got the best of him and he decided to check your school bag to see if you had your test. It didn’t take long before he found a crumpled up paper . When he unraveled it, he soon saw the math test… and the score.

Once you came back from the restroom, you walked in on Tsuki looking at your paper. Embarrassment washed over you as you tried to grab it but he raised his arm up so you couldn’t reach.

“Give it back! Please?” You pleaded as you felt your cheeks heat up.

“Damn Y/n, after all those tutoring sessions I gave you and the extra time you spent studying, you really wasted your time just to get a 25% on your test,”

Ouch. That hurt.

“Give it back you jerk,” you gritted as you bit your tongue back from crying. However, you could already feel the tears welling up in your eyes.

“Y/n, your making me think you are stupid with this score,” tsuki snickered.

He’s joking, he always does.

You fought back the urge to yell and scream at him. Looking at the ground, you avoided his burning gaze. Giving up, you walked to your bag and started to pack up your belongings.

“What are you doing?” He asked but you ignored him.

Once you were done packing up, you walked over to the door of his room but he quickly got up, blocking your way.

“What’s wrong Y/n?” He asked, giving you back your test which you ripped out of his hands.

“Fuck off Tsukishima,” you spat as you finally looked up from the ground with tears welling in your eyes.

Tsukishima’s eyes widened at your sudden anger and tears. He then scoffed and looked away.

“It was just a joke Y/n”

Just a joke. A joke that hurt you.

“Move out of my way. I’m going home,” You said as you watched him move slightly to the side.

“Y/n, come on, don’t leave because of what I said. It was obviously not meant to be taken seriously,” Tsukishima tried to convince but you wouldn’t budge.

“Oh yeah? Well I tried my best on that test,” you started with your fist clenched. “You saw how much I was studying. You KNOW that math isn’t my best subject and it made me self conscious but here you are, making fun of me. Now get the fuck out of my way, Tsukishima.”

Tsuki watched as you pushed him to the side and stormed out of his room and then his house. He was to surprised to even move, much to your dismay.

Tsukishima always joked a lot and even made snarky comments at some times. Though despite his pride, he knew that deep down, he fucked up.

Oikawa Torū

Jealousy, betrayal

He’s a ladies man, what do you expect?

You knew from the moment he asked you out, you would go through the wrath of his fangirls

And you were ready for anything

At the time

You were self conscious about yourself and his fangirls seemed to make it worse

Even Oikawa knew

He would usually console you and tell you that you’re the only one he sees, and you believed him

It wasn’t until one day, you walked in on a fangirl confessing her feelings to your boyfriend

Even worse, the girl does something that Oikawa doesn’t stop, and it made you pissed.

It was after school and you decided to head to the gym because you wanted to see your boyfriend practice. You told him beforehand so he wouldn’t get surprised by your sudden appearance.

However, when you arrived, he was nowhere to be found. Even his teammates were wondering where he was. They just assumed he was with you cause you are his girlfriend.

“He’s not with me,” you confirmed. “I just got out of class,”

“Weird, let’s wait another 5, if he’s not here, you’re gonna find him Y/n,” Iwaizumi informed, making you slightly scoff.

“Why me?” You asked as you put your hand on your hip.

“Uh- you’re his girlfriend?” Iwaizumi trailed off as he saw you sigh.

“Girlfriend, not babysitter,” you mumbled.

Five minutes have passed and your boyfriend was still not at practice. Mentally sighing, you went out on a mission to find him.

You look in the hallways, any open classrooms, and even outside. Still no sign. You’ve probably spent another 5 minutes just trying to find him.

Thinking that he finally arrived at the gym, you decided to return back. He was responsible enough to know that he was late, he was the captain after all.

“I’m sorry I brought you out here,”

The sudden sound of a girls voice made you come to a halt. Looking around, you saw nothing. That was until you looked behind a wall and saw a girl standing right in front of your boyfriend.

“Not another damn confession,” you groaned as you thought about walking away. That was until you heard your boyfriend’s voice.

“No no, it’s okay. Practice can wait,”

Uh- weird.

Now you were invested in the conversation. Oikawa hated skipping practice. Even if someone wanted to confess to him, he wouldn’t go. What made her so different from the rest?

Usually, you wouldn’t care about people confessing to your boyfriend. Whatever makes them sleep at night. It’s been awhile since you’ve felt jealousy and even worry bubble up in you. Even worse, the girl who was confessing knew damn well you were listening. You and her even made eye contact.

“I wanted to confess to you. Ever since I first saw you play volleyball, I was always fascinated by you Oikawa,” The girl bowed as she gave him an envelope with a heart sticker to seal it shut. Pretty cliché.

“Sorry but I have a-“

“Who cares about her,” the girl cut in, making you tense up.

“Excuse me?” Oikawa said, obviously surprised by the sudden change of tone.

“She doesn’t have to know about us Oikawa, don’t worry…” the girl then went closer to Oikawa and he didn’t back away. “You deserve better anyways, someone more… prettier, ”

You felt a pang in your chest. Like your heart has been shattered into little pieces. Your eyes widened as you saw her smirk, her eyes glancing over at you.

Deep down, you knew you weren’t the prettiest of the school. You looked decent but you didn’t care. Oikawa loved you for who you were as a person, though now all of that was crumbled into nothing.

“She won’t even find out, with that dumb little mind of hers,” smirked the girl as she wrapped her arms around Oikawa.

Oikawa froze up. “She won’t know?” He then looked at the ground. “Her looks can use some work…” he mumbled, though the girl heard clear, you didn’t hear a thing.

Your eyes widened even more. Was he actually considering it? Was this considered cheating?

When things couldn’t get any worse, they did for you. The girl leaned in on Oikawa’s cheek, standing on her tippy toes because she wasn’t as tall as him, then kissed him on the cheek.

“Sorry to interrupt,” you sourly said, getting out of your hiding place. “Torū, the team is looking for you, c’mon,”

“R-right!” Oikawa stuttered as he smiled towards the girl. “See you around!”

As the two of you walked away, you kept your eyes away from Oikawa. His smiling demeanor soon disappeared once the girl was out of sight.

“What’s wrong? How much did you hear?”

“I heard enough, thank you,” you spit out as you heard Oikawa sigh.

“I should have known you were the jealous kind of person,”

It was like venom dripped down Oikawa’s tongue as he spoke. Stopping in your tracks, you looked Oikawa dead in the eyes, tears threatening to fall.

“Me being jealous? I have a right Oikawa! She flat out kissed you and you didn’t stop her,”

“It was only on the cheek!” Oikawa argued making you scoff.

“On the cheek or not, nobody else can do that except for me! You’re digging yourself a hole and you can’t climb out,” you said, your tone harsher and louder than before.

“Don’t cause a scene, I have practice,” Oikawa mumbled making you even more mad.

This time, tears did fall down your eyes. Though, you wouldn’t let him see them.

“Oh so now you care about practice? But when that girl was confessing, you said practice can wait?? I’m disappointed in you Oikawa!”

“Then leave,” 

Oikawa started to walk away as you stood still. Your legs didn’t budge. As much as you wanted to chase after him, you couldn’t. You lost him… he lost you.

Ushijima Wakatoshi

For people who talk a lot

You two were opposites

He was quiet

You were quite talkative

Despite your guys differences, you guys never broke apart because of it

Though, you have been thinking some thoughts

Ever since you were young, you’ve always been ignored and neglected

Now that you have someone who will actually listen, you take every opportunity you have to talk your heart out

That was until you overheard a conversation with Ushijima and Tendō talking about no one other than you

You had just got back from the convenience store with your friends. While you returned back to your dorm, you decided that you got to much food.

So, you decided to give some to your wonderful boyfriend, Ushijima. He wouldn’t mind you coming to his dorm this late. Plus, everyone should be at their dorms and not wandering around. Totally not you.

As you headed to Ushijima‘s dorm, you made sure that your snacks weren’t dropping. You really did have a hand full.

Finally, after a lot of walking, you made it. Since your hands were full, you couldn’t knock on the door. So to improvise, you were gonna use your head until… you heard something.

“How are you and Y/n? Things going smoothly?”

The voice sounded like Tendō from what you could hear. You wondered to yourself, why was he there in the first place. Though, that wasn’t the only thing you wondered about.

“Smoothly? Yeah we are. There’s just one thing,” a deep voice rang. You immediately knew that it was Ushijima.

“Oh yeah? What’s wrong?” Tendō replied as his full attention was on his friend.

“Y/n… she’s just, I don’t know,” Ushijima stuttered as he tried to find the right words. “Loud…

…annoying,”

You felt a sharp pain in your chest. Like someone just stabbed you. Frowning to yourself, you looked at the snacks. Did he really think of that about you? Were you really annoying?

Just as you were gonna walk away, the dorm door opened and you were forced to stay.

“Y/n? What are you doing here?” Asked Ushijima after he opened the door all the way. “How long have you been here?”

You stayed quiet but sighed. Turning around, you shoved the snacks in Ushijima’s arms. Biting your lip, you kept back some tears.

“Do you really think of me like that? Annoying?” You replied as you began to back up.

“Well you can talk a lot and sometimes-“

“Shut up,” you spat out, making Ushijima tense up. “You don’t have to talk behind my back. If I was annoying you, you could have just said it yourself. Y’know, at my face,”

That’s when Tendō walked up to the door to see what was going on. He had no clue you were there. He just thought Ushijima went outside to do whatever.

When Tendō saw your hurt face, that’s when he knew that Ushijima screwed up. Backing up from the door, he minded his own business, even though he was quietly listening.

“Y/n, I’m telling the truth,” Ushijima argued making your run your fingers through your hair out of stress.

“And sometimes, the truth hurts Ushijima! You knew how insecure I was about this. I never got to speak as a kid and now that I have someone to speak to, they even don’t want to hear me,” you said, making sure Ushijima was listening to you.

Ushijima stayed quiet which made you want to yell at him more. Instead though, you turned on your heel and began to walk away.

“Don’t text me, call me, or do anything in that matter,” you harshly said as your figure disappeared.

Once you were gone, Ushijima walked back in his dorm and set down all the snacks. His face then looked at Tendo’s who was also frowning.

“Wait for her to cool down… then speak to her,” was all Tendō said before grabbing the snacks. “Im going back to my dorm, see you tomorrow Wakatoshi,” Tendō then left without another word.

“Bye,” was all Ushijima said before turning his attention back on the snacks.

Bokuto Kōtarō

(For skinner girls)

You and Bokuto have been together for a good 7 months

You two met during class

When he first saw you, something in his mind clicked

As you two began to talk, his feelings for you began to grow

Soon, you found out what type of girl he likes

Plump, curvy woman

You weren’t any of those, you were skinny.

At first, you were insecure of it, but ever since Bokuto came into your life, you knew that it wasn’t a big deal

As long as you were healthy

Though, it wasn’t until one day, you walked in on Akaashi, Bokuto, and Konoha playing truth or dare during lunch

Lunch has started and you told Bokuto that you would be late. It was because you had to run to the library to retrieve a book that would help you with your studies.

You ate lunch with Bokuto, Akaashi, and Konoha. It didn’t bother you at all but sometimes, you would be skeptical of what they talked about. One time, you walked in on Bokuto talking about his childhood and how he hit his head on a brick one time.

Now back to the current situation. You were just walking back from the library and was making your way to the cafeteria.

When you arrived, you saw a bunch of people everywhere. It was more crowded than usual but you didn’t care as much.

So, you tried to get past the people but there were a lot of them so you had some troubles. Now it was becoming a bother.

The closer you got to the table, the louder you heard the boys talk. Apparently, they were playing truth or dare and it was Bokuto’s turn.

“Bokuto… truth or dare?” Asked Konoha.

“Hmm…” Bokuto thought. “Truth!”

Smirking, Konoha titled his head. “What is one thing you don’t like about Y/n,”

Wtf Konoha

After hearing what Konoha asked Bokuto, you were invested of how he would answer.

“Uhm… nothing, I love everything about her!” Bokuto smiled making your heart flutter.

“Then what is one thing you wish y/n has but doesn’t,” Konoha asked, making Bokuto‘s face scrunch up.

Sighing, Bokuto lowered his head. “I wished she had more curves. I wished she wasn’t so skinney,”

“Wow.” You said as you finally got out of the crowd. “I thought you knew better Bo,”

All the boys looked over to you with wide eyes. Especially Bokuto who had guilt wash over him.

“Y/n, we were just playing truth and dare and I got asked-“

“I heard all of it,” you said as your fist clenched up.

That’s when you turned around and quickly walked away. Bokuto looked back at his friends, then ran after you who was already out of the cafeteria.

“Y/n, let’s talk this out,” Bokuto tried saying but you tuned him out.

Turning the corner of the hallway, you came to a sudden halt when you felt Bokuto grab your wrist. Still, you didn’t turn to look at his sorry face.

“Y/n, talk to me,” Bokuto pleaded.

“Talk to you? After you said that shit?” You growled back. “Bokuto, you knew how insecure I was about my body, you even comforted me when I wasn’t feeling the best about it!”

“We were playing truth or dare Y/n, it’s a game baby,” Bokuto frowned but you only scoffed.

“Only a game? Oh yeah, it’s only a game. Bringing up my insecurities and how you wished I was the type of girl you want,” you mocked as you began to walk away but was stopped again.

“Calm down Y/n,”

“Don’t tell me what to do, Bokuto,” you muttered making him let go of you.

“Y/n, please relax. It was a truth and…”

“And what?” You cut in. “You told the truth. I don’t know why you’re trying to defend yourself. You’re obviously in the wrong!”

Bokuto was about to say something when you lifted up your hand to slap his face. However, instead of it hitting him, it stopped right before it, hovering.

His eyes were still on yours. Slowly, you caressed his cheek with tears in your eyes. After doing that, you quickly turned around and ran away from him, fearing to turn around.

As for Bokuto? He stayed still. Even his own eyes were tearing up. He knew he was in the wrong but he just wanted everything to be okay.

“Y/n…” he whispered as he felt the lingering touch of your hand on his cheek.

[pascalpanic]

Popping Pearls and Purple Skies (Din Djarin x f!reader)

Summary: While in your home system, Din takes you to your home planet for your favorite treat.

W/C: 3.6k

Warnings: food mention, Star Wars cursing lol, mentions of physical fighting, mentions of trauma

A/N: okay. this was inspired by me thinking Grogu would love popping boba bc he loved the frog lady’s eggs so much!! I hope I did it okay :) Siruus, reader’s home planet, is supposed to be a mishmash of cultures, none specifically, I just picked cool elements from a variety of cultures!

One of the delights you missed most from your home planet was, you discovered, practically unattainable on any other planet. You’d scoured far and wide, hoping maybe you’d cross paths with another Siruusian or an admirer of the culture, but found nothing. It was only on Siruus that you could find your favorite drink: a milky tea with popping pearls.

Din knows you miss your home. Late at night, in the hull of the ship, he’d confide that he missed his home planet too. He told you tales of growing up in Aq Vetina, the feather-light and velvety robes that he wore every day, the spicy foods his mother would cook- which later made him a great Mandalorian.

Did you know that the Mandos love spicy food, cyare? We have a whole vocabulary to describe the heat of a dish. It’s traditional. I was raised on it, and the comfort of a burning mouth was a universal sensation: one that reminded me of my real parents and my adoptive clan.

Rarely did the Mandalorian man let his guard down, but never had he completely done so like he has with you. From the moment he hired you to care for his little green son, he’d been entranced by your laughter, the smooth sound of your voice in the language you’d been raised speaking. He caught you teaching the kid some vocabulary, and he’d quiz him on it when you weren’t around. The kid couldn’t speak yet, but he could point and match words to images or objects, which he attributed entirely to you. You were the child’s primary caretaker and kindergarten teacher in one, and Din admired your care and commitment.

Something about you spoke to him, and over time he thinks he came to realize it was the fact that, though you’d never heard of The Way before meeting Din, you were the holistic ideal of a Mandalorian. You valued knowledge and valor, and though you didn’t work in the traditional Mando fields of bounty hunting or working as a warrior, you embodied another aspect: that care for children.

Watching you with the kid was what made him realize he was in love with you. He’d told you everything. When you looked over your shoulder and laughed, the baby watching you too, the gaze was a love Din has never felt but immediately recognized. It hit him and his whole body shuddered, harder than it had when the Maldo Kreis cold had seeped into his bones, even through the beskar. At the same time, he felt too warm in his own skin, like the fever he’d had as a toddler that threatened his life- he’d told you that story too.  Dank Farrik. This was not in the plan.

You had told Din all about your home planet too. You told him of the bright flowers that bloomed in the cold of winter, that released a pollen that made the birds in the area start laying their eggs. He listened intently every time, clinging to every word he told you like he’d never hear that beautiful voice again. He’d hear you singing Siruusian lullabies to the baby, and on nights you missed home.

He’d offered to take you back many times. Any time you were near, there was a standing offer to pop in for a visit. But you’ve always declined; the child and Mando would bring too much attention to your quiet little planet, you explained. That was only partially true, so you didn’t feel as bad lying by omission to Din. You’d neglected to mention, every time, that this was your life now, and more specifically that you never want to leave his side again.

Din really is something. You’d never even heard of Mandalorians before he swept you off your planet, never understood the intricate Creed and their strong beliefs. It didn’t matter to you, that you couldn’t see his face; at least at first. Of course you’d respect the slightly terrifying man’s customs.

But over time you’ve fallen for him, and that’s made everything just a little harder. The man seemingly made of steel was warm and gentle beneath it, with you and the child. He’d wrangle a bounty into the carbonite freezer then tenderly tuck a flower he found behind your ear, calling you sweet names in Mando’a that you didn’t understand. The juxtaposition of the man’s very being- covered in impenetrable, freezing metal to hide an ooey-gooey center like that of a warm pastry- was exciting and beautiful to you.

How could you not fall in love? The three of you became a little family, even as you joined Din on the quest of returning your little green son to his people. You’d treated the baby as your own son, the way Din did too. You’d tried to shepherd him away from the Frog woman’s eggs, only to find him munching on them moments later, scolded him with love and promptly hidden the container.

That day made you miss home even more. The eggs reminded you of the popping pearls you loved so much- no wonder the kid loved them. You’d never eat the Frog’s eggs, of course, but you’d sung the baby to sleep that night in the hull of the ship, another lullaby from your youth. Maybe next time you’d take Din’s offer to visit home seriously. Maybe. There was still another reason you didn’t want to return: if you came home, you weren’t sure you could leave again.

Now you’re in hyperspace, nestled into the small bunk, your child snoozing softly above you with gentle grunts and snorts of sleep. Din is up in the cockpit and you can’t sleep. You wonder if he’s awake too. Maybe you’ll go check.

Sliding on warm slippers to pad your bare feet from the cold metal of the floor, you climb the ladder to the cockpit and see Din sitting in the captain’s chair. You’re unsure if he’s awake or not; it’s hard to tell through the beskar. His shoulders shift a little as he hears you moving and you can tell he’s awake. “Hi. Couldn’t sleep,” you admit as you assume your regular position. The chairs move with the pull of a lever, and you scoot yours closer to Din and prop your feet on his arm rest.

Din nods, resting against the chair. “Me neither. The kid?”

“Asleep,” you confirm and nod, slumping down in your seat.

It’s nice and quiet between the two of you, a relaxed silence as the stars fly past and the Crest hums its low rumble of engines and filters. Just being in his presence soothes you more than being alone in that coffin of a bunk. If you think this is calming, you ponder, just his presence, imagine his arms around you while you sleep. Imagine his warm skin beneath the beskar surrounding you and radiating heat.

He’s thinking the same thing. You look impossibly soft and warm. Your plush skin prickles with the cold of the cockpit and Din wants to put an ungloved hand over it and let the heat of his flushed body sink into yours. He doesn’t. He just stares off at the stars. “We’re approaching your home system,” he murmurs softly. “Would you like to visit?”

Well damn. You hadn’t expected to be confronted with the question so soon, and you’re not quite sure how to answer. “I don’t know.”

It’s quiet again. Din’s silence invites you to speak your inner monologue, to throw your tangled thoughts into the open so he can help unknot them with his nimble mind. In response to his lack of words, which say as much as any sentence, you respond. “I haven’t been there in so long. I don’t know if I want to go back. I like my life now, and I’m scared I’ll want to stay if we visit.”

Din nods as you speak, processing the meanings of your words. “Well,” he begins, “what if I rephrase it like this: would you like us to visit?”

Us. What the kriff does that entail? The three of you, your little family, perhaps? You and Din as friends, as coworkers? Or as something more… your mind spins and you can’t make sense of it, so you give it up. “What does that mean?”

Din turns his chair to face you, moving your legs to drape across his lap. Even through the gloves, he holds back a shiver as he rests his hands atop your shins. “We’ll go, all three of us. If you like your life now, we’ll be your reminders of it.”

Your mouth curves into a warm smile, your body feeling soft and fuzzy all over. “How kind.”

“I’ll even buy you that tea you ramble about,” he offers.

Gasping in excitement, you clap your hands together. “Will you try it? Oh, Din, you’ll love it, it’s the most delicious thing in the galaxy.”

“We’ll see about that,” he chuckles through the modulator, a sound you wish you could hear without the mechanical suppressor.

Popping up, you kiss the top of his beskar-clad head in excitement before you can stop yourself. “Thank you, Din.”

“Anything for you, cyare,” he says with a certain warmth to his voice, a large hand finding your waist. “Go get some rest, lie down. We’ll be there in about half a day.”

“Only if you rest too,” you tell him and your hand rests over his. It’s the most he’s ever touched you purposefully, and now all you want is for him to slide that hand back until he’s wrapping you in his muscular arms. Din nods and you pat his forearm. “Sweet dreams.”

-

The ramp comes down and your mouth forms a soft ring in excitement. It’s a beautiful day, the nearest sun making the atmosphere the beautiful purple you grew up under. The oranges and yellows of the architecture surround you, and you instinctively clutch the Mandalorian’s hand. “Welcome to my home,” you tell him with a grin and lead him down.

Your little green child is strapped to your chest in a baby carrier, a birikad in Mando’a, and he looks around in wonder, squealing excitedly. As you walk through the streets of the small city, vendors call in Siruusian, a language Din is slowly learning from you. He thinks he recognizes a few words here or there.

Venturing to the side, a stall sells small animals made of a gorgeously embroidered fabric. You had many of these as a child; your favorite was a blue and silver bantha, an exotic animal you’d never seen before your adventures with Din. The child coos at the menagerie in front of him and you squat so he can look at them.

“Toata,” you coo in Siruusian, a word to mean little one, “can you pick the frog?”

That’s one of the words you worked on with him. A tiny, green, three-fingered hand grabs a gorgeous yellowy-brown frog and holds it up in triumph. “Good job, cutie! Aren’t you a smart little thing?” you grin and kiss his forehead. “Is that the one you want?”

Din watches from a few meters back, grinning beneath the helmet. When the child nods excitedly and squeals, he almost laughs softly at the beautiful sight. You pay for the frog and Din meanders over, the baby already chewing on a long leg of the plush.

He wants to see you like that for the rest of his life: glowing with excitement, the little kid strapped to your chest, absolutely at ease and relaxed in the place you used to call home. “You want one too?” you ask.

He shakes his head at first, but after a little haggling, Din purchases himself a copper and yellow blurrg and a mudhorn made of silver for you. The symbolism of the mudhorn, of Clan Djarin, is not lost on you. It makes your heart flit nervously around your ribcage as you wander through the market, making your little mudhorn and the baby’s frog pretend to fight. As always, the littlest member of Clan Djarin triumphs over the mighty mudhorn.

An aromatic smell wafts through the air and your face lights up to see a stand selling your favorite beverage. Din spots it too and makes his way over, getting in the line, his hand holding yours once again. This time, he initiated it. You like that. It makes you giggle and squeeze his fingers softly.

“What do you usually order?” he asks you.

You frown and scan the menu. You explain your drink to him, an orange-colored, sweet and herbal milk tea with your favorite citrusy popping pearls in the bottom. He asks what you think he’d like and you pick a drink for him: a blue, warmly-spiced milk tea with the same pearls. “It’s not the proper drink without it,” you explain.

Picking the baby from his carrier to face you, you ask him questions by the process of elimination. “Okay, toata, do you like… mushfruit?” He makes a noise of disproval. You knew he hated that one; you wanted to ensure he was listening. “No? How about…” you pretend to ponder it. “How about panga?”

The baby squeals in excitement. The green fruit has always been his favorite when you and Din require him to eat his fruit. “Wonderful, and a panga milk tea with you. Do you remember froggie’s eggs?” You ask him, pointing to the frog toy he holds. He tilts his head in confusion.

“The snackies I said no?” That clue does it. He nods, cooing and giggling. “These taste like those! You’ll love it.”

The rest of the time in the line is quiet, shuffling forward slowly to reach the stand. “Is it what you’d hoped?” Din asks after a while.

You nod and smile. “As soon as I get my tea, it will be.”

“And you… you don’t want to stay?”

“Nope,” you agree, popping the p with your lips.

He doesn’t know quite what to say. He’s not the wordsmith you are. “Well. I’m glad. I, uh. I’d miss you if you left.”

The words are simple but they warm your heart. “I’d miss the two of you far too much to leave,” you assure him. “For different reasons, respectively.”

Your flirtation is more than mild, but it hangs in Din’s mouth like a spicy Mandalorian food. He knows what you imply, and the thought that you could feel the same practically sends him into orbit, above Siruus’s atmosphere and next to one of its 4 moons. He can’t respond. He just tightens his grip on your hand.

Once you’ve acquired the drinks, Din holding his and the child’s, the three of you make your way back to the Razor Crest so Din can enjoy the drink too. Walking up the ramp, you sigh as the air-controlled atmosphere warms your slightly-chilled skin from being outside for so long in the Siruusian spring.

You unpack the kid from his carrier, and grin as he toddles to his father, making grabby hands for his green drink. “Oh my, toata,” you tease. “Your drink is the same color as you!”

Din laughs softly, and sets the drink on the floor for him. The baby tries to hold it and walk but the cup is too tall to move with his tiny body. You lift it for him and move it so he can sit in a circle with you and Din, cross-legged on the floor.

The baby plops down in front of his drink then realizes it’s too tall for him to sip from the thick straw while seated. The baby makes a little whine of frustration and you scoop up the kid, putting him in your lap. You hold the cup for him, and his two tiny hands grab the straw to drink from. The baby squeaks as he pops a pearl in his mouth. It’s just like the froggy eggs, and he couldn’t be more excited.

Your free hand holds your drink, and you close your eyes in happiness when the first sip of your tea reaches your tongue. You make a content little moan at the flavor, then open your eyes to see the child vigorously slurping up the drink. “Woah, little man. Slow down.”

Din just watches the two of you, smiling to himself. When your eyes return to him, he lifts his drink. “I’m not really supposed to do this,” he admits as he grabs the edge of his helmet. Both you and the child watch in bewilderment as he lifts his helmet just enough to expose the bottom of his nose, his lips and chin.

You’d never really processed that Din would be… well, so human. The strip of his face, exposed, reveals warm skin, dark stubble, and lips that look ridiculously soft. It’s a sight to see, a Mandalorian cross-legged on the floor and sipping tea with popping pearls. It makes you grin, and both you and the baby lean in closer to try and look under the helmet further.

“That’s as much as you get,” Din teases as he lowers the helmet, once more covering his entire face.

You frown, but the excitement of Din trying your favorite treat overwhelms it for now. “What do you think?” You ask.

Din tilts his head and does exactly that: thinks. “It’s very good,” he nods as he looks at the child, nearly halfway done with his green milk-tea. “I really like it. That’s delicious.”

“Yay,” you smile and sip your own drink again, sighing. The three of you continue like that for a while, sitting together and drinking your tea. Every time he lifts his helmet, you consider those plush lips, the scruff coating his defined jaw and chin. When his tea is gone, you frown to realize the moment of intimacy, of seeing just a little of his face, is over.

The kid is tuckered out from his day. You put the baby to bed in his hammock over the bunk, kissing him goodnight and singing him a lullaby as you rock the knit cradle. He falls asleep quickly,  tummy full of a delicious treat very similar to his favorite snack. While you put the child to bed, Din pilots you safely out of the sky harbor and away from Siruus, out of the purple-tinted sky and back into the darkness of space followed by hyperdrive.

You climb up to the cockpit, entering and standing behind Din’s captain chair. “I had a wonderful time today. Thank you.” You put your hands on his pauldron-covered shoulders.

“Thank you,” he insists. “I’d never go there for any other reason. The drink was wonderful and the kid absolutely loved everything about it.” “Maybe we’ll have to vacation there sometime,” you chuckle, spotting Din’s little toy blurrg peeking out from a pocket on his utility belt.

Din turns and stands from his chair, looking at you through that black t-visor. You’re not sure why he does it; in all honesty, he isn’t either. You stare into the helmet, where you suspect and hope his eyes are. “You’re very handsome under there,” you tell him, putting a hand on the divot of his helmet, where the beskar caves inward over his cheeks.

“I’m nothing special,” he shakes his head, a hand covering yours. “Nowhere as special or as beautiful as you.”

Heat rises in your skin, blood flowing closer to the surface. “That’s not true, Din.”

“It is. You’re the most beautiful creature I’ve seen in the galaxy,” he murmurs, his other hand cupping your cheek through leather gloves.

“Well, thank you,” you laugh softly, almost nervously, “but I meant you’re very special. I haven’t even seen all of your face and I know you’re absolutely gorgeous beneath that helmet.” You pause, tracing the curves of the beskar. “What color eyes do you have? I want to finish the mental picture.”

“Brown,” Din breathes out, barely able to control himself with you this close.

“Din?”

“Mesh’la.”

“Can… can you do what you did with your helmet to drink the tea?”

He lifts it just enough, just exposing those goddamn taunting lips and the scruffy jaw. “Like this?”

“Exactly,” you exhale before cupping his soft jaw, feeling the stubble beneath your palms as you press your lips to his. Those lips are a little dry but warm and strong, just like you’d assume the rest of him is. He puts a hand on your waist and pulls you in close, kissing you back deeply.

The beskar right above his lips makes it more difficult but not impossible. He lifts the helmet a little higher so he can tilt his head to the side, can kiss you with the energy and passion you’re putting into it. Mentally, he adds this to his lists of favorite tastes: spicy Mandalorian cuisine, your favorite tea with popping pearls, and you.

It lasts a while before you break away and Din lowers his helmet all the way once more. You breathe heavily from the fervor of the kiss, lips swollen and damp. Maker, he wishes this visor had a photo capability to take a picture of the way you look. “Come rest with me. Please, Din.”

Din can’t say no to that. He retreats downstairs with you, strips himself of the beskar save for the helmet, and snuggles into your side. Your wish comes true then and there, when you learn that he’s as good of a cuddler as you’d hoped. “Goodnight, Din. Thank you,” you murmur.

“Goodnight, mesh’la. Thank you more.”

The baby above you gives a little snort in his sleep. That’s the last thing you remember before falling asleep in his arms.

-

Taglist: @remmysbounty @mishasminion360 @blo0dangel @binarydanvvers  @sleep-tight1 @apascalrascal @randomness501 @spideysimpossiblegirl @notabotiswear @pedro-pastel @sanchosammy @lv7867 @greeneyedblondie44 @hunnambabe @astoryisaloveaffair @emesispo @pedritobalmando @magikfanatic @a-court-of-feysand-and-elorcan @princess76179 @starless-eyes-remain @tacticalsparkles @1800-fight-me

[satoruvt]

for a moment i forget to worry

pairing → xu minghao x reader

word count → 3196

genre → fluff + angst, college au ↳ tags: strangers to friends to lovers </3, college kinda sux, ROOMMATE CHAN MAKES AN APPEARANCE OR TWO, dance major minghao, reader is completely lost but its ok who isnt, lots of cute couple stuff, pov ur entire relationship with minghao. thats it, a sad break up scene, a solid amount of crying

summary → there’s something about minghao. maybe it’s the way he dances, vibrant and youthful, or maybe it’s the way he loves you. based off of hunger by florence + the machine.

warnings → i hint at sex but its pretty vague, i also mention a breakdown type deal (revolving around school/life after school)

a/n → first of all this was NOT supposed to be 3k words i dont know how it happened. second of all i’m only kind of happy with this HAHA i feel like the story itself isnt bad but i wanted it to match the song more ... idk :/ i hope u guys like it regardless !!!

pieces of you masterlist

The first time you see him is by accident.

Really - all you’re doing is trying to find Chan. You’re passing by the practice rooms, looking into them in hope he’ll be there, stopping to gaze at decorations and medals and trophies lined up on the walls. It’s when you approach a room that music plays from that you think you’ve found Chan, but when you gaze in, it’s definitely not him.

You don’t know who it is, but he moves like nothing you’ve ever seen before.

It’s hypnotizing, almost makes you want to drop your things and dance with him. There’s a sense of youth that comes from him and it’s almost overwhelming - but it’s not in energy, necessarily, but rather from the precision of his movements, the technicalities that he seems to both follow and break at the same time. Something vibrant seeps out between the seams of his body, colors you can barely recognize as they splash against anything they can reach. It’s almost tangible. 

You watch him long enough for him to finish his performance (an unknowing one) with the last notes of a song you forgot was even playing. His eyes meet with yours, slow as he completes an eloquent turn, and at the same time, a hand meets your shoulder.

A small wave of embarrassment washes over you, and you turn towards whoever touched you, effectively breaking eye contact. “What are you doing here?” Chan asks, hair still wet from what you assume was a shower.

“Looking for you,” you tell him, following as he starts to walk towards the exit. “I wanted lunch, and you owe me for that time I took your British literature quiz for you.”

Chan groans but agrees to pay, and you laugh, though the world seems a little paler than it did a few moments ago.

The second time you see him is by chance.

(Maybe.)

You’re waiting for a lecture to start, tapping your fingers against your laptop idly as you watch students trickle in last minute. It’s not a strict course, but it does start at nine in the morning, and most everyone shows up with a coffee.

You look down to brush a stray hair off of your table, and when you look up again, the dancer from before walks through the door, then looks right at you.

You feel a blush heat your face and it’s like he wants to make sure that you know that he knows, because he almost refuses to look away. You break eye contact first (like the last time, you remember for no reason) but still watch as his figure moves up the stairs, past the rows, and you hope he’ll just move past you too…

He doesn’t. He takes the empty seat right next to yours, and you don’t say anything, instead finding the peeling sticker on your laptop incredibly interesting. The professor comes in and decides that today he’ll take extra long to set everything up, apparently, and you want to scream.

“So,” the dancer says, voice quiet. It takes your breath away, the way he sounds. “Mind if I ask why you were watching me the other day?”

You cast a glance at him - not too long, you don’t think you could handle more than five seconds tops - and finally open your laptop so it makes you look busy. “I was waiting for a friend.”

“And?”

The smile in his voice is palpable. You’re already exasperated.

“You…” you start, finally deciding to look at him as some sort of subconscious power move. “You’re a beautiful dancer. It was hard not to watch.”

Beautiful doesn’t even cover half of it, but you figure he already thinks you’re weird for watching him, so you hold back the thoughts of youth and vibrancy and color. The dancer looks at you, almost blank for a moment, before a soft smile draws itself on his face. It makes your heart beat a little faster. He says “thank you” with a gentle tone, sincerely felt.

The class starts, and the two of you don’t speak throughout the next hour and a half. You type out notes on your laptop and you see him write down names of the paintings being shown on the projector, little thoughts and notes written afterwards.

By the end of class, your professor assigns an optional partnered project, and you’re more than prepared to head back to your apartment and start on it yourself. The dancer stops you before you leave, however, asks if you’d like to be his partner.

(And he says it like that, would you like to be my partner, polite and somehow sweet.)

You know your answer. “I don’t even know your name,” you stall, standing from your chair. 

“Minghao,” he tells you. “I’m Minghao, and I’d like for you to be my partner.”

You say yes easily, put your number into his contacts even easier. The sky is blue when you leave the lecture hall, trees dotted with pink and purple flowers, and it is all so bright that you forget it wasn’t this way in the first place.

The third time you see him is for school.

Underneath the excitement of giving Minghao your number, there is the knowledge that it’s for the sake of an assignment. He texts you the day after to ask if you’re free to meet up to work and you tell him sure.

(Sure is what you send back, but he doesn’t have to know that you burst into Chan’s room immediately after, plunging face first into his bed just to scream into his pillows. Chan had sighed, turned around in his desk chair to look at you, then asked what happened. He gave you two minutes to rant and then kicked you out, back to your own room.)

You and Minghao agreed to meet at the library on a day that neither of you had any afternoon classes, and you get there early, spend some time working on other classes. You have somewhere around thirty minutes to freak out to yourself before you see Minghao come in, dressed like he knows what he’s doing to you (which is really just a hoodie and jeans, but you think it’s the cap that really pulls the whole boyfriend look together), smiling when he finds you at a table in the corner.

“How are you?” is the first thing he says when he sits down, and you pull down your laptop screen a little to see him better.

“I’m good,” you say, feeling your heart pound. “What about you?”

Minghao sends you a kind smile. “Really good. Should we get started?”

You lose count of how many times you see him after that.

Meeting up to work on the project soon becomes just meeting up, and after the project’s done and turned in, it happens even more. You hang out and get lunch, send each other texts and stupid videos, take walks around campus together. The weeks pass, summer mellows into fall, then into the early days of winter. You develop a genuine friendship with him, finding comfort in his presence, looking for him wherever you go. 

(Although the crush is still there, potent and patient, stubborn in a way you’ve never experienced before. You wonder if it’s a sign of some sort.)

You’re in one of the practice rooms with him, sitting in the corner. You had a class nearby and he’d wanted to practice a little more, so you told him you’d work on your own stuff while he finished up and then the two of you could grab something to eat.

But you made a small error on your part - the dancing. You’d forgotten the way he moves (you haven’t seen him dance since that first time) and in no time at all you’re letting your screen go dark in front of you and watching him. Honestly, it’s not your fault, you really can’t help it. 

But of course he notices.

Minghao meets your eyes through the mirror and raises his eyebrows at you, and all you can do is look away, desperately try to get your laptop up and running again so at least it seems like you weren’t watching him for too long.

“You’re staring,” he says, long after you’ve looked away.

“Sorry,” you tell him anyways, immediate, quick. 

Then he says, “I never said anything about stopping.”

In a second, you look up from your laptop and up at him. He moves closer, crouches in front of you. His eyes are kind - they’re never not - but you think you see something a little more in them. “Sorry, I think I missed that last part,” you respond, blinking. Minghao smiles like you’re endearing.

“I said I want you to keep looking at me.”

You think you’re barely breathing when he shuts your laptop for you, slides it off of your lap and onto the floor (gently, with care, and it’s a wonder to you how he can focus on that right now). He practically crawls over you, one of his hands eventually reaching the junction of your jaw and neck and holding there. “I’m gonna kiss you now, if that’s okay,” he says, but doesn’t move. You nod as soon as his words reach your brain, eager and quick.

And the next few hours get a little wound up in your head, a little mixed in with the feeling of his body - that moves so youthfully, with so much vibrancy that it reaches everything around you - melting into yours and the sound of him asking you to tell me what you need, honey, and the still-playing slow jam music he was practicing to.

You watch him sleep next to you, hand curled around yours against his pillows, and think that nothing bad could ever touch him.

The two of you… come together, after that.

Neither you nor Minghao use any proper labels, but you both seem to know. No labels are needed, really. You have each other and that’s all there is to it. And everything is really good.

You work together and laugh together like you’ve always known each other. He tries to teach you to dance with him when you’re in the practice room with him, pulls you up by your hands and guides you through your giggles. He was the first person you called when you realized that you had no idea what you were working towards, didn’t have a clue what you actually wanted to do with your life. He gets along well with your friends and you text his because they’re basically yours, now, too.

Winter turns back into spring, slow and easy. Vibrant and youthful. You’re not able to meet Minghao’s parents, but he meets yours (and you’re sure a quick introduction to his mom over a FaceTime call has to count for something). The two of you take advantage of the newfound warmth of the season and try to get out as much as you’re able to, with picnics and city dates and anything you can think of. A drawer in his dresser is reserved for your things, you bought an extra toothbrush for him to use when he stays over.

You watch him dance. It still feels like the first time, like color and breathlessness. You tell him he’s beautiful every time, feel yourself fall a little deeper when he still gets bashful amidst his comedown. You tell him you love him for the first time after he gets done with a performance - a proper one, for a showcase of the dance club he’s in. He says it back.

You think he put all the stars in the sky just for the two of you to gaze at them together.

Things shift the beginning of your junior year.

Minghao tells you about a program he’s applying to, a proper dance academy in New York that could really kickstart his career. Training under some of the best choreographers and performers in the world.

“Why are you looking at me like that?” You ask him after he tells you, and he shrugs, leaning back in his chair. You’re studying at his apartment tonight.

“It’s just…” he frowns. “It’s so far away, you know?”

Oh. You hadn’t even thought about that, too caught up in the excitement of him being able to apply at all. A quick sigh leaves your lips, and then you reach for his hand, hold it between both of your own.

“That’s okay,” you tell him, though now that you’re thinking about it, you feel nervousness in the pit of your stomach. “We can work something out, though, when we get that far. We’ll figure it out.”

Minghao nods, a fond look in his eyes. He pulls one of your hands to his lips. “We’ll think about it if I even get accepted,” he says.

It’s bittersweet, but a promise nonetheless.

Fifteen minutes after you get a call from Minghao, there’s a knock on your door. 

You wouldn’t necessarily say you’re worried, but, well. Everyone’s experienced the jump of anxiety when they get hit with the “I want to talk to you about something” line. Nonetheless, you stand from the couch to open the door, mentally preparing yourself for any and everything. 

“Hey,” you greet when you see Minghao, opening the door to let him in. His face is unreadable. “Everything okay?”

He walks a few steps into your apartment, waits for you to close the door before turning back around to face you. Then he holds up a piece of paper, the creases from where it was folded still bending. You send him a confused look.

“I got in,” he says, a grin breaking on his face, and you blink, then feel your jaw practically hit the floor. Minghao only nods like he understands, and before you know what you’re doing, you launch yourself at him, holding him close.

“Oh my god, Hao, that’s amazing,” you say into his sweater, then step back to get a proper look at him. Youthful, vibrant. “I’m so proud of you.”

He seems to soften at your words, pulls you back into him again with a gentle kiss to your head. “Thank you for believing in me,” he tells you, tenderness palpable in his voice. All you can do is squeeze him tighter.

Minghao spends a lot of time away from you after that.

You’re not really hurt in any way - even though he got into the academy in New York, he still has to practice. You get it, this is important. He doesn’t text you as often, isn’t able to stop by as much, and you miss him, but you know how much this means for him. But it gets… weird, almost, after a while. Strange, even for him. It feels weird that he’s set to leave at the end of January and it’s December and he’s distant.

Both of you are laying in your bed, looking at the glow-in-the-dark stars on your ceiling, when you decide to bring it up. “You’ve been… kinda far away lately,” you start, nudging him with your shoulder gently. “Everything okay?”

His eyes stay on your ceiling, but you feel the way he sighs. “It’s about the program,” he says.

“Okay.”

“And about… you and me.”

Oh. That doesn’t… sound the best. “About, like… what we’re gonna do?”

Minghao nods.

You say, “I wouldn’t mind visiting every so often. It’d be hard, but I’m sure we could find something to work.”

Minghao shakes his head, says, “no.”

You pause, and when you look at him he’s already looking at you. What does he mean by no? Does he want you to move with him? Or does he -

He reaches for your hand and you think oh.

His eyes are a little glassy. You feel the tears come, too.

“Oh,” you say out loud. Minghao squeezes your hand. “So this is… this is it?”

Your room is suddenly cold, and you want to crawl under the covers and stay there. The person in front of you is blurred into something unrecognizable, but you can’t be bothered to blink away your tears.

“I think so, love,” he whispers back to you. “I think it has to be.”

The two of you cry like that for a while. In your bed, loosely intertwined and broken. Even the way Minghao cries carries a kind of vibrancy that’s overwhelming, makes you think of the first time you saw him so long ago, and now -

When you manage to get a better grip on yourself, you ask him if you can still see him off at the airport. He says, “I don’t know what I’d do if you didn’t.”

Then you ask if you can kiss him again. He responds by kissing you first. 

And it’s sad, it tastes like salt and sorrow and you feel like the promises you never got the chance to make are broken. It feels like the most beautiful blue you’ve ever seen, and you know it’s only a branch of Minghao’s color.

He leaves soon after that, pulls on his shoes and his coat and turns around at the door to give you a tired smile. After he’s gone, you drag yourself to Chan’s bedroom, and once he sees the state you’re in, he offers up one side of his bed. Neither of you say anything, but the friendly reassurance of his hand in yours says enough.

You don’t fail to notice that everything seems to be washed out, a blandness you’re not used to.

The last time you see him is at the airport.

It’s a cold day, despite being sunny. The airport offers little warmth, but you figure it doesn’t matter. You won’t be here for long. 

It doesn’t take you very long to find Minghao - you still look for him wherever you go, even if you’re not looking for him. Even then, it’s still so easy for you to find him, to pinpoint that vibrancy, that youth. He’s talking to a few others, you think you met them. Soonyoung and Jun.

Minghao meets your eyes and you freeze, but then he waves you over with a gentle smile. You follow like you think you always will. 

You greet Soonyoung and Jun and the four of you talk, albeit a little awkwardly, even when Soonyoung tries his hardest to lighten the mood. Eventually he has to leave, and Jun follows with a shy goodbye. They both hug Minghao before they go.

You’re not sure what to say, but after a minute, you find words. “I don’t know what I’ll do without you,” you tell him, a little selfishly. 

Minghao says, “you’ll do good. I know you will. I’m not worried about you.”

He pulls his phone out of his pocket to check the time, and you think he’ll give you a stiff and sad goodbye, but he steps a little closer to you. Looks at you the way he used to.

“Maybe…” he starts, then pauses. “Maybe we’ll meet again.”

Maybe, you think. Maybe.

“I hope so,” you tell him, then watch as he leaves.

[girl-in-the-tower]

CHAPTER I

Ramshackle Dorm - Birthday Party Venue

Kore: Woah, to think the ghosts would go all out like this just for today! Even though I told them that they didn't have to bother with it, they wouldn't listen, at all... It's... It's kind of embarrassing to be fussed over like this! If it was Grim I would have understood but this, uh...

Ah! And I'm supposed to have a guest over today as well! Hm, I guess some tea should be in order... maybe some cakes as well... I wonder if there's any sugar left...

Ace: Yo!

Kore: Ah, just a moment- Oh, it's just you, Ace.

Ace: Ha? What's that supposed to mean? 'It's just you'? It's super rude to greet your dear guest like this, you know?

Kore: Is that so? But calling you a guest is...

Ace: What's that?

Kore: Hm...

Ace: Well, doesn't matter because my feelings were hurt either way! So I'll help myself to this krumkake to make myself feel better! Let's dig in~

Kore: Hey, that- Aaah, that was meant to be for Grim. He kept complaining all day yesterday that he should have a cake all to himself too since it's a special day so I woke up extra early just to make it for him. Now he's gonna be mad...

Ace: Haa? A whole cake just for that furball? You've got to be kidding me!

Kore: What are you talking about? You know how much he likes krumkake.

Ace: Nah, I doubt there's really anything that guy won't eat... But that's not the point. You're spoiling him too much. He's gotten really fat, you know?

Kore: It's fine. I still make sure he exercises and he looks cute round like that too, so it's not a problem.

Ace: No, I definitely still think there's something wrong here. Mainly with your head.

Kore: Haaaaaaa, you wanna pick a figh-

Ace: Oh, I almost forgot! Here you go!

Kore: ... What's this?

Ace: Isn't it obvious?

Kore: Well... Huh? Wait a minute- That can't-!

Ace: Ta-da! It's a limited edition Griffons varsity jacket that's been all the rage with Magift meatheads like you~

Kore: No way!! This is- This is-

Ace: Cool, righ- Hey!! Don't jump on me like that! You almost knocked me off the chair!

Kore: Sorry, hahaha! I was so happy I just couldn't contain myself! To think that I would be able to actually get my hands onto something so valuable!

Ace: Yeah, we figured you'd like i-

Kore: This season has really been a blessing from above for them, you know? Everybody is in top shape and playing at their best! I heard their new manager actually made them go through this super difficult training regime that has been working wonders for them. Though it's only speculation so far!

Ace: Uh, Kor-

Kore: If you ask me, it's definitely also thanks to those new brooms that they ordered for the team. The wood is apparently from the Valley of Thorns and super-resistant so they go all out without worrying about breaking them. For the moves that the team is pulling, they really need that propulsion time! Even a second helps when you're in a headlock. I remember back in the vs Mandrakes game that they switched brooms in between-

Ace: Heeeeey! You Magift boar woman! Can you hear me?

Kore: Wh-Why are you yelling like that?! I'm right next to you!

Ace: Haaaa, when you start talking about Magift you might as well be in a completely different world... No wonder they all think of you as the Magift Encyclopedia. I bet you have hundreds of useless pieces of information like that stuck in your head.

Kore: You-! Huh? What's this?

Ace: A-Ah! That!

Kore: It's rice pudding- Ah! It's homemade from the Mountains!

Ace: Hm? Ah, ye-yeah... That came with the jacket...

Kore: Eh? They put pudding in jackets when they sell them?!

Ace: O-Obviously! Don't tell me you didn't know? Bwahaha, man, you sure are clueless...

Kore: ... It's my favourite flavour too...

CHAPTER II

Ace: Alright, next to the first question!

Kore: Eh?! Question?! Is this a quiz of some kind?!

Ace: I guess you could think of it like that, so anyway- Your first question as today's birthday girl issssss: "If you were stuck on a deserted island, who would you take with you?" Hm, here it says that you can't pick members of your own dorm, but given that you guys don't even have a dorm, I'm not sure that the restriction applies. Not that it matters since you wouldn't choose Grim anyway, right?

Kore: Huh? Why not?

Ace: You're serious?! You'd pick that furball?! Hey, we're talking about a deserted island here so think carefully! Don't you want to get off it?!

Kore: Well, obviously I would... But...

Ace: But?

Kore: I can do that on my own.

Ace: Huh?

Kore: Survival is all about securing shelter, food and formulating an escape plan. If it's a deserted island I assume there would be some fauna and animals too, so we could feed ourselves through fruit gathering and hunting. It might be hard if we don't have any tools, however, but I think Grim's claws would be sharp enough to cut through the skin and meat fairly easily. I make sure he takes good care of them after all.

Ace: I-I see...

Kore: If there's no drinkable water then we'll have to boil some from the sea in order to deal with the thirst. Grim's flames, when properly utilized, would be able to do such a thing. Not to mention that he could start fires to keep us warm at night and to cook food to sustain us! Also, it could be a great emergency signal if we end up at sea and need rescuing.

Ace: You want to use him as a flare?!

Kore: That sounds so mean! I would only do that as a last resort, however! Grim's pretty sensitive about having his belly scratched so I wouldn't do anything to make him uncomfortable like that!

Ace: Haaaa, I get it, I get it! So you're saying that the furball has his practical uses too. But I can't help but worry about some flaws...

Kore: Flaws?

Ace: No matter how much you feed that glutton, his stomach will never be full, you know! Whatever provisions you managed to gather, he's sure to inhale them with the first occasion!

Kore: Wah- That's a horrible thing to say! There's no way my Grim is so selfish!

Ace: My Grim?! What is he?! Your child?! And he's totally selfish, you know!!

Kore: HAAAAA?! ARE YOU REALLY PICKING A FIGHT WITH ME?!

Ace: Ca-Calm down!! I take it back, ok?! You can bring the furball with you!

Kore: Hmph.

Ace: Seriously, getting this angry over that cat...

Kore: Isn't that normal? Grim is my special person, after all!

Ace: SPECIAL PERSON?!

Kore: The person you care for a lot, like they're part of you, right? Like Cay-senpai said!

Ace: I-I see, so that's...

Kore: Being on a deserted island isn't ideal, but at the end of the day I know I can be ok on my own. Farmwork, housework - those are things that I'm used to from the Mountains. Life isn't so easy back home, but we all make do with what we can - magic or no magic. Even if I'm stuck in a bad situation, I can manage to get through so I don't need anybody else.

Well, that's what I thought before I came to this place anyway...

Ace: ...

Kore: Besides you're wrong about something!

Ace: Huh?

Kore: In order to survive it's not just physical attributes that are important, but mental ones as well. And in that case, Grim has the real trump card!

Ace: He-He does?!

Kore: Mm! You see, Grim, he... has the cutest paws and the fluffiest fur in the world!

Ace: HUH?!

Kore: Mm! Every time I feel like giving up or am reaching the end of the rope, all I'd have to do is give his paw pads a little squeeze or lay on his tummy and my mood would instantly clear up again! In a situation full of despair like that it would make a world of difference, you know?

Ace: SO HE'S THERE JUST FOR MORAL SUPPORT?!

Kore: Well, that too! It's important after all!

Ah, this pudding is really good actually...

CHAPTER III

Ace: Haaaa, I give up... Your boar mind is way too difficult to understand...

Kore: HUH?!

Ace: Anyway, let's get on with our next question and- Ah.

Kore: Hm? What is it? You suddenly stopped in the middle of the sentence. Did the falcon get your tongue, hehe?

Ace: It's a cat, not a falcon! And I only stopped because- uh...

Kore: What?

Ace: "You're offered the chance to pick another dorm, which one would you choose?"

Kore: ...

Ace: I swear, that Headmaster doesn't even think of these questions at all...

Kore: Yeah, there's no way I can answer that...

Ace: I figured. So instead! "Please share your opinions on the dorms!"

Kore: Ah!

Ace: Nice, right? You can definitely count on me when it comes to quick thinking, you know?

Kore: ... I guess.

Ace: You guess?!

Kore: I'll start with Diasomnia then!

Ace: Hey, don't ignore-

Kore: Hm, I'm not really sure about the atmosphere there but- Don't you think that their interior decor is pretty fancy? I haven't seen stuff like that in magazines for quite a while, so I feel like it's definitely something that must have required a lot of work! It's kinda dreary though, what will the windows not letting enough light and the greenery around it could stand to be looked after better, hm...

Ace: So you're only interested in the decor, huh? Alright, what about Ignihyde?

Kore: It's too technological.

Ace: Huh, I guess that you're right. For somebody like you, it would really be a struggle living there...

Kore: ...

It's even more depressing than Diasomnia, so I feel like I would be stuck in a bad mood without enough sunlight, you know? Though I must admit, it really is super clean inside! That's a very important detail! Clean homes are necessary for good health!

Ace: There you go again, sounding like a mom... Next is Pomefiore!

Kore: IT'S SUPER FLASHY!

Ace: I know~?

Kore: No, no, you don't get it! It's so flashy it actually scares me! All that pomp and glamour! The rugs themselves look like something from the fall collection that sold out about twenty years ago and the chandeliers are bound to be at least four times Theo's salary! Walking through those hallways is like stepping on opulence! A continuous loop of flashiness!

Ace: HEY! Get a hold of yourself! Let's go over to- Ah, Scarabia...

Kore: It's so hot there!!

Ace: Oh, yeah, you're super weak to heat so you'd definitely hate it there. Right?

Kore: Mm, hate is... I think that if it was the old me, I would never have even stepped in there. But now I feel like... Yeah! I definitely think that I can give it another try! Scarabia is pretty rich too, but it feels more homely? There's a lot of people gathered around and there are banquets and feasts pretty often too. It's always lively and warm... In a way, I imagine that's what a home would feel like...

Ace: ...

Kore: I can't say the same for Octavinelle however. Hmph!

Ace: Bwahaha, that's true. It really feels like you'd get scammed in there pretty quick.

Kore: Not even that! But building a dorm underwater? I admit the decor is pretty nice and classy, but the atmosphere is too cold! There's a lot of types that I can't get along with at all so it would definitely be a miserable time for me. No, I definitely don't want to set foot there ever again!

Ace: I totally get it~ All that commotion after the exams was enough for me too. Guess the same goes for Savanaclaw too, then?

Kore: ...

Ace: HA?!

Kore: I-I refuse to believe that anybody who loves Magift is a bad person!

Ace: There's that meathead in you talking again! Are you seriously that obsessed with it?! I feel like there's a sickness that applies in this case!!

Kore: He-Hey!! That's way too- I understand that what they did was bad, and I definitely haven't forgiven Kingscholar-senpai yet, but there are definitely good points to them as well! I think!

Ace: So you're not even sure?!

Kore: A-Anyway, as for Heartslaybyul-

Ace: Don't go changing the subject!

Kore: - if I had to pick that would be my favourite.

Ace: Huh?

Kore: I love Scarabia too, a lot, but at the end of the day all that rich atmosphere is scary. I really don't feel like I would belong there at all. I'd stick out like a sore thumb among everybody else - more than usual at the very least. But in Heartslaybyul, even if Rosehearts-senpai is strict, I feel like everybody is sort of content with the oddness. There's not much that stands out about it, but I think that's what makes it so appealing, you know?

Ace: ... So... what you're saying... Is that we're a shabby dorm full of weirdoes?

Kore: I-I wouldn't go that far...

Ace: But that's the gist of it, isn't it?!

Kore: Ummmmm...

Ace: ... Alright, I get it.

Kore: Huh?

Ace: You know, it just so happens that there's one more thing I have to tell you about.

Kore: One more thing?

Ace: Yup! You see, there's this tradition where the presenter has to give the 'gift of fortune' in order to make sure this ends up being a great birthday! And it just so happens that you're lucky enough to have me here today to deliver the goods~

Kore: Huh? What are you-

[SPLATTER]

Kore: ...

Ace: BWAHAHA, I CAN'T BELIEVE YOU JUST STOOD THERE LIKE THAT!

Kore: ...

Ace: Oh man, the look on your face is hilarious! Oh, let me take a quick picture to show the others too!

Kore: ...

Ace: Ok, so then- He-Hey! Don't- AUGH! MY FOREHEAD!

[embrassemoi]

Surrounded by the Moon and Stars • 06

Pairings: Sirius Black x [F]Reader, Remus Lupin x [F]Reader Content: Language, possible errors, music snob!Remus,  Author’s notes: song used: Come Together by The Beatles

BTW: I always try to use little to no physical descriptions for the reader insert but I did add that the reader has some sort of hair. I didn't mention hair texture or length (Sorry if ur bald). My taller readers, I only mentioned that you were shorter than Remus (no height was given)

Masterlist: Previous Chapter | Next Chapter

Chapter 6: ABBA vs. The Beatles 

❉───────•~❉•᯽•❉~•───────❉

“Merlin’s beard! Binns is a sadist; torturing students must be his only pastime,” James yawned, taking his glasses off to rub his eyes.

Nothing could ever compare to the History of Magic. Today, lessons were dreadful and muddy. Professor Binns’ monotone voice filtered throughout the class, rambling on and on about various dates in history. Hardly anyone paid attention before he started calling on students. Annoyed, Binns would continue to reiterate his inquiry until the student(s) got the correct answer, no matter how long it took.

A sadist indeed.

Although Binns wasn’t the sole reason why the class was pathetic, but rather the lack of any practical work was simply a joke. The class only reminded Y/N of her short time in public school. Geometry? Utterly useless for any daily life interactions. To make matters worse, Binns surprised the class with a pop-quiz and two chapters of reading. Luckily, he had an ounce of mercy in his ghostly body and dismissed the class early for lunch.

James continued, “I would rather fight a dragon than — Woah! Your hair! “

She glanced to look at herself through the reflection in James’ glasses. Her hair, which originally was emerald green, was now turning into a golden yellow. The different colours clashed together boldly.

“You look like the banner for the Holyhead Harpies,” Peter said, striding up to James’ side.

“The Holyhead Harpies,” James said dreamily, “They’re probably one of my favourite teams.

Remus, who had been trailing behind Peter jumps in, “You only like them because they’re all women, you wanker.” He turns to Peter, his hand shooting up to the side of his head, massaging small circles into his temples, “Why’d you get him going?”

James became insufferable whenever someone or something mentioned Quidditch. Not only would he boast about his abilities as a Chaser, but he seemingly was a never-ending encyclopedia about Quidditch. It only worsened as November neared, the start of the new Quidditch season was approaching.

One time Y/N found herself stuck listening to him babble about Ireland winning the world cup for about thirty minutes. She didn’t have the heart to stop him, though. Nobody listened to his rants and he could hardly contain his excitement. How could she tell him she wasn’t interested?    

A monstrous smirk etched its way onto his face, “Caught me.”

“Be anymore of a predator would ya, Prongs?”

“Hey! That’s not the only reason why I like them. Did you forget their victory in 1953 against the Heidelberg Harriers? Their strategy was blood-fucking-brilliant. They’re legendary! My father was there to see it in person. Lucky bastard. He told me…”

His voice fades into the background as Y/N catches Remus’ eyes. A glint of mischief shined through them before he forced a fake pitiful smile. He mouthed a quick ‘sorry’ to her before looping his arm around Peter’s shoulder, discreetly leaving James’ side and out of the classroom.

That sly, slippery bastard.  

"— and did I mention that their seeker was one of the most sought out —”

“Wait, James.”

He abruptly pauses, waiting patiently for her to continue. She leads them out into the corridor and towards the great hall. “Sorry, didn’t mean to cut you off like that, but when is my hair going back to normal?”

Y/N instantly regretted mentioning her hair. There was no trace of a smile on James. His shoulders slumped a bit and his walking even staggered. “Godric, I know, I know and I’m sorry. I thought it would have returned back to normal by now. I’ve been creating reversal spells — even started asking Moony to help.”

“Moony?”

“Remus.”

“Another one of your nicknames?”

“It’s not a nickname! It’s a brotherhood — a pack!”

“Oh, sorry Prongs,” she drawled, a sarcastic smile on her face, “If I didn’t know you I would assume you were an asshole.”

“What? How?!”

“You go around calling yourself a marauder, the king of Quidditch and now Prongs. Seems pretty assholely.”

James’ mouth opens before closing again, repeating the process several times.

“Plus, you pull silly pranks every day.”

He chuckles, “Oi! You helped us with that itching idea!”

Her eyebrows raised in acknowledgement, “Touché.”

To this, James shakes his head, directing the conversation back to the Holyhead Harpies. Inwardly, Y/N wanted to whack him with a broomstick.

They were among the first students to reach the Great Hall, aside from students who had a free or were excused early by Professor Binns. None of the girls were there yet. Unfortunately, Marlene was held back by Binns, so Y/N was left to sit beside James who sat opposite to Remus, Peter and Sirius.

She had been trying her best to avoid Sirius whenever she could. It was clear he didn’t like her. He never laughed whenever she made a joke, he hardly noticed her, he never praised her, even if she tried to compliment him. He was just rude for no apparent reason. The rest of the marauders and girls knew this, although they preferred not to comment about the obvious, strained relationship (which they didn’t even know the reason for. Granted, Y/N wasn't quite sure herself. Was it the rejection, he just didn't like her or is just an ass?).

Although, ignoring and avoiding him proved to be extremely challenging. Y/N was glued to Lily’s hip ever since the Sorting Ceremony. It also didn’t help that if you were with one marauder, another one was sure to follow. She and James started to spend more time with each other, and by extension, she was obligated to be around at least one other marauder. With the addition of study sessions with Remus, it was inevitable.

Surprisingly, Sirius hadn’t made any snarky remarks, excluding dirty looks, he was being… nice — nicer to her. The action was a stark contrast from his previous behaviour and she speculated a few reasons why:

Most likely, James or Lily, she assumed the former, said something to him. Since his little spat with James at breakfast a few weeks ago, Sirius was tight-lipped ever since.

Maybe he was done being a prick, deciding to stop by himself after realizing he was a prick.

Went through something personal, it stopped, and his behaviour improved.

Minutes after the bell rang, students began to trickle in for lunch. The comfortable chatter rose as Y/N finished eating an apple. Everyone seemed pleased when James’ Quidditch lecture was interrupted as hundreds of owls streamed in, packages and letters dropping into the laps of students. She hadn’t expected anything considering her owl, Celeste, didn’t drop anything off since the first week of October. However, today she fluttered down between the bread and fruit bowls, dropping off several letters and a small parcel onto Y/N’s plate, pecking at the bread crumbs on the table. She tore the letter open, inside it said:

Dear Y/N,  

Are you still having a hard time with Charms? If so, perhaps I find some textbooks and send them over.  

Don’t slack off this year. Send me a letter whenever you have the chance. (Make sure to tell Celeste to be quieter next time. You know I can, and never will get used to the owls.)  

Mom  

Her mother finally wrote to her. A sense of joy flooded her body as she placed the letter back down on the oak table. A part of her wondered if Celeste was dropping off her letters to the wrong house, the one back in Toronto as her mother never wrote back. She opened the next letter, immediately recognizing the messy scrawl:

October 19, 1975  

Y/N! I thought you replaced me with one of your brits, but a false alarm, your letters just take a while to arrive. Must be tiring for Celeste to travel to and from Scotland then America and back. You know, whenever people see her fly in, they still recognize her.  

Are you doing anything for Halloween? We’re throwing another dance. Going to be alone this year now that I can’t force you to come. I guess I’ll just watch half the school dry hump each other while I smuggle in firewhiskey.

How’s it going over there? I heard from a few students, even read in the papers about the war. It’s getting pretty crazy over here. Teachers have been meeting and trying to prevent students and parents from losing their shit. My mom has been worried too, writing to me like a lunatic and I’m not even in the UK. The MACUSA have been keeping quiet but they were caught having meetings with counsellors from the Ministry of Magic. Even heard that Jenkins is stepping down. If it keeps getting out of hand here, I can’t imagine what it must be like at Hogwarts. I truly thought the war was dying down, I was wrong. Keep your wand close. Surely, you’ll get away with a hex or two.

Until next time

Matthew G.  

So engrossed in her new environment, her old life slipped to the back of her mind. There was a detachment from her reality compared to the one at home. A pang of guilt hit her, swallowing her up from the inside out until another pang hit, loneliness. If she easily forgot everyone, would anyone remember her? None of her old friends, apart from Matthew, had made a move to contact her since she left.

Often thinking about writing them first, she had to remind herself if they wanted to, they would. Especially with the knowledge that people still recognized Celeste.

Was she forgettable and if so, was it karma for forgetting too?

It put a mechanical vice grip on her heart, applying just enough pressure to be a constant reminder. With every beat, it tightened more and more.

Looking around the table, she saw her peers huddle in groups, familiar laughter ringing throughout. So noisy, so taunting. She may have been friends with Lily, Dorcas, James or even Marlene, but they had their own friends. Friendships that had years to develop before she came. She had only known them for less than two months.

Forgettable.

How hilarious, she thought.

“Hey,” a gentle voice cooed into her ear, “Are you okay?”

She hummed back absentmindedly.

James wore a concerned expression, his eyes knitted together, one raised higher than the other like it always does when he was worried. The look he shot her suggested he wasn’t convinced, although he didn’t press; instead opting to stir the conversation. “So, who wrote to you?”

“A friend and my mom —”

A snort so loud that it caused the rest of the marauders, random onlookers and even Lily (who had a look of pure disgust on her face) turned towards them. “What did you say?”

“I got a few letters?”

“No!” He bellowed, “Who sent you them?”

“My friend and my mom —”

Nearly choking on his sandwich, James clutched his stomach laughing. Laughing so hard he has to grip the table to prevent falling off the hall bench. "Haha! Mom?! MOM?” He mocked in a poor American accent, “What the fuck is mom? It’s MUM. Bollocks!”

“We say vitamin.”

“It’s VIT-A-MIN! Who says VIGHT-A-MIN?” Without a pause, James presses his entire body onto her shoulder, smushing her before grabbing the letter her mother sent her. His eyes scanned across the pages before hitting a certain word. “Back home? Maple trees? Where did you use to live exactly?”

“Canada.”

“Canada?! You don’t mean those snowy gits?” At this, Peter and Remus snort under their breaths. Even Lily had to force down a smile.

Staring deadpanned at him, in an unamused voice, “Really?”

“You are a bundle of surprises! I thought you lived… I’m not sure. I assumed somewhere like New Hork.”

“York,” Lily corrects.

“Tomato, tomato,” he jokes, playfully batting his eyes at Lily before biting into his sandwich, “You do live in London, right?”

“Right.”

James takes a moment, letting the conversation die down before he quickly glances at Y/N again. An undecipherable expression crosses his face before it’s promptly replaced with elation, “I take back anything negative I’ve said about Canada. They have an amazing Quidditch rooster. Have you gone to any of their games?”

A low grumble of sighs follows at the mention of Quidditch from James. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Remus shake his head and sighed dejectedly.

“Nah, I’m a New-Maj, remember? My mom — “

“Mum —”

“ — sorry, Mum — hardly understands the wizarding world, let alone what Quidditch is.”

His eyes were wide, whimsical, as a hand flew to his chest dramatically, “Rubbish! Bloody ridiculous! You’ve never seen a real Quidditch game? One day, I swear I’ll bring you to one! Or you can bring me to Canada one day and we can watch a home game!”

As James continued to rant, Y/N’s mind slowly drifted back to the bitterness in her chest. Trying to distract herself, she borrowed Lily’s quill and a few sheets of parchment, scribbling down letters in response.

Mom,  

I’m fine with Charms, you don’t need to send anything. And don’t worry, I’ve been studying for my OWLs.  

Love you, write soon.

The next letter was addressed to Matthew:

Matty Matt,

Of course, I didn’t replace you… yet. 

Another dance? You would think the students’ protest last year would have influenced the professors this time. I guess it’s time for you to get wasted. I didn’t tell you last time but I think I’m going to a party. A friend of mine is throwing it and I know he’s going to force me to come no matter what. He briefly mentioned costumes and drinks. Plus, there’s going to be some kind of prank that I may or may have not been a part of? Sounds cool right?  

Yeah, I’d say it’s been bad up here. I don’t know much about what's going on outside of school, though. The professors are hiding it well. I didn’t even hear about Jenkins stepping down. Keep me updated.  

Until next time  

She sealed the letters before sending Celeste off again, “Be quieter when you drop off the letters, yeah?”

❉───────•~❉•᯽•❉~•───────❉

It must be her lucky day.

The ringing of the bell went off, signalling the end of class. Professor Flitwick asked the students to stay behind so he could hand out quizzes the students completed on Monday in preparation for their upcoming test on Growth and Reductor charms the following Tuesday.

It was never a good sign when a professor flips your test over to prevent other students from seeing their mark. Flipping it over at a downwards angle, Flitwick handed Y/N her quiz.

Turning it over nervously, a tight coil formed in the pit of her stomach. A large P was plastered on the top right corner in bold red ink. She studied hard for this too. Angrily, she shoved her work into her bag and left the class. This was the third poor she'd gotten in a row. She should have told her mother she needed those Charm books.

“I swear I’m going mad! Her brother is a complete cow! He even — are you listening?”

She looks at the girl beside her, Marlene. Her glossed over, doe eyes must have served as an answer before the blonde shook her head.

“Sorry, distracted,” she mumbles, before forcing out a fake-happy tone, “Continue your story! I wanna hear!”

“Hey,” Marlene says in a softer voice, “If something’s bothering you, you can talk about it.”

“No, it’s okay,” she replies instinctively. She felt bad spacing out during Marlene’s story but her mind was running through and under hoops. The last thing any fifth year student needed was to fall behind in their classes, let alone feeling like nobody cared about them.

At that moment, she wished she was wrapped away in red and gold blankets to wallow in her self-pity party, away from prying eyes. She could feel the burning sensations of tears building up.

Dammit.

Y/N looked out the window to her left. The sky was melting with the warm hues of reds and yellows while the other half was being slowly engulfed into a cloak of twilight. Even from here, she could feel the cool air seeping in from the windows making her tug on the sleeves of her robes.

She continued, “I’m just tired — been a long day. I’m going to take a nap before dinner. See you.”

Judging by the look on Marlene and Lily’s face, guilt riddles her body. They both look sympathetic. The pity only made Y/N feel disgusting. In all honesty, Y/N will care later. Right now wasn’t the time and she desperately needed some shut-eye.

Before she left the room, she overheard them talking.

“What’s up with her?”

“Dunno.”

Great.

❉───────•~❉•᯽•❉~•───────❉

Sleep did little to ease her thoughts.

The same uneasiness she felt on the train ride to Hogwarts settled deep into her bones again. She thought she was past this. The worrying about friends, missing home, feeling alone, failing class, stressing about her future. The rational part of her brain knew it was just one silly quiz (and old shitty friends), but knowing herself, if she were to continue to have this mindset, she would only fail in the end.

Dinner ended and Y/N belligerently climbed up the stairs towards the library to attend today’s study session. The Charms quiz threw her into a loop and it was better not to dwell on it, opting to rather use her time for something useful.

Her marks improved significantly since she attended her first session two weeks ago. The last couple of assignments and quizzes she handed in that she worked on during the groups were some of her best work, ever. Additionally, her ability to retain information was improving at astonishing rates and she found herself participating in lessons more often. Unfortunately, she started to doubt her abilities again.

There weren’t as many students as usual. Perhaps it was because of the Quidditch meeting for all teams tonight, or because nobody wanted to spend their time in a library Friday night. She assumed it was the latter.

Although, the same student with black hair from Slytherin was there; tucked away in his usual corner. He was always there. Whether it was the study sessions, another OWL or NEWT student or he simply just enjoyed the library, Y/N could always rely on him sitting there in his little nook.

In the far back, surrounded by tall bookshelves sat Remus. Another student, a first or second year, judging by their height, seemed to be asking him a question, rapidly writing down something on a piece of parchment whilst they walked away. Remus leaned back in the brown chair, his right leg was folded over the other as he stretched.

She spent over twelve hours minimum with Remus directly since the first session, minus the time he was around James and the girls. Perhaps she only started to notice afterwards but she swore Remus wasn’t around this much before. Now, he was everywhere.

In the past couple of weeks she’d gotten to know him, she made a mental list in her head of him:

1. Remus loves sweaters. They weren’t flashy, seemingly preferring to wear ones with small designs, stripes or a solid colour. He wore green the most. He also wore cardigans. Two, in particular, he wore the most; one was white and the other was a muted brown. They were big and hung off his loose frame, the pockets were often stuffed with books, rumpled parchment and his wand.

2. He’s a coffee addict. He drank it in the morning, the afternoon, at the study session and sometimes with meals at dinner. He loved to dump pounds of sugar, so if he only drank black coffee, it usually meant he was in a bad mood. James even joked that he became Sirius whenever he drank black coffee, because haha! Get it? It’s BLACK coffee!

3. He frequented the library whenever he wasn’t with the rest of the marauders. He enjoyed poetry, wrote post-it notes after post-it notes to annotate his favourite parts. He even slept there from time to time, not without having to persuade Pince to not give him detention.

As if Remus magically sensed her, he took a large inhale before he stopped stretching, opening his eyes to look at her. A small smile was plastered on each other’s faces. He stuck up a few fingers to wave at her, motioning her to come over.

“Hi Y/N. I thought you didn’t come on Fridays?”

“I don’t but I have a test, Charms, Tuesday.”

“Oh, well I’m happy to help.”

“Thanks for the offer, Professor Lupin, but just being down here will help me focus.”

A scarlet blush settled on his face at the mention of his tutoring. “Well come sit with me then.”

Pushing the chair out of the way, she sat down beside him, pulling out her cassette player and earbuds along with her notes. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Remus staring at the player curiously.

“Do you want to listen?”

“If you don't mind. I didn’t know you could use these here.” Picking it up, he turned the rectangular device.

“If record players work here, why not this?”

She hands him an earbud, alongside a small collection of other tapes she had on hand.

“Choose whatever you want to listen to.”

Without much thought, he pressed the play button. The upbeat tune of Waterloo by ABBA trickled into their ears. Y/N bobbed her head up and down before the song was suddenly stopped.

A sour grimace sat on Remus’ face before their eyes met, his nose upturned slightly.

“Why’d you stop it?”

“I hate ABBA.”

“What!?”

“I just don’t like their cheesy disco-pop-esk sound. They sound generic and random words are thrown in when they don’t add to the song.”

“Jeez— never met anyone who hated them that much.”

A ghost of a smile appeared before he flicked through her collection of tapes. He picked up Abbey Road by The Beatles. Opening the player up, he slid out Waterloo. With a click and the press of a button, Come Together played.

“So you hate ABBA but not The Beatles? Benny and Bjorn said they were influenced by them!”

“Keyword: Influenced; which is just another word for a shitty knock-off version.”  

4. Remus Lupin is apparently a music snob.

“Well, I think both are good.”

“Respectfully, I disagree with you.”

“Whatever you say, professor.”  

"I've been thinking a bit, why did you come to Hogwarts? Why not just stay at your old school?"

The sudden switch of topics threw her into a loop. “Wasn’t by choice. My mom’s a doctor and got a position here. It was too good to turn down. But it’s not bad. There’s less wizarding laws.”

He nods his head, "I'm assuming you have dual citizenship?"

"Mhm."

About a half an hour passed as she sighed for the umpteenth time before putting down her quill. Her chair scraped back noisily as Y/N’s hand balled up into a tight fist, feeling her fingernails bite into her palm. She’d been flicking through her notes, the words all blended.

At this rate, if History of Magic didn’t exist, Charms would surely be her least favourite class.

“Are you sure you don’t need help?”

She was at a loss, this was the third time Remus had offered to help and he was persistent. She felt horrible that she was taking up his time to help her on a stupid Charms test.

He continued, “If you think bothering me is an issue, it’s not. I run the sessions on Friday. It’s my job.”

“Fine, but there has to be something I can do in return.”

“Hmm,” Remus pondered for a second, “How about this, I tutor you in Charms and in return you give me your Potions notes? I'm dreadful at it.”

“Deal.”

“Great. Before we start, is there anything in particular that you have questions on?”

Silently tapping on the quiz she received today, Remus snatched it and quickly scanned over her answers and Professor Flitwick’s notes.

“I see what happened. You know, the curriculum taught at Ilvermorny is different. That’s probably why you can’t understand some of this shit.” He cleared his throat, “So as we know, the growth charm increases the size of your intended target…”

His voice, like a light switch, changed instantly. Instead of his softer deep, raspier voice, it became commanding and steady. He never stumbled over his words and articulated his points elegantly. She found herself enraptured by him, understanding why he was in charge of the study groups.

Eventually, Remus takes a pause, “Does that make sense?”

“Yes. You know, you’re really good at this. No matter how much I asked Flitwick or even Lily I could never get it.”

A large blush bloomed on the apples of his cheeks before he shyly rubbed the back of his neck, averting his eyes. “I’m not that good.”

“No time for modesty, Professor Lupin!”

“Okay, okay! So here, do you see what went wrong? There would be a reaction with those two spells if —”

A boy, small, most likely a second year, stood at the foot of the shared table holding a large red and gold book. His hair, dark ginger, similar to Lily’s, was cut short. He fiddled with his fingers as he continued to stare at the two.

“... Um, hi. You're Remus — right?”

“Yup. Did you need help with something?”

“Yes! I’m having trouble with the Transfiguration spell, beetle into button.”

A look of understanding passed through his face before Remus turns to look at her, “Duty calls. It’ll be quick.”

“Of course, take your time.”

It was not quick. Understandably, very few were successful at the ginger’s age to perform the spell, but thirty minutes passed and the second year still didn’t understand the basic concepts. No matter how many times Remus had reiterated his point differently, the boy couldn’t retain it.

“I just don’t get it.”

“You learned this last year, it's a quick revision. I’m not sure what part you’re talking about. Look, do not wiggle or twirl your wand left, direct it towards the right. You have to picture the spell in your head before saying the incantation.”

He guided the boy's hand steadily before performing the spell himself.

“I don’t understand!” The boy whined.

He sighed, “Then we keep trying —”

“It’s too hard. Why are they teaching this crap anyway?”

“Could you stop complaining?” He snapped, closing his eyes before he realized what he’d just done. “I’m sorry about that. I’m… just tired. I can’t help you anymore, though. You should ask someone else,” Remus said brusquely, his eyes unnerving as he stared at the child. As a result, he yelped out a ‘thank you,’ rushing off in the opposite direction.

The muscles in his jaw tensed under the soft glow of the table lamps. There was a pale red tint rimming his eyes and he looked visibly paler than normal. Irritated, he bounced his knee rapidly, up and down, before looking out the large window beside them. The sky was mostly cloudy. Only the peak of the silvery moon appeared. A sliver was missing before it was fully complete.

He closed his eyes, before breathing in. His posture once stiffened, completely relaxed before a flimsy smile reappeared on his face, returning his attention to Y/N.

“Let’s continue, shall we?”

“If you’re tired we can stop.”

“No, s’okay. I’m fine — really.”

She chewed the inside of her cheek, adding to her list:

5. Remus was always so hard to read.

[wondernimbus]

excuses pt. 2 — fred weasley

pairing: fred weasley x female!reader

a/n: basically “excuses” but from fred’s point of view! literally no one asked for this but i just felt like writing it so bon appetit 

requests are closed for now. please refrain from plagiarizing my work!

There were three things that Fred Weasley had been expecting when he woke up this morning: a flunked Potions quiz, Oliver Wood's wrath (given that Fred skipped Quidditch practice the day before), and a forbidden trip to Hogsmeade with George at midnight.

What Fred had not been expecting is for a certain someone to rush up to him in the middle of the hallway right after Potions class (and he was right—he did flunk that quiz), grip onto his shoulders, and press a kiss to his cheek.

Now, Fred is not easily surprised. He's always the one to do the surprising, usually in the form of masterfully executed pranks and ridiculously witty remarks. But the word "surprised" seems like a poor fit for what he feels right now, because he is—for lack of better word—stunned. Gobsmacked. Flabbergasted. Is he in a fever dream?

The kiss lasts a mere half-second; before Fred can even begin to wrap his head around what the bloody hell just happened, [Y/N] is already pulling away from him and rambling on about being dared and blackmailed and perverts and definitely not liking him. (That last part kind of hurt, but that's hardly what's on Fred's mind right now.)

Fred blinks and wonders if the warmth spreading across his cheeks shows.

[Y/N] has stopped talking and is staring up at him, a blush of her own coating her face—and it's so ridiculously obvious how flustered she's gotten that Fred can't help but start laughing both out of fondness and to ease the bewilderment he feels as he tries to wrap his head around the past few seconds' events.

Which is that [Y/N]—a friend of his and George's for quite some time now who has an immaculate sense of humor, is secretly a pranking genius, and also happens to be one of the prettiest girls Fred has seen around Hogwarts—has just kissed him on the cheek, and is claiming to have been blackmailed into doing it.

"I'm sorry, [Y/N/N]," Fred begins, eyebrows raised. "But that's a very poor excuse." Which, in Fred's head, translates to: I hope that's an excuse because if it isn't, then I'm going to have to live with the fact that a pretty girl had to be blackmailed into kissing me.

She gapes at him for a moment, and then sputters out an indignant "no", after which she proceeds to open and close her mouth like a fish blown out of water as though grasping for words that won't come to her. The grin on Fred's face grows; at least he knows he's not the only one flustered around here, and, to be perfectly honest, he's dealing with it a lot better.

Funny. He's the one who got kissed on the cheek—shouldn't he be more worked up?

The fondness in his chest only swells when [Y/N] huffs and purses her lips, eyes skittering away from his as she mutters something inaudible under her breath.

It's not like Fred likes her. Sure, he talks a lot louder and acts rowdier around her just to grab her attention. And okay, he claims he needs help with a prank just to have an excuse to talk to her. Maybe he always remembers to bring her food from the kitchens just to see the bright grin on her face when he hands her a strawberry cupcake. And sure, he got jealous that one time he saw Roger Davies blatantly trying to flirt with her—

Okay, sure. Maybe Fred does like [Y/N].

And maybe his feelings are a tad bit hurt when [Y/N] tells him, cheeks still flushed a bright red, "No, listen to me, Fred, I was literally blackmailed. Now excuse me while I cleanse my lips ferociously."

Fred already has a witty remark resting on the tip of his tongue to mask his hurt feelings. But before it even gets past his lips, [Y/N] is already dashing off. Before he knows it, she has already turned the corner and disappeared.

And all the while, Fred stands there outside of the Potions classroom, staring after her.

"Well, wasn't that an interesting thing to witness." George makes his presence known for the first time since [Y/N] came up to him. He claps Fred on the shoulder, and Fred doesn't even have to look at him to know that he's grinning. "Don't faint on me now, Freddy. We've still got Charms class to go to."

Being kissed by a pretty girl, it turns out, does wonders for one's ego, because Fred feels ridiculously full of himself for the rest of the day.

He has two classes with [Y/N]: Care of Magical Creatures and Divination class, both of which are set at the end of the day just before dinner. And for some weird, totally unknown reason, Fred is on the edge of his seat.

He hasn't seen her around since she'd kissed him a few hours ago, so he practically dashes to his Care of Magical Creatures class with George lagging behind him in anticipation to see her.

Except, when he arrives at the grounds, she is nowhere to be seen.

"Maybe she's late?" suggests George, and then, with a mischievous grin on his face, he nudges Fred and says, "D'you think she's still busy cleansing your germs off her lips?"

"Sod off," Fred grumbles, his previous excitement now quickly waning.

George snorts. The other sixth years are milling around the grass in wait for Hagrid, completely oblivious to the dejected Fred Weasley surveying the class in search for a certain someone. "Only joking," says George, his tone impish. "She's probably just off somewhere regretting her life choices—"

Fred tries to smack his twin upside the head, but years of growing up next to one another and thus knowing each other's every move seem to have paid off for George, because he manages to dodge Fred almost effortlessly.

"Blimey, can't take a joke, can you?" he grins, the look on his face making it clear that he finds teasing Fred greatly enjoyable. And then, in a more serious tone, "Don't get your panties in a bunch just yet. She'll show up for Transfiguration."

Except she doesn't, and Fred starts to wonder if he'd done something terribly wrong. Perhaps he'd reacted the wrong way; maybe he shouldn't have acted so full of himself when she'd kissed him. Did he? Or should he have kissed her back? No, definitely not—that would've been weird. Would it? Had she really been blackmailed? To what extent? Should he be somewhere tracking down her blackmailer and avenging her?

As a result, Fred is absolutely out of it during Transfiguration class.

The moment he stepped foot through McGonagall's classroom and realized that [Y/N] wasn't there, he'd fallen quiet and hadn't uttered a word. He has failed to acknowledge George's constant nudges and has been staring at absolutely nothing for the entire duration of the class.

He stays like this even after the period ends, as well as on their way to the Great Hall for dinner. When Ron trips over literal air in the hallway and Fred miraculously doesn't make some sort of funny remark, George stops in his tracks. Looking genuinely concerned, he grabs his twins by the shoulders and asks, completely serious, "What did you nickname your dangly-bits when you were eight?"

Fred's eyes grow wide; it's the first genuine, non-lifeless reaction he has shown since an hour ago. "What the—"

"I'm only asking you once," says George, deadpan. "If you answer this wrong, I'm going to have to assume you're not Fred and you've been replaced by some sort of imposter, because the real Fred would have made Ron cry over tripping—"

"Have you gone mad—"

"What did you name your dangly-bits?"

Still in disbelief, Fred sputters out, "Champ."

George blinks, then drops his hands back to his sides. He wrinkles his nose. "I suppose you are still yourself. What's gotten into you, mate? Last time I can recall you acting like this was.." he pauses, brows pulling together at the middle in thought, "Actually, never."

"I'm growing up, Georgey," Fred nods earnestly, and his tone is joking but the slump of his shoulders says otherwise. Tapping his temple with a finger as though to stress his point, Fred keeps walking, George keeping pace next to him. "I'm starting to look at the world in a different light. Can't joke around forever, you see."

George full-on snorts. "Rubbish. If I hadn't known any better, I would've thought you were still thinking about [Y/N]."

Fred doesn't reply. There's a ten-second silence, the first few of which George laughs a little as though the idea is ridiculous, but then his eyes land on Fred's sullen expression.

"Oh," says George, once more stopping in his tracks. Fred ignores him and keeps walking—if they keep stopping every few steps, they're never going to get to the Great Hall (where Fred is maybe, maybe hoping to see [Y/N]).

Already a few feet away, Fred hears George shout after him, "You like her, don't you?"

Does Fred like an unimaginably pretty girl with the loveliest laugh he has ever heard and cheeks that flush the brightest shade of pink whenever she gets flustered? Does he like a girl with a smile that could light up the entire castle? Does he like the girl he could talk to for hours and hours and never get tired of?

Without as much as turning around to look at his twin, Fred, whilst walking, says loudly, "So what?"

Fred is now much too far away from his twin, but he thinks he might have heard George yell something along the lines of "I should've bloody known!"

—

Fred doesn't see her at dinner. Upon returning to the Gryffindor tower, he finds that the common room is also completely [Y/N]-free. He does spot Ginny, who he immediately approaches.

"Hello, sister," says Fred smoothly, detaching her from her group of friends to pull her into a corner. Not bothering to beat around the bush, he asks, "By any chance, have you seen [Y/N] around anywhere?"

Ginny stares at her older brother, wearing an impish smile that Fred knows all too well. There's a familiar hint of mischief glinting in her eyes that Fred has seen far too many times in the mirror. "I suppose you want to repay her for what she gave you earlier?" says Ginny, lips curling up into a grin.

Fred raises his eyebrows. "And what might that be?"

"A kiss," sings Ginny, giggling. "Are you about to confess to her? Are you planning to drag her out to the balcony and kiss her under the light of a thousand st—"

Fred is already turning on his heel and walking away before Ginny can even finish her sentence.

—

When Fred Weasley woke up that morning all those hours ago, the last thing he'd been expecting was to end the day thinking of the feeling of [Y/N]'s lips on his cheek and what it would feel like if the tables were turned and he kissed her.

Fred has long since realized that no amount of tossing and turning will allow him to fall asleep. So now he lays awake in his four-poster bed, listening to the sound of rain pattering against the window but not really registering it; his brain is much too busy mulling over things of far greater importance.

Well, thing: [Y/N].

Without really knowing whether or not his twin is awake or not, Fred tests the waters and says aloud, "George?"

"I say ask her out," George's voice replies without missing a beat, like he'd been waiting for Fred to ask all this time. "Tomorrow at breakfast. She fancies you, Freddy. That blackmail excuse was codswallop."

Fred swallows, eyes fixed on the dark stretch of ceiling. "What if it wasn't?"

"I bet twenty galleons it was absolute rubbish. She needed an excuse to kiss you."

"You don't have twenty galleons."

"Okay, I bet my nine galleons it was rubbish. Happy?"

Nine galleons. That and Fred's feelings—is he willing to risk that and ask her out, like George is suggesting?

"I don't want to jump to conclusions," groans Fred, rolling over and stuffing his face into his pillow. "Have you seen her, Georgey? She's.."

"She's a bit of a looker, yes."

At this, Fred scowls.

"Are you scowling at me? I can feel it."

A pillow is thrown from Fred's bed, but it is much too dark and Fred's aim is very much off; the pillow lands somewhere at the foot of George's bed, nowhere close to its intended target. "Ha, you missed," George chirps. "Just like you'll miss [Y/N] when some other bloke gets to her before you do because you're too much of a wimp to ask her o—"

Another pillow, this time hitting George full-on in the face. "Ow!"

Despite the heavy feeling of worry resting on his chest, Fred is unable to help himself from smiling smugly in triumph. "Slipped, sorry."

George throws the pillow back but misses; it lands somewhere on the floor, not even near Fred's bed. "Whatever," Fred hears him grumble. And then, tone brightening once more, "You will ask her out tomorrow, won't you?"

At this, Fred falls silent.

"Come on, Freddy. Mum didn't raise you to be a wimp."

"Easier said than done," sighs Fred, voice muffled due to how he has stuffed his face into the one pillow left on his bed. "Will you be a good twin and cheer me up when she rejects me?"

"No promises." And despite it being dark, Fred knows fully well that George is grinning. "But I can promise to be the best man at your wedding. Free of charge."

A wedding. Ha. He can’t even look at her without feeling all flustered. “We’ll see how it goes,” says Fred, exhaling heavily.

[leafsgarbage]

when we were young| k.s.

Synopsis: You and Kita fell for each other fast, but maybe forever wasn’t for you

Warnings: N/A

Genre: Angst, fluff, post!breakup,

Pairing: student!Kita x f!reader, ex!Kita x ex!reader, timeskip!Kita x timeskip!reader

Song Rec: If the World was Ending - JP Saxe

Word Count: 8.6k

Main Masterlist

A/N: I got this idea from a haikyu quiz to figure out who your ex was and why you broke up. If you guys want me to write on yours, click the link at the bottom and send me a request with your results!

When you were in your first-year of school at Inarizaki, you met him. He was a year above you, but he was ever the gentlemen, offering to carry all the books that you accidentally dropped due to the weight of them. You graciously accepted his offer and walked to your class. He bid you goodbye, and that was it.

The two of you didn’t talk much which is very unlike you, but you just assumed he was shy, and he was so breathtakingly handsome you forgot how to function. You continued your day as normal, but he always lingered in your mind.

It didn’t take too long for you two to cross paths again. 

Your brothers joined the volleyball team and were very dedicated to the sport. Not only were they dedicated to volleyball, but they were insistent on teasing you for being the youngest twin (you were triplets but whatever). Along with being a pain in your ass, they asked you for favors, and being the best sister in the entire world, you did them (not without a price though), 

The boys had forgotten their volleyball shoes in their lockers and texted you to please bring them. You wondered why they wouldn’t come get it themselves, but apparently, their captain is making them run laps around the gym barefoot. 

Their lockers weren’t together, in fact, they were on practically opposite hallways. You told them it would cost them heavily for making you run around so much, they tell you the exercise would do you good. You proceeded to tell them, for that comment alone, they do your chores for a month and cook for you when asked.

You grumbled under your breath as you finally got Atsumu’s and Osamu’s shoes, making your way to the gym, cursing your stupid brothers. AS you get to the door, you slip off your shoes and bow to everyone. “Good afternoon.” The coach ushers you to come in and you look for your brothers. 

The pair run to you, tears in Atsumu’s eyes. “Thank you y/n. Yer the bestest sister in the whole world!” Atsumu cries out, meanwhile Osamu just thanks you plainly and offers you the extra onigiri in his bag (you take it of course).

When you reach his bag, you see the guy who helped you out today. “Hi.” You say to him, to which he nods. Your shoulders slump, but you’re still determined to talk to him. “Thank you for helping me out earlier.”

“It was no problem.” He shrugs, continuing to clean the volleyball in his hands. 

“I’m Miya Y/n.” You extend your hand for him.

He stops his movements and stares at your hand, the ball is abandoned and he clasps your hand in his two hands with a little bow in his head. “Kita Shinsuke, it is a pleasure to meet you.”

“Should I call ya Kita-san? Or Kita-Senpai?” You smile at the athlete who just grins back at you.

“No need for formalities.” He assures you.

You’re about to continue talking with him until the coach cuts you off short, calling back all the boys. “Ah, I guess I’ll see y’around then?”

“Hopefully.” Then he gets up to leave you with your onigiri.

Of course that wasn’t the last time you would see him either. 

As the twins continued their volleyball, you spent more and more time with the team. You dedicated a lot of time into getting Kita comfortable with you, and he was. At least to the point where he let you call him by his first name.

“Shin!” You greeted him as you took your shoes off at the door. He waved back to you while you made your way to him. “I brought you a bento.” You hand it over to him and he bows in appreciation. 

Anyone with a brain could tell you liked him and that he liked you. However, your brothers don’t have that so they hadn’t the slightest clue. In fact, they thought you were trying to earn points with their senpais. (That makes sense though because you brought special things for Kita, but you still brought things for Aran-kun, Omimi, and Akagi so they wouldn’t feel left out).

“Thank you, y/n. I appreciate it.” He smiles at you and you just stop working. 

You decide that today is the day you’re going to let him know that you like him. “Shin, I-”

“Alright boys, come sit in your rows.” The coach calls out to the team. It’s the end of the year, so the boys will be given their new jerseys.

Kita looks at you apologetically. “Sorry, y/n. We can talk after, ok?” You nod and he squeezes your hand before going to sit with his teammates. 

“Alright, I know you’re all excited, but please wait to be called up before grabbing your jersey.” The coach looks at his roster, meanwhile the manager brings the box with the boys’ shirts. “Number 1, Kita.” 

He doesn’t miss a beat, no matter how taken aback he was. You were so happy for him, he came a long way and truly deserved the lot he was given. 

When he sits back down he begins to cry, and you’re all stunned by this, because he was never one to fall apart or succumb to his emotions like others cough cough Atsumu. It made your heart swell of how unbelievably happy was. When he was happy, so were you.  

Everyone else got their jerseys and went to pack up for the day. While the rest of them were in the locker room, you run up to Kita and give him a hug. “I’m so proud of you.” He smiled and just held you tight. “I wanted to tell you something.”

“Can I go first?” He pulls back to look at you and cups your face. “I like you, y/n. You make everything easy. It’s so easy to be with you to laugh with you and share the way I feel with you. If you feel the same, would you please allow me the chance to take you out, on a proper date?”

The smile that breaks on your face makes it seem as if it’ll stretch past your face. “Of course.”

That moment was pure bliss....

...Until it wasn’t.

“HUAH?” You’d recognize Atsumu’s over exaggerated gasp anywhere. You pale in his embrace, but once you come to, you try to scramble away. Kita on the other hand, is calm and collected, his face serious. “Miya y/n! What the hell are ya doin botherin’ our new captain?!”

Osamu is behind Atsumu, not as enraged, but putting two and two together. You desperately try to calm him down, but your usual baby sister charms aren’t working. “Atsumu.” Your brother immediately reels back at his captain’s voice. “Don’t you have to meet your teacher and serve detention for all of your tardies?”

He chokes back on his spit and nods his head grumbling as he walks away from the two of you. You’re relieved he got him off your back. It wasn’t that you were afraid of Atsumu, but you lived with him, he’s going to be on your ass about what’s going on with you and Shin. Osamu may be calmer, but he’ll still be a little shit about it too, just more discreet. 

The boys shiver at Kita’s demeanor and turn back to minding their own business. Aran pats Kita’s shoulder before heading off with Osamu and Kita turns back to you. “Can I walk you home?”

You nod. “Please.”

Being with him was easy. The two of you never argued, if you did, it never got out of hand. He never raised his voice at you. Kita would much rather get scolded at by his coach than ever raise his voice at you. He just wasn’t the type of person to, and you don’t have it in you to do that. Both of you are very level-headed people, never get overly emotional in serious matters.

When you started your second year, and Kita his third, he walked with you to school everyday and back. With your brothers and Aran-kun as well. The boys always made sure to keep their presence known when they would groan every time Shin reached for your hand. “Gahhhh, cut it out, will ya? We’re right here!”

Without looking away from you Kita replies. “Then go away.” It was always ok because Aran would pull their attention away, and along your walk to school, Suna would show up and keep Osamu talking. 

“Are you excited to be captain this year, Shin?” Your arms swung back and forth with his, still together.

“There’s a lot of work to be done, but I feel ready for it.” Even though Shin was emotional when he got his jersey, he was more than capable of being captain. He had a great control over the team, and whipping them into shape, avoiding the slack Suna would give, or the over-confidence Atsumu had. It all came natural to him. 

.

.

You were in your biology class with your friend, on a break because your teacher left early, but the class is a bit stressed since exams are next week. “He seems so detached, is he like that with you?” 

Immediately, you shake your head. “No, he’s not even really like that with anyone. He’s just to the point you know? He’s not very emotional like my dumb brother.” (Atsumu sneezes during his math test, the teacher scolds him and Suna stifles a laugh). “But that doesn’t mean he doesn’t understand his feelings. I think he understands them better than anyone I know.”

Alia pushes your shoulder. “Ok you gotta stop that, you look...”

“Look like what.” You ask with a shit-eating grin just like your brothers’. 

She relents, but comes out with it. “Like you’re in love.”

The bell rings and you two head off to lunch together. While Alia talked about how she wondered if Suna was single, you stayed thinking about what she said earlier. You’ve been with Shin for a while now, but you never thought to put a name to your feelings. It was eye-opening to say the least. 

Alia takes a seat in-between Suna and Osamu while you sit in-between Kita and Aran. “You alright?” Kita asks, already noticing the shift in your demeanor.

“Yea.” You nod to assure him, but he’s still weary.

He pushes a plate of food to you (a regular occurrence) since he knows you don’t really have time to eat after school since you have track. “If you don’t eat well you might pass out on the field. Drink lots of water too.” 

You dig in to the plate, full of your favorites as per usual. Your brother (the dumber one) is currently shoving as many onigiri’s in his mouth as he can while Suna records. You swear you’re going to kill him one day. As your making your way to him he starts choking, predicted. You smack your hand on his back before he coughs up all the onigiris on the table, a lot of rice still remaining in his mouth. “Gross ‘Tsumu.” You gag.

Aran is a disappointed mom, lecturing him to quit his stupidity or die with it, Osamu is just chuckling with Suna. “Eat.” Shin calls out to you and you playfully roll your eyes before digging in. 

“Thank you, I love you.” You take a bite out of your food, but just as quickly, you freeze in place, not daring to look at your boyfriend. It wasn’t said loud enough so anyone else heard, Aran was with Atsumu on the other side so it’s not like he heard. 

When you take a peak, he has a blush on his face and leans down so his mouth is at your ear. The gesture makes you shiver. “I can assure you, y/n, I love you much more.”

Today was too good to be true. 

.

.

Inarizaki recently suffered a defeat to Karasuno High School. Both teams packed a punch, but eventually, a winner was declared and the boys had to make their way home. You wanted to cry because that was the last time you would see all the boys play together as the third-years go to graduate. However, you didn’t want to overwhelm them with your feelings, or make them feel worse. 

You waited for the team in the front waiting area when a masked figure came into your view. He was easily recognizable, Sakusa Kiyoomi, one of the top 3 high school spikers in the country. His presence was intimidating, but it was nothing you couldn’t handle. 

He walked towards you, but you were unsure why until he pointed at the backpack you had on. “May I borrow your lint roller?” The end was sticking out of the bag, so you were surprised he even knew it was one. Shin had you pack it because he liked to tidy up the uniforms. 

“Of course.” You hand it to him and he quickly uses it before removing the now dirty sheet and throwing it away. 

He comes back, giving you the roller. “Thank you for that...”

“Y/n. Miya Y/n.” You tell him.

“Are you related to the Miya Twins?” He asks.

It’s a perfectly normal question, but it does get under your skin. “We’re actually triplets, but they like to forget I exist.” You smile.

Sakusa takes out some hand sanitizer and offers you some which you take. You don’t want to be rude to him. “I’m Sakusa Kiyoomi. It was nice to meet you, see you guys next year.” He walks off and you wave him goodbye. 

Almost immediately after he goes on his way, Kita comes up behind you. You wrap your arms around him, despite how sweaty he might be. “I’m so proud of you Shin. You all did so well.” He smiles against your shoulder and kisses your cheek. When you let go you turn to your idiot brothers and punch them on their shoulders. “Why do you look so gloomy? We’re having hot pot!” Osamu’s face changes on the spot, but Atsumu is still upset. “Hey, that was an amazing game. It just goes to show you that you don’t know everything yet. There’s still a lot more to learn.” You give your brother a hug which he reciprocates. “I’m so proud of ya big brother.”

Atsumu clenches his heart and you know he’s back to his usual spirits. “Yer so wise for being so young y/n.” Aran and Kita hold you back from beating up your ever so cocky brother. 

.

.

When you get back home, you ask Shin what he’s gonna do after he graduates, your head on his lap as you two sit on the couch. “Probably take a year learning agriculture at our local university. I want to do farming of sorts. Not sure what specifically though, yet.” 

“Ah that’s awesome Shin! It’s also a lot like ya.” He hums as to question what you mean. “I mean farming is very meticulous work. Something yer awesome at, so I know you’ll be great at it. Yer great at anything you do.”

He leans down to place a soft kiss on your lips. “You are far too good for me.”

“Maybe a little.” You giggle. A Miya, you had to be.

When you started your third year, you and Kita were still together, he was still close to home so it felt like nothing had really changed since you hung out after school as much as you could. Sometimes he’d be busy, but you understood. He still came to all the boys’ volleyball games which always lifted their spirits knowing their ex-captain was there for them.

Osamu is usually on edge when Kita watches them play ever since he assumed the role of Captain, succeeding Kita. He hopes he thinks he’s doing a good job. Aran also joins the two of you a lot of the times to watch their matches, but he’s not as often as you two. Aran is busy being a college athlete.

You were working hard to find out what you wanted to do with your life, but you didn’t know what you were really passionate about. The very thought of what you were doing after school haunted you. However, you had to put those thoughts aside as your brothers came in slamming the door shut. 

“Uhhhh, welcome home... I guess?” Atsumu storms to the kitchen yanking the fridge open and taking all of Osamu’s favorite food. “’Tsumu c’mon, don’t be ridiculous you can’t eat all that food.” You and your brothers has your fair share of arguments that usually always got heated, so you were thankful for Kita. 

He was the eye of your otherwise messy storm. “Well, ‘Samu’s not gonn need ‘em! He’ll be makin’ food for sport!”

You slap your hand and your face and turn your brother. “You told him already?”

With a loaf of bread in his mouth exclaims in surprise, “YOU KNEW?” You give him a ‘duh’ look. 

Osamu looks equally upset and distraught at his brother’s reaction. “It was now or when we were 40 y/n.” He makes a good point. “Volleyball isn’t a path for everyone ‘Tsumu.”

“It is for Suna! And Aran-kun!” He yells.

“Well then why didn’tcha yell at Kita-san when he didn’t pursue volleyball! Why do you only ridicule me for not taking your path!” Osamu yells back, frustrated because he feels as if ‘Tsumu doesn’t believe in his dream or ability to make that happen. That’s so much worse than him being upset.  

If anyone could make it in such a competitive market such as food, it was Osamu, and if anyone could make it in a dog-eats-dog sport, it was Atsumu. You knew that better than anyone. “Yer my brother! I’m trying to look out for you and make sure you have a good life!”

Osamu grips your brother’s shirt so that their faces are close and he can yell more clearly. “You can’t tell me what is going to fulfill me in life or not, when we’re older and unable to shit by ourselves, when we’re on the verge of death, then, and only then, can you say you had a better and happier life than me.”

Atsumu bites back, just as heated. “FINE! Then I’ll tell ya I told you so!”

“Fine by me.”

“Watch yer-”

“SHUT UP! SHUT UP! SHUT UP! SHUT UP! SHUT. THE. FUCK. UP!!” Your fists are balled at your sides, face red as you stare your brothers down. They swear they can see fumes coming out from the top of your head. “’Samu’s dream is just as good as your’s to go pro! No one ever gave you shit when you decided ya wanted to go pro, so why are ya shitting all over ‘Samu’s dream to cook?” The brothers look at you stunned, never seeing you so upset. Sure you’ve been pissed at them, but right now, you’re so disappointed it seems. “Yer both basically doing the same thing! Yer both making people happy! I’m so proud of both of you, so why can’t- why can’t you be happy for him. I don’t- I don’t understand...” Tears make their way down your face, so overtake with emotion at how disrespectful the two were being to one another.

It’s at this moment that a pair of arms wrap around you from behind. You know it’s Shin so you just turn to him and sink into his embrace to let it all out. He holds you close to him, one hand on your head, the other on the small of your back.

“I want you two to fix that mess, I do not care if it was just Atsumu who did it.” He says referring to the mess of food all over the kitchen table. The two sink into themselves as they get lectured by their old captain. You doing it was enough, but this is a double knockout. “After you both get over yourselves you’re going to apologize to your sister,” Shin leads you up to your room and you both lay there while he holds you close to him. “I was going to wait outside, but I wanted to make sure you were ok.”

“I’m glad you’re here Shin.” You sniffle into his neck.

“I’ll always be here.”

.

The boys apologize to you once you’ve all calmed down and they apologize to each other, too. It’s just you and Kita sitting at the front of your bed on the floor. “I think I know what I want to do.” He hums, urging you to go on. “I want to take care of kids when they’re having the hardest time. I want to be a high school teacher, but a cool one. I don’t want to give out homework, or flood them with stress, I want them to discover who they are as much as they can before they go out into the world.” Kita doesn’t say anything, but a big smile makes its way across his face.

“That is a beautiful career for you. I’m happy for you.”

“Us too, imouto.” The boys say outside of your door causing the two of you to chuckle at their nosiness. 

When you were in your second year of college, Kita started working for many different farms. Some grew strawberries, others peaches, but what he really wanted, was to have one of his own. He just wasn’t sure what exactly he wanted to focus on. 

You two spent about two days out of the week together, but you made sure to enjoy the time you had. 

It was also around this time that you two had been thinking of moving in together, but recently, you’ve both been trying to avoid each other. 

About two months ago, you had a fight, for the very first time. 

“Hey, Shin, can you throw me a towel please.” You accidentally spilled some wine on the counter and Kita has just come home from a long day of work. 

He sighs as he hands you the rag. “Y/n, that’s about the 3rd time that you’ve created some sort of mess. I just don’t understand what’s so hard for you to just be a bit more aware of your surroundings.” 

You’re taken aback by his tone, you thought maybe he had a bad day at work. “I know I’m a bit uncoordinated-”

“I think that is an understatement.” There’s no bite to his words, but you don’t see it that way.

“What do you mean by that.” Your hands grip the counter while he grabs a glass of water.

“You tend to be carefree, so much that you forget about the tiny things that may seem unnecessary to you.” There’s nothing there that’s of malice, no emotion behind his words.

In his mind, he’s just telling the truth. “Well, I’m sorry we can’t all be perfect like you, Shin. You do the same damn thing every day.”

“My life has routine, I’m stable and I enjoy doing what I do.” He puts the glass down to finally turn to face you. “I understand your life is a bit of a mess, but-”

“Am I supposed to have it all figured out?”

“I feel as though you should be a little farther along in discovering yourself than you are. You’re still acting childish, you’re 20-years old y/n.”

At this point, you’re just over this whole thing, not bothering to argue with him. “You know what I feel Shinsuke? I feel like ya need ta leave.”

You think that’s where you both went wrong. The two of you didn’t seem to care to solve the root of the problem. You both gave up. And that lead to more meaningless arguments.

The two of you argued over TV shows, dinner, your careers, both of you hurting each other where you know it stings. It just comes out.

Until one day, you both just stopped talking.

When you got back home from your final exams, Kita was sitting on your couch watching a show the two of you loved. As much as you two were growing distant, Kita was still there. He always was. 

You put your bag down and sat on the chair across from him. You used to climb in his lap and snuggle up next to him, but that must’ve been ages ago.

He’s adapted to your new routine, so much so that he didn’t even seem to notice your relationship falling apart. But he did. He knew you guys were hanging on a string, but he just couldn’t let you go. “Shin,” you call out to him, your eyes glued to the TV. “Do you still love me?”

There is no hesitation in his answer. “With everything I have.” This answer breaks the resolve you had and your shoulders shake from you trying to withhold your tears.  

Maybe this would have been easier if you two had fallen out of love with one another, but you never did, neither of you. How is it you want to let him go, but still hold him close at the same time. “I-I love you, too. So much. That’s why this is so hard.” He stares at you, wondering what you mean. “I’m tired Shin. Aren’t you tired?”

“I had a nap when I got home, but if you want I can take you to your room and you can take one.” He knows his time with you is running out. He just wants to hold you one more time.

“No-” It’s too late because he already scooped you up and is taking you to bed. You don’t argue with him, selfishly, you want this too.

He tucks you in and engulfs you in his arms. “Rest well.”

.

.

Kita wakes up first and admires the way you look while you sleep. You always looked so beautiful, but he loves your face when it’s relaxed, not torn, or wrinkled from the strain of your relationship. 

As much as he notices these changes in you, you’ve noticed those small changes in him, too. His wrinkles are becoming more prominent and he’s only 21. He spends more time at work, more willing to work overtime or not see you on the days he usually does. You know he’s not consciously doing it, in the back of your minds, you both need space from each other. No matter how much you love one another.

When you open your eyes, Kita brushes your hair away from your face and offers you a smile. “I’m tired too.”

As much as you tried, you couldn’t hold back the sobs that left your body. Instinctively, he goes to hold you which only seems to make it worse, but you cling on to him for dear life. Like he’s going to leave forever if you let go. “This-this feels wrong because, I-I still love you s-s-so much. So much.”

“Y/n,” You look up at him, lip quivering and all. “I don’t believe I have ever loved anything as much as I love you. And because of that, I know that we have to do this.”

“Yer so responsible Shin.”

“You were the one who brought the conversation up, I know how hard this must’ve been on you.” He says sincerely. 

You nod at him. “I’m sorry Shin, for letting us get to here-” you start to sob again. “I’m so sorry.”

You’re so lost in your own grief you don’t notice the small tears the escaped from the grey-haired man. “Me, too.”

“I love you.”

“Me, too.”

.

.

When Osamu got home that day, he honestly thought you were dead. You weren’t moving, weren’t responding to his voice, or his food. He moved your body while he was on the phone with Atsumu.

“She’s not movin’ at all?” Atsumu asks as he looks at your resting body through the camera. 

Osamu shakes his head, forgetting his brother can’t see him. “I don’t know, maybe I should-”

You finally pick up your head and glare at your brothers. At first, they’re both a little frightened from the way you look, but Atsumu’s quick to poke at you. “Hey troll, what’s wrong with ya?”

The tears start to make their way back and Osamu drops the phone in order to pull you into a hug. You’re practically wailing and Osamu does his best to calm you down. “Hey, shhhh shhh, what’s going on, what’s wrong y/n?”

There’s nothing but incoherent sentences coming from your mouth leaving Osamu confused. “What? How did that happen?”

“You got that!?” Osamu questioned his brother. “What’d she say?”

“Her and Kita-san broke up.” 

It took them a while to get you to stop crying and hiccuping so you could speak to them, but all you wanted to do was close your eyes and hope this was all a bad dream.

“Here ya go, kiddo.” Osamu hands you a cup of hot chocolate, and some crackers to eat, along with an onigiri. You push away the food and just take the hot chocolate. “C’mon kiddo, you have to eat ok?” He pushes it back towards you and you reluctantly take it.

He grabs your hand telling you it’s going to be ok, but it doesn’t feel like it will. It feels like your world just ended because he was your world. Everything began and ended with him. Now that he’s gone, you’re not sure who you are apart from him. A stranger in your own body. 

Today, you succumb to your misery, but what will you do tomorrow?

4 years later...

After you finished college, you got a job working at your old high school Inarizaki. You taught a full-year elective course which you started two years ago. It was called “Who are you today?” 

It started off small, only one class with about ten people, but they made all the difference from one or two. The year after that, you had 80 students who wanted to take your class, you taught four classes a day, and it was light of your life.

The bell rings and the last class of the day is getting up to leave. “Don’t forget to drop off your favorite inspirational quotes at my desk.”

“Yes, Miya-sensei.” The class says in unison. It’s a Friday, so they’re all eager to leave and enjoy the weekend, but they are always respectful and never rush out of your class. “Enjoy your weekend, Miya-Sensei.” A girl tells you before leaving last and joining her friend.

You look through all of the kids’ cards and smile at the sweet ones and laugh at the funny ones. Then this one card stuck out to you:

“You have to find yourself, and once you do, take that person and ask yourself, ‘what can I do to be better for myself.’” -Miya-Sensei

This was something you said at the beginning of the year and you were so proud that one of your students remembered you saying it. These were the times that teaching was an absolute joy in your life. You feel as if your kids are actually learning more about how to be in-tune with themselves, rather than learn how to recite a textbook. 

This is all you’ve ever wanted.

During your last year of college, you went through a major identity crisis, bordering existential. You questioned the reason for your being and wondered who you were. You told yourself you weren’t funny, weren’t finding cures or making discoveries, so what the hell are you doing?

That’s when you did some soul searching. You took up a meditating class which really honed in all these thoughts and visited your college therapist. You got over your fears of not always knowing what the future had in-store for you. It’s matured you over the years, but never losing the fun-childish side.

The quote your student gave you was one you told yourself on the daily. You were always looking for ways to improve yourself, whether it be physically, mentally or emotionally. You’ve gained the ability to speak out during staff meetings and get your ideas out there to really advocate for your students and their well-being. Not only for yours, but all students. It’s been a work in progress, but you’re slowly getting to the board with the letters you send them about the benefits of not having extensive homework or even having a mental health day for them. 

For yourself, you’re just trying to tone your body and feel good for you and only you. Atsumu and his teammates also tag along and encourage you to do what makes you happy.

When you walk out of your classroom, the english teacher walks out too. “Oh, hi Miya-san.” He waves to you.

“Hello Saito-san. Nice to see you.” You really didn’t like talking to him because he always tried to low key (high key) ask you to take him to one of your brother’s volleyball games.

“Are you doing anything fun this weekend?” There it is.

You shake your head. “Just planning on staying home and relaxing.”

“Oh, that’s good.” 

When the two of you get outside, the familiar car pulls up in front of you. “This is my ride, have a nice weekend Saito-san.” You hop into the car and let out a sigh. “Thank you for taking me home, Suga-senpai.”

“It’s really no big deal y/n. My kids are at the hotel right now with their chaperones, they don’t need me back for another hour.” He replies cooly. 

You and Suga met at a teacher’s convention, even though you weren’t in the same sections, it was hard to avoid bumping into each other. Now you’ve become really good friends and even joke around how you could’ve met the Spring Tournament of your second-year. He always said you were “soul-sisters” you agree just to entertain him. 

“Maybe you should tell him you have a boyfriend or something, so that he leaves you alone.” Suga helps out.

You place a hand on your face and sigh. “If it was me he was after this would’ve been over, but I think he’s in love with my brother.”

“Which one?”

That makes you laugh. “The less-hotter-one as you say.”

His eyes get small and makes a duck face. “Don’t tell Daichi I said that.”

“I haven’t to this day.” Suga drops you off at your apartment and you wave goodbye as he drives off.

When you get in to your house you remove your shoes and neatly put them on the rack while also hanging your bag on it. The smell of food overtakes you before you could get into the house and you follow it to the kitchen. 

Your brother is at the stove while the blonde one is helping him cut up some onions. “What are you makin’ ‘Samu?”

“I don’t even know yet, I’m experimenting.” He keeps moving around the kitchen graciously, not missing a beat.

“Hey, I’m helpin’ him.” Atsumu calls as he continues to chop an onion and tears fall down his face.

You walk over to him and place an arm around him. “Really? I thought you were in yer feels or somethin’.” The two of you bicker back and forth, and before you know it, ‘Samu has finished up his new food.

“Anybody hungry?”

.

.

When you all finished, you and Atsumu washed the plates and cleaned up the kitchen as a thanks to your brother for feeding you. “How’s training going?”

“Good, the Olympics are coming up soon. Bo, Omi, and Shoyo are all going to be on the team.” He takes the garbage bag and throws it down the trash chute.

You raise an eyebrow at him questioningly. “What about you?” 

On cue, his mouth comes up to a smirk and stares you down. “What do you think, baby Miya?” All the guys on the Jackals gave you that nickname because for the longest time, they thought you were their younger sister. What you like to call yourself is the forgotten twin. Once they all found out of course, that you were all triplets, the team bullied your brother for looking so much older than you.

That made you smile and punch your brother on his side.

“Hey, y/n. Can you help me out at the store tomorrow?” Osamu calls from the living room.

“Sure, sounds good.”

The three of you then proceed to watch a movie together while eating some onigiris Osamu brought home from work. 

Ever since Osamu found you in your bed, torn apart, neither him nor Atsumu ever asked you what happened. You told them it was mutual, but that was the only information they were given. 

After they made sure you were ok, they checked on their former captain, who was actually under Aran’s care. He wasn’t as emotional as you were, but they would have rather him be upset or sad than what he actually was. Kita gave up on his whole lifestyle. He wouldn’t clean the dishes, wouldn’t put things back where they belonged. All he did, was go to work, come home, eat, and sleep. All of his usual rituals were cast aside and that scared them the most.

Seeing the twins hurt the first few times they came over. The boys noticed Kita would try his very best to avoid looking at their faces, but he always spoke to them. He was never rude, it wasn’t in his nature. The twins eased their way back into their old captain’s life. All they knew was the two of you decided you needed to be yourselves without each other. 

It was an odd transition for everyone. They either all hung out with you or with Kita, as much as you wanted to be ok to hang out with him like normal, you couldn’t see him. Not yet, not while you were still healing back then. 

When you got your teaching job, the boys decided to move into an apartment together with you. It was as if you were still home, except your mom wasn’t there to stop you guys from killing one another. It all worked out though because usually, when you got into arguments, there was always one of you that would put a stop to it.

Suna always tends to come over in the middle of these events, so he obviously needs to record this to save to his Miya siblings folder. He never stopped it, but always tried to get a rise out of Atsumu specifically. You think Suna has a thing for your brother, but you can’t be too sure. 

Once the movie finishes, you all go to your rooms to rest for the day. 

However, it’s not too long until Osamu is waking you up at an ungodly hour on a Saturday. “’Samuuuuu. It’s too earlyyyy.”

“Y/n, it’s 8 o’clock.” You grumble at him to get out so you can get dressed. You put on your Onigiri Miya hat and shirt with some leggings and sneakers so you’re comfy for the day. “Let’s go.” ‘Samu calls from the front door and you rush outside to get in the car with him.

When you get to the shop ‘Samu goes to the back to look for the rice that was delivered at 6am. 

“You’ve gotta be fucking kidding me.” He sighs.

“What happened?” Once you get to the back, you see it empty. No rice. No rice means no onigiris. No onigiris means no opening the store. No opening the store means a very upset Miya, and it’s not you.  “Awe shit.”

He nods while angrily going on his phone. “He left me a fucking voicemail at 5 in the morning. Are you shitting me?” He presses play and it’s the delivery man saying he was on an impromptu vacation and couldn’t deliver the rice in time. “Asshole.” Your brother was pacing, worried about the state of the shop. “Ok, I’ll pick up the rice, you keep people from comin’ in and calm ‘em down if they get upset.” 

Now this was a terrible idea. “Um, ‘Samu, most of your regulars don’t know I exist or that we’re even related. You’re the face of the business. You do what you have to do here and I’ll pick up the rice.”

“Y/n I don’t think-”

“I can do it ‘Samu. Plus, I’m a faster driver than ya.” You wink at your brother before snatching the keys to the truck from his hand. “Text me the address ok?”

He nods and you hop into the truck. It has been a while since you’ve driven one, considering people always offer you rides. It’s just like riding a bike, you never really forget, and once you’re on the highway, you’re off.

Always staying in the right lane since big trucks aren’t allowed in the far left. You make pretty good time. You get to the farm where ‘Samu gets his rice and back into the entrance to make it easier to load the truck. 

It’s a beautifully kept place. All the crops were well-taken care of and the land was breathtaking. You make a mental note to come the country side more often or even schedule a trip here for your students. 

You spot the rice bags sitting nicely on the porch of the house next to the farm. When you start to grab one to load them in, a man comes out of nowhere to help. “Let me help you with that, Miss.” The two of you put the sacks you were holding in the truck.

“Thank you...” When you look at the man who helped you, you’re surprised to see who it is. He also looks taken aback from seeing you as it had been well over 4 years since he’s last seen your face. You’ve matured, you look older, but it suits you. He notes that you seem skinnier and is a bit worried but doesn’t impose. Meanwhile, he looks bigger, muscular, much more than he was. You never realized how good of a workout farming could be. You smile at him, sweat covering both of your foreheads. “Hi Shin.”

It was an accident really, you didn’t mean to call him by that nickname, but it seems like he doesn’t mind at all. His initial face of shock turns into one of pure delight. “Hello, y/n.” Despite all the time you’ve spent apart, the feelings are still there. You still make his heart beat speed up, and he still causes your face to redden with his stupidly handsome face, but you just blame it on the heat. 

“Ah, how have you been?” The two of you talk as you load  the truck.

“Very well, and yourself? Are you working as a teacher now?” Kita knew the answer to this already, but he really wanted to hear what you had to say.

The mention of your job causes a smile to break on your face. “Yea! I’m back at Inarizaki. I have my own class, it’s about self-discovery and taking care of yourself.”

“I remember.” Ah, that one really got you. For a moment, you forgot you were talking to your ex-boyfriend, and more of just your old friend.

You cough to recover from the little freeze you did. “So, who are you working for now?”

“I’m not.” He tells you and you turn your head to the side. “This is my farm. I own it.”

If it was possible, your jaw drops to the floor and you lean against the truck for support. “This whole thing?” Kita nods at your question. “Shin I’m so fuckin’ proud of you! I’m so happy for you!” You jump on him and hug him, he hugs you back, enjoying the feeling of having you close to him. You pull back and look at him sheepishly. “Ah, sorry about that.”

He shakes his head at you. “Don’t be, it made me happy.” You blush yet again, stupid heat. He hesitates reaching for your hand, but does so anyway, holding it in his. “Would you like to come inside? To talk, or drink some iced tea?”

“I would love to- ah wait. Ughhh. I’m sorry I can’t. ‘Samu needs this rice like ASAP.” He nods, disappointed but he’s sure not to let it show, at least that’s what he thinks. “Can you do tomorrow? Same time?” 

“That’s perfect.” You both exchange your new numbers before you hop into the truck and turn it on. He waves back at you as you put it in drive. “Y/n.” You turn to him before pulling out of the driveway. “I missed you.”

Your heart contorts and you’re a mess of feelings. “Me, too.” 

.

.

When you get back to the shop you, Osamu and his employees help unload the truck with rice and immediately get to work. Even Atsumu is here on his day off from volleyball after hearing the crisis you guys were in. 

It was a crazy day in the store indeed. Osamu was in the front talking to all the customers and keep them cool, but simultaneously worrying about how you guys were doing in the back. This was super stressful on you, so you could only imagine how your brother was feeling. 

“Order up!” They kept coming up and by the end of the day, you swear if you see one more onigiri you’re going to punch someone. 

The three of you take off your caps to wipe the sweat off your tears. “Guys, you can go home early, thank you for all your help.” Osamu says to his staff and they thank him for his kindness.

“Alright y/n, let’s go.” Atsumu begins to get up, but he puts his hand on his twin’s shoulder before pushing him back down. 

You chuckle at the interaction. “Sit down, piss-head.” 

“’Samu! You used to have grey hair, you looked like an old man!” Atsumu retorts to his brother. 

They bicker for a bit before he turns his attention back to you. “How was it?”

“What?” You ask confused, but Osamu just gives you an unamused look. “OH!” You say finally understanding what he meant. “It was good. He helped me put the rice in the truck and we talked for a bit.”

“Wait what happened?” Atsumu chimes in only to be ignored.

“What did you talk about?”

“Who talked to who?” Atsumu comes in again

“Just our lives now, no biggie.”

Osamu gives you another another look. “Who’s life?” Atsumu comes back.

“It’s been years and that’s all you did?” He doesn’t buy it. Not for one second. 

“What’s all you did?”

You roll your eyes. “We’re meeting again tomorrow, but it’s nothing major-”

“WHO AND WHAT ARE YOU TALKIN’ ABOUT??!!” Atsumu all but yells to your faces.

You and Osamu purse your lips. “Now, now ‘Tsumu. You do know it’s not nice to yell and snoop in on other people���s conversations?” You scold the eldest twin who just keeps his mouth open in shuck.

Osamu chuckles at him as Atsumu punches his shoulder. “You guys suck! I’m not talkin’ to either of ya anymore!” He huffs and turns away from you like a kid.

“I talked to Kita.” Atsumu immediately turns back with an angelic look on his face.

“Go on.”

.

.

The next day you go to Kita’s place and you’re a ball full of nerves, but you soon realize how unwarranted that is. The two of you get back into step with each other easily, talking about what you’re doing now and how you both are incredibly happy with the lives you are leading now. 

Shin shows you around his farm and even gives you a straw hat to protect yourself from the sun. What he doesn’t tell you is that it’s his straw hat. Unfortunately, you aren’t able to go over all the acres of land, but you two watch the sunset on a raised pile of dirt. “Wow, I bet nothing can beat this. It’s beautiful.”

He smiles, beyond happy at how appreciative you are of everything he’s done, and how proud you are of him. It makes him feel like everything he has accomplished, matters. “You’re beautiful too, y/n.”

There’s a slight tint of red that makes its way onto his face and you smile. You two talk more about random things, jokes here and there, just honest catching up. It’s almost midnight when you look at the clock and you have messages from your brothers asking if they should go get you. 

“Ah, I should go. It’s getting late.”

Kita nods. “I’ll walk you out.” You get to the door and he puts his coat on you because of how chilly it might be outside. Even though your car is right in front, you don’t say anything. When you turn to bid him goodbye, he holds your face in his hands. “Sorry,” he tells you but doesn’t let go. “May I?”

At first you’re not sure what he means, but you nod anyway. He leans down and gently caresses his lips with yours. There’s nothing too crazy about it, but just because it’s him, it causes your knees to go weak and you place your hands on his shoulder.

When you part, the both of you have very evident blushes on your faces, with smiles so wide they might rip your faces. “I want to see you again.” He says. “Do you want to come back some time?”

“Yea. I really do.”

A couple months passed and you and Shin have been seeing each other pretty regularly. You haven’t put a name or title to it or anything, but neither of you feels the need to do so. The two of you simply like to be in each other’s presence. 

You stopped by Onigiri Miya to pick up snacks for your kids, Osamu generously offered to feed your kids and the school gave him a cut from the field trip money. You have three volleyball students in your class, and they stared starry-eyed at your brother while they waited in the bus.

Then, you made it to your next stop to Kita’s farm. Your whole class was blown away by how vast the land was and how pretty everything was. They split off in groups, each of them given a whistle so that if they got lost, we could find them.

Your volleyball students also recognized Kita and bowed to him. “Thank you for having us Kita-senpai!” He gave the kids a pep talk and then they were off. 

“How was your day?” You ask him.

He looks out to the land and watches the kids run around and follow the scavenger hunt he made for them. “Good. Just waiting for you.” 

His answer takes you a little off guard, you feel as if he’s directing it at you more so than your whole class. “Sorry to have kept you waiting.”

The sun starts going down and your kids are settled on the dirt hill that you and Shin sat on some moons ago. They’re all eating their onigiri and drinking their juice as they just watch. No one takes out their phone or takes any pictures. The are just simply enjoying one of the simple yet beautiful things in life we often overlook.

You and Shin are sitting next to each other and he reaches for your hand, both of you not tearing your eyes away from the falling sun. He squeezes it three times. I. Love. You. You squeeze it four times back. I. Love. You. Too.

You’re not kids anymore, but that’s exactly why you both now that this time...

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You’re not saying goodbye.

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A/N: This is long as shit. Sorry, I just got so into this story and fell in love with it, but I also didn’t want to make it multiple parts. Thank you for enjoying my writing! See you next time!

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[minchanslut]

At Your Service

Pairing: F!Reader x Escort!MinChan  Word count: 2.4K

You sighed deeply, feeling the warm water cascade down your shoulders, taking some of the tension you had built up on your muscles along with it, but that alone wasn’t enough. The immense stress that your job put on you along with so many nights of sleeping alone had started to get to you. You wouldn’t say that you were one to feel incomplete while not in the company of a significant other, but as your needs grew, you found it harder to satiate them yourself, often leaving yourself feeling unsatisfied. You craved the touch of someone else. 

Of course, you attempted to follow the trend of meeting people on dating apps and engaging in one night stands, but you were quick to realise that it simply wasn’t for you after having two separate experiences which left you deeply disappointed, and wondering whether men were even able to make women orgasm anymore. After telling your friend of your encounters and how you’ve given up hope on dating apps she suggested you hire an escort, if what you were looking for was just great sex. You dismissed her idea, saying that such a service would only be a waste of money and that you were bound to find someone who would be able to give you what you need, for free at that. But you had no such luck, not even after four months. It was almost as frustrating for your friend as it was for you, seeing as she had to put up with your constant whining and complaining. Even after months had passed she was still adamant about how you should at least try her suggestion, claiming that she heard of an extremely luxurious escort lounge through a coworker. It took some time, but eventually you gave in and decided to test the waters, though still quite skeptical, you had little hopes for what was to come. You had made an “appointment”, as they called it, about a week before, telling yourself you needed time to prepare, both physically and mentally. The website, which insured complete secrecy, offered a wide variety of escorts to choose from, which only made it harder for you to take your pick. After spending hours scrolling on your phone, reading the description provided of each escort and thoroughly analyzing their photos, you decided to go for a guy named Chris. His photo provided a glimpse of his toned muscles and charming smile, but not much else. You chose not to dwindle on your decision for too long, fearing that you would change your mind and end up back at square one. 

A week later you found yourself walking through the doors of a lavish club which seemed more like a 5-star hotel. There were both men and women dressed in expensive attire throughout the room. You timidly searched for the front desk, hoping whoever was there wouldn’t poke fun at your anxious state. Thankfully you were greeted with an understanding smile by a woman named Mia, who gave you a brief explanation of how everything worked. She would tell you which room your escort would be waiting in, and would announce to them that you were on your way and all you had to do was make it there in one piece. Seemed simple enough. Before you left she assured you that you had nothing to be worried about and that you were in good hands. 

“It’s not too late to turn back.” you told yourself, but if you did so you would lose both the experience and your deposit. Before you knew it you were already standing in front of Chris’ room, realizing then there really was no turning back. Chris was already standing at the door frame by the time you arrived. He greeted you with a smile, and allowed you to come inside, immediately offering you something to drink. You admitted to being too nervous to drink anything and he nodded in understanding. 

“Is there anything I can do to help ease your nerves? You know, before we start?”

You could only shrug, scratching your head awkwardly. 

“Okay how about, I eat your pussy? Would that calm you down a bit?”

You felt your cheeks heat up at his coarseness, but you went along with it nonetheless. That is why you were here after all. 

Chris approached you slowly, sitting down on the bed beside you, helping you out of both your bottoms before ridding himself of his shirt. You couldn’t help but stare at his toned arms and defined abs, and you would’ve stared at them for much longer if his touch hadn’t pulled you away from your thoughts. He instructed you to straddle him as he laid down. He chuckled when you gave him a confused look. 

“This way you can set your own pace, is that alright?” 

You decided to go along with it,as you figured that he would know what he’s doing. He guided you towards his face, your aching pussy spread out in front of him. 

“Whenever you’re ready.”

You took a deep breath and lowered yourself, providing Chris with direct access to your heat. He placed kitten licks on your clit, allowing you to get accustomed to the situation before wrapping his lips around the small bud and sucking harshly. You got the impression that Chris was enjoying himself just as much as you were, as he was moaning against your clit, the vibrations making your legs shake in pleasure. Chris’ hands found themselves holding onto your waist, helping you maintain balance as you grinded against his tongue, practically fucking his face. Your moans grew louder as your orgasm approached, your toes curled up as you pulled away, your pussy convulsing vigorously. You collapsed beside him as he sat up, wiping your juices from his chin with the back of his hand. 

“Do you need a minute or do you wanna go again?”

You asked yourself if he was insane, how could you go again after cumming that intensely. And yet no more than 5 minutes after your first orgasm you found yourself on all fours in front of Chris, who was thrusting into you at an incredible speed. He had his chest pressed against your back and you could feel his chiseled abs on your skin. He had one hand supporting his weight and the other rubbing your clit. Every so often he would plant chaste kisses on your back and shoulders, followed by praise that made you melt. 

“You feel so good, I won’t last much longer, shit.”

And he really didn’t, though neither did you. But mere moments later you were right back where you started, ready for another round. 

From then on you found yourself seeing Chris once a month, twice if you were lucky. 

You felt your muscles contort, an evident frown forming on your face as you refreshed the page once more only to receive the same notification. Due to your busy schedule the days you could make an appointment to see Chris were very limited, but luck had always been on your side and you were able to see him on the days you were free without any difficulties, until now that is. Your frustration grew as you continuously refreshed the website but were still met with the words “No slots available” 

You could easily be considered a regular there, but you hadn’t been with anyone other than Chris. You were unsure whether to just give up and visit the following month, maybe even making an appointment several weeks in advance this time, or to simply go for someone else. You really didn’t feel like going through the trouble of searching for someone else, seeing as it was already difficult for you to pick the first time. You were close to giving up on your search until you discovered a rather convenient quiz the website provided, which claimed to help you find the perfect sexual partner for you. After hesitantly clicking on the link you were redirected to a page with various questions regarding your kinks, desires and fantasies. It was a rather quick quiz that certainly didn’t beat around the bush. After calculating your results you were met with the name Minho in bold letters, along with a short description of him right beside his photo. You opted to trust their recommendation and booked a session with Minho for later that week. 

You walked into the building with less confidence than in the recent months, yet still not as apprehensive as the first time. You were nervous about what this new experience might be like, but you were excited nonetheless, wondering what Minho would do differently than Chris. Heading over to the front desk you greeted the receptionist whom you’ve grown fairly friendly with over the recent months. You made casual small talk as she typed away on her computer before stopping abruptly and looking up at you with a puzzled look on her face. 

“Do you not have a session with Chris tonight?”

Your cheeks flushed as you avoided her gaze, announcing that you were, in fact, there to see Minho. She cocked her eyebrow at you, smirking slightly and continued without another word. You shrugged it off, bidding her a farewell as you began heading towards the room you had been assigned, rolling your eyes when she shouted “Have fun!” from behind you. 

You knocked twice and Minho opened the door almost immediately, clearly expecting you. 

He was dressed simply, button up and black dress pants. His hair was pushed back, slightly damp from what you assumed was gel. He invited you inside and was quick to comment about how he had seen you before but never expected you to go for anyone other than Chris. 

“It’s quite an honor, actually, to have some fun with Chris’ plaything. Or is it the other way around, hm?” 

There was only silence, which caused Minho to sigh. He made his way behind you, helping you slip off your coat as he whispered in your ear. 

“No need to be so tense, I’m here to help you unwind after all.” 

He ran his hands up and down your arms as he nipped and sucked on the exposed area of your neck. His hands then traveled to your sides, fingers gently tugging at the hem of your shirt before pulling it over your head. His fingers softly traced the skin of your abdomen while he walked forward, leading you towards the bed. He planted wet kisses down your spine, getting lower with each kiss and pulling down your pants in the process. Once you were left in nothing but your undergarments he gently pushed you down onto the bed. You were at a 90 degree angle, your upper body laying on the bed as your knees pressed onto the floor supporting your lower half. Minho ran his hand up and down your back, humming at your reaction. 

“Eager, aren’t we? Maybe I should just give you what you want.” 

He wasted no time waiting for an answer as he placed a small kiss on your pussy through your panties. He moved onto your inner thighs, leaving chaste kisses on the supple skin. He could feel your legs beginning to shake with anticipation and he was quick to return his attention to your aching pussy, licking a long stripe up your clothed folds. Minho pushed your panties aside as he pressed his finger against your entrance. 

“Shit, you’re already getting wet, but you can do better than that, right?” 

He slid his finger in deeper, curling it upwards as his lips found their way around your clit, sucking on the bundle of nerves. He pumped his finger in and out of you at a slow pace, taking care to give enough attention to your clit. He withdrew his finger, only to collect your juices with his index and middle finger before sliding them back in, groaning in satisfaction. 

“You’re taking my fingers so well, can’t believe you’re so tight after being such a whore for Chris” 

You felt yourself clench at his words, burying your face in the sheets to muffle your whine. 

Your relationship with Chris was purely one of give and take. He provided you with a service which you paid for. You had no feelings for him and were sure he had none for you. Yet, choosing Minho over him this one time felt as if you were being unfaithful, but it also made your pussy ache with need for Minho’s touch. You wanted to feel him inside you, and you desperately wanted him to be the one to make you cum over and over again. He picked up his pace and had replaced his mouth with his thumb, which was now rubbing circles on your clit. 

Minho caught on to your attempt at trying to keep yourself quiet and clicked his tongue. With his free hand he grabbed hold of your hair, raising your head slightly so that your face was no longer against the mattress. His new position meant that it was now harder for him to reach your clit, but his index and middle finger never once stopped pumping in and out of you. 

“Now, now, if you don’t make any sound how am I supposed to know whether or not I’m doing a good job. Just for that I might not allow you to cum.” 

“No, please, I’m so close.”

Your words caused him to smirk, seemingly strengthening his ego. 

“Well, if that’s the case, I’d much rather have you cum on my cock, what do you say?” he said, removing his fingers from your heat. He helped you up, allowing you to sit on the bed properly. You eyed him closely as he removed his belt, his pants following soon after. He was left in only his white button up, of which half the buttons were now undone, and his boxers, the shape of his hard cock clearly visible. Minho unclasped your bra and helped you out of your panties, before slipping out of his boxers himself. He took the time to roll a condom onto his length, spreading your wetness onto the head of his dick. He pulled away for a moment, rubbing his thumb over your clit, followed but his palm slapping your pussy a few times. You felt your legs twitch as you ached to be filled up once more. He lined himself up at your entrance, but to your dismay stopping halfway to look over at the door which had previously been locked, swing open. 

You glanced over Minho’s shoulder to see Chris, who still hadn’t finished his sentence, come through the door calling your name, clearly not knowing you would be preoccupied with Minho.

“Mia told me that you’d be in this room, my session got canceled so I figured we could have some fun. Oh, am I interrupting?”