#june is for grading and glaring

[fannedandflawless]

Mid-Year Memo from Professor Snape

June:

Not inspired.

Not recharged.

Just six months deeper into carrying this entire school on hair and spite.

If it blooms, he’s allergic to it. If it’s cheerful, he hexed it already.

[musicallisto]

· · · · ♡ NO LOVE IN NEW YORK

… starring oscar piastri x f!reader ... 5.2k words ... in which your good samaritan tendencies, and some loser forgetting to show up on your first date, lead you to the most bizarre yet exhilarating nyc commute of your life. ... featuring fluff, humor, meet cute, some forced proximity. female reader (wears 'feminine' clothing). language, reader gets stood up on a date, suspension of disbelief for manhattan geography and the logistics of the mta (please forgive me new yorkers i went ten years ago). english is not my first language. ... author notes tadaaa oscar piastri debut who cheered!!!! not me because i'm scared to death of getting him wrong lowk. i was bemoaning the absence of oscar pictures at the f1 premiere and thought, "i know he just couldn't be bothered to go, but wouldn't it be funny if he'd just gotten lost?" and thats how this fic happened. ngl this is very much out of my comfort zone, i know oscar less than other drivers + much more romcom than i'm used to and idk how i feel about it so feedback would be VERY appreciated! very much open for a part 2 if you'd like that tho!!! enjoy ヘ(≧▽≦ヘ)♪ MASTERLIST / ASK BOX

There was no valid reason dating in New York City should have been this complicated.

Yet you prided yourself on being quite smart—smart enough to survive in the hostile urban jungle as a twenty-something on her own; definitely smarter than the national average judging by the (frankly depressing) headlines you heard pinging on your phone every morning. Outstanding high school GPA, reading comprehension way above your grade as a kid, and still no damn clue how to score a date in Manhattan.

Well, rather, how to score an agreeable date. Or perhaps just one that turned out to be real.

Monday morning had risen with a yawn from the sun, as though it were remembering only now that June was well underway but the streets remained chilly. Weak light shimmered over the fire escape when you’d drawn your curtains open. Ramen was sitting on the railing, licking his cream paw and staring at you with unimpressed nonchalance, and you’d grinned. Ramen—your downstairs neighbor’s cat, a sandy little imp whose real name you’d never found out but had baptized so after he’d stolen your instant dinner right off your kitchen counter—only showed up on mornings with importance. Like the day you’d aced Introduction to Statistics with nothing but two hours of sleep and five Monsters.

This was a good omen.

So yes, you were enthusiastic by the time you got home from class, scrambled together an omelet, and disemboweled your apartment looking for your favorite earrings. You were optimistic, and that sometimes sounded like the worst thing anyone could be in New York City.

But this first date promised to be nothing like the others, your inner voice hammered home as you tried to cram your feet into shoes half a size too small. He was cute, funny, not a fascist, he waited exactly the right amount of time in between replies—neither psychopathic nor disinterested—, and he’d told you to dress up because it was only fair that real-life art should match the paintings on the wall. After half a dozen insipid dinners at every other pizza place in Little Italy, and as many ghostings, a museum first date sounded more promising than you’d dared to hope.

Even though he dropped off the radar at ten p.m. the prior evening. Even though you shot him a bubbly, “you said 2:30pm right? can’t wait!” at eleven (the appointed time was but a scroll away, but you just needed to say something, diffuse the nerves somehow). Even though you double-texted him at two fifteen, “omw!”. 

But Ramen was there this morning, blinking his slow blinks at you. The date had to go well.

The sun was fully awake, undeniable, blazing above the trees and endless spires piercing the sky beyond Central Park, by the time you sat down on the steps in front of the museum. Alone.

It wasn’t until two fifty-seven that you accepted to face the glaring truth. 

First miss for Ramen.

You collected yourself in a clumsy torpor. Nothing to do with your heels, or the stupidly long dress you’d picked out and whose skirt you now had to lift with every step—this was the inescapable, crushing feeling of disappointment.

Of course New York City would punish the optimistic. The naïve. The superstitious, who put the outcome of their days into the hands of some feline apparition, scan the sky for four-leaf clover clouds. Served you right for still believing in things falling into place.

Your face burned from the sun and the humiliation, eyes prickling from unshed tears as you stuffed your phone into your purse. Pretended not to notice the group of tourists snapping shots of you, perhaps thinking you some roaming Millais muse. Disappeared into the shade of 103rd Street station, green gown flowing behind you like a pennon.

Every step down the long stairway stung more than the last, but you kept your gaze firmly to the ground, careful not to trip—and bury any ounce of dignity left in you for good. Blend in with the jaded city folk, you thought as you swiped your Metrocard; act as if you know exactly where you are going and go there with purpose, even if you could not be more stranded. Where to now? Back to your disordered, sweltering apartment, its haphazard pile of dishes in the sink and Ramen gauging you silently from the windowsill? Or to the campus library, trying to glean whatever productivity lies within heartbreak? And risk bumping into your friends, who’d teased you all day about the giddy bounce to your step, and having to explain you weren’t even worth showing up for?

“Excuse me?”

You looked up and met hazel. A mop of chestnut hair, that he had manifestly tried to arrange before giving up; discreet moles on an otherwise pale face, and brown eyes where danced flecks of gold and the most gripping kind of urgent resignation. The stranger was cute, and for some incomprehensible reason he matched you: he, too, was dressed to the nines like he’d run off from some wedding, and he also distinctly looked like he wished more than anything for the Earth to swallow him.

“Are you going to the F1 movie premiere?”

“What?”

“The, uh, the F1 movie red carpet thing? Are you going there right now?”

You were starting to worry your foreign-accent (British, or perhaps Australian?) comprehension skills had gotten alarmingly bad, or maybe the shrieking of MTA wagon brakes had finally rendered you deaf. 

“No, uh... I…” Oh, what the hell. Like there was any use lying to a beautiful stranger who seemed like he was somehow having a worse afternoon than yours. “I got stood up by my date. F1, you mean like Formula 1?”

What a formidable and ridiculous scene you two must’ve painted—two kids in formalwear, standing in the middle of a New York City subway platform, stuck amidst the pungent smell of piss and nonsensical conversation.

“I’m sorry about your date, they sound like a bit of a dropkick,” the stranger replied, and although you weren’t entirely sure what a dropkick was you were surprised to find him genuine. “But, uh… I think I’m lost, and I hoped you might help me, or else I’m gonna be the one doing the standing up. On about two thousand people.”

You had no time to furrow your brow, or chew on his words. Suddenly everything clicked with an audible bang, right in sync with the train doors closing to your left. The reason you’d felt so familiarly drawn to that cherub face, and why he had mentioned Formula 1… None of the downright lubricious Instagram edits your best friend had ever sent you featured him in a suit, but he was unmistakable.

“Oh my god, you’re Oscar Pia—”

“Please don’t tell all of Manhattan,” Piastri interrupted, grimacing as he glanced around the platform. You suffocated your voice, though found his dread of being heard a little pointless. Two people standing idly in black-tie garments as metros passed them by were eye-catching, for sure, but nowhere near NYC eye-catching standards. “It’s already pretty bad how late I am to my own premiere, I don’t want to have to take selfies in the subway.”

A million questions jostled about inside your head, but all you could do was stare at him, mouth agape in incomprehension. You didn’t keep up with Formula 1, hardly saw any point in cars going in circles, and perhaps a McLaren (was it McLaren or Mercedes?) superfan might have known better than you what the fuck Oscar Piastri was doing there. Not the film premiere gimmick, you were willing to believe that was the kind of fanfare F1 drivers spent their off-days doing—what the fuck he was doing alone at three in the afternoon, asking for your help in some acrid station on Lexington Avenue. 

“Couldn’t you just drive to the damn premiere?”

“Oh, right, so I should just steal a car off the street?” he deadpanned.

“No, I mean… don’t you have a chauffeur? An… an agent or something? A team? How do you even end up…” you trailed off, finding no words that wouldn’t bring you to astonished frustration. Instead, you opened your arms wide, encompassing all of New York’s rickety railways. “Here?”

Piastri parted his lips to retort with one of his impassive quips, but his whole face fractured then with tremendous vulnerability.

“I’ll tell you if you help me find my way. Please?”

He did not look like the type of man who’d ever begged anyone to do anything for him—you expected a high-adrenaline junkie like him to pray for neither forgiveness nor permission—and the contrast made you consider. That, and the sheer absurdity of the situation. And the fact the only other way you could see your afternoon ending was with an onslaught of messages from some guy assuring you life had gotten “sooo hectic” in the last ten to twelve hours.

Piastri was much cuter than him anyway.

“You know what, yeah, sure, what the hell,” you shrugged with a growing smile. “I’ll help you. I could use the good karma. I’m Y/N, by the way.”

This whole plan was utterly ridiculous, and you had no idea how you’d possibly explain that to your friends when they’d ask how your date had gone, but the way Piastri deflated with relief, like his whole body was exhaling, had you convinced you’d made the right call.

“Thanks, Y/N.” He said your name with the slightest of accents, and you caught yourself wishing he could say it again. “Maps said this was the shortest path to Times Square, but I think it’s a little confused—”

“Times Square? Oh, you’re not getting anywhere near that on the 6. We need to get to Central Park North. You coming?”

You tilted your head to the side, to the staircase drenched in hazy summer light, and Piastri seemed to be weighing the pros and cons for a split second—you couldn’t fault him, to be fair; you could’ve been a stalker, or a lunatic, or the lowest echelon to a weird MLM scheme. Still, he must’ve decided whatever you were recruiting him for was less dangerous than missing this premiere, because he took off after you.

When he billowed out of the station and back into the city, Piastri winced, and at first you assumed it due to the piercing sunlight reverberating on glassy panels, or the cacophony of horns and engines. However, you quickly noticed him glancing at the passersby with frantic interest… and looking puzzled at their utter disinterest in him.

“Relax, no one’s looking at us,” you reassured him, striding down the street on autopilot. He jogged two steps to catch up.

“You sure?”

“Certain. There’s so many people in New York City, and so many of those people do weird shit, that practically anyone can go unnoticed. I assure you that this,” you gestured down at your long dress, catching the light like rippling topazes, then at the silver cufflinks on his jacket, “does not even make the top 5 weirdest things any of these people have seen today.”

But the Australian looked unsure still, twisting his thin lips in a crooked zigzag, so you stopped in your tracks and hailed a young lady passing you by on the sidewalk, Airpods firmly bolted inside her ears.

“Excuse me, do you know who this guy is—”

She strode past you with the most furtive glance biologically possible and a mechanical Nothankyouhaveagoodday. You turned back to Piastri.

“See? No one cares.”

He chuckled, face breaking like dawn, and you chuckled too with no real reason. You weren’t too sure what was funny about typical New York callousness, but the way Piastri’s eyes crinkled, still somewhat strained from stress but illuminating all his features, made you all fuzzy inside. Up close and under sunlight, he looked even younger than you’d thought, no more than twenty-five, and the shadows on his face had lifted, rounding the angles and softening the corners. Like he’d been oil-painted on canvas, ochres and whites melting into each other at the edges.

“Okay, I guess you’re the local,” he conceded, and you resumed your brisk walk.

Maybe you really were at the museum, after all.

“So,” you spoke up after a bit. “I was promised a story.”

“Right,” he clicked his tongue against the roof of his mouth, clearly regretting his bartering skills.

“How do you, Oscar Piastri, end up late to a movie premiere and alone in a subway station?” You stepped across a grate on the sidewalk, careful not to wedge your heel in the holes. “They just left you behind? Did you oversleep or what?”

No reply, but his dry laughter morphing into a cough was a flagrant enough response.

“Oh my God, Piastri,” you gasped merrily. “Did you seriously sleep through your movie premiere?”

“No! … It’s not over yet. I’m just late for the red carpet part. I can still make it to the screening.”

You stared, unconvinced, and he stared back, unconvincing. Biting the inside of his cheek, he watched your smile grow wider until he couldn’t take your teasing anymore. For heaven’s sake—you’d known him a grand total of five minutes and were already tormenting him!

“What?”

“How do they let you get away with this?”

“I was racing in Canada yesterday! God forbid a guy wants a nap,” he stressed the last as though it were some capital punishment and rolled his eyes.

Something in his demeanor was fabulously amusing. He was all relaxed tension, calculated coldness akin to what you’d expect from a person who’s constantly scrutinized; yet there was something more, a sort of agitation bubbling within, under the pores of his handsome face. Feeling so deeply and letting a stranger see so much was not in his nature, that much was clear. Every microexpression, in the lift of his brows, the curve of his lips, the arc of his eyes betrayed a kind of imbalance. He was losing his footing, like a glacier abraded from the top by the sun.

New York City had trained you for all sorts of people, including still waters like him. How to ripple their surface.

“Does this happen to you often?”

“No. Never.”

“Never missed a flight?”

“Just once. My mom woke me up screaming one hour before boarding the second ti—watch out.”

Swiftly, he grabbed your elbow and switched your spots on the sidewalk, pushing you closer to the wall. Before you could open your mouth to protest, the ground rattled from a firetruck barreling past you, ruffling Piastri’s hair and the lapels of his jacket.

“But I set three different alarms on my phone and I figured, Lando will probably break my door down if I sleep through them, so I’m safe,” he resumed, entirely unfazed. You looked up at him like he’d just performed actual magic. “But… apparently not. I woke up… twenty minutes ago?” That explained the slim, red pillow mark on his face you’d mistaken for a fading sunburn. “I wanted to call a taxi, but they’ve cut off traffic. It’s a big deal, you know? Brad Pitt’s gonna be there.”

The way he said Brad Pitt, with a tone so level it became thick with meaning and the littlest of jazz hands, made it abundantly clear there were few people on Earth Oscar Piastri would’ve been less excited about than Brad Pitt.

“Are you in it?”

“What?”

“The movie. Are you even in it?”

“Uh, my elbow is. Minute fifty-three.”

“Wow,” you giggled, arching your eyebrows in a playful wave. “So am I talking to Oscar Piastri the pro athlete, or Oscar Piastri the movie star?”

“Eh, just Oscar Piastri’s fine,” he shrugged, non-committal, though the glint of a smile now flickered uninterrupted on the corner of his lips, almost real enough to remark upon.

Your steps had carried you to the subway entrance north of Central Park already—too soon, far too soon, you thought with a faint ache in the chest. Piastri stirred in your body some kind of early-summer warmth, soft and shimmering like a drowsy morning. As soon as he would vanish to the far side of the platform, only the icy wind would remain, howling endlessly through the corridors…

Piastri, however, did not seem set on giving you up. At least judging by the tiny, tentative steps he took as he walked up to the turnstile, as though the machine could eat him the way it did cardboard tickets. You saw him take out a small, green-lettered card from his pocket… and stopped him.

“Wait, that’s not gonna work.”

“Huh?”

“Your ticket, it’s a single ride. You used that back there on Lexington, right?”

“Uh, I guess?”

“You don’t have a Metrocard?”

He turned to you, puzzled, and almost slammed into a hurried businessman in the process. Thankfully for Piastri, even assault was too inconsequential to reroute the average New Yorker, and the man just breezed past the turnstile and into the guts of the Earth with a nasty glare and a taunting beep!

“Why would I have a Metrocard, Y/N, I’m in this city about twelve hours a year.”

You glanced toward the entrance, where a faint trickle of light still seeped in. A flock of little old ladies, perhaps en route to a high-stakes bingo showdown, had laid siege to the terminals. Judging by their furrowed brows and squinting eyes, no one else in the station would be seeing so much as a hint of a ticket anytime soon.

Goodness gracious. Your helpfulness would be your undoing.

“How late are you to this thing?”

Piastri checked his watch. “Very.”

“And how much do you care about being late to this thing?”

“Normal dude Oscar Piastri? Not so much, to be honest. Formula 1 driver Oscar Piastri…”

“Say less.”

Veritable horror surfaced on Piastri’s face at your confident strides, as if he imagined you were about to vandalize your way through the gates.

“Come on! Hop over,” you signaled.

“Uh…”

“Or we could wait in line. Your call.” Like trying to get a puppy to jump through a hoop. What was he waiting for, a treat?

Or perhaps the patrol of inspectors coming down the hallway at the exact same second as Piastri gathered momentum and jumped the turnstile. That, too, seemed like a sensible thing to be on the lookout for.

The two men cried out right as his dress shoes hit the ground.

“Oh come on!” you whined. “They’re never here!”

“What do we do?!” he cried.

“What do you mean, what do we do? Just book it!”

You heard a cacophony of footsteps behind your back, promptly echoed by lighter sounds as Piastri ran down the corridor. Without a second glance, you pushed down on your hands, swung your legs forward, and… came to an abrupt halt mid-air. Looked down. Sage green fabric had wrapped around the metal blades of the turnstile, like snakes constricting their branches.

“Oscar!” you yelped.

If you’d had any doubt Oscar Piastri was the real racing deal until now, they were all silenced at once from the way he spun on his heels, ran back to you and, without a split second’s hesitation, not even the span of a breath, picked you up from your perch and took off. Instinctively your arms wrapped around the taut base of his neck as you felt his clammy hands slide down your back: the glossy fabric offered no grip to hold on to, yet his strong arms held you into place as tightly as they could. You gritted your teeth, prayed to God your heels would not fall off, and watched in stunned silence as Oscar raced down the stifling hallways.

It seemed like but an instant had passed when Oscar threw himself into the belly of the train, its imminent departure chime his very own chequered flag, and the old doors rattled shut behind you. For the first time, New Yorkers shot you strange looks. Finally you had crossed their threshold for urban bizarrerie.

And you were still in Oscar’s arms, flushed and panting even though he was the one who’d done all the running. And had barely broken a sweat.

You were about to clear your throat and kindly—begrudgingly, perhaps?—request he put you down… when the announcer’s perky voice began chirping out the next stops through the loudspeakers. You snapped your head at the line map above the doors. No matter what language she said it in, your next stop was always wrong.

“Oscar,” you murmured.

“Yeah?” he breathed out.

“We got on the wrong way.”

“There’s no oil in New York City.”

Oscar remained silent for a few seconds, as if in a trance. His jittery leg did not.

“What?” he mumbled when he broke out of his reverie.

You simply pointed at his knee, bouncing up and down since he’d sat.

“I don’t know what you’re trying to drill a hole in the ground with your shoe for. There’s no oil in New York City. If there was, Trump would’ve sucked it dry already.”

Oscar sighed, throwing his head back against the glass panel, but your heart swelled with satisfaction when you caught a glimpse of his smile.

Rippling anyone’s surface had seldom proven as easy as it was fun.

You leaned a little closer to him, and he closed his eyes with a faint grunt. His leg, however, was now still.

“Why are you so nervous about being late? You’re the main attraction, it’s not like they’re going to hold it against you.”

Hearing his reply proved difficult over the train’s thundering racket, glass windows and moist handles vibrating within their sockets like charged electrons. His eyes, mercifully still closed, allowed yours to linger on his mouth—to decipher each word as it formed, and to savor the quiet contemplation.

“Being fashionably late usually draws more attention than I like to get.”

“So why bother going? You don’t look like you enjoy being in the public eye that much anyway.”

Only one eye opened, tentatively so, and met your small, expectant smile, chin resting on your fist and your crossed legs imperceptibly brushing his. Any story he could’ve told you right then would’ve been riveting, it seemed, and for the first time in weeks Oscar found that for you, he did not mind sharing one.

“I told Lando I’d go. We collided yesterday on track and they thought it would maybe look bad if one of us showed up and not the other. Like we’re avoiding each other or something. I don’t know, PR stuff. But I promised Lando, so.” He pursed his lips then, and blew air through his nose, holding back a giggle. “Also, I don’t know, I felt like I had to go. I had a… a premonition.”

“A premonition?”

“Yeah, I don’t know, some kind of hunch. In my cereal.”

You stared at him long, assessing him and the likelihood of a lie, but he was a master of the unreadable smile, the one that could mean anything from I’m one look away from bursting into laughter to I have never dissociated more than I am currently, and even, perhaps, I wish this train ride with you would never end.

“In your cereal?”

“This morning, at the breakfast buffet, I had cereal and there was this kinda cornflake clump that looked like a clapperboard. You know,” he mimed it with his hands and the click of the tongue to match. “So I thought that was some… sign? The universe was telling me to go to this premiere, or something.” His neck tensed abruptly as he suddenly remembered himself. Who he was, and what he believed in. “But uh, that’s a little stupid. Forget it.”

The subway doors opened and closed, chimes rang and accordion tunes from the platforms faded in and out of the background chatter. You had close to lost count of how many stops were left until Times Square. The incessant ballet of New York’s illustrious unknowns would still play out, with or without your attention.

When Oscar looked down at you, almost entirely hunched over his lap and taking him in like he was an August rainshower, he found you beaming.

“No, I totally get you. This date I was supposed to go on before I ran into you… I went because Ramen showed up, even though there were so many red flags that I could’ve seen coming.”

“Who?”

“Ramen.”

“Who’s Ramen?”

“The neighbor’s cat. That’s not his real name, just what I call him.”

Oscar stared at you, expression frozen in one of delightful incomprehension, the one you get when you are not entirely sure a miracle is destined for you just yet. And you stared back, awaiting his next words for as long as it’d take them to come.

“So you went on a date because a cat told you to?”

“He didn’t tell me anything, silly, he’s a cat,” you retorted like it was the most obvious thing in the universe, to which Oscar rolled his eyes and muttered Of course. “He just stared, and every time he does it, I know I’m gonna get lucky that day. He’s never failed me before. Well, until today.”

A beat passed, during which you refused to elaborate further out of fear you’d betray the words lingering at the front of your mouth. Maybe this hadn’t been a miss for Ramen, after all. Maybe his magic had worked in unexpected ways. Oscar, on the other hand, just basked in the whole of you, and his lips slightly parted without a sound, as though they didn’t quite know where to begin.

“What?”

“It’s just… My job, this whole universe I live in, there’s no room for good luck charms or silly little superstitions. They’re just… distractions. All the answers are in the data. Our only faith is in the numbers.” And you sensed him about to say something else, something he had to wring out of the very cloth of his ribcage, but suddenly the deep wells in his pupils were sealed off with his favorite lid of deadpan humor. “Well, except the Italians. But they suck, so I wouldn’t take them as an example.”

“Oh my God, Oscar,” you gasped, “you can’t say that, do you know how many Italians there are in New Y—”

A sudden jolt shook the entire train, knocking the carriage back onto its breathless tracks; the momentum sent a teenage girl flying into a tall gym guy, who in turn crashed into you—your hands were too slow to catch you, not lighting-fast and gloved in greatness—you fell on top of Oscar, your nose buried against the open buttons of his shirt.

You were upright in less than a second, locked in a litany of Oh my God sorry’s to which Oscar replied his own recitation of No worries it’s not your fault’s. The train resumed its journey through the depths of Manhattan as if nothing had happened, and truthfully nothing had—except you were now a little closer to each other than you’d been before, and you hoped with all your might that he wouldn’t notice the way your eyelids fluttered, or how your fingertips had started burning up, or how the air was now thicker, or maybe you hoped he did, so you wouldn’t have to speak it aloud—nothing had happened, and truthfully everything had.

“Why did you think I was going to the F1 premiere back there?” you asked softly, not sure why that was the question you’d elected to go with now.

Oscar’s face was impassible—he’d found his calm, collected control back. But he didn’t know, or didn’t care to know, that you could hear his heartbeat louder than the railroad racket below.

“You looked funny.”

“Okay, you’re literally wearing a bowtie, and it’s crooked, by the way.”

“No, I mean, you looked pretty.” The faintest flick of his tongue showed above his bottom lip, undoubtedly accidental. “You looked really pretty, so I assumed you were a guest or something.”

Maybe what you’d heard and thought was his heart pulsating in sync with the wobbly tracks had not been his, but yours. Somewhere indistinct, the lady’s mechanical voice crackled something about Times Square. 

“Thank you,” you smiled, with no mischief attached, this time.

“I’m… pretty glad that your date didn’t show up in the end, huh,” he laughed half-heartedly.

“Oscar, Times Square,” you sprung to your feet, nearly twisting your ankle. “That’s you!”

The doors almost chewed down on the hem of Oscar’s pants when he jumped out of the train. Without so much as a glance back or a single word of forgiveness, all the carriages vanished into heavy shadows, and the world was back to normal again.

Or almost. If there was anything even remotely normal about Times Square.

Every single light blinded you—no matter how many times you came you could never wrap your head around how the place managed to dazzle you even in broad daylight—as you both exited the metro station. Summer lay heavily on the commotion of cars, police whistles, loud music, and… screaming bloody murder?

“Ah, I think that’s my cue.”

Oscar held his hand over his eyes as he took in the scene, and only then did you notice the race cars parked in the middle of the street, some fifty meters ahead. It was probably a fair assumption, then, that the thousands of people massed near the makeshift stage, underneath gigantic screens, were all waiting for him. A fair assumption, and an incredibly odd one; to think you had spent such a mundane moment with the man they would soon shout themselves hoarse for!

“Yeah, good luck with that, I’m not going any nearer,” you forced between clenched teeth. “I hope you don’t get into too much trouble.”

When you spun on your heel, you found Oscar extending his hand out for you to shake, squinting his eyes against the sun. Or maybe it was an excuse not to have to look you in the eye more than absolutely necessary. In the same way you couldn’t tell whether your hand was slightly clammy from the heat or the nerves.

“Thanks for saving the day. Or at least mine,” he said, a little too solemn, a little too final. Like this was a farewell rather than an acknowledgment.

“Thanks for saving mine,” you replied, hoping the little smile you forced on your lips looked appropriately warm, and not inexplicably aching. “Maybe I’ll see you around?”

To anyone else Oscar would’ve replied the truth—Probably not—but that was not what his bowl of cereal would have wanted of him, so he said:

“Maybe.”

He gave you a wink half a second too long, and immediately looked horrified at what he’d done, which made you double over in a flurry of giggles. When you opened your eyes, he was a few steps ahead, waving you goodbye, and you returned the salute. You watched him jog the distance to the first cameras until he was but one more black and white dot in a sea of elegant millionaires, your throat hollow save for a funny kind of longing.

Then you walked back the way you came, carrying the end of your skirt down the stairs of the metro station.

Thirty minutes later, as you rummaged through your purse for your keys in front of your apartment complex, you noticed your phone lighting up. Usually, when you went on a date, you’d put it on Do not disturb so as to not be tempted—basic education, you reckoned, and something not many dates of yours had had the courtesy of reciprocating—, but you always sent your best friend your location beforehand and allowed her and only her to go through. She knew better than to text you unless it was life or death.

Clearly, this was of the utmost importance, and the fact there were only three messages instead of the fifty-seven you were expecting did not reassure you one bit.

“bitch” “who tf is that with oscar” “and why tf is it you??????”

A link to a TikTok came up mere seconds later.

The sage green gown was unmistakable. Anything else could’ve been explained otherwise, maybe blamed on some uncanny resemblance, a fortuitous angle—it looked like the video had been shot from very far away, and the protagonists not at all aware of the recording; but you would’ve recognized that lilypad-bright dress anywhere. Just like you knew that the blurry mass of pixels near the man’s face was a pathetic excuse for a wink, and the woman doubling over for no reason was actually laughing. That she’d watched him disappear into the crowd, immobile and longing, to commit to memory the very way his bones moved when he walked.

“Oscar Piastri’s Mystery Date Gets Cold Feet Right Before Red Carpet Debut?? 👀”

You stared at your phone even as it kept going off, its vibrations tickling your palm. A series of interrogation marks, each its individual message, popped up one after the other on your notification bar, and all you could do was clutch the screen as though you could shatter it with your bare hands.

This meant nothing, you calmed yourself down. This would blow over soon, you swore. As soon as they realized Oscar Piastri would never be seen again with this mysterious woman, and that it was never anything serious. Anything at all, even. That the New Yorker in apple green was just a mirage on his path, pertaining only to him and for a split instant.

And even if things didn’t smooth over… you had a feeling Oscar’s team would have no problem tracking you down.

©musicallisto, 2025

⤷ liked this fic? then you might enjoy... endless giggles (ln4)!

[stars-and-the-min]

☆ the wrong way to hard launch (17) | OP81

summary : oscar's girlfriend is a walking pr problem for literally everyone (including herself) social media au

pairing : oscar piastri x zhou!fem!singer!oc

a/n as it turns out, life is better with people you love

masterlist | last part | part 17 | next part (tba)

INSTAGRAM

cameliazzz

liked by aidan_ebass and 932,845 others

cameliazzz hey hey hey lover tagged: aidan_ebass

selinabui EXCUSE ME WHAT THE FUCK ↳ lukaszhang @.selinabui ohhhh this is too much fun ahaha ↳ eb_jonno @lukaszhang YOU KNEW??? ↳ lukaszhang @eb_jonno NO I WON A BET ↳ selinabui @lukaszhang can we... can we talk this out 🥹

eb_jonno @.selinabui @lukaszhang hang on if none of us knew... who took those pictures??? ↳ emptybottlesbar @eb_jonno 👋 ↳ eb_jonno @emptybottlesbar admin i thought we were friends

2cami4lina no fucking way they decided to hard launch on a random monday after a show??? i can't decide if oscalina or this was more unexpected

zhouguanyu24 Congrats! liked by creator ❤️ ↳ selinabui @.zhouguanyu24 DID YOU KNOW?????? ↳ zhouguanyu24 @.selinabui yes

siera_mblanc ijbol not even the rest of the band knew 😭😭😭

emptybottlos bandmates dating and it's NOT kaslina was not on my bingo card ↳ bugeyedfroag @emptybottlos real bands are back June 24

MESSAGES

from the phone of selina bui

from the phone of lukas zhang

TWITTER

pookie piastri @.op81ln4 · 2h OH MY GOD OH MY GOD NEW DRESS!!! IT'S SO SPARKLY AND PRETTY #TMDWorldTour

emme @flowersforcami · 1h I CAN'T FUCJING BREATHE THIS IS A COMEDY SHOW

EB Updates @emptybottles_news · 1h Lina, Kas and Jonny have declared that they're on strike against bandmates Cami and Aidan until further notice (it's a joke but Aidan looks pretty done) ↳ kayla @luna_apocolypse · 50m but not telling your closest mutual friends while on tour together is crazyyy

camilina gfs fr @ drummergf · 9h lost both of them to comphet in the same year 😔 ↳ president linami @ linaminami · 6h you did not just call bi-con selina bui comphet in pride month ↳ cami yang's defence attorney @ camilovve · 7h love cami down (i would go to war for her) but that girl doesn't have an ounce of sapphism in her i fear

liv is SEEING EB LIVE!! @olivielina · 31m i hope stockholm really appreciates the drama bc no other city is going to get lina angstfully serenading cami while aidan glares at her like she's actually seducing his gf

TMD Tour News @EB-TMDTour · 43m The audience encore song for Stockholm N2 was 'This Love' by Maroon 5. This was then followed by 'You Belong With Me' by Taylor Swift without Cami and Aiden #TMDWorldTour ↳ kayla @luna_apocolypse · 40m her dramatic ass i'm wheezing ↳ jules 🌿 @juliiaapxp · 35m the way jonny was so unsubtly looking at kaslina after they finished the first song 😭 he was like 'are we still doing this???' ↳ emme @flowersforcami · 3m ybwm without the drums or bass was an experience for sure

INSTAGRAM

emptybottles_official Stockholm, Sweden

liked by cameliazzz and 795,385 others

emptybottles_official Adjö Sweden 👋 Thanks for rocking out with us, hope you have fun messing with us and we'll definitely be seeing you guys again

cameliazzz really felt all the love from sweden 🥰 ↳ aidan_ebass @.cameliazzz I felt like I was on a watchlist

siera_mblanc HELP TOO MUCH TALK ABOUT CAMI AND AIDAN THAT WE MISSED THAT LINA DEBUTED A NEW OUTFIT ↳ mrslukaszhang @siera_mblanc who's we? i went catatonic when she came on stage June 25

selinabui 🎵 Taylor Swift · My Boy Only Breaks His Favorite Toys (Remix) (Feat. Selina Bui)

liked by taylorswift and 879,289 others

selinabui so i did a thing... ms swift i have been obsessed with u ever since the 3rd grade and the fact that u know of my existence has me literally on the floor, i love u so so so much 🫶 make sure to give "my boy only breaks his favorite toys (remix)" a listen 🤍 tagged: taylorswift

taylornation Welcoming the newest member of The Tortured Poets Department liked by creator ❤️

landonorris ok and you didn't think to tell me about this? criminal. i thought we were friends ↳ selinabui @.landonorris i signed an nda 👍

linasgirl4 OH MY GOD UR KIDDING ME WAS THIS WHY U PLAYED YBWM IN STOCKHOLM

oscarpiastri Listening on repeat 🎧 ↳ landonorris @.oscarpiastri Mate, did you know about this? ↳ oscarpiastri @.landonorris I may have been privy 👀 June 29

TWITTER

june @linafesting · 3h i'm dreaming or smth right??? lina feature on a taylor swift track?? ↳ opal @pxastrixxx · 2h it's just a remix lol ↳ june @linafesting · 2h i get to hear both their voices on a song, i've won so hard

kayla @luna_apocolypse · 1h o h it's a sad remix... lina bui how did u make it sadder??? lina bui ur supposed to be in a happy relationship??? lina bui why has it dropped an octave lower??? lina bui i know ur a mezzo-soprano u can hit those notes why are u making it sad 😭

amie <3 @mieflrs · 2h i hate this woman she was probably giggling when she posted her ttpd release day story like 'these bitches have no idea what's coming' ↳ amie <3 @mieflrs · 2h played you belong with me at her latest show as well stfu lina

emme @flowersforcami · 32m don't tell me that sydney n2 errors moment was also an easter egg, blondie i can't with you

🕯️manifesting EB3 🕯️@ linabelles · 2h lina's pen game stays immaculate i need moreeeeee

oscalina real ?! @emptyginbottles · 2h can u imagine being a swiftie and finding out ur teammate's girlfriend collaborated on a song with taylor swift? lando norris i hope ur doing ok ↳ piaa⁸¹ @ papayaeightyone · 2h oscar knowing about it and probably hearing lina's verse before taylor did is unbelievably hilarious to me ↳ pookie piastri @.op81ln4 · 2h oh to be a fly on the wall at the MTC rn 🥹

president linami @ linaminami · 4h quick! who's lina's verse on mbobhft about?? (wrong answers only) ↳ fiona🩷 @fififorlina · 4h thomas micheal howard, tennessee titans running back, player number 24, argue with the wall ↳ president linami @ linaminami · 4h get the fuck out 👉 ↳ amie <3 @mieflrs · 3h christopher yamada and i am right ↳ president linami @ linaminami · 3h ur delusional is what u are ↳ piaa⁸¹ @ papayaeightyone · 2h the kick sauber pit crew ↳ president linami @ linaminami · 1h i laughed YES

INSTAGRAM

emptybottles_official WiZink Center, Madrid

liked by cameliazzz and 978,485 others

emptybottles_official Te amo Madrid, you guys were awesome 🤘

cameliazzz to whoever caught my jacket, pls shoot us a dm asap and we'll try sign it before we leave <3

mrslukaszhang dang why does my husband look so good in ripped jeans 🫦

marie_h.sb is lina still sick? ↳ emptybottles_official @marie_h.sb she's all better now 🫶

linasgirl4 AHHH MY SHOWS ARE NEXTTTTTT June 30

MESSAGES

from the phone of selina bui

TWITTER

Kas 🎸 @EB_KAS · 4h some idiot lost her contacts in spain and is now legally blind ↳ lina !!! @EB_selina · 4h DUDE, SO NOT IT

kay ♡ @ blackcatluna · 1h does anybody have the video of kas and lina in the middle of a random gas station obviously talking about the fact she's lost her contacts bc i need to see it again ↳ lina bui x2 grammy winner @urdaisea · 52m is it the one where he looks like a disappointed father lecturing her ↳ camilina gfs fr @ drummergf · 33m oomf ik what ur talking about. the way kas just STOPS WALKING and stares at her 😭😭😭

lina !!! @EB_selina · 2h lost my contacts, lost at uno, lost my sanity - what else can i lose tonight :) ↳ Aidan Park @EB_Aidan · 2h The attitude, you sore loser. ↳ lina !!! @EB_selina · 2h LISTEN, I KNOW UR CHEATING SOMEHOW

INSTAGRAM

selinabui Lisbon, Portugal

liked by oscarpiastri and 876,478 others

selinabui sweet like lisbon tagged: lukaszhang, cameliazzz, eb_jonno, aidan_ebass

ceciliapham the polaroids???? oh wait why does it feel like the end we're not even done with the europe leg

oscarpiastri It's not too late for me to fly over ↳ landonorris @.oscarpiastri no mate, it is too late, we're on the radio tomorrow July 2

MESSAGES

from the phone of selina bui

✧･ﾟ: ✧･ﾟ:✧･ﾟ: ✧･ﾟ:✧･ﾟ: ✧･ﾟ:

taglist @ririyulife @ashy-kit @fionaschicken @namgification @cherry-piee @urfavsgf @eiaaasamantha @sp1rl @destinyg237 @iloveyou3000morgan @heart-trees

[girlsnap]

Chatting, A Pine Point Fanfiction.

I just realized I never posted this "Pine Point" fic, so HERE IT IS:

Nil was one of the toughest kids in the second grade. Maybe even the toughest. He always sat around at Recess not playing with any of the other kids, and he usually wrote disturbing answers to questions that asked about his personal life or who he wants to be when he grows up. His usual expressions consisted of a glare and crossed arms, along with leaves in his hair for some reason. He didn’t really care if he was ever goanna have any friends... until he met Dimitri. 

From first glance, Dimitri looked like a regular, popular kid on the playground. He was in the 3rd grade and everyone usually wore smiles and laughed when he was around. He was on a lot of kids sports teams around town, and the only way they met was because Dimitri kicked his ball too far and Nil kicked it back. Somehow, they got along almost right away. 

It’s been at least 2 weeks since they met, and they’re on a grass lawn on the street where most children in Pine Point played. Nobody else felt like playing soccer today, neither did Nil, so the two friends just kicked the ball around and talked.  

“So how was your day?”, Dimitri asked, his usual smile always plastered on his face. 

“Huh?” Nil said, looking up, as he just had his hands in his pockets and wasn’t paying attention. 

“How was your day? Did Ms. Kamanda overshare about her personal life again?” 

“Oh, yeah, she did. She always keeps mentioning his husband. We get it, he isn’t good for you.” 

Dimitri chuckles. “You’re not wrong. You should’ve heard what she was saying about her personal life last year, though! Her sister sounds really insane!” 

“She has a sister?” 

“Yeah! But apparently, she had this weird spell going on in her brain that made her end up in a special hospital. I think she had... schizo... schizopre?... I can’t pronounce the word. But she had a spell on her brain that ended her up in a special hospital.” 

“... huh. That explains why she always has this weird look on her face whenever somebody mentions their sister. She always looks like this:” Nil scrunches his face into an expression that mixes disgust, sadness, traumatized and angry. Dimitri laughs at the face.

“That’s the same face when I told her about my baby sister in June last year!” 

“You have a baby sister?” 

“Yeah, she’s okay. I wish she would cry a lot less, though. I usually have to calm her down because my parents are always out somewhere. Or they’re really sleepy. I hope they don’t have any more babies. I think one sibling’s enough for me.” 

“I don’t have any siblings. My parents barely even know I exist.” 

“My parents pay a lot of attention to me. Do you wanna switch? They’re pretty overbearing.” 

“Well, I don’t want that, either.” 

Nil then kicks a little too hard and the soccer ball rolls onto the road. Dimitri rushes after it. 

“I’ll get it!” 

Nil follows suit behind Dimitri, some of the other kids having shock written all over their face as they see the most popular kid in the third grade hanging out with a tough kid. The soccer ball rolls over to the next street, and before Dimitri could grab it, a converse shoe steps over it, stopping the ball. Dimitri looks up to see 3 teenage boys in beanies and Midwest emo-ish clothing looking down at him with disgust. 

“Thank you!” Dimitri’s about to grab the ball, but one of the boys kicks him in the stomach before he could pull it away from the converse. Dimitri holds his stomach in pain as he glares at the boys. “Ow! That wasn’t really nice!” 

One of the boys laughs. “Why should we care about someone like YOU?!” 

“Yeah! You’re just a little kid!” 

“Why don’t you go cry to your mommy about the boo-boo and find a puppy to fuck with?!” 

The teen boys laugh at Dimitri’s pain as he tries to get up without his stomach aching. Nil is shocked at the teenagers’ vulgar behavior, and he marches over to him with a glare that’s much meaner than the one he usually wears. “Hey! Leave him alone! He’s just a kid!” 

“Pfft! Oh, like you’re not one, either?! Get outta here before we kick your ass!” 

“I’m not moving until you say sorry to my friend!” 

“Well, good luck trying to convince us to do that!” 

“Move outta our way before we rip your penis off!” 

Nil glares long and hard at the teenage boys, before taking his shoe off and hitting the shortest teen’s penis with it. The teen screams in pain and falls to the concrete sidewalk. The other boys get distracted and rush over to him, forgetting about the soccer ball in the process. Nil grabs and helps Dimitri off the ground. “Hey, you okay?”

“Uhm... y-yeah, I’m fine... it’s just-”

Dimitri then bursts out laughing in the middle of the road as he clenches his already-injured stomach. “that-HAHAHA! That was awesome, dude! You kicked that boy’s private so hard he fell over-HAHA!! I can’t believe you had the guts to do that!” 

“Well, somebody had to do it. They were hurting you! And they wouldn’t give the ball back!” 

“W-well-heheh, thanks for giving it back, Nil. Wanna go back to kicking it again?” 

“.. Nah, I don’t wanna risk being around those guys anymore. Maybe next time?” 

“I agree! Wanna come over to my house and watch ‘Snail Man and Slime Frog?’” 

“Sure.” 

“Okay! C’mon!” 

Nil walks with Dimitri as they head over to Dimitri’s house. Nil looks back once more to the teenage boys he basically just fought, and he suddenly wonders about something. He goes side-to-side with Dimitri. “Dimitri?” 

“Yeah?” 

“... Do you think we’ll end up like them?” 

Dimitri looks back to the teens, then back at Nil. He shrugs. “Yeah, probably. Who knows what we’ll end up being like when we get there. I just hope I’ll still be a good person.” 

“I’m sure you will. You’re nice to everyone... even me, for some reason.” 

“Well, you’re a cool person! You’re tough and you don’t care what other kids say! I respect that a lot.” 

“... really?” 

“Yeah! But I don’t think we should worry about growing up right now. Let’s just be kids and have fun!” 

“... okay.” 

THE END. 

[notgonnaedit]

Given to Fly

One Shall Rise, Part 1

Summary: Martha "Marty" Thorne was a basic teenager, a little antisocial maybe. But her life changed the day she met the Autobots and joined them in their fight.

Pairing: Optimius x Teen!OFC (Platonic)

Chapter summary: A discovery rattles the team.

Warnings: Canon-typical violence, Marty's worried, Mama June, (If I miss a tag LMK)

Updates are sporadic. If you want to be tagged LMK

@dreamsight73

Master list

"What's going on?"

Marty barely registered June's question. She was too busy focusing on the fact that Ratchet, Bulkhead, and Arcee just ran through the ground bridge, panicking and with Optimus leaning on them.

"Easy, Optimus," Ratchet instructed. "From the looks of things, you've been exposed to a massive amount of Dark Energon."

The Prime's gaze found Raf sitting on the cot. "I am not the only one."

Marty watched with worried eyes, following them as Optimus sat on the medical berth. He looked down at the injured boy, offering a small smile.

Raf returned it. "Hey."

June glared up at the Prime. "He's lucky to be alive."

Optimus smile changed to an ashamed frown. Marty looked up at her guardian, searching for any injuries. When she didn't find anything, the brunette sighed and slumped against his foot. "Megatron found more of the dark stuff?"

"A volcano full," Arcee answered.

Bulkhead nodded. "The question is, ‘how’?"

"No," Ratchet corrected. "The question is, ‘what?’ As in, ‘what in the world is the blood of Unicron doing here on Earth’?"

"The 'Cons killed a Unicorn?" Miko asked innocently.

This earned her blank stares from the Autobots and a facepalm from Marty. 

"White horse with a horn on its head?" The rocker asked. "Prances around all sparkly?"

"Unicron–" Ratchet pronounced, "an ancient evil whose fossilized blood comprises the matter which we call Dark Energon, as legend would have it."

June held her elbow in one hand. "So, you're saying this Unicron is some kind of boogeyman?"

"Boogeyman?" The medic repeated.

"Make-believe creepy guy who hides in your closet," Miko offered.

Ratchet shook his head. "No, Nurse Darby. Unicron is very real – was," he corrected. "That is, well, I do believe he once existed. I just don't subscribe to the theory that his primordial life force is the substance which harmed Raf."

June raised her hands in a no good signal. "I've heard enough." She grabbed the rail on the cot and started to wheel it away. "Jack, please, help me get Raf into the car."

Jack blinked in surprise. "Mom, I thought he was doing better."

Bee buzzed anxiously and confused.

"Raf needs to be examined by real doctors, and Raf's family needs to know what's happened," June stated. "His real family."

"Mom, Raf's family can't protect him, not like they can," Jack told her.

"June–" Optimus stood up shakily, prompting Marty to move, but linger as if she could help him."–it deeply grieves me that I have failed. But I will do everything in my power to ensure that no harm comes to our human friends or any human ever again."

June's shoulders slumped. "Optimus, they're children. They do not belong in your world. They should be worrying about grades, prom dates, pimples. Not their own survival!"

"Miss Darby," Marty started, "Dark Energon is pouring out of the earth. It doesn't do that. This could be about everyone's survival, not just ours."

But she didn't waiver. "You're coming with me, all four of you, and they will not be coming back."

Instead of protesting or evening trying to meet a middle ground, Optimus merely said, "I understand."

"That's it??" Marty ran up to her guardian, craning her neck to look up at him. "After all we've been through together? ‘See ya’? What about our freedom to choose?"

"That may fly on their planet but not here on Earth," June said as she helped Raf get into her car. She looked at the teens, her mother's glare showing. "Get in."

"Do you really expect me to ride in a non-transforming vehicle?" Miko scoffed.

"Miko, I'm serious."

"You're not my mother."

"Miko," Bulkhead urged.

His ward glared up at him. "Neither are you!"

June looked at Marty, then sighed, "I'm not even gonna try with you." She turned to her son. "Well, I am your mother. Let's go, Jack."

The raven haired boy glanced back at Arcee. She had her arms folded loosely. "She is your mom."

Jack turned back to his mother, blue eyes determined. "I'm staying. I'm sorry."

Surprise over took June's expression, but she quickly replaced it with sternmes. She closed Raf's door and got in the driver's side, starting her car.

"Ratchet, activate the ground bridge," Optimus said.

"No, thank you," June snapped before pulling out.

From the rear window, Raf could be seen watching them as they drove away. Bumblebee followed for a few steps, his door wings sagging.

But there was no time to feel the weight of what just happened, as Fowler's voice broke through the silence. "Prime, do you copy?"

"I hear you, Agent Fowler," Optimus answered.

"Been watching the news? Mother nature's got a twitch in her britches."

"We know about the volcano," the Prime told him.

Marty ran up the stairs and turned on the TV to see what he was talking about.

"And the quakes? Seven major tumblers of the exact same magnitude at the exact same time as a volcanic eruption All over the globe on different tectonic plates, In theory, unrelated, if they hadn't happened–" 

"–at the exact same time," Ratchet finished.

"Check it out," Marty said, remote in hand. "More good news."

The TV portrayed images of natural disasters all over the world as a newscaster's voice carried over it. "Freak storms unlike any the region has seen. Tsunamis threaten the Canadian coast while lightning storms pummel the Gobi desert. Meanwhile, electromagnetic anomalies plague urban power grids. These abnormal global phenomena are leaving most to wonder why now and what next."

"Don't tell me your 'Cons have built a weather machine," Fowler huffed.

"One that powerful?" Ratchet asked. "Highly unlikely."

Optimus furrowed his brow. "I do not believe the appearance of Dark Energon at this point in time to be coincidental."

Bee buzzed aggressively before transforming and driving out.

"Uh, what was that?" Jack asked.

"Bee said he's going to get Raf," Arcee translated.

                          )()()()()(

It wasn't long before Bee rolled back into base, Raf and June in tow. The boy stepped out and gave a half smile. "Uh, we're back."

"And we are glad," Ratchet told him.

Jack ran up to his mother as Bee transformed. "Are you all right?"

"I will be." June frowned. "Jack–"

"Mom, I–"

"I know. Me too." She pulled him into a hug. "But you're grounded till you're 30."

Jack looked at her in disbelief when he pulled away.

"25," the nurse conceded.

Marty would have been amused at the scene, but the impending doom playing on the TV took her attention.

"World leaders are classifying these bizarre weather patterns as a global emergency," the newscaster said.

"Global?" June asked as she ran up the stairs.

"And scientists believe the phenomena to be somehow related to the current planetary alignment."

The lift door opened and out walked Agent Fowler. "What have you learned, Prime? And you better not blow smoke up my oven." He froze when he saw a certain nurse, probably regretting his choice of words. "Ms. Darby. What a nice surprise."

June smirked. "Special Agent Fowler."

Marty found herself smirking as well.

"We have learned this–" Ratchet started, eyes on the screen. "–as with the so-called magma from the volcano, these earthquakes originated far below the Earth's crust, from the very center of the Earth's core, in fact."

"Quakes don't start there. Do they?" Fowler asked.

"Tiny tremors rising and failing in a consistent pattern, almost like..." Ratchet trailed off as he looked at the data points. His eyes widened. "By the Allspark! If I convert these data points to audio files...'

"What? What is it?" Fowler demanded.

"Well, listen." Ratchet's voice was soft.

Ba-bump. Ba-bump. Ba-bump. Ba-bump. Ba-bump.

The worry crease in Marty's brow became deeper. "A Cybertronian heartbeat?"

"How is that possible?" June asked, rubbing her arms. "A heart pumps blood. There's nothing inside the earth to pump except–"

Raf sat up. "–Blood of Unicron."

"Okay, hold on." Miko held her hands on in a time out motion. "You mean something's living down there inside our planet??"

"I fear that the Earth's very core is not comprised of magma as your science has suggested, but of Dark Energon," Optimus said.

"And if we're hearing a spark," Ratchet added, "then Unicron is the rising darkness that the prophecy foretold."

"So, how do we stop this thing from rising?" Fowler asked.

Optimus shook his head. "That, I am afraid, was not foretold."

"How can something be in our Earth's core and be alive?" June questioned.

The Prime hummed. "Such a thing is not unprecedented. Before the beginning, there was Primus, and there was Unicron. One, the incarnation of creation the other of destruction. For aeons, Primus and Unicron battled the balance of power shifting between them more times than could be counted. Only by creating the 13 – the original Primes who preceded me – was Primus finally able to defeat Unicron and cast him out.  Primus became one with the very core of our planet, creating life through the Well of Allsparks, while Unicron was never to be heard from again until now."

Marty furrowed her brow, her mind whirring with how Unicron could be in the Earth.

"Maybe we can find the hole this Uber-'Con left when he dug himself all the way down there and fill it full of explosives," Fowler suggested aggressively.

"First of all: that would cause massive problems," Marty said, speaking up for the first time in a while. "And second: I don't think Unicron came to Earth. With his mass, he could probably create his own gravitational field. Random asteroids probably got caught in his field and formed Earth around him."

Marty stopped once she realized what this meant. "That means Unicron is Earth's core. And he's only awakening now due to the magnetic pull created by the planetary alignment."

Miko elbowed her lightly, whispering, "You gotta let me copy off you for physics class."

"Okay, well, what happens now when Unicron wakes up from his billion-year nap?" Jack asked.

Miko nodded. "Yeah, does he stretch and kapow! Earth poufs to dust?"

Marty looked at Optimus, searching for an answer in his expression. But all she found was uncertainty.

"You don't know, do you?" She asked.

The Prime looked away, seemingly ashamed that his ward was correct. "My guess is that Unicron has transcended physical form as we know it," he said. "Nonetheless, we must find a way to ensure that this force of nature never fully awakens. The fate of your planet depends upon it."

"Optimus, what are we going to do?" Ratchet asked.

The Prime's expression changed to when he was going to say something serious –more serious than usual.

"With Unicron's awakening immenint, the only logical course of action would be for me to scout an area with heavy quakes."

Marty stared up at him. "Optimus, you can't be serious. Going in alone to fight a god?? At least take Arcee or Bulkhead!" Her voice held more emotion than she anticipated.

Optimus looked at her and his expression softened. "I am the last of the Primes, therefore the only one who can stand a chance against Unicron." His tone said there was no arguing with him, but that he understood her worry.

"Your concern is warranted, Little One," he continued, "But trust that I will return unharmed."

                    )()()()()(

"Ratchet, this epicenter is consistent with the findings of the others," Optimus said through the comms. "Its terrain is rich in ore."

"So, what does that tell us?" Fowler asked.

"It follows that the natural metals in your Earth would be extensions of Unicron," Ratchet explained. "His limbs, if you will."

"So, he did have his morning stretch," June figured, "which is why these quakes happened."

Marty's worry crease was a crevice at this point. It didn't help when the computer system beeped, taunting her.

"Optimus, I'm detecting a swell in Unicron's spark activity," Ratchet warned.

Marty moved to the rail. "Optimus, you need to get out of there."

"Rest assured, Martha," was his reply. "I will proceed with vigilance."

Previous

Next

[twistedwonderlandshenanigans]

First Year Shenanigans - June Jabbers

Feat. Vizzie (MC) and Cory (OC) + Sebeppy (pining staaage bb)

I've recently put up a post about mini hc's regarding the dorms, if you need a little more context as to where they're gonna study you can read here but uh. this ran away from me and became a sebeppy ficlet lsdfkjshdkfjsdf

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

"You can't tell us you know a COOL place to study and then not take us there."

Ace took a bite of his sandwich, not bothering to finish his bite as he continued speaking with his mouth full. "Studying's boring enough as it is, if you've got info, you've gotta spill."

The rest of the table cringed a bit at Ace's lack of manners, as Cory grinned back at him.

"It's gonna cost ya~ I can't take just ANYBODY there, y'know? Besides, we have to time it right." Cory took a bite of his salad, trying to give himself pause for dramatic effect, but Epel spoke up in his planned silence instead. Which was fine, it meant he had the intrigue of more than just the most annoying person at the table.

"Time it right for what? What's that supposed to mean?"

"For Floyd."

Deuce's eyes widened a bit, one hand coming up to cover his mouth a bit as he spoke, showing a bit more decorum than his roommate.

"You want us to gamble with Floyd's presence?"

Ace laughed, elbowing Deuce. "What, you scared? Floyd's not that scary, he's a pretty stand up guy all things considered." He turned his attention back to Cory, grinning and waving his fork at him a bit. "Though I admit, it's more exciting than just studying at Ramshackle or in the library."

"Maybe for you, everyone else here would be fine without playing with fire." Jack shook his head a bit. "Besides, studying isn't meant to be fun, just productive. And you're just going to to get distracted by whatever else is going on in a new environment instead of buckling down and focusing."

Ace groaned and mocked Jack slightly with his facial expression and his hand imitating him talking, before huffing. "Just so you know, I don't really need to study. I'm happy with the grades I get without it. It's the rest of your dumba-"

"No." Vizzie had leaned across the table, muffling Ace's sentence by stuffing at least half of what was left of his sandwich in his mouth, her other hand holding Ortho's head in a bit of an awkward, but protective position.

She sat back down with a huff, apologizing softly to Ortho and shooting Ace a glare as he struggled to choke down his food.

"First of all, you know better than to cuss in front of Ortho-"

"I've heard worse from Idia..."

"Well I'll talk to Idia later too- Secondly, academics aren't everything, and the way testing is done is inaccurate to real life. At least not until next year when we start having more practical assessments than just regurgitating memorized information. That being said, I think going to this secret study space you found could be fun...even if the first time we go the likelihood of us getting anything down is low to null." She managed a small smile at Cory, who in turn beamed.

"Then you guys come meet me in the Hall of Mirrors after school, okay? I'll show you where it is in Octavinelle."

Epel piped up. "I'll bring Sebek. He's um...getting some supplementary study material from Crewel." His head dipped a bit as he spoke, trying to hide the rising heat to his cheeks.

A few knowing glances were exchanged amongst each other, but Viz just grinned and kicked his shin lightly to get his attention.

"Tell him you want him there."

Ace rolled his eyes and imitated puking, while Deuce nodded along and Cory gave Viz a small shove, causing the two of them to giggle as Epel's cheeks turned a little more red than pink.

"It ain't nothin' like that! But it would be rude if we didn't invite him at all."

"It ain't nothin' like that huh..." Jack repeated his words back to him, over-enunciating, giving him a bit of a shit-eating smile as he side-eyed his classmate, taking another bite of food.

"OH NOT YOU TOO!! Y'can't be in on all this Jack yer supposed to be on ma side, you're in MA class, y'see how Sebek an' I get on the MOST, we're just friends!"

Jack finished his food leisurely, setting his sandwich down and looking at Epel properly, grinning.

"Yeah, exactly. Sebek and I are closer to the back of the class when we get joint ones because of our height, I can see you every time you turn around to glance back at him. I can see the way you look at him-"

"Shut up!!"

Jack's smile only got wider "and the way Sebek's heartbeat picks up when he notices."

Cory nodded along, finishing his bite and excited to jump in. "It's true! And just yesterday in home ec, Sebek made these really pretty apple tarts. He let the class have all but four of them - three for his usual Diasomnia crowd, and the otherrrrr-"

Jack finished his sentence for him, still grinning a mile wide, his tail wagging a mile a minute.

"He came to pick up Epel from class with it, excited to show it off to him. You should have seen their faces when they realized I saw the entire exchange."

Epel was flushed and defeated, laying his head down on the table so as to hide his face from everyone. "You guys suck. You ALL suck."

The table erupted in laughter, not at Epel per ce, but just how in denial the lavender-haired boy and his crush BOTH were.

Viz was the first to settle down, gently kicking his shin from across the table. She looked rather amused when he begrudingly met her eyes, a slightly smug smile on her face as she nodded slightly in his direction.

"Better look alive, prince charming's on his way."

Epel visibly went through about 10 emotions in the span of two seconds before he sat up and tried to rub his face, forcing himself to not turn around and look at his FRIEND.

Ace looked rather bored at this point, flinging peas at Riddle as discreetly as he could from across the cafeteria. Everyone else was fully engaged as Sebek made his way to the table, piles of papers in hand. He stepped over the bench they were sitting on, in between Jack and Epel, even as uncomfortably close as he was to both classmates for a moment, before Jack scooched over a bit rolling his eyes at the look Sebek shot him. Ortho noticed, giggling a bit in response as Sebek finally sat down.

Epel was turned looking to Deuce, who gave him a smile and a thumbs up to indicate he was no longer as red as he was before, so he could properly face Sebek with his own smile.

But before either of them could properly greet each other, both Viz and Cory bubbled with small giggles, causing Epel to shoot them a dirty look, and Sebek looking baffled.

Grim finally rejoined the table, proudly carrying his third helping of lunch as he slid it onto the bench between Viz and Cory, hopped up, then slid it onto the table, looking in between them confused and slightly mad.

"Myrah! You guys can't be havin' all the fun conversations when I'm not around! C'mon, tell me what happened? What's the joke??"

Ortho giggled a bit and leaned forward so he could see Grim's face.

"We simply find the dynamics of Epel and Sebek's relationship amusing. Even now, I can detect temperature changes in both of them, and like Jack said, both their heart rates are speeding up and syncing to each other...as is their breathing! Science suggests this happens to people who have been in a long-term, loving relationship with each other or people that are in love! Isn't that cool?!"

Grim just blinks, the rest of the table, (minus Ace) waiting for the cat's reaction.

He looks at Ortho, then between Sebek and Epel, then up at Vizzie like a toddler.

"They're not already datin'?"

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

I ran out of steeeeeeeeam so this is where it's ending sdfhskdljfhlksdjf

Taglist: (lmk if you wanna hop on)

@fluffle-writes @my-cursed-brain

[drewsbuzzcut]

The Other Blankenburg

nick moldenhauer x dallas blankenburg

a so it goes blurb

warnings: none that I can think of

“What’re your intentions with my sister?” Kent speaks up.

“KJ you’re not her brother. Nick, what are your intentions with my sister?” Blanks asks the same question.

“Hey! First of all, KJ is like another brother to me, and second of all, stop harassing my boyfriend,” Dallas chastised the two boys sitting across from her and Nick.

She brings her hand up to soothingly scratch at the back of his neck. She feels accomplished when she feels his body melt into hers. He seems calm and collected, but by the way he chews on his bottom lip and how his hand slightly shakes from where it’s resting on her thigh, she can tell he’s nervous. Her brother and honorary brother are definitely putting on the pressure. Their requests to meet her boyfriend were being ignored until her brother cornered her when she had nothing to use as an excuse. It’s not that she doesn’t want her boyfriend to meet two of the most important men in her life, but she was worried that they’d be overbearing and scare Nick away.

“Yeah, Blanks, I’m like her brother. Dallas, just be glad Owen isn’t here,” Kent teases, earning an eye roll from the girl.

“I plan to treat Dallas with the utmost respect and care. She’s my biggest supporter and I’m hers as well. She’s definitely helped shape me into who I am today,” Nick claims, although to the average person it’d sound crazy being that they’ve only been together for almost 2 months.

“Why’d you choose a hockey player?” Blanks asks. It’s his only way to pick at Nick because he hasn’t said one bad thing the whole night. Blanks actually thinks Nick compliments Dallas very well and vice versa.

“Nick!” Dallas shouts, cringing at the way she forgot they’re in a public place.

The three boys laugh at her expression.

“So, how do your grades look? It’s very important to maintain your academics and social life,” Blanks asks another question that makes Dallas want to reach across the table and pull his hair.

“Better than average. I do struggle in some classes with time management, but June has been very helpful and I’m grateful for that,” Nick says, Dallas’ eyes widened at her first name slipping from his lips. Nick didn’t know, but Blanks nor Kent knew that she allowed him to call her that.

When she glances at them, they’re wearing shit eating grins. They definitely figured out that she’s down bad for a hockey player, knowing that Dallas always claimed she’d never get with a hockey player.

“June?” Kent attempts to confirm that he heard correctly. She can tell he’s trying hard not to laugh.

Dallas flips him off, hiding her face in Nick’s shoulder.

“Moldy, did you know that Dallas, here, always said she’d never get in a relationship with a hockey player?” Blanks laughs at his sister's glare.

Moldy, huh? That’s new. Dallas finds herself hiding her growing smile. She likes the way they’re being welcoming to him.

“You guys are assholes, you know that?”

“We’re just teasing you two, but being that you’re her boyfriend and a hockey player, must mean you’re a really great guy,” KJ admits.

“I agree and I approve,” Blanks adds.

“Wow! It’s almost like I was asking for your guy’s approval,” Dallas retorts sarcastically. On the inside, she’s glad they like Nick.

———————————————————————

“I think Vegas would be fun,” KJ says, referring to their impromptu guys trip during the offseason.

“I can’t. I’m not 21 yet,” Nick says, sounding disappointed. He’s standing next to Kent and Dallas’ brother and Dallas is on his opposite side, his arm thrown over her shoulders.

“Shit, I forgot about that. Maybe we can go to Cancun or somewhere in Europe,” KJ suggests.

“No! He’s not going to Europe without me. Get your own boyfriend to take on a trip,” Dallas warns, although her words don’t hold much threat to them.

They all laugh at her words, making her pout.

“What’s wrong Dallas? Upset that we made our newest best friend?” At her brother’s words, Nick lights up seemingly surprised at how much they like him. He was expecting more tough brotherly love on her behalf. He’s glad he’s considered a best friend.

“Whatever, at least I know I’m Nick’s favorite,” Dallas sticks her tongue out at her brother.

“I don’t know about that, babe,” Nick teases.

“Fine. No kisses for you,” she states, walking ahead of the three of them.

Nick pauses, runs up behind his girlfriend and picks her up. His face goes between where her neck and shoulder meet, ignoring her squeals as he pecks her skin.

“I’m sorry, you’re my favorite,” Nick says, putting Dallas down and walking in front of her as she walks backwards. His hands are cupping her cheeks in a way that makes her lips pucker up.

She rolls her eyes, arms wrapping around his neck as she leans up to kiss his lips.

“Ugh get a room,” she hears from one of her annoying brothers.

“Aww what’s wrong? Jealous that I’m his favorite?” Dallas muses, continuing to kiss her boyfriend despite the other grown men’s griping.

Kent and Blanks tease them to no end, but they’re really happy for Dallas because she finally has someone to treat her the way she deserves. They’re also happy to make a friend in Nick.

a/n: This part is cutesy! Enjoy!

[yelenapilled]

reflections; maki x reader

:smoke

:master list

The humid climate of summer stuck to your skin like tape; moving around in the coat of sweat was uncomfortable beyond imagine. Gojo had this miraculous idea to send everyone- you, Maki, Toge and Panda- on a mission in this excruciating heat. Maki was the only one who didn't complain, the rest of you put in the useless effort to make someone else do it. Gojo said only you four could do it, since the third years got themselves suspended and the first years were going through something. (Panda heard somewhere that one of them died)

The fight against the curse was unbelievable. The June summer heat sucked all the sweat out of your body and practically turned all four of you into raisins by the time you were done- thank god you're a special grade, the fight would've taken so much more effort without your abilities.

"Well...that fight could've gone worse," Panda commented as he scratched the back of his head with his paw. "Without Y/n we probably would've failed miserably."

"Which reminds me, why am I the one who's stuck carrying every mission the four of us go on?! Why am I forced to do all the work?!" Since the others (minus Yuta) were almost getting nowhere, they started making you do everything for them, to raise their progress. Panda is the one who comes up with things for you to do, Maki's simply the messenger. You always oblige, since it's her who's asking- anyone else and you would royally refuse. And she always rewards you with a private kiss afterwards, which makes the effort worthwhile.

"Because you're the strongest out of us four! It's nice having a chaperone with us!" Panda exclaimed with a grin as he looked at you. You scoffed, rolling your eyes as you wiped your forehead off with your arm and looking back down to find sweat on your sleeve.

"Jeez...unbelievable, you're all making me slave around in this incinerating heat," you click your tongue, frowning as you shove your hands into your pockets. Maki nudges your arm slightly, "The hard work is worth it though."

"My ass," you retort, glaring at her as your cheeks heat up at the suggestion. 9 times out of 10 the singular private kiss turns heated before Panda and Toge are questioning what you two are doing that's taking so long.

The rest of the walk back to the main entrance was silent, with the exception of one of you clearing your throats and then more silence. Birds were chirping, bugs were buzzing and the sun was shining cruelly down on the four of you, unreasonably punishing you with blasting heat that was uncomfortable enough to make you melt if the trees weren't helping a little bit.

Eventually you four reached the main entrance, and saw two kids sitting on the steps looking like they saw a ghost.

"What's this?" Maki asks as she steps foot in front of them, looking down at the two of them with a lifted brow. "You look more depressed then usual, Megumi. You and that other girl look like shit. This a wake or something?"

"Zen'in-senpai, Hatake-senpai, what're you doing here?" A boy with spiky dark hair asked as he looked up, seeing Maki standing there with you next to her. His eyes glanced between you and Maki before looking at Panda and Toge in the background.

"Don't call me by my last name!"

"Maki, Maaaaakii!" Panda yelled from hiding behind a statue to get away from get away from the heat. Maki whipped around to look at him with a stern frown on her face. "I'm talking here!"

"You seriously don't know why they're so down?!" Panda questioned with a confused frown. Maki lifted a brow, not sparing a glance at the two first years muttering to each other behind her.

"Someone really did die yesterday! One of the first years!"

"Okaka."

"Good going," you nudged her shoulder, teasing her with a smirk. She returned your tease with a hard punch to your shoulder, earning a grunt from you. "You didn't have to hit that hard!"

"YOU SHOULD'VE TOLD ME THAT SOONER! NOW I LOOK LIKE SOME COLD BLOODED DEMON ASSHOLE!"

"That's exactly how you came off!"

"Tuna mayo."

"You're supposed to make me feel better!"

You were still rubbing your shoulder, wincing at the pain; she probably left a mark, but you wouldn't dare check how bad it is in front of everyone else. You looked back at the first years sitting on the footsteps before looking back at Maki. "You're giving us a bad impression!"

"Y/n's right, you're kinda making us look like idiots," Panda shrugged, coming out from behind the statue with Toge.

The other first year, a girl with ginger hair, looked at Megumi. "Who are those guys?" she pointed a finger at the four of you, eyeballing each and every one of you with a weird stare. You glanced at them before nudging Maki's shoulder again for her to shut up, and she slowly turned back around and placed a hand on the strapping of her red case. You sighed, pressing a hand to your forehead in embarrassment.

"Those two girls are Zen'in-senpai and Hatake-senpai. Zen'in-senpai is the best at handling cursed tools out of all of us, and Hatake-senpai is a special grade," Megumi points his finger at you and Maki, earning an admiring glance from the ginger. Her eyes glimmer with admiration as she eyes you up and down.

"Special grade..."

"That's Inumaki-senpai. He only speaks in onigri ingredients, so good luck talking to him." Megumi pointed at Toge.

"Shake."

"That's Panda-senpai."

"I'm Panda! Nice to meet ya!"

"There's...there's no elaboration on the panda named Panda?!"

"There's one more. Okkotsu-senpai, but he's overseas right now. He's the only one, along with Hatake-senpai, who I can openly respect."

"The panda named Panda?!"

"Zen'in-senpai, what are you guys doing here?" Megumi ignored the girl next to him, facing away from her antics and choosing to talk to Maki instead.

"We're here to ask you guys if you wanted to join the Tokyo-Kyoto sister school exchange event this year!" Panda chirped, earning an irk from Maki for speaking for her.

"I can talk for myself!"

"It's a question, Maki!"

"Huh? Tokyo-Kyoto sister school exchange event?" The ginger questioned, finally giving up on the Panda questions as she looked at Megumi with a lifted brow.

Choosing to finally switch to the other topic, Megumi looked at her. "It's a get together with the other tech school in Kyoto."

I wonder if Mai's participating, you think to yourself as you cross your arms, tapping your arm with your finger. You chew on your bottom lip, frowning to yourself as you anxiously tap your foot against the ground. You haven't seen Mai in a while, so you figured it would be a bit of a surprise if and when she sees you at the exchange event.

You sigh, stepping away from the crowd to walk off in another direction with your hands in your pockets, trudging off into the woods as a shortcut. Maki immediately whips her head around to find you walking away after not feeling your presence, something she paid attention to.

"Where ya goin? We're explaining the exchange event and it might help when you're here with us, dipshit!"

You roll your eyes at her comment, ignoring her as you keep trudging through the woods. Maki narrows her eyes behind her glasses, frowning to herself before turning to face others with a grumpy look on her face.

Maki's eyes drift back to you, watching you slowly disappear into the woods with your hands stuffed in your pockets. She pops her thumb, clenching her jaw at you for leaving right in the middle of a conversation going on between a handful of people, then turns to face the others.

You stroll through the woods, trudging through the greenery as you sigh to yourself. Your mood was already dampening for some reason-- you didn't feel like being around the others at the moment, their chaos was a little too much for you.

You took a walk on the long way down to Shoko's office- going the initial way would've almost guaranteed that you'd run into Gojo or any loud person you didn't want to deal with. The stroll was quiet, the only sounds in the hallway being your echoing footsteps and the low sound of the air unit humming in the building.

You haven't seen Naoya in a while; not since all those months ago when he snuck onto campus just to tell you to hurry up. You wondered if he actually didn't snitch- no, if he did, people from the Zenin clan would've already been after you for a while. That only shows that he wasn't lying; maybe you were wrong about him, maybe not. You wouldn't want to dig into the past you've already given up just to find out information that wouldn't be of use.

When you walk into Shoko's office, she looks up from her computer screen just like she did last year the first time you walked in. Her eyebrows lifted and her forehead creased a little as she picked her head up, showing more of her face than just her eyes and forehead.

"Hey, Y/n," she grins quietly as she rolls her office chair out from behind her desk, stopping when she reaches the side and watches you sit down in the chair in front of it. Before you made frequent visits that chair wasn't there, she'd put it there for whenever you'd randomly pop in to talk to her.

"Hey," you answer, sitting down in the chair and crossing both your legs and your arms. Shoko lifts one brow, a suspicious one this time as she watches you sit in her chair with a sharp, suspecting gaze. "Is something wrong?"

"Kinda," you shrug. "Anxiety."

She nods briefly as a show of comfort, staying in her black office chair and crossing her own legs. "Something you wanna tell me?"

"In a minute," you leaned back against the cold chair and looked at the mortuary gurney some feet behind her desk, along with the rows of cabinets that paralleled each other on opposite sides of the room and the white tile floor. Your lidded eyes examined the mortuary gurney especially, looking at the wrinkles on it and the undone straps on the side. "Did you inspect someone recently?"

"I did," she responds, taking a moment to glance back at the gurney. "It was quick, though. There was nothing special about it."

"What was the cause of death?" You asked, your eyes averting back to Shoko. "Obviously it was a curse, but what happened?"

"Stabbed through the heart," she looked back at you, her sharp gaze unwavering as her eyes narrowed. "Now when are you gonna tell me what's up?"

You sighed, uncrossing your legs as you slouched in the chair and looked up at the ceiling tiles.

"And no slouching, that's bad for your spine."

"What's the worry if there's a reverse cursed technique user here?"

"I don't want you overdoing it. Not the point, now what's on your mind?"

You huffed, looking at one of the cabinets and clenching your jaw, feeling your heart begin to sink as your mind ponders on if you really should tell her or not.

"Can...can I trust you with this? Not to tell anyone?"

"I don't exactly go telling everybody's secrets."

"Good," you huffed as you sat up straight in the chair and looked at her with a clearly stressed out face. Her expression remained unfazed by the look of stress written all over your fine features; your eyebrows used to be relaxed as a natural state, now they've taken over a furrow as their new norm, your lips used to be neutral, like they've never had a reason to open unless the time calls for it, now they're constantly pursed as if you're holding in a secret you're dying to share.

"It's about why I started going here," you started, already feeling yourself begin to lose your confidence you'd spent the last few minutes putting up. Shoko sighs, reaching behind her desk and pulling out her pack of cigarettes (she knows it's highly unethical to let a 16 year old smoke, but she was doing it at her age, so it's not like anyone can reprimand you if they didn't reprimand her), pulling one out and reaching for her lighter, lighting it up then handing it to you.

"I don't normally do this, so take this as a comfort present."

"Thanks," you gratefully took the cigarette between your fingers; your eyes narrowed, looking at it like you're about to make the biggest mistake of your life before lifting it to your lips. You inhale sharply, the embers at the end slightly glowing a bright orange amidst the brown and black imbedded in the white and orange wrapping. Your eyes squint as you hold back a cough, quickly taking it from the edges of your flesh and exhaling quickly.

"It's tough to ingest the first few times, but it gets better."

You huff, puffing your cheeks as you take another quick inhale, the suction almost piercing the atmosphere as you squint your eyes once again. You exhale slowly, letting the smoke leave your lips as a funnel.

"Alright, I...I wasn't actually sent here on my own will," you start, finally feeling yourself relax as the smoke settles in your lungs. Shoko lifts a brow once again, "I figured- it's the Zenin clan, after all."

"So if anyone's to blame, it's the Head," you squint as you inhale again, this time a little more smoothly than the first two times as your body buzzes. "My, uh...acquaintance...sent me here last year upon his request...for Maki."

"For Maki?"

"Yeah...as in, doing something."

"What was that something?"

This is it, this is the moment you finally tell someone about the situation you're in. About why you're here. About why you have to kill Maki.

"I...I have to kill her."

Shoko looked at you with an unfazed expression, though the look in her eyes told you that she wasn't expecting this. Nobody would expect it if someone were to tell them they have to kill someone else. Her face stayed the same, and her eyes didn't change from their unsure state as she shifted in her chair, crossing her legs again and shuffling a little.

"You...have to kill her?" Her voice was thick (as you'd expect) with hesitance, her eyes showing no sign of judgment but the atmosphere was almost infested with it. The air surrounding the two of you in your combined bubbles almost made it hard to breathe as you sat there in silence, not finding the words to answer and only nodding instead.

"And you couldn't tell Gojo?" you shake your head. "Why?"

"Naoya-- he'd find out eventually," you slump your shoulders, the words finally water falling out from your mouth as you look at anything else but her. "He snuck onto campus back in December before Geto's attack, and he told me I had to hurry up, but I said that I couldn't, because I didn't want to. And...and he told me he wouldn't snitch. It was my sweet sixteen, he said he wasn't going to snitch because of that."

"And you believed him?" She lifted a brow, her lips pursed into a thin line. You nodded, "It's been months since then. If he did, there would've been people coming after me for a while."

"What makes you think they aren't waiting until you leave? Until you go on your next mission? Until you're no longer in the safety of this campus?"

"I just know, Shoko," your lips stay parted when you finish, your hand unknowingly balling up into a fist as it grips the arm of the chair. The look in your eyes tells her that you aren't in the mood to go into detail, just getting it off your chest.

She nods in silence, not bothering to pressure as she rolls back to being behind her desk. "I have to tell Gojo at some point, Y/n. I can't keep that a secret for long."

"Let me tell him," you sigh. "I don't want him finding out through someone else and getting randomly yelled at."

"Alright," she huffs, going back to her computer and popping her thumb. "Throw that cigarette away on your way out. You obviously can't smoke in the hallways," she pulls out a mini fan and holds her thumb down on the button, slowly blowing away the smell of smoke in the air. You nod, getting up from your chair and shuffling to the door. You throw the cigarette in the trash can before twisting the doorknob, stepping out of her office.

Outside on the training field, Panda and Toge were busy playing catch with Nobara, the other first year.

Maki stood at the end of the stone pathway, watching with her polearm over her shoulder and an unamused expression on her face as she waited for Megumi to come back. Soon enough she heard the door open, her head turning to find Megumi walking out with a blue tracksuit.

"Where's Hatake-senpai? Have they still not come back?" Megumi asks as he zips up his jacket, stepping closer towards Maki. She sighs, shaking her head, "They didn't even say anything when they walked off. They just wandered off and didn't say where they're going."

Megumi shrugs, finally reaching next to her and standing still. She looks at him with a glare, "Where were you, anyways?"

"I was busy. What's with you?" He looked back at her with narrowed eyes. Maki doesn't say anything. Instead, she looks away and sighs, "Nothing, I'm perfectly fine. We gotta start training for the exchange event anyways."

"Is it because Hatake-senpai isn't here?"

"Stop prodding, damnit."

"Sorry," he rolled his eyes. "But is it true?"

"No," she lied. "I don't care if they're somewhere around this campus," she grumbles, frowning as her cheeks turn pink. Megumi looks at her with a knowing face, still not believing her.

"Hatake-senpai's absence makes you irritable," Megumi comments, earning a glare from Maki. She looks at him with narrow eyes, almost as if to threaten him to shut up.

"Zenin-senpai...what kind of people do you hope to save?" He finally changes the subject, looking back at Maki with a blank expression. She sure was going to punch him if he kept prodding on about your absence. Maki looks at him again with a lifted brow.

"Huh? It's not like I care if my actions save people or not."

"You will when you watch someone die."

Megumi and Maki turn to find you walking out from the door, fixing your tank top and your training katana (Gojo gave you an extra katana for training purposes last year). Maki frowned despite her mood brightening, and suddenly she wasn't as irritable.

"Watching someone die changes your perspective of the Jujutsu world," you huff as you walk past them, ignoring Maki's longing stare as she watches you walk away, focused on your posture and your shoulder blades, and your biceps that are slowly but surely coming in. Her throat goes dry before Megumi speaks again.

"Now do you feel like answering?" He looked back at her, just barely catching her stare as she looks at him.

"The answer is the same. Y/n is Y/n, and I'm me. They care, I don't."

"I shouldn't have asked."

"Huh?!"

"Hatake-senpai! Please! Switch with me! Set me free so I can go shopping, let me go so I can find a cute tracksuit!"

You lifted a brow at Nobara's pleas and begging for you to take her place, watching her practically get down at your feet and beg over and over. You tilt your chin up, turning your nose the other way as you ignore her, walking away towards the bale of hay someone miraculously left out and took out your training katana. Nobara let out a whine as Panda dragged her away for more fall practice.

You swing harshly against the bale of hay, a sharp thwack coming with each hit. A few yellow pieces fall from the stack as you assault the hay, your eyes narrowed and your eyebrows knit as your forehead creased a little. Your lips were pursed into a thin line, almost a frown, as you continued your abuse on the thatch.

After a few minutes of thwacking every few seconds, everyone stopped and looked at you like you have two heads. Of course, you didn't notice and kept with your swinging.

"Is something wrong with Hatake-senpai?" Megumi questioned, looking back at Maki. She simply shrugged, "They've been acting weird all day. Quiet and moody- normally they're talking with Panda."

"Are you gonna talk to them?"

"Why am I the one that has to?"

"Because you two are close friends...almost too close," Megumi narrows his eyes suspiciously. "Maybe you could get an answer out of them."

"Why's it matter so much to you? It's not like they're important to you. They're just your upperclassman."

"Then that would make you just a classmate," he crosses his arms and taps his foot. "And that's not what you are, now is it?"

Maki side eyes him, glaring as the unforgiving sun reflects off the lenses of her glasses. "Just leave it alone, ok? I'll talk to Y/n later."

Megumi sighs, clearly not satisfied but doesn't say anything else about it to further annoy her.

---

"Idiot, why've you been acting weird all day?"

Maki opens your door, walking in to find you curled up on your bed, not even under the sheets as your ceiling fan blows, spinning in an endless circle. She lifts a brow, taking note of your silence.

"Something's up. Tell me," she sits down on the edge of your bed, her hazel eyes staring you down as they examine your body language. She knows you're not asleep- you can't be, not after all that training earlier which should've given you an adrenaline rush.

"I can't tell you," you mumble, curling yourself further onto your bed, your fingers gripping your shirt tighter as you squeeze your eyes shut. "Go away."

"I think I'll stay here," she gets down, laying flat on her back next to you on your bed. Her bed lands on your soft pillow, the one she always sleeps on whenever she came in your room because she felt lonely, and when you did the same. She kept her other pillow always fluffed in case you did randomly decide to walk in and sleep in her room, just for you, she did.

"I'll stay here until you tell me what's wrong."

"Don't hold your breath, because nothing's wrong, now go away."

"You expect me to believe that nothing's wrong when you're curled up into a ball on your bed in your dark room?"

"...I don't want to talk about it," you huff as you dig your face into your pillow, sighing as you lay there. Maki sighs after you, rubbing her temple with her middle and index fingers. She knows when to not cross a boundary like that, and when your voice sounded like you were on the verge of yelling, she knew to back down.

"Fine, fine," she sighs again, more sharply this time as she gets up from your bed. "I'll leave you alone for now. But you gotta tell me at some point."

She walks out, shaking her head as she closes the door. Your head makes a quarter turn, not fully facing the door, but instead, grabbing the blanket Maki got you for Christmas and wrapping it around yourself like a burrito, snuggling it tightly as you let out a long sigh.

[msweebyness]

Miraculous Second Gen- School for Monstrous Youths (My Characters)

Hey, ya’ll! These are the first set of kids from the Monstrous Youths AU! I figured I’d let Artzy post the kids for their OC couples on their own time! Enjoy! @artzychic27 @imsparky2002

Polycule:

Emma:

Voodoo Doll/Human Hybrid, Adrinette

She/Her

Age 15

As clumsy as her (bio) mom

Still has a ton of energy, but must be more careful due to voodoo powers

Struggles with some OCD

Influencer for monster-made products

Louie:

Vampire/Dragon Hybrid, Lukagami

He/Him

Age 14

Can see people’s auras

Musician like his (bio) dad, super mellow

Struggles with hoarding like his bio mom

Kinda the family therapist

Will They/Won't They with Darius

Hugo:

Voodoo Doll/Vampire Hybrid, Lukanette

He/Him

Age 10

Emerging Himbo still

Wants to play sports, but can’t do contact due to voodoo powers

Sometimes forgets about said powers

Loves going bat mode

Best friends with Hector

Alison:

Dragon/Human Hybrid, Adrigami

She/Her

Age 6

Only hoards items that symbolize significant memories

As stoic as Kagami

Intelligent for her age but doesn’t talk much

Scariest dragon glare ever

Alyno:

Cecily “CeCe”:

Ghost/Stein Hybrid

She/Her

Age 16

Super driven, like her mom

Has a bit of a problem with remembering to knock before phasing through a door

Runs a monster activism news site

Always arguing with her brother

Loses track of her limbs often

Cody:

Ghost/Stein Hybrid

He/Him

Age 16

Gives off ectoplasmic static when excited

Really chill, but does meditation to help with anxiety

Plays the keyboard, and writes a comic series about a group of hybrid monster spies

Really wants to ask June out

Julerose:

Marek:

Vampire/Angel Hybrid, Bio Mom Juleka with a donor

He/They

Age 17

Incredibly shy like Jules, but has a love for all things cute

Flying helps him calm down

Learning guitar from his uncle

Will stab someone who threatens their loved ones

Dating Vicki

Myvan:

Juniper “June”:

Plant Monster/Yeti Hybrid

She/Her

Age 16

Mega blunt like her father, but with her mom’s caring demeanor

Has a fierce yeti temper and WILL throw rocks

RBF for days

Activist for the environment and monster rights

Gets tangled in her vines

Wants to ask Cody out but nerves are a thing

Hector:

Plant Monster/Yeti Hybrid

He/Him

Age 10

Gentle giant like his dad

Speaks too quiet to hear most of the time

Loves working with plants and animals

Fidgets with his vines when nervous

Best friends with Hugo

NathMarc:

Elicia:

Moth Creature/Werecat Hybrid, Bio Dad Marc with a surrogate

She/Her

Age 17

Sassiest lil missy, must be the werecat genes

A very talented sculptor

High-functioning autism, limited emotional expression

Spooks at loud noises, like Marc

Has a crush on Destiny

Kimdine:

Victorique “Vicki”:

Aquatic Monster/Werewolf Hybrid

She/Her

Age 17

Has the energy of three people

Fastest swimmer in the region, and a track and field star

Models for Mari’s fashion label, has a good number of fans

Herbo, but like, book-smart

Dating Marek

Nicolette “Nikki”:

Aquatic Monster/Werewolf Hybrid

She/Her

Age 13

Much more subdued and reserved than her fam

Voice of reason mixed with deadpan snarker

Really tech savvy, makes her own software

Really fast swimmer like her sister, and super agile

Besties with River

Sabrinelmar:

Darius:

Zombie/Ghoul Hybrid

Age 14

He/They

Adopted at 7

Very into organization and a good leader

Active in the monster rights movements, wants to go into politics

Can speak zombie and other languages

Huge crush on Louie

Alix:

River:

Manticore, Adopted at 1

They/Them

Age 13

Snarkiest lil shit, it’s why they and Nikki get along

Daredevil like their mama, they do extreme sports together

Really smart, makes top grades

Wonders about their birth parents sometimes, but loves Alix and wouldn’t trade being with her

Has to be careful with their tail spines

Breckvie:

Destiny:

Centaur/Siren Hybrid

She/Her

Age 17

Only one of the three with the power of siren song

Loves to sing but has to be careful with her powers

Proper lady like her mama, manners are impeccable

Sweetest girl alive, takes care of people out of instinct

Has a crush on Elicia

Reagan:

Centaur/Siren Hybrid

She/Her

Age 12

Only one with the full lower body of a horse

School’s sprinting champ

Herbo™️

Crazy good cook, big Kronk vibes

Daddy’s Girl

Milo:

Centaur/Siren Hybrid

He/Him

Age 9

Wants to be a vet, adopts random animals

Ray of sunshine 24/7

Has hooves and wings, and a good singer

Very perceptive for his age

Jessthony:

Warren:

Daemon, Adopted at 3

He/They

Age 15

Super shy, but has a quiet snarkiness

Mari’s design protégé, fashion sense is on point

Always fidgeting, usually has stim toys

Starting a foundation for abandoned daemon kids like himself and his Dad

Leave your thoughts in the comments and reblogs! Enjoy the monster kiddies!

[monsooninamajestic]

Incorrect Quotes with TLKOE (The Only OC is Kaberi. All other side characters are people who were mentioned in the books.)

(I had posted these in a tlkoe discord server but wanna share here)

~~

Non-Apocalyptic AU

When Quint was absent for only ONE DAY

Mr.Burr: Okay it has been 20 minutes, Nick, what did you get for number one.

Nick: I got 10

Dirk: That's wrong.

Nick: No it's not.

Mr.Burr: Okay Dirk, what did you get.

Dirk: I got 11.

Nick: What a dumb bitch.

Teacher: Nick, stop.

Kaberi: I forgot how to divide.

June: .....

Silvio: I got 11 too.

Nick: Exactly Dirk!

Jenny: I got 10.

Angela: I also got 10.

Nick: I'm the smartest person here so.

Jenny: NO ONE GIVES A SHIT.

Kaberi: I don't know how to do this.

Teacher: Jack, what did you get?

Jack: I couldn't even solve it because why is a bunch of letters next to the numbers?!

Angela: Just Say your stupid.

Jack: Angela, want me to beat your ass?!

Jenny: Is the answer 10 or 11, I'm confused.

Mr.Burr: Hmm, June, want to share your answer.

June: Uh give me a minute.

Angela: She's erasing it!

Jenny: Just say it!

June: I got 865.

Dirk: What the fuck-

Nick: They need to go back to 3rd grade.

June: Nick, you got held back 4 times, I wouldn't be talking!

Jenny: Damn 4 times?

Angela: June, your like way off.

June: YOUR FACE IS WAY OFF, HOW ABOUT THAT!

Mr.Burr: June, can you explain how you got that?

June: I'm too lazy so no.

Mr.Burr: Class, June is the only one who got the answer right.

Silvio: How the fuck?

June: HAhahahaahhahaha

~~

Kaberi: ....I'm pretty sure that place is fire-proof or something.

June: *Has a grenade in their hand* Alright, but is it explosion-proof?

~~

Quint: Wait a minute, how did this happen? We're smarter than this!

Dirk: Apparently, we're not.

~~

Skaelka: Ugh, there’s always that weak bitch in the group who isn’t down with murder.

Skaelka: *glares at Jack*

Jack: Well, sorry I have morals!

[khr-guilded-cage]

I still havent gotten over my Gokudera is a Spy Theory, this fic I read once put this in my head and its lives rent free here

"Gokudera Hayato arrived at Namimori, at May 19th, exactly 20 hours after Reborn receive transmission from Sawada Iemitsu of Vongola, division CEDEF, regarding new Guardian and... guide in mafia world." The corner of his lips quirked upwards as if the thoughts amuse him. "By accepting the mission, that means you agree to be Sawada Iemitsu's mole. Getting close to me in order to dictate how I should behave. A tool to shaping me into puppet leader." "I don't—" "Are you sure?" Tsuna raised an eyebrow. "May 27th, first report to Sawada Iemitsu. Stating how the confrontation go. Status of report: left untouched as it was short and nothing dangerous of yet. May 30th, you receive a message how you should befriend me and act upon it. June 10th, you report to Sawada Iemitsu about my relationship with Yamamoto Takeshi and Hibari Kyoya. Status of Report: Altered to omit the names. June 18th, you watch how Reborn trained me in firearms and noted it. Status of Report: Heavy Tampering. June 23rd, an accident involving Bank Robbers, weaponize 5000-pages book, and a broken ankle. Status of Report: Erased. July 13th and July 19th. Report regarding my grades and exam result. Status of Report: Mild Tampering." "That was six reports. Six goddamn reports. Care to explain?" "B-but your father ask for it..." Stammered Gokudera, only to squeaked weakly when Tsuna leveled a glare at him. "H-he just worried..." "Worried?" Repeated the brunette... before he chuckled. There's something wrong in how he chuckles. Something that is hair-raising. "He was worried? Weird. Because I know for a fact he was never come visiting, and always late in stuff like his and my mom's wedding anniversary, birthday, and the likes. And if he truly worried... why he didn't just call? Vongola is rich, right? International phone bill would be cheap then. Barely a dent in his personal pocket money."

[alicenpai]

reading medalist!! blog thoughts june 28

⛸❄🧊

medalist is getting an anime soon!!

this was the 1st image i saw of the series and i was like why is reigen there

i think it was inevitable that id enjoy this series bc i love witch hat atelier (and i think Shirahama-sensei may have retweeted medalist at some point). medalist has a similar wholesome and inspiring premise about a kid who works to achieve their dreams, as well as a commentary about how adults have to look after and guide children correctly and most importantly to not abuse that position. (glaring at the moms who gave inori that mental breakdown... moms always pit their kids against one another and it's really. kinda awful if the kid is having episodes about it!)

inori has the funniest faces

anyways ill continue to update this post here and there. more under the cut, i'll have some character analyses which will probably contain spoilers

every series needs to have their edgy character huh!! (even if it's set in reality and not some fantasy world)

i thought this girl would be edgy like her mentor too, bc i saw the art before i read the manga. but she's surprisingly supportive and her relationship with the main character inori is really wholesome.

i actually always wanted to get into skating more!! i remember skating a lot in the rink in the winter i was in grade 4. it was so fun.. we moved out of the area the following year so i couldnt go back to that community center, but ive always wanted to skate again after all these years. bc of financial reasons though i could never attend lessons for any hobby as a kid. it doesn't sound that bad i think hobbies are a huge thing in our culture here, and i think it had a huge impact on me and how i tend to feel fomo easily. when inori's mom brought up the subject of money for her kid's skating lessons i felt that so hard LOL.....

[boysplanetrecaps]

Produce 48 Recaps: Auditions Begin (episode 1)

When we left off in my probably-unnecessary-but-still-necessary Rewatch Recap of Produce 48, the 96 girls had made their entrance into the huge studio, and the judges were just about to reveal themselves. Let's get to it!

The judges come out!

First, it’s Lee Hong Ki, a powerful vocalist, here to teach them to sing. He’s from FT Island, and amazingly, was in the *second* K-drama I ever watched, You’re Beautiful, which was fun at the time, but which I cannot actually recommend. I will say that Hong-ki is the best part of it despite his, let’s say, broad acting choices. 

The character he played on You’re Beautiful was named Jeremy, and I can’t help but think of him as Jeremy. So just understand that I will be calling him Jeremy for the duration of these recaps. Thank you. 

Here he is as Jeremy. He’s ACTING! 

Next, it’s Soyou, from Sistar. She was overshadowed by Hyolyn but is an excellent vocalist in her own right. She’s here to be the other vocal trainer. 

It wouldn’t be an MNET show without this asshole:

I don’t want to learn his name but he’s that choreographer/dance teacher/ sociopath who always makes sure that all of the trainees’ mental health is hanging on by the merest of threads. I’m going to call him Psychopath. Seriously, fuck this guy. I’ll note that he comes across as sweet and loveable in this episode but I can’t forgive him for the shit he pulled during Boys Planet. Nope. Never. He has earned my undying hatred. To be clear, I do not support sending him hate messages or harming him in any way. I will just quietly, and personally, hate him on my Tumblr which gets maybe 5 or 10 readers. 

And then there’s her:

Bae Yoon Jung! She’s also pretty intense, and I know she’s mean to them on the first day, but she has the capacity for normal human empathy, as I recall. I’m going to call her Dance Bae. That doesn’t mean that I co-sign on her casual cruelty. It’s just that it’s literally her name and it’s easy to remember.

I don’t remember this lady:

Her name is May J Lee and she’s also a dance trainer. She’s cute. Here’s to hoping she understands that the trainees are human beings!

It’s Cheetah, here to be the rap trainer! God, I love her song Villain so damn much. The video is great, too, but trigger warning for violence. “I could fix you, but I won’t.” HECK yeah. 

And special one-day trainer, Kahi, who was the dance trainer for PD101 Season 2.

Kahi was in After School, then “graduated” in June 2012, right around the same time that Gaeun joined. They undoubtedly have spent time together, so it’ll be interesting to see if they interact much in this episode. (Maybe Gaeun being on the show this season meant that Kahi couldn’t really be the judge for the whole time?) 

The judges glare holes into the trainees while explaining that they’ll be sorting them into groups -- A, B, C, D, and F -- based on skill level, with the ultimate goal of bringing them all up to A-grade. And now it’s time for these would-be performers to perform, and of course, they don’t want to actually perform. 

41:50 The Auditions Begin

The girls are nervous. Yoon Hae Sol (윤해솔), 20, former member of Aqua, lets out a gusty breath. And this girl is nervous too, whoever the heck she is. 

Kim Chaewon, it says on her nametag. Well, she’s cute. Meanwhile I’m fascinated by the shoe behind her. WHOSE SHOE IS THAT? WHAT IS THIS SHOE? 

The AKB-48 girls are even more nervous. Oda Erina, 21, in a stylish bob and a blue, yellow and white jacket is intimidated by the Korean girls. Mogi Shinobu, also 21, a living meme with blue furry sleeves, is so nervous she looks like she might cry. We love you, Shinobu.

Time for the first audition! Or at least, the audition that the editors have moved to the beginning of the episode, even though it was probably not the first one to happen in real time! Because they wanted to front-load excellent Korean auditions to emphasize the skill gap between the Korean and Japanese contestants! 

Audition 1: Yuehua

Kim Si Hyeon (김시현), age 18, in the long sleeved shirt, now a member of Everglow. 

Choi Ye Na (최예나), age 18, with her hair in a ponytail.

Wang Yi Ren (왕이런), age 17, pink shirt with black edges. She’s Chinese and is now a member of Everglow. 

We see a clip of the Yuehua girls back stage, where Choi Yena accidentally draws on the camera with red marker and then apologizes profusely. AND SHE NEVER WORKED IN KPOP AGAIN!!

Then we get a flashback of Gross Guy personally watching the auditions of all 96 girls prior to the filming of the first episode. He’s so gross. Ugh. He makes JYP seem like a sweet, safe guy. Anyway we find out that after Choi Yena performed her song, she asked to do an extra performance. She begins speaking in what sounds like decent Japanese and does a little miming routine with sound effects. She’s pretty charming, actually. 

Cut back to audition day. The Woolim girls are backstage waiting for their turn when they recognize Sihyeon from her time on PD101, Season 1. Sihyeon interviews that she’s embarrassed when she looks back at herself on PD101 and that she’s gotten a lot better since then. In fact, as we find out later, she got an F in that season. 

Link to full audition on Youtube

Song: Move by Little Mix 

My Thoughts: They do great, in my opinion. Siyheon has a great clear, strong voice and her English pronunciation is mostly pretty good. Yena and Yiren don’t sing as clearly, but their dancing is great and they have a lot of presence. God, Yiren sparkles so much! I feel like she’s getting bad advice from whoever is around her now, because in more recent Everglow performances she always seems so muted. Seeing this, I can see she’s capable of great stage presence -- I hope she finds her way back to this. I dig Everglow and just want them to keep living up to their potential. I would have given Siyheon an A and the other two Bs, I think, though it’s hard without seeing the other trainees to compare. 

The MNET Edit: The editing emphasizes Yiren and Yena more, but overall the editing is kind to all three. We see some of the Japanese girls saying “why is everyone so good”, almost as if this ISN’T the first team to go up. (Also, we see that other girls are already wearing their grade name tag, though they’re blurred out.) The judges give Yena an A and the other two get Bs, which I guess reminds us that as long as you *kind* of sing while you also dance a lot and are very charming, then…. you get an A. Anyway, A and B are fine.

The editors really want us to know that the Japanese girls are very worried about their auditions. It is true that they generally don’t have the training the Korean girls have -- I’m not commenting on their inherent worthiness, just their preparation. But the show really, really focuses on that. I’m sure at least some of the Korean girls were nervous too, but we don’t seem to be seeing clips of that on the show.

Auditions 2 and 3: Woolim and WM Entertainment

Next, the MNET editors decided to further confuse anyone who has previously confused WM Entertainment with Woolim Entertainment by overlapping these two agency’s auditions, same as they did when the girls entered the auditorium. Thanks, MNET editors! Thmeditors. We learn that Woolim manages Lovelyz, while WM manages Oh My Girl (their rivals), though now in 2023 I think we all know that Oh My Girl kind of won that particular fight. Apparently the girls view each other as rivals? ...? But do they, though?

Woolim is up first. They take a moment finding their places, and we learn that Eunbi is their leader/mom who brought them medicine and Japanese phrase books. What a good unnie! 

Left to right: Suyun, Eunbi, Sohee, Chaewon

Kim Chae Won (김채원), age 17   now: Le Sserafim   wearing a short sleeved white top, tie Kim So Hee (김소희), age 14  now: Rocket Punch  wearing pigtails Kim Su Yun (김수윤), age 17  now: Rocket Punch   wearing short sleeved black top Kwon Eun Bi (권은비), age 22   now: soloist wearing a tie, cardigan

Link to full audition on Youtube

Song: Ah-Choo by Lovelyz / Bad by Infinite

My thoughts: It’s always awkward when you have one member who’s 14 (and looks 12) and one who is 22 (and looks 25) -- they’re always going to sort of make one another look bad. But overall, this is actually a really good audition.  I watched it multiple times and didn’t pick up on any mistakes or bad moments. All four of them had kpop acceptable vocals that didn’t stand out as fantastic or terrible. Chaewon’s a tiny bit shaky on the high notes, but they are really high notes. Little Sohee’s dancing was less powerful than the others’, even during Ah-Choo, but that’s fine considering she’s so much younger. I did think they looked a tiny bit silly doing that super powerful choreography to Bad while still dressed to perform Ah-Choo, but the goal was to display different skills and they did that. Knowing how deep the hole can go, I think I would have given all these girls As or Bs, maybe a C for little Sohee. It’s hard to know for sure since it’s not always clear what is live singing and what’s the backup track. 

The MNET Edit is fair. The rest of the trainees appreciate their performance. 

Backstage, Lee Chaeyeon says Eun Bi caught her eye the most. I actually noticed Suyun a lot too, but her time will come later. 

The judges compliment their synchronization and ask to see them perform something else. They launch into a second performance, which seems equally well rehearsed. I don’t recognize the song off hand (if any of you do, feel free to let me know!) but they do a great job with it. Dance Bae says, in an almost irritated way, “why haven’t you debuted yet? You seem ready to me.” I think she’s speaking mainly to Eunbi, who smiles wide at the compliment. We won’t hear their grades until later, but I’ll tell you their grades now, because I just love subverting the MNET editing monkeys. Kwon Eun Bi gets an A, ChaeWon gets a B, and the other two get Cs. Maybe I’m just biased toward Suyun from knowing her now? It’s hard to say. But I still think a B would have been fairer for her. 

Next, WM Entertainment. The girls come out on stage and the judges immediately tell Chaeyeon she looks familiar. She acknowledges having been on Sixteen with Somi (2015) and on Kpop Star 3 (2013). She says that this time she really wants to show us what she’s got. The other girls are excited to see her dance.

Trainees: 

Lee Seung Hyeon (이승현), 17 now known as Riina in H1-Key, in the black shirt Lee Chae Yeon (이채연), 18, currently a soloist, in the pink shirt  Cho Yeong In (조영인), 16, in the white Link to full audition on Youtube

Song: Shower, originally by Becky G

My thoughts: All three of them do well dancing wise. It’s not surprise that Chaeyeon would dance well, and she certainly outshines the other two, but Seunghyeon holds her own and Yeongin doesn’t look bad. I think vocally, Seunghyeon does the best job, but Chae’s belted note sounded good. Yeongin’s vocals were noticeably shaky compared to the other two’s. I think I would have given Yeongin a B or C, Chae would get an A, and Seunghyeon an A or a B depending on what the dance teachers said. Overall though it was a good audition. 

The MNET edit is again pretty kind. Everyone focuses on Chaeyeon, of course. When they’re done, the judges ask her to freestyle to Instruction by Jax Jones featuring Demi Lovato, and she dances in a style that’s really appropriate to the song. Everyone’s impressed. The judges announces the grades. Chaeyeon gets an A, which seems completely correct. The other two get Bs, which is ok. 

The editing is setting Kwon Eun Bi and Lee Chaeyeon up to be rivals. Surely, they must hate each other, if they’re both good dancers and their agencies are on the same street in Seoul! 

In the audience, Kojima Mako says to her friend, “It’s so amazing that I’m not even nervous anymore. Our friend Juri says to Shinozaki Ayana,  “I feel like I’m just watching a TV show.” Me too, Juri! We stan a relatable queen. But yeah, it’s more of the whole “the terrible, silly, weak Japanese girls are in awe of the mighty, powerful Korean girls” narrative that MNET’s editing monkeys keep pushing. 

Auditions 4 and 5: The Very Pretty Girls

Next, we have the introduction of two Very Pretty Girls:  Kim Min Ju (김민주), age 17 from Urban Works, in her colorful striped shirt, and Kang Hye Won (강혜원), age 18,  from 8D Creative in a blue mini dress with a big pink and white collar. The other trainees think that these two girls look like actresses, so maybe it’s no surprise that now (2023), they are in fact both actresses. I renew my complaint from earlier that I don’t understand why certain girls are considered prettier than the others, and remind you that this isn’t an insult to them, as they are certainly very pretty, but more of a compliment to the others, who I view as equally pretty. Isn’t Kwon Eun Bi just as pretty? Is she not? I don’t understand. I will be saying that a lot in these recaps so I guess I’ll just call it my Particularly Pretty Problem (PPP) and leave it at that. 

Agency:  8D Creative

Trainee: Kang Hye Won

In a pre-show interview, they ask her such questions as “were you always pretty?” and she says that yes, she is. This is the part of kpop I like least. She says that the position she wants is 청정 or purity. I guess I understand that -- there is usually a sexy member of a given group (see: Kai in Exo, Hyunjin in SKZ, Joy in Red Velvet, Soojin in G-Idle) and there’s usually a funny or approachable one (see: Chanyeol, Changbin, Wendy, Yuqi), so I could see there being a sort of pure or extra cute one. It’s not as crazy as it might sound.

Link to full audition on Youtube

Song: You and I by IU (2011)

My Thoughts: Well, that was pretty terrible. There’s room at the bottom, but she barely dances and she only kind of sings. The singing is breathy, faint, and pitchy. The dancing is half hearted and my grandma could have done this choreo even after her stroke. She has negative stage presence. Also, to me, she always looks confused. There’s something about either her facial features or her expression that make her look bewildered. I’m sorry if she’s your favorite. She may have charming personality traits that I don’t know about yet. She’s just not particularly skilled in either singing or dancing. She should get an F. 

If you can’t handle me saying that about this audition, then I really suggest that you just not read any more of my recaps because I’m going to say stuff like this about bad auditions. I don’t care if she’s “pretty”. I don’t care if she has gone on to be successful. Other people -- Eun Bi, for example -- are pretty and they can also sing and dance. I believe that if you make your living as a singer and/or dancer, you should be able to sing and/or dance. 

The MNET edit:They don’t do her any favors, zooming in on her non-dancing and focusing on the judges’ reactions to her shaky high notes and nearly stationary body. When she’s done, she stands there with this look on her face, which is the way I always remember this girl looking and how I recognize her in her more recent endeavors. 

Dance Bae says, “Purity is all you have. F.”  Done and done. 

Agency:  Urban Works

Trainee:  Kim Min Ju 

Link to full audition on Youtube

Song:  No Matter What by BoA

My Thoughts: This was so much better than Hyewon’s audition. For one thing, she actually danced. She showed a variety of different actual dance steps, including legs, body, arms, head, face. She danced! The singing was extremely faint and I think a lot of it was the backing track, but this was leagues ahead. Without being able to clearly discern her singing, it’s so hard to tell, but I think I’d put her in C territory. 

The MNET edit:They show the judges adjusting their ear buds and looking bored or put off, and focused on a part where she dropped into a squat and looked a little awkward. But that was just the dance move! This was originally done as a partner dance and it was adapted for a single person (I think? Unless it was just made new, whole cloth?), so maybe they should have just cut that squatting part out -- it’s not her fault. They also show a girl in the audience looking bored (maybe cut in from a totally different performance). It’s not kind. Minju, you deserved better. 

They give her a D. I don’t know. Seems like they’re punishing her for being pretty. But maybe the singing was worse than I thought. 

I’m not going to comment on it every single time it happens, but just assume that after every performance there will be a reaction/voice over from a Japanese girl saying, “If that didn’t get an A, I’m going to get an F for sure” or “the Korean girls are so much better than me” or something like that. It’s constant. 

Auditions 6 and 7: The Punching Bags

These next two auditions are shown mainly to mock these trainees. Neither of them do a stellar job, but both deserved a little better than what they got.

We see a scrap of  the audition from Shin Su Hyun (신수현), a 22 year old represented by FAVE Entertainment. 

She’s performing Playing with Fire by Blackpink. I watched her full audition, but we only see a little bit of it in the actual show. She started off with rapping, which the edit doesn’t show; I think she’s going for a rap position, not a singing one, which helps excuse why her singing was weak. The dancing wasn’t great -- she was a beat or two ahead of the choreography (something I only noticed because I know the song so well). But I thought she at least had charisma. I think a C wouldn’t have been out of line, but I don’t know the rubric. The edit replays a part where she sort of does a chicken-dance wiggle during the chorus when that’s not quite what the choreo is like, but I had to go back and rewatch the original to see that the original choreo is different. The PWF choreography is kind of weird -- I’ve always thought so. What’s with the dogpaddling in the chorus, or that weird “drawing a line with your finger” at the end? Anyway, my point is that the edit makes her look even worse than she actually did. 

They intersperse her audition with the audition of Cube’s Han Cho Won -- she’s only 15 here, but you may now know her as one of the most popular members of Cube’s youngest girl group,  Lightsum. The edit here make her look like a complete idiot. If you watch her full audition, you’ll see that, yeah, it’s not great, but there are some extenuating circumstances.

The biggest problem is that the song was a poor choice. Red by Hyuna is a HYUNA song. Like a third of the lyrics are “red is Hyuna”, and there’s a whole 10 second segment where Hyuna just sits on the ground and flirts with the camera. It’s all about being sexy and having a nice body, specifically a nice butt, and the choreography is very core/waist/butt centered. It seems that Chowon just can’t quite move her body that way, and at 15, maybe just isn’t up the task of embodying the universal sex symbol that is a full-grown Hyuna. I don’t know who is! 

Anyway, I think Chowon should have done Pepe by CLC, assuming she was going to stick to a song by a Cube artist. The song has a fun retro feel and it would have been more appropriate for a 15 year old who doesn’t know how to twerk yet. Or maybe Pretty Pretty by Pentagon -- I bet Hui would have helped her remix something for the show if the agency had asked him to -- he's a good sunbae -- and the song has quirky, funny choreography that might have made the judges smile. Sigh. 

Poor Chowon -- it wasn’t a great audition, but I blame whoever either told her to do this song, or allowed her to do it if it was her choice. The whole point of having management is to get smart people to help you make decisions like this, especially when you’re fifteen. But that’s asking too much from Cube, I guess. Kahi even says that she had been at Cube briefly and that they don’t teach you anything, which checks out. Cube is just the WORST. 

Both Chowon and Suhyun get a lecture on needing to learn (or review) the basics and both get a D. It’s not totally unfair -- it’s just that I know that there is so much worse to come. 

More discussion about how the Japanese girls aren’t really given any training and just learn to perform by watching their sempai/sunbae/seniors. Dance Bae says it’ll be fun to watch them grow. 

And now it’s time to see the AKB48 girls perform. We see that they’ve changed out of their entrance outfits -- those plaid monstrosities -- into different outfits, most of which are also monstrosities. 

Audition 8: Get You!

See, it's a play on words because the song is called Get You and also MNET wants to get them

Agency:  AKB48

Trainees: Oda Erina 21, and Nakano Ikumi 17

Erina, left, with the shorter hair and Ikumi, right, in the blue shorts.

The judges comment that Erina is known for her singing and Ikumi for her dancing. 

Link to full audition on Youtube

Song: Get You! by Morning Musume (a different J-pop idol group)

My Thoughts: Well, this wasn’t terrible. They do sort of take turns either singing or dancing, and rarely do both at the same time. The choreography they do is mostly extremely simple and not super well synced, but they do throw themselves into it. They have a lot of energy, which I know is important in J-pop. If you asked me, “which of these is the singer and which of these is the dancer?” I wouldn’t be able to tell you. But neither of them assaulted my ears. Judged by J-pop standards, this was great. By K-pop standards, not great. I’d give them a C and see how they do learning the choreography for the signal song.

The MNET edit: The edit makes it seem much worse than it really was. Honestly, it wasn’t that horrific. They were more fun to watch than Kang Hye Won for sure. 

The judges ask Ikumi to freestyle dance, which she agrees to with an English “Yes!” They play “Look What You Made Me Do” by Taylor Swift. She tries to do a sort of interpretive dance thing, and I appreciate that she at least tried. She has lovely body lines and seems to understand rhythm and tone, anyway. They keep showing her trip a little on her platform sneakers. God, those things look hard to dance in. After a bit she seems to give up, pulling her hair over her face, and the judges call it. Her AKB-mates are impressed, but the judges aren’t. 

Dance Bae compliments her on her energy, but says she seems to not know what to do with it. “I’m not sure that the fact that you danced to the beat warrants you having won first place in a large competition,” Dance Bae scolds. “If you keep continuing like this, you won’t ever be able to perform on stage.” 

Ikumi gets a D, and Erina gets a C. We don’t actually see that, though -- I had to look it up. It’s not part of the narrative to see that neither of them got an F, I guess.

Next, we have a mini montage of various girls, especially Japanese girls, saying that Dance Bae is the scariest judge, known for her terrifying line: “You really want to be a singer?!?” Which I think is a fair question! So many people get into the Idol Biz because they want to be actors or tv hosts -- I wish there was a pipeline to celebrity for people like that that didn’t involve them humiliating themselves on a show like this. 

Auditions 9 and 10: What’s Your Name and Knock Knock

We cut to another audition, in progress, with a caption that seems to imply that this is just a preview (“Coming up…”) but no, this is the actual audition, as much of it as we’re going to see.

AKB: What’s Your Name?

Here’s the original song being performed by 4Minute. Things were different in 2013 -- this was before Catch Me If You Can by SNSD came out so nobody yet knew that women were actually able to do intense choreo, I guess. But even for 2013 standards, What’s Your Name has easy choreo. I mean, it barely has choreo aside from just sort of bending over and displaying your butt. Also, the lyrics are three quarters “what’s your name/ ireumi mwoyeyo?” So it’s a really good choice for a rookie group!

Here’s their audition.

Left to right: Manami, Ayana, Chiyori, Miho, Shinobu

Ichikawa Manami, 18, in the blue top, red skirt Shinozaki Ayana, 22, in the light blue skirt Nakanishi Chiyori, 23, in the pink fluffy skirt Miyazaki Miho, 24, in the sparkly top, navy skirt Mogi Shinobu, 21, in the turquoise skirt, fluffy blue sleeves

We just met Shinobu earlier, when she was talking about how scary Dance Bae is, got her name wrong, an apologized profusely. She's our living meme and we love her. We also almost met Miho; she was the one who knows how to write in Korean.

My thoughts: Oh no. There’s something so incongruous about someone in a sparkly cupcake skirt and Mary Jane shoes doing a pelvic thrust. These outfits look like… Ok maybe this is a deep cut but do you know those fashion plate toys? I had my cousin’s old one and I was obsessed. It was like stencils, but you had a head and a top part and a bottom part, and you’d choose one of each and then stencil over it to make a picture you could color.

That’s what these outfits look like. Like someone went nuts with a fashion plate and glitter glue and then just brought it to life.

Left to right: Shinobu, Chiyori, Ayana, Manami, Miho

It’s so hard to pay attention to their performance in those outfits. And the shoes! Those shoes I noticed behind Chaewon earlier are Shonbu's! And I’m obsessed with Ayana’s red-shoe-and-patterned-socks combo.

Also Miho’s and Shinobu’s… furry… peplums? And the quilted skirts? And how none of the tops seem to go with any of the bottoms, even though they appear to be dresses? Question Mark? It’s so bizarre to me. What. Is. Happening. Each dress is awful alone, they’re worse together, they're even worse with the shoes, and they’re the worst in the context of this particular song, which is meant to be sort of swaggy hiphop. 

When I try to focus on the actual singing and dancing, there isn’t much there to judge. The song itself is kind of a nothing-burger tune wise and there’s hardly any choreo to speak of. They have energy, I’ll give them that. No one strikes an obviously horrendously bad note or falls over. They manage to do what they’re doing in some reasonably high heeled shoes, and they’re singing a song that is at least mostly in Korean. It’s clearly not up to the standard expected from debuted Kpop artists. I feel like I’d have to see them in normal clothes to be able to really judge. None of them stands out as better or worse than the rest. I give them an E for effort and I’d probably give them all Ds. They were still better than Hyewon. 

Dance Bae gives Chiyori and Miho both Ds, and the rest get Fs. (We hear Dance Bae saying that they all get Ds, but the on screen caption says otherwise, and my internet sleuthing agrees with the on screen caption.) I think, watching it back, that Chiyori and Miho got Ds for just taking on a big role in the performance and trying that little bit harder. Miho seemed to be the main vocal, sort of, and Chiyori was the center. 

Ok, let’s take a peek at some of the youngest -48 girls, singing the Japanese version of Knock Knock by Twice.

Asai Yuka is 14 and from SKE48.  We met her earlier when she walked in with Jurina. Umeyama Cocona is also 14 and is from NMB48. 

Left to right: Cocona with the big bow, Yuka with the blue ribbon

My thoughts: Aww, they just little babies! They probably practiced by themselves in a hallway or something for a few hours with no help. There’s not much to judge here. They’re obviously underskilled for this show and would have to be given Fs but it’s not their fault. I’m not going to make fun of a couple of 14 year olds who signed up for an adventure, not knowing how hard it would be. I sense tears in the future. 

I wrote that, and then watched Dance Bae give them both Fs and say, at a pre-show meeting, “I think these girls will cry a lot while they’re here.” Perhaps she’d be pleased to know that poor Cocona withdrew from the show before the second evaluation even took place! There's also some potential back story here. Per reddit:

From what I’ve heard (and I’m not sure how credible it is), Jurina and Yuuka planned to perform together for the first evaluation, but the producers wanted Jurina to do a solo, so Cocona got pulled from the NMB group [that performs Funny People] and her and Yuuka did this. That may explain why they did…particularly bad, to the point where it looks like they don’t even know the song.

That does sound like something MNET would do, and it also would explain how these two girls ended up in a performance together despite being in different groups (SKE48 and NMB48), giving it the ring of truth. So I'm going to be even more sparing of my criticism of the girls. They do come across as unprepared, but I think that's just because.... well, they were, through no fault of their own.

In any case, Cocona is one of the Japanese trainees who withdraws early in the process. It's probably for the reasons we'd imagine -- flying back and forth from Japan is taxing, and she's young enough to need to go to school still. She probably just wanted to go through so much stress just to get insulted and yelled at. Can't blame her!

Since we’re not going to see much of Cocona again, let’s find out what happened to her after she withdrew from the show. She went back to NMB48 and continued performing with them for a few more years, graduating at a special concert on March 26, 2022. She did some modeling for magazines in 2020, so she might still be pursuing that. Here’s her instagram -- she has 95,000 followers and seems to post influencer-esque content with lots of hashtags.

 Ganbatte, Cocona! Happy trails and much success to you!

10 auditions down, about 30 to go! Thanks for reading so far -- feel free to do all the things: like, reblog, comment, share, blah blah blah. Tune in next time when we continue the auditions, and stay warm, my friends!

[renon4224]

Fire On Fire

Chapter Two: June 20, Friday, Akemi Bakugou, 30 minutes till school

“Come on, come on, come ON!” I wanted to get to school, today we were going to make pretty cards for Father’s Day.

“Alright alright, what do you want?” Katsuki was sleepy, but I wanted him to take me to school so I could show him the pretty paper I was gonna use.

“Take me to school,” I paused, “Please?”

-Katsuki Bakugou-

She was jumping on the chair, completely dressed with her backpack on and hair up. 

She was too excited about school, “Why?”

“Because I have a surprise for Daddy and I want to show you.” She was hugging a bundle to her chest.

“Can’t you show Mom?”

“Yeah,” She jumped down, staring right up at me, “But I wanna show you.”

“Fine, tell Mom,” She ran off and came back, I gave her a sceptical look, “Let’s go.”

-At lunch-

I glanced in Kioko’s direction, she was alone, as she had been all year. Most people were too freaked out by her coming in the middle of the school year to the most prestigious school in Japan. A couple of girls were coming over though, they put their trays down and struck up a conversation, which made Kiko uncomfortable. She looked like she would rather be anywhere else than at that table, so on impulse, I happened to walk by.

“So…are you All Might’s secret love child?” The girl asked, she was inching closer to Kio, when she said no, “Oh, that’s right, you just happened to be the only student in UA history to ever be allowed to join in the middle of the year, so tell me why.”

“Oh, leave the poor girl alone, Inari.” The other girl said, sneering at Kioko.

“That’s right, she was so poor the school took pity on her,” Inari said.

By this time I had reached them, “UA would never lower the school’s reputation for one poor girl, and you shouldn’t either.”

“Ooh, Inari, he’s staring at you~” The girl whispered.

“Shut it, Usagi,” She elbowed Usagi, “So sorry Bakugou,” She took a step towards me, raising her hand only to let it rest on my arm, “I never meant to insult you.” She purred.

I slapped her hand away, “You didn’t insult me,” I paused, watching the girls’ faces light up, “You disgust me.”

They turned beet-red and looked down, they tried stammering an apology but I just sat down next to Kioko and kept eating, they insulted the school they wanted to attend, and the girl insulted me when she thought that it was okay to touch me outside of combat.

-Kioko Midoriya-

“You do remember that I’m related to Izu, right?” After the other kids left he became very focused on his meal.

He said nothing, just kept eating, not even a grunt of acknowledgement. I scoffed, I didn’t need to sit here with an egotistical know-it-all. I got up to put my things away and go to my next class.

“Sit down.” He put his bowl of ramen down.

“Why?” I glared bullets at him, he just made the whole situation so much worse.

“If you leave now those kids will tear you apart like-”

“Like you did?” I slammed my tray down, how dare he? “In fifth grade?”

“No.” He was solemn for a minute, “They’re much weaker, in strength and grit.”

“Whatever, you’re the same as you were then, glad to see you haven’t changed.” I turned away, leaving my tray.

“I told you to stay.” He had grabbed my hand, his grip was crushing.

“That hurts.” I didn’t struggle, I learned my lesson the first time, but….he let go and let me walk away.

-In the hall-

I was shoved into the wall, I hit my face on a locker lock. 

“Lay down, little puppy.” With another shove, towards the floor, I could feel the heel of someone’s shoe on the middle of my back, and Inari’s high-pitched voice.

“I’m not a-” I tried to push myself up.

“I said DOWN, you dumb mutt.” She kicked me, this time in the ribs, and I slammed my face back down.

“Don’t call me a-”

“Shut up, dirty little mongrel.” With a kick to the head, my vision was going blurry.

-Katsuki Bakugou-

“Why don’t you just unleash a little power on them, Kioko?” She was a better fighter in grammar school than these girls are now.

“Power?” Inari, the older-looking girl, scoffed, “Her only real power is lying and making everyone look bad.”

The other girl, Usagi, was recording the whole thing, “Yeah, she was just trying to get you to pity her back there, we’re teaching her how to behave right in Japan.”

“I don’t pity people, and I’m not gonna start now.”

“Oh please, she was practically slobbering all over you.” Inari dug her heel into Kioko’s head.

“Kioko, they aren’t me, this isn’t fifth grade again.” I came closer, she was bleeding from where her head hit the floor, “Get up, fight back.”

-Kioko Midoriya-

I could feel the blood, a metallic taste in my mouth, but he was right. I could beat them, with one blast. What if they get hurt? Another twist, she was reaching for my hair. I took my left hand and angled it so that my blast would hit just shy of her hair.

The bloodcurdling scream wasn’t mine, it was Inari’s, her hair was on fire, “I-I didn’t try to-” She was crying, and Usagi got a teacher, Aizawa.

Bakugou was standing there, he knew what I was better than most.

“Midoriya, principal’s office, NOW.” Aizawa’s voice was colder than ice.

“Sorry, sir.”

“Now.” He turned to take care of Inari’s hair and led the girls to the infirmary.

I left, combat training is easy, fighting strangers you’ll never see again, is easy. Now, I’m never gonna be treated the same, people might try to talk to me. Friends aren’t something I trained for, I trained so that I could overpower my enemies easily and quickly. I heard footsteps behind me, I lowered my breathing, calming down is supposed to make me seem friendlier. 

“Technique needs work.” It was Bakugou, great.

“Go away.”

“Last time you walked away from me you were beaten,” He got in front of me, “And your head is bleeding pretty bad.” The look on his face was mainly smug at being right, but maybe a little bit of remorse. No, Bakugou can’t feel remorse.

“I’ve suffered worse.”

“Why didn’t you stand up?” He was still walking backwards with me.

“Standing up means effort, effort I don’t care enough to waste on stupid people like her.” I tried to sound serious, but it sounded more like a sick animal trying to growl.

“Showing them up sounds more like you.”

“No, it sounds like the person you raised me to be, and the person you are now.”

I walked into the principal’s office alone.

-At the Bakugou’s-

“Kemi, where are you?” Playing hide and seek with a six-year-old is fun unless you’re playing with Kemi who can refract the light so you can never find her.

“Here….” She was standing stone-cold, staring at the street, someone had left a dead cat there, once she saw the maggots, she was done for, she booked it to the bathroom and started throwing up so bad I had to call Mrs Bakugou.

“What’s wrong? is Kemi all right?” Her concern, filled my ears, it felt like a death sentence. Never once have I had to call them.

“We just saw a dead cat with maggots crawling out about ten minutes ago, she’s been throwing up everything in her stomach, I-”

“Just hold on, give her some bread to try and help with that, Katsuki should be home soon.”

“Okay, thank you.” I hung up, Kemi looked so sick, but I tried to get her to eat some bread, she threw it up. 

-Izuku Midoriya, at the Bakugou’s-

“Kemi stopped throwing up.” Kacchan said, “She’s sleeping now.” 

Kioko called me over…for her job, and told me to bring Kacchan, and that it was urgent. I saw that she was trying to lay her head back, but it hurt every time so she just stopped trying and dealt with it.

“Thank you.” She was earnest for once.

“I don’t understand why you needed me.” 

“I don’t have Bakugou’s number, and she wouldn’t stop throwing up and gagging and-” Tears pricked her eyes, “I didn’t know what to do, she needed someone other than me. I-I failed.” She bit her lip, a sign of intense resentment.

“Failure, in this case, belongs to the person who caused such an adverse reaction. You couldn’t be someone else and she needed to have family tell her it’s okay.” Bakugou looked too attuned to Kioko like he was searching for something.

“She was fine, and then she looked outside…..she couldn’t stop crying….it was MY fault for leaving the door open….” Kioko was about to pass out, she just handled the most trying part of her job.

-Katsuki Bakugou, 6:13 P.M.-

Kioko had fallen asleep, and Deku had left after telling his mom where Kiko was. My parents weren’t surprised to see Kioko passed out on the couch when they came home, they knew enough about what happened that day to not worry about anything happening between us. 

“Did you call her parents?” Dad asked, he didn’t care if Kioko stayed the night with Kemi.

“Or try to wake her up?” Mom didn’t want her to stay in the living room.

“Yes, and yes, her dad said it’s fine, and she tried to bite my hand off when I tried.” I meant it as a joke, but she did kick me when I tried to wake her up fifteen minutes ago.

“Uh-huh, fine, let’s make dinner.”

-After dinner, in the living room with Kemi watching a movie-

“When is Kio gonna wake up?” Kemi was sitting up, trying to peek at Kioko’s sleeping face.

“Whenever she wakes up, but for now,” I picked her up and put her down on the couch next to me, “You should watch the movie and try to fall asleep.”

“Kemi!” Kioko shot upright, standing in the middle of the room, she staggered.

-Kioko Midoriya-

“The inertia is gonna hit-” I glanced around the room, Bakugou looked slightly uneasy, and Akemi was excited.

None of that mattered when I finally felt the spinning in my head, like water rushing around, blurring my moment of lucidity before making me crash back into the carpeted floor. 

Almost immediately Akemi was at my side, “Are you okay?”

“Yes, I’m fine, just a little dizzy.” I stood up, carefully this time.

“Considering what happened today-” Bakugou smirked, he was right, again.

“Nothing happened today,” I glared at him, I didn’t want Akemi or their parents to know I got into a fight.

“I threw up, a lot.” She giggled but, she still looked pale.

“That wasn’t fun, huh?”

“No, but Mommy said since I’m sick and there’s no school, Katsuki can watch a movie with me,” She gasped, a huge smile spread across her face, “Will you stay over tonight? And watch the movie with us?” She was hugging me, little shivers passing through her.

“I-”

“Deku asked if you could stay here, and your folks said it was fine, my parents don’t care.” He wasn’t looking at me, we both knew why no one cared and why it was the only thing they cared about.

“Oh….then sure, why not?” 

I waited for him to tell me why I shouldn’t stay here, but he just kept watching the movie, the sarcasm from my question seeping away into the universe.

He took a deep breath, his eyes flitting to meet mine for a second, “I’m not the one you should ask for the reasons you shouldn’t stay here.”

“I was being sarcastic, genius.” He flicked a strand of hair out of Kemi’s eyes, her little snort of irritation muted by her sleepiness.

As if on cue, the song ‘Genius’ came on, signalling my American best friend calling, “Sorry, have to take this.” I walked outside, the cool night air rushing me.

When I answered, Zez Niat’s normally melodious voice was soaked in almost absolute terror, her face mottled without her lovely smile, “Are you okay? You haven’t called me all day!” It wasn’t a whine, more like a severe fear of me being not depressed again.

“Yeah, I’m fine, somehow I got roped into sleeping at Akemi’s house tonight-”

“You mean the little girl with the super model-hot brother who’s absolutely never gonna win back your trust?” The slew of words drowned out almost everything except for the unmistakable sound of a sharp intake of breath.

-Katsuki Bakugou-

“You’re on speaker, love.” Kioko’s voice gently reprimanded her friend for saying that so loudly.

As their conversation grew, I tried to tune out and focus on Kemi. She thought I was ‘hot’? I hadn’t thought about winning her trust back, or even trying to mend things between us, it had been so long since we’d talked. Talked the way Kiko and her friend were talking in the doorway. I remember Kioko’s mom glaring bullets into me when I used to bring Kioko home, I never would’ve noticed it if she hadn’t asked me why it happened. I told her that her mom was just upset by me not being Deku’s friend but befriending her, it was a lie though. She probably thought that one day, her perfect little angel would come home with a couple of bruises with me nowhere to be found. Too bad I played right into her hands, I was genuinely surprised that she let Kioko stay the night, but then again…she probably gave Kiko a very long, very extensive lecture on how she is to treat me. 

“He’s been……kinder.” Kioko sounded like she was defending someone, judging by her uncomfortable standing in the doorway, I’d guess it was her brother.

“Ooh, kinder how?” 

-Kioko Midoriya-

“Hold on a second,” I put my hand to cover the mic on my phone and turned to Bakugou, “Hey, I’m gonna change real quick, don’t…..think I vanished or anything, kay?” I didn’t wait for a response, choosing to just go to Kemi’s room where I already had a change of clothes.

-Katsuki Bakugou-

I almost got up to ask her if she needed to borrow some clothes from my mom when Kemi finally fell asleep, her head resting on my lap. When Kio came out of Kemi’s room she was still talking to her friend.

“So what if he hasn’t brought up the past? He’s still a douche, right?” Are they still talking about Deku?

“Jeez, you sound like Izu.” Kioko rolled her eyes.

“No, your brother sounds like me, but for real, what has he done to help you without an ulterior motive?”

“He-” Kiko looked at me, her eyes searching for something, “He reminded me of who I used to be?”

“A little girl with nearly uncontrollable powers? Yeah, sounds like a great friend to me.”

“No-”

“A little girl who had too much fire way too young?”

“No, look, he’s just probably not used to seeing a reminder of the past….” Kioko turned and walked back outside, her conversation fading away.

-After Kemi was put to bed and the movie ended-

“Well, I’ll talk to you tomorrow, kay?” Kioko’s friend was saying goodbye.

“Wait, why’re you up at five in the morning?” 

“I got up early, love you, bye.”

-Kioko Midoriya-

When Zez hung up, I went to grab my favourite blanket of the Bakugou’s. It used to be very colourful, with the most eye-catching hues of red, orange, and yellow, blended so perfectly that even after years of use, it still looked beautiful. I know that the sixteen-hour time difference is hard, but she shouldn’t be up so late because of me. When I walked back to the living room, with the blanket wrapped around my shoulders, Bakugou tensed, as the blanket reminded him of something.

“Akemi in bed?” I didn’t know what to say.

“Yeah, she fell asleep pretty early tonight.” He looked so out of place, an aggressive, arrogant, impulsive, narrow-minded, selfish person, in a place that screams humility, using your head, welcome to new ideas and people, and caring about others, how did Mr and Mrs Bakugou end up with him?

“Great,” I whispered, but I guess that he heard me, judging by his sudden focus on the movie.

-Zezaria Niat-

I woke up because I’m trying to apply for an abroad program in Japan. I need to make sure everything is ready for next year. For when I get to go to Japan and see Kioko’s family. I don’t have a crush on Kioko like everyone says I do, I just….care about her, she’s a year younger than me, and she reminds me of the younger sister I never got to have.

“Zaria? What’re you doing up?” My mom asked.

“Oh, hi Mom, just double making sure everything is set for my year abroad.”

“Honey, the school’s out, if you want to go to Japan we can go now and set you up with your host family, has the school told you who they are yet?”

“No, I’m finding out next week, and then I think that I’m gonna be placed there the week after that. I think.” I needed to clarify, Mom doesn’t always remember the right things.

“Oh, have fun.” She kissed my forehead lightly and went back to bed.

Chapter One

[morphean42]

I stopped sitting for the pledge in 6th grade. I have been glared at, yelled at, and shoved out of my seat. I will never stand for it again, though, because you know what?

At first, everyone stares. Maybe they whisper, or mock you. Then, four months or so into the school year, another kid starts sitting. And another. By June, a whole handful of kids will be sitting with you. It’s all about the courage to be the first, and giving that courage to those around you.

Sit for the pledge. Ignore the passive aggressive remarks. It will make you feel more free than ever.

dear usamerican high schoolers looking for a way to resist fascism: sit through the pledge of allegiance.

no getting up. no looking at the flag.

everyone will be looking at you. you'll be sweating like a fucking hippopotamus. your teacher will sternly tell you to get up. you'll feel stupid and that maybe its not worth it because you're just a kid in a classroom. but I'm here to remind you that there are no real life consequences to detention. there are however real life consequences to resisting a thoughtless performance of nationalism.