#it was NORMAL for your child's teacher to discipline them and teach them not school but life principles

[barnbridges]

my most education major take is that people don't want you to parent your children anymore. people don't want mothers (and fathers) to give any sort of life-advice or care to their children. people have become so therapy-obsessed and the whole "intergenerational trauma" craze has made it so that you should actually pass nothing onto your child. you should just take your child to therapy and feed them baby formula until they're 18 and at that point, they're on their own. it's cruel and inhumane and the way people want to de-involve society at large in the raising of children, down to that they shouldn't even be parented anymore.

[greater-than-the-sword]

Don't ever say "I will send my child to the public school, and they will keep their Christian beliefs I will just teach them differently at home." How would you feel about this scenario: you teach your child from the Bible that the Bible says it's wrong for men to have sex with men. 12 year old Jamie goes to school. In the class the teacher says "and well guys it's totally okay for men to have sex with men! Nobody should feel bad about that. I know that some people say otherwise, but we call those people "homophobes" and they're just scared of gay people and don't want them to express themselves. Love is love guys."

Now Jamie loves her teacher and has to pick between you and the teacher. Also, Jamie can't 1. Say anything, because that would out you in front of the class. 2. Commiserate with peers because for all she knows all the peers agree with the teacher. 3. Opt out of assignments with elements pertaining to the normalization of homosexuality. 4. Opt out of endorsing class sponsored gay messages (in my class back in 2010 they made us all participate in environmentalist messages even if we didn't agree with them, do you think they're not doing the same thing now with gay?)

And if she does let on that something different is being taught at home, i want you to imagine the teacher pulling her aside after class and saying "Now Jamie, I heard that your parents aren't being very tolerant at home, that you come from one of those strict hyper religious households, so I just want you to know that you're loved and accepted here, and if you ever want to talk about it you can talk to me or the counseling office anytime. Just in case you don't feel safe talking to your parents about it at home because they're creating a hostile environment. :(" imagine that Jamie is maybe a little mad at you right now because you grounded her for not doing the chores or something. Who is she going to sympathize with? You, the person who loves her unconditionally but has to raise her and prune out her bad behaviors, or the person who says they accept her 'as she is' and tells her that you're evil for not indulging her every whim?

Also, imagine that 5-6 of Jamie's classmates become "they/them" or swap pronouns and if Jamie refuses to use these pronouns she faces dirty looks at best and formal discipline or getting beat up after class at worst.

Even if she wants to tell you about any of this she doesn't know where to start. You'll still send her back tomorrow. All her passing grades are contingent on being liked by her teachers. They assign books about gay history and papers about the books. They watch "Milk" in high school.

Is this an environment YOU want to be in??? Let alone wanting your child to be in??? Best case scenario she lives in fear, worst case scenario she deconverts to blend in.

[rokirokiro]

Scaramouche headcanon

Modern AU, highschool AU

cw : mention of mommy issues, he's a meanie so he himself is a warning too, terrible English (not my country language and I'm bilingual), no proofread (is this how you spell it)

he's Ei's first child, and Raiden Shogun as his little sister, and her second.

VERY VERY smart but also VERY VERY arrogant.

calls his classmates by their grades.

"woi, 55! Shut the hell up."

he always gets the first in everything- every subject, school ranks, sports.. you name it. he's basically good at everything

definitely smirk in front of everyone when his name escaped from the teachers mouth (highest mark)

if someone has the same mark or surpassed him he'll definitely give them a DEADLY glace the whole day until that person feels the shiver even at home, and even before going to bed and sleep.

he DEFINITELY hate teaching someone about anything and people around him DEFINITELY avoid asking help from him too mainly because of his snappy demeanour, even if it's super hard questions.

eat lunch by himself, does everything by himself. if a teacher assigned group project for his class he will show up at the teacher's office and DEMAND an individual project and he definitely won't change his mind about it.

he doesn't, maybe like NEVER in many years, engage in gaming entertainment. he doesn't play games since he wants to focus on his studies to impress Ei (she usually keep on track on Shogun and he kinda feel left out and it make him pretty upset but he doesn't show it though,, despite his icy cold attitude he's actually pretty fragile around his mam "( perfectionist and mommy issues things).

despite being the BEST of the BEST, he would usually skip his club activities and speaking of club,, he picked the club with the least members and less activities because he doesn't want to communicate. he doesn't think school clubs are important AT ALL.

somehow he wears his uniform pretty decently- tie placed nicely and he even tugged his shirt too because he doesn't want to ruin his perfect achievements with some dress code crap (he doesn't care about discipline and attitude though what a weirdo)

his days of absence are very predictable too. school celebration? absent. the firefighters coming to demonstrate the usage of extinguisher and crap? oh his table is pretty dusty today. motivational speech? no need to say much, he disappeared to thin air already, never even appear at that very day.

he only comes when it's a normal day of studying and something that benefits him though.

he definitely participate in many sports competition. THIS MAN IS COMPETITIVE AF. prayers for his rivals.

man doesn't talk to his sister at school unless it's necessary (probably a year or two difference or so..).

back to the sports competition, he's the hope athlete of whatever house he is. he always win every competition he take part of- and always gets number one too! own a lot of golden medals but he pretty much abandon them at his house's store because he don't think they're enough :(

in races like 200x4,, he will definitely shout at the person which is his teammate, behind him to run faster.

"don't run like some snail at summer, press your feet and run faster you stupid!"

if his team doesn't won then (haha) prepare for missiles of insults and deadly glares from the Scaramouche himself because he won't ever forgive them for being such losers (according to him).

will definitely remember their names forever, you can't run from this man. if they were placed in a team with him again he will definitely object and tell the teacher to switch the participant with someone else because they're 'slow and useless.'.

athlete of the year.

will purposely wear it when he arrive at home to show them off to Ei, secretly hoping for some recognitions.

(she will definitely praise him no worries haha she just won't go overboard with the praises).

man definitely become tomato and reply with a

"...thanks"

and run to his room. he at least got some congrats from his mam. the attention he always wanted but definitely isn't enough.

and is definitely why he likes sports day! he can compete with people and make fun of them, plus getting some nice comments from his mam too. a fine day in a boring year!

have a small group of,, not friends but definitely a group he can at least fit himself in. consist of the annoying talkative next class boy named Childe and a bratty girl next class named La Signora and others that called the Fatui.

have I touched about his favorite subject? it's definitely science, especially astronomy! he like studying stars and meteorites! (if he's in Puroseka his unit is definitely Leoni try to change my mind). gets 90-100 in science literally.

pretty quiet in class, open mouth whenever he think is necessary.

teachers best student but

Note : I'll definitely continue this soon, well, actually this is just a test. but I had fun writing it. it's my first fanfiction I've ever posted btw, thanks for reading anyway :)

I'll include romance between him (and other characters) and reader in the future.

[silver-blooded-synthetics]

@lorraine-widow-jackson-st-oc​ asked:

(A few questions for Errol in the ST AU)

1. Errol growing up what were the holidays like in your household as a kid? (Specifically Thanksgiving and Christmas)

2. Since you have been with Lorraine for a bit now (based on our rp) if you were to have a child what would be your parenting style? And how would you discipline?

3. If you saw your kid being bullied (in a similar fashion to Will in s1 and s2) how would you react?

4. If Lorraine being powered herself went through the same experience you did with the lab and you helped her out of that situation, but also in the process being abused and hurt again yourself would you be tempted again afterwards?

1. Errol shrugged his shoulders. “Typical, I suppose? My parents would stress out about making everything perfect, and then when I ruined it, they’d get upset. Particularly my mother. She would throw a downright fit, screaming and yelling at me until my father restrained her and just told me he was disappointed in me. My sister would cry because I ruined everything and my parents would console her while I was left alone. That’s what holidays are normally like, right?”

2. “I definitely want to be a better parent than my own were,” Errol replies. “I want to give any future children of mine positive reinforcement rather that all that negativity. I don’t want them to think that I hate them or that they are monsters. I want them to know that it’s okay to make mistakes and that there are better ways to get what you want than misbehaving. I want to teach them to use the world around them to their advantage so they can get ahead in life. And above all, I want them to know that they are loved, no matter what, unconditionally.” He frowns for a moment, thinking, before continuing. “As for discipline, I’d have to discuss it with Lorraine first, but I think less harsh punishments than what I’m used to would be better. Maybe grounding or taking away privileges. Something that suits the transgression though. Something that is a natural consequence. Like, if they break a toy, they have to work to earn the money back to buy a replacement. That sort of thing.”

3. Errol falls silent for a moment at this question. It’s clear by the look on his face that he does not like the idea of this happening at all. “I’d have some strong words with the parents of the children bullying my child first, as well as any teachers or principle involved if it happened at school. If they didn’t fix their child’s behavior, I’d take matters into my own hands.” He doesn’t elaborate...

4. “Tempted to go murderous on the whole human race again?” He asked. “Possibly... Probably. But as long as Lorraine and I made it out alright together, I would keep myself in check. I just want us to live a happy life without anyone hurting us. Is that too much to ask?”

[academyofearlyeducation]

Become an Early Childhood Teacher in Australia

Early childhood educators are critical for children’s learning and development. They are a trusted and valued part of the community, working with young children to foster their growth and develop the skills that they will need for future success. The benefits of quality early learning are well-documented, including improved educational outcomes, stronger economic returns through lower welfare payments and reduced public spending on health, housing and justice.

The Australian government invests in a range of quality early childhood education in Melbourne and care (ECEC) services through the Child Care Benefit and the Family Assistance Payment. Families with one or more children up to age 5 can receive up to 36 subsidised hours of childcare per fortnight. ECEC providers are accredited by state and territory governments, who oversee the quality of services provided. This includes the Australian Children’s Education and Care Quality Authority which monitors service delivery and ensures compliance with the national quality standards.

Parents value ECE and want their children to have access. However, not all families have access to ECEC. Those that do access it value the service highly and are more likely to use it regularly, have more confidence in its quality, and report positive experiences (Melhuish 2012). They also believe that ECE improves children’s school readiness, enables them to learn more and develop social competence.

To become an early childhood teacher in Australia, you must complete a relevant bachelor degree or postgraduate diploma. The Bachelor of Education (Early Childhood) is the most popular undergraduate qualification for those aspiring to become teachers. It normally takes around three or four years to complete. However, if you have already completed a bachelor’s degree in another discipline, you can undertake a two-year Master of Teaching (Early Childhood).

If you are interested in pursuing this career path, you can find out more about the qualifications and training required on the Victorian Institute of Teaching website. You can also apply for scholarships that can help with your study costs and living expenses while you’re training to become an early childhood teacher.

The University of Melbourne offers a range of education courses in Melbourne, including the Bachelor of Education (Early Childhood). The course is taught at the University’s Parkville campus and its satellite sites, and it features integrated industry placement units to provide students with hands-on experience in real-world settings.

During this course, you’ll learn how to create engaging and supportive learning environments, understand the importance of cultural context in classrooms, and develop an understanding of the impact of families on children’s educational and developmental outcomes. You’ll also learn how to critically analyse theories, technologies and research in early childhood education.

MCIE’s child care courses in Melbourne are nationally recognised. They are delivered by experienced teachers and lecturers and are backed up with workplace training at regulated children’s education and care services. Each student will be required to do a minimum of 280 hours of work placement as part of the course. The work placement component of the qualification is supported by an academic-led supervised professional learning program, designed to accelerate your learning and enable you to gain employment within the child care sector.

Our dedicated team of Academy of Early Education caring educators is committed to unlocking the full potential of every child, guiding them on a journey of exploration and discovery. With a perfect blend of structured activities and creative play, we encourage children to develop critical skills while having fun and building lasting friendships.

[harrison-abbott]

SO CLOSE

She went in quite well. Her eyes weren’t too bloodshot, she thought, as she looked in the mirror in the staff room. And her best mate, here, one of the other lady teachers (her girlfriend) already knew what had happened and she’d bought a little present in for her to show affection. A box of Maltesers. That’s all it was but it was sweet.

 You can’t bring somebody back to life but you can buy the griever some Maltesers so try and cheer them up a bit … and it worked, for her, for a few hours, that morning.

 The kids were especially noisy at the same time. And she couldn’t figure out whether it was because she was heartbroken or because the children were in some funny way. They definitely weren’t her worse class of all time. She wasn’t the type of teacher to get angry when unmerited. That wasn’t her style and she had good discipline over them; they liked her too.

 There was this one little shit, in the class, called Robbie, who was a pain in the ----. And he was being like that again today. He kept thumping one of the other lads in the arm, cos he found it amusing.

 So she made him go sit on his own. Robbie sulked. And refused to do his crossword puzzle.

 She often made the kids do the crosswords because it was a way to put their minds on something meaningless. Distract them for an hour or so. There was little merit to the task, she thought, guiltily, and she could’ve been teaching them something else. But, the tots seemed to enjoy it.

 Her class was P5 and so they were only like eight and nine years old. Not yet nearing puberty. The girls clung to the girls and boys to boys.

 She convinced Robbie to do start his crossword, eventually: he was actually quite an articulate child: he was just so aggressive and didn’t know how to control it – but he was far better with words than the other pupils.

 Lunch time neared.

 And she sat at her desk, thinking about him.

 Not Robbie. Ha. Her old friend from university that had died yesterday. She just kept thinking about him and she couldn’t quite believe that he was actually gone and that she’d never see him blink or yawn or run or hear his voice again in live film. It was staggering. That fact. She was 29 herself. And her friend had perished at 28.

 There were a whole load of reasons. He’d been no angel. She still didn’t know the exact details. Exactly how he’d passed. She suspected he’d done it to himself, that astonishing S word … hmm. He’d been ill his whole life.

 She remembered his handsome face and his jokes and the many hours she’d spent in his flat back in that other city wherein she’d studied. She wasn’t in his flat because they were lovers. He was gay. Lols. Not that this mattered.

 Despite being such an attractive guy he didn’t have many lovers himself …

 What she regretted most was that she hadn’t been so close to him the last couple of years. She’d known about his cocaine problem. His lack of zeal. He was in college to do something or other and then he’d dropped out, again. She could’ve helped him.

 Why didn’t she?

 It got to half eleven and this tumbling of pain fell across her. Guilt. She would normally be hungry – but things like hunger didn’t matter to her now.

 Her eyes were starting to hurt. You know when you get that biting around your eyelids, but you know that you’re in public so you can’t cry. It’s more excruciating than most things.

 The kiddies were all excited cos it was gearing up to lunch. Was summer, as well, and the term was nearing the end. They’d done all of their coursework just about.

 She let Robbie go and sit back with the boys and made him apologise to the boy he’d hit. The boy he’d thumped had forgotten about it since the incident and he didn’t care. It was nineteen degrees Celsius in the classroom and an old building with big glass windows and the sun beat down on everyone and eventually it got to noon and the school alarm screamed outside.

 The bell, I mean, the school bell. That (the bell) was old fashioned too and it could’ve belonged in a military bootcamp yard.

 The noise scared her but the tots loved it. They flumed out of the classroom and she let them go. They pumped down to the dinner hall with their lunch boxes. (Most of their diets were atrocious. Ham sandwiches, crisps, a can of pop and some candy bar … was the average meal they had. But, she couldn’t judge. She remembered being only interested in sugar when she was that young as well.)

 When all the kids had gone she sat back at her desk.

 And started crying. Ever so quietly.

 The tears were hot and splashed with gusto on the wood of her desk. One of the droplets landed on her jotter and it smudged out a word she’d handwritten and the ink went all gooey. She brought a tissue out and dried the word.

 It felt fantastic to cry.

 She hadn’t realised she’d left the front door of the classroom open.

 And only made the realisation when a shape appeared out of it. This new person walked through it into the room. And gave her a fright.

 It was Robbie.

 He ran into the room.

 “Sorry,” he said, when he saw her, “I forgot my juice.”

 Indeed, he’s left his bottle of orangeade under his table. He’d dropped it, before he left.

 Then he noticed she was crying. Whilst she was trying, now, desperately to cover this up. She wiped her cheeks. Robbie paused in the centre of the room. And thought about saying something. Then decided not to and he went and retrieved his orangeade.

 He went towards the front door again. Then turned to her, just as he was about to go, and said, in a squeaky voice,

 “Are you okay?”

 “Yeah, Robbie. I’m fine,” her face all hot and prickly, all defenceless and bemused, “thank you.”

 He nodded. And left. And she was left there at her table, a woman who had nothing remarkable going with her life, with a small morsel of hope for humankind.

[shepherds-of-haven]

How would RO react to their kid getting in a fight and doing the whole "my dad/mom can beat up your dad/mom" scene?

Blade: it depends on the context and how badly his kid beat up the other kid... in Ket society, such fights can happen among young children and are usually a point of shame if you get your ass whooped and a point of pride if you hold your own, but depending on your caste, the lack of discipline and potential disruption in the ranks can also be SUPER frowned upon. So it really depends on how old his kid is, what the context was or where they go to school, etc... Mostly, he'd scold them for engaging in a fight over such a silly reason; he generally wants to teach his kids to only deploy violence when they deem it absolutely necessary for their self-defense, not to risk getting hurt for something dumb. So he'd most likely express disappointment or disapproval over their getting in a fight over something like that, but the first offense likely wouldn't be really harshly punished, or anything. He would be kind of worried if they got beat up, though... no kid of his is going to get their butt kicked by some other kid, so combat and self-defense training would likely begin in earnest if that happened!

Trouble: also depends on the context! He'd be trying to teach his kids to be better than him, so he'd likely sit them down and gently explain why they shouldn't have bothered and how bad he'd feel if they ever got hurt on his behalf, etc. So if that was the only reason why they got into a fight, he'd pull them aside and explain why that wasn't okay and how they could avoid such a situation in the future. However, he still believes that some bullies sometimes have to be put in their place, so if the fight broke out as a result of really aggressive bullying or in self-defense, he would be more lax about it, like, "Welp, sometimes you've got to punch someone in the face"

Tallys: she'd be very disapproving if her child got into a fight solely over who could beat whose parent. Quietly, she'd be flattered that her kid looked up to her to that extent, but she would be teaching them to rise above things like mockery or taunting and wouldn't approve of just jumping into a fight to settle things... it's either smarter to keep their heads low or to make their rivals look foolish by being mature, so she'd be disappointed if it turned into an all-out brawl instead. For the first instance, she'd express disappointment (which coming from Tallys can be devastating), and if it happened again for similar reasons, punishments like grounding would most likely happen!

Shery: she'd be pretty upset if her child fought someone over a reason like this... She might not punish them, necessarily, but she would be upset and disappointed and would likely talk to their teachers about ways to avoid this behavior, things like that! She also knows full well that she likely wouldn't be able to beat up the other parent, so it would just feel extra silly! She would talk to her kid about how getting into a fight is never an acceptable answer unless they attack first, and even then, it's better to run away and get a teacher!

Riel: 50/50 he's either mad at his kid for resorting to physical violence when he's taught them to use their BRAINS, or he's super mad at the other kid and is like, Do I need to talk to their parents? O_O In most cases, he'd be pretty disappointed, but he probably wouldn't show it much to them unless he really thinks they were in the wrong for initiating the fight, and would likely express disapproval and then just carry on as normal!

Chase: he'd sort of laugh about it, either in private to MC or when his kid told him about it, and he'd sort of casually be like "I appreciate it bud but I can defend my own reputation... so you tell them that if their parent wants to come fight me, they can send them my way, but don't you go starting any fights on my behalf, okay? Otherwise [Other Parent] is going to roast me" and then he'd take his kid out for ice cream! So sort of like a "haha that's cute but don't do that" but it wouldn't be a strong negative reaction!

Red: he'd be fairly calm about it and would explain that he doesn't want his kid getting into fights over things like that and how it's usually better to use one's words instead of one's fists. He'd be secretly flattered or amused that his kid is adamant that he could beat another kid's parent up, but he wouldn't really let that show and would just sort of gently and rationally explain what they can do better next time and then move on!

Ayla: she'd be fired up about it, like WHO HIT YOU??? TIMMY??? Did you beat his ass?? You want me to go down to the school and talk to him?? Who's his parents?!?!? She'd be really protective of her kids and wouldn't see anything wrong with a schoolyard fight, but she probably wouldn't act on it unless she caught wind of some real bullying. In most other cases, she'd eventually calm down and be like, "Don't let anyone push you around," so not explicit approval or pride, but she wouldn't say they did the wrong thing, either!

Briony: she'd sort of laugh-snort when she heard about it, but try to do the good parent thing and lecture them on why that isn't okay and why they should make friends instead of enemies, but after the whole serious lecture she'd finish with a grin, "...besides, you and I both know I could beat their parents up, so we don't need to prove that to anyone else!" and she'd give her a kid a hug and tell them to wash up for dinner

Lavinet: she'd be a little proud because she is a badass and she could beat their parents up, and she'd be kind of happy that her kid thinks that of her, but outwardly she'd gently scold them and tell them she doesn't want to see them getting into any other schoolyard fights, for any reason! But otherwise the day would go on as usual!

[themangacarta]

I read the meeting minutes for the schoolboard that banned Maus so you didn't have to and I don't know what I expected but it's so much worse than I expected. I am sharing a summary of what was discussed so that it may inform how we're talking about this online and see the arguments that were given against banning the book and how they each failed when presented to the school board.

But first... the key arguments that the board and teachers gave in favor for banning the book:

it doesn't teach what's on standardized tests

due to covid & remote learning, teens don't know the holocaust was bad, so they're not ready for it

how are we going to discipline the kids when they inevitably talk about what's in the book and repeat some of the swears? because we can't not discipline them for it

this book and others are just the tip of the iceberg in some plan to normalize sexuality, violence & disrespecting parents in a way parents won't see but kids will.

I liked the book, but I thought the author was an asshole to his dad

if a kid repeats what's in this book, we could be held liable (for this one, I know they meant repeating the swears or bad behavior, but my mind goes to this school board going on trial because an 8th grader tried to do a beer hall putsch)

The key arguments against banning the book (and how the board refuted them):

swearing, suicide and murder are a part of history and on tv. you can trust us to give this the context it deserves (board: this would be the same book if you removed the swearing, suicide and murder. besides, i'd never let my child read a book with those things in it)

it's been 80 years since the holocaust, and we need to teach about it (board: but there must be a book with less swearing and nudity)

i'm a parent and i support this book (board: but what will we do when a kid swears because of this book. we'd have to discipline them. so why are we teaching them to violate school policy?)

English teacher presents some esoteric lecture based on an article from Hoard's Dairyman magazine, arguing that context is needed to understand the reading, which the teachers will provide (board: we noticed that tho your presentation was hard to understand, you did not swear at all during it. the book we're talking about has swears.)

but this book is taught to 9th graders! (board: we have a 9th grade teacher who supports banning the book)

[letters-to-lgbt-kids]

TW: Abuse (bullying)

My dear lgbt+ kids, 

When we think about bullying in school, we often think about kids emotionally (and maybe physically) abusing a classmate. For a lot of people, this definition rings true. But sometimes, it’s not the other kids - it’s the adults. 

Here’s a hug for the ones who get bullied by teachers, school counselors or other adults in school. This kind of emotional abuse is especially common against kids who are “different” in some way - lgbt+ kids, disabled kids, neurodivergent kids, kids of color, poor kids (and no, the word abuse is not a translation mistake here - bullying is a form of abuse that shouldn’t be seen as more harmless than other kinds of abuse). 

It can be very easily covered up - after all, adults in school are in a unique power position. They can easily disguise abuse as  “a normal way to discipline a unruly child”, even as an important life lesson they try to teach you. 

That makes bullying from adults difficult to talk about. Your parents may just think you’re a typical teenager who whines about school, may even be angry at you for being a “troublemaker” in school when you’re actually a victim. 

It doesn’t help that some people idolize teachers, see them as perfect, kind souls who selflessly dedicate their lives to protecting the young people - some people go into this field of work because they want that power position, not because they’re so selfless. It’s a sad reality some people choose to ignore. 

If you’re in that situation, just know that I feel your pain. I have been through it myself. I know that this doesn’t make it go away but it might be some comfort to know that you’re not alone. 

I see you, I believe you. 

With all my love, 

Your Tumblr Dad

[firstofficerwiggles]

Interview with the Mandalorian

Pairing: Mandalorian x Female Reader

Rating: T (future parts will be Mature/Explicit)

Warnings: Mild swearing, mentions of prior violence against the reader (not described in detail)

Summary: The Mandalorian has placed a want ad for childcare and you decide to answer it. Despite having a questionable past, he decides to hire you.

Word Count: ~5400

Author’s Note: This is the first chapter in a multi-part story of Mando and childcare reader. I love romance so expect lots of fluff, but there will also be some humor, action, and angst, and eventually smut. I’m going for more of a slow burn here -- or at least trying to if I don’t get too impatient.

Link to Chpt. 2

Gif by @bestintheparsec (Thank you! You're awesome 😁)

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

Wanted: Childcare Professional

Caregiver needed for toddler for all basic baby needs. Single father with demanding job, odd hours. Position requires living on starship. Looking for someone not squeamish and good in a crisis. Preferred skills: cooking, pre-school teaching, and first aid. Bonus skills: combat training or ability to repair pre-Imperial tech. Interviews at Cantina Manolita, ask for the Mandalorian.

You re-read the want ad as you headed out to the cantina. It started out normal enough, not squeamish was a little odd, yet understandable, but then, good in a crisis and combat training as a bonus skill? Exactly what type of toddler does this Mandalorian have? Still, it’s not like you can afford to be picky, what with your past. You’d been bouncing around from odd job to odd job, each one more terrible than the last. Your most recent job had been cleaning rooms at a very seedy no-tell hotel and after that, you’d rather change 1000 poopy diapers than go back there. Despite your education and years of experience, no one wants to hire someone with the stain of the Empire on their resume. Your only hope is that the Mandalorian who placed this ad will be willing to hear you out and with a bit of luck you won’t have too much competition for the job. Many people are wary of Mandalorians, so perhaps that will keep the candidate pool small. You’re secretly intrigued by the idea of working for one, as all you really know is that they are respected warriors who either stick together in tight groups with other Mandalorians or they work alone. You wonder why this Mandalorian is seeking outside help, must be a special circumstance.

Din watches as a woman in a short red cocktail dress, platform heels, and quite a lot of makeup saunters through the cantina. It’s a lot of look for mid-morning and he’s surprised when she heads straight to his table, leans down to give him a generous view of her cleavage, and coos at him, “You must be the Mando who placed the ad.”

“The ad for childcare? Yes.” Din emphasizes the word to be certain she’s answering the correct posting.

“Yep! That’s why I’m here, baby.” She winks at him and plops herself down in his booth, ignoring the chair placed directly across from him. Baby? He’s a bit taken aback, but he figures he should at least ask her some questions about the job.

“Do you have any experience caring for children?” He begins.

“Well, not exactly for children, but I am very, very caring. I’m sure I can take really good care of you… both.” She flutters her eyelashes at Din.

“So, if you don’t have any experience, why are interested in this job?” He feels like this is a fair question, especially since he was hoping to find someone more knowledgeable than he is when it comes to younglings.

“I just have so much love and I want to share it. Especially for someone who needs me, hot stuff.” The woman has been sliding closer to Din as she speaks. He tries to move away from her to keep some space between them, but with the child napping on the end of the booth next to him, he really has nowhere to go.

“Uh, ok, do you have any experience with teaching?” This interview is not off to a good start, but what if she’s the only one who shows up?

“Oh, I’m a real good teacher,” the woman replies, and then drops her hand onto his thigh just above the beskar plate and gives it a squeeze, “I’m sure I could teach you a few things,” she says suggestively.

“We’re done here. I need childcare, not, whatever it is you’re offering.” Din lifts her hand off his leg abruptly, scoops up the child, and quickly moves himself across the cantina to another table. Who shows up to a childcare interview to hit on the father? He’s annoyed at her for wasting his time. He sees the woman pouting and then watches as she gets up with a little stumble, calls out, “Your loss” in his direction and heads to the bar. Under the helmet he rolls his eyes; the next person has to be better than her.

Din has become increasing fatigued and desperate for some help as he takes care of his foundling and searches for information on the Jedi. That alone would be plenty to keep him occupied, but he’s still hunting down bounties too in order to keep them in credits for all the fuel they’re burning up as they traverse the galaxy. Although he’s been able to keep the kid with him all the time so far, it’s not easy to hunt with a baby along for the ride, and he wishes he had someone he could trust to stay with the little one on the ship, keeping him safe and hidden away. After all, they’re still on the run from the ex-Imps and other hunters. Oh, and not to mention, Din is still dodging New Republic officers for that mess on the prison ship. No wonder he’s exhausted.

Sighing lightly, he reminds himself that he’s going to find the help he needs today when he sees a young woman, much more conservatively dressed, giving him furtive glances across the cantina. Din gives her a little nod, and she makes her way over to the table, but she barely takes her eyes off the ground as she does so.

“Are you interested in the childcare job?” Din asks, hopefully.

“Y-yes, I’m h-here to interview.” She seems extremely nervous and can’t seem to bring herself to look at his visor for more than a moment. “I l-like children, um, I have done, um, a lot of b-babysitting.”

“That’s good,” Din says softly, trying to put her at ease, “Can you tell me more about what you did as a babysitter?”

Looking down at the table, she replies shakily, “W-watching them, um oh, I don’t know, uh playing games, making snacks, um just, um, helping, I guess?”

Maker, she’s so uncomfortable, Din wonders what he can say to help her calm down or if it’s worth it to continue the interview. How is she going to handle their situation, if she’s this nervous at the interview? Before he can think of anything to say, the baby pops his head up suddenly to investigate what’s going on, startling the poor woman so badly she jumps up from her chair.

“Aah!” She lets out a little cry and then stammers, “I-I- I think this was a bad idea. I c- can’t do this.” and runs off.

Din sighs; maybe the third time will be the charm, isn’t that what they say?

“Don’t worry, buddy, we’ll find someone.” He says to the child��s inquisitive expression.

Din has the feeling of being watched and turns to see a well-dressed man hovering near the cantina’s entrance. He seems to be in his mid-fifties, with sort-of a schoolteacher aura about him, but he doesn’t look particularly pleased to see Din. The man stares at him for a moment over a pair of owlish spectacles as if assessing the situation and then finally approaches Din’s table.

“I am here to interview for the childcare position, but I want to be very clear that I am an experienced and sought-after professional.” The man declares to Din in a stern voice.

“I’m looking for a childcare professional, please sit down.” At least this one is experienced and looks like he understands the position.

“I must tell you I am a strict believer in order and discipline when it comes to children, and I do not abide any shenanigans.” The way this man speaks makes Din feel like he’s back in school and he’s been caught doing something naughty.

Din clears his throat, “Perhaps you can tell me about your experience.” The man rattles off a list of schools and families where he has worked; stressing certain names as if Din should be impressed, which perhaps he would if he recognized any of them. Din doesn’t care for the fact that this man keeps emphasizing words like prominent or respected as he speaks of his past, it sounds haughty and snobbish. This guy may have a lot of experience, but his frosty demeanor is off-putting. Still, Din can’t deny that he’s the best candidate so far.

“How do you feel about living on a starship?” Din asks him.

“If the ship is in good working order and the facilities are well maintained, I am sure it will be adequate.” He says the last word as if adequate means appalling, indicating that Din’s home is not an ideal living situation. Din feels his optimism dwindle yet again, as this fussy man will likely turn his nose up at the Razor Crest before he even has a look inside.

“What is that?” The man asks brusquely. Din follows his line of sight and realizes the child has climbed up on his chair again wanting to be a part of the conversation. The man’s tone of voice is irritating, but Din restrains himself as he says, “That is the child.”

“That thing is your child?” He has a look of mild disgust on his face. Suddenly this man’s illustrious qualifications don’t matter to Din at all.

“Thank you for coming, but I don’t believe you’re suited for this position.” Din tells the man, trying to match his haughty tone from before. The man lets out a little ‘hmpf’ but then gets up and leaves the table.

“I’m sorry, kid, I know he was bad.” Din sighs again, “We’ll keep trying.” He despairs that he’s in for a full day of bad meetings, when he glances across the cantina to see a beautiful woman looking in his direction. He gives her a nod in greeting, but he’s afraid to hope that she might actually be here for him. However, she smiles warmly at him and starts towards their table. He feels his heart skip a beat; damn, she’s pretty. He watches her as she moves confidently through the crowd noting that she appears courteous to the others around her and Din thinks maybe his luck is turning.

“Good morning! Are you the Mandalorian who placed the want ad for childcare?” You ask with what you hope is a winning smile on your face.

“Ah, yes, I am. Are you here to interview?” Din feels a surge of optimism; you seem composed and he already likes you much better than the other people he’s spoken to today.

“Yes, I hope you haven’t filled the position yet?” you ask him.

“No, not yet. Please sit down.” He gestures to the open chair across from him. “Can you tell me a little about yourself and why you’re interested in the job?”

You start to introduce yourself expressing a keen interest in children and briefly mention your training and experience as a teacher, when you notice two little green hands gripping the edge of the table next to the Mandalorian. Slowly a small green head covered in soft white peach fuzz lifts up to reveal two shining dark eyes and a pair of giant pointy ears.

“Oh my goodness,” you breathe out in delight, “aren’t you the most adorable child in all the galaxy?” You cannot control yourself from fussing over this little one. You really are a pushover for cute kids, but this one is beyond precious. The child smiles at your words and lets out a happy cooing sound. Totally entranced, you make goofy smiley faces back at him causing him to giggle while you completely forget that you are supposed to be doing an interview right now.

Din watches your face as it transforms itself from an expression of polite professional interest to a look of absolute adoration. Your eyes are sparkling as you look at the child, your smile is positively beaming, and you’ve clasped your hands together at your chest in utter delight. It’s like watching someone fall in love all in one instance. He feels that he could ask you to do anything for the child and you would. He reaches over and picks up the little one drawing your attention back to himself.

“Oh, I’m sorry, I just, he’s so cute, um, what was I saying?” You quickly turn your head back to look at the Mandalorian, trying to remind yourself that you’re supposed to be impressing him with your childcare skills not going ga-ga over his son.

“It’s ok, he is cute.” Din responds amiably, this interview is already off to a better start than the others. You seem like a genuine person to him, someone who makes friends easily, who would be pleasant to have around. “You were telling me about your teaching experience.”

“Yes, yes, so my most applicable experience is my time as a pre-school assistant teacher. I worked there when I was earning my degree in Linguistics and Language Teaching at the main university on Riosa. I always loved that job so much and have really wanted to work with children again.” Oops, first mistake, mentioning Riosa is risky, he has to know of the Empire’s former presence there.

“So did you work with many toddlers at the pre-school?”

“Oh yes, so many toddlers. I’m very good at keeping them entertained with games and stories. I know how to set limits and help them learn about rules. Oh, and I also know how to make many snacks and meals that little children love.”

“He does seem to always want to eat, so that would be helpful.” The Mandalorian chuckles a little at that and gives the child a pat on his head.

“I also understand that children can be messy and I’m really good at cleaning and doing laundry too.” You try to think of what else you can say to show that you’re a good option for him. But before you can, he changes the topic.

“So Linguistics? That’s an impressive choice of studies.” He nods his head as if he approves.

“Thank you, I specialized in language structure and syntax. I speak Rodian, Naboo, Sy Bisti, and some Ubese too.” You hope you don’t sound like you’re bragging but none of your recent employers have been interested in your language skills in the slightest. It’s nice to hear that he thinks it’s notable and you do want to impress him if you can.

“Also impressive. All languages of commerce or politics. That’s very practical.” Again, he sounds like he values these skills. “But you don’t have a career in linguistics now? I would think someone with that background wouldn’t be interested in taking care of a toddler.”

“I truly do love children, and well, things don’t always go as you plan, do they?” You were really hoping to answer more questions about childcare or first aid or really anything else, but it looks like you’re going to have to get to the touchy part of the interview. The Mandalorian doesn’t say anything, and you can tell he’s waiting for you to explain.

“When I finished my degree, I was invited to join a prestigious research group. I thought it was an incredible opportunity, a chance to work with professors and other academics. I had to take several difficult qualifying exams before they even offered me the position, and when I did so well on them, everyone I knew was very impressed. I really thought I was going to do something fantastic. I found out too late that the research group was just a front and really it was part of Imperial Intelligence. I had been living in my happy academic bubble, I knew the Empire was on Riosa but they never paid any attention to the university, and I was too naïve to realize I had been recruited to be a code-breaker.”

You pause there, internally cringing again at your stupidity, and wondering if you should continue or if he is going to end the interview right now. While he’s sitting more rigidly than before, he gives no indication that he wants you to stop, so you decide to plow ahead with your story.

“For a while, I tried to be terrible at the job, pretending that I couldn’t break the codes, that they were too complex for me. I hoped they would think they made a mistake and let me leave, but they saw through the ruse. They punished me, and I knew I had to start doing better or they would likely kill me. So I did what I was told, but only about a third of the time. The rest of the time, I would purposely leave out crucial information from the messages I broke. Or sometimes I would just change it completely. I tried to be strategic and do it without a pattern so they wouldn’t catch on to what I was doing. Eventually though one of the other code-breakers figured out my secret and he turned me in.”

You pause again at the memory of that betrayal. You had thought that Kerrick cared for you. You quickly look up to avoid any tears springing to your eyes and take a calming breath.

“What happened next?” The Mandalorian asks you.

“I was punished again, more severely than the first time. I suppose I was fortunate though, because they deemed I was too valuable an asset to terminate. They didn’t send me back to code-breaking. Instead, they forced me to teach Sy Bisti to a class of officers. It’s one of the languages their droids couldn’t translate. I didn’t try to make trouble again. I didn’t think they would give me a third chance.”

Din watches you carefully as you tell him of your experience with the Imperials. The expression on your face and the way your shoulders have slumped tell him that you’re ashamed of what happened to you. That you feel responsible and likely blame yourself for having been tricked by them. Din doesn’t see it that way though. From his perspective, you were simply a young woman who was manipulated and then abused by a corrupt system.

“Can you start today?” You snap your head up in surprise.

“What? I- I mean yes, I can, but-” you stumble over your words, “You- you want to hire me?”

“Yes. The child likes you and you’re the best person for the job.” He’s very straightforward about it.

“You’re sure? Even with the Empire stuff?” Your words sound lame to your own ears, but you need to be certain he won’t hold it against you.

He gives you a brisk nod. “You were brave to try to sabotage their intelligence, but also not too much of a fool to get yourself killed.” He’s blunt but his words are a comfort to you in a way.

That seems to be all he is going to say on the matter, as next he tells you about the living conditions on his ship. He explains carefully about his creed and the fact that you can never see him without his helmet. That isn’t a surprise though as it’s one of the only other facts you already knew about the Mandalorians. Besides, after spending time with so many helmeted Imps, it honestly doesn’t seem that odd to you. At least you’ll know this helmet doesn’t plan to kill you. You arrange to meet him in a couple hours at his ship after you’ve had a chance to pack your things. You’re so elated to find someone who wants to hire you for a decent job and who doesn’t loathe you for your past that you completely forget to ask him about the need for combat training.

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

As you’re packing up your meagre belongings it occurs to you that you didn’t ask him anything about himself or really much about the child at all. You realize you don’t even know their names. Maybe you should slow down and find out more about this Mandalorian and his son, but honestly you’re willing to take the risk. You’re sick of this awful city and the terrible jobs you’ve been forced to take here. At least you know that the Mandalorians were enemies of the Empire, so that’s a bonus in your eyes. Besides from the job description in the ad, it seems like this Mandalorian has to be at work a lot so you’ll probably be alone with the child most of the time. You’ve never seen a species like the child before, but you’re willing to learn all about him so you can be successful at this job. You gather up your bags, leave a few credits for the landlord, and head to the hanger, enthusiastic about a new life.

Din is watching as crates of supplies are loaded onto the Razor Crest, and he thinks about his new hire. From the moment he saw your reaction to the kid, he knew he was going to offer you the job. His only concern is his own attraction to you, and, he has a little nagging guilt that he didn’t explain anything to you about the dangerous aspects of the job. If you knew the Imps were after the child, would you still be willing to take the job? Din knows he’ll have to tell you about that, but maybe he’ll wait until the Crest is in hyperspace before he does. Yeah, it’s underhanded, but he doesn’t have the time or the patience, quite frankly, to try to find other childcare. Plus, there’s a good chance your knowledge of the Empire will be helpful to him. Din hopes you won’t hate him too much for withholding information. He sees you enter the hanger, and once again you smile when you see him. Din’s pleased that you don’t seem intimidated or fearful. So many people look at him with trepidation or dislike, and although he’s learned to ignore it, when someone actually smiles at him, it’s such a pleasant change. Besides, you have a pretty smile.

“Hello again!” You call out to the Mandalorian, as you make your way towards him. Seeing him standing next to his ship, you’re suddenly struck by what an imposing figure he is in all that armor. He’s quite tall and obviously very strong. A whisper of an emotion runs through you, almost like desire, but it’s been so long since you’ve felt anything like that you can’t really place it. You forget all about it though when the little green toddler spies you and immediately runs right for you with a happy face. You drop your bags and crouch down, holding your arms out to him and scoop him up when he reaches you.

“Hello, buddy! Are you excited to have a new nanny? I’m excited to be here.” You tell him cheerfully as you give him a hug. You stand up again to address the Mandalorian, who’s come over to help with your bags. “I’m sorry, I was so happy to get the job earlier, I completely forgot to ask the child’s name.”

“That’s ok.” He tells you. “I don’t, um, I don’t actually know his name.”

“Beg your pardon?” He doesn’t know his son’s name. You try to keep your expression neutral, but you can’t help but give him an odd look.

“He’s a foundling. I rescued him.” The Mandalorian doesn’t elaborate. You remind yourself that you don’t know much about Mandalorian culture, so maybe that is typical for them. He hasn’t told you his name either.

“Well, what do you call him?” You look down at the little one in your arms.

He shrugs as if it isn’t important, “Kid, pal, womp rat,” he supplies, and in anticipation of your next question he says, “You can call me Mando.”

“Alright.” So, no names then, that’s different, but whatever works for him.

“C’mon, I’ll show you around.” Mando offers picking up your bags.

“Oh, you don’t have to carry those, I can get them.” He just gestures with his helmet for you to go ahead, so you head up the ramp into your new home.

The child babbles to you as if explaining things as you look around the hull of the spacecraft. It’s very utilitarian, but you figured it would be, Mandalorians don’t strike you as the types to think of creature comforts as a priority. The little one babbles at you again and extends an arm towards a section of the hull where you can see what looks like a mattress covered with a blanket and pillows that look new and unused. The Mandalorian comes up behind you and says, “Like I said before there’s only one bunk in the ship, but I thought this would work for you?” He sets your bags down next to the bed.

“This will be fine.” You’ve slept in much worse places, your cell in the Imperial Intelligence compound springs to mind. In any case, it’s nice to know that he’s thought to provide this for you. Other employers you’ve had would probably just make you sleep on the floor.

Din takes you on a brief tour of the ship, mostly making sure you know where the essentials are. He keeps waiting for you to make a comment about the ship’s age or make a joke about it being a clunker like everyone else does. But you surprise him, as you simply take it all in with a pleasant expression on your face. Although when he gets to the weapons locker, he sees your eyes widen in surprise. He realizes that he hasn’t told you what he does for a living, “I’m a bounty hunter, and weapons are part of my religion.”

“Ah, I see. Well, it makes sense you’d have a cache like this then.” You give him a nod, as if to say this seems completely normal, even though you’ve never seen so many weapons outside of a military facility. However, if it’s part of his religion the last you thing you want to do is insult him about it.

“Do you know how to shoot?” Mando inquires.

“Yes, I do. I had to take a course on marksmanship at the university.” You wince again at your innocence back then. A college that requires a course on shooting? No wonder it had been a recruitment ground for the Empire.

“Did you pass?” Mando wants to know.

“With high marks,” you reply, ever the top-notch student.

“Good. Do you have a blaster?”

“Uh no.”

Mando turns back to the locker and considers it before choosing one of the smaller guns in there. He hands it to you saying, “Here, this one should be good for you. But let me know if you think something else would be better suited for you.”

“You think I’m going to need a blaster to care for the child?” You try to keep from sounding incredulous as you stare down at the gun that he’s placed in your hand and then back at the sweet toddler who’s currently propped up against your hip.

“No, of course not, but you’ll need to be prepared when we’re off the ship.” He seems very matter-of-fact about it.

“Prepared for what?” Where does this man plan on taking you?

“Just, prepared.” Is all he says in response.

The baby makes grabby hands towards the blaster and you carefully hold it away from him. “Can I keep it in the locker for now?” you ask feeling a little uneasy. You might know how to shoot, but you’ve only ever aimed at targets in a shooting range and the idea of having to use a blaster for protection is frankly terrifying. What have I gotten myself into? Will I never learn?

“Yes, just remember to take it with you whenever you leave the ship.” Din stows the blaster away again and then says, “We should get going now,” and motions for you to head up the ladder to the cockpit. He probably should have waited to give you the blaster until later. He can see the questions and the anxiety in your eyes and he knows he’s going to have to come clean about the danger he’s putting you in. But sticking to his plan, Din says nothing and focuses on taking off and setting coordinates to Dantooine, the last known position of his next quarry.

You try to stay focused on the child in your arms, but you can’t keep yourself from staring back at Mando. The need for a blaster has brought your original question back to the forefront of your mind, and although it’s pretty much too late to ask now, you figure you should.

“So in your ad, you said, combat training was a plus. Why exactly did you put that in there?”  

You watch as he puts the ship into hyperspace, before he turns to you. You’re just starting at the black visor in his helmet, waiting for him to speak, when he finally says, “There are Imps after the kid.”

“Excuse me, what?” You hope you heard him wrong.

“I rescued the child from some ex-Imperials. They have a bounty out on him.” Din decides to leave out the part where he originally collected on that bounty, delivering the child right to them. He’s doesn’t want you to despise him so he figures he’ll keep that part of the story to himself.

“What do they want with him?” You’re still holding the little one tight, and you look down into his big, dark eyes and wonder what those terrible people could possible want from this adorable child.

“He has some kind of powers, like uh, like a sorcerer, or something.” He tells you sheepishly.

“Like a sorcerer?” You repeat, o-kay.

“I know it sounds strange. But, have you ever heard of the Jedi?”

“Oh, yes, I know a little about the Jedi. Wait, can the child use the force?”

“You know about the Jedi?” He seems excited to hear that. “What do you know? Do you know any of them?”

“I know the Jedi were once an order of knights and they had the ability to wield the force. Have you ever heard New Republic people say ‘May the force be with you’?” That phrase has been everywhere, so you feel like he must have heard it.

“Yeah, but I really have no idea what they mean by it.” Din feels a little embarrassed to finally admit that to someone. He hopes you don’t think him dumb for not knowing.

“From what I understand the force is like this invisible energy that lets the Jedi manipulate things with their minds. The phrase is meant to give you hope, sort of ‘May the positive energy be with you and bring you good things’. It’s a bit ironic though because for such an optimistic phrase it’s actually how Imperial Intelligence successfully broke several Rebel codes since they put it at the end of so many messages.” As much as your viewpoints aligned with the Rebellion, you had wished someone in their command had been intelligent enough to realize that you shouldn’t put a known saying into your coded messages. You look over to Mando and he gives you a nod in response, so you continue.

“I also know there were some Imperial commanders, very high up, who were pretty obsessed with the Jedi. They were always looking for any information about them. They thought there was a Jedi working with the Rebellion and any messages we decoded about him were supposed to be flagged as extreme priority. But, I never saw anything about him. So, that’s all I know.”

“That’s the most anyone has been able to tell me so far, so it’s very helpful.” Mando replies. He’s silent again for a bit and he seems to be looking down at the child. “It is my task to bring the child to the Jedi, he’s one of their kind. I’ve seen him do things I can’t explain. He- He’s special.”

Looking down at the little toddler in your arms, you remember how the Imperials treated you, and the years of damage, fear, and violence that they rained throughout the galaxy. You can’t possibly let them get their hands on this innocent one. “I’ll do everything I can to keep you safe,” you tell the child. And then you look at Mando, “I promise.”

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Thank you for reading! If you’d like to be tagged for Chapter 2, please let me know. Link to Chpt. 2

Tag list: @im-the-nerdiest-of-them-a11​ @theravenreads​ @nicotinebirds​ @boomtownboy @sleepwithacommunist @mackycat11 @som3thingcr3ative

[cryingcow]

Character Story - Tanimura [RGGO]

. . . Yeah, I gave up on Ryuji’s. Sorry, it was frustrating  >_<. Instead, it’s time for the Mr. Gambling Turtle!

I find it funny that Tanimura’s dad/s go to all the trouble of naming him “Masayoshi” for justice and whatnot, only for no one to ever use his first name XD But “Ma-chan” is cute tho! Also, never figured Tanimura as a detective could be so idealistic, especially when compared to someone like Yagami ┐(￣～￣)┌ .

Story: Tanimura and Date work together to solve a robbery. Tanimura learns like 3 moral lessons from his senior at the end of it, and proceeds to completely misinterpret said lessons.

Date: “Little Asia. My god, just look at this place.”

Tanimura: “Okay can you stop dissing my home now and get back to the case?”

Note: “Continental descent” just means “Chinese”. I wanted to put “mainlander” because that’s the accurate term, buuut idk if it would be more or less confusing like that esp with Westerners. (Also, the way we use “mainlander” in our country is Not Very Nice. Not sure if the connotation is the same in Japan.)

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CHAPTER 1

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|2010. Tanimura Masayoshi, along with Kiryu and others, uncovered and resolved a big conspiracy involving the Metropolitan Police Department. After resolving the incident, Tanimura was transferred from Community Safety Division to Criminal Investigation Division One. Life goes back to normal.|

[Mahjong Parlor]

Youth: “Damn it! Ma-chan’s probably going to win again!”

Tanimura: “Heh. I’m on a roll lately.”

Friendly Youth: “Hey, Ma-chan. Is it okay for you to be here? Didn’t you move from Community Safety to Criminal Investigation Division 1?”

Tanimura: “Well, I’m a detective who deals in murder now. They gave my achievements from the recent incident a high evaluation.”

Friendly Youth: “In that case, isn’t this bad? Then your boss will come here to yell at you . . .”

Tanimura: “Oh, you mean Date-san? Yeah, that would certainly be dangerous. I should get back to the station before he finds out.”

Friendly Youth: “One of these days, you’re going to get yourself fired . . .”

----

[Little Asia]

Mister: “Yo, Ma-chan. Playing hooky as usual.”

Tanimura: “I’m at work. Patrolling. I’m here to protect the safety of this area.”

Child: “Ma-chan, let’s play!”

Tanimura: “Sorry, I’m at work. Later~.”

Tanimura: (Well, if I play hooky too much, Date-san will find out. I should get back to the station fast.)

Tanimura: “Hm?”

Lowly Gangster: “It’s not a bad idea. And more than that, I don’t think we can wait any longer!”

Weak Middle-aged Man: “H-Hii! It-It hurts! Please stop hitting me!”

Tanimura: (That’s . . . the manager of Smile Heights Ni Hao, Hao-san . . .)

Tanimura: “Oi! What are you guys doing?!”

Lowly Gangster: “Ah?!”

Hao: “Ma-chan!”

Lowly Gangster: “Don’t butt in!! I’m working! I’m collecting this guy’s debt!”

Tanimura: “You’re a debt collector? Hao-san, how much did you borrow?”

Hao: “500,000 . . . I should have won the horse race . . . I lost a lot of money. Haha . . .”

Lowly Gangster: “The interest has ballooned to 5 million! Pay up 100,000 for this month!”

Tanimura: “Hey, stop! 500,000 to 5 million, that’s obviously an illegal interest rate!”

Lowly Gangster: “Bastard, didn’t I tell you earlier not to butt in? What are you, a cop?”

Tanimura: “. . . Tanimura of the Kamurocho Police. You do know if you keep doing that, you’ll be guilty of assault, right?”

Lowly Gangster: “What? There’s 3 of us here. Bastard, don’t think you can do anything on your own!”

Tanimura: “Well, that’s why I called backup.”

Police Officer: “Sir! I received your request for backup!”

{The policeman takes the yakuza away.}

Hao: “Tanimura-san, thank you!”

Tanimura: “Hao-san, if you can’t stop yourself from gambling, why did you have to borrow from that guy?”

Hao: “Because I thought I could win . . .”

Tanimura: “Aren’t you teaching children? A teacher shouldn’t be showing that kind of example.”

Hao: “Ah . . . you’re right. I should set a good example as a teacher.”

Tanimura: “You’re a good person, Hao-san. Isn’t it a shame you lost sight of that because of debt? I asked Mei-Fa recently, and I heard you were picking up orphans and putting them up in your apartment?”

Hao: “Yup. It wouldn’t be fair to push the children all on Omomuki-san, and I like kids anyway.”

Tanimura: “That’s good. That’s why you shouldn’t lose yourself in debt.”

Little Boy: “Ah, there you are Hao-sensei! It’s time for cram school!”

Hao: “Ah! Is it already time?”

Tanimura: “Oh, Hao-san, wait a moment. Here, take this.”

Hao: “Eh?! Money? Are you sure?”

Tanimura: “Yeah. This is the money I won from gambling. Use it to buy the children clothes and teaching materials.”

Hao: “Th-Thank you!”

Little Boy: “Hao-sensei! Let’s go! Everyone is waiting!”

Hao: “Tanimura-san! Again, thank you very much!”

Tanimura: “Go already. And don’t use it for gambling!”

{Hao leaves with the little boy.}

Tanimura: “Teaching children for free, and feeding them on top of that . . . He’s a good person. If only he didn’t have debt and a gambling habit . . .”

Date: “Are you talking about someone else? Because I know a detective who plays mahjong.”

Tanimura: “. . . guh. Date-san . . .”

Date: “I finally found you! Your paperwork isn’t finished yet, you truant demon!”

Tanimura: “Th-This time is different! I wasn’t playing hooky! In fact, I was helping people with their troubles . . .”

Date: “That’s no excuse! If a subordinate of Sudo is skipping out on work, it’s up to me to drag him back. Now, let’s go!”

Tanimura: “I understand . . .”

----

|Several days later . . .|

[Mahjong Parlor]

Tanimura: “Hehe. Oh, this tile . . . I’m on a roll today~.”

Friendly Youth: “Ma-chan, you’re skipping work again to play mahjong. You’re going to get disciplined again.”

Tanimura: “I just can’t stop. Anyway, it’s noisy outside. Is something going on?”

Friendly Youth: “I don’t know. Why are you asking me, you’re the detective. Haven’t you heard anything on your comm device?”

Tanimura: “Hm, I wonder. I was focused on something else today. Oh, this tile . . .”

Date: “Tanimura!! I knew you’d be here . . .”

Tanimura: “D-Date-san? Uh, you see . . . I wasn’t skipping . . .”

Date: “There’s been an incident.”

Tanimura: “Eh? Incident?”

Date: “A bank robbery. Happened just a while ago.”

Sudo: “A man wearing a full-faced helmet broke into the bank, stole 5 million in cash, and escaped on a scooter. It seems that he fled to Little Asia.”

Tanimura: “In Little Asia?”

Date: “You’re very familiar with Little Asia, correct? So you’ll be on this case.”

Tanimura: “. . . Understood. What did the guy look like?”

Date: “There was one perpetrator, a 170cm tall medium-sized man of continental descent.”

Tanimura: “Continental descent . . .”

Date: “There’s only one way in to enter Little Asia. All the other exits have been secured.”

Tanimura: “Wait, are you suspecting someone who lives in Little Asia?”

Date: “Given the situation, I have to be suspicious.”

Tanimura: “Is . . . that so . . .”

Date: “Why are you upset? People who are born and raised in this city can be suspects.”

Tanimura: “It’s just . . . I know everyone in Little Asia, but I don’t know anyone who’d be a thief . . .”

Date: “Hey, Tanimura . . . you know you should look at the facts and not get distracted by personal feelings, right?”

Tanimura: “Alright . . .”

.

-END-

.

CHAPTER 2

.

[Little Asia]

Date: “Little Asia. Narrow streets tangling with one another . . . Foreign signboards in a narrow space lined up in front of suspicious stores . . . It’s the perfect place to hide.”

Tanimura: “Haa. Yeah, maybe you’re right . . .”

Date: “Alright. Tanimura, now listen up.”

Tanimura: “I don’t feel like I’m suitable for this . . .”

 {Date and Tanimura presumably discuss their gameplan and go find residents to interrogate.}

Youth: “A man wearing a full-faced helmet?”

Tanimura: “Yeah, and he escaped into Little Asia on a scooter. Did you see him?”

Youth: “. . . You know, I think I did. He went inside a tobacco shop.”

Tanimura: “A tobacco shop, thank you!”

Youth: “Tanimura-san, are you suspecting one of us?”

Tanimura: “No, no. That’s not the case . . .”

Youth: “Is that true? Ren-san of the tobacco shop said he was also interrogated . . . You and that tough-looking detective are going around checking everyone’s alibi.”

Tanimura: “Tough-looking detectives . . .”

Date: “. . .”

Youth: “We may be poor, but when we’re in trouble, we help each other out. We’re not robbers.”

Tanimura: “I-I know. I don’t suspect everyone here. Thank you for giving us information. {to Date} It seems the guy went this way.”

Date: “Even so, this is a complicated place. If you weren’t with me, I’d have gotten lost.”

Tanimura: “Well, at first glance it’s just a dilapidated town.”

Date: “If the suspect is someone who doesn’t know the land, he’ll get lost. But if he does know the area, it’ll be easy to lose the police.”

Tanimura: “Um. Do you still suspect someone in Little Asia?”

Date: “I don’t want to doubt them, but as always we should.”

Tanimura: “‘Prejudice in the investigation is strictly prohibited’.  . . . I understand.”

Chinpira: “Oi!”

Chinpira: “You’re the ones who’ve been swaggering around Little Asia, aren’t you?”

Date: “Hm? Who are you guys?”

Tanimura: “Do you even live here?”

Chinpira: “Dunno. But you’re really annoying. Get out of here now.”

Tanimura: “Are you headaches working for the criminal we’re investigating? Getting in our way like this, maybe . . . you’re the robbers?”

Chinpira: “What did you say?”

Tanimura: “You see, Date-san? The culprit is an outsider all along.”

Date: “. . . Tanimura. That doesn’t seem to be the case right now.”

Chinpira: “If you don’t get out now, I’ll kick you out myself!”

{Tanimura and Date defeat the guys.}

Chinpira: “U-ugh . . .”

Tanimura: “Oi! Are you the robbers?!”

Chinpira: “What the hell are you talking about?! We were just ordered to get in your way!”

Tanimura: “Ordered? By who?”

Chinpira: “I-I don’t know. A bunch of unknown men. Probably yakuza, based from how they dressed . . .”

Tanimura: “Is that true?”

Chinpira: “It’s true! If we disturb your investigation, we’ll be paid . . . is what they said.”

Date: “You guys . . . where were you and what were you doing at around 5:30PM today?”

Chinpira: “We were playing at the arcade at that time.”

Date: “And you’re not lying?”

Chinpira: “I-I’m not lying! We even took pictures at the arcade . . .”

Date: “The crime took place at around 5:30PM. If you have an alibi, it should be the timestamps on those arcade pictures.”

Tanimura: “If that’s the case, do you think the yakuza who ordered them are the real robbers?”

Date: “It’s suspicious, sure, but its relevance to the robbery is still unknown.”

Tanimura: “Is that so . . . so what do we do with these guys?”

Date: “They obstructed a police investigation. Call for backup and let them handle it. We can go back to our investigation as soon as they take over.”

Tanimura: “Got it.”

----

Tanimura: “According to the testimony, the criminal escaped around here . . .”

Date: “It’s a straight road. What do you think lies ahead?”

Tanimura: “It’s a dead end. But . . .”

Date: “But?”

Tanimura: “There’s an apartment here. A place managed by a person named Hao . . .”

Date: “Hao?”

Tanimura: “Yeah. He’s a good person who takes orphans in and teaches them for free.”

Date: “Oh. That may be your impression of him, but it’s possible the criminal escaped into his apartment.”

----

Tanimura: “! That thing lying in front of the apartment . . . is that a scooter?”

Date: “That’s what the criminal was using, and it’s even the same color.  . . . hm? The license plate has been peeled off.”

Tanimura: “Is it the getaway vehicle?”

Date: “Seems like it. The engine is still warm. Thinking that he got away with it, the criminal made a mistake.”

Tanimura: “Following the footprints leading away from the scooter . . . it looks like the criminal escaped into the apartment.”

Hao: “Oh. Tanimura-san?”

Tanimura: “Hao-san? Are you in there?”

Hao: “. . . Yup. I was in the caretaker’s room. Tanimura-san, is this an investigation?”

Tanimura: “Yeah. In fact, I’m chasing down a robber. A man wearing a full-faced helmet escaped down here.”

Hao: “Eh!”

Date: “This hut in front of the apartment that looks like a lottery counter. Is this the caretaker’s room?”

Tanimura: “Yeah. Children live here, so he keeps an eye out for suspicious people from over there.”

Date: “So in other words, the criminal wouldn’t have been able to get pass without the caretaker seeing them.”

Hao: “. . .”

Date: “Hao-san. How about it? Looking at the situation, it is likely that the culprit disposed of the scooter here and fled into the apartment. Did you not see the criminal run by? If you really were in the caretaker’s room, you should have seen him.”

Hao: “. . . th-that is . . .”

Date: “. . . Did you see him?”

Hao: “I-I didn’t see anyone! No one passed by here!”

Date: “And there’s no mistake?”

Hao: “There’s no doubt! No one escaped to this apartment!”

Date: “Is that so . . .”

Hao: “. . . um. Can I go now?”

Date: “Yeah. Understood. Thank you for your time.”

{Hao goes back inside.}

Tanimura: “Hao-san didn’t see the criminal running away. So where could the culprit be?”

Date: “Something stinks.”

Tanimura: “Eh?”

Date: “It seems like the caretaker is hiding something.”

Tanimura: “Just because he doesn’t want to talk to the police all of a sudden? Maybe he’s busy.”

Date: “Maybe so. But . . . can’t you think of another reason? Like the caretaker protecting the fleeing criminal.”

Tanimura: “Date-san. Hao-san is a good person who takes care of orphans for free, isn’t he? He can’t be covering up for a robber.”

Date: “What if Hao-san knows the criminal? Wouldn’t that be reason enough to protect him?”

Tanimura: “Th-That’s . . .”

Date: “Hey, Tanimura. Don’t let your personal feelings get in the way of the investigation. You shouldn’t dismiss the possibility.”

Tanimura: “I know . . .”

Date: “Alright. Then let’s keep an eye on the apartment from the opposite building. If there is a criminal in there, he’s sure to come out eventually.”

Tanimura: (Hao-san protecting the criminal? That’s stupid . . .)

.

-END-

.

CHAPTER 3

.

|About an hour after Tanimura and Date started watching Hao’s apartment . . .|

[Little Asia]

Date: “There’s no movement. The caretaker still continues to watch TV in his room. The probable criminal hasn’t come out.”

Tanimura: “Yeah, he’s done nothing but watch TV the entire time. But, there is something strange about him . . .”

Date: “Strange how?”

Tanimura: “Hao-san has been fidgeting the entire time. Like he’s wary of something.”

Date: “You think he’s aware he’s under surveillance?”

Tanimura: “I wonder. But there’s something even stranger . . .”

Date: “What?”

Tanimura: “I told you that Hao-san tutors children, right? He should be teaching at this time. The study room is on the second floor . . .”

Date: “And yet he’s been in the caretaker’s room the entire time.”

Tanimura: “Yes. It’s supposed to be his daily routine . . . On top of that, I haven’t seen any of the children. The lights aren’t even on, and normally they should be switched on at the second floor . . .”

Date: “Tanimura . . . do you think your observations are related to the robbery case?”

Tanimura: “. . . I . . . think so . . . If we believe that a robber is in the apartment . . . it makes sense why the cram school isn’t open. The criminal could be using the children as hostages. That might be why Hao-san is protecting him. But . . . if that’s the case, it’s puzzling why the room isn’t lit. There’s no reason to turn the lights off and tell everyone otherwise.”

Date: “Heh. Tanimura, it seems you finally understand how to observe without letting your personal feelings interfere.”

Tanimura: “I’m not . . . I’m still not doubting Hao-san.”

Date: “. . . Alright. Let’s end this stakeout.”

Tanimura: “What are we going to do?”

Date: “You said things felt strange. It’s time to confront the caretaker. Doing so may move this situation from its standstill.”

Tanimura: “. . . Understood.”

Tanimura: “Hao-san. I’d like to ask you a few questions.”

Hao: “T-Tanimura-san? What’s wrong?”

Tanimura: “Where are the kids?”

Hao: “! W-We-Well, that is . . .”

Tanimura: “It’s time for cram school, right? But the lights on the second floor are still off. Hao-san, what on earth is going on? Where are the children?”

Hao: “. . . uh . . .”

Tanimura: “I’m going to look inside the apartment room. Is that okay?”

Hao: “. . . Tanimura-san! I’m sorry!”

{Hao grabs a bag and pushes past Tanimura.}

Tanimura: “Ah! Hao-san, where are you going with that bag?! . . . ! The scooter?”

Date: “Tanimura! He got away! Let’s go chase him!”

Tanimura: “O-Okay!”

Tanimura: (Hao-san, is this a joke? There’s no way you . . .)

----

Date: “Haa . . . haa . . . damn it! The alleys are too complex and our target is on a scooter! Haa . . . haa . . . this is . . . we have to keep going!”

Tanimura: “Date-san! Here! Please follow me!”

Date: “H-Hey, that’s the opposite direction . . .”

Tanimura: “This is a shortcut!”

Tanimura: “Haa . . . haa. There you are, Hao-san.”

Date: “Haa . . . haa. Tanimura, you were right.”

Tanimura: “Haa . . . haa . . . Hao-san got off the scooter and entered that building!”

Date: “Alright! Let’s catch him!”

 ----

Tanimura: “Hao-san!! Haa . . . haa . . . haa . . .”

Hao: “T-Tanimura-san?”

Tanimura: “What’s in that bag? Is it money?! Are you the robber?!”

Hao: “Th-That’s . . .”

Tanimura: “Show me what’s inside!”

{Tanimura grabs the bag and forces it open.}

Hao: “Ah.”

Tanimura: “Th-this is . . .”

Date: “The 5 million that was stolen. Judging from the number of wads, I’d that’s probably it.”

Hao: “. . .”

Tanimura: “Hao-san! What is the meaning of this?! Why did you become a robber . . .”

Hao: “. . . i-it couldn’t be helped.”

Tanimura: “What can’t?”

Hao: “The yakuza were claiming my debt! They took the children!”

Tanimura: “What did you say?”

Hao: “They . . . if you’re an orphan in Little Asia, it’s hard to go to the police . . . If I didn’t pay off my debt, they’d kidnap the children and sell them off . . .”

Tanimura: “I see. Since the parents of those children were here illegally, then those kids don’t exist at all in this country.”

Date: “in other words, there is no one who’ll sue them. They’re free to do human trafficking.”

Tanimura: “Hao-san, is that why you did the robbery?”

Hao: “They ordered me to. If I steal the money, they’ll return the children.”

Tanimura: “Is that so . . .”

Yakuza: “There it is! That money is ours.”

Tanimura: “! Who are you guys?”

Yakuza: “It can’t be helped now that he’s talked. I’m taking all that money. Hand it over in exchange for the children’s lives, or we’ll sell them to get the money.”

Tanimura: “I won’t let you do that. I’m not paying, now hand over those kids.”

Yakuza: “Kekeke. There’s only two of you against us. You’re going to die right now!”

{Tanimura and Date defeat the yakuza.}

Tanimura: “Where are the children?! Answer me!!”

Yakuza: “S-Second floor of the opposite building . . . they’re tied up there . . .”

Date: “Tanimura, watch these guys and Hao-san. I’ll call for back up and pick up the kids.”

Tanimura: “Got it. Hao-san, are you okay?”

Hao: “Yup. Tanimura-san, I’m sorry . . .”

Tanimura: “Hao-san, if you’re ever in trouble, please don’t hesitate to contact me. We’re friends, aren’t we?”

Hao: “Tanimura-san . . .”

 ----

Date: “Tanimura. The children are safe and protected now.”

Tanimura: “Um. Does the police know about the children’s complicated situations . . .”

Date: “Yeah. I sat that out. It would be confusing when it comes to the police.”

Tanimura: “Thank you very much.”

Date: “About Hao-san . . . as expected, there’s no easy way to handle his case. Even though he was threatened, it was still a robbery. They might give him a lighter sentence.”

Tanimura: “The situation is what it is. I hope they do . . .”

Tanimura: “. . .”

Date: “What’s wrong? That’s not the face one wears when a case is resolved.”

Tanimura: “. . . This case went exactly as you said. I was too caught up in my personal feelings, and my eyes were clouded. I should have known from the testimony that Hao was suspicious, but I didn’t want to doubt him. I didn’t want to believe my friends from Little Asia could do that.  . . . No, I didn’t want you to think they’d do it. Letting such thoughts distract me from the facts . . . I should be kicked off the police force.”

Date: “. . . You’re right. It’s not a very flattering side of you. But Tanimura, I think there are two kinds of people in the police. The kind who upholds the law . . . while the other kind fights for their idea of justice. There are people like you who learn once they bounce back from their mistakes. Remember that.”

Tanimura: “. . . I will. Thank you very much, Date-san.”

Date: “Besides, solving this case would have been impossible if it wasn’t for your keen eye and familiarity with the streets of Little Asia. It seems your truancy turned out to be useful this time. Heh, if everyone was just like you, the world would be a better place.”

Tanimura: “Haha, I can’t say anything to that.”

 ----

|A few days later . . .|

[Mahjong Parlor]

Tanimura: “Alright! I win again this time~!”

Friendly Youth: “Wow! You beat me again!”

Tanimura: “Hehe. Looks like I’m in great form today as well.”

Friendly Youth: “But Ma-chan. Is it okay for you to be skipping out on work again? Your boss is going to get angry at you.”

Tanimura: “It’s alright, it’s alright. I had a chat with my boss. It turns out my truancy is useful.”

Friendly Youth: “Is that true . . . Oh, that’s right. It seems like Hao-san got off with a light sentence.”

Tanimura: “Yeah. They took into consideration the fact that he was threatened by the yakuza.”

Friendly Youth: “If Hao-san is gone, there’ll be no one to take care of the kids.”

Tanimura: “Yeah. I’m glad all the loose ends are tied up.”

Date: “What loose ends are tied up?”

Tanimura: “Guh. Date-san . . .”

Date: “Tch, you! Are you playing hooky again?!”

Tanimura: “N-No, because you gave me permission to skip, didn’t you? You said skipping was good!”

Date: “You idiot! I didn’t give you permission! And I’m not cleaning up your paperwork! Sudo told me off because of your truancy! Get back to work!”

Tanimura: “Y-Yes! I’m sorry!”

{Tanimura runs off.}

Date: “Good grief . . .  Heh. To be young with such energy.”

.

-END-

Masterlist

[colinohen]

welcome aboard, colin o'hennessy, student #25. we are excited to set sail with you !  has anyone told you that you look like jacob elordi? according to our records, you hail from londonderry, northern ireland, prefer preferred he/him, are cismale, and are here to study history. we also see you received a spot on the ss university because of your academic scholarship— we won’t tell anyone. during your first few weeks here, other students said you were + loyal, + disciplined, but also - resentful. it sounds like you spend most of your time at the library. upon checking your luggage, we noticed you packed a silver ring brought from home. hopefully your roommates don’t steal it!

hellooooo my name is lily! i’m super excited to be part of this rp and i hope i get to rp and plot with all of you! my dms are always open and i’ll tell you a bit about colin. i might change some stuff later to fit his adoptive sister storyline but overall this is what i have.

01. stats

NAME: colin eoin o’hennessy

NICKNAME: none really

GENDER: cis male

PLACE OF BIRTH: londonderry, northern ireland

DATE OF BIRTH: june 15, 1998

AGE: twenty-two

SEXUAL ORIENTATION: bisexual

MAJOR: history

02. information

i will write a proper bio at some point, just need to work on some details

tw abandonment born to a single mother who was far too young to know how to raise a child. she ends up leaving when colin is just eight months, leaving him under the care of his grandmother.

his grandmother adored him but unfortunately she wasn’t in the best health and the government decides she’s not suitable to adopt and raise him, so he’s placed with a foster family.

he’s one of the lucky ones. his foster family allows to spend the weekends with his grandmother and truly treat him like their own child. his foster father, a history teacher is the person that shows him how fascinating history can be while his foster mom teaches him about photography.

unfortunately, this idyllic life only lasts for a few years as their family grew and the system decided it was time for colin to move on. however, the family decides to adopt him but just before the adoption is finalized, his mother comes back and claims she is ready to be a mother.

the government, of course, gives his mother the custody as she proved she was really in a better place to raise her child.

he’s nine years old and forced to live with a woman that claims to be his mother but he doesn’t know anything about her or about her new stepfather.

his new stepfather while a kind man has a different idea of what colin should be doing. he pretty much thinks his stepson has the perfect build to become an athlete and disapproves anything that doesn’t have to do with sports.

by the time he was twelve, colin played three sports full time and when his stepfather wasn't coaching him from the sidelines he basked in the glory of his star.

as the stakes grew, so did his stepfather’s involvement. he would scream at colin from the bench. he would pull him out of games for mistakes. he would scold that a double would have been a triple if only his son had worked harder in practice.

his stepfather really destroyed all his self-confidence, and colin entered his teenage years feeling like was not enough. he had the looks, the physique but not the confidence or the ego.

by the time colin was in his freshman year of high school, the injuries and over-exertion finally caught up with him. his body began to hurt and never stopped hurting. the pain struck his knees, then smothered his back, then finished his father’s dreams

tw death during his sophmore year of high school, his stepfather suffered a fatal heart attack. colin was devastated but also felt relief because finally he could stop playing injured and the maybe could live without pain.

but the emotional pain continued and shortly after his mother went down a spiral that forced him to back to the system. this time he was placed with a family in wales.

colin really didn’t have plans to go to college, his stepfather had filled his brain with the idea that without sports he was nothing but his foster family encouraged him to attend the same university as their daughter.

he rejected the idea and after he turned 18, he remained in wales but move out of the foster family house, even if he tried to visit once a week.

colin got a job as a security guard and he worked the for three years before quitting and agreeing to go into this two year university their foster parents told him about.

he started a year ago, majoring in history.

03. current plots

formely catfished santos whitney

adoptive brother of carys berry

best friends with #43

04. wanted plots

crush: although it might not look like, colin is very shy so it wouldn’t surprise me if he had feelings for this person but wouldn’t do anything about it because he’s afraid of being rejected, so he just admires them from afar. 

bad influence: colin tends to follow the rules and any kind of plan that disturbs that makes him feel uneasy but this person has managed to convince to get out of his comfort zone.

friends with lingering feelings: self explanatory, friends where either one or both have some kind of romantic feelings that pass more than just friends. now things between them are getting back to normal but they can't help but wonder about what-ifs.

frenemies: overall, they are nice to each other but sometimes there's always some subtle bickering between them. their relationship is very complicated, one day they could be best friends and the next one they could be plotting the other's murder. it's not the healthiest of friendship, but somehow they cannot give it up.

unlikely friends: when people see these two they can't help but to scratch their heads and wonder how the hell these two became friends? their personalities are like oil and water but somehow they've overcame that and they get along very nicely.

rivals: it's not a secret that colin always wants to be the smartest, but this person is always getting in the way of him receiving all the glory. while he doesn't hate them, he could do without them. 

ex: we can plot if they ended in good or bad terms.

one night stand: pretty straight forward. could have been a in the moment thing, alcohol could have been involved. they could either be acting as if it didn’t happen, or completely awkward around each other because of it.

[fantastic-rambles]

The Skylark’s Song [2/4]

Fandom: Katekyo Hitman Reborn!

Characters: Hibari Kyoya, Kusakabe Tetsuya, Namimori Middle Disciplinary Committee, Fon (mentioned)

Warnings: PTSD, Mild Language, Violence [A/N: Depiction of PTSD may not be accurate. I apologize if this bothers anyone.]

Word Count: 1.7k

Summary: My personal headcanons of the (pre-canon) experiences that made Hibari into the man that he is today. Part Two: the development of his commitment to discipline and explaining his apparent state of constant sleep deprivation. [This may end up being a four-part story, lol. Or a three-part with a small extra... which I guess is also four parts. I hope you enjoy! xD]

[Part 1]

Ever since that night, Hibari had never had a good night's rest.

Other than the week that he'd been in the hospital, woozy from the painkillers that had been constantly fed to him and barely aware of the world around him, he'd never slept for more than a few hours at any given time. At first, the nightmares--the memories--would wake him up in an empty house, screaming for his parents who were no longer there, and then he'd spend the rest of the night huddled in the corner, flinching at every shadow. For a long time, he feared that the men would return, but as time passed uneventfully, he grew more convinced that they didn't care. That they didn't think a mere child could be any danger to them. And they were probably right.

By all rights, he should have probably been taken away and moved to an orphanage, but a distant relative had been found who was willing to become his legal guardian. They'd spoken briefly on the phone, eventually coming to an agreement: since Hibari refused to leave his childhood home and Fon had special circumstances that made traveling and raising a child difficult, a housekeeper would be hired to watch over him, paid out of the fortune that he had inherited from his parents. Initially, she would come early in the morning every day and leave only when he was about to go to bed, but his growing preference for solitude and independence quickly asserted itself, so that she would eventually only come in the afternoon when he was at school, to clean and prepare his meals.

In school, his teachers also noticed a drastic change in his personality. Though he remained a good student, the previously outgoing and energetic child became withdrawn, appearing as though he was actively avoiding his classmates. Any attempts to speak with him outside of his assigned schoolwork were met with a stony wall of silence, and the many phone conversations that they had with his guardian did nothing to improve the situation.

In fact, the only activity in which Hibari demonstrated any initiative of his own was in his new studies of martial arts. Every evening found him at one dojo or another, practicing karate, boxing, kenjutsu, and a number of other combat arts with single-minded focus until he could barely drag himself back home. The physical pain was a welcome distraction, though it was short-lived as his body accustomed itself to the new routine.

His devotion to the arts and strict self-discipline meant that he quickly learned all that the instructors in Namimori could teach him. By the time he started middle school, he was no longer attending the dojos, instead practicing with masters that Fon would occasionally send to him while developing his own style. Hibari also began experimenting with weapons, discarding the sword and spear as impractical to carry and bare fists as too weak, before he eventually settled on his tonfa. The metal was hard enough to be difficult to deform, they were easily concealed, and simply adjusting the force could mean the difference between injury and death.

He still saw his parents every night. But at least he stopped screaming when he woke.

For the most part, his middle school years passed without anything of particular note until his third year, when he joined the disciplinary committee and a group of wannabe punks started to attend. In general, they were harmless, just mimicking the types of idiots that they saw in anime and manga and mouthing off out of the mistaken impression that it made them cool. But it irked Hibari to have to tell them off every morning for their appearances and watch them swagger around like thugs. When they finally started trying to extort their peers, however, he finally had a real excuse to step in.

"Hey, c'mon, you've got cash, right? We just need to borrow a couple thousand. We'll pay you back later, really!"

Hibari had been about to return home when he heard voices coming from behind the gym. If there was a response to Kusakabe, it was too quiet for him to hear, but he hoisted his bookbag higher over his shoulders as he went to investigate. As he turned the corner, the sight before him turned him cold with rage.

Kusakabe and his friends stood in a loose half-circle, a few of them holding wooden swords, leering at the student they had trapped against the wall, a young boy who looked absolutely terrified. His bookbag appeared to have been upended all over the ground, with books and pens scattered everywhere, and Kusakabe knelt before him, his hand outstretched expectantly. One of his friends stretched, cricking his neck threateningly, and noticed the prefect standing there, shaking. He smirked, reaching out to nudge their leader and jerking a thumb toward Hibari when Kusakabe looked up.

"Get rid of him," Kusakabe ordered, and three of his pack peeled away, advancing on Hibari and blocking his view.

"There's nothing to see here, Prefect-san. Get lost, unless you want what he's getting," one of them snapped, and Hibari's eyes fell to the ground as his hands clenched into trembling fists.

"Hey, look at him. You think he's gonna piss himself?" Another one laughed, jabbing his bokken toward Hibari, who took a step back, to more laughter. But in the next instant, Hibari was lunging forward, the gleam of metal in his hands knocking the wood aside and slamming the boy under the chin. Before the other two realized what was happening, they were splayed on the ground, clutching their heads as Hibari stood in front of them, breathing heavily. He staggered slightly, as if he were injured or drunk, as the rest of the gang advanced on him, Kusakabe in the lead, their victim forgotten. They were cautious now, now that they saw he could fight back, and when Hibari's head snapped up, even Kusakube seemed to hesitate. There was a gleam of madness and bloodlust in Hibari's normally flat black eyes, and his stance as he lifted his tonfa in front of his body telegraphed experience.

Even so, they couldn't back down, not from a fight that they had picked, so they approached the older boy carefully, trying to spread out to encircle him. He didn't make any move to stop them from doing so, just standing with an air of watchful patience, like a predator waiting to pounce. The fact that he was outnumbered didn't seem to bother him at all, and he kept his eyes fixed on Kusakabe. His unwavering gaze seemed to make the younger boy hesitate, but at the same time, foolish pride urged the delinquent forward.

"Get him."

After a heartbeat of uncertainty, they rushed in wildly, fists swinging and getting in each other's way more often than not. And in the midst of all of them, Hibari's weapons flashed like quicksilver, falling with precise blows upon heads and joints until he was the only one who remained standing among the carnage, like some ancient god of war. The few boys who weren't unconscious were groaning, clutching where they had been struck, and their victim had run away, leaving behind only a few pencils and a snapped ruler.

Languidly, Hibari walked over to the leader, nudging Kusakabe under the chin with his foot to make sure he had the boy's attention.

"Try this again, and I'll break your bones. A third time, and I'll bite you to death. Do you understand?"

It wasn't a threat, but a simple statement of fact, delivered in a flat tone that left no room for discussion. He waited for Kusakabe to nod, then turned around and walked away, stepping over the bodies that littered the ground.

From his experiences with hot-blooded people, Hibari didn't expect things to just end there, but nothing could have surprised him more when he arrived at school the next day. The moment he stepped inside the gates, he was greeted by a shout of "Good morning, boss!" and he turned to see Kusakabe and his hoodlums bowing to him.

"What's this?"

Hibari watched warily as Kusakabe approached him, smiling while sporting a black eye.

"Hibari-san, you're strong, and you've earned our respect. Please feel free to use us however you want," Kusakabe addressed him formally, bowing again. Some of the other students were staring at them, wide-eyed, and Hibari shoved the punk away with one hand.

"I'm not strong. You're just weak," he snapped. "That's why you just crowd together with the others. It makes me sick."

But his words didn't seem to upset the other boy, who deferentially took a step back to give Hibari the personal space that he clearly wanted. However, for the rest of the day, they hung in small groups at the corners of Hibari's vision whenever he wasn't in his classroom, following him around like a pack of devoted dogs. It was irritating, and when they began to follow him home after school, he snapped again, beating them all thoroughly, even though they didn't even try to fight back.

Gradually, though, Hibari noticed that their one-sided admiration seemed to be imposing better order on his beloved school. Small incidents were quickly straightened out without his interference, and for the most part, the gang stayed out of his way. So he tolerated their existences so long as they avoided grouping up in front of him, using them as yet another tool to protect the discipline at Namimori Middle School and in town as a whole. He never dealt with any of them directly except for Kusakabe, on the rare occasions that he had to give them orders; even so, he kept a close eye on them to ensure that they didn't overstep their bounds. 

His parents had loved the town, and so did he. Even though they had been betrayed, it was only because the authorities had all been weak: afraid of violence, dazzled by money, grasping for power, or any number of other reasons. Although Hibari intended to control them himself through the same methods, he had no intention of unleashing another pack of animals that would cause even more problems for others.

And on the day that he finally finished his compulsory education, he set out to settle the score.

[Part 3]

[saeyoungs-sunflower]

A Piece of You: Chapter 4

Pairing: Zen x MC

Synopsis: After the death of his sister, Zen is entrusted with raising her daughter. Six years later and MC has settled into RFA, but she just wants to be back on the roof with the love of her life like she was two years before. But dealing with teenage years, dragged out engagements and a lot of unsaid feelings, you start to lose a piece of you. Or, perhaps, find a piece you had that had been missing the whole time.

Warnings: None!

Song: Things You’ve Never Done - Passenger

⇦ Previous Chapter

***

To be honest, Zen was not having a good day.

Although, he wasn’t having a particularly bad one either, it was just…a day. He aimlessly wandered through the convenience store, idly picking things off the shelves and chucking them into his basket, a gaping emptiness inside him that he couldn’t label as anything other than boredom, and he wasn’t even sure it was that. He had done this routine enough times that he didn’t even need to think about what he was buying anymore, his muscle-memory guiding him to each isle and each section.

On second thought, perhaps he really was just bored. He had the week off work and Gi was at school during the day, and to top it all off, the RFA chatroom had been dry as hell lately. Not even Saeyoung was logging in that often to start drama or blabber on about physics for half an hour. Zen was in desperate need of something, anything to do.

“Hyun, sweetie! How are you doing today?” the older lady at the counter beamed.

The creases of her face were enhanced at the sight of Zen approaching, a kind glint in her eye and a gentle spirit to her. Zen couldn’t help but return her warm smile as he lifted his basket onto the counter, “I’m well, thank you, So-yi. And yourself?”

“Same as ever,” she winked, making Zen chuckle, “How’s our little Gi? Still a little terror?”

“Oh, don’t even get me started. You know she got in trouble last week for hiding her teacher’s keys in the fish tank?”

She guffawed, and Zen chortled despite himself, “That’s a smart little girl right there. Sounds just like her daddy.”

“More like her mother, actually…” Zen’s voice trailed off, his smile faltering a little as the light behind his eyes diminished ever so slightly, but enough for the woman to detect.

So-yi had been the owner of the local convenience store since Zen had moved into the area, and from the moment she laid her eyes on the broken man, the broken child, she knew she would have to look out to for him. When he stumbled in at three in the morning requesting liquor and cigarettes, she would sneak a packet of aspirin and a sandwich into the bag as well. Then when he came in to buy diapers and baby wipes, she would slip some cookies in. Little by little, she started to see some colour in his cheeks and a honesty in his smile as he wished her a good day. She was the only person in his life who knew him when he was Hyun, and stayed to witness him become Zen. She was the closest thing to a mother that he had, and he the closest thing she had to a son. It was perfect timing, for the both of them.

So-yi promptly changed the subject, “Have you seen this?” she said, handing him a flyer from the stack that stood proudly next to her. It appeared to be advertising some jazz band playing at a nearby bar, for one night only. “I’ve seen them before, real good music, I’ll tell ya. Came in last week asking if I’d be willing to sell some tickets here, and you know I’m a sucker for jazz. They’re playing tomorrow night, I think you’d enjoy it.”

Zen considered it for a moment. Gi was going to be with Jaehee tomorrow night - by her request - so he’d just be home alone anyway. And maybe…if he asked…

“Sure, sounds like a fun evening,” he looked down to his feet, his shoelaces suddenly very intriguing to him, “Can I get two, please?”

So-yi’s smirk widened, and she didn’t even bother to hide it, “Planning to take someone special?”

He returned the grin in amusement, “Calm down, So-yi. It’s not like that.”

She handed Zen the tickets along with his bag, shooting him a mischievous look, “Mmhmm, okay then. Well, I can’t wait to hear all about it.”

Zen rolled his eyes playfully, “There’ll be nothing to hear about. She’s just a good friend,” he called over his shoulder, waving her goodbye as he left the store. Her smile grew wider.

Oh to be young, So-yi thought to herself. Oh to be so naive.

***

Zen pulled up to the school just as kids in tutus started to filter out the doors, darting towards open arms and stumbling into their parent’s embrace. He smiled fondly, getting out of the car and making his way to find his own little monster.

“Daddy!”

Zen didn’t even have time to turn around when Gi threw herself at him, almost toppling him over, though he managed to save himself with an outstretched arm before he smacked against the concrete. He clutched his chest in feign defeat, crying out dramatically as Gi clambered off, “Oh, the beast has slain me. I will never recover, I am mortally wounded!”

“Dad, stop, you’re not at work right now,’ she tutted, crossing her arms, “Such a drama queen.”

“You’re no fun,” he teased, and she stuck out her tongue in response. “How was ballet?” he asked, grabbing her hand as he started to lead her back to the car, only to be stopped by a tap on his shoulder.

“Excuse me, are you Gi’s guardian?”

Zen’s mouth twitched as he swivelled around, carefully watching Gi in the corner of his eye. She seemed unfazed. Good. “I’m Gi’s father, yes. Is there something I can help you with?”

“Oh yes, of course. My mistake,” she said flatly and turned to the young girl, “Gi, why don’t you go and play whilst I have a quick chat with your dad? It’ll only take a moment.”

Gi looked to Zen and he gave her a subtle nod, an indication for her to go. She ran off excitedly, and Zen started to feel a tad defensive about the situation, “So, what did you need to talk to me about?”

They sat down on a nearby bench in the playground, the teacher crossing her legs and her chin stuck out. She eyed him, almost scrutinisingly as she began to talk, “I wanted to talk to you regarding some…concerns I have about Gi’s progress and behaviour.”

“Right,” Zen began, attempting to keep his expression neutral, “What are these concerns exactly?”

“Well, whilst we always value enthusiasm and freedom of expression, her energy could be considered as, how should I phrase this…uncivilised at times. Of course, we want to encourage our students to embrace their passions, and we want her to continue to dance.

He clenched his jaw and counted to ten, trying with all his might to stay calm. It wasn’t working, “Okay. With all do respect, if you feel that her dancing is, as you say, ‘uncivilised’, then isn’t your job to teach her the ‘correct’ way of ballet?”

If she was caught off-guard by Zen’s bluntness, then she did a brilliant job of hiding it, “There’s only so much we can teach her, Mr Ryu. And any how, we believe that the problems are rooted further than just her lessons.”

“I want to know exactly what you mean by that.”

“Ballet is about grace and precision, there is a femininity to it, whereas Gi currently demonstrates a rather wild and boisterous approach. Gi is at an age where her behaviour is heavily effected by her environment, and therefore we feel that this behaviour may have something to do with her slightly wilder upbringing and life at home-“

Zen had stood up now, fists clenched and breaths staggered, “This is ridiculous, Gi is six years old. If she enjoys to dance, then for Christ’s sake just let her dance her way. This isn’t the Royal Ballet. She is a child.”

“A child with incredible potential, Mr Ryu,” she explained evenly, which did nothing to calm Zen’s vexation, “I wouldn’t have said anything if I didn’t think it mattered. Gi is not like any student I’ve taught before. She has an immense athleticism, and with some discipline, I have faith that she will go far with her ballet. She is capable of great things.”

“I’ve heard enough, you lost me when you brought her home-life into this. You have no right to make comments on her ‘wild’ upbringing. Does she have a typical upbringing? No. Because guess what, it’s pretty damn hard to achieve ‘normal’ when her mother is dead and her biological father is nowhere to be found. Mind your own damn business,” he spat, already walking towards Gi, picking her up and storming to the car.

The drive was eerily quiet, only the sound of Zen’s heavy breaths could be heard as Gi silently watched out the window, blissfully unaware of the event from just before. Zen’s hands were gripping the steering wheel so tight that his knuckles were white, and his teeth were gnawing on his bottom lip in an attempt to prevent himself from shouting his anger at the top of his lungs. He was absolutely fuming.

It had gone from ‘just a day’ to a bad day real quick. He needed to calm down.

He needed to call her.

***

The coffee shop was bustling when MC joined Zen, relief instantly washing over him as he caught a glimpse of her through the glass door. They ordered their drinks, and they settled down at a little table in the corner, Zen’s hands still shaking slightly as he placed his cup down.

For the first few minutes, MC remained quiet. She knew by now that when Zen needed to talk, he really needed to think. So she sipped on her coffee whilst she patiently waited for him to gather his thoughts, and prepared herself to give him her undivided attention. He needed to be heard, so she needed to listen.

As soon as he opened his mouth, the words came tumbling out in an exasperated mess. MC was pretty experienced with Zen’s emotions at this point, but today she could tell that something had really hit a nerve with him. He was passionate with his explanation, but MC also clocked a despair in his voice, an ache in his eyes. Zen wasn’t just angry, he was hurt.

“She just…like what does that have to do with anything? Who has a meeting about a student’s home-life when the child seems perfectly happy at school?” he asked defeatedly, his fingers fiddling with the handle of his cup, “Why can’t they just let her do ballet her way if that’s what she wants.”

MC nodded along, reviewing the situation as she took another sip of her drink, “Well, is it what she wants?” Zen eyed her curiously, so she continued, “You said that the problem was that she is incapable of being elegant and graceful when dancing, but is she incapable or is she unwilling?”

Zen looked down into his now empty cup as he considered MC’s words. He had sat in on many of Gi’s classes, and whilst she always seemed satisfied after class ended, she seemed…frustrated during it. Zen always thought it was because she couldn’t get the moves right, but now he wondered if there was something else at play, “I guess she does always appear discouraged during her lessons, like she’s being held back. But she adores dance, it’s all she talks about. She always says that she likes to move with the music, but ballet just seems too restricting. She’s tried other kinds of dance but she likes how ‘pretty’ ballet is…”

“Has she ever considered figure skating?”

Zen quirked an eyebrow. MC chuckled, “Figure skating. She’ll get to use her power and athleticism so she won’t feel held back, but then she can still incorporate the elegance and ‘prettiness’ of ballet. There’s an ice rink that just opened nearby, you should let her give it a go.”

“I don’t know…I don’t know if it’s best to just stop it all together.” MC gave him a glare. “I just don’t want her to end up like her teacher, MC. She’s so..odd!”

MC placed down her cup and leaned forward on the table, waiting for Zen to focus on her, “Zen, I think it was odd that she brought that up as well, but don’t you think she did it because  she was desperate? Because she knew that Gi was special? Can you not at least let her try it? You never know, she might surprise you.”

Zen sighed, recognising that MC was right. She very well might be a natural, and even if she wasn’t, as least she tried. “Okay, I’ll bring it up with her. Thank you, MC.”

MC merely smiled and dipped her head, clearly not understanding how loaded that ‘thank you’ was.

They continued to chat casually for a while, when Zen quickly had a realisation, “Oh! I meant to ask you, are you free tomorrow night?”

MC’s face dropped a little, a response that was small enough to go unnoticed anyone, but not small enough to go unnoticed by Zen, “I’m sorry, I have plans with Chul tomorrow night.”

Of course, how could he forget? Obviously he couldn’t just assume that she would available any night of the week anymore. She was in a relationship. She was busy.

The dull ache he felt in his chest surprised him, a disappointment that he couldn’t have anticipated. This was the first time that she had other plans, that she didn’t have time for him. Had he taken her company for granted? Had he taken her for granted? Was this, after all they had, the beginning of the end?

But, the end of what, exactly?

“Ah, no worries,” Zen replied easily, his acting skills being put to good use, “It was nothing, just wanted to hang out. How are things going with Chul anyway?”

“Good,” she responded, a smile playing on her lips and her eyes regaining a bit of their usual glimmer, “Really good.”

“I’m glad,” he said and felt a pang of guilt, because Zen didn’t like to lie, and he certainly didn’t like to lie to MC. But he was going to have to get used to it.

The following evening Zen went back to the convenience store, his best shirt on and the two tickets in hand. So-yi watched him curiously, a melancholic expression on her face. Zen walked up to the counter, “Would you like to come with me?”

She smiled sympathetically at him as she mentally connected the dots, “Of course, sweetie. I get off my shift in five minutes. I’ll meet you outside.”

And so they strolled to the bar together, So-yi holding onto Zen’s arm as they laughed and sang through the street. Not many men his age wanted to spend their Friday night with a little old lady like her, but Zen wasn’t most men, which made So-yi’s heart ache a little more for him. He deserved the world.

She didn’t ask about the girl, because she knew that, even if he hadn’t realised it yet, she was someone special, and she had said no.

She’ll come around, So-yi thought.

They always do in the end.

***

“Saeran, come look at this.”

Saeran strolled over to the couch, milkshake in one hand and a soda in the other. Chucking the can to Saeyoung he sat next to him to get a good view of the laptop that was balanced on his twin’s knees, examining the screen as his eyebrows furrowed, “What is this?”

“I-uh…may have done a background check on Chul.”

Saeran sighed, giving his brother a pointed look, “You know MC told you not to. She’s gonna kill you.”

“I know. I know I wasn’t meant to but I just wanted to be sure and-“

“Wait, is this a criminal record?”

Saeran studied the document, taking in every detail, and his heart dropped when a certain set of words caught his eye.

REASON FOR ARREST: Assault

“It says in his notes that he got into a fight at a bar,” Saeyoung added gently, cautious of Saeran’s reaction, “In his statement he said that it was self-defence-“

“They’re together right now, correct?” Saeran said smoothly.

“Um, yeah. MC said they were going ice-skating, but why do you-“

“I’m going out. I’ll be back in an hour.”

“Saeran, you can’t just go and interrogate or beat up the guy. We don’t even know what happened.”

“I’m not going to, I just need to see for myself that he’s okay for MC.”

Saeran didn’t wait for Saeyoung’s reply, instead he just put his hood over his head and marched out the door, missing the look of pure defeat on his brother’s face.

It took him less than half the time it usually took to reach his destination, but as soon as Saeran walked through the automatic doors of the ice-rink, he started his search.

They weren’t in the lobby, and they weren’t in the cafe, so they must still be on the ice. He managed to sneak his way onto the rink without going to the front desk, because of course he could. Saeran had no idea how much longer MC and Chul were going to be there, and he definitely didn’t want them to catch him in the foyer. So, sneaking in it was.

Which, though he would never admit, he found more fun anyway.

After only a few seconds of glancing over the other skaters, his eyes landed on the couple. He was moments away from marching over to them to have a little chat with Chul, but was halted by one thing.

MC’s face.

Saeran had never seen her face so bright, so glowing. Not even when she bought her new apartment, not even on her birthday. Not even when she was with Zen.

Her smile met her eyes, free of restraint and absolutely beaming. And Chul looked the same way, but he was completely enraptured by her, as if he was hanging on to her every word like she was a lifeline to him. They looked happy. They looked in love.

And nobody, especially not Saeran, would ever make that look on MC’s face disappear when it was as rare as rubies. Who was he to judge a man based on his past, anyway? Saeran didn’t know Chul’s story, nor did he know the Chul in front of him particularly well, but he would give him a chance, just like MC had given Saeran a chance.

He’d tell Saeyoung not to worry, but to keep a watchful eye. Because yes, Chul gave MC a spark that had nearly died out, but when there is a spark sometimes it’s hard to see the smoke; and when there’s smoke, there’s fire.

***

Masterlist || Next Chapter

[amerrierworld]

Curtain. (iv)

Carol (2015) fanfiction

Pt: 1 | 2 | 3

Word Count: 1,289

September - just before the first day.

"Yes, yes. I know, Harge. I'm her mother for God's sake, I'm not going to forget anything," Carol grumbled into the phone as she grabbed the last of Rindy's bags from the back of the car.

"Well you better make sure she gets everything she needs, Carol," her ex-husband responded gruffly. "I want her to do well in school."

"Harge, it's first grade. What dire needs would a six-year old have to have? It's not like she's learning calculus."

"Listen, I don't want to have a tantrum-prone child at my house in a month because you decide not to discipline her with the school. They like me over there, you know."

"Yes, you've told me many times, Harge. Just because you have the money to fund that school and make them all lovey-dovey for your spare change does not mean we normal people have money coming out our asses."

"Watch it, Ross. It's still my name in the registration."

Carol pursed her lips, forming a foul expression but deciding not to snap back.

"Anyway, I want her in at least one team. They're very disciplined with their physical education, it'll do Rindy some good."

"What? You can't be serious, Harge. She's too young to be participating with any rigorous sports-"

"And I said she was too young to make her suffer through her parent's divorce, but here we are."

Carol sighed as she closed the car and headed up the steps to the house. "I can't promise anything. When Rindy wants something from that school, she gets it, fine. But if it's not sports, that's just too bad. So don't come blaming me if she wants to play in the band or some crap, okay?"

"Fine."

"I'll bring her over on the last Friday of the month, like we agreed."

"Thank you, Carol." His voice was cold and monotone and Carol summoned all her will power not to throw her phone against the brick wall. She hung up before he could say anything else and pushed through the front door.

"Mommy!" A squeal of delight sounded from the living room as her daughter came bounding towards her. Notorious wine-aunt and babysitter Abigail Gerhard followed closely behind.

"There you are, nitwit. Rindy was beginning to think her mom had been kidnapped."

"Oh nonsense," Carol said, crouching down to pick up her daughter, whose wispy blonde curls were sticking out everywhere. "I've got the last bits of your stuff, sweet pea. Now we can properly arrange your new room."

"Yay!"

"I best get going, Carol. I got you some of those bath salts you really like, I figured you might need some, plus they were on sale, so I had to."

"You're the best, Abby, I can't thank you enough."

Carol gave her best friend a quick peck on the cheek as she passed by her to the front door.

"Good luck with school, kiddo," she ruffled Rindy's hair and gave Carol one last squeeze on her shoulder before exiting the house.

Rindy snuggled in tightly against Carol and her heart felt like it was about to burst. She wrapped her arms tightly around her daughter, kissing the top of her head and letting out a sigh of relief. The bags could wait, she thought.

"It's far too quiet here without Aunt Abby, don't you think? Let's put on some music and I'll make us some dinner."

"Can we listen to Frozen, momma?"

"Of course, sweet pea."

-

After chicken nuggets and a desperate attempt to make Rindy eat some broccoli, her daughter lay tuckered out on Carol's lap, who was watching the news rather than Coco for the fifteenth time. Her legs were stiff but she dared not move from her spot. Rindy had flailed around and danced to endless Disney songs, forcing her mom to dance with her in the kitchen while making dinner.

Now, it was getting late and the way her eyes were straining against the bright TV made Carol realize it was probably time for her to go to bed as well. Eventually she relented and got up, cradling Rindy carefully as to not wake her up before heading to her new bedroom. The bed had been made and Rindy's fairy lights were strung up, but there were still loads of boxes meant to be gone through. The walls were a soft lavender shade with butterfly decorations everywhere; on the walls, lamps, and closet door.

Carol tucked her daughter into bed and wished her a quiet good night before turning the lights out and leaving. She left the door open a crack like she always did and headed to her own bedroom, which seemed much darker and lonelier compared to the toddler's dreamy childhood bedroom.

Carol debated a hot bath to help her relax but decided against it for the sake of sleep. She threw on an old shirt and a pair of boxer briefs to sleep in and crawled to the middle of the large bed, surrounding herself with the thick duvet and ample pillows. The air conditioning made it extra cold in her room and she felt herself trying to get to sleep, but her brain was too preoccupied to let her body shut down.

Carol grabbed her phone, intending to call Abby but remembered that she had a date that evening, which is why she had left so hurriedly. Abby was most definitely already occupied at this time.

Instead, she went to the school's online directory. The title Frankenberg Elementary came up and Carol scrolled through the names of teachers, wanting to remember as many as possible.

Carol and Harge had been huge influences on the school since Rindy started going there. Harge spared no expense in funding many of the school's programs, and consequently gaining immunity for their daughter through power play. Though the thought of it made Carol squirm with guilt, she knew at least now Rindy wouldn't be treated unfairly by the system. Other kids, not so much.

She went straight to the phys-ed tab and up came T. Tucker. Carol sighed, knowing she'd have to face him for another year. Him and Harge had got on swimmingly from the beginning, but Carol had never really enjoyed his company or comments. His female counter part; Mrs. Morgan who taught phys-ed to younger years found him just as insufferable, as she had noted at several PTA meetings.

She went through the regular listings, noting that Robichek was teaching kindergarten again, and thanking heaven that she didn't have to deal with the elderly woman again now that Rindy was out of kindergarten.

A new subheading under Subjects caught Carol's eye; Art. She didn't remember there being a distinct art teacher before; usually it was just doodle or craft assignments assigned by regular teachers.

She clicked.

One name came up.

T. Belivet

Carol blinked at her screen, her eyelids heavy, and frowned. Surely it wasn't the same girl as the shy, petite brunette who had taken photo after photo of Carol which she had pretended not to see? The name seemed too familiar... but what were the chances the girl would be teaching at Rindy's school? Carol scoffed at her own imagined fantasy. It was ridiculous. Abby was right; she ought to get on the dating scene again instead of these desperate fantasies and daydreams.

There was no picture. For all she knew, it could be a relative. If Abby wanted to hire Therese again for the Christmas show, surely she wouldn't have started teaching at a kids' school?

Carol shut off her phone and groaned a little at the ache behind her eyes. It wasn't worth worrying about things that probably meant nothing. She turned over on her side, and curled into a protective ball, determined to get some sleep and give Rindy the best first day.

A/N: My promised Just Pretend pt 2 is coming up after this folks, and then the rest of my queue. I’ve just been on a roll with Carol and Therese that I gotta get some chapters out of my system :3 love you all

[ibijau]

Burn it down AU // on AO3 

today: everyone loves A-Yuan and would go to war for him

warning: mentions of violence against a child

Married life was odd, and not wholly pleasant. The last time Lan Wangji had shared a living space with someone it had been as a child, with his brother. Then, as they'd grown, they had been granted individual spaces, so they would not disturb each other in their studies. Many years had passed since then, but Lan Xichen and him had been similar enough in temperament and habits that no major problems ever arose back then. Even more recently, with A-Yuan, Lan Wangji had found cohabitation easy enough. His son was a quiet, obedient boy who never created trouble. 

Nie Huaisang was not quiet, found it difficult to obey any rules, and did not back off from making trouble. Although he swore there was a method to his madness, to Lan Wangji he just appeared messy. 

Part of that was a difference in sect culture: Qinghe Nie relied on servants to free time for higher purposes, whereas Gusu Lan expected its disciples to deal with a number of menial tasks on their own to teach humility. As a consequence, Nie Huaisang did not even know how to fold his clothes. 

But some of it was also due merely to the fact that Nie Huaisang was, by nature, messy. He left inkstones and paper sheets everywhere. He dropped his clothes on the floor at night and left them there to crease, then complained about it in the morning. 

It was slowly driving Lan Wangji mad. 

Worse, it was creating a bad example for A-Yuan, which Lan Wangji could not tolerate. He often found himself snapping at Nie Huaisang, who mostly ignored him, clearly used to such remarks. 

Still, as weeks passed, they found a balance. Nie Huaisang became more careful to keep his mess out of spaces that visitors might see or that Lan Wangji used. In return, Lan Wangji forced himself to tolerate whatever went on in the parts of the house they had agreed belonged to Nie Huaisang. 

It was not all bad, anyway. Nie Huaisang made excellent tea, and his conversation was not devoid of interest when he bothered to talk about something of value. He appeared to genuinely like A-Yuan and never minded taking time to play with the little boy or to tell him stories. He also understood that sometimes, things were simply too much for Lan Wangji, that the loss of Wei Wuxian, the drift between him and his family, his entire sect even, and the still constant pain in his back, would add up until they were unbearable. When that happened, Nie Huaisang took A-Yuan out of the Jingshi to play with the rabbits or make mud cakes in the rain for a few hours, just so his husband could have a little time to collect himself. Lan Wangji allowed it. To his surprise, he trusted the other man to take care of A-Yuan.

It was harder to trust others, but as time passed, Nie Huaisang became very insistent that A-Yuan needed to be around children his age.

“He’s becoming shyer than the bunnies,” Nie Huaisang pointed out. “It’ll be good for him. If he stays in isolation like this, he’ll just turn out like you, and I’m not going to stand here and watch that happen.”

The way that was said made it seem as if resemblance to Lan Wangji was a fate worse than death.

Lan Wangji thought of his first meeting with Wei Wuxian, of his beloved’s attempts to become friends with him. He had not known how to handle that and had pushed Wei Wuxian away when he’d desperately yearned for his presence, even back then. If he had known better how to be around others, if he hadn’t been so clumsy…

Perhaps Nie Huaisang had a point.

With great reluctance, Lan Wangji agreed that A-Yuan would spend certain days of the week with other children his age as they were taught the basis of cultivation and good behaviour. The little boy was ambivalent at first, but before long he became close to another child and school days became his favourite because he would get to see Lan Jingyi. 

A-Yuan spoke of little else but his new friend (and he was speaking more easily now), and Lan Wangji found himself glad that his son would get to experience a brighter childhood than his own. Aside from his brother, he could not remember being close to anyone until Wei Wuxian came to Cloud Recesses and forced his way into his life.

Things, of course, could not stay good.

It took both more and less time than Lan Wangji expected, but it happened anyway and he felt so ill equipped to deal with it. 

Two months after starting school, A-Yuan was punished by Lan Qiren. 

The punishment was something relatively light, at least by Lan standards and in regard to the crime committed. A-Yuan had been insolent, so he'd received a few swats on the hands with a thin stick. Lan Wangji had rarely committed that particular crime himself, but he had memories of his brother doing it frequently in the weeks after visits to their mother stopped. It had taken a while until Lan Xichen was disciplined back into quiet obedience, but after that he had never spoken out of turn again. Lan Wangji knew this was normal. 

He had thought it was normal. 

Now though, with A-Yuan crying his lap, his little hands striped red, the normalcy of this situation was harder to grasp.

"I just wanted more," A-Yuan sobbed in his arms. "I didn't mean, I didn't mean!" 

That was as much detail as he had gotten out of his son. The senior present when Lan Wangji had retrieved his son had not been present when the punishment happened, and hadn’t known any details.

It must have been a first offence, because A-Yuan was a good boy who learned fast and Lan Wangji had not been informed of any insolent behaviour before. First offences were not usually punished this harshly. Yet Lan Qiren must have wanted to make an example and to show his family did not get preferential treatment. 

It was normal. 

It was unbearable. 

If it had been any other teacher, Lan Wangji would have gone to them and ordered that they never hurt his son again. 

But it was Lan Qiren. It had been ingrained in him since infancy that the venerable teacher's decisions were to be respected, that he understood the Lan ways better than anyone, better certainly some rebellious boy in love with the wrong person. 

A-Yuan needed to be a Lan, it offered him complete protection against enemies outside their sect. 

Lan Wangji only wished he knew how to protect him against enemies within their sect as well. 

They were still sitting on the floor, A-Yuan huddled close in his arms, when Nie Huaisang came home. He had gone out painting, as he often did on days where A-Yuan went to school. He looked as cheerful and carefree as always, and Lan Wangji felt anger flash against his husband. If he hadn't insisted that A-Yuan needed to be around other children… 

"What's going on here?" Nie Huaisang asked when he noticed the odd scene in front of him, still half smiling as he closed the door. "A-Yuan, did you step on a flower again?" 

"He was disciplined," Lan Wangji announced. 

Instantly, Nie Huaisang’s smile dropped, his eyes widening at the news. 

"Who did it?" he asked, his voice so cold that it shocked A-Yuan out of his tears. Nie Huaisang noticed the child looking at him, and immediately his expression changed back to something more mellow as he came closer. "A-Yuan, can you tell Nie-ge what happened?" 

“I asked for more,” the little boy mumbled, raising his hands so Nie Huaisang could see them.

“More what?”

“Rice. I was hungry.”

Lan Wangji’s hold on his son tightened. Even after all this time, even with the guarantee of never missing a meal, A-Yuan still had odd moments when he wouldn’t stop eating as long as he knew there was food to be had. It wasn’t too much of a problem when they were home. Lan Wangji and Nie Huaisang would do their best to calm him and to make sure he didn’t make himself sick. But for such a moment to happen when he was having lunch with the other children, for Lan Qiren to have been there…

He exchanged a look with Nie Huaisang, and saw his anger mirrored. It was already awful to know that A-Yuan had been punished harshly when he was still just learning the ways of Gusu Lan, but for it to be over such a thing… 

"A-Yuan, would it be okay to stay with uncle Xichen a little bit?” Nie Huaisang suddenly said. “Not long, I promise it won't be long at all! But your father and I need to go talk to Master Lan about what happened. I’m very surprised that my favourite little boy could have been bad enough to deserve this." 

"Brother cannot…" Lan Wangji tried to protest, only to be cut short by Nie Huaisang. 

"Nonsense, of course uncle Xichen can. He loves A-Yuan very much, and will be very happy to have him a little. Does A-Yuan want to see his uncle?" 

The little boy hesitated, then nodded slowly. Lan Wangji had not often allowed his brother near his son so far, but it had been enough to make an impression.

Lan Xichen, after all, played a flute.

"Then let's go see him right away!” Nie Huaisang cheerfully exclaimed. “You know, if you ask very nicely, I'm sure uncle Xichen will play music for you. Won't that be nice?" 

Without waiting for an answer, he bent over to pick the little boy from his father’s arms. Lan Wangji resisted a second, holding A-Yuan closer, before allowing it. The sight of Nie Huaisang’s anger was such a new concept, and he was not sure he wanted A-Yuan to be there to see it explode.

The three of them quickly made their way to the Hanshi. Luckily, Lan Xichen was there at that hour. He made a shocked face when Nie Huaisang pushed A-Yuan into his arms, his eyebrows rising in silent interrogation.

“We need you to keep an eye on A-Yuan for a little bit,” Nie Huaisang chirped. “Please, Xichen-gege, can you do this for us? We’ll try to keep it short, but please?”

Lan Xichen’s eyes opened wide and jumped from his brother to his brother-in-law a few times.

“I suppose I can,” he said with some hesitation. “If… if you need, I do not mind keeping him for the night.There is no need to… rush things.”

“It’s fine, I’m hoping to get this over with as quickly as possible,” Nie Huaisang retorted, which made Lan Xichen frown. “Thank you though. A-Yuan, be good and don’t worry: everything will be fine.”

Lan Xichen looked as if he might ask for details, but eventually seemed to decide he would rather not know. Lan Wangji was not sure how wise it would have been to tell him anyway. His brother would probably have sided with their uncle, and he did not want to end up having an argument in front of A-Yuan.

With his son cared for, Lan Wangji and Nie Huaisang headed for Lan Qiren’s house. At that time of the day they would be disturbing his meditation. Nie Huaisang did not appear to care when his husband informed him of this. After seeing A-Yuan’s heavy tears, Lan Wangji was not sure he cared either about what was convenient for his uncle.

For all of his bravado, Nie Huaisang still visibly flinched when Lan Qiren opened the door and glared at them. Most people who had studied under him could never shake a certain fear of the venerable teacher, Lan Wangji had remarked over the years, and Nie Huaisang difficulties with studying meant he’d dealt with Lan Qiren’s severity more often than most.

“May we come in?” Nie Huaisang asked politely, with the most deferential bow Lan Wangji had ever seen him perform. “There is an urgent matter we would like to discuss.”

It would have been rude for Lan Qiren to refuse, or else he would have. Lan Wangji knew his uncle enough to tell he had guessed the reason for their presence, and already resented that some young people barely out of childhood would dare come to his house and question his decisions.

“I will tell you what I tell every parent who thinks their child was unfairly punished,” Lan Qiren said as they followed him inside, looking only at his nephew. “Young ones always twist situations to make themselves look innocent when retelling what happened, but no punishment is ever given in vain. That boy of yours was insolent, and you should be grateful I decided to be lenient.”

Without even realising, Lan Wangji clenched his fists. He thought of A-Yuan crying as heavily as he did after his worst nightmares, of his hands stripped red from the blows he had received.

Lenient indeed.

“How is it insolent for a child to ask for more food?” Nie Huaisang asked innocently.

Lan Qiren startled slightly, as if he had already forgotten his presence, and glared at him.

“He had had enough, and his tone was unacceptable.”

“He told us he was hungry,” Lan Wangji protested.

“Children cannot be trusted,” his uncle retorted. “They have to be taught not to indulge, and to respect their elders. He was breaking both rules.”

Nie Huaisang nodded at that.

“Of course, of course, children need to be taught to respect rules. I’m not sure beating them up works so well. I know from personal experience, it just teaches them to continue doing it and get better at not being caught. But I find that if you explain to them why…”

"I know more about raising children than you," Lan Qiren cut him, his voice making it clear that he considered the conversation had lasted long enough.

Nie Huaisang trembled slightly at that tone, but after a glance toward Lan Wangji he pinched his lips and appeared to find renewed courage.

"Yes, and what a great job you've done with that," Nie Huaisang noted with a sharp smile. "The eldest is a sect leader who can't make a decision unless you or Jin Guangyao are here to tell him what he ought to think. As for the youngest, you've made him so desperate for attention that he almost ran away with a criminal. I hope you see why I don't want you to have a say in my son's education."

"That child isn't…" 

"Marrying his father gives me rights," Nie Huaisang chirped, his voice mellow and sweet in the way poisonous berries might be. "Do you want to check the contract? I looked it over very carefully before signing it, because I know how trustworthy you Lans are. I get a say in the education of any child either of us has, and what I say is this: if you or any teacher ever lays a finger on my son without first consulting with us, I am grabbing both him and his father and returning to Qinghe before the day is over."

The unexpected threat had Lan Qiren’s face turn dark with barely contained anger. For Lan Wangji, the idea of living in Qinghe was hardly any better than having his son hurt, but he carefully kept his expression as neutral as possible. Whatever Nie Huaisang was doing seemed to be having an effect, he would not ruin that.

"The marriage contract also states..." Lan Qiren started.

"It says we would live in Gusu unless forced otherwise by circumstances,” Nie Huaisang cut him. “I promise you I know exactly what to tell my brother to make sure he takes us in without a second hesitation. Politics matter, but my brother will always have other priorities. So think carefully. How badly do you want to beat up that child, and is it really worth angering Chifeng-Zun?"

Lan Qiren glared at him, before turning to Lan Wangji.

“Control your husband.”

“You chose him for me,” Lan Wangji retorted.

“And now I’m telling you to make him behave.”

Lan Wangji took a moment before answering. Not because he was hesitating, but because he knew his uncle would dismiss anything he would say he did not give the illusion of carefully considering the situation.

“I can’t. If he’s upset, he will return to Qinghe and we will have a new enemy.”

His uncle glared at him, then at Nie Huaisang who this time managed not to flinch and even glared right back at Lan Qiren.

“You are going to spoil that child,” Lan Qiren warned. “Considering where he comes from, he needs a firm hand to make sure he doesn’t…”

“We’ll make sure he turns out fine,” Nie Huaisang cut him. “It doesn’t matter where he’s from. A-Yuan is here now, with us, and he’s a good boy who will not be hit again by anyone.”

Nie Huaisang had never asked who A-Yuan’s mother was, nor where the little boy came from. Nobody save Lan Qiren and Lan Xichen knew, and all three of them had agreed the secret needed to be kept. Still Lan Wangji suspected that his husband had guessed the truth. At the very least, he seemed to understand that A-Yuan’s life had been difficult before coming to Cloud Recesses. It was hard to miss when sometimes, the little boy’s nightmares would wake them in the middle of the night.

“Fine. Do it your way,” Lan Qiren conceded with great reluctance. “I’ll give instructions to the teachers, that boy of yours is not to be touched. But in half a year I will assess the situation and if he has been making trouble, he will be brought back to proper discipline.”

Lan Wangji looked at his husband, who stared at him expectantly, as if to say the choice would be his. An easy choice to make. He trusted A-Yuan to be a good child. Even if he wasn’t, they would have won six months during which no one would be using violence on his son. It was the best deal they were going to get.

Lan Wangji felt much lighter when they left his uncle’s house, relieved by a victory he had not expected. The political situation must have been more tense than he had realised if Lan Qiren was willing to compromise rather than to risk angering Nie Mingjue. With the loss of Wei Wuxian, Lan Wangji had considered that politics no longer concerned him, but perhaps he would still need to be more attentive than he wanted to be.

For now though, all that mattered was that he would be able to promise his son nobody would hurt him again, and know it would be true for a few months at least.

"I know I'm not his father," Nie Huaisang hesitantly said as they walked away. "I know he's your son, not mine, and I wouldn't pretend otherwise when we're in private! But this… Finally I'm in a position to take a stand and I couldn’t… I don't like seeing children be hurt."

Lan Wangji slowed down for a moment, and looked at his husband. Nie Huaisang appeared worried, as if he thought he had overstepped some boundary. Considering how protective Lan Wangji tended to be over his son, it was not an unfounded fear. But Nie Huaisang had never been anything but surprisingly patient with A-Yuan, and he seemed to sincerely care for the little boy.

He did not mind if Nie Huaisang made claims over his son in public, he decided. He did not mind either if this husband of his truly had a hand in raising Wei Wuxian’s child, either.

“Hm. Thank you for helping.”

Apparently reassured, Nie Huaisang’s smile quickly returned.

“Let’s get him back and have dinner in the Jingshi? I really don’t feel like going to the common halls and seeing your uncle’s face again. Once in a day is already too much!”

“Hm,” Lan Wangji agreed. It had been a difficult day, and a quiet dinner at home sounded quite nice.

In the end though, they spent the evening in the Hanshi. Lan Xichen had already ordered for food to be brought there for him and his nephew, apparently convinced that Lan Wangji and his husband would leave the child to him for the entire night. He would not say why he believed they would do something of the sort, when they had said they would pick up A-Yuan as quickly as possible. Nie Huaisang seemed very amused by his brother-in-law’s surprise at their early return, but he did not comment on it.

Still, it was not a bad evening. Lan Wangji spent most of it with A-Yuan on his knees, either listening to his son chattering about the less unpleasant part of his school day or observing a game of Go between his husband and his brother. They only went home when A-Yuan fell asleep on his lap, exhausted by this too long day.