#i said i would finish this if nothing else to spite the losers who spend their whole day raging about this kind of fic. and i did it.

[crowtrobotx]

Check Engine - Complete

Ya girl did it! My silly little Heisenberg x GN!Reader fic that started out as almost a joke and turned into Very Much Not A Joke is done! Thank you all for your support, comments, fan art and kudos. This might not be the end for this AU, but for now, enjoy your gross happy ending with the trash man. Read on AO3

[smutsonian]

I just read your works and they are fucking AMAZING!!! Idk if u already watched 'Knives Out', but if u did... can I request where Ransom and y/n are fuckbuddies but it ends with angst? idkkkkkkk... thank youuu x

‘fuck buddy’

Warning/s: smut, asshole ransom, angst, please read at your own risk, spoiler-free, nOt ProOfReAd, fluFf

masterlist

-----------------

It was after another family reunion. You didn’t know why they keep doing that stuff when it turns into a messy fight every year but here you are with Ransom, serving as his “girlfriend” and date. But you know too well that you’re far from having that title. His girlfriend.

You’re pretty sure that Ransom is not capable of loving someone or anything but himself and maybe money. He only bought you to the reunion because he thought that maybe by bringing you there, his family would not think of him as a loser. Maybe they’ll see him as someone who’s capable of keeping something such as a relationship. Maybe they’ll think of him as someone who can actually find someone who loves him. 

Of course, all of that was just for show. You were just for show. You’re not dating Ransom. Although, you have a certain arrangement. You were fuck buddies. That’s what he calls it. You use each other in a time of need. He’ll be there for you when you’re needy and you’ll be there if he is. And one thing’s for sure, Ransom is really needy. You made a deal and so you kept your word. When he needs you, you come. But that’s all that. Nothing more. Just a body to use when needed. 

You can’t hide the fact that you find him attractive. Extremely attractive. If he weren’t such an asshole, you would’ve been in the gutter. But that’s the problem. Once you spend almost all your time with him, you get to know why he’s the way he is. When you get the chance to see how his family acts around him, you’ll understand why he became the way he is. You’ll develop a sense of pity for the guy. You’ll realize that he’s just misunderstood. He’s not asshole by nature. He became an asshole because of his nature. Because of the people around him while he’s growing up. If that makes any sense.

Back to the reunion where he introduced you as his girlfriend. It was all going so well. He got compliments. You got compliments. Something along the lines of:

“Ransom’s so lucky to have you!”

“What a pretty girl.”

“How’d Ransom score someone like you?”

Then it got progressively worse and they started targeting Ransom.

“I can’t believe Ransom would find someone like you.”

“Did he blackmail you?”

“Are you sure about him? You can do so much better.”

The way they talk so badly about him disgusts you. The toxic atmosphere was suffocating and you understood why Ransom was… Ransom. You understood why he is the way he is. Feeling nauseous from the words that came from his own family, you excused Ransom and yourself out of the living room and into an empty hallway. He was visibly shaking. Probably from anger. But his face held much more emotions. Embarrassment, sadness, and loss?

“We can go if you want… I haven’t taken any alcohol so I can drive us-” you tried to pull him towards the main door of the house but he stopped you by grabbing your much tinier wrists with his huge hand and pulled you deeper down the hallway and into a bedroom. He pushed you gently inside and closed the door behind him. “Strip.” He bellowed. 

“Ransom, we can talk about it.” You walked towards him, trying to soothe him by running a hand down his arm comfortingly but he grabbed it with his other hand and glared at you. “I’m not your fucking boyfriend. We’re not in front of them anymore so you don’t have to act like my fucking girlfriend.” He hissed as he pushed your hand away. You stepped back and nodded. Of course, you’re not his girlfriend and he’s most definitely not your boyfriend. He’s made that clear numerous times. 

“Are you going to strip or not? ‘Cause if not, you can just leave.” He hisses one more time. You sighed and began removing your clothes, him doing the same thing with his. When both of you were completely bare, he pushed you towards the bed, making you fall on your hands and your knees. He didn’t waste time and immediately settled himself inside your cunt. He started his thrusts with a slow tempo, having a tiny amount of consideration for you to adjust to his size. When he hears your low moans, he started thrusting faster pulling on your hair and using it as leverage. You groaned at the slight sting on your scalp but ignored it as the point of this night is to make him forget those filthy words that his family said about him not your pleasure. Tonight was all about him. All about his pleasure so he can forget the hurtful words.

You can feel his cock twitch against your walls and that’s when you know that he’s about to finish up. “Your pussy feels so good around me, slut.” He groaned as his hand released your hair only to push your head down the pillows, pressing your face against them and making you arch your back. It gave him better access and he started to go deeper, hitting you in just the right places. When he was able to hit your sweet spot, you couldn’t help the loud moan erupting from your mouth. 

“Little slut loves being fucked like this, huh? Let them hear how much of a whore you are.” He started ramming into you, making your knees shake as you reach your peak. You whined in pleasure as you felt your walls clench around him, earning a series of grunt from him as he chased his own release. 

“Fuck!” He groans as he pulled away from you, making you fall sideways on the mattress. You heard shuffling so you turned to lay on your back just to see him putting his clothes back on. “Put your clothes on, I’ll be waiting in the car.” And with that, he left the room. 

That’s him every time he would release his stress and frustrations out on you. Calling you names, making sure that you know your place. It can be his way of turning you or himself on but all it does is just slap you in the face with the reality. The reality that you will never be enough for him. It’s so fucked up and inconvenient to catch feelings for a person like him. For a person that is your fuck buddy. It’s fucked up because you keep staying even though your heart breaks every time he leaves after a session.

After putting your clothes back on, you went out of the room ready to go to the car but not without bidding farewell from the spiteful bunch in the living room.

Ransom rolled his eyes at you and told you the directions to a club he wanted to go to. So you drove him. Even if he’s such an asshole, you’re still a decent person and it’s just right to watch over him after a long day with his family. You have to make sure that he gets home safe.

—

Sitting beside him in a bar, you watch him as he sips on his glass of alcohol that you don’t even know the name of but it sounds fancy. He turns to you, raising an eyebrow and nodding towards the bartender. “She’ll have a margarita.” The bartender nodded and began to make your drink. “I can’t drink. I’m driving, remember?” You raised a key to emphasize your point. He shook his head as he made an eye-roll. “Don’t be such a loser. I can drive. I handle my alcohol well.” He smirked at you when you scoffed at him. “Whatever” you smiled at the bartender politely as he placed the margarita in front of you. You took a sip and turned to look at Ransom when you see him eyeing a girl just a few seats away from you. You sighed and downed the glass in front of you. It’s going to be a long night.

—

You’ve never been this drunk. Ransom has never seen you like this and it made him quite amused because drunk Y/N is quite entertaining. You’re really loud when you’re drunk. It made him smile to see you finally letting loose. You’re always so stressed and so quiet all the damn time. He tries to help you as you do with him but he feels like he wasn’t really doing a good job. He’s noticed how you’ve been so distant lately and it scares the fuck out of him. He knows he’s not good for you and the closest thing he could ever be with you is by being your fuck buddy. If he was someone else, maybe he could’ve had a chance with you. He knows his reputation. He knows that you deserve someone better. But he’s happy that he gets to be with you even if it was something casual. It was a mutual benefit type of thing but it’s starting to fade and he’s scared that you would realize it and would want out. He’s terrified of losing you and his family didn’t help by trash-talking him in front of you. It just made him feel unaccepted. His family’s rejection, that he can take. But what if you start to realize that he’s not worth your time anymore? 

Calling you names while he pounds into you is his twisted way of trying to make you see that you can be perfect for him. If he manages to make you feel a bit belittled, maybe you can see that you’re perfect for each other? Maybe you can make your arrangement more serious and turn it into a relationship? Was that too much to ask?

— 

In your drunken state, you had no morals left. That’s why when a gorgeous woman walked up to Ransom, you lost it. Your shit, it’s completely gone. The girl gave Ransom a pretty smile and turned to you with a questioning look. 

“Hey, gorgeous. Who’s this?” Gosh! Even her voice is gorgeous. That annoyed the fuck out of you. She’s here for Ransom. You completely don’t stand a chance against someone like her. 

“I’m his whore” you slurred, too drunk to hear Ransom’s shocked “what?” as he looked at you incredulously.

“What?” The girl’s eyes widened as she looked between you and Ransom.

“Is she okay?” She asked him genuinely concerned.

“That’s what I am to you, right?” You poked his chest and laughed dryly. “A whore. A cockslut. A fucktoy!” You hissed but then cried silently after. 

“Fucking asshole” You scoffed and stood up, slapping Ransom’s hands away when he tried to steady you. You wobbled away from him and tripped but the girl was nice enough to catch you.

“You should probably take her home” the girl tried to walk you towards Ransom but you were able to pry yourself away from her before she could even do that. “No, no, no! I’m pretty sure you’re the one that he wants to bring home tonight. You’re probably enough for him. You’re the one for him. You’re gorgeous and nice and pretty and gorgeous. You’re perfect for him!” You made gigantic band gestures as you drunkenly pushed the girl towards Ransom. “Hey, Asshole! I think we should end whatever this is between us. I-I think I’m ready to be in a relationship. You can go and fuck off.” You wobbled away from them and towards a man that was nearby. He caught you and steadied you, laughing at your drunken state. “You alright?” He asks. “Yeah! You want to be my girlfriend? I mean you want me to be your girlfriend?” You giggled as he smiled at you. Before he could even answer, you pushed yourself away from him, just in time to vomit all over his shoes. You were about to say sorry but you passed out before you could even do so. 

Ransom ran towards you as you puked all over the poor man’s shoes, just in time to catch you when you passed out. He ignored his beating heart as he thought of your drunken confession. He also felt his world crumble down when you asked that guy to be your boyfriend even though you’re completely drunk when you did so. He carried you towards the car and as promised, he drove.

—

He carried you into his apartment, shooing the maid away as he carried you to his bedroom. He cleaned you up and made sure to leave a glass of water an Advil on the bedside table and he went over to the huge couch on the far corner of the room. He’ll have to have a serious talk with you tomorrow.

Hopefully, it will all go well.

—

Waking up was a fucking nightmare. Your head hurts and the worst thing is… You remember everything from last night. Every-fucking-thing. That’s not how alcohol works. The universe just likes to fuck with you. Sitting up, you turned to your side to see a glass of water and an Advil. Wait. Why were you in Ransom’s bedroom? 

You looked around in panic and gasped when you saw him laying down on the sofa. You made a quick movement as you drank the Advil and downed a glass of water. Why the fuck is he sleeping on a sofa?

“Why are you in such a panic?” Ransom sat up, rubbing his eyes tiredly. “You’re not afraid about having done something with me, are you? I mean, we’ve done it a lot of times and-” his laughs were cut off by your glare. “Okay. I’m kidding. I’m sorry.” He coughed and took a seat beside you. 

“Do you remember anything from last night?” He asked you nervously as if he was a child who has done something wrong and his parents are about to punish him. 

“Sadly, yes” you admitted with a sigh. You ran a hand down your face with a groan. “Just forget it.” You try to dismiss it but Ransom wasn’t having it. 

“I didn’t know- I… I- Do you have feelings for me?” He asked after a lot of stuttering. He was really nervous yet blatant for asking. 

“Fuck off” you muttered, not in the mood for his mockery. He grabbed your hands with his big ones and looked at you. “I’m being serious. Please tell me if you do.” You were surprised to see him acting this way. He’s never one to beg. He’s never one to show weakness. He’s always so focused on looking high and mighty so this is completely new.

“I… Yeah, Ransom. I do. And I also mean it when I said that we should stop whatever we’re doing. I really don’t want to keep on torturing myself. I don’t want to be your fuck buddy anymore.” You pulled your hands away from his and tried to get out of bed and towards the door but he stopped you.

“Please don’t leave me” he sobbed. You swear your heart stopped beating right then and there. 

“Please don’t leave. I need you. Not just in a fuck buddy kind of way. It may not seem like it but I care about you. I really do.” He stood up and slowly walked towards you with teary eyes. He grabbed your hands once again and sniffled.

“You’re the best thing that ever happened to me. Even if it wasn’t anything serious, I loved every moment I had with you. It was the closest thing that I’ll ever have with you so I… I thought you’d never go for a guy like me, Y/N. Forgive me if I made you feel like shit.” 

It was silent for a moment. 

“Please say something… Anything.”

“You’re such an asshole. Why are you only telling me this now?” You scoffed and punched his arm playfully. His wobbling lips turned into a smile as he grabbed you and pulled you into an embrace. 

“Because I’m stupid. That’s why.” He whispered against your neck. 

“You really are,” you said, earning a little laugh from him. You stayed in that position for a while before he pulled away from you. 

“Can we try this again? Forget all about the fuck buddy shit and let me take you out on a real date this time?” He raised his eyebrows, giving you a hopeful smile. 

You laughed at him and nodded. “I really like this version of you.” You say as you wrap your hands around his neck, smiling up at him. 

“Don’t get too used to it.” He smirked at you. You scoffed and tried to push yourself away from him but he held you in place. One of his hands on your lower back and the other at the back of your head. He looked down on you with a smile as he leaned down to brush his lips on yours. You went on your toes to reach him and seal the kiss as he moved his hands to pull you up to him, putting you in a more comfortable position. 

“I’ll be the best version of myself for you, Y/N. Only for you.”

– 

“Hey… Whatever happened to that pretty girl at the bar?” you asked as both of you cuddled on the sofa, watching some rom-com on the television. 

“Oh yeah… She was upset but she was… nice.” Ransom laughed at the memory.

“What happened?” you asked, curious about what he found funny.

“Well, he wasn’t amused by me after you’re big revelation…” you felt your body warm up in embarrassment as the memories flashed in your mind. Ransom grinned at you cheekily as he continued.

“Turns out, she wasn’t into me. She was into you. I remember her telling me something like, “If you don’t step up your game, I’ll get her. Treat her how she deserves to be treated.”. She was really scary but nonetheless, nice.” Ransom chuckled at the memory and you just stared at him with surprised eyes. 

“She’s into me? That pretty girl was into me?” you let out a laugh. “Who would’ve thought?” 

Ransom smiled, seeing your face with a genuine smile. 

“Yeah. And so is the guy that you puked on. He even asked me to give you his number. Fucking asshole… I threw his number right in the dumpster.” he scoffed at the memory and murmured the last sentence.

“I threw his number right in the dumpster.” 

“Wow…” you breathed out. “You’re an asshole too, you know that right?” you chuckled as you playfully hit his arm.

“Hey! I’m just not a fan of others eyeing you up. I’ve got a lot of competition here, Y/N.” he gave you a nod of appreciation which you rolled your eyes at.

“And if I were you, I’m going to step my game up like that girl said,” you smirked at his priceless reaction that turned into a smirk. 

“I know, I know. I have a lot of tricks up my sleeves. ‘Gonna give what my girl deserves.” he moves his face closer to yours, giving you a peck on the lips.

“Your girl?” you raised an eyebrow at him.

“Yeah! Sooner or later, you’ll be my girl, darling. Why not speed things up?” he smirked.

“You wish!” you scoffed and stood up from the couch, squealing and giggling when he grabbed you by the waist and pressed you up against his front. He pampered you with kisses all over your face, making you breathless with giggling continuously. 

“Stop it!” you breathed out between laughs. After a while, he did stop but you stayed in that position. With you on his lap, staring at each other. He leaned down as you stared at him with a smile, capturing your lips in a sweet kiss.

“All jokes aside, I’ll do whatever it takes for you to be my girl. I’ll wait as long as it takes. I’m lucky enough to have a second chance…” he leaned down to give you another peck and smiled at each other.

“You probably wouldn’t have to wait that long. I’m a sucker for you, you asshole.” you pecked his lips and when you pulled back, Ransom was sporting that widest grin and gleeful eyes.

a/n: this was supposed to be a drabble but wtf. HI ANON HOPEFULLY THIS SATISFIES YOU SKSKKSKS

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General: @readermia @unlikelygalaxygiver @xoxabs88xox

Anything Chris: @patzammit

[aikrus]

Just Fine

Pairing: Reader x N. Monoma, Reader x S. Todoroki Rating: G Words: 4k279 Warnings: Angst, mentions of panic attacks, emotional affair, kiss, Todoroki’s a little ooc-- but does that really matter in the long run? Requested by: No one, but feel free to request! Request/ Prompt: Monoma has to cope with his loss. Sure Y/n had been upgraded in class level, but that doesn’t mean she’ll upgrade out of him, right?   

    UA’s annual sports festival was monumental every year, but it seemed like everything shifted after the declaration of winners. Sure the competition itself had been a little weird, the students were exposed to each other and the world-- for better or worse, but it was what came after which would change the future of everyone involved.

For Y/n, it was for the best. The entrance exam had worked against her in many ways. For one, it was against robots, rendering her quirk practically useless. Secondly, she was placed with all of the heavy-hitters. This left her ranking very far down on the scale. She placed twenty third out of all first years in the exams, securing her a spot in class 1-B. 

During her time there, she grew extraordinarily close to the students in the class. Tetsutetsu had become like an older brother to her, he trained her tirelessly in hand-to-hand combat until she was one of the best in the class. She knew that he was there for her, and he had earned her respect very quickly.

Pony had also grown close to Y/n. They got on like a house on fire, mostly to them both having not an ill-willed bone in their bodies. They were often seen as ‘the sweethearts of 1-b’ and were protected by their class, even though they were both arguably the strongest people in the class. They’re some of the only people who hang out activities outside of school (i.e. movies, parties, sleep-overs).

And then there was Neito. They hadn’t started out on the best of terms- Y/n had told him to never copy her quirk, “It’s too dangerous”. Sadly, Monoma took this as a challenge. During their first group fight, he copied off of her without knowing what she could do. 

Y/n’s quirk is known as “Blinding,” a quirk that allows her, when someone makes eye-contact with her left eye, to blind them or gives them a ‘blinding’ headache. While this is dependent on how long they stare, it automatically stuns her opponent. 

Monoma had no clue that, because of this, her left eye can never be used as an actual eye, so he was blind out of his eye for two days, and he blinded Kendo. Lesson learned, he never copied her again. For the two days, he was half-sighted.

From then on, before she trained with Tetsutetsu, Y/n would spend an hour helping Monoma use her quirk, so if he ever had to he wouldn’t be hurt too much by it. Needless to say, they ended up spending a good chunk of time together.

Oh, sweet Neito, who was able to charm and hair-sweep his way into Y/n’s heart. In a month the two were dating, and everything was warm cuddles and hand-holding. Locked pinkies in the halls and ‘I love you’ notes left on their desks filled their lives, and they’ve never been happier. 

Y/n had comforted him after 1-A fought the villains, she was the only one able to help him with the inferiority complex that ate away at his head and chained him to his bed every morning.  She glared at the other class for reasons they had no control over, and even though everyone held her much higher than that, she loathed them for it.

This class had hurt her wonderful boyfriend who was ashamed of his own quirk, who wanted him and his classmates to have a chance to prove themselves. This class had unknowingly ruined him for days, the class that thought they were famous because of their misfortune- they knew nothing of misfortune.

And then the sports festival came along, and class 1-B made a group pact not to be spiteful towards their partner class, and even though he was very reluctant, Y/n made sure Neito did it as well. They would be humble winners or gracious losers, they would be better than everyone thought they would be.

The first round started all too suddenly. The crowds seemed to suffocate Y/n, her quirk-driven social anxiety was at a high peak, and her only current comfort was the eye-patch that laid over her left would-be eye. 

Hyperveteling and shaking, a hand grabbed her waist and pulled her forward, swooping of the wall and sliding to the front. With her eye shut (thank god it was) she hadn’t seen herself glid along the ice that her savior was pulling her on. 

“Sorry for grabbing you like that, I just recognized some signs and didn’t want to risk a possible anxiety-attack,”

Finding her grounding, Y/n finally saw the heterochromatic boy who saved her. “Thank you,” she breathed out, before looking forward with the few other people. 

At the end of the day, she had finished fifth in the race. Her quirk didn’t help, but her training sessions with Tetsutetsu did. The observers hadn’t said much about her, but they all noticed her appearance and the lack of quirk usage in that match. 

The second stage started, and most of Class 1-B flocked to Y/n or Ibara. She had ended up hand-picking her team. Sadly, Monoma had already been a part of a team, so she recruited Shinso, her friend from General Studies, Shoda, and Tetsutetsu to be her teammates. 

They faired very well with little drama, and Shinso had been kept in line and only brainwashed Shoda and Tetsutesu, leaving Y/n well aware and able to front the team with Shinso on top. Y/n hadn’t used her quirk during the Cavalry Battle, as she supported her team with strategy and strength. 

They ended up in second place, much to three of their’s delight. Shoda had excused himself from the festival, leaving Y/n with one less friendly face going into the next round.

And finally, the one-on-one fighting, and the drama it brought with it. Neito hadn’t passed the calvary battle, but he supported her through her battles. He cheered loudly for her, and he waited for her after her match.  

Her first opponent was Ashido, a pink-haired girl from 1-A that always seemed to be yelling about one thing or another. Y/n had removed her eye-patch for the match, and she was prepared to use her quirk if she had to.

It ended quickly, a nice warm up her boyfriend would have called it. The other girl had put up a good fight, but her curiosity got the best of her during the very beginning. The blindness made her easy to maneuver, and her fear only helped Y/n win, but it weighed heavily on her conscience. 

Y/n sat with her class during the other battles. She watched the match between her savior and another student in awe. Her eye sparkled brightly and she sat on the edge of her seat. It was the kind of match that left both members and the audience satisfied, but Monoma was less than pleased at her fawning.

Y/n rolled her eyes at his remark, slightly annoyed but unwilling to make more of it than it was. She made her way to her second match- the nerves had eaten at her, and she had hoped her boyfriend would give her words of comfort. That didn’t work out. 

The match had gone on for longer. Tokoyami’s quirk was terrifying to her, but he had looked her in the eyes when calling upon it. Her fear may have pushed her to go further with her quirk than she thought she was going to. 

He fought with the pain, and he tried to stand after falling to the ground. Tears had started to fall from his eyes, and Y/n started to plead with him to forfeit. She had planned on giving him enough of a headache for him not to be able to tell Dark Shadow where to go, but she had pushed too hard. 

He fought, but the pain wore him down to surrender. She was quick to release her hold on him, but she was afraid to look up from the floor after that. Y/n had rushed away from the peering eyes, and tears began to fall to the floor.

------

She collided with a chest in her rush, a hand stabilized her before she could fall back. 

“Sorry about that, I don’t mean to be grabbing your waist so often,” a quiet voice resonated above her. She took a step back to see a new familiar face.

“It’s not a problem,” she rushed out before looking back to the floor.

“Hey, I wanted to congratulate you on your win, your quirk is very powerful,”

“Yeah,” she whispered, “I know.”

“Is everything okay?” He placed a hand on her shoulder, but she refused to look at him.

“Your friend, the one I was fighting, I hurt him more than I meant to,”

“I wouldn’t worry about it,” he soothed her shoulder, “his ego’s bruised more than anything else. It’s not your fault, you were doing what you were supposed to do- as was he. This is the one time we, as students, are allowed to use our powers like we’re being threatened. And you had medical on call, it was the safest place for it to have happened. You were just in the festival spirit.”

“I was careless,” she argued.

“You were frightened,” he hooked a finger under her chin and lifted her face up to meet his eyes, “and you have nothing to be ashamed of.”

A blush had betrayed her, and she was quick to put some distance between the two of them. 

“I- I’m sorry,” Todoroki was the one blushing now. “I just thought that you- I didn’t mean-”

“No! It’s okay, I’m just in a relationship and-”

“Y/n!” A voice echoed down the hall. Both parties looked to the dark, and they saw Monoma run up to them. “You did such a good job up there! I’m so proud of you,” Neito pulled her into a hug and kissed her forehead.

“Thank’s babe,” she said back, awkwardly patting his back. “Hey, babe? Meet uhh...” she scratched the back of her neck.

“Todoroki Shoto, It’s a pleasure to meet you,” he stuck his hand out towards the blond.

“Monoma Neito, and I’m sure it is,” he shook his hand.

“Babe!” Y/n slapped his chest. “Remember the deal?”

“Right, right,” he sighed at her, “The pleasure is mine.”

“Thank’s again Todoroki, it meant a lot! I’ll see you around, okay?”

“Yeah,” he waved at her as the pair walked away. “I’ll see yah,” he whispered to an empty hall with only their bickering echoing back at him.

---

That was her first actual conversation with her savior, and to their words they did meet again. Y/n had fought one Iida Tenya in the semi-finals. He was quick and learned to not look her in the eyes, but after spending months training more than anything else, Y/n had gained enough muscle mass to prove herself worthy. 

She had managed to trick him out of the match- he was too distracted at not looking at her eyes to look where he was running. She felt a little dirty, but she won the match. He was gracious and shook her hand after it. He was a little embarrassed, but he wasn’t hurt.

The other semi-final match had started by the time she made it back to her seat. She was rushing, but it was futile. She didn’t miss much, however, as the first punch was thrown but nothing else.

Going back to her awe-struck position, she watched the match like it was the only other thing in the world. Class 1-B showered her with praise, but some of them had started to grow weary of their friends' popularity. They saw where this was going.

Class 1-A watched the match with eager eyes, and they commented on Todoroki returning to only using his ice-side. They also seemed to notice that he fought much harder than he usually did. He was thought out- calculated. The complete opposite of Bakugo. And for this, he ended up scrapping his way to the winning position.

And then the finals. The last fight in the tournament and Y/n wasn’t sure if she was able to face him. Todoroki had started to consume every thought she had, and clearing her mind was too difficult of a task for her. 

In a blink of an eye she was standing across from him. “Hey, Todoroki!” She called across the small arena.

“Yes?”

“Promise me you won’t hold back, okay?” She smiled at him, and Monoma glared from the stands.

“Only if you do the same,” he agreed before getting into his fighting stance.

----------

The match had ended with ice scattered around the stadium, and charred marks up and down the walls. The fight felt like it wasn’t going to come to a close, but they promised each other not to hold back. So, of course, Y/n would stay true to her word.

The first was his sight that she took away. He responded with an ice dome surrounding himself- blocking her from any way to get to him. She knew that they didn’t look him in the eyes long enough for her to use a special ability- well at least not the one she was planning on using. 

Instead of Mealt-Down, she settled on using Nausea- by rapidly changing the severity of his blindness, she would cause server fatigue and pain, not to mention the distortion he would feel. 

He still fought back, slowly pushing his ice out trying to force her from the arena. She had made her way on top of the ice, slipping the entire way up. She continued to re-adjust her position, trying to wear down on him until he couldn’t do anything. 

After what felt like all too long, he had passed out from the vertigo that she inflicted on him. She was anything but proud of herself, as she made her way through his ice to carry his sleeping figure out of the arena. 

Crowds cheered for her, even though she never actually fought fought someone during the games- she had won, but it didn’t feel right. It felt dirty to take the win, but she knew that if someone had let her win after she passed out it would feel the same. 

The migraine that hit Y/n stayed for the rest of the day. Even on the podium getting the medal she didn’t deserve, she squinted at the sun. Her eye-patch in its place and her pride on the ground, she accepted what All-Might presented her with,  but she never looked up.

----------

Y/n never had a formal chance to say goodbye to class 1-B. She had been called into the principal's office before school two days later. She knocked on the door, anxiously waiting. 

“Come on in Y/L/N,” Principal Nezu’s high-pitched voice called her in.

“Senai Sekijiro?” Y/n questioned, before sitting across from her teacher at the long desk.

“Y/L/N, you fought extraordinarily well during the sports festival. Your control over your quirk has improved greatly over your time with me, and you have become physically stronger as well. Sadly, my time as your homeroom teacher has come to an end,” he sighed and looked down. The pain in his eyes was too visible for him to look at his prize pupil.

“Sensai? I don’t understand, am I being expelled?” She looked rapidly between the three men sitting across from her. 

“No, Y/l/n, you’ve misunderstood us,” Nezu voiced out.

“Quite the opposite, after much deliberation, you have been transferred into class 1-A,” a man who she hadn’t met before spoke for the first time.

“Y/l/n,” Sensai Sekijiro said, “I would like you to meet your new homeroom teacher, Sensai Aizawa. He is very skilled and I have the utmost faith in his ability to help you grow,”

Y/n had decided that if she were to say much she would begin to cry. She had grown attached to her teacher, he had supported her through a lot. Sure it hasn’t been more than a year, but he had helped her when her quirk became too much, when she couldn’t look from the floor, and when she couldn’t open her eyes.

“It’s a pleasure to meet you sir, and it’s an honor to be taught under you,” Y/n’s y/e/c eye didn’t look up from the dark-oak desk that held her full attention. 

Yes it was rude, and yes Aizawa sent her previous teacher a look for it, but with the stress that the situation Y/n couldn’t guarantee that her quirk wouldn’t activate by itself. There were many precautions, but the eyepatch didn’t always work during extraordinarily emotionally taxing times. 

It took weeks before Y/n could look Sensai Sekijiro in the eye after she accidentally triggered her quirk during a science lab and gave him a slight headache.

“Y/l/n,” Sensai Aizawa voiced out. “You can look in my eyes, I promise that you won’t hurt me. If t would make you more comfortable, I will erase your quirk when you do. Just for a handshake,” he nudged her. 

The two teachers had talked before the meeting. Kan was very attached to his best student, so he wanted to make the transition as easy for her as possible. So, he gave Aizawa a few pointers. Like for one, seat her at the back of the room. Y/n likes to control who she looks at and when, and if she’s in the back she can easily advert her eyes if she has to. 

For another, she is very ashamed of her quirk. He told him that she has hurt many people by accident, and her insecurities are plentiful. For her to grow, she needs to be reassured that there is nothing wrong with her ability.

A third, the easiest way to establish a trusting relationship with her, is to have her look him in the eyes early on. If she’s looked into his eyes early on, she will feel more comfortable doing so in the future. 

And his last tip when handling her is to sit her near the students who aren’t too loud. She takes time to trust, and she’ll need a quick friend, and those with loud personalities can easily trigger her into a flight or fight response.

At the time Aizawa thought his pointers were stupid. This is a person who is going to be a hero, not a toddler. But now, as he sits so much higher up than she is, he understands. It’s not about how old she is. This is a girl who clearly has seen things that no one should, let alone a child. He knew nothing of her world outside of school, but he had his doubts on how kid-friendly those around her were.

So here he was, coaxing a girl afraid of her power to look him in the eyes. Once she lifted her head, he activated his quirk. 

“It’s a pleasure to meet you, I have heard incredible things from Sensai Sekijiro, and I witnessed your abilities and the tournament. I look forward to teaching you,”

-----------

And then she was thrown into a new class. Sensai Aizawa had been very kind to her so far. He told her that she could introduce herself if she would like, and she will be sat in the middle of the back row, with his best students on her sides to help her if she ever needs it.

Y/n stood outside as class began until she got the signal to come in. Introductions had gone seamlessly, and she had started to answer questions.

Her first one was from one of the runner-ups in the festival, the one with green hair. “I was wondering what your quirk was, I mean we saw it at the festival, but it would be nice to know a bit more,”

“Of course, My quirk is called Blinding. I can give an opponent anything from a minor headache to taking away their ability to see or process sound. 

“What did you do to Todoroki?” A girl with long hair in a ponytail asked from the back, next to her empty seat. 

“I used one of my ultimate moves, Nausea. I worked on it for a very long time, but it’s kinda hard to explain,” Y/n scratched her neck embarrassed.

“I have a question,” Todoroki raised his hand.

“Yes?”

“Do you still have a boyfriend?”

------------

Transitioning went over very well. After a few weeks, it was like Y/n had always been a part of 1-A. Sure it was a little weird for the rest of the class when a few random members of 1-B would join them at lunch is Y/n sat at their table, or when they walk into homeroom to see a group of them at her desk, but they couldn’t expect her to just abandon all of her friends from her old class, right?

Slowly the crowds wore down, and only three or four people would be at her desk until the warning bell. Pony was always there, smiling and sweet and talking about everything that crossed her mind. 

Testsutestu was always there as well, he held constant arm-wrestles with Y/n every morning, and he always waited for her after class so they could continue to train together. 

A few others would rotate through in the morning, but not once did Neito walk into classroom 1-A. He would almost, every morning he would almost walk in to say hello, but he never could. Just like he could never sit with her at lunch if she sat with them.  It was petty, but that was just how it had to be.

After a while, class 1A won over Y/n. She spent a lot of her time with them. Whether it be with Mina, who always wanted to brush through her hair, or Tokoyami (who she never stopped apologizing to). She hung out with Midoriya and Yaoyarozu, and soon they all understood exactly why class 1-B was spending their free time with her. 

Even later though, Todoroki always seemed to be the one to catch her when she was falling. He told her on her second day that he still wanted a chance with her, and if anything ever changed with her and Monoma to tell him.

He wasn’t a bad guy, Y/n was well-aware that Todoroki was smart, strong, dedicate, very hot, and a guy that most girls dream about. But she already had her prince (maybe-not-so-charming), and she couldn’t cheat on him.

But with every ‘almost’ Y/n grew closer and closer to Todoroki, and she drifted further and further away from him. It was only a matter of time, he knew. He could feel it.

----

“Monoma,” Y/n smiled at her boyfriend before sitting across from him in their booth at the cafeteria. It was after school and empty, the perfect time. 

“Y/n... I missed you,” he whispered, looking in her eye.

“Yeah,” she sighed, “I missed you too.”

“I’ve been wanting to see you- I’ve been meaning to ask-”

“Monoma, I’m so sorry,” tears had gathered in her eyes before she even had the chance to say what she was apologizing for.

“Sorry? I don’t-” he stopped talking when he understood. “You’re leaving me.”

“I’m so sorry love,” she sniffled, “I love you so much,” her tears became sobs as she looked down. Her hand reached out to grab the back of his. “I never meant fo this to-”

“Who was it?” His cold voice was leveled, and it almost hid his sadness with anger.

“I don’t think that ma-”

“Who took you from me damn it!” He flung his hand away from hers.

“Monoma, I-”

“FIrst that awful class steals you away from me, and now one of those students took your heart, and I need to know who to blame,” he’s yelling, but he knows it won’t fool Y/n. She always saw right through it, right through him. 

Y/n stood up from her seat to face Monoma. He had stood during his yelling, but now he was shaking. Whether from his anger or sadness, he didn’t know, but Y/n did.

She pulled him into a hug, and he collapsed against her. Tears soaked her shoulder and his full weight slumped against her. “It’s okay, love. It’ll be okay,”

All he could do was ask himself what he did wrong, where he messed up. He finally scored the love of his life, and now she was gone- slipping through his fingers- into the arms of another.

Her phone rang from its place on the table, pulling their hug apart.

“Yes?” She answered. “Yeah, I remembered. Don’t worry about it! Alright, I’ll be right there, see you soon,” she ended the call and slipped it into her bag. 

“I have to go,” she put her arm through her bag and stood up straight. “Will you be okay?” She walked right up to him, putting a hand on his cheek. 

He closed his eyes on instinct and leaned into her touch. She smiled softly at him, this would be the last time they saw each other like this. He opened his eyes and lifted her head up. Slowly, he leaned in, his eyes flickering up to hers once their lips are almost touching.

With a broken breath, she leaned in, kissing him harder than she ever has before. She traced her name into his lip with this kiss, and he poured all of his emotions into it, pulling her close with his left hand while his right tugged lightly at the base of her hair. Her lips felt a loss when they pulled away for air- their world had ended. 

“I’ll be just fine.”

[land-under-wave]

As I’ve said, I’ll post the draft of the Red/Green sort of Scott Pilgrim AU in its entirety, but while trying to clean it up, I realized that, well, some of the sections are so unpolished it’d read pretty disjointedly. For a more coherent reading experience, I’ve decided I’ll individually post each section that at least had its rough draft finished. 

This is the first part of the fic and serves more or less as the introduction. Please mind the content warning. I’m still very uncertain about putting more of this fic out, and the reason I’m even posting this draft is because, as I mentioned, I feel kind of like I created a contract by posting all those snippets, and doing this is the closest I can come to fulfilling the contract right now. 

The next part is Brock’s section. 

Content warning: some amount of creepy old man behavior which I did my best to mitigate but was somewhat unavoidable given the premise. More details (albeit with an ending spoiler) can be found here. Also, I think Green gets slightly close to panic attack territory near the end?

.

.

.

A year after Red finally comes down from Mt. Silver, Green gets his head out of his ass long enough to ask Red out on a date. 

Surprisingly, Red agrees. Even more surprisingly, the first date is actually a resounding success. Sure, Green panics for half an hour about what to wear, and it gets off to an incredibly awkward start — Red’s mother is hovering anxiously in a corner because he insisted that it be at his mother’s diner, the douchebag, so they spend twenty minutes in stilted conversation while Green makes attempts at small talk and Red gives monosyllabic answers — has he mentioned that Red is a total douchebag? But then Green loses his temper and starts shouting, which gets Red fired up at last, so they start bickering over training regimens, Green’s childhood dickishness, and that time Red vanished up a mountain for four years, and by the end of the meal, they’ve hashed out most of their issues. 

On impulse, he grabs Red’s hand on the way out, and Red lets him. His fingers curl around Green’s in response, and it sends a jolt of electricity right up to his spine.

This is . . . good. It’s new and unfamiliar and a little terrifying, and sometimes Green just wants to bury his head into a pillow and scream angrily to deal with the confused tornado raging in his chest, because what the hell are emotions, but it’s good.  

A month after they make it official, Green brings Red to a gym leader meeting. Red gets a couple of surprised looks when he walks in, but it fades quickly, and Misty waves him over to the usual corner where she, Brock, and Green sit. If anyone asks, Green is prepared to point out that Red’s still technically champion, but no one does. Everyone must like him enough that it doesn’t matter. 

They wait till after the meeting, when everyone’s milling about and talking to each other, in order to announce that they’re dating. That’s when all hell breaks loose.

“What? Green?” Misty shrieks, while Sabrina looks at him with silently judging disapproval. 

“Oh my,” Erika says delicately, bringing her hand up to cover her mouth.

“Red, no!” Brock wails.

Green is pretty sure he should be offended. These are his colleagues, after all. He’s been working with them for half a decade — when’s the last time Red even talked to any of these people? Why are they all on his side?

Surge snorts, arms folded. Just when Green thinks he might restore some sanity to the proceedings, he declares, “Think again, boy. You’re not tough enough to make the cut.” 

Green bristles immediately. He and Surge have always had a slightly contentious relationship, because Surge is all hard-nosed discipline and Green is — well, he can admit that he’s a cocky bastard. “And why do I need your approval to date Red anyways?” he sneers, with the full disdainful force of all his teenage attitude. The contempt is not hard to muster up. Nobody here is related to them, and even if they were, he and Red are both adults who can make their own decisions. 

As expected, Surge stiffens at the implicit taunt in his voice, but just as the tension is about to boil over into an argument, Erika steps in with a raised hand and a warning glare to silence him. “Surge,” she says, and that one word is all she needs to restore order. 

Before Green can feel grateful for their calm, sensible supervisor, she turns to him and resumes the thread of conversation. “We have a league,” Erika informs him, serene. “You may not date Red until you defeat all of us.”

Green’s jaw drops open. “Are you serious,” he says, and looks to Red, who just shrugs. 

Great. Big load of help he is. 

“I’m afraid not, my boy. And I’m afraid you’re no match for me,” Blaine says, before laughing at his own stupid pun.

“Why the hell are you so concerned about Red’s love life anyways? What are you, his possessive loser exes?” Green demands. 

He’s expecting a response like, “Don’t be ridiculous,” but instead, to his horror, Erika merely smiles. “What do you think?” she says.

Silence.

Green stares at his colleagues, the seven elite trainers who have been charged with safeguarding all of Kanto, and wonders if he’s losing his mind. Has his hearing gone? He doesn’t think he’s that old, but maybe it’s hereditary. God knows how many times Gramps has misheard his name.

He knows Misty had a crush on Red at one point, but all of them? How the hell did that happen? Red’s never exactly been Kid Casanova here — some days, Green can barely believe Red seduced him — and when did he even have the time for that? He’s spent most of the years since he’s met them alone on a mountain! And hold on a second, Blaine is at least four decades older than him! For that matter, how old is Surge? 

Green is about to have an aneurysm.

He holds his head in both hands as he struggles to wrap his mind around the concept. “Okay. So you’re saying all of you have dated Red, and now I need to defeat you to date him,” he says slowly, hoping that saying it out loud will make things sound more reasonable. It doesn’t. It just makes his head hurt even more. 

What’s worse, Erika doesn’t correct anything he said. She just smiles and nods. “That’s right,” she says, and as if that’s a cue, the others fall in line behind her in a perfect V formation, sliding into battle-ready stances with smiles just shading into predatory. All traces of friendliness have evaporated, turning them into consummate professionals. Even Brock has dropped the doofy attitude for something serious. Surge’s grin is a little too maniacal for comfort, exposing both gums and teeth, and combined with the glint in his eyes, it’s downright feral. 

Green takes a step back, almost involuntarily, and sees Surge’s smile widen in response. Out of spite, Green squares his shoulders and moves back in place, pretending he’s not as uneasy as he actually feels. He scans the seven faces before him, hoping to see a sign of their normal collegial acceptance, but their faces are as solid as stone.

He can’t say he really expected anything else from them. This pose is familiar and well-rehearsed, and they’re all beyond the point where they let the mask slip during official business. Still, Green was hoping that there would be some sign that things would be different for him. After all, this isn’t official business, and in any other situation, Green would be there too, flashing one of his trademark smirks while staring down whatever poor schmuck who Erika decided had earned their ire. But this time, it’s not some hapless criminal or an interfering bureaucrat. He’s the schmuck, and for once in his life, he’s feeling the part. 

Green knows he shouldn’t feel this rattled by a battle stance. As a fellow gym leader, it’s easy to notice all the work that went into constructing it, and the flash of eyes and tilt of head that Erika used as a signal is all too familiar. But it gnaws at his stomach anyways, and it’s not even because all his colleagues have turned against him at the drop of a hat. It’s the space. Or the lack of it. Because the spot where he would be standing has already been taken up. Misty and Brock closed the gap without so much as an exchanged look, and in doing so, they’ve erased his years as Viridian Gym Leader like it was nothing. 

He didn’t think it would be so easy to replace him. 

Green looks at the inch-wide gap between them and swallows, hoping he can swallow down the uncomfortable lump at the bottom of his chest along with it. He’s always tried to ignore it, but sometimes, he gets this sneaking suspicion that they haven’t fully accepted him as one of their own. They’re civil, of course, and sometimes even kind. But kind is different from warm, and that’s what he thinks they lack.

He can’t nail down exactly what it is that separates him from the rest — in terms of join date, Janine’s less than a year his senior, and he doesn’t think any of them except Surge would hold his old, immature attitude against him, since he was mostly grown out of his bratty stage by the time he took over Viridian. But none of that has banished the sinking feeling that he’s on the outside, just a little.

So he’s kept his head down like an animal exposing its belly, and every time the doubt rears its ugly head, he redoubles his efforts to earn his way in. He had a hard road from the start, with the stain of Giovanni’s legacy seeped into his gym’s very foundations, but over the years, he’s earned fantastic evaluations, the loyalty of a cohort of talented trainers, and an official commendation here and there. He’s even got a sickeningly gushy page in the Viridian guidebook that made Red laugh at him for twenty minutes straight after one of his challengers showed it to him. When you’re on a mountain with bad reception, those twenty minutes count for a lot.

Green carries all his accomplishments with him, close to his chest, but they don’t do much to dispel the doubts that hang like ghosts in the back of his head. And he thinks that if he stays quiet and still for too long, they might eat him away until he’s nothing.   

He sucks in a breath, but his lungs don’t feel like they’re absorbing air. He presses his hands against his thighs, but that doesn’t do anything to ease the trembling. He tries to count in his head. One. Two. 

“Wow,” says Red’s voice from behind him. “I didn’t know that all it took to defeat the great Green Oak was dramatic posing.”

The sound of that innocent tone sends Green whirling around on instinct. “Oh, shut up, like you can talk!” he shouts, and it comes out as easy as breathing, so easy that he doesn’t notice how much lighter he feels at first. “All it took to defeat you was realizing Mt. Silver would never return your love!” 

“The mountain and I have something special. You’ll never understand, Green,” Red says, very seriously. If it were anyone but Green, they might’ve believed he meant it, but you don’t grow up with someone and not know when they’re just yanking your chain. 

“You know, the only thing I got out of being your childhood friend is the ability to tell when you’re being a dick,” Green tells him sourly.

“Love you too,” Red croons, and okay, he’s definitely doing that on purpose. But if he’s doing it to be a distraction, it’s working. 

He brushes his hand against Red’s. “Thanks,” he says, low enough so that only Red can hear it. Red curls his fingers around the palm of his hand and looks him in the eye, unspoken question burning in his gaze. 

In response, Green draws a breath, takes one final glance at his erstwhile colleagues, and nods.

He can do this. 

[melacka]

A Blacklist Secret Santa!

Well hello there, @elizabethkween! A very merry Christmas from your Blacklist Secret Santa! Sending good wishes and holiday cheer to you and yours! (And also apologies for being a little late. My bad.)

So, I went looking through your blog and found some posts mentioning your love of AUs, so I have written you a Lizzington AU fic. I hope it meets with your approval!

Title: Chance

Summary: When Liz is stood up for a blind date she didn't even want to have, a passing stranger comes to her rescue.

You can find it here on AO3: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17154818

Or keep reading below...

Liz glanced at her watch furtively and sighed. She didn’t know how much longer she could wait it out. It was already getting to Desperate Loser levels on the pathetic scale, and she had been avoiding the waiter’s eye for the last 15 minutes. She couldn’t believe this was happening. She’d finally caved to the pressure of her colleague and agreed to this blind date. Meera had assured her that she’d known this guy for years and was absolutely convinced that they’d hit it off. She’d told Liz that he was cute, charming, funny. That he was a school teacher with no known criminal record, good credit rating, fantastic with kids, blah blah blah. It was just a pity that punctual couldn’t be added to that list. He was now nearly half an hour late. Liz had been through some pretty bad experiences in her recent romantic life, sure, but being publicly stood up by a blind date that she hadn’t even wanted to go on was a new low for her.

She accidentally caught the waiter’s eye and smiled confidently at him, groaning internally when he took this as an invitation to come over.

“Ma’am, are you expecting the rest of your party soon?” he said in a low, sympathetic tone that instantly enraged her. “It’s just that we’re rather busy and—”

“I’m so sorry I’m late!”

Liz looked up in shock at the man taking the seat opposite her. It definitely wasn’t her date. Liz had never met this Tom guy, but she’d seen pictures before and this man looked nothing like him. He smiled apologetically at her as the waiter made polite apologies and backed away.

“Traffic was murder and I believe I went to the wrong address,” he continued blithely. “I mean, what are the chances that there is a restaurant with almost the exact same name two streets over? Of all the luck!”

“Uh—” Liz said blankly.

“Just play along,” he said, leaning forward and dropping his voice to a whisper. “We can both leave in five minutes if you like. Let’s just make a decent showing of it for now, hmm?”

Liz made an effort to smooth her face into an expression of polite interest and leaned forward as well.

“It’s not that I don’t appreciate the theatrics and misdirection,” she whispered hurriedly, “and I am grateful for the intervention with the waiter, believe me. So, I hope you don’t think I’m being rude or anything, but who the hell are you?”

“I’m Raymond, it’s nice to meet you.”

“Nice to meet you?” Liz said incredulously. “Are you serious?”

“Well, I haven’t spent enough time with you yet to know if it will actually turn out nice, but I am an optimist by nature.”

“I don’t understand—”

“I passed by this restaurant approximately half an hour ago and happened to notice you sitting alone. And then when I walked by again just now, I saw you still alone and, if you will forgive me for saying so, looking quite miserable.”

“What?”

“Oh yes, quite miserable. I thought that I would come in and help you find your way through. Whoever was meant to be coming tonight probably wasn’t worth your time anyway.”

Liz glanced down at the table and bit her lip, deep in thought. She couldn’t decide if the man had been incredibly sweet or incredibly creepy by doing that. Who crashes someone else’s blind date, for god’s sake? On the other hand, he had turned up just in time to prevent her from having to slink away and never come back to this restaurant again. She quite liked this restaurant, she hadn’t wanted to follow through on that particular self-imposed ban.

“So,” the waiter said, having returned while Liz contemplated her life choices, “are we ready to order?”

“Just give us one moment, please,” Liz said, glancing up and meeting Raymond’s eyes. “I think we’d like to choose something from the wine list first.”

“Very good, ma’am,” the waiter said, producing one from behind his back and trying to hand it to her.

“Oh no, please give it to him,” she said airily, gesturing across the table. “I’m just going to have to trust you to make the right decision.” After the waiter had disappeared again, she held her hand out across the table and waited for him to take it. “I’m Elizabeth. It’s very nice to meet you.”

* * * * *

Liz had never had a more enjoyable date in her life. She couldn’t quite believe how her evening had turned out. She’d spent the whole day dreading this experience, with good reason, as it turned out. But now, she was sitting with a charming man, doing his best to be as unobtrusively entertaining as he could be. He was handsome, articulate, witty and well-travelled. Liz still felt the faintest stirrings of suspicion in her mind at just what had caused him to come to her rescue, but she waited until they were just finishing their dessert before asking.

“What really made you come in here tonight?”

He looked surprised. Granted, he had been in the middle of a story about the Galapagos Islands when she blurted her question out, but he regained his composure quickly.

“I told you, I saw you as I passed—”

“Yes, but why did you even notice me? Why come in?”

He laughed softly at that and gestured towards her dress. She looked down at herself, confused.

“The colour of your dress caught my eye as I passed the first time,” he explained with a chuckle. “Red looks marvellous on you, did you know?”

Liz gaped at him, a little stunned.

“And as I said before, when I saw you looking so absolutely devastated as I came back again, though clearly trying to hide it, I thought that I should take a chance.”

“Take a chance? With a complete stranger?”

“Isn’t that what you were doing tonight? You hadn’t met the gentleman you were supposed to have a date with before, had you? Weren’t you taking a chance?”

“Well, I—” she stammered. “That’s different.”

“Yes, but only by a matter of degrees. I saw you and was intrigued by you. A beautiful woman like yourself is bound to draw notice, but I happened to notice—”

“That I looked miserable, I remember.”

“No, that’s not what I was going to say. I noticed that you were still here. Still willing to take a chance, even in spite of the difficulty.”

“You realised all of that as you passed by the restaurant?” Liz scoffed incredulously. “Just how long were you lurking about out there? My date could have been in the bathroom for all you know.”

He laughed again and shook his head, looking at her in a way that she could only describe as warm.

“And that was a chance I was willing to take.”

* * * * *

After a brief verbal tussle over who was paying the bill, during which Liz tried to concede graciously when she realised it was an impossible fight, they stood on the street outside of the restaurant, looking expectantly at each other.

“So—” Liz said awkwardly. “Thanks for dinner.”

“It was my pleasure.”

Liz didn’t know how to proceed at this point. She’d never been in this position before and hoped it wasn’t going to become a regular feature of her dating life. She was also starting to feel the cold, having neglected to bring a coat with her tonight.

“Let me see if I can make this easier for you, Elizabeth,” he said gently. “Thank you for a lovely evening. It has been an honour to spend time with you.” And with that, he lifted her hand gently to his lips and pressed a featherlight kiss to her knuckles. “Good night.”

He was walking away before she could react. She stared after him in shock, watching until he turned a corner and was gone. Then she sprang into action, darting after him awkwardly in her heels.

“Raymond!” Liz called out, puffing a little in the cold and she walked quickly towards him. “Wait!”

“Elizabeth? What are you doing?” His eyes widened as she got closer and he realised that she was without a coat. He immediately pulled his coat off and moved to drape it around her shoulders. “It is freezing, Elizabeth. What can have possessed you—”

Liz passively submitted to his fussing and smiled in relief when he put his coat around her, pulling it closed and doing up the buttons as he continued to scold her.

“What can have been so urgent that you needed to rush out here in the middle of winter without a coat on?”

She didn’t reply, just continued to smile at him.

“Well?” he said impatiently. “If you’ve just come to smile at me, we could have done that in the restaurant.”

“I just wanted to thank you,” Liz said in a rush. “I was in a really bad way when you came in—”

“You’re welcome,” he said distractedly, rubbing his hands up and down her arms vigorously, still trying to warm her.

“No, I mean it!”

“So do I.”

“Raymond, please,” she said desperately. “Will you let me—”

“What?”

His hands rested gently on her arms and she decided to throw caution to the wind. Taking a step closer to him, she tilted her face up to his. She hesitated and met his eyes nervously. His eyes were wide in shock and she quirked an eyebrow in question before moving in the rest of the way. She pressed her lips gently to his for a moment before pulling back to check his reaction. He hadn’t moved at all and she felt her heart sink a little. Preparing to pull away again, he clenched his hands almost painfully on her arms to arrest her movement.

“Elizabeth,” he gasped. “What—”

Emboldened somewhat, she leaned forward again. Liz pressed her lips directly to his for a teasing moment, before parting them slightly and sucking on his bottom lip gently for a second. His lips parted and a pleased little noise slipped out. Liz felt a rush of satisfaction at the sound. She wanted to hear it again. As she pulled back again to look at him and saw that his eyes had drifted closed, she felt her heartbeat speed up a little. Seeing him looking almost vulnerable like that was a surprisingly pleasant sensation. This close to him she could smell his cologne clearly and the faintest trace of alcohol on his breath. She also noticed the fine pinstripe of his shirt and the high quality of his clothes. She hadn’t even thought to look when they were inside but now, she was fascinated by everything about this man. He let out a sigh and leaned his forehead against hers, eyes still closed. She closed her eyes too and pulled her body in closer to his, pressing against his torso slightly.

“Elizabeth?” he questioned, still not moving.

“I had a really nice time tonight, Raymond,” Liz whispered, opening her eyes and tilting her head back so she could watch his face. He opened his eyes and stared curiously at her. “And I wanted to thank you.”

“Is this how you thank all of your dates?” he murmured, nuzzling his nose against hers lightly.

“No, not really. This was more a declaration of intent.”

“Oh? And just what are your intentions with me?” he asked, a smile spreading across his face irresistibly.

“Oh, I don’t know,” Liz said carelessly. “Maybe dinner, or a movie, or coffee. I just really want to kiss you again.”

“Then kiss me again,” he said quickly, leaning in closer.

Liz just shook her head and stood back, gently removing his now very cold hands from her arms.

“Why not?” he said, sounding almost pleading.

“I don’t know if you’ve noticed, Raymond, but I haven’t had the best luck with men lately.”

“You’re going to compare me—” he began indignantly.

“And I fully intend to kiss you again someday,” she continued as if he hadn’t spoken. “But I’ve just had the best date of my life with you, and I wasn’t even able to enjoy it.” She traced her hand down the line of his tie thoughtfully. “The build-up was all wrong. I didn’t get to feel that expectation. The butterflies in my stomach at the thought of seeing you. The delicious anticipation of when you’ll kiss me. Or wondering if I’ll get up the courage to kiss you.”

“You got up the courage tonight,” he reminded her, sounding a little flustered.

“Yes,” Liz agreed solemnly. “And I look forward to the many hours I will spend thinking about it in the future. Hence my declaration of intent.”

“You still haven’t told me what you intend,” he reminded her.

“I intend to go on another date with you, Raymond, if you are willing.”

“Willing?”

“To take a chance on me.”

He grinned at her and she felt an answering grin on her face. She pulled out the lipstick from her purse and took hold of his hand confidently. Very slowly, she traced her phone number in big red digits on his hand.

“Call me,” she said when she was done. “And we can talk more about my intentions.”

He glanced down at his hand and then back up at her, quirking an eyebrow flirtatiously.

“Besides,” she said, starting to walk away, “you’ll be wanting your coat back someday.”

[hovercraft79]

Winter Song

Ch: 7 Merry Christmas Darling

Chapters: 7/31 Word Count: I,707 Fandom: The Worst Witch (TV 2017) Rating: Teen Warnings:  None Summary: Sometimes, it takes some ice to thaw a relationship that’s been frozen for decades. Pippa invites Hecate to spend a holiday evening at a village celebration.

Notes: Only one day late! I hope to get back on track over the weekend, but I’ve hit the perfect storm of IRL holiday commitments and prompts I didn’t get done ahead of time.

This story is part of the B-Sides: Stories from the world of Hecate’s Summer Playlist series. It is a prequel to Hecate’s Summer Playlist.

Merry Christmas Darling is a great old Carpenters song.

Thanks again to Sparky, who only mocked me a little for sending her the draft at 4 am this morning. 

Pippa hesitated, hand poised just over Hecate’s door. She was second-guessing herself again. Or third, or fourth or tenth-guessing herself. She already had her hand raised to vanish the pink hold-all when the door flew open. “Hecate!” She stumbled back, startled. “I was just about to knock!”

Hecate smiled, eyes darting to the bag and back up to Pippa’s face. “Do come in,” she said, wincing.

“Don’t mind if I do, darling.” She swept past Hecate, squeezing her arm just above the elbow. Pippa dropped her hold-all onto Hecate’s sofa before unzipping her powder pink quilted jacket.

“You’re looking different tonight,” Hecate said, wincing again. “I mean… Ordinary clothes suit you, ughhhh…” Hecate turned away, huffing out a gust of breath. “I’m sorry… I’m trying to say that you look very nice tonight.”

Pippa grinned broadly. “Thank you, Hiccup.” She wanted to say more but knew she shouldn’t push. Hiccup was trying - she’d offered a compliment on Pippa’s outfit.

“May I get you something to drink? Tea? Or a glass of wine?” Hecate asked, her voice rising.

Pippa could see that Hecate was getting flustered. “Not just yet, darling. In fact, I was wondering if you might be willing to forego our chess game tonight? I thought –”

“Yes… that would be fine, you’re busy – especially this time of year. I understand if you need to cancel; I’m only sorry you didn’t save yourself the trip by mirroring.” Hecate’s voice, though pitched higher than usual, was steady. She couldn’t quite hide the gloss on her eyes, though she tried.

“No, Hiccup. Darling. You don’t understand at all.” Pippa laced her fingers through Hecate’s and pulled her over to sit on the sofa. Holding Hecate’s eyes with her own, Pippa waited until she knew that Hecate was listening to her. “I don’t want to cancel our evening. Not at all.” She let that sink in until Hecate nodded. “I was just rather hoping you might consider a different activity.” She released Hecate’s hand and unzipped her hold-all, pulling out two pairs of ice skates, one pink, the other black. “I had such a good time when we went in to town the other night, so I looked up the goings-on in some of the other villages in the area. There’s a Holiday in the Park that starts tonight in Foxmoor Glen. There’s to be carolers, a tree-lighting and an ice-skating rink. What do you say, Hiccup? Would you like to go? It’s all right if you’d rather stay in and play chess. As long as we’re together, I’m pleased.”

Pippa could see Hecate mulling it over. She tried not to look too eager; after all, if Hecate didn’t actually want to go, she didn’t want to force her. Neither would have an enjoyable evening. Finally, Hecate nodded. “I think that would be quite pleasant.” She rolled her eyes and shook her head. “I’d love to,” she tried again.

“Brilliant! Let’s find you some proper skating clothes, then.”

****

“Are you ready?” Pippa asked, double-knotting the lace of her skate. Done, she stood, balancing on the blades and letting her ankles get used to the wobble. “I don’t remember the last time I went skating. Maybe that time we went into town our fifth year?” She watched as Hecate finished tying her own skates, admiring the way she looked in smart black t

“That’s the last time for me, I’m sure,” Hecate said, drily. She pushed herself off the bench, testing her balance on the blades. “Are you sure you don’t want me to charm the skates to keep us from falling?”

Pippa’s laugh rivaled the tinkling of the sleigh bells jingling on the horse-drawn carriage nearby. “That’s half the fun, Hiccup, the risk of bodily harm. C’mon… we’ll stay by the wall the first few laps.” In spite of her bold words, Pippa stepped gingerly onto the ice, sliding her skates in short, awkward strokes, grabbing the wall after only a few feet. She turned around, expecting to find Hecate still outside the rink. Instead, she nearly lost her skates when Hecate was right behind her, off the wall, sure and steady on the ice. “Of course, you remember how to skate, why wouldn’t you?” Shaking her head, Pippa pushed off from the wall. “Let’s go then…”

They took a rickety first lap around the rink, Hecate’s muscle memory returning much quicker than Pippa’s – much to Pippa’s chagrin. By the second lap they were both moving much more confidently, though perhaps not as quickly as other skaters. Pippa watched a cute couple skating past, hands clasped between them. She must have been looking a bit too wistfully, because when Pippa turned back to Hecate, she saw the look of hurt flickering across her face. “Hiccup?” She skated over to Hecate’s side, careful not to get too close. “What’s wrong?” She placed a hand on Hecate’s forearm, pulling her to a stop. “What is it?”

Hecate grinned ruefully and kept watching the couple make their way around the rink.  “It’s nothing, Pipsqueak, just… I want you to know that I understand if you’d rather be here with someone else; it would make a lovely place for a…date.”

“A what?” Pippa followed Hecate’s eyes, finally realizing that Hecate was focused on the now kissing couple. She couldn’t help it, she threw back her head and laughed, causing her skates to fly out from under her and landing her on her backside on the ice. Hecate was by her side at once.  “Oh, Hiccup…” she gasped, once she could speak again, “I promise you, darling, I am here with exactly the person I want to be here with.” She held out a hand and let Hecate help her back to her skates. Once up, Pippa pulled Hecate into motion, keeping their gloved fingers entwined for the next three laps, dropping them only when some racing children spun them around.

“Merlin’s rusty cauldron,” Hecate growled, grabbing Pippa’s arm to make sure the blonde stayed on her skates. She looked at Pippa, shocked to find Pippa staring back at her, a mischievous glint in her eyes.

Pippa steadied herself on her skates, lifting her chin in challenge.

Hecate raised one slender eyebrow, but shifted on her skates, digging one toe into the ice, preparing to push off. “Once around the rink, then first to the exit? Loser buys the snacks?”

“You’re on, Hardbroom,” Pippa said, pushing off “GO!” Both witches raced away, laughter trailing behind them.

****

“Not the worst job I’ve seen today,” the nurse said, smiling as she finished wrapping gauze around Pippa’s palm. “Don’t know what you were thinking, dearie.”

Pippa flexed her fingers, wincing as the gauze stuck and pulled against the raw, scraped ice burn covering her palm. “I was thinking I was going to win,” she chuckled. “Would have done, too, if that boy hadn’t cut me off.” Instead, Pippa found herself sitting in the first-aid booth, getting her hand patched up while Hecate was off somewhere with Pippa’s wallet, choosing snacks that would no doubt be healthy and sensible. She sighed. Too bad… she’d really hoped for some caramel popcorn.

“Here come’s yer friend now,” the nurse said, pointing through the crowd at Hecate.

Pippa watched Hecate weaving her way through the mass of people, hands full as she carried a cardboard tray with drinks and brightly colored boxes. “Feeling better?” Hecate set the tray down and handed Pippa a steaming cup of hot chocolate.

“Mmmm….” Pippa breathed in the heavenly scent of the chocolate. “I am now… I just knew you were going to bring back something healthy, like a spinach smoothie or kale chips.” She sipped at the hot chocolate, sending a quick, silent spell to cool it to just the right temperature. “Perfect.” She eyed the colorful packages. “And what other treats did you bring?”

Smirking, Hecate opened the boxes. “Cinnamon roasted pecans – still warm.” She held out the box, her smirk softening into a gentle smile as Pippa plucked out a few pecans and popped them into her mouth.

“Heavenly,” she said, munching. “What else?” The next box was filled with a rainbow of saltwater taffy pieces, wrapped in waxed paper. “Lovely, I’ll save that for later.” She eyed the last box.

“Oh, I’m sure you don’t want what’s in here,” Hecate teased. “Nothing you’d be interested in.”

Pippa batted her eyes furiously, “Please?” Hecate held out for a moment before opening the last box and revealing a tiny mountain of caramel popcorn. Pippa squealed and snatched the entire box off the tray. “Thank you, thank you, thank you!” She shoved an entire handful into her mouth, moaning most inappropriately at the sweet, salty crunch. Mouth full, she winked her appreciation at Hecate, winking again when she saw the way it made her blush.

****

It was late when Hecate finally stepped out of her small bathroom, warm and relaxed from the bath, wearing the soft, fluffy robe that she would deny to anyone that she even owned. Walking towards the bed, she spotted an unfamiliar object on her nightstand. Out of habit she looked up, reaching out with her magic to check not only the castle wards, but her personal wards as well. Everything seemed to be in order. Stepping closer she could see that it was a snow globe. Pippa.

Sitting on the edge of her bed, Hecate picked up the snow globe and gave it a twist. Glittering snowflakes swirled around a cluster of ice skaters on a tiny, tree-lined pond. She noticed a key for winding on the base and twisted it, smiling as the melody to “Have Yourself A Merry Little Christmas” began to play. As the music played, the skaters began to move around the pond, spinning and twirling as they circled. Hecate wound it a couple more turns before returning it to the nightstand. She crawled under her covers and rolled onto her side, magicking out the lights before resting her chin on her hand. There was just enough moonlight that she could still see the tiny skaters circling the pond. She fell asleep listening to the music and dreamed of hot chocolate, ice skating, and Pippa.  

[lesbianlametron]

Kagehina Day 4

((A VERY late day 4...I didn’t want to half-ass this one so I took extra time on it. I’ll try to have both day 5 & 6 later on today as it’s now Friday here. RIP my always behind self))

Title: As Long As You’ll Let Me

Prompt: Favorite AU/Kisses

Rating: T

Summary: It’s the last day of summer holidays and the couple is stuck inside while Kageyama finishes his summer homework. It doesn’t take long for Hinata to get antsy and started begging for attention. A bit annoyed with his boyfriend, Kageyama sends him out on an errand, promising kisses when returns. (This one get a bit angsty...so you’re warned)

             It was the last day of their summer break and there was a tense silence in the room. Okay, maybe not for Kageyama, but Hinata was tense. They were going back school after today and they were going to be busy. They should be spending it outside or on a date or something. The last day and Kageyama was sitting beside him on his bed, doing school work. No part of him was even touching Hinata. Just like a rock breaking the surface of a lake, Hinata promptly, and loudly, broke the silence. “Tobiooooo.” Hinata whined, stretching himself across his lap, scattering all of Kageyama’s papers.

             “Shoyo! I’m in the middle of something, dumbass!” Kageyama tried to push him off, but was completely unsuccessful. Hinata wrapped his arms around Kageyama’s hips, hanging on for dear life.

             “Tobio, pay attention to me. Come on, this our last day of freedom. The least you can do is spend right now with me.”

             “I told you to wait. If I don’t do my summer homework now, I’ll be screwed. I’m almost done.”

             “You said that twenty minutes ago, can’t you just finish it later?” Hinata pouted up at him, trying to make his lips as appealing as possible.

             “And I told you not come over until 4. You got here at 3, you loser.” Kageyama grumbled, but his resolve was slipping a little. Hinata was too cute sometimes, and Kageyama couldn’t resist him for much longer, and Hinata fucking knew it.

             “I got excited.”

             “So, unlike you.” Kageyama deadpanned. “Why don’t you go to the convenience store and get us ice cream or drinks?” He pulled his wallet out of pocket, with great difficultly since Hinata had not loosened his grip one bit. Out of spite, he dropped it on Hinata’s face. “I’ll be done by the time you get back, dumbass. If you keep distracting me, this will only take longer.”

             “Ow. You’re so mean.” Hinata was forced to let go to grab the wallet and he reluctantly sat up. “Kiss me before I go.”

             “You’re such a pain.” Kageyama leaned in but stopped short, “no. I’ll reward you after your errand, not before.”

             “Maybe I won’t go then.” Hinata crossed his arms and pouted like a child who hadn’t got their way. He tried to close the space between them, but Kageyama clapped his hand over Hinata’s lips, splaying his fingers over his face.

             “No kisses then.” Kageyama glared at him, not backing down one bit, although he did let go of his face. Smirking, he bent over to pick up his scattered papers.

             “Then I’ll just kiss your cheek instead.” Hinata leaned in, but his lips own met a waxy, paper material. He opened his eyes and saw he was kissing Kageyama’s blue history folder. It had gone up as a barrier in between them. Hinata didn’t have to see Kageyama’s face to know he was stifling his laughter with a giant smirk on his face.

             “I said no. Go little errand boy.”

             “I hate you.”

             “It’s even my treat, you baby.”

             “That’s not the point! I want my hello and goodbye kisses from you!”

             “You’re coming right back. Don’t be so dramatic. It’s exhausting.” Kageyama rolled his eyes, “besides you’re forgetting that I’m giving you kisses when you get back.”

             “Ugh…fine!” Hinata groaned loudly and got off the bed as slowly as possible, glaring at Kageyama the entire time.

             “Why aren’t you doing your homework last minute anyway? Don’t tell me you’re being a dumbass and not doing it.”

             “I did it last week with Yama and Tsukki. We invited you, remember?” Hinata flatten his hair against head, and put on his best uninterested Kageyama face. “‘I’ll do it later, we’ve got plenty of time.’ Remember you said that?”

             “I keep forgetting that Saltyshima lets you study with them now that you and Freckles are friends.”

             “You could call them by their real names, you know.”

             “Nah. Now go get the snacks.” Kageyama waved him off, reminding him that he did not forgot them.

             “Fine. You better give me a bunch of kisses when I come back.”

             Kageyama purposefully ignored him and was pretending to focus on his work. Hinata rolled his eyes and blew, very sarcastic, kisses at the top of Kageyama’s head. “Love you too, rude-y-yama”

             It only took Kageyama another 30 minutes to finish his homework. The convenience store was close by and Hinata had his bike so he should be back soon. Kageyama sent him a quick text to tell him to hurry up and then started playing a random game on his phone.

             He looked at his clock a bit later, 45 minutes since Hinata had left. Maybe there was just a long line or something.

             An hour had passed and Kageyama started to worry. He hurriedly dialed Hinata’s number, but the phone only rang once before it went to voice mail. Now he was really worried. Hinata wouldn’t have turned his phone off and he never ignored Kageyama phone calls. Even when they were in fight or annoyed at each other, Hinata always picked up the phone. In those instances, Hinata would tell him he was not talking to Kageyama and then hang up. On rare occasions, he absolutely couldn’t answer a call, he would at least send a text. This was bad. Kageyama felt in the pit of stomach and dread was growing inside him like a weed. Prickly and completely unwanted. He was about to get up to go search for Hinata when he ran into his mother in the doorway.

             Her face was pale and Kageyama’s stomach dropped. “Tobio, honey, I just got off the phone with Shoyo’s mother. He was on his way back here from the store. Someone ran a red light and hit him while he was crossing the street on his bike.”

             Kageyama dropped his phone and felt ice cold and burning hot at the same time. He’d been so mean to Hinata…what if that was the last time…? NO. I can’t think about that right now. “I-is he going to be all right?”

             “They don’t know yet. I’ll drive you to hospital, let’s go.” Kageyama nodded numbly and followed after her like a zombie. They were silent on the way the hospital, but Kageyama’s head was anything but quiet. This was all his fault. He was a bit frustrated with the way Hinata had been pestering him. He forced him to go to the store. He refused to kiss him.

Kageyama’s mother kept giving him worried glances, but didn’t say anything. She could tell Kageyama was still processing everything. She also knew that Hinata was Kageyama’s first friend that cared about him outside of his volleyball skills. Hinata meant the world to him and she was so happy for her son when the two of had started dating. Hinata seemed to bring out the best in her son. Her heart was breaking for him, but from the look on his face, he didn’t even register that she was next to him.

Kageyama’s fists were clenched so tensely and tightly in his lap that he was sure his nails were leaving half-moon indents in his palms. Every breath he took was shallow and shuddering. His world was collapsing in on him and there was nothing he could do about it. He had very few friends because of his attitude, but that never mattered to him. Hinata had been different. He was never just his friend. Hinata took all of his anger, frustration, insults and awkward praises and gave them right back to him. Never did Hinata accept other people’s opinions of him. He made his own. He accepted all of Kageyama’s personality and loved him. Kageyama wasn’t sure he was ever going to find that again if something happened to Hinata.

NO. Stop that! I can’t think like that. Hinata would stay positive. He’s so damn good at that.

Kageyama barely registered it when the pulled up to the hospital. He relied on his muscle memory and followed his mother in like he was on autopilot. He had completely shut down. His mother went over to talk with Mrs. Hinata, but he didn’t try to listen in. Yes, he did want to know Hinata’s state, but he was too numb. He got Hinata into this, he didn’t deserve to know.

“Tobio?” Hinata’s mom sat down in the chair next to him. “I’m so glad you’re here. He’ll need you when he wakes up. I know you’re blaming yourself right now, but it’s not your fault. He won’t see it that way either. I promise.”

Hinata’s mother was just like him, a bright ray of sunshine and positivity. Kageyama hadn’t even thought about what Hinata would say to him. What if he did blame Kageyama for the accident? What if he cast Kageyama out of his life? Kageyama loved being a setter so much more when he was setting for Hinata. He couldn’t bare it if they were at odds. He didn’t want to break up, far from it. Deep down, he was desperate and needy for Hinata. Until the day Hinata decided to part ways, Kageyama would cling to his side. Everyone would say the opposite, that Hinata was the clingy one. That without Kageyama, Hinata wouldn’t that great of a volleyball player, but it was really the other way around. Kageyama didn’t discount his talent as a setter, but he wouldn’t have come this far without Hinata.

“The doctors just spoke with us before you got here. Shoyo is going to be fine. He’s just in surgery right now. It’s minor, just to fix a fracture in his leg. Everything else is pretty minor as well, just cuts in scrapes, but he does have a pretty severe concussion. Our Shoyo got lucky.” She tried to be encouraging and gave a little smile. She, like his mother, was very supportive of their relationship. She had treated Kageyama like family since day one. She knew Hinata’s feelings probably before Hinata even did. Mrs. Hinata swallowed thickly before continuing. This was the start of the bad news.  

“He’ll probably miss the first week of school…and be out of volleyball for a while.” It was then that Mrs. Hinata’s voice grew weaker and her tone was dripping with despair.

He was alive, but they both knew volleyball was Hinata’s world. No one loved volleyball as much as Hinata. Except for maybe Kageyama, but he only played to such extremes when practicing with Hinata. Everything was always better when they were together. No understood him the way Hinata did and he wouldn’t want them to. Karasuno were just coming off championship, all eyes were going to be on them this year. They couldn’t afford to lose their best decoy. Tanaka would kill him when he found out. He was still adjusting the captain position as it is.

Kageyama got up and stalked off down a random hallway. He needed to be alone for a bit. Everything was messed up. Kageyama walked until he hit a dead end, staring down a shitty coffee machine and sparse vending machine. A frustrated, heartbroken scream ripped its way out of Kageyama’s throat. He slammed his fist in the wall, not hard enough to do damage to it, but to at least feel it. Clenching his teeth together, he tried to stop the tears that threatened to spill over, but the pain demanded to be felt. Kageyama slid down against the wall and curled in on himself, trying to take up as little space as possible. Once the tears and sobs started, they were impossible to stop. It was like opening flood gates or a raging storm, it would pour until it was over.

Shoyo…FUCK! What do I even say to you? I will never let you fucking leave again without a kiss. How could I be so stupid? I can’t be a good senpai to the new first years without you. I’ll blow up at everyone. You’ll probably miss out on half the season because of me. What if your leg doesn’t heal right and you can’t jump in the same way? …what if you don’t want anything to do with me after this? I’m so selfish, that would be the worst thing in all of that. I know…I know without you I’m just a setter with a shitty attitude. I thought maybe we’d go to university together or something.

The longer Kageyama stewed in his state of despair, the more irrational his thoughts became. He feared more than anything about regressing to the person he used to be in middle school. The one who’s whole team abandoned. He owed everything to Karasuno. To Hinata.

             “Tobio. Oh, there you are. I’ve been looking all over for you.”

             Kageyama looked up at the sound of his mother’s voice. The tears had long since dried on his face, but his eyes were still puffy and red. “I needed to be alone.” Kageyama’s voice came out raspy and barely more than a whisper.

             “I know. He’s okay, honey. He’s asking for you.”

             Kageyama nodded and slowly stood up, following after his mother. His stride was slow and jumpy, as if he was ready to run the minute Hinata rejected him. He froze in the door way the moment his eyes landed on Hinata. His leg was wrapped in a white cast that extended from his mid-thigh to cover his whole foot. Only his toes were visible. His arms were covered in bruises and random stark white bandages, stained slightly with bright red blood. Hinata looked a bit better than he anticipated, but not by much. Kageyama barely registered his mother giving his arm a reassuring squeeze before leaving them alone.

             Hinata smiled at him the minute their eyes connected. It made Kageyama’s heart ache in his chest. He didn’t deserve to be looked at like that. “Tobio~ why are you standing all the way over there? Don’t I deserve my reward kisses? I didn’t finish the errand, but—”

             “Don’t fuck with me. Aren’t you mad at me? This is my fault!” Kageyama didn’t want to yell at Hinata. It was the last thing his beautiful, sunny boyfriend deserved, but he couldn’t help it. There was just no way Hinata wouldn’t hate him.

             Hinata tilted his head in the way he always did when he was confused. The way that Kageyama found so endearing. “What? It’s not like you ran me over with a car. I came over before I was supposed to. I was bothering you. Maybe you could have been nicer,” he paused to stick his tongue out at Kageyama, “but I’m not mad.”

             “But you wouldn’t have gone to the store if I hadn’t made you!” Kageyama ran his fingers through his hair, completely exasperated at Hinata’s responses. “You broke your leg, dumbass. Your LEG! The main part of your volleyball game. You’ll be out of volleyball for weeks!”

             Hinata deflated and nodded sullenly. “Ugh. Don’t remind me! But, I’ll be able to make a full recovery with physical therapy.” Hinata pouted at him, “I’m injured, Tobi, please come here.” He patted the bed, beckoning him over with his eyes.

             Kageyama sighed and finally gave in and crept over to the bed. He sat perched on the edge, still not fully relaxed or convinced that he should be forgiven so easily. “Sho. I’m so sorry.” Kageyama mumbled, still too afraid to face his boyfriend.

             “Tobi, it’s not your fault. It’s not my fault. It’s the asshole, who ran a red light’s fault.” Hinata reached over and took Kageyama’s hand. He laced their fingers together and pressed Kageyama’s up to his lips kissing them gently. “I was so scared and do you know what I thought before I passed out?” He waited and Kageyama slowly shook his head. “How melted your ice cream would be when I got it back to you.”

             “You did not.”

             “I did. You were working so hard on your summer homework despite me distracting you. I just wanted your attention. I always want your attention, Tobio.” Hinata yanked a bit on Kageyama’s arm, trying to get him to turn around. “Now will you look at me? You had to have finished your homework by now.”

             Kageyama let out a breath through his nose that was halfway between a sigh of relief and a laugh. Finally, he turned around and looked Hinata in the eye. “I love you, dumbass. I don’t know why you’re not mad at me, but I’ll take it.”

             “I love you. That’s why.”

             “You do.” Kageyama leaned in and gave Hinata a slow, gentle kiss.

             “More. I deserve so much more than that.”

             “So needy.” Kageyama teased but leaned in again for a deeper, slightly desperate kiss. Hinata placed a hand on Kageyama’s face and stroked his cheek as they kissed. It was perfect and Kageyama didn’t like it at all. He loved it. I’ll never be able to give you enough kisses for what you deserve, but I can try. I’ll kiss your dumb, soft lips as long as you’ll let me.

             Hinata pulled away first and stared at Kageyama, still cupping his face. “You better come over every day after school the days that I’m absent.”

             “Fine.”

             “Will you be the first to sign my cast?” Hinata nodded to the brand-new pack of permanent markers on the bedside table. “Mom bought them.”

             Kageyama smiled and pulled the blue marker out of the pack. It was Hinata’s favorite color and he knew Hinata would appreciate it. It was sappy and stupid, but Kageyama knew Hinata’s favorite color was blue because of his eyes. It was stupid and cheesy, but then again Kageyama’s favorite color was orange because of Hinata’s hair. He didn’t even hesitate before he wrote it. As long as I’m here you’re invincible…dumbass. It made Hinata laugh a little and Kageyama couldn’t help but smile as he signed his name underneath.

             “My mom will be upset that you wrote a swear on my cast.”

             “I had to. It’s kind of our thing now.”

             Hinata rolled his eyes, but smiled anyway. “It is.”

((Yes, Hinata makes a fully recovery to volleyball in time for their second year Spring playoffs :P))

[ezxbitch-blog]

“One If I could, I would nail these hands to the edges of stars, I would sacrifice this body to the sky Hoping it resurrected someone spiteful enough to not care about you any more.Two Staple me to a cross, Pierce my side with a broken promise And I will bleed all the crippled reasons why you deserve one more chance.Three Loving you is the last thing that I felt really good at.Four You wanna know how I got these scars? See I ripped every last piece of you out of my smile.Five I whispered you stardust,Six I spoke you into sunflowers,Seven I dipped my hands into forever, I touched you infinity, Treated you as if you were the last molecule of oxygen inside of a gas chamber, I was good to you.Seven I dipped my hands into forever, I touched you infinity, Treated you as if you were the last molecule of oxygen inside of a gas chamber, I was good to you.Eight You wanna know how I got these scars? See I swallowed my pride, And then it clawed its way out of my mouth.Nine I realised that I was never really your boyfriend, I was just your fucking height man.Ten I hope your next boyfriend gets smallpox. Ten Yes I said smallpox. Ten I hate you, Ten But I still miss you, Ten And a part of me I still loves you. Ten It’s hard for me to count when I get emotional. Ten I heard that over ninety percent of human interaction is non-verbal so … Ten If I could, I would tie your arms to a daydream And then auction you off to my fondest memories. To the random dude who started dating my ex girlfriend two days after we broke up – yes, I saw that shit on Facebook. Now when I realised that you were in a relationship with the girl that I thought I would someday spend the rest of my life with, I walked outside, I said to myself “there is no way Ashton Kutcher is gonna catch me off guard”. I waited 45 minutes, and then I realised that there hasn’t been a new episode of Punk’d in damn near four years. So I guess I’m the only practical joke in this entire situation. One The first time I saw you and her in a picture I wanted to take my entire arm, Shove it inside of the computer And snatch the happiness right off of your face. Two If I ever see you in the street I’m probably gonna punch you in the throat. Three I apologise in advance. And I know- I know that it makes no sense to have this much anger towards a man that I’ve never actually met face-to-face, But my definition of love is being robbed in an alley Eight times in a row and hoping there is Something about today that makes all of this different. There is nothing logical about cutting off the most important parts of yourself and then putting them inside of hands that shake, that tremble, that crack like a Haitian sidewalk. Four There is nothing rational about love. Your love stutters when it gets nervous, Your love trips over its own shoelaces. Love is clumsy, And my heart refuses to wear a helmet. Five Cupid is fucking irresponsible And I’m tired of him using me for target practice. Six I was told that time would heal all wounds, But what exactly do you do on days When it feels like the hands on your clock have arthritis? Seven She always wore her heart on her sleeve, So tell me, then why the hell do you look so familiar? Eight I think I’ve seen you somewhere in her smile. Like I’ve heard your voice in her laughter, Like I’ve smelled your cologne on her thighs, I bet if we dusted her heart for fingerprints we would only find yours. Nine I have this envelope, It’s full of all the butterflies I felt The first time she relaxed the Velcro on Her lips and smiled in my direction, I think most of them are still alive. I guess these belong to you too.” 2. When Love Arrives by Sarah Kay and Phil Kaye When Love Arrives is “a poem about the expectations and realities of love”. It gives emphasis on how even though the real version of love is way different than the things on your head and imagination, the best thing to do is to just welcome love when it arrives and let it leave when it must. Best line: “Maybe Love stays. Maybe Love can’t. Maybe Love shouldn’t.” “I knew exactly what Love looked like in 7th grade Even though I hadn’t met Love yet, if Love had wandered into my home room I would have recognized him at first glance – Love wore a hemp necklace. I would have recognized her at first glance – Love wore a tight French braid. Love played acoustic guitar, and knew all my favorite Beatles’ songs. Love wasn’t afraid to ride the bus with me. And I knew I just must be searching the wrong class room, just must be checking the wrong hallway. She was there, I was sure of it. If only I could find him.???? But when Love finally showed up – she had a bull cut! He wore the same clothes everyday for a week. >3< Love hated the bus. Love didn’t know anything about the Beatles. Instead, every time I tried to kiss Love, our teeth got in the way!!! Love became the reason I lied to my parents. I’m going to Ben’s house. Love had terrible rhythm on the dance floor but made sure we never miss a slow song. Love waited by the phone because she knew if her father picked up that’d be “Hello”… “Hh..” “Hello?” “Hh…” “I guess I’d hang up.” And Love grew. Stretched like a trampoline. Love changed. Love disappeared, slowly, like baby teeth. Loosing parts of me I thought I needed. Love vanished. Like an amateur magician everyone could see the trapdoor but me. Like a flat tire – there were other places I had planned on going. But my plan didn’t matter. Love stayed away for years. And when Love finally reappeared, I barely recognized him. Love smells different now, had darker eyes. A broader back, Love came with freckles that I didn’t recognize. New birth mark – a softer voice. Now there were new sleeping patterns. New favorite books. Love had songs that reminded him of someone else. Songs Love didn’t like to listen to, so did I. But we found a park bench that fit us perfectly. We found jokes that make us laugh. And now Love makes me fresh homemade chocolate chip cookies. (But Love will probably finish most of them for a midnight snack.)???? Love looks great in lingerie but still likes to wear her retainer. Love is a terrible driver, but a great navigator. Love knows where she’s going, it just might take her two hours longer than she planned. :< Love is messier now. Love is simple. Love uses the word boobs in front of my parents! Love chews too loud. Love leaves the cap off the toothpaste. Love uses a smiley face in her text messages. And turns out… Love shits. :] But Love also cries; And Love will tell you “You are beautiful”, and mean it. Over and over again. “You are beautiful.” When you first wake up, “You are beautiful.” When you’ve just been crying, “You are beautiful.” When you don’t wanna hear it, “You are beautiful.” When you don’t believe it, “You are beautiful.” When nobody else will tell you, “You are beautiful.” Love still thinks, “You are beautiful.” But Love is not perfect and will sometimes forget. When you need to hear it most, “You are beautiful.” Do not forget this. Love is not who you were expecting. Love is not what you can predict. Maybe Love is in New York City already asleep. You are in California, Australia, wide awake. Maybe Love is always in the wrong time-zone. Maybe Love is not ready for you. Maybe you are not ready for Love. Maybe Love just isn’t the marrying type. Maybe the next time you see Love is 20 years after the divorce. Love looks older now but just as beautiful as you remember. Maybe Love is only there for a month. Maybe Love is there for every firework. Every birthday party. Every hospital visit. Maybe Love stays. Maybe Love can’t. Maybe Love shouldn’t. Love arrives exactly when Love is supposed to and Love leaves exactly when Love must. When Love arrives, say, “Welcome. Make yourself comfortable.” If Love leaves, ask her to leave the door open behind her. Turn off the music. Listen to the quiet. Whisper, “Thank you for stopping by.” 1. Love Poem by Mary Fons Love Poem is for everyone who loved people who do not love them back, for those who are alone but wish they have someone right by their sides and for those who are in pain because of love. Best line: “I’m sorry I couldn’t love you. you deserve love. I’m sorry I couldn’t give something to you, you deserve to be given to. I’m sorry that for every person that loves somebody, another person just doesn’t want to.” “this poem is for the pillow clutchers, for those looking into the imaginary eyes of the person who fills their mind with sugarplum smiles, for those who have a cannon of dreams ready and waiting to blossom, for the men and the women who want to be understood in that way that only someone who kisses you can understand you, this poem is for you. this poem is not for the desperate. the pathetic. the lame. the loser. not for the one who hasn’t gotten laid in awhile. not for the one who says they’re “choosing not to date” for awhile. there is no such thing. this poem is for the people who cannot bring themselves to admit that they would give their right leg for any length of time with the person on their mind. forgive me. I am not a brave woman. I do not know what lurks in the hearts of humans and I don’t really want to know. if what’s there mirrors memories I show in my face on bad days it holds kisses that are long gone/people who have disappeared. and passions that have faded into the ether of the past. nothing lasts. that is the one lesson this coward can say she is able to teach. this poem is for all those who wish to say “I’m sorry”. I’m sorry I couldn’t love you. you deserve love. I’m sorry I couldn’t give something to you. you deserve to be given to. I’m sorry that for every person that loves somebody, another person just doesn’t want to, and sometimes we’re the lucky ones, right? we get to feel sweet truth in the night. the bodies we reach out to are miraculously there/but I know the despair that comes when they are not. I know the long nights and the doubt and the fear and that crawling back to a womb that just isn’t there. I know intensity’s address and the letdown that rents there. I’m sorry for it, it takes years off your life and it cannot be avoided. and some times these little words are crutches for the crush that we feel. so this poem is a pathetic vehicle for me to tell you, each one of you, that I love you in so many ways, in the same ways that stay up nights and days dreaming up the perfect way to be there for someone, meals you would cook for them, poems you would write for them and the things you plan to say when they say no. well I love you. and you will never know how in the slight of a magician’s hand we could’ve been lovers and grandly in love, could’ve changed the whole game, written words on the horizon, changed the compromise. but you will know something else instead. bitter as bitter ever gets. more bitter than a rotten peach pit. more bitter than a child’s most terrifying nightmare at night. you will know that I don’t reflect what I see in your eyes. we will share some banal recognition, some cordial understanding but have I mentioned that I love you for not lying? so many people lying all the time. I hate them. so I love you and you will still go home alone and that is very hard to do. for all the humans with love for those who aren’t their lovers, I love you. and so the poem ends because we know that it will, but before it slips away like everything else. I will attempt the only words I can think of that are a fraction as good as a kiss: when you reach out at night and find not someone but the cold grey light of day that wakes you up like a slap, like a curse, like an insult, I love you. when you stay at home thinking of those who are long gone or those who are getting kisses from someone that is not you, I love you. for those who want what they probably need and whose bodies are starving not for food, for me and for you and for all the people who never knew or understood what you would do for them, I love you. I love you. I love you.” Which one did you like most? Tell us in the comments. SHARE THIS ARTICLE YZA TOLENTINO Yza Tolentino is 50% yuppie and 50% yuccie. After marketing fashion brands from 9 to 6, she finds time to do her DIY projects, attend art-related events, go to local indie gigs, photograph pets & write anything and everything under the sun. Catch her at @yzatolentino on Instagram or visit her blog at doityza.com. 4 LIKES 0 COMMENTS PRINT < Pinay Lawyer Finishes At Top Of Her Class in UK... Chairlift in Manila Caroline Polachek Patrick Wimberly> Chairlift in Manila: The Show, The Synths, and 5... You Might Also Like Have a place in Quezon City? Earn money by hosting holidaymakers Have a place in Quezon City? 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