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whatisreggieshortfor · 2 years

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Studying With my Girlfriend

When his roommate won’t leave him alone about it, Gary tells him he has a girlfriend. But when he claims it’s the quiet smart girl in his class, will he be able to keep from falling when he finds out she’s not what she seems?

Gary x MC

For @csmicletters

Part two

Regina had no idea who this boy was or why he had thrown his arm around her and called her his girlfriend, but the pitying part of her brain convinced her to play along for the time being.

Well that’s not entirely true.

She knew the Who. By name, if nothing else. Gary was in one of the engineering classes she took for her minor. His equations left a lot to be desired, but when it came to hands on work, he was top of the class, just ahead of her.

She knew he was on the football team, he played goalie because, again, he was better hands on than using his head.

That was the extent of what she knew about him. They had never spoken before, unless maybe he was one of the people that asked to borrow a pen and she passed it off without looking up from her own notebook.

But the Why of this situation was anyone’s fucking guess.

She was just trying to study for an exam in her astrophysics class the next day. The library was supposed to be good for that. She took a table away from the popular area, spread her stuff enough that no one would try to sit directly next to her, but could join her table if it got busy.

She should have been left relatively alone.

Until Gary, in all his blond and bulky muscled glory, dropped into the seat next to her, arm draped around her shoulders, and said, “Sorry mate, I’m studyin’ with my girlfriend here.”

Regina glanced between the two, meeting the eye of a curly haired brunette boy that looked like he belonged at Woodstock, before chiming in, “I must’ve forgot you were meeting me. Let me move some things.” She shifted the books in front of Gary out of the way, and could see his surprise that she’d played along before he laughed a little too forcefully.

“Naw, babe. I’m helping you study. How am I supposed to do that when you take your books away?” He picked the closest one up, brow furrowing heavily at the title- Astrophysics, Space Anomalies, and Their Mathematic Counterparts.

The brown haired boy cleared his throat, holding out his fist for her to bump, “Sorry about the intrusion, mate. Name’s Rocco, I’m Gary’s roommate- well, I was.”

She knocked her knuckles against his, pen clenched in her hand, “Cool, I guess. Is there a reason you’re joining us?”

She wasn’t usually this standoffish. But this exam was worth twenty five percent of her grade, and honestly she just wanted to study.

“Oh, uh, n-no, not particularly. Just catching up with him, but he was in a rush to meet you. His girlfriend.” Regina narrowed her eyes as she frowned, not liking the way his friend was clearly assuming he was lying. I mean, she knew he was, but his friend shouldn’t be assuming that.

“Well, you’ve met me now. I’m a real person. So, either pull up a chair and help quiz me, or pop out because this is a very important exam.” Gary’s eyes widened a bit at the bite in her tone. But before he could say anything, she turned to him, “Is this the one you told me about? Or was that a different arsehole you had to room with?”

Gary had never told her anything, but he didn’t miss a beat, “Babe, that was Jakub. I roomed with him at a team event and he kept me half the night re-ironing his socks.” She nodded, a fake look of remembrance on her face, as if recalling a memory. Damn, he didn’t know she could act like this.

Rocco awkwardly nodded his head, wishing her luck before scurrying away. Gary stayed in his seat, though he sagged in relief. She raised an eyebrow at him, “So. How long have we been dating?” Just like the tension was back. She snorted, “Relax. I didn’t sell you out then, I won’t sell you out now. But I’d like an explanation. Maybe the backstory here.”

Apparently, at the end of last semester, Gary’s girlfriend from back home had dumped him. Something about having a glow up and she realized he wasn’t the Prince Charming she had thought he was. Rocco had tried to help, set him on a blind date with a girl, but now she was looking to curse him, literally, because he’d never called her back. He’d told Rocco he met someone else when the new semester started, before said boy dropped out and started living out of a food truck he’d dumped the rest of his college money into and parked on campus, but since he wouldn’t take his word for it after a couple weeks, Gary approached the first girl he recognized. It just so happened to be the one he stared at in his engineering class, not that he told her that part. But he did tell her that he told Rocco instead of the girl directly because Rocco was a huge gossip and it would be more believable if the news didn’t come from the guy that was clearly avoiding her.

“Honestly, I thought you were gonna punch me as soon as I touched you.” Gary admitted when the story ended, “You’re rather scary in class.”

“Good.” She nodded once. “So how long have we been together? Since break or since the semester started?”

Gary blinked, confusion on his face, “You’d be willing to keep up the act?”

Regina shrugged, “My best friend says I need to stop spending all my time studying, and that other things than school matter, yada yada yada. I just want to get my degree and move as far from Chatham as I can, but I guess helping you wouldn’t hurt too much. But you’re not prepared for what you’ll hear about me.”

“You’re from Chatham?”

She raised her eyebrow, “Yes. Can’t you see I’m oozing hometown spirit over here?” She gestured to her attire, mostly black and grey, and Gary snorted with a grin.

“I’m from Chatham. Guess we could say we ran into each other over break and hit it off.”

“Bang on. So roughly three months together? Geez, take me on a date once in a while.” Gary rolled his eyes, but he couldn’t hide the mirth in them. She was a lot funnier than he’d imagined. “What’s the level of PDA I should be expecting with his exactly? Cause I can deal with hand holding and touching, but I am not about to make out in front of people.”

“That’s fine! I don’t you to be uncomfortable. I still can’t believe you’re willing to do this.”

“Okay,” She started to reach for the book he was still holding, “I really do need to study now. This exam is huge.”

Gary hugged the book to his chest. “Hey now! I’m here to help you study, remember?” He held the book out, but in a tight grip so she couldn’t try to take it. “Get me to whatever chapters you need quizzed on.”

Regina had expected him to be a huge distraction- and he was. He kept making her laugh by mispronouncing words on purpose so that she had to correct him- proving she knew exactly what he was quizzing her on. But he also took it seriously enough that she felt confident in her knowledge by the end of it.

When it was over, he took her bag and the books that didn’t fit inside.

“I can carry my own things, you know?”

Gary shrugged, “Can and should are different things.”

Regina grimaced, “One of my housemates has that sewn on a throw pillow.” He chuckled. “So. Where exactly are you taking my things?”

He shrugged again, “Your car or your dorm or whatever. I’m walking you.”

She tilted her head, “Am I a dog? You need to take me for a walk?”

“Yes.” He deadpanned, “I am merely walking you because otherwise you’ll get bored and chew on the furniture.”

She laughed, almost too loudly for the library, and god, her laugh was hideous. But Gary wanted to hear it more. “Alrighty then, boss man. I guess you can walk me back. But it’ll shock you and you’ll hate it, completely ruining whatever image you have of me in your head, so don’t say I didn’t warn you.”

On the walk, they told each other information someone would learn when they’d been dating someone for a while. She learned his favorite color- blue. He was raised by his nan- who she’d actually met at the community center back home a few times. He was only in university because it was what his nan wanted- he’d have been happy doing construction like his uncles had. She told him about dreaming of space all her life- wanting to help the world by assisting in its exploration. Told him about being raised by a single mother with the help of her best friend, Regina’s best friend’s mom, and he’d actually met them both. They bonded briefly over having absentee dads. She even told him about her irrational fear of ants after a mishap of sitting on ant hill as a child, and he only judged her a little bit for it.

By the time they made it to Greek Row, she almost didn’t want the walk to end. Stopping in front of the Kappa Sigma house, she grimaced. He looked confused.

“You…are a sorority girl?”

“Not by choice.” She defended. “Legacy and all that. Shannon was forced into it, too, so at least I like my roommate.”

“How have I never seen you at the parties?” Ah, yes. The parties. Her president may be a business major, but she preferred to spend her time with a cocktail in hand and her tongue down her boyfriend’s throat.

“Simple. I don’t attend them. I stay in my room.” He nodded like that made the most sense in the world.

Opening his mouth, he was interrupted by an unmistakable bubbly voice behind them, “Oh em gee! Regina, are you talking to a boy??”

Chelsea was loud as she always was, and suddenly Regina could see a whole mess of her ‘sisters’ peering out the first floor windows or around the front door she still held open. She sighed, “Chelsea. Good to see you. My boyfriend was just walking me back from the library.”

“Lolz, no seriously! How could you meet a boy when you live more at the library than you do the house?”

Gary could almost feel Regina’s eye twitch. “Nice to meet ya, Chelsea. I actually know Reg from home. Ya gotta love a smart girl, ya know?” He winked at her, she rolled her eyes.

As he said goodbye and handed her things over, she made the split second decision to kiss his cheek in farewell.

Just to make the lie believable.

The very next night the sorority house was throwing another one of its famous parties, and as Shannon stuffed her bag full of things to escape to her own boyfriend’s dorm for the night, the door of their room burst open. Without turning from her notebook, Regina called out, “Chelsea, we go through this every time. I am not coming down. I am only required to take part in one party a year, and I filled that at quota at the Rush party.”

Shannon glanced back and forth between her and the new individual that entered before she crossed her arms, “Listen knobhead, this room is off limits. You plan on hooking up with a sister, you do it in her own room. Not ours.

Regina were caught off guard by the voice she was familiarizing herself with answering, “Just thought I’d pop in and say hello to my girlfriend.”

She chuckled, still not turning around, “Gary, come in and shut the door.” As soon as she heard it click she continued, her highlighter still skimming over important phrases, “You can’t lie to Shannon.”

“This is the best friend? I guess you told her?” He didn’t sound annoyed or mad, just like he was looking for confirmation.

She shook her head, “She’ll keep the secret, but I mean you literally can’t lie to her. She’s like a human lie detector.”

“One of you prats better explain something.” She interjected impatiently, and so Gary told her the same story he told Regina. She nodded almost imperceptibly when he finished, “Sounds like you’re living a fan fiction. Good luck with that, losers.”

“Just get outta here.” Regina rolled her eyes, “Tell Rahim I said hi.” She could see the name spark recognition in Gary’s eyes, but he wisely didn’t comment.

“Will do, babes. Gary…” She narrowed her eyes at him, clearly sizing him up, “Even if it’s fake, you better treat her right. I’m not dealing with a repeat. I’ll kill you first.”

“Shannon!” Regina snapped. He didn’t need to know about her ex. She rolled her eyes at the glare, grabbing her bag without another word and disappearing out the door. “Ignore her. The important thing is she won’t rat you out.”

Gary nodded, but she realized he was focused more on looking around. She could guess her room was a surprise. The sorority painted all the rooms the same pale pink, but the two of them had practically covered every inch in photos and movie or band posters. He pointed to the large Arctic Monkeys poster that hung above her desk, “You listen to them?”

She was not about to listen to someone shit talk her favorite band. ��Yes. And if you start talking smack, I will defenestrate you.”

He held his hands up with a chuckle, “No, I actually went to their show last year. Frontman really knows how to give a performance.”

Her jaw fell slack, staring up at him, “Please tell me it was as magical as I’ve always imagined.”

“Even more!” The giddy look overtook his face as he started ranting about all the different things the band did as they performed, like he was coming alive talking about it. She’d seen him like this when he talked about his constructions in class, but never when she’d seen him around campus.

Before she even realized it, the two of them had been talking music for nearly two and a half hours. Clearing her throat, she switched off the small speaker she’d been using to show him a new artist she’d found, “You could probably head to the party now, if you wanted.” For once she didn’t actually care about kicking out the uninvited guest to get back to studying, “I’m sure the whole…gotta visit the girlfriend first thing would be believable now, it’s been a while.”

Gary seemed to deflate a bit, “Yeah, uh, I guess I could.” He seemed to be chewing his lip, trying to figure out how to say something, “Would you mind coming with me? I get parties aren’t your thing, but just like twenty minutes.”

She tossed the idea around. She honestly had no idea what made her even agree to this whole thing, it’s not like he really needed her to, and it’s not like she was getting anything out of it. She couldn’t really blame the pitying part of your brain anymore. But still, she found herself nodding. “Fine. Step outside so I can change.”

He shrugged, “You look fine to me but you’re the boss here.”

When she joined the sorority, after being sought out because even as a legacy she had no intentions of doing it, Chelsea had made her and the other new sisters sit through a four hour presentation she’d made on proper make up application. But because of it, and the ensuing days of practice she forced on everyone, Regina was made up and dressed in under ten minutes. The soft white material cling to her body, and the smokey eye she was able to master made her eyes pop even in the dark and neon lighting that illuminated the party. Gary rubbed at his eyes three times, before literally looking in her room behind her. “Stop being weird.”

“Holy shit. I knew you were a bird, but I didn’t know you were so…” he trailed off as he gestured to the entirety of her as she leaned into her shoulder into the doorframe.

She snorted, “No, please, continue.”

He stuck his tongue out and she laughed, “Come on, gotta show you off and all that jazz.” Regina moved to step forward and immediately stumbled, but he caught he against his chest, “God, have you been pregaming and just pretending to study or something?”

She had to focus on something other than the way his firm chest felt under her hands, “N-no. I just…never wear heels.”

His arm anchored around her waist the next moment, “Just lean on me. People might assume things, seeing as we just left your room and now you can’t walk, but if we get a drink in your hand quick enough they’ll just think that you’ve had more than they would’ve guessed.”

Parties were not her thing. But Gary never left her side. He knew more of the people here than she did even though she lived here, and every time someone called his name, his hand would press into the small of her back to lead her to join him. He never let her be alone in the loud mess of chaos. He never let his friends talk over her, even if he was the only one that could understand what she was saying, and he somehow always understood.

Gary was going to lose his mind. He wasn’t sure why he chose her. He thought it was because she happened to be nearby in the library when Rocco cornered him, but now he’s seen her music tastes- his tastes. He’s heard her awful jokes that match his terrible sense of humor. She’s brilliant, and in the gaudy almost nightclub lights the sorority house has on, she looked nearly ethereal. He thought she was gorgeous in the laid back t shirts and jeans he’d seen her wear to class, even the sweats she’d been studying in a bit ago, but this was an entirely different level. He was going to fall, and he wondered if it wouldn’t be worth it even if he fell on his face.

The two of them were actually having a great time, even when people couldn’t hide their surprise that they were together. Though it filled her with the same annoyance she felt at Rocco, her party mood was even bordering on enthusiastic.

Until Shannon came crashing through the front door, scowl on her face but eyes still puffy.

What shocked her more was that Gary made the first move, gently pulling her through the crowd until Regina could reach her, and then immediately ushering the two of them out the sliding glass door off the kitchen. He slid it shut, facing the party with his arms crossed over his chest, as if daring anyone to try to interrupt.

Shannon didn’t even ask him to stand guard from the inside before she exploded, so Regina knew she was upset. She never let anyone see her be vulnerable but her. “He cheated on me!”

Regina’s entire body went rigid as Gary’s eyes blew wide. Voice was even when she spoke, not angry, not sad, just even, “With who?”

She threw her hands up, “Some girl on the school cycling team! Joanna or some shite. She was still there when I stormed out.”

Regina shouldered past Gary without a word, and Shannon was hot on her heels trying to talk her out of something- what it was, Gary wasn’t sure, but he was definitely interested enough to follow. She stomped up to the bubbly blonde he’d met the day before, an edge in her voice that made her eyes widen, “Chelsea. My bat. Where is it?”

Shannon was adamantly telling Chelsea not to answer, but as the blonde bounced between each of their faces, she whimpered, “I’m sorry, Shannon. She scares me more. It’s this way!” She scampered off down the hall, returning a few minutes later with a baseball bat, barbed wire wrapped around the end. Gary’s eyes widened as Regina took it, stomping up to her room. He stood in the hall as Shannon argued with her, becoming more and more sober as she stomped out again in what were definitely steel toed boots, jeans, with a leather jacket thrown over her tank top and the bat clenched in her grip.

Gary had one thought. She looked fucking banging hot.

The night air nipped at their skin as she stomped her way across campus, and Gary was aware he should’ve definitely stepped in, tried to talk her out of it, but Shannon seemed resigned to the fact that there was no stopping her.

Approaching the dorm confirmed what Gary had suspected, he knew Rahim from the gym.

The RA intercepted them. “Reggie, please. I can’t keep calling maintenance to replace doors.” This has happened more than once?? Gary’s mind was reeling.

Regina wasn’t phased, simply holding out her hand and waiting until he sighed, digging into his pocket and setting a key in her palm. She clapped him on the shoulder, “We never saw you, Lucas. You were too busy studying for that physiology exam you have on Tuesday.”

“How do you- no, nevermind. I don’t care how you knew. Just remember it’s late. Try not to get security called.” Gary watched the dark haired man disappear back into his own dorm.

“What. The. Bloody. Hell.”

Shannon shrugged, “Ya get used to it, mate. Reggie has skills and tenacity that scare the average person.”

By the time they turned back to her, she already had the door unlocked and unlatched, kicking it the rest of the way open so it smacked off the wall behind it, “Hellooooooooo!”

“Oh fu- Reggie, please!” The man of the hour was a good foot taller than the woman in front of him, but he scurried to the furthest corner of the room away, “I tried to tell Shannon, it wasn’t what it looked like!”

“Reggie is for my friends, Ibrahim.” The bat sat hefted onto her shoulder as she watched him, and Gary was fairly concerned he was going to pass out on his own without it being involved, “You think I’m gonna believe you over my best mate? She saw you kiss her.”

Ibrahim looked like he was going to throw up, eyes darting to the Irish girl that leaned against the open door, “You saw that?”

“Aha!” Regina snapped, “I lied. She never told me anything. But you just admitted it happened.” Shannon turned out the door, and Gary followed her. He was still entirely unsure what the fuck happened tonight, but he didn’t think she should be alone.

Nearly twenty minutes later, Regina joined them outside, bat still poised in her shoulder and a cardboard box full of things tucked under her other arm, “Babes! Is this all your stuff?”

Shannon peered into it, just to laugh, “Reggie, you know damn well none of that is mine. I never left things over there when I stayed.”

“It’s not?” She hummed, “What a shame.” Regina chucks the box over her shoulder, and Gary’s mouth drops open as he recognizes Ibrahim’s laptop skidding out of it across the ground.

“Holy shit, mate,” he says breathily, “You might the craziest bird I’ve ever met.”

“You haven’t seen anything yet.” Shannon smirked.

Gary was stunned. He’d always seen you throughout your years of shared engineering classes and assumed she was just a pretty nerd. Clearly that wasn’t right. “What was that? Why was he so afraid of you?”

She looks thoughtful, “You ever seen a show called Wayne?”

“The kid that would fuck people up when someone crossed him?” He was confused, but if she meant what he thought she did…

Regina nodded, “No one knew who he was unless he went after them or defended them. I’m like that. I don’t associate with most people because I really do just want to get good grades and get gone. When I approach someone, they make an ally for life, or an enemy. They have to be a pretty special case. Lucas is used to me, a lot of them happen to live in this dorm building.”

Gary grinned playfully, “So you’re saying I’m pretty special.”

“You approached me, knobhead. Not the other way around.” She smirked back.

For two months, Reggie- he’d earned the right to call her that- and Gary fell into an easy rhythm. When they were in class together, they were sharing a table. He was walking her to and from class, arm tossed around her shoulders, as they talked about any number of things. She helped him study the equations he had trouble with, and now she was fighting him the top spot in their joint class. Regina had even realized that the Jakub Gary had mentioned was already afraid of her, after he had tried to destroy her sorority president’s relationship and she’d targeted him out of principle. A girl approached Regina out of nowhere two weeks ago, she thinks her name was Dottie or something, and said that she was giving up on Gary and wanted her to know that- she didn’t want Regina coming after her for a stupid crush. When she mentioned the interaction to him, he recognized her as the one trying to curse him, but he’d almost forgotten entirely.

And then it struck him with whiplash, they were faking this relationship. They had only been doing it to get a witchy girl off his back. Would Regina go back to never acknowledging him?

As more days went on, he kept up the ‘relationship’ type behavior. Holding her, studying with her, walking her home to the sorority house, kissing her cheek or crown of her head. He was waiting for her to tell him to get lost- just soaking up as much of her attention as he could get. The relationship might’ve been fake, but the friendship was real. And so were the feelings he was cautiously releasing in every ‘boyfriend’ move he made.

Four months into their friendship, he was walking her home when a voice called his name.

Regina watched as the redhead screamed Gary’s name again and again, jumping on his back before he could even turn around and pressing a loud kiss to his cheek. Gary’s eyes blew wide as shocked recognition swept over his features, “Han? Hannah, what are you doing here?”

Her chest seized. This absolutely stunning girl- this was Hannah? The ‘one-that-got-away’ broke up with him through text ex girlfriend Hannah? Oh.

She didn’t even seem to notice Regina. “Nan called me! You haven’t rang her in days!”

“Oh,” Gary sheepishly rubbed the back of his neck, “We’ve been busy studying.”

Hannah laughed, head thrown back as she put her hand on his arm, speaking in a sultry tone, “Since when do you study anything but anatomy.”

He coughed out an awkward laugh, “Hannah, this is Reggie. My girlfriend.”

Hannah’s bugged out, and Reggie’s almost did the same, but she recovered faster, “It’s so good to meet you, Hannah! I’ve heard a lot of things.”

Hannah smirked at her, “Probably all good, I’d hope.”

Regina made a considering face, “Mostly just about the way you dumped him. A text after three years?”

Hannah squeaked, and Gary let out a low whistle. He was almost tempted to defend Hannah, purely by instinct, but he wasn’t the same guy she dumped nearly a year ago. Back when he would broadcast the dumb jock affectation to get people to like him, when she would tell him to tone down the science talk because no one could follow. Regina and Shannon had beaten that out of him- sometimes even literally. Yeah, he played football. But he was a lot more than that, and they helped him remember it. So he settled for pressing a kiss to Reggie’s temple, “Play nice, love.”

Hannah smiled at them, though it was plenty more forced now, “We’ll have to double date sometime. The two of us could catch up and I could learn about Reggie.”

“It’s Regina.” Gary said without thinking about, “She’ll let you know when you’ve earned the right to call her Reggie. It’s a friend thing.”

“Did you have to earn it, too? I was unaware you needed permission to call your girlfriend something.” Hannah raised an eyebrow.

“It’s called respect, Hannah.” Gary sighed. He knew she wouldn’t get it, she gave everyone a nickname. All the different pet names he called her. Half of them didn’t even make sense. “Who are you seeing now? Do I know ‘im?” Reggie could see it for what it was, a way to change the subject. But from the brief look of triumph Hannah sent her way, she knew the other girl took it as a sign of interest in her romantic life- like he wanted to be a part of it again.

“He should be coming right about- There!” Hannah waved at a boy with tattoos walking over, and Reggie couldn’t tell if she wanted to die of laughter, or fear he’d run his mouth. “Guys, this is Graham.”

Graham raised his hand in greeting, looking at Gary friendlier than most men would when they have his ex on their arm.

But then his eyes skidded over to her, and they blew wide before recovering. “Pleasure to meet ya both. Hannah told me how close you two still are and I had to meet the man of legend.”

Gary’s brow furrowed, and Reggie knew why. He hadn’t spoken to Hannah in months. Sure, some could argue he talked to her secretly, but he spent all his free time outside of class and practice with Shannon and Reggie. And the latter didn’t want to bear this awkward situation any longer.

“Well, um, I have class in a couple minutes, so Gare, I’ll meet you later? Leave you to catch up?”

“Don’t be ridiculous,” he said right away, “I’m walking you. I do it every day. We’ll have to catch you guys later.”

Graham nodded, “Of course. Can’t be missing lectures if she wants to see the stars, right?”

Reggie froze, and she knew Gary did too, knowing that Graham should’ve had no way of knowing what she wanted to achieve. Or maybe the condescension in his voice. But instead of questioning it, Gary tightened his arm around for a second before nodding once and steering her away.

They found themselves drifting toward the sorority house- seeing as neither of them actually had class right now. They had been released from a lecture just before Hannah found them. Shannon was sitting at her desk when they got there, half paying attention to the essay she was typing when they caught her eye and she raised a brow, prompting.

“Do ya know a Graham?” Gary asked, because honestly he was still just confused. But the pale girl’s face blanched before she was tossing her chair aside and rushing to Regina.

“Did he try something? Say anything? How’d he find you?”

“Whoa, whoa, Shan, he didn’t do anything.” Reggie laughed humorlessly, “It was actually Gary’s ex that found us.”

“The blonde? I thought we were done with her already.”

“No- Hannah.”

“Oh.” Shannon blinked, “But what- how-“

“Hannah is seeing this Graham now.” Gary filled in, “But who is he?”

“Isn’t it obvious?” Reggie raised her hands uselessly.

And that’s when Gary remembered the first time he had been in your room. The way Shannon threatened him. “He’s your ex.” The words left him more like a puff of air, hanging there even as the girls nodded. “So, what’s the backstory?”

Shannon made a protesting noise at the question, but Reggie laughed, remembering how she’d asked him questions the first day they actually met. “Not much of a story, I’m afraid. Girl in high school. Girl meets boy who talks big about the world. Girl falls for boy. Turns out boy’s version of talking big about the world is actually just manning a fishing boat for months on end.”

“Boy tried to convince girl that refusing to give up her dreams to follow him meant that she didn’t know what love was.”

Reggie opened her mouth to protest, but resigned herself to Shannon’s words, “Yeah, pretty much. Then girl’s best friend reminds her that their mothers didn’t settle for toxicity and they didn’t have to either.”

Gary was irritated now. Not with her, but with this guy that thought she should have to choose, and then treated her like that because he thought she chose wrong. “Well fuck that guy.” Shannon snorted but Gary wasn’t done, “And fuck Hannah, too, to be honest. I saw the way she was trying to work you up out there. And I know damn well nan wouldnta called her after she dumped me. So we’re gonna do what we been doing, and acting like they ain’t phased us.”

Reggie blinked at him, before a question didn’t seem like it could hold itself back anymore, “What exactly have we been doing?”

Gary knew there were a lot of ways he could play that question. He could act like he meant friendship, act like he didn’t know all the casual touching and spending time together they did meant nothing. Or he could take a bigger risk. “We’ve been dating, haven’t we?”

“We’ve been-“

Gary waved her off, “Sure, lie to all three of us and say it’s been fake.”

Shannon snorted again, “Damn, the audacity. I’m here for it. Keep telling her like it is, Gary.”

Gary turned to face Reggie, look her in the eye, “I liked you long before that day in the library, and I like ya a bloody hell of a lot more now. I know you don’t plan to stick around in Chatham, but we’re almost graduated. Just a couple more months. Maybe I can prove to ya that…I can just follow you out of it. I’ll get a place wherever you wanna take that stand to help the world by searching the skies.”

Regina could’ve cried. The feelings she kept locked in her chest were growing every day, but he had always seemed like a routine guys. She had thought that he kept up the act because it was a routine of things he grew used to doing around her. But it was because he actually felt the same.

“Okay.” She agreed quietly, the shyest smile he’d ever seen on her face. “Let’s try it, if we can make it to graduation, you can tag along.”

Shannon wiped away a fake tear, “I’m so proud.”

But then Reggie smirked, “We’ve been together like seven months now? Take me on a date once in a while.”

Gary couldn’t help but laugh before he pulled her in and finally pressed a kiss where he’s wanted to this whole time, but resisted because it felt like too far.

Masterlist

#litg #litg gary #litg mc #litg gary x mc #college au #fake dating

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charmixpower · 2 years

Note

Question: what would be Winx's and Specialists' favorite sports?

Why would you ask me about sports ball? I don't know shit about sports ball

Bloom probably doesn't have one for a while until she learns about the dragon version of equestrian, and later after she gets a horse equestrian itself. She's likely into most magical sports, because Bloom is always in awe of magic, but I think it would be more of a novelty thing. While her interest in controlling dragons would be longer term because it would help her understand her powers better. Later on as she finally gets a grip on her dragon based powers better she drifts off to a magic user based sport

Stella would say she doesn't know shit about sports, and she's wrong because she keeps forgetting that magical combat (magic user martial arts) is a sport. Actually used to compete in magical combat tournaments when she was younger at her school because her magic teachers thought it would be good for her already insane magic development and skill. It was. This is how she got into Alfea despite her shit grades and record, and later why she got back in despite the lab explosion. Girl is a prodigy at Incursion magic. Doesn't follow it closely, bc she has clothes to worry about, but if your plopped her down in front of a match she could rattle off details about what's going on

Flora doesn't have one. Her hobbies include being locked in a green house breeding flowers to make a new attack, and stopping every several hours to make sure not one's having a crisis while she's gone. With some days dedicated to going into treacherous areas, with minimal supplies to avoid disturbing nature, and studying in the field. She'd find mountaineering interesting but she's not a sports person

Tecna has a stock art of her doing archery, so can I say archery? Jk Tecna would never do a sport in her life. She does think Karate is super cool tho. Seen by her doing martial arts moves that she never proves that she actually knows how to use in her transformation sequences. If eSports is counted then yes, of course, and she dominates

Musa's is magical sprinting? Like imagine track but for faries. It's just like that but instead of running it's flying—wait. Oh my god. I just learned break dancing is apparently a sport??? In the Olympics?? Did not know that. So I take it back, break dancing is her favorite sport

Aisha's is surfing. I don't need to explain this one lol. Sure she likes swimming, but swimming is just a thing you do on Andros. Surfing is something she can show off with. In s3 it's shown she's also into hoverbike tricks, in s2 she steals Timmy's waterbike, and she's definitely into those too. Oh and sport climbing, and dance for good measure. Everyday I wonder how she managed to learn all this with over protective and hyper strict parents and a Nanny breathing down her neck constantly thoughout childhood

Sky I honestly think would most be into dragon controlling, equestrian but dragon, over anything else. Not that he doesn't like sword play, it just seems like he's not super interested in it a lot of the time tbh. Seeing how well trained Lady seems to be, I think thems are just the vibes. Dude likes working, training, commanding animals. Riven makes an annoying amount of dragon based innuendos at Sky and Bloom, and Sky is this close to strangling him for it

Brandon's could easily be a lot of things. Like, remember how when Sky was complaining about something in I think s2 he was just like??? Flipping around and shit??? Gymnastics. Weight lifting also sounds like something he'd be interested in, vibes. Can't explain. Those two feel like the sports he'd be most interested in. Either way his down stairs neighbor fucking hates him

Timmy's is shooting. Just, shooting. He thinks it's cool, he likes it. He needed to be stopped from building his own baster from school property during his first year because that's illegal and dangerous. It's one of the few things he's truly confident in, though early on he has bad performance anxiety so stuggles to show his skills. I don't think Timmy would play games competitively like Tecna, so he plays the games that are in eSports but doesn't do the sport part lol

Helia's is probably his hand string things. I mean each of the weapons is it's own discipline, and that's a sport right?? Helia's hand things likely require a lot of technical skill and finesse, and as an artist I imagine he quite values those two things. I can definitely see him as a child spending days upon days learning tricks with the gloves before he even knew what he wanted to be when he grew up simply because they're just fun for him to play with. Coincidentally this is the reason why he could just transfer into red Fountain without being behind on weapons. He was still practicing with his gloves in art school. Can anyone else see Helia using his gloves to make string art????

Riven, my idiot. What about you. Either sword play or racing. Due to the fact that Riven never got any help or training before RF and is still really fucking good, enough to be just below the two people who likely got the best training Eraklyon could offer, he probably fucking loves sword play and is a natural at it. It's definitely a big passion of his I'd imagine. Racing because have you seen the bastard on his windrider?? He so clearly thinks racing is cool, and does not care that he's being a fucking dumbass about safety. I think if windrider jousting was a thing he'd completely lose his shit in excitement and happiness

Nabu, because I can't just not include Nabu. The type of magical combat Stella is into is more like MMA, or a martial art that your likely to get hurt while in competition, while the magical combat Nabu is more into would be kinda like grappling or fencing. There no like, actually attacking the other side. It's more a test of magical technique and skill, compared to actually being combat practical. This is the form of magic practice Nabu mostly did growing up. Being thrown into the most dangerous friend group in the magic dimension required a bit (read: a lot) of adjustment on the side of his technique, but he still has a lot of fondness for the form

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vgckwb · 9 months

Text

P5R: Rebel Girl (A FeMC Story/P5R Rework) Chapter 180: The Ballad of Makoto Niijima

On Wednesday, after testing was done, Mr. Arai called through the announcement system “Attention! Will Makoto Niijima please report to the Principal’s office.” Makoto was confused, but she shrugged and headed over there.

When she entered, she asked “You wanted to see me, Mr Arai?”

“Please, have a seat,” Mr. Arai said. Makoto took her seat, though she was a little confused. “Your sister came in earlier today.”

Makoto was shocked. “She did?”

Mr. Arai nodded. “She’s coming here Friday to set up a series of interviews to ask about The Phantom Thieves.”

Makoto was even more shocked. “Huh.”

“You’re the student council president,” Mr. Arai said. “I thought you should know.”

“Thanks,” Makoto said.

“Also, due to the recent turbulence, we still do not have a guest speaker for this year’s Cultural Festival. Normally, these things are decided by a vote, but due to recent events, it’ll be nigh on impossible to conduct one. So, I would like to ask if you could invite someone.”

“Are you sure?” Makoto asked. “That’s a lot of responsibility.”

“I’m not asking for an A-List celebrity,” Mr. Arai said. “In fact, it doesn’t have to be a celebrity at all. Just someone who can give a quick presentation. A fireman, for example.”

“I see,” Makoto said. “I’ll try my best.”

“Thank you,” Mr. Arai said. “There’s one other thing I want to talk about.” Makoto was curious. “Did you know I went to school with Aki?”

Makoto was shocked. “My…My mom?”

Mr. Arai nodded. “The very same. In fact, she was the first person, other than myself, who knew about my…orientation.”

“I…didn’t know that,” Makoto said.

“We sort of grew apart once we went to college,” Mr. Arai stated. “We were in different areas of study, and cell phones weren’t really a thing back then. We’d keep in contact from time to time, but we didn’t meet regularly. Still, I like to think of her as a dear friend. I even attended her funeral.”

“Oh…” Makoto reacted. “I…didn’t notice. Or don’t remember.”

“It’s alright,” Mr. Arai said. “You were only three. Besides, you had just lost your mom. I can’t imagine that was easy on you.”

“Right…” Makoto said. “Why are you telling me this?”

“Im telling you this because when your sister came in, she seemed…distressed,” Mr. Arai said. “I know her job can be strenuous, but this felt different.” He sighed. “I know I may be overstepping my boundaries, but I’d like to ask you to make sure your sister is alright on the behalf of your mother. I’m sure she would have wanted it.”

Makoto was still processing all this information, but without hesitation, she nodded, and said “I will.”

Mr. Arai nodded back. “That’s all I needed to hear. Thank you.”

Makoto got up. “Thank you.” She left.

After she left, she messaged the group.

Makoto: Apparently, the prosecutor’s office is conducting interviews at the school Friday about The Phantom Thieves.

Ryuji: WHAT?!

Ann: What do they even have?!

Futaba: Well, as much as I hate to say it, it makes sense.

Lena: What do we do?

Yusuke: Not saying anything is a good start.

Lena: I mean, if they’re already, how long before they figure it out regardless?

Ren: That is concerning.

Haru: Well, maybe we can use this to our advantage.

Makoto: Huh?!

Sumire: How so?

Haru: Based on their questions, we can figure out how much they know and make adjustments based on that.

Makoto: That’s actually a good idea.

Futaba: Now the only question is can everyone keep cool?

Ryuji: Of course.

Yusuke You say that, but you’re the one I’m worried about most.

Ryuji: WHAT?!

Ann: I’m sure you’ll be fine sweetie.

Jose: Yeah, you’ll do great!

Ren: I know we like to kid, but you pull through when it counts.

Ryuji: Thanks.

Sumire: If anything, I’m a little worried about myself.

Sumire: I men, if my coach could figure it out, who’s to say the police can’t?

Jose: Wait, your coach knows?

Sumire: Oh. Yeah.

Suire: Sorry, I forgot to tell you.

Ren: I’m sure it’ll be fine.

Ren: Your coach is rather smart.

Ren: I doubt that some random officer has the deductive skills she has.

Sumire: True.

Ren: So, the plan is to hold steadfast and see what we can figure out.

Sumire: I think the Shujin Thieves should meet after school and compare notes.

Haru: Excellent idea, Sumi-chan!

Sumire: Thanks.

Ren: Alright then, good luck for that, and on your last day of midterms tomorrow.

Ann: Ugh, don’t remind me.

They went home for the day.

Makoto tried to check on her sister that night, but Makoto had to go to bed before she came home. She checked her phone to see that Sae didn’t have a crusader yet, so she was relieved on that front. The same thing happened Thursday, but again, she didn’t have a crusader.

Friday came, and with it, the interviews. Before class started, Mr. Arai took to the speaker to announce “Attention everyone! Today police officers are coming to interview people in regards to the Phantom Thieves case. Please just remain calm, and answer the questions honestly. I apologize for the inconvenience. I know you’ve gone through a lot this year, but I have faith in each and every one of you. Thank you.”

There was some hesitation among the students, but Miss Kawakami shouted “Alright, settle down! I know it’s hard, but our hands are tied on the matter. I’m sure you will all be fine. Just don’t go doing anything stupid, OK?” The class settled down.

When it came time Ren and Ann went together for their interview. Ren went in first. “Good afternoon,” the officer said. “We just have a couple of questions for you, then we’ll be out of your hair, OK?” Ren nodded. “According to our record, you’re currently on probation. How is that going?”

“I believe it’s going well,” Ren answered.

“Alright,” the officer said. “You transferred to this school, correct?” Ren nodded. “And not long after, Mr. Kamoshida got attacked by The Phantom Thieves. Do you happen to know why?”

“That's more of a coincidence than anything,” Ren said. “From what I know, Mr. Kamoshida’s…tendencies were essentially the worst kept secret of the school. It’s possible that this was planned for a while.”

“Hm,” the officer said. “And the following attacks?”

“I wouldn’t know,” Ren answered.

“Did you know Kaneshiro was blackmailing students here?” the officer said.

“I had heard it wasn’t limited to here,” Ren said, “but I was aware, but only slightly.”

The officer looked at her more intently. “Are you aware that your schoolmate Haru is Kunikazu Okumura’s daughter?”

“Haru-senpai?” Ren said. “I mean, I’m friends with her, but she never told me her last name.”

“I see,” the officer said. “Do you know anyone who goes to Kosei academy?”

Ren nodded. “My friends and I met a young prodigy named Jose at the flower shop in the underground mall in Shibuya. I’ve been learning shogi from Hifumi Togo. And Madarame’s former pupil approached me and my friends because he wanted one of us to be his model.”

“Very well,” the officer said. “How tech savvy are you?”

“I’d say I’m average,” Ren answered. “I know the basics, but I don’t have any specialties.”

“Do you know anyone that does?” the officer asked.

“Not that I can think of,” Ren said.

“Hmmmm,” the officer groaned. “Alright. You’re free to go now. If we have any more questions, we can contact Sojiro Sakura, correct?”

“That’s right,” Ren said.

“Very well,” the officer said. “Have a good day.”

Ren got up and left. Once she met with Ann, she just said “You’re up.” Ann nodded and went in.

After school the Shujin Thieves met on the roof. “Just so you know, I kept my cool,” Ryuji said. “At least with my words. If they saw how sweaty my palms were, I’d be toast.”

"Tell me about it,” Ann said. “It seems like they knew more than they were letting on.”

“But why not press further,” Morgana said, popping out of Ren’s bag.

“I have a feeling they’re going to go over notes and narrow their search,” Makoto said.

“It’s a little scary,” Lena said. “I’ve only been a member since the summer, but already they suspect me.”

“I think they’re ‘suspecting’ everyone,” Ryuji said. “See who can break first.”

“I think he’s right,” Haru said. “My father was targeted by The Phantom Thieves, and they seemed to suspect me of being involved.”

“Um, but you were involved,” Lena pointed out.

“I know,” Haru said. “But there’s not much of a reason to suspect that.”

“I don’t know,” Makoto said. “My sister is very clever. Besides, we don’t know what everyone was asked.”

“It seemed routine,” Sumire said.

“Well, relatively speaking,” Ren said. Everyone looked at her. “I mean, when you’re arrested on false charges, the ‘usual questions’ are more pointed.”

“Well, whatever the case may be,” Morgana interjected, “we have an idea of how things are going.”

“They are dancing around the truth,” Ann said.

“Yeah, but it’s not like they can prove anything,” Ryuji pointed out.

“Again, if they have a specific aim, ‘proof’ might not be that much of a worry,” Ren said.

“If only we could get more information,” Sumire said.

Makoto lit up. “Maybe we could.”

“How do you figure?” Morgana asked.

“Principal Arai tasked me with finding a speaker for the cultural festival,” Makoto said. “Perhaps we can get someone involved in the case to come.”

“But who would do such a thing?” Haru wondered.

Lena got excited. “Goro!”

Makoto nodded. “My thoughts exactly. Plus, he’s exciting on his own merits.”

“I’ll say,” Lena replied.

“Do you think he’ll go for it?” Ann wondered.

“Only one way to find out,” Makoto said. She took out her phone and gave Akechi a call.

Akechi picked up. “Hello?”

“Hey there, Akechi,” Makoto said, nervously.

“Ah, Makoto,” Akechi replied. “To what do I owe the pleasure?”

“Well, I know this is on such short notice,” Makoto began, “but our school’s cultural festival is coming up soon, and Principal Arai asked me to find a speaker. I wasn’t sure what to do, but then you popped into my head. So, I was wondering…if you’re not too busy…”

“I’d be delighted to,” Akechi said.

Makoto was surprised. “R-Really?”

“Of course,” Akechi said. “I’m surprised you didn’t call earlier.”

“Well, I was busy with midterms,” Makoto countered.

“Ah, right, of course,” Akechi said. “Well, I look forward to seeing you then. As well as Mr. Arai. What do you think I should get him as a gift to celebrate his new position?”

“I think your presence will be enough,” Makoto assured him.

“How nice of you to say,” Akechi replied. “Well, this has been nice, but I have a work matter to attend to, so I have to hang up now.”

“Alright, bye!” Makoto replied.

“Bye!” Akechi said. He hung up.

Makoto put her phone away. She sighed. “I can’t believe that worked."

“I dunno,” Ryuji said. “I’m worried about him knowing too much still.”

“I feel like we’re at a point where this whole thing is becoming too big to contain,” Haru said.

Sumire nodded. “I think so long as we choose our allies carefully, we can let some things slip.”

“And there’s no better ally than Goro!” Lena cheered. The thieves chuckled.

“Well, I suggest we have a meeting tomorrow to inform everyone and brainstorm our next move,” Ren suggested.

“Yeah, um, about that,” Ryuji wondered, “when should we try and storm Makoto’s sis’s palace?”

“I think that’s a discussion worth having tomorrow,” Makoto said. “Nothing’s changed yet, but I don’t want to be in the middle of a palace when everything shifts.”

“I guess that’s true,” Ryuji said. “Besides, I’m still a little beat from midterms.”

“By the way, you all did well, I assume?” Makoto wondered. Ren, SUmire, and Haru nodded, while Ann, Ryuji, and Lena were a little unsure. “Guys…”

“I think I did alright,” Lena said. “I don’t think I failed anything. But I don’t think I’m getting the top score either.”

“I think as long as Hiroki is in our class, the top spot is out of our reach forever,” Ryuji lamented. “But I think I did alright.”

“Yeah,” Ann said. “This was the hardest I studied for anything. I sure hope it pays off.”

“I hope so too,” Makoto said.

“Well, I think that’s about as much as we can do for now,” Ren said. “I’ll message the others about meeting tomorrow.” Everyone nodded, and they started to leave.

On her way out, Makoto got a message. She checked her phone. She grew alarmed. “Hey, um, Ren? Mind if you run a quick errand with me for a second?”

“Um, OK?” Ren said, noticing Makoto’s concern.

“Thanks,” Makoto said. She took Ren’s hand, and rushed off.

As they were running, Ren asked “Um, what’s this about?”

“Eiko said she needed urgent help,” Makoto said. “She wanted me to bring Yusuke, but you’ll have to do.”

“I see,” Ren said, getting more on board. “Where are we going?”

“Big Bang Burger,” Makoto said. Ren nodded, and the two were on their way. Once they got in, Ren ordered some fires and drinks for the three of them, while Makoto found Eiko. “Eiko!” She went to sit down.

“Hey Makoto,” Eiko said, sheepishly. Ren sat down. Eiko was uneasy.

“Oh, right,” Makoto said. “I know you wanted me to bring Yusuke, but I had some student council stuff to do after school. I didn’t want to keep you waiting, so I brought along Ren. You remember her, right?”

“Hey,” Ren said. Eiko nodded.

“So, what’s the issue?” Makoto said.

Eiko was hesitant. “Um, well, could I borrow some money?”

Makoto was a little relieved. “Is that all? How much?”

“350,000…” Eiko said, sheepishly.

Makoto was stunned. “WHAT?!”

“Shhhh,” Eiko said, trying to calm the situation.

Their fries and drinks then arrived. “Thanks,” Ren said.

“Why do you need that much?” Makoto wondered.

“...It’s not for me,” Eiko said. “It’s for Tsukasa.”

Makoto’s eyes widened. “What?!”

“He accidentally broke a bottle of champagne, and he needs help replacing it,” Eiko explained.

“Eiko…” Makoto said. “Doesn’t that sound a little…fishy to you?”

“What do you mean?” Eiko said.

“That seems like a lot,” Makoto explained. “Even for the fanciest host establishment.”

“Are you saying Tsukasa is dishonest?!” Eiko shouted.

“Would an honest person be texting other women like their also his girlfriend?” Makoto said, showing off a series of texts from Tsukasa.

“How’d you get his number?” Eiko asked.

“You gave him mine,” Makoto said.

“Oh. Right,” Eiko said. “Well, that’s just how he shows affection!”

“Eiko, listen to me!” Makoto said. “Tsukasa is not what he seems!”

“Oh, what do you know?!” Eiko protested. “You and that Yusuke guy aren’t even going out!”

Makoto was stunned. “How did you…?”

“Tsukasa told me,” Eiko said. “I didn’t want to believe him, but…”

Makoto was worried. “Eiko…”

“No!” Eiko screamed. “I don’t want to hear it! Why do you insist on taking away the person that makes me happier than anything else?”

Makoto stood up. “He’s lying to you! He doesn’t care about you!”

“You lied to me!” Eiko countered. “You never trusted Tsukasa! If you were a real friend, you’d have been more supportive!”

“I’m telling you the truth now because I am a real friend!” Makoto replied.

“Shut up!” EIko said. “I don’t need this anymore. And I don’t need you!” Eiko stormed out of the Big Bang Burger. Makoto’s face went pale. She sat back down.

Ren went to comfort her. “Are you OK?”

“I..I don’t know…” Makoto said, still in a state of shock. “I…I guess if I had to put it in words, I feel like a mirror that was shattered into a million pieces.”

Ren put her hand on her shoulder.”It’s OK. You did your best, and that’s all anyone can be asked to do.”

Makoto sighed. “I hope you’re right.”

“But something is bugging me,” Ren pointed out. “Why did she ask you for money? What about her family?”

“Oh, uh, well,” Makoto said, “Eiko’s parents treat her younger brother as this princely figure. So they tend to ignore what she has to say.”

“Yikes!’ Ren said. “I can see why she’d like a host as a boyfriend. It’s practically their job to hang on a girl's every word.”

“True,” Makoto said. “And that’s what worries me. Eiko is the prime target for something nefarious.”

“So, Mementos time?” Ren suggested.

Makoto shook her head. “While it would be nice, Eiko needs to learn her lesson too. Otherwise, she’ll just keep falling for the same trap over and over. And I might not be there to bail her out each time.”

“So, what is the game plan then?” Ren wondered.

“We need to prove to Eiko that Tsukasa isn’t who he says he is,” Makoto said.

“Will she be receptive to it?” Ren wondered.

“Eiko’s smarter than she seems,” Makoto said. “However, she just might not choose to see it. So that’s why we have to open her eyes.”

“I getcha,” Ren said. “Hm.”

Makoto seemed confused. “What was that about?”

“Well, you were worried about losing people without trying everything you could,” Ren said. “Yet you still haven’t given up. Not just on Eiko, but on your sister as well.”

“Oh, uh, well,” Makoto said.

“Relax,” Ren said. “It’s a good thing. You’re incredibly reliable. You’re the student council president. You work so hard. It’s amazing to see you in motion. I think you have nothing to worry about.”

Makoto smiled. “Thanks.”

Priestess-Makoto Niijima: Rank 8

They finished their fries and drinks, and headed out.

Just as Makoto had left for her home, Ren heard “HEY!” She turned to see Mishima rushing over to her. “Hey!”

“Hey,” Ren replied. “What’s up?”

“Wanna go to the diner tonight?” Mishima asked. “My treat!”

Mishima seemed really eager. So despite the fact that she just sort of ate, Ren said “Sure!’

“Great!” Mishima said. “Let’s go!” Mishima and Ren headed into the diner. Once inside, Mishima noticed Ren ordering less food than usual. “Did you eat already? I’m sorry.”

“It’s fine,” Ren said. “I’m still a little hungry. Besides, I want to hear what you have to say.”

Mishima smiled. “Well, I was thinking… I’ve been doing a lot just to get by. But that never took me anywhere. So I shifted to making immediate gains. But that didn’t work either. At least, not as intended. I was getting so lost in the weeds that I couldn’t see what’s in front of me.

So I decided, if I want to change, I have to take the risk. I haven’t been much of a risk-taker in the past, but after what happened with Akiyama, I think I’m ready.”

Ren smiled. “So, what’s the plan then?”

Mishima nodded. “Well…” He noticed Akiyama and his friends walk in. Ren turned to see them as well.

“Well well, look who it is,” one of Akiyama’s friends said. “I almost didn’t see him.”

“Yeah, he just blends into the wallpaper, right Akiyama?” his other friend said. Akiyama didn’t reply. “Akiyama?”

“Let's go,” Akiyama said.

“Huh?” the first friend said. “But-”

“It’s no longer fun to pick on him,” Akiyama said. “Besides, we don’t need to put anyone down to prove that we're great!”

“Are you sure?” his other friend asked.

“Do you wanna test me?” Akiyama threatened.

“NO SIR!” his friends said.

“Then let’s go!” Akiyama said. He walked away with his subordinates in tow.

Mishima nodded. “Well, as I was saying… I’m not 100% sure what the plan is, but I want to break out of my shell a little more. And I want to thank The Phantom Thieves in the process.”

“Oh?” Ren said. “How come?”

“Well, The Phantom Thieves helped me break out of my shell initially,” Mishima said. “And I feel like if I can pass it forward, I’d be doing right by them.”

Ren giggled. “I see.”

“I’m coming up with all sorts of ideas,” Mishima said. “I don’t think I’ll do them all, but it’s better than not having these ideas.”

“Well, are there any ideas that you’re certain of?” Ren asked.

“Mmmmm, a handful,” Mishima said. “But I’d rather it be a surprise for you.”

“Hm hm. Well I do love surprises,” Ren said.

Mishima smiled. “Whatever happens, thank you. And I mean you. I know you’re part of The Phantom Thieves, but you and I have been talking independently of that. Without that, I think I’d still be a bit of a stick in the mud. So, thanks.”

Ren was impressed. She smiled. “Likewise.”

Moon-Yuuki Mishima: Rank 9

They finished dinner, and headed home for the evening.

Meanwhile, Makoto was hoping that her sister would come home on time to check in with her. She was busy with some school work, as well as a plan to figure out how to save Eiko. Suddenly, her doorbell rang. “Coming!” She called out. She rushed to the door.

Upon opening it, she saw it was Naoko, carrying a plate of cookies. “Hey kiddo,” he said.

Makoto was confused. “What are you doing here?”

“We need to talk,” Naoko said. “May I come in?”

“Of course,” Makoto said, inviting him in. They met up at the table, where Naoko set his plate of cookies down. Makoto took a bite. “Mm. These are really good.”

“Hm hm,” Naoko chuckled. “They're my sister’s recipe.” He paused. “Listen…something happened last night.”

Makoto grew concerned. “What is it?”

Naoko paused again. “You sister came over. She wanted information.”

“About what?” Makoto said.

“Well, she said that the SIU director told her that he was working for The Phantom Thieves,” Naoko explained

“WHAT?!” Makoto yelped.

“I had told her earlier than I had some suspicions on who they are,” Naoko said. “I was in Shinjuku one night, and a blonde-haired boy accidentally kicked a rock at me. He came to apologize, and we got to talking. He told me that you had put him on a mission. Though he didn't name you, he just said it was the student council president, but…”

“Right,” Makot said, embarrassed.

“I figured that you were at least working for The Phantom Thieves, if not a member,” Naoko said. “Your sister demanded information, so I told her about you, the blonde-haired boy, and the black-haired girl.”

Makoto became alarmed. “Wha…What did she say?”

Naoko smirked. “She didn’t believe me. She wouldn’t believe me. She has a vendetta against The Phantom Thieves, so she chose to ignore what I had to say.”

“I see…” Makoto said. She pouted.

“I’m sorry,” Naoko said. “I know the cookies can’t make up for it completely, but…

“It’s not that,” Makoto said, shaking her head. “I’m going through a similar thing with a friend of mine.”

“I see,” Naoko said. He sighed. “Well, I’m sure you can figure it out. When I wouldn't listen to your father, he always knew how to take the reins.”

Makoto smiled. “Thanks.” She took another cookie. “And thanks for the cookies.”

“No problem,” Naoko said. He started to leave, but sat back down. “Oh, by the way, I’m working on a really big case right now.”

“Really?” Makoto wondered.

Naoko nodded. “When it’s all said and done, maybe I can stop by and tell you the details.”

Makoto nodded. “I’d like that.”

“Great!” Naoko said “Well, seeya kiddo!”

“Bye!” Makoto said. Naoko headed out. Makoto was happy. This was just the pick-me-up she needed. Unfortunately, it didn’t last. She checked the Metaverse app, and what she found horrified her to her core.

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casliveblog · 2 years

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Custom Toonami Block Week 126 Rundown

Inuyasha: So since things have been kinda heavy lately it’s time for filler again… I mean we had a whole huge stretch of filler right before the Band of Seven arc but we haven’t had Modern World filler so I get the studio’s impulse to go back there now that the group’s finally back in the general area of Kaede’s village. Turns out now that Kagome has some free time her school’s just doing cultural festival shit so she can’t actually get to progressing her studies which sucks because she’s probably got enough absent days to be held back till she’s thirty already. It kinda makes me wonder if her friends are suspicious like ‘Oh you suddenly got better when there’s a party being planned huh?’ like they already know despite being sick she supposedly has a motorcycle gang yakuza possessive boyfriend so I just wonder what kind of life these girls think Kagome has. Anyway Kagome gets roped into doing all the active work since she missed all the prep stuff and all of her understudy positions get called in at the same time so she has to step up and do everything. Also since we can’t just have a filler arc about Kagome doing festival shit there’s a plot point about freeze-dried fungus demons being let loose in the school which nobody told Kagome that if you boil/heat them they fucking pop up in full Foongus form and start murdering so… that’s bad. Also Naraku visits giant ear man from All That to find out where the last jewel shard is. But yeah I remember when Toonami re-aired Inuyasha when it first came back this was actually the last episode their aired before they moved the schedule around, which this is pretty far into the series so it’s not like it was slighted or anything but I just imagine people that haven’t seen the whole thing thinking the series ends with fungus demons destroying Tokyo because someone fucked up.

Yu Yu Hakusho: So with the name reveals last chapter and the group being in a hospital, it’s no surprise that Doctor is the first of Sensui’s henchmen to attack. Apparently Sensui wants Doctor to fight Yusuke to see how he deals with fighting another human to the death which idk I feel like that’s racist. Like I get it’s probably a different matter to kill someone that looks like you but when you think about it and the dozens of sentient beings Yusuke and similar protagonists have killed it never really makes much sense for them to get hung up on killing humans like our lives are somehow worth more than another race that’s basically exactly the same except it has some horns or blue skin or some shit, at least when Bleach redid this whole arc they went out of their way for the first humanoid Ichigo kills to just be a straight up human after all the times of dancing around him not directly killing human-like Hollows. Still, tangent aside, Doctor infects everybody with poison insects that are even more poison and insecty than the ones outside. He also jumps one of the ally Stand Users and plays a pretty tense game of ‘guess the Stand User’ and turns out he has Kabuto’s chakra scalpel from Naruto except his doesn’t suck and can actually cut people and he just murders like five nurses and paralyzes our Shadow Bro Stand User, still with some shadow shenanigans he’s able to tell Yusuke which doctor is Doctor and they have that cool animation scene everyone references when talking about this show and Yusuke fucking blows his arm off with a Spirit Gun, like so much for him not wanting to kill humans, he reattaches the arm but Yusuke didn’t know he could do that and losing an arm’s worth of blood is pretty fatal in the middle of battle even if he does do the ‘I’ve turned off my pain sensors’ thing which I thought we already established in the Dark Tournament arc was not a good thing.

Fate/Apocrypha: It’s the big ‘oh boy here comes the final battle’ episode and Astolfo is all ‘oh yeah I can do a plot thing but I need to prep my anime powerup music’ so they decide to hold off on sieging Semiramis’s fortress and let the protags sulk around for a bit and get their last bits of navelgazing in before all the big fights happen. Caules and Doc OCk girl do the dolphin sex thing Rin and Shirou did in UBW which thankfully they turned down the sexual overtones on given these two are siblings because everyone’s like ‘You’re a girl and don’t like when dogs die and also have no legs so fuck off’ which seems kind of mean, like I know it’s not like this all the time and I don’t mean to sound like an SJW here but I kinda don’t like when they do the ‘you don’t have the heart to be a warrior’ thing to girls, like at least this girl’s still gonna fight but the only time that speech has ever been pulled off without feeling weird is FMA where they made it absolutely clear that Winry murdering Scar for revenge was a bad idea and they were just cockblocking her from plot relevance. Anyway Jeanne sees Astolfo’s Monster Energy Can and answers some questions the internet still hasn’t settled for some reason, and then Astolfo goes on a date with Sieg for no real reason and they run into Mordred and are like ‘hey, humans huh, aren’t they weird?’ and they have a long weird pretentious talk that basically ends up with ‘yeah humans do bad stuff and good stuff’ which ranks up there with KLK’s ‘humans are humans and clothes are clothes’ in terms of dumb morals except KLK was doing it on purpose. Anyway Mordred asserts she still wants to be a good guy at the end of the day and vandalizes their airplane while everybody has their ‘yeah let’s go final battle time’ moments. I mean we are getting close to the end but I’ve learned from FGO that no matter how many times they say ‘this is the final battle’ there may still be like three or four final battles left.

Speed Grapher: We pick up roughly where we left off, Kagura knows she’s dying now and is worried about Saiga’s eyes giving out from the Euphoria Factor and they fight because Saiga wants to go it alone to protect Kagura and Kagura just wants to be with Saiga even if it means dying. Saiga agrees to testify to Parliament about Suitengu on the condition that Kagura doesn’t have to and they get her out of the country. Meanwhile Ginza gets reports about Suitengu’s plan causing everyone in the city to go crazy and causing a massive crime wave but she’s way too deep into her character spiral to care and has more money than she ever needs so cleaning up after the police isn’t high on her priorities so idk if she even works for them anymore. Saiga goes out to think and ends up talking with a guy named Joe who’s drunk and oblivious enough to not recognize him but admits he’s a big fan of Saiga’s because of how he’d be brave enough to run into warzones and stand and fight for what he believes in while the real Saiga tells him that causes aren’t worth dying for since he’s not testifying to bring down Suitengu he’s only doing it to protect Kagura but he and Joe kind of admire each other all the same. Saiga goes to meet up with the Parliament member’s group the White Eagles and they get ready to prep Saiga’s testimony, murmurs in the group reveal Joe really is a member of the White Eagles but there’s a mole in the group and people think it’s him. Still Joe comes in with a full list of Roppongi club members left behind by an assassinated former member and reveals that the Parliament member’s really a member of the club and HE’S the one leaking the White Eagles’ activities to Suitengu and the main government. The politician reveals his true form as a Euphoric and becomes a speaker man that blows everyone’s eardrums and scrambles their brains with sound (this makes sense since he’s one of those rich dudes that listens to classical music on speakers bigger than he is but it wasn’t relevant till now) Saiga survives the sonic blast because he’s a Euphoric but Joe and the rest of the White Eagles die and now Speaker Man has kidnapped Kagura and Saiga’s gotta face him down while Ginza and the newspaper guy are on their way inside. Also they couldn’t resist going with the ‘Good Vibrations’ title for the next episode which is very cheesy but if I’m being honest I’d probably go for it too.

#ooc #Toonami #Custom Toonami Block #Inuyasha #Yu Yu Hakusho #Fate Apocrypha #Speed Grapher

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maddiem4-writes · 2 years

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Reposado - Chapter 5

Okay, okay, it’s fair to call what I was feeling an infatuation with Mara. There is nothing untrue about that - sure, fine, you got me. But you know what, that infatuation was deserved. She had a brightness about her that demanded to be cuddled close. When I daydreamed, she was teaching me how to dance. When I dream dreamed, sometimes it was more than that in a dirty way, sometimes it wasn't, but I always loved the feeling in that imaginary place of her breath on my neck, of her body against mine.

When she walked into the room that day, I went down the mental checklist to be sure I wasn’t having a heart attack. I did check several of those boxes, just not enough to count. I was certainly sweaty enough though, god damn. The shit you gotta deal with when you have feelings, it’s… you know what, it’s just a lot. It’s just a lot.

Health class didn’t really have stable seating arrangements, since we’d usually compete to be toward the back of the room, and it was pretty first-come first-serve. You know, it’s health class. And I was, by habit, only in the second row, as sort of a leftover from social studies. I was a little shocked when Mara joined me, directly to my right, nothing in between us but a column worth of empty space. And she was beaming.

“Um - hi!” Yes, I was super smooth about it.

“Hey! I can’t believe we’ve never sat next to each other before! I mean - you don’t mind if-“

“Oh no, go for it, yeah. You are totally… welcome… to sit right there. Cool.” Oh shit, I must have sounded so sarcastic. Yikes yikes yikes yikes yikes.

“You’re sure, you’re not just saying that because we hang out at lunch?” She was genuinely concerned.

“Nope, I uh… I really like spending time with you. It’s good. Yeah. I’m glad you’re here.” Glad she’s here, like there aren’t truancy laws, fucking hell Lisa. Get it together. “You can literally sit wherever you want.” Argh. “So… I’m glad you’re here next to me.” Saved it. God damn.

“Well thanks. It’s nice to have a familiar face here.” She waved around like a window washer at me, gesturing at my general desk area. “You ready for this one? It’s the start of the human reproduction chapter.”

My whole body tensed up like an electric shock. “Oh wow, I thought we had… other chapters… are we skipping those chapters? Uhhh!” I couldn’t conceal my panic.

She laughed, and then patted my arm in a way that would have felt amazing, on less of an adrenaline spike. “Pffft! Nooo, we’re still on skeletal anatomy. You’re way too easy to mess with, Lees. We have like five chapters before anything like that comes up.”

I unclenched my pencil. “Oh. Okay. Oh cool, that’s a relief. Holy shit you had me going.”

She grinned at me apologetically. “I really did, didn’t I? Sorry, didn’t realize you’d panic so bad.”

I gave her my smoothest denim jacket girl smile. “No worries, we’re cool.”

Mr. Rutherford had apparently gotten the overhead projector warm and finally cleared his throat. He straightened his glasses, and his bowtie, gave his hair a quick scratch, gathered his paper notes, and opened the textbook to a bookmark. With a long weary sigh, he addressed the class.

“Due to the reduction of funding, we’re going to be skipping ahead a few chapters, to make sure we get a chance to cover human reproduction. Now-“

I’ve never seen a look of shock pour onto someone’s face from the inside quite like I did on Mara’s in that moment. True bliss, but that’s why I had a laughing fit that got me sent to the nurses’ office, and I missed the whole fucking class. Winning again, Lisa Meyers. Winning again.

#reposado #writing #maddiem4 #novel

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dragonsareourfuture · 3 years

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Ways the Death Note Cast Show They Trust You

I lost some inspiration towards the middle there, I’m sorry!!

- he will always have Watari make extra servings of food just for you. It’s a bit startling at first. So suddenly there’s just food in front of you that you think is for L, but when you push it towards him, he pushes it right back to you.

“You don’t want it?” He’d ask, leaving you confused until you finally put the pieces together.

“Oh, I…I guess I didn’t realize it was for me. My bad.” You begin eating. “Thank you.”

L simply hums and continues with whatever he was just up to.

- You know that thing cats do where they’re sitting perfectly still, eyes closed, guard slightly down, but still not quite asleep? I can picture L doing something like this during any moment of downtime he gets. Just sitting, scrunched up in his chair or wherever he happens to be, eyes closed but the cogs in his brain are still turning. You notice him doing this when it is only you and him in the room, simply thinking it’s because of the moment of rare solitude. Little do you know, it’s because he trusts that you won’t hurt him or let anything bad happen to him.

- L is a person who prefers to be in charge of his own life. He likes knowing what’s going on around him at all times and when things are out of his hands he can’t help but feel uncomfortable. However, with a person he’s developed a close relationship with and knows he can trust with everything he has, L will feel more comfortable leaving decisions up to them. You’ll have to start small though, like being the one to plan a surprise date. He might feel a bit uncomfy at the beginning, shifting around and possibly even insisting he sit so that he can see the exits clearly, but he eases into it eventually. Soon you both find yourselves joking around in the odd way that you do and gorging on cake and ice cream.

Mello

- being vulnerable is something Mello isn’t too keen on. He already feels vulnerable most of the time and would kick himself if he let that show through his actions. If Mello truly trusts you, he will feel as though he can be vulnerable around you without any judgement on your end. Small acts that show vulnerability such as asking you to help him with something he can’t quite handle on his own — even if it’s something as simple as not being able to reach something off a shelf or being unsure about how to fix something. Eventually, he’ll work his way up to the bigger stuff like being physically wounded in front of you or having a mental block.

- Sharing his clothes with you or letting you pick his outfit for him. Now, it sounds like he’s just being a little diva and that’s only partially true. But his clothes are important to him, they’re a factor that sets him aside from his plain-dressing rival and in his eyes they make him more interesting than him, visually at least. He’s happy to dress you up, and it is true that he has to have a close relationship with you to want to do so, but you should be especially proud if he lets you alter his appearance in any way.

- He likes to believe that he’s had his goals set out from the beginning. Surpass Near, become the next L, and go on from there. What he pushes to the back of his brain are the moments he’s been studying and he’s asked himself ‘What if I went down a different path?’. He quickly pushes these thoughts away, but they keep coming back. What would life be like if this wasn’t an option for him? What if he were a writer? What if he lived in the city with people he loves and went to the movies every Friday? Unwillingly, he has a whole list of possibilities. If he truly trusts you, he’ll share every single one with you. Whether it’s dropping hints or confessing them one by one late at night, he can’t help but feel that they’re safe with you.

Misa

- it seems a bit surface level, but it’s true — Misa will talk down on Light in front of you if she trusts you. But it’s not straight away. She had developed a lot of courage to actually break up with him, but that doesn’t mean she doesn’t still doubt her decision to do so. It’s only when she finds out from you how loved ones are supposed to treat each other — with kindness and respect — that she feels her decision to ditch Light was the entirely right one. Slowly, she’ll start to admit to you all the things she hated about Light, starting with some of his mannerisms and building up to something like how he forced her to leave the entertainment business.

- Misa is…dramatic. She likes to go above and beyond for someone she’s infatuated with and make sure they’re the happiest they can be. If she trusts you enough to develop this kind of infatuation and, with some development, less of an obsession and more of a strong, bonding love, you will be doted on to the point where it’s almost ridiculous. You could be at home during one of her work days and you’ll get a delivery of lunch from your favorite takeout place because Misa was ‘thinking of you <3’, as she explains when you text her asking why food randomly showed up at your place. It’s rather sweet.

- Misa’s a pretty talkative person in general, that’s a well known fact. She’ll talk about clothes, a cute birdie she saw on her way home, really anything that comes to mind. But, she’ll do that with about anyone who’ll listen. It’s gradual, so it’s hard to notice, but if Misa grows to trust you she’ll start talking about some of the more serious things that have been on her mind for a while, those things that she thought would scare off anyone she liked because of how personal they are to her. Her family before they died, for example. It’s something that Misa thinks about. So much. But she doesn’t really talk about it. She wants to forget, put the past behind her but because she’s never talked about it with anyone it’s hard to do that. She’ll talk about her family to you, the little things her sister used to do and some things her parents did that she misses.

Matsuda

- Matsuda often begins to idolize those who he thinks are trustworthy and have a good heart. He starts to tell you how much he loves when you do x and that he wishes he could perform as well as you in that area. In a sense, he trusts you with his vulnerability, letting you know that he thinks of himself as less than satisfactory and how he wishes he could do better, only he channels it by pointing out good things about you. If…that makes sense.

- This sounds dire, but he’ll risk his life for the people he completely, without a doubt trusts. He was willing to do so with Chief Yagami, someone he saw as a father figure, and he would certainly be willing to do so with you, someone who he feels he has a deep emotional connection to. Whether you’re in a situation where he would need to or he’s just saying that he would, he means it.

- Matsuda trusts you to not make fun of him when he overshares or talks too much or anything his coworkers brush him off for. He feels that he can talk about things he finds funny and talk about his life without worrying about what you think of him when he does.

Matt

- he would drop everything to help you. Whether that’s dropping his game to help you kill a bug or leaving his duties behind to help you out of a life or death situation. Whichever scenario you happen to find yourself in he’s there no matter what.

- He’ll invite you into his personal life. I know this is kind of a given but Matt had the chance to become the next L. He had the chance to become something “great” and he said “ummm rather not” to it because it wasn’t something he wanted. If he shares this information with you, he trusts you not to leave him for something better when you discover the status he could have had and refused. He trusts you to appreciate him because of him and not the intelligence everyone but him cherishes.

- He leaves you alone around important technology and software he’s hacked. Unfortunately for him, betrayal comes with the business he’s got himself into and, if Matt really trusts you on both a professional and emotional level, he won’t have a problem worrying about whether or not you’ll take advantage of his coffee break to gather information for some other organization or something. He will literally just go “mkay babe I gotta go fuel up on caffeine real quick, you’re good watching the hacked government database right? Cool cya.”

Near

- Near trusts you to take him to public places. Sounds simple, yeah. But Near has never liked crowds, or even just too many strangers in a wide open place. It’s strange to everyone observing how one day he decides he needs a new toy, his old one having broken due to old age, and asks you to take him to the toy store. He’s questioned, people wondering why he wouldn’t rather you just go alone but Near insists. Apparently the toy that broke is special addition and he wants to make sure you get the right one. He stays close to you the whole way, not really saying much, but he’s there and that’s a big step for him.

- He helps you out with puzzles. Basically cheats for you. When he’s eyeing one specific empty slot, coughing lightly to get your attention, just know that he’s not helping you because he thinks you need it. Quite the opposite actually. With anyone else, he believes that they should be able to solve it on their own. He thinks that if they can’t, then that’s their fault. But with you…it’s as if he trusts that you’re intelligent enough without the puzzle being an indicator of that intelligence, so much so that he thinks the puzzle itself is obsolete when it comes to you. He doesn’t need a puzzle to know how smart you are.

- He’ll eat the foods you make him. Near’s picky eater-ness is above that of a child who only eats chicken tenders and pizza. He doesn’t eat that many people’s food because he knows it’s probably not he way he likes it. But with you, he trusts that you respect his eating habits and know him well enough to get it right the first time. Though he does check the food out for a bit, he’ll eat it. Sometimes all of it. Fuckin astonishing to Rester who had attempted many times to heat up microwave dinners for the guy.

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rek1s-headband · 4 years

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Oh oh! Can we get some hedcanons about cherry adopting a girl who is around miya's age. Like how close would they be and how would others feel about her being his daughter now. Bonus points if uncel Joe and little missy mess with daddy blossom

Xoxo love your work so far, keep it up��

➯ A/N: This was such an amazing request, I had so much fun writing it! Hope you enjoy :)

Also, i started watching Your Lie in April today, and its AMAZING! So much more than what I was expecting

➯ With a daughter

➯ Characters: Kaoru Sakurayashiki with a young daughter. Reki, Langa and co. are mentioned throughout!

➯ Warnings: none:)

Having a child had never crossed Kaoru’s mind before, but when Joe had teased him about how “you treat Carla better than you would a child!”, the idea kind of stuck with him. And so, he’d spent countless nights awake, wondering to himself if it was something he truly wanted?

He’d pass parks, seeing parents with spewing babies and toddlers throwing tantrums, wondering if he could actually put up with that? But as he passed the shops, he came across a mother and her daughter, who looked around 12. He watched them pass, a grin on the child’s face as she looked into her shopping bag, examining her haul for that day. And so it was settled

He wanted a baby girl he could spoil absolutely rotten

And the search for a child carried on, and this time instead of baby shops and websites, he was browsing the shelves of Claires and other tween clothing stores. It had only occurred to him over a bottle of wine with Joe, as they were discussing if Kaoru was truly ready for something like this. Instead of a crying baby or a messy toddler, he could simply adopt someone a bit older!

It made sense too. For a single parent, an older child seemed much more doable. Of course, he wouldn’t be alone. Joe was always telling him how he’d help out, yknow, if he actually went through with the damn thing.

Not to mention, the older you get, the more difficult it is to get adopted. Babies and young children will get adopted left right and centre, whereas the child he will take home will have been there for a while. Finally, they will have a place to call a home

He spent months trying to get the approval for adoption, and one fateful day he finally got the letter that yes he could go ahead and take one home. He was ecstatic, spending the next few days finding out the location of every orphanage around his area of Japan. He messaged every single one, asking when their next visiting day was

And so it was set: Kaoru would not rest until he had found his perfect little girl

He went through orphanage after orphanage, searching for someone he could call his own. However, none of the children were lighting that paternal flame inside him. It wasn’t their fault of course, they just didn’t click with him, staring at him any time he tried to talk to them. Visit after visit, he’d go to Joe’s, ready to tell him about his recent fail.

It wasn’t until Joe came up to him with a phone number, asking if he’d been to this particular orphanage yet. Apparently they had a few children aged 12 and up, and were available for visit that Saturday. And so there he was, packing a bag and getting ready to travel to the house. This time felt different, somehow. He could feel his palms sweat, as if he could sense he would take one of them home

When he finally made it to the house, he was a nervous wreck. The lady of the house let him in with a smile, telling him the children were in the backyard playing while she bounced a baby on her hip. Cherry winced as the baby gurgled at him, glad he opted for an older child

She led him outside, gesturing at the children who were sprinting around in the vast field, hiding behind trees and bushes. It was clear they were playing a game of hide and seek. He smiled as he scanned over them, but it quickly disappeared when he noticed one little girl sitting on the step, head in her lap while her shoulders gently shook with tears

He walked over to her, bending down with a soft smile. He didn’t know where this sudden calmness came from, but that was his last priority right now. A little gash sat on the girls knee, caked with blood as it trickled down her shin. He frowned, pulling out a tissue to gently wipe it. She jumped, wincing with shock from the fresh wave of pain, and surprise. Kaoru gently wiped at her knee once more before looking up at her to attempt a conversation

“Hello, is your knee alright?” She shook her head frantically, wiping a tear away from her face. A small breathy laugh escaped him as he watched the child stand, gesturing to her leg

“Nope, not at all. I think its broken, if you ask me. All cause of that stupid thing!” She threw her arm out, gesturing to a pink board Kaoru hadn’t noticed before. A skateboard.

That’s when Kaoru realised it: I want this one

Suddenly he felt a new sense of importance, like he had to make a good impression. He walked over to the board, tutting as he looked down at it. “This is what hurt you?” He looked at it with disdain as the little girl nodded her head violently. Kaoru could see how she hurt herself, the thing was massive, especially for someone her age. It looked around the size of a board he would use.

Grinning, he picked up the board. “Well, want to see something cool?” She watched in wonder as kaoru stood on it, pushing off and turning quickly, popping an ollie over a stray toy. The little girl jumped, throwing her arms up as she cheered Kaoru on. He finished with a flourish, coming back to stand beside her. “What did you think?” She was speechless, simply moving her hands, saying scattered “wows” and making various sound effects. Kaoru smiled, certain that he could teach her more.

When he realized visiting time was coming to a close, he proposed the idea to the girl, who’s name he had come to know was Lily: he’d come back next week, and he’d bring his board. He even promised to find her a smaller boar perfect for her to learn on, saying he knew a friend who could make her one. From there he would teach her the basics of skateboarding, even a couple of tricks once she got that down. She was delighted, bouncing up and down and declaring she couldn’t wait, all the energy of someone much younger than her. Kaoru found he couldn’t stop smiling himself either

He made his way back through the house, Lily skipping alongside him. He explained the plan to the Lady, that he would come back next week for another visit. Just as he was about to leave, he turned to the lady to request one final thing from her

“Make sure no one snatches her up from me while I’m gone, yeah?”

Needless to say a bottle of wine was opened at Joe’s that night in celebration of Lily, the potential daughter

And so the weeks turned into months, and Kaoru returned each week with his board and some sweets for her and the other children, teaching her everything she needed to know about skateboarding. After a month or so she could confidently ollie without bailing, and next time he visited she displayed it with delight, watching Kaoru’s face light up with pride.

She had taken a real liking to Kaoru, according to the Lady. She refused to pay any other visitors any notice, declaring they “simply weren’t Kaoru.” This is what finally made him realise that maybe it was time to ask if she’d like to live with him from now on, where she could practice with him every day.

When he asked her, Kaoru could’ve sworn he actually saw stars in her eyes. She simply lit up, throwing herself at Kaoru, tears streaming down her face as she shouted yes, of course she would. she wasn’t the only one crying, Kaoru could barely see from the tears in his own eyes, the lady dabbing at hers with a tissue

Once the paperwork was complete and Lily was his, he felt a weight had been taken off his shoulders. He had packed her a new change of clothes the day he went to collect her, bringing Joe along with him for emotional support. Lily came flying at him the second he got out of his car, wrinkling her nose at Joe

“You never told me you had a boyfriend, Kaoru” she stuck her tongue out at him from over his shoulder while they both tried to convince her that no, they weren’t a couple, before she ran upstairs to get changed. Joe turned to Kaoru, an almost offended look on his face

“Why were you so adamant that we weren’t together??” “I dont need her worrying she’s going home to a Gorrila” “HEY”

Once they all got home, they threw a little party at Joe’s who had closed a little early specially for it. Kaoru didn’t let her out of his sight, making sure she wasn’t uncomfortable with all the new people. Of course, it was only Joe, Shadow, Reki, Langa and Miya, all of whom she would meet eventually, but he still worried in case she got overwhelmed.

She made quick friends with Reki, who was ecstatic from the moment he realised she could skate. The two bonded over it, talking about tricks they’d learned, Reki shouting over at Kaoru because why hadn’t he taught him anything??

Miya was a bit standoffish at first, but when she saw the switch in his hand, the two were instantly bonding over who had better villagers in Animal Crossing, and who had passed more levels in Mario with three stars

As the months went on, Lily really settled into her new life in Okinawa, starting at school in Miyas class. The two were joined at the hip, Miya often coming home to Kaoru’s so they could practice together, or simply study and watch some movies. Reki constantly teased the shit out of the two, talking about how he heard “wedding bells”. This comment earned him a swift whack into the skull from Kaoru, warning him not to tease his little girl

Soon enough Kaoru was making her own skateboard with built-in Carla, who helped her skating improve insanely. As Kaoru said, she was definitely a chip off the old block. Langa and Reki would take her to the skate park with them, helping her land new tricks and would take videos of her to send to Kaoru

Shadow was like a chill uncle to her, bringing her flowers for her room and taking her out to get some clothes and ice cream. Joe was like an uncle too, but a much more untrustworthy one. Would he take her to the park, or would he take her to parts of downtown she definitely shouldn’t have been? Who knows, certainly not Kaoru...

Poor Kaoru can never get a minutes peace. Every second of the day she’s plotting something, waiting for him to let his guard down so she can pounce, scaring the shit out of him. When the others are around its 10x worse, all of them ganging up on him to pull pranks

As well as skateboarding, Kaoru tried to teach her how to do calligraphy. She ended up being awful, blotting the ink and smearing it with her hand. But hey, it was a fun art project that made it onto the fridge

At S, she was watched like a hawk. When Kaoru was competing,the others would be like her bodyguard, making sure no one got within 5 feet of her. She’d watch her dad with wonder, the look of awe never leaving her face since the first day she saw him skate. She can’t wait for the day she can compete, maybe even beating her own dad

The first time Lily called Kaoru “dad” was when he won a race, showing off some amazing skills and winning the insanely close match by a hair. He picked up his board, looking around for Lily. He saw her in the crowd, throwing her arms up and cheering “THATS MY DAD!! LOOK, RIGHT THERE, THATS MY DAD!” When she spotted him, a large grin spread across her face. “Nice job out there dad! You did amazing!! D’you think I can do that one day?”

Everyone was staring at her, she hadn’t even realised she had said anything out of the ordinary. Soon enough Kaoru was lunging at her, picking her up in a hug so she didn’t see the tears quickly forming on his face. With a smile he pulled away, his voice dripping with pride

“Of course you could. You’re my daughter, aren’t you?”

1K notes · View notes

honestlyfragile · 3 years

Text

JUMPSTREET - Mark Lee x Johnny Suh

Pairing: Mark Lee x Fem!Reader, Johnny is Mark’s bestfriend, Mentions of Jaehyun and Yuta

Genre: university!au, police!au, a dash of fluff, smut,crack, fraternity!au

warnings: mild violence, mentions of guns, drugs, sexual themes, language

Summary: Mark and Johnny were partners in crime, but when feelings get in the way, will Mark stick to the law or go against it?

Wc: 15.4k

also posted in Ao3

a/n: I hope you enjoy this story heavily inspired by the 21 & 22 Jumpstreet movie franchise, and hopefully I was able to deliver it with my own ideas. Enjoy!

Mark and Johnny start their first official day as policemen after being together in most of their high school years and studying criminology in college. They could not be more excited to see people make trouble until today.

"Let's see who's going to be able to make his first arrest." Johnny bets, scanning around the area with a cup of coffee in his hand, the other on his waist.

"Dude it's a park, what the fuck could possibly happen here?" Mark retorts, unamused.

"Oh you know, it's a crazy world we live in these days." Johnny defends, his gaze fixed on his surroundings.

"Sure it is." Mark continues to read his newspaper as he stands side by side with Johnny.

The two try to at least roam around and patrol over the area, looking for at least an ounce of any violation, it didn't matter if it was serious or not.

Mark spots a kid of about 9 years old near the pond, about to drop a piece of bread into the water.

"Excuse me kid," Mark bluffs, as if it were his first catch of the day. Technically this is his first catch of his career, hopefully.

"What?" the child frowns and looks at him obnoxiously.

"Read the sign," Mark points to it and the kid's eyes follow, but disobeys him anyway.

"It says don't feed the ducks!" Mark argues, but the kid is unbothered.

"Let it go Mark, it's not like bread will kill them. Plus, you can't arrest a child." Johnny scoffs and tries to drag Mark to another area.

Mark lets out a sigh as the kid sticks his tongue out and he does the same before turning his back.

The two had nothing better to do, they were rookies who just got newly assigned to an area that didn't even have any trouble. Almost like they were just there for the sake of. Of course the department treated them as rookies.

Johnny takes out his pistol out of boredom and tosses it for fun. "Woah you know those are loaded right?" Mark warns him while involuntarily taking a step back.

"Yeah and?" Johnny continues to toss and play with it.

"Unload it first!" Mark panics like the goody two shoes that he was.

"Then that would be no fun." Johnny shrugs.

Mark spots a group of middle aged men from afar, but not quite. He squints and tries to take a closer look with his binoculars.

"Yo check it out, aren't those the Outlaws?" He nudges Johnny's shoulder as he takes a look himself.

The Outlaws are a known motorcycle gang in the county, they aren't always bothersome but the both of them are determined to find a loophole.

The two approach the group of men and tell them off because they have parked their motorcycles illegally. But that's not the only thing they notice, these men were stoned. One lights up a joint of Marijuana shamelessly, and Johnny loses his temper. "Excuse me Sir, you do know that the use of Marijuana is illegal right?"

"Oh look," the hideous man spits on the ground. "They must be new. He has the guts to talk to us like that. Nice to see some fresh kids here. You sure you aren't dressing up for... halloween?" The man specifically has his eyes on Mark when he said the last sentence.

Feeling offended, Mark straightens up his stance and acts more like a grown man. "That's a nice joke sir, now hand it over." He says in a stern voice.

"What a scary fella, keep up the good work! Sorry I don't have candy with me." They tease and the two have had enough.

"I'm going to have to search your motorcycle now sir." Johnny insists and doesn't wait for a response, and opens the seat and finds packets of a fine white substance. "These are.." he halts.

"DRUGS!" Mark shouts and immediately gets pushed by one of the gang members.

Johnny immediately gets a sample and keeps it in his pocket and takes his gun out. Mark gets up and does the same. The men try to run away and escape, Johnny runs after them and Mark takes his bike. The two finally get to corner them and Johnny pits one of them on the ground.

"You have the right to," Johnny tries to utter the Miranda Rights as he puts handcuffs on the man that is trying to eagerly resist him. "To shut the fuck up!" Johnny was being too focused on trying to handcuff the suspect and forgets to recite the rest,

Reciting those did not even cross Mark's mind as he just also focused on trying to handcuff the man.

"You are coming with us!" He yells and drags them to the police station, which was only a few meters away from them now.

--------

As the case was investigated, their chief commends them but then discovers that they forgot to recite the Miranda Rights, which can possibly make the charges be dropped, but thankfully the violation to the law was enough for the men to remain in jail.

"Technically you still did this wrong," the chief puts a hand on his chin and taps the polished wooden table. "But since you're just starting out, i'll give you another offer."

The two young men eye each other, anticipating the chief's suggestion. "An offer?" Johnny asks, straightening up in his seat.

"Jump street." The chief says.

"Wha- what's that?" Mark furrows his eyebrows in curiosity.

"Since the both of you look younger than the rest of the people here, our undercover police unit is in need of officers." The chief informs.

"Please, continue." Johnny lets him explain further.

"You pretend to be college students. It's practically the same, but it would be more suitable for the both of you because it's your crowd. You see crime and injustice, you report. But, you will be disguised as college students to ease the procedures of trying to find what those students have been up to. We have your back." The chief explains.

"Cool." Mark simply says because he is astonished by the idea.

"So where do we report? Do we have a new head quarters?" Johnny asks.

"You will be transferred. Down in 21 Jump St." The deputy Chief declares.

____

They head to the headquarters that was disguised as an old chapel. "You sure this is the one?" Mark questions as he gets out of the car.

"It does say 21 Jump St. so, let's have a look." Johnny turns off the engine and both of them enter.

The setting was a typical chapel, but it was dark and full of stock equipment. Mark takes a look at the altar that was dimly lit, and bows before the image of Christ to show respect . Johnny on the other hand was not a person of religion but follows Mark's simple gesture anyways.

"The both of you!" A man shouts from afar, and it echoes, "come over here."

The two are startled but proceed to the hidden room. When they enter they see two women who are already disguised as cheerleaders. Meanwhile the two are still in their police uniforms. The ladies take a look and have a good laugh at them. "You do know that you're supposed to go undercover right?" She says, eyeing them from head to toe.

"W-we didn't get the memo that it was gonna be today.." Mark trails off and fidgets with his hands.

"Go and dress like teenagers! Now!" The chief commands and the two quickly change right away.

When they get back they are briefed by the set of rules they have to follow and about the goals of this undercover project.

"Rule number 1. DO NOT get expelled. No one in the system knows that you are undercover. So be disciplined and don't cause major trouble. Getting expelled would mean that you'll get your asses kicked out of jump street." The chief sternly explains, making the assigned officers hold their breath from fear.

"Rule number 2," the officer walks past the rest and stands in front of Johnny. "DO NOT have any sexual or intimate relationships with the students and professors. You hear that pretty boy?" And specifically locks his eyes on Johnny, making the boy gulp and purse his lips. After the general meeting, the two were called for a detailed one, personally with the chief.

It was said to them that they had to find a synthetic drug that has been spreading around the campus called NCT. A sample of its packaging was shown, it was definitely something you wouldn't think of as a drug. It was about a size of a large coin, and looks like a small biscuit. It was sealed using assorted hand drawn stickers of different objects. They were also advised to never give out their real names, because new identities have been assigned to them. Johnny's being Rolan Kim and Mark's being Kalen Park.

"When the youngsters take this drug, it apparently makes them laser-focused on studying for about an hour. And for the succeeding hours, they party like it's fucking 1999 until they pass out. Infiltrate the dealer, find the supplier." The chief gives his final orders and sends off the both of them for their mission.

-----

"Dang, we're really going back to college?" Mark says as he finished up packing his things for the dorm that the agency assigned to them. They had to be as realistic as possible.

The two head to the university, reminiscing their own college days. The two might perhaps over-do this whole "blending in" thing, which might give out the disguise.

"Woah their campus is HUGE." Mark says, mesmerized and wears both straps of his backpack.

"Bro, that's not very college of you." Johnny fumbles with the strap of Mark's backpack.

"What?"

"You're two strapping dude. You have to just sling one of them on your shoulder, so it's cool and grown up. You're in college, not middle school." Johnny fixes Mark's bag for him.

"Right. College." He utters to himself. He seems to be enjoying it too much, and starts saying hi to everyone he sees.

"Knock it off, Mark. You're giving us away." Johnny nudges his arm and tries to cooly stride along the campus, keeping his composure.

Mark acknowledges him and goes with the flow. The two arrive in their dorm that they gladly share only among themselves. Mark is new to this, because when he went to college he stayed with his parents. Thankfully he could trust Johnny to always have his back.

The two set their things down and pick their beds, it didn't really matter much since the room had two singles and separate desks for the both of them. It also had a small book shelf that could come in handy, if they ever plan to take lectures seriously.

"Let's just fix these later. We have to go to the Dean's office to confirm our enrollment. Act natural okay?" Johnny lazily brushes his hair back and straightens up his shirt in front of the small mirror that the vanity had.

"Oh- uh okay." Mark leaves the pile of his clothes undone on top of his bed and grabs his phone and keys.

It was the afternoon of fall, the campus has been covered with different hues of orange leaves and subtle sunlight. The breeze was cool but not strong as it blew against their hair. The university seemed peaceful, but they had no idea what went on once the sun sets and the lights are off.

After a couple minutes of walking, the two arrive at the Dean's office for their interview.

"Good afternoon gentlemen, please take a seat." The middle aged man smiles at the both of them.

The two are slightly nervous, but eventually get over it. "Nice to meet you, Mr..." Johnny reads the name plate on the desk "Mr. Bennet." and gives the man his signature smile. Mark does the same and they start their interview.

"Okay, so which one is Rolan and which one is Kalen?" Mr. Bennet asks and there was a short period of silence. Two had seemed to forget which identities were theirs.

Johnny raises his hand, "I'm Rolan sir. Rolan Kim." and he nudges Mark's shoulder.

"Ah yes and I'm Kalen... Park" he barely manages to blurt it out.

The dean furrows his eyebrows but lets it go and proceeds. "So the two of you are?" He asks. They were not prepared for that question.

"Brothers."

"Family friends." the two say at the same time. They give each other a funny look, and Mark gladly saves them from the mishap. "Well we do really treat each other as brothers sir, we grew up together pretty much." and clears his throat. A close call.

"That's good to hear. So Rolan is going to be trying out for the football team and Kalen will try out for the Music club. Those two are very different from each other, but don't worry the opportunities in this school are endless. You can always transfer if you feel that you aren't happy with what you chose." The dean explains and the two acknowledge.

Mr. Bennet goes a little further with the interview and gives them their schedules for the semester then eventually dismisses the two, wishing them well.

"Dude how can you forget the identity that was assigned to you!" Johnny quietly scolds Mark for his slip away.

"I'm sorry okay it's a little confusing!" Mark scratches the back of his head and looks at the floor.

"Ayt, I'll see you later. I have Chemistry in 15 minutes. I can still catch up. What about you?" Johnny asks, putting his hand on his pockets and the other on Mark's shoulder.

"Well, I don't really have any classes for the day anymore. I guess i'll head back to the dorm so I can start unpacking already. I'll see you then. Let me know if you find any leads." Mark gives him a small salute and heads back to the dorms.

-----

Johnny arrives in the lecture hall and receives strange looks. He tenses up a little but nonetheless shrugs it off and takes a seat next to a boy who looks like a whole generation younger than him.

"Yo, you look really old. Were you held back?" The boy asks in a nosy manner, unintentionally pushing Johnny's buttons.

Johnny clenches his jaw and keeps his composure. "No I don't... You look young. Super young. Were you held forward?" he tries to redeem himself.

"No? Whatever. I'm Haechan by the way." The boy introduces himself.

"Im Joh- Rolan." Johnny almost slips but the latter doesn't notice.

The professor immediately hands a quiz, which Johnny has no idea of because he arrived at an odd time of the semester. He guessed all the questions with all his might. But to be quite honest he also wasn't the best in chemistry when he still went to school.

He turns his paper in and walks towards the exit but gets stopped by Haechan. "Uh do you need help with the topic? You seem to be clueless about it." Which came off as a little rude, but that wasn't his intention at all.

"No." Johnny insists because it hurts his pride. "I know everything." He stiffens up.

"Yeah? Do you know what a covalent bond is then?" The boy cheekily asks.

Johnny bluffs, because he doesn't. Or to put it in a better light, he forgot. "Fuck man, I don't have to tell you what it is."

"Woah, I wasn't trying to be rude. But anyway if you need help you can just ask me. See ya." Then Haechan was off and got lost in the sea of people.

Apparently, it was Johnny's last class for the day because it was already almost evening. He texts Mark to inform him that he's heading back to the dorm as well. He doesn't let his guard down and continues to observe the students if they're up to anything suspicious.

As he walked to the dorm, he saw a bunch of boys that were about as tall as he was but more athletic gather around the corner of the football field. He acts nonchalant but keeps an eye on what they are up to. He tries to move closer to the scene without getting caught and acts like he's only passing by.

"Yo hook me up with some more of those, I can't fail my classes or else i'll get kicked out of the team." One says to the other.

Johnny immediately pulls his phone out to text Mark about what he just heard and hurries back.

-------

"Dude, as expected the football team has it. I'm trying out tomorrow and I'll surely get with them." Johnny discusses with Mark.

"Yeah? Can I come watch your tryouts? So I can see what they look like." Mark requests.

"Sure. 2pm at the field." Johnny informs him.

The two were mostly busy arranging their stuff in the room until they heard a knock on the door. Mark offers to get it.

"Hey new neighbors!" two men appear with big smiles.

"Oh hey, uh... thanks?" Mark blankly answers as he was usually awkward meeting with new people.

Johnny comes and checks to see who it was, and to his surprise, it was Haechan and his roommate.

"Oh hey Haechan, and hey..." Johnny looks at the unfamiliar guy.

"Renjun." He smiles.

"Right Renjun." Johnny nods. "Oh by the way Kalen, I go to the same biology class as Haechan." Johnny calls Mark by his fake name.

"Oh cool, what about you Renjun, what's your major?" Mark asks.

"Classical music!" Renjun enthusiastically says.

"Oh I'm in Music Prod! I'll probably see you around during org meetings." Mark smiles.

Their neighbors introduce tips for them that could be useful during their stay and seem to be genuinely nice people. But Mark and Johnny cannot trust anyone, so they keep their guards up and try their best to not give anything away.

Although it may have seemed like an easy task for them, it wasn't. The drug was all over the school, it was going to be difficult to find the root of it if they ignored even the smallest details that could lead them to find out the supplier.

---

The following day, the two wake up early ready to officially start the day. Mark and Johnny head to their own classes, hoping that they find out something about the case today.

Mark enters the lecture hall for his Philosophy class. It was almost 80 percent full as it was a basic class for almost everyone. He awkwardly looks around, hoping to find a seat that wasn't as far because of his bad eyesight.

"Psst." You try to catch his attention. When he looks over, you tap the vacant seat next to you, "you can sit here." You offer.

"T-thanks." He says and gives you a smile.

"You seem like a new face. I'm Y/N" You say to him because you have observed the people in this class every day.

"I'm Kalen. Kalen Park." he scratches the back of his head. "I uh, just got enrolled yesterday. You know, when your family moves into another town... yeah" he trails off with his made-up excuse.

"Yeah, it's fine. Don't worry about it." You genuinely assure him, "It's college. You can take your time." You chuckle because he was so awkward, but seemed very kind.

"Definitely." He bites his lip, unsure if he should keep talking or not. But the professor arrives just on time.

He observes his surroundings and keeps an eye on suspicious students that might have a link to what they were looking for. He whispers to the guy in front of him who was just playing games on his laptop and wasn't listening in class. "Hey, do you know where I can get myself some NCT?"

The guy raises his brows in doubt, "are you a narc?" and might have said it way too loudly.

Mark tries to brush it off with a stiff laugh "What are you talking about man? I'm not I swear." and refuses to make eye contact.

The airhead lets it go and slips mark a cellphone number that could possibly be a step closer to what they were looking for. "Just text them "looking for a hookup" and they'll know what you're talking about."

"Thanks, man." He gives him a small pat on the back just to show that he wasn't up to anything, which actually just makes him more suspicious. Thankfully, the guy didn't really care.

Mark was delighted to have found a lead easily, and immediately texts Johnny about it. After that, he actually paid attention to the class, just because it genuinely fascinated him.

When it ended he immediately gathered his stuff and put on his backpack, ready to meet Johnny.

"Psst, two strapper!" You call out and try to barely tap his shoulder.

He looks back and immediately drops one strap of his backpack off his shoulders, he definitely forgot about what Johnny has advised him. He scratches the back of his head with his hands on his pocket, "yeah?"

"You free this evening?" You casually ask.

He nervously gulps because he really has to be somewhere right now, but he didn't want to be rude. "Uhm, I guess? I don't know yet. Why?"

"We're having a poetry slam at the art hall, you might be interested. I saw some good stuff you wrote in your notebook" you smile, hoping that it doesn't freak him out that you saw one of his works.

His eyes widened, "oh, okay cool I guess I can try. But I have somewhere to be right now, I'll see you..around." And he awkwardly walks off.

You furrow your brows because of his strange mannerisms, but he seemed like no trouble at all. In fact, it was kind of cute, how awkward he was.

------

It was time for Johnny's football tryouts. Given that he was already good at it during the time that he was actually in college.

Johnny was naturally a sociable person, he blended well with crowds and easily made friends. That's why this was the perfect place for him to be in. He sits himself at the bench while he wears the spare uniforms from the team and is greeted by a dude that was a little shorter than he was, "Goodluck" the boy with ash purple hair says.

"Thanks!" he enthusiastically replies.

"Captain! We need you for a sec." the coach calls, then the boy who has wished him luck gets up and reports to the coach. Well, he did give off an impression of one. He was highly presentable, his smile was hospitable, his form was great and his attitude was pleasant. Everything else—was just the ideal makings of a captain.

The tryouts start and Johnny looks around for Mark, who had just arrived and casually sat himself on the bleachers, waving at Johnny from afar. As the tryouts went on and finished, the coach praised everyone who attended for a job well done and announced the new members who had qualified. All of which included Johnny of course.

"Hey man, great job out there." The captain is back on Johnny's side to praise him.

"Yeah, thanks. I'm Rolan by the way." He introduces himself.

"Of course I know, I was the one who picked you from the list." He laughs, "Jaehyun. Jeong Jaehyun."

-----

"Hey!" Mark hears a familiar voice faintly calling his name. He searches for it but takes him awhile because of how wide the campus is. "Over here two stapper," you chuckle and he finally sees.

"Oh hey," he muttered quite embarrassed at how awkward he was.

He takes a seat next to you at the bench near the hall of the poetry slam event, he wanted to go together. "Chilly night huh? I should've brought my sweater.." You trail off, rubbing your arms for warmth.

You didn't mean for it to come off that way, but Mark willingly takes off his jacket and offers it to you. "Oh it's alright really-" you insist.

"No it's fine, I'm from Canada, this is nothing." He laughs.

You nod your head with his remark, and proceed to wear his jacket. It was quite big on you, but it was definitely cozy. "Shall we go?" You ask, standing up.

He nods and lets you lead him to the hall. The campus was only lit by lamp posts at this hour, but there were many sculptures in the school of arts that he had wished to see better. Well, there was always next time.

The both of you enter the hall which was quite filled with students already. It had been set up like a cafe, with a small platform in front that was lit with a spotlight.

"Give it up for Naya Kim everybody!" the emcee announces, encouraging everyone to give the person a round of applause after presenting a spoken word. "Do we have another volunteer?'

The crowd falls silent as everyone looks around, mindlessly making eye contact with each other, waiting on who was going next.

"Anyone?" The emcee taps the mic.

"I have one!" You yell, and Mark looks at you with wide eyes.

"Dude no-" he resists, trying to shrink himself into his chair.

"C'mon it'll be fun!" You nudge his shoulder, "We have Kalen over here!" You grab his wrist and raise his arm for him, even if he was resisting it, he had no choice.

The emcee squints and eyes the both of you and acknowledges you volunteering your new friend. "Alright we have Kalen next! Stage is yours." The emcee steps off.

He had all eyes on him now, eyes hungry of anticipation and to witness raw talent amongst themselves.

"G-good evening everyone." he greets, holding onto the mic tightly and takes a deep breath. His expression changes into a serious one.

Will it ever come?

The nights know me well.

I was a frequent by-passer but now I am no stranger.

A boy who grew up with sharks does not need to be taught how to swim.

Good night,

These words feel like the vast sky

Darkness, but not hollow.

Black but not bitter.

After he recites his poem he becomes flustered again from the faint applause he had received from the audience that was present, he puts the mic back to its stand and does a small bow.

"Not bad, tiger" You pat him on the back. There was more to him than what meets the eye, you just knew.

"You think so?" He says with hopeful eyes.

"Yeah!" You assure him.

The rest of the evening passes by with the both of you having a splendid time watching others unleash their passion and talent for reciting spoken word and poetry. Some were tear jerking and some were downright hilarious. So this is college. Mark thinks to himself.

In the past he had always been a loner who didn't go to many parties because of his strict and conservative parents.

He was way beyond his borders now. But he couldn't get carried away. No, this isn't a time for him to redeem himself from his early years, this was time for him to perform his duties. So he snaps out of his little daydream.

As the both of you were seated at the bench in front of the hall where he found you, he had asked you about your major.

"Fine arts." you laugh bitterly.

"What's wrong? You don't seem like you're happy with it…" He trails off, swinging his feet that was hanging off the bench.

You shake your head no, "I am. It's just that my parents don't really know I took this course. I told them I got a scholarship and they were just relieved that they didn't have to pay anymore. Otherwise they'd force me into some business course or something "more practical"" you emphasize with air quotes.

"I see. Okay so fine arts huh?" He tries to lighten the mood. "What can you say about that one over there?" Mark points to the sculpture to your left, about 20 metres away.

"They're like two beings, leaning on each other" you pause, dramatically for impact, "They support each other so one doesn't fall." you interpret.

He seems impressed, then asks "Support huh? How about you? Do you have anyone—who supports you?"

"Hm, not really, no. I like to be alone and just spend time with myself." Your eyes wander but all you could think about is how he's looking at you with such attentiveness and interest.

He chuckles, "I feel you. You know I'm an expert at being alone. Don't you just love it when you're in a room full of people but no one gives a shit about your presence?" He claps his hands together just once then purses his lips into a bitter lopsided smile. "Yep. Had a lot of those." He masks his personal statement with humor.

"Well," You say, kicking the shortly-trimmed grass on the building's lawn. "If you don't wanna be alone, you walk me to my dorm" you offer.

He looks around and takes no time to think about it, feeling that it was unsafe for you to go alone. "Sure." He smiles.

The walk to your dorm was silent but comfortable. You weren't sure if he was quite a talker or just shy. But one thing you couldn't get out of your head was how unconventionally attractive he was. You've never gotten a vibe like his before and you've been in this university for 2 years already. You wanted to get something out of him even if it takes you to be the bold one here.

"We're here," You whisper, looking at him seductively. Like you were a puppy begging to not be left alone. "Do you wanna come in? My roommate left for the weekend" you smirk.

Mark gulps. He had been resisting this kind of tension he had with you ever since he met you. But you made it so hard. "Come on," you say, putting your hand at the back of his neck while tracing mindless patterns on it with your finger.

"My brother he might be-"

"Oh you have a brother? Is he hot?" You joke.

His eyes are wide with stitched eyebrows. But eventually catches on. "Nah." and he pulls you closer to him by the waist. His eyes now staring at you deeply, so hungrily like he was that tiger you called him as earlier. Come and get it.

Without any words said, he had finally crashed his lips onto yours. And you kissed him hard. Like you wanted to have him to all yourself at that very moment. Your tongue grazes his lower lip, begging for entrance which he had granted. Your tongues meshed together at a quick pace, with the heat of your core starting to throb.

You push yourself closer to him and you start to feel his prominence and unconsciously grind on his jeans, making him grunt. You break the kiss for a quick moment, his eyes are glazed and his mouth agape, out of breath. You turn around and enter the code to your dorm and pull him inside.

For a brief moment that your bodies were detached, Mark couldn't stop wanting more. Not even thinking the slightest of the consequences of this act that will dawn upon him if it ever gets out.

You were back to slamming your body with his as you took off his jacket, making it fall to the floor. His hands snake underneath your shirt and started roaming around your body while he peppered kisses on your neck. With a swift flick of his fingers he had unclasped your bra and his hands groped your breasts, you threw your head back as he buried his face in your clothed cleavage. Like he was begging for this bothersome piece of clothing to be gone.

You grant his invisible wish and quickly lift your shirt off, while your bra falls off your arms naturally, his mouth watering at the sight. You trace his abs underneath his shirt, your core getting wetter with how toned they were based on your touch.

And you didn’t doubt the results one bit. When you lift his shirt, his torso was delicately lean, toned in all the right places that your mouth could water at the sight of it. You bite your lip and roll your eyes at the sensation of him sucking your tits, his grip on you intense but gentle.

“I don’t have condoms right now, so this is going to be all about you.” He whispers seductively, feeling your wetness through your soaked panties. You softly moan at the sensation and hungrily kiss him again, not having any moment to waste.

When he slides two fingers to massage your folds, you whimper. "Fuck," you breathe.

"God, that's hot." He says with a hitched breath. You couldn't possibly get any more turned on right now.

When he slips his digits in your cunt—you go fucking insane. You haven't felt this good in quite a while, it made you ecstatic to remember how fucking good this feeling was, you hoped that this wouldn't be the last. Mark was different.

He picks up his pace, and you try to keep your composure, but the forced arch of your back says otherwise. You grab a pillow to cover your face, scared that you would be too loud and get caught, or else this would be the last time for the both of you.

“My fucking God.” You whimper, pulling Mark’s head on your chest, holding onto him for dear life because you just entirely lost control of it all. He finishes you off like his life depended on it, licking your wetness from his fingers, savouring it, then wipes his fingers on his jeans.

“You were so good to me, yeah?” He chuckles when you are left speechless.

“What about you?” You ask, looking at his crotch that was painfully hard.

“It’s- It’s alright. You don’t have to” He says, and it makes your heart thaw like ice. You didn’t deserve him.

“But I want to.” You plead, you couldn’t possibly resist him. “Come here,” You say, rubbing your palm against his jeans.

You didn’t waste anymore time and unzipped his pants, lowering it with his boxers just enough t make his cock lightly hit his stomach. His size is definitely more than what you expected. You take his wet, glistening cock in your hands and pump it gently, smirking in satisfaction when you hear him hiss and moan softly.

“Can you keep it down for me, tiger? We might not be able to do this again,” You coo, and he obediently nods, grazing your lower lip with his tongue, asking for entrance which you gladly grant but not for long.

You smile as you lowered your head down to his throbbing member, licking the precum that had escaped the tip. Mark bites his lip, trying to keep as quiet as possible. You slowly put his dick in your mouth, testing a few times how far you could go. He bucks his hips by accident, making you gag very slightly. “I’m so sorry,” He strokes your hair away from your face. You keep going until you reach the brim, a throaty moan escapes his lips when he couldn’t take it anymore.

You bob your head up and down in a consistent pace while he holds your hair, “You’re such a good girl” He says, throwing his head back. You keep going until you feel tears slowly coming out of your eyes and tried to hollow your cheeks as much as possible, he was so close.

“You don’t have to swallow,” he says, pulling back from you. Nonsense. You were more than willing to.

“I want to.” You say, putting his cock back in your mouth.

With a few last pumps, his member twitches in your mouth and you feel his warm release and take it all in. You wipe the sides of your mouth as you finish, giving him a sweet smile.

After the both of you pass out on your bed, Mark has lost track of time and receives a text from Johnny.

"Dude where the fuck are you? Do you know what time it is?"

Mark jolts up and checks the time, 2:45am. Shit, he was screwed. He quickly gathers his clothes that had been thrown around your room and dresses himself in panic.

"I'm sorry, uh Joh- Rolan, my brother has been waiting for me at our dorm, I lost track of time and i think he'll beat my dick off," He nervously chuckles, almost forgetting to use his fake identity again. He has got to get used to it.

"Not if i did it first" You both burst out laughing. "Alright, I'll see you in class." You say, snuggling yourself in your blanket and shutting your eyes.

He leaves your dorm quietly and runs a hand through his hair before giving Johnny a call.

"Dude listen-"

"Are you fucking around Mark?" Johnny answers, clearly enraged.

Mark was scared as shit but never misses the chance to fuck around Johnny. "I might've."

"Get your ass back here, Lee"

"Ayt."

He slips his phone back to his pocket and starts walking briskly to their dorm. Damn this campus was mad creepy that it actually brought chills to his body. He wondered why he felt so cold then realized he left his jacket at your place. It was too late for him to get it back so he settled by running to warm his body up.

Finally, he was back at the dorm. He hesitates to turn the doorknob because he knows he will be dead meat or nagged to death by Johnny. Or not.

"Where you been huh?" Johnny examines him, standing up from his bed. He sniffs Mark and the latter flinches. "You smell like sex!" He slaps his shoulder.

"You crazy? Some expert or something" Mark brushes him off. Wincing at the sting Johnny's palm gave to the skin of his shoulder.

"I should know, Mark." His mood was lighter now. "But who did you fu- i mean have sex with? we just got here wildcat"

"A girl I met in class like uh… awhile ago" The younger bites his lip trying to keep a smile from escaping his lips. He shouldn't be feeling this giddy over a rule that he broke for you.

Johnny could not believe what he was hearing right now, "Dang. Cheeky boy." He laughs, actually feeling happy for Mark. He can have a little fun, Johnny had his back when it came to these things.

The elder changes the topic and lets this slide. Johnny talks about the leads he gathered from hanging out with the football team. Which were still very much confusing since this substance is all over the campus. Meanwhile, Mark didn't have much besides that number he gave Johnny. Considering he was with the "decent" crowd of people today.

---

The two head to their quarters to report to their chief the next day, trying to ask for help on how they could improve this investigation.

The chief dumps a folder on the table and says, "This is what the deputy gave us recently. Take a look." He opens the folder into a specific case file to discuss with the two.

"Who's this?" Mark points at the picture of a girl, who seemed like they were around the same age as the people at University.

"Lee Minjung." the chief rubs his hands together. "Took some NCT and got locked out of her dorm, so she ended up falling off the roof and dying." The two are shocked by this revelation, it was more serious than they thought.

The chief flips a page, "Here's a picture of her buying the drug." The photograph had two people in it, one that had a visible face which was Minjung, and one guy who's back was facing the camera. He wore a hat so they couldn't really tell who it was. But one thing they could point out is the reflection on the window of the car beside them.

"Dude, look at this," Mark points out his observation to Johnny. "He has a tattoo, we could start with this."

"Bingo. There's your lead." The chief closes the folder and puts it back in his file. "The next time you get back here your asses better be presenting me some actual progress. Understand?"

"Yes sir."

----

Johnny and Mark head to the resident tattoo artist that was near the university, apparently they do most of the tattoos of the students there.

"Excuse me," They knocked on the table of the artist who was currently at the back of the shop.

The tattoo artist arrives out front and asks how they could help the two.

"We're looking for this tattoo, is it familiar to you?" Johnny asks while showing the artists the photograph.

The artist tries to think hard, but gives a hasty answer. "I'm not sure, there's too many of them who got that."

Mark pushes the subject, "Them? Do you think it's some kind of group tattoo?"

"I guess so. They were boys, all of them. Very masculine, had the body of an athlete if I were to put it at that." The artist states.

Mark and Johnny look at each other as if there were light bulbs above their heads. "Thank you!" Mark says and they run off the shop.

The possibility of this being in the football team was huge. They were athletes, and under a lot of pressure. They had reasons to use this drug but it wasn't an excuse for them not to eliminate this. They had to get to the bottom of this before it ends up like Minjung's case again.

---

Johnny was at football practice while Mark stood by the bleachers, watching the team and trying to look out as usual until Johnny calls him over to come down for a bit.

"Jaehyun, this is Kalen, my brother." He introduces him. With his assigned name.

Jaehyun chortles in disbelief when he sees Mark. "You have a brother?" He asks and Johnny nods.

"Sup," Mark tries to give him a bro hug, but Jaehyun shakes his hand instead.

Jaehyun pays no mind to Mark's presence and diverts his attention back to Johnny and proceeds to talk about their game plan.

When practice ends he tells Johnny that the football team plans to host a party tonight. It would be the perfect opportunity for them to keep an eye on everyone.

"Can I come?" Mark asks.

Jaehyun eyes him from the side, "Yeah uh sure" and only bids goodbye to Johnny. "See ya bro."

Mark could already feel that he didn't belong in this crowd, but he and Johnny had to stick together and investigate.

The night of the party came and the two brothers were stoked. "Our first frat party." Mark thought.

"Your first frat party." Johnny spat playfully, trying to meticulously style and wax his hair.

Mark scoffs, still trying to figure out what shirt to wear but at the end, he settles with a navy blue Ralph Lauren shirt. He was too lazy to fix his hair and wears a cap instead.

Johnny tosses Mark something that he thinks the younger might need later on.

"Are you for real? A condom?" A baffled Mark says in disbelief, but sliding it in his pocket anyway.

"You'll never know wildcat. You'll never know." He gives him a mischievous wink.

This wasn't just any party to them, this was an operation. Though they chose to leave for the party unarmed, they were thankfully trained well for hand to hand combat, just in case things went extremely wrong. But that was besides the point, they couldn't destroy their chances of blending in.

When the tandem arrives at the party, the elder was the only one to be greeted enthusiastically, Mark shakes it off simply because being friends with these jocks were the last thing on his list. It was Johnny's call if it didn't work for him, they had their roles.

"Go around for a bit, I'll take care of him." Johnny whispers to Mark with a drink already in his hand.

Mark shrugs his shoulders and explores the frat house, lit with red and blue, music blaring through speakers and the muffled conversations from the people that filled it.

Nothing seemed too off the bat here, it was everything you would expect a frat party to be. There hasn't been a trace of NCT anywhere, or maybe it was because they were being taken too discreetly.

"Want some?" a random guy nudges him, discreetly handing a packet of the substance. He takes it and plays it cool.

"Yo, sick. Thanks man." He pats him on the back.

“Yo it’s not free.” The guy laughs then it disappears. “20 bucks.”

Mark's smile fades, embarrassed. Thank god he brought his wallet. “Here. Thanks.”

"Don't sweat it." and he gives him a small salute.

Mark quickly slides it in his pocket, to keep as evidence later.

"Bad boy." You snake your hands around his shoulders. "Want some?" You offer your red punch with vodka.

His eyes widen, but eases under your touch. Finally, someone who's familiar. Overly familiar. "Hey, y/n" he shakes his head no. "I don't feel like drinking tonight" he makes up an excuse.

"So are you…"

"Am i?"

"Are you going to take that?" You say, pointing at the pocket where he hid it.

Uncertain, he shakes his head no. "But should I? Have you ever had one of these?"

"Oh god no." You say in disgust. "I have seen people's reactions to it though. It's borderline batshit crazy, those things." You explain. Hoping that he wouldn't ever try taking those. You knew about the whole Minjung incident. "One of the girls who lived next door died because of it."

Your remark sparks an interest in him. "Minjung?" He questions. This could be a big help to their operation. But it wasn't a good time to interrogate you.

You raise your brows, "How'd you know her name?"

He fakes a cough and tries to quickly think of a reason. "Mr- Mr. Benett told us. He said that recently a student passed away but never said it was because of the drug…"

You crease up, "That old man is fucking clueless." You cross your arms. "But I'm just looking out for you okay? There's safer ways to have fun."

"Right " He pursues a smile.

Too much fun wasn't part of the plan tonight but you made it difficult for him to do his job. Effortlessly.

You fake a pout. "C'mon tiger, live a little! It's not going to be that bad." You try to convince him, wrapping your arms around his neck, trying to keep your drink from spilling, his arms naturally overlapping and resting just right above your ass.

To hell with this. He's been dreaming of this his entire life. After being in such a conservative family and all, he deserved to try new things out. He was old enough. He thinks to himself, while catching a glimpse of Johnny chugging down a keg. "You're right." he smirks, and you offer your drink for him to taste.

Mark's face scrunches a little from the alcohol, but it felt nice. Good enough for him to grab you by the arm and head to get one himself.

He scans the counter full of different drinks with a variety of colored juices. He chooses the blue lemonade with vodka which you gladly made, handing him the red plastic cup after. "Cheers" you say, delighted with the smile he gave you.

It wasn't long enough until the both of you were back to dancing again, not giving a care like everyone else. He could kiss you right now. And he did, he couldn't miss the opportunity to make your tongues turn purple.

----

Johnny has done everything with all his might to get along with these jocks, kids these days do party harder huh? He doesn't remember having this kind of intolerance to alcohol before, he had to get it out of his system before he forgets what he's really here for.

"Nah this dude's a goner!" Yuta enthusiastically points at Johnny, who now had both of his hands on his knees.

"Hold on, I gotta have some air outside" he raises his arms in defeat, words slurring out of his mouth and vision so blurred he could barely tell where he's going. Finally after much stumbling and ending up in filthy corners, he managed to find a bathroom. Not a usable one though.

"Oh god- sorry" He says as he sees two people fucking each other's guts out on on the sink. "Nevermind" he immediately shuts the door and leaves them alone. It didn't take long for him to just head outside and vomit on the lawn of the frat house. Oh yes, great fertilizer.

Johnny regains a very small amount of composure and he felt someone tap and rub his back. "You okay?" Jaehyun chuckles, with a drunk Yuta tagging along.

Johnny takes a deep breath and tries to stand straight with all his might, trying to act like everything was under control. "Shits wild here" He chaffs, but his brows furrow when he sees a familiar pattern on Yuta's skin. "What's that you got there?" Johnny tries to reach for the latter's arm carefully.

Yuta excitedly raises his sleeve, revealing a tattoo. "Oh this? It's a tattoo man. Gotta get inked at some point!" Yuta says, proudly. "Do you want one? I know a place!"

Jaehyun sighs. He was hyperactive again. "Yuta-"

"What? C'mon look I got this as soon as I got out of my parent's house. Those folks made me feel like I was in jail!" The drunk boy overshares. Johnny pays attention because there was a possibility that these thoughts were sober.

Johnny was quickly disappointed, but not surprised. "Yeah? That's cool. I'll pass. Kinda scared of needles..." He trails off.

"Pfft. Pussy." Yuta spat, Johnny was ready to give him a piece of his knuckles.

Jaehyun blocks Johnny with his arm, "Cut him some slack man, I've known this guy since high school. Let him have his fun. He won't even remember this."

The three head back inside to enjoy the rest of the party when the duo completely forget what they were initially here for. Johnny had spent the rest of the night enjoying himself, so did Mark.

You and Mark decided to play along with the drinking games these people planned, with the faces that you will surely forget by tomorrow.

You've already had a couple to drink, so it became harder for you to aim in beer pong. Luckily, Mark was right behind you, with a steady grip on your hips and one arm helping you aim for the ball.

You close one eye trying to focus as he helped you aim for the cup. "She shoots, she scores!" he shouts playfully and there goes another drink for you.

"You still alright? We can stop if you want," He whispers, lips tingling on your collarbone, sending chills to your spine.

You turn to face him, a gentle hand on his lean chest. "I want you.". You whisper, dragging a painfully slow finger to his lips. You were so knit together that you could feel the growing tent in his pants on your throbbing core. He was irresistible.

He gulps. Here comes nothing. Johnny sure knows his shit huh?

Mark quickly leads you upstairs, looking for a vacant room to settle in. He turned the knobs one by one but they were all locked, your last resort was a surprisingly available restroom.

"Will this do for you?" Mark hesitates, because he didn't want you to feel uncomfortable.

Your tipsy self playfully pinches his cheek, "You do it for me, tiger." And it was enough to drive him to the edge.

As soon as the both of you enter the bathroom, your lips connect once again, sloppily kissing each other like you were out of your minds. Like you wanted to swallow and consume this man whole.

"I want you to see for yourself how crazy you make me." You say through the slapdash kisses.

He puts a hand under your dress, feeling your drenched cunt. "You're so fucking wet. Is this all for me?" He says out of breath, mouth almost watering with the thought of your pussy in his mouth.

"All yours baby." You bite his lower lip and stick out your tongue for him to suck.

He raises your dress just below your ribcage and slides down your black lace lingerie as it fell to your ankles, "Just so you know, I'm keeping this." Mark smirks as he quickly puts it in his pocket.

"It's meant to be yours," You purr, setting your back flat on the cold tiled wall, throwing your head back at the sensation of Mark leaving wet kisses on your thighs.

He kneels and places your legs over his shoulders, lifting your feet off the ground. He was sturdy as a rock as his two arms held your thighs for support while you removed his cap for you to wear over your head and your fingers to be locked in his hair.

"Fuck." You hiss as his tongue lapped on your folds, slurping on your wetness like he worshiped you. He sucked repeatedly on your clit making your legs tremble, so good that you might fall over but his reflexes were out of his world and he knew where exactly to support you.

Your eyes painfully roll to the back of your head from the sensation he was giving you, "God, Kalen don't fucking stop-" you moan and you swear this man had some spell casted on his mouth by how magical it worked.

You grind your hips involuntarily as his mouth followed it, like this could not get any better than it already was. But you could only take so much. "Kalen I'm gonna cum, fuck"

"It's not over until it's over baby," he sets you down and removes his mouth from your pussy, you could barely stand with your legs feeling like absolute gelatin.

Mark gets a condom out of his pocket and quickly unbuckles his belt, making his jeans fall to the ground and expose his throbbing cock, boxers wet with precum.

"You think you can last longer for me baby girl?"

You could only nod your head eagerly because you were growing extremely impatient.

He wraps your legs around his waist in a swift move. "Good girl" He whispers, and you were more than ready to take him. Again and again.

He inserts himself inside you, stretching your walls and you whimper, wrapping your arms around his head to keep his face close to the valley of your breasts.

"That's right, open up for me, pretty girl." He pleads as he continues to thrust in a steady pace. Breath hitched as he brought his face up to you, slurping your tongue once more like it was a popsicle that he couldn't get enough of. "Taking me so well like always huh?" he chuckles and picks up his pace, throaty moans escaping his mouth.

Thank fuck the music in this house was loud enough to blow off people's eardrums, making your moans almost inaudible outside, but loud enough for Marks pleasure. For his ears only.

“Fuck I’m almost-” Mark huffs, “there.” he breathes. When his pace becomes sloppy and finally comes, you hold onto him, your legs numb that you could barely stand on your own. Conscious with the fact that Mark will get to see how fucked out you look, but he absolutely loved it.

-----

"What'd I tell ya? That condom didn't go to waste." Johnny snickers while laying in bed, tossing his football.

Head in the clouds with the thought of you, Mark could only smile to himself but quickly changes the subject before they both lose all purpose.

"Find anything out yet?" Mark asks mindlessly, because all he could think about was you.

"Nope." Johnny says, popping the p. He lied.

And something clicks with Mark. That packet of NCT he managed to keep in his pocket. He rushes over to his hamper and flips the pockets of his pants.

"Someone handed it to me yesterday, I kept it for evidence to bring at the headquarters." He hands the packet to Johnny.

The elder observes it, trying to push the thought of Yuta possibly being a dealer to the very back of his head right now. Give it time. Mark was just starting to enjoy being with you, Johnny has been enjoying being one of the new aces in the football team, it wouldn't hurt to hold it out for a little while.

"Also," Mark adds, "Y/n knows about Minjung. Said she lived across the hall."

"And?" Johnny anticipates.

"That's all I know for now. It's still a big step though." Mark concludes.

----

Johnny spends his free time hanging with Jaehyun and the rest of the boys. If not in practice, they hit the gym to always be in tip-top shape.

Yuta swings a heavy arm over Johnny's shoulders, "Well isn't it our quitter!"

Johnny shoots Jaehyun a look, "You told me he wouldn't remember."

Jaehyun could only chuckle, "Well he did."

Yuta was loud as a goose, he seemed to have so much more energy than the other members of the team that Johnny became suspicious of where it came from.

He recalls the time when the chief described the effects of the NCT substance, and one of them was being focused and hyperactive.

Yuta, besides being silly, was on top of his own game. After joking around he was a hundred percent focused on the gym, his reps were consistent, his routines were clean. Jaehyun tells Johnny that Yuta was also one of the greatest instruments of the football team. Though not gifted with the brightest mind, he worked hard to stay in this university to prove his parents wrong—and to avoid business school.

He was a potential heir to a known electronics company in Japan, but he insisted that he pursue being part of the varsity team to keep his scholarship in sports science. Which until now was an endless debate between him and his parents.

Jaehyun had invited Johnny to stay over at the frat house to hang out, and he did.

It was different to see it in daylight, with no people partying, no vomit and crushed chips on the floor, it looked well taken care of.

"You guys clean this up yourselves after every party?" Johnny asks, impressed.

"Yep," Jaehyun proudly says.

"You gotta look out for the shit they leave behind here. It's amusing." Yuta retorts.

Johnny raises a brow, "Oh yeah? Like what?"

Without wit, Yuta replies, "Drugs"

Johnny, absolutely being taken back by his bold remark was immediately clutched by Jaehyun, "He doesn't mean it."

His suspicion grew so much that he couldn't help but finally bring up the subject. "Like what? Like NCT?" he enunciates.

Jaehyun, quite astounded by Johnny's knowledge with the substance replies, "Hm maybe. You know about that?"

And he was in the trance. "Heard of it yeah, can you hook me up with some?

"Oh sure it’s right-" Yuta reaches for his pocket, "here." and sticks his middle finger out playfully. Johnny swats it away.

"Woah there-" Jaehyun almost bust a gut while laughing. "You're definitely new to this. We don't have any." He tells Johnny. "Don't be such a narc."

Way too defensively, Johnny retorts, "I'm not!"

"That's what they all say." Yuta shrugs with a chuckle.

He spends the rest of the afternoon with them and surprisingly hasn't dealt with unusual rituals and behavior. They acted their age, playing games on a PS5, drinking soda until their bladders exploded, filling themselves with junk food and spray cheese. He could be wrong about them after all.

----

Days passed and not a single thing has led them closer to their target person, it was harder than they thought even when everything felt like it was right in front of them.

"Student-Parent day is coming soon, are you going?" You ask Mark as you take a sip of your coffee.

You took him to your favorite coffee shop for the first time, it's a nice and quiet place for you to study and relax.

"They have those?" Mark hesitates because then he'd have to tell his parents that he's undercover and they'd forget and blow it for him. "I guess so."

"Good. Because I'd like you to meet my parents." You smile. Though you didn't know where you stood with Mark, the past few weeks with him had been a breath of fresh air. He was kind, funny and supportive. He was simple yet his ways of showing his thoughts were sophisticated, never had you once thought that you would get along so well with a person in such a short time. You weren't the one to ask for labels though. You simply liked to enjoy whatever you had at the moment. In your experience, putting labels on things just always gave a reason for it to vanish.

"What why?" He says, a little too surprised.

"Look Kalen, don't break a sweat with this. I'm just going to introduce you. They won't mind." You assure him.

He simply leaves the topic behind and ponders on how he could make this work. He was scared because you had no idea that this was all temporary, and he's terrified by the fact that he wishes it wasn't. He was finding all the possible reasons and excuses to retract himself from this relationship he has with you, but all you ever gave him was a reason to stay. It broke his heart knowing that one day, he'll have to disappoint you with the truth.

"Something wrong?"

He snaps out of it. "Nothing." and forces a smile.

-----

"We aren't making any progress man," Mark runs a hand through his hair and sighs. His back falls heavily on his bed.

Johnny anxiously bites his lap, eyes fixated on the floor. "Yuta has a tattoo…"

"What?" the younger jolts up.

Johnny backs up defensively, "But it wasn't the one we saw! You know how the tattoo artist said he's done a couple of those."

"Are you shitting me right now? We've been trying to find it for weeks! Why didn't you tell me?" His voice raises, and a vein on his forehead couldn't help but emerge.

"I don't think it's him man, I told you it’s not the same tattoo" Johnny defends.

Mark lets out a pungent laugh, poking his tongue on the inside of his cheek, his jaw stiffens. "Right. I knew it. " He says in disbelief. "Everything's right in front of you already! Too scared to bust your new besties now?"

"They aren't my new besties stop making up bullshit." The elder stubbornly defends.

"No you stop because I'm actually trying here!"

"Oh you are? Explain why you're getting so serious with that girl of yours. Wait until she finds out that she's just part of the plan." He jumps on Mark's throat and walks out of the room.

The thing is, you weren't even part of the plan. Not at all.

-----

"You better have good shit for me today." The chief clearly was not being in his best mood today.

Mark scoffs, he and Johnny had not settled their differences since the fight from two days ago, they were doing their own investigations without communicating. Which was a big no.

"Ask the big guy here, I'm sure he has something." Tongue in his cheek, Mark glares.

The chief slams a big hand on the table and shouts, "Stop acting like fucking children!"

Johnny stiffened up on his seat, and gulped before he spoke. "I think we need to initiate a drug test on one of the students, chief. I have my eye on this one person. We could pretend to say that the thing is randomized and mandatory. If the intel can look up information about his parents, we could send a pretend automated message about their child being randomly selected for a drug test."

The chief seems to be taking Johnny's point well, "And who is this you suspect?"

"Nakamoto Yuta."

Mark looks at Johnny with wide eyes, he thought Johnny wouldn't be turning him in.

"I see. I'll get the department to execute this idea of yours and we'll let you know right away. Dismissed."

Mark catches up to Johnny who had been walking ahead of him and tries to reach for the elder's shoulder. "Why didn't you tell me?"

"Let go of me," Johnny knocks Mark's hand off his shoulder. "Are you happy now?"

Dumbfounded, Mark couldn't seem to understand where Johnny's irritation was coming from. "Look man, I'm sorry you had to turn one of your friends in but you know it's our job."

"I know okay? I don't need you telling me what to do because so far, I know pretty damn well that I'm not meddling in your fucking business."

Mark pushes a hard hand on Johnny, making him stumble a little. "My relationship has nothing to do with this. Are you jealous? Because if you are, I know pretty damn well you can score a lot of chicks here. I don't see the problem."

Johnny tries to speak but was unable to because Mark had already stormed off elsewhere.

----

"Shit. My parents are coming to fetch me today." Yuta runs a veiny hand through his ginger hair; another reason for his parents to pull him out of university. But here's the first:

Jaehyun, disinterested even if he knew it was serious whenever Yuta's parents butt in and ask why.

"They wanna do a drug test on me."

Jaehyun chortles, "What? You? What made them think that? Besides you acting like a crackhead?"

"They got this stupid email from the dean that I was amongst the randomly chosen individuals to get tested." He pops a sour kid patch in his mouth, "They're never letting this go." He pinches the bridge of his nose and shakes his head. "I have never even tried NCT." he rolls his eyes.

Yuta, though by the looks of him, gave an impression of a boy who would try everything in front of him, but he's a wuss with a good conscience. Too good.

"Well, you are innocent after all, right?" Jaehyun shrugs. "There's nothing to worry about. Um, besides your dyed hair, your tattoo, that lip piercing." He eyes him up and down. "No biggie, just probably uh—two weeks worth of grounding. And no allowance."

"Fuck you man." the ginger-haired boy glared.

------

Johnny walks around the campus, alone. It sucked to not be on good terms with Mark, what ever happened to bros before hoes? It just wasn't the same doing things without him. Johnny had given Mark his personal space for the both of you, but at times like this—it was the hardest to stay out of it.

As he passes by the back of the Fine Arts building, he sees two familiar faces on the exposed staircase.

He squints his eyes and tries to focus on who those people might be, the mop of ash purple hair too familiar. But one thing that utterly shocked him was the sight of someone he expected the least.

It was you and Jaehyun, standing way too close to each other for anyone's liking.

Johnny takes a deep breath and sucks in his cheeks. He didn't know what this meant, and he wished he wouldn't have to be the one to give it any interpretation that would disappoint him and especially Mark.

He walks away from the scene before you get a chance to see him.

"Jaehyun, you don't have to stand this close to me," You backed up, hips hitting the ledge lightly.

He looks to the side, then back at you. "Sorry," he cockily says, backing up with both of his hands raised. "Can't help it. My best friend's too fine. And someone was looking." he mumbles.

"What?"

"Nothing, he's gone"

"You know I'm with Kalen right now Jaehyun." You say with worry, it could've been anyone. "Quit. Don't ruin this for me."

He manages to let a disgruntled chuckle, "And yet you still can't put a label on it."

And with that, he was off.

The entire time Johnny was battling with himself if she should tell Mark about what he saw or not. Them being in a misunderstanding right now doesn't change the fact that he was still his best friend.

After the excruciatingly slow walk to the dorm, he had hoped that Mark wouldn't be around, so he wouldn't have to face him with the information he had right away. He couldn't even form the words for it. The. again, when did anything ever go his way, right?

Johnny enters the room and there was Mark, munching on some chips while viewing something on his laptop. Something probably for one of his classes. Mark didn't have to take this so seriously (by this he meant his classes) but he did, because the Mark we all know just loved to learn. Good for him.

He ignores Johnny's presence; though he was very much aware of it. The elder plops down his bed and grabs his football to toss around. It was so awkward; not greeting each other with their usual weirdness and excitement. It felt like there was this gaping hole between them that both of them were afraid to cross, and no one had the initiative to take a risk—for now.

"Find anything?" Johnny asks Mark, eyes on the ceiling.

"Nope."

"Why not?"

"Do you have anything?"

Well, he did. But not about their task. Instead, he says "Nope." but he couldn’t help but ask. “How are you and y/n?”

“Good.” Mark plainly answers.

“Good.”

And left it at that.

-----

You were going to let your parents meet Mark today, and his would meet yours. You were new to this, there was not a single man you had introduced to your parents, aside from Jaehyun. But that was a different story, because Jaehyun was a childhood friend.

So Mark was the first… whatever this was called. You couldn’t get yourself to call him that, you didn’t deserve to. For you labels were earned, not just given. But this will do for now.

You see him from a distance with his parents, he resembled his father’s face structure and his mother’s eyes. His smile was uniquely his own. You wave a hand in the air and he catches the sight of it, smiling even wider.

“You’re in college again honey?” Mark’s mom asks, clueless.

“Mom, I'm undercover please don’t bring that up anywhere. Please keep quiet for me.” He whispers sternly.

His mom zips her mouth figuratively, his dad got the idea of the whole thing, so they acted according to the assignment.

As he got closer to where you were, his legs grew weak. But he couldn’t falter, he had to put on a strong face. But at that moment, Mark wanted to be buried alive. He wanted to turn his back and run away.

“Mom, dad, this is Kalen.” You present him to them with a grin.

“H-hello.” Mark lets out, his chest clenching.

“Kalen. You sure I haven’t seen you before?” Your father says, gripping Mark’s hand firm, he could almost squeeze the guts out of it. Your father was his deputy chief.

Mark, crushed under the man’s grip, “N-no sir.” he manages to blurt out.

You sense the tension and tell your dad, “Dad, that’s enough.”

Your dad let go, with a smug and bitter look on his face. Your mom, who- with absolutely no idea what Mark has to do with your father, greets him politely.

You greet Mark's parents with glee, and proceed to walk with him, keeping a fair distance from both your parents. "Sorry about my dad, he's just stressed about his job. He's a deputy chief, rustling with knuckleheads all the time." You explain.

Sure he's been through a lot. Mark thought. "Yea yea, I totally get it. It's fine." he nods. Knuckleheads. He laughs to himself.

The rest of the parents’ day event was a total drag, every time Mark got into eye contact with their chief, it had seemed like the man wanted to rip his head away from his body, or maybe skin him alive. Mark had no idea, because if he did he wouldn’t have risked going this far with you. What is left to do now? How can he ever face his boss knowing that he broke the first rule given to them right in his face? And with his own daughter? He should start digging his own grave at this point.

But the chief didn't lay a finger on him, not now when his daughter was at stake.

----

Mark has been itching to tell Johnny about what had happened. He was willing to set aside their differences because he needed his best friend, now.

"Johnny-" Mark breathes, not making eye contact with the elder who was on his phone, this room had been dead silent for days.

Johnny's head perks up, it was nice hearing him call his name again. "Yeah?"

"I kinda messed up… big time." Mark scratches the back of his head, shameful.

Johnny sits up, and listens to the younger more attentively. "What do you mean?"

"Y/n.." he trails off, "Y/n is the chief's daughter." And catches his face on his hands.

"Fuck…" Johnny didn't know what to say. "How'd you know?"

"The student-parent weekend thing. God, I swear dude he was going to skin me alive if he could. But shit, I didn't know!" Mark exclaims, hands all over the place. "If I did then I wouldn't have gone through with this. She has never told me about her parents until that day. I don't know what to do."

He seemed so helpless, he didn't want to break to you like this, it was too messy. But damn if he didn't want to keep being with you. It couldn't end like this, not yet.

"I- I don't know what to say man… God I'm sorry this sucks ass. You know I always let you do what makes you happy right? But what if," Johnny stops, debating if he should go on with what he planned to say.

"What if?" Mark anticipates.

"What if she isn't who you thought she was?"

"Great. I'm so fucking stupid for thinking you would be with me on this one." Mark slams his hands on his lap and stands, slamming the door on the way out.

"Mark-" Johnny reaches for the door but misses a beat, it was too late. He let his best friend slip away from him again.

And as soon as Mark left their room, he was on his way to meet up with you, hoping you would be free. He hadn't had much time with you after the following days of the event because you had always excused yourself with how busy you are with your submissions and requirements, or that's what you would like to tell him.

Your phone rings in your pocket as you excuse yourself from the people you were with at the moment, when you check to see who it was, you find the quietest place possible.

"Kalen," You spoke, "What's up?"

"Are you free? I was hoping I'd finally catch you."

You sigh, you missed spending time with him. "I am," you say in advance before you bail out of this place you were in. "See you at the cafe in 10?"

You hear him chuckle over the line, and you just knew he was smiling when he said "Great, I'll see you."

"See you, Kal." You smile and tuck your phone back in your pocket.

"Who was that?" Jaehyun asks when he bumps into you in the hallway of the frat house. "Oh you've got that sickening smile right now. It must've been Kalen" He rolls his eyes.

"Whatever Jae," You brush past him. "I'm heading out."

"But we're not done!"

You didn't respond and left, shutting the door behind you.

The cafe was a short walk from your university, but you just happened to bump into Mark on the way, now you don't have to walk alone.

He smoothly slips his hand in yours, holding it gently and reading your expression. You look to the side with a wide grin on your face, unable to help the fact that you were blushing like crazy.

"Nice hoodie," he comments. The garment looked a little too familiar to him, he just couldn't quite put his finger on it. “You never gave back my jacket..”

You mentally facepalm, forgetting the fact that you were wearing Jaehyun's hoodie. You pray that Mark wouldn't see this on him anytime soon, you wouldn't want him to get a bad idea.

"Oh right that, I’ll get it dry cleaned and I’ll give it back" you utter. "Something bothering you?" You ask, trying to read his sulky expression.

He shakes his head, "No no, I want you to keep it. And I just missed you." He forms a small smile, making your heart melt. You were so easily captivated by his presence that it scared you. He always left you feeling unhinged—in a good way.

"I missed you too, tiger." You grip his hand a little tighter.

When he licks his lips, only by then you realize how much you missed kissing him. Right then and there, you just wanted another taste. This was exactly why you were trying to keep yourself busy and away from him for a bit; you had to convince yourself that you couldn’t be attached to him because you could never take care of the things you keep.

He opens the door for you like always and the chimes in the cafe ring in a sweet melody, a sound that always reminds you of your moments with him. The both of you always shared comfortable memories in this cafe, from small coffee dates to working on papers until it closed. You couldn’t imagine sharing it with anyone else.

When you settle down he automatically takes your usual orders right away. You could not take your eyes off him, he was such a dream.

He sets the tray down with your drinks, and a pastry that you shared a love-hate relationship with. Cheesecake.

You chuckle at the thought of recalling all the times that you convinced Mark that cheesecake slices weren’t supposed to be as huge as they are and that there are definitely better one’s in other places, but Mark’s favorite was Starbucks’. Maybe that’s why you have learned to love it somehow, because you get to enjoy it with him.

"I thought you didn't like this? You almost finished the whole thing… I literally bought this for myself." He says sarcastically, very much amused at how you barely even noticed that you were close to finishing the entire thing.

"Oh shit.. sorry" You show him a pout and feed the last piece to him. "Here." You smile cutely.

He rolls his eyes and bites it off your fork, you both bid goodbye to the cheesecake.

Mark’s phone rings in his pocket and when he checks to see, it was Johnny. He lets out a sigh and puts his phone back in his pocket.

“Are you going to take that?” You ask.

“Nah”

But Johnny was persistent, he did see this coming. He knew that Mark would ignore him at first so he decided to send him a message. This was about their job.

“Mark, I know you hate me right now but we have to go to the office. Yuta’s tests came back.” Johnny sends.

Mark takes a peek at his message, immediately standing up.

“Where are you going?” You say, surprised.

“I’m sorry I gotta go- meet my brother. He needs me for something.” He hesitantly leans forward, wanting to kiss you on the lips but kisses your forehead instead. “Text me when you get home okay?.” And with that, he was off.

Mark rings Johnny and the elder quickly answers the call, Mark informs him that he would be heading to the office by himself since he was already closer to the location.

But he suddenly remembers about his conflict with the chief. So he waited for Johnny to arrive outside.

Lowering his pride he says, “I’m scared.”

Johnny looks at him with empathy and says, “We can’t change what happened Mark. Just take it all in for now and we’ll figure out what to do about it later.” He pats the younger’s back and gives his shoulders an assuring squeeze before heading inside.

Mark could not look at his boss, the feeling of wanting to be eaten alive was back again, why did he have to be your father?

When Mark finally gets the courage to face him, the chief yells, “The fuck are you looking at?” making Mark flinch and shrink into his seat.

Johnny felt the need to protect his friend and at the same time, to get what they were really here for. “Um, Sir can you save the ass beating for next time? We really need to look into Yuta’s results now.” He scratches the back of his neck.

The chief grunts angrily, getting the file from his drawer. “Negative.” He says.

Mark and Johnny give each other a look and take the folder that had the results, trying to analyze how it could possibly be negative.

“Dammit.” Johnny whispers to himself, they had to move quickly before everything slips away from them. He takes note of Yuta’s contact number in the file to use for later. He closes the folder and places it back on the desk. “We’ll take care of this chief.”

“You better. And you,” He presses a hard finger on Mark’s chest, “Stop fucking around with my daughter. I’ll cut your dick off.”

Mark purses his lips before speaking, “She’s-” he gulps, “She’s really great sir. I’m not playing around with her. I’d never do anything to hurt her.”

“You already are.”

-----

The following day, Yuta receives a text from an unknown number, asking him to meet in an unusual location on campus. He was very skeptical at first but believed that it was probably harmless.

“Yah, Rolan! Sup.” He offers his fist to bump. “I was just waiting for someone here too. Some random number texted me and I was like "you know, fuck it"” he shrugs.

Johnny couldn’t help but chuckle. Was innocence even the word to describe this? "And you believed them?" Johnny shakes his head.

“Yeah! Look here’s the number” he flashes his phone screen to Johnny, “I wonder where they are. Let me give them a call.” he mindlessly puts the phone next to his ear. Yuta hears a muffled cellphone ringtone and looks around for it. “Yo, your phone’s ringing you should get that.” Yuta says to Johnny, still having absolutely no idea.

“It was us who texted you, dummy.” Mark retorts, appearing from the shadows, now both of them are cornering Yuta.

“Yo,-” Yuta laughs, still not getting the point of this all. “What’s your name again?”

Mark rolls his eyes, “Kalen.”

“Right! Kalen wassup? You’re his brother right?” Yuta points to Johnny with his thumb up.

Johnny pops a tongue in his cheeks, and cocks his brow. “Alright, fun’s over.” It was a shame he had to do this too early, but it had to stop. He locks Yuta’s throat with his arm, pushing him onto the solid brick wall.

Yuta tries to toughen up and tries to push Johnny’s arm off, but due to their size difference, Johnny definitely kept him still.

“What do you know about him” Johnny asks sternly.

“A-about who?” Yuta coughs.

“Jaehyun. What does he do?” Mark follows.

“Besides being the most handsome man I know, I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

Mark shakes his head, “Well,” and gets a gun out of the pocket of his hoodie. “Will this make you talk?”

Yuta looks at him with wide eyes, he was now scared shitless. “Why- how- who are you guys!” He exclaims.

“The police mother fucker.” Johnny says.

But despite everything, Yuta’s tactless mouth was definitely not his best asset. “I knew it. you looked too old to be a freshman.” He looks over at Johnny. “And you, I didn’t expect you to be a cop but you did give Narc vibes in that philosophy class.”

Mark and Johnny give each other a look, they could not be sidetracked.

“Are you done?” Johnny tells Yuta, and he simply nods. “So are you going to talk?”

“I’m telling you I don’t know! He never trusts me with his business, he says I have a big mouth.”

Mark snickers, “I can tell.”

Yuta scoffs, and follows, “He’s been out often recently, but he never tells me where he’s going. So I don’t know what I can do for you.”

“Listen here buddy,” Johnny warns. “If this gets to your parents that you’re involved with someone who supplies and distributes drugs, you’re going to get your entire family deported. Do you want that?”

Yuta gulps, “No.” then helplessly says, “I don’t know how to earn his trust with these kinds of things. He’s known me since forever but-”

“No buts.” Mark interrupts. “Use that head of yours or your ass is going back to Japan.”

-------

Yuta had been on edge ever since that encounter with Mark and Johnny, now this entire thing would be up to him if he cooperated or not. Yuta’s heart had been lost a couple times, but it was definitely looking to be in the right place. So he’s trying his best to help out, even if it meant that he would have to turn in his best friend.

When he gets the time to be alone with his thoughts he looks back at all the times that Jaehyun had made him feel like he wasn’t enough to be his friend. Not giving him a good position in football, walking out on him whenever he wanted to, keeping secrets from him. Maybe he was too busy trying so hard to be validated by Jaehyun that he never really got to realize that he lost himself in the process. Letting himself be trampled all over by everyone; this was his time to do something not just for himself, but for everyone else.

On the night when Jaehyun could not escape from Yuta’s presence any longer, he thought that it would be harmless to let his friend tag along for once. It’s not like he had other friends to be with, right? Right. Jaehyun could believe that if he wanted to.

“I’m a bit sore today, you think you can drive me?” Jaehyun asks Yuta as they were walking in the parking lot after practice.

To be fair, Yuta was sore too. But of course they wouldn’t care. “Alright, where to?” He still manages to say.

“I’ll tell you along the way.”

Yuta simply shrugs and Jaehyun tosses him his car keys, placing their gym bags at the trunk of his car. Jaehyun had given him directions while driving and it was somewhere he had never been and seen before. “Are you sure it’s here?” He says, trying to drive into a dark abandoned building with only the car’s headlights being the source of light.

“Yeah yeah, wait for me here.” Jaehyun opens the door of the car and slips away from it. “Don’t worry, this place is safe.” He tells Yuta and shuts the door close.

Yuta immediately whips out his phone, thinking that this might be his biggest clue and texts Johnny.

I don’t know where I am, but I’m gonna send you my pinned location based on what my gps says alright? I think this was where Jaehyun had been going.

Johnny immediately tells Mark about this and they immediately take their car to go to where Yuta had told them.

Rolan: Yuta, it’s not safe for you to stay there. Can you drive away and head back here? It would be better if we keep you alive.

I guess I could, Jaehyun’s pretty far out now. I saw him go in somewhere, I’m sure you’ll find this entrance when you get here.

With that Yuta drives off and tries to find his way back to the campus, hoping that this would be successful for Mark and Johnny. He had such a strong feeling about this, everything could go right, or just extremely wrong. But he had to expect both to keep his feet on the ground. He did the right thing. He kept telling himself that.

“Dude this place is sketchy as hell.” Mark says, looking around. “Do you think Yuta told us the truth? I mean he’s Jaehyun’s bestfriend right?”

“It wouldn’t hurt to try Mark, he seemed pretty genuine about it. Besides, all Jaehyun does is use him. I’m sure he’s tired of it.” Johnny says as they searched the place with their flashlights, their guns ready to fire if they ever go under attack.

Finally, they find the entrance Yuta has been talking about, the chain attached to the door unlocked and loosened. When they get closer they arm themselves and keep their guard, Johnny kicks the door open and Mark could not believe what he had just seen.

This couldn’t be. He kept repeating to himself, he didn’t want to believe that this was his reality.

The reality that you were the one who was behind all of this.

“Hands up! We’re the police.” Johnny shouts, echoing throughout the entire warehouse.

Mark gulps, he could not bring himself to move his feet and go closer. When you see him, you feel like you have been the biggest disappointment in someone’s life. “Kalen,” You plead with your hands up, terrified with the fact that Johnny had called off a warning shot, making you and Jaehyun back up.

“Y/n.” Mark says, still struggling to get closer to you and lift his arm to aim his gun towards you. “Why- how could you?”

And you couldn’t answer him. The last thing you ever wanted to do was disappoint him, and yet you turned out to be every single disappointment that this world could think of.

“Great.” Jaehyun says in anger, remorseful with the fact that both of you just got caught by the two people who had been the closest to you these past months.

“Mark, come on. This is just as hard as it is for me than it is for you. We have to do this. It’s all we’ve been working for.” Johnny faces him, also extremely disheartened by this revelation.

Mark? His real name was Mark? “Who’s Mark?” You ask before he continues to approach you.

“Right. Now you know.” He takes a deep breath. He gets his handcuffs out of his pocket and races towards you before you could even get away. It was bizarre; how you even thought of escaping this.

“You have the right to remain silent,” His hands shake while putting them against your back, “Anything that you say can and will be held against you in the court of law.” He swallows, and you sob.

“I’m so sorry I-” he cuts you off.

“You have the right to an attorney. If you cannot afford an attorney, one will be appointed for you.” He concludes the Miranda rights and adds, “It’s one thing to disappoint me, but another to disappoint your father.”

-----end------

258 notes · View notes

mitsukui · 4 years

Text

late night experiences | g.w.

Pairing: George Weasley x female reader.

Summary: learning new things is always better when it is done with someone else.

Word Count: 2,7k.

Warnings: smut! Masturbation, mentions of innocence kink.

Disclaimer: none of the pictures used in the edit below belong to me; I simply put them together.

A/N: please, leave me some feedback if you feel like it! My askbox is open for your opinions, thoughts and requests. Thank you so much for your time and attention ❤

Masterlist!

Your last year at Hogwarts rushed into your life without warning — and so did your sexual hormones. You swore to Merlin you could feel them tingling all over your body whenever you solely looked at George Weasley, your majestic boyfriend. And apparently, he felt the same way towards you. Wondering the reason behind it all, you were quick to blame the fact that the two of you had just turned 18.

You had been together for a little while now: around nine months or so. But nothing had ever happened, and you were not quite sure why. You two had, supposedly, everything needed: steamy make-out sessions, wandering hands, lustful thoughts, privacy, and all that jazz. Yet, there you were: ground zero.

However, things were about to change even though you still were unconscious about it.

“Psst!” Your favorite quill stopped scribbling your Herbology notes. “Oi!” Your eyes gazed at the direction from which came the voice only to realize it was one of your classmates, Angelina Johnson. “I’ve discovered something last night which I thought you might be interested in.” A mischievous smirk painted her lips as you leaned in closer, already feeling eager to listen to whatever she had to say. She was one of those people who made anyone pay attention to them whenever they said something.

Her hushed whispers filled the existing silence between you two in the Study Area once more. “The boys were talking in our common room last night, and rumor has it George can’t keep his hands off of his cock whenever he thinks of you.”

Katie Bell and Alicia Spinnet giggled like little girls when she finally finished her speech. You could feel your cheeks getting embraced by a deep and violent warmness. Uh-oh.

Your mind suddenly produced images by itself: George’s chest going up and down quickly as he moaned under his breath. He had his long and slender fingers wrapped around his dick and, sweet Merlin, he was big. Big and thick and veiny. His eyelashes fluttered as his hand pumped up and down a few times, precum leaking from his tip.

Heaven probably looked like that. What a lovely sight. You would give anything to actually see the great George Weasley in such a position. But, again: ground zero.

Still, the possibility of him pleasuring himself at the thought of you seemed to awake something new inside your chest and offer you a novel tingling sensation. You felt a burning flame in your loins, and it was almost as if your entire body were on fire.

You wanted him to jerk off thinking of you. You wanted his hands to get dirty from his own seed because of you.

You gulped. Snapping fingers brought you back to reality. “Girl, it’s high time you gave that poor lad some love, you know.”

The next few days felt slow and eternal. George Weasley and George Weasley’s thick dick were the only things occupying your mind. Of course, you had fantasized about him before; but it had never been that vivid. Things are always better when they are real, after all.

And you wanted to do something about it. Your soul ached for him to share his hidden and erotic reality with you. Your flesh longed to be painfully close to his. Your body and your hands desired to tease him and give him something to be unbearably hard over. You obviously would not feel in peace until you got what you wanted.

That is why the suggestion of a late night meeting in the Prefect’s Bathroom came to life. It was discussed during another of your studying session with Angelina, Alicia and Katie, being first brought on by Angelina, of course. That girl had many wild cards up her sleeve.

“I happen to know the password. Got it from a Slytherin guy, after giving him a few galleons.”

“And a blowjob, too.” Alicia responded with her eyebrows raised and a mischievous grin hanging on her lips.

As the three other girls laughed carelessly, seeming to be extremely relaxed and confident to talk about such a topic, you chewed on your bottom lip. Jittery feelings bubbled up within your veins while concern clouded your mind. You had a severe lack of inexperience when it came down to anything sexual.

Your temporary anxiety was sharply noticed by Katie, who positioned her hand over yours in a comforting act. Her fingers soothed your skin, her next words slipping out of her lips as motherly advice.

“Don’t feel pressured to do anything, honestly. George is one of the most understanding people I have ever met. But I think a little bit of intimacy would work wonders on you, both of you.” Her grip on your hand became a bit tighter, and her warmth was incredibly pacifying. “You know, just suggest going to the Prefect’s Bathroom tomorrow night. He will surely accept, once he is heads over heels for you. Get in the warm, bubbly water. Kiss him, if you feel comfortable enough for that. And just see where it goes.”

Your other two friends nodded, assuring you everything was alright and that you could always count on them for support and advice. The conversation went on for a little longer, they sharing intimacy tips and encouraging you.

Luckily enough, the next morning was one that you had classes with George. You brought on the subject in the end of the lesson, while he gathered his material quietly.

His lips opened up in a bright smile in the moment you appeared in front of him, but his expression was soon destroyed by your visible tensed posture.

“Hey, gorgeous. Are you alright?”

You sighed shortly, trying to relieve some of your internalized insecurities. The suggestion came out of your lips in a mere murmur, but he was smart enough to grasp onto all of your words. His eyes noticed your dodging gaze and your fidgeting fingers, playing with the hem of your tie. You looked absolutely adorable to him.

“See you later tonight, then. Prefect’s Bathroom, 12AM sharp. I won’t be late.”

The rest of the day felt like an eternity. Perhaps, it was the uncertainty of it all, given that there was no way to predict how the scenario would take place later on. But the time for your meeting agonizingly came, and you were forced to leave your dormitory.

The weather was unpleasantly hot, and it was hard for you to tell whether it was due to the time of the year you were going through, or to the fact you were walking towards your own doom.

You had been curious and tempted to get to know his darker and more lustful façade but, at the same time, you were ashamed of how much you craved him despite being your first time feeling anything like that. Those same novel tingles from before returned to your loins as your made your way to the fifth floor.

Underneath your favorite carmine red pleated skirt and a muggle band T-shirt, you wore a set of lingerie that had not received much attention when previously picked out, which was a simple white bra paired with white panties, covered in tiny pink strawberries. When you were about to reach your destination, you came down to the realization of how childish your underwear looked. You inhaled sharply, concluding you had ruined everything.

Eventually, you and George met, and entered the bathroom hand in hand.

Although you had heard of its wonderful interiors, seeing everything with your own eyes for the first time made you gasp. Your gaze traveled through the place, and you wished to engrave every detail in your heart. The white marble grandness awoke a sense of greatness and admiration inside you, and you almost fell to your knees right then and there.

A tad of small talk was exchanged between you and your boyfriend, until he approached you at last. His big hands cupped your delicate face, and he leaned down to kiss you.

His lips were so terribly gentle that they sent butterflies to your stomach. He showed no shyness in the second his hands roamed down your body and found your back, giving your ass a light squeeze. Unable to control yourself, you moaned and pressed your body against his.

A steamy make out moment was held between the two of you until the moment for the truth hovered over your heads. He rested his forehead against yours, and looked at you with loving eyes as his thumb ran over your lips.

“Tell me why we are here, darling.”

“It’s just that…There had been this rumor, you know?” A shy chuckle escaped your lips, and you closed your eyes, trying to block out all the filthy images suddenly appearing in your mind. “People have been saying that you jerk off thinking about me. But I’m not sure if it’s true or not, because we have –“

“It is true.” The coolness in his voice caught you off guard, and you blinked at him in a mixture of shock and self-induced accomplishment: your boyfriend touched himself at the thought of you.

Your eyelashes fluttered until your eyes were shut, and a sigh escaped your lips. Your mind knew no restrains at that moment, and the images you had been blocking out came to life all at once, violently crashing against your insides, almost like agitated waves at a beach.

Silence embraced the two of you again, but neither of you felt bothered by it. You took your time to let the sinful images sink in, and he took his time to study your face. You had been clearly affected by the truth he had just spilled out, and he secretly enjoyed such thing. He could read you like the palm of his hand, and he knew you were thinking about him with his dick out.

As he breathed heavily, fearing air would forever leave his lungs after what he was about to do, he prepared himself for what was about to come. His thumb ran over your slightly swollen lips but, this time, he parted them with a gentle tug on your lower lip. George timidly shoved his thumb into your mouth, and you, with your eyes still closed, took all of it.

Your tongue swirl against his finger, the feeling of your saliva dancing against his skin sending electrical waves down his spine. You continued on sucking him until your cheeks finally hollowed, and he pulled his finger out with a low ‘pop’ noise.

You opened your eyes in a deep frustration, but he could no longer take it. His cock was hard inside his trousers and it battled for its freedom. He breathed unsteadily and with a bit of difficulty, his mind starting to wonder how your lips would feel wrapped around his tip.

The realization that you two had never done anything before hit him hard, and he felt himself twitching while precum started wetting the fabric of his underwear.

Would it be selfish of him to think he would probably be the first one ever to taste your cunt? The first one to penetrate you, the first one to end your innocence for eternity, the first one to feel your walls clenching around him, the first one to make you cum.

George was forced to step back and groan in bitterness. He really wanted to fuck you, but he would never disrespect you or your limits. Plus, on top of that, he really did not know how he could express his urges.

“S-Sorry, darling. I-I-I don’t know what’d gotten into me, I guess I just lo-“

“Can you show me how you touch yourself?”

The question hung on air for one or two moments. You could not believe what you had just said. You were drunk on a new dizzying and exciting sensation, one that left your panties secretly wet and your clit throbbing, and one which made you ask your boyfriend to masturbate right in front of you.

So he did it. Apparently, Katie was right: George Weasley would gladly accept anything you asked him.

After the enormous bathtub had been filled with water and bubbles, he undressed and you lost all of your senses for a bit.

His fair skin carried grand amounts of both freckles and small scars. His entire silhouette was outlined by groups of yet developing muscles, but each one of them caused more wetness to pool in your strawberries ridiculously covered panties. George was so tall, his shoulders were so broad, and his dick was indeed so big.

When all of his being finally became bare in front of you, you rubbed your thighs together, the need for friction creeping inside your body for the first time ever.

You stood still exactly where you were, but he made his way to the tub, sitting on the edge of the white porcelain. He lowered his dark eyes to his throbbing member and his touch caused a relieved sigh to leave his lips. His hand moved up and down a few times until he looked at you again.

There was something different on his face. His eyelids seemed to be a tad heavier, and the sounds slipping out of his slightly parted lips were the most delicious thing you had ever heard.

George Weasley was jerking off right in front of you. He was moaning only for you. And you hoped he would cum just for you, too.

As the minutes slowly went by the two of you, you watched him quietly. However, it was impossible for him to keep quiet. By now, his moans were loud and shameless. He whispered your name every now and then, the thought of you bouncing up and down his dick providing all the fuel he needed to orgasm only for you.

That was entirely new for you. You felt so dirty, so sinful, so misbehaved, but you were living for it. You wanted more of him, and you also wanted to give George more of you. And that was exactly the reason why you said your next sentence out loud.

“Can I touch myself?”

His ears convinced himself that he had heard it incorrectly, but the way your fingers tugged on your T-shirt, and your thighs rubbed together, he knew he was not mistaken. A new rush of pleasure ran through his veins and he pumped his hand faster. Unable to form coherent sentences, he mumbled something along the lines of ‘please’ and nodded vehemently.

In the blink of an eye, both of your bodies were unclothed and both of you played with your intimacies. George’s right hand applied all the pressure that could possibly resemble your tight cunt wrapped around his cock, and your fingers helped the squelching sounds coming from your wetness to echo in the bathroom. You had never thought that so many lustful sensations could occupy your body all at once and, yet, there you were: masturbating at the sight of your boyfriend doing the exact same.

By now, you also had problems breathing and the tight knot inside your body screamed for a break. You pulled your hand away from your dripping cunt, but you remained connect to your womanhood by a very thin and almost invisible string of your juices.

George obviously noticed that tiny detail and it was too much for him. He announced he was close and, soon enough, his skin was stained by the pleasure you had given him. His eyes were closed as he felt his heartbeat increasing and the images of you still haunting his mind.

The way he accepted and let his orgasm work on his body made you move your hand against your clit faster and you followed him in a matter of seconds. Your body trembled and you could not stop whining.

You had never experienced something so astonishingly sensational.

Your pants filled the bathroom for a little while before his body finally slipped into the still warm water. The comfort offered by the setting relaxed his existence and he weakly called and asked you to join him, which you happily agreed with.

He touched your hips and pulled you closer, placing your body against his chest. With his lips pressed against your temple, he whispered a series of ‘thank you’ and ‘you are the prettiest girl I’ve ever seen’.

However, his final words changed the mood completely and you hated him for it.

“That’s a nice pair of panties, by the way.”

Tag list! ❤️ @efyra @writingsomewrongs @kellsslut @pineapplesandpinas @fiction-is-the-new-reality @hufflepuff5972 @amourtentiaa @emmaev @asthmax @anchoeritic @eunoia-kth

#george weasley x reader #george weasley imagine #george weasley smut #george weasley #harry potter #harry potter imagine #harry potter smut #🌼 — personal: writings

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ktheist · 4 years

Text

girls like you [don’t] run ‘round with guys like me | m

characters. popular!reader x shy!jimin

genre. college au. rich kids au. fwb au. eventual ceo au. eventual racer au.

words. 4k

warnings. 18+

note. this is a repost. tumblr messed up my exposure last time. this fic didn’t show up in search and it’s probably a third post of mine that ends up like this. this one probably won’t either but posting bc someone might see it and like it.

It’s easy to tell when Park Jimin is in love.

Unlike Kim Seokjin, his eccentric, dad joke-loving friend, Jimin would only wear the pastel pink when he’s feeling giggly and shy and mushy inside.

The source of said feelings being either the barista he goes to get his daily dose of coffee from, or the girl at the library he studies at during finals or well, right now it’s the girl he’s fucking almost every day of the week - you.

“What are you doing?” Seokjin looks at him like he just dumped a spoonful of salt in a broth that needs a little, teensy bit of sugar.

Or his face seems to say that as he goes on, “she’s a mean girl. She’s mean.”

Jimin isn’t sure if Seokjin’s aware that he’s just repeated the same thing twice.

“She calls you Chim!” The older man reiterates.

“Yeah, it’s…” Jimin trails off, the heartwarming image of you cuddling into him after yet another mindblowing sex, flashing at the back of his mind, “...her pet name for me.”

“Sounds to me like she can’t remember your actual name,” Min Yoongi interjects from the couch he’s claimed for himself ever since they got to their usual hangout.

It’s a penthouse Jimin’s parents bought him on his 18th birthday. Him and the boys would hang around there after they’re done with classes or just need a place to crash whenever they have problems with their girlfriends or boyfriends or parents or any sort of problem that renders their usual room not sleepable.

“I think we can just agree we have different wants,” Jeongguk - or the sanest of them all, as Jimin likes to call him - chirps in, taking a bite of the apple he got from the fridge.

“Exactly,” Jimin throws his hands up as if freed from his elder friends’ judge-filled eyes. The vibration of his phone in his lap gives him even more comfort to know that he finally has an excuse to slip away - he checks his phone, your name flashing in the bubble that says ‘hey, wyd?’

“I have to go, it’s ___.”

A series of groans and hollers equally erupts from the men in the room at the realization of what Jimin’s ‘having to go’ means.

And so it goes. Jimin finds himself under your blanket that smells like fresh laundry - it’s a nude green color compared to the pleated black and white from last time. Your head is on his chest and he’s caressing your hair like it’s the softest thing he’s ever laid his hands on.

Besides your boobs, that is.

“I was thinking… since we have Monday off… maybe we could-”

It’s the way you push yourself off him, eyes that are onto him gazing straight into his soul, “oh shoot, Monday’s a public holiday. I totally forgot! I have to meet my parents. My dad’s been nagging me to come back since I skipped Christmas and New Year.”

And there goes his chance to ask you out on a date.

“Oh yeah, what were you saying about Monday?”

Jimin wears the biggest fake smile he can muster, “just that… me and the boys are gonna hang out and we’re bringing our girlfriends and boyfriends and uh- doesn’t have to be someone you’re exclusively seeing,” he almost chokes at the almost-admittance that he has the fattest crush on you and wants to make it official by inviting you to a couple’s-only hang out, “but like, I don’t think I’m going, it’s boring anyway.”

He waves his hand dismissively, trying to play it cool.

You make a cooing sound, eyebrows knitting together as your lips pout cutely before a playful smile blooms on your face, “I know what you’re trying to say.”

“You do?” Jimin thinks he heard his heart dropping to his stomach.

“Yeah, you’re single and all the boys have someone special they’re gonna bring… it’s gonna be awkward as hell because they’re gonna act different because they’re around their special someone so you thought if I was there, it’d be more fun because at least you have a friend with you that’s not gonna act fake the whole time there but I can’t go so you decided you’re not going too like a minute ago.”

Silence lulls in after your analogy that you sound so sure of when, in fact, he has a whole list of things he’d do on the date which he may or may not have gone over a hundred times in his head.

Doesn’t matter now, since that date is a no-go.

He’s going to delete that list off his phone once he gets to his place and drink himself silly until he wipes it out of his mind.

“Yeah,” Jimin says a moment later, “yeah… I mean, girls in love are cute but boys in love are just… annoying.”

The week flies by without Jimin ever mentioning Monday and you’ve showed him the clothes you’re going to wear to visit your parents because apparently-

“It’s lunch at some five star Michelin restaurant and I think they’re gonna tell me they’re getting a divorce,” your voice drifts into the room from the open, walk-in closet.

“If they’re not in some long, dreadful battle on who gets the holiday house with the pool and the dogs - how do I look?” You step out, in a frilly creme sweater with a black ribbon tied around the collar of your white undershirt with a black pleated skirt that stops mid-thighs, just inches from your black stockings.

A glaring contrast to your collection of washed out skinny jeans, plain t-shirts and sneakers.

“You… look…” Jimin knows he should stop openly ogling at your never-before-seen drip but there’s just something about the creme colored sweater.

“Like a good girl?” You offer with a smile Jimin couldn’t quite put a name to. Somehow he notices a trace of sadness in your eyes, but you disappear into the closet too soon.

“I’ll think about what to wear the morning I need to wear it,” you’re in the middle of pulling off the sweater when Jimin comes up behind you, kissing your neck and grabbing your boobs like they’re his.

The sound of your giggle is music to his ears.

That is, until his boner brushes against your butt and you gasp, “Chim! We just did it.”

“I know but you look so cute in that sweater.” He sounds exactly like Jeongguk. Like a fuckboy.

Like one of the boys you got tired of before you finally noticed him, the quiet, shy guy who’s friends with the outgoing, baby-faced Jeon Jeongguk whom - Jimin hates to admit it but he thinks about this every once so often and gets jealous all on his own - you’ve humped and dumped.

How you and Jeongguk still manage to stay friends and tease each other about the other’s choice of partners, Jimin doesn’t know.

It’s like a twin calling the other ugly.

He wonders if you and him will still stay friends after…

Jimin pushes the thought out of his mind. It’s not hard to forget everything when he’s with you - when he’s kissing you on the mouth like you’re the only girl he’ll want to spend the rest of his college life with and maybe his old days with together too.

“Chim, I can’t get my shirt creased,” you say but you’re already dripping wet and laying down in said shirt that’s half ridden up from him sucking and biting on your nipples.

He stopped you when you tried to take off your clothes.

“I’ll wash it and iron it for you,” he negotiates just as he rolls the condom over his length.

The sound of your giggle makes his heart skip a beat. Or maybe that’s the libido?

Either way, your mouth clamps shut when he pulls you down against him by the dip of your waist.

A different kind of hymn leaves your lips as Jimin throws his head back, relishing in the feeling of you around him.

When Monday rolls around, Jimin’s lying on the bean bag with his two legs sprawled over the floor. The boys are all out with either their significant others, working part-time or at a party.

The worn out baseball Jimin’s been tossing in the air and catching with one hand finally hits him square in the face when he hears the doorbell, signaling the presence of someone at the door and that someone being none of the boys because they would just punch in the code and strut in like they own the place.

Jimin thought maybe it’s Yoongi - the guy couldn’t even remember what he had for dinner and actually forgot the passcode to his own rental room once.

So he didn’t think to check who it was.

When your bright smile and slightly puffy eyes flash in front of him, Jimin thinks his soul just yeeted itself out of his body.

“Hey!” You sing song, holding up two plastic bags of beers and snacks.

It takes a moment for him to snap out of his stupor and grab them from your hands and then stepping aside to let you in.

“Is… everyone late or am I just early?” You sound increasingly confused as you step further into the center of the room, standing right next to the bean bag he was laying in just a moment ago.

“Oh-” he says once before he opens his mouth the second time, ready to spurt out another lie, “oh yeah… we decided not to ‘cause why hang out in a group when you can hang out with your significant other… you know, just the two of you… doing what couples do…”

“Huh,” you say, nodding though not quite believing him but you being you, easily lets it slide, plopping on the bean bag and grabbing the closest thing to you which is the ball that hit Jimin in the face - he’s sure he has a circular mark smack dab in the area on the top of his nose bridge, in between his eyes.

The dress you end up wearing is creme colored and riding up your thighs - Jimin swallows thickly and give extra attention to the bottle opener.

“So… how did lunch go?” He pops two beers open and hands one to you, taking a seat on Yoongi’s favorite couch and admiring how your dress is taking the shape of your body as gravity pulls it down.

“Oh, you know, everyone was being fake and acting like the perfect role in the family,” you put the beer down a few inches above your head so as to not tip it over with the ball you’re waving around but not throwing in the air like Jimin did.

“Sounds suffocating,” Jimin repeats a similar answer he gives whenever you use that dismissive tone while talking about your family.

“...are you okay?” Then he asks - and he’s genuinely asking - about your state of mind while casually downing the beer and feeling the bitterness lessen with every gulp.

The silence that lapses in between you is familiar.

“If I say no, can I get a hug?” It’s the look in your eyes, glimmering like the lake he used to go to in summer.

“Always,” he sets his beer down on the table next to the couch and goes over to you, standing on his knees before bending down and engulfing you in his arm.

You’ve always had a knack for picking yourself up.

When he sees you the next time, which is on instagram and a post of you having lunch with your friends, Jimin could hardly believe that’s the girl who asked him for a hug as if she’s afraid she’ll be putting him in an uncomfortable spot by asking for too much.

But there’s something…

Like an invisible wall made of ice that he can’t thaw through nor can he climb over to get to the other side where you are. Where you keep the people you love the closest. Closer than he’ll ever be.

Jeon Jeongguk is one of them.

In the picture of five people huddled close to fit in the frame, Jeongguk has his arm over you with a peace sign while you lean your head on his neck but not actually resting on it - like it’s an unconscious action you’d do because you’ve done that plenty of times.

Is it when you two were together?

Everyone he knows, knows that you and Jeongguk used to be more than just friends at some point.

Sometimes he still hears people talking about you two in passing.

‘Did ___ and Jeongguk get back together? I saw in Jeongguk’s snapstory - they were in a club or something.’

‘No way. There goes my chance of getting close with Jeongguk.’

‘Girl, with ___ hanging around him 24/7, do you think he’d look at girls like us?’

‘A girl can dream though.’

Jimin wanted to open his mouth and tell them they deserve way better than Jeon Jeongguk - though they’re not prettier than you.

He thinks you’re the loveliest girl on planet earth and if there was another life form on another planet, he’s almost a hundred percent sure you’d still be prettiest being in the universe with your obsession for skinny jeans and the way you’d unconsciously pout when he talks about how things weren’t going his way that day as if you would’ve exchanged your abundance of luck with his shitty one just because you’ve got that big of a heart and how you’d be walking with your friends, laughing and giggling and when you see him, you’d wave at him like you’re good friends.

Second only to Jeongguk and your friend group that you’re always hanging out with.

“Oh, ___? We were childhood friends.”

“Hmm… Gguk and I became friends because our parents are friends.”

The two of them say at different times and settings when Jimin asked, trying to play it cool. Like he isn’t just brimming with jealousy. Like he’s not half-way to losing his mind because the girl of his dreams just went to a retreat with his friend-of-a-friend-turned-actual-friend together when everyone else in the group who was excitedly planning for the trip - couldn’t make it.

The rooms at the inn weren’t even pre-booked. It was owned by Jeongguk’s family and they didn’t deposit any money for the trip for them to rationalize going on that trip anyway despite everyone else not being to go.

“The trip? It was fun, if you want we can go together next time.”

Jimin isn’t sure if you even mean that when he asked how the trip went after you’re glistening with the glow of after sex and scrolling through instagram, liking posts of everyone you know.

But then three months later, on your break, Jimin is hit with a ‘keep your schedule free next week for a whole week!!!’

Then he finds himself at a five star hotel by the beach with the most breathtaking view of the sea.

It wasn’t the inn owned by the Jeon’s but Jimin liked the fact that you brought him to a place - and he hopes his assumptions are true - your friends have never been before. Especially Jeongguk.

“Woah, this place is better than I thought,” a king sized bed lies directly across from the balcony where you’re standing, hair flying behind your back as the seaside breeze blows into the room.

“We can watch the sun rise and set from our bed,” Jimin comments for the sake of saying something.

He’s not sure what this means. He’s not sure if he should be having a boner at the thought of the two of you being together for a whole week without any other person getting in the way. He’s not sure if his heart should be thumping this fast.

For the first time since he’s known you, Park Jimin is the most unsure he’s ever been.

“You know what I wanna watch?” Your hands slip in his as you stand between him and the open balcony door, “you under me, biting your lips because you’re still shy about the sound you make.”

So when you tug him back into the bedroom just minutes after checking in, naturally, Park Jimin follows like he’s been bewitched by your ungodly beauty.

Once the one week of nothing but heavenly morning wishes and passionate night kisses - oh, there was more than just kissing but Jimin remembers how your lips meld so perfectly together with his the most - Jimin is sure.

‘Something definitely changed.’

He thinks maybe it’s not impossible to dream of a future with you even after college.

“Jimin I-... I’m not at a point in life to be thinking about relationships,” you say, hand gripping your arm, head lowered as if your whole body is saying sorry.

“O-oh,” is all he says, he hearts his heart breaking and his chest caving.

All of a sudden, the lights in Gangnam city doesn’t seem so bright anymore.

You both live your last year pretending like the other doesn’t exist. He doesn’t look at you when he passes you and neither did you. Only talks to Jeongguk even though you’re right next to the aforementioned man - granted you were talking with your other friends like you didn’t even notice him there.

But Jimin’s never felt so invisible in his life than he does now.

Then, graduation rolls around and he thinks finally, he won’t have to walk through the hallway and pretend like he didn’t see you. Don't have to keep a five feet distance whenever you meet up for a group project.

Park Jimin doesn’t need to see your pretty face and starry eyes anymore.

“Jimin… do you have a minute?”

Or so he thought.

“So… congrats on surviving college,” you make small talk while standing just ten feet away from the boys whom he’s sure are speculating on what you’re talking about.

Jimin never got to prove to his friends that you’re not the mean, name-forgetting girl they all thought.

Jeongguk knows you’re not. He’s always backing Jimin up when Jimin’s debunking their passing accusations about you.

“Sometimes things just don’t work out between two people but doesn’t mean one of them is the bad guy.” Jeongguk's words put an end to their debate of whether Jimin deserved better than you or not.

For someone young, Jeongguk spoke his mind decidedly.

Jimin felt ashamed that he’d ever been jealous of Jeongguk’s relationship with you.

“I just… didn’t wanna leave things on a bad note. I’m sorry if I hurt your feelings when I said no but I really like spending time with you - whether it’s sex or just staying over and cuddling for hours… I like it all.” You say the word sex and cuddle like they’re used interchangeably and Jimin thinks his heart just fluttered.

And you’d said it in public where your everyone can see or possibly pick up on what you were saying, at that.

Well, one thing’s for sure, you’ve got bigger balls than he does.

“My feelings are the same as six months ago and call me crazy but I don’t think you dislike me either.” He finally says and it feels like a deadweight has been lifted off his shoulders.

There comes that pout, as if something is bothering you and you always ever pout like that when that something concerns him.

“You kidding me? I can never dislike you.”

The Jimin from six months ago would have stared at you with disbelief and a dust of pink on his cheeks. But the Jimin he is now simply smiles, heart thumping in his chest. He nods.

“Thanks for telling me that,” and Jimin knows that’s the closest to an ‘I like you’ he can get with the girl who builds an ice fortress around her heart.

A whole year passes by and Jimin finds himself in different shades of grey every day, working at his dad’s company and attending dinner meetings. Life comes to a standstill while time passes him by.

“So, like, you have a sports car, right? Why don’t you come over to the race circuit after dinner? Everyone’s gonna be there.”

Jeongguk tells him over the phone.

And by ‘everyone’ he means the sons and daughters in the corporate world. It’s networking at its finest.

When he’s there, three cars are already racing in the circuit. The smell of burnt rubber and the sound of tires screeching against asphalt isn’t exactly his favorite but they have cheap booze instead of fine wine and he knows the people here are in for the same thing as he is.

An escape.

Away from the grandeur of fine wine and dinner dresses and the elders breathing down their necks and having to act like the next heir to the legacy they were born to carry.

“That Chevrolet over there,” Jeongguk comes, hand on Jimin’s back as his other one that’s holding a bottle of beer points at a red car that looks like a racing fireball, “everyone’s betting on that one tonight.”

Jimin doesn’t know there’s a bet.

“I’ll skip the bet this time ‘round. Haven’t seen the driver yet,” he shrugs dismissively.

Even in stock investment, he’d learned to study the market first before placing his best bet.

Jeongguk leaves his side when his friends - he’s got new ones now - beckons him over. At the same time, the Chevrolet passes the finish line seconds before the Ford Mustang and McLaren 720s, making it the winner of the night.

The driver seems like a show off with the way the car rolls up to the audience, the sound of its engines revving into the night being met with cheers of half-drunk young adults.

Arrogance is a man’s downfall.

Jimin’s about to turn around and head for the exit when the door of the car gets pushed open. The driver steps out, decked in black and red leather jeans and jackets that seem to match the car.

But it’s the smooth, silken hair that cascades past the helmet that catches his eyes.

Park Jimin’s seen many arrogant men in his life but he’s only ever seen one woman with balls and looks good wearing them.

“___! ___! ___!” The crowd starts cheering as you pull off the helmet, holding it underneath your arm and waist.

Your eyes are as brilliant as the night sky full of stars. They’re tinged with shock and then recognition. And finally, you smile that gorgeous smile that gets you misunderstood often as a woman who doesn’t need anything or anyone but uses them as they come.

But Park Jimin knows better than anyone, how wholeheartedly happy that smile looks when you see him.

Like meeting a good friend after a long time.

Seven months down the road, Jimin finds himself with just a blanket draped over his waist while you’re taking a shower in his bathroom to get ready to head to Hong Kong for a business trip.

He hears the sound of the shower head being turned off. The tapping of your foot around his bedroom as you pick up your clothes that are strewn all over the floor.

Then the bed dips ever so gently under your weight as you climb over to him, the fresh scent of shower get filling his senses. Lips press a deep, lingering kiss on his. As if you don’t want to go to a place where he won’t be.

A few socials and midnight races after his first meeting with you after a long time, you asked him if he’s seeing someone.

“If I say yes, what will you do?” It’s playful at first, because Jimin didn’t want to get himself hurt the second time.

But it’s the way you tilted your head, a finger tapping on your chin as you pondered on his words, “that’s a problem because I don’t want to be that girl that steals another girl’s man,” then you looked at him like you know he’s the one you want to wake up to every morning and the last face you see when you sleep at night and if you can’t have that. then-

“Can you be mine… just for tonight?”

“I don’t think I can.” The crestfallen expression you wear makes his own heart break, even if it’s just for a split second-

“Because I’m not seeing anyone but I’m in that point in life where I want a serious relationship or nothing at all.”

But what he doesn’t tell you is how he doesn’t want a relationship if it’s not with the girl who still haunts his dreams even after all this time.

Just like how you’d turned him down because you weren’t looking to be in a relationship before, you’d courted Jimin like you’d want to spend your whole life with him now.

Flowers got sent to his office everyday until it smells nothing short of floral. You’d be there, waving at him like he’s your savior in that dreadful social you were both attending. Every week, you’d plan dinner dates under the guise of catching up.

Before you race, you’d look over to where he’s standing, as if saying ‘this one’s for you’ before slipping into your car and coming out first every single time.

As if you were making up for every month of the year that you’d let life pass you by.

Now you’ve won a total of 36 races since he met you and the metal band you gifted him on the night of your 12th win feels warm against his skin. As if it’s absorbed all the love and adoration you poured into it.

And you’re wearing that ring he got you on your birthday on your finger that’s resting on his chest where his heart is as he kisses you back just as reluctant to let you leave.

But Park Jimin knows wherever you are, wherever you will be - you will always find your way back to each other.

Back home.

#bts smut #jimin smut #bts fics #jimin fic #bts fanfic #jimin fanfic #jimin x you #bts x you #bts x reader #jimin x reader #jimin fics #bts fic #bts fanfics #jimin fanfics #jimin scenarios #bts scenarios

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skellebonez · 3 years

Note

Because I'm sure this is going to be inevitable, how about some angst for the Chaos Trio (Mei, Jin and Yin)? With 61 and 52

Oh I have been looking forward to Chaos Trio angst since you sent me this, anon. Despite how they act in show... I think Jin and Yin are not exactly harmless. Especially if you mess with people they start to consider family.

The Cursed AU and the Chaos Trio in it come from @winterpower98!

Warning: blood and head injuries, enemy demons limbs (not detailed).

That is not a good hiding spot./I am a really bad actor.

Things had been going pretty well, all things considered. Jin and Yin had no problem getting Mei to join them in a little bit of... let's say "competitive insurance" as it were. They had to make sure they were secured in their own little tech related ventures, and after some financial setbacks they needed extra fallback. They’d planned the whole thing out with her help, more than 2 steps and everything! She was good at that.

The problem was that someone got a lucky hit.

They would have made it out with no problems, if they all hadn't decided going on Mei's motorcycle as a group (which, now that Yin thought about it, was probably incredibly dangerous and illegal with 3 of them on it... not that they cared about legality for themselves but somehow when it came to Mei that suddenly made them concerned). But nope. 1 bike. 3 people.

One lucky shot to the rear tire.

The three of them went flying, Mei landing very impressively on her feet whole Jin and Yin bounced on a bush and thanked anyone listening that demons were sturdier than humans. They didn't thank anyone for the pieces of bike that came flying at them all, and they were certain that they heard a piece make contact with something hard, maybe the nearby light pole, but couldn't be sure.

By the time they looked up they just knew they had a group of very angry demons that were pissed they stole and then wiped their code for... something, didn't matter to the twins what it was. They just wanted their competition out of the way. For solely selfish reasons. Nothing else. Not like they wanted it to see what it was and maybe figure out a counter attack so that certain overpowered people with monkey motifs would have an easier time in the future.

Not a chance.

As they fought off the attacking demons they insisted to themselves they didn't care that much.

"That is not a good hiding spot!" Jin yelled across the battlefield as Yin ducked behind crates. "Just chuck it for now and beat em with the blunt end of something else!"

"Just give me 2 seconds, I can fix it!" Yin yelled back, trying his best to reassemble a part of his sword hilt that had broken off.

"Come on, these guys ain't so tough!" Mei laughed out, easily dodging projectiles and backsliding and slicing and dicing as she went. No one was actually killed, but they were lucky because the only reason for that was the young woman wasn't exactly out for blood. They'd be feeling every single hit well into morning though! She was doing much better than the two of them. "Grab a pipe or something! Wish I had MK's magic building power though, I'd rather not be here all-YIN!"

The younger twin looked up from where he had been crouched, eyes widening as he saw the form of a much larger demon hulking over him and ready to batter him with a club.

Things had been going well. All things considered. Then someone got a second lucky hit.

Right as Mei dove in to push the younger silver twin out of the way.

For a second the fighting stopped. There was just the sound of wood hitting hard plastic and fiberglass as the club was sliced in half by her sword and the lopped off half continued it's trajectory and slammed into Mei's head to lead to her crumbling on top of Yin. Jin stood on too of a pile of crates, watching as a line of red seeped through a crack in her visor and stained the white of her suit.

And then his entire vision was red as he lunged at the demon and sliced, sending his arm flying in the opposite direction.

The demon screamed, holding the stump that was his arm from the elbow down, backing away as quickly as he could. "W-what the hell!?"

"Mei," Yin said softly, carefully clicking the emergency release button to make her helmet digitize away. Her eyes were closed, blood dripping from a slice running along her scalp... but as far as he could tell it was from part of the helmet being cracked and cutting her. She was most likely knocked out from the impact, breathing odd but steady in her unconscious state. "You... we're going to get you to the hospital."

His tone hardened as he carefully laid her on the ground, standing tall as he grabbed his broken weapon and a nearby piece of broken steel.

"You. Are going. To pay for that," Yin said coldly, stance no longer lose and half playful as it had been the whole battle. His stood tall, eyes wide and cold and the demons surrounding them felt a chill run down their spines.

Jin stood in front of him, blood from the other demon splattered across his face and chest in a stark contrast to his orange visage.

This... this wasn't the pair of Gold and Silver Demons they had heard about before. They were known for not taking almost anything seriously, making bad deals and pacts and weird blood oaths they wasted on bizarre favors. They were known for being good at tach but not much else, most demons in the area knew vaguely of their history with the Monkey King but even that ended in failure. Their plans were half baked, goofy, and lately they'd heard they'd gotten roped in with the Monkey King's successor and renewed flame of the Six-Eared Macaque.

The two standing before them did not look like the demons they'd heard about.

Mei hadn't wanted to seriously hurt anyone. The demons heard her yelling as much on the battlefield. But now Mei was hurt.

And the twins did.

It happened fast. They wanted to get it over with quickly. Mei had also not wanted to kill anyone at the very least the twins could do was keep up their promise from earlier in the day to avoid that. And they did.

That didn't mean there weren't lost limbs. Hands and arms. A leg or two. More than a couple eyes were lost. Someone lost an ear. Another a tail and horn.

Injuries they could recover from meant as warnings.

All it took was 3 minutes and the entire storage area they crashed in was a mix of grey and brown and red. Demons holding their injuries or running off.

The one who had attacked Yin and hurt Mei stood in awe and fear, looking down at the smaller twins who has decimated an entire group so fast.

"I-how!?" He yelled, backing up slowly. "This isn't possible, you're not this strong!"

"Who told you that?" Yin asked slowly, tilting his head and watching as the demon realized... he'd never heard they couldn't fight. "We don't fight like this because we don't want to. Never meant we can't."

"Why?"

"We are really bad actors," Jin said, wiping the blood off his weapon on an unconscious demon's shirt. "Why bother trying to hold back when we can just hide it by not trying?" He turned to the demon, glowering coldly as he watched his brother pick Mei up carefully. "Tell anyone who asks nothing. We'd like to keep it that way. Unless you want a round two where someone else doesn't hold us back."

And then they were gone.

"What in the actual hell happened?" Macaque asked in an even tone. Practiced even. A dangerous even.

"Well-" "You see boss-" "we kinda-" "-there was-"

Jin and Yin tried to think of a reasonable excuse, faltering as everything they thought of sounded worse and worse in their heads.

The two sat in Mei's hospital room, towels draped around their shoulders. They’d been smart enough to stash Mei's bike somewhere safe and wash off in the ocean before coming to the hospital, less covered in demon blood meant less scared humans when they rushed in with Mei in tow, and it was easy to make the nurses believe them.

Simple bike accident, friend hurt, help please.

With Macaque staring them down with his patented death glower, shadows growing and warping around the room in response to him, it was infinitely harder.

Of course Mei's emergency contact was MK. Of course MK could call Macaque before her parents (who were apparently on their way back from some kind of dragon family business trip when they learned). Of course Macaque would show up almost immediately and begin asking questions.

"It was my fault," Mei chimed in, voice slightly off from having awoken with a nasty concussion. "I thought it'd be fun to go on a joy ride late at night, I've done it before without issues! But, uh... I've never had two passengers before... and we hit something. Don't be mad at them?"

Macaque looked like he believed Mei as much as he believed Tang would lose interest in the Monkey King and switch his field of study to obscure methods of basket weaving. Which is to say: he didn’t. But he sighed, giving Mei a small smile as the shadows returned to normal.

"Ok," he said softly, tone much more gentle with the dragon descendant as he reached out to brush loose hair out of her face. "I won't be mad at them. I'll be very disappointed-" his tone hardened for a second at those words as he turned to the twins with a glower again. "-but I won't be mad. Do you need anything?"

"Maybe a candy bar from the vending machines outside?" Mei asked with a smile.

"Sure," Macaque laughed and shook his head, moving to the corner of the room. "I'll be right back."

He sunk into the shadows, a cool trick that the twins would always be impressed by, and they breathed a sigh of relief at knowing they were alone. For now.

"You didn't have to do that," Jin said, frowning at Mei in concern. Maybe it was just because he was now the eldest in the room, but some kind of protective feel pulled at him.

"I know," Mei said with a tired laugh, laying back into her pillow. "But you guys are like... my bros. I gotta stand up for my bros."

And that made both Jin and Yin pause. They looked at each other, eyes widening as they both came to a realization that was probably a very long time coming at that point.

"Yeah..." Yin said, a soft smile forming on his face. "We'd do the same for you... you know, if you didn't take that hit for me you probably would have kicked everyone's ass way better than us! We barely got out by the skin of our teeth!" A full truth and a blatant lie, but he hoped Mei wouldn't pick up on that second part.

"You know it, boi!" She didn't.

It was odd for him in particular. Yin had never really thought of himself as an older brother before.

First time for everything.

#monkie kid #lego monkie kid #gen fic #cursed au #warning: blood and injury #jin and yin #dragon form mei #long xiaojiao #the chaos trio #prompt fill #six eared macaque #but only a little #dad macaque

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impulsivefanwriter · 3 years

Text

A Tiny Spark Leads to a Roaring Flame (But Flames Can Always be Doused by Water)

Heeyyyyy so y’all know the Reverse Thanos Snap AU for SPBNR? Basically everyone but Smith/S!Kai gets sent to the M!verse. Everyone. The entire population of S!verse Ninjago City & a few surrounding areas. Except poor Smith. Essentially it happens because S!Garmadon tries to send Smith to a place where he can't mess with his plans, and ends up sending everyone away from Smith to take him out of the equation.

The second part to this AU is that the S!Ninja end up searching for Kai in the chaos and grab the Red Ninja before jetting out of there with the Bounty. Except... they didn’t grab Smith (who’s still home), but rather Red (M!Kai).

Red thinks the S!Ninja are babysitter clones created by Garmadon after he somehow turned Lloyd younger without his memories & is trying to raise him to be his new General #1. With this in mind, he pretends to be S!Kai, and waits for the moment he can rescue Lloyd.

What would happen in the S!Ninja discovered his deception/their mistake of grabbing a wrong Kai and mistake Red for a recreated Aki (aka Bizarro Evil Clone Kai) before he could enact his plan?

Well, this is that idea. (Title inspired by how a crack AU spiralled into a beautiful angst-fest)

Enjoy. :3

-----*-----

Red was going to get Lloyd out of here tonight.

Away from these Not-Friends made by Garmadon to emulate the Ninjaforce. Away from this flying ship built to emulate Master Wu's ship, so familiar and yet so off. Away from this false reality and back to the real everything where they could hopefully get his memories back and his age back and everything back to the way it was before the city descended into chaos.

He just had to... bide his time. Be patient.

FSM, he was bad at being patient.

His hands itched to grab Lloyd and run now, but he was horribly outnumbered and without his mech. No matter how badly he wanted to, he couldn't rush this. If he did, he would make everything worse. Like he always did.

But fate- or rather, Lloyd- had other plans.

The little version of his younger brother- yes, they were roughly the same age normally, shut up, Lloyd was still his younger brother- had been... eying him weird all morning. Not like Not-Jay and Not-Cole and Not-Zane, but like Not-Nya. Like he actually knew instead of suspected. These babysitter clones seemed to think he was the Not-Kai, and if that was the opportunity the universe was going to give him, then by the flames of the departed world was he going to skip this chance to save Lloyd.

Currently he stood on the deck of the ship as they parked in the sky a few meters above the docks on the outskirts of the city. It wasn't the docks with the Bounty warehouse, curse his luck, but it wasn't the endless sky or the empty ocean (though it was still too close to that murky, haunting water for his liking. Water was his sister's domain for a reason). At least he could sneak Lloyd off in the cover of night, maybe find someone in the city who wouldn't recognize the Son of Garmadon this way and would be willing to help them hide until they could make it back to the real ninja.

"Kai," Not-Zane spoke suddenly next to him.

Red would never get used to the way his voice... lacked the same effect the real Zane's had. The effect that Kai and the rest of his team had assured their friend over and over was unique, special, but in a good way. To embrace it. That it wasn't noticeable, but when it was, that it was so Zane that his friends didn't care that it was different.

This 'Zane' sounded much too different than his own. He hadn't recognized Kai's tested line of 'road work ahead' when they passed one of the many construction signs littering the city (even more so since the chaos happened a week ago), and instead had responded with 'a great deal of work to fix in the city'.

Seriously, Garmadon, do better research on your clones.

Not-Zane was also much too... calm. Too 'wise' compared to the wild teen that was Zane. And he walked without heelies or whatever Zane used to slide around like a boss, though he was still silent. And that meant, like now, he snuck up on Red fairly often- and Red was training to be a Ninja, so that took serious talent.

"Kai," Not-Zane said again, and Red finally broke his gaze from where he'd been staring over the railing, planning tonight's escape route. "Lunch has been made for over an hour. Are you alright?"

Red forced his brightest smile. "Course I'm alright! Just trying to figure out what happened, as usual."

Why Lloyd was suddenly like, 8, and without his memories. Why the Not-Friends were on this Not-Ship and had mistaken him for Not-Kai. Why the city was in a state of disarray and chaos.

Not-Zane studied him, then turned to give the city a sad look. "I'm not sure myself. My scanners can't seem to figure out what is happening. It is as if... blocked by some force."

Red winced, then expertly disguised the move by leaning against the rail. Zane never would use 'my scanners', despite how often Red and the others assured him it was okay. Yet another reason why this wasn't his friend.

"You know Ninjago City," Red said with a weak laugh. "Always one crisis or another. Always those annoying Garmadon Attacks"

This seemed to satisfy Not-Zane, who nodded thoughtfully. "This event definitely seems to have Garmadon's hand in the mess."

He patted Red on the back. "Well, don't worry yourself ragged, Kai. Come in for lunch soon, alright? We have training for Lloyd later."

Ah, right. Training. AKA what Red assumed was how Garmadon was planning to shape this impressionable version of his friend into his new General #1.

"I'm ready for training now, Zane!"

Speaking of Lloyd-

The little gremlin came up from the hull with the rest of the Not-Ninja. Red hated when the entire group was together; it was way more difficult to act as Not-Kai around them, especially around Not-Nya.

For starters, Not-Jay had a notch in his eyebrow that the real Jay never had. He was missing the iconic freckles, and the scarf, and the fluffy hair, though you could always say it was just a wardrobe change. What you couldn't change was the personality differences. This couldn’t be Jay. Jay was anxious and quiet, his jokes (while plentiful) said more timidly and his newest ideas shared with hesitance that only shrank after years of encouragement. He would never be this loud, ever.

Not-Cole was the leader, probably because Lloyd was so young. But even then, in Red's team, Nya would probably take second-command. Cole was their sturdy support, yes, but he was chill, laid-back. Ready to follow and support his friends to the ends of the earth with his tunes and occasional sarcastic wit, but not lead. Not like Not-Cole, who was more serious and commanding and didn't. listen. to. music. Red hadn't spotted a single record or boombox in the room in the hull. That was a tragic oversight on Garmadon's part. The members of his research team should be Fired.

And then there was Not-Nya. Who wore a dress with confidence that his sister would love but never publicly wear. Who had short hair- Nya had tried that style once, and decided it itched around her neck too much- and jewelry, and a giant flying Samurai mech suit. His sister had the Water Strider Mech, and Not-Nya had a flying combat suit. Sure. Close enough. Personality-wise they were similar.

Similar at first glance. Nya was fluid and adaptable to whatever role she needed filling. She was spunky, and as fiery as him when it came to tempers, though she knew how to keep hers in check (she had to, right? No one called her hot-headed and impulsive and reckless and blamed her temper for mistakes or damage or whatever the news comments liked to say about the Fire Mech). Not-Nya was also adaptable and independent-minded, but she seemed more rigid. More doing her own thing.

Point was, everyone wasn't actually his friends, despite how much they tried to prove they were. And they kept acting like he was this Not-Kai, who was just as hot-headed but apparently more mature and training-oriented and basically the better, cooler (or hotter, perhaps, for the fire theme of the red ninja) him, since his acting never seemed to fully convince them. Trying to impersonate a standard he couldn't seem to reach, some legendary hero he wasn't- er, wasn't yet! Yeah! He just needed to prove himself, be better, and he'd be fine. Just... fine. Yeah.

Mini-Lloyd (Red was tempted to call him L'ilyod in his head, but that felt wrong somehow, like he was infringing on some kind of copyright law) stared at him like a goddamn falcon, and he wasn't talking about the bird that circled the ship. He had this bowl-cut Red would tease him about endlessly after all this was over- seriously, how had Mr. Fabulous Hair started with this mess? Garmadon probably didn't even have hair, so there was no way the guy knew how to style it, and it was very evident based on Mini-Lloyd's hairdo.

Red noticed that all of them were staring, actually. Despite his relaxed rest against the rails, his fingers behind his back clutched the cool bar with a dull shake. He didn't notice how the metal seemed to glow red under his touch.

"Training, right, we should get onto that," Red tried. "What do you want to start with, Lloyd?"

"How about a little game?" Lloyd asked with complete innocence. "What we were playing last week before we got interrupted."

Oh sh!t.

"I-I don't know, shouldn't we start with stretches? Or how about some sparring, that's always more fun than a game!"

"But I wanted to continue our game..." Mini Lloyd said, and FSM's sake, he couldn't deal with that pouting look.

Okay. Okay, don't panic. Think logically. What kind of game would an 8-year-old Lloyd like to play with him? Something physical, so no board games- he liked to test his mettle against Zane on those, and sometimes he would almost not-lose. Logic puzzles also fell more on Jay's area. Trivia, especially music trivia, was a bubble between the anxious motormouth and Cole. Video games fell on team building, and wouldn't classify as a training warmup.

"Well," Red said, taking a hopeful stab in the dark. "There's not too much space on the deck for... tag..."

Lloyd nodded, looking satisfied. The Not-Ninja looked- well, their expressions were hard to read because of how different it was compared to his friends. But Red was a master of deception (well, fire, but eh, technicalities), and he had them fooled, and he just had to keep it up until nightfall so he could rescue Lloyd and explain in a safe location-

"HE'S NOT KAI!"

Orrrrr improvise. Okay, yep, he could improvise.

Red lunged forward and grabbed Mini Lloyd's wrist from where he had his hand extended in an accusatory point. He ducked under Not-Jay's attempts to grab him- fast, but not as fast as his Jay, his Jay who could disappear from an awkward social interaction in the span of a flickering lightbulb- and dragged his younger brother with him as he vaulted over the railing. Not-Zane almost managed to yank him back onto the Not-ship, but his icy grip caught only empty air as Red pulled Lloyd into a tight hold and ducked.

He hit the dock below with a stumble, rolling back onto his feet and taking off with a very stubborn green ninja in tow. It took all his strength to drag Lloyd (kicking and screaming like he was being kidnapped or something when Red was just trying to rescue him, for FSM's sake. Lloyd didn't know that, but he could still try to be at least a little more considerate.)

The wooden docks creaked and shuddered underfoot and Red grimaced; whoever rebuilt them after the latest Garmadon attack had shredded them like newspaper clearly hadn't wasted any unnecessary change. It certainly didn't help that Lloyd packed quite the punch for someone so small. Red definitely would come out of this with bruised shins and arms from where Mini Lloyd tried to push him away, but it would be worth it to keep his teammate, his younger brother, safe.

Then green filled his vision and broke his hold on Lloyd's wrist, sending him skidding across the dock planks as he was sent flying. When he finally rolled to a stop, neck and shoulder stinging from where the blast had caught him (no burns, just jitters like he'd been shocked), he had to take a few seconds to re-orient himself. Did the Not-Ship have cannons or something? What hit him from behind, so close it could have hit Lloyd?

Lloyd. Was Lloyd okay?

Red pushed himself to his feet, ignoring the bleeding scrapes on his hands and legs from where he'd gotten banged up by the splintered docks. His gaze, sharp and frantic, searched for signs of green. The warning of more blasts, the flash of the fabric of a gi, anything.

He spotted his brother in the arms of Not-Cole. No, no, no-

And suddenly Not-Nya was there, given a boost by Not-Jay. Her grip was as if she were wearing the robotic mech suit, harsh and powerful and near in-human. She threw Red back to the dock floor as her face twisted with the fury of a storming ocean. A resounding crack rang out over the harbour.

Red couldn't tell if it came from the planks under him or his own shoulder.

She pinned him to the wood, barking accusations and threats in his face faster than Not-Jay could talk. Red blinked through a haze of pain, trying to focus on her face and words. She was missing the beauty mark on her face, he noticed. Yet another tell she wasn't his sister.

"-scar on the wrong side-" And it was hard to hear again over the ringing in his ears. He tried to throw her off, get back to Lloyd, anything, but he was-

Useless.

Her hands suddenly got in his face, slamming his left cheek to the wood. She was close- close to his face, close to his eye, close to his scar- pushing and prying as she tried to do something. Red picked up in his struggling, his attempts to free himself turning to desperate shoves and wild clawing like a trapped animal. He wouldn't let this creation of Garmadon's finish the job that teen had started all those years ago.

"Or better yet, he needs to shut his damn mouth."

The flash of a knife. His vision half-blurry. Blood- so much blood- and a lasting scar.

"-contacts-" "-red-" "-struggling-" "-we know what he- it- is already-" "-not the real Kai-" "-wish-" "-Garmadon-"

He had to get away. Get Lloyd away from them now.

In one surge of strength- and yep, his shoulder definitely wasn't okay after that move, as if he'd ripped it not just from its socket but from its very attachment to his body- he knocked Not-Nya aside. If he could’ve seen through the red haze, he might have noticed red embers dancing around his fingertips as his desperation and fear tapped into something deep in his soul.

He tried to shoot to his feet, tried to run for Lloyd (held so tight in Not-Cole's grip, surely they were hurting him, he couldn't let that happen-). He roared, "LEAVE MY BROTHER ALONE!", but before he could take another step through Not-Jay and Not-Zane in his path, the docks gave one last ominous shudder before deciding it had finally had enough.

The planks crumbled underfoot like charred firewood in a crackling campfire, and Red was sent tumbling into the frigid ocean water below.

#spbnr #reverse Thanos snap au #reverse thanos snap #ninjago #lego ninjago #same People but not really #kai ninjago

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charlottepuddingsama · 3 years

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Taste of Her Own Medicine

I wrote a zosan fic; come read it (Ao3 link in the reblog)

Description: Zoro is running late to a meeting with Sanji. When he finally gets there Sanji is swooning over the ex that crushed his heart while she peacocks and shows off her new boyfriend. People like that really pissed Zoro off.

Zoro checked his watch again. God damnit, he was late. Again. Which meant Sanji was going to kill him for it. Again. He couldn’t even pin this on Sanji this time, either, because Zoro was the one to suggest they meet at the fountain. To be fair, when he suggested it he’d been sure that he in-fact knew the way to the fountain. When he reached where it should have been, however, it inexplicably wasn’t there.

Now he’s rushing halfway across town to get to where it apparently actually is, if his phone’s map could be trusted (Zoro did not trust his phone’s map, sure that it was constantly sending him on the slowest, stupidest route possible. He was definitely always better off just going his own way). At least the exercise was warming him up, the sun yet to burn off the late spring morning’s chill.

He was only twenty minutes late, maybe Sanji would let him off easy for once? Zoro sighed inwardly, knowing that would never happen. It was going to be stupid to be yelled at about this, too, since they weren’t even doing anything where timing was all that important. They were just trying to find good birthday presents for Luffy. Zoro was kind of hopeless at presents while Sanji was always amazing at them, always picking out something thoughtful and custom-tailored to the recipient. Zoro most often showed up with an amazon gift card feeling completely stupid about it. Knowing this, Zoro had stealthily suggested they go hunting together so they didn’t, “buy him the same thing.” As if Zoro would ever give as good of a gift as Sanji would. He was actually surprised Sanji hadn’t seen right through him and refused, but the other had actually more-or-less readily accepted the idea. Zoro supposed there was a first time for everything.

The first time for Zoro to not make himself late, however, was not today.

After some wrong turns and two dead ends that might have actually been the same dead end twice, Zoro finally, finally saw the large fountain that marked the beginning of the city park come into view. He slowed his jog to a walk, glad he hadn’t yet broken a sweat. Couldn’t let Sanji think he actually cared about keeping their appointment. Not that it mattered what the cook thought, of course, but if he thought Zoro cared he might somehow get an even bigger head than he already had. Not that Zoro actually cared in the first place, too, of course. He hadn’t been looking forward to spending a whole day shopping with Sanji even a little. Not at all.

Zoro looked around the paved area, searching for Sanji amongst the small crowd mingling by the fountain. The day was still a bit crisp from the morning, but that didn’t seem to dissuade people as they gathered around the mouth of the park. Some were alone, some in groups, and others towed animals on leashes either walking the pets or clearly getting walked by them. Zoro surveyed the whole crowd, looking for Sanji standing off by himself, probably bent agitatedly over his phone with a cigarette in his mouth. None of the loners in the area fit his description though.

Had Zoro somehow actually made it here first after all? That didn’t seem even a little bit likely. He kept looking.

Finally, after a long moment of searching, he managed to spot him. A familiar head of blonde hair, a neat dress shirt, and long legs stood by the side of the fountain striking an impossible-to-mistake silhouette.

He wasn’t alone, though.

In front Sanji was an unfamiliar couple: some brunette girl holding the hand of an average looking boy. Was Sanji hitting on a stranger while her boyfriend was literally right there? Really?

Zoro’s face morphed into an unimpressed look. How classic. He really had no idea what he was expecting, offering to take Sanji around in public where he might run into females in the wild. A strong feeling of annoyance grew in his chest at just imagining the stupid drivel that must be spewing out of that mouth of his.

Zoro began to march over there with intentions to drag Sanji away by the ear when he suddenly stopped himself in his own tracks. His brows furrowed, studying the way Sanji was standing. His entire posture was eerily off. One hand was in his pocket while the other held a lit cigarette. His shoulders were tight and a little high, legs slightly farther apart than normal as if on defense. There was absolutely none of the easy oozing he exuded whenever he normally was chatting up some girl. He wasn’t swooning even a little.

Something was wrong. Something was very, very wrong.

A thrum of worry pulsed through Zoro. It wasn’t that he was worried about Sanji – he could take care of himself, plus, Zoro reminded himself, he didn’t give a fuck about him (how does he keep forgetting that?). Rather, he was worried about what kind of threat these two people could possibly pose to get someone as cool-headed as Sanji so visibly tense.

Looking at the two, he knew he couldn’t place the boy, but the brunette… did he know her? Her face was rather indistinct, no particular piece of it sticking out to him. Her clothes looked well-pressed, and they were probably fashionable, not that Zoro had any real frame of reference for that. Her brown hair was half tied up in two little buns on her head, the rest left to fall down past her shoulders. She just seemed like a completely random, normal person; an auto-generation of any other girl about their age in the city.

Then the girl laughed at something. The sound was shrill and obnoxious in a way that grated on every nerve Zoro had. He wanted to absolutely break something.

Oh. Oh. Ohhhh. Zoro knew exactlywho this girl was. He scowled at the memory.

She was some chick Sanji had dated for a while, maybe a couple months? A name itched at the tip of his tongue, but he couldn’t quite grasp it. Two months was considerably longer than most of Sanji’s little trysts. He had even brought her around to meet everyone once; it was kind of a big deal since they’re friends are not only their family, but also extremely likely to scare any normal person away. Sanji had really, really actually liked this girl, Zoro was pretty sure.

And then she dumped him.

She’d reportedly done it unceremoniously one night, completely out of the blue. She simply told Sanji that she was, “done with this relationship now,” and left. Zoro had heard that line a hundred times over in the weeks following as Sanji wallowed pitifully, hit hard by the sudden cold shoulder. It had not been a pretty sight in the slightest. The ever-enamored cook had eventually bounced back, like he always did, but it really had taken longer than usual. Even Zoro had felt sorry for the guy at the time.

And now here she was. A completely random encounter in a city filled with a thousand other people that could be here instead. And she had the nerve to do, what? Strike up a casual conversation with someone she herself had so soundly dumped, some new boy in her tow? Inching closer, Zoro just barely started to be able to hear them. It was clear even just from her tone that the words exchanged were more than awkward hellos. The girl was gushing about her boyfriend the businessman, annunciating the words as if she wanted the whole park to turn and listen. She played with some expensive looking necklace in a way that was definitely supposed to be noticed, certainly some token from her little purse-mule of a boy.

That kind of thing really pissed Zoro off. Dump someone for no reason? Fine, whatever. But then go shoving yourself at him? In public and at random? She had to know how Sanji was physically incapable of being anything but overly polite to women, abusing that to get her kicks. Zoro grit his teeth as he watched Sanji gush at her that she looked as beautiful as always, that he simply adored how her hair grew out since he’d last seen her, that he was so happy she was so well taken care of. Underneath the gushing Zoro could practically feel how upset this whole encounter made Sanji, a self-pitying tone sewn into each sentence. It was like he was a slave to his own actions. The girl clearly let her ego be boosted by his attention and that made Zoro even angrier.

Zoro eyed the boy she had tugged along. He may have been some business guy or whatever, but he certainly didn’t look very impressive. His haircut was basic, his jacket was a bit too big and made him look like he was playing dress up, and his expression seemed far away as if zoned out. Zoro had him beat in muscle and looks easily. Zoro’s shirt was tight against his well-built chest, his jeans were slung low to show just a peak of his boxers, he’d have a healthy little glow from his jogging, and he raked a hand through his hair to give it a little volume. He was fully aware of exactly how good he looked in comparison and just pissed off enough to decide he might as well use it.

He wanted to see if little miss ex could handle a taste of her own medicine.

“Oi, Sanji,” he called, finally making his way to the trio. Sanji’s shoulders jumped to his ears. Zoro thought he looked like an animal frozen in crosshairs, waiting for its instincts to lead it to fight or flee. He turned slowly to look at Zoro, his face in a very un-handsome expression of combined panic and agitation.

Zoro fought his instinct to give just as nasty an expression back knowing he was now being watched by the brunette; his little show had now officially begun. Instead, he gave Sanji an easy smile as he sauntered over to him, eyes only on him, pretending to not even notice the couple right in front of them. This, of course, only lead to Sanji scrunching up his face in incredulous confusion. If this idea was going to work Zoro was going to have to wipe that look right off him.

When he was beside him, Zoro slung an arm around Sanji’s shoulder, letting himself drape over the other. Sanji was only one centimeter shorter than him and just as strong, so it always surprised Zoro just a bit how slight his naturally thin frame felt in his arms. A small, stupid rush of protectiveness briefly filled his chest and for once Zoro indulged it letting himself draw Sanji close to him. Sanji went stiff as a board and his eyes blew open in surprise. Zoro took advantage of his surprise, not letting him even think about getting a kick in as he reached out with his other hand to grab hold of Sanji’s stubbled chin.

He drew the other in for a quick, soft kiss.

The sharp scent of tobacco filled Zoro’s senses, but underneath it lied the familiar aroma of spices that followed Sanji everywhere he went. The scent was familiar, but the feel of Sanji’s lips against his was new. For all the times he’d bitten a mark into Sanji’s pale flesh, nipping along skin usually hidden later by shirts, Zoro couldn’t actually remember them kissing. If they ever had, they certainly would never do it as gently as this. He counted to ten in his head, wanting the kiss to look real while still public-appropriate.

Zoro was perfectly prepared for Sanji to remain like cardboard, perfectly fine carrying the kiss by himself. Suddenly, though, as if some sort of switch had gone off, Sanji softened, easing into Zoro’s hold like butter into warm bread.

All at once Sanji’s plush lips gently pressed back, allowing his weight to fall where Zoro’s arms had guided it. The count in Zoro’s head faltered for a second, mind going dumb from shock. Zoro had kissed plenty of people before, was a damn good kisser himself, but somehow nothing had ever felt like this. There was something in the way Sanji relaxed into him, how perfectly their lips slotted together, and the sensory of the strong scents and rough stubble and pillowy softness of lips. It all made even such a simple kiss simply intoxicating. Had they really never done this before? Why the hell not?

At ten (or was it eleven? Twelve?) Zoro drew his head back, ending their kiss with the soft sound of lips parting. He didn’t go far, though, hand still on the other’s chin, their breath mixing in the space between them. He opened his eyes, not knowing when he’d closed them, to find Sanji staring at him with a dazed expression and a gentle, pink blush spread across his cheeks. Zoro couldn’t help but smile, a strange feeling like fondness welling up in his chest. It was probably just hormones, like always, reminding him of the other times he’d made the typically put-together Sanji blush in more heated circumstances. Yeah, that was it, had to be.

“Thanks for waiting,” Zoro said, for once owning up to being late. Sanji blinked owlishly at him, as if trying to place where they were and what they were supposed to be doing. At that cute look something compelled Zoro and he made no move to stop it, giving a sweet kiss to the bit of forehead poking out from blonde bangs as if in apology.

“Ahem?” an impatient voice said, jarring Zoro back into reality. When had he left? It was like he’d had complete tunnel vision. Now, though, the situation around him came back into sharp focus. The mild chill of the spring air, the bubbling fountain behind him, the obnoxious couple in front of him, the reason why he did what he just did. Yes, right, he’d had a reason for doing that. One, singular, solitary reason and absolutely no other. A mission, even. Right.

Zoro dropped Sanji’s chin, ignoring the tingle in his hand and the definitely non-existent desire to hold him elsewhere. He instead hooked his thumb in one of his belt loops and assumed a pose hanging off of Sanji who was now tucked rather snugly into his side. The girl had her arms crossed and looked huffy. He raised an eyebrow at the two, acting as if they’d been the ones to interrupt him. “Sorry, didn’t see you there,” Zoro said casually, just knowing an egotistical bitch like her would be bothered by that. Sure enough, the girl’s eye twitched just a bit. Zoro held back a smug smile at getting a reaction so easily. “And you would be?”

Indignation flashed in the girl’s eyes. Had Zoro asked that rudely? Oh, pardon him. She stood herself up to look taller, as if looking down on him despite being a few inches shorter. Zoro refused to be phased.

“I’m Alice,” the girl introduced herself, not bothering to introduce the boy with her. It was probably for the best as the boy’s eyes had followed Zoro’s thumb down to where it rested, clearly distracted.

“I’m sure Sanji has told you all about me,” she added with fake sweetness, an almost sadistic smile crawling up her face. Alice, right. Alice was definitely the name Sanji wailed into his empty wine glass when Zoro and the others had tried to take him out on a boys’ night to cheer him up. He actually used to kind of like that name, but now it was forever tainted with the memory of this haughty cunt in front of him.

Instead of admitting to the recollection, though, Zoro looked at her blankly. “Alice…” he said, as if mulling the name over. As if he needed to search long and hard to find any semblance of someone in Sanji’s past named Alice. “Hm,” he said at length, “no… I don’t really remember having heard about someone by that name. Have you ever mentioned an Alice, babe?”

Despite addressing him, Zoro didn’t dare look at Sanji’s face. Even just the hint of doubt or disbelief or anger from Sanji might be enough to shake Zoro off his game and have this all come crashing down more humiliating than when they’d started.

He looked at Alice, instead, who looked at him like he’d grown a second head. The very concept that Sanji might not have cried his heart out about her every day since their parting was clearly a new one. It made Zoro so happy to have so suddenly shut her down with just a few words.

“Hold on! W-we’ve met before!” Alice protested, apparently recognizing him now. Zoro noted that she didn’t wait for Sanji to confirm or deny if he’d ever deigned to mention her once their relationship had ended. Zoro wondered if she was scared to know. Hearing something like that from the man himself might just shake her precious little ego. Zoro would love to see that happen.

“Oh, we have?” Zoro asked mildly, showing a clear disinterest in whether they had or not. He pretended to mull the concept over in his head just as he had her name. He certainly remembered the party Sanji had brought her to. He remembered that it had sucked because her laugh was too annoying to ignore even from across the room and cross-eyed drunk. Finally, he shrugged simply, clearly not caring one way or another. “Guess it just wasn’t very memorable.”

At that Alice looked absolutely stricken, an arrow piercing directly into her pride. Bullseye, Zoro thought to himself, narrowly remembering to keep his face schooled. He so badly wanted to give her the same wolfish grin he reserved for his enemies at tournaments, but his own internal satisfaction would have to suffice.

In his peripheral, Zoro saw Sanji take a long drag off his cigarette. Hopefully that meant he was willing to quietly play along. Possibly it meant he thought Zoro had genuinely forgotten about her and that he was about to get pummeled into a paste in about five seconds.

“S-So then, you two? You’re together then?” Alice asked, clearly affronted and looking for something to refill her sails. Zoro wondered if she was beginning to consider him her replacement. He wondered how he measured up.

Suddenly, though, she seemed then to get herself a second wind, puffing herself up in her coat. Zoro refrained from frowning, if just barely. And here he’d been winning.

“It’s so adorable to see new couples, isn’t it Darek, sweetie?” she said sweetly, grabbing on to her boy’s sleeve. The boy in question nodded absentmindedly, eyes locked on where Zoro was oh-so-incidentally toying at the waistband of his boxers with his thumb. A charming one, wasn’t he? “We’ve been together for four months now. It’s just so hard to find the one you’re truly meant to be with, but so rewarding to know they’re all yours. How long has your cute little thing been going on for?”

So she was considering him to be her replacement. Moreover, it seemed clear that if that were the case, he’d be the winner. This was her alternative hypothesis, the situation that would set the world just a little bit more right than it was right then. If their relationship was new she could brush it all off as certain to be doomed in a week or two, as so many new relationship were. Well, he’d better set her little worries to rest, now shouldn’t he?

“This little love bug,” Zoro said, pressing a sweet kiss to Sanji’s cheek, forcibly holding the other’s shoulder’s down when they jumped, “Has been all mine since August.” Would he most likely be paying for “love bug” with his very life later? Yes, yes he would. But it was so, so very worth it to see Alice’s face as she did the math. Zoro distinctly recalled The Wailing Remembrance of Alice having begun in that hot and muggy summer month. Logically, then, that made Zoro one hell of a rebound, and one that stuck quite nicely, too.

Alice was clearly taken aback, her refilled sails deflating again catastrophically. The cutesie pda, Zoro’s complete disinterest in with her, and the dawning evidence that maybe Sanji hadn’t been so hopelessly lost without her was doing exactly the job Zoro had hoped it would.

“B-but I thought you two hated each other!” She cried, looking between the two and sounding a bit desperate, “That you couldn’t stand in the same room without arguing!”

She, of course, had seen firsthand at the party the animosity between the two. She also had probably had to sit through at least a couple sessions of Sanji bitching about whatever thing Zoro had done to purposefully annoy him. Well, Zoro figured, you know what they say: when in doubt, gaslight, gatekeep, girlboss.

“Oh?” Zoro said, cocking his head to the side, “Why do you say that?” He said it as if she was insane, as if she hadn’t seen their fights herself, as if they weren’t literally known for their arguments with each other. He said it like it was completely and entirely natural for them to be like this now. It helped that Sanji hadn’t moved an inch, hadn’t given a single physical sign that this wasn’t exactly what they usually did. He made it seem like he was perfectly comfortable being held close to Zoro’s chest. That it was where he belonged.

They had even, in fact, gone a whole five minutes without arguing.

Alice’s mouth opened and closed for a minute, her mind clearly trying to calculate and recalculate this encounter, but the numbers just didn’t seem to be adding up in her favor. Zoro almost pitied her, except that she had very much started it and brought all this upon herself.

Finally, she looked to her boy as if for some sort of support. All she found was that his attention was firmly on Zoro’s chest, eating up the eye candy readily. He even went as far as to lick his lips.

“Darek!” Alice scolded under her breath, scandalized, slapping his chest for attention.

“Ow!” Darek said, shocked out of whatever daydream he’d been having.

Zoro finally let himself give a toothy smile. He considered his damage officially done. Alice had clearly been knocked down a peg or two, and her little walking-wallet of a boyfriend had been reduced from oh-so successful businessman to just another ogler looking for the next pretty thing. This was a resounding victory.

Now for a victorious escape out of this situation as fast as possible.

“Come on, babe,” Zoro said, turning his head to nuzzle into Sanji’s hair. How did he always forget just how soft those golden strands were? “I’ve made you wait long enough. I owe you a date.”

Zoro smiled into the last sentence, making it sound like their “date” was the only thing on his mind. Like he’d been thinking all week long about getting to see the other, the thought being his lone reason to keep going day after day. Which couldn’t be farther from the truth, obviously. There had been absolutely zero percent of him that had put any emphasis on this little outing even once this past week. He hadn’t done laundry for the express purpose of having something he liked to wear, he hadn’t trimmed up his sideburns and played with different hair products all week, and he definitely was not currently wearing cologne. The smile was simply an affectation of the truth, just for the sake of the ruse. That’s it.

Before anyone had time to say anything more, Zoro gently ushered Sanji to turn away from the other couple. To his relief, Sanji went willingly.

“W-wha-hey! Wait a minute!” Alice blustered, stomping a foot.

“It was nice meeting you,” Zoro said, not even looking back at her, just waving his free hand slightly.

“I told you, we already met!” she fumed, but Zoro paid it absolutely no mind. He grinned like an absolute shark, amazed he was getting away with this.

“Wait!” She yelled again.

Then, she played dirty.

“Sanji,” she said, a whimper in her voice.

Sanji stopped dead in his tracks. Zoro did too, not wanting to have to actually drag the other. He closed his eyes and cursed in his head. They had been so close.

Sanji took a long drag off his cigarette. As he sucked in, the moment seemed to stretch out, becoming longer than it was before. Finally, he blew a long exhale, smoke leaving his mouth fluidly. He tapped the ash off the end of his cigarette, dropped it to the pavement, and ground it out with his toe.

Zoro didn’t look at his face. He didn’t want to see even an ounce of hurt from such a stupid, shallow, nobody of a girl. It was so ridiculous for someone like that to make someone like Sanji feel anything at all, let alone pain. It made bile rise in Zoro’s throat and blood rush in his ears, but he kept his cool. He’d tried his rescue strategy. This was now nothing but Sanji’s fight.

Sanji turned his head over their shoulders. Zoro expected whimpering or pitiful noises, or maybe simply his standard gushing. Assurances that Alice still lived in his heart, that she always would. He’d tell her that she was the most beautiful girl in the world, that nobody could compare, that he would never want anyone else more than he wanted her. Zoro felt an unusual nausea in his gut.

“It was good to see you, Alice!” Sanji called brightly, his tone clear of any whining or gooeyness, much to Zoro’s surprise. No hurt? No presentation of wounds? No flattery? No begging?

“I’m glad you’re doing well.” Zoro was nearly in shock; Sanji sounded completely genuine. Did he… get over her? Just now? In this moment?

He hazarded a look at Sanji’s face and found a brilliantly beaming smile that reached his clear blue eyes. It was a smile that could put a thousand suns to shame, a smile that could launch a thousand ships, a smile worth the world over in gold and then some. Somehow, Sanji was really, truly happy.

Something inside Zoro absolutely melted and something else bloomed warm in his chest.

Before Zoro could even start to think about processing that, Sanji turned to him, and he was simply lost. For a brief second that stretched into minutes, days, years even, nothing else existed but him and Sanji and Sanji’s blue eyes shining back at him. He wanted nothing more than to kiss the beautiful man in front of him.

Then Sanji spoke, and Zoro forced himself out of that moment. Back to reality. Again, when had he left? He couldn’t recall.

“Come on, then, dearest,” Sanji jeered, his eyes now gleaming mischievously and smile saccharine sweet as he prodded. Zoro cognitively knew that he was always annoyed by that expression yet couldn’t seem to summon up the actual feeling of being annoyed. “I believe you promised me shopping?” Zoro felt a hand slip into the far back pocket of his jeans.

Now they really did look like a disgustingly lovey-dovey honeymoon-stage couple out for a date. Sanji gave his ass a teasing squeeze, snickering as Zoro felt his whole face grow red hot. Who had initiated the touching again? It couldn’t possibly have been him. This was far too intimate for him to have started, surely.

Zoro gulped heavily and remembered that he had a part to play here. He once again ushered them forward down the street. The last thing he heard from the girl – her name already returning to a blank spot in Zoro’s mind – was her yelling at her boyfriend to get his jaw off the ground and stop drooling already.

Zoro let Sanji lead them down a couple blocks, dazed and distracted. During the whole encounter he’d kept himself perfectly calm, but now that it was over his heart was beating hard in his chest. He replayed the whole scene in his head, impossibly surprised that it actually worked. How in the hell had it actually worked? How had they passed so easily for an actual couple?

Zoro was still wondering at how miraculous their success was when Sanji broke his concentration.

“Hey, Zoro,” Sanji said, casually as can be, leading them down some sort of alley between buildings.

“Yeah?” Zoro grunted, freshly shaken from his thoughts.

“Could you do me a favor?”

“What do you want, shit cook?”

“Well, would you mind ever so terribly-“ Suddenly, a foot came flying at his face and Zoro was too startled to block it in time, “-GETTING YOUR BIG, DUMB GORILLA HANDS OFF OF ME!”

Zoro went flying into the wall of the alley, back hitting with a sharp snap of pain. He was fine, though, nothing he couldn’t brush off.

“What the hell was that for?” Zoro scowled. He peaked at the wall behind him; the brick was only cracked a little, just barely resembling the outline of a person. Nothing identifying, so it was fine.

“Don’t fucking touch me,” Sanji sneered, adjusting the collar of his button-up and dusting off his pants as if the mere presence of Zoro in his bubble was sullying.

“Heh, I can think of a few times you’ve liked me touching you just fine,” Zoro retorted, wiggling his brows suggestively.

“You’re such a pervert,” Sanji said with disgust.

“You’re one to talk, love cook, swooning after a girl with her boyfriend literally right next to her.” Zoro swiped his thumb under his nose, checking for blood and finding none. Nothing seemed broken, that was good.

“Hey!” Sanji protested, looking angry. Had Zoro gone to far with bringing it up already? He knew the situation wasn’t exactly typical. Still, the whole thing still kind of pissed him off, so why shouldn’t he talk about it? “I didn’t ask for your help back there!”

“Oh?” Zoro asked, a smirk coming to his face, “So you admit that what I did was helpful?”

Sanji’s face grew red, frustration and agitation clear. “Oh, go die in a hole, you moron.”

“Whatever,” Zoro shrugged, putting his hands in his pockets, and leaning against the cracked brick coolly, “I was just pissed off, that’s all.”

“You?” Sanji asked condescendingly, “What the hell did you have to be pissed off about?”

“Don’t like that girl, is all,” Zoro answered plainly, closing his eyes as he relaxed, his heart rate finally dropping back to normal after all the excitement. The physical distance from Sanji and the sting of pain had broken his strange headspace. He was feeling like his usual self again, now. No weird, overly emotional thoughts swirling around. “Didn’t like her when you talked about her, didn’t like her when you brought her around, and I didn’t like her when I saw her just now, either.”

Zoro could feel Sanji study him for a moment, as if trying to decide if he bought that. “And what exactly has she done to you to make you hate her so much?”

Zoro huffed, rather done with the interrogation despite it hardly having begun. “I just can’t stand her attitude, that’s all. She’s so holier-than-thou, and then goes around parading herself like she’s the best thing since sliced bread.” The nerve of that girl, honestly. Zoro worked up a little mucus in his mouth and spit at the ground. “She thinks she can just waltz around hurting people to make herself feel better. Pisses me off.”

“Hey, you can’t say that about a beautiful lady!”

“Oh, piss off,” Zoro said, rolling his eyes, “First of all as far as I could tell she wasn’t even that good looking, average at best.” He will fully admit to his radar being finely attuned to men only, though, so maybe he’s wrong, but she really didn’t seem like anything special to him. “And secondly you never would have taken that kind of crap from a guy. You would have kicked him to the moon and back the second he tried that shit. But with her, and every other woman ever, you let her walk all over you. Not exactly a good idea when the girl’s a grade-A bitch.”

They stood there in that alley for a long moment, Sanji just watching Zoro and Zoro just watching him back. They both knew he was right.

“Tch,” Sanji spat at length, “I was raised a ladies’ man, and that’s just how it is.” Zoro knew that, too. This wouldn’t change anything. He doesn’t know how it happened, but somehow that behavior just got hard coded into Sanji. It was fine except that it was annoying and opened him up so easily to those who would misuse his kindness. There weren’t many of Sanji’s exes that Zoro didn’t outright hate, now that he thought about it, and certainly none that he properly liked. Maybe that was why.

“And anyway,” Sanji cut in, breaking Zoro’s wandering thoughts, “Why the hell do you care how I’m treated anyway?”

What? Did he say that? No way he’d said that. “I don’t!” He didn’t! Zoro felt his face grow hot, which didn’t make any sense. This was stupid. “I-It’s just the principal of the matter, is all!”

“Oh really?” Sanji asked, clearly unconvinced.

“Shut the hell up, bastard,” Zoro snapped, now really well and truly done with this whole affair. He took a breath, cooling himself down. Sanji always got him so worked up it was stupid. “Whatever, believe whatever the hell you want, I already told you the truth. She was a cunt and that’s all there is to it.”

The words clearly ticked Sanji off, but that was good, got him distracted from whatever bullshit he was spewing about Zoro caring about him or something. Idiot.

“You know, you could really do with learning some good manners towards ladies.” Sanji scowled.

“Yeah, yeah,” Zoro said, waving off the idea for the billionth time. “Last time I treated a girl any differently she caved my head in with a stick. Won’t be making that mistake twice.”

“What’s that supposed to mean?” Sanji asked, making a dumb face as if Zoro had said some sort of convoluted metaphor.

“Forget about it,” Zoro dismissed, having not intended to bring Kuina into this. He shoved off the wall and decided it was time to get out of this alley and back to what they came here for.

“Whatever,” Sanji said, rolling his eyes, apparently too done with Zoro to bother to pry.

Zoro walked until he was passing Sanji by, heading toward the mouth of the alley. Sanji stood silently, looking like he was thinking about something.

Just as he passed, Sanji said something quietly, “She really was a bit mean, wasn’t she?”

Zoro stopped there, just in front of the other. He didn’t get it. He didn’t know why Sanji was like this. Why was it so impossibly hard for him to admit when a woman was bad to him? So inconceivable to fight back? It made Zoro so impossibly upset sometimes. But here he was with this one little admittance. This one time this one woman was a bit mean to him. Zoro shouldn’t shoot this down. He couldn’t bring himself to if he wanted.

“Yeah,” Zoro huffed, a bit of a smile playing on his lips with the magnitude of the understatement. “And stupid too,” he added.

“Stupid?” Sanji asked, hackles raised all over again, “What the hell do you mean by that?”

“Sheesh, isn’t it obvious?” Zoro asked, huffing a short laugh through his nose, “First she dates you, which already brands her as an idiot –“

“Hey!”

“- And then she brings around that chump as if he’s supposed to somehow make you jealous. Seriously, as if he’d ever hold a candle to you.” What a joke.

Sanji didn’t say anything to that, and Zoro looked back curiously.

Sanji was just staring at him, eyes a little wide and face dusted pink. “Hah?” Zoro questioned, one eyebrow quirked. “What, did I say something wrong?”

Sanji looked at him for a moment longer, the silence stretching between them yet carrying surprisingly little tension. Finally, Sanji seemed to shake himself out of it. “It’s nothing, moss-for-brains. And get out of my way,” he said, shoving Zoro by the face.

“Hey! Cut it out!” Zoro yelled, shoving Sanji’s hand off his face.

“Ah, deal with it, grass-head,” Sanji said, pulling out a cigarette and his lighter, “Let’s find whatever the hell kind of present Luffy would want already.”

Zoro grumbled but followed along, ready to get this errand over with and the weird events of ten minutes ago behind him. This event would be receiving absolutely no post-facto analysis. There wasn’t a single thought, feeling, or action that needed a second look at or processing time to rectify with his current world view, and he was eager to put it all out of his head.

“And hey,” Sanji said. Zoro sighed inward, sure this was going to be something weird about the thing that just happened, “Thanks.”

Yup. Weird. Weird, weird, weird. It was so weird for Sanji to thank him, he almost hated it. He did hate it. He absolutely definitely hated it. That must be what the rosy feeling in his chest was: hate for how weird it was.

“Yeah, well, you know,” Zoro said, shrugging the whole ordeal off as they did with almost everything that’s happened between them, “Don’t mention it.”

This, as so much else, would be their little secret.

A comfortable silence rested between them as they each took a moment to breathe.

“By the way, are you wearing cologne?”

“IN YOUR DREAMS!”

#one piece #zosan #sanzo #zoro/sanji #sanji/zoro #zoroxsanji #sanjixzoro #fake dating #my writing #fanfiction

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