#and then proceeding to ignore me and laugh w her partner in the other room while i screamed in agony.

[ozlices]

i genuinely sincerely cant believe i was called a manipulative person with a victim complex by a person who acted like my savior for "rescuing" me from that house, only to have zero remorse abt kicking me back into it. esp throwing it on me a singular month after i endured even more trauma in that house. like. bruh i literally have zero idea how to even begin to process this.

[wpdarlingpan]

Hello! I recently follow you and read your writing of DC. I love it, your writing are really good! For a request, i have this idea...

Platonic yandere Damian wayne with twin sister reader. Maybe, when they were kids, he used to be hated her because she was excelent in everything and have a little care and love from Talia. But she really care for his brother and then Ra al-ghul put them to fight among themselves on a cliff to see who was going to be the future leader and in a bad move, they ended up hanging up in the cliff. Then his sister, not wanting to see his brother die, brings him back to the surface and she ends up falling. Damian didn't know how to react and only receive a slap from his mother .

How about, after Damian goes to live with Bruce and being the new Robin, in one of the fights with Slade and his partner, this partner decides to let himself be trapped so that Slade can escape. In the Batcave, they take off the mask to discover that it is their sister, but someone very different, with another personality, cold, somewhat insane, hostile and very intelligent like that, because she was submerged in the Lazarus pit by Slade, who consider as a parent. Maybe Damian will try to reason with her and apologize for what he did to her. She tells him that it is too late and a smoke bomb explodes to reveal that Slade came for his daughter. She, determined, goes with him, but Damian tries to stop her, but is defeated and tells him that he should never have saved him, to see how Damian tears up and before leaving, he laughs and says "I didn't know that demons cry "

it could be possible? Thanks!!

Ukht: Sister in Arabic

Title: Not Again

Talia was surprised when she gave birth to twins. The boy a few minutes sooner than the girl. She was glad as well as they had two lethal weapons instead of one.

Two children with the blood of Talia Al Ghul and The Batman.

There was a boy she named Damian and she name the girl Y/N. She cared for them a short time after they were born then they were cared for mostly by maids.

As they grew older Damian began to despise his younger sister. She was perfect at everything and he was always second best. He believed she got all the love of their mother and grandfather and left him with none.

They were 10 when they were dropped at the top of the tallest mountain on their land and told to fight to determine the next Leader of the League Of Assassins. They were equals. They fought for hours as they each met each attack with one of equal force same with defense. They were bloody and bruised and Y/N couldn’t bare to hurt her brother anymore. But we she was about to give, she didn’t notice how close to the edge they were. The stood facing each other with their feet barely not over the edge but as Damian attack he knocked himself over the edge because he lost balance as he grew angry and let his emotions over ride his training. But as he fell he grabbed onto his sisters leg and she was pulled down with him. The didn’t fall far as they ended hanging onto a small ledge not to far from the top of the mountain.

Y/N knew what she had to do, but did she have the strength to do it is what she was questioning to herself.

She grabbed the rope she had attached to her belt and used one hand to toss it up and luckily for her it landed around a tall rock while the other end flew back down. The two ends of the rope were next to her and she leaned over and attached the rope to Damians belt as he struggled to hold on. He looked over once he felt the weight on his belt and he looked back at her questioningly.

“I love you Damian.” She said as she grabbed onto one end of the rope, pulling Damian up to the top as she used as much of the weight she could to work as a pulley system. She didn’t want him to bed up falling back down so as soon as she saw he was safely to the top, or as safe as you could be on the top of the mountain. She let go.

Damian screamed as he saw his sister fall beneath the clouds to her death, and he couldn’t do anything. He hated her all of his life for reasons she could not control and he didn’t realize that he never triplet hated her until he realized he never had been without her. She patched him up after fights in the middle of the night so he couldn’t protest, gave his pieces of food, tried to show him love but he wouldn’t accept it, not from her. 

He regretted it now.

A assassin flew a helicopter up to the mountain with Talia in the back going to collect Damian. Once she arrived and Damian had fought the pain and walked onto the helicopter, Talia slapped him sending him to the floor with a red hand print on his cheek. He wouldn’t cry, never.

They arrived back at the compound and Talia led him to Ra’s. Of course they talked about everything he did wrong then made him practice for 5 hours until it was perfect. After they sent him away to sleep he had nightmares of his sisters death, and how he hated her all those years.

The next day he was sent to live with his father after the league was attacked and Ra’s was killed. His mother handed him off and later on he decided to stay with his father even after he was to be brought back to the league. It had been a few months since then and Batman and Robin were in the middle of a fight with Slade otherwise known as deathstroke. He was a powerful force to be reckoned with. But even worse now, as he had a sidekick.

A fully masked figure wearing fighting gear and knifes strapped to their thigh, not to mention the very sharp Katana they were wielding, it was a difficult task for them both. But Batman dodged a stroke from the blade and the blade hit a gas pipe, as it was about to explode Slade ran off and Batman was about to go follow before she tackled him to the ground. They fought for a good couple seconds before Robin joined the fight and she was knocked out.

Batman and Robin swung out of the warehouse with Batman holding the masked figure as the pipe exploded leaving behind a burning building.

They put her in handcuffs and put her in the back of the batmobile as they drove home.

“Who do you think she is Batman?”

“I’m not sure.”

They drove home in silence, when did Slade get a partner?

Once in the bat cave they tied her to a chair before Alfred fixed up their cuts. The figure began to slowly wake up and she struggled in the chair before settling while staring at the duo.

“Why were you with Slade? A partner? Sidekick? Apprentice?” She doesn’t respond and continued to glare. The Bat stared right back and couldn’t help but think she was very short, just a inch or two below Damian. Her eyes seemed young as well but didn’t hold any innocence.

“You heard him, who are you?!” Damian demanded by Robin put a hand on his shoulder

They still didn’t respond. But, an idea came to mind. If she gave away her identity it would distract them enough for her to initiate a plan.

“Take off my mask Damian and see.” She spoke ominously while they both looked in shock that she knew his identity. He got over it and quickly ripped off her mask and he was staring into eyes alike to his own.

“Y-Y/N?”

“Miss me? I’m sure you didn’t.”

“Who is she Damian?”

“He never told you about me?” She asked with a fake point then proceeded to smirk.

“Damian?” Batman questioned further but all domain could do was stare.

“I’m his twin sister.” If there was a time the bat had showed that he was shocked it would have been when he found out about Damian, but this one rivaled it.

“W-What?”

He looked over to Damian but Damian turned away.

“Yep, his little sister only by a few minutes.”

Damian and Bruce took off the masks looked at her. Bruce saw the resemblances, between Damian and her, between her and himself.

Damian knelt in front of her and stared into her eyes.

“Forgive me ukht, please forgive me.” Tears gathered in his eyes surprising y/n. Damian crying? That’s not possible.

“Forgive you for what Damian?” Bruce questioned staring at his children.

Y/N had her lips pursed so Damian responded.

“Our mother and grandfather put us against each other in a mountain… it was a fight to the death to determine who would be the heir to the league. We fought for hours before I let me emotions lead and I fell. I grabbed onto y/n and she came down with me. We felt onto a ledge with barely enough room for us to hold on.” Bruce’s eyes are wide and slightly teary. “She grabbed her rope and made a pulley system. I was slipping, she tied it to my belt and jumped, telling me she loved me. Pulling me to the top as she Plummeted down. She fell, or rather let go so I could live.”

“And yet here we are.” She spoke snarky glaring at Damian.

“How are you here then?” Bruce questioned feeling as if he knew the answer. Jason was a standing example.

“You already know Bruce. The Lazarus Pit. Just like how it brought back Robin #2.” She smirked as he glared slightly. Damian glared back at their father as he needed to calm down.

“But did you know something Batman?” 

“What is it Y/N?”

“We always have a back up plan.”

With that the wall bursted open and Y/N shook of the robes she had been working away with a small knife. She held up a small tracker she had on her and smirked at their surprise faces. The duo threw on their masks even though their identity’s were already known.

Slade walked in with swords at the ready and he threw one to Y/N.

“Nice to see you.” Slade smirked at her.

“To you as well.”

“Ready to go?” He questioned her ignoring the bat and the bird.

“Ready when you are.” They nodded slightly and

Slade attacked Batman while she got Damian. With the help of a smoke Bomb and their disorientation from the information that she was alive, they were fairly easy to take down. They knocked the duo down to the floor and tied their legs together, just to give them enough time to escape.

“You can’t go! Not again.” Damian yelled with tears streaming down his face. He couldn’t lose her, not again.

“Wow look at that Slade.”

“What is it Y/N?” He played along as they turns towards the whole in the wall.

“I didn’t know Demons could cry. You learn something new everyday.”

Slade tossed another smoke Bomb into the cave as the last dispersed, distracting Damian and Bruce since they had almost gotten out of the rope, and got far away from the duo.

Damian stared at the hole in the wall in a mix of anger and sadness. Bruce in shock still.

Damian sobbed and fell to the floor in tears.

“Not again.”

~*~

Hopefully you liked it! Sorry it wasn’t too Yandere, I wasn’t sure how to make him a Yandere with this. But I how it was still good. Thank you for reading and I hope you have a great day! ♡

[xhanisai]

Speak Now, Regret Later.

A/N: OKAY! So this anon sent an amazing ask to the terrible-akuma-ideas blog and I was instantly inspired to write something related to it- I legitimately burst out laughing and oh god I hope you all enjoy this! I think we all need a little breather from the Chat Blanc teasers. Without further ado, read on~

(Co-Posted on AO3 and FFN) ~(x)~

The silence has never been so loud. Not even a pin drop was to be heard in the park across the Dupain Cheng Bakery. The bespeckled couple along with their blonde companion stood as still as statues, arms stretched out and mouths gaping with fear and failure. They were too slow to save their friend...if only they were a second faster...if only one of them was even a smidge closer to the raven haired girl... Marinette could have sworn that her heart stopped beating, hands clamped against her mouth and eyes close to bulging out of their sockets. The cackling akuma before her, dressed in the most hideous attire ever since Le Bubbleur made his debut. The akuma's hands stop glowing in its sinister, gold colour along with Marinette's body. "Heh, now I wonder what interesting inner thoughts will escape you now, Class President!" The akuma- also self-claimed as 'Unprivatiser', cocked his head to the side in mock innocence. The akuma's power seems to have control over Marinette's hands as well from the way they were slipping down from her mouth despite her iron will. "Will they be as embarrassing as mine? Will they humiliate you just like the way everyone else humiliated me? Will we finally see if Miss Perfect of our collegé really is perfect?" 

Marinette naturally sunk her teeth into her lips, shaking and attempting everything to keep her mouth shut. One wrong move and she could blurt out her secret identity, dooming Paris along with her normal life and fail her partner. "Leave her alone!" Adrien bellowed, finally getting his legs to move and formed a human wall between the akuma and Marinette, arms spread wide. Nino and Alya yelled in agreement, forming the wall with him to protect their girl. "Why did you shoot her when she's the one who helped you back up? I thought you'd go for Chloe first!" The emerald eyed boy made subtle gestures to Alya and Nino, indicating that they take Marinette away whilst he stalls Unprivatiser for some time. Unknowingly to them, he was risking his secret identity too and judging with how Plagg's claws were digging into his chest through the inner pocket, he doesn't have much time and he better not mess this up. "That's the thing! Just because she helped me back up doesn't mean she didn't have any nasty thoughts running through her head. I want to know what she really was thinking when she supposedly helped me up. Did she think I was pitiful and gross? Did she think I was a tramp? It feels too good to be true for the school's sweetest girl in the world to help out a boy who pissed himself without any judgemental thinking, right?" Suddenly, Marinette's will completely shattered and her mouth opened without consent. "Oh my God, oh my God! If anyone finds out that I take bites out of Kit Kats, they'll have my head!" The girl grasped her hands back towards her mouth, oblivious to everyone else's dumbstruck faces and internally begged her body to listen to her mind. Her hand and mouth seemed to think otherwise. "I also like drinking ice cold water straight after brushing my teeth because the sting helps wake me up better than coffee!" Was the next thing Marinette blurted out. The only thing she could do was pace and her hands tugged on her twin tails. Nino and Alya exhaled in relief, thanking heaven for not ruining Mari's day. "Hey- Le Papillon? What the hell is this?" The butterfly silhouette appeared over Unprivatiser's face, irritation pumping through his veins. Thus, a one-sided argument was heard and Adrien took the opportunity to usher his friends out of the danger zone. He kept his hands behind Marinette's shoulders and nodded towards the others to follow him so that they can hide elsewhere. Much to his dismay, Alya had her phone whipped out to livestream the villain whilst Nino slumped to his knees in hopelessness. Once his girlfriend makes a decision, she sticks to it, no matter what. Shaking his head, he supposed that with them two out of the way, it would be easier to find a secluded place to transform. First, he needs to get Marinette to safety. "We'll head to your bakery, how does that sound?" Adrien asked gently and squeezed her shoulders reassuringly as he sped them towards her home. "N-N-No! Ack! Your father is supposed to be a fashion designer so what's with the revolting candy cane, white mocha frappuccino, whipped cream looking ass clothes he wears on a daily basis!?" The girl snapped her hands back against her mouth in horror, wishing for the ground to swallow her up. "White...mocha...frappuccino...?"

That's it... Forget about secret identities... She's clearly going to be hated by Adrien forever, never get married with him and have their three kids and a hamster, also get blacklisted from every fashion industry in Europe and die ALONE- "Pffft-" Her pitiful monologue within her chaotic mind was halted by an uncharacteristic snort from the blonde. That soon turned into laughter despite Adrien holding a fist against his lips. Before they knew it, he burst out laughing like no tomorrow, hooting against the wall and clutching his stomach. Tears streamed out of his eyes as he kept repeating what she said over and over again. Marinette didn't know whether to be embarrassed or savour this moment; it was the second time she's ever heard him laugh so freely ever since he gave her that umbrella in the rain.   "W-W-White mo-mocha frapp-frappuccino! Oh man! I can't unsee that now! Hahahah!" He collapsed on the floor, ignorant to any passerbyers' worried glances or mischievious expressions. "I can't believe it! Pffft!" "If you keep laughing like that, you'll make the sun envy you because of how much you shine compared to it..." Her tone was soft and loving at first but Marinette quickly gritted her teeth to prevent herself from saying anymore. Damn akuma...damn Adrien and his beautiful laugh! The boy appeared to be awestrucked from her words, clearing the laughter away from his system and butterflies erupted in his stomach. He lowered his eyes sweetly with a chortle, cupping one of her hands with his and beamed. "Thank you, that's very sweet of you, Marinette," He didn't mind the way his heart richotated against his chest like it usually does around Ladybug. He's already had his freakout from his sudden discovery of his growing feelings for his shy classmate, months ago. Or perhaps they were there all along? He's not going to admit it out loud to avoid a smug, insufferable kwami though. "Not as sweet as the three containers of sugar I devoured when I was five." The poor girl smacked her forehead and growled, cursing the akuma whilst it continued to argue with Le Papillon in the park. Adrien bit his lip to avoid laughing again. Though it was oh so tempting to tease her... It wouldn't harm anyone, would it? Just to let a bit of his Chat Noir side seep out? "Is that so~?" He smirked. Marinette instantly grasped his game, a cute scowl took over her face as she took a step back. Adrien took a large step forward in retaliation. He should go and transform right now...but teasing Marinette is so fun! Surely Ladybug won't mind if he's late for a minute or two, considering how harmless the akuma is? "When I first saw snow, I thought it was icing sugar and proceeded to try and eat it." Mari sucked her teeth in, walking backwards, trying to get away from the devious blonde. "How adorable, do tell more," He followed her steps, arms behind his back. He didn't care that they were headed to some random direction instead of the safe destination he wanted Marinette to be at earlier on. "Grrr- I freaked out when I visited a farm a couple of years ago because some chickens stole my crisps. They were roast chicken flavour and I thought they committed cannibalism!" "Oho?" "Turns out, they were only artificially flavoured." "Thank God for that," "I wish God was nice to me for once and allowed me a day where I don't embarrass myself." She systematically glared at the sky before back at the snickering model. "I wouldn't say that this is embarrassing," "Yeah you're right, not as embarrassing as when I accidentally called Monsieur. Damocles 'Papa' last week," "I think that's also very cute." Adrien's grin broadened when Marinette's back hit a lampost, leaving her no room to run now. The cat and mouse game has finally come to an end- an inside  joke he sadly couldn't say out loud despite how fitting it was for the situation due to secret identities. "Not as cute as that little baby with its parents over there, I hope one day my kids look as cute as them," Marinette was distracted by the family scurrying away from the park, a subtle smile rested on her lips. Adrien felt his heart skyrocket and let out an inaudible gasp. He leaned into her face, prompting her to flush and look away. She so was going to kill him after the akuma is purified. "They definitely will be since their mother is so beautiful," Boldly, Adrien brushed his knuckles against her fringe, gazing into her with such strong intensity that Marinette could have sworn that she was looking at... Chat Noir. "You remind me of a certain feline who made himself home with half of my heart," 

Sapphire orbs and emerald orbs widened simultaneously with matching gasps, inducing the former to dash off with a squeal and bidding goodbye to any potential romantic chances she had with Adrien. After all, who on earth compares their best friend to their crush when he's flirting with you? Why was he flirting with a klutz like her in the first place?! "You have terrible tastes in women!" Marinette cried out mournfully, not looking back to see Adrien's reaction. If she did, she would have seen how his face took on a raspberry hue, one hand grasping his face and eyes still wide. His heart thundered and his body shook ever so slightly. "Plagg...? Does that mean...she's still in love with Chat Noir?" The lazy God popped his head out of his safe pocket and narrowed his eyes with a smirk. "Ooooh? What's with that face? I thought Princess was 'just a friend' to you, kid." This caused the blood to flare up in Adrien's cheeks again. He could feel the vibrations of Plagg's quiet laughter for goodness sake! Swallowing down his pride, Adrien shook his head. "Don't tease me now...you're the first to point out my crazy crush on her anyways..." Plagg didn't get a chance to retort back as the sounds of the akuma yelling and the crowd scattering filled the air. "Anyone who disagrees with the fact that mayonnaise and pizza is a Godly combination, deserves to face my wrath! Especially the pineapple-stans!" "If I have to suffer with the fact that our intestines are basically eels in our body, so do you!" "I can't break the habit of dipping my fries in my milkshakes..." "My boss still hasn't realised that I'm the one who stole his donuts!" "I feel like pissing on the moon." "What is love~! Baby don't hurt me! Don't hurt me! No more~" "I don't know whether to be horrified or amused with how similar Gabriel Agreste's hair looks compared to a duck's ass- oH SHIT HIS SON HEARD ME-" Stifling another laughing fit, Adrien darted off to a remote alleyway to finally transform. Contrary to popular beliefs, everytime someone makes a dig or jab at his father, Adrien can't help but agree most of the time. There is no justification for such horrendous hair after all- and his daily clothing now that he thinks about it. "Heheh...mocha frappuccino though Plagg..." His snickers started to build up, regardless to his kwami's groans. Thankfully, he composed himself in a matter of seconds and transformed. ~(x)~ "Long time no see, My Lady!" Chat Noir performed a perfect acrobatic flip, landing elegantly on his feet and grinned with his iconic cheshire smirk. It was wiped off after Unprivatiser dodged another one of Ladybug's yoyo swings whilst she tried to clamp her mouth shut with her free hand. She leapt back so that she was by Noir's side, smiling painfully before smacking her hand back on her lips. Chat suddenly realised the severity of the issue, letting out a colourful swear for wasting time earlier on and was about to clasp his hands against her lips when her hands fell. Ladybug CANNOT reveal her identity! "It took you long enough you slowpoke! Any second later and I'd have blurted out how I fell asleep in my bowl of cereal this morning!" Well, too late for that. "Where were you? Busy flirting with other girls? Hmmph!" It was literally killing the boy to not laugh right now. "Just the one, Bugaboo~ You remind me of her a lot so I suppose I have a type?" Chat mused out loud, dodging the beams that Unprivatiser threw. Whilst the villain shrieked for their miraculouses, the black cat continued. "Jealous?" He twirled his baton to deflect more of the beams, in sync with Ladybug twirling her yoyo. "I shouldn't be but I bloody I am," Just like that, Chat Noir's whole world came to a halt and Ladybug's pride was finally tattered to smithereens. "W-What?" "Don't make me say how you've already infected half of my heart with your stupid gooey kitty eyes and dumb affections and annoying power of turning my heart into a jackhammer every time you're near!" The blonde teen couldn't believe his ears. "Holy shit..." He whispered softly. "This isn't real..." Their distraction costed them dearly. The duo was instantly engulfed in the akuma's golden beam, the boy admonishing for the jewels once again and made his displeasure of their 'flirting' clear. "Just hurry up and gimme! I have the most dumbest power ever and if I get those jewels, butterfly man will give me an upgrade so that I can finally teach Bourgeois a lesson!" Unprivatiser ignored the old villain's muttering of "It's Le Papillon you brat..." in his mind, getting ready to tackle the heroes. "I'm already a bit of a stereotypical blonde dummy and I don't need your dumb powers to dumb me down even further! Though to be fair the amount of anime I have watched has stunted my view on social norms-" Chat spluttered out without control, close to slapping his hand against his lips by instinct. However, he processed his words and hummed. "This isn't too bad, right Lovebug?" He cheekily elbowed her side with a wink, heart fluttering from her sudden confession and mind still trying to process that. "At least you didn't have to make a fool out of yourself in front of the two boys you love," She dragged them both away to another rooftop with the swing of her yoyo. She really wanted to just get rid of this akuma and run back home without a word but her mind was already combusting to the brim with unsaid words that desperately wanted to be spilled. "You love me too?!" Chat almost lost his footing. "B-B-But I think I love the other girl too-" "FANTASTIC! Perfect timing! The moment I lost my chance with the other dumbass and finally confess to you after so long-" "That long!?" "MISS WONDER GIRL decides to show up and now you're smitten with HER!" "To be fair, I was crushing on her ever since I met her-" "REMARKABLE! I really am destined to be alone! All cos I told him that he reminded me of you!" "Wait- WHAT-" Chat Noir didn't get a chance to comprehend the puzzle he's accidently solved. "JUST. GIVE. ME. YOUR. MIRACULOUSES!" Unprivatiser shot himself against the building the heroes were standing on like a bullet, demolishing it into pieces. He was fast but they were much faster. Ladybug and Chat Noir landed on the barren street. Their bodies seem to be on attack mode but their minds were still in a huge mess. "OhMyGodOhMyGodOhMyGodOhMyGodOhMyGodOhMyGodOhMyGodOhMyGodOhMyGodOhMyGodOhMyGodOhMyGod-" Was all that Chat was able to muster, never letting his lovestruck eyes leave his Lady's form as she summoned her lucky charm. "I knew it, I called it, I KNEW THAT YOU'RE- wait...is that Lucky Charm..." . . . "...White mocha frappuccino? Like Gabriel Agreste's ugly clothes?" Neither her nor Unprivatiser were able to exchange anymore words as Chat Noir abruptly collapsed into a puddle of guffaws and laughter. His fists slammed against the floor and he was unable to stop the words from spilling his mouth over and over again. "Oh man...it was only ever one guy I made myself a fool of..." Ladybug sighed out, albeit fondly. She'll freak out later but for now, she's got a job to do. "N-Now, now! I recall mentioning that it was cute a few time, Princess," Chat heaved himself off the floor, leaning against his Lady's shoulder for support so that he doesn't fall into another laughing fit again. "...It's not fair that you've barely said any embarrassing things despite getting hit by the beam," Ladybug puffed a cheek out, tossing the frappuccino at the akuma's lower midriff when he tried to attack again, soaking him instantly. "That's because I am the incarnate of embarrassment anyways. Plus, I always say what's on my mind regardless. Like that one time I asked what Pere and Mere were doing in the dark when I stumbled into their room- I think I was five? Maybe four-" He softly cataclysmed the cloak that Unprivatiser wore, replaced by ashes and a fluttering corrupted butterfly. The magic wore off and in place was a timid looking boy wearing the spare clothes that the school gave him after his accident. "Weren't they hugging? That's what my parents always tell me every time I enter their room after hearing weird noises." She purified the butterfly and performed the miraculous cure. "Oh my God...are you really that innocent?!" Chat only received a confused blink from her. A blush took over his face and his need to protect her increased by tenfolds. ~(x)~

The dynamic duo comforted the poor boy for a bit, giving him an extra confidence boost before leaping away as their final minutes beeped in their miraculouses. Naturally, Ladybug and Chat Noir chose a deserted classroom in their school as their destination, considering how lunch time was almost over. A heavy silence was left in the air and the two couldn't help but look anywhere else but at each other's eyes. Their transformation crackled away in sync, leaving behind two astonished teenagers and their hungry companions (the kwamis dived into Marinette's purse to ensure that their charges had some privacy). It was one thing to know. It was another thing to see. Marinette connected her two pointer fingers, looking down at them as her cheeks pinkened into a delightful sakura shade, tempting Adrien to kiss them. The boy in question had a hand itching the back of his head but couldn't help but let a silly smile grow on his lips. One look at his face had Marinette's follow suit. They snickered at first, trying hard to stay composed but one more glance at each other caused them to break out into giggles. What an eventful day! "I can't believe I got outed by a frappuccino- heh!" Adrien joyfully opened his arms, inviting Marinette to step into them so that he could wrap her in an embrace. The girl wrapped her arms around his waist, sighing happily into his chest. "Don't know if it beats me getting outed by confessing that I confessed to you that I liked you...?" Her nose scrunched up charmingly. "That makes no sense." "You rejected me, for me, I rejected you, for you but fell in love with you despite you and you fell in love with me despite me, yes, ten out of ten sense in the romance department." Marinette rolled her eyes at Adrien's dramaticness. "All of this drama and heartache could have been resolved if it weren't for the identities, Chaton! Ugh!" "Please...my brain hurts too much already from all of this." "I want to go home and scream into my pillow, or devour every single pastry at the bakery...anything to keep my mouth busy," "Oh?" Slowly, Marinette pulled away, only getting as far as a few centimeters away due to the way Adrien's arms locked itself around her body. He didn't seem to intend on letting her go anytime soon. "You could..." She bit her lip, not missing the way his eyes flickered down there for a second. "Kiss me instead?" Adrien's eyes darkened at her request and brought his hands to cup her cheeks and tilt it upwards so that their eyes could meet. He moved closer with a careful procision. He tilted his head at a perfect angle and his fingers dug into her dark tresses. Their foreheads were now touching, letting their hair entangle with one another and their chests were pressed against the other. Marinette let her eyes flutter shut the moment she felt his warm breath hit her lips whilst her heart was close to exploding in anticipation. Their lips brushed every so softly and then- "You know, we still have to talk about your unlawful ways of eating a Kit Kat." The moment was gone. . . . ~(x)~ A/N: It's almost five in the morning... I hope you're all h a p p y .

[stanskzseungmin]

HHJ ~ Tragic Fairytale

Inspired by a dying relationship I tried to make work

Also not proofread...or beta read

Today WE DIE LIKE MEN.

(Also I can't find the original owner of this gif help)

Genre: Angst

Soulmate! AU

~

Prompt used:

Forbidden (Angst): I will write about my character longing for something they can never have.

~

    You and Hyunjin had always been close.

    You were quite literally fetus friends. Both your moms had a long lasting friendship dating back to middle school. So its no surprise that you and Hyunjin grew up together.

    You had a rare gift. Everyone has a soulmate with their names tattooed intricately on their wrist. However, they can not see the names. You could. 

    And on your wrist, delicately tattooed in white cursive, Hwang Hyunjin.

    On his, Y/N.

   

    However, there is some interference from the universe. You can not physically tell people who their soulmate was and you can not drop any hints as well. You can however, change the soulmate name on someone else’s wrist.

    You and Hyunjin were still as close as ever when you both entered high school.

    However, puberty hit Hyunjin well. He grew considerably taller and his features got more eye appealing and refined. As his visuals got more and more attractive, his popularity soared. Of course this means Hyunjin will get swept away by people and will get dragged into cliques; thus, Hyunjin and you never really hung out as much during school hours.

You both were still close, fortunately.

You both walk home together and would often crash at each other’s places to do homework and hang out until nightfall since you both lived a few houses apart.

“Hey can you do me a favor?” hyunjin asked out of nowhere. 

“Hmm?” you hummed in response with your eyes still glued to your homework.

“There’s this girl I really like,” Hyunjin started.

He broke your heart that night.

Hyunjin asked if you could change his soulmate name to hers. You loved him. You really do, so you did.

That night you delicately write her name on Hyunjin’s wrist and watch your own fade away. Overtime, you would watch Hyunjin’s name fade from your wrist.

You watch Hyunjin fall more hopelessly in love with his crush. You watch him smile and laugh at her every word. You watched how his eyes would turn into small crescents and how his nose crinkles every time he let out a genuine smile or laugh.

You feel your pain subside.

It was unnerving at first, losing everything about Hyunjin.

From once you felt butterflies with every interaction with hyunjin to pain and heartbreak and finally

to nothing.

You were scared. Many thoughts were running through your mind as different scenarios formed, each one worse than the last. 

You told yourself. If Hyunjin was happy, then so were you.

But now, there was nothing.

You sat on a bench at the front entrance waiting for hyunjin as always. He was late, but you couldn’t be bothered to care. It was unnerving how little you felt for Hyunjin now in such a short amount of time.

Since you couldn't be bothered to care, then why should you wait?

You gathered your things as you slung your backpack over your shoulder. You stood from your spot and turned to leave.

“Hey!” Hyunjin called out to you.

you turned to face him.

“Hyunjin,” you  merely stated. You flinched inwardly hearing you cold monotone voice.

Hyunjin visably flinched at your tone.

“I-I thought you were going to wait for me?” he breathed out with an awkward smile.

You shrugged as you turned to  leave. Hyunjin deadpanned momentarily as he lightly jogged to catch up with you. He easily caught up to you with his long legs and slowed to match your pace.

“Did I do something wrong?”

“No,” you responded quickly.

“Then why are you ignoring me?”

“I’m not,” you quipped.

“You’re not?” Hyunjin exasperated stepping in front of your path. “If you’re not, then why are you being so distant?”

“I have no reason to speak with you,” you merely responded attempting to walk past him.

He sidestepped to block your advances.

“Do you really need a reason?” his tone was stern yet offended.

“Yes.”

“What? Why?” Hyunjin gasped out as he felt a pang of pain in his chest. “We’re best friends.”

“Were,” you corrected as you deadpanned at him.

Hyunjin’s face softened to one of hurt and confusion. His eyes held pain as it became glossy with tears. 

“Y/N,” he choked out. “Y/N please. What did I do?”

“Nothing,” your eyes trailed off to the side in disinterest.

“Then why?” Hyunjin’s voice cracked slightly.

“You didn’t do anything,” you clarified. “I did.”

You lifted up your wrist and pointed at the flesh knowing full well Hyunjin couldn’t see the name inked there by fate.

“Did you do something to your name?” Hyunjin asked worryingly.

You didn't respond. You gently grabbed at his wrist gently rotating it towards his view and pointed at the flesh there. Hyunjin’s mouth gaped open in confusion. In his moment of confusion, you took your opportunity to walk past him. 

“Wait! What does this have to do- I’m sorry if I made you do this” Hyunjin rushed forward grabbing your wrist.

You turned to look at him. 

“But it doesn't matter right? I’m still your best friend?” Hyunjin chuckled nervously.

Anxiety crawled up Hyunjin’s chest as he wondered what did he do to lose his best friend, his rock, his partner in crime. 

“I don't have a name,” you clarified.

Hyunjin’s eyes widened in horror.

If a person loses the soulmate name, not only do they lose their soulmate, they also lose their soul unless anothename can be imprinted.

“No no no no,” Hyunjin panics as his hands reach for your shoulders gripping it lightly. “W-why? What happened?”

“I changed yours,” you stated.

“B-but, how does this-” Hyunjin choked finally putting the pieces together. 

Hyunjin shook his head repeatedly whispering “No” to himself. Tears were streaming down his face not wanting to believe the answer he was presented with.

“You can write a name on your wrist, right?” Hyunjin lifted up your wrist to his lips and kissed the soft flesh lightly. “Like you did to mine?”

“I can’t change my own,” you finalized,

Hyunjin sobbed, realization finally hitting him from what he has done. 

“Please,” he choked out. “Please tell me it’s not me.”

Hyunjin’s heart constricted painfully as it felt as if he was suffocating. 

“Please,” he repeated weeping. “Please say it’s not me.”

“It’s not.” Hyunjin looked up at you with hope glimmering in his eyes. “Not anymore.”

Hyunjin felt as if his entire world has fallen apart.

Hyunjin fell to his knees on the sidewalk crying like s fool. You stood there momentarily staring at him before turning to leave.

“I’m sorry. I’m sorry,” Hyunjin chanted with more pain laced in each and every word. 

Hyunjin grabbed pathetically at your legs in an attempt to stop you from leaving him only for you to easily walk out of his grip.

“Please,” he whispered. “I need you.”

His words fell to death ears.

You didn’t show up to class the next day.

Hyunjin sat at your desk with a book all about soulmates on his lap as he awaited your arrival.

Hyunjin can hear the whispers around him, but Hyunjin didn't care. his eyes were glossed over and they were red and extremely puffy. on his cheeks were dried tears as he sniffled often to stop the snot from running. 

By the end of the day, he watched as his world became broken beyond all repair.

Those with the ability to rewrite the soulmate tattoos can only merely change the appearance of the name to spur the change. The rest is up to the “client.” For the change to be solidified and recognized by the universe, they would have to fall in love and have the love be reciprocated. 

However, since the name has been changed, the other half will have their soulmate tattoo fade and disappear. If a new soulmate can not be registered and mated again to another soul, then their souls would disappear forever.

Your mom called Hyunjin in a frantic after school. Hyunjin rushed over to your house with his legs taking him there as fast as they could. His lungs burned and his legs ached as he proceeded with his full sprint. 

Hyunjin couldn't remember much of that day.

He remembered bursting through the door of your room.

He remember your mom sobbing hopelessly.

He remembered embracing your soulless body sobbing and apologizing profusely.

He remembered blacking out on your bed with you in his arms.

This became routine for him: wake up, go to school, go to your house afterwards, read you the lecture notes so you wouldn't fall too far behind, occasionally bringing you your favorite snacks and hopefully pressing the snack item against your lips until your body’s mechanical skills kick in and take the food item, finish homework, take care of you, go home, repeat.

You sat upright on your bed in a slight slouched position. Your half lidded eyes faded to a dull grey color void of any emotion. Your cheeks grew paler by the day. You were no longer responsive, never flinching, never feeling, forever broken. all because of him.

It was all his fault.

Hyunjin’s heart broke more each and every day.

Hyunjin can't let you go. Not now. Not ever. In fear of letting you down once last time.

Your mom was thankful for hyunjin constantly taking care of you while she was at work.

After high school, Hyunjin moved into an apartment with you. He had a simple cafe job for flexible work hours.

You both were lying on the same bed. Hyunjin figured it shouldn't really matter since you both shared beds every time you crashed at each other’s places too lazy to go home. Hyunjin was laying his head over your chest. your heart was beating slow and steady like a metronome. Hyunjin finds some comfort in your heartbeat because it serves as a reminder that you're still alive. hyunjin lifted up his wrist into view, the name of his dumb crush was brilliantly shown in black ink.

The soulmate name will appear before both soulmates if they were to fall in love with each other, the names would be presented in brilliant white ink for all to see as proof of their love. The other case of appearance is when their soulmate dies resulting in the name presented in black.

You were Hyunjin’s soulmate, but he had you change it to his crush. The name served as reminder of Hyunjin’s greatest mistake with it dyed a brilliant black to signify your death. You weren’t dead per se, you were still living and breathing but you were an empty shell void of a soul. 

The sound of Hyunjin’s alarm blasted deafeningly loud, but Hyunjin didn't want to go about his day. However, he needed money for rent.

After the daily necessities, Hyunjin sat you opposite of him and cooked up a simple noodle soup. Hyunjin decantently fed you blowing each spoonful generously and bringing the spoon to your lips. Eventually you body would kick in and accept the spoon into your mouth to chew briefly and swallowing.

After breakfast, Hyunjin would slowly walk you to the living room couch in front of the tv. He made sure to keep everything within arms reach: the tv remote, your phone, a sandwich on a plate and a glass of water incase you get hungry. He would place the items near the edge of the table and push it closer to you.

Afterwards, each and everyday without fail, Hyunjin would cup your face into his hands. He would delicately kiss your cheeks, your nose, your forehead, your chin, your temples, just anywhere before finishing on your lips. His lips would mold softly into your unmoving ones pouring all of his emotions, his pain, his regret and mainly his love for you, into that final kiss. He held onto the small hope that true love’s kiss would prevail. You both were soulmates afterall.

But life isn't a fairytale.

Every single day was the same. Hyunjin would return home after work to see you in the same position where he left you. The food and water were left untouched. Your phone and the remote were unmoved. It would most definitely collect dust if left long enough.

Hyunjin would push the table back far enough for him to situate himself on the floor in front of you. Hyunjin would position your hand palm side up and rest his cheek there with his arms loosely wrapped around your legs. Hyunjin would sometimes place the plate on your lap and with his left hand he would hold the sandwich to your lips. Sometimes your body will allow consumption but it often doesn’t.

The pain Hyunjin feels day by day doesn't get easier. The ache in his chest was forever present as he felt himself suffocate more and more everyday. Some days the pain would get too unbearable and it feels as if all the weight in the world was on his chest depriving him of oxygen. his heart would beat loudly in his ears as he gasped and sobbed as the panic from a mental breakdown wracked his body.

Today was that day.

Hyunjin passed out with his tear stained cheek resting delicately on your hand, the sandwich left forgotten on the plate on your lap.

Hyunjin was living through punishment for his sins. Some days he wondered if he was punished enough and the universe would recognize his repent and offer forgiveness, but Hyunjin knew he doesnt deserve it.

However, the universe had their own plans.

Hope.

Hyunjin didn't know how long he was passed out for. When we awoke, the room was dark. outside the window was the star lit night sky. You were still seated in the same position. You were upright with a slight slouch, your arms limp on either side of your body, your head was tilted downward with half lidded dull grey eyes as your chest steadily rose and fell.

Hyunjin nuzzled into your hand softly yearning for your touch. Hyunjin let out a small huff and satup running his hand through his hair and rubbing his puffy face.

His eyes gazed over the sandwich in your lap. He was sure it wasn't there before. It’s small and barely noticeable, but it was most definitely a bite.

Hyunjin didn't hesitate. Day by day, he recreated the same conditions as that day. Hyunjin would sit there for hours even until the morning light peeked over the horizon.

It has been two weeks since then. Hyunjin was beginning to lose sight if that hope.

But another hope glimmered one day when Hyunjin returned from work. Hyunjin briefly planted a kiss on your temple before heading straight to the shower because he accidentally spilled coffee on himself. He has failed to notice a singular bite in the sandwich.

Hyunjin left the shower drying his hair with a towel. The towel obstructed his view as he made his way over to you. He swung his towel over his neck just to meet eye to eye with your dull gray ones. Your head was turned towards him. Hyunjin’s eyes were wide and blown out. His heart started to beat rapidly.

“Y/N?” he breathed out walking to you slowly. Your head turned slowly following his every movement.

Hyunjin delicately grasped your hands in his as he kneeled before you.

"Y/N?" Hyunjin sobbed out quietly.

You didn't answer, you merely stared deeply in his eyes and didn't make any sudden movement or reaction. Hyunjin can feel you staring deep into his soul with your dull gray eyes. You were difficult to read. Your eyes showed no emotion whatsoever.

Hyunjin wanted to speak to you but he felt his words latch onto his throat as his chest ached horribly with heartbreak. He desperately wanted to tell you his feelings but he was choking in his sobs.

He wanted to. He needed to.

Because what if this was the last Hyunjin would see of you before you become forever unmoving once more.

Ugly sobs erupted from Hyunjin as he tried to choke out his words. Tears were flowing down his cheeks in neverending streams and snot dribbled down from his nostrils.

"Im s-sorry," Hyunjin forced out. His voice weak, broken and breathless. 

"I’m so sorry," he choked out once more with more structure and support.

"I'm so fucking sorry," Hyunjin sobbed, his voice accidentally raised with raw emotion as his hands gripped yours tightly.

Hyunjin coughed and wheezed as the pain in his chest became increasingly more unbearable. Hyunjin rested his forehead against yours as his entire body shook with sobs.

"I love you," Hyunjin whispered out. "I love you so fucking much."

Hyunjin desperately looked into your eyes for any type of emotional response. He didn't care if it was rage, anger, or disappointment. He just needed anything.

But he never got it.

Hyunjin skipped work the next day calling in sick. He opted with staying in bed with you held securely in his arms.

Hyunjins phone vibrated softly against the night stand, but it fell to dead ears. Hyunjin know it was Jisung that was blowing up his phone. The two were best friends throughout high school and even ended up working at the same cafe. Jisung tended to nag Hyunjin a lot due to him looking more and more dead each day. Annoyed with the constant vibrations, Hyunjin quickly grabbed his phone and set it to do not disturb. The last message he saw was "I heard you called in sick. Do you need me to come over later?

Hyunjin didn't answer and tossed the phone over his shoulder missing the night stand and fell with a soft thud on the floor. 

Once again Hyunjin rested his head on your chest with his arms wrapped securely around your body.

The soft metronomic heartbeat that once kept him sane with the knowledge that you were still here alive and well now caused anxiety to crawl up his chest.

He was so close. He was so fucking close. But you went back to your soulless state. No eye contact. No head following his every movement.

Hyunjin felt as if he lost you all over again. Pain ripped through his chest as it got harder and harder to breathe. Hyunjin felt as if metal barbed wire was wrapped around his heart and lungs and is slowly getting tighter. Hyunjin felt the sobs wrack through his body again as his mental state deteriorated.

Hyunjin would then make another fatal mistake.

Hyunjins body would shoot up as he straddled your waist. Hyunjin huffed and sniffled as tears flood his vision. Hyunjin felt as if he was suffocating, he wanted you to feel the same.

In his fit of madness, Hyunjin pressed a pillow onto your face. He was desperately wanting you to feel just anything.

Hyunjin froze when he heard a faint voice yelling at him at the back of his mind. At first Hyunjin couldn't tell whose voice it was but he quickly realized it was his own voices screaming at him to stop.

Hyunjins voice hitched as he rejoined reality. Horror bubbled within him once he realized what he's done. Hyunjin very quickly tossed aside the pillow and he's met with your blown out eyes and your mouth open in a silent scream.

"N-no," Hyunjin choked out.

"No no. Y/N, I'm so sorry."

Hyunjins hands shook as his fingers ghosted over your cheeks afraid to. reak you even further. 

"Y/N?" His voice cracked "Y/N please…"

Hyunjin weeped as he delicately cupped your face. Hesitantly, he leaned down pressing his ear against your chest.

Hyunjin weeped.

The metronomic heartbeat is stilled to a stop as your chest remained unmoving.

Hyunjin snapped.

With loud wailing and sobbing, Hyunjin began grabbing at everything. He ripped off the curtains, the metal rod clanged loudly against the floor. With loud ugly screams, he knocked over the drawers and closet. His hand reached for the picture that stood on the nightstand. The photo captured both your smiling faces as you completed each others hand heart. You both had taken that selfie with your polaroid on the first day of high school. Before you lost your soul. Before Hyunjin Getting that stupid crush. Before everything fell apart.

With a loud sob, he tossed it towards the wall. The force of the throw had Hyunjin’s arm aching in pain as the frame and glass broke and shattered against the wall.

Hyunjin kicked his discarded phone as it slid and bounced into another wall. The phone illuminated the message.

HJS: Hey my shift ended. I’m going to come over to see how you're doing.

~

Jisung stood outside Hyunjins door with an americano and a croissant that he brought over. 

"Yah! Hyunjin! You better open up," Jisung called out knocking on the door harshly.

No answer.

"If you are not opening up, I'm coming in!"

No answer.

"Fine by me."

Jisung bent down to grab the spare key that hyunjin hid under his welcome mat.

Jisung at first didn't notice anything strange when he entered the apartment.

"Hyunjin?" Jisung called out closing the door behind him.

Everything looked clean. There were dirty dishes in the sink but other than that, everything looked fine. Jisung set down Hyunjin’s drink and croissant on the kitchen table. He made his way over to Hyunjin's bedroom. The door was slightly ajar.

"Oh my god!" Jisung exclaimed loudly. Backing up quickly tripping over his own feet. Jising landed ungracefully on His bottom with his eyes blown out in shock and horror.

"Oh my fucking god," Jisung stammered. "Hyunjin, what the fuck did you do?"

The room was messy with things thrown all around with many of them broken and shattered.

Jisung stood in horror upon sight of his best friend swinging softly back and forth, arms limp at his sides, his eyes were hooded with tear stained cheeks, his mouth parted slightly with drool dribbling out hanging on a noose tied to a ceiling fan.

Life wasn't a fairytale.

Soulmates was supposed to be a beautiful story, but for Hwang Hyunjin and Y/N,

life was a tragedy.

[keiwritesstuff]

With You

Kuroo Tetsuro x f!reader

Summary : Kuroo and her are classmates, but never really talked to each other since he’s a social butterfly while she prefers to do things alone. One day, their teacher assigns both of them to be assignment partners, and they discovered new things about each other.

Genre : slice of life, soft

Notes : Long. Written in 3rd person ‘s POV. Absolutety self-indulgent. Slowburn-ish. Happy ending. Bokuto is adorable.

  ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

“For this topic.. Kuroo Testuro and L/N F/N,” the teacher announced before nonchalantly proceeded to name the other pairs. She subconsciously straightened her back, totally not expecting to be paired up with a boy, what more a really famous one. She’s not that interested in sports, but she knew enough that he’s somehow very popular, considering how he’s the captain of Nekoma vc and is very often surrounded by people (mostly girls, but what’s the difference?).

She prefers working alone, and knows that she’s very good at it. But this project… this presentation, will contribute to her getting good grades should she does it well, and she would really like to maintain the ones she had achieved, if not get better ones.

She has to.

After the teacher had finished assigning the topics to all pairs, the teacher had them sit together to start their discussion. From what Y/N knew, Kuroo is good in Science. She had never seen him fail the subject, if that is any indication.

It won’t be too bad, she told herself.

 “I’ll be in your care, Kuroo-kun.” she spoke.

“Same goes with me.” he smiled before taking out his textbook to start the discussion. “I don’t think this topic is too difficult to present on, but I do think that we need to look for more examples to make our explanation easier to understand.” he added. She was rather impressed, considering he hadn’t even turned to the page related to said topic.

Both of them immediately set up a schedule for upcoming discussions since he is busy with volleyball practice.

 That weekend, he goes to her house to work on the contents of the presentation. He was greeted by a young boy, who welcomed him into the house. The boy brought him to the kitchen, where he saw Y/N cooking, with a pair of twin boys clinging onto her legs.

“I didn’t know you’re a single mother.” he started, couldn’t help himself from doing his habit of teasing people.

“Shut up.” she laughed (which amused him, since he didn’t take her as someone who accepts jokes easily).

“These are my brothers. My parents are out working. Usually mom is at home taking care of these kids, but whenever I can do it, she’ll be at the shop, helping my dad.” she spoke, still busy stirring the food in the pot. “I think you can put your stuff on the couch. I’ll be there in a second.” she continued, somewhat apologetically, since she couldn’t immediately start their discussion. Kuroo sensed it, and quickly replied, “Alright. Tell me if you need a hand, though my assistance does come with a hazard warning.”

He saw her smile again before walking to the living room. He didn’t notice the warmth blooming from somewhere inside his chest.

   After making sure her brothers have finished their meal, she rushed to Kuroo with iced peach tea in her hand. “Sorry. I’ll try .” she starts to jot down and rearrange the notes that she had collected through her own research for Kuroo’s opinion. Kuroo looked at her and noticed the conforting smell of homemade oyakodon. He couldn’t help but smile. Though they rarely talked in class, she had always given him this impression that she prefers to be left alone. Who would’ve thought that at home, there are three little gremlins glued to her hips all the time?

 After school, both of them stayed in class along with other pairs who seem to be struggling as well. Both Kuroo and Y/N are more exhausted than usual, and Kuroo definitely took back what he said about the topic being easy. Linking the examples with the main points has been proven to be more difficult than they deemed it to be, especially in efforts to make it as simple and as easy to understand as possible. Y/N wanted to ace this assignment, and Kuroo noticed how she was struggling to digest the notes, reading the same page over and over again but to no avail.

“You reeaally want to ace this presentation, don’t you?” he asked.

She rested her head on the table, a few strands of her hair tickling her nose.

“Of course. I need to make sure I maintain impressive grades in my result transcript. Gotta get those scholarships.” Y/N replied, exhaustion could be heard from her voice, probably from taking care of her younger brothers. Funny, Kuroo thinks, that he couldn’t notice this side of her before. Had she been this… at ease before?

“Scholarship?”

Y/N nods. “Yeah. I’m aiming for Tohoku University.” she replied. “It’s not easy to get a scholarship there, but their Natural Science department is top notch and I’d love to study there. Not to mention, if I survived uni, that Tohoku logo would look good on my CV, don’t you think?”

Her head is still on the table, but her eyes are looking somewhere else now, her facial expression clearly shows that she can already visualize that life, that dream.

Kuroo was rather impressed. Tohoku isn’t so easy to get into, it is not a place for everyone, and if anyone wants to earn a scholarship there, they have to work extremely hard (and maybe offer a sacrifice to the gods for good measure).

“That’s pretty amazing,” he commented. “But what about your brothers? Will they be okay? Aren’t you worried? They seem to be really attached to you.”

“I am, but at the same time I want to work hard and secure a good job so that they don’t have to worry much about money, just in case one day they want to apply to any college institution.”

If Kuroo was impressed before, now he has an utmost respect for Y/N.

“Well, it’s just a dream for now, but, just like how your team works hard to win matches, I’m going to work hard to make my dream come true.” Y/N said, patting her cheeks hard, back straightened, tucking those stray hair behind her ears, and re-reading that page, again.

                                                         ++++

On Friday, surprisingly, Kuroo was suddenly absent without telling Y/N. They were supposed to have another discussion after school, since Kuroo won’t be available that weekend due to volleyball practice (there is an upcoming match with a strong team whose captain is a dorky owl, he said. Not that she understood, but he seemed ecstatic, so she just agreed on the change of plan in the schedule.).

She texted him during recess, but received no reply. He didn’t even read them. Did something happen? It’s not like him to ignore her texts like this. At least, he had never done so before.

Would his teammates know what happened to him?

She stumbled upon a familiar second-year student on her way to the gym hall after school. He had a game console in his hands. If she is not mistaken, she had seen him before, walking with Kuroo.

“Uh, excuse me, sorry.. You’re Kuroo’s friend, aren’t you?” she said.

He looked at her. “And what if I am?”

She gave him a meek smile. Sheesh. What’s with that attitude?

  “Do you know where he is? We’re supposed to have a pair discussion today for our assignment, but he’s absent and didn’t reply to my texts. I mean,I get it if he’s occupied with practice, but it would be nice to receive a heads up.”

She has a life too, you know.

The second-year stood straight. “Oh. I see. I thought you are one of those girls who are constantly bugging him.”

Oh.

Oh.

 “He told us he wasn’t feeling well yesterday. His blocks were easily broken through too. He didn’t reply to my texts, either, let alone answer my calls. So, it could only mean one thing.”

She raised her eyebrow.

“He is definitely sick. Most likely fever. I’m planning to check on him after practice today.”

                                         ++++

Kuroo stirred in his sleep. The doorbell is ringing relentlessly.

Oh gosh, do I HAVE to open the door?

Dragging his feet, he could feel his joints ache with every movement. He rarely gets sick. He takes pride on that. But when he actually does, he could not deny how bad it can get. Fever is the worse. His head feels heavy, cloudy. His throat is in pain. His body is in pain. He doesn’t have the strength to move, and usually it’s either Kenma or his grandmother who would help to nurse him back to health(Kenma is not really good at it, but he tries).

He opened the door. “Hey Kenm---eh..?”

It was not Kenma.

“I told Kenma I’d check on you. He won’t be coming over today.” Y/N said.

Y/N?

“Are you sick?” she took a step forward, putting her hand on Kuroo’s forehead, startling him in the process.

“Yep, you definitely are.”

Huh?

“Ojamashimasu*,” she invited herself in, and Kuroo is still standing in the doorway. Weak, but shocked nevertheless.

Wait a minute. Hold up for a second. What is all this? What is she doing here? What is going on? Did she just come into the house? Eh..? Has she always been this forward?

And then he remembered the discussion that they were supposed to have that day. Oh no.

Crap.

“Uh, hey, Y/N.. I’m sorry I didn’t inform you earlier--”

“Rest, Kuroo It’s fine. Just take out all your have on the assignment, and I’ll see what I can add to the contents. You, rest. I’ll be here for a while though. I’ll leave whatever part I can finish on the table so you can take a look at them later. Is it okay with you?”

Goodness grief, the determination in this girl. How important can that scholarship be?!

“S..sure..? I… I’ll make you some tea..” he winced in pain, taking a step towards the kitchen, but stoppped when he felt a tug on his sleeve. He turned, only to face a stern-looking Y/N. “Kuroo, rest. I know this is your house and I’m a guest, but in your defense, I came here on my own accord, and you’re sick. You should rest. I will drag you to your bed, by your feet if you insist on entertaining me.”

What is she? A mother? Oh wait, she kinda is.

He chuckled. “Okay, okay..”

He wanted to say more. Thanks for coming. Make yourself at home. I’ll buy you ice-cream when I get well. Thanks for helping me with the notes. Thanks for understanding and not getting mad.

But his body is aching all over, and all he could do is to just listen to her, and walked into his room. After handing everything he had on the assignment to her, he fell onto his bed , sleep immediately overtaking him.

  He gained consciousness every now and then, only to shift his position and fall back into slumber. His fever is really bad this time around, and the fact that he has his assignment partner doing all the work in his living room is making him feel even worse. Not to mention, his family members are not around.

“..roo.”

He dreams of warm, chicken soup. He has no appetite to eat, but it would be nice to have some, to help him get better.

“Kuroo-kun.”

He felt something cool on his head. A hand. He wasn’t sure if his mind is playing tricks, but he could smell chicken soup.

“Kuroo-kun, hey, wake up.”

Another hand shook him gently, and he pried his eyes open, only to see Y/N sitting on his bed next to him, a bowl on her lap.

“Y/N..?” his voice came out hoarse.

“Here. I made you some porridge and ginger tea. Can you sit up?”

Truthfully, the ache on his joints says no. But the captain in him insisted, and as he was struggling to sit up, he noticed that she had her hands steady on his shoulders, ready to guide him if he suddenly falls to his side. His head is spinning, and it takes some time for his vision to clear.

Wait. She said she made porridge?

He stared at the bowl on her lap. She handed him the cup of tea. “Did you just---” he pointed to the bowl.

“I know, I know.. I used your kitchen and some ingredients in the fridge.. I’m sorry. I waited for a while to see if any of your family members would come home. Maybe they would bring home some food. But no one did, so I went ahead and cooked.. sorry.. I’ll pay you back for the ingredients I used. It’s just.. you looked like you hadn’t eaten anything today.”

 No, that’s not the point, silly.

He stared at her in disbelief.

And something, like a gentle wave, is washing over him from all sides.

 Kuroo looked at this girl.

This unbelievable girl.

 Did he do something to deserve this kindness?

Stop.

Why is she so nice? So unquestionably thoughtful?

 Stop it.

If he didn’t feel it before, Kuroo can definitely feel it now, that warmth inside his chest, blooming bigger and bigger. Like an onslaught, refusing to spare him.

As if it’s going to explode anytime soon. Has it always been there?

 “Yeah.. my dad usually comes home from work at night, and my grandparents are visiting our relatives in Chiba for a week. So.. yeah.” he took the bowl in silence, inhaled the smell of chicken, rice and spices, and at the first taste of the warm porridge on his tongue, Kuroo immediately slumped, his emotions are suddenly so overwhelming that he could feel heat prickling on his eyes. He hadn’t felt this fragile in such a long time.

Bullets fly, from his left and right, front and back. There is nowhere to hide.

She noticed the change. “Kuroo-kun..? Hey, you alright? Is it too hot? Are you in pain?” Y/N panicked, quickly taking the bowl away and trying to get him to drink the tea.

What is this?

He couldn’t understand.

Kuroo shook his head lightly. For some reason, words just failed him. What is this feeling? Why does it seem like he had missed this feeling for so long? This gentleness, this--this

-yearning?

The next thing Y/N realized, she was in his arms. She couldn’t see his face, her own is buried his chest, but he was shaking, and she could hear a faint, shaky whisper of “thank you” from him, and it was enough for her to understand.

How he didn’t mention his mother. How there seem to be a lack of a female’s touch in certain corners of the house. How she noticed that there were mostly men’s shoes in the doorway.

She gently pat him on his back, as she would often do when her little brothers get sick.

                                                +++

“You seem off today.” said Kenma, fishing his water bottle out of his bag, panting. Today’s practice is harsh as usual, but exciting nevertheless, since they are very much looking forward to see their good friends from Fukurodani.

“Do I?” Kuroo asked. “The Science assignment, I guess. I’m just hoping that I’ll do well. I mean, Y/N wants to maintain her grades. She’s aiming for a scholarship, you know.”

There was a short silence before Kenma chuckled and spoke, “Why does it sound like you’re bragging? You make it sound like she’s your girlfriend or something.”

Kuroo tensed. It was a nonchalant comment, but it definitely got to him.

G....girlfriend?

  He had never thought about dating anyone. He had always been occupied with volleyball practice. Y/N however, might be different. She’s probably dating someone, considering how wonderful she is. Kuroo stared at her, her eyes  are currently focused on the sheets of paper and cue cards.

Does she have a boyfriend? Who is he? Does he get upset whenever she spends her time with him?

And somehow, that thought alone irked him.

 “So..maybe it’s better if we connect this part with this example right here. I think it’ll  make it easier for us to get our point across.” she said, pointing to said contents on the notes.

“Yeah, okay. Sure.”

That attitude did not go unnoticed.

“Kuroo-kun.” she called. “Are you alright?”

“Hm? Yeah.” Kuroo doodled circles on a piece of paper, refusing any eye contact.

“You don’t look alright. You’re clearly upset.”

“How’d you know?” Kuroo asked.

“You scrunch your nose when you’re upset.”

“No, I don’t!” he exclaimed, covering his nose.

Y/N laughed. “Okay, you don’t, but still, I know you’re not okay. Is something bothering you?”

 Kuroo was silent before answering her. “It’s.. nothing. I’m just not thinking clearly, I guess.” Kuroo scratched his head. How does she know?

“You want to talk about it?”she asked again, this time staring at him straight in the eyes. To make sure he knows that she will listen if he decided to share something.

That stare. Those eyes. Oh, how different it feels whenever he’s with her. With her, he is not the captain of Nekoma vc. With her, he doesn’t have to focus on leading anything or anyone. With her, he doesn’t have to hide his feelings (she can see through him anyway). With her, he is just Kuroo Tetsurou from Class 5.

There it is again. That warmth. Blooming. Bigger and bigger.

She still waits for his response.

There is no escape.

“Y/N, I..”

She listens.

“I..I think I….li--”

 The classroom door slid open, revealing a tall boy with light grey hair, panting for air.  “Captaaaaaiin! I’m here to get you!”

Kuroo almost fell off his chair in shock. Talk about the worst timing ever. “Lev..! You idiot!” he muttered under his breath.

 “Where were you?! You’re late! Practice started 15 minutes ago! Why didn’t you text back?! They had me searching for you all over the school!”

“What? Oh! Crap! I forgot!” Kuroo stood up in panic. Crap crap crap. Now he even forgets his captain duties. The practice match with Fukurodani is on the weekend and here he is, not being able to function well in neither his assignment nor practice!

 “You have practice today? You didn’t tell me?” Y/N looked at him

“Yeah. I forgot. Sorry, both the presentation and the upcoming practice match with Fukurodani is getting to me, I guess.”

He lied, hoping she would not see through that lie.

Fortunately, she didn’t. With a soft sigh, she placed her hand on his shoulder. “Don’t worry, Tetsurou. We’ll do well.”

Tetsurou.

As if he was struck by lightning, it took a while before Kuroo could move. Tetsurou. Tetsurou. It sounds different when she says it. It sounds good when she says it.

Y/N stood up and tidied up the table, packing her stuff. “You go ahead. I’ll clean up. Uh… Lev-kun? Sorry you had to come all over here to look for your captain. If I had known, I would’ve sent him to the gym hall.” Y/N gave the tall boy a smile, and Kuroo noticed how the younger boy’s ears turned into a darker shade of red.

“It… It’s okay!” the boy replied enthusiastically.

Kuroo doesn’t like it.

“Let’s go,” he simply said, and dragged the boy with him.

                                            +++

“Let’s do this.” Y/N whispered, their presentation is being projected onto the white screen. Kuroo nodded. They had done everything they could for the contents of the presentation, they even did a mock presentation the day before to make sure they deliver the contents smoothly.

“For some reason this feels like a volleyball match.” he commented, gripping his cue cards in both excitement and nervousness.

She smiled at him, though she too, shares the same feelings. “Well then, if that is so, I’ll be in your care today, captain.” she smiled.

Captain.

His heart beats faster, harder, not because of the presentation alone, and Kuroo knows it.

Bigger. Blooming bigger. Hotter.

  “Phew, that was nerve-wrecking!” she exclaimed, obviously relieved that everything is over. If the applause they received from their classmates and teacher is any indication of how well they did in their presentation, they could say that they did pretty well.

“Now that this is over, I can focus on the practice match with Fukurodani this weekend.” Kuroo puts away his notes, sighing in relief.

“I wish you luck with that. Sadly there is nothing I can help you with.” she said apologetically.

“Nah, you’ve done enough. I still hadn’t bought you your well-deserved ice cream, for taking care of me the other day.”

She laughed at him. “Well, don’t you forget that.”

Kuroo took some moment before speaking, unsure of how he should choose his next words.

“Uh, anyhow, Y/N.. Do you want to come to see our match this weekend..?”

Kuroo himself didn’t expect that he would say that. It just came out, and he immediately added, “I mean, if you have time! If you don’t have anything to do on that day! You don’t have to if you don’t want to, but it would be great if you’d come, you know!-- For.. for--”

He stopped himself when he noticed her staring at him with an expression that he could not read.

“-for moral s..support..”

The last part came out shaky.

Her eyes brightened. “I’d love to. Not sure how much support I can give, though. I don’t know much about volleyball.” Y/N replied, pink tinting her cheeks.

Kuroo beamed. “N..No worries! Just cheer for us!”

                                                 ++++

The day came, and when Y/N arrived at the hall, she immediately noticed the white jackets close to her, warming up and talking to each other. Nekoma’s team is across the hall, but she doesn’t think that it would be appropriate to come up to them. After all, the only person she’s familiar with is Kuroo, and she had only talked to Kenma and Lev once.

Lost, she looked around to find a place to sit and wait for the match to start. As she turned around, a tall presence stood behind her.

“Hey hey hey? You seem lost!”

No lie, she felt like a midget next to him. He isn’t just tall. He’s pretty big, as well. Looking at his grey spiky hair and big eyes, Y/N couldn’t help feeling a little intimidated.

“Uh, no… I’m just waiting for the match to start.. I…I’ll be going, then..”

Her attempt to escape failed when the boy spoke, “Wait! Will you be cheering for us? You should! We’re pretty awesome, you know! We will win this--”

“Hyaaaaaah!”

Kuroo ran from afar and tackled the boy down.

 “Idiot rooster head! What was that for?!” the boy pushed Kuroo off him. It seems like that tackle didn’t affect him even a little bit.

“What were you doing to Y/N, Bokuto?” Kuroo asked, calm, but irritated. He pinched Bokuto’s cheeks really hard.

“Oi, oi! I did nothing! Oww! AKAAAAASHIIII!”

Y/N can only watch. Another dark haired boy came and tapped on Kuroo’s head. “He asked her to cheer for us.

“Haaaaah??!!” Kuroo pinched harder.

“Akaaaaashiiii!!”

After a few smacks on his arm, Kuroo finally released the boy he called Bokuto, and stood next to Y/N. “She! Will! Be! Cheering! For! Me!”

Bokuto stared at him in disdain and pouted.“Huh? Why should she? You’re not even that good.”

“Haaaah?!!”

 As another one of their bickering started, Kenma tapped on Y/N’s shoulder. “I think you should go up there. It’s pretty dangerous down here during the game.”

                                                     +++

It was like a new world for her. The crisp sound of the ball being hit, the cheers every time any one of the teams scored, and the intensity of the game itself truly amazed her. She got lost sometimes, not understanding why points were given, but it didn’t stop her from watching the whole match.

Bokuto and Kuroo, she noticed, despite being good friends, can also get on each other’s nerves very easily.

And Kenma radiates a different energy when he’s in the court. He was right, too. Y/N could’ve easily get hit by a stray ball if she stayed close around the court.

Kuroo, on the other hand, looks so different. He’s not the same person as he usually is in class. From what Y/N could observe, the team really listens to him, respects him even and there is this intensity to his demeanor. Where did the laid-back guy go to?

 It was clear to her why all those people (again, mostly girls, but what’s the difference?) surround him all the time.

 He looked up, looking at her after he successfully blocked a particularly hard spike from Fukurodani (Bokuto’s, to be exact). He flashed her a wide, teethy smile and gave her two thumbs up. For some reason, her ears feel hot, and she smiled back at him. Lev noticed her looking at them from above and frantically waved at her. She waved back, laughing. Kuroo frowned at him.

Lev noticed his captain’s stare and pouted. “I blocked that spike too!”

  The game was exciting to watch. If she had known all along that this is how it feels like to watch a match, she would’ve come to every volleyball match as much as she could. Kuroo had once mentioned the names of other strong teams, one of them being Karasuno High School, complimenting Karasuno’s ‘shrimpy’ especially. She couldn’t help thinking that if Kuroo himself (who loves his team the most) respectfully acknowledges that team, then it definitely means that they must truly be a force to reckon with. A match between Nekoma and Karasuno would be as intense as this one, if not more.

As the match proceeds, the heat in the court gradually got to Y/N, and she doesn’t notice that she is no longer holding back her voice. She cheers for Nekoma, claps her hands when Fukurodani scored points (smug was evident on Bokuto’s face, only to spur Kuroo on), and without realizing it, as Bokuto was about to spike hard, she was screaming someone’s name.

Everyone in the hall cheered in amazement. Nekoma managed to block that spike, the ball bounced back too quickly for Fukurodani’s libero to save.

Y/N’s breath hitched when the whistle was blown, ending the match with Nekoma’s victory.

 Her eyes automatically darted to Kuroo, who fantastically blocked that last attack, and she saw the pure joy on his face, smiling at his teammates and rival team, before finally, at her.

And she swore she felt time stopped.

   She stood outside the gym hall. She wasn’t sure how long she should stay inside, or if she should see Kuroo to congratulate him and the team.

“Hey hey hey! It’s you again!” Bokuto appeared behind her, with the team. Why is he everywhere?

Y/N bowed. “Your team was amazing. Please do come again for practice matches, Bokuto-san.” Y/N said, already familiar with the grey-haired captain. The boy beamed with joy. “We were, right?! Ah, if only you didn’t cheer for that rooster head and cheered for us instead, we could’ve won!” Bokuto said, though Y/N wasn’t sure if he was just joking or truly regretful.

 “Wait, did you hear me?” she suddenly grew alert. He couldn’t have, right? Was it that loud?

 “Hm?The whole hall did? You called Tetsurou’s name like, really really loudly.”

 And in an instant, her face turned beet red.

Suddenly, she remembered. She actually did call Kuroo’s name. Screamed, to be exact.

 “Tetsurou, you can do it!!”

 Oh. Oh no.

 What was she thinking?!

It wasn’t like her at all! What is this?!

 “Ah, her face is red.” Bokuto commented in confusion. “But like I said, next time, you should definitely cheer for us! We are much better than---OWWWW!”

Bokuto was tackled down again, Kuroo appearing out of nowhere, pinching his cheeks for the nth time that day.

 “Akaaaaaaashiiiiiii!!!!”

                                                ++++++++

Kuroo waves his hand as Fukurodani’s bus leaves the premise. Y/N stood next to him, doing the same thing. After the bus disappears from sight, Kuroo turns to her. He was wearing this smile that Y/N couldn’t read. “Thank you so much for coming, Y/N.” he spoke. The setting sun hits him differently. He looks gorgeous, Y/N thought.

Y/N doesn’t know why, they are talking normally as they always do, but her heart seems to beat faster than usual.

“Well, I hope I managed to give you the moral support you asked for.” she replied.

 Kuroo smirked. “You definitely did. I didn’t even know you can scream that loud.” he chuckled.

She turned red again, this time caught by Kuroo. He laughed. “You should watch us play again next time. It’s good to hear people cheering for you. Especially when they’re suuuper loud.”

 She huffed at his teasing. “You normally have a lot of friends to do that, anyway.”

 “Yeah, but I want to hear yours.”

 Y/N was rendered speechless. She looked at Kuroo, looking for any hint of playfulness, maybe he’s joking around again, maybe she should tease him back,-

but there was none. He was looking at her, eyes intense, awaiting for something from her.

“Kuroo..-”

“I--” he cut her off, “I don’t know how to say this, Y/N.. I’m not used to it.. but..I just…I know that.. I want to be with you.”

Y/N’s breath hitched quietly, not expecting Kuroo to confess his feelings so directly like that.

“You don’t have to answer immediately. I just.. I don’t think I can hide it any longer. Especially after you screamed my name in front of everyone like that. I thought I was going to explode out of sheer happiness.”

Kuroo took a shallow breath before continuing, “Whatever your answer is, I just want you to know that I enjoy you around me a lot. Even if you can’t return these feelings, I still hope we can still be friends. It’s nice to have a--”

This time, Y/N cuts him off, pulling him down into a tight hug. Kuroo’s eyes widened in shock.

“This is my answer, Tetsurou.” she spoke, voice trembling, burying her face into the crook of his neck. Trying to get over his shock, Kuroo gently wraps his arms around her waist, trying to hold himself back. He wanted to hold her tighter, to wash away any traces of disbelief in his heart, -she likes me too?- but he wasn’t sure how she would take that.

“Y/N…” he whispers her name, and she tightened her embrace. If there’s anything that he understands about her, he knows that she is definitely more actions than words. He understands what that means.

I like you. A lot.

This time, Kuroo doesn’t hesitate. He hugged her tight, unwilling to let go even a second. His heart is bursting with love and joy, and he instantly becomes sure that this is the person that he wants to be with.

For the rest of his life.

  Eventually, they pulled apart, because Lev and the rest of the team emerged from behind them.

“I want a hug too!”

Y/N laughed while Kuroo stared at the first-year in disbelief. “How dense can you be? Can’t you read the atmosphere here??”

“BUT I BLOCKED THOSE SPIKES TOO! I DESERVE A HUG!”

“Then go hug Yaku!” Kuroo pointed at said boy.

“Aw, hell no!”

Yaku ran when Lev sprinted towards him.

 ________________________________________________________

[A/N] How did this get so long? Thanks for reading! I’ll work hard to improve!

[krackheadkulture]

The Mysteries of Hogwarts | Stray Kids Hogwarts AU

CHAPTER 6: LOVE AND HATE

“What should we do today?” Hana asked her partner in crime as the two of them were resting in their common room. It had been a couple of days since they had last pranked anyone ever since the Bang Chan incident- as the rest of them would like to call it- and the duo knew everyone was waiting for something to happen at this point of time.

“What do you propose?” Chenle asked, leaning on Hana’s shoulders as Hana started to scroll through her phone. A picture popped up as soon as the screen illuminated. “What are you even looking at?”

“N-nothing,” Hana replied, swiftly switching her phone off and placed the phone onto her stomach so that Chenle could not see. Chenle gave Hana a hard stare before moving on. He stood up in front of Hana with his arms crossed.

“Look, Park Hana, you’re acting all weird and sorts after the Bang Chan incident,” Chenle started. “What’s wrong? Did someone bullied you or-“

“It’s nothing,” Hana cut Chenle off. “Nothing happened to me after the Bang Chan incident. Why would something be off about me? I’m still the same. You should stop worrying about me and focus on our new prank instead.” Chenle sighed and took a seat next to Hana as they heard the entrance creaked open.

“What’s going on?” The familiar voice to both Hana and Chenle asked, approaching the duo. “Are you guys planning another prank?”

Both Hana and Chenle glanced to the back to find the one and only Slytherin heartthrob entering the common room from the entrance. His black hair that was swept to the back of his head fluttered forward as he started to walk, framing his face beautifully.

Chenle scowled immediately. “Don’t you have something more important to handle than us pranksters?”

Hyunjin gave the younger boy a flirty smile before settling down next to Hana. Hana held her breath for a moment as soon as Hyunjin slouched down onto the couch before releasing it slowly without grabbing any attention from the other Slytherins. “Can’t I just contribute to my own house in some way?” He asked, raising his eyebrow. “Well, I mean…” he drifted off, looking directly at Hana. His greenish-grey eyes stared intensely into Hana’s brown ones and broke it immediately as he winked. “If Hana wants to share some Slytherin victory.”

Chenle rolled his eyes and looked at Hana, waiting for her reply. Hana stared back from the charming heartthrob to her partner in crime as she bit her lower lips. She parted her lips. “Well, I’m all in if he has any great ideas,” Hana replied, trying to keep her voice monotone. This earned a small smirk from Hyunjin and a look of disbelieve from Chenle. Hana paused before looking back at Hyunjin. “But I don’t think you would have any ideas since you would have no time to brainstorm with us at all.” She glanced up at the snake clock hanging above the entrance. “It’s already time for your Quidditch practice.”

Hyunjin raised his eyebrow at the girl and Hana rolled her eyes before standing up to walk away from the two of them without another word. She had already decided to prank someone by herself without the boys’ help ever since Hyunjin had walked in and she swear, it would be the talk of the school for a couple of days.

-

“Where are you even bringing me?” Andrea groaned as Hana dragged her across the hallways after the end of their second class together. It was not even close to the afternoon yet and Hana seem unexceptionally excited and hyped. “What is so important than me trying desperately to fix the potion I screwed over again and again… FOR THE NTH TIME?”

Andrea held her ground, bringing the both of them to a halt. Hana not knowing that the Hufflepuff had stopped knocked the girl over, releasing her grip on Andrea’s arm. She stared annoyingly at Andrea before sighing. “Wait here and just watch,” she said without sparing a second glance at Andrea.

“Don’t you dare run anywhere else to prank another person right in front of me!” Andrea grumbled and crossed her arms.

“Chill,” Hana rolled her eyes. “I’m standing right here… with you.”

The pair stood in the middle of the corridor for a couple of seconds in silent before they heard the bell to their next class ringing. “Hana, we’re late. We have to go to our next class. Let’s go now,” Andrea nudged her friend impatiently as students started to disperse around them.

“Any… time… now,” Hana muttered under her breath before a smirk formed immediately. Hana lifted her hand up into the air as she saw the person she was targeting, walking right in front of her. “Accio, bludger!”

“Hana, what-“ Andrea could not process fast enough as she watched a blonde boy standing in front of Hana getting hit by a blur of red that ended up in Hana’s hands.

PHIAK! The bludger made contact with the face of a red-robed blonde boy and the boy was knocked into the ground immediately.

“PARK HANA! WHAT HAVE YOU DONE?” Andrea screamed, as ran past her Slytherin friend who was laughing hysterically now and stared at the blonde boy that was groaning on the ground. Her lips started to tremble as tears formed in her eyes. She quickly turned away with hatred floating around and ran away from the scene, crying.

“HAS ANYONE SEEN THE BLUDGER?” A blur of green flashed into the corridor. Hana looked up and waved her hands at the person floating high up her before throwing the bludger towards the beater.

“Thanks for lending me the bludger, Hyunjin,” she said with a smirk before walking away.

Hyunjin caught the bludger in his arms before looking confusedly at the corridor that the girl had left and his eyes fell immediately to the boy on the floor.

“Chan?” He called out at the Gryffindor lying on the floor.

“Which… way… did… the girl wearing… yellow go?” Bang Chan grunted as he stood up slowly, wincing at the pain the bludger had made. Hyunjin shrugged, not knowing what Bang Chan might have meant. Bang Chan rolled his eyes at the latter before running to the direction Hana had went.

-

Andrea did not realized how long she had been crying next to the whooping tree. The tears kept falling down her face as she ran away from the corridor out into the plain lands. She did not even know how she ended up at the whooping tree unharmed.

“Andrea?” She heard a very familiar voice calling for her. Andrea looked up, startled at the unexpected voice. “A-are you okay?”

“I should be the one… asking you instead,” Andrea whispered, her voice hoarse from crying too much. She stared into the blank skies, diverging her attention from the Gryffindor.

“Why are you crying?” Bang Chan asked gently. He smiled weakly, trying to not wince from the pain coming from the left side of his face. “Are… are you hurt or something?” He tried to walk towards Andrea but took a step back immediately when the branches of the whooping tree snapped into action, thrashing and thumping onto the ground, not allowing Chan to take even a step closer. “Can I just… talk to you out here? Instead of trying to get into the tree?”

Andrea hid her face towards the trunk of the tree and shook her head. “No, I look horrible,” she whispered. “You can’t see me crying like this.”

“And I look horrible as well, I don’t want to show you half of my blue-black face to you. But what am I doing now? I just want to talk to you, Andrea. Can you just please come out to talk to me?” Chan pleaded before earning a reluctant nod from Andrea who quickly exited the whooping tree unharmed.

Bang Chan’s arms instinctively wrapped his arms around the Hufflepuff as soon as she emerged from the tree, taking the girl by surprise. “Oh god, you’re safe,” he muttered as he leaned his chin on her shoulder before pulling away immediately. “Sorry… it just happened out of… nature.”

“Are… are you alright?” Andrea asked once there was a distance between them. She reached her hand out to carefully touch the left side of his face. “I am so sorry for Hana again.”

“I’m fine,” Chan replied with a small smile as he held Andrea’s hand onto his face. “But why were you crying? You’re not hurt at all.”

“I… I don’t know. Y-you were hurt,” Andrea answered. “I guess… I just hate seeing you hurt.”

“I hate seeing you cry too,” Chan said as well. “It hurts me and… whenever I look at you, there was,” he hit his chest a little hard. “This… this feeling- my heart just beats rapidly whenever I see you. But I don’t know why it’s like that ever since I first saw you during the first Hogsmeade trip.”

“W-what are you trying to say?” Andrea asked.

“I- I- I think… I like… you,” Chan finally confessed.

Andrea’s eyes widen when she heard those few words leave the Gryffindor’s lips. Her heart was pounding and her mind was racing. How could such a handsome, talented and popular Gryffindor Quidditch captain ever fall in love with a nobody and a loser Hufflepuff? She asked herself.

Her lips parted opened but no words came out.

“I’m sorry,” someone blurted out, pushing Andrea away.

“Confession time is over and we’re all late for class,” someone else added, pulling Chan away.

“Haeun?” Andrea looked at her Ravenclaw friend grabbing her arm.

“Minho?” Chan looked at his friend as well.

“Stay away from Andrea, Lee Minho,” Haeun hissed, gripping on Andrea’s wrist tighter before looking at the Hufflepuff. “We’re late for class- or maybe you’re late for class.”

“And you’re late for class too, mister Bang Chan,” Minho rolled his eyes at the Ravenclaw before looking at Chan.

“When did you even care about classes?” Chan asked Minho curiously.

“Yeah, mister Lee Minho, why did you suddenly get so invested into studying?” Haeun added.

“Ever since I have to get Chan into the class otherwise I will turn into a frog,” Minho rolled his eyes.

Haeun gave a short laugh. “Ha! The greatest and most fearless Lee Minho has a fear?”

Minho clicked his tongue and ignored the Ravenclaw. “Can we leave now?” He asked the Gryffindor impatiently.

“You’re leaving no matter what,” Haeun was also telling Andrea before tugging on Andrea’s arm, proceeding to drag her away. Minho followed suit, grabbing the Gryffindor by his robe as he is pulled to the opposite side. Both the Gryffindor and Hufflepuff turned around to glance at one another but they soon disappeared from one another’s view shortly, knowing that it might be the last time they have seen one another.

-

Yoonmi was pacing around the courtyard, nervously chanting random words out of the blue before finally stopping in front of her three friends who were sitting on the bench. “So tell me, Park Hana, you did what?”

Hana yawned and rolled her eyes. “Took you long enough to realized I was capable of these kind of things,” she commented before earning a groan from Haeun. Yoonmi turned around and started pacing around again,

“What am I going to do now?” Yoonmi burst out. “He’s who? Bang Chan! The one who holds the most power in our Gryffindor house and the pride of our house to Gryffindor! He’s going to start talking behind my back now!”

“Hold on!” Haeun said and turned to Hana who was sitting quietly next to her. “You didn’t have to pull anymore pranks, you know that,” and turned to Yoonmi. “How in the world would he even know you exist if he has never seen you before? Just let me tell you this, you are extremely safe, especially since he doesn’t know you’re friends with our… dear friend here.”

“Well, are you suggesting that I should unfriend Park Hana right now? Because that’s what I’m planning to do now!” Yoonmi asked, snapping her head to the three other girls.

“You can,” Hana smirked. “But then watch out what I might do.”

“Kill Minho? BE MY GUEST!” Yoonmi said before letting out a heavy sigh and settled down next to Hana, leaning her head onto the Slytherin’s shoulder. “You know, if you were ever thinking of pranking Minho, I’ll forever be in your debt.”

“Honey, you know for the nth time, this is impossible,” Hana patted Yoonmi’s head before eyeing on the other girl beside Haeun. “Is she okay?” Hana asked Haeun quietly.

“What do you think?” Haeun responded back as they watched the Hufflepuff staring into the skies once again. “You were the one who caused this.”

“Nothing as far as I can see,” Hana commented. “She’ll be thanking me after a while now.” She laughed before turning her head back to the Gryffindor.

Haeun sighed and rolled her eyes, finally focusing her attention to the quiet Hufflepuff, nudging her gently. “Hey,” she said softly. “Don’t be so bummed out. It’s probably nothing. Defence against Dark Arts is way more important than some other boys that are not worth your time. “

“You don’t know anything at all,” Andrea whispered, not looking at the Ravenclaw. “None of you will ever understand what I have to go through and what I want.” She dropped the knees she was holding down onto the ground and stood up. “I’m not feeling well. You guys can head to the dining hall for dinner without me later,” she told her friends before walking away.

Haeun opened her mouth but no words came out. Instead, she glared at Hana.

“I told you already, don’t worry,” Hana rolled her eyes with a sigh. “When was I ever wrong with anything I do?”

Haeun closed her mouth before nodding quietly reluctantly. Hana was right. When was she ever wrong over these kind of things?

CHAPTER 5 | CHAPTER 6 | CHAPTER 7

A/N: Hey guys! It’s me again. Thank you for waiting for me! I will try to be more active and be motivated to continue writing. Love y’all <3

- Xin

[fuck-customers]

FUCK MY MANAGER ( tw for emotional manipulation, ableism, and brief suicide ideation)

(Im writing this on 3/5) I had the absolute worst night ever last monday. Bear with me because this is a doozy. The friday before, our manager (ill call her L) was being super passive aggressive towards us and being rude as hell (as usual) but it was about employee sales. Employee sales were only aupposed to be done by a manager, or by a key / with permission. I had two receipts (count em; T W O) to my name from way back in November/December, meanwhile my other coworkers each had over 30. No joke. Apparently our overseer BJ had a massive issue with that, and decided to impliment a new policy that only managers, or keys with explicit permission per sale were allowed to ring employee sales out. So implimenting this apparently meant L treated us like shit and passive aggressively, and cryptically, accused us of being shitty employees. Id completely forgotten about the TWO sales I'd ever done, so I wasn't even remotely worried and said "well I know it's not me because I dont even know how to do an employee sale (which I don't)". L got pissy and left the three of us in a huff. We spent the night shit talking and expressing our frustrations about how we'd been being mistreated lately. L is always bitter and in a bad mood and doesnt give a shit about us besides being worker bees. We were all pretty upset so we did a mini strike and hardly did any work that night (we still finished what we were supoised to, it didn't do it quickly basically). I should also mention at the same time, we were supposed to be watching for a shoplifter because someone had been scoping our store recently. I noticed a kid in the store that fit the description, and a car outsude that matched the description and I went terminator mode basically and took control of the team (I'm not even a key, I'm a runt hire. ) I was going loops and making aure they were watching g the floor, and in 20 minutes I got two full body descriptions written down for L and my other manager the next morning. They left while I was on break, so I went around the store and started straightening things. I found a really weird pair of shorts on a rack that were not ours (they were boys Olaf work out shorts.... yknow, like from Frozen...) So I brought them up, asked about them, and left them for our managers to discuss. Now, fast forward to Monday. My other manager J asked me about the Olaf shorts and I showed her exactly where I found them. L came over and started accusing me, alone, of being the reason the shorts were there. She twisted a story that someone wore a pair of shorts out and left those in their place. That would've been a solid case if anyone actually fuckong walked into our store with those shorts on because admittedly I wouodve noticed and gossiped with my coworkers about it. So no, L, that didn't happen. She continue used accusing me of not watching the floor and being lazy, and I got really irritated super quick and i was so done with being solely accused, so I snapped at her "I got two full descriptions of shoplifters friday night. I WAS watching the floor" and I just walked away. She pulled me into the back room and startes talking g down to me like I was a dog. 'I'm your MANAGER, I'm your SUPERIOR, blah blah blah IM ABOVE YOU YOU HAVE TO RESPECT ME, YOURE JUST AN EMPLOYEE blah blah, and decides to fuck with my head (despite knowing about my sevwre paranoia, panic attacks and other mental illnesses) and proceeded tell me that all my coworkers hated me and were 'sick of my shit' and went on to use ONE singular time I missed a customer at register to support her argument that I was a COMPLETELY incompetent worker. I went back on the floor and she proceeded to tell at me a bout the reciepts infront of customers, and laighed when I said I didnt even want to do them (which I hadn't!!) And I told her W had said it was okay to do it. she laughed at me and blamed me for not knowing (???????????) Sent me back out on to the floor and I started dissociating almost immediately, and then the slow burn panic attack crawled in an hour later and wouldnt go away. it progressed fast. I wound up hyperventilating for three. hours. straight. I was a complete emotonal wreck, but somehow by the power of Odin and Thor I managed to keep my head on straight when talking to customers. I got home that night and I went into a full blown manic panic attack. I became hysterical. I was physically vibrating because I was shaking so bad. I was literally walking around my apartment in a daze, laighing crying and just so fuckig. out of it, and somehow got a knife I don't even remember grabbing or even having in the house. I'd alao started texting my partner and apologizing for existing. I ideated taking pills and killing myself. I went completely off the deep end because of my OCD and severe paranoia. Honestly, I should've been sent to the hospital. Instead, to calm down, I smoked weed. I'd been clean for two months straight because I've been trying so hard to find a full time job and I wanted to pass a drug test if I needed to. so now that's ruined for me. I smoked, calmed down completely and wound up blacking out from exhaustion that hadnt hit me because of adrenaline. (I'm writing this post a week later (happened on 2/26) and the effects of going through that are still hitting me today(3/5); my body hasnt been right, and sleep isn't registering properly and ive hardly eaten anything in a week) I understand this sounds very fabricated but I promise you on my life its not. This has happened only on a few occasions; I don't usually go manic in panic attacks. And I don't usually black out. This was literally so bad I should have been hospitalized. and I actually had been before back in 2016 Ffor going off the deep end. Since then ive been working on my mental health and beconing more stable. Anyways. I come to work Friday (3/2) and find out L still hadn't talked to any of my coworkers, despite having a literal nor'easter and getting 28+" of snow, that the entire store had been empty, and she had three hours to talk to my coworkers about stuff. After L left for the night I managed to get the guts to tell my coworkers W and N about the fact L said that they all hated me, and they both denied mentioning anything about me more recently than two months ago; they told me the only mentions they made were literally from last year when I was going through some heavy shit and I was super on edge (I'll give them that because I was going through heavy shit, and had been very snappy and defensive-- those complaints / mentions were completely justified) I convinced myself to believe them to avoid another manic episode. Fast forward to today (Sunday, 3/4) I find out neither one of my managers mentioned ANYTHING about the Olaf shorts or the situation in FIVE FUCKING DAYS over the entire week and they're literally trying to drop it and leave the blame entirely on me when it wasn't even my fault. TLDR; my cunt of a manager L blamed me solely for a theory she had twisted, dehumanized me, manipulated me, fucked with my head, lied, and used my mental illnesses against me and caused me to have a 7 hour long manic panic attack, and caused me to have a phsychological snap that nearly sent me to the hospital. And is now trying to ignore the situation and act like nothing ever happened while leaving all of the blame on my shoulders. FUCK MANAGERS AND FUCK RETAIL.

[sensitive-pigeon]

One-Eighty: Chapter 5 Preview

merry chrysler!! also its my birthday, so as my birthday gift here’s a preview of the new chapter of One-Eighty w/ two of the fluffiest scenes. it was supposed to release today... THAT’S how close it was to being finished!

just like last time: please understand the scenes below may not be in their final form, and may be removed completely. it’s not likely, but stranger things have happened...

hope you enjoy!! merry christmas, happy holidays, i love you so damn much!

DAY 60

Waverly sat eating waffles, waiting for her coworker to crawl out of bed. If she could make it this time. That had been… interesting, to say the least. To be honest, this past week had sucked.

“INTRODUCING…”

Waverly jumped as the roomba spoke, frowning with narrowed eyes.

“THE ONE, THE ONLY…”

A child. A child, for sure.

“COMMANDER HAUGHT!”

Air Horns blared as Nicole slid into the kitchen on her socks, sunglasses on and arms crossed.

“Oh, my god,” Waverly said in disbelief as her waffle hit the plate. Nicole sauntered over and propped an elbow on the table. One finger lowered her sunglasses and she winked.

“Guess who’s back has healed,” Nicole said, smug.

“You are… a child,” Waverly said in disbelief, blushing out of embarrassment, (Not the other thing, no! Begone, such thoughts!)

That knocked the smug look off Nicole’s face, only for Waverly to discover a smaller smug look underneath. “Okay, listen. I think I’m allowed to have some sort of fun after being in a small room unable to move for so long.” Nicole grinned wide, lifting her sunglasses for good. “And the look on your face is priceless.”

Waverly, annoyed beyond politeness, found herself speechless as Nicole offered a hand.

“May I have this dance?”

“No!” But Nicole looked so damn happy. So, though glaring and mentally planning murder, Waverly took the hand and found herself spinning in Martian reduced gravity. “Jesus!”

Nicole drew them into a ballroom dance and Waverly’s heart did somersaults. “Smiling is good for productivity, Lead Researcher! Try harder!”

“I’m going to kill you!” Waverly assured, laughing. Nicole had that magic. That ability to take everything and make Waverly forget, just for a little while. Just for a moment, a glorious moment, swinging together without a care in the world.

“You know what psychology recommends everyday,” Nicole said as they whirled apart and came together, never releasing her hand. “Exercise daily, take breaks as often as needed, and most of all ensure you don’t fall into depression.” It was a testament to how utterly contagious Nicole’s joy was that Waverly found herself dancing along. “So if you kill me, make sure it hits all three of those points.”

Waverly laughed, delighted.  “Where’s our music?”

“You don’t hear it?” Nicole stopped them with a final turn, before falling to her knees. She took one of Waverly’s hands and, with her other hand over her heart, confessed. Waverly’s heart skipped to a complete stop. “Every time I see you, I hear the most wonderful music.”

Waverly’s mouth opened and closed like a fish hit with a truck full of other, more confused fish. “Wh... What?”

“Yeah!” Nicole said brightly. “It goes like this,” and she proceeded to try her best impersonation of Africa by Toto’s extremely unique intro.

Waverly laughed, Nicole laughed, Waverly smacked Nicole who immediately began to laugh harder, and a thought, unbidden, came as Nicole stood to fix coffee:

Someone is going to be very lucky to call this woman theirs.

Waverly stopped dead in her tracks, thankful Nicole had turned away. Her gut twisted viciously at the thought of someone else and she leaned heavily on the couch. What the hell? Where had that come from?

But another thought winged itself into view, equally confusing in how it banished that sick feeling:

Maybe, after all this is over, that someone could be me.

How strange. Waverly put them both away, shaking herself free of them with a simple now is not the time!, and when Nicole turned around with her coffee, offering a bright grin and a question of how the day would go, Waverly’s face had returned to a cautious smile.

DAY 76

Nicole flopped over once, arm searching to hold, before consciousness came in the door banging pots and pans. Where is??? Warm, soft?? Sleep partner???

Not here!!

Opening her eyes, Nicole cracked her face in a yawn and took in the time. Three AM and Waverly wasn’t anywhere to be found. “Nnnnh?” Nicole asked the empty darkness.

“Wave?”

The cold told Nicole that Waverly had not just left to use the restroom, she hadn’t come to bed. Blinking blearily, Nicole checked the nightstand for her tablet.  “Alpha Base. Where’s Waverly?”

“IN THE LOCATION ‘BACKYARD.’”

Nicole laid her head on the pillow, still tired. “What’s she doin’?”

“SHE APPEARS UNCONSCIOUS.”

“Okay, if that’s your word for asleep, I’m making you into a toaster.” Nicole rolled out of bed, groaning dramatically, and shuffled out through the base. The dark didn’t frighten her as it once did, and the ticks and tocks of the life support came as a comfort now.

Yes, the Base had no way to tell sleep from unconsciousness. Waverly lay against the ‘wall’ of the backyard, the hens nesting in every space next to her. They buzzed and growled as Nicole approached.

“I know,” Nicole soothed as she stepped over the hens, “I know. I’m stealing your mother.”

One of their more important rules was to ignore anything said while asleep or close to it. Nicole knelt down next to Waverly. “Hey. Can I carry you to bed?”

Waverly made a displeased noise before opening her eyes. She shut them again. “K.”

Nicole carefully picked up Waverly bridal style, who hung on with arms wrapped around Nicole’s neck, nose pressed against her collarbone, a sigh shaking from her lungs that felt so..

So…

Satisfied? Comfortable?

...That Nicole struggled with the sudden urge to cry and a strange, visceral heart ache. Must be the exhaustion. She walked steadily back to their shared room, already falling back to sleep by the time she made it to the mattress.

Waverly, still asleep, refused to let go and pulled Nicole onto the bed on top of her.

“Jesus -- Wave.” Nicole shut her eyes as Waverly simply curled around her, fingers tangling into Nicole’s hair, body pressed up against her in a way that was decidedly not wholesome. “Wave!” she whisper-yelled.

Waverly only cuddled closer, humming contentedly with a small, satisfied smile.

It wasn’t uncommon to wake up this way, but to go to sleep this way?

But the lack of response and the easy, steady breathing told Nicole that Waverly had already fallen back asleep. Nicole couldn’t deny it was extremely comfortable and didn’t hold out any blame. She shouldn’t wake her, either, not since Waverly had looked so tired lately.

With a frustrated sigh, Nicole resigned herself to the torture of a good night’s sleep.

NOT ONE-EIGHTY

My Captain,

To me, it has been ages since I have seen you last, but only a night has gone by. I cannot seem to get enough of you, nor get rid of you. You pester me in such lovely ways…

You must truly be a pirate. I hope they catch you and string you up for what you’ve taken from me. Sometimes I fear someone might see what I’m missing, or catch wind of me here, smelling of April and May.

Come by the dock tonight. Bring your great, beautiful ship -- let us sail to France and teach them about how love works!

Your Duchess

[mogar-magic]

this is the story my script is based off of

It was one fateful April morning that it all happened.

I always came early to school, forcing my younger brother to tag along. I usually ended up helping him anyways. That morning he raced over to his friends who were by a different door.

It just happened to work out that way when I saw the two men who were wanted countrywide. I had pulled open the side door entrance to my school and they both turned to look at me, their eyes bewildered.

I was frozen in place, unable to move as I held the door open and continued to stare at them as they stared back at me, the gold and black blank masks holding their stature.

“Damn,” the gold masked one said with a pleasant tone of voice. “We’ve been caught.”

“Why?” I managed. “This isn’t Vancouver… you usually attack schools in the big cities, why this one? Why?”

The other one straightened up, bomb in hand. “We bomb whichever schools they ask us to.”

“We were surprised too when they asked us to go to a tiny little fisherman’s island and attack a school of less than 100!” The first one said cheerily.

I scanned them up and down, shaking my head and backing away. In a split second, a released the door I held open and booked it as fast as I could in the direction I’d come in.

I was only a few feet away when my arm was grabbed and I was stopped by the smaller of the two perpetrators. His golden mask was up and he smiled a big smile back at me. “I accidentally opened my mouth too wide and now you can’t leave,” he stated happily.

“I-I…”

He laughed at my loss for words. “Don’t worry, we’re not going to kill you! That’s not what we’re about. However, I think you will make a good decoy. Just gotta promise not to tell the police too much. Otherwise then we might kill you.”

I shook my head, tears already forming in my eyes. I had to get back to my parents, to my younger siblings. I didn’t want to die. I couldn’t die just yet; it wasn’t my time for that.

The one arming the bomb now stood sans the bomb and turned towards us, also lifting his mask. “Listen, you want no one to get hurt, right?”

I nodded my head weakly and he continued. “All you’ve gotta do is go inside your school, and make an announcement over the intercom at 7:50 am. That’s in about 2 minutes. You’ll then have those 10 minutes to make sure everyone’s out of the building and to even get yourself out.”

“This isn’t how you guys do things… usually you start a fire or something…” I mumbled, not quite liking the idea of being inside of my school that’s about to explode.

“You’re right, but you kinda compromised our plan this time.” The one next to me said with his smile still upon his face.

When I didn’t move, he gave me a little shove and whispered in my ear. “If you don’t move, a lot of people are gonna die. Just tell them Cetus sent you.”

I began running back into the school where the other one stood. He stopped me for a second, looking me up and down. “What’s your name?” He asked softly.

“H-Hana,” I replied meekly.

He gave a small, thin-lipped smile. “Hana, what a lovely name for an accomplice.”

I took a deep breath, ignoring his comment as I began to run for the office where I knew there would be people working. I grabbed the secretary’s phone as she protested and quickly dialed to make a school-wide announcement.

“Um, hello? I need to let everyone know to evacuate the building immediately. Cetus has instructed me to get everyone out. I-uh… I think the bomb is set to go off at 8 am so everyone needs to move, now!” I then hung back up the phone and looked at the secretaries and even the principal now who were shocked to have heard what I said.

My hands were shaking as I took one last look at everyone, before running out of the office and down the school halls, shouting at everyone to get out of the building as fast as they could.

People around me began hurrying to get out. Most were silent but there were a few people who screamed as they ran by me. I shouted at everyone to get a move on, to get to the nearest exit, all while checking my phone as I did so.

I did one last perimeter lap around the building to make sure everyone was gone and by the time I checked my phone, I saw the time blinking back at me 7:59. I felt my adrenaline kick in as I booked it for the door I had entered from this morning, wondering if Cetus and his partner would still be there.

I slammed my body into the door as it gave way. I heard the ticking of the bomb as I passed by as fast as I could to get away from it.

The blast took me off my feet and threw me a few feet into the field. I landed hard, rolling a few times as my ears began to ring from the explosion.

Sirens slowly invaded my hearing as I lay on the grass, looking up at the clouds. I was relieved that I was alive, that I’d managed to evacuate the whole building in time. My breathing was heavy and it was difficult to do much as my body was tired from my extreme use of it while escaping.

“There she is!” I heard my principal’s voice shout. “She’s the one who made the announcement, arrest her!”

I craned my neck to look at what he could’ve been talking about when I saw that he was pointing at me, police trailing right behind him.

I was about to protest when I felt someone grab me from behind and pick me up. I was about to fight the person when someone else grabbed my other side and began running with the first person. It was the two bombers, and they were helping me get away with them.

My legs began to kick in on their own and I tried to run along with them, but they both held onto me anyways.

Not one said a single word until they’d gotten me in the back seat of their car and began driving away.

“You can thank Cetus for wanting to save your ass,” the nameless one said while driving.

Cetus laughed, turning back to look at me. “Lyra isn’t one to complain usually, sorry he’s a bit of a cranky guy today.”

The vehicle slowly began to speed up as I began to fall asleep, the quiet lull of the tires spinning drawing me away from reality.

When I woke up I certainly wasn’t home, and I wasn’t in their escape vehicle either. It was a warm place, but small. When I sat up I realized finally I was on an airplane… no, it was a private jet.

“Oh, you’re awake. I’ll get Cetus.” Lyra suddenly appeared in my vision as he stood and moved to the back of the airplane and disappeared as quickly as he’d appeared.

I slowly laid back down, coming to the realization that I’d been kidnapped by the two most wanted people in the country. As my senses came back to me, I heard a news station covering the explosion of my school. No casualties and no injuries, but there was a girl missing believed to have been taken by the two criminals and that they were searching the area.

“Please!” I heard my mother’s voice ring out and I shot up, making myself light-headed. “Just let our baby girl go, she did nothing-”

The feed was cut as I saw Cetus enter the section that I was in with Lyra trailing behind him. He smiled his grandiose smile at me once more before sitting in a seat in front of me, Lyra across from him.

“Hiya Hana!” He said cheerily. “Glad to see you’re up again, that blast really took something out of ya!”

I furrowed my brows, opening my mouth to cut straight to the chase. “W-Why am I here?”

“Because you’re a liability,” Lyra spoke solemnly and without a smile. “You were seen with us and now we’re connected.”

I took a deep breath. “You can let me go, I’m not going to tell the police or anything I… I swear!”

Cetus leaned back. “No can do! We saved your life and now you owe us one!”

“What do you want then?” I asked carefully.

Lyra cocked an eyebrow, looking to Cetus who confirmed something to him with a nod. “To stay quiet.”

“I-I already told you, I promise I won’t tell anyone who you are at all.” I spoke quickly.

“And in order to keep you quiet,” Lyra continued as though I hadn’t said a word. “You’ll be staying with us.”

I nodded once quietly, laying back down and turning away from the two of them. When I didn’t hear either of them leave I asked one last question.

“How old even are you guys?”

Lyra shifted in his seat before responding. “I’m 18 and he’s 17.”

I proceeded to curl into a ball and pull my blanket over me further. To think that two boys, one who was my age, were able to pull a stunt like this off, it was scary. I didn’t want to think about it but Cetus’ welcoming smile just kept creeping its way into my head.

I fell back asleep shortly after and was woken up by Lyra once we’d landed in Toronto, across the country. From there we were going to spend a few nights somewhere nice and let their plane get refueled before travelling across the ocean to France.

“I’m just saying!” Cetus giggled on the elevator ride up to our room. “It would be a lot easier if we had someone who could speak French!”

“You continuously whine about the smallest matters, Cetus.” Lyra responded softly as the elevator doors pinged open to our floor.

“I do not!” Cetus said, his smile fading off of his face.

“U-um,” I mumbled, trying to get their attention. “I speak French, my father is Quebecois.”

Cetus looked to me, smile larger than before now. “Do you really?”

“Y-yes,” I looked to the ground, as I stepped off of the elevator and onto the carpet of the 10th floor.

“Why didn’t you speak up before?” Lyra asked in his cool voice. “Cetus’ been complaining about this almost the whole way here.”

“Sorry,” I managed carefully.

We moved down the hall quietly before reaching the room on the end. Cetus opened it giddily, showing off the room to me with a smile and pose.

The room was fairly large, it was big and open and two stories. There was a kitchen to my left and the bathroom to my right. In the middle was a small living room with big windows and a high ceiling. Next to the kitchen was a spiral staircase that led up to a landing with two big beds. Knowing that I still wasn’t very welcome here, I decided to plop myself down on the couch and close my eyes.

“Hey Hana! Whatcha doin’?” Cetus jumped over to where I was laying and startled me.

I let out a small shriek before falling off the couch and hitting my head on the coffee table on the way down. I rubbed my head, sitting up.

“Oww,” I moaned softly before Cetus rushed around the table looking concerned.

He grabbed my head quickly and didn’t give me time to protest. He pulled my face close and ran his fingers over the spot where I’d hit the table.

I examined his face as he did so. His smile was gone and now he looked intent on making sure I was okay. I was staring at his bright blue eyes when he caught my gaze and smiled back at me. I immediately felt my face heat up two seconds later and drew back from him.

“Looks like you’re gonna be okay,” he stated softly.

I raised a hand to my head and looked down at my lap. “Thanks,” I managed quietly.

“Hey, no problem!” He jumped up now, scanning the room. “Oh right! Lyra already went out to get some food, just wanted to make sure no allergies.”

I shook my head silently, standing now too and realizing that Cetus stood a few inches taller than me. Something I hadn’t taken note of earlier in the day.

“By the way,” he began gently, moving to a door on the opposite side of the kitchen. “You can have this room, no need for couches.���

I nodded my head once, moving towards the room with my hand still on my head. Cetus probably thought I looked strange but once I was inside I nodded at him and he closed the door with a sweet smile instead of his giant one that he usually wore.

I found it strange but comforting as I moved to the bed and flopped down on it. That’s when it dawned on me that I didn’t have a single change of clothes and was still in my messy school uniform. I rolled over, thinking that I’d need to go buy some new clothes when I realized I hadn’t even bothered to check my phone.

Carefully, I pulled it out of my pocket before turning it on and waiting for it to start up. As it did so, I began rummaging through the drawers on the side table of the bed to see what was in them. I found a bible, a pen, and note pad.

My attention was quickly drawn back to my phone when it started to buzz like mad, texts incoming over and over from the past few hours. I began to flick through them, the vast majority having been from my mother.

I unlocked my phone and it opened to her messages, sending her a read receipt. The last text had been sent mere minutes ago and she began typing the instant I checked them. I waited for her to text but instead got a phone call a split second later.

“Hello?” I answered gingerly.

“Hana!” My mother screamed over the receiver. “Oh my God Hana are you okay? Where are you? I’m going to come get you right away! Do you know where you are?”

I didn’t know how to respond, and instead began crying because I felt bad for having disappeared from my mother like I did.

“Hana are you still there? Hana?” She paused a second. “Are they hurting you? Why are you crying?”

“I’m okay,” I mumbled softly.

My mother’s tone of voice became a lot gentler as she spoke to me. “That’s good. Are you safe?”

“Yeah.”

“That’s also good. Where are you?” She asked.

I dodged her question and asked one myself. “Can I talk to the police?”

There was a pause as my mother clearly handed the phone over to someone. “Hello Hana? My name is Detective Gary Watts. If you’ll give me a second, we’re gonna talk in private.”

“Okay,” I said quietly into the receiver. The detective then left whatever room he was in and went somewhere quieter, presumably where he was alone.

“Hana are you still there?” He asked.

“Mhm,” I murmured.

He let out a sigh before continuing speaking. “Lyra and Cetus have you safe then. You’re in Toronto, right?”

“How did-”

“I work for Lyra’s parents.” The detective interrupted me. “They weren’t supposed to pick you up, that wasn’t part of the plan. At least not part of the one I heard. Nevertheless, I’m going to tell your mother some bullshit story to calm her down and get the media off our backs. Just stay with Lyra and Cetus.”

I nodded before realizing he couldn’t see me. “Alright,” I replied. “Thank you.”

“It’s my pleasure.” There was a pause before he continued. “Can I speak to Lyra please?”

“U-um,” I began. “I don’t think he’s here right now, but Cetus is.”

“Sure,” he responded cooly before I moved out of my room to hand my phone to Cetus. When I got to where he was sitting in the kitchen, he looked at my phone quizzically before answering it with a soft voice. I then moved out of his way and back to my room.

Lying on the bed, I looked up at the ceiling with a sigh. I couldn’t seem to form any of the proper thoughts at the moment, and just wanted to sleep again even though I’d slept through most of the plane ride. Maybe that’s why I was still so tired.

I hadn’t realized I’d fallen back asleep until Lyra had woken me up by throwing clothing onto my face.

“I don’t know what size you are so I guessed.” He said carefully.

I rubbed my eyes, sitting up. “O-oh,” I mumbled.

“Well get changed. I’m making food and Cetus said something about taking you out,”

I nodded once as he moved out of my room, shutting the door behind him. Carefully, I slid my legs over my bedside and stood to remove my skirt. I then undid the buttons of my top and took it off, throwing it to the ground to be next to my skirt.

Looking up, I saw my grubby face in the mirror and moved to the on-suite bathroom to wash it. I proceeded to examine my face in the mirror while I was there. I never liked the way I looked, but at the same time I never did anything to make myself look any different than the way I currently did.

I ran my fingers through my black hair before catching my own eyes. They were blue, but nothing compared to Cetus’ eyes. His were a bright blue that could pierce anyone’s gaze, whereas mine were a forgettable pale blue colour that most people just skimmed over. My face was also covered in freckles, something I wasn’t fond of either, even if they were easily rid of with the use of foundation.

After I was done, I left and grabbed what Lyra had bought me. There were a few shirts and a couple of pairs of pants that looked to be too big. I grabbed a plain white t-shirt when I noticed a high-waist skirt that might actually fit.

While putting it on I found out that it was actually a suspender skirt that zipped at the back. I struggled for a few minutes trying to zip it up when I ended up sitting on the bed, defeated.

I was about to take off the skirt when Cetus entered, smiling at me. “You ready to go?”

I shook my head with a sigh. “C-can you help me with this?” I asked, turning so that he could see my zipper dilemma.

He nodded and moved closer to me as I stood and faced away from him so he could reach my back. He placed one hand low on my back but not too low as to discomfort me and with the other he effortlessly was able to do up my zipper.

He turned me around afterwards, his dusty blonde hair falling effortlessly into place as he rested his hands on my hips with a small smile. “There we go! Good to go.”

I tried to find words before I found myself caught in his eyes again. He smiled back at me and I turned away from him to hide my rapidly blushing face. I wasn’t very used to boys. The few who I’d gone to school with were fishermen and didn’t talk unless it was about fishing or the water. Made me wonder how some of the girls got boyfriends in town.

Cetus left again quickly without another word, motioning me to follow him.

“H-hey,” I murmured once I was outside of the room. “Where are we going anyways?”

Lyra turned off the stove and put some food away. “Cetus is getting anxious so we’re leaving. We’ll eat later I guess.”

“Anxious?” I questioned.

“It’s almost time for the main event!” Cetus smiled back at me excitedly.

I furrowed my brows and looked to the ground as Lyra pushed me towards the door. I looked around for my shoes before I realized I’d left them in my room.

I ran back and slipped them off as fast as I could. When I came back out of my room the front door was open and Lyra stood waiting for me, looking impatient.

I ran out the door, mumbling an apology before making my way to the elevator. Cetus was already inside, waiting for the two of us with his cheerful attitude. Lyra got in afterwards and closed the doors, pressing a button to take us back down to the lobby.

The first few seconds of the elevator ride were silent; that was until Cetus clasped my right hand and jumped up. “Pretend to be my girlfriend!” He exclaimed.

I jumped back and bumped into Lyra on accident. “W-what!?” I asked, shocked by Cetus’ proposition.

“He wants to look normal,” Lyra began explaining. “Blend in with the crowd.”

“I… I don’t understand.” I shook my head.

The doors dinged open and Cetus hopped out of the elevator, pulling me along. “Just hold my hand, okay?”

“Okay,” I responded, wide-eyed.

Lyra pulled me back close to him, making sure Cetus couldn’t see or hear. He leaned in and whispered. “You don’t need to pretend to be in love.”

I felt my face blush all over once more and I pushed Lyra away from me. He gave me a sly smile before catching up to Cetus.

I looked to my right hand clasped in Cetus’ left. I wasn’t in love with him! I’d only known these guys for barely 24 hours! Maybe I felt a little bit of a crush but Lyra saying I was in love already was pushing it too far. Or maybe he was just teasing.

I was quickly rushed into a taxicab before Lyra and Cetus squeezed in on either side of me. Cetus grabbed my hand once more and looked out the window dreamily while Lyra gave the driver directions from behind him.

It wasn’t much longer until the driver took off from the hotel and made his way downtown. I watched as the buildings flew by and both boys each doing the same out their own windows.

When the car slowed I felt Cetus squeeze my hand. “Ooh! We’re here!” He said like an excited boy going to Disney World for the first time.

Cetus and I got out while Lyra paid the driver. I looked around and saw nothing much of interest, just some big buildings. I tried to let go of Cetus’ hand but he held a tight grip, squeezing softly as he pulled me even closer to him.

“You’re not very good at pretending to be a girlfriend,” he whispered into my ear and I nodded gingerly.

Lyra checked his phone, his dark hair blowing into his long face before approaching us slowly. “Any minute now.”

We then backed up so that we weren’t in the midst of a large populous all making their way around town. There were people dressed in suits and people dressed casually.

The power went out and I felt Cetus tense up next to me. When I looked at him he was staring at everyone else, smile big and eyes wide. Lyra had the same kind of excitement on his face, but he was much more laid back compared to Cetus.

I felt my phone buzz and with my free hand I reached to grab it. I had a text message from an unknown number and so I decided to check it without hesitation.

It was a video, and now I wasn’t sure if I should open the message or not. Cetus’ free hand then reached across me as he opened the message for me.

The video was of a blank, empty room. I wondered if it was playing when someone came into view, followed by another person. They were both wearing blank masks. Ones that I recognized.

“Hello Canada!” The golden masked one made a big entrance.

“Yes, hello.” The black masked one repeated their greeting.

I looked to Cetus whose eyes were transfixed on my phone, huge grin spread ear to ear on his face.

The golden masked one took his turn speaking again. “As you may have guessed, we’re 2 of the stars that have been blowing up your schools!”

“Such a shame, having to destroy places of learning.” It seemed like they had been taking turns saying lines of a script.

“But they were corrupt places, with corrupt people.” His tone became less cheery.

The black masked one nodded. “Yes, and now, with a little bit of help of someone with a lot of money, we’ve been able to expose these people and ruin their little enterprises.”

“On the link provided in the following text, you’ll be able to read all of the sneaky documents that these corrupt individuals were able to hide from us! And more!” He jolted backwards and did an excited little jig.

“The schools were where many of the individuals grew up, the bombings were to start garnering attention to us so that we could show everyone the truth.”

They both leaned in close to the camera again. “Please, feel free to read the documents for yourselves! See the truth for your government officials and more. There’s no doubt you won’t hear about this on the news tonight though!”

“Stars, out!” The one with the black mask flashed a peace sign before the video ended, leaving me staring at a blank screen.

I looked to Lyra first this time, who gave me a small smile, before flashing the same peace sign that the black masked bomber had flashed mere seconds earlier.

The power came back on as Cetus began to bounce around excitedly, his hand still holding on tight to mine. “Here comes the exposure!”

“Are you two sure you want to be seen like this right now?” A masculine sounding voice came from behind us. I turned around to see a man and a woman standing side-by-side looking extremely stylish and like they were evil villains.

“We were waiting on you,” Lyra smirked without turning back.

“Who’s the new girl?” The woman asked, cocking her head and smiling at me.

“Don’t’cha know?” Cetus smiled, before pulling me close. “She’s my girlfriend!”

I squeaked when Cetus said that, trying to push away from him as fast as I could. “No I’m not!”

The two villain looking people laughed. “I’m sure of it,” the man smiled at me before facing Lyra. “Shall we meet you back at the hotel then?”

Lyra nodded. “I made dinner.”

It wasn’t long before we were back in the hotel, Lyra and Cetus cracking open a bottle of champagne celebrating their victory that they’d just achieved.

I’d made my way back to my room, flopping down on the bed once more to try and recollect my thoughts. If all of this was over, why keep me? Why did I have to go to France with them when apparently they’d gotten their victory they’d been searching so long to get?

There was a knock on the door before Cetus entered with two glasses of champagne and a bubbly look on his face. “We aren’t drinking until Volans and Pyxis get here, but you should take one.”

“Who are they, by the way?” I asked softly before taking the glass from Cetus’ hand.

“Stars 3 and 4. They’re brother and sister. Pyxis’ is our age, and Volans is a year older than Lyra. We met when we were all really little, and have been friends ever since. Though if you ask me, Lyra and Volans are totally going to be more than just friends very soon.”

“Wait, Lyra’s gay?” I asked carefully.

Cetus began laughing. “You mean you couldn’t already tell?”

I shook my head, swirling the bubbly drink in my cup. “What’s your relationship to him by the way?”

“Just friends!” Cetus exclaimed. “We met when we were in elementary school and have been stuck like glue to one another since then.”

“And when did you meet Volans and Pyxis?” I continued to ask him questions.

Cetus took a sip of his drink unknowingly. “Around the same time! We all went to school together and hung out in the summers too. Took ‘em on boat rides too once we were like 13. Lots of fun.”

“You had a boat when you were 13?”

“Okay, Lyra’s Dad’s boat.” Cetus laughed. “But it was basically ours!”

We began to hear commotion outside of the room and Cetus bolted upwards and towards the door. “C’mon! You gotta come meet them!”

I contemplated the idea for a moment. I didn’t really want to leave the confines of the bedroom since I felt more comfortable here than I did anywhere else in the city. I was about to say no when Cetus came back over and grabbed me from the bed and pulled me into the living space.

I could really tell that these four were comfortable with each other. There were laughs and the clinking of drinks and a ton of chatter. It’s like they had their own little family within their ranks.

I was siting alone on the couch when Pyxis came and sat next to me with a big smile. She handed me a box that was wrapped like a present and bounced giddily.

“What?” I was at a loss for words. Someone who I barely knew was already giving me a gift, and so I was confused.

“Lyra, Cetus? She is joining the Stars now, isn’t she?” She craned her neck to look back at the 3 boys who were all still in the kitchen.

“Of course!” Cetus jumped happily. He already seemed to be a little bit drunk too, as he stumbled into Lyra who then stumbled into Volans’ arms. It almost seemed intentional, but Cetus had definitely been drinking so there was no way that it was.

Lyra, trying to cover up a blush spoke up. “She already knows that.”

“Just take it then!” Pyxis pushed the gift further into my lap.

I adjusted my posture, putting my drink down to focus on the gift. I unwrapped it slowly, revealing a white box. I looked gingerly to the blonde next to me and she ushered me on further. I opened the box and inside was a blank silver mask, similar to the ones Lyra and Cetus wore. I wondered if Pyxis and Volans had their own masks too.

“Can I name her?” Pyxis squeaked, jumping up from her spot next to me. “I have the best name in mind!”

“Go for it,” Lyra responded without looking back from his cooking.

She took a deep breath. “Andromeda!” She shouted excitedly.

Cetus seemed to light up from where he standing. “I love it! Don’t you think it fits her face well, Lyra? So well rounded.”

“Pfft, says the boy with the roundest face of all of us.” Volans poked fun at him.

I looked between the siblings at their resemblance in appearance, but their difference in personality. When I saw them on the street, I thought they’d maybe been twins, since they seemed so alike, but they weren’t.

They had icy blonde hair, almost white. It made Cetus’ hair look brown in comparison. They also had sharp features and thin lips. Their eyes were pointed just right and their eyebrows seemed very well kept. The only difference was their nose. Volans had a big nose while Pyxis had a small one.

I looked back to the silver mask they’d gifted me, as well as the name they’d given me. I didn’t know how to feel about any of it. Part of me liked it a lot, and felt warm at the thought. The other part of me missed my family and friends in British Columbia.

I thanked them for the mask, putting it away in my room before returning to finish eating whatever Lyra had cooked up.

I felt like I could get along better with them now, since it felt like all four of them really accepted me. I was Star number five, or Andromeda now.

Night began to fall and so did we.

Once the kitchen was clean, we all sat around and joked until Volans and Lyra decided they were tired and went to bed. I watched Cetus as they left, whose grin grew bigger and bigger as they nearly touched before heading off in their own directions.

Cetus then excused himself and followed after Lyra quickly, probably to try and get him to go say good night for real to Volans.

“Those two are so oblivious,” Pyxis spoke up, taking a sip of the tea she’d made earlier.

“Your brother and Lyra?” I asked softly.

“No, my brother and Cetus. They both can’t see that there’s someone in love with them.”

My eyes widened. “Oh are you in love with Cetus?” I asked carefully.

Pyxis nearly spat her tea out. “Oh my God, no! Cetus is like a little brother to me! Even if we are the same age.”

“Who’s in love with Cetus then?” I asked carefully, trying to not overstep anyone or anything.

Her eyes snapped so that she was looking at me. She gave me a warm smile but didn’t respond to my question.

“O-okay,” I mumbled, before realizing that she meant Volans was in love with him. I was about to burst out with my realization, but decided to keep it in.

“Well,” she stood quietly, setting her cup on the table. “I should head to bed then.”

I stood right after her. “Yeah, me too.” I didn’t make eye contact with her and began to head towards my room.

“Goodnight, Andromeda.” She said before she was out of earshot.

“Night.” I mumbled, not realizing how far she already was from me.

I closed the door softly behind me, before moving to the bathroom and washing my face. Once I was done that, I shut off the bathroom light and began to clean up the clothes left by Lyra as well as my school uniform in the dark as I was about to head to bed anyways. There was a soft knock at the door before someone entered and shut the door behind them.

Straightening up, I saw Cetus smile a soft smile at me, leaning against the door. “Wanted to say goodnight,” he said cheerily.

“Before you do so, can you undo my zipper?” I asked, stepping closer and turning around so he could help me out of the same skirt he’d helped me get into earlier that day.

He nodded, pushing up from the door and placing his hands softly on my back, undoing my zipper slowly and with ease.

I turned back around myself this time and smiled, grabbing his hands so that they didn’t rest on my waist again. “Thank you,” I said quietly.

He released his hands from my grip and smiled back a warm smile at me. “It’s my pleasure,” he said before grabbing my face and pulling it so that his lips met mine.

I didn’t protest as my eyes shut and I kissed him back gingerly. I’d never kissed anyone before in my life and so it was a new experience for me.

I suddenly remembered the conversation I’d had with Pyxis not 10 minutes ago and pushed away from him. “Wait. Pyxis told me that Volans has a crush on you… er is in love with you… I can’t hurt him like that.”

“She told you that?” He asked softly, his eyes not leaving mine.

“She implied it,” I responded, looking to my right.

“It’s not true,” he smiled back at me. “I was just talking to Volans and he’s going to ask Lyra to go out tomorrow morning. Trust me.”

I gave a small smile, placing my own hands on his hips now. “I guess I’m not good at socializing then.”

He laughed a small laugh. “No, you’re not.” He proceeded to envelop me once more in his warmth and love, pressing his warm lips to mine.

[INSERT SEX SCENE HERE]

“W-what did I just do?” I curled into a ball next to him, asking a rhetorical question to myself.

“Uh,” Cetus spoke up. “Had sex with the most handsome guy you’ve ever seen, like ever?”

I giggled at his response, giving his chest a playful shove. The anxiety began to set back in a split second later. “I can’t help but feel like I just made a really big mistake.” I said honestly.

“Well I certainly disagree,” he said gently, his face calm and relaxed. “You’re exquisite.”

I felt my face heat up so I rolled away. “Not many people say that about me,” I smiled to myself, enjoying the feeling.

“Lyra thought so too when we saw you this morning.” Cetus began to play with my hair. “The first thing he said when you left to make the announcement was ‘She’s beautiful’. I agreed, of course.”

I pulled the covers down and crawled underneath, smile still holding tight on my face. “Why keep me though? You say I’m pretty but I don’t think so and other than that I’ve just kinda been extra baggage, haven’t I?”

Cetus followed behind also crawling under the covers and pulling me so that our bare bodies touched and he wrapped his arms around me. “No,” he shook his head. “You’ve been helpful. Having someone else around aside from the two of us or even four of us just kinda mixes things up a little and makes everything more fun.”

I rolled back over to look him in the eye with a smirk. “You’re sure you didn’t just keep me around so you could seduce me?”

“I’m sure,” he nodded once, his face looking genuine and like he truly believed what he said.

I reached a hand out and caressed his face, feeling the forming stubble that was barely visible. “You’re a lot calmer at night than during the day it seems. Tired?”

“And you stutter a lot less at night. Then again, that could just be because you’ve grown more used to me.” He responded, not really answering my question.

I opened my mouth to ask one last question, but hesitated and closed my mouth and eyes. I had something bugging me now, and Cetus had the answer that I needed.

He must’ve noticed that I seemed upset, because he ushered me on gently. “Go ahead, I’ll answer honestly. I swear.”

I opened my eyes and looked into his bright blue ones before taking a deep breath. “What is this? Us? What happened? Was it just a one-night stand? I… I want to know what you think of me, really.”

He gave a warm smile in return before responding. “I don’t know what this is, at least not yet. We’re us. We had sex. I don’t want it to be. I think you’re an extremely complex person and I want to understand you better but at the same time I want to protect you and… and uh…” He had begun answering all my questions, but now seemed nervous and hesitant to finish his thought.

“You want to keep me at a distance?” I took a shot in the dark, trying to finish his sentence.

He shook his head quickly. “I want to protect you and I want to love you. If you’ll let me.”

“Well I mean I can’t control your feelings,” I furrowed my brows, examining his face as my heart fluttered at the thought.

“I mean,” he bit his lip looking to the ceiling for the proper words. “I mean if you’ll love me back.”

“Oh.” I said quickly, closing my eyes and thinking about what he’d just said. While my eyes were closed I felt the warmth of his lips press to mine along with his forehead, which did not back away from me when he pulled away.

“What do you say?” He asked, his breath tickling my nose.

I hummed to make it sound like I was thinking, but in reality I already had an answer. “I don’t like jumping into things, so, I want to wait a little bit.”

“Don’t like jumping into things?” Cetus laughed at me.

“Yeah, this whole thing scared me!” I whined in response. “I still am scared, but you make me less scared for some reason.”

Cetus took a deep breath and broke his gaze from me. He looked troubled now, like he had something on his mind he didn’t want to tell me about. I was confused, but at the same time I didn’t want to prod him. I settled with planting a kiss on his cheek and laying my head on his arm, closing my eyes with the intention of falling asleep.

“You’ve always been Andromeda,” he began quietly. I was about to ask him what he meant when he continued on. “The bombing at your school was our plot, and had very little to do with corrupt officials. We wanted you back.”

“Wanted me back?” I sat up in the dark, my eyes scanning Cetus.

“You’re father, he’s Quebecquois.” Cetus seemingly said out of the blue. I couldn’t form a response to what he’d just said, so I sat waiting silently. “We all went to the same school, we all are from Montréal. And then your parents got scared of my parents and were just going to move across town. Volans and Pyxis’ parents tried to convince them not to, especially since we were all friends. We were your only friends, and your parents wanted to take that away from you.

“Instead, they scared them and you guys moved to a remote town in BC. Trying to get far from us because your parents didn’t like any of our families anymore. They were scared of our ideals and our nature, or something like that.” He took a deep breath, pausing. “They were scared of the things we were teaching you too. But you being gone wasn’t going to stop us, and then especially when we found you after nearly 9 long years of wondering and worrying. But you don’t remember a thing, do you?”

I shook my head softly, the end of my hairs brushing over my bare shoulders. “I remember moving away from a big city and having friends that I left there. Quinton Frances was the levelheaded and calculated one. Brother and sister Sebastian and Yeji Yin were inseparable and practically twins. Benjamin Delacour was my… my best friend.” I took a deep breath, closing my eyes and feeling them beginning to sting. “But I was told to forget about them because they didn’t care about me anymore since that was the way of life. Since they’d hurt us and didn’t want to be my friends anymore. I was told to forget about the big city and focus on my future. So I did.”

Cetus smiled and pulled me down into a hug. “I knew you still remembered us! Sure it’s buried, but you remembered our names!”

I buried my face in his chest as I began to cry. “I never forgot about you! I used to have an imaginary friend named Ben and my mother would get mad at me anytime I mentioned your name, but I never really understood why. You’ve always been my very best friend, even if I didn’t really remember who you were.”

He ran a hand through my hair, playing with it softly and rubbing my back to comfort me. “Don’t cry; you were conditioned to forget us! But you remember now. Will you stay with us?”

I nodded my head, squeezing my eyes in an attempt to keep more tears from spilling.

“I have one more question, and then we should sleep.” Cetus said, twirling a piece of my hair in his fingers. “Do you remember anything else about us? Me and you, I mean.”

I thought about it, and only small pieces came back to me. Stuff like playing in the schoolyard together and playing strategy games against the other kids. We were inseparable like the siblings, but other than that, I couldn’t remember anything key that was really sticking out to me. In response, I shook my head on his chest and sighed.

“Alright,” he said warmly before kissing the top of my head. “Sleep it is then.”

We both went silent after that, and I shut my eyes without moving my head from his chest. I eventually fell asleep to the gentle rise and fall of his chest while listening to his slow heartbeat.

Lyra woke me up the next morning, barging into my room without knocking. “Have you seen Cetus? He didn’t come back to his bed last night!” He seemed worried about his friend, and I admired that about their friendship.

“Shh!” Cetus burst out of my bathroom with only his jeans on. “Let her sleep in, please!”

Lyra’s face proceeded to go completely red as he put two and two together. He covered his face in an attempt to not burst into laughter as he slowly shut the door behind him.

From behind the door I heard him shout. “Found him!”

Volans was the one who replied. “Where was he?”

Lyra burst into laughter before responding to Volans’ question. “In Andro’s room!”

I then heard Pyxis squeal. “Holy shit! Did they fuck?”

Lyra was still laughing at this point, but he must’ve given some non-verbal form of yes because both Pyxis and Volans began to laugh along with him. Cetus re-emerged from my bathroom with a shirt this time before leaving my room and closing the door behind him.

“I can hear you guys clearly, just so we’re all aware.” He spoke calmly at the other three.

“Is it true?” Volans questioned him. “Did you and Andro...?”

“No.” Cetus stated firmly. “We were just talking and ended up falling asleep.” There was a long pause before Cetus continued. “She remembers us.”

“Are you serious?” Pyxis tone of voice suddenly became much more cool.

I took this as my cue to get up and start getting dressed. I pulled back on my panties that had been thrown to the floor before moving around the bed to where I’d stored all the clothes Lyra had bought me. I began to pull on a pair of shorts that were a little too big for me when I heard the conversation outside continue.

“What exactly did she remember?” Volans asked.

“Our names.” Cetus stated quickly. “Bits of memories here and there it seemed, and she remembered moving away and leaving us.”

Lyra sighed. “Did she remember-”

“No.” Cetus cut him off before he could finish his sentence.

“But you wish she did,” Pyxis tone seemed to lighten up, like she was poking fun at him for something.

Cetus groaned, but didn’t respond to Pyxis directly. “I’m going to finish getting ready.”

The door handle to my room turned and he reentered, his eyes glued to the floor. He shut the door before looking to the bed. When he didn’t see me, he scanned the room before I straightened up from the dresser with a shirt in hand.

“Did you hear that?” He asked softly, his face drawing an expression of concern.

I nodded carefully, before turning away and pulling the shirt over my head. While I wasn’t looking, he grabbed me from behind and buried his head in the crook of my neck. “Wait for me?” he asked.

I placed my hands on his arms before responding. “Alright.”

He then released from me and made his way to the bathroom. I grabbed my clothes from last night and put them in an empty drawer in the dresser before turning to the bed and making it.

“C’mon,” he said once I was done, waving for me to follow him out the door.

He opened the door and pushed me out before closing the door behind him and smiling. I took a few steps forward with my hands behind my back when Pyxis jumped and hugged me from the side.

“I knew you’d remember us!” She exclaimed happily.

“Yeji,” Volans warned with a deep voice before realizing he’d used her real name.

I smiled up at him. “It’s okay Sebastian.” I used his real name to try and prove myself.

I saw tears form in his eyes as he came down the stairs and enveloped me in a big hug. “It is really you, isn’t it? Our Andromeda, our Hana.”

He released me and within a second, Lyra spun me to the side, examining me before also pulling me into a tight hug. “Our Star number 1!”

[sumofmanythings]

Must We Always Take the Blame? (Toxic Masculinity and Violence)

Easter Sunday a man by the name of Steve Stephens murdered Robert Godwin, Sr., live on Facebook.   This murderer randomly targeted Mr. Godwin and made him say the name of a woman who we later discovered was his ex, before shooting him dead.  The entire act was shown live on a now deleted Facebook video.  This man, who ironically works as a case manager with a children’s behavioral health agency, went on a rant and proceeded to blame his ex for his actions.  His ex is in protective custody and committed suicide this morning.  Many people ponder why someone would do such a heinous act. Many believe he is mentally ill but I’m just not buying it.  To make matters even worse, there are quite a few who blame his ex-girlfriend.  I cannot tell you how disgusted I have been reading the comments on social media.  It’s easier to blame this on a mental illness than address the elephant in the room.

Toxic Masculinity…

Toxic masculinity is the socially constructed and widely disseminated perception of men as dominant, violent, and controlling of the feminine. This type of masculinity sets men up to hate women, fear the LGBTQ community, and harbor an especially violent and vehement hatred for Trans women and gay men of color.  The prevalence of toxic masculinity does not imply that all men are inherently violent. In fact it suggests the opposite: that men (or anyone of any other gender) are inherently neutral, and social and cultural conditioning creates violent men. This version of masculinity is unemotional, sexually aggressive, and heterosexual by default. As Amanda Marcotte writes, "it is a specific model of manhood geared toward dominance and control." It is everywhere we look, yet it is rarely named or explicitly discussed as cause for our social ills. Toxic masculinity is closely tied to rape culture, homophobia, gun violence, and domestic abuse. – Emily Price (Toxic Masculinity: Why aren’t we talking about this epidemic and its role in violent crimes? Xojane.com 6.24.2016)

These are just a few of the women murdered at the hands of ex-boyfriends and ex-husbands in the past few months.  Just last week in Chicago, a judge was murdered and it was revealed today that his girlfriend’s ex-boyfriend is being charged. According to reports, the suspect stalked the girlfriend for several weeks before the attack.

CALL A THING A THING…

"This toxic idea of masculinity, therefore, pressures men to view women as inferior, perceive sex as an act of conquest, and see violence as a way to establish dominance over others. Toxic masculinity isn’t only harmful because it condones only one way for men to behave; it also contributes to domestic violence by leading men to believe that they must establish dominance over women, and that they can do so through violence. Toxic masculinity hurts male domestic violence survivors as well. When men experience domestic violence, they often face very little support and resources. Toxic masculinity keeps men in perpetual fear that they might seem soft, weak, or emotional. It stigmatizes men who cry, denigrates men as “pussies” if they show emotion, and teaches men from a young age that it’s not manly to show weakness. As a result, male survivors of domestic violence are unlikely to report their assault, and even if they do report, they are often not taken seriously by the authorities—especially if the perpetrator was a woman. In this way, both men and women can be victims of domestic violence, and both men and women are hurt by unrealistic and violent standards of masculinity"  -- The Harvard Crimson 9/22/2016

There is a pattern in this case that doesn’t involve mental illness; it involves men who are narcissistic and driven by a deep hatred for women and the need to control them.  It is the mindset of an abuser and a predator.  According to domesticviolence.org, there are several common characteristics among batters, they are controlling, manipulative, often see themselves as victims and believe that men have a pre-ordained right to be in charge of all aspects of a relationship.  It’s all about power and control and it’s not always physical. Batterers use sexual abuse, verbal abuse, psychological and emotional abuse, spiritual abuse, economic abuse and social abuse to control the people they are in relationship with. Domestic violence happens frequently with 1 in 3 women and 1 in 4 men who have been victims of physical violence by an intimate partner.  Over 1500 women are killed each year by husbands or boyfriends. The consequences of leaving an abusive partner can be deadly.  Those are alarming numbers!!!  For those who survive, they often live a life of fear, constantly wondering if they are being stalked or wondering if they will ever be truly safe. The court system offers little to no comfort, as abusers frequently ignore orders of protection.     Abusers are rarely penalized for their actions because society looks at domestic violence as a personal issue. In addition, many do not understand how a person could allow someone to manipulate and control them in that manner. So instead of compassion, there is plenty of judgement and disdain for victims of abuse.

We let abusers off the hook and blame their victims instead.

"Abuse is not an accident. It doesn’t happen because someone was stressed out, drinking or using drugs. Abuse is an intentional act that one person uses in a relationship to control the other. Abusers have learned to abuse so they get what they want. It may be physical, sexual, emotional and psychological. They often have low self-esteem and do not take responsibility for their actions, frequently blaming the victim for causing the violence."  -- Domesticviolence.org

A Culture of Victim Shaming

Chris Brown beats Rihanna and I see meme’s cracking jokes about it and then the slew of questions like, “well what did she do to make him so upset”? Evelyn Lozada gets head-butted by Chad Ochocinco and the victim blaming continues, “well she fights with women on that show, so you know…Karma?”, Columbus Short and his now ex-wife have a domestic incident and celebrities such as D.L. Hughley slam her for “messing up his money and putting their business out in the street”. Floyd Mayweather serves time for domestic abuse then “slut shames” his ex on social media posting information about her abortion and we laugh about it. The first video of Ray Rice dragging his now wife out of an elevator unconscious had folks like Stephen Smith say women should be careful not to provoke a man to attacking her. Solonge attacks Jay Z and men and women mock him for being a punk for not hitting her back? Ceelo green tweets comments about rape saying is it rape a woman can’t remember? Sandra Bland is murdered and people question why she felt the need to “speak up” to police.  Now this, a man has murdered another human being and I see “She should have just called him” or “she should have slept with him”.

Seriously?

I’ve seen some of the most ignorant statements regarding the horrific murder of Robert Godwin, Sr., but none more disturbing than the idea that somehow his girlfriend could have stopped this crime from occurring simply by “calling him” or “giving him some”.   When dealing with an abusive individual, there is no pleasing them. You can do everything they ask and still find yourself in harm’s way.  Abuse is the act of controlling another person and exercising power over them and it doesn’t stop when you “do what they want”.  I know from experience.  I spent 10 years of my life walking on eggshells, trying to be the “perfect wife” for someone who sought to silence and control me.  Even when I left, it didn’t end. The threats, the intimidation, and the manipulation continued. Quite honestly, 8 years later, I still deal with this.  My life has never been the same. This is my “new normal”.    There isn’t a day that goes by that I don’t think he may “pop up” or “reappear”.   They (abusers) act like their actions are acts of love but they only want you to return so they can control and manipulate you again.  It’s never about wanting you; it’s about the desire to control another person’s life. The idea that this woman could have prevented anything is absolutely insane and ignorant.  The fact that this murder specifically said, “Say her name because she is the reason this is happening to you” lets me know that this man was completely sound in his decision. It’s an ultimate act of manipulation; he wants her to think that this is all her fault and that she made him do this. In his final act of manipulation and control, he leaves his girlfriend with the lasting idea that, ALL OF THIS WAS HER FAULT!   It's the ultimate act of cowardice from the mind of a narcissist.   The fact that there are men and women who actually perpetuate this ridiculous idea is disgusting!  He made a conscious decision to end an innocent man’s life because he lost control and power.  HE DID THIS! NO ONE ELSE IS TO BLAME!

When does it end?

When do we deserve the right to exist as we are and be looked at with some humanity? Where arethe men defending our right not to be hit, our right not to beaten, our right not to have our bodies violated against our will, our right not to be violated and publically humiliated? Why are we telling our daughters, how not to get raped or abused (as if there is such a thing) instead of teaching our sons to not rape and not abuse?    Why are we constantly telling women how emotional we are instead of teaching men how to manage their emotions?    WHERE ARE YOU?  When did it become the norm to blame the victims instead of the perpetrators?  The current trend of “victim bashing” pushes more and more victims in the closet to suffer in silence. Victim Shaming takes the focus away from the real problem…the abuser. 

We really need to do better. It’s time to address the idea that toxic masculinity and violence are deeply related. That’s the real issue we should be discussing.   Victims of abuse of any kind aren’t ripping the hearts from family’s across this county, Toxic Masculinity is, and if we don’t teach our sons and change our mindsets about what being a man is all about, this horrific cycle will continue and more lives will be forever changed for the worse. 

It’s time to deal with the real….TOXIC MASCULINITY CAN BE DEADLY.

Until next time,

Take care of yourselves and one another

D. Sanders