#sorry that ask about niji made me sad about them

[beanghostprincess]

I gotta say it bothers me an insane amount when people refer to the Vinsmoke Brothers as "grown-ups" and say they were old enough to know what they were doing during WCI. Because despite agreeing on the fact that yes, they are abusers and Sanji has all the right in the world to not forgive them, the thought of them being irredeemable, especially emphasizing their age... Feels wrong.

People seem to think that once you turn 18 you're all grown-up and aware of your own actions, but when you've been manipulated and used and abused since the day you were born, no you are not. Abuse stops your normal growth and understanding of your surroundings and the development of a personality. And I am not saying they didn't know any better or justifying shit because they are awful people and there's no excuse for what they did to Sanji. But their whole story is about how they didn't grow up at all and are used as machines, and about how Sanji grew up too fast.

Sanji knew what torture was at the age of 8 but his brothers don't know what actual love is being 21. And I think both situations are extremely fucked up.

Referring to somebody (especially somebody who has grown up in a toxic environment) as mature and an adult (as an excuse to say they are aware of what they're doing completely) when they're 21 is just so wild to me because first, the didn't have a chance to grow up at all, and second, it's just 21 how the hell is 21 that old for you? People justifying the actions of teenagers but suddenly deeming people in their early twenties as "old enough to know better" is stupid. You don't turn 18 and suddenly become aware of good and bad out of nowhere. They were clearly caged and trapped in that cycle of abuse and didn't grow up at all.

Neither Sanji nor the viewers have to forgive the Vinsmoke brothers for their behavior at all, but you can admit somebody is redeemable and had a shitty life and they're the way they are because of their abuse without actually justifying their actions or forgiving them. Yes, fuck the Vinsmoke brothers. They're horrible people. Sanji should hate them and if the story ever makes him forgive them I will be extremely furious, I would despise that. But acting as if they were inherently evil and being +18 made them mature and emotionally aware all of a sudden is just not understanding their characters in the slightest.

[lemons3ason]

HOW THE VINSMOKE BROTHERS REACT TO LOSING THEIR S/O BECAUSE OF THEIR FATHER!

Warning: Mad Angst, Lowkey long I got kinda a little to into these scenarios, mentions of death and torture, I cried and lowkey need to make a part two for fluff TT-TT

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

Ichiji Vinsmoke

You were missing from bed this morning, of course Ichiji was curious of it since you were practically 8 months pregnant but he thought you were just back in the kitchen cooking with Cosette again. You were a chef for the Germa Kingdom, the only reason he had met you was because Niji had thrown a plate of food at Cosette and you shielded her from it before striking Niji in a nerve and knocking him unconscious for over 36 hours. Since that day Ichiji had claimed you as his, his cute firecracker, and yet for some reason you were never enough for his father. You made his son human, which in turn made him weak, sooner or later you would’ve had to be dealt with. Judge had summoned him to the throne room to speak with him alone, with his shadow casting over the young red haired man he spoke with a cold heartless tone, “(Y/n) has been executed. She was taken down to the dungeons before daybreak, so you won’t find her.”, he turned to his son to make sure he emphasized his point, “She wasn’t good enough for you anyways.”

Ichiji felt his heart shatter, something he once never had, and felt his lips quiver at the news. Nothing held him back, so why?! Why didn’t he just kill his father where he stood! Judge had sent you to the dungeons to be executed, all because he deemed you unworthy of the Vinsmoke name. Ichiji’s fist ignited into flames as his rage boiled in his blood. He was always cold and collected but right at this moment he was afraid! Afraid and enraged, Ichiji left his father alone and stormed down to the dungeons. Memories of his days tormenting Sanji replayed in his mind causing his stomach to churn. The dungeons were for the weak, only the strong could laugh from the other side of the bars and unfortunately you were just a weak powerless human compared to the monsters that lived right by your side.

“(Y/n)! (Y/n) answer me! Answer me right now!”, Ichiji’s voice roared through the cold dark cells of the dungeon.

Soldiers in charge of the chambers emerged attempting to calm their leader but their skulls simply met the hard brick walls as he punched them. Flames flickered from his fists and feet with each of his movements, even without his raid suit Ichiji was a force to be reckoned with.

“(Y/n)!”, his screams were desperate at this point, his emotional heart couldn’t handle the stress of the situation anymore.

Then he saw it, in pure disbelief he threw his glasses to the side taking in the pale lifeless battered body that laid before his eyes. Everything stopped, y-you were gone. He was to late. Ichiji didn’t want to believe it not now, not ever, he raced to your side scooping your cold form into his arm and holding you tight almost mistaking his own body heat as yours in broken hope that you were still alive. He was heartbroken, as he stared down at your beautiful sleeping face his vision became blurry. He had lost it, he lost you, tears and screams of agony poured out of Ichiji’s body. He couldn’t handle this, not (Y/n), not you of all people. His wails became louder so much so that his siblings could hear him, even Judge who stared out over the sea with no regret to his decision could hear the heartbroken wails of his precious son. Ichiji’s raw emotions triggered his powers, his tears evaporated from the intense heat his body produced and like an inferno eating at a dry field his flames engulfed the dungeons setting fire to half of the Germa Kingdom. Even as your body seared to ash in his arms he held onto you desperately his wails becoming noiseless gasps until his brothers pulled him out of the flames and away from your ashes.

“(Y/n)! (Y/n)! (Y/n)!!!!!”, He screamed fighting against his brothers strength as soldiers rushed in to put out the flames.

Even if he showed weakness because of his heart Ichiji mourned your death, he couldn’t handle it anymore because every little thing reminded him of you. For a whole week he had locked himself in your old quarters and he wouldn’t budge...not until Reiju appeared with the only thing that would pull him out of mourning. She kicked the door open holding something small in her arms and sighed seeing her brother collapsed by your bedside.

“She’s gone Ichiji, get over it.”, Reiju growled.

“How do you expect me to do that? Tell me Reiju! Every woman I’ve ever seen was merely a toy of amusement for me until I met her! She reminded me what it meant to be human, how do you expect me to get over her!”, the red haired male growled grabbing his sister by the fabric collar until a soft cry caught his attention.

The sudden rough movement had awaken the slumbering (h/c) haired baby that rested in Reiju’s arms. Ichiji’s body trembled from shock and he once again collapsed to his knees. Reiju smiled and kneeled down in front of her younger brother carefully placing his child in his arms, “(Y/n) fought till the very end, I noticed them take her down to the dungeon and the stress from them beating her drove her body into labor. Father’s word was absolute to kill her but nothing was said about the baby. All she asked was that I took her.”, Reiju sighed tears of regret falling from her blue eyes.

This little baby girl, with Ichiji’s curly little eyebrows, and your sweet eyes, was all he had left of you and he wouldn’t let his father take her from him like he took you!

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

Niji Vinsmoke

That night you hadn’t returned to bed, after a heated argument about his cruel behavior towards the staff of the ship you had left Niji alone in his quarters. The young prince waited impatiently for you to return but after midnight struck the clock he decided that it would be best to go find you instead. It wasn’t your first fight but truly he let himself go, he said things that he regretted and sucking it up and apologizing to you only seemed fair. He called your name loudly, not caring about the others and their sleep since he needed to find you quickly.

“(Y/n)? Hey little brat come on, it’s late we can continue this argument tomorrow just come to bed.”, he sighed running his fingers through his blue hair in frustration.

He noticed several guards talking amongst themselves and decided to question them on your whereabouts. All the soldiers froze up once they felt the intense anger radiating off of their general, they quickly stood at attention greeting Niji as he glared down at all of them. He noticed your necklace hanging out of one of their pockets and quickly snatched it back as he began to interrogate the soldier.

“Where the hell did you get this? A piece of gravel like you shouldn’t have been able to get this close to (Y/n) in order to take it. Where did you get this?”, Niji growled electricity discharged from his body with each passing second.

The soldier stumbled over his words trembling in fear as he looked death in the face, “I-I’m sorry sir! I-I found it in the dungeons it’s from the most recent kill. I-I didn’t know this b-belonged to Ms. (L/n)!”, the soldier squeaked in fear as Niji’s electricity made all the lights in the hall pop, his body glowed a dim blue in the dark corridor as he stormed down to the dungeons. Something didn’t feel right, for once an unsettling itch was making Niji nervous. Why would you be in the dungeons of all places? His steps echoed the farther down he went, but the eerie silence of the dungeons made his stomach ache. Something wasn’t right.

“(Y/n)? Hey brat, where are you? Come on this is enough, it’s not funny, (Y/n)!”, Niji yelled, his voice broke as he called your name, “(Y/n), come on I’m sorry! I don’t hate you, I love you so come back.”

For the first time ever fear was coursing through his blood and he didn’t know what to do. Every call of your name drove him crazy, you didn’t respond no matter how loud he got. He searched every sell desperately for you but he couldn’t find a thing, he was clueless on your whereabouts until one of the many prisoners in the dungeons spoke up.

“Niji?”, the old man called quickly grabbing the young prince’s attention.

“Who the hell do you think your calli-“

“That’s the name the young lady was calling when they were beating her. Niji, at the top of her lungs, it was painful to have to hear her.”, the old man sighed tears falling from his eyes.

Niji’s arms reached for his tattered clothes slamming him against the bars as he demanded answers, “What girl? Where did they take her?”

“T-this young lady with short (h/c) hair. They took her to the torture chamber just down the hall!”

“Her hair wasn’t short! Liar!”, Niji growled.

“I-It was! Lord Judge cut her hair with his spear to show her how little she meant to the family. Then ordered her execution, I haven’t heard her voice for the last three hours.”, the man admitted crying in fear of being punished.

Niji released the man and ran as quickly as he could to the chambers, but the pool of blood was enough for him to understand your fate. He stared down at the pool in defeat and fell to his knees as his vision became blurry. Bloodied whips and clubs littered the floor but Niji couldn’t see a thing, he screamed in anguish to the situation. His heart couldn’t take this, his head was splitting to the very thought of your death. His sadness quickly turned into rage, it’s was his fault, his father was the cause of all of this! Using his powers he appeared in his father’s room in a mere matter of seconds, his electricity burning hotter then ever before.

“WHERE IS MY (Y/N)?!”, Niji roared ripping his goggles off so he could see his father properly.

Judge, completely unamused by his favorite son’s outburst, simply scoffed and returned to his paperwork. Having been ignore Niji slammed his fist into Judge’s desk scattering and burning the papers throughout the room. He glared up at his father and repeated his question, “Where is my (Y/n)?”

“Tossed out to sea, it’s not like she was alive anymore. By now she’s being digested by some stray seaking that found her battered corpse.”, Judge sighed in frustration, “It’s not like I would’ve considered someone like her eligible to be your wife. A prince shouldn’t bother with a mere nameless slave.”

Niji was heartbroken, tears that had been ready to fall from his eyes from the past 20 years had finally started to fall. He couldn’t see, not even an inch in front of him as he grieved your death. He was to late, he fought with you and made you leave and when you needed him most he wasn’t there for you.

“It was pathetic how desperately she called your name, she was to reliant on you, it made the torture so much easier when she finally gave up. Hopefully the next woman you fall in love with is more suitable to be a Vinsmoke.”, Judge sighed lifting his son by his collar and throwing him out of his room.

Niji was forced to stumble back to his room, no matter how much he called you you never returned to his side. You were gone, all because he was to late.

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

Sanji Vinsmoke

“What happened to her? (Y/n)!”, Sanji yelled caressing your face as you slept.

Your body was covered in bruises and cuts from your recent fight with Niji, you had snuck onto the Germa ships to find Sanji and drag him back but unfortunately you had ran into one of his monster brothers. Reiju had stopped her beastly brother from killing you but you presence on the ship didn’t go unnoticed, Judge was now aware of you and he wasn’t happy. Reiju allowed you to stay in her room with Sanji but Judge had other plans for you.

“(Y/n) you idiot. You should’ve stayed with the others back on the Sunny.”, Sanji sighed holding your hand in his, you woke up seeing him softly kiss your knuckles.

“Takes an idiot to know one. Come back stupid, I miss you.”, you sighed turning to him.

Sanji frowned at you but he couldn’t help but smile seeing you awake. You were such a handful, always had been and always would be but that’s what he loved about you. He pressed a kiss to your forehead making you smile but once again you both forgot that you were prisoners to the family. Sanji carried you back to his room and kept you there by his side, you both softly whispered to each other declaring your love like children. Having you in his arms again made Sanji forget about his worries, all he needed was you and that’s all he wanted. Eventually sleep claimed you both but you both slept comfortably together sharing dreams that a promising future would hold. The next day Sanji was forced to meet Big Mom. He hoped that you’d be left alone in his quarters but hope was for fools, while he was gone one of the soldier’s had slipped a sleeping drug into your food and dragged you down to the dungeons.

“(Y/n), I’m back. Have you eaten I’ll make yo-(Y/n)? (Y/n)?!”, Sanji’s blood ran cold seeing you missing, you couldn’t move around with your injuries which meant someone had taken you. He raced through the halls of the ship searching for you desperately, not one soldier told him where you were but a feeling in his chest told him exactly where you were. His legs carried him to the dungeon chambers but he found himself unable to even open the door. Memories of the caged abuse he went through drove a cold sweat through his body, but he had to save you. He swallowed his fears and opened the door but his fears were realized when he heard your voice scream his name. He hurried, he rushed, as quickly as he could but he was seconds to late. With his father looming over your battered body Sanji was forced to watch the spear pierce through your back,

“S-sanji.”, you cried as the injury killed you instantly, your outstretched hand fell to the ground as you passed away.

“Why failures stick together I will never know, but at least there’s one less of you vermin.”, Judge growled pulling his spear from your corpse as he turned around to see his mortified son, “It’ll teach you better then to let fools get in the way of my goals.”

He simply scoffed at him and walked back up the stairs while Sanji fell to his knees just inches away from your body. “(Y-y/n)...(y/n).”, Sanji croaked holding the hand that you had been reaching for him with.

“(Y/n)!”, he screamed to no one in the cold depressing dungeon as he pulled your body towards his chest to hold you.

He sobbed into your hair, crying until his voice ran dry. Sanji couldn’t accept this, “Not like this, p-please not like this. Not her!”, he begged staring down at your bruised face that still looked like a beautiful Angel in his eyes.

“(Y/n) please don’t leave me. Not like this my dear.”, he whimpered pressing his forehead against yours.

This dungeon had caused him so much pain and now it was the place that had taken you from him. Why did life have to hate him so much? To be married off to a stranger, to be taken from his crew, and worst of all to lose the only woman he had wanted to marry. His family brought him nothing but agony, he cried until exhaustion forced him to sleep. Reiju was ordered to fetch him for dinner but the sight of her younger brother asleep against the wall while holding your dead corpse was enough to move her to tears. He truly did love you but now you were gone.

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

Yonji Vinsmoke

From the start Yonji knew that his father hated your existence, but Yonji just couldn’t help it. He had fallen for you, the way his name rolled of your tongue and past your sweet soft lips made him crave your presence. The way you reached your small hands up to him to hold his face in your hands made his heart face, but your eyes, your beautiful passionate shimmering eyes made him fall head over heels for you. Even when he was disrespectful towards others Yonji would always keep an eye on you smiling when he saw you doing the simplest of tasks. The prince that loved a peasant what a cliche love story. Even if he was a genetically modified human in your eyes he was just him, and you were just the perfect normal little human girl.

“Prince Yonji I made cookies today. Would you lik-oh heehee.”, you giggled watching Yonji eat the cookie from your fingers.

His crumb covered lips pressed against your cheek making you smile, but your soft moment together was spoiled by the all to familiar scoff of Lord Judge. The tall giant glared down at you while you sheepishly smiled up and greeted him, Yonji scowled at his Father’s glare and wrapped his arm around your waist protectively.

“Keep moving old man.”, he growled much to Judge’s disgust.

Cosette called you back to the kitchen, you excused yourself hesitating to give Yonji a kiss in front of his father but the green haired man wouldn’t let you leave without a proper kiss. As soon as he got his kiss he let you go, your face flushed red and smiling as you returned to your duties.

“Why you bother with a failure like her irritates me, you deserve a princess not a dirty servant Yonji.”, Judge growled down to his youngest son.

Yonji scoffed in annoyance to his father and simply walked away leaving his father to his own complaints. Judge decided that if you were the one his son wanted then he’d modify you so that you were actually useful to the family. Every night you would come to find Yonji and kiss him goodnight, it was a ritual that he became dependent on but tonight you didn’t show up. Far past midnight sleep was finally beginning to take over his body but he tried to stay awake hoping that you’d just been busy with chores. He woke up angry the next day because of your absence and went to search for you to give you a piece of his mind but no one had seen you. You always presented yourself to work even if you were exhausted or sick meaning something had happened to you. Yonji growled under his breath knowing that his father had something to do with it. One of the doctors appeared before him asking for his presence in the dungeon chambers, Yonji didn’t want to bother with it but his father was waiting for him. Just entering the room he could hear torturous screams resonating from down below, his father must’ve been furious.

“What do you want old man?”

His father simply pointed into one of the screaming cages and smiled, “Now she’s worthy of you. A soldier ready to give her life for you.”, he chuckled.

That’s when Yonji saw it, his eyes widened in shock seeing your blood stained body killing a prisoner. You held the knife above your head ready to kill them but Yonji’s hand caught your wrist as he called your name. You responded but the look in your eyes was enough to tell him what had happened. Cold, lifeless, dead (e/c) eyes, looked into his there was no spark in them anymore.

“What did you do to her!?”, Yonji growled sending his mechanical arm right to his fathers face.

Judge was unimpressed by his son’s rage and pushed his hand away, “Simply made her worthy of you. An annoying woman like her wasn’t fit to be a love interest for one of my precious sons but with her genetic enhancements now she is. Surprisingly she was able to stay sane for about 7 hours before the electrical charges finally fried what little brain cells she had. The only sacrifice was her mental sanity, her emotions, and her heart. She’s the perfect little puppet now.”

Yonji’s face dropped to the news of your torture, he turned to your frozen form and kiss your lips hoping that you’d react, hoping that it wasn’t true but nothing happened. Your cheeks didn’t heat up, your eyes didn’t sparkle with love, you didn’t call his name sweetly, he lost you.

“REVERSE IT! REVERSE THE EFFECTS RIGHT NOW!”, Yonji ordered holding your head softly in his hands.

“She’d really die this time, if we bothered trying. This is how she stays if you want her by your side, once you’re tired of her dispose of her. She’s no longer human she’s just an empty shell.”

Yonji couldn’t believe it, he held you calling your name over and over until you responded but you never did. You never made a noise you were just silent. “N-no...(Y/n)...n-not like this. Please not like this come back to me.”, Yonji pleaded through his tears but from then on it would never be the same.

[nummerdric]

@0first0holder0​ asked: "I could never apologize enough...because all I did was ruin your lives just by being in them. I'm sorry I brought so much down on you, I'm sorry you died because of me...sometimes I wish I had never met you...if only for your sake."

x

“Yoichi. . . “ Hifumi’s facial expression saddens before they shake their head. “You’ve never ruined anything.” Arms wrap around their best friend, chin resting on top of his head. What they’re feeling right now can be described as a mix of anger and sadness- mostly sadness. They have no idea in regards to exactly just how much the poor man has suffered, highly likely will never know and that’s okay. He doesn’t have to share anything he doesn’t want to share. But that wont stop them from doing their best to comfort him anyway and remind him over and over again of just how much joy he has brought.

“Absolutely none of that is your fault. You’re talking about yourself like you’re cursed, like you bring misfortune to every person you meet. . . But that’s not true in the slightest. Just like everyone else, you’re a victim of All For One. Not a single one of his actions are your responsibility.”

Finding the right words is hard. There is so much they want to say-- so much that they want Yoichi to know. But what to say first and after that and after that and after that and. . . Maybe Hifumi should just do a Niji and say whatever comes up in their head. Just don’t say the wrong words. Hurting their best friend when they absolutely don’t want to do that is something they really want to avoid.

“There’s really no need to apologise for anything. I’m not angry at you, never have been. Nor have I ever been hurt by you. All of my actions are my own choices. My brother and I are here because we want to. You’ve never made us do anything against our will. Niji always is and looks the happiest when he’s with you and I am so grateful for that. Just your presence has already brought more joy to our lifes than you can possibly imagine.” Finally, they loosen the hug a little bit and move their head away from Yoichi’s to show a warm smile.

“It’s true that we’ve died once but. . . Neither deaths are your fault. You didn’t kill us, right? Didn’t end our lifes with your own bare hands? Maybe you wish that we never met but I’m glad we did. Having you as my best friend is absolutely excellent and I’m so excited for you to join our family officially-- though, you’ve always been a part of it and that makes me really happy.”

[zach-the-fox]

Furiends Episode 1: A New Beginning

“Just sign your name and we will take care of the rest,” says a deer with glasses to an orange fox, male in body build, with brown eyes. The fox takes the pen and writes along the dotted lines next to the “x”. Upon finishing, the fox hands back the pen as the deer takes the clipboard of the discharge forms. “Zach the Fox. All right, you’re all set, Mr. Fox. Is anyone coming to pick you up?”

The fox sighs as his ears droop. “I wish there was…”

“Nobody at all? Well, I’m sorry to hear. Hope you have a wonderful day.”

“I doubt that I will…” The fox heads off. “Everybody hates me… Nobody wants me…” Just as he heads out the door, he sits on the wooden bench by the entrance, deep in thought. “What do I do now…? I’m not wanted anywhere here… Everybody hates me… I should leave this place…” He is interrupted by a voice.

“Mister! Hey, Mister!” The orange fox’s ears stick up before he turns to see a brown cat approach him. Eyelashes and wavy hair at the tip, but also tied in a ponytail in the back shows her gender to be female. Glasses shield her eyes, while also wearing a red, long-sleeved shirt under a purple vest, blue jeans, and sneakers. The brown cat then raises her paw up with a blue bandana. Her brown eyes glare at the fox as she keeps the bandana in her grip. “You left this in the hospital room. I was afraid you might’ve forgotten it after you got up and left.”

The fox looks down at the blue bandana, then back up to the girl, keeping his frown on. “Keep it…” His head pivots away from her. “I don’t want it anymore… It just reminds me of the life I dreamed of having… I can’t stand the pain of remembering all that…”

“Why does this blue bandana trouble you?”

“It was given to me by an orphanage patron, who thought I was special… Special enough to be labeled and picked at, as well as a symbol for being flawed.”

“So, it’s yours, then.” The fox faces her again as she offers it to her. “Take it.”

“You can have it,” he tells her. “I insist. Wear it.”

“I’d rather you wear it. Besides, I think you’d look better with it on.” She holds the bandana closer to him. “Will you wear it?” Her eyes glisten in the sunlight.

“If it’ll make you happy…” The fox takes the bandana from her paw and proceeds to tie it around his neck. He makes sure the triangular part is big and points down toward his belly. “There… Happy now?”

“You don’t seem happy yourself,” she reflects. The cat sits beside him. “Is this about Team Rescuers pushing you away? Or is it about everybody seeing you as the flawed fox of Heroto?” The fox looks away with his ears drooping. The cat places her paw on his shoulder. “Listen, I know how you feel. It’s never good to be picked on or singled out because of a disorder, or even from being a product of an inappropriate relationship, or just be bad at something. My mother can get on my nerves sometimes… She thinks I can be a butt when I do things the wrong way… But, I learn, don’t I?”

“Carly?” Coming up alongside her is a beige warthog. Eyelashes and long, chocolate hair, messy on top but flowing in the back nicely straight with curves at the end, shows her gender to be female as well. Her eyes are protected by grey glasses as she dons an orange shirt underneath a black jacket and blue jeans. She stops in front of the cat, appearing to be half her size. “What are you doing out here? I got worried about you after my appointment ended.”

“Sorry, Emmy,” Carly tells her. “I was just returning something to this fox… I started to talk with him.”

Emmy pivots to the fox. “Hey…” She points to the orange animal. “Aren’t you that fox who was with Team Rescuers?”

The fox sighs. “I used to be… Not anymore… They all hate me…”

“I feel you. My stepfather’s a big jerk, yet my mom and I struggle to put up with him, yet he doesn’t like us very much.”

“At least you and your friend here have got families… I’ve had it hard my whole life… I have no family… no friends… No one… Unloved… Hated… I don’t even know what to do anymore… I’m on my own and there’s no one to help me. Maybe it’s just better if I left…”

“Where would you go?” she asks.

“Just be away from here… Maybe try to make it to Buscity, or even the forest… I’d have to start a new life…”

“You don’t need to,” Carly says. “We’ll be your friends.”

The fox’s ears stick up as he turns to the two animals. “Y-you will?”

Emmy leans closer to the cat. “Are you sure about this? People don’t like him very much, and they may think we’re crazy.”

“It’ll be fine, Emmy,” responds Carly. “He needs friends, but he’s never had anyone. Everyone deserves a chance.”

Emmy sighs. “You better be right about this.” She looks to the fox. “It’s a pleasure to be friends with you, um, Mr. Fox…”

“Zach,” the fox says. “I’m Zach.” The cat and warthog introduce themselves. Zach’s mouth bends into a small smile. “It’s good to meet you, Carly and Emmy. What are we doing?” The two girls look at each other, figuring out what to do for their next plan.

“I’ve got it!” Carly stands. “Let’s go to the mall. Besides, I really want to see what sketchbooks they have on sale.”

“Sure,” Emmy adds. “Guess I could look at that stuff. Zach, what do you think?”

“I’m fine, wherever,” Zach tells them, standing from the bench. “You’re my friends now, so I’ll follow.”

“Cool!” Carly heads off, leading the fox and warthog away from the hospital area.

 ***

 Standing around on a grey-tiled foundation in front of a store are three animals. One is a blue jay with nothing but long, Persian-blue hair, black glasses, and a white tank-top with a lightning bolt on it. Her body is female in build. On the bird’s right, a neon-blue wolf, male in figure with rainbow hair, walks alongside her. The three chat amongst themselves as they amble the right side of a long corridor, lined with stores. On her left, a deer, who is slightly shorter than her, waits nearer the entrance. His head is covered with an aviator’s hat with goggles as he dons a short-sleeved, buttoned-down shirt and cyan jean shorts. Emerging from the store is a grey newt with four arms carrying paper shopping bags full of purchased items. His black hair sticks out with the white undershirt and black jeans he wears.

“Did you really need that plushie?” the newt asks, looking at the wolf.

“I couldn’t resist!” the wolf tells him. “He was just so cute!” He snuggles the little stuffed animal. “I didn’t want anyone else but me to have him. I love him!”

“If you love him so much, why don’t you kiss him?” utters the blue jay. She snickers.

The wolf looks at her with a mean glare. “Don’t start with me.”

“Come on, guys,” the deer utters. “Please no fighting… We’re here to hang out, not start brawls. Now, where should we go next?”

“Can we hit the art store?” the bird asks. “I heard they were having a sale on sketchbooks and I wanted to check it out.” The three animals look at each other before coming to an agreement. “Cool! Thanks, guys! It won’t be long.” The group heads off down the corridor together. They talk differently along the way, passing other stores, kiosks, and other animals with bags in their grips. “Hey!” Everyone stops as the bird interrupts. She points her feather at the three figures inside the art store. “Isn’t that Carly and Emmy?” The others look into the store, eyeing the brown cat and warthog with the fox inside.

“It is Carly and Emmy,” Niji says. “What are they doing here?”

“Let’s go say hi!” The bird heads into the store, leading the three others inside. She walks up to the two animals and hugs the cat. “Carly, Emmy! So good to see you both!”

Carly chuckles. “Good to see you too, Navy.” She notices the blue wolf. “Heya, Niji!” The wolf smiles and responds with “hello”.

Emmy turns to the deer. “Hi Eren.”

“How’s it going, Emmy?” The deer shakes her hoof. “Silus and I are glad to see you and Carly.” The newt joins the deer and stands behind him. Upon noticing Zach, he looks to him. “Oh, hello. Um, Carly, Emmy, who is this?”

Navy notices Zach and turns to him as well. “Oh! You made a new friend? I like new friends! What’s your name, Fox?”

“I-I’m Zach. You must be friends of Carly and Emmy here… Pleasure to meet you all…”

“Wait…” Niji points to Zach. “I know you… You’re the Flawed Fox of Heroto.” Zach’s ears droop down as a frown forms on his face. “Why are you here? Come to prove to everyone you’re a hero by staging a “fake” rescuer, or have you come to cause more trouble?” Zach doesn’t answer. “What’s the matter? I make the poor little foxy upset?”

“Hey, what does the fox say?” utters Navy. Niji begins to snicker and laugh, causing Navy to let out a giggle. The fox puts his paws together in front of him with nervousness as his head leans with sadness. Shame shadows over him as the two animals laugh.

Emmy steps between the two and ceases their fun. “All right! Lay off! You two aren’t right!”

“Whoa, easy, Emmy,” says Navy. “We were just poking a little fun.”

Carly stands in beside Zach, placing her paws on him as a way of comforting him while facing the others. “Can’t you see the poor kid’s upset already? He just got out of the hospital with nowhere to go. No one he can turn to. He’s on his own.”

“Really?” Eren asks. “That’s awful…” The little deer walks up to the orange animal. “I’m so sorry for you. But hey, pay no attention to those two over there.”

“Yeah,” adds Silus, approaching and putting one of his hands on the fox’s shoulder. “They don’t mean any harm. They’re just goofing around.” He offers another hand to him. “I’m Silus. It’s good to meet you.”

Zach takes his hand and shakes it. “I… It’s a pleasure to meet you all as well… I guess…”

The newt goes on to introduce the others. “This here’s Niji, Navy, and my husband, Eren.”

Eren waves. “Hi, Zach. We are happy to meet you.”

“What time is it?” Niji looks around and spots a clock. “Oh, lunch time!” He faces the others. “You guys want to grab something to eat?” Everyone of the group agrees, except for Zach, who stays quiet. Navy and Niji proceed to leave the store, leaving the others behind. The four animals stay behind as they notice Zach’s motionless in his spot.

“Aren’t you hungry, Zach?” asks Carly. “Come join us.”

“N-no,” Zach responds. “I-it’s fine… I’m not very hungry.” Growling ambles around the animals, who trace the sounds back to the fox’s stomach.

“Your stomach tells us differently,” Eren tells him. “You should have lunch with us.”

“Zach, if it’s about Navy and Niji, don’t worry about them,” Emmy adds. “You’ll be with us.”

“I can’t afford anything,” Zach continues.

“It’s fine,” Silus says. “We’ve got you. Nothing to worry about. Come on.” Giving enough encouragement, Zach follows his new friends out of the store.

 ***

 Everyone sits at a round table with trays of unwrapped burgers, boxes of fries, and tall colas in them. Niji chews through his burger, tearing it apart, while Navy shovels fries in her beak quickly. The others take their time, enjoying their food.

“I like these fries,” Eren comments. “They’re so good.”

Niji darts his eyes at the fox, noticing him staring. “Well, what are you looking at, Flawed Fox?”

“Niji,” Emmy utters. “Please… Don’t start.”

“What? He is, isn’t he?”

“Yeah, everybody knows that,” the fox tells him, crossing his arms.

“Let’s not fight, shall we?” suggests Carly. “How about we talk about what makes us happy? I love to draw and sketch, and it gives me joy.”

“I never had joy,” responds Zach. “Not once in my life was I ever happy.”

“Because you’re a flawed fox?” asks Navy.

The fox stands to his feet with his eyebrows dipping into his eyes. “Oh yeah, sure!” His voice becomes louder over the conversations around him, prompting everyone to fix his eyes on him. “Let’s all make fun of the Flawed Fox! He’s so horrible! He’s such an annoyance! For your information, I never asked to be like this! I never wanted to be a flawed fox… I just wanted to show everyone I’m anything but flawed… I wanted to give love to all… Ever since I was influenced by Captain Red Mask, I believed caring for others and helping those is a great honor and esteemed privilege… I wanted to prove that I wasn’t bad… I failed… Not because I stopped trying… Because I never got support and love… Everyone thinks I’m awful… They all see me as the product of an inappropriate relationship and mentally disordered…” He sinks down into his chair. The tone in his voice decreases. “That’s what everyone sees in me… Being a hero is all just a dream now…”

“Damn,” goes Navy. “That’s dark…”

“Nobody wants me… Nobody loves me… They all confirm that I fail because of my faults… I’m nothing!” Zach pounds the table with his fist. Nobody…” Tears develop in his eyes. “Nobody… but Flawed Fox…” He lies his head on the surface of the furniture, hiding it with his arms around it to shield his expression. “Why doesn’t anyone appreciate me…? I never asked to be bullied… Never asked to be ignored…” Carly and Emmy do what they can to comfort him. They rub his back and shoulders as he hides his face with shame.

“Hey…” Niji gets up and walks up to him. “I didn’t realize how bad you had it… I apologize…”

“Same here,” Navy implies. “Didn’t know you felt that way…”

Zach lifts his head. Tears still stream down his eyes. “It doesn’t change anything… It doesn’t change what I experienced…”

“It does change things going forward, Zach,” Carly tells him. “You have us as friends, now. You have nothing to fret over.”

“Yeah,” adds Silus. “You can hang out with us whenever you want. We won’t push you away or ignore you.” He manages a smile as everyone else agrees with him and Carly.

The fox’s mouth bends to reflect his expression as he looks at his new friends. “T-thank you… I-I’ll try not to be a pain in the butt…”

“Nah,” Navy goes. “You won’t be a pain. You’ll love us.”

“I need to figure out what I’m going to do about where I’ll live. Maybe if I’m lucky, I’ll find a nice, comfy spot in the alley…”

“It doesn’t have to be that way,” Eren tells him. “Silus and I have an extra room at our home. We’d be happy to bring you in.”

Silus sighs. “Eren, you shouldn’t make hasty decisions without asking me first.”

“It’s fine,” Zach says. “I appreciate the offer, but I’ll just struggle on my own.”

“No.” Silus puts two hands on him. “It’s not fine. Eren and I will make you feel right at home. Sleeping in the streets isn’t good, anyway.”

“Y-you wouldn’t mind?”

“Not at all. We’ve got you.”

“T-thanks… If it’s all right, I would like to go to the orphanage. I need to get a couple of things… Are you all okay to come with me?”

“Why?” asks Emmy. “Why can’t you go alone?”

“I’m scared… I’ve had a lot of rough memories in that place, and I’m not very comfortable going in alone…” The others turn to each other and exchange head gestures.

“Of course, Zach,” Carly answers. “We’ll happily go with you. Let’s finish lunch first, okay?”

“Sure,” responds the fox. Zach picks up his burger and takes a bite out of it. @carlycmarathecat​ @emmy-the-absolute-goof​ @rainbow-strike​ @pink-unicorn-boi​ @ask-choro-mama​

[mamichigo]

@niji-karneval gave me the prompt “Valentine’s chocolate” for dazatsu and I... took forever to finish. I’m so sorry for the delay, I got sidetracked many, many times. I hope it’s still Valentine’s day in your timezone, and if not, that you at least enjoy this. AO3 link!

the mere inches between us (words: 6.8k)

It all started with Atsushi's terrible habit of letting his mind (and his gaze) wander without his supervision or permission. From the moment Atsushi had looked at the chocolate store displaying bright pink and red hearts for a minute too long, his fate had been sealed.

Despite his attempts at a poorly executed excuse about being hungry and nothing more, Kyouka narrowed her eyes and asked, without any warning, “Do you like someone?”

Atsushi, who was already overwhelmed with embarrassment at being caught staring, and for accidentally screaming earlier when he tried to defend himself a little too enthusiastically, could only nod under Kyouka's intense gaze.

“Yes, I do,” is all he manages to say in a meek voice.

Kyouka, satisfied with the discovery, also nods her head, finally dropping her eyes back to the sidewalk. Atsushi followed her in slow, defeated steps, lagging behind her so Kyouka wouldn't notice the Atsushi was clutching his chest like he just ran a marathon.

After some thankfully peaceful silence, Kyouka turned back to him.

“You should give him chocolate, if that's what you want to do,” she said.

“‘Him’?”

“Dazai.” Kyouka doesn't even attempt to explain how she got to that conclusion, and Atsushi is too afraid to ask, much less deny it.

Atsushi scratched his cheek, eyes downcast. “I wasn't planning on confessing, really.”

“Why not?”

Atsushi opened his mouth to reply, but paused when he realized he had no idea how to explain all the resignation that filled him at the thought of it without sounding just as pitiful as he did back at the hostage situation with Tanizaki. So he just shrugged, and replied with a simple, “It's just too embarrassing.”

“You don't need to say anything, just give him the chocolate.”

“Isn't that even more embarrassing?!” Atsushi wanted to cover his face just at the thought of it. “Besides, what if he didn't get it? Maybe he'd think it's just obligation chocolate, for everything he's done for me until now.” Atsushi sighed to himself. “I don't know what I'd do then.”

Kyouka tilted her head. “You can just clarify what you mean.”

“You make it sound so simple, Kyouka.”

“You make it too complicated,” Kyouka countered bluntly.

Atsushi chuckled, aware of the truth in her words. “Probably.”

This time around, Atsushi knew that Kyouka's silence meant only that she was deep in thought, gathering herself before speaking.

So, when she stops walking altogether and turns to face Atsushi, he is more or less expecting—though he does have to halt before bumping into the girl.

“A gift.”

“Huh?”

“You should give him a gift, then.”

“Didn't you hear the part where I said I have no intention to confess?” Atsushi asked with a sigh. “And I wouldn't know what to give him.”

“A plushie,” Kyouka answered promptly, as if she had it ready beforehand. “Like a keychain.”

“I don't get how you decided that would be a good gift.”

“I saw some back at that shop. They were cute.” Atsushi blinked at her, and Kyouka never changed her facial expression. “There was a white tiger.”

Atsushi scrunched his nose and made a face at Kyouka.

“I really don't get how you got to that.”

...

Atsushi was echoing the same words he said to Kyouka before at himself now, thinking about the gift hidden in his pocket. The little white tiger, hanging from a keychain and holding a red heart that said “I like you!” weighed him down, and, as if carrying rocks instead of a small plushie, Atsushi walked stiffly.

He hadn't had the mind to ask for wrapping g paper, squeaking at the mere insinuation that it was a gift to someone. Given the sympathetic look the clerk gave him, Atsushi was willing to bet he was as transparent as clear glass.

When it came to Dazai—or rather, his feelings towards him—it seemed Atsushi was incapable of calming down. Moreso when the person in question walked beside him, humming to himself with a carelessness that further contrasted with Atsushi's nervous posture. Dazai, who had yet to remark on Atsushi's odd behavior, smiled with amusement every time their eyes met.

“Say, Atsushi,” Dazai started, peeking one eye open to watch Atsushi. “I've been meaning to ask all day, but, aren't you acting weirder than usual?”

Atsushi laughed awkwardly, staring back at Dazai without blinking. “No, nope. Isn't it just your impression?”

Dazai hummed, a grin blossoming on his face. “You're totally hiding something, you can't lie to me!” Dazai paused, assuming a thoughtful pose. “Or maybe I should say you can't lie at all?”

“You don't need to point that out!” Atsushi huffed and crossed his arms. With eyes averted to the side, Atsushi continued, “It's none of your business, really.”

Which was the most ironic thing to say, but it was out, so Atsushi would just have to deal with the consequences of saying it.

“None of my business, you say.” Dazai leaned closer, smile wide and sweet and something Atsushi would appreciate if he didn't feel entirely intimidated by it. “Everything is my business, Atsushi, especially if it's about my subordinates!”

Atsushi inclined his body away, trying to put some distance between them, but Dazai only followed, face close enough to make his heart beat desperately fast in a cry for help. Atsushi could almost hear it saying SOS as warmth flooded his face.

“It's— Not something you'd be interested in?” Atsushi hurried to find an excuse, but his uncertainty showed in the question mark he couldn't keep out of his sentence.

“I'm always interested in you, Atsushi,” Dazai replied, voice low, like he was telling Atsushi a secret.

Atsushi squeaked, then hurriedly clamped his mouth shut against any more incriminating noises. “It's just, really— I—”

Atsushi, unable to take it anymore, put his hands on Dazai chest and pushed. “I'll tell you, please just let me breathe!”

Dazai, satisfied, let the distance between them grow, nodding. Atsushi put a hand to his chest and sighed in relief—though the break was brief, as Dazai was looking at him expectantly.

Atsushi raised his eyes to see that the street light had turned green for them, so Atsushi kept walking—even if just so he wouldn't be in others’ way—, Dazai following close behind.

“Well, you see, I just wanted to tell you…” Atsushi sneaked a glance towards Dazai, shying away when he found Dazai already looking back. “I've been meaning to say, that, uhm—”

Atsushi blew out a harsh breath through his nose in frustration, hands twisting together. Atsushi had already given up on fighting down the blush spreading on his face and down his neck.

“Atsushi?” Dazai poked his cheek, raising his eyebrows. “What is it, tell me, you'll tell me right? If you don't tell me I'll be sad, tell me, tell me—”

“I got it, geez!” Atsushi batted Dazai's hand away, pouting. “You're not making this any easier.”

“Making what easier?”

“Please don't say anything, I'm begging you…” Atsushi glanced to his pocket. “Let's just do this, I guess.”

“Ooh?”

Atsushi put a hand on his pocket, Dazai's eyes almost glinting like Atsushi was about to hand him the secrets to the universe. Atsushi just hoped Dazai would be equally as an enthusiastic to the reality of the gift.

Except, he didn't feel anything under his fingers. A look of horror dawned on him, and he frantically searched through one pocket, then the other, then the first one again. He even checked under his shirt, then around himself.

“...It's not here.”

“What isn't? You're making no sense, Atsushi,” Dazai whined, pouting at him.

Atsushi paid him no mind for now, running back a few steps to see the crosswalk they just passed.

“Ah!” Atsushi couldn't help exclaim when he saw it: the small tiger, looking sad and pathetic, after being mindlessly stepped on by unsuspecting passersby.

Atsushi, frantic, continued running. “I'll be right back, Dazai!” He yelled back.

“Hey, wait!”

Atsushi dashed for the plushie, or at least tried to, as he was suddenly pulled back, his arm cracking audibly with it. He winced and looked back at Dazai's frowning face.

“What, were you planning to jump into moving traffic?” Dazai questioned, bringing Atsushi's attention to the now moving cars.

Atsushi slumped, seeing a tire roll over the keychain. Dazai let go of his arm, putting his hands on his hips.

“So, what was that all about?”

Running a hand through his hair, Atsushi waved the question away. He didn't look at Dazai, hoping that would be enough to hide how upset he truly was.

“It was just a prank, don't worry about it.”

Atsushi felt the same as the tiger plushie must have felt being squished by a car: crushed and disappointed in life as a whole. He should've known his bad luck would kick in just when he needed it to be miles away from himself. Gloomy, Atsushi pressed his cheek harder against his desk, hoping he would perhaps melt into it.

Atsushi had to deal with Dazai questions for the entirety of the last two days. He was bombarded with them even at the most inconvenient moments: Atsushi understood that Dazai was a curious person by nature, but asking about someone's secret when there's a gun pointed at both of them isn't exactly good timing.

Giving such a cheesy gift had already embarrassed Atsushi, but now that he had nothing to save himself from having to say his feelings out loud, the prospect of confessing seemed more daunting. Technically, he was just back to how it was before, but after the mess with the keychain, Atsushi was convinced it might have been a divine warning or something.

He groaned loudly, unable to disperse the little gray cloud hovering just above his head. He was allowed to do so, now that Dazai wasn't around to pester him (neither was Kunikida, so he could whine to his heart's content without getting yelled at for his lack of productivity).

Lost in his daydreams of dissolving into the floor never to return, Atsushi didn't realize someone had decided to do something about his bad mood until they touched his shoulder. When Atsushi raised his head, he was greeted with Kenji's curious eyes and genuine smile.

It really said something about his state of mind that even Kenji's summery smile unnerved Atsushi, sensing trouble coming his way yet again.

“You seem down, did something happen?”

“Nothing important,” Atsushi mumbled, “just. Stuff.”

Kenji wasn't put off by Atsushi's words, instead beaming and patting Atsushi on the back once. “Sometimes when a cow gets moody, it's just craving some company!”

Kenji proceeded to pull up a chair and sit facing Atsushi. “There's no need to be so disheartened!”

Atsushi still didn't know how to feel about being compared to a cow, but he always let it slide since it was Kenji, after all. Embarrassed that someone thought he was lonely, moreso someone four years his junior, Atsushi scratched his cheek, uncomfortable.

He did make the courtesy of perking up and raising fully so he could also face Kenji, even if there was still a part of him that just wanted to hide.

“Thank you, though that's not why I'm gloomy,” Atsushi said, to Kenji's confusion.

“Then what's the problem?” The confusion lasted only a few seconds, however, as his face brightened up in realization. “Ah, is it about the Valentine's Day thing?”

Atsushi flinched, holding a hand up like he was protecting himself from a physical blow. “How did you know about that?”

“I heard it from Ranpo!”

“Ranpo?!”

Atsushi snapped his head towards the man in question, who rolled in his chair so his face was hidden from them, but Atsushi was sure he saw a smirk playing on his face.

It would come as no surprise to Atsushi if the entire Agency knew about it by now if Ranpo had somehow made it into his own personal game.

“Are you going to give up on it now?”

Atsushi looked back at Kenji. “I don't know, maybe?”

“You shouldn't give up so easily! You haven't even gotten the chance to say anything, right?” Atsushi cringed; just how much had Ranpo told Kenji? “Giving up without trying isn't good. If you want to grow a new plant, it's no good to say it won't work before even watering it.”

Atsushi nodded slowly. “I suppose you aren't wrong.”

“So you should water your plant, then.”

“But I don't even know where to begin…”

“The best option is always to be the most sincere, and the person will certainly understand your feelings, is what I think.” Kenji clapped his hands together, beaming. “If we're talking about that, then wouldn't cooking be the most sincere expression of love? Why don't you try it?”

There were many times Atsushi regretted ever jumping into the river where he first met Dazai. This, hearing someone so openly talk about his feelings, was exactly one of those.

“I, uh, I'm not really good with cooking. I can make tea on rice, but that's easy,” Atsushi explained, knowing precisely the extent of his culinary skills.

“You can always ask for someone's help! With instructions, anyone could do it.”

“I don't think that's—” Atsushi tried to refute it, but one second of Kenji's earnest gaze was all it took to have Atsushi nodding in agreement. “Yeah, you're probably right.”

“If we're talking about cooking, then I think Naomi would be the best at it. I'm sure she'd be willing to help!”

“Ah, you're right!” Atsushi smiled, incapable of avoiding being dissuaded by Kenji's enthusiasm. “Maybe I'll give it a shot after all.”

“Then do your best, I'm sure it'll go well!”

...

Cooking with Naomi hadn't been as hard a experience as Atsushi imagined it might be. While the girl got cranky when Atsushi made a mistake for not paying full attention to her instructions, she was otherwise an attentive and patient teacher. With her help, he had managed to make a full and appetizing lunch box (and even ended up with previously prepared meals that he and Kyouka would just need to heat up to eat it).

With said lunch box safely put away in one of his desk drawers, Atsushi was feeling more confident this time around. All he needed was to pull Dazai aside at lunch break and invite him to eat it.

He wasn't sure where the love confession part came in, but Atsushi was willing to just trust Kenji's word—and Dazai's own perceptiveness to figure out what Atsushi meant with it.

So, when the clock announced the lunch break, Atsushi is up before Kunikida even says anything; the man seems impressed with his punctuality, but Atsushi isn't concerned enough with the subject to feel proud.

Instead, he clutches the lunch box tight and marches to Dazai, who's stretching with a yawn, arms high above his head. Atsushi stops in front of him, waiting for Dazai to settle down and open his eyes again.

When he does, he peaks one teary eye open, then the other, a bit surprised to see Atsushi there.

“Do you need anything?” Dazai asked through another yawn. He blinked a few times, getting rid of the tears on his eyelashes.

He looked like a cat who just woke up from its nap.

“Ah, no. Well, kind of! I was just wondering if you wanted to…” Atsushi trailed off, but he shyly lifted the lunch box, bringing Dazai's attention to it.

“Ooh, is that a lunch box?” Dazai tilted his head. “Well, I guess that makes sense, given the time.” Dazai studied the box, an amused glint playing in his eyes. “And it looks all neat and cute too, I wonder what kind of delicious things are inside! I'd love to have a taste!”

Atsushi perked up, beaming. This was it, the moment he had been waiting for.

“Well, if you want, then—” Atsushi tried to say, nudging the box closer to Dazai.

“Too bad I can't have it today, I'll just have to make you share next time. Maybe I'll even steal it!” Dazai laughed. “But for now, I need to leave or I'll get yelled at for being late again, how troublesome.”

Atsushi stared at him, then back down at the box. “What?”

“You okay, Atsushi? You don't have a heatstroke or something, right?” Dazai scrutinized Atsushi for a moment and, deeming him healthy enough, nodded. “Well, I'll be going now. Good work today.”

“Wait, but—”

“See you later, Atsushi!” Dazai said over his shoulder.

Atsushi mindlessly waved at him. “Have a safe trip.”

Silence descended on the room following Dazai's departure, everyone pretending not to be looking at Atsushi—but he still heard Tanizaki's wince.

“So, are you gonna eat that? I'm kinda hungry,” Ranpo said, uncaring to the current atmosphere of the room.

Atsushi sighed.

His guess that all of his friends had found out about the whole ordeal somehow wasn't wrong, as soon after Ranpo settles down happily munching on the food meant for Dazai, all of them start talking over each other, each with a different comment or suggestion.

He's been listening to them chatter away without even acknowledging his presence for far too long now, and each second contributes to his growing horror.

“You could just give him sake, Dazai likes that,” Yosano is saying. “Then invite him to a few drinks, isn't it the perfect setup?”

“What kind of setup are you talking about, exactly?” Kunikida asks, appearing as distressed as Atsushi feels. “Not to mention, Atsushi can't buy or drink alcohol yet.”

“Just do it illegally, simple.”

“Don't encourage illegal consumption of alcohol!”

Yosano crossed her arms. “Well, even if he can't drink, he's still an adult, so there are other things he can do. For example—”

“Yosano,” Ranpo says through a mouthful of jellybeans, having moved on to his usual snacks after devouring the contents of the lunch box. “I don't wanna hear you say that.”

Yosano huffs. “Fine.”

Atsushi glances between the two of them, too afraid to even imagine what Yosano intended to suggest that even Ranpo would prefer not to hear it.

Kunikida cleared his throat and adjusted his glasses. “Anyway, if we're talking about confessions, there are proper steps one should take, instead of doing it so carelessly like you’ve done so far.” He opened his notebook, leafing through the pages until he got to the one he wanted. “Thankfully, there's still time to do it properly. First of all—”

Atsushi stopped paying attention, moreso when he heard mention of it being “step one out of fifty four”. Being witness to the kind of writing could be found in Kunikida's journal, Atsushi would rather not absorb any of it before he went insane.

“What about a lunch date, or something of the sorts?” Kenji is the next one to suggest.

“Crepe is good,” Kyouka complements.

“Ooh, that does sounds yummy, it'd be perfect, wouldn't it?” Kenji said, to which Kyouka nodded.

“...But why food again?” Tanizaki is asking, which is exactly Atsushi's thought.

“If it's a confession, wouldn't flowers be the perfect gift?” Haruno said, clasping her hands together. “Like a bouquet of red roses, that'd be so lovely…”

“Ah, you have a point!” Naomi agreed. “That sounds so romantic.”

“Right?”

“But would he even like that kind of thing?” Yosano questioned. “It's Dazai we're talking about.”

Everyone hummed in unison, thinking about it.

“If it's Dazai, wouldn't he prefer poisonous mushrooms instead?” Kunida said, irritated just at the thought of it. “Considering his personality.”

“Then he could suggest a double suicide, it's totally fitting!” Kenji interjects, to which everyone nods in agreement.

“Hey, isn't that bad…?” Tanizaki questions, but the others ignored it.

“Well, it's to be expected when you're talking about someone like Dazai.” Kunikida continues, a hand on his hip. “I don't understand why you'd like someone like him, of all people.”

“He's not that bad!” Atsushi said without thinking, getting everyone to finally shut up, but unfortunately they did so to focus their attention solely on him.

“Oh?” Yosano says simply, encouraging him to go on.

“Well, I, Dazai— he's always thinking about everyone, even when we don't realize it,” he starts, looking down at his hands as he says it. “And yes, he has a difficult personality, but thanks to it I can forget all the bad things we deal with. When he smiles, even if it's faked, it's contagious and it makes me feel better. He's funny, and kind in his own way. When he says my name, it makes my heart go…” He trails off as he finally raises his head and sees the looks he's getting.

“Wow, I knew he was lovesick, bit isn't it kinda embarrassing to hear it said like that?” Ranpo says, lazily spinning in his chair.

“You were the ones who asked about it!” Atsushi said, exasperated.

Yosano, who had been the one that appeared the most curious before, shrugged. “Honestly, I didn't expect you to be so sincere about it.”

Atsushi ran a hand through his hair, eyes twitching with irritation. “Well, I'm sorry if—”

“Are you guys throwing a party without telling?” A new but familiar voice interrupted, amused.

They all turned in unison to look at Dazai, none of them coming forth with an excuse.

“It's way past lunch break, I didn't expect all of you to neglect work like this. Even Kunikida!” Dazai wiped a nonexistent tear from his eye. “I am so proud.”

The blond in question looked one second away from throwing Dazai out the window for that comment.

“So,” Dazai looked at all of them before continuing, “anyone is gonna tell me what wonderful activity you're all engaging in this beautiful afternoon?”

“It's 'tease Atsushi day’,” Ranpo answered.

“Huh?!”

“I declared so, because I was bored. Whoever manages to fluster him the most is the winner.”

“Ranpo!” Atsushi tried, looking at the detective with pleading eyes.

“I'll give the next turn to you, since you've been out all this time. Try to catch up,” Ranpo ordered.

Dazai smirked. “Oh yeah? Why didn't you tell me so before? Don't mind if I take you up on that offer.”

“Oh, god.”

…

Despite the horrific of experience of the previous day, Atsushi did get something out of it: mainly the idea of giving Dazai a flower bouquet. Even if it had been deemed a doubtful method given the person in question, Atsushi decided it was worth a try.

Plus it was the only idea that even remotely made sense, so his options weren't exactly a vast selection.

After some research, Atsushi ends up waiting by the door to the Agency the next morning, the warm breeze ruffling his hair. Atsushi had woken up hours earlier than usual, enough time to buy a bouquet of anemones and forget-me-nots and get to the Agency way before Dazai would even think of being there.

The spot wasn't exactly discreet, and a couple of people had already gave him looks, but from here he could see Dazai coming far away, instead of startling when the man suddenly burst into the room with a flourish or something along those lines.

Plus he'd rather take the eyes of a bunch of strangers than the stares of his coworkers.

He thought that maybe this way, he would have time to prepare himself and not stumble on his own words like his other two attempts, that he would be able to psych himself up to finally do this.

But when Dazai's silhouette appears in the horizon, morning sun lighting up his sleep brown hair into a warm caramel, the sleep mussed making a halo that framed his face and softened his features, Atsushi is sure he almost swallows his tongue whole. Instead of breathing in and preparing himself to give the bouquet to Dazai, Atsushi spends the next minute just staring at the approaching man, mind scarce of any thoughts.

Then, realizing Dazai will soon be close enough to notice Atsushi, he tightened his hold on the bouquet, paper crinkling under his fingers. He could do this, all he needed to do was not panic and hand the bouquet to Dazai, that was it, nothing more. It was simple; easy even.

Dazai perked up at the sight of him, brown eyes glowing hazel in the sunlight, his movements still sluggish with sleep but smile already in place. And Atsushi panics.

He glances down at the flowers and promptly shoves three forget-me-nots into his mouth.

By the time Dazai reaches him, he looks entirely bewildered, not even bothering to cover the way he's staring at the flowers.

“...What are you doing?”

Atsushi chews on the flower petals in his mouth, gagging at the taste, but manages to swallow it all down with great difficulty. He's sure a piece of it gets stuck in his throat.

“I was hungry,” Atsushi deadpans.

“That’s an interesting meal choice.”

“Well, I woke up too early today and went out without having breakfast, so I couldn't take the hunger anymore. Then I saw these flowers, and I thought, 'aren't flowers edible’, so I decided to give it a try,” Atsushi rambled, coughing at the end when the plant taste insisted on making itself present.

“You know, I sometimes worry about you,” Dazai stated, watching Atsushi's coughing fit.

“And I regret my life decisions.”

“I'd be regretting it too if I were you.” Dazai looked at the rest of the flowers, laughing when he saw them. Atsushi made a sound in question. “If I didn't know you, I'd say you were aiming for a suicide attempt, Atsushi.”

He looked at the bouquet as well, confused. “What do you mean?”

“Well, I sure hope you didn't eat any anemones, they're poisonous.”

“Ah.”

“Indeed.” Dazai put a hand on his shoulder, beaming. “Congrats on escaping death again!”

Atsushi rolled his eyes, but laughed at the words because he couldn't help himself. It made him almost forget the entire situation when Dazai smiled at him like that, even if it was just an act.

“Well, there's another reason why it's good you didn't eat the anemone.” Dazai plucked one of said flower out of the bouquet, twirling it between his fingertips.

“And what is that?”

“You see, it would look much better…” Dazai brushed the shorter side of Atsushi's bangs behind his ear. Next, he perched the flower there, fumbling with it for a bit to make sure it would stay instead of just falling immediately after. He tapped Atsushi's temple. “Here instead. Right?”

Dazai laughed when all Atsushi could do was splutterer in response, his thoughts running faster than he could process.

“D-Dazai! This kind of thing—”

“What, you don't agree? But it suits you,” Dazai said in a subtle whine. “You don't trust my input?”

“Of course I do, but that's not it!”

Dazai kept laughing, unaware or unsympathetic to Atsushi's turmoil. “Well, it's about time I go in, before Kunikida throws something on my head. Again.” Dazai paused to wink at Atsushi before entering the building. “You should do the same if you value your eardrums.”

Atsushi nodded, but didn't follow him in, giving himself a few minutes to just digest their previous interaction. He touches gentle fingertips to the flower in his hair, while the other covers his mouth, palm against the warmth of his face.

If Atsushi never takes the flower off his hair for the rest of the day, no one says anything about it, not even Dazai.

It's Naomi who finally convinces him to just go with the normal route when it comes to Valentine's Day: giving chocolate. It's only one day until the holiday when she sits down in front of him and, sweet but somehow still terrifying, asks about the subject. She insists on it until Atsushi is leaning a tad bit away, promising to go buy chocolate after work.

(Atsushi couldn't bring himself to try something home cooked again after the disappointment of the first try. If this one didn't work, at least he would've had spent only money on the chocolates, instead of time and effort.)

The red box, tied closed by a golden bow, draws the eyes of the rest of the Agency, who at least try to refrain from commenting on the whole situation.

Atsushi just ignores Naomi and Haruno sighing together as they talk in hushed voices something about “romantic gestures”.

By the time the clock strikes three in the afternoon, Atsushi is antsy, shuffling in his chair, his now perpetual frown only deepening. Given his luck before, Atsushi wouldn't be surprised if this too failed, somehow. Maybe Dazai wouldn't even show up at all.

The knowing looks he got made his skin crawl with discomfort, but at least his friends had decided to leave him alone—even Kunikida refrained from scolding him for how distracted Atsushi was all day.

He is sure Ranpo tries to say something at one point—and knowing him, it'd most likely come out as terribly blunt, even if true in its nature—, but Yosano intercepts before he can fully formulate his words, keeping Ranpo's attention away from Atsushi. And, for that, Atsushi is infinitely grateful.

The only one who tries to only comfort him is Tanizaki, who offers him a cup of tea, but otherwise treats him as usual. Atsushi almost calls him an angel.

And then, like a whirlwind wreaking havoc in its path, Dazai kicks the door open and greets everyone in a boisterous voice. Atsushi jolts, burning his tongue on his tea and coughing against the portion of it that he inhaled in his surprise.

“What's with that cold welcome, you guys are no fun,” Dazai complained with a huff, walking to his desk.

“Where were you until now?! You should've been at work hours ago!” Kunikida yelled over his pile of paperwork.

“Around.” Dazai waved vaguely, which told them exactly nothing about his whereabouts. “I'm sure you wouldn't understand, Kunikida, but it's Valentine's Day. Shouldn't we all be outside?”

At the mention of the holiday, Atsushi cringed, along with Tanizaki. His friends glance at Atsushi, worry written on their face. Atsushi tried to brush it off.

“Wouldn't it be romantic to die on a day dedicated to love? But no one is interested, it seems.” Dazai leaned back on his chair, hands dangling on the sides of his body. “And I didn't even get any chocolate, either. Isn't that unfair?”

“The only unfair thing about this is that I have to deal with your existence,” Kunikida retorted, already on the brink of losing his patience completely (if he even had any of it when it came to Dazai).

“Cruel!” Dazai said with a half-hearted offended gasp.

Atsushi, who froze on the spot from the very moment he saw Dazai, numbly listened to the conversation. His fingers twitched as he looked at the red box, but he otherwise didn't move. He wanted to sigh, or maybe groan as loud as he could, frustrated at his own inability to just do it , but he stops himself from doing so as to not draw Dazai's attention.

Which was an useless endeavor, as soon enough Dazai slides his chair closer to Atsushi, curious and mischievous as he always is when he wants to tease someone.

“Atsushi, what do you have there?”

Atsushi attempts to protect the chocolate from Dazai's eyes and squiggling fingers, but he's too late and Dazai is faster, diving to capture it before him. He lets out a triumphant “Aha!”, but immediately gets distracted by studying the box itself.

“What would this be, huh? Wrapped up all prettily like this.” Dazai shook the box, hearing the contents inside rattle with it. “Considering the day, it's kinda obvious, isn't it?”

Atsushi stared at Dazai hands, wrapped around the gift that was supposedly his, but Atsushi never got the chance to actually give it to him, and the frustration was inflating like a balloon under his ribcage.

“Please, stop with the jokes, Dazai. Give it back.”

“Eeh, why are you so angry? Stress is bad for your health, you know.” Dazai raised the box, so it was out of Atsushi's immediate reach.

“I said give that back!” Atsushi yelled, and by now everyone was staring at them, even if some more discreetly than others.

“You don't need to work yourself up so much, is this that important to you?” Dazai narrowed his eyes at the gift in his hands. “But it's so unfair, how come I don't get any chocolates but you do?”

Atsushi wanted to explain it, to hit Dazai's head for misunderstanding the situation completely, but it was getting hard to breathe or think when his chest only got heavier.

He went up to his tiptoes, trying to yank the box out of Dazai's hand, but he raised it above his head, where Atsushi would have to jump like a little kid to reach it. Dazai smirked; Atsushi fumed.

“I'll give it back in just a second, just be patient.” Dazai took several steps back, Atsushi going after him, his efforts to retrieve back the chocolate never faltering.

Atsushi attempted to pull Dazai's arms down, but with his ability nullified by Dazai's touch, their strengths were close to equal, and Atsushi was only able to move him a few useless centimeters.

While he was preoccupied with stopping Dazai, the man sneaked a hand into the box, forcing the ribbon up to get to a chocolate, making an appreciative sound at the round candy.

Before he could do anything about it, he had already eaten said chocolate, chewing happily as if Atsushi wasn't hanging from his arms with an anger to rival Kunikida's.

“Atsushi was so worried about his precious chocolate box, but I got to eat it first. Too bad!” Dazai finally lowered his hands, nudging the box back to Atsushi. “But hey, it's pretty good, so whoever gave it to you must like you a lot, isn't that nice?”

Silence; pure and unadulterated silence fell upon them, like everyone had forgotten to breathe, or decided not to do so. Dazai blinks, confused at the sudden shift in the atmosphere.

“He really is an idiot,” Ranpo finally says, and if the situation was any different, Atsushi would vocally agree with him. As it is, he only grits his teeth against the bubbling feelings under his tongue.

“How about we go for a walk, shall we?” That's Yosano, and the command in her voice isn't lost on any of them.

They all follow her, albeit not without Ranpo whining and Kunikida grumbling under his breath, furiously writing on his notebook. Dazai at least has the mind to notice the “we” doesn't include him.

“This is awkward,” Dazai states, and Atsushi wants to strangle him. “I didn't know the chocolate was that important, you could've said something before.”

At the end, Atsushi doesn't strangle him, but Dazai did make the mistake of handing him the red box earlier. And so, with all the pent up feelings accumulated in him spilling through the cracks, Atsushi throws the box right at Dazai—he at least does the courtesy of not using the tiger strength, which is way more than Dazai deserves from him at the moment.

It bounces on his forehead then falls to the floor, revealing Dazai's surprised face and a red spot where he was hit.

“Of course they were important, do you have any idea how much time I spent choosing them?!”

Dazai instinctively takes a step back at the outburst, but his face lights up in realization. “Ah, so you wanted to give it to someone special, I guess I should apologize for ruining that for you, then.”

Atsushi clenches his fist and marches up to Dazai.

“You,” he agressively pokes a finger at Dazai's sternum, “are so goddamn stupid.”

“Okay?”

“I've been trying to tell you for days , almost an entire week! And I thought, 'well, Dazai is very perceptive so he'll meet me halfway, it'll be fine’. But you just… Just— Ugh!”

“Atsushi, I'm not sure I know what you're talking about,” Dazai said in a hesitant voice, hands raised defensively.

“Of course you don't!” Atsushi held his head in his palms, then messed his own hair with angry rubs and tugs. “Kunikida was right, I don't even know why I would like you of all people!”

“What?”

“Yeah, I mean, I know deep, deep down Kunikida considers you a friend, but also you're a menace and the most annoying person that ever walked the face of the Earth. So, you know, I can't fault him for being doubtful!” Atsushi waved dramatically. “I know I am too!”

“No, forget about Kunikida, that's not important.” Atsushi startled when Dazai gripped both his wrists, staring at him intently. “Say that again.”

Atsushi, caught off guard, feels the steam leave his body, substituted only by emotional tiredness and a great amount of confusion.

“What's up with you all of a sudden?” Atsushi narrowed his eyes. “Are you trying to pull some joke on me again?”

Dazai didn't reply right away, but his hold on Atsushi tightened, and he was being backed into the nearest desk. He stumbles when he hits the wooden surface, almost sitting on it. He looks up at Dazai, eyes wide and heart beating fast at the look on his face: serious and intense, eyes half lidded, lips pressed on a tight straight line.

“Say it again,” he repeated, more forceful.

“What? What part, about Kunikida considering you a friend deep, deep, deep down—”

“The part where you said you like me.” Dazai inched closer, enough so their breaths mingled. “Say it again.”

Atsushi exhaled a wobbly breath. There was no denying it, when it left his mouth without even realizing, when Dazai could feel the rush of his blood fast as hummingbird's wings against palm, when they were so close and all Atsushi could think about was how beautiful he looked like this. “I like you.”

“Say it again.”

“I like you.”

“ Again. ”

“I love you.”

There was no warning preceding the kiss, only the sudden lack of air in his lungs. Atsushi could only press closer to Dazai, pliant in his hold, clutching uselessly at air.

And that balloon from before, all the repressed feelings, it comes back with a vengeance until it pops. Atsushi can only hope that Dazai can't hear its noise, can't hear the signs of him shattering inside in a mess of incoherent pieces.

Only to be put back together by the force of Dazai's hands, by the sweet taste of his tongue in Atsushi's own.

He's shuddering, embarrassingly weak when Dazai's surrounds his every sense, but he can't bring himself to stop, to care about it all. But he craves , god, he can't go one more second without touching Dazai back, without feeling his skin and his hair and the curve of his bones.

Atsushi struggles against Dazai's hold. “Dazai… Hands…” He whispers between kisses, and he is sure he feels a smile on Dazai's lips, but finally his hands are free to do as they wish.

Atsushi touches as much as he can, as much as is appropriate where they're still at the office, despairing over how little of Dazai's skin is accessible to him due to his bandages.

When they manage to pull away from each other, Dazai is laughing, and Atsushi follows soon after.

“Maybe you are right, about me being stupid.”

“I am.”

“Cruel,” Dazai murmured, smiling as he kisses Atsushi's cheek.

“The others, they should be coming back soon.”

“I don't care,” Dazai replied, kissing down Atsushi's jaw.

“But, we're gonna get in trouble—” He was interrupted by his own sharp intake of breath, caused by a kiss deposited right under his ear.

Dazai pushed him further back, onto the table entirely, his feet leaving the floor and a book falling to the ground as it gets knocked over.

“Hey, I'm telling you—”

“Atsushi,” Dazai interrupts. Atsushi snaps to attention, blinking up at him. “I love you too.”

It's enough to have Atsushi melting, cheeks burning brighter than they already were before, involuntarily pulling Dazai to him. The man chuckles at the reaction, but his lips never leave Atsushi's skin.

“That's cheating,” Atsushi mumbled, embarrassed.

“All is fair in love and war, Atsushi,” Dazai says in a singsong.

“Shut up, please.”

Dazai, for once in his life, complies, too preoccupied capturing Atsushi's mouth with his to talk. Later, Atsushi will feel the mortification eat him alive at how angry he got before, but for now, his mind is filled with Dazai's name and nothing more.

“The chocolate…” Atsushi tries to talk again, when his eyes catch sight of the red box lying forgotten on the floor.

“Later.” Dazai holds Atsushi's face in his palms, giving him a few pecks before speaking again, “Let me you kiss you some more, first.”

Atsushi manages to nod, at least. “Okay.”

[codename-bewareofthefangirl]

Can I ask for nijiaka where aomine taste akashi that he looks like he is inlove with niji and hits on the elder to annoy sei but, nijimura sees through aomine and finds out about akashi's feelings (and he feels the same) so happy end~?

Hi dear! Sorry if it took me a while! I’m afraid tosay that in the end I’ve slightly modified your prompt. Mainly because I can’teven imagine Teikou!Aomine flirting with someone for revenge: he’s a dork, abasketball dork who thinks only in basketball terms. That’s why his aid to thecouple is unconscious, he’s only trying to be petty and vengeful. I know it’sshort, but I hope you’re going to enjoy it either way dear! (Please forgive meif there are more mistakes than usual but I’m writing in the middle of thenight again and I don’t know how lucid I’m to be honest.)

Havefun!

Allthanks to Mai-chan

“Damn Akashi…” Aomine muttered under his breath,seated at the border of the gym with a menacing expression.

Akashi had threw away his last Mai-chan’s magazines asa revenge for Aomine clumsy joke about his “non-existent love life”. He still couldn’tbelieve he had done it and was boiling with anger. No one could touch hisMai-chan. No one.

“I have to avenge myself…” whispered crazily, eyeingthe red-haired boy at the other side of the gym.

“I don’t know if it’s a good idea…” Kise tried topersuade him, seated next to me and still panting after their one on one, buthe was ignored.

“I have to take him away for a bit something he likes,so that he can feel my pain.” Aomine reasoned and his eyes casually laid on hiscaptain. Shuuzou Nijimura. He didn’t know why, but the captain and Akashiseemed on great terms and played together after practice. In those moments, Aomineusually could recognize on Akashi’s face the excited look of a satisfied andchallenged basketball player instead of his polite and composed façade.

Aomine smirked.

Ah, found it.

 Nijimura was drinking peacefully some water on his own,when Aomine suddenly reached him with a wide smile.

“Senpai!” called with a basketball in his hands, “Let’splay together!”

Nijimura arched an eyebrow and put the bottle down.

After practice, usually they were given fifteen minutesor sometimes even half an hour to play freely with each other. Aomine usuallyplayed with Kise or Kuroko, so it was definitely strange to see him there askingfor a one on one with him. However, the captain’s usual partner had to go awayearlier that day and he was left alone.

“Really?” inquired, sensing there was something offwith that basketball head but the other boy shrugged.

“Yeah, yeah.” Assured, without meeting his eyes, “Justplay.” Grunted impatiently.

Nijimura sighed and decided it was probably wasnothing to worry about, both eager to play against someone as strong as him andcurious to understand what was going on.

“Then it’s fine.” He agreed with a small ferine smile.

 And, that was the beginning of the end. For the entireweek, in the exact moment practice finished Aomine would appear next to Nijimurataunting him to play one on one and the senpai couldn’t refuse his enthusiasticand energetic junior even if…Even if usually those moments were strictlyreserved to another special person and he was missing them.

However, that special person hadn’t said anything evenonce and just looked from afar or escaped quickly. Somewhat this made Nijimuraeven more curious and observing until the only possible answer came to his mind.So, after another week spent dealing with the basketball monster, finally Nijimuradecided he was going to take a step further.

 That afternoon, Akashi was angrily putting away someballs in the storage room. He was trying hard to swallow the hungry and bitterfeeling in his mouth, but it was harder than it thought. It was just that…itwas so unfair. He had already given up on confessing to Nijimura and werecontent with being his trusted and appreciated junior, but their after-practicematches were his untouchable treasure. It was their moment alone. It wassomething only them shared and made Akashi feel special.

He knew it sounded very cheesy, but it was importantto him. Yet, Aomine had started to interfere. He knew perfectly that basketballidiot was probably doing it just to annoy him by stealing his “practice’spartner” as a revenge and that he was too simpleminded to discover Akashi’sfeelings, but it hurt. He was jealous that he had lost his important momentwith Nijimura like that, but he hadn’t had the courage to voice his complaint;even because, he was offended his senpai hadn’t done nothing and went alongwith it. Did Akashi mean nothing to him? He could at least have said something.

Damn! He felt so mad.

Akashi slammed closed a locker with some tape andother things with a scary expression, but suddenly heard some footsteps behindhim. He hated himself for recognizing them immediately and refused to turn. Hehad still a dignity somewhere.

“Let’s play.” Nijimura hummed at the boy, a ball underhis arm.

“If I’m not mistaken, you have already someone to playwith.” He politely answered, faking to tidy something in the room.

“If you mean Aomine, he is trying to make amend to poutingKise and Kuroko, who he had ignored all this time to try to make you mad.” He bluntlyexplained to Akashi, who nearly stumbled at his words. But he tried to keep hiscomposure.

“Then he has lost his time. I bet it’s for hismagazine’s thing, what a child.” Quietly replied, nervous hands clutched arounda ball. “I’m perfectly fine.”

“Really? I thought it has worked though.” Nijimura commentedwith a shrug and this finally forced Akashi to turn and glare, a fake smallsmile on the lips.

“It didn’t.” he coldly denied, but his cheeks weregetting red. Feeling hotter and bother under his senpai’s clear eyes, he walkedpast him quickly to escape, before he could say something he was surely goingto regret. Before Nijimura could understand everything.

“Seijuurou.” Nijimura called, grabbing his wrist andpulling him in a hug from behind, back in the room where no one could see them.Akashi froze and his mind went completely blank.

Okay, that wasn’t right. That was a first, a good butunexpected first. What did it mean? He didn’t want to hope for impossiblethings…

“You have to say it aloud when you are jealous.” The olderone mocked him with an exasperated sigh.

“I’m not jealous.” Akashi muttered, breath caught inhis lungs.

“You are.”

“I don’t havethe right to be jealous.” Akashi rephrased both bitter and sad, loweringhis red eyes. He didn’t even know what’s going on, but it felt useless to lieat that point.

Nijimura bit his lip, pondering if he could say it now.He was scared and unsure about the future but…damn, he wasn’t born a coward andhe knew perfectly what he wanted.

“What if I said you have?” whispered calmly and fondly.

Akashi blinked while the meaning of those words sankin, happiness and fear swirling in his stomach.

“Then I would ask you to stop playing with Aomine-kunand prove what you’ve said to me.” Replied in a slightly trembling voice, but raisinghis chin and showing a playful pout.

At his prideful and mighty answer, Nijimura grinnedrolling his eyes and finally loosened his grip so that the boy could turn to facehim. Without adding anything else, he bended and kissed Akashi quickly on thelips.

“You are really spoiled.” Muttered trying to soundexasperated, but Akashi’s flushed face was too cute to stop smiling.

He was definitely going to thank Aomine for that.

[lunchtimerushin]

hi! sorry if this is random or if it's a sensitive thing, but do you no longer ship aoka? id on't know if you already explained it somewhere already and i understand it was because of the reposters. i guess i just feel a bit sad since you have always been my favorite aoka artist... but you like something else now and draw more of that than aoka. i'm really sorry, i am glad that you are happy, just a little sad you have left us ..but! i understand you put priority in your own interests.

Hi!! Don’t worry about it; it’s just a slight sore spot but it has more to do with something personal than the community or the pairing itself. I’m really honored to hear that aaa;;

I’m sorry if I disappointed you; it wasn’t my intention. T__T;; Err, in a way to explain myself: when it comes to shipping, I become attracted to pairings that reflect what I’m seeking at the moment. When I was in aoka, it was that desire for companionship but friendly competition. But now, my situation has become a lot more stressful, so I find comfort in the niji/aka dynamic now. _(:3

tldr: I’m sorry if I disappointed you; I still love aoka but I’m a tunnel-vision artist; I’d be really honored if you keep on following and supporting me, but I understand if you don’t. ^0^!! Do what makes you happy! //claps

So…yeah, I got some asks like this here and there wanting to know the full-full story, so I guess I’ll just c/p what I told someone else. I mean it’s not really exciting just dramaaaaaaalallama.

“what did you mean when you said you were in a weird place with ao-kaga?”

It’s a complicated subject since it has been a few years, but I’ll do my best to simplify it! It mostly had to do with the community less than it had to do with the pair themselves!

To start, I always had trouble integrating with tumblr fandoms. I had always drawn in small communities so it was overwhelming when suddenly a lot of eyes turned on me. ^_T!! I wasn’t used to getting more than 20 notes on my art, and then I was left with things in its hundreds.

That is to say, my ego was fed and grew too big. I became stubborn about certain things (like topping preferences and character portrayals; tho now I’ve become more flexible w/ it*) and I had bad encounters with several people from the fandom. (Both parties were at fault haha;; Though objectively looking at it, it was more because of my big head;; orz)

I also felt that because of my past actions, and not to mention several family tragedies caused me to be on the edge more than usual, the rift b/w me and the community has grown farther.

The people who I used to fangirl about aoka with eventually left; some of them started being aggressive and unhealthily competitive with me (in terms of art);; There were huge misunderstandings, yada yada, yeah.;

so…^_T I guess those bad experiences made it hard for me to integrate into another aoka circle. And there was only so much I could have drawn on my own;. Since I sort of lose that close circle of friends and feedback, I drifted I guess. (coughs at tsubasa.)

I don’t regret aoka! I loved it so much; it was just unfortunate I wasn’t able to mesh well into the fandom because of my immaturity and some other unfortunate incidences. ;v;“” I think I will always be passionate about them, but aah, I think for now a break is in order. But, honestly, it’s really easy for me to fall in love with them again.

Here’s something of a secret, I was going through my aoka doujinshi collection with the intent on selling them off. After reading several I got sucked back in lol, and I couldn’t bear to sell away my beloved doujinshis. (I also still collect several artists’ works.) I always wander, but there’s always a 70% chance I’d be coming back ww.

and yea, reiterating with the ships and what I’m attracted to; I like this new ship bc I see myself in Akashi; so many expectations shoved on me, reprieve is really nice in those cases. orz;;;

Yeah;; just don’t mind me skjfh;; I really just do what I like orz… even I can’t predict myself…

But I really appreciate everyone’s patience with me.;; _(:3 

I’ve been trying to grow as a better person, but sometimes my life situation just really affects my fandom interactions. and it’s just been really stressful lately orz;; so I’m sorry if I’m not as open or talkative or very prickly as of late….;;;; 

EDIT:*: someone asked me to clarify what I meant by: “like topping preferences and character portrayals; tho now I’ve become more flexible w/ it“

I guess I should've made it clear that I mostly meant fanfics when I said that. I just didn't read what I didn't like. While I'm chill with people who liked aoka as a switchship or as a ka/ao, I just didn't read the fics. I started aoka with pixiv comics, so when I journeyed into fics for a while, I backed out of it quickly when I didn't agree with the characterization. It was mostly me not reading people's stuff. (Which, for some reason, someone called me out on it and said that I was a hypocrite?? for writing fics but not reading other people's stuff.) I guess you can call me a hypocrite or someone who was too proud I guess.... _(:3;; I just kind of saw how it wasn’t my cuppa;

[zach-the-fox]

Furiends Episode 4: Breaking and Entering

The gang remain on the trail of the bent cars and cracked buildings, tracing where the two fireballs had gone. They follow the path of destruction to a lone structure on a plateau on the outskirts of town, but close to it.

Zach freezes in place as he and his friends stand before the big, two-story building. “Team Rescuer’s base… My God…”

Sally notices the cracked window to the right of the door. “Well, looks like those fireballs made it in there.”

“We should go inside and look around for those demons!” Navy utters. “I can’t wait!”

“Uh,” Zach begins. “I don’t know if that’s a good idea… Maybe we should leave and let Team Rescuers deal with the demons.”

Niji looks at the fox. “Are you scared to go in there? Come on, no demons can take on us, right? It’s just the two of them.”

“I’m not worried about those demons… It’s the other four I’m more worried for…”

“Team Rescuers?” asks Emmy. Zach nods. “You can’t just avoid them forever. There comes a time when you’ll have to let go of the past.” She holds his paw with her hoof. “It’ll be all right, Zach. We’re with you.” She manages a smile, causing the fox to reflect her expression.

“I hate to break the mood,” says Sally. “But, aren’t we getting in to find the demons we summoned?”

“I want to see our babies!” Navy twists the knob on the door, which doesn’t budge. “It’s locked…”

“Team Rescuers must be out,” Zach spurts. “They would never lock their base unless they went away.”

“Wait,” starts Niji. He points to Zach. “You’ve hung around Team Rescuers, and have been non-stop pestering them. You wouldn’t happen to know a way into their base, even when they locked it up?”

“Well.” Zach rubs the back of his head. “I have climbed the trees to get onto the roof. And from there, dropped down from the hatch on top.”

“Good!” Sally pats his shoulder. “Once you get in, open the door for us, okay?”

Zach stares at her. “Um… What…? I thought Navy could fly us to the roof and get in…”

“You crazy? I’m not letting her touch me and dirty up these clothes.” Niji agrees with the dog.

Zach turns to Navy. “Can you fly me up to the roof then? Please?”

“You might be heavy,” explains Navy. “But, I’ll try.” She flaps her wings and hovers in the air. Using her feet, she clings onto the fox and flaps hard. “Ooff!” They ascend off the ground and make it over the half-wall, falling onto the roof’s surface. Zach pushes himself up as Navy pants while on her knees. “God, you’re heavy! How much did you eat?!”

Zach chuckles. “I sometimes eat a lot when I get sad. Sorry…” The two approach the hatch in the center and open it. After dropping down into the facility, they go to unlock the door and open it for their friends. “All right. Let’s look for those demons and get out of here, okay?”

Sally walks in. “Don’t rush me, Fox. We will spend as much time here as we want to.”

Zach follows as she leads the others deeper inside. “Look, I’m just not very comfortable being here, especially after what I went through with Team Rescuers… If they see us here, they’ll kill us… Well, mostly me… I don’t know what they’d do to you guys… Probably something unpleasant…”

“They won’t do anything because we’re not going to get caught! Now, where would those demons be?” Sally searches around. The others follow her as they go room-by-room. They enter a humongous space where several gadgets, widgets, and gizmos are placed. Pictures of the fox in the blue bandana are plastered on the walls by the weapons arsenal, some with holes and marks while by the melee and sword station a straw dummy of him is displayed. “Holy…”

“Wow,” Emmy utters. She turns to Zach. “You certainly are most hated, aren’t you?”

“Are these Team Rescuers’ gadgets?” Navy asks. “I haven’t seen any of them use these before…” She faces Zach. “Did you know about this?”

“Why no,” Zach answers. “I’ve never seen them use any of these things before… In fact, I didn’t even come into this area… It’s been closed off.”

“Ooh!” Navy runs over and puts on a pink cape with a mask. “Behold! Super Navy!” She places her wings on her hips. “Sworn to protect all of Heroto!”

Emmy takes a sword from the table beside the dummy. “This is a nice sword!” She wields her weapon. “Look at me! I’m a superhero! Hiya!” She whacks the dummy with it. “Awesome!”

“Um, maybe we shouldn’t touch anything in here,” Zach suggests. “The team will go mad if they find out someone touched their things…”

“Relax,” Sally assures him. “They won’t know a thing.”

Niji approaches a big computer against the wall. “Oh cool!” He sits at the desk and turns on the machine. “I bet I could search for my favorite couples with this!” Upon activation, the machine shows a blinking message. “What?! Come on!”

Sally walks over to the wolf. “What’s the matter, Niji?”

“This computer won’t let me search!” Niji spurts. “It just shows this same stupid message, see!” Everyone gathers to see what the wolf is ranting on about. “It says “Warning! Paranormal anomalies detected! I want to look up some fanart of my husbands and wives.”

“Wait, paranormal anomalies?!” repeats Emmy. “Those could be the demons we summoned! Niji, try opening the message.” Niji does as ordered, clicking on the banner and opening a map of Heroto. Two blinking red lights show in the bottom-right corner of the screen. “Those have to be the demons!”

“What does this do?” Niji clicks on another button.

“Data downloading onto holomap,” a voice says from the computer. Before the gang, a pedestal rises with a large armband with a screen and keyboard on it.

“A holomap?” questions Navy. “I bet this is the thing Team Rescuers use when looking for criminals and villains.”

Sally takes the band and places it on her arm. “Then we’ll use it to pinpoint our demons.”

“I don’t think it’s a good idea to steal something of Team Rescuers,” Zach utters. “They’ll know we’ve taken something that belongs to them.”

“Listen,” Sally starts. “I said it before; we won’t get caught. Besides, wouldn’t you think they deserved it if we took their gadgets? They did bully and neglect you, right?” Zach nods. “They won’t suspect a thing. Now, what do you say?”

Zach sighs. “You’re right… Let’s see what could be of use to us on our journey.” The fox swipes a blue cape with goggles, gloves, and tights, along with a long staff and other gadgets. His friends follow his lead. They then head through the front after packing their newly-acquired items into backpacks they took from the team’s rooms.  

@emmy-the-absolute-goof​ @rainbow-strike​ @sally-the-pack-leader​ @pink-unicorn-boi​