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flowersandbigteeth · 1 year

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Your werebear mate takes you camping

I've gotten a whole bunch of requests for a sweet moment with Hugo, so this is filling a bunch of them ^_^' This is a lot gentler and fluffier than the other ones, per request :)

General Plot: Hugo wants to teach you some camping skills, so you go on a hike!

Hugo (Werebear) x Female reader

Word Count: 2.5k

W: sweet, fluffy smut, vaginal sex, outdoor sex

NSFW Masterpost <-- previous parts

“Why are we doing this again?” you griped as you smacked another mosquito off of your neck. You paused your march to spray yourself down with more bug spray.

The trees rose up around you, tall and old deep in the forest you were hiking through. Ahead of you Hugo cleared a path through the brush with his wide body, bending whatever saplings he encountered out of the way.

“So that you can learn some survival skills,” he said cheerfully.

He loved hiking and the great outdoors. It was one of his favorite hobbies. Usually he went by himself or with another bear from his pack, but this time he’d insisted you tag along.

“You’d be totally helpless if you were lost in the wilderness. I’m going to teach you some things,” he went on.

Something rustled in the brush and you skipped a bit to catch up to him and buried your hand in his fur.

“When am I going to be lost in the wilderness?” you asked, “you gonna abandon me here?”

A deep chuckle erupted from his lips as he snapped another sapling.

“Of course not honey cake,” he said, “but you never know when you’ll need to know how to start a fire or set a trap. What if your plane went down in the forest and you had to survive until rescue came?”

You let out a deep sigh, sure that would never happen.

“Are we even allowed to be here?” you asked.

You’d strayed from the trail long ago and now Hugo was leading you deep into the woods. Your pant legs were already shredded from brambles and the mosquitos were terrible.

“Who knows?” he said, shrugging his massive shoulders, “but I have someplace special to show you.”

“Is it much further?” you whined.

“Not much,” he offered vaguely.

While you dragged one foot in front of the other, you daydreamed about being in a nice air conditioned coffee shop with a large iced latte in your hand.

“My legs are tired,” you pouted to Hugo, “if we don’t stop soon, I’m going to drop dead right where I’m standing.”

You heard him laugh, before he turned to you and scooped you up in his arms.

“I should make you walk,” he grumbled, “in a real life situation I won’t be here to carry you.”

Giggling up at him you snuggled deeper into his arms, rubbing your face against his furry chest.

“Good thing we’re not in a real life situation. I’d have already given up and would be eaten by wolves,” you said.

You felt his chest rumble as he chuckled.

“I bet you’d be delicious,” he said, pinching your bottom with the hand holding you up, “they would tell their pups stories about your tender flesh and lament that they couldn’t have it again.”

You looked up at him and narrowed your eyes.

“Sounds like you’ve put a lot of thought into this,” you said, giving him a flat laugh.

“Don’t worry,” he snickered, “if anything is going to eat you it will be me.”

You patted him on his furry chest and giggled, your cheeks warming a bit. Somewhere in the distance you heard rushing water, getting louder each step Hugo took closer to it.

Finally, the trees thinned and you peaked out of Hugo’s big arms to see a beautiful waterfall. Water rushed over the many large rocks that appeared to have tumbled out of the mountain creating shelves as the water worked its way down.

“This is beautiful, Hugo,” you gasped, taking in the lovely green foliage that crowded the fall. At the base a clear pool filled with fat fish and multicolored river rock collected ice cold water from the mountain top.

He set you down on a rock overlooking the peaceful scene, taking the pack off of your back and started setting things up. You’d brought plenty of supplies, since Hugo could carry a lot on his back. The only thing missing was a tent, as he informed you that it would be much better to sleep underneath the stars. With him around you didn’t have to worry about predators sneaking up on you in the dark.

When he’d organized your little camp, he started a fire. You watched him step out of the old pair of jeans he was wearing and gasped. His body never ceased to excite you. Even covered in fur, you could make out the planes of his impeccable muscles, flexing as he kicked off his pants. You swallowed a sip of water from your bottle, taking in the thick cock nestled between his thighs. It took you a moment to even question why he was undressing.

“Wh-what are you doing?” you stammered and he shot you a predatory flash of fang.

“I’m going to catch us some dinner,” he explained, turning away from you and wading into the water.

The sun was already getting low in the sky, the rocky mountainside casting long shadows over your camp. You had no idea how Hugo could see, but apparently his vision was much better than yours. Curious about his technique you watched him standing stock still in the rushing water, his sharp eyes cast down. It was a testament to his size that the water just moved around him. It would have knocked you off of your feet in a second, but Hugo stood like a statue. Then he was a blur, striking the water with his large hands. A second later he tossed a thick fish next to you on the ground.

You jumped, surprised and hurried to capture the fish before it flopped back in the water. Comically grasping the fish as it thrashed in your hands, all you could think to do was walk a few steps away from the water’s edge and shove it in the pot you’d brought to cook with and stick the top on.

Not sure what to do with the first fish, you certainly weren’t sure what to do with the three more Hugo tossed at you. When he finally got out of the water, he shook it out of his fur like a dog. He shot you a big smile as you tried to wrestle the other fish that were gasping for air.

“Come here,” he said, taking one of the fish from you and scooping up the other two, “I’ll show you how to dress them.

After that gross lesson, he put the cleaned fish on sticks, propping them over the fire.

You sat down next to Hugo, cuddling into his warmth as the temperature dropped. The sun was already behind the mountain and the sky was turning a rich bluey-purple.

“It’s official,” you said, “I’m never going into nature without you. I would never be able to gut those guys by myself.”

He chortled, putting an arm around you. The campsite was filled with the delicious smell of roasting fish and your stomach grumbled with anticipation. When they were done, Hugo carefully extracted yours and sliced it up so you could eat it easily. He chewed on his right off of the stick. By that time the stars were popping out one by one in the inky sky. Out this far there was no light pollution so your mouth hung open as you took it all in.

“There’s so many!” you chirped, as you leaned back into Hugo’s fur to observe them. “It’s beautiful.”

He chuckled behind you, his belly full.

“See? Camping’s not so bad, is it?” he asked into your ear.

You felt his soft, fluffy fur brushing your neck and a shiver rolled over your body. Pursing your lips you gave him a fake pout.

“Like I said,” you sulked, “I’m only coming out here with you. I couldn’t do any of this on my own.”

He wrapped his big arms around you and squeezed you tight.

“No one else better be taking you on camping trips,” he said, “or they are going to have to fight off a very angry bear.”

You rubbed your cheek into his furry chest and yawned, tired after the long walk.

“Let’s get you tucked in,” he murmured.

He rolled out two sleeping bags and you pouted.

“What’s wrong?” he asked, reading the disappointment on your face.

“Nothing,” you snapped.

His eyebrow rose as you fussily got into your sleeping bag and huffed, turning away from him. You were being a little childish because you were kind of cranky after the long hike.

“It’s cold,” you pouted.

You heard Hugo let out a rumbling laugh and drew your brows, annoyed that he found it funny.

“Come here honey cake,” he said, extracting you from your sleeping bag like you weighed little more than a doll and pulled you into his.

“Did you want to sleep next to me?” he asked.

You felt silly, so you just nodded into his chest, snuggling into his warmth. He laughed again, stroking your hair.

“I should have guessed,” he whispered, “look up.”

You weren’t sure what you were supposed to be looking at, getting comfy next to your mate, but when you did your eyes popped. The sky was streaked with shooting stars.

“I chose tonight because there is a meteor shower,” he said, his thick fingers brushing the hairs crowding your face out of the way.

“This…this is amazing Hugo,” you gasped, unable to tear your eyes away.

Hugo watched for a moment with you before his interests turned elsewhere. The pads of his fingers traced your neck and then across your shoulder blades. Instinctively, you cast your gaze on him, but he nudged your chin back up.

“Don’t look at me,” he purred, “keep watching.”

Your body was tingling with anticipation as he pushed your shirt up and tugged your bra down to get access to your breasts. His big warm hands cupped them and you could feel the delicious prick of his claws on your skin. You tried your best to keep your eyes on the many streaks of color lighting up the sky, but your eyelashes fluttered with pleasure.

A low moan left your lips as his warm mouth closed over your nipple, circling it with his tongue. His touch was so familiar and comforting. You never wanted another person to touch you the way and the places he did. He possessed your body and you eagerly accepted his attention.

“Hugo!” you gasped, arching your back so that he had better access to you.

His fingers tugged at the other nipple, making you mewl out loud. Your panties were already soaked, feeling sticky against your skin.

“Please, Hugo. More,” you managed to mutter and you felt his body, tucked so close in the sleeping bag, rumble with delight.

His thick fingers unzipped your pants with surprising dexterity and slid them off you, leaving only your wet panties. A thumb traced your slit, stopping at your clit to stroke languid circles. You gasped and keened, pressing your mound into his fingertips.

With a tearing sound, you realized his claws had sliced right through the chaste cotton panties you were wearing, leaving you bare for his fingers to explore. He dipped a thick digit inside of you, collecting some of your wetness before he circled your needy bundle of nerves with it.

His mouth found yours, his thick tongue snaking out to taste you. Your peaked nipples brushed the soft fur on his chest, the sensation decadent and luxurious. He was so big looming over you, carefully holding himself up so he didn’t crush you. You adored the way he was incredibly strong but could be so delicate with you.

You reached out to find his cock, thick and firm, dripping a steady stream of precum. Feeling his need made your insides melt to mush. Your mate wanted you and only you. He hissed in pleasure as you rolled your palm over the wide head, then down his shaft.

You both moaned and grunted in pleasure as you handled one another. His cock was hot and throbbing in your hand, while he pinched and rubbed your clit faster and harder every second you touched him. He wound the thread of pleasure tighter and tighter until the stars were imprinted on the back of your eyelids. You screamed his name as he pushed you over the edge, bucking your hips into his big hand.

“Who do you belong to, honey cake?” he muttered, “tell me who makes you feel good.”

“You Hugo,” you gasped, hardly able to let out the words.

You heard his approving growl before he pulled you on top of him, letting the sleeping bag fall back so your breasts were exposed to the night air. It was cool, but his big hands roaming over you were so hot, you hardly noticed it.

“Take what you want, (Y/N),” he groaned, “I want to see you come apart on top of me.”

You let out a little squeal, lowering your hips onto his thick cock. You always had to take it carefully, he filled and stretched you completely. It took you a minute to slowly descend so that your hips were flush. He let out a rumbling roar when you were fully seated.

His eyes on you were glittering in the firelight as he took you in.

“My mate,” he rumbled, “You’re so beautiful. Prettier than a sky full of stars.”

His words propelled you forward and you bounced on his stiff shaft, pushing yourself higher and higher, towards your end. He cupped your breasts, kneading them and plucking your nipples until your head was thrown back, muttering curses to the silent mountain.

It was good there was no one around to hear all of the loud, lusty noises you were making. As your pace got erratic, so close to cumming, Hugo took over. His hands gripped your hips, the tips of his claws pricking your skin as he thrust up into you. He took you hard, the sound of your ass slapping his thighs echoed around you.

“Touch yourself for me,” he growled and you couldn’t deny him, parting your folds with your much smaller fingers and hazily circling your clit.

Your other hand clutched your bouncing breast, teasing the nipple. All the while Hugo’s hungry gaze ate you up. The way he looked at you, full of sensual longing made you feel like a goddess. You knew he adored every part of you. Every bit of cellulite and every little scar his eyes met with a ferocious greed.

Not able to hold back any longer, you erupted, hot pleasure washing over your body in thick ripples. He snapped his cock into you once, twice, then on the third time you felt a wave of searing cum fill you as he roared his release. You fell forward, spent, your nose buried in his neck. He stroked your back gently, not ready to pull out of you yet. He pulled the sleeping bag up around you so your skin, damp from sweat, wouldn't make you cold.

“I love you little honey cake,” he hummed, his voice thick and low.

“I love you,” you breathed into his neck.

You let him cuddle and stroke you until you drifted off to sleep with him still inside of you.

#werebear #werebear x human #werebear x reader #x reader #monster boyfriend #monster fucker #monster smut #yandere smut #yandere male #yandere x reader #smut #monster lover #hugo

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makeitmingi · 1 year

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✦ ATEEZ Masterlist ✦

‎‧₊˚✧ OT8 ✧˚₊‧

‎‧₊˚✧ Hongjoong ✧˚₊

➵ Just A Phone Call Away (Oneshot)

Your relationship didn't work out, the only thing it did was fill your friendship with awkwardness and regret. But when the other is in need of comforting, you still drop everything and run to each other. After all, you're both just a phone call away.

➵ Our Shared Melody (Oneshot)

Ever since you got together with Hongjoong and married him, he never hid you. Despite being an idol, he took pride in showing you off and showered you with love. But now, you're both taking the next big step in your relationship and of course, he wants ATINY to be a part of it too.

➵ The Babysitter Club (Part 2 of Our Shared Melody)

When your work requires you to travel, Hongjoong insists that he is fine taking care of your daughter on his own, with the help of her chaotic uncles. You were hesitant at first, considering he has never really taken care of your daughter on his own before. But what's the worst that can happen... right?

➵ When Flowers Bloom In The Dark (Series) [Ongoing]

When you appeared and wept at his mother's funeral, Hongjoong found himself wanting to find out more about you. A regular girl, who owns a flower shop in his territory and has a relationship with the mother that he hasn't spoken to in years, why hasn't he ever noticed you before?

‎‧₊˚✧ Seonghwa ✧˚₊‧

➵ The Greatest Gift Of All (Oneshot)

When you just wanted a small intimate birthday celebration with all the boys, of course your boyfriend has a few tricks up his sleeve to make it more special. But what he doesn’t know is that he is the greatest gift you could have ever asked for.

➵ Let Me In (Oneshot)

He's the second in command of the most powerful, feared coven. But he hides a secret, a human that made his dead heart feel love. For the rest of her life, he promises to protect her from harm, never wanting her to face the consequences of being his lover. Until one day, his hand is forced.

➵ The Moon’s Beloved Star (Series) [Ongoing]

You and your boyfriend are complete opposites. It amazes people how the two of you are together. That's because no one else sees that under his cold demeanour, there's only one soft spot in his heart that's reserved for you. You're the only star that the moon protects.

‎‧₊˚✧ Yunho ✧˚₊‧

➵ And They Called It Puppy Love (Oneshot)

Despite your worries and concerns about your relationship, your golden retriever boyfriend Yunho never lets you stray too far. He's always right behind you, making sure he's always there for you with whatever you need. No, it's not just puppy love.

➵ The Cat and Dog Game (Series) [Completed]

Yunho's dream was to open and run his own restaurant. But he doesn't know anything when it comes to cooking. Until you came along and applied for the job, bringing with you a small crew. How will the black cat tame the energetic golden retriever?

‎‧₊˚✧ Yeosang ✧˚₊‧

‎‧₊˚✧ San ✧˚₊‧

➵ Drunk In Love (Oneshot)

After a great night out with your best friends, San did not expect to have to deal with an intoxicated you. However, despite his best efforts to convince you, you were adament on not cheating on your sweet boyfriend waiting at home.. whose name was also ‘Choi San’?

➵ Be Your Solace (Oneshot)

Since your relationship was still relatively new, you were afraid of letting San meeting your family. You didn't want them to chase him away. But your boyfriend can't stand to see you stressed, anxious and exhausted from your family. So he tries to help you and be your solace.

➵ Dream Come True (Oneshot)

Your daughter has 8 best friends, also known as ANITEEZ. But her bestest friend, the one she doesn't go anywhere without is Sandeoki. So, after finding out the segment plans for ATEEZ's upcoming fanmeet, you and San decided to bring her for a little surprise.

‎‧₊˚✧ Mingi ✧˚₊‧

➵ Cause Baby You’re My Muse (Series) [Completed]

You always preferred producing underground, having an unknown face and governed by your own rules. But when you start freelancing for idol groups, you say goodbye to your lone wolf lifestyle as you learn to work with idol producers and lyricists.

➵ Empty Promises (Oneshot)

Mingi has resigned to his fate that he brings misery and misfortune to those around him. So he isolates himself and lives his life, playing with the possibility of not waking up tomorrow. Until he meets a doctor that is determined to heal all his wounds. But all Mingi wants to do is spare her of his ill fate.

➵ Everything I Could Ever Wish For! (Oneshot)

It's Mingi's birthday! Even though Mingi acts indifferent about his birthday, you know he secretly loves it when you celebrate it. So with your son and the rest of Ateez, you plan the perfect birthday celebration to show Mingi just how much you appreciate and love him.

‎‧₊˚✧ Wooyoung ✧˚₊‧

➵ Stay In This Dream (Oneshot)

You know he's bad for you, he knows he's bad for you. But for some reason, you're both constantly drawn to each other. In a crazy world, you and him are forever, you don't need to save each other from reality. All you want to do is stay in this dream with him.

➵ Let The Heart Love Again (Oneshot)

When Wooyoung's daughter expressed interest in sharing his passion for dance, he immediately signed her up for the next class. However, he didn't think that he would be star struck by his daughter's teacher. Maybe, just maybe, he was ready to open his heart again.

‎‧₊˚✧ Jongho ✧˚₊‧

➵ Meet My Chaos (Oneshot)

After dating you for a bit and maintaining secrecy, Jongho knew you are the one he wants to introduce to his family. While you have met his real family, there's another family that he's been slightly reluctant to let you meet.

#kpop #kpop scenarios #kpop series #ateez #ateez scenarios #ateez series #ateez masterlist #kpop masterlist #ateez x reader #ateez x you #kpop imagines #ateez imagines

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eileenslibrary · 7 months

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hi can I request

zhongli dating xianyuns daughter(reader)(well not blood daughter but, shenhe and ganyu are called her daughters) it starts during the days that he's still an archon, xianyun orders the reader to keep the geo archon company or should I say serve him, and they developed their feelings towards each other. Since zhongli is an archon he sees ganyu and shenhe as a little children that xianyun is taking care of, but the reader is an exemption since he sees her as a beautiful woman at age reader is also immortal (electro vision holder)

Dainty

Pt.1

(GIF Is Not Mine)

Dainty pt. 2

Zhongli x F! Adepti Reader

(skin color, height, body, and facial features not mentioned or described in this work of fiction, made for all readers who align with she/her she/they)

Warnings: OOC Zhongli, Blood, Death, Near Death, War, Violence, Arguments (Mentioned/Described), Betrayal/Abandonment From Parental Figures/Home, Nudity, A Little Angst In The Parts Speaking About War And Readers Back Story.

“A proper woman” “A polite lady” and “A sweet girl” Is what you grew up in all your life, all you knew, all you wished to be. Up until you weren’t, up until ‘The Incident’ you were scorned as an outcast. Thrown out for being the ‘Odd’ one simply because you stopped playing house, abandoned, and left for dead, the weakest of the pack. You broke from the abusive chains of your village and ran until you stumbled on the muddy ground you stayed there for days laying on the wet ground dying from starvation and the cold, a light makes you crack your eyes open as an electro vision drifts down to you, you use your remaining strength to grasp the glowing orb “I get my vision when I’m dying, great” you huff.

The days continue until one day a soft ‘Plump’ makes you open your eyes a white crane with blue feathers stands before you a small fish in its beak you stare at it watching as it tears it into smaller pieces you open your mouth for it to put the fish inside your mouth as you chew it and swallow it down. This repeats for a while the bird would come and feed you fish and let water drip down its beak into your mouth, then huddle on top of you to keep you warm until you have enough energy to walk. You watch as it flies away when you stand then lands a few feet from you, you follow it as it leads you to Mt. Aocang “Beautiful crane why do you lead me here?” you question, the bird shakes its head and begins striding up the mountain forcing you to follow you until you reach the very top. You collapse when you reach the top “I fear I cannot go any farther” you whisper before your eyes close. You awake to a woman with red-rimmed glasses washing out your hair, “W-where am I?” you ask her “My abode” she hums continuing to wash your hair your eyes widen as you realize “Adeptus Cloud Retainer” you say trying to sit up, but she stops you “Rest you are still sick” she whispers pouring hot water into the jade bath you were laying in “Why did you save me?” you ask “What was I supposed to do? Let you poison my lake with your deceased body?” she says sternly. That was what you got as a ‘Warm Welcome’ in your new home, but Cloud Retainer eventually warmed up to you and took you in as her own. She trusted you enough to let you meet Morax “She is mortal” He hums looking at you “And what of it?” Cloud Retainer defends looking over her shoulder as you wade into the pool letting the fish swim around your feet “You are one of my dearest friends and I would hate to see you grieve her death” He sighs his gold eyes watching as you feed the koi, “Are you saying I should abandon her!?” she raises her voice slightly Morax widens his eyes not used to seeing Cloud Retainer’s emotions slip “No, I was thinking of making a contract to turn her into an adeptus” he says sipping on his cup of tea Cloud Retainer whips her head to look at him “Really?” she says in disbelief. He nods his eyes following as the young woman places her hands into the water and a koi happily swims into them to eat the food in her palms. Cloud Retainer calls you from the pond you look up and wade out of the water, your white dress soaked from the mid-thigh down. Morax looks away at the transparency of the cloth clearing his throat “Yes Mother?” you question noticing the tears in her eyes “Rex Lapis and I have been talking, and we are thinking of making a contract so you can be immortal” she hums taking your hand in hers your eyes light up and you pull her into a hug she makes a “Hmph” sound when her head hits you shoulder, but she reciprocates. After a while of reading and understanding the contract and what it entails you got it signed and Morax bestowed a little of his power on you to make your life eternal. But the contract entailed that you were to accompany Morax everywhere he goes, give him anything he needs, and be his loyal servant.

Years passed as if in a mere blink of an eye, you noticed how Morax was cold with you at the start only talking to you when necessary “Bring us tea” he commands going back to his conversation with Streetward Rambler and Guizhong “As you wish” you hum “You needn’t be so harsh on the girl” Guizhong scolds Morax just grunts Streetward Rambler shakes her head “What were those blue prints you needed me to look over?” he directs the conversation to Guizhong “Oh yeah! Here” she says remembering why she was even here handing him her idea on a new device, but he steals glances in your direction your beautiful white and green robes glimmering in the sun. You sulk as you listen to them banter, waiting for the water to finish boiling, steeping the tea perfectly as you’ve done thousands of times before. Walking over to the table and placing down cups pouring the tea into each one “Enjoy” you hum walking away “Where are you going?” You still at Morax’s words “Ah. . . I was gonna go sit down?” You say as if questioning yourself looking back at him, Guizhong and Streetward Rambler look at you expectantly “What Morax means is for you to come to sit with us” Rambler explains patting the stone seat next to her your eyes widen a happy glint shining in them you find your seat between Morax and Streetward Rambler. You sit between them sitting quietly but content nonetheless just listening to them discuss topics. Morax watches as you sip your tea quietly his eyes tracing over your beautiful features. You meet his eyes giving him a questioning glance “Is something wrong My Lord” You whisper he shakes his head and goes back to his conversation.

The war is tedious but you fight hard, friends and foes falling everywhere you look. You refuse to shed tears and show weakness to anyone who may take advantage of your blind spot, defending your god with a stone heart, letting your sword cut through anyone who would dare try to lay a hand on your god. Static runs through the air as you let the electro flow through your movements like wine from a bottle, effortless, graceful, swift, and solid as you slice through armor as hard as the strongest steel. A cold expression striking fear into the weaker gods who thought you were an easy target, you reek of dirt, blood, and death. Your armor splattered in other's blood as if it was forged in a slaughterhouse. Your only relief was returning to your camp and seeing your friends and god, but one day someone close didn’t return “Rex!” you rush up to him “Where is Guizhong, why isn’t she with you!?” Your eyes search wildly for the god of dust he stays silent pushing past you into his makeshift home, you stand there eyes wide as you sink into the ground hand over your heart, the soiled ground wet and red. Morax closes his eyes when he hears your armor and sword clink as you fall to your knees and let out a scream painful sobs following after, his tears falling as he wishes he could have saved her for your sake.

#zhongli x reader #zhongli x you #anon ask #anonymous #ask #genshin liyue #genshin impact #genshin zhongli #morax x reader #morax

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damn-stark · 6 months

Text

Chapter 32 Our last goodbye

Chapter 32 of Sugar

A/N- Fun fact i had planned that Choso and y/n were barely going to hold hands in this chapter, when Satoru went to fight Sukuna 😂 good thing that didn’t happen lmao

Warning- Swearing, ANGST, talks of pregnancy, fluff, cigarettes, SPOILERS!! long chapter! Don't listen to this song while reading the goodbye scene at the beginning, it’ll make it sadder….

Pairing- Choso x Gojo!fem-reader, Suguru Geto x Gojo!fem-reader

Episode and or chapters- chapters 222-225 of the manga

(Let me know if you want to be tagged)

————

*A DAY BEFORE THE 24th*

Being outside your house wishing your daughter goodbye is reminiscent of last year when the twins were here, your family was strongly bonded, and Suguru was alive.

Now a year later, Suguru is dead, the twins are gone too, and the family you built with Suguru is distant. Now you’re talking to your brother, hoping once again that you all make it back alive.

“You’re not feeling sick today are you?” You tease your daughter.

Albeit she looks at you lost, going completely unaware that you’re recalling last year when she pretended to be sick so you and Suguru could stay behind.

“No,” she deadpans and shoots you a weird look. “Now why can’t you come with me?”

You sigh and crouch down to be at her level. “Because I have to stay here and fight because I’m strong and I can do something to help.”

Satori looks down with a pout so you quickly grab her hands and tilt your head down. “But you know what? I’ll see you before you know it.”

Satori gently kicks away some dirt and mumbles, “that’s what daddy said and I never saw him again.”

Shit, shit.

“I know honey, I know this is hard, and it’s okay to feel sad, tomorrow is a year since we lost your dad. But I will make it back okay? We will see each other again, I promise.” You try to assure her, but she keeps her eyes down, causing you to feel a pang of anguish in your heart but for an idea also pop into your head. “I have something I want to give you.”

Satori’s eyes flicker up and you let her hands go to pull something cold out of your pocket.

“I wanted to give you this later on,” you let her know and grab her hand again. “But I think right now is more fitting.”

You open her palm and place a necklace with three rings hanging from it. “This,” you continue while a smile finally breaks onto her features. “Is the rings your dad and I used to wear. This,” you point to your engagement ring. “Is the ring your dad gave me when he asked me to marry him, next to it is the ring he put on me when we got married, and that one,” you point to a thicker gold ring. “That one is your dad's wedding ring. You get to keep that now. So when you get older you get to size it so it fits you or turn it into something else. The same goes for my rings.”

Satori picks up the rings and holds them up to take a better look at them.

“But what about you?” She asks and tries to slide on your old engagement ring, but her fingers are still too small. “Won’t you miss it?”

You laugh breathlessly. “No, I have one, don’t worry about me.”

Satori hangs the necklace around her head and tucks the rings in her shirt before offering you a smile. “Thank you.”

“You are welcome, now come here, so I can give you a big kiss…” you trail off the moment you capture her in an embrace and press kisses on her cheeks.

Satori giggles and squirms in your embrace. “No, no!”

You pull back and cup her cheeks. “Listen to me Satori, if you are ever in danger you can use your cursed technique okay? You can use any sword you make, okay?”

A flash of fear passes through her eyes, but you’re quick to push that fear away. “No, it’s okay; it doesn’t mean anything will happen, your uncles will be with you the entire time, and the community will too, so don’t worry I’m just letting you know.”

Satori lets out a deep breath and you caress her cheeks before giving her a sweet and assuring smile. “I love you,” you tell her from the bottom of your heart. “I’ll call you in the morning.”

“I love you too,” she redirects and grabs your cheeks too.

“I’ll call you before bed.”

You nod in agreement and then glance at Satoru in the distance before you lean in and whisper in your daughter's ear. “Go say goodbye to your uncle, and Choso.”

Satori nods eagerly before she breaks away from you and runs over to Satoru. “Uncle Satoru!” She exclaims. And like expected Satoru crouches to be closer to her level and waits with open arms.

When Satori gets close to him she jumps over to him, knowing for certain that she’ll be caught and not lose balance.

“You know what?” She interjects as Satoru stands up to his given height with her secured in his hold. “I know a secret.”

“Hm?” Satoru probes with a curious smile.

You watch them from a distance and Choso approaches you from behind to wrap his arm around your shoulders.

“You will win,” Satori lets Satoru know. “With your fight against Sukuna, you’ll win and bring Fushiguro home.”

Satoru blinks and his face slowly loses that teasing look that had been playing on his features, and a soft look slowly takes over.

“Oh? You think so?” He asks.

Satori nods. “Yes, because you’re strong. My Mommy and my Daddy always said you were the strongest sorcerer. And I believe you are strong too. That’s why I know you’ll win.”

Instead of smiling Satoru sighs and frowns before he brings up a genuine question. “And if I lose? Sukuna is strong too, what if I lose?”

Satori hums and averts her gaze for a moment before she grabs his cheeks and assures him. “Then you can all try again.”

Satoru’s lips pull to a smile and Satori whispers loudly. “But either way I will still think you’re strong, and I will still love you.”

Satoru’s eyes water and all he can do is nod in comprehension.

“I’ll miss you when I’m away,” Satori admits. “Don’t tell my friends but I think you’re my greatest friend.”

Satoru chuckles. “Your secret is safe with me.” He assures her and caresses the side of her head. “And you know what? When you miss me just look at the sky and remember that me and your mother are under the same sky, we see the same moon and the same sun.”

Satori lifts her head to look at the white clouds covering the blue sky with a smile she then shows off to her uncle. “Cool. Will you call me when the fight is over?” She asks.

Satoru sighs and doesn’t let her see his worry. “I'll try,” he assures her before he presses her against him to hug her tightly. “I love you Satori.”

Your daughter giggles and doesn’t hesitate to say it back. “I love you too, Uncle Satoru. I’ll see you soon, okay?”

“Bye, Sugar.” He says sweetly before he puts her down, letting her walk to Choso, and letting you exhale deeply and then turn to face your family waiting for Satori to say her goodbyes to leave.

“We’ll take care of her,” Larue says as you approach him and the others.

“Okay,” you mumble and look at him, Miguel, Manami, and Toshihisa with a look you can’t keep hardened, no matter how unresolved your feelings are towards your family. “But call if something happens,” you tell them. “I’ll be there as quickly as I can.”

“You don’t have to worry,” Larue interjects. “You focus on winning this fight…I know we may not be close right now but we are still family,” he clarifies to you and the rest gathered behind them. “We will always be family no matter what.”

You can’t say you disagree with that. No matter how upset you still are you can’t forsake them.

“I would like to say I wish you could all stay,” you finally drift the subject away from formalities. “But I’m glad you’re all leaving. That way everyone is safe.”

“Careful or I'll think you’re caring about us,” Toshihisa blurts, making you scoff.

“We’re family above all else, idiot.” You snap back. “I care. But…I can’t forgive just yet. However, there’s no one else I trust to take care of Satori than all of you…” you pause and offer them a genuine smile. “So please keep her safe.”

Miguel grabs your shoulder and assures you. “They will. They’ll keep everyone safe.”

You let out a deep sigh and nod softly. “You’ll come back right?” You ask him after some plans changed.

Miguel nods. “I’ll just accompany them to where they’ll layover and come back right away.”

You wish he’d stay with them too, but this is how things have to be with strong sorcerers like him. “All right,” you mumble and glance at the others. “I'll call when the fight is over to say if we won or lost. If I don’t call in a week then…please always remind Satori why I had to stay back and fight.”

Larue frowns and wants to contradict you so you don’t worry, but you’ll fight harder to get your point across so he agrees.

“Goodbye everyone, and be careful, and don’t let Satori watch the broadcast, okay?”

Miguel and Larue offer you an assuring nod, and Manami and Toshihisa give you a small wave. You turn to face Satori and meet her gaze right away.

“Goodbye, Choso, goodbye Uncle Satoru!” She throws out over her shoulder as she comes running over to you followed by her Tiger cursed spirit companion.

When she reaches you you give her one more hug. “Listen to your uncle okay? And pick up the phone when I call. I love you, my chipmunk.”

Satori squeezes you back. “I love you too Mommy.”

You keep her in your arms for a moment longer and when you feel her start to squirm you pull back and grab her cheeks to stare at her for a lingering moment before you let her go.

“Bye, Satori.” Your voice quivers, but she doesn’t catch it.

“Bye Mommy,” she says back over her shoulder when she turns to head to the car. “Bye, Uncle Satoru! Bye, Choso!”

“Bye Satori!” Satoru shouts whilst Choso returns the goodbye in a quieter tone.

“Bye Satori.”

You watch with tear-filled eyes and a weight laying heavier on your heart as Satori loads up in the car with the rest of your family. When she’s no longer seen and the car starts to roll away you can't handle the anguish or hold that weight, your heart sinks, and tears stream down your eyes, revealing your anguish upon seeing your daughter having to leave once again because of the dangers happening in your world.

Once again your daughter has to leave with the fear of not knowing if she'll see you again. She doesn’t express it, but you know it’s something that creeps inside her, and it became a much more terrifying fear after she lost Suguru.

And once again you have to live apart and say goodbye without knowing how long you’ll go without seeing your daughter, you have to live with heightened self-loathing for having to send her away once again. However, once again Choso is here with you. The last time you said goodbye to your daughter it was through the phone, and Choso and you were simple allies. Now he’s your husband, and now he’s holding you against him as you watch the cars' view get blocked by buses carrying the rest of the people from your community.

The moment the last bus leaves the grounds and the gates close more streams of tears fall down your cheeks. Choso can’t see your face, but he knows you well, before he can even hear you sniffle or before you can say a single word he turns you around to face him.

“She’ll be safe,” he tries to assure you. “She’ll be far away, but she’ll be safe.”

You meet his gaze and only cry harder at the feeling of his comfort. Choso then wastes no time to press his hand over your heart and tilt his head down to meet your gaze.

“My love,” he whispers. “You’ll see each other again.”

You slowly raise your hand and gently cup the back of his hand.

“I don’t want her to hate me,” you share a deep fear. “If I somehow lose I don’t want her to think I left her on purpose.”

Choso shakes his head. “You won’t lose,” he sets the record straight—or really he manifests that you won’t die tomorrow if Satoru somehow loses.

“…and she won’t hate you. You’ll reunite,” he says softly. “She’ll only hear how brave her mother was.”

You share a breathless laugh and then let out a deep breath that helps you relax your shoulders.

“Come here,” he whispers and pulls gently on your arm to wrap you in an embrace.

——

*LATER*

“I didn’t want to send her away, I hope you know that,” you whisper to the hibiscus plant to indirectly talk to Suguru without being heard or seen from those inside the house.

You’re not embarrassed, you’d just prefer to talk to your dead…husband? Ex-husband? What would he be now that you’re married?

Hm.

Nevertheless, you’d prefer to talk to him without anyone listening in.

“…But I also can’t risk letting anything happen to her,” you continue and feed the plant more water. “I hope that doesn’t upset you. I know we told ourselves we wouldn’t let Satori spend too much time without us. That’s not the parents we’d be, but…” you pause and sigh deeply. “It’s hard now with all this mess going on. I’m sorry.” You drop your head and hopelessly wait for a response. You knew you wouldn’t get one, but in the back of your head, you still leave silence to wait.

When the silence prolongs you lift your head and stare at the hibernating plant with longing to see Suguru in front of you instead of a mere plant so he can talk to you. So he can tell you that you’re stressing yourself out too much. Choso tells you, he gives you comfort and you appreciate it and him, but he’s not Satori’s father, he agrees with every choice you make about her. He doesn’t have the same wisdom, he won’t argue against you about the choices you make about sending your daughter away, he’s…not Suguru.

“…I’ll leave you be now,” you whisper. “Wish me luck.”

You get off the floor with the equipment you were using. When you reach the corner of the greenhouse you put away the equipment and take your gloves off to put them away before you wash your hands. You had brought your horse out so she could roam while you were outside; so you look out the window in search of her. And much to your surprise she’s not far, but you catch Kashimo watching her from up close.

So if Kashimo is here that means Hakari, Kirara, and Shoko are here too, and they didn’t bother to come looking for you.

Whatever!

You walk out after you change back into your riding boots, and immediately catch Kashimo’s attention.

“Oh wow,” he interjects nonchalantly. “Did he bore you already?”

You shoot him a pointed look and roll your eyes before you snap back. “Well, considering what we’re going to do tomorrow there’s no time for an actual honeymoon.”

Kashimo scoffs and shocks you by smirking at you. “You know I like—no,” he says. “I bask in all of the doubt you all have on Gojo.”

You lift a brow and tease him. “Which Gojo?”

He shoots you a dirty look before remarking. “You know who. Anyway, I’m glad you all doubt your brother's inability to win it means I will get to—”

“Kill yourself fighting your true love,” you mock him and touch your chest to feign swooning. “How romantic. You know I wish someone would let a lunatic bring them back after 400 years just to see me.”

Kashimo exhales through his nose out of frustration, so you chuckle whilst you walk past him to take your horse's lead and walk her back to the barn.

“Coming to fight the King of Curses is not a joke, I have reserved my cursed technique to use on the only opponent worthy of it.”

You peer at him over your shoulder and notice that he’s following you so you scoff at him and shake your head before you don’t hold back from sharing what you’re thinking. “Wasting your whole life chasing after death is pretty stupid. Did you even live your life?”

“I died an old man,” he grumbles.

You shrug and shake your head once again in disapproval. “And I admire you for it, I want to die old and wrinkly too, but what did you do throughout it? You spent your life unsatisfied because no one measured up to that monster…that sounds pretty pathetic…” you trail off in a whisper and let go of your horse's lead to pet her mane while she follows at your side.

“Oh please,” he retorts. “You sound just…” he trails off and you of course get curious over what he didn't say, but you’ve gotten to know him and he won’t budge and say anything even if you plead, so you just leave it be.

Even if not knowing will probably bother you.

“I had a life,” he throws out to try and prove you wrong. “I had a wife…she was dull though.”

You glare at him over your shoulder and shake your head. “How typical of you to say that,” you mutter between gritted teeth.

Kashimo shrugs with nonchalance. “What?” He retorts. “It was an arranged marriage. She was dull. Don’t tell me that you wouldn't say that about someone. I bet you’ve met some pretty dull woman in your line of work.”

You scrunch your nose and counter immediately. “No! All the women I’ve met in my line of work are hard-working, you don’t know what they have to go through to run down those runaways or pose for those photoshoots. They don’t all have the privilege of having money like me. Asshole.”

Kashimo doesn’t flinch at the insult and just crosses his arms over his chest and frowns deeper. “Okay then…” he trails off and mumbles something under his breath you don’t catch or get to question before he’s interjecting. “You're a Gojo, I’m sure you were arranged to someone.”

A smile tugs on your lips and you slow down to fall by his side and share about the man that almost was your husband. “Actually yes, Naoya Zen’in. He was misogynistic, and he liked to belittle me.”

Kashimo huffs and looks at you with pride. “Exactly so you can’t say shit.”

You smirk at him and hesitate showing off. “I actually beat him up with the help of Choso. We jumped him, and I shut him up.” You say proudly and bounce your shoulders. “And, I’m proud to say this, I sent a picture of him to his brothers looking all pathetic on the ground.”

A smirk flickers on the corner of his lips but he doesn’t show it for more than a second. “Why didn’t you just kill him?” He remarks.

You sigh dramatically. “It would be too much work. It was after Shibuya, I was hiding and going through different emotions so I didn’t want to deal with Zen’in’s seeking revenge.”

“You’re special grade though,” he points out. “You think they would’ve given you trouble?”

You meet his gaze and shake your head. “No. But again, I was going through stuff, and we were dealing with a hundred other things, so, it would’ve just been an inconvenience.”

Kashimo hums and you add on. “Naoya is dead so it doesn’t matter anymore either way.”

You reach the barn so you slide the lead off the horse and watch her walk into her stall before you reunite with Kashimo outside by the fence.

“I’m not doubting my brother by the way,” you make yourself clear since you couldn’t defend yourself before. “I just know tomorrow will be hard. I don’t want to build some illusion and only get hurt more if something bad were to happen, so I’m just preparing myself, everyone is.”

Kashimo keeps his eyes on the other horses grazing on the large field, but you both then glance at your beautiful black and white horse walking out of her stall to join the others.

“But it also doesn’t mean we’re not hoping you won’t fight,” you add and let your lips pull on a smile for him. “If you want to live out your dream and show off your technique then I’m excited to see what you’re hiding. So if you tag in for Satoru to let him take a break then that will be pretty cool.”

Kashimo turns his head, and when you see his gaze on you from the corner of your eyes you lean forward to fold your arms over the wooden fence before you slowly turn your head to look at him.

“I’m still hoping you’ll win though so I don’t have to fight him,” you continue in his silence. “But please if the fight does fall on you, kill Sukuna after we have killed Kenjaku, okay? That way we catch him by surprise like we want to.”

Kashimo sighs and shakes his head in disapproval. “If you’re not fast then I don’t know what to tell you,” he says bluntly, making you groan and push yourself off the fence to turn and face him.

“You know what? I hope my brother wins and you're left salivating over a what-if scenario with Sukuna,” you quip and shoot him a feigned sweet smile before you turn on your heels and start to walk back inside.

Kashimo doesn’t want to be left alone since your community is deserted now and slowly tows behind you.

“Don’t get disappointed when Sukuna rejects you,” you tease Kashimo, making him kick a small rock at your back.

Instead of being bugged by the action you laugh mockingly for too long before you join his silence.

Eventually when you get inside you walk to the parlor room where everyone seems to be. You can hear laughs and conversations, however, before you can turn toward the room you spot Shoko and Satoru outside. And the decision is clear, you join them on the back porch whilst Kashimo joins the others.

“Where have you been?” Satoru asks the moment you step outside. “Did you make my dinner yet?”

You raise a brow and scoff before you sit down by Shoko on the bench. “What are you doing outside?” You ask.

Shoko shrugs. “Just letting the students be and reminiscing about our youthful past.”

You laugh softly and pull your boots off before you tuck your feet under her thighs to keep them warm.

“It’s good when you’re around,” Shoko adds while she kills her cigarette. “It keeps me from smoking.”

You yawn and lay back on the cushions under you. “It’s good I’m pregnant that way I can stop smoking.”

“I have a name for one of your babies,” Satoru interjects. “Satoru the Second.”

You loll your head to the side and shoot him a pointed look. “I am not naming my child Satoru the Second. Satori was only given her name because Suguru liked it so much. I was going to name her Fumiko, which means hibiscus and beautiful child.”

Satoru puts his thumbs down and you ignore him to add another comment. “I’m actually not naming my children after anyone. I already told Choso that. We have too many people to choose from and I don’t want anyone to feel left out, so we’re not honoring anyone.”

“Well,” Satoru adds lazily as he lays back on the hammock. “Half of those people are dead so no one will know.”

“I’ll know,” you quickly rebuttal. “So if you have any name suggestions besides Satoru the Second, I will Iove to hear them. Choso and I will take it under consideration.” You smile sweetly at the ceiling.

“Is it okay if I name my cat Satoru the Second?” Shoko interjects “I want to get a cat after all this, someone to keep me company while I work. And I think cats with funny names are the cutest.”

You snort and Satoru remarks. “Hey!”

“The barn cat just had a litter of kittens,” you mention and wrap your arms over your chest to hug yourself as you feel a chill go down your spine and spread little goosebumps everywhere. “Take one when they’re big enough.”

Shoko pats your leg as a thank you before she says it. “Oh really thanks, that saves me a thousand bucks.”

“What?” Satoru teases. “You were going to get a thousand-dollar cat?”

“Yes,” she agrees right away. “I wanted one of those hairless cats to go with the funny name.”

You chortle and point at Satoru.

Your brother notices and swings the hammock towards you to slam the side of your thigh with his foot.

“You're so gross,” you snap back. “Your foot stinks.

“Untrue!” He quickly rebuttals. “I take good care of my feet.”

“Do you guys remember that game we used to play before you all went on big missions,” Shoko cuts in before Satoru and you can start going on and on just arguing. “The one where we told the worst thing that could happen and something we want to do after?”

You think for a moment to recall back to your high school days.

However, just as the memory hits you before you can say a thing Satoru blurts. “Yes, I remember! You made it up even though you hardly went on missions.”

“Hm, I know, but it was cool for you guys, no?” She asks.

You nod and hug yourself tighter before you take your phone out as you respond. “Yes, it was, so let’s play it now. You go first.”

You then text Choso since you don’t want to suffer through this bitterness any longer.

You to Choso: Could you bring me a blanket? I’m out on the back porch.

“Okay, well, the worst thing that could happen to me,” Shoko muses and lays back to tilt her head over the headrest. “Maybe lose my sense of taste.”

You laugh and check your phone as a message comes in.

Choso: Of course. Do you want a specific one?

You: no, any, please and thank you xoxo

“Sense of taste now how could you—”

“Eh!” Shoko cuts him off sharply. “No you don’t get to judge, remember?! Now I will answer your question.” She says and lets out a small breath before sharing her reasoning. “I would hate to lose my sense of taste because how am I supposed to drink? Tasting is a huge reason why anyone drinks, I mean if I can’t taste it I’d just get drunk on nothing-tasting liquid. It wouldn’t be fun.”

You chuckle and can’t help but agree. “That’s true I mean, especially when it comes to tropical drinks. I love those.”

“Exactly!”

Without saying anything Satoru just groans in a very specific judgy way.

“And you already know what I want to do after so Satoru go on,” Shoko encourages him. And without a moment to think about his response he blurts.

“I'd hate to lose my ability to speak, I have so much on my mind, and how could I bless people with my voice if I don't have it?! Oh and karaoke?”

You roll your eyes and snicker before you quip. “I would for one wouldn’t mind a mute brother. No more nagging voice.”

“Yeah,” Shoko agrees thoughtfully. “Silence at work would be wonderful.”

“Whatever, whatever,” Satoru doesn’t let either of you bother him. “Now what do I want to do after?” He trails off humming, and the door then opens.

You sit up and when you look back you see none other than Choso with a blanket.

“Here,” he says and walks over to hand you the blanket.

“Thank you,” you tell him with a sweet smile.

Choso nods and just as he’s about to turn to walk back inside you grab his wrist and pull him back to you. “Stay,” you suggest—or demand more like. “Leave the kids to…do whatever amongst themselves.”

Choso glances at Shoko and then at Satoru before letting his eyes fall back on you to express clear distress. “Are you sure? I don’t want to intrude,” he says, making you flash him a grin.

“Yes, I'm sure, we’re just hanging out,” you assure him.

Choso still seems unsure, and as Shoko sees that, she interjects to ease his concern. “You’re family now Choso, you don’t have to worry about intruding anything, plus this is your house now too, so you’re more than welcome.”

Choso still glances back at your brother with hesitation.

“He’s working out his mind by thinking of a response, you have to give him a minute,” you let Choso know. “But he won’t mind, now sit.”

Choso meets your gaze and holds it for a moment as he debates with himself before he decides to turn and sit down beside you, letting you lay down to rest your head on his lap while you cover your legs and Shoko’s lap with the blanket.

“Okay, Cho, we’re playing a game,” you let him know. “It’s something we’d play back in high school, just before we’d go on missions. You have to say the worst thing that can happen to you in that mission, but it can’t be anything depressing. And then you have to share something you want to do after, again nothing too depressing. It's just for fun.”

“Okay,” Choso rolls out as he thinks about the concept of the game.

“Shoko said that the worst thing for her would be to lose her sense of taste, and she wants to get a cat after this ordeal is over,” you share so he can understand better and have no questions. “And Satoru said something stupid like losing his ability to speak, he’s thinking of the next response, which!” You direct at Satoru loudly now. “He needs to hurry up and do!”

“No,” Satoru finally says. “Come back to me. I can’t make up my mind. You put me on the spot. You go next.”

You sigh and roll your eyes back to look at Choso. “You go,” you drift the attention to him. “I’ll go after. Remember, you don’t have to think too hard.”

Choso holds your gaze and lets out a deep breath before he spares a short glance at the others. “Well, I suppose the worst thing would be losing my sight. I wouldn’t be able to see the ones I love.”

You grin and nod. “Sweet,” you compliment him.

“A lot more humble than Satoru over there,” Shoko teases.

“Mhm-mm.”

“It's true, I can’t lie,” Satoru simply says.

“Whatever,” you interject and look back at your husband. “Now the next question.”

Choso nods softly and drops his head to hide the blush furiously growing on his cheeks. “Well this will be sappy, but I would like to make it to the twin's appointment scheduled in January. I want to hear their heartbeats, and I want to see if they’re growing okay.”

You flash him a toothy grin and can’t help but grab his arm to extend it out over you so you can nuzzle against it. “I love that response.” You coo, making him look at you and smile.

“Now you,” Shoko nudges your legs.

You smirk at the ceiling and immediately respond to the first question. “The worst thing that could happen is losing my hair. I love my white hair,” you share. “And I enjoy maintaining it.”

“Now how—”

“Shut up,” you cut your brother off before he can say some judgy remark. “Now, something I want to do, easy, ice skate!” You exclaim. “The lake freezes to the point you can ice skate on it in the winter, so that’s something I hope I can do.”

“If only you had the ability to do that,” Satoru mutters.

You sigh and nod. “If only. I’m a good Ice skater.”

Who are you kidding? Suguru would always need to hold your hand. But you like to pretend you can ice skate like those figure ice skaters on TV!

“Choso,” Satoru calls out, causing said man to stiffen and snap his eyes across from him—“I have an idea for a baby name. If there’s a boy, name him Satoru the Second!”

You pass Choso an amused look and just smile to wait for his response.

“Well,” Choso lets out slowly. “Y/N and I already decided that we aren’t going to name the twins after anyone we know.”

“And he doesn’t like it,” you interject for him.

Satoru looks over with a pointed gaze and Choso nods. “And I don’t like it,” he admits, making you laugh.

Satoru stays quiet so you nudge Shoko with your toe to remind him of who will take that name. “Plus Shoko’s cat will be named that.”

In Satoru’s silence, he chooses to take off his sock and throw it over at you. And since he doesn’t miss, the sock hits your face.

“What the—”

When you realize what hit you you start gagging dramatically, causing Satoru to burst out laughing. Which does trigger you, so you swiftly climb off the bench.

“Here we go,” Shoko mutters and watches you get ahold of Satoru’s hair and arm to drag him off the hammock so you can start hitting him.

Rather than trying to defend himself, Satoru starts laughing maniacally.

“Don’t worry,” Shoko tells Choso as he watches you and your brother with concern over the way you both act—“he usually doesn’t fight back. When he does it’s just playful.”

“Hm.”

“I told you I hate when you do that, why do you have to be such a boy!” You remark as you start shaking him.

The back door opens without you realizing and Yuji, Hakari, Kirara, and Kashimo walk out to see what’s going on.

“My money is on y/n,” you catch someone say. And when you look over your shoulder you see that it was Hakari.

“There’s nothing to bet on,” you say and let Satoru go to step back. “I’m done.” You huff and straighten out your sweater before you turn on your heels. “Now why don’t we go start dinner? And maybe watch something in the meanwhile.”

You walk off and Yuji mumbles, “that’s why I’m glad I don’t have a sister.”

Satoru chuckles. “She’s just easy to piss off.”

How is it easy to avoid thinking about the bad things that are going to happen? Is it because you’re already anticipating it and you know there’s no way around it?

Is that why it was so easy to enjoy the rest of the evening as if the next day you aren’t going to watch Satoru fight the strongest Sorcerer in history, or even participate in fighting that enemy yourself too?

Because it was easy, forgetting, making good memories with Kirara and Hakari, bonding with Choso and Yuji, and mending your relationship with Shoko and Satoru—oh, and forming a new friendship with Kashimo.

It was great, sweet, and for a minute, for a while, for a sweet moment you started to believe that nothing was going to happen, but then when the silence intervened while you were in bed it all came rushing back.

However, you keep trying to avoid it. “What will we tell the twins, or any of our other potential children when they ask how we met?” You can’t help but ask Choso while you get your gaze lost on the ceiling, and he closes his eyes.

“Oh yeah we met in Shibuya,” you pretend to quote lightheartedly. “Your father tried to kill me?”

“You were in my way,” he deadpans, making you pick your head off the pillow to turn it and look at him with an amused smile.

“Oh really? How romantic,” you coo. “But we can also say it this way; I saw your father when he was facing your uncle Satoru, he looked back at me and I said wow what a handsome man. It was love at first sight.”

Choso scoffs and peels one eye open to look at you with a slight smile.

You shrug and lean towards him to rest your hand on his chest and start caressing his skin under the blanket. “What?” You probe. “It was either you or volcano head. But he had anger issues, so maybe your father.”

Choso now peels both eyes open and shoots you a faint pointed look.

You laugh and go on messing with him. “Albeit considering his last choice in a romantic partner I think I wouldn't be his type—Ah!” You snap your fingers. “My brother could’ve been his type, he could’ve lived out his gay fantasy with Suguru’s body.”

Choso snorts.

“Should we send your father a card that says “congratulations you’re going to be a grandfather?” You ask Choso as a joke.

However, he can’t see it so lightheartedly. “No,” he mutters. “I won’t tell him anything. I won’t tell our kids about him either unless they ask. He deserves no recognition from me or my family.”

Your smile turns faint and you slither your hand up to cup his cheek and tilt his head your way. “After tomorrow he hopefully won’t be a problem anymore. I’ll bring you his brain so you can burn it or squish it, I don’t know. But tomorrow all he’ll be is a bad memory. I swear.”

The corner of Choso’s lips tug to a smile and he grabs your hand and plants a kiss on the heel of your hand before he whispers. “I know you’ll take care of it.”

He didn’t say it but you knew his father still being alive stresses him out because of the babies you’re expecting. Neither of you know what to expect from Kenjaku, especially if he were to find out his eldest son was expecting twins, and Choso fears that his father would somehow hurt you and in turn hurt your twins just to hurt him.

“Now,” you smoothly change the subject. “What will we tell our kids?”

Choso smiles softly. “The truth about how we met. I am not ashamed to say that I lost against you.”

You giggle and lean in closer to talk against his lips. “I told you I did not want to kill you, and good thing I didn't. Look at us.”

“Hm,” he coos softly. “Albeit Shibuya isn’t when we met for the first time. We met last year when you picked up my capsule.”

You hold his gaze and feel your smile soften as you grow enamored. “That’s right,” you whisper.

“But I suppose we can keep that story to ourselves,” he says and presses his forehead against yours.

“Choso,” you murmur as you’re lost in the intimacy of the moment. “I'm scared for tomorrow. I…don’t want to lose my brother, or you, or anyone else. I don’t want to go into tomorrow because it means we’ll have to face that unavoidable battle.”

Choso sighs and keeps you pressed against him. “I’m sorry I can’t reassure you that everyone will live because I don’t know tomorrow, but…doesn’t it make you feel better to know that everyone, especially your brother, will fight bravely to bring some form of peace?”

“I don’t want to be used to losing people,” you admit with a stinging throbbing in your throat. “I don’t want to be alone.”

You pull back and face him with your eyes gleaming with tears and your lips formed into a soft frown. If he could explain this expression he’d say it was a beautiful sadness, one poets would write sonnets about, a beautiful sadness artists would paint on their canvas.

“You won’t be alone,” he whispers to try and assure you.

“Do you swear?” You make a stupid promise out of fear. And he hesitates knowing he should let you down and not feed into your illusion, but he can’t help it when you look at him with those eyes full of tears.

“I swear.”

Choso wipes away the tears that slip down your cheeks and leans in to press a gentle kiss on your lips.

You kiss him back slowly to cherish that sweet taste of his lips before you try to sleep.

Will it come easy though?

Considering your current state you do feel that sometimes you get more exhausted a lot sooner so it lets you fall asleep fast, but what about this night?

You can feel your mind racing. It’s loud and annoying, and it makes you toss and turn, so you try and find the best position.

But you can’t!

So after a while, you open your eyes. However, instead of waking up in your room and looking at the ceiling, you wake somewhere else, but not somewhere strange….

You’re looking out some windows watching the rain fall, and hearing its gentle melody as it hits the earth outside the cozy and warm room you’re in. You don’t hear Choso’s gentle snores or the silence of the night outside your bedroom windows.

So where are you exactly?

You’re almost too afraid to look around, but you can’t stay in the dark forever so you slowly start turning your head, but you come to a quick stop when you see your long-dead best friend Haibara.

“This rain ruins our plans, but staying here and just hanging out is a good alternative,” he interjects and startles you. “Good thinking, y/n.”

You part your lips to respond but only a small gasp of air comes out.

“Staying indoors drove her insane,” Nanami, yes, that’s Nanami, he quips. And when you snap your head in the direction where his voice comes from you see him too, young in appearance just like Haibara, and wearing only part of his school uniform. He’s lounging indoors so his coat is off.

“Nanamin,” you mutter in disbelief.

Said man shoots you a pointed look and snaps back. “I told you to stop calling me that.”

You share a breathless laugh and stare at him for a lingering moment before someone else steals all your attention.

Suguru. He’s young Just like the other two. His hair is short and in a bun, he also isn’t as muscular. He’s his high school self. They all are.

“Suguru,” you whisper happily

Said man’s dark eyes fall on you and he looks at you perplexed before he raises the mugs in his hands. “Don’t worry It’s how you like it. I didn't forget. Now come on, sit with me before Satoru takes your spot.”

“Please refrain from fighting tonight,” Nanami already pleads in annoyance.

“Okay,” you go along with this…dream? Your surroundings aren’t clear, but they’re not too blurry either so that’s what makes it hard to tell. All you know is that this isn’t real. But you want it to be.

“…and I said that sounds stupid,” the voice of your brother begins to travel out the hall, so you stand up and quickly take a seat next to Suguru and let him hand you your cup of tea.

“What?” He asks as he doesn't need to ask you what you’re feeling. He sees your confusion and the anguish on your face.

“Where am I?” You have to ask.

However, Suguru laughs softly. “Here,” he retorts.

“Hm.”

Well, that wasn’t helpful whatsoever.

“…then please share any ideas you have,” you hear Shoko exclaim out of frustration before she and your brother walk into the room.

“Well,” Satoru stammers. “I will get back to you on that, but that beginning is stupid.”

Wait…you remember this now—or parts of this. This is some kind of memory. Only it’s a dream and memory hybrid, your mind is playing tricks on you while you sleep.

“Make some room!” Satoru exclaims and rushes over towards Suguru and you, but Suguru wraps his arm around you and pulls you towards him to close the gap between the two of you before Satoru can squeeze in between.

“No, sit by Shoko or Nanami—”

“No,” Nanami cuts him off before he can finish. “You move too much Satoru, sit somewhere else.”

You watch them all in awe, without saying a single word. You’re just too amazed by the power your mind holds as you try to avoid even thinking about what’s to come. It’s like it’s building you an escape.

“Y/N,” Satoru calls out and sits up with a smirk on his face. “Do you want to hear the start of our partner presentation?”

You make no remark like you did in that real day, years ago, this time you smile and nod. Even if your brother is alive, you still look at him and answer with starstruck wonder. “Yes, go ahead.”

Satoru parts his lips and draws in a breath to speak, but he then shuts his mouth and lowers his shades to narrow his gaze on you.

“No remarks?” He points out. “What's wrong with you?”

Your smile falls and that anguish is clear as day on your face for everyone to see.

“Is this about tomorrow?” Haibara asks the right question.

“Choso is right,” Suguru catches you by surprise by interjecting. “Isn’t it enough to know everyone will fight bravely for peace?”

You instinctively look down at your hand and see your engagement ring and your wedding band on your finger and think about the man you love beyond the tether of this dream. You think about forcing yourself to wake up to cuddle against him and find comfort in his presence, his warmth, and the sound of his heart beating, but as you take a look at all your friends, your brother, and Suguru, your sorrow heightens and you find a stronger need to stay.

But, you can’t hold in the truth hiding inside you a moment longer as you do stay in your fantasy dream. “I’m just…tired,” you confess and drop your head. “I’m tired of fighting, and I’m tired of grieving. I…don’t want to lose any more people I love. I don’t want to fight. I’m tired. Can’t I just stay here?”

“No,” Shoko immediately says back. “Not when people are relying on you.”

“And not when those relying on you are the same people you said you were fighting a future for,” Suguru interjects and steals your breath as you remember that truth.

Fighting for the future of the next generation was always present, but through your fear of losing the ones you love and ending up alone, your goals were clouded. Now though, it’s like getting splashed by cold water, but…you don’t want to let go of Suguru, Nanami, or Haibara now.

“But if I go I won’t see either of you again,” you share in a quivering voice and lift your head to look back at your friends, but as you do, you gasp when you see the top half of Nanami’s body is gone, like when you found him that night. And just like then it’s terrifying now. So you snap your head away, but then you come across Haibara gushing blood out of his giant gash on his torso, causing memories of his death to violently flash through your mind.

Memories that you don’t want to live through again so shut your eyes and turn your head away.

“Y/N?” Suguru asks and grabs your shoulder.

Albeit you don’t respond, you know better. You can’t look and relive the worst day of your life.

“Look at me, darling,” he tries to persuade you to open your eyes. “It’s okay.”

You just need to wake up.

Just wake up.

“Look,” Suguru calls out again and slides his hand up to cup your cheek. “It’s okay.”

It’s the softness of his voice, a voice you miss that makes you slowly open your eyes.

Alas just like before you’re struck with horror when you see Suguru’s arm missing and his wound bleeding, and half of his face covered in blood with one eye unable to open.

“This is fake!” You shout and shut your eyes. “This is a dream!”

It’s all fake, you keep repeating to yourself. It’s a dream.

You just need to open your eyes.

Open your eyes, open your eyes!

“Y/N?” A different voice calls, rougher than the rest, clearer too, so you slowly open your eyes and the first thing you see is Choso, and then you notice you’re in the dark in your shared room.

“Choso,” you say breathlessly.

A few beams of light from outside casts in so you’re able to see the deep concern on his face. “Are you okay? You were crying and jumping.” He says.

You process that you’re safe and no longer in your dream so you take a deep breath first before you nod and assure Choso. “Yeah, it’s just a bad dream. The anxiety of tomorrow got to me, sorry.”

Choso shakes his head softly. “It’s okay, just go back to sleep, okay? I’m here.”

You offer him a gentle smile and pull the blanket up to your chin. “Goodnight, Cho,” you whisper.

He smiles tiredly at you and redirects your comment. “Goodnight.”

You keep a distance since you know it’ll take a while to fall back asleep after your nightmare and you don’t want to disturb him. Which is annoying for you because you hate having a hard time sleeping. It just makes the night terribly long, and the shadows like to mess with you when you can’t fall asleep fast.

Albeit this time you don’t mind because you watch Choso sleeping on his side, and realize perhaps you were too quick to pick your dream over reality. The reality of your husband's soft and small lashes resting on his purple-tinted under eyes, his dark brown hair falling over his face, and his relaxed lips is better than any dream.

You honestly could stay up all night just watching him sleep, he looks beautiful just peaceful resting, but you can’t help anyone if you don’t get some shut-eye and dream anxiety-riddled dreams, so as your eyes get heavy you drag yourself towards Choso and slide your arms around him to nuzzle yourself against the warmth of his body.

He seems to feel you against him (perhaps because he’s a light sleeper) and slings his arm over your neck to cup the back of your head and press it against his chest to the point you can find comfort in the rhythm of his heartbeats, and fall asleep fast.

——

*THE NEXT DAY*

“Here,” you help your brother try and put his last robe on, but he turns back slightly and snatches it from your hand.

“Don't pamper me, I'm not a child,” he snaps and slides on a white robe that completes his outfit for the fight against Sukuna.

You raise your hands in your defense and step back whilst you mutter, “I’m sorry.”

Satoru sighs and turns to face you with a reassuring look. “Are you really doubting me that much?” He says.

You scoff and shake your head. “No!” You defend yourself. “I'm just worried that’s all. Can’t I?”

Satoru shakes his head and smirks as he rests his hand on his hip. “No, I’m strong. I’m the strongest, I will win.”

You hold his gaze and can’t get rid of the worry, it’s too deeply tangled in your heart. But his overconfidence does make you smile with some ease.

“Besides I plan to witness all nine months of your pregnancy, who knows, maybe me and Choso will become good friends,” he says lightheartedly. “And I do want to meet my nieces or nephews, or whatever comes out of you.”

You laugh softly at his comment, but you can’t stay comfortably reassured for long, your face falls and expresses your fear for his life. Satoru notices and no matter how hard he tries to ignore your anguish that made his heart hurt, he can’t when you look so fearful and worried. It’s the brother in him that can’t keep ignoring it.

“Look,” he whispers and closes the gap between you to grab your cheeks. “I’ll fight hard. I’ll give him all I got and make it back. I’ll win.”

“I have faith you will,” you make yourself known. “But…I get scared thinking of living my life without my brother.”

Satoru swallows thickly knowing he can’t genuinely promise he will live. And he most of all can’t make the same promise he made to you when you were little kids.

“I will fight hard to win,” he says because that's all he can offer you.

“You swear?” You ask in a shaky voice.

Satoru nods. “I swear.”

You muster a wobbly smile and then quickly throw your arms around him to hold him in an embrace. “I love you,” you remind him.

Satoru hugs you back and squeezes you gently as he whispers back. “I love you too.”

You hug him tighter hoping that by some miracle you won’t have to let go.

But you do, and when you pull away you do so slowly.

“Kill that bastard,” you say with more confidence.

Satoru smirks and nods. “I will.”

You draw out a deep breath as you hold his gaze as if trying to memorize every detail of his bright blue eyes, and his face for just in case.

“Y/N,” he mumbles with a soft smile. “Promise you’ll be happy. Live your life and don’t stop living it because of me. Be what our parents couldn't be to you, to your kids, and just be happy. That’s all I want for you.”

You draw in a shaky breath but you stop yourself from shedding tears and instead smile at him and nod.

“Now come on,” he adds teasingly. “I don’t want to be late.”

You huff and shoot him a judgy look before you walk out of the room, not realizing he had lingered behind with Utathime and old man Gakuganji until you reach the top of the stairs and realize that no one is behind you.

The room below you though doesn’t seem to care that you aren’t Satoru, they all fall silent and tense as they know they’re moments away from seeing the man who could defeat a great evil or be destroyed by him.

And knowing you have everyone’s attention, you don’t show your ever-so-growing anxiety and instead show your students below a serious confidence that only adds more tension to the already tense room.

Which is why the silence isn’t broken when you descend the stairs. Besides, your students and the others seem to be brainstorming hard about something. They almost look mischievous.

“What are they up to?” You ask Choso when you reach him.

Choso follows your line of gaze and shrugs. “I don’t know, they've been discussing something for a while now.”

“Maybe they’re planning their escape,” Shoko adds lightheartedly. “I wouldn’t blame them—Now how was it? Your face is not pampered in tears.”

“As much I did want to cry, I’m holding strong,” you tell her. “Oh, and my father called Satoru. He didn’t say I love you but he said he wished him the best which is pretty much the same thing in his terms.”

“Why isn’t your family here? Shouldn’t they be here to help?” Choso asks.

You scoff in amusement. “This is above the big families, you’ll hear from them when the winner emerges.”

“Gojo!” Yuji calls out and quickly turns your attention to him only to see your brother walking down with a serious mug on his face that is almost intimidating.

“Your cursed technique is in the way!” Yuji adds, making the corner of your brother's lips fall to a partial frown for a lingering minute before he laughs and grins.

“Give it your best shot!” He exclaims happily and points to his back.

Yuji runs up to Satoru and grins as he pats his back. The other students ease up and smile now that Satoru loses his serious mug and smiles with glee. They actually proceed to pat his back and encourage him to do his best now too, which only seems to make your brother happier. And it’s something you can’t help but smile at too.

And you keep a hold of that smile as your brother gets closer to leaving. As much as your anguish wants to display on your face, you don’t let it, you encourage Satoru one last time with your bright smile

“Win Gojo!” Someone yells out from the crowd of sorcerers which is then followed by more words of encouragement.

“If it gets too rough I’ll tag you out!”

“Salmon!”

“Prove to us that you’re more than just a pretty face!”

“Go get him stupid blindfold!”

Satoru grins brightly and responds to the crowd, “Roger that.”

A shaky breath escapes you, but you hook your arm around Choso’s and keep smiling, noticing that Choso even offers your brother a genuine encouraging smile

“We’ll be watching,” you take your time to chime in too. “So do your best to kill that bastard. We believe in you Satoru!”

Said man’s gaze drifts to you and he holds your gaze for a moment before he offers you a much more softer smile and then leaves.

Now it’s a matter of time before Mei-Mei’s ravens display him on the multitude of screens in the center of the room. And every second leading up to that moment the more you feel your chest tighten.

“He’ll win,” Choso tries to comfort you. “He’s strong.”

You swallow thickly and nod softly in acknowledgment.

“Y/N,” Shoko calls out and makes her way to you through the crowd gathering around the screens.

“Hm?”

When your friend reaches you you notice a travel cup in her hand. “This is for you,” she says and hands you the cup.

“Me?” You ask and tilt the cups top your way. “Is it alcohol? I could use some.” you snicker, making Choso side-eye you.

“I'm joking,” you tell him with a teasing smile before you look at your friend in confusion. “But really what is this?”

“Lemon balm tea. For the stress. You’re so early on in your pregnancy and stress will make your blood pressure spike which affects the babies, so I thought this could help relax just some nerves.”

“Oh,” you gasp softly and share a happy look with Choso before you can’t help but smile at Shoko.

“Thank you,” you tell her in return. “This is actually a great idea.”

Shoko returns a softer smile and then goes serious when her eyes fall on Choso beside you. “Choso, if anything happens and she’s distraught, being with her and helping her breathe will help, okay? I’ll be around anyway, but I wouldn’t want you to feel helpless at the moment.”

Your breath catches in your throat at the mention, but you can’t contradict her because it can happen. Besides, Choso seems to be relieved to have been given advice.

“Thank you, Ieiri. I appreciate it,” Choso tells her with a half smile.

“Of course.”

Now to sit around the screens. You feel like not watching all together, but you can’t avoid it so you sit in between Choso and Yuji in front of the bunch of screens and wait for the moment your brother appears.

Yet waiting is agonizing. The screens aren’t black, Mei-Mei has her birds flying around the abandoned city streets waiting for Satoru to make his first attack, but that does nothing to calm down your nerves. You actually don’t realize you have your jaw clenched and your fists tightened until a warm hand gently covers your fist. When you look over, Choso passes you a comforting look.

“I’m here,” he says softly and with so much endearment. “I’ll hold your hand for the entirety of the fight.”

Your heart swoons at his kind words, and your body quickly eases at the comfort of his touch, letting him intertwine his fingers with yours and pull your hands toward his lap.

“I’m glad you’re here,” you tell him from the bottom of your heart, making Choso smile before he interjects.

“If you start feeling bad, just let me know, we can go get some fresh air.”

You nod and then look over at Yuji beside you, noticing that he looks just as tense as you had been moments ago.

Now you won’t hold his hand like Choso is holding yours, but you try to be comforting. “One way or another Sukuna is going to die today and we will save your friend.”

Yuji’s eyes flicker to you and you now realize how similar his brown eyes are to Choso’s.

“I know, I believe that. Like I also believe today won’t be Gojo’s end,” Yuji rebuttals confidently.

“I like your thinking,” you compliment and then see his eyebrows knit with a flicker of concern.

“You’ll be okay, right? Watching this won't stress you out, or you know the twins?”

You smile wider with appreciation and honestly shrug. “I hope not, but Choso and I are taking precautions either way. Thank you for worrying.”

He flashes you a warm smile and before you can add anything else finally your brother starts to appear on majority of the screens.

“Nine points,” you hear him say with his eyes laser-focused, and his legs bent as he chants to use his technique. “Polarized light. Crow and Shomyo chant. The gap between and without.”

You swallow back nervously and tighten your hold on Choso’s hand.

A couple of fast seconds feel like an eternity as you wait for him to complete his chant.

“Hollow technique: purple,” Satoru finishes and puts one arm out to flick out his bright and powerful purple technique that blinds each and every screen, and deafens every sound with the immense power of his technique.

Minutes later when Mei-mei’s birds finally recuperate their sight all you see is dust and rubble cascading down, creating a mess on the street that Satoru walks down on to finally meet up with Sukuna.

Finally, the strongest sorcerer of the new era and the strongest sorcerer in history face each other and you don’t fail to notice that Sukuna is already healing his hands that had been destroyed by Satoru’s first attack. And seeing that makes you smirk.

“Seems you have the wrong idea here,” Satoru breaks the tense silence between the two sorcerers. “So let me just set things straight. You’re the challenger here.”

Sukuna’s gaze narrows before he spats. “Damned brat. I’m the challenger? You seem pretty pleased with yourself for only landing a surprise attack.”

Shouldn’t he be pleased that he caught the great Sukuna off guard and landed the first strike?

“You are but a fish atop my chopping board Satoru Gojo,” Sukuna continues and seems to just sound like a sore loser. “A bit fresher than others but still just a nameless fish. Let’s start off by peeling off those scales,” he says and imbues his hands with his cursed energy as he shifts one foot out to stand in his fighting stance.

“Let me ask you, why are you still wearing that face?” Satoru says back as he starts peeling off his scarf and his robe which leads you to mentally question yourself why he even bothered to dress so fancy if he was just going to take it off?

“You thought I’d hold back if you looked like that? Unfortunately for you, I’ve been doing some special training,” Satoru says and cracks his knuckles. “And since it’s Megumi, I know I can go all out,” he adds before his cursed energy explodes out and imbues his fists. “You’ve managed to survive death once already while you were in Yuji. So I’ve been thinkin’ I’ll worry about Megumi after I kill you.”

Your face flashes on a small smile before you frown as you catch Sukuna lunge at Satoru with a kick. However, Satoru blocks his first strike and counters with a swing.

Sukuna mirrors his action, but Satoru falls on his back to flick his hand out and send a strong hit that sends Sukuna through a wall.

The ravens broadcasting the fight don’t falter and catch Sukuna crashing through multiple walls until finally, he manages to land on a couple of stairs. But since your brother is fast he catches Sukuna off guard by appearing in front of him and kicking him back onto a bridge. Albeit since it wasn’t such a strong hit, Sukuna finds his footing quickly.

Satoru, though, doesn’t let him catch his breath, your brother jumps in the air and breaks off the piece of the bridge Sukuna is on with his technique before he sends it over to crash against a nearby building.

However, you catch Sukuna using his raw strength to push himself off the surface of the bridge and bounce onto the roof of a different building before zooming off and facing Satoru.

“Dismantle,” Sukuna announces and points his finger at your brother.

But, instead of his attack hitting your brother, the strike hits a building behind him and slices off half of it. Your brother gets surprised and looks back at what missed him and is now sending down half of a tower. Sukuna tries to catch Satoru off guard and pushes himself towards your brother when he’s looking back, but Satoru blocks his swing. Actually Sukuna’s fist doesn’t even hit him thanks to Satoru's technique, his fist only makes contact when Satoru grabs his fist and sends him through the falling building.

You then watch your brother follow after him, and the birds catch when Satoru grabs a floating door and hurls it at Sukuna to block the sight of him. You then wait for the next attack, but dust clouds the sight of every bird, and the sound of the building crashing booms out through every speaker, losing sight and sound of the fighters for a moment until you see Satoru and Sukuna walking out of the cloud of dust ever so casually, like if they aren’t trying to kill one another.

How odd.

“I’m gonna go ahead and pin this on you,” you hear your brother say as they watch the mess they’re already making.

“Who are you to say anything,” Sukuna mutters.

As if remembering that you’re all watching his battle, Satoru catches sight of one of Mei-Mei’s birds and looks surprised.

“Gojo’s limitless allows him to be completely untouchable,” Choso breaks the tense silence that filled the room, breaking your attention away from the screens to watch him as he spoke. “Sukuna is using domain amplification to neutralize his cursed technique. Domain amplification,” he repeats that last bit with what sounds to be surprise.

“I saw something similar in Mechamaru’s footage,” Okkotsu follows by saying. “That special grade cursed spirit used the same method in Shibuya to counter limitless.”

“It does seem that Gojo’s domain has been neutralized,” Hakari agrees before he follows up with a question. “But how?”

“It’s a more refined version of a simple domain,” Kusakabe answers. “By sheathing yourself in a domain without imbuing your own cursed technique, you allow your opponent's technique to flow into that empty space, thereby neutralizing it.”

“Can you do that Kusakabe?”

“Don’t be ridiculous, ‘course I can’t,” he spats back.

“The main drawback to domain amplification is that you can’t simultaneously use your own innate technique,” Angel interjects, making Panda cut in with a question.

“Wait doesn’t that mean Sukuna is fighting Satoru without a cursed technique?”

“Yes,” Angel responds. “Even Sukuna is no exception to this rule. So in other words, if Sukuna has some way to deal with limitless other than domain amplification Gojo will lose.”

You sigh and avert your gaze.

“If that’s the case,” Miwa shares her own thoughts. “Why isn’t Sukuna using Domain expansion?”

“It’s easy to say that,” you tell her and pull your eyes off the ground to look over at her. “But depending on the outcome of that domain battle, the fight would be over.”

“Isn’t that a good thing?” She asks and briefly meets your gaze before you look over at Kirara as they cut in with worry.

“That’s true! Why isn’t he doin’ that?!”

“Doesn’t the domain's sure hit effect negate Satoru’s technique in the first place?” Kirara follows up by saying, making Yuji respond.

“He told me that himself when we were in a cursed spirits domain.”

“Could it be that Sukuna doesn’t think he can win against Satoru Gojo in a domain battle?” Ui-Ui, Mei-Mei’s brother asks the crowd.

“No.” You shake your head, and Shoko bounces in to continue for you.

“If that were the case, Gojo would already be using domain expansion. I’d find it hard to believe that Gojo wouldn't be able to see that, with the six eyes and his shitty personality.”

You crack a soft smile whilst Choso crosses his arms over his chest and tucks your hand between his arms to keep your hand connected with his.

“What if their domains don’t actually clash?” Choso questions. “Based on what Inumaki and Yuji have said, I don’t think Sukuna’s domain expansion actually closes off a barrier.”

“Huh?!” Kusakabe gasps. “Bullishit.”

“I can't believe that,” Kashimo mutters.

“That’s insane,” Hakari says, and Okkotsu cuts in too.

“That’s absurd right?”

“Oh!” Miwa exclaims. “Is it that crazy?”

“Miwa toss me that water,” you hear Kusakabe order the girl around, and when she does toss him a bottle he stops her and complains.

Does he want the water in a cup with an umbrella on it or what?

It’s a good thing Miwa throws the water on his face, why is he being so picky about it?

“Expanding a domain without closing a barrier is just like that,” Mei-Mei uses what just happened as an example. “With no container, can water accumulate? Can you paint on empty air without a canvas? With no stem, roots, or leaves, can a flower bloom from a seed? It’s like using software without any hardware. At any rate, it’s completely impossible!”

“Megumi’s incomplete domain wasn’t enclosed within a barrier though,” Maki points out.

“I heard about that before the grade promotion assessment,” Kusakabe says. “Still, to do that he needed buildings or existing barriers to enclose his domain. That’s small potatoes compared to what’s going on now.”

“But Noritoshi Kamo—Kenjaku,” Choso corrects himself as he interjects to explain something. “…Managed to pull it off.”

You nod and chime in too. “We had planned for Yuki to counter his domain expansion with a simple domain while Tengen dismantled it from the outside.”

“However,” Choso bounces in. “The simple domain was torn apart in the blink of an eye, but if she had expanded her own domain.”

“It wouldn't have been a true domain battle,” you argue. “Though perhaps if she had expanded her own domain. There may have been a battle for Yuki’s sure-hit effect.”

“But what exactly would clash?” Choso asks.

You shrug. “Who knows.”

“Isn’t it literally against the sure-hit effect?” Miwa asks curiously.

“Given that the Sure-hit effect is imbued within the barrier itself,” you answer her. “It can only clash with another barrier.”

“You guys’re talking about their domains as if it’s a given, but that stuff devours an insane amount of cursed energy doesn’t it?” Ino breaks his silence to ask. “So shouldn’t they avoid usin’ it up thoughtlessly?”

“Fish flakes,” Inumaki says, and somehow Okkotsu understands him enough to bounce off his comment.

“It’s just as Inumaki says there’s no limit to Gojo’s cursed energy.”

“But that’s only because of how freakin’ efficient he is,” Ino continues to say. “His cursed energy consumption ends up being less than what he naturally replenishes overtime. But isn’t that working under the assumption he’s using it like normal? If he starts using domain expansion over ‘n over again consecutively, it’ll be a different story. And Sukuna?”

“He’s unreal,” Kashimo sneers. “The sharpness of his techniques activation, the way he can turn on a dime from using amplification to his innate technique…if Satoru Gojo didn’t have the six eyes, Sukuna would likely be winning in terms of efficiency in utilizing cursed energy.”

You sigh in frustration at all that’s being said, and Okkotsu interjects. “What's more, his total cursed energy is even more than mine. Going purely off intuition, I’d say by more than double. In other words, when it comes to these two, cursed energy is not the limiting factor for why they aren’t expanding their domains.”

“Maybe it’s just that nobody, not even the two of them, knows exactly how this is gonna play out,” Nishimiya says. “If Satoru Gojo and Sukuna Ryomen’s domains were to clash, who knows what would happen.”

“Hey,” Higuruma calls for everyone’s attention. “Here it comes.”

You look back at the screen after hearing the discussion and catch both Sukuna and Satoru doing a domain expansion at the exact same time, cutting off all sight of them as a large domain traps them both inside.

“They’re evenly matched,” you point out and stand up as if that would help you catch sight of your brother from within the domain. “Within the barrier, they are evenly matched.”

Nevertheless, parts of Sukuna’s domain literally starts branching out of Satoru’s domain.

“The barrier of a domain is weak against attacks from the outside!” Yuji yells out and moments later the domain explodes and all you see is Sukuna’s domain, and your brother facing him from the ground with shock.

“Come on,” you plead quietly and hold your hands together.

From one moment to the next a slash hits Satoru on his throat, right on his jugular! And you know most of all that any hit there can be deadly.

“Satoru!” You yell out with panic and fear for your dear brother's life.

A/N- Don’t worry we’ll have flashbacks and other stuff so it’s not just watching the fight lmao!

Tagged- @deniseabad1928 @secondary-character-25 @starlightanyaaa @notsaelty @d4rno @moonnime @kodzukein @yozora7154 @heijihattorisgf @elegantweirdorchest @natakina

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nerdgal27 · 8 days

Text

Mikey and Me

I am not much of a morning person. Would much rather roll in these sheets and hide from the sunshine. Maybe sleep Sunday away. Yeah that sounds wonderful. If a foot wasn’t digging into my back, dammit Mikey.

Roll from one dead side to the other. Block myself from the brownstone windows. Warm by the sunrise. Breathe in the fresh cool air float, the familiar smell of turtles. Slide my hand out from under the covers. Cold hand in search of warmth. One pinky touches large fingers. The large fingers intertwine mine, drowning my hand in his large palm. Open my eyes, golden yellow rays beam behind me. Between thin lace curtains casts the bedroom in sunshine and floral shadows. White dust floats in the dry air.

A mutant turtle sleeps before me. Snug under a mess of covers. Brush the top cover from his head. Unveil, and cascade his green skin in the warm glow. How his soft splash of freckles mottle his skin. No mask on, nor needed for now.

From how much he wears his orange mask. I wonder how soft his skin is. In this light, the floral shadows. The most beautiful morning I ever woke up to. One hand drowning in Mikey’s warm hold. Slip a free hand from under the cozy covers. Feel the massive bed head hair under my head. Careful and slow not to wake him. Stroke his sweet face, indulge in curiosity. Soft, delicate, and angelic.Who would ever think someone who eats chewed up gum off of the subway, would feel like this. Caress his cheek, his temple where the mask hides. Enjoy this.

“Can I stay with you tonight?”

Past Mikey whispers in my memory from last night.

The lone turtle then. At my staircase, his fingers fumble each other as his puppy dog eyes ask the same question. His sleeping self now. Fumble fingers, quiet and holding mine now. How can I say no? But eventually questions will need to face reality.

Can’t stay in this bed forever reality says. I’d say stay in this bed and watch Mikey sleep forever. Oh well. Innocent tight grip on my palm. Deep sleep breathing warms my smile. Lean in so quiet. Can’t resist it, I press my lips on his dear forehead. Watch his cheeks curve a smile even in deep slumber.

Don’t ever stop being you Mikey.

Alright. Up I get, much as I don’t want to. Leave the turtle snug in my bed. That is tucked in a brick corner. Don’t have to worry about him rolling off.

Search through the maze on the bedroom floor. Uniforms from work, socks with no mates. I can relate to them.

Ah ha! Bright orange fabric burns in the sun. Pull it out from the pile of clothes. A bright orange hoodie. The color that gives me a craving for apricots. Old stains litter the color. Over stretched collar, and sleeves worn by time. A bright white kitten cartoon on the front. Now in the color of creme from the sun. Take the old thing in my hands. Put it on top of the tank top. Gotta grab the collar, take a big whiff. Hmmm, home. Been so long.

Step into a mix match pair of fuzzy orange and pink socks. To fight against the cold wood floor. Too early to be cold. Leave heaven in the bedroom. Out I go to reality. A small brownstone apartment. Creaky wooden floors, and old paint chips cabinets. Matches my selection of found used furniture.

“Is everything okay Mikey?”

My past memory self asks.

Think back to all of it as I begin the day of making coffee.

Mikey and I in the kitchen then over a cup of coffee and orange soda. Last thing I needed is a caffeinated Michelangelo at 1 am.

“You know we can talk about anything.”

Memories dance on in my mind, as I dump the sweet bliss of coffee grinds in the filter.

Think about everything last night. The dim kitchen lights that I haven’t fixed yet. My best friend for a turtle at the island counter. Bathed in that golden glow. Take a seat next to him. How those heavy eyes look away, deep down in the open soda can. A rare sight for someone who smiles in their sleep. My pinky brushes his. Let those large turtle fingers wrap around my small human hand. Palms rough from 15 years of battle after battle. On quiet nights light these. His thumb strokes my hand ever so gentle.

“Can we talk about it in the morning? I want to be with you, like old times.”

The reality me would have told him no and sort this out. Tomorrow is an early work shift. Yet, in the warm light. Bright green complexion is sheet white. His wrists clench quiet shivers his quiet hold. Matches the quiver of his small smile. Think back to his fading faith glimmering in the night.

Lean in, same as always Mikey dips his head. Lean forward, his forehead meets my lips in the middle. Ease his quiet shivers snuggle into my shoulder for a starved embrace.

Whisper to him, “Our times will never be old, Mikey, we can talk whenever you're ready.”

Old times. I miss them too. But this is life now. Have an apartment, a job. It’s not the greatest, the boss needs to take a chill vacation. Either way it keeps my apartment lights on. I’m happy about it.

An old apartment in the warm sun. Create light for my dingy kitchen. Give my hanging plants some needed sunshine. Gonna have to ask Donnie when I can transfer these new herbs to my herb garden. A metal shelf in the living area, about half full of my collection. Hey, if there’s a way I can cut grocery costs in half, I’ll do it.

Phone vibrates beside the coffee tin. Turn the phone over to see the screen. Speak of the devil.

9:30 March 28, Donnie: Hey, Sweetheart.

Just like old times. His nickname for me.

Me: Mornin to U too Dee, those hangin planters r really workin.”

Bubbles float on a white and purple screen. Set it on the counter. Press the hot water button to brew the coffee. Let the smooth aroma of rich coffee take me back to when I was little. When this smart turtle used to put coffee in my toddler mug.

9:35

Donnie: What’d I tell you, I’m a genius, they shouldn’t be ready to move for another couple weeks.

Me: Thanks genius

Bubbles float on the purple screen again. Boy must be busy working on something. Like that has never happened. Swear, if he didn’t have four brothers to keep him busy. Donnie would turn into a science crazy hermit. The kind that requires warning labels. Least some of us are still home.

Take a look around my apartment. Squishy in size. Living room has enough size for one couch, one apple box coffee table, and a TV on my black shelf. Empty and quiet.

9:40

Donnie: Is Mike with you?

Run back to the kitchen. Fill my mug before the coffee machine drowns itself.

Me: Yea he is asleep. Did something happen?

Donnie: No

Head over to my breakfast nook. Set the hot mug down on the bistro table.

Me: Dee

Donnie: Nothing happened

Wow that text came fast. Nothing stops the brainiac’s work. Not even me. Not for a while anyway.

Donnie: He misses you, that’s all, this is a big change

Oh, I see.

Me: It’s a big change 4 me, when R U going to help me build those plant shelves U told me about??

Bubbles float. Hold the mug close in my hands. Inhale the memory of Donnie’s smell. His warmth then.

Donnie: Soon, Sweetheart, I promise, it will be like old times.

Bubbles float under Donnie’s message on my phone. A picture pops up. In a slender olive green palm. In a cool computer screen light is a rubik's cube.

After all these years. He has that old thing. Hope he never throws it away.

Donnie: I love you Sweetheart.

Take one strong sip of coffee. Send Donnie one more text. I set the phone back into its place in my pocket. Relax in my chair, look out the large bay windows. Close my eyes to songs of pigeon wings fluttering by. The Mighty River of a city rushes. Feel the warm sunshine wake me. The streets are full of people below. Look back to my kitchen before me. No stove making smoke signals. Not a single orange skewered by a Sai. Nor the clashes and bangs of a family. Yet they say they are ninjas. An old kitchen. Quiet, clean, and bright in the sun. This is my life now.

Warmth touches my back. No need to turn. Two freckle hands slither out between my arms. Wrap around my midsection. A soft cheek melts into my shoulder. Old life nuzzles me.

“I’m starving.”

“Morning starving.” I smirk on his freckle cheek.

Squish the coffee sloshing inside me, he retorts. “Hey that’s my thing.”

Take a sip of coffee, “And now it’s mine.”

Set of arms recoils around me. Leave my shoulder cold. He opens the fridge.

“No bacon for you then.” His shell faces me.

Wait a bit for him to dig through. Swish the coffee in the mug.

I answer his mutter, “And no bacon for anyone.”

A turtle steps back. Hand clutch onto his plastron chest. Take heavy breaths, he gasps. “You, no bacon? Are you loco homie?!”

“I know, I’m shocked too, it's been a couple weeks since my last pay cheque.” I answer.

And who knows when my next one will come in.

“You’re Boss still giving you a hard time?” Mikey closes the fridge.

An armful of something. Nothing stops him and his empty stomach.

Get up for the second cup. I pause, stare down at the endless black liquid in the pink coffee mug. See my tired self ripple in the black reflection.

I answer, “Not anymore, he switches the schedule pretty much to whatever he wants, I’m on casual for now, till something else pops up.”

“New York, what a place.”

“Work, what a concept.”

He holds up my few selection of eggs. I answer his silent question.

“No, those are normal, they won’t explode powder this time.”

Mikey raises an orange eyeridge, “last time you told me that, I had glitter in my shell for 4 weeks straight.”

Chuckle at the old memory years ago. To prove him wrong I crack them on the pan for him.

Murmur in the calm quiet. “See, no ninja smoke, nor glitter.”

Soft shift of Mikey’s feet squeaks the old hardwood. He snorts, “Or ghost pepper powder ninja smoke bombs.”

“That was one time.” I snicker.

“My face still burns.”

“That was for the rubber spiders in my bed, you goon,” I giggle, “I can’t go to bed without checking the covers, because of you.”

Toaster wires twang. Shake the proof of my old glitter prank out of his shell.

Mikey chuckles, “Worth it.”

One more person is here besides me. Another to make noise. Bring more light into the apartment. Hear their feet scuff on wood. Have someone help me clean. It’s nice.

“Mike?”

No answer. Place the dry dishes back in their cupboard.

Dry the next, I ask, “Is everything going okay home- I mean the lair?”

Freckle hands take the dry plate from me. He turns away.

“Same as usual.”

Awe come on buddy, there’s more than that. Toss the towel in the pile of laundry yet to be done.

Wait for him to turn. Sometimes a look is needed for Mike to talk. This time Mikey doesn’t look. Nose points to the old pink mat.

“The guys pick on you again? Did Donnie explode anything?” I ask on.

Nothing. Turtle frame leans on the counter behind him. If only he smiles, the way he always does. Then the sunshine wouldn’t be the only thing that shines.

Leave the sink. His three finger turtle hands lay dormant. Take his hands. Even now with great effort. Human hand can only hold his fingers.

“Can we hang out today?” He asks my hand.

Human thumb strokes the back of his hand. I murmur, “I would love that Mikey, but you have to remember it’s daylight now, and your brothers know where you are.”

No need to ask who. Answer his quiet question.

“They know you’re safe with me, no one is coming unless you want them to.”

Please let me see his eyes. Let his hand squeeze mine. Mikey whispers under his breath. “Just want to be with you.”

Maybe that’s what is needed. No need to rush things. Nor chase anything away. The same way as it always has been. Hand in hand. Close our eyes. Lean forwards our foreheads touch. Warm each other, lean on each other. The apartment is quiet, and I am not alone.

“Have any of those spiders left?”

Life my gaze to him. We pull back.

“No but I have these,” His hands pull out a handful of water balloons.

Pull on a pair of jeans. Turtle follows me over to a window in the bedroom. A wonderful view of the next door apartment wall. The morning sun fades above the city buildings.

“You know, Mike, this place does have a fire escape.”

Lead him to the destination outside the bedroom window. On one window faces the main streets. Another faces the alley. In Between the black metal bars of the staircase. The two of us smirk.

Mikey gives me his baby blue eyes. Narrow in an evil grin. “Are you thinking what I’m thinking?”

“Always.”

Open the window. Ladies first, his hands boost me to climb out. Wait for him, take his hand to pull him out. The turtle doesn't let go. Does he want to hold hands to climb the stairs?

He reads my mind. “We don’t need to climb that.”

Of course we don’t. Throw me on his shell. Bind my arms around him in a death grip. Ignore his chuckle. One hop after a flip, and a hoist. Up on the roof. Wooden water tower, ducting systems. The only thing that is missing. Is them. I miss this.

After endless hours of throwing water balloons at the innocent people down below. Watch them scream, shout, and laugh in cold water. Some may or may not have glitter and glue. No wonder so many become villains.

Look over the edge down to a busy sidewalk. Wet sidewalk dried by the midday sun. Where dozens of people murmur.

Tie off the balloon I ask, “This is the last one right?”

Mikey’s hand waits for me to hand the balloon to him. Quiet, He mutters, “Yep.”

His smile is here. Looking at me. This is the first time seeing him in daylight. Freckles burn in the light. A gentle breeze sways the clothes lines all around us. Sways his orange mask tails. A flame in the sun. Is it his smile?

Reach the balloon to him. He ushers my wrist as well. Watch the balloon fall to its next victim. Neither one of us watches who the balloon hits. A turtle and human sit mid daylight together on a roof ledge.

“Tessie?”

Hand holds human wrist. Run a hand over fair skin. Over old memories. Ones forgotten. Some are not.

Stroke his thumb over dark bruises. Both of our freckle faces meet each other. Read each other’s silence.

Slip my hand away, “I’m okay, it’s old.”

A free green hand. Comb the long strands back.

Soft words feather darkness, “You told me you were going to be okay, we made a promise didn’t we?”

A quiet nod.

He takes both of my hands in his.

Mikey asks, “Are you safe? Does anyone follow?”

Pull the orange hoodie sleeve over the bruise. I chuckle, “Nope, just coffee machines falling apart on me.”

Silence. Skin and shell shifts Mikey closer. Drown me in his shadow. Sinks my eyes further to my own hands. Draw along the old cracks that scarred this old building.

A gentle push, he whispers, “Are you sure, that’s what happened? We don’t keep secrets, remember.”

Stroke his hands, I murmur, “Mikey? What’s going on buddy?”

He shrinks back. “Just want to know if you are okay.”

Reach for him again, “Not just that, I know you why came over,” lift his chin to see me, burn the sun in my eyes, “did you think I wouldn’t miss you at all? We made a promise.”

Nothing. Revert his focus. This is not the turtle I know. Please don’t change who he is. He slips away. No hop down the fire escape. He climbs down. Leave the fun. Hide from whatever sunlight there may be.

Old memories mimic new. For as long as I can remember. I follow Mikey. Shell to me, saunter down the empty stairs. Back inside, the window curtains waltz in the slow air. Crawl back inside the bedroom. No turtle in the bed. Wander out to the kitchen. No turtle in the fridge. Out in the cold quiet living. Brown cold brick. One lone poster decorates the house. Green curtains drawn. Cover the room in floral shadows. One single blanket. Pink, fluffy, and covered in cartoon cats. All wrapped around a green ball of shell.

No need to say words. Yells, whispers or anything. Not unless we break what we have. I’ve already caused enough damage before. Know what lingers in this apartment. A dark bitter blackness.

Not now. Mikey is here. Curled alone in a ball in a dark corner of the couch. Only one person is allowed to do so in this apartment. Or deserves to be left like this.

In pink and orange socks, given to me on Christmas from this special turtle. I climb down the platform steps. Weave around the coffee table. The shelf garden gives the room a fresh green smell. Controversial to the dark bitterness that darkens the room. Take a seat next to the fuzzy pink and green shell bundle.

Whisper. “Mikey…”

Silence. Fluffy white clouds roll over the golden sun. Hide away all the warmth of the morning before. Drape us in a cool gray shadow.

“I know…what happened.” The fluffy bundle mumbles.

Shade claps into black. Words shatter thin glass nerves. Fingers tingle, vibrate. Feet fizzle numb.

“H-how…I-I…no nothing happened”-

“I know everything, something did happen” Softness bitters a sharp growl.

Uncurl himself from his tight ball. Cold ice shrinks me to look away. No, they swore they wouldn’t say a word. For his sake I never want him to know. He wasn’t there for any of it. How could he know?

A free open apartment space all around us. Could get up and run from this if needed.Yet I am frozen where I sit. So close to his ice cold freeze.

Memories of a storm roars.

“That my boss is a jerk,” I smirk old news, “Most bosses are like that Mike”-

“Stop hiding Tessie”-

Heart leaps from the couch. Heels spin to run. Hands snatch mine.

“Wait, wait, hold a sec.” Grip pulls me back.

Heart thumps out all words in my throat a short scream. Run, scream all thoughts. Hide, shivers all joints. My turtle best friend. His gentle palm softens around my wrist. Yet this cold shiver. Clam all limbs to run forever.

“…. P-please…” A child who died so long ago whispers, “L-let me go.”

The child who found the other dead. His hand hugs mine, squeezes his plea.

“I’m sorry sissy,” stops the pull, freezes the cold distance of what feels like miles apart.

Couch hinges creak behind. A shadow drapes over me. So many have curled me into a ball. Ready for what’s to come. This one, so many times before when I was small.

Soft words reach nerves, “You’re alright,”

Green freckle arms, Mikey’s arms slide around me. Drown out the cold in his warmth, he whispers, “breathe with me.”

Wait for nerves to shiver, to breathe. His warmth turns me to his chest, to his racing heart to listen to mine.

“It’s okay,” Michel whispers, “you’re safe.”

Silence. Why am I like this? Why can’t I just be normal? Every training spar, loud bangs, every click of the coffee machine. It’s always like this.

“I found it all in the garbage this morning.”

Oh no, that was supposed to be gone before he’s awake. The bottles, the evidence, all of it. How could I forget that? How can I be so stupid? Of course he knows it all. No one was supposed to know. Especially Mikey.

The turtle pulls me from his warmth. Enough for his palms to lift cheeks up to his sweet blue gaze. Those big round eyes. Burns bright in the midday sun almost as radiant as his permanent smile. All tucked away in the shadow. Nothing can shade away the sweetness in his gaze.

“I don’t have any more if you’re wondering.” I mumble.

“Good,” His cheek nuzzles my forehead, “We never keep secrets.”

Think back to when that rule was made so long ago. Nudge his cheek in a nod.

He asks, “Why did you leave us?”

Both of us sink back down on the couch.

I explain, “it was time, I couldn’t stay refuge forever.”

“But you weren’t, you’re not a refuge,” Mikey sinks his eye level to mine, “did the guys ever tell you that?”

“Mikey, they’ve been looking for my family since day one.” Curl into those old thoughts. Close them away in these hands before me.

Fold himself on the couch. Follow him. Lay side by side. One head on the other's thigh.

Chin on my thigh digs, “I never looked.”

“No,” I slide the pink blanket back over his shell, “You didn’t.”

Green fingers fiddle with the elastic band of my socks. “We promised no matter what you and I will stay together, what made you want to leave?”

Snuggle under the blanket and his soft skin. I answer. “For this, we are above service in broad daylight, it’s what we’ve dreamed of, another kitchen to blow up, we just spent a whole morning pulling pranks on other people other than the guys, said we would visit each other all the time…why haven’t you, Donnie, or Leo, or Raphie? I tried to call you.”

Darkness clouds baby blues. Drops to the colorful butterflies on the blanket. Hand on my shoulder slides away. Hold onto the little butterflies. Should’ve known.

“You weren’t ready to let go, that’s why you won’t return my texts” Green muzzle hides. I take his limp arm, hold it so soft “We were never siblings to begin with, you found me, remember.”

Tears well, soak orange mask, he shivers. “But you were mine, you were ours, so tiny in my arms. I knew you were mine. For once I had someone who thinks my pranks are cool, can speak Donnie, can out punch Raph, and talk sense into Leo when he goes leader serious,”

“You were small too Mikey,” I add in, holding his hand, “we’re only a few years apart, from different lives.”

More tears fall with his words and clench teeth, “And that life threw you out to the street, they left you to die. How can someone be so cruel? They didn’t know you.”

Both human hand and turtle hand lock together.

Smile at the thought.

“You never left me, none of you did, you saved me my friend, you didn’t know me then either. Raphael and the others were right to look for my family. To find a solution to give me a normal life,” lost in a fog of water, heat burns all. Swim through the water, find my orange clad turtle, “Mikey, you were the one that gave me that normal life, let me make a normal life up here for all of us.”

Crystal clear blue eyes ripple in the waves. Green complexion red as mine. Our muscles are as weak as each other. Both of us sit up from our ball.

His round innocence. Sweet, angelic as his soft face. He trembles under water. “S-So…you didn’t leave…B-because you hated us, or something we did? T-thought you were done with your old brother.”

Hands travel up from his arm. Freckle skin soaks in the sun and tears yet to fall. In this cold looney living room. Sunshine seeps between the curtain shadows. Shine more golden light inside.

“Mikey, there will never be a time where I hate you, this is the next stage of life to come, would never leave you for good. Want you all of us to be a part of it. Nothing has changed, what has changed is where we are.”

Cheeks curve in a smile. A hand on his cheek. He takes the back of my hand. Hold it still for him to snuggle into my palm. Two green hands, hold both my cheeks. Warm thumbs rub the hot tears aside. Same way he always has since day one.

I chuckle, “there were so many times, so many pranks I’ve wanted to punch the daylights out of and have, you were always there for me, my best friend, and a brother I’ve always wanted to have.”

A wet tongue licks a cow lick on my already messed up hair. Send gross shivers down my spine. To run to the closest thing to a shower and drown in.

The orange turtle doesn’t let me go. Mikey chuckles, “Least I have you.”

“Always.”

Lean forward and our foreheads meet. Lean on each other. Arms join as well. Wrap each other in a tight embrace. Leave each other's foreheads to our cheeks, dig out noses into each other's shoulders. What may seem so unusual to the real world. Perhaps ugly or wrong. Maybe my life may have been different without him. I don’t care what my life would have been. This is my life now.

Michelangelo the freckled turtle in orange. Surround me in his warmth and love. His own sunshine.

No matter where life takes us. Where we may be. Whenever there is a street that needs to be terrorized by pranks. Or to text and call a bunch of brothers to build a garden shelf on walls. When the time comes when we grow older and wiser. Maybe families of our own. Or just us still on and on. There will always be,

Mikey and me.

#tmnt 2012 #tmnt fan art #tmnt fan fiction #tmnt Michelangelo #2012 Mikey

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complexparadox1 · 2 months

Text

Like The Flowers Need The Rain

Alright so I have FINALLY made a sort of part 2 to my story The Devil Within. This is a Bonten Mikey x Fem! Reader one shot. Now this can be read alone or after The Devil Within as I see it as either the happy ending to that story line or as an entirely alternate plot where they get to be happy in the end. Now this version does not have smut as the other version does I just wanted it to be kind of wholesome and sweet 🥹 only warnings are Mikey being a bit aggressive with the reader at one point, and Mikey having a bit of sewerslidal desires for a brief moment. With that I hope you guys like it 🩷

Your feet felt a bit unsteady as you walked, you felt cold and not just from the chilly fall air that swirled around you as you steadily progressed forwards. Placing one foot in front of the other as you walked towards the large building before you. As for the reason you were approaching the building it was because it was owned and operated by Bonten. You were bound and determined to see Manjiro again. Now granted from the whispers you'd heard it wasn't necessarily guaranteed he'd be here but you at least had to try right?

You stepped inside the lavish building, a fancy bar, technically it was a multilevel building with a bar, restaurant and many other similar businesses. After all Bonten was a huge criminal organization they had to launder their money somehow. Your gaze was quick to scan across the room before landing on the long snowy white haired man you were told to look for, Koko, he was the bookkeeper for Bonten. He handled the finances and worked directly for Manjiro. He sat in a small secluded booth in the corner of the bar area, there were a few security officers around him but still you approached each step soft and hesitant. "Excuse me?" You inquired nervously stopping three feet before the security guards standing in front of you, leaving a fair amount of distance between yourself and Koko. "Uhm...I was…looking for Manjiro…Manjiro Sano?" Your voice was meek and trembling and you could feel the nerves building with each syllable you spoke. You of course had no idea how this man would react to you approaching him or if he would even help.

Koko set down the glass in his hand and took a moment to focus on the figure that had approached. A small woman all on her own, venturing into territory that was almost guaranteed to cause her great trouble. He narrowed his eyes, taking in the person before him. She looked vaguely familiar perhaps? The woman seemed nervous, trembling slightly as she spoke. His gaze flickered to the men at his side before he waved them back, allowing the clearly nervous female to approach.

"Manjiro?" He repeated her words, brow furrowed. "So you know him, or did you just come looking for the leader of Bonten just for the fun of it?" Koko's tone was dark, his voice as dead as his expression. A razor-sharp mind, and a man who could see through a person in the blink of an eye.

"Don't tell me you're one of those idiots wanting to snitch," He said, leaning back in his seat. "You know how it always ends for them. If you're looking for him, you'd better tell me why I should send a message.”

You felt a jolt spark through you as Koko spoke and you made the decision to bow slightly attempting to show a level of respect. You knew full well what you were doing was beyond foolish, beyond dangerous, but still you had to try. "My apologies sir I do know him, although I haven't seen him in a long time now. I promise I'm not here to cause any trouble and I understand he might not even be here but if you could...if you would tell him I came here looking for him I would greatly appreciate it." You allowed yourself to stand back up. You felt so small standing in front of the shrewd bookkeeper. You could see why he managed the finances for Bonten, he was quick, he was smart, and his words were sharp. "I could give you more details if you would like but I know you're a very busy man and I wouldn't want to waste your time on details you may not have any concern for." You tried to be sure the tone with which you spoke was even and that you were blunt and to the point. This was a businessman, so you had to speak in a business sort of way while also realizing you were standing in front of one of the many heads of the criminal organization that was Bonten.

Koko's eyes narrowed, somehow not convinced of the woman's honesty. But he didn't press further, it wasn't his place to do so. "In that case, I'll see about reaching him. Though as I said, he's a busy man, can't say if he'll have the time to see you."

He waved a hand at the men standing by his side and whispered something into the ear of one of them. The man nodded and left, leaving Koko to sit there as he had been before. "You can wait here if you wish, or leave. If Manjiro wishes to meet you, I'll send someone to make arrangements."

His tone was unchanging, his expression the same cold mask it had always been. "We're not someplace one just walks in and out of freely." Koko reminded you his eyes flicking up to meet hers. "For your own safety, I'd suggest not waiting around aimlessly. Not in these parts.”

His words sent a strange feeling through your bones. It wasn't a full green light but it was close enough. "Thank you very much sir, would it be ok if I sat over there and waited?" You pointed to a small booth only two away from his own with his security, far enough away to not bother or be too close to him but close enough his security could keep his eyes on you and you would hopefully not be considered any level of trouble or problem. "If...if you get a hold of him and he doesn't want to speak to me or see me I'll leave, no worries or fussing I certainly don't want to cause you any difficulties." Your heart was absolutely hammering against your ribs, you wanted to be sure you moved correctly in this moment. Manjiro had left you to protect you from himself and from Bonten and here you were walking directly into the middle of it. You couldn't be sure how he would react but you knew he would react. You hoped he would at least.

Koko raised his eyebrow, a small smile tugging at the corner of his lips. "As you wish." He responded, inclining his head in your direction.

With a flick of his wrist, he gestured for another of the security officers, a young man who seemed to have the good sense to follow Koko's every command. "See that she's not bothered while she waits." You bowed once again to Koko feeling truly thankful for his help although you got the feeling he was also gaining some level of interest from this. "Thank you very much sir." You expressed your thankfulness once again before being led over to the table by the guard. Who once you were settled stood before the table with his arms folded across his chest. You fidgeted nervously as you waited but you tried to hold composure, after all you had stepped into Bontens world but you still hadn't actually seen Manjiro yet and that would be the real test. You didn't know if he'd be angry, furious, scared, concerned, all of the above. You had no clue how he would react to you being here and would have to wait and find out and that thought alone was nerve wracking.

Koko turned back to the glass of whiskey that had grown warm, a small smirk playing on his lips. "You're a brave one. Most wouldn't dare step into our world, not since Toman fell." He murmured to himself, raising the glass to his lips again.

He was waiting too, for the return message, wondering if Manjiro would deem the woman worth his time. There was the clink of glasses, the murmur of conversations, but the air around the trio was thick with tension.

It wasn't long before Koko's communicator buzzed, and he picked it up, listening to the person on the other line. His expression remained the same, unreadable. "Yes, he'll see you. In the private room upstairs." He relayed the message to the guard, who then gestured for you to stand. "Follow me." He said simply and you practically scurried from the booth to follow the guard, nodding your head to Koko in another silent thanks as the guard began leading the way out of the bar area and up the stairs, your heart rate climbing higher with each step.

Once they'd arrived at the private room, the guard stood back, leaving you to enter on your own. Your hands trembled as you opened the door to the opulent private room stepping in as the door closed almost noiselessly behind you. You stood in front of the door for a moment before taking a small step forwards.

The room was larger, far more luxurious than the bar area, and at the end of the room stood Manjiro. He had a glass of liquor in his hand, and as you entered, he raised it in a vague sort of salute. "Y/n." He said your name, sounding almost as if it had been ripped from his mouth. "Why are you here?" His eyes were dark, but he did not move from where he stood.

His voice stopped you for a moment. You questioned if perhaps you’d made a mistake, you couldn't gauge him at all at this moment. "I...I didn't want things to just...end how they did." Your mind flashed back to a time quite a while ago, him leaving your apartment, telling you he couldn't bear to see you suffer due to the darkness his life was now shrouded in. "I'm sorry...I know I shouldn't have come here, I know you probably didn't want me to come here but I had to." Your voice was quiet and as much as you wanted to get closer to him you didn't take another step leaving almost the entire length of the room between the two of you.

Manjiro's gaze swept over you, his body tensing ever so slightly. His free hand clenched into a fist by his side, the tension building in the room. "You don't know what you're doing." He warned, his voice low and deep, the tone filled with warning.

He moved slowly towards you, not rushing, but determined to bridge the gap. When he was close enough, he roughly grabbed your upper arm with his free hand, the grip firm and demanding. "You could get yourself killed." He didn't let go of his rough grip on your arm, and for a brief moment, the glass teetered in his other hand, the liquor sloshing inside. "Why did you come?" He repeated the question, his voice gruff and emotionless. He needed to know why you'd willingly stepped into the lion's den, knowing full well the dangers that awaited you here.

You stared up at him and it felt like your heart entirely stopped for a moment. As though everything in the world just stopped and it was just the two of you and that was all there was. He'd never acted like this with you before, he'd always been soft, sweet, even at his most broken he'd always been tender towards you. You'd known this was a potential outcome but now that you found yourself standing here in front of him you froze up for a moment. "You're right, I know, I know I could get myself killed. I know coming here was stupid and I knew you were probably going to be upset but God damn it Manjiro-" of course your voice would crack when you said his name and you silently cursed this fact as you once more tried to regain composure. "I love you, I don't care about all of this. Please...Manjiro." You were trembling now, looking up at him with tears starting to well up in your eyes. "I understand that we don't get to have the bright shiny future we used to picture when we were kids and I'm ok with that, that's fine. What I want is you." The words were blunt, spoken clearly despite the trembling of your tone.

Manjiro glared down at you, the anger and frustration boiling beneath the surface. But so was the longing, the need that you'd awakened as soon as he'd set eyes on you. "You can't have me." He spat the words with such venom, the grip on your arm not loosening in the least.

"You can't be here. You can't know this part of me." He said it like it was a curse, something he wished to keep hidden forever. He was just as trembling, the emotions threatening to spill over, but he refused to let them. Not now. Manjiro took in a shaky breath, his hold on your arm loosening as he let out another breath. "Leave." He said it coldly, the emotions finally settling down. His voice was harsh, his tone flat. "This is not your world." He let go of your arm, taking a step back, before turning and walking away. You were shaking in every limb feeling absolutely boneless even as he let go of his grasp on your arm. It took a moment to find your words once again. "I know this part whether you want me to or not." You words were soft and warbly with emotion but you refused to back down, at least not just yet. "I came and found you, I knew who to talk to, even if I leave right now I came here. I was here, people saw me here. I spoke to the bookkeeper of the whole Bonten enterprise. You can't change that no matter how much you want to." You stared at him feeling like the floor would fall out from under your feet at any moment and swallow you whole. "If you want me to leave I'll leave but I came here for a reason. I knew what I was doing by coming here, and I know the repercussions that might have." Granted there were certainly things you didn't know. As you were not well versed with the criminal underground, or the problems that could arise due to your coming here. You didn't want to cause trouble for Bonten or for Manjiro. You just wanted him to see that you weren't afraid of the potential repercussions to yourself by coming here.

Manjiro stood by the table, his back to you. He was tense, but his shoulders slumped, the emotional exhaustion evident. It was as if it was too much to bear. The glass was set down on a small table, the liquor left untouched. "Don't come here again." His voice was hushed, a warning and a threat. "You still don't seem to understand." He said, his voice strained. "Coming here, it could have gotten you killed." He turned to face you again, a pained look on his face. "Or worse. You're innocent. This is not where you belong." His voice cracked, and he pressed his lips together before looking away. He couldn't bear to see you, not when he was already so conflicted. "I know you probably think that you're doing this for me, that I'm better off without you but that's not true, no matter how much you might want it to be." You saw him wince at your words but he was quick to recover. "I can't...I can't let you stay." He said, the words sounding pained as they left his mouth. As he turned back towards the door, he hesitated, his hand closing around the knob. "Stay safe." He muttered, the door closing softly behind him, leaving you alone in the room.

There was a soft buzz of Koko's communicator, and he stood, heading upstairs to relay the message to the guard. "Let her out, and see she gets home safely." Koko instructed. Before you could be left with just the guard who had led you upstairs to begin with, you paused for a moment in front of Koko. "I...I don't know if...if you are friends with him or...if this is simply business but if it's not could I ask you to make sure he's ok?" You knew it was probably a stupid thing to ask, Koko was obviously Manjiros subordinate. Simply a bookkeeper for the organization, but perhaps even if he wasn't close to Manjiro perhaps he knew someone that was or he could help somehow? You wanted to be sure that at least you had tried to do something to perhaps soothe any hurts you may have caused to Manjiro.

Koko frowned, a look that appeared almost as if he was considering the request. He knew better than most the state of his leader's mind, the ramifications of what he'd become. Koko was particularly good at reading others, it was half the reason he maintained the position he did within Bonten. “I'll see what I can do." He offered a small incline of his head. "You're a brave one, and I can respect that." He watched as you were escorted off by the guard quietly, knowing that the situation was not over. You had stepped into a dangerous game, and you were just as much at risk as Manjiro. But he could see the resolve in your eyes, the determination to see this through.

Koko returned to his seat, pouring himself another glass of whiskey. "He's not used to people reaching out to him." He mused, a small smile tugging at his lips. Koko lifted the glass to his lips, taking a long sip before returning to his work, thoughts lingering on the strange interaction he'd been a part of.

Once you had arrived home, closing the door to your tiny apartment you finally allowed yourself to dissolve into tears. Collapsing onto your bed and sobbing painfully hard, chest rattling and heaving as tears poured from your eyes and staining the bedding. It hurt, love hurt so badly but it was also all that you wanted.

Of course Manjiro couldn't sleep, his mind swirling with thoughts of you. What you'd said haunted him, the words replaying in his head over and over. He was sitting at his desk, a glass of whiskey in front of him as he stared at a photo you had given him years ago. He grit his teeth, the anger and frustration boiling beneath the surface. But the more he tried to push away the thoughts, the more they seemed to cling.

He took a long pull from the glass, the liquor burning as it went down his throat. His eyes met the photo once more, the regret and longing evident in his expression. For the first time in a long while, he found himself wishing for a different life. One where he could be with you, a life where the two of you could be happy, far away from the darkness that had consumed him. But the thought was fleeting, chased away by the reality of his situation.

The tension within Bonten was palpable the next day, the other members sensing the change in atmosphere. Manjiro was distant, more focused on the tasks at hand than he had ever been. Buried in work, and drowning his thoughts in alcohol.

Koko watched him closely, his gaze weighing the situation. He knew that your visit had affected his leader more than he cared to admit. The bookkeeper made a note to himself, to keep an eye on Manjiro.

For now, he would do as he'd promised, but the situation was far from over. And neither was Manjiro's turmoil.

The next day you were left feeling absolutely hollowed out, as if you had exhausted every single bit of emotion you had within yourself the prior night with Manjiro. Luckily you didn't have to work today so instead you merely curled up within your bed half wishing to not exist and also wishing that you could just fast-forward to the part of life where you were finally happy. But you knew both of these things were impossible so you merely laid in bed scrolling aimlessly through social media in a futile effort to distract your brain. The thought of Manjiro made laps around your mind regardless though. Wondering what he was doing, how he was feeling, what was going to happen next but every time you gently pushed the thoughts back. There was no use thinking on it for now, if he wanted to find you he would, if he wanted to get into contact he had all the resources to do so. All you could do for the moment was wait, left in a painful limbo until Manjiro either showed up or didn't.

Manjiro's focus was solely on work, anything to distract him from the thoughts that threatened to consume him. He was more ruthless than ever, showing no mercy to those who crossed him.

Koko watched with a mixture of concern and admiration, noting the changes in his leader. He realized that the visit had shaken Manjiro to his core, perhaps opening up an illusion he'd been clinging onto for too long. Bonten's operations ran smoothly, but the tension within the ranks was palpable. Koko made a point to relay a message to you, using an encrypted method to ensure your safety. "He's unreachable. But I can confirm he's well for now." The message was brief, but it was meant to offer some reassurance while also informing you of the current situation.

Manjiro's head was down, lost in his thoughts, as he navigated the complex web of criminal activity. He seemed almost... possessed, as if driving himself to the edge to prove something to himself, or perhaps even to you.

Koko shook his head, watching from the sidelines. The situation between the two of you was far from resolved, and the consequences, if not handled carefully, could be disastrous for the pair.

Across town you still laid in your bed. You practically jumped when the phone buzzed with the message from an unfamiliar number you could assume to be Koko by the content of the message, nearly falling out of bed as you lurched upright. You read the words, over and over again. You felt a bit of the tension in your chest unfurl just ever so slightly. "Thank you I appreciate you making sure he's ok." The response was typed and sent quickly and the message was to the point and you flopped back into bed staring up at the ceiling.

You wondered what he'd meant by unreachable. Knowing Manjiro he was simply drowning out how he was feeling by doing anything else. That was how he'd always been, avoiding the emotions of the problem even when he was dealing with the problem. While normally that had been in relation to gang activity and his friends you had to wonder if the same logic would transfer over to this scenario.

The next few days were a blurry haze. You merely functioned on autopilot, wake up, work, come home, dinner, sleep and rinse and repeat that cycle. It was like the world had faded out to grayscale and you knew that wouldn't change until you saw Manjiro again. While Kokos message had eased some of the tension, your heart still ached dully in your chest with every beat it made against your ribs.

Manjiro continued his assault on the city's underbelly, his relentless drive seemingly fueled by the need to prove something to himself. He was a force to be reckoned with, and those who dared to cross him faced the wrath of a man with nothing to lose.

Koko watched from the sidelines, admiration mingled with concern as he observed the transformation unfolding before his eyes. He knew Manjiro's heart was heavy, and he could sense that the presence of the woman he'd once loved, and perhaps still did, was weighing on him like a burden.

News of Bonten's increased dominance reached the other factions, instilling fear and respect. It seemed that Manjiro had channeled his turmoil in the only way he knew how, and it was proving to be effective.

As for you, you remained in the dark, unaware of the chaos Bonten was causing in the city. You kept a low profile, determined not to draw any unwanted attention to yourself. You knew full well that things between yourself and Manjiro were far from over, and you held onto the sliver of hope that he'd reach out soon.

Out of the blue and as if reading your mind, Koko sent another message, using the same encrypted method. "He's coming for you." The message was short but left no room for ambiguity.

Your heart raced, the phone shaking in your hand as you read the words. The tension in the air around you was palpable, as if you were about to step into a battle which you couldn't possibly predict the outcome of.

Manjiro was on his way as rapidly as he could be, the need to see you again overwhelming his better judgment. He'd been trying to push away the thoughts, to drown them in work and alcohol, but your words kept drumming in his head for days now and even still as he made his way to your home.

Once Manjiro arrived at the apartment building, the atmosphere was heavy as he approached the front door. He had a gun in his pocket, ready for anything.

He hesitated for a moment, hand gripping the handle as he steeled himself for what was to come. A deep breath later, and he let the hand fall away from the handle, turning to leave.

But something within him made him pause. Your words echoed in his thoughts: "I love you, I don't care about all of this. Please...Manjiro."

He found himself back at the door, knocking loudly. He hadn't planned on this, it was impulsive, but he couldn't bring himself to leave without seeing your face again.

He waited, glancing at the gun in his pocket, and then back at the door. What was he going to say? What was he going to do?

He didn't have an answer, only the need to see you.

Hearing the loud knock resounding through your apartment you had practically vaulted out of bed and to the front door. Quick to unlock it and pull it open. Seeing Manjiro standing there it felt like everything else, the gray faded world you had been living in for days now, faded out and now all the focus immediately went to him. "Hi." The word came out a bit out of breath, probably from practically teleporting across the apartment to answer the door. You stepped aside so he could actually come inside. He looked exhausted, far more so than usual and as he stepped past you into the apartment you could smell alcohol faintly. Clearly that was a part of how he'd been dealing with your surprise re-entry into his life. You quietly closed the door once he was inside and you felt your nerves crackling unsure what to expect next.

For a moment, there was an awkward silence. He looked at you, his eyes filled with an intensity he'd never allowed himself to show before. "You...you said you loved me." He said it as if he was testing the words, seeing how they'd fit and what they'd mean. He swallowed thickly, the emotions warring within him. "Are you mad at me?" He had expected anger, perhaps even rejection, but the raw emotion in your eyes when you had said you loved him had unsettled him. It felt like a guillotine, the words hanging like a noose around his neck.

Manjiro looked down at the gun in his pocket, a part of him wishing he could use it to erase the burden he'd become. But when he looked back at you, it was as if he saw something within you that he'd been missing.

"I wish I could have...been a better person," he admitted, the words coming out in a low growl. "I wish I could have stayed...the same."

He let out a humorless laugh, the tension within him palpable, the weight of his past seeming to drag at him. "I thought leaving you behind was what was best. I didn't want you to end up like me."

Manjiro's hands clenched, his tone bitter. "But then you came back. And you...you didn't leave." His voice broke, his defenses crumbling under the weight of the emotion. "Why would you do that? Why?"

He was out of his depth, unsure of what to say or do. He was drowning in guilt and regret, and he needed to know if you truly could still love him, given who he had become.

You stared at him for a half a second feeling your heartbeat falter. In all the time you'd known him you hadn't ever seen him fraying at the seams so much. In a half thought out action you were moving closer, wrapping your arms around his chest and pulling him closer. Clinging onto him tightly as words attempted to form into sentences on your tongue. It took a moment before you could actually speak. "I do love you, and I'm not mad at you." You began the words said softly and accentuated by a soft squeeze of your arms around him. A part of you wished you could just absorb all the pain he was feeling and dispel it all. Manjiro let out a small, choked sound as you wrapped your arms around him. For a moment, he let himself bask within your embrace "I don't need you to be a better person Jiro. It would be nice if you'd stayed the same, if things had worked out the way we planned them when we were sixteen." The memories were ones you had always cherished, laying together somewhere babbling for hours about how the future would look. It seemed almost undeniable that you'd be married, get a nice house, you'd have all of his friends from Toman around you, and you would both be happy. Or at least that was how it had been planned back then. "But they didn't and that's ok too...I just wish you had stayed period." An old ache flamed back to life in your chest but you swallowed the bitter pain back. "I know you were just doing what you thought was right but now...now it's my turn to do what I think is right this time don't you think?" You looked up at him with a careful gaze. We'd given things a shot his way for long enough, he'd run from you, and you had dealt with that and the pain from it and so had he but now you were done pretending like that was ok with you or for either of you. "I love you, I don't care if you're the leader of Toman, Bonten, hell I don't care if you're homeless and live in a box on the corner. I love you, no matter what state you're in." One of your hands moved up to carefully hold the side of his face, a faint shadow of a smile crossing your lips as you traced your thumb across the planes of his face. "That's why.” He allowed your words to sink in, warming him in a way nothing else had in a long while. He closed his eyes, his grip on the gun in his pocket loosening. A part of him wanted to believe you, to trust that you meant it, and perhaps he could build something new from the ashes of their shared past.

He pulled back slightly, his eyes meeting yours, the corner of his lips tugging faintly upwards. "I...I don't deserve you." He said, his voice raw with emotion. "I've done awful things." His hand cupped your face, fingers entwining in your hair. "But maybe, maybe it's not too late to change. If you still love me...I don't want to lose you again." He leaned down, brushing his lips against yours, soft and tender. His heart raced, his breath hitching as they kissed for what felt like the first time once again. His fingers threaded through your hair, pulling you closer, as if needing to feel your body against his. Your eyes slipped closed as you kissed him back, pulling yourself as close to him as you possibly could, as if trying to fuse the very atoms of your being together. Your hands moved to hold his shoulders as your lips moved together passionately. The moment felt almost surreal but you wanted this, wanted him, more than anything. Your heart felt more at ease than it had in a long time and the feeling of his hands in your hair and his lips pressed tightly to your own was one you never wanted to go without ever again.

For Manjiro, this was a step into the unknown, a chance at redemption, and the possibility of love. He'd never felt so vulnerable, and yet so alive, as he held you in his arms. He let the kiss linger, hesitant and filled with newfound hope, before pulling back, his gaze searching your face, silently asking for you to stay. For them to have a chance. To overcome the darkness that had consumed him. He was ready to start anew, to leave the past behind, and build a future where they could be happy, together. Even if it was a future forged in darkness you would be his light. "I love you." The words were murmured against his lips, a confirmation. You loved him, you were here, and you had zero intentions of going anywhere. Your pulse felt like fire in your veins, the passion, the love, and the desire to be close to him practically making you feel faint.

Manjiro kissed you with a newfound urgency, as if he'd been hungry for your touch his entire life. His heart beat wildly, a primal sensation of need coursing through him. As their lips parted, he leaned in to nuzzle your neck, his thumb softly tracing patterns over your skin as he breathed in the scent that was specifically yours. The feeling of his thumb tracing patterns across your skin left goosebumps breaking out across your body. Your hands moved from his shoulders to instead delicately wind up in his hair, the feeling of his breath on your neck causing your breath to hitch slightly. A low growl escaped his throat, the emotions flooding him like a tidal wave.

"I never should have left you.” he whispered, his lips trailing kisses down your neck. A sense of desperation clung to his voice, as if he was trying to convince himself that you truly were there, that this was real, that you were his. “I missed you so very much, and I'm never letting you let me go again." You assured him in a saccharine tone. You would fight tooth and nail to make sure the two of you were never apart again. You knew the future would be complicated, that you couldn't drag him entirely from the darkness but you would stand beside him within it and you would do so without a second thought. He pulled away slightly, only to gently press a line of kisses up your jawline, until he was looking you in the eyes again. Manjiro's eyes held a plea, a plea for you to stay, to give him a chance to prove that he could change. That he could become the person you deserved, the person he wished he could have remained. He was determined to shake the shadows that consumed him, with you by his side. "I'll try to change, for you. I can't make any promises, but I want to try." The admission hung between the two of you, a weighty confession that neither of you could ignore. The man he was now, the actions he'd taken, were as much a part of him as the love you shared. But for the first time in a long time, there was a glimmer of hope, a flicker of the person he had once been. Manjiro's gaze flickered to your hand, tracing the bags under his eyes. "I'll eat. For you. I'll sleep. For you. I'll try to be better. For you." The words were simple, but they held a depth that went beyond mere promises. He exhaled shakily, his fingers gripping your hair almost a bit too tight, "I need you." He said it simply, honestly, without any pretense. He needed you in a way he'd never needed anyone or anything before.

The way he looked at you, the way he saw you, was unlike anything or anyone else. "I need you too, like flowers need the rain." You didn't let even a beat pass from that sentence until your lips were on his again. You wanted him, forever and no matter what state he came to you in. The two of you could traverse ten thousand lifetimes together and you would find him in every single one you knew without doubt.

Manjiro felt your fingers wrap up in his hair, the sensation making his heart race. He leaned into the kiss, bringing one hand up to cup your face, his thumb brushing across your cheek. Your lips moved together once more, a passionate dance of need and desire, the air around you two thick words that didn't even need to be spoken they could simply be felt in the charged energy between the two of you.

He broke the kiss once more, his face only inches from yours, his gaze searching your own. "I want you to come with me," he said softly, carefully, as if afraid you might be frightened by the request. He'd never invited anyone into the world he currently inhabited, but you were his anchor, the one person who could steady him and now that he had you back he couldn't bear the thought of being apart from you. His mind was already racing with the logistics, the ramifications, the dangers. Manjiro swallowed, his voice low, "I don't want to lose you not ever again. Please...just come with me." He offered, his hand moving to cup your jaw again, as if trying to reassure you with the gentle touch. He was opening up in a way he'd never done before, laying his heart and secrets on the line, hoping that you would accept him, not just as he was, but in the darkness he'd been forced to inhabit.

A part of him knew it was asking a lot, but he also knew that he needed you, your presence, your love. You nodded your head without a second's hesitation. You didn't know where exactly he wanted to go, but it wasn't as if that mattered so long as he was with you. "Is that your way of asking me to come live with you?" You inquired, moving to press another soft kiss against his lips before pulling back after a second. You watched him carefully, your gaze soft and adoring. You never wanted to lose him again, never wanted to lose the feelings you had at this moment. The connection you shared was unparalleled to anything else and you would never let it go. "You will never lose me, I promise Jiro I'm never going anywhere." The tone you spoke with was reassuring and sweet, even when he had taken off and ran from you, you had stayed patiently and loyaly waiting for him to come back. There was no version of reality where you would ever abandon him. He was everything to you, your moon and your stars and all that was in-between.

Manjiro's expression softened at your response, a smile tugging at the corners of his lips. "Yes...that's what I'm asking." He said, his voice thick with emotion. "Let me protect you, let me be there for you, and not the other way around."

His arms held you close, as if it was the most natural thing in the world. As if the years apart had never even happened. His thumb brushed over your cheekbone, his gaze filled with love and adoration.

"I promise that I'll do better. I'll make things right." He said, his voice firm, his eyes locked on yours, silently vowing to keep you safe and within his reach.

Manjiro let out a breath, his hold on you tightening almost imperceptibly. In that moment, Manjiro felt as if the weight of the world had been lifted from his shoulders, your presence alone granting him the strength to confront the darkness within and around him. For the first time in a long while, Manjiro felt content, at peace, as though his very existence was no longer a burden or a stain upon the world and those he loves. With you by his side, the darkness somehow no longer felt quite so impenetrable.

#bonten mikey x reader #bonten mikey #bonten #bonten mikey x reader fluff #mikey x reader #bonten mikey x fem!reader #mikey x y/n #bonten mikey x y/n

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fountainpenguin · 7 days

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🌃 City Lights AU 🌃

Fairly OddParents: A New Wish

An FOP series with a focus on exploring characters, relationships, and Dimmadelphia as a setting. Draws largely from "A New Wish" canon, but not beholden to it.

#ridwork guides

What Is City Lights AU?

An FOP: A New Wish-inspired series centered around character relationships... Namely, friendships, adventures, and traumas regarding the humans in A New Wish (alongside studies of Cosmo, Wanda, and Peri as they adapt to life in Dimmadelphia). Magical lore and Fairy culture exist in the background, but are not the focus.

🌃 City Lights AU follows an internal canon. While not necessarily compliant with A New Wish, all pieces within it are compliant with each other. They may build on each other to create larger storylines. You may also like Off the Rails: my AO3 series for misc. FOP AUs (Ex: Random one-shots based on A New Wish that don't comply with City Lights).

AO3 Series: City Lights AU

Blog tag - #City Lights AU

Tone

Mostly Angst, Drama, Romance, and Fluff.

Think "We talk about Dale's trauma, Dev's sadness, and Peri's stress, but we also see Cosmo and Wanda or Hazel's parents flirting while Hazel has a great time with her friends."

Pretty up and down, back and forth, like the show itself.

Characters

Heavy focus on the A New Wish cast. Limited appearances by OG series characters. The ones most likely to return in this AU are folks like Goldie Goldenglow and Sammy Sweetsparkle (Classmates of Poof and Foop in the OG series).

- Peri goes by Poof in backstory 'fics since Cosmo and Wanda seem to hear his new name for the first time in "Battle of the Dimmsonian." (Same deal for Foop-Irep). - Foop's alt personality may be mentioned by the name of Hiccup, as that's his name in Cloudlands AU.

Potential appearances from my existing OCs like Anti-Marigold (Goldie's counterpart), Finley (Pixie kid attending Spellementary alongside Poof and Foop), or Anti-Coriander (Foop's betrothed in Cloudlands AU), but maybe not! We'll find out together.

Most notable OC for this AU is definitely going to be Ed Leadly's daughter, Hadley, whom I set up with Dale back in 2018 (Cloudlands AU) and I think it's really funny to keep that canon in City Lights.

If Anti-Cosmo and Anti-Wanda appear in this AU, they'll be referred to with those names since that's how their voice actors are credited at the end of "The Battle of Big Wand."

Timmy, Chloe, Kevin, Molly, Tammy, and Tommy will likely appear, but I don't expect them to be a focus. Time will tell.

Ships

This AU is not specifically Devzel-oriented, but not in an anti-Devzel way... More like "We don't have time to unpack whether or not they'd work together" / "What do you mean- SWEET GOODNESS!!"

I'm not opposed to Devzel, but there's a very specific story beat I feel is a dealbreaker for both of them. We'll find out together! Leave comments as I post works in this series and share whether you think they can work it out :)

Cosmo/Wanda - Retired, mostly chilling, very much love their son and definitely very good at being human.

Dale/OC - Hadley Harrington comes out swingin'! (Cherry lemon ship tag, my beloved...)

Peri/Goldie Goldenglow dating drama that's remarkably less traumatizing than it is in Cloudlands AU, but not necessarily... great. Mostly Peri groveling for her to take him back because I think it's funny if the kid who had everyone fawn over him during school because he was popular ends up struggling with relationships he has to put effort in <3

Mark/Vicky because I love them and I am not taking criticism at this time. You can pry them from my cold, dead hands.

"Are you going to bring their child OCs over to this AU?" - I... don't know. I think it would be hilarious. So, probably! In Cloudlands AU, she joins Mark on Yugopotamia as queen, but I'm equally fascinated by the possibility that Mark left his royal life to stay on Earth, which I think is 100% in line with his character. I'm into it. Let's do it.

Jorgen/Tooth Fairy - I have kid OCs for them that are very far-future in Cloudlands AU, but due to the way Fae age in City Lights, I think I'll bring them in and let them be baby... Italy and Fang, my beloveds...

Angela/Marcus because I think they're cute :) Probably nothing super focused on them, but they sure do exist.

I'm sticking with my Cloudlands AU ships of Timmy/Molly & Chloe/Kevin; they presumably live in Dimmsdale. Kevin and Molly are step-siblings in this AU too.

Leaning towards Irep/Sammy Sweetsparkle dating life fluff/drama because I want to :) Not sure if that's present-day or in their past. That said, we also might not go that route. We'll see!

Honorable mention to Dev and his many squishes. I don't think he knows what's going on either, but I support him.

Setting

Largely takes place in Dimmadelphia with references to Dale, Cosmo, Wanda, Vicky, Crocker, A.J., and others having Dimmsdale history. Some 'fics take place in Dimmsdale.

Fairy World, Anti-Fairy World, and Pixie World may make appearances, and so could alien planets. However, this AU centers around humans and is mostly grounded in Dimmadelphia... hence the title City Lights!

This series will follow a specific AU timeline, meaning birthdates will be picked for some characters. They might be contradicted in future seasons, but this is an AU, so that's fine.

Is It For Me?

- Pieces can range from G to E (Childhood silliness vs. trauma vs. Dale having a very hard time working up the courage to father a kid).

More info in the AU Notes and Warnings section under the cut.

- Heavy focus on Dale recovery, Cosmo and Wanda settling into Dimmadelphia, Hazel adjusting to moving (and occasionally reflecting on her past), Dev's upbringing, and Hazel's interactions with her godparents and friends.

- If you like 'fics that feel like grounded-in-reality character studies and lean into trauma, you might like this series!

- Limited exploration of magic and Fairy World. For now, this AU uses the same magic system and Fae culture vibes I've already made for Cloudlands AU - Click the Keep Reading for details - but I don't plan to delve into it. It just exists as a backdrop.

Major Themes

- Trauma!! How it haunts you... Letting go... Oooouggggh.

- Relationships! Growth, strain, ups and downs, self-care, break-ups, meltdowns, humility, forgiveness, toxic co-dependent friendships that haunt you long-term... The usual.

- Emphasis on friendship, family, adventures, and kindness... and the unbearable lightness of being a child in Fairly OddParents media.

Nobody has ever been okay in this show or any time after I've gotten my hands on them, but it's fine; that's just how it is, sdklfj...

Plot Highlights

- Dale and Vicky were friends when they were kids... Little by little, their dynamic starts to shift.

- Dale and his betrothed work through courtship and married life... also, Dale works through trauma. Newborn Dev is here too.

- Cosmo begins training to take over as Keeper of Da Rules after Jorgen. Long road ahead, but whatcha gonna do?

- With Cosmo's new position hanging over their heads, Cosmo and Wanda retire from godparenting. They enjoy a 10k-year vacation and settle in Dimmadelphia... disguised as humans and struggling to pass. I hope they pay rent.

- Peri vs. his strained relationship with Goldie Goldenglow.

- Hazel's early explorations of Dimmadelphia and friend-making.

- An exploration of the Peri-Dev dynamic during the 4.5 months between "Lost and Founder's Day" & "Operation: Birthday Takeback."

- Whatever Mark and Vicky are up to. Probably being their flirty, violent selves... Mark adapting mostly well to human life except for when he isn't. Actually, the same could be said of Vicky.

- Background Timmy/Molly and Chloe/Kevin married lives. Shout-out to Timmy/Molly still together because I love them and refuse to divorce them in more than one AU sldkfj.

- Probably not a lot of Hazel content at first, but I'll plan more for her when we find out if we're getting a Season 2. Leaving myself wiggle room for now.

Ongoing?

This AU guide was posted in September 2024 and this AU is very new. Works will be posted over time.

No update schedule- Just wherever the vibes take us~ But my plan is to post the story beats in the Dimmadome arc first (in the "50 Words" style) and then we'll circle back to "present day." In other words, we're gonna hit the ground running, fly through the timeline until Dev's an adult, then loop back for more detailed 'fics and fluffier childhood days :) You'll find out where we're going and then we'll work through how we got there! I post FOP 'fics on Fridays (if I have something to post; any AU)

Relevant info for anyone interested in subscribing to some or all of my FOP 'fics on AO3:

🌃 - City Lights AU - All works for the AU described in this post. 🖤 - Off the Rails - Collection for misc. FOP AUs. This includes works that draw from A New Wish lore, setting, or characters, but which are not compliant with City Lights AU. 🚂 - 130 Reasons Why I'm Fairy Trash - Large one-shot collection focused largely on the OG series. Mostly adheres to Cloudlands AU canon, but other AUs appear as well. 🌈 - Rainbow Train - All-encompassing series for any FOP works that are not in 130 Reasons Why I'm Fairy Trash. ⭐ - Subscribing to both 130 Reasons and Rainbow Train will cover all my FOP 'fics (All AUs).

You can also subscribe to my AO3 directly if you want to. My AO3 is multi-fandom, so the above are the series I suggest looking into if you're only interested in my FOP 'fics. You can do whatever you want forever.

Warnings, notes, and explanations below so readers can learn more about this AU. Don't like? Don't read.

Dead dove warnings, so prepare yourself mentally. I am once again exploring child trauma in 'fics for the show about child trauma and bad decisions.

👀 Take a Peek

New here? You might like to start with these:

- "You Deserve It" - Dale - freshly escaped from Vicky - attends a fancy dinner party with his dad... and reunites with fellow rich kids from his childhood.

- "50 Words of Dale and Hadley" - 50 prompt snippets about Dev's parents (before his birth).

- "50 Words of The Dimmadomes" - 50 prompt snippets about Dev's early upbringing.

- "An Old Wish" - Dev, Peri, and a series of comedic magical attempts to win Dev's parents' love (including time travel, memory manipulation, and raising the dead).

These 'fics are early in the timeline and fairly tame :) At the time of scheduling this, they're unrevealed on AO3, but will be up soon.

Start Reading

Recommended ways to get into the full AU

🌄 First Written - "50 Words of Dev and Hazel"

51. Horror - Okay, so maybe that movie had been a little spookier than he'd prepared for... But even if flesh-eating mermaids haunted his dreams for a year, setting up that chocolate board, pillow fort, and brownie bar for his and Hazel's ultimate horror binge-watch was totally worth it.

50 scene snippets about a snotty rich boy (self-improvement in progress) and an anxious newcomer to the big city (Livin' big and lovin' life) - Set during "The Treble With Rivals" and the week following.

OR, Dev and Hazel go to Tokyo, say hi to Dev's mom, and Dev picks on orchestra kids because #Band For Life.

(G - 5,000 words)

📅 Chronological Start - Lemonade and Papercuts

Dale backstory 'fic that alternates between his extreme childhood trauma and adulthood stress (Especially regarding business deals, his wife's pregnancy, and Dev's birth).

Click HERE for chapter summaries

Not yet written, but very likely E or Not Rated for excessive trauma, uncomfortable arranged-marriage honeymoon, the intimacy leading up to Dev's birth, pregnancy, and probably a childbirth scene. Will update info when confirmed! Btw, I'll be posting Dale's character profile on the sideblog soon- Both that and the summaries page are a great place to get "Who is City Lights Dale as a person?" vibes if you want to read my take on his personality, but don't want to read this intense 'fic. I expect this to be the most intense of my dead dove longfics in terms of upsetting or sensual content as this one won't have started on FFN (with its restrictions), and also... Look at him. He was just handed to me with my favorite trope in the world: "Overwhelming intimacy issues that make bedroom life a cesspool of nerves and doubt" <3 Cupioromantic asexual instinct to strip him to his bones and take his mind apart...

I don't recommend starting the AU with this 'fic unless you're ready, but it IS the beginning of the chronology.

There are several tamer pieces in City Lights AU that touch on Dale's past with Vicky and Hadley if you'd prefer to start there.

🗺️ Worldbuilding - So, You're Studying the Cloudlands...

A collection of worldbuilding and meta essays covering subjects like biology, culture, history, holidays, magic, maps, and a handbook on new godkid assignments.

I'm not planning to change my worldbuilding because it's very detailed and I don't feel like starting from scratch. However, City Lights AU is not likely to deep-dive into magic and culture. Because... the cloudlands are heavily featured in Cloudlands AU. We live on the ground now.

You may also like my @riddledeep blog, where I first posted this meta. New Wish short bios and full character profiles can also be found on the blog.

I'm currently moving lore posts from the sideblog to the guide linked above. This way, the content is backed up and accessible to those who don't use Tumblr.

📋 AU Notes & Warnings

Notable lore tweaks (i.e. not canon-compliant with A New Wish)-

- I've heard rumor that Dimmadelphia is "canonically" not in California. However, in this AU it is because there are many Dimmsdale characters and references (such as the sign pointing towards Dimmsdale, implying it's near). -> In the OG series, Timmy's parents seemingly went to Dimmadelphia to look for Timmy in "Channel Chasers" after he ran away from home (They went inside the Dimmadelphia Cable building), further justifying it being nearby. -> In City Lights AU, it's in California (but you still have to go to Dimmsdale to climb the Rainbow Bridge from the bottom, as we know from OG canon that it touches down there). - This AU will most likely be replacing Hazel's 1 million wishes in "The Battle of Big Wand" with a fairyversary plot, because it just makes more sense to me. - No pasta puberty. My lore is very biology-based, so insect people producing spaghetti from armpits doesn't work for me (Plus, that episode was rough on my hemophobia and it simply does not spark joy). -> In City Lights AU, Hazel had something else going on that fell halfway between human puberty and having a ton of magic in her, kind of like the Terrible Twos from the OG series. - Dale is trying to keep Dev alive. I'll probably keep the part where he knocked Dev over in "The Battle of Big Wand" because it's interesting, but I'm playing him with a "My son needs to be my heir" angle. He will still talk about loving boots more than his wife and son, but he sure doesn't want his heir dead. - "A child must always get what they want" is not in Da Rules. That's not a smart thing to put in the laws that hold the universe together… Why even have a rulebook at that point? - Minor detail tweaks for world consistency - Ex: The people who show up at the school concert or stand near kids in lines likely have connections to them; this influences family headcanons. -> Classroom has consistency - Ex: In the show, Kev tends to disappear so Dev and Hazel can be portrayed onscreen at the same time, but there's no need for me to do that in 'fic. -> I've seen a lot of cool Dev heterochromia headcanons, but in this AU, his eyes are consistently blue. My thought here is that Dev's and Dale's eyes look green under harsh yellow lighting, but blue is what I'm drawing/writing them with.

Morally gray characters abound - No one is "purely cruel" or "purely good." Since I expect to post a lot of Dale trauma content, I want to be clear that he will neither be portrayed as extremely abusive towards his son nor excused from his wrongs.

I'm playing Dale from a neglectful angle where he tends to assume Dev is doing "just fine." He doesn't go out of his way to cause harm, but we don't excuse the harm he does. There's a lot of "Hadley comforting and supporting Dale" themes because... she's his wife and she was there when he was fresh out of his abuse. Just keep in mind that even if Hadley and Dale think they're good parents, we know they're not.

Idealization of abuse & neglect - City Lights Dale cared a lot for Vicky, denied and excused a lot of what she did, kept hoping she’d change if he was "a better friend," and had a hard time adjusting to life after she stopped telling him what to do. He has to work through a LOT of trauma.

Also, general vibes of Dev looking up to his parents and making excuses for them. Lots of rose-colored glasses in this family... Dale definitely did the same for Doug and Pearl.

Themes of guilt and shame - Dale blaming himself for Vicky abusing him… Doug insisting his son keep quiet about his trauma lest people start to talk.

Shout-out to the au pairs beating themselves up over their failures in canon: a trait I will totally be expanding on in this AU. Dale, do you wanna talk about that?

Fairy & Anti-Fairy counterparts consider each other family. They colloquially refer to each other as "cousins," but biologically, they're the same person (one soul split in separate bodies, with many believing they'll reunite as a single person after death).

It's fair game for them to attend family reunions, remark that they're relatives, or reference their shared soul. If that's a squick for you, you'll also want to avoid my Cloudlands AU. Example one-shot - "Scarred" - Stream of consciousness narration where Poof discusses his social and mental relationship with Foop. This is Cloudlands AU, but these vibes apply here.

Peri is a gyne: a biological "queen bee" whose freckles and pheromones lure in drone Fairies (who require preening to stay satisfied). Will he find any of his own in this AU? I don't know... Maybe in this AU, Cavatina doesn't try to kill him. That would be fun!

For reference, H.P. and Big Daddy are gynes in my lore; Peri will have the same bulky shape when he's older. Why is he one? He's an insect person who ate too much jelly as a baby- That's biology!

"You're not gonna explore a different-?" -> No, Irep's still got his pilot stripes (i.e. mustache and goatee), so I have no choice <3 "But he doesn't show freckles-" -> They're still in the pale white stage (and Irep's will still be purple like Foop's are in canon). Peri is still young and his freckles won't darken until he's older.

Poor Peri has a stronger scent than other Fae due to those pheromones. Even humans can whiff him without much effort.

As a "queen bee," Peri is wired to fight other gynes to the death if he gets agitated and loses self-control. I don't plan to delve into this in City Lights since that's what Cloudlands AU is for, but it might be referenced now and then, especially since Goldie thinks it's hot.

In City Lights, he still grew up as Finley's roommate (with Finley the dominant one). Peri is under the usual gyne lore: drones are drawn to Finley over him, but Peri's pheromones start picking up when he's in a place where he's the dominant gyne... like the Dimmadome household. Unless Dale and Dev spook him so much that he stays submissive, which is very funny, actually.

Violence, threats, and spooks - Canon-typical threats and commentary of the villain variety, keeping in mind that I write semi-realistic physics which can make these things more upsetting than the cartoon.

- Vicky's many weapons. OG series confirms she's left scars all over Mark and he interprets them as courtship signs. OG series Vicky often threatened Timmy and others with blades. - OG series H.P. put shock collars on Cosmo and Wanda and thought shocking them even when they did nothing wrong was hilarious ("Wish Fixers"). - OG series Vicky ate meatballs while believing they were eyeballs and claimed a severed arm served for dinner was "been there, done that" ("Timmy's 2D House of Horror"). - Bad luck can get messy. In canon, stepping on a crack breaks your mother's back. People get roughed up. People may experience burns, scrapes, and general injury. - Harassment charges and potential jailtime (e.g. "What if Tootie never toned back as she grew up?" & "Hey, maybe there should be consequences to Dale stalking a little girl.") - Foop's always had a thing for poisonous spiders and flames

Grossness & Gore - Messy, but always for a purpose.

- Vomiting (Magical backup, pregnancy, allergic reactions, general sickness) -> It is very likely Dale will have an eating disorder (or more than one). Will edit with specifics when I've finalized plans. I've always played Foop's alt personality with body dysphoria and bulimia, but it's never been shown onscreen. we'll see what happens. - Yoo-doo doll damage (Limb loss, smacks, cuts, burns, bite marks, and similar damage that can be inflicted on a doll) - Unpleasant descriptions of decaying bodies and bones. - Heavily implied (and possibly portrayed in L&P) cannibalism (Would that be messed up if I took Vicky's "2D House of Horror" comments literally or what? why did she say she's eaten multiple severed human arms? hey. what. Am I supposed to be normal about that? When will I ever get that 'fic opportunity again.) - Some characters go hunting (For birds, big game, etc.) Other characters (like Chloe, the Pixies, Gary, and Betty) are opposed to hunting. -> Dale (raised by Doug), Hadley (raised by Ed Leadly), Timmy (Pappy & Timmy's Dad grew up in the woods and Sparky is a good hunting dog), and Chester are all hunters (In canon, Chester and his dad eat things they've hunted or foraged iirc).

Detailed discussions of trauma, neglect, child abuse, and misery - Especially regarding Vicky, Crocker, and their influence on other characters.

'Fics are tagged. Trauma is discussed much more in the 'fics with high ratings. Trauma is glossed-over, sillier, or not mentioned in Gen and T works for this series.

- Dale, Peri, Timmy, and Irep in particular have issues with Vicky (Weapons, yelling, bullying, etc.) but that's par for the course. - Peri's Hocus Poconos trauma, such as in a possible post-"Lost in Fairy World" 'fic where a nervous Peri hovers over Dev. - Canon-typical miserable children in the miserable children show.

Character death - I'm committing to my "Doug is dead and Dale misses him" theory. If that gets disproved in later seasons, that's fine; this is an AU.

- Expect a 'fic of Dale witnessing Doug's death. Even if he doesn't, Doug's absence will be mentioned multiple times. - There will probably be minor character (OC) deaths in high-rated 'fics. I've not finalized plans, but it's likely. - Other character may also be mentioned as dead (Ex: Assorted ancestors, Cosmo's dad... Big Daddy could show up and imply he's doing shady things). - Beyond that, I don't have plans to kill canon characters at this time. If I do, I expect it to be in a far future piece where characters are in their old age, or when Fairies have moved on and are reminiscing on the past.

Break-ups & strained relationships - Peri/Goldie are strained for sure. They have a very on-and-off dating life that plays into the popular kid vibes the OG series set up for their school days.

Things are tense, but less traumatic for those two here than in Cloudlands AU (We're not mirroring their dubcon arc over here- They have new young adult problems now like learning to live alone and cook real food)

- Difficult family relationships (Ex: Dale & Doug, Dale & Dev) - Potentially some Irep/Sammy (or Irep/OC, especially if I go the route of betrothal drama). Undecided! I write a lot of Foop/OC in other projects and I think I'd enjoy the Irep/Sammy character exploration. - I don't have infidelity themes planned, but it could be discussed (Ex: My lore is that Big Daddy had an affair with a non-fairy - hence Anti-Wanda's round ears instead of pointed ones - so there's that, but I don't think that will come up in this AU). -> Dale's wife is super paranoid that he'll cheat on her because he hangs out with a lot of rich and powerful folks who are nice to him... but I cannot express enough how spooked of people City Lights AU Dale is and how much he would Not Do That. -> Now that I think about it, I feel like Dev is the kind of person who would try to set his mom up with someone else. Maybe I'll write that. She's a happily married woman, but I respect the hustle.

Sexuality and Consent Themes (Ex: Aspec- or trauma-themed dubcon)

Dating life, married life, aphobia (especially of the internalized kind), and sexual themes... written by an aroace person who enjoys playing with the ideas of attraction, anxiety, and consent [in fiction]

-> Think "Dale trusts no one, but has a kid- Let's talk about it!" and characters with thoughts like "Oh, maybe I'm not as comfy with this as I thought. Good to know!"

-> Imagine internalized aphobia along the lines of "Some of these characters grew up in the amatonormative 90s or early 2000s and don't consider that not getting in a relationship (or not having sex / children) is a genuine option they could pursue, or that there's even a word for their feelings or lack thereof."

- I write a wide range of aspec characters who each have their own preferences (some interested in relationships while others aren't). If you want a peek at these portrayals, I discussed many of my asexual headcanons HERE. - As with all themes, do not come to this AU expecting everything to be hunky-dory. Author deeply loves being aroace, but we raise a glass to drama... especially of the "just realized I'm aspec and not necessarily at a good time" variety. lol.

- I don't have rape themes planned, but it's on the table as something that could come up. Ironically, I can confirm it won't be for any of the characters who have rape/non-con trauma in Cloudlands AU. I do not expect it, but I would hate to not warn and then have it come up. As always, AO3 tags exist for a reason and there's nothing wrong with not reading 'fics that aren't for you- No pressure!

Themes of childfree life - And steps taken to prevent accidental kids. Not described in detail, but very relevant to some characters.

Ex: Dinklebergs are big on childfree life, all male witches are infertile, my OC Finley will die if he loses that much magic, some characters just don't want kids.

Themes of memory, including memory loss or manipulation - Godkids losing memories, Dev and Dale after "Battle of Big Wand," and so on. Peri [Poof] never got to say good-bye to Timmy.

Timmy and Chloe do not remember Cosmo, Wanda, or Peri. They've grown up to live normal, happy grown-up lives. They're chillin' with their partners (Molly & Kevin, respectively). I'm playing this as a positive thing, but it's worth warning for those who don't like AUs where Timmy loses his memories. Alas... the average kid stays average to the end, and no one plays the game forever...

That's everything I can think of right now. This AU is still in the early stages, so things might be added later. Works will be tagged appropriately on AO3. Please let me know if you think of anything I missed!

You can create works based on this AU. Please cite me and/or the AU as appropriate (i.e. for things very specific to this AU). You are free to expand on ideas you've thought of thanks to my AU as a jumping off point. I'd love to reblog or link things to my AO3 works if I see them!

I write content with morally gray characters. Please don't portray my story events or worldbuilding out of context with intentional malice. As in, I request you do not post things created for the specific intention of bashing me or the AU

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