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supertweetycherry · 4 years

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TRAPPED || [Part 1 - The Past]

--Pairings: Jung Hoseok x Reader (You)

--Genre: Mafia au! Childhood Friends au! High school au! — Romance, Angst, Slight Fluff, Friends to Enemies.

--Ratings: Strictly Pg18

--Warnings: Slight Possessiveness, Slight Depression, Lot of Sadness, Mentions of Death, Mentions of Abuse, Mentions of Sexual Harassment and Mentions of School Bullying.

--Summary: Trapping a fish in a hook takes time. You have to wait for hours before the creature takes the bait. But once they are hooked, there is no un-doing it. Isn’t that what happened with you?

--Word Count: 6.2k

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Part 1 - The Past

To catch a fish, the fishermen had to set his trap from the beginning. He had to bait the fish, tempt her to take his sweet offerings and then wait for her to come to him. It’s a long process but he had to be very patient. What happens when that waiting period turns into hours? Will the fish ever take the bait?

For you, it started from the very beginning.

You first met him when you were a toddler. Your mother had placed you into the same sandbox as him. Apparently, you and your family were on a vacation in Jeju Island. Over there, your ever loving mother had found herself an invite to a Mom’s weekly play party. It was held in one of the resorts owned by the island.

Your mother being the party goer herself, instantly accepted the invitation. On that morning, she had woken up early and dressed you up in a pink frock and white sandals before making her way to the resort with you in her arms. Upon reaching there, the women had dropped you off by the play area for kids like you.

At that time, you barely had any sense of direction. Your 15-month-old toddler mind couldn’t filter what’s right and what’s wrong. Not to mention, you had a very strange habit of hugging anything or anyone that comes in your sight. So, when your mother had placed you, next to a crying chubby toddler and a group of giggling female toddlers, you had defied the laws of the society and went after the crying baby.

He had looked so cute to you that day, that you couldn’t help but stare at him for few minutes before making your move. Especially with his little beady eyes and small heart-shaped lips, you had no problem in stretching your arms out and engulfing the little elephant in your supposed hug as a way to sooth his cries. Initially, it didn’t work out but, as you continued to scoot closer to the boy, you had managed to catch his attention.

The little boy had looked at you like you had cooties. But you didn’t care. You just wanted to hug him. Your beaming smile was evident enough that you had no plans of leaving him alone, especially with his eyes puffy and red. You just wanted to shoo away all his worries. And maybe that’s why, you didn’t let go when he tried to shift away from you.

“Geee off... orff!” You remember giggling when he had made those jabs at you to leave him. But being a stubborn baby yourself, you refused to release the little elephant from your grip.

“Huggies.” You whispered the word, burying your head in his chest. It was one of the only few words you knew at that time.

And maybe that’s why, he eventually gave up and let you hug him out.

It was your little stubborn gesture that turned this meeting into a blooming start of your long friendship.

From that day on, as your mother received more and more invitations to ‘Moms Only’ clubs, you kept meeting the boy again and again. And like always, you wouldn’t let him go until he eventually grew fond of you.

“Gu Gu Ga Ga... Yu Yu Ga Ga.” Yeah, that was your toddler language when you couldn’t remember the big words.

Few weeks later, when it was time for your family to return back home in Seoul, you shared a tearful goodbye with the chubby boy. You had grown to care for him. His warming smiles, his shinning eyes, his soft soft skin... you had grown so fond of them.

You still didn’t know his name but, your mother had called him ‘Hopie’ once. Atleast that’s what you thought she said.

“Hopie... cess miss you.” You babbled at him as he hung tightly against your frame. He was a bit reluctant to let you go. After weeks of being together, the boy didn’t want you to be separated from him. Not even for a second.

And so, to calm him down, you had placed a little toddler kiss on his nose before slipping out of his slippery fingers. It was short and cute, but also satisfying.

Time passed, and you missed the toddler dearly. You missed his rare smiles, the occasion shinning glint in his brown beady eyes, and the little touches he made towards you.

And the hugs. Definitely the hugs.

You dearly hoped that you would meet him one day again.

Luckily, that day came when you started your pre-school. You found him in the same way again, sitting to the side and away from everyone else. His features were so recognisable that he stood out from all the normal ones. You had no trouble at all.

That aloof aura was still around him. He was still giving the bad vibes to anyone who came within ten feet of his vicinity. He still looked chubbier than ever, and you had no problem when you jumped at him from behind, latching onto his big back like a monkey.

“Hopie!”

The sound of your loud voice had startled him a bit, and you almost feared that he might drop you. But luckily, he had recognised the familiar vanilla scent wafting off you. And that was enough for the boy to pull you up in his arms and never let you go.

You had been so happy that day, that you ended up ignoring everyone else around you.

You paid attention to no-one except your long lost toddler friend. The two of you seemed so comfortable that most of the time, you were snuggled up against him, just enjoying the warmth from his big arms. Even when the day ended, you hadn’t left your Hopie’s hand. Not even when your father tried to bait you with an ice-cream.

As more days passed, the both of you became closer. You spent most of your time with him, alienating yourself from others just so you could make him feel comfortable. Its not like he hated everyone around him, its just no-one really looked past his chubby body. Every kid in their class would point him out for being ‘fat’ and it enraged you whenever they did.

So, to prevent any fights from happening, you only spent time with your soon-to-be best friend, Hopie.

“It’s Hoseok, Y/n. Not Hopie.” He whined for the tenth time that day as he pronounced his name with correct syllable and right sound.

“Ho-sook.” You tried. But he was nearly 15 months older than you, which means he had more experience. So, when you kept getting his name wrong, he eventually gave up and stayed as ‘Hopie’ for you.

That is until, you guys started your major schooling years and you finally got his name right.

As young teenagers, you both had matured a little. Your friendship has bloomed into an unbreakable bond. Not even the bias views from other kids around your age could deter you anymore.

“Why do you even hangout with him, Y/N? He’s so weird.” One of your elementary school friend mused when she saw you consistently bringing Hoseok into their ‘friends only’ conversations.

You had noticed a strange frown on her face.

“Because he’s my best friend.” You happily replied with a big smile before continuing to put gemstones into the friendship bracelet you had created for Hoseok.

“But I’m your best friend.” The girl had slightly hissed. “He’s just some fat weirdo with no friends.”

Her words had instantly pissed you off. You instantly gave her a heated glare before taking your pencil back from her slimy fingers.

“He’s not a fat weirdo. He’s just a cute chubby boy. And he’s a completely normal guy with a completely normal behaviour.” You retorted before gathering up your supplies. “And FYI, he does have a friend. He has me. I’m his best friend.”

And with that, you stalked off to a another table.

As the elementary schooling passed, you became more and more connected to Hoseok. He became the best friend that you never had. You both equally supported and protected each other.

Even at the high school age, you guys never felt ashamed to be hugging or seeking out each other’s touches.

You still considered him as your little elephant while he still considered you as his spoilt princess.

You both had promised to be with each other forever and to never let go.

He was special to you, because he was a ray of sunshine in your life. He brightened you up like a star.

You had grown so fond of him that when the time came... you fell hard for him.

Few years later, you reached your sophomore year and you had started to develop hard feelings for him. Every touch, every smile, every gesture that he made, became more and more prominent as your feelings heightened.

“What’s this?” You asked, looking up at him in question. He had a gentle smile on his face. His shinning brown eyes were boring into your dark ones as if he was amused.

“It’s for you, princess.”

Your insides quickly warmed up with that little pet name of his. He had started using it just few months ago. It had taken you a moment, but you were able to push down that faint blush that was creeping up on your cheeks. Quickly raising the velvet box to your eye-level, you unwrapped the large ribbon on it and opened the box, to find something you hadn’t expected from him.

“Happy Birthday, Princess.”

You were stunned at the gift. Your mouth hung open as you looked at him and back at the box.

He had given you a pair of simple diamond stud earrings with blue exterior.

And they seemed fucking expensive.

“Do you like them?” He asked with a huge smile on his lips. He had somehow brought his face closer to you.

“I love them.” you whispered, feeling a little dizzy at the stare he was giving you.

“I’m glad you liked it. I had specially ordered them to be custom made for you.” You shyly smiled at him.

Hoseok has always showered you with gifts. Not because he was rich and wealthy, but because he wanted to. Atleast thats what he claimed. You just nodded and believed him every single time, because you knew he would never lie to you.

Usually his gift didn't affected you much, but these days, every one of his presents were becoming more and more important, and meaningful to you.

“May I?” He asked, holding up his fingers for permission.

You nodded and let him fix them in your ears.

“How do I look?”

“You look amazing as always.” This alone made you blush like hell. But you managed to cover it up behind your arm.

The next thing you know, he was hugging you from behind, just sniffing in on your vanilla scent. You let him.

It was a friendly gesture, right?

At the start of your Junior year, Hoseok has changed and morphed into one of the most handsome boys in your school. The sudden body weight drop was so quick that you had failed to recognize him when he came back from his summer holidays that year.

He had to physically twirl you around in his strong arms to make you realize who he was.

Apparently, during that summer, you had stayed behind to work on your extra curriculum activities while your best friend had went out for a family vacation.

It was the only vacation where he didn’t invite you in for. And the only vacation he hadn’t bothered to explain. Whatever happened during that time, it has changed him. His height has increased, his shoulders had broaden, and his features have became more sharp.

There was a new sense of style in him. He seemed more relaxed, lean and on the edge all at the same time. There were also a stack of mini muscles that he has gained. You had felt them when he had hugged you on the day of his return. You also noticed the roughness of his hands and the strong hold he now possessed.

It all seemed so strange to you. But you didn’t question it.

Instead, you used that time to focus on your feelings. They had increased in volume so much that it became hard for you to tune them out. Sooner or later, you came in terms with them. But you refused to say it out loud to anyone. Your rich family of lawyers and policemen didn’t approve of Hoseok anymore. They rejected the boy two years ago when they met his parents. They had labeled him as dangerous and immature, and had concluded that your best friend was unfit to be around you.

He was a bad influence.

And maybe he was. After all, you were ready to defy all your family’s rules for him. Your bond with him was so close that you couldn’t leave him even if you wanted to. You had given him your full trust.

And maybe, that was your first mistake.

That boy didn't deserve your trust. At all.

Things took a turn when the school year started. See, unlike previous years, Hoseok has risen up the social ladder while you had been toppled off due to your intimate friendship with your handsome best friend.

Everyone envied the bond between you two. The girls could not see their chance of grabbing Hoseok slip away to a nerd, while the boys couldn’t wait to bang the said nerd.

It was a sticky situation for you. The teasing in the halls and the leg trips here and there, has increased for you.

You became so depressed and lonely during that time, not even the three chipmunks could cheer your mood up. The three young boys who had been with Hoseok and you since the beginning. Hoseok had introduced them to you when you guys were in the 5th grade. They latched onto you like little kids, begging to have your attention from time to time.

They were babies. And they needed an older female figure in their life. You became that figure.

You loved them like your little brothers.

“Noona, you should confess to hobi hyung soon. He’s going crazy these day.”

You literally chocked on your water as the youngest chipmunk in your vicinity smirked at your reaction. You were wheezing and coughing as you tried to get the water out of your lungs.

“Ya!” You scolded the middle child, hitting him on the back of his head. “Kim Taehyung, you cheesy sneezer! Who filled your head with this nonsense?”

“Oh please, Noona.” The eldest of them scoffed, shoving his mochi hands in your face. “We’re not blind. We can see everything. You and hobi hyung has the hots for each other.”

“Yeah, just go and kiss it out.” Needless to say, you were not surprised when the younger of them also joined in. “You guys act like little toddlers on their first date.”

At those words, your cheeks were instantly dusted with a pink hue. Sighing, you slumped down your shoulders in defeat. These boys were crazy. Nothing get past them so easily.

“Hoseok and I are just best-friends, kookie. Nothing more than that.” You said quietly, hoping that they wouldn’t pry too much on it.

“Keep thinking that and one day you’ll loose him for good.” It was meant to be a joke but it affected you with a sharp stab to your heart.

“Jungkook shut up!” The other two berated the young kid. You just shrugged, refusing to show anything.

“Don’t go on the makane’s words, noona. Just confess to hobi hyung now before things get ugly.”

You didn’t know what they were talking about, but you sure knew that these three had crazy imaginations. So, you shut them up with a little ‘Shut up’ before slumping down next to them in the grass.

If only, you had taken heed to their warning....

“Listen here tramp, let me make this easy and clear for you.” Park Soo-bin, the typical queen bee of your high school has managed to corner you against the ladies toilets, once again. She was one of the most prettiest girls in the school, but she had a personality of a wicked villain. You have tried to avoid her on so many occasions recently, but that girl is so persistent at getting her message across. “Stay the fuck away from my Hobi. He doesn’t need a gold digger like you coming in his way to greatness. He’s part of the popular gang. And popular people don’t hang out with dirty little rags like you. I’m sure you are aware of the hierarchy, right?”

You didn’t reply. Your eyes were already filling up with tears at her blunt statement. The hierarchy difference between you and your best friend was too big. You had always known that.

“Speak when spoken to, nerd!” The girl hissed, taking your hair into her hand and pulling on them. You heard yourself whimpering at the sudden pain, but you hadn’t replied one word to her.

You refused to.

You maybe helpless in your love life, but you were not the one to take an order so easily. Hoseok didn’t raise you like this. All those years, he had told you to stand up against people, even if its him.

Not to mention your family line of protective lawyers and policemen, you were capable enough to handle these girls.

And that’s how you ended up in the principle’s office with your hair pulled into a mess, various scratch marks covering your arms, a busted lip and bleeding knuckles. The two other girls who joined in the fight were in a similar state while the main one, the typical bitch of this school, was crying over a broken nail and a red cheek.

If you were being honest, it was the two younger girls that were behind most of your injuries, while the queen bee had watched from the sidelines until you had managed to land a hit on her. Needless to say, you felt so satisfied when your palm had come in contact with her smooth, powdery cheek.

“She needs to be expelled! She doesn’t deserve to be here!”

“Look at my child. That girl has no manners.”

“My poor Soo-bin.”

The accusations went flying past your head like baseball. You rolled your eyes and stood leaning against the wall, glaring at the main bitch of the room. She was mouthing the words of your demise, by sliding her thumb across her neck, to show how much trouble you were in. But you didn’t care. You just raised an eye-brow at her attitude.

Maybe, listening to all the words she was saying, you could maybe smack her again, right in front of the principle and her parents. But because of your parent’s disapproval looks, you stepped back.

When all the shouting was over, you had slipped away with a small warning. All thanks to your uncle, who had used his law to corner the parents into an agreement. But even then, your own parents were not happy with you.

You had clearly seen the disappointment flashing in their eyes. It hurted you a bit, but you managed to survive it. You were more worried about Hoseok who still hasn’t returned from his week long vacation to an unknown place that only him and his family knew about.

You were a little dejected by his so called ‘special family plans’, but you had figured, it was some sort of family thing that the Jungs have. Unlike your own parents, Hoseok’s family had no problem with accepting you in the family as one of their own daughters. You were close to them from the beginning, especially to Hoseok’s older sister, Jung Ji-Wo.

“Stay away from him, Y/n. This is my last warning to you.” Those have been your father’s orders when he discovered the reason behind the whole fiasco with the school’s queen bee. As usual, he had grown angry at the revelation and had warned you before walking off.

You just shrugged at his words in return. You can never stay away from Hoseok, whether he likes it or not.

As more days passed with no news from your best friend and Park Soo-bin growing impatient with your aloof behaviour towards her, the eldest chipmunk’s warning started to ring in your head. It was clear that during those two weeks of separation from your best friend, has seemed to alert the whole school of your isolation period and they all ended up using this to their advantages.

Main one being Park Soo-bin—the ultimate dare devil in your high school life.

You wished dearly that Hoseok would come back from his vacation quickly before things gets out of hand. Even though you had successfully handled the three girls that day, fighting off the entire school’s population would definitely be almost next to impossible for you.

Especially when your three helpful chipmunks were also MIA.

It happed just a day before his return. He had finally contacted you from his secret getaway and apologised for his silence. You forgave him the moment he had called you and just relished in hearing his voice again after such a long time, is when it happened.

The fateful incident.

Some students said you slipped off by accident. Others said you had staged the whole thing. And the more older, responsible ones claimed that you were jerking off someone.

But you knew the truth.

You had been cornered and harassed by the popular gang. The males did all the unthinkable things with you while the females watched you squirm, shout and beg for them let you go. You had remembered screaming, kicking, biting—basically doing anything to avoid being touched and tainted by their grubby hands. When you had finally managed to get away from them with parts of your clothes ripped and skin filled with bruises and marks, Park Soo-bin had smirked in your face before completing the deed with a slight push.

“Bye Bye Y/N.” Those were the last words you heard before you were pushed off the edge of the stairs. You had clambered down the long staircase like a rag doll, your screams muffled by the air being knocked out of you and your limbs flying around as they hit each and every pointy edge of the concrete and steel railings they came in contact with.

You didn’t know what happened next, but you remember waking up in a hospital bed, next to your crying best friend who had his face stuffed in the palm of your right hand, producing loud aching sobs as he kissed and stained your skin with his hot tears.

The sight was only there for few seconds before your eyes fluttered shut once again due to the meds being pumped in your veins.

The next time you woke up was to see your family entering your hospital room. Judging by their depressed and downcast expressions, you had already concluded that you were in a pretty bad shape.

There was no denying in that. Even the doctors had concluded you as a lost case when you hadn’t woken up for two weeks straight.

But somehow, you have survived. And thats what mattered.

One by one, they visited you at random times of the day. First came your mother who had littered your face with sweet kisses and promises to cook all your favourite food when you return home. Next, was your father. He had cried and apologised for not taking strict actions towards the first assault that happened to you in the school. You had just waved his apology away and smiled.

Few days later, it was your older brother, Taemin, who had visited you. He was the only brother you cared about, because the rest of your cousin brothers were A-grade assholes. Taemin had taken special leave from his special op training so he could be next to you. He had serenaded you to sleep and promised to make everything better.

The next time you woke up, you found your best friend sleeping on the small couch in front of your bed. He looked disheveled from every angle. His hair were untidy, he had dark bags under his swollen eyes, his skin was pale from the lack of sunlight and he had a slumped, sad posture to his lean body.

The boy truly looked like he had been wrecked over by a bus.

You also noticed six other guys in the room, three of them being your naughty chipmunks and the other three were strangers.

“How are you feeling?” One of them asked with an angelic smile on his face. He was one of the taller ones and one of the strangers in the room. He was dressed casually, but with the way he was hovering over you, checking your vitals and readings, he seemed to know what he was doing.

“Peachy.” You answered, voice cracking at the end. He seemed to be smiling at you before going over to your best friend to wake him up. “No, don’t.” You had barely stopped the boy. He looked at you with puzzled expressions.

“Let him sleep, please. He looks like he needs it.”

He seemed surprised by your caring nature and blinked a large smile at your face.

“I’m glad to see you care about him the way he does for you.” The words were genuine. “You know, he’s been visiting you everyday. But I guess, you were sleeping most of the time.”

“I know.” You replied, looking at Hoseok with affection reflecting in your eyes. “He cares too much for me.”

“I’m glad you think the same way as us. I’m Seokjin by the way, but you can call me ‘Jinnie Oppa’.”

That might have been the mood breaker in the room because you instantly threw him a huge grin. He was sweet and charming.

“I already have an Oppa. And he’s the best one I have.” You retorted playfully, thinking of your older brother, Taemin.

“I make a very good Oppa too, sweetheart.” He winked at you with a pout.

You had giggled and thought the man was charismatic too.

If only you knew that you were talking to a killer...

“Hoseok, I’m fine.” You assured the boy as he snuggled his crying face into your bandaged arms, producing loud sobs for the other boys to hear.

As soon as he saw you awake, your best friend broke down into literal tears, crying his eyes out as he dipped low, head buried into your arms. His sudden weight on your arms increased your pain but you didn’t let it show one bit.

He was hurt and scared at your battered figure. The least you could do was let him cry. And so, you let him as he quickly changed spots and moved onto your stomach, making your skin vibrate.

“Hosoek...” You cooed the boy, running your hand through his chest-nut hair and caressing his wet face. “Please don’t cry. Look, I’m fine.”

He looked at you with a helpless look before diving against your stomach again.

“I-I thought I l-lost you.” He said through his sobs.

You just smiled and kissed the boy’s head in affection.

“I could never leave you, Hoseok. Didn’t I promise you that?”

It took some time but you were able to calm the boy down. With the help of the others in the room, all of you managed to turn Hoseok’s loud sobs into small hiccups.

“Please, just please, don’t ever leave me, Y/N.” He said quietly, still tucking onto your hand like his life is depended on it. “I need you. I-I cant l-live without y-you.”

Something warm erupted in your chest. But you didn’t let it get to you. What if he means this in a best friend way?

“I won’t ever leave you, hoseok. Your whiny ass wouldn’t survive a day without me.” You joked.

It didn’t work.

“I’m serious, Y/N.” He gave you a look you couldn’t decipher. It made you flush.

“Sorry... I-I just meant—never-mind. Just don’t worry please. I won’t leave you.”

He didn’t look satisfied for some reason but none the less, he still nodded. You were about to question him, but the strangers in the room decided to throw a pizza party. A party where you didn't even get a single slice of pizza since you were on the hospital diet.

“Lucky bastards.”

“How long has it been?” You asked Hoseok one day. You were still in the hospital but a bit better than before. Hoseok was peeling off some apples for you.

“Nearly a month.” He said, digging the knife into an apple. You could see how clean and fast he was with a knife. The apple was cut into thin slices within a matter of seconds.

“How’s school going? You’re still attending your classes, right?” You didn’t want to touch the topic, but you didn’t want him to sacrifice his studies for you. He’s been spending too much time here during the day and you were simply worried. “Hoseok?”

He hadn’t replied you yet. Instead, a slice of the apple was shoved in your mouth before your best friend smiled at you.

“Don’t worry about anything, Princess. My studies are going fine. Infact—” This is where he pulled out some books from his bag. “—I brought these for you. I hope you are stable enough to go through them with me.”

Your face instantly brightened at the sight of your books.

“Yes, ofcourse I am!”

You were truly a nerd. That’s never gonna change.

“Yay.” You squealed slightly when he dropped one book into your lap. Your good arm was already onto it, feeling the hard, shiny cover before opening the book to see what you have missed.

Hoseok grinned at your enthusiasm.

“Nerd.” He teased.

“Elephant.” You retorted back, but it wasn’t that strong, because in the next second he bursted out into a fit of loud laughter, making you scowl. “It’s not funny!”

He still didn’t listen. So, with a slight irritated huff, you smacked his shoulder. He retaliated by pinning your limbs down and hovering over you.

You were surprised at how easily he kneeled over you, careful not to hurt you but also smart enough to completely pin you to the hospital bed.

“Don’t be a naughty girl, Y/N.” He teased with a slight smirk. “You don’t want to be punished by me, do you?”

Damn, his voice was seductive to you. He had never behaved this way before.

“As if!” You dryly mocked with a laugh before trying to push him off you. But he didn’t listen. Instead, he dipped lower and engulfed you into a tight hug while he laid over you.

“I’m serious.”

You scowled at him. Great, he going to be plastered to you for the whole night. God forbid, if you can survive his lean muscular body resting on top of you.

You were always a sucker for his touches.

Few days later, things became normal for you. With right medication and right therapy, you were able to walk again. It boosted up your healing process and in no time you were ready to face the hard part of this whole ordeal.

Your culprits.

When you saw them standing in court with tears streaming down their eyes, you felt satisfied. You were in the same place as them when they had touched you in every open spot on your skin. The four young boys who had dared to molest you were jailed the same day. Their actions recorded in a school’s hidden camera in the corridor.

The six girls involved were put to heavy charges, involving; community service, a criminal record for harassing, bullying and attempt to rape, expulsion from the school and for some, being abandoned from their family lines.

Out of all this, the only person you cared about was Park Soo-bin. For some reason, the girl got away with everything. She wasn’t even mentioned as her friends took the blame. And you felt more angry than annoyed.

But that anger turned into shock when you saw the news next day.

“—we’re bringing you live from the Han River. A body has been discovered during the early hours of this morning. It belonged to a school girl, named Park Soo-bin, who had been missing for the past few days from her home and was now recently discovered floating in the river. The body seemed to be tortured, sliced open in many places and its limbs broken in—”

You hadn’t listened to the whole thing. The graphic visual displayed on your TV was enough to hurl your insides in the nearest toilet. Your best friend stood over you, holding back your hair as he patted your back in assurance.

He didn’t seem fazed by the news at all.

“Don’t worry, princess. Everything will be alright now.”

If you were just a little conscious enough to focus on his words, then maybe, you might have noticed the hidden glee lacing his voice...

Life turned back to normal soon enough. You had started school again and this time no-one bothered you anymore. Not even the left over popular girls who would used to do anything to tease you. But this time, they didn’t do anything besides glaring. And when your three chipmunks came in to cheer you up, their glares had turned into fear.

As more days passed, you started to ponder on your classmates strange behaviors. They seemed almost scared of you. You had expected them to be angry and furious with you, but they weren’t. It made you question few aspects of your life, but those though were quickly driven out of your mind when your best friend decided to give you a more interesting topic to think about.

His growing closeness with you.

He seemed more touchy than ever these days, always looking out for you and glaring at any boy who walked passed. At first, you were confused, but as you observed him more, you started to notice the difference. He was growing protective of you. There was a untold affection in his eyes that you always hoped to see in him. It warmed your heart and made you happy.

Was he finally feeling something towards you?

“I’m telling you, noona. Hyung is going to propose to you soon.” The youngest chipmunk said one day, taking your sushi out of your hands. “After all, he can’t let the fish get away.”

“Fish?” You questioned but then shook your head at his stupid comparisons. “Just keep eating you dumb bunny.” You shut him up by thrusting another sushi in his mouth.

It wasn’t long before Jungkook’s words started to come true. Just few weeks after, Hoseok plucked up his courage and proposed to you... with a small condition.

“Do you love me, Y/N?” He asked, holding out a rose to you. Literally everyone in the corridor stared at you both. Hoseok’s eyes were shinning as he brought you slightly closer to him. “I have seen you the way you look at me. It’s the same way I look at you. If you say yes, then remember, there is no going back. You will have to accept me in every shape and size I am. Even if you start to hate me, I will never let you go.”

The words had shocked you. His confession was so sudden that it rendered you a bit stunned. But that didn’t stop you from answering him. You’ve always waited for this moment. You can’t let it get away now.

“Hoseok, why would I ever hate you? I have always loved you.” You said to him, cupping his glowing cheeks. You were so happy in love that you couldn’t see the dark intent in his eyes. “I love your lips, I love your eyes, I love your nose, I love your cheeks, I love everything about you. I have always loved you. You are still my little elephant. And you are still my ray of hope.”

As if the words that triggered something in him, he jerked you closer and met your lips with his, sealing the deal. You could hear cheering in the background, probably from the three annoying chipmunks.

“You are mine now, Y/N. Remember that. You belong to me. No matter what happens next, you cannot escape me.”

And like a foolish girl, you had nodded along to his conditions.

After all, he was your sunshine and you trusted him.

But you had forgotten one thing. He was not normal like other people. He may be your ray of hope but he was also a force to be reckon with. He may have pledge you to do his sweet biddings and trapped you in his love, but he has also permanently chained you to him.

Which is why you found yourself in this situation, over and over.

Tag List: @breadcaaat

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khaotungsfirst · 3 years

Note

pls talk about your favorite ships 😊

GLADLY!!

ok first up: ever given, my beloved. she a bad b with a phat ass and we love her for it!

jk jk 😂

god this is such an open-ended question idek where to start. i guess i’ll just go down the list of my current ships and gush abt each one 💖

wangxian (the untamed)

still my no. 1 ship atm. god i love them so much!! their story makes me so soft 😭😭 they are literally perfect for each other. no offense but i truly don’t understand ppl who can ship either one of them with anyone else like??? i’m talking abt cql wangxian btw cause i haven’t read the novel but i know there are some more problematic things going on... cql wangxian tho?? litchrally perfection 🙌 they way lwj explained to wwx that the forehead ribbon is sacred and can only be touched by family and significant others and then PUTS IT AROUND WWX’S WRIST IN THE SAME EPISODE?? which is only episode 6 btw like... wOW. and the ending.... i bawled 😭😭 it’s just so nice to have a canon ship that you know is endgame and has always been endgame for each other. like would i have loved a kiss? absolutely!! but even with censorship they manage to invoke so many emotions in me it’s unreal, i will probably never get over them.

xuexiao (the untamed)

look i am allowed to have one toxic ship! and the potential with these two is just astronomical!! there’s so much delicious stuff in this ship. like they’re both already so interesting individually as characters, putting them together makes for a lot of fun and pain (mostly pain tho but that’s why we love it). it’s about the bittersweetness... it’s about the betrayal and the trauma... it’s about the building a home together...

deyi (we best love)

oof these two... they don’t know how to communicate and it’s infuriating but also so much fun to get angry at them for it. shi de being in love with shu yi for 10+ years and when shu yi finds out he’s like “it’s my business”? KING! shu yi realising that he has feelings fo shi de and screaming his love confession from the top of a bridge? KING! the miscommunication? the drama of it all? INCREDIBLE! them being the softest mfs ever? I’M CRYING!

wenzhou (word of honor)

i am LIVING for the scenes we get with this ship like censorship whom?? wkx really is out here proclaiming his love after knowing zzs for two minutes and the way zzs gets softer and softer over time? i’m AAAAAAHHHH! also they already have a son!! and a daughter!! it’s amazing! i’m truly feeling the gay vibes with this one and it’s so much fun. add in the fact that both of them really aren’t good people... mhh love it!

adeo (tatort saarbrücken)

listen, (childhood) friends to lovers is MY JAM!!! add in a tragic/complicated history and i WILL ship it, no questions asked (see also: me having stucky as my otp for like 3 years). it just makes it better now that they’re adults and they still have so many unresolved emotions and tension between them and uuuughhhh the potential for softness is so great!!

we’re going into rpf territory now so if you’re uncomfortable with that, skip this 😊 (and yes, i am able to differentiate between reality and fiction, thank you very much)

yizhan

i mean... yibo being too shy to ask xz for his wechat? yibo auditioning twice for the role of lwj after it was announced that xz got the lead role? all of the bts candy? xz being protected by yibo’s bodyguard?

samyu

i am not immune to fanservice okay? like i know sam has a gf (and i absolutely hate that some fans think it’s okay to bully her online like get a reality check) but ugh they’re just so soft with each other. i just enjoy watching their interactions. also sam is always a crackhead and i live for the way yu gets so flustered/weirded out by it 😂

minsung and chanlix (stray kids)

aaaaaaaahhhhh i thought i left the days of shipping band mates far behind but.... apparently not 🙃 listen han and minho just seem to have this easy connection with each other (also minho asking han if he likes him in that way or in that other way i- 👁👄👁) and chan and felix are literally soulmates (chan said it himself!) i’m just sayin.. stray kids are not straight kids 👀

#ships #rpf #god this is only a small percentage of my ships but it's all i can manage rn #anon

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bellakitse · 5 years

Text

Lovin' you is a gift tonight (Lovin' you for all my life)

Ten years ago when Alex leaned in for a kiss, Michael panicked and with it missed his shot. He's lived with that regret for a decade. Some things are always meant to be though and fate gives him a second chance when he runs into Alex at an airport as they wait for their delayed flight.

stuck at the airport fic 13.6K

Michael Guerin has no one to blame for his current situation but himself. Well, maybe he can also blame the weather, which, if he thinks about it, was absolute shit because of global warming, which is the fault of power-hungry politicians and greedy corporations. So really, he isn't the one his sister should be yelling at, not that Isobel Evans cares to listen right now.

"What do you want me to do, Iz?" he asks for the second time when she pauses from lecturing him to take a breath. "I just spoke to one of the attendants at the gate; the flight is delayed because of the snow."

"If you had booked your flight when I asked you to," she starts, repeating herself for the millionth time. He exhales loudly in hopes it will stop her, but not the least surprised when it doesn't. "Instead of waiting till the last minute, you could have gotten a flight from Boston to Dallas to Roswell instead of having to stop in Denver. Where of course there's snow, because it's fucking Colorado, Michael."

“Yeah, well hindsight is 20/20 and all that, Isobel,” he tells her, sighing yet again as she scolds him some more. He takes a seat at the far end of the terminal where there are fewer people, most of his fellow passengers are closer to the gate door, taking their frustrations out on two flight crew members who have the unfortunate luck of being there.

There is only a small cluster of people where he is. An elderly couple who seemed satisfied in dozing off against each other to his right. A woman to his left with a small child who has his face pressed against the window watching the ground crew that is trying to clear the runways, and a man in ripped jeans and a worn leather jacket, sitting across from him. Michael can’t see his face as he roots through his backpack, but what he can see, he likes.

Dark glossy hair a little longer on the top as the fringe falls over the guy’s eyes. Michael spots a few days’ worth of stubble when the guy turns his face, which does nothing to hide sharp cheekbones and the kind of jawline Michael would like to sink his teeth into. He looks down at the guy’s hands as he sorts through his bag and catches a glimpse of chipped black nail polish and silver rings; it makes Michael’s stomach clench as it reminds him of someone else who liked that look. He’s always had a thing for the rocker vibe, and this guy is filling it to a tee. Michael really wants to see his face and see if it matches the rest of the already pretty package.

“Michael, are you even listening to me?” Isobel complains loudly over the phone, distracting him from enjoying the view in front of him.

“Not really,” he answers honestly, shifting to get comfortable on the airport’s hard plastic chairs. “I tend to tune out your bitching,” he tells her, and the guy makes a sound, indicating that he’s overheard the conversation, his head still in his backpack.

Michael smiles, oddly pleased that he’s amused him.

“You’re an asshole.”

“According to you, I’m always an asshole,” he continues, and the guy’s shoulders give a small shake as he finally looks up.

Michael spots brown eyes and full pink lips curved upward. They’re beautiful, but it’s the man’s eyes that Michael is stuck on. Eyes he’s seen before but not in ten years, eyes that haunt his dreams to this day. Eyes that are widening as they look back at him with recognition.

Alex Manes.

“Guerin?” He asks hesitantly, his voice barely above a whisper, while the disbelief is loud and clear.

He ends the call without saying goodbye to Isobel.

“Alex,” he croaks out, his voice cracking in a way it hasn’t since he was a teenager. Given that he hasn’t seen Alex since then, the irony isn’t lost on him.

Alex Manes, the guy responsible for his bisexual awakening.

He gives him another once over now that he can see his face, his gaze no longer interested in a stranger, but instead in the guy that in his private moments, he calls ‘the one that got away.’

At 17, Alex had made the angsty emo look work for him, now the eyeliner was gone, but the edginess was still there. He wasn’t in head to toe black like back in the day; there was a soft-looking green sweater peeking out under his leather jacket, and his hair wasn’t spiked up with vast amounts of gel. Instead, it looked soft, and Michael’s hand itched to touch it.

He recalls the last time they were truly alone. Alex’s kindness still, to this day, warms him from the inside out. The lack of hesitation in Alex to let Michael use his shed when he needed a warm place to stay. How he had given Michael his first guitar just because Michael liked to play, and Alex wanted to do something nice for him.

There is a flutter in Michael’s stomach as he thinks about Alex, gentle and hesitant, leaning in to kiss him. Just as quickly, his stomach drops as he remembers how he turned his face away at the last second in a moment of panic. An action that Michael instantly regretted and has continued to regret ten years later.

After their failed almost kiss, Alex kept his distance, letting him continue to stay in the shed but never coming back to spend time with him, and before he knew it, they were swept up in the excitement of graduation, and after that, Alex was just gone.

He knew enough about Alex's family life to see that he wanted to be as far away from his father as possible, and the boy had not waited for a second longer than he had to. Diploma in hand, he’d gotten a bus out of Roswell, leaving the town with Rosa Ortecho. By then, it was too late for Michael, who was only just realizing that Alex Manes was someone that mattered more to him than anyone outside of Max and Isobel. Leaving Michael with the painful realization that he’d missed his moment.

“What are you doing here?” he blurts out as he gets out of his chair and takes a step towards Alex, instantly cringing at the volume and speed with which he says it. He comes to a halt as Alex startles back in his seat. “I mean- that is-“ he stammers as he waves his hand nervously, feeling his face grow hot. Alex lifts an eyebrow at him, waiting for him to say something coherent. “Hi?”

Alex stares at him for a moment longer before he breaks out into a smile, letting out a soft laugh. “Hi, Guerin,” he says, taking a step towards him as he stands, and Michael realizes with a jolt that Alex is going in for a hug. Luckily his body isn’t stuck on stupid like his brain and mouth, and he gets it to cooperate in time. He wraps his arms around Alex’s shoulders and tries not to do something mortifying like let out a moan at the feel of Alex’s hard body against his, or worse, press his face into Alex’s neck and inhale his scent like a total creep.

“Hi, Alex,” he mumbles into his shoulder, holding on longer than it’s probably acceptable to greet an old school friend. Fortunately, Alex proves to still be kind and lets Michael hold him, not commenting on the lingering hug, even though his own hands are now loose at Michael’s waist.

Knowing he can’t prolong the embrace any longer without making it weird, he tightens his hold one more second before pulling away without stepping back. This close, he can see Alex’s stupidly attractive face and commit to memory all the ways its change. Gone is the boyishness from years ago. At 28, Alex Manes is a man, and it shows. His features are more defined; the facial hair adds a ruggedness he didn’t have in their youth. There are faint laugh lines at the corners of his eyes and mouth that makes Michael glad to see them. High school Alex didn’t laugh nearly as much as he should’ve, not when there were bullies at school and an even bigger bully at home, but as glad as it makes him to think of a happy Alex, it’s mixed with a sadness that he wasn’t the one there to make it happen. There is a small scar above his right eye, and he instantly wants to ask him about it as he touches it. He does neither and instead finally takes a step back.

“Hi,” he says once more, and he hopes his smile isn’t as lovesick as it feels, but he’s in front of his teenage crush, that he’s never completely gotten over, and his palms are sweating, his pulse racing.

Alex grins, his eyes flickering with laughter. “Hi, again,” he teases. “Long time no see, Guerin.”

Michael licks his lips nervously. “Ten years.”

Alex nods, still smiling easily at him as he takes back his seat. Michael hesitates for a moment, before deciding that sitting across Alex is too far. He grabs his carry on and rolls it to the seat next to Alex's. He says nothing, looking at him welcoming as Michael sits beside him.

"Where are you headed?" he asks as he tries to get comfortable.

Alex huffs out a laugh. "Roswell."

Michael raises an eyebrow at that. As far as he knows, Alex hasn't been back to Roswell since he left. Michael doesn't go back as often as Isobel would like, but he does go home when he has the time to get away from MIT. He always tries to ask Liz, who is dating Max these days or Maria DeLuca about him, and while he knows that they visit Alex. Alex does not come home, it's a simple fact.

"Yeah, I know," Alex laughs some more. "But you know Liz and Max Evans are together now, right?"

Michael nods, his brother managed to convince Liz to give him a chance when she moved back home over a year ago. He doesn't say that though, since as far as the world is concerned, he is just friends with the Evans twins and not related.

"Well, she's pregnant," Alex confesses, and Michael gestures once more. He knows that Max has been happy-slash-freaked-out about his future half-human, half-alien spawn. Luckily Max had told Liz their little green secret before they got pregnant, much to Isobel's displeasure. Michael’s too, even though he understood Max wanting to tell the love of his life the truth. He looks at Alex and feels a spasm; deep down, he knows that if he were ever to risk telling his secret to a human, it would always be Alex Manes.

It's not the least bit logical, but that doesn't make it any less true.

"Anyway," Alex continues, oblivious to Michael's heavy thoughts. "Liz wants Rosa there for moral support when she tells Arturo, and Rosa called me from California asking me to come for a visit because, and this is a direct quote: ‘if I have to go back to the desert punk, so do you.’" Alex rolls his eyes, but a smile tugs at the corners of his mouth. "And knowing Rosa, if I had said no, she would have flown to New York just to drag me home, so I figured I should save myself the hassle and just cave to her demands, she's scary when she’s annoyed."

Michael smirks. "Rosa Ortecho is like 5'2," he teases him.

"Is that supposed to mean something to me?" Alex looks at him, unimpressed. "Because I lived with her for six years before she got tired of the east coast winters, and decided to head to SoCal. She might be tiny, but her rage is giant."

Michael laughs, and it grows as Alex gives him the stink eye at his amusement. He's more than ready to continue to tease him when his phone starts ringing. Looking down, he cringes at the caller ID. He's surprised Isobel has waited this long to call him back and yell at him for ending their call. Alex tilts his head to sneak a peek at his phone, making a sound in his throat when he sees the contact name.

“That wouldn’t be Isobel Evans, would it?” Alex questions, making another noise like a laugh when Michael nods, his finger hovering over the answer button. “So, do you want to keep teasing me about being scared of Rosa?”

Michael looks over at him. “At least Isobel is taller,” he tells him, resisting the urge to stick his tongue out at him. Alex grins at him in a way that tells him that while he didn’t give in to his urge, Alex knows it, nonetheless. He rolls his eyes and presses the call button.

“Yeah?”

“You hang up on me!” Isobel yells into the phone. “And then you answer yeah,” she says, mocking him. She is loud enough that Alex can hear her, making him cover his mouth to keep her from hearing his laughter.

“Something important came up,” he tells her, looking at Alex. His heart ticking up when Alex raises a teasing eyebrow at him as he points at himself.

“And what’s that?” she demands, loudly.

Michael stares at Alex, locking eyes with him.

Alex holds his gaze, his lips parting as he stares at Michael, and he can only imagine what Alex sees on his face. “A beautiful boy, I used to have a crush on back in high school,” he answers, his gut clenching when Alex lets out a soft sound, his eyes wide as he looks at Michael.

Isobel takes in a sharp breath. “You don’t mean- “

“Yep,” Michael tells her, smiling when she swears. Isobel is the only person who knows about his decade-long feelings for Alex, and he appreciates that she instantly understands the depth of the situation.

“This is literally the only reason I accept you hanging up on me,” she tells him after a moment. “I want details the second you get here, which will be soon, right?”

“They still have us waiting,” he says, looking away from Alex, who is still watching him, with a considering look on his face and over to the screen where it’s again flashing that his flight to Dallas is delayed. “But they haven’t canceled the flight yet, so here's hoping we know something soon.”

Isobel makes a noise of agreement. “Okay, keep me posted.”

“I will,” he assures her.

“Okay,” she says again. “Go get your boy, is he still emo?”

Michael looks over at Alex again, deliberately checking him out. “More of a rocker vibe.”

Alex’s lip twitches.

“Hot?” Isobel asks, pleased.

Michael licks his lips, pleased when Alex tracks the movement. “He was always hot,” he tells her, smirking as Alex shakes his head even as he smiles, and there is a gorgeous blush working its way over his cheeks. Isobel laughs in delight as she says goodbye.

Michael presses end to the call and waits for Alex to say something, anything. He doesn’t look upset that Michael was blatantly talking about him. The way Alex’s brown eyes seem to have darkened, the soft press of his teeth to his bottom lip, tells Michael that Alex isn’t indifferent to him at all. That sexual tension they had as kids is still there for him too.

“So it seems we have a lot to catch up on,” Alex finally speaks, standing up. Michael does the same. “And something tells me that it will be better over drinks,” Alex continues with a glint in his eyes that makes Michael’s stomach flip. “Bar?”

Michael grabs the handle of his carry on and steps closer to Alex, his skin buzzing from being near him and the way Alex looks at him now, so similar to years ago. “Lead the way.”

They don’t say much as they walk away from their gate, nor as they sit at the bar, waiting for his beer and Alex’s jack-n-coke. It’s only after their drinks are placed in front of them that Alex seems ready to talk.

“I have a lot of questions,” he admits as he sips his drink. “Especially after that phone call with Isobel, but I’m not sure how to start.”

Michael thinks for a moment, smiling when an idea comes to him. “20 questions?”

Alex lights up at the suggestion, nodding in agreement with a sly grin.

“I’ll go first,” he says quickly, which earns him an indulgent look from Alex. “Where did you go after high school?” he asks. He knows snippets from his friends when they mention him, but it’s never enough for Michael, who has been longing to know everything about Alex for years.

“I went to New York with Rosa,” Alex starts, turning in his stool to look at him. He tells him about arriving in the city with his friend, sharing a shitty studio apartment with her, working even shittier jobs, while taking online courses. He tells Michael about Rosa getting clean with time and pure grit.

Two Roswell outcasts against the world Alex tells him, smiling the whole time, and Michael can tell that while it obviously wasn’t easy being broke teenagers in New York, he loved every moment of it. “I would play my music in dive bars, and then one day someone heard me and asked if I wanted to write music with them, and I have been doing it ever since.”

“A songwriter,” Michael says with a smile, and Alex returns it brightly.

“I never wanted to be a rock star,” Alex tells him, chuckling as he waves at his clothes. “Despite my appearance. I just wanted to write songs and hear other people play them. I get to do what I love and keep my life private.”

“That’s amazing, Alex,” he says, happy of him. He remembers how little Alex smiled, and now in less than an hour of being in his presence, Michael thinks he’s seen him smile more than all the time he knew him.

“Thanks,” Alex says softly, looking down at his hands as he plays with his rings. He looks back at Michael from under the pieces of hair that have fallen in his eyes. “Your turn, did you go to UNM?”

Michael nods, blushing when Alex gives him a huge smile. “UNM for my undergrad, and now I’m at MIT working on my doctoral in Mechanical Engineering.”

“Dr. Guerin,” Alex teases gently, his smile beautiful. “Damn, Guerin, I always knew you would do amazing things with that big brain of yours.”

It’s Michael's turn to feel bashful as Alex looks at him proudly.

“And Cambridge,” Alex continues casually. “That’s only a few hours drive from New York, to think we’ve been so close all this time.”

Michael turns to look at him; there is a hint of a smirk on Alex’s otherwise neutral expression. “Next question, anyone special in your life?”

Alex tsks him. “You asked the first question. It’s my turn.”

Michael shakes his head. “Nope, you asked me if I went to UNM, and I answered, so it’s my turn again.”

Alex narrows his eyes at him, the hint of a smile on his face. “You sneak. Fine. Is there anyone special in my life?”

Michael nods, licking his lips as he waits in anticipation, letting out a breath when Alex shakes his head.

“New York has been a fun playground for this gay boy,” Alex grins wickedly with the confidence of a man who has discovered his hotness and uses it to his advantage; it sends a spike of heat through Michael. “Much better than Roswell, where I was the only gay kid, that was out anyway,” he says, shooting Michael a loaded look, letting him know that Alex hasn’t forgotten his talk with Isobel. “But no one serious, guess I'm still looking for a boy to love me."

Michael swallows down on the overwhelming urge to scream, 'I volunteer as tribute' like he's Katniss-fucking-Everdeen.

"Your turn to ask a question," he says instead, and instantly feels his hands sweat as Alex turns even further in his seat to thoroughly look at Michael.

Michael does the same, and their knees bump as he turns in his stool. Alex spreads his legs to accommodate him, but all it does is draw Michael’s attention to the fact that Alex's pants are tight and that his parted legs emphasize that little fact. Hiding nothing, like the fact that he's pretty sure Alex isn't wearing underwear under his jeans. Michael feels a little light-headed.

"Did you really have a crush on me back in high school?"

Michael’s head snaps up from where he'd been staring, swallowing hard around nothing. The bravery he had felt when he made the comment earlier evaporating in the face of a direct question. But as he looks at Alex, there is no playful smirk, no teasing, just an honest look on his face with a hint of hopefulness, Michael finds his bravery again and nods.

Alex lets out a breath. "That night in the shed?"

Michael makes a face at the memory. "Instant regret. The second I turned my face, I knew I was an idiot.”

Alex shakes his head. "I freaked you out," he reasons away easily.

"How much I liked you freaked me out," Michael corrects him, feeling warm from the inside out as Alex gives him a sweet smile in return. "You leaned in, and I realized ‘oh shit I like a dude,’" he grins as Alex lets out a chuckle. "Had my gay panic, which turned into my bisexual awakening in the days that followed, but by the time I realized it, you were gone."

Alex’s expression is full of understanding, soft, and kind. "Missed opportunity."

Michael nods, swallowing before he continues with his confession. "You're the one that got away,” he says with an embarrassed chuckle. “I think about it all the time, that if I could do it over again, I wouldn't turn away."

There is a glint in Alex's dark eyes that seems to make them glow; the soft smile on his face is a little amused and pleased. He looks at him for a moment, and Michael holds his breath as he seems to come to a decision. Alex places his hands on Michael's knees, leaning into his space, only stopping when he's a few inches away from Michael.

"Do-over?" he whispers, and he's close enough that Michael can feel his breath touch his face.

Michael thinks for a moment, he must be dreaming, has to be, but he doesn’t question it, because if it is a dream. It’s a dream come true. He closes the space between them, taking Alex’s bottom lip between his. The kiss isn’t tentative like a usual first kiss. There is no uncertainty from either one of them as Alex reaches up, his hands finding their way to Michael’s hair, and Michael slides out of his seat to step in between Alex’s legs. He grips Alex’s thighs and pulls him closer, relishing the sound Alex makes at the back of his throat. He wants Alex to keep making those kinds of sounds; he wants to be the reason for them. They say reality is never as good as your imagination, but the people who say that have obviously never kissed Alex Manes.

His lips are softer than his wildest dreams, and his taste is instantly addictive, he’ll never need acetone again if he gets to keep kissing Alex.

Alex licks into his mouth, and it’s Michael’s turn to let out a noise. He can feel Alex smile into the kiss, so he gives Alex’s thighs a hard squeeze for his smugness, earning a stinging bite that Alex soothes away with a swipe of his hot tongue.

Alex breaks the kiss but doesn’t pull away from him; if anything, he holds him closer, his fingers gripping in Michael’s curls. “Fuck, Guerin,” Alex gets out, his voice rough. “You kiss all the boys like that?”

Michael grins, giddy from having the boy of his dreams in his arms, looking at him with those brown eyes of his that always, always, laid Michael low. “Just you, darlin’.”

Alex gives him a growing smile. “Sweet talker,” he teases, his hands leave Michael’s hair, and he cradles Michael’s face between them. “When did you get so smooth?”

Michael laughs, happier than he’s been in a long time. He's more than ready to get back to it, nothing else matters than Alex's mouth, when a voice booms over the speakers.

‘Attention passengers of American Airlines flight 157 Denver to Dallas, has been canceled. Passengers, please report to your gate for further information.’

"That's us, isn't it?" Michael makes a face, already dreading yet another lecture from Isobel.

Alex copies him. "Yep," he says as he runs a hand through his hair, making Michael realize that he hasn't touched it yet. He wants to. He wants to see if it's as soft and silky as it looks. "Rosa is going to bitch me out. She wanted me home earlier in the week."

Michael smiles. "I have the same conversation to look forward to with Isobel."

Alex gives him a half-smile and stands, grabbing his bag and then Michael's hand. "Let's go see what the plan is before we deal with those two."

Michael nods, picking up his carry-on. They leave a tip for the bartender and head for the information desk, waiting their turn as the people before them are dealt with. The young man that greets them, does it with an apologetic smile that tells them he has been saying sorry to a lot of angry people. Given that its December 22nd, so close to Christmas, Michael can’t imagine people being happy with their flights canceled.

He tries to listen as the man tells them that the weather report is saying that the snow should stop by midnight and that their flight is rescheduled for 8:45 am the next day. He tunes out as more apologies are uttered in their direction. His focus is on the fact that Alex hasn’t let go of his hand, his thumb running back and forth over the webbing between his thumb and his index, and he tries to suppress a shiver caused by the calluses of Alex’s thumb over the thin skin. Alex turns in his direction, giving him a knowing smile. He knows Michael isn’t paying attention. But how can he pay attention when he’s actually standing next to Alex? Holding hands with him after finally kissing him like he’s dreamed about for the last ten years.

Alex is lucky he’s not plastered to his back, his arms around him, clinging to him as he presses his face to his neck the way he really wants to.

“We have a shuttle bus that will take you to the hotel,” the attendant tells them, and Michael snaps out of his frankly embarrassing fantasy of living the rest of his days like Alex’s backpack. “Again, we’re so sorry for the inconvenience, sirs.”

“Please stop apologizing, you can’t control the weather,” Alex tells the man with a sincere smile, and the attendant turns a shade of pink. Michael can almost see the heart eyes he gives Alex.

He frowns at the man even though he gets it. It’s pretty much his reaction to Alex, but that doesn’t mean he likes other people reacting the same, especially when he’s right next to him. He shifts closer to him, giving the attendant a look that silently says, ‘back the fuck off.’

The flight attendant clears his throat nervously, darting his eyes away from Alex, looking at Michael with apologetic acknowledgment.

“The van will be outside waiting for you,” he tells them quickly. “Have a good night, sirs.”

Alex tugs at his hand as he begins to walk away. “Let’s go, Guerin.”

Michael follows along quickly, more than okay with Alex pulling him along by the hand. They get into the airport van that is waiting for them, and Michael realizes that the information he missed out while busy fantasizing about Alex, is that the airport is setting them up with rooms for the night to make up for the cancellation. They get to the hotel ten minutes later, and it only takes them that long because of the snow. The hotel isn’t anything special, but they’re quick to check them in, obviously ready for the influx of stranded passengers, and they get handed their room keys, both on the fifth floor.

He walks with Alex down a narrow hallway, stopping in front of room 515. Alex opens his door before turning back to him, shifting from foot to foot.

“I need a hot shower before I get yelled at by Rosa,” he says with a wry smile, and Michael realizes with a warm fluttering feeling in his chest that Alex is as nervous as him.

It makes him smile softly, and he’s pleased by the way Alex's shoulders seem to loosen. “Same,” he tells him. “Iz will probably have a lot to say.”

Alex chuckles softly before placing his hand on Michael’s chest, curling it around his coat and reeling him in. Michael steps into his space, meeting Alex halfway, kissing him back as he presses his lips against his in a soft, gentle touch. They take their time, neither deepening the kiss, just enjoying the press of their lips against each other. “Do you want to come back when you’re done getting yelled at?” Alex asks quietly against his mouth.

He pulls back to look at Alex, flushed skin, his dark eyes that glisten with hope and desire.

The answer to the question is obvious.

“Yes.”

After a shower and a lengthy conversation with Isobel that jumps back and forth between lecturing him for not leaving Massachusetts sooner and demanding details about Alex, Michael is finally back at Alex’s door. He runs his hand over his damp curls and takes a deep breath before he knocks, waiting as he hears Alex move around in his room.

The door opens to reveal a freshly showered Alex in nothing but a pair of grey sweats that ride low on his hips. Michael tries hard not to swallow his tongue.

He shoots him a smile with his cell phone pressed to his ear. Rosa, he mouths, stepping away to let Michael in.

Michael walks into the room, grateful that Alex is distracted, it gives him a moment to take Alex in. His back to him, he hears Alex give a vague uh-huh to his friend, followed by a yep. He runs his eyes over Alex, lingering on the smooth skin over lean muscle, the dip of his waist, and the pair of dimples on his lower back that leaves Michael’s mouth dry. He itches to step up to Alex and press himself against the length of his back.

He doesn’t hold back on the impulse and does just that, stepping up behind Alex, relishing the gasp he lets out as his hands clench his hips, he rubs his nose against the side of Alex’s neck, making a sound at the back of his throat as he takes in the smell of soap and underneath that, a scent so uniquely Alex, a little sweet, hot and addictive.

“Time to hang up, darlin’,” he whispers against his ear, taking the lobe between his teeth, grinning around it as Alex lets out a halting goodbye to Rosa, ignoring her protests. He spins around, wrapping his arms around Michael’s neck.

“Menace,” he whispers, cutting Michael’s laugh short as he slams his mouth against his.

Michael groans, his hands tightening his hold on Alex, and he pulls him even closer, letting out another whining sound when Alex licks into his mouth. He runs his hands from Alex’s sides to his back, touching every piece of warm skin he can.

“Guerin,” Alex gasps for breath, his hands tugging at his shirt, and Michael lets go of Alex long enough to pull it over his head, dropping it on the floor. He stands still as Alex exhales a sharp breath, running his eyes over him in a way that feels like a touch. He wants more though, and when Alex’s hands hover hesitantly over his chest, he circles his wrists and gently presses them over his racing heart.

“You want this?” Alex asks, his hands caress his chest, a fingertip brushing against his hardened nipples, his body tightening at the sensation, and he swallows hard at the look Alex gives him in response.

“I have never wanted anything more,” he pauses, licking his lips nervously when Alex meets his eyes. “Then how much I have always wanted you,” he confesses, and it feels like his heart is going to leap out of his chest when Alex gives him a gentle look that reflects the hope Michael knows is on his face.

Alex goes around him, and Michael turns around to watch Alex climb into the queen size bed. Laying back on a mess of pillows, he lifts his hand out to Michael.

“Come here,” he whispers, looking like all of Michael’s dreams come to life, and Michael doesn’t need to be told twice.

“Am I dreaming?” he whispers sometime later, his head on Alex’s chest, their legs intertwined under a sheet as they try to catch their breath. Their bodies are sweaty and sticky, but Michael doesn’t care, not when his body aches in the delightful way that only happens after a spectacular fuck.

Alex’s chest rumbles under his cheek as he laughs, his hand has been making a mess of his curls as he runs his fingers through them. “I was thinking the same thing.”

Michael grins into his skin, pressing a kiss into it, followed by a lick before he looks up at him. “Really?”

“Mmhmm,” Alex hums, wrapping his index finger around a curl, his nails scratch at Michael’s scalp softly, and he has to bite down on his lip to keep from purring. “I used to daydream about your hair.”

Michael raises an eyebrow at him. “That’s a lot more innocent than my daydreams; I’ll be real.”

Alex grins at him, tugging on a curl. “Well, I think you’ve proven by your earlier moves that you’re a dirty boy,” Alex jokes, and Michael throws him a smirk, proud as he remembers the way Alex gasped and begged when Michael rode him.

“I used to dream about it in Bio class,” Alex confesses. “You used to sit by the windows, and the light would hit your curls, making them glow. All I wanted was to sink my hands into them and play with them for hours.”

“That’s so sweet,” Michael teases to keep from melting on the spot, he’s already half in love with Alex, to know that Alex also thought of him back then, that he might feel some of what he’s feeling now, pretty much seals the deal on his feelings.

Alex gives a curl another tug, this one sharper, and Michael can't help the gasp that comes out. Alex stills his hand while Michael holds his breath.

"If we go another round, you're not going to sit comfortably on the plane in the morning," Alex warns him, heat flickering in Michael's belly from the promise in Alex's tone, and Michael finds himself straddling Alex, feeling him harden under him.

"I couldn't care less," Michael says, grinding against Alex, a grin on his face when Alex lets out a curse and flips them over, his hand reaching for the small bottle of lube they used before.

"You asked for it,” Alex tells him. Michael would gloat about it, but as Alex touches him with wet fingers, pressing in, he finds himself without enough brain cells to be clever.

Michael isn’t sure if it’s that the airline is trying to keep them happy because of the canceled flight, or it’s just Alex’s smile that dazzles the flight attendant, leaving her powerless to his charm. But when they arrive at the airport for their morning flight, Alex asks if Michael can be bumped up to first class with him, and the flight attendant immediately upgrades him.

“That face of yours pretty much gets you whatever you want, doesn’t it?” he questions as they sit with their seat belts on, as the flight crew finishes going through their emergency procedures.

“I don’t know,” Alex says, turning his head to look at him. There is a sleepy look on his face, and Michael feels a sense of pride to think he wore him out. Their second round had turned into a third, and though Alex was right and he finds himself shifting in his seat to get comfortable, shooting Alex a look when he smirks, he can’t say he regrets it. “Can I get anything I want from you?” he asks with a teasing look on his face.

“Probably,” he answers honestly.

Alex makes a sound, and Michael looks up at him, there is a look of surprise that turns soft. Alex takes his hand in his, running his thumb over the thin skin between his thumb and index finger. It makes Michael tremble.

“Sorry,” Alex murmurs, even as he doesn’t stop touching Michael. “Guitar calluses.”

“I don’t mind,” he answers, turning his hand palm side up so Alex can have more to touch.

“Do you still play?” Alex asks, studying his hand.

“Not as much as I would like,” Michael admits. Between work and classes, it doesn’t leave him much time. “When I do play, I think of you.”

Alex's hand stills over his, and he looks at Michael with big brown eyes that hold so much emotion. “You really mean that don’t you,” he whispers, leaning in closer, intertwining their fingers. “You still think about me.”

Michael breathes in, his heart pounding in his ears. A part of him worries that he’s coming on too strong. He’s had ten years to come to terms with the fact that he’s probably been half in love with Alex since he was a teenager. While Alex is just now realizing the torch Michael has been carrying. The other part of him though, the part that still can’t believe that he actually has Alex with him here and now. Can’t believe the night they just spent together isn’t a dream of his. That part is telling him that this is his second chance, and he needs to lay it all on the table if he’s going to have a shot at keeping Alex in his life this time around. “I always think about you, Alex.”

Shaking his head like he can’t believe it, Alex closes his eyes for a moment, but there is a smile on his face, and it gives Michal hope.

Opening his eyes, Alex looks at him in wonder, making Michael feel warm all over. “What do you think about?”

Michael raises an eyebrow at him with a smirk, laughing when Alex scoffs at him, though he sees a hint of a blush.

“Besides that, Guerin,” Alex rolls his eyes at him even as his mouth quirks upward.

He laughs softly, trailing off as Alex looks at him, waiting. “I think about your kindness,” he says quietly. “You gave me somewhere warm because I had nowhere to go. You gave me a guitar because you knew I liked to play, and you wanted to do something nice. You were kind to me for no reason.”

“I liked you,” Alex smiles sweetly, looking so much like the boy of years ago. “That was the reason.”

Michael squeezes his hand. "That was the first time someone gave me something that meant anything. I hated leaving it behind in the shed."

“You should have taken it,” Alex tells him with a soft smile. “I wanted you to have it; instead, it’s probably still in the shed collecting dust with all my other stuff. I know my dad had my brother Greg get rid of all my things inside the house, and instead, he put them in the shed. At least that’s what Greg told me the last time we spoke, but that was years ago, so maybe it’s all gone now.”

“You don’t talk to them, do you?” he questions, though given that Alex has never bothered to come back to Roswell, he probably knows the answer.

“My father is an abusive asshole who hates me for being gay,” Alex says matter of fact, there is no hurt in his voice like he came to terms with it a long time ago. “My older brothers follow his lead. Greg, who is two years older than me, is the only one who doesn’t care. He’s not supportive exactly, but he also doesn’t give a shit about me liking guys or the family drama. He went into the military like my other brothers, but it was to get away from everyone. We have that in common.”

Michael wants to put his arm around Alex; he wants to pull him closer and hold him until he eases the pain Alex carries from years of abuse and neglect. He hesitates for a moment, they’re on the plane, there are people around them, and maybe Alex doesn’t want his attention right now. After a moment, he decides what the hell. He pops off his seat belt, noticing that the light for it is off and moves to lift the armrest between them.

“What are you doing, Guerin?” Alex questions, frowning at him.

“I’m going to hug you,” he answers, ignoring the look Alex gives him.

“I’m fine,” Alex protests, while Michael shifts in his seat. “I’ve moved past the need for my father’s approval.”

“I know you’re fine, you’re great,” Michael assures him as he throws his arm around Alex’s shoulders and pulls him close. “You’re perfect, I just like touching you and don’t know if I’ll get to do this when we get to Roswell, so I’m taking advantage now.”

Alex scoffs halfheartedly, but indulges him anyway, and wraps his arms around Michael’s waist as he holds him. “You’re a lot more affectionate than I would have thought, but I like it,” he says, his words pressed against Michael’s jaw as he tilts his head. “And for the record, you can touch me all you want when we get to Roswell.”

Michael stills at the comment, and he tells his heart to calm the fuck down as it beats loudly. “Do you mean that?”

Alex, who has gotten as comfortable as you can on an airplane, first-class seats or not, lets out a hum as he uses Michael’s shoulder as a pillow. “Well,” he starts sleepily. “I guess this could just be a one night stand for you,” he pauses, and the hand at Michael’s waist gives him a soft squeeze. “But I’m going to take a leap of faith and say that’s not the case.”

“Leap away,” Michael says quickly, his pulse still racing.

Alex makes another noise like Michael has pleased and amused him with his quick response. He doesn’t say anything else and seems to be drifting off, but Michael can’t let the conversation go just yet.

“So just so I’m clear, this wasn’t a one night stand for you either, and it would be okay with you if I…” he trails off, not knowing how to continue.

He what? Touch Alex? Kiss Alex? Proclaim his undying love?

Alex huffs, and he lifts his head to look at him, he seems tired, but he leans in anyway and kisses him softly. He takes his time with it, only pulling back when they’re both breathless.

Michael exhales. “Yeah, that.”

Alex grins, his brown eyes dancing. “You sure you’re a genius, Guerin? Because you seem really slow on the uptake.”

Michael rolls his eyes, but can’t help the smile that has taken over his face. “Go to sleep smartass. I obviously wore you out, and it’s made you crabby. I’ll wake you up when we land in Dallas.”

Alex looks like he wants to give another retort, but, in the end, seems to decide that sleep has more appeal and lays his head back on Michael’s shoulder, doing as Michael tells him.

They land in Roswell after a short layover in Dallas; hand in hand, they make their way to luggage claim. Alex has been quiet since the wheels of the plane touched the ground.

“Are you okay?” he asks gently.

“I think so,” Alex wrinkles his nose at him, and it’s so damn cute Michael wants to lean in and kiss it. “It’s just weird being back; that’s all.”

Michael nods, he’s already asked him if he has plans to see his family, which made Alex laugh dryly before giving him an emphatic no.

“Is anyone picking you up?” Alex asks once they both have their bags and start to make their way towards the exit.

“Isobel, what about you?”

Alex’s mouth curves. “Rosa.”

Michael nods again, feeling a trickle of worry grow the closer they make it to the outside world. The last 24 hours have felt like a magical little bubble where only he and Alex exist. Michael can’t help but worry that the magic is going to disappear the moment it’s no longer just the two of them. He thinks some of his thoughts must play out on his face because Alex, who has been watching him, stops in his tracks and turns to him.

“Hey,” he says quietly, brushing away one of Michael’s curls away from his face, his brown eyes warm as he looks at him.

“Hi,” Michael whispers back, taking a breath as Alex places his hands on his waist and tugs him forward.

Alex smiles, leaning in to rest his forehead against his.

“Tell that busy brain of yours to calm down,” Alex whispers, and Michael tries not to make a big deal out of the fact that Alex seems to be able to read him like a book. He taps his index finger against Michael’s temple. “Okay? I can hear it from here.”

Michael breathes out slowly, earning himself another smile from Alex as he nods, his forehead still pressed against his. Alex doesn't let him go, seemingly comfortable with staying there in his arms as much as Michael, and it settles his nerves some more.

As far as he's concerned, they can stay like this forever.

Isobel, though, seems to have a different plan.

"Jesus Christ, did you two really make us wait until the last minute to get here, just to stare at each other in an airport?"

Michael turns his head to find his sister and Rosa Ortecho standing side by side, watching them with various degrees of judgment and amusement on their faces.

Alex lets him go, much to Michael's displeasure, and holds out his arms for Rosa, who breaks out into a grin as she jumps into his arms.

"Hey punk," she says into Alex's shoulder as she and Alex hold each other tightly.

"Hi love," Alex greets back with a breathtaking smile on his face.

Isobel slaps his arm, drawing back his attention to her. "I haven't seen you in months. Are you going to hug me, or are you too busy staring at Alex like in high school?" Isobel asks bluntly, drawing the attention of the two friends who are still hugging.

Rosa smirks in his direction, while Alex gives him a soft look, the tiniest bit amused.

Michael can feel himself blush. It's one thing to tell Alex in private that he had feelings for him back in high school. It's another to have Isobel air his dirty laundry like this.

He glares at her but softens when he sees the happy look on her face.

"Brat," he murmurs with affection pulling her into a tight hug.

"Loser," she mocks as she returns the embrace. "Come on, we have to get back to the house. I have pies to finish."

Michael hesitates when she tugs at his sleeve. She looks back at him and then over at Alex, rolling her eyes at both of them.

"Oh for God sakes Michael, you're going to see him later. Hi, by the way, Manes," she says, finally seeming to remember her manners.

Alex shakes his head, laughing. "Hey, Evans, you haven't changed a bit, I see."

Isobel raises an eyebrow at the comment, taking it for the challenge it is. "While you seem to have finally gotten over your unfortunate emo phase, good for you."

"Ooh, fashion burn," Alex smirks, a glint in his eye.

Isobel stares at him harder, glares at him, really, but Michael can see the hint of a smile on her face. Isobel has always appreciated a worthy opponent.

She turns back to him. "If you could, please stop acting like you're saying goodbye to your beloved before sending him off to war. Max is in charge of the kitchen, so we have to go before he burns it down."

"Give me a second to say goodbye."

Isobel rolls her eyes again, but lets go of his arm.

Michael turns back to Alex, who looks like he's trying very hard to keep from laughing. He grins back, having decided to irritate Isobel some more.

"I'll wait for you, my love," he says with a dramatic sigh.

Alex bites down on his bottom lip, taking a deep breath. "Though the future is full of peril, know that I'll think of you every moment we're apart."

Rosa chuckles just as Isobel lets out a disgruntled huff, glaring at both of them. "Great, he’s just as annoying as you, Michael.”

Alex smirks, obviously pleased.

“Perfect match,” Michael says quietly, not caring that Rosa shakes her head in laughter or that Isobel makes a gagging noise like the brat she is. Alex is giving him a soft smile, and that’s all that matters in the end. “See you later?”

Alex nods, his hand grips the front of Michael’s shirt, tugging him forward for a soft kiss. “Go have dinner with your friends. We can do something for Christmas day, just the two of us, okay?”

Michael nods, pressing his mouth against Alex’s once more. “Okay.”

Michael wakes up Christmas day to voices outside his bedroom at Max’s, sighing when he sees that it’s only eight a.m. and his siblings are already up, even though they were awake past midnight.

Grabbing his phone, he checks his messages and smiles when he sees that Alex left him a text around one a.m. saying Merry Christmas. Pocketing his phone, he makes his way towards the living room where Isobel is sitting with a cup of coffee in hand while making Max hold up a series of shirts against his body.

“What’s going on?” he asks, leaning down to kiss the top of Isobel’s head, stealing her cup in the process.

She gives him a dirty look but lets him get away with it, nodding towards a frantic Max.

“Liz dropped the baby bomb on her dad last night and text Max this morning that Arturo wants him over at the diner for breakfast and a discussion. So now he’s trying to find a shirt that says, ‘I’m sorry I knocked up your daughter out of wedlock; please don’t shoot me,” she finished explaining with a frankly evil smile on her face at their brother’s predicament.

“Max,” he says sharply, drawing his attention when it looks like he’s going to start freaking out even more than he already is. “Arturo is not going to shoot you.”

Max lets out a relieved breath while Isobel pouts at him for ruining her fun, which he answers with a wink.

“The man is a cook,” he continues, not bothering to fight the grin on his face. “He’ll poison you before he shoots you,” he finishes, smirking as Isobel lets out a loud laugh, and Max gives him an annoyed look.

“Comforting and helpful as always, Michael, thank you,” Max bitches at him, while Isobel continues to laugh.

Michael tips his head in Max’s direction, chuckling when Max walks away, mumbling under his breath about horrible siblings.

His phone buzzes, and he pulls it out, to see a message, smiling when he sees it’s from Alex.

“Good morning. Liz told Arturo about the baby, and there’s a very awkward breakfast about to happen that I don’t want to be here for. Want to meet up? I’ll bring coffee and donuts.”

He lets out an amused sound, shooting back a quick yes. Alex answers back just as quickly with an address and a heart emoji.

“Alex?” Isobel asks, startling him. He’d forgotten he wasn’t alone.

He looks up to find her studying him. “How did you know?” he questions, getting an eye-roll in return.

“Because you’re smiling like an idiot,” she answers dryly, a smirk on her face when he glares at her. “It’s the same face you used to make when you would stare at him in high school.”

“Stop,” Michael whines, knowing where this is already going because he’s heard Isobel give Max the same lecture about Liz.

Isobel raises her hands in peace. “I’m happy that you’re happy,” she starts, and he can hear the but in her voice. “I’m happy that you’re reconnecting with him and getting the chance you missed in high school.”

“But?” he says for her, wanting to get to the point.

“But,” Isobel emphasizes, narrowing her eyes at him. “You and Max are more alike than either of you would like, and you have been carrying a torch for this guy forever, just like Max with Liz. There’s the big alien elephant in the room, and you have to be careful if you want to pursue something serious with Alex.”

Michael remains quiet for a moment knowing that she has a point. He learned how to control his powers a long time ago, and he’s never been serious about anyone to feel the need to share his secret with them. If there’s anyone on this planet that he would think about sharing it with, it would be Alex Manes, and that’s something he has to take into consideration.

“At least I can’t knock him up as Max did with Liz,” he answers jokingly, feeling a chill go down his spine when Isobel gives him a downright evil-looking smile.

“So you think.”

Michael arrives at the address Alex gave him, realizing as he pulls up that it’s Alex’s childhood home, given what he knows about Alex’s family, he’s more than a little confused. But Alex is there, leaning against a car with a coffee in his hand, so he parks and gets out, crossing the street to join him.

“I can’t believe you still have your truck,” Alex comments as he closes the distance between them, passing him a coffee cup. “Donut?”

Michael shakes his head. “I’ll take something else that sweet though,” he says, pressing his tongue to the corner of his mouth, as Alex rolls his eyes.

“Smooth,” Alex says sarcastically, even as he leans in to kiss him.

“It worked,” Michael says, a smug grin on his face, kissing him once more before pulling back. “What are we doing here? I would think this is the last place you would visit,” he points at the house, as he downs half his coffee in one go.

“No one is here,” Alex tells him. “From what I understand, none of my brothers came home for the holidays, and when my dad heard I would be in town, he decided to stay on the base.”

“Okay,” Michael says slowly, drinking down the last bit of his coffee. “Still doesn’t explain why we’re here.”

Alex smiles, taking his now empty cup and putting it into a paper bag, throwing it back in his car. He takes Michael’s hand and starts to walk towards the house, or well, the back of it. Michael starts to get an idea where this is going as he sees the old shed come into view.

“We’re going to find your guitar,” Alex says as he pulls out a set of keys, opening an old lock that doesn’t seem like it has opened in years.

“Alex,” Michael says softly, touched by the gesture. Yet another thing he’s been sorry about all this time. Leaving that guitar behind.

“I gave it to you because I wanted you to have it,” Alex says, turning to face him. “Because I wanted to give you something that mattered to you. I want you to have it back.”

Michael looks at him and knows he’s falling in love. He realizes now that all this time, his regret and the feeling of missed opportunity with Alex has really been him being in love with him this whole time, and now, less than three days of having Alex back in his life, he’s falling in love all over again.

Isobel is right; he and Max are more alike than he thought.

Alex pushes the wooden door open, and they find that the shed is much more crowded than before.

Alex has a grim smile on his face as he looks around at all his stuff, and Michael hurts for him. It must be horrible to know that the person who is supposed to love you unconditionally is perfectly fine with getting rid or hiding everything you are away because they can’t accept you as you are.

He steps up behind Alex and wraps his arms around him, pressing his face into his neck. He can feel Alex’s tense body start to loosen the longer he holds him. Finally, after another minute or two, Alex lets out a breath, turning around in his arms to face him.

“Thank you,” he whispers, pressing his forehead against Michael’s.

Michael doesn’t say anything right away, he runs his hands up and down Alex’s back, only stopping when Alex pulls back, his expression more at peace.

“You know since we’re here,” he starts, grinning when Alex raises an eyebrow at his tone. His heart racing as he continues. “And this is the place of my greatest regret. Maybe we can recreate the moment so I can correct it.

Alex stares at him, the corners of his mouth lifting, and he leans in again, stopping halfway, his eyes sparkling with laughter and something else as he waits Michael out.

Michael exhales right before he covers Alex’s mouth with his. He’s already kissed Alex so many times, felt his body against his as they made love.

But being back in this place where it all started. It feels like what he thinks that first kiss would have felt like if he hadn’t turned his face. He pours all the feelings he had back then, all the feelings he’s had for the last ten years, and all the feelings he has now into the kiss, and hopes Alex understands how serious he is about them and just how much he wants this.

He’s so lost in the feel and taste of Alex, in this feeling that is bursting inside him, he doesn’t notice anything else and finds himself jumping when the door to the shed slams open.

Alex jerks back and Michael feels him freeze as he looks over his shoulder, his face paling at who he finds there.

Michael knows who it is without even turning but finds himself flinching when Alex speaks with fear in his voice.

“Dad…” Alex says quietly, stepping around Michael.

Michael turns around, and seeing the Master Sergeant’s face, he gets why Alex is standing protectively in front of him. The anger and disgust on the man’s face are like nothing he’s ever seen, even in all the years he spent in the foster care system, and he can admit that it sends a trickle of fear down his spine.

“How dare you,” Jesse Manes seethes, eyes full of fury locked on Alex.

Michael sees the hate there; it makes his stomach turn to think Alex grew up with this. “How dare you disrespect me with your perverted behavior-“

Alex sighs loudly, standing taller. “Here we go with your usual bullshit. This isn’t about you. We came for my guitar and then we’ll be out of your hair. Away with our perverted behavior,” Alex says mockingly, and Michael realizes too late it’s the wrong tone to take.

Faster than he thinks possible, Jesse crosses the room, his hand tight around Alex’s neck, slamming him into a beam in the middle of the shed. It’s obvious that Alex is caught off guard as much as him, his eyes wide as he tries futilely to push his father off him.

“You think you can talk to me like that!” Jesse shouts, his face red with rage. “You run away from home, from your obligations to this family, to live your disgusting lifestyle and then think you can come back and mouth off to me. I’ll teach you who is still in charge here.”

Jesse’s threat snaps him out of his shock, and he steps forward, trying to pull Jesse off Alex. Only for the man to shove him hard before going back to choke Alex, who is still trying to pull his father’s hand off his throat.

He hasn’t lost control in years, but Michael doesn’t think about it. All he sees is this monster who is hurting the person he loves, and in the next instant, Jesse is flying, slamming hard against a wall of the shed before slumping forward, knocked out from the impact.

Alex gasps for breath, hands on his knees as he coughs, his eyes wide as he stares at his motionless father. Michael is also breathing hard, a little lightheaded from the burst of energy he just used.

Still staring at his dad, Alex whispers. “Did you do that?”

Michael can feel his heart racing; it’s been so long since he’s felt this kind of fear.

“Michael?” Alex asks softly now, looking at him, and Michael feels like he could start crying because Alex doesn’t seem afraid of him. Shocked by the events of the last 10 minutes and a little apprehensive, but not scared.

“Yes,” he whispers.

Alex might not be scared, but Michael is terrified.

“How?” Alex asks with wonderment.

Michael runs a hand through his hair nervously. “Look, I know you have a lot of questions, and I swear I’ll answer them. But right now, we need to deal with your dad.”

Alex looks like he wants to argue but finally nods. “What do we do?”

Michael sighs, he knows who he has to call, and he hates that he has to involve her. Turning to Alex, he pulls out his phone. “I need you to trust me, Alex.”

“I do,” Alex says instantly, not realizing the relief his words give Michael.

Michael closes the space between them, slowly reaching for him, waiting for Alex to step back if he needs to, letting out the breath he’s been holding when he touches Alex, and he doesn’t flinch away. “Thank you.”

To say that Isobel is furious when she arrives is an understatement, she has a glint in her eye that tells him she’s seriously considering making his brain explode as the three of them stand in Jesse Manes’ bedroom, the man still unconscious on the bed after he and Alex got him into the house.

“I am going to kill you,” Isobel hisses, ignoring the worried look Alex sends her way.

“I know,” he answers, knowing there is a real possibility his sister might make good on her threat. “But right now, I need you to go into this asshole’s mind and make him forget everything that happened in the shed.”

“And what exactly did happened in the shed?” she questions, still furious.

“Michael and I were kissing,” Alex starts, not flinching when Isobel turns her glare onto him. “My dad came in; he attacked me and probably would have killed me since he rather have a dead son than a gay one. Michael saved me, using his powers.”

Isobel turns back to Michael, eyes flashing. “You told him.”

Michael opens his mouth, but Alex beats him to the punch again.

“Not yet,” he says, his tone clear that a conversation will be had. “But my dad did go flying across the room. So I’m guessing Michael can move things with his mind?” Alex finishes looking at him to confirm, a pleased smile on his face when Michael nods.

“You’re taking this very calmly,” Isobel says suspiciously, eyes narrowed as she studies Alex.

Alex lets out a laugh that sounds a little on the hysterical side. “I’m freaking the fuck out. Michael can move things with his mind. You apparently can make people forget things? And my father tried to choke me out, but…”

“But?” Isobel asks a little calmer, her expression softening as Alex mentions his father’s actions again.

“Michael would never hurt me,” Alex answers her with conviction, and if it weren’t for the very serious mess they have to clean up, he would pull Alex in his arms and kiss him.

“Great,” Isobel murmurs. “Like it wasn’t enough to deal with one brother’s epic romance, I now have to deal with two. Fine. Alex, does your father drink?”

Alex snorts. “Yeah, he’s a functioning alcoholic.”

“Lovely,” she says, staring down at the man with disgust. “You find a bottle of something strong. I’m going to make him believe that he came home and went on a bender. He won’t remember anything about the shed.”

Alex hesitates for a moment before leaving the room. Michael watches him go before turning to his sister.

“I’m not happy with this,” she starts.

Michael nods. “I know.”

“And Max is going to lose his shit,” she continues and he nods again.

She studies him in that way that always makes him think she’s reading his mind.

“But he has no leg to stand on,” she says after a moment. “He told Liz our secret too, and I like her, but I like Alex a little more.”

Michael can’t help but smile at that.

She looks at him, and there is a soft understanding look on her face. “I would have done the same if I loved someone as much as you love him.”

Michael swallows audibly, grateful for his sister; she smiles before turning back to Jesse with a calculating look.

“Now, to deal with this piece of shit and make sure he never puts a hand on Alex again.”

Max loses his shit and then some. Michael sits on his brother’s couch with Isobel, who is still nursing a headache from all the power she used, acetone bottle in her hand, and Liz, who has a hand on his shoulder, frowning at her boyfriend as he paces.

“How could you let this happen, Michael?” Max asks for the third time since he and Isobel got back.

Alex, much to Michael’s displeasure, had stayed behind to make sure there was no trace left of them. Michael only agreed to go since he needed to get a weak Isobel back home.

He opens his mouth to argue with Max, but it’s Liz who has slowly looked more and more irritated who jumps in.

“What exactly did you want Michael to do, Max?” she questions, her brown eyes narrowed, and Michael watches as Max looks back at her nervously. “Just stand back and let Alex’s father attack him?”

“Liz,” Max tries helplessly in the face of his girl’s anger.

“I, for one, am grateful Michael stepped in,” Liz continues, ignoring his pleading tone. “He saved Alex, who I might remind you since you seem to have forgotten, is one of my best friends.”

Michael catches Isobel’s eye, spotting a tiny smirk, as Max tries to appease an angry pregnant girlfriend.

“Liz, of course I’m happy Alex is okay,” Max tries, sighing loudly when he’s met with blank expressions from all three of them. “But now, Alex knows our secret, and we have to decide as a group what we are going to do about it.”

“You mean like when you told Liz our secret,” Isobel interrupts, shooting Liz an apologetic look that Liz waves away, she knows this argument already. “We didn’t decide that as a group, you just told her.”

“That’s different!” Max argues. “I’ve loved Liz since high school.”

Michael rolls his eyes at his brother’s cluelessness, noticing he’s not the only one, as Isobel and Liz do the same. It makes Michael blush to realize that his future sister-in-law might have been aware of his feelings all along.

“Him too,” Liz says, confirming his suspicions.

“What? What do you mean?” Max asks, confused, looking over at him, making Michael sigh yet again.

“She means that you’re not the only one that’s been pining away for ten years,” Michael tells him, shooting the women in the room a glance when they look at him proud and a little amused at his confession, but he continues. “I’ve been in love with Alex since high school. So before you even suggest it, no, we’re not wiping his memory.”

Max stares at him; after a moment, his already wide eyes get bigger as he looks past him.

Michael turns in his seat to see what has drawn his attention, understanding the look on Max’s face when he takes in Alex standing by the doorway.

“Hi,” he says hesitantly as all four of them look at him, he seems to shake off his nervousness after a moment and gives them an unimpressed look. “You should really close your front door if you’re going to talk about your magic powers.”

Everyone is quiet for a moment before Isobel starts laughing. “I like you Manes, you know how to make an entrance, and I can appreciate that,” she says toasting him with her bottle of acetone before taking a drink that has Alex raising an eyebrow.

Liz gets up from the couch and crosses the room to her friend, pulling him into a hug.

“Are you okay?” he hears her asking Alex.

Alex nods, his focus on Michael as Liz checks him over, her hands touching his neck where there are some faint marks.

“I’m fine,” he tells the room. “I’ll be even better after Michael and I have that conversation he promised,” he finishes looking at him expectantly.

Michael stands up.

“Michael, I don’t think-” Max tries, quieting down when Liz and Isobel send him a quelling look.

“It’s not up to you, Max,” Michael tells his brother softly but firmly. Max looks at him, at Alex, and then finally at the two women in the room before letting out a sigh, nodding in acceptance.

“Okay, Michael.”

Flashing him a grateful smile, he turns to Alex, walking over to him as he watches him steadily. Liz squeezes Alex’s arm in solidarity before stepping away from them.

Standing in front of him, he holds out his hand, letting out a breath when Alex doesn’t hesitate to hold it. “Let’s go for a ride.”

They don’t speak as they drive to the desert, and Michael admires Alex’s restraint. If it were him, he knows he wouldn’t be able to hold back. It’s only when Michael has parked his truck outside the entrance of the caves that Alex finally speaks.

“I heard you tell Max that you’re not erasing my memory,” he says easily, like talking about mind control is as normal as commenting on the weather. “So, I don’t think you brought me out to the desert to get rid of me either, but let me just say this is shady as fuck.”

Michael can’t help the soft laugh that passes his lips as he takes in the quirk of Alex’s mouth as he jokes, even though he catches the hesitation in Alex’s voice.

“You heard us, huh,” he says, getting a nod from Alex.

“Among other things,” Alex says meaningfully, and Michael swallows, remembering what he said about being in love with Alex.

“I meant that,” he says quietly, watching as Alex takes in a sharp breath.

“Michael,” he breathes, but Michael holds up a hand to stop him.

“Before we get to that, I promised an explanation,” he says, opening the door. Alex follows suit and gets out of the truck too.

“And I think the easiest way to do that is to show you,” he says, pointing at the caves. “If you trust me.”

Alex answers his question by slipping his hand in his, and Michael thinks there isn’t going to be a moment where he doesn’t keep falling in love with him.

Hand in hand, Michael guides him inside the cave; he knows the moment Alex spots the pods by the gasp he lets out. His hand slips from Michael’s as he takes a step forward. Michael stays behind, letting Alex step up close to them.

“We came down in the 1947 crash,” Michael starts, pointing at the pods as Alex looks back at him, his mouth dropping. “We stayed in these pods, in stasis until 1997 when we came out. Seven years old and no idea how we got here.”

Alex continues to look at him. “The three of you were found naked on the road,” he says like he remembers the story told throughout the years.

Michael nods, confirming his words. “We were put into a group home, none of us spoke, but after a few weeks Isobel and Max learned, and soon the Evans came and adopted them. I stayed behind.”

Alex gives him a pained look but stays quiet, letting him continue.

“I bounced around from foster home to foster home until I was brought back to Roswell when I was 11, reuniting with my brother and sister.”

Alex lets out a sound. “They’re your siblings?”

“Yeah,” Michael swallows around the lump of hurt he always carries from not being able to tell people that.

“And you’re,” Alex pauses, looking back at the pods in awe. “Aliens?”

Michael looks at him, the man he loves, who isn’t running away screaming yet. “Yes.”

Alex looks back at him, his head tilted to the side as he considers him. Finally, like Michael hasn’t just told him the craziest thing anyone has ever heard, he simply nods. “Okay.”

Michael knows the look on his face is incredulous because it can’t be that easy. There is no way it’s this simple. “Okay? That’s all you have to say? You don’t have questions?” he asks, his voice getting higher and maybe even a little hysterical.

Alex bites down on his lip, and Michael gets the distinct impression that he’s trying not to laugh at him.

“I have a million questions that we’ll get to later if you answer the most important one,” Alex starts, walking back towards him until he’s right in front of Michael, so close that their bodies touch.

“And what’s that?” Michael asks, gazing into Alex’s brown eyes, lost in their depth.

“Have you really loved me all this time?” Alex asks, his voice small and low like he can’t speak the words out loud.

Michael raises his hand, cupping Alex's jaw, his thumb going over Alex’s cheekbone, and he watches as Alex leans into the touch like he’s starved for it. Michael promises himself that if Alex lets him, he’s going to touch and love him every day. “I thought it was a crush, a missed opportunity that I couldn’t let go. But being with you, having you back in my life these last few days have shown me that I have been fooling myself.”

Alex grips his hips, pulling him in closer, and with eyes opened, presses his forehead against Michael’s.

“I love you, I’ve always loved you,” Michael whispers, his heart catching when he hears the laugh-sob Alex lets out before he kisses him. The kiss is salty from their tears, but it’s okay because Michael can feel Alex’s smile against his lips.

One year later

“I can’t believe you assholes are doing this again,” Isobel complains over the phone. “Tomorrow is Christmas Eve. You two should be here by now.”

Michael rolls his eyes, Isobel has said the same thing three times now. He feels the top of his body shake, and he looks down at the man on top of him as he laughs silently.

Alex looks up from where he’s resting his head on Michael’s chest and grins at him, with eyes full of laughter. Michael narrows his eyes at him. He doesn’t understand why he should be the only one getting yelled at when it’s just as much Alex’s fault.

“I told you to turn off your phone like I did,” Alex says softly, smirking as he hears Isobel rant some more through the speaker about how they are going to miss Christmas and how hard she’s worked to make it special since it’s the baby’s first.

“Michael, are you even listening to me, or are you staring at your boyfriend?”

“No to the first, yes to the second,” he answers, biting down on his lip when Isobel screeches over the phone.

Alex rolls his eyes, holding out his hand for Michael to pass him the phone, which Michael gladly does, pouting when Alex presses the speaker button. So much for letting him out of the conversation.

“Isobel,” Alex starts. “They’ve cleared the snow, and we already got news from the airline that our flight is in a couple of hours, we’ll be in Roswell by tonight, which I would like to remind you is the 23rd.”

“If you hadn’t stopped in Denver again, you’d be here already,” Isobel states, not ready to give up the argument.

“We wanted to celebrate our first anniversary in the place we reconnected,” Michael argues, closing his eyes when Alex runs his hand down his side to calm him down.

Isobel makes a disgruntled noise over the phone. “I’m disgusted by your love,” she says, annoyed. “Aren’t you over the honeymoon phase already? You’ve been living together for almost ten months now since Alex moved to Boston to live with you. You’re so annoying.”

Michael opens his mouth, but Alex presses his hand against it, shaking his head at him as a wicked smile takes over his face.

“How’s the Wild Pony, Isobel?” Alex asks unexpectedly, his smile growing when Isobel makes a startled sound.

“How should I know?” Isobel shoots back quickly, and Michael raises an eyebrow at that. Alex just continues to smile like the cat that ate the canary.

“A little bird told me, you’ve been hanging around those parts,” Alex continues, every word full of innuendo. “In the bar and the apartment above.”

Michael's eyes widen as he realizes what Alex is alluding to.

“Holy shit! You and DeLuca, Iz?”

Alex's grin is so wide, Michael thinks his cheeks must hurt.

Isobel is quiet only for a moment. “I will melt your brain, Manes,” she hisses into the phone, and proving that his superpower is to be unafraid of Isobel, Alex laughs easily. “I will melt it into goo.”

“Sure you will,” Alex answers mockingly, and Michael shakes his head at the recklessness. But this is the way Alex and Isobel have been since he and Alex started dating. He’s pretty sure they’re nemesis and each other’s best friends. “Listen, I have your brother naked in the hotel room we first got together in, and three hours until we have to get to the airport. So I’m going to hang up now, and have my wicked way with his delicious body,” he finishes, chuckling as Isobel lets out a disgusted sound.

“I hate you.”

“I love you too, sweetheart,” Alex says, still laughing, but the sincerity is evident, and it calms Isobel down.

“Jerk,” she mutters after a moment. “Fine, text me when you're in Dallas to make sure your flight is on time.”

“Will do.”

“By the way, what you had shipped got here yesterday.”

Alex smiles. “Perfect, thanks Isobel. See you in a couple of hours,” he says, hanging up the phone.

“What did you have shipped?” Michael questions, his hands going to Alex’s hips as he throws a leg over Michael’s waist.

“Your Christmas present,” Alex answers him, leaning down for a kiss.

Michael hums into it. “Are you going to tell me what it is?”

Alex shakes his head, his lips a hair-breath away from Michael’s. “Nope.”

“Not even a hint?”

Alex gets a look on his face that promises a good time. “Tell you what, you have until we have to get to the airport to get it out of me.”

Michael feels his body respond to the challenge and knows Alex feels it against his thigh by the smirk on his face.

Rolling them over, he gets to work, smothering Alex’s laughter that later turns to moans with his kisses.

He doesn’t get it out of him, but he has fun trying.

A day later, when they’re with their family, he holds Alex’s present in his hand. A beautiful guitar, so similar to the one Alex tried to give him years ago. When Alex leans in halfway, his eyes full of love, Michael doesn’t miss his moment, and this time presses his lips against his.

#roswell nm #malex fic #malex #michael x alex #my writing #officially done with Christmas #hope you guys like it cause i'm pooped

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fantranslatorbychoice · 4 years

Text

Kakuriyo no Yadomeshi Vol 1, Chapter 5 - Kakuriyo’s Capitol, Youto**

T/N: I mostly didn’t translate a lot of the names of the ayakashi/youkai, as well as the proper nouns because uhm... They’re basically nouns. It’s like how some translated manga are done. Plus it irks me sometimes when everything just gets transliterated, it kills off the vibe. But that’s just me. Links to references at the end of the post.

Also if you like this translation, you can share the link, reblog, but for pete’s sake DO NOT REPOST ELSEWHERE. I worked hard to finish this thing, it’s not like I just Google-translated this whole sh**..

If you need refreshers on what happened, @kakuriyo-translations already had the previous translations. I’m just contributing to this fandom.

OK, here’s the stuff now.

P143 I really don't like taking naps in Utsushiyo**. I always change my sleep time, yet I keep dreaming about a memory that I hate. For me, the memory I hated the most was being inside a dark room, all alone with an empty stomach waiting earnestly for my mother everyday. I never saw my father. Mother was always out and about, leaving me at home. It's what's so-called NEGLECT. I was rolling around on the cold flooring while thinking how hungry I was, while staring up at the ceiling. The very dark ceiling was my only joy and entertainment, because I couldn't find any hope, and I didn't even have enough energy to cry. Come to think of it, there was that day when my mother didn't come home for a week. That time, a mysterious Ayakashi's voice came, and my life was saved. An Ayakashi instantaneously appeared near me, its figure came up from behind, and in the darkness only a vague form of a white Noh mask”” floated above, which I watched closely. Talking with that Ayakashi relieved me of the loneliness that I felt.

T/N: Youto, literally “Fairy Capital” or “Enchanted Capitol”.

Noh mask, what most Ayakashi wear in Kakuriyo. Noh Drama is a traditional play where characters wear masks, contrasting with Kabuki where the characters paint their faces. Think Jiyaira from Naruto. Utsushiyo, literally “The world above/surface world”. Kakuriyo is literally “Hidden world.” Aoi obviously came from the world above.

P144 Not only did that Ayakashi talked to me, but also shared food with me every day. I cannot remember what I sensed because it was fuzzy, nor what the conversations were about, even what food was given to me. It's no surprise that because the Ayakashi was wearing a mask, I couldn't figure out what its shape is. The only thing I can remember until now was that the food it gave me was delicious. More than a week after my mother has not returned, a group of adults that I've never met before came and took me away from my house without letting me take anything else. My mother never came out to greet these people from social services, so when they came back to the house, they went inside immediately to check if she was there. Upon entering the house though, the social services people did not run into the Ayakashi who used to give me food. I thought at first that I really, really wanted to meet the Ayakashi, but eventually I forgot about the whole incident. Whenever I talked about the Ayakashi, people in the orphanage I was in got spooked, and I get teased and made fun at. It seemed that the teachers and everyone else did not understand why I strongly insist that Ayakashi do exist. It came to a point that because of the Ayakashi thing, I was harmed and bullied by the children around me. Which is why I eventually kept a distance from others. This lead me to feel lonely again, in the orphanage. That is why it feels even worse when I'm alone in a crowd. It was around this time that Grandpa came for me at the orphanage and took me home with him. If my memory serves me correct, it was around the second grade. P145 I woke up in a cold sweat, and I soon realized that the surroundings were already getting dark and night was starting to fall. The memories of that time I was rocking myself on the floor without any food all came back to me. "Are you awake?" A voice suddenly spoke. Somehow, I thought it was a voice that brought back memories I yearned for, but it was just Odanna-sama's voice. Amidst the dim and dark, he was sitting on the counters and smoking a pipe. He was holding the camellia kanzashi** and twirling it around his fingers.It seemed that his red eyes and the camellia bud's scarlet color where somewhat sparkling. "Have I been sleeping?

T/N: Kanzashi, imagine a single chopstick with some flowers or something in the end, which you can stick into your hairdo. If you’ve watched that episode in Kimetsu no Yaiba where Tanjirou fought the monster that can split itself and eats young girls and swims inside solids, that one collects kanzashi and stuff. P146 Oh, it's already evening." I woke up and stood without thinking. I felt so weak. It's horrid dream’s fault. Seeing the outside through the window, the sun has already set and I could see the lavender color of the sky. "It seems that you were having a nightmare." "What, really?" "Did you have a bad dream?" "No, I didn't." I felt like this because I saw a place that I hated. Odanna-sama, who was huffing and puffing on his pipe looked at me, immediately stood up and hid the camellia kanzashi, and went beside me, pulling my arm rather fast. Morover, I felt a sudden pain in my arm and pulled away. "Wait, let go. Odanna-sama, your long nails hurt my arm when you grabbed it." "Is that so?" I was absolutely unaware of that, Odanna-sama was really very suspicious. When he let go of my hand, I saw the nails on his hand. "I'm an Oni**, an ogre, that is the reason why they are long." Yet he still opened his hand. "Oh, so that's why. But still, what hurts hurt. Look, this part of my inner arm is delicate, that's why it still has your nail marks."

P147 As if looking at something weird, Odanna-sama started massaging the part of my inner arm that I showed to him, with his fingers. He spoke: "Humans have weak and frail bodies, with such soft flesh and skin." "Uhm, because humans aren't Ayakashi?" They probably aren't used to such things. "Aoi, what you did today deserves a reward." "What? That's... so unexpected." "About the whole affair with Matsuba-sama, the Tengu. Surely, I did not think Matsuba-sama could have liked your cooking. Come, let us go." He's telling me to go with him. My hair was still disheveled, and so is my one-piece dress from Utsushiyo, but Odanna-sama didn't mind and still invited me anyway. I wonder where we're going? It's complicated to think about it, so I thought we might be going somewhere sophisticated. "I think that it is a good idea to bring the Tengu's uchiwa fan." "Why?" "Why, she says. That uchiwa's power will protect you, would it not?" "It seems like I have no choice but to protect myself, don't I?" P148 It was disappointing. Odanna-sama started laughing and snickering, the meaning was deep within his narrowed eyes. "Because the kind Matsuba-sama gave it to you, I think it is a good habit to always bring it with you whenever you are out. For that is a special uchiwa, if you must know." "Hmph." "To tell you the truth, it is an item that can pay the entirety of Shiro's huge debt, if you sell it." "Well then.... Let's go to a pawnshop!" "Wait, wait.." Odanna-sama hurriedly followed me, and grabbed my collar. "Did you not declare that will pay for Shiro's debts all on your own? You even turned down Matsuba-sama's help. How I think of you.. has actually changed." "This uchiwa's mine, and however much I sell this to pay that debt, I still used my own power for that." I majestically cut him off with such words. I was thinking that I couldn't bear to sell the gift I received, but I will if I need to. I think if Grandpa was in the same place, he would do the same. Odanna-sama sensed it and got flustered. "Hey, wait, wait, wait, calm down for a moment." "I will definitely calm down after this." P149 "This is the Ayakashi's realm. Once you step out of Tenjin-ya, if you wander alone with no regard because you are a human girl, you will get kidnapped and eaten before you even get to the pawnshop. Please go behind me." I wondered how his attitude changed from yesterday, I was suspicious but I still looked at him. "What's that? Yesterday, in spite you saying that you're going to eat me, you extended your help with the Tengu matter. Yes, I may have a weak and fragile human body, but I couldn't just stay out of the quarrels between Ayakashi. Even though my arm can easily get wounded and just letting it be could kill me." Odanna-sama gently brushed off my bangs. After saying that, he placed his hand on my forehead. Yesterday, one of the Daruma's poocelain figurines hit my forehead and had me injured. I had some bandages attached, but that was a while ago. Embarrasingly, some of them were already starting to peel off. "Have your wounds not healed yet?" "I'm fine, the bleeding's stopped." "Ah, I see. That is good." His very different behavior from yesterday just bewildered me. And yet, I still meekly followed him from behind, holding my uchiwa. P150 We passed in front of a very large cauldron, and a splashing sound made me think of paranoid ideas, like "I'm going to get eaten". Just when I thought I wasn't going to snap out of it, ominously, we stopped. We were going to ride a ship. A flying airship. Its sails sails bear the crest of Tenjin-ya, and was decorated with paper lanterns. I could see that this magnificent ship sails a lot. I stared at the ship from its top to its lighted underside. We're going to ride this thing later? "Wow! It's high!" "We use airships as a means to travel in Kakuriyo. In Tenjin-ya, we use cruise ships and houseboats to hold banquets. This small model is called "Kaikakumaru. The small types are our latest cruise ships." "That's marvelous. I love high places, you know." "You are being childish." Odanna-sama butted in while I was staring at something unusual, in high spirits. The night wind feels wonderful, it would be fun to look down from a high place and see how vast the ground is. But what surprised me the most was that it was the first time that I saw Tenjin-ya as a whole. "Wow, Tenjin-ya is a really large inn, isn't it?" The inn was enclosed by a deep valley, thus the surroundings seem so dark wherever you look, but the facade and the main street were all lively and prosperous, and the hanging bridge over the shoreline seems passable. P151 Tenjin-ya's property was vast, and the main building's height and width are both tall and wide. Outside the main building, Tenjin-ya's land is dotted with countless buildings of various shapes and materials. From a distance, I could see that I was in the most central part. The intricate red tiles of the roofs were lighted up by the ogre fire. "Usually, the ogre fire is very flashy. But today, the inn is currently on a holiday break, so business is not as brisk." "That.. is not brisk?" Despite the inn currently on a break, there are so many Ayakashi piling up on the facade's hanging bridge towards the inn. There were those inside who were inquiring and receiving explanations. There were also a lot of Happi coat-wearing Tenjin-ya staff** as well. From above, it seems that Tenjin-ya was business as usual. The hustle and bustle makes the inn spectacularly dazzling and lovely. As Tenjin-ya goes further away from the distance, just as I was thinking of wandering around the ship's interior, the voices of three people suddenly popped up from inside. "Your bath has been prepared, Aoi-sama." "What the.. Nopperabou**?" It seems that the three faceless sisters also boarded the ship. It seems that they have happily taken me in their care.

T/N: Happi-coat - usually worn by staff of restaurants, shops, inns, dancers in festivals, etc. and has the company crest or team logo.

Nopperabou - faceless woman youkai. P152 Just as before, the sisters carried me and took me away. "Let's have you take a hot water bath." "Let's also put on some makeup." 'Let's fix up your hair." While the sisters chattered unanimously, they then stripped me of all of my clothes and took me to the farthest regions of the ship, after which they washed me up. Well, it did feel rather luxurious. I then noticed a lovely camellia-patterned kimono, and they helped me put it on. Amidst the indigo-colored background, the deep red camellias stood out. The red obi's designs were also very intricate and elaborate, and wearing what seems to be a very expensive kimono has me into a panic. "Wait, why, why this kimono? Is it OK to wear this?" O-matsu-san explained to me as she tightened my obi: "It's nothing, that kimono is Odanna-sama's gift to Aoi-sama." I blinked my eyes in surprise. Why would that Oni give me such an expensive kimono? I was thinking of asking, but wearing a very beautiful kimono and seeing the pattern in front of a large mirror, I was so entranced. The three sisters were so moved. "Ah, that looks good on you, Aoi-sama!" "O-danna-sama will be so pleased." "That pretentiously innocent Young Mistress will groan at how beautiful and different you look." P153 "Hey, Ume, don't spoil our true intentions!" O-ume-san got scolded by O-take-san again. That Young Mistress, the Yuki-onna, the snow lady, I wonder if her presence annoys the three Nopperabou sisters. My hair was done elegantly to the side, and my lips were redder than usual. I was casually looking at myself in front of the large mirror, I was thinking that I am satisfied with everything. Of course, I was wearing a cute kimono with a lovely design. I was happy. "Do you love wearing it?" "Oh, uhm, yeah, I guess." My glowing figure and my giddy self wearing a kimono reflected in the mirror made it how obvious it was, and the three sisters kept giggling and laughing. I loved it, it was clear as day. No. But, could this kimono also add up to the debt or something? "Oh, my choice was not wrong. I thought a deep red camellia suits you." "What.. Wai.. Wait, since when did you get here?" Odanna-sama came when I wasn't aware of it, and he was looking at me over my shoulder, in front of the large mirror. I wonder if he saw my obviously eager face wearing this kimono. "I am glad that you loved it, Aoi." P154 I broadly looked at the other side of the entrance. My face was flushed and I was biting my lower lip. Somehow, I felt remorse. He came closer to my side, and from his sleeves he pulled out the camellia kanzashi. "Well then, use this for the adornment as well. Despite looking so charming, you look a bit dreary without anything in your hair." That being said, he placed the kanzashi on the left side of my hairdo. All of a sudden his large and wide-spanning hands near my face made me feel very nervous, but I didn't want to give in to this nervousness, so after a while the strength went back to my cheeks. "Here, why don't we take a look in the mirror and see?" He held my shoulders tight and turned me around, and as I tried fighting it I saw my side reflected, and saw myself in the mirror again. "See?" Unexpectedly, I realized that with any hair adorned with a hairpin, it felt as if it was a different look. Somehow, did the flower bud seem to have grown bigger? In the beginning, it looked just like a normal camellia bud kanzashi. But now it looks like it has grown a bit, and the petals have opened up. "The petals seems to move a bit. It will grow into a large, round bloom." "Oh, Kakuriyo has such magical things?" "When it reaches the end, the petals will get scattered." His face peeked from behind me as he said those words, full of deep meaning. In spite of myself, I looked at him. P155 "No kidding. This kanzashi has a countdown timer? I might lose it..." In Utsushiyo, I would have gotten a bit shocked. My whole face was lighting up, and his back was turned while giggling. I wanted to ask "What's funny?" "It seems that you love it, and that is what is more important. But once the hairpin's petals fall off and scatter, your debt must be settled too. Well, best of luck." Well that was so sudden, bringing up the debt repayment. "What the.. Isn't this like Beauty and the Beast?" "What's that? What are you saying?" "That story from France called 'Beauty and the Beast'. It's about two very different people who got married." Odanna-sama looked bewildered. Well, I didn't think that the Ayakashi in Kakuriyo would know the story of Beauty and the Beast, but even I'm not that shameless to think of myself like I'm Beauty, to that extent. But really, under these circumstances, it just feels like 'Beauty and the Beast', right? For instance, a bumbling non-human guardian who somewhat gets married, considerably. "It is good to tuck in your uchiwa in your obi**. Always handle it with care." I was groaning as Odanna-sama, in his own terms tucked the uchiwa fan into the back part of my obi, the paperplant uchiwa fan that I received from Matsuba-sama. It was styled like I was going to a summer festival.

T/N: Obi- the belt or sash wrapped around a kimono.

P156 O-matsu-san made me wear a pair of red-strapped geta sandals, and my kimono-wearing Kakuriyo style was complete. "Ah, we're almost here." "Where?" "If you come up the deck you;ll see." When Odanna-sama went to the deck, Kaikakumaru was starting to descend, and the bustling land below, studded with warm-colored lights came to view. Compared to Tenjin-ya's busy pace, this place has it on a whole new level. The central part of the area was a lot bigger compared to Tenjin-ya, and the sky is cut by a very high building, which when viewed from above is surrounded by a row of smaller buildings. The metropolis' four corners had gigantic red Torii gates, and the crossroads was cut by the main road that seemed to shine like it has encrusted jewels, and I realized that the paper lanterns hanging from the buildings below made it look as such. "Wow, this place place is amazing! Where are we?" "This is the Capitol of Kakuriyo, Youto. The building at the center is where the Ayakashi King resides." "Kakuriyo is like a country or something, so there is also a king?" "Of course. The Ayakashi King is called You-ou. In Kakuriyo, the entire country is made up of eight lands guarded by those called the Hachiyo, and it is said that those Hachiyo are connected to and governed by the You-ou. At any rate, we're already at the center of the capitol. P157 Odanna-sama had the ship stop at the capitol's harbor. It seems like a harbor because of the dark valleys and cliffs that surrounds Youto's edge, and that is where the ship was docked. The southern part of Youto's harbor have numerous ships anchored and tied up. and the sky is filled with sailing airships everywhere. "It's Tenjin-ya's Master." "This is bad, this is bad. Those from the evening news are also here." Tenjin-ya's Kaikakumaru is not a large ship, but the large, round crest "Ten" drawn on the sails were sighted by the Ayakashi near the cliffs. When I saw the gathering of a large crowd of Ayakashi, my opinion on Tenjin-ya's Odanna-sama changed: I came to realize that this Ogre god was very famous indeed. I absent-mindedly looked at him. "It seems that Odanna-sama is very famous, isn't he?" "And as my soon-to-be-wife, you dislike it?" "You casually had to push that, I see." "Well then, Aoi. If you do not wear this mask, they will find out that you are a human." Odanna-sama pulled out an Oni mask from his kimono's breast pocket. He was also wearing an Oni mask when we first met in Utsushiyo. He placed the mask on my face. Apparently, being found out to be a human can bring up a lot of trouble. Kaikanmaru then descended to the Southern Torii gate, and entering the capital through here seemed inconspicuous. P158 I followed Odanna-sama from behind in quick steps, and all around I kept hearing murmurs of "Who's that? Who's that?" Wearing this kimono and having an Oni mask on, it's impossible to be found out that I'm a human. The night was busy, with so many Ayakashi walking on the main road, and we started walking here towards the large place in the heart of Youto. The main road was lined up with magnificent stores, geta sandal shops, drapery and curtains, but the theater was especially packed with so many people coming in and going out. A particular shop that seems to be rather famous was a large shop that had "Glass Shop" written on the shop curtains, and peeking inside the store seemed to have so many beautiful glasswares being sold. The many clients inside seem to be searching for dinnerware or whatnot. The outside of the glasswares had carvings that resemble ink scroll paintings, and the carvings had so many shapes. I've seen a lot of glasswares in Utsushiyo, in Japan, but these ones in Kakuriyo were somewhat different, they were all lined up, polished and state of the art. "Ah, this store Youto's cut glass store." "Cut glass... in Youto?" "Technology and techniques from Utsushiyo are transferred to Kakuriyo, as well as products. Recently, what you call 'glasswares' were started to be made here in Youto, and as such, dinnerware became fashionable." "Really..." Somehow, this capitol that is so Japanese had a store that gives off a Western feel, and the glasses were sparkly as well as giving off a sense of transparency, which made me feel nostalgic. P159 "I was thinking of cozying up our inn's meals with these glasswares, but the rowdy kitchen gang dreadfully detest anything new. But I spruced each room by decorating each one with a little bit of glass. I also had the long windows of the windbreakers made with glass." "Ah, if that's what you're saying, rooms such as the 'Big Camellia' do had round and large glass windows. Flying airships can be seen a lot passing by the windows. If I remember, they're changing those right now." Within the store premises, there weren't many customers and you can only see the lined up products on the storefront, but the craftsmanship of the glasswares are very noticeable.There was a fancy dish made with peach-colored glass that gives off a springtime vibe, covered with sakura patterns, which I picked up. From above the patterns resembled an intricate kaleidoscope, and the red lights of the paper lanterns made the transparent bowl shine so brightly. There were also delicately stacked green sake cups, decorated with hemp leaf designs. I took a long, hard look, I imagined that if I was going to use these glasswares, what meals would I make. Even with just that, I was already a bit pleased. If I could have my way, I would love the transparent, kaleidoscope-ish bowl. "Is there anything you like?" Odanna-sama peeped from behind me and patted my shoulder, seeing me looking eagerly at the glass bowl. My heart skipped a beat and I turned around. "I just think that they're lovely." P160 "Which one is nice? Would you like me to buy it for you?" "Wha-- Why would you do that?" This time I got startled, and I unconsciously looked at Odanna-sama and shrank a step back. I can't forget the stern Odanna-sama from yesterday, and I thought that with his dubious smile, it's now all outrageous and very suspicious. "Do not think of weird ideas. I owe you from helping Tenjin-ya yesterday, and I am only doing this as my way of saying thank you." "It's nothing, I'm good, it's not a big deal..." "You do not have to hesitate. You are guarding your heart too much." "It's because what you're saying is scary." I roughly turned away and headed for the store's entrance, and Odanna-sama was laughing behind my back. but what on earth's funny? "Wait, wait, please do not go ahead of me. Please stay by my side." As if his eyes were looking for me, Odanna-sama came up near me and I looked up at him. Despite being detached, I thought that calmly wandering aimlessly in a crowd made me stand out. P161 With his geta sandals echoing on the main road filled with bustling Ayakashi, Odanna-sama followed suit. Just as expected, everywhere I looked there were Ayakashi all over the place.I wonder what I'll do if I was found out to be a human? At the time I was thinking about it, I unexpectedly had a feeling. Everywhere I turned my head to look, the Ayakashi crossing the street seem to not care about me, and my true nature is not known. My feet stopped, and I got worried and flustered seeing Odanna-sama about to enter a dodgy shop. I wasn't used to wearing the geta, and I quickly fumbled over there. "Waii... Wait up." "Didn't I tell you a while ago that you must not leave my side? If you absent-mindedly do that, you; eventually get lost. If you're not with me by daybreak, they'll find out you're a human, and that's going to cause a huge ruckus. At worst, you will probably get eaten." As he was snickering, Odanna-sama beckoned me to come in. With its black, laquered and plastered walls, the storefront looks like a sophisticated warehouse”“. "Offal cuisine**... 'Iron Club for Oni**?'"

T/N: Warehouse - old Japanese warehouses ( 蔵 ) have mud walls to prevent fires from spreading, like a firewall, but the facades look stylish with white paint. Some of them are now remade into restaurants and shops or whatnot.

Offal is basically organ meats, like liver, kidneys, tripe, etc. It’s not specified in the book what part was used so I just used the generic version. But personally, I think it’s tripe.

Iron Club for Oni - the Untranslated version is 鬼に金棒 (Oni ni Kanabou), kanabou is an iron rod that night watchmen use, but I like puns so I decided to transliterate this lol

P162 "Ah, when Oni who love offal get their food served, those that do, know that this place is high-class." "Offal cuisine..." A real Oni’s words made a heavy impression on me. The large cauldron with blood inside, seemingly filled with fresh, boiling and burbling human viscera filled my head with so much horrifying images. Could it be that I, unfortunately will be cooked in there, deliciously? "Why did you bring me to this place? Don't tell me, when you told me that you were taking me to a place that serves offal, giblets and whatnot, you were going to have me cut up by the cooking staff? Don't tell me, that you'll be having me get cooked for dinner?" After hearing me say those words, Odanna-sama started laughing. "You're saying such funny things." "I'm warning you." I got embarassed after being laughed at and I felt my cheeks burn red. "I did say I was going to treat you to some delicious food. Well, if you're that worried, come here." We went inside the restaurant, and as we waited for a bit, all of the high-end restaurant's staff started lining up. They bowed their heads politely, and the ogre's horns started to grow. P163 So this is what a high-class Oni's place looks like. The inside was a bit dark, even the atmosphere, but I could see why it was indeed an expensive place. We were taken to the second floor's most secluded room. When the window panes were opened, sitting by the window, the capitol's hustle and bustle can be seen. It was a very special room. "You can take off your mask, it's fine. This is a place that I have strong connections with. I have ensured that things will go well in here." "Really? Well, the Ayakashi haven't discovered that I'm a human, but it feels weird that I'm actually like one." Even so, as Odanna-sama said, I took off my Oni mask. I looked at it for a while, and for a little bit I understand why I looked rather scary while I had it on. "That suited you fine. You started to look like a typical ogre's wife." "Saying that this suits a girl may make her happy, but no human would think otherwise." I started to go to my seat uneasily as I let Odanna-sama's suprising praise sink in. He did say that he was treating me to an offal-ful meal, and I wonder what kind of meal that would be. "What the... Isn't that offal hotpot?" In the middle of the table was a pot, simmering gently, with garlic chives and cabbages, some ox offal and other ingredients, all looking delicious, that in Utsushiyo would be what would be famously called offal hotpot. P164 "Even the giblets in here look the same." Odanna-sama's face suddenly popped up. "Well, there's no way to tell that it's offal. That, may be perhaps, but I was thinking that I was surely disgusted seeing so much blood in that food, and I couldn't help but imagine all of the stuff I hate. Ah, but it's offal hotpot. And it's been a long time..." "You like it?" "Whaaa- Grandpa took me to a lot of trips in Hakata, in Fukuoka, because I loved it. Those times, there were food like pork bone ramen, but we also ate offal hotpot." Back then, Grandpa took me to so many places across Japan. Particularly, we went a lot to Kyushu**, and Fukuoka Prefecture's Hakata was my favorite place. It's because Hakata was famous for their pork bone ramen and offal hotpot. "Hakata, you say? Hm.... When Shirou was a lot younger, we both went to Nakasu to visit." "Hmph. Well, I could see you and Grandpa definitely be going there, you two won't seem out of place." Nakasu is known for having so many fun spots. The riverside has so many outdoor stalls and I could remember that time during winter break, Grandpa took me there and we ate pork bone ramen on the stall's outdoor veranda. Well but.... In front of me is offal hotpot. The fragrance of the shoyu soup base just wafts in the air, and it made me decide to get the serving spoon. "So, I guess I'll serve myself. I'd stop hesitating. Because I'll eat. It's OK to eat, right?"

T/N: Spoiler alert: Yuuma-sensei is from Fukuoka, in Kyushu Island. Be prepared to read more about food lol P165 "I will make you eat, even though I told you I was going to take you to eat here." Odanna-sama's face looked dumbfounded, but I don't care. I served his portion, I got mine, I placed my hands together and said "Let's eat", with much excitement. After taking the first bite, I chewed the offal with gusto. It was beyond what I expected, and I was surprised by the taste and fragrance. "Wow, it's really good. The offal, was it roasted once?" It has already been roasted once, I could see it on the surface of the innards. It's slowly being cooked even more, in front of my eyes. “Yes, it has been scorched. It is cooked first that way, then the excess oils seem to have been added to the hotpot." "Reaally? Then let's start eating!" While reveling in the chewy texture, the melted fat in the soup dissolves in the mouth, and the mellow flavors come out. Also, the undertones of the red peppers had a very irresistable taste. "Does it taste delicious?" "Oh, yes! I was surprised. It is rather spicy, but the mild taste of the soy sauce soup base is something that Ayakashi fancy, don't they?" "Ah, yes, that is why, among Oni, and other Ayakashi, this kind of cooking is indeed a favorite." "So, as expected, ogres prefer food that have offal?" "Of course." "Then.. Is Odanna-sama's favorite food.. Offal hotpot?" P166 "Favorite?" I tried to casually ask. Before, I asked Ginji-san if he knows what Odanna-sama's favorite food was, but he said that he didn't know, and so I have no idea what Odanna-sama's food preferences were. He seemed to think for a bit. "Offal hotpot? I'm afraid to tell you... No. Concerning such things, I would strongly say that I prefer the fresh blood and viscera of young human girls." "Having to hear that from you, do you take me as a fool?" Did he said that in all honesty, or was that a whole-hearted and morbid joke? Even without laughing, he seemed to look pleased. "As for me, up to now I can only say that my most favorite thing is a lady, nothing else." "Is that.. Your lover?" "Are you interested?" "No, not really." Either I was dreaming or it's because of the hotpot. The offal with garlic and cabbages all boiling down was enjoyable. The garlic flavor was just appetizing, how much could I just eat? "Oh, so if I tell you what my most favorite is, will you make it for me?" "I have no intention to do that." "But was thinking of looking forward to that." P167 Odanna-sama seemed to have said those words with a pout. I wonder if he's saying those things in earnest. i just can't make out whatever he's saying, but I can speak harshly too. "Anyhow, for Odanna-sama, such a thing as my cooking isn't even somewhat of a great deal." "Well, isn't that harsh. But you've cooked so many kinds of food for Ginji, have you not? He kept praising your cooking." "What, really?" Him praising my cooking didn't felt like he had ill will. Moreover, hearing that Ginji-san saying that my cooking tasted good, I felt honored. Somehow, somewhat, Odanna-sama didn't seem pleased, and raised an eyebrow. "Because Ginji-san is a kind-hearted and gentle person, isn't he? Thanks to a certain someone during my wretched time in the past, someone kindly brought me food." "Food...?" "Oh, that's a secret I remembered." Hearing me inadvertently blurting out, Odanna-sama closed his mouth and seemed to have detached. He didn't ask for anything in particular. "Oh that, when I said that, what Ginji-san said about me, I already knew that about a while ago. Although, I wonder why." P168 "Have you forgotten?" "What?" "No, never mind." Odanna-sama seemed to dodge the whole thing, and just turned towards the sights of the windows, to the bustling crowds that passed by before his eyes. Might it have to do something with what I said about Ginji-san that I've already forgotten? "You haven't moved your chopsticks. It's fine to eat at your own pace, steadily." "Oh, OK." I wasn't thinking at all, I was just moving my food around. Aside from the offal hot pot, there were also other food such as sliced raw liver and some vinegared offal. The raw liver slices were very fresh, and it didn't smell that raw. I especially loved the vinegared offal, its sourness may be too strong in my mouth, but I appreciate how refreshing it tasted. I felt full from the offal. Because it was indeed delicious, I suppose that the ogre thinks that I'll do an awful job of cooking something like it. Way before Odanna-sama's time, Japanese people during the Heian Period alreay know of offal hotpot, and during this same time many prominent Oni traveled to Utsushiyo and probably brought it with them back to Kakuriyo. Whether it's true or not, I could now understand why Oni have a love for innards. "I apologize for disturbing you." While still inside that daze of eating offals, a voice came from outside the sliding doors. Odanna-sama replied "Come in" and a person came inside. In that case, it was a lovely lady wearing a beautifully styled sakura-patterned kimono. P169 The area around her eyes were colored with a red tinge, and the entire length of her eyes gave off a very strong impression. Even more so is that her wafty, scarlet hair was arranged into two buns on both sides of her head, along with some accessories. Who is this, I wonder? She is like a colorful little flower that blooms in the spring, which gives off a lovely vibe. "It has been a long time, Tenjin-ya's Master, Odanna-sama." "Ah, how are you doing, Suzuran?" "I am doing well, thank you. Suzuran has been working hard to improve her talents, althought not there yet, I am still doing my best to grow and be a better geisha." "You've grown even more lovelier. I heard that you're now famous here in the capitol." "That... I heard that Odanna-sama was visiting so I came all the way here, to see you. " "Well, I am glad to have you here." I just looked at the two, earnestly while eating some hotpot. Surely not, but could it be that Odanna-sama secretly has another lover, and that because he thinks I'm already aware of that, he's going to introduce her now? "Ah, this here is Youto's very famous geisha Suzuran. She is our head clerk, Akatsuki's younger sister." "What? So.. You're an earth spider, a tsuchigumo? No way." P170 "It is not a lie. What you said is true." I stopped eating, stared at the smiling Suzuran, and I blinked my eyes countless times. Her brother's eyes with small irises lack warmth, but here in front of me is the younger sister, all nice and lovely. "Suzuran, this is Tsubaki Aoi. He is Tsubaki Shirou's granddaughter," "Ah, Shirou-sama's..." As soon as Odanna-sama mentioned Grandpa's name, Suzuran's facial expression instantly brightened up, and her cheeks started blushing. She seemed so joyous, and yearning, yet her face seems to be in pain. "So, Shirou-sama is also here, in Kakuriyo? I.. I have to see him no matter what." "Uhm, Grandpa is..." "Shirou did not come here to Kakuriyo. It's just Aoi." Odanna-sama interrupted me talking, and Suzuran just oh-ed. My mouth just slacked. Somehow, it seemed better not to say anything about Granda passing away. "Oh, I see.. Though when I saw your face, even though he's not here, it's as if I already met him." Suzuran turned around, and fixed herself on the tatami mat, her lovely eyebrows beckoning. At that point, in my eyes, I could surmise that Suzuran is not Odanna-sama's lover. "So, in this case, Shiro-sama's daughter is, I should say, Odanna-sama's bride?" "Yes, she is." P171 "No, it isn't like that." Odanna-sama's laughing face confirmed Suzuran's question, while my grim face denied it. Suzuran titled her head on one side and looked as if in agreement. "Aoi here is a really stubborn girl. She said that she is not considering marrying me until she has paid Shirou's debt fully. Right now, she is currently unemployed." "Please saying that I'm unemployed. Also, somehow don't change the story. It isn't that I won't marry you until I paid the debt, it's because I don't want to marry that's why I am paying it on my own, that's the real reason." "What kind of condition is that? If I was offered to get married, in all honesty, I won't have to go through all that toiling and labor..." After refuting entirely the conditions I said, albeit in a childish tone, Odanna-sama sighed, and drank some wine poured for him by Suzuran. "A lady going to all that trouble under Odanna-sama, that seems to be a very unusual condition, isn't it?" "As expected of Shirou's granddaughter, she's like that." "Yes. Aoi-sama resembles Shirou somehow. This brings back memories." I stared at Suzuran who seemed to be longing for the days gone past. When our eyes met, she broke into a smile then a laugh, and I kept my laugh as much as I could. The Ayakashi who knew my grandfather all told me "You're just like Shirou." The Ayakashi that easily forgot him did, to some extent recalled him and would even attest that they knew him. P172 "Say, Suzuran, it has been a long time since you have played your Shamisen for me. Do you have the time right now?" "Yes, it is for that reason that I came here." Suzuran, with her Shamisen on her back went to a corner of the room. And then I was startled by the numerous, fluttery reflections of her obi's feathery decorations, which resembled and reminded me of spider legs. But it wasn't a frightful feeling. As the shamisen was being played, the atmosphere of a lady singing beautifully washes over us. Eating delicious food while hearing this girl play is just luxurious, and I think that at that time, the mood was uplifted. "Wah, that tasted really good. As expected, delicious food is the best, right?" "I had you accompany me here because you will finish up the delicious food prepared for you." We left the restaurant afterwards, and I was in really high spirits. So was Odanna-sama as he leisurely inhaled from his pipe just like before. I was in a situation that had me smiling. I was so glad to have been treated to delicious food. But his cold attitude yesterday reminded me to reconsider the calculations I had of him. "By the way, isn't Suzuran quite lovely? Cuold she possibly be your lover?" P173 After I asked him that question, Odanna-sama raised his eyebrows. "Lover? That's impossible. Suzuran is Akatsuki's younger sister. Besides, to me, there is a particular granddaughter's existence..." "What. You're saying that again.." "Actually, I have no other lovers." "You're lying. Wait, the young mistress, the Yuki-onna, there's a rumor that she's your lover." "Yuki-onna? O-ryo? That can't be." After saying that, Odanna-sama's facial expression delicately changed, pretending as if he was laughing at something. As expected, his attitude became suspicious, but I couldn't fathom his true intentions. "Would you like to go get some dessert?" "OK, let's go eat some." To an abrupt suggesting of eating some dessert, I whole-heartedly agreed. To avoid having to converse, I just agreed without a doubt, but inside I really didn't have any other ideas. I put on my mask and the geta that I'm still not used to, and followed Odanna-sama without any other choice. "Oh!" Again, beyond my line of sight, I had a strong feeling. I was walking a bit along the main road, and within a large crowd of Ayakashi crossing, P174 I got mixed into it. At any rate, my vision was sensitive to the Ayakashi in front of me. That sensitivity is thanks to the fact that they are alive, which is a good thing. I unconsciously stopped and looked back. At that moment, a giant fish-headed Ayakashi bumped into me, which made my Kanzashi fall into the ground. "Owww.. My hairpin..." As I crouched in a panic to pick up my hairpain, an Ayakashi child bumped forcefully on my back. Like an absolutely sudden gust of wind, the crowd parted to make way for a bunch of Ayakashi children running about. Their pretty pinwheels were whirling around making screeching noises, but I can't look at that for very long. "Oww.. They're gone now." I pushed on my hips and stood up. My Kanzashi was safe, but I was an inconvenience to have been crouching in a crowd. I looked around me carefully and started to go pale. It's because I had no idea where Odanna-sama headed to. Probably, that's exactly it, I suppose. No matter how dubious I think that guy is, when I'm alone with no other person that I know around, in an instant I feel hopeless. P175 Let alone this is Kakuriyo.This is the Ayakashi's realm. Right now I'm wearing a mask, and I could hide being a human, but other than that, in this world, I am still an outsider. "Hey, stop dilly-dallyin'!" I stood still, it was a loud yell from a red-faced bearded three-eyed man. He was holding a bottle of liquor while wavering, and was probably drunk. I fled the scene in a panic, going along the main road from side to side, until I ended in a smaller pathway with very few people. and walked on the side of the road. Within this wispy and dodgy atmosphere was a back alley. There were paper lanterns that slowly lighted the surroundings, and it was likely that because there aren't that many Ayakashi here, I won't be running into one. "This isn't good... This isn't good..." Murmuring and grumbling, with sweat dripping on my face, I was desperately breaking loose in this labyrinth-like back alley. Unfortunately, the more I walked and moved forward, the more I got lost. I was surrounded by houses that seem to have a dull, dense air around them. I stared nervously at the surroundings. Whenever a small sound pops up, it was as if there were a lot of nasty Ayakashi running around. Whether they were large or small, they were hidden by the darkness. It's good that I still had my mask on. However, along the way, I stumbled across an unexpected place. I slipped and fell on my backside, and it felt chilly. P176 "Ice?" Falling on the ground were spherical ice that seem to pile up and spread like water. I just noticed it because of that. It was a good thing that I still have the uchiwa fan still tucked on my back, so I pulled it out in a hurry. As it continued, a mysterious apparition appeared. Even though it was a spring evening, multitudes of snowballs started piling up in front of me, and I fell backwards. It was at that moment that the mask I was wearing slipped off. "It's a human..." "A human girl.. Looks delicious..." Once the mask has come off, it felt like the breaths of the Ayakashi drew nearer and nearer. Holy crap, I thought, and I stood up and started to run and flee, but because I was unaccustomed to the geta sandals I couldn't escape fast enough. Anyone who had an afterthought could have moved fast with their limbs, and I knew that I shouldn't have worn these clogs but I still did.This is bad. This is AWFUL.** "Gaaaah let go of me! You HOOLIGAN Youkai!" Spitting out those words, as if coming out of a daze, I swiped and swung the paperplant uchiwa fan thoughtlessly. Instantly after that, something unexpected happened. A strong whirlwind sprung up, and all of the Ayakashi surrounding me got blown upward. They were all yelling as they rose upwards, eventually looking like stars.

T/N: I was doing my best not to translate this part into ‘It was at this moment, I knew I was f****d.’ But that’s the feeling lol P177 In an instant, there was a strong whirlwind. Indeed, I just realized what had just happened, and I stared slowly at the leaf-looking uchiwa fan in my hand. I couldn't speak. OK, however I swing and move this fan, it seems that it creates a really strong gust of wind. "Thanks to this uchiwa, I was saved. I couldn't think of eating this now." I smiled a bit painfully as I wiped the sweat on my forehead. But, I sensed something again in my peripheral vision. It seems that no matter where I go, uneasiness follows me. I quickly turned my head when I saw a face, and hurriedly followed it through the dark back alleys, around every corner. Just as I was about to turn around a corner, I would stop and see if I'm about to head into walls. As soon as I could see who I was, I just cannot stop running and chasing. "Wah, Ahhh!" I peeked at the corner, and as soon as my face became visible, the person jumped backward. It seemed like I couldn't lose sight of that person anymore, and that person removed their straw hat. "Are you.. The Yuki-onna?" That person was Tenjin-ya's Young Mistress, the Snow lady O-ryo. Her white kimono was a bit disheveled as she collapsed into the ground. P178 "Whaa.. What're you doing? You may be a human, but you're so uncivilized!" "Hey, that's my line. You were the one who made the ice spread on where I was standing a while ago, wasn't it? But the snowballs flew off. When my mask tore off, the dangerous Ayakashi came to eat me there." "Miss. Humans here in Kakuriyo are just hoodlums, and it's a good thing that they'd get eaten. You and Odanna-sama may have gone out, but you're a thousand years too early." "So that's it..." I suddenly saw O-ryo's eyes in front of me. She was showing here true feelings in her face. She was probably jealous of me when Odanna-sama and I went out, and followed us here. "Could it possibly be that, you rode in the Kaikakumaru? By your own accord?" "How I got here is none of your business." "Don't feign ignorance. Could it be that you abandoned your post? Isn't a Young Mistress expected to be prim and proper?" My reply seemed to have shocked O-ryo. "But.. It's not like you're not doing anything!" "But I'm nothing like the inn's staff." "Don't pretend like you have no connections like that! This is why I hate human girls!" "Alright then, but I hate Ayakashi too, you know." P179 In that time, that place got filled with sounds of squawking. In the innermost part of the back alley that we were in, we started hearing hoarse yells of "Wait!" "Don't you dare run away!" O-ryo and I stopped our verbal fight. The dark alley only has one street, and on the other side, the sounds of someone wearing geta sandals can be heard in the darkness, and it seems like a geisha was running towards us. She was wrapped in a flowing sakura-patterned kimono, and I recognized her. "Suzuran-san?!" It was Suzuran-san, the geisha. She also noticed O-ryo and I. "O.. Odanna-sama.. Is he not here?" Looking pale, Suzuran went towards us and clang onto me. She seemed to have been chased, and her body was trembling. From the farthest part of the back alley, I saw Ayakashi pointing their fingers and yelling "She's here!" I had no idea what the situation was about, but I thought that we must escape, in a bit I pulled Suzuran's hand and as if in a daze we ran towards the other side of the road. We turned toward several corners, and we hid within the shady parts in-between the buildings, and for a while we concealed our breaths. The footsteps of Suzuran's pursuers eventually sounded as if they're already far away, and already dispersed. "Are you OK?" "Yes." Suzuran replied as she nodded her head. P180 "I'm sorry, Odanna-sama isn't here. I lost sight of him." "Oh... I see..." The geisha's kimono was beautiful, but probably very heavy, and yet no matter how heavy it was, the decorations attached on the feathery obi were still intact. Suzuran running fast wearing such garb must have been a very extra-ordinary sight. "What on earth Suzuran, who were you running away from?" She was just simply perplexed, and didn't say anything. "Wait up, I'm going there too." The Yuki-onna O-ryo was following us from behind. It seemed like she came down from the sky, and with her white kimono swinging in front of me, she looked like she was fluttering as she flew down with a thud. "The Ayakashi chasing Suzuran were the Ittan-momen from the large drapery seller, Yahata-ya. They say that Yahata-ya is from the Southwest Hachiyo, they have money and power, aren't they an influential and long-established store? Suzuran, I wonder, could you have angered Yahata-ya's master?" "O-ryo san..." It seems that O-ryo and Suzuran knew each other. Nevertheless, Suzuran was still shaking. In any case, I was thinking that it was inevitable that I send the girl home safely, but she just couldn't move. P181 "I was sold." "Really?!" With a grim expression, Suzuran began talking about her circumstances. "Lately, Yahata-ya's young master whom I receive patronage from, insistently keeps dropping by, and a while ago when I went back to the geisha house, the boss that I trust so much commanded me to marry into Yahata-ya. 'That is for your own happiness.' he said. I detested it, and they know it, but they can surely get paid a very large sum of money, so they sold me off." She braced her face, and clutched her fists to her chest. "What is that, it's not the worst. The Yahata-ya's young master who spoils and pampers, is a young man from a rich family. He is famously known to go crazy over any girl he fancies. Even in Tenjin-ya, there is someone who does whatever they please." O-ryo reminded me of something I hate, and I frowned. Suzuran just kept her head hung. "The geisha house is just in front of Yahata-ya's property. I pretended to pack up my belongings, and I jumped down from my room's window. I fled as if death was surrounding me." The girl's expression was grave. Somehow, I could relate to Suzuran's situation after hearing her circumstances with regards to being stalked by a rich guy. No, it's a more complicated story than that. It's because Suzuran could lose her livelihood because of this. P182 "Oh, I see..." Our shoulders shuddered when we heard a voice other than ours, from somewhere. I thought they found us, but I saw that black kimono and the black haori, it was no other than Odanna-sama. Suzuran called out "Odanna-sama!!" considerably, and felt very much relieved to be safe. As for me, I could only say a few words. "You, where have you been until now? You left me behind!" "You disappeared! These back alleys were dizzying, and you were sitting and hiding in the dark spaces in between these buildings. Anyone who tries to find you won't find you. Rather than they finding you, I found you instead. I want you to compliment me, at the least," Odanna-sama uninterestedly retorted. I wonder if he's angry. But for sure, I got here in this place despite myself. Could it be that, he was relentlessly searching for me? Oh well, whatever it was I don't care anymore. "Oh my.. uhmm.. Alright, I'm here." No, it's not alright, there's someone else here. It's the Yuki-onna, O-ryo. She was hiding her face behind her sleeve and was about to run away in haste. But Odanna-sama has sharp eyes and found her. P183 "O-ryo, why are you here?" "Oh, that, uhm..." "I was sure that you said you were attending your duties in Tenjin-ya." O-ryou lightly and furtively watched Odanna-sama's facial expressions, and shut her mouth completely. "I hope it's not what I am thinking, but could you have abandoned your duties and came here?" As soon as Odanna-sama spoke those words, the entire surroundings suddenly got cold. The Yuki-onna's eyebrows twitched, but while seemingly agreeing, her facial expressions became unreadable. Moreover, I realized that our hair and our clothes were starting to get covered in snow. This snow lady, who threw countless snowballs at me, in an instant, why am I just shaking things off. "Well, whatever. Suzuran is here. Suzuran, since you have already escaped from Yahata-ya's gang, for the time being, it is a good idea to go to Tenjin-ya. It is safer there, and you can tell me everything that happened." As soon as Odanna-sama spoke to Suzuran, she felt relieved. That was the extent of her dreadful thoughts. "Odanna-sama, I apologize deeply." Odanna-sama spoke again, to Suzuran in a gentle voice. P184 "What are you apologizing for? You are our head clerk's younger sister. To me, you two are like two adorable grandchildren. Even though you were forced into a marriage proposal, we cannot be silent about it. Come now, let us go back to Kaikakumaru." After that, I patted Suzuran's shoulders and hugged her, and we just exchanged looks. As I nodded in approval, a low voice from the Yuki-onna came from behind. "Alright then, I guess I'm going home too." O-ryo seemed exhausted.Odanna-sama's eyes may have darkened, but I think she needs to pay for her mistakes. I was exasperated. "Yuki-onna, before we were found by Odanna-sama, were you thinking of going back to Tenjin-ya?" "You.. You shut up! You have nothing to do with this!" "Well, that was expected of you." It was like a time when a parent goes out of a room and leaves the child unattended, and when the kid quietly leaves to play hooky and wander about gets caught in the act. A while ago, the Yuki-onna was up on her high horse, as if invincible, but now she's disheartened, and her shoulders dropped. I think she looked like melting ice cream. P185 As wispy clouds drifted past, daybreak has begun. The Ayakashi's activities have ended, and in a little while the shops started closing for the day. We, on the other hand will be returning over to the Southern Torii gate, to ride Tenjin-ya's ship. "Ah, she's there! She's boarding Tenjin-ya's Kaikakumaru!" In that moment, we were definitely found out by the Yahata-ya's henchmen. Those guys seemed to have searched the entire harbor relentlessly for Suzuran, and for a very long time. Everyone had white hair, and all of Yahata-ya's guys had a human form. Each of their faces were covered with a white cloth with "Han"** written on it, making their expressions unreadable, but their impatience can be easily seen through their movements. Odanna-sama left Suzuran in the care of the three Nopperabou sisters, who came out to take her inside the ship, as instructed. Odanna-sama and I stood leisurely in front of the ship while we casually looked at the Ittan-momen. "The Ittan-momen have a strong image of being a long, single piece of cloth, but these ones have a human form, don't they?" "Ayakashi usually change their forms. Whatever Ayakashi they are, they have a human shape." "So when you say that, the earth spiders, even Ginji-san, you all have a human form?"

T/N: Ittan-momen - they’re long pieces of cloth youkai, that strangle humans. The “Han” ( 反 ) on their faces also form the words for drapery, as ittan ( 一反 ) is a unit of measurement, mostly for cloths. P186 While we were casually chatting, a powerful voice boomed out. "Tenjin-ya's Master. Please hand over the geisha, Suzuran to us. We legally and formally received her!" In the middle of the Ittan-momen stands a young man, surely from a rich family. A young man wearing a very gaudy haori. With his long, white hair flapping like a flag, his face was strongly expressing a smile. Beside him was a terrible-looking red-faced man-servant, who seems to be surrounded by a lot of underlings. The other Ayakashi in the main road, and those who were returning to the harbor to board their boats who seem to be so elegant were all going "What's that? What's going on?" and started to look at the scene. On the roofs were some guys' camera shutters going off. Odanna-sama on the other hand faced the nervous Ittan-momen, and did his usual smile. "Hey there, aren't you the young master of Yahata-ya, whom we were always under the care of? What happened to you, your facial expression has changed? Suzuran is our head clerk's younger sister, and they always have been by themselves, so I'm bringing her back to Tenjin-ya so they could be together." "How shameless! Even though you say that you're always under our care, the truth is that Tenjin-ya has never used our fabrics!" Odanna-sama's retort insulted the short-statured man-servant. P187 From the side, Odanna-sama was stealthily asked. "Doesn't Tenjin-ya use Yahata-ya's products?" "Our yukata were provided to us by the owner of Shikiidou. Yahata-ya may be old and established, but aren't their products fairly expensive?" "Ah, about that..." This was different from that time with the Tengu. Especially when it comes to a point that there is no customer-client relationship, the rivalry just gets worse. Once again, with his usual smile Odanna-sama spoke to the young master. "Moreover, young lord, Suzuran awfully seems to not like you. A marriage obtained unreasonably, isn't that selfish on your part? Hmm... My opinion is there's nothing more useless than a loveless marriage, isn't it?" "Wha... What did you just say to me?!" The young master's face showed his anger, and went to his man-servant. Selfishly, he retorted, "You have insulted me. I am declaring a war! By any means!" But to me, seeing as there is no other choice, with a smug grin** Odanna-sama replied "Well, if you say so." That is no joke. With a nonchalant face, Odanna-sama commanded Kaikakumaru’s crew to get up and sail.

T/N: Shit-eating grin is a better translation but Odanna-sama’s too pretty for that lol. P188 What, we haven't gotten in, are they going to leave the harbor? "Hey, stop! Tenjin-ya's ship!" As Kaikakumaru slowly and steadily rose, from everywhere a flood of Ittan-momen started lining up, preparing their bows and arrows, and assumed their shooting stance. The tips of their arrows were covered with an oil-soaked cloth, with pyres filled with blazing yellow enchanted fire in front of them, and the dangerous army faced Kaikakumaru and started to shoot. I was dumbfounded. With a sudden and loud gasp, Odanna-started to defend us. Standing with an expressionless and unchanging face, the arrows flying towards me were received by him with one hand, and fiercely blew out the enchanted flames like trash that gets thrown away. I think it's a flawless defense. However, several arrows hit Kaikakumaru , and the sails started to catch fire. Not just Kaikakumaru, but the other surrounding boats were reached by the flaming arrows, and everwhere the flames started rising up. The screaming and panicking voices of the Ayakashi were audible. It was terrible. It was merciless. It was inhumane! That was what I was thinking, but those guys were Ayakashi. As for Odanna-sama, he was still blowing on his pipe with a composed face. Seeing that again, the Man-servant got excited and the Yahata-ya’s Ittan-momen squad once again started to aim, towards us and prepared for shooting their flaming arrows. P189 This time they were aiming towards Odanna-sama. If this continues, I'll be in danger. "Oww!" A small burning piece fell down and grazed my arm. Instantly, I remembered in that moment the Tengu's uchiwa fan. "Fire!" The Ittan-momen squad pulled back their bows and released their flaming arrows toward us again. Without any hesitation, I leaned forward in front of Odanna-sama and deliberately fanned the uchiwa fan upwards, and I put a lot of power in fanning it. A strong gust of wind blew wildly. The flaming arrows flying towards me were all extinguished, and flew towards and beyond the Southern Torii gate. After that, the numerous human-bodied Ittan-momen of Yahata-ya were halted and then like paper were blown away. Even the ox-cart that they were using also got turned over. Only the young lord and his man-servant were left, desperately clinging onto a pillar. "Ohhh.. You defended me, Aoi!" "No, I did that to save myself." Odanna-sama may have spoken in joy, but I was just stating the obvious. I was changed, and I understood the power of the uchiwa fan. I stared at it begrudgingly. P190 "Looking at this leaf, it's an awesome uchiwa fan! I was only going to use this for serving seafood dishes, but definitely not anymore." "Yes indeed, it's good that you don't. There's nothing as precious as that treasured fan." Odanna-sama's retort definitely hit. The Yahata-ya's Ittan-momen started to pull back. "Isn't that the Tengu's treasured uchiwa fan?" "What on earth is that little girl?" I heard so many whispered voices. So many Ayakashi were gawking. At least, the wind brought the Ittan-momen down. Their young master, with his long hair disheveled by the blowing wind, and his body equally in distress, pointed at me and yelled with anger, "What did you just do, little girl? Who are you? Are you a Tengu?" "No, I can't say who I am.." Right now I am a human girl. Incidentally, unemployed. I am not a Tengu. But Odanna-sama relaxed his lips. He pulled my waist and magnanimously started to proclaim, "This is Tsubaki Shirou's granddaughter, Tsubaki Aoi. I am Tenjin-ya's master, and she is my bride!" "Whaaaat?" My face spelled "What is this man talking about?" After his proclamation, he pulled me close and from where we were standing leaped up, and with a strong force flew up towards Kaikakumaru’s wooden deck. P191 It was like riding a jet coaster, I was mentally unprepared for it as we landed. At the back of my mind, the harbor was adrift with an eerie silence. But that silence was broken by a high-pitched scream, as I was looking down my voice just exploded. "Move to port side, steer to port side..." As my consciousness fled that place, there were other Ayakashi in their cruise ships. "Oh, hell, no, Kakuriyo is doomed!" Why were they expecting Kakuriyo's demise, my head couldn't wrap around it, that some Ayakashi were so serious. "That Tsubaki Shirou's granddaughter, she is the wife of Tenjin-ya's ogre-god?" "Isn't that a tragedy?" It seems that the sudden interest can't be suppresed, it was the topic of discussion among the lowly Ayakashi while having their booze and appetizers. "Go back! Go back! The news' evening edition must be replaced!" "There's no time! We'll just hurry it up for the afternoon edition tomorrow!" The news item about a celebrity scandal seems to be catching on, and from beyong the large Torii gate, Youto's crowd was broken up by Ayakashi that look like news reporters. Odanna-sama's proclamation was a shocking target, it seems. To the Ayakashi, Tenjin-ya's Master and Shirou Tsubaki's granddaughter "getting married" was obviously horrible, scary and revolting, and it created a huge ruckus. P192 "Say, Odanna-sama, why were those Ayakashi shocked? Are you a celebrity?" "I'm not a celebrity, I am Tenjin-ya's Master. But, well, I do hold the title of a Hachiyo. Being one gives fame and power. Each of Kakuriyo's remarkable Ayakashi, there are a lot of stories when it comes to sudden marriage proposals, whether with a daughter or a granddaughter." "Hmmmph. So up until today, you were single?" Even though it was a dodgy question, Odanna-sama confidently agreed. "Well, that's it. Which is why in Kakuriyo, it’s common gossip to ask who shall be my bride. Those are what people talk about me. A powerful person, particularly an Ayakashi who holds the position of Hachiyo, news about their marriage are always a subject of public interest by the populace in Kakuriyo." "Interest.. But, I don't think anyone would be happy about that." “Haha, it's not really a pleasant matter. Surely, it is a public announcement, and because Shirou's granddaughter was involved, everyone was absolutely caught off-guard. It's probably the worst." Odanna-sama's way of speaking sounded dubious. I titled my head. "That's.. because Aoi is Shirou's granddaughter." P193 Looking at my face, with a sneering smile, Odanna-sama's remarks about Grandpa seem to have a strong impact. To Kakuriyo, Grandpa is a very influential person. Even amongst Ayakashi, he is the scariest. From the soles of my feet, a cold chill crept up, and I looked below. Yahata-ya's Ittan-momen were creating a noisy argument. They stopped, and other than being unable to wave their hands to us in the boat, they could only stare at the slowing rising Kaikakumaru in vexation. Even as Kaikakumaru’s sails were ablaze, it was still rising up. Despite that grave 10 minutes, the ship's deck still standing, the commotion that happened below, no matter how much I think about it, I still can't understand it. Odanna-sama seems to have lost interest in what happened before, and started instructing the ship's crew, who were desperately extinguishing the fires on the sails here and there, and the blazing flames of Kaikakumaru’s sails were eventually extinguished. The beautiful sunrise from the east has come. Normally, this would be a silent time in Kakuriyo. But today, Kakuriyo's capitol had an early-morning disturbance. While thinking about the myriad of things that happened today, the day started brightly as before, and I rubbed my eyes. P194 A while later, I realized what happened, and the next day, Kakuriyo's Metropolitan Newspaper reads "Bride from Hell went Haywire", among other things, I was decorated with a very typical and one-sided title. From then on, without me knowing it, I was known as the rumored "Tenjin-ya's Wife from Hell."

End of Chapter 5, Volume 1.

Volume 1 Translations by Kakuriyo-translations

Prologue Chapter 1 Chapter 2 Chapter 3 Chapter 4

References:

Wonderful site for the youkai references

Other stuff I used to do this: Kodansha Kanji Learner’s Dictionary (you can buy here, I’m not sponsored btw). I was about to buy the older edition but then the newer one came out 2013 so I bought that instead. Worth buying since I was able to find nearly all of the words I needed just by stroke pattern alone.

Merriam-Webster's Japanese-English Dictionary (the red-covered 1996 version is apparently out of print right now). This is what I have been using for a very long time, I bought it when I was still a fetus (yes I am old so what lol), and after so many years, when compared to newer editions, I still prefer this one since its entirety is Japanese-English, the English to Japanese gloss are just 16 pages tops, so you get more Japanese words for your buck. But that’s just my opinion, maybe other people prefer the Jap-En x En-Jap IDEK.

Basic online dictionary, Jisho. Knowledge of verb conjugations and other words are necessary since not all have entries.

If you can read Japanese, you can buy the whole set in Amazon Japan, they’re shipping worldwide now, I think.

#kakuriyo no yadomeshi #kakuriyo no yadomeshi english fan translation #kakuriyo no yadomeshi fan translation #kakuriyo no yadomeshi light novel fan translation #kakuriyo no yadomeshi volume 1 chapter 5 #kakuriyo no yadomeshi volume 1 chapter 5 fan translation

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commaless-a · 5 years

Text

*. meta on the face tattoo, because who can resist that i’m LOVE HER SO MUCH

nott started with a porcelain mask and some bandages: a physical cover for her mouth with the appearance of the face of a porcelain doll.

the implication of the porcelain mask is to hide who she is -- to round her edges to society, to make herself seem less ‘ threatening ‘ and ‘ dangerous ‘ to the other beings in exandria. the porcelain doll symbolizes ‘ youth , girlishness and timidity ‘, but can also mean ‘ fragility and unrealistic expectations ‘, which sort of fit with the whole vibe. she’s hiding who she is -- her physicalities ( hence the physical mask, an actual cover for her identity ), shielding herself from how people perceive goblins, as well as still keeping her past life close to her heart, and in a sense, hiding herself from who she is. i’ve talked at length about how she exaggerates parts of herself to keep her identity close to her heart, how she doesn’t want to forget ‘ being veth ‘, but it’s also to protect HERSELF from believing she’s like her own internalized version of being a ‘ goblin ‘ -- about stories and her own experience; of goblins being cruel and terrible and violent. she puts on the mask, and it says ‘ i’m not one of them. i am a halfling. i am “normal”. ‘

it also alludes a little to her past -- how the village kids bullied her because she was always a little ‘ weird ‘ and ‘ not ‘, and how she didn’t really fit in anywhere -- at least, not until the nein.

when she reaches xhorhas she takes off the bandages -- and the mask, though she still keeps onto her mask. she says ‘ she doesn’t need it anymore ‘, because around xhorhas, she’s beautiful. it’s symbolic -- her being with the nein, travelling with them and causing the occasional ruckus while adventuring and fighting monsters -- not having anyone judge her for her appearance, for her current body -- and eventually, having them love her as she loves them and being close to them, having friends that cares for her as she cares for them. her insecurities are obviously still there -- and it’s not going to go away for a long time, that’s going to be a slow burn, but !! she doesn’t need to hide who she is around the people in xhorhas -- around HER people, in the mighty nein. she’s beautiful to the nein, beautiful to xhorhas -- and for once in her life, she feels her eccentricities are normal. and that’s so important to her story, about what is normal, about society and cruelness and horridness -- that she is deemed normal, even as a race that is seen to be terrible, cruel and mean.

when she gives up her mask to yeza in nicodranas -- it’s sharing her insecurities to him -- and she already has done that in the episode they release him -- she’s confiding in someone from her past, someone that she’s still close to, still in love with -- that she doesn’t like the body she was given, the cards she was dealt with -- that she’s afraid, and scared, and that she dislikes who she’s become because of that one fateful day with the goblins. she’s showing herself to him again -- baring her fears, her worries, and she isn’t hiding herself to her husband, anymore, not under a mask in nicodranas.

and this time, there’s something NEW to this -- because she says it’s a gift to them, of something that will remind THEM of her. this mask has become more than a symbol for her internal battle about her own identity -- now she’s known for the mask ( and it extends itself into fanon -- because you CANNOT deny that her mask was iconic for her character design ), and the mask -- though it means so much hurt to her, means something entirely different to others: that the mask is HER thing -- the nein has seen her with the mask in towns, trying to help people, trying to fight and defend people from terrible things. yeza has seen her with the mask -- in her DISGUISE, caring for her son, saving him from peril. the mask ‘ to remember her by ‘ -- as she goes on her quest to find a way out of her own predicament -- and to save people and be an adventurer, along the way.

and not to mention -- the fact that it’s a promise. that she WILL come back to them -- that she’ll come back -- as herself, without any intention to hide who she is. and that’s... a LOT !! she’s TENDER to her family, tender to yeza. she’s so loving, and soft -- and she REALLY DOES want to return to her family ( and though she’s a little conflicted with that, still, i reckon ) -- and she, promising yeza that she’ll return, without a mask, without the goblin body she was tossed into? the ULTIMATE end, of her finally being ABLE to be herself, physically and mentally? that’s... extremely important. it’s so important, not just to me, but to her.

and finally, when she gets a face tattoo. not only does it help her with her charisma stats in meta -- she puts it on her FACE, even when it didn’t HAVE to be on the face -- and the swirls, and the fact that it looks like a masquerade mask, with eyeliner and swirls around her eyes and forehead and cheeks. it’s still a mask, yes: but:

1. it’s tattooed onto her face rather than BEING a physical mask. it’s design, rather than a way to hide something. it’s not something you can touch and feel -- now it’s in the skin; shown in the skin. it’s symbolic in so many ways: the fact that this body isn’t hers -- that it’s, really, just a ‘mask’ to her true identity, and that it’ll never really be her body, and she’s finding a way to go back to her body ( EVEN when getting the tattoo she wonders if it’ll carry through to her actual body ), the fact that she doesn’t feel the need to hide her face anymore, that she doesn’t NEED a physical cover to it -- the fact her face is bare, and there’s no physical reminder that she isn’t ‘ normal ‘ in exandria.

2. it’s on the eyes -- and there’s a saying that ‘ the eyes are a window to the soul ‘. instead of obscuring the eyes like what her porcelain mask did, it’s accentuating her eyes, making it pop, adding color and detailing them -- and though it’s a mask, it doesn’t hide her features or obscure vision of them -- it’s actually giving it more attention: as if to say ‘ look at the real me ! look at who i AM rather than what i look like ! ‘

3. it’s a different type of mask. the first mask she wore -- the only mask that she wore: she stole it from a broken porcelain doll -- and it’s a face mask. in THIS world, face masks are commonly utilized to prevent the spread of disease, to COVER the mouth and nose, to conceal, to protect others.

this time, it LOOKS like a masquerade mask ( at least it’s positioned like one ): and masquerade masks are rather popular in fiction and are commonly seen to be ‘ mysterious, elegant, dignified and sophisticated ‘. the masquerade masks are also treated as a game in THIS world -- where guests of a masquerade ball guess who is in which mask. rather than being treated as a serious thing -- about HAVING to hide her identity from others, it’s now something she wants to put on her face, to look pretty and cool and maybe help a little with something shes struggling with.

she’s so confident in her identity now -- almost TOO confident to the point she immediately jumped towards saving halas in order to get her body back -- but she’s confident now. happier, now.

and i cannot be more proud.

#*. THEY’RE ALL SO SHIFTY. / META #i'll have to make a banner for that but for now.#cr spoilers //

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yoongiandchiminie · 7 years

Text

P R E S S U R E { 1 }

;series;

masterlist

{Part 2}

Pairing: Reader X Yoongi

Word Count: 6,748

Genre: Romance, Smut, Fluff

Warnings: Smut, daddy kink, cursing Summary: After dating for almost 3 years, the armys and Yoongi’s label have found out about your relationship. Now you have to deal with it in your extraordinarily normal life.

I didn’t mean to start dating Min Yoongi. I’d simply gone into New York City. I had taken the day off from work weeks in advance and gone in with my friends then ran into him at Bryant Park. I’d heard BTS before, but honestly, I had no clue that they were there at that time. I later learned it was for some meeting, but we never really talked about the details of one of our favorite days.

We’d made eye contact. He was in front of the fountain taking pictures of it and himself, and I’d noticed him out of the corner of my eye. When we tell this story, he likes to say that I was staring at him with heart eyes. In reality, I watched him for 10 seconds and within that time he’d notice me and given me a coy smile. Then he jogged back over to Jimin and Namjoon and I shook my head clear of that and back into my friends conversation.

I hadn’t noticed the 3 boys following us across the street into Kinokuniya Bookstore. We simply went across the street to look at the manga, figures, and all of the cute stationary. I was there with my two best friends, Alicia and Julianna. They had wandered off, crying about some manga about stray dogs and I was alone in the basement of the store, looking at the stationary when I felt a heat on the back of my neck. I always got nervous when I was alone, simply because I had some terrible anxiety.

I was the mom friend in the group, so I had to take charge in certain situations. For some reason, inside of flight I choose fight. Boy, was it the right choice. I’d turned around the see who was staring at me and it was him, Him with his blonde hair. Him with his soft face. Him with his all black outfit and snapback, hiding from the world.

Before I got the chance to ask why he was staring at me, he stepped closer and held out his hand.

“Min Yoongi.” he introduced and I shook it.

“(Y/N) (Y/L/N). Can I asked why a perfectly good stranger has been watching me like some creep.”

He chuckled. I melted. “Well, I can’t help myself to do anything, but to look at you. You kind of have my full attention and I also thought it was a little creepy. Obviously, you noticed me. So, I thought I would introduce myself.”

“What a gentleman.”

“You know, they have this cute little cafe on the top floor. Wanna come get lunch with me?”

His english was a little broken, but I managed to catch his drift and pick up on what he was saying. The way he spoke was almost rehearsed. Later, I found out that Namjoon helped him learn this little monologue so he could speak to me.

Then it was all a part of history. Our history. The six of us had a lunch together and Yoongi and I hit it off. He was trying so hard to speak my language, even though Namjoon had to help him a bunch. He was so… into me. It was crazy. I’d never had such an instant spark with someone, especially someone so reserved at first. I had always had this weird outgoing, loud guy type.

He was so captivating. He still is. Anyways, that’s how it started. After that lunch, he’d invited us to their concert that night. When I carried on, stressing out about how I had nothing to wear, he just waved me off. My girlfriends laughed at my constant need to worry about the silliest things in the world, just stating “This is how I was.” and that “he’d have to get used to it”. Which he responded with, “I plan on it.”.

On the way out of the store, he grabbed my hand and led me down the avenue. We were both totally aware he had no idea where he was off to, but he’d decided I was going to get a whole new outfit then stay at his hotel. I’d felt like I’d known Min Yoongi for years. His personality just vibed with me and the hotel part didn’t even come across in a creepy way? Then we shopped and went to his show.

Obviously, the next day he was gone. Off to some other city. But he never left me. My days were full of constant texts and calls. My weeks became filled with him flying in whenever he had a day off. My months were made up of stolen kisses and my year ended up in a relationship. It was a secret and we could handle it. The constant separation made keeping this secret from his record label so much easier.

Until 2 years later. 2 years into my bliss, we were caught by one of his fans. He’d flown in for the weekend and one of them had followed the car he got picked up in from the airport all the way to a parking lot of a Mcdonald's where he hopped into my car. We were in for some shit, let me tell you. My mentions were filled and so was my phone. BigHit now owned me in a way, sadly. After signing a bunch of contracts about how I wasn’t playing Yoongi and that I couldn’t run away with his money and I couldn’t reveal more intimate parts of him and if we got married I had none of his BTS assets and all of that dumb shit, I thought it had died down.

The armys didn’t hate me. Well, obviously some did, but the others made me feel welcome. Made me feel less scared about going public with my relationship with my boyfriend of almost 3 years. I was very straight forward with the things I could talk about and did whatever his record label asked me to. At first, it started with an hour long interview, talking about myself and us. Why we kept this all a secret and such. It ended with them surprising me with what I thought was a skype call, but Yoongi ended up being there. After 4 months.

When we were on the skype call, he told me to close my eyes for a moment so he could put on something silly or whatever. Then I smelt him, as weird as it sounds. He wore my favorite cologne and I started crying before he wrapped his arms around me. Within seconds I was buried into his chest, sobbing, as he held his hands on my face. He wiped away my tears for camera effect, but he also made sure to block my face from the limelight. He knew I’d be even more upset if there were suddenly gifs of me hysterical on the internet.

So, blah blah blah, right? Now, I’ll bring us to today. Currently, I was hiding in the fridge at my job at a super market deli. My manager knew I was in here and I was even preparing food in here to go in the showcase. Currently there were a bunch of pre-teen girls standing at the counter, all looking for me. It’d been like this for the past week and my manager Steve happened to feel bad for me today.

A few hours earlier, my twitter started to go crazy. The Big Hit account had decided to use me for some retweets and tweeted out my work address. So now it looked like I was having a fucking meet and greet, so I decided to be trapped in the fridge. Yep.

Steve walked in and kind of chuckled at me as I packed some yams into a dinner container. “I know you’re having a hard time out there, but we could really use you. It’s a little busy out there. It’s your meet and greet after all.” Then he broke into a full on laughter, patting his chest, to make sure he could still breathe at the end of it. I didn’t laugh because it wasn’t funny. Not funny at all. “I’m glad you’re sticking this out, you know, taking one for the team back here.”

In all reality, I wanted to ask to go home. It was starting to get cold and I forgot a jacket, but I needed the money. Not all of us could be K-pop idols and I didn’t want to really want to have to rely on him for money. Well, he sort of ruined my job. And my life. Maybe I could bill him for work interruption. I’ll sue him. That’s it, I’ll sue him. I’m not exactly sure for what yet, but I texted informing him about the lawsuit. He didn’t respond.

He also didn’t respond to my 20 other texts messages freaking out about the armys at my job or about how his record label was trying to sabotage our relationship. He was probably in the middle of overworking himself in whatever country he was in today. I had stopped trying to keep up with each individual one and just knew the basic area of where he was. I think it was Korea. Or maybe Japan. I knew it wasn’t America. That was in half a week.

They had a 2 weeks vacation and he’d decided to spend it with me. Every time he got a break, he tried to waste it all on me. I always bullied him into going home to be with his family or spend time with the band and the last 4 days would be reserved for us. This time he’d convinced me to let him stay with me the whole time. He’d even called my store and requested the two weeks off for me as he planned whatever he was going to do. So, starting Monday I would no longer be trapped here, I guess.

As soon as all of the dinner were packed, I stacked them onto a tray and kicked open the fridge door, subsequently hitting one of the chef's, Mike, with it. “Ahh, she emerges.” he joked, pushing my hat lower over my eyes. “Maybe you should go say hi to them. They’ve been here since your shift started.” He nodded at the 50 girls filling up the coffee lounge outside of the deli. I swished my mouth back and forth, debating the situation. “I’ll go with you, if that’s what you need. I know you want to, nervous nelly.”

I put the dinners down and grabbed my bag on my way back to my tundra. I pulled up the step ladder and took out my makeup bag, deciding now would be a good time to look good. Of course I wanted to go meet the girls. They made my boyfriend happy and support him. They support us. I guess it really did look bad if I hid all day. I was just so anxious about the entire situation. I wasn’t the famous one. I was kind of just riding along with the love of my life who happened to be a bit popular.

I pulled off my hat and took out the ponytail within my hair. I ran my hands through it and of course it was already a bit knotted. Nothing could ever be easy in my life. Whatever, this was for him. For his label. In the back of my mind I couldn’t shake the horrible feeling that everyone out there would jump me for dating him, but they were there. Here to see me. Hell, what do I even do? I work, I’m not even in school, and I sing in a band that purely plays in my friends garage because we can’t get our act together to even have a name.

I stood up and cleared my throat a bunch. When I got nervous my voice seemed to crack and I stepped out of my tomb. “Wish me luck.” I said to the guys I worked with and they just laughed and waved me off.

I pushed open the double doors and heard a few noises come from the direction I was headed in. “H-Hey guys.” I smiled, giving a little wave to the girls as they proceeded to run over to me and surround me. First, it started slow. I thought maybe they’d kind of stare at me from a distance, but oh no. Of course nothing can be civil and easy with me, can it?

They started getting closer to me and snapping selfies all around me, throwing out questions about Yoongi.

“What’s he like in bed?” I can’t discuss that. I legally can’t.

“Is this just a publicity thing? So the armys can feel like they have a chance?” No, I’m in love with him. He’s in love with me.

“You’re so fucking pretty. It makes me feel so shitty.” I’m so sorry. I’m so so so sorry. Please, don’t feel that way. You’re absolutely beautiful.

“Is BTS gonna tour here soon?” I don’t know.

“Why have you been hiding from us? What exactly are you hiding, Y/N?” Nothing. I was so scared. I’m so scared.

I wanted to respond to everything. I wanted to defend myself. I couldn’t get a word out edgewise, everything was trapped in my thoughts. I just smiled for all of the pictures and videos they were taking of and with me. I didn’t start to cry until I heard Steve yell for me behind the deli counter, asking if I was alright. Then I became hysterical. I covered my face and closed my eyes, only to hear him running across the wooden floor. He lightly pushed through the girls and pulled me out of there, back to my safe haven of the deli fridge.

Fuck.

I’d been excused to leave work early after that and Steve told me not to come in the next day either. After a little bit of a fight about it, he told me to start my days off early and that he’d talk to his boss about asking if those can be paid vacation days. I knew he’d say no however. The store manager had been pushing for me to work more because of all of the business I’d been bringing in by simply working there. We were up by around half a grand a day and boy did that make him look good.

When I pulled into my driveway, I unplugged the aux cord from my car and dialed one of the numbers I knew by heart. Yoongi’s international number. I rarely called him without asking, but I knew he had my phone call volume on. Only when it was an emergency I’d phone him right away.

It rang three times. “Mmmm, baby? What’s up?” Oh, he sounded so sleepy. I felt bad for about 5 seconds before I started yelling.

“How could you sleep through all of my messages? Boy, have I had a day.” I unlocked my door and slammed it behind me, only locking the top lock. I threw myself on the couch as I heard him groaning about sitting up to check his phone.

“Facetime.” Then he hung up and face timed me this time. By this point, I was upside down on my couch with a red face and an angry expression. I hit the green button. “You look so grumpy.” He chuckled.

“I am grumpy. Please don’t go on twitter for a few days?”

“So, armys were at your job.” I saw his face sink a little as he leaned against the wall.

I sat upright and fixed my hair in the camera mirror. “I kind of started crying and I got excused from work until after my vacation days. They probably think I’m crazy, Gloongs.”

“You’re calling me Gloongs? Look at you. The new dwarf in Snow White. Mopey.”

“I’m gonna hang--”

“No. Please no. You’re not okay. I’m sorry this is happening. I’ll fix it.” Then he hung up.

The way he went about his life was so weird to me sometimes. Knowing him, he was back asleep already too. Sleeping sounded like a pretty good idea, actually. I knew I could never take a nap, it was something I had learned to deal with. I’d always wished I could just pass out like my boyfriend. He had this uncanny ability to simply close his eyes and be somewhere else.

I stood from the purple couch in my living room and walked the total 10 feet to my bedroom. I swung open the door and fell straight onto my bed. The phone charger I kept next to my bed was gone and then I just let out my anger by screaming. I didn’t give a fuck about my upstairs neighbor in this moment or the 5 open windows in the little apartment my mother and I stayed in. I was just frustrated.

The plug had fallen on the floor off of my mattress, luckily. Once my phone was charging, I called up my best friend Alicia. She didn’t pick up and I knew she was also asleep. Of course two of the most important people in my life had these weird sleeping habits I couldn’t get myself into. I could barely sleep as it was, let alone throughout the day.

I called her again as fast as I could. Normally after the first phone call, she grabbed her phone to turn off the volume for the second call. I always begged her not to because if there was a second call it was important, but she didn’t give a shit. It was almost crazy to me how my boyfriend and best friend were so alike. I really couldn’t fathom how I could handle two of them let alone one, but I did it. I guess my type had changed.

I must have called fast enough because I was met with a groan and a, “Ugh, what do you need?”

“Hey,” I almost choked up? I wasn’t sad, just stressed. “Can we do something?”

“Guardians 2 just came out, if you can get us tickets.” Usually, I was met with a no and that she was going back to bed. “What’s wrong with you?”

I put my phone on speaker and opened up the Chrome browser, typing in showtimes near us. “Oh, you know. I’m just casually getting stalked.”

“Yeah? Well, that’s karma.”

“For what?!”

“Dating a superstar. A hot, lazy version of me though. Yeah. Karma.” she broke into a fit of chuckles and I heard her get up and start rummaging through her clothes. “Do I have to dress nice? Am I going to get followed by some paparazzi?” I could hear her trying not to laugh.

“I’m wearing jeans and a fucking hoodie. The next show time is in 40 minutes, I got us side seats. I’m coming to pick you up.” Then I hung up, grabbed my keys, and ran out my door.

The movie was amazing, but my phone call with Yoongi later was not. Halfway through the movie, I remembered that he had wanted to see it with me. Boy, I wasn’t ready for the angry rant I was about to get, but I stayed up til 2 am for it anyways.

“Hey, baby.” I could hear the smile in his voice. He was in the arena in whatever place he was in now, getting ready for his show. “How are you, what’d you do after our call last night? Or your day time.”

“I went to the movies with Ali-”

“No you didn’t.” Oh no. He interrupted me. He was onto me, he knew. “Are you kidding me? I planned the tour around us seeing this movie during my vacation days!” He was screaming now. I heard Hoseok in the background asking him to calm down and heard my precious boyfriend slapping him away. “You know what? I’m done.”

“Done? Dude, come on.”

“You’re fucking coming to Korea on the next flight and we’re seeing it together. You’re off from work anyways, I’m not taking no as an answer. Hoseok, please take my card and find her a flight. I’d do it, but she won’t pack anything that she needs if I hang up to look.”

He was right, sadly. For such a put together person I over packed unessential stuff no matter where I was going. Day trips, week trips, I packed my entire room up for those. “Don’t make him book me a ticket. I can buy my own.”

He broke into a fit of laughter. “Shut up, no you can’t. I got you out of work, so let me compensate by paying. You also can’t argue with me because it’s done. Check your email.”

He was right, I couldn’t. The flight was in about 3 hours and I was an hour away from the airport, so I started to pack. He scolded me about packing 3 times the clothes I needed when it only a four day trip. They had three more shows left to end their tour and would be in the same area for all of them. So I didn’t have to feel guilty about more travel expenses and such like I always did.

Of course I knew he had the money to spend and such, but that was the thing. I didn’t want to be pampered by him at all times just because he could. I liked being able to support myself and not feeling like I was using him for his money. I was so in love with this kid and I had been for the last few years and that was the last thing I wanted him to believe.

Yeah, I was working a part time minimum wage job and he was touring the world, but I didn’t need him for such small expenses. Even though I guess a plane ticket wasn’t small. On the cab ride to JFK airport, I was just enveloped in my thoughts about him that I didn’t even realize when we had arrived. I was forced out of my head by a loud honk and the man in the front seat telling me to get out. I passed up a 50 dollar bill and grabbed my larger than I should have suit case out of the trunk.

I never really began going to airports and flying before Yoongi. It was such a normal thing to him, but to me it was so extravagant. Not even including where you’re going, flying on an airplane was just such a cool concept to me. So I took it all in every time. Even if it fucked me over in the end. Which you already knew it did. I never slept, so my jet lag was extra bad during these. I just watched movie after movie, every time. There was truly nothing else to do for me than take advantage of that. I got too anxious sleeping in front of people, even if they were perfectly good strangers.

Whenever my plane landed in South Korea, I always regretted not paying too much attention when Yoongi tried to teach me the language in depth. I knew some basic terms to get me around, but he had practiced English for so long and so hard for me, that I really did feel guilty for not learning his native tongue. It seemed to always be a lingering thought whenever I was in his homeland, but he made me feel silly for thinking that. Stating that I had no true reason to learn Korean and that he didn’t want me to get good at it so he could always talk shit about me without me truly understanding. As much as I wanted to believe that was a joke, I knew it wasn’t.

After grabbing my luggage, I looked around for one of the security guards I knew would be getting me. I pulled my hood lower on my head and looked for the sign that Yoongi probably wrote. Knowing him it would say something embarrassing. There it was. Booboo buns. He even drew hearts around it. He was such a dick, even when he wasn’t here.

I gripped my rolling suitcase with a hard fist as I walked over to the burly man and waved. He complimented me with a smile and turned his back on me to follow to the car outside. He attempted to take my suitcase from me and I just responded with, “Aniyo gwaenchanhseubnida.” Meaning no thank you. One of the few terms I made sure to know along with where is the bathroom and a few other phrases.

Once I was in the familiar black van, I finally closed my eyes. I didn’t know how far the hotel was and I didn’t bother to ask. Well, I didn’t know how to ask and I had no service here to even text Yoongi I was on my way. He definitely knew though. For a lazy fuck he was on top of important shit; like getting me around a place where I could easily end up lost. As much as I prided myself on having good direction value.

Of course I didn’t sleep on the way to the hotel when that was purely all I wanted to do. The security guard parked the car in front of the hotel and left the hazards on. He simply walked me inside and I said thank you and he passed me a card with the room number and key. From the lack of people around here, I figured the boys were at their show. It was around 8 pm here now, so it was almost a perfect time for me to sleep.

I power walked to the elevator and once it dinged I went inside up to the 18th floor. I closed my eyes on the way up as I leaned against the mirror on the side of the elevator. I hope I didn’t leave a mark or anything. I was probably all gross from that plane ride. If I had the energy I’d shower, but I just wanted to knock out and I bet that the bed here was super comfortable. Nothing like my mattress on the floor back at home. Ding. I was here. Floor 18, room 22. Of course it was at the end of a long hallway. Of course.

At this point I was almost ready to crawl down the hallway, but instead I jogged. I figured I was alone, but I was wrong. During my sprint, I ran into random man and completely ate shit and fell. He said, “Sorry, sorry.” but continued running in the opposite direction of me. Awesome. Now I was tired and bruised and probably had fucking rug burn, but I was over it. I stood up and just pushed the thought that I got to see Yoongi when I woke up. I swiped the card through room 22 and saw it. The beautiful, big bed. The door slammed behind me and I kicked off the moccasins I’d been wearing for the past almost 16 hours. A smile loomed over my face as I tiptoed over to the empty bed and stuffed myself into it. Within a minute, I was out like a light.

I was awoken by the light turning on, but the thing that pushed me into being awake was the stench that followed it. I coughed to clear my throat and sat up. I opened my eyes to a smiling Yoongi at the foot of the bed. My eyes were still adjusting to the change, so he was a little blurry to me. “Why didn’t you shower there?” I asked. It totally wasn’t the first thing I wanted to say, but I kind of hurt a bit too much to move or yell.

“I wanted to see my girl.” His smile turned into one of my favorites. The gummy one. Then he crawled over to me, rubbing his fingers across the dimple that lined my face. “You’re so pretty… and bloody?” He chuckled, “Did you fall or something?” He peeled the blanket off of me and I was as confused as the look on his face. “Oh, come on. You fell?”

I couldn’t help but to laugh. There were a bunch of scratches on my arm from the carpet that had torn just enough to bleed. Then I just ignored it, so here we were. “Yeah, I fell. I was super tired and ran into this guy-”

“Someone ran into you?” He pulled me into his smelly arms and squeezed me. “You didn’t yell at him? Shame. I love it when you’re a firecracker.” He kissed at my cheek, towards the corner of my mouth. “Wow, I missed you.”

He continued to leave small kisses around my face and I knew I wasn’t sleeping anytime soon. I turned around so that I was looking at him and he had changed his hair. “Green?” My face lit up, “You did my favorite hair color again?!”

He bit at my nose, “Yeah. I gotta make sure this vacation is perfect for you.” He went back to kissing around my face. Whenever we met up, it always started like this. He missed the physical interaction, but never pushed me into anything, He always started slow.

“How was the show?”

“Amazing, as always, but I was so distracted knowing you were here and laying in my bed without me.” His kisses began to trail down the side of my face to my neck, his second favorite place to be at for a while.

“Can we shower? I don’t want to fuck you- No, that’s a lie. I want to fuck you really bad.”

“Blunt today?” he breathed hot air down my neck as he spoke in a sexy whisper.

“I’m gross and so are you, let’s shower.”

We both walked into the bathroom and started stripping each other. Nothing too sensual at first, until we were both in our undergarments. We both just looked at each other for a minute. Observed each other's flaws and imperfections as if it was the first time seeing each other naked, but boy was it not. Honestly, I think that’s what made us love each other so much. Everything was always the same, but it was always new.

“God, I’ve missed you so much.” Yoongi breathed. He undid the clasp on my bra and as I took that off I felt his long fingers slide down my back to pull down my lacy panties I’d been in for probably the last day. I breathed out a gasped when he touched me. His fingers were cold even though the bathroom was slowly heating up. I pulled on the waistline of Yoongi’s boxers, suggesting for him to take them off. Even if we were caught in a moment, he couldn’t help but to slightly laugh at my little motions. I was never truly the one in charge of these situations, but considering it’s been about 3 months since we’d last seen each other, I was getting a little antsy.

He grabbed onto my hand and led me into the shower. As soon as I turned the shower on he started attacking my neck with little kisses. Nothing too aggressive, but hard enough to leave a faint bruise after each kiss. I turned around to face him. God, he was beautiful. We moved closer to each other and our lips finally connected. The kiss was soft and sweet. Then of course leave it to Yoongi become aggressive. With one swift motion, he lifted me off of the ground and made me wrap my legs around him. He pushed me into the tiled wall and I could feel him against my heat.

“You came all this way for me, I figured I might as well do something for you.” He said.

“That’s fine by me, daddy.” I teased. I could feel him fucking harden against me. It was really hot. I knew it was one of his kinks. He would never admit it to me but whenever I called him that it would almost instantaneously turn him on. Now that I did that, I knew I was in for a world of trouble. Aka, him getting mad if I called him anything other than that or sir. I did it anyways, him being mad was pretty hot in these cases.

“Yeah?” his voice was raspier now.

“Okay, Yoongi.” I smirked, excited for the outcome.

“Don’t you dare call me that now. You started this,” Yoongi growled. He let me sink a little bit again the wall, only to duck his shoulder under my left leg and put it on top. My breathing hitched as he got me into one of his favorite positions. Also because this was dangerous. We could die. Then it would be all my fault and his army would kill me.

I was taken back to the moment as he kitten licked up my slit and pulled away right before he got to my clit. He chuckled at the little gasping noise I made when he stopped and lifted up to touch me, but instead of going where I thought he cupped my chin. He smirked and kissed me so hard that I could almost feel the purple that my lip was going to be. He let go of my chin and began to lazily trail his hand down my body, making sure to go over my most sensitive parts in his little teasing session.

His eyes never left yours as he teased a digit inside, but quickly pulled it out. Before he started anything else he made sure I was secure against the wall and in his left hand. He did the same motion again with his middle finger and I gasped as the loss of touch.

“Please-” I begged, reaching for his wrist.

He slapped my hand away and squinted his eyes at me telling me to stop. This time he put in two fingers and curled them inside of me, my eyes closed from habit. “I want you to look at me while I touch you, princess.” He scolded. I could literally feel my insides turn to mush with his words as I bit onto my lip. His two fingers slowly moved inside of me while his thumb reached up to rub my clit. He kept curling and uncurling his fingers while rubbing little circles. All I wanted right now was to moan loud and sink to my knees, but I couldn’t lose my voice yet and I was pinned to the shower.

At this point he lowered me onto the ground, still keeping my leg on his shoulder. I gripped the shower handle as he moved his mouth onto my clit, lightly sucking on it while keeping his fingers inside of me. I wrapped my leg over my shoulder. He added a third finger and continued to curl them. I reached my other hand out and ran my fingers through his hair, being careful not to pull the green too hard. I pushed my hips down and mumbled a fuck. He hummed into me as he removed his fingers and licked up me one final time.

He pulled his fingers into his mouth, sucking on them while not breaking eye contact. “Better than ever.” He let my leg down and I still needed some support. I reached my arms up lazily and wrapped them around his neck, kissing him softly. He, however, didn’t want soft. The kiss quickly became intense as he slipped his tongue into my mouth. He ran his hands up and down my back, eventually landing on my ass and gripped it like he was holding on for dear life.

The kissing stopped for a moment. “Are you sure you don’t want me to-” I pulled one arm off of him and brought it toward his hip. He reached out for it with his own, lacing our fingers together. It felt less intense in this moment, as he smiled purely and took his other hand to my cheek.

“Let me take care of you for once. Let me fuck you til you beg me to stop, (Y/N).” He spoke in is normal voice, except a little bit higher. I simply bit my lip in response. Leave it to Yoongi to always know what to say to make me wet.

He lifted my leg back up again and placed himself at my entrance. In typical Yoongi fashion, he rubbed the head up and down my folds, barely dipping inside. “Please.” I begged, barely audible. He just smiled and slowly pushed into me. Within seconds, he picked up speed. He went at a mild tempo at first then as I put my hand onto his shoulder he lifted my leg higher and all you could hear was muffled moans and groans along with the slapping of skin.

He gripped my thigh as he thrusted in and out. He never broke eye contact with me and as much as I wanted to close my eyes, I stared right at him. When I reached my high, he knew. I knew he was close too. “Can I?” his eyes darted down to his cock. I nodded as I was unable to even speak. He fucked me right through my orgasm and my nails scratched through his skin. As soon as I was done, he moaned out my name as he came inside me. He lowered my leg to a more comfortable position and then pulled out.

Before putting me back onto the ground he made sure I was leaning on him and had my hand somewhere else. Fuck, he knew me too well. He hummed into my ear as my back leaned against his bare body. He ran his fingers through my hair and I felt a stinging in my eye. “Yoongi stop!” I yelled, squeezing it shut to try to comfort my pain.

“What’s wrong? Was I being too aggressive? I know it’s been a bit and I know you can barely walk right now but maybe y-”

“No, it’s not that-”

“Then what’s wrong?” He wrapped his arms around me, turning me in towards him.

“You got shampoo in my eye.”

He gulped. “I wasn’t holding the shampoo-”

“Then what’s in my eye?!” I yelled, reaching one hand up to rub it. He started to laugh.

“Babe, I am so sorry.”

For the rest of the shower, I just leaned into him after getting whatever was in my eye out. I missed being with him like this in such a personal way. We didn’t even speak, but we were so in tune with each other when we were together. He took care of me and I took care of him. In this moment, it was his turn. He knew I’d been hurting lately, mentally and now physically thanks to him. It was moments like these I was so grateful for him. I was always grateful for him.

He reached over me to turn off the water and pulled a towel off of the rack outside of it. He twirled it around me and then one around his own waist. He kept one arm around me as he patted some of the water off of himself. “You tired?” He whispered, patting me down a little bit before lifting me bridal style out of the shower.

He laid me onto the bed still wrapped up despite me still being well covered in water. He got in next to me and covered us with the warm blanket, pulling me close to his chest. He liked to sleep while in contact with me, despite what it may be. Tonight his arm was around me, but most nights his hand was on my hip or thigh . Tonight was different, he wanted to closer than usual. We which we already were. Our usual is across the world.

“Hey, Yoongs.” I whispered into his chest. He made a noise signaling he heard me. “I love you. I love you. I’m so in love with you.”

He ruffled my hair. “Shh, go to sleep.”

“Reassure me.” my unnecessary anxiety spoke out.

“I’m so in love with you. I’ve loved you since I’ve known you. You’re the strongest woman I know. You’re my sun and I love you. Darling, am I in love with you.”

Authors Note: Hey! I hope you enjoyed chapter 1 of Pressure! If you guys liked it, I’d appreciate if you let me know! I have lots of plans for this and would love to continue writing it! Thank you guys.

part 2 →

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