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luci-in-trenchcoats · 3 years

Text

By My Side (Part 4)

Summary: The reader goes to dinner with her step brothers, Michael and Nick, as well as Jensen. When Jensen starts to see how her brothers treat her though, Jensen and the reader have a heart to heart and start to try a different tactic with their relationship...

Masterlist

Pairing: Bodyguard!Jensen x reader

Word Count: 3,700ish

Warnings: language, sibling angst, minor violence, mentioned prior deaths

A/N: Enjoy!

_________

Monday Evening

“Hey pipsqueak,” said Nick, your arms crossed from where you sat on the couch trying to watch TV. “Since dad and your mom are at dinner at that fancy place, maybe you could take us out?”

“Yeah,” said Michael, still texting away on his phone at the other end of the couch. “There’s that steak place dad said was good. Y/N, you want to have dinner with your big brothers?”

“Not particularly,” you said.

“She still hate us?” said Nick as he came up to the back of the couch, ruffling your hair and placing his hands on your shoulders. “You gotta let that shit go. We were kids.”

“I was a kid. You were both twenty years old and you two harassed me until I moved out, well past when you knew better. Now that I have money, you two-”

“What was that?” asked Nick and you swallowed. “Come on. Let’s get dinner.”

“Whatever. Jensen! We’re going to dinner wherever you are,” you called out. “Jensen!”

He came down the far hallway near where your office was, his hand behind his back on his holster but you shook your head.

“We’re going out,” you said as he dropped his hand down. “To eat. We’ll be back in a couple hours.”

“I’m going with you,” he said. You thought that was odd of him but he made his jaw hard and clenched it. “It’s part of my contract. I go where you go.”

“He’s perky isn’t he,” said Michael as he stood up. You rolled your eyes and went towards the front door to get your purse.

Half an hour later the three of you were seated with Jensen sat at the bar close by and keeping an eye on you.

“Surprised he didn’t ask to sit with us,” mumbled Nick. “Why do you have a bodyguard again?”

“After my old manager tried to have me kidnapped for publicity,” you said.

“You know how to pick ‘em,” said Michael. You gripped the menu tight and reviewed it, already knowing your step brothers wouldn’t even pretend to offer to pay for their meals. You never quite understood them. Chuck was always good to your mom and nice to you. You weren’t particularly close but you didn’t dislike each other either. You got along, he asked about you, you spent time together whenever you visited them. Chuck had always been okay in your book. His children though you could have sworn were adopted with how horrible they could be to you.

“How much you want to bet me I could get that douchey little bodyguard over here in less then five seconds?” asked Nick, a smirk on his face you didn’t like.

“He’s just doing his job. Let him do it in peace.”

“I still don’t get why you have one,” said Michael as he looked over the wine list. “Compared to the other girl on the show, you’re like, not good looking.”

“Dude, I’m your sister. You’re not supposed to find me good looking.”

“I know that, dipshit. I mean, you’re just, plain,” he said. “You’re not the main lead. That’s probably why.”

“I’m co-lead. We have no main lead.”

“But you’re second on the call sheet credits thing,” said Nick.

“Cause Gen got hired before me.”

“She’s still hotter than you,” mumbled Nick.

“She’s married and they’re both my best friends.”

“I didn’t say I want to fuck her. Relax. You’re always so uptight,” said Nick. You bit your tongue and weren’t surprised when Michael ordered a few hundred dollar bottle of wine. You got the twenty dollar one you normally did that tasted just as good and Nick went for an expensive Scotch you’d never heard of.

“Oh,” you said to the waiter before he could leave. “The man on the end of the bar there, his drinks and meal are on me.”

“No problem,” he said as he took off.

“She’s got no problem paying for his food,” muttered Michael.

“It’s part of his job. For him, this is a business expense,” you said. You gnawed the inside of your cheek and forced a smile. “The garlic bread is very good here if you guys want to get some.”

“Good with me,” said Michael. He gave you a smile, a genuine one before he was checking his phone again. You’d always liked Michael far more than Nick. On his own, Michael was a pretty decent guy. When he got with Nick though, and that was more often than not, even into adulthood, he was normally pretty unbearable.

“Working any big new clients?” you asked, your voice a tad too high but he ignored it while Nick went to the restroom.

“Potentially. I actually got a job offer in LA. Senior partner,” he said.

“That’s great,” you said, Michael smiling.

“You’re actually happy about that, for real,” he said.

“You’re incredibly smart. You always have been. I’m really happy you’re getting out of our little hometown and going to work at a bigger firm,” you said. “That’s a really big deal. You should be proud.”

“Here I thought you’d tell me not to move to your city,” he said.

“Why do you think I’d say that?” you asked.

“You don’t like us,” he said, nodding to the empty spot beside him. “You never have.”

“You guys are dicks most of the time. You skipped over the getting to know each other thing and went right into horrible dick older brothers.”

“We weren’t horrible. We still aren’t. I have worked cases that would make your skin crawl. We’re the Brady bunch compared to most people.”

“My dad died and I was so excited to have big brothers, you know? That year was so horrible and Chuck made mom stop crying and laugh again and I love him for that. But you guys...it doesn’t matter. I’m happy you’re getting a promotion, Michael.”

“Our mom died too that year,” he said, lowering his head.

“I know she did,” you said. “Forget I said anything.”

“So when do you go back to work?” asked Michael as Nick returned.

“A few months from now,” you said.

“What are you gonna do after that?” he asked.

“Honestly I’m not sure right now. I like TV but I might do movies. My options are pretty open,” you said. “How’s teaching going?”

“Always a joy,” said Nick, taking a long sip of his water. “I got tenure finally. Not sure if I’m gonna stay though. If Mikey moves out here I might take a position at UCLA.”

“Oh. So you’re thinking of moving out here too?” you asked. Nick narrowed his eyes and you you looked away. “Maybe mom and Chuck will come out if you guys do.”

“Maybe,” said Nick. Thankfully you spotted your waiter come back with your drinks and you were able to order your appetizer and dinner, already expecting a nearly thousand dollar bill thanks to their alcohol choices.

“I’ll be right back,” you said. You excused yourself and walked over to the bar, Jensen sipping on a glass of beer while he half-watched a TV behind the bar.

“Require saving from your brothers?” he smirked to himself, turning before you could tap him on the shoulder.

“Why do you say that?” you asked, leaning against the padded bartop.

“Just a vibe I get, you and Nick especially,” he said. “Nobody gets a pass from me.”

“He’s not a great older brother but he’s harmless,” you said.

“He intimidates you.”

“Like I said, he’s not great but the worst thing he’s ever done was leave me with a group of strange guys. Michael did the same thing. Otherwise they’re just like, crappy older brothers.”

“Crappy or something else? Like I said, nobody gets a pass from me.”

“Jensen. They would never hurt me. I swear on my life.”

“Michael wouldn’t. Nick...I’ll be keeping an eye on him, both of them, whether you want me to or not. I’m the asshole bodyguard after all,” he smirked again.

“Well, it sounds like they’re both gonna move out here soon so we’ll be seeing them more.”

“Lovely,” said Jensen. “So why’d you come over? Need a break from them?”

“Yes. Also, I already told the waiter but your drinks and food are all on me. Feel free to order whatever you want,” you said.

“I’ll stick to the one beer. I’m at work still,” he said.

“They have really good steak. The filet is amazing along with the green beans,” you said. Jensen smiled and played with his glass, swishing the ice cubes around. “The lobster macaroni is also a great side.”

“That’s a hundred dollar steak.”

“Jensen, you know I can afford it.”

“I also know how much you’re paying me. I can afford it.”

“Jensen. I’m your boss. I’m paying for it. Next time I want Taco Bell, you can pay at the drive through if it makes you feel better,” you said. He smiled, a soft gentle little smile you’d never seen on his face before. You returned it, Jensen staring at you before he shook his head and it fell away.

“I’m going to lose this argument, aren’t I.”

“Yeah, you are. I’d much rather pay for your meal than those two bimbos. I like you better,” you said.

“Must have a pretty low bar for them then,” he said.

“Why’d you stop talking to me? After the paparazzi guy?” you asked. He shrugged and wiped off a stray drop of condensation on his glass. “Please?”

“There’s a line I have to keep with you. We can be friendly but if something happens, I am in charge. There can be no doubts about that. I felt that I needed to step back and reaffirm that boundary.”

“We can keep the boundary. But we can be friends too. If you say hide, I’ll hide. If you say run, I’ll run. I know you think I’m a dumb actress but-”

“You’re not dumb. You’re one of the smartest people I’ve ever met,” he said. You blinked and he offered a half smile. “You have an ability to push through panic and be logical. I know guys with all the training in the world that can’t do that. You’re not a dumb actress. It’s obvious that you were raised to be intelligent.”

“My point is, I will do what you tell me to when it’s those hard moments. But I have confidence that you were wrong before. You can like someone, maybe even care about them like a friend, and still be able to protect them. I actually think it’ll make you better at your job.”

“Give me one example of where that works. Just one.”

“Maybe you want to try talking to your bestie, Jared,” you said. “Or literally most anyone in a relationship anywhere.”

“Touche,” he said. He smiled and nodded. “No more cold shoulder.”

“Thanks.”

“So I should try the macaroni with my steak?” he asked.

“And the green beans. You get two sides. You can get however many you want actually. The dessert selection here is even better than the steak if you can believe it.”

“I’ll have to check it out,” he said. “But no green beans. Traumatic childhood incident with them.”

“I better not be attacked by the cabbage patch kids. They might just take you down,” you said, Jensen giggling to himself. “Oh, he does laugh. Good to know. The roasted truffle garlic fries are really good too.”

“Thanks,” he said. “I think I’ll check them out.”

“Do you want to sit with us?” you asked, nodding back towards the table.

“I better not. I don’t think your brothers like me very much,” he said. “I got a better vantage point over here anyways.”

“Vantage point?” you asked.

“Got a weird feeling is all. I want to stay sharp tonight,” he said. You nodded and turned to go, Jensen catching your bicep. “If something happens, what do you do?”

“Duck and cover and wait for you to get me,” you said.

“Good girl. You did read my instructions.”

“Yup. Even read the part about how to get out of your hands being tied behind your back. Unfortunately, I’m not flexible enough and my ass is too big for that,” you said. He chuckled and you smirked. “Oh you know it is.”

“I’m not opposed to that fact,” he said. You went wide eyed and he laughed. “My boss is hot, what can I say.”

“You better stick to the one drink after all, Ackles,” you said, laughing as you lightly whacked his arm. “Try the triple brownie sundae for dessert. You won’t regret it.”

“Thanks, Y/N.”

“I think I gained five pounds,” said Michael, stretching out in his seat nearly two hours later, the waiter bringing over the check. You frowned at the bill but it was what you were expecting. You stuck your card in the pocket and caught the waiter pretty quickly. It was getting late and you were tired. Even your step-brothers were getting quiet so you hoped to get home quickly.

The waiter returned and you wrote out a tip, sticking your card back in your wallet and purse. You stretched as you stood up, your step brothers taking their time to get to their feet. You headed over towards Jensen when the sound of glass shattering caught your attention. You turned your head and heard tires screeching outside, spotting that the window at the front of the restaurant was gone now. You barely saw the cop car driving by before you heard sharp little noises in the air and felt like you got hit by a truck.

Suddenly you were on the ground, Jensen on top of you. Nick and Michael were ducked down under the table along with most everyone in the restaurant, some people at the bar hopping over the counter and diving behind the back. The whole place was silent and you all heard the front door to the place open abruptly. Jensen stood up in one smooth motion, his gun out and aimed, a shot ringing out a second later as someone yelled. A few seconds later there was a loud echo of feet, Jensen setting his gun on the ground and holding up his hands. Police filled in the place, two very angry looking officers rushing over to him and barking orders.

“It’s okay,” said Jensen to you as he knelt down.

Less than five minutes later he was released and some hostess was thanking him over and over still for stopping the guy that had come in looking for trouble. Jensen shrugged it off, only grazing the guy and the police pretty impressed with him for doing so.

“Are we free to go?” asked Jensen, an officer nodding. He waved for you and your step-brothers to follow, Jensen driving the four of you back to your place quickly. Nick and Michael took their rental car back to their hotel, neither one much in the mood to talk after what had happened.

Jensen checked that the house was secure before he went to his room and shut the door. You weren’t sure if he was okay or not. He seemed pretty calm but he had shot a guy, if only barely. Instead of heading to your bedroom, you wandered down the hall to his area of the house. There was a guest suite there he used for his bed and bathroom but he rarely used it unless he was going to bed and he always, always told you when he was turning in for the night.

As you were about to knock on the door you heard the faint sound of a shower and nodded. He was simply cleaning up. It didn’t sound like a bad idea to yourself honestly. You went down the hall to your room, flipping on the light. It was a soft white in there, the wall behind the bed a shiplap that led up to wood beams going across the vaulted ceiling. Another light was flipped on in the bathroom and you stepped under the shower for a few minutes, washing off your face and skin. After five minutes you went out to the bedroom and over to the closet, finding a pajama shirt and shorts to slip into. Your hair was thrown up in a messy bun and you found your oversized fleece hoodie you occasionally slept in. Tucking it under your arm, you headed out of the room and back down the hall, Jensen’s door still shut.

“Jensen?” you said, knocking on the door lightly. “Can I come in?”

“Yeah,” he said. Carefully you pushed the door open, Jensen walking out of his bathroom in just his boxer briefs, wiping a towel over his head. He tugged it down and stared at you, your eyes going to his chest, legs and everywhere in between.

“I uh, wanted to make sure you were alright,” you said, ripping your eyes away and meeting his gaze. He nodded and tossed his towel back into the laundry basket by the closet.

“I’m fine. You?”

“Yeah. I uh-”

“No need to be nervous around me,” he said.

“Right,” you said, Jensen walking right in front of you before stopping. “I just wanted to make sure you were okay and to say thanks.”

“It’s my job,” he said.

“Still,” you said. “I...here. I thought you might like this.”

“A hoodie?” he asked as you handed him the fleece. “What’s this for?”

“S’my bad day hoodie. I wear it to bed sometimes. Makes me feel better,” you said with a shrug.

“Old boyfriend’s?” he asked as he pulled it on, a soft smile spreading across his cheeks. “It’s so soft. Thanks, Y/N.”

“You’re welcome,” you said.

“So was it the boyfriends? Or you get it for yourself?” he asked.

“It was a birthday present for my dad. He died the week before. I never got to give it to him.”

“I shouldn’t be wearing this,” he said, moving to take it off when you caught his wrists. He was so much stronger than you but he let you manhandle him and move his hands back to his sides.

“It fits you better than it ever did me. Besides, I think you’re a little on edge and not telling me which is fine. It’s good for that,” you said. “I want you to keep it.”

“Y/N, I can’t keep something like this,” he said. You stared at him, Jensen swallowing. “It’s important to you.”

“Yes. But you gave me your blanket and wouldn’t let me return it. Fair is fair,” you said.

“Y/N-”

“S’an order, Jensen. Keep it.”

“Yes mam,” he said quietly.

“I hate when you call me that,” you said, moving your hands away from him.

“I know you do,” he said, a quick smirk crossing his face. “Why aren’t you using this yourself tonight?”

“I got my blanket. I’m good,” you said.

“It doesn’t explain why you’re giving me this though.”

“Lately, something else has been making me feel better and safe. My dad would have liked you.”

“Your father was a good person. A brave person,” said Jensen.

“You know how he died,” you said, Jensen returning a nod. “I used to be really angry at him. Why’d he have to go help that woman? He could have walked past and been alive. But since I got older, if I was that woman being attacked, I would pray for a man like that to come help me. I know he was good.”

“I will do my very best to be that man for you,” he said.

“I know you will. If you need something, come get me,” you said.

“Y/N,” he said just as you spun around. “May I have the morning off? You will be with family and my sister is in town for the day for work. I’d like to get lunch with her if I could.”

“Take the day,” you said with a smile, looking back over your shoulder. “She can come to dinner if you like.”

“She’s got a flight back at five thirty,” he said. “Thanks though.”

“It’s no problem,” you said. “Goodnight, Jensen.”

“Goodnight,” he said. You pulled his door shut after yourself and went down to your own bedroom to get under the covers. You stared up at the ceiling, hearing a light pitter patter on the rooftop. Rain was so rare in LA that you normally welcomed it when it came around. It reminded you of back home in a way.

A text popped up on your phone just as you were closing your eyes. It was from Gen and was a link to some news article about the restaurant, a picture of you and Jensen front and center.

You wrote back you were fine and turned off your phone, knowing you’d have to deal with questions in the morning.

________

A/N: Read Part 5 here!

#spn #supernatural #jensen ackles #jensen ackles au #jensen ackles x reader #jensen ackles x you #au #bodyguard!AU #bodyguard!jensen #bodyguard!jensen x reader #spn fanfic #supernatural fanfiction

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storiesforallfandoms · 4 years

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maybe i should ~ tommy lee;the dirt

word count: 1512

request?: yes!

“Could you do a tommy lee story based on the prompt “I’m too sober for this.” “You don’t even drink.” “Maybe I should start.””

description: in which the hate starts to get to her, and she considers ways to numb the pain

pairing: tommy lee x female!reader

warnings: swearing, mentions of alcohol abuse

masterlist

“Look at this shit, man,” Tommy groaned as he threw a magazine onto the table in the tour bus. On the cover was a picture taken of his girlfriend at a very unflattering angle, with yet another offensive caption underneath it.

“How do they keep managing to catch (Y/N) at her worse?” Nikki questioned as he took the magazine in his hand.

“Man, I don’t get why the paparazzi keep targeting her like this,” Tommy sighed. “She’s done nothing, she’s just my girlfriend. But ever since day one they’ve dragged her name through the mud for no reason.”

“You should call her, man. See if she’s seen this one yet,” Vince told him.

“I will when we stop. God, I hope she hasn’t seen anything.”

The minute the bus parked, Tommy raced for the phone to call (Y/N). It rang for longer than usual, which made Tommy feel uneasy. He wondered if maybe the time difference meant she was at work or still in bed, but he was only in a few states over. The time differences couldn’t have been that bad, could they?

Finally, her voice answered, “Hello?”

“Hey baby!” Tommy said, trying to sound cheerful until he got a hint from her tone as to if she had seen the article. “What are you doing right now?”

“Still in bed,” she said, her voice still even. It was killing Tommy to not know, but he didn’t want to flat out ask her if she had seen the magazine in case she hadn’t.

“What time is it there? Isn’t it time for work?” Tommy tried again.

“I’m off today.”

Tommy sighed, realizing the subtle approach was going nowhere. “Are you okay, baby?”

He heard her sniffle, a tiny action that broke her heart. “No.”

“Did you see the magazine?”

“Of course I fucking saw it, Tommy! Someone put it on my fucking doorstep!”

This was new information to Tommy. He wondered how anyone knew where he and (Y/N) lived. He made a mental note to put out an announcement that a huge lawsuit and restraining order would be coming to whoever found (Y/N)’s address.

“I’m sorry they’re still doing this, (Y/N). I don’t get what their problem is, you’re literally just...existing.”

(Y/N) sighed on the other end, and Tommy could hear her holding back sobs. “You know what? I’m too sober for this.”

“Baby, you don’t even drink.”

“Maybe I should start.”

This concerned Tommy greatly. Unlike Tommy, (Y/N) wasn’t one for the partying and excessive drinking. She was very much a good girl, a perfect balance to Tommy’s rockstar ways. To know things were getting so bad that she was considering getting intoxicated to deal with it broke Tommy’s heart.

“Listen, I’m coming home tomorrow. Just...wait for me, okay baby? Don’t do anything yet.”

There was a brief pause and Tommy wondered if he had lost her. He started rooting around in his pocket for change when her soft voice spoke again.

“Okay, I won’t. Get home soon, okay?”

“I’ll try my best, baby.”

~~~~~~

The drive home seemed to last forever. Tommy couldn’t help but bob his leg anxiously the closer the bus got to them getting home. He stared out the window, intently, waiting for the familiar sights to come into view again.

The minute the bus came to a stop, Tommy grabbed his bags and threw them into the car waiting for him. He called a brief goodbye to his friends before driving off towards the house he shared with (Y/N).

He hoped that he wouldn’t be coming home to the worst. He hoped (Y/N) was sober, that she hadn’t touched a single drop of alcohol in the place. He was glad he wasn’t stupid enough to bring his cocaine home with him, there was no telling how she’d react to that.

Tommy pulled into the driveway and fumbled with his key before finally getting the door open.

“Baby? I’m home!”

There was no response. Tommy’s heart pounded in his chest as he looked around the house for his girlfriend. As he made his way to the bedroom, he began to think of things worse than just (Y/N) getting drunk.

Luckily enough, he opened the bedroom door and there she was, just laying in bed. She lazily turned her head to look at him and gave him the best fake smile she could muster. “Hey baby. You’re finally home.”

Tommy crossed the room to scoop (Y/N) up in his arms. A genuine giggle of excitement slipped from her lips as Tommy held her close, hugging her as tightly as he could without actually hurting her.

“I’m glad to see you, too, baby,” she giggled, wiggling out of Tommy’s arms to kiss the top of his head.

“I’m just glad you’re okay,” he told her as she got back into bed. He followed her lead, wrapping his arms around her again to hold her close to him. “I’ve been so worried since yesterday. When I got here and you didn’t come to meet me at the door...”

He trailed off, afraid to voice his biggest fear.

(Y/N) sighed and settled into his body. “I’m sorry, Tommy, I never meant to worry you. I just...I haven’t felt right all day. I couldn’t even bring myself to get out of bed when you got home, although I am happy that you’re home. I’ve missed you so much.”

Tommy gave her a slight squeeze and kissed her forehead. “I missed you, too.”

They fell into a comfortable silence for a while. Tommy absentmindedly played with (Y/N)’s hair, thinking of everything that the press kept saying about her.

He was still so angry over the magazine headline from the day before, and the news that people were starting to harass (Y/N) at their own house. He couldn’t understand what anyone’s problem with (Y/N) was. Even looking at her now - no makeup, dressed just a baggy hoodie and pajama shorts with a sad look on her face - she looked like the most beautiful woman in the world. She was so kind to everyone, even people she didn’t know. Tommy just couldn’t understand why the press liked to bash on her so much.

“They never treated Heather like this,” (Y/N) mumbled against his chest.

“What?” Tommy asked, although he knew exactly what she had said.

“I said they never treated Heather like this!” (Y/N) repeated louder this time. “God, the press loved her! The sweet little princess that had her heart broken by the big rockstar drummer.”

“You can’t possibly be comparing yourself to my ex that I cheated on,” Tommy said. “Baby, they loved her because she was a popular actress, and because she married me at the height of my fame. Once we got a divorce they forgot all about the both of us.”

“Then why can’t they just fucking forget me?!” (Y/N) exclaimed, pulling herself away from Tommy. The sudden outburst shocked him. He didn’t think he had ever heard (Y/N) raise her voice before. “Or at least just leave me alone! I’m not even fucking famous, what do they get out of this?”

Tommy took (Y/N) in his arms again and shushed her. “It’s okay, baby, please don’t let what they say get to you. They’re just vultures, all of them. You can’t let that go to your head.”

“It’s hard to not let it go to your head when it just feels like everyone hates you,” (Y/N) said, her voice breaking as she attempted to hold back tears. “I haven’t seen one nice thing be written about me in the media, and what makes it worse is that everyone I know also sees what’s been written! My co-workers are constantly making snide remarks about the things that have been written about me, and my friends and family just give me this look of pity whenever something new comes out.”

Tommy gave her another reassuring squeeze. “I’m sorry, baby.”

(Y/N) shook her head. “You shouldn’t have to be sorry. This isn’t your fault.”

“It feels like it is. I wish I could protect you more than I have, that I wasn’t the reason you’re in the spotlight.” Tommy took her face in his hands and tilted it for her to look at him. “But don’t ever believe a single bad thing the press writes about you, and don’t let what others say get to your head. You’re an absolutely beautiful woman with a heart of gold, and I love you more than I could ever describe. I’m so lucky to have you in my life, I don’t deserve someone like you.”

Tears were forming in (Y/N)’s eyes as she leaned forward to kiss Tommy. “I love you so much.”

“I love you, too, baby.”

She settled back into his arms, resting her head on his chest. “Don’t leave again, okay? Stay with me for a while.”

“I promise, baby, I will be.”

#Tommy Lee #tommy lee imagine #tommy lee x reader #machine gun kelly #machine gun kelly imagine #machine gun kelly x reader #colson baker #colson baker imagine #colson baker x reader #The Dirt #the dirt imagine #imagine #netflix #request #one shot

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thatgirlwritingficsatnight · 3 years

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Odi et Amo I

Odi et amo. Quare id faciam fortasse requiris? nescio, sed fieri sentio et excrucior

Catullus, 85

After a few years of working in the USA for Disney and playing the role of The White Fox in Marvel Cinematic Universe you came back to your motherland - Korea only to be greeted with hatred and contempt. To make things harder for you the universe sends you the most irritating neighbour ™. Will you be able to find your happiness and accomplish your dream of becoming loved actress in Korea without complying with standards of patriarchal society?

pairing: Park Jinyoung x reader

genre: actor au

warnings: angst, foul language (please don’t read it if you’re not old enough)

words: 5582

A/N: Hi this is my first fanfic ever, and so there are few things I have to say before you hopefully enjoy reading it. 1. English is not my first language so there may be some grammatical errors. I’m sorry, perhaps in the future there will be someone to proofread my works. 2. I’m terribly sorry for my interpunction :( for some reason they don’t teach it here and so it may be terrible. I am reading about it more but it’s not easy for me as I haven’t practiced enough. I’m really sorry if it’s awkward. 3. This was supposed to be long oneshot, but I was told not all people enjoy long reads on tumblr like I do, so I decided to make a miniseries out of it. Let me know if you enjoyed it and if you want me to write some scenarios, or post more of my works (i have a lot of them in the depths of my drive lol). Love, thatgirlwritingficsatnight.

***

You sat in spacious sofa in your old apartment in Korea. A sigh leaving your lips as you looked through the headlines.

"The black sheep of Korean show biz comes back after four years in USA"

"Whose heart will she eat now? National heartbreaker came back to Korea"

"Go back to USA you wh*re! - internet went wild over L/N Y/N"

"L/N Y/N comes back in outrageous style"

Most of them were a summary or perhaps a reminder for k-netizens why they should hate you; it's because you dated who you wanted to and for how long you wanted to, it's because this one time in the talk show you told off male host when he kept asking about your private life and because the other time you told another one to stop giving you all the questions about clothes and make up while your male co-star got to answer some deep questions about character development and that's to name the few reasons that came instantly to your mind. Of course some articles had to focus on your airport fashion too. The conservative Korean society had a problem with your bra, or rather a lack of thereof under your designer t-shirt. You left out an irritated groan as you scrolled to the comments. They were vicious and vulgar, you don't know what else did you expect honestly. You tossed the phone and buried your face in your hands fighting the urge to tweet something about the nasty people and how they should keep their antediluvian opinions to themselves. You sighed again perhaps if you were in a different country you'd do that, but here with systematic misogyny, where women were supposed to always smile and nod their heads, here where they got paid 60% of men's pay... you'd most likely be crucified. Then again who if not you would come to your defense? You knew the answer — no one, that realization was enough to anger you even more. The blood was boiling inside you as you snatched your phone back and went into Twitter silently mouthing apologies to your manager who'd be blowing your phone in just a few minutes.

"Yes, I don't wear bras. No, it's not a topic for your article nor your problem. I also know it may shock some people but my dating life is not a topic for your entertainment either."

"It baffles me how Korean society thinks its country is in the group of one of the most civilized ones but still treats women as if we were stuck in 50s."

Your phone was already blowing with notifications, you could see some new articles already popping and soon after that it buzzed as your manager tried to reach you. You silenced your phone and left it on the coffee table while you moved to the kitchen. You got yourself a lamp of wine and watched always busy streets of Seoul from a window. It was already dark and it looked like rivers of light with cars and street lights constantly illuminating them. You were deep in your thoughts as you pondered if you made a good decision. You had a good life in California. You had your best friend there, a house with a pool and many good opportunities for roles you declined. In those four years you became an international star after your role as Marvel's White Fox — a gumiho superhero. You knew in a year or two Disney would ask you to come back to make more movies and most likely you would but you couldn't stay in the USA any longer. Somehow, even though it seemed illogical considering the warm welcome you've got, you still missed your home. You missed Korea the country that loved to hate you. You weren't exaggerating when you said they loved to hate you, for instance you always played villains in Korean films and dramas and the Korean audience loved it. They loved to hate your characters and so every time you tried to audition for a role that would be first or second lead you'd always be cast as the villain. The very first time you played a good character was when you portrayed the White Fox for Marvel, they chose you because you were half American (on your father's side) and because you used to play femme fatales and that was kinda the character. You accepted the role secretly hoping that it would change the way Korea has seen you. It didn't. They said you were too Westernised and that you weren't true Korean and had their own perfect casting with actresses that weren't as scandalous as you. Well, at least the rest of the world loved you. Nonetheless, you came back. You still weren't sure if it was a good idea or for how long, or even if you'd work here or just relax; you were just happy you could eat unhealthy convenience store food whenever you felt like and that kimchi was a standard and not something you'd only find in specific shops. Speaking of, you craved some ramyun with cheese and perhaps some yakult as well. You changed your clothes into a pair of black sweats and a black hoodie and chose to wear a black cap and face mask as well. You checked yourself in a huge mirror in the corridor. Your outfit screamed two things: first was "I am a crazy murderer from drama" and and second "look at me I'm a celebrity". You sighed. Honestly what else could you wear? You decided not to change and went out to the nearest convenience store.

You walked slowly taking your time to get to the store while listening to Def Soul hoping lazy beats would calm your nerves. You bopped your head to the rhythm as you entered the store and went straight into ramyun section. You picked your favourite spicy one and grabbed some cheese, yakult and cherry coke. The girl working there seemed really young and you caught her yawning. She apologized and you smiled warmly although she probably couldn't see it through the mask.

"Don't worry about it I'm tired today as well." you said, and she smiled. You paid with a card and regretted not withdrawing any money so that you could tip her. You remember when you were just a bit younger than her, working in similar way but back in the USA; she’d appreciate extra cash. You took the ramyun to prepare it and hummed as you waited for the noodles to get soft. Food always got you to feel better. You were spreading cheese on your noodles when middle-aged men entered the shop. Soon you'd believe it's not your night or perhaps that you got some bad karma, or that you were just cursed. The men came up to the cashier and asked for a pack of cigarettes. You were about to slurp the first noodles when he spoke.

"When will you finish your shift cutie maybe I can pick you up?" He chuckled and the girl tried to smile politely although anyone with eyes could see how uncomfortable she felt. She tried to decline his advances with a small scared voice clearly she was too young to feel comfortable enough to just curse him out.

"You sluts are always the same. You smile at me flirt with me and then act all fucking.."

"Aish!" you didn't let him finish. And he turned your way surprised someone else was in the store. "I lost all appetite," you dropped the chopsticks next to the bowl and moved your gaze at the male: disgust was rolling off from you in waves, and he flinched upon meeting your eyes, "then again who wouldn't if they had to eat in the presence of trash?" You watched as his face got all red and furious, it seemed almost twisted now. "How dare you speak like that to me, you bi..." once again he couldn't finish his sentence this time you silenced him with your swift actions. You closed the distance between the two of you and grabbed his hand firmly. Then you put it behind his back and twisted it painfully enough for him to groan.

"Call me a bitch, I dare you." you said quietly, but he didn't respond, he just jerked trying to escape your hold. He smelled like tobacco, digested alcohol and grease. You scrunched your nose and took him out of the store. You pushed him lightly, and yet he still lost balance and fell. He shot you a glare full of hate and fury while you tried to remain calm. Truth to be told you were scared, yes you jumped in to help the girl, and successfully silenced him, but that was most likely only because he wasn't sober. You were silently asking universe to help you out as you mustered your courage and played your part of "fearless Y/N”.

"Leave or I'll call the police and tell them you harassed both me and the girl." He stood up and spit under your legs before he left. You sighed, a tight knot unravelling itself finally in your belly, adrenaline that was brought up with the surge of fury disappearing now, leaving you bit wobbly. You made mental note to thank the director of The White Fox for making you take those material arts classes, they came in handy. You came back to the store, you didn’t pay attention to the girl that watched you in awe. You just wanted to enjoy your noodles. Finally, able to take the bite you let out disgusted groan they got too soft. Letting out resigned sigh you opened the yakult.

"Miss Y/N.." small voice started next to you. The girl was blushing and smiling. She was cute, had long brown hair and a mole just under her left eye. You smiled back and it seemed to encourage her. "Thank you. You are like the coolest unnie ever. I will always support you and fight anyone that calls you names and.." You chuckled at her eagerness and sudden flood of words. "Thanks kid. What's your name? "Kim Seoyun." "Nice to meet you Kim Seoyun. I'm L/N Y/N." you said with a smile, and she blushed even more. You looked through the window and bit the inside of your cheek. What if he comes back when you're gone, you couldn’t risk it. "Tell me Seoyun when do you end your shift?" She took out a phone from her pocket. "Oh, in ten minutes." "Great I'll wait for you and order you a taxi." "Ah, unnie you don't have to… you already helped me enough and.." "Nonsense", you cut her off "he may come back and I'll sleep better knowing you are safe at home."

She nodded and came back to work. Leaving you with your soggy and lukewarm noodles. You thought about throwing it out but you hated wasting food and so you made yourself eat at least a bit although now it was cold and awfully soft. Ten minutes passed rather quickly and soon you found yourself standing next to the taxi with Seoyun. You gestured her to get in, but she stood in front of you and suddenly bowed deeply while extending her hands in front of you. Much to your surprise she was giving you a popsicle.

"Y/N-unnie I know it's not much but I wanted to thank you..."

You grinned at her while taking the gift. You quickly unwrapped it and tried it, it was strawberry flavoured.

"Thank you. It's the best popsicle I've ever had." You said honestly. Seoyun blushed and entered the car but before the taxi took off she lowered the car window and screamed.

"Y/N-unnie from today I'm your biggest fan! Unnie fighting!" You laughed.

"Mmm. Thank you!" After that car took off and you happily walked back home. Earphones in, phone in your hand as you decided to order some food since the ramyun sadly haven't been quite satisfying. You slurped at the popsicle even though it was the time of year when nights got colder. The taste of strawberries melted on your tongue. It was the first time someone in Korea told you they were your fan, it was also the first time a Korean fan gave you a gift. Despite the chilly air, and cold ice against your lips you felt warmth spreading from your chest. Grinning to yourself, you scrolled through different restaurants still thinking of what should you eat and then you bumped into someone or rather someone bumped into you. Popsicle fell to the ground and so did your phone with earphones brutally torn out from your ears. The man who bumped into you was in a very similar attire as your own he even wore a mask and a cap. You frowned upon realizing the gift from your first Korean fan was melting next to you. You were however about to apologize before he spoke in irritated tone while collecting some boxes scattered around you two.

"Next time watch where you're going." The blood inside you boiled the third time this evening and you snapped back at him before he could add anything else.

"Maybe you should watch where you're going." your tone was so aggressive it was clear all of the frustrations from today's evening build up in you. You gathered your things quickly.

"Excuse me..." he said straightening as he glared at you. His tone was promising a fight or a lecture at least. You didn't feel like any of that so once again today you didn't let someone finish their sentence, a habit of yours as it seems.

"Apologies accepted, asshole." you said fiercely and left him standing there with his stupid boxes in a state of shock. You got into the elevator and decided not to pay anyone any more of your thoughts tonight. You smiled at wooden popsicle stick and quickly forgot about the man downstairs.

Jinyoung was still shocked but also amused by your witty comeback. He knew he reacted upon his emotions when he was rude to you. He was just angry that he had to move the second time in the last two months. Sasaengs somehow found out about his last apartment in which he lived for only two weeks and just started feeling at home. Few days ago they found him, and he was harassed once again. Tired and angry he acted without thinking when you bumped into him and his belongings scattered. He wanted to apologize right away but you growled back at him, and he got irritated, so he wanted to lecture you or at least tell you not to interrupt other people when they are speaking, but you did just that and in very smart matter at that as well. Now Jinyoung was riding an elevator trying to pinpoint your face, he was sure he had seen you somewhere already. He entered his flat and sighed as he realized he had to unpack once again. He decided it could wait till morning.

You were woken up by both pounding and drilling in the wall behind your head. With long groan you pulled a pillow over your head but it didn't help much. You checked the time on your phone. It was seven thirty in the morning and you couldn't fall asleep till three - courtesy of your jet lag. You tried to ignore it hoping that you were sleepy and tired enough to fall asleep, unfortunately to no avail.

"Who the hell does the renovation on Saturday morning?" you asked your own walls with furious tone. You left the bed deciding to speak with the person next door. You didn't even bother to change from your PJ or brush your teeth, or hair, or even to throw something over yourself. You left your apartment in your bunny pyjama set, a gift from your best friend. Soon you were pounding angrily at the door. It took quite some time before the drilling inside stopped and someone opened the door. The man who opened seized you up and down with his eyes and coughed in his fist diverting his gaze somewhere else.

"Can I help you?" he asked his voice was a bit distressed. "I sure hope you can. It's Saturday seven in the morning." you were fuming, and he finally looked at you although he kept his eyes stuck to your face. "Ah... thank you for informing me. Are you working as personal calendar and clock for all of your neighbours or am I on some special treatment?" he asked sarcastically and smirked which made you: first bewildered and second even more mad if that's possible. "Let me rephrase that for you: it's Saturday, early morning and you are drilling in a wall." "Well, technically it was Mr Ahn who was drilling, I was enjoying myself with a book." He clearly enjoyed teasing you, there was this gleam in his eyes. "Don't you think that's a bit too early for a renovation?" your voice was seething with venom although you tried to keep your cool. "Quite contrary. I checked with the building manager, and I am only supposed to keep quiet between ten p.m and seven a.m. as you can see I even waited thirty minutes." He smiled at you and in that second you hated him, his stupid brown hair, strangely symmetrical face, weirdly tight cardigan and the fact that you couldn't do much since he was in the right. You just turned on your heels ready to storm off back to your flat when he spoke again. "Ah, and might I add I just love your fashion sense." he raised one brow and his eyes once again travelled through your body. "Excuse me?"

"Apologies accepted." Your face went from frowned and angry to shocked in a second, and he laughed at your reaction before closing the doors and leaving you cursing yourself, your luck and your best friend who thought it would be cute to buy you pyjama set which contained of hoodie with ears and a bunny tail and some shorts.

You entered your apartment, deep red setted on your face from both anger and embarrassment. As soon as you closed the doors the drilling continued. You cursed under the breath and went to shower. You stood long under the stream letting the water wash away both dirt and emotions. Once you were clean and ready for the day you’ve decided to ditch your flat for now since it was too loud for you anyway. This time you went for less sporty look but still all black. It was a turtleneck, slacks, martens and a beret. Chic and comfortable. You did your makeup and hair and went out for breakfast. The car was already waiting for you when you got downstairs. You pulled a black mask over your face and greeted the driver who didn't talk much and so you didn't have to worry about the small talk. You scrolled through your phone checking the messages you got from your manager — there was about twenty of them and somehow each was written with different emotion: rage, irritation, sadness, hopelessness and so on. You sighed knowing that you should probably apologize for the troubles you caused him. Then again what were you supposed to do, not react when half of this country is calling you names? You signed back in your Twitter only to be greeted by thousands of notifications. Most of which were trolls and haters commenting on your tweets with occasional death threats in your DMs. You tried your very best not to read each and every comment knowing that even though you were strong it still affected you. You were; however, positively surprised when you found some supporting voices. There was your best friend (obviously) who fiercely defended you and called out everyone on their bull, he even threatened legal action and you smiled brightly at his tweets, but there were also few Korean celebrities who took your side and defended you as well. Most importantly there were few normal people, fans perhaps, who applauded you and thanked for speaking out. You smiled when you saw user "Y/NUnnieFandomPresidentSeoyun" somewhere in your notifications. Somehow traffic was still bad even on weekend and it took you forty minutes to get to the café you had in mind. Once you got there however you didn't regret time spend on travel. It was café in quiet part of town, it wasn't very popular since it wasn't in Gangnam but because of that it was one of your favourites. No paparazzi, no dispatch, no other celebrities.

The place itself wasn't very big but it had huge windows and was located in front of the park so you could easily grab a coffee and go for a walk or just stay inside and watch people and kids spending their time at the park. The interior wasn't anything special either, it wasn't one of those Instagram worthy cafés. It had simple modern style. You came in and ordered coffee and some toasts and sat in front of the window. There were few people inside so you sat without your mask freely and wondered if your friend was already sleeping. It was around nine here so in Los Angeles it was probably midnight. You texted him asking if he's sleeping, and he just responded by facetiming you right away. His black hair was still wet from shower, and he wasn't wearing any shirt.

"Yah! Y/N-ah!" he scolded you immediately. "How dare you not text or call your best friend for over a day. Do you know how worried I was?" You rolled your eyes at him.

"It's not like you contacted me either. And put some clothes on Tuan."

"Never. I know you secretly love watching my chest."

"Gross. Anyway.. I haven't called because I was tired yesterday, you know jet lag and all of that, so don't get mad at me."

"How are you now?" His playfulness was replaced by concern and it was clear he wasn't really asking about the quality of your sleep which was in fact terrible thanks to your lovely neighbour.

"I'm fine." He gave you the look. "Really. Honestly I didn't expect anything better from what I got, so I'm fine Mark."

"I shouldn't have let you go. You know what? Those people don't deserve you. Come back to the USA and let's live together again I'll even cook. Or I can come to you I'll fight them and keep you company. I'm can easily stream from there.." You giggled at him and he grinned. "You know I'm serious though you can come back I already miss you anyway. God, I should have married you maybe you wouldn't leave me Y/N-ah..." he was whiny again and you laughed. It was an inside joke between you. Both yours and his parents would always tell you to just marry already but neither of you felt anything romantic towards the other one. You'd known each other since you were two and both of you had treated each other like siblings ever since.

"You should have and now it's too late. I'll find myself new victim and feast on their heart like a true gumiho I am." you said in theatrical manner while munching on your toast.

"Honestly who the fuck writes those articles?"

"I don't know but I'm pretty sure... Oh my god. You've got to be kidding me." you said and tried to lower your face down so that the person passing in front of the window you've been sitting by couldn't see you.

"What? What? Is that paparazzi? Your ex? Is that paparazzi rented by your ex?" You frowned at your friend.

"What? No? It's my asshole neighbour." "Never heard of him. Why are we hiding anyway? You can just tell him to back off. Last time I checked you were great at that." He showed you two thumbs up and smiled broadly. "I'm hiding because I'm embarrassed and I don't want to talk to him." "Why?" he laughed. "What did you do?" "I didn't do anything it was that stupid PJ you got me..." you whispered at him while trying to make yourself as small as possible. "Oh my god. One day in Korea and you already got yourself a one-night stand. This is not how I raised you. What would your mother say?" he teased you and giggled. "For the love of... it's not like that." you said angrily a bit too loud perhaps since the men in question who was just ordering by the counter turned around and looked you dead in the eyes. His neutral expression changing to surprised before it transformed to smirk. You cursed yourself and Mark and bowed your head slightly and awkwardly before you turned around to face your now laughing friend.

"You should see your face."

"Shut up. I hate you."

"You love me."

"What a surprise." Third voice spoke up by your side and you cringed a little before you put on your cold mask on.

"A surprise indeed." You said, your neighbour moved his eyes from your face to the screen of your phone carefully placed against the glass. Mark was still there, still half naked and smirking at you.

"Am I interrupting something?"

"Yes."

"No." you and Mark said at the same time and you send him death glare regretting that you couldn't kick him right now. "I was about to go to sleep anyway. Love you."

He disappeared without waiting for your response. You let out soft sigh and reach out for phone.

"Do you mind if I join you?" The man was already sitting next to you. He was smiling at you and perhaps any other person would say it was a warm type of smile but you felt like he was mocking you. Constantly. You straightened up in your seat and eyed him closely. He was wearing the same tight cardigan, it was accentuating his broad frame and muscles hidden underneath soft, brown cashmere and simple but well fitted blue jeans. You had to admit he was handsome and had somehow angelic face which only made you cringe once you compared it to his personality or at least to what he showed you already. "I don't think that's a good idea." You said after a pause, his expression didn't change for a second, and he sipped on coffee that blushing waitress brought a few seconds ago. "How so?" His voice was sweet and melodic, it irritated you even more. "I am a celebrity, there might be an article about me having coffee with you tomorrow." You kept your tone intentionally bored as you played with the spoon. He laughed and you changed your mind his speaking voice couldn't be called melodic when his laughter sounded so beautifully.

"That's funny. I'm celebrity as well I think I'll survive." It wasn't surprising at all, he was too good-looking to not be an idol, a model or an actor perhaps. You held back another sigh. You could already see the headlines "Y/N attacks again will this man keep up with her appetite" or perhaps "One day in Korea, and she already dates — check out Y/N and her new boy toy". "Yeah I doubt it." you said but quickly added. "Weren't you supposed to renovate your apartment anyway?" "I left it to Mr Ahn it got too loud for me to read in peace."

"I can imagine." Sarcasm was basically dripping from your tongue which only seemed to amuse him even more. His eyes were now twinkling and you thought that he must be a devil in disguise. "I must say it's very lucky that I met you here. What are the odds, right?" "Ah I wouldn't call it lucky, that's for sure." You were currently planning how to escape from this conversation. "So how about we get to know each other a bit better?" He proposed with a warm smile. "I don't think so. I don't even know you." "Oh. That's harsh you do know me. I'm your neighbour and this is our third meeting." He placed a hand over his heart and frowned in pain and you wondered how can one still look handsome while frowning before he continued. "Besides I can fix that. I'm Park Jinyoung nice to meet you. See now we know each other." You fought and urge to roll your eyes and you summoned the most polite looking smile you had in your arsenal. Your phone rang before you could say anything and you've never been more happy to see your manager's face appearing on your screen.

"I'm sorry I have to take it." you said politely, and he just nodded. "Oh I wasn't expecting you to pick up." "Ah manager-nim don't be like that I haven't been picking up only for one day." "Why are you so polite are you with someone?" "Yes." You glared at Jinyoung, he was watching you with a smile with coffee in his hand. "Ok, I can call later." "No!" you almost screamed and cleared your throat trying to remain composure. "No, it's fine." "O-ok. Do you have time today? We should meet and talk I just got something that may interest you. It's really nice drama. I know you said you don't want to play in any of those romantic stories but hear me out this one is..." you'd roll your eyes if not for your neighbour's curious eyes. "Of course when and where will we meet?" You decided to cut off his rumbling. "Really? Before departure, you said you won't play in any stupid drama again." "Ah, I see. I did say that. We should meet today, text me the address then." Hanging up on him, you hoped he got the brains to follow up with text. He thankfully did and your phone barked. Jinyoung laughed again and you gave him confused look. "Did your phone just bark at you?" You blushed against yourself. Was it so weird to have a dog's bark as your message sound? "Ah... yes. I like dogs." You cringed on yourself. Somehow today in front of this man you were constantly losing your cool. He either irritated you or made you flustered enough to forget any eloquent comebacks or eloquence at all. "Anyway it was nice meeting you Jinyoung-ssi but I have to meet up with my manager."

"Oh you're leaving without even properly introducing yourself?" He cocked a brow on you and smirked. You stood up and looked at him coldly. "I'm sorry I don't feel the need." You were about to leave before he spoke again. "Ah… running already... startled... like a true bunny. Come to think of it... it does have a nice ring into it, doesn't it? Bunny. It suits you and you even have a costume already." His voice was so extremely mocking that you felt the irritation buzzing in you like electricity. Not to mention he spoke so loudly the waitress that was blushing at him before now listened carefully. You groaned internally. What if she writes about it somewhere. Media won't let you live especially that he is your neighbour they'd say he is already in love with you. And "bunny" was such a couple pet name. You were in the midst of your internal crisis before he decided to speak again.

"Have nice day bun.." You reacted before you thought, your hand slapped against his mouth before he could say anything more. His eyes got bigger, he was clearly shocked that you were so close to him, that you touched him and that you didn't really care about your language. You on the other had were fuming. You've met your fair share of fuckboys, assholes and idiots but not one of them that had similar status to yours acted with such insolence in public where other people could see you. Well, almost none, perhaps your ex was the only one. You kept your voice quiet, loud enough only for him to hear.

"Shut up. And watch your tongue before I pull it out because the universe be my witness I will and I'll do it with pleasure. My name is not kitten, bunny or any other pet name your buffoon head comes up with. It's Y/N. My name is bloody Y/N." You hissed out and his hand reach out to yours. It was hot from coffee and soft even though his grasp was firm. He took your hand of his mouth and smiled.

"Nice to meet you."

You took a step back and send him the look that must have looked like you were trying to shoot daggers at him.

"I'm sure it is. Now if you excuse me. I don't want to be late."

You rushed to counter to pay only to find out it was already taken care of by Jinyoung. You furrowed your brows and wanted to give him his money back instantly but your phone buzzed and it was your cue to leave. The driver was here.

To Mark 🐰 💙 : One day Tuan... you'll pay for this betrayal

From Mark 🐰 💙 : ILY 2 good night. P.S. He seemed hot 👀

You rolled your eyes how hot was he didn't matter if his sole personality drove you crazy only after three brief meetings. You sighed. This was not how you wanted to spend this day: enraged twice and on your way to see your manager.

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cottoncandyjester · 3 years

Text

Pink roses (hikaru backstory part one)

Decided to explain hikaru more cause I love him

Warning this story contains: child abuse, heavy talks about incest, talk about sexual themes, toxic relationships

"such clear skin, what a cutie he would be perfect for our movie"

Hikaru kept his head down as he gripped the Lacy pink dress his mother made him wear. He was always dolled up like a little girl his mother said it was to get more people to love him but a part of him knew it was cause he looked adorable like this and older men liked that.

His mother and father were famous both actors and models, his older twin sisters were also gaining popularity for them coming out as transgender. Hikaru's little sister was starting her career as a child actress in movies, as the middle child hikaru was told that he always had to do things he never wanted to. That's how it was, he was told to smile and act cute after all being a star was practically the reason he was born.

"are you ready to start the movie?"

With a shaky nod hikaru nodded before following the men into a back room, what happened next was nothing short of horrific. He watched as his mother counted the large stack of money as they both sat in the back of the black van. With a shaking hand he reached out gripping his mother's arm only for her to coldly push his hand away.

"you didn't make nearly as much as you should have, didn't I tell you that wearing makeup will make them like you more? Guess we just have to try harder tommorow right?" Hikaru gulped harshly before giving his mother a nervous grin before nodding.

Hikaru's family always ignored him unless they needed something, everyone but his brothers they had a sick love for their baby brother. A sick love that shaped hikaru into the person he is, they were four years older than him. Hikaru was ten when their harassment began

"so pretty hika, like a little doll"

"how about you be our dollie? If you let us dress you up then maybe you'll get more attention from mother and father"

Hikaru was basically signing a deal with the devil but it worked, more and more attention was shown his way and he loved every ounce of it, every praise and worship sent him over the moon. He got anything he wanted as long as he smiled pretty during photoshoots and let his brothers have their sadistic fun.

"I want a dog."

"a dog? Oh sweetie dogs are filthy and disgusting"

"I WANT a dog"

Hikaru glared at his father who hated seeing hikaru so upset, how could he say no?plus his birthday was awfully close So the next day they took a drive out hikaru expected them to go to a pet store so he can pick out his furry friend but instead they stopped infront of a house.

"papa, where are we?"

"we're getting you a dog pumpkin, now this dog is very special. You have to train him extra hard even if he cries for you to stop..no matter how human he looks he isn't"

Hikaru was confused but followed his father into the house only to see a family, two boys and a mother. Hikaru didn't really focus on his father speaking or the screaming, instead he walked over to the oldest son and curiously touched him.

The two stared at each other for a few seconds before hikaru's father guided both boys home. Salem was forced to sit on the car floor and hikaru couldn't help but at confusion at his new..pet? He wanted a real dog this was a person granted the person was very pretty looking but they were still a person.

Once home hikaru was allowed to play with his new companion but he wasn't sure exactly what to do, how does one interact in a situation like this? Hikaru sat on his bed while salem sat on the floor in the corner of the room

"what's your name?"

"salem.."

Hikaru gave a small hum before hearing his brothers burst into his room as usual probably to toy with him once more.

"hika, we found a really cute maid outfit we wanna see you in"

"be our pretty catgirl meow meow~"

The two boys stopped and gazed at salem who whined slightly before curling up more out of fear. The two boys were very protective of hikaru so of course a random person in their sweet baby brother's room was a huge no. Yuuta, the older twin was like a wild bull when angry all he knew was rage. With one swift movement he snatched salem up holding him up by the back of his shirt like he was some alleycat.

"so, he finally got you your own dog? Well I suppose it's better than a cat why isn't it leashed up hika?"

"he probably doesnt know what to do..how adorable! This is his first dog"

The second twin was yuuji, he always reminded hikaru of a snake who manipulated everyone to get what he wanted cause he was cute, he usually hid behind yuuta poking his head out from behind his twin and always wearing such an innocent childish expression.

Hikaru stood infront of the boys unsure of how to save this situation, if he defended salem then his family might see him different and that terrified him more than ever. He gulped as he simply tried to mimic his brothers in the way they acted towards strangers or those lower than them

"g-give my mutt back already, he's mine I'll deal with him my way" he stood tall as he tried to seem rough but he wasn't expecting salem to bite but he winced at the sight of yuuta dropping him before kicking the poor boy so hard his back hit the wall

"stupid mutt! Ugh I have a mark! Hika you gonna let that mouth breather do that?" Hikaru glanced over at salem who slowly tried to stand up despite the intense pain throughout his entire body.

"what...should I do?"

This time it was yuuji who spoke up now moving to hug hikaru from behind with a dark grin, he slowly trailed his hands lower and lower...making hikaru feel dirty.

"bad dogs deserve to be beaten and punished, he's not a real human he's a dog in a human costume" hikaru felt his blood run Cold as he stared at the bruised shaking boy in the corner, what did this person do to him to warrant this abuse? Hikaru turned to face his brother only to tense at his cold expression.

"if you protect that thing, I swear we'll make you wish you were dead.. who knows what might happen if mother and father find out you want to make friends with commoners, we helped you so you don't have to do anymore of those scary movies..do you want to go back to that hika?"

Hikaru sucked in a sharp breath as he remembered all those dirty feelings that would go for hours upon hours, he felt like he cracked a little and tears filled his eyes thinking about that horrible horrible moment. "No! Please! No more! I can't do that again!" His blubbering gained both boys attention which resulted them sandwiching him in a hug, he was trapped both mentally and physically.

"be a good boy, we just want to help you"

"there's no one else you can trust hika, now you know what you have to do!"

They released him only to push him towards salem who was once again curled up shaking, the two locked eyes for a few minutes before hikaru closed his eyes tightly and slapped salem across the face as hard as he possibly could only to hear a tiny yelp from the boy. Hikaru slowly opened his eyes only to see salem crying while holding his cheek, the sting feeling hikaru felt reminded him that he went another day free from torment.

Hikaru slowly got more and more used to hitting salem after that, it came a point where he had forgotten why he was smacking him around. It became a point where hikaru became colder and crueler, he was truly acting like a member of the family.

One day hikaru can back from school heartbroken, he went into his room and laid in his bed ignoring salem who slept on the floor. Salem had never heard hikaru cry but the sound made his chest tighten, hikaru soon felt someone nudge him and he sat up only to see salem sitting on his knees in front of the bed.

Hikaru don't know what came over him but he ended up letting salem lay in bed with him that night. The two gazed at each other and it was salem who reached out grasping hikaru's hands and interlacing their fingers together. There was a long silence before hikaru gave a low huff

"salem.. you'll love me forever won't you?"

"yes master!"

Those words were what drove hikaru to press his lips against the male's the kiss definitely got far more intense and before the two knew it they were getting far more intimate, it was definitely a night hikaru couldn't forget but it was also a night that granted the two many consequences.

From the hallway two whispering voices were heard, two very angry and betrayed voices.

"I'll kill that damn mutt for dirtying hikaru!"

"poor hika, he's too innocent to make these choices he needs his big brothers. We should show him just how awful dogs are"

#yandere imagines #yandere #yandere ocs #tw toxic behavior #tw incest #tw childhood trauma

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itsuki-minamy · 3 years

Text

“SIX IDOLS”

CHAPTER 4: “THE PROBLEM OF KUSANAGI IZUMO WITH WOMEN” (Complete)

* K - Six Idols (List of Chapters) * Projects & Chapters

Translation: Naru-kun Raws: Ridia

At that time, Izumo Kusanagi had just returned from shopping for the bar HOMRA.

Bar HOMRA is like an idol lounge in "Homura Entertainment Office". It is a place of relaxation for the idols belonging to the group with strong horizontal connections and at the same time it is also a place for the staff to enjoy the drink. In particular, Kusanagi's skill as a bartender was highlighted and there were many enthusiasts in the industry.

A hideaway-like resting place for the same liquor lovers Kusanagi meets at the bar HOMRA.

Then, the moment he entered the bar, Kusanagi noticed the atmosphere.

"Guys, what's wrong with you?"

It seemed that several idols were near the couch seats in a corner of the bar and were discussing something. They looked at Kusanagi when he entered the bar, then they looked back and started secretly talking about something.

Kusanagi frowned.

In the world of entertainment, the hierarchical relationship between seniors and juniors is absolute, and it is impossible to make eye contact but not say hello. No matter how long they are in the office, tolerating their current attitude is even worse for them. He had to make things clear here.

Kusanagi put the shopping bag on the counter and shrugged angrily and approached them. When he clenched his fist, Misaki Yata, one of the idols, suddenly stood up and looked at Kusanagi.

"Kusanagi-san, I have something I want to ask."

Kusanagi was embarrassed by the angry voice. Yata is a loyal and sincere person. He had never seen him get so mad at himself.

Looking closely, the idols behind him, Rikio Kamamoto, Eric Surt, and Yo Chitose, looked at Kusanagi with guilty eyes.

"What?"

"This that is written, is it true?"

Taking the magazine spread out on the table, Yata placed it in front of Kusanagi.

In the magazine he says:

"Homura Performing Arts Office" staff. Izumo Kusanagi midnight orgy! Sexual harassment is insanity against underage idols!"

Kusanagi's mouth fell open.

Meanwhile, Yata approaches the magazine with an indignant expression.

"What are you doing? Is that true? If so, I can't stand it! I knew Kusanagi-san loved women, but more than anything, you're an idol! I never thought you were that kind of person?!"

After hitting Yata's head with his fist, Kusanagi took the magazine. It was a weekly magazine with a reputation for scandal articles from animators. He turned the pages as he felt cold sweat running down his cheeks.

That day…

About a month ago, the day the movie where Kusanagi appeared was released. At the commemorative party that brought the people involved together, Kusanagi had a drink, sexually harassed all the actresses and female staff in line, then took an underage idol he liked and went to the bar next to the stairs, and he finally disappeared into a city hotel with the girl.

"It is a hoax!"

Kusanagi threw the weekly magazine on the ground.

As he rubs his beaten head, Yata looked at Kusanagi.

"Are you sure?"

"Obviously! Do you think I'm such a person?"

"You are a lover of women."

"You are a healthy person."

"You are kind to everyone."

Kamamoto, Eric, and Chitose responded.

"You guys…"

Kusanagi spoke desperately. Yata took the magazine and hit him. He couldn't find the color of the joke in his eyes.

"At first, we thought that Kusanagi-san couldn't do this, but when I thought about it, it was true that Kusanagi-san was drunk and he came back like that about a month ago."

"Kusanagi-san, you are normally calm, but when you get drunk, I think you can become a conqueror. So I wondered if it was something like that."

The eyes of the youths pierced Kusanagi. Kusanagi was full of words and looked at each of them.

"Please remember. Do you really remember?"

"Well, wait. Let's remember for a moment."

Kusanagi opened his PDA and active the calendar application.

One month ago. Certainly, there was a record of attendance at the commemorative kick-off party. That said, he had gone to parties three times that week alone. In the current situation where President Suoh is not, Kusanagi is the actual leader of "Homura Entertainment Office" and also plays the role of manager of his idols. There were more relationships within the natural industry and more opportunities to drink.

That's right, if you get drunk, you'll be in a good mood. Not that he has never lost his memory. There is no doubt that he likes women who value themselves and others, and if he sees a beautiful woman at a party, he is the type to speak positively. However, no matter how drunk he is, sexual harassment is serious business.

"Kusanagi-san? Did you?"

Yata proclaimed holding the magazine looking like a prosecutor. Kusanagi had been exhibiting for a while, but when he opened his eyes, he seemed to be ready.

"If it's just a light body touch, maybe..."

"After all, you did!"

"It's the worst! Kusanagi-san, you are the worst!"

"It's the name 'Homura'! Clear your head now and hold an apology press conference."

Kusanagi was quick to contain the young people who denounce him.

"Okay, wait! Guys, listen to the story to the end! It's true, I made friends with a grown actress, but I would never date a minor idol!"

"I cannot believe it!"

"You are a liar, Kusanagi-san!"

"Womanizer!"

"Sex stalker!"

He hits Yata's head again. Kusanagi yelled, ignoring the protest "Why am I the only one?"

"I'm not lying! I have that kind of sense! Anyway, if you're an actress, you shake hands with idols! Have they never done that?"

"I don't know about Kusanagi-san's female itinerary!"

"Really! Trust me! We are friends!"

The words were sucked into the air of the bar with an eerie sound.

Yata muttered as he clenched his fist.

"That's right. We are friends. If you can't believe what your friends say, you're done."

"Sorry, Kusanagi-san. We only have blood on our heads."

"I want to get close to a beautiful woman, and any man can do it."

"No, I think it's just Chitose and Kusanagi-san."

Through Eric's calm plunge, Kusanagi shuddered.

"Did you get it?"

"However, if so, this magazine is joking. It wrote a rumor that has no roots or foundations like this! Kusanagi-san, let's go to the editorial department to complain!"

Yata was outraged and threw the magazine on the table. Kusanagi had to stop him this time.

"So you want them to say what they want?"

Kusanagi shakes his head at Kamamoto's words.

"Of course, I will protest. But it will take the form of an official announcement from the office. The pen is mightier than the sword."

"Well, if Kusanagi-san says so, it can't be helped."

Yata appeared to be dissatisfied. Injustice cannot be forgiven. Kusanagi laughed as if he was impressive, as his righteousness was like Yata's.

"But why did this article appear?"

Kusanagi shook his head as he took the magazine.

It is an exaggeration to say that there are no roots or foundations, but it is true that he does not remember it. If so, is it someone's conspiracy? The first thing that came to mind was the face of the "Green Idol King", but he immediately denied it. That guy would be a little more elaborate and aim for "Blue" or "Gold" first.

No matter how much he thought about it, he couldn't come to a conclusion. Kusanagi stopped shaking his head and tried to put the magazine back on the table.

It was then that the bar bell rang.

"Oh, Totsuka-san! Anna!"

Yata greeted happily. At the entrance to the bar, he saw all the faces he knew.

Totsuka Tatara and Anna Kushina.

Like Kusanagi, Totsuka is the oldest member of "Homura Entertainment Office". A light-skinned boy who always smiles, but was born into extreme poverty to the level of eating wild grass, and was shot with a pistol by an avid fan and wandered between life and death.

Anna is the only girl idol in "Homura". Although she is only 12 years old, her singing ability is outstanding and she is in charge of the voice of the group "No Blood".

For some reason, she has been in the position of president since the former president, Mikoto Suoh, moved to the United States, but of course, Kusanagi is doing most of the work because it parallels her studies.

When they saw Kusanagi, they made the strongest faces for some reason.

"Izumo."

Anna spoke to him. She had something to say, but she didn't know how to say it. Anna, who usually does not express her emotions, was looking at him sadly somewhere.

"Don't do it, Anna."

"Anna. I'll ask him around here, so go over there, okay?"

Totsuka ignored Kusanagi and made a soft voice. Anna had been comparing the two to a funny face for a while, but she finally ran off to the bar.

Totsuka approached Kusanagi. His kind face unusually was not laughing. When he reached Kusanagi's eyes, he muttered with eyes lowered in pain.

"Oh, Kusanagi-san, I knew you love girls, but I never thought you would get close to minors."

"You too?"

Kusanagi involuntarily pushed him away. Totsuka was orderly. Kamamoto explained with a bitter smile.

"Well, we get it wrong. It's an entertainment magazine scandal, right? But Kusanagi-san's mouth tells me it's a complete hoax."

"Hey, are you making noise in the entertainment magazines?"

Totsuka said anxiously, but Kusanagi felt a hundred times more anxious.

"But…" What was wrong?

"Are you making noise elsewhere?"

Chitose spoke for everyone's ideas. When Totsuka looked at the others in turn, he made a small face and took the PDA out of his pocket.

"Yes. You are doing it right now."

Then, Totsuka projected the image of the PDA.

It was a video of a press conference. In a place like a hotel lobby, people who appear to be related are swaying in a row. In the center is a female idol who, of course, is underage and looks embarrassed.

"So when did you start dating Izumo Kusanagi?"

A sharp question flew out of the reporter.

The female idol was silent for a moment, but when she blushed and turned her eyes slightly, she made a good voice.

"Oh, yeah, I've been dating him since last month."

So is.

Kusanagi felt that the sensitive temperature of the bar had dropped below freezing.

++++++++++

He really doesn't hate being seen by women with cold eyes.

Of course he has always liked to be seen with hot eyes, but cold eyes are not so bad. It is often said that the opposite of love is indifference, and cold disgust and contempt are a type of "interest." You can repaint it with a different color. It is better than indifference.

However, that also has limits.

That day, Seri Awashima turned to Kusanagi, piercing him with the cold and staring at him at absolute zero.

"Good morning, Seri-chan."

At the regular theater studio, Awashima had a meeting with the staff. Until then, she should have responded calmly, but the moment she saw Kusanagi, all of her emotions were lost from Awashima.

"Good morning, Kusanagi-san."

As if drawing a sword, Awashima averted her eyes from Kusanagi. The expression on her profile is like ice, but Kusanagi, who has seen many women, read the phrase "Don't ever talk to me again, lolicon." hidden under the thin skin.

There was a crack in his heart.

However, Kusanagi swallowed it and went one step further. If she throws him away with that degree of rejection (although it's terrible), a loving woman's name will be broken.

Above all, this problem cannot be solved by pulling him here.

"Oh, can't I have some time? There's something I want to talk about."

"I'm sorry, but I'm about to record, so I'm sorry."

It was a line that flowed unhindered. Although somewhere in his heart he was impressed that she was the actress of the current generation, the relentless one that she does not stop treading.

"Isn't filming finished? I checked. It's just a little while."

"Did you check it?"

Awashima made an expression as if he had touched the kitchen waste. His heart was about to shatter with a screech.

However, Kusanagi was forced to smile.

"Oh, I looked it up. After all, Seri-chan is the right person to solve my problem now."

It was a lithe smile, but Awashima only frowned. Or it may have been a manifestation of anger against the background of cold contempt.

"Problem? No way, it's not the scandal with that girl, is it?"

He had to answer carefully. If he gave a bad answer, Awashima would get rid of Kusanagi and never turn around again.

After thinking about it for a second, Kusanagi replied.

"Trust me, Seri-chan. They framed me."

Awashima looked at Kusanagi.

Kusanagi stares into his eyes. The smile has already disappeared. Now is the time to show the "real blow".

If he gets rid of it, even for a moment, Awashima will instantly see him.

Finally, Awashima turned her back on Kusanagi and started walking.

"……"

Kusanagi closed his eyes and gritted his teeth. As long as he couldn't get Awashima's cooperation, he thought there was no way he could.

"What are you doing?"

"Eh?"

When he looked up, Awashima looked back a few steps away. From the terrible facial expression, the aforementioned contempt faded and the expression that seemed astonished returned.

"I don't want to get caught up in the scandal. Let's go somewhere hidden."

For the first time in a few days, Kusanagi's expression glowed again.

++++++++++

"Hanazono Kaon, 16 years old. A female idol belonging to "Alaha Productions". At first, she seems like she was an underground idol, but she made her big debut a year ago and she seems to be very active."

As she manipulated her PDA, Awashima said that clearly.

In terms of information processing capacity, there is no office that exceeds "Promotion Center 4". Perhaps it is the intention of the president, Reisi Munakata, to take over every corner of the entertainment world like a labyrinth. Kusatsu is also familiar with the situation, but if he wants information about the "enemy", it is natural for him to be more precise.

Kusanagi repeated Awashima's words.

"Alaha Productions."

"Needless to say, it is unofficial. Currently, there are only four government-approved offices in the industry."

As she cleaned the PDA, Awashima looked at Kusanagi.

"The unofficial offices are cobbled. Of course, there are many idol offices that may be small, but 'Alaha' is more like a stone. People come and go, and some financial problems happen. It's an office I don't want to have too close."

"Well, that's correct."

"Kusanagi-kun? Once again, you have nothing to do with this office, do you?"

Kusanagi shook his head slowly at Awashima's serious gaze.

"I remember hearing the name 'Alaha Productions'. I certainly knew this girl."

Kusanagi quickly excused himself when he saw Awashima's expression turn steep.

"No, no, don't get me wrong. But surely, I was greeted by this girl and the manager of 'Alaha Productions'."

A month ago, at a commemorative movie party.

The film in which Kusanagi appeared is a series that enjoys a considerable degree of popularity among Japanese films, and naturally many people from the industry gathered at the commemorative party.

Kusanagi played a central role in the party. Originally a sociable person with many connections. He brought the actors the producer was watching, spoke peacefully with the presidents of the investment companies, and discussed the work with the director.

"Did you meet this girl?"

"Oh. I was with the manager, and a newcomer who just debuted, so he told me to cheer her up."

"Well, from your point of view, there are a lot of people like that."

Kusanagi vaguely occupies the image of a famous idol with many connections. There are many people who are willing to participate in the title and they are swept away. Hanazono Kaon and "Alaha Productions", he didn't remember them and when he tried to do it, his head hurt.

Awashima crossed her arms to think.

"So it's easy to talk about it. A publicity stunt scandal is something a bad agency might think of. You can think of many ways to deal with it."

"That's correct, but…"

"Homura Entertainment Office" is one of only four official offices in this country. Its status, honor and power distinguish it from unauthorized offices (so it can be involved in such disasters). Regardless of what's wrong with this, there is no gamble on wielding its power to dispel the falling sparks.

Still, something was trapped in Kusanagi's heart.

Awashima saw it precisely. Mysteriously she looked at him and said.

"What are you wondering? If you are the usual person, you will act immediately."

"……"

Kusanagi closed his eyes and tried to remember.

About a girl named Hanazono Kaon who came to see him with her manager at the party venue.

"That girl couldn't speak at all."

"What?"

"Even in front of me, she was nervous and she made her face bright red. It was just what the manager said and she couldn't say much of anything. All she could say was a greeting."

"I don't think so, but you…"

Awashima said that, in a tone that made him wonder from the bottom of his heart.

"Isn't it said that you caught the attention of Hanazono Kaon?"

Instead of answering, Kusanagi scratched his cheek and looked away from her.

Awashima sighed deeply.

"Do you know who the other person is? Someone tries to take advantage of you, either with a scandal or a fire. If you give affection to such a person, you will be unilaterally hurt."

Awashima's words are correct. Kusanagi knows better than anyone that he can be eaten by showing a breach in the devilish world of the entertainment world.

But still…

"Idols are what light people's hearts."

Kusanagi said that in a low voice.

"I'm not saying there should be a norm for people, but in front of Kokujoji. For us, a simple story, it makes someone smile. It makes someone brilliant. I think, if I could do that, I would be older."

"……"

"I'm sure she wanted to be like that too. I want to be an idol, and I want to become an idol and give energy to all the fans. I think I thought so."

"But now Hanazono Kaon is betraying her fans. Anyone who wants to lie and lift her name is not qualified to be an idol."

Awashima was always calm. Kusanagi also has no intention of putting it there.

"That's why I want to know. Hanazono Kaon, the true heart of that girl."

Awashima opened her eyes slightly and looked at Kusanagi.

She then she shook her head as it was hopeless.

"I thought you were a bit more rational, but apparently you were just pretending."

"I'm also a "Homura Entertainment Office" idol."

Kusanagi jokingly saying that, Awashima shrugged and returned the gesture.

"Well, it's your problem, so you can do whatever you want. At best, behave however you want. But don't fly here."

"Of course. Thank you, Seri-chan."

Instead of answering, Awashima shook his hand and left.

"Well, now…"

Kusanagi looked at the PDA, handled it lightly, and requested her contact information.

++++++++++

"No! I'm glad you had a press conference, Kaon-chan."

Hanazono Kaon felt a reflection of disgust for the manager who was smiling on the room couch.

On the one hand, she was grateful to him. She uploaded song and dance videos on the internet, and she was so happy and excited with the number of views and the number of people registered, that she made her big debut. She has never doubted that skill or policy.

Up to now.

"That's why you have been interviewed by several performing arts magazines, but can I accept all of them? I also posted information that I had not published before, so I'm sure it will be a great promotion."

"That…"

Intercepting the manager's words that he is good at it, Hanazono Kaon squeezed her skirt tightly.

"Yes?" Hanazono Kaon caught the manager's gaze. She was not good at seeing someone's eyes and speaking. She can sing and dance in front of a lot of people, but when she goes out in front of people, she hangs out. Hanazono Kaon was such a girl.

Finally, as usual, the manager read what the phrase meant and shrugged as if he was in awe.

"What? Maybe you still feel bad? Kusanagi Izumo asked for it."

"Okay."

Hanazono Kaon barely replied, the manager giggled. He took the cigarette out of his pocket and lit it.

"Kaon-chan, you're also a professional, so let's be a little more illustrious. It's fine, but since he's a celebrity there, he's used to this scandal."

"So is."

"Isn't that the case? So what? Betrayal of the fans?"

Kaon's voice was violently dominated. Like using Kusanagi, what hurts the most is that some fans feel hurt by her love reports.

But even at that, the manager laughed.

"Ahahahahaha! Do you care about that? Okay, because if you become famous, they will follow you! Rather, the fans so far are just a burden to Kaon-chan who will be great in the future. I'm thankful that you were."

It wasn't from the cigarette smoke that she suddenly felt congested, it was from anger.

He laughed at the fans who have supported her so far and cut off her efforts to do so without fear. She felt angry at her manager as if she had been stomped on the back of her chest.

The more the muscles in her hands stretched, the tighter she held her skirt with a noise. When he realized that, the smile on the manager's face faded.

"What is that face? I'll tell you."

The manager stood up. That only made him sound terrifying and she backed away. The adults were scary and the men were even more scary. The manager sighed as he approached Kaon with her back against the wall.

"Kaon-chan, you are also an accomplice, right?"

With just that word, she felt her entire body weaken.

"No, I can say that I am the main culprit. You read the script that I wrote on my own initiative. Whether I betray the fans or use Izumo Kusanagi, Kaon-chan said, "I want to do that.", do you blame everything on me?"

"Ah, uh..."

"What's the difference? You said you wanted to be more famous and shine more, right, Kaon-chan. I just set it up to be able to do that."

The manager laughed deeply, putting his hands on both of Kaon's shoulders that she couldn't say anything.

"It's natural, isn't it? Because I'm Kaon-chan's manager. That's why."

His eyes narrowed and housed a beast light.

"You just have to listen to me."

The sound slipped into place. She looked down with a scared look, the manager said to Kaon.

"So, I'll take all the interviews. Read the script correctly. If you can act well, it can be treated like a drama, and it will be a hit."

After that, the manager left the room.

The manager's points are all correct from one to ten.

She wanted to be famous. It's been a year since she made her debut, and she has done jobs like singles and mini-lives, but she couldn't get any results. If the title of "Rookie Idol" disappears, it will become even more severe. When the manager said that, she felt impatient as if she was on fire. What was far scarier than losing a job or going unsold was losing the dream that had been shining within her.

But was that dream only possible in this way?

Was the shine she wanted so dirty?

Kaon no longer knew what was right. She killed her voice and began to cry, burying her face between her knees.

At that moment, the PDA sounded a dial tone.

She could answer later, and now she didn't want to talk. The moment she saw the name of the caller with a blurry vision, that idea disappeared.

It was shown as "Izumo Kusanagi".

++++++++++

Seating on the balcony of a cafe facing the main street.

He was reading a paperback in a shady seat where the breeze was nice, and he giggled when he noticed Kaon had arrived.

"Hello, sorry to call suddenly."

Kaon remained in place and couldn't even make a voice.

Kusanagi Izumo, that person. Even if he is in disguise, it is not just about being aware that there is an idol as famous as him. Also, Kusanagi is in the middle of a scandal, yes, the scandal created by Kaon.

The moment she thought about it, Kaon was fragile and she wanted to apologize.

She barely stopped because she thought she would hurt him even more. She hardly notice it now, but if she attracts attention, Izumo Kusanagi will be here. If Hanazono Kaon was there with him, her scandal would be difficult to handle.

Kusanagi smiles as if to calm Kaon who is not moving, he said...

"Sit down for now. If you stay standing, we won't be able to speak calmly."

"Ok."

Kaon sat on the seat, guided by a soft voice.

Still, Kaon couldn't see Kusanagi's face properly. She lowered her head like a defendant brought out in front of a judge, or in a weak voice.

"Sorry." Kaon said.

She could only say that. She didn't expect him to forgive her. But unless she apologized, she couldn't be in front of Kusanagi again.

After a moment of silence, Kusanagi said in a low voice.

"Raise your face."

Kaon trembled as if struck and raised her face.

The form of anger she had imagined was not there.

Kusanagi had a serious expression. He looked at Kaon with a direct gaze that has never been seen in any drama in which he has appeared.

"It doesn't matter if the idol is down. The idol must always be facing forward."

Kaon forgot to breathe and looked back at Kusanagi's face.

Kusanagi smiled to ease her feelings.

"Idols cheer on their fans with their own brilliance. It's a shame that I can only cloud the brilliance of myself."

Kaon gritted her teeth and held back the tears she was about to shed.

Don't shed tears. She was not qualified to do such a thing.

Kusanagi said what an idol is. He is a person who encourages people with his own brilliance.

So she can't afford to break. No matter how boring or dirty she is, Kaon is still an idol. She couldn't have shed tears of self-pity for an apology.

With her eyes closed and the signs of suppressed tears, Kaon opened her mouth.

"I'll tell you everything."

She wanted to be an idol. She didn't want to lose the dream that she finally had. She then tried to use Kusanagi while she was impatient. She spills a scandal without foundation, and even neglecting the fans, she was the shallow girl trying to climb.

After hearing everything, Kusanagi calmly said.

"You told me all that. Thank you, Hanazono-san."

Kaon shook her head. She has done nothing to make him grateful. She was just doing something harmful to Kusanagi. She cannot complain even if she has no questions and she is excluded.

She thought a lot and suddenly it hit her.

Why did Kusanagi do that?

"Um. Why did you listen to me?"

"Eh?"

"Kusanagi-san, you must have a scandal that you don't remember. I think you should have taken a 'countermeasure' without asking about my circumstances."

Kaon looked around at the audience.

There are many customers on the open terrace. Why did he listen to her even at the risk of meeting her alone in public?

When she asked him, Kusanagi laughed lightly and...

"Well, I'm sorry. I don't want to pay for the sparks that fall on me. I will do it in formal protests with this in mind."

With that said, he stared at Kaon.

"Hanazono-san, at the party, my fans told me."

"I didn't talk much about it, maybe it's lip service. It's against my belief to eliminate fans without asking questions. Be it an idol or Izumo Kusanagi."

Kaon clenched her fist in her lap and murmured that.

"Belief…"

"Wow. My 'Homura Entertainment Office' colleagues and I, we move based on our beliefs. Of course, risk management is important. Still, there is a trade-off."

Kusanagi's gaze, looking into her heart, did not take his gaze away from Kaon. After swallowing just once, she opened her mouth.

"Even me, can I do that?"

"You can."

There was no hesitation in Kusanagi's answer.

"If you are an idol, you can always do it. You can fight for what you think is right because of your beliefs. That is the brilliance of idols."

Kusanagi said that was his belief.

Kaon saw the glow of the idol named Izumo Kusanagi there. He trusts idols and Kaon. Even though she used Kusanagi, she still hasn't lost the brilliance of the Hanazono Kaon idol, and says it based on his belief.

When she realized it, Kaon blinked.

There was no longer a trace of tears. A clear sight spread out in front of him. Izumo Kusanagi glowing, seemed to indicate to Kaon what he should do from now on.

Kaon stood up and thanked Kusanagi deeply.

"Thank you, Kusanagi-san. I already know what to do."

"You are going to do it?"

"I will speak to my manager. I will act for what I think is correct."

After resolutely stretching her back and saying it, Hanazono Kaon smiled for the first time in a long time.

"Because I am an idol."

Seeing that, Kusanagi also smiled and took control.

"Oh, yeah. Go ahead."

"Yes. Thank you. And I'm sorry for the inconvenience!"

After saying that and bowing again, Kaon left.

She no longer turned around to Kusanagi.

++++++++++

One month after Kusanagi Izumo's lover scandal.

The usual routine has returned to the bar HOMRA.

"Oh, Kusanagi-san, hello!"

Kusanagi casually replies "Hello." while he cleans a glass, Yata and Kamamoto ring the bell and enter. Joining Akagi and Bando, who were lounging on the couch, he began spreading the manga and entertainment magazines that he bought from the store while he came. Kusanagi knocked on the refrigerator door in an attempt to prepare the ingredients as he glanced at the everyday scenes.

At that moment, Yata made a strong voice.

"Oh! Kusanagi-san, there is an article about that girl!"

Kusanagi raised his face, and approached the juniors who were making noise around the couch. Akagi and Bando looked at each other and made a mysterious voice.

"Who is this girl?"

"She is Hanazono Kaon-chan."

"Hanazono...? I remember hearing somewhere..."

"A girl who became a scandal with me."

Yata handed the entertainment magazine to Kusanagi, who looked down at the table. It's a small black and white page with no photos, but it had her name on it.

"The first mini-live after breaking free from her idol office, the idol called Hanazono Kaon."

"Is she a fiery idol? This is another tough headline."

Kusanagi says with a bitter smile. Kamamoto crossed his arms with a difficult expression

"Well, it can't be helped. After that, there was a lot of noise."

Hanazono Kaon conspired with the office and invented a love scandal for the purpose of selling.

The public already knew that. None other than Hanazono Kaon herself confessed everything in the interview she received.

Thanks to that, the stigma of Kusanagi dissipated, but the wrath of the world turned to "Alaha Productions". Hanazono Kaon has announced that she will be leaving the office and continuing her activities as an independent underground idol. Criticism focused on her, but she never said that she would stop being an idol.

Then a week later, and two weeks later, new news broke out in the entertainment world and her name was no longer remembered.

"But, I'm not convinced. According to Kusanagi-san, that girl isn't bad, right?"

"No, that's not true. Even if the office told her, it doesn't change the fact that that girl used Kusanagi-san for her own convenience. It's her own business."

"Yata-san, you're too strict! She couldn't help herself, if the office told her."

"Huh?! So, if your office tells you to die, will you die?"

"Please stop, that way of speaking is like that of an elementary school student!"

"Who is an elementary school student?"

Yata puts a key on Kamamoto's head. Akagi and Bando rush to stop him. Kusanagi thinks as he reads the article with such fuss.

Could she act on his own beliefs?

Kusanagi has not been in contact with Hanazono Kaon since they met at the cafe. So he doesn't know exactly what kind of interaction she had with the manager or the office. At least from what he saw in the interview article, Hanazono Kaon clearly acknowledged her responsibility. She said that she used Kusanagi of her own free will, rather than blaming the manager or the office.

Idols inspire their fans with their brilliance. What Hanazono Kaon did was, in that sense, betray the fans.

But at the same time, the idol is a human being. She may get lost or discouraged. Kusanagi thinks that how to act in those moments determines the value of the idol.

Hopefully she's lucky, Kusanagi thought.

So that she doesn't regret her actions.

The doorbell rang again. When he looked back at the door, he was about to see Totsuka enter.

He had an envelope in one hand. Totsuka shook him while he laughed softly.

"Kusanagi-san. The letter has arrived."

When he received it and turned it over, he couldn't find the signature.

Anonymous letters, etc. should not be opened. However, he had a premonition at the time. When he opened the inside, it was written with a fine brush.

Izumo Kusanagi:

Please forgive me for the sudden letter. I thought that I shouldn't talk to Kusanagi-san because I had done such a thing in some way, so I refrained from contacting you, but now that my personal situation has calmed down, I would like to apologize and report back, so I am thanking you in writing.

After telling the truth and leaving the office, I disappointed many fans. Most of the fans have abandoned me. Looking at the disappointed faces of the fans, I once wondered if I could stay as an idol or if I should retire.

Still, some fans said that they still wanted to see me as an idol. They told me not to stop as an idol because they would keep supporting me no matter what.

Kusanagi-san said that idols can fight for what they think is right, and that belief makes them shine.

Now I think the right thing for me is to do everything possible for the fans. As long as there is at least one person who supports me, I will not stop being an idol.

Then I will continue to be an idol. I want to reach as many people as possible with my previously dull brilliance. Like Kusanagi-san said, never look down, look ahead.

Thanks for telling me that. And I am very sorry for the inconvenience.

Hanazono Kaon.

"Hey, I'm not a good boy."

Totsuka, who was watching from the side, said such a thing. Kusanagi put the letter in his pocket and poked his head out.

"Letters from people, you are stealing."

"Ah, I'm sorry. I'm sorry, Kusanagi-san, so I wonder what happened."

Kusanagi smiles bitterly when Totsuka's fluffy smile catches him. Totsuka took the entertainment magazine and said as a soliloquy.

"Is it a mini-live? I'm a bit worried too. Let's see it."

"Oh, go ahead. Better to have as many clients as possible."

"Won't you go, Kusanagi-san?"

Kusanagi laughs a little and shakes his head.

"When I went, I made her worry more. I'll do it without being stingy at first."

Kusanagi remembered the text of the letter, shrugged slightly and said.

"I already know the brilliance of that girl."

#K #k project #k fan clan #k six idols #six idols #izumo kusanagi #k

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annabethy · 4 years

Note

Since you want more prompts: Actress Annabeth who goes to the store/coffe shop/ restaurant (whatever you choose) and star struck fan boy Percy who’s trying to play it cool but “wow she’s way prettier in real life and she’s super nice and funny and how is she so poised and elegant I must be making a fool of myself” I just love that and we all know Annabeth would be *that* celebrity who does everything she can to make her fans happy and treat them well “hey this fan is pretty cute and sweet”

Percy really just wanted to go home.

It was only noon and he had already had his fair share of awful customer encounters in the magical place he called Walgreens. He didn’t know what was up today, but it was as though every single person had a stick up their ass, and he was not being paid enough for this.

Regardless, he didn’t have the option of going home because he just started his shift and also because he needed money as a poor twenty-four-year-old who decided to go to grad school.

Still. He wasn’t even doing anything useful. Someone else was at the front manning checkout, so he resorted to sort of stumbling around the store for any source of amusement.

Surprise. Nothing came.

At some point during the next hour, he found himself moping in the candy aisle, contemplating on whether or not he should grab something to keep himself awake. It wasn’t like the store was going to miss those delicious sour gummy worms, and if they did, it would still be worth it.

Percy only managed to calm his desire to snatch that colorful candy when someone breezed by the end of the aisle. He wouldn’t have looked twice if it hadn’t been for the fact that they looked like they had just robbed a bank and were now sulking around the aisles suspiciously.

He tried to ignore them the best he could, but in the mirror lining the top of the wall, he could see the person standing in front of a shelf of rather expensive technological shit he couldn’t be bothered to name.

The girl, or at least he thinks it’s a girl if the long blonde hair peeking out from underneath a black hoodie was any indication, had her hands stuffed deep into the front pocket, and she was shifting on her feet ready to run at any given moment. This girl appeared really sketch, and as much as he definitely doesn’t want to get involved, he kind of has no choice if she’s stealing.

He quietly made his way around the aisle towards the area she was occupying, treading lightly. Once she came into view, he leaned against the metal rack to survey her, hoping she wouldn’t turn around and notice him ominously watching over her.

From where he stood, he couldn’t really see her face, but everything else about her seemed overly poised. The fabric of her sweater seemed way out of his pay grade, even with the distance between them, and he had to resist the urge to reach out and run his fingers over it.

She stood there for a second, analyzing the display of expensive chargers and headphones, before gently grabbing one and sliding it down the opening of her sleeve. It sent off alarms in Percy’s head because he was fairly certain that she intended to steal it.

He bit his lip sharply, a wave of annoyance coming over him. What was it with customers thinking that they could get away with theft?

He was just not in the mood to do this today. In the middle of New York City, it could get pretty dangerous when someone was completely disguised by an oversized hoodie. For all he knew, she was carrying a weapon, ready to knock his brains out if he interrupted her master escape plan.

Still, it was his job and those headphones she just grabbed seemed pricey enough to make him lose his job if he just sat by and let it happen, so he didn’t have a choice.

“Excuse me, ma’am?” he called out just as she started to turn and stalk off. She whipped around rapidly, which didn’t do anything to take the suspicion off of her. He still couldn’t get a great view of her face, and he also didn’t really care to.

She slowly twisted her hands together, her fingers just barely peeking out from below the rims of the sleeves. She stayed silent, perhaps to stay innocent until proven guilty, but when he didn’t elaborate, she was forced to calmly mutter, “Yes?”

Percy almost snorted in her face. From her stance, she seemed to know exactly why he had interrupted her. Instead of mocking her though, he just nodded towards her hands. “You’re going to have to pay for that, or I’ll be forced to call the police.”

The girl froze. “I—I was going to.”

Percy eyed her carefully, concerned about the hoodie still really low over her face. “You stuffed it into your sleeve and you’re wearing a black jacket over your face in the middle of New York.”

She scoffed, and then her hand was reaching up to yank the hoodie off her head, revealing her flowing blonde locks and piercing grey eyes, and it was then that Percy realized his grave mistake. “I was not going to steal!”

Percy stumbled over his words because standing right in front of him was Annabeth Chase, one of the biggest actors in the country, hell, maybe even in the world, and she was glaring at him like she was about to pull out a knife and stab him for even insinuating that she would steal from a random Walgreens.

“I—” Percy’s eyes were wide as he stared at the celebrity only five feet in front of him. “I just thought…”

“Thought what?” Her voice as she spoke was venomous, dripping with apathy.

Percy couldn’t find it in him to gather his words because Annabeth Chase was so close he could probably reach out and touch her, and he had spent so long being obsessed with her (but in a healthy way, he thinks) and this could not be happening.

“You’re Annabeth Chase,” he said, dumbfounded. He probably had his mouth gaping and everything.

“And?”

“You’re—” Percy swallowed, suddenly self-conscious of his ugly red polo and work khakis. He felt like Jake from State Farm. “You’re so much prettier than I expected.”

“Excuse me?”

Percy cursed, holding his hands out as though to soften the blow of his words. “No! That’s not what I meant! I just—”

“You just what?” Annabeth looked thoroughly offended by him, and he didn’t know how to clarify what he was actually saying without sounding like a stalker that may or may not have a shrine for her.

Still. He didn’t want to insult someone that could turn millions of people against him with the snap of her fingers, so he rushed to say something, which did approximately nothing. “I’ve been watching you for years and you were so pretty, but now you’re standing in the middle of Walgreens and you’re, like, really pretty, like so pretty I could kiss you, and—” Percy shrieked. “Wait, no! Not kiss you! I mean, I could of course, but that’s pretty rude and I’m pretty sure it’s considered harassment in some states, if not all of them, so I definitely won’t do that to you, but—”

Somewhere along his mess of a speech, her face seemed to morph from fury to amusement, and he wanted to just melt into a puddle on the floor and die.

“I’m making myself look like a fool in front of Annabeth Chase,” he muttered to no one in particular. “Perfect.”

“I would reassure you and say you didn’t, but I’d feel guilty lying to you, considering how honest you were with me two seconds ago.” Annabeth looked him up and down, and Percy thought she looked unimpressed. When her eyes trailed back to his, she tilted her head to the side, lifting the side of her mouth slightly in a smile that showed off one of her dimples, and god, she was so freaking gorgeous. “I wasn’t going to steal, for the record.”

“Yeah, I got that now.” Percy suspected his voice also just cracked, and he was actually going to go bang his head into a wall repeatedly until he had a brain bleed.

It was entirely unfair just how elegant she seemed in this moment because Percy was a blubbering mess over here, and she had the audacity to laugh at him. How could someone be so put together, and just how unlucky do you have to be to look this moronic in front of arguably the hottest celebrity out there?

“Are you alright?” Annabeth asked. “You’re looking a bit faint over there.”

“I just—” Percy gave an awkward grin. “I’m starstruck over here.”

“Starstruck?” she asked, testing the word in her mouth. “No one’s ever said that to me before.”

“Really? How could they not?”

“Most people would consider it lame to actually say that to their celebrity crush, as you so eloquently put it.”

Percy flushed. “Funny.”

“It is, don’t you think?” Annabeth smirked at him, and Percy’s heart just about leaped out of his chest. “I have to say, no one’s ever messed up that badly before.”

“Well, I guess no one’s as stupid as me.”

“No one’s accused me of stealing either,” she added unhelpfully. Even without a mirror, Percy just knew he looked redder than a tomato, and he could tell she was basking in his misery.

That’s it. Percy’s going to walk into the street and let himself get run over by a taxi.

“A lot of firsts in this room,” Annabeth said, a teasing edge to her voice. “First time meeting a celebrity?”

“How’d you know?” he asked sarcastically, and he realized he was standing awkwardly at a distance from her.

She looked at the floor between them. “You can get closer, you know. I won’t bite.”

“The look you gave me earlier said otherwise.” Percy got closer anyways so that they were talking like normal human beings.

Annabeth laughed, and even that about her was smooth and melodic.

He lifted his hand to scratch the base of his neck. “I’m sorry I accused you of stealing.”

“I’ll let it slide because you’re so cute.”

Percy’s mind came to a reeling halt as he processed her words. If he didn’t know any better, he would’ve thought she was flirting with him, but she obviously wasn’t because he was a nobody off the streets. Right?

“I’m not sure what I’m supposed to say now,” he offered meekly.

“You really are new to this,” she said, whistling slightly.

“Obviously, I haven’t ever tried to stop a famous actor from stealing.”

“That’s not what I meant.”

Percy blinked. “Oh?”

“I guess I’ll just have to help you out then,” she said, sighing in mock disappointment. “You’re supposed to tell me your name.”

White hot alarm flooded through him, because yeah, she was one-hundred perfect flirting with him. That, or she was trying to get him to make even more of a fool of himself.

Either way, she sure knew what she was doing.

He supposes he would just have to settle with defeat if she was conning him because in no way was he about to pass up the opportunity to cozy up to the hottest girl alive.

“I’m Percy,” he offered, working up the confidence to give her a dazzling smile. “Figures you would want to know my name.”

“Had to know the name of the guy to call me out for my thievery,” she excused jokingly, eyes gleaming. “And the one who proposed making out in the middle of a convenience store.”

“I’m still down for that kiss,” he teases, voice suddenly much less shaky and much more low, deep in the back of his throat.

“Oh, so now you wanna have game?” she asked, leaning against the shelf with the headphones she’d grabbed now clear in her hand. “Where was that when I asked your name?”

“I was still gathering it up,” he said.

“Hm.” Annabeth nodded knowingly. “I see.”

“Should I make it up to you, then?”

“You’re going to have to if you expect this to go any further,” Annabeth said, but he can tell that she’s mainly messing around with him.

Percy decided to tease her back. “You expect this to go any further?”

“It’s gonna have to. You promised me that kiss, and I expect you to pay up.”

“I guess I’ll just have to deliver, in that case.”

“I charge interest.” When Percy locked eyes with her, there was fire burning between them, and it was like there was something more between them, despite them having just met.

“I don’t think that’ll be a problem,” he said.

A silence fell between them again, but it was comfortable and fitting. They just stared softly at each other for a while until Annabeth spoke again, brushing a strand of hair behind her ear.

“You’re different,” she started, nibbling on her lower lip. “You’re really sweet.”

“I think you mean chaotic,” he quipped, ignoring the way his heart pulsated beneath his fingertips at the heartfelt compliment.

“That whole being in love with me spiel you did was pretty cute,” she said. “When I say you’re sweet, I mean it. I don’t hand things like that out for nothing.”

Percy blushed, gesturing towards her. “Look at you, though. You’re — perfect. I’m not sure how else to put that, but you do everything to please your fans.”

“I am quite perfect,” Annabeth agreed. “But being accused of stealing and then watching you melt into a puddle of nerves and get all jittery? It’s unmatched.”

Percy could not believe that this was actually happening. Everything he thought was true about her from movies and pictures was magnified by ten in person, and she was such a nice person. She was more down-to-earth than other people out there, and it was refreshing.

He tried to play it cool, but he did the exact opposite, and she still called him cute and sweet and he could actually start fangirling right now.

Percy really didn’t want this to end, so he would just have to take things into his own hands.

“Listen,” he said, standing up straighter. He could feel his stomach tingle with nerves. “I know you’re famous and all, and I’m…not, and you probably get asked this all the time, but you seem like someone I’d like to get to know, so I was wondering if…”

“Careful,” Annabeth warned, amused. “You’re starting to lose your game again.”

“Shut up,” he muttered, gently shoving her shoulder. It wasn’t until after the fact that he realized he just touched the golden girl of the country. “Would you like to go on a date with me?”

She didn’t answer, and his heart dropped, but then—

“I thought you’d never ask.” Annabeth pursed her lips to stifle her widening grin.

Percy clapped his hands together, admittedly surprised that she agreed. It was something of dreams. “When are you free?”

“Today works.”

He looked around, contemplating on how to answer. He really needed the money, and he was still in the middle of his shift. Leaving now would cause him to get in some major trouble, but on the other hand…

“Let’s go.”

She raised an eyebrow. “Right now?”

“Right now,” he confirmed.

“You don’t have to finish working first?”

“The guy up front can cover for me,” Percy said, already working up the courage to grab her hand and start pulling her towards the exit. She seemed just as enthusiastic to go with him, lacing their fingers together, sparks of electricity flowing through them.

Annabeth dropped the headphones back onto the metal racks, smiling jokingly when he looked at her. “Wouldn’t want to steal, would I?”

“I suppose not,” Percy said, utterly infatuated. He had just met her, and he was already dreaming of a future with just the two of them. From the way her eyes traced over the slopes of his face, as though burning them into her memory, he knew he wasn’t alone in it.

As they walked out into the New York sunshine, Percy smiled at Annabeth, and thought she looked amazing under the rays of light. She was everything — pretty and funny and nice and flawless — and she agreed to go out with him.

Percy tries not to fall in love, but it was easier said than done when this perfect woman was looking at him with those breathtaking eyes and setting his heart on fire.

(But when she kisses him in the middle of Central Park, he knows he already is. He finds he doesn’t mind).

#percy jackson #annabeth chase #percabeth #pjo #my writing #hope this satisfied your image #people send more #you fell from the stars (and now I'm starstruck)#thank u ash for helping with the title #anon #asks #celebrity au

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isazulabaeorwhat · 4 years

Note

Why are some Azula fans having a problem with grey now

HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA

OMFG I thought it was something serious but LMFAO their reason for ‘canceling’ Grey is so stupid and petty. Like, literally. I am so deeply ashamed of these so-called Azula fans for harrassing Grey. I’m sorry to say this, but if anyone following me is shaming Grey for this, kindly please leave :D

Ok so as far as I can tell (I’ve just accumulated all these 10 mins ago so I may have missed some things), it all started with this:

Now, I can’t find the exact tweet that she was referring to, but she has clarified that it was requested by Tyzula fans and the AU she created for them was that it was consensual, both already adults and partaking in BDSM. Avatar fans got offended by this and are canceling her for apparently sexualizing minors and glorifying abuse. After the fandom basically got triggered, Grey clarified that while Tyzula is in a BDSM relationship, it is NOT abusive. What she meant about being abusive, was her referring to Azula’s treatment of Ty Lee IN the series, and not the AU she created. She also clarified specifically that the present Azula in her AU is NOT abusive to Ty Lee, but everyone else is fair game (there’s a joke in there guys).

Still, despite the age up (28 years old), people are still bashing her for simply SHIPPING characters who are canonically still minors, despite having them already above the legal age in an AU. They are literally calling her a pedo and comparing her to actual pedos. That’s right, people! If you ship two characters who are under 18 even if it’s a non-BDSM relationship, as long as there’s any sexual activity in your AU, you will be labeled as a pedophile :)

Poor Sir Dante Basco has also fallen victim to these snowflakes and has also been harassed for simply shipping Zutara because they’re canonically minors and shipping means sexualizing to these people. There have also been people claiming that Grey ships and condones incest because of the Zucest joke she made during a panel with Dante back in 2018. This is false guys :) While she did make the joke, it was simply a joke and everyone in the audience laughed about it because they have a sense of humor unlike these people.

Any Grey DeLisle fan is aware of her legendary uncensored tweets and responses. She’s literally one of the most uncouth voice actresses I’ve ever seen lmao she’s a fan of dark humor so I’m guessing anyone from our snowflake generation today will be easily offended by her. Yes, the atla fandom has yet been offended by a mere joke and they’re cancelling someone for having humor. Everything Grey says is half joke. It’s pretty obvious when the humor comes along. It’s literally common sense.

Sigh.

Another reason to hate my generation 😒

#grey delisle #tyzula

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thefirsthogokage · 3 years

Text

iCalry Episode 5 Reaction, Spoiler-y

Yeah no, don't wear that to a wedding.

Who is Nevel marrying?!

I would really like it if they explicitly acknowledge what Nevel did was sexual harassment. It seems like there won't be more of a mention than what happening to Carly was worse than what happened to Freddie.

Again, they edited the song differently.

Is Nevel marrying a robot? Will that be a twist? Nope. (Later...Nope?)

"Ugh the straights." MOOD

A Mark McGwire joke?! All adult-like too.

I am very fond of this queerness.

What is it with Asian women and Freddie?

"That's some white people nonsense." I was hoping for a joke like that at somepoint.

I love Miranda's expressions in this scene. She wouldn't have been able to pull them off when she was younger.

I like Harper accepting what Spencer did as fair game. I am not fond of Spencer having a thing for someone who is so close to his sister's age. That just really creeps me out.

WHAT IS IT WITH ASIAN WOMEN AND FREDDIE?!

HOLY SHIT CARLY!

I still feel room for another twist here.

OH DAMN, HE IS ABSOLUTELY INSANE! WHERE ARE THE POLICE THIS TIME?!

There it is?

I have definitely seen that Asian actress before. Bother her face and voice are super familiar. (OH! The Rush Hour TV show (Still extra salty that was cancelled) and Awkward.)

I like the joke at the recasting.

Ok, this is predicable.

Are you sure you love her, or do you just think you do because no one has every loved you before? Really don't like that.

Millicent really looking after Freddie. Awww.

Foreshadowing?

They still dancing like teenagers?

YES! GROWN "THIS IS GROSS"! ... And back track.

Well, overall, it was ok. Not my favorite episode this far.

#icarly 2021 #icarly #icarly spoilers

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sifeng · 4 years

Text

China’s Mary Sue

Growing up in America, I always saw Mary Sues as these perfect, destined type of heroine. So you can imagine my surprise when I went on Chinese social media and found people calling Jiang Xiaoguo, a character from Twenty Your Life On, who is plain in looks, of average talent and who comes from a less than stellar background, a Mary Sue. So, I did some digging and found that apparently in China, besides also meaning perfect angels, Mary Sue can also describe plain, simple girls who are ordinary in every aspect. Nothing sounds wrong with that right? Except, these simple Mary Sues attract the attention of a male lead that is far from ordinary in any aspect (think Meteor Garden or Scarlet Heart). A rant below:

(Remember when I said Yingluo is definitely not a Mary Sue? Well this new type of Mary Sue kind of includes her too! It just goes to show how Chinese netizens are willing to literally hate on any kind of female lead! No matter how different from the norm + unproblematic they are!)

This is an interesting character. There’s nothing wrong with the basic characteristics, as the matter of fact, their basic storyline (minus the romance) makes complete sense. It’s just your average person growing up to become a successful adult. I really don’t see anything wrong with that. I also don’t see anything wrong with their character - after all, isn’t 80% of the world the exact same? The only thing that is annoying with this character is the fact that they attract guys that are far beyond their league. Why? Most people don’t like this because it’s unrealistic, which is definitely true and you can dislike it for that reason, but, I have to ask who is watching a drama to see a realistic relationship? Cdramas (especially romantic ones) thrive off of clichés, and yet those exact people who enjoy them are also the ones who yell “ew a Mary Sue!”

In America (or the Western World), we dislike Mary Sues because they are annoying, they (when they appear in young adult fiction stories) often act as bad role models for the young people reading them, they can be subconsciously sexist as people who read those stories develop the idea that the “other girls” are so boring or silly or evil and I must be like this bad-ass lady who tears down everyone else. But we do people dislike Mary Sues in China? Because her love stories are unrealistic, because exceptional people like an unexceptional girl. So there’s nothing wrong with her, there is just a lot of hate towards her romance storyline.

A poster for Twenty Your Life On: (from left to right) Duan Jiabao (段家宝), Jiang Xiaoguo (姜小果), Liang Shuang (梁爽), Luo Yan (罗艳)

So yes, I suppose Jiang Xiaoguo is a Mary Sue (she is simple, and two rather exceptional guys like her), but I still don’t really understand whats wrong with this type of Mary Sue. Besides being an overly common trait, I really can’t find anything innately wrong with this setup besides the fact that it will anger thousands of Chinese netizens who feel jealous that though they might be more talented, or better looking, or more pleasant than these Mary Sues, they don’t get the handsome guys like she does. Yes, I suppose Jiang Xiaoguo’s actions and their consequences are a little unrealistic, but she really will put in a lot of effort to get jobs or do good in her job. Perhaps the actions themselves might be impractical but at least the attitude she holds towards life is respectable and young people ought to learn to be courageous and hard working like her. She has more than just “everyone loves her” as a personality trait!

Pictures from Twenty Your Life On: (from top to bottom), Guan Xiaotong (关晓彤) as Liang Shuang (梁爽), Bu Guanjin (卜冠今) as Jiang Xiaoguo (姜小果), Li Gengxi (李庚希) as Luo Yan (罗艳), Dong Siyi (董思怡) as Duan Jiabao (段家宝)

Everyone seems to hate Jiang Xiaoguo because two guys like her, but they love Liang Shuang (also from Twenty Your Life On)! Liang Shuang is another one of the main characters, and she’s actually a really cool character. She’s super confident (to a kind of amazing level really), and really selfish. I think it’s really interesting that a female lead has this type of personality, and I actually quite like her, but that doesn’t make her a better person than Jiang Xiaoguo. Liang Shuang has some really big problems (not to say Xiaoguo doesn’t - because she does - but they aren’t really huge problems that could hurt the people around her). When she and Luo Yan (another main character) are on the bus together, Luo Yan is harassed, and Liang Shuang steps in and records the entire thing on her phone (because she had been taking selfies before). She then posts the video on social media because she wants to raise awareness, however, in the video Luo Yan pushes her. It is revealed that Luo Yan only pushed her because the creepy guy tried to attack Liang Shuang, but of course that’s not in the video. So the other two friends (Xiaoguo and Duan Jiabao) try to convince Liang Shuang to take the video offline because Luo Yan is getting majorly cyberbullies for something that is definitely not her fault. Liang Shuang refuses because her video has gone viral and she’s getting a lot of followers. Also, once when faced with a product she was offered to advertise, but that could be harmful to the skin, she tricked other girls in the dormitory to use it and watched the results. And why? Because she’s way too pretty to possibly get harmed by this mask, but everyone else can suffer because they're ugly ducklings in comparison. So people like this character because she’s different, and they are totally willing to forgive her for all of these (rather cruel) actions. But when faced with Jiang Xiaoguo, a Mary Sue, they will hate on her for breathing. She can help Liang Shuang deal with a cheating boyfriend, and support her friends when they are down, and yet - she’s the annoying one?

Besides, I feel like, if these male leads have a reason to like her (a valid reason not some stupid one like - oh she’s not like the other girls). Then I don’t have a problem at all! I just want well-written romance storylines that aren’t toxic, I really don’t require this completely new and innovative relationship. Besides, realistic relationships are way too boring to be shown on television, for example, in Twenty Your Life On, Luo Yan’s main pairing is her friend who studies for graduate school with her. He is really nice, but just kind of boring. I don’t really feel interested in watching their romance develop because 1. there isn’t that much chemistry and 2. it’s just so boring. (Nothing against either or them, since I love Teresa Li and I quite liked the guy in My Huckleberry Friends). I am even more annoyed that people are really hating on the actress because Jiang Xiaoguo takes up screen time. I tried to watch an iQiyi sneak peek and literally half (if not three-fourths) of the comments were just hating on her and her actress. It’s absolutely disgusting, especially given that this show has just started and has only gone one-fourth of the way through.

This was just a rant about how annoying Chinese netizens can be towards female characters, even when it’s unwarranted. If they were complaining about how she has too much screen time, perhaps I could agree, but they are just insulting her solely because two talented and handsome guys like her. That is just so wrong on so many levels. (Now this is solely a theory and it’s most likely wrong but... could it be that people are actually jealous? I see so many comments literally hating on Xiaoguo’s appearance, her actress’s voice, even her actress’s acting ability - which is actually really good - and yet no one hates on anyone else in this show. I really don’t understand. I really like her character actually, especially in the first episode).

I’m actually kind of sad. This show is so good, it deals with some very interesting topics and features conversations that are quite meaningful. And yet, all the fans care about are who gets the most screen time or oh my god this girl is so annoying because guys like her. They're missing the main point!

#Cdrama #cdrama analysis #oh my god if I see another 玛丽苏 in the comments for this drama I will punch someone #if someone has an opposing opinion or an explanation please tell me because I want to learn more #twenty your life on #it's such a good drama #but the fans make me want to die

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yourdeepestfathoms · 4 years

Text

God Forgive Us All (part one)

[Carrie AU]

(Read Anne as Courtney!Anne)

Word Count: 5694

TW: Blood, bullying, child abuse, unflattering depictions of religious people, minor self harm

———————

-And Eve Was Weak-

You never really do get used to the heat of stage lights. Even after four years in theater, Anne never grew a resistance to the sweltering heat and blindingly bright lights that beamed down on the stage when performing. By the end of a mere rehearsal, her forehead was dotted with sweat and her green earrings gifted to her by her girlfriend felt like twin pieces of the sun blazing against her skull.

“Alright, everyone,” The stage manager, a bold, powerful woman named Catalina de Aragon, boomed. “That’s good for today! You all did wonderful!”

Several sighs of relief swept through the stage. The group of actresses either doubled over or put their hands behind their heads and took deep breaths. Eight-hour-long rehearsals like that always wrung them dry, but Aragon wanted to keep them sharp, and it did, even if it was exhausting.

“If you think this is bad,” Aragon said with a teasing smile, “just wait until our live TV debut. Now THOSE lights will fry you to the bone.”

There was a scattering of grins and giggles. Despite the heat from the lights, they were all excited for the upcoming TV performance of their musical, Heathers, in which Anne proudly played Heather Duke.

“Just wait until you get to be in that trench coat,” A voice said to her left.

She turned to see Jane Seymour, their Veronica Sawyer, grinning toothily at Cathy Parr, who also doubled as their incredibly talented, incredibly wonderful, and incredibly beautiful Jason Dean. Though, Anne may be a bit biased. She was dating her, after all.

“Oh, don’t remind me,” Cathy said. “I’m already soaked enough.”

“Which will make Dead Girl Walking even better,” Jane tittered, earning her a playful elbow to the ribs.

“Oi!” Anne barked. “Paws off, Seymour! She’s all mine!”

“I bet you two make Dead Girl Walking really happen in bed,” Their Heather Chandler, Anna Cleves, commented while passing by. She grinned at them over her shoulder.

“Wouldn’t you like to know!” Anne fired back, making Anna chortle and Cathy whack her arm.

“Enough of that.” Cathy hissed. “Come on, let’s go take a shower. I feel all sticky.”

“Sweat does that,” Katherine Howard, or Kitty, the gremlin-like Heather McNamara, piped in helpfully. Trailing behind her was Maggie Wyatt, the Ms. Fleming. Unlike most of the others in the production, the two of them were both teenagers, with Kitty being fifteen and Maggie being seventeen, but they were absolutely brilliant when it came to acting and signing, so it was no wonder why they scored a spot in a West End show.

“Yes, thank you, Kitty. I had no idea.”

Kitty and Maggie both giggled, but their expressions simultaneously went sour all of a sudden. Kitty slowed down in her stride to huddle in between Jane and Anne, while Maggie wrinkled her nose in visible distaste. Anne didn’t even have to ask what was bothering them, she, sadly, already knew.

“Uh-oh,” Maggie muttered, “Here comes Jitterbug.”

Most people would furrow their eyebrows and look around in confusion, wondering who would possibly give their child such a weird name, but everyone in the theater was used to hearing such a title. They all knew exactly who it was referring to.

The girl was the definition of sickly- shockingly thin, with sharp jawbones, a narrow chest, and deep hollows under her startlingly silver eyes, which were as grey and shiny as the moon. She was very pale, too, like she would shrivel up and die if she so much as stood out in the sun for too long. Her head was dipped low as she passed by the group of actresses cautiously and she had her hands wrung anxiously in her wrinkled baby blue flannel shirt, which helped explain why she had a nickname like “Jitterbug”- she was always doing some sort of nervous tick, whether it being leg bouncing or straw chewing or hand flexing, and it easily became a target of mockery by other people in the theater. She always wore a cross necklace around her neck, and today it was still in the same position as it had been the day before- lying peacefully on her bony chest.

“Her name is Joan,” Anne whispered.

Joan Meutas. A pianist in the pit. Not an actress. So you would think that would make her unimportant and ignored, and yet...

“Yeah, I know,” Maggie said, not keeping her voice low. She probably wanted Joan to hear her, which wasn’t much of a surprise. “But she’s so jittery. And super weird.”

“You know that,” Kitty said, poking Anne. “Did you see her today? When it was lunchtime she prayed before she ate!”

Anne frowned and shook her head. She never really did like the treatment of the poor girl, especially when it came from so many adults and Joan was only sixteen, but she was just one person against an entire theater. What could she do?

“Hey!” A voice shouted from inside the women’s shower room. “Watch where you’re walking!”

Anne and her friends entered the showers and bathroom to find a flurry of towels and clothes and bare skin. Shampoo of lavender and pear, coconut and watermelon, honey and vanilla all mixed together into an overwhelmingly sweet odor that wafted throughout the room. It was almost as thick as the steam whirling from the many hot showers going on.

And, in the midst of all the cleaning and bathing, there was Joan “Jitterbug” Meutas, staring guiltily down at a few fallen bottles of soap she had accidentally scattered with her feet. The look plastered on her face made it seem like this little mishap was much more than a minor inconvenience to her.

“I-I’m sorry,” She whispered, although her shaking voice could barely be heard over the cacophony around her. Her natural stutter was more prominent because she was scared.

“Can’t you use those creepy eyes of yours?” The owner of the bottles, a woman old enough to probably be married, spat. “Or are you as blind as you are useless?”

Anne clenched her jaw. This lady was an adult and she was picking on this child as if it were just a simple schoolyard, playground argument. It was so wrong. So, so wrong.

“I’m sorry,” Joan said again, this time even softer, but it went unheard when Kitty suddenly jumped into the conversation eagerly.

“Did she get in trouble?” The girl asked, eyes glowing with cruel mischief. “I knew she would get in trouble if she came in here! Did you clobber her?”

“I wish,” The woman snorted. She glanced at Joan, as if considering beating the poor girl into a bloody pulp for simply knocking over her soap, but thought against it. “Don’t do it again, brat. Or I’ll have you fired.”

Joan nodded with one more shaky “I’m sorry” before shuffling over to one of the benches and sitting down. She hunched her shoulders around her neck instantly, trying to make herself as small as possible. Her hands were tightly grasping a set of neatly-folded clothes she had brought in for herself. It was so pitiful. Everyone was anxious in some way, but with Joan it ran deeper, all the way to paralyzing fear.

“I can’t believe we have to change with her,” Jane muttered. “She could do something to us. To the children!” She cast a worried look at Kitty and Maggie.

“She’s a child, too, you know,” Cathy pointed out. “Come on, ease up on her. She’s not that bad.”

Jane snorted, but left the conversation there and glided off to a shower that had just opened up, which was also the one that Joan was about to go into, causing the girl to slam herself back down onto the bench instantly. Anne looked at her girlfriend with an appraising expression. Cathy enjoying the bullying of a teenager definitely would have put a dent in their relationship.

“Thank you,” Anne said to Cathy in relief.

“You really thought I would be in on this harassment?” Cathy raised an eyebrow. “Do you have no faith in me?” She grinned teasingly at Anne.

“No, of course not!” Anne said hurriedly. “But you never know. I just worry.”

“I know you do.” Cathy pecked her on the cheek and then went to fetch fresh towels.

Anne smiled, watching her go, then noticed a twitch on Joan’s expression out of the corner of her eye. She turned her head, thinking the girl may have finally gotten angry at her treatment, but instead just saw that her expression was twinged with pain. One of her hands was gripping at her stomach. Curious and concerned, Anne stepped over to her.

“Hey,” She said softly as to not shock Joan, but she still flinched anyway. “Are you okay?”

The look she got was almost comical. It was a mix of shock and adoration, with a hint of caution flickering in Joan’s silver eyes. She blinked several times, opening and closing her mouth like a startled fish that had just been pulled out of the water, before finally stuttering out, “U-uh-huh.”

“Are you sure?” Anne slowly sat down next to Joan, slightly surprised to find that she didn’t jerk away. In fact, she swore it almost looked like Joan wanted to curl up against her and fall asleep. “You look a little hurt. Physically, I mean. I’m sure everything hurts mentally....” She trailed off awkwardly.

“M-my stomach just hurts a little,” Joan mumbled shyly. “That’s all.”

“I see.” Anne said. “Well, I hope you feel better soon, Joan.”

She gave the girl a comforting pat on the shoulder and then stood up, going over to one of the now-open showers. She hung her clothes and towel on the stall door, then stepped inside and got undressed. She cranked the shower nozzle and hot water cascaded all over her body, washing away the sticky sheen of sweat that had been caked over her skin.

It always felt nice to take a shower after a long day of rehearsals. She loved being able to get clean, finally relaxing when she was done with hours of line run throughs and dance move reciting.

Someone got into the shower next to her; she could hear the click of the lock and the splash of water sluicing under feet. When she peeked down, she saw that the toenails weren’t painted, so it couldn’t have been Kitty or Maggie. She didn’t pay much mind to discovering who her stall neighbor was, though. She just tried to relax under the warm spray of water washing her clean and soothing her sore muscles.

And then she heard the shaky gasp.

It came from her left, from the girl without her toenails painted. The noise had been so soft and subtle that Anne thought she hadn’t heard anything at all, that it was just her imagination, but then she heard it again, this time slightly louder.

A shaky gasp. A definite whimper.

She peeked down again and saw something mixing with the water. It spiraled down the drain before she could get a good look, but she merely shrugged it off as none of her business and went back to washing her hair.

Or, she tried to, at least. It was a little hard when the girl next to her suddenly let out a sharp whimper and burst out of the stall.

“H-help me!”

Was that...?

Oh god.

Anne turned off the shower, not caring that she still had shampoo in her hair, and peeked out of the stall. What she saw made her heart sink into her stomach.

Joan, completely naked, was stumbling to a group of women with a horrified look on her face. She reached a desperate hand out to Cathy, leaving a red stain smeared against the woman’s blue blouse, and clung on for dear life.

“Help me!” Joan cried again. “Help me! S-something’s wrong!”

Cathy immediately recoiled in shock, causing Joan to stumble backwards clumsily. Everyone looked down at the handprint stained in crimson on her shirt. Jane gave Joan an evil look.

“What the fuck!” She roared. “Her shirt!”

“What is WRONG with you?” Maggie said.

“Some kind of freak seizure?” Kitty guessed.

And then they all noticed the trails of red running down Joan’s inner thighs.

“I-I’m bleeding!” Joan whimpered.

“Oh my god,” Kitty exclaimed as Jane’s face twisted with nausea. Cathy paled, looking down at her ruined shirt again. “It’s period blood!”

“Are you fucking kidding me?” Jane hissed.

“It’s just your period!” Maggie said in amusement to Joan at the same time. She went over to the toiletry dispenser and took out a tampon. She offered it to Joan. “Just plug it up!”

Despite the moment of kindness, Joan was far too shellshocked and confused to understand what was going on, and so she reached out to Maggie’s hand desperately, hoping for some kind of comfort. Maggie instantly reeled away with a revolted gag when some of Joan’s period blood dripped onto her fingers.

“Oh fuck!” She yelled. “I got some of her pussy juice on me!”

“Gross!” Kitty squealed.

“P-please help me!” Joan howled. “I-I’m dying!”

“How do you not know what your period is?” Kitty asked her. “Are you that stupid?”

Joan merely let out a strangled whimper. A small pool of blood has accumulated around her feet and she’s now hunched over from obvious cramps. She’s shaking so badly that it looked like she may have actually been having a seizure.

When the other women noticed that they weren’t going to get through to Joan, they all turned to a different alternative instead of trying to help her- throwing tampons and pads at the poor thing.

“PLUG IT UP! PLUG IT UP! PLUG IT UP!” The group cheered.

Joan stumbled backwards and fell to the floor. Blood smeared across her thighs and the floor, causing several women to sneer in repulsion. Kitty took her phone out and began to record the freak out.

“HELP ME!!” Joan shrieked. “P-PLEASE H-HELP ME!!”

“PLUG IT UP! PLUG IT UP! PLUG IT UP!!” The group just sang louder.

Joan began to scream and cry, collapsing onto her side and curling into a trembling ball as blood oozed out from between her thighs and she was hit with a storm of women’s toiletry items. She just kept wailing at the top of her lungs, absolutely horrified and traumatized about what was happening to her. And Anne could only watch from her shower stall as the poor child was terrorized.

“Hey! HEY!!”

The voice was booming thunder in the rain or mockery and tampons.

“Ladies! Ladies! What the hell is going on here?!”

Aragon pushed her way through mayhem to the front and set her eyes upon one of the musical’s young musicians shaking and sobbing and curled up on the tile in heap of her own blood coming from her vagina and pads and tampons. She stiffened and blinked, clearly not expecting this image of all things and definitely not having learned how to deal with it from her training to be a stage manager, but she set her jaw in determination anyway.

“Okay,” She breathed out, pushing her shock to the side. She took a tentative step forward, which was enough to make Joan flinch and flounder awkwardly in the mess around her. “Okay... It’s okay, honey. It’s okay.”

Joan didn’t seem convinced- she kept gasping and wheezing like she was having a panic attack and whimpering in distress. She huddled against one of the closed showers, trembling violently.

“Come on, stand up,” Aragon encouraged softly. “Let’s get you stand up.”

“N-no, I-I can’t!” Joan mewled. Like before, so desperate for comfort, she reached out to Aragon for help, grasping onto her yellow skirt with both bloody hands and hanging on like her life depended on it. Several of the gawkers gagged. “I can’t! I can’t!”

“Joan, come on.” Aragon tried again. If the period blood getting wiped on her skirt bothered her, she didn't show it. “Stand up. Can you stand up?”

“It hurts!” Joan wailed. Her grip on Aragon faltered and crumpled back into herself. “It hurts! It hurts! It hurts!”

Aragon, who was usually so headstrong and sure of herself, looked dumbfounded. “Honey, what’s going on? What’s wrong?”

Cathy, who had been watching silently, stepped up next to Aragon. The stage manager momentarily glanced at the stain on her shirt that matched on the ones on her skirt.

“I don’t think she knows it’s her period,” Cathy told Aragon softly.

“NO!!” Joan cried instantly. “No! No! No! No!” Her panic was building. Her shaking was getting worse.

“Cathy, leave!” Aragon snarled, glaring at the woman at her side.

“But-”

“You aren’t helping!”

Joan’s cries were getting louder and louder and more and more shrill by the second. She was practically heaving, her lanky little body jerking and spasming. She looked so much more thin without any clothes to cover her skeletal frame. Her stomach was sunken in and her ribs were slightly visible through her milky white, doughy skin.

“Joan! Joan!” Aragon shouted to the panicking girl, but nothing she said was getting through to her, so she promptly raised her hand and slapped Joan across the face.

Gasps whisked through the shower room. Joan’s screaming was cut off with a sharp, alarmed squeak. She tentatively touched her stinging cheek with a bloodied hand and then whimpered pathetically.

A light overhead exploded and shattered into millions of pieces.

There were several startled yelps as the women leapt out of the way of falling glass. A few were cut, but not badly. Aragon grit her teeth at the commotion her actresses were making.

“Everybody out!” She roared. “Right now!”

Everyone obeyed, shuffling out as quickly as they could, but not without a few final glances over their shoulder at Joan. Anne was the only one who stayed, remaining hidden in her stall, listening.

“Hey, hey,” She heard Aragon murmur in the gentlest voice she’s ever heard her use before. “Deep breaths. Come here.”

She took Joan into her arms and Joan immediately curled up like she’s never been held before in her entire life. She buried her face against Aragon’s chest, weeping softly.

“Come on, it’s okay. You’re okay, sweetie.” Aragon said gently. “It’s totally normal. You’re not in trouble. It’s okay.”

She just kept reassuring Joan again and again, cupping her head against her chest protectively and using the other hand to rub her back comfortingly. Anne watched them from her shower stall with a frown until Aragon eventually got Joan to stand up, get changed, and walk out with her. Then, she finally got to washing the rest of the shampoo out of her hair in an eerily silent shower room with a broken light and period blood spattered across the floor.

———

“Are you, uhh, feeling any better? Need some Aspirin? Some juice?”

“Juice? Really, Tony?”

The director raised his hands in a mock surrender, then peered back at the trembling girl sitting in front of him. There was a flicker of worry in his eyes, but he seemed more concerned about what this would do to his production. After all, a cast needed to be close to work best, and the actresses terrorizing one of their coworkers would definitely make things difficult to achieve that unity.

“Do you want us to just leave you alone?”

There was no reply once again. Joan was way too shellshocked to answer. Instead, she was just wrapping one of her fingers in the chain of her cross necklace and tugging on it nervously.

“Joan, honey,” Aragon knelt down in front of the chair Joan was sitting in. “I am so sorry I slapped you. I should have handled that situation better.”

Joan just stared up at her with big, sad silver eyes that looked so much like an injured lamb’s.

“You know, getting your period is totally normal.” Aragon tried to smooth her panic out. “Usually it just comes a little bit sooner.” She paused, hesitated, then quietly asked, “Is this your first time?”

Aragon wasn’t sure who looked more uncomfortable: Joan or the director. Both seemed supremely uneasy with the question, but the director was sweating awkwardly and kept trying to open his mouth to interject, only to think against it. Aragon shot him an irritated glower.

Joan herself was quiet for a long time, but eventually squeaked out, “M-my mama never t-told me about it...”

“Oh, baby...” Aragon cooed pitifully. She sat down next to Joan and set a hand on her shoulder, feeling her jump and then lean slightly into her touch. “Do you know what’s happening to your body?”

The director wiped away a bead of sweat from his brow.

“I...I thought I f-felt something m-move...down there...” Joan said softly.

The director’s eyes bulged so far out of their sockets that it was a miracle that they didn’t pop out completely.

“Honey...”

“W-well—” The director suddenly interjected. Aragon gave him a warning glare and he shuffled over to the water cooler in the room, poured himself a cup, took a drink, crushed it, and then tried again with speaking on the topic. “Maybe you could talk to a therapist! Or a nurse! At the A and E!”

Aragon looked at him as if he were crazy. He rubbed his palms against his pants and took a seat at the front desk, clearing his throat. He did his best to make himself look refined and sophisticated, but that was impossible with his lack of knowledge over a completely normal situation and from the way he kept making it even weirder than it needed to be.

“But what I want to know—” He said, attempting to steer away from the period talk. “Is who started throwing...the things.”

Aragon rolled her eyes at his behavior. She expected nothing less from men.

“It was Jane Seymour, Maggie Lee, and Katherine Howard. Then everyone else joined in.” She said.

“Julia-”

“Joan.” Aragon corrected firmly.

“Joan.” The director said again. “Did those three girls start this?”

“Don’t call them ‘girls’, Tony. One of them is a grown ass woman.” Aragon said bitterly.

“But the other two aren’t,” The director said, then turned his gaze back to Joan expectantly.

Joan opened her mouth, looked up at the director, then closed it and shrunk back in her chair. She suddenly found the floor a lot more interesting.

“Sweet pea, you don’t have to defend them.” Aragon told her. “What they did was unforgivable and awful. You won’t get in trouble for telling us the truth.”

“I-I won’t g-get f-fired?” Joan sniffled feebly.

“No, no, honey,” Aragon tucked a stray lock of wet hair behind Joan’s ear and this time she definitely felt the girl lean into her touch. “Of course you won’t. You’ll still work here.”

Joan nodded, but she still wasn’t able to speak up. She gave Aragon a deeply apologetic look and then lowered her head uselessly.

“Well, it doesn’t seem like June-”

“Joan.” Aragon snarled.

“Joan—” The director corrected himself quickly, eyeing Aragon warily, as if he were expecting her to leap over the desk and strangle him. “—is going to point any fingers, so Catalina I’m going to let you handle this with the ladies. Let the punishment fit the crime.”

“Okay,” Aragon nodded. “I’ll fire them.”

The director floundered. Aragon smirked. Even Joan made a tiny, amused sound that wasn’t quite a giggle, but it was something else from her usual whimpers and distressed noises.

“What? No!” The director warbled. “Not that!”

“Why not?” Aragon said dismissively. “We have understudies for a reason.”

“You can’t fire an entire cast! The understudies are not as good as the all-star cast! That’s why they’re understudies! They’re good, but not good enough!”

“I-I think the understudies are really good,” Joan offered meekly. Aragon smiled at her and she even cracked a ghost of her own on her pale lips.

“They are, aren’t they?” Aragon said.

“You are not firing our stars.” The director said firmly. “You can do anything else! Just not that!” He cleared his throat, calming himself. “Now. Due to this...issue...Joan,” He glanced at Aragon when he used the correct name, “I’m going to have to call your mother to pick you up for the day.”

Joan stiffened like she had been struck by lightning. She went horrifically pale- paler than she usually was.

“Wh-what?” She whispered.

“I’m calling your mother,” The director said again. He furrowed his eyebrows at her distress. “You’re a minor, Joan. Your parents have to be called when something is wrong. And you need to be picked up. I know it’s basically the end of rehearsals, but you probably shouldn’t stick around any longer than you have to.”

“No,” Joan said in a voice that’s strangled with fear. Her eyes are wide, like she’s already predicting a million different futures where this goes horribly wrong and gets her in trouble or humiliated again.

“We have to get your mother involved.” Aragon said gently, hoping to get through to the frightened girl. “She needs to know.”

“No!!” Joan cried, and then the water cooler against the wall burst apart.

———

Bernadette Meutas was as sickly as her daughter, but less so physically, and more so mentally. She had wide, wild, and bloodshot moss green eyes that were sucked into their sockets and sunken cheeks that made her head look more like a dead person’s skull. Her lips were frayed and bloodied from constant chewing on the flesh and her wrists were covered in scars, some old, some new.

Joan always hated the scars on her mother’s wrists. They made her feel guilty, like it was her fault that they were there.

“So, you’re a woman now,” Bernadette muttered.

She and Joan were sitting in the car outside their shabby house in the far outskirts of London. The building cast an eerie black shadow across the unkempt lawn. Behind it, the setting sun glowed blood red.

“Y-you should have told me, mama.” Joan said, voice shaking.

Bernadette clenched her jaw for a long moment, then roughly unbuckled her seat belt, threw open the car door, and stormed inside. Joan was left alone in the car, sniffling, trying to hold back tears.

“Maggot Meutas! Maggot Meutas!!”

Her mother had moved them all the way out to the sticks of England in hopes they could get far away from all the sinners and unholy leaches, but she didn’t seem to do a good job because there was a little neighbor boy on the other side of Joan’s window, shrilling like a bat out of hell.

“Maggot Meutas! Maggot Meutas!” He changed again, then pressed his nose against the glass and made what he thought was a good impression of a maggot’s face.

Joan clenched her fists with a pathetic whimper. Her blood was starting to boil.

The boy cackled loudly, twisted his bike around to drive off to celebrate his success of tormenting the city’s local freak, but didn’t get very far. Because Joan twitched and, suddenly, the kid is toppling over very ungracefully into a heap in the grass. He looked up at Joan, just as startled as she was, then scrambled to get his bike back up and rode off screaming.

Joan stayed very still for a long time, staring at her hands. Then, she’s wiggling out of her seat and walking slowly into her house, unable to ignore the confrontation with her mother any longer.

Bernadette was sitting in the kitchen with her back to Joan, rereading the Bible for what was probably the hundredth time and smoking a cigarette. The overhead lights were dim, but Joan could still see bloodstains on her mother’s green sleeves. She whimpered softly, but quickly bit her tongue when she glanced fearfully up at the large crucifix hanging above the dinner table. It was usually used to discipline her for her perceived infractions, and, because of that, always made her nervous whenever she stepped anywhere near it.

“Mama,” She spoke up softly, stepping warily into the kitchen doorway. “Y-you said y-you’d stop cutting yourself...”

She knew, deep down, that that promise was nothing but a hollow lie, but she liked to comfort herself with the thought that her mother would get rid of her self destructive habits and they could be a happy, normal family like she always wanted them to be.

“And God made Eve from the rib of Adam,” Bernadette recited instead of replying. Her voice was hollow and drained. “And Eve was weak and loosed the raven on the world. And the raven was called sin.” She creaked around slowly in her chair to stare at her daughter. “Say it.”

“Wh-why didn’t you tell me, mama?” Joan asked quietly.

“Say it.” Bernadette merely said again, rising to her feet.

“And the raven was called sin,” Joan said and the words were horribly sour on her tongue. She shook her head. “Why didn’t you just— why didn’t you tell me, mama?” She tangled her fingers in her cross necklace like she always did when she was nervous. The cold metal lacing bit into the back of her neck when she tugged on it. “Mama, mama, please. It hurts, mama. It hurts, it hurts!”

Bernadette is unfazed by her daughter’s desperate pleading. “And the first sin was intercourse.”

“I’m not Eve, mama!” Joan wheedled. “I-I didn’t sin!”

“You were showering with other women.” Bernadette said exasperatedly. She looked sick when she spoke that sentence. “You were having lustful thoughts.”

“N-no, no, mama!” Joan stammered, eyes widening in fear. “I-I wasn’t, mama! I promise!”

“You were having lustful thoughts about women.” Bernadette oozed scathingly.

“No! No!” Joan shook her head. “E-everyone has to shower! I-I was j-just cleaning myself up because I was sweaty after rehearsals!”

“So it’s this blasted play that’s doing this to you,” Bernadette mused, not even hearing her daughter. “It was a mistake. I thought putting you into homeschooling would give you more time to focus on your prayers. And you had been doing so good that your reward was to be in this damned show, but clearly you don’t deserve that.”

“No!!” Joan cried. “No, mama, please let me stay! Please! I-I promise that I’ve been a good girl! I do my schoolwork during any free time I have and I always pray! Always! I promise!”

Even if it earned her awful ridicule and teasing.

“But you sinned.” Bernadette seethed. Her voice remained dry and hollow, sending several chills down Joan’s spine.

“I didn’t!” Joan said. “I-I’ve never sinned! Never ever! N-not at school, not at home, no at the theater! S-so please don’t take me out, mama, I love to play mu—”

Joan was cut off when her mother hit her across the head with the Bible. Her frail, lightweight body instantly crumpled under the force of the heavy book and she toppled to the ground with a cry of shock and pain.

“And the first sin was intercourse.” Bernadette said blankly, gazing down at the shuddering figure of her young daughter.

“I didn’t sin, mama!” Joan just said again, hoping she would eventually get through to her mother.

“Say it.” Bernadette said. “The first sin was intercourse.”

Joan stammered, choking on her words.

“The first sin was intercourse. The first sin was intercourse. The first sin was intercourse.”

“Mama-“

“The first sin was intercourse.”

“The first sin was intercourse!” Joan sobbed, tears streaming freely down her cheeks. “Mama, I was so scared! I-I thought I was dying! A-and e-everyone was laughing and th-throwing things at me—”

“And Eve was weak.” Bernadette said. “Say it.”

“No!!”

“Eve was weak. Eve was weak. Eve was weak. Say it! Eve was weak. Eve was weak.” Bernadette chanted over and over again.

Joan covered her ears, pulled her knees tightly to her chest, and wailed, “Eve was weak! Eve was weak!”

“And the Lord visited Eve with a curse,” Bernadette whispered. “And the curse was a curse of blood!”

“You should have told me, mama,” Joan wept. “You should have told me!”

Bernadette suddenly dropped to her knees in front of Joan, making her flinch away. She ripped Joan’s hands from where they’re over her ears and held them tightly in her own.

“Oh, Lord!” Bernadette howled, shaking Joan. “Help this sinning girl see the sin of her days and ways! Show her that if she had remained sinless, the curse of blood would have never come on her!”

“No, mama,” Joan whined weakly, wriggling in her mother’s grasp.

“She may have been tempted by the anti-Christ, she may have committed the sin of lustful thoughts—”

“M-Miss Aragon s-said it h-happens to every girl!” Joan said. “Th-that they all get it a-and it’s normal!”

“No, no,” Bernadette shook her head. She held tighter to Joan’s hands, digging her long fingernails into sensitive flesh and causing her daughter to sob in pain. “Don’t you lie to me, Johanna. Don’t you know already that I can see inside of you? I can see the sin within you.”

“P-please stop, mama, you’re hurting me,” Joan whimpered.

“You need to pray.” Bernadette suddenly said and Joan’s teary eyes shot open wide. “Come. Get in your closet.”

“No! No!!” Joan struggled against her mother as she was forcefully dragged across the floor to a small storage room underneath the staircase. She kicked and screamed, but it did little to free her as she was thrown into the cramped space like a worthless sack of potatoes. She tried to get up and run out, but the door was slammed in her face and promptly locked.

Banging on the door and screaming was fruitless. Joan gave up after a few minutes and curled up in one of the corners of the room, staring fearfully at the dozens of photos of Jesus’s death around her. The statue of him on a cross was by far the worst, though.

Pain seized her lower stomach and she whimpered. It felt like a demon was trying to claw its way out of her belly.

Joan curled up tighter, rocked herself back and forth slowly, and cried.

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