#it's nothing that big anyway just a major inconvenience

[miserye]

i hate life and it hates me equally

[daisyvisions]

✦ Day 23 - Squirting

‧⋆ ✧˚₊‧⋆. Pairing: Cam!boy roommate Haknyeon x inexperienced afab!reader

‧⋆ ✧˚₊‧⋆. Word Count: 2K

‧⋆ ✧˚₊‧⋆. Warnings: Smut (18+, minors DNI), squirting, fingering, groping, dirty talk, livestream porn (?), choking (if you squint), Haknyeon referring to reader as “honey” majority of the time. Reader feels insecure for a moment. Proofread once, hope you enjoy!

‧⋆ ✧˚₊‧⋆. A/N: If you saw this being posted late… you didn’t… Anyway! Felt like the direction of this story needed to change but I ended up liking it a lot. We need more Hak fics in tbzblr! 😭

‧⋆ ✧˚₊‧⋆. Network: @deoboyznet

✦ Kinktober Masterlist ✦

“This is a bad idea…”

You mumbled to yourself as you paced back and forth in front of Haknyeon’s room. Nibbling on your nails trying to find the right moment to knock on his door.

Your roommate Haknyeon (god bless his wonderful soul), was the best roommate you could ever ask for. He practically did almost everything you asked him and always did his side of the apartment chores on time.

He even paid for three-fourths of the monthly rent! Well, to be fair that money did come from his side gig… which was being a popular cam boy.

It wasn’t something he hid from you, he was very straightforward about it because he didn’t want you to feel uncomfortable or suddenly catch him doing something you weren’t supposed to see.

Haknyeon was even worried the day you two talked about sharing the apartment that you might even back out as soon as he said what he does for a living. But you weren’t one to judge. Surprising yes but you held his hands that day and told him it’s nothing to be ashamed of.

And from that moment on Hakyneon was truly grateful for having you in his life.

You knew was one of his livestreams was happening at this moment. He told you his schedule as soon as you moved in just to avoid any inconveniences between you two.

You felt like you were gonna leave carpet burns from all your pacing. You mentally slapped yourself in the face and decided that it’s now or never.

You knocked on the the door three times waiting for his response. Before you could even knock on the door again you saw the doorknob turn slowly, making you even more nervous at how slow this was going.

“Hey!” Haknyeon greets you through the small crack, enough for you to see his flushed out face and the robe covering his body. “Did you need something from me?”

“I-uh.” The rehearsed words were getting stuck in your throat.

This was a bad idea.

“I’m not being too loud am I?” You can see the slight worry in his eyes.

“Oh no not at all! Not like that one time...” You blushed looking down at your feet.

“I- I was gonna- well, I was wondering-” You continue to stutter.

“Honey you’re scaring me, are you okay?”

“Shit you’re gonna laugh at me for this-” You cover your face with your hands as small tears begin to fall from your eyes.

Haknyeon quickly shuffles his feet to go out of his room for a moment. He gently grabs your wrists and pulls them away to see your face.

“Look at me.” He holds your face in his hands as you stare at the ground, trying not to make this worse than it already is.

“Talk to me please? What’s going on?” His thumbs caress your face. Somehow this gesture calms you down and look up him, his gentle eyes easing your rapid heartbeat. You let out a big sigh before finally saying what you needed to say to him.

“I-I watched one of your livestreams o-one night-” You pause for moment but you can already see Haknyeon’s cheeks slowly blush again like yours.

“-and well… I don’t really have much experience o-on those kinds of t-things…”

“I- I was wondering if maybe… maybe you could teach me how?” You look into his eyes waiting for his response.

Haknyeon’s eyes grew wider, he felt frozen in his place as soon as you asked him that question. You easily mistook Haknyeon’s silence as a form of rejection, making you cry a little more. Who would want you like that anyway?

“Never mind. This was a bad idea.” You tried to pull away from him, but his hold on your face became firmer, enough to signal you to stay put but not enough to hurt you.

His eyes suddenly soften and he lets out a sigh of contentment.

“It would be an honor to teach you-” He leans to kiss your forehead and you both giggle.

“Let me just wrap up my session and then I can-”

“Actually, I was thinking- if you wanted- you could do it during your live session…” You whisper.

“…Are you sure that’s what you want?” He looks into your eyes, making sure he heard you clear. You nod your head in response.

“I’m gonna need you to say words, can’t let you in my stream if you don’t give me your full consent. Are you sure about this?” He asks you once again.

“Yes. Yes I’m really sure about this.” You respond.

“Okay, let's go.”

“Sorry for the wait guys, but we have a special guest joining us tonight.” Haknyeon speaks to the camera, adjusting it lower so it’s only focused on his body. Gratefully, his cam shows were the type to never show his face so he made sure yours would not be seen too.

You're seen in the background but blurred out from how far you were from the camera. Already stripped down to your underwear as Haknyeon instructed you to do.

“C’mon now, don’t be shy.” He turns his chair for a bit to motion you to come forward. You take slow steps, trying to breathe slowly as you walk towards him. You can’t believe this was happening right now.

He held your waist and made you sit on his lap, already feeling his slightly hard erection under his boxers nestling between your ass.

“Now everyone, this is my friend. Can you say hello to everyone?” You show a small little wave and let out a small hi. You can already see a few comments saying how cute you are, how beautiful your body looks, and a couple of “it should’ve been me 😩”.

“Okay before we begin, my friend here asked me to teach her a few things. She’s new to all of this so please be nice in the comments alright?” He says to the camera before looking at you.

“What do you want to learn today honey?” His lips dangerously close to yours.

“Well… I wanna learn how to properly t-touch myself…” You shyly reply.

“Lucky for you, I’m the perfect person to teach you that. Isn’t that right everyone?” He smiles.

“Okay, just look at my screen as I teach you so it’s easier that way. Can you do that?” You respond with a small “mhm”.

Haknyeon tilts your head to face his as he leans to kiss you. And god do his lips feel like heaven.

He starts off with small pecks gradually turning them into deeper kisses. When he slips in his tongue and twirls it in your mouth, you instantly moan.

“Mmm..” He groans into your mouth, continuing to make out with you as his hands slowly go up to squeeze your breasts. The act making you squirm a bit on his lap, unintentionally rubbing your ass on his covered cock.

“You’re so pretty when you make those sounds.” He mumbles against your lips. “And they’re all just for me.”

He dives in to kiss your neck, sucking on the sensitive skin and he unclasps your bra and pinches your hardened nipples. You moan even louder at how he touches you.

“You like that honey? Like it when I play with you like this?” His hot breath whispering in your ear.

“M-more…” You whine, your head starting to get dizzy from how slow and sensual his touches are.

“I’ll give you more, only if you say please-” He nips a sensitive part of your neck, making you yelp in surprise. “Please, give me more…” You beg.

“Such a good and behaved girl.” He licks the part he slightly bit.

You feel his hands sliding down the sides of your body until he hooks his fingers to the waistband of your underwear, signaling you to help him remove the small piece of clothing. After, his hands make their way to your inner thighs slowly spreading your legs apart. He gently runs two fingers between your folds, making you gasp at the sensation.

“Look at that everyone, see how wet she is for me?” He says in your ear but at the same time talking to his audience.

“Okay honey, open your eyes and look at the screen.” You do as he says, watching him slowly spread your folds apart with his fingers.

“You see this here?” He points to your sensitive bud with his free hand.

“This is your clit, think of it as a magic button. When you rub on it like this-”

He begins to circle your throbbing clit while still spreading your folds apart with his other hand for you to see clearly what he’s doing to you. “-it makes you feel really good.” You moan at the touch.

“You can move it slowly like this-” He continues to rub it gently. “Or… You can move it faster like this-” He quickens the movement of his fingers. You moan at the sudden increase in pace.

“Oh you like that? Like it when I make it rough?” He tuts.

“Yes, yes please, faster. Faster Ha-” You nearly say his name until he firmly grabs your throat, looking you with stern eyes to warn you about your little slip up.

You slightly panic at nearly revealing his name but at the same time your eyes start to become hazy at the pressure of his hand around your neck.

All you can hear are the coin sounds chiming from the livestream, audiences rapidly donating to the hot scene unfolding in front of them.

“Better behave honey, or else I can’t give you what you want-” He whispers for only you to hear.

You continue to pant and moan as he continues to play with your clit roughly, your arousal coating his fingers by the second.

“Feels so good…” You moan out.

“Can't believe I get to do this to you. Thinking about playing with your sweet little pussy while I fist my cock at night.” He groans, lifting his hips to push his hard bulge deeper into your ass.

“Please honey- Can I keep playing with you like this all the time?” He whines.

“Uh-huh.” You start to squirm in place, your hips rolling trying to get in more friction from his fingers.

“Fuck, I’m cumming!” You shout, you shudder as your body becomes overwhelmed with all these sensations happening. Haknyeon continues to rub circles on your sensitive bud, making you squirm under his grasp even more.

“I-I don’t feel so good-” You whine. “Feel like I’m gonna- ugh!” You scream, suddenly crying moans echoing through the room as fluids gush out from your body.

“Oh fuck-” Haknyeon watches the sight before him. He just made you squirt for the first time… and in front of people watching too.

More pings and coin sounds chiming, you couldn’t read what the comments were saying by how fast they were moving but by the looks of Haknyeon’s face, you could tell it was a good sign.

Haknyeon’s fingers stop circling your bud, hands now soothing your inner thigh as he plants kisses on your neck.

“You did so good honey.” He whispers in your ear.

“Thank you.” You look at him with fucked out eyes as he kisses your forehead, your tired body laying against his.

“Looks like I'm out of business, everyone loves you instead of me now.” He smiles while pointing his lips to the screen. You try your best to read the comments but all you could remember seeing were things like, “🥵🥵🥵”, “she needs to be on the show again”, “get in line, she’s mine 😤”

“What do you think honey? Wanna be part of my streams?” A glimmer of hope shining in his eyes.

When you nod he kisses you passionately, pressing your hips down to feel his aching cock against your ass,

“Good, because that was just the beginning…”

[kiyosamu]

Then & Now. ♡

——— ♡ ———

Pairing: Osamu Miya x Reader

Genre: Fluff! Angst if you squint? Maybe? High school sweethearts who reunite as adults. ♡

——— ♡ ———

Growing up, the idea of a first love was embedded into your mind with theatric-like imagery. A dramatic, beautiful first kiss. Loud, screaming arguments over unwarranted jealousy. Passionate, intense declarations of love for the entire world to hear. A love that felt so real it physically hurt. A love that, when it came to it’s inevitable demise, would stick to you for the rest of your life, leaving you wondering “what if…?”.

That’s what you thought, anyway, until you’d experienced it first-hand.

Your relationship with Osamu was nothing like that. In fact, it was almost too easy. A fast forming friendship in your first year blossoming into a romantic relationship as high school seniors. You two just… clicked.

When the two of you made things official, it wasn’t the grand proposal you’d hoped for. Instead, it was Osamu waking up next to you with a sleepy smile and incoming hangover asking you the classic “what are we?”. You simply smiled back, knowing damn well the night before that the liquid courage had run through both of you to the point of confessing your true feelings and realizing they were mutual.

Osamu was comfortable. He was carefree, but not recklessly. He paid attention in school and had priorities, but didn’t let small things bother him. “Don’t worry about it” he’d say, pulling you against him with an arm around your waist. “I’ll take care of it.” “It’s no big deal.” “It’s fine.” “Just leave it to me.”

Dependable, reliable Osamu who always seemed to fix any major or minor inconvenience in your life with a simple solution and saving you from yourself for the zillionth time.

Despite the positives of your relationship, even you couldn’t dodge the cliché “we’re going to different colleges, so let’s break up” trope. You talked it over, mutually deciding it’d be too stressful to continue your relationship when you were going to school 6 hours away. You spent your last few days together as if everything was normal, and then you just… left.

“Too bad.” His gaze dropped to the floor, a bittersweet smile crossing his lips. “We coulda had a real nice life together.”

You nodded and laced your fingers in his.

“It was nice while it lasted, though.” Osamu sighed, looking down at you. Your eyes met his, only for a moment, before you fully embraced him and soaked in every ounce of him. Muffled, barely audible words came from your lips as you pushed your face into his chest.

“It was nice while it lasted.”

But it didn’t hurt like you’d expected it to. You didn’t want it to. Your relationship with Osamu was wonderful. He was perfect for you, and the two of you shared so many incredible memories. You smiled when you thought back to one of your silly inside jokes. Felt warm when you saw anything that reminded you of him.

While you started casually dating other people in your second year of college, Osamu didn’t do the same. He was busy opening a restaurant and supporting his brother, information that you’d collected from his few and far between Facebook updates. Other than that, you hadn’t really spoken since the day you’d left.

The years flew by, and just like you’d promised your family, you moved back home the day after your college graduation.

Various relatives cooed over you, commenting on how different you looked, how proud they were of you, hurling questions at you the moment you stepped inside that you instantly regretted returning after such an eventful week.

“Where are you going? You just got home!” You mom called as she watched you lace up your shoes from the other room.

“Out. I’ll be back soon.”

That stressful evening is how you’d ended up at a dodgy, dimly lit bar two streets down that had always piqued your interest as a teenager. You and Osamu had promised to go there together when you were younger, both of you making up silly theories about what lied beyond the doors.

You chuckled into your drink as you remembered the conversations and compared them to reality.

“I wonder if it’s some kinky strip club.” Osamu smirked, “Ya know, like with ropes and handcuffs and stuff?”

“Do those exist? Strip clubs just for stuff like that?” You squeezed his hand and jumped up on to the sidewalk.

“I dunno. Anything’s possible. Better than your theory.” He teased. “An illegal animal sanctuary? Where’d ya even come up with that one?”

“Hear me out! I bet there’s some old man who has like, 17 tigers, an alligator, and a polar bear. Nowhere to keep them.” You stopped at the crosswalk, grabbing his cheeks so he looked straight at you. His eyes were wide with amusement and a massive grin was plastered across his face. “Picture it, ‘Samu. Really think. Can you see it? He probably lives there and just takes care of his exotic animals in secret.”

“Right.” He snorted, “And how do you explain the customers?”

You raised an eyebrow. “Have you ever actually seen anyone enter or leave that building?”

“Well, I-“ He stopped, pausing to think for a moment. “Ya know what? No. I haven’t.”

You tugged him into the crosswalk when the light changed and marched away proudly. “Exactly. Point proven. It’s a front.”

The two of you spent the rest of your walk home from school that day laughing and debating what kinds of animals the theoretical old man was hiding in the fake bar.

Osamu’s laugh was something you’d heard many times, but never gotten tired of. His laugh was infectious; deep and loud and right from his chest. A laugh that would cause anyone to smile just from being around it.

A laugh that you recognized the moment you heard it.

You spun around on the bar stool, drink still in hand, in complete disbelief as the man who you were just thinking about was practically summoned in front of you. What a coincidence - you made a mental note to call your old roommate and tell her that her manifestation theories might not be bogus after all.

“Ain’t that somethin’,” Osamu whistled, taking off his hat to reveal his natural hair colour and giving you a playful nudge. “Didn’t know I’d run into ya here.”

“You didn’t?” You smiled.

“Had no clue.”

You pulled out your phone, showing him your most recent social media post. It was a photo of your drink, the location tagged with a passive caption about returning home.

“You didn’t see this?” You snorted when he shook his head no.

“Osamu Miya liked your post. Explain that.” You pointed directly at your most recent notification, showing that Osamu had definitely seen it 20 minutes prior.

“Hackers. Gotta be.” You felt a wave of nostalgia wash over you as you indulged in his sarcastic banter. “‘Cuz it’s clearly a coincidence that I just happened to show up to the same shitty bar on a certain Tuesday night.”

“You’re such a fuck.” You laughed, “Be serious.”

“Obviously I knew.” He rolled his eyes playfully and waved down a waitress. “Just wasn’t sure if you were gonna talk to me.”

“Why wouldn’t I talk to you?” You took a sip of your drink and watched him as he ordered his own. The way he carried himself was different. Subtle, but different. Confident and unapologetically himself.

He shrugged. “Just didn’t think you wanted to. I never heard from ya after you left.”

You blinked at him. “I kinda thought that’s what you wanted. That’s why I never reached out.”

“Why would I want that?” He thanked the waitress and took a sip of his drink the moment she handed it to him.

“I dunno. I just assumed since you didn’t say anything to me after I left.”

“So you’re tellin’ me we didn’t talk because we both thought the other didn’t want to?” Osamu’s question wasn’t really even directed to you, if anything, he was talking out loud to himself.

You were the first to crack up. “I guess so.”

“Hah.” He chuckled, “How stupid is that?”

“…Pretty stupid.”

He shook his head, smiling and silently cursing himself for allowing a little breakup and a few hours distance ruin the best relationship with someone he’d ever had, dating or not.

“Well, whatever. We’re here now. Wanna hang out?”

You almost choked on your drink. You weren’t expecting to see Osamu at all, let alone expecting to be hanging out with him on your first day back after four years of radio silence.

But you didn’t even think twice.

“Of course I do.”

The two of you picked up where you left off and it was as if you’d never even gone away. The connection was instant.

“You dyed your hair brown.” You smiled, reaching up and ruffling it in between your fingers. “It looks good.”

“I’d be worried if it didn’t.” He smiled wide but got lost in your gaze for a few seconds, studying your expression carefully. He took a careful look at you while sipping his drink. “You look good. Every bit of ya.”

“Thanks, ‘Samu.” You felt your cheeks get warm and turned away. A feeling you hadn’t experienced since high school.

“Wanna go for a walk?”

Before you could answer, Osamu set some cash on the bar and grabbed your hand. Again, it was familiar, but felt different. Stronger. Bigger. His hand completely engulfed yours and you wondered if he knew how tight he was holding you.

The two of you walked down the road for a few minutes, silently, soaking in the past two hours spent catching up with each other.

He stopped in front of a building a few blocks down, nodding up at it so you’d take a look. You knew instantly where you were.

“I still can’t believe you actually did it.” You looked back and forth from his proud stance to the large sign above the door reading “Onigiri Miya”.

“Let me show ya inside.”

He took you around the back, unlocking the door and flicking on the lights as he came in. The light was warm and the restaurant was inviting. Warm, inviting, comfortable… everything Osamu had always been.

“It’s so cozy in here.” You ran your hand across the clean countertop. As you paced through the kitchen, you walked around the barrier separating the staff area from the main dining room. “Reminds me of your Mom’s house in here.”

“In a good way, right?” He followed closely behind, not wanting to interrupt your first impression too much.

“Of course.” You turned around, beaming a smile at him. “I always loved coming over. You know that.”

He nodded. “Guess I’ll have to have ya over again sometime. I’m sure Ma would love to see you.”

“I’d love to see her, too.” You picked up and put down all of the little trinkets and decorations Osamu had laid out in his restaurant. A small MSBY mascot bobble head, various culinary contest awards, cute little stickers with the restaurant logo, and a stuffed alligator eating a mini onigiri.

“Hm.” You hummed, picking up the alligator. “Now all you’re missing is 17 tigers and a polar bear.”

Osamu blinked at you.

“Sorry.” You laughed awkwardly, “You must not remember. It’s nothing-“

“That’s the exact reason I have that.” He smiled, walking over and taking the alligator from you. “I had it handmade. Even named it after ya.”

“Shut up.”

“M’serious.” Osamu’s confident demeanour almost disappeared as he appeared bashful for just a moment. A small moment, but you still saw it.

Osamu ended up pouring you a drink while you continued to talk. He leaned over the counter as you sat at the bar opposite of him, your faces only a few inches apart.

“I still can’t believe you remembered that.” You said quietly before taking a sip.

“Of course I remembered it. I couldn’t forget the silly shit you say even if I wanted to.” He teased, “Plus, I had to walk by that place every day after you left. Made me think of ya every time.”

“Silly shit, huh?” You raised an eyebrow, “You’re the one who thought it was a strip club.”

Osamu blinked at you. “That’s much more believable than being an old man’s exotic animal sanctuary.”

“Okay, okay, fine!” You didn’t realize how stupid the conversation was until he said it like that. The two of you broke into a fit of laughter just like you used to.

You looked at Osamu, the top of his cheeks squishing just under his eyes, loud, deep laughs filling the room and suddenly you’d never felt such an overwhelming feeling of… home.

Osamu looked back at you. His ash-coloured eyes studied your expression.

“Hey, do ya need a job?”

You hadn’t been home long, so you’d barely even thought of that. You had planned to take things a day at a time and try to find a career with your education, but your degree was hard to find employment with right away. Opportunities and internships were there, but there was no way you’d be getting an actual, paying job right away.

“…Yes?”

“Wanna work here?” He leaned in closer, “I don’t go around offerin’ just anyone a job at my high class establishment, ya know.”

“Something with the way you said that makes me feel like this is a joke.” You smirked.

“I’m just foolin’ around. I do need someone though. Wanna try it, at least? Tomorrow for dinner? I’ll show ya what it’s all about.”

You agreed. If anything, you wanted to see how Osamu ran his restaurant.

——— ♡ ———

The next evening, you entered through the back door just like he’d told you to.

“Osamu?” You called, immediately met with a response to come in the kitchen.

“Sorry, darlin’, couldn’t meet ya at the door. Doing prep for tonight.” He gestured down to the cutting board in front of him, “Wanna try?”

You quickly put down your things and washed your hands. When you took the knife from Osamu’s hand, he hesitated for a moment before giving it to you.

“It’s sharp.”

“I know.”

“You gotta be careful. It’s a real chef’s knife.”

“I know.”

“Go for it, then.”

You held your breath before getting to work, chopping up the onions quickly and stopping when you felt a hand on top of yours. Osamu was directly behind you, towering over you and pressing his chest into your back.

“‘Samu-“

“You’re gonna slice your hand off if ya keep cutting like that.” He muttered. You could feel the vibration of his low voice and were suddenly hyper-aware of the current situation.

“What’s wrong with my technique?” You huffed.

“You don’t have any technique.” Osamu snorted, “Don’t ya remember when I taught ya like… a million years ago?”

“I do remember you teaching me.” You leaned back into him, “I also remember you never letting me prepare or cook any food ever again after that day. So I could never practice my new skill.”

Osamu hummed in amusement. “Not even in college?”

You spun around, Osamu set the knife down safely on the table but caged you in with his arms. He looked down at you with a smirk. “Hm?”

“I’ll have you know, I didn’t cook a single time in college.” You declared. “You’d know that if you’d talked to me.”

Osamu sighed, hanging his head down on your shoulder. “We’ve already gone over this.”

“I know, I know. I’m just teasing you.”

He lifted his head back up, only a few inches from your face. You felt like the breath was taken directly out of your lungs when all you could think about was kissing him. You wanted to reach out and touch his muscular arms just for him to get greedy and grab you wherever he wanted.

“Miya-san?”

You froze, both of you wide eyed in surprise at the sound of a much younger voice. A young man, most likely freshly graduated from high school, stood beside the two of you as you remained in the compromising position.

Osamu pulled back, and both of you stood up straight.

“I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to interrupt-“

“It’s okay, ya didn’t interrupt.”

He did, you thought, but you were silently thankful for that. Every ounce of self control that remained was about to fly out the window had you stayed like that for even a few seconds more.

His small group of employees started to file in and prepare the restaurant further for dinner. You retreated to Osamu’s office and laid down on the couch.

Osamu would have a couch in his office.

You listened as Osamu instructed his team. Taught the younger staff how to tune their skills, taking the time to show them with nothing but patience and positivity. The same comforting presence he always had.

You missed that.

You missed him.

“Hey.” Osamu walked into his office and shut the door behind him. “Finished prep, sorry it got a bit crazy. Didn’t realize we were so close to workin’ hours, thought we would’ve had more time before everyone else got in.”

“It’s fine.” You shook your head, “No need to apologize. It’s really cool seeing you in your element.”

“Ya think?” He couldn’t hide his grin. He stood in front of you, leaning back slightly with his hands on his desk behind him. “I like workin’ here.”

“Well, that’s good. I’d hope so.”

Osamu agreed with a chuckle and sat down next to you.

“Can I tell ya somethin’?”

He sat with his arm around back of the couch, which was technically around you, now. You looked up at him and nodded silently.

“I, uh-“ He shook his head, it was clear he was trying to say something but it was difficult. “I really missed ya.”

“I missed you too-“

“No, like…” He sighed, “I really… really missed ya. I tried goin’ on dates with other women. Didn’t get along with any of ‘em. I always compared ‘em to you. I waited for you to finish school, to see if you’d come back home, and you did. It felt like a sign or somethin’. So when I saw you at the bar last night,” He paused, “Totally, completely coincidentally, I may add.”

His serious tone turned lighter as you smiled at his words.

“I just had to talk to ya. And now that I did, it feels like when we were kids, ya know? Just the way that I always wanted you around. Wanted to spend time with ya, hell, you have no idea how badly I just wanted to kiss ya when we were in the kitchen earlier-“

“‘Samu.”

“I don’t even know why I let our breakup happen in the first place. Usually I would’ve just said we could work through it. But I guess I wanted ya to grow on your own, too. To not have me encourage ya every step of the way. Not that I don’t like to do that, but I wanted to show ya that you don’t need me either. That you’re incredible and strong all on your own.”

“Osamu.”

“But then I realized I didn’t have to do that. We didn’t have to break up for us to grow into who we are on our own. By then it was too late, though. But you just looked so happy. I never wanted to mess with that. So I didn’t bother ya, and now that I’m lookin’ at ya as an adult I’m just so fuckin’ proud of ya, of all of your accomplishments and the way you carry yourself. You’re just-“

“Osamu.”

“Yeah?”

You reached up and wiped a single tear drop falling down his cheek.

“You’re crying.”

“Oh, shit.” He turned away, wiping his eyes quickly and looking back at you. “I’m sorry. Man, I just started pourin’ my heart out to ya and couldn’t stop.”

“It’s okay.” You leaned in, wrapping your arms around his shoulders. You felt him let out a heavy exhale as he pulled you on top of his lap and right against him.

“I missed ya.” He sighed, nuzzling his face into the crook of your neck. “So much. Fuck.”

You tried to respond but you were choked up. You hadn’t realized you were crying, either.

He lifted his head up and looked directly at you. Osamu’s smile was kind, his expression vulnerable and it warmed your heart just looking at him.

“I missed you, too.” You said quietly.

“Really?”

“Yes, really!” You pulled back, planting the palms of your hands on his chest. “You have no idea how much I missed you, ‘Samu. Every day I waited for you to call me. But I thought you didn’t want to. So I finally accepted it and tried to move on. But like you said, I couldn’t actually do that. Nobody compares to you.”

Osamu hummed in agreement, resting his hands comfortably on your hips.

“It’s nice to hear ya say that.”

“Speaking of that,” You smirked, “Did I hear you say you wanted to kiss me in the kitchen?”

“Oh, yeah, you did.” He blinked up at you, absolutely no hesitation in his response. “I wanted to real bad.”

Your last strand of self control snapped the moment you heard those words. You leaned down, pressing your lips to his and instinctively tangling your fingers in his hair.

His voice rumbled low in his throat as he wrapped an arm around your lower back, pulling you against him as tight as possible while he stood up.

“Osamu!” You giggled, wrapping your legs around him. “Don’t-“

“I won’t drop ya, baby.” He assured you, pressing his lips back to yours. The sweet name of endearment made your heart melt and all you could think about in that moment was him. “Not now, not ever. Never again. You’re stuck with me.”

———

AN: Thanks so much for reading! I didn’t proofread this more than once, so please excuse any mistakes. I wrote this two years ago and forgot how much I loved it. God, timeskip Osamu is such a husband. ♡

[ghostandkonigsmaus]

Could you do a fic/oneshot idk about Ghost and reader going for a walk or going to some store

I have the hc that Ghost doesn't wear the skull balaclava if he's not working or with the 141, so he wears a black surgical mask but you can write he however you want. Anyway, a group of teenagers pass by them and give Ghost dirty looks, he notices and is like "Hey reader, are you sure you like going out with me?" Moving away from her a little so the others don't look weird at her

Meanwhile she's like 🤭I have guard dog privileges, my bf is so handsome🤭 lol just fluff after that

-🍓

READER IS REFERED TO AS FEMALE

TW! THIS FIC INCLUDES: Angst with a happy ending (nothing too bad! just a tiny bit of angst), fluff, bullying?

Word count: 721 words

A/N: Tysm for all of the asks and support that has been and are being sent to me! I can't describe how greatful I am for it all, I'm currently working on asks and a ghost fic I plan to put out soon, as long as there are no major disruptions! :3

--------🎀--------

You and Ghost had decided to take a stroll to the local mall because he wanted to treat you; a weekly occurrence because he just loves his little girl so much. You look up at him in admiration as you cling onto his muscular but soft arm whilst walking to the next shop. Your eyes slid down from his eyes, to the surgical mask he was wearing, you could just about make out his smile as he proudly walked with you and carried your bags. When you and ghost were out, he preferred to wear a simple, black surgical mask instead of the skull balaclava he wears when he's with tf141: he didn't want to scare anyone, especially the innocent little children, he couldn't bare it.

You and ghost approach a big group of teenagers and ghosts grip on your waist tightened, pulling you closer to him so you don't get lost. The mall was already so busy and this extra congestion just served as a major inconvenience. As you walked past them, they began to point and snicker at ghost, shooting him dirty looks. Your heart breaks into tiny little pieces as you watch his proud smile drop into an ashamed look. You both continue to walk past the group but Ghost moves away from you, releasing your grip on his arm. You try to regain your hold on him but he moves further away, eyes set on your destination. You resort to lightly tugging on the hem of his shirt and thankfully, he finally looks at you.

"Si... Is everything okay?" You asked softly. Ghost looks into your eyes and his heartstrings tug at the look of love and admiration, but also worry in your eyes. He doesn't deserve this; you're too good for him.

"Y/N... are you... are you sure you want to be with... someone like me?" he chokes out hesitantly, tears gathering along his waterline, "like, are you sure you like it?" You didn't think it was possible for your heart to break any more than what it did earlier but hearing Simon say such derogatory things about himself truly brought upon feelings of sadness you didn't even know existed. "It's just that I'm not the best person you could be with, there's so many men out there, more normal than me and well you choose to be with me but I just don't think that-"

"Si." You cut him off. You guide him over to a safer, less congested area and you stop walking. You place your hands on his biceps and you just look at him as you smile. "Simon, you are the best person I've ever met. I don't want someone else, I want you," You bring your hands up to his shoulders, "you make me feel so many emotions that I can't even begin to explain, you make me feel so safe." Tears find their way back into Simon's eyes but this time, not because of sadness.

"When you do your little habits, it makes me love you even more because I remember how perfect you are. Let them stare, let them giggle and make snarky remarks, because it doesn't matter. What matters is how amazing you are and how much of your heart and soul you put into loving me. You are everything and more of what I could ever wish for. You are my handsome, kind, caring boyfriend who wouldn't hurt a single thing outside of work." You bring your hands up to his cheeks to wipe away his tears and you place a soft kiss on his lips. "I love you, Simon Riley." You say as you pull away. Simon smiles at you and brings you in for a tight hug."I love you too, Y/N" he takes a deep breath to calm himself down. "Mmh, lovie, you're the best thing that's ever happened to me. Words can't describe how much I love you."

You pull away and smile back at him as your arms find their way back to his. You hold on tight and you two continue to walk along the mall, but this time, Simon won't shy away in fear of embarrassing you; he will stand next to you, no longer ashamed of himself and proud of having a girlfriend as amazing as you.

[elizais]

nothing else, only you

chuuya x reader fluff/comfort warnings: ??, this is short sorry dividers by v6que

god, it had been an awful day for you. it was not just one major thing, you couldn't pinpoint one event that had solely ruined your day. the plethora of different factors that creeped into a mountain of issues towered over you like a looming, dark shadow. just one last inconvenience could push your tears over the edge of your waterline.

you wanted nothing more than to go back home, throw in some food that most certainly done nothing good for you, watch tv with chuuya and forget about this day. a day that dragged you through hell by the collar of your shirt.

opening the door, the lights were already on. chuuya was home before you, unusual yet pleasant. his keys were still on the counter so he must have just gotten back. to have a somewhat dignified ending to your day, you opened the freezer to fish out whatever you could throw into the oven and call a day.

finding something edible and tossing it in, you beelined for the bathroom to shower as it cooked. chuuya was probably in the bedroom watching tv and didn't hear you come in.

stepping out of the shower, you walked into the bedroom for your pajamas. chuuya was not there. not a big deal, exhaustion was preventing you from having a coherent chain of thought anyways. as you walked back to the kitchen, you spotted chuuya reading the back of the packaging you left on the counter with a blank face. "doll, these are 3 weeks out of date." he softly spoke, greeting you with a smile. unfortunately, that was the inconvenience that completely shattered you.

he watched your eyes become glassy as he walked over to you, taking your hands and bringing you over to the couch. did he know what had happened? no. did he know how to help you? yes. "love, this isn't about the food? is it?" he gazed gently into your eyes, figuring that your resilient nature would not falter over something so miniscule. you shook your head, a tear falling down your cheek which he was quick to wipe away.

"it's.." you began slowly, trying to gather yourself. you knew he would not judge in the slightest yet you still tried to collect your emotions a tad. "it's so silly" you explained, looking back at his patient expression.

"do i need to deal with someone?" he sternly asked, playing it off as a joke even if you both knew he would single-handedly build a planet from scratch if you even implied you wanted him to. "nobody, chuu." you smiled, finally. "just so many things happened.."

he listened to you complain as you fiddled with one of his hands, an anxious habit you must have picked up early on in your relationship.

he dabbed your face with a tissue from the box that sat politely on the coffee table, thinking carefully prior to commenting "for what it is worth, i already ordered take out." and that small sentiment brought another smile onto the face that was once surrounded by dark clouds.

as if directed to do so off stage, the doorbell rang and chuuya fetched the food as he called out "put something good on! we have the day off tomorrow!"

to chuuya nothing else existed, only you, only his love for you. will this moment be something you can laugh about in the future? definitely, but the way he can treat anything regarding you with such importance is something nobody fails to see.

[ssouhekii]

wᵢₜₕ ₜₕₑₘ ° . * . ● ☆ • ° .

ᶠᵉᵐ!ᶠʸᵒᵈᵒʳ, ᶠᵉᵐ!ⁿⁱᵏᵒˡᵃⁱ, & ᶠᵉᵐ!ˢʰⁱᵇᵘˢᵃʷᵃ ˣ ᵍⁿ!ʳᵉᵃᵈᵉʳ ʰᶜˢ

warnings: none

a/n: I tried to find the most accurate feminine version of each name. i wasn't sure whether to turn nicole's surname into a feminine version or not, because of the debate about gogol being ukrainian or russian. i kept the surname the same, so sorry if it's inaccurate. not proofread!

Feodora Dostoevskaya

- Her chief love language is acts of service, though these acts could border on terrifying if you weren't the one recieving the favors.

- You'd never doubt that she loves you, though, because to commit a crime for someone is the ultimate act of love.

- You think.

- She'll take care of any major inconvenience for you without you even mentioning it to her.

- If someone had stolen your identity, she'd find them, steal their identity back, and take you on a shopping spree.

- She has eyes everywhere, so never try to hide something that's burdening you. She'll figure it out, and help you fix it anyways.

- Feodora has never known how to express herself truthfully all that well. She may not be able to write a searingly beautiful love poem to the one she loves most, or show them a boombox below their bedroom window and blast a song to declare her love, but she can do other things.

- Her other favorite thing to do for you is play music. Nothing makes dear Feodora happier than seeing you in her audience, big or small, for the cello.

- Aside from cello, she can also play the piano and the harp.

- Feodora mostly plays classical music. However, she'd maybe be convinced to learn a pop or rock song for you. Only for you, though.

- She's also a great listener. She'd love to hear anything you have to say, losing her analytical skills as she gets lost in your voice.

- The only thing that the genius "demon" of the Decay can't figure out is how to stop biting her nails.

- Luckily, you're there to help, buying her press ons or even very short acrylics to stop her biting.

- Unfortunately, rats have very strong teeth. She appreciates the effort, and does her best to stop, though.

Nicole Gogol

- Nicole's chief love language is gifts.

- Whenever she sees you, she'll bring you something. It may be small, just a rock she found or a deck of cards, or it may be huge.

- Like, she-snuck-a-car-into-her-overcoat-large.

- The types of gifts will depend on how you react to them.

- If you get easily freaked out, she'd love to bring you someone's eyeball from her escapades for halloween, or matching lockets with both of your hair for your birthday.

- You're still not sure how she got your hair, and she won't tell you. A magician never reveals her secrets.

- However, if you're not all that squeamish, she'll surprise you in other ways.

- Have you ever seen an albino cat? A two-headed snake? A three-eyed fish? Have you?

- She'll take strange things from any circuses or shows she's travelled with, either to give or just to show you.

- Of course, she wanted to give you all the two headed animals, but you said there wasn't enough space in the house.

- You may serve as the voice of reason in the relationship, but Nicole has smarts of her own.

- She loves to read philosophy books with you, and ramble about her own theories.

- Even if you don't understand, she's glad you listen.

- Nicole loves to put on little magic shows, just for you.

- You've seen every attemptible trick in the book, and you wouldn't hesitate to see any of them again.

- Nicole moves so smoothly when she performs her tricks, and performs them so delicately that you're reminded of how much she cherishes you.

- She wouldn't do any of this for anyone else.

- Occasionally you even get to play assistant to Nicole, watching doves flit away while her arm wraps around you and holds you tight.

- You're always in the audience for dangerous tricks, though. She doesn't think she could bear to see you hurt.

- By the way, Nicole is really strong. Really, really strong. When she works out in the mornings, you often serve as a weight for her push ups.

Tatsumi Shibusawa

- Tatsumi's chief love language just has to be words of affirmation.

- Though she'll shower you with gifts and pay unending attention to you. her favorite thing is to compliment you.

- You are, after all, more amazing than any jewel she's ever seen.

- She loves to show off and impress you. Tatsumi is very vain, so seeing your eyes on her in wonder puts her on top of the world.

- She often tailors clothes for you. She knows your measurements by heart, and many visits to her have been accompanied by a gasp of surprise at a whole outfit completely unprompted.

- Speaking of which, you can expect to wear lots of matching clothes now.

- Whenever you go out, you're often matching. If not a full outfit, you both at least have silver necklaces on.

- Though cold, Tatsumi is a very sentimental person. She will keep anything you give her, and even a paper heart will recieve the same care as one of her crystals.

[plantsjustwannahavefun]

As someone who has kind of convinced themselves Izzy is gonna die at the end of S2, could you share your reasons why you think he won't? I'm sure a lot of us who think he's doomed could use some ideas as to otherwise. And who do you think is being buried in that grave scene in the Behind the scenes video? I'd love to hear your thoughts!!!

Hey, first of all, this is the first ask I’ve ever got, so thanks ☺️

Okay, so, there’s been so many posts recently with much more elaborate and better-argued takes than mine, and I can’t really take credit for anything I’m going to say here because none of these thoughts are original, really… but anyway.

I was surprised how quickly and strongly people seemed to have latched onto the “Izzy’s gonna die” train based on, as far as I'm concerned, nothing more than a couple of vague BTS bits and a general sense of foreboding caused by previous experience with stories like these.

First of all, the BTS pictures and videos. Namely the bit where Izzy seems to be lying down and the one with the grave. It’s a massive stretch at best. I think Izzy’s likely to get injured at some point, but this could literally be anything, we can’t even see what’s going on. This could be a fuckery. At one point Ed is holding out his hand stained with blood, but we don’t even know whose blood it is. Same for the grave. Izzy isn’t the only crew member missing from the ring of people standing around it. We know there’s going to be a big battle in E08, so it's not surprising someone would die, but there’s simply no proof and not at all likely it would be Izzy.

Also, think about it. Izzy’s a sailor. Sailors typically get burried at sea. The only other place I could imagine him wanting to be buried at is next to his family in England, but that might just not be feasible, so he’d most likely get burried at sea. The way I see it, he’d much rather rest on the ocean floor than some random beach in the Republic of Pirates, a place he claimed to hate in S01.

Another thing: the creators of the show know how rabid this fanbase is. They knew we were going to painstakingly pick apart and overanalyse every single frame of every morsel of promotional content we could get our hands on. So far they’ve gone to great lengths to avoid major spoilers. They even changed Ed’s line in the trailer where he said “and, more importantly, no more Izzy” (replaced it with “no more Stede”) in order not to reveal the plotline of Ed shooting Izzy, even though that line was pretty vague and could have been up to interpretation. So how likely is it that they would reveal a major character’s death in several frames of BTS material? Just not very likely at all, I’d say.

Then I’ve seen a few people argue that the writers want to get rid of Con because doing the CGI for the unicorn leg is too expensive and inconvenient. I’m calling bullshit on that one too. Admittedly, I don’t know much about CGI, but Con literally just has to wear a green sock over his boot or something like that, and it’s not that hard to frame it in a way that makes his leg less visible. So far we’ve had a lot of shots with him just sitting there, or where he was filmed from the waist up. I imagine it wasn’t easy for Con to mimic moving like he was missing a leg, but he nailed it perfectly, and he seemed to have an easier time walking around in episodes 6 and 7 compared to ep 5, so he won’t have to keep up the severe limping to the same extent. At this point Izzy is the third major character after Stede an Ed. There’s no way they’d get rid of him just because of a minor cinematographic inconvenience like that.

And then there’s the fact that nobody actually dies in this show except for the villains. David Jenkins took the “bury your gays” trope and turned it into “make your gays unkillable”. This is literally the show that gave us recreational gut stabbing. There’s only a couple of exceptions, but they were all very minor characters or, well, a bird… I really liked Ivan, but he was easily the least important character out of all the crew members, and probably the only reason his death was offscreen was because the actor quit after S01. There’s no indication that Con wants to quit, it’s obvious he’s having the time of his life with this role, so it’s very unlikely he would sacrifice it for some other project.

What OFMD does love, on the other hand, is characters appearing to die, only to end up surviving against all odds. That’s, like, its signature trait by now. None of us really believed Lucius was going to die, even though logically it was extremely unlikely he wouldn't just drown immediately. They didn’t even bother to explain it properly, that’s how little this show cares for realism. And we love that about it. Izzy himself has already had not one, not two, but THREE instances like that: the dream sequence scene, getting shot in the leg, then surviving his suicide attempt. If he happened to actually die for real now, that would just be bad storytelling.

Speaking of storytelling… That’s really the main reason I don’t believe Izzy’s going to die. I know a lot of people are hung up on the whole “his narrative arc is complete and he has served his purpose as a character” thing, and in any other show that might be true, but not this one. OFMD isn’t just a show, it’s a love letter to the queer community. Izzy is now a representation of a queer person discovering himself and being accepted into the found family. He figuratively embodies the spirit of the Revenge. The physical unicorn figurine was destroyed, but the crew managed to use something “broken” and give it a new life. If the show did this only to kill Izzy off right afterwards, that would feel like a slap in the face. It wouldn't complete his character arc, it would undo it. It would be way worse than another show killing off some character that simply happened to be gay. It would feel like killing a character off specifically because they finally found some happiness in being gay, right after reaching the peak of their personal development as a queer character. It would feel deliberately mean rather than merely thoughtless.

And it would make the very first scene of S2 kind of meaningless, too. That dream sequence specifically showed us what was not going to happen. Izzy wasn’t going to stand between Stede and Ed anymore. Izzy and Stede weren’t going to be enemies anymore. Ed wasn’t going to melt into Stede’s arms and immediately forget all that’s happened. And Izzy isn’t going to die. Simple as that.

[kittenchancorruptionarc]

(( Hey guys, it’s been a few days. I’m so sorry I left so suddenly, I was experiencing burn out yet again and this case was ESPECIALLY bad. I kept guilt tripping myself over my break too because I felt horrible for leaving everyone in the dark.

The TDLR is I got too ambitious with events again and I keep poorly managing both threads AND asks and I need to fix that.

So here’s my requests to YOU (the beautiful person reading this) and how I’m going to do things from now on:

-Please try not to spam the ask box if I have (a) thread(s) going on, it distracts me badly. I thought about closing them during threads but felt that’s not fair so I will leave them open and see if you guys can respect my wishes. I trust y’all will you’ve been nothing but kind and patient to me (AND IM SO GRATEFUL AHHH) but still.

-KEEP SERIOUS RPS IN THREADS PLEASE, doing it via asks is very straining for me sorry if that’s an inconvenience :,]

-I won’t be doing colored replies anymore unless it’s for added emphasis, it was taking too long and it gave me a headache ngl. I have eyesight problems and I honestly made them slightly worse doing that.

-I don’t know if I’ll do any events for a while, up until I’m in the swing of things again. I got too ambitious and got severely burnt out and tired. :,]

-Threads are not time sensitive, assume they’re in their own time bubble unless it’s A stream RP or auction event. I make those interactive on purpose! Otherwise the rest of them are again in their own time bubble!!! This is so I don’t drive myself insane with time sensitive scenarios.

-I might make non auction and such events ask box only or limit it to one or two BIG RP threads, as I notice that’s what burns me out the most X_X

These are my “new rules” I guess okay? I think it’ll help me a LOT with the issues I’ve been having.

Also, let’s just say the events wrapped up and I’m going to have to call off any threads I STARTED before my huge burn out, sorry but I keep blanking on them and it’s for the best. We can start fresh or do a new one completely but oughhh I need to just. Start on a clean slate for my sanity im sorry guys. I hope you understand.

Also, my main focus will be on Fox and my OC account from now on, which I am going to revamp to mainly focus on his TPOF version due to a majority of my rp partners being based in TPOF timeline anyways. Strade is a fun side project and I abandoned Ren because I wasn’t happy with how I portrayed him tbh. Maybe I’ll revisit the account later, but rn I have no drive for it.

Anyways, I hope this’ll help me get back into this account because I miss being here so much but oh my GOD I stressed myself out ;; ))

-Fox Mun 🦊

[starry-miki]

9 Days of Solomon:

Day 3: Knife

TW: Suggestive(?), Light Gore, Blood.

I’ll add my notes and comments up here if you wanna avoid the drawing. It’s nothing to major, but it’s there 🥸

Anyway! Sorry I’m a day late then I said when I’m posting a lot of things happened in RL mostly inconveniences that had me not working on the drawing (like being locked out of the house 😘)

So my thoughts about my drawing, if I’m being honest I’m disowning it and pretend I didn’t drew it, cause I didn’t like how it came out, it might just me being picky or something but it took me way to long (15 hours says procreate) but I think it might as be my fault since my lack of rendering skills, but I gave up cause I just wanted to move on with the drawing and post something for day 3. The entire process felt like a dumpster fire, maybe Im not made to make gore art. 😔 Anyway so it’s a YanYan! Solomon (Yandere), I’m not a big fan of yanderes in general and prefer our goofy old man and how he is. (He is perfect the way he is 😤)

Luckily for day 4 (ocean) I’ve got a much simpler idea, and I think next few ones are more simplified drawings so I think I would be able to have it out on time. Anyway enjoy the image. 😘

[dramarising-replacement]

I get that your favorite pet site being DDOS'd is stressful, but some of you need to take off your tinfoil hats about the DDOS thing. DDOSing is an incredibly common internet occurrence. One time a rabbit care forum I was on was overwhelmed for over a week solid, for some reason, and then it just went away. All that happens is you can't access the site if the protection service is lousy or the webmaster decides to shut service off to wait out the weirdos. It's dirt cheap to run a service-denial attack. People do it for fun. There is absolutely NO proof that those people who claimed credit for the AO3 attack were the ones actually behind it. There is NO proof they are the ones flooding FR. DDOSing is a crime and any sane person isn't going to admit to it in public. There is even less evidence supporting the theory that it's a state sponsored extortion attack targeting niche pet sites comprised mostly of minors with no personal income. I cannot emphasize enough that these sorts of attacks are extremely commonplace on the internet, and just because nearly all major social networking/streaming is owned by the same mega-corporation who can afford absurd levels of ddos mitigation doesn't mean it doesn't happen.

If you don't' believe me please feel free to research it yourself before getting panicked over FR getting DDOS'd. Technically the userbase has accidentally DDOS'd it offline several times in the past during big releases lol. It's just a petty thing that weirdos on the internet do to try and disrupt service, it can get expensive depending on how dedicated said weirdo is, but it's not going to bug out the servers to the point they'll be unusable and user data will be wiped (unless they're already barely functional, but that's another issue). It literally just prevents people from accessing the site by overloading traffic. Like trying to fit too many people through a doorway. Seems like the attacks are over already anyway. Frankly with how popular FR is I'm surprised it didn't happen sooner lol. If you see the numbers spiking again just take a breath and relax, it's just a waiting game! Inconvenient, but nothing that will kill the site.

[bellmo15-blog]

Why I Don't Enjoy Going To The Cinemas Anymore

HEAR ME OUT! Please just HEAR ME OUT ON THIS! I swear I have a good reason for thinking this. After all, why would you say something like this and not have a good reason for it or are only saying it to piss people off and get attention. Thank God there’s no one like that in real life ha ha ha ha ha. Ha ha ha ha. HA HA HA HA HA HA….

I really haven’t been enjoying the idea of going to the cinema lately. I have slowly been coming to this realisation more and more recently. Not because there’s nothing on at the cinemas, that’s not true. We are still getting some great movies that are coming out in the theatres. Nor is it even because video games tend to be my preferred form of entertainment. I mean yeah, they are, but I have been in recent years making more of an effort to actually watch new movies and shows… Usually while having Wii Fit running in the background and doing something like Free Jogging. Hey I gotta keep myself in shape SOMEHOW!

No, my reasons for not enjoying going to the cinema lately have been born from a result of bad personal experiences. Not with movies themselves (although granted I have sadly seen bad movies in cinemas like The 5th Wave) but rather the experiences themselves. Some major, some minor, both contribute either way.

Forced 3D Showings

Remember when 3D was like this big new thing movies were trying to implement in almost every movie? You also probably remember that when going to a 3D showing of certain movies they forced you watch those movies with those glasses with the red and blue lenses in them. I actually first remembered this being a thing with Spy Kids 3 where it was advertised as a big part of the movie and they were really in your face with it in the advertising. And it wasn’t long before I started seeing more movies having this. And I hated that! And this isn’t even some “Oh, I loved this as a child” thing either, no! Even as a kid I hated the 3D showings of movies! Because none of them really felt 3D to me.

In fact, anytime I’ve ever seen a movie in 3D it’s felt less like stuff was literally popping out of the screen and more like I was just watching a movie with a red and blue filter on it. I don’t know if this was just a me thing or whatever, but I never experienced any form of true 3D at 3D screenings. And that’s not even taking into account how they make you wear those glasses that you have no idea who’s used them before and might be carrying diseases on them. The only time I ever truly felt real 3D was when I went to Movie World in Queensland as a child and they had a showing of Shrek 4D. THAT actually did feel like real 3D. Or 4D as they were calling it there.

The one movie I remember hating that it was a forced 3D showing the most though was when I went to see The Walk. Some of you might not remember this movie but it’s a film based on a true story about a French high-wire artist who wanted to tightrope across the Twin Towers. At the time this movie came out, late 2015, I had been going to the cinema on my own a fair bit thanks to me having my licence (kinda. I mean I COULD drive without any supervision, but I had a limit to how many passengers I could have in my car and had to have a red P Plate on my window) and was also 18 meaning I could see pretty much everything without needing supervision… And the one show time it was running that was available for me to see was a 3D showing. *Sigh.* I mean, I still liked the movie anyway but the fact that I had to wear one of those stupid glasses for an effect that barley works just got to me hurt the experience for me. And considering I was still in High School at this time meaning I didn’t have a very open schedule to begin with it was either this or not at all!

Getting Sick at Inconvenient Times

Speaking of inconveniences, how about the number of times I’ve had to step out to go to the bathroom? Because it’s sadly happened a fair bit. And sometimes at the most inconvenient times two! How To Train Your Dragon; had to step out right as the climax was starting. Shreak 2; I don’t remember what point I had to step out specifically but I hated that I had to given how much I love this movie. Ferrari; Had to step out not once but TWICE to go to the bathroom. Worst part is that the movie Ferrari was something we took my step farther out to see for his birthday so that fact I couldn’t be present for at least like 20% of the movie sucked.

This is granted a pretty minor issue I know but not being able to pause a movie to go to the bathroom meaning you could miss important plot points or details doesn’t help at all.

The Super Mario Bros Movie

Okay, now we are getting into more specific examples and when I said earlier that my reasons for not enjoying going to the cinema recently came less from the movies themselves and more from the people at those theatres this and one other movie are the major reasons. Because I loved the Super Mario Bros Movie! It was a great movie that had some really fun moments, actually felt like the games it was based on unlike the live action one from the 90’s and the fact that I enjoyed this movie as much as I did is even more amazing considering this film was made by an animation studio that’s notorious for having some of the worst or most bland movies in the industry.

Yeah, I liked this movie. I did not like my experience going to see this movie however! You see, I saw this movie day one when it came out in theatres, even managed to get off work 30 minutes early so I could go home, get changed and make it in time. And all though out this movie there was one loud and obnoxious guy in the theatre who was shouting out at every single reference he saw. “OH MY GOD, KID ICARUS! OOH, PALUNE! YO YOSHIS!” and he even made a reference to the “And then there’s Chunky, he’s dead…” meme at one point. And I hated it. Like he wasn’t even sitting next to me or anything, he was a few rows down and I could still hear him. It’s like dude, I know! I’ve played these games two! Most of us watching this movie have! Now can you please let up enjoy the movie in peace?

You know those react channels on YouTube that love to point the most minor things or easter egg or get all loud and screamy over certain things? Yeah, this was like that but I had to put up with it personally happening a few feet away from me. When this movie came out on Blu Ray a few months later I brought it, got home and was so happy I could watch this movie in peace without having to deal with anyone disturbing that peace.

Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse

And then, we get to my experience going to see Across the Spider-Verse. Bit of context for this one. When I went to see this movie my little cousins had come over. They are extremely young, like 10 at most, and usually when they come over my mother usually takes them to see a movie at the theatres offering to take me with them as well since what else am I going to do that afternoon? And they don’t always make the best judgment calls on what to see since while we have taken them to see stuff like the Sonic 2 movie, the last time before this particular visit Puss in Boots The Last Wish was showing at the cinema and what did we go and see? The Mummies! A mediocre movie about ancient mummies ending up in London and the whole thing was basically “Lol, look at these old ass undead beings struggling to adapt to modern society.”

So when they booked tickets to take the kids to go see Across the Spider-Verse of course I’d be excited to see this. Especially as someone who loved the original Into the Spider-Verse and had finally gotten to the play the one Spider-Man game I had always wanted to for over a decade the year prior Shattered Dimensions. You all know where I’m going with this, I loved the movie but the experience going was painful.

-Neither my mother or Step Farther knew it was an animated film until AFTER we got to the cinema despite the fact that they booked these tickets online meaning they HAD to know this beforehand -One of them complained about how the movie was “two long” which is REALLY rich considering they saw Avatar the Way of Water in cinema which was even longer than Across the Spider-Verse at 3 hours and 16 minutes. -One of them admitted they only came for the popcorn. -Another complained the movie was “two confusing” which was their own fault for thinking that considering they fell asleep half way though. -Oh and the cherry on top, they wrote the whole thing of as nothing more than a “kids movie” just because it was animated. Even though the whole plot of this movie is pretty dark and mature since Spider-Man 2099 is basically saying in this movie “Oh yeah and umm, you have to let certain key characters in certain universe die otherwise that universe it wiped out!”

Yeah, there attitude after this movie was finished didn’t exactly put me in a good mood for the rest of the night. And let me just say if THIS is how they act over this movie then I pray to God they never find out about shows like The Owl House or Amphibia, shows that are aimed towards children but also have very mature themes and morals in them! (I mean the final episode of season 2 of Amphibia even opens with a disclaimer it might be disturbing to some viewers.)

So yeah, those are pretty much all the big reasons why I have grown such a sour taste in wanting to go to the cinema willingly. I don’t want to have to run the risk of being forced to watch it in 3D, I don’t want to miss out on key plot points all just because natures call and don’t want to have my experience of a movie I’m otherwise enjoying be soured by the people around me. Compare that to watching movies in the comfort of my own home where I don’t have to put up with other people potentially running my experience, can watch those movies whenever I want, can pause at any time to go to the bathroom or just to simply do something else important for a few minutes. Which actually brings me to one finally point.

I’ve Always Enjoyed Watching Movies at Home A LOT More Than At The Cinemas Anyway

Yeah, I’ve just always preferred this over having to clear out my schedule just to drive to a cinema for an experience I probably could have had a better time with at home. Not just because of the reasons I’ve brought up already but also because it’s a lot more accessible to me in general. Both because of DVD’s/Blu Rays and Streaming services. DVD’s I can literally just buy at my local JB Hi-Fi and that’s it! The movie is mine to keep forever and watch whenever I want. All I have to do is just pop it into my PlayStation 5, PlayStation 3 or PlayStation 2 and just hit play movie! I mean watching movies though physical media like DVD’s or Blu Ray’s aren’t perfect either and do have their own issues. Aside from the fact that not every movie or show is available at my local places not every show or movie is also lucky enough to get a physical release. Some shows that originate on streaming services do, I have a copy of the The Last of Us series to prove it, but for others it’s either get a streaming service or go fuck yourself! And that’s not even bringing up how disks can get scratched or might not work anymore if you don’t take good care of them or some of them have unskipable adds. I mean at the end of the day they are still really minor issues anyway.

Then there is streaming services. For the price of literally a movie ticket, or hell maybe even less if we are comparing the entry fee for most streaming sites to the cinema I’ve had to frequent in the last decade and a half *Screams in Australian money* you get access to a whole host of movies new and old depending on the service to watch on whatever compatible device you have as well as access to a bunch of other great original stuff like The Mandalorian, Inside Job, Invinsable and Guillermo Del Toro’s Pinocchio. I mean Disney + alone has every episode of Futurama on it while Prime Video has The Matrix on it! It’s worth becoming a subscriber for those alone! Oh but don’t think I’m letting Streaming Services off the hook either because they aren’t perfect either. For some services, Netflix in particular, they can actually remove certain movies or shows from there site. And I REALLY don’t get why. Like, it is a legal issue or something? Did there licence for those movies or shows run out? They will give you a warning most of the time when something from your watchlist is about to be taken off but I still wish this wasn’t the case. Oh, and there’s also the fact that you have to constantly be connected to the internet at all times while watching so sorry if yours goes out for whatever reason. Thankfully those services let you download certain movies and shows… on the mobile apps only. Seriously, why it that limited to only the mobile apps and not something I can do on my PS5?

But honestly, given the option I’d rather take watching movies at home though either of these methods than run the risk of having another awful experience at the cinema. So yeah, that’s pretty much why I haven’t had any motivation to actually go to the cinema lately. It has nothing to do with me wanting to do anything stupid like boycotting a movie I have no real interest in seeing anyway (I seriously can not express how stupid I think the concept of boycotting is to begin with) or me being some wired edge lord who thinks he’s cool because he’s a rebel who doesn’t do what everyone else is doing or anything like that. In fact, I think people should still go to the cinema if they want to so that they can support a movie they are interested in. As for me, I think I’m fine with supporting that movie a few months later when it comes out on physical media or streaming.

There, I ended this with a positive conclusion. Now no one who’s new to this page will ever accuse me of having a controversial take!

Genie Bellmo: This coming from the same guy who un-ironically likes Heavy Rain and Detroit Become Human?

……… Shut up!

[tummy-hurts]

I want to articulate something but it'll be difficult, I don't have the words. Whenever people use the words 'crazy' or 'insane' to describe someone (in a like, derogatory way and not as the function of an increasing word like 'very') it's always like. "What do you mean when you say that. What do you think that means. Can you think about it for one minute." Like, it doesn't mean anything, just an abstraction of mental illness/distress that people feel comfortable calling someone when they're bothering them, or they don't understand their actions, or viewpoints, or just as a replacement for 'malicious'. It's so careless and there's literally always something better to say in those situations.

Anyways, there's another sense of the word 'crazy' that I think about a lot that doesn't have to do with mental illness. Or maybe does because environment is such a big part of it, and also it can be hard to separate things that might have just happened anyways and things that are due to environment or experience. So maybe mental health is a better way to say that. But it's like Lovecraft, but also not like that at all because fuck that guy. But it's seeing the horrors that are there that so many people don't. Like, the contradictions in society, the discrepancies, the atrocities, also sometimes just caring. Atrocities governments have committed or are committing that are public knowledge that people just ignore or don't believe, ongoing things people decide aren't their business, and governments getting to say one thing and do another, just completely lying about their goals and values while doing anything they want to shredding and making a mockery of any moral stance. And that people and their organizations play along with such a flimsy charade??? So much of what goes on in this world is nothing, it's an empty pretend play that results in incomprehensible amounts of unnecessary suffering.

Same for everything with covid and the current pandemic, but which also reveals things ongoing about healthcare and health and perceptions of disability. The fact that so much of society just ignores an ongoing pandemic, the lying from organizations that people look to for guidance, but then even the willful ignorance and cognitive dissonance when confronted with evidence in their lives that maybe things aren't okay, or directly confronted by people telling them that there's something they're ignoring and that maybe they should prioritize safety over comfort. There's so many factors, people just don't know, but there's so much resistance for so many ingrained reasons that are again, just nothing. There's no good reason for any of this. So many people dying and going to die and the brain damage and every single organ. People just keep ignoring it like it'll go away. And especially especially it's inconceivable among people who should know better. People who are 'leftists' and would say they cared about disabled people or say they cared about other people in general, community, the contradictions in so many of them just ignoring it too. I saw someone say something recently like "The hole of disability justice in common leftism is eclipsing." It's true, there's no collectivist care as soon as it becomes a little bit inconvenient. And if you take into account covid's effects, and the history of similar disease, namely HIV/AIDS, I really don't know how many humans are going to be left on this planet after another 6-10 years. But that's ridiculous to say, that's crazy! But!!! How else could it go? HIV takes 10 years on average to become deadly, with some earlier, and covid does even faster immune damage, it might not even take ten years. Some HIV infections become AIDS sooner than that though, which is already happening. And in order to effectively treat HIV you need to catch it and treat it early, if you wait until it's already bad then you can't do as much. What would the AIDS crisis of the 80s have been like if HIV was airborne and the majority of people on the planet caught it multiple times in the 70s before it was even known what was going on???

You see? It's crazy, it makes you feel crazy to see all this stuff that doesn't even exist to most people! Especially struggling with pre-existing psychosis, it's easy to feel like the things you know can't be right, that you're mistaken somehow, but it's true and it's a problem with everything going on in this world, and not an individual, pathologized, problem. But it's so easy for these things to feel blended, and to adopt the words that people say about people like you and consider them proudly. Anyways, this is a completely idiosyncratic way of thinking about this word and concept, and probably not that many people think about it the same way. Just a bunch of thoughts that make me feel like I'm going to lose it. And ultimately, I don't care about any of this, and would just like to escape all of it, it's miserable, I hate this place.

[shining-gem34]

He Who Brings Misfortune and Strength

Name: Mallory/Viator

Species: Deity

Affiliation: NA

Occupation: God of Misfortune/Strength and Perseverance

Gender: Male

Height: Typically around 5’7” (~ 170 cm)

Age: Ageless

Birthday: January 17th

>Ship Status: Open to multiship, but requires HEAVY-HEAVY plotting.

>For more information, here is the long version.

>Voicelines || Headcanons

This muse is affiliated with @celestial-narwhal and @everlastiingiimmortals

"The God of Misfortune, Mallory, is a minor deity who rarely leaves the Underworld. Every time he ventures to the surface, Mallory spreads misfortune far and wide wherever he goes; it doesn't matter if it's intentional or not."

“Viator, the minor God of Strength and Perseverance blesses travelers planning to enter the Underworld. A mysterious God whose origin is up for debate between scholars. The most popular and accepted theory is that Mallory slain his brother, Viator, and stole his power in order to free himself from his Mistress bindings. However, the truth is…”

Backstory

Mallory

Mallory was once a mortal knight who lost his beloved and journeyed to the Underworld to save them. After their soul was eaten by the Soul-Eater, [Mallory] took the path of vengeance and fought the foul creature. Uncaring of the fact the Soul-Eater cannot die or be killed, [Mallory] the mortal knight foolishly tries anyway. In the end, he was defeated with his body and soul corrupted by the Soul-Eater poison. Awaiting for his death, Papilio, the Goddess of Contracts appeared and offered him a deal he couldn't refuse: Either die and feed the Soul-Eater, or become her servant and live. [Mallory] chose the latter and transformed into a minor god serving her in the Underworld. Eventually, Mallory earned the moniker the God of Misfortune for obvious reasons. Wherever he went, misfortune is soon to follow and plague his surroundings causing inconvenience and strike. It didn't matter if it was small as someone tripping over nothing or as big as a landslide happening out of nowhere, anyone will know Mallory is nearby and blame him for their bad luck. With his misfortune turning others away, including a majority of the deities, Mallory became withdrawn and stayed in the Underworld. But if anyone can see past his curse and biting sarcasm, they might see a laidback god who listens to everything they say despite appearing disinterested. A god who can't refuse their request, because he sees them as a friend now. A god who will do everything he can in his power to help them, because they mean so much to him now. But Mallory cannot love, because who can ever love a god who brings nothing but misery to them just by being around him?

Viator

There is no specific timeline when Viator, the minor God of Strength and Perseverance came to existence. Scholars theorize Viator origins and their relationship with Mallory. The most popular and accepted theory is Malory slain Viator in battle and stole his power in order to free himself from his Mistress bindings. In truth, Viator and Mallory are the same people. Mallory isn't sure when this power appeared. He isn't sure if this is a gift from his Mistress or not. Regardless, he became aware of it when one day he heard a prayer. A traveler asking for any Gods/Goddesses blessing for a safe journey in the Underworld. Out of whim, Mallory answered the mortal prayer expecting they'll meet their end in misfortune. To his surprise, the traveler journey in the Underworld faced no trouble and they left after accomplishing their goal. Mallory didn't think much of it other until the next mortal appeared and asked for the same thing as the last one did. Then the next mortal after that appeared followed by many more who come to the Underworld doors and ask for his blessings for a safe journey. A few travelers have failed and died in the Underworld, but only because they have overextended their stay and were attacked. The majority who have prayed for his blessings have safely left the Underworld victorious. Again, Mallory didn't think much of it until he found out there is a temple built in honor of "Viator, the minor God of Strength and Perseverance" for travelers planning to enter the Underworld. Curious, Mallory disguised himself and visited the temple to ask about it's origins. A devout priest answered the founder was a traveler like anyone else and was rescued at death door (the irony) by an unknown deity. When he asked for their name, the deity called themselves "Viator" and left. Later, after leaving the Underworld, the same traveler settled down as a priest and built this temple in their honor; a safe haven for travelers like him planning to enter the Underworld. When Mallory returned to the Underworld and reported this to his Mistress, Papilio laughed. "My dear Mallory, you know as well as I do I can only help you become a God serving me. Your powers are out of my control. It appears yours have manifested; misfortune and strength. How ironic." "This feels too surreal, Mistress. I'm not a lucky God; just a misfortunate one." Mallory scowls at her. "Your followers believe otherwise. Get used to it, you have a new role now.~" "Yes, Ma'am..." Mallory shoulders sag in defeat, but he wonders how the Moon Goddess will react once he tells her.

Abilities

Misfortune: The reason why Mallory is given the moniker God of Misfortune is because he brings bad luck to everyone around him. The source of his powers is due to the corruption of the Soul-Eater imprinted on his soul. It is not intentional on his part, but it happens anyway. While it is inconvenient most of the time, there are a few occasions that Mallory finds it useful. The better question to ask is: What does his misfortune affect? How much does it affect?

Swordsmanship: [Mallory] wasn’t known to be the best swordsman in his homeland, but he was skilled enough (and his tendency to recklessly charge into danger) to fend off bandits and monsters. On Papilio's advice, Mallory continued wielding his swords and became Juliana's “guard” (babysitter actually). 

Shapeshifting: Mallory can shapeshift into various animals and sometimes, if necessary, other people as well. Because of this, mortals started associating certain animals with bad luck and they consider meeting a doppelganger to be misfortune.  

Viator: Mallory's other name as the God of Strength and Preservation. He blesses travelers stepping into the Underworld and provides them with his protection for a short time. This reflects his former life as a mortal, one who continued to preserve and find the strength to continue his journey to save his beloved. Yet, Mallory has little to no recollection of it, but it doesn’t stop him from blessing travelers regardless. 

Weapons: A rusty sword for Mallory and a giant shield for Viator.

Immortality: A mortal turned divine- He is a God.

Notes

Mallory (All Multiverse including Rook) Icons belongs to "The Strongest Characters in the World are Obsessed with Me" (Webtoon/Novel) by Zion. The character is Meldon Arthus.

||Updated 03/31/24

[vigilantejustice]

noticed that my period symptoms just seem to be getting worse with age. like nothing major in the grand scheme but the newest development is significant lower back pain. talking can’t get comfy, hard to stand upright, twinging, painful to touch in the same way pressing a bruise is painful sort of back pain

tl;dr does anyone else feel like they’ve thrown their back out days before your period or

[donnerpartyofone]

I blocked some stranger Twitter tried to recommend me based on a tweet complaining that it's time "society moves past the narrative" that cheating on someone means you do not now, and/or never loved them. Like I'm willing to accept that people all over the world live all kinds of lives that I'll never know everything about, but in my personal adult experience, every single person I know who was cheated on experienced a shocking, embarrassing, and painful breach of trust; every single person I know who cheated either did it to be an asshole and cause drama (the majority) or was too lazy and cowardly to make a clear and honest choice; and every single couple I've ever seen who had a little spat over cheating but learned to laugh about love again only existed on TV. When someone you have chosen to believe in independently decides that you don't get to know what's going on in your own life, because it's more important for them to get off however they want without the inconvenience of offering you the same freedom OR letting you make an informed decision about who you love and how, that can rightly fuck up your whole life, and it's not because "society" sold you a "narrative" about how people who lie to and exploit you don't actually care about your feelings or respect your autonomy. People who automatically turn arguments about cheating into a chance to promote polyamory as the only "natural" state of affairs, or who have a whole "the heart wants what the heart wants" racket going, are willfully ignoring the fact that lying to someone who is vulnerable to you in order to to force them into a situation they would not agree to if asked, is a rude, selfish, fucked up thing that you mainly do when you see your partner as a side character in the drama of your life, and not as a real, whole person. It's the same whether you deliberately carry on an affair, or you just passively allow a sexual situation to develop, letting THAT be your way of informing your unwitting partner that you're not actually committed to them. (Like let's be real, "it just happened" usually involves a whole chain of interconnected decisions that put you in the right place at the right time to do what you absolutely intended to do anyway) Yeah, sure, there must be situations where someone has been trapped in a bad marriage for decades and it's like a big tragedy that they're forced to sneak around with the only person they truly love because of their extreme circumstances, but in general, nothing prevents you from telling somebody the truth about your intentions as a fair exchange for their trust, and access to their body. And if you refuse to do that, and it makes them feel like a lie that big invalidates anything else you say up to and including "I love you," they have a right to feel that way--and it is definitely NOT because they've been brainwashed by arcane and unnatural societal strictures or whatever dumb fucking thing you were gonna say next to make it sound like your abusive behavior is actually really complex and evolved. If you lie to somebody to keep getting sex in a way that they'd rather not give it, then you don't care how the other person feels and you don't love them and you're a jerk, it's really not that complicated.

[journalxxx]

By Hook or by Crook (4)

Oh God, there’s another one.

The thought came unbidden to Toshinori’s mind, and it engulfed him in the closest thing to pure dread he had felt in years. It had taken two centuries, the sacrifice of seven One For All users, and two of his own major organs to take down a single All For One wielder, and now a brand new one had somehow sprouted right in front of him.

Now. Now that he had finally decided to tackle the hurdle of entrusting a relatively stable Japan to a successor, now that he was weaker and less capable than ever of defending it from a new threat. Now that the deadline of Nighteye’s prophecy was drawing closer and closer. His own gruesome death on the battlefield, and the sudden reappearance of All For One’s quirk. The unavoidable connection between the two facts almost robbed him of his breath.

Toshinori couldn’t tear his eyes away from the boy’s hand. It looked diminutive in comparison to his own, and completely inoffensive. It had the soft, unblemished appearance that suited someone who had never hit anything bigger than a fly, whereas the hero’s skin had long since been roughened by calluses, and his joints slightly thwarted by the occasional fracture. Yet, that single, unassuming dimple in the middle of its palm made it more potentially destructive than a hundred of Smashes combined.

A sort of choked whimper made Toshinori finally raise his gaze. He realized he had stopped trying to school his expression only when he saw his own strung-out stupor mirrored in Midoriya’s features. 

“I-I… Sorry, I r-really have t-to…” The boy took a step back, his hand slipping from the man’s grasp, then he suddenly turned on his heels and motioned to sprint away.

“Hey, hey!” Toshinori reached forward, grabbing Midoriya’s wrist by sheer reflex. He had already wasted enough time and energy chasing slimy villains and rash teenagers all over the town that day, thank you very much. “Where are you going?”

Midoriya froze on the spot, as if shocked by an electric current. His arm was rigid in Toshinori’s grasp, pulling away from it but without any real conviction. His head turned slowly towards the hero but not fully, letting him see only half of the boy’s face. The unmistakable terror etched in those wide eyes made something constrict in Toshinori’s chest.

“I-I’m… I’m so sorry…” The boy’s voice was down a trembling, barely audible whisper.“I didn’t mean to d-do that… I’ve never… I won’t do it again, I swear, j-just…” 

Midoriya’s free hand hovered over the hero’s, maybe having half a mind of prying it open, but he didn’t even dare to touch it. Toshinori let go of him immediately. The kid wasn’t expecting it, judging by his flabbergasted expression, and all he did with his regained freedom was backing away from him with a couple of uncertain steps, bumping into a nearby electric pole with his backpack and just standing there, pretty much like a cornered mouse cowering before a lion.

The sight jolted Toshinori back to reality with brutal efficiency. God, what was wrong with him today? He was handling this abysmally. That was no two-hundred-year-old manipulative slaughterer, that was a child. A child rapidly working himself into a panic, if his onsetting tremors were of any indication. Ironically, the realization grounded Toshinori even more. Frightened victims and distraught relatives were a daily occurrence in his line of work, and his professional composure slipped back in place almost subconsciously.

“You don’t need to apologize. Quite the opposite. You saved everyone. The hostage, the bystanders… even me. I’m not sure I’d have had the energy to keep up appearances after another smash.” He put up his hands and showed his palms with slow movements, keeping his voice low and level. “You did nothing wrong back there.”

Midoriya slowly slumped down the pole, his limbs huddled in a distressed heap. He blinked quickly as his eyes shied away from Toshinori’s, hands bunching up the fabric of his trousers nervously. “...I-I can give it back. The quirk. I want to give it back to its owner.”

“That can be easily arranged.” Something about the whole situation was nagging at Toshinori, but he pushed that feeling aside for the moment. The boy wasn’t holding himself in any way that hinted at specific injuries, but fear could be one hell of an anesthetic. He gazed up and down the road, finding it completely deserted. He still felt slightly abuzz with the adrenaline rush caused by his second encounter with the sludge villain and the recent revelation of Midoriya’s quirk. He gauged that he could probably (possibly, maybe, hopefully) abuse One For All for another twenty seconds or so if need be, just the time to scoop up the boy in his arms and power run back to the ambulances at the site of the accident. That was likely to cause even more distress to the poor kid though, so he’d rather hold off on it unless clearly necessary. “Are you sure you aren’t in any pain?”

“I-I’m f-fine.” The boy wiggled the backpack off his shoulders and rummaged through it shakily, a few tears rolling down his cheeks and his hiccups becoming harder to contain. “I’m fine…”

“Hey, kid. Look at me. Deep breaths.” Toshinori finally ventured a step and a half towards Midoriya, squatting at a reasonable distance to his side instead of right in front of him, to make sure he wouldn’t feel too crowded. Toshinori offered him a couple of tissues (always plentiful in his pockets) while the boy tried to regain a semblance of calm. “It’s all right. I am here.”

That got the boy’s attention. The catchphrase had slipped out of him automatically, without his trademark panache or blinding smile or overflowing optimism, but Midoriya looked at him like he’d been thrown a lifeline nonetheless. The dam broke and big, shiny tears erupted from his eyes as he accepted the tissues and buried his sobs in them. They remained like that for a while, the kid quietly working through his sniffles while Toshinori sat cross-legged on the dusty asphalt, reminding him to take his time whenever he got a little fidgety.

“Sorry if I spooked you.“ Toshinori eventually offered with a small smile, after Midoriya had finally settled down. “I’m a little out of it myself, today. Not the most auspicious first day in my new neighborhood, but what can you do?”

“Uh? Do you mean you’re moving here?” Midoriya asked while he accepted the fourth tissue and wiped away the remaining dampness from his face.

“Mh-hm.” After the debacle on the rooftop, this didn’t feel like too much of a sensitive bit of information to share. Besides, the kid was a fan, so maybe throwing him a bone would help him relax a little more.

“Why? Isn’t it inconvenient for you? I thought you lived in a penthouse above Might Tower, in Tokyo’s Minato Ward, Roppongi 6-12-”

...Ah, he was that kind of fan. Obviously. “Indeed, but I’ve decided to move to… broaden my professional horizons, so to speak.”

“Oh! Are you planning to open a branch of your agency here? Or are you joining some local long-term operation?“ That spark of morbid curiosity in the boy’s eyes made Toshinori regret bringing up the topic in two seconds flat.

“I’m afraid that’s all I can say on the matter, everything’s still under tight wraps. You’ll hear all about it from the news, eventually.” He stood up and patted some dirt off his hands and pants. “Do you live far from here? I’ll walk you home if you’re feeling better.”

“Oh, uh…” The boy gaped at him in surprise. “Thank you, but there’s no need for you to go out of your way! I’m fine, really!”

“Think nothing of it.” Toshinori hooked three fingers under the strap of the boy’s backpack and hauled it over his own shoulder. It hit his back with unexpected oomph. What did kids even put in those things, weren’t textbooks all digital these days? “Clearly this isn’t your lucky day either. I’ll sleep better tonight knowing that you reached your house safely without being run over by a truck or abducted by aliens.”

The joke got a half-smile out of Midoriya, at long last. He held out his hand to the boy to help him back on his feet. The obvious hesitation and near disbelief he couldn’t hide before gingerly accepting the proffered hand gave Toshinori another small wave of unease. There was definitely something strange about all this, aside from the obvious. He gestured for the kid to lead the way, and they set off towards their new destination.

Toshinori granted him a few minutes of silence before breaching the pivotal subject. “So… you have quite the interesting quirk.”

“...Mh.” Midoriya visibly stiffened. So it had been the quirk talk to give him cold feet, rather than a generic reaction to the day’s stress...

“Why didn’t you use it against the villain the first time he attacked you?” Toshinori asked, opting for a more roundabout approach.

“Ah… I’m sorry. I really should have. You wouldn’t have had to waste your power if I’d-”

“Forget about me! Why didn’t you use it to defend yourself? Did you panic?”

“Uh, well, not too much.” The kid shoved his hands in his pockets and dropped his gaze to the ground, his voice lowering to a droning mutter. “I can take quirks, but I don’t automatically learn how to use them. The villain’s quirk looked like it may be difficult to handle. What if I couldn’t maintain a solid form and just turned myself into a puddle of goo? What if some parts of my slime got detached from the main body during the scuffle, and I found myself missing chunks of flesh upon turning back human? What if the sludge was only an outer layer over my body, and without fine control I ended up drowning in it? Stuff like that… I should have just taken the villain’s quirk without activating it, but I was afraid that he’d get even angrier and he’d just beat me up anyway. I’m not, uh, strong. Or fast. At all. I didn’t consider that he might freak out long enough for me to run away…”

Toshinori blinked. “...Sorry, how long had that guy been harassing you before I showed up?”

“Oh, not long at all. Twenty or thirty seconds, I think.”

“And you went through all of that in twenty seconds. While being ambushed and choked.”

Midoriya just shrugged.

“That is… some quick thinking, all right.” Toshinori commented. He omitted the fact that it was a brand of quick thinking that was more likely to get you killed rather than saving your skin during an emergency. Apparently Midoriya would hesitate to protect himself from a violent attacker, but he’d run for the hills the moment the Symbol of Peace gave him a bit of an odd look. The kid’s fight-or-flight response was all over the place.

“I would have used my quirk to fight back eventually, if you hadn’t arrived so soon… probably…”

“...But?” Toshinori encouraged, sensing the unspoken addition.

“But… not many people know about my quirk. Very few, actually. And I’d like to keep it that way. If it’s possible.”

“Why?”

“...It’s not a good quirk.” Midoriya frowned, hunching his shoulders a bit. “One could do really bad things with it.”

“I could squash a man’s skull with my thumb and level a city block with a punch.” Toshinori countered plainly. “It doesn’t mean I’m going to.”

“It’s… it’s different. You can choose to use your quirk only for good, but mine requires…” The boy trailed off, then hazarded a glance at the hero. “You know what I mean. You understood as soon as I told you, I saw it.”

Toshinori couldn’t argue on that point, unfortunately. Still… 

There could be a perfectly innocent explanation for Midoriya to wield All For One. For one, it could be a different quirk altogether, one that simply mimicked Toshinori’s nemesis’, but that wasn’t quite the same, maybe with some unmentioned limitations (although the palm marks made for quite the uncanny similarity). Moreover, much like look-alikes, duplicate quirks between unrelated people weren’t unheard of, although said quirks were usually quite simple ones, like basic physical enhancers or elemental emitters.

What really bothered Toshinori were the boy’s evident sense of guilt and fear of exposure. Virtually any moderately powerful quirk could be employed to ‘do really bad things’, but hardly any children grew up to be so blatantly scared and ashamed of their own abilities. Family and school usually nurtured a degree of confidence and trust in their own capabilities. Toshinori’s knee-jerk reaction was a byproduct of specific knowledge and experience, but Midoriya’s? If only few people knew about his quirk, it must mean he hadn’t used it much, if at all, in the past, ruling out peer pressure as well. What explanation, what innocent explanation could there be for such a strong negative bias, aside from knowledge and experience he wasn’t supposed to have?

“At least your parents know about your quirk, I hope?”

“My mother doesn’t. My father… isn’t really around.” Toshinori couldn’t decide if that last bit of information was a good or a bad sign.

“So… who did you tell?”

“Just one friend and my father.” Ah, we had one likely culprit then. A father that was around but not really. Suspicious. “And now you, I guess. And… everyone who saw what I did to that villain… including the police…” Midoriya looked just about ready to dig a ditch and roll in it. 

“Well, as I said, everyone seemed to think I took care of the matter, so-”

Midoriya shook his head, utterly demoralized. “Kacchan will tell them.”

“Kacchan?”

“Ah, the hostage. He’s my friend, the one who knows about my quirk. I don’t think he’ll lie to the police for my sake.”

“Ah, I see. I hadn’t realized you two were acquainted.” Toshinori offered him a supportive smile. “I guess that explains your burst of heroism.”

“...No one else was doing anything. I saw you among the crowd, but… I thought you couldn’t help.”

The boy had an almost tortured expression, which reignited the deep-seated guilt that had plagued Toshinori in those harrowing minutes. “...I thought I couldn’t help either.” 

“But you did jump in though. Even though… it hurts you?” Midoriya scanned him from head to toe in concern, as if looking for unnoticed signs of damage. “Why?”

“Why did you decide to intervene, despite your fear?”

“I… I just couldn’t let my friend suffer because I messed up.”

“Well, there you have it.” Toshinori simply said. The boy stared at him thoughtfully, apparently weighing his words carefully, before nodding slowly and resuming his perusal of the ground. Toshinori let the silence stretch for a minute. There was still plenty he wanted to ask, especially regarding Midoriya’s father, but-

“I really do want to give the quirk back.” The kid mumbled. “Should I just… go to the police and ask them? They’ll come looking for me anyway, I guess, but…”

Toshinori pondered the issue for a moment, then he pulled his phone out of his pocket. The least he could do was make this whole ordeal as smooth as possible for the kid. “I think I can help with that. Give me your number. I’ll text you to let you know when we can visit the villain. If we’re lucky, it may be as early as tomorrow.” 

Toshinori registered the boy’s contact information as they entered a quaint residential area with neat little rows of numbered buildings, pleasantly tinged with the warm hues of the sunset.

“Ah, that’s where I live.” Midoriya said afterwards, pointing at a nearby apartment complex. “Thank you for everything, All-”

Toshinori shushed him with a sharp gesture as he gazed around the street nervously. “Please, don’t call me that when I’m in this form.”

Midoriya froze, then bowed respectfully. “R-Right! Thank you, sir! I’m sorry for causing you so much trouble, and taking so much of your time, and-”

Toshinori waved the upcoming barrage of apologies off and bid him a good evening, waiting for the boy to leave. Which he didn’t do.

“Uhm.” Midoriya pointed at Toshinori’s shoulder with an awkward smile. “I need that…”

Oh, right, backpack. “Whoops, there you go.” He tossed Midoriya’s belongings to their owner and watched the kid bustle up the stairs of the building and into one of the apartments. Then he fetched his phone and picked the third number on speed-dial.

“Tsukauchi? Do you have a moment? ….Ah, fine, thank you. Listen, can I drop by your place this evening? Something’s come up and I’d rather not discuss it on the phone… No, but definitely worth looking into sooner rather than later…”

He hung up a couple of exchanges later, after agreeing on the time for the meeting. Toshinori decided he had enough time to make his way back home, shower and have some sort of passable dinner before ruining his friend’s evening. And then he would head back home and he would sleep, even if he had to repeatedly bash his head against a wall to achieve that. He inhaled deeply and let out a long-overdue, exhausted sigh. 

What a day. 

Hopefully tomorrow wouldn’t be quite as taxing.

“THIEF”

Izuku was stuck on the spot, his feet and ankles wrapped in a thick layer of sludge that stretched on the ground as far as the eye could see. The faint light filtering from both ends of the underpass gave it flickering, changing hues, now green like bile, now brown like vomit, now black like tar. It smelled like sewer and dirty toilets. 

“BASTARD”

The slime clung to the walls of the underpass, climbing on them as if endowed with its own will. It crawled up higher and higher, and then went on to expand onto the ceiling. Its surface boiled and squirmed producing disgusting squelching sounds. Izuku looked away from the revolting goo-coated structure he was boxed in, he looked towards the exit, hoping that something, someone would show up to drag him out of that hell.

“GIVE IT BACK”

Someone emerged from the sludge, a few meters ahead of him. A man. A flabby, hairless, mucky man, with haunted eyes and a mouth open in a silent scream. He sweated slime, cried slime, drooled slime, from every orifice and every pore of his body. He waded towards Izuku slowly, an arm extended before him as if to grab him. Izuku couldn’t stand that sight either. He aimed his gaze at the ceiling, right when a huge bubble of gunk popped right above him, and chunky dollops of filth splashed on his face, into his nose and mouth.

“OR I’LL RIP IT OUT OF YOU”

Izuku coughed and heaved, trying to expel the repulsive substance from his pipes, but two cold, slick hands clamped around his throat, trapping it in his body. He could feel the ooze drip down into his lungs, his stomach- he could feel it wiggle and push, like a living parasite trying to break free from the flesh constraining it. Izuku scrambled to tear the man’s hands off him, but those too melted under his fingers like the same fluid that was everywhere, closing down on him, choking him, pulling him apart from the inside-

 Izuku woke up with a whole-body lurch that nearly sent him rolling off the bed, sweaty and breathless. He took in the familiar shadows of his room, and the red numbers of his alarm clock floating in the darkness at his eye level. 

6:20 AM.

Izuku turned on his belly with a frustrated groan, sinking his face into the pillow. Sure, he’d had a pretty harrowing day yesterday. It was bound to leave him a little shaken and maybe disturb his sleep for a while. But seven nightmares in the span of as many hours seemed slightly excessive. Especially seven instances of the exact same nightmare, sentient goo and Munch-like villain and all. The boy fumbled blindly for his phone to check if he’d received any new messages in the last fifty-five minutes. He hadn’t, of course. He prayed that All Might would contact him soon, it didn’t take a degree in psychology to guess the nature of the ‘unfinished business’ his subconscious was so keen on grilling him about.

He stared at the screen blankly, wondering, for roughly the hundredth time, if he should call his father. On one hand, he very probably should. If the man had deemed that little scuffle with Kacchan emergency-worthy, surely a mess this humongous in size warranted a call as well. On the other hand… Izuku didn’t really want to. 

The previous night’s news broadcast had covered the sludge villain incident rather haphazardly, it being a relatively contained accident with no serious consequences or injuries. Izuku was sure they had bothered to touch on the fact in the first place just because All Might had been involved, and the number one hero would receive prime time coverage even for something as trivial as being spotted buying soda at a convenience store. Curiously, Izuku hadn’t been mentioned at all, not even indirectly. Kacchan had been named and shown as the victim, the other heroes had been acknowledged, but All Might had been appointed as the sole person responsible for the resolution of the mishap. Not a word about any irresponsible middle schoolers joining the fray.

Izuku had taken it as a promising sign. All Might had likely interceded for him with the police and obtained a modicum of discretion about his involvement, at least in regards to the media. The hero had been so very understanding the previous day - just thinking about it made the boy almost tear up anew. He had barely reacted to the shocking revelation of his quirk, he had tolerated his unseemly outburst, he had spoken to him as if… as if Izuku was just another innocent victim caught up in a bad situation, rather than a potential menace. He hadn’t hesitated even for a second to offer him his hand, despite knowing the threat that Izuku’s own hands posed. He had… he had made him feel safe, and trusted. He had allowed Izuku to hope that maybe, just maybe, this whole thing could be fixed, that Izuku could handle it with his help, even without subjecting his father to undue sniveling.

And, objectively speaking, what could Izuku’s father do at this point? Izuku doubted that, regardless of his governmental position, the man could prevent the truth from spreading once it had reached both the police and the number one hero. Izuku could make an educated guess about his reaction too, and it wasn’t all that encouraging. It was too late for stern recommendations about secrecy, or for disappointed sighs and gratuitous snark about Izuku’s blind faith in All Might’s mediation skills. And, to be perfectly honest, Izuku dreaded the possibility of finally and completely alienating the sympathy of the one person that had supported and advised him for his whole life, in his own peculiar way. Yes, it was childish of him. Yes, he would have to tell his father anyway, eventually. But he’d rather do it after the matter had been settled, hopefully for the best, and after he’d had a little more time to gather his thoughts and figure out how to word it a little less unfavorably for himself. So, there. It was the 28th of April too, he could wait another day or two, at least. No biggie.

By breakfast time, Izuku had reviewed the issue three more times, had another nightmare, and accepted the fact that this was going to be a long day. 

School went by in that typical hazy fashion that was the result of intellectual activities synergizing poorly with a sleep-deprived brain. Izuku kept eyeing Kacchan warily throughout the first three classes, harboring the half-baked notion of addressing yesterday’s events. He regretted doing it the very moment he opened his mouth to greet him during recess.

“What?” Kacchan growled without sparing him a single glance.

“Uh, ah, I…” How are you was one possible conversation starter. A bad one, for sure. Worrying about Kacchan’s well-being implied that he may not be okay, which implied weakness, which invited aggression as a counter-argument. Did you tell anyone else about what I did yesterday was downright rude, as if Izuku’s quirk was more important than his friend being almost murdered. In fact, any reference to the villain incident was a minefield. Braver classmates than Izuku had already made their inquiries during homeroom, and Kacchan hadn’t taken kindly to their snooping. This really was a bad-

“WHAT?” Kacchan barked, turning sharply towards Izuku and banging his fist on his desk for emphasis.

“Uh, nothing! Just saying hello! Hi! Bye!” Izuku fled the classroom without looking back before Kacchan decided to force-feed him his own shoes.

The first bit of good news of the day reached him during lunch, under the guise of a text.

Hey kid! We can drop by the police station this afternoon at 5 if you’re free

Izuku brought up the virtual keyboard to reply, but he stopped with his finger poised over the screen. He blinked at the unlabeled string of digits identifying the sender.

He had All Might’s phone number. One of many, probably. Definitely one of the lowest priority lines. Or maybe just some sort of burner phone for communications with civilians only. Still. He had All Might’s phone number. All Might was texting him. The realization made him half-choke on his rice.

Should he save it? Would that be a breach of confidentiality? Even if he used a not-too-obvious handle? N1? SP? AM? Ante Meridiem? ...That would just make it more suspicious, wouldn’t it? He’d just… commit it to memory for now. In case he ever needed it again. For purely altruistic reasons.

Sure, I’m free! Thank you very much for the help!

Izuku’s phone chimed again a couple of minutes later.

We’ll come pick you up at your place

That ‘we’ raised a small wave of anxiety in Izuku, but he willed himself to suppress it. He couldn’t expect All Might to shield him from any and all interactions with the force. It’d be fine. He could handle this.

The perspective of visiting the villain revived Izuku’s attention for the remaining lessons, only for him to crash back into fidgety inactivity as soon as he got home and found himself without anything to do for almost two hours before the agreed time. Homework was out of the question, he was too distracted. He figured a nap would be the most inoffensive way to while away the time while also recovering some higher brain functions. And so it was only with a mild heart attack that Izuku was roused by the ringing of the doorbell at 4.50 PM.

“Young Midoriya! Good afternoon!” Even at a glance, Izuku could tell that All Might was in better shape than the previous day. He stood a bit straighter, his smile was a bit wider, his hair was slightly less chaotic. He was also wearing slacks and a button up shirt that, while still dramatically oversized, made him look a bit less like a phthisic hospital runaway. “Are you ready to go?”

“Yes! Thank you so much for going out of your way to take care of me!” Izuku declared with a rigid bow to All Might and to the other man standing by his side - definitely a detective, judging by his stereotypical trench coat.

All Might patted the man on the back with an even bigger grin. “This is Naomasa Tsukauchi, my favorite detective on the force! You may speak freely before him, you won’t find anyone more trustworthy in the whole of Japan!”

“A pleasure to meet you, Midoriya.” Tsukauchi politely removed his hat and shook the boy’s hand with an amused smirk, a sign that he was probably familiar with the hero’s odd choice of an introduction. He then peeked behind Izuku’s shoulders towards the inside of the house. “Isn’t your mother going to join us?”

“Ah no, she had a doctor’s appointment booked for today. It’s fine though, I’ll just send her a text to let her know where I’m going.” Izuku had warned his mother that he may have to visit the precinct soon. He had had to justify his singed and grimy school uniform the day before, so he had told her that he’d been marginally involved in the sludge villain incident, and the police was likely to want to collect his statement on the matter. It was only by pure chance that the news broadcast hadn’t outed his abridgment of the facts.

“Ah… We were hoping to have a few words with her too, actually.” Tsukauchi glanced at All Might, whose eyes darted briefly between the detective and the boy.

“I… may have forgotten to mention that.” All Might scratched the back of his neck with an apologetic grimace. “Well, I guess it can’t be helped. We’ll catch up with her another time, if necessary.”

Izuku had the sneaking suspicion that being All Might’s favorite detective came at a price. Tsukauchi just sighed, before regarding him with a gentle smile. “Well, if you are sure you don’t mind coming with us all by yourself…”

“I don’t mind at all!” Izuku hurried to reassure them. 

A minute later he was in the backseat of Tsukauchi’s speeding car, typing a message to his mother and struggling to suppress a monstrous yawn, courtesy of his interrupted nap.

“Tired?” All Might asked, intercepting his gaze in the rearview mirror.

“A bit. I didn't sleep well last night.”

“Ah, I know that feeling.” The hero’s expression mellowed in sympathy. “I’m sure you’ll rest more easily once this is over and done with.”

“I hope so.” Izuku pocketed his phone and gazed at the moving buildings out of the car window, mostly just to break eye contact. Somehow All Might’s open kindness felt undeserved, especially for something as trivial as a bunch of spooky dreams. He focused on more urgent matters. “So, uh… how are we going to do this? Does the villain know I’m coming, will I explain things to him? Will you, uh, keep an eye on things from outside or accompany me...?”

“Well, we were thinking of throwing you into his cell, locking the door and letting the two of you fight for dominance and ownership over the quirk- “ All Might grinned widely in response to Izuku’s exasperated gape.

“Yagi!” The detective reprimanded him, only mildly scandalized. The name bounced a few times around Izuku’s brain, plain and mystifying at the same time.

“Sorry, just trying to lift his spirits.” 

“You have nothing to worry about, it’ll be perfectly safe.” Tsukauchi provided, clearly having a much better understanding of the state of Izuku’s spirits despite knowing him for a scant ten minutes. “The villain will be in his cell and we will escort you inside, of course. You won’t really interact with each other, as he’ll likely be deeply asleep.”

“Asleep?”

“Yes. The apparent loss of his quirk has upset him greatly. He’s barely spoken since we took him into custody, and he’s spent the whole night in severe emotional distress. We would have transferred him to a hospital this morning if you hadn’t agreed to help so promptly. As things stood, we simply had a doctor prescribe him a strong sedative. Hopefully he’ll settle down spontaneously after you return his quirk.”

The man’s words weighed on Izuku’s heart like a ton of bricks. Damn, that was… horrible. He’d been holding onto someone else’s quirk for barely a day, and it had already caused that much sorrow. That wasn’t how Izuku’s power was supposed to be used. It would never be, as far as he was concerned.

“I’m sure he will.” All Might commented, all traces of humour vanished from his demeanor. “Don’t worry, kid. It’ll be a matter of a minute.”

Izuku nodded, and didn’t speak again for the rest of the trip. When they reached their destination, he let All Might guide him towards the detention area of the complex while Tsukauchi wandered off somewhere else, probably taking care of the bureaucratic side of things. He reappeared relatively soon, and they entered one of the cells all together.

The cell was small and mostly barren, furnished with only the most essential goods and surfaces for a relatively short stay. Idly, Izuku wondered what systems they had in place to prevent a… slippery criminal such as the current occupant from escaping from toilets or sinks. Surely they were prepared to- he realized he was spacing out. He should just get on with it.

The villain was indeed sleeping, huddled in a small foldable bedding on the floor. Izuku had barely caught a glimpse of the man’s human form the previous day, yet he was identical to how he’d envisioned him in his dreams. His subconscious was just that observant, apparently. It suddenly occurred to Izuku that he hadn’t even asked for the man’s name yet. The news broadcast hadn’t reported- he was procrastinating again. Just do it, Izuku.

The boy glanced questioningly at the detective, who made a small gesture to indicate that he was free to proceed. He approached his assailant and crouched beside him. The villain’s hand was sticking out from under the blanket, next to his head. Izuku rested his palm against the back of it, and simply willed the quirk out. 

Just like that, it was done. Izuku stood up and stepped back as the man’s body swiftly changed its texture and color, morphing and rearranging itself until a vaguely man-shaped, green heap of goo had replaced the slumbering human. The villain remained dead to the world throughout the entire process.

“...I’m done.” Izuku whispered, quite redundantly. He peered back at the two men at the opposite side of the room, and he didn’t miss the quick, sharp side-glance they’d just quietly exchanged.

“Thank you very much for your cooperation.” Tsukauchi said with the utmost honesty once they were again in the hallway. “While you’re here, would you mind if I collected your statement about the incident? It won’t take long, we already have a clear picture of the situation thanks to All Might.”

“Uh… Okay.” Izuku had hoped, rather optimistically, to skip that part, but he had no reasonable excuse to refuse. Tsukauchi led them to an empty room a couple of corridors further ahead, and held the door open for them. All Might lingered on the threshold.

“May I sit in?” His question was aimed at Izuku for some reason, rather than at his friend. 

“Of course!” Izuku confirmed, when both adults just stared at him in silence, clearly waiting for his permission. The hero thanked him with a small nod and an equally small smile.

They all sat around the desk in the middle of the room, Tsukauchi on one side, and Izuku and All Might on the other. It struck Izuku as a little strange, automatically expecting the two upholders of the law to face him side by side. He wondered if it may be a setup for some sort of good-cop-bad-cop routine. Not that either of them seemed especially suited to the latter role. Tsukauchi was very much the embodiment of professionalism, and All Might… All Might looked especially non-threatening in that moment, almost meek. He was sitting very tidily, big hands folded in his lap and long legs pressed against each other, occupying a remarkably small space considering the size of his frame. It made Izuku straighten his back and sit more neatly by reflex.

The questioning did proceed very smoothly at first. Tsukauchi let Izuku narrate his version of the events without interrupting at all, just humming and jotting down a few lines in his notepad now and then. All Might was just as unobtrusive, volunteering a sentence or two when Izuku happened to stumble on his words, or when he openly allowed him to recount the little scene on the rooftop, since the detective was already in on the big secret. Smooth sailing all round, until the point when Izuku had to bring up his quirk.

“On the subject of your quirk… when did it first manifest, exactly?” Tsukauchi asked.

“A little less than two years ago.”

“Ah, you’re quite the late bloomer! And you’ve only shared that fact with your friend Bakugo and your father, is that correct?”

“Yes.”

“And your father is one... Hisashi Midoriya, right?” Tsukauchi fished out a sheet of paper from the folder he’d retrieved before beginning the interrogation. He slid it across the table so that the boy could read it.

“Yes.” Izuku blinked, an undefined sense of unease gripping him all of a sudden. “...Why did you bother printing his personal details?”

“You’ve been filed as quirkless in the national registry after a routine medical examination when you were four years old. Your registration hasn’t been updated since then, as far as I could ascertain.” Tsukauchi explained calmly.

“Y-Yeah. I know.”

“...That is a punishable offense, I’m afraid. An accurate quirk registration is mandatory for all citizens.” Tsukauchi’s expression softened when Izuku utterly failed to hide his dismay. “This has no consequence on you, as minors aren’t expected to take care of these things by themselves, especially since quirk recording is often carried out when they’re extremely young. Your mother bears no blame either if, as you say, she’s as clueless about it as the rest of the world. But if your father knew and neglected to sort out the necessary paperwork for so long-”

“Oh.” Oh. Oh crap. Izuku had never thought of that. Why on earth had he never thought of that? Why, in almost two years, had he never considered the legal implications of all that secrecy? Why hadn’t his father? “Are you going to press charges against him?”

“Not yet. We’re at least going to get in touch with him and hear him out before taking any further steps.” The detective gave him a genuinely reassuring smile. “But even if we did, there is no cause for concern. These bureaucratic hitches are usually settled with a small fine.”

“I-I see.” Izuku gulped. He wasn’t going to wait until May. He was going to call his father as soon as he was alone. This probably wasn’t going to snowball into a lengthy legal conundrum, but still…

“What’s his occupation? I’m reading ‘administrative assistant’ here, which is a bit generic…”

“I don’t know much about that. He works for the government, I think, and he always says that all his activities are classified, so I try not to pry... Too much…”

“That is very judicious of you. I wish you could teach some of that tact to my sister…” Tsukauchi sighed, only half-jokingly. All Might let out a low chuckle at that. “Does your father know that you’ve been so reserved about your quirk so far?”

“Yes.”

“And he didn’t find it odd in the slightest?”

“...No.” 

“Why do you think that is?” Izuku was suddenly very aware of both adults observing him quite intently. He really didn’t want to make things look any worse for his father. He could… slightly reframe the truth, maybe.

“I, uhm… Mine is a bit of a unique quirk. Difficult to use without, uh, stepping on other people’s toes. And I’ve been quirkless for most of my life, and… it’s no mystery that I envied other kids a lot because of that. I was worried that my schoolmates could be wary of me if they knew that I could… act on that envy now.”

Tsukauchi hummed, twirling his pen slowly between his fingers. “I can understand your concern. But quirk counselling is specifically designed to help children cope with such issues, and you’ve been missing out on it because of this extreme discretion. Your father should have realized he was doing you more harm than good by letting these fears fester in your mind.”

Izuku dropped his gaze on his father’s profile sheet. Detective Tsukauchi had a point, but… the matter was more complicated than that, as well as intricately intertwined with his father’s job and the troubled history of their quirk, and… Izuku didn’t want to delve into any of that at the moment. 

“We’ll definitely schedule some counselling sessions for you in the future, I’m sure you’ll find them beneficial.” Tsukauchi hesitated. “...Did something catch your attention?”

Something did, in fact. Izuku was idly skimming through the content of his father’s profile, and a couple of details were giving him pause. The first was, unsurprisingly, his father’s listed quirk. Fire Breathing.

...nor do I have it printed in bold letters in my personal documents…

Yeah, Izuku wasn’t going to bring that up. The other thing, a little more surprisingly, was his photo.

“Oh, it’s nothing, just… I haven’t seen any photos of my father in a long time.”

“You haven’t seen ‘any photos’ of him?” Tsukauchi cocked his head curiously.

“Yeah… I’ve never met him in person, he travels a lot because of his job and he never has enough time to stop by. I only know what he looks like because of an old photo my mother showed me. I haven’t seen it in years too, so…”

“Only a single photo, uh? And this picture here doesn’t strike you as familiar?”

Izuku observed it more closely... No, he was surely mistaken. “No no, there’s… there’s definitely a resemblance. Mine was a very old photo, taken before I was born. And it wasn’t even a photo of him specifically, he just happened to be in it, at an odd angle and in the middle of a crowd… I’m sure this one is more accurate.”

“Are you still in possession of that photo, by any chance?” All Might chimed in unexpectedly, his bright eyes narrowing slightly.

“Yes, I think so… Hang on, let me check.” Izuku fetched his phone, opened the internet browser… Crap, it really had been a long time since he’d looked at the thing. Back then, he’d saved the file his mother had passed him on a free online storage site that… hopefully still existed? He hadn’t used it in at least four years. Was his account still active? Could he even retrieve the credentials with his current email address? “Uh… Actually, I don’t think I can get it right away. But I printed a copy of it once, it should be at home… somewhere…” Stashed in one of those boxes of old notebooks and magazines on top of his wardrobe, right? Or had it been thrown away when they had moved to their current apartment…? He fiddled with his phone with growing discomfort, acutely aware of the utter unhelpfulness of his babbling.

“We’d certainly be grateful if you could retrieve that photo for us, when you have a minute.” All Might finally conceded, taking pity on Izuku's floundering.

“Sure! I’ll try to find it as soon as I get home.”

“Much obliged.” Tsukauchi flipped quickly through his folder. Izuku was about to ask why the mention of that photo had sparked their interest so much, when Tsukauchi put Hisashi's file back into the folder and closed it with a snap. “Well, I think we’ve covered everything. Again, you’ve been immensely valuable to us, Midoriya.”

Izuku let out a breath he hadn’t noticed he was holding. All Might positively beamed at him and flashed him a thumbs up, which was its own, heart-warming reward. They all stood up and made to leave, when Izuku remembered he owed the two men a proper thanks.

“Ah, I really appreciate that you used your influence to… to get the papers off my back. It was… unreasonable of me to ask, but I  really  appreciate you humoring my hope for discretion anyway. I hope that it wasn’t too much of an inconvenience.”

Tsukauchi and All Might traded a puzzled glance. 

“We did nothing of the sort, kid. What makes you-” All Might stopped, as if struck by a sudden thought. “Ah! You did mention it yesterday, didn’t you? That you were expecting your friend to expose your quirk…”

“Yes. I… I imagine Kacchan told the journalists, and you took care of, uh, correcting his version?”

“No, no, there was no need to.” All Might waved his hand dismissively. “Your friend didn’t mention you at all. He was on the verge of fainting when you rushed in, he’d been strenuously fighting back against the villain for a while by that time. He was too exhausted to notice your intervention, and you bolted immediately afterwards. He never realized you were there.”

Izuku’s jaw dropped half-way open, but he shut it immediately with an audible click. 

“...Ah.” Kacchan hadn’t realized. The bystanders hadn’t realized. The police hadn’t realized. All Might hadn’t really realized. That meant that no one, no one, would know about his quirk right now… if he hadn’t gone and spilled the beans about it himself. If he hadn’t dumped an unnecessary confession to the number one hero out of sheer, emotional anxiety.

...Boy, that next phone call was going to be one for the ages.