#With Sans it's like ''Well I did Something. And now he's Extremely off-model. Could I tell you what I did? Uhm'' Lol

[occult-roommates]

The poor man’s Area 51

On the 20th of September in 2019, the day which took the internet by storm when a bunch of nerds tried to raid Area 51. Oh, how much did Audrey wished she could be there. Sadly, she is an adult with a job now, so she couldn’t go. Furthermore, at this point, living alone with only a cat in the middle of the desert was starting to drive her insane. So, Dawud caved in, and he accepted to drive the 24 hours to visit her. 

Ok, caved in sound like it’s something he didn’t want to do. It’s more that he didn’t really want to drive all alone for so long. Especially since he knows how to drive, but he kinda hates it and has never owned his very own car. So he got Daniele to come with him...only to find out Daniele never even tried to pass his driver license, so he obviously doesn’t have a car. But you know who knows how to drive and has a car? Matteo. And you also know who Daniele has been trying to introduce Dawud to for a while?

Eventually, they made it to Strangerville, and you know, as compensation for the fact she couldn’t be at the Area 51 raid, they decided to bring Audrey UFO haunting in the outskirt of the small town. After all, if there’s one person who can confirm that indeed, weird things are flying above the Strangerville’s sky, it’s Dawud.

Daniele: Finally, you get to meet my best friend since we were babies. Her name is Audrey Newberry. She works in a chemistry lab, she loves aliens, and she’s also extremely smart. We used to be in the same program for gifted kids. Daniele: Ciao bella, I’m Daniele, should have been the heir to one of the most powerful spellcaster family in the world but they disowned me when I was around 12. Audrey: Are you flirting with me? Dawud told me you’re gay so I’m confused. Daniele: I love your honesty and straight to the point approach to conversation! Dawud: And me, Matteo, I’m your cousin’s roommates. Matteo: I kinda know you at this point, I spent the equivalent of an entire day with you in a car, and we took a break in a shady hotel room. Dawud: To be fair, it wasn’t that shady. You just grew up rich so you have squewed expectation of what a hotel should be and that place smelled kinda bad. Daniele: “Kinda bad”. It smelled straight up rancid. But anyway, next time I should try using a teleportation device.

Hearing this, Matteo just popped off at him. Doesn’t he know teleportation device are not only extremely rare, less than 10 models left in the entire world (though it’s highly likely the Rossinis have one lying around considering their status), but they’re also illegal for several reasons. First of all, just having anyone be able to teleport anywhere would be a mess, which you could argue only spellcasters can use one as it is magic powered...But more importantly, it also has a 15% chance of killing you, and that is when it’s used perfectly and as intended, so imagine when it’s like...not.

Matteo: And also, magic is cheating. It’s the 21st century, you don’t need it 99% of the time. Daniele: Boohoo, we get it, you’re a self-hating spellcaster. Nobody cares, get over yourself. And don’t act like you never threw a healing spell on yourself when you were sick. Audrey: ANYWAY! Gentlemen, the sun is setting, which mean potential UFOs might be seen at any time now. We got to start looking now.

And so, the four of them looked at the sky, laid on the desertic ground, stargazing for hours upon hours, waiting for something. Though, every single time they saw something flying above them, it was very obviously an airplane, though Dawud did get lucky and manage to spot a shooting star at some point. What did he wish for? Well, he could have wished for Daniele to love him back, but he decided to be a bit less selfish and have a wish that has less...weirdly brainwashing implication assuming he doesn’t love him. In short, he wished for Audrey to be united yet again.

...Actually, he could see how this would play off. She sees a flying saucer, the same government agent who sent him to San Myshuno does the same to her, and there it is. Her loneliness is fixed, she has some proof of alien life, they live near each other again and she can join his new friends group, which will allow her to meet Kino. All would be great!

Sadly, it was eventually 3 AM, and still nothing. At that point, everyone in the group was exhausted, and as much as Audrey did not want to give up, she’ll wait til sunrise if necessary. But the boys wanted to leave, so she had to take the L.

Audrey: I-It’s so unfair. It seems like everyone in this town has an alien story, except me. Even you Dawud, your alien story in fact changed your life for the better. Do even extraterrestrial life form think I’m a weirdo and want nothing to do with me just like humans do?  Dawud: Look, we’re staying with you the entire weekend, we still have three days to see UFOs.

That wasn’t enough for Audrey, now she was afraid. What if the aliens really do indeed not like her?!

Prev - Next

[sunfish-studies]

Acceptance

✄・・・ Feathery Ink [Karasuno Manager Series]

➜ Pairing: Karasuno x Manager! Reader

➜ Warning: none

➜ Notes: This is a separate series from Crisp Leaves. Similar to Crisp Leaves, manager in this story will be portrayed as a girl. She will be tall, around 170.5 cm (along 5’7’’). This is just my appreciation towards tall girls, you guys are amazing!

Previous:  ‹ Worth › | Next:  ‹ Greed ›

↷ SUMMARY ↶

Acceptance; that’s what you’re searching for this whole time.

“OOOH!”

You stopped on your steps, immediately stiffened from the sudden loud voice–resulting someone bumping into you quite hard. Stumbling on your feet, the person immediately had their grip onto your arm–preventing you to kiss the ground face first.

“Sorry, you okay?” looking over your shoulder rather stiffly, eyes resting on the figure towering over your figure (still, the top of your head reached his cheek bone, but he’s tall alright). That and he had a rather… unique black, spiky hair.

“T-thank you,” you replied meekly.

“Sorry about him, he means no harm,” the taller boy apologized for his friend over there who… cried and kneeled on the ground? Is this having something to do with your existence!? Your height!? Anything!?

“There’re three girls now! Now they’ve got a pretty one, a cute one, and a model-like one!”

“Is he okay, though…?” you questioned, feeling the taller boy letting go of your hand and proceeded to pat your head lightly–which kind of reminds you of Daichi’s gesture.

“Yes, sadly.” He sighed in resignation. “Oh, by the way, I’m Kuroo Tetsurou. Third year, Nekoma’s captain, and this is the first time I see you around, along with that girl over there.”

The boy, Kuroo, pointed to Yachi’s figure who’s escorted by Kiyoko–you thought she somehow forgot about you, but you instantly erased the thought from your mind when noticing her not so subtle glare directed towards Kuroo.

“Ah, I just became an official manager yesterday,” you said, finding talking to Kuroo comfortable–he did kind of intimidating for his height, still standing taller over you. Maybe he’s almost 190 cm. However, he exudes this comforting aura much like Daichi as a captain. “My name is Otohaku [Name] and the girl you mentioned before is Yachi Hitoka, she’s my classmate.”

“That explains a lot.” Kuroo hummed. “And I have to say, this is the first time I’ve seen a girl as tall as you. At least Yamamoto is right about the model-like part.”

Instantly, you found your face hot as if it was engulfed with fire–stealing a laugh from him and earning another hair ruffle for you.

“I’m happy you’re getting along with our manager and all,” Daichi soon interrupted by pushing his way in between you and Kuroo while removing the captain’s hand from your head. He smiled, but his smile was far than nice–which made you swallowed thickly even though it’s not directed towards you. “But, not too close, would you?”

.

.

“They screamed powerhouses already,” you muttered, watching teams practicing. “Especially the dark blue ones.”

“You have good eyes,” Coach Ukai suddenly said, making you turn to face him. “That’s Fukurodani Academy.”

“Fukurodani…?” your eyes slowly widened in disbelief, trying process the extremely familiar name in your brain. “The Fukurodani Academy? One of the top players in Japan is in that school.”

“Just like Ushiwaka, he’s one of the top five aces heading to nationals.” Takeda-sensei continued.

“Bokuto Kotaro.” Somehow you couldn’t control your inner monologue and just plain blurted it, earning a surprised look from the older men and your girls. Also magically, the person you just mentioned immediately snapped his head to look over his shoulder and looking straight at you. He immediately grinned and you tried to reply back with a nervous smile and a wave.

“[Name]-chan, how did you know that!?” Yachi asked.

“Well, my big brother hasn’t shut up about him, so,”

“Your brother is a player, Otohaku?” Coach Ukai asked. “That’s why your last name sounded familiar for a reason.”

“Does Otohaku Hisahito sounded familiar to you?”

“I’ve seen him in the volley magazine,” Coach Ukai nodded in understanding. “He’s a candidate for one of the top middle blockers for around three years. He’s sure has an impact in plays.”

“To think [Name]-chan has connection with a very famous person,” Shimizu chuckled.

.

.

“Hey, hey, hey!” There’re so many unexpected things happened in one day and you wondered on how your heart could keep up with it. One of them would be this–being approached by one of the top five aces in the country. “You’re from Karasuno, right? The assistant coach!”

“Bokuto-san, don’t decide their position on your own. You’re being rude.”

“But she looks like one!”

“I’m sorry for his poor introduction skills.” The black-haired boy with calm atmosphere apologized–he has a really contrast personality with Bokuto. “My name is Akaashi Keiji, and this is Bokuto Kotaro-san. The captain of Fukurodani team.”

“Uhm, nice to meet you. I’m Karasuno’s manager, first year. Otohaku [Name].” you bowed slightly to show your respect.

“What!? You’re a manager!? And a first year!?” maybe it’s instinct or his outgoing personality much like Hinata, he didn’t hesitate to close the gap and stood only a few centimeters away from you. “You’re so tall, though! It’s awesome! Man, first years this time are really something!”

“Bokuto-san, you’re being too close.” Akaashi interrupted and slightly tugged on the captain’s shirt, preventing him from taking another step forward and ended up scaring you away.

“But, Akaashi look at her!” Bokuto didn’t even hesitate to point at you enthusiastically. “She’s only a little bit shorter than me!”

Getting away from Akaashi’s grip, he threw an arm around you and plainly pressed his cheek on top of your head–where your height stopped. It all happened too fast to the point your brain short-circuited. “See!”

Akaashi’s brow twitched. “Bokuto-san, you’re making her uncomfortable.”

“Excuse me,” Sugawara interrupted with a smile, however, the smile was far from friendly–dark auras looming behind him menacingly, which made Bokuto stiffened. Why? Because it was directed to him. “Could we have our dearest manager back, please?”

“Of course, we apologize if we took her time,” Akaashi said and pulled on Bokuto’s shirt to drag him away, essentially saving him from Sugawara’s wrath.

.

.

“Wuaah, it’s finally nice to meet you!” Ubugawa’s manager, Miyanoshita Eri, didn’t think twice to tackle you into a hug–sending you two sprawling onto the laid futon. You yelped in surprise as your back hit the fluffy material. “Sorry, you’re just so pretty!”

“Yeah, you have to know that Bokuto hasn’t shut up about you for even a second!” one of Fukurodani’s manager, Shirofuku Yukie, commented.

“Our boys are also getting rather distracted!” Shinzen’s manager, Otaki Mako, nodded and smiled. “Well, I wouldn’t judge them because I’m distracted too! Who’s not when they see a pretty lady not far away?”

“I guess [Name]-chan has her own charms between the boys,” Shimizu giggled, enjoying seeing you flustered.

“Riiight?” Suzumeda Kaori grinned widely. “Everyone’s more fired up than before.”

“By the way, how do you have this kind of height?” Eri questioned, loosening her arms around your shoulders. “Do you do intense sports or workout?”

“It’s genes, actually,” you answered, rubbing the back of your neck nervously. “My dad’s around 190 cm and my mom’s around 180 cm. Both of them are athletes.”

“That explains a lot,” Yukie hummed in understanding. “Just like Nekoma’s really tall first-year. He’s half Russian I guess.”

“H-half? That’s amazing,” Yachi stuttered.

“I could just imagine [Name]-chan being flaunted on in school!” Mako hugged her pillow close to her chest. “Ah, a goddess among mortals-“

“People… don’t like my height,” it’s rude for cutting her off, but you couldn’t help it. Not when it tasted extremely bitter upon your tongue. “The boys said I’m too tall and girls are supposed to be petite. The girls don’t want to get too close because I’m a giant, they’re intimidated. I… kind of wish I was smaller…”

“WHAT!? WHO SAID THAT!?” Yukie shrieked full of disgust. “How dare they judge you by appearance!?

“[Name]-chan, I need names! Names!” Kaori demanded, placing firm hands upon your shoulders and shook. “And I will strangle their neck tomorrow!”

“Please don’t murder anyone!” you raised your hands in front of your chest instinctively.

“Who do we have to kill tomorrow, girls?” Eri smiled darkly.

“Anyway, don’t listen to them, okay!?” Mako added. “You’re absolutely gorgeous!”

“Y-you have our backs, [Name]-chan!” Yachi followed. “W-we’ll fight them!”

“We and besides, if the boys somehow heard about this, there will be homicide.” Shimizu smirked.

Their support and full acceptance were alien to you.

“Thank you.”

Alien but you couldn’t help to feel warmth blooming in your chest–because this was something you’re looking for a long time.

[ryozoro]

Hades Playlist - iv.

NOW PLAYING: Memories - David Guetta [ft. Kid Cudi]

an; yo, sorry if the transitions are a little sloppy; I’ll go back in and fix them when I have the chance :,)

last song 🔊 EP 🔊 playlist 🔊 next song

“We try to hide our feelings, but we forget that our eyes can speak.”

“Oh, fuck - sorry,” yn moved out from behind the counter, “forgive me, I’ve been daydreaming a bit. What kinda model do you got?” Yn said as she walked the nice lady to the side of the store where parts are displayed on the wall in lamented posters. “You’re very pretty, sorry if I keep staring.”

“Oh, fuck - sorry,” yn moved out from behind the counter, “forgive me, I’ve been daydreaming a bit. What kinda model do you got?” Yn said as she walked the nice lady to the side of the store where parts are displayed on the wall in lamented posters. “You’re very pretty, sorry if I keep staring.”

“Oh, fuck - sorry,” yn moved out from behind the counter, “forgive me, I’ve been daydreaming a bit. What kinda model do you got?” Yn said as she walked the nice lady to the side of the store where parts are displayed on the wall in lamented posters. “You’re very pretty, sorry if I keep staring.”

“HA,” the lady snorted as she played with her wedding ring, “you sound like my husband; you are like - the first girl I’ve met who has thought I was pretty. Thank you, it truly means a lot.” The lady smiled as she began pulling out her wallet and a few written down notes, “it’s uh - fuck hitto, you write like a kid, it’s a 2016 Ducati?”

“2016 Ducati Full Throttle,” yn said back with a small smile as the woman laughed again, “I’m assuming it’s your husband’s old bike?”

“Yeah,” she played with her ring as her smile softened, “he wants it in good condition before he gives it to one of our neighbors. It’s tradition for his - occupation..”

“He in a gang?” Yn asked as she began shuffling through shelves, “Don’t sweat it, I’m not gonna freak out over trivial matters.” The young ryuguji chuckled as she finally found the part she’s been looking for. “Here,” she place the part on the top, “its the G2 Throttle Tamer Ducati you needed. I’m assuming he’s still in a gang by the looks of how you covered for him, but don’t worry - it’d be hypocritical if I got scared you were involved with a delinquent.”

“Oh,” the lady sighed out, “thank gods. You can call me Kaku-san if it’s alright with you? Could you install the part by yourself? Sorry, my man is just always busy with work and was hoping to have someone install it for us..”

“I can’t personally install it, but my brother can! He gets back from his lunch break in about twenty minutes, so I know its a long wait -"

vrrr...vrrr...vrrr

"I'm so sorry, I'll just turn that off-," yn went to hit 'decline call.'

“I can wait, no sweat!” She smiled as she began digging through her mini backpack, “I need to check and see if my loser has ate lunch yet. I'll be outside for a bit." With that, 'Kaku-san' had walked out as she dialed her husband.

"Fucking hell," yn breathed out before hitting accept, "Inui-senpai, hey - what did you need?" Her breath hitched in her throat as she heard his low laugh.

"Just checking to see if my favorite girl has ate yet - so, have you?" Yn could just hear the smile that creeped upon his face, but for some reason - she didn't feel as in awe as she once did.

"Ah," yn scanned the shop and began totaling the price for the repair and writing further notes for her older brother, "no, I haven't ate yet, but I was planning on just heating up some of the leftovers that Souya-kun gave me."

"You know, if you keep being as cute and clingy as you are around him," yn could hear him moving around paper bags of what she assumed was to-go food, "shit, sorry. As I was saying, if you keep being so cuddle buddy with him, he's goin to fall for ya."

"Or," yn rolled her eyes as she began to document minor details on the log for each hour, "maybe, you're just reading in too deep on the fact that Souya is just an overall easily flustered person. Being a decent human does not make my kind actions count as flirting; if it does, well, you men around me are just dumb."

"Oh, don't be like that, princess," inui said in a rather sarcastic tone, "you know I'm just teasing you. Leaving that matter, I got you lunch - your favorite lunch, might I add."

"Thank you senpai, but -,"

"Inui-kun~ why aren't you getting off the phone yet? You promised that you would pay attention to only me today!" Yn heard a whiny voice - a woman’s whiny voice - through the phone, “I thought you said after we get lunch we’re just gonna lay in bed all day.” Inui mumbled something to her that seemed to have shut her up, clearing his throat, “sorry about that, are you still -,”

“I’m pretty busy and I plan on going out with a friend for my lunch break,” she cut him off, “have fun on your day off.”

yn knew she shouldn’t be angry; inui was never hers to begin with, but she was hoping that he’d at least spare her feelings. maybe this was good. maybe knowing that he has someone, even if it’s just a fuck buddy, will help her clear her mind and finally let go.

tani senpai <3: ft during your lunch break?

tani senpai <3: wait do you play cod? if you did that’s be kinda hot

tani senpai <3: I meant dope but hot works too

tani senpai <3: OH, wait rain check on the call, why don’t we just meet in person? ;) after all, I still have your necklace.

tani senpai <3: I cleaned it up because I was wearing it so I wouldn’t lose it.

tani senpai <3: lmfao I really made it a blood diamond at one point

kaku-san paid her total for the part and repair and ensured yn that she’d be back around five. sighing once the older woman left, yn went to check her phone that had been buzzing incessantly since she hung up on her brother’s best friend.

you: I’m gonna punch you in dick next time I see you :,) I was helping someone and I had to act like my phone was not going HAAM in my pocket

tani senpai <3: uh uh uh , leave ran jr. alone. he did nothing wrong :p plus, you’d have to kiss it better if you hurt him

you: I — WHEN ARE WE MEETING AND WHERE ?

tani senpai <3: [location] a small nightclub @ 16:00 tonight :) I would offer to buy your dinner, but you threatened my best man.

you: I hate you :,) but um,,, I don’t exactly know — what to wear to a nightclub..? Can I just go in a hoodie and some sweats and talk to the bouncer like “hey, I know the haitani bros — lemme in.”

tani senpai <3: LMAOOO,, nah I would to see you size the man up. as for clothes — you don’t have anything like ,, that radiates “hot girl” shit ?

you: no, if I’m not in my uniform — I’m either wearing my brother’s clothes with some cargo pants or sweats. sometimes I wear my own clothes, but that’s usually just merch.

tani senpai <3: as much as I want to see you in school uniform or in full need mode, I don’t think the bouncer would just let you in. OH, wait — fuck them. I forgot that I’m literally a god to them lmao,, wear what you want , I’ll wait outside for you and we can walk in together :)

you: wait really :,) I’m gonna try and make use of what I have tho ! I’ll lyk when I get there :)

tani senpai <3: wow so you’re not gonna ft me :|

you: you licherally said “rain check”

tani senpai <3: but I just finished my tasks for today, call me or I’m calling you

you: sorry , my brother just got back, I’ll talk to ya later :p

tani senpai <3: fine :| I’ll just bother Rin then.

the young ryuguji chuckled before locking and pocketing her phone once she noticed her brother’s presence. sure, she was still hurt at the fact that inui is currently hooking up - maybe even dating - another girl, but at least she could look to the eldest of the Haitanis and feel herself forgetting all about her first love.

“What ya lookin at brat,” Ken laughed out as he went to pat her head, “hey, who has you smiling like that?” He has always been protective; it was just his nature as a big brother. “Don’t get me wrong, I’m glad you’re happy, but if it’s about a boy I would LOVE to know who.”

“It’s just a stupid thing that emma-senpai sent me,” yn attempted to play it off, “anyways — how was lunch?”

“It was good,” draken said as he went to put his jumper back on, “but it coulda been better if inui didn’t bring his ‘friend girl’ around. She kept hittin on Mikey and asking about my necklace and I almost called you up to come deck her.” He quickly grabbed his chain and kissed the ‘Emma’ that hung in the middle just before tucking it back under his white tshirt; it was his routine.

“I woulda showed her that ‘Draken Uppercut’ if I was there big bro,” yn made a small show of what she did in hopes of making her brother smile.

“You’re an idiot,” his smirk plastered on his face in a proud manner, “but I don’t need you wasting your energy on her. It just — like who the hell do you think you are touching a random stranger, especially around their neck. Like who?” She could tell that he was upset that he couldn’t have done anything; Draken was just brought up to be extremely respectful. “The worst part,” he threw a wrench at his ‘anger wall,’ “she kept asking shit like: “who names their kid emma,” “was she at least pretty,” and the one where I almost put my hands on her, “is she dead or something? what you just can’t let go?” Yn, I was so close to knocking her daylights out. She honestly got lucky takemitchy had tackled Mikey, or she woulda got her shit rocked.”

“I,” yn was at a lost for words; she had never heard someone disrespect any of her family this openly, “what the fuck did inui say? Did he just sit there through all this shit?” she moved from behind the counter and rolled out one of the bikes he was scheduled to work on, “please don’t tell me he did.”

“No,” draken rolled his eyes as he recalled the previous events, “just prop it up by station one, gotta get the new 340 mm rear air shock absorber suspensions, oh, could you jot that down, please? But nah, this fucker,” draken lifted the bike up so the back was in the air and put it on a lift, “just found every way to piss me off. Like I love him, but he fucked up today. He told us ‘sorry, she’s just cranky so don’t take her words to heart.’ If she called me ugly or some dumb shit I’d be okay, but he really told me not to take to heart the fact that she spoke on Emma’s name like that.” He tugged on his dark locks as he undid it, “could ya put it back up for me, it’s not tight enough.”

“I gotcha big man,” yn gently massaged his scalp as she went to put his hair in a tight but loose bun, “you know, she’s probably really proud of you right now. Bet she’s smilin up there too.” she could feel his tenseness fade as she comforted him; she’d do this one hundred times a day if it meant that he’d finally stop blaming himself for all those years ago. “There,” she smoothed over the top of his head once more, “all done.”

“Thank ya,” he hums as he begins to work on the bike, “oh, do you want to come with later? me and the boys are gonna head to mitsuyas before we go out so you can hang out with the other brats.”

“Actually, I um,” yn felt the sweat gather in her palms as she walked back to her station, “I was wondering if I could go out tonight - with a friend..”

“What friend,” yn flinched as her brother snapped his gaze towards her, “do I know said friend?”

“N-no,” she cleared her throat and began writing on sticky notes and receipts, “he — they were nice to meet when I first got back in town and offered to hang out - so, I felt that it’d be rude to -,”

“Nah, you’re not going,” draken turned his attention back to the bike, “you’re either going to stay home or hang out at mitsu’s house. No in between.”

“That’s fair,” yn sighed, “can I just have a reason as to why I can’t go?”

“Because I don’t know em and the streets have been rainin havoc since Mikey got out,” he sighed as he put his tools down. He stood up to full height and gently patted the leather seat of the propped up bike, “I just don’t want you to get hurt, bub. Yer my number one right now and I don’t know if I’ll be able to go on if you even get the slightest bit of hurt.”

“I understand big draco,” she laughed softly, “Can I just stay in then? I promise I won’t leave; I just feel like being in my own bed tonight.”

“Anything for you, yer majesty.” Ken smiled as he concluded that he had the best sister in the world.

—

“Alright, yn, we’re about to head out,” her big brother knocked on her door, “can ya at come say bye?”

“Fuck,” yn got up and quickly put an oversized sweater and some basketball shorts that reached just below her knees, “gimme a minute! Sorry, I was taking a nap.”

“We’ll be out in the living room, dumbass.”

If anything, yn was just glad none of them walked into her room to see her basically bare figure - shout out to her Ken-nii for knowing his sister. Once fully covered, yn made her wait out the room and noticed everyone sitting on the couch in the living room, even inui.

“Yn,” souya barked out, “you’ve ate right? If you haven’t ‘m gonna fight you!” He stood up and approached yn as all the other boys smirked and whistled in the back. “You guys shut the hell up.!”

“Neh neh,” nahoya laughed, “you need to stop bein so flirty over there, angry.” Smiley always teased angry, but that was just brotherly nature; however, if anyone else were to continuously pick on angry — it wouldn’t be a shock if Smiley was on top of them and imprinting the curve of his elbow into their forehead. “He just missed you, little Ryu. Make sure to let us know if anything happens-,”

“We’re going to get Ken-chin laid,” Mikey said with a mischievous smirk as he began pushing his taller friend out the front door. “Choi~.” The other boys followed either patting her head before they left or hip bumping her; hakkai decided to be the odd man out and hug yn to his chest and dramatically walk out the door as if they won’t see each other for fourth years.

“BYE,” she poked her head out then quickly shut the door and disregarded her hoodie, “now that they’re gone..”

VRRR..VRRR….VRR

“OH MY GOD, WHAT,” picking her phone up off the coffee table she fell back onto the couch, “what do they want-,”

Incoming FaceTime: tani senpai <3

“Shit.!” Yn quickly sat up and answered with an apologetic face, “heeeey, what’s up?”

“You look cozy,” he eyed the tops of her shoulders with only her bra straps decorating them, “cozy enough to make a man stand outside for, hmm - what does my watch read - thirty minutes.”

Yn looked thoroughly confused as she cocked her head to the side and fell back, “what does you standing outside of some random building have to do with me?”

“Did you really —,” she watched the man shift and bring her golden chain into view, “you were supposed to meet me tonight in order to get your precious necklace back. You stood me up and now I look like a fucking idiot who got stood up.” He deadpanned into the camera and had a small pout, “you had all the guys laughin at me, darlin. You really disappointed me.” Yn felt her heart slowly tear; she hated disappointing anyone. “If you were going to show up you could have at least said so.” Just as she was about to speak, Ran hung up and left her to wade in her thoughts.

—

You: Ran-senpai, I promise it was on accident ! I meant to tell you earlier, but it just slipped my mind (read 8:44 p.m.)

You: pls forgive me :,) I fell asleep as soon as we got off work and came home; draken-nii told me to rest up since I can’t go out so I figured I might as well (read 8:45 p.m.)

You: yk if you’re going to read my text, the least ya could do would be to respond. I said I’m sorry. (read 8:47 p.m.)

You: yer a fucking brat , man child who throws a fit and refuses to actually try and listen to others when they try to talk it out with you. (read 8:48 p.m.)

You: self made bitch. (read 8:50 p.m.)

You: yk what, fuck you. I tried to be nice to you and I actually enjoyed talking to you for what-? A week ? You’re mad because I can’t just do what I want? Sorry I’m a great sister who doesn’t want to make her brother worry. Sorry I don’t just abide and do as you please because I’m not a fucking sheep. Keep the necklace for all I care; I’ll just get a new one. Stupid cunt. (read 8:52 p.m.)

You: Fuck face. You probably just wanted to get in my pants and dip; fuck you. Leave me alone, if I see you on the street; I don’t give a fuck if I get shot or jumped, I’m gonna punch you in the throat, pussy ass bitch. (read 8:54 p.m.)

tani senpai <3: give me your address so I can drop this necklace off and get out of your life since you so desperately want me to.

You: no way in hell, just keep it.

tani senpai <3: if you don’t want it then I’ll just drop it off with your brother tomorrow.

You: you fucking —

You: ugh, fine, just drop the shit off and leave . [location] (read 8:59 p.m.)

—

With a knock at the Ryuguji’s front door, yn shrugged the jacket back on and checked through the peep hole. After noticing it was the infamous older brother of the Haitani duo, she quickly yanked him inside and made sure to lock the door quickly.

“You know drop offs don’t usually require the said delivery man to be in the house, correct?” He asked with a bored expression as his eyes scanned the small space. “‘S cute for someone with you and your brother’s income.”

“I only pulled you in because my neighbors like to talk about what goes on throughout everyone’s house,” she rolled her eyes and pulled in the strings of her sweater, “hurry up and give me the fucking necklace so you can leave.”

“I did all the work of coming here,” he brushed past her as he took off his shoes and made his way to sit on the couch, “the least you could do is offer me a drink or some food.” Ran laid back into the cushions and spread his long legs as he slowly turned his gaze to the TV, some random anime blasting in the background. “Well, if you don’t mind, a water will do.”

“Cute for someone with you and your brother’s income,” she mocked as mumbled under her breath and grabbed him a water bottle from the fridge, “here, your majesty.” she tossed it into his lap and stood in between his legs to block the tv and make him focus all of his attention onto her.

“To what do I owe you?”

“My necklace, home invader.”

“Take it off of me then,” he raised an eyebrow, “you didn’t expect me to do that as well did you?”

“Fine,” her shorts hiking up as she moved to straddle his hips, she took note that he had been eyeing her thighs since he arrived, “I’ll take off the stupid thing.” She buried her chin into the crook of his neck, “just sit still so I can -,”

“You know,” he flattened his palms against the bare tops her knees and barely sliding his finger tips up the rim of the pants, “you hiding more just makes me want to see you in less.”

“Heh,” she chuckled as she slowly wrapped her arms around the middle of his torso, “yer a fucking perv as well as a bastard.”

“You know your necklace isn’t dangling along my spine, right?” He chuckled as he gently kneaded her flesh, “am I making you uncomfortable?”

“Nah, feels nice,” she chuckles when she feels him gently dig his finger tips into her skin, “‘m makin you uncomfortable?”

“nah,” he jokingly mocked her as he took his hands and slid them farther up to the tops of he thigh, “boxers?” He pulled back slightly so he could rest his forehead on hers.

“mm, never really wanted to bother ken-nii when he did the laundry, so I just get boxers,” she laughed, “what? Did you honestly think I’d be chilling at home in a thong or something? Women gotta breathe too.” she felt her heartbeat pick up as his finger tips danced along the material; yn wondered if he could tell that she’s never had a boyfriend as she lacked - in takemichi’s words - ‘ettick.’

“You are respectful yet have anger issues, a smart mouth, and embody the term ‘I don’t give a fuck,” he swiftly took both hands from under the clothing and lightly placed them on either side of her face, “you are so fucking gorgeous, didya know that?” His rings were cold on her heated skin, making her smile softly.

“..you know,” yn laid a chaste kiss on the bonten’s left wrist, “… ‘msorry..”

“Couldn’t hear ya,” he chuckled deeply as he maneuvered his right hand at the back of her neck and squeezed lightly, “repeat it more clear this time. You wanna be a good girl, right? Be the best girl you can and repeat it.~”

“Motherfu-, AHEM,” she scrunched her face up in hopes of hiding how happy it made her to have a second chance at being a ‘good girl,’ “‘m sorry you don’t know how to communicate.”

“Ah ah ah,” he squeezed his right hand a little tighter, causing her to ground her hips down and lean forward into his chest, “that’s not what I want to hear.” she heard him groan, but she was too busy fighting the battle in her head as to why she felt more secure when he gripped her tighter.

“I said,” she nuzzled her nose between his lean pecs, “‘m sorry.” Yn got up and placed one of her hands at the base of the bonten tattoo and squeezed gently along his Adam’s apple, “I’m not saying it again, so you better have heard me the first time.”

“You’re so angry; a wolf under sheep’s clothes you are,” ran hummed as he leaned back in, noses brushing, “yer forgiven little lamb. I don’t know - you barking up the wrong tree knowing that I could hurt you just turns me —,”

BZZT, BING.

Both bodies had turned their heads towards the door in confusion.

“Are you expecting guests?”

“No,” yn quickly got off of Ran’s lap and grabbed the crowbar that rested by the umbrellas, “fuck, if it’s those fucking assholes that want to fight ken-nii, ‘m gonna kill em.” She went to look through the peep hole, only to be pulled back to the older man’s chest.

“Let me get it,” ran signaled for her to hide behind the kitchen wall as he pulled out his signature baton that hung on his belt loop, “be quiet, little one.” Ran opened the door to a young man, about a year or two older than yn, dressed in a pizza delivery uniform with 3 large boxes in his hand. If he wasn’t just some kid, the Haitani would’ve beat him just for openly sporting a scowl towards him.

“Oh, hi sir, are you,” the young man looked back at the receipt then back at the Bonten executive, “Kawata Souya? I have one pepperoni, Hawaiian, and plain cheese.” Ran’s head shot to the side at the sound of you rushing towards the door.

“A-ah ! That would be me I guess,” yn guided Ran’s hand behind her to hide the weapon as she widely opened the front door, “sorry my brother’s friend probably ordered it since they went out -,”

“Yn?”

“Huh,” she looked up at the man, “oh shit, hongo?! I thought you were in Osaka right now for Uni; you still play there, right?”

“Yeah,” the worker replied, “oh shit, this like.. a date or something?” He threw his glare at Ran and softened his features once his gaze returned back to the young ryuguji. “Nah, nevermind, that’d be dumb considering you swore off dating,” the bonten men felt as if his heart had been pricked with a small needle, “especially since you used to swear to draken we were gonna get married and stay together forever and ever.” Yn was visibly embarrassed as Ran watched her take the pizza from Hongo’s hands and start trying to kick him off the porch. “Wait, before I go,” he said as he jotted down his number on the receipt, “let me know when you’re free. Maybe ya could come see me play one of these days? Summer games start back up next week so I’ll be headin-,”

Ran pulled on yn’s wrist before slamming the door, interrupting Hongo’s spill. He made show of how hard he locked the door so anyone outside could hear that the house was closed and not expecting anymore visits.

“Ooo,” yn placed the pizzas down onto the small kitchen table and looped her arms around Ran’a slim waist, “are you upset yer not getting all the attention?” She giggled as she kissed the symbol that marked the center of his neck.

“Why would I be upset over some 4 incher maxed college boy,” he smirked as he brought his hand to the side of her face and let his thumb brush along her bottom lip, “plus, if anything he should be the one whose upset. You can’t hate me or push me away if you wanted to; your desire for me to show you the depths of the world is visible just by looking in your eyes.” Yn felt her breath quickening and her head going numb as his words made way into her; making her feel far more intoxicated than any alcohol or drug could have ever done. “You can try to deny it, but what sane person would invite one of the most violent people with the most blood on his hands into her home?”

“I’m the farthest thing from sane,” yn breathed out as she placed a chaste kiss onto his lips before burying her face under his chin, “because I find myself wanting to do this more. I’m so glad I don’t look where I’m going when I’m on my bike.” Ran laughed as he connected their lips, but this time he deepened the kiss; her knees gave out and his tongue slipped in making her lungs just as weak.

“Princess, youre fucking gorgeous,” he broke away before holding her in his strong arms, “but I don’t want to just ‘get in your pants.’ I want-,”

“Good, because im not easy,” she cut him off as she tried to catch her breath.

Ran laughed as he dragged her back to the couch, leaving her to fetch each of them two big slices of cheese pizza. He sat beside her, kissing her temple, and devouring the free meal, “yknow, this taste ten times better than any food at the shitty night club.”

“Don’t talk with your mouth full,” she said as she harshly swallowed the dough, “ish bad mannirs..”

“You,” he leaned in and kissed the sauces covered corners of her mouth, “also taste better than any food at the club.”

“Well you’ll have to wait until you can taste all of me,” catching ran off guard - she flirted back, “after all, the fruit taste better when ripened.”

—

“Princess,” Ran attempted to shake her tired figure off him, “believe me, I want to stay. I really do, but I don’t want to cause a stir or heated argument between you and your brother.”

“We we’re just playing Mario kart and you said,” yn stared up at him with an unimpressed glare, “I’d fuck you on the counter of the pizza place just to embarrass that pizza boy,’ and now you’re scared to be caught by my brother?”

“Not scared,” he bit the tip of her nose gently before freeing himself of her limbs, “just cautious. Want my little girl not to have any complications; plus, I’d have to kill your brother if he made you cry.”

“Wait,” she pulled his sleeve, gaining his attention, “text me when you get back home.” He leaned down and kissed her forehead before making his way out her front door, “okay, little lamb.”

—

Within the span of 4 hours, draken arrived back home and yn managed to make the house rid of any clues of guest over; she even masked the smell of Ran’s cologne by bringing the box of pizza to the living room to spread the smell of grease and regrets. She rested easy on the couch, allowing some random movie to lull her into the comfortable cushions.

draken sobered up a bit after he came back and went to get a late night snack from the kitchen. spotting his sister on the couch, he chuckled softly as he gently rubbed her forehead, “thanks for bein a little angel, ya gremlin.”

it’s as if the gods above could sense draken’s obliviousness and caused yns to vibrate several times. Much to her brother’s curiosity, he checked the notifications and felt his blood boil.

—

tani senpai <3: hey, made it back home. hope you rest easy, princess. thnx. rin also says “thanks for allowing him to annoy you so I could catch a break

inui. : yn can we talk? I promise it’s not what you thought; idk what to say. Just remember, you’ll always be my favorite girl ..<3 lmk when you’re ready.

inui. : idk jus tseeing yuor brothr without you attached at the hip just made my stomak hurt, I wanna see you more.. maybe it’s because I’m drunk and finally thinking sobre, but yer awlays my fav

inui. : look, unsot having talked for like — a weakk? Has Ben eating me up, I really miss you. I’ll see you at the shop ? dream well, pretty girl.

takemitchy: BESTIE,, DONT FORGET YOU OWE ME A REMATCH BECAUSE YOU HAD YOUR BROTHER PUT ME IN A CHOKEHOLD SO YOU COULD CROSS THE FINISH LINE

takemitchy: wait, can you send me your brownie recipe ??? Hina loved them :,)

—

he didn’t know whether to be upset at the fact that there was some random “tani senpai” texting his sister and he didn’t know jack shit about them, or the fact one of his best friends was talking and drunk texting his sister. Nothing a beer and pizza can’t help.

After grabbing a full pizza box plus some beer and bringing it to his room, ken stared at his tv processing everything he just seen. Maybe this is just a dream? Maybe he’s so dizzy from the dancing and whiskey that he can’t seem to think straight? There’s just no way that his little sister would actually go for his friend; let alone, his friend returning the affection, right ? There’s absolutely no way that his sister would be letting random boys in the house. Nah, maybe he’s just scared of letting her go to university and growing up on him. This is all just a shitty nightmare.

“Whatever,” draken burped out as he took the cheap beer bottle to his lips, inhaling the last of the liquid, “heh, maybe it’s kisaki’s ghost hauntin my head with dumb thoughts.” He felt himself drifting to sleep, but stirred once he realized he almost forgot his nightly routine. Untucking the chain from his neck and pulling it towards his chapped lips, “g’night emma.”

Taglist: @richiyo @haitanigigi @chifuyusprincess @legravalice @l-ilysm @katariinasworld

[thran-duils]

My Perfect Pet

Title: My Perfect Pet Summary: Fem!Reader x Dark!Boss Tony Stark. Reader disobeys Mr. Stark’s order to work in his office and learns her lesson for disobeying when he tells her to do something. Words: 2,303 Warnings (for the fic in entirety): Dom/sub, fingering, shameless smut, boss/employee relationship, punishment, office sex Author’s Note: I had a dream, alright? I got distracted from the other fics because of it.

Masterpost (mobile)

You walked into one of the old filing rooms where one of the old assistants was already working to scan old documents in. A whole archive had been discovered recently and they needed all of the papers uploaded onto the Stark database.

Aeisha looked up when you walked in and cocked an eyebrow. “Oh, I thought Abby was going to be down here with me.”

“She really wanted to be around and in Mr. Stark’s office.”

When you had arrived this morning, the head security told you where you were supposed to be. Mr. Stark gave orders at the beginning of the day where all of you were supposed to be and he had wanted you assisting him today. But Abby had complained to you, pouting. You figured it was not a big deal and told her you would take her job down in the filing room instead. She had been ecstatic.

The other girl snorted and said, “Of course she does. She’s been trying to get him to fuck her for months.”

You stammered, “W-what?”

“He has his favorites. She wants to be one of them.” She held up her phone, the newest version, and smirked, “He gives good gifts to keep us away from HR. Not that I would ever consider that.”

“You… have sex with him?”

Aeisha shrugged, “When he wants. It’s not often. In between the ladies at his parties and some other girls in the building, there’s time in between.” She saw the look on your face and gave a hearty laugh. “He’s good in bed. Don’t worry. When I said I wouldn’t consider going to HR, I mean it. That man knows how to work my pussy.”

‘That’s not what I’m worried about,” you muttered, opening one of the boxes. ‘I didn’t know I was gonna have to potentially fuck my boss if he ever gets a wild hair. Wasn’t in the job description. Sure, he’s extremely attractive – sexy – but, Jesus. That’s asking for issues if you ever wanna be in a relationship with someone and he’s still expecting it. Maybe I should be thanking Abby for taking his office today.”

Aeisha closed the scanner and shot you a curious look. “Wait… did you clear that switch with him?”

You shook your head and she rose her eyebrows, looking concerned.

“What?”’ you asked worriedly. “I didn’t think it would be a big deal. We are both gonna do the same thing no matter where we are at.”

“He wanted to see you in there, Y/N. He’s very specific about his instructions.”

Your stomach did a flip flop and you asked worriedly, “Am I going to get in trouble?”

Aeisha shrugged, “Who knows? If he hasn’t sent Abby back down here in the next twenty minutes, maybe it’ll just slide.”

You did not want to lose this job; it was well paying, especially for NYC.

“I guess I’ll just… go up there if she gets put back down here,” you said slowly, thumbing through the files.

You picked some of the papers up and asked Aeisha where she was filing the paperwork before going to your own scanner. You kept tensing whenever you heard someone walk by, thinking it was Abby coming down to fetch you and make you go upstairs where Mr. Stark wanted to see you. It was customary for you to wear pencil line skirts and low-cut shirts with heels, something that had been encouraged by the hiring manager. And you learned quickly it was just the norm with all of the assistants. Thankfully, you had already had a good enough collection started with going out wear that was easily masked as office wear. Such as the bodycon dress you were wearing today, the long zipper up the back that you had had to have your roommate help you with. But now you wondered if maybe you should cut back on it a little bit, knowing what you did now.

Shaking your head, you pushed the thoughts of your mind, focusing on your work.

<><><>

It was almost 9:00pm when you were walking back from the filing room. You told your immediate supervisor that you would take a few more hours today to be able to get off early tomorrow for your appointment tomorrow afternoon a few weeks ago.

You stopped though outside Mr. Stark’s office, hearing noises coming from within. You furrowed your brow confused considering how late it was. You put your hand on the door, your ear coming closer. Someone yelped loudly inside and you threw the door open in alarm, thinking someone was getting hurt.

Upon seeing Mr. Stark being straddled by a naked woman and another kissing him beside them on the couch, you almost vomited in embarrassment.

“I’m so sorry, Mr. Stark. I thought—goodnight!” you stammered, closing the door clumsily and rushing off.

<><><>

You were not surprised in the slightest when you arrived the next morning that Mr. Stark wanted you in his office. Reluctantly, you walked to the door and knocked. He called from inside and you took a deep breath, your heart hammering. All you could see was them on the couch last night and feel your mortification that had kept you up half the night.

He was working off to the side of his desk with a hologram table, his back to you. He was wearing a three-piece suit as usual, sans the jacket, all black.

You did not know what to say – if you should say anything too – so you just stood there awkwardly until he sensed the awkwardness too and turned around. You did not miss the slight smirk that graced his lips at the sight of you.

“Mhm, Y/N. Good morning,” he greeted you, closing the hologram and turning around to stride back to his desk.

“Good morning, Mr. Stark,” you managed to say.

He sat on the edge of the desk, running his eyes over you. You had chosen a mid-thigh dress, still showing leg but the top was long sleeved, no cleavage.

You blurted becoming uncomfortable with the silence, “I really am sorry.”

“For?” he questioned.

That caught you off guard and you stammered, “U-uh. Last night?”

“Oh, that,” Tony chuckled. “I didn’t know anyone was still on the floor. Quite a surprise to see you. Did throw the vibe off a bit, took me out of my element, really.” He cleared his throat and said, “As a matter of fact, thank you for apologizing because the sex really wasn’t as great as it was going to be if I hadn’t of seen you. Because it just reminded me of earlier in the day when I was expecting to see you when I came in the morning and I was severely annoyed when it wasn’t you. So, I was just a little irked during the whole threesome.”

He snickered seeing you at loss for words. “Well, I figure you can make it up to me. We can break in the couch. Just you and me.”

A strangled noise left your throat. “What?”

“Did I stammer? You disobeyed what I asked yesterday. I was gonna let it slide and give you a chance to make it right next time – aka this morning when I requested you again to be in here. I like my assistants in the building to follow directions specifically how I ask them. But then, you came in and interrupted when I was about to plow two of the hottest models on the market right now and threw off my vibe.”

That sounded so ridiculous, you said before you could stop yourself, “You still had sex with them.”

His eyes crinkled with his dangerous smile. “That’s cheeky. You are very determined to get me even more riled up, aren’t you? I didn’t mark you as bratty. Everyone’s got their surprises though...”

He stood up from the desk and you fought to stand your ground, your hands still folded in front of you. His eyes were searching hungrily, eyeing you up like a piece of meat.

“You’re definitely not a top rider like Vivian or Aeisha. They love sitting in my lap… reverse cowgirl…” Heat came to your cheeks as he ran his eyes over you again, lingering on your legs. A wicked smirk came to his face as he met your gaze again. “No. That’s not you. Not at all. You’re a perfect candidate for training.”

Training…?

“In fact, we can have your first lesson now. Lock the door.”

“Mr. Stark—”

He sat on the couch and said, “Do you remember me just saying that I like my assistants to listen? And follow directions just as they’re told? This is your chance to do that. So, impress me, sweetheart. Or leave the building and don’t come back. I’ll have someone mail your check or direct deposit. Whatever the hell you have set up.”

You stared at him in bewilderment, and he was staring back, a hard look in his eyes. He was not messing around. Swallowing sharply, you turned on your heel and went to the door, sliding the lock into place. You turned around, your heart thumping.

“Take your dress off. Put this blindfold on,” he ordered, reaching for the piece of cloth on the table. You had failed to notice it sitting there before; he had already had this on his mind before you had come in apparently. “And get over my knee.”

Mortified, you took a step back towards the door and his eyes flashed at the movement.

“What’s it gonna be, sweetheart?”

You had a choice, really you did. You could find other work, but you did not want to. Sucking down a deep breath, you walked over towards him. He reached forward again and grabbed a small remote, clicking it. The large TV turned on at the end of the office and he turned on a random show, turning the volume up.

Your dress fell to your ankles and you stepped out of it. There was a fire sparked seeing the way he was looking at you, drinking you in. But it made you extremely nervous too; what if this went sideways and you lost the job anyway?

The blindfold was waiting on his thigh and you reached for it, putting it on and laid across his lap. You could feel his length through his dress pants, causing heat to come to your core already as well. You squirmed with the anticipation.

He smacked your ass hard and you gasped loudly with the sting. His hand caressed at your ass, squeezing. “Look at that nice jiggle you had just there. You’re gonna tell me you’re sorry when this is all done and take this like an obedient girl. Right?”

“Right.”

“’Right, sir’,” Tony corrected you.

“Right, sir,” you squeaked in repeat back to him.

He hummed in approval before he smacked you again, harder this time. He yanked your underwear down and ordered you to kick them off. He helped getting them around your heels and you felt him toss them. His hand was back on your ass, squeezing and admiring. Another smack landed and then another, drawing a low groan from you.

Tony’s fingers delved past your wet folds, running up and down your sex. A finger slipped in as his thumb massaged your clit, causing you to pant in need.

“Look at you, you little wanton harlot,” Tony husked, adding another finger.

He pulled his hand away and laid another hard smack across your cheeks, leaving wetness from you.

“Spread your legs,” he ordered.

You did what he told you and you squealed when he slapped your pussy, instinctively clenching and driving your hips forward.

“Keep them open!”

Hesitantly, you did what he said, and you cried out softly when he smacked your pussy again, repeatedly. The contact was reverberating, stimulating. He was driving you insane, loving the contact on your clit from each hit. You heard him spit and his other hand came to rub at your tight ring, wet from his spit, while the other found your nub again, circling faster now. He was working you too well, it was too much pressure. You did not want to come all over him, and you clenched again, trying to stop him from touching you.

He laid a rough smack across your ass and growled, “I told you to keep your legs open!”

Whimpering, you opened your legs again to him and he praised, “Good girl. Now, are you, sorry, pet?” You nodded and he squeezed at your nub causing you to whine sharply. “Tell me!”

“I’m sorry, sir!”

“Mhm, you’re a fast learner. Such a good girl. But what are you sorry for?” he asked, his fingers picking up speed.

“Not listening to you! For interrupting you!” you panted, gripping at the couch fabric.

“Yeah, that was really naughty of you,” Tony agreed, his knuckles brushing your sex as he hit your g spot. “Very naughty.” Your breath was quick and short, and he cooed, “Sweetheart, do you need to come?”

“Yes, sir! Please!” you begged, embarrassed simultaneously how easily you had come unraveled. How easy it was for you to fall into this role.

Tony hit your spot again and you moaned pathetically. “You can let go. Come for me.”

You cried out, shaking, coming undone around his fingers. His other hand came to your throat, holding tight as he continued to stroke you, slower now as you shook with your release. He squeezed in slightly and that only added a cherry on top to your orgasm.

Empty of him, you heard him salaciously sucking on his fingers, his other hand still flexing gently on your throat, and he hummed in approval again. “I think with some more lessons, you can shape up to my perfect pet.”

~~~

Forever tags: @coconutqueen21 @undecidedsworld

[x0401x]

Jeweler Richard Fanbook Short Story #11

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Delicious Recipe

I would soon be at an age where I could envision my 50’s. My only daughter was a college student. I didn’t think of myself as too much of a passionate clerk, but I was fond of my current job at a mass retailer. Said shop was on the line of so-called “luxury supermarkets” in a way, so it had many products that weren’t available at supermarkets in my neighborhood, which meant stocking shelves was a hassle, but it was fun to look around. It had things such as assortments of high-quality cheeses or pouches of cold soup called vichyssoise. Since the shop was within walking distance of one of the largest stations in Tokyo, its clientele was diverse and there were many first-time customers, but on the other hand, that was exactly why it was so easy to remember the face of repeating customers.

“Hmmm...”

The young man glaring at the syrup shelf for a while now, who seemed old enough to be a university student, was actually a regular customer as well. Said regular – who stood out like a sore thumb in this shop, which had an overwhelming elderly customer base – always asked for simplified receipts. The name on them was “Jewelry Etranger”. Must be from a jewelry store. I believed him to be about as old as my daughter.

He was pacing back and forth in front of the shelf. Even though he usually came to buy snacks such as youkan and cookies, he was groaning in front of the cocktail syrup shelf today. Was it for private use instead of an errand? While I was staring at him, our eyes met, and with an apologetic face, he came over to my counter. There were no other customers.

“Hum, excuse me.”

As I welcomed him with a “yes, what might it be?”, he asked for a strange piece of advice.

“I want to make melon soda.”

“Haa.”

“The kind that you can quickly make into cream soda, with vanilla ice cream floating on top...”

“Haa.”

Then wouldn’t it be all right if he just bought the melon-flavored shaved ice syrup and carbonated water over there and mixed them in the appropriate proportions?

Before I could say this, he cut off, a crease rippling between his brows as he furrowed them, “I want it to be tasty. Very tasty.”

“Haa.”

A tasty melon soda. A very tasty one, no less. What kind of melon soda would that be?

I fumbled around my memory for the latest experience I had with a melon soda. The last time I had gone to a fast food was when my daughter was about ten years old. It had already been quite a long time. But I didn’t think there were any revolutionary changes in taste since then. It was carbonated, green and simply sweet. It didn’t have the same variety as tea or coffee. As if pressed with a stamp, melon soda was just melon soda. It was different from those confusing flavored-tea leaves.

He had actually already bought the melon syrup, he told me. But no matter how he changed the proportion of carbonated water, it didn’t have enough of a punch to it.

“I did some research at bars about how different the taste was from the melon sodas that we drink out there, but I kind of couldn’t tell... I think it might be best if I mix it with something. That’s why I’m looking for syrup, hmmm...”

With the exception of standard syrups for shaved ice, all syrups we handled were meant for cocktails. Bottles of vivid colors, in flavors such as apricot and mint, were lined up there. But I didn’t know whether any of them could be the secret ingredient for melon soda. The prospects were dim.

For starters, why had he decided to make something so troublesome by hand? To the point he was thinking of purchasing a bottle of syrup that was by no means cheap.

Of course, I didn’t say such things in front of the customer, but as if seeing through my hesitation, he smiled, as though a bit embarrassed. “No, hum, I have a friend who likes cream soda. She will be coming to the shop I work at one of these days... so I wanted to surprise her. Ehehe,” he laughed, looking happy.

I would guess that I did nothing but blink silently for a moment. It was an astonishingly good motive. I didn’t know what kind of friend she was or what kind of shop she would be visiting, but if nothing else, she seemed to be someone important to him.

If it were me, that would probably become a memory to last a lifetime.

A secret ingredient for a sweet juice. What suddenly crossed my mind was a time when my daughter was still little. A time when she caught a cold. I once made her a sweet juice when she didn’t want to take her medicine. I had a memory of being troubled as she was reluctant to drink water, saying it was painful. This had happened either in September or October, so there was still some leftover shaved ice syrup from the summer in our fridge. Making sugared water using it as colorant apparently gave it a special vibe, so she cheered up and drank it. Was it just sugared water? Hmm, if I wasn’t mistaken, in order for it to feel refreshing in the mouth, I had added—

“Ah, lemon juice.”

“Eh?”

“Mr. Customer, I’m not a bartender or anything, so I might be giving a wrong guess, but...”

Lemon went surprisingly well with sugared water.

As many cocktail recipes had lemon juice in them, I believed it strained the flavor that tended to unilaterally turn into “sweetness”. I didn’t think there was freshly squeezed lemon in the melon sodas of fast food shops, but if he was in pursuit of tastiness, wasn’t it a possibility?

When I told him this, he looked at me with a happy face, bowing his head with a “thank you very much”. And so, when he was about to leave the store without buying anything, he came back as if remembering something, lining up in front of the register and buying a package of specialty cookies from a certain place. When I was about to make the receipt, he told me he didn’t need it today, so I could tell it was his own pocket money.

“Really, thank you so much,” he said with an uplifting face, and this time, he exited the shop for good.

I didn’t think the suggestion I gave him warranted such consideration, and yet, what a proper child he was. His mother certainly must be happy to have a son like that, I thought, but afterward, I changed my mind, as he might surprisingly not be like that at home. My daughter, too, was an unfettered general at home, but the boyfriend that she discreetly brought over at the end of the previous year said some dreadful things about her, such as that she was a “refined young lady”. I thought they wouldn’t last for long, but it seemed they were still dating. It might be that people possessed many sides, just like those stylistic syrup bottles. Like the gemstones sold in jewelry shop. And he had showed me a wonderful, brightly shining side of his.

As a clerk, I wished from the bottom of my heart that his peculiar act of hospitality would go well.

   On Thursday morning, while I was extremely busy with stocking items, someone called to me with an “excuse me”. Even though I wished people wouldn’t talk to me at times like these, I couldn’t let it show on my face. When I turned around with a “yes, what might it be?”, my facial expression froze up. A blond, blue-eyed man was standing there. He was such a beautiful man that you’d end up asking yourself if it was okay to be breathing the same air as him. My face stiffened. He was speaking in fluent Japanese.

“Do you have canned cherries?”

“Eh, hah—aah, cherries?”

“Cherries. I need them urgently,” he said with a sour face.

Whatever might be the situation that required such a pretty young man, who looked like he had fallen from Heaven, to purchase canned cherries, it was beyond me. Anyway, with a manner of walking that looked like a frantic penguin, I guided him to the canned fruits corner and bowed with an “it’s this way”. He smiled as if relieved, leaving me floored.

“Much obliged.”

You’d think of it as an ordinary expression, but it was difficult to describe this with any word other than “bombshell”. His smile was like the glowing summer wind. As a result, you’d find yourself wondering about even unnecessary things, such as if this person had lived a life full of hardships. Was he an actor? Could be a model. His beauty was so removed from this transient realm, so I couldn’t think he was someone from the same world as myself. If a person like him were playing the hero in a tragic drama, I had the feeling that the audience would be a bit turned-off. As in, wouldn’t the role of charismatic villain suit him better? After a brief moment of escapism from reality, I came back to my senses and returned to stocking the items.

Once the checkout of the canned cherries was finished at the register, the elegant man left the shop while cursing someone’s carelessness with an “honestly, that heedless guy,” using a word that even a Japanese person seldom would.

At that moment, for some reason, the figure of that regular customer boy suddenly surfaced in my brain. The one who had told me he wanted to make melon soda. The kind that could quickly be made into cream soda, with vanilla ice cream floating on top. Melon-flavored soda aside, if you wanted to make a cream soda, the cherry was the last thing you should forget - that was what I had always been thinking, but unfortunately, he hadn’t showed up in the shop yet ever since then. Well, someone who had been so obsessed with the melon flavor probably wouldn’t do something like forget about the cherry, but there were instances such as the blond Onii-san of today. If he ever showed up again, I would make sure to mention the cherries.

On that day’s afternoon, I finally gave it a thought, and just as I was going home, I went into a family restaurant for the first time in ten years, and while tasting an awkward embarrassment, I ordered a cream soda. I had actually been wanting to drink it all this time ever since I saw him. My first cream soda in a while had the painfully sweet flavor of childhood.

[hauntedbythefanficsofmypast]

Hironette

Marinette graduated high school at sixteen before moving to San Fransokyo with Luka. With promises from both Kagami and Chloe that they'd join them in a year. Jagged and Penny both helped them find a home that would fit four. Marinette did not think he would buy them a mansion, but she really should've seen it coming. Their neighbors were the Fredericksons. A wealthy family, that Jagged had known for a while. Penny also helped them with the emancipation papers since both were sixteen and seventeen respectively.

She also helped Marinette set up her new shop right next to the Lucky Cat Cafe. The shop was ready and running after only two months, and Marinette had enough workers that she didn't even need to be there everyday. Luka was her main model while he was on breaks from his concerts with Jagged.

Marinette absolutely adored San Fransokyo, the city was beautiful and had so many places filled with creation energy. She also loved her neighbor Fred, his obsession with heros helped inspire her with a few outfits. Her and Fred hung out anytime he wasn't at San Fransokyo Institute of Science. She was surprised to find out he doesn't attend the school but all his friends do.

Fred loved the awesome girl that lived next door to him. He was constantly telling the crew about her, to the point they pretty much demanded to meet the 'angel who's cooking could end a war'.

Fred- Sure thing dudes! If we head out now we can catch her as she closes her shop! Let's roll!

When they arrive they are all confused on why they are at the Lucky Cat Cafe. Fred just snorts before entering the shop next to the cafe. Loudly announcing himself causing Marinette to leave the back room excitedly.

Hiro's eyes widened as he stepped behind Wasabi panicking to himself.

Hiro-No, no, no! I am not ready to talk to her yet!? Oh my god what do I do!?

Baymax- Your heartbeat is rising to a worrying level, and your temperature is getting higher. Should I set up a doctor appointment?

Hiro- What? No! Baymax I’m fine! I just well, I may have a tiny crush on the girl in there and I am panicking a little.

Baymax- Accessing the internet about crushes. After a brief search, I have determined that the best solution to your predicament is to tell the female your feelings and ask her on a date. Statistics have shown a fifty percent chance that she’ll say yes.

hiro-What-no! Baymax just stop!

Honey, Go Go, and Wasabi stare at Hiro and Baymax for a bit before beginning to laugh silently to themselves.

Honey places her hands on Hiro's shoulders pushing him towards MDC Boutique. She pushes him when he starts panicking again, telling him to just be himself. Marinette slimes brightly at them as they walk in, Fred introduces everyone. MArinette is immediately taken by Baymax when he gently grabs her hand, bandaging a few cuts she from sewing earlier. She gushes over him before turning to Hiro asking all about his primary functions. Hiro stutters at first before launching into a long explanation about Baymax functions and how he was made. By the time he is finished Jagged Stone is already waiting outside for her. Marinette blinks in surprise before inviting them all over for dinner.

Wasabi- We’d love to but we barely fit in my car on the way here.

Marinette-Oh you don’t have to worry about it! My Uncle is waiting for me outside, we can all ride with him!

Wasabi- What do you mean ride with him-is THAT A LIMO!?

Marinette laughed ushering them out before locking the store up. The driver opened the door greeting Marinette politely. She gets in and soon the others follow everyone but Fred, marinette, and Baymax staring at Jagged Stone in shock.

Go Go-Jagged Stone is your Uncle?

Marinette- Well not really but he kind of unofficially adopted me as his niece and it stuck. Jagged meet my new friends!

Jagged- Rock on! Anyone friends with my rockstar niece is welcome around me!

The ride is filled with laughter and jokes until they arrive at the Mansion. Luka and Penny waiting on the steps for them. Once out of the car Marinette gives Lukas a big hug, causing Hiro to frown thinking Marinette was already dating someone.

Penny and Luka greeted them happily before inviting them inside saying dinner was almost done. Marinette introduced everyone and then showed them around the manson. She stopped at their main hangout area allowing everyone to spread out. It was Honey that asked them if Marinette and Luka were dating causing them to both start laughing.

Luka- I love Marinette and her song is so beautiful. However she is not the one for me you see because I assure you everyday I am gay.

Marinette hit him with a pillow laughing telling him to stop rhyming. Before turning to them smiling and saying that they only think of each other as siblings. This piece of information lifts Hiro’s spirits and he begins talking even more to Marinette, unaware of Luka’s knowing smile aimed at him.

Over the next few weeks Marinette spends more and more time with the group. Even going over to the Institute of Science on her off days to see their experiments. Along with visiting the cafe on her lunch breaks and after she has closed.

Her and Hiro grow closer and closer, however neither can find it in them to admit their crush, which exasperates their friends to no end. That is until Marinette and Luka are involved in a terrible car accident on the way back from one of Luka’s concerts. 

A drunk driver blew a red light slamming into the side of their limo causing it to roll twice and land on its roof. 

Their driver is only knocked out on impact with a broken wrist. Marinette and Luka are not as lucky they did not have seatbelts on in the back of the limo. In the end they were violently thrown around the back. Luka comes out of it with a broken leg, left arm and nose sling with a broken rib that pierced his lung. Marinette breaks her leg in three places, three ribs and dislocates her left shoulder. Both of them are covered in bruises and bleeding. 

They are rushed to the hospital and into surgery, while in surgery the Doctors do their best to fix their major injuries before working to pull all the broken glass out of their skin. It was in the surgery that they discovered Marinette had suffered from a spinal injury as well. Jagged and Penny have them put in the same room together, but they don’t wake up the next day, in fact they don’t wake up a week later.

After a few days the Doctor determined that both of them had entered a coma, because of how badly they were injured. Everyone was heartbroken when the Doctor explained that if the two did wake up they may not even remember themselves. Then he tells them of Marinette’s spinal injury, telling them that until she wakes up they wont know if she’ll ever be able to walk again.

They remain in a coma for two months being visited everyday by their friends and family. Hiro visits consistently every day with Baymax always sitting by Marinette’s bed. After a week he begins talking or reading to her, after Baymax says that there are a few reports of people being able to hear what's going on around them the entire time. At one point he confesses his feelings to her begging her to wake up so that he can find out if she feels the same.

Luka wakes up first extremely confused. The only thing missing from his memory is the night the crash happened. Everyone is ecstatic and greets him with hugs and tears explaining what happened. After a few days he begins physical therapy, during one of his sessions Hiro is with Marinette again. This time he is telling her how he felt for her and how he would purposely walk past her boutique before they met just to see her. He holds her hand gently telling her again that he loves her. He is greatly surprised when MArinette’s hand squeezes back weakly. When he looks up at her she is smiling weakly, her eyes barely opened as she responds her voice breaking slightly.

Marinette- I love you too…

Her wake up is met with more tears especially when she realizes she can’t feel her legs. A month later they are released from the hospital both leaving in a wheelchair but only one remaining in it. MArinette is heartbroken and drops into a depressive state for a while, but Hiro refuses to leave her side. He is over every day always sitting by her while drawing up designs for a new invention, something to help Marinette feel independent once again.

Hiro creates a motorized wheelchair that can lift Marinette higher when she needs to grab something. He creates a neural transmitter that is fitted as a headband, with the headband Marinette can move the wheelchair in whatever dissection she needs. He immediately begins building it, with the help of the others. He finishes it a month later and gives it to Marinette smiling nervously. When Marinette moves in her wheelchair she begins crying and thanking him. She begins leaving the house with him more slowly leaving her depressive state. A year after they start dating Marinette introduces the entire group to the Kwami. Tikki absolutely adores them, given that they are all creation souls. Plagg warms up to both Hiro and Fred loving their loud personalities.

Fred goes crazy when he realizes that Marinette was THE Ladybug. Causing Marinette and Tikki to giggle until she points out that Luka was Viperion causing Fred to freak out more.

Luka- I wonder if he is going to react the same to Chloe and Kagami.

This caused Marinette to snort laughing hard, causing the others to join soon after.

Fred- Is seriously no one else totally stoked to find out they are heroes?!

Go Go- Fred you idiot! We were heroes too!?

Fred- Oh ya I forgot, this is still really awesome though! Like when I found out my dad was a hero!!

Marinette- Mr. Fredrickson is a hero?? Huh, I never saw that coming.

@justafanwarrior

[kanri-tea]

Fem! Jakurai

A take on a female Jakurai in the world of Hypnosis Mic

"I don't know who you are, but thank you for rescuing us," Jakurai bowed, thanking their mysterious savior. Next to her, she hears Yotsutsuji's flustered thanks.

"T-thank you from me as well!"

"Haha! It was nothing! It's a pleasure to meetcha! ☆I'm Amemura Ramuda," the pink-haired boy cheerfully introduced himself, "And you're Jinguuji Jakurai and Yotsutsuji!"

"...How do you know our names?"

"Hmm~ How should I explain...? I'll tell you after you check on all those wounded folks! ☆"

Jakurai felt conflicted, on one hand, she definitely wanted to make sure none of them were seriously wounded, on the other, this Amemura Ramuda might actually prove to be dangerous to both her and Yotsutsuji. Taking a deep breath, she reasoned to herself that this wasn't the underworld, trust had to be given to be proved after all.

"May I ask you one thing, Amemura?"

"Whatcha got~?"

"...Will you teach me how to rap?"

"Sure thing! ☆ You're definitely going to be a great MC!"

"Aah.. but..."

"Hmm~?"

"Aren't MCs something that Chuouku assigned to men?"

"Ye~ah?"

"...Amemura, I'm a woman."

"...Eh?"

When she was in middle school, her school had sent her the wrong uniform, but she simply shrugged it off and requested for the right one.

When the military accidentally marked her off as the wrong gender, she simply sighed and had it fixed.

When the Party of Words took over the government, she took note of it and moved on, after all, it had nothing to do with her. So why exactly was she being pushed into all this Hypnosis Microphone nonsense? It was a men's only thing, wasn't it?!

Jakurai sighed, staring into the mirror as if it had all the answers to life.

Tall and slender (although leaning towards underweight), she felt that her body wasn't that bad. Cupping her breasts she wondered if maybe they were too small. Having a B cup wasn't too bad, Jakurai thought to herself.

Maybe it was because of her unnatural height, after all, how many other women could claim to be an amazing 195 cm?

Jakurai cursed her genetics once again for making her so tall and 'masculine.' When she had asked Ramuda to teach her how to rap, she hadn't thought too much of it, after all, hypnosis microphones were pretty common nowadays. It was always better to be safe then sorry.

Even when Ramuda knew of her past of being Ill-Doc, he somehow had still thought that she was a man. God, this was her curse in life, wasn't it? Cursed to be never be able to get a date and constantly be mistaken for a man.

"Sensei!"

"A-ah, I'll be out in a second, Ichiro!"

Curse Ramuda and his constant need for chaos. Curse Ichiro and his innocent puppy eyes that Jakurai refuses to admit to be weak to.

Sulking slightly, she started to put on one of the many dresses that Ramuda chose for her to try. Honestly, it wasn't a big deal that she rarely wore anything but her black turtleneck, jeans, and lab coat. They were comfortable and practical.

Of course, the others (*coughcough*Ramuda*coughcough*Ichiro*coughcough*) vehemently disagreed. Which then turned into a wardrobe overhaul and shopping trip in Shibuya of all things.

Resigning herself to playing dress-up doll for the next couple of hours, Jakurai stepped out of the dressing room.

"Ooh! Huh, I guess sensei really is a lady."

Jakurai felt the urge to slap someone over the head, namely Ichiro hard.

"...Excuse me."

Ichiro stuttered, backtracking and realizing what exactly he just said, "I- I mean, you usually don't, y'know, uhhh..."

As Ichiro descended into mumbles, Ramuda laughed, fully in his element of chaos and destruction.

At least one of us is having fun, Jakurai couldn't help but think uncharitably, feeling rather self-conscious. There was a good reason she rarely wore feminine clothing, and it wasn't just because it was difficult for her to find anything her size (though it played a large part of it.)

"It, uh, it looks good on you, sensei," she turns, startled, having forgotten about Samatoki.

He's blushing, which is, on one hand, is rather adorable, but on the other, she really hopes that he's blushing from embarrassment and not a crush.

"Thank you," Jakurai smiles slightly, wishing to be out of the dress and back into her usual outfit.

Was it too late to run away?

"So I guess we're a team."

"Yup~! ☆"

Jakurai tilted her head, a small smile on her lips. A team, huh. She supposed it was time to say goodbye to Kujaku Posse.

"It'll be us four against everyone else! We'll be the best!"

She listens to Ichiro's exuberant yelling and Samatoki's curses that follow soon after. Nearby, she watches Ramuda cheerfully egg on the two, mixing in his own brand of chaos and calamity into the fold.

Chuckling, a though pops into her head.

"We never did figure out if I was allowed to participate in the rap battles, did we, Ramuda?"

"No~pe!"

"Huh?"

"What are you talking about?"

Watching at the visible confusion on both Ichiro and Samatoki's faces, Jakurai sighed. Oh dear.

"I'm a woman, but the rap battles are a men's only event," she gently reminds the two, or rather inform them. Honestly, she might be extremely tall, but her voice and chest should've at least hinted that she wasn't a man.

Observing the startled faces of her new teammates, she wondered if she was going to have to wear a badge or something to indicate that, no, no she was not a man.

"EHHHHHH?!!"

If this was an indication of how this team was going to be, Jakurai thought to herself as Ramuda laughed himself silly, then God, please give me patience. A lot of patience.

"Ooh, is Jakurai going on a date? You look super pretty in that dress! ☆"

"Ah, well it's been a while," Jakurai hummed, "so I thought I'd put a little extra effort today."

Having styled her hair into a waterfall braid and applied a bit of makeup, Jakurai felt that she looked pretty good. Twirling around, she teasingly asked for Ramuda's approval.

"Definitely a ten out of ten~!"

Out of the corner of her eye, she spots Ichiro and Samatoki huddled together. Shaking her head, she laughs at Ramuda's praise and elects to ignore whatever Ichiro and Samatoki were planning. It probably wasn't going to be good for her stress levels anyways.

"Alright, I'm heading out now. Don't make a mess of my apartment, children," Jakurai calls out, receiving eye-rolls in return and mumbled promises of behaving.

Heading towards the cafe where her blind date was, Jakurai couldn't help but feel a bit suspicious. They're all adults, or well at least close to adults, she reasoned to herself. They're not going to do something stupid she hoped.

"Hi, you're Jakurai, right?"

Startled, Jakurai flinched, not having realized that she had already reached her destination. Politely smiling, she nodded her head towards the man.

"I apologize for not paying attention," she began, "Jinguuji Jakurai. It's nice to meet you."

Settling down, Jakurai felt that her date was probably going to be okay. Neither of them really had anything in common, but he wasn't a bad conversationalist.

"- pretty cool person, Jakurai. But, wow, I really didn't expect you to look so much like a man."

What.

"-and if you wore makeup and got bigger breasts, you'd look really hot, like model-levels of hot, y'know like-"

Jakurai felt her hands twitch. God, this was why she almost never went on dates, especially blind dates. Doing her best to be as polite as possible, she tried to excuse herself.

"Excuse me, I-"

"Oi."

Turning her head, she came face-to-face with Samatoki. Wait. Why was Samatoki here? And with Ichiro and Ramuda too, to boot. How did they even know where she was?

"Hi, sensei!"

"Jakurai! What a cool coincidence to see you~! ☆"

"Samatoki! Ichiro! Ramuda! What are you-"

Behind them, she hears her date spluttering indignantly. Good.

"He~ey, Jakurai, I saw this super duper cool candy store a couple of streets down," Ramuda giggles, it's not a nice one, Jakurai notes, and the gleam in his eyes as he pulls her away from the table is downright vicious.

"H-huh? Ramuda!"

"We're off~! ☆ Ichiro, Samatoki, have fun!"

"Yeah, yeah."

"See you later, sensei!"

Hesitantly, she glanced at her date who was currently trembling and sweating in fear, and then towards the rest of the TDD. Shaking her head, she let herself be pulled by Ramuda.

I can take care of myself, she wants to say, why are trying to protect me, she wants to ask.

Instead, she tosses out a "don't hurt him too much" before walking next to Ramuda.

She hears the screams of terror behind her and a part of her wants to go back, wants to help even the ones who desire to hurt her.

"Ne, Jakurai, you doctors are always helping so many people," she hears Ramuda humming, "but, y'know, sometimes doctors should let others help them too~!"

"...pfft-!"

She's crouching, Jakurai realizes halfheartedly, and her vision is blurred.

"Haha, Ramuda, what are you even talking about," she laughs as tears obscure her sight, "I'm not a damsel in distress."

"Nope! But it's nice to see you as a lady sometimes. You're much better than this annoying onee-san that calls me all the time!"

"...Better enough that you don't have to pretend with me?"

"Hmm~ Who knows!"

She feels Ramuda's arms around her shoulders. It's a comforting feeling, and she can't help but feel guilty. For her to feel happy while having so many sins still weighing upon her shoulders.

She hears footsteps approaching them and looks up to see Samatoki and Ichiro. They're sweaty and out of breath, but the bloodthirsty grins and bright eyes tell her everything she needs to know.

"Sensei!"

Around her are the TDD, and she can't help but feel content and happy. The dark feelings of self-doubt are clawing at her again. Was she allowed to be happy? After causing so much death, so much pain, was it okay for her to-

No.

Jakurai forces those feeling down, forces them into a box for now. Right now, she basks in the warmth that the others provide.

She can't help but love Ramuda, can't help but love Samatoki, can't help but love Ichiro. They're her precious boys, her friends.

It's a nice feeling.

Very few good things last, and the TDD ends up being one of the many that fail, and it h u r t s.

It's been several months since Yotsutsuji fell into a coma, several months since that fateful email.

Suddenly, Jakurai couldn't help but feel all her thirty-something years weighing down on her shoulders. God, she was getting old.

I guess, she bitterly thinks, I was simply the fool for believing that we would last.

Nothing ever lasted. Not family. Not Hitoya. Not even the TDD.

Pulling herself together, she prepared to close her clinic for the night. It was getting late after all.

Knock. Knock.

Who-?

"Samatoki?"

"Hey, sorry to bother," she watches Samatoki stumble into her clinic, his shirt red with blood.

Body on autopilot, she tends to his injuries. The silence between them is oppressing. What was there to say, she wondered, but a small part of her was glad that even though they've all gone their separate ways, Samatoki still trusts her to treat his injuries.

"...Thanks."

She smiles, it's not quite as warm and as fond as it used to be, but she manages. She asks how he's doing, how Nemu is, asks him to take care, to not aggravate his injuries.

Samatoki grunts and shrugs off her questions, is ready to leave before she hears a soft, "Do you regret it?"

I don't know, she thinks; yes, she wants to say.

Instead, she tells a half-truth, half-lie.

"No, our time in the TDD means a lot to me, but I believe it is time for us to move on."

She sees the hurt that roles off of Samatoki in waves, sees how badly the younger man is taking the separation and a large part of her wants to hug him, to tell him that everything will be okay even if she doesn't believe it.

When he leaves, Jakurai can't help but think of Yotsutsuji and his discovery that made Ramuda want him dead, can't help but think of Ichiro and his resolve to raise his siblings himself, can't help but think of Ramuda and what they had.

Can't help but think of what-ifs.

In another life, would things have turned out differently?

[hecohansen31]

okay but king!michael langdon, hiring a painter to paint him, and the reader arrived, prepared with all their materials. except, michael wants the reader to paint him as he jerks off 🥵🥵🥵

(A/N): Hello there, lovelies!

Sorry for taking quite some time with this ask!

And before I leave you, I just wanted to denounce myself with saying that this is highly unhistorically accurate, although I just wanted to give some shoutouts to badass Reinassance and Maniersm artist ladies: Sofonisba Angussola, without whom we wouldn’t have Caravaggio and the infamous Artemisia Gentileschi (I have seen live the ‘Judith kills Oloferne’ and let me tell you... IT IS FUCKING GORGEOUS!).

Also the iconography of Michael is taken from ‘San Michael catches from Heaven the fallen angels’ by Domenico Beccafumi,

A lot of women artists were also given by the place I study at, for which I am very proud!

This is all (sorry I just had to give an history lessons, because I love art history!), have a nice reading!

WARNINGS: Historically Inaccurate, Art, Mention of Sex-Masturbation, Voyeurism, Exhibitionism.

Being asked to paint a cardinal was a great honor for your father, no matter how much he tried to dissimulate his talent and his ambition with a soft smile and a wave of hand.

He could think that Rome wasn’t much, but you were enthralled by its beauty, the golden shining and the ruins standing tall no matter how much time had passed.

And then you had met cardinal Michael Borgia, the man who your father would have to portray in his time in Rome, the arriving point of his career, after he had started in a small city in the center of Italy, painting mostly churches and altar paintings.

But for you, it’d be a starting point.

Girls were always supposed to ‘work’ as dutiful mothers and daughters, if not wives, by a certain time, as they grew old enough to bear children, but when your mother had died when you were nothing but a child, your father had grown you as a boy, and as his rightful heir in the artistic surroundings.

He had taken in you as his rightful apprentice, and he had insisted that you followed him to Rome to sketch the cardinal in order for him then to complete the drawing.

You knew that if you did well, your father might even make you direct some of the works in his shop, coordinating with him.

And maybe one day, you’d be the one called in to paint a cardinal.

‘I hope so, little flower’ he had smiled, kissing your forehead before you set up in your small private rooms inside the Borgia palace.

So, you couldn’t help but feel extremely nervous when you had your first sitting with the cardinal, knowing perfectly how haughty cardinals could be, acting as if they owned the place.

And Michael Borgia wasn’t an exception.

He appeared in his red robes, smirking teasingly at you as you bowed at him, although surprise also shone on his face, evidently not used to female painters.

Many weren’t hence why your father hid you.

“Your Sanctity” you uttered breaking the uncomfortable silence as you moved slightly to show him the sitting chair, so that you could go back to hiding yourself behind your canvas, checking the colors and the brushes, till the cardinal coughed lightly to obtain your attention “… is there something wrong, my lord?”.

“I just thought that the great Francesco Savini would have been a man, not a gorgeous woman” you were damnably ashamed by the flush on your cheeks at his compliment.

You weren’t classically beautiful, even less in your work clothes, composed by pants and a light shirt, enough to allow you easier movements, so that you could comfortably paint and give your best.

“… my father is Francesco” you squeaked almost as a little mouse “… I am (Y/N) Savini, and I’ll take the first sketch of you, and then my father will complete the drawing”.

He looked at you curiously as if you were a new toy solely for him.

Ready to be broken.

And the thing made you feel extremely uneasy, although you hid it, backing up further till you hit your own sitting chair.

“… naturally that will be, if you don’t have a problem with me sketching you, monsignore”.

He shook his head lightly, his elegant curls softly catching the light of the first hours of the day, since you had insisted to set yourself up in a room with a huge window when the sun was at its peak in order to be helped in conjuring the man’s unearthly beauty.

Although he wasn’t as famous as his dark brother Cesare, Michael Borgia was known for his heavenly appearance and you could confirm it with the way his hair shone with the natural light and his eyes pierced through you in an almost feline gaze.

Certainly, he had a predatory gaze in them.

“No no, it won’t be a problem” you had expected him to protest, insist that he would like immediately to meet up with your father.

That he couldn’t trust an apprentice.

A woman even more.

But he simply sat down on the chair and you immediately went back to your canvas, sketching the beginning scheme, till you heard again the rustling of robes and thought nothing of it, thinking that the cardinal was simply getting himself comfortable, but the rustling continued and you peaked lightly your head from the canvas.

And found out that he had discarded the upper part of his robe, leaving his chest naked, something which made you open your mouth, at first for surprise but then to take in the lean physique of the beautiful angel.

A painting of your own appeared in your mind, but soon your mouth found the ability to speak and you blurted out.

“… what are you doing, your sanctity?”.

He simply sent you a small smirk, but moved his hand away from the lower robes, something for which you were thankful, because his hips were already distracting enough.

“Hasn’t your father told you about what I asked of him for this portrait?” his tone now was damnably shaming, as if he was talking to someone beneath him “… I asked him to paint me as ‘Saint Michael pushing out of Heaven the rebellious angels’ and if I am not wrong…”.

He had smirked softly then and opened his plump lips to complete the phrase, but you didn’t catch the sound, too focused on the perfect shade of them.

“…  angels are naked, aren’t they?”.

Not exactly.

It mostly happened if they were children or if they were simple models.

You, yourself, had studied the human anatomy on model, both males and females, much to your embarrassment, but to paint such a beautiful and powerful man, naked…

… it almost suffocated you.

“… oh yeah… ahem… but not completely naked” ‘please just spare me this’.

“I’ll keep my most intimate bits to myself, don’t worry lady Savini” he promised, and you just took a deep breath, remembering yourself that you just needed to be professional.

If not for your big occasion, to avoid your father any kind of shame.

“Thank you, my lord” you hid behind the canvas, gently relaxing yourself with the thought of your father’s praise “… whenever you are ready let me know and I’ll start”.

“Of course, lady Savini” he had promised with a smart smirk, before rustling of fabric had emptied the awkward silence between you two “… I am ready”.

And again as you had moved to face him, your breath had been stolen by your mouth and although he had indeed kept himself covered with a soft piece of white fabric his entire body was exposed to you and you couldn’t help but blush, again calming your breath with a deep huff before you started to sketch the position, trying to focus on the more technical part of it.

“Have you ever done something like this, lady Savini?” you were used to vases of fruits who didn’t speak so you couldn’t help but be startled as the man behind the canvas spoke to you and you almost made the pencil in your hands fall, grabbing it at the last second.

“… something like what, your sanctity?” you asked unsure, hiding further in yourself, as you traced sudden lines.

“There is no need for such formalities, when you have seen me almost naked, lady Savini” he insisted, although his tone was damnably teasing “… and I mean if you have ever done a portrait or if I am your first”.

The tone with which he had pronounced the words sounded downright sinful and you couldn’t help but blush, nodding almost as if he could see you.

“You are my first” your voice spoke with innocence “… portrait… I haven’t… men don’t take kindly to women ‘stealing their jobs’ “.

You almost wanted to eat back all you had said, but he simply laughed out loud.

“… on that I can agree, lady Savini”.

“Just call me (Y/N)” you mumbled softly, since he had been graceful enough to avoid the formalities and you weren’t exactly a lady “… and I am glad we can see eye to eye”.

“I do think so too” again that sensual smirk, as if his tone had a secretive undertone he was sharing simply with you “… I do like the fact that the person who portrays me has to have my same sense of things”.

“I’ll try to do my best” and then you joked softly, to alleviate the tense air “… and the talent of an artist should also be coordinated with the ability of the model”.

Michael laughed genuinely and you couldn’t help but love that soft laugh, almost scared of being heard.

And then you went back to studying his features, till you had the sketch down to a t, only the face being left outside of your drawing, making you wonder constantly about what you had to do to make it all better.

And Michael caught your uneasiness.

“Is something wrong?” you raised your gaze from the canvas, looking at him in the eyes and wondering what you could change.

“… I am just… I am just having trouble with the face” you hoped he wouldn’t take it as a personal offence, but Michael simply smirked “… I just don’t understand how… I can’t choose which one is the best”.

“… then let me help you”.

And then before you were able to understand what was happening, Michael reached softly under the white fabric, pushing it a bit further up in order for him to touch under the fabric… down there.

In a shameful gesture that looked so free and natural.

“I might have an idea” and even under the fabric you could see his hand tugging himself, in a way that sounded so obscene yet so damnably alive “… shouldn’t he look like he just received the ecstasy of God?”.

You didn’t know what to say, but he just kept on gently pushing his member to swell under the fabric, till its silhouette was visible.

And it made you lose any breath from your lungs.

And your inspiration suddenly spiked up, as your hand found itself on your pencil quickly tracing the gorgeous shape of Michael’s biting lips, and the way his eyes brightened just before darkening as he brought himself over the edge.

And you caught that delicious shapes of his eyebrows scrunching rather ungraciously, although it made the entire painting damnably human and as you shot a look at the canvas…

… you understood it was the best thing you would have ever painted.

[in-class-daydreams]

Cherry Blossom | Daichi Sawamura x Reader Oneshot

- Pairing: Daichi Sawamura x Reader One Shot 

Word Count: ~ 4600

Genres: Fluff, slight angst, unrequited feelings

CW: Self-deprecating inner thoughts, implied anxiety

Summary: (Y/N), a third year attending Karasuno High School, spirals into confusion as she begins to develop feelings for a certain childhood friend. 

2: 26

‘Are you kidding me?’

The day was already going by extremely slow for (Y/N), and she definitely was not having a good one either. She slept past her alarm until about 20 minutes before class started. In a rush, she attempted to make toast, which she somehow managed to burn, which meant on her sprint to school she had to eat some crusty, burnt ass toast and try not to choke on it. Yum! On top of that, all her lectures throughout the day have been painstakingly slow, and that didn’t improve her mood one bit.

Out of the corner of her eye, she saw a hand slip a small piece of paper onto her desk.

“What’re you doing after class today?”

Judging from the handwriting, (Y/N) knew it was from Yui-chan, who, just like (Y/N), could not care less about the titration process.

Discreetly, she wrote and responded back to her note, “Photoshoot. Houka-san said it’ll be on campus today,” and quickly passed it back to her.

After multiple exchanges, the teacher was finally cut off by the bell. At last, they could escape this hellhole known as school. As she packed up her supplies into the bookbag, she felt a hand on top of her head, ruffling her hair. Immediately, she knew who it was.

“Ah! Daichi! Stop it! I have a photoshoot soon, you’ll mess up my hair!”

“What do you mean? It still looks the same,” the boy smiled back. (Y/N) could only look back at him back with the most deadpan expression. Well, she was actually looking up at him quite a bit. She was by no means short, but in comparison to the tall volleyball player, she was definitely on the shorter side.

“Where were you this morning? I waited for you at the usual spot, but you weren’t there.” Daichi asked.

“Overslept. It was a nightmare honestly.” (Y/N) responded while attempting to clear her memory of the chaotic mess that she was that morning.

“Oh? The flawless and perfect (Y/N)-senpai had a stumble getting ready?” Daichi grinned teasingly, with obvious sarcasm dripping from his voice.

“Shut up, I’m human too,” she snapped back. “Don’t you have practice soon? You don’t want to be late now, do you, Captain?”

“Suppose not,” he said before facing the other girl standing off to the side, “Ah Michimiya-san, I was going to talk to you about the gym schedule for next week.”

Yui had an obvious flush on her face, and was struggling to get the right words out, let alone look him in the eyes. (Y/N) mercifully suggested that the three of them walk to practice together, so they won’t be late.

‘Hopefully, that’ll give her more time to collect herself and talk to him.”

With all her stuff collected, she went and changed into the bathroom to get ready for the photoshoot. After brushing and styling her hair that Daichi had ruined, she quickly walked out to the cherry blossom trees by the gym to meet up with her photographer.

“My apologies, Houka-san, I got caught up in something.”

“It’s alright (Y/N)-san. Please don’t be late next time. I’m on a strict schedule after all,” she sighed irritatingly, “Now, shall we get started?”

“Ah yes, of course. It won’t happen again,” she sheepishly apologized.

After getting herself together, (Y/N) felt immense ease. Being near the cherry blossoms had always comforted her. Maybe it had something to do with the aesthetic of it, but a lot of it had to do with the lasting memories that came along with it.

~~

Thirteen Years Ago : Age 6

(Y/N) woke up in an unfamiliar room. She sat herself upright, and took a look around the room. Bandages everywhere, a single stool, and a desk with a file folder.

‘Right, I fell asleep in the nurse’s office’

Her mom, being a teacher, told (Y/N) to go take a nap in the nurse’s office while she finished things inside the classroom. She would eventually go wake her up when she was done, or if the young girl woke up early, she could go to her classroom instead.

After straightening herself up, she opened the door and walked down the unfamiliar hallway. The only thing she remembered was that her mother had told the young child her classroom was in a different building. Naturally, she walked outside the building only to realize she didn’t specify which building it was in.

‘Ah shoot.’

Wandering around the large campus only drained the poor girl, and (Y/N) was suddenly overwhelmed with panic that accompanied her with her failure to find her mother’s classroom.

Tears couldn’t help but form in the corners of her eyes, threatening to fall any second now. She ran around the corner, now tears rolling down her face.

With her eyes facing the floor, half closed, and half visible from her hands wiping away her tears, she ran into a wall...or what she thought was a wall.

She looked up to find a boy, with jet black hair who looked to be about her age, looking down at her with a worried expression.

“Hey, you okay? What happened?” he asked.

The tears stopped flowing down her face, and she stood up to reach eye-level to the boy.

“N-no, I don’t know where my mom’s classroom is and I’m lost”

“Here I can help you find it!” The boy replied cheerfully, “I’m Daichi Sawamura by the way. What’s your name?”

“(Y/N) (L/N)”

“(L/N)-chan, we can go look for her classroom together! My dad works as a teacher here too, so I know my way around here pretty good”

Before she could respond, Daichi grabbed her hand and led her away from the cherry tree they were standing under moments ago. Something about him told her that she could trust him without any concern, and she was right.

(Y/N) learned a lot about him while he was leading her. She found out his favorite colour is orange, came to this school everyday after school to wait for his dad to finish work, and that he loved volleyball. After a few minutes, they entered a building filled with different classrooms, and managed to find the right classroom.

“Ah, thank you for the help, Daichi-kun”

“No problem. Say, wanna meet by that cherry tree tomorrow too?”

Little did she know that it would end up being a daily routine to meet there.

~~

The photoshoot ended smoothly, and that edition of the magazine she was shooting for was scheduled to be released sometime within the next month. Nowadays, it wasn’t uncommon to see her pictures on the front cover of popular magazines displayed at stores. Since the beginning of this year, her popularity as a model had skyrocketed beyond anybody’s expectations for someone who rarely posted on her social media. Well, that changed quite a bit after her career took off.

Normally, she would wait for Daichi to be done with practice so they could walk home together, but seeing that she would have to wait an extra 45 minutes or so, she started walking to the gym. Cracking the door open slightly, and seeing the coast was clear, she walked towards the back until a round object was flying towards her at an alarming rate.

Bam! A volleyball slammed into the wall beside her.

‘Phew, barely missed me.’ She looked up after receiving a mild shock, and everyone on the court had their eyes on the mysterious girl who just walked in.

‘Well, so much for sneaking in,’ she mentally slapped herself.

“NOYA-SAN! LOOK! (Y/N)-SENPAI’S HERE!”

“WHAT?!? (Y/N)-SENPAIIIIIIII!”

The two very energetic boys flung themselves at her, and before she could move out of the way, two strong arms held them back mid-jump.

“Oi, knock it off you two,” Daichi scolded. “(Y/N), I thought you said you had a photoshoot. Why are you here?”

“It went really well, so I ended early, and I figured I’d wait for you in here,”

“You could’ve just gone home--”

“Daichi, I’m not gonna break tradition because I ended early--”

As their bickering continued, the first years, particularly the one with some orange hair asked nobody in particular, “Who’s that pretty senpai punching Daichi-san?”

“That’s (Y/N)-chan. She and Daichi have been childhood friends.” A pure angel, by the name of Sugawara, was happy to satisfy his kohai’s curiosity, before mumbling, “though he should really do something about being friends,”

After facing a barrage of punches from (Y/N), Daichi finally got back to practice while she sat on the benches scrolling through her feed and managing her account. Her recent post was filled with support from her fans anticipating her next magazine release, as well as some hate comments, particularly about her age and looks. But honestly, they were irrelevant wimps that had to bully people from behind a keyboard to feel good about themselves, so it never really bothered her too much.

Before she knew it, Daichi’s practice had ended, and she didn’t even notice him get changed and coming back to pick her up. It wasn’t super dark, but having Daichi with her definitely helped her feel reassured, though she could easily fight off a couple people if needed. Regardless, the dim lights added to the comfortable silence as they continued to walk to their houses.

(Y/N) was the first to break the silence, “Hey Daichi,”

He hummed a quiet, “Hmm?” as he continued to look forward.

“Did things go well with Yui-chan earlier? You didn’t scare her off or something did you?” she joked light-heartedly.

“What? I didn’t think I scared her off? Maybe I did on accident?” he began to think about all his interactions with her because God forbid if it was his fault that’s causing tension between them. “You’re probably right though. I don’t think she likes me all that much, or at least she’s uncomfortable around me. I’ve talked to her on multiple occasions because of volleyball, but every time I get the same vibe from her...maybe I did something to offend her… Why? Did she say something about it?”

‘I guess the saying is true. Men are oblivious as fuck.’

“Oh no, I haven’t seen her after she left with you. I was just wondering because you know--”

“Because..?” Daichi stopped for a second to face her.

(Y/N) had to think about it for a second. She remembered Yui-chan’s request from a couple days ago that she couldn’t decline.

~~

“(Y/N), please! You know him really well! I just get flustered really easily around him, but he’s just so sweet! I really like him, can you please help me get noticed by him?” Yui pleaded. Her eyes were filled with genuinity, and after seeing that, there was no way she could say no to her.

~~

“--because I actually think it might be the opposite of what you think.” (Y/N) chose her words carefully, “if anything, I think she’s getting flustered because she really admires you, you know?”

“Really? You think so?”

“Mmhmm,” she hummed. ‘And she’s not the only one,’

“Ah well, I mean, I know that feeling. I have for a while actually,” he stated awkwardly. Daichi was not one to express his feelings, so this came across as a big shock to (Y/N), for this was the first time he had ever said anything along the lines of romance.

This time, she was the one to stop suddenly, and before she could process her thoughts, Daichi interrupted her to let her know they’ve reached her house. After quickly saying goodbye, (Y/N) walked up before heading to bed with an uneasy feeling in her stomach.

~~

The next day was filled with confusion in (Y/N)’s mind and heart. Her mind was confused because she did not understand one bit as to what the teacher was talking about, but her heart was left aching the entire day. After what Daichi said last night, she couldn’t bring herself to see him. If anything, it caused her to actively avoid him throughout the day. In the years that she’s known him, he’s never brought up his romantic feelings towards someone.

‘Do I like Daichi?’ she asked herself. She slapped both hands to her cheeks, ‘That’s not possible! I’ve known him for a long time, and he’s my best friend! It’s not like that! ...right?’

Yet, simultaneously, the idea of him being with another girl left her feeling queasy. As much as she loved Yui-chan and wanted the best for her, the idea of Daichi being hers gave her an ugly feeling inside that she quite disliked.

‘Will Daichi leave me then? I know he’s not the type to do that, but what if I’m wrong? If it’s Yui-chan that he likes, will she need me afterwards? What if they decide they only need each other, and I go back to being unapproachable?’

She knew that these negative thoughts weren’t true. (Y/N) knew better than to doubt her friends. If anything, she should be grateful that they’re by her side. After all, they don’t treat her like she’s on a pedestal. She was aware that being somewhat “famous” gave people a different perception towards her, but Daichi and Yui-chan still treated her as if she’s still a high school student, not a magazine model, and for that she was greatly appreciative towards them. But with that preciousness comes with the greater fear of loss. Before she could go off on her own tangent, she was interrupted by Yui-chan.

“-N),(Y/N). Class is over. Are you okay? You looked like you were spacing out for a bit?” Yui asked, concerningly, after the girl failed to respond to the bell ringing, and to her continuous (and aggressive) waving. The poor girl looked like she was about to break down from panicking seeing that her attempts to get her friend’s attention were failing.

“O-oh, I guess I’m just a little out of it today.” A familiar sense of fatigue and guilt pained her after seeing her best friend falling apart right in front of her eyes.

‘Clearly, there’s no need to explain the whole truth, right? If I do Yui is going to freak herself out’

“Did something happen between you and Sawamura-kun?” Yui asked innocently.

The sound of his name made her hesitate and shift in her seat. Yui, aware of how she acts when something bothers her, knew that it had to have been just that. Giving her time, Yui waited before (Y/N) responded.

“We were walking home yesterday, and we talked about you,” she started carefully, and glancing over to her friend, it was no surprise to see her eyes filled with anticipation, ready to hear what she would say next. “I didn’t say explicitly that you liked him, but rather you admire him, and with your personality, it could be a little harder for you to be open right away. It came up because he thought you didn’t like him, so I just assured him that wasn’t the case. Then he said something that I’ve never really heard him talk about. He said that he also had that feeling towards someone.”

She looked over once again, Yui, clearly at this point looked like she was going to explode. “I’m not sure who he's referring to, but I figured it’d be you. So, I’ve just been thinking about how to go about with what you’ve asked of me. But, I think it’s safe to say, you should talk to him more. To me it seems like the feeling is mutual between you two.”

She could’ve sworn she could’ve won an Oscar from that performance. To her, she showed no worries of avoiding the truth externally, quite contrary to the painful stabbing inside her chest with every word she breathed. What she said wasn’t completely untrue, but she hated how she couldn’t be open with how she felt. She trusted Yui with all her heart, but Yui’s happiness was more important in this case. Afterall, she didn’t want to destroy her relationship with Yui, and just decided to keep it to herself.

Contrary to how (Y/N) was feeling, her friend was clearly ecstatic. Her face just lit up with joy before jumping out of her seat to hug her friend.

“Thank you so much (Y/N)! You don’t know how much this means to me!” Yui beamed. All she could do was hug back in response.

After Yui left for practice, (Y/N) decided her heart had too much to handle for one day. For the first time since Kindergarten, she broke away from the “ritual,” and walked home alone without Daichi. Quite honestly, it was a weird sensation not having the boy next to her.

Unfortunately, this wasn’t the only day that this had occurred. Over the next couple days, she actively avoided Daichi, and continued to walk home without him.

After a few days, (Y/N) slipped on her outdoor shoes and started to head towards the school gates, once again, without the absence of Daichi. Even though days have passed, she still couldn’t get used to the feeling without him. All of a sudden, a large hand grabbed her wrist, stopping her from walking further. Right as she turned around, she saw the one person she didn’t want to see.

“D-daichi!”

‘Great’

He was clearly out of breath as if he had sprinted over to her. ‘Did he run over to me before I could leave?’

“(Y/N). I wanted to talk to you before you left,” he said firmly. The days without talking to him, hearing his voice was so soothing on her mind that momentarily she forgot why she was avoiding him in the first place. Snapping out of her trance, she tried to pull away from his arm to stop them from walking further, but Daichi kept a firm grip on her. She didn’t realize she was back at their usual meeting spot, underneath the cherry blossom tree.

“Daichi, let go of me. I have to leave, and you have practice,” she tried to reason.

“I know you don’t have anything after school today, and practice can wait. This is more important,” he replied, not once breaking eye contact. He was serious about this.

There was a quick pause before he started again, “(Y/N), what’s going on?”

Thump.

“N-nothing” she said weakly, looking away from him. She could feel his gaze on her, and he still never looked away.

“(Y/N), I’m just worried about you. Is everything okay? I couldn’t help but notice that you’ve been avoiding me lately. Did I do something wrong to upset you?” he asked cautiously.

“I wasn’t avoiding you. I’ve been busy recently, and I wanted you to have time to sort out that feeling of admiration you have towards that person. It seemed like I was going to be holding you back, and I only just realized it after you said it that day.” Her voice was wavering, and she tried her best to keep her feelings in check. It certainly didn’t help that her heartbeat could be heard from miles away.

Thump. Thump.

“This was the first time you’ve ever said anything remotely related to romance, and I know you don’t talk about your feelings a lot. So I thought I would just be getting in your way. I mean, if there was a guy I liked, and I saw a girl around them constantly I would be pretty discouraged about my chances. And--”

Before she could even finish her rambling, she saw him walking closer towards her. She kept backing away slowly, only to be stopped by the cherry blossom tree behind her. Before she knew it, there was a warm,gentle feeling on her lips.

She froze.

Thump. Thump. Thump.

Before she could process what was happening, he pulled away, and suddenly the distance between them grew bigger again. (Y/N) stood there looking like a dumbfounded idiot, unsure what to do, but mostly in shock trying to figure out what just happened.

“D-daichi...you, uh, uhm--” she sputtered.

“The girl that I feel admiration for wasn’t Michimiya-san. It’s you. It’s always been you, (Y/N). These last couple days without you near me, or by my side, it’s been so painful. I’ve missed you. You know you mean a lot to me, right. More than I could even tell you.”

“Daichi, I-” she composed herself. She finally looked him in the eyes, and noticed his face was clearly flushed. Oddly enough, that reassured her quite a bit in the moment.

“I don’t need an answer now, (Y/N). But, I just really needed you to know, and whatever you decide, I respect your decision. For all I know, things might change between us, but just know that whatever happens, I’ll still be there for you, always.”

Moments after, silence filled the air, and Daichi took that as his cue to excuse himself, and save himself from making the situation even worse. He shuffled his feet a little bit and glanced up at the girl before he headed towards the gym, only to stop momentarily to look back at her before ultimately deciding to leave her to her thoughts.

‘Oh my god. Daichi and I--!’

That kiss just confirmed that yes, she felt the same as Daichi, and she’s always liked him. That provided some relief for her knowing that his feelings weren’t towards Yui--

‘Oh no--Yui-chan… What am I going to tell her? Should I tell her? Yes, I should, she deserves to know.’

Shortly after, she decided the sooner she tells Yui, the better it will be for everybody.

To: Yui-chan [3:46 pm]: Yui-chan, after practice can we talk? Meet up at StarDollar at 6?

From: Yui-chan [3:47 pm]: Yup, see you then!

~~

6:00 pm

(Y/N) sat nervously at the cafe table waiting for Yui to show up. She got a latte to try and calm herself a little bit before telling her the truth. Seconds later, Yui walked into the shop scanning the room before her eyes landed on her friend, and walked over to her.

“Yui-chan,” (Y/N) started, “I’m sorry for calling you out here last minute, especially right after practice too.”

“Oh no it’s okay. I thought it might’ve been a little serious judging from your tone and all. Is everything okay?” Yui asked, hesitantly.

“Yeah. No. Not really.”

Yui, let her friend collect her thoughts before (Y/N) began to speak again.

“Yui, you have to know how much you mean to me. And I want to apologize for being a terrible friend, and letting this happen,” tears were starting to form in (Y/N)’s eyes. “Today, Daichi confessed to me.”

Silence.

At this point, the tears in her eyes were falling. She couldn’t bring herself to look at her friend’s eyes. She didn’t want to see the face of hurt and betrayal in her precious friend’s eyes. That was, until she left a pair of warm hands wrap around hers.

“(Y/N), you’re not a terrible friend. If you really were, I don’t think you would’ve told me this. In fact, I’m really grateful you trust me enough to tell me this,” she said with a smile on her face.

(Y/N) couldn’t tell exactly what her friend was feeling. She wasn’t mad? Was she beyond pissed, and this was all she could say out of courtesy?

“(Y/N), thank you for telling me this.”

“You’re not pissed?”

“Pissed? No. A little heartbroken? Yes. But I already knew somewhere deep down that the person he admired wasn’t me. I’ve known it was you all along. I’ve seen the way he looks at you, and how his face brightens whenever he’s with you. I’ve also seen it with you. If anything, I’ve been the terrible friend. I knew that you two liked each other in some way, but I was being selfish, and I asked you a request that I never should’ve.”

‘I guess then not to make these worse, I might have to reject Daichi. Then that means everything goes back to the way it used to be, right?’

“(Y/N), I know you’re thinking of rejecting Daichi-”

‘Damn it, how did she read my mind?’

“Don’t. I know I shouldn’t tell you what to do, but it seems to me like you two like each other mutually. There’s nothing wrong with accepting a confession from someone you like.”

“But Yui--”

“Don’t worry about me. I’m fine,” she gave a small reinforced smile to try and prove some assurance for her emotional friend.

“Yui...thank you,” (Y/N) said as she pulled Yui in for a hug.

“Anytime. I’d never let a man come between our friendship. You mean so much more to me than some guy.” she replied, returning the hug.

After leaving as emotional wrecks from StarDollar, (Y/N) felt some sort of relief inside her. For sure, she felt bad for Yui having to deal with this outcome, but also extremely grateful that she wasn’t willing to jeopardize their friendship.

~~

The next day, (Y/N) woke up feeling a lot more refreshed. Maybe even empowered? She strode to class with an aura of fresh air, and Yui definitely seemed to take notice.

“Good morning (Y/N)!” Yui greeted.

“Good morning Yui!”

“Are you planning on returning his feelings to Sawamura-san soon?” Yui questioned.

“Yeah, I’m planning to do it after his practice today. I have another photoshoot today, but timings should work out if everything goes well,”

“Nice! Good luck (Y/N), you’ve got this!”

The rest of the day flew by quickly, and even the photoshoot went by a breeze. She quickly made it over to the gym where the boys’ volleyball team would be practicing and burst open the doors.

“DAICHI!”

Everyone turned towards her. The tall boy with freckles literally jumped in his spot.

‘Whoops. I’ll apologize to the team later.’

“(Y/N)?” Daichi inquired, “what’re you doing here?”

“Daichi, can we talk? Please?” she pleaded. Before he could answer, she turned to the team behind him, bowing. “Sorry guys, I’ll be borrowing your captain for a moment.” She took Daichi by the arm and dragged him out of the gym.

“It’s about time ‘friends’ became something more,” Sugawara muttered to himself.

Outside, (Y/N) walked towards the cherry blossom where Daichi had confessed to her. Daichi was quite honestly, frozen with shock after being suddenly removed from yelling at the simpletons for going crazy again.

“Daichi-” (Y/N) she started, and his attention snapped back to her, “Daichi, I thought a lot about what you said yesterday, and I have my answer.”

“(Y/N) if you need more time then--” he was cut off.

“Daichi, you mean the world to me. You treat me like (Y/N), the high school student, your childhood best friend, like a normal person, not like someone who’s placed upon a pedestal. That itself means so much to me. But it’s not only that. Daichi, I realized, when I started walking home by myself, my life is so different without you. It’s so boring, so dreadful. You bring joy into my life with just by being near me. And for that, I’m forever grateful.”

“(Y/N)-” his words were cut off this time with another familiar warm feeling.

She placed her lips on his, slightly hesitant at first, and Daichi, hesitant because he couldn’t believe this was happening to him. For years, this was only a mere dream, or fantasy of his, but it was becoming a reality.

After separating, Daichi pulled her into a warm embrace. Her head rested on his chest, and his arms wrapped around her like a protective shield (back off peeps lmaoooo).

This moment was quickly ruined by the rustling in the bushes, followed by the boys’ volleyball team jumping out and yelling in pure joy.

“About time Daichi!”

“Our captain is such a man!”

“(Y/N)-senpai isn’t single anymore, but she’s in the hands of someone trustworthy!”

“Noya-san! That was so deep!”

Fin.

~~

(A/N): This was the first one-shot I’ve ever written, so I hope it turned out okay :)

Special thanks to Apprentice Admin Strawberry-Chan and Mango-Chan for helping me edit this !

- Admin Kiwi-Chan

[leemotionalwreck]

Of Black Chats and Fallen Angels (chapter 3)

Read it here on AO3!

Chapter 1 | Chapter 2 | You Are Here | Chapter 4 | Chapter 5 *********************************************

His eyes opened at the same time Nathalie opened his bedroom door. 

“Adrien.”

“Hmm,” he grumbled.

“School in ninety minutes,” Nathalie gave the form under the covers a once-over with a disgusted look on her face. “And please, take a shower.”

He hummed from under the covers. “I’ll think about it.”

Adrien swore he could hear her rolling her eyes. 

She huffed. “Shower. Now.”

Throwing the covers off of his face with a groan, he stared groggily at the ceiling. Despite reassuring Ladybug last night, Adrien had been terrified. Since when was Hawkmoth able to give his victims that much power? The akuma itself hadn’t been much of an issue. What had ended up taking them well over an hour to defeat was the citizens-- people everywhere were running wild. 

He hadn’t been able to sleep-- tossing and turning. Trying his best to force the images of burning buildings and dead bodies from his mind to no avail. There had been too many times that night when he’d had to step away from a structure close to collapse; oftentimes with people still inside. Of course, everyone knew that the miraculous ladybugs would fix everything in the end--

But it didn’t change the fact that the screams of Paris as the city burned had followed him into his dreams.

*********

Stepping out of the shower, Adrien noted the lack of noise as he tried his best to rub the sleep out of his eyes. Plagg was usually blabbering on about something or noisily shoving cheese down his throat on his holders’ bed before being stuffed into Adrien’s jacket. 

This time, as Adrien crossed his room to his dresser, he was met to complete silence.

“Plagg,” he called out, hoping Nathalie was far away enough for him to not be heard. “Plagg, where are you?”

Being answered in silence again, Adrien searched his entire room about three more times before finally hearing a voice from behind him.

“Do you ever miss it?”

Adrien turned from where he had been searching his desk to see his Kwami had been sitting on the windowsill, gazing at the sun. He sighed before answering. “I mean, yeah. Who wouldn’t?”

Because, truly, who wouldn’t? Who wouldn’t want to return to a place of complete freedom? A place more beautiful than anything anyone could ever imagine. Paris seemed like a junkyard compared to where he had come from.

Plagg turned to face his Chosen, a heart-wrenching sadness in his cat-like eyes. “Then why did we have to leave?” 

Adrien stood in silence. He’d been asking himself that question a lot lately.

*********

He stepped out of his car, waving Gorilla goodbye as the model trudged towards the school entrance. Lack of sleep had caught up to him, and it didn’t help that it was finals week.

“I’m sure there’s no point in telling you this, but you look like shit, dude,” Nino said as he caught up with Adrien.

“And in other news,” he snarled in response. ”The damn sky is blue.”

Nino snorted. “Good morning to you too, princess.”

“Yeah, yeah I know,” Adrien sighed as he rubbed a hand down his face. “It’s just, we’ve got finals. Not to mention the fact that I’m booked for four days this week. It’s not the most I’ve had to do but last night’s attack didn’t help anything.”

“I don’t blame you,” Nino looked down to avoid tripping on his way up the steps, his bright orange headphones almost falling off of his neck. “The city looked like hell. My parents we at work and Alya got stuck at my place-- would’ve been great if Chris hadn’t begged to sleep in my room.”

Adrien’s mind wandered as Nino retold the story of how Chris ruined what would have been a great night for him and Alya, longing for the extent of his troubles to be annoying younger siblings and lack of alone time with his girlfriend.

 He walked towards the classroom in a dazed state, finally snapping back to reality when Nino pointed out there was a new girl sitting in their seat. Mme. Bustier must have noticed the confusion in his face because she explained it right away.

“Good morning to both of you,” she beamed as they waved. 

What was she always so happy about?

Both boys responded at the same time. “Good morning Mme. Bustier.” 

“I’m sure you must be wondering who this is and why she’s sitting here,” they nodded. The teacher turned to the girl. “Mlle. Rossi, would you like to introduce yourself to them and the rest of the class?”

The new girl stood slowly, her gaze constantly flickering to Adrien’s. “Hello everyone! My name is Lila Rossi, and I’m Italian,” He could have sworn she winked at him as she said that. “I’m sure many of you are wondering why I’m just now attending school, and it’s actually because I’ve just returned from my trip around the world! I’ve been everywhere with my mother; Beijing, New York, San Francisco, New Delhi, Achu, Rome, and now we’re here!”

“Really?” said Alix skeptically from the other side of the classroom.

“Oh, of course!” Lila said. “I’m extremely close to Prince Ali. We’re like this,” at that, Lila twisted her middle and pointer finger, making them intertwined. 

The new girl frowned at Alix’s skeptical expression. “I figured people wouldn’t believe me when I told them this, so here’s a picture of us in his throne room.” 

The class oohed and ahhed as Lila flashed a picture of her and the Prince exactly where she said they’d be. 

“I’ve also met Jagged Stone,“ she said, putting her phone in her messenger bag. ”He wrote a song about me, but never released it to avoid making his fans jealous.”

Max sniffed. “Excuse me, but why would Jagged Stone compose a song about an underage girl?”

Lila rolled her eyes dramatically. “Not like that, silly. It was just his way of thanking me for returning Fang after an incident.” A troubled look came over her face while she continued. “The pilot had been taking off and Jagged hadn’t realized that Fang wasn’t on the plane. We’d been having our weekly dinner and I was heading home when I saw poor Fang sitting there looking so scared.”

“I’m so sorry Lila,” Mme. Bustier spoke softly, but firm. “But could you please explain to them why you’re in Nino and Adrien’s usual spot?”

Lila sniffed and wiped away a few tears before continuing. “Of course, Mme. Bustier. I’m so sorry, it’s just-- I get so emotional thinking about the situation. What if I hadn’t been there to help? Fang would have been separated from Jagged for who knows how long!?” She fanned her face in an attempt to lessen the steady flow of tears from her face but continued to cry. “Ugh, I didn’t mean to cause such a scene on my first day back-- perhaps it would have been better had I just stayed with my mother back home in Italy--”

“Oh no,” their teacher interrupted. “Lila we’re so happy to have you here. Please, take as long as you need to calm yourself.”

As the new girl walked quickly out of the classroom, the faces of nearly everyone in the room were full of sympathy. Adrien shifted awkwardly next to Nino in the doorway as his teacher turned to face him. 

“Adrien, you have some of the best grades in the class, I figured it would be best to have you help her catch up on any missing work she has to do. As far as the new seating; while helping Fang, Lila suffered serious damage to her right ear and has hearing trouble. I hope you don’t mind helping her.”

Adrien turned to glance at Nino, who shrugged. “Uhm, sure. I guess I don’t mind.”

“Excellent!” Mme. Bustier clasped her hands together, a bright smile still on her face. 

Seriously, what was she always so happy about?

“Nino, if you don’t mind, you’ll be sitting in the back for the time being.”

A slight frown crossed Nino’s face but brightened when Adrien promised to let him copy his notes while he dozed off in class. 

*********

Eventually, Lila opened the door and slid right next to Adrien in the front row. Somehow, there were still a good six minutes before class began. He started to put his head down to get a quick nap in when a voice next to him began speaking. 

“Oh. My. Goodness,” said Lila-- her olive-green eyes impossibly wide. 

Adrien looked up to see Lila staring directly at him. “Uh, is there an issue?” he asked tentatively. 

“Are you the Adrien Agreste?” she gushed. Adrien noted the way her ”As in, son of fashion designer Gabriel Agreste?”

He chuckled awkwardly. “Yeah, that’s me I guess.”

“How did I not realize that earlier? I’m such a big fan of your work! You looked amazing in the latest edition of Mensuel magazine. Your father’s designs for the fall line was ingenious. ”

“Uhm, thank you?” Stealing a glance behind him, Adrien saw a confused Alya and an amused Marinette.

She placed a hand on his thigh and frowned when he pushed it off. “You know, I’d love to get the chance to model with you someday. It would give us a great chance to get to know each other.”

Marinette sighed from behind them and Lila turned to face her. 

“Hello,” her smile seemed to stretch across her entire face-- any trace of her earlier meltdown completely gone. “I’m not sure we’ve met yet. Lila Rossi.” She stuck out her hand at Marinette. 

The designer smiled back sweetly, a hint of exhaustion and something else in her eyes that Adrien couldn’t quite place. “Marinette Dupain-Cheng. It’s nice to meet you, Lila.”

“You seem like a really great person,” Lila beamed. “I’d love for us to become closer friends, if that’s okay with you, of course.”

“I wouldn’t mind that at all,” Marinette grinned. “In fact, Alya, Nino, and I were all going to head to Andre’s after school-- you could tag along if you’d like.”

“I’d love that!” turning to Adrien, Lila grabbed his arm and smiled. “What about you Adrien? You’re not busy this afternoon, are you?”

Adrien eyed Marinette for any sign of annoyance. Once he decided he was in the clear, he agreed. 

“Yeah sure,” he said. “I’m always down for ice cream-- especially Andre’s.”

Mme. Bustier clapped her hands together, smiling once again, as the bell rang. “Alright everyone, please open your books to chapter eight for review.”

Besides, it was just ice cream. What’s the worst that could happen?

[floraisann]

hero interview ↠ park seonghwa

➣ ateez my hero academia au

➣ warnings: none really. there is talk about flame on skin because of hwa’s quirk so if that makes you uncomfortable i’d steer clear of this interview

➣ genre: i’ll just say slice of life. hwa’s just a normal top ranking hero course student trying to graduate man

➣ word count: 1,165

➣ author note: part two of the hero interviews for my bnha ateez au!! origin story will be linked here once it’s released. for now, feel free to read both hongjoong’s origin story and interview :)

➣ other interviews: hongjoong

➣ origin stories: hongjoong, [seonghwa]

➣ main masterlist

“to some, a dry summer’s unbearable heat may stand as a difficult obstacle to definite survival. but such is not the case for the one and only valiant hero, park seonghwa! now my viewers, do you think you can handle hearing the firsthand account of just what goes on in our lovely lumiere’s head?” seonghwa can’t help but sigh at the fiery look in san’s eyes as he points his cue card at him, waiting for his answer. “san, what did i say about introducing me like you’re filming a nature documentary on the candle from beauty and the beast? i am ready though, more or less— let’s just get this thing started.”

❅♩♬♩❅――

“First of all, who are you? Tell us your profile information.”

”Alright, well, I am Park Seonghwa, also called by my hero name, The Red-Hot Hero: Mars. I’ve been a student at U.A. High School’s Korean campus for all of the last three years. My birthday is April 3, so I’m one of the oldest students in 3-A, though Hongjoong is the representative. Then for the overall ranking for this year’s graduates, I came in sixth. I’m currently in my Hero-Work Study under the popular flame hero, Inferno, and my quirk is called ‘Candle’. I am also the eldest of the eight members of ATEEZ.”

“How did your quirk manifest?”

”I think I was nine when it happened? I was a late bloomer regarding my quirk development, but the story honestly is pretty boring. My family was out camping one summer, and while my brother and I were sitting by the fire making smores, my skewer was a little too close to the flame, so when a few embers crackled off the firewood at the bottom, a couple bounced onto my fingers and immediately erupted into flame. I don’t remember it all that well, since I had a sudden rush of adrenaline from thinking I was gonna burn to death, but my mom says the moment I came to my senses and realized it really wasn’t at all painful and that I’d probably developed a quirk, I cried.”

“Why do you want to be a hero?”

”Hmm, I’m not sure how I can answer this actually. If I had to put it into words, I think it’d be because I want to be seen as a reliable figure that people can’t help but want to lean on. I want people to feel that even though we can’t help the bad things that fall upon us, that there are heroes like me that they can call upon when times get tough.”

“Tell us about your quirk. What is it? What are the pros and cons of it?”

”I briefly mentioned it earlier, but the name of my quirk is ‘Candle’. It’s exactly as the name implies, and there are flammable fibers embedded in my skin and hair that I can make burst into flame at will. It’s very simple, but since everyone with the exception of flame and resistance quirks can burn, it’s extremely effective. And it isn’t just the fire part that makes me useful, since similarly to Mingi, I’ve also got the ability to emit soft light like a candle. I think the pros here would be that I can easily stand high temperatures without suffering burns, and I can control the heat of these flames. Early on in my first year, I learned to make completely heatless flames which isn’t very useful, but I like to think it’s a unique skill! As for the cons, well, my skin may be physically incapable of burning, but I can still overheat and fall into heat exhaustion. We also learned last year that it’s possible for my flames to explode if I reach a certain heat, so if the flame is still connected to my skin at that point, it’s possible for me to terribly injure myself.”

“Now tell us about your hero name. Is there any specific story behind it?”

”Honestly I don’t think that many of us graduates have super interesting stories for our hero names, and I’m no exception. I initially chose Mars as a first year because it had a nice ring and you could see the clear correlation to my name*. Over the years though, the name has gained a bit of meaning. When you think of Mars, you think of the scorching hot planet, or you think of the Roman god, right? I want people to think of the burning intensity of the planet along with the strong presence of the Roman god of war when they think of my name, so in the end it still ended up being a good fit, no? Also Mars is one of the planets you can easily see in the night sky without a telescope sometimes, so I want people to think of me as a hero you can always feel watching over you like that. I want to be someone reliable to the people.”

(*i think most atiny already know this, but in case you weren’t aware, if you flip the characters 성화, seonghwa’s name, you end up with 화성, the korean word for mars)

“Do you have any hero role models? If so, who and why?”

”Well I do look up to the hero Hongjoong is working with, Eden, and I’m pretty sure everyone in ATEEZ does. All eight of us have gotten to work with him at some point, and there’s just something very admirable about his efficiency. Besides Eden though, since it’d make for a boring set of interviews if everyone gives the same answer, I really, really admire one of U.A. Korea’s accelerated graduates, Hwall. I’m pretty sure since he was in class B, that other hero team “The Boyz” is very close with him. I ended up taking a particular interest in him not just because he had a fire quirk like me, but because he’s overall a very powerful fighter, yet he has an easily recognizable and incredibly unique style. I do find it odd sometimes when I suddenly remember I’m older than him, but even if he’s one of the youngest active heroes at the moment, I think Hwall deserves the entire nation’s respect for his intellect and tenacity.”

“What was your favorite memory at U.A.?”

”The other members all call me a freak for having enjoyed it, but I think my best memory here by far was the provisional hero license exam. Yeah, we were all immensely stressed and Mingi almost failed, but really enjoyed the rescue phase of the exam. I kept getting frustrated during the initial elimination phase because of how ATEEZ kept getting targeted since people could easily identify us and our quirks, so we really struggled, but then during the rescue phase, I was instantly reminded of why I was dealing with it; why I wanted to become a hero. Just having experienced that test helped push me closer to my goal of being the reliable Mars.”

“Closing thoughts”

“Well, it may not seem like it now, but for the longest time during my training, I wasn’t confident in my skills at all, but as I look back at the years I’ve spent here, it’s very clear that I’ve come a very long way— I’ve grown so, so, so much from even just this time last year too. I’m thankful to this school for giving me the training I need to help others. Once all the members of ATEEZ graduate, I hope we can grow into a reliable team Korea’s proud to call theirs. This has been The Red-Hot Hero: Mars. Thank you for having me today!”

[precuredaily]

Precure Day 184

Episode: Yes! Precure 5 36 - “Go for the Goal! Marathon Race” Date watched: 13 May 2020 Original air date: 14 October 2007 Screenshots: https://imgur.com/a/hrE6zQT Transformation Gallery: https://imgur.com/a/6k6SzS0 Project info and master list of posts: http://tinyurl.com/PCDabout

Gamabunta is that you?

This show has been on a pretty good run lately. We had the vacation arc, haunted school, our festival fun, a day in the life of Urara, some romantic developments, Rin entering the wedding industry, and Karen as a knight. The defeats of Girinma and Arachnea were both suitably epic and inspiring. Well forget all that because it’s a Gamao episode and in true Gamao form, he ruins any goodwill we may have had for him. He can’t even do a last chance black mask monster transformation episode well. Let’s take a look.

The Plot

Cinq Lumieres Academy is having an all-grade level 4 kilometer race, and Nozomi is trying to get out of participating, but Rin keeps insisting she practice. Rin doesn’t have a lot of time TO practice with Nozomi, between her responsibilities to the Futsal Club and having to tend to the family store. More on this later, because it’s time to flimsily set up Nightmare’s scheme this episode.

Gamao is sitting on a bench when he’s approached by Kawarino. Gamao begs the senior executive for a management position at Nightmare but Kawarino remarks that his accomplishments so far amount to nothing. He says maybe he could change his mind if he were to obtain the Dream Collet, and considers giving Gamao the black paper, but decides not to before he disappears. However, Gamao discovers that Girinma "accidentally” left it behind for him, and is convinced he’ll be able to get into upper management. As he runs off to enact his plan, Kawrino reappears and snidely remarks to himself that he doesn’t have much faith in the frog.

We return to Nozomi and Rin’s running practice A few key shots of Rin show that she’s extremely tired but pressing on, because she really wants to repeat her first place title from last year. Karen notices this and decides that they should all join in the practice, so the next day when they run the practice course, all five girls and even Coco and Nuts are present. They begin to climb to a hill that could rival anything in San Francisco, and Nozomi starts to give up, but as she stops to encourage her friend, Rin succumbs to fatigue and collapses.

Everyone gets Rin back to Natts House and when she’s feeling better, she opens up to Nozomi, saying she wanted to do for Nozomi what Nozomi did for her when they were in elementary school. We flash back to a time in their youth when the school had a race, and Rin was the favorite to win, but she tripped and fell and almost gave up running entirely until Nozomi caught up to her and encouraged her to finish the race together. Nozomi promises to do her best in the race for Rin’s sake.

It’s important to note that the route for this race leaves the Cinq Lumieres campus and gets into the town (which I am realizing has never been named). There are signs along the route that point the way, and Gamao has taken a position as a sign holder at a junction. When he sees the Precures coming, he turns the sign to divert them off the route away from the other students, and when he has them all gathered in a dead end forest, he turns the ground into a beyblade arena crater and makes his presence known. When they naturally refuse to hand over the Dream Collet, he transforms and so do they. He tries to mow them over like Tasmanian Devil, zooming around the pit like fat beyblade.

I’m not kidding that’s his plan

The Precures are understandably tired as they’ve been running, but after he mocks them for running for no reason, Dream gets riled up and retorts that trying hard at something isn’t pointless at all, and then they all kick his ass. He pulls out his black paper, but clearly he wasn’t aware of the side effects when it latches onto his face and turns him giant. Now a giant, mindless toad monster, he leaps into the air and comes crashing down on Lemonade, Mint, and Aqua. He smooshes Rouge as well, and then tries to attack the fairies, who are watching from the edge of the pit.

Dream manages to catch his tongue before he can hurt them, and the other Cures emerge, one beneath each foot, lifting him up and throwing him into the wall. With Milk’s help, they summon the Symphony Set and perform Precure Five Explosion, finishing Gamao off once and for all. He will not be missed.

They make their way back to the race route and realize as they turn back into the school grounds that they’re in last place, ruining Rin’s chances at a repeat victory. However, she’s happy enough that she gets to finish together with her friends, just like she did all those years ago. Nozomi declares a race to the finish and sprints across the finish line ahead of everyone else as the episode closes out.

The Analysis

As you may have gathered from my introduction, I don’t have a very high opinion on this episode. Sure, it has some nice character beats, but it doesn’t introduce anything new or build on any facets we haven’t seen before, except to give us another reason why Nozomi and Rin are close friends. It’s not offensively bad or anything, I don’t think there’s any episodes that I outright hate in this franchise, but it’s bottom tier for this show. There’s very little narrative payoff to Rin’s plot in the episode. She overworked herself to the point of collapsing to motivate Nozomi, and ultimately Nozomi did internalize the importance of the race from Rin’s perspective, which she repeated during the battle. It’s nice but I’ve grown to expect more meaningful declarations during these pivotal villain defeat episodes than “I helped her as a kid and she wants to help me now.” The whole point of Five Explosion is a manifestation that they’re stronger together than apart, but this episode isn’t about the full team’s unity, so it falls flat. If it hadn’t been Gamao’s send-off I might have liked it a smidge better, or if it had been Hadenya attacking instead, or even Bunbee, then it may have made sense.

Moving over to Gamao, for a black mask final battle, this fell far short of what Girinma and Arachnea put the girls through. He didn’t seem any more threatening than a strong Kowaina, he only really got in one attack on the girls as a monster before they took him down with Five Explosion. He had a pretty cool effect of being so massive and fast that he generated really fast air currents but they didn’t do any damage to anyone. This battle is a ton of wasted potential. The best part of the fight was actually before he used the black mask. Spinning around the arena like he did was clever, and it worked better than just about anything else he’s ever done. Gamao’s shortfalling is that he’s lazy and shortsighted, he wants to take the easy way out, his plans amount to simply beating the girls up and that’s it. Compare this to Bloody from the previous episode, who nearly talked Nuts into just handing it over, and well, Gamao comes out of this unfavorably. About the only good thing I can say about him is that his black mask form looks really cool, and it’s huger than any we’ve seen so far. I really wish they’d used it more. If they’d swapped him out with Girinma in episodes 23-24 I would have liked that a lot more, it would give Gamao a better sendoff and it feels more appropriate that the weakest villain is the first to go. Alas.

Lastly, the art quality in this episode is in the toilet and that might be the biggest factor in making it seem underwhelming. The characters appear grossly deformed and oddly proportioned a lot.

Even when they’re kicking Gamao’s ass in the fight, which is a series of dynamic still frames, the quality is poor. There’s a shot when Coco and Nuts step in to announce that they’ll be running with the girls, and their models just bounce into the frame like they leaped into the air and landed, rather than stepping. It was bad and kind of hilarious by the same token.

This episode feels like an afterthought on both the writing and animation standpoint. The last few have been so-so in visual quality and if you’ve been following along, you know that’s normal for this point in the show, and of course it’s nowhere near as bad as Max Heart could get, but this is an episode that should have had weight to it, and to see it squandered like this makes me sad.

On the upside I will say I enjoy the little back and forth between Nozomi and Milk, ever butting heads. Milk tells Nozomi that they can all do their best in the practice run, while sitting comfortably in Nuts’s bag being kind of a slouch herself. It was amusing.

Speaking of slouches, Coco probably should go for more runs, because next episode he’s putting on some weight after eating a diet of nothing but cream puffs. Look forward to more on that!

Pink Precure Catchphrase Count: 0 Kettei!

P.S. dear Pretty Cure Splash Subs: your meme subs are not funny.

[botnation]

If you’re looking to travel to another world, tune in to Angela Ho.

Angela’s fine mashup of pointillism and retro/pop surrealism frames each of her high-spirited imaginary playscapes. This unique style sprouted over a decade ago and flourished when she decided to place paid work on hold for nine months. It was this gestation period for personal, artistic growth that gave birth to the comprehensive portfolio that altered the course of her career. By honoring herself, she found the fertile foundation needed for a vast land of dazzling, hypnotic, characters that suggest the truth.

For a deep dive Q&A with Angela on her background, character personalities and flow states...

What were you like as a child?

I was very quiet and incredibly shy around people I didn't know well, although I messaged my sister to help me with this question and she says I was cheeky. My sister and I would always be drawing and with my older brother, we'd have our own mini drawing competitions, I'm not sure if this was good in terms of sibling rivalry though. Our parents gave us a lot of educational-type toys which involved drawing, painting, crocheting and making plaster models. I read a lot, I loved Snoopy comic strips.

At what age did you take a break from paid work to focus on your own art? What were some of the phases and internal struggles you went through during this time? How did this decision impact where you are now?

I was in my mid-30s when I took a break, I was thinking about how time can pass so quickly, our lives are just a tiny blip in the scheme of things so we might as well make the most of it. During this roughly 9 month period I spent a lot of time in my small workspace drawing a lot, reading and looking at anything which caught my attention, like old Fleischer Studios cartoons and anything scifi. The self-imposed isolation wasn't easy as I can be quite social but after this experience I think I've learnt an emotional self-reliance I hadn't had before. I think this has made Covid-19 bearable. I also got over some thoughts I had about choosing to pursue my artistic inclinations and whether it could contribute to the world in some way.

Have you ever felt limited in your expression? How were you able to overcome these limitations? 

Yes. It's still something which I'm working through, how to handle it. I'm realizing that if you're able to express yourself truly openly it is a privilege, although it should be a universal right.

What role (if any) would you say spirituality has with your art?

Initially I was going to answer this question with a "no" in terms of a spirituality guiding me with my work. I have mythical creatures in my art, spiritual ones borne of nature or characters which personify abstract concepts. I like the idea of omnipotent mostly well-meaning beings inhabiting my art but they come from imagination and fantasy and stay firmly within the borders of the board I'm painting or the screen on which I'm drawing or animating.

But aside from mythical creatures, I have had experiences while working where I've felt that there is some outside force helping me along, I'm not sure how to explain it, I've thought it must be some biochemical result of intense focus but haven't explored the concept of it much for fear of sounding flakey. But I brought it up with my artist and designer friend Calvin Ho and he recommended I read a book called "Flow" from the 1990s. So I may have a more clear answer at a later time but for the moment I'm referring to it as The Force. I love Star Wars.

Are there any defining moments in particular where you've felt this force/flow most?

Yes and when I think about these moments they're associated with music, maybe it's music which produces this flow. When I began working as an illustrator and was working on a digital artwork of a kaleidoscopic storm, it was probably the first time I really felt like I didn't entirely produce the work, that something else assisted. I'm wondering now whether there is some kind of musical trance state involved. Also, when working on my 'Interspecies Utopia' show and perhaps more recently having slowed down along with the world while working on a commission for a musician in San Francisco. I feel it when I've switched off from everything, am lost in music and am purely into the work. I could be listening to anything from Four Tet to The White Stripes which I've been listening to again recently or Science Noodles, a Hong Kong-Taiwanese band I've been listening to on repeat. Right now I'm listening to Brian Eno's 'Music For Airports'.

How important is nature to your wellbeing and what effect does it have on you? Do you have any favorite hiking trails in Hong Kong?

Walking in nature is extremely important to me especially in a fast-moving city like Hong Kong where I've lived since 2008. The rhythmic motion of walking and breathing and not being distracted by various things has the instant effect of calming me and recalibrating me. Hong Kong is full of walking trails and green areas, my favorite trail would be Tai Long Wan in the area of Sai Kung, it's a bay made up of four beaches with hills behind it. The Peak Morning Trail is also a favorite as I live near to it and walk it regularly.

Do your creatures ever “speak” to you — and do they have different personalities? If so, what are some of them?

I'm waiting for my creatures to speak to me. I'd like to work more with narrative whether in picture book form or animation so I'd like them to lead me but they do have nascent personalities. A lion character I have is stoic yet kind, it doesn't speak much but when it does the words are important so you'd better listen and never ever cross the lion as it has the power of all nature within it, it can become poetic justice incarnate. A female head I use in short animations represents the inner world of an every-woman, she gets buffeted about by everyday and world events but easily expresses joy too. She thinks too much, I guess she only has a head, maybe I should draw her with her body more often.

In what ways have you been exploring augmented reality and animation in your works? Do you have any upcoming projects that fuse these mediums?

I'm still working on how augmented reality can more significantly extend the narrative of my static artwork, mainly they have been experiments in subtly adding meaning via animation. I've used AR with my 'Interspecies Utopia' exhibition, the HKwalls mural and a work in the Paste-Up Festival in Berlin. Currently, I have a singular artwork idea in mind I'd like to generate but I'm not sure of the physical space it will occupy yet.

What is your intuitive sense regarding the art in the future? In 2120, what do you foresee as the mediums? How much value will be placed on art and artists?

This question makes me think of the Singaporean survey by The Sunday Times which did the rounds of social media in June. It was about the top 5 most and least essential jobs within the context of the pandemic. I was skeptical of this survey but I think a lot of people would have nodded their heads in agreement at artists being at the top of the non-essential list. But I think art and the arts are incredibly important. I think we need to tell stories about ourselves through fiction and emotive means which may elicit empathy and an understanding which news cannot give us. I think there should be more to us than survival and living in their most basic forms. I'm not sure about predicting the future 100 years from now but I wish I could see how things are in 2120, perhaps art will be more interactive and immersive and work somehow with science more. But closer to our present, I really hope that art and artists will make it through the pandemic and current instabilities and that they'll be intact when we eventually settle into a new normal or get back to how we were. I think art is needed for escapism and to make sense of this surreal time of dramatic change.

[mgkconfessions]

Girls, Girls, Girls - Who is who?

This is an overview of the most talked about girls on this blog, who are or were in Kells’ life one way or another. (It isn’t finished yet and I’ll update it whenever I can, next girl will be Sahara.)

(in alphabetical order)

Chantel Jeffries

Nicknames used on this blog: Schantelle, C.

Instagram: chanteljeffries

Twitter: ChantelJeffries

Youtube: Chantel Jeffries

Profession: DJ, Instagram model, Youtuber (although she only posts if her video is sponsored these days)

Relationship to Kells: Probably dated from the beginning of July 2019 towards the end of October 2019.

Summary: I don’t recall the exact date when he followed Chantel or if she was already following him on Instagram, but publicly it all started when she attended his concert at The Wiltern in L.A. on June 30th 2019. Shortly after, both were seen at the Peppermint Club in L.A. to watch Dave Chapelle, where they were being filmed and photographed by paparazzi and afterwards had dinner at the Nice Guy. On July 4th Kells announced that he smashed Chantel and did the walk of shame, the same day they were at the 6th Annual 'Red, White & Bootsy' 4th July party in Malibu, where Chantel was djing and Kells performed as well. However he did the walk of shame actually multiple times according to an anon. Despite many fans complaining about her not being supportive, she did at least post about ‘Hotel Diablo’ on it’s release day. In the beginning there were many paparazzi pictures and videos taken of them (I let you guess who called them) for example when they were having lunch with Chantel’s friends or dinner and one time they even met up in New York, where he did some interviews for his new album ‘Hotel Diablo’ at the end of July. Chantel’s favourite paparazzo even got to asked both Chantel and Kells about their dating life, but neither of them really admitted to anything yet. He also caught them talking to fans or picking up clothes, although not for Jake Paul’s wedding as the title suggests. Jake Paul actually doesn’t like Chantel much and completely exposed her once (around 12:50). Anyway Kells also drove Chantel and her friends to Comic Con in San Diego, where he posted Chantel’s feet on his steering wheel and lap, while he was driving the car. Apparently Chantel didn’t see anything wrong with that and a week later she even joked around with Kells about him driving without a license. So for a month they spend a lot of time together, but since August he was touring again and went to Japan and Europe, so it seemed like they only saw each other a couple of times for example in London, where Kells took a flight earlier than his band mates, while Chantel was again with two friends there. Allegedly when he was in London with her, they started  following each other, after many fans were speculating why they weren’t following each other already, however he allegedly removed some of his likes on more sexual posts, some thought that she might have told him to do it. Twitter was in general a medium for Chantel to subtweet about Kells all the time and having extreme changes in her mood. Especially since September their relationship seemed to go downhill. She tweeted song lyrics about lovers becoming strangers and missing someone, but also starting to forget about him. But around the middle of September, they seemed to be fine again, because Chantel posted a picture of two lovers in a bad on her Instagram story, which she captioned with ‘us’. By the way she previously posted another picture, where the couple resembled her and Kells back in July. However they seemed to have had a fight, maybe even took a break or called it quits, only a couple of days later. Chantel posted about the perfect song for an afternoon cry, while Kells told everyone that he’ll date himself. Two days later he was still in a bad mood. Nevertheless around a week later, they were still or back together and Chantel made their relationship public by posting a paparazzi picture of them in Kells’ car and calling him her baby. Kells took his time until he reposted the picture on his Instagram story as well only to delete it briefly after and then posted it again hours later. He seemed a bit unsure of this whole thing. And I honestly believe that Chantel didn’t post it, because they were so in love, but because it was the last thing she felt she could do to try to keep their relationship going. For her birthday Kells commented nothing special under her birthday picture, but her sister reminded us all that Chantel was still in his life by congratulating her with a picture of Chantel next to Kells’ yellow car. Around that time he fully stopped occasionally liking and commenting on her Instagram pictures and their relationship seemed quite done and over based on the cryptic tweets Chantel wrote in October about him. There was for example her very insensitive tweet about Kells choosing to be sad, which she was called out for by other fans, because it was obvious that she was talking about him or her liking tweets about being ignored. Shortly after that she claimed to have an existential crisis, I assume because of Kells, while he opened up about feeling hurt all the time, but blamed himself for it. The next day he unfollowed Chantel, so it seemed like they broke up for good and the same day he lost control on stage and explained that personal frustration was the reason for it, but that he wanted to get help after the tour ended. Chantel stayed quiet about it, but after a video appeared in which a guy was touching a girl’s ass and then showing the middle finger, while the girl and her friend were dancing on the Tour bus and Chantel and her sister were the only ones tagged on the post, she unfollowed him as well on October 29th. But that wasn’t the end yet, because now she had some things to say in her typical cryptic tweeting style. A day after she unfollowed him, she started with saying that hurt people hurt people, which was a tweet that Kells liked, continued with that she has questions and I assume that Kells made her feel something again. However Kells kept being petty towards her as well with Sahara (see below) and after that ended, him and Chantel refollowed each other on Instagram again and ended up partying together into the new Year 2020, but Chantel seemed to have moved on with Diplo for now, while Kells is in love with the music.

In my opinion these two didn’t fit at all and I talked in more detail about it here, but from the beginning it was clear that they wouldn’t work out, because Kells usually preferred his privacy while Chantel seemed to be someone, who needed and enjoyed the media attention and had no problem with publicizing her relationships. Also Kells was and still is struggling with his own demons and Chantel seemed to lack empathy and understanding for it, accusing him more than understanding that he isn’t in the right mindset for a relationship. I don’t know if this relationship was supposed to be exclusive, because Kells hooked up and wanted to hook up with other girls on tour, but he said before that girls know what they’re getting into, when they’re dating him and Chantel’s own friends literally joked about how Chantel’s bad habit is that she doesn’t know that she has a boyfriend (around 08:04), which was Kells and I also doubt that Chantel was completely focused on him either, although it might have looked like it. She’s a calculated person and knows how to climb up the social ladder and how to play people and present herself in the public eye. I’m sure she always has an eye on other celebrities, from whose relationship she could benefit.

Eden

Instagram: e.d.en

Profession: assistant

Relationship to Kells: She was first seen working as his assistant during the European leg of his Hotel Diablo Tour and the Justin Bieber Big Tour with Young Thug both in 2019.

Hedi Gores:

Instagram: hevin_gg (private)

Profession: co-founder of “Pressed Juicery”

Relationship to Kells: casual dating that turned into an open long-term toxic relationship from probably around the end of 2015 till the beginning of 2018

Summary: They met through their mutual friend Taav Cooperman. At first it was only casual between them until they realized that it was time to stop fucking around. They dated till around his birthday in 2016 and were on and off till 2018. Although Hedi has been described by various people as a toxic person and she went back and forth between Kells and her ex(-es), she seemed to be one of the few woman, he caught feelings for and was also one of the few, who he posted about on his Instagram page. He also knew family members of her, who liked him as well. But apart from that they kept their relationship low-key and most pictures of them were posted by friends. She was also the one, who got him more into fashion and I believe even had some connections for him. It is believed that his songs ‘Let you go’ and ‘The Break Up’ are about her. I don’t know if they’re still in contact, because they run in the same Hollywood circles, but I hope that she will never be a part of his life again, because she seemed to only want to play with him and keep him as her plan B, when she can’t date someone else.

In my opinion she never really loved him, because you wouldn’t play with someone you love and respect. However I think that Kells was in love with her, because she’s actually a mum, who takes care of her son and Kells never really had a mother, so he probably saw her as a caring and nurturing woman. She also fits to his preference of an independent woman, since she runs her own business and was fine with him sleeping with other girls.

Josie Canseco:

Instagram: josiecanseco

Twitter: JosieCanseco

Profession: model

Relationship to Kells: I believed that they were dating, others thought that they weren’t, but after writing this, I changed my mind. It looks like she wanted them to become something serious, while he preferred to keep it a casual fling from around January till the beginning of April 2019.

Summary: Publicly it all started after she commented a black heart under a picture of him around January 14th 2019, which isn’t on his Instagram page anymore. However you can still see the picture on the photographers Instagram page (melimelzone). The only pictures of her and Kells were taken on January 28th, where she went to Sundance Film Festival as well, I assume as his plus one, where they showed Big Time Adolescence. And on February 1st both of them attended Pete’s comedy show in L.A. After that they weren’t publicly seen together anymore, but she was busy on social media liking pictures of him on his fan pages and posting about him and the guys on her Instagram story, while Kells was very likely hooking up with Paris Hilton and partying with Katie (see below). At a mutual friend’s birthday dinner, that happened in the beginning of April, they were already not sitting next to each other anymore (Josie was wearing the grey cap and white shirt) and like 2 weeks later she unfollowed him finally. But that isn’t really a surprise, considering that she unfollowed and refollowed him so often during this short time to the point where fans couldn’t take it seriously anymore. She also wrote many cryptic tweets about him and allegedly deleted tweets prior to being with Kells, in which she was siding with Eminem and agreeing to everything he said about Kells during their beef. She’s also known for posting Eminem songs whenever she’s unhappy with Kells (till this day) and allegedly talked shit about him before, during and after their fling. I guess because he attacked Eminem and then she was unhappy, that he didn’t want to be in a relationship with her. However they seem to be on friendly terms now. Recently she even tried to flirt with him on Twitter again, but he still didn’t seem interested in her like that.

In my opinion Josie is probably too childish for Kells and brings too much stress. Kells is actually a chill guy and Josie seems like things need to go her way or she would throw a tantrum. She also has no problem with pda and publicly living her relationships, although I don’t think that’s so surprising, since she was part of reality tv shows before.

Katie Knobbe:

Instagram: katieknobbe

Twitter: KatieeKnobbe

Profession: wardrobe stylist

Relationship to Kells: I don’t know if she has styled him before, because of her job, but they seem to be in a friends with benefits situation, although some of us believe, that Katie caught some feelings for him. They probably know each other since 2018. 

Summary: tbc

Nicky Mir:

Instagram: nicky.mir

Twitter: NickyMirXX

Profession: assistant

Relationship to Kells: Fans seem unsure of how long she has worked as Kells’ assistant and if she’s still working for him, but it has been at least a couple of years. She is also a huge fan and part of EST.

Sahara Ray:

Nicknames used on this blog: PG (Personal Groupie)

Instagram: sahara_ray

Twitter: Sahara_Ray_

Profession: Instagram model, owns her own swimwear line “Sahara Ray Swim”

Relationship to Kells: Very likely just an extended hook up, who joined him for a short period of time while on his tour with Young Thug in November 2019, although she acted like they were a proper couple throughout the whole time.

Summary: tbc