#so please accept this small snippet. this snapshot.

[kaurwreck]

curious to know why you like gin so much!

Gin is a teenage girl sage king. She personifies love without ego and is also an ambush predator. She is divine grace if divine grace were an assassin with peach scented lotion. She thinks the urban legend that cherry blossoms are so pretty because they feed on bodies buried beneath them is neat. She chose hell, and transcends it.

Metanarratively, she is the archetypal Mary conceptualized by Ryunosuke Akutagawa in Man of the West:

We sense a bit of Mary in all women. Perhaps in all men, too.... In fact, one could say that we feel a bit of Mary in the fires burning in the hearth or in the vegetables fresh from the field, or in an unglazed pot or solidly built chair. Mary is not the one who is eternally feminine. She is the one who eternally protects us. After all, as the mother of Christ, Mary spent her life traversing the "vale of tears." And yet, she lived with great fortitude. In her life, one finds worldly wisdom, folly, and virtue.

...

[People] have had to take lessons from Mary, more so than Christ, to find the way that leads to peace.

Gin is clever, decisive, perceptive, poised, and impish. She loves her older brother. She likes lace and florals and gourmand scents and play aggression. She reflects rippling, concurrent shades of black, gray, and white (e.g., when her eyes are black, she wears gray, when her eyes are gray, she wears her black hair down like a veil; depending on the context, she is either dressed or masked in white). She's quick to blush.

I like Gin so much because she's Gin.

[archiveofidentityconstellations]

(Preferably all batfam related else I'd be clueless :P) 4, 8, 15, 29, 30, 37, 40 alternative ending to 'On Fashions & Small Fry' 💜💜

4. How many fic ideas are you nurturing right now? Care to share one of them?

I literally just had an idea this morning about little snapshots in which Damian crawls into Dick’s bed to kind of show the break of outer and inner lives and what we project to the world (day) and how we feel inside (night). That sounds like a lot of hogwash bc mostly I just wanted to do a cute thing with Dick and Damian being brothers

8. Share a snippet from one of your favorite dialogue scenes you’ve written and explain why you’re proud of it.

from birds all sing:

Several minutes passed, Tim looking at the man he had known as a father for several years, brow furrowed in consideration.

"What else?" Bruce finally said. He let his voice soften. "What else do you need?" Tim met his eyes. Bruce's fists clenched.

So young.

"...The roti."

What?

"What?"

"The roti bread?" Tim repeated. "I was thinking maybe the zucchini but no, I definitely want the roti."

Bruce stood there, adrenaline seeping out of his bones.

"That's it?" he asked brusquely, not a little annoyed to be put through the emotional ringer in under five minutes.

"Yeah," Tim nodded. He almost beamed at the thought of the upcoming food. "That's it. Thanks, Bruce!"

"Don't mention it," he growled, marching out the office.

It’s not perfect, but I like it because it makes me laugh. My humor has a lot to do with timing, so when I manage to get the timing right I find it very funny

15. If you could choose one of your fics to be filmed, which would you choose?

Good question! I wouldn’t really choose any of my fics to be filmed, but I would love my “version” of batcat to have a film presence. Other than that, I would probably want either bratkid or star wars domestic AU to be filmed, but I would make them original work. I like the idea of family coming together and getting to love one another. It’s an after school special!

29. If you could write the sequel (or prequel) to any fic out there not written by yourself, which would you choose?

Oh man I’m kind of shit at imagining things beyond what the author intends. My friend Hobbs has a world she lets me play in sometimes, so I write little snippets of fanfic of her stuff.

30. Do you accept prompts?

When I say they’re open, yeah, kind of. I don’t get paid for writing, it’s not like a commission, so if I like the idea I’ll do it or incorporate it into whatever I’m writing. It’s free real estate babey

37. Talk about your current wips.

There’s too manyyyyyy

I’ll talk about what I need to do

birds all sing: start the first fight. make it organic, not off the cuff. don’t be overt but not too subtle.

crack fic: research you dumb bint. you are literally not writing this because you don’t want to research. why. normally you love research. you just don’t want to look up what writing up reports looks like. it’s probably online. just do it.

40. Write an alternative ending to [insert fic title] (or just the summary of one).

OHO, okay! Long answer

This was actually supposed to be a full fic, I had a lot planned for it but it got so large that I was like “hmmm” and didn’t do it. It had like 4 “acts” as to how the story went

Anyhow, the fic starts out how Damian wants to go to Sacramento with Bruce, because Bruce said he would take him last week, but then Bruce says no. He won’t explain why, but he’s obviously not mad at Damian, so Damian can’t figure it out. Damian ends up facecalling him and he can see Talia in the background. He promptly flips out, throws his phone at the wall, breaks it, destroys the room, then kind of has a breakdown wherein he just sits in the tub fully clothed with his shoes on 😅

Tim sits with him, then Damian basically falls asleep so Tim goes to get Dick and Dick puts his boy to bed

Second act: Several days go by, and Damian is better, but as he’s sitting on the counter while Stephanie is cooking, she accidentally says something they were all keeping from him: Bruce went to Sacramento so that Talia could sign off on custody rights, lawyers are involved and everything.

Cue to Damian being like “what” and marching off. Damian then concocts this scheme in which he tells Dick that he really wanted to see Dallas, that father was going to take him, please he wants to see the rodeo, etc. Dick gives in and decides they’ll take a brotherly bonding road trip! Yay!

But things start to go sour when neither one of them can mind their business in a seedy motel, and their relationship issues come to light. After this:

"No, damn it!" Dick slammed his hand against the doorframe. It rattled at its hinges. "You got your time, that's it, done, over. I take care of you, got it?"

"We're partners," Damian said, weakly.

Dick's eyes softened. He struggled inside himself, Damian could see. But just as a bubble of hope rose forth, it burst the next millisecond. Dick lowered his hands, head tucked low and shaking softly. "Not anymore we're not," he sighed.

then Damian uhhhh how does one say, drugs Dick so he can sneak out and take a plane to Sacramento.

He bursts into whatever meeting place Bruce and Talia are at and lambasts them for lying to him and such. Talia is like “hi sweetie” and Bruce is like “b o i” and Damian ends by saying he gets to leave first because they always leave whenever they wanted, so now he gets to leave THEM

So he angry-walks to a park and sits down on a bench and stews

Then Dick BURSTS in and is like “is he here?????” and Bruce is like “you let your eleven year old brother get on a plane himself?!” and Dick is like “that little SHIT drugged me, I didn’t let him do anything” and they all sort of talk about the best thing for Damian

Damian comes back after a day on the town in which he really doesn’t have all that much fun, and comes back and everyone is like “okay let’s all be mature about this and talk, no secrets”

And it turns out

Talia is dying

So Damian is bewildered and mad that he can’t be mad, she’s dying, she’s dying and she doesn’t even get to see him without Bruce’s approval, etc

So they work out what would be best for Damian WITH Damian’s input, thank you very much

(also Bruce is like “We acknowledge that we weren’t the best but if you EVER do that again—”)

Third act is in which the new normal is strange, because Damian is visiting Talia but it’s like when he was a very young child again, because she’s not trying to impart survival wisdom, she’s just his mom. And Damian is sort of dealing with the remnants of trauma, and is upset because why couldn’t it have been like this all the time, but he CAN’T be upset because she’s dying and despite his unwillingness to go back over his trauma it crops up and Talia has a lot to make up for. Ra’s appears in his crazy old way, because she’s his favorite child and she’s dying and Damian and Ra’s basically get to sit in a hospital waiting room together and have a stilted conversation on who they are and what family even means

Anyhow Damian is really starting to get along with Talia, which concerns Bruce because. she’s dying. Damian is going to be gutted. So he slowly kind of tries to make it so Damian isn’t as attached (dumb but it’s Bruce) and Damian gets angry and runs away to visit his mother in the French Riviera. They have a wonderful time but then Bruce goes to get him and Damian is mad at him. But Talia says “you need to listen to your father” and Damian realizes that Bruce is the only parent he’s going to have, he’s not going to have his mom anymore.

So yeah, there’s still another act that I didn’t finalize but that’s a rough summary of everything!!

And Talia was going to have an illness exacerbated by the Lazarus pits, like caused by it. It was basically going be Creutzfeldt–Jakob disease equivalent in the DC universe. So yeah, she can’t come back lol

[drtwit]

From Justice to Spite - (Adam Taurus) RWBY Fanfiction

Here is the first draft of a small fic I'm planning on the side, one that explores snapshots of Adam's life up to him murdering Sienna Khan, hoping to slowly build a picture of Adam becoming the psychopath we make fun of to this day that will probably not even be close to hitting the mark... Or, more simply, a bunch of pedantic jibberish that fell out of my head in a jumbled amalgamation of words.

“At first I thought Adam was "justice", then I thought he was "passion". But over time, I realized I was wrong. He wasn't any of those things. He was "spite". Not "hatred", not "rage", "spite". He won't accept equality, only suffering for what he feels the world did to him, and his way of thinking is dangerously contagious.” 

The first memory that came to mind was his father’s fascination with linking people to natural materials. Stones were trusted to be apart of the planet’s foundation. They were stern, strong and most of all they were patient. Yet, in that limitless patience, they find nothing but the ability to crumble. Such strength, such power, such respect all reduced to nothing but a weak pile of dust. The boy didn’t mean to take such a pessimistic view of the metaphor, that patience helped other, garnered it guiltless joy, ended it righteous and clean. Then again, joy felt like a chore to work with today. He looked to the stone, all he could see it how swiftly it crumbled. The wood only brought forth the thought of the flames that scorched that soft brown to heavy black. Pieces of glass pooling at his feet just reminded him of how it was shattered, the collapsing shards like a looping alarm to signal the oncoming tragedy. Not even the sky itself could bring comfort as it was now poisoned by smoke mixed with copper and blood. The boy wanted to find something to focus on, something that he could distract himself with, something that could make the throbbing in his stomach subside and let him be ignorant of reality for the moment. Tears desperately wanted to break through and rush down his cheeks, stinging his boiling flesh with cold despair. No matter how much his heart fought to relieve him of some of the pain, it couldn’t penetrate that layer of confusion and dread that blocked his throat. Why? It was a question that ached in his soul. Why did this happen? Was it his fault? Did he do something bad? Is this his punishment? He didn’t want this, he’d take it all back, he was sorry, he didn’t mean to do anything wrong. He didn’t know what he did wrong, but he’d make up for it in a heartbeat! Anything… Just him back. Please. “Adam.” And like that, his little world shattered, for a brief moment the curse of memory reeled back and let his attention free. Now, he could hear the cars in the distance, beeping profanities at each other as they tried to navigate around the roadblocks. There were snippets of conversations between blaring ambulances and roaring squad cars wondering how long this day was going to be. He only noticed now that the morning rain was pelting down on his head. “Officer, how long have you left this boy sitting here without getting him a coat?” The disgruntled police officer grunted out some unintelligible words in response to the low feminine voice. There was a certain edge to the voice, it reminded the boy of a tiger scaring away it’s prey. “On a day like this, I can’t believe it. Do you want him to freeze to death?” Looking up at her, the first thing to meet his sight were her eyes, those amber eyes that carried a familiar sense of loss. She was looking for distractions just as much as he was. Did she do something wrong as well? Pulling back from her eyes, he recognized her, remembering those brown stripes on her dark skin that he had been awed by. The eyes, they always scared him, whenever she had looked over him, they would pin him down with the thought that she would bare sharp teeth and attack. “Adam.” She said his name again, realizing that he was now looking at her. The Officer had shuffled off, perhaps fleeing from angering the woman any further. He didn’t respond. He didn’t feel like talking at the moment. “I’m Sienna Khan” She approached him slowly, her feet careful, but wobbly. It was like she was trying to balance on stilts with every step. “Do you… Remember me? Don’t worry, I’m a friend of your dads” Okay, not the best way to introduce yourself to a child. He remembered how she and his dad yelled at each other a lot. Yet her voice was much quieter here. She held his gaze for a long time, tight-lipped and stiff as a board. She really wanted him to speak, didn’t she? “Are you going to eat me?” It was the first question that came to mind, one which he thought important. He didn’t taste good anyway with all this rainwater. “Eat you?” Her eyelids pulled back, stopping her mid-stride as she processed the question. Before long, she was shaking her head, forcing a fake smile as she took the strange question as a fortunate distraction. “No, no. I don’t eat little boys. Besides, my belly is full today. I… Uh… Had an early lunch” She really didn’t have much experience talking to children. “Do you mind if I take a seat here? All the others are taken.” After a scrutinizing look to confirm that she was, in fact, not going to eat him (with her even opening her mouth to show her teeth), the boy shuffled to the side and weakly nodded. “Okay.” It was an awkward silence between the two as she slowly crouched down and tucked her legs under her knees. His concentration waned, pulled over to her and blocking out the other noises and sights for just this one little area. His nook and cranny. “The weather’s not very pleasant today, is it?” The heartache hung in the air, desperate for attention, but neither of them wanted to look its way, just distract themselves. Talk about something else. “You’re not wearing one either” “Hm?” “You yelled at that man for not giving me a coat. Why aren’t you wearing one? Aren’t you cold?” His knees came up to his chest, fearful eyes locking onto the stripes adorning her arms. “I am.” She admitted, her posture stern and strict, a towering and unwavering figure even against the rain pelting her neck. “But the cold never bothered me much these days. I’ve spent a lot of time with fire, so it’s more relieving than anything” Her voice started off joking, but bit-by-bit that bitterness sunk into her words. The boy could only, once again, speak out with the first thing to come to mind “That’s cool” She laughed. She didn’t mean to let that involuntary giggle slip past her lips, but she laughed. It was a warm one that broke through the atmosphere. The boy didn’t quite understand what was funny about what he said, but he didn’t mind, the humor made the woman feel good and that made the boy feel proud. It made Adam feel more comfortable in her presence. “Thank you?” “You don’t thank someone for laughing” “Oh.” There was a soft smile as she shook her head at the boy’s misunderstanding. “Do you… Have many friends?” From what she knew, he wasn’t exactly someone who got out much. “I have Mada, he’s a samurai and stuff who stays with me and shows me cool tricks when Dad was walking with all the other people” Adam talked with more energy, gripping the air as if he were grabbing a sword by the hilt. “But Dad says that he doesn’t count because he doesn’t exist” His cheeks sucked in, his lips turning in curiosity. “W-what do you do? Do you walk with Dad?” “No, not quite. I’m more of a fighter” “Huh?” “I worked for the same thing your dad did, but instead of waving signs, I… Fought for those that couldn’t fight themselves.” “Oh, so you’re like a superhero?” “Not rea-… In a way, Adam.” The trick was to keep the conversation going, embrace that procrastination for however long you could. “I had an imaginary friend once. She didn’t say much, more of a silent supporter than a playground pal. I always thought she was a mute, but that was long before I realized that there were times where actions spoke louder than words ever could” Her eyes trailed up to meet the collapsed mass of stone, wood, and metal that formed the pyre. “Sometimes it’s deafening. You have to yell louder to make your voice heard” “My voice gets very squeaky when I yell, it’s embarrassing” His head shifted to bury his chin in between his legs, completely ignorant to any meaning in her words. “Not like yours. Your voice even gets my Dad to yell. I like it, even if it scares me” The admittance made Sienna softly smile down at the boy, only for his next question to dampen that smile. “Did you hate my Dad?” For a moment, her eye closed tightly shut. “It’s not that simple” Telling a ten-year-old that something isn’t that simple never went well. She heard herself verbally tearing into that man, all the names she called him, all the lives she laid down at his feet, all the scorn she unloaded onto him. “It may be hard to understand. We had different outlooks on life... Uh, that is, we thought differently. That may have driven a rift between us, it brought us arguments and dispute, but he was still a wonderful man I’m happy to say was my friend” Adam took his time letting the words sink in, for a while his horns poking through his bush of red hair was the most Sienna could see of him. Some of the words she used took a while for the boy to understand. So, even if she hurt his dad, yelled at his dad, she still thought of his dad as a friend? “Are we friends?” She turned to him fully, watching his face uncurl from his knees to blink up at her. “We can be” Treating this like a business deal more than small talk with a ten-year-old, she held out her hand, looking for a handshake. “I’ll be your friend” With a skeptical look that lasted a few seconds, Adam reached up to clasp the woman’s hand, squeezing it tightly. “Come on now. It’s time to leave.” When Sienna tried to urge the boy to his feet, he clearly struggled with the idea. “G-go? I don’t wanna go away, I wanna stay here!” He pulled away from her, backing away towards the wreckage, his back against what used to be his bedroom. “Why do I have to go anywhere? This is my home!” “There’s nothing left for you here. What you need right now is a place to sleep, somewhere warm.” She made no move to close the gap between them, merely holding out her hand like before, her eyes hard as they bore into the boy. “Somewhere you’ll be safe to live your life” “I’m not leaving here, I’m not leaving him!” His back fell back to what remained of the wall, his legs wobbling, arms weak and knees heavy. There were so many emotions bubbling in the pit of his stomach, charging forward and snapping their jaws at his throat. They all wanted to stay here, like it would change anything, achieve anything. “I can’t leave him here alone” “You’re not leaving him, Adam” She remained firm in her position, her voice soft, but loud and clear. “His spirit is going to be with you no matter what, that body is just some bags of flesh now…” Adam looked as if he was pushed into a corner, his eyes fleeting and a small bit fearful. “He wanted you to come with me if anything ever happened to him. He would want you to leave. He would want you to-” “L-let go?” He’d heard it many times before from that police officer. Said it was healthy. Said it would help. “No, Adam” Sienna’s tone came to a surprising seriousness with these words, her eyes narrowing on the boy. “This pain you feel? It isn’t nice, it isn’t comfortable, but you need it. You need to keep it with you Adam, to keep you strong, because no matter the protection I provide you’ll need that strength. No, Adam. Never let it go.” He didn’t know when he had taken her hand again, he just knew when he had that one emotion above all had triumphant, a smoldering heat reaching up his body and pushing through his fingertips. It was anger. A hungry beast starving for food. What did you feed anger born out of grief? The one responsible. “Is it my fault?” At first, Sienna’s eyes widened at the question, completely caught off guard by such an idea. A little boy responsible for his own father’s murder? The look he gave her added so much weight, he trusted her to speak the truth. She dropped down to make sure she was on an even level with the boy, her hands gripping his shoulders tightly. “I didn’t mean for any of this to happen if it was. If I did something wrong, I don’t want him to pay for it. I-I’ll do better, I’ll do anything. I’m sorry, I’m sorry!” “Adam!” She got to grips with herself, letting out a growl that stole Adam’s volume away. “You didn’t cause this, you have nothing to feel guilty about here-” “But why-” “You didn’t do this, Adam.” For the first time, the two allowed themselves to finally focus fully on the sight before them. On the flames still fighting for the opportunity to roar above the wreckage of a childhood home, the surrounding neighborhood now having the perfect view of the tears in the ground, the possessions that had been melted by flames and the corpses mangled in stone. At the borders of police tape and cars, they lined up, crowds of people struggling for a good position to frame the area on their phones, very few offering a drop of sympathy. “Humans did this.” In that moment, the answer broke the confusion, the dam within him cracked and let forth the waterworks. Before long, the heat licking his skin fought against an onslaught of wet tears. Without warning, he broke contact with her arms and tackled the woman with a hug, burying his face in her shoulder with no shame or thought towards the stains he was leaving on her clothes. She didn’t speak, she didn’t move, she didn’t attempt anything. She just let the child cry in her arms, cry for himself and cry for her. “S-Sienna?” “Yes?” “…I want to be a fighter too”

[cherrycapturedwolf]

suuuuuper belated fic prompt fill for @ourvelvetpetals for “You keep reserving the good study room in the corner of the library with the windows” -- hope you feel better soon from being sick and stuff, dear!

also, what better way to celebrate the new anime than with a ficlet? <3

(omg i just realized that this message says 2 YEARS AGO lmaooooo)

brief snippet:

Her legs scream in protest from the climb up of five flights of stairs but she makes the run within seconds, stopping once she gets there to lean an arm against the door of her favorite study room.

She gives herself a minute to catch her breath before lifting her head to look up at the small digital screen right next to the door.

Her face falls.

This room has been reserved by Li Syaoran.

read the rest under the cut ;)

Sakura-chan.

A light and airy voice calls out to her from afar. She turns in the darkness, expecting to see someone there, but ---

There’s nothing. The sound seems to be echoing back to her from a distance beyond her reality. If only she could reach out and grasp it in her hands, hold onto something thicker than sand, more solid than water. But then ---

“Sakura-chan!”

With a jolt, Sakura snaps open her eyes and sits up at once. Except, she doesn’t pull herself up so much as flail her arms in a frantic scramble until she’s seated in an upright position. Mind still fuzzy, she attempts to untangle herself from her blankets. Her legs kick against the silky fabric until, with a drop of her stomach, she slips.

“Hoe!!”

The solid floor hits her hard beneath the shoulder, the pain slightly cushioned by her blanket.

“I-itai...”

A delicate, melodious giggle bubbles out loud above her. Craning her head around, Sakura looks up.

Tomoyo-chan sits at her desk a few feet away from her, holding an iPhone up to her face. The sound of a snapshot clicks and Sakura ducks her head back into her blankets, her cheeks burning.

“T-Tomoyo-chan?” she says instead. “What time is it?”

“Your alarm rang,” Tomoyo answers. “Five minutes ago, actually."

Something in Sakura mind clinks into place. Her alarm. Set to 1:45pm. Meant to wake her so she could get to the library before...

“Hoe!!!”

Wriggling herself out of the blankets, she throws the sheets off of her and grabs her phone from the bed.

1:51pm.

“I’ve gotta go,” Sakura says as she grabs two of her textbooks from her desk and stuffs it in her backpack. “Be back around six!”

Bag secure on her back, Sakura runs out of the room and down the flight of stairs at top speed. With a final coming up in two days, she’s been banking on setting up the perfect environment for studying all week. She cannot let anything come between her and her study-habit-fenshui plans. She needs to get to the library before 2 -- and not just at 2, but before! Otherwise... otherwise...

Sakura skids to a halt in front of the large, familiar building she’s spent hours slaving away at for the last two years and pauses to catch her breath. She looks to her left, then to her right. No sign of him yet.

She checks her watch. 1:57pm. Is she early enough?

Without further ado, she marches right up the steps and into the library. Doing her best to stay below the speed limit of what might be considered inappropriate for a library, she walks as fast as she can up the curved stairway, headed for the fifth floor.

She’s panting and out of breath when she reaches the top, clutching the stitch at her side. Looking up, she spots her objective.

Please be available, please be available, please be available!

Looking to make sure there’s not a single library staff in sight along her walk from the stairs to the other side of the room, she makes a beeline towards the large, glass window paned walls. Her legs scream in protest from the climb up of five flights of stairs but she makes the run within seconds, stopping once she gets there to lean an arm against the door of her favorite study room.

She gives herself a minute to catch her breath before lifting her head to look up at the small digital screen right next to the door.

Her face falls.

This room has been reserved by Li Syaoran.

Li Syaoran, she repeats in her head. She’s never even seen this guy and she already holds a grudge. Every week, without fail, no matter how many different times of the day she tries to show up, Sakura always comes face to face with the announcement that Li Syaoran has reserved the room. This means, of course, that the door is always locked upon arrival but she’s always been too polite to try and break in.

However, it’s been ages since she’s seen her favorite study room. Ages. The windows here face the west side of the school, right above the row of cherry blossom trees lining the walk to the student center, and she just --- she misses it so much. Whoever Li Syaoran is, she’s starting to suspect that he lives here. Either way, he definitely does not deserve to have this room for the rest of her college career. It just isn’t fair.

No. This has to stop. She has a final in two days. It’s come too far.

Gearing herself up for a confrontation, she curls her right hand into a fist and pounds on the door at the highest acceptable volume she can manage.

A few seconds pass before she hears the scraping of a chair on the floor and footsteps on the other side of the wall.

The door creaks open. A pair of amber eyes blink down at her, but it’s all she can really see of the guy.

“Can I help you?”

“A-ano...Are you Li Syaoran?”

The fired up rage she had felt from just a few seconds ago seems to have faded the moment she finds herself face to face with the guy. The confrontation had felt much easier in her head.

“Uh, yeah?” he looks around behind her, trying to gauge what the situation is.

First impression? A little rude, she sniffs. No polite greeting, no apologies, not even a gracious avoidance of the eyes. Instead, he’s staring straight at her, one eyebrow raised, and a shameless scowl upon his lips.

“I... I---” Just say it, Sakura!

“I want to use this study room,” she blurts out. Guilt bubbles in her stomach, so she adds, “Please.”

Li Syaoran stares at her for a few seconds, and then---

“Sorry, I was here first,” Li-kun responds. He backs away and shifts to close the door, but no. No, she can’t lose her chance.

Moving fast, Sakura sticks her foot out right as the door swings shut. She feels a quick, momentary pain as it bounces back and, seizing her chance, pushes her way into the room.

“Oi!” he hisses quietly as he backs into the wall. Sakura closes the door behind her and rounds on him.

“You’ve had this study room all to yourself for the last three weeks,” she says, anger rising again inside of her. “Please, can I just use it this one time? It’s only fair.”

The boy folds his arms and stands his ground.

“Fairness is not what dictates who uses this room,” he replies. “It’s a first come first serve basis. I got here first.”

“Please,” Sakura bows her head, trying to be patient. “I have a final in two days.”

“And that’s relevant... how?” he asks.

“I focus best when I’m here,” she tries. “The cherry blossoms outside help calm me and make me feel... supported.”

Silence follows. Sakura doesn’t dare look up into his face just yet.

“I know it sounds silly, but it really helps,” she continues. “You can still stay here. I just want to study here. Please.”

Li Syaoran doesn’t say anything for a long time. Sakura starts counting the tiles on the floor beneath her. Anything to stop herself from worrying too much over what he’ll say next...

She hears a sigh and then the scraping of two chairs as they’re pulled out from under the table. Li Syaoran takes a seat. Sakura looks up just a bit to peek out at him.

He’s staring down at his books as though no interruption has happened at all. Sakura lifts her head and blinks up at him.

“A-ano... is that a yes?” she asks.

“What does it look like?” he replies. Without looking up from his work, he gestures to the second chair he’s pulled out adjacent from him.

Sakura looks down at it before putting two and two together. He pulled the chair out for her!

“Oh!” she says as she quickly sits down in it. “Thank you.”

Li Syaoran continues to look down, but she could’ve sworn she saw the faintest shadow of a smile.

“My name is Kinomoto Sakura,” she says, holding out a hand to him. “Sorry for being short with you earlier. I’m really grateful you’re letting me stay.”

Li Syaoran lifts his head just enough to look at her hand before turning his head away to face the far wall.

“Li Syaoran,” he mumbles. He doesn’t take her hand, so she drops it back down to the table.

Sakura gives a small giggle, causing him to turn back around to face her.

“I know,” she says, beaming widely at him.

“T-this --- This doesn’t mean it’s going to be a regular thing though,” he warns, throwing her another scowl, his eyes not quite meeting hers.

“I’ll take whatever I can get,” she grins.

“Just --- just study,” he says before turning back to his textbook.

Perhaps he wasn’t so bad after all.