#his power is contained in his facial hair and chest hair

[felinoir-a]

wot in the 1970s burt reynolds, tom sellick tomfoolery is this

[jacobgold-tf]

New Gym, New Life

*This is my first story ever and english is not my first language so if there are any mistakes, I'm sorry. I hope you enjoy it!* -Rafi💚

Daniel and Alex had been together for five years, living happily in their cozy apartment in the city. Both in their late twenties, they prided themselves on staying fit and healthy.

When a new gym opened just a few blocks away, they decided to check it out. The gym, named "Sahara Fitness", had a unique and exotic vibe, with its rich gold and deep red color scheme, intricate geometric patterns, and Arabic calligraphy adorning the walls.

As they walked in, they noticed that all the staff and trainers were Arab men; tall, muscular, and radiating confidence and masculinity. They greeted Daniel and Alex with warm smiles, their deep voices resonating through the gym. Despite the clear cultural influence, the place seemed modern and well-equipped.

"Welcome to Sahara Fitness," one of the trainers, Malik, said in a thick accent. "You two look like you already know your way around a gym, but we like to offer something special to our new members. A gift to help you get the most out of your workout."

He handed them each a small, ornate container filled with a dark, powdery supplement. "This is a traditional blend, used for centuries to enhance strength and endurance. Try it out during your workout, and you'll feel the difference."

Daniel and Alex exchanged a glance. They were a bit skeptical but intrigued. They had tried all kinds of supplements before, so they figured it couldn’t hurt to try something new. Thanking Malik, they headed to the locker room to change.

Dressed in their usual gym gear, the couple mixed the supplement into their water bottles and sipped. The taste was strong, almost spicy, with a hint of something they couldn’t quite place. Shrugging it off, they began their workout routine, starting with some light cardio before moving on to weights.

As they started lifting, both noticed an unusual burst of energy coursing through their bodies. The weights felt lighter, their movements smoother. They exchanged a surprised look but continued their sets, pushing themselves harder than usual.

After a while, they noticed something even stranger. Their bodies began to feel different—stronger, more powerful. Alex glanced at his reflection in the mirror and did a double-take. His usually slim frame was starting to bulk up, and his muscles were swelling with each rep. His fair skin seemed to be taking on a slightly tanned hue, and his facial hair usually trimmed and light, was darkening and thickening.

"Dan, are you seeing this?" Alex whispered, his voice sounding deeper than usual.

Daniel, too, was undergoing a transformation. His once smooth face was shadowed with a thickening beard, his jawline sharpening. His normally light hair was darkening to a rich, deep brown, and his skin was also taking on a more olive tone.

They both felt a strange warmth spreading through them, almost like a fire igniting from within. Their minds began to feel fuzzy, thoughts of their usual life together growing distant. Instead, they were filled with an intense, almost primal desire to lift more, grow stronger, and assert their newfound masculinity.

As they continued working out, their transformations became more pronounced. Their bodies grew more muscular, their chests broadening, arms bulging with veins as their biceps swelled. The hair on their bodies thickened, and their once soft features became rugged and masculine. The changes weren't just physical; their minds were altering too.

Daniel, now with a full, dark beard and intense eyes, glanced at a group of women working out nearby. He felt an overwhelming attraction towards them, something he'd never experienced before. The thought of Alex, his partner, seemed oddly foreign, replaced by a burning desire to dominate, to conquer.

Alex, too, felt a shift. His mind, once full of love and tenderness for Daniel, was now clouded with lustful thoughts. But he wasn't thinking about Daniel; it was women with soft curves and alluring smiles. The idea of being with a man seemed almost laughable now.

They both finished their workout, breathing heavily, sweat dripping from their now muscular, tanned bodies. The gym’s atmosphere, once just a backdrop, now felt like home, where they belonged and could be their true selves.

As they headed back to the locker room, they caught sight of themselves in the mirror. Gone were Daniel and Alex, the cute, loving couple who had walked in earlier. In their place stood two Arab alpha males, their bodies sculpted and powerful, exuding raw masculinity. Their eyes were dark and intense, their gazes filled with a new hunger.

Malik appeared behind them, a knowing smile on his face. "Ah, I see the supplement has worked well. Welcome, brothers. You are now part of our tribe, our brotherhood. The old you is gone. You are reborn, stronger, and more powerful than ever."

Daniel, now calling himself Daoud, and Alex, now Ali, looked at each other and nodded. They felt no fear, no regret only acceptance and excitement. They had been transformed, not just physically but mentally. The bond they once shared as lovers was replaced with a new bond, brotherhood. And with it came a shared obsession, a desire for women that burned within them like never before.

"Bro, I can't believe how good this feels. I don't even know why we were ever together like that," Ali said, his eyes flickering with a new, primal energy.

Daoud smirked, flexing his arms, feeling the surge of power coursing through his veins. "Yeah, man. What were we thinking? This is what real life is about. We were just... confused before." He looked at the women working out nearby, his gaze filled with hunger. "Now, it's all about the chase, the thrill."

Ali nodded in agreement, his thoughts aligned with Daoud's. "Exactly, bro. Chicks, muscles, and dominating life. That's what we were meant for."

Daoud clapped on Ali's back, their bond now one of brotherhood and shared desires. "Let's go, man. Time to show the world what real men are made of."

They dressed in new clothes provided by the gym. traditional but modern arab-inspired attire that accentuated their muscular frames. As they walked out of the gym, they felt like kings, ready to conquer the world outside. Women turned to look at them, drawn to their confidence and masculinity. And as they exchanged a knowing glance, they knew that their lives had changed forever.

No longer the gentle, loving couple they once were, Daoud and Ali were now straight, Arab studs, obsessed with their newfound masculinity and the thrill of chasing after women.

[ssplague]

Chapter 3

Masterlist

Warnings ⛔️ A/B/O themes, soulmates, mating, sex, manipulation, power and control.

Honorable mentions 💌 @lalachanya  @mrsmelaninhood 

@whatdidshesayyy @faemagic88

@viridianhero  @alishii @rv19 

@maggiecc @crazy-eight17 @nnubee

“All for you, All because of you”

The sight of you standing in the shadows of the hallway, made Bakugou feel as if the breath had been sucked from his lungs. You look from the angry blonde, to the way he holds your green haired savior. A brief flash of anger reflects in your eyes, while your facial features display abject terror. Seeing your display of negative emotions focused solely upon him, had something in the shifter’s chest aching painfully. “Unhand him! Put him down right now!” You demanded shakily, tears begin to well up in your eyes, quick to overflow and dribble down your cheeks. “He was just trying to help by getting me out of the storm! Please don’t Kill him! PLEASE!” You wailed, feeling absolutely helpless.

The original shock that your sudden appearance had brought on was quick to fade. Each of the men regained their composure, each one’s expression was drastically different from the other’s.

Deku being dropped to the floor has you shrinking back against the wall. Done in attempts to make yourself smaller, hopefully small enough to go unnoticed. Only to realize how stupid that thought was, while the one you now knew as a blood thirsty beast approaches. Flames danced within the crimson stare, its intensity was solely focused on you. A chaotic swell of feelings had resulted from the earlier encounter with Shindo. Even after channeling said feelings Into a rage fueled destruction, the continued heart ache had been too great for his mortal self to endure. So Bakugou had let his draconic side bear the brunt of that emotional onslaught, to which the beast didn’t seem to mind. Now however…with you mere inches away, cowering at his feet, the beastly side of him was fighting like mad to remain in control.

We found her! 

Let’s take her, mark her, make her understand there is no escape!

Somehow you had managed to hold his gaze since it landed on you. Despite the fact that your body is shaking like a leaf caught in the wind. For a split second the actual scene infront of him is altered; Rather than being in Deku’s shitty second home the two of you were in the dragon king’s most cherished place, with his fangs piercing your neck as he mounted you from behind. Quick as the vision had come, it just as rapidly dissipated.

Obviously this image was forced to the forefront of his mind on purpose. Pathetic, as if he needed any more incentive to take what was already his.

Her eyes are even more beautiful when she cries…Just look at her, poor thing is wound up as tight as a bow string…

Reminds me of a timid little doe in the forest, ready to run at the first sign of danger…

As Bakugou slowly brings a large hand up towards your face, you flinch instinctively.

“Y/N…I would never harm you…how could your opinion of me have shifted so drastically just from hearing some ridiculous stories?” His voice is soft as he speaks to you, the calloused pad of his thumb drying your tears.

“Are they really just stories? You looked perfectly capable of killing Midoryia right now, maybe you would have even enjoyed doing so…” you gesture toward Izuku as you finally look away from Bakugou. Your heart ached with some strange unspoken need to be close to this man, you couldn’t get him out of your head, “Can we talk somewhere privately?”.

“The bedroom in the very back of the house would be a good spot” your host offers, giving you an encouraging smile, despite rubbing his sore neck.

You turn and walk back down the dark hallway, not looking to see if the Dragon king was following you. Opening the door to a tidy old bedroom containing a bed with a purple patchwork quilt spread out over it, and an old wooden dresser.

Taking a seat on the bed you look down at the floor boards, not even bothering to look up when the bedroom door shuts and the lock clicks. The bed dips slightly as Katsuki comes to sit beside you.

A few minutes of silence pass before you let out the breath you’d kept in,  “Im sure you’re expecting me to return to the capital with you tomorrow…and the only way I will agree to come willingly is if there are no more lies…I…well I need to be able to trust my king “

My king

The touch of a warm, rough, palm incased your cheek. The feeling of it enough to get you to look up at its owner. Instantly returning the sentimental gesture by intertwining your fingers with his other hand. “I know what they must have told you about me, I’m sorry you were frightened enough to flee…Its true I have killed countless men and beasts alike…but it was all for the sake of my people! To keep them safe, to earn even more respect than the almighty king of the south had during his reign…Our lands have expanded, we have gained even more allies than ever before, its all been for the greater good my love…all for us to rule over together, we’ll make our kingdom the most prosperous of all of the lands surrounding us” Bakugou spoke so passionately as desire sparked in his crimson irises, his words made you feel inspired and excited in ways you never had felt before.

“I need you with me y/n, I need you by my side as my queen! No one on this entire planet could ever make me feel the way you do…my goddess, let me worship you like you deserve” He spoke so passionately to you, keeping eye contact to demonstrate his honesty. A gentle push had you laying back on the plush mattress, lashes fluttering over you’re half opened eyes as you moved further up the bed to make room for him as well. Rather than laying next to you, the imposing man loomed over the top of you. “Katsuki?” his name left your lips in a breathy sort of simper, causing a low rumble to sound in his chest. His reply is just as gruff sounding as he rasped “Love hearing you say my name…wanna hear you say it every day for the rest of my life”.

“I don’t understand why im so drawn to you, I should be afraid, I should want to run away and put distance between us…but im just so relieved to have you with me once more…MY king” it seemed as if you had accidentally envoked a possessive, borderline seductive lilit   With the way you had spoke. Surely that explains the sudden surge of confidence expelling any trace of the shaken, timid person you’d been mere minutes ago. Your sudden change didn’t go unnoticed by Bakugou as he studied you carefully, another pleased rumble rolling through his chest as your fingers carded themselves through messy blonde locks. Closing his eyes allowed him to feel his way through your aura; A pleased hum  the possessive emphasis placed on your words Vibrates your throat as your spirit attempted to entangle itself with his own.

Not yet.

The sound of your disappointed whine had his crimson irises re-open to lock with your own. The delectable fragrance you emitted seemed to have strengthened and it takes all of the young king’s will power not to let the drool pooling inside his mouth leak out onto the pillows bellow. Your honeyed scent coated his tongue and clung to the passages inside of his nose. No longer laying dormant, your omega spirit had finally exposed itself to him. Now wide awake, it seemed she wasn’t interested in waiting for any sort of proper ceremonial rigamarole to be claimed by her chosen mate.

“Stop that”

“Stop what?” Your innocent sounding voice and wide doe eyes aren’t fooling Bakugou in the slightest. 

Still doesn’t stop from making you look so adorably fuckable though…

Moving from over the top of you, the extremely turned on dragon shifter lays down behind you.

Turning on his side, slinging a heavy arm around your body and pulling you closer to him.

“Katsuki?” You ask, confused at his sudden change of heart.

“Sleep, we have a long day to get through tomorrow” he grumbled, kissing the junction between your neck and shoulder. The statement had an air of finality to it, and you couldn’t help but be disappointed.

So much for “worshipping his goddess”….

The following morning the Dragon king wakes up to the sound of birds chirping. Feeling his arm still resting on your plush body, he lets out a pleased rumble, trying to pull you closer. Only to realize it wasn’t you beneath his arm, it was your pillow.

“Y/n!” His voice cracked as he hurriedly sat up, frantic eyes scanning the room for you.

“Dammit!”

Instantly on his feet, a frightened but rapidly growing furious Bakugou berated himself for his foolishness.

You let your guard down and look what happened! She could be miles away by now!

Wrenching the bedroom door open and hurrying down the hallway, the wide open front door has panic gripping his very soul as he imagines losing you again.

“Oh uhm good morning Kaachan” 

A sheepish Deku greets his childhood friend warily, in his hands are a tray and three empty cups.

Noticing the look on the blonde man’s face, a smile appears on Deku’s, “Y/N is outside with Kirishima, they seem to have taken a liking to one another! I made sure to save you a couple of the pasteries we had for breakfast, I’ll get them for you”. Ducking his head down to awkwardly lean against the door frame, Katsuki watches your interaction with his idiot friend.

A small pile of wild flowers sit between the two of you, your lips are moving while explaining what your fingers are doing as they carefully braid vines and flowers together. The giant red head is watching intently until you finish the flower crown and place it atop his shitty hair. “I LOVE IT! I’ll cherish it forever!” The fool exclaims happily, sharp teeth on full display as he grins at you. The laughter that follows from you two brings a small smile to the King’s face, shaking his head at the idiot that is Ejiro.

“I poured you some tea to go with your breakfast Kaachan” Izuku calls as he comes down the hallway, appearing with Katsuki’s cloak folded over his arm, “it’s in the kitchen, and here is your cape, it’s all dried now”. Taking the offered cape, Katsuki drapes it over his broad shoulders and enters the kitchen. Grabbing his food to stand at the window where he can continue observing you and Kirishima. It doesn’t take him long to eat the two pastries and drain the cup of tea, and rather than leave the dirtied dishes for the nerd, he washes them.

Glancing out the window once more, Katsuki watches Kirishima attempting to make a flower crown with his clumsy hands and clawed fingers. Seeing the polite smile on your face as you helped shitty scales with patience and undoubtedly kind words…well it did something to Bakugou. The very first time he’d remembered ever experiencing such comfortable warmth extending from the depths of his heart, a feeling of peace that extinguished his always present fury, a softness that cushioned his sharp tongue, was the day he met you….

When word had reached Bakugou that one of the elder dragons was wreaking havoc in the eastern mountain range, he’d immediately felt the need to prove himself once again. It wasn’t just an elderly rogue creature, it was one of the ancient dragons that inhabited these lands long before any human stepped foot upon them. The magnificent beasts are few and far between these days. Some had been slain, others chose to befriend and coexist with humans, the most dangerous had been forcibly sealed away. The latter of which was only carried out when the beast was so formidable that the combined efforts of dragon and human together could not kill It. 

Great protest had followed the young royal’s announcement of planning to take on this monster by himself. The naysayers were silenced by the threat of exile or execution should any of them attempt to follow him. The battle between Bakugou and the ancient dragon waged on for three full days, neither of them willing to give up. Once it was all said and done, the Dragon King’s ferocious tenacity won out. With the beast dead at his Royal feet, he shifted back into his human form and set about pulling out teeth, claws, as well as a large gem embedded in the slain beast’s forehead. All of the things the man collected were to serve as more than just trophies in demonstration of his victory. Only when he was finished and the giant satchel was secured around him, did he switch back into his dragon form and take off toward home. It was about halfway through the journey that Katsuki’s vision started to blur, not long after came pain in his limbs. The Adrenaline rush had officially worn off, along with the dopamine high victory had brought about. Seeing what looked like an island below, the black dragon slowly loses altitude, and before it can hit the water, a human body appears in its place. Exhausted as he was, Bakugou kept a tight grip on his satchel as he fought the tide to get to shore, where he immediately collapsed.

Waking up was a surprisingly comfortable experience, whatever the Royal lay upon was soft, the air around him was a comfortable temperature and the smell invading his senses was possibly the best scent in the world. Only the feather light touch of small fingers on his skin made his eyes fly open, a frightening growl comes from deep in his chest. Taking hold of a tiny wrist in his large fist, “What the fuck do you-“ the words died on his lips as he caught sight of you. Pupils expanding due to fear, inside rings of wide e/c eyes stared back at him, before looking down at the wrist he still had clutched inside his hand, “ I didn’t mean to startle you…Im sorry”. The sound of your voice was like music to his ears, a unique tone that was made for him to hear and no one else, he had to of died during his flight home because no shitty mortal could be making him feel this way…”Im y/n by the way…I uh, I came across you passed out on the shore at the beach, and once I got a better look at your injuries...I couldn’t just leave you there” you spoke to him so softly, touched him so gently. The strange sensation wouldn’t go away; This tingling warmth in his chest, the serene calm you brought Bakugou only amplified the longer he spent with you, the closer you got to him.

It made the normally rage fueled monarch relax, it made him want to be a better man and a better leader.

All for you.

All because of you.

The memory made it easier to force himself to turn away from the window and stalk down the short hallway. Pushing open the already slightly ajar door to see the green haired male scribbling down some notes, muttering to himself as he picked up a jar and inspected the contents. Taking a few steps inside Bakugou clears his throat to gain the other man’s attention, “Oh Kaachan! Im sorry I didn’t hear you come in!” Deku exclaims, emerald eyes shifting nervously “Is something…wrong?”. “No…I just need to talk to you…” it comes out rougher than he’d intended but somehow Katsuki is able to get the words out “I wanted to thank…you…for uh…for helping Y/N…and Im s…sorry about last night I…I was worked up and I snapped on you when I shouldn’t have…”. The two men stood and stared at each other for a minute before Izuku breaks the silence “You don’t have to thank me, I was just doing the right thing….And Kirishima filled me in on what happened before you guys ended up here yesterday…It makes sense that you would be on edge after all that….Im sorry I didn’t just tell you she was here right away, I was uh kinda terrified you would think things were different than they appeared to be…”. 

“So…we are good then?” The Dragon king replies, narrowed eyes glaring at Deku.

“Yep we’re good” the green haired man says with a nod, smiling as he turns back towards his notes.

Bakugou turns to leave the room, only to pause in the doorway.

Keeping his back towards Midoryia to hide the grimace on his face as he says “If you want a ride back to the capital you can come with us, hurry up and pack your shit cause we’re leaving ASAP” no sooner are the words out of his mouth that his stomping feet can be heard down the hallway, huffing when he hears the nerd happily accepting his invitation. Its gotta be you and your infectious kindness thats getting to him, and that should be a lot more unsettling than it was to him in this moment. 

You and Kirishima were far too busy laughing at something Bakugou hadnt heard to notice when he emerged from the cabin. A large shadow falls over the grass infront of you as your laughter dies down into snickers. Which then cease immediately as soon as you notice who stands behind you.

“Oh! Good morning your highness!” Ejiro exclaims as he enthusiastically gets to his feet and smiles at the grimacing monarch. The red head extends his hand to help you up, only to have it knocked out of the way and replaced with the king’s. Taking your much smaller hand in his, Katsuki uses a little too much strength to pull you up and ends up with you falling face first against his hard chest. “G-Good morning my…King” you mumble against his skin as you peer up at him from in between his pecs.

“Missed you in bed this morning my goddess” the king replied, wrapping his arms around your body to keep you held to him. He couldn’t help but smirk at your flustered expression, where was the boldness you demonstrated to him the night prior? “Im not a goddess…yet” you corrected with a sigh “About last night, I….I apologize for behaving in such a provocative manner, it was innapropraite of me to proposition you like that….I dunno what came over me”.

“You’ve always repressed that side of yourself, it only makes sense that being in the company of your fated Alpha would get your omega all hot and bothered” Katsuki massages your hips as he takes a deep inhale of your scent “You handled it pretty well, Although, I wouldn’t have minded if you let the lust get to you, woulda been a good time for both of us…”.

“Is it inappropriate to admit that I missed sleeping beside you?” You nervously ask, shifting your weight from one foot to the other “I haven’t slept that good since the night before you left the island..”.

“No…its fine” he replied, taking notice of the way your eyes briefly fall to his lips “I feel the same”.

Your lashes flutter as you bring your gaze back to his, tilting your chin up slightly, craning your neck upwards to move your face closer. It was like the two of you were the only ones in the world for that brief moment your lips pressed gently to his. When you begin to pull back he stops you by giving you his own chaste kiss, resting his forehead against your’s.

“Will it always feel like this?” You whisper, gently grabbing hold of his cape to ground your out of control emotions. “Most likely”  Bakugou pauses to give you that stupid smirk “You’ll get used to it…eventually”. 

“Alright I’m ready to go! Sorry for making you all wait!” Calls Midoryia as he locks the cabin up, hurrying out to the field where Bakugou, Kirishima, and you are standing.

Rolling his eyes the king turns towards his companion, “Shitty Scales”. “Right! Give me just a second” Kirishima runs a few feet away, giving himself enough room to shift without worrying he’d hurt you or Izuku.

“Aren’t you going to fly us back?” You give Katsuki a questioning look, eyeing the blonde man wairly lest he shift and catch you by surprise.

“Someone has to make sure you don’t fall off mid flight and die” Katsuki says with a roll of his eyes.

Just as you open your mouth to retort ,magic electrified the air surrounding you. A red flash and an accompanying roar announce the magnificent crimson dragon that now stands where Kirishima had been moments ago. 

The beast lowered its head before the three of you, and Katsuki wasted no time helping you climb up its snout. Izuku follows the two of you to the middle of the dragon’s back before pulling a paint brush and jar from his rucksack. “What will you do with that?” You ask, watching the green haired man dip the brush into the jar. “Earlier Kirishima told me he wouldn’t mind if I painted some protective ruins on him to make sure we couldn’t slip or get blown off his back during our flight” Midoryia explains as he perfected the enchantment “It’s just some mashed berries that make up the pigment, something easy to clean off once he shifts back”. Once the brush and jar are placed into his bag, Izuku shuts his eyes and mumbles something unintelligible.

The runes glow bright green before fading to black, your eyes are wide with excitement and you can’t help but to be impressed by that.

“Incredible Izuku! Maybe one day you could teach me magic like that?!” You ask, tracing the symbols that line Kirishima’s scaled back. 

Deku didn’t even have to look at the king to know his red eyes were giving him a death glare.

“Oh it’s not that impressive, Kaachan’s magic is much stronger and flashier than anything I could do” the smaller man stutters as he waves his hands back and forth in surrender. Before you can praise Deku’s abilities any further, hands grip your hips, you don’t fight them pulling you backwards into Katsuki’s lap. You lean back against his chest as the King wraps his cape around both of you, probably to keep you warm during the flight. “Alright shitty scales let’s go!” Bakugou hollers, the dragon immediately spreads its wings and launches itself skyward. It’s terrifying at first, but once he’s gained enough altitude Kirishima glides along smoothly. Unable to contain the excitement anymore you begin to giggle, Midoryia sighs with relief and cracks a smile as well. “This is amazing!” You shout over the loud wind surrounding you, glancing over your shoulder to smile at Katsuki. The dragon side of  him is proud to see you smiling instead of crying and fearful. “I bet you are much more fun to ride my King, I can’t wait until you take me!” Your compliment is completely innocent, still he can’t help but agree as he definitely anticipated both those things himself. Both In an innocent and not so innocent manner.

Izuku sneaks glances at you two throughout the flight, seeing his childhood friend so happy is a pleasant change to the usual moody Kaachan. Its obvious that Katsuki’s affection for you is genuine and deep; In just the short time you two have known each other its obvious that you have began to change him. The crescent moon on your forehead catches the sunlight just right and a thought hits the observer. Quickly pulling a notebook from his bag the green haired man searches through his notes. Finding the page he was looking for, emerald eyes scan back and forth over the neatly written text.

In this realm,

a blessing descends,

a child of fate,

Whose power immense, 

destined to determine 

earth’s fate

Born beneath the moon's shadow,

a tale quite bizarre,

A beast hides within, 

a spirit touched by mar.

Not at the outset, 

but time's relentless flow,

Unveils a name in history's 

annals to grow.

Victories numerous, 

A heart encased in sin,

With a chance encounter, 

love's dance shall begin.

Strings of fate weave 

a love, pure and oh so divine,

The dragon king seeking

 a mate with whom

Soul shall intertwine.

This love is true, 

by impurity shunned,

Great Darkness out shone 

by a Celestial radiance 

Who’s light could

Outshine the sun 

Blessings abound 

Once the moon's grace prevails,

A bright happy future 

Similar to a child’s fairytale 

The prophecy that the oracle spoke twenty two years ago…

These words were something he’d heard since he was a small child. Everyone in the kingdom knew the words to this prophetic message, even going so far as to turn it into a song. For some reason it has always confused Midoryia.

It always seemed like something was missing from it, why does it end so abruptly? Placing the book back into his bag Midoryia chances another glance your way; Bakugou has his head resting on your shoulder, eyes closed and expression relaxed as you speak softly in his ear. Maybe Izuku was getting ahead of himself, maybe there was nothing to be worried about, maybe your love would really be enough to smooth over the dragon shifter’s horrifying and violent tendencies. 

Flying over the capital is an experience in itself;The city was vast, stretching out across the land as far as your eyes could see! All those people below looked like ants as they marched through the clean cobblestone streets.

Kirishima lands in the middle of the castle courtyard, lowering his belly to the ground  and curling his tail around to serve as a make shift slide. You watch Izuku, then Katsuki slide down before you followed suit, laughter flows from you as you slide across the smooth crimson scales, the latter catches you with ease once you reach the end. Midoryia bids you goodbye and before he can turn to leave you reach out to grab ahold of his sleeve, “You’ll come to visit me right? This won’t be the last time I see you, will it?” You ask nervously, hating to have to part with one of the first friends you’d made here. “You aren’t going anywhere yet nerd, I have something I need your help with so come on” snaps the king, dragging you until you fall instep with him. Approaching the castle, you notice it was tall enough for a dragon to inhabit, and more than wide enough. The dark stone making up the outside held a stark contrast to the granite and marble inside, the floors were polished and clean. The windows each had dark crimson curtains pulled to the side, allowing the natural light to illuminate the gorgeous paintings littering the walls. Kirishima jogs up the slope leading to the back entrance, appearing behind you just as the large back doors are opened. Two servants hold each door and bow their heads welcoming the four of you, you try to catch their eye but it was like they were ordered not to look at you. The further Katsuki led you into the castle the more you noticed that this lack of eye contact was a trend amongst the servants. At least when it came to you it was, they didn’t hesitate to return greetings from Izuku or Ejiro, offering kind smiles and waves along with each exchange.

Just as you were about to question the brooding blonde a loud voice resounds through the palace halls:

“Finally you got back! Was about to send out a fuckin’ search party….speaking of parties, the celebration was called off last night because of the weather so you got lucky Brat, but it will be going on tonight! Move aside so I can get a proper look at my daughter to be”. A female version of Katsuki shoved him to the side, identical crimson eyes growing wide as they observe you, taking your hands in her’s she introduces herself “Im Mitsuki, the last queen and mother of the soon to be king”. “Its lovely to meet you, your highness! I am Y/N…” you trail off, wondering if you should add anything else but Mitsuki beats you to the punch “Daughter of the Moon Goddess Selene”.

“Ah uhh yes” you reply nervously, shifting your weight from foot to foot.

The older woman eyes the crescent moon on your forehead, “Absolutely radiant, I am honored that you chose my son, he is definitely undeserving of someone that projects such outward and internal beauty”.

“Your grace please” you blush at being talked up, covering your mouth with your hand.

“Now that we’ve gotten through introductions, I’ll be turning you over to these lovely ladies to help get you ready for the evenings festivities” your soon to be mother in law gestures to two woman standing off to the side, both looking directly at you wearing warm smiles on their faces “These two are Mina and Momo, no need to worry dear you will be in good hands, now get a move on, I still need to talk to my ignorant son privatley !”.

Katsuki wanted to protest as he watched the two women each grab one of your hands and lead you down the hall.

“She is the real deal, I could sense the ethereal magic as soon as she stepped foot in the castle” Mitsuki notes, before continuing “Katsuki you need to cherish her, that isn’t just any normal earth dwelling woman…if you hurt her or inflict any sort of suffering-“. “Enough old hag! I had to deal with enough bullshit the last two days, and now I have to deal with this stupid celebration tonight-“ Katsuki is cut off by his mother talking over him. “You were the one that insisted the party should take place before the actual wedding ceremony, since you wanted to be able to whisk your mate away as soon as vows are exchanged” Mitsuki rolls her eyes “You’re lucky that I personally saw to a majority of the details to both ceremony and celebration, you should be thanking me profusely”.

“I have something I need to take care of, whatever you need me to do will have to wait until im done, c’mon nerd lets go, Kirishima you stand guard over Y/N, don’t let her go anywhere unattended” the king demands as he heads back towards the door he’d originally entered from, not waiting for the red head to reply. Izuku bowed to Mitsuki before hurrying after the retreating monarch.

As soon as Momo and Mina had you behind closed doors they bombarded you with questions:

“How did you and the king meet?”

“Was it love at first sight?”

“How did he propose?”

“How big was his-“ you quickly put an end to that line of questioning.

“I found him injured as I was walking down the beach of an island in his territory, it took some time for us to warm up to each other….Uh he didn’t exactly give me a choice, it was just a mutual agreement, and as for THAT…I wouldn’t know since we haven’t…y’know” you answered their questions lamely, it was embarrassing. If they thought anything negative the women didn’t share it, they just made idle chit chat as they combed out your hair. Taking a deep breath you shut your eyes, a bead of sweat slid from your temple to down your cheek, falling between the valley of your breasts. Had it always been so stifling hot in here? Pleasant scents of sweet almond, and vanilla reached your nose before suddenly being over powered by a lavender fragrance. Glancing around the room you don’t seem to find anything that would have put off the scents, the room was bright with afternoon sunlight illuminating the white canopy of the large four poster bed in its center. A small oak writing desk sat in one corner, and a clothing rack sat in the corner opposite of it, between the two directly across from the door used to gain entry to the room was another slightly ajar door, most likely a bathroom. Bringing a hand up you begin to fan your face, now beads of sweat lined the entirety of your forehead, you dab them away with your other hand before they slip into your eyes. Thats when you felt the sleeves of your dress being pulled down as the back of it had been unfastened, feeling your chest slightly exposed caused you to squeak in concern.

“Sorry my lady, we’re done brushing your hair out and now its time for your bath” Momo explains apologetically.

“Oh okay…I can undress myself” you begin to head towards the open door only to realize that the two of them were following you, turning back around Mina speaks up “Its our job to get you ready for tonights celebration and your wedding tomorrow, so its our job to scrub you down, remove any unsightly hairs, wash, condition, style your hair, and then moisturize you from head to toe,  I know its not ideal for two strangers to see your naughty bits but we’ll all be the best of friends afterwards!”. “Mina!” Exclaims Momo as she clutched her chest “Im so sorry my lady, please forgive her indiscretions, she means well!”.

The two of them begin to bicker on what is and isn’t appropriate to say to their future queen, your eyes bounce from one to the other as they speak. The pinkette is outgoing and high energy, while the ponytail is more somber and sophisticated. Mina begins making a game out of saying cruder and cruder things until her partner looks like she might just feint from the naughty language. Your laughter echoes around the bathroom as you strip out of your dress and undergarments, soon dying down into giggles as you enter the large bath, submerging your entire body.

“A thousand apologies my lady-“

“None needed, and call me y/n…I don’t consider myself above either of you…I want to make more friends” you admit this albeit nervously. A huge grin lights up Mina’s face, and MoMo ops for a more polite smile.

“You still haven’t mentioned where we are going Kaachan” Izuku nervously pointed out as he followed Bakugou. One of the kingdoms other shifters had given them a ride to the base of a nearby mountain. Now the two of them had been walking for over an hour, ocassionally having to climb up steep rocky ledges. “I told you already, you’ll find out once we get there! We’re over halfway there, woulda been there already if it weren’t for your sorry ass slowing me down” Katsuki sneers back at his companion. He was already 

irritated that Deku of all people accompanied him, and now the worm would know of his greatest kept secret. It couldn’t be helped, the nerd was the only one he trusted enough to assist him with this task.

After climbing one final ledge Bakugou comes to a stop Rubbing vigorously at his temples in attempt to stop the building tension headache. The pain stemming from his draconian sides repeat attempts at taking over his rational mind. Waiting for Midoryia to catch up, the king stood just outside of a cave that led inside of the mountain itself.

“We’re going inside?” Deku panted as he stared at Katsuki incredulously. “Yep C’mon” the king replied, immediately heading inside. Once inside the cave their path was blocked by what appeared to be a wall of volcanic rock. Placing both of his crackling palms atop it, the rock wall seemingly melted away, green eyes grew wide signifying the other man’s amazement.

“This is my horde, tell anyone the location, show up here without permission, or steal something and you’re dead, got it?” The King says with fire in his eyes, drawing himself up to his imposing height to make it easier to look down on Deku.

“I-of course not, I mean yes understood!” The frightened male squeaks, nodding his head nervously.

Turning his back on the cowering man, Katsuki walks further into the cavern. Treasures of all sorts line the pathway, Izuku can’t help but continue to marvel at all of it. A single path branched off the crowded walk way that led further into the cavern. Following it took the two men into what appeared to be a room carved into the rock wal

It wasn’t huge, it was small enough to be considered comfortable. Izuku noticed the various objects and decorations in this area were different than the haphazard treasure piles outside it. These things been placed with care, silk sheets covered the pile of furs and pillows surrounded what was obviously a bed in the center of the room. There was no spot that indicated the bedding had been slept on, and before the green haired man could contemplate this any further, the hulking blonde motioned for him to approach the spot.

“Paint these ruins right here” the king orders, lifting the bedding up and exposing the floor before he hands his subordinate a page that had been torn out of an obviously old book. Taking the ripped page carefully, Deku examines it curiously. Only to realize this was something in an ancient draconian language, raising a brow he begins to ask “What do these-“ only to be cut off by an angry “None of your damn business, just hurry up and come paint them”.

While Izuku set about his task, Katsuki continually left the room and returned with different things.

Arranging the treasures neatly, adding more decor and standing back to look at it satisfactorily.

Only to frown and take it away, going back out into the cave and exchanging the rejected items with something else. Once the runes were transcribed perfectly across the stone floor they glowed red hot, and burst into what had to be flames. This makes poor Deku Yelp loudly, jumping back to avoid getting burned. Quickly he grabs his bag and attempts to smother the flame, “Oi what the fuck are you doing?! Move idiot!” Katsuki exclaims as he runs over. Disregarding the frightened babbling coming from the startled man on the floor. The king takes a breath before closing his eyes in concentration lifting his hand that rapidly began forming into one of a dragon. Using the sharp talons to slice his other palm, blood began pouring out of the wound and dropping onto the burning shapes.

That’s when Izuku realizes that the flames weren’t burning anything despite the intense heat they were emitting. When the drops of blood hit the various letters it would sizzle loudly before extinguishing the flame all together. By the time each letter had been coated and the fire had been put out completely, only a faint outline of ruins appeared etched into the cave floor. The king carefully placed the bedding back in place to cover them up and smirked, very pleased with something apparently.

“Kaachan?” 

“Listen up nerd,  you’re going to help me haul the rest of the necessities I need up here before the wedding, since you are the only person other than shitty hair that knows where my horde is, now c’mon we have shit to do”  with that the king is quick to leave the room, and a very confused Deku inside of it. Something felt off to Midoryia about that enchantment, making sure he had all of his personal items put away before getting to his feet. Emerald eyes notice the old scrap of parchment had drifted a little off to the side during his earlier scare, considering Katsuki hadn’t picked it up or asked for it back, its quickly stashed away in a pocket of his satchel.

“WHAT THE HELL IS TAKING SO DAMN LONG?!”

“S-Sorry! Coming Kaachan!”

Back at the castle Mina and Momo had finished styling your hair and now were dressing you in your formal attire for the celebration taking place in the capital that evening.  The white dress had translucent sleeves that billowed outward when you walked, the slits on either side, and cut outs on the sides of your sternum made you nervous. 

“You look wonderful, everyone is going to think so” compliments the pinkette.

“I absolutley agree with Mina, you look every bit a future queen, the people will definitely be reassured they’re in good hands with you and the king” Momo adds with a polite smile. Thanking the both of them you glance out the window and notice that the moon has already taken its place high in the sky, shining bright as ever.

Without thinking you strode toward the doors of the small balcony in your room, opening them and stepping out into the fresh night air, closing your eyes and letting the gentle breeze caress your skin.

The two women watched you in fascination, it was as if your were taking in the light from the moon as one would from the sun on a warm day.

“Such a warm, gentle light” your whisper is lost on the faint wind, your heart swells in your chest at the fond memories made back then in your true home, the beautiful flowing silver hair and dazzling smile of a women dances behind your eye lids “Mother I miss you…I wonder what you think of all this…I hope you will come to watch me get married….or prevent it if its something that shouldnt happen…”. A ethereal glow surrounds you, making Mina and Momo gasp excitedly, the reassurance you had began to feel seemed to be a good enough answer from the goddess. As you turned to head back inside you paused in the threshold, glancing over your shoulder up at the crystal like light in the sky, the soft breeze blows hard enough to ruffle your dress. The voice that was carried on the winds from the heavens above was for your ears alone.

I will be there

The party was well underway by the time Kirishima escorted you out onto the balcony where two identical blondes sat overseeing the festivities. Katsuki is on his feet before you step through the door, you reach out to him and his expression softens as he takes your hand in his. “You look beautiful y/n” Mitsuki says as she too has gotten to her feet “The people are ready to meet their future queen”. Your stomach fills with butterflies as you take your place beside the dragon king. The older woman gestures towards a blonde precariously dressed man with a thin mustache, he gives a nod before loudly addressing the guests;

“Attention please! The royal family has announcement to make”. His voice has to be magically amplified some how, it’s so loud it makes you want to cover your ears.

“Thank you all for coming to join us in celebrating the unveiling of your soon to be queen” Mitsuki smiles warmly at the crowd below, gesturing for Katsuki to take over.

As soon as the king steps forward the people cheer “Long Live the Dragon King!” “Congratulations your majesty!” “King Bakugou!”.

The smirk he flashes his subjects has many in the crowd swooning, as soon as he begins to speak they all quiet down “I know many of you have long awaited the introduction of a new queen to rule beside me…It took longer than I would like to admit to find her, twas an accident that she came across me grievously injured from my battle with one of the ancient ones” a dramatic pause has the room so silent you could hear a pin drop, Katsuki smiles over his shoulder at you before continuing “It’s by the grace of Selene herself that her one and only daughter would not only find me, but put in the effort to nurse me back to health, I knew as soon as I opened my eyes and beheld the beauty above me that she was the one…my true mate and now your future queen my princess 

y/n”. You allow yourself to be pulled forward and now stood at your fiancé’s side, the crowd below erupts into applause, shouting and chanting.

“Goddess Born!”

“Daughter of Selene”

“Keeper of moonlight”

“Long live the King and Queen!”

You smiled and waved to the people, happy when Katsuki holds you close to him. You glance up to admire your handsome fiancé, without thinking you lean upwards and he meets you halfway in a passionate kiss that has the citizens cheering even louder.

Pulling away the two of you touch foreheads briefly before waving to the crowd once more and moving away from the edge of the balcony.

“Should I have said something?” You wonder aloud, glancing over your shoulder wearing a confused expression. “You did fine darling, if you had addressed them they would have went berserk with excitement, we don’t want the castle getting torn up before the wedding” Mitsuki reassures you, placing a hand on your shoulder.

Handfuls of nobles and commoners alike swarm to shake your hands and introduce themselves when you briefly come down to mingle among them. You spot Izuku’s green curls across the room and are quick to excuse yourself, happy to see a familiar face. He’s talking to a woman whose cheeks are bright pink as she giggles at something, only to immediately pause after catching sight of you.

“Midoryia!” You called out, smiling once you reached him.

“Princess! Hello!” He stands up straight, greeting you warmly “This is my good friend Ochako Uraraka”.

“It’s a pleasure to meet you your highness” the pink cheeked girl says shyly.

“You as well, no need to be so formal! Please call me y/n” you reply happily “I’m relieved to see someone familiar, I’ve met so many new people tonight already!”.

“The whole kingdom is buzzing with excitement, I bet it’s overwhelming!” Ochako exclaims, glancing around the room “Most of us didn’t think Bakugou would ever end up finding his fated partner”.

You chuckled at that, it certainly made sense why they would feel that way. Before you could continue your conversation you felt a familiar hand on your shoulder “Come now y/n, let’s get you back to Katsuki, Ejiro just informed me that he’s getting pissy” Mitsuki says with a roll of her eyes, Kirishima nervously scratches the back of his neck behind her. It takes the couple by surprise when you hug each of them “Hopefully we can have a longer conversation next time, bye Midoryia, nice meeting you Ochako!” You say quickly, flashing them a dazzling smile before taking hold of Mitsuki’s hand, Kirishima following closely behind the two of you as you head back towards the raised platform.

Katsuki was slouched in his chair, two of his knights you hadn’t met yet, along with Mina, all appeared to be teasing him. If the scowl on his face was anything to go by that is. “I brought her back just as I promised you damn cry baby” Mitsuki snapped as she released her hold on you. Gracefully moving past the older woman you were about to take a seat beside the brooding king, only to let out a startled yip as his large hands took hold of your hips and yanked you into his lap. “Yeah what happened to only five minutes? It’s been at least an hour, she’s not your show pony old hag” Bakugou sneers at his mother, making you gasp,

“My king how could you speak to your mother in such an awful manner?!”. This only makes the woman smirk at her son as she looks down her nose at him, “Listen to your wife Katsuki, she’s got a much better head on her shoulders”.

“Yeah yeah” the disgruntled blonde huffs, waving his mother off.

“We haven’t had the chance of meeting yet my lady” the yellow haired male says, immediately moving closer to take your hand.

“Denki Kaminari at your service” he presses a kiss to the back of your hand before bowing low. “Let go of her hand before I take off your head DunceFace” Katsuki snarls.

Kaminari is immediately bumped out of the way for his black haired counterpart to stand before you, “Hanta Serro, pleasure to make your acquaintance my lady”.

Serro bows to you, flashing a toothy grin as he does so.

“Nice to meet you gentlemen” you say with a polite smile.

“Now piss off you all” Bakugou grumbled “Want a minute to speak to my women without any comments from the peanut gallery”.

Both knights give him a mock salute, and wave at you as them and Kirishima leave you two.

Immediately you feel warm hands squeeze at your sides and you lean your forehead against their owner’s. “You okay? I thought you would get overwhelmed meeting so many people” Katsuki asks, admiring your beauty as you close your eyes. “It wasnt that bad, I’m fine now though” you reply, a pleased hum followed it as Katsuki’s hands began to brush across the skin of your hips that was exposed from the slits in your dress. His hands are warm as they trail down your thighs, leaving tingles in their wake as they travel back upwards. He decided to continue this action, caressing your exposed skin, allowing the skin on his palms to slightly increase in temperature. A prideful smugness begins building inside of him after noticing with each pass over your hips you’re leaning further into him.

Soon your head comes to rest between his neck and shoulder, the relaxed sigh you emit has your breath ghosting across the sensitive skin. Without thinking he grabs a bit too harshly at your hips, causing an adorable squeak to come from you. So he does it again, only this time it gets a much different result.

The cute little “humphh” was there, but what followed it was….teeth.

Your teeth grazed the skin of his neck before nipping it. The pain was nothing to the dragon king, but combined with the warmth of your tongue poking at it, that was everything.

 Katsuki abruptly got to his feet, his grip shifted beneath your ass in order for him to swiftly carry you out of the crowded ballroom. The two of you are out the door you’d entered to reach the balcony before you could properly access the situation. Carrying you a little ways down the castle hallway, the king stops at a small alcove. Deeming the small space good enough to press your body against the polished stone wall. “My king?” You ask nervously, his body pressing against your’s even though he was as close to you as possible already.

“Won’t everyone notice we left?” You only get a rumbling growl In response, your body tensing as the king squeezes your hips again, his nose coming down to sniff at your neck.

Still haven’t claimed her yet? Coward, I’ll have to change that.

“M-my king?” 

Feel  that?

Your core grows wet with slick as you begin to lose yourself in these

 new pleasurable sensations caused by your lover’s continued motions. They fueled the aching need between your spread thighs, little whimpers escaping as you begin to rut against his abs.

I think she likes me more than you…think I’ll claim her, since you have been dragging your feet…Let me show you how it’s done.

Crimson eyes begin growing black they eat up the sight of you breathing heavily and growing desperate.

One of his fingers slip into your wet hole, earning a gasp from you. His eyes drinking in your appearance, enjoying the moment.

“O-ohhh Katsuki!” Your mouth hangs open, your nails bite into the skin of his biceps “I…please Katsuki I need more…want you my king”.

Bakugou finally regained control over his body, not that you know he had ever lost it. The sight of you growing so needy from his touch was overwhelmingly gorgeous.

His lips crash into your own as he begins sisscoring you open.

“Mmm princess…tell me what you want…just tell me and I’ll give it to you y/n…you look so beautiful like this” Katsuki moans as one of your hands tangles in his hair, forcing his head forward to continue the kiss.

“I want…hahhh…want you” you whine into his mouth before curling your tongue with his “I want you to ravage me King Katsuki…show me how a dragon makes love” Surely he couldn’t fuck you right here in this hallway? After all the work he’d put in back at the mountain to make your first (and only) mating perfect….

“Katsukiii”

He couldn’t.

“I want you to.. I want you to fuck me”

He can, and he will.

“Whatever princess wants, princess gets” the king replied, one hand wrapping around your throat and gently beginning to apply pressure.

“Oh? You like this, don’t try to bullshit me when you keep squeezing my fingers” he applied a little more pressure as his other hand moved to free his aching cock. “M’gonna fuck ya right here, right now…don’t care who sees do you? Begging for me like a desperate little whore”.

Your whines are growing higher in pitch as you begin to fuck yourself on his fingers. “Gods princess you look so good like this, I got what you need right here baby”  he mumbles, guiding the head of his dick towards your slit. Gathering some of the wetness leaking from you, both of you were holding your breath and watching the spot where you would be conjoined. Just as you felt the tip of him against your fluttering entrance, did you both notice the sound of footsteps approaching. Katsuki releases his hold on you, making sure you could stand alright before stuffing his dick back in his pants. You leaned down to grab your ruined panties off the floor, sticking them deep into his pants pocket. Smoothing down your dress, you moved forward and grabbed his hand pulling him along. You both appeared calm when you met Kirishima as he rounded the corner.

“There you guys are! Sorry to bother but Jeanist and Aizawa wish to meet with you before the night’s end My king” the red haired man says, his large smile is a bit sheepish as he looks anywhere but at you.

“Take her back to her room, I’ll tell pinky to join you” Katsuki orders his knight, who nodded before moving a slight distance down the hallway.

“I know you must be worn out princess, it’s been a long day…” the king began, dropping your hand to touch your cheek “Get some sleep, I’ll see you tomorrow”. As he leans down to kiss you he is abruptly thwarted by your hands pushing against his chest, “Tomorrow?!” You practically squawk at him “What am I to sleep alone?!”.

Blaming your heightened emotions on your guy’s previous actions, tears well up in your eyes,

“What was all that for if you just planned to abandon me afterwards?”. Later that night as you lay awake staring off into space, your reaction would embarrass you. 

That would be then, this here was now.

“We shared the same space throughout our time together on the island, slept side by side! Now that you’ve uprooted me and brought me here to this foreign land, where I have no family or allies, you leave me alone and refuse to share a bed?! This is where you draw the line?” You kept your volume at a harsh whisper to avoid attracting any unwanted eavesdroppers.

You pulled away as Katsuki reached out towards you, “Go and handle your business, I refuse to stoop so low as to disrupt the order of your kingdom, Goodnight King Bakugou”. “Y/n wait! You can’t just say all that and walk away, we aren’t done with this conversation! Get back-“ the king went silent as he heard a door open further up the hallway, his arm dropping back to his side. Turning to leave, the last thing he sees is Kirishima following after you.

Should have just let me handle it.

“Shut the fuck up!” Katsuki snarls, stopping just outside the door he’d carried you out of previously “Don’t think you ever are going to pull that same bullshit again, that’s my woman!”.

You forget, I am you….

Before he can respond the Door opens and his mother stares back at him “Where’s y/n?”.

“I sent her to bed, she was tired” 

The clipped tone of her son’s voice was nothing the older woman wasn’t used to. Something wasnt right, as she moved to let her son pass by her eyes scrutinized him.

“Oi what’d you two old bastards want? My intended is upset with me now thanks to you assholes” the King snarls, approaching the two men that stood waiting.

“Hello to you too your majesty” Jeanist replies, pushing his dark blonde bangs further to the side.

Aizawa only rolls his eyes, “Let’s move somewhere quieter, too much going on down there”.

“Y/n seems nice, how’d you two meet? I figured Bakugou would have kept her hidden until tonight” Ochako asks, excitedly taking a large bite of cake. “Hmm? Oh well long story short I gave her shelter when she had been caught out in a storm” Midoryia replied, absentmindedly glancing around the ball room. “What was she doing out in a storm?” The witch asks around her fork, savoring the first bite. “Oh uh well” Izuku chuckled nervously “It was just due to a misunderstanding, no big deal or anything”. “Bakugou upset her and she took off, got lost, only to be found and saved by you…right?” Ochacko asked, fixing him with a narrowed eye stare. “Right” the green haired man sighs.

“I just dont get it Mina….how could he just dismiss me like that after…well you know! I just dont understand what I did wrong” you lament to the pinkette brushing your hair out. “You didnt do anything, im sure that he was seconds away from whisking you off to his chambers, if the two of you hadnt been interrupted” replies Mina, briefly glaring at the bedroom door Kirishima was currently posted outside of. “Typically our people dont wait for marriage to mate, mating often times proceeds a formal marriage, but you are someone special, and I believe thats why the king is waiting until after the wedding to break your back” she explains, wrapping the silk scarf around your tresses.

“W-What?! Break my back??” You stammer fearfully.

“Its a figure of speech, basically he’s going to do it so good you wont be able to leave the bed afterwards, rumor has it the king is rough, and likes to get a bit freaky too, so good luck with that” Mina teases as she knots the scarf, tapping your shoulder with the brush as she chuckles.

“Mina! I might be offended if I knew what any of that even meant” you whine, shaking your head back and forth.

A/N: I hope the length of this made up for the last one! I tried to find out if there was a form of A/B/O for dragons so I could use those terms, but I guess they go by the same things? I dunno 🤷🏼‍♀️ Thanks for all the love and support you guys show me, it makes me happier than you know ❤️‍🔥

[celestiaras]

hello hello, i’m here to request something (feel free to ignore)

Could you write a fem!dom!reader x Vox akuma? I understand that he’s mostly a dom, but i think it would be nice where he’s subbing for the first time and reader is gentle and showing him it’s alright to let someone else take care of him.

thank u for even considering this request :D

ft. vox akuma x f! reader — luxiem, nijisanji en

╰₊✧ vox being submissive in the bedroom for the first time┊0.6k words

contains: smut!! dom reader & sub vox┊breast fucking, blowjobs & facials, praise & aftercare

➤ author's note: wanted to try out writing tit fucking but i feel like it ended up being so poorly written? kinda giving wattpad vibes, i definitely need to work on it more

“aww, you big baby,” you giggled, using your hands to squish your tits together and guide them up and down around his hardened length. there was barely any friction from how slick he was with pre-cum and split, plunging between your cleavage so easily being more slippery than a slip-and-slide. it was almost difficult to control, but nothing you couldn’t handle given the opportunity you were given. “don’t worry, i got you~”

vox could only groan in response, pressing his palm against his mouth to prevent any more sinful noises from escaping with his head thrown back into the pillow. his red and black hair clung to his face from sweat while his heels dug into the mattress. it felt so strange to be below you like this, embarrassed at how vulnerable his state was while laying back as you did all the work for him, but god, it felt so fucking good. it took a lot longer than he would like to admit for you to convince him that he didn’t need to play the part of a “daddy dom” all the time, that it was okay to let his guard down and to allow himself to be taken care of. this was his first time ever subbing for someone else— he must have placed a lot of trust in you to allow this to happen at all, and honestly, you felt a bit honored.

as a result, you were trying your best to be as gentle as possible instead of eating him alive like you truly wanted to (the power you had over him must be getting to your head). he looks so cute trying to cover up his blush and subtly bucking his hips into your soft chest for more, thighs twitching and chest heaving, it requires you to exhibit a lot of restraint not to pounce on him like a wild animal as he so often did with you. however, for now, you’ll only be focusing on his comfort and making him cum, but you had quite a few ideas in the back of your mind about what other kinds of fun you could have with him in the future.

“you’re doing so good,” you whispered before giggling when he swore. he must be close already, managing to display all of his telltale signs despite keeping most of his face covered. you dipped your head to help him out with your mouth, lightly sucking at the leaking pink tip of his cock that peeked out from between your tits steadily bouncing around it.

his hands gripped the sheets with his knuckles turning ghostly white even when compared to his pale skin, composure long lost to the soft embrace of your breasts until the building pressure finally exploded. you gasped as thick ropes of cum suddenly spurted out all over your lower face, spilling in a pool atop your chest and dripping back down between them. he couldn’t quite remember the last time he’d had an orgasm so intense, or if he’d ever experienced one like it at all, but he was quick to apologize once he realized the mess he made and reached over to grab a nearby towel to clean it off before you stopped him.

“don’t apologize for anything,” you smiled, taking the cloth from him to wipe everything off yourself. “you did such a good job.” the praise along with the kiss you placed on his forehead flustered him since he wasn’t used to being on the receiving end on all this, but it made his heart flutter in a new and exciting way.

[who-knew-a-sheep-can-write]

Big Hands: Gladiolus Amicitia x Plus-Sized!Reader (Semi-NSFW)

Contains: Implied sex at the end, self-deprecating thoughts, body image

Despite his promises, his gentle crooning and warm embraces as well as the countless times he had you wrapped around his finger, you still couldn’t get over the looks people were giving you as well as the words muttered under their breath. It was everywhere, people were everywhere, judging you, weighing you as inferior compared to the god-like being standing next to you, holding your hand firmly. You felt like crawling back under the covers of your comfy bed, to disappear from the world.

It was all the same insults and comments, over and over again. The words looming over you like you were in some stupid horror movie. It didn’t shock you all that much about how frail your confidence was.

Shattered like a broken mirror with the brick being just a jumble of words.

He would often fight back, spitting harsh threats at the people that treated you worse than hunters treated their targets. He hated how quick people would turn on others. It was revolting, that humans can be so cruel to one another without even caring.

He was always so quick to escort you away, to care for you, to fix that fragile mirror even if it meant he would cut his fingertips.

But he adored you.

Where he was hard and ridged, you were soft and delicate. He loved feeling your curves, he loved holding something that wasn’t a heavy broadsword or shield that rubbed his scratched up palms raw. He loved holding your hands and absent-mindedly playing with your chubby fingers.

It was all the better as he would always hold you tightly, stopping you from squirming.

“I’ve got big hands for a reason,” he would always grumble into your ear before pinching at the plush curve of your ass.

And he was no different tonight. He had found you sitting on the bed, back facing him. He knew what had happened, heard from Ignis that a few citizens were snickering under their breath as you were helping Ignis and Prompto with a few things. Even worse, he had seen the scale on the bathroom floor, barely sticking out from the cabinet next to the sink. He barely saw it himself, but seeing the contraption only fueled his anger.

“(Y/n)?” he murmured, pushing the bedroom door open a little more.

You didn’t answer. You sat there, still, head down and looking at the floorboards. You could feel your face heating up in embarrassment.

You were only soiling his royal name the more you stayed with him.

The door opened fully, the light of the hallway filled the dark bedroom.

Gladio sighed and slowly stepped towards you. Instead of rounding the corners of the massive bed, he instead climbed up onto the mattress from behind and kneeled behind you. You flinched when his large hands came into contact with your shoulders.

You always loved how his rough hands felt against your soft skin.

His fingertips curled, allowing him to push himself forward until his chiseled chest and abdomen was pressed right up against your back. He hummed softly, slowly moving his hands down the length of your arms until the joined together right on top of your belly.

You bit your lip, feeling suddenly nauseous at how disgusting you looked right now. Oh Six, why did you have to be this disgusting? Why did this being chiseled by the Six themselves fall for you? Oh Six, why does you belly look like that when you sit down? And why are your legs so big and awkward?

Your throat tensed and tightened. You felt like you were going to vomit.

You nearly heaved when he placed his lips on your shoulder, feeling the scratch of his facial hair brush against your skin. He hummed softly and pressed another kiss closer to your neck.

“I love you,” he murmured.

It always fascinated you on how soft Gladiolus could be. He was the King’s shield. He was meant to be a force of nature. He was a behemoth in human skin with how powerful he was and how dangerous he could be. And yet, he’s being so gentle to you.

“Gladio,” you whimpered.

He shushed you, tightening his grip around you and resting his head on the crook of your shoulder. He pressed a kiss to your neck.

“I love you so much,” he cooed. “I love you so much, it’s crazy.” Another kiss had you suddenly tearing up, a sob pushing past your sealed lips. “I ever tell you how much I fucking love you?” he hummed in your ear. “I love you so fucking much (Y/n).”

“Gladio,” you whimpered.

He was so warm against your back. It felt nice.

“I love that you’re so soft. I love your cute fingers and how you always blush when I hold your hand.” He tightened his hold around you. “I love how you always sleep on top of me, a perfect way for me to grab at that fine ass of yours.” You couldn’t help yourself but to laugh. A few tears rolled down your full cheeks which Gladio quickly wiped away. “I love you so much, I’m so fucking lucky I met you when I did. And I’m so lucky the Astrals above blessed me with these big hands so I can show you how much I love you whenever I want.”

And just as he said that, his hands flew from your waist to slide under your ass. he hiked you up in the air, suddenly standing on the floor. Carrying you bridal style, he grinned down at your blushing face. His eyes were a fiery blaze, suddenly filling with lust.

He set you down on the bed, kicking the bedroom door closed with his heel.

“I love you so fucking much, it’s not even funny,” he grumbled.

“You know Iris is home,” you found yourself laughing.

“She has friends she can go hang out with.”

And just like that, his belt was loosened and his pants fell to the floor.

[danihow]

Flowers and flames

Prohero!Shoto Todoroki x Florist!Reader Boku no hero academia

Word Count: 3.3k

Summary: You never planned on having a reunion with your ex boyfriend, and never in a million years you thought it would be in a victim-pro hero situation.

Warnings: Language, robbery, flower quirk reader, bad written drama, fire, kiribaku, and fluff? Idk.

A/N: Funny story is I started it LONG ago, like, season 4 was barely our and all, and I havent kept on watching the show so this is written as far as my knowledge goes, idk if anybody is dead, so im sorry there, literally publishing this like 3 years after but who cares.

In some cases, just sometimes, they were the right person, they were the one you were meant to be with for the rest of your life, the one whose arms ressemble a home, a safe place where nothing could keep on haunting you and your heart flutters, finally relaxing in happiness. They are, indeed, your soulmate.

Still, even if they are the most amazing person you've ever met, even if they are the one, in cases the timing makes you thing otherwise, that they were not what your heart made you think and they get away, the path of their life no longer colliding with yours in the way it did before. They are not longer your life, your everything, they are just strangers again, stranger with memories.

And it hurts at the beginning, the light in your chest is deemed away, the days take longer to pass by, the time stops but... not in the good way, time seems to be stuck in the middle of everything and nothing, giving eternal seconds to your heartbreak to eat you alive and tear, piece by piece, the strings that connected you to your will of living.

It all seems to be like a never ending snowstorm.

But now, winter has passed, your heart was alive again, your memories were tossed to the back of your brain as you welcomed a new light in your life: you were staring to love again but this time, yourself.

A bit more than six years have gone by since that realtionship ended. Around two thousand, two hundred a fifty days of your emotional healing process. The sun shining behind the tall building, just about in the angle that provided the earth with some beautiful orange hues of light that gave everything around you a little bit more of life.

You were alive, you were breathing, you were happy, and you were relieved.

Your work at the flower shop just ended, closing time making its way around. Just ten more minutes and then you could go back home. It had been a busy but provechous day, since August is the month with the most birthdays the amount of bouquet orders this month have been insane. Your hands have crafted a ton of bouquets today, all kind of bouquet, from formal bouquets that contained monotoned flowers to the most colorful mix everyone could imagine. But you didn't felt tired, you felt happy of making others happy.

The ring of the doorbell woke you from your memories, a tall man in a suit walking in the shop, his red eyes wandering the place with calm, eyeing the peonies, the roses, the sunflowers and the chrystaseums.

"Hi sir! How can I help you today?" Your voice came out in a friendly tone once the man standed right infront of the register.

"Hi, I have a dat- Y/N?" Your name dropping of this stranger's mouth made you look at him now with more concern that friendliness washing over your face.

Your eyes began to wander over his face, the gears in your brain starting to spin as he rang some memory in the back of your head. He was tall, muscular, a defined jaw that dragged the attention to his face, prominent cheekbones that went well with the wildness in his blonde hair and remarked the power behind those dark red eyes... Red eyes.

"Bakugo?"

"It's been way too long since the last time I saw you." He muttered, his eyes inspecting the facial features of his long time friend.

"Uh, y-yeah. Like six years I think. What brings you to my flowershop?"

"Oh, right. I need a bouquet with some pink flowers that kinda looks like a pom-pom." He says, his hands trying to imitate the size and shape of the flower he's thinking about, your mind instantly getting what he means.

"What color do you want for the pom-pom flowers?"

Your steps were still light as he remembered them to be when you dated his friend. "I was thinking of white pom-pom flowers with some red peonies."

"You are one lucky man Bakugo, these right here are the last peonies I will have for the rest of the week." You giggle, taking some white alliums in between your hands, along with some peonies and yellow yarrows to the crafting table.

"What can I say, luck has always been on my side." He says with a smirk. The blond being less agressive than you remembered him to be at 18.

"May I ask who is the lucky person receiving flowers from you?"

"I'm gifting them to my boyfriend, Kirishima, it's our four year anniversary today."

"You finally got with Kiri? That's awesome Katsuki! Congrats!" You happily cheer in him, a soft blush in his ears and nose as he laughs your words aside.

"Thanks Y/N." He mutters, eyes fixated in the bouquet you are working on. "I'm really lucky to have him actually. Pro hero life is such a fucking mess all the time, he's the only one keeping me sane."

"Is great to see you happy and sane, Bakugo. It really is." You smile at him, finishing the bouquet. "It would be five thousand yen, sir." You say, the man handing you the money while taking the flowers.

"Thank you, it's really pretty, Y/N." He smiles, taking small steps towards the door, stopping with his hand in the handle. "Can I ask you somtheing?"

"Sure."

"What happened? Why... Why did you distanced yourself from us? From him?"

Your heart sunk a bit, a train of memories going through your head and heart.

"It... wasn't working, Katsuki, I didn't belonged there in your world, I am not a hero, I was just a person with a stupid flower quirk." You laugh it off, the pain, the heartache that settled in the middle of you, roots of stinging memories encaging your heart. "Distancing was an easy was of cowarding, of getting away from the routine, the emotional danger I would put Shoto in."

"...okay." He nodded his head, accepting how you felt. "I know it isn't easy to break a relationship like the one you had, you are not a coward, you know? It takes a lot of courage to distance yourself from those who you love." Katsuki gifts you a comforting smile, his hand taking out a small card from his pocket and placing it in a shelf near him. "There's my number if you ever need help from a hero, or a friend."

"Thank you, Bakugou, it really means a lot." You smiled at him, looking at his face and the sfot yet still somehow harsh gaze in his eyes, his small playful smile made it seem as if he was a whole new person, and it made you happy to look at him this happy even for a hero, Kiri must be doing some good ass work as his boyfriend. "See you later, have a good day!" You said to the blonde who returned your smile and waved back before the door closed.

With a little smile you sighed, your heart felt torned against the memories this little reunion has brought back. You started picking up the mess the flowers let on the counter top, you took the broom and started swiping the dust from the floor, then you cleaned and put everything in its place, a bit more than half an hour later you were done and ready to go home.

You took your keys and your belonging, tossing a rose that was about to bloom in your bag so you could put it in you nightstand and it would last a bit longer, walking out the door of your shop and when you were just about to take the keys out someone muttered from behind you. "Open up again, and give me all in the cashier, if you don't I will not hesitate to kill you."

You slowly turned around, seeing a man with his blue hand laid to you, ready to shoot something if you didn't obey. "You want money?"

"Of course I want the money, what kind of stupid ass question is that." He snarled, signaling at you to reenter the shop.

"Yeah, yeah right." You nodded, any type of quirk he had it did not seemed to be very friendly.

Rather quick for your shaking hands you managed to get the keys again in the door and open it, walking inside with the robber behind.

"I don't have all day, just do as I say and you will not get hurt." You nodded and he smiled. "Put your things aside, I don't want you calling nobody while I'm here, sweetheart."

Putting your keys and bag aside in the floor you did as they said. "Now, walk your ass to the register and put all the money in this bag and no funny bussiness while doing that." He ordered, tossing a black bag at you.

How the fuck did no one noticed him in the shop? There was still some deam light from the sunset, it was nearly impossible for him to threaten you like that and no one to take it in and do something. But you were not going to let him rob all your money that easy.

While doing what he said in and oddly slow manner, you concentrated your self to using your quirk with that one rose you had put in your bag to make it grow enough for it to reach your phone, feeling how the rose moved slowly and with its stem you tried dialing any number in your phone, the last one saved being Bakugou's.

"Hello?" He ask, your number not saved in his contacts. "Who's this?" Even if he was talking rather loudly it was muffled by your bag, thanking the gods for that.

"Can't you do it faster? At this rate I will be taking the money myself you useless scumbag." The man was getting desperate, he actively didn't wanted to get caught by any heroes today.

"I'm sorry, sir." You answered rather loydly for anyone the rose dialed to hear.

"Y/N?" Bakugou asked, hearing carefully to the voices.

"That's all you got in that register? Really?"

"I mean, you are robbing a flowershop, ain't you?"

"Oh they must be stupid." Bakugou muttered hanging up and calling back to his agency to notify any heores near the shop to help you.

"Shut up okay?! Look at the back or something, I'm not leaving until I got some money."

You nodded, your mouth shutting as you walked to the back of the shop and he followed you just to make sure you didn0t called someone or did something suspicious.

You took longer to open the emergency monsey suplly, and even longer putting the money in the bag as he asked. Each second that passes made you more nervous.

What if the flowers didn't do anything? What if they didn't answer?

The thought of losing it all rolling around your mind over and over again, hands trembling to the point the bills were falling out of your hands onto the floor, spreading around the floor.

"are you stupid?" The man asked, picking you up by the shirt, tossing you around as he took over the money handling, sparks leaving out of his hands as he did.

In a matter of seconds a scandal was heard from outside, a siren far away. "You called smeone?" He asked in a shout, turning towards you. "You dumb bitch." He said, a weak snapping from his fingers shocking you lightly, enough for pain to flow around your body and a yelp escape your lips. "Shut up. Now, you ain't getting out of here." He says, manhandling you until he could tie you to the metallic beam that supported the wall.

You pleaded him to let you go, you couldn't do anything, your quirk was useless, but he didn't even spared a look at you, his quirk setting some of your paperwork on fire, himself running out to the front door.

Panicked, you stare at the papers in fire, rapidly becoming bigger and bigger, spreading to the boxes full of wrapping suplies.

"Shit, shit, shit." You say, trying hard to get out of the tie. Maybe, maybe you could still use your quirk with your flowers. The thought inmediately making you concentrate, fire spreading throught the wooden ceiling to the front of the store, smoke coming bewteen the glass doors.

You were trying, really hard, to make your plants grow, the cracking of the flames making hard to hear the growning crowd outside, smoke engulfing the little back room. You started yelling for help, in hope of anyone hearing you from outside or the stores besides.

"Please, please someone." You pleaded, coughing fits interrupting your yelling, you felt lightheaded, unable to keep on yelling. You tried again to use your quirk, hoping atleast one flower was still intact out there in your shelves. Soon, your mind was everywhere and anywhere, memories of today vagantly flowing through it.

"Y/N?" You heard a familiar voice yell, steps louder, the fire and the smoke making your eyes teary, difficulting even seeing clearly.

Maybe it's bakugo. You though to yourself, trying to find some strength between you to yeel again, only to end up coughing.

"Y/N." Your blurry eyes barely picked on the sillouete, a tall fram ecoming in, coldness spreading from it, a warm hand picking you up and snapping the tie around your wrists, helping you get to your feet.

The next couple of minute were a blur, being dragged out to the street, multiple voices surrounding you, fresh air making your lungs ache, as if you were breathing pure alcohol and your lungs were open wounds.

"You okay?" The familiar voice asks again, your eyes finally clearing and being met by a mismatched pair.

"Shoto?" You ask, hand extending you touch his face, in case your dazed mind was playing tricks on you.

"It's me, y7n, you're okay, it's okay." His hand gentle on your shoulder to help you get seated. "The ambulance is on their way, don't force yourself."

"My shop..." You say, staring at it engulfed in flames, windows broken, not a signal of anything intact in it. A deep sadness fulfilling you, the fear, the anger, the dissapointment all filing you and exploiting, fat tears flooding from your face.

"Does something hurt?" Shoto asks, worry deep in his features at the sight of you crying.

You can't find it in you to answer, hand clapped against your mouth to muffle your ugly cries.

You don't know how much time passes, but it feel eternal as the paramedics are checking you, giving you oxygen and checking your light burns.

"Where's Y/N?" You hear Kirishima's voice from the distance, him and Bakugo both making their way to the scene, a relieved look on their faces as they spot you seated with the paramedics. "Are you okay? Where did the fire came from?" They ask, the bouquet you made earlier in Kirishima's hands, making you smile lightly.

"I'm fine, unemployed, but fine." You mutter. "Now get back to your date, it's okay." You signal to the, both sharing a look before sighing.

"Why do you have a phone if you won't answer?" Bakugo asked, the angry tone he put to masquerade his worry made you chuckle, reminding you of your high school years.

You knew yu didn't have to asnwer, and seeing Bakugo overreact and Kirishima calm him infront of you made you chuckle louder.

Maybe you do have missed them.

Once the paramedics cleared you out and treated your burns you went over to Shoto who just finished talking to the police.

"Shoto" You called, he barely heard you as he turned around t oface you, an awkard smile on his face now that eberything was cleared.

"Hi..." He mutters, nodding to you.

"Thank you." You say, finally looking at him rightly. Paying attention to his matured features, jaw more prominent, frame wider and he seemed taller, hair a bit mure ruffled and longer than you remembered, eyes looking at you as softly as your memories recalled. "Seriously."

"It's my job, it's nothing." h¿He dismisses, nodding again. "I'm... uh, relieved that you're fine."

"Thanks." You nod, fiddling with your hands. "I'll go."

"Can we talk for a second? I mean, a few more." He says abruptly, eyes never leaving yours. After you nodded and stayed, he kept on talking. "I always had this question ever since you broke up with me and... seeing you now may be the only chance i'll have to clear it out." He started, looking deeply into your face in search of anything that told him you didn0t wanted to hear him out.

"The thing i want to say is... why did you do it? I- I thought we were doing great and I never stood where I went wrong."

"You never went wrong. I did." You started, unable to look him in the eye as you were spitting out what happened. "I-I was scared, everything was so wrong even though it felt so right. You were always in the spotlight, always being chased after, and after eberything that happened I got scared i was weakening you." You said, not looking at the way Shoto's features formed a face of sadness. "I never wanted to intefere with your job, I loved you too much to keep you from moving forward. I... just felt like a weight, you were much safer without me around."

"Why didn't you talk it with me?" He muttered, searching for your eyes. "You did worse by leaving than staying."

"That aint true. We dont know that, we dont know what the villains could do to us if we were kept together." You thought you would feel sad, but surpisingly, you were relieved as everything was finally spilled.

"what happened with what i felt?" His words slow, careful. "You mever stopped to wonder if I wanted you around even through out all the risks? It was selfish I know, but you were keeping me sane, keeping me alive."

"I'm sorry, I know it was wrong, but look at you now." You signal to the enitre of him. "You are an amizing hero, you fulfilled your dreams, you didnt needed me for that."

"But i wanted you there." He sighed. "I couldnt help but wonder, all these years, what if you talked to me, what if you were still with me?"

"I was a weakness, Shoto."

"No, you were my strength, you kept me grounded." He snaps, tears forming n his eyes. "After I lost you I thought I lost everything, I didnt have you to protect, to keep on foghting."

"But you kept pushing forward didnt you"

"Ueh but... That was because I knew you were stillout there, I found strength in the thought of protecting everything in case you were there."

"Shoto..."

"Its been six years, y/n. What if..." He stops midway, taking berak to gather some air. "What if we try again, as adults?"

"Its not that easy."

"My life will never be easy, we know that, but, maybe, we can try." His hands are ithcing to hold yours now. "If you seriously are over me, if you really dont want me near, say it now; but i know, i stilll want you."

"Sho..."

"This time, I want an answer.¿, I want to hear you out, I want you to say to me what you think."

His words dug deep into your heart, pain coming out of wound you didnt knew you had, but the thought of him made you flutter a bit, something you thought as dead coming back to life inside of you again.

Was it now the right time?

"What if we dont work out?" You scarely ask.

"Then, I'll let you go, but I'll let you go knowing that I fought for you." You didnt know what happened to him, but hearing him talk like that ignited a little flame in your heart.

"Let's try then. But we have to get to know each other again."

"Sure."

[saintgoths]

ᴄʜᴀᴘᴛᴇʀ ᴛᴡᴏ

CHAPTER TWO - THE WATER STONE.

WORDS - 3,424.

RATING - G+. [canon-typical violence].

SUMMARY - with talks of her father’s past, suiren struggles to be confident about her not sinking down the same path her father once went down.

feedback would be appreciated!

previous chapter - chapter one.

The two girls Akane and Suiren had been contrived to share a room in the hotel the entire team had currently stayed over in, it wasn’t like the two didn’t like each other, Suiren had just thought that it would be nice to sleep in separate rooms but Ren Sensei had thought that sharing rooms would prepare them for intense situations that’d cause them to have to do more than sharing a room in the future.

Suiren had the money to get her own room, but she had to at least be respectful and obedient to her teacher, so she had dragged herself into the room Akane had already been in. Akane had not been offended by Suiren’s spoilt behaviour as she was too engrossed to tell Suiren the weapons she had bought from Ten-Ten’s tool shop. The white-haired girl had always appreciated and admired Lady Ten-Ten that people could almost find Ikeda girl in the store every day.

“I bought ninja knuckle knives, iron knuckles and claws!” Akane excitedly listed, she had noted them the moment Suiren had entered their shared room the dark-haired girl pressed her slender back against the currently closed tall door. Suiren had lightly hummed at what Akane had mentioned, and evoked that Akane was brilliant at Tai-Jutsu, and she had recalled that Akane had also admired her mother, Sakura due to her strength and story-line of how she was a girl of nothing and now everything, it had made Akane slightly envy Suiren, to have a mother like that, or to even have a mother figure.

The moment Suiren had placed her bag on the single bed the locked entrance had been immediately knocked on, as Akane’s bed had been closer to the door, the light-haired girl had taken the initiative to open the door just to be mildly surprised by Raiden. Suiren had gently looked over her shoulder ere she continued to unpack her clothing, “we could eat from the hotel but we have to go to Tazuna’s home to gather more intel,” Raiden had verily been sent by Ren who had known that the brown-haired male would easily accept the small task to speak with the girls, especially if one of the girls had been a certain Uchiha.

Suiren and Akane were already prepared to leave the hotel, so it had only taken them under five minutes to put the rest of their luggage away and follow the boy to the lobby of the building where their Sensei had been waiting for them.

The trio had walked in a single line, with Raiden in front, Akane in the middle and Suiren last in line. Thoughtful, Raiden turned his head over his shoulder, he had wanted to speak to Suiren but he took the expression on Suiren’s face as a message that she had not wanted to speak right now, with his lips pressed into a thin line, Raiden returned his sight in front of him, his softly blue facial appearance had been easily caught by the nosy Ikeda who widely smirked at the story she had made in her head.

“Trouble in paradise?” Akane joked only now to be replied with scowls and rolled eyes.

“Shut up, Akane,” Suiren dryly muttered, her arms had been crossed around her higher chest and there had been a short-irked snarl on her face, with a stifled laugh, Akane successfully attempted to hold down the rest of her amusement.

In silence, the team had arrived to their Sensei who had kindly greeted them and escorted them out of the hotel, Ren had informed the group, that the walk to Tazuna’s home wasn’t going to be long, “we’re going to retrieve a stolen archetype called the Water Stone,” Ren directed to them. “The stone contains the entire power of a spirit of the Water God, Suijin.”

“And the people who stole the Water Stone, what are they going to do with it?” Akane curiously asked, she had pulled herself to walk beside their Sensei, and to listen closely to what Ren had to say, both Suiren and Raiden had followed in Akane’s footsteps.

“The thieves are likely going to try and share the power and take over the Land of Water,” the black-haired man responded, “so our mission is to find the group and take the stone back.”

“How are we going to retrieve the Water Stone if we don’t know who we are searching for?” Raiden asked and humoured, Ren looked down at his male student.

At the time that he gathered his answer, Ren had returned his vision back towards the path the team walked down. “They go by the Prism,” Ren coolly responded, “Raiden, with your water style we have a very good chance to challenge the Prism,” he enthusiastically commented and confident, Raiden straightened his back.

Eventually, the group had arrived to Tazuna’s home, they were kindly greeted by Inari and had met his mother, Tsunami who stood beside him. The small family had quickly ushered Team Thirteen into their home for them to dispatch the fear the matriarch had cooked for them.

“The Land of Water turned into a different place the moment Team Seven saved us from those criminals,” Inari smiled, the entire group had been sat around a long wooden table Inari had brought out for the feast and he thought it would be amiable and pleasant to speak about stories of the past.

It had seemed to work, the three young students had been engaged with all the tales Inari had informed them with, moreover, this was a juncture Suiren had been able to learn more about her father, about the side to him before everything went downhill. “It was funny,” Tazuna spoke up, yet, there was a commodity about the tone of his voice that made it seem like he didn’t actually find anything amusing. “To watch and hear Sasuke go against villains and terrorists just to become one himself.”

Immediately everyone had paused, and Suiren could feel all eyes fall against her. Stiffly, Suiren’s hand balled into fists as she could feel her body faintly shake, her eyes had challenged Tazuna’s and she could tell this was a impertinent moment, to see if she would defend her father. “My father’s changed.”

“I believe he has,” Tazuna eventually agreed. “Let’s just hope you don’t go down the same path.”

Quickly, Ren shot Suiren a reassuring glance which was exchanged no response from Suiren who had used the rest of the time to keep to herself. “I’m so sorry,” Tsunami immediately apologised, “Tazuna…he’s just trying to give advice,” she kindly explained and gracelessly, Suiren looked down at the food below her.

“It’s okay,” Suiren softly muttered as she dragged her hands under the table and rubbed the palms of her paws against each other.

Observant about her current ambivalent behaviour, Inari coughed to move focus from the recent situation. “The Prism don’t only want the Water Stone but all types of stones so they can become mighty powerful and immortal.”

Intrigued, Akane pulled herself forward, inquisitive for more information. “What other stones are there?”

“There’s the Water Stone, Earth Stone, Wind Stone, Fire Stone, Lightning Stone, Sand Stone and Sun Stone,” Inari shrewdly listed, “and you’ll likely find the stones in the Land or Village they align with.”

“If there’s a Sun Stone, how comes there’s no Sun Village or Land?” Akane curiously questioned.

“There is a Sun Village, but they’re miles away and don’t like to interact with other land,” Ren astutely informed and absorbed, Akane turned to look at Ren in hopes he would speak more about it.

Softly, Ren dropped his shoulders in acknowledgement that his white-haired student was going to poke him with numerous questions of the Sun Village, and in admission to it, he gently sighed as signal for Akane to hit with her questions. “How comes you know about the village?”

“I didn’t even know the Sun Stone was real and thought that specific one was a myth,” Inari chirped in and exactly like Akane, Inari’s dark eyes had strangely sparkled with curiosity.

“Before I came to Konoha, I had travelled for a very long time, I ran into them, they’re very powerful people, I wouldn’t try to temper them though, even though running into them is very rare,” Ren informed and hyped Akane beckoned her head in obedience. “But about the Prism,” Ren gently smiled, “I heard that their leader is named Botan, a great Water-Style and weapon user, his second hand is named Asahi, another good Water Style user, and the rest of the group are their loyal followers.”

Team Thirteen and Inari’s family continued to discuss about the terrorist group ere Tsunami informed the group that dinner was ready then the handful of people readied onto their feet, inclined to dine the lady’s food.

It hadn’t been too long since the group had returned to the hotel, and Suiren had returned outside, not too far from the building but enough space for the young girl to stand alone, she had her arms crossed as she had tried her best not to cry, but usually her emotions got the best of her. In fact, Suiren had successfully held back her feelings when the group had been in Tazuna’s home, chiefly because of the conversations that had distracted the dark-haired girl from her spiking feelings, yet, the second there was nothing to help Suiren drown the over-thinking and her being overwhelmed. She had finally cracked.

“Suiren?”

Quickly, Suiren had wiped her cold tears with the back of her hand, she could tell he was coming, Raiden, and primarily, she wasn’t surprised he chased after her.

“Oh, hi,” Suiren kindly greeted, “you don’t need to be here. Can you please go away?”

“What if I said I don’t want to?”

Gently, Suiren cursed under her breath, her hands now on her hips as she gently turned sideways from him. “I’ll get over it----”

“Was it about what Tazuna said to you?” Raiden quickly considered, and softly, Suiren kicked the rocks under her sandals. “You’re not going to down the path your father once did.”

“It’s not only that, it’s how people look or act towards me when they figure out who my father is,” Suiren dully expressed and empathetic, Raiden neared himself toward her.

“I’m sorry you feel that way,” he authentically replied and slyly, Suiren smiled at him.

“It’s not your fault.”

“I know, I just hate seeing you upset,” Raiden responded and comedically faux flattered, Suiren placed her hand against her chest and made a face.

Embarrassed, Raiden gracelessly shoved his hands down his steep pockets. “You’re so lame,” Suiren muttered.

“At least I made you happier,” he clarified and with a short hum, Suiren agreed to his statement.

Shortly even more astute, Raiden gently tilted his head, his eyes stuck on the girl who stared ahead. “Do you want a hug? I think that’ll be the cherry on top.”

“That would be the cherry on top,” Suiren swiftly agreed, her quick agreeable response had shocked Raiden, nevertheless, he couldn’t waste any more time, knowing how erratic Suiren could be, if she wasn’t in his arms within the next five seconds, she would change her mind.

Thus, Raiden gently pulled the long-haired girl into a loving embrace, for a short time, it was quiet between them and Suiren wouldn’t have thought she would’ve loved being in his arms, so she didn’t move but had nestled her face between the edge of his neck.

“It’s time to sleep now,” Raiden commented and softly, Suiren giggled against his skin.

“I want to stay outside.” Suiren replied, moreover she hadn’t moved an inch away from his body, his skin was warm and Raiden had felt fond for her, verily, she did not want it to end.

Confused, Raiden pushed the both of his eyebrows upwards, unsure to leave her alone. “It’s dangerous and dark outside.”

“I can protect myself,” Suiren easily replied, eventually, Suiren had pulled herself away from Raiden’s hand and gently stroked her fingers against his ere she returned to wrap her arms around her body.

“Everyone knows you can protect yourself,” Raiden joked and awkwardly, Suiren smiled at him. “Please come in.”

Stubborn, Suiren shook her head, which had made Raiden gently bounce down his shoulders. “Okay, but I wouldn’t be able to sleep well if you don’t come back soon,” furthermore, Raiden had embraced Suiren into a one last quick hug before he returned back into the hotel, yet, before his entire body entered the building, he sent Suiren one last glance ante he let her be.

Eventually Ren had exited the hotel, Raiden informed Ren that Suiren had denied to return back into the building, and the leader of the team had thought it was best to give Suiren a couple of minutes before he decided it was his turn to speak with her. The dark-haired man calmly walked towards her, nevertheless, his slow pace had no use, as an Uchiha, Suiren’s sensory was higher than most, thus the young girl had easily been able to tell he came out of the hotel.

“Suiren, hey,” Ren kindly greeted and gently, Suiren turned to look at him with a calm smile on her face.

She had watched him come closer to her and hadn’t been surprised that he came after Raiden. “Raiden told me that you were upset,” Ren calmly told Suiren and unsurprised, Suiren scoffed at the intel.

“He can never keep stuff to himself,” Suiren dryly respond and in kickback, Ren laughed at her comment, his chuckle had invited Suiren to laugh with him as well.   

“Well, we know how he is when it comes to you,” Ren deliberately said and briskly, Suiren glanced at him before she turned to look at the Moon. Reticent, Ren levelled his position beside Suiren before he looked down at her. “We can train for a bit,” Ren suggested and hastily, Suiren silently agreed to his idea.

She unenveloped her arms from her body and walked beside Ren from the hotel grounds. Incoherently, the two Ninjas had hushedly made way to a forest that was fit for the both of them to train. “What do you want to practice on?” Ren genially asked and for a quick second Suiren thought about it, with her hands on her hips she had cordially hummed.

“Tai-Jutsu,” she happily answered and without second thought, Ren aimed himself towards the shorter person, yet Suiren was quick, hastily she dodged his punch and easily backed away from him.

Fastly, Ren darted towards Suiren who easily punched her solid fists against his stomach. Quickly, Ren released a painful groan, the strength had actually humoured him, not because he thought it was weak, Suiren’s punches were lethal. He laughed because it reminded him of Suiren’s mother. ‘Your skill for fighting reminds me that your mother is Sakura.”

Withal, with how focused Suiren was with her offence it had helped Ren to briskly kick her stomach, shocked, Suiren had flew back, but still focused to get back to her feet. “You’re too focused on getting your hits you’re not aware of what your opponent is coming up with.”

Appreciative with his advice, Suiren beckoned her head ere she commenced with a stance to resume her fight. Directly, Suiren had darted towards Ren who had easily dodged her speed, and annoyed, Suiren had sharply inhaled her breath, nevertheless, Suiren had remembered the advice he had given her and had become furtherly aware with Ren’s blows and began to hit the taller man to a greater extent precise.

Focused to gather chakra in her fist, Suiren quickly slammed her balled hand into Ren’s stomach so robustly, her impact had caused the man to fly into a tree.

“Do you want me to heal you?” Suiren jokingly asked and humoured, Ren rolled his eyes as he had brought himself to sit up and lean against the slightly broken tree.

“Yes, please.”

Compliant, Suiren neared her figure towards Ren’s bruised body and began to heal him. The moment Suiren and Sarada had learned about chakra control, their mother had helped them learn the basics of being a Medical Ninja, it was quite hard-work since they were young, but Sakura would’ve rather felt safe than sorry.

For her age, Suiren had been very skilled at being a Medical Ninja, but that was the privilege of having Sakura as her mother and Tsunade as her God-Mother, well, at this point Tsunade was similar to a grandmother to both Sarada and Suiren.

The instant Suiren had finished healing Ren, the two of them had pulled themselves to their bottom of their feet. “Can we focus on other things?”

“What would you want to focus on?” Ren questioned and Suiren quickly thought about it.

“You should pick this time,” Suiren finally replied.

“You should practice on your Fireball Jutsu,” Ren nimbly suggested, and without second thought, Suiren quickly wove hand signs before she discharged a large fireball.

Surprised, Ren fell back to his bottom. “Oh, wow, chill,” Ren jokingly begged and Suiren happily smiled at his reaction. Nevertheless, quickly, Suiren positioned herself to practice more with her competence, yet, there had been a quick immense size of energy that had easily distracted the both of them.

Confused, Suiren and Ren shared looks ere they began to look around the area, though, protectively, Ren dragged Suiren behind him and attempted to peek down the trees. “Hello? Who’s there?”

Yet, there was no response, it wasn’t like the energy felt dangerous, as a matter of fact, Suiren anticipated that she recognised the energy. Flustered, Suiren placed her hand against her chest, as she had deeply intent to clearly recognise the energy. “Ren Sensei, I recognise the energy,” Suiren breathed, slightly irked that she couldn’t give the name to the person, moreover, the moment Suiren had said that, the efficiency had quickly disappeared.

Confused, Ren and Suiren joint perplexed glances before they looked down the forest to where the unknown person had previously been in. “I think it’s time to go to the hotel,” Ren carefully suggested while his grip had slowly released Suiren who quickly agreed with his idea.

Suiren hadn’t been surprised when she recognised the white abyss her soul had returned to the moment, she fell asleep. Carefully, she looked around the scope she had currently been in to recollect where the fire would usually come in, though, she had realised that after a while of standing in the current capacity she had been in, she recognised that the fire had delayed its arrival.

Due to this, Suiren had taken this opportunity to turn her back towards where she had previously faced and attentively make her way towards the red door. Though, after a few seconds of her mini travel, a large burst of flames was heard behind her, and out of knee-jerk, Suiren had immediately commenced to dart down the white arena.

Howbeit, during her journey, she had remembered what Raiden had told her, so she stopped and curved her body in direction of the flames and allowed the fire to travel towards her. Now that she had a better view of the flames, she had noticed the detailed specifics of the flame, the authentic deep red colour that shared orange black specks that had easily engulfed her body.

As expected, the fire had not charred her body and it had actually made Suiren satiated, satiated by how her past self would always run away from the fire even though offensively, it held no danger against her. Mayhap, it had symbolised her fear and allowing to see that things she thought could scare or hurt her, would never be able to harm her.

Once the fire had finished with its dance, Suiren had peeled her eyes open again, her face that had angled upwards had currently been pulled down to examine what was around her. That was it, the fire was gone and there was nothing in the realm that she had to be aware of.

Confused, Suiren had turned towards the direction of the red door and unlocked the opening. To bolster herself, Suiren looked behind her once more but the second she was convinced that the fire was actually gone, she had pushed herself into the exit.

thank you so much for the support!

masterlist

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[physicalturian]

[18+] Salvaged Love - Hanma Shuji x F!Reader - Part 4

[The plot of this work follows previous works in this series] [She/Her pronouns used for the reader, no physical description; Everyone +18] [Varied POV/chapter]

Words : 11 013

Playlist : link

Archiveofourown

Warnings : Reader-Insert // Implied/Referenced Rape/Non-con // Canon-Typical Violence // Graphic Description // Graphic Description of Corpses // Dubious Ethics // Explicit Language // Blood and Injury // Necrophilia jokes // Slight mention of ED (not reader)

There was something uncanny in having two people looking for a new place, to perhaps even build a new life, while in a different part of the city something much more tragic was happening.

It was nothing remotely close to dramatic to those who were used to it, to people that had been desensitized to the show that was happening right now. To people like Mikey. He could watch the scene displayed in front of him for hours without a hint of regret, so people thought. What regrets could a man with a blank expression portray? His eyes bore intensely into every action, following each hit, each breath, each step—he was taking it all in, unflinching. Part of his brain would sometimes attempt to resurface, that part of him that was more caring, but he was fast to turn it off.  Having him vulnerable to any sort of thing would mean the end of it all.

Many would label their actions as distasteful, gruesome, illegal, and immoral. Even more would be happy should they stop. But what would happen then? Once all the wrongs of the world were not contained anymore? Once all that money that was being fed to the big cats—that was helping the economy flow as it should, that was helping desperate people get any sort of income to provide for their family because the society they were born in could not care enough to let them earn enough to live—was no more?

What would happen then? 

Then it would all come crashing down.

Earning money legally was a privilege that many seemed to bask in, along with their naivety, but so many more had to work with the risk of losing it all. Their money, their life, their freedom.

In some way, Mikey found it much more honorable.

And it all rested on his shoulders. 

Should he take the fall, everything would go amiss, with people fighting for their businesses, their territory, for power. He would not—no, he could not allow himself to be remotely vulnerable, that was why he relied on Sanzu to keep him in check for what was at stake. It seemed sad to think that the blond man needed to be reminded of what could go wrong if he dared to feel human, but it was necessary. Both men knew.

It needed to be done.

“See Ran, the guy isn’t talking. Let me beat him up, your technique ain’t it.” Rindou spoke a few steps away from his brother as he watched him beat a guy to the pulp with his baton, gritting his teeth and hissing insults, questions, everything. 

A sigh was heard next to Mikey. A man that had no need to be there stood by the leader’s side, arms crossed over his chest as he shook his head, “Why did you not call Sanzu or The Reaper in? The Haitanis are not extortionists at all. They have close to no patience–”

“I trust them.” Mikey stated, implying much more with these words. He then gave Koko a glance from the side, “And Sanzu was sent on another errand.” It was enough to be clear for the long-haired man that nodded, returning his attention to the fight in front of them. All that they currently needed was one crumb of information to go further in their research on Shibata. Bonten was not one for infighting, it was a dishonor to betray the organization and lay a hand on any other member, other than a stupid drunken fight. But some made exceptions, some were allowed to ignore the rules if it meant helping the greater cause.

It was the only reason why one of Bonten’s lower-ranked members was on the floor, facial features unrecognizable from the different layers of dried blood covering his skin. The situation was something everyone in the warehouse meant to keep a secret; it was something that shouldn’t have happened, and yet did.

“Who gave you the fucking order? It’s not that fucking hard, speak up and you go free.”

“No one! I did it on my own!” And another punch, perhaps too strong this time as his head hit the ground all too forcefully, the sound dull enough to quiet everyone in the room as Ran let go of the man’s collar and stood up. He grabbed a rag Rindou handed him and dried his hands the best he could before walking up to Mikey, uncaring of the dirt and dampness on his clothes from kneeling over the man. With a deadpan expression, he met Mikey’s eyes, “He’s not talking.”

Mikey hummed, taking his phone out as he sent a quick message to Sanzu, informing him of the situation before tucking it in his pocket and meeting Ran’s eyes, “Orders are not thought, they’re given.” Mikey started, only to have Koko speak up impatiently, “This man met up with someone external to the organization, in the dead of the night, with exec-level information at his disposal that he somehow got all on his own?” He scoffed in disbelief, clicking his tongue against his teeth while huffing another laugh.

“Yeah, so if one of our guys is connected to Shibata, what’s telling us there aren’t more of them?” Rindou asked, his face full of disbelief with his brows furrowed. The man would often be perceived as the happier, more jovial brother—or at least the one people would get along with more—but those who believed it were absolute fools. He would end up being the life of the party, however he did enjoy his ‘job’, if one could call it such. He cared about two things, Bonten and his brother, meaning that if one of those was at risk he’d pour all his energy into fixing the issue. He was not one to ask for intricate details, but if someone assigned him something to do, precisely informing him of the outcome, he would do it happily. Sometimes too happily—part of him itched to fight. After all, that was what he had known most of his life, and he also believed it was a good way to get his frustration out from time to time.

He didn’t care about losing or winning, as long as what he cared for was safe.

Mikey hopped off his spot and walked to the bashed body on the ground, the man whimpering and sniffling—Mikey took his gun out and pointed it at him. “Corruption in a corrupting organization, it was only a matter of time before the dog caught its tail…” Mikey whispered before grabbing the man’s collar and lifting him off the ground while pressing the gun under his chin, “I’m nice enough to euthanize a rotten dog when I see one, tell me who gave you the order.” If death had a face, it’d be this one. The one of a man claiming mercy at a moment of weakness, the apathy in his eyes contrasting with the softness of his features as he nudged the gun further into the skin.

To the three men standing back, nothing could be heard. They watched as Mikey lifted the man, cocked the gun, and approached his head. Koko had been with Mikey for a bit longer than the Haitanis, he had seen him get his hands dirty. Even if the sight was rare to behold, he didn’t care much—however, the brothers watched like hawks, leaning in to hear anything that was being exchanged until the gunshot was heard and the body dropped dead with a hard sound from Mikey pushing it before letting go of the collar.

They both watched Mikey wipe his bloody face with the back of his hand, only spreading it more over his cheek before tossing the gun to Koko who caught it without missing a beat, “Ran, Rindou, some loyalty must be tested.”

Rindou interrupted in panic, but to others, it was simply impoliteness, “Hey Mikey, my brother and I ain’t betraying anyone, alright? So whatever that guy said, whatever test you got for us–”

With a simple look, Mikey had Rindou closing his mouth, giving him time to speak, “Sanzu will be providing you with a list of people, our people, that need their…” He smiled, a short smile, a frightening smile to encounter, “Allegiance reviewed.”

Ran scoffed, his eyes glancing at Koko who was already walking out of the warehouse. It was evident that things had been dealt with and he had places to be—Ran’s focus returned to the smaller man in the room, “Ah yeah, beating up some weak-asses to make sure they stick with us instead of whoever that traitor is. Count us in, Mikey.” He was about to pull Rindou with him on his way out, but paused and called out Mikey’s name who was walking away. The white-haired man turned around without much surprise upon being called and set his gaze on the brothers.

“You’re not gonna tell us who he snitched on, are you?” Ran asked, confident about his statement.

Mikey shook his head, “No. Someone else is in charge of that.”

The brothers both laughed and started walking, holding back from nudging their boss in some sort of pettiness upon not being the ones to deal with the traitor, “And you want your people to trust you blindly? When you don’t trust your own execs? Maybe if you–”

Rindou pushed Ran away from Mikey, telling him it wasn’t worth it—Mikey only tilted his head forward, shaking it ever so slightly, “You’re smart Ran, you should know your impulsivity is of better use elsewhere.” A short sigh escaped Mikey’s lips as he looked up and met Ran’s eyes with nothingness, no tell of a joke even as those words poured out, “A smart fighter is key to taking care of this traitor, not a reactive one.”

The purple-haired man looked over his shoulder at his brother, asking under his breath if he had just been called dumb, but Mikey did not let them speak. He only walked out, but not without reminding them, “You’ll receive a text soon. If you delegate that to your divisions make sure you trust them, you never know what’s amongst your ranks.” Soon enough, the sound of the door slamming echoed in the warehouse, leaving the two brothers inside.

Both looked at each other before looking at the body on the floor, far away from them.

Almost at the same time, they spoke, “Not it.” and started debating on who was faster, arguing about the upcoming plans for today only for Rindou to give the final defense, “It’s your mess, I ain’t your mom, take care of it yourself!” He raised his hands, smirking at his brother, proud of finding a valid argument that had Ran clenching his teeth in annoyance. He pulled out his phone and shooed the longer-haired man away as he called one of the members of his division, “Yeah, write down the address. I’ll stay ‘til you arrive so you better get here fast, I got shit to do.”

As he proceeded to spell out the address, Rindou patted his shoulder mockingly and told him he’d see him later before leaving Ran alone in the warehouse.

A while later, neither of them had yet received the information from Sanzu regarding the manhunt task Mikey had assigned to them, but the pink-haired man had been busy since the early hours of the morning on his errand. Amidst dealing with the businesses he was responsible for, he had been taking care of Shiho who had woken up ill after the night with her. He’d stayed at home in the meantime, making sure she would make it through the day. His sleep had been restless, partly due to the couch not having the same level of comfort as his own bed, and largely due to having to endure a night of Hanma’s girl screaming through nightmares. He wondered if the poor sleep right next to that woman must have led to Shiho’s overnight health decline as well. 

For now, not one of his men knew the reason for him not being on site to make himself heard, but they didn’t need to see him to fear him. They even less needed to know his girl was asleep on his lap while he told off idiots for how much they could fuck up simple orders.

His voice must have risen too much since Shiho stirred in her sleep and turned around to look at him. Before she could speak, he shushed her with a small smile, pointing at the phone. She nodded and wrapped her arms around him, listening to the voice she had grown to find so soothing.

“You find him, it’s not that hard. You find him, get the info out of him and make sure he doesn’t talk.” He stated, listening to the reply he was getting, reacting with a dry scoff, “Twelve hours, you don’t want me to visit your boyfriend, do you?” Hearing him coerce people made her feel funny. She felt some sort of pride to be on his good side, to have the honor to see him soft when he was feared and known to be one of the worst men of Bonten. 

As he hung up, he tossed the phone aside and kissed Shiho passionately, “Thought you’d died for a sec there. You just passed out after they left.” He uttered against her lips before kissing her once more, both smiling and slightly dazed. The woman hummed and threaded her fingers through his hair, “I don’t go down that easily, come on!” She chuckled, holding onto his shoulder for balance as she sat next to him, her legs now resting over his comfortably, “I was just tired, I guess tidying up a body late at night isn’t made for me.” She chuckled, adding that her friend had had nightmares during the night, which added to her restlessness.

Sanzu hummed, making Shiho grab his face towards her, “When you guys talked… did you tell Hanma to do something about her being sent on fucked up errands? I hate seeing her like that, I don’t think he realizes–”

“I did talk to him, yeah. He’s insane and says she’s fine. Can’t do much about it at this point.” He pondered, helping her legs off him as he stood up, “Don’t wanna get too involved in their shit either, I have a weird feeling about those two.” He couldn’t tell her all that he knew, he couldn’t be as honest as he wanted to be, but he could be vague and be grateful that the woman by his side trusted him enough.

Shiho took his hand and brought it to her face as he hovered over her, “Your strangely specific gut feelings?” She asked supportively. He had something he couldn’t share, she felt it, but she played along. Time would help him come out of his shell, she had seen it, she was convinced of that. All she could do until then was support him and be as open and true as she could to make him understand he could be like that with her as well.

He laughed, “Yeah, those. So be careful baby, okay?”

“I’m not the one hanging around that tall, assless asshole—you are, so you be careful!” She chuckled, wrapping her arms around him before moving her hips from left to right enthusiastically, rhythmically, happily. Sanzu wrapped his arms around her shoulders and kissed her, “Wanna eat something, I gotta go in a few hours so I got some time before meeting Mikey.” The man was already on his way to the kitchen, halfway through putting an apron on when Shiho stopped him, a serious expression in her eyes, “I’m not—I’m not that hungry right now.” The woman tried hard to make her voice light, unbothered, but it had close to no effect on Sanzu.

He stopped dead in his tracks, looking at her intently, remembering all too well what was happening and that he couldn’t stop it. It was all that fucker’s fault if everything was going to hell right now; Mikey told him everything would be fixed this time if they followed his plan and he had to fuck it all up. 

Sanzu loved deeply. It was hard to contain, it was hard not to metaphorically beat common sense into his loved ones, to have them around longer. It was even harder to lose people, over and over again. He hated that. Grief felt physically painful to him—he had gone through so many iterations of it, caused by his own hand or by happenstance. Enough times to consider it a normal occurrence in his life, something he had to wake up and go to sleep with. It was supposed to be fixed, it was supposed to stop. He should not have to go through it for the umpteenth time this time. So why was he starting to feel it again? Why was his chest heavy, his heart yearning for the lover still by his side to wake up? Why was he screaming to himself in his own head to do something, he had to do something, he should do something, he is a fixer, he is reliable. 

What was he worth if she never could truly rely on him?

His heart weighed so much even as she stood in front of him.

He felt useless yet again.

It was like trying to bring a concrete block to the surface of the water.

He was helpless.

“I’ll make your favorite, don’t tell me I bought all those strawberries for nothing?” He asked with a huge grin. Her eyes lit up and so did his heart as she pushed past him, tugging him along to get to the fridge, “I’m a little peckish at best. Who knows, some of these might get up my appetite.” She said, already bringing one of the fruits to her mouth. As she did, she held back from retching, afraid of worrying him. A grin filled with red juice spread on her lips, “Just what I needed,” She grabbed some eggs from the fridge and handed them to Sanzu, “We gotta make tons of it, I wanna give them to–”

“Hanma’s girl, yeah, I get it.” Sanzu sighed, taking the eggs and a bowl as Shiho brought him the rest of the ingredients, fighting her gag reflex as she swallowed. 

“Have you considered that I don't wanna hear about her when I’m at home chilling?” The man muttered. He knew he shouldn’t have said that, but it had slipped out. Whatever justification had to come about his distaste for the woman could not be spoken out loud, not to Shiho. And yet, she joined his side with an apron on and looked down at the counter, “She’s my friend, Haru. I want to tell you about things that we did and that she does.”

He did not wait for her to finish to interject, “And all she does is fuck shit up!” He spat, immediately whispering a ‘sorry’ under his breath as he stopped mixing the batter and looked over at Shiho with a serious expression, “I just—I don’t care about her.” He set the mixer against the bowl and reached out for Shiho’s face, his hands cradling her cheeks gently as he bumped his forehead against her, “I care about you, but she brings bad shit around.”

“We’re all in the same boat, how is she any different?” The woman did not hold onto Sanzu’s hands as she would usually do, she wanted an explanation at this very instant. He brushed her hair back, his hold on her tightening, pressing her cheeks as he kissed her forehead while a strained smile slowly grew on his face, “It doesn’t matter, it… ah, it doesn’t fucking matter because it’s–” it’s already decided. What's done is done. He’s not allowed to change anything. No matter what he so desperately wished to do right now, he would not sacrifice Mikey’s happiness and peace of mind for his own. 

Loyal to a fault.

Kind to a fault.

Selfless to a fault.

That’s what he was, that’s why he hated her. That stupid woman that got Hanma’s attention, who went and had that stupid butterfly effect on their carefully, painfully-crafted plan for the best possible outcome. She had to fuck it all up. She had to mess up his one shot at a semblance of normalcy, and he hated her for that. He couldn’t bear the sight of that woman, that wreckage of a woman that, after ruining everything for so many people, was also losing herself in the process.

He smiled.

“I don’t mind hearing about you and her, I love hearing how your day went, yeah? Just… I don’t care about Hanma and his girl.” Sanzu whispered, letting go of Shiho’s cheeks before kissing her softly, “Unless it’s important, I can do without knowing shit ‘bout their private life.”

Shiho nodded and deepened the kiss, placing her hands on his hips as she pressed him against her, “I guess there are people you just can’t stand, it’s alright. I’m just sad it’s her.” She mumbled, her hands sliding to his back as she hugged him tight, tears threatening to fall. There was something deeper to what Sanzu was saying, but he was not telling her. No matter how much she reminded herself that he would eventually come around and open up about this matter too, as he had done about so many others in the past, it was still hard to be this patient. But she would do it for him. She considered telling Sanzu to stop mentioning Mikey as a rebuttal, but she knew if Sanzu had to choose between the white-haired man and herself, she would be no match.

Then, she immediately thought that as long as she was by his side, she would be happy. He would never have to choose between Mikey and her, because no matter the choice he would make, she would stand by him. That was how inexplicably closely-bound she felt to him.

“I suppose she is reckless, it is something you don’t like much.” Shiho added as she brushed the stray tear away and huffed a laugh, “But hey!” She laughed a bit more, “We’re all still around for now, so it’s not that reckless, right?” As she grabbed the mixer and the bowl, she leaned in playfully, “Plus, remember when I told you about that one time I got into a car with a guy from the bar so he could show me around his weed farm? I’m also a bit of a reckless person, you know?” She commented.

Sanzu let out a hard laugh, short but effective, “You do have a tendency to follow druggies home, huh?” He leaned over the counter, elbows placed on it while his head rested in the palm of his hand.

“I don’t plan on doing that anymore, I think I found the right guy. Don’t know about you, but my man’s pretty cute.” She started, turning the mixer on as she mouthed to him over the sound: “Good in bed too!”

Sanzu couldn’t help but look at her with adoration.

Even if they were part of the biggest criminal organization in Japan—both labeled as criminals, both now outcasts of the society they so passionately helped grow from the shadows somehow, both pariahs for having committed crimes so unfathomable to the eyes of normal people—they were still, at the very core of their soul, human beings, human fools, that had found some serenity in all these horrors by finding each other.

By making each other smile.

A solace, some would call it. Solace in the midst of this incessant and unwavering brutality they could never run away from.

There was something uncanny about how human nature was prone to seek such peace while sowing havoc. And that almost contradiction of character would show more in some than others. 

Sanzu was selfless, but Hanma was selfish.

Even as he stood behind his girl’s chair while she talked with Mocchi about their new place, he was thinking of what he would do next to protect her. To keep her by his side. Shibata could not plant seeds of doubt in their ranks because those seeds grew so easily when being watered by fear and paranoia. He had to rely on the Haitanis to weed out those sprouts but hated doing so since it meant her safety depended on how good they would be at keeping those doubtful thoughts at bay. It depended on how good they would be at his fucking job—intimidation, taking care of renegades, that was his shit.

Being put on mole-hunting duty felt degrading to him. He wouldn’t speak it out loud, but he didn’t give a shit about the fucker that had betrayed them. No matter who they were, he wouldn’t do as Mikey said, he wouldn’t bring them to him. They had put her at risk, and after what happened, he didn’t care about Mikey’s plans for the future. He never did, but even less now, with his girl’s life at stake.

“Yeah, sure, you want something you like, but how many rooms? Where do you want–” Mocchi was starting to get annoyed at how vaguely Hanma’s girl was explaining what she wanted. Hanma reached for the file on Mocchi’s desk and handed it to the woman sitting down, “Give her a catalog of whatever’s available, she doesn't have any expectations—see, that’s all she needed.” He brought their attention to her as she happily looked through it.

From his spot, he saw a figure outside that immediately disappeared, which alerted him. That’s all he needed to have his interest piqued as he patted his girl’s shoulder and addressed everyone, “Be back in a bit, gotta deal with something.” He looked at Kakucho who stood in the corner on a seat, busying himself but aware enough to look up from his phone and meet Hanma’s eyes. The latter did not need to say that he should keep her safe, they knew that while Hanma was responsible for her, all were aware of the target that seemed to be on her head.

Grabbing his coat by the door, the man left the building with a determined stride as he took in every detail of his surroundings. Sometimes he wondered why sellouts were so bad at spying, there was nothing discreet about wearing all-black and a cap—it seemed to be their go-to attire. He thought movies had used the concept enough times to make people use their common sense and not wear that, but clearly common sense was not as common as the name led to believe.

After the countless times he was sent on errands, years after years, he had learned the layout of the town. He knew each nook, each turn, each shady street and dead-end; and having followed people around for even longer, he could guess where they would run out of their first instinct. His walk was inconspicuous, the only thing that made people look at him was his height, and perhaps at times his tattoos, but considering his hands were currently shoved in his pocket, there wasn’t much for people to gawk at. His long legs meant he was fast, faster than the fucker that he could now see from afar as he looked over his shoulder, noticing him.

A satisfied smile made its way onto his lips as he grabbed his phone and quickly texted Kakucho; not that he had saved his number under any name—he simply recognized the recent text conversation.

It read, ‘found a shitbata rat, take her home when she picked what she wants’

He didn’t care for an answer, none of them would let her go home alone—out of politeness or chivalry, whichever it was he could count on it to drive them to take responsibility for his girl while he was gone.

The smile on his face couldn’t falter as excitement filled his being; this one wasn’t dead like the previous one, he was going to have a blast. Quickly, he took a turn before the idiot did and made sure to take a dark street that was not frequented, one that, while having two entries, led to a dead-end. With faster steps, Hanma stopped right where the light shone like a spotlight from the main street and hid behind the wall, waiting patiently for the man to walk in.

It took all but one minute for the rabid beast to fall into his trap, phone in hand as he panically spoke, “The gigantic one!” he waited, “I don’t know! Fuck, fuck, I messed up, he’s onto me, I–” Another pause while the person on the other end spoke. It was embarrassing to break down at such a small thing. Hanma had no idea if this guy was another fucker that turned his back on Bonten or if it was a born-and-bred Shibata, but he was weak for sure. The worse was perhaps how inattentive the man was to not have noticed Hanma waiting by to see what else was going to be said.

“Yeah, I think I lost him for now…” He nodded, humming in understanding which Hanma found a bit funny since the other fucker on the phone couldn’t see him. His eyes did not leave the man as he paced, kicking at some trash on the ground. It was only a matter of seconds before his feet led to Hanma. The latter pondered in a split second if he should retreat a bit and wait for more information, but instead he stood his ground until the spy’s eyes set on Hanma’s shoes, slowly following the source and meeting his playful gaze.

Hanma brought a finger to his lips in a shushing motion, but he could see the man was going to scream anyway. He quickly covered his mouth and pressed the idiot’s back against his chest as he held him there, using his free hand to grab the phone himself. 

Bringing it to his ear, he waited for a voice on the other end but it seemed that person was also waiting—Hanma spoke first, “Well, isn’t this awkward… tell you what! Tell me a story and keep me entertained for 2 minutes and I won’t kill your guy.”

The call ended.

Hanma shoved the phone in his pocket; he would decide its fate later on, right now he had to deal with this softie. “Clearly whoever that was didn’t think you mattered enough—are you for real crying, kid?” The one in control rolled his eyes and pressed his hand further on the man’s mouth, “Scream and people come in, come in and they’ll find a dead body.” He felt the fool’s body tense under him and patted his cheek mockingly, “So!” He pushed him off, making him fall to his knees, “Wanna play Guess Who?”

The man on the floor started stuttering, struggling so much it was painful to watch when knowing he was supposedly part of an organization that was giving Bonten so much trouble. Hanma leaned on the wall, waiting for the words to finally leave the man’s mouth without a struggle—with how long it was taking, Hanma took the initiative and said, “I take it as a yes, you don’t got much choice anyway.” He shrugged.

“Alright, is it a man?”

The man on the floor looked at Hanma intently to make it seem like he’d been staring from the very beginning, to stop his eyes from fleeting—or to make him believe they never did so in the first place. Hanma smiled, already satisfied.

“Feels like it could be an exec,” Hanma started, pondering out loud rather than asking the wriggling fool on the floor. He then turned his face rapidly and looked at him, “But then again! None of ‘em would have been stupid enough to get caught.” He stepped closer to the mouse caught in a trap and grabbed his ankle, dragging him out of the daylight in case he ever considered leaving, should his mind felt this spur of temerity.

It wasn’t hard for the tallest man to ignore the pleas of despair from the worm he held, who wouldn’t beg death to let them go just this one time? Once he dropped his foot, Hanma sighed, “We’ll go step by step then, is it first division?”

The man’s eyes widened, he shook his head, “No no, it’s the fourth division, it’s–”

“You didn’t tell me shit up until now, why would I trust you?” He clicked his tongue and kicked the man in the chest, making him hit the floor with a rough thud, “First division, huh. Who would have thought…” He pointed his thumb towards his chest, “I would have thought, that fucker’s been sus as hell for months now.”

“I—I don’t know who you’re talking about!”

Hanma’s hand gripped the weaker man’s jaw with enough force to hear a slight crack, effortlessly shutting him up, “Shhh. I wasn’t fucking done.” The nod in his hand made him understand he could continue, he then pushed his head away, this time making it hit the hard floor. The man was now knocked out, he probably had a concussion too, and Hanma was too lost in his own thoughts, planning on how to deal with the matter.

Giving the passed out body a disgusted glance, Hanma brought a cigarette to his lips, lighting it casually, “Ya can never trust anyone, look away for just seconds and you’re missing so much—so make ‘em captain of a division and ah!” He puffed the smoke, pointing at the guy on the floor, “They make people die for them!” He shook his head in disbelief, taking a long drag and keeping the smoke in as he added, smiling all too knowingly, “Not like it’s a surprise, but you know, I always thought the man was too nice for his own good—if we ignore that one time…”

The smoke rose into the air as Hanma puffed once more before dropping the cigarette on the man’s shirt and stepping on it to crush it, getting no reaction from the sellout that laid on the ground, “Man always had one foot in—the other was with the cops, but it looks like the bad guys are much more efficient than whatever pig was on his side.” 

For a moment, Hanma had to consider his next move. He could let him go, let him run back to his little master—after all, it wouldn’t change shit since he’d had someone on the phone listening when he was captured. Fucker knew Bonten was on his trail, but did he also know they knew exactly who he was? Pulling the weasel’s phone out, Hanma scoffed at the burner phone but looked through the contacts only to find one number saved with no name. There was no need to call it back, it was probably from another burner phone. Any tracks he might have to find that bastard would be pointless right now. 

Smashing it on the ground, he hit it hard with his heel and knelt by the man, holding the side of his face for a moment, “We can’t have you tattle tale now, can we?”

Crack.

“Now this is going to be a fucking pain to deal with.” He sighed, rolling up his sleeves as he grabbed a full trash bag from a nearby bin and emptied its contents on the floor, then a second one. It was not an easy play to shove a grown body in a bag not made for that capacity, but Hanma found a certain talent in himself for doing so. He added another bag around it and started shoving some trash back inside so that for the average eye, it would still look like simple garbage thrown away. It took a bit of time cracking bones and bending a human body unnaturally, but once he was done, he took hold of some additional bags before breathing out and lifting them from the ground—the struggle laid in not losing balance with the weight of a dead body on one side and household trash on the other.

He also needed to look as natural as possible so that no one would not look twice his way, believing he’s just taking out some trash. Luck was on his side considering he did not have to follow the man too far from where he’d parked; all Hanma had to do was walk about five minutes before reaching his car and dropping the body in the trunk. As he did so, avoiding bumping into people on his way there, he made a mental note to search the body for any ID or car keys. He couldn’t just leave the man’s car parked down the road for too long or people would get suspicious, which ultimately would lead to them realizing this man was gone.

With a deep sigh, Hanma shut the trunk closed and shoved his keys in his pockets before getting back inside—it had taken a lot less time than he’d planned, but he hoped his girl would have chosen a place by now. As he was about to enter, he heard them talking loudly, with Kakucho saying, “It doesn’t matter, he’ll be back in a few, just stay here and–” A slam on the door surprised Hanma but he did not intervene, he had guessed it was Kakucho blocking the way so he chuckled to himself and waited.

“I just need to pee, it’s not that deep. Let me out, don’t tell me you don’t have toilets.” She was interrupted by Kakucho laughing loudly as he locked the door and probably took the key from it, by the sound Hanma heard.

“To be honest, I have no fucking clue what’s going on in your head, so I’d rather keep you here until he comes back than have you running around playing gangster and fucking shit up.” Kakucho explained as a matter of fact before adding, “You know?”

Even though Hanma didn’t like most of them all that much, Kakucho was one of the pretty bearable ones, and he even managed to make him laugh as he heard his girl huff.

“He does whatever he wants, Kakucho. He’ll come back whenever, I’m not about to follow him and mess shit up, okay? So get out of the way, please.” She tried to push him, to get him to budge, but he did not—instead, he stood his ground and gripped her hand with force, clicking his tongue with a shake of his head. “Okay? Then piss yourself?”

For some reason, Hanma felt a tinge of annoyance when he heard her burst out in laughter.

Shaking her head, she stopped insisting on leaving and rolled her eyes with a smile before slumping on the couch, “Don’t push your kinks on people like that Kakucho, it’s a bit…” she made a face, followed by another laugh as she crossed her arms over her chest and waited.

“I don’t have a piss kink, I just have other shit to do than having Hanma up my ass cause I let his dog roam free.” He rolled his eyes and left the door to lean on the desk where Mocchi was preparing the red tape for the house she had chosen. Both Kakucho and the woman stared at one another in silence, both with a straight face until Kakucho started smiling in disbelief, “Your ass grew bold, you wouldn’t have dared to look at any of us like that before.”

She raised a brow, “Like what? I’m just staring, waiting for permission to go pee. I want my sticker for good behavior.” She said with a dry smile as she rested her elbows on her knees, debating whether she should text Hanma out of boredom or keep staring at Kakucho. The latter was much more interesting as he looked away and huffed, “You’re fucking weird.”

Before she could add something, Hanma knocked on the door and jokingly said from the other side, “One of us took this more seriously than necessary. Unlock the door, Kaku, it’s super sus that you locked that shit.”

Seconds later the key was in the lock, twisting audibly as the door opened and Hanma stepped in—he made sure to look down at Kakucho with a weirded out expression, “This ain’t free use, you better not have touched her.” He whispered, making the scarred man return the half-weirded, half-surprised expression, maybe with a sprinkle of disgust, “You’re welcome.”

He turned around and went back to his seat to let Mocchi take care of them. The woman on the couch stayed there as Hanma walked up to her, his hands reaching for her face as he tilted her head back, “Did you give him a hard time?”

Her smile was tender as she met his eyes, her words barely a whisper, “I wouldn’t dare, I told you I’d behave, right?” His eyes seemed to soften for a moment after hearing her words, then he smirked and hummed, thinking he couldn’t keep her locked up for too long. Keeping her in a cage, it would only have her go feral the few times she’d be out of it—so he grinned mischievously, “Ya can give him a hard time you know, man can’t just have an easy life.” Then he pecked her lips and went to check the papers Mocchi was preparing, taking a look at the place she had chosen. Looking through those that were already signed and completed, he read through everything rapidly, more out of boredom than anything, then he put them back on the desk and asked Mocchi, “We can move in today, yeah?”

Mocchi sighed in frustration, “Well, yes, but she took the one with the most paperwork and I don’t know if it’ll be processed fast enough.”

“Whatever needs to be done, do it. Where do I get the key? Just give me the address and we’re out.” As Mocchi looked through his drawers for the key of this specific house, the woman stood up and looked over Hanma’s shoulders, her hands on them to help her balance on her toes, “Thank you Mocchi, sorry for the rush.”

Mocchi mumbled something inaudible, rummaging through the drawer before handing Hanma the keys and still with annoyance, met the woman’s gaze, “Don’t get followed home this time.”

Her eyes filled with disbelief and anger as her hands gripped Hanma tighter just before letting go, “Excuse me? Now I’m to blame for an entire gang trying to take over Bonten?” She spoke too rapidly to be considered reasonable or sensible, it took a short time for Hanma to debate whether he should intervene or not.

He decided to step back and watch.

“Be fucking real with me, Mocchi,” She started, forcing his chair to turn around, “Speak up! Tell me what you think!” She then crossed her arms over her chest and smiled, a tight smile that displayed her seething anger. It made Hanma happy to see her something other than distraught for a moment. “Since everyone seems to be so opinionated on the matter, I am more than interested in hearing what important take you have on something you haven’t dabbled one fucking second in.” Her heart was beating fast as she remembered the encounter she’d had, having constant reminders of being followed over and over again, only to be called insane and paranoid. She was convinced others had gone through worse, but not him. Not the man seated in front of her, and yet he dared speak from a place of comfort about her misfortune? Oh, the privilege that a man basks in by being confident in whatever shit spewed from his mouth.

He scoffed but did not dare stand up, “I’m saying a good studio got ruined just cause you were dumb enough to get followed!” It did not have the effect intended. It did not rally the two others by his side, he did not receive any answer from the woman who now seemed to be dissociating right in front of him, her eyes wide open as if she had seen the most atrocious thing in the world and yet full of emptiness. Mocchi cleared his throat; a few moments after, the woman’s gaze finally met his own, and she smiled before lurching at him.

It took but a second for Hanma to pull her back, his arm wrapped around her waist as he only tugged enough to have her tumble slightly. Her face turned to him in anger at first, pissed off that he had interrupted her, then realization hit and her eyes widened, fear flooding them. Hanma barely met her gaze as he pushed her behind him and snatched the key from Mocchi’s hands, “That one’s deserved, nobody’s sorry ‘bout your face.” Hanma commented off-handedly.

Kakucho seemed to agree, “Bit of a low blow Mocchi, tell your wife she’s to blame for getting mugged while you’re at it!” That struck a chord with the larger man as he looked at Kakucho with mouth agape, now stuttering and struggling to find words to defend himself. His cheeks were starting to tint a darker shade from embarrassment, but no one truly paid attention. The woman responsible for the pain he now felt in his face straightened her back and composed herself. She had promised herself to never lose it in front of Hanma ever again, this was her last slip up. “I could tell you I’m sorry, but you deserved to have some sense beat into you.” She spat, turning around and making her way out of the office.

Right before stepping out, she looked over her shoulder, “Thank you both for your help!” she said almost sweetly. Kakucho let out a chuckle at her tone, aware of the fuming Mocchi next to him. The former man did not mind the woman that much, he had seen her descent into the person she was now, he knew there wasn’t much helping her state without getting on Hanma’s bad side. And seeing how enthralled she was with him, he couldn’t bring her back to reality; whatever happened next, no one but Hanma was to blame, Kakucho knew that.

“If you need help moving stuff in, I think the business provides that service.” Kakucho started, only to get shoved aside by Mocchi who stood up from his chair and stomped towards the door, still annoyed as he lifted his chin, “Don’t mention my wife again, get it?” He gritted through his teeth, it made the woman laugh to see him trying to be intimidating while being in the wrong.

Giving him a condescending smile, she leaned forward, “Would you like an apology?”

“Yes.”

She cut him off proudly, filled with arrogance and bitterness, “Because you won’t get one. Respect’s mutual, I don’t owe you shit if you treat me like shit, get it?” If one had paid attention, one would have heard the small hum of satisfaction that had built up in Hanma’s throat—but all that one could see was the small rictus on his lips as he held back from praising her. Even with the slip-up that happened moments ago, her effort of remaining calm was commendable, and he would make sure to tell her so in his own way once they were alone.

Without giving them a proper answer, Mocchi shoved them out and slammed the door behind the pair of outcasts.

As they stood outside, a short silence settled only for it to be broken by Hanma, “I’d have punched him too, his ugly ass stepped outta line.” he said. As if she had been holding her breath, the woman sighed in relief and gave him a smile, “I’ll keep myself in check still, but there might be a reason why his wife’s leaving him,” She started, walking ahead of Hanma, turning around slightly as she added, “You know, with him being a dick and whatnot. Pretty sure he’s the type of guy that would tell his wife to go get changed cause she’d dressed too hot for him.” It made Hanma chuckle.

The tall man changed topic radically as he tossed her the key, “You better have picked something easy to take care of cause the bigger the place, the bigger are the odds you’ll end up doing that shit on your own. I don’t got time for chores and tidying up around.” He explained, walking past her this time as he opened the door and let her catch up to him. She slammed her hand on the door as it started closing once Hanma let go. Huffing and puffing, the woman joined him in the car that was parked not too far.

There was this strange feeling in her guts once she was inside, as if they weren’t alone. Aside from her constant company, she felt strange—so she faced Hanma while buckling her seatbelt, “Something’s off.” Now on high alert, she was looking around, fighting hard not to panic.

Hanma shrugged and started the car, “Could be the dead body in the trunk. Could be a Shibata spying your every move. Could be anything, really.” There was a time when the woman would have been repulsed by the words uttered by the man, she would have gasped and panicked even, but now? Now she looked at him with wide eyes, debating with her inner thoughts whether she should praise whatever he had done, or play the card of shock. She couldn’t stress over such silly things anymore, he knew what he was doing, she had to trust that. 

So she smiled in disbelief, “Body?” The woman inquired, her eyes darting to the back of the car, not that anything could be seen in the trunk from their seat. Humming, Hanma tapped his fingers on the wheel as he sped up on the road, a sort of satisfied smile on his lips, “Debated for a bit if he should live or not, caught him on call with the mole, but ya know. He didn’t reply when I grabbed the phone.”

The woman scoffed slightly, “Obviously. So what’s the next step?”

“Next step’s getting some dirt on the bastard—before you ask: no, I won’t tell you who it is.” He tilted his head to the side, grinning at the woman teasingly as she rolled her eyes and focused her gaze on the road, telling him she wouldn’t go after the traitor herself. It made Hanma laugh as he gripped her thigh tightly, his nails digging into her skin enough to make her hiss in pain, “Yeah, cause it ain’t your problem, you got Shitbata duty.” He then dropped his tone, adding in a more serious voice, “Less risk of you going batshit.”

With a dramatically loud sigh, he let the back of his head hit the seat, “I’d even tell you to focus on getting a pretty ‘fit for Koko’s stupid gala, but you know.”

“Yes. You know too, I’m not staying benched like a porcelain doll.” She needed to actively participate in annihilating Shibata—they had made her feel unsafe in her own place, in the streets even by Hanma’s side, and now they had made her feel crazier than necessary with everyone thinking she was paranoid.

They tried to take down the weakest link, her. Just like Bonten was planning on doing by taking down Shibata’s leader’s girlfriend, Masami—to some extent, it made the woman seated in the car laugh, which brought Hanma’s attention back to her. “What’s funny?” He asked, one brow raised in confusion as he pulled down a street.

The woman shook her head dismissively, the action itself ticked off Hanma but he didn’t mention anything yet, he waited for her to speak. “Isn’t it funny we’re following their pattern?” She asked, amazed by the conclusion she had come to.

“Pattern?”

“Yeah, they tried to take care of me first. The crazy pariah, you know? And we’re doing the same, we’re taking down Masami to begin with.” With a soft hum, she weighed her words carefully. Just from Hanma’s face, she knew she was going down the wrong path with her words, yet she continued, now self-conscious, “Except they didn’t take in consideration that I wouldn’t go down that easily and that I’m—not to sound unhinged or anything—but, like, killing me won’t do shit to Bonten, you know?” That’s when Hanma parked in front of their new place, confusion painted all over his face as he looked at her with a hint of disbelief.

Quickly, the woman added, “What if I die, right? Maybe you’ll get a bit sad, but the rest? They won’t care for shit. Which is fair enough, they hate me.”

Whatever she added would be of no value to Hanma, he had heard enough and he needed to show her that this way of thinking was stupid to say the least. Getting out of the car, he forced her out of it too and pulled her to the door, ignoring whatever she was saying in confusion and annoyance of him not letting her go. Once he had locked the door behind them, he led her to the kitchen and helped her on the large island before wrapping her legs around his waist and forcing her to lay on the counter.

“What the fuck is going on, Shuji?” She scoffed, clearly not understanding why he was acting like that. When his hand found its way around her neck she gasped and as the pressure grew, the air in her lungs slowly depleting, her eyes started to water. It was so beautiful to see her weak under him, seeing her struggle, gasping for air with her hands around his arm. It only made her more alive.

“There we go,” He breathed out, his face close to hers while a smirk drew itself on his lips, “Your pity party was missing something—tears add something to it, doesn’t it?” Hanma’s thumb slowly tilted her face back, but his hand never let go of her neck. The gesture had long since lost the meaning of a threat and had taken the name of intimacy. 

Slowly, he slid his free hand under her shirt and felt the texture of the lingerie, making him sigh in satisfaction while raking his nails against it. She tried to gulp but with the hold on her throat, all but a strangled sound escaped her lips while her eyes bore intensely into Hanma’s—they were not screaming for help, she was not afraid, but she was confused, hoping her nails digging in his skin would somehow make him understand her thoughts. 

Reaching inside his pocket, Hanma pulled out a switchblade and used it to pop the buttons from her shirt, exposing her undergarment, “Thought we had an understanding or something, after last meeting.” Gently, he moved the knife on her stomach, the tip threatening to pierce her skin as it already did the fabric, “So tell me,” He slit the garment, angling the blade like he was peeling something as he ripped at the lower part. The sound of tearing clothing made the woman gasp audibly, at least for the little air she could get from it, “Why do you have the audacity to be self-pitying around me?” He gritted through his teeth.

She shook her head, finally managing to get his hand away from her throat—it was no grand feat considering Hanma had let go, but he loved seeing this pride on her face as she pried his hand away. “What self-pitying? It’s a fact!” She spat, making Hanma’s brows furrow in fake-sorrow, as if her words were hard to hear, but if anything they pissed him off. To assume he’d be slightly sad when she was gone, it made him laugh. And to think it wouldn’t affect Bonten? He couldn’t help but burst out laughing at how convenient this little speech of hers was at this very instance. How embarrassed she would feel to speak those words out loud if she knew what she had gotten herself into—what he had gotten them all into.

She was starting to get pissed off, this time her hand reached for the back of his head as she pulled him closer, “Why the fuck are you laughing? Tell me it would do shit to them! I don’t care if it doesn’t, it’s just–”

Eyes wide. A smile she had seen countless times, the one of a maniac, the one she had seemed to grow fond of as she kept ending up face to face with it. Hanma’s nose was against hers as he stated in a sing-song voice, “If you go down, Bonten goes down.” It made her eyes widen in shock and her grip slack, her hands found their way to his shoulders. Whatever annoyance she had moments ago had been replaced by this fast beating of her heart, this warmth filling her entire body that made her face heat up.

“You don’t realize it all relies on my silence?” He hummed melodiously, unzipping his pants before taking his shirt off and helping her arms inside it so he could lock them above her head. He smiled, “Imagine this. You died because they failed to take down a bunch of kids, yeah?” He paused and roughly took all that was in his way before wrapping her legs back around his waist, “The sole outcome is me ruining all they ever worked for. All they ever wanted would be gone by my fucking hands.” 

There was something in the matter-of-fact tone he had been so keen on using that had her all aflutter. The confidence in his words and actions as spread her lower lips and started playing with her clit had her staying silent while he continued his speech, now leaning fully over her as his hands had their own will, “Wah-fucking-wah, no one will mourn me when I’m dead.” He mocked her, grabbing her jaw with force and making her look him in the eyes, “Then try harder to make your life meaningful, yeah?” 

Her confused expression had shifted to one of submission, with glazed eyes and a lazy smile she nodded. She found some comfort in his words, it was odd; with the roughness of his touch and seemingly harsh way to put things, there was still some tenderness to it all. His love language was so different from the ones many would have encountered, but she’d grown accustomed to it, she wouldn’t trade it for the world. Yet her eyes faltered to the side for a second before looking back at him, whatever devotion her gaze carried now mixed with doubt. “It isn’t like you to give life lessons, Shu.” She whispered, unhooking his hand from her jaw to slide two fingers in her mouth as she licked them; she then pulled them out and smirked, “Why don’t you make me forget my stupid thoughts, hm?” 

If part of her enjoyed his words, that part was disappearing. She couldn’t lean into that side of herself. Rai was a reminder that looking back would only make her weak, that’s why she ignored her from the corner of her eyes. The woman knew she could rely on Hanma to make her head go empty, even for just a few fleeting moments. She was convinced that by staying by his side, she would disappear.

Was she Rai? Or was it her past self? The self that no one wanted to see, the one that was distraught, the one fighting the upper hand only to lose each and every damn time.

It didn’t matter.

“Life lessons?” He scoffed, helping her legs on his shoulders as he nodded for her to hold onto the side of the counter above her head, “I’m making sure my investment doesn’t kill herself—it’d be a shame to see such a pretty face go to waste.” He made sure to punctuate his final word by shoving himself inside her, making her grip tighten. Her back on the hard surface made the position all the more painful, but she didn’t want it to stop. “Ending up as—as a, ah—trophy wife isn’t…” Her sentence was interrupted by a guttural moan that tore from her throat, her back arching into him for more, “It’s not—what I thought I’d—end up as.” She finished, jokingly. 

Hanma’s eyes that had been focused on her body up until now slowly left to meet her eyes with mischief, “Aren’t ya talkative? Maybe I’m not hitting hard enough.” With that, he started fucking her like she wanted it, feeling him deep inside her so much it hurt. Each thrust made her groan louder and louder, her arms starting to feel numb from the dreadful angle they were in, but she wasn’t letting go. Instead, she tried to meet his thrusts halfway, only to have Hanma press her hips into he counter hard, a scream of pain resonating, “There, there, right now you’re my fuck doll, what’re you doing being proactive and shit?”

Through elation and sounds of pleasure, she started breathing heavily—it was hard to find the words, but with enough effort, she managed to utter, “Necro’s a new one—Shu, didn’t know you were—into that shit.” It earned her a genuine laugh from Hanma as the speed of his thrusts fastened, his grip on her hips harder to handle which only made her smile through the pain. “Pity party’s over clearly.” He said breathlessly, his hand ripping the shirt from her arms as he bundled it up and shoved it in her mouth. The extra fabric covered her eyes, but she never let go of the counter. She only laughed.

“Can’t have you mentionin’ necro again, that was fucking weird.” With her fully exposed like that, he felt himself get closer—and from the way her hands let go of the counter to reach for him only to be pushed away, he could have guessed she was getting close. Quickly, he pried her legs apart and turned her around, fucking her from behind as hard as he could. She was whining under him, whimpering at her hip bone pressing against the counter and at the constant ramming of his hips against her ass. The angle had her seeing white, her face now laying on the surface that had long since warmed up from her body.

Suddenly Hanma’s rapid thrusts came to a stop, his motion stuttering before he pulled out and came all over her back. His hand didn’t stop, he kept playing with her clit as he spoke through his pleasure with a laugh, “Shit, I like that idea of baptizing the room, it makes it really a lot more…”

“Like home.” The woman breathed out in daze once she had tossed the shirt out of her mouth, now weakly trying to turn around. Hanma helped her and let her wrap her legs around him once more, her arms now draped over his shoulders as she rested her forehead against his. He did not mimic her gesture, his hands remaining on the counter by her thighs. “To be honest, anything will do as long as they don’t know we’re here, you know?”

“With the price I paid for this shit I ain’t leaving if they find it again.” Hanma scoffed, his eyes darting to the window upon seeing something out there. That relief of being somewhere safe was only fleeting, for him at least—but as long as those assholes didn’t act on their spying yet, he could keep it from her. He could let her bask in this safety, because he would make it safe, no matter what.

The woman hummed and leaned back while still holding onto him, “Alright.” She paused, thinking for a moment, “But you know Shu, the other rooms are not very welcoming…” Her hands moved from his shoulders down his arms before gently wrapping around his waist, her lips pressing on his collarbone softly, “We gotta cleanse all that bad energy, don’t you think?” She said jokingly.

Hanma let his head fall back, he grunted loudly then gripped her hair, forcing her away from him before kissing her with force, “Let me smoke one, give me five minutes and I’ll fuck you against the main window.”

“I didn’t—I didn’t say that, I meant like the couch or–”

He interrupted her like she did him, “So no window?”

She remained silent and let go of him before covering herself and looking to the side, “Yes window.”

Hanma already had a cigarette between his lips when he smiled at her, he took a few steps back towards the garden and puffed out the moment he opened the window, “That’s what I thought.”

Now apart, each had their own thoughts to face.

How long could he keep it from her that they were being watched? He would enjoy fucking her in front of them, clearly they would not do shit right now or they would have shot him through that window a while ago. So what was stopping them? Hanma needed to get him to admit what he had leaked to Shibata—he needed to know everything to have a good enough reason to kill him in the name of Bonten.

Bonten, the organization that made her feel like shit. Even with him by her side she saw Rai, would nothing cut it now? Would she ever be alone? She needed to find a way to keep her away, anything as long as it would do the trick. She would rather stay away from drugs knowing how badly it could all end up, but what else could she do?

She needed to find out what Rai's pattern was, when she was alone? No, not anymore. Vulnerable? No, it wasn’t it, she needed to uncover that.

And Hanma needed to take care of Shibata before it repeated itself. He knew what to do to avoid it—he had convinced himself he knew, at the very least. 

It would all work out.

[Part 5]

[mischief-lies-and-stories]

11 Thoughts I Had While Reading Loki Issue 3

Contains spoilers for the first three issues (but mostly the third issue) of the Loki miniseries. Also likely contains spoilers for many of the comics starring or featuring Loki I normally talk about (including King Thor, Loki: Agent of Asgard, Defenders: Beyond, Young Avengers). Also alternating pronouns for Loki throughout.

So in the "And that's what you missed on Glee" (by which I mean the recap/prologue), they explicitly call Loki the God of Stories, which apparently I missed or forgot about in Chapter Two (or they didn't call him that, but I think they did). So, post-Agent of Asgard, but as yet unclear (to me) if post-Defenders: Beyond or mid-Defenders: Beyond or what.

"But we know what you're probably wondering. What has any of this got to do with Loki?" WHOLE-ASS MOOD. That's what I'm constantly thinking!

Can I just say how much I love whenever Loki hangs out with their Young Avengers friends post-Young Avengers? The YA aren't exactly warm towards them anymore, but they're also not outright hostile usually, so they're almost real friends. It's sweet. Loki deserves to have more than just Verity and Thor in their life. (And they don't even have Verity in this comic, which I'm upset about.)

Loki's look in this issue is just peak genderfluid Loki for me. The fingerless gloves, the coat, the black nail polish, the slightly less angular but not quite smoothed over facial features, the slightly longer and wavier than usual but not shoulder-length hair with the bang flipped over one horn. The make-up.

(I did not take this picture for this post. I took this picture because I love the way they look in this panel and needed to save it to look at later.) And there was something about his chest on the cover that I couldn't quite put my finger on, but I just put on my binder and looked at myself in the mirror and something about how my chest looks in the binder made me go 'Is Loki wearing a binder?' (This is just my personal headcanon based on the similarities in appearance from my current experience, I don't necessarily think the artist intended to draw him while hinting at a binder, and I'm not even sure how you would do that without showing all or part of the binder itself. Practically, it could just be the effect of his armor. But I'm going with it, even though Loki can shapeshift.)

KO-MIR PULLING A LOKI IN KING THOR CHILLING (no pun intended) IN A SUN

Not me stretching the allegory of Ko-mir to its breaking point trying to make it relevant to Loki.

Ultimately, I don't care how much of a lie the story of how Loki got the piece of Naglfar back is. I love watching Loki at peak power, even if it's not true. I mean, he achieved it somehow, who's to say he didn't do it this way?

The way Loki has nail polish on his cuticles. Something about how his hand isn't steady and he's not so much a perfectionist that he won't go back over the edges with rubbing alcohol afterwards.

Should...should I know who Bullseye is? The only Bullseye I know is a gangly toy horse. This guy looks like someone tried to make a Captain America toy but wanted to avoid a lawsuit.

"Corporate wants you to find the differences between these two pictures" meme, but it's Muck Mulligan making mob bosses' eyes bleed with the Good News of Naglfar, and an Early Modern painting of missionaries bringing typhoid and gunpowder--I mean, Christianity, to the far corners of the world.

So final thoughts re:my post before issue three came out: I wrote an entire note about when I thought this series takes place in Loki's comic arc, and in explaining why I thought it occurred then I ended up talking myself out of it. So at this point I actually think this is after DB, like entirely after DB. He seems enough like his end of AoA (post-ego death) self that I think her memories have been restored to her. The only thing is that Thor isn't dead, like he is for this iteration of Loki, which is established right at the beginning of DB (the timeline for that comic is really confusing), and implied that Loki had a hand in it (again). I think Loki's memories have been restored post-DB, and that enough time has passed since then that Thor's come back (as he tends to do). Probably other comics have established how/why he died in that part of the timeline and then how he came back, and then at some point after those events I think is when this miniseries takes place. Loki isn't quite their old self again, but is sorting through their memories and current personhood and trying to reconcile the two, as well as reclaiming her vocation to save the cosmos (from the end of DB) and figuring out what that means. And making up for past and current mistakes in the form of stopping the pieces of Naglfar from wreaking havoc on the universe. Very much looking forward to what issue four and beyond has in store for him; I think we might finally be back on track for what Al Ewing had envisioned for this character and I'm appreciating that a lot.

What did you all think of this issue? When do you think it takes place, or do you think it's its own timeline that is just cherrypicking interesting story beats from comic Lokis past?

[nyxnightshade1332]

Expectations When Expecting

Chapter 8

Chapter 9:

She and Grim walked to their designated area, pushing around a cart that contained a broom, a mop, some rags, and several other cleaning supplies. The school was beautiful, but it was also big, so she was thankful for the task not taking place in a different area.

"Wow, so this is Main Street, huh? This is incredible! I didn't get to see it much yesterday." Grim cried out in awe, looking around with childish joy.

"Yeah, it is. This resembles some sort of University campus rather than a high school one. These kids sure have it easy." She remarked playfully before grabbing the broom. "Grab a rag, Grim. You're wiping the plates on the statues down so we can polish."

"Yeah, yeah." Grim paused before grabbing a rag, wrinkling his nose in distaste. Despite not having any thumbs, Grim still managed to grip onto the piece of cloth, running over to the statue and looking up. "Geez. Hench human, What's the deal with these seven statues? All their faces look pretty scary." She watched as he approached the first one.

"Like, this lady here looks like she's got some reeeal anger management issues." He pointed to a very tall, regal looking woman who carried a heart-shaped scepter.

Yuu narrowed her eyes, tilting her head slightly before giggling. "Yeah, you're right! She does look like she gets angry a lot." She saw Grim smirk before she attempted to go back to sweeping.

Until she heard a snort from behind her and she whipped her head around to look. A strange ginger haired boy looked back at her, carrying himself with the air of a trickster.

"You don't know the Queen of Hearts?" He asked, seemingly friendly. She clutched her broom closer to her chest, raising a brow.

"Not really... no." She stated, distrusting. She saw Grim put the rag down and run towards the new boy.

"Queen of Hearts? Is she some kinda big deal?" The cat monster asked. Yuu watched the ginger begin to formulate an idea as he began to explain.

"I mean... yeah. She was a queen who lived in a maze-like garden of roses long, long ago. She was a strict woman who prized order above all." The boy described a woman obsessed with things going her way, a terrifying tyrant who would kill if something was even slightly off. Yuu slowed her sweeping, pausing to look at Ace.

"That's just... Yikes." She shuddered while she continued to push the dust on main street to the outer edges.

"That's seriously messed up!" Grim yowled.

"Pretty cool, right? I'm a big fan." The boy gushed. "I mean, who would bother to obey a queen that was kind all the time?"

"Yeah, true. A leader needs to be strong." Grim agreed.

Yuu paused for a moment, wrinkling her nose. "You scare me sometimes, Grim." She deadpanned. "Now keep working or I'll limit your lunch." She attempted to adopt the power that mothers tended to have.

"Yeah, fine." Grim stated dismissively, still in awe of the student that was distracting them. "Puttin' that aside... Who're you, now?" He asked the ginger haired boy.

The boy, in turn, gave an amused cackle before bowing playfully. "Name's Ace. I'm a first year student here, as of... today! Pleased to meetcha!"

"I'm Grim! I'm a prodigy who's plannin' to be, like, the greatest mage who ever lived." Grim hopped up to one of the statues' pedestals, returning a wonky looking bow. He then gestured to Yuu dismissively. "That there's my far less interesting hench-human." This little shi- Yuu's mouth opened, a look of offense marring her facial features.

"Yuu. My family calls me Yuu or Pita. Other people just call me Yuu." She introduced herself, nodding at Ace.

"'Yuu?' Huh. Name's got an odd ring to it." He stated, something in his eyes unsettling the young, pregnant woman.

"Just so you know, I'm not anyone's hench-anything. As a matter of fact," She began, glaring at Grim, who simply ignored her. "I am the one in charge of the cat-gremlin." The way Grim snapped his neck to look at her was almost comical as his eyes lidded and his little mouth opened indignantly.

"Hmph! Rude." Grim grumbled before returning all his attention to Ace. Yuu rolled her eyes, zoning out as she allowed the familiar feel of sweeping take her away from the current suspicious conversations.

With Grace, she gathered any dust and dirt, remembering her past fiance, and how they'd met. She had been tasked to help another guy with sweeping after a Senior prank gone wrong when they were Sophomores. It was stupid, but she'd been glad the two had been placed together. She forced down the pang in her heart.

Focus on the conversation. I can't let them see me cry. She thought to herself, zoning back in. She looked at Ace's demeanor change, as if he were gearing up for something. He explained the story behind the statue of the horned woman to a very animated Grim.

"Ooh. a dragon! What all monsters yearn to be!" Grim bounced excitedly like a toddler.

"Pretty cool, huh? Not like some piddling weasel." The malicious intent was sudden, but not surprising. Yuu prepared to hit both of them, clutching the broom in both hands. This... this is gonna be a long day. 

Chapter 10

[kaiisers]

BOKU NO HERO ACADEMIA ꒰ villains ꒱

contains mature content, aimed for +18 audiences. reader discretion is advised. most of these works are f! or afab! reader. ALSO! minors + blank + ageless blogs will be blocked.

⿻ last updated: jan. 13, '23

⌕ LEGEND

personal favorites : ♡

reader discretion advised, read content warnings : ✧ 

personal adds/assumption : italicized words

action between characters: &

𖨂 ⸱ ꕤ ⸱ SHIGARAKI TOMURA ⸱ 死柄木弔

bedside manners. ──── 3.2k

cw. Mommy kink, aphrodisiacs, bottom Shigaraki, dom/sub dynamic, implied virgin shigaraki

desperate. ──── 1k

⌜ ୨୧ ⌟ Tomura was needy, insatiable, and more often than not you simply gave him what he wanted before he even knew he wanted it. But there were times that you liked him to work for it.

cw. minors dni, afab reader, desperate!shigaraki, brief mention of a pocket pussy, unprotected sex, sex without prep, vaginal oral sex (reader receiving), creampie, cum eating, brief overstimulation, porn without plot

inaccurate misconceptions. ──── 5k

cw. Witcher!Tomura Shigaraki x Lechuza!reader. Reader has long hair, blood, injuries and scarring (canon typical), intimate bathing, slight pussy job, nipple play, sex with minimal prep, creampie, slight praise, slight monsterfucking if ya squint

mommy’s arms. ──── 2.4k

cw. Mommy kink, Dom/sub dynamics, Hurt/Comfort, vaguely established relationship, reader is cis female

no eavesdropping. ──── 7.1k

⌜ ୨୧ ⌟ overhearing you and dabi presumably talking about his dick size, tomura is more than angry when he hears your referring to it as something small.

cw. 18+ content, dom!shigaraki tomura x sub!fem!reader. established relationship, some fluff as a treat ig, minors do not interact, degradation, throat-fucking, facial, unprotected sex, creampie, choking, cursing (a lot), angry tomu, spitting, one (1) spank, dacryphilia, dubcon (?) reader is confused for a bit but doesn’t want/ask him to stop, this is filthy i’m warning you.

power. ──── 2.1k

cw. smut, cursing, pegging, subby brat shigaraki

shibaraki. ──── 3.5k

cw. AFAB GN reader, established relationship, kink dynamics, sub shigaraki tomura ('baby' + 'good boy'), soft dom reader (no titles used), shibari (rope play; chest harness), spit, praise, pegging (reader wears strap; referred to as 'your cock' a few times), riding position, subspace, aftercare

𖨂 ⸱ ꕤ ⸱ TODOROKI TŌYA ⸱ 轟燈矢

an ode to winter. ──── 14.1k

⌜ ୨୧ ⌟ touya todoroki had broken a lot of things, your heart, promises, your window a few times, but you swore he’d never leave your child feeling that way. but when he wants back into your life, will he take no for an answer? And do you even want to say it?

cw. angst, fluff, smut. MANGA SPOILERS IN THE EXTENDED ENDING. manga war arc!au, single-parent!au, unplanned pregnancy!au. heavy smut, ( literally 5k of it ),  mentions of pregnancy, mentions of semi-toxic!relationships, struggling with parenting, blackmail ??,  unprotected sex ( wrap it before you tap it, losers ), handjobs, oral sex ( female receiving ), fingering ( female receiving ),  choking, branding, squirting, spit!kink, needy touya

autumn chill. ──── complete

⌜ ୨୧ ⌟ You find yourself needing a place to stay after setting an apartment on fire.

cw. angst, smut. villain au, blood, panic attack, death (not main characters), 18+

can you feel my heart beating like a hammer? ──── 5k

⌜ ୨୧ ⌟ You watch from your spot, shoulders tense as you anticipate the arrival of yet another creepy clown or zombie when you see him.

He’s not like the other actors. He’s not quick with his movements and doesn’t yell or jump at anyone. His terror lies in the fact that he does none of those things, that he stands across from you and stares.

And then he grins.

Your stomach turns but not in fear.

cw. f!reader, explicit content, scare actor!dabi, Dabi is touya (quite literally he is not called Dabi in this at all ajhssjsjjss), sex in public, fearplay (kind of), multiple orgasms, overstimulation (very brief), oral f!receiving, fingering, multiple instances where Dabi rests his hand on ur neck but never chokes u, biting (shoulder, neck), ‘baby’ and ‘angel’ as pet names, use of ‘good girl’, frightening (debatable im not that good) depictions of scare actors and haunts, one description of gory makeup, fake weapons

✧ count for me. ──── 3.8k

cw. punishments, shibari, blowjob, face fucking, rough sex, squirting, degrading, some praise, dabi is mean to reader, spanking, minor burning/branding, it's all consensual.

biting down. ──── 5.3k

⌜ ୨୧ ⌟ He’s fast as he weaves through the trees, breath hot against your neck as he runs as if he has any need for breathing at all. You feel your shoulders drop in relief, tucking your head into the crook of his neck, the texture of his skin a comfort to you as you think about what could have happened if he hadn’t found you. Dabi is a vampire, a real, live (debatable), blood-sucking, sunlight-repulsed, creature of the night. You think you might be in love with him.

cw: f!reader, explicit content, some angst, violence, vampires, Dabi picks reader up, detailed descriptions of blood and gore (lots and lots of blood), blood kink, self inflicted harm (reader cuts her palm open), Dabi is a little mean sometimes, biting (he bites ur neck, thighs, chest he drinks ur blood he’s a vampire), pain play (biting to puncture skin, biting and drinking from already open wounds), drinking each other’s blood, fingering, (bloody) oral f!receiving, bloody sex, unprotected sex, marking, bruising, corny vamp dialogue

hardly human. ──── 3.2k

cw. Touya x Cisfem Selkie!Reader. degradation (slut etc), praise, fingering, unprotected sex, maybe slight coercion but not really, maybe a little angst but mostly smut, bit of plot.

♡ heaven for nonbelievers. ──── 11k

⌜ ୨୧ ⌟ Fire is many things – forgiving is not one of them. Dabi finds absolution elsewhere. Allusions to domestic abuse(not to y/n), mentions of sexual abuse (not to y/n), mentions periods, mentions of food, explicit content, y/n can’t catch a break; sharing space, strange domesticity, gray morality to less gray morality, sometimes grief has teeth

cw. angst, smut, hurt/comfort. villain au + strangers to lovers

kingdom of ashes. ──── 12k

⌜ ୨୧ ⌟When you are suddenly uprooted from your life to enter an arranged marriage with Prince Touya you are unprepared for how greatly he defies your expectations, nor for how quickly you fall for him.

cw. AFAB FEM reader (referred to as ‘wife’ ‘daughter’ and 'my lady’), royalty au, prince todoroki touya, arranged marriage, no quirks, historical setting, perceived unrequited love, fictional contraceptives, horseback riding, fluff, angst, protected vaginal sex, vaginal oral sex (reader receiving), dubcon, strangers to lovers, loss of virginity, hurt/comfort, canonical child abuse, bathing together, outdoor sex, talk of not having children/preventing pregnancy

leather cushions. ──── 6.7k

⌜ ୨୧ ⌟ touya hates the couch in the living room, but for you, he’d sit on it every second of the day.

cw. smut. quirkless au, college au, roommates au, best friends to lovers. shitty frat/rich boy!keigo, reader tells keigo no & he ignores it, soft, sweet, consensual sex w touya.

♡ legacy of hurt. ──── 4.5k

⌜ ୨୧ ⌟ touya has enclosed his heart behind a thick wall with refusal to let anyone see it. but you are an unrelenting storm, and damned by your persistence, even the strongest cliff can break if weathered enough.

cw. NSFT, GN reader, friends to lovers, Dabi POV, pre-LOV, implied PTSD, mention of child abuse, angst, hurt/comfort, blood (he cries during sex), spit, unprotected sex, emotional sex, no power dynamic

secrets. ──── complete

⌜ ୨୧ ⌟ Life isn’t a fairy-tale and you find your soulmate through unconventional means.

cw. angst, smut. soulmate au. death mention, violence, spoilers (?) – set in PLF arc, abuse mention (not directed at reader)

she washes all of my wounds for me. ──── 15.2k

⌜ ୨୧ ⌟ “I called you by your name. Is that okay?”

“I don’t know.”

And it isn’t because he doesn’t want you to know his name. He’s already announced it to the world. Of course, you’re going to know it. It certainly isn’t because he hates the way your lips so easily form the two syllables. It isn’t because he no longer wants to associate himself with the name.

He’s simply afraid of his greedy soul becoming attached to the way you somehow manage to make something that used to cause his skin to crawl to now bring his heart a peace he’s never known before he saw your face.

cw. fem!reader. Smut (18+ only, minors DNI), fem reader (AFAB anatomy, femme pet names/pronouns), major spoilers for manga chapter 290, heavy religious imagery of angels/gods/heaven, one (1) instance of sir kink, so so much hurt/comfort, several mentions of past family abuse and trauma, mild blood and gore (Dabi tending to new burns/scars), verbal argument that has Dabi breaking furniture (reader does not get hurt) and being an overall asshole, alcohol use (Dabi is drunk and emotional), soft desperate-to-be-loved-but-too-scared-to-ask Dabi, oral and fingering (f!receiving), unprotected sex, creampie, very soft and emotional smut

soft interlude. ──── 1.4k

cw. AFAB GN reader (called ‘angel’ once), NSFT, established relationship, fluff and smut, bath sex, vaginal fingering (mostly clit stimulation; reader receiving), heavy petting, quirk use

unprofessional. ──── 5.1k

cw. smut. modern / business au. fem! reader, blow jobs, cum swallowing, humping, natsuo walking in on yall lmao, unprofessional work relationships, ceo’s son! dabi aka touya

[countrymusiclover]

39 - To Saving My Husband

Part 40

His Golden Princess

@fanficismydrug @misskitty1912-blog @dragonixfrye @lover-of-books-and-tea

“Sharing a dark heart isn’t all it is cracked up to be is it, golden princess. You shall join the dark side soon enough.” Gripping his shoulders my eyes fell closed where he lowered me to the floor calling my name.

Shooting upright I gasped sharply for air feeling my heart beating rapidly where it felt like it might jump out of my chest. My hair gets tousled around the front of my face with me gripping the wooden floor with my nails. Footsteps quickly approached to my side where I finally noticed it was Rumple. “Astrid!”

“Rumple!” I stumbled up onto my knees doing my best to catch his body when he collapsed down in front of me. “Rumple what…what happened…how long was I out?”

He clutched his chest over his heart looking me in the eye. “I…I tried to free myself from the hat but your sister…she stopped me. I don’t have much longer, dear! It's my heart. The last human fleck of red... Is disappearing.”

“Your ability to love.” I shuttered under my breath gently gripping his shoulders in my fingers.

His chest kept heaving up and down with his hair falling in front of his face. I could see the terror in his facial expression. He had that same look when we we’re dying from the poison from Neverland. “At least, in the end... I get one last taste. We were happy. We were in love.”

“Don’t talk like you’re already dead. I won’t let you die here. I refuse to raise this child without his father.” Grasping his left hand in my right I gripped it tightly in mine kissing the ring he wore on his finger. “I am giving up on you, do you hear me. You regret what happened with Neal and I know you are terrified you will fail this one but you won’t. Fight for me Rumple…fight for this child.”

He rested a hand to my cheek where I leaned into it putting my other hand over his. “Oh Astrid…I love you. I love you…and I’m sorry for all the dangers I have…put you through.” He rested his forehead agape mine sniffing through some tears alongside me until my eyes landed on his dagger.

“If you want me to give into your power so much then save him….save him you Dark Ones!” I angrily picked up the blade in my right hand frustration boiling through my veins. The vision of the evil side of Rumple was causing him this pain and they could stop it. If they wanted me then they had to save his life.

Rumple weakly put his hand over my wrist holding onto the blade with me struggling to keep himself alive. “Go far away. When the man is gone... Only the Dark One remains. And that is more... That's more dangerous than... You can ever imagi... Aah!”

“Rumple! Rumple!” He collapsed causing me to drop the dagger cursing under my breath running as fast as I could to Granny’s needing someone else to help. Hook, Emma and our parents had brought in an old man claiming to be an apprentice with magic that could help with the purple hat he had.

Hook stood by my sister. “He tried to use the hat to free himself from the dagger.”

The Apprentice bent down picking up the purple hat that I had gotten from the safe behind the painting with the safe handing it to him. “This is not unlike that. We're pulling the darkness from him and containing it.”

“Does that mean that his heart will be healed?” I questioned him, grabbing my hands in Rumple’s left staying on my knees sniffing through some tears praying that he could actually save him.

The old man looked down at me and then to the others. “Perhaps... If the strength is there. This is more dark power than the hat has ever been asked to contain.”

“Do what you need to do.” My sister replied, moving to rest a hand on my shoulder.

The Apprentice reached into my husband’s heart pulling out his heart showing the others that it was black as the clothes Regina used to wear before the first curse was broken. He then picked up the magic hat mumbling some words from an ancient spell. "Purest evil, blackest bloom, darkness, too, can find its doom. Never dying, but contained, bound inside the falcon's chamber, shorn of anger, thornless danger, there forever to remain." The hat turned his heart completely white before he pushed it into his chest. “Rumplestiltskin was the Dark One for centuries. His return to the man he used to be will not be easy. This will preserve him until we discern if we can help him.”

Closing my eyes I put my fingers on his neck feeling a weak pulse until the tiny box started shaking right with the darkness bursting outside and straight inside the older man. My sister launched her light magic into his chest knocking the darkness out where it broke through the door of the shop going outside. “Mom, dad! Go after it! Go! I'll be right there. Help me make him comfortable.What was that?” My sister spoke up.

Our parents and the others left the shop with me and Emma lifted the older man up and then laid him down on the cot in the back room with him struggling to stay awake. “Long before... Your stories began... The sorcerer battled the darkness. He was able to keep it from consuming the realms. He tethered it to a human soul that could be controlled with a dagger.”

“The Dark One.” My sister and I both declared together softly.

He mumbled out. “The sorcerer is the only one with the power to destroy the darkness once and for all before it destroys everything.”

“Where is he? Who is he?” My sister asked while I glanced over my shoulder seeing my husband laying on the wooden floor.

The Apprentice closed his eyes before my sister rushed outside. “He's far, far from here. Find him. His name is... Merlin. You must... Stop... The darkness. Find... Merlin.” Snatching the dagger up from the wooden floor I bursted through the red door seeing Hook and our parents just standing in the middle of the street.

Mom looked around frantically standing beside our father. “It just disappeared into the night.”

“The Dark One... It's no longer tethered to the Crocodile.” The pirate replied with me clutching the dagger in my hands.

Regina and Robin Hood walked up to us confused at what was going on. “What?! Where the hell is it?”

“It hasn't gone anywhere. The darkness... It's surrounding us.” Emma glanced around while I ran up to her being able to sense it surrounding us. The wind blows my hair in my face with a harsh kick to my stomach from the baby.

Regina glanced up to the night sky getting surrounded by a web of darkness with it trying to claim her as the new Dark One. ““Regina! What's it doing?!” Robin shouted, taking a step backwards.

“What darkness does... Snuffing out the light.” My sister held her hands up knowing that she had to do something.

“I'm not gonna let it.” Robin attempts to run forward but the darkness throws him back.

My sister turns towards him with me feeling some pain go to my head like it had a few hours ago. The dagger in my hand started shaking where I death gripped it in fear that it would launch away. “That's not gonna work on this thing! The Apprentice told me we have to do what the sorcerer did! We have to tether it to a person to contain it!”

“Emma!” Mom shouted seeing my twin running up to the former evil queen.

Regina shook her head no with the darkness still around her. “No! There has to be another way!”

“There isn't. You've worked too hard to have your happiness destroyed.” My sister paused knowing that she needed to do something.

Our father reached out with his freehand. “No!

“You figured out how to take the darkness out of me once. You need to do it again... As heroes.” My sister turned slightly towards our parents seeing that I was holding onto the dagger in my hand. She ran forward reaching out for it begging me. “Astrid give me the dagger. I will take the darkness before it takes control of her.”

Shaking my head I hug the blade closer to my chest moving my gaze back over to Regina. I couldn’t resist the visions that I had seen. I was attracted to Rumple before I saw he was good too. “I can’t do that, Emma. I have seen a vision where I became the Dark One…I have to do this.”

“I am your sister. I can take it so you don’t have to.” She reached forward again but I raised my hand, freezing everyone in place so they couldn’t stop me.

Blinking my eyes for a second the vision of the enchanted Rumple appeared in front of where Regina was still dealing with the darkness. “Excellent dearie. Now take that dagger and become who you are supposed to be.”

“This isn’t my destiny, Dark One. I am doing this to save my husband and my family. And mark my words I will find Merlin and destroy you!” Running forward I shoved the end of the dagger into the cloud of darkness hearing a lightning snap. The darkness surrounded me where I grunted seeing that everyone was unfrozen before the darkness swept me and into the air disappearing. Seconds after the dagger fell onto the ground with the name Astrid Swan-Gold engraved across it.

Comments really appreciated ❤️

[athousandmilesandcounting]

anarchyrpbook​:

FIRST MEETINGS MEME A meme for first meetings and introduction threads, aka a ‘What you will notice about my muse first’ cheat sheet. Repost, don’t reblog. Bold what applies. Fill in details. (Please do not remove the credit + blank meme link)

tagged by: stole off the dash tagging: you reading this, do it

blank meme: x

GENERAL APPEARANCE

Sex: Masculine. Feminine. Non-Binary. Notes: Cis

Race: Mixed White and Filipino

Complexion:

Height: 5′10″

Body Type: Endomorph. Mesomorph. Ectomorph. Other / More Details:

Body Build: Small. Medium. Athletic. Muscular. Soft. Curvy. Voluptuous. Other / More Details: Body is perpetually in peak physical condition. Covered in freckles.

Body Hair: None. Shaves/Waxes. Trims/Grooms. Untamed. Color: Black Notes: Bayor doesn’t grow much body hair, and what he does have he tends to keep shaved.

Head Hair: None. Buzzed. Short. Medium. Long. Very Long. Asymmetrical Cut. Color: Black Style: Shaggy. Usually reaches about the middle of his neck, but will sometimes let it grow to his shoulders before he bothers to cut it.

Eye color: Dark brown, pretty much black Details: Carries a sadness in his eyes, but also typically looks at people with a great warmth and care and sincerity.

Scars: His body is a tapestry of scars from all sorts of injuries he’s amassed over the years, but the most notable and easy to spot are his major burn scars that spread cross most of the left side of his torso and up onto his face, as well as two large gashes on his face; one angled from left cheekbone down to chin and one from right temple down to top of right eyebrow.

FASHION

Fashion Style: Vintage. Traditional. Casual. Artsy. Vibrant. Geeky/Nerdy. Tomboy. Sporty. Trendy. Preppy. Girly. Bohemian. Elegant. Formal. Grunge. Punk. Rocker. Gothic. Other:

Color Palette: Lots of vibrant colors for the tops while more muted yet complimentary pants and shoes.

Typical Clothing: Keeps his wardrobe loose and comfy, almost exclusively wears graphic tees as shirts; lots of hoodies, jeans, and canvas sneakers. He isn’t much bothered by extremes in temperature on either side of the spectrum, so his style doesn’t change much with the seasons. ‘On the job’, however, it’s the same plain, black jacket, pants, and shoes to maintain the silhouette motif.

Piercings: N/A

Tattoos: A manifestation of the binding spell on him that makes his body a container for the twins demon locked inside him. Takes the form of a circle at the middle of his chest with chains sprouting from the left and right of it that spread across his chest and spiraling down his arms, stopping at the wrists.

Other Information:

EXPRESSION

General Facial Expression: Typically walks around with a neutral expression if left alone, but lights up with a warm smile as soon as approached. Incredibly expressive and animated during interactions; practically a cartoon character.

Default Body Language: As with his face, very animated and expressive. Talks and reacts with his whole body.

General Movements:   Has a surprising level of fluidity and grace to his movements. Rarely trips over things, has a good spacial awareness even as flailing his arms about, etc. His walk has a steady rhythm, and he tends to keep a pretty brisk pace when alone but never fails to match anyone he’s with when there’s company.

NOTABLE FOR RP

Presence: Warmth tinged with melancholy. Unwavering sincerity. At times intense with his enthusiasm  

Appearance: Often somewhat disheveled (clothes are often wrinkled or don’t fit perfectly, hair isn’t super groomed or styled), but never dirty. He’s not concerned with being overly neat, but he’s always clean.

Scent: Sweet and fruity scents from his shampoo and/or body wash. If he’s recently used his powers, hints of sulfur.

Voice Description: Strong, low.

Accent: yes / no More information: Moderate Boston accent. It gets much thicker when he’s back home and around family, but in his travels he’s learned to keep it easy to understand for people.

Speech Mannerisms: Lots of ‘my dude’ and ‘my guy’ used at the end of sentences. Prone to suddenly being poetic or profound at disarming moments. Some times uses text abbreviations for phrases aloud (like saying t b h instead of to be honest). Pitch can dramatically rise and fall; is as animated as anything else about him. 

Anything else to add?

[goldenplaceholder]

SwapFell Crystalized

•World lore- SFC is a swapfell au where crystals are all over the underground and are commonly used by monsters as currency, and symbols of status.

The way they’re used for currency is the more common a crystal the less buying power it has. The way they’re used for status is the fact that some crystals contain magic, and can store/make it, most monsters get crystals embedded into them when they join the royal guard or pay for it to happen to them.

•Character appearances-

Chara: imagine swapfell chara combined with the tiredness of underfella’s frisk. Also darker colors.

Temmie: so it’s swapfell temmie, but the plush has more wear and tear.

Hapstablook: they mainly look like swapfell hapstablook with a few changes. The bottom part of them is sharper and more worn and torn looking, while their eyes are sharper with slight bags under them, and they usually carry an annoyed look.

Asgore: wears a black cloak with the royal insignia, shadows cover his face when he has the hood up, though in fights his eyes shoot a piercing glare at the opponent (aka eyes are slightly visible in fights). In his right arm a Taaffeite is embedded with a crack running along it and some magic trailing out like smoke.

Papyrus: wears a jacket with an amethyst color and sweat pants. He only has a right eye socket and an amethyst is embedded where his left eye socket would be, his skull slightly cracked from the crystal’s embedded area. He is always slightly sweating and looks nervous almost all the time (Whenever he’s face to face with someone or talking with them he always sweats a lot more heavily) (in geno routes he is heavily sweating and has slight tears, though his facial expression is a shaky intimidation).

Sans: he’s literally 4’2 he wears a white shirt, green suspenders, green pinstriped pants, and his clothes usually have dirt stains on them. He also has his sleeves rolled up about half way, also an emerald is embedded in each of his palms.

Alphys: looks more on the side of underswap alphys with a few changes. Larger head spikes and claws, the scar on her left eye is worse, her armor is lighter/less. A topaz is embedded on their chest.

Undyne: her hair is loose (aka not in a bun or something of the sort). They wear googles covering their eyes both lens being cracked a bit. She wears a lab coat that’s open and torn and tattered at the bottom, rubber gloves, and brass knuckles on he right hand. She also has a peridot embedded in her right shoulder.

WDG: a bit taller than Undyne. He wears an open lab coat, a tie that’s barely even tied together, a black turtleneck shirt, black slacks, black shoes, he wears a black rubber glove on his left hand and a obsidian is embedded through his right hand.

Napstaton: he has 2 arms floating at his left and right and 2 extra arms attached to his back that can extend. He has no legs but there is a large sapphire at his base keeping him afloat. He wears an open vest which is dark blue in color, with a black top hat with the same dark blue as a stripe a set of a slightly lighter blue headphones are forced through the top hat.

Toriel: she wears a dark yellow cloak (no hood) with dark purple trims. Some scars on her face and worn out armor. A Taaffeite is embedded in her left arm.

•Character lore-

Chara: Chara ran away from the town they lived in after a few years of working in a factory, they planned to just hide away in the mountains for a few days but after hearing some explosions they tripped into the underground. Chara prefers not fighting though will fight if nothing else works.

Temmie: They had awoken one day in new home as a temmie plush. After a while Toriel found them and cared for them for a bit, though Toriel occasionally punished temmie for stuff she thought they did, which caused temmie to run away and into the ruins. They usually avoid asgore seeing how aggressive he usually is.

Hapstablook: tbh in this au they’re angry at the world since they’re usually left alone, but want people to be with them even if they try and push them away.

Asgore: After Toriel killed frisk asgore took their body and fled to the ruins. While living in the ruins asgore was attacked by many monsters an attack hitting the crystal in his right arm, causing it to crack and have magic float out from it like smoke. Because of this he is a lot more aggressive to others, and usually only talks when someone is unable to fight, or shows to threat.

Papyrus: papyrus at a young age was born with any their right eye socket and strangely no magic. So their guardian at the time wdg, the royal scientist, decided to test a new crystal and embedded it where a left eye socket should’ve been. The procedure almost failed causing papyrus’s skull to crack a bit, but it succeeded and gave papyrus a new kind of magic which wdg simply called crystal magic. After a while papyrus moved to snowdin with his brother sans, and due to the incident above he barely trusts anyone and is constantly sweating from what they could do if he fully lets his guard down, the people he’s a bit more calm around are sans and the person behind the entrance to the ruins. Because of his constant nervousness he isn’t the judge, but instead a sentry.

Sans: at a surprisingly young age of 8 sans fought alphys (who was 25 at the time) for the position of guard captain, and sans succeeded beating alphys and becoming the guard captain.After his victory he got 2 crystals embedded in his palms to symbolize his strength over others. Sans actually doesn’t care for many monsters except royalty and family, with very few exceptions. Usually when sans isn’t busy with royal guard duties he tends to his garden, the ‘prison’ being a greenhouse in this au, where sans usually grows either cooking ingredients to make his famous pizza or some flowers for decorating.

Alphys: Alphys at the age of 18 took charge of the royal guard after beating former leader gaster. Alphys tried about 20 times before finally beating gaster, during her first try she was 15 and suffered a serious injury across her eye from gaster (who hoped it would deter her). Once sans had beaten her she respected him, especially since he did it first try.

Undyne: since she was young she was always bored, so to pass the time she messed around building random stuff. Eventually she started making robots but most of them didn’t work, then she met napstablook and they struck a deal. After a while she got the idea of joining the and becoming the royal scientist, though she became the assistant to the current one. But she plots on taking the position through almost any means, but she isn’t desperate enough to kill… yet.

WDG: after losing his position as guard captain he decided to become the royal scientist. After a few years he became the royal scientist, he mainly focused on researching crystals and what they are and how they store new types of magic. He started testing them by embedding a new and highly rare crystal in papyrus who had no magic, the test succeeding he started a new test of how many crystals can a monster handle. Gaster took random monster volunteers of many ages and began the tests (he didn’t exactly say what the tests were). None of the 6 volunteers could handle anymore than 23 crystals before they lost their minds. Though this didn’t stop him, he had an idea that a higher ranking monster would be able to handle more, so he kidnapped river person who was the old royal scientist and began embedding many crystals into them, after embedding about 30 crystals in river became unresponsive, and after 50 they were more crystal then monster, though weirdly enough everytime gaster tried removing a crystal the crystal grew back.

Napstaton: he was originally a ghost who lived with their cousin hapstaton. Though after bargaining with Undyne they struck a deal. He left without even saying anything to hapsta. After a day Undyne made the robotic body for napsta and then napstaton was made. His music is the only kind in the underground the only other ones being from the dump, but those don’t even work.

Toriel: after losing the war against the humans and being sealed away, she grew annoyed at the situation with growing distain towards humans. Once frisk had fallen down she pretended to be caring, but one day she slipped some cyanide into frisk’s food in an attempt to eventually steal their soul, but mk took frisk’s soul before Toriel could and ran above ground where they were promptly shot and they fled back into the underground dying. Toriel seeing the failure die, finally publicly declared war on humans using the death to seem sympathetic and have better control over the populous.

•characters powers-

Chara: … none of course

Temmie: they use the stuffing from themself to either form around themself to look a bit different, or concentrate to make it hurt or heal (the stuffing has to be replaced when it’s used to heal or harm).

Hapstablook: they can make ghostly hands to be able to interact with stuff or attack. These hands last indefinitely, unless they are attacked or sustain even a small scratch.

Asgore: he mainly uses fire magic. But the magic that trails from his crystal can be used as a whip or rope.

Papyrus: he can summon crystals out of thin air to attack, being able to block heavy attacks or even absorb magic. Though these crystals only last a few seconds. (In the gen routes papyrus collects the crystals of all those who’ve died and uses their crystals to attack too)

Sans: he can use bones and blaster along side blue magic (him being able to toss it around like ut sans). His crystals let him conjure healing magic and fake healing magic (fake healing magic looking the same as healing magic but it hurts instead of heals).

Alphys: She wields a large dual sided axe with a spear like tip in between both axe heads. She also uses electricity, while her crystal lets her shoot the electricity.

Undyne: She usually uses the brass knuckles, though if she’s low or being conscious she commands some of her robots to attack. Her crystal lets her increase her or someone else’s speed (only once at a time and then only for 10 seconds in total before she has to wait 20 seconds to use again. Also she controls how much faster from 1.1x faster all the way up to 2x faster).

WDG: he can summon bones and has a decent control over blue magic (takes a bit more effort to move the soul around like ut sans). His crystal lets him create copies of himself (the copies are physical and can deal dmg and use magic, but they die in one hit).

Napstaton: they can change their hands between blasts or shots (blasts being like blasters and shots being like yellow soul shots). They usually carry a shotgun around in their chest. Their crystal lets them float (from 1ft off the ground to 6ft, though the higher they go the more magic it costs).

Toriel: Her weapon is a gray mace that can change into a flail, she usually makes the mace double sided as well. She also uses fire magic, while her crystal slowly heals her whenever she is damaged.

This au mainly came around due to the idea of how many swapfell aus there are that are based off of gems and such

[solarwindswriting]

Running on Instinct

Pairing: Merman!Shoto Todoroki x Male!MarineBiologist!Reader

Word Count: 5500

Summary: Quirkless AU for Mermay 2022. Y/n works endlessly to improve the living situation of a small group of merfolk being kept in poor conditions at a rehabilitation facility. One playful merman in particular pulls more of Y/n’s attention than the others. When an orphaned merpup comes into the rehabilitation facility, will Shoto be willing to help the frantic Y/n?

Inspired by this artwork by @peterokii

Warnings: Merfolk kept in bad conditions, Reader almost drowned on accident, baby in critical need

A/N: In a surprise addition to Mermay, I come in with less than 24 hours left in May. This is the longest single chapter story I’ve posted. I was truly inspired by Pete’s artwork and how he drew Shoto’s facial expressions. Just as a warning, I proof read the first half of this but not the second half. I hope y’all like it!

Y/n squat near the edge of the deep tank, hand between his legs for support, looking for what could be in the depths. The occasional glimpse of a tattered tail caught the light. After a few moments, just below the water’s surface, a pair of eyes looked up towards Y/n, one grey and one electric blue. Half red and half white hair fell flat to the sides of the mermans face as he emerged from the water, looking at Y/n curiously. Y/n looked behind the mermaid and noticed how much the normally long fins of the Butterfly Koi merman were short and jagged.

“You’re new,” the merman whispers, nose now inches from Y/n’s.

“I am,” Y/n smiles, reaching into his messenger bag and offering the small plastic container of cooked shrimp he had brought.

“Hey! Watch out!” Someone calls from behind Y/n.

The loud voice of the research manager, Warden spooks the mermaid, causing him to quickly grab the container of shrimp, turn tail and disappear back under the water. Looking over his shoulder, Y/n gives Warden a confused look.

“Watch out for what? We were doing introductions.” Y/n says casually, standing up and wiping off the water that had been splashed onto his arms by the merman.

“I’ve nearly lost two interns to that seamonster pulling them under,” Warden stood tall, arms crossed.

Y/n had quickly learned what kind of person Warden was. Multiple anonymous complaints was filed for this rehabilitation center for how they were treating their resuces. Things like barely feeding them, not maintaining enclosures, and profiting off of the merfolk instead of actual rehibiltaion and releasing those who can be. All things that went against the wildlife code of ethics. Which is why Y/n, one of the leading merfolk experts was sent in to asses the situation. Warden had already attempted to block Y/n from looking at certain rooms of the facility. Being interrupted when he was finally meeting one of the merfolk here felt like the last straw.

“Do you have incident reports from those two interns?” Y/n asked, body language matching Wardens.

“I probably do, in my office,” Warden turned, heading towards the front of the facility.

Probably? This man felt less like a rehabilitation specialist and more of a villain with every passing second. Digging into his bag, Y/n pulled out his work binder. Flipping between paper folders, he stops on one labeled Emergency Power Transfer Paperwork. Tapping on the back of the binder, Y/n turns back towards the tank, reading what information he’d need to get from Warden, hopefully without him realizing what he was doing. Y/n began filling out some of the paperwork as he waited. A quiet stuttering voice pulled Y/n’s attention to the water in front of him.

“Marine Poli-cy Speec- Speci…” The merman from before was squinting at the binder in Y/n’s hands trying to sound out the words on the front of it.

“Marine Policy Specialist. You can read?” Y/n asked, setting down the binder and pen as he squatted down to talk to the mermaid.

“No. Yes. A little.” The merman lit up a bit, his hands found the edge of the tank, pulling himself to mid chest out of the water so they were eye level.

“Nice, who taught you?” Y/n questioned.

“My old keeper. She stopped showing up on day when I was young,” the merman seemed to deflate at the memory.

“How long have you been here?” Y/n shifted so he was sitting with his legs crossed.

“My whole life.” He smiled at Y/n, excited to have someone to talk to.

Y/n paused. He had been born and raised here? How long has this mistreatment been going on? This merman couldn’t be much older than him, but unlicensed merfolk breeding had been outlawed since before either of them were born and this facility hadn’t reported rescuing any pregnant mermaids in all its time in operation.

“Are you in this tank alone?” Y/n’s head quirked to the side, trying to find anyone else in the large tank.

The merman sunk back into the water so only the top half of his face was showing, hair pooling around him. He shook head from side to side. Y/n’s eyes go wide. He knew Butterfly Koi merfolk lived in groups, or glints. How long had this merman been alone? That would explain the interns being dragged into the water. If this facility wasn’t going to re-release these merfolk back into the ocean, the least they could do was bring in enough for a small pod.

“I’m sorry our introduction was interrupted earlier. My name is Y/n. What’s yours?” Y/n reached his right hand out, palm facing the ceiling.

“Shoto,” he whispered, reaching out to lay his hand atop of Y/n.

The chill of merfolk was never something Y/n had become accustomed to. The hair on his arms raised.

“What did I say about that creature?” Warden boomed, running up and yanking Y/n back by the collar.

Y/n tore himself from Warden’s grip, turning back to where Shoto had been. A small puddle where Shoto had lifted his hand out of the tank was all that remained. Turning back to Warden, Y/n’s face was red and fuming.

“In accordance with the National Wildlife Rehabilitators Association,” Y/n grabs and flips through his binder again, pulling out the folder he was looking at moments ago and shoving it into Warden’s arms, “I hereby take control of this facility as we restructure it. And don’t ever grab somebody like that, or you’re no better than what you think that merman is.”

Warden’s eyes go wide as he flips through the partially filled out forms, sputtering to find words.

“If you think this is a mistake, you are welcome to contact the board and have a second person come out and investigate, but I doubt they’ll disagree with my conclusion. Until then, I must request you hand over your keys,” Y/n aggressively adjusted his ruffled shirt as he spoke.

The next couple of hours were occupied by filling out paper work and closing the aquarium side of the facility until further notice. Y/n couldn’t ignore the smug smiles on the faces of some of the volunteers as Warden left in his car without saying a single goodbye.

Y/n reached into his lab coat pocket for his pen when he realized he had left it tank side in the flurry of commandeering the facility. He let out a soft sigh and weaved his way back through the facility and up the tank ladder to where he was earlier. At the edge of the tank stood the empty plastic container and his pen placed neatly next to it. Approaching them, he noticed the poorly scribbled word ‘thank’ on top in blue ink that smudged with the droplets of water on top. Y/n smiled, picking up the items and storing them in his bag. The shrimp was supposed to be a part his lunch, but he could always get something on the way home.

The next day, Y/n woke up at 3 am in an attempt to beat the restaurant owners to the local fish market. He had received a list of all the different merfolk being kept at the facility and wanted to make sure he bought all the preferred foods for each. But when his white van pulled into the fisherman dock, it was already bustling. Y/n jumps out of the van, grabbing his messenger bag as he does. Entering the large warehouse, the familiar smell of fish and the shouting voices of those around him assault’s Y/n’s sense.

“Y/n! Long time since we’ve seen you down here!” Eijiro, a fisherman who had let Y/n sail with him while he was in school, barked out across the aisle.

Y/n smiled, shifting between people to stand in front of Eijiro’s stand.

“I’m working at a new facility that desperately needs help. Think you can help me with what I need?” Y/n help out the shopping list he had thrown together.

Eijiro looked at the list in his hands, inspecting it and nodding every so often. Looking up, he handed the list back to Y/n.

“I can give you most of this stuff myself for free and what I can’t, I can get you a discount from the others.” Eijiro shouts.

“I can pay for it, Eiji! I don’t want to take advantage of your kindness” Y/n smiles.

“Absolutely not! You’re doing good work. Couldn’t take advantage if you tried.” Eijiro says over his shoulder, already packing what he could for Y/n.

“Fine, but I’m going to need this stuff consistently. This is the only time I’ll take it for free!” Y/n shouts back.

Eijiro just waves his hand aimlessly over his shoulder as he continues to pack fish. About two hours later, Y/n’s van is packed with crates of fish, crusteations, and even some fresh produce. Eijiro closed the back barn doors, leaning on it and looking down at Y/n.

“So, how bad is it?” Eijiro asks casually.

Y/n lets out a long sigh, “pretty bad. They aren’t even keeping the grouping merfolk together. There’s a butterfly koi merman who has never met another merfolk.

Eijiro let out a long low whistle before he spoke, “Didn’t you specialize in butterfly koi? Whatever. I just don’t understand some people. Merfolk are so important to our oceans, and they’ve got just as many emotions as we do. The operators of that place are lucky I wasn’t there, or else I would hav-”

“Well, we can’t all be big and buff like you, Eiji,” Y/n chuckles lightly, rubbing his eyes. “I need to go and get started on food prep. I’ll see you around.”

“Don’t over work yourself, Y/n,” Eijiro lightly shoved Y/n’s shoulder before disappearing back into the fish market.

The facilities small kitchen was packed with food and the four volunteers who agreed to show up at 5:30 am to start preparing the food with Y/n. He showed them each a few different food preps for the merfolk they were each assigned before getting to work on his own designated meals.

“Uh, Mr. Y/l/n? I know for a fact Momo, the Black Moor mermaid hates blood worms,” the volunteer Y/n had learned was named Uraraka mentions, walking up with the container of blood worms he had put in the Black Moor’s food box.

Y/n looked up from the large pan of shrimp he was cooking, smiling at her, “oh, well then don’t include those.”

“Really? But you bought them. Warden would have told us not to waste the money and feed them to her anyways.” Uraraka looked relieved at Y/n’s words.

“If a merfolk doesn’t like something, we won’t feed it to them. What if someone forced you to eat meatloaf, but you hated it?” Y/n turned to the other volunteers as he spoke, “if there is anything in the boxes that you know the merfolk won’t like, don’t force it. And if you could write a list of each merfolks likes and dislikes, I’ll be sure to adjust what I buy. And I want to add enrichment to their tanks. Mirrors, foliage, hideaways. Anything you can think of that we can get on the short term before we can really renovate the tanks would be great.”

They all nodded back to him, large smiles on their faces. Some took a few items out of their boxes or switched items with each other. It was 8 am before they were all ready to start delivering breakfast to them all. Y/n and Uraraka walked down one of the hallways together, each with a cart full of prepared food.

“When was the last time they had food prepared like this?” Y/n asked, side eyeing the volunteer.

Uraraka shrugged her shoulders, “I couldn’t tell you. Not since before I started volunteering here about 7 months ago.”

They separated at the fork. Y/n saved the Butterfly koi merman for last. The other Y/n delivered breakfast to didn’t look much better than him, some obviously ill. Y/n would have to get a merfolk doctor as soon as he could to check all of them. Y/n struggled up the last tank ladder with the tub of food. Getting to the top, he set down the tub, kneeling down at the edge of the water.

Y/n reached out, tapping the surface of the water a few times before sitting back with his legs crossed. Across the tank, similar red and white hair surfaced looking towards the water was disturbed. His eyes squint before landing on the man who had visited yesterday. Sinking back under the water, he quickly swam his way over. Reemerging from the water up to his shoulders, he could smell the food in the tub.

“Did you bring more of those little pink things?” He quizzed, craning his neck to get a look into the tub.

“Shrimp? Yes, I did. You’ve never had shrimp before that, have you?” Y/n smiled softly.

Shoto just shook his head lightly, reaching out for the tub. Y/n caught it before he could drag it into the water. Shoto looked back to Y/n confused.

“I have one question,” Y/n said quickly.

“More shrimp,” he quickly said.

When Shoto didn’t respond, Y/n continued, “is there anything you want? I can have it brought in.”

Y/n had asked all of the merfolk he had fed this, and he planned on asking the rest when he was finally able to make introductions with all of them. But this some how felt more important. This merman has never experienced what to ocean had to offer. Would he even have anything to wish for?

Y/ chuckled softly, “You’ll get plenty of shrimp. I meant something for your tank.”

Shoto looked into the tub with a thoughtful gaze before patting the edge and whispering, “More things with tops. I liked opening the thing you gave me yesterday.”

Y/n smiled at him, letting go of the tub. Shoto quickly yanked it, turning it over in the water as he sank it to the bottom to eat. Y/n sighed. Bucket with lids? All this merman could think of was something he had been introduced to yesterday? Y/n shook his head as he got up to go ask the rest of the merfolk things they wanted. He left confident the volunteers there would be able to handle dinner prep.

Y/n had noticed how dirty the merfolk enclosures were when touring the aquarium side of the facility later that week. He didn’t want to put anything into their tanks without some sort of basic cleaning being down. He started with partial water changes on all the tanks, stopping there for any merfolk who refused to let him into the tanks. Y/n had already cleaned most of what he could before getting to Shoto’s tank a second time that day.

Y/n climbed up the ladder with his scuba gear. The tub from breakfast was sitting neatly on the edge of the tank platform. Grabbing it, Y/n turned back towards the ladder, taking a step back towards the ladder to drop the tub down to the bottom. Before he could take another step, an ice cold hand wrapped tight around the ankle of his wetsuit. Look behind him, Shoto reached far out of his tank up to his waist, chest almost flush with the platform. He looked at Y/n’s wetsuit boots, avoiding eye contact.

“I’m just putting the tub where one of the volunteers can grab it. I’ll come right back,” Y/n said casually.

Shoto released Y/n’s ankle and watch as the bent over and dropped the tub to somewhere he couldn’t see. Turning around, Y/n walked back towards him, a bright smile on his face.

“I saw you across the way in the black mermaid tank. Are you going to get in mine?” Shoto’s face wasn’t readable to Y/n.

Y/n paused halfway, looking at him worried, “only if you want me to. I won’t do anything you don’t want me t--” 

“Yes!” Shoto almost shouted, face lighting up.

“Okay,” Y/n’s smile back on his face, “but I can’t just hang out. I’m going to do some cleaning. And then,” Y/n pointed behind him to a large bag full of something Shoto couldn’t see, “I’ve got a surprise for you.”

Y/n geared up to jump into the 50 degrees Fahrenheit water. As he pulled the air mask over his face, Shoto looked at him confused.

“Why are you putting so much stuff just to swim?” He asked, tapping his hands in the puddle of water he had created on the platform where he waited.

“Because,” Y/n said, pulling the mask away from his face slightly so he wouldn't be muffled, “I can’t breath underwater like you can.”

This pulled an even more confused look from Shoto and suddenly his pulling down of those interns made even more sense. They were probably nice to him and he hadn't known they couldn’t breathe under the water. Y/n gave him a sad smile before pulling the clear full face mask back over his face.

Y/n sat at the edge of the platform, feet dipping into the water. he went to push off the edge of the platform when two hands grabbed his waist and yanked him into the water. The sudden all-over cold shocked Y/n for a second despite the thick wetsuit he wore but the excited look of the merman pulling him deeper into the water quickly distracted him. Shoto watched as Y/n’s scared look turned into a bright smile and how his hair started to float around his head exactly how Shoto had imagined it would.

Y/n tread water where Shoto had let go of him deep in the tank. Shoto swam back up to the top, grabbing both the bucket of cleaning brushes Y/n had brought and the sack of mystery Y/n had mentioned earlier. He let the sack float to the bottom of the tank as he carried the other box back to where Y/n swam.

“Here you go,” Shoto’s voice was clear as day to Y/n as he held the bucket between them.

Y/n started to clean the sides of the tank after years of algae buildup. It was obvious whoever the divers were before were instructed to only clean the main viewing window which was relatively spotless. After about ten minutes of Shoto carefully watching Y/n clean the sides of his cage, he was over, picking up a matching brush for the box and scrubbing next to him.

“Like this?” Shoto asks.

Slowly turning his head towards the Merman, Y/n chuckles, watching Shoto enthusiastically cleaning the side of his own tank. Y/n nods, hair following slowly behind. His hair reminded Shoto of the big fake seaweed plants that were in his home when he was young with how it moved. With the extra help, Y/n was able to scrub clean the sides as best he could. He packed up the cleaning box, having to try and convince Shoto to give back the brush he had been using but eventually gave up.

Y/n swam back up to the surface, hoisting the box up onto the platform. He took off his breathing mask and positioned his arms to hoist himself up onto the platform when a hand grabbed his ankle pulling him back under the water. Taking whatever breath he could before being submerged.

Shoto pulled them halfway down before looking up at Y/n. His excited face suddenly filled with panic when he noticed Y/n’s breathing mask floating a couple of feet above his head. He reached up trying to put it over Y/n’s face. Y/n shook his head back and forth frantically, trying to swim back to the surface. Shoto’s hands scooped under Y/n’s arms, swimming as fast as he could back to the surface. As they broke the surface, Y/n gasped for air.

“You could have killed me,” Y/n heaved between breaths.

Looking at Shoto, Y/n could see the fear in his eyes before he disappeared deep into his tank. Y/n caught their breath as they swam back to the platform, pulling himself up without interruption. His legs and flippers were still in the water, expecting Shoto to resurface eventually. After a few moments with no return of the merman, Y/n left Shoto’s area. The rest of the day until dinner would be filling out paperwork and checks for the medical care the different merfolk needed.

“Knock, knock,” Eijiro’s bright smile filled Y/n’s office a few hours later.

“Hey, Eiji. Ready for that tour?” Y/n asked, arms crossing and leaning forward onto his desk.

Y/n promised to give Eijiro and his crew a tour of the facility during dinner so he wouldn’t actually be helping with the delivery of food. Most of them had never seen merfolk up close and Eijiro next to begged Yn to let his crew see them. Y/n had reluctantly agreed of course. It was next to impossible to say no to Eijiro Kirishima when he gave those puppy dog eyes.

Y/n showed them first where they prepped the food and how the diets of different merfolk differed depending on where in the ocean they were found. Then he led them down the different hallways aquarium side. The boat crew was mesmerized by the merfolk who swam up to the glass once they saw Y/n had been walking with them. Y/n introduced the different merfolk with their names and where they were normally found in the oceans.

Walking up to Momo’s tank she was quick to swim up to the glass. One of the crew, Mashirao was humming a song and Momo could hear it through the glass. She tapped the glass in front of him, a wide smile on her face.

“You like that song, Momo?” Y/n asked her, he then turned to the crew, “I had a sound system set up so I’d be able to communicate with the merfolk while on this side of the glass. Which means any sound you make, they’ll be able to hear.”

Momo nodded her head quickly in agreement. Eijiro let out a deep bellied laugh, before turning to his crew.

“Well, give the lass what she wants!” Eijiro punched the shoulder of Mashirao.

Mashirao laughed in response and started to sing Randy Dandy-O, the song he had been humming. More of the crew joined in, causing the merfolk in neighboring tanks to swim up with their dinners to the glass to watch with excitement. Y/n stood a few feet from the group and looked around at the scene with a fond smile.

“I’ll have to bring you guys back more often if the merfolk like your singing so much!” Y/n called out to Eijiro who led his crew into a second song.

Y/n looked behind him at the glass of Shoto’s tank. He could faintly see the white and orange tail of the merman but he was keeping his distance for some reason. Walking over, he cupped his hands around his eyes and put his face up to the glass. Trying to focus deeper into the water, something suddenly came flying right where his face was, causing him to jump back. Looking at the bottom of the tank, a single shrimp lay there. Suddenly, a frantic looking Uraraka came scurrying up to Y/n.

“Um, excuse me. I’m sorry to interrupt, but Shoto is refusing to eat his food.” Uraraka looked at her feet.

“Why do you look so glum?” Eijiro’s booming voice asked, walking up to the pair.

“I’m sorry, Eiji. I’ve got to go deal with something. Uraraka. You used to give tours right? Could you show them the rest of the facility while I take care of this?” Y/n asked.

Uraraka agreed and Y/n quickly disappeared through one of the doors that led to the tank access area. Y/n puffed, ascending the ladder the Shoto’s tank platform, the sound of one of the volunteers bickering at the merman.

“Hey! Stop! Don’t throw your food at me!”

Y/n saw the sour-faced Shoto, arm reared back to throw another algae ball at the volunteer when he reached the top of the ladder.

“Hey!” Y/n barked.

Shoto’s head whipped to Y/n.

“Stop throwing food at him. He’s just doing his job. What’s got you so mad?” Y/n said, picking up pieces of food as he approached, dumping them all into the tub he snatched back from Shoto.

Shoto glared at the volunteer as he scurried out of sight down the ladder. Y/n tucked the tub under their left arm, his right hand found his hip. Tapping his foot, Y/n waited for Shoto’s response. Shoto watched Y/n’s feet, refusing to speak.

“Fine! Don’t tell me.” Y/n set the tub back in front of the merman. “Stop throwing your food at people.”

Y/n turned to leave. As he neared the ladder, he felt something thump against the back of his head, landing without a sound on the ground behind him. Turning back around, he sees a shrimp near his feet. Looking back up at the merman irritated, Shoto’s back was not turned away from him. Without hesitation, Y/n picked up the piece of shrimp, launching it back at the merman, hitting him in the back of the head with the shrimp before it sunk into the water below. Shoto turned around with an incredulous look on his face.

“Unlike my staff, if you’re going to throw food at me, I’ll throw it back at you,” Y/n spoke sternly with Shoto.

Y/n turned back around to leave before he was hit in the back of the head, this time with a ball of moss. He whipped back around, ready to chastise him when he saw the wide smile Shoto wore. He thought this was a game. Y/n’s stern look dropped, chuckling lightly as he picked up the ball of moss he had hidden in one of the containers he had given Shoto earlier that day.

Y/n crossed back over to the merman, squatting in front of him, holding out the ball. Shoto reached for the ball, but instead grabbed Y/n’s wrist, pulling him into the water. Y/n quickly bobbed back to the surface as Shoto swam around behind him, pushing him towards the center of the tank. Shoto turned Y/n quickly in the water to face him, hands staying on his shoulders. Y/n shivered in the water in his street clothes.

“Who is Eiji?” Shoto asks, eyebrows knitting together.

“Eijiro? He’s the captain of the boat I studied on. Why?” Y/n responded, confused.

“Why did you bring him here? Why is he the one you buy all our food from?” Shoto interrogated.

“He wanted to show his crew what merfolk were really like. And because he’s a friend. Hey, wait, why does that matter to you? Why did you pull me into your tank? It’s freezing to me,” Y/n questions back, placing his hands over Shoto’s to help him stay afloat in the cold water.

Shoto slid his hands out from underneath Y/n’s swimming a few feet away before speaking, “I don’t want to eat shrimp from him.”

Shoto disappeared back beneath the water without another word. Y/n rolled his eyes, paddling back to the platform, and getting out of the tank. By the time Y/n had found a towel and changed into dry clothes, Eijiro and his crew were gearing up to leave.

“Sorry I missed the second half. Shoto seems to be bothered by something.” Y/n apologized as he walked up to Eijiro, rubbing the towel into his hair.

Eijiro laughed at his soaked friend, “ I heard from Uraraka. Sounds like you’ve got a jealous siren on your hands.”

“Huh?” Y/n’s face filled with confusion.

“My dad used to tell me about how he became close with this mershark when he first started sailing. His first love, he’d always say. Would pick off any of the crew that got too close to him. Had to set some boundaries after the third first mate drowned. Anyways, We should head out. We’ve got an early day tomorrow.” Eijiro flashed his sharp teeth with a smile and pulled Y/n into a tight side hug before disappearing outside.

Y/n sat in his office, face in his hands as he sighed. Only about half of the merfolk were candidates for rerelease. Thankfully, the rest would be able to be used for education and research, granted they were willing to do so. The only one Y/n worried about was Shoto. He was the only one Shoto would really interact with, and even that had been sparse since Eijiro’s visit two days ago. Y/n wasn’t sure if he’d be able to stay at this facility or not. He had already filled and turned in the necessary paperwork for a permanent, but that wasn’t guaranteed. Y/n worried about what would happen if Shoto refused to cooperate with other marine biologists. Would they release him anyway? Hoping he’d be able to survive on his own? Shoto had never seen the world beyond what his tank would let him see. Y/n knew he wouldn’t last a day alone in the ocean. A harsh knock sounded on the office door before Uraraka came bursting in, out of breath.

“Baby merfolk. No mother. Way too cold.” She spoke quickly before disappearing back into the hall.

Y/n jumped out of his desk chair, following behind Uraraka to the loading dock. Opening the door, Y/n saw Tenya, the newest volunteer, running towards them, a tiny Butterfly Koi merpup in his arms. Transferring the baby to Y/n, he rushes down the hall towards the incubator before coming to a skidding stop.

“Why are you stopping?” Tenya asked, slowing down so he wouldn’t run into Y/n’s back.

“The incubator will be too hot for him,” Y/n said, turning and running through the doors towards the tanks.

Uraraka followed him fast, “but we don’t have any mothers.”

“I know,” called Y/n, climbing a ladder as fast as he could.

Once on the platform, Y/n ran, taking a deep breath in, and jumped into the water. He held the baby close to his chest and gave it as much of his own body heat as he could. Uraraka skid to a stop at the edge of the tank, watching Shoto swim faster than he ever had to the sinking Y/n. Shoto grabbed either arm of Y/n ready to pull them back to the service before he noticed the baby in his arms. Y/n shoved the child into Shoto’s arms, which he quickly took. Y/n swam back to the surface as fast as he could, gasping once he finally made it back to the surface.

“You think he’ll know what to do?” Uraraka asked frantically.

Y/n pulled himself out of the water with the help of Uraraka, “there’s only one way of knowing.”

Y/n slid down the ladder and ran around to the glass of Shoto’s cage. He stopped, heaving as he attempted to catch his breath. Tenya was soon next to him, wrapping a towel around his shoulders. Looking into the tank, Y/n could see Shoto curled into a ball in the corner that kept his bed. Y/n let out a deep sigh.

“It worked,” Y/n whispered, falling to the ground and sitting.

Tenya and Uraraka did the same as they watched Shoto start to fret over the child as it tried to wiggle out of his grasp as it warmed up.

“How’d you know that’d work?” Uraraka asked, a smile on her face.

“I didn’t,” Y/n admitted. “I sure prayed it would though. There wouldn’t have been a mother. Butterfly Koi mermen are the ones who care for the young. Are they sure there weren’t any merfolk in the area that was watching the baby?”

“Yeah,” Tenya started, “I watched the pup for the last three days and not a single merfolk ever approached the baby.”

“You did the right thing, Tenya.” Y/n said, falling onto their back, suddenly exhausted.

[whirlybirbs]

          (  this chapter’s gif by @ransomflanagan​ from this beautiful set !  )

✪   —   VACANT MIRRORS  ;  B.B.  |  5/?

summary: your plan goes to asbolute shit.

pairing: bucky barnes / f!reader

tags: set before & during tfatws, friends to lovers, therapy positive, trauma healing techniques, ptsd mentions, the normalization of anxiety disorders, and a good ol’ slow burn

word count: 9k, please pray for my fingers

a/n: there’s action, there’s gunshot wounds, there’s canon appropriate violence! this one has a lot of plot, a lot of action, and i truly want to sleep for seven days after writing this. you should listen to the glass cannon’s club playlist while you read, though, for vibez.

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You do have a plan.

Maybe it’s a little vague, a little messy, and a little up-in-the-air, but it’s a plan.

Get in, find Kiwi, avoid a handful of unsavory characters, and access the Alexandria Library.

Getting the hell out The Glass Cannon once you and Bucky were in was going to be a whole different plan entirely — one that was more improv than anything else. Hopefully, running a quick facial recognition program wouldn’t take long. With any luck, it would get a hit on any more recent aliases Innessa Sidrova was using after parsing the motherload of information Kiwi held onto with her life.

Kiwi wasn’t always known as Kiwi. She worked at SHIELD, like you, and back then she was known as Suji Awal. She stuck around longer — and she’d stayed on board during the active collapse to do heaven-sent work. It was an absolute Hail Mary, but while HYDRA had tried to purge all of SHIELD’s cloud data to protect their active agents and decades of progress, Suji had beat the hare in the race. Two steps ahead, she’d managed to pull nearly 97% of all confidential data including mission reports, agent profiles, and even electronic correspondence. While the metaphorical fire burned the documents behind her, she’d managed to salvage one of the only surviving, comprehensive looks at SHIELD before the curtain was pulled back to reveal HYDRA’s infection.

It had been used to try multiple HYDRA agents in the wake of it all in the federal courts. It was significant evidence, but after nearly all was reaped from the crop, Suji had taken the aptly named Alexandria Library and gone underground. Now, Kiwi was just another hacker in the thick of it and the Alexandria files were all but whispers.

It’s all about knowing the right people in the end.

Kiwi was a regular at The Glass Cannon. There was a nine out of ten chance you’d find her there. And if you didn’t find Kiwi, you’d probably find Climber and… Well, going to him wasn’t the most ideal situation, but out of the menagerie of acquaintances you’d gathered up throughout the years, you could trust Climber. He’d send you Kiwi’s way if you finally called in that favor he owed you. Either way, you’d find her and you’d get the files.

You just needed to avoid Alexei Gardzov.

Easy. Ish.

In truth, you barely get anything done Thursday — you’re too preoccupied in your head, running over the so-called plan even now as you fold laundry in the basement of your apartment complex.

You’d dug around in your closet, trying to find some semblance of an outfit. It was difficult. It wasn’t like the barely-there dresses and platform shoes were your thing anymore. Back then, your diet was mostly energy drinks and alcohol — in a way, it’s a relief to find that a good number of your staple outfits no longer fit. It made you feel like you really had put all this behind you.

You have.

Sure, it was the Rabbit you were going to have to be for tonight, but you’re not the Rabbit you were eight years ago. Good thing, too. You’re not too sure you and Bucky would have gotten along otherwise. Right now, your relationship with him was the biggest thing keeping you afloat — for the first time in a long time, you feel like you have some sort of purpose, even if it was a vague one at best.

You knew Innessa Sidrova was a threat — and you knew Bucky had to remedy that threat. You knew he felt responsible for creating her, for planting her in a position of power where she could manipulate and control. In truth, there was still a lot of vagueness surrounding his past. He’d made it clear he hasn’t been himself for a long time, but you couldn’t bring yourself to wade through the muck of his trauma to pluck out your answers. It just felt wrong.

If you were to say you hadn’t been tempted to go out on your own and dig, that’d be a lie.

Even now, as you pull out the ink-black top from the dryer and fold it neatly on top of the other pieces of laundry needed for tonight, you can feel it sparking like a lighter in the back of your head.

He was keeping something from you.

“Penny for your thoughts?”

You nearly jump six feet in the air.

It’s Miss Bonnie — and she’s laughing when her feet touch the cold concrete of the unfinished floor. Her basket of laundry is balanced neatly on her hip, and she walks with a smirk on her face. Her hair is piled neatly on top of her head, and as she bends to plop the basket down, she offers a wink.

“I could hear you thinking from upstairs,” she ruminates, paisley and dyed skirts kissing the ground, “Like a little steam engine.”

You laugh quietly into your task. You duck your head and heft a black bra and jeans from the dryer. “I’ve got a lot on my mind.”

She looks up, eyes moving carefully from the laundry pile to your face. Her eyes glimmer with quiet curiosity. “And a big night planned, huh?”

You snort. “What was the giveaway?”

“It’s always the lacey bras,” she chirps and slides a smirk your way as she waggles a finger at your pile, “And the strappy little bodysuit was a good hint, too.”

You exhale with a laugh, bracing a hand against the dryer. She’s not wrong — you’d really forgone comfort with this outfit lineup. It was temporary, though, and well worth the efforts if it meant helping Bucky tick off a name from his list of amends. You knew how much those meant to him.

“So,” she continues, voice muddled as she continues to load the washer, “I take it this friend of yours is really helping you out of your shell?”

“I guess so. Yeah. It’s — It’s sort of a mutual shell-cracking, I guess.”

“Mm,” a hum, “You sound troubled, though.”

Your mouth opens as your fingers trace the line of the bodysuit. You pause, and you rock back on your heels. Miss Bonnie notices.

She waits patiently, bent at the knees.

“You ever just…” you wave your hand, “Feel like — I don’t know. He’s my friend. My best friend, honestly, and that’s… Really saying a lot. But, there’s stuff under the surface and I know it’s not my business but…”

Out comes a strangled groan.

“What? Like a crazy ex-girlfriend?”

“No, no — I don’t think so,” you mutter, “Wouldn’t surprise me, though.”

“Handsome?” she asks, smiling.

You close your eyes and ignore the smile on your face as you reply. “Yea, handsome.”

“Well, have you tried asking?” she shrugs as she stands, “Not about the crazy ex, but about the stuff you’re worried about? It never hurts.”

“Problem is, I don’t really think it’s too much of my business.”

Miss Bonnie hums at that and presses the start on her washer. She’s quiet for a bit, swaying slightly as she weighs the conversation and you watch — enamored with the older woman’s calm wisdom. She gestures openly with ringed hands.

“I think it’s normal for us to want to know everything about those we care about,” she says, “We want to know how we can protect them, how we can comfort them. But… it comes in due time. All of it does. You’ll find a time when he does open up about the ex, or whatever it is on his mind. You’re friends, after all.”

You’re nodding, chest tight with thanks.

Miss Bonnie’s face is soft.

“You got a picture?” she chirps like a bird looking for a worm, “I wanna see who this little friend is. And if he really is as handsome as you’re suggesting...”

You scoff and lean to dig out your phone.

“Cut it out,” you mumble as she moves closer, “No playing matchmaker.”

“Sure, sure,” she waves, leaning to watch as you scroll through your camera roll.

The only photo you have of Bucky is there from Tuesday night — after he’d housed nearly an entire container of noodles and promptly passed out during the third Lord of the Rings movie. You’d woken up around one in the morning to find that Poke had unceremoniously curled up on top of the supersoldier’s chest. Bucky’s hand was still in the calico’s fur as he dozed, the colors of the TV painting his face all sorts of peaceful. You’d taken the photo, shoving it in his face after gently nudging him awake.

He’s laughed.

You gesture to show Miss Bonnie.

Like ice, she freezes.

You notice a microexpression dart across her face, but it’s gone in an instant. You can’t pin it, but the way she bends to pull the phone closer and zoom in on her face comes off as interest. You blink, label it as shock, and move on.

Her voice sounds different.

“Handsome,” she mumbles plainly, preoccupied with the sight, “I get it now. What’s his name?”

“Bucky,” you say as she hands the phone back, “He’s… He’s a good person.”

Miss Bonnie just nods.

You tuck your phone away and plop your laundry into your basket. Ignoring the sudden quiet that had crept between you both, you haul up the stack and offer her a gentle smile. She’s fiddling with the washer’s timer.

“Thank you, Miss Bonnie.”

“Of course,” she rushes out, smiling gently, “And be safe tonight.”

“I will.”

With your promise, you ascend the stairs.

In that basement, Bonnie McLayne is no more, and instead, Innessa Sidrova remembers that night in Moscow, back in 1975.

She remembers the Winter Soldier.

                                      ◦   ◦   ◦   ◦   

Bucky calls you three times with no answer.

Normally, he’d just give up — but it was Thursday, and you weren’t answering the buzzer to your apartment either. He tries his best to ignore the strike of panic that sparks in his chest. It could stoke a wildfire, really, but he pushes it down and remembers to breathe. He doesn’t let himself think about what he’d do if something happened to you.

After all, you’re probably fine. Sleeping, maybe. The both of you had a long night ahead.

(Longer than either of you realize, really.)

It’s nearly seven o’clock, and after trying your cell one more time from his perch on your apartment’s stoop, Bucky decides to say fuck it.

A well-adjusted person might frown upon what he was about to do, but Bucky wasn’t exactly well-adjusted, now was he?

He rounds the back alley with long strides and easily finds that, with a little maneuvering, he can hoist himself upwards on top of the nearest dumpster. With a well-timed hop, he can also snag the bottom of the fire escape’s ladder and haul it downwards. The rest is easy, and he’s scaling the fire escape to the third floor with ease before he even knows it.

There’s even a smug little smirk on his face the whole time he does.

Finding your window is a little harder, but Bucky eventually spots Poke’s round little body smushed against the glass — it’s a dead giveaway, and after some prowling, he finds the window to your living room and unceremoniously throws it open.

It’s unlocked, for whatever reason, and he makes a mental note to have a conversation with you about safety and security in the city. After all, you never knew when an ex-assassin supersoldier was going to break in and pet your cat.

Upon opening the window, he pieces together pretty quickly why you’re not answering. Could be the music coming from your bedroom, or even the singing that’s coupled alongside it. From the bathroom across the hall from your room, steam has settled above on the ceiling. The whole apartment smells like fruit and soap and perfume and Bucky’s not really sure how to parse through all the sensory experiences that greet him with he shimmies in through the window, legs first.

All in all, they make him smile.

Bucky shuts the window behind him as he’s quickly greeted by Poke — the calico offers a gratuitous little chirp when Bucky bends to scoop up the cat. Easily, he melts. Poke is purring loudly in his ear as Bucky takes a moment to survey your apartment a little bit closer. Mr. Poke Bowl rubs his face against Bucky’s stubble as the man weaves through the kitchen.

It’s very you.

He isn’t really sure what that means at the end of the day, but all he knows is that he feels at home here. He feels safe. He feels comfortable. He feels like he can be himself. Not James, not Sergeant Barnes, not The Winter Soldier. Not even Steve’s Bucky, but just… his Bucky. Himself. Sarcastic and exhausted and a little cynical.

Bucky lets Poke down on the counter and moves to the fridge.

There’s still beer from the other night in there, tucked in the back, so he makes easy work on popping open a bottle and busying himself with petting a very adamant Poke.

As he sips the Leinenkugel, it’s no small coincidence that his phone buzzes again — for what feels like the hundredth time today — with a message from Janelle.

She was nice — pretty, too. Once upon a time, she would have been his type.

That was before he met you, though.

There’s a little pinprick of mortification at that quiet confession that’s been slipping into his heart more and more in the last few days. You are, after all, his best friend. He’s your best friend. Guilt swims with the feelings that have begun to pluck his heartstrings and he has to admit he’s not too comfortable with the song they play.

His biggest fear is fucking this up.

Fucking you up.

Honestly, his track record isn’t great. The whole defrosted-international-threat bit made it a little difficult to date. Janelle seemed to think the date had gone well enough, though, hence the handful of texts he’d been getting every few hours asking if he’s free.

Like usual, he ignores them.

Exercising his own free will is hard sometimes. Especially when it comes to saying no.

Taking another swig of the beer, Bucky shoves his phone back into his pocket and tucks his fingers back into Poke’s fur. The calico’s tail swings patiently as he sits and watches — and it’s a little weird how human his eyes are for a second there. He mmrrps and lunges for Bucky’s hand when he comes close, bonking his head eagerly against the cool vibranium.

It’s a different sensation.

That’s another big adjustment — learning how things really feel with this new arm. It’s not just handling recoil or gripping knives or throwing punches. It’s the soft tickle of fur, the gentle pressure of a warm rag to clean the joints. Meticulous upkeep wasn’t something HYDRA did often. He doesn’t miss the twinge of pain and molasses-like stickiness that came with a dirty arm. Blood was the worst. Always sat deep in the cracks.

He flexes his fingers. Poke meows again.

He moves to plop down on the couch. Poke follows.

You’re singing, still, to some song that Bucky’s never heard, when you push open your bedroom door and move towards the living room.

You jump six feet in the air and scream when you see him just sitting there, clutching a beer and petting Poke like he fucking lives here rent-free.

Bucky’s reaction is muted, mostly because he’s a little too preoccupied with your outfit and your jewelry and the pink eye shadow that creeps up your brow-bone. There’s glitter on your eyelids and lip gloss on your mouth and he can smell some sort of candy-sweet perfume coming off you. The plunging neckline of the jet-black top is enough to leave him shifting his gaze back up to your startled expression with a tight jaw.

His face is blank.

Then he offers that stupid fucking smile he does. Y’know, the tight-lipped one where he somehow maintains a dead-eyed look the whole time. If you weren’t trying to calm your racing heartbeat, you might have laughed. You hate the white-hot flare it sparks in your chest.

“How the fuck did you get in here?” you hiss, waving your hands.

“We need to have a serious conversation about locking our windows,” he says as he kicks his feet up on the coffee table and wags a finger at you, “Also, what are you wearing?”

“You — You fucking broke in through my window?”

“Yea, well, you were too busy pretending to be Britney Spears to hear me try and buzz up, and my phone calls.”

Sheepishly, you cross your arms. “Nice reference—”

A shrug from Bucky. “Thank you.”

“—Also, what are you wearing?”

He looks down at his usual t-shirt, leather jacket combo. He squints back up at you.

“I’m sorry,” he chirps, “You’re talking to me? Did the department store run out of fabric, Rabbit?”

You self-consciously adjust the plunging neckline of the bodysuit as you frown deeply. “I think I’m gonna skip on the fashion advice from the man who lived in a time where ankles were seen as scandalous.”

“I was born in 1917,” he mumbles as he stands, actively avoiding another pass over your outfit because as much as he hates to admit it, it’s not a bad look on you, “Not 1817.”

“Point being, we’re going to a club. And you look like you’re going to the local Home Depot,” you move to snag a set of dangly earrings that are sitting on the coffee table, “We’ve gotta look like we’re there to party, nothing more.”

Bucky sighs. He finishes the beer, places the bottle down and sheds his jacket. “So, what?”

You pry your eyes away from the flash of skin — his arm, flesh and blood, speaks to how strong he is. And, undoubtedly how easy it was for him to fucking scale three stories of the fire escape to bust in.

“So,” you mumble as you thread the earring in, “I have some of Jaimie’s old shirts. There’s probably something you can use… If they fit.”

Bucky exhales softly. “You kept them?”

“Didn’t have the heart to throw them out,” you reply as you gesture for him to follow you into your bedroom.

The back of your top is arguably more crisis-inducing than the front — it’s an open back, and Bucky settles on admiring the decor rather than the curve of your spine. He has to. For his own fucking self-composure.

Your bedroom is nice — and like the rest of your space, it makes him feel comfortable. It’s all warm colors and posters and plants in the corners. Across from your queen-sized bed, there’s a large desk with a triple monitor setup. That’s where the music is coming from. The little knick-knacks on your shelves and desk make him chuckle.

Then, he stops, halfway to the closet, and stares.

You blink over your shoulder as you bend, digging to the back of your closet to pull out the clear bin you’d piled most of Jaimie’s stuff into after the funeral. After you’d cleaned out his apartment on your own.

He’s looking at the poster — the one from Cap’s USO tour. It’s framed nicely, set up on the wall beside your desk. It’s got a gold frame, and Bucky can’t help but wander closer to look at the signature.

It’s Steve’s alright.

“How much did you pay for this?”

You scoff. Your necklaces tinker together. “Don’t even go there.”

“The jerk signed thousands of these,” he mumbles, crossing his arms as he leans closer, “And still, the fame didn’t go to his head.”

You smile softly, leaning back.

“Jealous?” you chirp, raising your brows as you pretend to swoon, “Oh, Sergeant Barnes, I’d just love to meet your dear friend—”

Bucky’s laughing as you swat at his knee, leaning back on the carpet like a damsel in distress.

“Shut up,” he snorts, “It’s a sore subject for me.”

“Oh my god.”

“I’m serious — do you know how many dates I had to set up for the chump? And then, boom. I’m invisible.”

“Yeah, well,” you mutter with a smile, unclicking the lid, “Some people just like blondes, Buck. I’m sure there were plenty of eyes on you. Stop being so dramatic.”

“Yea, the best friend, sure,” he mumbles at the poster, “Hell, he was taller than me. You know you don’t need to lie to me—”

“Listen, if I was some Lauren Bacall-looking nurse back then,” you wave your hands, “I’d have gone for you. Alright? Stop lamenting and get over here.”

He goes quiet and ignores the warmth in his cheeks. He squats by your side. “Shut up.”

“We seriously need to work on taking compliments,” you groan, throwing your head back, “I’m being serious, y’know, for once. And I’m not just saying it as your friend. You’re handsome and everyone knows it except you, apparently. My neighbor agrees that’s for sure.”

He squints.

You wave it off and gesture to your outfit. “She saw me doing laundry.”

“That explains nothing,” Bucky deadpans, “Literally nothing.”

“I showed her a picture,” you cry indignantly, moving to shuffle through some of the old t-shirts sitting on top of the bin, “Relax.”

He moves to plop down, crossing his legs beneath him. He decides to let the topic die — again, for his own self-composure more than anything. The compliment, though vehemently denied by the worst part of him, is tucked neatly in the homes of his heart. The idea of meeting you, before now, is a little intoxicating. What would it have been like?

Would you have even spared him a dance?

Bucky rubs his cheek. Poke meows and buts the door open with his head.

You’re wrist-deep in the bin when you speak. “He’s obsessed with you, y’know.”

Poke has already taken up a post in Bucky’s lap. Bucky smiles, petting Poke gently with his vibranium hand. The cat seems to like the cool metal. Bucky mumbles softly down to the calico, scritching his cheeks. “I like him, too.”

You pause long enough to try and remember the sight.

Bucky’s eyes find yours, and you’re quick to turn back to the bin.

“Here we go,” you exhale as you pull out the shirt you’d been looking for.

It’s a long-sleeve button-down, one that you can distinctly remember Jaimie wearing to his engagement party’s after-party — a real typical night of Jaimie being Jaimie. It’s black with a barely-there red floral pattern. It’s flashy enough that Bucky won’t look horribly out of place.

The only problem is Jaimie was a little smaller than Bucky.

“Try this on,” you mumble as you dig around trying to find something else in case it doesn’t do the trick.

Bucky catches the silk shirt and gives it a once over. He raises an eyebrow, and deciding against debating this, he simply nudges Poke off his lap and stands.

He moves to your bed, laying the shirt out. On your closet door is a full-length mirror. You want to snap it in half when you accidentally catch a glimpse of Bucky hauling off his black, cotton t-shirt and anxiously fumbling with the buttons on Jaimie’s old shirt. You have to breathe — and remind yourself that that’s Bucky.

Your Bucky. Your best friend Bucky.

When he calls your name, it sounds far away. You’re busy angrily sorting through old clothes.

“I look ridiculous.”

When you turn around, the first thing you notice is that it’s a little tight. Not in a bad way, but the buttons are gapping along his chest, and it’s tight around his arms.

Your eyes widen a little and you swallow. You tilt your head.

Bucky’s frowning.

“Let me see,” you offer gently, standing and moving close, “It’s not that bad.”

“You don’t sound too sure right now,” he mumbles as you enter his personal space.

You’re nimble with undoing the top three buttons — it gives him enough room to move his shoulders, though, and the dip of the shirt along his sternum brings dog tags into view. You reach, momentarily entranced, and read them to yourself.

You smell like vanilla and sugar.

Bucky shifts in his boots.

“Y’know,” you say, moving to the sleeves, “I think this works.”

You roll the sleeves, stopping at his forearm.

When you step aside, Bucky can see himself in the full-length mirror. He looks less than enthused.

It’s not an entirely bad look — he’ll admit that much — but he doesn’t look like himself. No, there’s too much chest and skin and… Christ, this shirt is tight. He does, though, look like some of those trendy folks he sees at Izzy’s bar every now and again. Hipsters.

“I look like a douchebag.”

“That’s the point,” you chirp as you close the box and shove it back into your closet, “Now the outfit matches the personality.”

He swats at your head on the way by. You laugh.

You’ve got boots in your hand, and you land on the bed with a bounce. Bucky is busy fixing his hair in the mirror while you zip up the thigh-high boots. When he turns around, you’re about three inches taller. He blinks, yet again entranced by the outfit.

Then, you’re muscling on the jacket.

It’s neon pink — and shaggy and cropped. It falls just above your waist and swallows you whole. But, Bucky’s attention is mostly on the back.

There’s a large, white embroidered Playboy bunny there, with RABBIT written across the shoulders in a chunky, blackletter typeface.

His brows are high on his face when you turn around.

You freeze.

“...What?” you ask, “Something on my face?”

“Playboy bunny, huh?”

You could smack him. “Weren’t you busy being a frozen dinner when Playboy came out?”

“I’ll have you know,” he says tightly as he follows you out of your bedroom and to the living room, “The Russians enjoyed their fair share of editions.”

“The Russians? Sure, what’s that saying? There’s no sex in the USSR?” you chide, “You can just say Bucky Barnesenjoyed his fair share—”

The tips of his ears are red. You notice. It makes you split into a grin that worsens the pink shade that’s crawling up his neck.

He coughs. “Have you ever considered never opening your mouth again, Rabbit?”

You nudge his arm. “Nah. Bothering you is more fun.”

He shrugs on his jacket, sighs, and decides that keeping quiet is just easier.

However, that’s not entirely your plan — and you speak quickly as you pull your purse over your shoulder. You’re rummaging quietly, stacking your wallet and phone inside. You glance up at him.

“You ready?”

“As I’ll ever be,” he mumbles, bending to pat Poke one last time as you move to the door of your bedroom. He watches you flick all the lights off, and before you leave, you double check the calico’s food and water. He’s got enough for a few days. Bucky leans against the door frame, “Care to run me through the plan?”

Nodding, you move to open your front door.

“It’ll be easy,” you explain as you make room for him, “If we play our cards right—”

Bucky’s stopped, though, and is digging in his back pocket as his cell phone rings. You watch him exhale tightly, eyes on the screen the entire time he squeezes by you and starts down the hall. You make careful note of the delicate scowl on his face, only before you catch Miss Bonnie out of the corner of her eye.

Her door is half-cracked across the hall, and she’s watching.

She offers you a smile.

Bucky keeps walking.

You wave, lock your door, and jog to catch up to Bucky.

“Hey,” you call, “Earth to Mr. Claw Machine?”

His head snaps up. “Sorry.”

“Who was that?” you ask carefully, nudging his arm with yours, “Falcon?”

“I wish,” he mutters as he muscles the cellphone back into his pocket, “I wouldn’t feel so bad sending him to voicemail.”

“Yeesh,” you wince, “Lemme guess, was it the owner of the coral lipstick that was all over your face on Tuesday night?”

Again, that temptation to feel jealousy flares up in your heart. But, he’s here, isn’t he? With you. Ignoring her calls. And probably texts judging by the guilty look that’s on his face. You feel a little bad — but at the same time, Bucky’s a grown man. Maybe a grown man who needs to create some more transparent lines of communication with the poor woman, but still.

“Bingo. I mean — it’s not that she wasn’t great an’ all but…”

You raise both hands. “I’m not judging.”

He sighs raggedly as he bounces down the apartment’s stairs. “I don’t think I’m ready for that.”

“What?” you ask with a laugh, “Dating? Yea, it’s pretty fucking terrifying, Buck.”

“You sound like you’re speaking from experience.”

You hold the door open for him and slide him a pitying look.

“Because I am.”

The walk to The Glass Cannon is spent walking Bucky through the plan — and for the most part, he makes a point of nodding along and listening. His only real anxiety pops up at the mention of Alexei, which is relatable to say the least.

It’s dark, the streets are relatively quiet, and the spring chill has pricked your skin. Your heels click against the pavement, and you stalk along. Shoving your hands in your pockets of the pink, shag jacket, you huff.

You’re starting to feel the anxiety.

Fifteen minutes later, you’re both approaching the blue glow of the storefront.

Computers & Stuff was a family-owned and operated computer shop from the 90s that was taken over by a lesser-known hand of the Russian crime family in New York, the Gardzovs. Alexei’s father is the formal owner of the shop, and his son runs the lucrative activities of the underground club that lay beneath the graphics cards and motherboards.

Bucky, as you both near the entrance, speaks quickly. “Anything else I need to know?”

“Just follow my lead, okay?” you whisper.

The bell above the door dings when you pull open the glass door.

The lighting is sterile and if you’re real quiet, you can hear the dull hum of the fluorescents. The store is empty, save for one man behind the register.

You almost duck out the entrance at the sight of him.

Igor has been a bouncer at The Glass Cannon for as long as you’ve been a patron — and he’s also one of Alexei’s dogs. This part of the plan was something you’d considered only briefly, and for a second, you’re thankful you worried over the million and ten ways this would play out for days.

“Well, if it isn’t the little bunny.”

It’s said with malice. Igor’s tattooed hands land on the counter as he leans.

You, however, hold your head high. Bucky watches as something changes in your posture.

“Good to see you, Igor.”

“Is it?” he growls, stalking around the counter and quickly encroaching on your personal space, “Because I’m pretty sure you’re not welcome here, bunny.”

Bucky gets a good look at the man now — clearly an enforcer. He’s got prison tattoos, a shaved head. The long beard is a weak spot. Doesn’t seem to be armed. Blue eyes flick to you and the way you don’t even flinch when the man leans to breathe right in your face.

You just smile.

“I thought you’d say that,” you mumble, moving to swing your bag to the front and dig your wallet out, “But, I’m not here to cause any trouble.”

Suddenly, there’s a hundred-dollar bill slipping from your well-manicured nails into the vest pocket of the bouncer. There’s a tense pause, then, while the two of you size one another up.

“Fucking your way through college paid off, huh?” he hisses.

You stay quiet.

Bucky, though, moves between you both with a quick shove. Immediately, Igor’s attention goes to Bucky as he sizes him up — he laughs. His nose is nearly touching Bucky’s.

“What’s wrong, pretty boy?”

“You should watch your mouth,” Bucky says evenly, “Or I’ll cut your fucking tongue out.”

You’re careful to hide your expression; the feeling the words stir isn’t one that you’re happy about. This sudden protectiveness, though, makes you feel some sort of invincible.

Igor settles back on his heels.

He steps back.

He gestures to the back room with his head.

You keep walking when he calls out: “Careful, bunny, the dogs are going to be looking for you.”

You grit your teeth tightly and push through the fabric curtain.

He barks, taunting you.

Bucky is by your side in an instant, gaze still rooted over his shoulder at the hulking bouncer. He waits until you’ve settled down until you’ve said his name. His eyes fall to you, then to the stairwell before them.

Above it, in curled neon tubing, reads The Glass Cannon.

The windows are blacked out, but from his spot at the top of the stairs, Bucky can feel the rattle of a deep bass vibrate his ribs.

“Come on. We’re on a time crunch now.”

“Alexei?”

You nod as you lead the way down the stairs. “Word travels fast. We need to be quicker. Stick to the crowds. Remember, we just need to find Kiwi — then we bail.”

Bucky nods tensely.

Then, you open the doors.

Immediately, his eyes adjust to the darkness — neon and strobes and the pulse of purple and pink LEDs make his vision swim. It’s warmer down here, and the stairs leading down into the sub-basement is lined with people sipping drinks and chattering over the loud music. It smells like piss and beer and tobacco.

Again, Bucky watches as the person he knows melts away.

The Rabbit in front of him is different.

You reach, as if on reflex, for his hand.

When you turn around and flash him a smile, he has to swallow down a sudden rise of sheepishness.  

The sea of people part around you, and Bucky realizes quickly that people recognize you. He can see their painted lips moving, muttering things into curious ears about the pink-clad woman in front of him; there are smiles there and frowns, and shock. You’re slow in your descent, making a show of the arrival — all while Bucky begins to piece together that The Glass Cannon is larger than he originally suspected.

As they near the bottom of the landing, he can see out across the floor.

There’s a square-shaped catwalk around the dance floor, laden with dancers on their designated poles. Tables line the outside of the cavernous room, and the bars along each wall are crowded — even still, these glimpses of his surroundings come in temporary flashes of light. The music coming from the center of the dancefloor is loud. The entirety of the scene is raucous.

He can’t imagine you finding solace here.

He tightens his grip on your hand. You squeeze back.

When both of you reach the bottom of the stairwell, the sea of people swallow you in a current of dancing and drinking and laughing, and you crawl into Bucky’s personal space to shout in his ear.

You’re still holding his hand tightly, pressed to his chest, as you lean upwards to brush your cheek with his.

“Follow me, okay?”

He nods.

You begin the methodical crawl through the dancefloor, working your way to the bar — there, you pause long enough to be served a drink that’s as pink as the glitter on your eyelids. The flecks dance in the lights, and Bucky graciously accepts a shot from the bartender who smiles sweetly like honey at you.

You bat your lashes, thank her, and stand gracefully from the barstool.

You take a pointed swig and scan the floor.

Kiwi would be in one of the private booths, you suspect — she was enough of a high roller here. But, with the crowded club bursting at the seams, it was nearly impossible to get to the other side. You sway a bit on your feet, still tightly gripping Bucky’s hand in your own. You refuse to let go.

For your sake and his.

Bucky is a silent shadow, eyes roaming the club — he watches a dancer dip down low and snag a green bill from a patron. Someone beside him laughs loud, another bumping into his backside as you continue to weave to the outer rim of the room. The music is so loud his heartbeat could be mistaken for an 808, and he feels the thrum in his bones.

If he wasn’t so overwhelmed, if he was drunk, maybe it could be fun.

Finally, out of the haze of bodies, Bucky can breathe.

You’re leaning over again, speaking quickly.

“I don’t see her.”

“I can’t see shit in here,” he calls back, eyes moving along the ridge of the room. He scans the booths set into the walls, set up on platforms, and roped off with velveteen, “Where would she be?”

“Hard to tell,” you mumble, “But I think I might need to go to Plan B.”

Bucky follows your solid stare.

In the booth directly across the floor from you, there’s a man in black — black everything, save from his hair. That’s the brightest blue Bucky has ever seen. He’s swallowed by a harem of men and women who are laughing and drinking and dancing, and he’s entertaining. Ringed fingers wave in the air, face split into a laugh so wide he swears it’s a mile long. He’s got glasses on and they’re tinted blue.

Bucky watches carefully as you move to his booth.

It’s like a prey surveying a trap — you’re careful.

Finally, when you stand before it, you let go of his hand.

“Hi there, Climber.”

The whole booth falls silent. The man stiffens, back turned to you totally. Bucky watches as his hands fall and slowly, the man you’d called Climber turns around.

His expression is stone cold.

His voice, however, is as warm as a hot poker.

“Oh my goodness, is that Rabbit?”

He ascends from the booth, platform boots leaving him to tower over you — he’s no small man, either. Bucky watches as he bends to kiss both of your cheeks and hug you tightly. He, however, doesn’t pull away entirely.

“What the fuck are you doing here,” he hisses, “You want to be roadkill?”

“I need to find Kiwi,” you whisper quickly, expression almost begging, “Please.”

He pauses, dimpled chin wavering a bit. Bucky watches him sniff, push his glasses back, and readjust his posture. Climber licks his lips and his eyes dart to Bucky. He’s thinking, Bucky realizes, and after a quick moment of deliberation, he seems to cave.

“Only because I owe you.”

“I know,” you say, raising your hands, “I know.”

In a dash, his demeanor changes once more. He’s flying over to his harem, waving his hands and blowing kisses and promising he’ll be back in a flash. They whine, they moan, but Climber appeases them with another round of jello shots from strobing syringes that a waitress is carrying by.

“Come on then,” he says, “And stop looking like such a prude.”

He begins to weave.

You follow hand returning to its spot in Bucky’s like a lifeline.

You’re sipping your drink, moving through the crowd easily. There’s a slight sway in your step now, and at one point you and Climber even get noticed by a pod of people who recognize your faces. It’s met with laughing and squealing and in the fray, the both of you slip back into the crowd. Bucky is taking it all in, desperately ignoring the tingle of a panic flaring in the back of his head.

Too many people.

Soon, though, Climber is moving towards a side entrance.

It’s a back room.

Suddenly, the dim lights and neon dissolve, and instead, Bucky is flashed in the face with the abrasive sting of fluorescent lights. It no longer reeks of spilled beer, and his boots don’t stick to the ground. No, there’s quiet chatter back here — Climber continues to lead the two of you through a maze of supply crates full of booze and soda.

Then, a right turn. And a left turn.

Someone is taking inventory.

“Kiwi, I know you’re going to hate me for this—”

The woman who turns around is beautiful. She’s in the midst of eyeing an open crate that looks just like the others but fitted with a hollowed center, marking off what looks like an inventory of burner cell phones. Her brown skin is decorated with glitter, her eyes streaked with the same green shade of her tightly shaved head. The green is bright and it reminds Bucky of summer.

Suddenly, her expression sours.

“What the fuck.”

“I know—”

“No,” she snaps, raising her hand and waving to the assistant beside her to take her tablet and make themselves scarce, “You need to get out of here.”

“I need your help,” you say finally, tone heavy.

It’s enough to make Climber sigh. Kiwi watches you, scratches her neck, and swallows.

She meets Climber’s eyes.

Then she breaks.

“Where the fuck have you been, Rabbit?” she asks, worries seeping into her eyes as she pulls you into a rough hug, “We thought you were dead.”

“No,” you shake your head, “But you know I couldn’t be around here anymore.”

“Yea,” Climber snorts, “Not good for your health, huh, love?”

“Alexei still wants your head,” Kiwi chimes in, crossing her arms, “Does he know you’re here?”

“Igor was on the door, so I’m sure he’s heard by now.”

Both of them curse.

Guilt flashes across your face as you screw your eyes shut and nod. “I know. I know, I just… I seriously need your help, Kiwi. It was worth the risk. It’s — HYDRA. I need to tap into the Alexandria Library.”

Immediately, the woman stiffens.

Her eyes flash to Bucky in the corner. He stares back.

“He waits outside.”

“You can trust him—”

“No,” she snaps, “I can’t. And I don’t. And I won’t.”

You give Bucky a pleading look. Between the two of you, a negotiation happens between your eyes. It’s a compromise, and finally, Bucky relents.

“Fine,” Bucky barks, tilting his head and giving you a tight-lipped smile, “Fine. I’ll wait out here.”

“He’s cute,” mumbles Climber as Bucky rounds the corner, long legs carrying him out of the supply room, “Boyfriend?”

“Shut up, Climber,” you mumble, waving your hand, “Just listen—”

“Who is he?” Kiwi asks, eyes still watching the doorway, “And why did you bring him along?”

You sigh, rubbing your brow. “He’s the one who’s trying to find this HYDRA agent. He knew her before.”

“So he’s HYDRA.”

“No,” you snap cooly, “He’s not.”

“So, just handsome, then?” Climber asks, hands waving, “Right. Great. Really making a case for yourself, Rabbit.”

“He’s trying to find a woman named Innessa Sidrova. She was one of the original agents who helped form the American HYDRA cell,” you explain quickly, “I’ve got the GRC breathing down my neck, and… And he’s a good person. He’s my friend. I’m trying to help him, but I can’t do it without you. Both of you.”

Kiwi hums. She sighs. “That explains why you went MIA.”

“Aside from putting Alexei behind bars?” you scoff, “Yea, the GRC played a part in it.”

The three of you are quiet for a moment.

“Fine.”

You look up at Kiwi. Her hands are on her waist.

There’s an immense wash of relief that floods over you at that moment — and from the looks of it, Kiwi can tell. You move to grab her hand, and she grabs back. Both of you smile, and the hug that follows is warm. You’ve missed her. A lot.

“Thank you, Suji.”

Then, footsteps.

That relief is traded in for an anxious backfire of fear in an instant.

It’s slow. Dress shoes on polished cement.

Then:

“Oh, bunny, bunny, bunny. Tsk, tsk.”

Climber and Kiwi’s faces upturn to the doorway and they tell you everything you need to know.

So, you decide at that moment that you won’t be the prey tonight.

You turn around and come face-to-face with a man playing devil.

Alexei Gardzov is a handsome man — a beard and piercing grey eyes. His hair is tightly cropped, and intricate tattoos decorate every inch of his skin. Some of them are new, you realize, and there’s temporary pride that bubbles up at them. They’re from prison.

You almost smile.

Behind him, three goons loom.

“I’ve been wondering when you’d come hopping back,” he croons as he enters the room with the swagger of a man who trapped his dinner, “Well worth the wait, I think.”

His cologne hangs like smog in the air. He strolls up to you, and in a flash, he’s got your hair in a vice grip.

He yanks it back, you grit your teeth.

The barrel of a gun digs into your cheek.

“Climber, Kiwi, and Rabbit,” he sing-songs, “All in one room again like it’s NYU’s 2014 hack-a-thon. Isn’t that cute?”

Kiwi speaks. “Alexei—”

“Shut up,” he snaps, gun moving to flash towards Kiwi, “And stay out of my business, Sujina.”

The gun’s muzzle is cold. He’s rough, and you try to ignore the twinge of pain that comes with his unceremonious yank of your hair. Once more, he tsks. His breath is hot on your face. He smells like cigarettes and whiskey.

“I spent seven years behind bars,” he bites, “All because a’ you.”

“Me? I wasn’t the one trafficking girls—”

“SHUT UP!”

The pistol cracks across your cheek and the cement floor hurtles towards you. The gasp that falls from your lips is from shock; your fingers dig into the cold ground as you try to blink away the blurriness. Your ears ring. Blood drips from your cheek between your fingers.

Again, there’s a hand in your hair.

Now, the fight begins.

Climber and Kiwi are stuck, frozen in fear.

You don’t blame them, because Igor and the others have guns already drawn. One of them, one that’s young and you don’t recognize immediately, has a baseball bat in his hands.

Alexei drags you by your hair as you grimace, refusing to scream. Your heels scrape against the ground as you try to get purchase, but he’s quick to throw you back against the far wall.

“Don’t worry, Bunny,” he smiles, “I won’t kill you. Not right now.”

Then, a kick.

Right to the ribs.

You can’t breathe — you gasp earnestly at the white, hot shot of pain.

“Get up.”

You’re not listening, you’re too busy trying to catch your breath.

“I said,” comes a growl as he reaches, hand in your hair again as he drags you up the wall. Your legs buckle, and you try to hold your chin high as you stumble upwards, “Get up.”

Then, there’s a hand around your throat.

Tight. Too tight. Can’t breathe. Can’t breathe. Can’t breathe. Can’t get his hand off your neck, can’t breathe, can’t breathe, can’t fucking think, can’t stand, can’t see, can’t breathe —

“Boss!”

A new voice.

The pressure is relieved for a second.

A new face has run into the room — he looks frazzled, hair askew and gun out. He’s eyeing the scene before him in a moment’s pause.

“Can’t you see I’m a little bit busy?” Alexei snags as you gasp, clawing at his hand. He swings his head to the figure in the doorway with an annoyed bark, “What is it?”

“The cops, boss,” he stammers, “They’re here.”

“What?”

“They’re here for her, boss.”

A slow turn to where his finger is pointing. His gaze lands on you. Alexei laughs.

“Well,” he says as the goon disappears, “Isn’t that just peachy, bunny?”

The choking starts again.

Then, a metal hand.

Vibranium.

You watch it swing, you watch it grab Alexei’s throat.

Suddenly, you can breathe.

Suddenly, Bucky Barnes enters the fight.

You make friends with the ground again as you duck, just as Alexei is rammed into the wall above your head by his throat. As you cough while Kiwi calls your name — you can hear a fight. But everything’s moving slow, and it’s not until the first gunshot that you’re kicked into action. It’s loud. Your skin pricks alive.

Someone screams.

You stumble to your feet, eyes finding Bucky’s form moving quickly between the three goons — the gunshot had come from the pistol that had somehow found its way into Bucky's flesh and blood hand. One of the men is on the floor, suit pants stained with a bullet wound through the thigh. He’s wailing. Bucky doesn’t notice. Or he doesn’t care. Maybe both.

His face is cold.

Another gunshot is fired off, this time richoting between you and Kiwi and Climber and embedding itself into the cement wall overhead. The three of you scream, ducking reflexively.

That’s when Bucky snaps.

“Now would be a good time to go!”

Kiwi’s hands are on your arm as you quickly break through the doorway through the storage room. Climber is following, checking over his shoulder at the carnage that Bucky begins to reap in the room.

He’s hysterical, trying to jog in his white platform boots. “What the fuck, Rabbit!”

Your voice is hoarse. You’re clutching your ribs. “Not now, Climber!”

“I’m parked in the back,” Kiwi says, ducking through plastic flaps as she helps you through the back of the club, “Come on, we’ll go through the trucking entrance.”

You hear Bucky call your name — he’s jogging to catch up, gun drawn in his hand. Seems like he made good work of the others, sporting nothing more than a split lip. You turn, pausing for a moment to take inventory of his well-being.

And that’s all it takes.

Alexei Gardzov, limping, steps in front of you and Kiwi and Climber at an intersection in the hallway.

There’s a gun in his hand.

The first thing you feel is the impact.

Like a truck slamming into you at full speed. For the fourth time tonight, you have the air robbed from your lungs. It’s instant confusion.

Then comes the pain. Hot. Hotter than the sun. Hot like white flames. It tears through your shoulder and all you can do is gasp; you’re sent into a stutter step — and while the world around you continues to move, you’re busy reconciling with the fact you’ve just been shot.

A bullet flies by your head.

Alexei Gardzov drops.

You’re grasping at your chest, staggering, when Bucky breaks into a sprint — but you’re okay. You’re okay, it’s just your shoulder, it’s just your arm, you’re okay, you can feel your fingers and you can breathe and the pain is nearly unbearable but you’re okay.

Then, a baseball bat.

It clocks Bucky directly in the skull. He’s clotheslined.

It’s Igor.

The gun from Bucky’s hands clatters across the ground to your feet, and you’re too busy trying to get to Bucky to realize — but, you’ve got tunnel vision and adrenaline and at that moment, you think a good sidekick doesn’t need anything else in this life.

Igor goes to swing at you, but you duck. Your stiletto crushes through the top of his shoe. He screams and in a flurry of pain and panic, you manage to snag the bat quick enough to turn and clock him under the chin with a roll of the wrist.

His teeth clack together and he falls backward, unconscious.

“God, I really wish you could have seen that, Buck.”

You spit. Blood paints the ground.

The bat clatters to the cement as you fight through the pain. Kiwi and Climber are by your side in an instant.

“No, no!” she screams, “We do not have time for this—”

“I am not leaving him,” you snap, nearly screaming at the woman, “Come on and help me with him. Now.”

After a sigh of resignation, Kiwi shoves the gun she’d snagged from the ground into the back of her jeans. You’ve got your hands around Bucky’s ankles as Kiwi and Climber take his torso — and the four of you make a break for the back entrance. You can hear the cops outside now, and there’s the chatter of Russian following you into the back parking lot.

“Hurry up!”

“He’s not exactly light as a feather, you know!”

“Shut up, Climber!”

You’ve got Bucky halfway into the back seat of Kiwi’s white Cadillac when another bullet whizzes by your head.

“Fuck.”

Kiwi hops into the driver’s seat as Climber scatters to hop the hood and throws himself into the passenger's seat. You lean, clinging to the door of the backseat as Kiwi peels out of the parking lot. It swings wide open and you curse loudly. You can see Alexei’s men watching from the back entrance, shouting in Russian — so you muster all your strength to pull back and throw the door closed as Kiwi’s car bounces over a speed bump and rams through the parking meter’s gate.

In the rear window, the front of the club is surrounded.

Red and blue lights illuminate the street — but Kiwi is quick.

No one follows.

And when she finally makes it to the Manhattan Bridge, you exhale.

Bucky’s head is in your lap. He still hasn’t come to — there’s blood coming from his nose and you’re worrying. You lace your fingers into his thick, brown hair and chew your lip.

Kiwi’s voice pulls you from him.

“When were you going to mention the vibranium arm, huh?”

You laugh. It’s more of a breath of air than anything. Your head rests back against the seat. Your shoulder is still on fire. You’re hot, but cold. You’re bleeding still. Your ribs aren’t right. You know that.

“I can’t believe he shot you,” Climber mumbles, “He fucking shot you.”

“And your boy toy shot him,” Kiwi says, sparing you a look in the rearview, “So you better pray he’s dead.”

You ignore the commentary.

“Where are we going?”

“Somewhere safe,” she says, accelerating into Manhattan, “Where I can get you those files and you can keep your head down.”

Sounds like a plan.

Better than the one you had, anyways.