#can you believe he had a staff meeting yesterday and said something about

[qazastra]

actually can i complain about my boss again.

apparently he only wants to have one experienced person on a training shift from now on. one person to train the entirely new worker how to work at our cafe. because "labor costs are through the roof." are you

are you fucking with meeee FUCK WITH MEEEEEE YOU PAY US MINIMUM WAGE YOU HAVE NO RIGHT TO COMPLAIN ABOUT THIS

hes just simply not going to have people who know what to do then!!!!! bitch!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[lightlycareless]

Okay but im so curious

how would the zenin household react to seeing naoya become affectionate/simp for y/n?????? the thought of it already makes me kick my feet in the air

I will start with the fact that everything Naoya does with you is like a huge shocker to the whole clan.

From him finding a partner that willingly wants to be with him, to demonstrating affection to said partner… yeah, no one believed Naoya could actually care for anyone else but him, at least in a way that doesn’t denote making fun of them or something.

But he does, and when you came along, it brought out that side many wished he would’ve kept hidden.

I never envisioned Naoya to be very fond of PDA, at least not with people he knows, because he gets somewhat embarrassed (lol). Even holding hands with his wife when his relatives are nearby is like a big no-no. He feels like he needs to uphold this untouchable image of heir before them, demand their fear respect and so on.

However, as years go by, he’ll eventually just stop caring, especially if the two get married. He just… doesn’t give a f*ck lol.

And the thing he’ll do though at this point, oh, they’re going to be far from sweet. Let’s say that Naoya is a huge pervert when it comes to you lol. I don’t have any other way to put it, he’s just obsessed with you.

Naoya is the kind of person to slap your butt when passing/approaching you. He doesn’t care if you’re in the company of your staff, or if his uncle/cousins are there, or anyone really—he just had to do it, couldn’t hold himself, and you absolutely hate him for it because it makes you go through embarrassing moments!! Having to apologize in his name in order to do some damage control, people looking at the two and immediately looking away because they can’t remove that mental image!!! Oh boy.

You’ve talked to him about it and agreed to at least… keep it to a minimum, be more discreet if possible. Of course, that only applies in public places. In the bedroom… that’s a completely different story 😏

And let’s not forget he’s known to be a loudmouth, so the things he’ll tell you are not short of indecent either. This is probably the thing you dislike the most out of his affection. The other you could tolerate, act like no one saw anything (even play the fool if someone alleged they saw something) but THIS???? Nah, it’s just too much—and childish too.

“I don’t think it’ll fit, Naoya” you say, probably about something mundane like a new couch you got for the house.

“Really? But I saw how well you fit me yesterday.” And the way your face turns red is almost comical, more so when the mover was right there, listening to everything, Naoya just had to laugh.

“Shut up!!”

“What? I was referring to the conversation about the couch we had last night, pervert.” lies. The sneaky bastard will act like you’re the indecorous one out of the two for having understood his words like that!! As if you hadn’t known him for years now!

It’s safe to say that it’s really hard to have important meetings when the two are present, so his family would often try to get you or Naoya alone.

But… it wasn’t all that bad, because even when Naoya can be mildly infuriating, he’s also capable of being sweet.

That is something that mostly happens when in private, away from the prying eyes of the rest of the world, more so when he’s spent a long time away from you.

Naoya will reach out for you first thing upon arriving back to the estate, gently cup your cheeks and pepper your face with kisses, telling you how much he missed you and your pretty face.

He’d wrap his arms around you, rest his face on the crook of your neck, taking in your scent as he relishes the fact that he’s finally back to your embrace.

Another thing I think he’ll enjoy doing (you as well) is when he rests his head on your lap, telling you of his day as you thread your fingers along his hair.

Bottom line, Naoya is overly shameless confident when in the eyes of others, but vulnerable with you :>

As for the reactions of the Zen’in clan….

Ogi, Naobito, and Jinichi would stare at him in complete silence/shock as Naoya goes on with his supposed displays of affection. I think that out of the three, Ogi would be the one more comfortable when showing his distaste for it, scowling whenever seeing you and Naoya together, quickly leaving the room as soon as he gets the faintest idea Naoya is to do his usual nasty shenanigans. The rest wouldn’t really care that much, asides from a “Really? Naoya? Ooookay” (and they know better not to interfere at this point 🤪 he's crazy protective of you)

Ranta would remain speechless, face completely red as he catches Naoya’s innuendos. He definitely feels a whole lot of empathy (pity) for you. But when his friend isn’t being nasty, he’s happy that he’s found someone to be vulnerable/happy with 😊.

Junko, Mai and Maki’s mother, is just the same as Ogi, only that she’ll openly tell both of you to “stop it”, and to “hold some decorum” for that’s no way the future leader of the clan should behave. Naoya just laughs it off, you apologize to her in private. At the end she knows it’s futile to even hope to change him—the two were young, after all, (IMAGINE IF HE WENT ON LIKE THAT EVEN WHEN OLDER? Hahahahah, Oh poor Junko) and contrary to her marriage, this was one made out of love so… good for them, she guesses.

Naoya’s brothers would be the ones to openly, even more than Ogi, show their disgust whenever catching his PDA. Naohiko would be the one to exclaim “EWWWWWWWWWWWW” as loud as possible when he sees them, maybe do some puking noises too? haha

Naofumi would initially not understand what the hell Naoya is going on about and why you’re so embarrassed all the time, but when he does get it, oof, he’ll disappear as soon as it begins.

And Naoaki… well he’d just try to avoid the two as most as possible in general lol. He never liked seeing people making out anyways... (uh who does???)

At the end, Naoya’s behavior would worsen become more and more obvious, especially when the two have their first kids 😊 He just loves you too much, he needs you to know that—that the others have issues with it he doesn’t care 🥺 all that matters to him his you and his new family.

ajgfakghagk Thank you so much for sending in this ask!! I hope it was to your liking ❤️

[akwolfgrl]

LFT PART 40

Nami was walking through the town, a huge sack of clothes tossed over her shoulder, Usopp with his own sack walked beside her. Nami could feel a shift in the air around her, she was fascinated with the shift in weather patterns, which at first had been necessary for navigation and had become something of a hobby.

“Hey Usopp, we need to head back to the ship right now.”

“Huh? How come I thought you wanted to look around more? Maybe stop for lunch,” Usopp asked, confused.

“The air pressure is dropping rapidly at a rather abnormal rate, there is a Storm coming and fast, unless you and your bag of goodies want to get soaked,” Nami pointed out, changing direction towards the pier.

“All right you have a good point,” Usopp followed behind her. “Hey look, it's Sanji and Zoro, hey guys!” Usopp called out, waving in their direction. Nami stopped walking and they all gathered together. Zoro had the same shirt on from last night and two new swords, where he got the money is what Nami wanted to know. Sanji on the other hand was wearing a bright colored fish shirt that she had made him buy yesterday, he also had a few shopping bags on his arm and his other was linked with Zoro's. The date must have gone well.

“Nami-swan and Usopp, funny running into you two here,” Sanji called out to them.

“Anyone know where Luffy is?” Zoro asked not to bother with any greetings. Although he did have a point, they should find their captain.

“Is he still looking for the platform?” Usopp asked from beside her. “I believe it's right here in Town Square.”

“Shit, I think he found it,” Sanji pointed out. There was Luffy atop the executioner's platform, a large piece of wood with a hole on top with his head and hands secured, a man sitting atop of it with Buggy the annoying clown next to him. It felt like ages ago that she had stolen from him, and met Luffy and Zoro.

“Why is he on the platform about to be executed?!” Nami wasn't wasn't sure who said it or if it was everyone.

“Sanji give me your bags so you and Zoro can go save our captain, meet you back at the ship,” Nami offered, holding out her hand. “No argument, just give it here,” She told him as he opened his mouth to protest. He reluctantly handed over before following after Zoro who had already taken off. She turned around and began to head towards the docks where she was originally intending to go.

“Um Nami, shouldn't we try to help them save Luffy?” Usopp asked, walking beside her.

“Usopp what would we do that they can't do? Do you really think you can get a good shot with all those people running around? Beside Buggy the clown has a devil fruit,” Nami shook her head pointing out the facts. She didn't have her staff on her, she had come here to shop not to fight.

“Hey! I'll have you know I took down a fishmen all by myself and proved myself to Daddy the parent!” Usopp argued with her, he was lucky he was her gossip buddy and that her hands were full. “We could provide back up at least,” He must still be riding the high of serving his duel.

“Well even if that's the case we have a more important task,” her voice was sharp as ever almost as if it was the crack of lightning.

“like what?”

“Like the Storm I mentioned earlier, the air pressure and temperature have been dropping rapidly for the past while. Plus I saw cumulus clouds heading from the east. That's a sure sign of a Storm rolling in, a big one to boot. What with the ruckus going on in town Square the marines are bound to be out, I really don't want to run into Captain Smoker I've heard terrible things about him,” The lady who owned the boutique she had visited had told her all about the new captain with a devil fruit who had put this town on lockdown, there haven't been any pirates making it out of here. Their business had been surfing from his influence. “What would we do if Merry was washed away when we needed a quick get away? This way we can get her ready to sail away as soon as those three make it back,” She was just glad Sanji was there, she didn't trust Luffy and Zoro to make it back in one piece.

“Holy crap you're right! That absolutely more important Sanji and Zoro will be fine on their own!” Usopp rushed ahead of her. Lucky bastard only had one bag to carry and it had straps.

“Hey wait for me!”

[fancyfeathers]

Society of Protection (Yandere Bungo Stray Dogs x reader x original characters) (normalized yandere au)

Chapter One,

Blossoming Friendships

Read prologue and oc intro here

It was a normal day for you, waking up early in the morning, showering, breakfast, and going to work. You worked at a flower shop in Yokohama, in a more quiet neighborhood, if anything was quiet these days. It was a nice shop, fairly large too, large glass windows, big double doors that lead to the front of the shop and almost patio, your boss kept those open more days so you can keep an eye on customers outside as well. As for your boss, Ms. Haruka, she was a kind old lady, in her late seventies, her and her husband had founded this shop when they were about nineteen, young but it had been successful. Her husband had died a number of years ago, you never got to meet him, but your boss talks about him like it was yesterday. They were married long before what’s now “normal”, if you can even call it that, between them it was true love. You had always dreamed about true love, but those were dreams of a child, now you just wanted to live in peace, something few people like you get these days. It was sad but it was just that and nothing more. You could close your eyes and dream, but dreaming would get you no where these days.

It was around noon and you were helping your boss water the plants out front, tropical flowers this season, like hibiscuses and gardenias, beautiful. Your boss had a little radio playing on a stool that was proving the doors open, she would normally play music that her and her husband listened Tom it was old but you didn’t mind, it was sweet in a way, but today it was the news. The reporter was talking about some North American organization called “The Guild” coming to Yokohama, this worried you, but you weren’t really at risk. So for most of the report to drowned it out with light conversation with Ms. Haruka, about her husband, your family, weather, which was surprisingly interesting, especially after taking up this career. Then a voice called out from the sidewalk, “Excuse me ma’ams, but are you open?”

Looking up you saw a young man with blond hair, overalls, and a grayish hat. He looked foreign to you but you didn’t pay much mind, this was a big city after all. You smiled at him, giving him your usual kind attitude you did with customers. “Yes we are, feel free to look around inside. If there is anything I can do to help you please let me know.”

He smiled back and tilted his hat in your direction. “Thank you m’lady, I’m only buying a few seeds, I’m no big bother.”

You watched as he made his way inside the shop proper and browsed the shelves. You looked back at Ms. Haruka who had a lovely little smile on her face. You raised an eyebrow as if in silent conversation to ask why and she laughed to herself and responded in a quiet tone as to not let the blond man in the shop hear. “Such a gentleman, reminds me of my husband when we were young.”

You merely laughed and nodded. She said that about every man who acted kindly to her staff, which now days was just you. Your last coworker went missing a few months ago, no one cared, it was just one more missing. It was just how things were these days. You did not like it, a lot of people you knew did not like it, but not like you had a say after all you were just a-

“Darlin’, I’m ready to check out.” The man’s voice snapped you out of your thoughts. The man was now standing by the cash register, a couple small bags of seed in hand. You nodded and set your watering can aside and made your way behind the counter and scanned his items.

“Alright your total will be four dollars and seven cents, please.” You said as you placed the bags of seed into another bag, this time a paper one, plastic bags had no place in a flower shop after all, well that’s what Ms. Haruka believes. The man dug into his wallet and counted out the dollars and cents to the tee to there wouldn’t be any change in return. You handed him the bag and he handed you the money.

“Thank you…” You watched as his eyes read over your name tag that quickly went up to you with a smile. “(Name)”

“It’s no problem, just doing my job.” You nodded and smiled back as he turned to leave but just as he was a step out of the shop proper, he looked back to you, still wearing the same smile. “I’m John by the way, something tells me I’ll be a regular here for awhile.”

You watched him as he walked off down the sidewalk, disappearing in the crowd of people. You tilted your head in thought. John… what an odd name around here.

—————————

You were closing up tonight, you brought the plants in and locked the doors up tight before making you way back home. Tonight was a quiet night, you didn’t like that, it meant no one could hear you scream if something happened. You walked, your eyes looking around quickly, making sure no one was hiding in the shadows or following behind you. Your hands were jammed in your pockets, one securely around the pocket knife you carried with you just in case anything did happen. Turning a corner you suddenly collided with another person, a man, not too tall, skinny, glasses, brown hair, and a scar going up his cheek. The collision didn’t knock either of you over just startled the both of you. 

“Oh goodness, I didn’t hurt you right?” The worry in the man’s voice was clear but you only shook your head which he gave a response to a sigh of relief. “ oh good, my first day in town and I would hate to have to take someone to the emergency room.”

You laughed in response, he had a strange accent, French perhaps? “You’re quite alright sir, but it’s kinda obvious you’re not from around here.” Your observation turned the man into a stuttering mess, trying to figure out the right words to say.

“No, no, I’m not. I just moved here, I’m from Paris, I came to… study Japanese music, I’m a composer you see.” He finally sound the words and put himself together, extending a hand out to you. “I’m Gaston Leroux, pleasure.”

“(Name), pleasure to meet you- Oh!” You had begun to introduce yourself and placed your hand in his and he had suddenly bent down and kissed it. He had sent you into a flustered mess with just a gesture. He stood up and looked up at you and saw your embarrassed face and his face turned red as well in embarrassment.

“I am so sorry, I’m just so used to my customs back home in France.” He took a step back with the embarrassed expression plastered to his face. There is a long awkward silence before he clears his throat and takes a breath to compose himself. “May I walk you home? Just as an apology, I could get you breakfast in the morning as well.”

If you could blush even more you would, he was being a true gentleman. You nodded to his offer. “Sure, I could use the company anyway. But I don’t know about breakfast, you don’t know the city well do you?”

He shakes his head. “No, I’m afraid I don’t.”

“Well then how about I take you out.” You offered and a shocked expression comes across his face. “You don’t know the city well, and I do, we could go out, I could show you some places. Sorta like a date.”

“Are you asking me out?”

“Um… yes?”

He thought about it for a second before questioning, “you’re not one of them right?”

A panicked expression comes across your face. “No, no, god no, I can’t believe that sort of shit is legal, I’m like you.”

Gaston sighs in relief and smiles. “Thank goodness, well then I will gladly go on a date with you, (Name).” He extends his arm for you to take. You smile and interlock your arm with his. “I think this a beginning of a beautiful friendship, darling.”

[she-posts-nerdy-stuff]

Don't Go Blindly Into the Dark

Summary:

To hide that he can't read, Jan Van Eck has been forcing his son to pretend he's blind since he was eight years old. Wylan is now attending Ketterdam University, and meeting Jesper Fahey may very well be about to change his life. But is he safe to tell Jesper the truth? And what will Jesper say if he does?

Jesper is struggling to weigh up his life in the Barrel and his life at the University of Ketterdam, and there's a good chance that his growing debt is about to make the decision for him. He hasn't attended class consecutively for months, but maybe that will change when his newest project includes partnering up with Wylan Van Eck. But can he really leave the Barrel behind him? And how long can he keep up the pretence of who he thinks Wylan wants him to be?

Tags: @justalunaticfangirl @lunarthecorvus

If anyone else would like to be tagged let me know :)

Content warnings for this chapter: ptsd, implied violence, implied imprisonment, implied trafficking references, death, wounds

AO3 link

Chapter 24 - Kaz

“Oh, and Rollins is kicking up a fuss,” Anika added to the end of her report, “some girl pulled a runner from the Sweet Shoppe and I guess she must be a good earner ‘cause he ain’t happy about it. He’s offering money for information ‘bout it, or for bringing her back,”

Kaz frowned, leaning back in his chair. They were in his office at the Crow Club, and up until now Anika hadn’t told him much he didn’t already know. An update on the death of the Leopard, which was pretty much that no-one knew anything and the world was quickly moving on, a follow up on Roeder having tailed Oomen and some of the other Black Tips to try and find out if there was something specific they wanted from the Wraith, the Black Tips themselves were still pushing their luck at Fifth Harbour, and there’d been another report of strange activity on the Geldstraat. A few times in the last month or so there had been slightly odd or inconsistent instances in the Geldin District late at night that filtered back to the Barrel the long way round, through word of mouth and sometimes foolish-sounding rumours from staff and guards, then their friends and then their friends and then their friends. Kaz wasn’t sure how much stock he was putting in it, but it was worth keeping up on. This, however, had piqued his interest. 

First of all, there had to be something about this girl that made her worth Pekka’s efforts to bring her back in, and that meant she might be worth something to Kaz if he could find a way to use her against him. He flexed his fingers in his gloves. Brick by brick. And then there was the second of all; pulling a runner from any of the pleasure houses on West Stave was a task and a half but from one as big as the Sweet Shoppe? Whose eyes had she managed to pull the wool over long enough for that? - And just two weeks after the Leopard went missing from the Menagerie, and showed up dead? That seemed a pretty strange coincidence, and Kaz didn’t believe in coincidences. 

“Who is she?”

“Well I heard Amethyst,” Anika shrugged, “I assume that’s not her real name, but-”

“But it’s enough to go on, for now at least. I want Roeder looking into this, see if he can find her contract - any kind of paper trail that can tell us who she is, where she might’ve gone,”

If she had run away, of course, and not been taken.

“How long has she been gone?”

“Far as I know, just this morning,”

Kaz nodded. He would’ve preferred to have Inej look into this, she would be more thorough, more subtle, and probably faster than Roeder, but he didn’t know if she could climb yet and Roeder was good enough at his job. They didn’t have long to act. 

Kaz hadn’t heard anything more about the Wraith since yesterday, when Jesper had come by to tell him Wylan was alive and Inej was unconscious but Nina had done her job.

“I need you to walk me through what happened,”

“I’ve told you everything I know.” said Jesper, “We got cornered by the Black Tips and Inej told me to go ahead to get to Wylan, but I heard gunshots so I ran back,”

“Who was there?” Kaz had pressed impatiently.

Inej wasn’t originally supposed to be working that morning, if Jesper hadn’t twisted Kaz’s arm into this job she would’ve been at the Crow Club or the Slat and no-one would be able to get to her. 

“Liesbeth Stoevelaar,” said Jesper, “Oomen, a few others - I didn’t recognise them all. I took one out but it was retaliation, and we got out of there before any Razorgulls showed up,”

Stoevelaar. Oomen. Kaz nodded.

Now it was morning once again; the sun had risen and was carving its gradual pathway towards the peak of the cloudy sky, but there were still hours to pass until midday. The predicted storms had thus far come to nothing but the clouds were still gathering, the sun peaking eagerly through their edges, waiting for whatever catalyst would finally convince the rain that it was time to fall. Kaz picked up a neat little envelope from his desk, affixed his seal to it, and handed it to Anika.

“Find Elodie Schiff at the White Rose and give her that. Tell Roeder to talk to me about this Amethyst situation when he gets back,”

Anika nodded, slipping the letter into her pocket, then turned to leave. 

“Oh-” she turned back as Kaz spoke, “Send Nina over,”

It wasn’t long afterwards that the Heartrender arrived, knocking lightly on the door and stepping inside with a shake of the Ketterdam mists off the collar of her coat as soon as he’d bid her entry.

“The Wraith?”

“Still asleep,” said Nina, “Or she should be anyway, if she isn’t she’s at least still in bed. I haven’t been in this morning, I want her to rest as long as possible, but she seemed to be improving even just during the day yesterday,”

Kaz nodded, but it didn’t quell the unease in his mind. He told Nina that Jesper and Wylan were on their way and he wanted her there to discuss this new job but his thoughts wandered away from the room even as he spoke, and focused only on how much he missed his usual routine with Inej. He wanted to sit behind his desk at the Slat as he sorted through his papers, watching her where she was sitting on his window sill.. It was discomforting - not only because he wanted to return to normal but because he didn’t know why it bothered him so badly that things were out of regularity. But she’d been at the university for two weeks and they’d barely seen each other, and now she still could not return. He wanted to re-pace, to return to what he knew and could expect. Saying he trusted Inej would be stretching the point, but he could admit that he’d come to rely on her, and her absence was putting him on edge. 

“Are you really sure I should be here?” Nina was saying, “He doesn’t know about the university job, isn’t it going to be a problem if he-”

“Nina?” 

Kaz and Nina both looked up, to see Wylan Van Eck standing in the open office doorway. 

“... recognises me,” she sighed, “Hi, Wylan,”

Wylan stepped into the room, nudged gently by Jesper, who was standing behind him and followed him inside. Nina bit the inside of her lip as she slid to one side, watching Wylan and Jesper step towards the desk. 

“You recognise voices quickly,” Kaz remarked, studying Wylan.

He looked younger than Kaz knew him to be, but his first night in the Barrel had clearly taken its toll. His clothes were ill-fitting and his curls were mostly untamed, Kaz knew that he usually used a cane but he didn’t have one with him now, and despite the unsubtle attempt his scarf was making to hide them Kaz could see dark bruises growing on his throat. Jesper hadn’t known everything that happened to Wylan yesterday morning, but clearly none of it was particularly happy-go-lucky. 

“Eight years of practice,” Wylan shrugged, “And I had to learn pretty quick. I don’t recognise you, though, so am I right to assume you must be Kaz Brekker?”

“I am,” Kaz conceded, “And I believe you and Nina are already acquainted,”

Wylan nodded.

“I didn’t know you worked together,” said Wylan, face turning through the room to find Nina, but in her silence settling on Jesper instead.

“There’s an explanation to be had soon enough,” Kaz interrupted, “But first I want to talk,”

“About what?”

“I’ve been told you know your way around a chemistry set,”

Wylan frowned.

“I suppose,” he ventured, slightly clouded eyes sparking with suspicion, “Why?” 

“We have a job coming up for which we require someone with your particular skill set. I’ll need flash bombs, I don’t know how many but I’m willing to pay by the dozen or whatever your normal bulks are, and a few with a little more kick to them. Something that would disable a small bridge - stone bridge, mind you - and something big enough to-”

“Bombs?” Wylan looked aghast, “You want me to build bombs?” 

Kaz’s gaze flicked, unimpressed, over to Jesper. Jesper shuffled uncomfortably on his chair, avoiding Kaz’s eyes and Wylan’s concerned expression. 

“Why did you think you were here?” asked Kaz, coolly.

“I don’t-”

“I’ve been watching you for some time, and now I have a use for you. Nina and Inej would have been able to confirm this for me if you hadn’t been pulled from university and ended up in this little predicament but-”

“I left university,” said Wylan, suddenly, “No-one pulled me out,”

Kaz sighed. 

“I don’t have time for us to tiptoe around this, Wylan. I know that your father pulled you out of university and fed the world a false tale about a music school in Belendt but the point is-”

“I was supposed to go to Belendt,” Wylan said, almost earnestly enough that Kaz might have thought he truly believed it. Almost, “I - here, I have enrolment papers,”

He pulled an envelope from the inside pocket of his jacket, the only clothing item in his ensemble that Kaz was convinced was his own.

“They got a bit wet. But…”

“May I?” Kaz held a gloved hand out over the desk, but of course Wylan just leant forwards until he found the desk itself and placed the envelope on the top.

Kaz picked it up and pulled a small blade from his sleeve to slice it open. It was an oyster shucking knife, really, but it would do. 

Wylan had said the papers had gotten wet, and indeed the envelope was still slightly damp and wearing away enough to leave an unwelcome shedding of paper bits onto Kaz’s gloves, but there was no ink bleeding through from the letter inside. 

“These are blank,” said Kaz, pulling the papers free and dropping them into an unpleasant, mildewy pile on the edge of his desk.

“I -” Wylan swallowed, “I don’t-”

“I don’t know how we can prove it to you, Wy,” said Jesper, softly, “But they’re blank,”

A moment passed. 

“You’ve been watching me?”

“I think you can prove very useful to me, Wylan Van Eck. But first things first you won’t get far using that surname in the Barrel, too recognisable. You should-”

“You sent Nina and Inej to watch me,” Wylan repeated, quietly.

Nina squirmed. 

“Yes,”

“Because… you want me to build bombs?”

“I want you to join my team as a demolitions expert,” said Kaz, “But if that isn’t what you want I’m happy to find a trade agreement instead. What should I call you?”

A short moment rolled by.

“Hendriks. Wylan Hendriks,”

“Good to meet you, Wylan Hendriks. Nina and Inej didn’t have time for you to prove useful in what I wanted from your father, but Jesper has vouched for your proficiency at chemistry and in that case-”

“You…” Wylan turned to face Jesper, squaring his shoulders, “Right. I see,”

“Wylan-” Jesper began, but Wylan was already rounding back towards Kaz.

“I’m sorry but you clearly have the wrong person for both of your interests. I cannot get you any closer to my father than either of us already are, and I don’t want anything to do with this. I don’t know what you’re going to do with explosives but I want no part in it,” he said, and then looking somewhere in between Kaz and Jesper, “I’ll make my own way,”

He marched from the office, ignoring Jesper calling after him. Jesper shot Kaz one furious look, and then ran after him and out into the Crow Club. Nina shook her head.

“What the hell did you just do?”

“I did nothing, Zenik, except tell the truth,”

Nina sighed melodramatically.

“If that’s all, I’m going to go back and check on Inej,”

Kaz nodded.

“Fine. But I want that kid under Dregs’ protection,”

There was a brief pause, as Nina turned slowly back from her pathway to the door.

“Why?”

“Because he’s going to die out here, or he’s going to have to change his mind at some point” Kaz replied, standing up and shifting his weight onto his cane, “And when does I’d rather he doesn’t find someone else to work for,”

There was another reason too, and Kaz’s mind began to whirr through it at top speed as he paced from the office and onto the floor of the Club. There were deals to be made, games to oversee, money to make. But through all of it this remained in the back of his head, a new puzzle that he was yet to solve.

Because Kaz was about ninety five percent certain that Wylan Hendriks could see.

[kickthecan-revolution]

My vet came yesterday armed with a ton of information about Peach. She has a fungal infection and an upper respiratory called Feline Calicovirus that is highly infectious - even objects, including my clothes and hands - can transmit it and the symptoms are rough for many cats. He was kind of amazed she tested positive for it, as it’s not super common. He said “what is it with you and these animals with bizarre hardly heard of infections? He spoke with an internist at length and we have a game plan. Peach is a little congested but doesn’t have any of the really tough symptoms which is a relief. And she’s been out and about a bit and I’ve certainly pet my cats after handling her, so them not showing signs of it is a good thing. He gave the cats distemper vaccines which will help lessen symptoms if she can’t get rid of it and does pass it to them, but we are hopeful that she can get rid of it. I’m balancing letting her be out and about so her smell can get into the house versus letting her get too close to the cats. Minnie wants absolutely nothing to do with her but Bud is curious and I can tell, if this works out, they’ll be good friends ,

Her herpes (also positive for that) viral load is low and almost all cats have that so he’s not worried. He’s also not worried that the stress of introducing a kitten will trigger Bud’s leukemia. So I’m more positive about keeping her but we will need to see what her labs come back with, I’ll do the right thing for her if it’s safer for everyone for her to be in a single cat household.

This entire process has been healing in a way that’s difficult to describe. I’ve dealt with some deep stuff that I couldn’t touch in 12 years of therapy. My intuitive coach is an energy worker and healer and at first I thought it was totally crazy, but I believe it now.

My vet and his assistant hung out for a while, I made them some cocktails, and we just chatted. He mentioned he was taking his staff to a Pink concert tonight right down the street and I told him they should stop by either before or after, I really want to meet his partner so he’s up for it! I feel like he could be a friend. If not, what an incredible blessing to have a Vet who will research and research and call and get second and third opinions. It’s such a blessing.

I’m hiding from the world. From the War. From the massacres. It’s clearly a privilege to do that. Shirley told me that the energy right now is something that the world has never experienced, and everyone, including animals, are all reacting to it. It’s a chance to elevate to our higher selves, it’s inviting us to do that, and the chaos is forcing us all to look at ourselves more deeply. Since the beginning of the year, I’ve had an odd foreboding about the future, like I couldn’t quite place it – I don’t think that means our future is over but I think things are changing in ways that none of us have ever experienced before.

I love all of you so much, you’re such an important part of my life and I’m so grateful you’re here to process my small but very valuable world with me. I take all of your comments to heart. Thank you for reading, thank you for your tolerance of me and giving me the grace to be raw and show the darker parts of myself as they come to the light.

[heeseung-min]

[04:20]

You stared at the screen for few minutes before groaning sadly at the not so good exam result. You were pissed. Pissed at how you have done so many revision but still couldn't get the result you want. Fuck education.

"I wish I can get Albert's brain."

Jake stared at you with pity. He really wished he can hug you and comfort you now but too bad what he can do only staring at you from your laptop camera he hacked.

Later that night, Jake got an idea. He wrote notes for the subject that you got worse result and planning to ask you to be your tutor tomorrow.

---

Jake waited for your class to be over. Thank god he doesn't have any class today so he doesn't need to be rush over something. He knew your schedule and where your classes might be.

See, Jake's friends has been calling him a creep for doing those things but Jake swear he is not! He just loves you and really cares about your future. Although he wishes you both to get married and you will be the housewife and he will going to work to bring money and spoil you with everything. He smile at the thought. Maybe one day it will happen. His daydream stopped when he heard someone was calling your name.

"Miss Y/n."

"Yes, professor?"

"We need to have a talk. About your result."

The poor girl just follow her lecturer to his room. She can predict what will be he nagging to her. Jake slowly follow them from behind and stopped at the door. It's a grateful when the room is far from the hallway so it gets a little privacy and he also can heard the conversation very well.

"I believe you have seen your result yesterday, right?"

"Yes."

"In the class, everyone got good result especially on my subject which is physics. But you aren't."

Okay. That kinda hurts your pride. But, it's okay. It's for the better future.

"I'm so sorry professor. I already did many revisions but luck is just not on my side."

Your lecturer lowkey staring judgingly from up to down when heard those. The old man must not believe what you said.

"That's good. However, I have another solution for you which is getting a tutor especially from the senior."

He then took a list that has names, pictures and number phones. There are some of the pictures you recognized but some aren't.

"Here is the contacts of some seniors that you can refer to, they are doing really good on this subjects. Or do you want me to arrange it?"

"Yeah, I want that. Also, can you arrange Park Jongseong for me? He is my friend so it is easier to learn from him."

Your professor nodded and dismissed you after that. You can't wait to have tutor session with Jongseong aka Jay. He is your crush actually and that what makes him become your first choice for the tutoring. Since you guys know each other already, you can spend more time with him.

You walked to the gate happily thinking about your crush not knowing someone was watching you with jealousy and furious inside their heart.

-----

It's the day for the tutoring. Your professor had informed you that your tutor will be at the library so you quickly ran to the place not wanting to make him wait for too long.

When you reached there, it was only a library staff in it and no other students so you went to take a sit and for Jay to come. However, after 10 minutes of waiting, you became worried when there is no his presence until a guy talked to you.

"You are Y/N, right? The one who needs Physics tutoring?"

"Umm yeah, and who are you?"

"Oh! great. I'm Sim Jaeyun but just call me Jake. I am your tutor for this subject. Nice to meet you. You look beautiful by the way."

You blushed at the sudden compliment and thanked him too but at the same time you are a bit disappointed that it was not Jay. You ignored it and proceed to the tutoring.

Jake kinda having hard time to teach you because he always got distracted by your expression when listening to him. He gets to wonder what expression would it be when he says that he loves you, when he shows his room that its wall full of your pictures and even in his drawer there are some of your clothes he had stolen too. He wonder how would you react to it.

You guys must feel weird how Jake is the tutor and not Jay? Jake has his own way to make sure everything is his.

-----

"Oh, Jake! What a surprise to see you here. May I know what is your curiousity?"

"Can I be y/n's tutor?"

"What?"

The old man was shocked at the sudden request. He became agitated when Jake's expression became serious.

"Umm, sorry Jake but Y/N actually request Jay not you. I already told him few minutes ago."

Jake let out his breath. He walked slowly towards the professor. The silence was really loud and made the old man became really uncomfortable. But, before he can say something Jake already choked his neck tightly.

"Ja-ja-jake...."

"Yes, you still want to live, right? You still love your wife and kids,right?"

The poor lecturer tried to nod even though it is difficult. Jake watched him with a big smile on his face.

"Cancel Jay. Put me as her tutor and if she asks just say that Jay is not interested. If you say something else, you will meet dead bodies at home."

"I- i wi-will."

"Good."

Jake let his hold go and pat his professor cheek letting him know to not forget what he said. He walked out from there with big smile on his face same like when you did but it's different because you thought about spending time with Jay but he thought about slowly getting you in his arms.

"What a nice day."

--

So,this is the right one for the jake yandere request😌😌😌so sorry for the mistake, hope you guys enjoy this

taglist: @stacey-stonem @duolingofanaccount

[miamochi-writes]

Daycare Snacks Part 2 Vash AU

Hi everyone! Miamochi here! Here is part 2 of my series :)

“You didn’t hear?” Liz told you.

“No what?” you asked.

“Well... Zac’s father came to pick up Zac instead of his mom. And I didn’t catch all the details but I heard the dad scold at Vash. Something about how he handles things, but I honestly couldn’t make out anything else. I just know it was really bad the way Zac looked away and Vash looking uncomfortable,” Liz explained as you couldn’t believe what you heard. No wonder Vash and Zac were acting strange earlier. 

“But remember, you didn’t hear this from me y/n. Understand? We really aren’t supposed to be involved, unless Vash or Zac says something. Sometimes it isn’t good to get into other people’s business,” Liz added as she packed away her things. You couldn’t help but clutch your bag, hoping that Vash and Zac would be okay tomorrow.

~The Next Day~

It was your turn to open the daycare. You finished sipping your morning beverage and put on your apron ready to say good morning to your coworkers and toddlers.

Soon the kids started piling inside as their parents dropped them off.

The last one being Zac and he was accompanied by the same man yesterday.

“Good morning Zac!” you called out as the little boy looked up at you.

“Good morning y/n” he answered but instead of giving you his usually fist bump he bowed in front of you. That was new.

“I’ll pick you up when I can son. And my, my I don’t think we’ve met before. I’m Zac’s father,” he said to you with his hand reaching out for a handshake.

“I’m y/n, I’m one of the new daycare assistants here. Nice to meet you,” you introduced yourself as you shook his hand.

“The pleasure is all mine, I’m sure my son is in good hands with someone organized like you unlike that clutz,” Zac’s dad added. 

‘Clutz? Does he mean Vash?’ you thought.

“I’m sorry?” you asked as Zac looked down.

“Oh don’t worry your precious head dear. Just take care of my son. I’ll pick him up same time like last time,” the father said as he turned around to walk away with a smirk. Your stomach turned from what you just heard as Zac went to go put his stuff away.

Right when you were about to begin, Vash entered through the entrance as the kids gave a loud “Good Morning Vash!”

Vash turned to look over and flashed a small at the kids, only it was the same smile he gave you last time. That weird empty one.

“Hi kids! Running a little late, but I’ll be right with you!” Vash said as he went to go change in the lounge.

Throughout the day Vash wasn’t his usual cheery self. It was almost like he was distancing himself with the kids. He wasn’t cracking his usual jokes or the puns you grew to like. Plus, it seemed as if he was trying to keep himself busy with the other staff and only help out with the kids when necessary. You thought back to what Liz told you about not getting involved, but today just felt wrong when you talked to Zac’s dad. You figured you’d talk to Vash later.

Right when it was nap time, you made sure all kids were tucked into their little blankets and pillows. Nap time meant it was your lunch time, and Liz’s turn to watch over the kids since she helps with prepping the activities. You walked into the employee lounge and saw that familiar blonde hair eating his lunch at the table.

“Mind if I join you?” you asked him.

“Sure, how can I say no to you?” Vash said as he pulled up a chair next to him.

You liked how Vash was always kind to you since the first day you started working here. You were a bit shy at first, but he was the first to make you feel included when you had lunch your first day. His bubbly personality and the way he talked to you made you feel comfortable to start talking to him more. But today, you could tell something was off and prepped yourself on asking.

“You’re too sweet Vash, thanks,” you told him as you sat next to him while pulling out your homemade lunch. You noticed he hardly took a couple of bites from his lunch, which he usually is the first to eat everything he has.

“Everything okay Vash? I never took you as someone running late this morning,” you asked before taking a bite of your lunch.

“Oh yeah, something came up, but it’s no big deal y/n,” he replied as he picked at his lunch.

“Um, Vash I heard something weird this morning,” you added as you looked at him. He halted but didn’t look at you.

“I met Zac’s dad and he made a weird comment while we were introducing ourselves,” you continued and you noticed Vash’s eyes widen.

“...What did he say?” he asked hesitantly.

“He said he trusts me to take care of Zac unlike a certain clutz,” you continued. Vash held his breath and you furrowed your brows in worry.

“So there is something wrong,” you replied.

“Y/n, it’s okay. I’m fine really,” Vash said as he tried getting up.

“Vash wait!” you said as you grabbed his shoulder.

“I know you’re not fine. Just please, talk to me. What happened yesterday?” you begged.

Vash looked at you with guilt in his eyes and walked towards you. He sighed and was about to reach out to you, but retracted his hand.

“I appreciate it y/n, but I don’t want to burden you with my problems. Let’s just forget this happened. Now, I gotta go, my lunch is almost over,” Vash said.

Before you can even get the last word, he ran out from the lounge. Your heart ached at what he said. But you knew there was more to what happened yesterday. If Vash wasn’t going to tell you, then your next best was Zac.

You finished up whatever you could of your lunch with the little appetite you had. Liz already woke up the kids and was getting them ready for play time. You escorted the kids outside while Vash was in charge of setting up the table and snacks for the kids later. Now was your chance. You looked for your familiar rowdy boy, and spotted him sitting by the swings by himself and not with his friends.

“Hey Zac, mind if I join you?” you asked as he looked at you.

“You sure? Other kids are having more fun,” he said.

“Of course, besides I rather hang with my favorite toddler you said while tickling him as he laughed.

“Okay, but only because you’re one of my favorites,” he said shyly as you sat on the swing next to him.

“How come you’re not with your friends today?” you asked.

“I didn’t really feel like it,” Zac said as he looked down.

“Is it because of this morning?” you asked him as he shook his head.

“No...well kinda. More like yesterday,” Zac admitted.

“Zac, you know you can tell me anything right? I’m always here to help if you let me,” you told him as he looked at you.

“You pinky promise you won’t tell anyone y/n?” he asked as he extended his little pinky to you.

“I promise Zac, cross my heart,” you said as you did the motion.

“So...Mommy was supposed to pick me up, but I was surprised when Daddy showed up. I was really happy to see him, but he said some mean things,” Zac began.

“Mean things about who?” you asked.

“About Vash. I told Daddy about how cool Vash’s arm is and I wanted him to see it. When Daddy picked me up, he said I shouldn’t hang around someone like him. Daddy says he’s clumsy and irresponsible and that’s why his arm is like that so he doesn’t want me to end up being like him. But I really like Vash! And I didn’t like what Daddy said, but I didn’t know what to do. I feel like it’s my fault,” Zac explained as you couldn’t believe what you just heard.  

You didn’t realize your knuckles turned white from how hard you were clenching. It all made sense why Vash was acting the way he was. Zac’s dad had no idea how much Vash has done for the kids, especially for Zac. If anything Vash was the most responsible out of everyone. He practically knows everyone’s likes, dislikes, allergies, and favorite food. Heck, he even knows the parent’s phone numbers in case something happens. You took a deep breathe and looked at Zac.

“Hey, it’s not your fault Zac. You were just telling your dad how much fun it is being with Vash right?” you told him.

“Right, but now Vash has been acting weird too,” Zac added.

“I know, but what if we can fix that?” you added as Zac looked at you.

“How?” he asked. 

“Well, I have an idea. Just leave it to me. But if anything, Zac, you’ve helped me more than you know,” you told him as Zac smiled and gave you a hug.

~*~

Once play time was almost over, you went up to your coworkers about your little plan. You needed all the help you could get from them to help cheer up Vash and make a point to Zac’s dad. You wanted to make it happen by the end of the week, and they all agreed it was doable. 

“Whatever you need y/n, we’ll make it happen!” Liz said as the other nodded.

“Thanks everyone! I’ll keep Vash distracted, and remember he can’t know until the day of,” you said as everyone agreed. Liz and the other workers made a few calls to the parents before they went to go pick up the kids for the next couple of days. Heck, Liz was even pulling a few strings to get some necessary decorations in before the big day. Meanwhile, you made sure you kept Vash occupied for the next couple of days whenever your coworkers were working behind the scenes. It was difficult with how Vash wasn’t his usual self, especially when Zac’s dad came to the daycare. But you made sure everything was going according to plan. You were especially sneaky when telling the kids since they were crucial for this plan.

“You all need to pinky promise me you can’t say anything until it happens okay?” you told the kids.

“We pinky promise!” they whispered and giggled as you handed them a few extra snacks before Vash came into the room. 

“Hey what’s going on here?” Vash asked them as he stood next to you.

“Nothing,” the girls replied cheekily while the boys had their lips sealed shaking their heads.

Vash didn’t believe it, but you put your hand on his shoulder. You didn’t catch Vash’s little blush as the girls smirked.

“Don’t worry about it. It’s a new game they’re playing. Losing team has to do everything the winning team says if they spill the secret,” you explained as the kids nodded and ran off.

“Oh Vash, that reminds me. Liz says we’re getting more snacks Friday. I know I’m in charge of opening, but I need your help on carrying them inside, especially since we order them in bulk. Can you help me do that please?” you asked as you put your hands together with your best smile.

“Hmmmm, I don’t know,” Vash said as he was still skeptical.

“I promise I’ll get you fresh donuts for the morning if you help me,” you chimed.

“You drive a hard bargain y/n, but it’s a deal. I’ll see you tomorrow morning with those donuts,” Vash said as he did finger guns and you couldn’t help but laugh.

“7 o’clock okay! No later than that!” you told him as he nodded.

‘It’s all coming together,’ you said to yourself.

~Friday Morning~

You had a bag of donuts as promised for your blond coworker and made your way to the daycare. You messaged Liz and your other coworkers that you ready on your end, while they were too. All you needed was Vash. As you walked up to the daycare, you saw him with those orange shades of his. You waved as he spotted you.

“Morning Vash!” you chimed.

“Morning y/n, are those donuts I see?” he asked.

“Yes! As promised, BUT you need to help me remember,” you reminded him as he tried reaching for the box but held it away from him.

“Right, so where’s the snacks?” Vash asked.

“Yes, but first,” you started and you reached for his wrists and held on to them as Vash immediately turned red.

“y/n, what are you-” he wanted to ask but you cut him off.

“Do you trust me...like how I trusted you when I first started working here?” you asked Vash as you gave him a little squeeze.

“y-yeah, but why?” he inquired.

“Just, please trust me on this. It’ll all make sense once I show you,” you answered with your best puppy dog eyes.

Vash looked away as you noticed him turning red while you felt yourself getting a little hot as well.

“Okay, okay, just stop with that look. My heart,” he muttered the last part to himself as you let go not quite catching it.

“Okay, so I need you to put this on. You can’t take it off unless I say so,” you told him as you pulled out one of your bandanas.

“Wait what?” Vash questioned.

“Trust me please!” you retorted with a small pout as Vash looked away again as he was starting to get flustered with your expressions.

“Okay, okay,” Vash agreed as he kneeled down and you tied the bandana around his eyes. You didn’t realize how soft his hair was, or just how pretty he was up close. You started getting a little warm and shook your head just thinking about what you just thought. You checked the blindfold to make sure he wasn’t able to see.

“You promise you can’t see anything?” you ask him.

“I promise, but can you tell me what is going on y/n?” Vash begged.

“Trust the process. It’ll make sense once we get there. I’ll lead you, and I promise I won’t let anything happen to you” you told him as you grabbed his hand once more and started guiding him.

Vash’s blush made itself apparent on his cheeks and silently thanking that you weren’t looking at him.

You both walked a bit further, occasionally checking that Vash wasn’t stumbling behind you until you stopped at the play ground. Everything was ready as you looked at Vash.

“Okay, we’re here. You can take the blindfold off,” you said as you let go of his hand.

Vash did as you told, wondering what you were hiding.

“SURPRISE!” a chorus of voices yelled out

Vash jumped back as he rubbed his eyes, wondering if this was real or not.

“What’s going on?” Vash asked as he looked at you while you flashed him a smile.

Okay, everyone I’m going to end it here for now. I’m sorry this is long! But I promise the next part will have more fluff! :) Let me know what you think! I’ll try to post the next part as soon as I can! 

@marydragneell​

[pukanavis]

Plum Blossoms and Snowflakes | Prologue 2

Arashi: Ritsu-chan, I know I’m late to mention it, but you’re not usually active in the tea club around this season, right?

This time last year, you were practically inseparable from the kotatsu.

Ritsu: Yeah, I know. I happened to check the weather forecast yesterday and it said to expect 'a warm, spring-like day' so I exercised my power as club leader to call a meeting.

Nothing beats drinking Haa~kun’s tea on a warm sunny day.

Arashi: Is that so? Hajime-chan, it must be so hard putting up with Ritsu-chan’s fickleness.

Hajime: Oh, not at all. I’m happy to be doing an activity for the tea club ♪ The weather will be much colder by tomorrow too—

Not to mention, the third year students will be getting very busy soon.

Arashi: Oh…graduation season is fast approaching, isn’t it?

Ritsu-chan, do you think you’ll be able to graduate?

Ritsu: Don't worry, I've got it covered~. I’ve been working hard to make sure I can graduate with Maa~kun.

Arashi: That’s a relief then. I’m sure our fans would be outraged if you repeated another year.

Mayoi: Oh? Uhm, Ritsu-san, you’ve repeated a year before…?

Ritsu: That I have. Fufu, I'm seasoned with many life experiences, as you can see…☆

Arashi: Oh please, it’s not something to be proud of, now is it?

Ritsu: Yeah, yeah~. But it wasn’t all doom and gloom, you know?

I got to be in the same grade as Maa~kun and bask in all the extra time I had.

Haa~kun should follow in my footsteps and repeat a year too…♪

Arashi: Hey, don’t try to make it sound appealing. Repeating a year is a big deal.

Ritsu: I’m kidding, I’m kidding. It’s just a little Rittsu Joke ♪ Haa~kun isn’t going to repeat. Right? 

Hajime: Yes, I believe I'll be fine. The teachers haven’t reached out to me about any problems so I should be able to move up a grade.

Graduation, huh? ...It hurts to think about everyone leaving.

Ritsu: We’re not really leaving though, are we? Setting aside the people that move overseas, the rest of us live together in the dormitories.

Arashi: True, but with how busy the third years get, you don’t think much of it at first.

But once it settles in, you get hit with a sudden wave of loneliness.

When that happens, don’t be afraid to get in touch with me anytime you want. Be it just to vent, or anything else, I’ll listen to whatever you have to say.

I’ll always be there for a hard-working boy ♪

Hajime: Ehehe, I appreciate it.

Ayase-senpai, I’ll refill your cup.

If you’d like, why don’t you tell me which flavours you prefer? We have quite the collection of tea leaves, so I’m sure we have something you enjoy.

Mayoi: You don’t need to go to all that trouble, I’m happy with whatever you’re willing to offer.

Arashi: Mayoi-chan, it’s better to be honest about your preferences during these types of interactions. Sharing each other's likes is the first step in getting to know one another.

Mayoi: Y-Yes, you’re right. Uhm, I like—

Akiomi: “...This is Mr. Kunugi. If I may have the attention of a certain student—”

“Ayase-kun from class 3-B, if you are still on the school grounds, please report to the staff room immediately.”

“I repeat, Ayase-kun from class 3-B—”

Mayoi: …Huh? …Huh?

Ritsu: Ohh, he said your name, Mayomayo.

Arashi: Kyaa! Even hearing Kunugi-sensei call upon other people gets my heart pounding.

The fact that it’s after school makes this feels like one of those dramas! Aah, if only it were me.

Mayoi: …

Arashi: Oh dear, are you alright, Mayoi-chan? You’ve gone pale?

Mayoi: …Hyah!?

My apologies, I was caught off guard and my mind just went blank.

Aah, the thought of being scolded makes me want to run for the hills…

Ritsu: Hmm, do you know what it’s about?

Mayoi: …I don’t, but I was a failure of a student until this summer so I’m sure I’ve messed up somehow.

Ughh, I wish I could unhear it and go home! Why can’t I just disappear!

Arashi: None of that will do you any favours. If you left now, you’ll just be summoned again tomorrow.

Mayoi: But…

Hajime: It must be shocking to be suddenly called out on the school’s broadcasting system.

It doesn’t necessarily mean it’s for a bad reason though. I’ve also been called upon before and it was only because my family had dropped off some things that I had forgotten.

If you can’t think of something you did wrong, then it’s probably good news, right?

Arashi: Totally. Kunugi-sensei didn’t sound angry either so you have nothing to be scared of.

Mayoi: I-I see…then there’s no reason to think that I’m going to be berated, and even if I run away, I’ll have to face it eventually.

I’ll try to be brave and go.

Hajime: That’s the spirit! Do your best, Ayase-senpai.

Since I wasn’t able to give you another cup of tea, I wrapped up some cookies for you instead. 

Mayoi: Y-You’re too kind. Well then, I’ll be going now…

Ritsu: Bye bye~.

…Will Mayomayo be alright on his own?

Arashi: As his friend, part of me wants to go with him. I can’t stand the idea of waiting around here if it turns out to be something bad after all.

Just think of it as a little trial and do your best, Mayoi-chan.

ーSome time later

Mayoi: (...In all my reluctance to come here, I ended up dragging my feet.)

(I finally made it to the staff room.)

(Kunugi-sensei is right behind this door…)

(...Aah, I’m too cowardly to open it.)

(What could I have done wrong? I can’t think of anythi—)

(Ah, I know what it is! I’m a blatantly suspicious person that spends all his time in the ceiling…!)

(But nowhere in the school rules does it say 'No hiding in the ceiling!' and it’s not as if it causes trouble for anybody!)

(...Yet the fact that I feel guilty is proof that I recognise my wrongdoing…)

(Sigh…I’d rather not do this at all. Even now, I'm still fighting the urge to flee far away from here.)

(Ahh, no, I can’t think like that. You’ll never grow if you keep running away from your problems, Mayoi!)

(Overthinking isn't doing me any favours. I need to empty my mind and—)

(Hyah!? The door opened…!)

Back | Next

[bearsanpancakes]

Mitsuki Izumi i-HAKE! Rabbit TV - Part 1: i-HAKE! ~Mitsuki’s episode 1~

[Note: I am translating the story from the Taiwanese server of IDOLiSH7, not the Japanese server! Translations might differ from the original Japanese version due to that, but it shouldn’t make too much of a difference overall!]

ㅤ

Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3

ㅤ

Mitsuki: Okay~! Hello everyone! I am Mitsuki Izumi from IDOLiSH7!

Mitsuki: It is once again time for the program everyone is familiar with, “i-HAKE! ~Idol dispatch~”, today I am here at the train station located at Haruno!

Mitsuki: The environment feels fresh, and the air feels very clean..! I heard that there are no station attendants here at this empty train station! It’s such an amazing and serene place…

Mitsuki: …it’s almost as if time crawls to a halt here, making me forget that I’m here for work related purposes today… to the point where I feel like the identity of the guests for today don’t even matter that much anymore…

Mitsuki: Where’s the station manager? I’ll go ask him about the details for today’s job right away…

Riku & Ryunosuke: Uwah~! Hang on, hang on!

Mitsuki: Ah…! They’ve appeared! My assistant guests!

Riku: H-honestly…! Mitsuki, don’t tease us like that!

Ryunosuke: T-that really scared me! I thought you were actually going to move straight onto the program without us…

Mitsuki: Ha ha ha…! I’m sorry! Iori and Yamato were surprised by their guests, so I wanted to surprise my guests for a change!

Mitsuki: So my guests are Riku and Tsunashi-san! How unexpected!

Staff: As expected of Mitsuki-san…! As you can see, your assistants this time will be Riku-san and Tsunashi-san!

Riku & Ryunosuke: I look forward to working with you!

Riku: I kept worrying about whether or not you’d spot me! Were you surprised?

Mitsuki: About that… I saw you walking like you had two left feet yesterday, I thought you were learning how to walk like someone from the Edo period, so this is what it’s all about!

Riku: Eh!? Really!?

Ryunosuke: Ha ha ha! Riku, you’re honestly adorable!

Mitsuki: Tsunashi-san, the last time we worked together you said “Please continue to take care of me during our next job as well”, I was wondering what job you were talking about, but now I understand!

Ryunosuke: Eh!? Really!?

Staff: Ahahaha!

Riku: W-we really exposed ourselves huh…

Ryunosuke: Yeah… maybe we’re not fit to run prank shows…

Mitsuki: I think that the fans who are watching this program right now know that very well!

Mitsuki: Now then, please announce the details of our job!

Riku: Yes!

Ryunosuke: 1,2,3…

Riku & Ryunosuke: The job requested of us is… “Please transform this deserted train station into a train station that the residents will love!”

Mitsuki: Oh…!? That sure is a very heavy responsibility!

Station manager: Nice to meet you Mitsuki-san, I believe this is our first time meeting each other. I am the station manager for the train station of Haruno.

Station manager: I would love for you to color the walls of the train station with paint… and help to change the atmosphere of the entire station.

Mitsuki: S-station manager…!

Station manager: Mitsuki-san always seems so bright and cheerful, that’s why I wish for you to be able to make this train station here at Haruno as lively as you!

Mitsuki: …! Okay!

Riku: This job sure sounds like a nice challenge, Mitsuki!

Ryunosuke: The train station as it currently is also has some sort of charm to it, I hope that we can do something for it without ruining its original charm.

Mitsuki: That’s right! There’s so much greenery here, there’s also the blue sky and the sun… I want to properly take advantage of this natural scenery!

Mitsuki: Riku, Tsunashi-san! I hope that you both can assist me in completing this important task! I’m counting on you!

Everyone: Yeah…!

ㅤ

Mitsuki: Tada! I’m all changed!

Ryunosuke: Yeah, we can move around easier like this!

Riku: What shall we do first? The station manager said that we could start painting with paint…

Mitsuki: …I talked to the station manager a bit earlier, and he said that once the weather becomes warmer, lots of flowers will bloom in front of the train station!

Riku: Oh, is that so…!

Ryunosuke: Flowers will bloom huh… It would be amazing if we could decorate the new train station to match the atmosphere of the blooming flowers.

Mitsuki: I think so too!

Mitsuki: Just like a field of flowers or a rainbow… I want to make a painting that’ll fill everyone with enthusiasm once they look at it!

Riku: That’s because Mitsuki is good at drawing after all! I think this is an amazing idea!

Mitsuki: Thanks! You draw very well too, Riku!

Riku: Hehe. Do I?

Mitsuki: I’ve also seen Tsunashi-san’s drawing of a cat, it was super cute…!

Ryunosuke: Really? Doesn’t it look a little childish?

Mitsuki: Ahaha! I think a style like that would be loved by everyone, if anything!

Mitsuki: …okay! Since we’ve already decided on our objective, let’s get to work!

ㅤ

Mitsuki: Heh… this color doesn’t seem too bad…

Ryunosuke: Mitsuki-kun! Is it alright if I were to use this color for the flower over here?

Mitsuki: Ah, that’s perfectly fine! Thank you for the help!

Riku: Mitsuki, I’ve brought over a new pen~! Mitsuki: Thanks! There are lots of paint buckets over there, so watch your step while you’re walking~!

Riku: Yes, I understand! ……Ah!

Mitsuki & Ryunosuke: Ah!?

*Clang!*

Riku: T-this is bad! I accidentally imprinted a red handprint…!

Mitsuki: Hahahaha…! Riku, I just finished my sentence and you’ve already found yourself in trouble!

Riku: W-w-what should I do!?

Ryunosuke: Actually… Riku, this really looks somewhat stylish!

Riku: Eh?

Mitsuki: Yeah, this looks like a flower painted from a handprint! Riku, you’ve done well!

Riku: R-really…?

Mitsuki: Yes! …luckily it was only your hands that touched the surface, but you should still be careful so that you can avoid danger, and then…

Mitsuki: Let’s use our handprints to paint some flowers as well! Also… let’s look for the station manager and the residents in the area so that we can paint them together!

Ryunosuke: That is to say that we’ll modify the train station alongside the residents then…!

Mitsuki: Staff-san, if you see any residents nearby who might be willing to help out, can you try asking them on our behalf?

Staff: Understood! I will try asking them.

Mitsuki: It’s all thanks to Riku’s blunder that we were able to come up with this idea. Thank you so much, Riku!

Riku: T-that’s amazing! Mitsuki, thank you. I promise I won’t do it again!

Mitsuki: Ahaha, there’s no need to be so nervous! …okay, Tsunashi-san, please give me your hand, let me help put some paint on your palm!

Ryunosuke: Okay!

Mitsuki: Dark blue really suits you after all… so let’s go with this color.

Ryunosuke: Aha… oops, it’s a bit ticklish.

Mitsuki: Please bear with it for a little bit! If the coat of paint is too thin, then the handprint won’t show.

Ryunosuke: I-I understand! …ahaha…

Mitsuki: There… and we’re done!

Ryunosuke: Thank you…! Let me put some paint on your palm as well with my non-painted hand. Of course, the color will be orange!

Ryunosuke: Take that!

Mitsuki: …oh… this actually is somewhat ticklish!

Riku: That looks fun! Tsunashi-san, I want some paint as well!

Ryunosuke: Sure, come over here!

Mitsuki: Uwah…! Your leg! It’s dripping with paint!

Riku: Ah, I’m sorry!

Mitsuki: Ha ha ha…! In that case, let’s imprint our footprints as well then!

Mitsuki: We drew a rainbow earlier, so let’s imprint our footprints as if it’s heading towards the rainbow.

Ryunosuke: That’s a great idea! Also… I want to draw a white bird! I want to draw the scene of a white bird soaring majestically in the blue sky!

Riku: Ah! Then I want to draw a balloon flying over the rainbow!

Mitsuki: Okay…! The ideal train station that we envisioned is slowly starting to take shape!

ㅤ

End of part 1

[mauvefayette6]

Heya! May I request smth with a male reader who’s like. The “secret-keeper” type? Like everybody tells him their secrets and he knows everything about everybody, even staff. He’s really quiet and a great listener. And he meets Charlie and Knox and befriends them and slowly gives them secrets as his way of affection? If you do polyamory, maybe all three get together? If not, though, that’s fine.

Secrets || Charlie/Knox/male!Reader (POLYAMORUS)

A/N: So this is my first time doing a poly couple one-shot so it’s not exactly the best but I did try! Any constructive criticism is more then welcome!

pronouns: he/him

TW/CW: underage drinking, mentions of weed, mentions of abuse (not detailed), gay slur (not f slur)

•

(Y/n) roamed the halls, his friend Markus had spilled the biggest secret last night.

Flashback

"Knox and Charlie are secretly dating," Markus whispered to (Y/n). Yeah, he was a tad but tipsy but he must've seen something.

"How do you know?" (Y/n) whispered back as his roommate and only friend laid down on his bed.

"I saw 'em... Kissing each other..." He whispered as he doze off to sleep.

"You probably were imagining things, you are tipsy..." (Y/n) whispered back as his roommate slowly fell to sleep:

End of Flashback

It was the next morning now and he wasn't able to rid himself of that confession.

Yeah, he has been told worse, people seem to over talk around him and spill lots of small and big secrets.

Once in his third year there someone confessed to being in love with his best friends sister. Another year someone confessed to "knocking someone up" as they said.

That's when everything started, suddenly he knew everyone secrets, even some of the staff. He had so much dirt on Mr. Nolan, like how if you give him the right amount of money he'll let anyone in the school. Apparently even the greatest have a price.

Charlie and Knox walked past him, his stomach dropped as he watched them.

He had to admit that he had thoughts like theirs before. That's something he swore to take to the grave. But he wasn't alone, almost the entire school had thoughts like that.

"Hey Knox!" (Y/n) shouted nervously causing him to stop.

"Oh, hey (Y/n), what's up?" Knox smiled.

"Can we talk privately?" (Y/n) asked again a little less nervous this time.

"Oh, sure..? You can go without me Charlie, I'll catch up." Knox smiled before running towards the nervous boy in front of him.

"I know your secret," (Y/n) immediately confessed. Knox gave him a questioning look, but he wasn't convincing enough.

"What secret?" Knox asked, (Y/n) could tell that he was nervous.

"Come off it Knox, you know exactly what I mean!" (Y/n) whisper-shouted.

"Fine, what do you want? Money?" Knox asked.

"No! No!" (Y/n) shook his head. "Please, my roommate confessed it yesterday and I won't lie, I'm scared for you."

"Is he going to tell anyone? If he does I swear I'll fight him!" Knox said anxiously.

"I have too much dirt on him for him to do something like that Knox," (Y/n) said but he didn't even believe it. He nervously sighed as he could tell Knox was afraid.

"Thanks for telling me, I'll see you around..." Knox walked away, he was worried and (Y/n) could tell.

"Knox! Look, Markus' dad paid Mr Nolan for him to be accepted here, he isn't here because he is smart." (Y/n) confessed. "He told me himself..."

"He paid to get in here?" Knox said surprised.

"Yeah, and— and— Caleb his dad's business is crashing," (Y/n) wasn't able to keep quiet anymore. "I know lots of things about people and I promise no one will know about yours."

"Thanks," Knox smiled. "Follow me."

Knox lead him outside and towards the woods, (Y/n) was unfamiliar with the setting.

"If you know so much about everyone you must know about this," Knox smiled.

"I heard when you guys were talking to Mr. Keating, something about a secret club?" (Y/n) confessed. "Sorry, I should keep my nose out of other business but it's almost impossible."

"It's impossible for you, how come people go to you for their deepest secrets?" Knox asked as they neared the cave.

"I'm not sure, I guess they think I won't tell because I don't have many friends?" (Y/n) said with a hint of sadness and confusion.

They arrived at the cave, they heard whispering and laughter before entering.

Knox entered before (Y/n) entered, he was nervous. He was never a part of a big group and never a big group of guys.

"Who is that?" Cameron asked, as if he hadn't dumped a load of secrets on him before. Once he confessed to burning one of his fathers notebooks for his business.

Charlie stood up with a grin, Charlie confessed to having smoked the devils lettuce once or twice with a girl from Henley Hall.

"It's the very famous (Y/n) (M/n) (L/n)," he said walking up to him.

"Oh! I've heard lots about you," Neil Perry. He heard from one of the staff members that his father was abusive.

Todd Anderson, now Todd was a quiet kid and thats why he knew just so much about him. He heard things from other students and staff. Nothing bad, you can't be bad if you're an anxious kid.

"Why did you bring him here Knox?" Steven Meeks asked, Meeks confessed that a straight A student paid him to do his Latin and trig homework. He also heard from staff that his dad was mean and demanding.

"He knows everything," Knox shrugged sitting down next to Pitts.

(Y/n) was told by a girl from Henley Hall just how terrible of a kisser he is. Pitts confessed to being allergic to fish.

"I can go," (Y/n) said softly, the room felt small.

"No, please, stay," Neil said, he was smiling.

"Don't feel forced to let me stay, I won't tell anyone anything." (Y/n) said, he was unsure, no one really wanted him around they were more afraid of him.

"Nonsense, please. Sit." Neil said reassuringly.

Cameron gave him an evil side eye, but he didn't seem to notice. The rest of the group quickly welcomed him to the friend group, except Cameron.

The rest of them were worried he'd tell the school their secrets but at the same time that didn't matter so much.

Knox, Charlie and (Y/n) all walked to their dorm rooms. It wasn't night for once so they had could walk to their rooms and not have to sped it there.

Markus, (Y/n)'s roommate stepped outside of the dorm room. He made eye contact with Knox and Charlie and then (Y/n).

"Queers," he whispered before making eye contact with (Y/n) again.

"Markus, quit it. I have more dirt on you then anyone else in this school. Their secret comes out then everyone will know that your mommy is your daddy's mistress," (Y/n) whispered. Markus backed down and glared at him.

"Fine. Protect them," Markus walked away.

"What did you tell him?" Knox asked and he shook his head.

"Nothing of importance,” (Y/n) smiled. “He won’t say anything.”

(Y/n) said good bye before entering his dorm room.

• Small time skip •

Knox and (Y/n) had gotten closer through out the few months they’ve been friends. That cane with a lot of small cups of tea they shared. Occasionally Charlie would join on their tea time.

They enjoyed picnic together and dipping their bare feet on the small river near the woods they frequented.

(Y/n) hated to admit it but he was falling in love, and he was falling fast. It felt so wrong yet so right. He couldn’t confess the feelings since Knox and Charlie were basically a couple.

“Did you know that Valentina Harpet’s older brother dropped out of Welton when he was 16 and fled to France to marry a girl he was pen pals with?” (Y/n) told Charlie who was listening. Knox was in the river making rocks jump.

“I always wondered what happened to him, did they actually get married?” Charlie asked.

“No, apparently it was a façade, he is actually living with a guy in Amsterdam.” (Y/n) shrugged.

“That’s… interesting, so they built a story like that?” Charlie laughed.

“Actually, his parents said he got into a military school and then went on to be a lawyer.” Charlie nodded not surprised at all.

“I love our talks. There’s so much people are hiding.” Knox looked over at them.

“Yeah, Mr. Nolan loves money, I know at least 10 kids in our year that had their parents bribe Mr. Nolan to let them in here.” Knox didn’t seem so surprised.

“I have my suspicion on who those kids might be. You can imagine, Maybe William, you know the one who seems to always slack off? Or how about your roommate Markus, he seems like the type.” Knox laughed.

“Actually maybe there is more than 10 now that I think about it,” (Y/n) pondered a bit. “A girl at Henley Hall had her father bribe Welton to let her in to Welton.”

“That’s devastating,” Charlie mumbled, “considering the girls school isn’t as good as Welton.”

“Yeah, Betty T. the one with the curled blonde hair.” (Y/n) nodded, “she’s an only child.”

“Oh, I’ve heard things about her,” Charlie frowned, “her life has been tragedy after tragedy.”

“On a lighter note, (Y/n) we brought you here to discuss something kind of important.” Knox sat next to Charlie with a smile.

“Oh, what’s up?” (Y/n) nervously fidgeted with his fingers.

“So, you know me and Charlie are like together… romantically…” Knox began, (Y/n) nodded.

“Well, Knox and I really like you too, like we like you lots.” Charlie winked. “We were wondering if maybe you’d want to be apart of our relationship?”

“What?” (Y/n)’s tone was that of shock, was there such a thing?

“Yeah, like it can be all three of us in a romantic relationship, with healthy boundaries,” Knox nodded.

“That exists?” (Y/n) mumbled confusedly.

“What do you say? Of course you don’t have to, don’t feel forced. We just thought of asking.” Charlie smiled.

“I didn’t know something like this could exist! But yeah! I would love to be in a romantic relationship with you two!” (Y/n) excitedly exclaimed hugging them both.

“That’s great! We like you so much and since we met you and became your friend we instantly clicked,” Charlie confessed.

“How will we tell the others?” (Y/n) asked.

“We can think about that later, we can always do it when you’re more comfortable and ready.” Knox held (Y/n)’s hand before kissing them.

[iwishiwasbatman]

Masked Love (Part 3)

Pairing- Jason Todd x OC; Dick Grayson X Platonic!OC

Warnings- death, violence, major angst

Summary- After making a shocking discovery with the help of Scarecrow, Elana confronts her demons. She’s forced to fight against people she loves in order protect her teammates. But can she say no when her demon comes to her for help?

Word Count- 6,935

I hate getting up early. I’ll get up for early morning training or an early gymnastics meet. But an early meeting? If I had any control over it, no. Don’t get me wrong, being CEO is better than any of the other jobs at Queen Consolidated and it made me filthy rich, but it required 7am meetings. Not my thing.

“So, we’ve got the funding for the police gala squared away?” I asked over the Zoom call.

“We should,” my CFO, Michael Bridges, answered. I noticed Dick walk in, but stay off camera to the right.

“That covers catering, venue, entertainment, and staff?” I checked.

“Yes,” he replied. “Our donation and the cost of our gift will be a separate total we should have by the end of the month, but it should fit our budget.”

“Perfect. Thank you guys so much for putting extra effort into this,” I addressed everyone who was dialed in. “With all you’re doing, this should be the best SCPD gala we’ve had in a while. If no one has any further questions, we should be all wrapped up.” When no one spoke, I smiled. “Great! Thank you guys!” With that I ended the meeting. I took off my headphones, closed my computer, and turned to Dick.

“Do you ever rest?” he laughed.

“Yes, when I sleep,” I said.

“Oh, you mean the three hours of sleep you get every night?”

“Hey, usually it’s three and a half,” I defended.

“Look, I, uh, just wanted to apologize for yesterday,” he started.

“Whatever could you mean by that?” I asked sarcastically.

“Ha, ha. You’re not funny.”

“I think I am,” I mumbled as he went to keep talking.

“I shouldn’t have lashed out on you like I did. I guess I didn’t realize how stressed I was,” he apologized.

“You are right about that.” I smirked.

“Are we good then?” he asked cautiously.

“I don’t know. You tell me.”

“Would it kill you to say “I accept your apology”?”

“What if I reject your apology?”

“Well, then, we’d have some issues.” Dick shoved his hands in his pockets.

“Is that even allowed? Like, can you actually walk up to someone and say you reject their apology?” I asked.

“You’re… weird,” Dick said.

“Old news, man,” I smiled. “Tell you what, if you tell me what had you so riled up last night, I’ll let it go.”

He sighed. “I saw the guy we’ve been after. Wears a red helmet. Calls himself “Red Hood”. He got away, but he’s a good fighter. He’s gonna be a problem.”

“Red Hood? How creative,” I scoffed.

“Are we good now?”

“Yeah, I guess.”

“Good, because if we weren’t, it would make asking for a favor awkward.”

“Of course,” I scoffed, leaning back in my chair. “Men, they always want something.”

“Real funny. Barbara and I are working on a lead for our guy, Red Hood. We need you to talk to Scarecrow about knowing anything about him. Are you cool with that?”

“Yup. I do need to get out of the house,” I said. “Er, apartment.”

“Good. I’ll call you if we need you.” Dick nodded.

“Why didn’t you just call me instead of coming all the way over here?” I asked.

“I-uh, felt like I needed to apologize to you in person,” Dick answered. That was super believable.

“‘K…” I said. “I’m just gonna take your word for it.” I stood up.

“If you can meet up at the Manor at, like, 10, would that work?”

“I should be done about then.” I nodded.

“Great, see you then.” I watched him walk out, but I couldn’t shake the feeling that he wasn’t telling me something.

—————————

I walked down the dimly lit halls of Arkham for a third time in three days. Unlike last time, Crane stood at the bars, ready to talk to me.

“Ms. Queen, as much as I enjoy having you visit me, must you do it so early? Are you an insomniac or something like that?” he asked as I got to the bars.

“Yes, I am an insomniac, but also, when you run a multimillion dollar company that insists on early meetings, you get up early,” I sighed.

“I see. So, to what, then, do I owe the pleasure?”

“New information showed up from the case you helped us with yesterday. We have a name now. Red Hood,” I told him.

“Like the Joker?” he asked, putting his hands behind his back.

“No, this guy’s new. The Titans fought him last night at the Hobbs Powder Plant building. Nightwing and him had a showdown, but he got away. I have a feeling there might have been more, but I wasn’t told.”

“Interesting. You think they were leaving something out?” he asked.

“Is that what you focused on in that sentence?” I raised an eyebrow.

“I simply find it curious.” He shrugged.

“Is there anything that you can come up with that would connect in a different way now that we have our guy?” I asked. I handed him the file and he began flipping through it with one hand while using the other to pull out other files.

“The red hoods that his people all wore is the only obvious one, which I assume you’ve already noticed.” I nodded. “Aside from that, I can’t see anything else.” I sighed in disappointment.

“This was a waste of time,” I mumbled.

“Precisely,” Crane smiled.

“Why do you say it like that?” I tilted my head in confusion.

“You did mention that you feel like these Titans are keeping something from you.” I cocked my eyebrow and crossed my arms. “I have a mind-bender for you. If you wanted to tell someone something you didn’t want someone else to know, when would you do it?”

“When that someone else isn’t around,” I said like it was the most obvious thing in the world. “Wait…” I trailed off. That little- Dick lied to me.

“Exactly,” Crane smirked.

“Well, thank you for the talk. You were very helpful. I’ll be sure to tell Barbara.” I smiled, trying to hide my anger.

“Glad to be of service.” He bowed. I turned and headed back down the halls to show Dick Grayson just how scary I can be when you get on my bad side.

—————————

I parked my motorcycle in the Manor’s driveway, threw off my helmet, not even bothering to put it on my bike handle, and stomped up to the door. Taking a deep breath, I swung open the door and headed in. From further in the Manor, I heard Hank’s raised voice. I laughed to myself. So he’s telling them about whatever this is, but not me? I got to the door of one of the living rooms and stood on the side of the doorframe.

“Everyone’s just trying to figure out what the heck happened,” Dawn said. I listened intently.

“Right. We figure out the how and why later,” Dick said. “Jason’s out there and we need to stop him.” I froze. What did he just say? Jason was dead. Unless… No. There was no way he could be back. As much as I tried to convince myself this, I knew he wouldn’t mean anyone else. The pieces slowly fell into place. The reason Dick was so shaken up yesterday was because he had fought Red Hood. Jason. Jason was Red Hood and he was back from the dead. I was a mess of mixed emotions.

“You know, you guys do what you want, but if it ends up him verses me, kid’s going down,” I heard Hank say angrily.

“So now we’re killing Jason?” Dawn asked. Not on my watch, they weren’t.

“He wrote his own ticket. He starts taking people out, game’s over.” I heard footsteps fade out. I assumed they were Hank’s.

“What do we tell Elana?” I heard Dawn ask. At least someone thought of me.

“Nothing,” Dick answered. My blood boiled. That was it.

“That doesn’t seem like a good idea,” I said, walking in with dangerously powerful steps that made all of them stand up straighter.

“Elana-” Dawn came toward me.

“Out, both of you,” I said cooly to her and Kory. When they didn’t move, I flashed my eyes. “Now.” They looked at Dick before hurrying out.

“Elana, let me explain-“ Dick started.

“What? That my dead boyfriend’s alive and you forgot to tell me?” I asked sarcastically.

“I didn’t want to have you with conflicting feelings,” Dick tried to tell me. “We still have a mission to complete.”

“A mission?! I can’t be successful on a mission if I don’t have the full details!” I raised my voice.

“That’s not true at all. I’ve seen you do it before. Jason means a lot to you and I can’t have you compromised!” Dick matched my tone.

“Oh, you can’t have me compromised?! My bad if the fact that I’m human and have feelings could “compromise” our mission, but you’ve been with me since the start of my hero days. Have I ever let feelings get in the way of a mission?”

“Talia al Ghul.” He crossed his arms over his chest, all proud of himself.

“The woman ruined my life, she doesn’t count!” I narrowed my eyes. “But my point stands. The mission comes first and I’ve never forgotten that,” I hissed.

“Okay, Elana, but tell me this! Tell me, honestly, that you could look Jason in the eye and do the hard thing if it came down to it!”

“You know I don’t believe in killing!”

“Clearly not, you killed people for three years like a sport!” I blinked a couple times. That was a step too far. Dick knew it, too. “I’m sorry, I shouldn’t have said that.” Without regret, I punched him square in the face. His head flew back and his body followed. He clutched his nose that was now dripping blood.

“You’re right, you shouldn’t have.” I turned around and headed back to the entrance and Dick spoke up.

“Where are you going?”

“To clear my head. Follow me and you’ll see how mean I can get.”

—————————

I was sitting in front of my mom and dad’s tombstones, trying to quiet myself. This was my go-to place for just that. I always felt a sense of calm when I was here. It was the same calm I felt when they were around. I guess it just made me feel like I had something familiar. Not even fifteen minutes into sitting there, I felt a presence behind me and I knew exactly who it was.

“When I lost them,” I started, “it felt like I had lost a piece of myself. I was convinced there was no way to get it back. But then you showed up and I finally felt like myself again. Then, I lost you.” He came and sat down beside me. “And now… you’re back?” I looked over and had to keep my breath from hitching. There was nothing different about his appearance, but his eyes looked haunted. He looked back at me with a guilty expression and then down at the ground. “Oh, god, Jay, you scared me.” I ran a hand through my hair.

“I didn’t mean to scare you,” he said quietly. “I didn’t expect Joker to beat me to death.”

“What did you expect? You went after a psychopath who’s had Batman wrapped around his finger since forever.” He kept looking down, not saying a word. I shook my head and stood up. If he didn’t want to talk, then I didn’t want to talk to him. I turned to walk away, but a hand around my wrist stopped me and spun me back around.

“Elana, please. I’m sorry,” Jason said. He intertwined both his hands with mine. “I just… I wanted to see you. I-I’m just trying to figure out what to say.”

“Maybe you can start with why you chose to name your new persona after the man that killed you?” He laughed.

“It’s called irony.”

“Why didn’t you tell me sooner?” I asked.

“I doubt you like what I’ve done. I didn’t want you to have to worry about me.” His voice got small. “And I didn’t want you to hate me.” I grabbed the sides of his jacket collar and pulled him into a kiss. He didn’t expect it, I could tell, but he melted into it, his hands resting on my hips. As our lips parted, we touched foreheads and I laughed as he smiled. “I missed that,” he said.

“I couldn’t hate you if I tried,” I told him.

“I love you,” he chuckled.

“Who doesn’t?” I said with a smirk.

“Give me a pen and paper and I could come up with fifty names at least.” I playfully shoved him off of me. “I’m kidding.”

“You better be,” I laughed.

“You know that movie night I promised you? Tonight. You and me, your apartment, an unhealthy amount of junk food. How does that sound?” Jason offered.

“That sounds amazing,” I smiled.

“How about midnight?”

“Perfect.” I gave him a quick peck on the lips.

“Two things. Here’s my new number in case you need me,” he handed me a slip of paper with the phone number on it. “And you can’t tell anyone that we’re talking, especially Dick. If someone finds out, you could get in trouble and I don’t want you to.”

“I wasn’t planning on it.”

“Great. I’ll see you tonight then.”

“You better. If you die again, there’s no refunds this time,” I joked. He laughed, kissed my forehead, and walked away. I smiled as I watched him leave, the butterflies in my stomach going wild. I couldn’t believe he was back. A part of me wondered why I didn’t punch him in the face for what he’s done, but I knew. The Jason I just saw was the Jason that I knew, the Jason that he really was. If I didn’t push him, maybe he’d come back to all of us. Maybe, I thought, smiling.

—————————

I had gone back to the Manor, successfully cooled off. The others were confused as to how it happened in under an hour, but I refused to tell them. I had even talked to Dick about our little shouting match. We agreed I earned punching him and he was just being stubborn. I loved winning.

Flash forward three hours to the present; Dawn, Dick, Conner, and I were in the cave looking for Hank who had mysteriously disappeared.

“Where the heck did he go?” Dawn asked as we watched the security footage of him out and about.

“A couple minutes later, he leaves and gets in as cab,” Conner said. “Now his phone’s off the grid.” We watched on the monitor as Hank got into a cab.

“Can you pull the plate?” Dick asked.

“I’ll try,” Conner answered, though he didn’t sound too sure if himself. He zoomed in on the license plate.

“We talked in the kitchen. Everything was fine,” Dawn said. “I told him to dial it down a notch.”

“Present and accounted for.” We all spun around to see Hank walking toward us, clearly hurt. He fell to his knees before he could reach us.

“Hank,” Dawn gasped. We hurried toward him. “What happened?” He unbuttoned his shirt, showing us a device attached to his chest, blood around it. My eyes widened slightly in surprise.

“Get it out of me,” he panted.

“Oh my gosh,” Dawn breathed. “Is that a bomb?”

“It’s a gift,” Hank said, “from our pal, Jason.” I shot backwards, inhaling sharply. Everyone’s eyes were on me, but I didn’t care. There was no way Jason would do this. He would never do this to anyone, especially Hank. Right? I had just talked to him.

“Oh, good. You found him.” Gar walked in with a sigh of relief. Kory was right behind him. “Or not?” He could tell something was wrong. Dawn and Dick helped Hank over to the med-bay while I kept to the back, biting my nails.

“You went to talk to Jason by yourself?” Dawn asked.

“It seemed like a good idea at the time,” Hank groaned, laying down. “Just get me a shot of whiskey and get the dang thing out.”

“I’m all for not touching that thing until we figure out how it works,” Kory spoke up.

“Conner, take a look inside and tell us what we’re dealing with,” Dick instructed.

“Yeah,” Conner sighed. His eyes lit up blue as he looked at Hank. “Wow,” he breathed. “This is pretty crazy.”

“Conner,” Dawn said sternly.

“Um, it has anti-retraction barbs that hold the device in place. Looks like it’s embedded in the pectoralis major right through to the aortic arch.”

“No part of that sounded good,” Hank commented.

“The engineering is incredibly nuanced. Bomb’s designed to tolerate insertion, not retraction,” Conner explained, writing something down. He held up a drawing of what I assumed was the bomb. “These barbs are in Hank’s chest.” I cringed. It looked painful. “They have sensors. If those sensors detect too much force, it’ll explode.”

“What if we remove it surgically?” Dick asked.

“Same outcome,” Conner answered. I sighed and rubbed my eyes. “Once activated, it’s designed to kill.” No. I lost two people in a row, I refused to lose the man who had played a brotherly role in my life. What was Jason thinking?

“That stupid little jerk,” Hank growled.

“This whole thing is engineered to read EKG signals,” Conner told us. “The countdown isn’t seconds, it’s-“

“The number of heartbeats he has left,” I finished.

“What do you mean countdown?” Dawn asked. Conner removed the top piece from the bomb to reveal a countdown.

“When it gets down to zero-“

“Jason can’t actually want Hank to die, right?” Gar cut Conner off. Out of nowhere, Dick’s phone began to ring.

“I have a feeling we’re about to find out,” Kory sighed. We all were thinking it, she just said it. Dick walked off in what I assume was an attempt to get out of earshot, but it didn’t work. For me, at least.

“I’m listening,” he answered the phone. He paused. “Whatever you want, killing Hank isn’t the way to get it.” He paused again. “Enough of the games. Tell me how we end this.” There was a longer wait this time. “This isn’t about the money for you. I could wire that right now and this would be all over.” Money? Why would Jason want money? “Never gonna happen,” Dick sighed. “What would she think of you doing this?” I knew exactly who “she” was. And “she” was not particularly happy that Dick was using her as a negotiation tactic. Seconds later, Dick hung up the phone. I realized my heart rate had quickened and my breathing became shallower. I tried to calm myself by using my breathing techniques, but it wasn’t working.

“He wants 50 million dollars in gold bars in return for deactivating the bomb,” Dick sighed, walking back over. My panic grew.

“Gold bars?” Hank echoed. “Did he have a white cat on his lap, too?”

“What did you tell him?” Dawn asked.

“Freaking N-O, I hope,” Hank said. “No way we negotiate with terrorists.” I closed my eyes and tried to will myself to get grounded. There was no way I was gonna have a full blown panic attack in front of people who didn’t even know I suffered from them. Besides, we had worse issues.

“So we’re just gonna call his bluff?” Dawn sighed. “Jason’s crazy!” My mind was racing.

“Where I come from, you come after family, we show no mercy,” Kory added. I felt like the conversation around me was a mile away and underwater.

“How much time do we have left?” Dick asked. I clutched my necklace and reminded myself of the breathing patterns my mom had taught me specifically for my panic attacks.

“The average resting heart rate is eighty beats per minute,” Dawn answered. I became more aware of my surroundings and took one last deep breath, thankful that was over.

“Mine’s a little closer to seventy-two,”Hank commented.

“Forty-three hundred beats per hour.” Dawn did the math.

“That’s less than four hours,” Kory sighed.

“Get him on a beta blocker drip,” I spoke up for the first time since figuring out the bomb’s countdown. Everyone looked at me, surprised I said anything. “It’ll slow down his heart rate and buy some more time.”

“Elana’s right,” Dick sighed before walking off. Dawn followed him. I exhaled sharply and put a reassuring hand on Hank’s shoulder.

“I’m sorry about this, Hank. You don’t deserve it,” I said.

“Don’t apologize. It’s not in any way your fault,” he told me. I nodded, but I guess I still looked a little unwell. “Hey, are you okay, kid?”

“Yeah, I’m fine. You’re the one that’s not. Try to get some rest, okay?” I covered.

“Got it.” Hank offered a smile that I returned halfheartedly before walking out. I headed upstairs to the kitchen where Bruce kept his medicine. I dug through the cabinets in search of Librium, the anxiety pill Dad had said I should take whenever I had an attack.

“Looking for this?” I turned around to see Dick holding my medicine.

“No, I have a headache. I’m looking for Tylenol,” I lied.

“Don’t lie, Elana. I know what an anxiety attack looks like,” he sighed.

“How could you tell?” I crossed my arms.

“Your eyes and your breathing. If I didn’t look as close as I did, I wouldn’t have noticed. You’re really good at hiding it.”

“I’ve been doing it for a while. It’s called practice,” I mumbled.

“How long?”

“Why should I tell you?”

“Because I’m trying to help. And I have something you need in my hand.”

I sighed and pursed my lips. “Once every two months for eight years,” I looked down.

“What?!” Dick exclaimed.

“It’s fine! It doesn’t happen a lot!” I defended.

“This is why I didn’t want to tell you,” he sighed, throwing me the pills. I popped one in my mouth and swallowed it.

“I’m not feeling like a lecture right now, thanks,” I said, walking past him. He grabbed my bicep and pulled me back a step.

“If you need to talk about this, I’m here,” he offered, calmer than he was a second ago.

“Yep.” I pulled out of his grip and headed upstairs. I got to my room and slammed the door shut. I grabbed my phone out of my pocket and dialed Jason’s number. It rang… and rang… and rang. He wasn’t picking up. Not because he didn’t see it, because he didn’t want to answer. I muttered a curse under my breath, running a hand through my hair.

I texted him with the words “we need to talk now”, but I doubted I’d get a response. I threw my phone down on the bed and grabbed a pillow. Bringing it to my face, I let out an frustrated scream. I chucked the pillow across the room and flopped, face down, onto my bed.

—————————

The others had moved Hank into a bedroom in the Manor to try to keep him calm and comfortable. I felt, in a way, that it was partially my fault. If I would’ve just brought Jason in or talked him down, this could’ve been avoided. To try to ease my guilty conscience, I went to talk to Hank.

“Hey,” I greeted, walking in.

“Hey yourself.” He smiled tiredly.

“How you feeling?” I asked, sitting down next to him on the bed.

“Top of my game,” he said.

“That is a lie.”

“Eh, I’ve been in worse situations.”

“Worse than having a bomb strapped to your chest?” I raised an eyebrow. “I doubt it.”

“Yeah, you’re probably right,” he sighed.

“But hey, we’ll figure something out. We always do,” I tried to convince him.

“Elana, we both know how this is gonna end.”

“Hank,” I groaned, “don’t talk like that. I lost Donna and Jason, I can’t lose you.”

“You know this isn’t your fault, right?”

“What? I didn’t say-“

“You didn’t have to. I know you, Lanes. You think everything is your fault.”

“This one might be.” I looked down. “I saw him, Jason, before he got to you and I didn’t do anything. We talked, but not about what he’s done. If I would’ve just-“

“Were you the one who put this bomb on my chest?” he cut me off. I shook my head. “Right. So this is not on you. Got it?”

“Yeah.” I gave a weak smile.

“I need you to do me a favor,” he said.

“Anything.”

“If I don’t make it-“

“Hank,” I cut him off.

“No, listen to me. I need you to do this.” He took a deep breath. “If I don’t make it, I need you to look after Dawn for me. Keep her in check. Don’t let this ruin her. The world needs Dove.”

“Yeah, I can do that,” I nodded. “But you’re gonna make it.”

“One more thing. Don’t beat yourself up too bad if this goes the wrong way. You’re a good kid with a whole life in front of you.”

“That might be a little harder, but I’ll try.” I smiled.

“Promise?”

“Pinky promise.” I held out my pinky and he laughed, but connected our pinkies.

“Do you remember when we snuck off to go after Liam Nells? Dick didn’t let us out of his sight for days,” Hank recalled.

“I believe he tried to get Bruce to ground me,” I laughed. “Dawn chewed us out for an hour straight.”

“He deserved it, though,” Hank pointed out. “You don’t get to screw up a relationship and then go after the other person for it.”

“I still don’t understand why we got in so much trouble. He was a jerk,” I sighed.

“Ah, the golden days.” Hank closed his eyes and smiled. We sat in silence as I willed myself not to break down.

“Well, I won’t keep you any longer.” I stood up and put a hand on his shoulder. “You should get some rest.”

“Come here, kid.” He opened his arms for a hug and I embraced him. I began to tear up, but squeezed my eyes shut as to not let any tears fall. I wouldn’t admit it, but the chances of him surviving were very slim. “Thanks for everything.” We let go. I looked at him one more time and smiled.

“Thank you, Hank.” I turned and headed out the door, a single tear streaming down my face. I kept walking down the hallway until I ran into Dick.

“Hey, Elana,” he greeted, but stopped upon seeing my face. “What’s wrong?”

“Nothing,” I shook my head.

“You went to talk to Hank, didn’t you?”

I sighed. “I figured I better say something to him just in case, but I’m not giving up yet.” Dick looked down at his watch. “We’re running out of time.”

“We’ll figure this out, we will,” Dick said. “I talked to Crane. He thinks Jason is doing this because of the fact that he wants a father figure. It wasn’t really that helpful, but I have Conner working on deactivating the bomb.”

“You put that on him? Dick, that’s a lot of pressure.” I crossed my arms.

“I’m also working on a way to fix this, so it’s not only on him.”

“Did you tell him that?”

His expression said it all. “No,” he said, trying to fake that he was sure of himself. I smirked and shook my head.

“I’m gonna go check on him,” I said. “No stupid decisions until I’m back.”

“Your the one that makes those kinds of decisions,” he said.

“I can name a whole lot of stupid decisions you’ve made. When I find time, I’ll write them down.” I smiled, walking backwards toward the clock room.

“Mhmm, come back when you’ve finished that,” he called after me.

After getting into the Cave, I found Conner working on the deactivator. “Hey, Conner,” I greeted.

“Hey, Elana,” he sighed, but smiled.

“Not going so well?” I asked, looking over his shoulder.

“Not really, no.”

“Don’t stress too much over it, you’re pretty brave for doing this. There’s not a lot of people that would. And this is a backup plan if all else fails. The rest of us are trying to figure something out.”

“I’ve been at it forever and I can’t figure this out.” Conner looked at me with sad eyes.

“Hey,” I put a hand on his shoulder, “you are incredibly smart, more so than, don’t tell anyone I said this, everyone else in this building. If anyone’s gonna figure this out, it’s gonna be you.”

“Thanks.” He smiled. “I, uh, was wondering if you’d look over the specs to see if you find anything that can help.”

“Sure.” I nodded. I sat down at the monitor and pulled up the schematics. I flipped through them as Conner continued to work. “Woah, these are pretty advanced,” I mumbled.

“Yeah, I’ve been trying tons of different combinations, but the success rate’s been all over the place,” Conner commented.

“It looks like there could be five possibilities for the central piece.” I set those three parts off to the side. “If you try out the same combinations around the five pieces, you might figure it out.”

“How did I not see that before? Thanks, Elana. That helps a ton.” He smiled, looking less defeated. “Oh, by the way, Dawn was looking for you.”

“Got it. I’ll go find her. Good luck Conner, I believe in you.”

“Thank you again, Lana.” I headed back up the stairs to try to find Dawn. Walking the hallways, I finally found her walking out of the room Hank was in. I noticed her teary eyes. Without saying anything, I pulled her into a hug. After a few bittersweet seconds, she pulled away.

“We can’t let him die,” she said quietly, drying her eyes.

“We won’t,” I said confidently.

“There’s only one thing we can do to stop it. We need that gold. Dick won’t do it and I don’t want to do it alone, but I will. Are you in?”

I nodded. “Yeah, without a doubt.”

—————————

Dawn and I crouched in the rafters of the Central Bank of Gotham’s parking garage. We watched as the van pulled in and the guards got out. There were five of them, armed with submachine guns. I looked at Dawn and she nodded. We dropped from the rafters, taking the guards by surprise.

I took the three to the left, Dawn had the two to the right. I grabbed the barrel of the first guy’s gun and threw it downward, then driving it up to hit the man in the chin for a knockout blow. The other two began shooting at me, so I had to duck for cover behind the van. Once their rounds had finished, I jumped out and threw a throwing star shallowly into each man’s leg. They groaned in pain. I took the opportunity to kick the back of one’s knees and swing him by the arm into the other guy. Their heads collided and they were both out cold.

I looked over at Dawn, who had finished off both of her guys, too. She nodded to me and I nodded back. We both walked over to the truck, seeing the keys to it laying there. Dawn pulled out her flip phone she used to contact Jason and dialed.

“Now what?” she asked into the phone. I tried to divert my attention elsewhere to try to forget who was on the other side of that call, but it didn’t work. “Just tell me where to meet,” Dawn sighed. After a few more seconds, she put the phone away. “He wants to meet alone.”

“No way! I’m not letting you go after him alone!” I exclaimed.

“If I don’t go alone, he could kill Hank,” she said.

“I guarantee you I’m smarter than him. I’ll just hide. He won’t know that I’m there,” I told her. “I just don’t want to see you get hurt.” She considered this for a second before sighing.

“Fine.”

“You won’t regret it, Dawn, I promise.”

—————————

Dawn went inside the alley space to meet Jason while I hung back on the outside of the building, out of view from anyone else, but able to see inside. It only took a minute of us being there for Jason to walk in. He was fully dressed in his Red Hood suit. I hadn’t seen it before. It looked pretty good to be honest.

“Where’s the deactivator?” Dawn demanded.

“In front of you.” I winced at his robotic voice. Dawn looked around and I did, too. She found something but I wasn’t quite sure what it was. “You’re wasting precious time.” I watched Dawn walk over to a box and tentatively pull out a small handgun.

“What the heck is this?” Dawn asked.

“I’ve got the deactivator as promised.” Jason held up that very item. “It engages as soon as I release my finger from the trigger.” I ran a hand through my hair in anxiousness. “You want to save Hank?” He took off his helmet. “All you have to do is kill me.” What the heck is he doing?

“What happened to you?” Dawn asked, exasperated.

“Same thing that happens to everybody- I grew up. You can, too. You just have to face your fear,” Jason said. “Batman did it. It’s easier than you think. Just pull the trigger and you’ll be free.” I moved to get ready to go in.

“You’re a jerk, Jason,” Dawn sighed.

“Yeah, well, we all get there eventually,” Jason said. “Oh, Hank’s gonna blow soon.” Not cool. “So who’s it gonna be, babe? Me or him?” Dawn pointed the gun up. I didn’t even think twice. I ran right in there.

Jason sighed and looked down upon seeing me. “You’re not supposed to be here.”

“What are you doing?” I demanded.

“What has to be done,” he responded. I looked into his eyes, but there was something missing. They were duller than earlier.

“Dawn,” I said warningly.

“You did this, not me,” Dawn said, ignoring me.

“Don’t,” I tried again. A bird-a-rang came out of nowhere and knocked the gun from Dawn’s hands and stuck in a post.

“Dawn,” Dick’s voice came from behind, “Don’t.”

“Who invited that guy?” Jason groaned.

“What did you do?” Dick asked. Dawn and Dick looked at each other for a couple more seconds before jumping for the gun. I watched, unsure of what to do, as they grappled for the weapon. I looked at Jason who had an amused smirk on his face and scoffed in disgust, shaking my head. The next thing I knew, Dawn was holding the gun at Jason.

“Dawn, don’t,” Dick warned. “This is what he wants.”

“Let him have it,” Dawn growled.

“You don’t want to do this,” I tried.

“Don’t tell me what I want! You’re just trying to protect him!” she accused. I was taken aback.

“I’m trying to protect you from making a mistake you can’t come back from,” I told her.

“She’s right. You can’t come back from this. We can save Hank another way,” Dick said.

“He’s lying, Dawn,” Jason said. I glared at him and he made eye contact with me. Those eyes weren’t the same eyes as earlier.

“Gar, talk to me,” Dick said into his comms. He paused. “Dawn, we’re almost there.” Dawn checked her wrist for Hank’s heartbeats left. I could guess it wasn’t too high.

“I can’t wait anymore,” Dawn breathed.

“This won’t fix anything,” I said.

“If you do this, he wins,” Dick added. “He won’t save Hank, he’s lying.”

“Hey, batboy, she’s a grown woman. Let her make her own decision,” Jason sneered. Dawn checked her watch again.

“Dawn,” I said softly. She didn’t listen. “Dawn, if you kill him, you’ll never be the same and you’ll have to live with that guilt forever. That’s not fun, believe me. Look, it doesn’t matter if it’s him you kill or some random person off the street, you’ll never be the same.” She began to breathe heavily. After a few seconds, Dick seemed to be hearing something through the comms.

“Dawn!” he shouted. But it was too late.

She pulled the trigger and I heard the click, expecting the worst. But a bullet never came out. She examined the gun as the deactivator in Jason’s started beeping. Then it dawned on me what he’d done.

“Oops, my bad. Looks like I gave you the detonator,” Jason laughed. I took a step back in shock, my mouth dropping open.

“No,” Dick breathed. We all looked down at the gun in astonishment, and the second we looked back at Jason, he was gone. Dick took the gun from Dawn.

“What happened?” she asked breathlessly. We looked at her sympathetically. “No. No, no, no,” she cried. My heart broke for her and for Hank. He was my family and she and him were always together. Sure they’d gone through a rough patch, but they’d always love each other. Everyone knew that. But now he was gone. I had to stop the tear in my eye from escaping as I put my hand comfortingly on Dawn’s shoulder after Dick had pulled her into a hug. What just happened?

—————————

I sat on the floor of my apartment bedroom against the bed, head down, hands gripping my hair. My eyes were red and my face was tear-stained. How could’ve I let this happen? kept echoing in my head. There was now a hole in the wall that I’d have to fix from my fist. The only reason there weren’t more is because I had switched to punching a pillow. My grief was like a roller coaster. First I was in denial, then I was furious, and now? I couldn’t put words to my sadness. Maybe if I had just turned Jason in, this wouldn’t have happened.

The soft creek of my bedroom window pulled me out of my thoughts. I didn’t even have to look to know who it was.

“Give me one reason why I shouldn’t kill you right here, right now,” I said through gritted teeth.

“Elana-“ Jason started.

“No.” I stood abruptly. “Don’t “Elana” me. You killed Hank today. What makes you think that you can walk in here and have everything magically be okay.”

“Elana, please,” he begged, “let me explain.” He took a step closer and reached out.

“Don’t touch me,” I growled, taking a step back and putting my hand up to distance him from me.

“I’m sorry, Elana. I-I don’t know what came over me. I shouldn’t have done that, I know,” he swallowed. His demeanor was completely different and his eyes had their brightness back. He wasn’t the sadistic, cocky villain that was in the alley four hours ago. “I just came to say that I’m sorry.”

Without a second thought, my hand flew to his face with a loud slapping sound. His head flew back, but he never retaliated. “You should be!” I snapped. “You murdered the man I consider family by strapping a freaking bomb to his chest! Are you insane?! That is Joker-level stuff!” I couldn’t help the tears that fell down my face. “He died painfully and alone and now I wonder if I had just taken you in before this whole thing started if he would still be alive,” my voice died down. “Oh, god.” By back hit the wall as I used it for support. I sank back down to the floor. “Why did you do it?” I asked quietly, raising my puffy eyes to look at his.

“I-I don’t know,” he said honestly, looking at the floor. I closed my eyes and leaned my head back. I felt a hand touch my own. I knew I should brush it off, but something about Jason’s touch made me feel safer. I couldn’t help the silent tears the rolled down my face. I hated crying. I was told when I was with the League that only the weak cry. I especially hated crying in front of other people.

Jason hesitantly wrapped his arms around me in a hug. I didn’t return it, but I didn’t stop it. I knew I should’ve pushed him away, told him to leave, but I just couldn’t. Like before, I felt safer when he was right there. He put a hand on the back of my head in a comforting way and I let my head dropped down on his shoulder. He gently stroked my hair as I tried to calm my breathing. Pulling away from him, I wiped my eyes.

“One more chance. Please, Elana, give me one more chance,” Jason said. I closed my eyes and dropped my head. “I swear, I will make it up to you. If I don’t, I’ll let you take me in. I promise.”

“Jay…”

“No, just hear me out. I want to change. I want to be better. If I mess up, you can throw me in Arkham. Just please, let me try,” he begged, grabbing my hands. “Please.” His eyes shone bright and desperate. I met his gaze and sighed.

“Fine, but if you mess this up, we’re done and I’ll personally escort you to prison,” I warned.

“Thank you. You won’t regret it,” Jason said excitedly.

“But for tonight, I need to be alone,” I said. He nodded.

“Yeah, I- I assumed. I’ll see you later then?” This time, I was the one that nodded. He gave a weak smile, disappearing out the window.

I curled back into myself and reburied my head in my hands. I should’ve said no. I should’ve taken him in right then. I just couldn’t bring myself to. What did I just do?

[luvrott]

𝗳𝗮𝘁𝗲; 𝘆𝗲𝗼𝗻𝗯𝗶𝗻

𝗴𝗶𝗳 𝗰𝗿𝗲𝗱𝘀 : onemessylibra

synopsis : yeonjun didn't believe in fate, but soobin did.

CHAPTER 3 : taehyun !!

chapter two & chapter four !!

masterlist !!

♥︎

yeonjun rolled over in his bed and grabbed his phone off of his night stand. he didn't have any notifications, but his alarm was going off.

"shh, c'mon!" he tried pressing the stop button but it wasn't working. he slapped the screen repeatedly and a few seconds later, the alarm stopped, left on snooze. yeonjun rolled his eyes, now awake, with a splitting headache.

he turned off his alarm, not giving it another chance to be annoying and ring once the snooze time ended, and laid face down in the bed. he thought about saturday night again, but ultimately ended up rolling his eyes and getting in the shower. these bills weren't going to pay themselves.

after he finished getting ready, yeonjun left his apartment and walked to his job, the "thrift" store, as people referred to it. he usually walked with hueningkai, but he was coming in a bit later than usual today.

yeonjun used the keys to open the door and went to the back of the building. he checked the listings for today (some clients came in for people to help them with choosing clothing, specially designing clothing, etc. they had to make sure the people that specialized in those catergories were there on those days.) he put on the company hat along with his name tag. employees could dress how they wanted (as long as it followed the dress code), but those two items were required.

yeonjun skimmed through the list of clients for today once more and walked back to the front of the building. hueningkai was there, waiting to be let in.

yeonjun rushed to the door and let him in. "sorry i wasn't there to greet you before you arrived. i was looking at todays listings. not too many today. i thought you were coming in later..."

"oh, its fine. and i just got kinda bored. only half-an-hour early... so what do we need to do?"

"oh, we should probably wipe down the crafting table and such. and then we have to restock the shelves because they didn't do it at yesterday's night shift. check the dressing rooms for leftover clothes the nightshift might have forgotten... the usual."

"okay. i'll check the dressing rooms first."

yeonjun gasped, suddenly remembering something. "ALSO, remember, next week is the meeting for the new partner. we have to be there. if it goes well, we'll have truck a few days after." :')

"everyone in staff has to be there?"

"no, just a few managers."

"don't the bosses, or higher ups or whatever, usually handle that stuff?"

"yeah, but they selected a handful of us at different stores to go in. you and i were chosen because minghao said we had an 'eye for fashion'."

"oh. well, he owns the company. he'd know. i'll wipe down the sewing and crafting tables, after. you can restock all the clothes."

hueningkai hated restocking clothes; he hated that there were multiple articles of the same clothing. yeonjun suspected he had a minor individuality complex, but he never really brought it up.

"okay. oh, another reminder; the new customization machine arrives some time today, and i have no idea what it looks like or how it works. the others will be here soon, too."

- - -

the store opened a few hours later and people came walking in, looking around. the six staff members helped many people, and a familiar face walked in.

"oh my god, i know you!"

taehyun looked around, pointing to himself in question. "me?"

"yes! oh god, you probably don't recognize me. i'm yeonjun! i was close friend's with beomgyu in high school. he had the biggest crush on you, but i was totally skeptical. my bad for that; i definetly thought you were a catfish for a while."

taehyun chuckled, walking up to yeonjun. "up close, i kind of recognize you. your face structure and hair kinda changed, but yeah, i recognize you. you lost your chubby cheeks..."

yeonjun smiled. "oh my god, its crazy that you're here. of all places! okay, sorry, i'm getting ahead of myself. what are you here for?"

"oh, i have a scheduled appointment. its under the name tae..."

yeonjun smiled. "i never would've guessed it was you."

taehyun sat with yeonjun, discussing the style he was going for and all of his measurements. yeonjun gave him a few ideas, showing him clothing that was already there, and soon enough he was trying on clothes. he found a few articles of clothing he liked and went up to purchase them.

"and hey, if you ever want a custom piece, just schedule another appointment or order from our website!" yeonjun said cheerfully at the register.

"oh, okay. thanks!"

yeonjun nodded his head, watching hueningkai attend to the other customers.

"you know, i'm not even that serious about clothes. but beomgyu seems to have taken an interest in it. i wanted to dress up and see if he'd like it.."

yeonjun smiled. "i swear, you two are adorable. you know, the crazy thing is that i just ran into him the other day. did you guys just get to seoul?"

"yeah, we arrived a few days ago. we're staying with my aunt for now, but we're looking for apartments to move into."

"oh my god, my apartment complex has a few apartments open for renting! hold on, let me write down the name."

yeonjun grabbed a sticky note and wrote down the name of his apartment complex.

"oh my god, thank you so much ! it'd be so nice to have neighbors we know."

"no problem! hueningkai actually lives in the same complex, too."

"oh, yeah, i remember him! hopefully we all can hang out and get to know each other."

"oh, that'd be cool!"

yeonjun finished checking taehyun's items out. taehyun handed him the money he owed and walked out, waving slowly. "bye~ i'm glad i could have a conversation with you."

-

"hey, guys,  i'm gonna have to head out. my headache is..."

he stumbled a bit, but the others were so busy with customers that they didn't notice. yeonjun pulled himself together and left the building, speed walking home.

-

when yeonjun got home, he went under his covers and took a deep breath. he'd encountered two people of his past.

maybe its a sign...

he shook his head. he wasn't the kind of person to believe in fate, and things associated with that. it just isn't real.

meeting these people from his past didn't mean he was going to somehow bump into him.

yeonjun thought about the concept of fate before slowly drifting to sleep, his headache worsening.

:::::::::::::::::::::::::::::

end of ch 3 !! :)

notes;

this is a very "trust the process" kind of fic

[gladerwolfstarkimagines]

Zuko x Kyoshi Warrior Series: Part Two

After capturing one another’s attention you and the Firelord spend more time together. Your warrior sisters begin to suspect there’s something between the two of you and you begin to believe them, cautiously accepting they may be correct but you’re not the only one who has noticed how Zuko acts around you.

Part one here

Part three here

Part Four here

Part Five here

Part Six here

Tag list: @daddystevee​

___

The next day you were very excited for your meeting with Zuko . You weren’t foolish enough to pretend this was a date or anything romantic but you were happy to have formed a bond. You couldn’t wait for the evening and were excitedly apprehensive all morning. You involuntarily held your breath as Zuko passed your post outside his study, wondering how he’d greet you but he was deep in conversation with his advisor and didn’t seem to notice you. No problem you told yourself, he is Firelord after all. He was just busy. It didn’t mean anything. However as the hours passed and you saw Zuko several more times without even a look of recognition your spirit began to plummet. Had you overestimated yesterday? Was Zuko having second thoughts at wanting to see you this evening or maybe it had been a spur of the moment thing to get to know his staff better? Either way you returned from your shift a lot moodier than when you left and Suki noticed. You explained the situation briefly, leaving out the museum trip and acted as if you were simply confused about the plans for tonight. Truthfully you didn’t know where to meet Zuko or many other details. Suki assured you she’d sort it discreetly and left for her shift. Suki really was a miracle worker. She sent you a note half an hour later explaining how Zuko still wanted to see you. Apparently he’d even cleared part of his day to make sure there would be no interruptions. It would take place in his study and you didn’t have to wear your uniform. Feeling reassured you dressed casually and made your way to his office. You felt exposed without your armour and face paint but Zuko had said this wasn’t work so you didn’t need to dress official. You knocked on the door, right on time, and Zuko called to come in. Zuko was alone except for your fearless leader Suki. Aware of the fact you weren’t completely alone so should use titles, you bowed  "Firelord Zuko".

As you had your head down you didn’t notice Zuko’s reaction to seeing you out of uniform for the first time but Suki did. She saw the way Zuko’s eyes widened in surprise and a smirk formed on her face as he blushed slightly when you met his eye.

“Good evening, am I too early or is now okay?” you asked. Zuko stared for a few seconds before he stood up “no now is perfect, please come in” he said gesturing to the seats across from his desk. “Can we finish this tomorrow morning please Suki?” he asked the lead Kyoshi Warrior and she nodded “of course sir” and made her way to the door. Suki smiled at you as she passed and you struggled not to blush remembering you didn’t have your makeup to hide behind. “Take any seat you’d like” Zuko called noticing you hesitate for which one of the many to choose. You took one across from him and tried to act casual, like it was every day the Firelord invited you to share your opinions with him. Zuko packed away some loose papers and you sat watching him, resisting the urge to fidget. “So have you had a good day?" you asked awkwardly. Zuko seemed to appreciate the question and smiled "actually it's been rather manic. That's why I wasn’t able to get word to you sooner and i’m sorry about that, I bet you thought I was awfully rude or flaky". You shook your head "no at all, I hope you resolved the chaos". He winced "yes we did just about, how was your day?" he asked and you smiled. Your mother had always told you, you could tell a person had good manners when they returned that greeting and asked how you were too. Most high born people lacked the manners for such civil conversation etiquette, especially with people who worked for them, but not the Firelord apparently. "Good, I had work and then spent the day doing errands before this". Zuko nodded "I'm pleased you’re enjoying your life here and I'm not too awful a charge". "Not at all" you replied and Zuko’s smile grew more. "Would you like some tea?" he asked suddenly gesturing to a tray beside him and you nodded standing up to help but Zuko waved you away. "No allow me" Zuko smiled "I worked in a tea shop for a while so I should be good at it". "No?" you asked thinking he was joking but his smile wasn’t mischievous "I promise it’s true, so this brings back old memories". You smiled watching him and Zuko set down the cup before looking at you "i must admit this is a little odd for me as it’s the first time I've seen you outside of your warrior paint and uniform. You look rather different". You blushed automatically wondering if it was a good or bad different "ow?". Zuko picked up on your cautious tone "not odd in a bad way I assure you! I’m just surprised about some small things, for example I didn’t realise your hair was so long and wavy or how golden your skin is". You blushed "yes the makeup is good for disguising ourselves and making us all appear very similar. I was impressed you could tell me apart from all the warriors the other day in our room”. Zuko shook away your compliment "your eyes are very distinctive. They are larger than your other sisters and a very striking shade of green. I couldn’t confuse you for anyone else and that’s the thing I noticed again when you walked in here this evening. It’s what made me sure it was indeed you. They’re very unique".  You blushed again unsure what to say to something so direct and Zuko coughed realising "so, the matter of the jewels. My first thought was to try and return all the items to the earth king and water tribe leaders but I wondered your thoughts on the matter. Do you think that would be enough and if that is not possible what would be best?".

You and Zuko discussed potential options for an hour before deciding on a final plan. After that you figured you’d go home but Zuko looked at the clock and smiled "now that's over how about some food?". You paused "together?". He nodded "of course! I know you're giving up your personal time to be here and so I will give you due royal treatment. I've had the chef prepare some Earth Nation food if you’d like to join me? But I understand this was heavy so of course if you’d rather retire I can have the food sent to your room instead?". You shook your head "no I was just surprised that's all. I'd love to not have to cook". Zuko laughed "then right this way". He led you to a dining room that was already set up for two and you eyed all the finery with wide eyes. Zuko gestured to a seat and you took it. You spotted two of your warrior sisters on guard and although they smiled at you, you felt awkward having them on duty while you dined with royalty. "Firelord Zuko I am not sure if i can join you" you said softly "I feel guilty having my warrior sisters work while I’m here, we are all equals and I fear this upsets that balance". Zuko frowned "hmmm so if they weren’t guarding us it would be okay?". You nodded and went to clarify your sisters shouldn’t just be sent away and lose their shift when Zuko stood up "warriors please take the evening off with full pay of course". They both bowed to Zuko and retreated "does that make you feel better?" he asked. You nodded, pleasantly surprised, "a lot thank you Zuko". Zuko smiled as you said his name "you know what, let's serve ourselves as well. That way none of the servants will miss out on a night off". He did the rounds telling all the servants to take the night off with pay and turned back to you "now it feels more normal. Just two young people having dinner". You smiled touched "yes" although normal was a word you would never use to describe Zuko.

Through dinner Zuko asked you multiple questions to get to know you better. Were you a bender, did you have siblings, what was your family like, why were you drawn to art so much, did you miss the Earth Nation. He genuinely took an interest in you and you in him. He was far more than just a Firelord and soon hours slipped by without you noticing. Zuko eventually checked the time and paused "y/n I’m really enjoying this but I did not realise how late it is. I should retire soon as I am up early in the morning to meet with some nobel dignitaries. I apologise for being rather boring but I must sadly end it here". You smiled “don’t apologise and you’re one of the least boring men I've ever met". Zuko blushed and you wondered if you’d gone too far but he just smiled "thank you y/n the feeling is mutual. Now about our trip to the gallery. I'm afraid I am busy in the close future so it will have to be a little later than ideal. How is next weekend?". You froze, when he said later you figured it’d be next month or later atleast. For him to arrange it so soon meant he really wanted to meet with you and was making time for you. He was serious about this trip and actually wanted it to take place, it wasn’t just a courtesy or an empty promise. "However, I know you do not have work next weekend as I checked with Suki so if you’d rather take the weekend for yourself we could arrange another date". You shook your head "no i’d be in the gallery anyway so I'd love to show you around". Zuko smiled "then next saturday it is! Thank you for tonight y/n I really appreciate it and had a good time". You nodded "I did too" and meant it. Zuko led you to your room despite your protests and bid you goodnight once more outside the door. “Goodnight y/n and I’m looking forward to next Saturday”. “Me too” you smiled and with a bow you separated. You stumbled inside to find some of your warrior sisters had been spying on you. “Next Saturday?” one of them cried “y/n did the Firelord ask you for a second date?”. “It wasn’t a date!” you cried and the girl rolled her eyes. “Y/n we all know it wasn’t just business. Foko and Soh Ba saw him take you to dinner, they were on guard when you came into the room”. You looked to your two warrior sisters who nodded adamantly and you blushed. “He was just being nice i’m sure”. Your sisters all began to mutter in disagreement and their smiles got wider “y/n why can’t you just entertain the notion the Firelord likes you?”. You played with your hair nervously “because it’s too odd a notion. You all know I find him attractive but he’s so unobtainable as the Firelord. I don’t want to entertain such things because if they’re not true then that will be rather painful”. The smiles on your sister’s faces vanished and they all rushed to comfort you. “We were only teasing y/n but the Firelord does seem very fond of you”. “It’s difficult because he’s a very kind person anyway. Did Foko and Soh Ba tell you he gave everyone working tonight the night off with pay? Sometimes it’s hard to remember he’s the man in charge of the wealthiest country in the four nations, he just not what i expected at all”. “We’re all very surprised by him” your sisters nodded “but y/n just promise us you won’t talk yourself out of anything with him. We’re not saying he’s in love with you or a proposal is around the corner but the two of you do seem very compatible and he smiles a lot around you. Don’t say no to anything just because you’re scared of where it will go”. You were nervous about things with Zuko but you always felt stronger around your fellow warriors so you nodded “I promise”.

The next week passed by rather quickly. You had a few chats with Zuko whenever you were working on a shift that brought you into direct contact with him. He also came to find you directly after he broke it off with Urila and you felt pleased he classed you as a friend enough to confide in you about something so sensitive. Apparently the breakup had been pleasantly civil and Zuko definitely seemed relieved it was over so you knew it was the right decision. Finally the day of the museum trip arrived and it was a beautiful sunny afternoon so you decided to wear a yellow dress you’d been meaning to wear for months but never had the occasion. Zuko was meeting you there so you travelled the familiar path to the gallery excited and nervous. The guards at the entrance let you through and made a path to Zuko for you. Zuko was stood at the top of the steps and paused when he spotted you "y/n?". You squinted in the sun trying to make out Zuko’s features as you got closer "yes it's me, why?". "Nothing" Zuko said blushing but the sun blocked you from noticing. You arrived at the top of the steps and Zuko returned your smile. "You look lovely, your dress is very nice" Zuko complimented you and this time you blushed and very obviously. "Thank you I thought it would be nice to dress up and with such lovely weather...I like your hair" you commented noting how Zuko had it down. It was the first time you’d seen it not in a bun or ponytail and it looked very nice. Rather wild but if anything that made him look all the more handsome. He touched the strands that fell to his chin self-consciously "ow yeah? I thought seeing as this isn’t formal business i’d try and be a little less Firelord and a little more Zuko". You smiled "I like that but Firelord you is good too". Zuko smiled pleased and slightly flustered so he just gestured to the hall "shall we go in?".

This time the visit was a lot nicer. You talked to Zuko about some of the history but as a pleasant surprise he’d also done some research of his own so he could debate ideas with you which was a nice touch. After exploring all your favourite exhibits you ended the trip with a visit to the large stained glass window. You led Zuko up the staircase and stood back, eager to see his reaction. Zuko’s eyes fell on the large window and the minute he looked up he froze midsentence "wow". You smiled at his reaction and stared too "it’s beautiful isn’t it?". He nodded "it really is...how have I never seen this before?". Zuko showed no sign of wanting to move so you located a spare bench and lightly pulled him towards it "shall we sit?". Zuko nodded and gazed at the window for a while longer before he turned to you "thank you for telling me about this place y/n, I can understand why you come here so often, I can imagine just sitting here peacefully for hours". You smiled "you're welcome, it's definitely become my favourite place in the Fire Nation and well anywhere". "Really?” Zuko asked and you blushed "don’t get me wrong the palace is lovely and of course I love Kyoshi Island but there's something so peaceful about sitting here in the art...so relaxing". Zuko nodded "I agree and don’t worry I'm not offended. I hate how the palace feels". You laughed shocked "you do?". Zuko nodded "it's so cold and full of old memories. I'm hoping to change that and you've given me an idea as to how". You were going to ask what Zuko meant when a man approached bowing. You recognised him as the museum director and explained that to Zuko. "Firelord it's an honour to have you in my museum, thank you very much for paying us a visit" he said bowing once more and Zuko smiled telling him to stand. "The honour is all mine plus it’s the wonderful lady beside me you should be thanking. Y/n here is the one who told me about your museum". The man turned and examined your face "you look familiar...you're here often aren’t you? Usually in your warrior outfit". You smiled "yes that is me". “Well thank you very much for giving us such a glowing review. You’re welcome in the museum anytime. I’ll make sure you’re placed on the VIP list and of course you as well Firelord and now i’ll leave you to enjoy the window” and he bowed leaving. “I’m on the VIP list!” you cried and Zuko chuckled at how happy you were.

Zuko didn’t want to repeat his date with Urila so he didn’t suggest dinner outside. Instead you sat in the cafe, ate cake and just talked and talked. Zuko spent all day with you and then together you walked back to the palace. "I've never been interested in art but with you it’s infectious" Zuko admitted as you neared the palace gates. "In a good way I hope?" you asked and Zuko nodded "in a very good way". You smiled and Zuko paused to greet the guards who opened the gates before he carried on "I'd love to do this again but I understand there’s only so many times you can go to the same museum so I've been researching other museums that have strong ethical policies and there are a few scattered across the Fire Nation. Would you like to visit some with me?". Your heart leapt in pleasant surprise and you smiled "really? I'd love to!". Zuko grinned "great! Obviously it's a bigger deal than a day out so we'll have to plan it more strategically meaning it likely won’t be until next month is that okay?". You nodded "of course and thank you for doing this. It's so nice to feel like the Firelord genuinely cares about this.  At first I just thought you were indulging me to be polite but now I just see it's the type of person you are". Zuko blushed but was smiling pleased "of course I wasn’t just indulging you. You're a very interesting person and I like being around you" . You blushed but nodded "I like being around you too". Zuko smiled "that is good to hear" and you both blushed like idiots.

After that you got a flutter in your chest every time you saw Zuko and felt the feeling might be mutual. You noticed Zuko blushing a few times when you were together and caught him watching you a fair amount of times. He had your trip scheduled for three weeks time but saw you regularly both at work and in his free time. You’d walk through the gardens together or join him in the evenings for his nightly tea. You were both becoming important fixtures in each other's lives and you couldn’t be happier...until an old face threatened the balance.

Ty lee was now officially a Kyoshi Warrior. For the past year she’d been on the island finishing off her training and now she’d graduated she joined you all in the Fire Nation to start her new job. You were happy to see her initially, bygones had long since become bygones and you weren’t mad she’d worked with Azula to take you down and send all of you to prison, but then she mentioned how just before this she’d been on vacation with Mai. You’d completely forgotten the two of them were best friends and wondered if having Ty lee around would be awkward.  

You knew everyone was shocked when Mai and Zuko broke up, Ty lee probably included and had heard a lot of people say how the two of them were soulmates and would eventually get back together. Was Ty lee of this opinion? Did she want Mai and Zuko to get back together? Once she heard the way your warrior sisters insinuated you and Zuko liked one another would she intervene? Tell Mai? Convince her to come back and fight for Zuko?

You liked Zuko a lot but had no solid proof Zuko liked you back and had no idea how you’d compete with a rich, beautiful deadly girl like Mai who Zuko had conveniently been in love with not so long ago.

So needless to say you were a bit on edge around Ty lee and tried to avoid her. You knew she was good at disguising how she really felt and that worried you greatly but the whole situation was taken out of your hands.

It was your warrior sister Tolan’s birthday and everyone was going into the capital city to celebrate. You’d already spent time with her that day because you had the graveyard shift tonight and couldn’t join them but your sisters tried to persuade you. You told them for the millionth time you couldn’t because you had work and several of them rolled their eyes giving you knowing smirks. "Ow come on y/n we all know the Firelord will let you off for sure" one of your warrior sisters called "you're his favourite for obvious reasons". You blushed as all the girls laughed and another one shushed them. “Duh why do you think he chose her for this shift? It’s so they can be alone together”. You blushed vividly and another jumped in. “Plus sorry Tolan but you know y/n wouldn’t get out of it even if she could, because then she and Zuko wouldn’t get to check each other out a thousand times an hour". "Stop it" you cried but a small smile was on your face as the thought of Zuko liking you. It was then you realised Ty lee was also in the room. She hadn't joined in the conversation and was just watching looking rather confused. She noticed you watching her and you darted your eyes away "well either way I have to go" and you walked away swiftly. Now for better or worse Ty lee knew.

You tried to monitor Ty lee’s behaviour the next few days but couldn’t spot anything odd or different. Still she was great at putting on a mask so that did nothing to ease your worries and the tension between the two of you got worse and worse. When it got so bad it affected your sleep and eating habits you confided to Suki about your worries. While she didn’t think you had anything to fear she did manage to keep the two of you on separate guard shifts and separated you as much as possible. Still there were times where it wasn’t possible for you to avoid one another. During such time you noticed Ty lee watching you and it killed you wondering why. On one occasion you took over a shift from her and Zuko smiled widely, coming over to talk to you immediately. You noticed Ty lee watching this as she headed for the door and she only stopped when she realised you were staring back. Zuko would also occasionally visit you in your quarters with books he’d told you about or to get your opinion on things and Ty lee always seemed to catch the two of you. She obviously knew Zuko so he'd greet her and then there would be an awkward pause before you both waited for her to leave.

One day you were in your room when Ty lee came to tell you Zuko wanted to see you. "Y/n your...I mean the...Zuko wants you" she babbled trying to find the right words "i mean Firelord Zuko requests your presence". You blushed but nodded "thanks" and hurried there. You were going on your museum trip the next day and Zuko just wanted to confirm you knew the time to meet him at the airfield and to go through the weekend plan so you returned 15 minutes later to find the common room empty apart from Ty lee. Silence hung in the air as you closed the door and you both looked at one another before looking away. Ty lee sighed "I'm sorry for earlier I didn’t mean to...i mixed up my words". You shrugged "it's fine honestly". Ty lee frowned "I promise I didn’t mean anything by it". You nodded "don’t worry about it I...i get why you’d be awkward, not that there’s anything to be awkward about but you don’t have to explain yourself to me is what I'm saying" you blushed. Ty lee frowned and hesitated before deciding to just say what she was thinking. "Y/n I'm really sorry things have been awkward between us. I didn't mean them to be and I promise they don’t have to be. It’s honestly fine! I don’t mind that you’re Zuko’s new girlfriend and I know Mai would feel the same way". You blushed "well I'm not even dating Zuko we’re just friends". Ty lee smiled "well I can see that's a lie! You're both clearly infatuated and trust me i’ve known Zuko since he was seven so I can tell when he has a crush. He’s crazy about you y/n". You were blushing like crazy but felt happy "thanks Ty lee this was a lot better than I thought it’d be, I'm glad we did this". Ty lee nodded "me too" and squeezed your hand before disappearing.

You had your best night’s sleep in weeks that night because now you knew Ty lee wasn’t a dangerous obstacle you had to overcome and also because you officially had a new warrior sister. The morning came quickly and the day you’d been waiting for was finally here. Your weekend away with Zuko had arrived.

_____

So this was supppper long but I put the read more thing in and I promise the next parts aren’t short novels, I just couldn’t work out how to cut this one down/didn’t really want to.

Also I like including my own activism and moral issues I think are important in my writing and I think it worked pretty well here. 

Part 3 will be coming soon!

[wri0thesley]

A Well Rounded Education (2): Grading Boundaries (Fem!Reader x Nanami Kento, 7.5k)

series synopsis: You are a teacher’s aid to teacher Gojo Satoru, training to be able to take over your own class next year by shadowing and helping him out. Gojo does not make things easy for anybody.

chapter synopsis: the father of one of your students requested a meeting to ask about ways of improving his son’s grades. after working with him for a few weeks, nanami wants to thank you for helping yuji out in his own personal way. 

NSFW. AFAB reader, fem pronouns. oral sex (male on female and female on male), massage, nanami is just a gentleman after toji tbh.

(a well rounded education m.list and navigation)

1.

You oversleep the next morning and for the first time since beginning your work as Gojo’s teaching aid, the other man is at his desk before you manage to rush into the classroom. He’s relaxed, arms behind his head, feet up on the desk – and when he sees you, he gives you a cheery wave and a grin.

“Found this on the floor this morning!” He says to you, using his thumb to flip you something small and round that you only manage to catch through sheer dumb luck. You stare down at the thing you’re cradling in your palm; one of the round buttons from your blouse, that you guess you missed after Toji had left and you’d had to try and pull yourself together.

““S-sorry about that,” you babble, your mind working eighty miles a minute to think of a proper excuse. “I-it got caught on my jacket when I was getting ready to leave last night, I wondered where it had gotten to--”

“How’d the meeting with Tsumiki go?”

“Huh?” You ask, blinking down at the button still, trying to fight the heat that is crawling up your face as you shove the accusing object into the pocket of your neatly tailored jacket. “Oh! It wasn’t Tsumiki. It was Mr Fushiguro, actually. M-Megumi’s father?”

There’s a pause in the air, almost as if it’s rippling with tension. When you look up, Gojo is staring at you, his eyes implacable behind dark lenses.

“I see,” he says. “That’s unusual.”

“I gave him all the paperwork, explained the probation and everything,” you hurry to say, almost tripping over your words. You don’t like the way he’s staring at you, and you find yourself shifting from foot to foot, hoping you don’t look like someone who let their student’s father rail you over their boss’ desk. “Megumi’ll be back in school next week, and hopefully nothing like this will happen again--”

“Mm,” Gojo says. You’ve never heard him sound that serious before, ignoring the chance to poke a little fun. His voice usually pitches and modulates, laughing, before he cracks some kind of inane joke that makes you and half the class wince. “I’ve got a meeting tonight, by the way. I was hoping you’d sit in with me.”

“Please don’t palm off more of your dirty work on me,” you say to him, as you go over to your own little makeshift table in the corner of your room and begin to rifle through your bag for the things you’ll need for the day. “To-- Mr Fushiguro was kind of scary, honestly.”

“Oh, it’s nothing like that!” Gojo waves your worries away with a hand, immediately dismissing it. “No, it’s Yuji’s dad – he wants to talk about his grades, I think? I said I don’t think it really matters, and he got really quiet and kind of angry on the phone with me.” Gojo shrugs. Of course Gojo said something like that. You’re not sure Gojo himself has ever worried about something in his life. “Honestly, he’s a. . . businessman type. Very serious! I just want someone to diffuse the tension a bit!” Gojo grins at you. “So you’re my human shield!”

Right.

Far be it for you to think that Gojo might have an educational reason for wanting you to sit in on this meeting. Still . . . you really like Yuji. You know that sometimes his inability to understand things frustrates him – he’s constant energy, and his mind just can’t keep up with the pace of the rest of him. You’d like to help where you can! And you know that Gojo’s probably not going to be able to offer any helpful advice – his classes might work for some kids, and Yuji does really like him, but that’s a boy who would probably benefit from some individualised attention and someone a little quieter.

You don’t like the idea of him with a father who pushes him academically and doesn’t care about his other achievements. Biting your lip, you nod, busying yourself with laying out the pens on your desk and flicking through one of your training books to see if there’s anything about meetings with parents. This one, you think and hope, is definitely not going to end up the same way yesterday’s meeting did.

There’s a kind of nervous energy in Yuji all day. He drops his pen, he shoots you agonised looks until you come over to check his work, and as everyone is milling out to go to lunch, he comes to stand in front of you, kicking his toe on the floor. You smile at him, seeing how he’s vibrating, rocking on the balls of his feet – hoping that the smile might at least calm him down some.

“My Dad’s meeting with Mr Gojo tonight,” Yuji eventually blurts. Without Megumi in class to tamper down some of his more bombastic nature, Yuji’s voice pitches and wavers. “I’m-- Mr Gojo doesn’t care about grades, but my Dad’s like, ‘you should apply yourself more, you have it in you’ and . . . and I guess I’m worried?” He brings a finger to his chin, dwelling on the thought. The way he says it, it’s almost like he’s not usually aware of the idea of ‘worry’ – oh, to be a twelve year old boy!

“I know,” you say, after a proper time has elapsed to make Yuji think you’ve really dwelt on the situation. You reach into your own bag to pull out the carefully prepared lunch you have in there – you could go to the staff-room, but honestly, you’re still feeling a bit wobbly after last night’s events and you don’t want to go around into the hum of people who’ll gather you up into bubbles of small talk. “If it makes you feel any better, I’m sitting in on the meeting too.” You hope your smile is reassuring. “It’s not going to be all doom and gloom, I promise.”

That actually . . . does seem to soothe Yuji.

“My grades are really bad,” he says. “I just . . . I’m not smart, y’know? Megumi knows all this stuff, and I’m just . . . dumb.”

“Being good at school stuff isn’t everything,” you say to Yuji. “You’ve got your own talents. Look at you on the sports field!” He blushes in the way young boys do when they’re being complimented by anybody, a kind of awkward ‘oh, shucks, don’t make me think that I’m good at anything’. You smile. “I’m sure your Dad understands that too.”

“Oh, he does!” Yuji’s eyes widen. You feel a little lock around your chest loosen, just a bit. There’s hero worship clear in Yuji’s eyes now. “He just thinks I should live up to my . . . what’s he call it? Full potential!” He twists his lip, and then leans in, conspiratorially. “He doesn’t like Mr Gojo. He doesn’t think he’s serious.”

Despite yourself, your lips curve into a smile. You aren’t going to trash talk your colleague to a kid that you’re in charge of, but all of the other staff just seem to roll their eyes and let Satoru Gojo get on with whatever he’s doing because apparently he was a prodigy at college or something. It’s nice to know at least someone is on your side, even if you’ll hopefully only ever see him once or twice during your whole year here.

“Don’t worry,” you say to Yuji. “I’ll try and handle it. Now, you should go! All the other boys look like they’re about to play a game of football--”

Yuji’s eyes brighten and he grins, turning away immediately, mind quickly flitting to something more pressing. He shouts a goodbye and a thank you to you even as he’s racing out of the door, almost too fast to be believed.

2.

Kento Nanami (Itadori is his ex-wife’s name, he tells you with a sigh, but the name that Yuji was born with and he’s reluctant to have it changed) is very obviously a businessman, in a well-pressed grey suit and a navy shirt, a yellow tie tight to his throat. He’s wearing suspenders beneath the jacket, an expensive watch on his wrist, and a pair of small glasses perched on a sharp nose. A solemn face, sculpted jaw. He has cheekbones that you think could cut fucking diamonds into pieces, a wave of carefully styled blonde hair over a proud forehead--

What the fuck is going on at this school that it seems like all of the dads are so hot? You do your level best not to look at him too much, as Gojo introduces you and he shakes your hand. He looks at you with his eyes narrowed just a touch; you think he’s trying to get the measure of you, and whether you’re just going to be here to back up Gojo. There’s an air of tiredness to this man that suggests he will not take any of your colleague’s nonsense, and that thought bolsters you when he puts down his briefcase and neatly folds his hands on his lap, looking from you to Gojo.

“I want to talk about Yuji’s grades,” he says, “and how we can help him improve them.”

You like him already. The way he says ‘we’ instead of ‘you’ – the withering gaze that he sets on Gojo, as the white-haired man stretches his arms out above him.

“I told you on the phone,” Gojo says. “They’re just grades--”

“Grades that will follow Yuji throughout his career in this school, and eventually to high school, and eventually to college,” Nanami’s voice is very sure of itself, cutting through Gojo with ease. “I just want to ensure that he has the best chance possible. I want to make sure he’s living up to himself.”

Gojo – fucking Gojo – stifles a yawn behind his hand, and you see that Nanami’s hand flexes on his thigh (wow, his hands are big). You cut across before the two of them can come to blows.

“Yuji’s a bright boy,” you say. “He just needs . . . a little extra help. Someone to sit with him and explain what’s going on, maybe just go over the material again.” You give Nanami a nervous smile. “He’s not the only one in the class, honestly. I-- Mr Gojo’s teaching methods can be--”

“Innovative—” (Gojo says).

“Erratic—” (Nanami says).

“Unusual,” you decide on, in the end, “and not every child is going to thrive.”

“He won’t let me ask them to move into Miss Utahime’s class,” Nanami says, wearily. “Yuji is very fond of Mr Gojo.”

(You know that, and so does Gojo; the white-haired man gives a cocky grin to both of you).

“I enjoy teaching Yuji,” you say. “He’s good-hearted, enthusiastic – he throws himself into everything he does.” Nanami’s tired eyes seem to brighten behind the glasses at the compliment to his son, his lips lifting at the corners in the briefest twitch of a smile.

“He does,” Nanami says, and it’s clear from his tone that he’s very proud of Yuji. You feel bad for thinking he might be the kind of pushy, demanding father that you’d been warned you may encounter in this profession. With Nanami in front of you, it’s clear he just wants the best for Yuji and is concerned that Gojo might not be that ‘best’. You can’t blame him. You often think Gojo behaves more like a child than half of the kids in the class. “Yes, those are all of his best qualities.”

You nervously shift your gaze to Gojo, who is waiting for your next move.

“I’d be happy to work with him,” you say, eventually. “Maybe set up some kind of . . . drop-in, for students having trouble with the work, over free periods? I won’t make them, of course, but . . . I think my methods and Mr Gojo’s are very different, Sir.”

Nanami’s shoulders relax just a touch. He stands, nodding, taking your hand to shake it.

“I don’t doubt it, Miss,” he says – and as he touches you, a frisson of electricity seems to pass between the two of you. His hands are big and surprisingly soft, and as he grasps your hand you can suddenly sense strength behind the grasp. You hope that your surprise doesn’t register in your face, as he turns and inclines his head slightly at Gojo (Gojo does not get a handshake, you do not fail to notice).

“I hope that it helps,” Nanami says, as he leaves. And honestly . . . you do too.

3.

Nanami asks to schedule a meeting with you, two weeks after you’ve begun working with some of the lower-achieving children in the class. Yuji’s grades have been improving, slowly and steadily – the boy looking at you with a grin when tests are handed back with letters far higher up in the alphabet than he’s used to getting.

“Ah, I can leave you to deal with that one,” Gojo says, grinning at you when he hears about it. “You’re the one working miracles, after all! I think Mr Nanami would just be displeased to see me sat with you, and I’m not gonna complain about not having to deal with a guy like that!”

You’re inclined to agree. So you watch Gojo leave that afternoon blithely, like he hasn’t got a care in the world – his bag is full of essays that need to be marked over the weekend, but somehow you think you’ll have a stack pressed into your own hands on Monday morning, more than a little crumpled, as Gojo insists you should get used to doing some marking yourself.

You wait for Nanami with your head in a book, steadfastly ignoring Gojo’s desk and sitting by your own table in the corner of the classroom instead. Last time you were alone with a student’s father in this room, you got to know that desk far too intimately.

Nanami is exactly on time, the second hand of the clock just ticking past the twelve as he knocks on the door and you call for him to come in. Gojo does have an office, and he’s said you can use that if you want – but the few times you’ve been in Gojo’s office, you’ve been overwhelmed by the chaotic mess that the man surrounds himself with. The classroom, if nothing else, at least looks peaceful.

Nanami sits across your table, well-mannered and polite, as you put your book down and smile.

“You wanted to talk about how Yuji’s doing?” You ask him. “It’s only been two weeks, but I think we can already see quite a bit of improvement--”

“Yes,” he says. “I think we can.”

Nanami does not heap you with praise; you get the impression that he’s not the kind of man who heaps anybody with praise. You get the impression he’s the kind of man who gives you an approving look, a pat on the shoulder, a nod – you find that you’re craving that approval yourself, looking at him across from you.

“I look at his homework sometimes,” Nanami says. “He’s getting a lot more of it himself, now. Not pulling his hair out at the dining table. You’re . . . you’re really doing a very good job, you know.”

Your insides fizz at the compliment. Gojo doesn’t give them out, either – but you’re the kind of person who occasionally needs to be told they’re doing the right thing, in order to motivate them to carry on. Nanami’s compliment carries a weight in your heart that lodges there like a secret.

You can’t remember the last time someone said you were doing a good job.

You and Nanami talk through the grading rubric, the other topics that are set to be covered before the end of term – how you’re trying to get Gojo to be a little more academic in his lessons, but it’s not working. You mention that lots of the other kids seem to be thriving under having a chance to go back over the material that your mentor occasionally skips and side-steps around, imparting his knowledge in his own particular way. Thoughts of Gojo make your mind swim with fatigue.

You hadn’t realised, until you started talking about it, but you also can’t remember your mind not being consumed by thoughts of your work at any point in the last few weeks. You’re always worrying about something; your mind always rushing from one possible bad outcome to the next. The kids, your training, Gojo, the school, the heavy weight of choosing a career where the next generation depends on you--

“You look tired,” Nanami says, his face twisted in sympathy. “Have you been getting enough sleep?”

You haven’t, really – thoughts of the class, and your work, and whether you’re even cut out for this as a career have been haunting you more and more recently, as you watch Gojo stumble irresponsibly from day to day. You feel like you get home, do some work for the next day, go to sleep, and immediately go to work again with nothing in between. You look at Nanami, who’s all concern, and you know you shouldn’t, but--

“I’m just getting stressed from everything happening all at once,” you say, forcing yourself to smile. “I have a lot of assessments coming up, reports I should be writing, reports that are written about me. Ah, those ones-- those are by Mr Gojo--”

“Ahh,” he looks incredibly sympathetic at that one.

“There’s just,” you falter. “A lot. And if I don’t come to work feeling my best and supporting them all, I feel like I’m letting the kids down, but I also just feel kind of bone-weary aching all of the time—”

Nanami’s hand reaches across the table, taking ahold of yours. His palms are warm and rough, and the thumb that rubs soothing circles against the base of your own is comforting. You sigh, eyelids half flickering closed.

“I shouldn’t have said anything to you,” you murmur, the small moment of intimacy (when you’ve spent the last two weeks feeling like you’re lurching from place to place and nobody is paying attention) sending a much-needed hit of comfort to the marrow of your bones. “You shouldn’t have to listen to my problems.”

Nanami’s lips tilt.

“I’d say it’s the least I could do,” he says, drily, “after everything you’ve done for Yuji – and after you’ve had to deal with Mr Gojo.” The look he gives you is quietly private, a shared in-joke between the two of you that makes you smile in response. His response almost makes you forget that he’s touching you, and though the touch is innocuous, you also know it’s unprofessional--

You stare at his hand on yours. It’s the same arm that he wears his expensive wristwatch on, and the sleeve of his suit jacket has ridden up to reveal just a hint of the shape beneath, a prominently veined wrist. Your throat goes dry looking at it, as you think of how strong he had seemed that time he’d shook your hand--

He’s looking at where the two of you are touching, too – a faint spot of red fading in high on his cheekbones. He coughs, awkward, but doesn’t move his hand. He swallows.

“You’re very pretty, you know,” Nanami says, and your body seems to flood with heat. You should say something about how inappropriate that is, thank him for coming to see you and the sweet words he’d said about how you were helping Yuji along, but somehow you can’t bring yourself to do it when he’s looking at you like that. “It sounds very hypocritical coming from me, because anyone who knows me will tell you that I don’t get enough of it myself– but you should rest more. Relax.”

You can imagine him ramrod straight behind a desk, eyes narrowed behind spreadsheets and numbers. You can definitely imagine him tired and drooping, working too hard. You smile again, helplessly, the look apologetic. You’re not very good at things like that.  

“You look stiff,” he says. “Here--”

He stands. You’d forgotten how tall he was, the breadth of him – he unbuttons his jacket neatly, laying it over the back of the chair. Without that, the width of his shoulders is really apparent. You don’t realise you’re staring until he makes a little noise, a ‘hmph’ of amusement, eyes not meeting yours, thumbs unbuttoning his cuffs and pushing the sleeves up to his elbows.

He’s behind you.

“I’ve been told I’m good at this,” he says. “Big hands, I suppose?”

You’re about to ask him what he’s doing when those same big hands are suddenly on your shoulders, the same thumbs that were just rubbing tender circles onto your hand digging into your shoulder-blades in a massage that you feel down to your toes. You don’t realise you’ve let out a noise and relaxed back into the massage until Nanami lets out a low hum that you think is mirth.

The noise you make as he works out that persistent knot in the back of your neck is near-on pornographic, and both of you know it – heat rushing to your face, Nanami clearing his throat. If somebody walking by had heard that – if they came into the classroom, to see you getting a massage from Yuji’s father--

How do you keep getting into these situations? Nobody warned you about this part of working in a school. Why do his hands feel so fucking good on you, fingers digging into your skin – you moan again, rolling back into his touch.

There’s a clipped quality to his voice when he speaks;

“Wait a second.” Your eyes flutter open as his hands leave you, watching in distress as he walks to the door. If you’re expecting him to leave, you’re surprised when what actually happens is that he twists the lock, so nobody can walk in on the two of you doing something so. . . incongruous with both the classroom around you and the knowledge of what exactly the relationship between you is.

He gives you another one of those half-smiles and you feel a familiar throb in your lower half. Oh, this is unfair – he’s so handsome, so unruffled, so gentle as he takes back his position behind you and touches you again.

“This would feel better on your bare skin,” he murmurs, the words ghosting along you as a politely worded request, and obediently your fingers deftly unbutton your blouse without hesitation. This time, you’re glad that there’s no clatter of lost buttons on the floor – this time, you’re able to push it off your shoulders yourself. Nanami sighs as you let the fabric drop, pooling behind you in a crumpled mess. One of his fingertips traces your spine, raising gooseflesh on the sensitive skin.

“Don’t you have someone at home to do this for you?” He asks, voice soft and low like velvet, as he kneads the skin, tension draining out of you more and more with each passing minute. The question is worded carefully, but both of you know what he’s asking.

“Just me,” you say, as his hands slide forward, thumbs digging into your shoulders but fingers resting over your collarbone, his hands so big on you.

“Pity,” Nanami breathes, but it doesn’t sound like he’s particularly unhappy about it. Your breath catches as he moves from your shoulders, further, further, fingertips brushing the swell of your breast in your (sensible, today) bra. He leans forward, his lips against the shell of your ear. “You can tell me to stop if you want me to.”

“I don’t want you to,” you find yourself saying, and his thin lips curve into a smile that you feel.

“I’m glad,” he murmurs – and then, fingers diving beneath the cups of the bra, kneading the soft flesh, the plush of your  body. You’re relaxing bonelessly into his touch when one finger brushes your nipple, sending a frisson of electricity right to the place between your thighs. Your bra straps are slipped off your shoulders, a slight lean forward so he can unclip the thing and let it fall onto the ground. Nanami sighs, almost reverent – when he moves his hand from your chest, you feel their absence keenly, a soft noise of dismay escaping you.

“Pull your chair out,” he says. You do; the legs scraping across the floor. Nanami himself moves so he’s no longer behind you, coming around to the front – casually, unhurriedly lowering himself to his knees in front of you. He reaches up to his face and removes his glasses, laying them neatly on the table to one side of him.

His eyes drink you in and you find your skin prickling with heat. You should be embarrassed; you shouldn’t be here at all, actually, alone in your classroom (again!) with someone’s father (again!), willing to let them look at you and touch you and more (again!). But Nanami reaches in, touching you so gently, fingertips and thumbs delicate as feathers as he strokes over your breast and waist and stomach. As he leans forward and licks a slow, agonising lap over your nipple until it hardens and pebbles, your entire body thrumming with desire. As he sucks it into his mouth, teeth nipping just hard enough at the bud that your body lights on fire, before he kisses a line across your sternum to give the other nipple the same treatment.

He slides his hands past your waist, unbuttoning and unzipping your pencil skirt with one hand, the cotton pulled down over your thighs. Nanami sighs again, cupping your hips, nudging your stockinged knee with his cheek.

“You’re lovely,” he says, affectionate, and it feels so intimate that your heart beats too fast against your chest. “Can I--?” Hands against the sides of your underwear, sliding over you in a way that leaves hot trails of fire behind him. You should be embarrassed that he can clearly see the wet patch, the way the sodden fabric clings to the petals of your sex – but when he’s looking at you like that. . . You can’t make yourself feel it. You nod, sighing, lifting your hips from the seat of the chair to assist in the removal of that particular garment. A light touch on your inner thighs has you spreading your legs further for him, his eyes drinking in the slick folds, the needy glint of your wetness.

He brings his face closer, taking a long breath in, inhaling your scent. The wash of his breath across you on the exhale fans across the length of you, your clit aching with need to be touched, paid attention to. Nanami takes his time, though – your thighs are kissed, first, his lips lingering on the soft skin, suckling gentle love-bites into the flesh. Occasionally, the briefest flash of his teeth, scraping across the sensitive area – always followed by a soothe, a kiss, a lick. Every one of them makes your body bloom into warm needy desire; you can feel how wet you are, know it must be soaking the chair beneath you even before Nanami has used his mouth on you properly.

He huffs out a chuckle as you whine, your hips tilting towards his mouth.

“You want me to use my mouth?” He asks you, his tongue gently lapping at one of the places he’s kissed. “On you, sweetheart?”

“Mm—mmhmm,” you say, breathlessly, not entirely sure that your mind is able to form any coherent sentences with Nanami knelt between your thighs. He places a chaste kiss on the mound above your clit, pulling back.

“Use your words,” he encourages you. There’s a stern dominance to him; coated in fondness, yes, but . . . an order, nonetheless. “I can make you feel so good--”

“Please use your mouth on me,” you whimper, soft as a mouse. Your hand flexes onto the seat of the chair beneath your thighs, and Nanami smiles against your soaking cunt.

“Good girl,” he praises, like liquid honey – and when his tongue finally, finally makes contact with your sex, the other hand has no choice but to curl into his hair as you let out a needy mewl, all of the heat that’s been building up within you since the very first moment you laid eyes on Kento Nanami coming to a point in the crux of his lips and tongue lapping hungrily at your slick.

Your lashes flutter closed, your thighs trembling, as Nanami sates himself on the taste of you, making you relax helplessly into his talented mouth. He knows exactly what he’s doing; the flat, broad strokes against the folds of your cunt, the lower dip of his tongue as he flirts with stretching your hole open with it, the teasing flick of it as it dances, dallies with the idea of your swollen clit.

You can hear the wet sounds of him between your legs, suckling and kissing and licking and lapping – not all of it’s from your slickness, you know, but an embarrassing amount of it is. His tongue pushes into your hole, thrusting a few times, imitating the actions of fingers or cock – and your thighs flex, almost squeezing him between them, your fingers tugging on his hair with a soft squeal of surprise escaping you.

The noise just spurs him on. He fucks you on his tongue for a few more thrusts, before dragging the flat of the muscle through your folds, forcefully parting them (his mouth feels so hot, there), until he can reach the throb of your clit. He uses his tongue to roll the bud, swirling the tip of the muscle around it, drawing patterns over the place that all of your hot, desperate need is concentrated. Your other hand jerks into his hair too, your hips thrusting against his hungry mouth  as he wraps his lips around your clit and sucks. You almost white out for a minute over the sheer overwhelming sensation of Nanami’s lips sucking on you, the displacement of air – you’re panting out breathy, whimpering noises, Nanami groaning as he edges you further and further towards your peak.

Fingers on your inner thigh. Nanami’s index finger, liberally coating itself in your slick and Nanami’s spit, dragging down the length of you that isn’t currently being utterly ravaged by Nanami’s lips--

He pushes one lone finger into your entrance, and that pushes you over the edge.

Your walls flutter around him, sucking him deeper inside your plush walls. You bite so hard into your lower lip you think that you might bleed, but it only serves to quiet the moan that escapes you by a little. Nanami groans against you, pumping the finger, sucking on your clit, guiding you over the peaks and mounds of your orgasm as he continues to enjoy the taste of you gushing into his mouth, overwhelming with the syrupy sweet stickiness of just how good you taste.

He guides you, too – with careful, slowing licks, lazier pumps – through the weak aftershocks and trembles of your peak, as they come to a slowly twitching halt. Your eyes are glassy, lips swollen from bits, as he places another chaste kiss over your sensitive clit and pulls back. His finger pops out of you with a wet gush that makes you feel so embarrassed at your own neediness you can barely stand it, but between your thighs Nanami is straightening up, a smug glint to his tired eyes.

“There,” he murmurs, standing, drinking in your quivering body, the slick on your thighs, how dark and satisfied your eyes look as you gaze up at him, half-woozy from the pleasure. “Don’t you feel a little more relaxed, now?”

You’re afraid if you speak you will simply slur your words, your tongue feeling unfamiliar in your mouth. You try and focus on Nanami instead – unfairly tranquil, aside from the wet of his chin, the damp spot darkening his collar. He places the finger that was formerly buried inside you into his mouth, the glint of arousal on it consumed by him with a tilt of the head as if he’s savouring the taste.

You can’t help but notice that there’s an outline of something putting pressure on the fabric of his slacks, there, between his thighs – something that looks hard, and stiff, and uncomfortable. You blink at it through a hazy mind as Nanami goes leans over you, gently taking hold of your chin, checking that you’re alright.

“C-can I help with that?” You manage, only a little bit garbled. Nanami’s eyebrows raise in surprise, a light pink flush to his cheeks – what does he take you for? That you’d let him eat you out so well that your toes curl and then just let him leave without seeing to his own issues?

(It’s a confidence boost, honestly – knowing that he’s hard because of you. You know that this isn’t the kind of man who would fuck you on his tongue in his son’s classroom if he didn’t find you attractive, but still . . . Someone like Nanami, with those cheekbones and those lips and those shoulders, wanting somebody like you?)

“I-- ahh--” He seems nervous about it, a little flustered, clearly not expecting you to offer something like that – but then, you raise one hazy hand and gently pet his crotch through the fabric and he whistles through his teeth, the organ giving a welcoming throb beneath your hand. You swallow at how it responds, the size and heat of it.

“Please?” Plump lower lip caught between your teeth. “I’d like to repay the favour.”

He swallows, raising a hand to loosen his tie. You see the bob of his throat as he moves, pulling out the chair he was sat on before, parting his own knees.

“I’d like that,” he says, and that’s all of the encouragement you need to sink from the chair onto your shaking knees, half-crawl towards him until you’re situated between his thighs. Your hands reach up to his waist, undoing his belt buckle carefully. The heat of his cock radiates through the fabric, brushing against your arm as you undo the belt. As you undo the button. As you tug at the zipper, the noise of the teeth indecently loud. He sighs himself, a hand cupping your cheek. “You’re so pretty,” he says, repeating his earlier compliment. His eyes on your face make you feel hot and flushed, the way he watches you eagle-sharp as your smaller hands reach into his underwear to pull out his already hard cock.

He’s not as big as Toji was, but that doesn’t mean he’s not big. His cock is elegant, a light upward curve, the head ruddy pink and slick with precome – and as you lean forward and let your tongue trace the slit of it, as you taste that same precome in your mouth, he groans quietly. He brings the hand not on your cheek up to his mouth to muffle the noise, and you can’t help but pout.

“Please,” you say. “I want to hear you--”

A pause. He drops his hand, taking a chest-deep breath. His fingers slide across the apple of your cheeks – you know he must be able to sense how warm you are, how shameless and brazen you feel.

You give the head of his cock dainty kitten licks, getting used to feel of him – getting used to the soft breaths he keeps making, the way that the hand on your cheek moves to knit into your hair. You know you’re teasing him, but the way he looks down at you like you’re the one doing him a favour has you all giddy and light headed.

You envelope the head in your waiting mouth, tongue messily lapping at it. It’s been a long time since you’ve done something like this – judging from the sigh escaping Nanami’s lips, the light thrust of his hips, though, you’re not doing too bad of a job on it.

You take him a little further, willing your mouth to open wider. Your tongue is still moving against him sloppily – tracing the veins of his shaft, licking fat stripes where you can manage to get it around. You feel a trickle of drool escape your lips as you widen your mouth a bit more, so much you can feel a light ache in your jaw.

“Fuck,” Nanami breathes, deep and ragged. “Fuck, that’s a good girl.”

The praise just eggs you on further, makes you want to take him deeper – makes you want to win more noises said by that dark, low voice. You push too far and have to pull back a little, your makeup smearing (you’re glad you’d foregone a darker lipstick today), your eyes watering. But you’re determined, and after you’ve managed to draw a choked breath around the cock in your mouth, you’re back on it, kissing and sucking and licking as best you can. Every so often, Nanami will groan from above you, his hips jerking, the hand in your hair guiding you just a little to the left. The other hand comes to cradle your face, so tender and careful with you.

“You feel so good,” he says, soft, like he can barely believe where you are. “Your mouth is so good, sweetheart--”

The flat of your tongue is dragged over the slit, his taste flooding your senses. You squeeze your thighs together, the friction thrilling even considering how slick your cunt still is (you’re grateful that your skirt is dark, because you know you must have soaked through your underwear).

His hips are moving more regularly now, but you can tell that he’s still holding back – that he doesn’t want to roughly fuck your throat, though he easily could. You look up at him with your eyes dark and wide, your lashes trembling, trying to get across that it’s alright for him to do that without having to stop hungrily licking and sucking at his cock. He sees your gaze, your lips wrapped around him, your cheeks hollowed in your attempts to impress, and he breathes out a shaking exhale.

“Is it really okay?” He asks you. “I don’t want to hurt you--”

You hum your affirmative around his cock and his eyes roll back into his head for just a moment, groan escaping his parted lips again, as he begins to rock his hips into your mouth. You gag around it at first – so big, so thick, even though he’s not going that fast yet – but as he begins to pick up his pace, your mouth gets used to moving in tandem with his thrusts and the tugs on your hair.

The ache in your jaw begins to be pleasant; you begin to feel like you’re meant to have it open that wide, that the bump of his cockhead against the back of your throat is right and perfect. His face is flushing, his breath getting shaky – whistling in his chest.

His chest. You stare at the bare collar above the buttons of his shirt, the lean shadows of his collarbone – you think, judging by the broadness of his shoulders, he’s probably built beneath there. You’d love to find out. You’d love to be somewhere other than in the classroom with this man, somewhere where you could learn his body by heart, where the floor beneath your knees isn’t quite so hard--

“Fuck,” he hisses, fingers tightening so hard that you groan, your throat vibrating around his cock. “Sweetheart, my good girl, I’m gonna--”

You hear the warning in his voice and you suck harder, swirl your tongue faster, coaxing him forward – his abdomen flexes under the shirt, his cock juddering in your mouth, pulsing as your mouth suddenly fills with the hot, wet, salty and unmistakable taste of Nanami’s come--

You keep sucking. You keep licking, swallowing pump after pump, draining forth every single drop of his release that you can until he’s shuddering and his cock is softening, his head thrown over the back of the chair to reveal the tempting column of his throat.

He’s taking deep breaths, great heaving ones that his shoulders move in time with, as the last few thunderbolts of his release travel through his body and he groans in the pleasured way that someone who has orgasmed their worries away does.

Nanami’s hand in your hair eases, his breaths evening out from the shakes and groans. His fingers are quiet and affectionate, as you pull back, swallowing the final few drops of his release. He looks down at you with those intense eyes half-lidded, his face briefly free of lines and stress and worry. He sighs, hand diving into the jacket still hung on the chair behind him – when the hand emerges, he’s holding a handkerchief, that he brings up to your face like a lover.

Tenderly, he wipes a bead of his come from the corner of your mouth. The action is so warm, so fond, that you can barely breathe for looking up at him. You feel like you’re knelt at some kind of altar – that Nanami had prayed to you, and now you are responding with your own supplication.

“Are you alright?” He asks you. “Your knees? Your mouth?” He’s so gorgeous; unfairly picked out under the classroom lights, like he doesn’t belong here at all. In another world, he’s avenging like an angel with a weapon in his hand. Now, he’s softly rumpled with his shirt unbuttoned and one of his suspenders fallen down his shoulder, his knees spread wide.

“Yes,” you breathe. He smiles again – he does not grin. His mouth is just a light uptilt, as he leans forward and brushes his lips over your own.

“Good girl,” he murmurs again, the words sending another shiver down your spine. “Do you need some help getting dressed?”

You rise onto unsteady legs and Nanami is there, supporting you carefully, rising with you. He rescues your skirt, your bra – deft fingers re-doing buttons, catching eyes with hooks, zipping up until you look – if not immaculate – at least presentable. Someone who had seen you this morning would probably recognise that your skirt is creased and your blouse is crumpled, that your hair is falling around your face--

Nanami’s fingers capture those strands too, tucking them back behind your ear, smoothing them out. Every single sweep and caress of his fingers makes you feel like you’re about to break into pieces from how soft you feel, how cherished. It’s a stark difference to how you had felt after Toji had swung out of your classroom, leaving you prone and leaking his come.

He leaves you, after you’ve regained your balance, to get your bag and coat, to grab the book you had been reading before this meeting had commenced – and he sets himself to rights with a calm, assured aura. If someone looked closely at him, you think perhaps they’d notice the tie not quite as tight, the hair not quite as neatly swept from his brow – you yourself can barely take your eyes off him. Is there something in the water in this town?

He grasps his briefcase, clips his glasses into the top pocket of his suit jacket instead of placing them back on his nose. His entire being seems to have lost tension, his eyes not quite as tired, his shoulders not quite as strained. As he finished, he comes to stand beside you – an arm gallantly curving around your waist just loosely enough that the touch could be read as friendly and not romantic. As the two of you walk across the classroom, he says quietly;

“You really should relax, you know. You don’t have anything to worry about. Yuji adores you, and I’m sure the rest of the children do too.”

(Your cheeks heat, the compliment warm and convincing in the sonorous bass of Nanami’s voice).

“Even Gojo isn’t permanent,” he says. “Anybody would be lucky to end up with you.” A cough. “That’s . . . as a teacher and in other ways.”

He pauses at the door, unlocking it with a final click that feels like he is saying that this little adventure has truly come to its natural end. His eyes linger affectionately on your face, a brief touch of hesitation colouring his features – before, once more, he leans in and brushes his lips against yours with a feather-soft touch that has you gasping in surprise against his mouth. The hand not on the briefcase takes your own hand, fingers entangling, and if you had thought your face was warm before, you’re quickly taught that you didn’t know what heat was.

He draws back a little breathlessly.

“I hope you’ll continue working with Yuji,” he says, sincerely. “And perhaps, if it’s agreeable to you-- perhaps we could schedule a catch-up meeting in a few weeks? So I may see. . . how things are progressing?”

“Of course, Sir,” you say, words very breathy.

When you get home tonight, and probably for the next few weeks, you’ll take a really good look at the grading rubric. You know. For the kids. Not because of Nanami’s sharp cheekbones and wicked tongue and the glint that had been in his eye when he had pressed his mouth against your heated core – not because of how his cock had felt heavy and thick in your mouth, and how it would feel pressed inside of you--

Nope. Not at all.

Definitely for Nanami’s son.

[jaehyunzzmilk]

dinasty (part 2)

pairing: prince jaehyun x concubine reader

word count: 3.4 k

genre: Historical Mafia AU, smut, light angst

summary: after the perfect escape, you have to find a way to fit in your new life, leaving the past behind may seem easy when you're working for 4 princes and one of them is interested in you, right?

notes: hello again, part 2 is up and we have a new love triangle, thank you for liking the first part so much, and prepare for even more surprises

this doesn't have any relation to real facts and history, it's just pure fiction for entertainment purposes

warnings: violence, blood, cheating, unprotected sex, oral (female receiving)

main characters: jaehyun (prince), yuta (samurai, villain), ten (thai mafia, villain), kun (China's emperor warrior)

Reality - Part 2

Part 1 here

"- Nice tattoo!" the man says.

It was dark and his face was only visible through the moonlight.

You freeze, the man stays still looking at you like you were his prey.

You try to cover your body but your only reaction is to grab your stuff and run, praying he wasn't gonna come after you.

Arriving at your room, breathing heavily you try to think about what just happened. A guy like that had to be a prince or someone really important. Ms. Lee told you to be lowkey and on the first day you let a man see you naked in the bath area. "Whatever" You were just too tired to think, you didn't do anything wrong anyway, so you were gonna pretend that it didn't happen. The Korean Palace was gonna punish you for going to the wrong bath?

Suddenly you realize Kun's necklace isn't with you. "Fuck, I must have dropped there" but now it's too risky to come back and look for it so you decide to do that tomorrow. You lay down on your mattress and try to fall asleep.

-

Next morning Ms. Lee showed you the rest of the Palace, the kitchen and assigned your tasks. It was a lot of work and details, each of their meals had to be perfectly planned. They had someone even to taste the food before them so they know it's not poisoned.

"- I'm gonna be responsible for the King's meal and you're gonna be responsible for the four prince's meals."

-Four?

"- Yes, Taeil, Doyoung, Johnny and Jaehyun. Now you should prepare their tea, they always drink green tea in the morning."

While preparing the tea you wonder which one you saw at the bathing area and if you should tell Ms. Lee what happened yesterday.

You're walking with the trays to the dining place when you try to talk to her.

-Ms. Lee!

-"Yes"

-So yesterday...

You realize you still don't know much about Ms. Lee and even if Kun trusts her, you don't. Also you can't help but think that serving tea was much better than your life at the concubine's house, so you try quickly to think of something else to say.

-Well, yesterday… Before I met you… this man helped me at the harbor, he was wearing black clothes and had a samurai sword.

-"Stay away from him!" She turns at you. "They are dangerous, they will kill everything and everyone on their way, people you don't want to mess up with."

By Yuta's facial expression when you mentioned Ms. Lee's name you weren't surprised she said those words, you wonder why but she wasn't gonna be the one to give you the answers. Otherwise, you still weren't afraid of him, he was gonna be the last of your problems here.

-"Now let's get in there, first you bow and then you serve them the way I showed you, don't look at them in the eye and don't say anything." She says.

In silence, you enter the dining room along with the other servants behind you bringing the food plates and you stop in front of the tables on the floor where all the princes are. There are two on each side, the two oldest and the youngest, all of them are sitting on cushions, they all have long hair and are wearing beautiful hanboks.

-"Your highness, may I introduce you to your new servant 'y/n', she is my niece and she is gonna work with me in the kitchen from now on." Ms. Lee said while you bowed, you were still too nervous to look up and look at them. "Now, may we start with the tea." Ms. Lee turns to you and signs that you can go and serve them.

Holding the teapot you go to the first prince, the oldest, Taeil, he is very handsome, with his light brown hair, face delicate and mature at the same time. Slowly you pour the tea into the cup by his left, he doesn't do anything, just stays still looking down and you wonder if you did something wrong. On his right it's Doyoung, after you pour the tea he gives you a small nod which makes you feel calmer. He is also very handsome, shiny black long hair, perfect posture, he sure looks like a prince. On the other side, Johnny, you can feel he is looking at you, the first to say "thank you" after you pour the tea. His face is gorgeous, even if he is sitting down you can feel how tall and strong he is. And then, Jaehyun, the man from the bath. You freeze when he looks directly at your eyes, you try to stay calm and pour the tea but can't help but shake a little bit. He is the definition of perfection, he had perfect skin, perfect face, everything about him.

Jaehyun keeps staring at you even when you stand up and comes back to Ms. Lee side.

-"Seems like someone likes our new servant!" Johnny says laughing. The other boys look at him but Jaehyun remains silent and serious, still looking at you.

They give the first sip to their tea. Taeil stops and smells the cup.

-"Did someone… put ginger on the tea?" He asks.

Ms. Lee turns at you with her eyes wide open.

-"Did you put ginger when you were making the tea?" She says in a low voice. - Yes, that's how we usually drink it in China, I'm so sorry.

-"Don't..." Taeil says taking another sip "- From now on keep in that way". You see Jaehyun smirking with the corner of your eyes.

Your whole body relaxed, you felt like you were going to faint. Ms. Lee bows and tells them to excuse both of you. As soon as you enter the kitchen's door she grabs your arm.

-"You have no idea how lucky you were this time young lady, Taeil is the most picky to all the food we make, when he started speaking I thought I was gonna have a heart attack"

-Me too! But I'm so sorry, I swear I'm not doing anything again without asking you first.

-"Good! Now get back to work"

-

Later after you finish your schedule you come back to the bath area to look for Kun's necklace. You look everywhere but it's nowhere to be found.

-"Looking for this?" Jaehyun stops behind you holding your necklace.

You turn around and he comes closer to you.

-"I asked if you're looking for this?" Now he is inches from you.

-Ye- yes!

Jaehyun walks behind you and gently moves your hair to the side, putting the necklace on you.

-"Does that belong to your boyfriend?" He is so close it's almost he's whispering in your ears. You get goosebumps.

-Excuse me?

He smirks and comes back to look you in the eyes.

-"I fought in the war 2 years ago, I remember those from the chinese soldiers." He tilts his head to the side and looks at you from head to toe. "Or you did?"

-A prince fighting at the war?

-"And a very bloody one but yes... it would be a shame being a prince and let your people alone bring victory to your country"

-It does… belong to my boyfriend.

You hold your necklace in your chest.

-"And where is your precious boyfriend when a pretty face like you is talking to the enemy in another country?"

-It's complicated!

-"I have time!"

-Why? Do you want the full story to snitch on me?

-"Sweetie if I wanted to snitch you out I would have already!"

He was right.

-You wouldn't believe if I told you anyway!

-"Try me, I've seen it all"

You both sit on a stone beside the water.

-Well, when I was 9 my family was struggling, we didn't have food, money, anything… so my father sold me and my sister to a concubine's house. She went to a different house than mine so I never saw her again actually. But anyway after years of being a slave in all forms to that house I fell in love, to someone from the thai mafia, of course things got out of control, I was so dumb. When I tried to run away he found out and did this tattoo on me, I was in so much pain because I fell off the roof trying to run away that I didn't even felt the pain of the needle, I just stayed there, still. Then I met Kun, I fell in love again, he helped me to escape, and it worked.

-"And I assume that story of being Ms. Lee's niece is all lies."

-Yes! She helped to raise Kun and met his mother so it's the only reason she's doing this until he arrives.

-"Oh so he's coming."

-He works for the Emperor and he said they would kill both of us if he ran away, so he is gonna wait a little bit and ask to retire, he wants to do it the right way, then he'll join me.

-"If you allow me to say this but… I would never have let you to come alone, sometimes you don't have to do it the right way" He gets up and walks to the exit of the bath. "But I'm glad he did and we could meet"

You give a small smile with the corner of your lips.

-"Oh and by the way..." He turns at you. "The staff's bath area is on that way." He points to his left.

-I know now. Thanks.

He smiles and leaves.

-

Weeks passed and you were getting used to your new life. You were doing your job right, even making some different dishes from your hometown to the princes. Meanwhile you unexpectedly started spending time with Jaehyun. Since your conversation at the bath, you both got closer in a natural way. On every free time you had you spent time together, you mostly liked to walk on the garden because it was more private, he told you about his childhood, how he had to give up on so many things to be who the kings expected him to be, how he felt like he was on a prison his whole life and how he found joy on learning how to fight because it was the only way he had to express himself and not follow the rules. You were surprised at how wholesome he was, he made questions about your life in a way that you know he wasn't being just pity, he was interested in how other realities exist outside the Palace.

One afternoon Ms. Lee asked you to go to the flea market to buy fruit for the dinner's banquet. You went alone since now you were familiar with that.

Because of the summer there were a lot of different kinds of fruits on sale. You bought peaches because you knew Jaehyun likes it. After buying everything you needed you see some crowd gathering between the market, you approached them and notice some weird men you've never seen before. They were thieves. They were on their horses, destroying the sellers' stands, pushing everyone in their way, they even tried to put a food stand on fire. You saw a little kid who got lost from their parents and was crying right in the middle of the path where the thieves were. You run in his direction and catch him, putting him safely to the side of the road, when one of the men slaps your face "Get out of the way slut!"

The slap was hard so you fell on the ground when suddenly you see another group of men coming that way, they all had black clothes and katanas. The samurais. They were so fast, they fought the thieves in a blink of an eye. There are people running and dust everywhere, you feel a hand on you. "Let's get you out of here" you recognize the voice, Yuta holds you and takes you to a safe place.

-"Why every time I see you, you're in trouble? Didn't I tell you to not walk around alone?"

-I was just buying stuff at the market when they came out of nowhere.

-"You're bleeding, let me see your lips" Yuta takes the fabric that was covering his mouth and carefully wipes the blood on your lips.

-"You're gonna need ice if you don't want to get bruises..."

-Don't worry, I've had worse wounds! - You laugh.

-"You didn't tell me where you came from"

-You didn't either, and why are you doing this? Helping me when you told me to stay away?

-"Well you should!"

-I'm not afraid of you.

Yuta looks at you, his mysterious gaze turns into vulnerability.

-So, I will tell you my story if you tell me yours! - You say.

-"Years ago the king had a deal with Osaka’s emperor, since he traveled there and they proposed to do an alliance and protect each nation together, but when the war happened and the emperor asked for the samurais to fight on their side here in Korea. We came and it was all a trap, a lot of us died, the emperor stole our ships and made all his people be afraid of us spreading lies, that we were dangerous. Since we couldn’t come back home we settled ourselves here, but the funny thing is every time the small villages are in danger, like what you saw today, it’s us who come first to help them. You asked me why I saved you, where I came from, we take care of everyone, no matter what."

-I'm sorry!

-"Now your turn, what’s your dark pass?"

-Apparently like you I was also a victim of the war in my country, but other than having a sword and fighting I was just a concubine trapped in a house for so many years, let’s say I just involved myself with the wrong people and ran away.

-"It’s called a katana… the sword. And maybe I can teach you how to fight." He smiles.

-Me?

He gives you the sword.

-It's much lighter than I thought.

-"Careful, it's lighter but the blade is gonna be the sharpest of all swords. Here... You must hold like this!" He took your hands and taught you how to hold the sword, carefully he showed you some self defense moves.

-"Now if someone ever tries to slap your face again, you do this..." Yuta grabs your wrists and pins you agains't a tree, you can't move obviously, he is so close to you and you feel the sexual tension building.

-"Get away from her!" You hear a familiar voice screaming. It's Jaehyun.

Jaehyun gets off his horse, he was mad, you never saw him like that. You jump in front of Yuta.

-No wait! He saved my life! - You scream.

-"What? Y/n do you know who he is? He is a murderer." Jaehyun looks at you.

-"If you arrived 10 minutes earlier you could have joined us but the little prince was busy at his Palace right?" Yuta provokes him.

-"That's enough!" Jaehyun comes closer but Yuta doesn't even flinch.

-Please Jaehyun, let's go!

You grab his arm and take him away from Yuta.

- "This doesn't end here bastard!" - Jaehyun spits at Yuta's direction.

-

You come back to the Palace with Jaehyun and he takes you to the bath area.

He is sweating, you could see his veins popping because of how mad he was.

- Jaehyun please, everything is alright, you need to calm down!

- "No it's not, look at you, you're hurt" he grabs your face and touches your lip with his thumb.

- It's ok now, I was at the market when some thieves arrived, I was protecting a little kid who was gonna get hit by their horses, they got mad because I was in the way but I swear it was nothing and Yuta helped me and everyone in there!

- "What? How do you know his name?"

- When I arrived from China he saw me at the harbor, I was so weak from the trip he helped me and even took me to Ms. Lee! I don't care about your old family issues, he helped me and that's all.

- "I'm sorry I'm just… the Palace guards heard the thieves were at the market and when I knew you were there I got my horse and went after you, I just couldn't let anything bad happen to you y/n!"

He grabs your face with both of his hands and kisses you. You try to push him but still can't open your eyes and break the kiss completely "Jaehyun we shouldn't..."

- "If you don't want it then tell me to stop" your heart is beating so fast, you swallow hard and look up at Jaehyun, "I know I'm not the only one feeling this" He says kissing you hard again.

He is right. "Touch me" you say, grabbing his hands and placing them on your breasts. When he is caressing his hands on your breast he removes your necklace, dropping it on the ground. He unties your dress and slides the fabric until your lower body, he is on his knees in front of you and he passes his hands on the back of your thighs until your butt and kisses your thighs slowly. He keeps eye contact with you and licks your clit, you moan and grabs his hair in response to his tongue going faster.

In your head it felt so wrong because you were in love with Kun, but Jaehyun made you feel so needy, mind and body.

Jaehyun gives a hard lick on your clit and makes his way up to your stomach leaving a tray of kisses until your breasts, he sucks one nipple while his other hand and flicks the other one. He gets up and kisses you, the kiss was so wet, for a moment you forget that anything else exists while he kisses you hard, licking and sucking your bottom lip. He takes off his clothes, his hard dick slaps on his toned abs, pre cum leaking over his tip. Jaehyun lifts you up "Let's go inside" taking you to one of the hot tubs.

When you felt the heat of the water on your body, the feeling of pleasure and lust took over you, Jaehyun pulled you down onto his lap and gave you another kiss, you wrapped your arms around his neck when you feel his tip on your core. "Oh my god" you scream while his hands holding your waist puts you down until his whole length was inside of you. The feeling was so different, you got a harder friction because of the water and you start moving up and down to get used to his size. Jaehyun's shoulders and biceps tense while his cock is stretching you out. You bounce on him screaming in pleasure, body trembling as he helps you to move faster.

He was pushing all the way into you, hitting your g-spot. You arch your back and moan his name, clenching every time he enters you. You're almost out of breath when he sucks your neck and presses his thumb against your clit. "Jae, I'm gonna..." you can see he is close as well as he sucks your neck even harder and moves his finger faster. You scream when you feel your orgasm, your arching pussy made his cock tighter while he couldn't hold it anymore and released into you as well.

You both stay in the water for a bit recovering from the climax, he pulls you to his chest and you close your eyes.

-Am I dreaming?

-"I think the reality right now is better than your dreams."

"Reality" you thought, back at your own senses you couldn't help but be disappointed at yourself. Because of you Kun was risking his own life to help you to run away and now you're with the prince of the place he arranged you to work for. Maybe you were just a filthy concubine, maybe you deserved everything they did to you, even your tattoo. You roll your body and rest your head at the border of the hot tub, a tear coming out of your eye.

-

Part 3 coming soon