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genshinluvr · 1 year

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Beyond the Stars

Pairings: Various Genshin Men x Isekai'd!Reader x Various HSR Men [a Genshin Impact x Honkai Star Rail crossover]

Summary: You were having a relaxing day at Yaoguang Shoal all alone, decompressing from the grueling week that is finals week at the Akademiya. Just when you thought you'll be able to relax and unwind, eight outlanders decided to ruin that all because they were searching for you.

Note: No tags for the Honkai Star Rail men since I don't have any space to put the tags anyway 🥲 To be really honest, I didn't think I would make a crossover between Genshin and HSR, but here I am! I know the HSR men are a tad bit out of character, but it's mainly because I'm not as familiar with them as I am with the Genshin men. So, hopefully, the more I play HSR, the more I'll get a perfect grasp of their personalities. Of course, not all of the HSR male characters are in it; only about eight of them are in this crossover fic. I don't post anywhere else but on Tumblr (Genshinluvr) and on AO3 (Aaliah_exo).

Warnings: Bad portrayal of HSR men's personalities because I am not as familiar with the characters as I am with the Genshin men [hopefully it'll improve in the future]

Word Count: 8.5k

You’re sitting on a beach chair off the coast of Yaoguang Shoal, sitting under the shade while reading a book Al Haitham let you borrow. This is the first time you’re in Teyvat alone without your boyfriends accompanying you. You made sure to stay at least five feet from the Serenitea Pot in case anything happened. While reading the book Al Haitham has lent you, you hear someone approaching where you’re sitting.

“Gumdrops? Is that you?” An unfamiliar voice breaks the silence.

You look up from your book and at the small group of unfamiliar men approaching you. They all wear clothes and armor you have never seen before. You have explored many regions in Teyvat with your boyfriends. Yet, you never come across anyone wearing something like that. You blink and look around, searching to see if this strange man is talking to someone else. But alas, it’s just you and those men on the beach of Yaoguang Shoal. You close your book (technically, the book belongs to Al Haitham) and place it in front of you on the beach chair.

“I’m sorry, I think you’ve mistaken me for someone else,” you say, adjusting your sun hat and pushing your sunglasses up on the bridge of your nose.

The black-haired man looks at you with shock. “Do you not remember us?” He whispers.

You press your lips into a thin line and shake your head. “I’ve never met any of you before. How could I remember someone I never met?” You ask, taking your sunglasses and sun hat off.

The silver-haired man runs his hands through his hair and lets out a sharp breath. “Yeah, it seems like they don’t remember us at all. This is a problem,” he mutters, propping his hands on his hips.

The temperature suddenly drops, making you shiver. The blond man in armor looks away and sighs, shaking his head while chewing on the inside of his cheek. You have never seen these men before, and quite frankly, they look like outlanders themselves. Handsome outlanders, but that doesn’t matter right now! What matters is they, supposedly, know who you are, and yet you have no recollection of who these men are.

The man with glasses exhales sharply through his nostrils, pushing his glasses up. “This is worse than we thought. We traveled through many universes to search for them, only to find them, and they have no recollection of who we are.”

Huh. So you’re correct. They’re not from Teyvat. They’re outlanders like Lumine, Aether, and yourself.

The blond man walks toward you, stopping in front of your beach bench. He stares at you with his icy-blue eyes. Even though it’s nice and warm at Yaoguang Shoal, the look he’s giving you sends chills down your spine, making goosebumps appear on your body and the hairs on your arm stand up.

“Are you messing with us? You’re joking, right?” The armored blond man demands, crossing his arms over his chest.

Dear Archons, this man looks like he’s getting ready to go into battle. He’s wearing an armored suit. It makes him almost as intimidating as the man with long dark hair and red eyes. With the way he’s looking at you, you’re surprised you’re still alive. If looks can kill…. The man with long blond hair looks at the man with red eyes and nudges him.

“You’re going to scare them off if you continue to look at them like that,” he whispers.

The man with long, dark hair and red eyes huffs and looks away. You look at the armored blond man before you and give him a wary smile while he continues to stare you down, waiting for you to reply to his question.

You clear your throat and scratch the back of your neck. “I’m not joking. If I knew who all of you were, I wouldn’t be acting like how I am right now, would I?”

“They have a point.” The man with long silver hair says, brushing his fringe away from his eyes.

The man with long, dark hair lets out another huff of breath like a petulant child. You tilt your head to the side and give the other men a questioning look. They all shrug their shoulders in response while the man continues not to make eye contact with you. Which, you’re kind of glad because the way he was looking at you was giving you the heebie-jeebies.

“Do you have something to say, sir?” You ask, raising your eyebrows at the moody dark-haired man.

His red eyes land on you, making you visibly flinch when the two of you make eye contact. He narrows his eyes at you and slowly makes his way in your direction. The way he is walking to you reminds you of a predator stalking toward its prey, ready to strike at any moment. You would run, but judging by his and the other’s appearance, they’re most likely faster than you are. You can’t outrun them even if the Serenitea pot is close by.

“You running away is the most careless thing you could do, [Y/N]. We finally found you after searching for you, and here you are, relaxing on the beach in another universe, pretending you don’t know us?!” The long dark-haired man demands.

You do a double take and look at him with wide eyes, dumbstruck. “How do you know my name when I don’t know any of you!?” You demand, getting up from the bench and backing away from them.

The brown-haired man sighs and pinches the bridge of his nose. “Great, you scared them, Blade.”

The man with short silver hair puts his hands in front of him as if he’s trying to console you. “Please don’t freak out! We’re not here to hurt you. We promise! We’ve been searching for you for so long, ever since you fled the Astral Express after your argument with Blade,” said the silver-haired man.

You shake your head, taking another step back. “I don’t know who you people are, nor do I know what the Astral Express is. Please, leave me alone,” you plead.

Before any man could say anything, an arrow flew past the armored blond man’s head. Everyone looks in the direction where the arrow had come from, only to see twenty-five men approaching where you’re standing. A massive wave of relief washes over you. Childe glares at the eight men before you, drawing another arrow.

“I would back away if I were you. Unless you want to be a target practice of mine,” Childe says nonchalantly.

Zhongli runs over to where you stand and wraps his arms around you, standing between you and the strange men. “Are you alright, dearest? You’re not hurt, are you?” Zhongli asks, cupping your face in his hands while examining you from head to toe for any injury.

You shake your head. “I’m okay, Zhongli. I’m just glad you’re all here,” you breathed, wrapping your arms around Zhongli’s waist.

Zhongli wraps his arms around your shoulder and walks you over to where the other twenty-four men are standing. Every man has their weapons drawn out. Once you and Zhongli are with the others, Pantalone and Baizhu stand in front of you, glaring at the eight outlanders.

“We’re not going to harm them. Relax. We’re only here to take them back to the Astral Express with us.” says the black-haired man.

“Take them back? They have never been to the Astral Express before.” Xiao glowers, tightening his grip on his polearm.

Pierro chuckles darkly and shakes his head. “What makes you think we’ll let you take [Y/N] back to the Astral Express? Like the Yaksha said, they’ve never been to the Astral Express, and last time I checked, they’re not from your world.”

The tension between the men continues to rise, causing you to shrink in Zhongli’s arms. Sure, you may have the “power” to stop this… tension between the men, but you don’t think the eight outlanders would go down without a fight. The blond in armor looks fired up; his weapon is drawn out. Speaking of his weapon, that is the strangest weapon you’ve ever seen.

You point at the man. “His weapon looks like a cello case,” you whisper to Zhongli, looking up at the former Geo Archon.

Zhongli cracks a smile and pulls you to his chest, kissing the top of your head. “Indeed, it does.”

Baizhu clears his throat and gives the eight strange men a smile. “How about we talk about this back at the abode? I have a feeling a fight isn’t going to settle this down until one of us gets to keep [Y/N],” Baizhu says, pushing his glasses up the bridge of his nose.

You roll your eyes and tilt your head back against Zhongli’s chest. “Can we not treat me like I’m an object? If any of you view me as an object or anything that isn’t human, I will not hesitate to whack any of you,” you threaten.

“Yeah! Why not have a conversation about this? Quite frankly, I’m tired of needless battles,” Venti sighs dramatically, draping his arms around your shoulders and smacking Zhongli away from you.

Zhongli rolls his eyes and unwraps his arms around you, standing beside you, while the Anemo Archon keeps his arms around your shoulders. The eight men look at each other before huddling in a circle, whispering to one another. You and your twenty-five boyfriends look at each other from the corner of your eyes, unsure of what to say.

The man with long, silver hair looks at your group and nods. “We accept your offer. And I agree with the short one standing beside [Y/N]. There’s no need for needless battles over [Y/N]... even though they belong to us, but let’s have a civil conversation about this,” he says, crossing his arms over his chest.

You sneer and look away, steam practically coming out from your ears. “Don’t act like I can’t hear any of you! Maybe this is one of the reasons why the other me ran away from all of you and the Astral Express.” You grumble, grabbing onto the nearest person and dragging them to the Serenitea pot. You and Thoma disappear into the Serenitea pot, making the eight men visibly do a double-take.

“Before entering the Serenitea pot, please make sure not to touch things you don’t know of unless you want to lose a finger,” Aether says nonchalantly, walking toward the floating teapot.

Diluc interjects, “And please do not lay a hand on [Y/N] or get close within five feet of them. It’s not like we don’t want you to— well, it is, but [Y/N]’s not comfortable with strangers getting near them.” Diluc crosses his arms over his chest.

The indigo-haired man makes a face and crosses his arms over his chest. “We’re not strangers to them! They know us!” He huffs, glaring at the redhead tycoon.

Dainsleif rolls his eyes and walks to the Serenitea pot. “Let’s go to the Serenitea pot and continue the conversation there. Time is being wasted,” Dainsleif states.

Everyone soon enters the Serenitea pot, keeping their distance from each other. The eight men are between the twenty-four men. Twelve men are standing in front of the eight outlanders, and the other twelve men are standing behind them. Standing at the entrance of the estate is you and Thoma, distracted by the conversation and not noticing the group walking up to where you and Thoma are standing.

“If they’re hungry, I can make something for them to eat! But, uh, to be honest, I think they’re more focused on bringing you back to this ‘Astral Express’ than their hunger,” Thoma shrugs his shoulders while rubbing the back of his neck.

“Well, whatever it is, I still don’t know who they are. There’s no sense of familiarity when I see them.” You sigh.

“Which is why we need to have a chat with them about their relationship with you. Well, that’s if there are any connections and relationships between you and the visitors,” Al Haitham says, crossing his arms over his chest.

You and the rest of the men enter the estate. You can’t help but feel very tense now that there are eight strangers in the abode. They can roam aimlessly around the estate and perhaps destroy things in their paths. Seeing them analyze their surroundings makes you feel nervous. They’re strangers to you, and yet you worry about what their thoughts are on the abode and the interior design of the estate.

“Now that we’re in the abode, let’s start introducing ourselves, shall we?” Kaveh says, turning to look at the visitors with an expectant look on his face.

You purse your lips. “This is going to take a while,” you mutter.

You quickly excused yourself and walked to the kitchen to grab drinks for the guests. Even though you’re a little bit anxious to be around the guests, you don’t want to be seen as rude and not get them any drink while they’re visiting the abode. You begin filling the glass cup with cold water from the pitcher you pulled out from the refrigerator, placing the cups on the tray, and mentally preparing yourself to return to where the others are.

Dear Archons, you’re going to be in one room with thirty-three men! Thirty-three! That is more than what a classroom has! Heck, you think that’s more than the number of students in your lab class at the Akademiya. You put the pitcher back in the refrigerator, grab the tray of water and take a deep breath.

“I can do this.” You whisper, gnawing on your lower lip before walking back to the living area where the other men are.

“Okay! So, now that we have introduced ourselves to each other, please state your business.” Heizou says, giving them a polite yet fake smile.

Cyno holds his hand up, stopping the others before they can speak. “They may have introduced themselves to us, but they haven’t introduced themselves to [Y/N],” Cyno says, propping his hands on his hips.

You stop in your tracks and look at the men like a startled desert fox— eyes wide and frozen to the spot where you’re standing. The men turn toward your direction, their eyes locking in on your frozen form. You give them an awkward smile and clear your throat before continuing to make your way further into the living area.

Albedo smiles and crosses his arms over his chest. “Oh? It looks like [Y/N] brought drinks for our guests. How nice of you,” Albedo says, nodding his head.

You give Albedo a fake smile and put the tray on the coffee table. “I can’t help but feel like I’m forgetting something.” You muttered, furrowing your eyebrows while trying to remember what it was.

“Why don’t the eight of you introduce yourselves to [Y/N]? You may know who they are, but they don’t know any of your names.” Kazuha says.

Each man starts to introduce themselves to you. Some smiled at you, while others did not. The tension is so thick you want to hole yourself in your bedroom. Your sweet, sweet bedroom. Your bedroom is your sanctuary, and not being able to be in your room makes you feel almost naked.

“Now that we got the introductions out of the way, let’s continue where we left off,” Tighnari says, gesturing for the eight guests to have a seat.

Dottore crosses his arms over his chest and stares at the eight visitors behind his mask. “Please explain to us how you all know [Y/N]. They have never traveled anywhere outside of Teyvat on their own, nor are they from your world.”

Gepard, the blond man in armor, raises his eyebrows at Dottore. “We know they’re not from our world. They’re not from your world either, so I don’t understand why you’re acting like they belong to your world too.”

“If you know that [Y/N] isn’t from your world, why are you all so adamant about bringing them back to the Astral Express?” Scaramouche demands, taking a step forward.

Blade, the man with long, dark hair, narrows his eyes at Scaramouche. “If you know they’re not from your world, then why are you all so adamant about keeping them in your world?” Blade hisses.

You can almost hear Capitano roll his eyes under his helmet. “Just answer the question.”

Luocha, the man with long, blond hair, explains to everyone why they wanted to bring you back to the Astral Express. Apparently, a while back, you somehow mysteriously ended up on the Astral Express with no recollection of your memories. You spent months at the Astral Express with them, exploring the universe with them and other people they passively mention.

Before your disappearance, you and Blade have gotten into an argument that led to you storming out of the Astral Express, telling them not to follow you. That was the last time they heard from you, and it has been months since your sudden disappearance. The eight men have tried searching the universe for you, only to come to a dead end.

After Luocha’s explanation, you and the men sit there in silence. The supposed argument happened a few months ago, but you have never left Teyvat. It was impossible for you to physically leave Teyvat because there aren’t any spaceships or portals that allow you to teleport from planet to planet.

“It’s not that we don’t believe you all, but it’s hard to believe because [Y/N] has never traveled outside of Teyvat. Even if they wanted to, there’s no way for them to do it because there aren’t any portals or waypoints that let them do that.” Ayato says.

You nod. “Plus, I’ve been in Teyvat for, I believe, a year now. I have not stepped foot outside of Teyvat, ever. Before I arrived at their,” you gestured to your twenty-five boyfriends, “universe, I was in my universe. It’s unlikely that I was in your universe. Plus, as I’ve said previously, I don’t know who you guys are. Even when all of you have introduced yourselves to me, none of your names clicked in my head.” You sigh, shrugging your shoulders.

Itto wraps his arms around you and nuzzles his face into your neck. “My onikabuto booboo bear would never travel to another universe without telling us! Let alone a universe where there are monsters roaming around,” Itto huffs, planting a big kiss on the side of your head.

Gorou laughs nervously and clears his throat. “There are monsters roaming around Teyvat too, Itto,” Gorou whispers to the Oni.

Sampo snickers and leans in his seat with his legs crossed. “Onikabuto booboo bear? That’s the most ridiculous nickname I’ve ever heard. It’s nowhere as cute as gumdrop,” Sampo comments, flicking his fringe from his face.

Kaeya looks at the eight men with interest. “Gumdrop, you say? What are your relations with our precious [Y/N]? Giving them an endearing nickname is something friends don’t do, from what I’m assuming,” Kaeya says, sipping on his cup of wine.

When did he get that wine, and how did you not see him wander off to pour himself a glass of wine? Hearing Kaeya’s comment made Pantalone want to burst out laughing. How does one have relations with a person without ever meeting them? Pantalone crosses his arms over his chest and looks over at you, who’s busy being smothered by Itto’s affections.

“Yes, what are your relations with [Y/N]? We’re curious,” Pantalone says, the corners of his lips twitching.

Dan Heng stares at Pantalone, his eyes flickering over in your direction. Dan Heng clenches and unclenches his jaws. “They’re my significant other. Need me to say more?” Dan Heng asks, raising an eyebrow at the men.

Caelus looks at Dan Heng in disbelief. “Your significant other? The last time I checked, all of us collectively agreed to share them,” Caelus says, leaning in his seat.

“Significant other? All of you are dating our significant other?!” Aether exclaims, looking at the eight outlanders with wide eyes.

You stare at them blankly and slowly remove Itto’s arms from around you. You pursed your lips and debated whether you should make a run for it or not. Then again, even if you were to make a run for it, you don’t want it to be a “repeat” of what happened in the other eight men’s universe. That would be awkward and make things even worse than it already is.

Pierro sighs and pinches the bridge of his nose while Pantalone gives the visitors a fake smile.

“This is taking an interesting turn,” Pierro mutters.

Pantalone hums in agreement. “Indeed it is, Pierro.”

Childe runs up to you, looking at you with an over-exaggerated pout. “Snookums! Please tell me it’s not true that you have other lovers from another universe!” Childe pleads, cupping your face in his hands.

Before you can respond, Childe pulls you to his chest, pressing your face up against his chest while swaying you side to side. You grumble and continue to let Childe suffocate you against his chest while mumbling and pleading for you to disprove the eight Outlanders’ claims. You push Childe off you and lightly whack him in the chest with a huff of breath. Childe pouts and sniffles dramatically before grabbing your hand.

Dainsleif looks at the eight men before him and narrows his eyes. “How can they be your significant other when they never met any of you?” Dainsleif demands.

A realization suddenly hits you like a sumpter beast. You gasp and smack your forehead, startling everyone in the room. Oh, fuck. You look at Al Haitham and make a face while he stares at you quizzically.

“What’s wrong?” Al Haitham asks, approaching where you stand.

You make a face again and press your forehead against Al Haitham’s chest when he stands in front of you. “I left your book back at Yaoguang Shoal,” you reply, looking up at Al Haitham with despair. “If you’ll excuse me, I’m going to go back to Yaoguang Shoal and look for Al Haitham’s book that I borrowed.”

You walk over to the door and begin putting your shoes on to return to Yaoguang Shoal before anyone can stop you. When you return to the area where you were sitting at the shoreline, you didn’t find the beach chair or Al Haitham’s book. It was nowhere in sight. Damn, do you have to search along the shorelines to find it? You’re sure you’re in the right spot because you see the mark left by the beach chair, but the chair isn’t there, nor is Al Haitham’s book.

“Huh. That’s strange. I thought it was here,” you said, propping your hands on your hip. “Al Haitham is going to kill me.” You run your fingers through your hair with a shaky breath.

“That’s because someone brought it back to the abode already,” Diluc comments, startling you.

You turn to see Diluc, Kaveh, Xiao, and Albedo walk toward you. You press your hand against your chest and let out a deep sigh. Archons, did they follow you out to Yaoguang Shoal the entire time? Wait, why are you asking the obvious? You smack your forehead again and close your eyes.

Xiao grabs your hand and looks at you worriedly, rubbing your stinging forehead with his gloved thumb. “Don’t hurt yourself. This is the second time you’ve done it today,” Xiao mutters, giving you a disapproving look.

Kaveh huffs loudly, scanning the surroundings of Yaoguang Shoal with his arms crossed over his chest. Today would’ve been a nice day if those eight outlanders didn’t show up to ruin everything. You were supposed to have a nice day for yourself at the beach to decompress from finals week, but that had to be ruined by the eight outlanders who claimed to be your boyfriends in their universe. The audacity for them to step on Teyvat and want to take you to the Astral Express or whatever the heck it is.

“What’s on your mind, Kaveh?” You murmur.

Kaveh looks at you and clears his throat, waddling over to you with a pout. Kaveh wraps his arms around your shoulders and closes his eyes, resting his chin on your shoulders. “I don’t like how they claim you’re their significant other. You’re ours. You’ve always been ours, and you were never theirs.” Kaveh grouses, burying his face into the crook of your neck.

“Do you want to continue to hang out at the beach a little longer, or do you want to return to the adobe?” Albedo asks, digging his feet into the warm sand.

“Let’s return to the abode. As much as I would love to stay on the beach, it’s best we return before everyone starts searching for us,” you say.

The day comes to an end way quicker than you think it would. When you, Xiao, Diluc, Kaveh, and Albedo returned to the abode, everyone was sitting at the dining table with food sitting in the center for everyone to help themself with.

“Oh, I didn’t know we were having guests for dinner,” you say, taking your shoes off at the entrance.

“Oh? Did you not want us to stay?” Blade asks, raising an eyebrow at you.

Your eyes widen, and you shake your head. “No, no, it’s just that I didn’t know you guys were going to stay for this long. I assumed you all would leave after I went to Yaoguang Shoal.”

“Speaking of Yaoguang Shoal, did you find the book?” Heizou asks, turning around in his seat to look in your direction.

You press your lips into a thin line and shake your head. “No, it’s not there. Diluc told me someone brought the book and beach chair back to the abode,” you sigh, collapsing on the nearest chair. You look at Al Haitham and wave to get his attention. “Whoever brought the book back, did they at least return it to you?”

Tighnari points at the shelf behind you before waving you over. “The book is over on the shelf. Now, sit down and get something to eat. It’s been a long day today, and I bet you’re hungry,” says Tighnari.

You stretch in your seat before getting up, raising your index finger. “I will, but let me take a shower really quickly because, you know, I was at Yaoguang Shoal today, and I smell like the ocean,” you said.

You run upstairs and to your bedroom to take a quick shower. As much as you would love to take a long shower like usual, since there are guests who claim to be your boyfriends, you don’t think it’s a good idea to be gone for long with your twenty-five boyfriends and eight guests in one room.

While you’re in the shower, the dining area is consumed by silence. The sounds of cutlery clinking against the plates fill the silence. No one was talking to each other. They only eat and look at every person sitting at the dining table, waiting for you to return from your shower.

“Do you think [Y/N] is going to go with them?” Venti mutters to Baizhu, reaching for his cup of wine and sipping from it without taking his eyes off the other men’s faces.

Baizhu chuckles and shakes his head. “They won’t leave with them. [Y/N] doesn’t know the eight of the Outlanders. It’s very unlikely they’ll board the Astral Express,” Baizhu replies.

Thoma scoots his seat closer to Venti and Baizhu before leaning toward Baizhu and Venti, his eyes focusing on the plate in front of him. “Even if [Y/N] doesn’t go with them, do you think they will leave Teyvat without [Y/N]? That’s their only ‘mission’ on Teyvat, and that is to return to the Astral Express with [Y/N].”

“What are you three whispering over there?” Jing Yuan asks, breaking the silence in the dining room.

Thoma, Venti, and Baizhu freeze in their seats before looking at the long, silver-haired man sitting across from them. The four exchange looks with one another for a moment before Jing Yuan breaks eye contact.

“I have a question,” Cyno speaks up, propping his arms on the table, “after today, will the eight of you return to the Astral Express without [Y/N]?”

The corner of Luocha’s lips quirks up, forming an amused smirk. “What makes you think we’ll return without them? If we have to stay on Teyvat a little longer, we will do that. We won’t return to the Astral Express until [Y/N] agrees to go with us,” Luocha replies, leaning back in his seat with his arms over his chest.

Kaeya chuckles, tapping his index finger against his cheek. “How bold of you to assume we would allow you to step out of the estate with [Y/N],” Kaeya mutters, the smile slipping off his face.

Scaramouche rolls his eyes and leans forward on the table, making sure to lock eyes with the eight Outlanders. “If you need a reminder, there are twenty-five of us and eight of you. You’re outnumbered. The chances of you being successful are low. Therefore, I wouldn’t do anything stupid if I were you.”

Gepard glares at Scaramouche and clenches his jaws. Gepard opens his mouth to retort, but your footsteps coming down the stairs silences him. You enter the dining room wearing your pajamas, a rabbit headband, your face dewy and glowing from your moisturizer, and undereye patches.

You hold up a bottle of foaming cleanser. “Who does this belong to? Someone left this in my bathroom,” you said, looking at the men at the dining table.

Itto raises his hand. “Oh! That’s mine, but you can keep it in there because I want to do skin care with you,” Itto says, getting up from his seat and walking toward you.

You look at Itto with surprise. “Oh! Why didn’t you tell me sooner? I’m about to be finished with my skincare routine,” you sigh in defeat, letting your hand fall at your side.

“I forgot,” Itto laughs sheepishly, rubbing the back of his neck, “but hey! We can start the night routine tomorrow!”

You nod and begin to walk back up the stairs, but Itto grabs you by your biceps and turns you around. You look at Itto with a questioning gaze before he presses his lips against your forehead and steps back with a big smile. You smile and peck his cheek before walking back to your room. Itto and the other men in the room watch you leave. Itto turns to the others with a smug smirk on his face before returning to his seat with a pep in his walk.

“Oh, would you look at that! Isn’t it sweet how Itto and [Y/N] are going to start doing night routines with each other?” Ayato asks, sipping on his tea nonchalantly while smirking behind his cup.

Kazuha chuckles. “It seems like a subtle way to let you all know that they’re not leaving any time soon.” Kazuha comments.

Gorou turns to look at the men, specifically Blade, with curiosity. “Let’s say that it’s true [Y/N] did spend time at the Astral Express with the eight of you and the people you have mentioned,” Gorou begins, clasping his hands together.

“Why are you saying it like it's a theory when it’s true?” Welt interrupts, glaring at Gorou with a deep frown on his face.

Capitano shrugs his shoulders. “It may be true for the rest of you, but for us, it’s a theory that has yet to be proven true,” Capitano retorts.

Gorou rolls his eyes, “Anyway! As I was saying, what did the two of you get into an argument about? It wouldn’t be a small argument if it caused [Y/N] to storm off the Astral Express and disappear without a trace.”

Blade stares at Gorou before continuing to eat his food without responding to Gorou’s question. Gorou frowns and lets out a huff, grabbing his cup and gulping down the water. The men continue to eat in silence, the sound of the cutlery clinking against the plates and bowls filling the tense silence between the thirty-three of them.

A few minutes later, you enter the dining room and sit between Xiao and Blade. You cursed to yourself about the seating arrangements. Why did you have to sit between Xiao and Blade? You don’t mind sitting beside Xiao! However, what you do mind is sitting beside Blade since you supposedly had this argument with the dark, long-haired man on the Astral Express before disappearing without a trace.

You tried your best to act natural— as if nothing strange had happened or been revealed. You subconsciously scoot closer to Xiao to the point where your biceps are brushing against Xiao’s biceps. Xiao didn’t make a comment about your strange behavior and continued to eat his food in silence.

Dottore clears his throat, grabbing everyone’s attention. “We didn’t get to ask you, but how was the beach today? Were you able to relax like you wanted?” Dottore asks.

You make a so-so gesture with your hand. “Kind of! The weather was nice, and the waters were surprisingly warm. It’s nice to have a break after a grueling week of finals,” You reply, tucking your hair behind your ears.

Welt perks up at your response. “You’re going to school right now?” Welt asks, looking at you curiously.

You shrug your shoulders. “I’ve always been going to school. Before I arrived at Teyvat, I was a university student in my world. Technically, I still am, but since I’m not physically there right now, I might as well continue my education at the Akademiya.”

Kaveh smiles and rests his elbow on the table. “[Y/N] is an excellent student; we’re incredibly proud of them. They’re at the top of their classes, and their GPA is over 4.0. They’re involved in many research papers with the Akademiya, and they’ve been granted many scholarships,” Kaveh boasts, his eyes forming into crescents when he smiles in your direction.

“Hehe, it’s, uh, no big deal, really,” you say, rubbing the back of your neck, “plus, the Akademiya is a prestigious institute. I must put my all into my schoolwork for the Akademiya, or else it’ll be a waste.”

Sampo visibly deflates and rests his chin on the palm of his hand. “I’m assuming you’re not going to return to the Astral Express with us, Gumdrop?” Sampo asks, smiling at you sadly.

You shake your head in response. The eight men sigh, and trade looks with each other without saying a word. It’s like they’re communicating with each other telepathically. As much as you want to know what’s going on in their heads, you know it has something to do with you.

After all, they’re only in Teyvat because of you. It’s strange how you supposedly have a life outside your main universe and your twenty-five boyfriends’ universe. There are so many questions that are left unanswered, and you don’t think anyone can answer them because everyone is probably just as clueless as you are about this stuff. Heck, not even someone as refined as Welt, Albedo, Dottore, and Dainsleif would know the answers.

Caelus leans to Jing Yuan, whispering, “Nanook isn’t going to be happy when he hears about this.”

“As long as he doesn’t find out, we’ll be okay,” Jing Yuan replies.

Zhongli raises his eyebrows at Caelus and Jing Yuan. “Who is this Nanook you speak of? And why would he be unhappy when he hears about this?” Zhongli asks, sipping his tea.

Dan Heng sighs and looks away. “Just someone who holds [Y/N] near and dear close to his heart. Then again, we all hold [Y/N] near and dear to our hearts as well,” Dan Heng murmurs, looking over at you from the corner of his eyes.

You and Dan Heng’s eyes meet from across the table. Heat rushes to your face and down your neck, causing you to clear your throat and reach for the cup of water in front of you. You break eye contact and gulp down the water, hoping it’ll extinguish the heat rushing to your face and the tip of your ears. The way Dan Heng looks at you reminds you of how your boyfriends would look at you— you can’t help but feel shy, almost awkward in a way.

“We’ll be staying here for a while. We won’t be leaving until [Y/N] agrees to return to the Astral Express with us,” Blade states, his red eyes flickering in your direction.

You nearly choke on your water and look away, ducking your head while trying to hold back your cough. Xiao glares at Blade and pats your back, moving closer to you. You clear your throat and lean into Xiao’s touch, ignoring the looks the other men are giving you and Xiao.

Scaramouche rolls his eyes. “Might as well make yourselves a home here because we’re not letting them leave with any of you any time soon.”

Scaramouche was being sarcastic at first, but that is what the eight outlanders ended up doing. They made a home at the abode and decided to learn and adapt to a new environment. At first, they wanted to live under the same roof as you and the other men, but of course, the others opposed it and offered to make a small temporary house for the eight visitors.

Everyone is doing their own thing in the estate. Some are sparring with each other, others are having tea, reading books, playing TCG, and many more. From a distance, you’re giving an extensive detailed tour of the estate so the eight visitors can be familiar with their new environment rather than the main island the estates are sitting on.

“And the abode keeps getting bigger and bigger,” Ayato chuckles, sipping his tea on the pavilion, looking out at the view of the abode.

Zhongli chuckles and nods. “Soon enough, every land in the abode will be occupied by many estates.” Zhongli comments, blowing on the hot cup of tea in his hands.

Al Haitham sighs and keeps his eyes on his book. “You would think they would give up and leave already, but instead, they’ve been treating this place like their second home,” Al Haitham mutters, looking at the eight men from a distance.

“Scaramouche did tell them they can make themselves a home at the abode because we refuse to hand [Y/N] over to them,” Cyno mutters, placing the TCG card down on the table.

Itto groans and slams his head on the table. “Dammit, Cyno! This is the third time you beat me!” Itto grumbles, lifting his head to glare at the Mahamatra.

Cyno smirks at Itto before looking at the cards in his hands. Meanwhile, you stand in front of the eight men with your hands propping on your hips while tapping your feet on the ground. The eight men before you looked like anxious puppies. It was adorable, but what they did was not something you’re going to be tolerating. Especially since it keeps happening.

“It’s not nice to poke Tubby and Chubby! I get they’re cute, and all of you have never seen something like Tubby and Chubby before, but please refrain from poking them,” you sigh, pinching the bridge of your nose. “You guys don’t see me stepping foot on the Astral Express and snatching Pom-Pom up and throwing them around, now, do you?” You raise your eyebrows.

The eight men shake their heads in response, their heads hanging down while Welt has his eyes closed, his glasses in one hand while rubbing his temples with the other. Childe and Diluc stroll up to the nine of you, covered in dirt and sweat from their spar.

“Did those hooligans disobey you, snookums?” Childe asks, placing his hand on your waist and pulling you toward his chest.

Your face pinches up with disgust, and you take a step back. “Childe, as much as I love being in your arms, now is not a good time because you’re sweaty and covered in dirt.”

Gepard looks at Diluc and Childe, his arms over his chest, his eyebrows furrowing with concentration and curiosity. “How often do all of you spar? Is it a routine?” Gepard asks, his icy-blue eyes remaining on Childe and Diluc’s faces.

Diluc sighs and takes the hair tie out before retying his long red hair into a high ponytail. “It’s not routine for us to spar, but when we do, we do it on our own time. Either alone or with someone that volunteers to help,” Diluc replies.

“You wouldn’t mind us joining on, would you?” Sampo asks, adjusting his gloves while smirking at Diluc and Childe.

You look at the men, chewing on the inside of your cheek. You don’t think it’s a good idea for your men to spar with the eight outlanders. Knowing Childe and Gepard, there will be a competition of some sort. Technically, Childe will make it a competition with all of the outlanders, and you don’t want to see how it turns out.

Before Childe and Diluc can respond, you shake your head. “No, no! No sparring! I don’t think it’s a good idea because you guys will turn it into a competition and hurt each other. No.” You deadpan.

“Then how are we supposed to entertain ourselves and bond? I think knowing each other’s skills in combat is a great way of bonding!” Aether says, propping his arm on your shoulders from behind.

You brush off Aether’s question. “There’s plenty of ways to entertain yourselves and bond without having to draw weapons!” You reply.

“And what are you suggesting other than sparring?” Heizou asks, raising an eyebrow at you.

You smile at the men innocently. Before any of them know it, you’re all at Yaoguang Shoal wearing sun hats and sunglasses. You turn to look at your boyfriends and your guests from beyond the stars with a big smile while bouncing on the balls of your feet with excitement.

“The beach? Weren’t you at Yaoguang Shoal not too long ago?” Thoma asks, slathering sunscreen on his arms.

You nod. “Yes, but my moment of relaxation was ruined when our guests from beyond the stars popped up in front of me!” You say, propping your hands on your hips. “Now! You all can go and chase each other around the beach, and I am going to continue where I left off with my reading!”

Al Haitham hands you the book you borrowed from him not long ago before placing a beach chair down. Everyone scatters around the beach, staying within the vicinity. While you’re reading Al Haitham’s book under the shade, someone sits beside you on the sand. You look away from your book to see Blade sitting beside you, refusing to make eye contact with you. Ever since your first encounter with the long, dark-haired man, you have been keeping your distance from him mainly because he looks intimidating. You have a small feeling that he was still upset with “you” after the argument you two didn’t have.

“So! Are you going to finally tell me what the argument was about?” You ask, putting the book face down and pulling your knees to your chest.

Blade doesn’t answer. Instead, he didn’t even look in your direction. You mumble to yourself and turn to the side, getting up from the beach chair and dusting the sand off your legs.

“Alright, you don’t have to answer me. I’m sure the other [Y/N] would’ve done something else to get you to respond to them, but I’m not them.” You say before walking away from where Blade is sitting.

You quickly stopped in your tracks and turned around to grab Al Haitham’s book you were reading before continuing your walk to where Kaeya and Venti were hanging out. Venti and Kaeya wave at you the closer you get before patting the space between them for you to sit. You plop down between Kaeya and Venti, letting out an exasperated sigh.

“What’s with the exasperated sigh? You were so excited to go to the beach!” Venti says, sipping his drink.

Kaeya turns his head to look over where you were sitting previously, locking eyes with Blade. Blade quickly looks away with a deep frown. Kaeya chuckles under his breath and looks at you while you dig your feet into the sand, feeling the warm sand between your toes.

Kaeya points at Blade with his thumb. “I’m assuming it has something to do with him,” Kaeya comments, leaning back on one hand.

Your expression sours. “When is it not Blade? He’s refusing to tell me what the argument was! It’s like he expects me to know what it is when I was never there to experience it!” You groused. “I hope the other me is doing okay. Given the fact that they’re supposedly dating Blade and the other seven, or was it nine, men.” You stroke your chin.

Footsteps approach where you, Kaeya, and Venti are sitting. “Oh, I’m doing okay! Other than having to traverse many universes to find my way back to the Astral Express, only to find this universe and run into the other me surrounded by a lot of men.”

Your, Kaeya, and Venti’s head snaps toward where the voice comes from, only to see another version of yourself standing there. Everyone around you stops what they’re doing and looks at you and the other you with eyes the size of saucers. You scramble to your feet and point at your other self, trying to find the words to say while they stare at you with a sheepish smile on their face.

“These men weren’t causing you any trouble, were they?” They ask, looking at the eight outlanders that are approaching you and the other you.

You glare at the other you, propping your hands on your hips. “Where were you!? You made your eight boyfriends worried to the point where they have to travel beyond the stars to search for you!”

The other you laugh sheepishly, rubbing the back of their neck. “To be fair, I got lost after I stormed out of the Astral Express, and I couldn’t find my way back.” The other you sigh in defeat, letting their head hang low.

Tighnari raises his eyebrows at the other you. “Have you tried asking for directions?” Tighnari asks.

“Gumdrop is a great fighter but terrible with directions.” Sampo snorts before skipping happily to the other you, wrapping his arms around their waist and snuggling against them.

You watch Blade approach the other you, his arms crossed over his chest. The other you give Blade a fake smile before looking away from the long, dark-haired man. You clear your throat and look away. Man, this somehow got awkward.

“You two have some talking to do! I’m not sure if you,” you look at your other self, “remember the argument the two of you had before your disappearance. Still, please talk it out because I somehow got caught in between!”

Your other self drags out a sigh, resting their head on Sampo’s shoulders. “Ah, right! How could I forget about that? I was so busy trying to find my way back that I completely forgot about the argument Blade and I had before storming out,” your other self says.

“I didn’t think there would be another [Y/N], but here we are,” Dainsleif murmurs, trying to find the difference between you and the other you.

Appearance-wise, the other you are wearing clothes from Jing Yuan’s world. The other you have streaks of red and purple in your hair, and you look a little rougher around the edges. Sampo presses a sloppy kiss on your clone’s cheek— yes, that is what you will be calling them from now on. Your clone snuggles up against Sampo’s chest and holds your (their?) hands out to the other eight outlanders.

“Now that the other [Y/N] have found the eight of you, will you all return to the Astral Express now?” Gorou asks, gazing at the nine people curiously.

Your clone nods their head in response. “Yes, we will be heading back to the Astral Express now. That means Blade, and I will need to speak about what happened before my disappearance,” your clone sighs, looking at Blade.

Blade gives your clone a weak smile and grabs your clone’s hand, gently squeezing them. Your clone smiles at Blade and pulls him close to them. Blade and Sampo give each other a small glare while clinging to your clone’s side while the other six men stand around the three of them.

You squint your eyes at your clone, tilting your head to the side. “How do you handle dating nine men?” You ask.

Your clone snorts and rolls their eyes. “I can ask you the same thing, [Y/N]. Really, [Y/N]? Twenty-five men? That’s more than what I have,” They raise their eyebrows at you, the corners of their lips twitching.

“You know what, fair enough,” you mutter, looking away from your clone with a sour look.

As much as you would love to talk to your clone about the other universe, you didn’t want to deal with them matching the sassiness with you. That and because they do have to return to the Astral Express soon to patch things up. You and your twenty-five boyfriends watch your clone and their boyfriends walk far before disappearing into small orbs of light, ascending to the stars.

“I did not think that there was another [Y/N] out there,” Kazuha comments.

You sigh in relief and lean on Venti. “Me neither! But I’m glad they showed up because I don’t think I can handle Blade’s attitude any longer! The man acts like I remember this so-called argument!” You sigh, running your hands through your hair.

“On the bright side, you won’t have to deal with any more men entering the relationship,” Baizhu says, clapping his hands once.

Albedo chuckles, shaking his head. “You’d never know. There may be twenty-five of us today, but there can be forty tomorrow,” Albedo comments.

Xiao rolls his eyes, sighing. “Let’s not get ahead of ourselves now, shall we?” Xiao mutters.

Pantalone snorts. “What makes you think we’ll share [Y/N] with more people? I believe twenty-five people is enough,” Pantalone says nonchalantly.

Kaeya drapes his arms around your shoulders, leans down, and kisses your cheek. You wrap your arms around Kaeya’s slim waist and kiss his cheek in return. Albedo isn’t wrong, though. There might be more people in the next few days or maybe even weeks. All you know is that you’re glad you’re not in your clone’s spot because what is up with Blade and his attitude? He intimidates you, and you don’t know what your clone sees in that man other than his looks.

Note: Midterms week starts on Monday, and I am not looking forward to it. If next week's fic is short, it's because I have been occupied with my studies and haven't been able to type out as much as I would hope ;v; This week has been a long week for me, but it will definitely not be as long as midterm week and finals week (which is coming in hot). To my new and/or returning readers, please keep in mind that I ONLY post on my Tumblr (Genshinluvr) and my AO3 (Aaliah_exo)! Nowhere else except Tumblr and AO3!

Taglist for my Isekai'd!Reader one-shot series and my overall taglist: @xyji, @chirikoheina, @yoru-trash, @kaoyamamegami, @kwelibeeery, @deartoru, @luminarymoonlight, @toobytub, @ins4nebish, @bokuto-kinnie, @exhaustedcommunist, @jadedist, @mompt2, @chalksdreams, @thelost-in-time, @ventisweetheart, @hispasian-otaku, @juuuuuj101010, @samarill, @testsubject0012, @irisxiel, @kazuhaprnt, @lunarapple, @emilymikado, @vinnie-w, @n8mareee, @bajifairyy, @heyimkay, @eliciana, @blesstosuisen, @goldeneclipsedragon, @jjvr4yxc, @sovermike-21-blog, @vox34, @skyyyyackerman, @undecidingfate, @nightlysunn, @faeryminnyx, @simpcreator, @lucifarts-boxers, @thelovebuggs, @urlocalheizousimp, @sunlightstarr (Accounts that I was unable to tag have been removed. Those who don't want to be tagged in certain stories are not tagged in this particular post. Remember to check your settings if you're allowing people to mention you/tag you in posts or not)

Read more of my works on my Masterlist | Maybe support me by tipping me on Ko-Fi or by reblogging my fanfics! ^^ I will also be posting exclusive fanfics on Ko-Fi as well very soon! I might post all of my stories on there too, but who knows. You can also tip me on Tumblr if you'd like as a way to show support! ^^

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theworldofotps · 5 days

Text

Painting (Drabble)

Pairing: Lord Debling x Reader Word Count: 743 Description: Y/n is struggling with a painting when she recieves some much needed help.

So, I have never written fanfiction for Bridgerton before but after watching the first half of season 3 and meeting Lord Debling I couldn't help myself. I'm also very nervous to post this because it's a bit out of my comfort zone but I hope you enjoy anyway.

Dedicated to: @madhatterbri who encouraged me to write this, helped form the plot and is overall one of the best. I appreciate you so much thank you! (I haven't added my normal tag list since those are usually just for wrestling. If you'd like to be added to a tag list of anything I write besides wrestling let me know!) __________ Y/n let out a soft huff as she wiped her forehead with the back of her hand, staring at the canvas in front of her. She’d spent the last two hours trying to paint a bird from the book set on a stool in front of her. This was a painting she just didn’t want to mess up on but the more she stared at it the worse it seemed to look.

“Is everything alright m’lady?”

“Yes Ruth, just having a bit of difficulty getting these colors to work and blend the way that I wish them too.”

“Please let me know when you are ready, and I shall draw the bath for you.”

“Thank you, Ruth.”

Watching the maid leave, Y/n turns back towards her painting and examines the book once more. Adjusting the apron she wore over her dress to keep from ruining it, she dipped into her paints again. More time passed and her frustrations only grew as the colors started running and made the bird look like a mess.

Dropping the paintbrush in the pot of water she hung her head in defeat, deciding to just start all over again. Not having heard the door open she nearly jumped, feeling a pair of arms wrapping around her before a chuckle sounded in her ear.

“Sorry to startle you love I thought you heard me enter.”

“That’s alright my lord I just was focusing on something else.”

Alfred glanced around to be sure they were alone before pressing a soft kiss to her neck.

“Tell me what’s the matter.”

“I’m trying to paint this bird and all of my colors keep running I’ve spent hours on it but alas to no avail.”

Remaining silently as his eyes drifted over the canvas in front of them, since they had began courting he was trying to take interest in her hobbies. When he found out she had a love for painting much like his mother, it was one he quickly did his best to learn all he could about it.

“Allow me to offer my assistance to you.”

Grabbing her hand gently together they picked up the brush, the sparks of electricity she felt as they moved together dipping into her paint pallet. She could barely concentrate at the feel of him pressed against her back. When the brush touched the canvas, she let out a soft laugh.

“What is it brining you such joy my dear?”

“Your beard tickles my cheek.”

Y/n spoke softly as his own smile grew to match hers the two talking in soft whispers as he helped her fix the once ruined picture.

“What do you think?”

“It looks so much better thank you for your help now we both must sign it.”

She said pointing to the feather quill and pot of ink sat on the desk a few feet away from them, Alfred reached over grabbing the quill. Signing the name Debling then placing the quill in her hand so she could sign her last name.

Placing it back in the ink pot Y/n slowly turned to face him their eyes meeting hers lighting up as his softened.

“Miss. Y/n I know this may come forth as a bit forward but may I kiss you?”

He asked a slight nervous quiver to his voice if you listened close enough she remained silently causing him to clear in throat. The last thing he wanted was for her to feel pressured into anything. After a moment her smile grew as she leaned closer to him their lips brushing in the softest touch before a knock on the door sent them apart. Composing themselves she turned to see Ruth entering one more.

“Excuse me miss but your mother is looking for you.”

“Thank you, Ruth please tell her, that I will be right there.”

Ruth nodded, leaving them alone again y/n sighing softly she turned back to Alfred who gently touched her cheek.

“I must be going as it is rather late, I shall call upon you tomorrow afternoon would that be alright?”

“Yes, I would enjoy that very much my lord.”

The pair left the room and y/n saw him to the front entrance, his fingers once more touching her cheek in a bid farewell. Watching him leave she sighed her arms wrapping around herself, the thought of his arms around her caused her face to heat up. Turning, she went off in search of her mother.

#lord debling #bridgerton fanfiction #lord debling x reader #bridgerton #lord debling fanfiction

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readingandwritingandreading · 5 days

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Some Hearts ~ Part 3

My Blurb: Sorry for the delay in getting this posted. I had an ovarian cyst rupture and it was not pleasant. The pain meds I have been on for the last week have not been super conducive to writing so if parts of this are wonky, I'm blaming that! I hope you enjoy!

Disclaimer: Alas, I own nothing but my ideas. I do not give permission for my writing to be shared anywhere without my consent.

Summary: Reacher never needed anyone, he was a lone wolf and preferred it that way. But when he finds his mate beaten and bruised one night, she and the rest of the 110th show Reacher the benefits of being in a pack. Fated Mates, Shifter AU

Pairing: Jack Reacher x OFC Morgan Stone

Warnings: There are some darker things in this fic. Morgan is a rape and abuse survivor. Nothing is explicitly detailed but be advised. Your media consumption is your responsibility. This is a fated mates, wolf shifter AU and will contain claming, biting, mating and other wolf pack related things.

Tagging: @pioched | @ashes-writing | @titty-teetee2 | @may85

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Read First: Some Hearts Masterlist

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Rock Hill Village Hospital, New York

Reacher’s eyes don’t leave Morgan but he still senses the surprised looks from his friends. No one called him Jack, not his family when he was young, not his superiors in the military and not his friends now. He had always preferred Reacher but when she had asked for his name he wanted her to call him Jack. He wanted to hear the way it sounded when she said it. Her calling him anything else seemed like it would cause the tugging in his chest to rip open.

He had already inspected the star shaped mark that had burned itself into the skin above his heart, a physical representation of the tether that bound them together. She hadn’t seemed to notice hers but Roscoe had said she was on some high pain killers. If she felt it she probably thought it was part of her other injuries and she hadn’t been awake long enough to see the matching mark on her own chest.

The door clicked close behind him but she didn't seem to notice. She was staring at him, her brown eyes wide, a look of shock and fear on her face. Shock he was expecting, he had delivered the news abruptly, but the fear concerned him.

“My fated mate?” her voice had a slight tremor to it. “How is that possible?”

Reacher shrugged, “O’Donnell tells me you can’t fight the Moon Goddess.”

“No, I mean…” she took a deep breath before continuing, “There was a bonding ceremony. My father made sure it was all legitimate. And after…the claiming…” her good arm wrapped around her torso and she looked like she was on the verge of tears. “There's no way he told anyone he messed it up. It was too important to his dad and mine. He will do whatever it takes to find me. If he found out about you…I can’t drag anyone down with me.” She’s rambling, looking around the room in a panic.

“Morgan” He gently placed his hands on her shoulders, quieting her movements. She looked so small and lost sitting on the bed and the tugging in his chest grew stronger. His wolf was pacing, not liking the anxiety and fear coming off their mate in waves. “I know you’re scared, but this is real.” He lifted his shirt up until his right pec was visible, showing her the mark. “I’m your fated mate, we will sort out whatever that entails but you are mine to protect.”

She studied the mark before shyly peeking down the top of her hospital gown. He knew she saw it when she bit her lip and slowly met his eyes again. “You don’t even know me,” There was still a slight tremor in her voice but she didn’t look like she was ready to bolt anymore.

“I know you’re brave and you’re smart. I served in the army for 13 years and there weren’t many that would do what you did, especially without a wolf. Going two weeks undetected while big men hunt you down. I'd like to get to know you more but right now you should rest.” He pulled the blanket over her legs and moved back to the chair beside her bed while she laid back.

She looked like she wanted to protest but a yawn hit her as soon as she laid her head on the pillow. He eased himself back into the chair beside her bed and within minutes her breathing evened out and she was asleep again.

He watched her for a while, thinking about the story she had told and her clear fear of being discovered by the other pack. A soft knock drew his attention to the door where Neagley had poked her head through and she nodded for him to follow her.

Once in the hallway she handed him a folder, “Everything Sanchez and Orozco have found so far. Finlay is going to do some digging also. Her story checks out, there's an article about the ceremony, even some pictures.” She pointed him to a page that looked like a scan of a newspaper. There was Morgan in a fancy green dress, she was smiling but it looked forced and didn’t reach her eyes. The man who stood next to her was slim but athletic looking. He had a square jaw and was smirking at the camera, his arm locked firmly around Morgan.

“What about her escape?” Reacher flipped through the file, noting her birthday from her passport.

“There hasn’t been a single mention of her since the article about the ceremony. Sanchez said it looks like they are playing it close to their chest. The Kliner pack is making it seem like they are on their honeymoon and that’s why no one has seen them.” She raised an eyebrow when Reacher clenched his fist. “You ok big guy? Emotions aren’t really your thing.”

Reacher closed the folder before looking at his friend. “She’s been through alot, and fate shackled her with me. Hardly seems fair to her.” He paused, “Thank you for the information, I don’t want to take up more of your resources than I already have.”

Neagley snorted, folding her arms across her chest. “You can pretend all you want that you aren’t a part of this pack Racher. But this is your home, and we are your family. Which makes that little wolf in there our family also.” She nodded towards Morgan’s room. “We protect our family.”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

“It’s real, Franz witnessed the whole thing.” I jumped at the sound of Charlie’s voice echoing in the little bathroom. “Sorry, didn’t mean to startle you, just have to make sure you didn’t black out on us, plus Reacher’s getting antsy out there.

I rolled my eyes at her while pulling the top of my hospital gown back up to cover the star shaped mark I had been inspecting. After talking with Jack, I slept another ten hours. My usual nightmares about my father and KJ finding me had been interrupted by the appearance of a large gray wolf who chased them away before sitting at my feet. After that I slept peacefully. It was the best sleep I'd gotten in years and I had awoken to find Jack asleep in the chair beside my bed. I studied him for a couple minutes noticing that even in sleep he still looked strong and firm. I shifted slightly and his eyes sprung open searching the room before finding me and relaxing. The tether between us hummed and I raised my hand to the mark on my chest.

A nurse appeared with food, breaking the tension. Then it was a whirlwind of x-rays and tests before Dr. Roscoe appeared and told me I could be released but she wanted to follow up with me in a week. My IV had been removed and Charlie had gone in search of some scrubs I could wear while I escaped to the bathroom. Jack had never strayed further than the hallway throughout the procedures and I needed a minute to figure out my plan without him bombarding my senses.

Even with my exhausted mind, my hormones had paid more attention to his abs when he lifted the shirt last night than the mark he had shown me, but studying mine, it did seem like they matched. Charlie’s intrusion had pulled me out of a worry spiral that was threatening to send me escaping through another window.

“You seem pretty close to my size, so these should fit you. I can bring some other stuff over to Reacher’s place tonight until you get your wardrobe figured out.” Charlie continued, placing a pair of green scrubs on the counter.

“Thank you…wait, Reacher’s house?” I swung around to face her.

She stepped into the room, closing the door behind her. “Yes, Reacher’s house. Where you will be staying. You didn’t know that?”

“No, I thought I could go to a motel or…although I guess I can’t pay for a motel but I could get a job or I could just…” My rambling was cut off by Charlie giggling. “Why are you laughing!”

“He has lived in your hospital room since you came in.” She tried to stop another round of giggles. “Oh my gosh, I have to tell Neagley, she will die. You staying in a hotel on the other side of the village”

“Charlie!” My screech sobered her but I heard Jack moving in the other room and the pull in my chest tugged a little causing me to reach my hand up and rub it.

“You’re already tuned to each other.” Charlie smiled, rubbing a spot on her chest. “I’m sorry I laughed. If you want to stay in the hotel instead of his place, that’s fine. But be prepared for a roommate or a tent pitched outside your door. Reacher is a good man, he has helped my mate out more than once and always when he didn’t have to. You are safe with him.” She nodded her head towards the scrubs before retreating out the door.

Changing into the scrubs with my one good arm proved challenging and by the time I had accomplished it I was sweating and wanted to sleep for another 10 hours but with a deep breath I steeled myself as I walked back into my room.

As expected, Jack turned away from Charlie immediately, looking me over like he was checking for new injuries. I tried not to focus on the gaze that lingered on my chest making me hyper aware that I didn’t have a bra on.

Charlie broke the tension by bringing me a stack of papers. “These are your discharge instructions along with a note of everything we did or gave you while you were here. Roscoe already went over everything with Reacher but feel free to reach out. Are you feeling ok?”

“Ya, just a little worn out from wrestling my clothes on with one hand.” I chuckled.

“Reacher, why don’t you go pull the truck around. I’ll bring Morgan out in a minute.” She waved Jack off with an eyebrow raise when he didn’t immediately leave. Once he left she turned to me, her face serious, “If you want, when I drop the clothes off later, I can help you shower and get changed. I know you aren’t ready for him to help.”

I nodded, heat climbing my cheeks, “I would appreciate that Charlie, thank you.”

She grinned in response before turning us towards the door. I followed her into the hallway and then onto an elevator that opened into a lobby. The people we passed along the way were all friendly, greeting Charlie and smiling politely at me. I gasped when we stepped outside. The storm had shielded the beauty of the valley on the night I arrived. The clear view of the mountains and trees surrounding the village was a picturesque backdrop to the cabins and buildings on either side of the hospital. My gaze spun around before landing on Jack standing by a blue Ford pickup. He opened the passenger side and gestured for me.

“I’ll see you in a bit.” Charlie gave my hand an encouraging squeeze and I smiled before sliding into the passenger seat.

I fiddled with my fingers as Jack rounded the truck and hopped in the driver's seat. Forcing myself to not watch him I looked out the window and at the hospital we were pulling away from. It was a large building, much larger than I would expect for a pack in the middle of nowhere. “Jack, how big is this pack?”

“103 currently, growing though, now that the members have settled and started having kids.” He shrugged, turning onto a road that looked like it was part of a town square.

“That’s very specific.” I smiled, “Does the hospital serve another pack? It seems bigger than needed”

“Details matter” he waved at a couple walking on the sidewalk, “and at least half the pack are ex-military. The influx of kids combined with living out here keeps Roscoe busy.”

I nodded, watching out the window as we made our way across the village. It wasn’t huge but from what I could see it was homey, clean and well maintained. A few people stared as we drove by but they all waved at Jack. “Everyone seems so…nice.”

Jack chuckled, turning the truck onto a small road that curved between some trees. “Neagley is pretty strict about who she lets join. It also helps…or hurts…that everyone is connected. The starting members were from my old army unit. They brought in their families and it grew from there. O’Donnel knew Roscoe’s husband, Roscoe knew Charlie and so on and so forth.”

“So the pack really is a big family?” Even I heard the wistfulness in my voice and I blushed when he glanced over at me but I had already spilled enough of my story to answer the question in his expression.

“Here we are” he gestured out the windshield as a cabin came into view.

My jaw dropped as I took in the beautiful two story cabin with a wrap around porch and a chimney that had a curl of smoke coming out. “This is your house? It’s beautiful.”

“Technically. I paid for it but Neagley and Dixon did all the work. I keep telling them to let someone else move in but they said I would need it someday. Turns out they were right.” He put the truck in park and jogged around to my side before I could open the door.

He watched me as I followed him into the house and took in the decor. It was simple and masculine. The same cedar wood was on the interior of the open floor plan. Soft brown leather sofas faced a fireplace that provided a comfortable glow into the rest of the house. A kitchen table sat near a large bay window that showcased another stunning view of the forest and mountains. The kitchen had stainless steel appliances and an island outfitted with barstools and the whole thing was overlooked by an upstairs loft.

“Bathroom, laundry room and an office through there.” Jack pointed to a hallway off the kitchen. He stood back as I peeked into each area before gesturing to the stairs. “Bedrooms are up here.” The comforting colors continued upstairs. Jack pointed out another bathroom and his bedroom before opening a third door. “This can be your room.”

“Thank you,” I replied, stepping into the room. It wasn’t huge but it was cozy and the bed looked soft. There was a closet on one end and a dresser on the other. The nightstands matched the dresser and sported lamps with light blue shades. “This is beautiful.”

“This is your space, you can make whatever changes you want. Just let me know.” I turned to find Jack standing in the doorway and that hum appeared in the tether again as we looked at each other.

Before I could reply the doorbell rang and he went down to answer it. I stayed in the room a few minutes longer, running my hand over the comforter that matched the lamp shades and smiling to myself. Stepping onto the landing I heard Jack and another male voice.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

“Thank you Mr. Mosley, you didn’t have to do this.” Reacher smiled at the older man as he put the food in the fridge and handed him a bottle of water.

“You know my lady wouldn’t allow that to happen.” He replied with a chuckle, settling himself onto one of the barstools. “She would have come herself but her hip is acting up again after the storm.”

Morgan timidly made her way down the staircase and he could almost feel the worry rolling off her. She was nervous to stay with him but hadn’t put up a fight like he had been worried she would. He wouldn’t have blamed her, all of the information they had dug up on her past pointed towards a rightful apprehension towards men.

“Mr. Mosley, this is Morgan.” Reacher gestured for her to come in before continuing. “Morgan, this is Mr. Mosley. He and his wife run the pack grocery and hardware store. He brought us some dinner.”

“It’s a pleasure to meet you Mr. Mosley, thank you for the food.” Morgan smiled and shook the older man's hand.

“The pleasure is all mine my dear, when we heard the big guy had found a pretty little mate and that she was injured, my wife started cooking. If you hadn’t gotten released when you did we would be out of fridge space. And I had to bring it over to make sure he saved some for you.”

Morgan laughed softly at his words, visibly relaxing. “Jack has been very kind.”

“Oh? Jack is it?” Mosley raised an eyebrow at Reacher who just rolled his eyes and shook his head. “You really must be his mate to have that honor.” He stage whispered to Morgan, causing her to giggle.

Catching sight of Charlie’s car pulling in, he moved to the door to let her in. “So far so good?” She asked when she reached the door, a duffle bag in hand.

“Ya, Mosley showed up at the end of the tour with food in tow. She seems relaxed.” Reacher placed the bag on the stairs, pausing to see the grin light up Morgan’s face when she saw Charlie. Mosley was trying to send food home with her when he rejoined the group.

“I’m good, Paul is making dinner. I just stopped by to bring Morgan some cast friendly clothes and help her get cleaned up and then I’ll head home.” Charlie smiled kindly at him.

“I haven’t had a shower since before I fell and” Morgan held up her cast, “I discovered earlier that only having one good arm makes things like that difficult.” A happy hum vibrated through their tether and Reacher smiled to himself.

“You ladies go ahead, I’ll help Reacher get supper ready and then head back to the misses. Don’t be a stranger, Morgan.” Mosley called as Morgan led Charlie up the stairs not missing the way Reacher watched his little mate until she was out of sight.

#micole writes things now #reacher #reachertv #some hearts #jack reacher #reacher x ofc #jack reacher x ofc #alan ritchson

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dearmrsawyer · 6 days

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@kezzzx tagged me quite a while ago, sorry its taken me so long! my life has been a mess but i'm trying to catch up on things, thank you so much for tagging me!! @gloryhalleloujah you also kindly tagged me in something v similar, so i've meshed them together to achieve two things at once 🙌

Last song - Boulevard of Broken Dreams last came up on shuffle

Favourite colour - purple

Currently reading - The House of the Spirits by Isabel Allende. I've had this on my shelf for forever and was really looking forward to it but honestly i'm not enjoying it all that much. Its so rich with characters who i am keen to follow but Esteban is such a disturbing presence, and he's constantly derailing the lives of every other character with his temper and violence, and i'm sick of him??? i'm just over halfway, i'm hoping that at some point soon he dies and i get to see the rest of the characters enjoy their lives lol. Alas, the characters who deserve the shortest lives are always somehow the most resilient so i don't have that much hope rip

Currently watching - i'm currently rewatching Jane the Virgin, just starting s4

Sweet/savoury/spicy - sweet tooth for sure, i'm a sugar addict

Relationship status - single and content

Current obsession - i really feel that my obsessions never go away or wind down, anything i've ever loved to the degree of hyperfixation i still love just as much, and i'm ready to direct my attention to any of them at any time always. BUT i have been spending most of my time in the six of crows world for the past year. i used to read fic like 5+ years ago but there was very little at the time, so coming back to discover how much there is now (post show) has been extremely fun. getting to discover all the talented people who have chosen to pour their creativity into a thing you love is so exciting

Last thing searched - the name of my superannuation fund because i can never remember it lol, trying to sort out some irl admin stuff, very not fun and easy to get stressed about 😔

i think i will no-pressure tag @sparrowmoth , but also you may have done this already sometime in the months its taken me to do it!

#meme

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coffeefiction · 1 year

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Hey! I just read your part two and OH MY GOD! It was amazing, but alas I must give you an idea (sorry not sorry!). So my brain is thinking that a month passes by and everyone is missing reader but none as much as Wally, it got to the point where even Veronica is trying to find a way to bring reader back (even though Wally broke up with her for reader in the first place) but Reader ends up coming back into Welcome Home because they forgot their picture book (like those memory books full of pictures) and they run into Wally!

Work with the idea however you see fit but do tag me on part 3!!!

Thank you!!

Part 3 is already out and unfortunately, I couldn't add your idea although there will be part 4, and there is a high chance I might yonk your idea somewhere in the storyline.

Sorry for the late reply, I'm quite new to this and I don't know how to properly interact with people without thinking I messed up somewhere or thinking I made people uncomfortable-

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insanityofvaas · 9 months

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2 in 1 uquizzes

Thank you @hotmessteaparty for thinking of me, sending you much love! ❤️

And sorry to everyone that it takes me an age sometimes to get tag games, asks and everything else done. I love you all, but I'm a mess more often than not, let's be real.

I'll be doing both quizzes with my OC Eduardo.

He still needs a bunch of work and quizzes might be a good way to flesh out more details about him. Or just fun. Both good things!

What is your OCs true role in the story?

the antihero ah yes, hello edge lord. it is lovely to see you again. you my dear, are the incarnation of duality, and you might think of claws and venom mixed with grace but alas, nothing near as poetic. you my friend, are mixture of what is seen as right, and what is questioned. you follow the path of your own two feet, you know the twists and turns of life's forests quite well if I do say so myself. and you can meander along them wonderfully. you strive to stay true to a certain sense of principles you might call your code, but whereas in reality, those would be your morals. people tend to see you as strange. sharp edged and glinting you hide behind a cloak of chain mail but really you just prefer to show off your imperfections first. unlike many who scramble to make it as if their flaws never existed, you proudly raise yours up. saying, "this is me, this is the worst of me, now you know what to expect." and might I say, it is quite an intriguing mindset, for truth be told, the ones that love your spikes and craters are the ones who appreciate your softness the most. you wish not to be loved as something lovable, but as a monster. for aren't we all just beasts in human skin? you are brave, but you are lonely. you know quite well how to scare off most, making even the heroes with the boldest bravado creep away with their tails between their legs. you are not a villian, sometimes you play the part a bit too well. but nevertheless you are no hero either. you put yourself first, but if one wins your trust then may the gods have mercy on those who might wrong them. you long to be a poetic mess of sorts, and well, if the ink sets in long enough you might just become that sooner or later. but for one who is so dead set on truth you sure do hide a lot don't you? please, step out of the shadows, there is a difference to not making your flaws visible and to simply acting as if you're the most despicable person in all the realms. it's because you're afraid of attachment is it not? well let me tell you a little secret, everyone is. you say you wish to be left alone for eternity but than why are you craving connection. you wish to be known and understood truly, but you snarl and push the ones that might be trying away. please little wolf, accept you are lovable. you are not some ravenous beast that terrifies the multitudes, sure, you are not for the faint of heart but that does not make you an inkling less perfect as you are. young antihero, step into the sun. you would do better actually reaching for the things you want rather than pining for them in the darkness.

I don't really think he's an edge lord or anything like that. There are definitely things in there that suit him, for sure, so I'm okay with that result!

The "Oh" quiz

the kiss you typically wait until the last second to believe the truth--because it would destroy you to believe it, and then find out it was a lie. you are someone who has never wanted to want, but has rarely been able to do anything else. the idea that you might have to break down your walls for the sake of someone else, someone who could easily decide they don't like what is on the other side, is harrowing. why let people get close enough to be rejected? you are enough for yourself. and you will tell yourself that every time you catch yourself staring at their mouth, smirking at their joke, finding a reason to flick their shoulder. until the kiss. that's when the flood of want, want, want bowls over you and you realize that you are torn between two ways of living. Oh, you think. because despite how complicated you have made it, the moment you kiss, somehow, things seem incredibly simple. they won't be once you start thinking again, but for now, for this moment, you live in the quiet peace of revelation. Oh.

Okay, another result I'm fine with because, again, there are some decent truths in there that I can see fitting him! Mind you, a lot of him not liking to get too close with people romantically is because he's a slut, lol, and the idea of tying himself down to a single person kind of freaks him out. He's still young and wants to have fun!

And there you have it! So, I'll be tagging, with zero pressure: @chocopinda (when you're back, I miss you! <3) @jasonsnowwhitebrody @themadknightuniverse @kidkubrick @ignaciosalamanca @ignaurcio @jacobseedsmalewife @so-cal-douchebag @stacispratt @chaosgoodvibes and anyone else that wants to do it because my attention span is dying.

#tag games #thank you for tagging me ❤️#❤️❤️❤️

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thenookienostradamus · 11 months

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1, 3, 4, 14 - CHOOSE VIOLENCE BABY!

Thank you!!!! ::rubs hands like Mr. Burns and chuckles evilly::

#1. the character everyone gets wrong: ok so, disclaimer - I actually don't care much about other people's character interpretations. You do you, folks. That being said.... Eöl. I think the "evil-to-the-core, creepy-rapist" explanation for his behavior is too simplistic. I have a fascination with people's responses to trauma (after having processed a lot of my own trauma responses), and I see him as having been deeply traumatized - the mechanism is up to you. He wants what anyone wants: love and family. But he's too damaged to make it work. My pet theory is that Aredhel is also extremely damaged from her upbringing. Try as they might, they're both just too messed up to make it work. And no, trauma doesn't excuse murder, but there was no murder and there's no need to excuse anything because these are MAKE-BELIEVE PEOPLE. (That last addition is for the fiction-is-reality idiots.)

#3. screenshot or description of the worst take you've seen on tumblr: oh dear god...so many bad takes. idk about the absolute worst, but here was a recent one (paraphrased): people who have sexual fantasies about hypothetical non-consensual encounters are "minimizing the trauma of real victims" and kinksters who negotiate noncon scenarios are self-hating sickos. Yeaaah, take your radfem purity-culture takes and shove 'em right alongside the big ol' stick in your ass, ya bellends.

#4. what was the last straw that made you finally block that annoying person? I asked mutuals repeatedly to please PLEASE tag stuff about wellness/fitness/weight/diet. I have my own opinions and I do not inflict them on others; I do not want the opinions of others inflicted on me. One person just couldn't get with that, so I had to block. Sorry not sorry; it's my dashboard. Another mutual, alas, is hovering perilously close to getting blocked for the same reason.

#14. that one thing that you see in fics all the time. "cum." It's an immediate nope-out, no matter how far in I am. it's a dumb fucking word. My estimation of any writer plummets into a shit-filled gutter the instant I see that word. It's stupid, it's juvenile, and I'm judgy about it.

THANK YOU! I l choose violence!!

#ask game

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shu-glue · 2 years

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Chapter 7: Operation Help You Help Me, Commence!

Summary: You and Suna finally begin studying! At least, you would have begun if you both weren't so pissy with each other. After getting kicked out of the library, you take Suna to your secret study spot.

A/N: i am so over this /j tumblr kept nerfing the chapter and i couldnt figure out what was wrong im so sorry to the taglist, yall kept getting tagged omg. hopefully it works now and yall enjoy the chapter hsfhgjshgjsh

prev / masterlist / next

taglist!

@milkteeboba @fairywriter-oracle @s-adidass @admiringlove @mmmaaannnsssiii @pavo-ocxllus @jojowantstocry @alienvarmint @meri-soni-meri-tamanna

"Suna…"

Said middle blocker doesn't lift his face from his arms. "Mm?"

Face muffled in your hands, you mope on the sidewalk outside Inarizaki with Suna beside you, also moping.

"I don't think the library would be lettin' us back in any time soon..."

"....Mm."

Earlier…

"Good morning, guys, where did we leave off last time?" The teacher steps off the podium and grabs a piece of chalk, beginning to write out the lesson on the board.

One girl lifts her hand tentatively. "We were learnin' about character archetypes."

"Thank you, Itto-san; now, please turn to page 95 of your textbook—"

If Suna wasn't so determined to prevent you from getting any more opportunities to get the upper hand on him, he would have gone to sleep one character archetype ago. Book propped up to cover his sleeping face, it was so, so tempting right now.

But alas, he knows that if he doesn't take down notes and you find out later, you'll never let him off the damn hook for the rest of the afternoon (god forbid).

It's the day after you and Suna made your agreement and signed that goofy contract. That goofy ass contract. You'd think someone like you would have some cutesy handwriting, not chicken scratch and sentences that look like they're an airplane taking off.

He would have laughed out loud at the ever increasing irony yesterday if he hadn't felt so irritated with you.

("Hey. If ya didn't try ta blackmail me," you were smirking that goddamn smirk, unfortunately the very first 'smile' he's seen that reached your eyes, "I would have agreed ta tutor ya.")

Suna bites the nail of his thumb, glaring ahead. He'll admit, he was a bit too hasty in trying to mess with you. He'll have to be more careful around you in the future since you've proven to be able to turn the tide.

And because he's going to be around you more often now.

"That's suspicious."

Suna closes his eyes as if he feels a headache coming on and slowly opens them again as he turns to his right. Osamu is side-eyeing him, twirling his pen between his fingers. Dun eyes look him up and down, narrowed and eyebrows furrowed. What's all this scrutiny for?

"Are you quoting a meme or are you talking to me?"

"No, I'm talkin' ta the window." Osamu rolls his eyes. "Ya never take notes. Usually yer dead asleep by now and I have ta cover fer yer ass."

"Well, excuse you, maybe I'm actually going to take this class seriously." Suna rolls his eyes, ignoring the way Osamu snaps his head towards his friend, an eyebrow raised.

"Now that's even weirder. Who brainwashed ya?"

"Shut up."

Osamu's usually not so inquisitive and Suna would prefer it if the former would fucking stop right now. The thought of meeting with you later is already enough to make him want to lie about getting sick and take the rest of the day off. "Did ya get a tutor? That's the only explanation I could think of." Osamu tilts his head, as if he's more curious than he should be.

"Why are you so annoying about this?"

"I just didn't expect anyone to want to tutor you with your horrible personality." Suna glares at him at the comment. "Who's the unlucky bastard stuck with teachin' yer dense ass, anyway?"

Well, everyone is bound to know one way or another, and coming clean to begin with will stop any rumors from spreading.

When Suna says your name, it takes Osamu a couple of seconds to fully register it. He turns away from Suna to look towards the board, then back at Suna again. He looks at his notebook before he snaps his head towards Suna once again, this time with wide eyes as the words sink in. "WHAT."

"Mr. Suna, Mr. Miya, would ya like ta discuss whatever yer discussing right now to the class?" The teacher asks them, every one of their classmates turned towards them once again.

"Ah… n-no sir." Suna mumbles, averting his gaze at the same time Osamu mutters an embarrassed "sorry".

"Just don't do it again or I'll have you both spend the rest of the class in the corridor."

The teacher returns to teaching and Osamu returns to… being Osamu; annoying the shit out of Suna. "Are ya messin' with me? Them?? The girl you've been having bad blood with for the past few days???"

"Yeah."

"Did ya blackmail them ta do it?"

Suna is unfortunately reminded of his failed attempt at blackmailing you yesterday, which makes his face sour. "No, what makes you say that?"

Honestly, the thought of you tutoring Suna would raise some—if not all—eyebrows. That video posted the other day has made its rounds enough for everyone to guess that you and Suna are "mortal enemies". If someone from another class were to be asked what they think, they'd say that you and Suna being in the same room would just spell trouble (and inconvenience).

Neither of you are exactly thrilled at the prospect of being around each other either, but there's nothing else to be done.

"How did ya convince them, then? Last I checked, they hate yer guts too. Maybe even more 'cuz you've been messing with them yesterday." Osamu asks, propping his chin on his palm.

Suna sighs, leaning back and tapping his pen on his desk. "Well, we made a deal, in exchange for tutoring me, I teach them—"

("Firstly, no one should know about this deal, especially Kita. If I found out ya tell anyone else about this, god forbid those Miya twins, yer dead to me." Maybe Suna should have asked if the soul-piercing and deadly glare on your face was serious or not.)

"—how to choose better manga next time." Now, Suna panicked; he said the first words that came to mind, apart from 'teach you how to be a girlfriend which is, in hindsight, such an absurd idea'. He just hopes you'd kill him a bit more gently now for outing you as an avid manga reader (you will not be pleased).

Osamu blinks. "...manga."

Suna's voice breaks. "Yes."

Osamu blinks again. "...they read manga?"

"They do; they, uh, they're not obsessed," (debatable), "and they don't read anything weird," (also debatable), "but, yes." Suna coughs. "They do."

God probably heard his plea because Osamu finally dropped it, shrugging his shoulders. "I guess I shouldn't judge a book by its cover." He says, turning back to the front of the class and Suna does a silent and subtle fistbump.

Morning classes end and lunch comes and everyone walks out of their classrooms. Everyone except for a few, however; and that includes you.

You're glaring at the unopened melon bread package in front of you, wanting to eat so bad but your stupid brain is scolding you too much to do so.

What were you thinking?! Do you want to die early from high blood pressure?!

You shouldn't have agreed to Suna's offer! A player with a bad track record of bad relationships isn't the best source of relationship knowledge! You should've thought about that.

Maybe it was the urge to one up him or maybe you were just that desperate, but in hindsight, this entire agreement is fucking WHACK.

You whine out in frustration, dropping your head in your arms to bury yourself away from the world. You even said you need to be careful of falling in love. As if you'd ever fall for someone like him! He's the worst! The absolute worst—!

"Hey—"

"Shut the hell up and leave me alone." You whine, lifting your head up to glare at whoever decided to interrupt your self-pity party. Only to have your eye almost poke out of their sockets when you see the familiar mop of silver hair that could only belong to Kita. A concerned looking one at that.

"Hey, are ya okay?" Kita asks you, thick eyebrows knitted together in concern and your mouth opens and closes like a fish out of water, absolutely mortified.

"K-Kita! I'm sorry, I didn't—Oh my god, I'm so sorry," you let the sentence out with a rushed tone.

"I know ya never snap at people like that fer no reason, don't worry." Kita crouches down so he's eye level with you. "Then again, I haven't seen ya so irritated ever since we were kids. What's got ya so worked up?"

You let out a nervous laugh. Kita always knew if you were feeling down or feeling frustrated about something. That's just who he is, how he's been with you all your life. He could be a mountain away and he'd still be able to tell that you're overthinking about something.

("If it's real, then why hasn't Kita fallen for you yet?" The only good thing that happened after these words was the way Suna shut the fuck up at your glare.)

"Uhm, it's just something stupid, Kita." You say, hoping that that's enough to appease him. Alas, this is Kita. Mr. No-Gaps Kita is what his teammates call him, from what you heard.

"Ya can tell me anythin', remember?" Kita assures you, placing a hand on your forearm.

God, if Suna were here, he'd probably comment on how rigid you became. "It's really nothing…" You trail off at the look on Kita's face and you internally groan.

Kita has two expressions that he knows absolutely, absolutely, wins you over every time. The Puppy Dog Eyes is his go-to because you always crumble under them after 3 seconds.

And the 'I'll Tell You're Brother About That One Time in the Porch And Won't Help You When He Teases You For It' look. He rarely ever uses this one. But when he does, you know he’s serious because he has shown you long chat threads between him and your dear older brother (you think the number one mistake in your childhood was allowing Kita and Shinichi to become friends as well) where Shinichi asks about how you're doing.

“Okay, fine! Just don’t tell Shinichi!”

“I didn’t say I’d tell him…”

“Ya didn’t have ta.” You sigh, fixing your fringe. “I’m, uh, I’m tutoring Suna.” At your words, Kita's eyebrows raise and he straightens his back, surprised. You were adamant about not helping Suna with even a single chemical formula, so this is a shock.

"Ya sure? Ya don't have ta if you don't wanna, even if I ask ya to do it." Kita looks worried. "He needs the help but if he keeps being a bother to ya—"

You snort derisively, leaning back in your chair. "Well, he did try ta blackmail me," your admission immediately has Kita's face falling, replaced by an unimpressed glare.

"Oh. Did he now."

"Ya can stop thinkin' of making him suffer at practice later, we came to a compromise." You deadpan. "I know how to handle blackmail, Kita, I've done it plenty of times before. I wouldn't have agreed ta tutor him if we didn't have a deal."

Kita's face falls further, guilty, and you panic at the sight of it. You wave your hands frantically in front of you, stuttering over your words. "H-hey! Don't feel so guilty, Kita, it was my choice ta tutor him in the end." You assure him. "Besides, I ain't doin' it for free, he said he'd teach me—"

Shit.

"—hOw to play volleyball!"

If Suna were here, he wouldn't have just taken a picture, he would have recorded that audio. Maybe even taken a video. Because this would singlehandedly be the most embarrassing state you've been in ever since you were born. No, ever since your soul entered this world.

Kita blinks, confused at your outburst yet again. "...volleyball?" He repeats, as if bewildered.

God, you hope your voice doesn't crack again. "YeAh!" Sigh. "Volleyball. I—I don't know how to play so like, I thought—I thought it would be fun, ya know? Since ya play. And yer the captain of the volleyball team. Ya should know, how fun it is…. since ya play it everyday."

If the ground doesn't swallow you up in the next five seconds, you're going to purchase the next ticket to Antartica. The penguins won't judge you there.

Kita blinks again before he frowns and his eyes are downcast. "You could've asked me ta teach ya."

If the ground doesn't swallow you up in the next five seconds as punishment for making Kita sad, you're going to purchase the next ticket to Antartica so the penguins can judge you instead (Rockhopper Penguins look judgemental enough. Though you're not sure if there are Rockhopper Penguins in Antartica).

"I-I didn't wanna bother ya, Kita, yer already so busy with yer team…" You say immediately, trailing off when you see the slightly disappointed expression on his face.

You never liked to lie to Kita. It makes your stomach ache worse than when you met him for the first time. You've dubbed it the worst feeling in the world when your lie makes him sad in the process as well.

"I want to." He replies.

"I'm sorry, I really just didn't wanna bother ya…" You say, clasping your hands together on your lap. "When I learn how to play volleyball, let's play a match together! I'll beat yer butt like old times!"

Finally, Kita sighs and gives you an endeared smile, smothering a laugh and patting your head. It's warm. "If ya say so. Though, I don't remember a time ya beat me in anything."

"Sure, there was. Ya remember that time with—"

It was nice, talking to him like this again while it lasted. A cough interrupts the two of you and you both turn to the doorway to see Aran standing there awkwardly, wearing an awkward smile. "Sorry ta interrupt, Kita, the coaches called for ya." He says, giving you a sheepish nod in greeting, which you return.

Aran knows Kita is fond of you, though he had never been able to decipher why their captain took a liking to you (in their eyes). "Right, I'm coming." Kita says, standing up straight once again.

Before he walks away, he turns to you and, with a soft smile, he says, "see ya later."

You politely wave goodbye, and watch as Kita and Aran walk out of your classroom and out of sight. When they're truly gone, you slowly deflate, eyes downcast and lower lip caught between your teeth.

You're so tired of acting like strangers.

With your art club duties done for the day, you immediately go over to the gymnasium. You finished at the same time the volleyball team finished practice, it seems, seeing as they are now busy tidying up the gym. You stand by the entrance, looking into the wide space with a blank but curious gaze.

Oddly, it's the older Miya twin who notices you first, freezing in the process of pushing the ball cart across the court. You blink, nodding at him. Which one was he again? Osamu? Atsushi? Atsumu?

"Pardon the intrusion," you say instead, bowing in politeness towards the faux blond. Instead of a proper reply, Atsumu gawks at you, eyes and mouth open wide, and he whirls around towards his twin with such speed you thought he broke his neck.

"SAMU. YA WEREN'T KIDDING, THEY REALLY ARE GONNA TUTOR 'IM." Were the words that escaped the blond's mouth in a rather eardrum-breaking shout. Honestly, judging from how he interacted with Nana the other day, does he really not have a low volume setting?

"SEE, I TOLD YA, YA DIDN'T BELIEVE ME." His twin is no different.

"Shut the hell up…" You finally notice Suna next to the gray-haired twin. He honestly looks close to melting to the ground. Maybe he shouldn't have told Osamu if he knew the latter would pester him so much.

"Pay them no mind. They're just surprised." Kita tells you as he walks towards you, but he has his piercing glare set on Atsumu and Osamu, who both stand rigid at the silent scolding.

You sigh. "Clearly." You mutter, before schooling your features. "I'm just here to fetch Suna."

"I'm coming, I'm coming, you don't have to escort me like I'm a kid." Said middle blocker glares at you with his sleepy eyes.

"I'm just makin' sure ya don't chicken outta our deal last second."

"Your sass is not appreciated after gruesomer-than-usual training." Suna rolls his shoulder to release the tension in his muscles. Practice is strangely harder than usual (Kita silently looks over strategy plans in the corner).

Osamu perks up as he suddenly calls your name, taking your attention. "If ya wanna read a new manga, try One Piece if ya haven't yet."

Silence. You blink once, twice, tilting your head. Suna silently covers his face beside you. "What?"

"Suna told me he'd help ya choose better manga next time in exchange fer tutorin' him."

Silence. You slowly turn to Suna with a scarily blank face, eyes wide and eyebrow twitching. "What?"

"Eh?" Suna hears Aran blurt out. "I thought Suna would teach them volleyball. That's what ya told me, right, Kita?"

It's your turn to freeze and slowly cover your face, as Suna slowly turns to you with a scarily blank face. "What?"

"We're doin' both!" You immediately exclaim, lifting both hands to slam them on Suna's mouth to stop him from talking. "He'll teach me how to choose better manga series," you give him a pointed glare, "and he'll also teach me volleybAll."

Before anyone could respond, you literally push Suna, middle blocker, 73.2 kilograms, out the double doors. "We'll be on our merry way now, goodbye!"

You're both out the doors and out of sight, leaving the rest of the team baffled at having one of their members—essentially—abducted.

Kita rubs a hand over his face. "I feel a heavy cloud covering me…."

"D-Don't worry, Kita! They'll be able ta be civil for a few hours at least!" Michinari cheerfully assures Kita. "The worst case scenario is that they kill each other!"

"......the cloud is getting heavier……"

"KITA!!!"

"Yer a goddamn asshole."

"I didn't exactly out you as an otaku—"

"I'm not an otaku!" You jut your pen at Suna’s face threateningly, which he easily moves to the side away from his vulnerable face. The air is slightly cold with the air conditioning, the ‘Please lower your voices in the library’ sign swaying idly in the draft. A couple of other students, maybe ten or twelve, are sitting at the other tables of the library. Some are just hanging around and refusing to go home yet, others cramming for quizzes tomorrow.

“Yes, sure, denial does not look cute on you, High and Mighty." Suna says and you massage your temples, feeling the worst migraine of the week coming on. You hate everything annoying.

"Let's just focus on studying fer now before ya give me a bigger headache." You say, sighing loudly as you pull out the materials you need for tutoring Suna. "Let's rank yer subjects from best to worst."

"What? Why?"

"In order ta pass midterms, we need to get all yer subjects at a passing grade. If yer best subjects are the ones yer already passing in, then we'll focus on your kryptonite first." You explain, tapping your pen on the table. "We'll give strict attention to your worst subjects then slowly start reviewing for yer better subjects once midterms are closer."

Suna opens his mouth to retort on instinct, but shuts it close again as he processes your words. "Makes sense."

You give him a passive shrug and a small smirk. "Of course it does, I said it."

"Sounding a little high and mighty there, High and Mighty."

".............." You're dead silent, slowly raising a fist threateningly at Suna, who gets the message fairly quickly.

"Alright, I'll shut up."

Rolling your eyes, you listen as Suna lists Literature as one of his better subjects (a total shock to you, and when you tell him this, Suna pinched your arm) and lists Math and Science as his worst subjects (which didn't surprise you as much but when you tell him this, he still pinched you.)

"Lucky for you," you say, pulling out your Math and Science notes, "I tolerate those two subjects enough ta excel in 'em. We'll focus on Math an' Science fer now and work our way down to your easy subjects."

"I said Math and Science are my worst subjects but I don't think my grades are that bad." Suna interjects, crossing his arms.

"Well, that depends. Can I see yer recent quizzes from your Math and Science class?"

"........."

"I said, can I?"

".................."

Slowly, Suna pulls out a stack—more like crumpled PILE—of papers out of his backpack that you deadpan at, as he places the pile on the table and pushes it towards you. "...Additional Rule Number 7, don't shove yer test papers into yer bag as if they're cotton stuffin' fer a teddy bear."

"I was in a hurry." Suna wasn't exactly lying, per se, he was just in a hurry to not see the scores anymore.

Deadpan, you look down and sift through the pile, finally finding Suna's latest quizzes—

"..................................."

You're dead silent once again but instead of trying to hold back boiling rage, you're absolutely speechless. You alternate between the two test papers over and over again, as if it's going to change what you see on the paper, even turning them over again and again. A few other students in the library have decided to take glances at the two of you, wondering why there's so much incessant sounds of paper crumpling.

You finally look up at Suna with a blank expression, the two test papers in each hand. "Yer grades are fuckin' piss poor."

"It's not that bad—!"

"I don't know if a score of 0.5—in fuckin' total— is considered 'not that bad'!" You're waving his test papers in the air frantically, trying to channel your anger without punting him. "Look—LOOK—there's a freebie, a bonus question on the end, yeah? 'What is the name of yer Science teacher', yeah? That's the only source of yer score! And ya didn't even use the correct kanji!"

"I remembered it enough," Suna trails off, averting his gaze. "What would I do with the excess grades anyway?"

"Ya did not just call them excess grades!"

You massage your temples as you stare straight through Suna, finally realizing just what the hell you signed up for. This is it. The headaches to end all headaches. The peak of headacheness. The goddamn summit. No future headache will ever climb this high again.

"When are midterms…?"

"....in four weeks."

You slowly cover your face with your hands.

"...tutorin' just on weekdays ain't enough." You slide your hands down your face, already tired before you even started tutoring. "Yer not entirely a lost cause," ("Thanks???"), "but if we're gonna get ya ta pass midterms, we need a lot more sessions. A lot."

You're way too emotionally invested at this point because you cannot STAND to see grades that low again. "I'll hav'ta tutor ya on the weekends now too." You lean your chin on your palm. "This Saturday fer example, I'll come by yer house."

Suna grimaces at that and averts his gaze, scratching the back of his neck. "Maybe not my house. My little sister hates people in the house."

You hum. You understand the sentiment, since you don't like random people in your house either. "Then, we'll find somewhere quiet ta study. And fer god's sake, please review yer lessons at home."

"I do study at home, mind you."

"With grades like these??" You wave Suna's test papers in the air in front of his face. "No, ya ain't!"

"I'm sorry not everybody can be 'Miss Perfect' like you." Suna shoots back, glaring as he leans his chin on his hand as well. He's wearing such an arrogant and aggravating expression right now, and his tone is not helping.

"Miss Perfect??" You bristle, placing his test papers on the table again to clench your fists, not noticing your voice getting louder.

"What, you prefer High and Mighty, High and Mighty?" He goads, lips now stretched in his now familiar and all too infuriating smirk. Oh, he can just go and jump off a bridge while doing a triple backflip.

You and Suna glare at each other as the tense air around you increases tenfold, catching the attention of the rest of the students in the library. "Mind if I call ya Jackass then?" You shoot back.

"Bossy bitch."

"Baggy eyes."

"Whiney voice."

"Mr. Bean Haircut."

"Simp."

He did NOT! "Motherfu—!" You're about to release a spew of curses at the middle blocker in a fit of utter aggravation, fed up with his antics even after 20 minutes of being together. But you both flinch when you hear somebody shush you. Loudly.

The librarian is a mean lady and the only reason why you very rarely visit the library even though it has a considerable amount of books you'd like to browse through someday. Graying brown hair tied into a tight bun, egg shaped magenta glasses perched high on her snotty nose bridge. She's so vexing.

"Quiet." She says, eyeing you and Suna with the dirtiest look you've seen of her to date as she points up at a 'Please lower your voice in the library' sign. She's vexing but she gives you the shivers all the same.

"Ah, we apologize." You mutter, bowing your head.

"Sorry, I was just arguing with my tutor." Suna says at the same time and you whirl around to glare at him fiercely, which he ignores.

The librarian scoffs but returns to whatever she was doing before she set her ire on the two of you. "Great job, Suna." Your harsh tone doesn't evoke a response from him, his impassive gaze set on you. "Ya almost got us banned from the library!"

"Me?" Suna's scoff almost sounds identical to the librarian's. "You're the one who's getting riled up here, High and Mighty."

"Because you insist on bein' a pain in the neck!"

"I didn't even DO anything these past few minutes!"

"YER EXISTENCE IS ANNOYIN' IN GENERAL!"

"YOU'RE A PAIN IN THE NECK TOO, FOR YOUR INFORMATION—!"

"ENOUGH. YOU TWO. GET OUT!"

Present…

"Will ya please be serious about this fer once?!" You snap, finally lifting your face from your hands to glare at Suna for the nth time this afternoon. "We coulda been banned! The librarian just kickin' us out might be the nicer thing she coulda done ta us!"

"Your dialect gets stronger when you're angry." Suna unhelpfully comments instead of being serious like you asked. "That's a first, I gotta say."

"What first, that I was stupid enough ta argue with ya in the library?!"

"I was talking about almost getting banned from the library." Suna stands up and dusts off his pants. "But yeah. Seeing you get so riled up was entertaining, High and Mighty."

You sigh loudly, standing up as well and dusting yourself off too, stomping your foot. "At least yer the one who finds all of this funny." You send him a scathing glare. "Call me High and Mighty again and I'll break yer fingers, get ya benched from tournaments regardless of grades."

"Oooh, threatening me now. Not so innocent, are you, High and Mighty?" The kick you deliver to his shin completely wipes off the smirk that was starting to form on Suna's face. You're smug on the inside but you don't let it show on your face, turning around to walk away.

"Go home fer now, Suna."

You don't let him have the last word, walking away before he could respond. You love doing that to him, don't you? Leave it up to you to rile Suna up just as much as he does you.

Not even the Miya twins are this annoying to him (and to say someone is more irritating than Atsumu? That's a feat). "High and Mighty… you've got no shame, do you?" He mutters under his breath, running a hand down his face. He has no shame either.

When he finally goes home to the apartment, he catches Risumi coming out of the living room, homework and empty strawberry milk carton in hand. Suna raises an eyebrow when he sees her and Risumi frowns, rolling her eyes.

"I'm home." He says as she turns around to walk back to her room. "Did you eat dinner?"

"Yeah."

"Risumi, if I open the fridge and see the curry untouched, I'm telling Mom you're not eating again." Suna threatens, following Risumi to the hallway that leads to their rooms. "Risumi."

"Whatever." Risumi turns her head just enough to glare at Suna before she slams the door to her room shut behind her. Suna's nose would have been crushed if he was standing just an inch further.

Suna sighs loudly, partly in pettiness so Risumi could hear him through the door, before trudging to the living room. He drops his bag to the floor, rubbing his face as he plops down on the couch and covers his eyes with his forearm.

How are you and Suna going to complete even one study session if you're both at each other's throats all the time? Maybe if you hadn't judged his grades earlier— ugh!

"Dad," Suna calls out to the air. The small shrine sits pristine at the corner like usual, Suna's father—Suna Masashi—smiling brightly in the picture. "How do you deal with people you can't stand?"

Their dad was always good at that, Suna somewhat remembers. Dealing with people without letting his emotions or ideals get in the way of things. Their dad was always professional, stoic. But so warmhearted with him and Risumi and their mother.

Suna abruptly pulls his arm away from his face. "It's not like I didn't antagonize them first." He admits to the empty space. "But you know, they proved my point anyway. So annoying…"

He finally looks at the photo sitting atop the small shrine. Eyes crinkled at the corners behind dark rimmed glasses, lips turned upwards in a radiant smile—the only smile reserved for their family. Slight showings of a light stubble on his chin. Suna frowns.

Their dad was described as cold and arrogant. He heard his elementary classmates back in Nagoya say so while their dad was still alive. Cold, arrogant, stoic.

The front door opens and Suna turns to see their mother, Suna Tsubomi, walk into the apartment, tired and dressed in her nurse uniform. She blinks when she sees Suna and gives him a bright smile as she kicks off her shoes. "Rintarou! I'm home." She readjusts her low ponytail.

"Welcome home." Suna greets back, nodding at her. "Uhm, mom."

Tsubomi blinks, tilting her head as she places her bag down on the couch next to Suna's bookbag tentatively. "What's wrong, Rin? Something bothering you at school?" She asks Suna, eyebrows furrowed.

"No, not really." Suna averts his gaze. "What was dad like in high school?"

"Hot."

"Mom."

Tsubomi laughs heartily, patting Suna on the head. "I'm sorry, I'm sorry. I couldn't resist like I couldn't resist your dad when we were second years." Her words make Suna groan in embarrassment. "Well, to answer your question, your dad was like… hmm, he was the same when he was in high school and when he became your dad.

"He was real quiet. Real intimidating, too. Everyone avoided him like the plague when he first transferred." Tsubomi giggles fondly. "But he wasn't as scary or arrogant as everyone thought him to be, mind you. I saw him chase down a cat that stole his underwear, you know," Suna snorts, "it's true! Chased it down three blocks before he got his underwear back. Your dad had his moments."

"What made you like him?"

Tsubomi hums, holding her chin with her fingers. "I didn't like him at first. Like everybody else, I thought he was rude and arrogant and cold." Her eyes soften ever so slightly as she looks over at the picture in the corner, atop the small shrine, as if a distant memory is replaying in her head. "But then, I don't know.

"I looked at him from a different angle."

Suna blinks, sitting up straighter when he hears those words. Tsubomi laughs, waving her hand. "And then we had you and Risumi so I guess that new perspective was worth it. Why do you ask, Rin?" Her eyes suddenly shone like stars. "Do you like somebody, perhaps?"

"No. No, it's just… somebody from school I've been having trouble with." Suna says, averting his gaze again. "They're cold, distant, and rude, and it always feels like they're judging everything and everyone." (You do, though.) "We were…supposed to be working together today, but we couldn't get anything done because we kept butting heads."

Tsubomi frowns, placing her hands on her hips with a stern expression. "Are they the one causing trouble?" She asks.

"...it's not entirely them." Suna admits, sighing.

Their mom hums. "Maybe the both of you butt heads because you haven't come to an understanding yet. Just give it time, and do what you're supposed to do. Who knows," she smiles brightly, close eyed, "maybe you'll see them in a different light, as they will you."

The middle blocker is silent, lips sealed shut as he glances at Masashi's picture once again. "Debatable."

Ring. Ring.

Tsubomi raises an eyebrow at the ringtone, watching as Suna pulls out his phone and stares at the unknown phone number in confusion. "Who's that?"

"I don't know."

Suna hangs up the call and not even two seconds later, the same number rings again, accompanied with a lone, borderline aggravated message:

unknown [7:37PM]

pick up the phone jackass

"I'm going to my room for a bit." Suna says, nodding when their mother tells him to just come out for dinner in a few minutes.

There's only one person he knows that would be able to channel such irritated energy in a text like that (it's lowkey funny). Plopping down onto his bed, the door shut, he finally answers your call. "Yo."

"Ya take so long ta answer a simple call."

"I don't normally answer random calls from random numbers." Suna furrows his eyebrows and rubs his temple. "How did you get my number anyway?"

"A little silver birdie gave me yer number when ya conveniently forgot ta do so."

"I didn't forget to give you my number. I remembered to not give you my number. Biiig difference."

"Whatever." Suna lets out a small 'snrk' at your exasperated tone. "I remembered a good spot for us ta study. It's a hole in the wall cafe some blocks away from the school. Only a handful of people go there, and I'm pretty sure no one from our school knows the place."

"A hole in the wall, huh?" Suna muses, clicking out of the call to scroll through his social media, rolling his eyes when he sees a video of you and Suna arguing in the library entitled 'Suna Rintarou and Asagao Kid finally duke it out! #NO CLICKBAIT!!!' (he knows he records and posts videos of Atsumu and Osamu brawling from time to time but come on). "Sounds like a good idea. I don't really like the idea of other people watching us. I'm willing to guess you don't want other people to watch me teach you how to be in relationships, too."

"Of course I don't, jackass!" He hears you sigh from the other end of the line. "Then, let's walk together after yer practice and my club activities. It's a little hard to locate the cafe if yer not used to the area."

"Sure, High and Mighty." Suna smirks when he hangs the call up right after, knowing he didn't let you respond this time. Heh.

His phone pings again.

unknown [7:49PM]

youre an ass

He couldn't help it; he actually laughs out loud at your message, collapsing back onto his bed with a slight bounce of the mattress, his phone on his stomach. Maybe he should change your contact name to something he knows you'll roll your eyes at and chastise him for when you ever decide to steal his phone.

high&mighty [7:50PM]

dont change my contact name to anything stupid on your phone, okay

suna [7:50PM]

too late :P

"We finished earlier than usual!" Nana cheers, pumping her fists in the air in victory as the three of you walk out the clubroom after another long day, stretching her back while she does so.

Ryuji grins brightly back, glancing at you. "The posters for the volleyball team should be done by the end of the week as well, earlier than we planned."

"I know, I'm sorta happy about it." You smile, already imagining the elated face Kita would have once the posters are finished. "I'm kinda proud of them too."

"Ya should be more than 'kinda' proud of 'em, senpai!" Nana turns to face you, a stern expression on her face. "Ya worked on those posters real hard! And they all look so amazin', those meatheaded volleyball players would be downright stupid if they call yer hard work ugly!"

You giggle lightly, Ryuji rolls his eyes. "No one is going ta outright call Vice Prez's posters ugly."

"Ya never know. A couple of those volleyballers are outright dumbasses."

"Yer talkin' about the blond Miya."

"How'd ya know."

"Guys, stop it." You chastise them and they both sigh loudly, muttering drawled 'okay's. "Speaking of the volleyball team, I need ta go over to the gym and fetch Suna again for tutorin'."

Nana turns to you with a 'scandalized' expression, Ryuji blinks at you curiously. "WHAT? But I thought the both of ya got banned from the library! There was a whole video about it online!"

"We were just kicked out, not really banned. I found a good spot he and I could go to to study without anyone else catching us arguing." Your casual tone makes the two of them freeze, bodies going rigid and book bags almost falling from their shoulders from lack of support.

"S, somewhere… secret?" Nana starts.

"Where no one else will see the two of ya?" Ryuji continues, face going white.

Oblivious, you turn around with a curious and impassive expression, mentally wondering why they suddenly stopped walking. "Yeah, why?"

You are responded to with Nana abruptly grabbing your biceps, holding you there with an urgent look on her face. "S-senpai, if Suna touches ya in any way, you run the opposite direction, ya hear me?" Her words prompt a weird noise from you, something between a strangled goat and a guy choking on jello, pounding on your chest to prevent choking yourself.

"Wh— wait, no, yer misunderstanding! We really are just going to study, we aren't going to be completely alone—!"

"Take this pepper spray with ya just in case." Ryuji hands you a small container.

"I don't need it! Why are y'all being so weird about it!" You ask, flustered at their ill hidden assumptions.

"Senpai, Suna Rintarou is a PLAYBOY and yer going to be together, ALONE." Nana pulls on her long wild hair for emphasis, in part frustration and part worry.

"I'll be fine!" You pout, crossing your arms. You're getting annoyed at their paranoia.

"Vice Prez, we're just worried about ya. We know he's not that bad," Nana gives Ryuji a hard glare, "we know he might not be that bad, but it's always better ta be safe than sorry."

Letting out a long, drawn out sigh, you drape yourself on Nana and Ryuji's shoulders, pulling them close to you with an exasperated and defeated expression. "Fine, I'll just be extra…"

"Extra careful." Ryuji points at you with a long finger.

"Yeah, yeah, I'll be extra careful."

"And kick him in the nuts if he does anythin' perverted!" Nana exclaims, some students around you turning their heads at Nana's words.

You cover your face to avoid being associated. "Got it. I'm leaving now."

"Remember, senpai, the nuts! Go for the nuts!" Nana yells after you and you walk faster, eager to escape the embarrassing situation.

On the plus side, you arrive at the gym in record time. On the down side, your shins hurt. Trudging to the entrance, you can hear the sound of the ball hitting the polished wooden floorboards and the squeaking of sneakers against the surface. You'll probably be hearing this a lot in the following weeks.

Moving the net away so you can enter, you announce your entrance, "Sorry for the intru—"

Only to be almost hit with a volleyball that's probably going the speed of a bullet train. "—sion." You calmly finish, passively watching the ball bounce to a stop a few feet away and slowly turning your gaze to see who almost hit you.

"I'M SORRY." None other than Miya Atsumu shouts from the other side of the gym, frozen on his post-jump serve position and face white as a sheet. You deadpan.

Is this something you have to get used to in the coming weeks too…?

"Great job, idiot." Osamu's sarcasm is met with a fiery response from Atsumu, who whirls around to face his twin with a crimson face.

"SHUDDUP, 'SAMU!"

This interaction alerts Kita of your presence while Akagi goes to fetch the wayward ball, the former already beginning to jog towards your side when Suna beats him to it.

"High and Mighty, careful or you'll mess up that pretty face." He teases you, hands shoved in his shorts as improvised pockets. You feel annoyed already.

"Aww, ya think I'm pretty, Suna?" You drawl sarcastically, throwing a halfhearted glare his way and daintily covering your mouth with your hand.

He rolls his eyes. "Got me again, you goofy cow."

"Did you just call me a cow—? Ya know what, don't answer that."

"I meant a cow as a compliment!"

"Oh thank you, great sweaty ass Suna." You drawl, rolling your eyes and crossing your arms.

"I'm sweaty, huh?" Suna outstretched his arms. "Gimme a hug."

"Ew, no. Yer gonna get yer disgusting sweat on me."

Suna gives you an unamused expression and suddenly stalks towards you, arms still outstretched and dead set on hugging you with his sweaty ass. "S, Suna, no. Absolutely not. Suna Rintarou, stop that this instant—SUNA!"

"Just one lil hug."

"No!" You squeal, clumsily trying to dodge his tall frame and his stupid long arms.

"You're so cruel, High and Mighty, denying a guy his hugs." He's deadpan as he chases you around the court, earning looks from the rest of the team. You continue to yell curses at him, evading him around the net that Aran and Ginjima are trying to take down to return to the storage room (and failing because of the two of you).

Akagi arrives back with the ball Atsumu served way out of bounds, raising an eyebrow at the scene in front of him as he glances at Kita. "Shouldn't we stop 'em?"

Kita watches you and Suna, Suna finally getting close enough to wrap his sweaty body around you before you kick him in the shin. Osamu laughs at the middle blocker's plight. "No, let them be. We're finished with practice anyway." There's a small, soft smile on Kita's face, brown eyes crinkling at the corners. Akagi raises his eyebrows but doesn't reply, sporting a small smile as well.

Suna finally gives up and heads to the showers with the rest of the team, much to your relief. You don't want to walk around smelling like expired fish sauce. When he finally emerges from the locker room, dressed in his uniform and book bag slung on his shoulder once again, he drapes his large frame over you, his heavy weight making you grunt.

"I'm tired, carry me."

"Get off of me, ya jackass!"

"Yer goin' already, Suna?" Osamu calls out to the both of you, Atsumu close behind his gray haired twin.

"Yep, I'm getting tutored by High and Mighty here." Suna pats your head. "This noggin's my lifeline right about now."

"Then ya better focus on studyin' a bit harder." You kick Suna in the shin again, making him pull himself off you as you begin to walk towards the exit, Suna dramatically limping right after you singing a string of curse words.

Osamu glances at his twin, an eyebrow raised. "Ya think they'll ever finish even one lesson?"

Atsumu doesn't answer that, instead narrowing his honey brown eyes at you and Suna before you exit the gym, more specifically at your retreating figure. "'Samu."

"Hm?"

"Aren'tcha a little bit, I don't know, suspicious of the Asagao kid?" Atsumu crosses his arms. It's seldom that Atsumu is serious and actually thinks of something seriously other than volleyball.

"Why would we be?"

"Crap, I dunno, just—ya know, what if they're like Katatsu—" Atsumu stops, shaking his head and scratching his temple, nose scrunching. "Nevermind. Forget I said anythin'."

Osamu frowns and crosses his arms as well, everything from last year flooding into his head. He doesn't have to be Atsumu's twin to be on the same wavelength as him, to understand exactly what he's saying. "To be fair, I don't think there's anybody worse than that woman."

Atsumu snorts in derision. "Worse than her? No, never." He narrows his eyes. "But as bad as her? Maybe."

If Suna hadn't deemed you at least sane enough to not kill him for all the times he's messed with you, he would have hightailed it outta there once he saw the dodgy alleyway you led him to.

At least, he's sure you're sane enough not to do that, he thinks as he follows you down said dodgy alleyway at 6PM, the sun about to set, away from the mostly bustling street into the quiet, conspicuous, perfect-for-an-inside-job—

"I feel like you're going to have me murdered." His tone is blunt, face impassive when you turn your head behind you to look at him with a raised eyebrow. "At least let me say goodbye to my mom and my bratty sister first."

"I dunno, do ya think I'm capable of havin' ya murdered?" Suna is not too sure if that's sarcasm or not.

"I mean," Suna adjusts his book bag, "maybe not you alone."

You only hum in response, choosing to not reply to that as you continue to walk forward. "Wait, are you."

"Am I." You deadpan but you stop in front of a quaint, sliding door, flanked on either side with a vast array of flowers, bouquets placed onto small wooden boxes, with light brown awning.

It contrasts greatly with the rest of the alley, which is dark, damp, and honestly a little smelly. There's a wooden sign placed above the awning, the words 'Chiho's Flower Lab' written gracefully in calligraphy. There's also a relatively smaller sign next to it, which Suna almost didn't notice. 'Cafe on the second floor'.

"I hope ya ain't allergic to flowers." You say to a confused Suna, before you slide the door open, letting the light from inside bathe the dark and damp alleyway.

Asagao General Hospital ID: Suna Tsubomi

Age: 43 years old

Birthday: February 13

Fun Fact: In high school, Tsubomi followed the gyaru trend and was one of the most popular girls among the student body (oh how did Masashi win this gal's heart?)

Sports Instructor ID: Suna Masashi

Age: 38 (deceased)

Birthday: April 4

Fun Fact: Masashi was the team's starting setter when he was in high school, though a bit of a loner because of his intimidating attitude.

Student ID: Suna Risumi

Age: 13

Birthday: August 11

Fun Fact: She's a closet otaku, none of her classmates in Kitsuhana Middle School know this side of her. Suna has caught her reading manga past 3 am in the past.

#suna x reader #suna rintarou x reader #haikyuu x reader #haikyuu x fem!reader #haikyuu suna x reader #suna fluff #hq x reader #hq fanfic #please teach me how to be a girlfriend #shu writes

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