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kkyaka · 4 months

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Turn Of Events

Summary: After a fire strikes your apartment and Kobori saves you, you have nowhere to go. He offers that you can stay at his place, but there's two problems with that: you have a massive crush on him, and there's only one bed. Pairing: Kobori Koji x black!fem!reader Word Count: 34,428 Warnings: firefighter!koji, mentions of reader being the hospital, mentions of reader being burned (slightly), reader's apartment catches on fire, kobori and reader have massive crushes on each other, kise and moriyama are in this, kobori works with an asshole, there was only one bed!, reader is a teacher, mentions of drinking (everyone is of age), kobori ends up in the hospital at one point, reader and kobori get sick, lots of fluffy and awkward moments, confession of feelings, smut: unprotected sex, first time, multiple orgasms, oral (m), fingering, i think that's it, if there's anything else please lmk! A/N: PLEASE ignore how badly cropped the banner is, I'm being lazy lmfao. This was a fic that was a part of my scrapped follower event lol, and it's been unfinished for so long, but I've finally finished it. It's not edited, and I don't feel like editing it right now lmfao, so I apologize for all of the typos. Another fic that has made it to the top of my favorites list lmfao, I know it's another long one, but I seriously appreciated it if you read it and reblog. Also I haven't written with this trope before, and it was so much fun lmao.

You've never been more grateful for the weekend to be here, nearly dragging yourself into your apartment. This week was draining more than usual, and you want nothing more than to get into bed and begin your peaceful weekend. You set all of your stuff down once you get inside, immediately getting in the shower. You feel significantly better when you get out of the shower, using the rest of the evening to decompress.

You catch up on your favorite show as you grade papers before you make yourself some dinner. You don't even bother staying up later than you usually do, wanting to get into bed so you can get as much sleep as possible. You scroll through your phone for a bit, making sure your alarm isn't on before you settle into bed. It takes you a while to fall asleep, watching some videos on your phone until you finally feel tired enough to fall asleep.

You don't know how long you've been sleeping, but you wake up feeling horribly warm. You sit up, thinking that something's wrong with your thermostat, but you suddenly hear sirens, jumping out of your skin when the sound fills your ears. It sounds like they're right outside your window, and it doesn't take much else for you to figure out the situation you're in. You jump out of bed as the smell of smoke fills your nose, and the adrenaline starts to rush.

You run to the door, but you scream when you touch the door handle, searing pain running through your hand. That's when you realize that the fire is in the hallway, and fear starts to eat at you. You're on the fifth floor, and you don't even know if it's safe to jump. You don't know what to do, the only thing you feel like you can do is scream for help.

You go silent when you think you hear something, but you can't be too sure. You stop screaming, and your eyes widen as relief floods through your system at the sound of a voice coming from the other side of the door. "If you can hear me, step back!" the person yells, and you quickly do, getting away from the door as much as you can.

You curl into yourself, protecting your head and neck as the door is busted down, and you look up in time to see a firefighter walking up to you. He picks you up before you can even think, quickly ushering you out of your apartment and through the fire. You bury your face in his arms as you hold onto him tightly, coughing roughly as you try not to let the smoke get into your lungs.

The moment you know you're outside is when the stifling heat is quickly replaced with the cold air of winter. You look up, seeing that they're carrying you to the back of an empty ambulance. You look past them to see your building on fire, the embers lighting up the night sky as multiple trucks try to put the fire out. They sit you down in the back of the ambulance, and an EMT immediately gives you an oxygen mask.

You try to thank them, but your lungs burn so bad that the only thing you can manage to do is cough. They leave quickly, leaving you alone with the EMT as they check you for any burns. You're able to breathe a little better, and a firefighter walks up to you once the EMT makes sure you don't have any major injuries. He takes his helmet off when he stops in front of you, and your eyes widen when you see who it is.

"Kobori?" you rasp.

"Are you okay?" he asks softly, crouching down in front of you.

You nod. "Yeah, just smoke inhalation. Were you the one who saved me?"

"Yeah. I remember you complaining about living on the fifth floor," he answers, and you try your best not to laugh so that you don't irritate your lungs.

"Thank you so much," you say before you look at your building. You stay silent as you watch the last of the embers go out, biting your lip to keep yourself from crying. "What am I gonna do?" you whisper as you look down at your hands.

Before Kobori can respond, the EMT is walking back to you, saying that they want you to spend some time in the hospital just to make sure everything is okay. That's honestly the last thing you want to do right now, but you know that you don't have any other choice.

"Thank you again, Kobori. I owe you," you tell him.

"It was no problem," he responds warmly before you move to sit in the back of the truck. You watch him get smaller as they drive off, and your smile fades as he does so.

You hear a soft knock on the door that has your head slowly turning towards it, and you smile softly with a confused frown. "What are you doing here?" you ask as Kobori walks up to the bed.

"I just wanted to make sure you had somewhere to stay for the night." You sigh heavily as you look down at your lap, shaking your head before you shrug.

"I mean, not really. My parents live three hours away, and I don't know how long it's going to take me to find another apartment. And not working for who knows how long doesn't sound the best." You sigh again, rubbing your head as you try not to cry again.

"If you're comfortable with it," Kobori starts after he clears his throat, and you wipe the tears that managed to fall as you look up at him. "You can stay with me for the time being," he finishes, and you swear you see his ears turning red.

"Seriously?" you ask. "I can't ask you to do that, Kobori."

"I don't mind. And I don't feel good about you driving home at this time of night," he continues, and you look somewhere else in the room as you think about it. It would be better honestly, and the last thing you want to do right now is drive home.

"Okay. Thank you, Kobori. I owe you."

"Don't mention it. It's the least I could do." He smiles back at you when you do, and you rub over your face again as the fatigue really starts to get to you, the adrenaline you were feeling when you realized that your building was on fire long gone. "Did you call your parents?"

You nod with a huff. "Yeah, it took me everything to convince them not to come down here. I told them that I was just fine, but I kinda told them I already had a place to stay even though I didn't, so you really saved my ass." You both laugh softly in the quiet room before it slowly fades to silence. "I should be good to go in about an hour or so," you add.

"Sounds good," he responds before he sits down in the chair.

"You're staying?" you question as he gets comfortable.

"Yeah. My chief let me go early since I knew someone that was in the fire, so I've got nothing to do."

"Oh, okay. As long as I'm not bothering you," you say quietly.

"You could never bother me," he says even lower than you spoke, but you hear it anyway, and you look down at your lap as you bite your lip to fight your smile, your face growing warm.

You make small talk while you wait to be cleared, and it's seriously the highlight of your night. You and Kobori went to high school and college together, staying in contact after you graduated, but it kind of fizzled out once life started getting a little more demanding. You actually ran into him a couple of months ago at the store, and that's when you told him about your apartment, complaining about the elevator being broken at the time and all of the stairs you had to climb.

The fact that he remembered that makes you smile as you talk to him, surprised that he hadn't forgotten that. But it's not like you were any better. You played that conversation over and over in your head, but you never had the courage to reach out to him again. To most people, it was obvious you had a crush on him, but to him, it didn't seem like he knew, which did and did not work out in your favor.

Seeing him again only made you realize that your feelings for him never left even when you tried dating in the past. Kise always told you that you should say something, or that he would subtly tell Kobori how you were feeling, but you always told him not to. You hung out with him and Kise most of the time, and you didn't really want to deal with being rejected and potentially losing one of your best friends.

You thought about doing it once you graduated, but you both were going different ways, and you figured it would be for the best if you just kept quiet. But even years after that, you still regret not telling him how you felt; maybe you could've been with him now if you had.

You brush those thoughts away as the doctor comes back in to clear you, telling you some routine things about recovering at home. You sigh heavily again when you finally walk out of the hospital, grabbing onto your jacket tighter as the cold air hits your skin, and you realize that you still have his jacket on.

"Oh, you probably want this back," you tell him once you get in the car, in the process of taking it off when he stops you.

"You can keep it. You need it more than me right now anyway," he says softly, and you quickly pull it closer to your body. The both of you are mostly quiet on the ride back to his apartment, occasionally talking before the music quietly playing from the radio flows through the car again.

You yawn once he parks the car, blinking the tears from your eyes as you get out. You follow him to his apartment, closing the door softly behind you once you make your way inside as he turns on one of the lights. You look around as he slides his shoes off before he sighs.

"You can take the bed if you want."

"There's only one room?"

"Yeah, I didn't really think about that before I offered," he chuckles awkwardly. "But I don't mind sleeping on the couch."

"No, Kobori, I can't take your bed," you say. "I'm okay with sleeping on the couch. I mean, you're already letting me stay here, and that's more than enough."

"Seriously, I don't mind. You need the sleep, too."

"I'm not taking your bed," you declare before you sit down on the couch. "And this is really comfortable, so I'll sleep here." He places his hands on his hips before he sighs with a huff.

"Alright," he sighs, giving in. "Did you wanna hop in the shower?" he asks, and you quickly stand up.

"That sounds amazing right now." He leads you to the bathroom before showing you how to work the shower before he gets you the stuff that you need. You hear him come back into the bathroom as you're setting the water to the temperature you like, and you turn around to see him with some clothes in his hand.

"You can wear this, and um..." he starts, handing you the clothes when you stretch your hand out. "I don't really have any pants for you to wear, so...uh, yeah," he finishes with his face red before he walks out of the bathroom, quickly and quietly closing the door behind him.

You frown at his actions before you set the shirt on the counter, but something falls as you do so. You pick it up, seeing that it's a pair of his boxers, and the only thing you can do is laugh, feeling too tired to think about anything else.

You shower quickly, sleep screaming your name at this point, and once you're done, you make your way back to the living room, seeing blankets and a pillow already set up. You get comfortable on the couch as you hear Kobori walk into the room, and you curl into yourself as you look at him.

"Did you need anything else?" he asks, and you shake your head as you yawn again.

"You've honestly done more than enough. Thank you so much."

"Yeah, of course," he smiles. "Goodnight."

"Night," you smile before he turns off the light, giving you one last smile before he goes into his room. You lay down as you hear him close the door, and you know that high school you would be absolutely freaking out right now, but current you is too tired to care. You let your eyes fall closed as your breathing starts to even out, and you're sure it doesn't take you even ten minutes for you to fall asleep.

You stir awake with the sudden urge to pee, so you groggily make your way to the bathroom. You barely spare a glance in the mirror, wanting to go back to sleep as soon as possible. You yawn as you make your way back to the couch when Kobori comes into the apartment with a box in his hands.

You stop as you watch him turn around to close the door with his foot, and he stops when he sees you after he turns around. "Oh, you're awake," he says softly before you walks over to set the box down next to some other ones. You didn't even see them on your way to the bathroom, and you quietly follow him.

"What's all of this?"

"Your stuff," he sighs as he carefully puts the box on the floor.

"My stuff?" you question, your brain still waking up.

"Yeah," he starts as he stands before turning to look at you. "They cleared the building, so I went and got your things," he explains. "You got lucky. Most of it was fine." You walk closer to the boxes as you look at everything. "I figured you want to go, but you seemed really tired, so I just went myself. We can go back together if there's something that's missing."

"Well, since you brought some clothes, I'll get ready, and we can go," you respond, crouching down in front of the box with that word written on it. "Thank you, Kobori," you tell him, looking over your shoulder at him.

"Of course. Let me know when you're ready," he smiles before he walks off.

You look through the box, finding some sweatpants, and you debate in your head if you should take off his shirt. You really don't want to, but you don't want to think about this any longer, so you just grab the sweatpants before finding some socks, and heading to the bathroom to get ready.

Once you're in the car, you honestly don't know what to think as you drive back to your apartment. You know that your apartment was on fire last night, but it's like it hasn't actually hit you yet. You don't say anything as Kobori pulls into the parking lot, and now that the sun is out, you can see how much damage the fire actually did.

Turns out, someone on the lower floor left something plugged in before they left for work, but Kobori also told you that there wasn't that caused the fire to spread as fast as it did. He didn't go into the details because you didn't really want to know. You just wish it didn't happen in the first place.

Other firefighters are scattered around the building, and Kobori carefully leads you to your apartment. Compared to the lower floors, your floor doesn't look as bad, but you can still smell the smoke and see how much of the hallways have been burned. Kobori leads you to your room, and it finally hits you when your eyes land on the stuff of yours that didn't survive the fire.

You look around before you run your hand over your head. "Shit," you whisper, sniffing as you try and fail to fight your tears. "God, what am I gonna do?" you say, your voice shaky. A sob makes its way out of your chest, and you hold your hand over your face.

You don't even know when Kobori walked over to you, but you immediately sink into him when you feel him wrap his arms around you, pulling you into him. You don't know how long he holds you, but it seems like all of your feelings have finally bubbled over after brewing for so long. You didn't even know you were feeling like this until this point, and for a second, you wonder if you're dreaming.

You wonder if you're going to wake up in your apartment, completely intact, and you'll brush your teeth and wash your face before you decide what to eat for breakfast. You'll sit down at your kitchen table as you decide what to do for the day since it's the weekend and you're not working. You turn your head to the side to catch your breath, and it only makes you see that none of this is a dream; it's all real.

Your head is pounding by the time you've finally stopped crying, the only sound that fills the room is your sniffling, but you don't pull away from Kobori just yet. Being in his arms feels the best right now, and you don't want to leave. You're not ready to focus on your room again.

He continues to rub over your back, and you can feel his chest rise and fall every now and then, like he's trying to figure out what to say. You feel bad for putting him in this position, and you're about to apologize for doing so, but he speaks before you can.

"Do you feel better?" he asks softly, and it actually makes you laugh, moving your arms so that they're wrapped around him.

"I do, actually," you say against him as you sniffle. "Is...is it okay if we stay like this for a little longer?" you whisper after you're silent for a while, using the time to get some courage to utter the words.

You feel one of his hands rest on your head as he huffs. "Of course. Take all the time you need."

You don't feel like crying anymore, and you swear just by hugging him, you're already starting to feel way better than you've felt the last day. You don't know how much time has passed, but you take a deep breath before you start to pull away, and your body suddenly feels cold where it was pressed against him.

"Okay," you sigh before you look at the damage again. You close your eyes before you take another deep breath, opening them as you feel better prepared to get the rest of your stuff.

Most of your prized possessions were in your room, which thankfully, wasn't near the hallway. Kobori bought more boxes, so you pack up the stuff that he didn't grab, starting in your room since you're not ready to see what else has been ruined in the living room.

When you're done filling a box, he takes it to the car, and you try to offer to help him do so since there are so many stairs he has to go up and down, but he insists that you stay and pack everything up. Once your room is clear, save for the furniture that was already in here when you moved in, you move to the bathroom next. Some of your products aren't salvageable since the heat from the fire melted the plastics, so you put those into the trash bag that Kobori also brought.

The living room is the last place you get to, and anything that was on the wall of the hallway is destroyed. All of your posters are on the ground, some half burned, others completely unrecognizable. Most of your photos that held so many key memories are gone, and you see half of one on the floor, and you close your eyes as you put it into the trash, a couple of tears leaving your eyes as you do.

You feel lighter, for lack of a better word, once you're done, helping Kobori take the last of your stuff to the car. He packs up the car while you get into the passenger seat, and you can only stare at your apartment as you wonder what you're going to do now. There's no way you're going to be able to find a decent apartment on such short notice, and you really don't want to inconvenience Kobori even more than you already have.

You're jolted out of your thoughts when you hear the driver's side door open, Kobori sighing softly as he gets in. You don't say anything as he drives off, and you look at your apartment until you can't see it anymore. Even though you're looking out the window as he drives, you're not noticing anything as you pass building after building.

When the car stops, you realize that you're not in the parking lot of Kobori's apartment, but in the parking lot of the small cafe you used to go to all the time in college. "What are we doing here?" you ask as he takes off his seatbelt.

"You haven't eaten, right?" is all he says before he gets out of the car. You slowly follow behind him, stepping in tow with him as you walk up to the door. You softly thank him when he holds the door open for you, and when you step inside, the smells that fill your nose take you right back to when you were in college.

You actually haven't been here in a long time because it's not really in the direction of where you work. You rarely come here unless you're really craving something, and that always makes you feel some type of way especially since you were here so many times when you were in school.

You scan the menu even though you already know what you want, and you look around the place just to see if anything's changed. There hasn't been much, but you notice that the theme of the place has changed, and the chairs and booths don't look like the ones they had back then.

"Come on, let's go sit," Kobori tells you softly, a hand on your back to guide you to a table.

"Wait, what? But I didn't order anything," you tell him as he pulls out your chair for you. He has to gently push you to sit down since you're still stuck on what he said.

"I already ordered for the both of us," he says, sliding the receipt to you as he sits across from you. You pull it closer to you to see that he ordered what you were going to.

"You still remember?" you question softly, a smile pulling at the corner of your mouth.

"Of course," he responds quietly, his ears turning red as he has a hard time holding eye contact with you.

"I'll pay you back," you say as he sticks a straw in your drink before passing it your way.

"You don't have to do that. You've been through enough already." You take a sip of your drink with the intent of replying after you swallow, but when the taste of the liquid hits your tongue, your thoughts take another direction.

"You even got the drink I used to get?" you ask, drinking some more. "How do you even remember that?" you follow up as he drinks from his cup.

"I've always had a good memory," he answers, and you don't deny that at all. You remember all the times he remembered even the little things, and to this day, it still amazes you that he can remember all of that stuff.

His name is called for the food a couple of seconds later, and he gets up to get it while you check your phone. Luckily, it wasn't ruined during the fire, and you start to text back some people, responding to them after they heard what happened. You used Kobori's phone earlier before you got to your apartment to let your co-workers know that you might be out for a couple of days, and you called your parents to let them know that you were doing fine.

He comes back with the food, and you put it down, your mouth watering at the same time your stomach grumbles when you see the food. You must've been really tired because you slept until the afternoon, so it's been a while since you've eaten.

It doesn't take you long to finish your food, barely giving yourself time to reminisce the last time you've eaten this food, and you sigh heavily as you swallow the last bite. "I really needed that," you comment, your head feeling better after you've eaten. "I can't remember the last time I've eaten here."

"Really?" he questions, his eyebrows raising.

"Yeah. It's like out of my way from work, and the traffic is always bad when I try to come from home, so I just never got over here," you answer. "But, thank you for this. I feel like I've told you that so many times," you huff, resting your arms on the table as you look down at it for a second. "I seriously don't know how I can pay you back."

"When I say don't worry about it. I mean it," he states. "You would do the same for me."

And he's not wrong about that.

You've been staying with Kobori for a couple of weeks now, and you still haven't found a place to stay. It's not like you want to leave Kobori, but you feel like you've intruded more than enough. It would be different if you were dating, but even though he's one of your best friends, you don't want to encroach on his privacy.

Every place that you've found for a decent price is nowhere near where you work, and you would rather not deal with the traffic. Kobori's place is actually a little bit closer to your job than your place, so you're enjoying the fact that you can sleep in for a little bit longer.

You sigh as you close out another tab on your laptop after another failed attempt at looking for a place, laying back against the couch. Not only do you feel bad for being in Kobori's space, but all of your stuff is just sitting in his living room. You roll your head to the side as you look at all of the boxes, seeing how they make the space look so much smaller.

"You okay?" You turn your head when you hear him speak, looking at him just in time to see him stopping by the couch.

"Just struggling to find a new place," you answer. Even if you could move back into your apartment, it would take a long time for the building to be rebuilt, so you figured it would be better to try and find somewhere else to live.

"You're not tired of me already, are you?" he jokes as he sits down next to you.

"Of course not," you respond, smiling widely. "I just feel bad. Like I'm impeding on your space," you continue, waving to the boxes behind you.

"When I say that you're not, I mean it," he states. "And when I'm hanging out with friends, I don't even host, so I promise you're not impeding on anything." That doesn't make you feel completely better, but at least you're not doing as much damage as you thought. "But, besides that, you still can't find anything?"

You sigh as you shake your head. "No. Everything is either too far away from work or out of my price range. It's gonna be forever before I can find a new place."

"Well, good thing I won't be kicking you out any time soon," he says, and the both of you laugh softly even though your heart skips at his words.

"Thanks, Kobori. I seriously don't know what I would've done without you."

"Any time," he replies, and you let the silence fall between you two, but it's not uncomfortable.

You have to go to bed soon, a yawn coming out of your mouth signaling that you should be getting ready to turn in for the night. Kobori uses the bathroom first since he has to go to work, and once he's out, you go in, doing your night routine before you head out into the living room.

Kobori's at the door as he slides his shoes on, and you make your bed on the couch before lying down. "See you in the morning," he tells you softly, and you give him a warm smile as you pull the blanket up to your chin.

"See you," you whisper before he smiles at you, turning off the lights before heading out the door.

As you wait for the melatonin to kick in, your thoughts run as you think about how you really don't want to live anywhere else other than with Kobori. You hadn't even told Kise about where you're living, only telling him that you're staying with a friend until you can find a new place. You figured Kobori hadn't told him either, or else he would've been here the minute either of you uttered a word about it.

You feel like you're back in school, debating whether or not you should tell Kobori how you feel. But once again, you're faced with a dilemma. If you do say something, and he doesn't feel the same way, you'd either be stuck here or sleeping somewhere else if you can even find someone willing to let you stay with them for a long time.

Once you feel the melatonin start to work its magic, you roll over, closing your eyes as you try to let it do its job. You can't help it when you close your eyes though, thinking about what it would be like if you confessed your feelings to him, and it worked out for the better.

You're woken up by a soft shake on your shoulder, and you groan softly before you roll over. You peel your eyes open to see that the sun is starting to come in through the windows, and Kobori's standing above you. You can't help but smile, enjoying that he's the first thing you see when you wake up, but you quickly push it aside, focusing on trying to get your body to wake up.

"Morning," he says softly.

"Morning," you whisper, turning your head to the side to yawn. "What time is it? I can make breakfast," you offer as you sit up, and Kobori steps back to give you space.

"Like six forty-five," he answers. "You don't have to do that since you just woke up," he tries, but you're quick to shake your head as you place your feet on the floor.

"No. I'm not doing anything around here. So, I'm going to make you some food," you declare and he smiles when you laugh.

"If you say so," he says before you grab your clothes for the day and head to the bathroom after you pick out what to wear. You get yourself ready, the process allowing your body enough to wake up and tell you that you're hungry. You hear him get in the shower while you're cooking, and you look over your shoulder briefly when you hear the water stop running. You turn in time to see him walk into his room, and you quickly look back at the food on the stove as your face warms.

He wasn't paying any attention to you, but with only a towel covering his lower half, you don't know if you'll be able to focus for the rest of the day. Sure, you've seen him shirtless before when you've gone to the pool or the beach with other friends, but being in his place with an image of him in nothing but a towel only fuels your thoughts.

You physically shake your head as you try to think about anything else but him, turning your focus onto splitting the food on separate plates. He comes into the kitchen a little bit later, fully dressed, and you can barely look at him, only seeing that previous image in your eyes.

"Smells amazing," he comments as he sits down at the island. You smile as you slide a plate over to him before you pour the both of you something to drink before you sit next to him. "Thank you."

"Of course. I hope you like it," you say before you both start to eat. You make small talk after he compliments the food, and you talk even after you're done eating, only cutting the conversation short once you see what time it is. You wince a bit when you stand up, putting a hand on your back as you try to stretch, rubbing over your shoulders as you place your dishes in the sink.

"You okay?" you hear him question.

"Yeah, just the couch is kinda killing me, but it's no big deal," you answer honestly, feeling like you may not be able to lie to him. The couch wasn't uncomfortable, but sleeping on it for days on end really has your body protesting. You didn't want to tell him, and the look on his face when you turn around really makes you wish you would've at least tried to lie.

"You know," he starts. "You can sleep in my bed," he offers suddenly, and that makes you stop a bit, your eyes widening a little bit as he looks away. "We don't have the same schedules, so we won't be sleeping together," he explains, and you have to fight the urge to deflate. He's right. You'll never be in bed with him at the same time.

You're happy to hear that you can get off the couch, but you're also disappointed that he won't be with you. "Are you sure? I can handle the couch, I'll just have to do a little stretching in the morning."

He nods. "Of course. I don't want you to be in so much pain, and like I said, we're never sharing the bed at the same time, so it's a win-win." You think it's more of a win-lose, but you obviously don't tell him that.

"If you're sure that's okay, then thanks," you accept rather quickly, the thought of your body not aching every day you wake up winning over the fact that you'll be sleeping alone.

"I'm sure. It's all yours," he smiles.

"Okay, if you say so," you say softly before looking at the time on the oven. "I should probably go. And thank you again," you continue before you start to get your stuff together, moving toward the door to put your shoes on.

"And thank you for the food. It was really good."

"You're welcome," you smile as you finish putting on your shoes. "I'll see you later," you tell him before you open the door, closing it softly behind you.

You were honestly still feeling a little down about your apartment, but seeing how happy your students were to see you again made you so much happier. All of your co-workers and your boss were really understanding, letting you take as much time as you needed until you could go back to work.

You didn't want to stay away for too long, and thanks to Kobori, you were able to go back a lot sooner than you thought. Your kids all gasp when they see you once they walk into the classroom, hugging you as they tell you how much they missed you. You're thankful that you're back to work again since it gives you a chance to get your mind off of Kobori. He and your feelings have been plaguing your mind for the past couple of weeks, and you're glad you don't have a moment to think about either.

The day goes by surprisingly fast, and by the time you get into the car, you're already feeling the day catch up with you. You were on your feet for most of the day, your lower back aching with complaints, and you're glad that Kobori offered his bed. Now that you're working again, you don't know if you would've been able to handle the couch for much longer.

You try to stay as quiet as possible when you get home since you know that Kobori's still asleep, carefully closing the door before you take your shoes off. You sit on the couch as you turn the TV on, turning the volume down before you start working on some new lesson plans. One of your friends filled in for you, and you said that you would grade all of the stuff that she gave your students since she'd already done enough for you.

You put the answer key to the side as you begin to go through the papers, and you dive into work mode, trying to get as much done as possible so you can relax for the rest of the night. You hear a door open, quickly followed by footsteps, and you finish marking the last paper before you look over your shoulder.

"When did you get home?" Kobori asks you quietly before he yawns.

"A few hours ago," you answer, clicking your pen as you stack all of your papers before sliding them into your bag. "How'd you sleep?"

"Pretty good actually. We actually got a lot of calls last night, so I really needed the sleep."

"That's good," you respond. "I was thinking of some stuff for dinner, is there anything that you wanted?" you ask, standing up to stretch.

"You're making dinner?" he asks.

You shrug. "Sure. If that's okay. I'm done for the night, so I've got nothing else to do."

"Yeah, if you wanna go ahead. I don't care what you make," he says, yawning again before he heads to the bathroom.

You had multiple ideas on what to make for dinner, but you settled on one that you'd been craving for a while, so you get to cooking. You put in one of your earbuds so you can listen to music as you do so, singing quietly, dancing a little every now and then.

You're so into it that you don't even notice Kobori come back into the room, only seeing him out of the corner of your eye when you glance to the side. You jump as you scream, careful not to drop the pan in your hand. "Oh, my God!" you laugh as you sigh, dropping your head.

"I didn't wanna scare you by saying something, but it looks like I did anyway," he smiles, and you look at him as you shake your head.

"Don't worry about it," you breathe, still laughing a bit. "It's almost done."

"It smells really good," he comments as he sits down, and you make your plates before you turn the stove off, moving around to sit next to him as you slide him the plate. "Thanks for cooking," he tells you as you start to eat, your stomach screaming at you to eat something.

"Of course. I like doing it, so I hope you enjoy it."

Kobori asks about your day as you eat, and you're glad for it since you sometimes can eat too fast when you're hungry. You finish your food before he does despite doing most of the talking, and you get yourself a little more food. Kobori gets himself another serving as you finish up your food.

"This was probably the best thing I've ever tasted," he comments as he takes the last bite.

"You don't have to say all that," you chuckle softly, trying and failing to stop your face from becoming hot.

"No, seriously. I haven't had a cooked meal in a long time," he says. "When I come home from work, I usually just heat up something real quick, and I get something to eat on the way. So, this is an upgrade."

"Well, thank you. I'm glad you can eat some good food," you laugh as he stands to take your dishes to the sink. He starts to wash the dishes, which he insists that he should do since you cooked, and you move back to the couch, scrolling on your phone since nothing you watch is playing on TV right now.

Kobori joins you once he's finished with the dishes, and he changes the channel while you continue to scroll through your phone. You don't say anything, and you don't feel like you need to say anything, but you can't help but notice how close he's sitting to you. You didn't realize it since you were looking down, but he shifted a bit and his shoulder brushed against yours.

You internally shake your head at how you're reacting to a little touch, trying your best to not focus on it. The only thing you really want to do is just lay your head on his shoulder, but you don't want to make things weird. It seems like time slows down as you sit there drowning in your thoughts, and you're only jumped out of them when Kobori stands up all of a sudden.

You check the time to see that he's got to go to work soon, and you notice that he's already dressed. You stand up, walking to the kitchen as he puts his shoes on, and you walk up to him as he grabs his keys. "I made you lunch," you start, feeling ridiculously nervous as you hold it out to him. "I know you didn't ask, but I figured you do get a lunch break, right? You don't have to take it if you don't want to. I probably should've asked first."

You're rambling at this point and beyond embarrassed, two seconds from just walking away and crawling into a hole, but then he smiles as he takes it from you. "Thank you. I'll enjoy this." Your smile instantly comes back as you nod.

"No problem. See you tomorrow."

"See ya." You watch him leave, and as soon as you can't hear his footsteps, you sigh heavily before you scream softly. You put your palm to your forehead as you shake your head, moving into the bathroom to get ready for the night. When you're done, you realize that you didn't ask him what side of the bed he sleeps on, but you don't even know how you would've brought that up in conversation without sounding so awkward.

You can't tell since he's made the bed, but you just pick a side since you're tired, choosing the one further away from the door. You groan softly as you settle under the blanket, his bed being way more comfortable than the couch, and you're pretty sure it's better than yours. You set your alarm before you pull the blanket up to your chin, and you don't even have the time to overthink about anything else because you fall asleep in seconds.

Kobori groans softly as he sits down, hoping that he can get at least halfway through his lunch before the alarm rings again signaling another emergency. He can't help but smile as he thinks about how you gave him lunch before he left. Like he told you, he usually ends up getting something, or if he doesn't feel like going out, just getting something from the vending machine.

He had no doubt that it was going to be good, but just tasting it really hit the spot for him. "And you've got another lunch packed for. Where did you get that from?" he hears, Kobori glancing to the side to see Moriyama sitting next to him.

"Nowhere," he mumbles around a mouthful of food. So far, he's been able to go through his shifts without his friends finding out about this, but he knew it was only a matter of time before they found out.

"Looks really good," he comments. "You don't cook, Kobori, so who's giving it to you?" Kobori just chooses to ignore him, focusing on eating. More of his friends come and comment on the food, but he doesn't say anything, giving vague answers.

He knows that the moment he starts talking, he'll be found out immediately, and the last thing he needs is for Kise to find out, who thankfully, isn't working tonight. He tries to keep his composure as they ask if he's with someone now, but he remains expressionless, refusing to give any answers.

"What if it's the woman he saved from that fire?" one of them suddenly asks, and that makes him freeze just a bit, he tries to play it off, but they catch it instantly.

"So, she's the one who made this," Moriyama concludes.

"No, she didn't," Kobori tries to deny, but there's no use. They're already onto him.

"Dude, you ran into that burning building against orders, and you came out with someone that you clearly knew," one of his co-workers continues.

"That doesn't mean that she made it," he mumbles, finishing up the last bits of food before he puts the container back into the lunch box. Luckily, or unluckily depending on how you look at it, the alarm goes off, signaling that they have to get to work. He's quick to move, putting his stuff away before getting his gear on.

Of course, he's not saved forever as his friends mess with him about it for the rest of his shift. Kobori knows Kise will definitely hear about this, and there's nothing he can do but prepare for it. He'll just deny, deny, deny until he can't anymore.

Work goes pretty slow since they don't get many calls, and that means he's stuck with Moriyama's prying. "So, you're still into her after all of these years," he says as they do some chores around the firehouse. Kobori stays silent, but he can feel his ears growing warm, which ultimately betrays him. "So, I'm assuming she's living with you now, and I gotta say, people usually date first before moving in with someone."

"It's not like that," he counters quickly before he sighs. "Her parents live three hours away, and there was no way I could leave her to figure stuff out. Who knows how long it would've taken her to find a place to stay," he argues. "And I would do the same for you guys, so there's no need to make this weird."

Moriyama stops what he's doing to place a hand on his shoulder, which gets Kobori to stop moving. "You're currently living with the girl that you've had feelings for since you met her. She made you lunch, dude. Are you really not gonna say anything?"

"She was just being nice," he denies.

Kobori always thought that he was being subtle with his feelings, but he definitely wasn't since all of his teammates caught on right away. They always tried to get him to say something, but he couldn't bring himself to do it. Once you graduated, he thought he wouldn't have to fight this battle again, but you've crossed paths again, so he knows that they're never going to let him live this down.

"You are so hopeless," Moriyama sighs, but he drops the subject thankfully, and Kobori goes the rest of his shift without too much teasing from his friends.

You're lying on the couch watching TV after a long morning of grading papers, mostly paying attention to your phone as you try to figure out what to do to cure your boredom. Kobori's been back from work for a while, so you try to think of something you could do that hopefully won't cause too much noise.

You groan softly as you sit up, freezing when you hear a knock on the door. You frown as you slowly stand, not remembering Kobori telling you about anyone coming over. You tiptoe to the door, peeking through the peephole, and your heart drops when you see who's on the other side.

You try to slowly step back, hoping that you can just pretend that you didn't hear it. "I know you're in there," Kise singsongs, your name coming from his mouth making you sigh in annoyance. You stomp your foot softly as you grimace, deciding that you have no other option but to open the door. You know he's not going to leave; he'll probably stand out there until Kobori wakes up, and then he'll break him down until he eventually opens the door.

You have a blank look on your face as you open the door, rolling your eyes when you see him smiling back at you. "What are you doing here?" you question, not letting him in just yet.

"I could ask you the same thing, no?" he teases, letting himself in, and you close the door behind him.

"Keep it down, okay? Kobori's sleeping right now," you warn gently, sitting back down on the couch.

"Look at you, looking out for your boyfriend," he coos.

"Fuck you," you say lightly. He laughs softly as he sits down next to you.

"So, how long have you two been living together?" he muses, and you sigh as rest back against the couch before letting your head fall back, ignoring his playful jab.

"A couple of months now," you answer honestly. "Believe it or not, it's hard to find a place that fits everything that I need."

"I'm sorry about your place, and I'm glad you're okay," he tells you softly, and you give him a soft smile when you turn your head to look at him.

"Thanks, Kise."

"So, this is the part of the story where you finally stop pining over him and just confess?" Your smile drops quickly, deciding to turn your attention back to the ceiling.

"I was not pining, okay? And how am I supposed to even bring that up without it being awkward?" you ask. "If it goes horribly, there's no way I'm staying here. So, I would rather just not say anything than lose the place I'm living at."

"I've been telling you this for years," he sighs. "It's not gonna go bad."

"I'm not telling him, Kise," you conclude. "At least not while I'm living under the same roof as him." You know he's about to say something in response, but he stops when he hears a door open. You lift your head to look over the couch, seeing Kobori come into view as he yawns.

He stops quickly as his face drops when his eyes on Kise, and he doesn't even fight the urge to roll his eyes. "What are you doing in my home, Kise?" he questions, walking further into the living room so that he's standing in front of both of you.

"Well, your roommate invited me in," he jabs, and it's your turn to roll your eyes. "Why didn't you tell me you guys moved into together?"

"Why would we need to?" he questions, crossing his arms.

"Come on, we've been friends for years, guys!" Kise tries.

"And you're still just as annoying," you groan. Kise gives you a look before you turn to Kobori. "Any requests for dinner?"

"You know I'm gonna eat whatever you make," he smiles, and you can't help but return it, getting up to make your way into the kitchen, Kobori's eyes still on you as you walk into the kitchen. He turns his attention back to the intruder in his apartment, his smile dropping when he sees that he's looking at him with a smirk.

"I knew Moriyama wouldn't keep his mouth shut," Kobori whispers as he walks over to the couch, sighing as he sits down. "I didn't tell you because I knew you'd go through that same spiel."

"And I still think that you should. What's the worst that could happen?" Kise asks.

"I could lose a really good friend," he answers. "And I don't wanna make her feel weird if I tell her how I feel. She hasn't found a place yet, and I don't want to put her in that position."

"You guys are seriously so annoying," Kise whines, letting his head fall back onto the couch before he quickly lifts it back up again. "What would it take for me to convince you that it won't end badly?"

"A million dollars," Kobori drawls. "It's not happening, Kise." Kobori looks at the TV, trying his best to keep his attention on the screen even though he can see his friend's eyes boring into the side of his head in his peripheral.

"But, this could be your chance, no? Do you remember how upset you were when we graduated, and you realized that we probably wouldn't be seeing each other as much anymore?"

Kobori doesn't respond, sighing as he crosses his arms. How could he forget about that? Yeah, he was happy to finally be done with school, but when he said goodbye to you that day he graduated, the only thing he could think about as he watched you walk away was how his feelings for you never left, and that he missed his chance to tell you how he really felt.

He wasn't himself for a while after that, wanting to just text you and just tell you everything, but he thought that wasn't something that he should say over text. You continued to talk after you graduated, and Kobori never had the courage to say anything, always typing it out but deleting it right after. After a couple of years, the texts started to fizzle out between the two of you, life just getting the best of you both.

That was definitely not what he wanted, but then he ran into you at the store, and it's like his feelings for you hit him full force the moment he saw you in the aisle that day. He obviously didn't think that he would meet you again by saving you from your apartment, but Kise's words play over and over in his head. Is this really his chance? Kise's always told him that it wouldn't end badly like he thinks it will, but he still has that fear underlying in his thoughts.

Before he can think any more, the call of his name from the kitchen breaks him out of his thoughts. He's quick to get up, not wanting to be a part of this conversation anymore, and Kise follows shortly after once Kobori sits down at the island.

"Do you want any, Kise?" you ask.

"No, I already ate, but it smells amazing." You thank him as you make yourself a plate, and luckily for the both of you, Kise doesn't hint at your feelings as you all talk. Kise offers to take Kobori to work as he finishes up eating, which Kobori begrudgingly agrees to before he goes to get ready. Kise chuckles a bit as he watches you make lunch for Kobori, and you glance over your shoulder when you hear it.

"What?"

"You know our friends won't stop messing with Kobori about his packed lunches," he tells you. "They're trying to figure out who he's dating." That makes you freeze a bit, your movements faltering, but you can't play it off enough that it goes missing by Kise.

"I'm guessing a lot of you guys don't get lunches?" you try to joke, trying to shake off what he told you.

"A lot of us are painfully single," Kise laughs. "Kobori used to be one of those people."

"Stop saying that," you hiss, looking towards the hallway to make sure Kobori can't hear him. "We're just friends. I'm just being nice," you continue. "He's letting me stay here. He won't even let me help him with the rent," you say, shaking your head.

"Isn't he so sweet?"

You squint your eyes at him as Kobori comes back into the room, dressed for work. You hand him the lunchbox as Kise jokingly asks if you can make one for him before Kobori all but shoves him out of the door. "See you in the morning," Kobori tells you warmly, and you return the phrase, both of you smiling as he closes the door behind him.

It's already been half a year living with Kobori, and you honestly didn't know time could fly by so fast. You found a couple of places to live, and Kobori always went with you to the open houses, but by the time you wanted to put an offer on it, it was either already gone or the prices went up way past your budget.

There's a part of you that's relieved that you didn't get the place because every time you found a new place, there was a sinking feeling in your heart. You don't even want to think about living without Kobori, and there are periods of time when you don't even bother looking. You sometimes feel guilty, but Kobori always reassures you that you're not bothering him in any way, and you hope that he feels the same way you do.

After a while of getting tired of looking at the boxes of your stuff in the living room, you decided to put them into storage. You figured you could just throw your clothes in your suitcases and slide them under the bed so that it would be out of the way, but after you told Kobori that, the next day he took you to the furniture store. He was off that day, and he didn't tell you where you were going, and you were confused until he told you that you were there to get a new dresser.

"Why would I need to do that?" you'd asked him.

It took him a while to look at you when he responded. "So, that you're not living out of your suitcases. I don't mind getting another one for you." Your face grows warm at his words, busying yourself with looking around as your heart races. He actually bought more than just the dresser, buying some of the things that caught your eye as you were looking through the store.

You tried to convince him that he didn't have to get anything, but he insisted that it wouldn't matter because his apartment was pretty plain and empty anyway. You bought a couple of decorations along with a new dresser, and he built it when you got home while you decorated the apartment.

You smile at the memory as you close your laptop, deciding that you could put off looking for a new place later. The rest of your stuff that you didn't need ended up going to storage, and you're glad that you don't have to look at the boxes anymore. When Kobori comes home, you fall into that same routine that you've found yourself enjoying. Recently, work's been a bit more tiring for him, so he usually just skips the breakfast you make, heading straight for the shower so he can get into bed.

You carefully open the door open, and he turns his head, his eyes slowly opening and closing. "See you later, Kobori," you say quietly.

He smiles at you, sighing softly as his eyes close. "Have a good day." He hears the door close, and he rolls over onto his side. Honestly, Kobori's never been happier since you've been living with him. Kise and Moriyama don't waste any time making fun of him whenever he goes to work, but he can't really find it in himself to be annoyed with it anymore since they've been messing with him for so long.

Even some of his other friends comment on how he seems happier recently, and he can't deny that, but he still doesn't respond to their jokes, only brushing them off. Work has been rough for the past couple of weeks, and the only thing that keeps him from sleeping at the firehouse is being able to see you once he gets through the door.

Since you've started sharing a bed, your scent seems to be flooding his senses even when he's not around you. He takes a deep breath as he starts to let sleep take over, but that only allows him to smell your shampoo on the pillow. He can feel his face growing warm as he pushes his face further into the pillow, but it's not like you'll never know he's doing this. It's honestly what puts him to sleep every time he gets into bed.

Living with you has made him realize how much he's actually missed you, and seeing all of your things sprawled about the apartment makes him smile to himself as he falls asleep when he thinks about it. It just makes him wish you were actually dating, and he wishes he would tell you that you don't have to look for a new place and that you could stay with him. He knows how selfish that sounds, but you're finally back in his life, in person, not over the phone.

He doesn't want to let that go. He enjoys hearing you tell him about your day as you make dinner, or spend time at home when neither of you are working. The only thing he doesn't like is whenever he's off for the day, you end up sleeping on the couch. He wished he had the courage to tell you that you could sleep in the bed also, but he knows that he would never do it. And that always plays in the back of his mind as he falls asleep.

Kobori gets to work already feeling a bit drained. He got a good amount of sleep, but work has been pretty hectic for a while, and he hopes that it goes a bit smoother this time. He puts his stuff in his locker and his lunch in the fridge, and he sighs when he sees who's working tonight. One of his co-workers has been a pain in his ass lately, and he's one of the reasons why he's been dreading going to work.

He's a total asshole, and Kobori honestly doesn't know how anyone hasn't beaten his ass yet. They don't have that many emergencies to respond to, so work goes pretty slow. He's counting down the minutes until he can finally go home, already changing out of his gear. He's making sure that he hasn't left anything before he goes to the kitchen to grab the lunch box.

He left his lunch on the counter since the alarm rang before he could put it away, and he goes to put the container into the lunchbox when he sees something inside. He stops for a second as he picks up the sticky note, and he smiles when he sees that you wrote him a note. He stands there reading it, having a hard time wiping the smile off of his face.

"What has you smiling like that?" Kobori hears suddenly, and the smile immediately falls off of his face as that one difficult co-worker walks in. Kobori packs up his lunch as the man comes to stand beside him.

"See you later," he tells him shortly, getting ready to leave, but he keeps talking.

"It's your girl, right?" he says, and Kobori's steps falter before he stops. "Kise told us that you guys have been friends for years." Kobori sighs as he turns around to face him. "He showed us what she looks like," he continues. "You're pretty lucky, man," he smiles, and that only makes Kobori even more irritated.

Someone walks in behind him, and when he walks past, Kobori sees that it's one of his other co-workers packing up as well. Kobori just shakes his head before he starts to turn around. "Doesn't really explain why you've been in such a bad mood lately," he calls out after him.

"You should probably get going, hm?" Kobori responds.

"Guess your bitch didn't give you any pussy lately, huh?" Kobori doesn't remember how he got back into the kitchen or when his fist connected with his face. He feels the man punch him back, but that's the only hit he gets in before Kobori tackles him to the ground. He can hear other people shouting, but he's only focused on one thing.

It takes a few people to get him up and off the man, and he fights them for a little while, only feeling satisfied when he sees the damage he's done. He realizes that Kise is the one holding him, and he pulls him out of the kitchen, only letting him go when Kobori shakes him off.

He stays silent as he walks to the door, quickly making his way to his car. "Kobori, what the hell was that?" Kise yells, and Kobori only hears him when he gets to the car, noticing that if he's been saying something to him, he hasn't been listening.

"Nothing. He was just being an asshole," he spits, balling his hand into a fist and feeling the skin around his knuckles pull painfully when he does. "See you later." He doesn't let him say another word, getting in the car and driving off.

Kobori's tense the entire time he's driving home, replaying the man's words in his head over and over again, and he wishes that he wasn't stopped. He slams the door a little too hard, wincing when he does so, but he jumps when he hears you gasp.

"Oh, my God! You scared me," you breathe, your hand over your chest.

"S-Sorry," he whispers as he drops his keys and takes off his shoes.

"Are you okay?" you ask him, and he can hear you walking towards him. He stands up, and your mouth drops when you look at his face. "Oh, my God, what happened?" you ask, your hands coming up to cup his face. You rub over his cheekbone softly, and he feels himself relax at your touch.

"Just some asshole at work," he sighs as he shakes his head.

"The one you were telling me about?" you question, your hands never leaving his face, and he doesn't want them to. "Did he say something?" you ask after he nods.

"Not really," he answers. He sighs again, but you don't ask him any more questions, your hands leaving his face before you walk to the freezer. You pull out an ice pack, gently putting it on his face, and he grimaces as the cold stings his skin.

"Any more injuries?" you ask, looking over him, and you grab his hand when you see his knuckles. "You're bleeding. Hold this," you tell him, and he barely has enough time to grab the ice pack before he watches you disappear down the hallway. He sits down on the stool, resting his elbow on the island as the events from the last thirty minutes run through his head.

He laughs softly to himself as he shakes his head again, realizing he didn't know he was capable of snapping like that. He looks over when he hears your footsteps, and you sit next to him as you set the stuff you got from the bathroom on the island. You grab his hand, setting it on the counter to tell him to keep it there as you put a cotton ball on the top of the hydrogen peroxide before you turn it over quickly to soak the cotton ball.

"This is going to sting a bit," you warn before you gently dap the cotton ball over his knuckles, and he winces softly, but stays quietly nonetheless. He can't help but watch you fondly as you carefully clean up his hand, putting on some Neosporin once you're finished. "Okay, that's all I can really do," you say once you're finished. "What?" you question when you look at him to see him smiling at you.

"Thank you," he tells you softly.

"Of course, Kobori," you say as you stand. "I wasn't expecting you to come in all bruised up this morning," you tease softly, chuckling as you return everything to the bathroom. When you come back, he's still sitting on the stool, and you stop in front of him. "Since when do you get into fights?"

"I don't know what got into me," he laughs quietly. "I guess I was just tired or something," he lies, not wanting to tell you the real reason why he got into the fight. "Works been pretty tiring lately," he adds, glad that he took a shower at work this time.

"I'm sorry to hear that," you say. "But I can make your favorite. I know it probably won't make you feel better, but it might take your mind off your shift," you offer. Kobori doesn't respond, only looking at you for a second before he sets the ice pack down and gently pulls you into a hug.

You go without protest, his arms wrapping around you as his body fully sinks into you, his head resting on your chest. He feels one of your arms wrap around his shoulders as your other hand softly runs through his hair. He's too tired to think about what you might be thinking, the only thing he knows is that he feels so much better than before.

"You feel better now?" you ask softly, and he nods against you, smiling when he feels you laugh. You rub over his shoulders, and he shudders a bit before he relaxes again. "You're so tense," you whisper, and he responds with a hum in your chest.

He eventually pulls away, but he can't bring himself to let his arms fall from you. "You okay?" you ask, moving your hand so that it's resting on his face, and he closes his eyes for a split second at the motion as he nods.

"Yeah. Sorry about that."

You smile widely. "Don't apologize. I'm always here if you need a hug."

He finally lets you go, so you can make breakfast, and even though he had a rough day at work, he finds himself smiling for the rest of the day.

You suck on a cough drop as you cough again, clearing your throat as you shake your head. You've definitely come down with something, already calling out of work, and you groan as you try to get comfortable on the couch. You've already taken some medicine, but right now, more than anything, you just want to sleep. You didn't get much sleep last night since you were feeling so bad, and you look towards the door when you hear keys sliding into the lock.

"You don't look so good," he comments softly when he walks in.

"I feel like shit," you whine. "And I'm so tired." He starts to walk over to you, but you're quick to stop him. "No, I don't want to get you sick."

"I think it might be too late for that," he responds, and you sigh softly.

"Kobori, I am so sorry. But I told you that sleeping in your bed wouldn't help."

"Yeah, that's definitely my fault," he laughs. "But we'll bounce back in no time." Kobori gets into the shower, and you continue laying on the couch, rubbing over your forehead when the pain throbs a little too much. You luckily start to feel sleepy once the pain starts to subside, letting your eyes slip closed as sleep starts to take over.

You wake up in the middle of your body rolling over, and you try to go back to sleep, but the smell of food filling your nose immediately makes your stomach grumble. You roll over again so that you're not facing the couch as you peel your eyes open. It's dark now, the only thing lighting the room is the TV, but don't sit up, taking a deep breath as you start to wake up.

You squint as your eyes adjust to the new light, and you can see Kobori walking into the room with a tray in his hand. "You feel better enough to eat?" he asks softly, and you slowly sit up, not feeling great, but feeling better than before.

You let your feet rest on the floor, moving the blanket so that it's covering your lower half before gently taking the tray from Kobori when he moves it towards you. You set it on your lap to see that it's a bowl of soup, and you smile as you look at it, sniffling quietly before you say anything.

"Thank you."

"Of course," he responds fondly before walking back into the kitchen. A random sports game is on the TV, you so half-watch it while you eat. You feel a little bit better once you're halfway through the soup, but you know that you'll need to take some more medicine since you can already feel it wearing off.

You already want to lay back down again by the time you're finished eating, but you force yourself to get up so that you can put the dishes in the kitchen. You walk in to see Kobori washing some dishes, and he looks at you over his shoulder for a split second when he hears you walk in.

"You all done?" he asks, stepping to the side to let you put the bowl in the sink.

"Yeah, I definitely needed that," you smile, setting the tray on the counter before you turn to him. "Thank you, Kobori."

"You'd do the same for me," he returns, and you yawn softly before sniffling again even though it doesn't do much since your sinuses are clogged again.

"I also ran to the store and got some stuff that I didn't have here," he tells you, turning his attention to the plastic bag on the island. You watch him pull out some more cold medicine and some painkillers before he hands them to you. "I'm sure you need to take this again, and I got this just in case that headache is a bit stubborn."

You softly thank him as you take them from him, and you're about to grab some water when he starts talking again. "And you can take the bed until you're feeling better."

You stop in your tracks. "Kobori, I can't do that. I'll live if I sleep on the couch."

He shakes his head, stepping closer to you. "Seriously, take it. I'm not feeling nearly as bad as you, and I would feel horrible if I let you sleep on the couch." You know you can't argue with him, and you softly roll your eyes as you grab a bottle of water.

"Since you're not taking no for an answer, then I will," you relent, "but if you start feeling worse than me, then feel free to kick me out," you joke. Kobori laughs softly as you walk back to the couch to take the medicine.

It's only about a couple of days before the sickness really hits you, and you don't know how much more of this you can take. Despite taking the cold medicine, you think you're hitting the worst of it now, and it's just your luck that Kobori is starting to feel really bad as well. Once you started feeling better, you moved back to the couch since he wasn't doing so good, but it seems like the couch is only making both of your problems worse.

You groan loudly as you throw the blanket off of your body for what feels like the millionth time, your body temperature fluctuating with no set interval. You feel so bad that you can't even focus on anything but how you're feeling. You can't go to sleep, and the lack of sleep is only making things suck even more. You hear the door open, sitting up as you take a deep breath in that doesn't make it through your nose because of how stuffed up you are.

Kobori comes into view, dragging his feet, and you can barely make out the sweat dotting his forehead. "Yeah, this sucks," he huffs, which makes you laugh quietly as you stand.

"I know. It seems like the couch is making us feel even worse," you respond before you fall back against the couch. "I just wanna feel better!" you whine, letting your eyes close as your head throbs painfully.

You notice that Kobori seems unusually quiet, and you open your eyes to see him staring at you. "What's wrong?" you ask, sitting up again before mentally preparing yourself to stand up. When you walk over to him, he looks somewhere else in the room, and your mind is running with the different things he could say.

"We could share the bed," he says quietly, and you almost don't hear him, so it takes you a while to process what he said, but once you do, your face instantly grows warm.

"What?" you whisper, not really knowing how to respond, but still wondering if you heard him correctly.

"We obviously don't have to if you're not comfortable," he starts, and you notice that he's blushing, it spreading down to his neck. "But it doesn't look like we're going to get any better if we take turns sleeping on the couch, and I'm pretty sure the bed is big enough so we won't be touching each other, or...something," he trails off, and for a bit all you do is stare at him.

Are you really going to share a bed with him? Of course, it's something you've thought about, but that was in your dreams, in the fantasy in your head. You never once considered that there would be a real life chance that you would be sleeping in the same bed as your crush.

"You don't have to. It was just a suggestion," he rushes out, and you realize that you've been doing so much thinking in your head, that you haven't responded to him yet.

"No, no, um..." you start, having a hard time meeting his eyes. "You're probably right. I mean, the sooner we feel better, the sooner we'll get over this, so..."

All he does is nod, and the room falls silent again; you can't remember the last time you've had such an awkward interaction. He suddenly clears his throat, gesturing towards his room. "After you." You give him a small smile as you make your way to his room first, and the sound of his footsteps behind you only makes you more nervous.

Your heart feels like it's going to beat out of your chest when you step into the room, and you're confident that if you hold your hand in front of your face, it'll be shaking. You walk over to the other side of the bed that Kobori hasn't been in, not sparing him a glance as you pull the covers back and slide in.

You fight to sigh aloud as the cool sheets hit your skin, feeling so much better than the couch that seemed to be uncomfortably hot. You lay down, pulling the covers up over your legs as you hear Kobori slide in next to you. Both of you are horribly tense, but the bed is big enough that neither of you is touching each other.

You would be upset about that at any other time, but right now, you're grateful for it. It feels like you've skipped so many steps, and it takes everything in you to control yourself, telling yourself that it's not a big deal. But you honestly have no idea where two friends end up in a bed together under these circumstances, so it gets hard to even calm yourself down.

Kobori turns the TV on, and you're thankful that there's now some form of sound in the room because you were sure the silence was going to kill you. There really isn't any conversation going on between the two of you other than Kobori asking you if there's anything specific you want to watch.

You tell him you don't care since you're already feeling tired despite being a nervous wreck. Once your eyes start to feel heavy, you roll over onto your side, your back facing him because there's no way you can look at him at this moment.

You're a couple of seconds from falling asleep when you hear Kobori say something softly. "Sleep tight."

When you wake up, it's because of two things: you're hot as fuck and you have to pee. You groan as you get out of bed, your head pounding as you walk to the bathroom. You're half asleep as you pee, not even turning the light on. You don't feel too much better, thinking that you should take some more medicine as you wash your hands.

You notice the TV is still on when you walk back into the room, and Kobori is still sleeping on his side of the bed. Your next issue is how absolutely on fire you feel, and you're confident you're going to sweat through your shirt. You drag yourself over to your dresser, grabbing a tank top before you slide your shirt off and put it on. You throw your other shirt in the hamper before you get back in the bed, and you groan softly when you realize that you haven't taken any more medicine.

You hear Kobori sigh heavily, and you turn your head to see him looking right at you. "Sorry. Did I wake you up?" you whisper, and he slowly shakes his head.

"No, you're good," he responds, and if you weren't feeling so bad, you'd be melting at the sound of his voice. "You okay?"

"I'm so hot, and I forgot to get more medicine before I got back in the bed." You push the side of the pillow until they're covering your face. "I don't feel like getting up."

"I'll get it," he says, causing you to let the pillow fall so you can look at him.

"You don't have to," you whisper, about to tell him that you're just being dramatic, but he's already sitting up.

"It's no big deal. I'm gonna go to the bathroom anyway. I'll grab it on the way back." He groans as he gets out of bed, and you watch him leave, turning your attention to the TV. There's a random infomercial playing, so you assume it's really early in the morning.

You're glad that you're over the initial shock of sharing a bed with Kobori, but you're too worried about how shitty you feel to deal with your feelings about that. You roll over to lay on your stomach when you start to notice how warm you are again.

It seems like changing clothes didn't do anything to combat that, and your face grows even hotter at the thought of not wearing clothes while sleeping in the same bed as Kobori. You push your face into the pillow as you blow out a heavy breath, turning your head when you run out of air. You really want to just throw your shirt to the other side of the room, already feeling it sticking to your skin.

Kobori comes back after a little while with the medicine in his hand, but you notice that he's shirtless this time. You can't help but stare, and even with the light from the TV illuminating him in the dark room, you can see how much more defined his body is. He stops at the bed when he catches you staring, and when he clears his throat, you finally realize what you've been doing.

"Sorry, I'm just feeling really warm," he apologizes softly, quickly lifting up the hand that's holding his shirt. "I can put it back on if you're uncomfortable."

"No, no. It's okay," you say quickly. "It's not like I haven't seen you shirtless before," you awkwardly laugh. "I'm just wishing I could do the same thing."

He doesn't respond immediately after that, grateful that you can't see how red is face definitely is as he opens his mouth to speak. "You can do the same," he says. "Like you said. We've been to the beach multiple times, so it's like the same thing," he adds even though he knows for a fact that he could barely handle seeing you in a swimsuit.

He does have a point, and he sets the medicine down on the nightstand, sitting down on the bed after at the same time you sit up. "You can change. I'll keep facing this way," he offers, and you're silent as you watch him face forward.

You can't help but smile as you get out of bed, making your way over to your dresser. You look over your shoulder just to make sure he hasn't turned around, even though you know he wouldn't until you told him to before you quickly shed your shirt, finding a comfort bra in the top drawer. You slide it on, hesitating with your hands in the shorts of your waistband, but then a wave of heat runs through you, and you shed them without another thought.

You groan loudly in relief, letting your head fall back as the exposed parts of your skin feel a little bit cooler now that they aren't covered. You walk back over to the bed, seeing that Kobori's still not looking, and you sit down, giving him the okay to turn around.

You see that he's gotten rid of his shorts also, but luckily for you, they're boxers; you don't think you'd be able to handle anything else right now. He hands you the medicine as he turns around, sitting further on the bed, and you take it from him gently. You thank him before you unscrew the top, setting aside the measuring cup before you drink it straight from the bottle.

"What are you doing?!" he questions softly, as you grimace at the taste, reaching for the lukewarm water on your nightstand so that you can chase the medicine.

"I wanna go to sleep and stay asleep," you sigh heavily after you swallow. "I didn't drink much," you add as you hand it back to him. You lay back down, kicking the blanket away from you, and you turn your head to see that Kobori's doing the same thing.

He grimaces just like you did, drinking water after he swallows the medicine. "Oh, shit," he says suddenly, and you frown as you look at him, seeing that he's looking at the label. You sit up on your elbow so that you can lean over when he moves the medicine closer to you.

Your eyes widen. "This is sleep cold medicine," you say even though both of you are clearly aware of that.

"Yeah," he sighs, and there's silence for a couple of seconds before you both laugh. "I'll text Kise just in case."

You lay back down, already feeling the medicine starting to kick in, and you close your eyes as you roll onto your side. "Night, Kobori. I'm...pretty sure, we'll wake up," you whisper, making the both of you chuckle.

You let your eyes slip closed as they start to feel heavy, but Kobori fights sleep for just a little bit longer so he can look at you.

Kise doesn't think much of the text that Kobori sent him when he had woken up in the morning, but it's already around noon and he still hasn't heard from him. He got the text around three in the morning, and it's obviously not uncommon for someone to sleep long when they're sick, but Kobori did mention that you and him took more medicine than you should have.

He grabs Moriyama before swinging over by Kobori's apartment, telling him the details on the way there. It's close to the early evening when they finally get there, and they knock on the door along with calling both of you, and they can't say they're not concerned when they don't get an answer to either.

Kise uses the spare key Kobori gave him a while ago that he doesn't really use, and they let themselves in to a pretty quiet apartment. When they close the door, the only sound they can hear is the faint noise coming from the TV in Kobori's room. Kise notes in his head that you're nowhere to be seen, and it makes him feel better on one hand; maybe you could be in the bathroom. But on the other hand, he doesn't know where you could be or how you're doing.

They follow the sounds of the TV, and Moriyama softly knocks on the door before he carefully pushes it open. At first, when they see the two of you in the bed, they're relieved that you're alive, hearing the two of you snoring so loud it nearly drowns out the TV.

Since they know that you're doing just fine, Kise can't help but laugh as he looks at the both of you cuddled up next to each other. He would love to hear the conversation that led to this situation. "Do you think they'd kill me if I took a picture?" he asks.

"Of course, they would," Moriyama smiles. "You wouldn't be alive for another second." You're laying on Kobori's chest with his arm wrapped tightly around you, and both of the men find this absolutely hilarious, but they try to hold in their laughs. "He'd shit himself if he knew what was happening right now."

They finally laugh a little too loud, and it makes you stir just a bit, curling yourself further into Kobori before you start to wake up. You slowly open your eyes, taking a deep breath in as your eyes start to fully open. Your face drops when you see who's standing in front of you.

"What are you doing here?" you sigh, turning your head to the side to yawn.

"Making sure you hadn't overdosed on sleep medicine," Moriyama drawls.

"Well, I'm fine, obviously," you respond. You don't know if you're going to go back to sleep, but you lay your head back down anyway, closing your eyes as you stay in the same position.

Kise huffs as he shakes Kobori, who frowns in his sleep, and he continues to shake him until Kobori wakes up, pushing his hand away. "What do you want?" he groans, but he doesn't open his eyes, already knowing that his former teammates are in his place.

"You texted us asking the check in on you, and now you're complaining?" Kise says, and Kobori doesn't respond, getting comfortable again as he adjusts his arm around you.

"Well, we're fine. So, you can leave," he responds, and Kise and Moriyama exchange a glance before Kise smirks.

"Yeah, of course, you're fine," Kise starts. "The both of you cuddling each other is enough proof of that."

It seems like it takes a while for his words to process, but once they do, you and Kobori's eyes shoot open before you quickly separate from each other. You sit up quickly, looking anywhere else in the room, your face growing so hot as you hear Kobori clear his throat.

"Seriously, get out," Kobori demands, getting out of the bed to chase them out of the room. You try to compose yourself as you listen to Kobori kicking them out of the apartment, and you have every mind to scream into the pillow, but you refrain. At least you have some kind of control of yourself.

Instead, you fall back on the bed, putting your pillow over your face. When you hear footsteps, you quickly take the pillow off of your face, but you don't sit up. You don't look Kobori's way when he walks back into the room, wondering what in the world you could say.

"Uh, they're gone," he tells you quietly, and you look over at him, giving him a choppy nod. He rubs over the back of his neck awkwardly, glancing at the TV. "Um, sorry about that earlier," he says, and you frown for a second as you wonder what he's talking about, but you figure out shortly after, sitting up way quicker than you wanted to.

"No, it's okay!" you say, and even your laugh is as awkward as you feel. "I mean, I should apologize since I was laying on you, so..." you trail off, fumbling with the corner of the pillowcase. "So, how are you feeling?" you ask, hoping the question will make the air seem less uncomfortable.

"Way better than earlier," he huffs as he nods his head. "You feeling okay?"

"Yeah, so much better," you answer, nodding as well.

"Well, they brought food if you're feeling hungry," he offers, and you nod again, sliding out of bed. Kobori walks out of the room by the time you're out of bed, and now that you're not burning up anymore, you shiver a bit once you're away from the warm cover. Shivering only makes you realize that you're in nothing but your underwear, and you're quick to grab a pair of shorts and a shirt to cover yourself.

You make your way to the kitchen, seeing that Kobori's sitting at the island, already eating, and he slides some food your way when he sees you walk into view. You softly thank him as you sit down, putting food in your mouth before you even have your butt fully in the seat.

You fight to groan loudly when the food hits your tongue, realizing that you can't even remember the last time you've eaten. You feel even better now that you have food in your system, and you are so glad that you're finally over the hard part of this sickness.

You and Kobori still have some congestion, so you're taking medicine for that, but other than that, you feel like your old self again. After you've finished eating, you and Kobori spend the rest of the evening cleaning up the place now that you're both feeling better enough to do something other than lie down.

The air between you two doesn't seem awkward, but you can't help but think about how you woke up when Kise and Moriyama were here. You're cleaning up the kitchen and living room while Kobori's cleaning up the bedroom, so you slap your hand on your forehead.

How could you lay on him in your sleep? Weren't you burning up? The last time you thought your body would want is to be next to even more heat. You try your hardest not to think about how he felt against you, and when you keep failing, you admit to yourself that you really, really like him.

In the back of your head, you think that maybe living with him may not be such a good idea. If your feelings are getting to be too much, and you're doing things like that subconsciously in your sleep, how long will it be until you accidentally confess your feelings? You shake your head as you collect all of the trash, deciding that all of that thinking is only making your head hurt.

You and Kobori finish cleaning, cleaning yourselves up after, and for the rest of the night, you decide to push that inner turmoil away for now.

It's been a couple of weeks since you and Kobori were sick, and you're still thinking about sharing a bed with him. Of course, you still use the bed when Kobori's at work, but you sleep on the couch when both of you are off at the same time. He hasn't offered to let you sleep in his bed while he does, and you're glad mostly for your pride; you don't know if you can handle it.

You can't help but miss him beside you when you are in the bed, and for the first couple of nights, that kept you up for way longer than you wanted. You can still smell his cologne in the sheets when you lay down, and that was enough for you, seeming to help your restlessness.

You wake up in the morning groggy, rolling over to see that you woke up about thirty minutes before your alarm. You groan loudly, closing your eyes as you try to settle back into bed, hoping you can get those last minutes of sleep. You have the urge to whine when you can't go back sleep, knowing that you're fully awake now.

You drag yourself out of bed, resisting the urge to slide out and onto the floor. You get yourself ready, packing up everything that you need to bring with you to school. You make breakfast, saving some and putting it in the microwave for Kobori since he'll be coming home later this morning than usual.

You wanted to start your car before you left since the weather has been so warm lately, but to your dismay, your engine won't turn over. You cry out as you try and try again, but it won't budge. You let your head fall against the steering wheel, taking a deep breath so that you don't scream loudly.

You jump when you hear a knock at your window, gasping just a bit as you look to see Kobori standing outside your car. You sigh as you take the keys out of the ignition before you get out of the car. "Are you okay?" he asks as he steps to the side so you can close the door.

"My car won't start," you tell him, shaking your head. This really isn't what you needed this morning. "And I have to get to school early to help set up for today."

"I can drive you," he offers, but you're quick to shake your head.

"You don't have to do that. You just got off work," you respond. "I can see if my friend can take me."

"It's okay. I'm already out here," he tells you. "And my car's been running so the air won't be warm." That's basically enough to convince you, and you sigh as you let your head fall back, giving in.

"Thank you, Koji. I owe you one. Just let me get my stuff." You run back up into the apartment, and you realize that you're going to have to take more than one trip. You grab as much as you can, quickly making your way to his car. You put the stuff in the back seat before you tell him that you've got more stuff, and this time he follows you.

He grabs everything before you can even move, taking it to the car without another word. You shake your head fondly as you lock the door, meeting him at the car. "You seriously didn't have to do all of that," you say as you get into the car, fastening your seatbelt.

"Well, you seemed pretty frazzled, so I was just trying to lighten your load," he notes before he pulls out of the parking lot.

You relax against the seat, noticing that this is the first time since you've woken up that you haven't been tense. "I just didn't get a good night of sleep," you respond. "Dunno why," you add even though you very much know the reason why. He's driving you to work for Pete's sake.

The conversation between the two of you goes in and out the entire way to work, and you can't help but feel bad that you're intruding on Kobori's time. When he pulls into the parking lot, you try to grab as much stuff as you can, mentally preparing yourself to lug it through the school.

"I'll try to get this stuff out as fast as I can, and then I'll be out of your hair," you tell him as you start to grab the boxes, but you look up when you hear the car door closed. You see him walking over to your side, and he carefully pushes you over so he can grab what's left. "Kobori, seriously, you don't have to do this. I already feel bad that you drove me here."

"I don't mind, y/n. You need help. I'd be a bad person if I didn't help you," he says, closing the door with his foot before he starts toward the building. You bite your lip to try to hide your smile as you adjust the boxes in your arms before you follow him.

He lets you take the lead once you get inside the building, and he follows you to your classroom. You both set the boxes down on and around your desk, and you sigh heavily as you roll your shoulders, shaking your arms.

"What's all this for?" Kobori asks as he looks around, curiosity in his words.

"We're having a career fair today, and--shit," you mumble before you let your head fall back to look at the ceiling. "I forgot to ask my friend if she would come today," you whisper. "Every teacher brought someone to talk to the kids and I totally forgot."

You blame it on the bad night of sleep, but you can feel tears trying to make their way out. You're already frustrated from this morning, and this was the last thing you needed. You lift your head back up when you feel something touch your shoulders, and you meet Kobori's eyes.

"I can do it if you need me to."

"Kobori, you have done more than enough!" you say softly, scoffing as you smile. "You don't need to do anything else for me."

He chuckles softly. "You're right. I don't need to do anything, but I want to," he replies.

"But you've been working all night," you counter, and you try not to notice how much you miss his touch when he finally takes his hands off your shoulders.

He just shrugs at you. "Work was really slow, so I took a nap. I'm good."

It's not like you have another option, and you rub your hands over your face before you sigh. "We're not starting until after lunch, so you have time to take another nap if you need to," you say before you move to hug him before you can second guess yourself. "Thank you, Kobori. Anything you want, you name it," you continue, lifting your head up to look at him, but neither of you pull away from the hug.

"Helping you out is enough for me. I don't need anything."

"I'm gonna get you something," you declare with a soft pout. "I feel like I don't do anything in return for everything you do for me."

"Well, the kitchen has been used a lot more since you moved in," he responds, which makes you giggle. "You make me breakfast, lunch, and dinner. And it's good every time, so that's good enough in my book."

You roll your eyes. "Of course, you would say something like that," you state. "Seriously, what do you want?" you ask softly, and you watch his face fall as you wait for his answer.

Is this the time to tell you how he really feels? That all he wants to finally be with you and take your relationship further? Even though he's standing so close to you, he finds that he feels confident to just straight up tell you, but that fear is still there, and it makes him hesitate.

You both jump away from each other when someone calls your name, and Kobori moves to the side so you can see who it is. "Himari! Did you need something?" you ask warmly, your face becoming hot as you think about the position you were just caught in.

"I was wondering if your friend was here," she answers, walking over to where you're standing. "You didn't tell us your boyfriend would be here to help you set up!"

Your mouth drops open as Kobori chokes, turning to the side to get himself together. "He's not--we're not--" You sigh as you compose yourself. "We're just friends. He's the one who took me in after that fire at my apartment."

"Oh! Sorry about that," she laughs, and you just give her a tight-lipped smile.

"And I forgot to ask my friend to come, but Kobori said he would step in." You can see that his ears are red as they shake hands, introducing themselves.

"What do you do?" Himari asks.

"I'm a firefighter." You give her a stern look when she gives you a playful glance, already experiencing so much embarrassment in such little time.

"The kids will love that for sure. Thanks for volunteering," she says. "If you need any help just let me know," she tells you before she makes her leave.

The air is a bit tense, so you quickly change the subject before the silence gets to be too much. "You can go home and get some rest. Thanks for helping me lug all of this stuff in here."

"Are you sure you don't need me to do anything?"

You shake your head. "Nope, I'm sure. Just please go home and sleep. I made you breakfast, but it's probably cold by now."

"I'll enjoy it regardless," he smiles. "See you later." You smile at him, watching him leave, and when you know he's out of earshot, you plop down in your desk chair before folding your top half forward, letting your head hit the desk.

You've finished putting the final touches on your classroom, happy that it turned out the way that you wanted. You check the time on your phone, seeing that it's almost time for the kids to come back from lunch. You turn around when you hear someone walk into the room, and you smile when you see Kobori walking in, but with some gear in his hands.

"What's this?" you ask, meeting him halfway.

"I stopped by work on the way here to get some stuff. And all this stuff is new, so you don't have to worry about anything," he tells you, and your heart warms as you look at the fire gear.

"You're really something else, Koji," you tell him, and then you hear the noises and footsteps of the kids in the distance. You write his name on the board as the kids pile in, telling him that there's no need for him to be nervous. You give him a rundown of what he's supposed to say as all of your kids find their seats, and you turn to them once it's time to start.

"Okay, kids!" you start, getting their attention, and they quiet down soon after. "As you all know, today is career day, and you'll all be going to different classrooms to learn about different jobs that people have." You grab Kobori's arm softly to bring him up to your side. "Today, my friend, Kobori, is here today to talk to you guys. Please make sure you're listening, and if you can, hold all of your questions until the end, alright?" When the kids nod, you give Kobori the floor, and you softly reassure him when you see that he's a bit nervous.

You move your chair so that you're sitting with the kids, and you give him a small thumbs-up before he starts talking. You smile softly once he starts, the kids already knowing what he does when he asks them, the firefighter jacket and hat a dead giveaway.

Kobori was nervous, but he honestly seems to be in his element as he talks, and you're so grateful that he offered to step in. Your attention starts to get diverted a bit when he starts to move his hands as he talks, and suddenly the only thing you're focused on is how good he looks in his uniform. You curl your lips into your mouth as you try to pay attention to what he's saying, but it's really hard for you.

He practically fills out the clothes he's wearing, and you don't know how you didn't notice before. He glances at you every now and then, so you try to keep an engaged look on your face even though your eyes drift across his body. You internally shake your head, telling yourself to get it together. He's helped you out immensely and now you're thinking about him like this?

You're about to zone out again, but Kobori stops talking, looking your way, and you quickly realize that he must be done. You swiftly stand, clearing your throat and the not-so-nice thoughts from your head before you speak.

"Everyone give him a round of applause," you say, walking toward the front of the classroom. "Does anyone have any questions?" you ask when you get to Kobori, and you laugh softly when you hear Kobori sigh under his breath at the amount of hands that go up.

The questions range from all kinds of things to what's the coolest thing he's done to how tall the ladder is. He passes the hat around so that all the kids can see it, and he lets others try on the jacket if they want to. It's almost time for the kids to switch rooms, so you let them talk amongst themselves for the last few minutes.

One of your students brings the hat back to Kobori, and he crouches down so that he can softly take it from her. "Did you save Ms. y/n from the fire?" she asks him quietly, and he laughs softly as he nods.

"Yes, I did. I had to break the door down because the handles get too hot," he says. She nods, and she's always been quiet, so you know she's going to get her questions out now.

"Do you ever get scared?"

"All the time," he answers quickly. "But it's okay to be scared. If you don't let it control you, it can help you in intense situations like that." She nods again, but doesn't say anything after that, and you watch Kobori look at her for a split second.

"Can we see the fire truck?"

"I'm not too sure. Do you wanna see it?"

"Yeah, but it's really loud. It hurts my ears," she tells him, and he sits down on the floor, stretching his leg out to reach into his pocket.

"Here," he says softly. "We wear headphones in the truck that make the sirens hurt less, but these earplugs do the same thing." She gently takes them from him. "If the truck comes, you can wear these, and your ears won't hurt, okay?"

She smiles as she nods, looking over them. "Thank you."

"Of course," he says, giving her a big smile.

You announce that your class has to switch rooms, and you make sure they're lined up before you allow them to leave. You didn't mention that Kobori would have to repeat his whole speech a lot of times, and you get him some water in between the short breaks that he has.

Every time a new group of kids comes in, you find yourself in those same cycle of thoughts, and they're only fueled when you see Kobori interacting with the kids. You have half a mind to just walk out; you don't know how much more of this you can take. It's balanced out a little though when you have the kids tell him thank you afterwards, and he smiles so bright it makes your heart skip a beat.

Once your kids get back into the room, there's only about an hour until they all go home, so you let them have free time until then. You're sitting at your desk, trying your hardest not to laugh a Kobori, who's sitting beside you, but in a chair for the kids.

"I can't thank you enough for doing this," you tell him as you continuously look at the kids, keeping an eye on them.

"It was really no problem. This was fun," he tells you, and your face seriously hurts from smiling.

"Mr. Kobori, you saved Ms. y/n from the fire, right?!" you both suddenly hear, turning your attention to the crowd as you try to figure out who asked.

"Yes, I did," he answers with a laugh, groaning quietly as he stands up. All of your kids run up to him, and that's when you notice that they all have cards in their hands, making you wonder when they made them.

"Thank you for saving her! She's the best teacher ever!" He laughs as he takes all of the cards, and you pout softly, hoping that you don't start crying.

"You guys are so sweet!" you say, looking with Kobori has he flips through them.

"You guys are very welcome. She definitely is the best teacher ever," he agrees, and you glance away shyly.

"Are you guys dating?" one of your students asks, and your eyes go wide as you look at her.

"What makes you say that?" you croak, the question so sudden it catches the both of you off-guard. "We're just friends," you laugh, hoping that Kobori can't see how awkward you feel.

"Mr. Kobori looks at you the same way my daddy looks at my mommy!" she continues, and you swallow thickly, barely sparing a glance.

"Yeah! Like you're in love!" The class erupts into laughter and chorus' of 'eww', and you don't know what else to do other than to let your head fall down.

"Okay, okay," you start, releasing a breathy laugh that does nothing to relax your body. "Everyone get packed up so everyone can go home," you softly order, and they quickly move over to their stuff as you sigh before turning to Kobori.

"So sorry about that. They can get a little out of hand," you wince.

"Don't worry about it," he chuckles, looking down at the cards in his hands. "This is definitely the highlight of my week," he continues, holding the cards up.

"I'm glad you had fun, Koji," you respond warmly.

You're looking at the kids again, and you jump out of your skin when you hear a loud noise. The kids immediately react, running over to the window, and both you and Kobori follow, seeing that there's a fire truck pulling into the parking lot. "Did you do this?"

"No," he scoffs, and the both of you roll your eyes when you see Kise step out of the truck first. All of the classrooms have another door that leads outside in case of emergencies, and Kobori exits out that way while you try to corral your kids.

"What are you guys doing here?" Kobori asks when he gets to the truck as he watches his co-workers get out.

"You never said anything about the truck," Kise starts. "And you can't have a firefighter at a career day without the truck!" Kobori shakes his head as Moriyama comes into view. "Now, where are the kiddos?"

"Inside," Kobori answers. "This was unexpected, so now everyone has to get them to calm down. I'll be right back."

You let Kobori back in, and he tells you what's going on. "Is it okay if they all go out there?" he asks.

"Yeah, I don't see why not. Do you mind staying with the kids while I go talk to the other teachers?" He shakes his head, and you quickly thank him before you make your leave, announcing to the kids that they have to listen to him while you're gone.

It takes a minute, but the kids are allowed to go into the parking lot to see the truck, so you spend the next ten minutes getting the kids in order so that they can go outside. You know it's taking everything in them not to run toward the truck, and the all bounce excitedly as they look at the truck.

Kise, of course, takes over with the talking, and you don't think you've stopped smiling since you've made it outside. The kids ask all kinds of questions, but they mostly want to see what the inside of the truck looks like. You and the other teachers split your kids up so that they can see different parts of the trucks, and they rotate through.

When your group gets to the truck, the kids all make their way inside, most of them wanting to hear all the noises the truck makes. Once the kids are done going through the truck, they're taken to their parents, and the last one left in your group is your student that Kobori talked to earlier.

He's sitting in the truck, softly gesturing for her to come forward, but she looks hesitant. He gets out of the truck, walking over to her and lowering himself to her level. "You don't have to get in the truck if you don't want to." She looks over it, and Kobori keeps his eyes on her. "You still have those earplugs I gave you?"

She nods, pulling them out of her pocket. "It's okay to be scared, remember?" he reminds her. "You still wanna go inside?" He takes the earplugs from her when she nods, and he carefully puts them in her ears, making sure they're in properly.

He gently picks her up before climbing into the truck, and she sits on the seat next to him. He puts the headphones on just in case she wants to turn on anything, but for the time being she just looks around. You're standing outside of the truck, watching with a big smile on your face, and Himari walks up to you.

"Are you sure he's not your boyfriend?" Your smile drops temporarily as you roll your eyes, but it's back the moment your eyes land on Kobori and your student. "You're living with a man like that, and you're not dating him?"

"It's complicated," you say quietly, and that's all you can really manage. "But he was really good with the kids today," you add.

"And how did you handle that?"

Your head immediately falls to her shoulder. "My ovaries are gonna explode," you mumble, which makes her laugh loudly. "The kids all gave him cards thanking him for saving me." You groan, letting your body slump before you lift your head up.

You see that she's sitting on Kobori's lap so that she can reach the handle for the horn, and he pulls it with her after he counts down. You and Himari cover your ears as the horn goes off, and you chuckle when you see Kobori and her laugh.

He carefully gets out of the truck with her, setting her down once he's out, taking the headphones off. A surprised look is on his face when she suddenly hugs him, and he crouches down so he can hug her back. "Thank you, Mr. Kobori."

"You're welcome, sweetheart."

Himari smirks at you before she walks away to take the girl to her parents, and Kobori walks over to you. "Thanks for doing that, Kobori," you tell him. "She's had a rough couple of weeks, so I know you really made her happy today."

"Ah, it was nothing. The kids were great," he responds. "Thanks for letting me do this."

"No, thank you for stepping in. You really saved my ass today," you scoff before both of you laugh. "I think this will make me the talk of the school for a while."

"I'm glad I could help," he chuckles.

Kobori talks to his friends for a bit before they leave, and he follows you back into your classroom to help you clean up. You don't have to carry as much stuff as you did this morning, and he offers to carry it for you, but you know that he's not going to take no for an answer.

You walk to the car, both of you feeling the day catching up to you, and you decide to just get food on the way home since you don't feel like cooking. You pay for it, feeling you need to do something to even slightly pay Kobori back for what he did today.

You both shower after you eat, sitting on the couch as you both unwind for the day. Kobori told you that his boss gave him the shift off, so he'll be home for the rest of the night. You're glad that you get to spend more time with him, but after the day you've had, you really don't want to sleep on the couch.

You don't voice that aloud, deciding that after what happened today, you don't think your feelings need anymore reason to grow. You yawn loudly, the sun going down hours ago, and you tell Kobori that you're going to turn in for the night.

You go to the bathroom to do your night routine, and when you come back, you see that Kobori's still sitting on the couch. He's got his head laying against the back with his eyes closed, but the open when he hears you walking closer to him. "Go get in the bed, Koji. You had a long day today."

"I'll take the couch, I don't mind."

"Kobori, really, you can take the bed. It's your place after all," you laugh. He doesn't respond, and he looks at the TV for a beat before his eyes focus on you again.

"We could both take the bed," he offers, and you raise your eyebrows. "I mean, it probably wouldn't do us good to sleep on the couch anyway."

You don't really have it in you to argue even though right now, it's the last thing you want, but you're tired. You softly agree, and when he turns off the TV, the silence really solidifies what's about to happen. You've already been through this, but that was when you were both sick and miserable, so you weren't really worried baout anything other than feeling better.

But now, you're both completely fine, and you're about to be in the same bed. You can feel your heart pounding as you walk to the room, your hearing so focused on his footsteps, it's nearly deafening. You make your way to your side of the bed, having a hard time making eye contact with him, and he waits until you're in the bed to turn the light off.

You rub your thumb over your hand as you listen to him slide in next to you, and it takes you a moment to realize that you're not breathing. You try to take a quiet breath, wondering if you'll even be able to go to sleep. "I know I've said this a million times today, but thank you so much for today," you say, turning your head to look at him, and you want to look away, seeing that he's way too close.

"Of course. Seeing you smiling today was worth it," he responds, and you chew on the inside of your lip, not being able to conceal your smile. "Kise was upset that he wasn't there though, but I think that was because the kids gave me the cards."

You both laugh softly. "Well, it was last minute," you whisper. "And I honestly wasn't expecting that either. I had no idea that they were planning that."

"Should I put them on the fridge?" he asks, and you bravely roll over, sliding your arm under your pillow to brace your head.

"I don't know if there will be enough room," you huff playfully. "We could try though. You could bring some to work!"

Kobori eventually rolls over too, and the both of you talk quietly until your eyes start to feel heavy. You fall asleep first, giving him a mumbled 'goodnight' as you finally drift off, and Kobori can't help but watch you. When he starts to feel his eyes getting heavy, he makes sure that the last thing he sees before he falls asleep is you.

Your car had to be taken to the shop to get it fixed, so Kobori has been driving you to and from work. You tried to at least pay him for gas, but he wouldn't let you, and no matter how hard you tried, he never backed down. He had to change his hours because of it, and he's practically on the same schedule as you, but it's just enough to where you're not sharing a bed every night.

But the times that you do, you both always skirt around the idea of sharing the bed again until you give in because of how tired you are. And every morning you wake up, the two of you are close to each other even though when you fell asleep the night before, you were on your respective sides of the bed. The first few times it happened, neither of you could look at each for a while, but now it's become routine.

It makes Kobori ridiculously happy to see you the moment he opens his eyes. There's been many times when he's woken up before your alarm with you in his arms, and he just takes the time before it goes off to admire you. He scolded himself at first for being weird, but slowly, he pushed those thoughts away. This might be the closest he can get to you without having to worry about what to say, and he'll take whatever he can get.

Since it's the weekend, neither of you are working, and you wanted to go out since you hadn't really been out anywhere recently. You told Kobori that you were planning on going out, and you were surprised when he said that he'd tag along. You just chalked it up to be because he didn't want you driving his car, so you didn't question it any further.

You both woke up late today, so you decided to stop for brunch at that restaurant that you used to go to in college. Being here again with Kobori makes you think about how long you've been living with him. Your apartment was rebuilt months ago, but you never told Kobori, and he never asked you about it. At the time, you felt like there was no reason because you only wanted to be near him. But now, you don't even know how you would bring that up in conversation, so you just leave it alone.

After you've finished eating, you wanted to get some more lotion and candles, so Kobori drives over to the store. Kobori's immediately overwhelmed by the smells the moment you step inside, and you grab a basket as you chuckle at his reaction. "You've never been in here before?" you question as you start to walk around, Kobori following behind you closely as he looks around.

"No, but my mom talks about this place all the time." You start with the lotion, smelling all the new scents that they have along with the body spray. Every time you smell one that you really like, you put it in the basket, and Kobori takes it from you so that you can have your hands free. He follows you around as you smell everything, and you get a point where you know that you have too much.

You have Kobori smell them, and whatever he doesn't really care for, you put back. You head over to the men's section, always wanting to see what new smells they have. Kobori smiles when you smell something that you don't like, shaking your head before putting it back.

"Oh, my God, that smells amazing," you breathe, holding it over to Kobori. He nods as he smells it, agreeing with you before you smell it again, sighing heavily. "Is there anything you wanna get?" you ask him as you put the lotion back. "It's buy three, get three free."

"I'll just get he one that you just had," he answers.

"But you didn't smell any of the other ones," you laugh as you grab the lotion.

"Well, you liked it, so that's enough for me. I don't know if my nose can handle anything else," he responds. You huff as you shake your head, telling him to get anything else that he wants, and you try to not focus on how he gets the same scent twice to balance out the sale.

You make your way over to the candles, and you want him to smell them since you usually light them around the apartment. "You think this would be good for the living room?" you question as you smell it before holding it to him. When you see his nose scrunch a certain way (that definitely doesn't make your heart flutter), you know that he doesn't really care for it, so you put it back.

"You guys are the cutest!" an older woman whispers, and Kobori's too invested in the candles to hear her, and you smile softly as you laugh, thanking her quietly. Your face warms as you turn your attention back to the display, seeing that Kobori's got a candle in his hand, waiting for you to smell it.

You pick out a few before you're finally done, making your way to register. You get all of the coupons that you need to make sure that you'll get the discounts you need, and you count everything to make sure you don't have too many items. The cashier scans everything, commenting on a couple of the scents you got, and they tell you the total while you're talking with them.

You got so caught up that you didn't even get your card out, and as you're trying to do so, Kobori hands over his. "You don't have to do that. I dragged you out here."

"I don't mind," he dismisses gently as he signs his signature on the screen.

"Kobori," you sigh, your voice borderline a whine, and he grabs the bags when the cashier hands them to him. "Okay, we go somewhere you want, and I pay for it," you declare when you get to the car.

"We don't have to do that," he laughs as you both get into the car.

"There has to be somewhere you want to go," you urge. "There isn't anything you're looking to get?"

"I mean, there's a couple of things," he mumbles as he pulls out of the parking lot.

"Then let's go! Go wherever you want, you're driving," you say, and he knows that you won't take no for an answer. He drives to a sporting goods store, mentioning something about wanting to get new shoes, and since you're already out, he'll just look in the store instead of online.

You follow him through the store as he looks for the shoes section, and he gets to the basketball section, looking at all of them as he tries to find a pair that he likes. "What do you need new basketball shoes for?" you question as he grabs a pair.

"We're hosting a charity basketball tournament," he answers as he sits down on one of the benches. "My last pair are definitely not in good shape, so I figured I should get new ones."

"When is all of this happening?"

"In a couple of weeks, so Kise, Moriyama, and I were gonna go to the gym and get some reps in. It's been forever since I've played," he laughs. You know that they continued to play pick-up after they graduated whenever their other teammates were in town, but they hadn't played for a while now.

He goes through a couple of pairs before he finds the ones that he likes, and he grabs the box with the correct size. "Is there anything else you wanna look at?" you ask as you start to walk away. "I don't mind if you want to."

You walk around with him as he looks through the clothes, not too sure if it's something he wants to get, but he just decides to look anyway. He only gets a couple of things, and once he's done, you make your way to the register. "You seriously don't have to do this," he tells you as you insert your card into the reader.

"Yes, I do," you laugh, removing your card after it tells you to. "You paid for my stuff, so now I'm paying for yours." You proudly hand him the bag as you walk out of the store, and he can only smile at you as you make your way through the doors.

There's a gaming store in the strip of buildings, so you offer to go there next. He tries to deny it, but you know he wants to go inside, so you grab his hand to drag him over there. "Come on, Kobori, there has to be something in here that you want," you press softly, not letting go of his hand even when you're already in the store.

Neither of you makes a move to let your hands go, and Kobori takes a deep breath before he laces your fingers together. You don't seem to notice since you're talking about the new games that are out, and if you do, you don't say anything. You follow closely behind as he looks through the store, and you try not to focus all of your attention on how his hand feels against yours.

He ends up picking out a couple of games, and you make sure he doesn't make a move to reach for his wallet so that you can pay. You walk out of the store, satisfied with yourself, and Kobori gives you a fond look as he mindlessly reaches for your hand. He's about to stop himself when his fingers brush against your hand, realizing what he's about to do, but you grab his hand before he can do so.

Kobori's smile widens as you walk to the car, listening to whatever you're saying, and he only lets go of your hand when you get to the car. Kobori doesn't let himself dwell on the fact that he's not holding your hand anymore, keeping his attention on the conversation. You decided that both of you had spent enough money today, so you offer to just cook at home.

"Thank you for buying this stuff, even though you really shouldn't have," he tells you as you walk to his door.

"You're welcome, and of course, I did."

You make something quick, both of you moving to the couch to eat, and in the back of his head, Kobori wishes that your car would take just a little bit longer at the shop. He knows how selfish that sounds, but he's spent way more time with you now than when you moved in. Not having your car just gave him the excuse to do something that he's wanted to do for a while, but he could never get himself to bring it up.

He doesn't know if he'll be able to ask you to hang out like this once your car is fixed, but he's pretty sure you like spending time with him as much as he likes spending time with you. Kise and Moriyama are still in the back of his head, telling him that your feelings are mutual, but you and he have been living together for so long now that it makes him even more anxious to confess.

He doesn't know what he'll do if he ruins what he has with you, and he knows that he'll find himself in the same position he was when you graduated college and he realized he wouldn't be seeing you as much. For now, he just declares that he'll keep his feelings pushed to the side so that he can stay happy right now. He just hopes it doesn't backfire on him any time soon.

The charity tournament that Kobori mentioned to you sneaks up on both of you quickly, and Kobori said that you didn't have to be there as early as he did, but you wanted to come with him anyway since he helped you set up and clean up for career day. You have to get there super early, and you momentarily regret saying that you would leave with him when you hear the ring of your alarm.

Kobori's firehouse is playing against other firehouses in the area, and the winner gets to donate the money raised to a charity of their choice. Money is raised in different ways, from confession sales to the raffles that they're hosting, so more than one charity can get donations. You find a seat on the bleachers as the first game starts since Kobori's team plays first.

Watching him play takes you back to when you would go to his games in college and high school. You always enjoyed watching him because he always looked like he was having the time of his life while playing...you also enjoyed watching him because of how good he looked. This time is obviously no different except for the fact that he somehow looks so much better now.

You know he's gotten bigger since you graduated, mostly because of how heavy the firefighter gear can be, but it seems like the jersey he's wearing is too small for him, and you're close to just buying him a whole new wardrobe that doesn't hug his body. Kobori did tell you that the jersey was a little tight, but you weren't expecting it to be like another skin.

Kasamatsu shows up when the game is halfway through, sitting next to you. You're grateful for the distraction as you catch up with him, half of your attention on the game while the other half is on him until it ends. You both meet up with your friends after the game is over as they celebrate their win. Kobori talks to Kasamatsu briefly before he turns his attention to you.

"Congrats on the win! I think you guys might be the best team here," you say, which makes him laugh softly, using his jersey to wipe the sweat from his forehead, and it takes everything in you to not look down.

"Thanks," he sighs. "I'm definitely not used to playing like this anymore, but the shoes feel great," he continues, and you smile up at him.

"Then you can thank me after you win this whole thing," you tease, making him roll his eyes.

Kobori's off for the next game, so he sits on the bleachers with you along with Kasamatsu, Kise, and Moriyama. Once the game is close to finishing, Kobori mentions that he's feeling a little hungry, so you lead him out of the gym into the lobby area where there are tables set up.

You lead him to the one that has a poster with his firehouse on it, and he notices that it's covered in food. "It's a snack table!" you inform him, holding your hands out toward it. "Some of the wives mentioned it to me this morning while you were warming up, so I wanted to contribute too, but if there's nothing here that you want, I can go get you something."

You're looking over the table, waiting for Kobori to say something, but when he doesn't, you look at him to see that he's staring right at you. "What?" you question quietly. "Do you want me to go get you something?"

He's smiling at you, and for a split second, he doesn't say anything until he shakes his head. "No, I'm okay with this. Thank you," he tells you softly.

"Of course! We all want you guys to play your best, so eat up!"

Once he gets what he wants, you walk back into the gym to see that the game is over, and Kobori eats his snacks while the team warms up. You find your spot on the bleachers with Kasamatsu again, cheering once they're about to start the game.

Kobori's team wins the rest of the games, only one of them being pretty close for comfort, and now they have to wait for the bracket play to start. While they're figuring out the brackets, they're given a lunch break, and you had gone out to get Kobori something more filling. He thanks you before he nearly swallows it whole, your eyes widening when you see that he's almost done even though you swore you took your eyes off of him for a few minutes.

You can see that he's getting a bit tired, his body slumping a bit, and you gently guide him to lie down as you chuckle at him. He stretches out on the bleachers, and when he goes to lie down, his head lands on your thigh. "Sorry," he mumbles, getting ready to move down a bit, but you stop him, telling him it's okay.

He's too tired to deny, and he carefully lays his head on your lap as he blinks slowly. He watches you talk to some of the women that you mentioned earlier when you were talking about the snack table, and he fights sleep for a little bit to watch you. He smiles as you engage in the conversation, and all he can think about is how happy he is right now.

When you mentioned the snack table, it seemed like his whole world stopped for a bit, and it made him realize how madly in love with you he is. All he could think about was what it would be like if you were actually together, actually married. You've been there for him for so long, and he never thought he could express how much that really meant to him. You were there to comfort him after every game he lost, and you were there to celebrate every game that he won.

You look down at him, and you smile when you see that he's still awake, but you can barely see his eyes. "Go to sleep, Koji," you order quietly, and his eyes finally slip closed when he feels your fingers gently run over his face. It doesn't take long for him to fall asleep, his body finally relaxing as he succumbs to it, and when he wakes up, it feels like all he had done was blink.

He definitely feels more energized after taking the nap, especially after seeing you when he finally opened his eyes. He sighs softly as he sits up, turning his head from side to side to get rid of the stiffness in his neck. He's going to have a long string of games coming up, so he's mentally preparing himself for that.

He takes one step down from where he was laying when you call his name. He turns around, and since you're standing up, he has to lift his head to look at you. "You're gonna do great! Good luck!" He smiles before he nods, and he makes his way onto the court, your words making him feel more confident.

Kobori is absolutely exhausted, but his team managed to win the whole tournament. He has just enough energy left to celebrate and take a couple of pictures, and once that's over, he's grabbing his stuff so that he can take his shoes off. He can hear your voice, and he looks up to see you running over to him. He holds his arms out because he already knows what's coming, and you jump into him to give him a hug.

"You did it! And you played so well!" He doesn't let you go, keeping you in his arms because it's the best feeling in the world right now, and also because he's about two seconds from falling over. "Congratulations!"

"Thank you, but you were the reason I was able to even make it this far," he responds, and you roll your eyes.

"You always say that. You were the one that did all of the playing."

"And I was able to do that because you were supporting me," he counters, and you can't help but laugh as you shake your head.

You let him go so that he can take his shoes off, and while he's doing that, you help with some of the clean up. He's dragging his feet as he walks out of the gym, briefly talking to his teammates as he looks for you. When he finally finds you, you're saying goodbye to your friends, walking away from them when you see Kobori.

He silently follows you out of the building, and he's so glad that you drove today because he doesn't think he'd be able to make it. You only make one stop on the way home, and that's to pick up some food for him to eat, and he's making a b-line for the shower the moment he gets inside.

He slowly fills his stomach when he gets out of the shower, feeling like he could fall asleep any minute now. After he finishes eating, you throw all of the trash away before you drag him into his room. You've barely pulled the sheets back before he's flopping onto the bed, the fatigue really seeming to hit him once he lies down.

You didn't even bother turning the light on since you knew he'd be out in a second, and you pull the covers over him. "Night, Kobori," you whisper, and he responds with a low hum. You turn around to make your leave, already showered and ready to go to sleep yourself, when you feel his hand softly grab your wrist.

"Where are you going?" he mumbles, and you take a step back as you look at him.

"I'm going to sleep," you huff softly, turning around to fully face him.

"Just sleep here. C'mon," he urges, gently pulling you toward the bed. You can't find it in you to fight him and you chuckle quietly as you climb into bed. You barely have the covers over your body before he's pulling you into him, wrapping his arm around your waist. You lay your head on his chest as you yawn, rubbing your hand over his chest. "Night," he murmurs.

"Goodnight, Kobori," you repeat with a smile around your lips, and his even breathing after he falls asleep is what eventually puts you to sleep shortly after.

You wake up to your phone ringing, groaning softly as you roll over to see who's calling you so late in the night. Or early in the morning when you see that's three in the morning, and you're so glad that you don't have to work. It's a number you don't recognize, so you silence your phone before rolling back over.

You're about to drift back off when your phone rings for a second time. You huff loudly as you roll back over, seeing it's the same number calling you, so you pick up, getting ready to give the person on the other line a piece of your mind. "Hello?" you sigh heavily, your voice thick with sleep.

"Am I speaking to y/n?"

"Yes, who is this?" you question as you frown, sitting up.

"I'm calling from the hospital. It's about Kobori, and he listed you as his emergency contact." Your body goes tense at her words, your eyes widening as you quickly throw the covers off of you.

"Oh, my God. Is he okay?" you ask as you frantically look for some clothes to put on, sleep no longer evident in your body.

"Yes. He's doing just fine. We just wanted to let you know." You sigh heavily as you take a moment to take a breath before you make your way to the front door.

"Okay, thank you so much. I'm on my way." You hang up the phone, put your shoes on, and grab your keys before you make your way to your car.

You're anxious the whole drive on the way to the hospital, your fingers gripping the steering wheel so tight, they start to ache a bit. You practically run into the building, finding your way to the front desk. "I'm here to see Kobori," you tell one of the people at the front desk, your chest heaving, and they lead you through the floor with nurses and doctors running around.

They lead you to the room, and you gasp when you see Kobori lying on the hospital bed, way more bruised and battered than when he left the apartment last night. He's sleeping when you walk in, and you quietly make your way into the room, feeling your heart break as you look at him.

"Oh, my God," you whisper softly, looking at the cuts and bruises all over his face and arms. The nurse tells you that the doctor will be back in to check on him within the next hour, and you nod, barely paying any attention to them as you give them a soft thank you.

You grab one of the chairs, pick it up, and carefully place it on the floor near the bed. You sigh as you sit down, and he stirs a bit, blinking before he opens his eyes. He looks around, and he gives you a small smile when he sees you sitting there. "What are you doing here?"

"They called me and told me you were here," you answer, as you lean forward. "What happened?"

He sighs as he shakes his head. "The building I was in suddenly had an explosion, and I was near it when it happened. None of us were expecting it."

"Are you okay?" you ask even though he looks far from it right now.

"I'm just fine. Besides a concussion, a knee sprain, and some nasty cuts and bruises."

Your eyes widen. "You sound far from fine!" you respond lowly before you sigh as you let your head fall.

"Sorry, they woke you up. I didn't know they were gonna call you."

You look up at him as you huff, smiling a bit. "I'm your emergency contact. Of course, they're gonna call me, you doofus," you say lightly, and he smiles widely. "When did you do that anyway?"

"A while ago," he answers. "I figured since we were living together, it would make the most sense, I guess." You don't want to admit how hearing him say that makes your heart race. Even though you're nowhere near dating, just him saying those words enough to make you wish even more that you were. "I'm sorry again that you were woken up."

"Kobori, don't apologize. It's okay. All that matters is that you're okay." You softly place your hand on his, and he quickly turns it over so that he can hold it. "I guess I should do the same," you say. "Right now my parents are listed, but it wouldn't hurt to add you too."

He nods, groaning when he shifts a bit. "Okay, maybe I'm not that fine," he sighs, and you shake your head as you laugh softly.

The doctor comes back a little while later, saying that Kobori's going to have to stay for a few more hours so they can monitor him, and he's given some more medicine before the doctor leaves. "You don't have to stay here. You're probably still tired."

You shake your head. "I don't wanna leave you alone. I'll be fine," you say right before you yawn. "That was really bad timing," you say quickly after, and he huffs a bit. "I probably wouldn't be able to go back to sleep knowing that you're here anyway."

He smiles as he adjusts his head on the pillow. "Alright," he sighs. "Hearing all of the beeping was kinda making my ears ring anyway." The both of you laugh softly, and your hand never lets go of his as you talk.

The doctor comes in a while later to check on him, saying that he should be released soon, and even though Kobori urges you to go, you stay. It's not like you have to go to work today anyway, so you have nothing else to do.

He sleeps for a little bit, and you do the same, but you're in and out of sleep since you can't position yourself comfortably in the chair. You decide to try and get some caffeine in your system, so you find vending machine to see if there's anything that could help. You end up settling for a couple of snacks since you hadn't eaten before walking back to Kobori's room.

"Are you feeling a little bit better?" you ask when you walk back in the room, seeing that he's awake. You sit down in the chair as he sighs.

"Kinda. The medicine is helping," he whispers, and you look over him again as you eat. You try not to let your thoughts derail too bad, refusing to think about what this situation would look like if it was worse. You just focus on the fact that he's okay, and that he didn't get hurt too severely.

"We'll be home before you know it," you tell him warmly, and he gives you a sleepy smile.

When you finish eating, you throw the trash away, and when you try to sit back down, Kobori softly grabs your wrist. "Lay with me," he mumbles when you give him a questioning look.

"Can I?" you ask, wondering if there's even enough room for you to do so.

"You need to sleep to. It'll be fine," he urges, and you don't really have it in you to fight him. You move over to the side of the bed away from his bad knee, sitting down carefully before you lay down. You sigh heavily as you lay on him, this being an immense improvement from the chair.

He wraps his arm around you, and you close your eyes as you feel him rub and down your side softly. Lying with him has become such as routine that you don't even blink at it anymore. It does still make your heart race just a bit because he's someone that you really like, but it doesn't make you nervous anymore.

You peel your eyes open again for a second, and you see that he has his arm resting on his stomach. Before you can even think about it, you reach out to run your fingers across the cuts and bruises that decorate the skin. "Does it hurt?" you ask quietly, and he lifts his hand so that he can lace his fingers with yours.

"Not really. The pain from my head and knee kinda block it out," he answers, your head moving with every word he says.

You bring his hand up so that you can kiss it gently. "I'm glad you're okay, Kobori. Well, kinda?" you add, and you smile when you hear him huff.

"Yeah, me too," he whispers. You both go quiet after a while, and you figure Kobori must've gone back to sleep when you hear him snoring softly. You close your eyes as you fully relax, falling asleep as well.

Kobori's released from the hospital a few hours later with some medicine and instructions on how to take care of his wounds. He was offered a wheelchair, but he refused, wanted to use the crutches instead. He tests them out before he leaves, making sure that he's not putting any pressure on his knee, and you walk with him out of the hospital.

He's got a brace on his knee to help, and you move the passenger seat back far enough to where he won't have to bend it. Once he's settled into the car, you put the crutches in the back seat before you get in and drive back home.

You offer to make him something to eat when you get inside, helping him sit down on the couch. You turn on the TV, handing the remote after before making your way to the kitchen. You make some food for yourself as well since you haven't add a proper meal, bringing it into the living room when you're done.

He's still pretty tired after eating, so you help him into bed, making sure he's comfortable before going back to clean the kitchen. You're pretty tired yourself, and you decide that you can put your work off for a little bit longer since it's spring break anyway. When you go back into the room after finishing in the kitchen, you see that Kobori's still awake.

"You're supposed to be sleeping," you scold softly, walking over to the bed.

"You need to sleep too," he responds, making you roll your eyes. You get in the bed on the other side, immediately gravitating to him, and you focus your attention on the TV.

The last thing you remember is looking at the TV, but the next thing you know, the sun is starting to go down. You knew you were tired, but not tired enough to sleep the day away. You stir a bit when you notice that Kobori's chest seems to be rising and falling faster than it should be. You frown as you try to sit up so that you can look at him, but that's when you feel how tight he's holding you.

You move your body so that you can crane your head up to look at him, and you realize that he's dreaming when you're finally able to look at him. It doesn't take you long to figure out that he's having a nightmare, and you try your best to wake him up in the position you're in.

You shake him gently, calling his name, and when it doesn't work, you shake him harder and say his name even louder. When he finally wakes up, he jumps slightly as he gasps, his arm tightening around you even more before he finally relaxes. You can finally move now that he's not holding you so tight, and you instantly sit up, resting your weight on your elbow as you move further up the bed.

"You're okay, Kobori," you console softly, and when you gently touch his face, and you can feel the thin layer of sweat on his skin. "Just breathe." You can feel how his heart is racing when you rub over his chest as he catches his breath, closing his eyes for a split second before he looks at you.

"You're okay?" he asks, and your eyebrows raise for a bit before you face softens.

"Yeah. I'm right here," you answer with a nod. "I'm okay." You rub your thumb over his cheek as his hand comes up to cup your face, his motion following yours. His body relaxes again once it seems like he has confirmation that you're fine, and he looks at the ceiling.

"Sorry."

"Koji, you don't have to apologize," you respond quickly. "All that matters is that you know it wasn't real."

"But it felt so real. I thought--I thought I lost you. I couldn't save you," he rushes out, and your heart hurts listening to him.

You guide him to look at you. "You'll never lose me, Koji. I'm not going anywhere, okay?" He looks over your face for a while before he nods, and you kiss him on the forehead. "How about you hop in the shower? That might help," you offer, and he nods but he doesn't move.

"Yeah," he says. I just want to stay like this for a bit."

"That's okay." You let your head rest next to his, rubbing over his chest until his heart rate starts to become even. When he starts to move, you take that as a sign that he's ready to get up, so you move so that he can.

You grab his crutches, helping him to the bathroom, and you grab a stool from the island to put in the tub so that he doesn't have to stand the whole time. You leave so that he can undress, and you hover in the hallway just to make sure that he doesn't fall or hurt himself. When it sounds like everything's okay, you start to think about dinner as you make your way into the kitchen, keeping your ear tuned in the direction of the bathroom.

You start cooking, hearing the shower turn off a while after, and you hear him walk into the bedroom. You finish prepping, and you slide the dish in the oven before you make your way over to the door. You knock softly, waiting until he gives you the okay to come in.

When you softly push the door open and walk inside, he's sitting on the bed in some shorts, and your steps falter when you see that he has bruises on his chest as well. You try not to look at them, but it's hard for you not to. "Do you feel better?"

"Yeah. My head's a little clearer," he answers.

"That's good. Dinner's in the oven, so it'll be ready in a few." He nods, but doesn't say anything, and you can tell that the dream is still bothering him. You offer to help with his bandages, and the two of you stay silent as you do. You help him prop the pillows up against the headboard so he can rest against them, and you gently rub the cream into his knee, careful to not cause him any pain.

You wash your hands before checking on the food, making sure it's cooked through before you take it out of the oven. You're closing the oven door when you hear something behind you, and you look over to see Kobori walking in. You plate food, setting it in front of him when he sits down at the island before you make yourself a plate.

"Thank you," he says suddenly before you can sit down.

"It's nothing," you laugh. "I do this all the time," you respond as you take a seat.

"No, I mean. Thank you for helping me out," he clarifies.

"Of course. You've helped me out in more ways than one, and I'm just trying to do the same for you."

There's so much more he wants to say, but he decides to just eat instead. He doesn't know if he'd be able to handle his injuries and the mental toll if you weren't here. Finding out that he wouldn't be able to move like he wants to for a while was enough of a damper on his mood, and he knows that seeing his injuries every day would just fuel the fire.

With you being here, it doesn't seem as bad as he thinks it is. Having someone else in the apartment allows him to take his mind off of it even if it's for a split second. He's looking at you while you're talking, but he's only half-listening because he's thinking about how much you're making his situation so much better. He's nodding every now and then to show you that he's hearing you, and he tries to tell himself to pay more attention, but he can't.

He almost lets his feelings slip out as he listens you, and he barely catches himself. You've stopped talking, but you notice that he's still smiling at you. "What?" you question playfully, returning the smile.

"Nothing," he answers lightly with a shake of his head. "I just really appreciate you being here right now."

"You already said that," you laugh.

"Yeah, but I feel like I can't show you how much it means to me," he starts. "Just--Just having you here is making all of this a lot easier."

You grab his hand. "You're welcome, Kobori. You'll bounce back in no time, I know it." And those words are what keeps him from giving up and letting everything consume him.

Recovery has been going really well for Kobori, and now that the pain is starting to subside a bit, he can go to physical therapy to get his strength back. He's practically itching to get moving again and go back to work even though it really wears him out sometimes. He's been trying to stay active by working out around the house without doing too much with his lower body, but that can only go so far.

Kobori knows that the only reason he's made it this far without going insane is you, and he doesn't even know how he can thank you for that. You've been keeping him from getting down on himself whenever the pain comes back for a little while when he wakes up, and he swears that your words alone make the pain subside. But he's starting to have a little problem.

For a while, he's been noticing how much comfortable you're getting around the house, and he's really happy about that. You've been living here for so long, and it makes him glad that you feel relaxed enough at his place; he wouldn't want it any other way.

He's blaming it on the weather, but you've started showing more skin than before, and he honestly doesn't know how much longer he can handle it. He mentally scolds himself because he knows you're not doing it on purpose, and he wishes he wouldn't let his thoughts run into the gutter, but he can't help it.

Since he hasn't been going to work, he's always up during the day, and he's usually sitting on the couch when you come home from work. He always asks how your day is, and whenever you mention that it was a little rough, he always offers to cook dinner instead. He honestly feels bad when you cook dinner after you come home from work, but you always tell him that you don't mind.

You usually don't eat for a couple of hours after you get off work anyway, so you have plenty of time to decompress before you start cooking. He's started moving to sit at the island when you tell him that dinner's almost done, and he doesn't think he'd be able to admit the reason why. Before, he's always waited until you told him it was ready, but he's found that he enjoys watching you while you cook.

It sounds weird, and you haven't called him out on it, but it makes him smile when he sees how at ease you are especially if you've had a rough day. That's the reason why he does it. He definitely doesn't stare at your ass whenever you're checking the food in the oven, and he definitely doesn't stare when you reach for something on the top shelf, and your shirt rides up, giving a better view of your backside. That's definitely not the reason.

When he catches himself doing that, he flushes as he focuses his eyes on something else, shaking his head as he scolds himself for being a pervert. He tells himself to stop, that he shouldn't do it anymore, but you never make it any easier for him.

When your alarm goes off in the morning, it usually wakes him up, so you try to best to turn it off as quickly as you can. Once you're awake enough, you get out of bed to go to the bathroom, and by the time you come back, Kobori's usually fallen back asleep.

Kobori's just barely asleep when he hears you enter the room again, but he barely stirs since you're careful to not make any noise. He's still sleeping on his back since he doesn't want to risk hurting his knee by trying to move, and he rolls his head to the side as he hears you opening drawers and he barely opens his eyes to see you looking through them.

You find the shirt you're looking for, and before he can close his eyes as he tells himself that this is totally a complete invasion of privacy, you slide your tank top off. Your back is facing him, but even through the slits of his eyelids, he knows that your top half is now exposed. He feels himself growing warm all over as you put your bra on before you slide your shirt on.

He lets his eyes fall closed right before you turn around, and he can hear you walk toward the closet. Even though the voice in his head tells him not to, he opens his eyes again to see you sliding some jeans on, and he doesn't know if he can look anywhere else. He tries his best to think of anything that would turn him off as he closes his eyes again, and he prays that you don't spare him another glance when you walk out of the room.

He sighs heavily before he opens his eyes because all he can see now is you. He can feel himself growing, and he bunches the blanket up to try and make it look less obvious how hard he's starting to get. He nearly jumps out of his skin when he hears you walk in, turning his head to look at you like he just caught got doing something he shouldn't be doing.

"Sorry, did I wake you up?" you ask quietly, and he shakes his head, hoping that you can't see how red he is.

"No, you're all good." Thankfully he yawns, and he smiles when you tell him goodbye, telling you to have a good day in reply before he watches you walk back out again. He sighs again when he hears the front door close, and he knows that he'll have trouble going back to sleep.

It doesn't seem to get any better for him, and he feels like he might go crazy. One morning, he woke up just before your alarm, finding himself staring at your sleeping face before it goes off. He watches you frown in your sleep before you start to wake up, slowly sitting up to turn it off.

Instead of getting up though, you lay back down on him, tucking your face in his neck. He chuckles softly as he wraps his arm around you, but after a few minutes, you're still not moving. "Hey, you have to get up," he whispers softly, rubbing over your shoulder.

"Don't wanna," you mumble, your words muffled by his neck. You groan again as you slowly move, wanting nothing more than to go back to sleep. Kobori did find the situation amusing, but your chest mushed against his, he can feel how your boobs are pressed against him, and he no longer finds anything about this funny.

You finally sit up, huffing as you do so, and you rest your weight on your hand as you extend your arm, and Kobori wishes he could find a quick way out of this situation. Even though you've sat up, you don't move for a bit, your eyes still closed, and Kobori takes the opportunity to look at your chest. Your tits are right in his face, and he really hopes you don't catch him staring because it would be practically impossible for him not to.

His eyes snap to yours just in time once you move, and he subtly adjusts the blanket over his leg, hoping you can't see his hard-on. You eventually get out of bed, making your way to the bathroom, and he doesn't know how much longer he can take this. Of course, he's helped himself out before, but all the times he's done it, you've been on his mind every time. And then he can't even look at you after he does it, and now that he's home more, he definitely won't be able to even talk to you.

The final nail in the coffin makes him feel the worst because you're just helping him, and your intentions are completely genuine. You always offer to help rub the cream on his knee which is supposed to help with the pain, and even though he's feeling better, he knows that he should still apply it. It was a little much for him at first because there was still a decent amount of pain, so that was the only thing he was focusing on.

But now that the pain isn't plaguing his mind, he can only focus on how your hands feel. You've done this so many times that your attention is always on something else like the TV, always staying aware of how much pressure you're putting on his knee. He tries to focus on anything else, but it's hard not to since he doesn't really have anything else to do. He could distract himself with his phone, but the only that would do is put his eyes somewhere else.

You massage his knee for a bit, and he jumps against his will when he feels your hands slide up higher on his thigh. "Did I hurt you?" you question quickly, and he shakes his head, giving you a small smile.

"No, I just caught a chill," he lies, and you don't seem to see through it, going back to his leg. He tries to sigh quietly, and that's when he realizes how tense he is, but he doesn't think he can relax even if he wanted to. He knows you're doing it to help with the blood circulation, but it seems like it's only making the blood flow in the completely wrong way.

It usually doesn't take long for you to do this, but it honestly feels like time has slowed down terribly. One of his hands balls into a fist as he tries to think about how horribly embarrassing it would be if you caught him hard while all you're doing is helping it.

You're finally done, going to put the medicine in the bathroom, and his body finally relaxes, some of his muscles aching a bit from how tense he was. He's quick to throw the blanket over his legs before you come back, and all he can do is pray that he'll get himself together. He doesn't want to put you in such an awkward situation, and he scolds himself in his head.

Kobori's in his room while you're making dinner so he can take his medicine, and you're smiling softly when you think about how happy he seems now that he can move more than he could before. It was definitely hard to see him so down, and you tried everything you could to keep his mind off of it.

You're finishing up with lunch, and you jump when you hear Kobori swear loudly. The food is forgotten as you run into his room, seeing him still sitting on the bed with his head down. "Are you okay?" you ask softly as you quickly walk over to him, sitting down next to him.

"No," he answers, sighing heavily. You don't say anything for a while, and you see how his hands are balled into fists, so you grab one of his hands. He easily opens it, and you lace your fingers with his, his body relaxing slightly.

"I just feel so helpless," he starts, keeping his head down. "I can't move like I want to, and it feels like every time I'm getting better, the pain comes back."

You don't respond, looking for the right thing to say, and you lay your head on his shoulder. "Well, you help people, Kobori, so it's normal to feel like this," you say. "You save people every day. You saved me," you add, smiling a little when you feel him huff.

You lift your head, softly guiding him to look at you with your hand on his face. "But, to help people, you have to help yourself first. You can't do your best if you're not at your best." He's looking at you so intently, that you have half a mind to just run away, but you push through it. "I know it may seem like your recovery is taking forever, but you have to let yourself heal."

He smiles at you before he lets his head rest on yours. "You'll be okay, Koji. I'm not going anywhere," you whisper.

"Thank you," he says softly, rubbing his thumb over the back of your hand.

"Of course." You sit there quietly, letting the silence take over for a bit. "You okay?"

He nods a little. "Yeah. But we can stay like this for a few?"

You chuckle a little before you nod. "Yeah. We can stay for as long as you like."

You finally feel his body fully relax, and you smile softly, glad that your words seemed to help. You don't how long you both sit there, but his stomach eventually grumbles which makes the both of you laugh quietly.

"Do you want me to bring your food in here?" you ask, keeping your head on his.

"Nah, I'll make it out there."

You finally pull away, realizing you're having a very hard time doing so, and you smile widely when his eyes finally open to meet yours. You kiss his forehead softly, rubbing your thumb over his cheek. "You're gonna be okay, Koji," you echo, giving his hand a squeeze before you stand, holding his hand until you're out of reach.

You walk out of the room, hearing his footsteps a little bit later. He's silent for most of the time that you eat, only listening to you, occasionally responding with hums to let you know that he's listening. You don't really blame him since he doesn't have much to talk about anyway. Even though he hasn't been to work, you've been trying to get him out of the apartment more since he's able to move a bit more.

You thought that the fresh air would be a good distraction, and you know that him staying inside all the time wouldn't help. He'll sometimes mention something that his co-workers said, who have been checking in on him every now and then. You know it also helped when Kise and Moriyama would visit, and you want to try your best to not let the pain get him down.

After eating, you let him get in the shower first while you clean up the kitchen, and you do so after. Kobori's sitting on the bed, and he lifts his head up when he hears the door open a bit, but he doesn't hear your footsteps. You're peeking your head in so that he can't see your body, and an amused frown finds its way on his face.

"I wanna show you something, so you have to close your eyes," you tell him, and he smiles before he does so. He listens to you walk closer to him, and he feels the bed move as you carefully climb on it. He tenses a bit when he feels you against his back before he relaxes, and he can feel your head next to his. "Okay, open your eyes."

He peels his eyes open, and since your arms are out in front of him, they immediately fall on what's in your hands. "What's this?" he asks, taking the tiny stuffed bear from you.

"It's from my student that you were with on career day," you answer, letting your arms fall before you wrap them gently around him. "She was gonna get you some candy too, but she didn't know what you liked," you chuckle, which makes him smile as he rubs his finger over the face. "She said it's for whenever you get scared, and she wanted to thank you again for being with her that day."

He stays quiet, huffing softly as he smiles, and he feels your chin carefully rest on his shoulder. "Koji, you helped her out without having to go into a fire or any high-intense situation," you start, and he turns his head to look at you. "Being there with her was all she needed," you say. "You are far from helpless. You helped me when I needed it most, and you didn't have to do a lot of moving for that. This gift is one of the many reasons why you shouldn't feel like this.

"I get that you're frustrated about not being able to move like you want to, I'm not invalidating that at all," you continue. "But I don't want you to think that not being able to move is why you can't help people. You do that all on your own with your heart."

Kobori never looks away from you, holding onto every word you're saying, and he doesn't think he's ever been speechless. You kiss him on his temple, before wrapping your arms a little tighter around him. "You are a great person, Koji. And I don't want you to forget that."

He has so many things running through his head that he feels like he has to do something, and he definitely doesn't think twice before moving forward to kiss you. He knows he took you by surprise, and once he finally realizes what he's doing, he pulls away, his eyes wide mostly because he cannot believe he just did that.

"I-I'm so sorry. I don't know what came over me." He starts to panic as his body goes warm with embarrassment, and if his knee was fully recovered, he would be out of this room in a second. He's rambling to try and figure out anything to say, and you smile before you place your hand on his face, which gets him to finally stop talking.

"Koji, it's okay," you say, and he swallows thickly, looking in between your eyes. You lean in again, kissing him softer than he did before, and it doesn't take him long to kiss you back.

He briefly wonders if he fell asleep because he thinks he's dreaming. He's dreamed about this moment for so long that he can't be too sure if it's real. He moves one of his hands to touch your face, and when you pull away for a second, he realizes that he hasn't been breathing.

He catches his breath right before you move back in, and he carefully sets the bear down before he turns his body a bit, the previous angle putting a strain on his neck. The positions you're both in aren't the most comfortable, so he turns even more, making sure he keeps his leg still before he gently puts his hands on your waist.

He pulls you softly closer to him, and you move with him until you're straddling his lap. The last thing he wants to do right now is stop kissing you, and he wraps his arms around your waist as yours wrap around his neck. He hesitates a bit when he feels your tongue gently brush over his lip, but he shortly lets you in after, all of the blood rushing to his lower half when he feels your tongue mold with his.

He shudders when he feels your hands run down his chest, and he lets his hands run under your tank top. Just feeling your bare skin after being millimeters from it has his head spinning, and he moans loudly in surprise when you start to roll your hips against him. You don't stop, and he has to pull away from you as his breathing starts to pick up, his face feeling ridiculously hot as he digs his fingers into your hips.

"F-Fuck," he stutters, his eyes falling closed, and he bucks his hips up into you as he feels his orgasm building. "God, I love you," he sighs, and it takes him way too long to realize what he said, but when his words hang in the air, he opens his eyes when it finally hits him. "I didn't mean--" He tries to explain himself, but he finds it virtually impossible, and he looks at you when you bring your hands to his face.

"I love you, too, Koji," you whisper, and his eyes roll into the back of his head as he cums, groaning as he rolls your hips against him to ride out the high. He falls back against the bed with a heavy sigh as he starts to come down, and he covers his eyes with his hands. "Shit," he breathes, having a hard time looking you in the eyes.

He twitches a bit when he feels you shift a bit, and he feels you lean down until your chest is flush with his. "You okay?" you ask him softly, and he nods, not moving his hands. You gently grab his hands, and he lets you move them away, and it takes him a while to open his eyes. He finally does, seeing that your face is right in front of his.

"Just kinda embarrassed," he admits, breaking the eye contact for a split second. You respond with a soft smile as you slightly tilt your head a bit to the side.

"About what? Finishing so fast?" you muse, and he flushes as he shrugs.

"I've never...I've never done anything like that before," he whispers.

"Seriously?" you ask, your eyebrows raised in what he thinks is surprise.

He nods. "Is that...weird?" He can't help but ask.

"Of course, not," you say with a shake of your head. "You're just a great guy, so I'm surprised no one's bagged you yet," you continue with a smile.

He can't help but copy it. "Dating was kind of hard because...they weren't you," he replies, his voice getting quieter as he finishes, his face growing warm again at his words. Your eyes soften at his words, and you kiss him again.

"I love you, Koji," you whisper, and he doesn't think he'll be able to stop smiling as his heart continues to race. He doesn't think he'll be able to express how good that makes him feel when he hears those words. Something he's always thought about hearing for years, and he hopes that he's not even close to dreaming.

He kisses you again, letting his hands drift under your shirt again, softly rubbing his hands over your back as he tries to lock in every feeling of you against him in his brain. It takes him some courage, but he finally manages to slide his hands to your ass, and the moment he does, you start to roll your hips against him again.

He gasps quietly into the kiss, feeling himself getting hard again before he hesitantly stops you, placing his hands on your hips. "Wait," he breathes, his chest heaving again. "W-What about you?"

"What about me?" you smile, huffing a little when you feel his fingers did into your hips a little more when you move them again.

"I want you to feel good, too," he admits quietly, and your smile widens a bit as you sit yourself up.

"Yeah?" you muse. "And how do you wanna do that?" He flushes down to his chest as he looks away from your gaze for a second before he looks at you again.

"Can I show you?" he mumbles because he knows there's no way he'd be able to voice it out loud. You grin at him as you move off of him onto the bed, carefully stripping your clothes off and letting them fall to the floor before you rest your weight on your hands.

"Go ahead," you press playfully, and Kobori can only stare at you, his eyes running over your body so many times that you lose count. "Koji," you say firmly when he hasn't said anything in a while, and his eyes snap to yours but he still doesn't move.

"S-Sorry, um," he stutters. He tries to speak again, but it's like he can't get the words out, and he goes quiet when you move towards him. "S-Should I--"

"Koji." You cut him off gently, sitting up before you slide closer to him. "You don't have to be so nervous. If you don't wanna do this, we don't have to," you reassure.

"No, no, I want to," he responds quickly. "I'm just nervous," he continues, and why wouldn't he be? The girl of his dream his sitting naked in front of him, and he can barely move an inch even though he's hard as a rock.

"Do you want to keep going?"

"Yeah," he whispers with a quick nod. "I'm sure." You nod, giving him a small smile before you lean in, kissing him softly. You rest your hands on his neck gently, and you can feel him relax a bit under them. You slowly start to move one hand, and he tenses a bit when you run your hand down his chest.

"Do you wanna take this off?" you whisper after you pull away slightly, gently gripping the hem of his shirt. He looks down at where you're holding his shirt before he looks at you, a small nod following after.

He moves before you say anything else, sliding his shirt off and setting the bunched up fabric to the side. You can't help but stare at him, finally allowing yourself to do so. You've seen him shirtless before, of course, but you never let yourself look at him because you thought you were being weird. But now that you know the feelings mutual, you look at him for as long as you can.

"Should I take these off too?" you hear, and you begrudgingly peel your eyes away from his ridiculously defined torso to look at his eyes. He's got his hands on his shorts, and you give him a small shrug.

"If you want to," you huff softly, giving him a reassuring smile. He nods again, pushing his thumbs past his waistband before he stops. There's really no reason for him to be embarrassed, especially since his hard-on is so obvious in his shorts, but taking them off seems to be another thing he has to try and get over.

But he would like to get the rest of his clothes off since his boxers are sticky from his first orgasm. "Do you want me to look away?" you ask quietly, jumping him out of his momentary time in his head.

"No, no, it's okay," he responds, and he internally takes a deep breath before he sheds the rest of his clothes. He's looking somewhere else in the room when they finally reach his feet, having a hard time making eye contact with you.

He finally looks at you, and he flushes even more when he sees that you're not looking at his face. He has half a mind to cover himself, but his dick twitches as you look at him. He's about to try to find anything to say, but you move before he can. You grab his hands, pulling them toward you, causing him to take a couple of half-steps towards you.

His fingers tense around yours when he sees how close your face is to his dick, and he swears the spit he swallows his audible in the room. "You're so big, Koji," you whisper, your eyes never meeting his.

"I-Is that--" He's cut off when you gently wrap your fingers around him, and his body jolts at the stimulation. "Is that a bad thing?" he rushes out, trying to concentrate on his breathing.

"No," you answer quietly as you smile up at him. He can't help but watch in awe as you take the tip into your mouth, and he releases a stuttering breath, feeling his toes curl. You swirl your tongue around it before you take him into your mouth, and he knows that if he doesn't stop (not that he wants to), he'll cum in a second.

"W-Wait," he tries, gently putting his hand on your head, but all you do is look up at him, continuing to bob your head up and down slowly. "But--you," he huffs out, his eyes slipping closed as he lets his head fall back.

"What about me?" you find yourself asking again as you stroke him, moving your attention to his sac, sucking on it gently knowing that he wasn't going to answer your question. He swears as you feel his dick kick against your hand, signaling that he's close, and you make no move to stop.

His grip on your hair tightens just a little bit as you put him back in your mouth, and his chest heaves as his body starts to tense little by little. You run your nails gently up his stomach, and he shivers right before he cums, a loud groan coming from deep in his chest before you feel him spill onto your tongue.

You take him even deeper to swallow it all, and his legs shake as he plants his hand on your head to keep himself from falling. You finally take him out of your mouth when there's nothing left for him to give you, wiping the corners of your mouth as you sit up straight.

When you look up at him, he's still got his head back, and he's breathing so hard, that his body slumps a bit every time he exhales. He finally looks at you, and his face is ridiculously red, to the point where you briefly worry if he's gonna pass out.

"How was that?" you ask playfully, and all Kobori can do it nod, giving you a loopy smile. You grab his hand again, moving further onto the bed, pulling him with you. He follows you with shaky legs before getting on the bed, making sure to keep the majority of his weight off of his knee.

He lays down, pulling you with him, and when you straddle him, he kisses you without giving you much time to think about what to do next. You notice that he seems to be a lot more relaxed, his hands running over every part of your body as he practically melts into the bed.

"You okay?" you whisper when you pull away, and he nods his head slowly, his eyes drooping closed before he quickly opens them again.

"I still wanna make you feel good," he mumbles before he gently moves you so that you're on your back on the bed, and he moves to lay on his side, hovering in your space. He moves his face into your neck and goosebumps rise on your skin when you feel his lips kissing over it.

"No one's stopping you," you say quietly, but you don't really think he hears you because you feel his hand drift down your torso at the same time he drifts his head down to your chest. You moan softly when he runs his lips over your nipple, making his dick twitch before he encases it with his mouth.

He rubs over your thigh as he keeps his attention on your chest for a bit before he carefully drifts his hand in between your legs, and he can feel himself start to get nervous. He's seen porn before and been forced to Moriyama and Kise talking about their sex stories while drunk, so he knows a little bit about what to do.

He takes his mouth from your chest so that he can look as he runs his fingers through your folds, suppressing a groan when he sees how wet you are already. He runs one finger up until he finds your clit, looking back at you when he rubs over it.

He keeps his eyes on you, taking in every sound you're making and every shift of your facial expressions. He starts to feel a little more confident the louder your moans get when he continues to rub his finger over your sensitive bud, and he decides to move down. It doesn't take long for him to find what he's looking for, his fingers becoming even wetter when he reaches your hole.

You spread your legs as he circles a finger at your entrance, and he slowly slides one in, keeping his eye on your face for any sign that he might be hurting you. You take his finger so much easier than he thought, and his body goes hot at how warm and tight you are. The more he explores your walls, the more he wants to speed up, and it seems you want him to do the same as well, gently pleading with him to add another finger.

He easily obliges, making sure to stretch your walls out by spreading his fingers. He pushes futher into you, and he looks at your face when you jump at a particular stroke of his fingers. He goes in even deeper, continuing the same motion as before, his palm rubbing against your clit, and he watches you with his mouth slightly open as you grind against his fingers.

He doesn't dare to stop what he's doing, only going faster so that he can see how many sounds and faces he can pull from you. You grab his wrist as your moans get louder, and he watches your back arch off the bed for a second as your legs start to move more than before.

He groans softly when you start and continue to moan his name, your eyes slipping closed. He notices that it's getting more difficult for him to push his fingers back into you, so he thrusts them into you with firmer strokes, which only makes the noises you're making louder.

"K-Koji," you cry, your face scrunching up in a way that he knows is going to plant itself in his dreams for the rest of his life. "I'm gonna--fuck!" you groan, your legs suddenly clamping around his arm as your nails dig into the sheets next to you.

Your pussy is practically trying to push him out now as he feels more slick coating his hand, but he doesn't stop, following you when you try to move away from him. He only stops when you tap at his arm quickly, and he withdraws his fingers as your body finally relaxes, your chest heaving. He can't help but watch the way your tits rise and fall.

"Jesus Christ, Kobori," you huff as you let your body go limp.

"Are you okay?" he asks, and you give him a loopy nod as you smile.

"Yeah, best orgasm I've ever had."

"You came?" he asks, his eyebrows raising as he face turns a deeper red.

"You couldn't tell?" He shakes his head before he glances down between your legs, seeing your cum coating the inside of your thighs and his fingers. He must've missed that because he was so focused on your face and the noises you were making.

He suddenly brings his fingers up to his face, watching them glisten when they catch the light just right. "You wanna taste it?" He can't look at you as he says the answer in his head, and he doesn't give himself any more time to second guess himself before he slides his fingers into his mouth.

He can feel himself practically drooling when your taste hits his tongue, and he decides that he would do just about anything to taste you again. He makes sure he gets every inch of his fingers until he can't taste you anymore.

"You're still hard," he barely hears, and he's sliding his fingers out of his mouth when you straddle him, hovering over him with your hands gently resting on his chest. "You wanna keep going?"

"I-I..." he starts, his eyes trained on your body as he gets lost in it again. "I don't have any condoms."

"Neither do I," you say, your eyes never leaving his face. "But it's okay," you add, gently grabbing him in your hand as you line yourself up.

"A-Are you sure?" he mumbles as his hands tighten on your hips.

"We don't have to unless you want to," you tell him. "But, I wouldn't imagine you'd wanna run to the store hard as a rock to go get some."

Yeah, that would be way less than ideal, and when he slightly tugs you closer to him, you take that as a sign to sink down on him. Your mouth falls slowly open at the stretch, and Kobori whimpers as he feels your warm walls surround him.

He tries to think about anything that won't make him bust as you continue to sit down, and he screws his eyes shut as he tries to focus. When he finally feels you fully around him, it takes him a while to open his eyes. His chest is heaving again, and he's flushed all the way down to his chest.

"You okay, Koji?" he hears you ask, and at first, all he can do is nod. He manages to open his eyes, meeting yours, but he can't help but let them run down your body, stopping where your bodies are meeting, and he has to close his eyes again.

"You just feel really good," he whispers, his fingers digging into your skin so hard, that he's worried he'll bruise you, but he's afraid that if he lets go, he'll cum in an instant. He jumps a bit when he feels your hands running over his chest, feeling your walls pulse around him, causing him to buck up into you against his will.

He hears you moan softly at the motion, and he tries to apologize, but the words get stuck in his throat. He feels you start to move, the motion more frequent and fluid, and the only thing that vibrates in his throat is a moan.

He's sweating so bad, that he can feel it dripping down his forehead and onto the pillow below his head, and he finally peels his eyes open, the pleasure mounting in his spine. He's not going to last long at all. "S-Shit, 'm gonna cum--f-fuck," he breathes, watching where he's disappearing into you.

He watches you smile as you make no move to stop, and he's frozen beneath you, unable to do anything but watch you as he falls over that crest. He hands dig almost painfully into your hips as he cums, holding you down so that you can take all of him as his dick twitches inside you with every spurt of cum that he shoots into you.

You try your best to roll your hips to help him ride out his high, planting your chest tight to his as you hover over his face. His eyes had closed as he came, his ragged breathing the loudest thing in the room as he waits for his heartbeat to leave his ears.

"You okay?" you ask him, and he nods quickly as you plant soft kisses over his face. He quickly turns his head so that he can meet your lips, sliding his tongue lazily into your mouth as his hands rub over your body.

He doesn't say anything, continuing to kiss you sloppily. The surprised mewl you release when he bucks up into you is muffled by his lips, and you think it was an accident until he does it again. "Koji, wait," you try, your hands running into his hair and gently pulling on the strands.

"Want you to cum too, sweetheart. P-Please," he whispers into your skin. He's got his arms wrapped around you, locking you against him as he thrusts into you so hard, you start to see starts. Your moans jump up in pitch when he finds your sweet spot, and he makes it his mission to hit it every time.

The more your walls pulls around him, the more crazy it feels like he's getting. He bites and sucks all over your skin, trying to find an outlet as he slides one of his hands between your sweaty bodies to find your clit. He groans when you pull harder on his hair, and he starts to feel your wals tightening around him like they did before, and there's nothing that can stop him now.

He can't do anything else other than moan, an occassional whimper coming from him as his eyes roll to the back of his head. "O-Oh, my God," you gasp, any words you're able to make being chopped up by his thrusts. You can't even speak, not able to warn him when you finally cum with your name on his lips, and he bites down on your shoulder with a groan as he feels your walls practically holding him hostage.

His hips stutter with his release, and he's holding onto you so tight, like you're going to fadee away any second now. Your toes curl with oversensitivity as he continues to move inside of you until he slows, his arms dropping from your body and onto the bed with a soft thud.

Both of you are silent as you catch your breath, and your body slowly starts to go limp, your pussy pulsing in all the right ways. "Holy shit, Koji," you huff, those words said after a few beats of silence.

"Are you okay?" he whispers, and you look at him, seeing his eyelids halfway open. "I wasn't too rough?"

"No," you say, managing to shake your head. "That was so good," you smile, and he mimics it, slightly lifting his head up, and you meet him halfway so you can kiss him. "I love you, Koji," you whisper.

He hums. "I love you too," he responds, snuggling into your neck. He continues to plant kisses all over your skin, his hands never leaving your body. You notice that his ministrations start to slow, but you don't move, knowing that he's probably on his way out. Hell, you are too.

"Love you, baby," he slurs quietly, and a wide smile appears on your face as you whisper it back.

#kobori kouji x reader #kouji kobori x reader #kobori kouji x black!reader #kouji kobori x black!reader #kobori kouji #kouji kobori #kobori koji x reader #koji kobori x reader #kobori koji x black!reader #koji kobori x black!reader #knb smut #knb x reader #knb x black!reader #knb #kuroko no basket

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heartfelttry · 6 months

Text

on a tiktok comment, i mentioned having taken notes of thepandaredd's OCs and whatnot to be able to name-drop them once i am un-sickly enough to commit to writing DC fanfics (and i mentioned them in a comment to begin with because either thepandredd has two OCs named Ted now, or we got a prequel or reboot of their original Ted OC) and it got over 1 Like which is all the attention i needed to post my notes lmao

(it just took me a while to post bc i got Too Into My Own Head about having maybe missed something, so i re-watched all thepandaredd's not-Comic-Book-Club videos (tho i do enjoy those, you should watch them) on his yt channel before posting this)

real quick, please note, i did leave all my headcanons in here because i am emotionally attached to them, but i did make said hcs labeled in blue and i made them tiny so you can know where to avoid them if you so wish. that was my big thing i want anybody reading to be aware of. onto the smaller notes of interest (no pun intended, i just prefer small-text when i babble and over-explain), these notes are messy chaotically organized. bc my brain is messy chaotically organized. (also: i have dyslexia and chronic memory loss, so please do forgive the accidental missspellings and the not-accidental "isn't this too much detail?" sections) this is all copy-pasted from my notes with some additions made for your guys' convenience (i put in links where i remembered links go (im sure i missed some citations i could have linked and forgot to even cite links in many other places, ugh, i do not want to cite everything, i gave up, i know my notes have evidence even if i didn't link the video every time, you fact-check, i'm tired lmao rip), i colored the text sometimes, i clarified things i theorize sometimes so things make sense to non-mind-readers, the works. i always speak to a hypothetical audience in my notes tho, so, shockingly, that wasn't actually added for you. idk why i p much always do that; i just accept it. but you're welcome). feel free to copy and edit this down further for your own use to update. i know i plan to update my private notes when new info/OCs come out, but idk if i will update this public post, ever, but hey! maybe!

also, above all: please follow thepandaredd (he/they) on your favorite social media of choice. support the guy on patreon. buy merch. all the good stuff. here's the linktree to all the important things related to thepandaredd's socials and whatnot. enjoy their creations, he's really fun lol

● was posted: 30 March 2024 ● was last updated: 2 April 2024 (reason for update: i realized i forgot the Reboot Hand, updated on March 31st + forgot to include a bullet-point on Bill being anti-smoking, and forgot to say who set Bill on fire, updated on April 1st + realized i got confused and my math on Bill's age was wrong as i originally said he was a minimum of "16+ years older than the 10 year-old Robin he met" when he is actually a minimum of 6+ years older to therefore make him a minimum of 16 years old to Robin's 10, updated on April 2nd)

↳ here is my "after posting this" thoughts if you are curious. it consists entirely of a friend of mine encouraging me to publish some texts i sent her answering "what was my favorite thing i learned?" and "do i have any questions?" (from 30 March 2024 original post) ↳ ill maybe make another one of these "after posting this thoughts" if i ever do a BIG update on this? who knows lol

also, please note i have yet to see any thepandaredd twitch streams (i just know my brain and my brain likes edited content, esp if it is short or short-ish bc my brain loves that shit. i like Dimension 20 more than Critical Role, i like ConnorDawg's gaming youtube channel more than CDawgVA's twitch or his VOD youtube channel that said edited gaming videos all come from, and i like audio dramatizations of books way more than audiobooks. it is just how i unfortunately or fortunately work), so idk if any additional info has been said there. i have heard good things about thepandaredd's Stream Dump youtube channel tho, so do go to that aforementioned linktree and check it out! if i ever am able to get my brain to accept twitch VODs, and not just zone out and disassociate when i should be engaged, i will delete this section (hence why it is under the Read More) and update accordingly ✌️

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★★★ AGENT OF THE REBOOT (DC only so far, created by thepandaredd. probably should have a Marvel equivalent or else also exist in Marvel? or maybe the TVA counts, idk, i havent seen "Loki")

● has one confirmed worker of an unknown name and unknown pronouns (hc/theories on pronouns: However, since this character's form can change, one can assume this agent character takes on the pronouns of the original form (eg. the character did take on Bill The Henchman's form and Bill uses he/him pronouns, so assumedly this agent character would accept he/him pronouns while using Bill's form. it feels respectful towards the original form. however, this is an argument one can use as a hc and is not confirmed. i hate JKR, but remember the scene where everyone used polyjuice potions to pretend to be Harry Potter in the last book and they all kept their original pronouns despite having Harry's face? like, as an explicit example, Hermione still had she/her pronouns while fully transformed into having Harry's body? weirdly pro-trans scene for a terf to have written. but yeah, same could go for this character. so an argument can be made both ways); but if i ever write about this agent, until proven otherwise: my hc and what i plan to do is either they/them or a neo-pronoun for this character due to a mixture of headcanon (kinda cool for an organization to be totally nameless, ageless, faceless, and genderless (maybe even of a omniuniversal hive-mind? idk, we don't know anything), so i assume this is that) and a lack of clarity/details on this specific agent character. but there you go, there are all the options one can assume for this agent character's pronouns. adjacently, personally, if i do a neo-pronoun for this character when writing: i think i'll either do the "the royal we", a classic; or i will do the definite article, as recently popularized in "Doctor Who", but idk, we'll see, might just do "they/them" for simplicity sake. or maybe we'll get pronouns if the Agent comes back, who fucking knows). (hc name of character: remember that Iron Man MCU joke about "What? Phil? No, his first name is Agent" about Agent Phil Coulson of SHIELD? yeah, if i write for this character, i will be assuming an acceptable name is "Agent, just Agent")

● Introduced as "I'm an agent of The Reboot". unsure if organization is "The Reboot" or "Agents Of The Reboot" or if its called something else and he just did layman terms for it so that it was "agent of the reboot"? i have no idea. i personally most prefer Agents Of The Reboot, or layman terms if i or someone else can come up with a cooler name. (if this was Marvel and i had seen "Loki", there would probably be a Time Variance Authority (TVA) joke to make here). could also be just a one-man thing where Agent Of The Reboot is the character's name/species, and they are the only fucking one?? idk, we aren't supposed to know shit about this character, they are supposed to be a mystery, it makes sense that nothing is confirmed and that nothing makes sense, idk what to tell you

↳ ThePandaRedd normally introduces character name differentiations via a text box saying who is playing who, but this guy's just said " ? ". what a fun meta detail lol

● Helps characters reboot and "get to where you're supposed to go"

● This agent/The organization is responsible for "Crisis on Infinite Earth", "New 52" reboots

● Reboot ability is activated via snapping. very Thanos of the character, but sure, why not, it's a cool fucking ability

● Copies other person's face because "it's what your brain will recognize the easiest". Visually, to readers, it looks like a pixelated version of it (i assume that aspect is for viewer's clarity of who is speaking when. kind of like how "Avatar: The Last Airbender"'s air is supposed to be invisible (y'know, as air generally is) to the characters within the show, but is drawn so viewers can see what Aang is bending and how. but. like. for character design)

↳ Was introduced helping Bill The Henchman, more about that in Bill's section. Said Bill's storyline "got too convoluted" and instead of fixing the storyline, Bill was deemed for a reboot-- well, the whole universe was taken to start over, actually.

↳ speaks with a slight computer-y voice-changer effect. makes the character kind of sound like they come from an 8-bit video-game.

↳ my hc: is that this kind of works as a mixture of "The Digital Circus" and @/cholv0q (of tiktok)'s Alastor of "Hazbin Hotel" re-design (their linktree is over here btw). where the character kind of just comes from this early-internet days (which is when there was more widespread bingeing and cross-references of comics, due to them being uploaded digitally and fan-forums citing themselves and whatnot (which, fun fact: apparently, January 1, 1983 is considered the Internet's official birthday. so that is the fucking earliest we could be talking about) (i know also the idea of comics in academia, like getting analyzed in essays, became more popularized around this time. but i don't know how much of that is causation and correlation. it's still considered new and novel for a campus to include graphic novels in a required reading list, though it is on the edge of being "uncommon but welcome" nowadays. English classes entirely focused on graphic novels, albums, and comics are still a v new-ish thing. but im getting off-topic, that was just my experience in going to college in the ~2020s anyway). and ergo, comic companies had to care a bit more about continuity and it was less of a "well, it depends on the writer if they care about that" thing. hence, the kind of "the demand formed and so the need was filled" creation of this character/organization? (not as in "ah, i see a job oppurtunity here" type of "demand formed, and we can fulfill that need". but as in "the universe is ever-expanding and ever-repairing itself" kind of mysterious cosmic horror. kind of like Marvel Comics' The Watchers but 50× the eldritch horror. like whatever force in the universe made Earth's deep sea creatures and DC-Comics-version-of-Mars' white martians? that force played some early desktop computer horror games and said "let me put this on my pinterest board as inspo for this new project i'm working on" type of shit. nobody knows where this fucker/these fuckers came from, they just didn't exist before and suddenly they came into being, fully formed. very unsettling) and due to the tech of the time, the voice filter and pixelation of the face make even more sense. how does "The Digital Circus" apply to this? just the sense of "omnipotence in an old fucking desktop computer technology" really. as for the @/cholv0q's Alastor of "Hazbin Hotel" re-design bit, i just really fucking like that Chol included this bit about "changing[ this character's vocal abilities to come from] an old radio[ on his chest,] where his real voice comes from, instead of his mouth or throat". i really fucking like that idea so im yoinking it and switching the tech away from a 1920s radio. and i think that would be fucking sick to apply to this Agent character considering their shapeshifting, pixelation, implied vocal changes (i assume the voice changes with the form and its not That Voice with every form, just That Voice Filter ontop of the everchanging voice), voice filter, and general uncanny-valley-ness. just imagine a pixelated version of your face talking to you about rebooting your life while never opening their mouth, as the uncanny low-rez doppleganger version of you talks to you through a fucking 80s PC speaker lodged in its throat/clavicle area, sounding like the earliest versions of a voice-acted horror video-game. i love it. i think it maintains the mystery about "how the fuck, whomst the fuck" while upping the creepy to be even creepier, to me at least. plus, then there's the whole "snaps to reboot" ability, yes, but now we got the "Video-Game Boss with a Second Phase" built in right there because if snapping does all that reality-shattering/-bending nonsense then what the fuck do you think happens if the Agent does finally open their fucking mouth???

● also, this symbol flashed up while Bill the Henchman fell post-snap. i normally wouldn't think to screenshot such a thing, but i thought it was odd upon my most recent re-watch (bc anxiety about posting this publicly and maybe missing something, you get it) that it kind of has a hand-shape inside it? which a hand symbol + the act of snapping with one's hand correlates in an interesting way, not to mention the timing of this appearing IMMEDIATELY after the snap. but maybe it is a comic reference i am missing? maybe it is related to the Agents of the Reboot getting their own merch of some kind someday? do they get a logo, does that make sense for them to have, are they a team or...? idk. but i added it here just in case it is pertinent in some way (excuse the low resolution)

● the fucker (/tone indicator: affectionate) is within this compilation video, i will only link this video one more time in Bill The Henchman's section (below, under the "People" section)

★★★ RED HOOD'S ANTI-HERO ACCIDENT ASSURANCES (DC only. created in a comment within thepandaredd's tiktok that then thepandaredd replied to and acted out. the comment was by @/timelordpoet1273 on tiktok. i probably didn't need to write this one but it made me laugh so im including it)

● timelordpoet273's comment: "Red Hood just starts his own insurance company. He names it Anti-Hero Accident Assurances. Nobody answers the phone, and the voiceail is swear words."

● thepandaredd, uh, i mean, Jason Todd's said voicemail (yes, i made a fucking transcription lmao pls let me live, i have chronic memory loss and my notes are my lifeblood): [voice 1] "Hello. And thank you for calling Red Hood's Anti-Hero Accident Assurances. If you are calling in regard to one of our anti-heroes, please stay on the line for a recorded message." [voice 2] "Now I know for a goddamn fact that you did not just call an insurance agency to try to file a claim against a bunch of anti-heroes that kill people for a living. Do you have any idea how much ammo fucking costs? We are out here spending our entire life savings to buy you the briefest little moments of the only life you will ever live, and you have the audacity to try and file a claim against us? What the fuck did we do, shoot out your knee-cap? Fuck you. Whatever we did is going to save you down the fucking line. Goddamn— Hang up your fucking phone."

★★★ SUPERB PROWERS: SUPERHERO INSURANCE (DC only so far, created by thepandaredd. Marvel equivalent is "Damage Control")

↳ colloquially, it's apparently called "Superb Prowers Insurance Agency"

● Motto: "Superb Prowers insurance. If it's not a bird and it's not a plane, give us a ring and we'll do our thang." (note: Todd Andrews hates saying this at the beginning of every phone-call)

● Covers civillian damages done by superheroes + super-battles. "Our team mostly covers superhero and super-powered related accidents and injuries?"

↳ Does not cover supervillains (from damages done to said villains by superheroes) (however: Bill the Henchman was covered by them for the loss of his bones)

● is up the street from Vitriol Vindications (which is insurance for supervillains and the damages done to them by superheroes)

● confirmed workers: Todd Andrews (is one of their representatives, as in "I represent Superb Prowers Agency". more on Todd Andrews is below, has their own section with the other OCs in "People"); maybe/maybe not to be confused with Todd the Goonion Rep (section is below, under the "People" heading. where he works, The First Universal Henchmen's Union, is below, under the "Associations" heading) and/or maybe/maybe not confused with the Todd that is Bill's friend from high school (below, under "People") bc idk, guess they could all be the same guy? idk, i would assume no but maybe

↳ Todd Andrews' outfit is in their own character section, which could arguably be following the company's dress-code for its workers or be their employees' uniform or something

↳ in the first video Todd Andrews used a cell phone and paced around. second video on, Todd Andrews is seated, assumedly at a computer, and is wearing a headset with microphone attachment. not wireless. assumedly, the later is standard for all workers, the former was just Todd Andrews briefly based on materials thepandaredd had available for said skit, i mean an eccentric habit or done for the purpose of the documentary-interview style that only happened in the first video

● only one villain has called the agency, and it was Killer Shark, which that is both his civillian- and villain-name. so idk if the workers call villains by their civillian or villain identity when talking directly to them (i also assume "Cassandra", who is a few bullet-points down but still within the Superb Prowers section, is not Todd Andrews calling Cassandra Cain (or any other DC character phoentically named "Cassandra/Kassandra/etc") by her first name, esp since thepandaredd likes to play Cassandra as nonverbal in skits and Todd Andrews was on the phone. but there is also ways to use live-captions and text-to-speech, along with Deaf/HOH and nonverbal web-cam/chat services to have a hotline person call for you and whatnot, but i assume that's not what is happening here, i digress. i assume it's just a random Cassandra, and workers don't call heroes by their civillian forename)

● Insurances:

↳ ● Flashpoint Insurance: for damages in alternate timelines

↳ ● offers 2 different Gotham plans. (1) The Batman Plan; the Batman Plan has a Reckless Robin extension (only covers current Robin/s. does not cover former Robins). (2) The Bat-Family Plan (assumedly covers former Robins)

↳ ● Crisis Coverage: is a little different from Flashpoint coverage (is not explained how lol)

↳ ● Green Arrow coverage

↳ ● Bird Insurance: coverage for bird-themed superheroes, not actual birds

↳ ● Multi-Verse Insurance: "No, sir, if a alternate universe version of you has multi-verse insurance, it does mean you are also insured."

↳ ● has Home Insurance and Buisness Insurance ("Uh, let me check. Hey, boss, are lairs covered under home insurance or buisness insurance?")

↳ not a type of insurance but important questions that have implications about the place's insurance stuff: "Okay, well, answer me this: did Superman punch your wall or did he get flown through your wall as the result of a punch?" (later) "No, you see, you're covered for him punching your wall. Not being punched through your wall." ■ "How many times do I need to tell you, Cassandra? We stopped covering sky beams last year after the Zod attack." ■ "Did you get punched by a Robin or by a former Robin? 'Cause you have the Batman plan, and that only covers one of those." ■ "What do you mean the city is just gone? What does that mea--?!" ■ "Yes, but do you have proof your house was still there before Coast City was destroyed?" ■ "Can you confirm that it was a bat-arang that hit you?" ■ "Okay, but which Superboy? Yes, it's important!" ■ "Okay, but did you get the license plate number? I don't care if it was the Bat-Mobile! Yes or no?" ■ "Okay, but which color arrow were you attacked by? No, it is important, you only have Green Arrow coverage." ■ "M'am-- M'am! The premiums are lower in Iowa than Metropolis because it's Metropolis."

★★★ VITRIOL VINDICATIONS: VILLAINS INSURANCE (DC only so far, created by thepandaredd. Marvel equivalent is "Damage Control")

● "Vitriol Vindications: verifying villainous violations, how may I help you?"

● is insurance coverage for supervillain (for damages done to them by superheroes) (does not cover Goon Union violation claims)

● is down the street from Superb Prowers: Superhero Insurance

● knows supervillains' civillian identities

● hotline workers can curse on the phone (eg. "I'm sorry, sir, but if you didn't want food poisoning then why in the hell did you eat a Joker Fish in the first place?")

↳ also, they can smoke while on the job

● confirmed workers: unnamed character (pronouns unknown). spoke with a gravely voice, assumedly from smoking as he smokes at work (what i assume is a cigarette anyway? or a cigar? it could also be a joint, i got no clue), and also an accent (im not good at identifying accents, idk from where exactly, it sounded vaguely the East Coast variety of American). appearance of said character includes a brown jacket with sherpa lining over a black shirt, had gray pants on. (my hc for name: Sol Abagnale. the Abagnale part is in reference after "Frank Abagnale Jr", a real life white-collar criminal who has a famous film as well as semi-famous musical under the title "Catch Me If You Can" (he also kind of inspired the show "White-Collar" in the sense of how the irl Abagnale became an expert consolutant helping catch other criminals. he has recorded lectures and everything, his analytical work is insane) where one of his most routine crimes was conning banks and insurance and whatnot, and also the IRS caught his dad (Frank Senior) who Junior learned a lot of his crimes from. feels fitting. the first name has to do with me kind of fudging the name "Saul" into a more unisex phonetic variant, "Sol" (which, according to BehindTheName.com, the Jewish version of "Sol" is masculine and the Spanish+Portugeese version of "Sol" is feminine, so "Sol" itself is unisex enough for me. though, technically Saul and Sol are not related, they do SOUND very similar which is the sticking point for me), in tribute to Saul Goodman of "Breaking Bad"/"Better Call Saul" fame who did a lot of insurance fraud as a lawyer. so my pitch is combining the name of two white-collar criminals, yeah, what can i say, i love intertextual references)

↳ appearance aspects about the worker mentioned above could also be notable here on whether or not if it is related to the company's dress-code, their employees' uniform, and whatnot

↳ workers wear a headset with microphone attachment. not wireless. they also have a swivel chair with arms.

● Insurances:

↳ ● Life insurance

↳ ● Anti-Life insurance: "M'am, I'm sorry but death by Parademons is nor covered under the Anti-Life insurance plan." (which? i assume?? is a censored version of a Death insurance plan? idk anything about insurance vocabularly terms)

↳ ● Discrimination in the workplace? (im surprised that isn't Goonion paperwork, idk) ("Well, if you didn't want discrimination in the workplace, then you shouldn't have been a goon for Gorilla Grodd.")

↳ ● the Two-Face Policy ("While I cannot exactly stop you from getting the Two-Face policy, I will warn you that coverage there is pretty 50/50." → "I'm sorry, I had to, it was right there.")

↳ not a type of insurance but important questions that have implications about the place's insurance stuff: "No, Mr. Cobblepot, you cannot put life insurance policy on your penguins if you are the ones who strapped bombs to them." ■ "What do you mean your contract is in the form of a riddle?"

↳ also not a type of insurance per sey but idk what this is but i feel like i should note it down: "Oh, no, you'd be surprised: the Joker actually offers an incredible dental plan."

★★★ EVIL LLP: VILLIANOUS ACCOUNTING (DC only so far, created by thepandaredd. probably should have a Marvel equivalent or else also exist in Marvel, idk if such exists)

● "Evil LLP: villainous accounting, how may I help you?"

● calls supervillains both by their civillian names and their villain names, but WAY moreso calls them by their villain names

● fun fact: it is a fandom joke that the Joker does not mess with the IRS (thepandaredd theorizes it is because the Joker doesn't want to end up like Al Capone and get put in actual-"you can't plead insanity this time"-prison), so Joker would be diligent about tax season (and hate it) and contacting his accountant (and hate that too), neato

● people working the hotline can curse to the customers

● confirmed workers: unnamed character (pronouns unknown). said character's appearance includes having worn glasses as well as a maroon-purpleish button-up, long-sleeve and with gray pants. drinks out of a red, tall drinkwear (no lid, no straw, not a tumbler) which is an odd enough detail i thought i would mention it (maybe he works remote and it is their kitchenware? maybe the Evil LLP office just has that type of kitchenware? idk. i know its just thepandaredd's kitchenware and isn't meant to be scrutinized, but i am detail-oriented and have AuDHD, let me live). (hc name: Brooklyn Kennedy Collector. because i recenrly found out Collector is a real surname and that feels fitting for an accountant. also, i think "The Collector" is a kind of cool villain allias? maybe this accountant was a taxes-related villain before pivoting? idk, probably not, but what i do really like is the idea of experienced villains scaring newbies with boogeyman stories of "The Collector" and about not paying your taxes on time as a way of hazing them before their first appointment with this specific character from Evil LLP who is like "What? No? Turbotax is way scarier than me, the fuck". as for Brooklyn, it is unisex, literally means "broken land" which feels fitting for a neutral person many territorial villains go to, as in the literal "groundbreaking" ceremony. but also Brooklyn can lead to the nickname "Brookie" which i think would be funny for this character to be like "...Only my [insert loved one here. eg: signicant other, sibling, etc] can get away with calling me that" when villains inevitably make Brookie The Bookie jokes. and i usually don't add middle-names to my hc names bc i usually only do middle-names if the culture the character is from has a middle-name as part of its naming conventions. but i gave this hc name one because "Brooklyn Collector" does not sound quiet like a real person's name, to me. but if you told me i went to school with a "Brooklyn Kennedy Collector" then that sounds vaguely familar and id be like "Oh? Remind me who they are?" rather than "What? We did?" with disbelief in my tone. i did look up what the name Kennedy means tho, on my beloved BehindTheName search-engine, which means either "armored head" (cool!) or "mishappen head" (rude!) which i think encompasses the level of mixed sanity-and-insanity you have to have in order to be villain's accountant lol)

↳ appearance aspects about the worker mentioned above could also be notable in case it is related to the company's dress-code, their employees' uniform, and so on

↳ workers wears a headset with microphone attachment. not wireless. they also have a swivel chair with arms.

● tax account comments and questions since i know next to nothing of tax info and will likely need this as reference if i ever include this company: "Joker, I need your tax returns yesterday. What the fuck do you mean you haven't filed them?" ■ "Black Manta, it says here you have an expense for the League of Villainous Chimney Sweepers, what the fuc--" ■ "So let me make sure I am understanding this correctly. You are going to hire a bunch of people to hide trophies all throughout the city? With what fucking money, Nigma?" ■ "Penny-Pincher, if you pay me again by mailing me a literal bag of fucking pennies, I will find you." ■ "Joker, I just got a call from the Goonion that you haven't been paying your workers? ...No, not killing them is not a form of legal tender!" ■ "Wait a minute, you buy all the penguins? Who is selling you that many penguins?! I thought you just found them!" ■ "Wait, Bizzaro, do you have the check or not? I don't understand!" ■ "Well, don't come crying to me when VOSCA gets on your ass. Yes, I said 'VOSCA': Villainous OSCA, keep up!" (i assume this was a continuation of the last line to the Joker, it feels implied, but idk) ■ "How do none of you understand how money works?!"

★★★ THE FIRST UNIVERSAL HENCHMAN'S UNION (aka: THE GOONION, or sometimes THE GOON UNION) (DC only so far, created by thepandaredd. probably should have a Marvel equivalent or else also exist in Marvel, idk if henchman union exists there of if the Goonion is implied to also be there) (i have shockingly little info on this considering how often it is brought up. huh. NOTE TO SELF: to rewatch some of thepandaredd's youtube compilation videos to see if im missing anything)

● Their motto: "Facere Malum Stercore Tuto" which is Latin for "Do bad shit safely"

↳ according to thepandaredd's merch: "Established in 2000"? i feel like that is a joke or reference i am missing, which makes me unsure of how literally to take it. i would've assumed it was older. i mean. i guess it technically could have been? like, in the sense that these guys are labeled the "First Universal Goonion" which implies maybe some villains had their own union of goons (definitely not Joker considering his implied VOSCA violations, above, under Evil LLP's section, still within the "Associations" heading) before it became a overall branching DC thing? which, if so, i do not envy the fuckers who had to unionize the Joker or Lexcorp goons, they probably did some union-busting, esp pre-2000 if that as the year the Goonion became universal in that sense, jfc. (edit of note: i have found the Todd The Goon Rep skit within the 2021 July compilation video, i am definitely correct about Lexcorp union-busting at least ■ edit of note ×2: i aM FULLY CORRECT. 2024 March 1st (or the compilation due to come out after March is over, since it is still March as of editing this docket) has a skit with Bill The Henchman doing work-trips with long flights for the Joker. and the Joker says "Hahaha, [The Goonion] is not a real thing!" and "Just to remind you, if I see you peddling that Goonion garbage all over that Comic-con, I swear to god, I will come to your house and rip those femurs out myself". so the Joker has dismissively resentful anti-Goonion opinions to the point that would imply he would love to union-bust/ignore it.) (or maybe "universal" is a reference to "cross-fandoms/brands"? because there is a Cobra Command, "G.I. Joe" joke pre-Bill-reboot (look at Bill The Henchman's section below, under the "People" heading)? which their most famous and long-running comic form is with Marvel Comics (though they also had a run with DC Comics for two individual issues, as well as Devil's Due, IDW Publishing, Custom Comics, and more). but, as aforementioned: idk how the reboot plays into that, and also idk how seriously i should take that since it was a gag for a one-off skit. idk...) (edit: wait, i forgot Marvel Comics also has The Solomon Institute For The Criminally Insane (also, and more popularly, known as: The Taskmaster's Academy), which is a trade-school where Anthony Masters (Taskmaster) teaches henchmen how to hench and get them a type of goon-certification as per the nature of trade-school. which, fun fact, the students there are called "Taskmaster's Acolytes", and originally this school started as a front? but then Taskmater went "actually, I have found my passion" which is aw, so sweet, wish it wasn't about murder and crime. but yeah, i checked the wiki because i couldn't remember if we ever saw anyone's certificate and, apparently, graduating meant you were now cleared for super-villany. so while youre there, you're a henchman. when you graduate, you're a villain. wild. though still not a henchman union, like, irl, we have both "places to get a teaching certification" and also a "union for teachers". this is just adjacent additional item to Marvel's henchmen situation, not an equivalent to the Goonion if that makes sense. so. uh, there is also that in the middle of this "is the Goonion omniuniversal?" spiral i am in, and that is Marvel-only as far as i am aware. still worth mentioning tho)

● there's possibly member-training? assumedly it is villain specific training, as you get hired then trained bc we have seen that before (evidence: (1) a skit within this compilation where a newbie was given the run-down working to the Joker about the dress-code and "just take the fall" if Batman/Robin come (Bill the Henchman was in the background, off-screen), and (2) another skit from this compilation where Bill The Henchman himself was translating the meanings to the various Bat-fam symbols to a newbie goon and the Red Hood interrupted) but maybe it is Goonion overall-villain's-henchman training, i have no clue. but in a skit (from 2021 October) where a Mr. Freeze goon (actually is the Red Hood faking being a goon the whole time? or knocked said goon out and took their place? unclear) was being given shit by Bill for not wearing a mask during COVID (more on the Goonion's opinion on COVID face-masks below in a few bullet-points) came back with a Cobra helmet that said goon (The Red Hood) had trouble taking off, Bill grumbled "How the fuck did you make it out of training?" before helping (could be referring to Cobra training or Goonion? again, idk)

↳ which there are Bat-fam symbol code btw, idk if that skit's code was for all goons or just that specific villain's workplace: Yellow circle = Bruce Wayne (Batman) is in a good mood, will probably let you keep knee-caps □ No yellow circle, just a black bat = you're probably going to lose a couple of bones from Batman (idk if that is accurate post Bill the Henchman's reboot. anyway.) ■ Any variation of a red bat, spikey or otherwise = don't bother screaming, gunshots will be heard and that is enough warning. Likely is Kate Kane (Batwoman) who does not have a no-gun rule. could also be Jason Todd (Red Hood) who also doesn't have a no-gun rule. also, sometimes the Red Hood has a red V-mask, and sometimes Red Hood's design is closer to a red bird design on his chest. ■ Blue bird or blue V-symbol = Dick Grayson (Nightwing) will give you a couple bruises and send you home ■ Yellow bat = probably be worried. □ Red hair (Barbara Gordon (Batgirl → Oracle)), probably going to get the shit kicked out of you, same as No-yellow-circle Batman. □ No hair and no mouth (Cassandra Cain (Batgirl → Orphan)), same rules as red bat, you will probably dead. □ Blonde hair (Stephanie Brown (Robin, Batgirl → Spoiler)), "you can kill that one". which. that is so foul, Jay Morton, what the fuck lol □ "[Generally,] The yellow bat follows the R-rule." ■ The R-rule = "Every single Robin has their own fucking deal." □ If the R is blocky = probably not going to get beat up too bad, unless the kid is very mad, then you might get thrown off a roof. (definitely Jason Todd (Robin → The Red Hood), maybe also Dick Grayson (Robin → Nightwing). i know Jason Todd threw a domestic abuser off a roof and claimed the guy "fell". idk if Dick ever did similar) □ if it is a Spikey R with no yellow circle = Tim Drake (Robin → Red Robin) get hit in the face with a metal pole a few times. same for if it is a Yellow Bird, Tim Drake (Red Robin) will just be hitting you harder □ if the R has just one spike = you will likely die bc Damian Wayne (Robin) has a sword. Red Hood also has a sword, but only sometimes, it's mainly Damian's thing ■ idk why i would ever need this for a fic or something but now i fucking got it just in case, i guess. glad that hypotheical-me won't have to search for this. but yeah, idk if this system is Goonion stuff or a specific villain or just something Gotham-henchmen set up independently, but ill put it here for lack of anywhere better

↳ Bill the Henchman said to Todd His Friend From High School that "it's a really rough career to get into, just to let you know. There's a ton of onboarding processes, super-villains all have their own hiring things, there's the Goonion that you got to sign up for just by obligation."

● Goonion buildings don't allow alcohol in their facilities (Bill took a break in one such building, an unnamed co-worker interupted his break and asked for a drink, and Bill said there was no alcohol here for that reason. idk how the logistics work on if villain buildings (or safehouses) have to be Goonion, if goons prefer to take breaks in a seperate Goonion building in which case does the commute count as part of their break, is this just the overall building similar to a temp agency building in which case why was Bill taking a break in one...? cool detail in theory, very confusing in application to someone as ignorant in temp-work as me). this was mentioned in the Man-Bat skit within 2021 November's compilation

↳ very likely works often with VOSCA (Villainous OSCA, was brought up in Evil LLP's section above, still under the "Associations" heading) ■ also has some sort of connection to Superb Prowers (section is above, still within the "Associations" heading) since their insurance covered Bill's loss of bones

● Works all over the country, sending goons on assignment as needed and where and with what uniforms and etc

● Mask mandates (for COVID) - report to the Goonion for not wearing one. even villain henchmen (esp if their villain is an evil scientist) gotta stay safe ✌️ (Bill the Henchman is esp big on that they protect each other in this way)

● Goons in the union get breaks (as in, like 30 min break, lunch break, etc)

● i assume there is some protection for long-distance assignments? like, Bill the Henchman (Bill's section is below, under the "People" heading) got sent on a 16-hour flight by the Joker to give Bane a pie and another flight to go to Comic-Con. i assume there was financial compensation (both in the sense of a wage increase for the inconvenience, as i know a few jobs get that (many more... don't, but hey, maybe the Goonion got it) because the idea of "your shift hours" also becomes messier though that is more likely if Bill is paid hourly; as well as not paying for your own plane ticket or Comic-con ticket in these examples) and other such work-travel-trips protections (evidentally, there is no protection for how much buffer-time between said trips there has to be, as Bill was sent to Comic-con immediately after the pie but still)

● confirmed members: Bill the Professional Henchman (look at Bill's section in "People" for his co-workers. i don't know which ones are in the union and which ones are out of union. he is very big on the Goonion and helping each other and whatnot, carries merch and everything, biggest advocate, love that for him) ■ Alex (pronouns unknown. was mentioned in Todd the Goonion Rep's skit as a confirmed Goonion member, working as a Bane henchman who is a victim of wage-theft and not-up-to-code company housing via pit/sewers. assumedly is not the same Alex that Ted works with (most of the info on this Ted section's can be found below, under the "People" heading. bc, yeah, for one thing, that Alex lives in a duplex and not in the pits/sewers). Alex wears a beige-white sleeveless torn up t-shirt with a black beanie. will not be getting their own section as this is all i know about Alex)

↳ note: members have ID badges (example of Bill's is in Bill The Henchman's character section)

● confirmed workers: Todd The Goonion Rep (look at that Todd's section down below, under "People". also, technically Todd's job-title is much more formal title of "Traveling Representative for the First Universal Henchmen's Union" but Goonion Rep is snappier); maybe/maybe not confused with Todd Andrews (section is below, under the "People" heading. where he works, Superb Powers, is above, under the "Associations" heading) and/or maybe/maybe not confused with the Todd that is Bill's friend from high school (below, under "People") because i guess all these Todds could be the same guy, but i assume they are not, but you can feel free to hc them as such

↳ Todd The Goonion Rep's outfit is in their section, which is notable here because it could arguably be following the company's dress-code, be their employees' uniform, and so on. assumedly, since members have ID badges, so should Todd The Goonion Rep, thepandaredd just hasn't had the prop yet? fair lmao

↳ not "competition" but definitely confirmed people to not be on the workers' side: Alan (who is a Lexcorp union-buster (lawyer?) person in sunglasses, black suit with black button-up and gold tie. pronouns unknown) ■ "Matches" Malone(?) (which is a DC-canon undercover-alter-ego of Bruce Wayne (Batman) when he wants to try to submerge himself in the crime world)

● their workers can curse on-call (eg. "Oh, yeah, to be perfectly candid: I hear some fucking wild stories.")

● their workers (and also their members? i think?? p sure that is a yes) tend to call villains by their villain-name rather than their civilian-name

● not technically "Goonion info" but is important stuff that have implications about how the place is run (all said in the Todd The Goonion Rep skit): "Riddler, how many times do I need to fucking tell you that: if you are going to use goons as part of your traps, you need to have multiple signed consent forms by both them, a witness, and yourself beforehand?" ■ "As the traveling representative of the Goonion, my job is to travel around the country, talking to various goons and henchmen of both major and minor super-villains, just to make sure they are being both treated fairly and safely within the workplace. Which, honestly, they, uh, they very rarely are." ■ Todd: "So, Alex, it says here that you are a Bane henchmen. However, I can't seem to find any wages listed. So, what does the pay for that look like?" / Alex: "Of course I don't have wages listed, we don't get paid. ...Wait, are we supposed to be getting paid?" / Todd: "Mmhm. I see. I also can't seem to find an address." / Alex: "Oh, I was thinking you were going to ask about that. We all kind of live communally in a pit, or sometimes the sewer." / Todd: "Do you know if this pit is up to code?" / Alex: "I mean, yeah, it's a fine pit. It's probably up to code. We get cable and everything. But, uh, now that you mention it: we do shit in buckets and live in cells, so I'm not particularly sure." / Todd: "Oh, that is definitely a violation of some kind." ■ Todd: "Who the fuck steals both of someone's femurs?" / Bill the Professional Henchmen: "Oh, yeah, you think that's bad? I should tell you about where his kid cut my fucking hand off." / Todd: "His kid did what?!" ■ "Y'know, contrary to popular belief: crime pays very, very well. Like, shit, what do you think, like, 90% of Gotham's economy is? It's just that often times you need to enforce that the workers are actually going to see the fruits of that labor." ■ Todd: "(Groaningly sighs) Hello, Alan." / Alan: "Hello, Todd." / Todd: "Let me guess, you're here on behalf of Lexcorp again to try to break up the union." / Alan: "Now, Todd, you know that we at Lexcorp are not against unions. We simply believe they are detrimental to our bottom-lin— uh, I mean, our overall workforce. And, in fact, I am actually here to join your union. For I think that I too deserve equal safety and pay and rights." / Todd: "Buddy, I work with professional criminals on a daily basis. I can see that you are wearing a wire." / Alan: "Now, how could you say such a... silly... thing? Abort, abort, I need to get out of here." / Todd: "If you just joined, you wouldn't have to piss in bottles anymore!" / Alan: "The official statement of Lexcorp is that we do not, in fact, have to do that!" ■ "If you would like to support your local community of contract criminals, goons, and henchmen: we do have t-shirts available. And, as the motto always says: do bad shit, safely." ■

★★★ VILLAINS OF (HERO) SUPPORT GROUP (exists for DC and Marvel, created by thepandaredd. i definitely do not need to include this, but i thought it would be funnier if i did)

● there is one for Captain America (p safe to assume it is Steve Rogers' Captain America. Marvel) and one for Superman (p safe to assume it is Clark Kent's Superman. DC) so far. the therapist in charge of either is unnamed, but both have glasses and button-ups (tho the Superman one came in late after getting black-out drunk and taking a nap, and came in with a black t-shirt)

----------------- people ----------------

★★★ TODD ANDREWS (DC Comics OC)

● unknown pronouns

● works hotline for the insurance company called Superb Prowers (listed above under "Associations"). spoke will Bill The Professional Henchman to help him with his insurance over the phone for his bone-loss claim

● appearance: wears glasses. Wore a white button-up long-sleeve in one video, wore a black t-shirt in one video, wore a black long-sleeve in a third video; every time had black pants(? or at least dark. may be sweatpants, which fair). Plays with a pen a lot (in one video, i think it is a capped pen; in another video it is, i think, a clicky pen which makes Todd slowly and silently clicks at one point while speaking/listening to a call. and i say "plays with" and what i mean is "has it in Todd's hand, between their fingers" a lot. i assumed Todd uses it like a fidget to spin or tap Todd's own chin with, but that is not seen; but Todd slowly + silently clicking the clicky variety is seen. this is too much overexplanation about a fucking pen)

↳ wears a headset with microphone attachment for work. not wireless. sits in a swivel chair with arms at work

● i assume this Todd Andrews is not the same Todd that Bill The Henchman went to high school with. (also, is definitely not the Tood The Goonion Rep) more on why i think that in Todd-(assumedly-not-Andrews)'s (as well as Todd-of-the-Goonion's) section below, is still within the "People" section

★★★ "THE GUY" (DC Comics OC)

↳ as in "Alfred, call the guy"

● unknown name. confirmed to go by he/him pronouns

● adoption social worker agent, maybe insurance agent? probably, i assume. nothing is confirmed, which is the point

● no further specific details known. i will never make hcs about this character; he is supposed to be a mystery

★★★ KEVIN (their first Marvel OC! that's rare for thepandaredd! yay!)

● unknown surname, unknown pronouns.

● was in exactly one skit about Marvel, which is unusual for thepandaredd, almost everybody else is a DC Comics OC

● designed the Sentinels' visually (The Sentinel Project are the giant robots who hunt mutants in X-Men). im ngl, i think thepandaredd forgot Bolivar Trask specifically already exists lol but maybe not, as thepandaredd did remember to include the headline "Trask Industries (mid 60s)" in the tiktok. hey! maybe Trask did the idea and/or engineering and hired Kevin as an artist, or maybe Trask pitched the idea after Kevin sold him on it and it's like a "Steve Jobs and all the unnamed workers who came up with the iPhone ideas" scenario (Kevin did at one point say "The President loved it", so Bolivar Trask could be President, sure), idk, i only know of Trask vaguely from the 90s "X-Men: The Animated Series" show i watched as a toddler and from the "X-Men: Days of Future Past" movie i watched a decade ago in theaters, maybe i'm the one forgetting shit, i dont pay attention to what is the generally accepted Bolivar Trask lore bc i dont care about the character, personally. Peter Dinklage is cool tho

★★★ BILL (THE PROFESSIONAL HENCHMAN) (DC Comics OC)

info that is unknown bc of The Reboot Agent stuff (the video of which i am only linking once and it is here) is [[[ bracketed ]]] already but i will also make it [[[ green ]]] inside the brackets for your guys' convenience

● he/him, unknown surname. (hc full name: William "Bill" Bail. i have a whole scene planned for Bill attempting to be vulnerable by giving an OC of mine his surname as a sign of trust, as he doesn't do that as a way of protecting his relatives/identity from the villains that employ him, followed by my OC fully not believing his surname is real and busting Bill's chops about it. it works for my needs, and i personally dont agree with the handful of fans i see that hc his surname should be Hench or Henchman though i do love their energy, that is a v funny joke. i just wanted a different variety of a jokey surname. uh, but, yeah! Bail is a real surname, and the surname itself is actually a diminutive of "bailiff". as in the job. which a bailiff is a officer of the court who keeps order and "looks after prisoners" (ie. "A bailiff is a manager, overseer or custodian – a legal officer to whom some degree of authority or jurisdiction is given. Bailiffs are of various kinds and their offices and duties vary greatly.") which is all a vast simplification of bailiffs but i think it is a cute simplification for Bill's character specifically)

● confirmed to have worked runs with Joker, Two-Face, Black Mask, Penguin, Mr Freeze, Riddler (and also maybe Lex Luthor? it is implied due to how much Bill knows about Lexcorp working conditions, and also the Jimmy Olsen stuff as mentioned below)

↳ idk if this is still accurate post-reboot [[[ an unnamed co-worker worked at Cobra Commander (Cobra Headquarters in Springfield) earlier that week, is one of the places the Goonion sends people. Bill maybe has, maybe has not been there? idk, he seemed to know about how to take the helmet off but maybe Bill just saw the latch. hard to tell when the whole dialogue is "There's a latch" when he's already looking at the helmet. i assume no, Bill has not worked for Cobra, because he said "there's a latch" so late in the skit and also from what he said "Wait, so that's another villain's henchman?! That's even worse!" so he didn't know the uniform(?) which implies he didn't work there (which is odd bc he also said "Yes, because the Cobra Commander helmet is so much more reasonable to just have in your car?! Why do you even have that?!" so he recognized it. i guess he just thought it was cosplay instead of another henchman uniform, idk). you could make an argument either way, i guess, hc away lol ]]]

↳ answers phonecalls as "You got Bill."

↳ texts his bosses stuff like "On it, boss."/"Yes, sir. You got it, boss."/"On my way. Will do, boss."/"Yes, sir. On it, boss."/"Okay, boss. Be back soon." even though he'd rather yell (this is mainly @Joker)

↳ (this happened post-reboot) knows Jimmy Olsen well enough that Jimmy recognizes him on sight alone; meaning he has very fucking likely also worked for Metropolis villains (such as but not limited to Lex Luthor) and has faced Superman often

● appearance: generally always wears a black ball-cap hat (didn't use to way back but it is a thing by now), a necklace tucked into his shirt (i cant tell what his necklace is. is it a sparkplug necklace? → edit: NOPE. it's from 2022 January's PO Box Unboxing, it's "Skele-Gro: Bone Regenerator". it's a tube of amber-yellow liquid, with a pale yellow label, on a silver chain, with a silver skull-and-crossbones charm). he dresses in all black most of the time. generally wears t-shirts or long-sleeves, usually of the monochromatic variety (almost always a gray/black plain shirt with no graphic, except for in "How the Bat Boy treat henchmen" skit where he wore a few different shirts, and the skit with him and the 16 hour flight stuff where he wore thepandaredd's Lord Deathman merch shirt) (the red-gray henley Bill wore in his first ever tiktok appearance as the first goon ever beat up by a Robin? is generally ignored, hence the strike-through here). and sometimes wears a black jacket (which, generally, is a black denim jacket). does possess Goonion merch.

↳ optional-to-read waffling about the Skele-grow necklace: further confirmation of this indeed being necklace that Bill wears is in this 2022 July compilation, where Bill forgot to tuck his necklace into his shirt and you can see the amber-gold Skele-Grow bottle and the teeny skull-and-crossbones charm. more importantly, you can also see it in the September 2022 compilation, which is the one that features Bill getting shot by Alfred Pennyworth which then leads him into the reboot event in April 2023 compilation where he doesn't have a necklace? but that could be just a prop error (either in the sense "it is there, it just accidentally was hidden from the camera by being tucked into the shirt and whatnot" or in the sense that "it was forgotten on accident but was meant to be there"). plus the Instagram post mentioned a few bullet points down says Bill still has a necklace. i just dont know if it is the same one or not. i, personally, see the necklace as an extension or representation of Bill's connection with his audience and creator, and therefore connected to his Fourth Wall Breaks and everything Madoka-Magic-y i mention in a later bullet-point within Bill's section. so i will be very interested to see if this necklace is lost or not (to simplify his rebooted form additionally in the sense of less bone loss, maybe even no more Fourth Wall breaks? idk, maybe. the Agent Of The Reboot was Fourth Wall breaking a lot and Bill was confused, maybe it was out of overwhelmed panic but all those references went over Bill's head. there wasn't any "You can see them too?!" or anything. but who knows! could just be a prop error. maybe when the instagram post listed in lower bullet-point within this section talked about "a necklace always tucked into his shirt", it about the Skele-grow necklace, maybe it was about a wholly new necklace, whooo knowwwss ...i personally would like to know tho, so i do hope thepandaredd does another untucked-necklace Bill video so i can see if it Bill is still wearing a Skele-grow necklace or is it a new necklace)

↳ mid-reboot/post-reboot version has a white streak in his hair, confirmed in the tiktok Agent Reboot video itself idk the video's title

↳ in the Agent Reboot video, Bill also freaks out about how his hat has changed. which the hat he wore when Alfred Pennyworth shot him for breaking in to get Lord Deathman was a plain, all black baseball cap. and mid-reboot freak-out looks like an identically plain, all black baseball cap (to me, anyway). maybe that was a gag that went over my head. maybe it was a sentiment about how well-cared for Bill's things are that he would notice someone switching out his hat for an identical one like it. idk, to my inexperienced eye, it looks like the same hat lol

↳ optional aspect of appearance: leg-braces as "femur transplants are not fool-proof".

↳ note: most of this info comes from thepandaredd's 25 February 2024 instagram post (+ the leg-braces bit was posted by thepandaredd in that post's comment section) unless otherwise stated

↳ also, in the June 2022 compilation there is a PO Box Unboxing, an unnamed fan gave Bill his own Goonion badge. so that is also part of Bill's props assumedly. unlike most of the other badges we have seen in thepandaredd (vertical), the Goonion badge is the only horizontal one which makes me specifically happy bc i prefer horizontal badges. anyway. the info on it, i cannot read because it is too pixelated even at youtube's highest resolution at 2160p, alas. but thepandaredd reads out some of its info says the following: "His height has a little asterisk next to it saying his height was 6'3" before his femurs removed and now he is back to 6'1". Which is, oh my god, I love that. Also, his hair is just listed as 'Yes' and his eyes are listed as 'Currently two'; this is, this is fucking genius." so. there is that lmao i love the badge

● Injuries sustained:

↳ idk how much of this is still accurate post-reboot [[[ lost his bones before (eg. all the bones in his legs more than once. was covered by the Goonion tho. said bones are kept in a box on a bookshelf openly labeled "Spare Bones" apparently as uncovered when Bill broke into Wayne Manor to free Lord Deathman, though it is unconfirmed if Bill took any of the bones he had found and how many in the box were his or if the box was labeled that as a joke but actually contained something else). lost his femur x2 in one year, had to go in surgery both times. shot in both kneecaps by Red Hood. was put on fire "back in the early days" by Red Hood. generally been beat up by the Batfam weapons (eg. Tim Drake's bo-staff to Bill's legs). has been dropped off a roof by Batman (breaks legs, cops come get you). ]]] okay, instagram post by thepandaredd in 25 February 2024 confirms the femur replacements happened, as an optional thing Bill can wear is leg-braces since "femur transplants aren't fool-proof"

↳ idk if this is still true bc reboot [[[ note for age: Bill was The First Goon to ever get beat up by a 10 year-old Robin (assumedly Dick Grayson). i wouldnt be surprised if this was noncanonical because then it means Bill is a minimum of 6+, 8+ years older than 10 year-old Dick Grayson (Nightwing) (therefore making Bill 16, 18 years old when he was beat up, at minimum)? more likely is considered "an adult" in comparison to said Robin's then-age, so i'd go higher than 8 years older than a 10 year-old. idk how old Bill canonically is, but if it differs with that information then this would be noncanonical ]]] [[[ (also beat said Robin (again, safe to assume Dick Grayson) in second meeting, and Batman then beat Bill the fuck up and "did unspeakable things to my bones" so assumedly that was the first time Bill got his bones stolen) ]]]

↳ [[[ "Alfred, Get The Guy" and Other Probably-Non-Canonical Skits: has been "turned off" (stopped fucking existing for a sec). i seriously doubt that was ever canon for Bill, but the reboot happened so i assume the reboot doubly-so kills this ]]]

↳ idk if this counts bc reboot [[[ chronic issue: lost ability to feel temperature bc of fire (a Robin set him on fire? unclear which one, implied lots of time has passed so unlikely to be Damian Wayne) ]]]

↳ also a chronic issue: it's implied in one of the Lord Deathman videos (when Bill is going to break out Lord Deathman from the Wayne Manor as per Joker's request. the following occurs right before Bill texts the Joker) that Bill has tinnitus. i assume that is still true post-reboot because it is a small enough chronic injury, it makes sense, sure. but yeah, we hear the "ears ringing" sound during a scene where Bill has laid down to rest and relax before he looks at his phone

↳ can (sometimes? always? idk) speak Fourth Wall, likely because of a side-effect of how many times he has been hit in the head. i assume this still works in spite of the reboot, since Bill was able to, not only talk to the Reboot Agent, but very importantly: have the ability to have woken up mid-reboot. both of those things are likely related to this Fourth Wall Breaking ability. however, also, the Agent kept saying Fourth Wall breaks and Bill did not have a "You can see them too?!" reaction, but rather a very confused and overwhelmed panic reaction where he did not seem to get the references. so maybe he has now lost the ability. i have no idea

↳ my hc add-on as to why Bill was enabled to wake up mid-reboot: do you remember seeing just all of "Madoka Magica"? spoilers for that incoming (or you at least have seen Danny Motta's reaction series to it on youtube, assuming if you're like me and that show has triggers you don't want to risk potentially triggering yourself by watching the show but. like. you do want to know the events, impact, and pop-culture references) where Homura's love for Madoka to keep jumping into timelines to try to save her is singularly what ends up making Madoka the chosen one? because she was loved to that point? that even the universe took notice of her and claimed her as its prodigal child, because the universe reflects what we (in this cause: Homura specifically) puts into it? yeah, i hc that's Bill and this audience. that he just was likely some nameless goon, like a lot of thepandaredd OCs, but because fans (and thepandaredd) loved Bill so much, they took this throwaway skit character mid-overall-creation and gave Bill life where life was intended for him to be miscellaneous. hell, Bill even wears a Skele-Gro necklace from a fan in a PO Box Unboxing video that thepandaredd did a short skit mid-PO-Box-video of Bill receiving (at least i assume that is what he is wearing, he does keep it under his shirt). Bill became important enough to even be rebooted, much less wake up mid-reboot, because of how much he is loved. it's arguably why he has some on/off low-level Fourth Wall breaks too (we don't see that consistently be a thing for other goons). maybe im getting a little too Grant Morrison's "Animal Man" or, hell, even just fucking "The Velveteen Rabbit" by Margery Williams. because Bill's plot is still overall (to steal a line from Jo O'Connor's "Mind Blind"* game tag-line:) "A Story Where You Are NOT The Chosen One!" in a world of Supermans and billionaires and other lucky and not-so-lucky bastards. but still. the love is there, and it is important; and maybe it doesn't make Bill's life better, but it matters that it is still there. but i digress [ *: and bc i fucking love that game, here is the link to the free demo version of Mind Blind. go to Jo's patreon if you want more after the demo]

● confirmed co-workers: idk bc reboot [[[ Scott (unknown pronouns. was beat up by Batman while Bill was "the first goon to be beat up by Robin"). that's all that is known about Scott, so Scott does not have an individual section. also, we never saw Scott, so we have no idea what Scott looks like ]]] ■ [[[ Ted (he/him pronouns. was name-dropped in "how the Bat Boys treat henchman" video. was thrown out of a 73-odd story building window by Man-Bat; is dead. that's all the info i have on Ted, so i won't give Ted his own OC section. we also have no idea what this Ted looks like, we never saw this Ted on-screen. the skit featuring him is in the November 2021 compilation) (edit: possibly/arguably more about Ted, post-reboot, is below. maybe could be same Ted character, maybe could be a totally different Ted. idk. but this Ted has their own section) ]]] ■ [[[ John (he/him pronouns. was probably never canon. but he was mentioned alongside Bill in a skit about an old goon complaining about younger people calling Terry by Batman in "Batman Beyond", where John was a goon that Batman smiled at and John is "still at Arkham to this day, he never recovered from that"). that's all that is known about John so no an individual section. also, we never saw John either so there are no notes about that either ]]] + a bunch of unnamed co-worker goons lol

● idk bc reboot [[[ had jury duty with Bruce Wayne. is meant to imply he was present for (and that this is based off of) the famous "Bruce admits he is Batman because of Jury Duty and everyone in the courtroom laughs" comic. said courtcase was about the unnamed goon Bill and Batman briefly interacted with that got shot in the crotch because said goon insisted on keeping a gun under their waistband ]]]

● calls his work "independent contractor" and "this freelance thing, working where I can" // when not hiding his job, has called himself a "hench for hire"

● lives at "Company housing" // does indeed live in Gotham, is occasionally shipped on assignment outside of Gotham by the Goonion per aforementioned implications (plus, explicitly has been sent out by his bosses. namely Joker, who once had Bill go on a 16 hour flight to send Bane a pie in-person that assumedly had a bomb in it as well as Joker having assigned Bill to attend Comic-con. (which was post-reboot, as a fun fact, so it definitely happened). but yeah, i assume the habit happens outside of that specific event in terms of both the Joker sending Bill out long-distances as well as other villains also sending him out to far-off places. just. for more grounded reasons than the Joker lol)

● idk bc reboot [[[ knows a Todd from high school (wore a wire for the G.C.P.D., pretended to be into henching), tho Todd never graduated. nonetheless, Todd does have a section below ]]]

● idk if this counts bc reboot [[[ tried to become a cop (G.C.P.D.) with a fake mustache, under tha name "Will. Just Will", even though 60% of Gotham cops are dirty + the good ones (eg Commissioner Gordon) knew Joker had only just broken out of jail and assembled a crew. Comissioner Gordon has personally arrested Bill over 50 times, he immediately knew it was Bill ]]]

● idk bc reboot [[[ was shown where the Bat Cave was by Cassandra when she made him help her dispose of Lord Deathman's corpse Joker made bc she had "tiny hands". he used this information to later free Lord Deathman. i would bet Bill knowing this info did not survive the reboot but who knows ]]]

● Bill chooses to work for villains instead of Wayne Industries because he sees billionaire Bruce Wayne as a villain too; and, between the two, he'd rather work with the villain with style (aka: Batman villains). this admission technically happened pre-reboot but i assume it is still his opinion

● idk bc reboot but i assume yes, still true, but just in case [[[ Bill is anti-smoking. does not seem to like it even if it's people smoking around him, will get all Disappointed Yet Sassy on other goons smoking. i assume this goes for cigarettes, cigars, joints etc; but the skit only implied cigarettes ]]]

● i assume this still counts in spite of the reboot, but idk, ill make it green anyway just in case [[[ Bill doesn't have kids. and assumedly from the following dialogue line, he doesn't ever want kids. there is an implication that he could have had kids, and idk if that was an implication as in (1) a significant other and him had a talk and likely mutually agreed to an abortion, (2) he and a significant other broke up because they wanted kids and he did not (and assumedly said partner had kids p soon afterwards with, like, their very next partner or so, hence why there would be a "could have been me" sentiment), (3) Bill had the oppurtunity to take a kid/some kids in as their guardian but chose not to (eg. as a step-parent, as in kinship care or kinship adoption, as a foster care or a foster child wanting to become Bill's kid, or maybe Bill got close with a kid in a non-foster setting and said kid wanted Bill to foster them/to be their legal guardian, idk), or (4) Bill almost donated to a sperm bank but decided not (or maybe he did donate and checked off the "never contact me" box and considers that still "not having kids". i personally think "no" to this bc i find the sperm bank system in the USA really corruptable and un-regulated, and i don't like that sperm-donor-kids don't have access to their sperm donor's medical records even in cases of medical emergencies/genetic disabilities or chronic illnesses that skipped the sperm donor (or that the sperm donor didn't realize they had, since so much of the sperm donation process is the fucking honor system and sometimes people get late diagnosed and sometimes certain genes activate later in life for a random reason) but did not skip the sperm-donor-kid/etc). in the Lord Deathman skit where Bill and Cassandra Cain (Oracle) bag up Lord Deathman. after she asks him for help carrying the bags, he grumbles "You have got to be fucking kidding me. You are the exact reason why I didn't have kids." before saying "I'll grab my coat!" with frustration. and, yes, all of this theorizing is because the verb-usage "didn't", as in "I could have had kids but I did not" (rather than using a line like "You're the reason I never want kids", where the diction would not have backstory implications), is very interesting to me lmao ]]]

↳ i personally have the hc that, as a connection of Bill's Fourth Wall breaks, similar to how the Joker knows he is in a comic and that the people he kills do not matter ("They're extras" to quote Bakugou), Bill knows he is in a comic and doesn't see much point in having kids. i also personally tie this in with his "Wayne Industries/Bruce Wayne is also a villain" belief in the sense that Bill either still has memories or else has unconscious premonitions from having been a nameless background character in "Bruce Wayne reconstruction stories that show how unstable Bruce/Batman is as a hero" comic stories. like. what is the point of having kids in that kind of enviroment where they could be Superman's "The Man Who Has Everything"-ified and you get rebooted and forced to forget/"forget" your own kids? then the verb usage of "didn't" could be "why I didn't have kids in this timeline". maybe he remembers or has vague premonitions abiut being a dad before (and maybe Bill didn't like being a dad? idk). i think it brings a new touch to his exhaustion in (the Lord Deathman video when Alfred Pennyworth shot him which featured) that scene of him having tinnitus, where he is just tired and sad and needs a break from all this

● i assume this still counts in spite of the reboot, but idk, ill make it green anyway just in case [[[ Bill can read ASL (American Sign Language), we know bc Cassandra Cain (Oracle. thepandaredd plays Cassandra as nonverbal) signed to him in the Lord Deathman skit where they bag up Lord Deathman and she makes him carry the bags because she signs to him "Help me. Tiny hands." ]]]

● i like what i said about Bill, comparing him to Mitchell Mayo in Mitchell Mayo (Condiment King)'s section below (bc i do kind of see thepandaredd's re-imagining of Mitchell as an OC. section is below, still under "People"), so i'm taking the hc-analysis and copy-pasting it here: (i kind of like the hc i have of Mitchell Mayo still being in the Goonion, but is a polar opposite to Bill The Henchman. doesn't connect with new goons or really guide them, Bill is kind of implied to be a bit of a mentor/big brother considering a few goons are excited to show him what they did (eg. the Jimmy Olsen kidnapping skit goon) or when he mother-hens the goon-that-once-worked-at-Cobra-HQ or the goon-with-a-gun-in-waistband, and also the hypothetical-"Batman Beyond"-elder-goon even says "Bless his soul" in talking about Bill. compare that with how Butch Moreti treats Mitchell Mayo. admittingly, Butch was acting under frustrating circumstances, but still. i think Mitchell Mayo is just a "big goon in a small pond" who is seasoned at his goon-work as a helluva scary pseudo-mercenary (one even civillians can immediately recognize), whereas Bill is a seasoned goon that isn't a renowned merc but is still really good at his job and also blends in easy with crowds (bc nobody knows who he is). like. Mitchell Mayo is kind of the asshole "truly evil" guy that Bill could have been, y'know?)

[[[ ★★★ TODD ??? ]]] (this one is Bill's high school classmate. DC Comics OC)

idk if this Todd exists because of the whole reboot thing (look at Bill The Henchman section under "People" + The Agent of the Reboot section under "Associations"), but sure

● unknown pronouns. unknown surname (hc full name: (bc i don't think he is Todd Andrews) my headcanon for Todd's surname is Turk. if you go to TV Tropes' page on "The Informant" trope, under the "Comic Books" section, you will read about a brief paragraph Marvel character named Turk who was an informant for Marvel vigilantees. and it's obvious in said paragraph why Marvel doesn't use him anymore lmao rip poor Turk to better differentiate this Todd from Todd Andrews, i also hc that Todd is a nickname for "Theodore" so it is slightly easier on my brain to differntiate all these "Todd"s lmao according to BehindTheName, "Theodore" just means "gift of god" which is sweet yet nonspecific. and its sister-site, Surname.BehindTheName,com said the surname "Turk" meant exactly what is on the tin, it means "Turk". fair. but, yeah, so my hc for this character's full name is Theodore "Todd" Turk. neato, alliteration, yay lmao)

● appearance: wore a black crewneck t-shirt and a wire for the G.C.P.D. also, has recieved a free Goonion black t-shirt from Bill to implement possibly into Todd's wardrobe

↳ as a bonus, the skit this Todd was in featured an G.C.P.D. Dispatch officer of an unknown name and unknown pronouns that wore glasses and a black crewneck t-shirt, and sat a a computer. there you go for anybody who wanted to ensure continuity with Todd and this unnamed G.C.P.D. connection

● idk if this still counts bc reboot [[[ was Bill The Henchman's classmate in high school. tho Todd never graduated high school ]]] more about Bill is above, albeit still under the "People" section

● idk if this still counts bc reboot [[[ wore a wire for the G.C.P.D., pretended to be looking into henching. idk if that means Todd works for the G.C.P.D. and was briefly undercover for this, or if Todd was asked to take a wire for a bit (by the G.C.P.D.) as a civillian. regardless, got a Goonion t-shirt from Bill ]]]

● assumedly not the Todd Andrews from Superb Powers (Todd Andrews' section is somewhere above, under "People". the Superb Powers is above even that, under "Associations") or Todd The Goonion Rep (said Todd is below, still within the "People" section. the Goonion is above, under "Associations") as this Todd does not wear glasses and i think you need to have finished high school to be an accountant? maybe they are the same and Todd got a GED after, i have no idea, hc to your heart's extent, maybe Todd Andrews' glasses are just for blue-light, maybe Todd the Goonion Rep wears fake glasses, or maybe this Todd wears contacts who knows

★★★ TODD (this one is the Goonion rep. DC Comics OC)

↳ technically, i have been calling this Todd by the wrong title kind of this whole time but i had to, i had to do it for the communicative clarity of consistency. because Todd's actual title is only colloquially "a Goonion Rep." as Todd's actual title is "Traveling Representative for the First Universal Henchman's Union". again, this is usually shortened colloquially to "Goonion Rep" but you get it, you get why i didn't call him that every time in the past, Goonion Rep is snappier and there's getting to quickly be too many Todds lmao

● unknown surname. unknown pronouns. (hc full name: Thaddeus "Todd" Malloy. and, with that, i have p much run out of things "Todd" can be short for. luckily, Thaddeus kind of fits a union rep, as BehindTheName.com says it likely derived from the meaning "heart". that's cute. and esp for a Goonion rep, as BehindTheName also says "In the Gospel of Matthew, Thaddaeus is listed as one of the twelve apostles, though elsewhere in the New Testament his name is omitted and Jude's [aka another form of Judas' name, apparently] appears instead. It is likely that the two names refer to the same person". and im not nor have i ever been a Christian but goons and Judas assumedly fit together? yeah? i hope? anyway, i picked the surname Malloy because of the 1954 movie "On The Waterfront" which is about unions, mobs, and an ex-prize-fighter named Teddy Malloy. you can see the connection. i haven't seen it in so many years, i apologize if it is a bad movie to connect to, the plot-summary i read seemed fine enough and my chronic memory loss-riddled ass remembers if fondly enough even tho i was like... seven lol. but, i digress. i should also note that according to Surname.BehindTheName.com Malloy also has connections to both "noble, proud leader" and "faithful servant". huh! even more fitting!)

● appearance: wears glasses. wears a white button-up and a black tie

● works at The First Universal Henchman's Union, aka The Goonion (more on that organization above, under the "Associations" section)

● this is p safe to assume not the Todd Andrews from Superb Powers (Todd Andrews' section is somewhere above, under "People". the Superb Powers section is above even that, under the "Associations" heading) or the Todd That is Bill's High School Friend (said Todd is above, though still within the "People" section. the Goonion is above even that too, under "Associations"). i explained in Todd That Is Bill's High School Friend's section some of why they might be different, might be the same, it's all up the hc, but im p confident they are all different characters all given the forename Todd, okay? okay lmao

● (@/thepandaredd, if you ever read this: i know you love Jason Todd, Jason is also my favorite in the Batfam (after Alfred, obviously, but you get it), and you have this many different Todd OCs is so fucking funny but also im begging you for other names in-between my laughs, please no more Todds lmao) [/tone clarity: this is me complaining as a bit. do what you want, it's your tiktok and your OCs. im just joshing. ill be fine if you do more Todds. much love to you and yours ♡]

★★★ DR. AARON MICHAELS (DC Comics OC)

● he/him pronouns

● Therapist at Akrham Asylum

↳ replacing an assumedly male (had he/him pronouns if nothing else) therapist that Joker seduced, much like the Joker also had done with Harley Quinn; they found out because the guy had downloaded videos on his desktop that were explict and graohic about clowns. he was fired and Dr. Aaron Michaels was hired

● calls patients by their civillian names (important contrast with Dr. Morton below, is also under the "People" section)

● appearance: wears glasses. in his first video, Dr. Aaron Michaels wore a red long-sleeve button-up with a gray vest and matching gray pants. in Dr. Aaron Michael's second and third video, he wore a red long-sleeve button-up with a gray wool suit jacket. generally has folders/binders/notes, with said folder/binder being darkly colored (black? gray? very dark blue? i cant tell). also has an Arkham ID badge (the card is verticle as a fun fact) that he wears on his suit jacket's breast pocket

● has to make a semi-regular video log ("to mak[e] sure I don't have any 'impure thoughts about the inmates'" which he doesn't like that wording for his patients but you pick and choose your battles)

● Works down the hall from Dr. Morton (is below, is also under the "People" section)

● Transferred from Seattle (doesn't have prior knowledge of patients, instead sits down with them totally blind and whatnot). for those unaware, that is in Washington, USA

★★★ DR. MORTON (DC Comics OC)

● he/him. Unknown forename (i know in his first video that Dr. Morton showed his Arkham badge to camera but i cannot read it so idk if it said his forename. but i like being a nerd about names+meanings; so, despite the fact that it is quite likely he does have a first name already, because it is illegible to me, im giving him a hc forename: very tempting to jokingly pick "Jay" because thepandaredd is Jay Morton, but that's low-hanging fruit, so i digress my pick is Victor, after Victor Frankenstein of "Frankenstein" fame. tho, like, Victor barely counts as a doctor, he's more of a hack insisting he counts, but he practices alchemy which even his classmates say is super-outdated and not a real science. im getting off track. my "BUT"-point here is that i associate them together because Victor Frankenstein sees the Creature, arguably his own son (i def see the Creature as his son, Victor literally created the Creature, but i digress) but is definitely a patient of his if nothing else, as a monster immediately upon the uncanny-valley-motherfucker daring to actually move &&& Dr Morton calls his patients exclusively by their villain-names so far as of 2024 March, implying he does see his patients as monstrous due to their actions or at least sees their villain identities as superseding their original civillian names, which is a really cool contrasting point between him and Dr. Aaron Michaels. i wonder if that's something they argue about but are still friends in spite of, if that sticking point of difference stops them from being friends, etc)

● Level 2 Medical Officer at Arkham Asylum. also called "A physician", is specifically a "General Care physician for all the supervillians housed at the asylum"

↳ 8 years medical school, minor is psychology

● Calls patients by their villain names (important contrast with Dr. Aaron Michaels, above, still under the "People" section. i have analysis about this character choice in my "hc for Dr Morton's forename" right up a few points)

● appearance: he wears glasses. in his first video, Dr. Morton wore red scrubs (or what i assume are supposed to be scrubs? idk, im not a scrubs expert) with a black longer-sleeved shirt underneath and black pants. Dr. Morton also wears what i assume is a scrub-cap, and it is black with skull-and-crossbones on it. in his second video, Dr. Morton wore a white labcoat on top of his scrubs, but otherwise dressed the same. also, he has an Arkham ID badge (fun fact: the card is vertical) that he wore as a lanyard around his neck

↳ hc: i think Dr. Morton stops wearing his ID around his neck. it's a common enough thing that patients will attempt to strangle their doctors in general clinics (much less around dangerously violent patients, like in Arkham Asylum) that doctors (1) dont wear stethoscopes around their neck anymore as a rule, or anything around their neck that could be used to choke them; (2) dont generally wear lanyards and, if they do, it is a break-away lanyard; and (3) instead of lanyards will wear a badge-holder-clip (often a retractable one for convenience) on their top somewhere (ive seen it clipped on their scrub-shirt's neck, their shirt breast pocket, and the hem of the shirt. i once saw it on the hem of their sleeve. i do not know if there is protocol about this beyond "above the waist", this is just based on observations and none of the odder ones are recent. i usually see breast pocket the most). which means someone probably tried to choke out Dr. Morton, and idk who would be the most likely candidate, but regardless it probably doesn't help Dr. Morton see his patients positively enough to use their civillian-names over their villain-names

↳ another hc: which, like. speaking of, i dont think Dr. Morton using villain-names over character-names is bad. it is part of the patients identity and probably the part they recognize the most (since v rarely are any remorseful for their actions). it shows Dr. Morton sees them for their (current) actions, rather than seeing them for their humanity out of his own perception of the world. saying that, i still disagree with the decision for a multitude of reasons, but it's a cool character detail and i wont go off in a tangent about this, this is already enough lol

● Works down the hall from Dr. Aaron Michaels (whose section is above, still under the "People" section)

● Listed treatments:

↳ Eyedrops many times a week for Two-Face's eye to not be a raisin

↳ Splinting Penguin's nose

↳ Has never seen Clayface shit

↳ Repairing "the grill" of Joker

↳ Trying to convince the Joker that wiping his ass does not, and can not, make the Joker gay (suspects the Joker is attracted Batman nonetheless)

★★★ BUTCH MORETI (DC Comics OC)

technically, this character kind of doesn't exist. as the character was just in a draft version of the "Make Condiment King Scary" tiktok, and not in the finalized video. but i am ignoring that

↳ idk if "Butch" was the character's forename or nickname, but i assume it is the forename (but you can hc it as a nickname if you want)

● Pronouns unknown

● Worked with Mitchell Mayo (Condiment King, canon character but re-imagined rendition is below, still listed under "People" section) died because of Mitchell due to Mitchel poisoning a dollop of ketchup (that Butch ate with fries from Big Belly Burger, one of Butch's favorite places to eat)

↳ died in a safe-house, after ripping off Falconé

↳ Mitchell Mayo was sent by Falconé to kill Moreti -- "Falconé sends his regards, Butch"

● appearance: was dressed in all black, with a black leather jacket (no lapel, had fake-motorcycle-padding-shoulder-pockets if you squint. this in contrast to Mitchell Mayo (Condiment King)'s leather jacket which did have a lapel), with a black t-shirt, black pants, etc.

● Butch was irritable (makes sense, after ripping off Falconé and finding someone in the safehouse) and waved a gun around for intimidation

● i hc both Butch Moreti and Mitchell Mayo (Condiment King) were/are Goonion members and co-workers of Bill The Henchman (more on Bill above, still under the "People" section). i love Mitchell Mayo (Condiment King) as what thepandaredd wrote him as now, i refuse to see him any other way after the "Make Condiment King Scary" video lol ■ more on thepandaredd's re-imagining of Mitchell Mayo (The Condiment King) below, still under the "People" section

★★★ MITCHELL MAYO (CONDIMENT KING) (DC Comics)

technically, shouldn't be here bc he is a canon DC comics character already. but i like thepandaredd's re-imagining enough to have made notes and consider him a bit of an OC of panda's

● assumed, he/him pronouns due to canon and masculine self-references (eg. a guy, a man, King, etc)

● hates the title "Condiment King", does not like to be called that and will tell you. the press gave it to him after a murder Mitchell comitted (more below under "Confirmed murders")

↳ "So patronizing. Like, I'm trying to make some some grand-standing with what I do, I'm not. I'm not."

↳ "Everybody in Gotham has got a gimmick."

↳ "See, my problem isn't with the name itself. It's with what the insult that is implied. People think that what I do is silly. But I'm gonna ask you something. If the ketchup was too tangy, would you stop eating it? Or if your hot wings tingled your throat in a way you didn't expect, would you all of a sudden stop? See, the thing is, apart from taking a shit: eating is when people are at their most vulnerable. I ask you: do you know what poison tastes like? Are you sure?"

● appearance: wears a green beanie with a pompom (reference to character's pickle hat in comics. (fun behind-the-scenes fact: the hat in question in the tiktok is a backwards "Friends" beanie. Mitchell's is assumedly not that. but it is what thepandaredd could find at the time)). wears all black otherwise, including a black leather jacket (with a lapel), a black t-shirt, black pants, etc (note: when killing the unnamed guy a few bullet points below, was wearing a "new sky blue suit" that got stains all over it from fighting said guy in a kitchen and getting tossed around. assumedly had to throw it away after, but who knows, maybe it got cleaned)

↳ very recognizable. Ted (below, still under "People" section) recognized Mitchell Mayo on sight, despite being a Gotham transplant who'd only been there for three months

● personality is generally laid-back? a bit of an "under the surface" type of control-freak? is kind of quiet, lets people make assumptions that benefit Mitchell Mayo. keeps calm while others fly off the handle. will get a bit loud and growly when angry, letting it slip for half a phrase or so, before laughing it off and continuing like he isn't annoyed/pissed off. smiles and laughs creepily at the idea of murdering people; no guilt, no shame, enjoys it. very much recommend watching both the draft and final versions of "Make Condiment King Scary" that thepandaredd made

● likes to eat french fries (in the draft version of "Make Condiment King Scary", Mitchell eats the fries without ketchup as said ketchup is poisoned for Butch Moreti to eat. in this version, the fries are from Big Belly Burger ■ in the final version of the video, Mitchell does eat his fries with ketchup) ■ according to Ted's second "Living in Gotham" video (Ted's section is below, still under the "People" header. Ted called Mitchell Mayo exclusively by "the Condiment King" which i assume did not help Ted's case), Mitchell got so mad at Ted for dissing the Bat Burger (+Joker Fries) that Ted had to hide in the bathroom of an abandoned building as Mitchell Mayo pounded on the bathroom door saying, "I know you're in there! I know you're in there! Open the door!". so i assume the Bat Burger is Mitchell Mayo's favorite and that he is the "No, you misunderstand. I'm not willing to die on this hill, I'm willing to kill you on it." type in regards to food-opinions

● drinks A&W rootbeer? i think?? idk what that can is of otherwise (in final version of "Make Condiment King Scary")

● worked with Falconé as "a goon" ("another grunt off the street"; kind of implies Goonion likely wasn't a thing yet back then? but who knows, Goonion doesn't seem relatively new, so Mitchell Mayo probably was a member when he started. edit: nah, according to the Goonion merch, it was "established 2000", so yeah, it is relatively new, nvm) ("Hands up, fucker, Falconé sends his regards"), implied to not being doing that anymore

↳ when with Butch Moerti (section above, still under "People"), is implied to still be peers. so still henchmen. Butch patronizes Mitchell, sees Mitchell as below Butch, and Mitchell allows Butch to underestimate him as it benefits Mitchell in the end

↳ i hc both Butch Moreti and Mitchell Mayo (Condiment King) were/are Goonion members and co-workers of Bill The Henchman (more on Bill above, still under the "People" section). i love Mitchell Mayo (Condiment King) as what thepandaredd wrote him as now, i refuse to see him any other way after the "Make Condiment King Scary" video lol

↳ implied to be a mercenary now? idk if this version is a supervillain (i kind of like the hc i have of Mitchell Mayo still being in the Goonion, but is a polar opposite to Bill The Henchman. doesn't connect with new goons or really guide them, Bill is kind of implied to be a bit of a mentor/big brother considering a few goons are excited to show him what they did (eg. the Jimmy Olsen kidnapping skit goon) or when he mother-hens the goon-that-once-worked-at-Cobra-HQ or the goon-with-a-gun-in-waistband, and also the hypothetical-"Batman Beyond"-elder-goon even says "Bless his soul" in talking about Bill. compare that with how Butch Moreti treats Mitchell Mayo. admittingly, Butch was acting under frustrating circumstances, but still. i think Mitchell Mayo is just a "big goon in a small pond" who is seasoned at his goon-work as a helluva scary pseudo-mercenary (one even civillians can immediately recognize), whereas Bill is a seasoned goon that isn't a renowned merc but is still really good at his job and also blends in easy with crowds (bc nobody knows who he is). like. Mitchell Mayo is kind of the asshole "truly evil" guy that Bill could have been, y'know?)

● Confirmed murders: (within thepandaredd re-imagining canon)

↳ manipulated Butch Moreti (section above, still under "People") via using Big Belly Burger fries (Butch Moreti's favorite. "Man, you know that's my shit") and poisoning a dollop of ketchup that had been untouched on a paper plate -- arguably non-canonical bc Butch only exists in a drafted version of "Make The Condiment King Scary" and not the final version, but im ignoring that ■ well, actually, i guess Butch kind of is also in the final version as there is some unseen person cough-choking to the end, assumedly poisoned. that could be Butch. or a reference to Butch. who knows lol

↳ (the following is a bastardized summary of the "Make Condiment King Scary" final video; please go watch it) Mitchell killed an unnamed guy in a pot of hot sauce (technically, "extra hot sauce", still on the stove ■ "You know, when you drown, they say your lungs feel like they're on fire. Can you imagine what that's like with capsaicin added to the mix?" (this line is only in the draft version) ■ "Did you know that it only takes three pounds of ground up chillis, consumed in one sitting, to kill a man? Purely from the capsaicin. Well, I'll tell you what, he figured out what it's like to inhale that shit."). drowned the unnamed guy in a pot of it. it is how Mitchell Mayo got the nickname "Condiment King" from the press. ■ event in further detail: Mitchell was sent by Falconé bc a resteraunt "racket" he had been running (slang definition: "an illegal or dishonest scheme for obtaining money". i assume that means the place was a front for money laundering? that the "owner" went "no, fuck you, i actually like doing this"? that's kinda sweet. or maybe Falconé was doing "pay me for protection (from me)" thing, idk, that's less sweet but still admirable lol) had itself an owner who decided not to pay, "So I was sent to relieve him of his station". Mitchell let the guy finish up his meal, followed the owner into the back, stuck a gun in his face. but the guy was a black belt in karate, kicked gun out of Mitchell's hand, fought and tossed Mitchell around, then Mitchell held the unnamed guy's head in that pot of hot sauce "until the fucking bubbles stopped coming up". therefore, Mitchell Mayo killed a guy with hot sauce in a suit covered in condiments got the nickname "Condiment King"

★★★ REGGIE BENSON (his second Marvel OC! yay!)

● unknown pronouns. (he/him implied via "dude" and "guy" diction? but idk, i use those gender neutrally myself)

● appearance: wears a red and a blueish-gray flannel with a black sherpa lining that is a zip-up jacket; ontop of a plain pale-red t-shirt. as a prop, Reggie often carries around an iPad (assumedly to draw on, write notes, and record audio with. i hc Reggie uses the Notability app a fuck ton, because that lets you record audio while you write notes which is great for lectures/interviews. Notability is a bit hard to draw with in my exp, but not the worst; plus you can switch apps easy. idk how well it works for Zoom/Facetime/online interviews, but in-person ones? esp pre-Wolverine-interview? Reggie probably used Notability a shitton. iPad is a very good prop pick for Reggie to have), said iPad seems to have a pale-gray case. Reggie also has a prosthetic leg (assumedly his right (the viewer's left) leg from how he looked down?)

↳ "How did I get [my prosthetic leg]? I, uh, mighy have asked Wolverine how he shaves? Listen, I'm just saying-- I know legal said don't talk about it, they asked, I want to tell them-- if a nuke gets dropped on a guy, and he comes back with perfectly shaved mutton-chops, I don't think it's unreasonable to know how he shaves his freaking moustache, okay?!" ("I, uh, I have been informed by legal team over at Marvel that I, I, I, uh, should stop talking about the Wolverine interview on camera. So, uh, can you just, tch, cut that, please?")

● works at Marvel Comics' Marvel Comics (bc Marvel Comics legitimately decided "let's put our comic company inside our comic-universe, selling comics about the heroes the universe has. like a graphic novel version of the news, except it is 'fictional stories with grains of truth' somehow", sure). thepandaredd explains this oddity a bit better over in the July 2022 compilation (which, for clarity, Reggie's introductory skits are over in the August 2022 compilation)

↳ Reggie's official position at the company is: "Earth 616 Reporter (Mutant Division) Marvel™️ Comics". Reggie just says "I'm a reporter for Marvel Comics" and that "Personally, a lot of the stories that I cover are a lot of mutant and mutant-related things." ■ they still say "Excelsior"/"'celsior" at fictional-Marvel, that's cool

↳ it can probably be safely assumed Stan Lee and Jack Kirby and whatnot still are still alive? since they were, at one point, in the comics? but idk if they are in the skit-world-of-thepandaredd. but they might be Reggie's co-workers?

↳ Reggie explains their job as a mixture of the news section and "the funny pages" section of a newspaper. it's reporting news, put in some graphics, and add "drama and spice to keep things fresh". ■ Marvel Comics (the fictional company) does try to be unbiased and also get "all the perspectives possible" (eg. the villains' pov). says that "Some people that rhe public has labeled as super-villains aren't really that bad of people to talk to. Others, (note: Reggie is clearly thinking of Mojo, more in a lower bullet-point) uhm [i cut out the heavy stuttering], some of the opinions are deserved." ■ Reggie sees himself as "I like to think of myself as their voice. I get to get their side of the story out to the people, y'know?"

↳ for work, Reggie has met with: Paste Pot Pete (no label within the skit. civillian identity: Peter Petruski. is sometimes also called The Trapster, but not in these skits lol) ■ Mojo (the skit labels Mojo as "Mojo. Media Tycoon. Professionally Gross. Entrepreneur. Owner: WatchMojo". Mojo is both his villain and civillian name. his alien species is called the Spineless Ones. in one specific comic-run, "Ultimate X-Men", he is a human named Mojo Adams, but i digress. Reggie gets general-canon-alien-Mojo, who terrifies/disgusts Reggie to the point that Reggie screams, even on video-call/Facetime) ■ Wolverine (the skit labels Wolverine as "Logan Howlett. Mutant. 'The Wolverine™️'. Avengers, X-Men, X-Force, History Teacher." Wolverine hates Reggie: he says "fuck that guy" and thinks Reggie is a total asshole) ■ Charles Xavier (the skit labels Charles as "Charles Xavier. Headmaster. Mutant. Xavier's School for Gifted Youngesters™️. Nobel Prize Winner". when asked about Reggie, Charles began by saying Reggie is "a fine young chap" until he was told this was off the record, to which Charles said "Oh, the dude's a prick.") ■ Namoor (Zoom interview. has fried the "complimentary iPad we gave him by going underwater" before, hope that doesn't happen again. is mentioned in skit, but not shown, so no label)

↳ i personally feel it is important to add Reggie will snort-laugh at some things the people they interview say, and Reggie will cover it up with a lie that the sound they made was "allergies"/that it is "allergy season"

↳ my hc: i think the Paste Pot-Pie interview was pre-Wolverine, and Reggie does all his interviews over Facetime/Zoom since losing his leg post-Wolverine interview? maybe legal over at Marvel advised it

★★★ ARNOLD (a third Marvel OC! very little info tho)

● unknown surname. unknown pronouns. (hc: i googled Marvel's version of State University to confirm if Arnold was an OC or not, and i couldn'find anything to say he is canon so i assume OC. i know very little Fantastic Four lore. anyway, i see it says there is a dean already there-- which is to be expected, and universities can have multiple deans-- but that same dean does not have a forename. so i am hc'ing slapping Arnold onto this dean whose entire wiki says he just "welcome[d] Reed Richards when he arrived with the the Fantastic Four at State U to deliver a lecture", the end. so, my hc name is Dean Arnold Mencken, or just Arnold Mencken when he is not a dean, i guess. also, i looked what the surname means on my beloved search-engine of Surnames.BehindTheName because i LOVE name-meanings and intertextual references and whatnot-- and nothing came up. so i tried google, and a site called "Forebears.io" that i am unsure about entirely trusting says that it is a variant spelling of the surname Menken (which BehindTheName also had nothing on) and both means "One who lived in a monastery" which sounds fitting and i kind of have an "i don't know enough about this to say you're right or wrong, and i don't like that" opinion about. but eh. the character's surname was already decided. it's whatever, it's just a hc. if you want to see the fandom-wiki pages on Dean [No forename] Mencken, the one listing him as staff from State U is here and his own page is over here)

↳ insists students call him by just "Arnold" when they try to call him "Dean". Victor Von Doom compromises, somewhat, and switches from "Dean" to "Dean Arnold"

● is a dean at State University in New York (which, yes, is a real university). was dean at the time Reed Richards and Victor Von Doom were students

● appearance: wears glasses and a plain black t-shirt in the skit

● is in just the one skit from the 2023 Oct./Nov. compilation, unlikely to appear again but who knows!

★★★ PROFESSOR FINGER (DC Comics OC)

↳ is actually a spoof on "Bill Finger", who worked on Batman comics. more below under Professor Kane's section (below, still under "People")

● he/him pronouns. unknown forename. (hc forename: Duval. after Marie Duval, the primary creator of "Ally Sloper" which was a then-famous Victorian comic strip to which her husband (Charles Ross) stole all the credit and was heralded as a comic genius for almost 150 years. only in the past few years, thanks to a comics historian named David Kunzle, has Marie Duval been given her full share of credit for what was ultimately her comic. but yeah, i checked if Duval is a forename and i found tons of people with it as their forename so hell yeah)

● appearance: unknown, Prof Finger was never shown on-screen

● switched mid-skit between calling him an "English teacher" and a "Philosophy teacher". (maybe he's English specialized in Philosophy, like ive had English college classes require we read "On The Consolation of Philosophy" by Boethius before) more likely, Finger is English and Jason Todd mispoke when he said "Philosophy"

● is a Professor at Tim Drake's school, and Tim is in his class; Jason Todd took his class, was implied to have taken it years ago. was called "Professor Finger" (note: not "Dr. Finger", this OC assumedly does not have a doctorate. which, it is fairly common for English profs to have up to a Masters, then its a toss-up if they stopped there or also got a PhD so that checks out. main reason i mention it is bc i kept making a typo the first time i wrote this section up calling him "Dr. Finger" and that isn't accurate, he was never called that in the skit, idk why i kept making the same typo).

↳ the phrasing of "Professor" leads me to assume this is university (idk how private schools work and if they have students call anybody "Professor") which Jason Todd i don't think is confirmed to go to university? (Jason Todd hc: i think he should go. i am very much Team Jason Todd The English Professor Or English (Public? or Gotham Academy?) High School Teacher (probably more likely public bc i can see Jason Todd wanting to reach out to disadvantaged youth at public schools moreso than help deliquent rich kids on principle. but i can also see him going "i dont want to hang out with teenagers who don't want to participate in discussions; i'm gonna teach on college campuses" bc he deserves students who are interested in his class, his life has been hard enough, let him have passionate students and, unfortunately, college English students are more likely passionate about the material than high school English students, idk what to tell you). but im also Team Jason Todd Takes College Classes (Mostly English) For Fun With No Intent Of A Degree tho. either or) and the only college Tim went to that i am aware of is Ivy University in Ivy Town. however, i think it is more likely both Jason Todd and Tim Drake are both taking college classes (or "has taken" in Jason Todd's case since it's implied he went Finger's class years ago, idk if he is implied to still attending or not rn, before was just my hc) at Gotham University in Gotham City, that feels like the most convenient place for them to both go. however, it would also make sense for this to be a reference to Gotham Academy (in which case Tim Drake is in high school and Jason Todd has since left), but again, idk if private schools ask students to call their teachers by "Professor". im probably overthinking this

● obsessed with Batman

↳ keeps having students every semester write a paper on the philosophy of Batman to the point that Jason Todd thinks "he should have a book of those by now"

★★★ PROFESSOR KANE (DC Comics OC)

↳ is actually a spoof on "Bob Kane", who worked on the Batman comics

↳ (if you want to read up on why Bill Finger and Bob Kane are being discussed like this, this article goes over a good amount of introductory information (https://boldentrance.com/how-bob-kane-stole-batman-from-bill-finger/) and i also recommend this reddit thread to get a bit more of a window into the DC Comics fandom dialogue about it (https://www.reddit.com/r/batman/s/sf8P8hgBxv). but yeah, there's better resources if you want to know more in-depth stuff, i just picked the most accessible, quick-to-read, starter stuff) thepandaredd has also done a few videos on Bill Finger and Bob Kane, but i can't find them even though i know they exist (edit: found them (on accident), it's within their "DC Comics Discussions 3" youtube video). but this is just thepandaredd doing a "Wouldn't it be nice?" alternate reality where the students protected Finger and ousted Kane for trying to steal Finger's job, the actions dictated here did not happen in real life. it's just a nod to the irl drama via the names involved (and also maybe the enough "psychology/philosophy of Batman" stuff to make a book is a reference that Finger kept a continuity book of all Batman and Batman-associated-characters/places he came up with so as to minimize continuity errors. i am not aware of Finger having ever written a "Psychology/Philosophy of Batman" book or anything similar for that topic ad nauseam, again, as far as i am aware, that's just a popular point of pop culture analysis to the point that even i have written a paper on it for college), it is not a summary of said drama

● he/him. unknown forename. (hc forename: Ross. after Charles Ross, of the "Ally Sloper" fame, who famously took all the credit that his wife, Marie Duval did to making this Victorian comic strip an icon of its time)

● appearance: unknown, Prof Kane is never seen on-screen

● "Professor Kane tried to steal [Professor Finger's] job last year, but everyone kind of ousted him"

↳ "Oh, gross, Professor Kane? That dude's a dick."

↳ "Yeah, that's what everyone else said."

↳ assumedly, since Tim Drake doesn't have his own opinion of Kane voiced (just "that's what everyone else said"), though Professor Kane is at Tim's school, Tim has not interacted with him one-on-one or had his class (my assumption would be Tim is avoiding Kane's classes since everyone keeps talking shit. why willingly take a teacher you know might make your life hellish for a semester? i do that with RateMyProfessor all the time). in contrast, Jason Todd likely has taken a class by Professor Kane considering his wording (which makes additional sense when you realize Jason Todd is unlikely to use the internet or features like RateMyProfessor due to him having grown up without much day-to-day/non-Batman-and-Robin tech before the Lazarus Pit. probably isn't a habit for him to look profs up); but it's also likely Jason just came to his own conclusions firmly after hearing enough rumors/second-hand stories about it, that does also fit Jason's personality

↳ "ousted" implies Professor Kane no longer works at that campus. but who knows, maybe

● (note: same as Professor Finger's section above, still under the "People" section— this guy is not "Dr. Kane", this OC assumedly does not have a doctorate. which, we don't know what kind of subject this Kane OC is a professor of. but, considering he tried to steal Professor Finger's job, i think it's safe to assume Kane is also an English professor. it is fairly common for English profs to have up to a Masters, then its a toss-up if they stopped there or also got a PhD so that checks out.)

● i'm not re-writing my notes on "is this guy a Professor at a university (Ivy University? Gotham University?) or at Goth Academy (high school)?" so look above in Professor Finger's section (above, still under "People") for my waffling on about that

● i'm guessing on the spelling of Professor Kane's surname based on phoentics + "Kane" is how Bob Kane spelled his surname (same goes for "Finger" except i don't think there is any other way to spell "Finger"(?), unlike Kane/Cain/Kain/Cane/Kayne/Cayne/Caine/Kaine/Caigne/Kaigne/etc, you get the idea). i assume Professor Kane is unrelated to the DC Comics Kane (fictional) family/families (eg. one family is Katherine "Kate" Kane (Batwoman), Mary Elizabeth "Bette" Kane (Hawkfire), and Jacob Kane. another Kane family is the father-son duo Jesse Kane and David Kane (Black Manta; though i think it's more popular for Black Manta's civillian surname to be Hyde in-comics), from the live-action "Aquaman" movie series. and another is Cassandra Cain (Oracle; in some other universes, her surname is Wu-San though) and her father, David Cain; though that one is if i assumed incorrectly about how to spell Professor Kane's surname. and so on, im sure there's others with a variant of this surname. a lot of people in the DC Comic workspace used the surname as either a Biblical reference, which is not that important to what i am discussing here, or in tribute to Bob Kane before everyone knew about how much work should actually be attributed to Bill Finger) but yeah, hc to your heart's content if you want Professor Kane to be related to someone. just because there is no evidence of confirmation does not, in this case, mean there is any evidence of contradiction either. (hc: like i prefer Jacob Kane to be a good guy, bc Katherine "Kate" Kane (Batwoman) deserves a decent dad. but i know in the "Gotham Knights" game (idk if this is true anywhere else), Jacob Kane is a member of The Court Of Owls, specifically "The Voice of the Court". i think the Waynes/Kanes having a connection to the Court makes sense. i think it's kinda off to have everyone in the Wayne/Kanes be good, and all other rich families in Gotham have at least one bad egg in The Court of Owls; i think the Wayne/Kanes should be included as part of that corrupted mess, just, probably someone outside of the Batfam and their immediate relatives. id be perfectly happy having Professor Kane be in the Wayne/Kane family as the representative associated with The Court Of Owls in Jacob Kane's place. maybe he can be Jacob Kane's crotchety old uncle or someone in the family closer to Kate's age, but someone who they are all but officially estranged from. hence, no idea he/their family was involved in the Court. if you prefer drama tho, i don't think anybody really knows anything about Bette Kane's dad except that he's dead? maybe he came back, idk, basically all the Robins have died and came back. or maybe she has a brother, idk, i prefer my "distant family" pitch more personally. but also then i kinda wonder why Professor Finger isn't dead via a Talon getting assigned to kill him, so i also don't believe my own hc pitch. it is the most likely option that Professor Kane could just be an unrelated, miscellaneously benign but dickish Kane lol anyway, i digress)

★★★ TED (the Gotham transplant. DC Comics OC)

● unknown pronouns. unknown surname. (hc surname: Icarian. meaning i hc this character's name to be Ted Icarian. which "Icarian" is the adjective/noun form referencing the Ancient Greek lore character called "Icarus". most famous for wearing his dad's wax wings, flying too close to the sun, and falling to his death with a moral about arrogance, the sublime, and human error. which, y'know, is poetic because im hc'ing this as "uncorrupted Ted that has never been/has yet to become a goon" (more on that in a bullet-point below), ergo, "before the fall" morally and before Bill's-version-pre-reboot-of-Ted's fall from Wayne Towers ~73 stories high to his death from Man-Bat. so it is also a pun. also, as a brief self-note: applying the Hozier song titled "Icarian (I, Carrion)" to this intrepretation of Ted is fitting poetically and also funny in a dark-humor way. edit: Ted's life is going downhill fast between the first and second videos, and i feel like i accidentally condemned Ted with this surname lmao Ted, i'm so sorry)

↳ the following does involve hc, but also does analyze possible connections between "this Ted" and "the Ted mentioned within Bill The Henchmen's Confirmed Co-Workers section of Bill's whole bit above (yet still under the "People" heading)": i like to headcanon this is the same Ted who is/was Bill The Henchman's late coworker. since Ted-The-Coworker was established pre-Reboot Agent, this could either be a prequel to Ted dying from the Man-Bat (which btw the skit of that is linked here) or could be Ted in a rebooted alternate life. i like to assume the latter, because i think that'd be hilariously trippy for Bill to see his coworker still alive post-reboot but tragic that this Ted doesn't likely know who Bill is lol but also all of this, either way, makes the Henchman LinkedIn joke a few bullet-points down extra (bittersweet) fucking funny

● appearance: wears all black. first video included a black t-shirt and a black denim jacket. second video included a black scarf with a black-white-and-gray long-sleeve top.

● has a 4-door car. idk anything about cars. but has shot these videos, generally, in said car. so that is one of Ted's habits as an influencer → and now that car is where Ted sleeps, oh dear (at least is sleeping with a neck pillow? idk any silver lining here)

● now lives in Gotham (Batman's territory, which is in the East Coast and most traditionally is in pseudo-New Jersey), but is a transplant from Coast City (for context, Coast City's most famous protector is Hal Jordan (Green Lantern) if that helps you. it's in pseudo-California). lives in an apartment in Gotham → oh, god. uh, Ted no longer lives in an apartment in Gotham. Ted is now unhomed, now living in their car. their apartment was burned down into the shape of a giant smiley-face and there was a fireproof-paper note on "where my bed once used to be" that said: "Disrespect my Joker Fries again, bitch, and it won't just be the house". so. assumedly Ted's home was burned down by the Joker

↳ has lived in Gotham City "for 3 months". if you want to apply reality's timeline to the skit, hen he has been living in Gotham for 3 months from the point of recording the tiktok on 25 March 2024 (aka: 25 January 2024-ish is around when Ted moved to Gotham?)

● two jobs. job (1) is as an influencer, makes tiktoks (eg. "Top 5 Facts About Gotham City (from a Coast City transplant)" type videos. doing social media seems to be a side hustle or just for fun? each video has the top margin say "GOTHAM FYP" or "GOTHAM CITY FYP" so far (which i know is a fun trend people do and that's part of advertising that "hello, the following is comments about a fictional city; this a trend, i am a nerd (/tone indicator: affectionate); please do not think this is a real place (or that im stupid, as sometimes comic nerd get v patronizing in the comments. (eg. 'uh? op didn't know Harvey Dent was Two-Face? fake DC fan much' like? my comrade, it is a trend, it is a GAG, of course op knew, they did a skit playing as a character that's a Gotham civillian who wouldn't know that, oh my god, that's the BIT))", but also my not-tech-savvy ass assumes a part of it is also supposed to be a gag about the search-bar? and the idea is that the viewer is either watching Gotham City content within the DC-universe or, more likely, also lives in Gotham(?). idk. but yeah because [insert real city] fyp content doesn't ever have that "[CITY] FYP" stuff at the top that ive seen, but they do always have the search bar always filled in. usually with more "[real city] fyp" items, most generally it will be just "[city] fyp" but also sometimes the search bar says stuff like "[city] fyp to eat", "[city] fyp tips", etc as i watch the tiktok video VS. if i watch "Gotham FYP" content, my personal 50/50 experience on if my search-bar will give me more "Gotham FYP" content in my search bar or if it will be something else DC Comics adjacent, like a new movie. however, after saying all of that: i think i maybe went into an overthinking spiral again, ignore me if that is the case) summary content of video below in case application of Gotham Fun Facts is desired)

↳ does not think the Bat Burger lives up to the hype. thinks Joker Fries are not that good. prefers Big Belly Burger (same favorite resteraunt as Butch Moreti, another thepandaredd OC, above yet still under the "People" section). will still eat Bat Burger tho

↳ "Gang territory, here? Gerrymandered to fuck". have to change colors of outfit to keep safe

↳ Halloween is outlawed in Gotham (in part bc of copyright laws). even trick-or-treating is illegal

↳ Henchman jobs are available on Linked In. applying puts you on a watchlist for the GCPD but still

↳ Gothamites are both exaggerating about the crime rates here and not. Gotham has more than the usual number of villains but the crime is less of a disturbance than expected, in spite of how "in Coast City, we're used to, like, one intergalactic threat showing up every couple of months" VS "It is like almost every other fucking week here [in Gotham]"

↳ Ted got a Welcome Package when Ted first moved in. package contained: "a safety straw you use to drink out of fucking lakes, a gas-mask, [and] a gun"

↳ "The second the sun dips behind the horizon, the sky turns red. No, I'm not joking. Night-time doesn't exist. There are demon hours and that is when the sky is fucking red!" also, both Ted and i are chemically unsure how that works

↳ there are police blimps to patrol Gotham City from the sky. "I saw a dude jay-walk at, like, 2 in the morning; and, all of a sudden, a flood-light came out of the goddamn sky!" which Ted admits, despite having lived where Green Lantern "used to be" (is that verb-usage related to the Superb Prowers insurance question about Coast City being gone now? is Green Lantern also gone? idk), Green Lantern did not get Ted used to this kind of shit at all (fair)

↳ despite there being "like 10 million people living here", "more than half" of the buildings here are of abandoned buildings and all of them were former businesses (hc/theory: Ted, those were probably the results of fronts for money-laundering, and they they had to shut the place down in order to avoid the cops. and also poverty, making a honest business as a newbie entrepreneur with no familial pre-established networking is very hard, i imagine, esp with all the "pay my gang for protection (from our gang)" stuff. that doesn't help) ■ yet Ted found a way into a (working?) bathroom in one such building, admittingly under duress (Mitchell Mayo (Condiment King) was chasing him) ■ "half the residential buildings are abandoned apartment complexes"

↳ Ted finds Robin (assumedly Damian Wayne; "a 12 year-old running around with a sword") is "scarier than you would think". not necessrily that Robin is scarier than Batman, but that not enough people warn you about Robin. plus the fact that said Robin has "two brothers" where "one of them is fucking packing heat and the other is just going to fucking beat you to death with a billy-club!" (okay so, that is assumedly Jason Todd (Red Hood) and Tim Drake (Red Robin). makes sense, since Dick Grayson is largely looking over Bludhaven, he would not be present, and Duke Thomas (Signal) is largely working day-hours. Ted is not going to be happy to find out that there are more than just those two tho) ■ "the Robins" went after Ted for loitering? bc Ted was trying to find a place to sleep, homeless, in their car?? "Loitering is a big thing here" (hc: i don't like the idea of the Batfam caring about loitering (which is v racially charged "crime"), much less pestering the homeless?? especially Jason, who im p sure did sleep on the street at some point. but i can accept the idea that they saw unfamiliar plates on the car and wanted to check out "who the hell is driving this slow (looking for where to sleep) at 2AM from Coast City?" and pulled out the random loitering as an empty excuse (reality: was checking this dude wasn't a runaway robber from Coast City, looking for a place to break-into, mostly to hide-out and maybe rob; and then realized the truth about Ted's situation). i can also accept them gently being involved in the homeless' lives so as to better protect them, remember them, break the ice, and just (again: gently) hazing new people. i like the idea of Ted seeing a couple comments from other unhoused people explaining that "getting to know you" method. just messing with Ted while they got down some details to look a bit more into Ted (eg. Damian memorizing Ted's license plate while Time distracts Ted might lead the trio to an article explaining how Ted lost that apartment) and see if they can get Ted off the street without being so obvious as to dish out hand-outs since some people have really negative reactions to those despite the good intentions. idk. it was just a gag, but one that greatly confused me so now i am spinning it and righting it in my head lmao)

↳ the G.C.P.D. police have to be at every single graduation from college. because, and this happens so often, that someone gets their doctorate and right then and there decides to commit their first act of super-villainy at the ceremony. part of me wonders how Ted learned that, what graduation did Ted attend or did Ted hear about it from others? idk

● second job: unknown. assumed to be Ted's day-job or main occupation (with social-media as a side thing).

↳ has co-worker there named Alex (confirmed he/him pronouns. Alex's duplex is split between Penguin territory and Two-Face territory. "has to change colors if he wants to go to the bathroom". Alex does not get his own section because this is all the info i got on him ■ though i will also say there is another Alex, likely unrelated for reasons listed in the other section, in The First Universal Henchmen's Union section's "confirmed members" listing, above, and said section is all under the overall "Associations" heading)

● Ted's Enemies, i guess (hopefully just temporarily): Joker (pissed off due to Ted dissing the Joker Fries; burned down Ted's apartment and left a threatening fireproof note) ■ Mitchell Mayo (Condiment King) (was also pissed off by Ted's food opinions, though Mitchell's was implied to moreso be about the Bat Burger; chased Ted into an abandoned building's bathroom and pounded on the door of said bathroom while yelling at Ted) ■ i assume there will be more

● (@/thepandaredd, if you're reading this, i know i said i have hcs but i truly do not actually care if this Ted and the previous dead-Ted are two different Teds, the same Ted but a prequel version, the same Ted but now rebooted into an alternate life... all i ask, is that Ted is not the next "Todd". it would be so fucking funny if you made a third Ted (even funnier if this one was Tedd, with two "D"s, but that is nOT TO GIVE YOU IDEAS), but i am also begging you between laughs once again to please consider not making more DC OCs named Ted. that is so close spelling-wise to "Todd". please. and thank you for coming to my TED Talk (ba-da-tish)) [/tone clarity: this is me complaining as a bit. do what you want, it's your tiktok and your OCs. im just joshing. ill be fine if you do more Todds and Teds. much love to you and yours ♡]

★★★ THE REGRETTABLES RE-IMAGINING PITCHES (exactly what it sounds like. not quite an OC, but fuck it)

★ you could also argue "Daniel Dyce (#711)" of "Regrettable Superheroes" is a pitch of an OC of thepandaredd (specifically, thepandaredd pitched for him to become a gag villain in Gotham who keeps breaking out of Arkham). which, uh, i do also have notes on. but i will not be sharing within this post because a lot of it is "me myself brainstorming a re-imagining of this character" which feels too tangiental to put here in "thepandaredd's original characters and associations" post. and, yeah, you would have assumed thepandaredd would have further re-imagining pitches of some of the "Regrettables" but these were the rare ones i could find and i am p confident i've watched all the videos in that series bc i was looking for exactly these kind of notes. all the rest were "Regrettable, don't bring them back" or "Not regrettable, bring them back (with said opinion not including a pitch for their re-imagining. at most just a vague 'as a gag'. anything more than that and i will attach them to this/my thepanndaredd's OC list)".

↳ but yeah, that was from a two-parter tiktok from 8 June 2023 (or thepandaredd's 2023 June Monthly compilation video, either or). i'm generally gping to keep these summaries short bc their pitches are short. but thepandaredd's pitch for Daniel Dyce is to have him come back as an Arkham Asylum patient who keeps breaking out of his room #711, and is a gag. Daniel is just delusional, keeps fighting the Batman and Bat-kids while thinking they are the villain Brick-Bat and that Dyce is a hero (read: Dyce is not a hero in his re-imagining, that is his altered reality he thinks he is living. he fails spectacularly every time he tries heroics). alternatively, it could be the Riddler putting on a Batman cowl to fuck with Dyce and make Dyce think Batman is bad (similar as to Hush), taking advantage of Dyce to throw in Batman's way. it is implied that Dyce does belong in Arkham and was not a case of Damon and Pythias* gone wrong, that was just another delusion in thepandaredd's re-imagining. but yeah, just a one-shot gag villain

↳ *: as a fun-fact the nerd in me wants to mention: Daniel Dyce's shtick with his best buddy in terms of the prison-swapping is actually an intertextual reference to the Ancient Greek lore story of Damon and Pythias (except Damon and Pythias was about Pythias being on death row (the version i know is Pythias being framed by King Dionysus I "for trying to kill King Dioynsus I". bc. King Dionysus I wanted to get rid of Pythias. for. reasons that i forget that i think were political), and Damon volunteers to be Pythias' placeholder (and be executed in Pythias' place if Pythias never returns) so Pythias can settle some affairs back home himself and ensure his family is taken care of before he comes back to be executed. then, in the original story, the whole time Damon volunteers and waits and waits and waits, everyone says "Damon, dude, Pythias is totally not going to come back, you're gonna die in his place, i'm so sorry, there is no way he is going to come back" but Damon has faith and then Pythias does come back (and was almost too late, like Damon's head was on the chopping block awaiting the blade, because Pythias got thrown overboard his own ship by pirates and swam as fast as he could to get back on the path so Damon wouldn't die, which is fucking wild, but i digress). and King Dioynsus I is so touched by the sheer Pythagorean Friendship moral ideal these two are that he pardons Pythias! so now both he and Damon get to live, yaayyyy!! and, as a bonus fact, the most popular recent re-telling of this in contemporary times is Dreamsworks' "Sinbad: Legend of the Seven Seas", which is an animated pirate movie, ain't that neat. and, hey, while i got you here, you should watch Breadsword's "Sinbad and The Death of Pirate Cinema" on youtube because all of Breadsword's video-essays are poetic and make me wanna cry). uh, except if you have seen the two-parter thepandaredd made about Daniel Dyce (or somehow read Daniel Dyce's comic yourself), you'll know that's not how shit went down for Daniel Dyce, he did not get that happy ending lmao rip

★ next one is "Tony Trent (The Face)". again, i have notes about running with this pitch. not included here bc it's Very Much Me which is tangential for a thepandaredd OC listicle and im already pushing the envelope with my hc additions i couldn't bring myself to delete for the public version. so here we go. this one has a pitch way more minimal than Daniel Dyce (#711) right above, but still got more than just "as a gag" so here we are lol (plus, there is no intertextual reference i am recognizing and wanna be a nerd about. sooooo...) thankfully tho, this will be shorter

↳ video is in the May 2023 compilation. is p just putting a Halloween mask on and scaring people.all because he, as a radio announcer and part-time news anchor, got so disheartened and angry by what he had to read everyday, that he just had to become a night-time vigilante. he is like a private-eye pulp detective, "he's like Batman but shitty". "No gadgets, no superpowers, no supervillains, no continuous enemies". thepandaredd's re-imagining pitch is to keep all of that and just, as a parody gag, have this guy show up in Gotham to make a difference and have everyone be like "No, dude, we fight Batman? Who the fuck are you?". because, as thepandaredd so eloquently said "He's just a guy!" that's it lmao rip

the end, until i update this (if i ever do)

#thepandaredd #thepandaredd ocs #jay morton #bill the henchman #bill the professional henchman #my notes

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