#n 28

[felinefractious]

🐱 LaPerm

📸 Viking Cat

🎨 Black Karpati [Roan: Karpati (Carpathian) Pattern]

[spoonbenders]

new conspiracy theory roughly 90% of parents dont even like kids they only like babies and toddlers . the reason why everyone makes a big deal abt teenagers being fucked up is cuz they only signed up for children that just make noise n dont have opinions

[c-kiddo]

tmn: our friend fucking died. lets go in the woods and find the little freak we got told about and see if they can revive people

caduceus in his house after the wildmother told him he might be able to speak to another person soon:

[alirienn]

kuronatober

[celtic-crossbow]

Whumptober 2023

No. 26 Working to exhaustion

Pairing: Daryl Dixon x Fem!Reader (platonic/early relationship)

Setting: Prison era

Warnings: Symptoms of sleep deprivation

“This has been the worst day!” You drove your knife into yet another softened skull, instinctively angling your head to keep the dark blood and rotten brain matter from splashing across your face. The walkers were overwhelming the prison fences again. It was taking more and more manpower to get it under control each time. 

Daryl scoffed from your left but said nothing, simply stabbing any corpse within reach. Carol was on your right, nodding with a quick “sure is” in between pushing back against the failing steel and thrusting her own knife forward to keep blood-and-death-stained teeth away from her hands. 

It took hours to get the situation under control, nearly dusk before the fence workers hauled themselves inside with collective groans and shuffling feet. Dinner had come and gone but everyone was too tired for food at this point anyway. 

“Who’s on watch tonight?” Rick queried while rotating his sore shoulder. Daryl didn’t respond verbally, just raised a loose fist in the air while trudging up the stairs to his perch. You came up beside the former sheriff, both of you watching the archer disappear at the top. “You’ll be with him?”

“You know it.” You answered with a nod. Rick patted your shoulder and you parted ways. When you reached the top of the steps, you had hoped to find Daryl resting on the mattress. No such luck. Well, he was on the mattress but sitting propped against the wall, checking over his crossbow. He was undoubtedly getting ready to head up to the tower early. 

Daryl hadn’t slept in at least three days. You weren’t sure what was keeping him awake, but you’d hear him at night, moving around the prison like a restless spirit. Only you knew what to listen for when it came to the archer. 

The way he tapped the railing rhythmically on his way to the upper level and back down again. His blunt nails made little noise but it was enough. 

His steps were damn near silent save for the small scuff of his boot when he seemed to favor his left leg in the slightest way. Maybe an old injury. Maybe just the way he walked. You never asked and figured if he wanted you to know, he’d tell you. 

You knew he had been pacing the prison over and over, keeping watch without anyone knowing. He always seemed to be in his perch when people began to shuffle out of their cells in the morning, none the wiser. 

Except you. 

He looked almost ready to keel over, at least to your eyes. Rick and Carol were worried too. The archer had stumbled at the fence today. Just…off balance, giving a walker the chance to grab his wrist. You had sliced through the decomposing flesh so quickly and closely that you were afraid you had actually cut him. But if it had scratched him…

“Hey, you.” You plopped down on his mattress hard enough to jostle him on the other side. You earned an irritated scoff but he kept to what he was doing. He really did look poorly. The circles around his eyes were so pronounced, how could anyone not notice them? Maybe they did and just didn’t find him approachable or feared what he would do if they snitched to Rick. He wasn’t the friendliest of chaps to those outside of his inner circle. Hell, sometimes he was even less friendly to those closest to him. 

“Ya need somethin’?” He regarded you with a sidelong glare and a raised brow. He was usually never so coarse with you. 

Sleep deprivation. You told yourself. “Just the pleasure of your ever-inviting, always hospitable company.” You smiled as he scowled. He really was a sourpuss tonight. Biting your lip, you watched him get his things together and quickly shuffled over on your knees to stop him when he made to stand. “So I was thinking,”

“Don’ hur’ yerself.”

“Ha Ha. Dixon’s got jokes.” You deadpanned. When he rotated his hand in the air to signal for you to continue, you wrinkled your nose at him and stuck out your tongue. “Anyway, I was thinking I’d take first watch tonight. You could come hang out up there with me, catch some z’s.” He already appeared prepared to balk at the idea. You sighed and sank back to sit on your heels. “You look tired, Daryl.”

“M’fine.” He muttered, a little too quickly. 

“You’ve been on three runs in two days. You clear the fence. You hunt. You dug most of the graves for the ones who died of the flu. You fix shit when it’s not working. You take double watch shifts. You…wander around when you should be sleeping.” 

His expression morphed right in front of your eyes: indifferent to angry in 0.025 seconds. “Ya keepin’ tabs on me?”

“No!” You shook your head adamantly. This was not going well. “I just…notice things.”

“Righ’.” He sneered. The archer grabbed his things and stood. “Good talk.” He snapped. You were up and laying a hand on his arm before he could take the first step toward the stairs. 

“Daryl, we’re just—”

“We?”

Shit. “Yeah, we. Your friends, Daryl. We’re worried about you. Ever since—”

“Don’ go there, Y/N.” You watched his hackles rise: muscles tensing, shoulders leveling just below his ears. You had hit a nerve. 

“So, this is about Merle.”

“Don’ say his name like ya gave a fuck ‘bout ‘im!” 

He spun on you so quickly that you actually thought— even if only for a split second— that he was going to hit you. You reeled, the back of your foot hitting his mattress. Off balance, you fell onto it and stared up at his looming figure with wide eyes. 

“Daryl.”

“I don’ need a babysitter!” He hissed. He swayed a little and blinked hard before turning away with a grunt. You watched him go, still shaken by his behavior. Daryl hadn’t acted that way toward you since the early days on the Greene farm. There was very little time you spent apart, aside from runs you weren’t designated to go on. 

Since Merle died, the bowman had become distant, withdrawing from everyone. You tried to keep him grounded, but it only seemed to irritate him more. 

Regardless, your worry outweighed the hurt. 

You pushed yourself up and ran down the steps, sorting through things you could say or do to convince him that he needed to rest; that he didn’t need to do this alone. Aside from using the stock of his crossbow to knock him out so you could drag him to bed, you weren’t coming up with much. 

No matter what, you weren’t leaving him in that tower alone tonight. 

It was well past sundown, darkness covering the prison. You hadn’t brought a flashlight. Actually, you hadn’t brought anything. It shouldn’t have surprised you when you didn’t see Daryl until you almost tripped over him. He was just sitting on the ground near the tower, his knees up, arms laying across them. His head was down. A fresh wave of worry nearly knocked you over. 

“Daryl?” You approached him slowly, almost like a wounded animal. When he looked up, you couldn’t make out much. 

“M’fine.” His voice had lost all the heat it had fired at you only moments before. 

“Okay.” You didn’t push, fearing it would only make him withdraw further. You sat down a few feet away. “Forgot my flashlight.” He only hummed but you could see as he lowered his head again. 

The two of you sat in silence for a while, long enough for Glenn to come down from the tower. As he approached, he raised his flashlight. You couldn’t see his face but knew he had to be wondering why Daryl hadn’t already shown up early as he normally did. Your eyes flickered to the archer, his head still bowed, seemingly oblivious to his surroundings. He wasn’t asleep. The slow flexing of his fingers told you that much. His usually keen senses were dulled from exhaustion. 

Your gaze shifted back, your head shaking slowly. You jerked your chin toward the prison, hoping Glenn got the message. He must have picked up on something because he nodded at you as he passed by, waiting until he was sure you could see him. A concerned look was thrown toward Daryl as the flashlight was passed off to you but then he pressed on toward the metal door. 

It wasn’t until that door closed with a dull thud that Daryl flinched, raising his head and looking around somewhat wildly. You were quick to reach out but drew back your hand just before your fingertips could stroke across his bicep. 

“Hey.” You whispered, directing the beam upward so as not to startle him further. He slowly turned his head toward your voice, his muted ocean eyes blinking slowly. Weariness was settling on him heavily. The way his eyes would close for a few seconds and then quickly nictate was a sure sign of microsleep. Daryl was dangerously close to collapse. You needed to get him inside. “Daryl?”

His eyebrows raised at the sound of his name but his gaze remained unfocused. You chewed on your lip, weighing your options. 

“Daryl, let’s go inside, okay?”

The archer tilted his head, moving a little quicker. “Got watch.” He rasped. It almost sounded like a question. 

“No, Maggie’s gonna take it.”

“Nah, s’my watch.” Daryl climbed to his feet in slow, tremulous movements, swaying backward like his crossbow was weighing him down. He staggered toward the wall, slapping his palm against it to keep his balance as he inched toward the tower. 

“Daryl, you’re exhausted. Your body’s going to shut down if you don’t rest!” You followed at his side, hands hovering as if you could hold him up when he inevitably fell. 

“M’fine, Y/N. Gotta be.”

“But why? Why do you have to be fine?”

“Stop.”

“Are you trying to die?” Your voices were crawling higher while Daryl’s steps were growing slower. 

“Leave it, Y/N.” The archer stumbled to a halt, wiping at his eyes and blinking furiously to clear his blurred vision. 

“What if you fall from the tower? Down the stairs? What if you pass out on the run tomorrow when there’s no one to keep the walkers off you? What if—”

“We was gonna rob the camp.” 

Your back went straight, head shaking in perplexity. “What?”

“Merle n’ me. We was gonna rob ya’ll n’ take off. Leave ya with nothin’. Leave ya— the kids—” He couldn’t meet your eyes, his own betraying him with hot tears that he was fighting like hell to hold back. 

Your expression softened, everything suddenly making sense. Nothing from the quarry mattered now. You were all together. He had stayed when he never meant to. “Daryl, you—”

“Never told Rick or…or Carol. Never told you. I gotta make it righ’, Y/N. Fer me n’ fer…fer Merle..” The look he gave you was desperate, pleading. You realized instantly that this was a glimpse into Daryl’s soul, laid bare in a moment of weakness he’d hate himself for later. 

With tears in your eyes, you did the only thing that felt right in that moment. You closed the space between you and hugged him, slipping your hands beneath the crossbow to hold him tight. “You’ve made it right, Daryl. A thousand times over, you’ve made it right.” 

The archer crumbled, the only things holding him upright were the wall at his back and you pressed against him. 

“Merle was… he didn’…” 

He slipped into silence after that, never bringing his arms up to hold onto you. You knew it was because he just didn’t have the energy. 

“It’s okay.” You soothed, just listening to him breathe while you figured out what to do next. The door to the prison closed, the sound audible to you from around the corner. Maggie would appear any second, likely with Glenn in tow. “Daryl.” He didn’t respond. Had he passed out? “Daryl, can you walk with me?”

Relief washed over you when you felt some of his weight shift, followed by a resigned “yeah.” When you maneuvered away from him, you slid yourself underneath his arm, continuing to offer support. Just as you took the first step, the beam of Maggie’s flashlight danced from around the corner. You could only pray she would recognize the delicate situation and act accordingly. 

When two silhouettes came into view, you held your breath. They were headed straight for you. Daryl was weak and pliant at the moment but should he realize someone other than you could see any vulnerability, it was unlikely he would remain that way. 

You saw the very moment that Maggie— thankfully — grabbed hold of Glenn’s arm and steered him away in order to give you and Daryl a wide berth. You finally breathed again once you had rounded the corner and the archer remained quiet at your side. 

He was clumsy on the steps leading to the door and again on the stairs to his perch, but you managed to keep both of you from face-planting. It was necessary to keep him standing for a while longer. If you allowed him to sit on the mattress, he could just fall over and you’d never be able to get his crossbow off his back. 

“You with me?” You asked softly, ducking from under his arm to stand in front of him. He was doing well keeping himself on his feet even if he was swaying. When you cupped your hand over his chin and tapped your thumb against his cheek, his eyes focused and found yours. “I need to get this, okay?”

Hazy blue orbs followed you while you lifted the strap over his head, forced to stand on your tip-toes. It was a graceless but successful effort. Once the weapon and his bag were on the floor, you indicated for him to sit. He complied but not without a weak scowl. 

“Don’ need ya ta baby me. I got it.” He said, with little to no bite. 

“I’m not babying you, Daryl.” You crouched in front of him and brushed at his hair. It had grown just enough to be in his face. It was soft against your fingertips, if not a little greasy. You absently wondered how long he would let it get. With a smile, your attention returned to the task at hand. “I’m caring for you. There’s a difference.”

Your eyes locked, neither of you daring to look away. A moment that should have felt uncomfortable bordered on a version of intimate. Daryl looked away first, a light flush coloring his cheeks. Your tongue slid across your bottom lip, finding it suddenly dry. 

“Let’s take off your boots.” You reached for the laces but he slid his foot out of your reach. 

“Why?”

“Because you’re about to crash and burn for quite a while and you can at least do it comfortably.” It was reasonable, but so was his excuse not to. 

“Need ta be ready. Anythin’ can happen.”

You mulled it over and nodded. “You’re right. How about this?” The archer was swaying where he sat now, fading fast with the temptation of a mattress and pillow just behind him. “You take off your boots and I’ll leave mine on.” The perplexed expression on his bone-weary face was almost comical. 

“The hell you havin’ yer boots on gonna do ta help me all the way up here?”

“Because I’m not going anywhere.” You stated firmly, intense gaze daring him to argue with you. You expected he would and prepared yourself for it. 

But he was just too damn tired. 

“Alrigh’.” 

You smiled at the top of his head while clumsy fingers worked at the laces, taking longer than necessary but still ending with his boots sitting against the wall. 

“Great.” You weren’t about to tell him how to go to bed. The less he had to argue about, the better. You watched him crawl toward the pillow and all but collapse once he reached it, facedown with a smothered groan. 

His blanket was like all the others, thin and itchy, but you could probably cover him with garbage bags at this point and he wouldn’t care. You pulled the material up to his shoulders and then climbed over him to sit on the other side with your back against the wall. 

After a moment, he turned his head toward you. “Ya really gonna sit there the whole time?”

“Every minute.” You chuckled when he pulled a face. “I promise not to be a creep and stare at you.” His features relaxed. He even offered a shadow of a smile, eyelids appearing to grow too heavy to keep open. 

“Ya… really don’… hafta stay.” He muttered between breaths, sound asleep just as the last word left his lips. 

“I know. I want to.” I’ll always stay. For you. 

[incorrectmarvelquotesss]

— flufftober (day 18) —

Warnings: fluff, slight angst

Prompt: Soothing Touch

Pairing: Bucky Barnes x Female Reader

@flufftober || flufftober masterlist

A/N: These are still sitting in my drafts! I will get them out pretty soon. Enjoy!

Bucky’s touch was warm and light, but no one else knew that.

His first reaction to meeting the whole team was to take a large step back and then another, flinching, when Clint tried to shake his hand. Bucky merely shook his head and gave him a polite smile instead. Everyone else nodded in greeting at him, seemingly coming to a silent agreement.

No one was going to come close to him if he didn’t want them to. It was a simple unspoken rule that the team had agreed upon and followed through the next few months. The team kept their distance, including Steve. Even though he was Bucky’s best friend, Bucky still had a tough time letting him get close.

All of this went down the rabbit hole when he met you.

Instant regret had started to fill him when he stepped into that bookstore and noticed that it was not empty. Instead a large crowd of people surrounded the seating area, kids scattered on the floor while listening to the story you were reading. If, maybe, he had looked up at the bright neon sign hung on the display, he would have known about the story time that was being hosted.

He swallowed down the urge to run out and started making his way through the crowds to the back of the store. Later, once the crowd had dissipated and the children had left, you found him sitting in the armchair stationed in the corner of the store, engrossed in the first book of Lord of the Rings. Not wanting to disturb him just then, you went about minding your own business.

Then, when the clock struck nine, you trailed back to the corner and saw that he was almost finished the book. You bit down your sigh and cleared your throat. The conversation flowed easily after the first few words. Bucky found himself going back to the store and soon he was helping you put the books on the shelves.

Fingers grazed each other, his skin sparking with every little touch. His hand would dart away, only for him to soon feel like he was missing something. Something vitally important to him. If he thought about it for too long, he would catch himself staring at you, as if you were the answer. And so his hand would carefully move back to yours, letting your fingers caress every now and then.

Warm and light touches.

“Y/N,” he would tell Steve when he got back at half past one in the late nights or at three in the early mornings. Steve would merely shake his head with a little smile and sigh, pat his shoulder.

When he walked past Bucky, he would whispered, “Tell her soon.”

Bucky would tell you soon. Sooner than he would mean too, but, for now, he let your touch soothe his nerves.

[sugucidal]

i need him in places. tight wet places

[damn-stark]

Chapter 28 A song for us

Chapter 28 of Sugar

A/N- Lowkey want some angst already 😅😂

Warning- Swearing, some angst, talks of abuse, FLUFF, talks of death, cigarettes, spoilers!! long chapter, some violence but not really, NFSW, semi-public, wrap before you tap it, a lot of kissing,

Pairing- Choso x Gojo!fem-reader, Suguru Geto x Gojo!fem-reader

Takes place during- Only the beginning of Chapter 222 of the manga

(Let me know if you want to be tagged)

————

*SATORU P.O.V. 11 YEARS AGO*

He’s getting away.

He can’t let Suguru get away, but nothing that he said made him come back. So what can he say now? He needs to think. Think!

He’s getting lost in the sea of people, he needs to think…

Wait…

“What about my sister!” Satoru yells out with desperation as he wonders why he didn’t think of bringing you up before. “What about y/n?”

Suguru stops in his tracks and slowly turns back around to face Satoru.

“You’re just going to abandon her without an explanation?! I thought you loved her!” Satoru throws out even though he never came to like the idea of you, his little sister, and Suguru, his best friend, together. He just needs to find a way to make Suguru stay.

“I do love her,” Suguru says back without hesitation. “I’ve tried talking to her, but Shoko says your family took her. Are you really going to leave her there? How could you let them treat her the way they did?”

Satoru parts his lips to argue but he finds himself in disbelief at what was thrown at him.

How dare Suguru say that? He knows better than anyone how protective Satoru is of you. Besides, he doesn’t understand the family dynamic, it’s different from his. It’s not that simple.

“How dare you,” Satoru spats back. “How dare you accuse me of that!”

“And how dare you accuse me of abandoning y/n,” Suguru redirects a lot calmer than Satoru is right now. “I want to explain myself, I want to talk to her, but even if she wasn’t at your family home it’s not like you’d let us talk, would you?”

“Like hell, I would,” Satoru proved him exactly right, making Suguru scoff.

“That’s what I thought. That’s why I told Shoko to rely her a message for me. I couldn’t trust you to do it, you never liked the idea of us together in the first place.”

Satoru takes a big step forward and further furrows his eyebrows and can’t stop himself from spitting out his next words full of rage. “I don’t want you talking to her! I don’t want you seeing her ever again, do you understand?! Leave y/n out of this!”

Suguru swallows thickly and doesn’t make any promises, or assure Satoru of anything, he just turns around and walks away through the sea of people, leaving Satoru alone.

——

*YOU. NOW*

“What?” You probe your brother who seems to be lost in thought.

“Hm?” He probes back and looks up at you from his seat on the gurney.

“Penny for your thoughts? Or are you suffering from some kind of head trauma?” You say and lean against the bed. “That seems to be it because what makes you think you can walk into my house unannounced in the morning?” You remark and smack the back of his head.

“Your door was unlocked,” he points out. “And it wasn’t early, you were awake.”

“Yeah,” you scoff. “My door is unlocked because I forgot to lock it, it doesn’t mean it’s a sign for you to barge in, and two, it’s human decency to knock, or at least let me know when you’re going.”

Satoru doesn’t take you seriously because he snickers. “I was hoping to scare off your boyfriend. Which almost worked, did you see the look on his face? He looked like a deer caught in headlights!”

Of course, it’s his inability to be a normal brother and accept who you’re dating.

“Have you even caught a deer in headlights,” you mumble nonsense as you try not to give in to the frustration slowly boiling within you.

“Have you?” He redirects.

You cross your arms over your chest and look out the door in hopes Shoko is approaching.

But she isn’t. Typical doctor-like behavior.

“Don’t pop a vein, sis,” Satoru says and nudges your arm with his foot, making you scrunch your nose in disgust but continue listening to whatever shit he has to say.

“It’s what big brothers do.”

“Perhaps when we were teenagers,” you throw at him over your shoulder. “But we’re adults now.”

Satoru is still finding humor in this. He’s biting back a smile.

“I’m just having a hard time understanding that you love each other after nineteen days,” he remarks. “I mean I wasn't gone long for things to change that much. I mean think about it, y/n, you’re—-”

Thankfully, he gets cut off by Shoko and Ijichi just as he was growing serious.

“All your labs came in fine, Satoru,” Shoko assures him. “Your blood work is normal, and your sleep doesn’t worry me because that’s something you don’t get regardless. You’re completely sane and healthy,”

“You might want to double-check the sane part again,” you interject bitterly. “He’s anything but.”

Satoru gets you back by poking your side with his toe, so you snap back around and smack his arm. “That’s so gross,” you hiss.

Satoru approaches his other foot towards you, but you quickly step back and pull Shoko in front of you to make her act as a shield considering you don’t have Nanami or Suguru anymore to hide behind.

“Thank you for that,” Shoko mutters.

You rest your chin on her shoulder and shrug. “Better you than me.”

Shoko sighs and reaches back into the correct pocket this time to take out your pack of cigarettes.

“Why is this still full?” She asks as she pulls one out and then offers you one.

“Because I only smoke when I’m stressed,” you remind her and take your pack back instead of taking one. “Where’s yours?”

“I’ll finish yours first.”

You sigh but don’t argue, you just light her cigarette with your fire after you put your pack away, and then pull away to sit beside Satoru on the gurney.

“Damn,” Satoru mumbles. “So it’s just the three of us left.”

“Well, there’s that idiot left,” Shoko reminds him of Suguru.

But it’s not like it’s actually him. It’s just his body. Suguru is gone...

“That’s true,” Satoru agrees and then sighs as he drops his head. “I always thought Nanami was the type that would survive one way or the other.”

“Sorry,” Ijichi catches you all by surprise.

“Why are you apologizing?” You quickly press in utter confusion.

“Nanami is dead so why are you still breathing is how that sounded to me, so—”

“Just how low is your opinion of me,” Satoru thankfully cuts him off. “Ijichi, you still have a monumental task to perform, right? Make sure to give it your all.”

“Yeah,” you pitch in to assure Ijichi. “Don’t put yourself down Ijichi. You’re one of us. Just as Nanami was.” You smile and the timid man nods in comprehension as he hides a shy smile by looking down.

“On the topic of Nanami,” Shoko interjects and drifts your attention to Ino walking over. “It seems like Ino has something to say to us.”

You pay close attention to what Ino has to input about your best friend and his mentor. Which doesn’t take long, but the topic still brings you down and reminds you that no matter what you saw, he should still be here. He deserved to live out his dream.

“Before you get swarmed by people,” Satoru pulls you back into the room after Ino, Shoko, and Ijichi left. “I'm going home tomorrow. I want you and Satori to come with me.”

You know exactly what he’s referring to, he wouldn't have said anything otherwise, but you can’t take this so lightly.

“You scared to sleep alone or what?” You tease him, but he doesn’t laugh because he knows what you’re doing.

“I’ll be there the entire time,” he tries to assure your fear. “And it’s not like they can push you around anymore. You’re stronger now. You’re an adult.”

He doesn’t get it, but why would he? He was coddled, he was their perfect son who could do nothing wrong, while you were their second child, a daughter who could never be good enough. He doesn’t get your reluctance even now as an adult.

“I’ll take Choso then,” you try to make it better for you.

“No,” he quickly puts you down and just makes your refusal to accept that much easier. “No boyfriend. It’s family business. They need to see that you’re as much part of the clan as you were then. And they need to see who will lead them after me. I won’t hide her, nor do I want her to fear them.”

“Then you take her alone,” you try to pull yourself out even if it means having Satori go without you. “I’m not going back.”

“You’ve been back,” he quickly brings up your rendezvous that happened 8 years ago.

“It was different,” you quickly counter. “Plus what if you have kids of your own down the line, what would be the point of presenting her to them.”

“That’s doubtful,” he argues. “But that’s beside the point, you won’t make her go alone will you?”

You glare at him and spat. “Don’t use her. Don’t you dare.”

“Y/N,” he cuts in. “It’s just one day. Just for an hour or two.”

“I have a date tomorrow,” you tell him. “I can’t. You can’t make me.” You raise your voice as your fear and anxiety start to heighten.

“You have a date all day?” He mutters in annoyance.

“Does it matter?” You hide the fact that it’s in the afternoon. “I said—”

“You can’t hide from them forever, it’s time to face them and make peace,” he tries his best to comfort you. “Show them they can’t hurt you anymore, and present your daughter, show them that they won’t take her away or hurt her because you and I won’t let them.”

Tears well in your eyes and you whisper. “You promise?” You sound like that scared little girl all over again. “Promise they won’t hurt her or—or me. Promise me Satoru.”

Your brother grabs your shoulders and nods. “I swear.”

You’ll never be comforted, but you give in to try and do what he said. To prove to them that you’re everything they thought you wouldn’t be. “Fine, but we leave no later than 1 pm, I have a date that day.”

Satoru scoffs in displeasure but he doesn’t say a thing about it. “Fine,” he says. “I’ll pick you up in the morning.”

He pulls his hand away and opens the door for him to walk out first before letting you follow.

“You better be there in time Satoru or I will not go,” you scold him. “Do you understand?”

He snickers. “Yeah, yeah.”

Yeah, yeah, turns to an hour late, or two. For his sake that better not be true.

“Did you meet the new sorcerers yet?” Satoru swiftly changes the subject as you walk towards your students, child, and Choso, and he follows. “From what I’ve been told they’re an impressive lot.”

“Yeah,” you scoff with a smug smirk. “It seems Kenjaku really screwed himself over considering that they’re helping us now.”

Satoru then snorts and as you steal a glance at him you see a malicious look on his face. “I applaud his dedication.” He snickers like a child. “He chose to be screwed to have a child.”

“Eww,” you groan and push him away. “You’re so gross, why did you have to put that image in my head?”

“We’re adults, we can talk about that,” he remarks sassily.

“That’s not the problem here, I don’t want to hear about Kenjaku’s sex life,” you grumble. It’s like hearing about a parent's or a grandparent's affairs, it’s gross and unnecessary information.

Yet your brother doesn’t see it that way, he seems to find joy in the topic and claps loudly. “Yeah I get it, I mean he’s, like, what? Your father-in-law, slash rival, slash hijacker of your husband's corpse.”

“He’s just my rival,” you correct. “Choso and I aren't married.”

“When do you think he’ll propose? I mean, watch out he might get on his knee on your first date,” he teases. “Talk about a deal breaker.”

You roll your eyes over to him and press him a glare, letting him see that you have no protest or attempt to argue about what he thinks is a bad idea.

“Wait,” he slowly loses that amusement on his face and tone. “You wouldn’t say yes, would you? That’s ridiculous. You just met the guy—”

“I didn’t say anything,” you cut him off before you get pissed off. “And he wouldn’t. Just lay off him okay?”

You walk off as you approach who you’re looking for, causing him to come to a stop and watch with growing disdain as you fall by Choso’s side.

“So are you two ready to train?” You tell Kirara and Hakari. “I'm off sabbatical and!” You point at your boyfriend before he could even think of protesting. “No one can say a thing because it’s the doctor's orders, so I’m ready when you are.” You grin excitedly.

Kirara nevertheless lets out a deep sigh and looks at you with pity before they share a glance with Hakari, and then a nervous glance with Choso.

“What?” You probe and start to frown. “What’s wrong?”

“We’re going to take Choso shopping,” they let you know, and your joy turns to beaming excitement.

“No way, that sounds cool, do we leave now?”

Hakari shakes his head and throws his arm around Choso’s shoulders. “No, it’s just us three.”

You frown and immediately pass Choso a confused and soft pleading look so he can reconsider. “What? Come on.”

“We won’t be gone long,” Choso interjects now and holds eye contact without breaking under pressure to your batting lashes.

“But—”

“No, sorry Master,” Kirara quickly rebuttals. “Next time?”

You look at the three of them and narrow your gaze to a pointed glare as you try to figure out what they’re up to since you can’t tag along. But Kirara and Hakari have a poker face, and Hakari is especially good at those. And Choso…he’s good, he manages to keep their secret and instead approaches you to take you by the arms and assure you…he’s trying to assure you…tsk.

“We’ll be back soon, my love. They’re just going to help me pick something for tomorrow. I can bring you something, anything.”

You try to fight it, but the offer is too tempting, so you give in like a sucker. “Maybe some desserts, like Mochi. Or something like Caramel popcorn, or some Daifuku. Something sweet.”

Choso laughs softly and nods. “I’ll bring it all to you.”

You grow flustered and can’t help but lean in for a deep kiss as if he were a soldier off to war.

It’s just the first time you’ll be apart for a long period since you met. It feels weird not having him close now.

Which you have to admit sounds pretty ridiculous, but maybe it’s your honeymoon stage, or all the trauma you've both been through, or the fact that you’re so overly attached to each other, but you just don’t like the idea of being so far apart…

So maybe it’s just your own trauma and fears…

“Do you need money?” You ask considering he doesn’t have an income.

“No,” he quickly retorts. “The only good thing Noritoshi did before he revealed who he really was, was give us money. I haven’t used it so I have plenty of it. Don’t worry about me.”

You sigh and can’t help but smile teasingly as you wrap your arms around his neck and trace a circle on the back of his neck. “Okay, and if you get a message from me saying how much I miss you don’t come running. I just don’t want you to forget about me.”

Choso shoots you a pointed look and quickly rebuttals. “Impossible. I’ll try not to take long.”

You smirk and lean in to whisper in his ear. “If I send you a photo later make sure not to open it in public, okay?”

You hear Choso swallow thickly and feel his body stiffen with surprise. “All right,” he assures you nervously.

You pull back and flash him a teasing smirk before you press a peck on his lips. He doesn’t think that’s enough to send him off so he steals an open mouth kiss from you that you try to fuel with more desire, but he’s suddenly yanked back by Hakari.

“Neither of you are going off to war just yet, we need to head out.” He scolds you two, making you giggle and wave goodbye at Choso as he’s guided away without falter now.

When you return your attention to the rest of the room, the first thing you spot is Satoru wrapping the black scarf Satori made him.

“You’re like a little old lady now, Sugar,” he tells her sweetly as she’s beaming at him for not hiding the scarf she made with her own two hands. “Where’s my sweater and my gloves?”

Satori sighs. “Well, Belinda’s mom only taught me to knit a scarf. A sweater is too hard. And I couldn’t make you gloves because I don’t know how big your hands are.”

You laugh softly as you watch them from afar.

“I heard you need a sparring partner,” someone’s voice in your ear startles you.

“What?” You gasp and spin around to face your intruder with a glare.

“Oh, it’s you,” you mutter at Kashimo. “I know you’ve been dead, or in the state of limbo for like a thousand years, or whatever, but it’s not proper to creep up on women anymore. You know?”

He looks at you unamused and just simply presses you. “Do you want to do this or not?”

You really have nothing else to do since your students and your boyfriend are gone. Plus you really are curious about his fighting style.

“Fine,” you sigh, “but we’ll have to take this outside.”

He scoffs. “Obviously.”

You roll your eyes and start leading the way out. However, before you can leave the building you finally spot someone you’ve been waiting to meet, the lawyer!

Thus you depart from your set path and approach him with a smile, causing Kashimo to groan and wait for you with his arms crossed by the door.

“You must be Hiromi Higuruma,” you greet him sweetly. “I’ve been waiting to meet you since all I’ve heard from the students is how great you are. I’m Y/N Gojo.”

Higuruma holds your gaze as he narrows his dark eyes on you. He doesn’t smile, but you don’t expect him to, since Itadori says he’s like Nanami, serious, and hard to make smile.

“Yes,” he mutters nonchalantly. “I’ve heard about you. Aren’t you royalty or something?”

You share a small laugh and shake your head. “No, not at all.”

“Hm. But you are that killer right?” He doesn’t fear to spit out, making your smile fall right away. “The annihilator who has massacred innocent villages with her technique?”

Now all that curiosity to get to know him disappears. And all you’re left with is annoyance and cynical humor.

“You’re the one the older sorcerers call the fallen right? You’re her.”

He wants to push you? You won’t push back, nor will you crumble under the pressure of his judgment, no matter if he’s some lawyer, or whatever the hell he is. You’ll spit fire right out.

“What?” He asks with his eyebrows slowly furrowing as you start to laugh. “Is their suffering funny to you? Where’s your mercy?”

You smirk and then lean closer to him, making him look at you weirded out.

“What I did, I did for the good of my people,” you sneer coldly. “For the good of my children, and the future generation of sorcerers. Not that you would know of our suffering, or the way your beloved non-sorcerers treat my people and create the mess we have to kill for them. So if you’re looking for sympathy or a way to tear me down with “my crimes,”, I wouldn’t waste my breath if I were you. I believe in justice, I got justice. And I’ll do it again.”

Higuruma deepens his glare, but you just offer him a sweet smile and a sweet goodbye.

“Have a good day. I’ll see you around.” You wave at him and at last, join Kashimo outside.

“Are you ready, Gojo?” Kashimo finally gets to ask. “The first one to step out of the circle...” He pauses and points at the drawn-up circle around the both of you. “Loses.”

You stretch your arms and huff. “Sounds simple enough. And just so you know I won’t pull back.” You let him know.

He snickers as he swings his staff around in his hand to then point one end at you. “I never expected you to. And please don’t give into your humanity if you ever manage to hit me. Fight like a sorcerer or don’t fight at all.”

Oh well, someone's suicidal.

Nevertheless, you flash him a smirk before you drag one foot back and position yourself in a fighting stance that works best when using all your elements—Which is something you will do in this case, even if it is merely training.

However, from one moment to the next but without actually surprising you, Kashimo makes the first move by shooting a lightning strike at you from his staff.

It moves fast as expected, but you manage to actually duck it by swiftly spinning below it. When it gets past you you notice he can’t redirect it back to you, so it hits the tree behind you and cracks it in half.

“My turn,” you mutter before you pull water down from the sky, and manipulate the wind to spin around you as you quickly stand back to your given height. You then mix the water with the spinning air and shoot it out towards him like a fast-twisting cyclone.

Yet he swings his staff so fast that he breaks the cyclone in half and causes it to splash all around him. He then tries to overwhelm you and lunges forward to now shoot lightning from himself rather than the staff.

But from what Hakari told you he doesn’t have an unlimited amount of strikes, he needs to charge his lightning, so after this, he’ll continue with hand-to-hand.

Hm.

Fine, then you won’t duck it this time. Instead, you stomp your foot on the ground, causing a thick body of water to explode out all around you. You then flow the water up like a growing wave with elegant movements of your arms and let the lightning strike hit the water, which slows it down and starts to break it down. So before it can get out you shove the wave toward him.

Kashimo is clever though, he jumps high and flips over the wave. However, you can redirect your elements, you don’t have a limit, so as you spin around him to be across from him again and avoid being hit, you twist the water back around and manage to hit him right on his chest so hard he’s thrown back.

Yet as he gets close to the edge of the circle he manages to slide to a stop inches away from the line.

“How fun,” he mumbles smugly and doesn’t miss a beat, he moves towards you, but you have the advantage and the luck of not holding back, so you swing your arm and hit him with a wind slash.

Nonetheless, that’s what he needed to get close. Even if the slash hurts his torso, he gets close enough to surprise you with an uppercut to your jaw using his elbow. He then counters by swinging his staff over your knees, causing you to be shot with blinding pain as they both break. When he sees you hit the ground he pulls his staff back in an attempt to throw you out of the circle.

However, you ignore the pain and bask your arm with fire before you smash your fist into the ground and seep the flames in the dirt. You then quickly make the earth and fire burst out like a beautiful natural explosion that throws Kashimo back and makes him laugh when he hits the ground.

Because of course, he’s laughing after being hit, he’s an adrenaline junky.

“I charged up my lightning before just for you, Gojo” he shares as he pushes himself up and wipes blood off his lips and nose.

You flash him a smile as you heal your knees and slowly stand up. “Aw, you were thinking of me? How cute.” You taunt and make the dragon mark glow brightly as you prepare to attack, while lightning sparks around his hand before he points two fingers at you and shoots his beautiful lightning.

You’re prepared though and reveal a technique. “Elemental manipulation; Fire dragon.”

A large snakelike dragon made of red-orange flames blasts out of both of your palms and only grows large enough to counter Kashimo’s attack. It could grow bigger, but for now, you make it small to just blast fire out at the lightning bolt.

However, the lightning travels past the cursed energy killing flames, and hits the fire dragon through its mouth. But instead of traveling through the body of flames like Kashimo thought, the fire dragon does its job and kills the lightning strike. Instead of disintegrating the bolt like you thought, the lightning strike kills the fire dragon as well. They cancel each other out, causing a bright and beautiful explosion of fire and electricity that blinds you and Kashimo with its mix of bright blue and orange hues before the incredible force throws you both back.

Yet not enough to get either of you out of the fight. You both get close, triggering you to come up with a last move to determine the winner once and for all.

So without wasting any more time, you use the wind and shoot up to float in the sky, and Kashimo hits the end of his staff on the ground and shoots a bolt of lightning into the sky.

You proceed to manipulate large bodies of wind to pick up in speed and gather around you, causing the entire sky to darken and rumble as if an eerie disastrous storm approached. While Kashimo’s one bolt turns to a storm of lightning that crackles and shows flashes of your intimidating figure before you land on the ground so hard that a crater forms under your feet.

That same wind you aggravated flows down and starts forming a large orb over your fingertips pointed to the sky. Water you had so carelessly left abandoned rises off the ground and mixes with the orb made of wind. And to avoid causing any more destruction you avoid bringing the other elements into this, you leave this to the work of the gusting wind, and the surging water.

Thus to finally end this training spar, you blast the orb at Kashimo, and he shoots his lightning at you at the same time. And to try and avoid being hit you both try to swerve, but both of your attacks are too grande, from one moment to another you’re both hit and thrown back several feet.

One of you is drenched and coughing out the water invading their lungs as they heal all the deep cuts they suffered because of the wind's sharp gusts. While the other is basically seizing because of the lightning circulating their body. But one thing neither of you are, is upset. Once the lightning passes out of your body and you’re catching your breath on the ground, you’re the one that laughs now, and Kashimo, well he doesn’t regret wasting his time training with you.

Maybe he isn’t as bad as you painted him out to be. Is he still annoying? Yes, but…you had fun using your elements, it’s usually so hard displaying them at the level you used them today because of how destructive they can be to your surroundings and a person. But you didn’t need to hold back with him, so it was fun.

“I had fun,” you share as you get up to your feet.

Kashimo was already walking away, but stops and faces you. When you approach him you flash him a smile.

“Thanks.”

His eyebrows furrow and he shoots you a pointed look, but he sighs deeply and interjects. “You didn’t hold back…I see now where your student learned his determination and need to give his all.”

You grin and take that as a compliment. “Let’s do it again,” you suggest and walk away with your phone in hand, not realizing everyone inside the building was watching until you get close to the windows.

“Nice fight!” Takaba yells loud enough so you can hear him from inside.

You offer him a soft smile before you beam as you spot Satori on Satoru’s shoulders clapping proudly.

However, before you can acknowledge anyone else your attention is stolen by Choso’s message on your phone.

Choso: The sky got dark and we heard loud explosions. Your students refuse to turn back, is everything okay?

What a cute worrywart.

You: Just training with Kashimo, don't worry lover ;)

You send that first and then smirk as you follow up with something flirty.

You: Did you know lips could get lonely? I didn’t until now as my lips miss yours.

He takes a while to respond, but you know it’s not on purpose, you did your job. You got him flustered.

Choso: I’ll be back soon. Let’s hope this ache doesn’t kill us both.

You giggle and feel your heart skip a beat as you grow flustered too.

Choso: Oh and Kashimo?

He sends after, but you don’t feed his jealousy, you simply brush him off.

You: xoxo

——

*THE NEXT DAY*

It’s weird being back in your childhood home, especially side by side with your brother. It’s like stepping back in time when all you were was the second child, the scared daughter, and nothing more.

Sure you came back before, when you were 20, but that was different, and you were still young and stupid then. You’re old now, mature, stronger, a mother, a widow, and reunited with Satoru.

Not like it all actually matters when you come face-to-face with your father though. Because the moment your eyes met his, you felt like his fearful and immature daughter all over again. You can’t look him in the eyes even if you’re the one who has the high ground as you stand by Satoru.

“You have come back home to us, Clan Leader,” your father's voice brings you chills as he talks to Satoru.

“Hm.” Satoru hums and makes no effort to make this meeting professional. He doesn’t sit in his designated seat, or care to pay mind to the rest of his clan bowing to him. He’s not even wearing traditional clothing like Satori and you—But you blame that on his laziness rather than lack of care since you won’t be here long at all, and he and Shoko are taking Satori to the amusement park.

“All thanks to my sister,” Satoru lies. It was a group effort. “She basically died to get me back.”

You don’t give away your annoyance or the fact that he wasn’t telling the truth, you keep your composure and slowly raise your eyes off the ground to face them all, every single clan member gathered in this room. Not with that timidness you would face your clan before, there’s no innocent gleam in your eyes anymore. Your fire-kissed eyes basically set the room ablaze with your cold sinister glare—Even when you look at your father who still intimidates you.

“But it’s not why she’s here,” Satoru adds with amusement. “As some of you may know, she was never disowned. So this isn’t some announcement to lift a ban that was never on her, it’s more…to say that she will be an active member once again because of my chosen heir. Satori Geto. Her daughter.”

Satori balls the material of your sleeve as she grips onto your arm and hears the whispers spread around the room as some interest are sparked at the sound of the name Geto. While others look disgusted that Satoru points at a girl.

“Does the girl have cursed spirit manipulation?” Your father asks for himself and the other curious members.

“No,” Satoru brings their hopes down and makes your father immediately uninterested in his granddaughter.

“But she’s still a Gojo,” Satoru adds. “And since I don’t have children of my own, she’s the one set to inherit my title and everything that comes with it, as well as everything I own.” He smirks and rubs Satori’s head. “And it’s not up for discussion either if you have a problem,” his voice suddenly grows serious. “Deal with it, or if you’re feeling ballsy come face me. Got it?”

As improper as he just shared that, people still wouldn’t dare oppose him. Not because he’s their leader, but because of the power and strength he wields.

“All right everyone may go,” Satoru sounds relieved to end this meeting even if he didn’t address the very big fact that the Zen’ins are extinct except for Fushiguro and Maki, which bears the question, which other strong sorcerer clan will take their spot in the big three. You know it’s not really up to him, but he’s the clan leader and he still needs to address that problem and so many others, so the meeting was far from over.

Then again, whereas Satoru loves teaching and guiding the next generation of sorcerers, he doesn’t have much patience for all this. He relishes in the power the family name brings him, the money, in his technique, and how strong he is, but he never cared for his title as clan leader. Which leads you to wonder what you would have been like as a clan leader if you were given the privilege to have that title, and your clan weren't misogynist.

You unexpectedly turned out like the rest of them and don’t harbor any love for non-sorcerers, you’re more proper than Satoru is, you’re more responsible, and don’t think being a leader is a burden. You’re everything your parents wanted in their heir.

“Where should we take Satori first?” Satoru asks with excitement.

You peel your eyes away from your father's retreating figure and look at them with a feigned smile. “Why don’t you two go ahead I want to go see something else first.”

Satoru is about to tag along but he manages to detect the trouble behind your eyes and lets you have your time. “All right, but we’ll catch up. Come on, Sugar, I’ll show you some real cool stuff.”

Satori doesn’t argue, she leaves you to watch her and her Tiger cursed-spirit follow at Satoru’s side with excitement. It’s only once they’re both out of view that you walk over to your room.

You don’t expect it to still hold what you left behind. Your room is probably empty and everything you once owned was probably burnt by your parents or cousins, but you just have that urge to at least get near that door. It won’t take away the trauma you endured, but you’ve gotten this far, it’ll heal some of that pain your young self was left with.

Nevertheless, when you do reach that door you bring yourself to open it and find that you're walking into the past. Everything is like how you left it, it’s all untouched and dustless.

It makes you cry. You didn’t want to, but you can’t stop the tears, or that ache from turning to sharp paralyzing pain even if you had let go of that young girl long ago. And even if it’s all unrecognizable to your eyes, seeing everything as if you never left hurts a part of your soul.

It’s why after standing in silence for a few minutes you need to at least hear the voice of the man you love since you couldn’t bring him to provide you with the comfort you needed.

“Hello?” Choso answers after the first ring. “Y/N is everything okay?” He asks right away since he knew you didn't want to come after he let you rant last night about Satoru basically forcing you.

“I’m fine,” you whisper before you throw yourself on your bed and continue. “I just wanted to hear your voice.”

There’s a moment of silence, but you know it’s because Choso is blushing.

“I want to show you something,” you fill the silence and pull your phone away from your ear to click on the FaceTime button. And when the screen clears all you see is the inside of your boyfriend's ear. “Cho,” you chuckle. “Pull your phone back.”

“Oh,” he breathes out bashfully and then lets you see his handsome face.

“Look,” you squeal and show him a picture of you and Satoru when you were 6 and he was 7. “It’s little me and my brother. We were wearing coordinating Yukata’s.”

Choso smiles softly before he squints his eyes to look at the picture better. “I forget the eye color you have now isn’t the one you were born with.”

You turn the photo to look at yourself and muster a grin. “It’s crazy, isn’t it? I tend to forget now too. But anyway,” you breathe out and put the photo away to give him all your attention. “I came to my room and it’s the exact way I left it. There’s no dust or anything. The clothes are the only thing that’s gone, but everything else is the same; even my beloved Legolas posters.” You smirk proudly and admire your first-ever fictional husband.

“Hm…was it your brother?” Choso chooses to ignore you fawning over fictional men to ask what you were wondering too.

But, you have to believe it’s your brother. You don’t want to get your hopes up and think it was your mother.

“I think so,” you give your opinion quieter and with your smirk falling to a frown. “But it’s still strange. It’s been 11 years.”

“Yeah but you didn't stop being his sister,” he says softly.

“Yeah…I suppose.”

Choso frowns through the screen as he sees your deep frown and conflicted gaze, wishing from where he is that he could be there to hug you like he knew you wanted.

“Where are you?” You change the subject to avoid ending the call. “Are you still at home?”

“Oh, no, I came with Yuji. I’ll be here until it’s time for our date.”

You smile giddly and probe. “So you’re going to pick me up then?”

Choso smiles sweetly. “Of course, I won’t be the one driving because I can’t, but yes I will pick you up.”

Your heart swoons and before you can respond with something sweet two of your cousins walk into your room with glares they think are intimidating.

“Oh, Choso, honey, I’ll text you when I leave this place, all right?”

He doesn’t need to be with you to know that something unwelcoming appeared because he knows you in more ways than one. He sees the way your eyes focus past the phone and hardens to a glare.

“Is everything all right?” He asks with concern.

You flash him an assuring smile and nod. “Yep. Everything is all good. I’ll see you later.”

Before he can respond you hang up the phone and swing your legs over the bed to stand on your feet and look at your cousins with a smirk and a pointed glare.

“It’s stupid for you to show up here again,” one of them spats while they ball their fist.

You choose to be a tease and count them to point out the missing triplet. “You’re an incomplete set, what happened to the third?”

The second one seethes and steps forward with their jaw clenched.

“You’re a kinslayer,” the first one snaps at you as if that’s supposed to offend you.

“That term is outdated by a couple of centuries, don't you think?” You taunt them and strut forward to be close to them.

“You think you’re funny?” The second one rebuttals and takes a step towards you. “You killed our brother—”

“He came at me first,” you cut him off smugly and omit the rest of the story because it’s too long for right now. “I was in front of the fireplace and he attacked. I countered, but not because it was self-defense…” you trail off and snicker. “It was justice. The friends with him played with fire and got burnt.”

The first one grinds his teeth and gets his fist ready to try and attack.

Which is so adorable that he thinks he can hurt you.

However, he’s interrupted by your brother. “Do we have a problem here Akeno, Atsushi?”

Both men immediately back down, and that only makes your smirk that more taunting.

“No,” The first one, Akeno, mutters as he pierces his glare at you. “Clan leader.”

Atsushi shoots you one last rageful glare before he follows his brother out of your room.

“They weren't at the welcoming meeting,” you interject casually when it’s just Satoru, Satori, and you. “Will you punish them, “oh great leader”?” You mock him and walk back to sit on the edge of your bed

“No,” Satoru lets out with a sigh as he walks in.

“Is this your room mommy?” Satori asks with excited wonder.

“Yeah, take whatever you want,” you tell her and let her snoop around your room to get to know who you were when you were a teenager.

“What was that about?” Satoru refers to your cousins as he stops to admire the pictures on a picture board that hands on your dresser.

“Oh you know.” you shrug nonchalantly. “They’re mad because I broke their set.”

And he knew that.

“Was this…you?” You refer to your room.

“Nope,” he reveals causally, causing you to grow rigid and shocked. “It was mother. She refuses to clean out your room.”

Oh….

Oh.

This isn’t good for your already aching heart. This only perplexes you.

“Why?” You let out in a broken whisper.

Satoru looks back at you as if the answer isn’t obvious. But it isn’t to you. You thought she hated you for being weak, and for who you turned out to be.

Why doesn’t she hate you?

Hating her would be so much easier if she did.

“Where is Mother?” You ask curiously. “She wasn’t at the gathering either.

Satoru lets out a deep breath before he turns to face you. “Mother is sick. She’s been sick for a while now, but after I was imprisoned she got worse.”

You push yourself off the bed and can’t help but look at him with a pointed glare. “She’s sick? Why didn’t you tell me anything?”

Satoru rests his hands on his hips and shrugs nonchalantly. “I didn’t think you’d care.”

You part your lips to speak, but nothing comes out in your confusion. It’s like a part of you is upset that he didn’t at least mention something, as well as worried for the mother who bore you. But then another part of you can’t gather that much will to care either.

“She’s my mother,” you whisper and begin to gnaw on the tip of your nail. “Can…” you shouldn't, but you also want to. “Can we go see her?”

Satoru hesitates as he waits for you to change your mind, but when your head doesn’t rise to take your request back, he gives in. “Yeah, she’s here.”

You let out a deep sigh and nod slowly before you look over at your daughter snooping through photos on your vanity. “Come on Satori, let's go.”

The girl swipes something from the vanity and then runs after Satoru and you as you walk out of your room.

“Look, Mom,” she whispers excitedly and shows you the picture she snatched of Suguru and you when your relationship was very new—“it’s you and Daddy. And you had pink hair.”

You genuinely smile at the picture and nod before you give her some insight. “Yeah, we took that on his birthday. He came to meet my parents.”

Satori looks at the picture in complete awe for a long time before she carefully tucks it into her pocket.

“Do you like the grounds so far, Chipmunk,” you probe. “It’s changed a lot since I lived here, but this was still my home. Do you like it?”

“Of course, there's been remodeling,” Satoru cuts in teasingly. “A couple of years ago a section of our house burnt down.”

You smirk at the mention and press your daughter.

“Well.” She shrugs. “It’s nice, it’s very big, but guess what! Your dad has the same eye color you once had.”

You frown but hide your discomfort. “You met my father?” You ask and burn your glare on the back of Satoru’s neck so he knows you’re displeased.

“Yeah, he was nice to me even if he looks very mean.”

“She met father?” You ask your brother now in an agitated way that Satoru detects, but he does not take you seriously.

“Yeah, we ran into him, he didn’t chat much so don’t worry,” he brushes you off, even if him not telling you before is pretty upsetting.

However, since Satori is here you don’t pick a fight, you just exhale deeply and let it go. Besides, you then arrive at your mother's quarters.

“We’re going to meet grandma,” Satoru announces excitedly. “Is. That. Okay?” He pronouncates each word because he thinks he knows what’s grinding your gears, but he doesn’t have a damn clue and it only works to piss you off.

“Of course,” you sass him between gritted teeth. “I wouldn't be here if it wasn’t.”

“Hm. Just making sure.” He flashes you a smile and then walks in the room so casually, but you can’t match the beat of his drums, you stay frozen past the entrance and dig your nails in the palm of your hands as you try hard not to storm off this property.

“Mommy, are you okay?” Satori’s sweet voice snaps you from your stupor.

Through all the haze in your head, you didn’t even notice she had stayed behind with you rather than following her ever-so-beloved uncle.

“Oh,” you breathe out and assure her with a smile. “Yes. I’m fine.”

She’s like a breath of fresh air much needed in this suffocating place that lets you push yourself just enough to step inside but stop nonetheless behind a delicate wooden divider that blocks the sight of your mother, and of you to her. You only hear her voice as she speaks to Satoru.

“I was so worried I’d never see you again,” she’s basically weeping to him.

“Do you really think they could beat me?” Satoru tries to comfort her through the pain that’s so easily detectable in her voice.

“Y/N saved me,” he still omits the truth. “That’s why I'm here.”

“Y/N?” She asks, but you can’t make out what she feels this time, but you also don’t want to know. “Where is she?”

“She’s here. She’s in this room, but first, Mother, I want you to meet someone,” he says excitedly before you hear his footsteps approach.

“Will you come with me?” Satori asks as she knows what’s about to come.

But you can’t face your mother yet. You only faced your father because he was there amongst the ones welcoming Satoru, but your mother is different and you haven’t been able to build the strength to face her yet.

“Your uncle will be with you,” you hate to turn your daughter down. “I just need a minute.”

Satori pouts, but she doesn’t argue, she doesn’t understand why you’re acting so strange either, but she doesn’t question you. When Satoru appears she just easily finds comfort by holding his hand instead before he walks her behind the divider to show her off to your mother.

A mother you can’t see the face of when Satoru returns to her with a little girl holding his hand, a mother's breath you hear hitch when you hear their footsteps halt by her bed, and a mother you hear move before she asks a question with a gentle laugh.

“Is she yours?”

“No,” Satoru chuckles. “She’s y/n’s.” He announces and you hear silence from her end.

“Mother, this is Satori Geto, y/n’s daughter.” Your brother adds, and you hold your breath to hear her reaction better.

Yet there’s not a thing uttered until you hear Satori break the silence very shyly. “Hello.”

“Satori,” Satoru adds. “This is Junko. Your grandmother.”

“Your name means enlightenment,” you finally hear your mother address your daughter. “Just like Satoru’s. Actually, you have very similar names.”

“My Daddy chose my name,” Satori loves to share that piece of information.

“Hm, well he chose a perfect name,” your mother says…sweetly. You hear the honey oozing off her voice.

“Thank you,” Satori whispers.

Your mother then musters a laugh before she reminisces. “Your mother used to cling onto your uncle just like that when she was a little girl too, you know?”

The corner of your lips twitch to a smile but you don’t let it spread, you just start to gnaw on your nails again.

“Really? Was she my age?”

“How old are you?” Your mother asks.

“6,” Satori reveals with a bit more confidence now.

“Ah, then yes. Do you have a brother or a sister, little Satori?” Your mother is curious to know since Satori is the only one she sees before her

“Hm, I had two older sisters, but they’re dead,” Satori shares so casually, making your mother not respond right away this time. She’s quiet for a moment that lets Satoru finally excuse themselves.

“Well, I think we should get going. Y/N and I have things to do. I just came to let you all know I’m back and introduce this one to the clan.” He’s so dismissive and not at all as polite as he should be.

Not like you actually care when it comes to your parents, he just could have dismissed himself a lot differently.

“Oh I thought you would stay longer,” your mother interjects. “But I suppose duties call. It was an honor meeting you little Satori, I hope you come again. Perhaps I can have something to give you then.”

And she’ll love that.

“Really?” Satori asks as you expected, excited. You can practically hear her grinning.

“Yes. Just come again.”

“I will!” Satori exclaims. “Goodbye, Grandmother!”

“Goodbye, Satori,” you hear your mother's voice quiver now over the simplicity of Satori’s last word. And you know that if you could see her you would probably see her eyes get teary, but you stay behind the divider and wait for your daughter to come running to you.

“Mother did you hear I’m going to get a present!” Satori shares enthusiastically, so it makes it hard to keep a frown on your face.

“I heard. Are you ready to go now?”

“Are you?” Satoru interjects as he walks over to join you and your daughter.

“I,” you mutter and pause to look at the path that leads to your mother and heavily consider just walking away without seeing her. It would cause your heart less stress, but…you’re already here, and…she’s sick. If death comes for her tomorrow and you went on without confronting her after 11 years, then you would regret it. So you face Satoru with the choice to waste a few more minutes in this damned place.

“Just wait outside, I’ll be out in a minute.”

Satoru nods in comprehension and walks off with Satori, leaving you still behind that divider as you hesitate some more. Once again you want to just storm off, every cell in your body is yelling at you just to go, but you can’t, you can’t just go. So you take a few steps forward just to the point you’re able to peek past the divider and see her.

She’s much older, of course, her hair is peppered with gray spurts, but her wrinkles are still not a prominent thing. She could pass by as younger than she is if her exhaustion and illness didn't leave a clear mark on her face.

“She has your smile,” she breaks the silence without needing you to fully step out before her. “And your timidness.”

You clench your fists and exhale deeply before you step out past the divider and present yourself to her after a decade.

“Other than that she looks like her father.”

How is it so easy for her to speak to you? You can’t build up the courage or think of a word. You can barely look at her.

“I’m sorry for your loss,” she continues to try and get you to speak. “Losing not only one child, but two is a devastation a mother should never bear.”

You break away from the spot you stay glued to and slowly approach her. “Suguru and I adopted them,” you let her know. “But no matter the difference in our blood, and the name on paper, I still loved them as if they were my own.”

Your mother hums and when you get close to her side she’s able to see the change in your eyes. She’s able to see that the fearful and soft girl she once knew was gone and replaced by a stronger, more confident woman with even more radiating beauty that looks almost majestic.

“Y/N,” she whispers with tears rolling down her cheeks.

You push yourself forward and sit by her side which seems to let her think she’s allowed to touch you, but the moment her cold fingers make contact with your warm flesh, you slowly drag your hand away.

“Y/N,” her voice breaks as her eyes gleam brightly with tears. “Please forgive me,” she says since she can read your urgency to leave on your body. “I’m sorry.”

Her words hit you like a piercing blade to the heart, they hurt every single muscle and bring tears to your eyes. For so long that’s all you wanted to hear. You wished to hear her admit that the way they treated you was wrong, that she was wrong for letting them treat you the way they did. After all, you were her only daughter, her child, but now that you heard it coming out of her lips you can’t handle the weight.

It doesn’t matter that she’s sick, or that she’s weeping and pleading. You can’t forgive her either, you can’t love her like you once used to. She turned a blind eye and you got hurt because of it.

“I’ll let you see her,” is all you can gather to say. “I’ll let her come with Satoru if he wants to bring her, but I can’t say what you want to hear. No matter how many times I come back.”

You see her heart break at your words, her eyes express that deep ache, but you can't bring yourself to forgive her. You can work towards not hating her, but that’s the best you can do.

“I am sorry,” she whispers.

You swallow thickly and wipe away the tear that escaped past your eye. “I know,” you mumble before you get up and walk out.

“Let’s leave,” you say in a rush, and Satoru doesn’t protest or prolong your stay this time. You finally leave the damned place and only once you've made some distance between you and your family home can you rest your shoulders and let your racing heart ease to normal.

And it’s also after you’ve gotten away that you finally text Choso.

You to Choso: I’m finally out and I’m on my way home.

As expected Choso responds right away.

Choso: How was it? Are you okay?

You could ramble about your experience but all you want is to forget for now, so you deflect.

You: I’m fine, it was exhausting, but we can talk about it later.

Choso: We can have our date another day then I don’t want to overwhelm you.

You smile at his consideration, but just picturing him in formal attire, and playing out how your date could go is what kept you going today.

You: No, no! Please no. I’m looking forward to it, it’s what kept me going.

You: We’re having our date. You’re going to pick me up and we’re going to have the night of our lives today.

Choso: Okay. Good.

You grin and sigh with bliss.

You: I love you.

You just need to hear it—or read it, whatever.

Choso: I love you too. So much.

Choso: Can you talk? I want to hear your voice now.

You: Of course, I can :) but I won’t. It’ll make yearning for each other so much more intense don’t you think?

Choso: Are you teasing me?

You giggle at your phone and prove that it works because this interaction only makes your ache for him that much more intense.

You: Maybe but now you can recall my sweet voice from the moments I would talk in your ear. And picture my soft lips moving with each word.

You smirk and only a couple seconds pass before you see the three little dots as he writes his response, and then quickly sends it.

Choso: Maybe I should go home and we can go from there? I miss you.

You: Nope you’re picking me up remember? Xoxo.

——

*LATER*

It’s been a while since you’ve been on a date. With the last time being with your husband, a man you had known for a decade.

There were always date jitters even after 11 years because it was always exciting going on dates with Suguru, that never left, but this time it's different because it’s with someone else. This date with Choso is the first, and even if you’ve already skipped ahead and had sex, multiple times, there’s always something so intimate about a date. About it just being the two of you, that's especially more intensified on the first date.

You honestly feel nauseous. But that’s maybe because you have yet to see him. Knowing he should pick you up soon has your anticipation all heightened.

You just need to breathe.

Breathe.

Nevertheless, the doorbell rings and you get startled, but super giddy too.

“Wish me luck worm,” you speak to your worm cursed spirit, who just tilts its head before it watches you leave with your desired shoes in hand.

Once you reach the door you drop the shoes and slide them on before you smooth out your long black skirt and open the door to see him, your beloved Choso at the doorstep with his dark brown hair down, a bouquet of red tulips in his hands to greet you with, and a sweet smile on his face to ease your nerves.

“Choso,” you greet with endearment.

“Y/N,” his breath hitches, and his kind brown eyes widen, before his eyes roam your body as he takes in every inch of you in your expensive beautiful black two-piece set to engrave the sight of you in his memory. “These are for you.”

You take the bouquet from his hands but instead of walking in to put them in a vase, you jump on him and trap him in a loving embrace he returns with no hesitation.

“You look absolutely beautiful,” he whispers in your ear. “I’m lucky to have you as my date.”

You seep in his fresh and very outdoorsy musk through your nose before you giggle and pull away, but press your hands on his chest and check him out from head to toe, seeing at that instant that he's wearing new boots, and a new everything actually. He looks quite expensive which lets you know he had help picking out what he’s wearing.

“And you look very handsome,” you compliment him as you fix the collar of his coat. “I just might not let you out of my sight tonight or else they’ll steal you from right under me.”

Choso’s cheeks grow a light shade of red and his eyes flicker down, but they quickly find themselves back on you to continue admiring you like one would a beautiful painting or the moon.

“Let me just put these in some water and then we can go okay?” You let him know before you rush inside to do what you said and return to him to finally head out.

On your way to the restaurant, you find yourselves both nervous and just stealing glances at each other, or holding lingering stares that show both of your desires for one another, and your eagerness to fast forward this evening and pounce on each other to start your most intimate act.

You unknowingly both dreamed of just having a round of sex in the car, but neither of you spoke it into existence because you had a chauffeur. So all you comforted yourselves with was holding each other's hand and resting your head on his shoulder to take in his presence after the chaotic morning you had.

“Is this what you went to buy yesterday?” You finally ask him considering he was very guarded about everything last night when you asked.

“Yes,” Choso says with a soft laugh. “Kirara and Hakari helped me pick out a couple of things, and ultimately this outfit. Yuji tried, but uh it seems he’s a bit clueless about how to dress, or at least that’s what Hakari and Kirara told him.”

You chuckle. “Sounds like them.”

“You smell good by the way,” Choso murmurs against the top of your head before he presses a gentle kiss on it. “That’s my favorite fragrance of yours.”

You smile softly and thank him by pressing a kiss on his knuckles.

“We should take a picture together,” you suggest, and don’t wait to take your phone out and take a couple of pictures before you grab his phone and attempt to take more on his to give his camera roll some company.

However, before you can go to the camera app you come to a halt when you see that he has a picture of Itadori and you on his lock screen. Only it’s a very terribly off-guard one of Itadori, and your picture is one of you sleeping. And he doesn't have them as one single picture, no, he collaged them on a grid, which…ugh!

Your heart can’t take it, he's too cute.

“Oh baby,” you coo at his attempts. “Did you do this?”

Choso clears his throat. “Yeah, I didn’t have a picture of Itadori and you so I tried to make it work.”

Your heart leaps and as cute as this attempt is, you first take a picture of him and you together—Which turned out great might you add. You’re smiling and resting your cheek on his shoulder, and he’s not looking at the camera, he was captured looking at you, but his smile is soft and his eyes reflect his love for you.

“This,” you roll out and help him format his phone. “Picture of us will be your lock screen. And this…” you trail off and go on your phone to send a picture to his phone that arrives right away.

“This,” you continue and save an off-guard picture you took of Itadori and him laughing with each other just the other day. “Is your home screen.”

“I like that photo,” he says softly. “It’s better than mine.” He laughs at himself.

“I intended to send it yesterday but I completely forgot. It’ll work as a placeholder until we take a good picture of him and you.” You tell him before you grin and shake his arm. “I got it! A family portrait in matching winter sweaters. That would be so cute.”

Choso chuckles softly and goes shy. “It sounds great if he wants that.”

You tilt your head and look at him with a comforting gaze. “Cho, I’m sure he will. You’re his brother. He’s starting to appreciate that. I see it.”

Choso looks down at your hand caressing his forearm and sighs softly. “Step by step, right? That’s what you said.”

“Yeah.” You assure him before you lean in and press a kiss on his lips. “I guess we won’t be having our first kiss at the end of the date.”

“That’s a ridiculous courtesy anyway,” he plays along with you. “How could any man look at someone so beautiful and not kiss them? It’d be like dying of dehydration.”

Your face goes ablaze and you giggle before you can't hold back anymore, you make out with him and fill your hunger with just the taste of his lips. You ache for more but you somehow manage to think clearly and limit yourself to just kissing until you finally arrive at the restaurant. Which thankfully has your favorite secluded booth open.

“I’ve been meaning to ask,” Choso interjects almost hesitantly. “How was your visit to your family home?”

You share a nervous laugh and shake your head. “How about I tell you tomorrow?” You ask as you look up from the menu. “I don’t want to spoil the night.”

Choso’s breath hitches and he immediately expresses his guilt and regret for trying to bring it up. “Oh, I’m sorry.”

You reach over and take his hand. “Don’t apologize it’s okay. It really is.” You smile at him before you grin at the menu. “Now, why don’t we focus on what we should eat? There’s so much for you to try, but there’s just so little appetite, hm,” you tap your chin and then point out to different things he should try before you close your eyes and try to picture your perfect meal.

“What are you doing?” Choso gets curious.

“Picturing my food. Should I get some appetizers before my ramen? And what about dessert?” You mumble and then open your eyes to look at him wide-eyed and eager. “We should get some ice cream after.”

“You’ll get cold,” he points out.

You click your tongue in agreement so you then come up with something else that’s desirable. “Boba? Or a coffee?”

Choso laughs at you but you don’t find humor in your indecisiveness, you’re being serious.

“Cho, I’m serious.”

“We can get whatever you want,” he offers no help whatsoever.

“Y/N,” your name is called out in a sing-song voice. And when you look over you see the owner of the restaurant.

“Mrs Kaho,” you greet.

She sets down a bottle of sake that you didn’t order and looks around the booth before she probes. “Where’s my favorite customer.”

You smile at her. “She’s spending some quality time with her uncle and her aunt today.”

“Aww well, you bring her next time.” She says and looks at Choso now with a faint taunting smile. “No Nanami today? Did he finally find a girlfriend? If not I have a niece who just got divorced. They’d compliment each other.”

You choose not to dive into the truth tonight so you have to lie for your sake and the sake of this night. “No Nanami today. But I brought my boyfriend, Choso.”

Mrs. Kaho narrows her eyes on said man and then grins before pouring him the sake she had just brought. “You’re a handsome fella.”

Choso’s cheeks flush and he fiddles with his thumbs. “Oh thank you.”

“It’s good y/n found you, she’s too young and beautiful to be a widow,” she doesn’t hold back from saying. “I feared she’d end up alone all her life.”

You laugh as you shake your head at her daring comment, while Choso smiles at you as he gives her a response. “I’m glad I found her too.”

Mrs Kaho pats his shoulder with praise and finally takes your orders before leaving right away since she said if she stayed any longer she would end up stealing your night by talking with you.

Once you’re alone though the space between Choso and you is quiet. It’s a comfortable silence, and one you almost want to keep because it gives you time to just simply admire him under the soft light dangling over the table, and see the way his brown eyes reflect the sun's hue without needing to be out. They’re so bright and rich, so perfectly brown. And his hair! It looks so soft as it drapes over his neck. And his lips are a paleish pink, thin, but almost always pouty. It makes you want to just kiss it away, they’re so inviting and soft. His skin is soft too and he does nothing specific to have it that way.

He looks nonchalant, but not to you, not anymore, you see every emotion rushing through behind his eyes, in the small and simple movements of his body. Which probably sounds crazy to anyone who doesn’t know you, you probably sound obsessive considering how long you’ve been dating, but after those 19 days of hiding out, living with an ancient sorcerer underground, and now living together, how could you not know how to read him? Or memorize every single detail on his pale face.

If someone asked you to paint him, you would be able to do it blind.

Which…is terrifying. Loving him so deeply scares you because of your current circumstances. You don’t want to lose him because that will truly crush you, but with each running second you are glad to have the privilege to love him too.

“Y/N,” Choso calls out and catches you staring when he drifts his eyes to you.

“Hm?” You probe softly as he swallows back nervously as if he caught you admiring for the first time.

“I…I have something for you,” he shares and reaches in his coat pocket to pull out a small red box decorated with a white bow, and a tag that you see has your name on it when he hands it to you.

“A present?” You quiere giddly. “You shouldn’t have.”

“I wanted to get you something,” he rebuttals and watches you with his breath caught in his throat. “I wanted you to own something that I gave you since I had yet to give you something.”

You smile at him with awe and can't argue with that so you give into your curiosity and undo the white bow. Before you can open it you flash him a grin and then close your eyes as you pull the lid off to not spoil the surprise right away. Once nothing else is blocking what he gifted you, you open your eyes, and gasp softly at the beautiful sight.

“Oh Choso,” you muse and pull out a golden heart locket necklace that's decorated with small white diamonds around your October birthstone. “This…” you trail off and look at him with tears in your eyes.

“Turn it around before you open it,” he instructs before you can slide over and kiss him.

“Okay,” you breathe out shakily, and when you do what he says you find yourself with more tears filling your eyes that make it hard to read what was inscribed on the metal. So you wipe away the pesky tears and hold back for now to read the small words.

“For my sun, my moon, my beloved. My y/n.”

You laugh blissfully and keep holding back your tears because if that’s what's on the back then what’s inside is probably only more heart-wrenching.

And alas you stand corrected when you see a small little heart-shaped picture of your students and kids together. All five of them are forever cherished in that frame; Hakari, Kirara, Satori, and your twins, your girls, Nanako and Mimiko.

“I,” you cry. “Oh,” you gasp and cover your mouth as you handle your disbelief.

“Choso,” is all you can say. All your words are lost.

“Do you like it?” He makes sure to ask even if the tears ruining your makeup answer his question.

“Yes,” you mewl and nod at him before you drag yourself around the booth to throw your arms around him. “I love it. Thank you, my love.”

Choso twists around to wrap his arms around you even if it’s an uncomfortable position.

“I love you,” you murmur and tilt your head up to kiss him. And even if you are where you are you move slowly and savor the taste of lips so when you pull back you’re content with what you got for now.

“Could you help me put it on?” You ask and turn around to give him access to your bare neck. “Now,” you add while he very delicately hooks the necklace around your neck. “All I need is a picture of you on that empty spot.” You smile and wipe away the last tears rolling down your cheek.

“I'm sure someone else can fill the spot, like, your brother.” He says making you snort and laugh.

“As if. No thanks.”

You would say he could relate because he has brothers, but he can't. His love for his brothers is too pure.

“No, I want you,” you speak sweetly and turn around when he finishes to kiss him one more time.

“Now,” you say smugly and pull back to reach for your bag. “Since great minds think alike, I actually got you something too.”

Choso shifts in his seat and watches you more intently now as he actually grows nervous as well as curious.

“You shouldn’t have y/n,” he really means that. You love gifts so you actually loved that he got you something. You actually expected something smaller but still picked out with love, or even a ring, but he really surprised you.

“I wanted to,” you brush off his modesty. “I hope you like it.”

You hand him a small box as well and beam at him.

“Open it,” you press eagerly and start fiddling with the rings you have around your fingers.

Choso exhales deeply as he hesitates before he opens the box and gasps with shock. Even more so than yours.

“Sweetheart,” he says softly but also kind of in a scolding manner since he doesn’t agree that you should waste money on him.

“Pull it out,” you encourage him, but he hesitates once again before he wraps his fingers around the silver chain and pulls out a silver rectangular pendant dangling at the end that has a dragon carved on the front.

“A dragon,” he muses. “It reminds me of you.”

You flash him a grin and swoon over the fact that he thinks of you, but that’s not the most important part. He almost misses what you had transcribed on the back, but before you can guide him to it he catches the cursive and holds the pendant still, finding his breath escaping him once again when he reads all his brother's names on the back.

“If I got one of their names wrong, let me know,” you interject as his lips quiver and tears fill his eyes. “The lady that helped me said it can be fixed.”

As if it was possible the love he has for you in his eyes only grows more, and unlike you who found it easy to embrace him, he can’t even move with how shocked he is. So you lean over and embrace him to comfort him.

“I love you, thank you so much for loving me, Choso,” you whisper in his ear for only him to hear.

“Thank you for letting me,” he manages to whisper back. “And thank you for this gift. It’s spectacular. Thank you.”

You pull back and kiss him again before you press your forehead on his and take his chain to put it on him.

“Who would’ve guessed huh?” You add with amusement and pull back. “It’s like we read each other's minds.”

“It seems we did,” he teases. “But now I don’t know how to thank you beyond simple words.”

You smirk and lean over to whisper teasingly in his ear. “I can think of a couple of ways.”

Choso swallows thickly and meets your gaze with his pupils dilated before he laughs at you and presses a kiss on your cheek.

“You’ll have to feed your stamina first then,” he remarks, making you gasp and chuckle.

“Choso!” You pretend to scold him. “How dirty of you.”

He smirks and you can’t help but laugh some more and then dive into more lighthearted humor that makes you both laugh to the point it’s hard to breathe. You almost forget about the food until it comes and that’s all you can think about until it’s done.

After that, after you’ve enjoyed your meal, and dessert (mostly you), each other is all you can think about. The warmth of your hands as you have them intertwined together. The sound of your breaths as you enjoy a quiet stroll towards the next destination Choso had planned out for tonight. And the simplicity of each other's presence.

You could think about the intimacy of each other's lips, of wanting to find an escape to have a quick pleasurable moment, but as of now, as you walked through the chilly evening, all you thought about was the joy of having one another.

“Did you like it?” You finally remember to ask. “I mean I did promise a good meal, so was it good? And say the truth it won’t hurt my feelings.”

Choso lets your hand go, forcing your palm to be slammed with the cold running air. But just as you’re going to ask what he’s doing he pulls his coat off and carefully drapes it over your shoulders to provide you more warmth since he knows how cold you get.

“Thank you Choso,” you whisper and offer him a sweet smile before you take his hand again and repeat your question. “So tell me.”

Choso meets your gaze and his lips tug to a small grin. “I’ll say this.” He clears his throat, making your eyebrows knit together. “I won’t let you eat it alone. If you’re committed I am too.”

He remembers your joke!

“Great!” You laugh and gently nudge him to the side before you hug his arm. “You remembered.”

Choso’s grin turns smug and he nods gently.

Soon thereafter you arrive at the spot where the room is all covered in screens to make you believe, in this instant, that you’re in the deep blue depths of the ocean watching the sea creatures swim all around you. And considering the room was rented by the hour you paid more to use it as long as you wanted and be given the privacy you needed; so no security cameras on, and a locked door. Choso insisted on paying the rest, but you beat him to the punch.

“I’ve been meaning to ask, why the ocean?” Choso asks as he admires you watching a pod of whales with your eyes glimmering with awe.

“I don’t know, maybe it’s because I can manipulate water,” you muse and smile as the whales start to sing. “Or well I do,” you clarify and drift your eyes to him. “It’s beautiful for one, especially in the most isolated parts of the world where all you see is water, because at night when the water is calm it’s like being in space. The way they reflect on the water is beautiful. But that’s not it, the ocean is also mysterious, it surrounds us, and personally, it holds the most beautiful animals in this world,” you murmur and grin brightly as a whale swims around you behind all the screens that surround you.

“People are like the ocean in some ways if you think about it,” you continue. “We’re rageful, deep, mysterious. Beautiful. Our lives go up and down like waves, and most importantly we can be ugly too, terrifying, like some parts of the ocean.”

Choso tries to answer with words, but all he responds with is a soft hum as he’s completely captivated by the beauty of your words, by the way, you smile so beautifully at the school of blue and black fish as if they could see you.

“Somethings wrong with us,” you point out and finally take a seat on the blankets Choso brought so you could comfortably enjoy the sight of the scenery.

“What is it?” Choso probes as he mirrors you and sits beside you with the inability to keep his hands to himself, or his eyes off you. He needs to be touching you, he needs to be looking at the most beautiful thing in this room, and to him that’s you.

“We tend to view the world behind screens or illusions, or whatever Tengen made us see underground,” you share with a laugh and pull your hand from under his to instead lay your head down on his lap. “Once this fighting is done, once our lives have calmed down we will see the world. Or parts of it anyway.” You grin. “Since the world is big. But I digress. You, me, Satori, Itadori…” you make sure to name him because that’s one of the most important people in his life. “And my students will see the stars in a place where it feels like we’re in space. We’ll see ice caps that polar bears play on, and then the most beautiful ocean.”

Choso laughs softly and gently caresses the scar across your torso with his thumb since it’s exposed by what you’re wearing.

“I would like that,” he commits to your plans, causing you to beam at him. “What else do you want?” He proceeds to ask in a very gentle manner.

You raise your brow and poke him. “What do you want? What do you want to do?”

Choso shakes his head softly and his smile only seems to soften more, making the gleam in his eyes shine brighter. “I have what I want. My brother’s safe and protected with Yuji. I have Yuji who sees me as his brother, and you. I don’t need anything else. But you,” he whispers and lifts his hand to start caressing your cheek. “What do you want, my love? Say it and I’ll give you the world.”

You giggle and lean into his touch to press a kiss on his palm before you answer. “I want to learn how to paint. I see all these beautiful paintings at museums, and online and I’m jealous of the skill. I want to learn. But you can’t buy me skill.”

“No,” he chuckles. “I could get you the things to get you started though.”

You smile. “You can be my model.” You suggest teasingly making him scoff shyly before he continues to press.

“Anything else?”

You let out a deep breath and feel your grin soften to a smile as you think about the next thing. “A sunroom, only instead of clear glass windows, I want a sunroom made of only stained glass windows.”

Choso’s eyebrows knit together making his confusion plain to see. “Stained windows?” He asks for clarification. “Why would you want dirty windows?”

You stare at him in silence for a moment before you sit up and burst out laughing. “Oh, my sweet, sweet love. No,” you draw in for air and grab his face to clarify yourself. “Stained glass is…uh, colored glass. I want colored glass so when the sun is out, the room is basked in beautiful dancing colors.”

Choso doesn’t seem to understand that explanation either so you show him an example and he then gets it.

“Oh. Oh, well now that’s something I can get you,” he says now. “I’ll keep it in mind.”

“You’re cute,” you coo and lean in for a kiss that you don't have to pull away from at that instant. You move slowly, and hold him close, letting him indulge in open-mouth kisses that he slips his tongue into and lights your body on fire with desire.

Yet as you start rubbing your hands on his chest and work them down to pull his shirt off, he pulls back with a sharp breath.

“Sorry,” he whispers against your swollen lips. “Not yet.”

You playfully roll your eyes and try to push him away, but as your fingertips hit his chest he actually catches your wrist and pulls you back towards him, to the point your lips are grazing over each other’s.

“Dance with me,” he says and stands up, leaving your lips once again cold without the company of his next to yours, or on yours.

However, this time you don’t mind. Your eagerness gets the best of you and you accept his offer.

“You didn’t learn with someone else did you?” You tease him whilst he remembers where to put his hands. Albeit, this time you guide one hand on your waist down to grab your ass.

Choso of course blushes even if he’s seen you naked, shares the same bed, and takes showers with you.

“No I just remembered from last time,” he explains as he lets a song play on his phone that wasn’t the same one as before, but romantic nonetheless. “And,” he adds while you start to dance. “Remember. I have knowledge of things, I just haven’t lived those things myself.”

“I know,” you assure him. “I was teasing.”

He sighs with relief and laughs at himself for a moment before he meets your gaze with a small frown.

“With this battle we’re fighting most likely concluding next month,” he shares right as you were going to ask what got him down. “All I want is for you and Satori to go far away. Somewhere not remotely close to Japan.”

“Choso,” you whisper your protest, but he cuts you off and explains himself softly.

“I almost lost you more than once. I don’t want to lose you for good. I can’t lose you. Last year after I saw you, you’re all that I could think about, you gave me hope after a century of darkness and thinking I would forever be stuck as I was. And when I saw you again in Shibuya,” he says and makes you both dance a lot slower. “All I wanted was you. To be near you, to protect you from all the evil in this world. That means this. So please just think about it.”

You let out a deep sigh and don’t comfort him by saying that you will think about it. You can’t lie to him because your mind is made up. Even if you have a reason to stay out of the fight to come, how can you betray yourself too? Ever since you lost a part of yourself to that non-sorcerer who tortured you, all you wanted was to help the next generation of sorcerers; you wanted to protect your people. You can’t do that by avoiding the fight, so your answer is clear and it has been for a while.

“Choso I can't and I won’t, I'm sorry,” you do explain yourself sweetly. “My goal is to help the next generation of sorcerers, to help our people. I can’t do that by hiding and letting others risk their lives. I know you’re just trying to look out for me, I appreciate your sentiment, but I can’t betray myself. And no matter how much you plead, I won’t change my mind. I’m sorry.”

Choso blinks repeatedly in disbelief before he drops his head and stops dancing, making you take his jaw and tilt his head up.

“I won’t let you just dedicate yourself to protecting me either,” you explain. “But I’m strong. I know that.”

Even in your moments of doubt, in the back of your head, you know that to be true. “Even if I had my close encounters with death, next time won’t be the time I die either. I will live for my girl, for my people, my family, and you. I will live so I can continue loving you. Do you understand?”

His eyes fill with tears as he nods softly.

“Good,” you murmur with a sweet smile before you wrap your arms around his neck and lay your head on his shoulder to continue swaying to the music chest to chest.

However, you don’t last long in that position because Choso then pulls back and surprises you by spinning you away from him, and then quickly spinning you back and dipping you ever so carefully so as to not drop you.

“Choso!” You giggle with surprise, and he pulls you back up and presses you close to his chest with a grin.

“What a lovely surprise,” you murmur against his lips as you can’t help but keep glancing at them.

“Did you like it?” He asks with a hint of smugness behind his voice.

“I loved it,” you assure him and lean in to close the gap left between your lips, but stop since you do want to keep dancing with him with your head on his shoulder.

However, Choso is the one who can’t wait this time, he slams his lips on yours and takes no time to slide his hands up to secure your face against his by grabbing your cheeks.

Many other times you pull back to laugh in surprise at his eagerness or smile at him, but this time you fan your passionate flames and kiss him back with hunger. As if it was the first time, or you were one of these horny couples from the old times who had been aching for a kiss, but could only feed your desires with longing stares and stolen touches until now.

You should hold back since you are in a semi-public place, but there’s no windows here, you paid to lock the doors, and shut down the cameras, so no, you don’t hold back, you guide him to sit, and straddle him before you slither your hands to the back of his head and grab a fistful of hair.

Choso is so lost in your passion that he lets out a pleased groan that makes his lips break away. But he’s only off you for a second, he doesn’t even catch his breath before he presses a kiss on the corner of your mouth and leaves a wet trail of kisses down to your neck.

You find that those kisses burn you up more so you can’t help but moan softly in his ear, while you work your hands down to the hem of his shirt to pull it off without protest, breaking the connection of his lips on your neck. Yet you don’t go long without the feeling of his lips on you, you grab his jaw and lean down to kiss his lips again.

This time Choso slowly roams his hands down to your back to grab your hips for a moment before he brushes his hands over your torso, fueling your fire. He then caresses your breast over your top, making your breath shudder, and then lands where he desires, on your cheeks to pull back.

“No,” he says between heavy breaths. “I want to be on you.”

You smile with relief after thinking he was going to break this apart to be considerate.

“Wait,” he blurts before he can flip you around. “Not here. We can’t here.”

You peer back and double-check that the door is locked before you look up at the camera and make sure that the light is not flashing. “We can if no one finds out. No one has to know,” you tempt him in a silky voice that makes the hairs on the back of his neck rise.

“Just one round?” He asks and leans in to touch your lips with his, letting you both feel your breaths unfurl over the top of your lips.

“One round,” you reassure him and draw in a deep breath before you grin brightly and let him flip you around so you’re on your back with him between your legs.

“You’re so beautiful,” he whispers with his eyes darkened with desire.

“You are too,” you redirect, making a timid smile break on his face. “Now kiss me or I will flip you around and ride you.”

He snickers and talks against your lips, making you squirm. “Save it for home.”

You try to laugh, but you’re so lost in your desire at the promise of more that it comes out more like a breathy moan.

“I hate making love to you fast,” he keeps talking. “But it has to be done, or—”

“Shh,” you cut him off before you lift your head to trap him in a heated kiss.

Choso laughs in your kiss but doesn’t let it last long because he’s then moving in sync with you, and feeling his member hardened.

He usually likes to explore your body with his lips and his tongue, but there was no time now, he saves that for later and instead helps you take your skirt off. And instead of working to reach your high, he stops to admire part of the red lace lingerie that you wore for him.

“You,” he breathes in and lets his eyes roam your body. “You are a piece of art.”

You laugh softly and grab his hands to press his fingers on your panties so he can pull them down and see your soaking pussy. However, he shakes his head and lets your hands go to instead grab your leg and lean towards it.

“What are you doing?” You probe and look over by propping your elbows on the ground and lifting your head.

However, he doesn’t say his answer, he responds by kissing the side of your knee and slowly grazing his lips up. Which is a move that steals your breath and leaves you like a puddle.

“Keep them on,” he says against your thigh.

You shiver and smile like a lovestruck fool.

“Choso please,” you groan and grab his shoulders. “Any more of that and I’ll cum without you inside me.”

Choso chuckles and moves back over you, but not to kiss you, or take your top off, he’s too impatient to sink into your warmth to worry about stripping you. Instead, he presses a kiss over your clothed clit and then hooks his fingers on your panties and moves them aside, realizing at that moment how wet you are for him.

“Beautiful,” he praises you and presses a kiss on your bare clit before finally moving up to let his face hover over yours. “Ready?” He makes sure to ask.

You nod softly and initiate a slow and sloppy kiss while he lines his cock with your entrance and lets the tip of his cock kiss you before he very, agonizingly slowly sinks into you.

And you can’t say he isn’t usually slow, because he is, every time. Even if you are both eager he likes to feel every inch of your walls with his cock, as if trying to map it out. He likes to see your jaw slowly go aslack, like now, as his fat girth slowly splits you open, and your needy pussy swallows him whole to the point he can’t push in any further.

“Choso,” you cry in his mouth as you feel his tip, every vein on his member, and his smooth cock itself grazes your gummy walls.

“One round,” he reminds the both of you and grabs the back of your knee to lift your leg and hook it over his shoulder before he pulls out until his tip is the only thing your pussy is embracing.

“Choso,” you whine, but he shuts you up by pressing his lips on yours and taking in you for a kiss he slides his tongue into.

And even if you haven’t been having sex long he already knows everything you like. He knows how to make you scream, he knows what to do to make you close your eyes, and scratch his back. He knows how to tease you, and how to make you squirt (which he just learned the other day). He knows every detail about you just like you know every detail about him.

So considering you are on a time crunch he uses what he knows to make this fast, and that's going slow. You like it fast, and rough because you last longer that way, but this way you can’t hold back, it’s too agonizing. So he slowly slides back inside you, causing you to break away from the kiss to tilt your head back and roll your eyes back.

“Choso,” you plead. “Please.”

Said man plants kisses on your neck and pulls back halfway before sliding in and slamming the tip hard against you.

You groan and find stability by holding his muscular shoulder, going unaware of his left hand until you feel his fingers run a strip over your clit before he starts to rub circles over it, bringing you close to the edge already.

“Choso,” you moan to the screens long forgotten and pull your hands away to dig your nails on the floor.

He whines at the feeling of your fluttering pussy around his cock, and even if he’s starting to lose himself in the feeling of you, he manages to find your hand and interlaces his fingers between yours before he starts thrusting in and out just a bit faster. Yet not fast enough, he’s still teasing you by moving slowly and rubbing his thumb on your clit.

You try to meet his thrusts to pick up the speed, but he presses his body closer to you and traps you under him.

“You feel incredible,” he praises you and groans. “My beautiful girl. Mine.”

You find his lips and match the speed of his thrusts with your lips, feeling him groan against your mouth as you tighten around him, your pussy fluttering and your leg pressing closer against him as you near your release since he’s being a damn tease.

“Choso,” you mewl and hold his gaze to bat your lashes at him. “Please rougher.”

Choso smiles and drops his head on the crook of your neck to not give in to what you want since he tends to do what you asked for with a simple bat of your lashes and a look at those eyes he loves so much.

“So—Mhm,” you groan and squeeze your eyes shut as he starts hitting your g-spot. “Good. You’re doing good.”

Choso chuckles. “Don’t,” he can barely mutter between breaths as he feels his release creeping in.

“So close,” you announce and he picks up his pace, making lewd noises of skin slapping as he chases his release and helps you find yours.

He doesn’t hold back anymore, he starts drilling into you so hard tears start to form in your eyes, and you arch your back off the ground, but it's too late for you. Your stomach twists and you're a moaning mess along with Choso who sucks on the skin of your neck and sloppily rubs your clit now.

“I’m cummimg!” You cry out and clutch onto his hand.

Choso slides his lips off your neck and meets your gaze. “Me too—me too,” he shares and goes back to slowly rocking his hips, but that triggers you. A shiver runs down your spine and from one moment to the next you see stars as you squeeze tightly around him and squirt all over his cock.

Choso fucks you through your release and lets out a mess of whines and groans as he can’t hold back anymore, he comes undone, and his seed spills inside you. Rope after rope painting your walls before it leaks out of your hole and mixes with yours now pooling on the once clean blanket.

“Fuck,” you murmur and let his hand go to gently caress his back as he pulls out before he goes two more rounds.

“You were perfect,” he whispers on your lips before he gives you a chaste kiss and then crawls down to drop his head on your chest and rest on you.

“That was,” you chuckle and throw your arm over your eyes. “Great. I really don’t like it when you go slow though.”

“I know.” He retorts smugly.

You sigh with pleasure nonetheless and take advantage that he’s on you to brush your fingers through his hair.

“We should go home,” he says and rubs circles on your side.

“Yeah.”

You pull your arm off your eyes and use both hands to brush his hair while you start to watch the ocean once again through the screens above you.

“Choso,” you can’t help but get all mushy as you come off your high.

“Hmm?” He queries.

You swallow thickly and smile as you see a manta ray swim past you.

“Do you want to know why I love you?” You continue with a honey-filled voice.

“Yes,” he says and lifts his head off your chest to meet your gaze with curiosity.

You grab his shoulders and guide him up to his knees as you sit up without breaking eye contact. “I love you because you have a good heart. Because you’re beautifully human even if you still doubt it. Because as my world went dark when I lost those I loved, you never left my side. And you haven’t since Shibuya. That’s why I love you.”

A wobbly smile tugs on his lips but tears don’t escape, he presses a gentle kiss on your lips before he presses his forehead against yours, and cups your cheeks.

“And you,” he interjects. “Have a strong heart. The strongest I know. You kept fighting after losing your daughters and your best friend. It would've been impossible for a lot of others, but you kept your heart strong. I admire your strength.”

Rather than kissing him, you stay as you are, you smile and grab his jaw, and bask in the intimacy of the moment.

No one could ruin this moment or change your love for him. Ever…

.

.

.

.

.

A/N- You best know Choso has that ring on the ready!

Tagged- @deniseabad1928 @secondary-character-25 @starlightanyaaa @notsaelty @d4rno @moonnime @kodzukein @yozora7154 @heijihattorisgf @elegantweirdorchest @natakina

[nykie-love-anime]

Day 28 ~ Pet Names ~ Haikyuu

Texting SMAU ~ Haikyuu

My Hero Academia

Kenma x Reader

Kuroo x Reader

Lev x Reader

Daichi x Reader

Suga x Reader

Hinata x Reader

Kageyama x Reader

Day 27 | Masterlist | Day 29

[star-trek-fandom-confessions]

Confession #28 by @hawkstar5

"K'lehr was so damn cool for two eps, to then fridge her for Worf's character development makes me so mad. I wanted to see more of her!"

[one-piece-aus]

I am a hoe for Katakuri, so if you write for him, could I have Kata rescuing an s/o who'd been captured by another pirate crew? 😁

Oh boy is this long overdue. Ahoy Doe, I finally finished this request! I hope you don't mind me using the scenario for Whumptober, and please enjoy the story ^-^

Whumptober Day 28

Katakuri x Reader

"What do you mean [Y/n]'s gone?"

The guards paled as a heavy aura from Katakuri engulfed them. They haven't even had the chance to inform him about the situation, yet his fury is emitting and leaving the servants terrified under his gaze. His brows narrowed when he received no response, he reached down and picked up one of the servants.

"Who took [Y/n]?" Katakuri inquired, his voice hinting at his intention of seeking vengeance. However, he never let the servant speak and dropped him when he got his answer. "Gather a fleet, I'm going to save [Y/n], and we're going to erase those pirates."

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

You kept your glare on the pirates outside your cage, wishing you could burn holes through their skulls. They were snickering amongst themselves over a game of cards, telling themselves what a good idea it was to take you hostage for ransom. They really don't know the forces they were messing with, do they? You weren't able to point out their mistake yet when one of their men open the cabin's door.

"Captain, there's a small ship in the distance," he reported as he held the door wide open.

"Seems like your buyers are here," the captain smirked at you.

"You're fools if you think Big Mom would pay you your demands," you stated. The man laughed in response, only stopping when he looked back at your glaring eyes. 

"That's what you believe," he grinned crouching down in front of your cage. "But we're going to be the ones rolling in gold."

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

"Uh captain," the lookout nervously called down to the deck.

"What is it now?" The man questioned with annoyance growling in his tone.

"It's a fleet of ships- a fleet of ships from Big Mom!" The subordinate warned, pointing toward the rear of the ship.

The captain dropped the heavy sack he carried and dashed to the back of the ship. Sure enough, the massive fleet was tailing them, and the small ship had already left. He growled and gripped the rail as his gaze landed on the sweet general leading the army, Katakuri.

Having the enemy in sight, Katakuri turned his head to address the crew. "Don't fire cannons just yet, I want [Y/n] safe in my possession first. Kill the enemies who resist and hold the others hostage, wait for my order to eliminate them," Katakuri instructed, receiving salutes in response. Looking back at the tiny vessel, he gripped his fist. "Just hang in there, [Y/n]. I'll make them pay!'

Ringing his arm behind his head, Katakuri threw the first attack, extending his mochi arm and taking out the enemy's mast. They slowed down while their sails sunk to the bottom of the ocean, letting the fleet surround them and board. The events turned into a massacre rather than a fight as the Charlottes painted the deck in blood, Katakuri dealing out the brutal fatalities to each pirate he faced.

Heading down to the cabins, Katakuri tore anything that stood in his way of getting to you. Heads, doors, planks, they were all scattered in his search. Reaching the end of the hall and tearing open the last door, Katakuri found himself in a room full of chests and cages, and in the corner stood the enemy captain, frozen in place. Katakuri's eyes glowed red and he sent a punch at the man, immobilizing him in mochi.

"Where's [Y/n]?" Katakuri demanded the whereabouts.

The captain gave him a smirk and a glow from Katakuri's eyes made him step back. The Charlotte glanced at the empty cage with a torn piece of your sleeve left behind. With widened eyes, he ran out of the room and onto the deck. Going to the front of the ship, trying to find any traces of the small ship, Katakuri could only see his family's ships on the horizon as the unspoken words of the pirate taunted his mind.

"I already sold her off."

[felinefractious]

Hokus Pokis vom Grutholz

🐱 British Shorthair

📸 Regina Heinen [vom Grutholz]

🎨 Black Karpati [Karpati (Carpathian) Pattern]

[pinkman-isms]

the >_< … dare i say.. babygirl coded??

[woncon]

Flufftober Day 28

Soothing Touch

🎃 jungkook x gn!reader

🎃 thanks to @wonsheep for helping me fix my grammar mistakes and for giving me advice how to convert a whole story into another language precisely ❣

🎃 flufftober masterlist | main masterlist

✁- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

"I'm going to take a shower," you report, as you stroll through the living room. You're tired and worn out, hoping the hot water will clear the day's stress out of you.

You're just about to reach the door leading out of the room when Jungkook suddenly appears in front of you. Even Bam, who until now has been the epitome of all things canine, lying peacefully, jumps up to loll excitedly around you, sniffing your hands.

"What? I thought you were playing with your friends."

"But you're so tense, baby." Jungkook's rubbing your shoulders. It's so soft and nice, you're forced to sigh. His fingers slide up, now caressing the skin of your neck. You feel relieved, you don't have to problem solve and think hard, just lean into the touch instinctively. You surrender completely. "I'll make you a bubble bath, okay? I'll set up a playlist and get some lights. And then I'll give you a massage. What do you think?"

"Yes, please." A faint smile appears on your lips as Jungkook's eyes light up with excitement.

flufftober taglist (send an ask! <3)

@jaeheekangslover

@haechansbbg

[apocalypticdadlover]

Does anyone have any really good wallpapers or lockscreens of Cillian Murphy, that aren't necessarily just pictures of Thomas Shelby? I've been looking for a new lockscreen but I can't find any in good quality of him 😥

Please someone help if you can!!

P.S if you have any of emmett from a quiet place 2 that would also be greatly appreciated! Or even jonathan crane in dark knight rises!

[celtic-crossbow]

Whumptober 2023

No. 28 “You’ll have to go through me.”

Pairing: Daryl Dixon x Fem!Reader

Setting: Alexandria

Warnings: Injuries, blood, threatened SA

“Daryl!”

He could hear his name but the voice was distant, muted as if he were under water; distorted and echoing. He was trying to open his eyes but with the brief, blurry, and tilted glimpses he was granted, he wasn’t certain if what he was seeing was real or an image in his head. 

The metal door opening. A woman running in, moving in slow motion. In what seemed like less than a second of darkness, she was across the room, kneeling in front of him. But he was tired. Aching and bone-weary. 

So Daryl slept. 

He looked awful. He’d been beaten, that much was obvious. A deep black eye, split lip. Sweaty, yet freezing to the touch. Starved and dehydrated. 

“Daryl! My god, what have they done to you?” 

He had only looked at you for a heartbeat but he wasn’t seeing you. His eyes had since closed, head hanging. His pulse was racing, breaths were shallow bursts of air from around a bloody cloth gagging him. 

“I’m gonna get you out of here.” Your hands paused over his wrist, bound too tightly to the arm of the chair. The skin below the rope was raw and bleeding. He had struggled, tried to free himself. Daryl was nothing if not resourceful. The fact he was still there was a testament to how injured he was. 

You cut the rope from beneath on both sides before freeing his ankles as well. He was barefoot, reddened and blistered skin creeping up along the sides. They had burned the soles of his feet. Jesus. Lastly, you removed the gag and tossed it away with more force than necessary.

Your knife was placed next to your thigh, easily accessible if needed. With careful touches, you cupped his face to raise his head. “Daryl, can you hear me? I need you to wake up.” His eyes were shifting beneath closed lids as consciousness continued to attempt grasping. “Come on. That’s it. That’s it, hey.” You laughed in an exhale, so happy to see those blue eyes, muted and swollen as they were. 

“Y/N?” He coughed wetly, his voice low and rough. 

“Yeah, it’s me. You’re safe.” Small fingers carded through long, greasy strands of hair. “You’re safe now.”

“According to who?”

You were on your feet within seconds, knife forgotten as you drew your gun and aimed it toward the doorway. The man wasn’t even pointing his own firearm at you, his shoulder leaned casually against the doorframe. He was covered in blood and small injuries, having obviously ran from the fight with your comrades to secure his hostage. 

“Back off, asshole.” You spat through gritted teeth. 

“You weren’t gonna try to break him out all by yourself, were you?” He lazily motioned toward Daryl with the barrel of his gun. “I’m not done with him yet.”

“You want him, you’ll have to go through me.” You hissed immediately, firing a warning shot when he took a step into the room. “You don’t know me, shitbag.”

“I know you’re not gonna kill me today.” He aimed the rifle toward Daryl, but didn’t get a chance to fire. You shot first, the bullet hitting his right flank. When he continued to advance, you squeezed the trigger again only to be rewarded with the dreaded click of an empty clip. 

“Fuck!” His shoulder drove into your chest, the two of you falling back against the chair. It tumbled to the side and sent Daryl careening onto the floor. The man straddled you and sat back on his knees, aiming the gun at your face. You grabbed the muzzle and pushed it aside as he fired, your ear ringing from the proximity of the shot. 

Stunned, you couldn’t react in time to stop him from shifting and smashing the butt of the gun against your forehead. Pain sang through your head, your vision whiting out with each pulse. 

“I think I’ll keep you too, pretty thing.” You clumsily swatted at his hands when he began trying to pet your face. “I need some…relief after a rough questioning with your pretty boy over here.” He continued trying to put his hands on you regardless of your weak efforts to fight him off. “Well, he’s not so pretty now, really.”

He finally grabbed your chin roughly, painfully tight, and leaned closer to your face. You started to struggle, wide eyes flicking to the right before you settled. 

���Giving up already?” He mocked. 

“No.” You snapped. “I just wanted to tell you that you were right.”

He laughed, squeezing your face impossibly harder. “About what?”

“I’m not gonna kill you today.” The man smirked and after a moment, you mirrored it. “He is.”

He didn’t have time to turn around before a hand roughly grabbed his forehead and pulled back, baring his throat for your knife to slide across it. Blood splattered onto your face but you didn’t care, your eyes on Daryl swaying and panting behind the body that fell to the side, freeing you to get up. 

“Ya…ya alrigh’?” He asked, even as his legs buckled. You scrambled forward and caught him as he hit his knees. Even like this, he was heavy. His upper body was pressed against yours with his chin resting on your shoulder. 

“I’m okay. And so are you. You’ll be okay. I’m here now.” You rubbed circles on his back with one hand while the other cradled the back of his head. You could see the flashlights and hear your friends calling both of your names.  “I’m right here. And I’m taking you home.”