#my math notebook may or may not be filled with sketches of these three with their respective device next to them

[dapperpostcard]

rhetorical triangle besties!!!!

Logos - appeals to the audience’s reason with logical arguments

Pathos - appeals to emotion, making the audience feel… emotions

Ethos - reliable authority figure that brings comfort to the audience

[anothertimdrakestan]

Tongue Tied - Tim Drake x Reader

Words: 2.4k

Requested? Yes! From a lovely anon!

“Hello lovely author, may I please request a Tim x reader who start as nerd friends, then she finds out about him being Red Robin before he can tell her, and then Red Robin saves her one day and she lets slip that she knows it's Tim. With her smarts, she's able to help him with cases and missions, and the batfam is impressed by how smart she is. You can choose whether it's a romantic ending or not, that's up to you. I just feel like smart Tim needs to be seen more. Thanks😊”

LINK TO PROMPTS & MASTERLIST -> REQUESTS ARE STILL OPEN!

When I tell you I love me a smart reader I LOVE ME A SMART READER! Thank you so much for the wonderful request! Strap in dear anon you set me up for a long one and I really said “get in the car!” I hope you enjoy ; )

In the midst of a mental breakdown you let the flashbacks ensue, that’s the only correct way to lose your mind as everything you thought you knew crumbled around you right?

First you remembered “meeting” Tim Drake-Wayne for the first time. You always put meeting in quotes because you’d been in love with him for months and had sleuthed out his favorite coffee shop just to stumble into him. And because you’re you, nothing can really go as planned can it? Your plan to stumble into Tim was taken more literally when he caught you from tripping as you tried to enter the store, as you pulled yourself from his chest you felt your cheeks redden immediately. 

“Oh my gosh I am such a klutz I’m so sorry” he looked flustered himself, nervously fidgeting with his sweatshirt sleeve. “Oh uh, no problem, are you okay?” he up from his jacket to meet your eyes, and though he’d never tell you his heart melted on the spot, his brother Dick defined it as “love at first sight” but that seemed too cheesy. “I’m fine! You going in here too? This is my favorite spot!” you shook off the nerves, making your way into the cafe. Tim followed you in, and to your surprise paid for your drink. Sitting at a little bar you pulled out some of your college textbooks before you realized Tim and slipped into the seat next to you. 

“You in college?” his voice made you jump, your head jolting up. “Oh - no! I just think this kinda stuff is interesting. Math can predict everything ya know!” you slid your textbook between the two of you, feeling Tim’s shoulder lightly brush yours as he leaned in to read it. “Totally! Like even the golden ratio in nature!” Tim explained excitedly. 

That day turned into texting every single day and hanging out whenever Tim could, and it slowly developed into a best friendship. 

How did you not see the red flags like how Tim could rarely, almost never hangout at night? Or how he’d have strange bruises scattered across his body. Tim always looked dead tired but you knew he didn’t do any activities after school, to be honest the math just didn’t add up, so you took to investigating before making a conclusion - as any good scientist would. And because he’s a messy teenage boy investigation was easy.

While over at the manor Bruce had called Tim to W.E. for some sort of emergency press conference about his younger brother Damian biting a reporter, the interview was only supposed to be a half an hour. So, Tim left you with snacks and Youtube in his room while he threw on a suit and tie, which he looked like an absolute five course meal in - that wasn’t the point. You took the opportunity the riffle through his room, not exactly sure what you were looking for as you pawed through stacks of overdue assignments and dirty clothes. 

With deep breaths you relived the moment that hadn’t stopped playing in your head, finding his Red Robin suit. Throwing open his closet you stifled a laugh at his pajama pants and ratty t-shirts but you choked on air when a deep red and black suit fell from the top of his closet onto your face. Thinking it was some sort of halloween costume you held it up and realized what you were touching. It made sense, the late nights, bruises, frantic cancellations, it all added up except that Tim was the sweetest person you knew, the most loving soul you knew was kicking ass while you struggled through trigonometry. 

Unable to comprehend what was happening you put everything away and went home, shooting Tim some bullshit excuse about your family as your ran up to your room and began making a list - comparing Tim’s absences to Red Robin sightings, googling photos of Red Robin and drawing comparisons to the way he held himself like your best friend. There truly was no denying - Tim Drake was the Red Robin. Then it hit you like a truck - Bruce Wayne was Batman. And you assumed all of Tim’s adoptive family were vigilantes as well. You didn’t sleep that night, trying to make google searches that didn’t give anything away while trying to make a list of everything you discovered. 

Tim was Red Robin. You still couldn’t wrap your mind around it. So you sat in your room at 4am, crying. Because Tim was probably out risking his life for years without you knowing. Everytime you yelled at him for cancelling plans was probably because he was out saving lives and he took all your anger, he let you berate him for scrapping his knees when it was probably the fucking Joker whooping his ass. Is it right to apologize? To tell him what you found out and try to move on with the friendship. Is this like a “now that you know I have to kill you” kinda thing? You weren’t exactly ready to die. 

It seemed like Tim’s secret to keep, it was difficult at first to keep the facade that you didn’t know what he was doing at night, you just tried to always be understanding and appreciative of all the time he made for you. You fell back into the lull of best-friendship, Robin or not, Tim was the best person you knew.

“You’re in love with her Drake” Damian chided, almost annoyed with Tim’s ambivalence on the topic of his life long crush. “Am not, she’s my best friend. It’s not my fault you don’t understand friendships demon” Tim spat back, keeping his head down to hide his blush. “I’m with the demon, you practically worship the ground she walks on” Jason called, drinking straight from.a carton of milk as Dick cried out in disgust before adding his own opinion to the mess that was Tim’s love life. “Sorry kid it’s 3 to 1 which means you have to ask her out for real, remember last time?” Tim glared at the mention of his failed date proposal where you thought he was speaking in strictly hypotheticals. “You can’t out vote me on my own feelings” Tim groaned. “All in favor of allowing us to out vote Tim?” The three raised their hands again as Tim stomped up to his room, he planned on going on a peaceful patrol to plan his dream date for you.

A couple weeks into knowing Tim’s secret you learned that if you climbed to the roof of your apartment building you could see Batman and whomever he took out for patrol flipping around the city late at night. It had become a nightly routine and you’d grown to be able to identify the hero by their style of movement, your notebook filled with notes and sketches about each boy or girl. Then when you hungout with Tim you could match a vigilante’s mannerisms with one of his siblings, it was simple science really. Then you began taking down notes about whoever the Bats were fighting if it was public, discovering little facts and trying to slip Tim subconscious knowledge, it was the least you could do to help your favorite boy on earth. 

But that wasn’t enough, you wanted in on the excitement of crime fighting, to have more knowledge than was on broadcast TV. So you took to the streets of Gotham armed with pepper spray, a pocket knife, and a notepad. You learned tidbits of information that you poured over, working it together until you’d solved a case, then you’d slip hypothetical ideas to Tim throughout the hours of hanging out. You felt like a real life hero, and you were getting better by the day. 

“Jeez Tim it’s like you’ve been working double time! You’re solving cases before they’re even on B’s radar, what’s your secret kid genius?” Dick was stretching on the BatComputer while Tim feverishly typed in his newest solve. “Well I hangout with Y/N! She’s like a good luck charm dude I also get the best ideas when I’m with her! It’s pure magic bro I’m telling you” Tim explained as he frantically finished his report. “Lovers do have that effect! So when are you gonna tell her you’re in loveeeeee” Dick cooed as Tim shook his head. “Shut up Dickwing I’m working” was all he could give Dick without blushing or mixing up his words. He just had to plan something perfect.

But it never was perfect was it? 

Kill Croc was out in the sewer, and you’d taken it upon yourself to help Tim out, you knew people who knew some of the people that helped out Croc and you were determined to find him first at any cost. That’s how you accidentally ended up in a dirty drug deal. 

“Hey Timbers, you’re gonna wanna get to my location asap, I’m pretty sure your girlfriend is in trouble and it would be rude of me not to offer her saving to you” Jason heard a scramble from the other side of the comm as Tim confirmed he was on the way. He watched carefully as you searched for an escape from your capture, normally he would’ve busted the drug dealers for capturing teenagers by now but he was feeling magnanimous, deciding to give Tim the opportunity to save an unsuspecting but terrified Y/N. 

There were definitely no clear exits, you cursed yourself for getting too close. You were not Red Robin, you played the long game you didn’t rush into the arms of armed drug dealers in the name of the law. Your heart was beating out of your chest as they pointed a gun at you, forcing you to walk towards a sketchy delivery truck with the other kids. “Ooh totally not gonna happen!” a familiar voice cheered as glass windows shattered, none other than your best friend stood with a grin. He looked hot as fu- not the time, not the time. 

“Come any closer we’ll blow her brains out!” you felt a loaded pistol connect with the back of your head as you froze, begging to any god to live and promising not to be a field agent ever again. “That’ll be pretty hard without your gun dumbass” Tim called as four batarangs knocked the guns out of all the guy’s hands. Red Hood, who you knew was Jason Todd, burst through the back windows, guns raised. “I thought we had a deal you sorry bitches. Now let these kids go or I’ll show you what blowing brains out really looks like” the men froze, letting everyone escape. 

“Too late for us, but we’re taking the pretty girl with us!” one of the men had picked up their gun, aiming it straight between your eyes and firing. You screeched when a flash of red jumped in front of you. Almost in slomo you watched the bullet connect with Tim’s body. Your scream was deafened by Red Hood’s guns as he knocked all the men completely out. Rushing to Tim’s side you pulling his head into your lap. “Tim! Oh my god Tim are you okay!” you cried as Red Robin pulled off his domino mask to reveal a very confused Tim Drake. “Kevlar, I’m fine, bullets pack a punch but it just knocked the wind out of me, how did you know who I was?” Tim sat up, showing you the bullet sized dent in his suit. 

“We should go somewhere else and I can explain” you smiled sheepishly, letting Tim put his cowl back on as he loops his arm around your waist, pulling you to the top of the nearest building. 

“YOU’VE KNOWN FOR MONTHS” Tim looked shocked as you explained how you figured it out and how you’ve been helping him out for weeks. “Should I have told you? I’m really sorry I just didn’t know I felt like you’d tell me when you were ready” you flinched at Tim’s shout and he calmed down. “To be honest I don’t know, you’re one of few that know who I am, but I’m glad you know, makes this even better” Tim added the last part softly, placing his hand on your cheek to lift your lips to his. Your eyes widened in shock before fluttering closed, kissing him back. The build up of months detangled itself in a night, and kissing Tim was just as perfect as you’d imagined all those years ago. 

“So you’ve really been solving all those cases and you didn’t even tell me! You’re totally amazing at it!” Tim added, almost as if he’d been thinking during the kiss. “Yeah it’s pretty fun, you’re still gonna let me help right? I’m not stopping now!” you poked Tim’s chest while he thought. “I mean I’m pretty sure Babs needs a partner, but no ground work, you saw how well that went tonight, but it’ll be good to have a partner who finally knows everything” Tim exhaled, letting everything off his chest. 

“Partners!” you smiled, leaning in to seal the deal with a kiss. 

“This is totally epic” you stood stunned as the BatCave shined in all it’s glory. “I mean yeah it’s pretty cool, look this is my actual suit, I bet the one you saw was an older model!” Tim let you around the cave, showing off his favorite parts. You squeezed his hand trying to convey how excited you were. “I’m gonna be a better detective than you soon Timmy” you teased as Tim showed you the ropes of the BatComputer. “In your dreams babe” he rolled his eyes. “Babe huh? Didn’t realize you asked me out” you scrunched your nose at Tim while he blushed. “Oh uh, see I meant to, but yeah, I definitely should do that like-” you cut him off “yes Tim I’ll be your girlfriend you idiot” you laughed at how tongue tied the loveable boy was. You weren’t going to pretend like you didn’t get flustered around him either - you practically tripped on your own feet the first time you met him, but look how far you’d came from there. 

From friends to partners to lovers and probably everything in between, you were finally Tim’s in every way, working side by side was the best thing to ever happen to both of you. That’s not quite right. Tim Drake himself was just simply the best thing that’s ever happened to you. And you to him. And that’s truly love at it’s finest. 

[hitsuackerman]

What in the World? (Akaashi Keiji x Reader) pt.12

a/n: it begins >:)

Akaashi’s lineup: @alluring-akaashi @oikawalmart-hq @extrasugafree @bbykiyoomi @apricotjihyo @awings @simpformiya @sayakaaaaaa @colorseeingchick @demursv1ogs​ @chrisrue15 @beanst0ck @something-that-idk (i have no idea why i can’t tag some of you :( huhu )

links: part 1, part 2, part 3, part 4, part 5, part 6, part 7, part 8, part 9, part 10, part 11, part 13

Time flew by so fast in this dimension. Now that you were well adjusted and loving the new life here, it had not dawned on you that 7 months had already passed. Things were moving smoothly and pleasantly.

“Here you go.” Akaashi handed you a snack bar. The two of you (well maybe three if Bokuto is included) were practically inseparable. The team had finally managed to pin the both of you down and confirm that you two were indeed dating. “Did you sleep well?”

Walking to school was still a thing both of you did. Except this time, fingers were intertwined and barely any distance between the both of you. The only time you two let go was when the school gates were near. Still, walking down the hallways, Akaashi made sure to always brush his fingers with yours.

“I did!” You pulled him in to kiss his cheek. The small smile he gave you still made your stomach butterflies flutter. “I did have a weird dream last night. You and Bokuto-san switched personalities. Seeing you do his ‘HEY HEY HEY’ was just so wrong on all levels.”

“Is there a quirk that can do that?”

At this point in time, you barely relied on your quirk. The feeling of accomplishing things without it’s aid was much more satisfying. Of course, Akaashi still reaped its healing benefits and took note of how his stamina had improved.

“High chances. If we can have a washing machine as a pro-hero, then there’s bound to be a quirk swapping quirk.”

“A washing machine?” He brushed his thumb on the corner of your lip to wipe off a crumb. “Even now, your world still surprises me.”

“It’s great if you hear it.” Leaning on his shoulder, you tightened your hold on his hand. “Living in it is a completely different story. It’s been, what, 7 months since I arrived here and I am more than content with not having to rely on my quirk.”

“What about your combat skills? Shouldn’t you still be sharpening them?”

“I wish I could.” That was true, though. “I’m pretty much useless at 30%. Even if I wanted to lift boulders or shit, I have to maintain at least 40%. The difference is small but the output is huge. I don’t get my quirk’s logic.”

“Well, it’s still early.” The gates were now in sight but he refused to let go of your hand. “I’m pretty sure you can work on your quirk. The others won’t arrive within 30 minutes.”

“It’s been 5 months and you’re still curious to see how I fight?” You giggled.

“Yes.” He nodded. “If my girlfriend trained to be a hero, I’d love to see how you move.”

“Well, you made that sound sexy~” You nudged his elbow. “Think we can have a little action before we head to the gym?”

“It’s 6:30am, (y/n). It’s too early for that.” He teased. Yet his steps were a little faster than before. “But, I guess I can’t oppose the idea.”

The next thing you knew, your back hit the wall as Akaashi hungrily kissed you. With your legs wrapped around his waist, your fingers found themselves coming through his hair. Pinning you even more, Akaashi’s hand undid your ribbon and unbuttoned the first two. Letting go of your lips, he trailed kisses from your cheek down to the crook of your neck.

As he was softly sucking on your skin, you loosened his tie and undid the two buttons as well. Tugging his hair, you were face to face with him again. Lust filled eyes staring back into yours. Leaning in, you gently kissed his lips before returning the favor. Activating your quirk, Akaashi felt his feet leave the ground. Knowing what you were about to do, he could feel you turning the both of you around.

Skillfully placing the both of you on the floor, Akaashi leaned on the wall as his hands began to roam higher and higher up your skirt. Having you straddle him this early in the morning was rather pleasant in all aspects. Tilting his head a bit, he gave you much easier access and felt you sucking on his skin a little harsher this time.

“Make sure it’s hidden under the collar.” He managed to whisper. Hickeys were a common thing to have both your bodies. He smirked at how your only response was a nod.

Caressing your cheek, he admired the way your face glowed even more. Pulling you in softly for another kiss, he felt his stomach fluttering when you smiled.

“We should probably head to the lockers now.”

“Fine.”

“We can continue this in my room later.” He whispered before kissing you deeply.

“Counting the hours~”

Moments later, you were now pumping air into some volleyballs. Morning practice for today would only take an hour so there was plenty of time to freshen up before the homeroom. Now that the gym was packed with your boys, you rolled out the volleyball cart and positioned it beside the net.

Everyone was now used to having you as a ball girl. In fact, some of them even tried to challenge you by purposely hitting the ball too hard or too low. With your hero training, it was nothing but a walk in the park. You did notice, however, that your body began to sweat a bit more. The after effects of not using your quirk for a long time was showing.

Nothing bad happens, though. Just panting and sweating.

“Aghkaashe!” Bokuto yelled. “Can you and (y/n)-chan help with my math later?”

“I don’t mind. What about you, (y/n)?”

“Sure thing~” You approached your two favorite boys. “Bokuto-senpai, how well did you do on your previous quiz?”

The captain’s golden eyes sparkled.

“HAHAHA! Thanks to you both, I managed to get a 32/50! Whatdya think?!” He punched the air and grinned widely. When the both of you applauded he began to jump up and down while shouting his trademark.

“Calm down, Bokuto-san.” Akaashi tried to stop him from jumping up and down. His friend obeyed and gave a cheeky thumbs up.

“God, I love you both so much~” You giggled at their exchange.

“But you love Ahkaashi more, don’t you (y/n)-chan?” Bokuto added as he shouldered Akaashi. This time, his deadpan face was holding a soft smile.

“Of course!”

When Konoha’s alarm sounded, each of you began to clean up and prepare for the rest of the day. With how often you did it, it had now become second nature to you. Yukie and Kaori even admitted that you adapted much faster than they had anticipated. Once all of you were now freshened up, the gym was locked once more and each player looked forward for the after school practice.

“Exams are approaching.” Akaashi said as he let you step into the classroom first. “Have you prepared your notes?”

“I did. But, you do remember that the subjects you have here are way too easy for me, right?” Placing your bag on your desk, you took a seat and faced Akaashi. “Shall we study in your room or mine?”

“we can take turns.” Now that he was seated, he fished out one of his notebooks and placed it on his desk. Not that it was needed, it merely became one of his habits. Watching as you dragged your chair closer to him, he offered you a pen and flipped the notebook open.

“So, what do you want me to draw?” This had become one of your recent traditions. Before the start of homeroom, Akaashi noticed how you liked to doodle on his notebooks. Deciding that a special one was needed, he took the liberty of buying a blank journal for you to fill with whatever it is you saw fit.

“Hmm, I recall you saying that you designed your own hero costume.” He saw how your eyes lit up. “May i see what it looked like?”

Starting the sketch, you began to draw a figure and dressed it with your costume.

“So, my costume isn’t flashy unlike the others.” You explained. “A quirk like mine doesn’t really need a lot of support items so I went with mobility and comfort. I decided that simplicity was key. Just the normal jacket, shirt, pants, and boots. The only support item I had were my gloves.”

Sketching your gloves, Akaashi couldn’t help but adore just how focused you were. Tucking in a loose strand of hair, he felt the butterflies in his stomach churning once again as the corners of your mouth formed a smile and your cheeks turning a faint hue of pink.

“What do your gloves do?” They looked like standard fingerless gloves.

“The material was specifically designed to aid in manipulating my quirk. It concentrates the energy I release and wraps around my hand. Sorta like a human torch~” It was a bit difficult to explain how it worked knowing you didn’t listen to the man who gave you the item. As long as it aided you, it was fine.

“What were Todoroki-kun’s support items?”

“Shoto’s support items were mostly temperature regulators. Wristbands and a big one he wears like a backpack to help even him out.” You drew his support items rather well.

“Can you try to sketch Todorki-kun’s face?” Letting you draw your friends was something he wasn’t so comfortable with. Not for that reason of course. He merely assumed that it would be a sensitive topic knowing the circumstances of how you arrived in his world. When you giggled, he tilted his head.

“About time you asked~” Beginning to draw your childhood friend, you continued. “I honestly wouldn’t mind drawing my friends for you, ya know? There’s no way I can introduce you to them so sketching them would be the best alternative.”

“I’m sorry.” He held on to your free hand. “I just didn’t want to make you uncomfy.”

“You never make me uncomfy. Keiji~”

It was a quick sketch of half and half but a good one. He squinted his eye when he took note of the scar. He had heard of Tokoyami and Mina, but this one merely showed a boy about his age with a nasty burn on his face.

“Shoto’s got one helluva back story.” Your thumb began to brush Akaashi’s knuckles. “That scar was given to him by his mum when he was around 5 or 6 years old. It’s sad but he grew to accept it and is now healing.”

“You were engaged before, right?”

“For a while, yeah.” You handed him back the pen and closed the sketchpad. The bell had now rung and right on time, the teacher entered the room. Just as she was relaying a message, you were rummaging in your bag for a notebook.

“Please introduce yourselves~” The teacher said.

“Bakugo Katsuki”

“Midoriya Izuku.”

- - - - -

a/n: sooo... what yall gonna do now? :’)

[comicgeekscomicgeek]

Their Hero Academia – Chapter 59: Final Exam Part 1: Read the Directions

Presenting the next chapter of my on-going, next-gen, My Hero Academia fic, Their Hero Academia!

All chapters can be found here

The two weeks had passed very quickly, filled with cramming and practicing, and just a little time for themselves.   Midoriya and Tokoyami had been very insistent on that last point, stressing that looking after their mental health was just as important as their physical health and their academic progress.  Isamu had been glad for the breaks, however brief they had been, as he’d gotten time to spend with his girlfriend.  Class 1-B was just as busy with their exam prep, of course, but maybe once things were all over…

And the academic exams had indeed been rigorous, making the midterm look like a cakewalk by comparison. He was sure he’d done well on the physics exam, less so on the math exam (yes, physics was math, but the practical applications in physics made it a lot easier), with the rest falling on a spectrum of certainty.   He was pretty sure he hadn’t failed any of them, at any rate.

And then it was Friday morning, the day of their Heroics Exam.  The day all of them had been dreading.  Class 1-A filed into the classroom that morning with a tension hanging over the room like they were waiting for the dam to burst.

At the front of the room were Aizawa and All Might.  The former looked less his unusual dispassionate self than like some vulture eagerly awaiting the moment where the guy drops dead.   Isamu had a strong suspicion that whatever was going to go down in the exam, he had a heavy hand in it.  All Might looked slightly more serious than usual as well.

“All Might is going to brief you on the details of the exam,” Aizawa said.  “As well as some additional announcements.  Once those are complete, you’ll change into your costumes and then we’ll travel to the exam site.”

“Ahem, yes,” All Might said, stepping up to the podium.  “First… the announcements!  Starting with the next semester, I will no longer be your Heroics teacher.”

That got a collective gaps from the class.   “You didn’t say anything about this, Grandpa Might!” Midoriya piped up.  “What’s going on?”

“Ah ah ah, you did not allow me to finish, Young Grandson!” All Might bellowed.  “Yes, I will no longer be your Heroics teacher… for I will be your Principal!”

Well, that was unexpected. Sure, somebody had to get the job, but All Might?   Isamu supposed he was a veteran Hero and teacher, but sometimes he just seemed so goofy it was hard to picture him in a position of authority like that!  

All the same, he joined the rest of the class in clapping and cheering at the news.  Of course, that left a new question open…

“We are current looking into a candidate to replace me as your teacher,” All Might said, as though sensing the question lingering on the air.  “We’ll make the announcement about that when things are more certain.”

Satisfied with that, All Might moved on to the matter of their exam.  “As you already know,” he began, “your exam will be pass or fail for the entire class.  Aizawa, Vice-Principal Midnight, and I will be watching you during the entirety of it and scoring your performance accordingly.”

All Might pressed a button on a small remote and a diagram of a vast cityscape.  It looked like one of the training grounds, but not one Isamu was familiar with.   “This is Training Ground Omega,” he began.   “A vast cityscape.  While we have done numerous training exercises there with the second and third year Hero Courses, this will be your first time there.  While Heroes typically patrol and act around their Agencies and familiar territories, they never know when they may be called to more distant action.”

He pressed the remote again, cycling through pictures of the cityscape until it came to rest on a civilian defense shelter, a heavily protected building used in larger cities to give civilians a place to safely gather in the event of giant Villains or large-scale disasters and Villain attacks.

“For the purposes of your Exam, though,” All Might continued, “it is Omega City.  An isolated city devoted to scientific development.  An unknown number of Villains have attacked the city, forcing the population into hiding. Many of them were able to make it the defense shelter, but many more still remain outside it.  Furthermore, the Villains are after Doctor McGuffin.”

A picture appeared on the screen.   “Recovery Girl?!” the class shouted.

“Er, ah, no,” All Might said.  “Doctor McGuffin.   They’re after her Quirk research, which will make their own Quirks that much more powerful. But for the moment, she is safe in the shelter.”

He clicked the remote again, bringing up a series of bulleted points.  “You will have three hours for this exam and your objectives are threefold.  In order of priority: protect the civilian defense shelter and Doctor McGuffin. They Villains will try to attack it and capture her.  If they manage to get to the shelter and get her more than 100 meters away, you lose.

“The second objective is to rescue as many civilians still outside the shelter as possible.  The Villains may potentially operating in any area of the city, so you many have to protect the civilians from them, in addition to rescuing any trapped or injured by the damage the Villains caused.  We won’t be giving you specific numbers, but if too many of them die, you lose.

“The third and final objective is to defeat or capture the Villains, or failing that, delay them long enough for time to run out and “help” to arrive.  There’s failure conditions built into this as well.  You can’t simply hole up and wait them out.”

That… that was a lot. Almost to the point of being overwhelming.  Even with sixteen of them out there, it was a lot of ground to cover and a lot to keep track of.  Isamu could see Midoriya in the front row, already hunched over and scribbling furiously in his notebook. The way his mind worked, he probably already had the layout memorized and six plans in mind. And it didn’t look like All Might was done either.

“However, we will also be evaluating you on a variety of criteria, including your performance in the field, your decision making, your initiative and innovation, and your ability to work together.  Being defeated or knocked out does not necessarily mean a loss or a failing grade, depending upon the circumstances involved.”

Which meant he couldn’t just sit back and let the others take the lead.  He was good at letting other people take charge like that.  But maybe he could step up here.  So many people had seen something in him.  They couldn’t all be wrong.  …Could they?

“In addition to those watching and Recovery Girl,” All Might added, “Doc Clock and Water Spout will be in the shelter as civilians and will intervene if and only if it becomes absolutely necessary for your safety.  Robots will represent civilians in the field.  

“Make no mistake,” All Might finished, “this is as serious a challenge as you have ever faced.  But you have all performed remarkably this semester and I have every faith in your ability to go beyond!”  He flashed a “V”-sign.  “Plus Ultra!”

Before the class could join in, Aizawa shut that down.  “You’ve been briefed.  Get changed into your costumes and be outside on the bus in ten minutes.”

There was fifteen seconds of stunned silence before they bolted from their seats to their costume storage cubbies.

***

The civilian defense center was behind them, along with several smaller buildings, most of which looked damaged and broken.  But there was nothing behind it, so they only had to worry about attacks coming from the sides and front.  And maybe above, if any of the Villains had flying Quirks.  Those weren’t super-common, but not uncommon either, especially when there were two of them in their class alone.  Off in the distance, the sounds of destruction could be heard, and smoke could be seen rising from a few different points.

Yeah, Isamu thought, they were definitely being dropped right into the middle of the action. Sixteen of them against an unknown number of Villains with unknown powers, an unknown number of civilians to rescue, and a whole lot more unknowns.

They had ten minutes to strategize and then the exam would begin.  Isamu adjusted his gloves and kneepads, then made sure his bandanna and goggles were on tight.  

“What’s the plan, Gravi-Might?” he asked, using Midoriya’s codename now that were in the field. Maybe he shouldn’t have been deferring to him so easily, but the green-haired boy was usually the first one with a plan.  Isamu had given it some thought on the way over, mostly recognizing that he should probably be one of the people out in the field.  The more space he had to operate in, the better, even with perfecting his ability to turn his sliding field into projectiles.

Midoriya bent down and sketched a quick outline of the cityscape in the dirt, getting some on his bare fingers.  “Okay, so some of us need to stay here and protect the shelter.  The Villains are after Doctor McGuffin, so they’re going to show up here before too long.  But the rest of us need to cover the cityscape and look for civilians.”

“And the Villians,” Kirishima-Bakugo (Bombshell, he reminded himself) said, fiddling with the disk-launchers built into her gauntlets.  Of course she’d be more interested in fighting.

Midoriya drew three arrows in the dirt.  “Three search and rescue groups, one going this way, one going this way, and one going this way.  Splitting up as needed.”

There was the sound of another explosion.  Mineta (Purple Rein) pointed off in the distance.  “I recommend starting the opposite of thattaway.”

“Who goes where?” Sero asked, his pink face visible behind the clear visor of his helmet.  Isamu still couldn’t believe he’d gotten “Stick ‘Em Up” approved as his Hero name.

“We need to focus on defense, mobility, and rescue,” Midoriya said.   “I’m going to stay here.  I’d like Shock Jock, Purple Rein, and Thermo-Dyanmic with me.”

Izumi winced at that, the indicator bands from the regulator rig on her blue and orange costume showing a cheery green.  “I am capable of field action,” she said, firmly.  The look in her eyes was challenging, reminding him of her match with Kirishima-Bakugo in the Sports Festival.  She and Midoriya were good friends, but Isamu thought he respected her abilities more than that to sideline her…

Midoriya shook his head rapidly.  “It’s not that.  Your ice walls will make for the perfect defense if it comes down to the wire,” he said.

Oh, right.  Duh.  Fortunately, Izumi accepted the answer with a small nod.  “Very well.”

“Other than that… Slyde, Jet-Red, Jet-Blue, I want one of each of you in each of the rescue groups.  Somebody who can get from place to place quickly if they have to. And then I want Bombshell, Radiance, and Amaterasu to go with separate groups to spread out our heaviest hitters.”

“About time you recognize my usefulness,” Aoyama said, giving his cape a flick.  He was already glowing brightly in the sun.

A rapid-fire discussion followed and teams were quickly assigned.  Isamu was working with Tokoyami, Ojiro, and Sero.  A pretty good balance of skills there.  He just had to be sure he was pulling his own weight and not letting anybody down.

An alarm klaxon sounded.

All Might’s voice rang out over the loudspeakers.  “Your exam begins… NOW!”

***

As Toshi watched the three search and rescue groups move off, he wished them all the best of luck. He had a feeling they were going to need it.  Everyone was going to have to give their all here, himself included.  No coasting, no trying to boost the others at the cost of himself.  If they all didn’t do this just right… they all failed.

So no pressure or anything.

They’d all been issued headsets for communication.  That would make things easier if things got bad in any direction.  Plus he had Kaminari on his team, who had additional communications equipment in her new costume she could power with her Quirk.  He tapped the headset twice, the frequency for inside the shelter.  “This is Gravi-Might,” he said.  “My fellow Heroes and I are the scene.  No signs of trouble here, but we’ve dispatched Heroes to look for survivors. Everyone okay in there?  Is Doctor McGuffin safe?”

“We’re all right here,” came Uncle Kota--Water Spout—‘s voice, playing the part of a civilian.  “Including Doctor McGuffin.  Scared, but alive.”

“Headcount?”

“Over a hundred, counting myself.  I don’t know how many are still out there.”

To be expected.  Their teachers wouldn’t make this easy on them.

“Thank you,” he replied. “Don’t be afraid.  We’re here and we’re not going to let those Villains get past us.”

In the distance, he could hear a rumbling.   “Okay,” he told the others.  “I’m going to get some height.  Thermo-Dynamic, ice barriers at the choke points.  Shock Jock, Purple Rein, get ready for anything.”

Toshi took a breath, canceled his gravity, and jumped.  The civilian defense shelter was only two stories tall, with most of its space being underground.  He landed easily, quickly scanning in every direction.  Even if there was no “behind” the shelter, due to how the training ground was set up, he didn’t want to be docked points for missing a potential avenue of attack.  Too many small mistakes would probably be just as bad as a big one.

Below, he saw Izumi’s ice walls going up, blocking off the streets.  Maybe not the best idea?  They’d keep the search and rescue team from returning easily, but between the Twins, Haimawari, and his own Quirk, they could probably work past it?    Protecting the shelter was the primary mission objective…

Dammit, there were way too many choices here.  Was this what Dad and Mom felt like all the time?

The rumbling continued. Something big and heavy was definitely coming their way.  He could see them now.  A massive metal man, coming in from the north.  Not one of the teachers or any of the rest of the school staff.  Maybe it was another Hero that Aizawa had roped into things?  There were a few different Heroes who could turn themselves into metal, but at this distance, he couldn’t tell if it was any of them.  Maybe binoculars would be a good idea to add to his costume.

He tapped his communicator. “Coming in from the north,” he said. “Big metal guy.”

“My ice wall is in place,” Izumi said.  “Solid and a foot thick.  I am not sure how long it will hold.  But I can reinforce it, if needed.”

“This isn’t a sprint,” Toshi said.  “It’s a marathon.  Let’s see what he does.”

Below, he could see Mineta seeding the ground in front of Izumi’s barrier with her sticky balls. Kaminari adjusted some device on her new costume’s gauntlets, plugging her Cords into them.  Ever since she’d gotten the new costume, Kaminari hadn’t fried her brain once during training.  He hoped that would stay true for the exam.

“Coming up quick,” he told the others.  How could anybody that big—built like a sumo wrestler—and made of what looked like solid metal move that fast?  Had he seen him before, maybe in some old video?  The distorted metal face and the distance made it difficult to see.  For a moment, he’d wished he’d kept Shota on his team.  He’d probably know, even that far out.  “Brace yourselves.”

The metal man crashed through Izumi’s ice wall like it wasn’t even there.   Toshi took a couple steps back, then launched himself off the roof. He dropped like a missile, increasing his gravity several times over.

CLANG!

Toshi hit the metal guy hard, making a sound that made his ears hurt.  But he bounced off, smacking into the outside of shelter with an impact that made his bones rattle, even with the gravity turned up.

There was a terrible screeching sound as the metal man’s face twisted up in a cruel smile.  “Gonna have to do better than that, kid.”

***

“What could do this kind of damage?” Iida asked, as Katsumi’s team made their way through the cityscape.  His expression was unreadable behind his silver helmet, but the tone was unmistakable. “I am seeing intense structural damage, multiple fires, compromise power grid…”  He dropped out of the sky, firing his Jetpack Quirk in short bursts to land.

“Doesn’t matter,” Katsumi said.  “We get the people out and if we run into any Villains, we hit them until they stop moving.”   Something about this whole thing felt… off.  Maybe she was just still wound up over, well, everything going on in her life right now. But nothing was ever easy or simple where Aizawa was involved.

Right now, though, there was a job in front of them: search and rescue.  Not her forte, but there wasn’t anything out there she couldn’t do.

“Heroes are here!” she shouted.  “Call out!”

“Over here!’

“Oh thank goodness!”

“I need help!  I’m hurt!”

“My wife… you’ve got to help my wife!”

More voices quickly followed, tinny and robotic.  Most were coming from the nearby ruined buildings.   Too many of them.  How the hell were they supposed to know who to help first?  They were all buried inside or trapped somewhere.  No way to assess.

She took a breath. Make a decision and commit to it. The same way she did everything else.

“Okay,” Katsumi said. She was grateful now, more than ever, for having done her Internship with Aunt Ochaco.  Even if it has started disastrously, she was more prepared than ever for the ins and outs of rescue work.   “With Villains on the loose, we gotta play this smart.  Nobody on their own.  We do pairs.  Arms, you’re with me. We’re going right.  Lips, go with Jetset to the left.  Call out if you need help.”

“Question,” Sato said, raising his hand.  “Do you not actually know our names?”

“Question time’s over,” she snapped.  “We’re burning daylight!  Move!”

She didn’t bother looking to see if Shoji was following her.  Instead, she took off to the nearest building.  The storefront was damaged, but accessible. Even the plate glass window was intact for the moment. Inside, shelving units had been overturned and the lights were out. The lights were out, but enough sun still filtered through from outside that she could see.  A thick cloud of dust hung in the air, causing her to cough.   Definitely needed a filter or a rebreather or something on her suit when this was over.  Canned goods, boxes of nonperishable, and fresh fruits and vegetables were strewn all over the ground.  “Rescue’s here! Call out!” she shouted again, eyes scanning.

A tinny but clear groan reached her ears and she saw a robot pinned under one of the shelves.  With Shoji behind her, she quickly sprinted over. “Hey,” she said, “we’re here. It’s gonna be okay.”   She reached out and touched his neck, then double-checked the stimulated pulse in his free arm.  “Breathing” seemed okay too.  The robots designed for rescue training were stupidly lifelike in some ways.

Not like what had happened during her Internship.  Safe, survivable injuries.  This, she could handle.

“Vitals are stable,” she said.  “We’re gonna get you out of here.”  She felt a little foolish reassuring a robot, but they’d had to do so during rescue training at the USJ, so she figured it was being tracked here too.  She turned to Shoji.   “Think you can lift this?  Doesn’t look like any real crush injuries.”

Shoji nodded, not bothering with words.  They weren’t close, couldn’t even really call him a friend, but she respected that he just got down to business without wasting a lot of words.  Definitely in the least amount of nonsense category for her classmates.

With not even a grunt, he hefted the shelf off the robot.   “Anyone else here?” he asked.

“Just me,” the robot reported.  

That was some good news, at least.  Shoji scooped him up to carry him outside, carefully using his many arms to support him in case of other injuries.  As they passed the doorway into the street, a light one of the robot’s chest turned green.

“Rescue complete,” the robot said.  “You may set me down.”

As Shoji did so, Katsumi looked around.  The building across the street’s entrance had been blocked when they’d first passed, covered in rubble.  Now though, it looked like someone had eaten their way through it.  Sato then.  Good. But where was he and Iida?

The answer to that came in the form of the sound of a fist hitting metal.  Iida’s body came flying through the chewed-entrance, landing on the street in front of them.  He was still moving, though, even with a dent to his chest armor, slowly getting back to his feet,  His arrival was followed shortly by the biggest woman Katsumi had ever seen, larger and more muscular than even All Might in his heyday.  

Of Sato, there was no sign.

***

Though her own exams had finished on Thursdays, Koharu wasn’t thinking too much on the results. With her getting into the Hero Course being partially dependent on passing those, she’d studied like there was no tomorrow, cramming in knowledge until she felt like she could practically fire out her String Shot in the shape of the texts she’d consumed.  She was pretty sure she’d run Mogura and Tokuda ragged with all the studying.

No, what she was thinking about was the Hero Course final exam unfolding in front of her on a wall of monitors.  When All Might had offered her the opportunity to watch the exam and get a first-hand look at what she’d be getting herself into, she’d jumped at the chance.

So now she was in the monitor room with the former Number One Hero, a woman who despite being more than old enough to be her mother was still distractingly attractive, and Class 1-A’s homeroom teacher, who gave off the impression of being a hobo they’d picked up off the street, despite also being, somehow, incredibly frightening. He was sitting bolt upright in his chair, eyes darting from screen to screen.   All Might and Vice-Principal Midnight were watching too, but they paused occasionally to take notes.  Aizawa never looked down.  She was glad to be on the other side of the room from him.  He was frighteningly intense.

And he was going to be her teacher next year!

Midoriya and Haimawari she knew already, and she’d been talking with Ojiro, Sero, and Sato since the Sports Festival.  The others, she was mostly unfamiliar with.  She’s fought Mineta at the Sports Festival, and had been on Kirishima-Bakguo’s team during Quirkball, but beyond recognizing some names, she didn’t really know anything about the rest.  

She found herself scribbling down as many notes as she could.  What to do in emergency situations, what her future classmates were capable of, questions to ask later.  She’d been given a great opportunity and was determined not to waste it.

The way Class 1-A worked together…  she could tell most of them had grown up together.  There was a trust and teamwork between all of them that she envied. Even Haimawari, who was the self-professed “new guy,” seemed to fit in like a glove.

And despite how well it had carried her, her Quirk suddenly seemed very small and insignificant by comparison to theirs.  Powers over gravity, electricity, speed, fire and ice… could she really keep up with that?

“Your grandson is a natural leader,” Midnight told All Might.

“He gets that from Izuku,” All Might said.  “He always had a way of finding friends and making people want to listen to him.”

“They���re too reliant on him,” Aizawa said, flatly.  “We should have forbidden him from coming up with any of the plans.”

“You know as well as I do that wouldn’t have worked,” Midnight said.  “You might as well try and stop the Iida twins from being exuberant or Mineta from being so enthusiastic.”

“I would if I could. And that isn’t the word I’d use to describe that girl.”

“Still,” All Might said, “they’re off to a good start.”

“We’ll see what happens when they get into the real meat of the exam,” Aizawa replied.  “Which should be right… about… now.”

“I’m still not sure about this,” All Might said, actually sounding a bit worried.  On a few of the screens, Koharu could see costumed individuals starting to engage with the teams. “I know you vetted them, Aizawa, but still…”

“What?” Aizawa asked. “Their world just got infinitely more dangerous over their Internships.”   That was putting it mildly, Koharu thought.  “History is repeating itself.  You don’t think they need this push?”

“No, that’s not what I…”

“There’s no room for playing it soft anymore,” Aizawa said. But it was what he said next that made her blood run cold. “They’re fighting real Villains now.”

[theendoftheromanempire632]

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[breeeliss]

[Femslash February]: Flowers

i feel like i’m just going to accept the fact that i’m going to be perpetually a day behind on these things. 

also this took forever to write im off my game today xD

Day 9: Flowers (Alyanette)

Words: 2200

Link to Archive of Our Own: [AO3]

[Previous: On Wheels] [Next: Sunlight]

One of the first things Alya learned about Marinette was that she doodled flowers when she was bored. 

They started off as small, blossoming roses in the corners of her notebooks that weren’t any larger than the tip of her pinky. If you left her to it for long enough, she’d wrap vines, leaves, ladybugs, caterpillars, bees, birds, clouds, and more flowers all around the margins of her book. Sometimes, she’d sneak her colored felt pens and highlighters to school and add in whorls of colors and outlandish patterns until her entire notebook page was covered with fields and gardens and windowsills dripping in plants. She’d always take a picture of it on her phone -- to turn it into an embroidery, or a screen print for a t-shirt, or a design for a book cover -- and pout pitifully for Alya to send her copies of her notes. 

It blended seamlessly into the normality that was Marinette -- the color pink, pigtails, the smell of bread, pinpricks on fingertips, different nail polish everyday, humming music under her breath, and doodling flowers in class. 

One day, Alya’s hand was right next to Marinette’s notebook, and Marinette continued the doodle from the edge of the page onto the back of Alya’s hand. Alya raised a brow when she started, but shrugged when Marinette asked if it bothered her. As far as idiosyncracies went, Marinette’s were all rather harmless. Besides, it was rather nice to take notes with one hand and feel the light brush of Marinette’s pen sketching away against her other. 

It always took three washes in the shower to get all the pen out, and her mother kept worrying her with folk knowledge about skin cancer and ink poisoning, but Alya didn’t like showing up to school the next day with the sketches still on her arm. It almost felt like her duty to give Marinette a blank canvas everyday, to encourage her darling little habits that were secretly the highlight of Alya’s day. 

“Why flowers?” she asked Marinette as she added yellows and oranges to the sunflowers she was drawing along the vein inside of her wrist. 

Marinette tapped the end of her pen against Alya’s nose. “Pretty flowers for a pretty lady.”

“How flattering,” Alya joked. “Do you sweet talk all of your notebooks like this too?”

“Of course,” Marinette chuckled, extending her horizon down Alya’s arm so she could add another row of flowers. “Nah, they’re just easy to draw. Mindless enough that I can half pay attention to the lesson.”

“You could just pay attention to the lesson and doodle later,” she teased. 

But Marinette gripped Alya’s arm and held it still as sketched. “Noooo, physics is so boring. Besides, you and Adrien are better at explaining it. And god forbid I want my art advertised.”

“To who? My family?”

“Yes. Their approval is very important to me.”

“I actually think my mom loves sunflowers, so that shouldn’t be too hard.”

“Look at that! I’m psychic too! Sometimes I surprise even myself.”

Marinette started taking pictures of Alya’s arms as well, and she’d send them to her at the end of every class. Alya just sort of kept them in their own little album in her phone and flipped through them when she was waiting for the bus or laying in bed at night trying to fall asleep. Sometimes, they were incredibly simple -- like a long chain of tulips wrapping around her wrist. Sometimes, during long periods, Marinette would manage to create abstract drawings filled with rings of daisies with hearts in the middle, swirling clouds that circled fields of violets, and shining suns with beams turning into longer vines of leaves and flower buds that left Alya reeling from the detail of it all. On the weekends, when she knew she wasn’t going to see Marinette the next day, she’d avoid washing it off just so she could trace all the lines and patterns with her fingertips and marvel at the talent. 

It almost seemed like something Alya could force meaning into if she really wanted to. Like those moments where you realize you’re the exception, and your heart wants to add sentimentality where it doesn’t necessarily belong. But it was such a mundane habit the two of them shared, that it seemed silly and self-indulgent to even hope for something like that. Even selfish to demand more of something that was already special and perfect. 

Adrien laughed when she moved to sit next to him in class one day to work on the literature project they partnered up to complete. “Daffodils today, huh?”

“Sometimes I have to look them up online,” Alya said. “She drew amaryllises the other day. I didn’t even know that’s what they were called.”

He gestured for her arm. “Can I see? I was watching while she was drawing on you today, she was concentrating so hard.”

“Yeah, she added butterflies to this one and started getting all crazy with the wings and the lines and stuff,” Alya mused. “It’s pretty with all the red and purple added in, but it’s going to take forever to wash off.”

“Well, that’s Marinette. Putting 110% into everything.” Adrien turned her wrist to the left and squinted at one of the designs. “Huh. I didn’t know she writes things, too.”

Alya frowned. “She doesn’t write anything. Not that I know of anyway...”

Adrien shrugged. “Then maybe I’m just seeing things. Thought for sure that looked like an ‘M’.”

“Where?”

“Right here. Above the bone in your wrist. Next to the tree with the red leaves.”

Alya checked where Adrien was pointing, and sure enough, there did look to be something that resembled an ‘M’ resting just underneath a flower petal that was lying right next to a great tree that took up half of Alya’s arm. “Huh. You’re right. Does look like a letter.”

“Could be just an accident.”

“I dunno,” Alya squinted. “Hard to accidentally draw an ‘M’. Plus, it’s just under the flower lying there out of nowhere.”

Adrien tapped his pen against his lips. “Maybe it’s just her signature, you know? Doesn’t she monogram ‘M’s on everything?”

Alya hummed. “Yeah, she does. But, what, she’s signing my arms now?”

“She did say she wanted you to show off her art,” Adrien chuckled. 

“Well, damn, good to know I’m her new canvas,” she said, pretending to sound annoyed. “I thought she was kidding about that.”

“Marinette doesn’t strike me as much of a kidder,” Adrien said. “I mean you definitely know her more than I do, but it always seems like she’s got a reason for doing something you know?”

Alya ran her thumb across the letter. “Yeah....that’s true.”

She pointed it out to Marinette as a joke the next morning. Marinette contained her smile by biting her lip, dipped her head so that her bangs covered her face, and muttered, “Yeah, that’s me. Signing everything...”

“Guess you’re serious about me advertising your art, huh?”

“Yeah...” Marinette said absently. “I never kid.”

Alya spent the entire walk back to her house from school looking for Marinette’s initial on her arm, wondering where she’d hidden it that day. Except, Alya never found an ‘M’. Instead, she found an ‘E’ written along the vine wrapping around her thumb. The day after that, it was what she was sure was a ‘J’. Then, another ‘E’. 

Was it a message? A word she was trying to spell out? MEJE hardly meant anything, unless she’d caught Marinette in the middle of a word or a sentence. Maybe it was a joke she was trying to spell out, or some silly message that she wanted to sneakily place into her art. Like that time Marinette sent her ten texts that were just pictures that was supposed to say “Please help me I am very hungry and very sad.”

“Maybe it’s in another language?” Nino offers when Alya shows him the ‘T’ on her sleeve of buttercups that Marinette drew on her arm during maths. “Doesn’t she know Chinese?”

“Barely,” Alya smirked. “Plus, wouldn’t she just use characters and not letters?”

“I guess so.” Nino laughed and twisted Alya’s arm around to stare at the design that was looping around all of her fingers today. “Must be something really important. She’s putting a lot of work into these doodles. You might as well get one of these tattooed.”

“Watch it be a meme she found on the Internet the other day. If it is, I’ll kill her.”

An ‘A’ and an ‘I’ came next, and then another ‘M’ before the letters started to repeat. Alya waited until she was home and typed in all the letters she’d gotten so far: MEJETAIMEJ. 

It seemed like nonsense to her at first, and Alya blamed the late hour for making her miss what was so obviously right in front of her face the entire time. But she blinked at the letters right in the middle of the jumble and felt her chest tighten a little. 

JETAIME. 

Je t’aime. 

She had to rewrite all the letters four times over to make sure she didn’t miss one, to make sure they were all in the right order, to make sure that she wasn’t just projecting her feelings onto something as innocuous as silly little messages left in the doodles that Marinette left on her arms. But Alya wasn’t wrong, and that may have been the most confusing and frustrating part of all of this. It didn’t make any sense. They told each other they loved each other all the time. They were best friends, of course they loved each other. Maybe it was just that. Maybe it was just a cute little message from a friend that she wasn’t meant to read into. Maybe. 

Or maybe there was a reason Marinette wasn’t just telling her. Because it was heavier than it had been before. So heavy that Marinette couldn’t bear to say it with a new meaning -- a meaning that could very well add a different filter to everything. 

Alya waited for more days -- waited for the ‘E,’ ‘T,’ ‘A,’ and ‘I’ -- until it was Saturday and they were lying down on Marinette’s bed, limbs tangled together, watching a movie on the laptop balanced on Alya’s stomach. Her right arm was held up while Marinette started drawing roses on her wrists again. 

Alya cleared her throat and lowered the volume on the movie. “It’s an ‘M’ today again. Isn’t it?”

Marinette’s pen stilled for only half a second before she continued shading in a petal. “So you figured it out?”

“Pretty sure,” Alya muttered. She was hyper aware of the feeling of Marinette’s head pressed up against her temple and Marinette’s nose that was tucked against her neck. She swallowed and tried to make her voice sound stronger than her resolve felt. “I...I love you too.”

“But do you?” Marinette muttered, keeping her eyes on her pen and on Alya’s arm. “I mean, really honestly. Do you? Because....i-if you don’t, it’s fine. I just...sometimes I feel like I have all these things I want to tell you and I don’t know how to say them. So I just...picked the best thing that fit. But if you don’t....I mean, I don’t have to -- ”

“You’re rambling, babe,” Alya interrupted gently. 

Marinette laughed against her skin. “Sorry. I’m not very good at this sort of thing. And I don’t want to freak you out.”

“Nothing you do could freak me out, Mari. You don’t have to worry about that” Alya assured. “I’m not freaked out.”

“So then....what are you?”

Things with Marinette always felt so natural, like one thing bled seamlessly into the next. Nothing felt jarring and nothing felt strange enough to need a period of time to settle and adjust. Things just were, and no matter what came up the two of them molded into it perfectly without ever needing to explain or defend. Alya wondered if this was exactly what was happening now. Because Alya had always loved Marinette, always loved her with all her heart. She traced back along the past year to see if that love turned into a love, if that comfort turned into a need, if those changes were even the sorts of things you could track and notice. But there was never a sharp jolt or jump to indicate a change. Alya wouldn’t be surprised if one morning she woke up, got dressed for school, saw Marinette stumbling into class with only seconds to spare before the bell and realized ah! There it was. There were all the small letters left behind like clues forming together into something beautiful that Alya could treasure deeply. 

It took no work. Smooth. Effortless. Everything always easy. 

What are you?

Alya shut her eyes and pressed a small, short kiss on Marinette’s lips, smiling at the gasp that jumped up from Marinette’s throat and past Alya’s lips. They pushed back against hers as Marinette kissed her back, and for such a brief moment the whole world stilled and everything felt perfect and righted. 

“I’m happy.”