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nyxravessnow · 4 years

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Review 2021 Kuromyu – Namashitsuji Secrets of the Public School Arc

Disclaimer: This is not an unbiased review so please proceed knowing that it is heavily opinionated.

2nd Disclaimer: I have never seen the anime or read the manga of Black Butler. All of my thoughts are based on comparisons to previous musicals and comments from fans about how accurate their portrayal is. I understand this may turn some people off my review which is understandable but I think an important thing for shows is how accessible they can be for people who don’t know the source material.

FREE OF SPOILERS

Overall rating: 8/10

Acting – 8/10

Music – 8/10 (I took an average of my song scores)

Ease of understanding – 8/10

Direction – 7/10

Overall Summary:

I think the show was excellent and showed respect to the old shows but also did quite a few new things. All the scenes and songs had clear thought put into them and the acting showcased these things very well. It was not quite like what I expected it was going to be like but now that I’ve seen it, I can’t quite think of what I expected. I think if you like 2.5D or if you like Black Butler or the actors in this show then you will enjoy the show quite a lot. It is not exactly the same as before from every standpoint apart from it being Black Butler so I would say don’t go in expecting it to be just the same.

I will move to a spoiler review under the cut but plainly, this show is very good and I think all the actors did a great job.

As I normally do I am going to give my thoughts on story, acting, songs and directing, then mention some extra stuff that I might think of at the end. I am sorry if I bring up the fact that I’m British and went to boarding school like my parents too much.

Story: The story was mostly pretty easy for me to follow, especially as a British person who knows about Cricket and boarding schools. I haven’t seen Campania so the dolls confused me a little at first but that is completely on me for not having seen the previous show. When watching I was very confused about what was going on towards the end but looking back on it that was mainly because of my migraine and not because it wasn’t clear. Scenes were set out well and the camera work was done in a way to make it very easy to follow along. But omg the cricket made me a little upset. It was super fun and all. But it was so inaccurate XD. I guess I now know the pain of people who like tennis when they watch the Prince of Tennis.

Acting: I am going to go actor by actor and give a rough overview of what I thought of them

Tateishi Toshiki as Sebastian Michaelis

I felt like we didn’t get a terribly demonic Sebastian in this show but otherwise I loved Toshi as Sebastian. He felt very elegant and reserved most of the time which contrast well with the times in which he was annoyed at Ciel. He wasn’t terribly present in a lot of the show but I did really enjoy him when he was on stage. His singing voice is excellent and I loved hearing him sing, will go into more about it later during the song summaries.

Konishi Eito as Ciel Phantomhive

I thought Eito was amazing as Ciel and he is my favourite Ciel so far. He showed Ciel’s switch between cute and normal so well and it really made me think about how good of an actor Ciel is. I don’t know how he did what he did to his voice but he makes himself sound like a young child with a slightly higher and scrapey voice than normal and it really makes you think that he is very young. I know many people were worried that they were casting an adult as Ciel because they wanted to sexualise him and this was not the case at all. He only showed any skin in the very first scene when in the cage and he had the sheet/robe-thing showing his shoulder. His singing voice is quite a lot mature than the previous two Ciels, for obvious reasons, and I think it really helped me enjoy his songs.

Okayama Ryousuke as Soma Asman Kadar

While I would still say I prefer Sho’s Soma, mainly bc Sho is one of my fav actors and I am biased, I really liked Ryousuke’s Soma. He was super energetic and friendly and really gave off this air of innocence as he believes Ciel’s reasoning for him to join Weston. His cricket was also very fun. His singing was pretty okay. I think this was as his singing suffered when he was trying to sing in Soma’s voice.

Ueda Kandai as Undertaker

I was honestly quite surprised how good Kandai was as Undertaker. I think his Undertaker voice got better as the show went on so I assume the reason it was less good at first was nerves. He wasn’t in it too much but I thoroughly enjoyed him in every scene he was in. I think I would love it if he learnt to sing in his Undertaker voice more but I also understand that is quite difficult so understand why he’s not doing that.

Sana Hiroki as Edgar Redmond

I thought he was very good as Edgar and carried the emotion needed for the more serious scenes, like the flashback about Derek, very well. He definitely emphasised the queerness of Edgar and had some rather flirtatious moments with Maurice and Joanne. However, despite being flirty and not seeming to be very serious, I completely bought it when he became serious and he played the shift very well (such as in the Maurice reveal scene). His singing voice is good.

Tazuru Shogo as Herman Greenhill

I thought Shogo was really good as Herman, even if it did feel like him playing a slightly nicer version of Sanada – his character from Prince of tennis. He was my 2nd fav of the four and I always enjoyed watching him in his scenes. He played the emotion in the Derek flashback amazingly and you could really see the pain in his eyes when he realised what he had done. His voice was really perfect for Herman.

Satonaka Masamichi as Lawrence Bluewer

I really loved Masa as Lawrence. I don’t know how accurate it is as he didn’t seem very sweet from what I read on his wiki page, but his Lawrence seemed quite tsundere. I loved his bit in the Cricket match when he was talking about wanting to win in his very last year. He also just seemed quite cute. I really enjoyed his singing.

Goto Dai as Gregory Violet

I LOVED Dai as Gregory. He definitely gave off the aura of being weird but he also seemed very sweet to Cheslock and the two actors had really good chemistry. He was really cute in his Cricket gear. He was by far my favourite of the prefects. Despite seeming cute and sweet to Cheslock he definitely retained the aura of mystery and you could never tell what he was thinking. His singing voice is pretty good but he didn’t have many solo bits.

Furuya Yamato as Clayton

While at the beginning I did get an intelligent stuck up vibe from Yamato as Clayton that kinda died away as the show went on and he became much more of a dork. I dunno how much of this is in character but to me it felt slightly like Yamato playing himself. As I think Yamato is an excellent actor, I was a little bit disappointed to see his character change quite a bit but I don’t know how much was him and how much was the direction. Since Yamato is known for comedy and his adlibbing I wouldn’t be surprised if this was actually just direction and the route they decided to go down for this character, hence why they scouted Yamato. I know his singing voice may not appeal to everyone, but I really like it.

Nakajima Takuto as Edward Midford

Takuto was very good as Edward and I think he played his straightforwardness quite well. I love Takuto but I don’t think Edward had much to do apart from the cricket which Takuto did very well. His singing voice is excellent.

Warning: Tsukasa is my favourite actor, and I am very biased

Taguchi Tsukasa as Maurice Cole

Tsukasa was AMAZING as Maurice. He played the changes in his character so well and even though he’s not a very nice person I felt really bad for him during his breakdown as Tsukasa’s scream was heart wrenching. When he was pretending, he felt so light and sweet and then when he was being his normal self he dropped down his voice and even changed his accent slightly as well as changing the way he would stand and walk. Ngl I was not paying too much attention to other people when he was in the scene and I don’t know if it’s just because I’m biased or because his command of the stage is that good but I really felt his stage presence. I loved the way he repeated 2 O’clock to Edgar and the others and how he mirrored the way he did it with Ciel and all the subtleties to his acting were great. He didn’t get to sing very much but he sounded really good.

Fukuzawa Yu as Cheslock

Apart from Tsukasa I think Yu was my favourite in this show. He brought so much energy to Cheslock and I don’t mean making the character energetic, just that he always has so much power and feeling behind his lines and he was so good and cool! He had good command of the stage and worked so well with Dai to be the one the stands out and the one that fades into the shadows. He mostly rapped so I don’t remember his singing voice very much.

Uchino Fuuto as Joanne Harcourt

Fuuto didn’t really stand out to me very much and I don’t think he had very much to do. His singing voice was pretty good.

Hayakawa Iori as Macmillan

He served his part in the story well and was very cute and energetic which I liked. He kinda reminded me of doll a little. His singing voice was pretty good.

Yamaguchi Kooki as Derek Arden

He wasn’t in very much of the show but he played his part very well and even though we got so little of him being unpleasant the way he played it made me hate Derek immediately. I don’t think he got any solo singing bits?

Takahashi Shunichi as Johann Agares

He filled his role very well. The most impressive thing was his falling from the stairs, I was very worried he was going to hurt himself, so I was really glad he was okay as he went from pretty high considering there were lower stairs. His singing voice was good.

Songs: I really love Yu(vague) the composer of the show and he is my favourite music composer. I think he did a really good job with the songs on the whole. I think he did well making them seem different and new yet familiar.

Opening song – 7/10

I think this song was a good opener. I wasn’t too sure about it at first, but it got better as the song went on. Toshi’s voice didn’t sound to be working with the song at first but since he sounded fine later, I think it was just his voice wavering at first from nerves so I’m excited to see what he’s like in the last show. I like how they did short recaps of the previous shows from Lycoris to Campania so the fans are caught up on what has happened, especially since it becomes important when Undertaker comes back with the dolls at the end.

2nd song, I think it’s called ‘It’s perfect black’ – 8/10

I really like this song. I think it is a nice scene setter and is very well sung by everyone. The dance works well and kinda brings Druitt’s dancing to mind with some of it. The song features the full cast and is effectively the Pawn and Sword song of this show.

Welcome to Weston song – 10/10

My first 10/10 song. I really love this song and I already can sing along to it. I love the prefects singing and that the others sing the chorus for them. (Also partly love it for its reprise but I’ll get to that later) I love how rigid and together it sounds. By that I mean that everyone is singing their lines as quite cutting and the harmonies are very crisp. Everyone is perfectly in time and there is no deviation. The rigidness shows the formality and tradition of the school which is reinforced by the students marching around the stage to get to the places. This is the case for everyone except the prefects who have more flowy lines and they walk a lot more freely showing the school’s hierarchy. I also love the prefects pushing Ciel around and surrounding him which foreshadows how he his treated.

Only Prefect Four – 9/10

I might be slightly biased as a Mankai stage fan as this song sounds so like a Mankai stage song but I love it so much. It would be 10/10 but I think their harmonies at the end could be a bit tighter. I think the soft and flowery and upbeat music works really well after the last song. Kinda indicating that the prefects live in a different world to the rest of the school which kinda serves as storytelling so that later when they’re so surprised by Derek’s actions it makes sense as they feel kinda separate from everyone else and it makes sense that they wouldn’t know what was going on in the rest of the school. I also love how they each get their solo bits which tell you stuff about the characters. Edgar’s dance is really reminiscent of Druitt which I really love. Herman’s music is a lot less flowy with a base note and the dance, using cricket bats, really gives off an image of strength. Lawrence’s mixes classical music into the instrumental and it has a more traditional feel. The dance involves a lot of stepping and stopping showing a formulaic approach rather than being flowy or strong. Gregory’s music has a grand feeling to it and it goes lower. Gregory doesn’t move much while Cheslock is doing some hip-hop dancing next to him. And instead of singing a solo section he talks about how he wants to go to bed.

Yes, my lord – 10/10

My favourite song in this show. It shows Ciel being told to do things and him passing his chores to Sebastian and Sebastian getting more and more annoyed with him, even breaking and calling him a brat at one point. The upbeat tone is quite fun and it works really well as a montage song. I like how it goes from Ciel saying ‘Yes, Clayton-senpai’ (senpai is a polite suffix for names of people who are higher up than you) to dropping senpai to just saying yes then turning to Sebastian. It really showcases brat Ciel.

Soma’s song – 10/10

His song is all about being Ciel’s friend and it’s really cute and energetic. The outfits from Soma’s song in Circus and brought back and it has a similar instrumental to his song there. He messes around a lot more in this song, though. Even though he is now much older than Sho was when he played Soma through this song he feels far more youthful through the more relaxed choreography and the energetic music.

Ominous prefect song – 9/10

This song is so cool. I really like the sharp shapes being projected onto the back with lilac light and the softly ominous instrumentals. (it comes right after Edgar mentions ‘the secret of what happened that day’). The vice-principal walking around at the back is really interesting as it looks like he is monitoring them. And the other students walking around with lanterns gives the song an almost supernatural feel. And then Undertaker peeking out from the back at the end gives a more direct hint of what is going on.

Nightmare, opening reprise – 8/10

This is just a reprise of the 1st song but I like it a bit better because it is shorter and the choreography of the cultists surrounding Ciel’s bed is really nice.

The Headmaster’s decision – 10/10

I like the fast pace of this song as Ciel runs around to ask about Derek and keeps just being told it was the headmaster’s decision. The students moving and singing together, then encircling him reinforces Ciel’s feeling like there’s a secret that everyone knows but isn’t telling him. I also like the use of Derek’s actor walking around the stage, always just beyond their sight from where they are.

Cricket song, last song of Act 1 – 6/10

This song is good it’s just not super enthralling. I think it’s probably the weakest pre-interval song out of the Kuromyus. At the beginning Sebastian and Ciel’s mics got really quiet for some reason and the instrumental was a bit louder than them. It’s a nice gentle and weirdly happy and hopeful instrumental which is a bit at odds with the past two ominous songs and I can’t decide if I like that or not. Also, I think the harmonies are a bit off so hopefully that will be better by the final performance. A lot of the singers sound like they have tension in their voices so I think they were all pretty anxious for this song. I do like the song and it might go up a bit if they can get the harmonies in the final show because they got almost none of them in this show. (The one that they did get sounded really good though)

INTERVAL

Cricket tournament – 9/10

While the previous song was also more upbeat than the ominous songs I don’t think it worked due to being directly afterwards, as the first song of Act 2 I quite like that’s it’s more energetic as it gets you hyped for the 2nd Act. This is the song that some Tenimyu, Prince of tennis musical, fans are saying was inspired by Tenimyu. And I will say, it was 100% inspired by Tenimyu XD. Yana-sensei is a fan of Prince of tennis and Shogo, Herman’s actor, was cast in a role very similar to his Prince of tennis role then the Green Lion section literally has lines that are exactly the same as lines from the team Shogo was in. Also, the music during their bit is actually somewhat reminiscent of the music that team normally has.

[Yu(vague) is so good at changing types of music during songs ahh, the Green Lion to Scarlett Fox transition is just so good.]

Honestly, this song would be a 7 or 8 out of 10 without the Violet Wolf part bc omg that part slaps so hard. Gregory and Cheslock high-five and the music just switches to electronic disco music and they rap most of their bit. I love it so much.

Sapphire Owl’s bit is cool too.

Scarlett vs Sapphire Cricket match – 6/10

It’s pretty good. Solid song but isn’t too exciting. Soma’s solo bit is really cute. Main thing letting it down is the ‘It’s cricket’ refrain that is in all three match songs. I was already done with it after like 30 seconds in this song and this song doesn’t have anything else lifting it above like the others do.

Violet vs Green Cricket match – 8/10

Cricket match as a rap battle. I dunno why Violet House became a rap house but I love it and I love Cheslock rapping about his awesome pitch. Then he and Herman having a rap battle is just so fun. I don’t know if this is as fun to Black Butler fans who know the characters a lot better or whether it would be uncomfortable but I had a blast in this song.

Sapphire vs Green Cricket match – 7/10

I really like the beginning instrumental and the short song bit at the very beginning of the song but the refrain hit again so it couldn’t go above a 7 for me.

Victory song – 6/10

Not a bad song but I don’t think the harmonies were there for this one and so I’m excited to see it in the last show again and hear if they improve.

Weston Reprise – 10/10

Oh my god I love this reprise so much. At first it sounds very like the original song then as the prefects slightly lose it as they realise what they have done it becomes more out of sync and the music quietens and it sounds more acapella and they sound slightly like they’re losing it due to the horror of what has happened. And the scratchiness of Gregory’s voice making it sound like he’s going to cry really reinforces that they are just children and they cannot deal with something like this.

Fight song – 7/10

I love the Undertaker taking Ciel to the side and staring at him crazily and singing at him. Again, I could hear Toshi’s nerves and I hope that he can sing the song better in the final show. I really love the Undertaker and Sebastian’s duet though and I think their voices sound really good together and I love the blood refrain in the song.

Finale song – 7/10

A pretty short but solid refrain of ‘It’s Perfect Black’

Direction: I thought the direction overall was pretty solid. There wasn’t anything really innovative attempted I don’t think but I didn’t really feel like there was anything lacking.

Overall: I really loved this show and look forward to seeing the final show and I think this show set up the new cast well for future shows.

Do I recommend buying the stream and DVD?

If you are a fan of 2.5D, any of these actors or Black Butler I really recommend trying to see this show. (The final show with be on 4th April on theatre-complex.jp and you can buy a ticket with just a vpn) While it is very different I feel like it was fairly faithful to its roots but is also trying to grow into something new.

Lastly: If you have any questions about the show, any parts, any songs or about any of the actors feel free to drop me an ask and let’s talk about it!

#Kuromyu 2021 #kuromyu #Secret of the Boarding School #weston arc #stage review

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carewyncromwell · 4 years

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Cinderelly, Cinderelly, night and day, it’s Cinderelly~... ^.^ Okay..before I jump into the next part of the Cinderella AU, here’s your usual appetizer of random historical/etc. notes!

Although carriages were developed centuries earlier, actual coaches like the kind we think of from Cinderella stories were first developed in the late 16th century in Hungary, specifically a little town called Kocs. (The word “coach” and its alternatives in other languages, such as the German Kutsche and the Spanish and Portuguese coche, are thought to have been derived from the Hungarian kocsi, meaning “of Kocs.”) They then really caught on in the rest of Europe after Queen Elizabeth I of England started using them in the 1580s. The terms “coach” and “carriage” are often used interchangeably, but if one wanted to pin-point the advancements coaches specifically made in contrast to carriages of the past, there are a few differences one can pick out in how they’re built. Coaches generally are four-wheeled enclosed vehicles with doors and/or windows (glass was added in later centuries), and often include a “boot” seat on the outside for a footman and/or luggage to sit on. Coaches also generally have a reputation for providing a smoother ride than previous modes of transport because they’re suspended between the wheels rather than directly over or beside them. After the invention of the coach, one can find carriages (royal ones, in particular) adopting some of these same attributes.

Sadly wheelchairs really weren’t a thing in the 16th century. The first self-propelled wheeled chairs were developed in the mid-17th century and refined in the 18th, with sedan chairs or litters (A.K.A. chairs you carried) generally being used by the nobility prior to that. But there’s no way in Hell I’m not going to give McNully the independence he deserves, so I used a completely anachronistic design inspired by this antique wheelchair I found online, made circa around the 1840′s. Hey, this is a fantasy world anyway, so bleh. :P The flower detailing on the wheel is supposed to evoke an emblem I see being on Florence’s green and gold coat of arms (get it? “Florence?” “Flora?”). You might also notice that McNully has little Snitch-like “wing” frills on each of his buttons! XD

Another fun thing I learned while doing research -- although cloaks were often worn for warmth during the medieval period and beyond, in England during the Elizabethan era, their use was actually actively discouraged and even prohibited, as they were associated with criminals and rebels! Therefore it was common for a lot of English noblemen and women to wear thicker clothing made of wool and accessories like muffs, gloves, and even jackets for warmth instead. I tried very, very hard to find historically accurate examples of period-worthy jackets and capes for women around the time of the Renaissance, and was very frustrated to find a lot of fantasy-esque costume pieces or historical clothing from later eras that were simply mislabeled -- but I did find one lovely recreation of a 16th century wool jacket, so that’s what I used as reference for Carewyn’s jacket in this sketch, though I personally imagine it as a dark red, so as to better blend with her burnt orange and beige servant’s uniform. Bill’s uniform is based off a real castle guard uniform from early 16th century France, though with a much simpler color palette (I see Royaume’s colors being blue and red). Like with McNully’s chair, there’s a crown on the chest of Bill’s uniform, which I see being on Royaume’s coat of arms (“royaume” is literally French for “kingdom”).

In her canon, Carewyn was born when Jacob was nine years old. Although in most of Carewyn and Jacob’s canon post-Portrait-Vault, they end up being only two years apart in age, that’s only because Jacob stopped aging while trapped in a Portrait for seven years. From Carewyn’s fifth year on, Jacob and Carewyn in canon therefore act much more like contemporaries, even though Jacob actually kind of ended up partially raising Carewyn alongside their mother Lane.

Previous part is here – whole tag is here – Katriona “KC” Cassiopeia belongs to @kc-needs-coffee and I hope you all enjoy! xoxo

x~x~x~x

Every day over the next week, Carewyn met Orion at the gate of the palace of Royaume, and the two would spend an hour or so together. Orion would ask her about life at the palace, Carewyn would playfully respond, and sooner or later, they’d end up getting diverted and talking about something else completely, whether the upcoming Winter Festival, the language of flowers, art, poetry, the meaning of life, music, fencing, or (after seeing a rather beautiful eagle flying overhead) what it might be like to fly. Carewyn honestly wasn’t entirely sure what Orion got out of their meetings besides entertainment, and naturally she couldn’t afford to indulge in such entertainment too long, when she had so much work to do around the castle and she still had to find out where Jacob was positioned. But she had to admit, with the King and Queen having invited Iris over to stay in one of the guest suites at the palace for the remainder of the month, Carewyn didn’t mind having an excuse to stay far away from her cousin. Lately Carewyn had actively planned her days so that she could clean the guest suites at teatime, when Iris would be in one of the foyers with the King, Queen, and Prince on the opposite side of the palace. She did not want a repeat of the other day, after all...particularly since she’d also need time to change out of the nicer, collared dresses she’d wear when spending time with Orion.

Orion, meanwhile, was of course getting a bit more than entertainment out of his and Carewyn’s meetings. Through speaking with Carewyn, he’d sussed out some very helpful information about Royaumanian culture, the dynamics within Royaume’s royal family, and both their and their country’s financial state. One day he told his closest confidantes at court, Skye and McNully, some of what he’d learned...but Skye didn’t react quite as favorably as Orion had expected.

“...I gave Lady Cromwell a copy of the sheet music for ‘No One is Alone’ last week -- you remember the song, of course? And from what I understand, Prince Henri and the castle staff have quite taken to it. Not that I’m surprised -- Carewyn has a very soothing voice. I’m sure she performed it very well. But the Prince listening to the words at all is a good sign -- I even asked Carewyn if the Prince enjoyed them, and she said she believed so. She also found their message meaningful...one of Florence’s best-loved anti-War songs, and one about looking through another’s eyes and forgiving past grievances, no less! That can only be a good sign, for Royaumanians to take heart in it. It surely must have been fate that Lady Cromwell and I collided at the market -- I had a feeling we were kindred spirits, when she came to my aid, but now I am most assured of it. I might hazard a guess that she wishes for peace just as much as I -- for the sake of her brother fighting in the field, yes, but also selflessly for the sake of others, not wishing to see any other person in pain...”

“She sounds like a perfect knight in shining armor,” said Skye, her voice oddly cutting.

Orion looked up at Skye, startled by her tone. Her arms were crossed over the chest of her faded blue linen dress.

“Anything else you want to tell us about the fair Lady Cromwell,” she said rather icily, “or are you actually ready to talk about how you plan to end this War?”

Orion blinked slowly. “...I thought that we were already discussing that.”

“Really?” scoffed Skye. “‘Cause it sounds to me like you were busy gushing over your new conquest.”

“Conquest?” Orion repeated. His confused tone then melted into something more soothing and indulgent, “Oh -- no, Skye...you misunderstand me. I have no interest in courting Carewyn -- she’s just my contact point, with the palace.”

Skye gave a very loud, disbelieving snort. “Ha! Right, of course she is -- that’s why you can’t stop gushing about ‘Carewyn this’ and ‘Lady Cromwell that.’”

“Skye has a point, Orion,” said McNully, though his voice was a lot less confrontational. If anything he sounded almost sheepish. “I mean, about 85% of your report was about Lady Cromwell. You used her name over ten times just in the span of a minute.”

Amazingly Orion’s calm, hard-to-read expression didn’t crack. His hands clasped lightly in front of him.

“Lady Cromwell plays an essential part in this strategy. I’m an outsider looking in, without her insight -- a ship sailing blindly, without the light from a lighthouse to give me direction.”

“A lighthouse for a lost ship -- oh yeah, those sound like the words of someone who’s focusing on winning a war and not swooning over a pretty face,” said Skye scathingly. “Maybe instead of always running off and playing dress-up, you could actually bother to do your duty and go help fight on the battlefield for once!”

Orion’s lips came together tightly, but it didn’t make his expression any less composed. McNully shot Skye an uncomfortable, faintly disapproving look.

“Easy, Skye,” he murmured. “You know Orion -- ”

But Skye didn’t seem to hear McNully. Instead she tore into Orion.

“Face it, Orion -- you just like being treated like a commoner again and being able to make believe that you don’t have any responsibilities or worries...well, guess what? You’re not a commoner anymore! You’re the Prince of Florence -- you reckon little Miss Knight-in-Shining-Armor would take kindly to that, when she finds out?”

Orion’s dark eyes narrowed ever-so-slightly upon Skye’s face.

“Carewyn’s not an unreasonable woman,” he said softly. “I’m certain she would understand the reason behind my secrecy.”

This, if anything, only seemed to make Skye madder.

“Of course she would,” she muttered sourly. “Little Lady Royaume can do no wrong in your eyes, can she?”

She turned on her heel and stormed out, leaving Orion feeling very resigned and confused. McNully gave a heavy sigh, before facing Orion with a more serious expression.

“She’s overreacting, as usual,” he said, “but she’s still 60% right. It’s risky enough for you to get this close to anyone right now, when your position as Crown Prince is threatened by the likes of Lord Malfoy. He’d frankly love to have something like that over you. But someone from Royaume? The granddaughter of one of the most powerful, wealthy, and feared noblemen in their country? Orion, that’s dangerous.”

Orion leaned his hands on the table, looking down at the map of Florence and Royaume laid out on top of it.

“McNully, I assure you...my objective has not changed,” he said very levelly. “Everything I have done is for Florence -- for peace and balance. I admit, Lady Cromwell is a fascinating woman, and certainly one to be admired...but I spend time with her to gather intelligence I can obtain nowhere else. That is all.”

McNully looked doubtful, but didn’t directly address it. Instead he said, “I understand she’s your eyes and ears inside the palace, and the intelligence you’re getting is valuable...but don’t forget, she isn’t on your team. She’s on Royaume’s. And right now, Royaume is kicking our tail out there, on the battlefield.”

Orion’s dark eyes drifted away from the table as McNully leaned his arms on the table himself.

“It’s getting bad again,” he murmured very seriously. “I know you said the palace of Royaume’s strapped for funds, but somehow or another, they’ve scrounged up enough to get more cannons, and their troops have been moving them around every couple of hours so that our men never know where they’re going to be firing from next. It’s been very effective. Whoever’s been giving Royaume’s King and Queen military strategy lately, they’re a bloody genius.”

McNully clearly was irritated about this, given the flash that shot through his narrowed eyes.

“Your father sent me a request for a counter-strategy this morning. You know it’s likely if the strategy isn’t one he can execute on his own, he may ask both you and me to join him there, on the front lines.”

Orion did not respond. His expression was as unreadable as ever, but there was something oddly detached and avoidant in his posture.

“I know you don’t want that, and you know I have faith in you,” said McNully, “but your strategy is a slow burn, Orion. It requires both patience and time...and we might not end up having as much of those as you think.”

Once again, Orion chose not to answer. McNully sighed again.

“You know I’ll be right behind you in a coach, if you need me,” he said tiredly. “Just...mind that you use your head as well as your heart, all right?”

Orion threw on his black traveling cloak and headed back to Royaume not long after, hoping to meet up with Carewyn for an evening stroll. There was a notable chill in the air -- if it got much colder, he thought that any rain might instead come down as sleet or maybe even snow.

When Orion arrived at the gate, however, he was met not by Carewyn, but by KC. She was dressed in a high-necked gown made of black velvet and holding a leather-bound book and a stack of parchment in her arms.

Orion tilted his head slightly to glance at the piece of parchment on the top of the stack, which had several “X’s” scattered over an oddly familiar map.

“Plans to bury some pirate treasure?” he asked pleasantly.

KC gave a lightly amused snort. “No, just military plans.”

Her lightly freckled face then grew a bit more serious. “I guess you’re here for Carewyn?”

Orion had been ready to ask more about the military plans KC was holding, but decided not to circle back to it when she changed the subject.

“Yes. Has she been detained?”

“I guess so...” said KC. Her lips twisted into a concerned frown as she looked out at the darkening sky.

Orion’s eyebrows knit together over his eyes slightly. “You seem concerned.”

KC bit her lip. “Mm...it’s just...well, you see, one of the royal carriages broke down earlier today, when the Queen was riding through the country with Lady Yaxley.”

Orion raised his eyebrows. “Lady Iris Yaxley, do you mean? Carewyn’s cousin?”

“Yes. No one was badly hurt, fortunately, but the Queen, Lady Iris, and the coachman and footman were forced to ride the horses back and leave the carriage behind. When they got back, they asked the royal carpenter, Charlie Weasley, to go fix it. Charlie said that he probably wouldn’t have the proper tools to fix it here at the castle, so Carewyn offered to ride out with him, so that their horses could drag the coach together to the Weasley family cottage, about forty minutes away. The problem is,” she said with a deepening frown, “they left over two hours ago, and they’re still not back yet. Bill headed out after them on his own horse not long before you got here...he’s Charlie’s brother, so he knows the route they would’ve taken...”

Orion’s dark eyes had narrowed significantly.

“Which road did Sir Weasley take after them?” he asked, his calm voice nonetheless touched with the faintest edge.

KC pointed. “Northwest -- toward the mountains.”

Orion nodded. “Thank you.”

And with this, he turned on his heel and rushed back toward where he thought he might find McNully’s coach. He needed to borrow a horse.

Setting one of the black horses free of the black coach, Orion rode off toward the mountains, his slightly-too-long dark hair flapping freely behind him. The road was well-marked, but it soon veered off into dense woods as it migrated up toward the mountains. Orion had never gone so far west into Royaume before, let alone far from Florence before. Despite himself, he had to acknowledge the beauty of the landscape. The views of the castle below were breathtaking -- it looked as tiny as a toy, and yet the infinite glass windows made it sparkle like some diamond-like beacon in the darkening sky. He wondered if his own palace in Florence looked so beautiful to others, at a distance. As much as he himself hadn’t been raised a prince, it was difficult for him to look at his own palace as anything other than a cage.

As he went further uphill and the sky darkened, it also grew colder. Orion was starting to see his own breath on the air. He thought of Carewyn alone in the cold, perhaps hurt, and had to take several deep breaths to sooth his nerves. He was never in a right state, when he let his thoughts run too wild or his fears chatter too loudly.

Finally Orion caught sight of two familiar ginger-headed men, standing by an overturned coach, covered in mud and missing one of its back wheels. One of the men was the tall, freckled castle guard from the other day who Carewyn called Bill, dressed in his high-collared blue and red patterned uniform tunic and matching white feathered, blue-velvet hat -- the other was much stockier, but no less freckled, dressed in a burgundy-colored tunic and loose brown pants and boots, and he wore his ginger hair in a ponytail not unlike Orion’s when he was at court. When Orion approached them, Bill immediately reacted with suspicion -- Orion explained what KC had told him and asked where Carewyn was, and was incredibly startled to hear her voice coming from over the edge of the cliff.

“I’m down here!”

Orion couldn’t help but feel a flash of concern. He raced over as if to look over the edge, but Charlie lashed out an arm in front of the taller man to stop him.

“Uh, I wouldn’t look over if I were you, mate,” he said, having trouble biting back his laughter despite himself.

He pointed at the broken carriage. Hanging over one of the doors was what looked like the burnt orange and beige skirt of a dress and several wool petticoats.

Orion blinked a few times in great surprise, his tanned cheeks darkening with a faint blush. Bill, however, reacted with anxiety.

“Carewyn!” he shouted over the ravine. “Are you in your underwear down there!?”

“Ugh -- well, I couldn’t very well climb down into this briar patch and wrench this wheel loose in my dress, could I?” Carewyn called back up rather haughtily. “At least my bloomers are slightly akin to the sorts of trousers you all wear.”

“You’ll catch a death of cold out here!” said Bill.

“I’m all right,” Carewyn reassured him. “Ulk -- ugh -- I have the wool jacket Andre made for me on...”

Charlie took a step forward, his eyes moved up toward the darkening sky pointedly so as not to look over the edge as he called down,

“Bill’s right, though, Carewyn -- it’s getting colder by the minute...and it’s getting dark too. Are you sure you can lift that thing up and over all by yourself?”

“Ugh...I admit, it’s a bit difficult!” she called back. “But I think I can manage.”

Recalling Carewyn’s blatant refusal of help in retrieving her horse, Orion -- still fighting back a slight blush -- called over the ravine himself.

“We do not question your capabilities, Carewyn,” he said patiently, “but would you like our help?”

“Ugh -- don’t be silly,” said Carewyn, sounding faintly haughty. “You, Charlie, and Bill would break your necks, climbing down here. And I’m still in my undergarments -- I have no interest in anyone seeing me prance around without proper clothes on, thank you.”

“It’s no use,” Charlie muttered under his breath, “I’ve tried to offer her help for the last hour, but she keeps putting me off, saying she’s fine. I don’t get why she feels like she has to do everything by herself...”

“Probably because she’s always had to, Charlie,” said Bill quietly. His voice betrayed a lot of sympathy and sadness as he exhaled through his nose.

Orion’s black eyes deepened with some compassion for Bill as he called back over the ravine to Carewyn,

“Your points are well made, my lady...but we’d still like to help you.”

“Ugh -- you can help me by leaving me my dignity and not looking over while I’m only half-dressed...ack...”

“Would you accept us doing more than that?”

“Urgh -- I am...sorry to have made you and Bill come out all this way -- but I’m all right, really.”

Bill glanced at Orion out the side of his eye, and then back at the cliff. Despite his distrust of the man, the eldest Weasley was sort of glad he wasn’t the only one who disliked how reticent Carewyn was to accept help.

“You don’t need to apologize,” he said earnestly. “I was -- we were worried about you, Carewyn. You and Charlie.”

He and Orion glanced at each other. Bill wished the other man’s expression wasn’t so hard to read. The castle guard tried to twist his uncomfortable frown into a smile that Carewyn would hopefully be able to hear over the edge of the cliff.

“Come on...let’s get you and that wheel up and over so you can get back into your dress.”

There was a silence. Then Carewyn said a bit more quietly,

“...You don’t need to worry about me.”

“Wha -- oh, come off it, Carewyn!” said Charlie exasperatedly. “To hell we do! You think I was mucking about, calling you my pal and saying I needed to figure out a nickname for you? Now let us help you, or I’ll consider making that nickname an irritating one!”

There was another silence. Then Carewyn sighed very loudly and tiredly, and Orion couldn’t help but grin, because he could tell she’d finally given in.

“Oh, all right,” she said begrudgingly. “But I don’t really know how you’re going to help, when you can’t look at me.”

Orion closed his eyes.

“Describe your surroundings, Carewyn,” he said. “Paint a picture for me, with your words.”

“...Well, I’ve gotten the wheel out of the briar patch. I’m trying to roll it back up, but it’s as large as me, and the downward slope and the ice is making it difficult. Plus the wheel isn’t in great shape -- all of its spokes are broken, so there isn’t much for me to push up on, while rolling it uphill.”

“I would’ve told her to just forget it, but it’d be much easier for me to carve a new wheel if I have framework from the old one,” Charlie explained. “I’m already going to have to make the new spokes and hubcap completely out of wood instead of using any gold or metalwork, but it’s still going to take a lot of time...even more so if the old wheel framework can’t be saved...”

Orion considered the matter, visualizing the set-up down below on the inside of his eyelids. “...What’s left of the wheel...is it made of metal or wood?”

“Wood...but there seems to be some sort of metal lining around the rim, held on by nails.”

“That’d be for durability, I reckon,” said Charlie. “Wood alone would get chaffed badly on the ground, moving in a constant circle down cobblestones or over anything rocky.”

Orion opened his eyes and looked over the broken coach. His gaze lingered on the thick leather straps coming off of the front that no doubt would’ve attached it to their horses. Then he abruptly got up, rushing over to undo the straps from the carriage.

“What are you doing?” said Bill, his eyebrows furrowing in confusion.

Orion quickly knotted the long, thick leather straps together with several complex-looking and strong knots.

“Carewyn,” he called over very calmly, “I’m going to lower this down to you -- use the buckle and loop it securely around the inside rim of the wheel, so that it’s tight. Give it a light tug when it’s secure.”

He blindly tossed one end of the rope made out of leather straps over the edge of the cliff. After a minute, he felt a light tug at the end.

“Gentlemen,” Orion murmured to the Weasleys, “I’ll need you to hold this, for just a moment. Carewyn,” he added, as Charlie and Bill both grabbed the end of the makeshift rope and he let go, “I’m going to need you to step onto the wheel yourself and hold on.”

“What?” said Carewyn. “Orion, you can’t lift both me and the wheel -- it’s far too much! I’ll climb up and out myself -- ”

“Not to worry, my lady -- none of us will be doing the lifting,” said Orion serenely.

He led both his black horse and Bill’s chestnut horse over by their reins, and -- taking the makeshift rope from Bill and Charlie again -- he looped the end under the straps of both his and Bill’s saddles. He gave several tugs at all of the connections to make sure they were tight and secure before mounting his horse.

“Sir Weasley, if you would assist me.”

Catching onto Orion’s idea at last, Bill rushed forward so he could jump up onto his own horse.

“Mr. Weasley, you may want to have your hands ready to help Carewyn climb out when she gets close to the top,” said Orion over his shoulder. “Sir Weasley, together now.”

With a lot of effort and strain, the two horses were able to lift Carewyn and the broken wheel up and out of the ravine. Once Carewyn was out, all three men averted their eyes so she could put her dress back on. Once she was suitably redressed in her orange-and-beige dress, snood, and dark scarlet wool jacket, she, Bill, and Orion helped Charlie secure some makeshift posts he’d carved out of some nearby tree branches under the broken coach so that their four horses could lift it up off the ground and help support it without its second back wheel. Then the four hobbled the coach up the mountain the rest of the way to the Weasley family cottage.

The home of the Weasley family, affectionately nicknamed “the Burrow,” was built up against the side of a hill. Attached to the house was a large farm with sprawling pastures and short, rustic wooden fences. Its roof had clearly been patched up multiple times over the years with whatever kind of wood was on hand, making it resemble a patchwork quilt.

When the group arrived, Bill and Charlie’s youngest sibling and only sister Ginny immediately ran out to greet them -- she’d seen them coming up over the horizon and was beyond thrilled to see that it was her eldest brothers. Bill and Charlie’s teenage brothers Percy, Fred, George, and Ron soon followed along after. Fred and George -- who were identical twins -- were quick to crow that Charlie had brought them an early birthday present (namely, the coach), and Percy scolded them that clearly it was for work and they should let it alone. Orion and Carewyn ended up staying back at a distance, both faintly baffled by the amount of warmth and noise emanating from the seven siblings as they chattered amongst themselves, constantly stepping on each other’s feet and interrupting what everyone else was saying. Neither of them had ever encountered a family quite like this before. When Bill and Charlie’s parents, Arthur and Molly Weasley, emerged from the house, however, Molly very quickly bustled every last one of them inside, including Orion and Carewyn.

“In you go, the lot of you,” she said in a forceful, but very warm tone of voice. “You all look like you need some supper-- ”

“Oh -- no, Mrs. Weasley,” said Carewyn very quickly, “I couldn’t impose -- ”

“Nonsense, dear!” said Molly, as she took Carewyn’s hands and led her inside. “Why, you’re positively freezing! To think, you came all the way out here without a proper muff for your hands...”

“I had to help Charlie with the carriage,” Carewyn said, her eyes drawn away awkwardly rather than looking at Molly, “I couldn’t hope to have my hands free, using a muff...”

“Then both of you should come inside and get warm,” said Arthur, startling Orion with an amiable clap on the back. “Any friend of Bill and Charlie’s is a friend of our family.”

Carewyn had never been the subject of such coddling and generosity before in her life. Her mother had always taught her to treat people with respect and compassion, of course, but she had been a soft-spoken and understated person, and their family life had always been very quiet. And of course at the Cromwell estate, it had been less modest and quiet, but far less affectionate as well. Never had she ever visited such a loud, crowded, and faintly uncomfortable place that still nonetheless felt like a home, full of warmth and love.

Even Orion found himself feeling a bit unsettled by the Weasley family’s overwhelming hospitality. He’d been in plenty of unruly, crowded, and loud settings like this before -- but none of them had ever been quite this...well, jovial. It made it so that Orion yearned for peace, quiet, and returned distance, and yet also couldn’t help but marvel at the positive vibes that rippled off of this family and how much they could give, despite clearly having so little. When dinner was served, Orion had to politely decline a bowl of beef stew because he didn’t eat meat, and Molly Weasley immediately handed the bowl off to Ron so she could set about making Orion his own plate, piled high with cheesy mashed potatoes, sauteed mushrooms, and roasted cauliflower seasoned with garlic and chives.

The Weasley family and their guests sat in an uncomfortable, messy half-circle around the large brick fireplace, laughing and talking as they ate. After supper came the dessert of hot, fresh apple dumplings, and after dessert came some hot tea and scones. After all, said Molly Weasley, having guests over was a rare treat, so they were going to celebrate appropriately. Neither Carewyn nor Orion could remember ever having felt so full in all their lives.

As everyone enjoyed their scones and tea, stories and songs were swapped around the fire. At one point in the evening, twelve-year-old Ginny -- who was perfectly thrilled to have another girl around, for a change -- begged Carewyn to sing for them. Apparently Bill had told his family all about her lovely voice. So, with some encouragement from Charlie, Arthur, and Molly, Carewyn bit back a broad, amused grin, took a deep breath, and started to sing.

“Mother cannot guide you...now you’re on your own.

Only me beside you -- still, you’re not alone...”

Orion had thought to himself that Carewyn must have done the song from his youth proper justice while singing for the Prince, but hearing her sing it in person, seeing her smile at him and her eyes sparkle as she did so...it was a completely different matter. As before, Orion felt all of the tension in his shoulders ebb off of him, as easily as dirt was washed away in warm water. He bowed his head and closed his eyes, tilting his head a bit so that he could hear her better, as his breathing and heart rate slowed. Even with his eyes closed, he could hear a smile in every word Carewyn sang...even when she likely wasn’t smiling at all, he thought. How could she be smiling, when lines like “sometimes people leave you half-way through the wood” and “people make mistakes -- fathers, mothers” rang with such emotion and pain? Was that pain visible on her face? Orion thought not, given Carewyn’s sense of grace and composure...but he heard it, all the same. He felt it -- her heart, aching with a kind of deep, blazing empathy Orion had never encountered in anyone else before.

When Carewyn came to the end of the song, Orion opened his eyes at last. The Weasleys all clapped, delighted, but he barely heard them as he turned to Carewyn.

“...That was remarkable,” he murmured.

Carewyn smiled. “I’m glad you think I did it justice.”

“Mm,” said Orion. “I’ve...never heard anyone drown like that, before.”

Carewyn couldn’t bite back a laugh. “Perhaps I didn’t do it justice then, if I sounded like I was drowning...”

“You were drowning in the words’ meaning,” corrected Orion. “Enveloping and submerging yourself in them -- allowing them to pull you in and take your breath away.”

He smiled, his black eyes very soft upon Carewyn’s face.

“It was...very moving.”

Molly’s face spread into an indulgent smile as she reached forward and patted Carewyn’s hand. “It was absolutely beautiful, dear.”

“Orion’s right, Carewyn,” agreed Arthur. “Your feelings really came through. I could tell the words mean something to you.”

Carewyn offered a polite smile, even as her eyes drifted away. “...I suppose they do.”

“It sounds like a lullaby, sort of,” mused Ron. “Even if it talks about your mother not being around.”

Ginny tilted her head toward Carewyn, Ron’s words prompting concern.

“...Do you not have a mother, Carewyn?”

The rest of the family went very quiet -- some like Percy shot Ginny warning looks, while others like Molly and Ron couldn’t help but glance at Carewyn in similar concern.

Carewyn’s gaze had drifted off onto the fire. Although she was turned away and her face was stoic, however, Orion could see her eyes rippling like turbulent ocean water, before she closed them solemnly.

“...I had one,” she answered softly at last. “She died when I was twelve.”

“Was she sick?” asked Ron, very hesitantly.

Carewyn bowed her head and gave a single, silent nod. Everyone in the room knew what that meant. The Plague had swept through both Royaume and Florence several times, over the span of the War -- one of the worst years was about nine years ago now...probably the same year Carewyn had lost her mother.

Orion’s black eyes narrowed ever-so-slightly upon her face. Molly looked like she wanted to envelop Carewyn in the biggest hug and was only holding back the urge because of her husband’s tight, reassuring squeeze to her hand.

“Oh, you poor dear,” she murmured.

Carewyn raised her head at last, her expression once again touched by a small, resilient, pretty smile.

“It’s all right,” she said gently, her eyes only briefly grazing each of the Weasleys’ faces. “I’ll always miss my mother...but I’m getting along all right. And I still have Jacob.”

“Your brother?” asked Percy, and Carewyn nodded.

“He left for War the same day he and I moved in with our grandfather,” Carewyn explained.

“Your brother must be quite a bit older than you, then,” said Orion.

Carewyn glanced at Orion out the side of her eye, smiling slightly. “Nine years older, yes. You know...you actually remind me of him, a bit.”

Orion raised his eyebrows. “Oh?”

Carewyn was forced to stifle a giggle behind her hand. “Jacob is also the sort to do things in his own clever way. Only he’s a lot more aggressive than you -- and more talkative, and arrogant, and overprotective...”

“And uglier,” inserted Fred.

“And smellier,” added George.

“With a long crooked nose and ears like a bat’s.”

The younger Weasley siblings were all laughing now. Carewyn had to cover her mouth to stifle her giggling.

“No!” she choked. “I don’t mean it like that! He’s wonderful, really. He’s just...well, an absolute idiot about how to interact with other people. He’s completely brilliant, mind you -- he could give you whole lectures about anything from geography to mathematics to physics...but coming up with spontaneous gifts for no occasion at all, just based on someone’s interests? He’d need some prodding, to do something like that.”

She smiled at Orion, who couldn’t help but grin fully in return.

“It was truly nothing at all, Carewyn,” he said. “With your love of music, it felt like that song would be something you would appreciate.”

Arthur glanced at Orion curiously. “Where is that song from, Orion? I’ve never heard it before.”

“I learned it as a boy,” Orion answered. “I would hear it sung outside the window of the workhouse, sometimes.”

Molly looked very troubled. “Workhouse? Orion dear, you don’t mean to say you grew up in one of those terrible places?”

Orion felt Carewyn’s gaze on him. When he looked back at her, her almond-shaped blue eyes were rippling with concern as well, though much gentler and more empathetic than Molly’s. He tried to offer her a smile.

“Let’s just say the words spoke to me as well, at the time,” he said lightly. “Not just to me, either...all of the boys there, one way or another, were where they were because of other people’s ‘terrible mistakes.’”

Orion’s gaze drifted down to his own hands as he lightly clasped them in his lap.

“...The War doesn’t touch you the same way here, but...the closer you are to Florence...the more the reality of it hits you in the face, every day. Even when you’re not on the battlefield itself -- even when you’re just at the border -- you, and the ones you care for, run the risk of getting caught in the crossfire. And on the border of Florence and Royaume...in those towns where it’s hard to tell where one country starts and another begins...tensions are like gunpowder. One spark from the tiniest match can set it ablaze -- can make everything implode, and force you to start all over again.”

His face was unreadable, but his black eyes were endless, rippling with the recollection of the fire and smoke -- the red and blue colors of Royaume, on the saddles of horses -- the life leaving his mother’s eyes -- his own heavy, terrified hyperventilating...

He closed his eyes and took several very deep, measured breaths before continuing.

“In such a place...one can find people desperate enough to want to lash out at others, to avenge their pain,” said Orion solemnly. “But there was one sweet old woman who owned a flower and herb shop near the workhouse. She’d had to rebuild her establishment several times over the years, and from what I understand, she finally had to leave town not long after I did...but every time she caught wind that the army was coming to town, looking for new recruits...she’d sing the song just loudly enough that we boys could hear it through our window.”

He absently played with the crudely carved circular charm on the cord around his neck in one hand.

“And although there were those who still enlisted afterwards...many others did not.”

Carewyn’s eyes widened.

“‘While we’re seeing our side,’ ” she sang again, more softly, “‘maybe we forgot...they are not alone. No one is alone.’ ”

Orion’s lips spread into a smile as he looked at Carewyn, his black eyes rippling gently as he nodded.

“So it’s against the War, then,” murmured Charlie. He glanced at his parents, who both looked concerned.

“Did that woman with the flower shop give you that?” asked Ginny curiously, indicating the charm around Orion’s neck.

“Yes,” said Orion. “She gave it to me one night when I tried to run away, to soothe my nerves. Its effects wore off by the next morning, but I’ve never really had the heart to throw it out.”

Percy sputtered, looking very pale. “Th-then she was a witch?”

“Whoa,” said Fred and George, looking almost too eager.

“Did she turn all the army into pigs?” asked George.

“Did she lure you in and try to cook you in a soup?” said Fred.

Orion smiled indulgently. “Of course not -- ”

“Well, thank Heavens for that!” said Molly, shooting the twins a very reproachful look. “Magic isn’t something to make fun of, you two -- it’s frankly a wonder you weren’t hurt, dear...”

Orion frowned. “There was no danger, Madam Weasley, I assure you.”

“No danger! Orion,” Molly scolded him indulgently, “I applaud your courage...but nature has its own way of things, and any magic that twists it out of shape is more dangerous than it’s worth.”

To the Weasley family’s surprise, Carewyn actually spoke up.

“Mrs. Weasley, men tend fields, plant seeds, domesticate horses and dogs...treat illnesses and injuries...cut hair and wear makeup and put on heeled shoes to make ourselves appear taller. Would that not also be twisting nature’s intent?”

Molly actually faltered somewhat. “Well, yes, but...that’s very different from magic, Carewyn! Magic is...well, it’s wild. Uncontrollable.”

“It’s untamed chaos,” said Arthur more levelly than his wife. “A kind that’s done a lot more harm than good.”

“But it still can be used for good,” said Carewyn very firmly. “And if it has that potential, why must we treat it as though it and all of its users are inherently reprehensible? If magic can be used to save lives, or heal the sick, or even just calm a scared boy down after something horrible...”

She glanced at Orion out the side of her eye.

“...Then it seems to be like any other weapon or tool, or even any other person -- something that could protect or hurt.”

Orion felt like his heart was being flooded with warmth, and his entire expression melted with pride and something like affection as he stared at Carewyn.

She truly is a woman to be admired. The memory of Skye’s irritation and McNully’s warning rippled over Orion’s mind and he found himself faltering. Admire...yes. Anyone could grow to admire such a woman, couldn’t they? To respect and esteem her...to...grow an attachment, to her... Even I? Could I...?

The Weasleys exchanged uncertain looks amongst themselves.

“Come to think of it,” said Ron thoughtfully, “wasn’t there that old myth about fairy godmothers who grant you wishes?”

Fred brought an arm roughly around his younger brother’s neck and put him in a rough choke hold. “Aww, ickle Ronnie wanting a pwetty new dress?”

“‘Oh fairy godmother, I just gotta have a new dress for the Winter Festival!’” said George in a high-pitched squeal.

“Geroff!” growled Ron, as he pulled free.

“Oh, but that would be fun!” sighed Ginny. “Dancing at the Winter Festival, in the prettiest dress you’ve ever seen...you’re going to the Festival, aren’t you, Carewyn?”

“Probably not, Ginny,” said Carewyn gently, “I’ve got so much work to do...”

“Oh, but you have to!” whined Ginny. “The Festival’s tradition! Right, Orion?”

“So I’ve heard,” Orion said modestly, “but I’m afraid I’ve never attended a Winter Festival either.”

“What?!” said all of the Weasley children except Bill in thoroughly aghast unison.

“It’s the biggest celebration of the entire year -- ”

“Everybody in town will be there -- ”

“ -- well, aside from the noble tarts -- ”

“ -- but hey, who needs them?”

“Everybody makes the best mince pies and hot apple cider -- ”

“There’s dancing and singing and games and gift-giving -- ”

“You just can’t miss it -- ”

Before long, they’d completely gotten off the topic of magic all together, so the Weasleys could tell Orion all about the Winter Festival. Carewyn took the opportunity to start carrying dishes into the kitchen so that she could help Molly clean up. While she did so, Bill pulled her aside.

“Carewyn...can I talk to you? Alone?”

Carewyn blinked, but nonetheless put down the dishes she was carrying and followed Bill off into a secluded corner.

“What’s wrong?” she asked in concern.

Bill bit the inside of his lip, his brown eyes drifting over in the direction of the fireplace where the rest of his family was sitting with Orion.

“Carewyn,” he said slowly, “who is that man, really?”

Carewyn’s eyebrows knit together. Bill ran a hand over the undone collar of his tunic absently.

“He’s hiding something, I know it. And I’m sure you see it too. He dodges questions he doesn’t want to answer, and as much as he’s even told us tonight about himself, he never gives important details. He lived near the border, but he didn’t mention what town he’s from. He lived in a workhouse, presumably after losing his parents, but he never said what he lost them to.”

“Those things might not be easy for him to talk about, Bill,” Carewyn said softly.

“Yes,” said Bill in a bracing voice, “but he also hopped the walls of the palace, completely ignorant of how tight royal security is and why, has enough time to chase after you most every day, and gets paints from people he can’t identify and learns songs from people who, from the sound of things, practice witchcraft.”

Bill crossed his arms. He clearly was trying to be considerate to Carewyn’s feelings, but couldn’t hold back his concerns.

“Look, I...I understand you like the man. And I understand why -- Ginny and the others seem to have taken to him pretty well, too. But there’s no reason for someone to hold back that many secrets, unless they’re up to no good. He could be a cad, or a criminal, or maybe even something worse. Judging by his stance on magic, he could even be a magician himself...”

His brown eyes narrowed slightly upon Carewyn’s face.

“I’m just...worried about you, that’s all,” he said lowly.

Carewyn considered Bill for a long moment. Then, reaching out a hand, she gently took hold of Bill’s shoulder and gave it a squeeze.

“Bill...I understand how you feel. And I’m grateful, truly grateful, for your caring. I hardly deserve it, and it...it means a lot to me.”

Bill frowned deeply, ready to say something, but Carewyn cut him off.

“But believe me when I say that people don’t just keep secrets because they mean to do harm. Sometimes -- for some people -- they’ve had to learn to hide themselves and shield their hearts...so much so that even when they encounter good people, it’s hard for them to let their guard down. Sometimes they’ve known so much pain that, even though they’re kind people, they’ve numbed themselves to a degree, just to protect themselves. Lied so much...that it becomes second-nature. Or worse, lie because they don’t know who they can really trust...because so many people have hurt them that they don’t know what trust even feels like anymore.”

Bill’s expression lost some of its edge, though it still looked wary.

“...And if he is a magic user?”

“Then he’s one of the good ones,” said Carewyn firmly.

Bill still looked a bit unsure. Carewyn squeezed his shoulder a bit more tightly, her eyes resting there instead of on his face.

“Bill, my brother is only alive, thanks to magic.”

Bill was startled.

“The Plague swept through our whole house,” said Carewyn lowly. “First the landlord and his family -- then my mother...and then Jacob. We were living hand-to-mouth, and I didn’t have anyone else to go to...so I went to the Cromwell estate.”

Bill’s brown eyes became a little smaller, darkening with grim understanding.

“...You went to your grandfather.”

Carewyn nodded. “He disowned Mum long ago, but he was still our family, so I thought he might be willing to help us. He agreed to take Jacob and me in and nurse Jacob back to health, so long as we paid back his generosity. Grandfather then tracked down a witch who could cast a spell to save Jacob’s life.”

Bill’s eyebrows furrowed. “Lord Cromwell hired a -- ?”

“Do not repeat this, Bill!” Carewyn said very sharply and urgently. “To anyone, do you understand? No one.”

Her eyes then softened visibly, becoming grimmer and sadder.

“Jacob was dying. There was no other option.”

Bill looked like he was in pain, just hearing this second-hand. He swallowed, and then gave a nod.

“So that witch saved your brother’s life,” he said quietly.

Carewyn nodded, her eyes full of emotion despite the stoicism of her features.

“The spell she cast bound Jacob’s life to Grandfather’s will. Jacob was brought into the house on a stretcher just after dawn, and within a half-hour...he was up on his own two feet again.”

Carewyn closed her eyes. She could still remember Jacob’s blazing, relieved smile as he barreled down the stairs and threw his arms around her, cradling her like a baby.

“My Wyn -- my sweet Wyn -- ”

Not long after that, though...Jacob’s arms were yanked away -- all of him was yanked away -- held back by Blaise and Claire and Pearl’s husbands, who all had work to together just to restrain Jacob as he fought to reach her, screaming and raging like a mad man --

“WYN! NO! GET OFF OF ME -- WYN! I WON’T LET YOU -- CAREWYN!”

Carewyn opened her eyes, the soft longing fading from her face completely and leaving a much more stony expression behind.

Bill himself, however, looked more troubled than ever.

“You said your brother left for War the same day you and he arrived at the Cromwell estate,” he whispered shakily. “Do you mean that, right after saving your brother’s life...Lord Cromwell immediately sent him off to War -- all while knowing how few men return home alive?”

Carewyn’s lips came together tightly.

“Grandfather sent him to the front, so that Jacob could start paying back the debt I owed him,” she said, her voice very soft and oddly distant. “After all...a man who wouldn’t die, so long as he willed it...would make an excellent soldier.”

Bill looked horrified.

“Then...” he whispered, “...then Jacob’s only alive because your grandfather decides whether he lives or dies? You only know your brother’s still alive after so many years at war...because Lord Cromwell is bound to him through magic, and he’s holding his life over your head?”

Carewyn withdrew her hand from Bill’s shoulder and turned away.

“Carewyn...that’s monstrous!” said Bill, and he was unable to keep his voice from rising. “I didn’t even know magic could do something like that -- but -- but that’s nothing, compared to...”

He couldn’t restrain himself. He actually threw an arm around Carewyn and pulled her into a hug from behind. The small ginger-haired woman stiffened like a startled cat.

“Bill?”

Carewyn looked up at him -- were those tears, in his eyes?

“Have you...never told anyone else, about this?” Bill murmured.

Carewyn tried to turn around, her blue eyes welling up with regret and pain. “Bill...”

She brought a hand through his hair, trying to soothe him the way she used to for Jacob.

“I’m sorry,” she whispered. “I -- I didn’t mean to upset you -- I only wanted to explain why I’m not scared of magic...please forgive me.”

Bill closed his eyes to try to hold back both his righteous anger and his tears.

“Forgive you?” he repeated in a choked voice. “For what, trusting me with the truth?”

“For making you worry unnecessarily,” Carewyn said forcefully, trying to ignore how uncomfortably her stomach was squirming.

Bill opened his eyes, looking both flabbergasted and more upset than ever. “Unnecessarily?”

He roughly grabbed both of Carewyn’s shoulders and forced her to look up at him.

“Now you listen here, Carewyn Cromwell,” he said, taking on the sort of tone he only ever used with his younger siblings when they were being rowdy, “you may get to decide if you want to interact with me or not, or rely on me or not, or accept my help or not. But you don’t get to decide whether I worry about you or not. And from here on out...”

Bill’s brown eyes were blazing with resolve.

“...I’m going to worry about you. Because I hate the thought of someone feeling like anybody else worrying about them is somehow a problem.”

Carewyn was left speechless.

Bill’s face broke into a broad smile through his tears. “Until your brother’s back from the War, Carey, I’ll be looking after you for him -- no arguments, no dismissals, no saying you’re fine on your own. Got it?”

Carewyn looked at Bill, perfectly stunned. Then her gaze fell away toward the floor.

“...It sounds like...I really don’t get a choice in the matter, then,” she whispered.

“Nope,” said Bill, grinning broadly.

Carewyn was unable to fight back the weak smile prickling at the sides of her lips, nor the emotion flooding her eyes, even as she kept her face turned away.

“...And I suppose ‘Carey’...is a suggestion of a nickname you plan to give Charlie, for me?”

Bill’s eyes sparkled fondly. “Well, every one of my siblings has a nickname, in case you haven’t noticed.”

#hphm #hogwarts mystery #cinderella au #carewyn cromwell #orion amari #murphy mcnully #skye parkin #bill weasley #charlie weasley #percy weasley #fred weasley #george weasley #ron weasley #ginny weasley #molly weasley #arthur weasley #katriona cassiopeia #charles cromwell #jacob cromwell #my art #my writing #GAAAAHHHH BILLLL #I LOVE YOU SO FRIGGIN' MUCH MY PRECIOUS BOY ;~;#you go be a good big brother and best friend for carewyn you wonderful thing #also ooh hoo hoo~ orion you can claim you're not crushing but you aren't fooling anybody hahahaha #you'll figure out what you're feeling soon enough >D #we're learn more about how magic works in this universe as time goes on of course #but yeah rest assured there's still a lot to unravel in regards to what happened to jacob... >>#and of course this part is another reminder that charles cromwell is a no-good son of a b****

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backtothestart02 · 3 years

Text

A Weekend of Firsts - 2/? | grandice fanfiction

A/N: Welp, this is gonna be more than 3 chaps, I fear. Enjoy? XD

...

Chapter 2 -

Grant stepped out of the shower the next morning and wondered what his life had become. Not a night of tossing and turning or cooking up his usual hangover fix for the minor headache he woke up with or what should’ve been an extremely relaxing, invigorating hot shower had erased the memory of Candice in his arms the night before.

The feel of her body arching up against his and her tongue sneaking into his mouth, her lips pressed to his in sloppy, passionate kisses, her legs wrapped around his own still remained ingrained into the forefront of his mind.

And her neck.

God, her neck.

He could spend forever drawing moans from sucking kisses down her neck.

It was everything he’d been dreaming of since first meeting her during their chemistry test months ago.

He’d convinced himself she must not be interested if all his flirting and paying her attention in the last month and a half, in addition to when they shot the pilot, got nothing but an obligatory smile and some laughter at his jokes.

Finally, he’d found someone who thought he was hysterical though. That was a relief. He was starting to think he maybe wasn’t that funny.

But it was nothing that a friend wouldn’t do. He couldn’t resist flirting with her, but if all she wanted was friendship, he’d shut it down as soon as she said it was too much.

Last night he’d learned it wasn’t too much at all, and she actually did feel the same. She just didn’t want to act on it, and he couldn’t figure out why.

There was a voice in the back of his head yelling at him for having taken her back to her room before things got really heated the night before. But he knew it wasn’t right. He’d been tipsy at best, and she’d definitely been drunk. If they were ever to have a real chance, he had to do things the right way.

After getting dressed, he returned to see what was left of his hangover concoction in the kitchenette part of his suite. Luckily, the kitchen downstairs had had all the ingredients he needed to make it. He’d just needed to call for room service to deliver, and deliver they did. Since he hadn’t had much, given his headache had been pretty minor, there was more than enough left to deliver to Candice, who definitely would need some.

His only problem was would she let him in the door or would she be mad at him for making him leave in the midst of their little…almost sex. He winced, but then decided to push it out of his mind as best as he could. He gathered the drink in his arms, grabbed his room key and padded the short distance down the hall to her room.

He knocked lightly on the door. No answer. He tried again, this time a little louder.

“Candice?”

He heard a moan in response. That was good news. She was responsive and probably still in bed. He couldn’t be coming at a better time. Probably.

She still didn’t come to the door though, so he knocked again.

“Candice?”

“I didn’t order room service!” she called out, and he smiled, imagining her pout and her frazzled hair as she stretched out enough to yell at the closed door.

He had to compose himself before continuing.

“It’s not room service. It’s me.” He paused. “Grant.”

There was a really long pause then, to the point that he wondered if she’d gone back to sleep.

“Candice?”

He was super close to knocking again, his hand raised to the door in in a loose fist. Luckily – or not, for him – she responded just before his knuckle hit the smooth wood.

“Go away,” she said grumpily.

His heart fell in the pit of his stomach, but he told himself not to take it personally.

“I have something,” he tried. “For your…headache.”

He heard some huffing on the other side and then the sound of the heavy door opening before he was faced with a frazzled looking Candice Patton. He held up the green drink innocently.

She huffed, but took it straight out of his arms, downing it as fast as she could.

“Wait, that’s not what I-”

She didn’t listen, only took a breath halfway through to mutter, “This tastes disgusting.”

He chuckled lightly but couldn’t get a word in until she’d finished the batch.

“What is it?” she asked, wiping her mouth with the back of her hand.

He grimaced. “You don’t want to know.”

She eyed him up and down, looking highly suspicious.

“What?” he asked, grinning now.

“You look better than I do.” She pouted. He found it adorable.

“I’ve showered and dressed. You’ll look better than me in no time if you do the same.”

She sighed, shoved the glass back at his chest and closed the door.

Once again, he was alone in the hall.

“I’ll see you down at breakfast,” she said from the other side, and he supposed that was the best he was going to get.

“See you down there,” he muttered to himself, and before long he found himself headed down the hall and entering the elevator alone.

…

Candice waited until she heard the elevator doors close before turning around and leaning back against the door.

She was in Hell. Literal Hell.

Well, maybe not so much after the drink. She might not have to vomit so much anymore, and she could already feel her headache dissipating.

But what was she going to do about Grant?

Here he was being so kind and thoughtful, and he was an actual gentleman last night. He’d saved her from making the biggest mistake of her life. Putting her current job in jeopardy by messing with their onscreen chemistry due to pursuing an offscreen relationship with her number one co-star.

A one-night stand? What had she been thinking?

She’d been drunk and horny, and he’d been right there was what she’d been thinking.

And it wasn’t just that he’d been conveniently positioned beside her. He was the guy she couldn’t stop thinking about even if she wanted to. She wanted to be in that bed with him, with him kissing her, making love to her – or about to. She’d wanted that almost since she met him.

They just had a…a spark.

It was what made their onscreen chemistry so good. It wasn’t just onscreen. It was everywhere. It was in the looks, the dancing, the laughter, the sincerity. And now she knew, she was 100% certain that it was mutual. He wanted her just as badly.

It hurt her to know that though, because obviously they couldn’t risk what they had for something that could be fleeting.

Well, how fleeting could it be if her feelings for him had been just as strong from when they first met till now? If not stronger?

She nibbled on her bottom lip and headed into the bathroom, hoping a shower would erase all things Grant Gustin from her mind.

Of course it didn’t. She felt refreshed when she stepped out onto the towel she’d placed on the tile floor, another towel wrapped around her body and her hair. She didn’t feel hungover. She felt like she could take on the day.

But her heart still felt heavy, and it yearned for him.

Hell, she even dressed for him. She wore what she wanted to wear for herself, of course, but she was thinking of him while she did it. Would he like it? Would he stare? Would he even notice?

She shook her head, trying to rid her thoughts of him again, but it was impossible.

Finally, she slipped into her shoes to head downstairs to breakfast, where she recalled she’d told him she’d meet him. How would she survive that? Without blushing? Without staring at his lips? Without either shunning him or asking to pick up where they left off?

What would he say if she decided on the latter? Maybe all she needed was a one-night stand to get him out of her system.

Maybe…

As it turned out, she didn’t have to go far at all. When she opened her hotel room door, there he stood with a plate of bagels, fruit, and cereal, and an orange juice to drink.

“Hey,” he said, that ridiculously sexy grin back on his face. “They, uh, were closing up. So I quick grabbed some stuff for you and just brought it up. I hope…is this okay?”

“Yeah, totally,” she said immediately. “Thank you.”

She reached for the tray, then found herself grasping air as he moved past her into the room.

“Uh…okay.”

“Sorry, I just wouldn’t want you to spill anything on your pretty dress.” He looked over his shoulder after setting the tray down on her bed. “It is pretty by the way.” He turned all the way around and approached her. “You’re pretty.”

She swallowed, her eyes dipping to his lips again, then figured this is it, now or never, before she could talk herself out of it.

She went up on her tiptoes and tried to reach his lips, but she was too short. She almost tripped over herself instead, floundering. He caught her though, gripping her elbows to keep her steady. She couldn’t look at him. She was so embarrassed.

“Candice,” he whispered, and hesitantly, so hesitantly, she looked up at him.

He caught her lips with his own and kissed her, his lips slanting over hers to escalate and deepen the kiss. Candice’s arms swung up and around his neck, and he pulled her flush against him, kissing her harder, giving himself over to her, everything he had to that kiss, pushing her up against the wall and kissing, kissing, kissing until he couldn’t breathe – and she probably couldn’t either – and lifting his head.

“W-w-wow, whoa.”

Trembling, she let her hands fall from around his neck, one lifting to her lips. She could still feel the pressure, the buzz, his lips had created there.

“That was…”

“Yeah,” he said, and his voice was gravelly.

She laughed nervously.

“Your voice is really hot after you’ve been kissing someone.” She licked her lips.

He managed to smirk, then sunk his fingers into her hair.

“Just after I’ve been kissing you, I think.”

She smiled tremulously. Then without warning, she seemed to figure out that he wasn’t exactly in clothes meant for panels, interviews, autographs, etc.

“What?” he asked, finding the little crease in her forehead absolutely adorable.

“I uh…you probably need to change your clothes, right?”

He looked down. “Yeah.”

“And um…wipe my lipstick off your lips?” She reached up to wipe it away, but he caught her hand and met her eyes.

“Nah, I think I’ll keep it there.”

“But what if someone sees?”

“Who’s gonna see? We’re not even famous yet.”

His eyes were twinkling in the faint light of the room, and Candice found herself absolutely enraptured by them.

“Please?” she requested, biting her bottom lip.

He groaned aloud.

“I can’t resist you, Candice.”

Reaching down, he used a fistful of his t-shirt to wipe the lipstick free of his face.

“Better?” he asked.

She frowned.

“Now what?”

“Well, now it’s on your shirt! It won’t take much for people to-”

He cut her off by pressing his lips to hers in a quick kiss, then moving past her towards the door.

“I’m one door down. It’ll be fine. No one’s in the hall. They’re all in the lobby.”

“Wait!”

He stopped and turned around right as he set his hand on the doorknob.

“You want me to go shirtless?” He leaned towards her. “Because I will if you want me to.”

“No!” she said, scandalized all at once. “I don’t want anyone to-”

“See what belongs to only you?” He grinned unashamedly.

“Oh, my God, no.” Her face licked with flames. She could hardly breathe. “I mean, you don’t belong to me. We’re not together. This was just…just…”

“A hot kiss between co-workers offscreen?”

She couldn’t speak.

He pressed another quick kiss to her face, but this one hit her cheek since her mouth was hanging open.

“I’ll see you at the first panel. Maybe we’ll meet in the elevator, and…kiss some more.”

He winked, and then he was opening the door and disappearing into the hall.

Candice’s mouth was still hanging open when the door shut. She stood with her back to it much like she’d done hardly an hour or two earlier. She couldn’t remember what time it had been, only that she felt much more frazzled than she’d looked then.

She’d just made out with Grant. Again. While not drunk. And she hadn’t put a stop to it. She’d initiated it even!

She blew a lock out of her face and slowly slumped against the wood until her butt hit the carpeted floor.

Oh, damn.

#grandice #fanfiction #grandice fanfiction #backtothestart02 fanfiction #a weekend of firsts #chapter 2

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meimi-haneoka · 5 years

Text

LOL....Chapter 42.

I mean, I might have become quite boring by now because ALL the chapters I use these shocked gifs, but.....I can’t help it, every time the chapters bring some shocking factor!! XD

Let me just start this reaction post with one happy announcement:

Remember my battles against illegal early spoilers on the internet? How it hurt the fandom (because people who wanted to wait for the official release were forced to avoid social media or block stuff) and the franchise as well?

Well, I’m glad to announce that chapter 42 has been the first chapter ever to not have any early spoilers leaked before the official releases, ever since Clear Card started in July 2016. It took almost 4 years and a revolution by the hands of CLAMP to obtain this result (with the early release of chapters FOR FREE on the official website in 6 languages).

Beware, I’m not celebrating just yet because next month we may get spoilers circulating again, but this chapter was really nice to be discovered all together, legally, without hurting anyone? It was a nice feeling and since it seems we might be approaching the finale, I think it’s important that we enjoy these chapters all together in a proper way.

Well, after this introduction, let’s delve into Chapter 42 of Clear Card!!

Kaito is a walking dead man

I loved the color splash page. It always makes me happy to see Akiho and Sakura together, but this time the theme is a lot more serious. This is getting intense and the color page reflects that. This is also the first black background in a while, I always loved illustrations with black background even in the old manga.

Sooo last chapter we were left with Sakura overthrowing Kaito’s time magic and still conscious and moving. And shocked to see Syaoran and Kaito fighting. Of course Kaito needs to put a patch on this, because he knows Sakura is that powerful, but he doesn’t want her to know any of this, so he starts to “attack” her with time magic, I believe? And prince charming cleverly thinks that he might better call forth the strongest Sakura Cards in the deck, just to be sure to protect Sakura adequately. Even Kaito recognizes that was a wise move. Sakura is more confused than ever, behind the spirit shield formed by Light & Dark.

Syaoran is so fucking fed up with this that he demands to know why Kaito is here in Tomoeda. He candidly admits that he wants Sakura to produce the new Cards. Syaoran is like “No shit, Sakura’s already been producing a shitton of cards” “But she hasn’t produced the one I want”. When Syaoran asks which card that would be, Mr. I-am-an-asshole-and-I-know-it replies “If I told you that, I fear you’d get terribly angry”

Guys, the glare Syaoran gives Kaito after this one is like.......death sentence. The amount of rage accumulated in this short kid is frightening. Syaoran might be cool and composed, but y’all remember his temper at the beginning of the old manga, right? That wasn’t “just because”, it’s still part of his personality XDD he was taming his rough sides of his personality for Sakura, but for Sakura he’s well ready to pull them out at any convenience.

Meanwhile, we aren’t sure if Sakura is listening to the heated conversation or not, but I think she isn’t because she keeps shouting “what’s going on?? What happened??” even after Kaito straight up said he’s after her Cards. Seeing her struggling and reaching from behind Light & Dark, who are restraining her, is kinda.....giving me TRC war flashbacks. Yes. You might have seen the tweet that is making me earn lots of “WHY CINZIA”, but I’m like this, I’m an ugly bitch who needs to suffer in company. I’ll make a separate TRC/CCS comparison post after ages, for this. XD

The highlight of the chapter

Kaito reveals that he knows that Syaoran came back to Japan after his mother had a divination of the future that he absolutely needs to stop. And, at that moment, ladies and gentlemen....

IT’S HER. THE STAR OF THE CHAPTER. THE ONE THE FANDOM DREAMED OF SEEING IN THE MANGA.

LI YELAN-SAMA.

This is a huge thing because a character that was exclusively in the anime canon-verse (even though that line has been more and more flimsy lately) appeared in the manga too. Syaoran’s mother, and the Li family in general, were often mentioned both in the old and new manga series, but CLAMP somehow were always careful to never show any graphical portray of it. Now, finally, after so long, we have Yelan appearing in the manga too, and she’s exactly like her anime counterpart. Regal, elegant, beautiful. I was literally trembling with excitement when I saw her!! It was.....gosh it was huge.

But one has to wonder: how the hell does Kaito knows about all this stuff? How much did he investigate on the Li family? It’s kinda easy to imagine when he could do that: for a period, Akiho and Kaito lived in Hong Kong. Right before coming to Japan.

We get, thanks to Kaito, the confirmation that nor he, nor Syaoran, were born with the gift of seeing the future. Kaito can, if he follows all the steps, see some glimpses till a certain degree, but nothing comparable to someone specialized in divination art, let alone a yumemi. Here it is, the cursed term so dear to CLAMP, indicating the ones who can see the future in dreams. Kaito says that Sakura can indeed see the future playing out in her dreams, but it’s a future far from being set in stone. She’s basically a beginner yumemi, with confusing and fragmented visions, I’d say. But when she will grow up, she will be a fully fledged yumemi. Kaito says that it’s for the strong people to decide how the future will go. And here we find again the thematic so dear to CLAMP, the future and the choices made to let it go in a direction, or another one. Kaito starts to call forth the Tina Rie Triax spell. Syaoran is like “the hell I’m letting you get away like this” and is preparing to counter-attack with Raitei Shorai, when The Queen™ decides she had enough and screams “NOOO!”, calling her staff on the spot and activating her power towards Syaoran, switching places with him! She literally forced him out of the picture and took his place!!

The Queen takes agency

LOOK AT THAT FACE! LOOK AT IT WELL. It’s the same determination she had in this scene:

I knew we would see the results of that determination. When she saw the boy she loves risking his life with someone who was attacking him, she took agency and went to the front row.

You can’t keep Sakura in the sidelines like that.

Kaito is quite suprised by the move. Maybe because he doesn’t understand love or because he didn’t think she would take agency. Either way, Sakura is pointing her staff at him, the same way Syaoran was pointing his sword at him moments ago. You don’t mess with this child, Kaito.

And he must certainly know, because he mutters “That’s too bad” and rewinds time, basically chickening out of the picture. XD

Sakura is back with Tomoyo, Akiho, Sonomi and her father, but she knows something is wrong, and she walks away from them for a while to give birth to a new card!! TRANSFER is the name, and it’s the power she used to switch places with Syaoran. The fact is, she doesn’t remember nor she understands why the hell this card is here.

While at home Kaito thinks to himself (smile always present but blatantly a mere mask) that he needs to hurry up or he’ll be in a fucking big mess because Sakura resisted his time-stopping magic and the Clear Card survived the time rewinding, Sakura at her own home is a nervous wreck. She calls Syaoran because she has the feeling she saw Light & Dark, they don’t remember, but Syaoran confirms that he feels something is off and has the feeling someone made them forget something. Sakura closes the call promising that she would inform him of anything that would come to her mind, but as she inadvertently knocks her Clear Cards off, they all fall facing backwards, save for one: BREAK.

And this, ladies and gentlemen, is how Chapter 42 ends. Leaving us wondering why Sakura is making this dismayed face. She’s either taking it as a bad omen, or she’s remembering what she saw when she captured BREAK, and what caused the birth of the card in the first place. Not only a soulless Akiho talking nonsense in a pretty dress, but also her boyfriend under the robe of the Mysterious Cloaked Figure. Seemingly about to hurt an unconscious Akiho. That is still an open wound in Sakura’s heart, and it’s pretty clear here.

Guys, what can I tell you, this chapter has been a mixture of wonderful surprises, painful TRC recalls, frustrating time rewindings that show us how Sakura and Syaoran are slowly realizing and fighting Kaito’s fuckery with time....I know a good chunk of the fandom doesn’t like this give-and-take-away, it always seems like the final battle is here, but we are tricked everytime. And yet, I do believe that once the story will be over, and after some time we’ll go back to read Clear Card, the time rewindings will show clearly how gradually Sakura was able to overcome and overthrow Kaito’s magic: first it was a finger, then it was an unexplicable sadness, now a new card and the impression to have seen things, and a general uneasiness because something feels off. The kids were even capable of realizing that they were made to forget something. I bet this graduality will feel more interesting and exciting when we’re not forced to wait 1 month between chapters.

Let me know what you think, too!

#cardcaptor sakura #card captor sakura #clear card arc #clamp #sakura card captor

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oumiyuki · 4 years

Text

Teachers don’t date teachers (but You-sensei and Riko-sensei definitely are) Ch11

Summary: The whole student body and teachers teases the gym teacher, Watanabe You, with the new art teacher, Sakurauchi Riko, that they make a cute couple. How long can You deny this when Riko isn’t helping to reduce the rumours?

Pairing: YouRiko

Genre: Romance, Fluff, Slice of Teacher Life ;D

Words: 1236

Read me at fanfiction.net or AO3 too~

Author Notes

I. AM. BACK!! *w* With more lovely You-sensei and Riko-sensei chappie~ hehe~

May you enjoy~! XD

———

Tease 11 – Riko-sensei is blushing?? (You-sensei can’t help but stare)

———

You hums on her way to school. Jolly spirits as lately she haven’t been subjected to many teases about dating the new art teacher.

Peaceful days are peaceful~

The ash-brunette closed her eyes for a second as she thought about how she could have lunch in the school cafeteria with Riko and not hear giggles and sometimes feel a flash on them. The gym teacher grins and nods to herself.

Good days~

The moment she steps into school, however, her smile fell as she heard loud chatter. Excited squeals. And a crowd gathered…everywhere!?

Wait, wait, wait. What’s going on?? It feels like déjà vu and entirely new at the same time…

You approaches the scene cautiously but before she could take a peek at what’s causing the commotion, a student notices her and calls out loudly, “You-sensei!!”

Ah-

“Y-Yes? Wah-!” The gym teacher is swamped by students with starry eyes in no time.

“Tell us which art piece do you like most!”

Oh, it’s about art… Thank goodness it’s not about me and Riko-chaaaaan-?!!

You’s eyes bulged as the first portrait put up on an easel upon entering the school for all eyes to see was a scene of You and Riko in the same bed. You in the portrait had her back to the viewers but her speech bubble caused many who read it to blush just like You is right now – “I’m right by your side, Riko.”

In that portrait, Riko’s face was really flushed.

The gym teacher stared at Riko in the artwork for a rather long time, thinking about how it was different from the feverish flush but is not quite able to pinpoint what the difference is.

Riko-chan is so beautiful… If I turned around in bed that night would I be seeing this..?

“You-sensei?”

Ah!! Why am I staring so much? I mean- aahhh!

You clears her throat. “Why is this placed here..?”

The student beamed. “All classes have art classes, right? And we all finished our assignments around the same time! So, so! We decided to put them all about the school for everyone to get to view it too! Riko-sensei agreed!”

“R-Riko-sensei…” You’s lips pressed into a line.

If it’s for art class…it can’t all be paintings of me and Riko-chan, right?

Again, You was proven wrong.

The gym teacher walked further into the school to see art after art after art of her and Riko in various scenes. The common theme seemed to circle about them being at home and…them.

There were some simpler ones that just had You and Riko on it, not exactly a scene as there weren’t any backgrounds but it still made You embarrassed to see herself in casual wear standing right beside Riko.

I mean it’s not like we don’t hang out outside of school…but seeing it like that…

You rubbed at her nose, embarrassed.

Then she sees a sweet at-home, breakfast scene – Riko feeding her pancakes. You clenches her fists, holding back from covering her mouth or face and running into the teacher’s office to hide. Or maybe make a mad dash back out of the school and call in sick.

What is this overly cute homey scene?? We didn’t even have pancakes. We ate rice and saba fish for more nutrients!

“Riko-senseiiiii~~”

You blinks and turns to where the voices of energetic and youthful kids are, plus that gentle and lyrical voice of the art teacher, Riko-sensei.

“No…I…I can’t choose by that reasoning.” The art teacher seemed to be explaining.

You approaches, heart racing and she believes it’s just from all the pictures she’s seen so far and not because she was about to see Riko in school.

“Riko-sensei, good morning.” You greets with a lopsided smile, knowing the art teacher must have gone through a series of hyped students and blush-inducing gallery walk (or is the latter only something she felt?).

Riko turned around at the voice of You greeting her, head slightly lowered, an apologetic expression and cheeks dusted pink.

Riko-chan blushing..? That’s rare…

You’s lips parted subconsciously to breathe in the breath-taking sight of the usually composed and mischievous art teacher blushing.

“G-Good morning, You-sensei. I’m sorry you had to be…surrounded…so early in the morning.” Riko seemed to edge to her right to block the painting behind her.

You chuckles awkwardly. “Y-Yeah…You’ve, um, trained up some really great artists.”

“They are still learning.” Riko smiles small; You’s desire to know what’s going through the artist’s mind just keeps growing.

“W-Was the topic of teachers? Because I see us drawn in pretty much…all the paintings.” You made a thoughtful, perplexed yet casual look which made Riko’s shoulders relax from the endearing sight.

“No…I told them to use certain techniques I taught them in previous lessons… And they said you told them they could draw anything they wanted. Before you had to care for me at home.”

“Wha- Wait! This is my doing?!” You took a step back in shock, trying to recall her words. And sure enough, she did, kind of told the students they could draw anything they want before she left to bring Riko home.

Riko laughed at You holding her head in both hands and looking distraught. The laughter making You pout.

What have I done..?

The student who has been staring at their favourite teacher interact grins huge and sing-songs. “You-sensei~ You-sensei~ Look here!! What do you think of my art?”

You turns to look. Riko gasps. And although she wanted to turn back and see why the art teacher made that sound, her eyes were glued to the canvas the student moved away from Riko’s attempt in blocking the view of.

The big canvas depicted a scene of You halfway through putting on her shirt, so her smooth and toned stomach was visible, and she wore a relaxed, cool smile while greeting, “Good morning, sleepyhead.”

To Riko, eyes wide awake as she looked astounded and infatuated though she returns a “Good morning, You.” Both of them illuminated by a soft morning glow.

Wow…

The art teacher was worrying at the side while You analyses the art.

That is one amazing art piece.

Funnily enough, this work of art that got the quiet art teacher flustered did not have the same effect on the blush-easy gym teacher.

“Wow. Just- Your painting is amazing, Coco!” You praises the student.

Coco gives a victory sign with a proud smile. “See, Riko-sensei~ You-sensei agrees! I should get an astounding A Star for this!”

You laughs. “Is she going to get an A..? Riko…sensei..?” You trails off as she stares at Riko tuck her long auburn locks behind her ear, those cheeks still a beautiful shade of shy pink and looking the painting.

Gosh…Riko-chan is so pretty…

You only breaks out of her dreamy stare when she realizes she’s looking right into patiently waiting yellow eyes. “Ah. D-Did you say anything?”

I got distracted by those thoughts again!!

Riko smiles. “I just might give Miyashita-san an A grade.”

“That’s awesome!” You cheers.

Now, if only I could ask for the reason Riko-chan was blushing so much…

The gym teacher looks back to the artwork, tries to find a reason and failing.

Perhaps she was just shy about how beautifully drawn she was. Which she shouldn’t have to be!

Coco grins at her teachers then back at her work of art, 100% proud to have drawn what she did.

———

Author Notes

Yep, I decided to use N girls for at least some of the lovely students. I was starting to feel bad for calling them students as a whole when they LOVE and support YouRiko-sensei so much. XD

And wow…I can’t believe how much time has passed since the last update..!! –sweat drops-

I hope y’all enjoyed the chapter!! *O*

More is to come and this time I shall diligently do so~ Especially since…September is a YouRiko-ish month? :3 I guess. –chuckles-

Leave me a comment and let me know your favourite scenes!! (I feed on your comments for more YouRiko-energy! ;D)

Catch you next tease~ :”D

#youriko #watanabe you #sakurauchi riko #love live sunshine #fanfic #fanfiction #love live #teacher/teacher au #the teacher/teacher au I crave for youriko #writing #fluff #teachers #romance #you watanabe #riko sakurauchi

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mcrmadness · 4 years

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Music tag game

Got tagged by @hanhan156, thanks!

Again my texts got super long and you don’t NEED to write this much, just mention a song and go to the next one, but nope, not me :D I love talking about music anyway even tho I understand absolutely nothing of it but idc, at least I’m having fun XD (Plus I apparently haven’t been talking nor writing too much lately because of exhaustion and migraine so now all that talkativeness came out in the form of this post lol.)

☀️ A song stuck in your head when you woke up this morning: Today there was nothing, but I recently listened to the Lindemann album F&M again and have had those songs randomly play in my head. Currently I think it’s Knebel, but this other night it was Ach so gern (Pain Version) (it was playing in my dream and then I woke up with it still playing in my head) which I’m actually almost obsessed with now and I like this version so much more than the original version, and it might even be my favorite song on the album now :D The synth and chorus melody in this song is just what gets me every time.

⚠️ A song you love by a band you strongly dislike: I don’t really have bands I’d dislike? There’s just bands I love/like or don’t like. There’s some songs from bands or artists that I might even enjoy hearing when they play on radio (radio rant later on lol) but it just more of makes me disappointed and sad when a band does not have more good songs than just one or two. So I don’t really listen to them ever either because if something is good, I want MORE but when there’s no more, I just... it’s like “all or nothing” :D But I think I could mention here now a song that I’m pretty much obsessed with atm and it’s again the only good song I’ve heard from this band, and I know this band only because the singer-guitarist used to be in Apulanta in the band’s earlier times. This song is Korvaamaton by Varjo. I wouldn’t say I love the song tho, but currently it sounds pretty good but who knows, maybe I’ll find it boring in the future. But the last minute of the song is my favorite part of the song, I’m a sucker for instrumental music and long instrumental solos and that part is just amazing and I probably would find this song pretty dull and would not go back to it this often if it didn’t have that ending.

🙄 A song you dislike by a band you love: This is like the biggest unpopular opinion to exist probably but I just cannot stand Geschwisterliebe by Die Ärzte. I’m sorry Farin, but I just cannot listen to that song :D Sometimes it makes me feel so bad because it’s become so iconic song for the band and Farin seems to be kinda proud of it and I totally get that, but for my own personal reasons, I just cannot listen to that song. I never liked it even when I didn’t know what it was all about and even less when I learnt what it was about, and now it’s literally making me feel sick whenever it starts playing because I’m now so far at my German skills that I’m starting to understand German lyrics whenever I listen to music. And it’s just making me so uncomfortable because of my anxiety and stuff that I just always have to skip this song. The punk rock version they did a few times live is good, tho, that one I like but the original or other live versions? Not so much.

🐤 First song you recall from childhood: Hmmmm. This is hard because the FIRST song??? I remember so much music from my childhood and I don’t know if I should talk about music that was made for kids or maybe other stuff I was into as a kid. Probably my oldest music memory is again about movies, probably even The Lion King or Toy Story, or the Moomins! Those have definitely defined my taste in music too because I hated every Disney film with their boring songs but I loved The Lion King and even Toy Story had such a good soundtrack. But I don’t want to mention these as the first songs because technically they are not songs but scores... so hmmmm. Damn, this is so difficult! :D It’s probably some kids’ song I’ve been singing too, even tho I more often was singing songs I came up with while I was singing (and I stopped that somewhere when I was 7 years old or so). But gosh, I don’t know. I was often listening to the cassettes by this “rock band”, Fröbelin Palikat, that made music for kids in rock sound and damn they were good, my absolute favorite was “On vanha ukko kuollut”, it’s still pretty dope :D

And Rölli (originally a troll character that was to make music for kids but later got his own tv show and movies) was also awesome, I actually had the second album on vinyl and I was listening to that often, I think, and I still get nostalgic when I listen to that album and I’m sure it’s somewhere at my parents’ house but I just can’t find it anywhere! But Itsensäpelottelemislaulu is what I definitely remember from my childhood!!! The title means something like “A song to scare yourself” and I remember it being so terrifying when I was a kid, because he sings there things like there’s a scull somewhere and it made him scared, but it ended up being just an old football :D It’s like the definition of anxiety, first having panic over something irrational and then you find out it was nothing to worry about. And damn this whole album now, the next song also brings back some nostalgic memories that I can’t remember but can feel!!! I think this is it, this is the album and the first songs I can recall from my childhood.

😳 A song no one would believe you’d ever like: Hmmm... classical music! I don’t really listen to it because it’s super difficult to, like, start listening to? There’s so much and I have no idea where and how to start to. And I’m not into operas and I don’t know, it’s like it’s own world and you should know what you’re doing and it just sounds so difficult process so I’ve never done so, but sometimes, if I need music for concentration, I just look for “classical music for concentration/studying” or so from youtube and try to find something with Mozart in it. I don’t know too much about composers but I was very much obsessed with the movie “Amadeus” (-84) when I was younger and I still love that movie (I just rewatched it a few days ago!) and because of that movie, I notice some of Mozart’s music even now and I remember how at school we had to study composers, and how I liked Requiem already because of the movie but also overall I found it interesting, and I still get chills when I hear that certain part of this composition. I don’t even know how long this composition is and if there’s more to it than what’s in the movie and what was played to us at school, but I still like what I’ve heard and I’m always waiting for the moment this starts playing in the movie. Maybe I should go now and look for it from youtube and give it a listen if it’s not several hours long :D (I just looked for it and the full one if almost an hour long. Just like I guessed ::D But I also found a shorter video and omfg I’m getting so much chills from the violins and stuff.)

Of course it’s possible that I just associate the music so strongly with the movie because I also love movie soundtracks and video game soundtracks but I get obsessed with them only when I have seen a movie or played a game myself, otherwise it’s hard for me to get behind a movie/game soundtrack because the music usually is there to add more athmosphere to the events, so I think I love certain soundtrack pieces so much because they remind me of the events but I also feel so strongly about the events because the music is so overwhelmingly good there, and the combination is sometimes something that feels like it’s making my head to explode.

😯 A song you probably shouldn’t love but do: Why shouldn’t I tho? I don’t think I have any like these. But something I could mention here is that I don’t know why but for some reason, so often my favorite songs aka the songs with best melodies and sounds are either the most or only songs with some really strong sexual themes or vulgar stuff in them. And I don’t know why bands make the best music for songs with those lyrics??? I personally don’t really care about lyrics and the sound is what defines for me if I like a song or not so I don’t stop listening to a good song if I dislike the lyrics. But this is a reoccuring theme for me now and for example, one of my all-time-favorite Rammstein songs is called “Pussy” because of the melody and stuff. I have no problem with listening to the song but sometimes it feels a bit awkward if people are hearing because normally I’m safe here in Finland as not too many understand German, but this song also has parts in English in it and people here understand English a lot more. And I honestly don’t care what people think, but I just find this such a funny thing because I myself am an asexual. So I could’t even care less about sexual themes in anything but still so often my favorites HAVE those themes in them because bands just somehow makes those songs always sound the best :D And I have examples from so many bands and I still don’t know what’s with it because I literally don’t care about the lyrics there at all :D Or maybe it’s why - when I can’t relate to lyrics then it’s pretty much the same what they sing there and I can pay my full attention to the sound then. (But this doesn’t make sense because e.g. DÄ and Rammstein both sing in German and I’ve spent years without understanding a word and still I end up finding out my favorite songs are about the same themes. And there’s also another German band and my favorite song on an album has a vulgar word AS the title. So weird :D)

• You always switch it off when THIS one comes on: Pretty much just anything on radio. And the whole radio. Rage oncoming: I just HATE radio so much and at work it was always driving me mad when I wanted to listen to just _something but every channel and song made me angrier and angrier because they played nothing but shit. And even if the channel was okay, then the ads started to really get on my nerves. And some channels play this random compilation “ad” of the songs they play on their channel and when you hear this same clip with the same snippets of the same songs after every song, it starts to get REALLY frustrating. And you also start to memorize it too and whenever you hear some of the clips as a full song and that certain part comes, you actually hear the clip of the song that was next in this snippet compliation ad. This was why I started boycotting one of the stations. They also ruin songs for me when they use just one song from a band and play it every week. But to answer to the question properly: anything to do with Finnish reggae music. I just HATE THAT SO MUCH. It’s terrible, they sound like they don’t know how to sing or that they’re just standing somewhere with no posture and the wind is waving them around while they try to get random sounds out of their throats and it ends up sounding like they have super weak throats and it makes my throat hurt to listen to that (I don’t even sing but I can still physically feel people’s singing or speaking styles in my throat). I legit don’t know if it’s just the Finnish reggae style or if they are terrible singers disguised as reggae. I also can’t stand rap but especially not Finnish rap. Or pop songs that are nothing but random sounds made with computer and where they sound like a broken violin. So yeah, I have lots of hatred towards radio and what people nowadays call as music ::D (On top of all that, the radio station in Finland I hate the most plays only Finnish pop music. And it’s awful. And the same songs pretty much every day. Drives me crazy.)

💜 A song that makes you smile: Westerland (to the Max) by Die Ärzte, altho I’m from Finland even I’m already pretty fed up with this song so I skip the normal parts and listen to the funny ones only ::D And the other random remixes they did in the 80s always make me not only smile but laugh (Farin’s yodeling in 2000 Mädchen Wumme-Mix gets me every time), I normally hate remixes but DÄ has always taken that to another level too and I love it :DD

💔 A song that makes you cry: I don’t think I have any like this. I don’t really cry ever and especially not for songs, I can’t even recall ever crying for songs? o_O (WAIT now I know one! That one song in the Lion King where a major plot event happens!!! It’s called “To Die For”. I think pretty much everyone has seen this movie at some point but because of that scene, also the music alone makes me cry! :D I’m listening to this one now and I’m already (almost) crying lol. But it’s again linked to a movie scene and not because of the music itself. Also Hans Zimmer is a genius and my other favorite movie composer.)

🔥 A song that gets you motivated: Anything with happy energy in it. DÄ’s music is often great for this, but especially their album Planet Punk. But sometimes I don’t get only motivated but bit too energetic too and then I become hyperactive and then I’m unable to focus on anything really but hey, at least I’m having the happy energy myself, then :D

I’ll tag @stufenlosregelbar and @cupcakecurl again :D And remember that you can just write there a song title and nothing else if you don’t want to, and not do as deep dive into music stuff as I did here ::DDd

#mcrmadness' random stuff #tag games #music talk~

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redvoid-40 · 5 years

Text

Chapter 3: Team Seven

Fanfic title: ??? Word count: 2801 Fandom: Naruto Pairing: eventual Gaara x OC, cannon pairings Genre: Friendship, Adventure, Hurt/Comfort Warnings: None

Previous chapter / Next chapter

Hope you all enjoy this chapter! If this chapter feels a bit rushed it’s because it is XD.

Honestly I’m not a fan of re-writing cannon scenes that don’t contribute with something other than what we’ve seen in the manga/anime, so I tend to rush past them so we don’t have to see the same thing all over again.

It’ll get better as we reach the Chuunin EXams. ;)

Hope you guys enjoy this regardless! :D

----

It was Guidance Day for the newly-graduated Konoha Genins, a date when every student arrived early at the Academy, all anxious about the beginning of this new stage of their lives.

Which meant-

“Ah, there are no more seats side by side.” Shin spoke dejectedly as she and Naruto entered their classroom.

“It’s okay! We can seat in front of each other, believe it!” Naruto replied as he sat down, pointing to the empty seat behind him.

Shin nodded and sat down behind Naruto, at last noticing who was sitting by his side.

“Oh, Sasuke-kun, good morning.”

The black-haired boy looked at her from over his shoulder with an annoyed look on his face and for a moment Shin thought he would ignore her. To her surprise he nodded at her, mumbling what might’ve been a “Morning” or a “Shut up” under his breath.

Shin laughed awkwardly. She still didn’t quite know how to deal with Sasuke.

“G-Good morning, Shin-chan.” Said the girl sitting by her side, drawing her attention from the brooding boy.

When Shin looked to her left, she felt a smile stretch easily over her lips.

“Good morning, Hinata-chan.” Shin replied. “I’m happy to see you here. Congratulations on passing the exam!”

Hinata nodded, blushing. “You and N-N-Naruto-kun as well. Congratulations.”

“Thank you!”

Before either girl could say anything more, loud and rapid footsteps could be heard. And soon after-

“I’m first!” Sakura and Ino yelled as they barged into class at the same time.

From somewhere in the class, Shin could hear Shikamaru complaining.

“Here we go again… This is so troublesome.”

---

Five minutes later found a worried Shin fretting over a beaten up Naruto.

“Naruto-chan… are you okay?” She asked from the seat behind him. “I have some painkillers with me. Do you want any?”

Sakura, who had squeezed her way in-between Naruto and Sasuke turned to her.

“Don’t worry about him, Shin. He got what he deserved for harassing Sasuke-kun as he did!”

Shin smiled awkwardly. “It was an accident, Sakura-chan… I’m sure Naruto-chan didn’t mean to kiss Sasuke-kun.”

Just mentioning it brought an angry fire into Sakura’s eyes.

“Good intentions are worthless when it comes to matters of the heart!”

Shin tilted her head to the side. “Shouldn’t it be the other way around?”

---

A few minutes later Iruka walked in to divide the Genin in groups of three. Each trio would be under the command of a Jonin, the highest ranking in the Shinobi hierarchy.

The problem was: the numbers didn’t match for only teams of three.

“As for Team Seven, it will be composed by four of you…” Iruka explained. “An exception will be made here, otherwise we’d have one Genin left without team. The integrants of this group are: Uzumaki Naruto, Haruno Sakura, Uchiha Sasuke and Osasu Shin.”

---

On the following day, Team Seven were to meet their new teacher. They were waiting for him in one of the spare classrooms at the Academy.

They were waiting for a long time.

And when Naruto was left with too much time in his hands he usually found different ways to get into trouble. Like planting a booby trap on the door with the blackboard eraser for their Jonin teacher.

That little prank hadn’t impressed their teacher in the slightest.

---

“Hmm… How to say it?” Kakashi began, eraser in hand. “My first impression of you is: you’re a bunch of idiots.”

---

After the not-quite successful first contact, Team Seven went outside for a little quality time as a group.

“Well, why don’t you all introduce yourselves, one at a time.” Said Kakashi.

“Introduce ourselves?” Sakura echoed. “What are we supposed to say?”

“Tell us what you like, what you don’t, your hobbies. Your dreams for the future.”

“Sensei, why don’t you go first? Just so we know what to say.” Naruto suggested.

“Me? I’m Hatake Kakashi. The things I like or don’t… I don’t feel like telling you. My dreams for the future? Never thought about it before. About my hobbies; I have many.”

Shin chuckled awkwardly as Sakura turned to them. “In the end he just said his name.”

“Alright. Your turn now.” Kakashi announced. “You on the right, go first.”

Shin turned to the right and smiled as Naruto introduced himself.

“My name is Uzumaki Naruto!…...”

After him, it was Sakura’s turn. “I’m Haruno Sakura!......”

Then it was Sasuke.

“My name is Uchiha Sasuke. There are many things I don’t like. And I don’t like anything in particular. What I have planned for the future is not a dream because I’ll make it become a reality. I’ll re-establish my clan and kill a certain someone.”

The air turned cold as Shin stared at Sasuke wide-eyed. He was even more intimidating up-close and personal. It made a shiver run down her spine as she wondered-

If Naruto-chan hadn’t approached me as he did when I arrived, if I hadn’t grown close to him and everyone else in our class… Would I end up like him?

“Okay… You with the brown hair. Your turn now.”

Shin was snapped of her thoughts by Kakashi’s voice and immediately put on a smile on her face.

“My name is Osasu Shin. I like hanging out with Naruto-chan and everyone else in our class. I don’t like waking up too early because I have a hard time falling asleep. As a hobby I like playing my father’s- I mean, my lute. As for my dream for the future…” Shin’s smile cracked slightly as a shadow settled over her eyes. “I… I don’t know. I guess I want to be a good Shinobi and continue to enjoy my days with my friends. Sorry, I know it’s not much but... that’s it.”

“Alright!” Kakashi spoke. “I guess that’s enough for today. I see you’re all your own persons. Our formal training begins tomorrow.”

---

On the next morning Shin had to be physically dragged from her bed by Naruto so they’d be at the training ground in time. She wasn’t proud to admit that she whined the whole way to Naruto about how absurdly early their teacher decided to start.

Shin was half-asleep as they met up with Sakura and Sasuke on the training grounds, barely managing to wish them good morning before laying her head on Naruto’s shoulder and dozing off to dreamland as they waited for Kakashi to show up.

Like on their very first day, he showed up ridiculously late.

And he had brought an equally ridiculous test to them.

---

“I have two bells here. Your challenge is to steal these from me before the timer sounds. Anyone who fails doesn’t get any lunch. Instead you will be tied to that tree stump so I can eat your lunch in front of you.”

---

When the training started, all Genins ran off, finding a good place to hide in the trees and bushes around them..

All but Naruto, who stayed to fight their Jonin-level teacher head-on.

---

Shin was hiding in the trees, watching Naruto and Kakashi fight. Like Sakura and Sasuke she believed it would be better to hide and watch their teacher before coming up with a strategy to get the bells. She had hoped Naruto would do the same so they both could come up with a plan and work together. She hoped to convince Sakura and Sasuke to join forces with them - taking out a Jonin would be almost impossible for four newbie Genins like themselves - but she wasn’t very confident they would. Sasuke didn’t strike her as a teamwork type - especially since two of them would fail regardless of their team’s success - , and Sakura wouldn’t want to work together unless Sasuke joined.

But that idea was put on second plan, because Naruto decided he’d stand and fight Kakashi one-on-one.

Shin sighed as she watched their teacher poke Naruto in the butt without mercy.

Naruto-chan… I admire how you face everything head-on. But sometimes it’s important to step back as well.

She watched as they fought, growing increasingly amazed with Naruto’s abilities and his use of the Shadow Clone Jutsu. For a moment she believed he had gotten Kakashi beaten when one of his clones grabbed him from behind.

But one Substitution Jutsu later and Naruto was hanging upside down from a tree.

Not bad Naruto-chan. Shin thought, reaching for a kunai with her right hand. Kakashi-sensei seems to even have forgotten about the rest of us. If I can throw this kunai at the rope and cut you loose we might be able to take him two-on-one.

Just as Shin was about to throw her kunai, some shuriken flew in front of her, hitting Kakashi square on the face.

Shin gulped. Sasuke-kun, did you just-?

To her relief their teacher had used another Substitution Jutsu, because of course he did. He was a Jonin, he wouldn’t be caught by surprise like that.

With Kakashi out of sight, Shin tensed her muscles, ready to act. She needed to free Naruto.

“Well, he must be after Sasuke-kun now, so it’s my chance to-”

“To do what, Shin-kun?”

Shin’s eyes widened and she jumped from her tree branch to another, twirling in the air to throw a few shuriken in Kakashi’s direction. She had no illusion of hitting him, but hopefully it would distract him enough so she could get her bearings.

As she landed on another branch, kunai in hand, Shin found Kakashi in her previous location, shoulder against the tree bark as he read his book.

“Good reflexes.” He commented lazily. “Did you intend on using them to hit me before Sasuke had the chance to try it?”

Shin answered with a shrug, eyes fixed on Kakashi.

That somehow seemed to get his attention more than her so-called “good reflexes”. He even raised his eye from his book to her.

“Ah… so that kunai wasn’t meant for me. Your plan was to help Naruto first and then fight me two against one. Hopefully, Sasuke and Sakura-kun would join too, eh?”

The girl tensed. How did he-

“Seems like you’re all better than I first believed.” Kakashi continued. “Guess I should take you a bit more seriously then.” At that, he put away his book and raised his arms in a fighting stance.

Shin laughed nervously. “I kinda wish you didn’t.”

For a second Shin believed Kakashi had broke a smile from behind his mask.

“Come at me Shin-kun. With the intention to kill.”

---

A few minutes later found Shin sprawled on her back in the florest ground, bruises all over her body, breath heavy in her lungs and skin glowing disgustingly with sweat. Kakashi stood in front of her, his one visible eye shining with amusement.

“Well, someone has been working hard on her Taijutsu.”

Shin stared at him, but didn’t say anything. If I had managed to free Naruto-chan we could’ve gotten the bells. I’m sure of it.

When she tried to stand up, Shin found her arms and legs were as heavy as rocks. Her eyes widened and she strained her neck to stare at her body. All her limbs were involved by a thick layer of rocky ground.

“When-?”

“You didn’t really think I’d just let you go, right?”

Shin looked back at Kakashi and pouted. “I’ll get out of here.”

“And then what?”

“Then I’ll free Naruto-chan. We’ll convince Sasuke-kun and Sakura-chan to help us, and we’ll get those bells.” Shin answered, voice echoing with a sort of determination she didn’t truly feel.

“But there are only two bells.” Kakashi pointed out.

“We can share.”

Behind his mask, Kakashi seemed to smile.

“Good luck with that! I’m off to get Sasuke.”

---

As it turns out, digging her way out of dirt prison with limited hand movement was much more difficult than Shin expected. It was a few minutes after the alarm went off when she managed to free herself and go back to the start point.

And when she arrived all of her teammates were there already. Naruto was tied to one of the tree trunks, Sakura looked about to either cry or fly into a fit of rage, and Sasuke was pinned to the ground with Kakashi’s foot on his head.

Shin stopped mid-step as she took the scene. “What happened?”

“Nice of you to join us, Shin-kun.” Kakashi spoke, not letting go of Sasuke. “You’re a bit late though. To catch you up to speed: I was just telling these guys that they failed. You passed though. Congratulations!”

Shin looked from person to person, mind reeling with what Kakashi had just told her.

“That doesn’t make any sense, Kakashi-sensei. I didn’t get any bells! If I passed without any bells, then everyone else should too.”

Kakashi looked at her from the corner of his eye, before fixing his glare on Naruto and Sakura in front of him.

“Do you three see what I mean? Teamwork.”

If anything, Shin seemed even more confused.

“Sakura-kun, you ignored Naruto and then Shin-kun. Both were trapped right in front of you, but the moment I mentioned I’d get Sasuke you left them to help him, even though you didn’t know where he was.” Kakashi explained, eye dancing between his students. “Naruto, you tried to do single-handed what should’ve been the work of a team. And Sasuke had already decided that his three teammates would only get in his way, and that he was better off playing solo. Meanwhile Shin-kun intended to get Naruto free and convince you two - Sasuke and Sakura-kun - to work together for the bells. Of course, I didn’t allow her the chance to do so, but I did give you plenty of opportunities to approach one another with the same idea. And that’s why she’s the only one that passes.”

Shin “ahhh-ed” in understanding.

Then, to everyone’s surprise, she protested. “You can’t do that, Kakashi-sensei.”

kakashi looked at her as if she had grown a second head.“And why’s that, Shin-kun?”

“You set the rules before this exercise began: You win if you get the bells. I understand you were hoping we’d use teamwork to get them, but it doesn’t change the fact that none of us got the bells. It’s not fair to pass someone who didn’t fulfill the exercise’s stated goal. If you pass me, you should pass everyone.”

There was a moment of silence and then Kakashi released Sasuke and turned his back on all of them

“Look at this Marker…”

---

In the end Kakashi had decided to allow them one more chance. He allowed Sasuke and Sakura to eat the bento boxes, as long as they didn’t share anything with Naruto or Shin.

Naruto remained tied to the trunk.

---

"Why did you do that?"

Shin blinked, brown eyes fixed on Sasuke.

"What do you mean?" She asked.

Her question seemed to annoy the Uchiha, who almost threw his bento box at her face. "Why did you refuse to pass?! Are you stupid?"

Shin startled at the harshness of Sasuke's words. Naruto noticed it and didn't like it in the least.

"Don't talk to her like that, you jerk!"

Sakura in turn, didn't like how Naruto spoke to Sasuke.

"NARUTO! HOW DARE YOU-"

Before Sakura could punch the boy tied to the tree trunk Shin put herself between them, trying to appease everyone with an awkward smile.

"It's okay guys. Let's not fight. Naruto-chan, thanks for defending me but I'm okay. I don't mind answering Sasuke-kun's question. Truth is… there would be no meaning if I passed by myself."

That was enough to draw everyone's focus back to her, and it made Shin blush as she continued.

"It might sound strange to you guys, but becoming a Shinobi hasn't always been my dream. When my parents were… murdered, and the Third Hokage accepted me in this village, it just seemed like a good way to make a living. But then I met Naruto-chan, and I got to share my everyday with all of you. And you all were so passionate about becoming Shinobis and protecting this village. It was contagious. Next thing I knew, classes became more exciting, training suddenly was meaningful and my days were… happy again. Your dreams became mine too. And that's why if I can't be a Shinobi with you all, I don't see any meaning in it."

The three Genin stared at Shin. The girl blushed harder and tried to smile at them.

"Shin-chan…" Naruto let out, almost tearing up. "This time we'll work together and beat that Scarecrow Face, b-believe it."

"Yeah!" Sakura joined, punching the air. "We'll totally get those bells!"

Sasuke smirked and nodded. Then to everyone's surprise, he rose his bento box in the air, offering to share it with Naruto and Shin.

"You guys will be of no use to me on an empty stomach." He offered as explanation.

Sakura hesitated for a moment but followed soon after, going as far as hand-feeding Naruto a bite.

Then Kakashi appeared out of nowhere, as if ready to murder them on spot.

Shin, Sasuke and Sakura all put themselves in front of Naruto, ready to defend him from their teacher's wrath.

But Kakashi didn’t attack then. Instead he yelled out-

“YOU PASS!”

#naruto #fanfiction #oc #original child character #shin #osasu shin #uzumaki naruto #sakura #haruno sakura #sasuke #uchiha sasuke #kakashi #kakashi hatake #iruka #team seven #genin #genin days #gaara x oc

16 notes · View notes

simpinforyoongi · 5 years

Text

Hey that's my water! ~ Shy!Jungkook x reader

Pairing: Jungkook x reader

Genre: fluff?? A bit of angst mAYBe like 0.002%, attempted humour but like, IDK how to make things funny ok don't attack me

Summary: Jungkook finished all your water while kinda confessing and you just ask him to give you time to get to know him. (and you're hoping that he doesn't change his mind)

{Note: This is my first imagine on Tumblr and I'd really appreciate any feedback and comments and notes. Thank you for reading. I hope you enjoy it!!}

{p.s guess where the picture is from!}

~~~~~~~

Don't look. Don't look. Don't look. Don't look. Don-

You peek at the confused boy to your right who sighs for the umpteenth time in the past hour.

Focus y/n focus . It's your finals.

You look back down to your half finished paper and start writing again, but not before taking yet another sneek peek at him.

You know, seeing such behavior of yours, one would think that you're crushing on this cute boy, Jungkook.

Well, it's not fuLLY wrong, I mean, he's kinda cute,ok. But its not quite true either.

Well its just, its hard to resist such a baby face and honey-sweet charms, okay?? And the fact that you're a hoe for shy boys isn't helping at all

I'd say you're giving exams a run for their money when it comes to being avoided by Jungkook.

I mean the guy hasn't held eye contact with you ever for more than half a second!

That day when you bumped into each other? Nopity. One second he was there with books sprawled across the floor and the next second he wasn't. He didn't even look at you!

Then there was that time when the only seat available was next to you and the rest were near his "fangirls". Its fair to say he shared his meal with squirrels that day.

And then there was that day when the teacher had asked you to explain something to him since she was in a hurry and you were the only one left in class. That was probably the only time he directly talked to you.

By "talk" , I mean the low "yes" when you asked whether he had understood or not. That's it.

Those were the only times when you interacted. In the past year.

And that last time was like 4-5 months ago.

Weird, considering the fact that you share a good number of classes with him. Well maybe he's just too shy, don't stress over it you dumbass.

You put your pen down and stretch out. One gets stiff after sitting in the same position for so long you know.

15 minutes are still left on the clock.

Jungkook still seems to be writing.

Your eyes linger on his face for longer than you'd like to admit.

Ok but like

Damn

he has a sharp jawline.

Slice my throat with that jaw please

But still those chubby soft looking cheeks? Howww?? Then there are those doe eyes that hold the soft chocolate brown orbs.

Oh how you'd love to stare at them for hours on end. And tangle your fingers in the soft brown locks that are hiding his forehead. Your eyes wander down to the sweet brown pools of caramel that I mentioned a moment ago and you can't seem to avert your eyes from his.

wait.

He's looking at you.

Y/N HE'S LOOKING AT YOU

You instantly turn back around and stare your paper with such intensity that if looks could burn, the flimsy piece of paper would've been long gone by now.

Well that's an amazing way to initiate contact. Great job!

Since that creepy eye contact, you didn't even dare look at his general direction

Unknown to you, he was smiling since he caught you staring at him with a hint of a dreamy smile.

He thought you looked cute with blood rushing to your cheeks.

He should try to make you flustered more often. Actually he should've tried a lot of things.

But him being a wimp is getting in his way of even looking at you nicely.

After revising your paper, you hand it in and head out.

Anyways

yeET FINALS ARE OVERRR

Walking to the entrance, you make a list of all the delicious food you're gonna eat and get fat now while binge watching all the dramas that had to be kept on hold due to exam season TT

BUT FINALLY ITS OVER SNSMMDMD

YEEEHEE

The sun suddenly seemed brighter and the sky seemed bluer.

you put in your earphones and settled on a favorite after much thought.

Ah life is sweet

And then it isn't

As you neared the entrance, a group of boys caught your eye. What surprised you more than them staring at you was the fact that Jungkook was one of them.

They immediately went back to talking amongst themselves.

Huh

Anyyyywaaaayyysss its time to PARTAYYY

So there you were, minding your own business, skipping along the song and mouthing the words.

You know, beautiful life.

But this peace didn't last long when your tranquil venture was interrupted by heavy and fast footsteps behind you.

Oh shit what if its a kidnapper. Oh shit oh shit oh shit

Instinctively, you looked behind.

Jungkook

Oh wait it's Jungkook. Hah not a kidnapper.

Oh wait

its JUNGKOOK

What if he's here to talk about the weird eye contact.

OhMY GOD OH MY GOD OY MY GOD OH MY GOD OHMY-

He stopped right in front of you and you swore your heart would leap out and break dance in front of you any moment now.

He glanced behind him at a black van.

Oh wait maybe he IS here to kidnap me.

Good as long as the weird eye contact isn't brought up.

He looks back at you and you're like ????

He says hey

You say hi

And then you're just standing there.

He again looks back at that kidnapping van and this time some of those boys from earlier stick their heads out and give him a thumbs up and you're again like ????

"So ummm.. hehe.." Jungkook looks away from you and your hoe-for-shy-boys side is just really to jUMp out of your skin and on him

"hey you tryna kidnap me or something" you smile, trying to ease his extrEMely visible tension thats being emitted from him in squiggly Iines like those in cartoons and stuff

but you're like honestly confused???when he keeps opening his mouth and closing it like a fish trying to breath in air

and as cruel as it sounds but you haTE it when someone interrupts your music sessions and its not an exception this time either,

even though the reason of interruption is extremely pretty and you're entertained just by looking at him

"...heyyy??"

"oh um... well..its just.."

"You know what nevermind Jungkook. I'll do the rest"

you look to your right and

its one of those boys

and boYY HE'S just as pretty as Jungkook if not more and you'd think you're drooling but actually you're quite a composed lady so you just normally very un-creepily look at him.

Composed lady my as-

"Hi I'm Namjoon. I'm Jungkook's friend. And I'm just here to-"

"Hi iM YOUR HOPE YOU'RE MY HOPE IM J HOPEEE"

"Hobi cAlm down you're not calling yourself that"

"hiii excujje meee I'm Jimin nice to meet you y/n"

"jimin calm down and get insi- TAE DON'T PUSH JIMIN LIKE THAT"

"GoddAMnit I'm being sqUISHED you guys let me breath-"

"ah sorry hyung but its y/nnnnnn"

"thats not an excuse to FRIGGIN KILL ME Jimin!"

"i said I'm sorry hyung but come out meet y/n"

"wait but let me breaTHsjnxxn hoBIII"

"GUYS CALM THE HECK DOWN YOU'RE SCARING HER" namjoon yelled.

wow

"umm we're really sorry. Please gimme a sec" and then he was like guys get the frick in or I'll personally kick your asses to the moon and it was supposed to be a whisper but you heard it lolol

So you're standing there like.. ok hi nice to meet you all Im y/n and wait how exactly do you know my name again???

"Jungkook talks so muc-"

"aaAAAHHHA BBBBSHHH ye ye i told them about you haha ye ye that's why they know" and he's like furiously sweating and stuttering and you're like waah ok ok calm down I don't want you having a heart attack or something good god

"Anyways, hi I'm Namjoon and I'm a friend of Kookie here" he smiles and OH THOSE GOOD FREAKING DIMPLES SOMEONE DROWN ME IN THEM

"kindly ignore these savages here" and you find that really funny so you're like "lolol that's fine XD XD haha" and smiling and all

The rest of them introduce themselves and by the end, your name just sounds unreal because of all the "hey I'm y/n"s and did i mention each of them is like.. a freaking living masterpiece?? and like so so sweet, except the Yoongi guy, he's a bit quite but you can't judge because you're like that most of the times too but you're an amazing person and so might be he .

then you ask them why they are here

"so actually, we're here because," he looks at Jungkook, "Jungkook is a coward."

"huh???"

"well you seem like a sweet girl and we decided we'd get Jungkook to ask you to hangout but he is of course a coward and thats why I had to pipe in to save him because Jungkook really likes you a lot an-"

"AAAAAAAAABABABA BALAKLAVA CHOCOLATE CAKE BANANA MILK yes hyung I'll handle this you leave" and he's just pushing all of them back in the van like a sack of potatoes despite their protests and then they just...take off??

What the-?

"ehh??"

"um..ijustwannaaskifyouwannahangoutsometimemaybeifyouwant" his eyes are closed and nose is crinkled and you just wanna SQUISH SQUISH SQUISH HIS GHADDAMNED FACE

"uh what?"

"i..i just wanna..askifyouwannahangoutsometime"

"umm?? Sorry could you please speak a tad slower??"

and he seems like he's suffocated now, like his ears are just red and sweating even more and honestly he's worrying you now

"dude you okay?? You seem really red. Here have some water" Dude. Yes. You're cool unlike those fanfic girlies with their blushing and stuttering. You're a complete badass actua-

He takes the bottle from your hand and gulps everything down and you're just like hey thats my water! but you gave it to him to drink so you can't really say anything

and okay he really seems like a fish who just got dropped in a bowl of water after being on land for 3 days

yea wait that won't work he'd die so like

he really seems like a fish who got dropped in water after being on land for like 3 minutes

So ok he seems human now

"yes you were saying?"

"Uh...do you..um.. would you wanna hangout sometime? If you're free that is.. only if you want to though" and he's like blushing a little and just so cute and you just nsndnfnfkwk

But you're also like OoO

"i-i mean d-dont worry its not like a date or anything i mean if you want it can be a date but i don't think you want that so like its just normal two people hanging out and its just like I really like you you're really cute and i just wanna hangout and just-" he takes a deep breath

"uhh.." you look down.

He just kinda confessed to you so you're kinda ?!?!?!?! right now but you also don't like dating and stuff because? Why would you waste your time on someone when in the end you're gonna just get your heart broken and like, yea that might not happen but you'd just rather sleep

But like, this weird voice at the back of your head says that you should go for it even though you're breaking your rules but like rules are made to be broken you know but you're also scared but you really don't wanna say no to him cos

well you kinda maybe a little bit like him ok?

"uumm.." your brain still can't form coherent sentences

"it's ok. Don't worry." He says and you look up and he has this sad expression and you're like NXNFFDND DON'T BE SAD PLEASE HEAR ME OUT but of course you say that in a more composed way

Ms. Composed lady

"no Jungkook that's not what i mean um.. actually.." so you explain how you think its a waste of time and stuff and you also explain that you really really really wanna get to know him more

"so..can you give me some time? Please?? So at least I can have you as a friend if you don't like me anymore later??" and he seems to be thinking and you blurt out the first thing that comes to mind

"I'll take you for ice-cream!!" and that seems to convince him

"and banana milk too??"

"sure"

And the sweetest little smile dawns on his lips and he's just nodding his head and you're just UwU

"but you finished all my water though."

10 notes · View notes

kanasmusings · 5 years

Text

[Translation] Uduki Arata Story of Colors Drama Track 2

Final drama track of Arata’s CD~! I’m doing Kakeru’s and Koi’s, too~! And they’ll probably published after the Yaminabe drama tracks www But, if I get Aoi first then, um... The others will have to wait XD (Best boy comes first LOL)

Thank you again to Deea for sharing the files with me! Please don’t ask her for them as per her request, thank you ^^

Again, if you’d like to use these translations to put to the drama track in a video or if you want to re-translate them, please just ask me for permission first before using them ^^

※ Please don’t re-post the English translations without permission. Please just like/reblog them instead ^^

Under the cut, enjoy!

Track 02: [春・桜人、咲き誇る] “Spring – That man of cherry blossoms, proudly blooming”

[0:00]

PERSON A: Oh? Is some kinda filming going on?

PERSON B: I hope they have female actresses. Can you see?

PERSON C: Eh? We can’t pass through here, really?

STAFF: We’re very sorry! The area beyond is off-limits for now.

STAFF: The path to the west is open so can you please pass through there?

PERSON C: For real!? I’m gonna be late!

PERSON B: Can you see it from there?

PERSON A: There’s a tent thingy there. Maybe they’re inside? Wanna take a look?

PERSON B: We still have time so let’s go see. We might be able to see a celeb.

ARATA: And that celeb is right behind you. This feels like deja-vu.

AOI: (smiles) It does~

ARATA: It’s been about four months since our previous shoot, right?

ARATA: It’s gonna be a continuation of the previous CM’s story. (yawns) Makes me sleepy.

AOI: That line seems familiar—is what I want to say but… Arata says “I’m sleepy,” no matter what kind of weather it is.

AOI: I guess it’s obvious that I’d remember [that line].

ARATA: But, doesn’t it make you sleepy when the sky’s gray and cloudy?

AOI: And then the sound of rain during rainy days makes you sleepy, too, doesn’t it?

ARATA: How did you know?

AOI: To change the question, I wonder when you’re actually fully awake and alert.

ARATA: Hm… At night? When I’m lazing about and playing on my phone?

AOI: You just wake up from sleep at night sometimes.

ARATA: (gasps) This is bad…

(dramatic music plays in the background)

ARATA: Aoi-kun, I…

ARATA: There might not have been a time when I’ve been fully awake.

ARATA: The world of dreams is right by my side the moment I wake up until the time I sleep.

AOI: It doesn’t change anything even if you say it coolly.

(dramatic music suddenly stops)

[01:50]

AOI: Arata, they said there’s still 20 more minutes before the filming starts.

ARATA: Roger~ (Arata starts typing on his phone)

AOI: Did you get contacted about something?

ARATA: Yeah, a private one, not for work.

ARATA: A friend of mine who recently graduated was being troubled about his new work, is all.

AOI: Let’s see…

AOI: (he starts reading the message on Arata’s phone) “I can’t use formal speech at all and I’m kinda nervous about that.”

AOI: Even I don’t think I had the chance to use it that much this year, too.

ARATA: That’s what I told him.

AOI: (laughs) I see. The world is in a season where it’s overflowing with people looking for work and entering new workplaces.

ARATA: It is April, the month I represent after all.

AOI: Yes, yes~ Well, contrary to his struggles at work, the filming here is going well.

AOI: It seems to be going according to schedule well.

AOI: It would be great if filming goes smoothly as well so everyone can go home early, huh~?

ARATA: I think it’s possible if we did it the way we did the last time.

AOI: You’re right. I wish that Arata wouldn’t mess up his words~

ARATA: I wish that Aoi could wink properly.

AOI: Hm? Did we do something like that then?

ARATA: We didn’t but, for our old CM, they used the footage of me ad-libbing a wink so, won’t it be awesome if Aoi did it, too?

AOI: Th-that’s right… Wh-what should I do…?

AOI: Every time I try to do a wink, I get conscious and it comes out so unnaturally…

ARATA: You do it so freely in front of a camera during lives, don’t you?

AOI: Well, that’s… going with the flow or something… A reflex, maybe?

AOI: You do it often though, don’t you?

ARATA: I actually go with the flow, too. In the first place, I’m not the kinda guy who does winks on purpose.

ARATA: The one I ad-libbed was an accidental success, too. If they tell me to do the same, I won’t be able to do it again.

AOI: And here I thought you were boasting about it…

(Arata’s phone buzzes)

ARATA: Oh, perfect timing~

ARATA: Speaking of pretty winks, it’s definitely this guy. Haru-san uploaded a pic of him winking.

AOI: Today he’s advertising for his drama, isn’t he?

ARATA: Yeah, look. The epitome of hotness.

AOI: Hm? Uwah! Haru-san looks good in a white robe!

ARATA: It suits him so well that he looks like a mad scientist, doesn’t he?

AOI: Uh… I’m kinda lost if it’s alright to put the word “mad” in there…

ARATA: Alright, Aoi. (Arata stands up from his chair) We can’t lose either. Let’s upload a selfie to show that we’re doing our best, too.

AOI: I kinda knew you’d do that. We have to accomplish that other mission as well, huh?

ARATA: Mission?

AOI: You’re the one who mentioned it during our previous filming, remember?

AOI: That you wanted to take a picture in front of the cherry blossom tree just like we did back then.

ARATA: Ah! Oh yeah, I did say something like that, huh.

AOI: I wish you didn’t forget something you said yourself…

ARATA: Man~ It’s because the old man’s impact was stronger compared to the picture we took.

AOI: Ah, the smart guy who lives in the house just past the park?

ARATA: Yeah. You remember him, too, right?

AOI: I do. He did have some impact as you say.

ARATA: You think we’d see him again?

AOI: I’d say that it’s possible since he lives right over there.

ARATA: Nah, nah.

[05:20]

(Arata starts taking pictures)

ELDERLY MAN: Just when I thought it was getting noisy. Turns out it’s you boys again, huh.

AOI: (whispering) See? I told you so.

ARATA: (wry laughter)

ELDERLY MAN: Uduki Arata-kun, was it?

ARATA: Oh! You remembered?

ELDERLY MAN: And that one over there is Satsuki Aoi-kun.

AOI: Ah, yes… Even my name…

ELDERLY MAN: I may be old but I can use the internet, you know? I can do simple research.

ELDERLY MAN: You both came up as soon as I searched your names.

ELDERLY MAN: You guys are quite famous, aren’t you?

ARATA: We’re happy enough to be doing our best that we’re the first to come out in your search results.

ARATA: It’s been a while, hasn’t it, sir?

ELDERLY MAN: You’re a strange one as usual.

AOI: U-um… You seem to be getting along well.

ARATA/ELDERLY MAN: Getting along?

AOI: Wha…?

[06:20]

ELDERLY MAN: Are you filming for a TV commercial?

AOI: Yes, it’s a CM for students attending prep school to prepare for college entrance exams.

AOI: Going with Japan’s academic calendar, the previous winter filming was for students preparing for exams.

AOI: This time, it’s a spring filming where the students have successfully passed and are about to face their new college lives.

ARATA: The winter CM started airing during January though. Did you watch it?

ELDERLY MAN: I feel… like I have.

ARATA: Ah, you did say that you don’t watch TV much, didn’t you, sir?

ELDERLY MAN: I’m surprised you remember that well.

ARATA: My memory’s surprisingly good!

AOI: I wouldn’t think that to be said by someone who forgot what we were supposed to take a picture with a while ago…

ARATA: Aoi, shh.

ELDERLY MAN: You boys are pretty close, aren’t you?

ARATA: Ah, Aoi and me? We’ve known each other before we debuted in the industry since we’re childhood friends.

ARATA: We’ve known each other for a long time.

ELDERLY MAN: Childhood friends?

AOI: Yes. Ever since we entered kindergarten. And then during elementary, middle, and high school, too.

AOI: We even went to the same university and are in the same industry even now.

ARATA: Since we’ve been together this long, we can casually just bring it up.

AOI: I wish you wouldn’t say that… At least call it an inseparable relationship that binds us, please…

ARATA: Isn’t that kinda impression uncommon though?

ELDERLY MAN: (surprised) You boys even went to university?! And then—

ARATA: We’re doing work as idols, yes.

ARATA: Ah, did you think that it was too wasteful?

ELDERLY MAN: Hm…

ARATA: We don’t mind, you know? I think it’s a pretty general idea either way.

ARATA: By the way, for reference, our unit er… our group is composed of people with a lot of well, in your words, “wasted” outstanding talent.

ARATA: Did they show up too, when you searched our names?

ARATA: We got two people who graduated from T University, y’know?

ARATA: If we’re taking into consideration our rival unit, there’s another one, too. It’s a surprising three people who are alumni of T University.

ARATA: If the idol industry had a mean distribution competition, they might’ve been winners.

ELDERLY MAN: Oh my…! Well… I guess this comes with the era, too, huh…

AOI: (chuckles) It is a bit surprising, isn’t it?

ELDERLY MAN: No… Yes, well, I guess it is. I am surprised.

ARATA: There are a lot of different idol types, too. Just like how cherry blossoms are different, see?

ELDERLY MAN: You really remember a lot, don’t you?

AOI: Cherry blossoms…?

ELDERLY MAN: I told him about it. About how you celebrities are like cherry blossoms.

(the wind starts blowing)

ELDERLY MAN: Take a look. They’re beautiful cherry blossoms, aren’t they?

ELDERLY MAN: They can captivate the eyes and hearts of people.

ELDERLY MAN: But, the flowers at their prime are only momentary. It won’t be long before they start falling again.

ELDERLY MAN: The seasons when the flowers aren’t in bloom is so long and no one pays any attention to them during that time, right?

ELDERLY MAN: It gave me that kind of unstable image. That’s what I told him.

AOI: That’s…

(Arata puts a hand on Aoi’s shoulder)

AOI: Arata?

ARATA: Um, you see? I’ve been thinking about it too since then.

ARATA: Like, why is it bad to be like a cherry blossom and all that.

ELDERLY MAN: What did you say?

ARATA: I mean, in our line of work, there’s a possibility for what we do to leave an impression in someone’s heart even for just a moment, you know?

ARATA: Don’t you think that it’s kind of an amazing thing?

ELDERLY MAN: Hm…

ARATA: Things like, “I loved them when I was young~” or “I went to cheer for them with my friends,” “I saw the girl I like there,” “I went to a live,” anything’s fine.

ARATA: It moves someone’s heart and remains a part of their memories.

ARATA: If it can become a momentary part of someone’s life then, I’m glad to have been a cherry blossom.

ARATA: Because… It wasn’t a lie that we shone during that time.

[10:50]

ELDERLY MAN: I was a former judge.

ARATA: Judge? Is that so? No wonder.

ELDERLY MAN: No wonder you thought I was a thick-headed, stubborn old man?

ARATA: Well, yes.

AOI: Arata!

ELDERLY MAN: I don’t mind. It doesn’t bother me. It’s the truth after all.

AOI: Y-yes…

ELDERLY MAN: I feel my life complete right now. There were a lot of things I wanted to try after all.

ELDERLY MAN: I was good at sticking to the schedule, you see? I was working all the time from morning until night.

ELDERLY MAN: Thanks to that, now that I’m retired, I took time for granted.

ELDERLY MAN: Smart people tend to fill their heads with difficult to understand things… And even I silently took in all of those hard studies.

ELDERLY MAN: And the result of all that is… the me you see right now.

ARATA: Hm~

ELDERLY MAN: I have a title and degree that I can use and all but… That’s all there is to it.

ELDERLY MAN: Long ago, the people who envied the “stable” life I used to lead are now asking me, “Aren’t you lonely?” “Can you take care of yourself?” and they keep on worrying.

ELDERLY MAN: I reply with an “I’m fine,” in return. That’s because I really am.

ELDERLY MAN: I face things alone.

ARATA: But?

ELDERLY MAN: Honestly speaking, there are times when I think that I simply had no other choice but to pursue the path that I did.

AOI: A different way of living…?

ARATA: Like us, for example? A life much like the cherry blossoms or something?

ELDERLY MAN: Indeed. After all, the cherry blossoms are this beautiful.

(the wind starts picking up)

ELDERLY MAN: (sighs)

AOI: Ah…

ELDERLY MAN: They really are beautiful.

ELDERLY MAN: I’m sure that this cherry blossom will leave an impression in someone’s heart, too.

[13:32]

STAFF: Okay! That’s a wrap for the filming!

STAFF: Uduki-san, Satsuki-san, thank you for your hard work!

CREW: Thank you for your hard work!

(clapping)

ARATA: Thank you very much.

AOI: Thank you very much. Thank you for your hard work, too, everyone.

STAFF: We’ll have you take your make-up off and after you’re done changing, it’s okay to go.

STAFF: What time should we call for the car to pick you up?

ARATA: Ah, it’s okay. It’s warm today so we were thinking of walking back home.

ARATA: Is that okay with you, Aoi?

AOI: Yup, it’s fine.

STAFF: Is that so? Then, please head over that way.

ARATA: Whew~ It’s finally over~

AOI: Thanks for the hard work, Arata.

ARATA: You, too.

AOI: The cherry blossoms are beautiful, aren’t they?

ARATA: Yeah. It’s great that it’s a weekday today but, I’m sure that it’d be packed with people once the weekends arrive.

ARATA: This place seems good for a flower viewing.

AOI: I wanna do a flower viewing with everyone, too.

AOI: We were running all over everywhere this year that we couldn’t do it.

ARATA: Were we?

AOI: Yeah, we didn’t have a chance to do a proper flower viewing.

AOI: This is probably the first time we’ve walked around leisurely ever since we passed entrance exams. I think…

AOI: Of course, it was impossible to gather everyone on this day.

ARATA: Lately, it’s become difficult to have everyone gathered together, huh.

AOI: We all have our own work to do after all.

ARATA: But, isn’t it possible to gather all of us for a meeting sometime?

ARATA: Oh, and since the park in front of the dorm has beautiful cherry blossoms, maybe we could go do an uh… A flower viewing and drinking party instead of just drinking at home?

AOI: If it’s that then, we can do it every year, huh~ (smiles)

[15:32]

ARATA: Cherry blossoms, huh…

AOI: Hey, Arata.

AOI: Are we… blooming properly?

ARATA: Hm?

ARATA: It’d be cool if I said “of course” here but, I wonder now.

ARATA: We can’t tell whether we are without a mirror in front of us. And I can’t say that I’m sure we’re blooming properly.

ARATA: How do I look like in your perspective, Aoi?

AOI: Arata is… To me, you’re always a cherry blossom that blooms profusely.

AOI: You’re always upright and you never lie.

ARATA: Oh~ I got praised unexpectedly.

ARATA: Eh? You are praising me, aren’t you?

AOI: (smiles) That was my intention.

AOI: Then… I’m next.

AOI: How do I look like to you, Arata?

ARATA: Aoi is…

AOI: …

ARATA: You give me the image of someone blooming suddenly.

AOI: Suddenly, you mean…

ARATA: No, I didn’t mean it in a strange way.

ARATA: Kinda like a yaezakura? (1)

ARATA: Kinda like how the gentle petals suddenly bloom, y’know?

ARATA: Something like, you bloom a lot!

ARATA: When I’m watching from afar then, you’re like a cloud.

AOI: I get that it’s an overall fluffy feeling for you. (smiles)

ARATA: It’s because you’re gentle.

AOI: Yes, yes. I think that it’s good as long as we’re blooming.

ARATA: I’m praising you properly, y’know? (pouts)

AOI: Sure, sure.

[17:36]

ARATA: Hey, Aoi.

AOI: Hm?

(the wind starts blowing again)

ARATA: If we’re cherry blossoms then, just like they do… Just like we usually do… Let’s bloom as proudly as we can.

AOI: Arata��

ARATA: Just kidding~

AOI: Arata…

ARATA: By the way, that old man seemed like a cherry blossom to me, too.

AOI: Eh?

ARATA: It’s a word we use on stage but… We call them “rouou (year-old cherry blossom)” don’t we? With the kanji characters for “fallen cherry blossom”.

ARATA: The meaning is as the characters portray. Doesn’t it sound cool?

ARATA: “Rouou”

AOI: Yeah.

ARATA: It just came to my head right now and I thought that the word fits that old man perfectly.

ARATA: Maybe I should have told him, “You lived your life beautifully, too. Just as a cherry blossom would.”

ARATA: Nah, I guess that would have hurt him or something, huh?

ARATA: There’s a chance that he won’t understand what this “young’un’s” saying, too, huh?

AOI: Ah… That’s possible.

ARATA: But, do you think we’ll get scolded if we go see him now?

AOI: (laughs) Eh? Right now?

ARATA: Yeah, since we had to say good-bye to him early when filming started.

ARATA: Let’s go buy some dango and some housewarming gifts, too. We know where he lives anyway.

AOI: Alright, let’s go see him.

ARATA: Yeah, let’s!

==END==

Translator’s Notes:

(1) Yaezakura are kinds of cherry blossoms that bloom late.

※ Please don’t re-post the romaji and English translations without permission. Instead of reposting, please just like/reblog instead ^^

If you enjoyed this, please consider buying me a ko-fi here to support my work! Only if you want to though. (o^▽^o)Thank you!!

#tsukipro #tsukiuta #uduki arata #satsuki aoi #drama cd #tsukiuta translations #my translations #the OTP lives!!!!#all joking aside the drama track is very profound and sentimental~#it does teach arata some stuff that helps with his character development~!

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staytheb · 5 years

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Jars Filled A Second Time

Pairing: B.A.P’s Youngjae x OC [Kangyoon] Genre: slice of life, slight fluff Word Count: 1,174 Summary: It’s Valentine’s Day and Kangyoon is gonna make her confession to Youngjae a second time with the same method as last time with her filled up jars. She just hopes this time around he’ll actually give her a response.

Warning: none, except not proof-read since last shared, 7 years ago lol

Youngjae’s story was the fourth one. and omg, somehow it got longer in writing starting with him. o.o dunno why or how, but it did and i might have gotten carry away due to the story line xD but um, oh yeah, i remember a user commented that this story actually fitted Daehyun with his whole ‘no comment’ remark, but it just happened with YJ and not DH lol. so yeah, happy reading and kthxbai, Admin Lia~

Chae Kangyoon had confessed to Yoo Youngjae that she liked him during their second year of middle school, but he had never responded back to her and just went on with his day like nothing had happened. Even if he didn’t respond to her, Kangyoon still took it as a rejection. Although she should have moved on since then, she still couldn’t push her feelings for him aside. Kangyoon still had feelings for Youngjae once they entered high school, although she never once talked to him since that day of her confession. She still kept her crushing for him hidden away.

None of her friends knew about it and always wonder why she rejected all the boys who try to ask her out. Kangyoon always responded that she wasn’t interested in them and would walk away, not explaining any further. When they entered their last year of high school, Kangyoon decided that she would once more confess to Youngjae, and that she would get a response out of him this time. Because there wouldn’t be a next time once the two graduated from high school and would then attend two different universities, going their own separate ways.

Meeting up at the school’s library would be the perfect spot for Kangyoon to get an answer from Youngjae, since the both of them liked to study in the library because it was quiet. Also, it would be more of a comfort zone for both her and Youngjae. Kangyoon had finally talked to Youngjae, something she had always wanted to do, and told him that she had something to tell him and to meet her in the library after school in one of the study rooms. Kangyoon had already reserved one of the study rooms for more privacy and left a note on the door letting Youngjae know that she was in that particular study room.

She also wanted to talk to him in there as a way to block Youngjae from running out on her if he didn’t want to respond and pretend like nothing happened again. As Kangyoon waited for Youngjae’s arrival, she took this spare time to study and finish up some assignments due the next day. Soon, a knock came from the door and Kangyoon got up to answered it. Youngjae stood on the other side of the door, no expression on his face, as she invited him in. While stepping inside the study room, Kangyoon had indicated the chair across from her for Youngjae to take a seat, before she would say anything else.

Once they were settled in their seats, Youngjae finally asked her what she wanted to talk to him about, as she put away all of her school materials and brought out a couple of jars filled with sweet tart hearts, arranging them in front of her. Kangyoon knew that Youngjae still loved these candies and purposely got them for him for Valentine’s Day, instead of the typical chocolate. Since today was Valentine’s Day, she wanted to give it to him during her confession once again. She actually had these same jars filled with sweet tart hearts when she confessed the first time, but since he didn’t accept them, she ate the candy instead and kept the jars. These same jars made their appearance again; hoping they’ll get accepted this time.

Messing with both of the jars before speaking, Kangyoon let out a deep breath and told him that she still liked him since middle school, and that she actually wanted a response from him and for him to not walk away like he did the first time. Kangyoon told him to not pretend like nothing happened, and just wanted an answer if he liked her or not. After saying all that, she then slid the two jars across the table within Youngjae’s reach for him to accept them or not as she waited for his response a second time, hoping that he would give her an answer, and not pretend and leave her with empty words in the air again.

Not looking at Kangyoon, Youngjae seemed more interested in his shoes, not giving her an answer. Although he did respond by taking one of the jars, he didn’t really do anything after that. Waiting for five minutes more, and then some, Kangyoon started feeling like she was wasting her time again, and still not getting a response from him once again; Kangyoon just shook her head, giving it all up, and finally got up and gathered her things. She told Youngjae that he could keep the jars of sweet tart hearts. Kangyoon also told him that she wouldn’t cross his path again after this day and apologize for bothering him a second time about it, before making her way to the door.

Before she could actually open the door to let herself out, she felt a pair of arms encircle her in a back hug, pulling her away from opening the door. Many thoughts and feelings race across her mind, but she was frozen and was unable to do anything due to Youngjae’s sudden action. Holding Kangyoon close to him, Youngjae finally gave her a response and whispered it into her ear. He told her that he was unable to respond last time, because he was working out his own feelings for her, but also because he wasn’t allow to date or focus his time on girls and that he had to put all of his focus onto his studies, an order from his parents, which he respectfully obeyed. So he just pretended like nothing happened, since it would have disrupted his studies and focus.

Turning Kangyoon around to face him, Youngjae lifted her chin so he could see her face, and said that he hoped she was satisfied with his answer and asked if she could forgive him. Kangyoon processed his words and explanation very slowly, but unable to express it in words, Kangyoon just simply nodded her head twice and then threw her arms around him and hugged him as well. After doing that, Kangyoon came to her senses, and as quickly as she hugged him she released him, composing herself. Youngjae was surprised by her own action, but just laughed at her reaction and asked if she would stay to enjoy the sweet tarts with him.

He also asked if it would be okay to study with one another from that moment on. Still unable to talk while processing his words once more, Kangyoon just nodded her head in total happiness and took her seat across from him, grabbing one of the jars, opening it and putting one sweet tart heart in her mouth. Just as Youngjae walked back to his own chair and sat down, doing the same thing. While the both of them were just sitting there enjoying their own little jars, the two had a soft smile appeared on both of their faces, while secretly taking quick glances up at one another every now and then from behind their jars of sweets.

#staytheb #bap scenarios #yoo youngjae

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leiasfanaccount648 · 6 years

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Missing You (Zendaya x Fem!Reader)

For @spiderrrling’s writing challenge!

Special thanks to @fratboievans evans for the fantastic moodboard!!!

Also tagging some mutals that were wanting to read this:

@hr-hxlland @aw-hawkeye @moonkissedtom @gigglyparker

This is part 1 of 2. Hope you all enjoy!!

Prompt: Missing You by All Time Low

Genre: Slight angst, mostly fluff; friends to lovers; slow burn

Warnings: Language/Swearing

Summary: Close to failing some of her college classes, (Y/N) is at a loss with her life and isn’t sure how to get back on her feet again while constantly running around everywhere for everything in her life. Her best friend, Zendaya, tries to support her in every way she can, but isn’t sure what (Y/N) really needs from her as a friend. However, Zendaya is still doing whatever she can to help her best friend. That’s what they’re for, right?

(Y/N) threw her textbook at the wall before dropping to the ground, crying uncontrollably. She just checked her grade on a test she took the day before, only to find out that she barely even passed it by a couple points. She was barely passing the class all together and needed some A’s on her assignments and tests if she wanted to pursue the career she wanted with this degree.

To say she was working hard was an understatement. Every night before a test, she would study for hours on end until she was about to fall asleep on her textbook(s). It wasn’t all her classes she was having trouble in, thankfully, but this one class in particular she needed a good grade on. As long as she got a B, she didn’t care what she had to do in order to pass the class.

Her best friend however was constantly worrying about her health, physically and mentally as she was always doing something school related and never had time to take a break or relax. Zendaya could tell that (Y/N) was struggling and stressing about the few classes she was having trouble in and wanted to do something to help her, whether it was helping her study for a test or take her out to lunch and even have a spa day. She just couldn’t bear to see (Y/N) like this. As (Y/N) continued to cry over her classes and future plans, her phone began to ring.

Incoming call from Zendaya

She sighed, taking a deep breath to compose herself before answering the call with the best voice that read ‘no I wasn’t just crying, I’m totally okay.’

“Hey, Z. What’s up?”

Zendaya could immediately hear the strain in her friend’s voice, feeling her heart ache at the sound of her friend in pain. “Not much, I was gonna get some Chinese for dinner and wanted to know if you wanted to join me.”

“I don’t know, I got another test to study for that’s on Friday.”

‘Today is Saturday, (Y/N).’ Z thought to herself before replying, hoping to sound more convincing. “When was the last time you ate something other than instant noodles, salads, and ice cream?”

“...Uh, I think.. Maybe..”

“Be ready to go in 10, I’m not taking no for answer and you know it.”

Zendaya ended the call before relaxing in the driver’s seat of her car. She was already in the visitors parking lot of the building (Y/N)’s dorm room was at, already having planned this a couple hours ago. She needed to do something for her best friend, even if it was taking baby steps.

While at the restaurant, (Y/N) was picking at her food with her chopsticks and listening to Zendaya tell her about the week she’s had. Z, of course, made her story short and to the point so that she could finally talk to (Y/N) about her current state. When she finally finished speaking, she took a bite of her food and gestured to her friend with her chopsticks. “What about you? How are your classes and such going?”

This was the one thing (Y/N) was hoping wouldn’t come into the conversation. Knowing Z, however, it was bound to happen in one way or another. She shrugged, looking down at the side of rice on her plate and trying to seem casual about it and stressed out of her mind. “They’ve been alright. I mean, no one said said college would be a piece of cake, right?” She laughed softly, trying to lighten the mood. She mentally begged for Z to change the subject and talk about something else. Literally, anything. Too bad Z could see through her.

“That is true, but you know that I’m here to help you if you ever need it.” She reached across the table to hold (Y/N)’s hand and squeeze it reassuringly. Z waited for (Y/N) to finally look her in the eye before speaking again. “I know that school isn’t easy. But you’ve come this far, and I know you can get through any rough patch thrown at you.” She noticed the uneasy look in her friend’s face, as if she was contemplating on saying something. Z tried to push her in that direction.

‘I’m your friend, (Y/N). Please talk to me..’

Z continued. “Maybe the classes or the major itself aren’t the right fit for you. I changed my mind on what I wanted to do in life so many times before I got to where I am today, and you know it. So don’t feel bad if you start out a little messy in your work and classes. You’ll clean yourself up again. I know you will.” She waited for (Y/N) to say something, anything. She wanted to hear the truth from her first hand. After all, they say admitting the problem is the first step to recovery.

It was silent between the two of them before Zendaya realized that (Y/N) was looking down at their still interlocked hands. She pulled away, afraid she made her friend uncomfortable with the action. They didn’t say anything for a solid 5 minutes before Z changed the subject entirely. The two eventually finished dinner before heading to Z’s car to take (Y/N) back to her dorm, going their separate ways after that. Zendaya wanted to help. She wanted her best friend back to the happy go lucky self she had known for years on end. But how can she help if (Y/N) isn’t being fully honest with her?

The following week, Zendaya texted or called (Y/N) almost all day (every day) to see how she was doing with her classes and such. Even if she didn’t reply that much, she kept messaging her.

Hey, how’s your study session going?

Don’t over work yourself. Take a break or two if you really need it

And please don’t forget to eat dinner like last night lol

Z tried to sound uplifting to make (Y/N) happy and not stress too much over her work. But with hourly responses, it was hard to stay on the positive side of things. However, one text in particular caught Z’s attention.

I’m taking a 20 minute break to eat dinner lol are you happy xD

‘That’s more like it.’ Zendaya thought to herself as she read the text. ‘Now if I can just keep her in a positive mind set for the rest of the week.’ She didn’t hesitate to reply.

Let me guess, instant ramen?

She waited a minute for a reply.

Actually it’s regular ramen, thank you very much

Zendaya couldn’t help the smile on her face. She felt like she was getting her best friend back. Maybe she could even help (Y/N) with her studying so that she could get her grades higher and make her feel better. She wanted to bring up the matter of her friend’s health, but wasn’t sure how to without making it seem negative. ‘Might as well give it a shot, right?’

So how is the studying going?

It’s going pretty well

I think I got most of the info memorized

That’s good to hear

Do you need any help studying by any chance? I’m free tomorrow :)

A couple minutes went by before Z got a reply. It made her a little anxious, afraid she had made things worse. Thankfully, that wasn’t the case.

I wouldn’t mind a little study help. Tomorrow sounds great :D

Awesome! How does 4 work?

Perfect. It’ll be right after the class that I’m studying the test for

Zendaya didn’t realize she was grinning until she got up from her bed to go brush her hair before going to sleep. She was really proud of herself for helping her friend out. She decided to send another text.

If you ever wanna hang out again sometime soon then just say the word and I’ll be right over

And that means no school/work talk from either of us!

Just a girl’s night/day for us to relax and sort ourselves out from all the shit that goes down in our lives :D

After clicking send, Z read over the texts, hoping they didn’t sound too cheesy or weird. Luckily, (Y/N) is kinda the same way.

Sounds lit fam

Maybe getting (Y/N) out of this rough patch would be easier than Zendaya thought.

The study session between the girls the following day went really well. (Y/N) did well with the material that Zendaya was helping her with, Z was able to make (Y/N) smile and relax after she thought she had studied enough, they even ordered pizza to have for dinner at (Y/N)’s dorm. Currently, they were talking about whatever came to mind whether it was funny, sad, embarrassing, you name it. It’s what best friends do after all. And the best of best friends can tell when all your laughs are fake and smiles aren’t real.

Zendaya tried to get something out of (Y/N), but it just wasn’t working. She was missing her friend even though she was trying to be the happy girl Z had known for years. She wanted her not to worry, but that had already been happening for weeks on end.

Zendaya was at a loss. She didn’t know what to do. Yet there was so much more left to do.

#spiderrrling300wc #zendaya headcanon #zendaya imagine #zendaya #zendaya x reader

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bellsyblue · 6 years

Text

Done one of these in 2018, but new year, same me, new things to google, let’s go. Tagged by @sans--seraph (I really enjoy your posts btw)

Nickname: Bells / Bellsy / Blue

Zodiac: Gregorian: Taurus; Chinese: Fire Tiger.

Height: Taller than my older sister and that’s all that matters.

Last movie I saw: Into the Spiderverse (as excellent as everyone says)

Last thing I googled: Literally my Chinese zodiac to double check lol

Favourite musician: I don’t really have favourites and I listen to all genres, but anyone who is a good person IRL, sings/composes on a diversity of themes/styles/genres, tries new things with their music gets my listen (yes, I love Gaga and Beyonce).

Song stuck in my head: For some reason I had Dwayne Johnson’s “You’re welcome” stuck in my head all plane ride home and I only know one bar of the song, so I made the rest up myself.

Other blogs: @bellsybuilds (writing blog) and the nsfw which I keep for reference but is unsearchable anymore after the Great Purge. I don’t link them in the header so it’s 5% harder for my IRL friends to find when they pass through on a blue moon. XD

Do I get asks: The majority of people message me directly, which I love. Much easier to carry a conversation in chat. <3

Following: 558 blogs which I thought was too many until I saw others’ numbers.

Amount of sleep: Between 5-8, I’m getting better at this.

Lucky number: 13 (no jokes)

What I’m wearing: My undergrad university’s printed long-sleeve bc old uni threads make the best PJs.

Dream job: Living six months a piece in the two countries of my heart, consulting, researching and writing across academic, government and creative industries. Not too far off this goal atm, but I need to get over my fear of success because the last time I pursued a big project, it took a lot out of me.

Dream trip: Blizzcon. I want to be there for the Overwatch world cup final. This is a dream bc my sister and my work schedules make this look almost impossible for the next few years (we are OWL-obsessed, it’s the only sport we follow).

Favourite food: All food is beautiful and delicious, unless your name is haggis, get off my plate.

Play any instruments: Piano (fairly), guitar (like a noob), and I sing.

Languages: English (fluently), Samoan and French (conversationally), Cebuano (basically).

Favourite songs: Currently -- Alexander Lewis - Clockwise (feat. Nick Row) bc the drop is so mean, the Pop/Stars & Mic Drop mash-up (by K/DA and BTS) is still sick months after the fact, Shawn Mendes - "Youth" ft. Khalid because it’s just beautiful and so necessary, Billie Eilish - lovely (Lyrics) ft. Khalid bc the intro reminds me of what I love from Ludovico Einaudi and the lyrics are wonderful.

Random fact: I just returned from a month’s holiday and am trying to contend with the idea I might have accidentally fallen for one of my friends while I was over there.

Describe yourself as aesthetic things: The space at IKEA where you can fork into five types of bedroom display suites, they’re comfy and diverse, whatever you need at any one time, but you can’t shit in any of the toilets; I’m pretty adaptable depending on the situation and I try to live by principle of “do no harm, but take no shit”.

If so inclined, join in @fireflyquill @lariensaralonde @uncontinuous @burythekidd @mistwolfdeity <3

#i'm bad at those aesthetic memes don't @ me nerds #bellsy talks

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wolf-howl3 · 6 years

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One Last Dance ~ Jikook

Hey, this is a story I wrote for a school project, we had to make up an informative story about a cancer of our choosing, and being the massive ARMY I am I just had to make it into a fanfic. I’m actually kind of proud of this so I thought I would share it, instead of it just sitting on my computer forgotten. This is my first ever attempt at writing a fanfic so I welcome any helpful tips and critique you can give. This story does focus on lung cancer and isn't the happiest of endings, so if you feel like you might get triggered or upset by that I totally understand and you don't have to read it. There is no ‘hyung’ or anything like that in this story either, I thought I would give you a heads up on that, I know I got kind of confused when I was writing this but I left that stuff out cos I know it would have confused the hell out of my teacher. XD Anyway I’ll stop rambling, I hope you enjoy my story.

Frustrating. That’s the word Jungkook would use if he was asked about his day. Jungkook woke up late missing the first half of his class, which earned him a stern lecture from his professor after class, and made him late to his next class. This seemed to be a recurring event throughout his day.

After a horrid day at uni the last thing Jungkook wanted to do was have to catch a bus to the hospital. Now don't get him wrong, he loves his nan and was so worried when she fell in the garden at home, but right now Jungkook just wanted to go back to his apartment and sleep.

After finally getting off the bus and into the hospital Jungkook spent no time at all getting up to his nan’s floor. While walking down the hallway Jungkook passes a boy standing in the waiting room. The boy seemed to be about Jungkook’s age but almost a full head shorter than him with dirty blonde hair that just passes his ears, he looked to be as frustrated as Jungkook felt today. The boy seemed to be alone and pretty close to tears, Jungkook felt an urge to go over to this mysterious boy and comfort him, but by the time he got the guts to go over to the boy, he had already disappeared down another hallway. Annoyed at the missed opportunity Jungkook made his way to his nan’s room.

Jungkook really loved his nan. He’d been living with her since he was eight after his parents had a bad divorce and neither of them had the money to support him on their own. When Jungkook moved out to attend university and stay in a apartment he now shared with his best friend to be closer to the campus they both attended, Jungkook would try and visit his nan as much as possible, worried she’d become lonely.

After a good three hours of talking to his nan, Jungkook left the hospital with the promise of coming back tomorrow. Making his way towards the bus stop Jungkook notices another person there. As Jungkook gets closer he notices that the person was shorter than him and was shivering, which is understandable during a cold autumn night. When he makes it to the stop he soon realises it’s the same boy from the hospital. Just as he starts to build up the courage to talk to this boy again, the bus pulls up and the boy rushes on to try and escape the cold. Annoyed at not being able to talk to the boy for a second time he follows the boy onto the bus. Jungkook has no idea why he’s so determined to talk to this boy but when he sees the boy sitting alone at the back of the bus, Jungkook forgets about his thoughts and sits next to the boy.

There’s an awkward silence between them for a few minutes. It dawns on Jungkook that he has no idea what he’s doing, the boy just seemed so sad before that Jungkook thought he’d try and comfort him and that he has no clue what to say or how to start talking to him.

“Can I help you?”

Shocked that the boy spoke to him first, Jungkook tries to quickly compose himself before replying back.

“Uh… hi, I uh… I-I saw you at the hospital today and I just… uh… I just wanted to talk to you, I guess.” Jungkook silently berates himself for suddenly not being able to form proper sentences.

“Why?” the boy asks sounding annoyed.

“Uh… well you just seemed really frustrated and kinda sad. So I thought I could help, somehow,” Jungkook replied suddenly realising how weird this was. “I’m Jungkook by the way,” Jungkook says with a wary smile.

“Jimin,” the boy replies after a short pause, “and I don't need some stranger to comfort me. You don't know me and have no idea what I’m going though so just leave me alone,” Jimin bites back before standing up and departing the bus.

——

For the next few days Jungkook starts visiting the hospital more regularly to try and catch a glimpse of Jimin. He tries talking to the boy but he usually gets ignored. There were a few times where there was another person with Jimin, this person was about Jungkook’s height and had broad shoulders. Those days Jimin wasn't on the bus.

Jimin isn’t at the hospital for the next three weeks which worries Jungkook for reasons he doesn't know. A week later Jimin is back when Jungkook makes his way down the hall. For an unknown reason the sight of Jimin makes Jungkook really happy. Out of excitement Jungkook approaches Jimin to try and talk to him again.

“Hi,” Jungkook says happily.

Jimin gives him a weird look before sighing and saying, “Hi.”

Surprised to get a response Jungkook stammers for a moment before replying “Um… hi, uh… heh, sorry I wasn't expecting you to reply. H-how are you? I mean you haven't been around the last couple of weeks and I was just wondering if you were ok. Which you probably are because you haven't been in hospital and all but… uh sorry, I’m rambling.” Jungkook stops himself and shyly looks up to see Jimin with an amused look on his face.

Jimin gives a slight giggle then replies, “I’m going good, I guess. Well as good as you can be while having chemo. It’s also why I’ve been away for a couple of weeks, my body needs a break from the drugs and stuff.”

“C-Chemo?” Jungkook stammers at the new revelation.

Chuckling softly Jimin replies back, “What? Were you so distracted by my pretty face that you didn’t notice where I was going every time I left you standing here?”

“Uh, uh I-I guess so,” Jungkook says shocked with himself that he didn't realise the sign hanging over the hallway entrance saying “Cancer Ward”.

“Well it’s nice to know that someone noticed me before my cancer for once,” Jimin says back.

“B-But your hair…?”

“A wig.”

“Ah…”

There’s a stiff silence for a few minutes before it’s interrupted by the same broad shouldered man Jungkook has seen a few times before.

“Jimin! What are you doing still standing here? Your going to be late to your appointment,” the man says, concern entering his voice.

“Sorry Jin, let’s go. See you later Jungkook,” Jimin replies before leaving with Jin.

——

The next few weeks seem to fly by. After their first proper conversation Jimin seems to have started opening up a bit more to him, which Jungkook is super happy about, and has started to get to know Jimin. They never spoke about the cancer, Jungkook doesn't even know what type it is, but that’s ok with him. He doesn't want to pester Jimin with questions if he doesn't want to talk about it. Jungkook doesn't mind though because Jimin himself is such an awesome and interesting person to talk to.

Talking to Jimin is so easy for Jungkook, they always have something to talk about. Their main interest to talk about is music, with Jungkook minoring in singing and Jimin who majored in dance, they always had something to talk about. Whether it be about a new song a favourite artist released, watching Jimin’s old dance performances or a new song Jungkook has to learn for his class.

“I want to show you something,” Jimin states suddenly.

“What?”

“Come on.”

Jimin pulls Jungkook off his couch where they had been sitting playing video games for the last two hours and drags Jungkook out of the apartment to the bus stop.

“Where are we going?”

“My old dance studio.”

“Wait? Why?” Jungkook asks stunned as they board the bus.

“Because I haven't been there since I found out I had cancer and I’ve been really wanting to go back lately, but I don't want to go alone. I just want you there for support… is that ok?”

Honoured that Jimin would choose and trust him enough to do this, Jungkook gives a shy smile and replies, “That’s definitely ok. I’m kind of surprised you’d choose me and not Jin though.”

“Yeah. I don't know, there’s just something about you that makes me feel really safe and comfortable. I feel like I can tell you anything, even things I can’t tell Jin.”

Rendered speechless by that confession, Jungkook lets himself be dragged off the bus and into a small building just down the street. There’s a small reception desk to the left and a long hallway straight down. There are multiple doors along the hallway. Jimin starts to pull Jungkook a door, he notices the subtle rhythm of music on the other side.

Jimin opens the door and the sudden blast of the music hits the both of them. The room is small, and when entering Jungkook notices a huge mirror covering the entire back wall. There’s a stereo and laptop set up to the left, where the loud music is coming from. In the middle of the room there’s a young man dancing, he seems completely entranced with what he’s doing and doesn't even realise Jungkook and Jimin has entered the room.

It’s not until the music ends does the man come out of his hypnotic state and sees the two other men in the room.

With a big, bright smile the man runs over to them and screams, “JIMIN!” And scoops him up into a tight hug.

Laughing, Jimin reciprocates the hug.

“Oh my god! Jimin you’re back! How are you? Are you doing better? What took you so long to come see me? I’m so sorry I haven't been able to visit you lately, I’ve just been so busy with the next performance coming up,” the ecstatic man babbles on.

“Haha, it’s good to see you too Hobi! It’s ok, I understand. Sorry I haven't been able to see you here, I just haven't had the guts to come back I guess.”

“Don’t worry man I totally get it,” Hobi exclaims before turning to look in Jungkook’s direction. “Now are you going to introduce me to your extremely attractive friend here or do I have to find out for myself?”

Jungkook blushes slightly as Jimin gives an awkward laugh. “This is Jungkook, we met at the hospital.”

“Ah maybe I should start taking over Jin’s job of taking you to your chemo sessions if it gives me a bigger chance of finding myself a super hot boyfriend,” Hobi says as a smile creeps onto his lips.

Frozen by that comment Jimin stutters trying to reply. Thankfully Jungkook gets over the shock first. “I-I’m not his boyfriend, we’re just friends.”

“Ah, ok totally whatever you say man,” Hobi retorts back with a confident smile. “Oh shit is that the time?! Hey I’ve got to go. I’ve got a class to teach soon. I’ll see you later Jimin, we’ll have to catch up sometime soon. Also nice meeting you Jungkook, the ‘not boyfriend’.”

Hobi exits the room laughing, leaving Jungkook and Jimin in the studio with flustered faces.

After a few seconds Jimin sighs at his friends antics and tugs Jungkook over to a small two person couch near the door opposite the mirror.

“Interesting friend you have there,” Jungkook laughs.

“Yeah he can be a bit eccentric sometimes.”

“So, what are we doing here, I know you wanted to come back and all, but are we just going to sit here or do you want to look around?”

Taking a few minutes to think of a proper reply Jimin shyly states, “I actually wanted to come here to tell you about myself.”

“What do you mean? Isn't that what we've been doing these last couple of weeks?” Jungkook asks confused.

“No, I mean about the other part of me… my cancer. I know you want to know and I’m thankful you haven't been badgering me with questions about it, but I feel like I can trust you with this side of me and I wanted to tell you here because this place has always been a second home to me. I guess I just wanted to talk about this somewhere I feel most safe.”

“Oh… yeah, I’m actually kind of flattered that you would trust me with this sort of thing.”

“Yeah, well you’re someone special to me now, so I trust you.” Not knowing what to say after that confession Jungkook stays quiet, but thankfully Jimin keeps talking.

“So I should probably start by saying that I have lung cancer, specifically the last stages of stage three non-small cell lung cancer, which basically means it’s in both of my lungs.”

“It was actually Jin who suspected something was wrong at first. Because Jin’s a medical student, he could see the signs before I did. It started as just not being able to keep up with Hobi anymore while we were dancing. I needed more breaks, I had shortness of breath and I got tired more often even with a good nights sleep. Then I developed a really annoying cough that just wouldn't go away. Jin started pestering me about going to the doctors but I just kept telling him it was just a cold that I’d caught. He stopped pestering me about it after we’d gotten into a small argument with me telling him that he was just being paranoid because he’d just finished a big project on cancer, ironically.”

Jimin takes a moment to pause before continuing.

“I started randomly losing weight and my appetite about a month later. Jin started getting super worried again. I just kept brushing him off saying I was obviously just working too hard, he didn't believe me though. It wasn't until one night Jin, Hobi and myself were sitting on the couch in my apartment that I finally believed Jin. I started having a massive coughing fit and…”

Jimin pauses, trying to calm his racing heart down. Jungkook, seeing this, puts his hand on Jimin’s which seems to do the trick.

“… and when I’d finally stopped coughing I pulled my hand away from my mouth to see it covered in blood. I don't really remember much after that of that night, I think I started to have a panic attack. Hobi told me he had to try and keep calming me down while Jin rushed me to the emergency room.”

“I had a bunch of tests done. I had a chest x-ray, a CT scan, a PET scan and a biopsy and they all came back with me having stage two lung cancer. I’ve had surgery to have part of my right lung removed, I think it was called the lower lobe or something, you’d have to ask Jin about all the medical stuff, I don't really get it,” Jimin says, giving an airy laugh.

“It didn't work though, they must have missed some of the cancer or something because it ended up coming back worse than before, the start of stage three. The doctors considered me having another surgery and taking out my whole right lung but the thought of having my entire right lung removed scared me so much that by the time I’d had multiple conversations with both my doctor and Jin, the cancer had already spread to my left lung. With both of my lungs now slowly weakening the surgery wasn’t an option anymore.”

Taking a deep breath Jimin gives a sad laugh and says, “You know I sometimes blame myself for all this. When we were trying to figure out what caused the cancer Jin and I would stay up all night looking through his medical books tying to find an answer. I’ve never worked with dangerous substances like uranium or radon or asbestos so we crossed that off the list. I’ve never had any other trouble with my lungs in my life, I've never had HIV so that’s crossed off. I have no idea of my family medical history, so that only left one thing… smoking. But I’ve never smoked in my life. It wasn't til Jin asked me if I knew anyone who smoked that I knew what caused all this.”

Taking another short pause Jimin continues.

“Both of my parents have smoked for as long as I can remember. I don't blame them though, I should have avoided them more or put more distance between us when they were smoking. I brought this upon myself by not taking better precautions.”

By this point there were tears starting to well up in Jimin’s eyes, Jungkook couldn't stay quiet for any longer, he had to say something.

Taking both of Jimin’s hands in his, he looks into his watery eyes and says, “It’s not your fault, it is not your fault Jimin. Your parents should have been more careful who they smoked around. Don't you dare blame yourself for something that you had no control over.”

“I-I can’t blame them, my parents died in a crash a year before this all happened, I feel like I’m dishonouring them if I blame them for this.”

“You’re not dishonouring them, I’m sure they would feel so guilty if they were still here. They would hate to see you blaming yourself for something that was unavoidable for you. If your parents have been smoking for that long you probably started getting second-hand smoke when you were just a kid, when you wouldn't have known any better. I’m not saying you need to start hating your parents but you need to accept the fact that this isn't your fault, you had no control over this and it’s not a bad thing to blame the actual cause of this. Ok?”

After a bit of hesitation and contemplation Jimin eventually replies, “Ok, I’ll try.”

Jungkook gives a big smile and gives Jimin’s hands a light squeeze. “Good, that’s all I ask.”

Reciprocating Jungkook’s smile, Jimin wipes his eyes. “Sorry I went off track there, heh, what was I up to…? Oh, right surgery. Um… so yeah both my lungs have cancer in them now which means I can’t have the surgery, which I’m kind of glad about. The thought of having one of my lungs removed still scares the shit out of me. The doctors put me on radiation therapy but my body reacted really badly to it. Like other treatments like this there are side effects but they affected me quite badly. I got a lot of skin damage on my chest like peeling skin and blistering as well as I lost my appetite and lost a whole lot of weight. It got to the point that the doctors took me off the treatment about two and a half months ago, then after a little break put me on chemotherapy, which I’m still on now with about 3 or 4 weeks of chemo left… If this doesn't work, nothing will.”

“It’ll work. It has to.”

Giving a sad smile Jimin replies, “We’ll see.”

There’s a heavy silence that covers the room. Jungkook looks around the room trying to find a way to break this somber silence that fell over them. He spots the stereo in the corner of the room. Smiling excitedly Jungkook looks to Jimin before pulling him up with him and walking over to it.

“How long has it been since you last danced? Two years?”

“Four. Why?” Jimin asks suspiciously.

“Wanna dance now?”

Giving a wistful laugh, Jimin looks to Jungkook sadly. “You know I can’t. I don't have the energy to anymore.”

“Sure you do, we’ll just do it slow,” Jungkook says happily, while looking through his phone for the right song.

“We?”

Suddenly soft music starts playing though the stereo speakers. Looking up in confusion Jimin sees Jungkook looking down at him with a loving look in his eyes and a soft smile on his face, with one hand stretched out awaiting for Jimin to take.

“Yeah, we.”

Stunned and confused as to what’s going on Jimin takes Jungkook’s hand in his and allows himself to be pulled into the middle of the room. Guiding Jimin’s hand to his shoulder, Jungkook puts his on Jimin’s waist and slowly begins to take small steps in a circular pattern, as himself and Jimin begin to dance. Astounded by this outcome Jimin starts tearing up, finally realising what’s happening. For the first time in four years Jimin is dancing, overwhelmed by these emotions flooding over him Jimin tucks his head into Jungkook’s shoulder and starts to silently cry. Holding Jimin close as they continue dancing Jungkook wordlessly comforts Jimin.

They dance together for another twenty minutes before Jimin pulls away from Jungkook.

“I’m starting to get tired, I think I need to sit down,” Jimin states. They make their way over to the couch where they sit down, closer to each other than they did before. They sit in silence for a while as Jimin gains his energy back but it’s not a heavy awkward silence because both boys are content and happy. “Thank you.”

“You don't need to thank me, I enjoyed it. I’m sorry if I stepped on your toes, I’m not the best dancer.”

“Ha, don’t worry you didn’t, you actually seemed like you knew what you were doing. But really, I enjoyed that. Thank you.”

Smiling happily, Jungkook put his arm around Jimin’s waist and pulled him close. “I’m glad, you look better when you smile.”

“But it’s getting pretty late, I have an early class tomorrow and you said Jin was taking you out . We should probably start heading home,” sighed Jungkook as he looked down at the time on his phone.

“Yeah your right. Even though I really enjoyed that dance, I’m buggered.”

Laughing, Jungkook pulled Jimin off the couch and made their way out of the dance studio.

——

Over the course of a month Jimin and Jungkook became really close, spending almost all their waking time together that they could. After Jungkook’s nan was discharged from the hospital he had no reason to visit Jimin there every day. So when Jin wasn’t able to accompany Jimin during his chemo sessions Jungkook would take his place, which neither of the boys complained about. But not everything was as happy, Jimin was now on his last couple days of chemo and would be seeing his doctor soon after some tests to see if the treatment had worked. This had everyone on edge wanting to know if it had actually worked of not. The anticipation was killing everyone.

The day of the appointment arrived, after years of treatment, after years of fear and pain they were finally going to find out if the treatment was successful or not.

Everyone came. Jungkook, Jin and Hobi came to support Jimin, even Jungkook’s room mate and best friend Yoongi came, even though he had only met Jimin a hand full of times. Jungkook accompanied Jimin into the doctor’s office while everyone stayed in the waiting room. “Jimin, it’s good to see you. How are you feeling to day?” The doctor asked.

“I’m ok, bit tired today. This is my friend, I hope you don't mind him being here,” Jimin said gesturing at Jungkook.

“Of course I don’t mind,” the doctor said turning towards Jungkook, “My name’s Dr. Kim, it’s nice to meet you.”

“Jungkook, nice to meet you to,” Jungkook said shaking the doctors hand.

“Now please take a seat, we have a few things we need to discus today,” Dr. Kim said, suddenly serious as he sat down at his desk.

“Can we not beat around the bush too much today please, I just want to know if the treatment worked or not,” Jimin conveys, clearly hearing the nerves in his voice.

Sighing Dr. Kim looks at Jimin. “It didn’t.”

The second the words leave the doctor’s mouth Jungkook grabs onto Jimin’s hand.

“Ah… so I’m still dying then,” Jimin responds very quietly.

“Well…yes. I’m sorry,” Dr. Kim says dejected. “Your cancer in now in the stage four area. The cancer has completely spread throughout both of your lungs and will most likely soon start spreading to your other organs as well. We’re going to put you on some palliative care treatments.”

“What does that mean? I thought there weren't any other treatments,” Jungkook interrupts confused.

“There isn't anymore we can do to stop the cancer, but palliative care focuses on improving Jimin’s quality of life by reducing his symptoms so he’s not in so much pain. We’ll give nutritional and emotional support,” Dr. Kim answers before turning back to Jimin.

“I know you didn't want to go to any therapy sessions Jimin, but they will still be available to you during this time and to any of your friends and family that might need support as well. What we’ll focus on now is trying to make the rest of your life as easy and as enjoyable and comfortable as we can make it,” Dr. Kim finishes.

“Ok, I guess if I’m going to die soon anyway I should enjoy what little time I have left.”

“Yes, good I’m glad you think so. I apologise, but it’s hard to tell just how much time you have left. I’d estimate that it’s around a year. I’m so sorry.”

“Ok… can I leave now?”

“Yes of course go, we’ll make another appointment for another time to talk about this in further detail.”

“Thank you,” Jimin says quietly, as he gets up to leave still grasping tightly on to Jungkook’s hand.

Quietly both boys leave the doctor’s office walking towards their friends. Jin is the first one to see them coming and jumps up out if his seat in anticipation. No words need to be spoken as Jin looks into Jimin’s eyes, it’s clear on both boys expression what the answer to their questions are. Tears start welling up in Jin’s eyes as he tightly embraces his friend. Jimin hugging back just as hard but still refusing to let go of Jungkook’s hand.

The group of friends all quietly make their way to Jungkook and Yoongi’s apartment where they all sit down, and Jungkook explains what the doctor told them, as Jimin has gone silent only sitting on the couch next to Jungkook clutching onto the taller boys hand like it’s his life-line.

——

Over the next few months everyone tries their hardest to pretend like nothing is wrong and try to just make the atmosphere as comfortable and happy as possible, but there’s still that looming fear over everyones head like a giant timer just waiting for the day that the peacefulness breaks.

It happens one afternoon. Jungkook and Jimin are cuddling in Jimin’s bed watching a movie as he’s finding it gradually harder to go places without getting exhausted so quickly. When Jimin starts having the most violent of coughing fits. Jungkook tries his best to attempt to calm Jimin down but when Jimin begins hacking up blood sending both boys into an immense panic, Jungkook calls for an ambulance immediately while still trying to keep Jimin’s fear and panic under control.

The ambulance takes no time at all to make it to the apartment complex and rush Jimin out of the building and into the van with Jungkook trailing behind trying his absolute hardest to keep his sheer panic and anxiety under control.

When they make it to the hospital Jungkook is forced to stay in the waiting room as a medical team try their hardest to calm Jimin down and stop his coughing. Completely and utterly terrified Jungkook calls the first person he can think of.

“Hello?” A low baritone voice answers.

“Yoongi,” Jungkook croaks out breathing heavily.

“Jungkook? What’s wrong? Are you ok?” Sudden concern in his voice.

“Jimin. Coughing. Hospital.”

“Ok, ok kid calm down, I’m on my way right now, I’ll be there in five minutes” Yoongi replies before hanging up and rushing out of his class.

Jungkook doesn't start calming down until Yoongi’s been with him for a whole twenty minutes. Jungkook’s so glad he has Yoongi as a friend, even though the shorter man is four years older than Jungkook, they both make great friends for each other. They’ve both known each other for almost three years now since they started sharing an apartment together. Being a university student definitely doesn't pay well, so living on your own in a two bedroom apartment wasn't an option for Yoongi, which is why he put out an ad looking for a flat-mate. It just so happened that Jungkook was the one who saw the ad, and they’ve been close friends ever since.

“You calmed down now kid?” Yoongi says while slowly rubbing Jungkook’s back.

“As calm as I can be,” Jungkook states quietly.

“He’s going to be fine, don't worry,” Yoongi replies unconvincingly.

“Are you the one who came in with Jimin?“ A female voice swiftly says breaking the silence.

“Yes. How is he?” Jungkook’s voice suddenly on edge.

“He’s doing much better and in a stable condition. I can escort you to his room if you would like.”

“Yes, yes please. Yoongi can you call Jin and Hobi and tell them what’s going on?“

“Sure kid.”

The hospital room is small with only a single bed and chair. Jimin lays quietly on the bed breathing slowly while hooked up to multiple different medical devises that Jungkook has no clue about their purpose. Walking carefully into the room Jungkook makes his way over to the bed and sits down on the chair to Jimin’s right.

“Hey,” Jungkook says as quietly as he can, scared to break the peaceful silence.

“Hey,” Jimin replies back, voice hoarse and sore.

“How are you feeling?”

“Tired, sore, not too great to be honest.”

“You scared the shit out of me, you know,” Jungkook’s voice laced with concern.

“I scared the shit out of myself,” Jimin retorts, giving a small smile and a soft laugh.

They sit in a comfortable silence for a while just enjoying each others presence after such a traumatic event. A hour later Jin and Hobi come by, faces full of worry for their good friend. Yoongi comes in with them after giving Jimin and Jungkook some time by themselves. After a while everyone leaves to give Jimin some time to rest, Jungkook having to basically be dragged out by Yoongi as he had refused to leave.

——

Jimin has been in hospital for almost two weeks now. Jungkook has basically started living in that small room with Jimin as well, only leaving to get food and hasn't been to any of his classes in those two weeks. Jin, Hobi and Yoongi visit as much as they can, as well as Dr. Kim coming every other day keeping a close eye on Jimin’s condition. The cancer is now in Jimin’s liver and is continuing to spread. Everyone can see it, Jimin is fighting a losing battle. That unseeable countdown is nearly over.

——

It’s late at night, the moon shines brightly through the windows of the hospital room, two boys lay quietly on the small bed staring out into the night sky. The room is completely silent, Jimin had all the cords and wires removed the day before. He knew he was dying and it was just a waiting game from now on, Jimin didn't need that damn heart monitor constantly beeping to know that his heart was slowing down and soon would stop, he didn't want that sort of reminder. Jimin has accepted that he’s going to die, has for a while now, he could feel death looming over him, as if the Grim Reaper was standing right over him just waiting for the opportune moment to strike and take him from this world. So he relished in this quiet tranquil moment, strong arms wrapped around him from behind, soft breath fanning over his neck, the knowledge that he wasn’t going to die alone, with Jungkook comforting him in his last few moments.

“Sing for me,” the weak voice so quiet Jungkook had to take a moment to figure out if he actually heard a voice or not.

“What?” Jungkook questions scared to speak to loudly.

“Sing for me,” Jimin replies slightly louder, turing around to look Jungkook in the eyes, “Please?”

“What do you want me to sing?”

“Anything.”

Contemplating for a moment as to what to sing Jungkook opens his mouth and softly starts to sing.

When you say that you love me, Feels like I’m walking across the sky, Tell me about forever, just one more time, When you say that you love me, I just need those words, That you’ll never change, just one more time,

Jungkook sings softly and slowly, the soft baritone voice washing away all of Jimin’s fears and concerns.

You’re everything in this world to me, Harder, so it hurts, hold me tight, We shared something, And you can’t make it nothing, I hope you don’t forever, You’re my, Day by day, Summer, winter, Even if you don’t know,

Jimin relaxes, that Grim Reaper seems to fade away replaced by a soft comforting feeling like a angel floating above them.

You got the best of me, You got the best of me, So please just don’t leave me, You got the best of me,

Jungkook holds Jimin tighter as if he knows what Jimin is feeling right at this moment.

I haven’t seen the end to myself either, But if there’s such a thing, wouldn’t it be you?, I wanted to be a warm wave, But why didn’t I know you’re the ocean?, What do I do? I’m speaking in your language, I’m breathing in your breath, I’ll be you, you hold me, I’m kissing your sword,

Jungkook starts choking on his words as he feels Jimin’s breathing getting slower and slower.

So take my hand right now, I can’t believe myself, Words I said thousands of times only to myself, Don’t leave me, You got the best of me, You got the best of me, Whether this is a dream or reality, it’s not important, Just the fact that you’re by my side, Thanks,

Both boys know what’s happening, but Jungkook continues to sing and for that Jimin is grateful.

Day by day, Summer, winter, Even if you don’t know,

You got the best of me, You got the best of me, So please just don’t leave me, You got the best of me,

Jimin can feel his heart slowing, his limbs feeling heavy and he’s finding it increasingly harder to keep his eyes open.

You’re my salvation, you’re my shield, I just need you, You got the best of me, I need you, So please just don’t leave me, You got the best of me,

Jungkook is crying now, tears start streaming down his face but he continues to sing. He won’t stop, Jimin wanted to hear him sing so he’s going to sing.

It was raining, It was snowing, But all unhappiness stopped, You brought heaven to me, Don’t speak so easily, Because without you, there’s no me, You’re the best of me, The best of me,

Jimin’s vision is getting fuzzy, the clear night sky doesn't look so clear anymore. All the stars blur together. That doesn't matter though as long as Jimin can hear Jungkook’s voice and feel his arms.

Just give me assurance, That’s all I want, Even if there are no rules, Laws of love do exist, Who got the best of me?, Who got the best of me?, No one knows but I know me, My greatest master is you,

Jungkook can’t see anything any more, eyes filled with tears as he feels Jimin take his last breath. Jungkook keeps singing though, clutching tightly onto Jimin’s now still form, and doesn't stop until the song is over.

You got the best of me, You got the best of me, So please just don’t leave me, You got the best of me,

You’re my salvation, you’re my shield, I just need you, You got the best of me, I need you, So please just don’t leave me, You got the best of me,

I’m sorry. I feel like I need to say that, it is a pretty sad ending, I teared up while writing it but hopefully you enjoyed it.

I do have one question though. Who did you imagine Dr. Kim to be? Because at the start I imagined Namjoon but he somehow turned into Taehyung by the end of me writing it, so I’m curious about what everyone else imagined.

#bts #jeon jungkook #jungkook #park jimin #jimin #kim seokjin #jin #jung hoseok #hoseok #min yoongi #yoongi #kim namjoon #namjoon #kim taehyung #taehyung #Jikook #fanfic #bts army #army

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kusunogatari-a · 6 years

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[ SasuHinaMonth Day Eleven: Demon/Angel AU ] [ @sasuhinamonth ] [ Uchiha Sasuke, Hyūga Hinata ] [ SasuHina, death mention ] [ Verse: Watching Wings of White ]

He’s never been one for religion.

Even when the diagnosis comes back.

His father defaults to his rigid silence. His mother starts to murmur prayers. But his brother, the one whose life now hangs on a thread...does neither.

Still he smiles.

But Sasuke…

He rebels against the news. Refuses to accept it. Can’t stand to see his brother so calm, so...resigned! “How can you just sit there and do nothing?!”

“...because there is nothing left to do.”

No...no!

He skips school. Doesn’t go for a week. The administration calls, but his mother insists he’s too unstable to go - begs for a little more time. Apologizes, explains, all within earshot as he seethes.

On a Friday, he sneaks out of the house. Skulks through the dark neighborhood, heading toward an abandoned building several blocks away. He’s been tearing it apart from the inside out, venting his anger and grief through destruction that no one will notice.

So deep is he in his rage, he doesn’t notice the oncoming car. Not until headlights round the corner, and he looks up like a doe, frozen and staring.

...the next thing he knows, he lands hard on his backside, the vehicle not even slowing down. But...how did he…? What -? Who -?

“You really need to be more careful!”

Scrambling to his feet, Sasuke whips his head around, trying to find the source of the voice. “Who...who’s there? What -?”

Another turn puts him face to face with a set of pale eyes that seem to glow in the darkness. With a yelp, he falls once more, scrambling to back away with a heavy chest and drumming heart.

“You’re so clumsy…! Here, let me help you…” Hands reach, tucking under his armpits and lifting him as though he were a feather. Too shocked to refuse, Sasuke does little more than stare as the hovering figure alights atop the grass like a moth. Feathered wings ruffle to fold at her back, hands clasped before her.

“...you…?”

“Sorry...I wanted to introduce myself in a less...spectacular way, but I couldn’t let you get hit by a car, now could I?” She smiles, still looking at him with eyes like moons. “...you can call me Hinata. I’ve been assigned as your guardian angel.”

Silence.

“...okay. That car actually hit me. I’m comatose, and imagining things. Cuz this is stupid.” Refusing to accept what he sees, Sasuke lifts his hands in a gesture of defeat. “All Mom’s praying must be getting to my head. This is all just a load of bullshit.”

“Please, mind your language!”

“Piss off, lady - if I’m gonna be stuck in a coma, the last thing I want is company.” Still, he can’t help but startle as she flutters back in front of him, a stern look on her face.

“You are not comatose, Sasuke. This is real. Your mother has been awfully worried about you, and her prayers have caught our attention. I’m here to help you, until your grieving for your brother comes to an end.”

“...why not go help my brother, instead? I don’t give a shit about myself!” Dark eyes glare at her, clearly unamused. “...if it makes you happy, sure. I’ll play along. But angels aren’t real. Miracles aren’t real. You aren’t real.”

“I have a name.”

Sasuke sighs, head bowing. “...what is it?”

“I told you: Hinata. As for why I’m with you and not your brother...he’s already been assigned an angelic companion.”

That gets him to pause. “...are they...is he gonna live?”

“She’s doing everything she can. Please, trust me. But...you’re struggling too, Sasuke. And I’m here to help you.”

“...I don't need your help. I don't want it, either! Look, this…!” He cuts off with a curt sigh. “...I’m losing my mind. Or I’m dead. Or unconscious on the sidewalk. This can’t be -!”

A palm presses to his chest, and words cut to silence. A strange...warmth? blooms from where the angel touches him. Unbidden, tears flow from his eyes as his body reacts to her energy.

“...I know you do not believe,” she murmurs. “Your mother was worried your lack of faith would deter us. But we love all humans, regardless of their faith in us. And you need us. You’ve taken this burden on your shoulders alone, and pushed away all others. I’m your last chance for help, Sasuke. Please...don’t push me away, too.”

Staring at her with wide, uncensored eyes, Sasuke finds himself unable to look away. Her expression is a strange mix of sympathy, sadness...and an intensity that makes him feel so small.

And then...he realizes...she looks...familiar.

“...what...did you say your name was?”

“Hinata.” Seeing his recognition, it’s her turn to sigh. “...I knew you once, when you were very small. As was I. But...when I was seven, my mother and I were killed in a car accident. And I was given the chance to help others, even after my time on Earth was over. I became a guardian angel. And you...are the first person I’ve been assigned.” Slowly, she withdraws her hand, letting the strange, silver glow from her palm recede.

Clearly struggling, Sasuke mumbles, “I...I don’t u-understand…?”

“Your grief is tearing you apart, Sasuke. Others have tried to reach you, to help you. But you’ve turned them away. The path you follow has darkened...and would have ended dead on this sidewalk if I hadn’t intervened. I’m here to guard you, guide you...and help you find your right path again.”

He takes to pacing. This is all...too much. An angel - an honest-to-God angel - is supposed to...what? Become his therapist? A friend? This doesn’t make any sense! He’s never cared for faith...and his brother being on Death’s door isn’t going to change that.

Hinata waits, watching him patiently.

“...I was going to die. That car…?”

“Yes...as your guardian, it was my task to stop it.” Her posture softens. “...does that not open your eyes?”

“...what do you -?”

“Your mother would have lost another son tonight. Your father, too. Have you lost sight of the fact that you are not the only one grieving…? Your brother means the world to you...but not only to you.” Palms cup his face, watching him flinch as he expects another thrum of heavenly energy. “...I know what it is to leave family behind. Please, Sasuke...look at what you are pushing away. Your family is worried about you. They can’t take another heartbreak. So please...let your anger rest tonight. Go home. Hug your father. Tell your mother you love her. Don’t let what you have slip through your fingers.”

...it’s then it really seems to hit him. He was slated to die. Bound to leave his mother without another son. “...I…?”

“It’s not too late - that’s why I’m here. To help you find your second chance.” She smiles at him, seeing his mind begin to change. “...I’ll go with you. Don’t worry. No one else can see me. Now...shall we head back?”

Staring up at the angel’s face, it takes just a moment to make up his mind. “...a-all right.”

He sneaks in through the back door. Apologizes to his father. Embraces his mother. Both seem confused...but accept their son’s apparent change of heart, looks of hope on their faces.

...and then, he goes upstairs to his brother’s room.

Itachi is asleep, looking gaunt as always. Shallow breaths lift and let fall his chest.

...he’s not alone.

Sitting along the edge of his bed, with a hand resting atop his sternum, another angel stares down at him with a sympathetic gaze. As Sasuke opens the door, she looks up, the same moon-like eyes as her counterpart wide in surprise.

“...Sasuke…?”

In a moment they both vanish, Itachi stirring to give his brother a glance.

“...yeah. It’s me.”

The elder brother smiles, watching him approach. “...I was having the strangest dream...of a light, and...glowing eyes…” He takes a deep breath, and then sighs. “...I feel...rested, for once.” When Sasuke doesn’t reply, staring intensely, he asks, “...what’s wrong? You look like you’ve seen a ghost.”

“...no. Not quite. I’m...glad you’re feeling better. Go back to sleep. I’ll see you in the morning.”

Itachi’s brow furrows slightly, but he gives a nod. “...goodnight, Sasuke.”

Once the door closes behind him, Sasuke slumps against a wall, a hand over his face as shoulders shake. He hears the whisper of Hinata’s movement. “...Sasuke…?”

Struggling to compose himself, he can only murmur, “...thank you.”

“...we’ve not reached the end of your road. Nor has Itachi his. But...it’s a start. You shouldn't thank me yet, but...you’re welcome.”

Word count: 1452 Cumulative: 13,332 Man this prompt gave me some trouble! I don’t really have much of a verse for this sort of thing: I’ve only used this particular one once, and not for quite some time. I almost forgot I had it! This one isn’t as...romantic, but hopefully it still counts as SasuHina. I really enjoy the idea of Hinata as a guardian angel - it’s something I might have to visit again later. But for now, I’ve got a headache, and it’s late...time to sleep. I’m not sure if I’m 100% happy with this, but this was my second attempt, and I’m too tired to try again xD It’ll have to do! Hopefully tomorrow’s will be better~

#sasuhinamonth #uchiha sasuke #hyūga hinata #sasuhina #death mention #watching wings of white [ au ]#sasuhinamonth2018 #shmonth2018

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kryptsune · 6 years

Note

For the trope prompt: star crossed lovers fell!frans (you got me hooked on this ship i blame you XD)

🌼This was an old RP that I had sitting around between @riskyredfontaine and I. I thought it worked nicely for this prompt. I have so many of these it is not even funny. It is literally just a google drive filled with one-shots and other writing. I also… I have no shame in converting you my friend >;3 Risk is OTP and life. I will win everyone over one shipper at a time! MUHAHAHAHA

~~~Heaven and Hell~~~

It was a late morning as the sunlight streamed through the only open portion of the curtains. It was mid-morning at least. A girl with a short auburn bob of hair lay in bed. She was wearing only a black tank top and a pair of white shorts with little blue hearts all over them. One of her hands hung limply off the side of the bed as she snoozed. It was clear from her appearance alone that her physical prowess was probably lacking but she had a greater power. It was a hidden power. An ancient one. As well as a task. To protect the mortals of this world from the immortals wanting to cause havoc. She mainly slept in so late due to her late night missions and one mission in particular always weighed heavy on her mind. All she knew was after a long day at work all she wanted was to come home to the person in her life that meant the most to her. She just prayed that he would never learn the truth about her “side” job.

Red always tended to sleep in, the guy was a night owl for sure, but made the attempt to get up during the day for her. In truth, this was why he sought others. He refused to harm her. He even went so far as to protect her from others like him. He had no such loyalties. There was this feeling that he received when human’s soul, their essence, drained away giving him added life and vitality. It was a wondrously almost addictive thing. He kept her blissfully ignorant of his life after dark. It was one of the reasons why they lived together and yet stayed in separate rooms.

Now, Red was awake and the scent of bacon wafted from the kitchen in the house that they now shared.

Frisk groaned lightly as the scent of succulent juicy bacon found its way into her room. Her inky lashes parted to reveal stunning cobalt blue eyes like sparkling gems. She moved her head to look at the clock only to gasp and scramble out of bed. The hardest part about being some kind of anointed demon hunter was the cleanup. She would come home with wounds that would heal quickly but difficult to explain. Totally forgetting that fact she made her way downstairs and into the kitchen still in her pajamas. How embarrassing. She rubbed her eyes gently before taking a place on one of the bar stools, “Good morning.”

He used his band gigs as a kind of cover as not to raise suspicion not that humans even believed in his kind in the first place. The acceptance of monsters had made it easier for him to blend him being a skeleton and all. He gave her a sharp-toothed grin, “Mornin kitten.” We came close to her, kissing her deeply. Her scent intoxicated him so very much. It was from this love that kept her from feeling his teeth in her soul. The only time she ever felt his sharp teeth was when he loved to nibble at her neck, “I admit.. I don’t want to go ta my gig tonight and spend all ma time with ya instead sweetheart.” He had a smirk on his face the usual fair, “And uh somethin else~”

It was a good thing that she was not eating or drinking anything because she would have either choked or spit it out. She recollected her rather scattered thoughts to clear her throat. Her cheeks were a pale pink, “Kinky but not unwanted. I’m sorry I was out kind of late last night so I got up too late.” She did not know why she had to apologize for her own schedule but she had not seen him much lately. She was not one to back down from a challenge even if he was not joking but no one in this world could cause her to melt like Red could. It was simply unnatural and unfair. She smirked lightly, “Humm did I say I was out late at the hospital? Nah, I was at a strip club because my boyfriend is just so rough with me” She knew he was playing around.

He chuckled, “Eat yer breakfast. Then after….” He did not even have to finish his sentence. He had no shame with that baritone voice and people wondered why his singing was always so entrancing. He leaned in close behind her whispering something in her ear laughing when her reaction caused her to nearly fall off the stool she was sitting on.

Frisk was wrong dead wrong. She should have known better but damn who could say no to- Her thoughts were cut off for a moment by the growl that just randomly came from her stomach “Uhh… I guess I am more hungry than I thought. ” There was something about the way he spoke that just put her into almost a trance. It was hard to stay focused. How the hell did she snag him in the first place?

He could say the same. What about her called to him that made him want to keep her and not just play with her and kill her? It was something he spent hours thinking upon and never held an answer for. He moved away from her, putting a plate of bacon and eggs with toast on the table, “Eat up kitten.”

Frisk had spotted a look in his eyes that told her he was deep in thought. She was not going to question it and instead turned her attention on her lovingly prepared breakfast. Her hand reached for the fork only to place some eggs on the toast munching quietly. “You know you don’t have to make breakfast for me. I feel bad enough already sleeping in so late.”

He stood behind the island and rested his elbow on the countertop before speaking softly, “Well I wanted to.” He took a plate for himself mimicking her action of placing the eggs upon the buttered piece of toast in his hand, “I figured you’d be hungry in any case.” He did not exactly have to eat the way monsters or humans had to but he could still enjoy a meal. It was not like he could not taste just that his body did not need food to survive.

Frisk flushed slightly he was always so thoughtful of her even when she felt as though she was not of him. She had been so exhausted lately that normally she would just come home and crash as soon as she was in the vicinity of a nearby couch or bed. She just prayed that she never ever brought her work home with her. She did not know what she would do without him. After a while, she just smiled and shook her head, “How on earth did I manage to be with a guy like you? You’re too good to me.”

There was a hint of a chuckle in his voice, “Guess ya got lucky huh? I’ve got another gig tonight so I’ll be out late, rougher part of town but it’s payin me well. The sooner ya eat as well the sooner I can relax those tired muscles of yours.” He emphasized the last part with a wink. His fingers were like magic when it came to giving massages, among other things.

Frisk stared at her empty plate for only a moment, “I sure as hell hope luck had nothing to do with it.” She shook her head before nodding and pushing her plate away, “Alright. I think I might take the day off. I have not been feeling so well lately”. His wink only caused the flush on her cheeks to spread further.

That just fueled the fire more, “Ooh I gets ya all to m'self, do I? Well then.” He rose to his feet and pulled her up to him, “Let’s make up for missed nights shall we?” He claimed her lips in a deep kiss holding her tightly to him. He loved all of her, to be sure, every part of her from her feistiness to her loving loyalty to him. They were traits that only she possessed and it made him lover hare all the more.

Stars Frisk was unable to resist that freaking smirk and let’s face it his hands all over her. Her cheeks only darkened in color as she was not prepared for the sudden kiss. He was tall but not too much taller than her so she usually had to look up at him. She was about to answer his question before she was caught off guard by the deep kiss. It caused her head to spin a little bit. He was like a drug that she just could not get enough of, “o…only until you leave for your gig.” She replied rather breathlessly in an attempt to calm her already racing heart.

He said as he pulled back, “Then we got plenty of time, darlin~” He beckoned her toward the open door of her bedroom, “Com’ere and lay down kitten and let’s get ya nice and relaxed shall we?” He certainly had ulterior motives if his tone held any indication. This was typical for him especially when it came to something he wanted. He was not used to be turned down.

Frisk had to clear her thoughts before following him into her own bedroom. She knew by his tone of voice that he wanted something from her but she also could not pass up the opportunity for a massage. She needed one desperately. Just the other day a demon nearly attempted to slice her arm off. It failed but the thought was a none too pleasant one. She laid down on the bed and sighed in content. It just felt good to relax for a change, “Darling? That’s a new one…” He had given her a long list of pet names but dear was never one of them.

He raised a brow bone, “Ahh… I heard some gossip that human women loved that kinda stuff. When they get called dear. That wrong?” It hard to believe he was actually a true monster when he was always so suave and composed but times like this, well it just seemed cute how hard he was actually trying. He came to straddle her legs then, as those magical hands of his laid upon her, a soft red magic would give her a tingly sort of sensation as he began to rub her back.

Frisk only chuckled at the question, “Well I suppose so but it just sounds strange hearing you say it.” She completely melted against his hands like butter. Stars he could get her to do just about anything he asked. She closed her eyes relaxing. When she felt him getting a little handsy she just couldn’t contain the sass. “Shameless huh?”

Red chuckled as he continued, “Do ya really expect anythin less from me?” He chuckled, leaning over her to nip at her neck, trailing that faintly glowing tongue right over her soft flesh. Yep, 1000 percent shameless.

Frisk shook her head as much as she could in this position, “Pfft not really. Humm? Needy much?” She had that typical seductive yet snarky tone to her voice. It usually meant she was flustered to the point that she had to cope somehow. She couldn’t suppress the pleasurable shudder though. There goes her ability to think again.

He continued to massage her back, even as he licked and nibbled at her neck. He would lean over to whisper into her ear. “Don’t hear ya complainin~” His tone was seductive and yet loving. He would never do anything against her will, never. He knew that her job had been wrecking her with its long sporadic hours and overnights. It was a wonder she was able to have energy at all. He just enjoyed teasing her as much as he could.

Frisk took a deep breath. All she could do was facepalm in response cheeks burning, “Do you want me to?” She asked quizzically. Typical of Red. He was flowery in tone until he couldn’t control himself anymore. She was so worn out she feared with the relaxing massage she was being given that she just might fall asleep in the process, “Can we just stay like this?” She was being worked into the ground regardless if a job at the hospital was not the cause.

She just wanted a relaxing massage. She was getting waaaay more than she bargained for as always. I guess that’s what she gets for being out late so long and crashing nearly every night for 2 months straight. He was whispering sweet nothings into her ear nibbling at it again with those sharp teeth. She wanted to roll her eyes at the wording but they were still closed, “Stars that feels good.” She opened them turning her head to try and see him. She felt so much better after this even though she knew he wanted something more. She could only chuckle at his nibbling antics, “H….hey hey that tickles.”

He smiled down at her, “Well… You are certainly easy to please.” He replied with a soft chuckle, kissing her lips, “I need to get going my little kitten but know that you are the only woman that’ll ever look at.” He kissed her again softly as he felt that hunger begin to creep up on him once more. He needed to feed and he was not going to do it on her. He could kill her even if he was able to control himself.

Frisk gave him a deadpan glare accompanied by a defensive flush, “I…I am not!” The look disappeared immediately when he kissed her. He had to leave so soon? She could not exactly argue with him about it since she had to leave so often. She was about to object before she received another kiss, “I will never doubt you. I will be here when you return.”

He smiled softly running skeletal fingers through her hair, “I will see you soon sweetheart.” He grabbed his guitar from the stand in the corner of his own room and left for his so-called ‘Gig’.

Frisk just lay there for a moment before deciding to take a long shower. It was her day off but her job never really rested. As long as demons and other things preyed on humans her job would never be done. She always played so innocent and sweet but the truth was that she was much stronger than she appeared. She was half angel after all. A blessing to most but a curse to her. She let the hot water wash over her. This house was the only place she could be herself. Naturally, she would have to disguise herself when she did her work making it impossible for them to find her. She leaned her head against the tile wall before staring off into space in thought. She removed herself from the warm water and dried herself off. She put on some comfy clothing in order to relax and took a spot on the couch. She was so tired. It was unnatural. A tired that exceeded what it should have. She didn’t care she was able to spend the morning with the one she loved and that put a smile on her face as she closed her eyes to try and slip into dreamland.

The starving demon snapped his fingers changing into a form that would be unrecognizable to others of his kind as well as the angelic hunters that roamed the streets. No one would be able to recognize him as he lured unsuspecting humans and monsters alike to feed on their life energy draining the soul to the point of collapse. He finds another target grabbing a hold of the poor human and forcefully grabs their neck forcing it to the side.

———————————

Frisk had been asleep for a little while before a ring when off on her phone. The sound caused her to jolt awake and roll off the couch only to rub her side, “Owww.” She stared at the screen and began to chew her lower lip. The one day she might have gotten some rest. Of course, that was too good to be true as she stood up quickly. She nearly ran out the door before realizing she was without her illusion. She closed her eyes letting the magic work over her letting her human form change to what she actually should have looked like. No humans could see her as she ran her way through the streets searching. A few rooftops later and she gritted her teeth in frustration.

There was her nemesis to be sure the dark demonic vampire only known as Crimson, embracing a human as he fed on her neck. The human did not even resist. Frisk finally spotted who she was looking for or rather what she was looking for. She dropped down right in front of the two. Her now amber eyes were cold and her tone demanding, “Let the girl go!” She had been hunting the bastard for years and he always somehow managed to slip out of her grasp. It set her very much on edge. The council, or rather the group of angel blooded humans that she reported to, had alerted her that he was probably one of the most dangerous out of them all. As a younger girl, she had gone off on her own thinking she could take him on by herself with disastrous consequences. He nearly killed her save for the others that came to save her. Her hand was balled into a fist as she remembered his teeth in her nearly inches from death. All the warriors had a codename of sorts she happened to be integrity.

Red looked up as he heard her, letting the dead woman fall to the ground. His mouth stained with her blood. He chuckled when his red eyes fell on her, “Well if it isn’t the cute little rookie again! Out and about without your babysitters, I see. That’s sweet. Run along home little rookie, or do you actually have a deathwish?” He half spat yet he seemed so amused with her to Red she was nothing special as those hypnotic eyes stared right up at her.

Frisk would have bit through her jaw if she ground her teeth anymore but she had to speak. She had been too late. There was another person dead because of her. If she had been just a little bit sooner. It had always tortured her the nature of her job. She had to save others but it she failed, “I am not a rookie you bastard! That was a long time ago and I am never letting it happen again!” It was true it had been years since that time and she had pushed herself to be one of the best. He always mocked her and her anger only grew.

His laughter echoed off the alleyway as he jumped up, scaling the wall to stand on the roof opposite her, "Very well then little rookie. We’ll dance if you so wish to die, but don’t say I wasn’t sporting enough to give you an out.” He then jumped towards her, using his speed as an advantage like his brother had taught him oh so long ago. He had learned over the centuries that angels could be dangerous, even the foolish ones.

His laughter only seemed to enrage her even more. It was unbecoming of someone with her lineage but there was no helping such feelings. One day she was going to wipe that smirk off his smug fanged face. She immediately dodged his incoming jump by jumping to the side materializing a set of golden and white pistols, “Don’t underestimate me!”

He continued to taunt her as a sword formed of red magic. It was his standard fare, as his eyes blazed with red, “I am going to enjoy draining the life from your eyes!” He hissed as he lunged forward, wanting to knock her down, to pin her and to hurt her. All without knowing just who she was to him.

She only smirked as she dodged his attacks with a look of boredom on her face. "A sword… really? How predictable… it’s the modern age grandpa why don’t you upgrade a little bit and give me a challenge?” She pointed her right pistol at him and fired.

His laughter echoed behind her as she fired dodging the attack effortlessly smirk ever growing before he toyed with her, “Hmm not bad..” He teased her sides with his fingers. He said as he moved to grab her, to bring his sword to her neck, “That fire is rather lovely my sweet angel. Maybe I just might keep you~”

Frisk jumped in surprise. It wasn’t an attack but an extreme violation of her personal space that only made her even angrier. Now she just wanted to shoot him in the face. She elbowed him directly in the face her eyebrows furrowed and twitching, "I am spoken for thank you very much! You are not in the least bit enticing so hands… OFF!” She whipped around and pointed both of the pistols at his face firing consecutively.

One hit him right in the arm as he managed to dodge, which caused him to hiss, “Well I suppose I deserved that one..” He laughed it off, however, as he kept coming at her, aiming attacks that fired at her, with a summoned hand sending tendrils of light blue magic to try and wrap her tight,

“Besides.. you? Spoken for? Ha! Come now, everyone knows that you angel kin are just lovely little~” He was cut off before he could say the word.

Frisk cracked a small smile when she was able to hit him. Not in his face directly but she would take it. She never actually had seen the demon under the hood, no one had. She slid to the side only to realize he was trying to grab her. Just as the magic was about to close in on her she took to the sky. She rarely used her wings but they were useful in times like this, “Nice try… w…what?! Yes, I am spoken for! Why is that so hard to believe?“ She floated in mid-air ready to go on the defensive or offensive if the opportunity presented itself.

He flippantly replied, "Frankly yes. I do find it surprising. You are entirely plain only worth for a quick meal and a little fun.” HEe chased after her shooting attack after attack not letting the angelic hunter rest, “Besides…I didn’t gain the reputation of Angel killer, just by killing angels little rookie. Didn’t your superiors tell you about just how bad it is being a female angel around me?” He smirked, letting it sink in. He played with female angels in more ways than one and then killed them after.

Frisk’s eye twitched. Even if she could hold her own the mental battle was one she was not winning. Her evasion in the sky had increased but the onslaught was causing her strength to drain. She was tired earlier for some reason she was unable to place and this was not helping. He caught her off guard when she heard what he was saying. She suddenly felt sick to her stomach causing her to lose focus enough for one of the attacks to clip one of her pretty gold and white wings, slowly the wound began to dye the feathers a crimson. The pain was harsh but she grit her teeth and bore it. Her superiors had told her nothing. They said his name was due to his danger class, crimson being the highest of them all. They never mentioned- “My superiors told me… nothing.” Why would they not tell her this information?

He laughed as he shot out red strings of magic to bind her tight, “Well why would they tell a rookie who shouldn’t even be out on her own yet? Or maybe…” He chuckled as he reeled her in, “… they believed your plainness to be a deterrent since beauty is my forte.” They were harsh words, but Red fought dirty.

Frisk didn’t catch the attack as the magic wrapped around her trying to reel her in like a fish caught on a line. She struggled but like before her energy was being sapped. If he caught her then…She did not even want to imagine it, “Y…you don’t know what I look like!” Why was she getting so defensive? Somewhere in the back of her mind, she thought back to Red. If what Crimson was saying was true then would he get bored of her? WHY WAS SHE THINKING ABOUT THAT IN SUCH A CRITICAL SITUATION?! Nonetheless, a tightness began to form in her throat. She had slipped very crucial information, that this was not what she looked like. She continued to struggle as much as she could. She could not raise her arms but she could raise her wrists as she fired as many shots as she could with her arms bound at her sides, “l….like hell I care about your opinion! L….let me….let me go!”

He laughed evilly as he dragged her close to him using those strings, “Well my little angel. I’ll give you at least some bit of pleasure before I send you back to the heavenly hole you came from!” His eyes burned as he thought of ridding the world of yet another angel.

She audibly gulped. It was true she was young but she wasn’t a rookie. What was wrong with her!? Her disguise was starting to falter as the wings behind her seemed to crack and shatter. Why was her body not responding like it should! It was maddening. Why was nobody coming to her aid? What was going on?! She dropped the pistols to the ground unable to hold them any longer. The grip on her would have suffocated a normal human, “W….why…why can’t I ever.. beat you?” Her pride was wounded. No matter what she did just couldn’t do it.

He frowned as he brought her close to him, “Because I am more than you angels will ever understand.” What he would never say was how her scent drove him wild. He wanted her badly. As much as he wanted his own… wait a second… her wings.. they faltered! Red was not an idiot. He grabbed her hair roughly, holding her back to his chest as he bent to sink his teeth into her. He had to taste her. He wanted it more than he could ever understand. It was driving him mad.

Frisk gasped for a moment when he tangled his hands in her hair and pulled her back roughly. The wind was nearly knocked out of her. No one was coming to her aid. Had they intentionally sent her to her death? They hated that she was in a relationship with a monster no less. It was like an unspoken sin to them. Her decisions had made her an outcast within their ranks as powerful as she was. She could best any demon, any vampires, any creature that crossed her path but when it came to Crimson there was no doubt she had been unable to live up to her potential. Either he truly was that strong or something happened where she had become weak. It made no sense to her. All that she did now was fight the tears threatening her eyes at the thought of never returning home. He would never know. She had never told the truth. She should have but she was afraid. She was always so afraid. Her eyes screwed shut at the feeling of teeth at her neck. She expected it to be an excruciating pain but it was the opposite. She wouldn’t do it. She wouldn’t whimper and give that devil the satisfaction. All she knew was that her angelic form was fading away little by little. It started with her clothing returning it to its original state. A black fluffy sweater, black pants, and brown boots. Her final attempt was to pull his arm away from her and rip herself out of his grip even if it would tear her neck open. She would die on her own terms.

He gripped her tightly forcing her neck to the side after he had taken a few deep sips from her only to shove her away and growl, “Damn it! Fuck no..” Red growled again as he moved back from her, looking at her now as if she had grown a second head. .That was when he fled.

He had her right where he wanted her WTF?! Frisk fell to the ground hitting it rather hard and whimpered. She was still bleeding and her illusion was completely gone now. Her face was turned down as she panted. What on earth? She looked up to see him running away? What the hell!? She managed to sit up and cover her hand over the wound. How was she going to explain this? The wound hurt and stung but it was nothing she couldn’t handle. She stood shakily to her feet blue eyes scanning the area, “Don’t you run away from me you asshole!” She whimpered at the pain before sighing in exhaustion. Her hand slipped into her pocket to see the time and panicked if she was not home before Red!!? She made her way back as quickly as she could, bursting through the door to find her secret stash of healing items that would fix her wound. She was starting to feel light headed. It just kept bleeding and her face was starting to pale. “Come on …come on.”

What she heard then was the sounds of anguish from Red’s room. He was yelling at someone? “What’s more, it’s her! That fucking rookie, it just HAD to be her didn’t it?! and I damn near killed her! Son of a bitch. Why did I have to fall for a fucking angel of all creatures?!”

At least you know now Sans but we did tell ya this could happen. No one could find a damn thing on her background, not even your spy network could figure out anything. That shoulda been tip number one Crimson. It wasn’t a girl’s voice, but it wasn’t masculine either.

Frisk grabbed a hold of the bottle she was looking for and downed its contents as the wound disappeared completely. She lay on her back letting the bottle roll out of her grip until she heard someone. She lifted herself up and peeked her head around the corner only to hear it coming from Red’s room. She leaned her ear against the door and listened in only to feel her chest tighten. Everything fell away into a black abyss as she leaned against his door. Her blue eyes were wide and filled with a combination of horror and disbelief. The words went in one ear and out the other 'rookie’, 'angel’, the nickname Crimson’. She couldn’t breathe all she could do was stay there frozen until the door gave way and caused her to end up face first in his room.

He turned as a tall skeleton looked at her then at him with a look of disbelief. Well, that speaks to the healing power angels have. You really need to kill her Red.” Red looked at her, “I can’t Saros. I really can’t.” He used his red magic to bring her closer to him, “Suppose this is what they mean by sleepin with tha enemy. I Wonder what yer angels would think of you now. I have drunk of yer blood and even taken all that ya were. So now little angel…Frisk. What are we goin ta do? Know you ain’t stupid, ya have much too bright a mind for that.”

Frisk could feel her entire world spiraling downward. What would they think of her? Did they know? Is that why they continued to send her out after him hoping they would eventually kill each other? Frisk had a hard time looking at him for a moment. All she could do was look off to the side fighting back her urge to cry. Her voice wavered, “D…do you want to kill me? It would be easier for you right? Not having… to deal with me an…anymore?”

He shrugged, “If I’m honest, yeah. It would be easier but I meant what I say nearly every mornin kitten. You have managed to ensnare my heart when no others could. That would explain why it physically hurt me to drain you of ya soul’s life. So ya tell me, dear little angel. What does ya soul feel when I’m near? Before you knew I was Crimson? or when I was Red to ya.. What did your soul feel?”

Frisk heard the words 'honest, yeah’ and her heart nearly broke. She had closed her eyes in defeat in that split second before opening them again. She shouldn’t be afraid of the one she loved right? In essence, even though she did not know who he was he still loved her and she felt the same. The question caused her cheeks to flush a soft pink. She couldn’t look at him, not yet. She let a soft yet painful sigh escape her, “Like I would die if I could never see you again. In fact, I think it begins to. Every time you leave I become physically weaker it would explain why I can’t fight you at my top ability. Something inside me prevented me from doing so. N…Now I know why. I think about you all the time when I am out there. I thought about you at the time even though I didn’t know… How I wouldn’t be able to come home and…” Her voice choked up.

Red let her go then, letting her sit on the bed, “It did always make me curious.. hmm..” He attempted to bring her soul out for him to look at, “I wondered why ma soul had started ta crack recently. I assumed it had been from lack of sustenance.” A muted white soul combined in a glow with her bright blue when he drew it forth. It was Red’s own soul with a muted white base, tinted with blue and red, “Shortly after we met tha first time, these bright blue swirls started appearin in my soul. Care ta take a guess where they came from?”

Frisk fell gently to sit on the bed. It was a weird feeling to have your soul extracted from your chest. It was a bright blue just like her eyes and glowed turning everything around them blue. She had never felt something so strange. So this was her? The very culmination of her being? She stared at the souls in front of her unable to fully comprehend what she was looking at. The very sight of a soul was foreign to her as her cheeks flushed. “M….me?”

He nodded gently, “There’s tha mind I enjoy so much. Yeah, these blue lines are in fact, from you.” His tone was soft and informative just looking at her not caring the information from before, “It’s not cracking it, but rather healing tha cracks and my soul pulses as it wants to join with yours.”

Frisk’s cheeks darkened exponentially at what he was saying. Her hands came to rest in her lap. She was healing the cracks in his soul? How could that be? “W..what are you saying?”

He sighed softly only giving her a lopsided toothy grin, “Our souls want ta bond Frisk, pay attention. Did ya not read the books I gave ya? I’ve been hintin for a week now.”

Frisk just blinked before scratching the back of her head sheepishly, “I…I’ve been so busy I have not had the chance to. I…I’m sorry though technically you have been keeping me busy so…” She closed her eyes with a nervous laugh before returning to normal, “W…why me? If… if you know the truth then why would you still want to be with me?”

He had never felt this way about anyone in his entire existence. She was healing the cracks that made him what he was and that was unheard of. He couldn’t stop thinking about her or wanting to be around her. Even his more physical desires were calmed by her. She made him better than what he ever thought he could be, “Tha soul wants what it wants Frisk every monster is bound to it If my soul wants ya, I can’t fight that without havin a metaphorical hole within it for all time.”

Frisk’s heart skipped a small beat at the implication of it. In front of her the heart that made her who she was quivering by the strongly held emotion. She had her hand held against her chest. Her heart was beating a little too quickly for her liking. She lowered her head slightly, “You asked me once before how I would feel…w…without you. I don’t think I could bear it. It would tear me apart. E…Even knowing… what I know… I…” She tried to get the words out.

Red looked at her, “Same here sweetheart. My soul doesn’t want ta live apart from ya.” He put a finger to her lips, “But herein lies tha problem my angel. What we are will try ta tear us apart. My end will urge me to just chain you up like a toy…absolutely barbaric honestly and I doubt yer kind will be as forgivin knowin that I’ve been a demon this entire time.”

Frisk took a slow and steady breath as if the air in her lungs burned with every breath. Every fiber of her being was screaming at her. The soul was something even she couldn’t resist. She would rather rip it out of her chest then be apart from him. Normally she would have made a snarky remark about how she was into it or it was a kinky notion in general but the light-hearted words were stuck in her throat. She finally looked up at him cobalt eyes filling with unshed tears. She was on the brink and all she could see was her lack of options. When he mentioned her kind she scoffed, “Angel…don’t call me that I know you mean it endearingly but it leaves a sour taste in my mouth. My kind…my kind has no love for me. They sent me to you time after time with limited information so you would do their dirty work. I…don’t care about them or what they think.” Her voice wavered for a moment, “The only person that’s ever loved me….is you.”

Red smirked, “Well ya ARE mine and ya are an angel” He chuckled and pulled her onto his lap, “One solution ta this little problem is ta just stop fighting and remain with me.”

Frisk was ready to protest to anything he had to say next thinking it would be something along the lines of star-crossed lovers never meant to be yadda yadda. Just as she parted her lips, “I can’t live witho- wait what?” She felt that heat rising in her cheeks as he pulled her onto his lap. Stars he had her wrapped around his little finger. That’s right she was his and she wouldn’t have it any other way now that the drama had ceased she could be a little snarky again, "Goodness me of all people? I distinctly remember someone saying I was only good for ah…how did you so eloquently put it? Oh right… a little fun and a quick meal?” She had a small smirk playing on her lips now she could use all those things over the years as payback. They didn’t hold any value anymore to her only ammo.

He chuckled, trailing that tongue over her neck and back into his mouth. “Ta be fair kitten. Ya didn’t even know who I was until this moment, and I didn’t know who ya were till I nearly killed ya.” He touched the side of her neck where he had almost drained the life from her soul, frowning, “I feed on others so I’m not tempted ta feed on you.”

Her body shivered at the feel of his tongue on her neck. Damn, why did her body always betray her? The smirk she had curled on her pale pink lips faded at the look on his face, "Sure you could say that but… Well, I think my soul knew deep down. It wouldn’t let me fight you which is why you always bested me. H…hey I’m still here and you didn’t know. I…I was going to tell you the truth before you left this morning but I was afraid you would think I was crazy. Talk about taking your work home with you.” Instead of a lewd remark or a snappy comeback, all she did was smile gently, “You’re not going to get rid of me that easily.” The comment hit her hard as a look of surprise passed over her face followed by concern, “d..do you want me that much? I…I don’t want to hurt you like that.” She was the reason others had died? No, she couldn’t think like that.

His eye sockets furrowed giving him a look of concern, “Of course I do. Why else would I have stayed with ya? Ya know my MO Frisk. I find a victim, sometimes play with em, then kill em and move on. Never once had ma soul reacted like it does for you… Never once.” His voice was soft as he kissed her deeply before he whispered against her lips., “You are the only one that makes it sing.”

She just smiled gently relaxing against him. She knew this was not going to be easy. His side would come after her and her side would come after them both. That did not stop them from being together. A painful revelation that somehow changed into the happiest moment of her life. She did not care about Crimson the demon but rather Red and skeleton. He felt the same way about her. Even if they are truly the epitome of star-crossed lovers.

~~~THE END~~~

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