#the thought of having to live without ao3 and fics genuinely makes me panic lmao

[regrettorisotto]

i fucking LOVE LIFE !!!! YOU WANNA KNOW WHY???? IM ALIVE AT THE SAME TIME AS AO3 EXISTS!! THERES NEVER BEEN A BETTER AGE EVER !!!!! AND IM LIVING NOW AAAHAHHAHAHAHAHA

[thecoolkidsbasement]

Nancy Drew - Midnight in Salem ‘Fix it Fic’

So because I wanted to take a little writing break from my Inventor’s Absolution fic (so I wouldn’t suffer from the burnout of writing exclusively in one universe for so long), I got somewhat invested in writing a ‘fix-it fic’ for Nancy Drew’s Midnight in Salem game because it was Terribad(TM), and then got un-invested by the time I finished the scene LMAO I don’t think I’ll ever seriously put more time into it (maybe I’ll post it on AO3 + FF.net since it’s a completed scene and to get more eyes on it), so I thought I’d just leave it here for the Clue Crew to enjoy if they so wished. Basically I wanted a rewrite of the game in ‘novel form’ to fix dialogue, plot holes, puzzles, and other various things that I felt needed improvement in the story and plot. This starts at the beginning of the game, shortly after the Book of Apologies thief escapes, and before the opening talk between Nancy Drew and Deirdre Shannon.

Enjoy! Fic under the cut, thanks for reading (and apologies if Nancy seems a bit OOC, I tried doing a mix of ‘new Nan’ with ‘old Nan’. Happy reading, happy writing!

Amongst the verdant firs of the Salzburg forest, our young detective, Nancy Drew, navigates her way back to Moosham Castle after a book thief apprehension gone awry. Through the crowning tops of the wavering trees where they split amongst the drear sky are the towering eaves of the historical estate—the only guide she has in returning to the castle’s footbridge. She surmised the hike back would be a strenuous one, and furthermore considered herself lucky to not have rolled her ankle, or worse, broken a leg, from the way she launched herself over the bridge’s edge as carelessly as she did.

Not a story for Ned, that’s for sure, she decided while rummaging through her shoulder bag to examine the few pieces of evidence her book thief had dropped in their escape; an expelled home-made smoke bomb; a key with an usual blade, the teeth spelling ‘AW’, left abandoned in the cage lock that the Book of Apologies was bound with; and a torn plane ticket to Boston, Massachusetts.

Which was boarding at 3:40 PM.

Tomorrow.

I’ve got to find them before they get back to the states, or else I could lose their trail! Nancy lamented as she pulled her phone from her pocket to check the time, while also seeing several missed calls from a River Heights number — proven earlier to be that of Deirdre Shannon’s. Tucking her phone away, she decided she’d respond later with a lingering thought of how odd it was that Deirdre was calling her. Repeatedly. But right now she had other things to worry about, like how she would apprehend her book thief!

The Vienna International Airport is about a 4-hour drive away. With this ticket I at least know what flight my thief will be on and what seat they’re in! I’ll have to get past airport security first... I wonder if there're any open seats left on this flight?… Nancy puzzled as she climbed up a steep hill, using the rocks protruding from the earthen ridge as makeshift foot holds for a quick return back up to the main road. Brushing dirt off her hands and clothes, she took notice of a tear clean through her pants leg—most likely snagged on a sharp rock or thorny bush while she was running.

Definitely not a story for Ned, the detective sighed to herself as her phone buzzed once more in her jacket pocket. It was Deirdre, again.

The two hadn’t seen each other since the old town hall fire in River Heights last year, and they certainly weren’t on friendly terms once the truth and Nancy’s innocence had come to light… not that they were friendly beforehand, but reveling in Nancy’s short stint in prison certainly didn’t do their tense acquaintanceship any favors.

"Okay, Deirdre, you now have my undivided attention.” Nancy remarked once she answered the call. “What is it?”

“You know, when someone calls you in a panic and tells you not to hang up, it’s probably pretty important that you not hang up!” She snapped from the other side of the line with a huff.

“I’m sorry, but I told you I was in the middle of something. I said I’d call you back later, didn’t I?” She reasoned as she began walking the road back to the castle, lined on either side by dense trees, and examined the tear in her pants again as she walked.

“This isn’t something that can wait! I—…” All the ire in her tone died to a tense silence, in a pause so long Nancy removed her phone from her ear to check if the call dropped. The phone service out amongst the forest wasn’t the best, but her phone confirmed they hadn’t disconnected.

She put her cell back to her ear. “Deirdre? Are you still there?”

“I need your help, Drew.” Deirdre admitted quietly, her voice reluctant and almost ego-bruised, as if she were thinking better of having called the detective in the first place. “My cousin’s gotten into some trouble, and I thought I could help her, but—… but it’s a lot more complicated than what she told me over the phone. It’s worse than I thought it’d be.”

“What kind of trouble?”

"Like I said, it’s complicated.”

Gauging the distance of the road ahead, the peaking towers and the outer curtain walls of Moosham Castle cut through the trees. Nancy hadn’t realized how far she strayed until now. “Well, it looks like I just came into a bit of free time… if you’d like to talk about it?”

“I thought you said you were in the middle of something?”

“I was. I was literally chasing down a suspect when you called and got a little lost on my way back to the castle.”

“…A castle? Where in the world are you, Nancy Drew?”

“Austria, at this place called Moosham Castle. I was trying to locate an artifact for my dad on behalf of a judge friend of his, and—it was the craziest thing!— When I had my back turned, someone dressed all in black appeared out of nowhere and stole the artifact, disappeared in a puff of weird blue smoke, and jumped out the window!”

"Are you saying this guy got away? And here I thought Miss Nancy Drew always got her perp,” Deirdre said with blatant smugness in her voice.

You didn’t see them—they must’ve scaled up the outer wall somehow to come through the window… and they were quick. If they hadn’t stopped when they did to open up the book, I never would’ve caught up to them, Nancy realized glumly. Whoever this person is is crazy athletic, and they knew what they were doing. They knew that the book was here, and they had the key to get it open. This was no random robbery.

“I didn’t think anyone used the word 'perp’ anymore, Deirdre,” Nancy replied with a soft teasing, which granted her a scoff from the other end of the line. Possibly an eye roll, too. “Anyway, back to your cousin. What kind of trouble is she in?”

"Right. Well—… to make a long story short, my cousin, Mei, lives in the infamous Salem, Massachusetts. About a week ago one of Salem’s most historical mansions was nearly burnt to the ground, and now the entire town believes she was the one who caused the fire! They don’t have any evidence she did it, which is unbelievable, but any idiot can see she wouldn’t do something like that—!”

“Deir—Deirdre—Deirdre!” Nancy finally had to yell just to make herself heard over her incensed rambling. “Why would the town believe your cousin Mei would do such a thing if there’s no evidence? What evidence did they find? Did she provide a strong alibi? One that someone, or multiple people, can confirm? Are there any other suspects?”

"God, I forgot about that annoying thing you do where you ask a million questions a second,” Deirdre huffed exasperatedly. "I don’t know what evidence the police have. When I tried reaching out to them, they just laughed at me when they found out I was Mei’s cousin—like they thought it was funny I was trying to prove her innocence! Like it was so obvious Mei would do this and I just couldn’t see it! I had to leave before I gave them the smart-ass piece of my mind… it would’ve only made the situation worse for her.”

“I’m so, so sorry to hear that happened to you, Deirdre… really, I am.” Nancy offered genuinely, just as the footbridge was coming into sight, and she quickened her pace to meet it. “It sounds like your cousin is being falsely accused, or at least he police don’t seem interested in looking into other suspects.”

"Mei hasn’t been accused.” She clarified before sighing defeatedly, grumbling with a tight jaw. "…Not yet, at least, on official record… but everyone in Salem thinks she did it and we both can see where this train is heading. The only people here who see the truth are me and Mei’s older sister, my other cousin, Teegan. Nancy, Mei didn’t do this, and like I said, the situation’s really complicated… more complicated than I can explain over the phone. It’d be easier in person.”

“Are—Are you asking me to come to Salem?” Nancy inquired dubiously. She expected their exchange to be more of a mentoring; for Deirdre to ask for her advice on how to pursue the matter and that would be the end of it, so for her to imply—no, outright admit she needed Nancy to come to Salem—it became clear just how ‘complicated’ this problem really was.

And how desperate Deirdre was to save her cousin.

"You’re really going to twist my arm, aren’t you?” Deirdre groaned. "Yes, that’s exactly what I’m asking, Drew. I’m not going to beg.” There was an abrupt pause. "…I might say please, though, if that’ll convince you, but you can never breathe a word of that to anyone!”

As Nancy stopped on the footbridge to lean over the railing, the open window of the north-tower marked where the thief had jumped from the ledge to a sheer drop below; it was almost too high up to jump from without breaking your neck, and the exterior walls were built with smooth stone weather-worn from the years. How could the thief otherwise get up there, let alone get back down as quick as they did without injuring themselves? Perhaps a hook and rope? Climbing tools? Pure agility, athletics, and clever leverage? Perhaps through some other tools or means unknown to her? It seemed clean, professional, planned, and most importantly, puzzling.

“Do you know how far the Boston International airport is from Salem?” Nancy inquired while digging into her shoulder bag to produce the thief’s torn plane ticket, upon remembering it’s destination out. The detective wondered, was it merely coincidence that the Book of Apologies was stolen in the same week a fire vandalized a Salem landmark? Since Moosham Castle and the book itself both had a connection to the witch trials, it couldn’t be completely improbable that there was some deeper relation between the pieces, and her thief’s flight out to Boston only solidified her gut instinct.

“Boston Logan? Uh—it’s like an hour drive from Salem, I guess?” Deirdre said quizzically. “Does that mean you’re coming?”

“I’m definitely coming. In my book thief’s escape, they left behind a torn plane ticket. They were going to the Boston International Airport. The destruction of a Salem monument, the theft of an important artifact involving the witch trials, and the thief’s flight coming into Boston can’t be coincidence. I don’t know if my thief will be in Salem, but I’d bet they’re still linked to the town somehow.”

“That sounds pretty far-fetched, if you ask me.”

“I guess I’ll find out when I get to Salem. I’m going to see about taking an afternoon flight out of Austria tomorrow—think you can hang tight until I get there?”

“As if I have a choice,” Deirdre bit sardonically, before a softened sigh allowed her to continue in a kinder tone. “I’ll pick you up from the airport. Just text me your flight details, and try not to get in at, like, 2 in the morning or something. I’m not afraid to leave you at the mercy of a taxi driver.”

“I hear you. We’ll figure this out, Deirdre… I promise.” Nancy declared, and despite the silence from the other end, she knew Deirdre was still there—listening and careful.

“…Thanks,” She replied, before quickly hanging up as if it would hopefully diminish the tender gratitude in her reply.

[justphilia]

Aubade is a great fic; too bad it’s possibly dead.

Been a while since I did a long long babble on a fic I like, and lately, I’ve been rereading a few fics to fuel my entertainment. I low key notice how rare it is to find a multi-chaptered fic for Ritshou that doesn’t have Terumob as main, which is really funky honestly.

I talked about Aubade once, in my list of incomplete fanfics I missed back in like February. But it’s so good, I’m gonna make a long post about it lmao.

Even though this fic has literally taken the number one ranking in my favorites list, it only took today for me to bookmark it in my ao3 (mostly because I’ve been waiting it for it to be completed before doing so.)

And generally, anything that I bookmark on ao3 is something I’ve cried about at least once, whether it’s because of the story or because I love the story too much. So anyways,

Aubade by Ravenesta is a M rated Ritshou fic centered around Ritsu, who moves in with Shou after Shou declared he was going to stay in Japan for good.

They buy an apartment together near Ritsu’s university and go on a shopping spree in IKEA for furniture and such, which is as chaotic as it doesn’t sound. The tension between them is real and it’s there, so much so you just want them to get together already sometimes.

I’ve read this fic for a total of 4 times, and I will keep rereading it until the day I die. If you asked me what would come to mind if I thought about Ritshou, it would be the fic’s summary;

My dove, my doe, I love you so I cannot, will not, let you go

Ritsu and Shou have been orbiting around each other ever since they were thirteen years old. Really, something like this was inevitable.

It’s so simple and sweet, and somehow, without fail, every time this summary (specifically the poem) comes to mind, I would get teary eyed. Even now I’m getting :’( over the poem, just because it literally speaks Ritshou to me.

The fic starts off with Ritsu heading back home by train to Seasoning City during his summer break from college in Grain City. It’s written in a way where it’s very easy for you to visualize the scenario of Ritsu waiting for the train to come while holding a cup of cheap coffee.

It’s realistically detailed too, going as far as to include little quirks about Ritsu and the people around him (stranger or not).

Both Shou and Shigeo gets introduced during a phone texting scene, where you can easily tell their personality was conveyed right through the way they message Ritsu. Shigeo adds little face emoticons with caring and sweet messages, and Shou shortens his words to ‘u’ and ‘ur’ with chaotic spacings between words and many exclamation marks.

Even Ritsu has his own way of messaging, always adding punctuation to his sentences.

Later on, after Ritsu arrives in Seasoning City, he’s picked up by Shigeo and Teru, who are already a couple in this fic, and you can tell how much Ritsu misses his home.

Teru is such a beautiful mess in this fic, everything about him is dramatic and overtop, going from his haircut to his little diet habits, and he’s still playful with Ritsu. The ‘Little Brother’ nickname will never go away.

(Also, at some point, Ritsu makes a face immaturely after seeing Shigeo drop a kiss on Teru’s head and I think that was pretty funny)

(Also also, they all call Reigen ‘Dad’. Which is hecking adorable, but it did confuse me at some point because Ritsu named Reigen’s contact as Dad and I legitimately thought that was Ritsu’s actual dad until later.)

Fast forward after Ritsu gets a haircut from Teru in Spirits and Such. Pretty funny considering how Reigen did the same thing to Serizawa in Season 2, but I’m mildly sure Serizawa doesn’t exist in this fic so it was probably a coincidence.

So they’re going shopping and Ritsu gets another text from Shou, because Shou isn’t in town, or at least, that was what we were led to believe, until he does pop up. 

And it wouldn’t be Shou if his appearance isn’t random, so of course his first line is to comment on Kiwis looking like balls.

Ritsu, being Ritsu, responds by calling Shou an asshole and proceeds to be conflicted between wanting to punch Teru, because he knew all along, or wanting to hug Shou, because Ritsu misses him so much. He goes for the latter.

Cue Shou and Ritsu hanging out because Shigeo and Teru had to go save Reigen from a spirit job, and their interaction is just so Ritshou it makes you feel fuzzy inside y’know? Because it’s just...friends being friends.

Ok so fast forward again, and they’re sitting around in Ritsu’s room and here’s where the plot begins:

Shou, sleepily, declares he wants them to live together, before suddenly falling asleep.

And Ritsu panics because he can’t tell if he’s serious or just sleep drunk. So he consults Teru to confirm this, who answers that, yes, Shou was being serious, and this just makes Ritsu panic even more because wow he did not expect that and mostly because he can’t afford an apartment.

Shou, being the rich boy he is, offers to settle the payment, because of course he would.

Ritsu weighs his options in his head and convinces himself that he’ll do it. So that’s what they do. They make a little list, which is funny and adorable, and start scouting for apartments online.

Fast forward yet again and Ritsu’s plan was to first gather his shit from his dorm room, crash there for a bit, before fully moving into the new apartment.

Reigen, Teru, and Shigeo are seeing the two off at the train station, and Reigen being Reigen, he’s all double checking that Ritsu has all his shit and it’s just such a dad moment.

Most of their luggage is Shou’s because Ritsu packs light and most of his things are at the dorm, and I brought this up because of this scene:

“It’s my oldest friend!” Shou had argued, trying to wrestle it from Ritsu’s hands. “Six years I have known you, Suzuki, and never once has there been a working bulb in this lamp.”

We get a few more cute scenes of Shou running around and being playful before being tired out and falling asleep on the train, and there’s this tender moment where Shou’s snuggling on Ritsu’s jacket, which the latter had taken off early, and he makes a comment saying how it smells like Ritsu which just baffles the only. It’s...nice, makes me fluffy.

Anyways they reach Ritsu’s dorm to crash and pack, and they have this scene where Shou gets a little emotional about how organized Ritsu is, and he genuinely couldn’t believe how Ritsu is making this work. 

So! Chapter 6, alright! And it’s the apartment viewing chapter, because of course they need to view apartments before moving in (which is as fun as it sounds).

They view 3 apartments, with the third try being the charm;

Apartment 1 fucking sucks! And Ritsu only chose this because he wanted to get a feel of how apartment viewing works, and you gotta hand it to him for thinking ahead. So no matter what, he knows he won’t be buying this apartment.

Apartment 2 was actually pretty decent, the landlord, however, was not. Throughout this scene, she is constantly trying to get into Ritsu’s space, and you don’t exactly know what’s up until the very end where she gets really close. Shou saves Ritsu in the end by dragging him away and making it known that, “THIS IS MY MAN DO NOT TOUCH.” And makes an enemy out of her, so big whoops.

Apartment 3 is kinda awkward but workable, with their landlord being the sweetest man to walk this earth. His kids were born on the viewing day, which made him a little late, though Ritsu finds in understandable. After the viewing, Ritsu asks if they can crash at the apartment even though they haven’t actually gotten it yet, and the man’s like, “Don’t worry, you’re gonna live here anyways so might as well crash here now!” Protect this man.

Next scene we have Ritsu finally moving out of his dorm and into the apartment with Shou and after getting a few groceries, they finally decide they should head to IKEA for furniture. It’s a pretty funny scene because everyone knows IKEA is an equivalent to a bloody maze, so you get to watch them play around in the display rooms and climbing into beds and getting lost.

And it’s funnier because this is the Shou’s first time stepping foot into an IKEA, and Ritsu makes fun of him for it briefly. Shou gets back at him later on when they’re playing around in a bathroom display room.

he doesn’t quite notice where Shou’s wandered off to until he turns around from a bathroom sink and spots him in a shower stall, calling him over with a wave of his hand. Ritsu steps inside, ducking his head under the bar for the shower curtain

He almost startles when Shou reaches over and pulls the shower curtain closed with a flourish, leaving them enclosed in the shower stall, somehow still mysteriously lit by no lamp that Ritsu can see. He shoots Shou a questioning look, only to snort when Shou leans back against the shower wall, a hand over his heart and eyelashes fluttering.

“Why, Mister Kageyama,” he says, all false coquettishness, “Cornering a young girl like me alone in a place like this? How scandalous.”

He considers giving Shou the reaction he wants, a laugh and a shove on the shoulder and possibly a comment about exactly how classy making out in an IKEA shower stall is, but the reaction he’d gotten earlier was too good to resist playing along with the joke.

He shamelessly uses his height advantage when he steps into Shou’s space, one leg between Shou’s and a hand propped casually on the wall beside his head. He leans down so that their noses are almost touching, and says low, “Well with you standing here all gorgeous like this, how could I resist?”

It’s pathetic joke flirting, some cheesy disaster line out of every old black and white movie he’s ever watched with his mother, so he doesn’t quite expect it when Shou seems to freeze, eyes wide and locked onto Ritsu’s. It’s only for a few seconds, a barely noticeable pause before Shou’s howling with laughter as he pushes past him out of the shower, but Ritsu gets caught on it, on the hitch he thought he’d heard in Shou’s breath, on the way he feels oddly wired, like his skin is buzzing from the proximity, and what the fuck had just happened?

This scene, ladies and gentlemen, had me sold on the fic. Starting with how Shou had playfully dragged Ritsu into the display shower in an attempt to tease Ritsu, only to be surprised that Ritsu had played along because, according to Ritsu, the raven would usually just laugh and dismiss the joke as a joke. 

You can literally see that’s where the subtle feelings come out, where their friendship suddenly moves a bit faster into something more. It’s a slowburn for a reason, because their relationship happens really slow, so it’s moments like these that makes you really warm inside.

We come to a near end to the fic from here, which includes a scene where Shou cooks and Ritsu has a wet dream that’s pretty brief tbh and nothing too explicit don’t worry. Then there’s some scenes where Ritsu’s doing school things and Shou’s being Shou in the kitchen and everywhere.

It slows to a stop after the iconic Shou and Ritsu flies scene, because we’re all suckers for Ritsu trusting Shou that he won’t drop him when they fly.

SO! You can pretty much get the idea of how the fic will end/go from there since the major arc scene has been settled (moving in together). And frankly, if Ravenesta was to stop the fic on chapter 9, I don’t think we’ll lose too much since the only thing we didn’t get is a conclusion to the slowburn.

If you’ve read up to here, thanks for indulging me I suppose. I mostly write little reviews for my own sake since I really talk too much and it’s very hard to collect my thoughts at times.

Is this a fic I would recommend? Most definitely yes, it’s lovely, it’s well written, it’s captivating. It is the embodiment of Ritshou’s romance, and I really wouldn’t have wanted it any other way.

[gettoknowkiribaku-blog]

For the First Time in Forever

((First off yes, my titles always reference songs. I've been having writers block, so I needed to write something to help. Of course it's valentines day still. I know it's not for everybody but it still is for two more hours here lmao. I hope you guys enjoy this silly thing. I really enjoyed writing Kaminari's part lmao.  Happy Valentines Day everyone!! Honestly though, half of this probably doesn't make any sense to some people. I really enjoyed how it came out though. If there's any mistakes I'd appreciate if someone tell me. I hope ya'll enjoy this and write a note that "I have finished a valentines day fic before the day was over." I will be adding an ao3 link as soon as I can post it there, so here it is for now!))

“Don’t forget that one time that Bakugou almost blew up his fish tank!” Kaminari was laughing, almost to the point where he couldn’t breathe. They were retelling their favorite stories of things Bakugou has almost done, or did do. It’s been awhile since they could hang out like this. Their hero schedules were insane, and they never had time to even send a quick text before passing out on their beds.

“How could I forget? He got so pissed at me!” Kirishima was laughing, holding his stomach as he did. There were so many good memories to tell. They all shared an apartment, but they never got to see each other. It was cheaper to room together, and they all had their own bedrooms. Their schedules never matched up, so it was a shock that one day out of the whole year, they could spend time together for old time sake.

“Kirishima, it’s still a miracle that you’re alive to this day honestly.” Kaminari sighed and set his Pepsi down on the table. It was all Bakugou drank which was fine. It’s not like they needed alcohol to be idiots anyway. Plus, you never know when they could get a call to go help at the agency.

“Kami, I’m still shocked he let me live. Especially after I told him at our UA graduation that I had feelings for him.” Kirishima leaned back against the sofa and stared at the ceiling. It happened a few years ago, and yet it’s like it just happened yesterday.

“Hey Blasty!” Kirishima waved his hand as Bakugou looked back at him. Bakugou always looked to angry, yet any time that Kirishima would come near, his expressions softened just a little. It was their UA graduation, and even though they’d be sharing an apartment together with Kaminari, it felt as if their friendship might end.

“What’s up shitty hair?” Bakugou leaned against a tree and crossed his arms over his chest. Of course he would miss UA. It’s the first school that had a teacher that actually wanted to deal with him. Of course Bakugou could always come back and visit Aizawa-sensei, but it wouldn’t be easy now that he was a full time hero.

“Bakugou, before our high school career completely ends. I need to tell you something.” Kirishima ran his fingers through his already messy hair, which just made it look worse. He was biting his lip and looking at anything but Bakugo himself.

“Just spit it out shitty hair.” Bakugou sighed and stared at Kirishima. Kirishima was his first friend here at UA, and of course that would always mean something. He was the first one to finally understand that Bakugou needed reassurance in some things. Someone to remind him that he’s good enough.

“I like you. Like, like you. It’s okay if you don’t return my feelings because like, I understand if you don’t feel the same way.” Kirishima took a chance and met Bakugou’s face. It almost looked like he was smiling before he laughed. It was a genuine laugh, and it was beautiful.

“You know, I could almost blast you for that. I was almost scared you were going to end our friendship.” Bakugou laughed again and stood up straight. He patted Kirishima on the back. As of right now, feelings meant nothing. He was just glad to have a friend. Bakugou left Kirishima there on his own and tried to think about why this would happen.

“I almost forgot about that actually.” Kaminari sighed and looked over at Kirishima. He was sulking, and he was acting like a child. A child who was 6’7” that is and who had bright red, spiky hair. Kaminari nudged his shoulder and got Kirishima’s attention. “What about that time when I confessed to him? He actually blasted me.”

“Yeah, you had to get me to go buy you new pants.” Kirishima laughed and ran his fingers through his hair. It was shorter now, and he had an undercut. Kaminari said it looked manly, and of course Kirishima just needed to be the manliest man.

“Hey Bakugou!” Kaminari was laying on the ground trying to catch his breath. He challenged Bakugou to a race without using his quirk, and yet he was still faster. It was during the summer, and it was the first time they had a day off together since their UA graduation.

“What Pikachu?” Bakugou was sitting in the grass with an ice cold water bottle in his hand. He was tempted to just pour it over his head, but that’d be a waste. He hasn’t raced anyone since the beginning of UA when they had the time trial races.

“What do you think of me?” Kaminari had finally caught his breath to sit up and rest his head on his knees. Next time he’d think twice about challenging Bakugou to a race. It wasn’t a good sign that he lost. It just meant he needed to work harder and strengthen his endurance.

“What fucking kind of question is that?” Bakugou chugged the last of his water and threw the empty bottle in the recycling bin. He’d never really thought about Kaminari other than the fact that his quirk really was cool. Though if he told Kaminari that, his ego would probably go through the roof.

“Like, what do you think of me? As a person.” Kaminari was plucking the gross out and tossing it around. He pouted and tried to rack his brain for another conversation topic. He heard Bakugou sigh and stand up, handing him a water bottle.

“You’re Kaminari, and you’re my friend. Anything else?” Kaminari took the bottle from Bakugou’s hand and just stared at him. He never thought he’d hear those words come out of Bakugo’s mouth. Especially not from Bakugou himself. Maybe from Kirishima though, but even then probably not.

“I like you, Bakugou. More than a friend.” Kaminari sighed and stood up. He’d grown slightly taller than Bakugo over the past few years. Maybe there was a few inch difference now, which made Bakugou have to look up.

“Pikachu, I’ll give you to the count of three to run before I blast you.” First Kirishima, now Kaminari? What the hell was this? A shoujo manga? Feelings meant nothing to Bakugou. He shut his feelings out a long time ago. Ever since All Might’s hero career ended, he ignored every feeling that he ever knew.

“What? It’s okay if you don’t! I just needed to tell you!” He started backing up slowly away from Bakugou. Never once in their whole time as friends has Bakugou blasted him. There’s been times that he’s threatened him, but this time Bakugou looked serious.

“One.” Bakugou held up his hands and moved forward slowly. He couldn’t deal with feelings, especially whatever these feelings are. Especially when they came from Kirishima first, and now Kaminari. He started to worry if it was possibly some major practical joke.

“Bakugou please, don’t do this.” Kaminari’s back hit a tree and he started to panic. He really didn’t want to feel Bakugou’s wrath. He knew Bakugo was crazy strong, they trained together for years. They were friends, they had been for years.

“Two.” Bakugou lifted his right hand a little higher and clenched his hand in a fist. The only way to possibly solve anything according to Bakugou is violence. Anytime something went wrong? Fight someone. Not enough food in the house? Fight someone. Someone wake him up in the morning? Fight someone.

Kaminari clenched his eyes shut and covered his head. He really hoped Bakugou would stop just before anything happened, but he didn’t have the energy to keep his eyes open and watch. He especially didn’t have the energy to run away because Bakugo would just catch him.

“Three.” Just as the word left Bakugou’s mouth, he shot a little fireball at Kaminari’s pants. He obviously wouldn’t hurt him too bad. Just enough to scare the shit out of him for this joke. He stuck his hands in his pockets and walked away. Maybe that would teach him a lesson not to joke about something so stupid.

Kaminari sat down shocked and pulled out his cellphone. Luckily with it being in his back pocket it didn’t have any damage. He called Kirishima and explained what happened. Kirishima laughed for a few minutes before stating that he was on his way with fresh pants. Time to just leave it alone he figured, why try to force something on Bakugo that he wouldn’t want?

“Kami, I still can’t figure out why he’s our friend even after all of that.” Kirishima sighed again and closed his eyes. He rubbed his temples trying to soothe the oncoming headache. It’s been close to four years now since this happened, and yet Bakugou still comes home to their shared apartment every night. Every night he’s alone, and still hasn’t dated anyone.

“I’m your friend because you two idiots need someone to take care of you.” Bakugou dropped a bag of take out between them on the couch. He moved around to the other side and sat on the single chair. Of course they’d be talking about something stupid. They always were when they had a chance.

“Food! God you’re the best!” Kaminari grabbed the bag and tore through it finding his regular choice for dinner. He was basically slobbering everywhere like a dog. He grabbed the burger and tore open the wrapping. Bakugou always knew exactly what he liked, he knew what everyone liked. He always did take care of them, no matter what.

“Kaminari stop eating like a fucking pig.” Bakugou glared at him and threw a wad of napkins at his face. Kaminari was always the messy eater, but he also did remember to clean up his mess. Not that either of them could cook. Bakugou was the only one who knew how but he always preferred to order out. It was easier with their hectic hero schedules.

“Sorry Blasty.” Kaminari wiped his face and smiled. It’s been such a long time since they could hang out like this. It’s amazing the happiness you can feel just being around a couple of people. It makes everything bearable, especially knowing they’ll always have your back.

“Thanks, Bakugo. You always know what we want.” Kiri grabbed his pepper steak and the disposable chopsticks. He ate slowly, always savoring the taste. Each time Bakugou brought home takeout, it was always delicious. It always tasted as if it was homemade and it just made it better.

“If it weren’t for you two idiots being my friends, I wouldn’t have anyone to take care of.” Bakugou gave a small smile before eating his spicy lo mein. He really did appreciate these two, and even though he’d never admit it out loud, they were a major part of his life. He needed these two to make him feel like a complete person.

If he dared say it, after all these years, he felt happy. He had a couple of people he could always count on if there was an emergency. He had people who picked him up while he was down, and they always made sure everything seemed perfect.

“We know you care Bakugou. We always appreciate it.” Kirishima smiled before eating more of his steak. Bakugou never needed to use so many words to tell them he cared. You could tell he cared by the way he did things. The way he stood up for them if anyone dared to insult them. Bakugou cared in his own way and he would never let anyone change that.

“Yeah Blasty, we know you care. That’s why you’re our friend.” Kaminari was currently licking his fingers. He always had to get every bit of burger that he could. After all they were his favorite food, any time he could, he would eat burgers. He could eat burgers for the rest of his life and never get sick of them.

“Move over so I can sit and see the TV too.” Bakugou stood up and moved over to the couch sitting between the two of them. He needed to tell them about his feelings, at least say something. Anything to let them know that he cares about them. He was never the best with words, and he was trying to rack his brain for the right way to say it.

“There’s not much on, just the basic shit.” Kaminari whined and handed Bakugou the TV remote. They’d been flipping through the channels for hours trying to find something to watch. Even some old ridiculous movie that they could just listen to while they talked.

Bakugou could care less if they just sat in silence. He enjoyed their company and he was going to tell them. In some way, he’d figure out how to tell them. He flipped on some weird comedy and leaned back against the couch. Kaminari and Kirishima were laughing about one of the jokes.

There was one point where Kaminari almost choked on his Pepsi. Bakugou even cracked a smile and a small laugh. He always enjoyed seeing Kaminari do stupid things, but after a moment he asked if he was okay. Kaminari flashed that bright smile and confirmed he was, indeed perfectly okay.

“Okay.” Bakugou spoke a single word before having two heads whip around and stare at him. He tilted his head slightly as if something was unclear. It was the last thing they talked about before he got home. Little did they know he was listening from the hallway. “I accept your feelings. Both of you.”

“Bakugou are you serious?” Kirishima smiled brightly before leaning a little bit closer. It had been a common discussion that Kaminari was perfectly okay being with both Kirishima and Bakugou. It wasn’t hard to tell though that Kirishima and Kaminari had feelings for each other. Bakugo knew, he just wanted to let things work out if they were supposed to.

“When am I anything but serious shitty hair?” Bakugou leaned against Kirishima’s shoulder for a moment before bumping into Kaminari’s. If he realized this would be the reaction he got, he would have told them years ago. It was only recently though that he realized his own feelings that for the first time, he finally acknowledged.

“Blasty can we hug you now?” Kaminari’s face lit up and his eyes looked hopeful. It was the first time Bakugou ever talked about his feelings, even in so little words. Bakugou nodded slightly and Kaminari wrapped his arms around Bakugou’s waist. He could feel Kirishima’s wrapping around Bakugou too just above his own.

It felt warm, and Bakugou wondered if this is what love is supposed to feel like. He’d always been worried that their confessions were jokes but even after a few years their feelings were still the same. Bakugou smiled and wrapped his arms around their necks the best he could. He’d never say it out loud, but he was sure that he fell in love with them in the first few weeks of knowing each other.

That night instead of sleeping in separate beds, they cuddled on the couch. Bakugou in the middle since he was the shortest with Kirishima and Kaminari on either side. Even though they all woke up with sore backs and headaches, it was definitely worth it.

[lloyd-garmdon-simp]

As someone who was born a literal day after ao3 launched: Yes and yes a thousand times, yes. You are correct.

i fucking LOVE LIFE !!!! YOU WANNA KNOW WHY???? IM ALIVE AT THE SAME TIME AS AO3 EXISTS!! THERES NEVER BEEN A BETTER AGE EVER !!!!! AND IM LIVING NOW AAAHAHHAHAHAHAHA

[hearts-4buck]

YES!! I actually cry and sit in the dark just staring off in the distance whenever AO3 is down it's unhealthy 💔💔

i fucking LOVE LIFE !!!! YOU WANNA KNOW WHY???? IM ALIVE AT THE SAME TIME AS AO3 EXISTS!! THERES NEVER BEEN A BETTER AGE EVER !!!!! AND IM LIVING NOW AAAHAHHAHAHAHAHA