#underneath the apple tree oc

[witchthewriter]

𝑼𝒏𝒅𝒆𝒓𝒏𝒆𝒂𝒕𝒉  𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝑨𝒑𝒑𝒍𝒆 𝑻𝒓𝒆𝒆 𝐶𝘩𝑎𝑝𝑡𝑒𝑟 𝐸𝑖𝑔𝘩𝑡𝑒𝑒𝑛

Personalised story for @leniabranch. Pairing: Otto Hightower x Lenia Branch Word Count: 3k Warnings: Pure smut, don't read if you're under 18!

The room was filled with warm candlelight, making the glow seep into your skin, through your flesh and into your bones. It heated you, along with the wine you had been sipping on throughout the night.

You were hot-blooded, you could say and anticipating the oncoming events. You had daydreamed about this for years, and it was finally coming true.

Your senses were high. As if you could feel every shift in temperature, feel every movement, hear the shuffle of feet and deep intake of breath.  So, when the chamber door shut, it felt like something deep inside you had as well. And yet, at the same time … something in you opened wide and waiting.

The Hand’s chambers had been deep cleaned by the servants, making sure there wasn’t anything that would make it unseemly.

Books had been put back on shelves, and the fireplace was crackling merrily. Inviting, that was the perfect word for the room. The bed was immaculately made, with crisp bed sheets. Without thinking, you ran and jumped onto the bed. It wasn’t just Otto’s anymore.

It now belonged to you too.

-✶-

She was a sight to behold, my wife. Her long dark hair and twinkling eyes made it hard for me not to drop to my knees in front of her. To hold her hand to my cheek and thank her. To thank her for choosing me, for loving me.

I was never a brilliant knight, but I earned my place nonetheless. It was all about strategizing, about anticipating; about putting yourself in your opponents shoes. And I rose to my station, it wasn’t given easily. My father made that plain to see.

And yet, something happened that I hadn’t foreseen.

A love.

And then a new love.

I had no intention of marrying again, my first wife was the love of my life. The one who knew me better than anyone else. She did her duty and bore me children. That was her; dutiful, pleasant, dignified and … obedient.

Lenia reminds me of her some days, but on others; she’s the complete opposite of my first wife.

And I will be forever grateful to the gods who granted me this happiness. For now I had a second chance, a love that would be my last.

If Lenia is to be my last love, I will die a happy man.

Lenia Bran-Hightower, standing before me in her wedding gown and I … I haven’t seen anything as beautiful as this woman.

But there’s one issue. I want her gown off. Now.

-✶-

   The way he walked toward you was invigorating.

You could feel…this heavy tension. Like you had never touched one another and this was the last time you would. Even though it wasn’t true, there was a frenzied look in Otto’s eyes that made your blood run hot.

    “May I?” His voice was husky and heavy.

It took you a moment to realise what he meant.

Your dress.

Nodding, you held out a hand and he took it.

Both hands clasped your outstretched one, one gliding up your arm making goosebumps in their wake. The other held you so softly. He brought your hand to his lips and kissed your palm. Then your wrist, then your forearm, and up until he was face to face with you.

     “Wife,” he whispered, and clasped one hand behind your head, the other around your neck and kissed you deeply.

 Warm.

He was so warm and wanting.

His hands didn’t stay in the same place. They started to roam, and he became more and more curious.

Otto’s hands were tender at first, undressing you slowly and carefully. The dress took some time to get off, but … it was purposeful. Otto wanted to prolong this as much as possible. The first time with his wife. The first time on your wedding night. He wanted to make you remember it.

With the undoing of each strap, button, and string, he kissed the exposed flesh. The white-coloured silk night dress that Sanah had gotten for you, was completely forgotten.

Moving your hair away from your neck, he kissed the pale skin there. His lips were warm and sent a flush throughout your whole body. Like lightning striking a tree. Tingles spread throughout your heated body. This felt borderline torturous. Your core was wet and waiting, and every attempt you made at touching yourself was stopped.

   “Hmmm,” you let out a sigh, and felt Otto’s lips turn into a smile.

Then he let the dress lower, and kissed your shoulder, when your white gown dropped to the floor, his body pressed firmly against your back and could feel the growing hardness pressing against your behind.

-✶-

  Otto had left your underpants on. The only piece of clothing on you. And you knew it was soaked through.

 But once he saw your near-naked form, it was like an animal to food.

Otto turned you around, so you were firmly against his front and his mouth was on yours. One hand was tangled in your hair, and the other was groping your ass, pushing you toward him. You halted the deep kiss because you didn’t want to feel his clothes any longer.

Taking a step back from him, you started undoing the many clasps and buttons on his attire. Nearly as much as yours, if not more, you sighed in frustration, and he let out a chuckle.

   “Here,” he said gruffly. Knowing exactly how to undo his clothes.

Once his own body was stark of any clothes, there was an instinctual pull from your body to his. Your eyes took in every part of his naked body.

  The hair on his chest, the broad shoulders, the slight muscle that he still retained, the v shape that pointed down to his … cock.

    A large, girthy and hard cock.

The wetness between your thighs seemed to seep down your leg at the sight.

  Your nipples were so hard you started to touch them. To ease the pain. Just like with your core, it was starting to hurt. The desire was overwhelming.

“Ah, stop that,” he growled, and stalked over to you. His eyes growing darker and darker as he got closer to you. A shiver ran down your back and your knees nearly gave out.

                 You knew he was going to fuck you all night.

-✶-

His mouth kissed every part of your body. Soft lips matched with a rough beard, kissing behind your ear, your neck and finally, god, finally, your chest. You sighed in relief as his mouth suckled you. The sensation was otherworldly, and one that you decided you would never get used to.

Laying you on your back, Otto knelt at the edge of the bed and let your naked body get comfortable. The now wrinkled sheets were so soft against your bare back. This is what a cloud feels like, you decided in a split second. But your attention wasn’t gone for long.

With peaked nipples, you watched as Otto nudged your legs apart, his face moving closer and closer to the core of you. His lips, tongue, and hands, moved from the bottom of your feet, trailing your legs, knees, and thighs.

Without breaking eye contact, he moved your thighs far apart and then licked the wet silk fabric that covered your sex.

Propped up on your forearms, you watched as he slowly, god, ever so fucking slowly swiped a finger over your wet underwear and admired it. You were so wet that your fluid was dripping down his fingers, and he hadn’t even touched your bare cunt yet.

   “Otto-“ you groaned and moved your hips forward.

“Wait, my pet,” he was so close to your core that you could feel his breath there.

You let out a whine and it was like a siren’s call.

  Otto stroked his nose up and down your silk covered cunt, smelling you, letting you know that he was ready to do the most filthy things to you.

-✶-

Fingers, he started with his fingers first. Dipping each in, making you sob with anticipation.

    “Just fuck me!” You cried out, but he didn’t move from his spot on the floor.

His tongue was next, swiping the folds, lapping up every part of that between your legs. You couldn’t help but run your fingers through his hair and grip tight. Otto didn’t seem to mind. In fact, it made him even more eager to keep you waiting.

At times you pushed his tongue in further by driving his face forward. Whenever you did this, Otto laughed. He knew the tension he was building. It was purposeful.

And then he slipped two fingers inside you and started sucking at that one sweet spot every woman has. Your clit throbbed with the action, and tears streaked your face.

  Otto pumped his fingers in and out. You moaned, and cried, “harder!”

He obeyed and got up. His cock, precum already covering the tip, rubbed against your folds. Teasing, teasing, continuously teasing. But you knew you would get your revenge.

When he slowly entered you, a gasp emitted from your throat. Instinctually, you wrapped your legs around his waist, and he was completely inside of you.

You felt so full. For a moment he let you feel the whole size of him, to let you get used to him. Bending over you, his face buried itself in the crook of your neck and rested there as his hips pumped in and out.

It was slow at first, then before you knew it, he was fucking you so hard and fast that you couldn’t help the noises that came from your mouth.

     “Louder,” he groaned, and moved the hair from your face.

“Fuck!” You yelled as he went particularly deep. The moans were unending, but you could feel your orgasm building.

It was like an orchestra, suspense, anticipation, tension, it was all building inside of you. And then you said it, “I’m – I’m going to-“ and nodded.

Squeezing around his waist and pushing yourself down onto him, you came.

-✶-

You breathed in and out, quickly. It was one of the best orgasms you had ever had. Better than when you were by yourself. Better than the first time with Otto. He was holding back before.

    When Otto came, the noises he made were heavenly. You didn’t think he could make those type of sounds; deep and needy. A noise specifically emitting the feelings he had felt for years. A yearning that was finally reached.

When he finished inside you, then slid himself out, you smiled at him. He mirrored it. Both of you were flushed. Exhausted from the lead up to the wedding, the ceremony, the reception and this. You were shattered.

  The world was still dark. The stars still shone and you looked at your husband for what would happen next.

  You could go again and again but you saw a slight weariness to Otto and you didn’t want to push him. With a little rest, you knew exactly what you wanted to do next.

-✶-

You feel asleep in his arms. Both of you naked and covered in each other. It was only a few hours of sleep before you awoke. At first you didn’t know where you were, but the fire and the arms helped you figure it out.

   For a few moments, you watched Otto sleep. His face was much younger in slumber, the worries of the world were far away in his dreamworld.

You smiled, contented.

And then figured out what your husband was dreaming about.

    His cock had hardened in sleep, and you gasped.

“Touch it,” he mumbled, slowly opening his eyes. Butterflies erupted in your stomach.

   “Well, I certainly do want to return the favour,” you said with an innocent tone to your voice.

 Shifting on the bed, Otto sat against the headboard, while you laid on your stomach, in front of his crotch.

His swollen cock was heavy in your hands. You had no idea how to do this, but you had overheard many things throughout your life. And … sucking cock was supposedly one of men’s favourite things.

Your hands gripped the long cock of your husband and gently moved upwards and down, and he groaned with the movement. Otto’s eyes closed and, his hands gripped the soiled sheets.

Then you licked the tip, which had a clear liquid almost like your own wetness. An idea popped into your head, and you moved your fingers to swipe some of your own and smoothed it over his dick.

He watched as you did so, and tears nearly ran down his cheeks.

   “Gods,” was all he could say, and then his hips moved so his cock was closer to your face.

Running  your tongue from the base of his cock to the tip, you felt your husband shudder. You smirked, knowing this was going to be the perfect reprisal.

You kept licking him, ever so lightly. Knowing it was driving him insane. Serves him right.

You didn’t need your hands to keep his cock upright, it was hard enough on its own. So one hand cupped his balls, while the other traced the tip of his cock and smoothed the liquid over your lips.

   “Be reasonable,” he uttered, a gleam in his eye as you looked at him.

“Absolutely not,” you replied and then opened your mouth wide.

     You gagged on his cock, spit sticking to the girthy phallus. The grip he had on the sheets had moved to your head, and he was doing his best not to move your head further downward and fuck your mouth.

But he let you lead.

Let you make the decisions, no matter how irritating it was becoming.

  You made sure to hold eye contact with him while his dick was in your mouth. Your other hand still massaging his balls, and like a warning, he growled at you.

“Fuck,” he said it like a threat and a shiver ran down your spine.

   “Okay, I will.”

Getting up, you sat right ontop of his cock and let it slide inside of you.

   “Like this?” You said and cocked your head to the side, letting your body move in a fluid motion. Your nipples were hard, and Otto moved to attend to them, but you denied him.

     “No,” you said and clasped his hands together and moved down hard on his cock.

He smirked, and you wanted to fuck that smirk right off his fucking face.

Your blood was hot, so hot that you moved with a fierce ferocity. Bucking forwards and backwards, your tits bouncing with the movement, inches from your husbands face. He grumbled a string of swear words, and you smiled.

“Don’t make me wait," he pleaded.

     “Please,” you commanded.

“Don’t make me wait, please-“ He cried out, his hands nearly breaking free of your grip. He could have easily done so, but he wanted to play along. Now, now he was ready to take over. But you didn’t want him to. So, he wouldn’t.

  You grinned at the submission, it was all you needed and let him release. Both his hands grabbed at your tits, his fingers pinching and pulling. Making you groan very, loudly.

Surely the whole castle would hear the both of you. In fact, some had. And they shared knowing smiles to one another. A man and his bride.

-✶-

I couldn’t have asked for more than this. She was, is, perfect.

I wanted to memorise every curve of her body, every part of her flesh. Lenia was a gift that I would cherish until my dying breath.

Now asleep, I cradled her in my arms. I hadn’t held a woman like this since my wife.

I had slept alone for those years. Not interested in the flesh of a random woman. Not like so many other men in King’s Landing.

Man and woman need to be wed before lying together. And I had broken that oath. At least I am now wed to her.

Shifting in her sleep, she moved closer to my chest. Reaching out, I stroked her hair and smiled down at her.

I made another oath right then. That nothing bad would ever happen to her. That I would protect her always, no matter what happened between us. Lenia was a star amongst these people, and I had to make sure she would thrive.

Stroking her hair, her shoulder, her arm, I couldn’t help but admire her skin. The freckles and moles that littered here and there.

I would know this body. Know it better than my own.

-✶-

You watched as your husband left the warmth of the bed and stoked the fire, making sure the flames were burning well and surely. His bare body made you blush. Made you remember everything you had done together. The way you had both moaned in delight. It made you a tad embarrassed. But why should you be? He was your husband. It was … exactly what everyone else did. Everywhere in the world.  

   “Are you hungry?” Early light was seeping through the windows, and you couldn’t believe how quickly the time had passed. You had napped in between fucking, touching and making each other moan.

You were going to say no, but your gurgling stomach betrayed you. All this movement had taken it out of you.

   “I’ll see to it,” Otto replied with a chuckle. He put on a fresh pair of pants and a white shirt, then a long robe. Even now, with his hair mussed, he looked so handsome. So…regal.

     “Husband?” You called out and sat up in bed, loving that you were able to say the word to the man you loved.

“Yes, wife?” Otto said with a hand on the doorhandle. He smiled at you, a ghost of the same smirk he wore all night.

    “Don’t take too long,” you said sweetly, and then let the sheets which covered your body, drop.

[neesieiumz]

𝑪𝑯𝑬𝑹𝑼𝑩'𝑺 𝑨𝑷𝑷𝑳𝑬 || ᴋᴇɴᴛᴏ ɴᴀɴᴀᴍɪ

summary | stuck in a small town, kento takes a leap and takes a cooking class at the town's only apple orchard, and changes his life forever.

warnings | nsfw. 18+. minors do not interact. fluff-angst-smut with a happy ending. like i wanna make this really sweet but this has also its own plotline. It gives Hallmark Movie. cfo!nanami who hates the city life. female reader. afab reader. apple-orchard owner!reader. smut. cunnilingus. missionary position. he falls in love with you at first sight. yuuji, nobara, megumi, inumaki, maki and yuta all work at the orchard as well. ex-boyfriend!toji. good-dad/person!toji. family drama. family problems. mentions of emotional abuse. nanami's father is mentioned (everything about him is not canon, so don't worry.) your uncle is not a good person. oc characters. mention of oc characters death.

notes | this is all thanks to @ohkento (who also beta read for me 💞) and @todorosie when we were venting about new nanami fans and talking about his characterization as well lmaoooo. lulah brought up the idea and it's been stuck with me ever since. i also wanna thank @tteokdoroki for being my writing partner during this. NOW ON AO3

word count | 44k

What good is a man, if he is a lost man?

Life passes by, the wind’s breeze carefully blowing past the chimes of life. An out-of-body experience, ungrounded, unholy. 

Unneeded.

Kento Nanami has always done what he was told, nothing more and nothing less. Following the hardened orders of his father’s stern voice. As he grew as tall as the trees in his grandmother’s backyard, all he had was the virulent words of his father to guide him. All he could do was listen. His words were like the poisonous apples Snow White ate, which led to her demise, yet unlike Snow White, he did not have the seven dwarves to help her, nor had any opulent royal figure to use an idea of love’s first sight and kiss to help him. All he could do was eat and chew on the sulfuric skin of the apple, the acerbic flesh of the fruit, hoping the nutrients underneath it would pull him out of his anguish. His hope was for naught. For all it did was make his battered mind complacent, his personality turned hostile to those who first met him. 

His eyebrows furrowed, his eyes glowered, sulking, hunched over. He trodden to school and back to the desolate home, empty and devoid of any life. Forward and back, again and again, nonstop of eating and upon the apples of his words. All his formative years, after the tragic loss of his maternal grandmother, the last connection to his mother was held and molded in the hands of his father. His father would have never even raised him, if not for his grandmother’s passing. The dreams and hopes, the soft words she instilled into him, crushed, and pressed and squeezed out of him. His father was a hydraulic press, and he was the unassuming apple, placed underneath and squeezed of all life. 

Middle school. High School. All went by a blur for him, because it was all the same, a simple change of location was the most “provocative” thing that happened to him during those times. 

University… It was different, but the same in a way. 

He studied finance, and the only choice he had was to have his father support his education. It was the one area of study he had the least amount of the vitriol for. He was away from home, his school a whole two hours away from home. However, the expectations were still the same, the already diminutive trust between father and son wavered about the more and more he pulled away from him. He was given a semblance of freedom…but what was he to do? When he would ask himself that question, all he could hear was the voice of his father, repeating every rule and word he spoke throughout his life. Even two hours away, it is like he never left. His father was the voice of his consciousness. His father was his inner voice, and with nothing else, all he could do was listen. It was the reason he accepted Satoru Gojo’s invitation to work with him, the moment they graduated high school. His “incisive appliance of finance” according to many of his professors, was what his family business needed. One could not go two steps without hearing about the famous Gojo Conglomerate. 

This is it, everything we have been working for. His father’s voice was loud, it overpowered his thoughts. 

It is the reason he went on to take up the highest position in the company’s financial department, within the executive floor, all financials held his final say. And just like that, it was like middle and high school over again. He went to work, and went back home, home to his desolate home, empty and devoid of all life. Every week, he would send money to his now-aging father, who renovated his room as quickly as cheetahs ran through the river. It didn’t matter, he had a lot of it, and that was the goal at the end of the day, right?

What good is a man, if he is a lost man? If he is a lost man with money, good for everyone but himself. 

The air smelled of spiced fruit, cinnamon, and nutmeg. He stood amid a bustle within the square of the town. In his hands, held a steaming cup of tea in his hands, watching as the steam billowed from it. He still wonders how he got here, in the middle of a small town. His other hand tucked into the pocket of his new jacket, protecting himself from the cool temperature of the climate. His other hand wrapped around the cup, lifting it up to take a sip of the warm drink, feeling flushed as it heated him up temporarily, feeling it pool in his stomach. 

As he walked, not knowing where he was going, he could feel his phone burning holes in his pockets. The device reminded him of the reason he was here, a favor to his boss/friend if he can really call him that. More of a benign tumor that never seems to let him go. If there was one thing about Satoru Gojo is that he never fails to see how far he can branch out, to see just how many pots he can put his hands in. Doesn’t matter the time or the place, if there's an opportunity, he’ll take it. 

This is why, once again Kento Nanami is here, in the small town of Aquarine. He still had no idea as to why he was here, only given a phone number and an email address from Gojo. So now, all Kento could do was take his newly given week off, waiting for this “business venture” to come through. 

Lifting his head up, his brown eyes landed on a crooked wooden sign, with the letters burned into each wooden, chipped arrow, each pointing in different directions. To his left, where he just came from, three different signs pointed to an attached line of small businesses and shops, giving off the names including the name of the cafe where his tea came from. However, only one arrow pointed to the right or straight-ahead for Kento. He took one glance, seeing nothing but a dirt and bare road. He looked back at the sign, before seeing the cursive, beautiful lettering singed into the wood. 

Honeyed Orchards. 

An orchard. He could not lie to himself, his curiosity was piqued, and he could not remember the last time he’d ever stepped into one of those before. Lifting his left wrist up, he took a glance over at the time from his extremely expensive watch, a gift from Geto for his 27th birthday. 4:27, he saw the ticking hands currently landed on. Once again, he had absolutely nothing to do. So with a breath, seeing the condensed steam blow out from his nostrils, he shafted the scarf around his neck before turning his feet towards the dirt path.

With every step he took, the more he left the small town behind, soon surrounded by nothing but dirt and plainlands stretching out for miles. With no distraction from the bustle of the holiday season in the small town, all he could do was focus on each and every step in front of him. He lifted his hand, taking another long sip of his tea. He felt the glow of the setting sun to his right, as well as the cool breeze of the frigid fall, soon turning into winter. Kento could feel the nip of frostbite tickling against his ears, seriously regretting not buying a pair of earmuffs. 

He took another sip before his eyes caught onto something in the distance, a mangle of things. As he walked closer, the first thing his eyes caught was a fence, silver and tall, almost six feet tall. That said, the fence also had spiked wiring twisted along the top of the fencing. His eyes then moved to the trees, stationed not too far from the fencing. There were a lot of trees, each spaced a few feet from each other, so you could walk in between each one. The area was big, at least from the one side Kento could see. The orchard must have taken up at least two to three acres from one side, which he could only estimate how big it was. 

His eyes caught onto something along the side of the road, seeing what seemed to be a large sign anchored right next to the front fencing of the orchard. Once again, a foreign curiosity grappled at him. The moment he got to the sign, he turned his head to see exactly what it said. 

It was a chalkboard sign, with huge blocky, bubble letters that said, “3RD WEEK OF COOKING WITH THE BOSS, SPACE IS STILL AVAILABLE, PRICE: $75. COUPLES/PAIRS $85. FAMILIES $95. THIS WEEK’S DELICACY: APPLE PIE BARS. SEE MORE INSIDE.” Around the words, Kento could see different drawings and designs around it, enticing people to come and learn how to bake different things with them. 

He saw a bee buzzing around, with little track marks detailing his tour from the drawn honey pot as well. There was also a bunch of apples, all different colors, drawn at another corner of the sign. It was sweet and very cute. His eyes then glanced up, seeing the opened fence door, with a paved brick and windy road, with a few cracks into it, leading up to steps to a home. A beautiful terracotta color was what caught his eye first. Glancing back at the sign, he soon made his way towards the house, his oxfords hitting again the brick pavement of the orchard. He soon made it up the stairs, before his eyes landed on the sign right underneath the doorbell. 

Welcome to Honeyed Orchards

Hours: Mon to Thurs – 8:30 to 5:30. Thurs to Sat – 9:30 to 7:30. Closed on Sundays. 

Knock twice before entering, please. 

He then lifted his hand, knocking twice before moving on to the doorknob, slowly twisting it before pushing the door open. Immediately, he was hit by the intense smell of rich red apples, and the strong scent of currant and sweet cinnamon as well. The interior was spacious, the walls nearly covered head to toe with a mixture of three different holiday decorations, yet it seems to have made it work. The floors were wood, glossy, waxed, and clean, to the point where they could see his warbly reflection. To his left, he could see stairs right next to an open space, with a sign that said, “Welcome! :-)”. 

Stepping inside the space, the wooden floors are now covered by a soft carpet, red in color with multi-colored designs on it. The walls had bookcases pressed against the theme, filled to the brim with different titles. Scattered around the room were comfy couch-like chairs, with decorative pillows as well. 

“Hello!” a voice suddenly called out, startling him just a bit. 

Swiftly, he turned his head to his left, only to see a decently sized desk, with someone standing behind it. A boy, no more than sixteen years old, standing behind it with a huge smile on his face. He had pink-spiky hair, with crescent-shaped marks underneath his eyes. Kento walks up to the desk, taking a glance at the young boy before looking at the signs behind him.

Pick-your-own tour – $70 per person 

Catering/To-Go Menu

Apple Custard Tart → ||1 tart → $3 || 5 tarts → $7 || Dozen →  $16

Apple Donuts → || 1 donut → $2 || 5 donuts → $6

Dozen → $15

Apple-Pomegranate Cobbler – $25

Apple-Rum Spiced Cake – $45

Apple Upside-Down Cake – $35

Double Crust Apple Pies – $20 per pie

Fried Apple Pies – $20 per pie 

Honey-Spiced Apple Cider -> Pack of 6 – $9.95 || Pack of 12 – $20.95

Pomegranate-Glazed Apple Fritters -> 1 fritter → $1 || 5 fritters → $6 || 12 fritters → $14 || 24 fritters → $26

He could feel his stomach turn in hunger, glancing at the menu, before looking at the worker who stood in attendance at the desk. 

“Welcome to Honeyed Orchards, do you wish to go on a tour or buy a cake?”

The flash of the sign outside came into his mind, “I saw a sign outside about these classes, and to sign up–” The boy, however, cut him off, his face full of excitement as he began to type away at whatever computer was in front of him.

“Oh yes, yes yes, Cooking with the boss! They take place every Thursday, after business hours from 6:00 to 7:30, is that okay?” Kento said nothing, shifting weight in between his body before nodding his head. 

“Then, I'll sign you up right now! Can I have your name?”

“Kento Nanami.”

The boy– Yuuji, from his name tag—began typing it in before taking a glance up at Kento. 

“You’re not from this place, are you? I think I would have remembered you?”

Kento lifted his eyebrow up, before nodding shortly, “I’m not… I’m here for… business.” He spoke, taking the last sip of his tea before crushing the cup in his hands. 

Yuuji’s brown eyes glanced at his hands, before bending down underneath the desk and pulling out a trash can, “you can put that in here if you need to.”

“Oh,” he was a little taken aback at the amount of pleasantry in his voice, “thank you.”

He threw his insulated single-use cup away, Yuuji smiling before focusing back on the computer. 

“Sorry if it’s taking a minute, this is my first time behind the desk,” Yuuji said, squinting at the screen below him.

“No worries, please take your time, I’m not in a rush.”

The two of them soon exchanged light words as Yuuji tried to figure out how to pull up the classes to sign him up for them. Yuuji mentioned how three of his friends and some upper-class peers from his school all work here, all scattered about the land, doing different things. 

“The boss is in town right now, along with Megumi, my friend, getting the last ingredients for tomorrow’s class— Oh here it is!” Yuuji fist-pumped, a huge smile on his face causing Kento’s own lips to upturn slightly at his high energy. 

“Okay, that will be 75 dollars!” he said, in turn pushing Nanami to fish his wallet out of his jacket pocket.

Flipping it open, he pulled out a clean and crisp 100-dollar bill from his pocket before giving it to Yuuji. 

“Keep the change,” he said immediately, taking the receipt from his hands, as well as a brochure of instructions as well. 

“Oh thank you, and see you tomorrow at 6:30!”

Kento turned around, giving Yuuji a small wave before walking away, soon exiting out of the cozy home. It was like his steps caught a new wind as he made his way back to his inn room within the town. He didn’t know what it was, why he felt this way. Was it because he had something to look forward to? Ever since he stepped foot on that Orchard, something within him twisted and turned the more he thought about it, but yet also something warm began to bud within the coldness of his heart.

Hmm… He’ll blame that on the tea he drank.

The next day arrived, and Nanami found himself walking past the sunset, on that same dirt path on his way to the Orchard once more. His hands were empty this time, tucked in his creme pants as he eyed the orchard house he had just in yesterday. The moment he walked up the stairs, not bothering to look at the sign before knocking twice and opening the door.

The first thing he noticed was the voices echoing throughout the foyer. Scattered about were about 20-24 people, maybe even more, all mingling together. The lights were dimmed, on account of the darkening sky outside as he stepped inside the house fully. To his left, he could see an erected table, with trays of what seemed to be apple-related snacks as well as both a clear pitcher as well as a metal insulated one. Taking a moment, he walked over to the table, taking one of the many paper plates before looking at everything offered, each with a sign indicating what they were. Apple turnovers, chocolate cookies, brownies, etc. He took a little bit of everything before making his way to the pitchers where they each labeled respectively “hot” and “cold” cider. He took a paper cup before putting it underneath the spout and filling it ¾ of the way. 

He stood in the background, watching as these people who obviously look like they’ve grown up together, have their own conversation. There were people across the board, old and young, and there looked to be at least two different families here as well. Lifting up the sweet delicacy, he took a tentative bite, eyes slightly widening at the taste of the soft, sugar-crusted pastry, as well as the juiciness of the apples within the desert. He took another, bigger bite, each one better than the last one. The soft, buttery flakiness of the turnover pastry only enhanced the flavor of the cinnamon and sugar-glazed apple filling. 

Before he knew it, he was already reaching for another piece, the one in his hands gone. Taking his next bite, a noise caught his attention, and the people around him, as he looked up to see Yuuji, the boy from earlier in the afternoon who signed him up, standing there. He wore a red apron and had a wide smile on his face, hands clasped in front of him. 

“Welcome once again everyone, you can all follow, and please wash your hands at the back of the room, and we can go ahead and get started!” He announced, waving for the crowd of people, families included to follow him. 

In an unmannerly-like fashion, he stuffed the rest of the pastry in his mouth, using his hand to cover up his boorishness before following the crowd, being the last one to walk in. The room was bright, the overhead lights all on the fullest setting. From what Kento counted, there were twelve tables, six tables on each side with a middle aisle. Each table has two sets of ingredients, possibly two people sharing one table to make as much room as possible. First, keeping safety in mind, he followed behind and made sure to wash his hands thoroughly, before making his way to the tables. 

Eying the table closer, he can see laminated cards, folded in half into something that reminded of his name plaque back on his office desk. Walking around the tables, cautiously not catching the eye of anyone who was taking their place at the table. He soon found his own name, which was last name only, his eyebrows furrowing at the sudden misspelling of his name. 

‘Nanamin’ It seems that someone must have miswritten his name. 

Nonetheless, he took his place, eyeing each of the ingredients, all carefully weighed out and in place. Multiple bowls, each containing either, sugar, both brown and white, and flour. Plates that contained butter, were each carefully labeled as salted or unsalted as well. There were many other ingredients as well, each carefully placed into three categories, Crust, Filling, and Toppings. In the middle of all the ingredients was a laminated piece of paper, a recipe, printed on beautifully-designed apple greenery-inspired paper. 

Kento sits down on the stool, and just as he’s about to scan through the recipe itself, the door opens. 

“Welcome everyone,” a new, unfamiliar voice calls out to the room.

The rumbling of the room rested as Kento heard footsteps very close to him. His eyes glanced up, and he stopped. 

Beautiful was his first thought, his brown eyes watching as you made your way to the front and center of the room, standing in the middle of the blackboard that held the words, “Today’s desert, Apple Pie Bars!” 

You were wearing a black apron, french-retro, and skirt-like, with two short layers of a ruffled skirt. Said apron had apples, red, yellow, and green designed and scattered all against it. Despite the evident datedness of the apron, it was obvious that you kept it in good condition. Underneath the apron, you wore a simple red-plaid shirt, with dark jeans as well, and paired with a simple pair of black boots. Your hair, long braids with loose curls at the end, was pinned and packed up by a huge black hair clip. 

Your smile was wide, accompanied by glossy lips as you greeted the class in front of you, introducing yourself as well. The moment he heard your name, I felt something within him shift, something clenching at his heart. The heat was rising in him as well, he could feel his fawn skin being tinged with red and pink. Kento coughed under his breath, using his scarf to muffle the sound, taking deep breaths to calm the boiling inner turmoil within him. 

“Welcome to the third class, and I think I speak for everyone when I say this is definitely a class everyone has been waiting for. Apple Pie Bars is definitely something everyone around town enjoys,” you speak, beginning to pace around the room. 

“A delicious snack, for you, your kids, friends— trust me, there’s very little people that don’t enjoy these.”

You winked, and Kento couldn’t hold back his smile as the room erupted into a burst of short laughter as well. He faced forward, sitting down at the provided stool as you continued on your introduction. 

“Alright, first let’s begin with our crust, the oven’s are already preheated and be sure to make sure you have an oven-safe label so we don’t mix anyone up!”

He followed your every instruction, watching you as you stood at your own table, Yuuji right beside you, as you showed hands-on what to do. His hands felt sticky and pasty as they mixed the flour and salt into the wet ingredients. There were spatulas and some tables even had electric mixers involved but your words, “I prefer to use my hands, which is why clean hands are really important for this step, but putting in that extra effort makes them taste just as good,” made him at least want to try. After all, he would be the only one eating these bars after all. 

Soon after, watching how his dough consistency was similar to yours, he spread the mixture onto the greased pan, pressing it until it was smooth against the silver pan. On the sides, there was a symbol, a pair of glasses taped to the sides. This must have been the symbol that made his pan different from the others. One by one, everyone lined up, with him at the front, they all placed their trays into the ovens, already preheated and ready for them. Once everyone was in the ovens, you turned on a timer, before facing the class again. 

“Next is the filling, which requires the mini stove in front of you, each person will be sharing one of course, but there’s enough room for everyone to use it at once!”

He glanced down at the mini stove, seeing two pans on his side of the stove and seeing another two on his table sharer’s side as well. Suddenly, the door closest to him, the one that you came out of opened up, and suddenly people, teenagers all about Yuuji’s age, five in total, rolled a cart in front of them. They all wore the same apron as Yuuji, and each had their own name tag. 

“My lovely assistant and employees will happily pass out the apples,” you said, everyone watching as they all grabbed a bowl from the cart before passing them out, placing two bowls on every table. 

A girl with long green hair, and purple glasses placed two bowls on Kento’s table. He took a glance at her name tag, seeing the name “Maki” written there. Quietly, he thanked her, and she nodded her head, before moving on to the next table. Once they were all passed out, the incoming employees bowed, some of them smiled, and the others waved at you before slowly walking out. At the corner of his eye, he could see Yuuji waving at two of them, a boy with black spiky hair and a girl with a ginger bob on her head. 

“Now that we've all got our apples, fresh as they could possibly be, let’s move on to make our filling! Let’s turn on the stoves and start melting the butter that’s under the Filling category.”

The next steps, he especially watched carefully since he was now working with constant heat. He watched as the two skillets were used to make the same things, but no pans would be big enough for everything to fit in. He caramelized the apples and poured in water carefully to prevent the apples themselves from burning. As you work, Kento can see Yuuji moving behind the scenes, his eyes carefully watching all the pans within the ovens and seeing how the crust reacts under the heat. 

Fifteen minutes went by and the caramelized apple filling was put away in an empty metal bowl, with a plastic cover to keep everything warm. 

“Finally, we have the topping, which is, of course, optional for those who have an aversion or allergy to nuts. To those who opted for walnuts, please listen to my instructions,” you started, taking up the cup of crushed walnuts into your hands, 

Kento followed along as you toasted the walnuts onto the newly provided, clean skillet. The room soon began smelling nutty, and smoky as Kento watched his nuts slowly turn a golden brown, careful to make sure that the walnuts didn’t burn. He watched your every move and made plans to follow them. After the toasting, the stove turned off, and the pan holding the walnuts was placed in a heat-safe area. The next step was to mix the last of the ingredients for the topping in another bowl, carefully adding the chilled butter to it. At this, the timer beside you went off, and immediately Yuuji got to work, bringing out each tray of the crust to every table. 

The crust was golden-brown perfect and he could smell the warmth and comfort within the crust of the bars. He looked away, going back to his nuts and turning off the heat the moment he saw a tinge of dark brown-turning black at the edges of the nuts. After that, the final step for the topping was to mix the nuts into the cinnamon-butter mixture and massage it into clumps. 

“We’re at the final part, now everything else is as simple as pie. Just put the filling into the crust, smoothing it out, before pouring the topping on top of it before putting them all back into the oven for one more hour.”

An hour later, Kento was faced with a cool pile of freshly made apple pie bars. The room was full of a nutty apple scent, and everyone around him was speaking, some were taking premature bites of their desserts, Kento seeing them yelp in pain from the heat, but still smiling from the taste. 

“I see that you’re a new face.” Your voice was close, too close to him. 

Quickly, he turned around, his steps stumbling as he was suddenly faced with your beauty. 

“Yes.” Despite his suddenly beating heart, his voice was calm, a little too calm honestly, “I’m not from around here.”

“Oh, and what brings you to the little old Aquarine? Doubt there’s much out here?” You smiled at him, leaning against the counter, one hand laid across the counter, and the other pressed up against your face, holding you steady.

“Business, as a favor to a friend,” he spit out before he had another chance to think about it. 

Your eyebrows quirked up, “Business,” your eyes suddenly fluttered up and down, Kento’s spine straightening as your eyes looked back up at his face. 

“Yeah, you seem like the business type,” you hummed, but your smile was still unwavering. 

Taking a deep breath, he held his hand out, “Nanami, Namami Kento.”

You glance at his hand, before looking back at him, before your soft hand enveloped his hand, shaking it slowly, as you reintroduce yourself to him, this time with your last name as well. 

“So, you say you’re here on business, by the way that watch looks, I’m assuming it's very expensive business, huh?”

He glanced down at his watch, the expensive thing, and shrugged his shoulders, “that’s what I'm here to determine anyways.”

With a slow nod, you took in what he said before focusing your own attention on the apple bars he created. With one hand you pointed to them, looking over at him.

“Did you try one yet, or are they still too hot for your mouth to handle?”

Your voice teased him, a playful smirk dancing on your face. The feeling within him, an elated feeling had him reaching over to the metal tray, before picking it up and putting it in his mouth. To think he was just criticizing those who put the bars in his mouth before letting them cool. Luckily, his tongue didn’t suffer too much from the heat, and the nutty apple taste of the bars distracted him from whatever pain he was feeling. The crunch of walnuts mixed into the chewy cinnamon-butter topping, all baked perfectly, mixing in with the caramelized apples was perfect.

“Well, Mr. Nanami?” your voice airy, and the way you spoke his last name had his heart clenching in not only desire but unease. 

Once he was finished, he took the complimentary bottle of water, taking a few sips before facing you once more. 

“I was never a desert person until I came here, your recipes are incredible.”

Your smile suddenly became much more bashful, your smile wide as you looked away, “thank you, I may have come up with the recipe, but all the thanks belong to my grandmother.”

Your head tilted up, and his eyes followed your own to see an older woman in black and white photography, with features similar to you smiling there in an all-gray background as well. He smiled at the picture before turning back to you.

“I’m sure she’ll be very proud of you,” Kento states, picking up another bar before taking a bite. 

You smiled back at him, but before you could say something, suddenly the spiky-haired boy who came in early in the class pushed through the door near the two of you. Eyeing you, he walked up to you before whispering something in your ear. Kento watched your reaction closely to the teenage boy’s words, watching as your smile faded and the brightness in your eyes faded. Something was wrong, Kento thought. He put his bar down as he tried to step closer to you, but instead, you turned to him, a smile returning on your face, a fake one that reminded him of the one Satoru gave during very boring executive and chairman meetings. 

“I’m sorry, Mr. Nanami, but it seems I have to cut our conversation short, but I really hope to see you around town.”

Before he could say something, you were gone, the boy following after you. He could only watch as you left, the lingering smell of red currant and amber following you. He could hold back the sigh, this unknowing feeling deflating within him the moment you were gone. Sighing, he grabbed the cover to the aluminum tray, covering the rest of his desert, before fixing up his scarf and jacket, smiling at the lingering guests before making his way out of the orchard, towards his inn room. 

Honeyed Orchards was your heart and soul. 

You were born on this Orchard's grounds, as were your mother and her siblings as well. These sources hold memories for you. When you would take walks with your family, you would often find yourself passing by the place where you first walked, on a picnic blanket, surrounded by your grandmother, your ailing grandfather, and your parents. Your father was a sweet, caring, and strong man from the few memories you had of him, and what your grandparents had recorded of him. You would see him, cutting down old rotting trees, taking huge baskets of apples with his bare hands, and carrying them back. He would often hold competitions with your grandfather, before he got sick, on who could carry the most baskets, your grandmother used to recount. “Your father would win, of course, don’t tell your granddad I said that, even after the grave, he would still say he won every time.” 

You would see your mother, holding you in her arms or in a makeshift carrier, helping your grandmother cook for the bakery, or even sometimes carrying baskets of apples as well. Her smile, the exact same as your grandmother’s, was always wide. Your grandmother always made sure to capture their love for each other, and their love for the Orchard your family grew up in as well. They had made plans for them to continue the work after your grandmother, and your grandmother had been happy, knowing that her eldest daughter and her husband would continue running Honeyed Orchards. 

They died in a tragic accident as they were driving back from the city. A date night, you remember that night as clear as day, you were ten after all. You stayed with your grandmother, helping her prepare for the bakery, making huge bowls of apple fillings for different pastries. It was nothing new, this was nothing new for you, yet everything changed the moment they died. The medical costs and funeral nearly put your grandmother under, and with little to no help from your aunt or uncle, your mother’s younger siblings, who left their small-town life behind. The two of you had no one but each other, you had lost your parents, the people who gave you life and were one of two reasons that you would smile every day, and your grandmother lost the only daughter and son-in-law who cared about both her and her life’s long work. 

Every root, every trunk, every branch, every flower, and every fruit that was borne from it, held deep, sustaining memories for you. All the good ones, and all the bad ones as well. 

So when your grandmother would eventually pass away, it was a no-brainer that she would give you the Orchard. You had just returned from four years in university, a stipulation for taking ownership of the Orchard, majoring in agricultural studies as well as a minor in business. That day when she passed away was a peaceful one for you, unlike your parents, you knew her time was coming much sooner. 

Two days after that was the reading of her Will, and in those two days, you would meet the person who would continue to hound you for the next five years. 

Your mother’s younger brother, your uncle who didn’t bother to lift a finger when your mother had passed. 

He believed that when your mother passed away, his older sister, he would get the Orchard, not even for a second believing that it would pass on to his niece. His niece who has never spoken a word to and has seen one (1) singular picture of when she was turning one. So when the town’s solicitor announced that he would only be getting a decent amount of her inheritance, but no Orchard, the man was livid. He had planned to contest the will, citing there’s no way that you, a young girl, could ever run the Orchard, However, your grandmother knew her one and only son and made sure that her Will was bound tightly, that there was no physical way for him to contest the will, and that the only way that he could be the orchard was through the very niece he despised. You. 

The youngest of your mother’s siblings, her sister, she was alright, not much to say about her. She knew she wasn’t getting the orchard, and she only recently started talking to her mother again, before she passed. Your aunt gave you a simple hello, a warning about her older brother and his relentlessness, and a simple goodbye, taking the check and heirlooms left by your grandmother before taking the next train back to where she lived with her wife and two kids. 

Ever since that day, letters, calls, and emails have flooded your inbox, all coming from either your uncle directly or your uncle’s people, who seem to deal in shady business and work. Every time, your answer was the same, that you would NOT sell your livelihood to him. You knew he wanted to make a quick buck off of it, but there was probably so much more history behind his resentment and indignation towards both your grandmother, her orchard, and your mother as well. 

Five long years, business is amazing, single-handedly digging yourself out of the hole that your parents' deaths had caused. Your orchard is the perfect place for school children within the city to take a field trip 45 minutes away to play and learn more about the life cycle of plants as well. You established both the bakery and gift shop. You worked hand in hand with the city for special events as well, and don’t forget the number of events, weddings, and birthday parties all taking place on Honeyed Orchard's grounds. 

Still, your uncle was unrelenting, as per your aunt’s last words to you, and even now after five years, you find your fences being vandalized, and random things found upon the porch of the main building/your personal home. He would throw salt all over the trees, most of them survived the attack but some of them would succumb to the salt, and you would have to cut them down. Threats in the form of pig's blood smeared across the doors, windows, walls, and porch wood. Multiple reports to the one and only police station in Aquarine, yet they could never be caught and you can only put many cameras on a huge property. 

One of the things you came up with was having cooking classes for one month out of the year, coming up with new recipes, and teaching it to people who really wanted to learn. Some families would use it as a time to bond with each other, couples would share a table and create their own connections to feed each other. By the third class, the same people were coming by…

So it definitely caught your attention when a blonde, handsome stranger joined your class. He was put in the front of your class, with only one name, which later learned was a misspelling of his last name—which you would blame Yuuji for— as he was in charge of the name cards for everyone. He wore a heavy blazer to protect himself from the growing chills outside, as well as a scarf and glasses. An air of what you thought was artiness was around him, the moment you laid your eyes on him as you were speaking. However, when you spoke to him, his voice was calm, and tranquil, this aura of artiness you thought he had, mostly likely a product of a growing nervousness, knowing how many people had their eyes on him. You knew he was the topic on almost everyone’s minds, seeing your students eye him and speaking in low-toned voices around him, hoping he wouldn't pick up on their conversations. 

Out of everyone, he followed your instructions to the tee, including using his hands to mix the crust of the bars, everyone else preferred the spatulas or mixers you provided. His apple pie bars are nearly identical to your own as well.

When class was over, you knew you had to take the time to talk to him, and luck was on your side when he seemed to be equally responsive to your words. Your grandmother used to call you “A Human Double,” to be able to almost accurately predict someone and their life just by simply looking at them, and what they were wearing. 

You smiled as he ate the pie bar in whole, watching as his skin turned a slight pink from the heat but easily watched him chew and down the whole thing. He called your recipe, “incredible,” a common compliment you heard almost every day but yet, coming from him, something within you kick-started as you saw him pick up another bar. Just as you opened your mouth, the urge to ask him if he was doing anything tomorrow, your optimism was shattered the moment you saw Megumi rush into the classroom, a very worried look on his face.

With no time, he whispered in your ear, “Your uncle is here, and he’s not leaving until he sees you. Yuuji, Nobara and Maki are doing their best but he has people with him.”

So now here you are, stomping out in the back, huffing and puffing, anger written all over your face as Megumi follows behind you. You untied our apron, easily throwing it onto the hook you kept it on before going through the back door where you found a growing commotion. The first thing you noticed was Yuuji and Maki stepping up to your uncle, their eyes furrowed, anger coursing through their systems. The next thing you noticed, as well as the first thing you heard, was your uncle and his people’s words, jeering and mocking the job each of them did. All of your employees excluding Megumi who was right behind you were surrounding them. Jogging down the porch, raising your voice but not yelling, telling them to take a few steps back. 

Hearing your voice, they turned around, following your instructions immediately as you stepped up in between your teenage employees and your deceitful uncle. Who stood amid his goons, hands tucked in the pockets of his oversized suit jacket. 

“Ahh, my beautiful niece, just who I needed to see.” He started, looking at you.

“You know, if you really wanna run a successful business, you shouldn’t hire people that berate paying customers,” His smirk was sleazy, and it gave you the creeps. 

You simply narrowed your eyes at him, crossing your arms, “you’ve been banned, multiple times, and been told to get off this property those times as well. So what, what could you possibly want that requires you to break those rules?”

He shrugged his shoulders, “not for long, when you finally sign over the property to me.”

You could scream, the amount of times you’ve been in this push-and-pull situation with him. 

“How many times do I have to tell you, I’m not signing this property over to you! Now and your people can get out! It’s late and I have better things to do than to explain to a man almost three times my age that he can’t get everything that he wants!”

A fit of anger overtook your uncle’s face, “oh you little bit–”

Before he could continue, his hand raised up towards you, and a “Yo,” in a loud voice suddenly cut through the air. Everyone looked towards your right, seeing a familiar silhouette walking towards the two of you. 

“Dad?” Megumi called out, taking a step closer to see. 

Hands in his pockets, and a smirk on his face, Toji Fushiguro came through in between the trees, despite the cold, wearing nothing but a thin white long-sleeve shirt, and sweatpants, as well as a pair of sandals. It’s like the cold doesn't even exist to him. 

Toji Fushiguro, father to your employee, and ex-employee to Honeyed Orchards, the only one your grandmother hired when you went to college. 

As well as your ex-boyfriend. 

The two of you dated for less than a year, six months after your grandmother passed, by then Megumi was about ten years old. For a moment, you thought he would be the one you married, you established an amazing relationship with his son, considering that you were now his boss. However, the two of you end things amicably, after he realizes he’ll never stop comparing you to his wife, Megumi’s mother, who unfortunately passed away a few weeks after Megumi’s birth. However, he knew that he wouldn’t let up on checking up on you, especially with the number of times he had to step in while the two of you were dating when your uncle would do his usual taunts. 

Despite it all, your uncle was scared of Toji, especially with the way he almost tore apart his entire pack of goons one time, three months before the two of you broke up. Those three to four months were all quiet from your uncle until he heard through the grapevine that you two broke up and the taunts would start again. 

And now here he was, preparing to pick up his son and his friends for a weekend-long sleepover at his home. You took the moment to glance over at your uncle, seeing him begin to shake and sweat at the sight of the man who easily fought his people and can and will do it again. 

Toji stopped in front of everyone, “come here to get my idiot of a son and find a little rat and his pack of mice scampering around.” he smirked, his black hair shifting out of his eyesight. 

Despite his fear, your uncle puffed up his chest, before facing Toji, “this has nothing to do with you Toji, last I checked you and my niece broke up a long time ago.”

You rolled your eyes, shifting weight between your legs, taking a moment to glance at Megumi who only snorted while rolling his eyes. Toji, however, only raised an eyebrow, his anger slowly simmering and bubbling at the top. 

“Ha…? Didn't you hear me, I said I came to get my idiot son and his friends? This happens to be where they are, which makes this my business,” he hissed your uncle’s full name at the end of his sentence, “and even if he wasn’t here, Princess,” his nickname for you, “is still a good friend of mine. So yeah, it is my business. So I suggest you get out of here.”

His words held a steady beat but it’s obvious it’s filled with venom and vitriol. Toji’s anger for your uncle not only came from your dealings with him but from Toji's former employer, the only one to give him a chance after he was dealing with a moody ten-year-old and needed a fresh start and a new place. He and Megumi stayed in the very house you all stood in the back of for six months, while you were away at college until he could stand on his own two feet. 

There were memories for him that bore fruit here as well, and he’ll be damned if a man like your uncle takes that away from him. 

“Get out of here!” Toji’s words held finality, and everyone knew it was over. 

With a final glare, but luckily no other words from your uncle, he left with his pack of goons. Toji said nothing at first, making sure they were long down the road before officially turning towards you and the rest of your employees. 

“You didn’t have to do that,” you started but he shook his head, 

“Yes I did, but I doubt it’ll be over when it comes to him. Didn’t even know he was in town again.”

You nodded your head with a sigh, pressing your fingers against your throbbing temple, “yeah, it’s never a good sign when he’s back in Aquarine.”

“And you have no idea why he’s here?”

With that, you could only shake your head, before turning to your teenage employees, telling them to finish cleaning up, get their stuff, and clock out, as well as telling them to enjoy their week off. You gave Toji a short good night, smiling as best as you could before turning around and beginning to walk up your porch. Their eyes were on you, shining to the brim with concern, including Toji’s own gaze but you couldn’t be bothered with them for the night, tired after teaching a class piling onto a long day of work. This entire interaction drained so much out of you, in so little time as well. 

Time lapsed, and before you knew it, you were recently showered, hair wrapped up, and wearing nothing but a thin, old nightgown flopping into your bed. Your eyes were heavy, and sleep was demanding of you, yet your heart hammered. An eerie feeling with the arrival of your uncle, on the same day, you met a very mysterious man who piqued your interest quite clearly. With a sigh, you turned your lamp off, snuggling into your heavy quilts and comforters, before easily falling into your dream world, dreaming of dark chocolate eyes and blond hair. 

The next day creeps onto Kento like a spider carefully procuring its prey, once again he finds himself within the square of the town. This time, he found himself walking outside of the cafe, holding the same tea had drank yesterday. The time now was nearly noon, and many people were either at work or school, it was basically empty. Taking a breath, he took another sip of his tea, savoring the taste as he glanced back down at his phone, watching the texting bubble between him and his conversations with Satoru and Suguru. 

Satoru: bleh, I'm glad I'm not the one there, that town seems like a dead end. 

Kento: The only really interesting thing is the Orchard, 

Suguru: when’s your meeting?

kento: in two days at 1:30, but I had nothing better to do so I'm walking around.

Suguru: in the cold? Your gonna get sick

kento: I’ll be fine, it's better than staying in my inn.

Suguru: Hmm, tell us how it goes. 

With a hum, he turned off his phone, closing out of the messaging and pocketing his phone once more. Once again, he found himself here, in the square. The faraway sun did nothing to help with the cooling temperatures, as he held the same tea in his hands as he walked along the sidewalk. Empty, most of the streets were, as people were inside resting up in the heat rather than walking in the frigid cold for any longer. Kento took a longer sip of his tea, sighing as he did he continued to look everywhere and nowhere at the same time. The little sounds he heard were his background noise, the one patrol rumbling down the street, and the sounds of doors opening and closing shut as well. Kento couldn’t help but give out a sigh, a familiar feeling of tedium overtaking him, much like the days in his office. 

“Mr. Nanami?” a voice, a sweet one called out his last name.

Eyes widening, a slight gasp leaving his lips, Kento turned around, frost air blowing from his reddening nose, only to see you standing not too far from him. You smiled, taking a closer step toward him. You were wearing large black thick-framed glasses on your face. Your long braids were pulled back into two low buns, with a few curls sticking out of the style. You were wearing all green, a beautiful emerald shade. A pair of pants that were skin tight at the top and loose as they made their way down your legs. As well as a simple skintight emerald green shirt as well as a brown crochet cardigan around your arms. A smile appeared on his face, standing up to greet you in full as your smile widened as he approached you. 

He greeted you, “it’s lovely to see you again,” his heart jumped when your scent hit his nose. 

“Lovely to see you again too, thought it was inevitable with how small this town is,” your legs crossed in front of one another as the two of you were only a few inches from each other. 

You took a moment to lean to your right, your eyes landing on the symbol on his cup, before glancing up at him. At the same time, he took a glance behind you, seeing your hand connected to the handle. Behind you, he could see a cart filled to the brim, large, clear glass jars, and plastic bags filled with things he could not see. 

“Running errands?” He asked you next, taking a final sip of his tea. 

You nodded your head, “yeah, there were a lot more things I needed but couldn't have time to get, had to get back in time to finish preparing for the cooking class, speaking of, how did you enjoy the apple pie bars?” 

He thought back to the half-empty tray sitting in the middle of his inn’s complimentary mini fridge stuck within the drawer. Your eyes light up at his short smile, and your smile widens as he mentions the current state of the desserts he made yesterday.

“Well, I’m glad you enjoyed them, I definitely enjoyed creating the recipe,” you told him, pushing your glasses up on your face. 

Kento blinked, unable to keep his eyes off of you as you continued speaking, “Well, Mr. Nanami, I have to continue running errands, gotta prepare for the Viburnum Festival.”

“Viburnum Festival?” he asked, taking a step closer towards you as you began to turn away.

You blinked, turning back around with a bit of confusion on your face, “Yeah, the Viburnum Festival, there’s been signs for it all over town?” you spoke, before your manicured finger came up, pointing towards the sign Kento somehow was able to miss while taking his short walk around the town square once more. 

“It’s a town tradition, to celebrate the coming winter, we have one for every season, right here in the town square,” you said, turning back around, “I’m surprised you hadn’t noticed any of the excitement for it.”

He was shocked too, he was usually much better at understanding his surroundings, yet this town, and you, have rendered his ability to do that nearly impossible. Squeezing the insulated cup in his hand a little, he looked at you. 

“Guess I haven’t been paying attention to my surroundings as much, this is the first time I’m hearing of it.”

“Oh then you have to come!” you exclaimed, suddenly letting go of your wagon filled with things. 

However, in your sudden excitement, you had forgotten that the two of you were standing upon some sort of hill, and your cart suddenly started to roll away from the two of you. Kento noticed the cart rolling away before you, you realize a few seconds later, not even thinking before taking a few large steps, his hands grabbing the handle before it could pick up speed and rolling away from things that seemed to be easily breakable as well. 

“Oh my god, thank you! I completely forget that we’re technically on a hill,” you thanked him profusely.

He smiled, holding onto the cart before shaking his head, “it’s fine, don’t worry about it.”

“But back to our conversation, you most definitely have to come to the Festival, you came to Aquarine at a perfect time too. I promise that you’ll have fun!

He couldn’t lie to himself, the idea of going that sounded so crowded put him off a lot, but seeing the way your eyes glistened, wanting him to come to see what it was all about. His heart pounded underneath your stare and before he knew it, the words were slipping out of his mouth that he’ll come but only for you. 

“But,” he interrupted your sudden sequel, causing you to freeze mid-hop, turning your head to look at him, “you have to at least tell me what it's all about first, and stop calling me Mr. Nanami, Kento is just fine.”

The delight on your face mellowed out, before nodding, “I’ll do that, if you come with me to finish the last of my errands, Kento.” you teased his name, the tip of your tongue sticking out. 

And with that, Kento’s plans for the rest of the day were set. 

He pulled the cart, not wanting to strain yourself further as the two of you soon arrived at one of the few grocery stores within the town. 

“Usually, I buy all this stuff in bulk, but most of my shipments have been stuck underneath snowstorms within the north, so I’m buying everything in town until I can get them,” you explained as you walked in between aisles to pick up the different ingredients, herbs, and seasonings that you needed. 

“But back to the Viburnum Festival, it really started a few years after the town’s conception,” Kento listened intently as you suddenly swiped a few bottles of ground cinnamon into the cart you were pushing. 

“My grandmother was seven years old when it started, so it’s been a while, but the reason this town was founded was for people who had no home to find a home. So, to count their blessings, they celebrated each season that came to pass. Viburnum was named like that because of the little white flowers that would blossom during Winter,” you continued, swiping even more ground herbs into the cart. 

“So, there’s three other festivals that happen here? What are their names?” Kento asked, keeping his eyes on the back of your head as the two of you turned left to the next aisle.

“Um, the summer one is called the Marigold Festival, the fall one is called Aster Festival, and the Spring one is called Apple Blossom Festival.”

Kento couldn't help but quirk an eyebrow at the Spring one, “Apple Blossom? Don’t tell me you have something to do with that?”

You turned your head, and he could tell you were suppressing your smile, “maybe,” you winked, before turning back around. 

“It used to be called the Daffodil Festival, but when my grandmother started her orchard at such a young age, and brought a lot of money to the town, the festival was renamed to Apple Blossom because of the flowers that would bloom before the apples that would grow in the fall.” you stated, before seeing the tall wall of paper towels in front of you.

Squinting your eyes, you grabbed two different brands, lifting the two of them, and comparing them, before presenting them to him, “Which one?”

Kenot blinked, taken aback, before leaning his head down, his brown eyes glancing between the two brands

“Hmmm, this one,” he said, pointing to the one in your right hand. 

“That’s exactly what I was thinking too,” you stated, placing the paper towel in your left hand back and putting the right one in your cart, before swiping a few more of that same brand into your cart as well.

“Since then, it’s been a reason for celebration in our town, and as it grows bigger, so does all the love that is shared.” your bright smile turned into a more mellow one. 

“The festivals were the favorite time of year for my family, especially the winter ones,” you said, the two of you approaching the front counter. 

Looking up, you waved at the cashier, who waved back at you, calling out by name before starting a short conversation with you. As that happened, Kento walked up, starting to immediately put things on the sole conveyor belt as it began to move. Seeing the movement, the things lining up but yo not making a step to move, the cashier took a glance to her left, only to see Kento placing all the stuff on the belt. The cashier said nothing, but she definitely raised an eyebrow at that, before scanning the last of the things.

“$567.74, is your total, sugar,” the older lady stated, Kento seeing you looking into your purse.

However, before you could pay, Kento was already standing right behind you, his card in hand, inserting it into the card slot. 

“Kento!” you squealed, but a smile on your face, “I didn’t bring you along to pay for it!”

Kento felt you lightly smacking his arm, and although he could barely feel it, only smiled before looking at you, “It’s okay, let me do this, as a thank you for explaining the festivals to me.”

Tilting your head at him, a smile appearing on your face, “I was gonna do that whether you came with me or not, there was no need for you to spend your money on lil ol’me.”

“Just let the man buy the stuff for you, sugar, sounds like he doesn't wanna take no for an answer.” the older lady working the cash register said, placing all the stuff in multiple plastic bags.

You took a breath, raising your hands up in surrender before taking a step back, allowing Kento to complete the last of the transaction. Kento smiles at your slight dramatics, taking his card out before putting it back into his wallet. Together, the two of you placed the last of the plastic bags onto the wagon as much as you could without anything spilling out. Only two bags couldn't fit, with no choice but for you to carry them as Kento wanted to try and make it fit for you. With all of your errands done, it was nothing for Kento to pull the heavy cart towards the Orchard, with you walking beside him once again. 

“How would you have pulled this cart with everything on here,” he couldn’t help but ask you, watching as the sun began to dip into the skyline.

“I could have pulled it!” you cried out, turning your head towards him.

Suddenly, Kento stopped in his tracks, an idea popping up into his head. Calling your bluff as he suddenly let go of the handle, before gesturing for you to pick up the handle and to pull. He watched as you glanced between him and the cart before letting a little “hmph” before handing him the two plastic bags you carried, before stomping right over to the wagon. 

Picking it up, Kento held back his laughter as he watched as you struggled to even make it move an inch. He watched as your sneakers slid against the sandy dirt, sweat beginning to drip against your brow as you barely moved five inches from your original position. 

“Okay, okay,” Kento cut in, grabbing the handle from you with one hand.

However, the sudden loss of stabilization had you shrieking, missing a step, and soon had you falling face-forward. With his other hand, Kento quickly reached out, his arm wrapping itself around his waist as much as he could, stopping you from falling on your face. You let out another shriek as you were suddenly on your feet again. 

“Are you okay?” He asked you, his eyes quickly scanning over you to make sure nothing was out of place for you. 

Slowly you nodded your head, adjusting your thick clothes, glasses as well, and your crochet cardigan. 

“Yeah, yeah thank you again, Kento, seems you’ve been saving me a lot recently, ” you turned towards him, giving him a wide smile.

He felt heat overtake his body at your words, pink blooming once again at his cheeks before looking away from you, nodding his head. 

With no other words exchanged, he handed you your two plastic bags, before following behind you back to your orchard. When the two of you arrived, you led him towards the back, where he suddenly noticed a lot of construction and caution tape around a certain portion of the house, in an area that was supposed to be the corner of the house, built in the middle of the side of the house and the back. It was obvious that it was new, the colors around it much brighter than the rest of the terracotta orange color of the house.

“What’s this,” he couldn’t help but ask, pointing at the addition to the house.

Glancing over at what he was pointing at, before smirking, “that is the Honeyed Orchard’s bakery-cafe, set to reopen in a few days.”

Bakery-cafe? Was this why you were offering classes, to promote the re-opening? He thought to himself as he looked at the building, seeing something through the window closest to him. Suddenly, before he could see what the interior was, cold hands came up and wrapped themselves around his eyes, blocking his vision. 

“Hey–” he started, but he felt you beginning to guide him away from the cafe.

“No peeking! You can see along with everyone else how it looks. Right now, help me put these things inside please!”

Your hands were soft, that was his first thought, heat radiating within him once again. What was wrong with him? He couldn't help but question, it was like his body was transported back to grade school when he would notice girls for the first time, and he had no courage to even speak to them, only placing himself nose first in a book. Disappointment rattled through him the moment you let go, leading him towards the back of the house. Together, the two of you carried all the stuff into the back, inside the kitchen. 

The first thing he saw was silver, lots of silver. Tall, rectangular contraptions, with glass doors, and in them he could see pastries all lined up on trays. There were rows of them, all lined up against the back wall. 

“Am I… am I supposed to be here?” Kento couldn't help but ask, turning his head to where you were only to see you approach with a basket in hand.

You tilted your head, an “eeehhh…” coming out of your mouth, “well no, but I trust you.” you pressed your manicured finger against your plump glossy lips. 

He felt glad at your words, helping you place the heavy glass pitchers and jars on the empty counters, as well as helping you organize all the seasonings and herbs. Soon the bags were empty and the wagon was clear of any items, so you easily folded up the wagon before placing it in the storage closet in the kitchen. 

“Wait, before you go!” you exclaimed, walking up to one of the tall containers, opening it up, before using the pair of tongs by it and pulling out one of the many treats. He came closer to you as you wrapped up the… what seems to be a glazed donut with pretty parchment paper, red-checkered with little apples dotted within a few of the white squares. Now fully, wrapped up, suddenly you handed it to him.

“For all your help, Kento,” you said, “it’s a glazed apple-cake donut, I couldn’t let you see the inside of the cafe, but I can let you have one of the pastries that we’ll be selling.”

He held his hands up, about to decline, saying he didn’t need it, despite his stomach turning, his inner feelings craving any treat that was made by your hand. However, the final nail was put into the coffin by the obvious rumble of his stomach stopped him from even saying a word. He blushed as you giggled at the noise, urging him to take the apple donut. 

“Th… thank you,” is all he said, taking the donut, pushing some of the parchment paper, glancing over at you, with a nervous smile on your face, teetering on the tips of your toes, waiting for his reaction. 

With that he took a bite, eyes widening at the soft riches of the donut, covered in the sweet brown sugar-cinnamon glaze. Before he knew it, he was taking another, much larger bite. How is it that everything you make tastes like magic to him? 

“I’m assuming that you like it?” you couldn’t help but ask, watching as Kento nodded his head, mouth full of donuts. 

As he ate, the two of you walked outside, soon ending up at the entrance of your fence, just as Kento finished the last of his donut. By the time the two of you got outside, the sun had almost fully set, the coolness of the afternoon now slowly turning into a frigid evening. Turning towards him, feeling your eyes on him as he cleaned his mouth of any lasting crumbs. 

“Thank you again, I had fun today, Kento,” you told him, smiling. 

Kento towards you, not wanting to go, wanting to spend the whole night talking to you, but he also knew you needed to prepare for the festival, and he’s definitely seeing you tomorrow. With that, he suddenly took a step towards you, reaching down for your bare hand. Your eyes widen as you suddenly feel him place a warm kiss on your cold knuckles. His heart was racing as he did this, he didn't even know why he was doing this. Something, a new voice within him, the same one that was guiding his actions today, told him to do this. When he gauged your reaction, seeing your eyes and mouth widen open, your free hand suddenly placed against your heart. Speechless, he left you speechless, and something within him blossomed at that, a smile appearing on his face. 

“Thank you for today, I had fun as well, and I’ll see you tomorrow, trust me,” that was the last thing he said, before turning around and making his way down the road. 

He began to make his way down the road, and after a few more seconds, he turned his head, only to see you still standing there, eyes slightly spaced out. However, when you noticed that his head was turned around, you lifted up the hand he kissed, waving at him before yelling that you better see him tomorrow. He smiled, turning around, before making his way down the road, back to his inn room. 

The first thing he noticed was the bonfire, huge, and in the middle of the square. Its red-hot fiery anger radiated a decent radius, allowing those who stood or sat near it to warm up from the cold. Kento tucked his gloved hands in his pocket, muttering “excuse me’s” as we walked past the group of giggling teenage girls who eyed him with stars in their eyes. Even so, he had only one goal in mind, keeping his eyes on the moving crowd, moving with them as they walked towards the festival. Above the entrance, he could see a huge banner, spreading from one side to another, with a black background, allowing the white, silver, and ice blue lettering and designs to pop out even more. He kept his eyes on it as much as he could, until he found himself within the town square, one fully transformed just for the Viburnum Festival. All around, different stands, showing off different games, prizes, and whatnot surrounded him. CHildren’s joy was all around, Kento couldn’t help but smile at a kid who won a huge plush off of some cartoon show he’d never heard of. 

He couldn’t lie, it entertained him, just how everyone enjoyed themselves, with no worries, and how families enjoyed themselves for just one night. A family… a bitter smile stretched across Kento’s face, the image of his father sleeping and drinking his life away, his only living family. 

“Kento!” His name being yelled out, broke him out of his trance, looking up and glancing around until he saw a waving hand not too far from him. 

His eyes widened as he saw you standing right next to a booth, a booth that currently looked like the busiest one out of the entire festival. He eyed the long line, before making his way over to you. Your braids were down, the French curls reaching the small of your back, while you tucked your hand back into the black overcoat you were wearing. Around your neck, you had a lavender-purple scarf wrapped around it. 

He made it to you, and your smile was wide, your pearly whites gleaming underneath the hanging lights the town put up for the festival.

“You really did come!” you exclaimed. 

A short smile appeared on his face as he smiled down at you, “I told you that I would, now didn’t I?” He said, glancing over at the booth, seeing the line beginning to get even longer. 

You turned your head, smiling at what Kento was seeing before turning back at him, “yeah, that’s not an uncommon sight when these festivals come around. Come, let me take you there!”

Before he could say anything, you had suddenly hooked your arm around his, which helped that his hands were still pocketed. You guided him over to the table, where he could see just what was happening. 

Seeing pink spiky hair, Kento could see, that Yuuji, the boy who signed him up for the class, took orders and money, while two other teenagers, a boy with black, spiky hair and a girl with a ginger bob, were handing out the orders to people, operating as fast as they could. Behind the three of them, there were three more, who all seemed to be getting all the inventory of stuff ready. Kento could see the wrapped-up donuts, tars, and even bottles of apple cider all being placed. 

“Wow,” he couldn’t help but say, “is it always so busy for you?”

You nodded your head, “yeah, this festival brings a lot of people from far and near, people who just want a glimpse within life here, people who used to live here coming back for a visit. It’s not a surprise for us, and even other places to be so busy.”

A whistle left his mouth as he continued to observe your booth, watching the flow of traffic flow. 

“Do you want me to introduce everyone to you, or do you want to go see the rest of the festival?”

He looked down at you, “don’t you think you should help them?” Once again, look at the line, “it’s a lot of people here.”

You waved off his concerns, “that’s what I pay them for, this isn’t their first rodeo.” 

The look of concern still must have not left Kento’s face because next you said, “but if it really does get hectic, then they all have my number, they can call me and we’ll come back running back.”

At that, Kento relaxed, and with that, you waved bye at your employees, before telling them to call you if things get too hectic for them. They all waved bye back at you, before focusing back on their work. The two of you soon intermingled with the crowd, walking side by side as you took him all around, showing off each and every booth, table, and open-doored business. 

“That’s Mrs. Prechitt,” you pointed to a lady who was selling pies while wearing… very interesting headwear. 

“Is that a pie on her head? Like an actual pie from the oven on her head?” Kento didn't think before speaking, the first thing he thought of was leaving his mouth. 

You muffled your giggles with your hand, but you nodded your head, “we tell her every year that it’s not safe, but every year she doesn’t listen. She does make a very mean peach pie though.” Your words were slowly overcome with laughter with every second as you could see the disgusted look on Kento’s face. 

Your other hand came up around his arm, holding yourself up as you laughed out loud. Kento looked down at your face, overcome with mirth, and felt warm, knowing that pink was staining his cheeks and it just wasn’t from the cold. With a sniffle, Kento saw as you picked yourself up, wiping your tears away with your gloved hands. Once you were composed, with no words, the two of you walked past her, waving at her as you did. Noticing you, her eyes brightened, waving back as the pie on her head moved with her head. 

“Let’s hope it won't fall on someone and cause third degree burns on someone,” Kento muttered, and you only shook your head, but continued to show him around the festival. 

While showing him around, your eyes landed on a booth selling funnel cake, and you felt your stomach lurch. The line, luckily, wasn’t too long, with Kento paying for your plate when the two of you waited in line for it. 

“You know I can pay for my own stuff, right?” you asked, grabbing a fork and a few napkins as he held your funnel cake in his hands. 

“I know.” is all he said, before handing you the funnel cake once you were situated. 

You looked up at him, smiling and shaking your head. A gentleman, he was, through and through, before the two of you continued walking, this time with your arms no longer hooked as you ate your funnel cake.  Still, through your bites, you showed him around the festival, telling him about each booth and how long they had been coming around. 

Lifting another piece of funnel cake on your fork, just about to go out in your mouth, before glancing at Kento who was looking ahead. Before you knew it, you were holding your fork close to his mouth, a piece of funnel cake slightly steaming.

“You want some,” you teased, your heart beginning to pace faster as you realized what you were doing. 

However, before you could pull it away, play it off as some kind of joke, Kento opened his mouth before pulling the piece of funnel cake off your fork and eating it. 

“Hmm,” he hummed, chewing on the piece, “not too bad, but it pales in comparison to what you could make.”

Your mouth fell open, looking at him, looking at, giving his own soft smile, before facing forward. Letting out a shaky breath, your brush with his sudden boldness caused heat to rise up your body. 

“Where’d all that come from,” you couldn’t help but ask, still trying to recover from the fact that his words and wink almost sent you squealing like a schoolgirl. 

Using your fork to cut another piece of funnel cake, only to hear Kento say, “just speaking the truth.”

Your truth is causing me heart palpitations, you thought to yourself, cutting another piece of your funnel cake with your fork, and eating it as well. Just as you were about to finish the last of your cake, your phone suddenly rang. 

You looked over at Kento, but you didn't have to say anything. You had to gently take your cake and fork out of your hands, giving you your napkin to wipe your hands clean of powdered sugar and oil as best as you could before fishing out your phone. Looking at the caller ID, eyes widening at the sight of Yuta being the one calling you.

“Hello, Yuta? Hey, what’s going on?” You answered, only to be met with a bunch of commotion over the line.

“Yeah, boss, you might wanna get down here. One of the customers threw a donut at Yuuji and now Mefumi is trying to hurt him, the rest of them can only hold him back for so long.”

Your eyes widened, “threw a donut?? at Yuuji??” 

You glanced over at Kento who looked stunned at what you said, before gesturing for him to follow you. The two of you made your way through the crowd, speed walking as much as you could without being rude as you pressed Yuta for more details. 

“Well, from what I heard from Nobara, before she went to hold Megumi back, that the guy ordered a donut, that’s what all three of them heard, but whenYuuji went to give it to him, the guy got into a fit, yelling that he ordered a tart. Yuuji tried to say he especially ordered a donut, but he wasn't having it. Megumi tried to step in, and that's when the donut was thrown, and now it's all chaos over here. Will you be here in time?”

Before you could say anything, you could suddenly hear loud rucks happening as you two got closer and closer to your booth, where a crowd was surrounding you. 

“I’m here,” is all you said to Yuta, before ending the call, telling people to move as politely as possible. 

However, a hand suddenly pulled you back, looking back and seeing Kento push ahead of you, before easily using his strength to push back the crowd, not even bothering to apologize, before leading you to the front to see the full extent of what happened. 

The first thing you notice is the absolute anger on Megumi’s face, as he struggles in his cousin's, and Nobara’s hold. Yuuju was standing beside them, along with Toge, who was trying his best to examine Yuuji’s eyes, which were covered but you could tell a bit of purplish coloring was beginning to bloom on his skin. Not too far from them, on the other side of the booth, was a short, stocky man with some sort of glee on his face, as if he took in some sick joy in the way Megumi was reacting. With him was a woman, who was recording everything, her words easily taunting Megumi, who only fell for it, his anger like a rushing angry tidal wave, and he couldn't wait to crash into the poor, unsuspecting people. 

Yut a was the first to notice you, “Boss!”

At those words, everyone turned, only to see you coming in behind Kento, “What is going on?!” Your voice is loud, and angry, with your hands at your sides.

However, before any of your kids could say anything, a camera was suddenly shoved in front of your face, the flash causing you to hiss as the bright light dulled your vision, spots entering into your vision. Your hand came up, trying to push away whoever this was, and you could barely comprehend the fact that she was suddenly talking about you and your “effectiveness over your employees,” when her words suddenly ceased. 

Blinking, allowing your eyes to adjust as you suddenly saw Kento standing right in front of you, holding the woman’s arm, with an angry glare on his face, “watch where you’re pointing that camera,” as all he said, before shoving her back slightly. 

“Hey, don’t talk to my wife like that–” However the man’s words were cut short by Kento’s icy glare, the man stopping in his tracks, swallowing whatever he was gonna say next. 

The immediate area around you all was silent, all eyes on Kento as he crossed his arms, before speaking, “Now, what happened?”

All at once, everyone began to speak, not allowing anyone else to even speak. You could barely hear a word, when suddenly Kento raised his hand, and just like that, everyone went silent. He took a deep breath, before opening his eyes, before looking over at your kids.

“Can one of you say what happened, only one, please?” he said.

Walking closer, only see Maki slowly let go of Megumi before taking a step closer, taking a breath before explaining everything that happened. She also heard the guy order a donut, her hearing a bit better than the two guys in the back doing inventory with her. She saw the commotion and went to intervene when she saw the guy throw the donut at Yuuji. 

When Maki said that, Kento turned towards the guy, who was now fidgeting, sweating, as if it wasn’t going as he expected it at all to go down.

“Did anyone else hear this man order a donut as well?”

Looking around, your eyes widened at the sight of the few hands, most of whom were at the front of the line, all raising their hands as well. Kento then turned his glare back onto the stocky man, who jumped the moment he was looking at him, 

“You’re gonna tell me all these people were lying about you ordering a donut?” Is all Kento asked, raising an eyebrow.

The man began to stutter, “we…well, I mean, I mean no, but–,” but he was effectively cut off by Kento picking up this man easily with one hand.

Your eyes widened as he dropped the man right in front of Yuuji, whose eyes were wide-eyed in surprise as well, “apologize to him, now!”

“I’m… I’m sorry!” the short man yelped out, tears of fear streaming down his face. 

You couldn't help but take a glance at his wife, who was no longer recording, but instead shaking with fear at the sight of her husband. A bit of noise cut your attention behind you when suddenly two officers came through the crowd. Immediately recognized one of them as Yuuji’s older half-brother, who was very overprotective of said boy. Choso’s eyes scanned through before his eyes landed on his brother, seeing his eye, which was now slowly turning a dark purple. 

“Yuuji? What happened?” He called out, rushing over to be by his brother's side.

Everything happened within a blur, with Choso’s partner taking you and everyone else’s statement while Choso was too busy lamenting over his brother and arresting the couple. You let out a breath of relief as they rushed away, with Nobara and Megumi immediately going to take Yuuji to Ieiri, who had her own clinic booth in case of emergencies somewhere around the festival. 

Letting out a long breath, running your fingers over your face, and rubbing at your temples. Stress. This was all too stressful, with everything weighing upon you like a ton of bricks. With your uncle’s sudden arrival two days ago, and now your employee– your kid had an injured eye from an agitated “customer” . If you could even call them that, they were trying to write you off before they had even spoken to you. Your legs began to tetter, feeling yourself begin to sway back and forth. 

However, a force suddenly came up right beside you, arms coming up, and wrapping themselves around you, holding you up. Moving your hands, only to see concerned brown eyes staring down at you, Kento’s eyes were soft, not like in the frigid glare he had just adorned on his face.

“Are you alright,” his voice was quiet, as he guided you over to the closest chair at your booth. 

You nodded your head, taking your seat, “yes, I am, I just couldn't handle seeing Yuuji hurt like that. Oh god,” you groaned, remembering the conversation you had with Kento just before you left the booth

“You were right, I should have never left the booth,” you said, covering your face with your hands once again. 

Suddenly, you felt much bigger hands coming around them, pulling them away from your face. Kento looked at you, a smile on his face.

“You couldn’t have predicted an irate man with no sense or rationality to come and attack them like that. I didn’t even predict that, I was only concerned about the amount of work, and you were right in the fact that they could handle it.”

His hands enveloped yours, feeling his gloved thumbs rub into your own, “let’s not let this ruin our night, okay?”

His words elated you, a smile slowly appearing on your face as you nodded, before pushing yourself to your two feet. You dusted yourself off, wiping away the two tears that had begun to fall onto your face. Turning around facing Yuta, Maki, and Toge, telling them to continue pushing the inventory and that you’ll take care of the front. You moved to the front, only to see an off-white overcoat joining you as well. You and Kento smiled at each other, before turning to face the line that had begun to grow again the moment it seemed your booth was back in business. 

It was only an hour and thirty minutes, give or take, when you would fully run out of inventory. With that, Yuta deconstructed the booth, while Toge placed the boxes you brought them in the wagons you brought.

“The two of you should get out of here, the three of us can handle this,” Maki said, standing in between the two of you.

You turned towards her, shaking your head, “no, Maki, the three of you are my responsibility, I should have never left you alone–” but she cut you off.

“Don’t let that asshole ruin the plans you had tonight,” she cut through your words, shaking your head.

“We got this, plus Megumi texted me, Shoko patched Yuuji up and Kamo took him home, so he’s fine, and they’re on their way back. We’ll have more help,” she continued, before glancing over your shoulder, where Kento was most likely standing.

“It’s not everyday someone like him comes, you want him to experience everything, if you know what I mean,” she suddenly winked, nudging you.

You let out a gasp, smacking her on the arm, “I do not want to hear that from you, Maki!” 

She threw her head back in laughter, before telling you one last time to enjoy your night, before walking away to join Yuta and Toge in cleaning up. You watched as the three of them interacted, working together, smiling at them before turning around, and seeing Kento walking up to you.

Smiling, you held out your arm, “you got time for one more destination?”

Kento looked over at the three of them, before looking back at you, before giving off a soft smile and hooking his arms with you once again. You lead him away, towards your last destination of the night. He watched as the crowd slightly densified as he looked ahead, seeing a familiar warm glow get closer and closer. 

Before he knew it, you found yourself underneath the Bonfire’s glowing light, surrounded by many others, couples all wrapped with each other. Sultry, soulful music played through the loudspeakers as people handed out glasses of champagne, low voices whispered underneath music as Kento and you entered right back into the middle of the square, completely transformed from when he first arrived. Glowing lights were hanging across from the streetlight. 

The two of you soon entered from a corner, you two watched, sipping on two glasses of complimentary champagne as everything around you swayed, the people moving like waves in the ocean. 

“I remember one year when we came, and my parents escaped after a little but,” you began to reminisce, mixing into the crowd, “my grandmother was cleaning up, and needed help but told me not to bother them and find someone else.”

Kento’s eyes widened as he looked over at you, watching a wistful look in your eye as you stared ahead at the crowd. Interested, he watched as you began to sway up and down, on the tips of your toes, the sweet alcohol in your glass swirling within your hands. 

“However, I didn’t listen and went to go and find them,” you recounted that day as well as you could count to five on one hand.

“I slipped past the adults, and came here and found them slow dancing, right about there,” you pointed out to a certain area, where there happens to be another couple dancing right there. 

“My mom’s head was on my dad’s shoulders, and her eyes were closed, and my dad was looking straight ahead, yet would glance at my mom every so often, and his smile would get bigger every time he did so.” You reminisced, taking another sip of your sparkling wine.

 “That day, I stood there and watched them for over at least ten minutes, before I remembered that my grandmother needed help, and went over there to get them. I was a little scared that they were going to be mad. I interrupted their dance, but luckily they weren’t.”

Your smile was wide, but a bittersweet one, the memories of your parents before their demise weighing heavily upon you. The two of you were already standing pretty close, but he couldn't help but take another step towards, fully closing the gap between you. An idea suddenly spurred within him, swinging the last of his champagne, before placing it on the brick hedge wall not too far from you before placing his hand out.

“Dance with me, please?” His cheeks were bright pink, and he almost stuttered on the word “dance”, but still, he watched as your eyes widened, but still he saw that bittersweet smile turn genuine, before placing your glass down, before placing your gloved hand into his own. 

He cleared his throat, using his other hand to cover his mouth as he led you underneath the glowing LED lights, standing close enough to the fire so he could feel its radiating warmth, but not too close for him to consider it to be a hazard. His already pink cheeks deepened in color the moment he felt your hand slide up his chest, before resting right on his shoulder. His right hand slid around your waist, and then your two free hands intertwined, fingers locking together.

At first, it was all silent between the two of you, but the two of you were locked eyes, unable to look away from each other. He tried to keep his heart under control, but Kento knew he couldn’t the more he looked into your eyes, which steadily glowed with an emotion he couldn’t decipher. His heartbeat only quickened when you suddenly gave him a smile, before suddenly placing your head right on his chest, looking down. 

“Your heart is beating really fast, Kento,” you whispered, but he could still hear you loud and clear, “do I make you nervous?” you asked him, slightly breathless, looking back up at him, your head still lying against his chest. 

His heart jumped at the sudden eye contact, and he suddenly found his throat dry, but his body language did all the speaking for him, watching as a giggle left your lips. You shifted your head, now only resting your chin on his chest as you looked up at him, still swaying against the beat of the music. 

“I’m really glad I met you, Kento,” you mumbled, suddenly letting go of his hand, him watching as you slid the hand that rested on his shoulder around his waist, your other hand joining you. 

With a now free hand, tentatively, it joined his other hands at your waist, suddenly pulling the two of you closer. He could feel your bosom pressing up against him, as well as every breath you took. 

“I’m glad I met you too,” he spoke back, just as quietly as you.

And for a moment, he couldn’t take in anything but the two of you, as if you two were the only ones here. He couldn’t hear the music, he couldn't smell the faint burning wood of the bonfire, he could no longer feel the bite of Jack Frost’s winter brushing against his skin, nothing. All he could hear was your heartbeat, which was pacing as fast or maybe even faster than his own. All he could smell was you, the fairness of red currant, and cinnamon, radiant and decadent, all-consuming. All he could feel was heat, not from the bonfire, but from within, pulsating heat that spread throughout his body, heat that was controlled by every time you touched him, looked at him and even spoke to him. 

He took another look at you, his final confirmation for the budding feeling within him, the bud that grew into an almost blossoming rose, and in so little time as well. Well, who could blame him? As one of his hands suddenly reached up, caressing at your cheek, your eyes slowly widening yet, you snuggled into the warmth of his glove. Despite the barrier between you two, he could still feel it. Tentatively, he began to bring your face closer to him, with you slowly pressing yourself up on the tips of your toes. 

And then he felt it, the feeling of sticky pressure against his lips, and it felt like fireworks went off within him. Your hands slid into his short, blonde hair, keeping him in place as the kiss deepened. You tasted sweet, powdered sugar, pancakes, cinnamon, and fermented sweet grapes as well. While sweet, it was not the temporary taste of what you ate that urged him, that spurred him to continue to kiss you. It was your underlying essence underneath it that kept him wanting more of you. Slowly, he got addicted, his other hand leaving your waist, coming up to the other side of your face, keeping you right where he wanted you.

He almost crumbled at the sweet moan that left your lips, as it was readily swallowed by the kiss. Kento could feel his lungs screaming at him, yet he couldn't find any other reason to let go. However, his reprieve yet disappointment was met as he felt you slowly let go of his lips. The two of you were heavy with breath, heaving as the two of you stared at each other, both of your eyes glancing in between each other’s eyes and lips. 

“We…” he heard you start, your voice as breathless as his own, “we should…”

You could not continue your words, but yet, he felt your hand slide right on top of his own, which still rested on your waist, before guiding it down, making him rest on your bottom. He already guessed what you were talking about, and that action pushed him into further action. It was much like out of a fairytale, the way he held you close as he whisked you away. Before he knew it, he was entering the corridor of his inn, his temporary place of living much closer than the orchard. His hand fished for his key as he pulled you up to the sole elevator. The moment the doors closed, the two of you were right back onto each other like the way two perfectly fitted and formed puzzle pieces. 

“Kento,” you gasped, as you suddenly jumped, your dress crumpling up around your waist, as you wrapped your legs around his waist, holding you up with ease.

He pressed you up against the wall of the elevator, his lips almost immediately ravishing your own as the metal box slowly lifted up, taking you and him to the floor of his room. The bright light of the elevator allowed him to gaze upon your face fully. He watched the desperation, your desperation fully blooming on your face as you kissed him once again. Said desperation was shared between said kiss, his body, and your own moving in tandem. Your hips ground into him, against the erection that pressed up against his slacks. 

Then a ding interrupted him, before hearing the door rumbling. Quickly, he felt your legs drop down from his waist, but you intertwined your hands with him before he pulled you through the door, his steps quick and brisk as he led you down the hallway. The hallway lights were dimmed to accommodate those who were sleeping, the creme walls and with the dark brown wood lining up at the bottom, gave the inn a sterile feeling, but it didn’t matter. Turning a brisk right, his free hand digging into his pocket, before pulling out the key that led into his room. However, his excitement and his hands shaking suddenly caused him to drop it, just before he could put the key into the doorknob. 

He bent down, but before he could pick it up, your hand came around, slowly picking it up, and holding it in front of him. Taking steps, using your waist to bump him out the way over so slightly, before grabbing the doorknob, putting the key in, and slowly unlocking the door. The moment the door swung open, it was like he pounced upon you like a wild animal. His hands wrapped around you, a slight gasp in the form of his name leaving your mouth before sweet giggles followed as well. His foot kicked the door closed the moment he entered the dark room. 

He dropped you right on the bed, before climbing onto you, enveloping your lips into a new, electrifying kiss. Your arms and hands came up, wrapping around his neck and shoulders before pulling him closer. Kento cracked in between your legs, the tightness of his pants pressing up against your panties. He could feel the dampness against the fabric, as his hands slowly slid up your sides, feeling every single curve and crevice within your body. His thumbs pressed girls right on your pelvis, while your hands slid from his back, sliding underneath his jacket, before slowly pushing the heavy fabric off of him. For a moment, Kento let go of the kiss, heavy breaths echoing into the otherwise empty room. He allowed you to push the jacket fully off him, revealing his button-down shirt. His hands moved towards your own jacket, your back arching as he pulled the jacket off you as well, before throwing it into an obscure corner. 

 “Kento,” you gasped again, “is this… is this a bad idea?”

He leaned back down, feeling your hands slide up his chest, before resting on his shoulders. Your foreheads touched, and for a moment, the two of you said nothing, just staring into each other's eyes. A flurry of emotions within your eyes, most of them he could not decode, yet the one that he could was need, and desire. 

With nothing else in exchange, it was like the two of you made your realizations at the same time, jumping on each other at the same time. Kento’s hands grabbed at your waist, before pulling you up, sitting up on his bed, and placing you in his lap. Your hands ran over his wrinkled shirt, before your manicured fingers fumbled away at his buttons, slowly unbuttoning it while still locked into your kiss. A groan erupted from Kento’s throat as you pressed up against his clothed hard-on in a certain manner. It rumbled through him, and he could feel your body shake through the aftermath as well.

Your eyes drifted down at the sight in front of you, eyes fluttering, your mouth almost drooling at him. Although his shirt was only half down, you could see his muscles bulging from his shirt the moment you flung his jacket off of him. What… What were you doing? It had been long, too long since you’ve been this close with a man. Especially one that made you feel… as coveted as you felt with Kento. In so little time, you’d been wrapped within him, in every sense of the way. The moment you peeled back his shirt, seeing his chest and arm hair peeking from the shirt, it was like something fully awakened within you. 

Letting go of the kiss, your hands fumbling with his shirt, desperate to open it to its fullest. Your foreheads pressed against each other, heavy pants leaving your mouths as you felt his larger fingers pull at the stretchy material of your dress, feeling cool against your legs as he slowly pulled up the garment as best as he could. Before you knew it, you were in your bra and panties, while he was half-naked. Your hands then moved to his pants, fiddling at the belt, the metal clanking into the room. Once the zipper was down, Kento lifted himself up, helping you take his pants off before watching as you threw them across the room. 

He took you right back into his arms, before pressing the two of you right into the bed, wearing nothing but his boxers. You could feel his hard-on, pressing up against the thin fabric of boxers, aching to be released from its entrapment. Your hands fidgeting, you want to put them everywhere, his hair, on his face, you want to create crimson streaks against his back as he ground himself into you. Your legs were wrapped around his waist, and your moans were swallowed up once again by the kiss. The Kento above you was different from the one you’ve experienced, he was just as desperate as you, in fact, it was even more desperate than you. You could feel every needling emotion in his kisses. You wished to say that it was inexperienced deprivation but–

You let out a particularly loud moan, still muffled by the kiss,  as you felt his fingers press up against your clothed clit, his two fingers slowly rubbing circles against it, ever so carefully. Letting go of the kiss, watching his face as he stared down at you, his usually kind but tired eyes showing off that same depravity you felt within his kiss. His fingers continued to tease you, and you could feel just how soaked his fingers were becoming even with the fabric barrier. 

“Kento,” you let out a breathy moan, only watching him as his fingers hooked underneath the damp fabric. 

“So beautiful,” his breath was hot, as he let you go from the kiss, before feeling his lips beginning to press up against your cheek. 

As he began to trail down, you could feel his fingers pull the cloth aside, letting out a pant as cool air brushed up against your soaked cunt. Kento let go of your panties, before pressing two of his fingers in between your lips, slowly beginning to press circles within your pussy, his hands skilly sliding in between your folds and your clit. Your hands flew up, grabbing at his naked shoulders, feeling the hairs that grew out of his chest brush up against you as he slowly lowered himself with every kiss. His kisses felt as if they revered you, that familiar desperation only riling you up further. His kisses were now to your breasts, kisses in between the valley, still trapped within their confines. With his free hand, his hand slides behind you, feeling his fingers adeptly unhooking your black lace bra. The lingerie slowly fell from your shoulders, your hands reaching up as much as you could to allow him to take it off of you, also throwing it onto the floor. 

The moment his lips wrapped themselves around your nipple he also slipped two fingers inside of you. A loud gasp-like moan left your mouth, your back arching against the mattress. Your nails dug into his back, a hefty groan leaving his mouth, muffled by your breast. You could feel his tongue licking and sucking away at your nipple, while his fingers moved and out of you. It was delicious, how he finger-fucked you carefully. Receiving pleasure from two bouts of ways, an unrelenting euphoric sensation. You were soaked, hearing the wet smacking sounds echoing in the room, along with the sound of Kento’s sucking at your nipple.

“So– oh my god,” your voice cut through itself, feeling the pads of his fingers pressing up within you, right up against your spot. 

Your eyes were squeezed closed and yet, even with that, you could still feel the intensity of Kento’s eyes right on you. Soon enough, he let go, cool air breezing up against your wet nipple, before moving his attention to the second nipple. At the same time, a gargled moan left your lips as you felt his thumb press up against your clit once more, pushing up against it before rubbing even deeper circles against it. You could feel him groaning and humming against your breast, rumbles sending euphoric shockwaves within you. His thick fingers stretched you open, slipping in and out of your sopping pussy, your juices dripping all over his hand and your inner thighs. 

Slowly opening your eyes, suddenly feeling him let go of your second nipple, cold air hardening them even further. Bending your head down, feeling wet kisses against your wet skin as he trailed down from your breasts towards your stomach. Something within you began to jerk as he got close and closer to your cunt, your breath getting heftier as he pressed soft kisses up against your pelvis as he slowly pulled his drenched fingers out of your pussy. Lining them up with his lips, you watched as your tongue slipped out of his mouth, before licking up your slick, religion in the taste. 

You couldn't help the giggle that left your mouth, “ooh, so nasty,” you teased, sticking your own tongue out of your mouth. 

Kento glanced up at you, your playful smile widening as you saw his pink blush darken into a more vermillion red. Suddenly, you let out a shriek as you felt your body being dragged down, Kento suddenly dropping onto the floor of his room. Your legs were suddenly bent backward, another squeal leaving your mouth as you felt your body suddenly being bent in half, stretching almost past its limits. You glanced around, seeing your knees above you, and seeing the tips of Kento’s finger grabbing at the back of your thighs, pressing into you.

“Kento? What are you doi–” Your words were cut off by an immense pressure up against your clit and cunt. 

Your hands grabbed at the messy sheets and blankets underneath, trying to stabilize yourself as Kento’s wet muscle slipped in between your folds, and your clit as well. your body jerking underneath his actions, back arching up against the bed. Your moans echoed across the room, your head straining to look down at the way his head bobbed into between your legs. Kento licked and sucked away at you like a man deprived of all food, you could feel his lips suck away at your clit, before his tongue moved into your hole. It was like your moans and the wet smacks only spurred him on further. 

“Kento,” you moaned his name, toes curling while still in the air. 

You tried your best to grind against his face, but his grip on you but you still, all you could do was squirm while he ate away at you. Letting out a mixture of a breath and gasp as Kento slowly relaxed your body, letting your lower back slowly rest upon the bed once more. Through all of that, he didn’t let up, multitasking as he kneeled on the floor. With your back resisting on the bed once more, it gave you free rein to grind and buck your hips against his face, feeling the large tip of his nose bumping up against your clit,  inciting you even further. The long-familiar band of tightness begins to build within you. Your cries began to pitch, higher and higher, going up octaves as you felt a sense of convulsions beginning to overtake you. Kento did nothing, your actions not deterring him as he ravished you further and further. 

“So good, you’re so good, Kento– fuck!” you squealed as your hips bucked up into the air, against his face harsher than normal. 

“Fuck, I’m gonna–” you cut out, “I’m coming, fuck–” It was your only warning towards him as you let out prolonged cries.

With your last words, you felt the band that stretched within you snap, your back arching into the area as your juices spilled from your cunt. They would have hushed out for you, if not for the unsated man who placed himself in between your legs. He lapped away at your slick, a groan leaving his lips as he succumbed to your taste, your scent in full. 

Lifting your head up, watching as he slowly lifted his own from you, the two of you locking eyes. His lips and the surrounding area were wet, wet with your cum. With shaky hands and arms, you pushed yourself up, watching as he slowly crawled back up to the bed, back towards you. Like a predator, a high-strung predator, and is ready to catch its short-winded prey. At the same time, you began to crawl back, giving him just enough space to place his body up onto the bed once more. Kento soon towered over you, his hair damp with sweat, falling down in front of his face as his hands were at either side of you. 

For a moment, you two just watched each other. You could feel how much your heart raced at this moment, the organ beating even faster as Kenot lowered himself towards you, easing both you and himself into a soft kiss. Your hands came up around his face, caressing him and holding him in place once more. As you kissed you, you could feel Kento’s hands begin to move, to put things in place for the two of you. Not wanting to just lay here, you released his face, before moving your hands down his front, before messing with the thick, elastic band of his boxers. You could hear Kento’s breath hitch as you did so.

Glancing up at him, your eyes shining with concern, “Is this… is this okay?” your voice filled with trepidation because the last thing you wanted was to push him past his brink.

Kento looked down at you, before nodding his head, “it’s perfect, don’t worry.”

His hands were back onto the back of your knees, pushing your legs back as you pulled down the rest of his boxers, his dick springing out from its confines. You shuddered, squirming as his cock slapped up against your stomach, your eyes widening a little at the sheer size of it. However, you made it this far, and no matter what, you knew that you wanted this. With a burst of new confidence, you wrapped your hands around him, before guiding his angry, brown tip toward your cunt

“Fu–” your words cut out into a high-pitched, pain-filled moan as you slowly pressed him inside of you. 

Above you, you could hear Kento letting out sharp hisses and pants, his hips slowly moving, as if he was holding himself back. Your free hand reached out, grabbing his arm, gripping at it as you felt him stretching you out further and further. 

“Baby, baby wait, slow down, I don’t want to hurt you,” his voice was only a murmur, trembling at the way you stretched around him. 

Yet, you shook your head, wanting to take more of him, wanting all of him inside of you, inside of your pussy. However, Kento’s hands reached down grabbing your hand, guiding him inside of you, before pinning you up. His heavyweight and stretch only caused you to squirm, your body thrashing as you felt his hips slowly push in and out of you. 

“Kento–” Each movement left you out of breath, unable to speak anything but his name in those moments.

“I need you to relax for me,” he grunted, sweat dripping down from his forehead, “so fucking tight–” 

You took deep breaths, trying your best to relax, it had been so long for you since you’d had sex, it was basically like losing your virginity all over again. Kento soon bent down, a long moan escaping from your mouth as his action pushed further into you, yet you could feel his forehead pressing up against you.

“That’s it, baby, just relax, for me,” he continued, his voice low and calm. 

With a snap of his hips, and a gargled moan leaving your lips, everything within you just skyrocketed. A high-pitched moan left your mouth, and you could feel Kento beginning to pick up the pace. Your hands still pinned against the bed, could do nothing but watch him, your legs wrapping themselves around his waist, keeping him closer as he bucked into you. 

“Oh. Oh!” you let out, ecstasy rushing within your veins, feeling his fat tip press up against your spongy walls. 

“Doing so good for me, baby,” he mumbled, “taking me so fucking well too.”

Hearing Kento curse only caused your pleasure to skyrocket, a man as seemingly put-together as him slipping into dirty words. After a few moments, he let go of your hands, his own hands falling onto your waist, squeezing and holding onto his as his hips began to slam into you. A loud cry and your hands found themselves around his own waist, holding onto him as closely as possible. You writhed underneath him, your pussy sopping and drenching his cock, the wet smacks echoing into the room once more. 

“Fuck–” you whimpered, “harder, fuck me harder, Kento please–” you gasped, your eyes rolling to the back.

Your words urged him, and he let out a loud string of moans as he pummeled into you. More and more, deeper and deeper, you fell into him. Already, you fell for him, his strength, his calmness, like the calm oceans of tropical beaches, yet at this moment, he was a torrent, a tsunami, and you were ready for him to swallow you whole. All throughout, the familiar tight band, now expanded, began building within you once again. 

“Kento,” you stretched out his name, “I’m gonna come, I’m gonna come, fuck—” 

“You can let go, baby, don’t worry,” he whispered, his hands squeezing the fat and muscle around your waist. 

“Come for me.”

With his final command, you let out a shriek before feeling your cum spill out of you. Your nails dug into his back as your juices spilled all over you, on your inner thighs and even on your abdomen, as well as his dick, and stomach as well. The moment you came all over him, it was like his thrust became sporadic, thrusting within you aimlessly. His grunts and groans became louder and louder within your ear. Suddenly, he let out a lasting moan on his lips as you glanced down, seeing white cum spilling from his tips, landing right on your stomach. 

Nothing but the sounds of the two of you breathing, your neck straightening, resting right on his pillow once more. Slowly, you could feel the weight above moving off of you, opening your eyes to see a light in the corner of your eye.

Pushing yourself up, you looked at the light emitting from the bathroom connected to the inn room, seeing Kento’s shadow moving about within the bathroom. Suddenly, you heard water being turned on, out of a bathtub faucet, hitting against the porcelain. Slowly, you pushed yourself up, ignoring the icky feeling of Kento’s essence dripping down the front of your body. Approaching the bathroom, peeking into the cracked door, only to be met with steam slowly emitting from the bathroom door. 

You opened the crack a little more, only to jump at the creaking sound of the door. Watching as Kento turned his head, seeing you peeking through the door. He turned, in all his naked glory, before telling you to come in. Smiling, you walked in, your arms wrapped up around yourself as you walked up to the bathtub filled to the brim with hot water. Standing next to him, glancing at him as he prepared your hot bath to clean yourself from your activities. Titling your head, allowing yourself to lean against his arm. A moment passed… before feeling Kento’s arm lift up, the one you leaned on, before wrapping itself around your waist, pulling you closer, your smile widening. 

Once the tub was filled, Kento slowly led you inside the bathtub, allowing you to sit right on top of him as the two of you cleaned off the sweat and bodily fluids from your guys’ activities. With a sigh, you relaxed as you felt Kento’s large hands take a clean rag, before dragging it all over your body. 

You’ve never felt this… rejuvenated after a night of passion like this. As you glanced up at Kento's, whose focus was on making sure your body was cleaned up, you couldn't help but think about… what was to come for the future. Was this… was this only a one-time thing for him…? The seeds of doubt were already planted within your mind, after all, this man lived tens if not hundreds of miles away from you. He was here on business, and here you are, in his inn room… You took a deep breath, pressing your back into his front, feeling him place the bag onto the edge of the tub before tentatively wrapping his arms around your waist. 

For now… for however long, you’ll enjoy this, you’ll enjoy him… as Maki said, It’s not every day someone like him comes, you want him to experience everything.

Kento was a changed man. 

As he walked beside you, the day after, your hands barely grazed each other as you walked down the empty path. The town was quiet, recovering from the festivities from last night. He could see the lingering smoke from the bonfire as the workers continued to final parts of the cleanup. As the sun rose into the sky, reaching into the late morning, Kento woke up, hair an absolute mess, room scattered with both his and your clothes strewn everywhere, and with you wrapped around him, happily sleeping away. As he lay there, staring up at the ceiling, the memories of last night came at him in full force as well. He could feel every little movement you made while your soft snores sounded off throughout the room. How you curled into him. usually, sex… it was a chore, something that only caused him more stress than to relive it. Yesterday, it changed everything for him, a strong connection in so little time. 

He wanted more.

Originally, he was supposed to be meeting his client, the actual reason for him being in this town. Yet, the moment he met you, he almost completely forgot about that until he saw the notification appear at the top of his phone the moment he woke up. 

“Would you like a tour of the orchard?” Your voice suddenly cut in through the comfortable silence as you shimmied back into your clothes from last night. 

Kento blinked, before swiftly turning his head towards you, “really? A tour? What for?”

You shrugged your head, “maybe I just want to spend more time with you, or maybe I just want to.”

He looked over at you as you shimmied into your dress, as he began to turn around, something within him pulling, something tugging away at his heart. lifting his arms,  He wanted to go, something within pushed him to go, he wanted to walk side by side with you as you introduced him to everything you hold dear to your heart. He wished to see your smile in full force as he took a closer look at tall trees bearing the pomme fruit with you. However, the thoughts of his prior engagement came to him, he was a man of his word, and he knew the tour would cut into the time of his meeting, the reason why he was here. 

“Unfortunately,” he could see the light in your eyes slowly fade as you explained his impending meeting within the next hour and a half, and something within him died inside at the spur of your disappointment. 

However, a sudden buzzing within his hands caught his attention, he would have ignored it, but his eyes caught onto the notification, realizing that the notification was from the man he was holding the meeting with. 

R.H : Unfortunately, I won’t be able to make it to my meeting. Is it possible to reschedule?

Usually, this kind of thing would irritate him, anger him really. Kento had half a mind to kick this man to the curb and not bother with the possible investment. However, he took a glance over at you, the sun shining brightly behind your form, heat rising within him before looking back down at his phone.

This wasn't him, this was out of character for him, yet, everything lined up and clicked within his head. 

Kento: That's fine, we can meet up tomorrow at the same time.

With that, he shut his phone before facing you, “it seems my prior engagement needed to be rescheduled, and now I’m free for the day.” 

Your eyes widened, and your smile appeared on your face, “then… we should get going huh? Mr. Nanami?” you winked, teasing him with his last name

“I remembered telling you to call me Kento,” he stated.

The wind blew in between the leaves of the trees, carrying the smell of each apple as he continued down the path with you. His hands were in his pockets as the two of you engaged in conversation about the history of the Orchard. Kento could see it in your eyes, just how much you loved and cared for this place. You saw almost each and every tree being planted here, whether as a baby, teen, or adult. 

When the two of you arrived at the Orchard, you two were suddenly greeted by Yuuji, who still had his wide smile, even with bandages around his eye, padded with gauze, and Megumi, the black-spiky-haired boy who was in rage seeing Yuuji being hurt like that last night. Kento took a glance down at you, seeing your eyes shine with a multitude of emotions, confusion as to why they were here, happiness to even see them, and also sadness, especially when your eyes laid upon Yuuji’s impromptu injury. 

“Nanamin!” Yuuji waved at the two of you, while the boy, whose name Kento later learned was Megumi, only stood there, keeping his eyes on the two of you.

“Yuuji, you spelled and said his name wrong, there’s no ‘n’ at the end of his name,” you pointed out, crossing his arms.

“Eh?” Yuuji froze for a minute, Megumi calling him an “idiot” before softly tapping him on the back of his head. 

“Sorry! I must have misheard you!” Yuuji sheepishly apologized, a wavering smile on his face. 

Kenot held his hands up, shaking his head,, “no need.”

Megumi’s eyes shifted between the two of you, before focusing on the cart that Kento was holding for you. He insisted on pulling it while you walked to the Orchard. 

“What are the two of you doing here? I thought I sent you two and the rest home for the weekend! You’re not needed here,” you started, stepping closer to him.

“The rest of them went to the city, and we didn’t feel like going so we thought we’d come back here!” 

“He dragged me here, because he forgot that you gave us the weekend off. '' Megumi deadpanned, his arms crossed. 

Kento’s heart lifted at the dynamic between the two boys, watching as Yuuji sulked underneath Megumi’s words. He took a moment to glance at them as well, only seeing that same soft, faraway look and smile on your face as well. After a moment, the two of them looked over at the two of you again, glancing in between you.

“Say, since the Orchard is closed… Why is Nanamin even here?”

It seems Yuuji wouldn't let go of the misspelling, now using it as some kind of nickname for Kento. 

“Uuuuh,” you started, glancing over at Kento.

Megumi used that moment to take a closer look at you, glancing over at Kento, before his eyes widened, before a slight look of disdain appeared on his face, before taking a step back from the two of you. 

“...we ran into each other in town, and I wanted to give him a tour of the place, while he was here.”

He felt something impalpable jump within him the moment he felt your hands graze gains the roughness of his own. Kento saw you shaking your head, before pointing to the main house. 

“In the storage closet in the classroom, there’s a bunch of packages that Toge and Yuta were supposed to unpack, since you're here now, you can do that for them. After that, I don’t care what you do, just be safe when you’re doing it. I’ll add the extra overtime to your next checks.” The two boys nodded, with Yuuji giving you a salute before heading towards the back of the house where the packages were located. 

Kento gave the two boys a quick goodbye as well, when they disappeared behind the house, he followed right after you. Once inside the house, following you towards the kitchen once more, Kento spoke first. 

“They seem like really great kids,” he started, glancing over at you, seeing how much you smiled when you thought about your two employees.

“Yeah, they are. Everyone who works here is amazing… you know, Megumi used to live here too.”

His eyebrows worked as the image of the solemn, quiet boy appeared in his head, “really?”

You nodded your head, as the two of you reached the front door of the Main House, “yeah, his dad was the first employee ever hired here, and they needed a place to stay so my grandmother let them. They moved out when I returned from college,” you stated, swinging open the or after unlocking it. 

All around him, he smelled you all around, dissipated and deconcentrated, but it still smelled of you. 

“Sit down, and let me change my clothes, and then we’ll come and take the tour.

You pointed towards the couch, which he dutifully sat at before watching you go into the kitchen where he waited for you to change out of the clothes from yesterday. As he waited, he took a moment to look around the welcoming area further, leaning back against the couch and its cushions. The backlights that lit up the menu behind the desk were off, and the desk was empty, void of any life. All through the floors were dark cherry wood like the rest of the house, it was covered by a red carpet, mixed with other colors such as sandy beige and black, with different geometric shapes designed in thin it as well. He lifted his head, taking a glance at the walls, and remembered the copious amounts of books sitting on the shelves. Reaching out to the one closest to him, he grabbed one of the books. 

“Alice in wonderland…” he mumbled, taking a moment to flip through the worn and torn book. 

A few pages in he noticed scribbling handwriting within the margins of said book, seeing notes concerning how much this person disdained the Mad Hatter, your childish scribbles, seeing your name at the end of them. He smiled, as he thought of you, a little you, possibly reading this book, sitting on this very same couch. 

Suddenly, the sound of the door flying open took away his attention as he saw you walking through the doorway. Your hair was now all up in a high ponytail, and you were wearing a full brown velvet tracksuit, with your hands tucked in your pockets as you walked over to him. 

“What are you holding?” You asked, leaning over to read the title. 

“Originally, I was interested in the story, but I found the scribblings within the margins to be much more interesting.”

Standing closer to him, as he opened the book, your eyes widened as they landed on your rambles as a child. You let out a laugh, embarrassed as you reached out, gently taking the book from his hands.

“I had a lot of thoughts about this book,” is all you said, flipping through the book, before closing it. 

Closing the book, before placing it on the shelf, before turning towards him and clapping your hands together, “shall we? I want to get a few things from the kitchen, and I'll need your help.”

With no other words, your hands grazed together as you led him to the back of the house. Standing in the main kitchen, walking past the containers filled with pastries ready for the grand opening of your cafe. You told him to pick a few, to have while you take him on the tour. Kento had an idea that you don't usually do this, but he couldn't complain, not when the apple donuts and apple custard tarts were calling his name once again. Kento already accepted the possibility of him getting a cavity the more he spent time in this Orchard. 

He helped you wrap the pastries in pretty, red-checkered with little apples in between them parchment paper, before putting them in the basket. At first, you wanted to carry it, but he demanded that he carry the basket, not budging as the two of you used the back door, going down the steps to enter the grove of trees. 

That’s how the two of you found yourselves, deep into the trees, while you told him the history behind the Orchard while telling him what apple each tree around him grew. The fact that you knew, barely looking at the apples currently growing, and didn’t even look at the signs posted near them. As he stood in the midst of them he felt himself transformed, the wind blowing between the leaves reminding him similarly of his grandmother’s. A bitter smile appeared on his face, his eyes on the browning leaves that slowly dropped with the turning of the season. 

You lead him further and further into the orchard, the density in between trees getting tighter and tighter every step. The already-faraway sun getting further and further away, the trees soon began to cover whatever light that could seep in. However, ahead he could see some semblance of what seems to be a clearing. His eyes narrowed, unable to make out exactly what he was seeing until the two of you arrived at the entrance. 

It was like a little paradise, with a small pond, with its own little waterfall as well, he could see little fishes swimming within it as well. There were marble benches not too far from the pond, each one having its own intricate designs, each of them different from the other as well. However, what really caught his eye was the gazebo, which was a bit away from the pond, but not too far. His eyes then went to the trees surrounding the little pond clearing and noticed how different they were from the other apple trees. Then, he saw the familiar red-purplish fruit hanging off the leaves. He looked over at you, seeing you approach one of the trees, reaching up before taking one of the many pomegranates off the tree’s stems. 

“Take a seat, I don’t show this place off to just anyone!”

Blinking, he eyed the gazebo once more, before approaching it. Walking up the wooden steps, he took a seat at the sole table provided in the open area. He placed the basket before looking at the full detailing of the cabana. Flowers were hanging in the open arches of the gazebo, peonies, roses, and magnolia all mixed to create a beautiful floral flourish. Whoever built this has a good eye for design, he thought to himself, before shifting his focus to your body, his eyes catching the moment you jumped up to grab another pomegranate fruit. 

“Do you need help,” he couldn't help but call out, watching as you shook your head, jumping up one more time. 

With your last jump, you began to walk over to where he was sitting, four pomegranates in your hands as well. Smiling, you took the space right beside Kento, handing over two pomegranates. With a soft “thank you” he took them before pulling the basket of baked goodies in between the two of you. You took an apple custard tart while Kento unwrapped an apple cake donut, taking a tentative bite, quickly savoring the richness of the donut, mixing in with the sweet custard glaze. The conversation between the two of you was light, with Kento asking about what exactly this clearing was. 

“I had the project started the week after my grandmother died, it’s like an ode to her and all her work. She loved coming to this area basically to relax, ro get away from my granddad or my mother’s nagging about her pulling too much weight for her age,” your snicker was contagious, Kento’s own laughter following your own.

“A strong woman in her own right, huh?” Kento pitched in, taking another bite of his donut.

You nodded your head, “that she was,” you hummed, smiling for a short moment. 

Suddenly, you shook your head frantically, “I just realize I’ve been talking about myself this whole time! What about you, you know, I never got to ask about what business you had to deal with while in Aquirine.” 

He shrugged his shoulders, a grimace appearing on his face, “there’s nothing to say about me. I’m from the city, and I’m a financial executive at my job–”

“Financial executive, is that just a fancy way of saying you’re the CFO?”

He said nothing, but his silence already spoke enough for you, 

However, your words interjected into the budding silence, “CFO at a big company, that’s not “nothing”,  now is it?” your words held a bit of teasing to it, nudging his body with your elbow.

His grimace disappeared, a half-smile appearing at your words, “I mean for most people yeah, but I found the job… well it was all I could do, given what I studied in college.”

“But you’re young too, to be offered such a huge role in so little time, right?”

“I was offered the job right after I graduated, so you would be right,” in the five years after he graduated and had been the top executive at Gojo, he’d never really stop and think about how much of an achievement that was for other people. 

He’s never had to explain himself, the people who needed to know about his role at the company already knew about it. The investors all vetted each and every person Satoru picked to fulfill the executive board of the company. To talk about himself, that was a first for him to do so. All he’s had to do is do the work, go home, and repeat, every once in a while, answer a call from his father, who at the end of the three-minute call would ask him for some money. The next app he was on was his bank app, requesting another wire transfer, lest he wished for his father to bombard his phone like he would do so before. 

“I’m getting the sense that you don’t enjoy the job as much as you want to,” you spoke up, taking the last bite of your custard, and brushing the crumbs off your hands. 

He blinked, but before he could even say anything to your statement, something yellowish caught his eye, right by your lips. 

“Oh you have something on your…” he trailed off, using his hands to point out the stain on his own face.

Perking up, your tongue flicked out of your mouth, but it was too short to fully clean off the area. No thinking, Kento’s right hand flew up to your face, his thumb poking out and cleaning off the custard dollop staining your lovely face. The action had a gasp leaving your mouth, staring wide-eyed at him as he slowly tried to retract his hands, but your own hand stopped him, palm to knuckle as you let him fondle your cheek.

“Sorry, I didn’t mean to…” he started, feeling his face blooming with heat.

Kento felt like a little schoolboy, no longer repressed of all his emotions, was what this was? He’d never shown interest in someone throughout his formative years, nothing but his father’s words keeping him down within his books. The feeling of softness pulling him out of his memories, his brown eyes looking down to see your hands touching his, a napkin covering your hands, cleaning the custard off of his hands. He looked at your face, only a smile, indulgent in its nature, on your face. 

“It’s fine, Kento,” you said, “thank you for getting it off my face.”

It was a soothing silence, as Kento felt his body beginning to lean towards you. He watched as your eyes flitted between his eyes and his lips before your own lips fluttered open. Your lips were barely touching, but before the kiss between the two of you could continue, a loud shout suddenly cut the two of you off, catching both you and his direct attention. Your eyes widened at the same time, before the two of you leaped into action, running towards where the shout came from. As the two of you ran, more sounds began to echo and bounce against threes. Then, you heard it, clear as day. 

Yuuji’s voice, screaming at someone to “GET OFF HIM!”

Your heart sank, something within you knowing that the “him” Yuuji was talking about was Megumi, as he was the only one that was with Yuuji. Pushing through the trees, the two of you broke through daylight, finding commotion happening in front of you. You could see the familiar fluff of pink hair being held back by a grown man, Yuuji trying his best to fight out of the man’s hold. 

“Yuuji! Megumi!” You couldn't help but shout, your heart racing as you suddenly saw black spiky hair on the ground, covered in sand. 

However, a hand came up, and pushed you back, suddenly stopping you in your tracks. Looking up, you had no time to see Kento shrug off his jacket, telling you to wait here, before rushing towards the man holding Yuji and the other one stomping on Megumi’s. 

“Kento!” You couldn’t help but yell, watching as he easily subdued the two men with ease. 

Honestly, if you blinked, you could have missed it. He caught the one holding Yuuji by surprise, wrapping his bicep around the man's neck, before pulling him into a chokehold. The rise caused him to let Yuuji go, who immediately went towards the grown man stomping on Megumi. However, Kento easily knocked out the man in the chokehold, getting to the man before Yuuji could, and pushing him off of him. That man, who was more ready for Kento, threw a punch towards him, but it was too wide, Kento was able to easily dodge it, before sending one punch towards the man, the force causing his body to twist almost a whole 180 degrees before easily falling onto the floor. 

Immediately seeing how the danger was over, you rushed over to your boys, where Yuuji was holding up Megumi, whose eyes were fluttering but still attentive. Your heart dropped at the sight of blood dripping out of his mouth, as well as cuts dripping with blood all over his face.

“Are the two of you okay?” You knew the answer yet, your heart still needed to hear their verbal confirmation, a step for you to calm yourself down from the ordeal. 

“I’m… I’m fine, but Megumi–” Yuuji cut himself off as Megumi suddenly began to cough, and cough hard. 

Your eyes widened at the gargled saliva mixed in with blood, spat out onto the ground during his fit, and immediately pulled out your phone. 

“Yuuji, can you carry him to the clinic?! Please!”

Yuuji nodded, but before he could, two large hands came in between you, you and Yuuji watching as Kento came in, before easily carrying Megumi, placing him on his back. Your eyes glanced at where the men were lying, only to find them gone from their position, only to see their knocked-out bodies. Looking back at Kento, seeing how disheveled his smoothed-back hair was, he was no longer wearing his glasses on his face as well. His clothes were wrinkled, and his shirt nearly pulled out of its tucked position. 

“Yuuji, if you don’t mind, can you just tell me where the clinic is? I would hate to leave her all alone before the police can get here.”

Yuuji blinked for a moment, before slowly nodding his head, telling him where Kento could find the clinic. With no other words, he began making his way down the road, Yuuji and yourself watching him. With nothing else, hoping Kento could get here in time, you dialed the Sheriff's number, knowing it by heart. The phone rang for only a short moment, before the line picked up, and the female operator spoke. Quickly as you could, you relayed to the operator what happened, and she said that officers would be there as soon as possible. You also told them about Kento, telling them he was taking Megumi and may need some help to get him there.

Before you knew it, three police cars pulled up at the front of your home, and the Sheriff included all surrounding the front entrance of the Orchard. Immediately, the two of you pointed to the knocked-out men, who were beginning to wake up. Quickly the two of them were arrested. For a moment, they had to separate Yuuji and yourself as they took your statements, each relaying exactly what happened as the two of you remembered it, Yuuji’s account was more needed because he saw everything that happened, while you only saw the aftermath. The two of you were stuck in the cold for a long time, talking and watching as the officers and the long crime scene unit within town took note of everything that happened, pictures, blood samples. 

Before you knew it, both you and Yuuji had been outside for hours, seeing the sun beginning to go down just as another police car began to pull up. Not even bothering to wait before the car fully stopped, blond hair exited out from the front, Kento making his way over to the two of you. The sudden sight of him overwhelmed you, your knees buckling after everything. Quickly, he rushed over to you, catching you with the help of Yuuji as well. 

“Megumi?” was the first thing you said to him, as the three of you began to make your way towards the house. 

“He’s fine, the doctor said he’ll be fine, I left as soon as his father arrived. I didn’t want to leave him alone.”

You could only nod your head, Kento’s words providing you with a bit of consolation. Your thoughts flew to Toji, how it would feel for him to see his only child lying in a clinic bed.  Knowing Toji, it’s only a matter of time before he finds out exactly who caused this incident… 

Incident… as the three of you took your seats on the couch in the welcome area, ignoring the officers that would walk past the three of you. Your mind now begins to clear up, the fog of the events slowly dissipating as you slowly relax in the depths of your home. Now, you were able to think, with the confirmation that both Yuuji and Megumi are safe. The events of three days ago suddenly came into your mind. That day, when you and Toji both agreed that your uncle was planning something and that things were not over yet. It had been only three days ago, and now your employees are being jumped. Anger spurred within you, but no surprise, as you knew your uncle was exactly the type of person to send goons to beat up your…

Suddenly, another thought came to your mind, a thought that was much more grime and alarming. 

The Orchard was closed, specifically for the holiday. Everyone in town knew that Yuuji and Megumi, as well as none of your employees, were ever supposed to be here. The only person that was supposed to be here was you because you LIVE here. 

If Megumi and Yuuji weren’t here… hell if Kento wasn’t here…

Your heart began to beat rapidly, your breathing becoming slowly unsteady the more and more you thought about it. Too unsteady, as it suddenly caught the attention of the two men sitting right next to you. 

“Boss?” Yuuji called out to you, his hands coming up to your arms, “are you okay?!”

A large hand came up to your face, the feeling of rough skin and gauze wrapped around knuckles pressing against your skin. Slowly, your face turned towards brown eyes, “breathe…”

Kento’s voice was the embodiment of calm, the lull of his voice slowly guiding you out of your budding panic attack. Taking a deep breath, you could feel the hot tears trailing down your cheeks, but it was all you could do not to break down into short breaths and sobs. Kento guided you as well, taking deep breaths with you to help. Soon, your tears slowed, and your breathing stabilized once again, at least enough for you to open your mouth. 

“I…” you began, “I think they were here for me…” you revealed to the two of them.

Your eyes flickered in between them, gauging their reactions. Yuuji, bless his heart, took a little minute to understand what you meant. But, looking over at Kento’s, who’s eyes slightly widened in alarm, knew exactly what you meant.

“The Orchard is closed, and you were the only person that was supposed to be here, if everything went as normal,” he couldn't hold back the unease in his voice, his hands coming up and slowly rubbing heat into your arms.

Yuuji’s own face turned into one of horror, his hand coming up, brushing away his hair that fell in front of your face. A tense, and unnerved science fell between the three of you, with Kenoto’s hand falling from your face to your shoulders, pulling you in close. The smell of cool citrus and sage calmed you just a bit, your hands coming up, pressing them against his front, snuggling further into his hold. However, before either of you could speak, the door flew open, the three of you jumping before going to see the sudden uproar. Heavy stomps came towards the three of you, before eyeing familiar shaggy black hair and a scar on the side of his lips. Your body went at ease as Toji came closer to you, concern shining in his eyes. 

“Hey, are you okay?” He checked on you, Toji’s eyes solely on you as he pulled you out of Kento’s hold, his eyes scanning over you. 

“I’m fine, I’m fine,” you assured him as best as you could, “you should be with Megumi, he’s the one who actually got hurt.”

“The brat’s fine, made me leave to check on you, the smoker’s with him.” He grumbled, rolling his eyes, but his hands slowly let go. 

Still, you watched as he looked over at Yuuji, making sure that he was okay as well before finally realizing that the two of you were not alone. Kento, realizing that Toji was looking at him, stood up as well. 

“Listen, I never got to thank you for taking my son to the clinic,” Toji murmured, taking a step toward Kento, before holding his hand out. 

Your eyes darted between Kento and Toji, watching in silence as Kento, apprehensive, stuck out his own hand before shaking it as well. The shake went on for a bit too long, both you and Yuuji glancing at each other for a moment before looking at the two men once again. Toji soon enough pulled his hand away, tucking it into his pocket. 

“So, have they figured out who did this?” Toji turned and faced you, “when I got here, the cops were still outside looking over things.”

You sighed, falling right back onto the couch, exasperated, pushing your braids out of your roll, “No nothing yet, but I doubt they’ll find anything right now.”

Yet, as the two of you locked eyes, you knew exactly would be able to do something like this. Your uncle’s grimy smile flashed in your head, remembering how he was surrounded by his goons while on your property. Slowly opening your eyes, staring up at your chandelier ceiling. 

The sound of the door swinging open caught your attention again, this time seeing the Sheriff, Yaga, coming through the door and walking over to you. Immediately, you got up, the rest of the men following as he relayed the situation to you.

“Some of the men took the perpetrators down to the station, but they’re not talking without a lawyer. We’re gonna go ahead and charge them with trespassing, assault and battery and wait for their lawyer to arrive,” Yaga said, adjusting his belt. 

Your body slumped slightly, but you nodded your head, “okay… you think the charges will stick?”

“Most likely yes, it’s very cut and dry and you have security cameras out there so we’ll be needing those too. We’ll also be increasing patrols down this road for the next few days.”

You confirmed that you’d give him the tapes, and after a few more words exchanged, you decided to drop them off first thing tomorrow morning, and with that, he left your home, hearing him walk down the steps and path and eventually driving away. It was all silent in the house once more, with you going back to the couch and slumping into the decorative pillows and upholstery. 

“This is…” you said nothing else, letting out a hefty breath of air.

Suddenly, you heard a beep, glancing over at Toji pulling out his phone and looking at it. 

“Smoker says Megumi fell asleep, and that everything still looks good with him.”

Suddenly, Yuuji stood up, exclaiming, “I need to go be with him!” 

Toji held his hand up, “hold it Pinky, lemme take you, Megumi will kill me if I let you go by yourself. Need to head back there anyways, talk about treatment plans and what not.”

Toji then eyed Kento, before looking over at you, “you trust him?” He pointed at Kento. 

You blinked, glancing over at Kento before looking over Toji, confusion shining in your eyes, but slowly nodding your head. Toji let out a breath of what seemed to be slight relief before turning towards Kento. 

 “Stay with her tonight, Blondie? Don’t want her to be alone until we learn all the details. All we know, they could send more goons.”

Your eyes widened, “wait, Kento you don't need to stay–” but Kento shook his head at your words, before looking over at Toji, nodding his head.

“Never planned to leave in the first place.”

Your eyes widened, looking over at Kento, while Toji nodded, before facing Yuuji and jerking his head towards the door. With no other words exchanged, Yuuji gave you a deep and long hug, taking a deep breath, letting go, and saying that he’ll be back tomorrow before leaving with Toji to go and be with Megumi. Yuuji waved goodbye to Kento, who waved back before walking side by side with Toji. The two of them soon walked out, silence following as well, before hearing Toji’s truck rumble before pulling out into the road. 

Now it was just you and Kento, sitting in the dimmed room.

“I’m sorry,” the words fumbled out of your mouth before thinking about them fully. 

You felt Kento turn towards you, his eyes boring holes into you, “why would you think you need to apologize? This wasn’t your fault. No one could have guessed this would happen.”

Tears began to well in your eyes, despair beginning to take hold of you. Everything came falling down on you, your uncle’s arrival, the incident today, and everything your own flesh and blood has tried to do to get your Orchard for himself. Your body began to shake, your hands coming up to cover your face as sobs began to heave from your body. Immediately, you felt arms and hands around you, Kento’s warm body wrapping itself around you. The room echoed your cries and shouts, but at the same time, you could hear Kento’s soft words, trying his best to comfort you. It felt like an eternity as the two of you sat there.

Kento soon felt you beginning to quiet down, glancing down at you, only to find your eyes shut, face still streaked with salty tears. Your eyelashes glisten underneath the low light as well. He heard soft snores coming for you, your body breathing in and out slowly. He sat there, holding you and watching your face soften, no longer scrunched up from the magnitude of stress you were under. Your nose slightly opens every time you breathe out, your chest rising with every breath you take. The moment he shifted his body, you would react, an incoherent mumble leaving your mouth as you snuggled into his hold. Your hands reach out and grab at the wrinkled fabric of his shirt. 

His heart jumped, before beginning to beat really fast. However, he knew it wasn't safe for you to stay asleep in his arms, so slowly he got up, carefully not to wake you. For a moment, he did not know where to go, glancing around the room, trying to see where exactly the stairs were that would give him access to the second floor. With grace, he walked through the back door, entering the kitchen of the bakery and gift shop, before seeing a wooden door at the back of the white room, looking very out of place. Walking towards it, using one hand to hold while reaching out the door, only to find the doorknob barely moving, the door locked. 

He cursed underneath his breath, before the memory of your keys, which he remembered being in your pockets. Kento fished them out, and he stood there for a few moments, going through each key before a brown, rustic one easily entered the slot, testing it and the door slowly creaked open. Kento was now faced with a dark stairway, with another door at the end of it. He then closed the door behind him, before making his way up. The steps were creaky, and with no light, he had to take slow and cautionary steps until he felt the point of his shoes pressing up against a wall, well a door. He reached down, and luckily this door was unlocked, before pushing it open. 

In it, he was transported to a whole new area, a place where it looked like someone was living. The walls were painted white and he could see different green plants, potted and placed in different areas of the living room. Ahead of him, he could see stairs, light brown colored ones with space missing in between them. It looked completely different from the vintage coziness downstairs, more modern, but the hay-weaved decorations and the plants, as well as the clean walls, gave its own version of coziness as well. 

Kento kicked his shoes off, placing them at the door, before going up the stairs. Upstairs looked like a normal hallway, eyeing the closed white doors, before his eyes caught onto silver. At the end of the hallway, his eyes caught onto a door with silver butterflies all traveling in a curve on the door, as well as gold entails decorated the outer parts of the door as well. He couldn't help it smile, it was so very you, in the little time he’d gotten to know you. 

Quietly, he approached the door, slowly turning the doorknob, and pushing the door. Kento entered into a smaller space, of what seemed to be an office, a cozy, intimate one. The desk was white, and you had both a desktop and a laptop on it. There were stacked books around it as well, and flowers within an old vase. Walking past your desk towards the pried door, where he could see a semblance of a bed. In your actual bedroom, the space was much bigger, your bed pressed up against the far right of the wall. You had a huge shelf, four rows, and each either had a stack of books, framed photos, or potted plants with huge, thick leaves dangling in the air. 

Approaching your bed, Kento bent over, slowly relaxing his hold on you, allowing you to slide easily into the comfort of your sheets. However, your grip on him was tight, despite your unconscious want to be in the familiar depths and redolence within your bed. With a little more force, he pried your hands off his shoulders, placing you inside your comforter before pulling the heavy blanket over you. 

He took a few steps from you, his aim to quietly leave you to get your rest after today’s stressful events. However, as he walked, something on your shelf caught his eye, and he stopped mid-step as his eyes widened. The picture was obviously a few years ago, with a slightly-younger you smiling in the image. However, standing in front of you was Megumi, who was even younger-looking, not looking a day over ten years old. He wasn’t smiling, which seemed to be a norm for the teenager, but his cheeks were pink, looking away from the camera like he was embarrassed.

And standing beside you, was Megumi’s father, whose name he learned was Toji, his arm wrapped tightly around you, look, a loving look in his eye as he stared right at you, while he looked at the camera. But that wasn’t what caught Kento’s attention, no. What caught his attention was the still-in-motion kiss that he was placing on your cheek. Your smile was wide, in fact, you looked like you were giggling in the photo as well. 

The memories of how Toji rushed to your side came flooding back to him, how he pulled you towards him, the exasperation on his face. Kento felt something within him break as he looked over the photo. 

Who was he kidding? Of course you and Megumi’ father had passed, after mentioning that he was the only other non-family employee to live here. That his son used to live here as well. To get his hopes up like that… he thought back to the night the two of you spent together… He didn’t even know what got into him? To get his hopes up? For a woman he met a mere three days ago?

He was hanging around Satoru too much, to be able to dream like that. 

Quietly, he placed the frame back down onto the shelf, before making his way out of the room. He closed the door with silence, before stepping right back into your living room. Kento eyed the couch, seeing the blanket resting on it, before sighing. No matter what, he knew it would never sit right in his heart if he left you all alone, after an attack like that. He walked over to your couch, swinging his feet onto the softness, before pulling the blanket as much as he could over his body. 

It was like it all came crashing down on him the moment he rested his head on one of your couch pillows. Like a weight double, his own pressed up against him, closing his eyes before falling into a deep, dreamless sleep. 

The sound of sizzling was the first thing that woke him up.  The next was the sound of soft humming as well. A hoarse groan left his throat, as Kento slowly pried his eyes open, only to be hit with the smell of sizzling bacon as his senses slowly woke up with him. The moment he tried to move his limbs, only to be hit with a dull ache and pains, causing a pained groan to leave his lips. The sound of hums suddenly stopped, the sounds of metal clanging against something before soft steps began to make their way over to his body on the couch. 

He could see something suddenly standing over him, his eyes narrowing as he tried to blink out the sudden swell of liquid in his eyes. Once he did, he could see you, now well-rested and standing over him. 

“You’re awake, you know, you could have stayed in one of the guest rooms,” you said, taking a few steps towards him. 

Slowly, despite his aching limbs, he pushed himself up out of his sleep position, pulling the blanket off of him, “I didn’t want to intrude more than I already had, but I didn’t want to leave you alone.”

“Well, atleast go take a shower, sleeping on the couch couldn't have been good for your back. Some hot water will do you some good, middle door to the left of the hallway.” You instructed him, pointing towards the one hallway within this apartment-style home.

He blinked at you, watching your hands resting on your hips. You were no longer wearing the clothes from yesterday. Rather, your hair was wrapped in a beautiful, shining, purple silk scarf while you were wearing a huge black t-shirt, and thick, cotton shorts. Quickly, his eyes averted from your bare legs, ignoring the sudden skip of his heart, before nodding, not saying a word as he got up, his body easily towering over you before making his way to the hallway. He could feel your eyes on him as he made it to the bathroom, slowly opening the door. The bathroom was small and quaint, but obviously maximized the little space it was given. To his right, a little washer and dryer was there, where you most likely did your own personal laundry. It was smaller than he expected. Ahead he could see a shower behind some glass doors, slowly stepping inside before closing the door behind him. Slowly, he began to strip off his clothes, folding them as he went, and placing them on the sink as well. On that same sink, he could see a rectangular box of unopened soap, as well as a wash rag sitting neatly on top of it as well as a note from you. 

For you, Kento ♡

He picked it up, a smile on his face, some of his tension smoothing away as he placed the note to the side, before grabbing the soap and rag. Now naked, grimacing at the way his back ached when he stretched his arms up. You were right, the couch was not good for his back. Reaching for the water switch, the appliance was easy for him to understand as he waited for the water to reach a perfect warm temperature. The moment he felt slight steam billowing from the surface of the pouring water, he stepped in, holding back deep groans as the hot water began to soothe his pain. As he pressed the rag onto itself, spreading the water all throughout the cotton cloth, before rubbing the soap. His mind faded, going over every event that brought him into your home. Meeting you in the Square, following you home, watching you as you gave him your own personal tour, showing him a special palace close to your heart. The men beating up Yuuji and Megumi, the realization that those men could have been coming for you. Your grueling sobs. 

His heart clenched as the memories of your painful cries came back, how he held you until your sobs eventually turned into soft snores, your body giving up on you underneath the amount of stress you were under. How he carried you to your room, and how, 

The flash of the picture frame came back to him, of you, young Megumi, and Toji.

Slowly, he stopped washing himself as he thought back to it, despite his efforts to try and stop thinking about it. It was none of his business after all, if anything, he was the outsider, the two of you had known each other for years. He had… he had no business speculating on what was going on between the two of you. 

So then, he thought to himself, as he continued to pull the lathered cloth up and down his body, did his heart feel like this?

Once fully washed, he rinsed the soap off his body, making sure he got every nook and cranny of his body before slowly turning the water off. Slowly opening the glass door, he reached out for the towel that you left for him, drying himself off while still standing in the shower. Once mostly dry, he wrapped the towel around his waist before looking around. The only clothes he could see were his own, and he didn’t feel like wearing his stiff dress shirt once again. 

As he was thinking, a knock came to the door,  before hearing your soft, muffled voice coming from the other side, “Kento, is everything okay?”

Blinking, before he knew it, he was already on the other side of the small bathroom, reaching towards the door knob. Pulling it open, the two of you locked eyes, watching as yours widened at the sight of him. 

“Do you have any spare clothes I can borrow?” He asked, not fully gauging how you suddenly froze at the sight of him. 

Blinking, now realizing you weren't saying anything for a moment, calling out your name before waving his hand in front of your face. The sudden movement must have broken you out of the sudden trance. Suddenly, he found that your eyes were averting his own, as you asked him to repeat what he asked. Kento’s eyebrows quivered, but didn’t want to ask what was wrong with you, only repeated his question. He saw how you nodded quickly, before scurrying away towards your room, watching the door suddenly shut close behind you. 

He glanced around, before slowly stepping back inside the bathroom, not wanting the steam to billow and heat up the hallway on accident. He waited for a few moments, before taking a moment to glance at himself in the mirror, seeing his naked chest, how the water glistened against the hairs of his chest, arms, and abdomen. He continued to stare at himself, suddenly realizing exactly what made you freeze up right in front of him. However, despite that, he could feel a slight elation that he even made you feel that way.

Big, that was your first thought, your heart skipping two beats per second as you slammed your bedroom door behind you. Heavy breathing echoed through the room as you pressed a hand against your skin, the contrast between your cold hands and the heat bubbling underneath your deep skin.

He was so big… you knew this about him or had some idea of it, but his body was covered in the blanket of that night. Squeaking, covering your mouth at just how much you enjoyed looking at him. The water pearls dripping from his body, his wet hair sticking onto his face… Squealing, you smacked yourself in the face once again, before taking even more deep breaths, trying to calm yourself as much as you could. Removing your hands, you moved towards your closet, where your father’s old clothes were stored. Shifting through the chest you had placed them in when you renovated their room, you fished out a huge red plaid shirt, as well as a pair of sweatpants. You placed the folded clothes in your arms neatly before closing the trunk and making your way out of the room. 

The moment you stepped out of the room, your heart kicked up again. You took slow steps towards the bathroom before giving a couple knocks on the door. It was all silent, no response for a few seconds too long.

“Ken… Kento, I have some clothes here for you…” you started, only for your voice to trail off as the door opened slightly, a huge hand coming out from the crack.

“Thank you,” he said while behind the door. 

Blinking, you slowly put the clothes in his hands, watching as he took them before slowly closing the door behind him. You stood there a moment, a budding hope within you dashing when you only saw his arm coming out for the bathroom once more. Shaking your head, you turned around, going towards your kitchen to finish the last of the breakfast you were making for the two of you. On your neatly made dining table, you had a stack of pancakes on two different plates, your usual one, a pink heart-shaped plate that Nobara got you for your birthday, and getting out a handmade plate you made while at a pottery class in the city. You stacked three pancakes each, before getting the matching mini plate to Nanami’s before putting scrambled eggs, bacon, and turkey sausage on it as well. The smell of coffee still sitting in your coffee machine mixed in with the smell of breakfast as well. On the table, you had pitchers of orange juice, apple juice, and water as well. 

Suddenly, you heard something behind beginning to creak, turning your head as a tall figure escaped from your bathroom. You watched as Kento entered your living room, now fully clothed. Luckily, the shirt fit him perfectly, too perfectly, raced through your mind as quickly as it left. Swiftly, you turned your head before facing the small feast you made.

“Come, come,” you beckoned him, gesturing to his seat. 

With no words, he walked over to you, before taking his seat at the dining table. You could see him eyeing everything that you’ve made. 

“You didn’t have to make all this for me,” he said, watching as you placed two plastic pitchers of syrup, maple brown sugar syrup, and apple brown sugar cinnamon syrup on the table as well.

“I wanted to, to thank you for yesterday,” you smiled, taking your seat right beside him at the circular table. 

“There’s no need to thank me for that,” his tone held slight confusion as if he really couldn't comprehend why you would thank him for this. 

“But there is, Kento. Don’t worry about it, just eat, please? For me?” You smiled at him, picking up your fork. 

You waited for him to pick up his fork and knife, seeing him quietly say thanks to the food before beginning to dig in the food. At first, it was all quiet, but your eyes were on Kento as he took a bite out of his sliced pancake, after he poured the maple syrup onto it. You watched as his eyes lit up, before he took a bigger slice of teh pancake, drenched in syrup and butter before eating it in one go as well. You then focused on your food, a quiet yet warm silence between the two of you, the two of you preferred not to speak while you ate your breakfast. The sounds of knives grating into the plate and the muffled sounds of chewing were all you could hear as you ate your pancakes and eggs.

However, as breakfast began to disappear, conversation picked up between the two of you, no longer wishing for the silence between the two of you. Giving him a hypothetical question, (would you rather travel to the future, or to the past?) The two of you argued your own points, with you wanting to go to the future while he wished to go to the past. As the conversation continued, the two had long finished your breakfast, with you getting up and wanting to clean up, but Kento made you sit down, taking your plate. You watched, a smile curling on your face as Kento washed your plates and cups with ease. However, not wanting to stay stagnant, you cleaned up the syrup and pitchers of juice you had, placing them back in your fridge. When everything from breakfast was clean, the two of you approached your couch, wanting to relax. 

“Okay, but if you go back to the past, you’re just seeing things you’ve already seen, even if you wanna change it. I think going to the future to see what you become is much better,” you argued, sitting down on the couch. 

Kento opened his mouth, about to argue back, when all of sudden, a ping caught both your and his attention. Putting your water bottle down, you patted yourself down for your phone before remembering that you left it in your room, looking back at Nanami as he pulled his phone out of the sweatpants pocket. You watched as his eyebrows furrowed down, squirting at whatever popped up on his phone. 

“Everything okay, Kento?” you asked him, taking a sip of your water bottle.

After a beat, he nodded his head, his thumb tapping away at the screen, “The person I'm supposed to be meeting with just messaged me. Saying “he’s excited about the meeting and hopes I’m ready for the offer he’s about to make me.”

Right. The meeting. The whole reason he was here in this small town, to begin with. Yesterday, he was supposed to meet up with this mystery person but they rescheduled the meeting, which allowed Kento to follow you to the Orchard, giving him a personal tour of everything. 

You hummed, glancing between him and his phone, “do you… do you know what kind of offer this person is about to make you? You don’t have to tell me, either.”

Kento shook his head, “it’s fine, because I don’t even know what it’s about. I wouldn’t be here if it wasn’t for my boss.”

“Your boss? What, did he send you on a wild goose chase?”

“It wouldn’t be the first time,” Kento grumbled, looking away with a grimace on his face.

The look caused you to giggle, covering your head with your face. He heard the sound, looking over at you. However, after laughing, and thinking about Kento’s meeting situation, something within you rang off, confusion striking you for a bit. 

“Wait, so then why did you have to meet him? And not someone under you or even your boss? This is his idea, after all?” 

Kento sighed, placing his large hand against his forehead, “I don’t know why he does half the shit he does, but to answer your question, I was doing business in the city nearby, and he asked me to go and see if this was something to look into more.”

“Ohhh,” you stretched out, taking another sip of water, “so you were just convenient.”

You suppressed your smile as he froze midst taking a sip of his own water bottle, his eyes shifting over to look at you. After a beat of silence, you couldn't hold back your laughter, throwing your head back at the way he reacted to your words. 

“I’m…” laughter, “oh I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to offend you,” you tried to speak, but your laughter obviously gave away your true feelings. 

He didn’t say anything, but instead a small appeared at the sound of your laughter as he took another sip of shi water. 

“It’s fine, I’m thinking of rescheduling again after everything that happened yesterday–” he started but you cut in, your back straightening up in alarm

“Oh no, don't do that! I’ll be fine,” you said, shaking your head at him, “there’s no need to reschedule! Go to your meeting! It’s the reason you came here in the first place, right?”

He looked over at you, “but to leave you all alone after everything–” but once again, you cut in

“I’ll be fine, Yaga increased patrols around here and I’m sure no one will try anything for the time you’re gone. My other kids should be back from their trip to the city and when they hear about this, I’m sure they’ll come rushing over.” You assured him. 

Kento’s face twisted, tucking his phone into his pocket, “Are you sure?”

You nodded your head, getting up, before reaching for him, “it’s fine, it’s fine,” you reiterated. 

As you began to push him at the door, he suddenly stopped, almost knocking you over. He turned to look at you, watching as you stood up from nearly falling onto the wooden floor. 

“At least give me your number, so I know you can reach me.”

Your eyes widened when he said that, watching as his eyes intensified. Heart kicked up, and your throat went dry, you nodded your head, before telling him to wait here. Scurrying away like a little cute mouse, you swiped your phone off of your bed before going toward him once again. The two of you exchanged numbers, and Kento reiterated that you should call him if anything happens. With your final confirmation, he grabbed his bag of clothes, and the two of you made your way down the stairs of your apartment into the huge bakery kitchen, to the front of the house. 

“Thank you again, for everything Kento,” your words were soft as you looked up at him. 

The afternoon frost was nipping at your skin but didn't bother either of you as he stood amid the doorway.

“Like I said, there was no need to thank me, I’m just glad to have been there. Who knows what could have happened to you,” his hand came up, pushing the lone braid in your face away, allowing him to see your gorgeous smile. 

Looking up at him, an inexplicable amount of courage suddenly crushed through you. Reaching up to the tips of your toes, your lips suddenly pressed themselves against his cheek, leaving a soft and slightly long kiss on them. Your heart was beating in between your ears, and nervous heat was erupting underneath your skin, but you didn’t regret it, watching as Kento’s eyes widened at the sudden smooch placed on his face. You could see pink surging all across his face as he turned to look over at you. 

“That’s for good luck, with your meeting as well,” you said, leaning against the open door, one hand on the doorknob. 

“Tha… thank you,” is all he could say before turning around, taking the few stairs down for the front of your porch.

You watched with a smile on your face as he walked away, waiting until he was a bit way down the road, before closing the door behind you. The moment the door closed, a loud sequel flew out of your mouth, your back hitting the door. Covering your face as you slowly, slide down, 

“Why did I do that?!” you screamed at yourself, your body twisting in turning under an amalgamation of nervousness and embarrassment.

“Please stop,” Megumi deadpanned, pushing you away as much as he could while you took a wet rag to his face, cleaning off all the grime on his face. 

“Well, I can’t just leave you looking like that,” you exclaimed, taking a seat beside his hospital bed. 

 Thirty minutes after Kento left, you decided to go and visit Megumi while at the clinic. In your hands held a basket of treats, including two slices of apple-rum cake, Megumi’s favorite dessert. Yuuji and Nobara were sitting on the other side, leaning onto the bed as they indulged in the apple tarts that you brought along as well. 

“I hear that a certain someone came here with treats,” a voice called out, as the door slammed open. 

You turned around, smiling as your eyes landed on a familiar figure. Iori walked in, a smile on her face as she faced you. Squealing, you stood up before wrapping your arms around her, sighing as she hugged you back, the two of you rocking. Utahime’s business kept her out of town a lot, so it wasn’t often you would get to see her. 

“How long are you back in town! I didn’t even know you came back?!” Exclaimed, guiding her to the empty chair that Ieiri suddenly brought for her. 

“You knew I couldn’t miss the cafe opening for the world! I wanted to tell you yesterday, but I heard what happened?!” Her face took on one of concern, her hand racing out towards your hand as she turned her eyes glancing over at Megumi before looking at you once again. 

Your wide smile lessened a bit, “yeah, but everyone’s okay, I’m just glad no one seriously hurt.”

“But sending goons, to do god knows what? It’s all too much,” she said, crossing her arms. 

You shook your head, sighing, “yeah, but all we can do is move on, hopefully the cops can find out that he’s even connected to this. However, I know him, and he’s somehow gonna get out of it.”

Utahime tutted, shaking her one more time, but then, her downturned face suddenly lifted, her red lips turning into a smirk, her eyes moving onto you. Seeing her expression, your eyes furrow down in confusion. 

“...what?” you couldn't help but ask.

“...I heard a little rumor that you were shacking up with a random blond man, you wanna… go into detail about that?”

Your eyes widened, and your heart raced, pumping up, as you looked away from him, suppressing your smile, “... no… I don’t know what you talking about,” you fibbed, twirling with one of your braids, looking everywhere but at her.

She shook her head, “uuh-uh, nope, you don’t get to hide from me, little one! Who is he, what’s his name, and occupation, and where did you even meet him?”

You weren't going to say anything, but Yuuji, oh bless his heart, decided to drop in, hearing the conversation. 

“His name is Nanami, and they met at one of the cooking classes she teaches!” His smile was wide too.

Iori shrieked again, “Ugh, how could you not have told me this?!” She looked over at both Megumi, Npbara and Yuuji. 

Megumi only shrugged, “we had met him yesterday at the festival, and today as well, you know before,” he cut himself off by suddenly gesturing to himself, and his beaten-up body. 

“We did not shack up together,” you lied your ass off, “did he spend the night at my place? Yes! But that was because of everything that happened! We had only met a few days ago!” You turned around to look at her, crossing your arms as well. 

“Still, that doesn’t mean anything can’t happen, either way, tell me more about him!” She cheesed in your face, just as Ierei walked in, smelling like smoke. 

Sighed, but still, you turned towards her with a smile on your face, “he’s not from here, first of all.”

“I could tell from the fact that no one knew his name, but continue.”

The conversation delved between the two of you, talking about you and Kento, with Yuuji, Nobara, and Shoko listening intently. Utahime squealed as you told her about how quickly he acted the moment Yuuji and Megumi were in trouble as well. 

“Aah, he sounds like the perfect gentleman, and he’s rich too? If you ever get tired of the small-town life…” she nudged your side, winking at you as well. 

Despite your smile, you shook your head, “doubt it, I love it here.”

“So what, you’ll think he’ll move down here for you…?” she trailed off, leaning back slightly. 

“Remember that I’ve barely known this man for little more than a week,” you said, “he’s not gonna drop his cushy, CFO job in the city for a little town like this. For someone he just met too.”

She waved a finger in your face, “never say never! This could be it for you!”

Her words caused a slightly elated feeling within you. You couldn't help but think about it, how domestic the two of you felt. The idea of the two of you cooking together, and eating breakfast together as well. The sight of him in the clothes you gave him, how they fitted perfectly on him as well. Could it… could it really happen? 

Your head jerked slightly, looking up as you felt eyes on you, all five people in the room staring down at you. Pushing Iori’s finger out of your face, you shook your head, 

“I doubt it, anyways, I have to go, I need to start preparing for the Orchard’s opening, with the new cafe and everything."

Toji glared down at his phone, crossing through the various emails popping up on his phone. It took all of him not to curse out every one of his clients, to tell them that his son was hurt and that he couldn’t give two shits about the different color wallpaper they didn’t want in their homes. In his hands was a plastic bag, stacked with three takeout trays from one of the few restaurants around here, which also happens to be his brat’s favorite as well. He walked through the square, hoping to get there in time before she had to hear Megumi complain about being hungry.

Megumi… his only pride, and his blessing. 

His heart dropped when he got the call from the Smoker, and that the police had dropped off his son who had been beaten up profusely, as well as a random man. Luckily, he had already been driving back home from the city, in fact, he was on his way to you, because he knew Megumi was there. His heart had only felt like that two times in his life, 

When Megumi was born and when his wife died. 

True terror, and true fear. 

When he arrived, Megumi was somewhat awake, and a blonde man, with stern eyes and stress lines was waiting outside his door. This was Toji’s first time seeing someone like this, and in a town like this, it’s very hard to have never met someone before. 

���Who’re you?” Toji’s gruff voice came out, aching.

The blond stood up, holding out his hand, before introducing himself as Kento Nanami. Despite his respite, he shook the man’s hand, as this was the person who got his son to safety. Toji wondered how he got to his son, and Nanami, as quickly as he could explain before he left, that two men had suddenly come onto your property, and attacked both Megumi and Yuuji, with Megumi getting the brunt of the attack. Toji’s fear slowly dissipated when the Smoker came out and explained that Megumi was just gonna be fine, his ribs were bruised, and had no sustained injuries on his abdomen or stomach. His fear would slowly turn into angry– no– rage, as he realized that this attack on his son was no mere coincidence. It felt as if magma was boiling within his veins, 

Just a few days after your uncle’s sudden appearance? A man who knows no bounds when it comes to getting your orchard. 

The moment he was allowed into Megumi’s room, he was promptly kicked right out. 

“What are you doing here?!” Megumi had yelled at him, telling Toji that he needed to go be with you. 

Toji told him, in their usual banter, that unless things had changed, he was still his father. However, in his anger, he had failed to realize just how dangerous this attack was. Megumi had to be the one to tell him that the only person that was supposed to be in that Orchard was you. That everyone knew the Orchard would be closing for the holiday weekend. That if Yuuji and Megumi weren’t there, the only person those men could have been searching for, was you. You were their original target. 

With one more push from Megumi, he was already out of there, getting in his truck and making his way towards you. The moment he got there, he could see the few cops crawling around, talking and making their notes, along with the one crime scene unit. With an all clear from Yaga, he made his way towards your house, busting through the door, before hearing movement to his right. Entering the space, he was faced with three people, you, Megumi’s friend Yuuji, and the very same blonde man who had come to the clinic with his son. He saw how his arms were wrapped up around you, and he couldn't lie, something within him jerked, seeing how close he was to you. 

Quickly as he came in, he came over to you, pulling you out of his hold, his eyes rapidly looking over you, making sure that there were no cuts, scraps, and bruises on you. 

“Hey, are you okay?” Was the first thing he asked you

You smiled, oh your smile, one of the few things that could ease his aching, “I’m fine, I’m fine. You should be with Megumi, he’s the one who actually got hurt.” You told him

Toji shook his head, slowly letting you go, “The brat’s fine, made me leave to check on you, the smoker’s with him.”

You said nothing at that, but it didn’t matter, as his eyes fluttered over to Yuuji, who looked a little roughed up himself, but otherwise fine. Then, his eyes went over him, Nanami, the one who carried his son until police cars came and picked them up and took them to the clinic. According to Yaga, before he came inside, he was the one to fight off the intruders, saving both his son’s life and your own as well. 

Despite everything he felt, he knew he owed this man a great debt. He walked over, holding out his hand, “Listen, I never got to thank you for taking my son to the clinic,” his voice came out in a mumble, yet everyone looked like they heard him. 

Nanami glanced down at his hand, before slowly reaching out enveloping his own hand as well. Their hands were similar sizes, and the handshake was stern, a good one as well. The two of them locked eyes, narrowed as their hands continued to shake up and down. No more words were exchanged between the two of them, all being said within that singular gesture. 

Toji was the first to let go, slowly pulling his hand back before putting it back into his pocket. He then turned to look at you, seeing Yuuji and yourself turning away from each other before looking at the two of them once again. 

“So, have they figured out who did this?” Toji questioned, “when I got here, the cops were still outside looking over things.”

The reminder caused your body to slump over, a downhearted look on your face as you sat back down on the couch. Almost immediately, Nanami placed his hands on your own, Toji’s eyes glancing in between you, who was taking a deep breath, and him, who kept his eyes solely on you. 

“Not yet,” you started, “but I doubt that they’ll find anything now.”

Yet, your eyes glanced over at Toji with a glowering emotion, and he knew exactly what that meant. The two of you both knew who exactly would be the type of person to send goons to your home. He remembers how he strolled up to the back, seeing the slimy smile on your uncle’s face as he spoke to you, and how seconds away Megumi was from attacking but he was surrounded by his people as well. That wasn’t a problem for Toji, as he forced the men to leave the property. Deep down, he knew that the problem was not over, it never truly was. The moment your grandmother died, and left everything to you, it would be an endless battle until either one of you died. 

The sound of the door opening took his attention, turning around only seeing the familiar tall form of Sheriff Yaga walking into the home. He spotted the four of you, making his way over as incoherent noises came from the radio he wore on his person at all times. Toji felt movement, looking to his left, only to see you getting up, and making your way towards Yaga. 

Immediately, he began speaking, “Some of the men took the perpetrators down to the station, but they’re not talking without a lawyer. We’re gonna go ahead and charge them with trespassing, assault and battery and wait for their lawyer to arrive.”

A lawyer? Huh, seems like your uncle has this all planned out. Toji stood in and listened as Yaga laid out the situation to you and in turn everyone else including you. He mentioned the security tapes you had around here, and you confirmed that you’ll drop them off first thing tomorrow as well. He also brought up increased patrols, and that further relieved something within Toji, but still… the fear of your uncle doing something to you hung over you. However, he knew he needed to go back to the clinic soon. 

Yaga soon left, and you went back to the couch, tired and dejected from it all, flopping onto the couch, “This is…”

However, a sound cut through the air, Toji feeling something move within his pockets. Quickly, he fished it out to silence it, only for his eyes to slightly widen at the notification. 

The Smoker: “Megumi fell asleep, probably from exhaustion. Everything looks good, I may be able to take him either tomorrow or the next day.”

He smirked down at his phone, quickly texting her back that he’d be coming back soon. He could feel three pairs of eyes on him as he put his phone back in his pocket. 

“Smoker says that Megumi fell asleep, and that everything still looks good with him.”

Suddenly, Yuuji stood up, exclaiming, “I need to go be with him!”

Toji held up his hand, seeing how he was about to jump out of his skin to run and go and see Megumi, “Hold it Pinky, lemme take you, Megumi will kill me if I let you go by yourself. Need to head back there anyways, talk about treatment plans and whatnot.”

However, the last thing that any of them have is to leave you alone. That would be his last mistake, and yet, Maki and everyone else were still in the city on their little getaway, and he already knew the smoker was preoccupied. His eyes fluttered right back to Nanami, whose eyes narrowed at the sight of Toji looking at him. Toji then looked back at you, pointing his thumb at Nanami.

“You trust him,” he asked you. 

You peeked up at his confusion, and he could see confusion twist your face for a moment. For a moment, you glanced between Nanami and Toji, before slowly nodding your head. A sight left his mouth, ignoring his fleeting hope that you would say something completely different. 

Turning towards Nanami, his eyes still narrowed, “Stay with her tonight, Blondie? Don’t want her to be alone until we learn all the details. All we know, they could send more goons.”

“Wait, Kento you don’t need to stay–” your words were cut off by the blond man sitting right beside you, whose hand stuck out and kept you seated. 

“Never planned to leave in the first place,” is all he said to Toji.

Toji then nodded, ignoring the look in your eyes as you turned towards Nanami. Toji then looked over at Yuuji, with one jerk of his head towards the door, the young boy immediately got up, holding back his jitters. Before leaving, Yuuji gave you a long hug, telling you to be careful, as well as telling you that he would be back tomorrow, before making his way to the door. By now, Toji had already approached the door, hearing the boy following behind him. He unlocked the truck, letting the boy in, before making his way down the road back towards town. The car ride was silent, but he didn’t know if he should thank God or spit on his face. All he could think about was his hand on yours, how you found yourself at ease within his hold. This… man he’s never met before, someone who you never even bothered to tell him about. You used to tell him everything. 

Do you even deserve that right, a nasty voice within him, a voice he hadn’t heard since the day he was kicked out of his family, it’s obvious that she’s moving on…

The Zenin family, the only ones to rival the Gojo’s… another story, for another day. 

Now he was here, walking through the square, holding food for his son, his boyfriend, and himself. Suddenly, his phone rings, and glancing down at it, he smirks, before picking it up.

“Tell me you got something good for me, Shiu,” he spoke through the receiver, taking a quick right as he stepped out of some little kid's way as they ran, an exhausted mother soon following after them. 

“Well, I definitely got something, from what I could find, her uncle is trying to make business with the Gojos.”

Toji’s eyebrows perked up at that, “The Gojos? That’s a name I haven’t heard in a while. What would they want in this backwater ass town?”

Shiu chuckled, “ ‘pparently, head of the company wants to break into, and get this, the mining industry, and that mountain in your little “backwater ass town” has a bunch of coal and other important stones. However, the orchard is stopping her uncle from being able to sell the idea to them.”

Greed is the motivation most people would use to try and do heinous things to others. Trust him, he knows just how far people will go to get a huge chunk of money. Remembering his life when growing up, the tactics his family would use… in all honesty, your uncle and the Gojos were a little tame in their efforts.

“Everything around the orchard is public property, so it’ll be easy for the Gojo’s to buy up everything else… but the orchard is the main problem. He wants to build some kind of quarry on top of it as well. Honestly… it’s not too bad of a plan, and it makes a lot of people a lot of money.”

Except for you, Toji thought. He knew just how much you put into this, how you went to college, specifically to learn more to be able to run the orchard, a stipulation from your grandmother. Your drive was what pulled him towards you after all. 

As he walked straight, movement caught his eye. Thinking that it was just something random, a person going inside a restaurant, when his eyes fluttered to his left, and Toji froze mid-step. Everything within him froze, at first, his eyes could not believe anything that he was seeing. The frost of the air had no match for the way his blood boiled, angry heat erupting within him as he almost squeezed the phone in his hands. 

“Fushiguro— hey, are you there?! I got some more for you,” Shiu spoke out, but he was barely paying attention, watching the sight before him, that was happening across the street at a restaurant. 

Toji grunted and said that he was still listening, “yeah, apparently the Gojos are sending someone down to continue talking about the plans. I don’t know who, but watch out for him.”

His eyes widened as a handshake, between two people he knew, but he thought didn't know each other. 

Nanami, the man who carried his son, the one who comforted you, while wearing a fitting, sleeked, and ironed business suit, shaking hands with the man who has caused absolutely nothing but detriment to your life. Before he ended the call, hastily he told Shiu to look into a man named Kento Nanami before shutting off the call. Toji flipped towards his camera app, before taking just enough pictures to give right to you. To give you so you could believe him when he tells you the man you were shacking up with had berated you for the moment you two met. 

Kento walked amid the restaurant, walking behind a man. He was a thin man, and little shorter than Kento, and wearing a suit that was obviously bigger than him. In his hands, Kento could see, was a manilla folder, as well as two rolled-up papers, kept together with rubber bands. Kenot followed behind both him and the waitress, who took them to a booth in the back, gesturing for the two of them to sit and they did so. 

The waitress took their orders, and while Kento simply ordered water, the man ordered a sweet tea, as well as his own appetizer without looking at the menu. Once the waitress left to fulfill their orders, Kento pulled at the menu, flipping it open just to see what they had to eat. 

The man, seeing Kento flip through, quickly placed his bony finger within Kento's space pointing towards a certain thing on the menu, “their double-loaded burgers and fries, I especially think you should try, Mr. Nanami.”

Kento simply hummed, waiting a moment for the man to pull his hand away, so he continued looking at the menu. It was all quiet, until the waitress came back, giving Kento his water and the man his sweet tea as well as his appetizers before asking for main dish orders. Raden, Kento expected for him to order the double-loaded burgers, while Kento ordered a shrimp carbonara pasta. If Harris felt a way for Kento not ordering the same thing as him, he didn’t say it. The waitress wrote it all down before smiling and leaving.

“Alright, we should probably get into business while we wait for our food,” Harris began, pulling out the papers and unrolling the cylinder of paper. 

Kento watched as Harris unveiled two blueprints to him, looking similar yet very different. 

“Mr… Harris, what exactly am I looking at here?”

The man in front of him smirked, “this is the plan to allow for a new mine to be built right here, see within these mountains,” he brought a pen, pointing towards the area where the mountains were, “is a plethora of untouched coal and even other rocks as well. Untapped potential.”

Kenot could not lie to himself, his mind beginning to make the calculations, as he remembered all of Satoru’s sentiments in their previous meetings. There were many times he had mentioned the mining industry, one of the few things the Gojo’s don’t have any stake or claim within. A conglomerate as big as that one, and having an interest in an industry was something he would be interested in. He can see why Satoru decided this would be worth his time if he never knew what was going on. 

“Not only that, but we’ll also build a quarry, not too far from the mountains as well, and it’ll bring out even more investment as well.”

He suddenly pointed out an area on the prospective blueprints, circled where it said: “QUARRY.” Kento slowly nodded his head, before glancing between that and blueprints of the town, to see just how much things would change. 

Kento tilted his head, blinking as he continued to glance between the two blueprints. Aligning up, he could not see your orchard on it all, at least on the prospective blueprints. Leaning over, turning the papers to align with each other, he could feel his heart skip a beat in budding fear. 

Your orchard was nowhere to be seen, and right above where it was supposed to be were those words “QUARRY” written in big letters. 

He looked up at Mr. Harris, “I feel like I should point out the obvious obstacle here,” he pointed to your orchard on the blueprint, “the orchard here.”

His heart further dropped when Mr. Harris didn’t react, in fact, his smirk only widened.

“Don’t worry about that, it’s a work in progress. See, I grew up on that Orchard, just have to deal with a stubborn family member and it will be all ours for us to do as we please.”

His eyes were wide, but still, he tried his best not to show a reaction, yet all he could think about was everything, that day you rushed out when the two of you first met, those people who caused a major disturbance at your booth during the Vibirum festival, when those goons rolled and attacked Megumi as well. He had a feeling that this man in front of him was the reason that it was all happening. Did… he wished to scare you off the property…?

“Well, that’s definitely a lot,” Kento started, yet was interrupted by the waitress bringing their food over to them.

The conversation stifled for a bit as the two of them began to eat, Kento ignoring the way the cheese from his burger dripped on his chin. 

Wait a minute, Kento thought, did he say that he grew up on the Orchard. He remembered you saying that you were the only child of your parents… but this man was obviously older than you, too old to be an older sibling of yours. Yet when he looked back at Mr. Harris, in his eyes, Kento was suddenly blown away by the sudden familiarity of them. The eyes, the exact same eyes. You and him had the exact same eyes, yet yours was filled with shining light and his were filled… with malice. 

This man was definitely a relative of yours, but he wasn’t a brother… however, it never occurred to him that your mother could have had siblings as well.

Kento fully-eyed him, Harris was definitely old enough to be your uncle. At that notion, he almost choked on his pasta, quickly swallowing it by picking up his glass of water and taking a few steps. The two of them each ate half of their food, before asking the waitress for trays and bags before focusing right on the matter at hand. 

“Well, Mr. Nanami,” Mr Harris started, “what do you think? I’ve had this plan in motion for just a little over five years as well.”

Just a little over five years? Around the time your grandmother passed away? 

“When you said you grew up in the orchard…?” He couldn't help but ask, he needed all the information he could get before he acted. 

At this, his smirk turned more melancholy, looking down, “the orchard was founded by my mother and father, but it was really her running everything, my father would only listen. It was me, my younger sister and my older sister as well, may god rest her soul.”

“May God rest her soul.” was all the confirmation Kento needed about who he was. Said older sister, the one who by his words passed away, was obviously your mother. 

“When I left, my grandmother had the grand idea to leave it with my niece, who still owns it. But don’t you worry, once I tell her how much money she’ll make in this, she’ll sign everything over to me.”

Kento hummed, slowly nodding his head, acting as if he was moved by Harris’ words. Soon, the waitress came back, giving them their proper trays and bags. Harris stood up, saying that he had to go and that he hoped to hear good things from Kento before taking his leave. 

The moment that he was out of sight, Kento let out a large groan in anger and frustration, his hands pressing up against his face. It took everything within him not to attack the man sitting right in front of him. The more he talked, the more Kento realized that Harris had been trying nonstop to take your Orchard from you. An impasse, Kento was at an impasse, because he knew, he knew that he couldn't take this deal. His heart tugged with him, telling him that this would destroy you, and everything you’ve worked for, and the last thing he wanted to do, was be the person who caused that. In so little time, you’ve made an imprint, a brand on his heart. However, his brain knew that this was exactly the kind of deal Satoru wanted to make. Despite his friendship with the man, he was still his boss, and his family is what created the huge company where he worked. What he said, goes. 

Unless…

Kento got up, grabbing his bagged food, before leaving over two hundred dollars on the table to cover his portion of the bill as well as his tip. Fishing out his phone, he soon began to make a few calls, a rush of wind behind him as he exited out of the restaurant. 

Standing, watching as the huge mixer plowed through the dough you were making for the apple donuts, a new batch for when the orchard opened up for the week. You wore your usual apron over your outfit, an old, fading white shirt, and ripped baggy gray-washed jeans. Gloves on your hands as you began to mix pomegranate juice in the batch of buttercream glaze that was sitting in your mixing bowl. As you mixed the red juice, seeing the glaze turn a slow purplish-reddish color, you smiled.

You wondered if Kento would enjoy these, as much as he enjoys the donuts. As you mix, you couldn't help but think of this morning, and how close the two of you were at that time. It was like the two of you were in your own little bubble, away from the world. Eating breakfast, answering hypothetical questions, everything. You let out a shaky breath as you remembered when he opened the door, revealing his body still drenched in water from his shower. You couldn't pull your eyes from the way the beads of water would drip down his body, dragging against the hairs that grew from… everywhere… 

Shaking your head, you pulled yourself out of your budding fantasy, putting your focus right back onto the glaze in front of you. However, just as you are about to let go of the spatula, a loud BANG catches your attention. 

A loud gasp leaves your mind, your body turning around as your heart begins to race. Was this it? Did your uncle send more men to attack you again? Reaching for your phone, your fingers immediately itching, thinking about the blonde man who told you to call him, when a shouting voice stopped you in your tracks.

“Where are you?!” Toji, calling out your name, his voice booming and echoing throughout the house.

Befuddled, you stopped the dough mixer from mixing the bread, before taking your apron and leaving the kitchen. Entering the welcome area, just as Toji walked in, sweating and breathing heavily. 

“Come here, I have something to show you,” he grabbed you by the arm, ignoring your sudden shriek as he pulled you to the couch not far from you. 

“Toji? What is going on with you? Is it Megumi?” you asked him, watching as he pulled his phone out before scrolling through it. 

“No it’s not, but here!” That's all he said as he shoved his phone in your hand. 

Once again, confusion was on your face as you glanced over at him. Toji only gave you a hard stare, causing you to shake your head before looking at the phone in your hand.

Blink… blink…blink… 

Your free hand reached up to wipe your eyes, but you could feel a crack within your heart the more and more you looked at it. 

“Toji… what am I looking at right now?” your voice was trembling, but you knew exactly what you were looking at. 

“I think you know what it is, Princess.”

Princess… he hadn’t used that nickname for you in a long time, since you broke up. In the picture, you could see Kento, the very same Kento who was just in your home, who held you while you cried, carried you to your room, and everything. He was not wearing the clothes you had sent him in, but rather a black, freshly pressed suit, and his hand was outstretched, shaking with the bane of your existence, your uncle, Raden Harris. Kento had a neutral look on his face, while your uncle had a much wider smile as they shook hands. You scroll through the pictures seeing what happened in sequence, then shaking hands before entering Donna’s, one of the few restaurants in the Square.

“How… How did you even see these?” You couldn't help but ask him, shocking the phone back into his hands, standing up, and walking over one of the bookshelf walls.

As you stood there, trying your best to compose yourself, Toji spoke, “I saw them myself, was on the phone with someone who was figuring out why your uncle was even here. Ironic that I would see this at that time.”

Swiftly, you turned around, facing him, ignoring the tears that welled in your eyes, “you found out why my uncle is here?”

Toji nodded his head, “Gojo Corporation, they’re this big conglomerate that runs a lot of stuff. Heard of them, right?”

You nodded your head, allowing him to continue to speak, “Shiu, my contact, told me they’ve been trying to break into the mining industry. Your uncle heard about that, and thought about the mountains not too far from here. He wants to build a mine right here in Aquarine, and use your Orchard space to make a Quarry.”

Your eyes narrowed, “a quarry? What the hell is that?” your anger allowed the curse to easily slip through your words

Toji shrugged his shoulders, “don’t know, but needs this place gone for it to happen. So the Gojo’s were supposed to be sending someone to continue on with the plans, and on my way over here, I got more information on this Nanami guy.”

He opened his phone, this time opening his messages before shoving the device in your hands, allowing you to read the messages. 

“Kento Nanami, 27, Chief Financial Officer to the Gojo Corporation.” you mumbled, only feeling yourself going more and more numb as you glanced over the information Toji’s contact gave him.

A CFO… something that he told you that he was… to the company that would benefit from the destruction of your orchard.

“Wait, wait, that doesn’t make sense, why would he take a class?? Why would he take my invitation to come here? He…he,” you began to stutter, “he fought off those men who were attacking Megumi! Come on, there’s gotta be an explanation–”

“There is no explanation!” Toji yelled, snatching the phone out of your hand, “he’s playing you! You’ve been played! Your uncle told him all about you and they made a plan to make you sell your orchard to them!”

“But he told me that he was meeting someone, why would he let me know what he’s doing if he wanted to take it from me–”

“Princess, I know how these rich people work, they think of themselves as God, he probably thought you were too stupid to even make the connection.” He told you, but his voice slowly became muffled, as if you dunked your head underwater as you went and sat down.

Your body began to shake, as you could no longer hold back your tears. Toji, seeing your state, came over to you, wrapping his arm around you before pulling you close. Almost immediately, you snuggled yourself into him as well.

“I know it hurts, but it’s the truth, and I’ll be damned before I let this person take everything you, and your family have worked hard for.”

You sniffed, saying nothing but you nodded your head, wrapping yourself within his chest and abdomen. His familiar scent, smelling of sweat, and intense cologne, comforted you, the nostalgia of when he used to hold you after long days of work. 

Then, your phone rang, the melodious tones rang out, and your heart dropped at the sound. When you saved Kento’s number, you gave him his own ringtone, so you’d know it was him calling every time. That was the ringtone you two were hearing. Moving back, you pulled your phone out of your pockets, heartbreaking even further at the confirmation of Kento ♡ appearing on your phone screen. Toji glanced down, before seeing the name, his eyes filling with rage. Before you could decide on whether you wanted to answer it, Toji suddenly grabbed your phone, standing up to his feet before answering it. 

“Toji!” you screamed, but it was too late. 

Toji was loud, honestly, you’d never seen him yell like that. Not when Megumi made a mistake, because he rarely did, he didn’t even yell at him when he found out he was beating up bullies while at school. His words are full of venom as he tells Kento to stay away from you and from the Orchard as well. That if you even hear that he was close to you, that he’ll rip him limb from limb. He pulled the phone away from him, before ending the call, not bothering to let Kento get one word in. Toji typed away at your phone for a few more seconds, before tossing your phone back to you, reaching out and catching it.

“If he contacts you again, don’t let him near you, let me take care of this, okay?”

You opened your mouth but could find nothing to say. You could only watch as Toji walked out, his stomps heavy and ireful. He slammed the door behind him and stomped away. So now, it was just you again, your body lying across the couch as your mind began to catch up to everything that just happened. All you could do was lie there, ignoring the streaks of tears that rolled down your eyes. Was everything Kento– Nanami, told you a lie? 

A flash in your mind, his warm smile on that day as you sat in your private area with your koi and goldfish pond… were you too trusting of a man you and only met so recently? In the time you had dated Toji, he had never made you feel the way you felt for Kento. In so little time too… 

Were you too longing for love? For someone to understand you… that you would trust someone you hadn’t known for a week… to give every part of yourself to him, like you did on that fateful night?

For a moment you laid there, your mind running on every kind of emotion. Laying there aimlessly, until a slow realization that you still needed to finish preparations for tomorrow, and slowly, you pushed yourself up before wobbling abc into your kitchen. You had no time to cry anymore, you had business to finish. 

Before you knew it, it was night, and you had long finished your preparations for opening tomorrow. The lights shut off, and with heavy clouds looming over your head, you made your way towards the stairs, to your private apartment. When you hear heavy pounds on your door, your head swiftly turns around as you stare at the closed door. Slowly, you made your way over to the door. The knocks never stopped, but climbing over the couch in the welcome area, your fingers fluttering with the thin curtains, moving the thin curtains back only seeing familiar blonde hair, his heavy and large hand still pounding away at the door. 

“Please, talk to me,” you could now hear his voice through the door.

A gasp left your mouth, your hands letting go of the curtain, turning around. Your heart pounded in your chest, nervous breaths leaving your lips. The sudden movement must have caught his attention, cause the pounding stopped, and for a moment it was all silent. Then, the sound of footsteps caught your attention. You glanced behind you only to see Kento’s huge figure standing not too far from the window. You knew that he knew that you were there, yet you said nothing, just sitting there, waiting for him to say something. 

“I’m… I’m sorry, can we talk, please?”

Your hand reached clenching at the fabric, feeling how your heart clenched. You wanted to, your heart wanted to, oh you so wanted to. To face the man you’ve fallen for to tell you to your face that everything you’ve heard wasn’t true. However, Toji’s words echoed in your head, the vexation and anger on his face, and it all stopped you. Frozen, your body couldn't move, even though your heart broke further underneath those pleas that left Kento’s mouth. 

A single knock against the glass of the window, then, you heard a sigh, and the last thing he said was, “I’m gonna make it right, don’t worry, please.”

You saw his figure slowly fading away, your eyes watching him through the curtain closed until you could no longer see any remnants of him.

Four long days.

That was the last time you heard from Kento. Each day that would go by, your heart would crumble, and each day, more and more, you began to believe Toji’s words. Of how he was playing you. As you stood outside, wearing Toji’s old jacket and pair of sweatpants. you carried a basket of apples towards the wagon you had parked in the back of the house. 

Today was the grand opening for your cafe, opening in two hours, and the entire town was talking about it as well. It was the last thing in your grandmother’s letter that she wanted you to do for the Orchard. 

Inside, Megumi sat on the stool you made him sit on, scrolling away at his phone. The moment he was discharged, he also came straight here, if not for his father. However, that second day Toji dropped him off with you, saying that he wants to help as much as he can. At most, you made him carry a pan of pastries, but even if that, you made him sit down and watch, not wanting his wounds to be more irritated than they already were. Yuta, Nobara, and Inumaki were in the kitchen, preparing the last of the pastries as well. 

Yuuji and Maki took the apples to the kitchen, while you stood outside, hands tucked away in your pockets. Taking a deep breath, inhaling the cool, crisp, December air. The feeling of the frosty wind nipping at your ears, bending your head back, letting out a loud sigh as you cracked your neck. Despite the heavy cloud weighing on top of you, you knew that it was no day for that, today was a happy day for you. You wanted to celebrate today, everything you’ve worked for, and this cafe was the culmination of your hard work as well. Then, you heard low humming, as well as the sounds of tires pressing up against the dirt. At first, you thought you were hearing things, but the sounds continued, before suddenly getting louder, and closer with each second. Confused, you made your way towards the front of the house, glancing around as you saw a black SUV suddenly roll up to the front. The car, most likely an expensive brand that you’ve never seen before, parked not too far from you, only leaving a few feet between you and the right headlight. Taking a step back, watching as the car turned off, the windows fully tinted not allowing you to see who exactly was inside. It couldn't have been anyone in town, the orchard wasn’t open at all, considering that apple season was over and the cafe wasn’t open for another three hours. 

The doors opened, and your eyes widened at the four people who exited out of the big SUV. Coming from the right backseat, your eyes landed on blond hair, as well as a blue dress shirt, and as well beige pants as well. You took a step back at the sight of Kento, seeing him taking your mind for a loop, but that wasn’t the last thing that furthered the discord within you. Coming around the truck, it only sent you to despair to see your uncle standing there, his sleazy smirk on his face as he held papers in his hand, within a manilla folder. Was this how he was gonna fix it? By bringing the bane of your existence here to your home? However, your eyes looked over, and your eyes could not help but narrow at the two new unknown men standing right before you. They, much like Kento, wore their own expensive suits, although they matched with each other. One man had pure white hair, with his eyes hidden behind sunglasses as well. The other man had long black hair, with a bit of it packed up in a bun in the back of his head, a kinder smile on his face. All four of them approached you, standing in front of the car. 

“The Orchard is closed right now–” you tried to speak, the fakest smile on your face, as you hoped to get them away from you and your home. 

“I heard you have a cafe here?!” The white-haired man suddenly cut into your words, as if he didn’t even hear you. 

Behind the man, the black-haired man and Kento groaned, placing their hands over their heads. 

Blinking, you tilted your head, “well, yes I do, but it’s not open right now, you’ll have to come back later.”

The white-haired man in front suddenly pouted, head and body bowing down, “please, I’ll literally buy one of everything!”

The black-haired stranger beside Kento suddenly stepped up, reaching for his white-haired friend, and lifting him up.

“There’s better ways to do this than beg, Satoru,” he stated, before turning towards you. 

He smiled, “sorry about him, he’s… a lot to handle.”

You gave him a small smile, “That’s okay… but would he really buy one of everything?” you couldn't help but ask him.

The men glanced between the white-haired man– Satoru, and yourself, before nodding his head, letting out a sigh, “yeah, he would, he lets his sweet tooth lead him a lot of the times.”

The man introduced himself as Suguru Geto, before restating the claim the man in his arms stated that they wished to see your bakery as well. You glanced over at Kento, looking at him fully for the first time, and his words echoed into his head. He looked back at you, a tentative smile on his face. 

“I’m gonna make it right, don’t worry, please.”

One chance. That was all you were gonna give him. 

Facing the two men, you nodded, before telling them to follow you. However, before any of them could move, your uncle, who you forgot was even there, suddenly interjected. 

“Excuse me, I thought we were coming here to convince her to sign the pap–” However, your uncle immediately shut up the moment that… Satoru…? turned towards him, glaring down at him. 

At that, your uncle shut up, and you couldn’t suppress the smile and giggle that left your mouth, covering your head with the old fabric of your jacket. With that, they all followed you, walking inside the main home. Inside, you could see Megumi sitting at his stool towards your right, watching his head lift up. You could tell he was confused at first, but seeing Kento walk in made his eyes widen in alarm. Almost immediately he got up, but you signaled for him to sit down. He gave you a confused look, his eyes asking you “What were you doing?” but you just gestured at him to relax, before continuing to lead your party towards the cafe entrance within the house. You led them down a hall, before approaching the side, where a wide, open doorway, took up the space of two, maybe three doors, along with a sign at the top that said “Honeyed Orchard’s Cafe” 

You walked into the space, walking past the tables and benches you had around this secondary entrance, before entering the main area of the cafe. The walls were painted an off-white, and there were hanging plants above you. The hanging lights had glass coverings, blown out to look like flowers, hanging above the small bar stools as well as the main bakery table. To your left, there were a couple of bar stools, underneath an attached table, allowing those who would be sitting to look outside the window, the town where the grove of trees was. Said window had sage green groovings as well, and the main door that led to the outside was also sage green. Walking in further, allowing all the men to see the glass casing, showing off all the pastries you and your grandmother created, pulling from her old cookbook. 

A long whistle came out of Geto’s mouth, “this is really nice,” he complimented, taking a look around. 

Seeing all the desserts in front of him, Satoru gasped, making his way towards the front, where Toge and Yuta, who were talking amongst themselves, suddenly stopped their conversation, seeing you and these four men behind you. He began speaking radically, as he basically ordered one of everything, pointing at all of it. At that, your two employees glanced over at you, seeing how you nodded, before getting to work. 

You turned towards Geto, “thank you, my grandmother, most of everything was her idea, I just brought it to life for her.”

At the corner of your eye, you could see your uncle flinch at the sudden mention of your grandmother, his mother. You weren’t the only one who noticed that, seeing Geto and Kento take a glance at each other. All of you looked over at Satoru who was handing over a huge wad of cash, both you, Toge, and Yuta’s eyes widening at the sudden look of it, before he took the boxes and walked over to one of the booths within the bakery-cafe. Geto smiled looking at him, before nodding at you and soon joining him, taking a seat right in front of him. Satoru opened the first vox on top, pulling out one of the many pastries before taking a bite. As you watched him preen over the sweets, footsteps got closer to you, the familiar smell of cologne standing right next to you. Your head turned, heart beating at the sight of Kento right beside you. His eyes looked tired, but still, he smiled down at you, hands in his pockets. This time, you could no longer hold back your smile, before jerking your head towards the couple sitting at your booth table.

“Is this your way of “making it right?”” you asked him.

But before he could answer, you could hear angry huffing coming closer, You turned around only to see your uncle coming up two steps behind you, anger rushing over his face. However, before he could say anything, Kento stepped in between the two of you, his tired eyes suddenly turning into a chilled anger, much like an angry snowstorm. 

“Any words you want to say to her can be redirected at me,” he said, your eyes widened at the gruff in his voice.

“If you have nothing to say, go sit down, we’ll deal with you soon.”

Your uncle’s face was astounded at the way Kento came to your defense, glancing between the two of you. He then narrowed his eyes, before pointing his long, bony, finger in Kento’s face.

“We had a deal, Nanami, don’t forget that,” was all he said, before going to walk away, sitting at the bar stools near the main entrance. 

You and Kento looked at each other right after, smiling at each other once more. 

“You know, you still didn’t answer my question,” you asked him, as the two of you began to walk over to the front. 

“Is this your way of fixing things?” you repeated the question one more time.

He only gave you a smile, “just trust me.”

Your lips fell open just a little, before letting out a chuckle before turning towards Yuta, “give me two apple donuts, Yuta.”

The tired-eyed teen nodded his head, before fishing out two donuts with the tongs, wrapping them up, and handing them to you. Smiling, you gave Kento one, his eyes glancing down in surprise. His smile then reappeared, before taking the donut out of your hands, pulling the familiar red and white checked parchment away, before taking one huge bite. You eat yours along with him, the two of you smiling. Although you couldn't see him, you knew that your uncle was staring at the two of you, and you couldn’t help the elation that arose within you at that moment, at his heart racing about the fact that the two of you knew each other… and the fact that his plans are in jeopardy as well. Especially on the way, Kento jumped in to defend you from him. 

Once finished with your treat, you glanced over at your new guests, watching as Satoru shared one of his pastries with Geto. Crumbling your parchment paper, you approached the two of them, wiping any crumbs off of your face as well. 

“Are you two enjoying your treats?” you asked them, ending down slightly to be face-to-face with them. 

Satoru swiftly turned his head towards you, his eyes glowing as if a kid on a high sugar rush, with a huge smile on his face, “you’re a goddess!” he suddenly exclaimed, before turning his head a bit to the side.

“You were right about this place, you won!” He suddenly exclaimed, turning around only to realize he was looking at Kento. 

“Won…?” you questioned, glancing between the two of them, “won at what?” 

But your words were drowned out by your uncle, who blew up, standing up from his seat before marching right over to the four of you. 

“This is ridiculous, I thought we were here to make her sign the papers to realize the proterpies over to me! Gojo, you told me that this was why you came here!”

Your eyes widened in shock at the name he used, as he stared at the white-haired man who slowly dropped his pastry back into its box, before turning his head glaring at him. 

“I’m sorry,” your eyes widened as his voice dropped at least three octaves, “were you speaking to me?”

The sudden chill that fell over the room the moment he spoke, only intensified the moment he stood up, facing your uncle. 

“She’s not signing those papers, and if I hear about you trying this with other people, trust me, you’ll wish you’ve never even met me.”

However, despite this, your uncle didn’t back down, despite his body shaking with fear, “this deal is one of kind, and can make a lot of people a lot money–”

He was suddenly cut off by Geto standing, unaffected by the radiation of anger that Sato– Gojo was giving off. 

“You heard him, this deal is off, and if he hears you trying to sell this off to someone else, we’ll personally deal with you.” The anger in the air intensified the moment Geto narrowed his eyes at your uncle.

Kento stood up fully, before joining the two of them, your eyes glancing between the two of them. The three of them stood together, radiating an energy you’ve never felt before, it terrified you, and you weren’t even the one they were angry at you. As you stood there, slowly relaxing that these two random men Kento brought to your home and business, weren’t random men after all, but instead held all the power behind the very company your uncle was conspiring with to steal everything you and your family had worked for. 

“Get out of here!” that came from Gojo, your head turning as your uncle jumped, dropping all the papers in his hands, before scurrying out of the bakery. 

It was all silent the moment he left, and after a few seconds, everything fully clicked for you. Your legs trembled and shook under the realization of the fact that it was over. Your uncle’s terrorization of you, your employees, your orchard, of your family’s legacy. It was over. You could feel yourself beginning to fall, your arms flailing about for some stabilization, when hands suddenly wrapped themselves around your waist, holding you right up. The smell of citrus and sage makes you look up, seeing Kento with a soft smile on his face.

“Told you to just trust me.”

The two of you locked eyes, and before you knew it, in a rush of energy, you pushed yourself up, wrapping your arms around him. They locked behind his neck, and you could hear Kento give off a sound of surprise, his arms wrapping themselves around your waist. Your body began to shake, as tears, happy tears, began to stream down your face. 

“Thank you… thank you so much!” you cried in his ears, your tears beginning to stain his shirt. 

With a longing hum, Kento pressed his own cheek into your shoulder, “you’re welcome, love.”

With over six new boxes of pastries, Suguru held them in his hands, carrying them towards the car, while Satoru and Kento walked behind him. In both of their hands were two cases of apple cider, twelve in each case as well. 

“You’ve really fallen for her, ehh Kento, you’d even put your job on the line for her,” Kento’s eyes glared at Satoru’s teasing words, Satoru not caring as he nudged Kento with his elbow. 

Despite his glare, Kento’s heart softened at Satoru’s mention of you. These past four days, allowed him to realize just how, and in just a little time he ached to see you. Putting things in motion was harder than he thought, but for you, he had little to no problem with how he did so. Glancing back at the house, where you were surrounded by every one of your employees, laughing and smiling with them as well. Kento didn’t even notice the smile on his face until Satoru pointed it out.

“I’ve never seen you smile like that,” Kento heard, turning his head around to look at his friend. 

“Like what?” He couldn't help but ask him. 

“...like I smile at Suguru,” he revealed.

The two of them glanced over at the black-haired man, who had just slammed the door to their rental, before walking around to the driver seat. Suguru turned towards the two of them, before beckoning Satoru, calling him over. Satoru, looking over at Kento one last time before saying,

“Don’t let her go, don’t let your father’s words pull you from the only one that made you smile like that.”

With that, he walked away, facing his husband before giving Kento one last wave before hopping into the passenger seat. Suguru waved over at Kento as well, before getting into the SUV. As he watched the huge black car leave, he could hear quiet footsteps approaching him, glancing back and seeing you standing not too far from him. He turned around, and the two of you just looked at each other, the wind blowing in between the two of you. 

“We…” you started, “we should talk, huh?”

He blinked, before nodding his head slowly. With that, you turned around and began walking back towards the house. He said nothing, only following you, noting how the porch was empty of all your employees who were with you. He skipped in front of you, opening the door, you utter a small thank you towards him before walking inside the main house. Leading him towards the back, in the kitchen, where all the chatter that echoed through the room suddenly ceased, Kento looked up and saw six pairs of eyes all suddenly in him, all glowering, and all angry with him.

Suddenly, he swayed black spiky hair marching right up to him, his green eyes fueled with fire. However, before Megumi could say anything, you stepped in between the two of them, holding your arms out. 

“It’s okay,” you cooed, smiling at Megumi, “me and Kento have to talk, don’t worry.”

“But he–” but you shook your head, causing him to cease his words. 

“It’s okay,” you reassured him, “the six of you go back to work please, we suddenly lost almost half of our inventory for each and every pastry and we have a big crowd coming today. I’ll be down soon.”

Looking over at them, watching as their apprehensive eyes slowly move away from the two of you, focusing on making more of everything that you suddenly lost. You were right, with Satoru buying half of the inventory you planned on for the grand opening of your bakery-cafe, and with less than three hours until the cafe opening, they need all hands on deck. Looking over Megumi, jerking your head towards them. With no other words exchanged, Megumi glances at you, and finally at him, before groaning, leaving and joining them once again. With no more obstacles, the two of you made it towards your private stairs, watching as you unlocked it, before following you to the top, to your private apartment. The lights were off, only the low glow of the cloudy sky was the only thing that allowed him to see two feet in front of him. Suddenly, a hand, soft as flowers, reached out and grabbed his much rougher ones. Kento looked up, only seeing your back as you left him on the couch, where you guided him to sit.

He watched as you walked in front of him, before taking a seat a cushion away from him, your body fully facing him. With everything, Kento never got a chance to fully look at you. Despite your clothes being covered in dirt from picking the last of the apples off the trees, you’ve never looked more beautiful to him. 

“I… want to hear everything, from the moment you arrived here, to now, everything. If you don’t mind, please.”

Kento nodded his head, sighing as he faced you, and he could feel his knees grazing with your own, “I was doing business in the city, when I got a call from Satoru, who you just met today,” you nodded at that.

“He asked me to see about this possible business deal here, and at first I was gonna decline, but he called this as a favor that I owed, so I went. He told me that he didn’t know what it was about, but that he had a feeling, so he told me to check it out, since I was already close, I came.”

“All I knew at that time was your uncle’s name, and his number. I had no idea what he was doing, or what he was planning, and I never did until the day of our meeting. When I arrived, the meeting was set for two days after I arrived, and the day after I arrived was when I first took your class.”

Suddenly, Kento reached out, having no idea why, but he wanted to hold them again, longing for the soft touch once more. 

“Since that day, I’ve never felt anything like the way I felt that day, then I did with you.” He confessed to you.

Your eyes widened, but he felt your hands clenching around his hands as he spoke, listening to every word he said. 

“I… don’t know, but since that day, I’ve wanted to know more of you, more about you. Those days we would spend time together were the best days of my life.”

Your eyes shined as you stared into Kento’s, your heart racing, his words like Cupid’s arrows, sending them straight into your heart. His eyes looked down for a moment, before looking up at you, his eyes shining, welling with tears. 

“But then I hurt you, accidentally or not, I should have asked more questions, or even made a guess that my reason for being here was a lot closer to you than I imagined,” he said, shaking his head as he looked away

You gasped, shuffling closer to him, shaking your head, “no, I should have said something, I knew my uncle was behind the attack, but I never said anything. I didn’t want to drive you away,” you said, tears no longer holding back from your eyes.

“You could never drive me away, not now and not ever, darling,” he said, one of his hands leaving your hands, resting and caressing on your cheek, his thumb wiping away the one the closest tear to it. 

“If I had known before the meeting, I never would have met with him, never would have bothered, but it was too late. So, I needed to find a way to stop your uncle from trying this project with him or with anyone else.”

“Inviting your boss all the way out here seems a little extreme, doesn’t it?” You couldn't help but ask, a playful laugh left your lips. 

Kento shrugged his shoulders, “it was all i could do to stop him entirely, if your uncle was like I thought of him, which I was correct, he would have took his deal to the Zenins,” your eyes widened at that name, “and they are much more ruthless than Satoru, i could never stop them alone. I doubt there wasn't anything they would have done if they couldn't get your orchard.”

Your eyes blinked, Toji’s words about his old family echoing in your head, it seemed like he really was right about them. 

“But I also knew Satoru, and if he thought something was a good deal, it would still take a lot to convince him not to take it. So I had to use the two things that would convince him not to, his competitive spirit as well as his sweet tooth.”

“Competitive spirit?” you questioned, before suddenly meaning Saotru’s words, him saying that Kento won after he had spoken to you while eating his desserts.

“You made a bet with your boss?” You questioned

“I made a bet with a friend, a friend who I knew couldn’t resist the call of anything sweet. I gave your deserts the highest compliments, which were true to every level as well, but he didn’t know that. I knew  that it would catch his attention well, and it seems I was right.”

“And if he didn’t, you know, like my treats?” you couldn't help but ask him,

“Then I would resign as CFO, effective immediately.”

Your mouth fell open in shock, face wide, “what?? You put your job on the line? Kento!” You shrieked, squeezing his hands.

“Like I said, I would have done anything for you, but I knew your desserts would be up to the test. I really didn’t have anything to worry about.”

“But still,” you lamented, “you shouldn’t have given something that important to me.”

Suddenly, you let out a squeal as your body was suddenly pulled forward, your thighs landed in between his legs, his arm wrapping around your waist.

Gasping out a Kento, letting go of his hands, instead wrapping your arms around his neck. 

“I feel like you're not listening to me, when I said that I’ll do anything for you, I meant that. Plus you said it yourself, “I’m getting the sense that you don’t enjoy the job as much as you want to…” You were right, I didn't enjoy that job, I hated it and everyone around me knew it.”

You looked into his eyes, “Kento…”

His grip suddenly let off a squeeze, a slight, hitched gasp leaving your lips, “the time I’ve spent with you, it makes me want to give all of it up. All the money I’ve made from this job doesn’t matter, I’ve made more in a lifetime to sustain myself. It doesn’t matter to me.”

Shifting your legs, so they could sit comfortably on his lap, you couldn’t help the way heat began to blossom within you. 

“All that matters to me is you, and if I have to leave it all behind for you, then I will.”

“Kento…” you could say anything but his name, your heart overwhelming you. 

“I love you, and I don’t care for how long we have known each other, this is the truth, my truth.”

You lunged at him, holding him in a tight hug, resting your head within the crook between his neck and shoulders, your sniffles muffled in his shirt. 

“I’m assuming that my feelings are returned, then?” he chuckled in your ear.

Releasing him, your noses grazing each other, your eyes and face streaming with tears, and before you knew it, you had bent down, pressing your lips against his. You could feel his shock, Kenot definitely not expecting you to do something as bold as this, yet you couldn't care, especially not after he relaxed, before feeling him beginning to kiss you back. He tasted slightly sweet, of the apple donut the two of you ate together. As you kissed, your legs spread slightly, allowing your hips to slowly grind against him, feeling a slight groan leaving his lips.

With your lungs begging for air, slowly letting go, taking deep breaths, a sliver of spit connecting your wet lips with his own. Nothing but the sounds of your breaths, before looking into his eyes, they were dark, filled with a mixture of love and lust, and it was all for you. 

“Kento…” you trailed off, but he shook his head,

“We shouldn’t,” he tried, but your nails dug into his hair, keeping his eyes right on you, “you,”  he let out a gasp as your lips soon attached themselves to his neck, “you have the cafe to open–fuck–” he suddenly choked, his head being thrown back at a certain spot at his neck. 

Glancing over, you looked at the clock, watching the two hands click around the 7 and 9 numbers, before looking back at Kento, smirking.

“Grand opening is in two hours… I’m sure we’ll be finished before then, if not, I'm sure the kids downstairs can handle it, Kento,” you teased, smirking as your tongue slipped out of your mouth, slowly trailing against his neck. 

He let out another shaky gasp at the sound of his name, your tongue, his grips sliding down to your baggy sweatpants, squeezing your bottom. 

“BOSS!! We’re low on apple cider! And we got over a hundred people coming! Stop locking lips with your boyfriend and get down here!”

Your eyes widened at the sound of Maki pounding away at the door, the two of you jumping at the sudden sound. You glanced at each other, suppressing your smile while seeing Kento’s tentative own appearing on his face, 

“Guess they couldn't handle themselves,” Kento joked, before lifting you up on your feet and fixing his clothes. 

Scoffing and rolling your eyes, as you pulled your hoodie down, “more like they just want to block my blessings, they can easily make that apple cider by themselves”

Turning around towards your door, before taking a step before suddenly being flipped around, a squeal leaving your mouth before being muffled. Your lips pressed into a sudden kiss that disappeared as quickly as it came. Eyes widen, looking up at Kento who simply winked at you before keeping his arm right around your waist. With no other words, your own arm wrapped around his hips before walking towards the door.

SIX YEARS LATER

The hot summer sun shined down on the two of them. The sweat on his brow slowly dripped down, his arm reaching up as he wiped the slate liquid off his face, swaying from his blond eyebrows. Then, with a lot of force, he lifted the heavy ax with his hands, holding it high in the sky, he brought it down with equal force. The sharp edge of the ax sliced into the rotting wood, the strength easily splitting it into little pieces. Behind him, he could hear a little bit of grunting, glancing behind him, he saw Yuuji’s foot underneath a shovel, the metal part dug underneath the roots, and the ground lifting along with the roots. 

“Yuuji, I told you to leave that to me, you need to finish grinding the rotting wood,” Kento spoke, slowly placing the ax down in a safe place. 

The pink-haired young adult whines, “you’ve been doing a lot of this recently, I can’t let you do everything! Boss told me to help you!”

Kento shook his head, a smile on his face, “she knows better than to think I’ll let you do this, go grind the wood, we need it for the compost for the new trees from the nursery.”

Yuuji pouted, but he let go of the shovel, walking over to the pile of split wood, along with the woodchipper and its attached container, sitting on the stool. However, before he could turn it on, a voice called out to the two of them.

“Daddy!!” A voice screamed

Kento’s furrow relaxed, a smile appearing on his face as he turned around, only to be faced with a beautiful site. At two years old, his daughter, Kaia, was full of energy and spirit, her smile wide as she was running up to him. Kento looked over at Yuuji, seeing him already up and collecting the ax and shovel to keep away from her as she approached them. Behind them, you were walking up, your curls out, slicked up and held together, shining against the summer sun, wearing a simple, bright purple bodycon dress. In your arms, a basket hung from your elbow, probably with lunch for everyone out here. 

“Oh, my baby,” his smile was wide, as his daughter ran into his arms, her little arms wrapping around his neck as much as she could. 

“Daddy, you stink,” her little face grimaced as she sat in her father’s arms. 

Her words didn’t deter Kento, in fact, it only made his smile wider, “oh I stink, huh?” is all he said, before wrapping his arms around her tighter, hearing her little squeals as she tried to squirm out of his hold. 

By the time Kento let him go, you had already arrived at the area where they were working. Yuuji screamed “Boss!”  before making his way over towards you. 

“I see the two of you have been working hard,” is the first thing you said, running your fingers through Yuuji’s hair as he gave you a long hug. 

Kaia ran back over to you, her arms wrapping around your legs, easily attaching herself to you. Kento walked over to you, seeing a smirk slowly appear on your face as he stood right in front of you. His arms crossed as you tilted your head, following his actions and crossing your arms as well. 

“Well, hello to you, Mr. Nanami,” you teased, slightly straining your head to look up at him.

Almost immediately, his arms shot out, wrapping themselves around your waist, “and hello to you, Mrs. Nanami.”

Kento leaned down, prepared to kiss you, his wife when all of a sudden a loud “eeeewwww” suddenly stopped the two of you. Kent glanced around, while you looked down, no longer feeling a pressure on your legs. 

“That’s nasty,” your daughter called out, sticking her tongue out as she sat in Yuuji’s arms. 

“Come on Kaia, let’s leave the two of them alone.” Yuuji said, turning around while holding your daughter.

Kento heard giggles leaving your mouth, his heart beating as he heard them. Even after all these years, you could still incite such a reaction from him, his cheeks already pink from the hot summer sun, only deepening as your hands slide from his arms to his hips. 

“If you're gonna go, you should take this basket, it’s got lunch for all of us,” you called out to Yuuji, who swiftly came and took the basket out of your hands.

Kaia shifted from his arms to his back, commanding Yuuji like a horse to go faster, running into the orchard towards the pond. Now with the two of you alone, nothing stopped him from leaning down, softly pressing his lips up against your glossy ones, so familiar with the texture, urging him to deepen the kiss. Despite the two of you living together and mainly working in the same place, he kissed you as if he had been away for a month. He could feel your hands gripping the fat and smile of his hip, your head and back bending backward, your knees buckling underneath the pressure and pleasure of the kiss.

The moment he let go, you let out a breathy “Kento,” your eyes fluttered as you looked at him. 

Four long years, it’ll be four years in the winter season when he made a decision that changed his life for the good. In those four years, he quit his job at Gojo Inc., but still kept his stocks in the company, as well as a well-packaged pension, a gift from Satoru and Suguru when he made his decision a year after meeting you. The two of you got married two weeks after he quit his job, and nine months after that, the two of you welcomed your gorgeous and lovely daughter as well. In those four years, life has changed immensely for both you and Kento.

Your uncle no longer came by, no more threats to you for the orchard. Kento, Satoru and Suguru made sure of that. Megumi went abroad for school, pushed by you, Yuuji, and Toji as well. With confirmation that you and he will talk every week, he went on a prestigious scholarship to one of the top schools globally. Yuta, Inumaki, Maki, and Nobara all go to the college closest to the town, with them still coming on the weekends and breaks to work. Yuuji decided to follow in his older brother’s footsteps, working as a junior officer at the station, but he still works at the Orchard as well. 

It’s been an eventful four years.

He hadn’t spoken to his father in two years, an obligatory call when the man’s birthday floated around the corner. After that call, it was time to let him go, hiring an at-home nursing company to take care of the elderly man until his final days. The feeling of you pinching his side brought him out of his mind, looking down at you to see your face, while smiling, eyes filled with concern.

“Everything okay up here?” you mumbled, one of your hands leaving his side.

He shivered as he felt your hands run through his hair, the shorter nails scratching against his scalp. 

“Everything’s fine,” he mumbled back, his head bending back in slight thrill at the feeling of your running lines through his hair.

“Just happy, at everything that’s happened, how much my life changed the moment I came here.”

You smiled, lifting yourself up at the tips of your toes, before placing a longing kiss on his cheek, “I’m assuming it changed for the better?” you questioned.

He nodded his head, before tightening his grip on you, his heart leaping out of his chest as he heard your squeals as he dipped your body down. 

“Kento!” You squealed, holding onto him, as he leaned over you, beginning to press kisses all along your face. 

The sun hovered over the two of you, shining over your love as he kissed you, and you accepted his love in full force as well. In the background, you could hear your little girl telling the two of you to hurry up in her little sweet voice. Slowly lifting you up, Kento held you close, feeling your head leaning against his arms as the two of you walked into the Orchard, towards the pond. 

What good is a man, if he is a lost man?

He’s not good to anyone at all, but now a lost man has something to look forward to. A light to guide him. 

A lost man has been found and surrounded with the love he deserves. 

[strzxrin]

i yearn to see something written about islous 🙏 (btw your writing is style is genuinely so beautiful, consuming your content has been a wonderful experience)

we both like apple cider !

synopsis. ┆  you went out on a date with a goddess despite what you've heard about her. and she wasn't as scary as she seemed.

tags/warnings. ┆  gn!reader, fluff, picnic date, she's actually just a loser under all that intimidation

characters. ┆  islous ( resistance and freedom . goddess and vampire character )

a/n. ┆ guys istg you all need to give my pevarra ocs more love bc PLSSS i promise yall that they're all just loser coded deep down (everyone is loser coded deep down) BUT ALSO THANK YOU NONNIE THATS SO SWEET??? im gonna cry istg you're so sweet. i do hope you like this though!

masterlist ┆ character wiki

she had done everything to make sure it looked perfect. from the setting of the garden to the food that she brought. 

she wanted this to be a fun time for you, and she just hopes that you’ll like it. this was her first time having to properly court someone after her ascension. 

before this, it was everyone else who prepared the date, and she would just be there to give them a chance but never giving them a second chance. 

but for you? she wanted to make it special. she wanted you to accept her and have more dates with her. she’s just worried that it might not be to your liking.

when you came to the spot you had brought your own food and it was just some cookies because she told you to not prepare much since she has everything that is needed. 

the view is stunning, in a field of flowers and underneath a tree, the wind was blowing just right, and the food looked amazing. you’d smile at her gently and she’s give a small smile back. 

“do you like it? the place i picked out for you” she asks softly, wondering if she had made the right choice. you’d gently hold her hand and nod “this place is beautiful, islous. thank you for preparing all of this” 

your voice never sounded ever more sweetly than it has currently. her ears turned slightly pink but she nodded. “i wanted everything to look nice, you deserve the best after all” she says softly. 

this was her domain, at least the freedom part of it. she wanted you to feel free and loosen yourself with her. 

and you did. 

the energy in the domain felt calm, and you could be at peace.

the two of you talked the whole day until it went into sunset and you had fun with her. she made conversation flow easily, and you showed her the little bracelets you made and gave it to her.

she’ll most definitely cherish this and keep it in a little box of all the things that you’ve given her. everything went perfect, and all she wants is to keep doing this with you.

[nonbinairyboi]

Nothing Left - Chapter 2

Chapter Summary: You grow closer to Ellie and go on patrol with a new extra set of hands.

Pairing: Joel Miller x nonbinary!Reader/OC (afab, dimples, has multiple nicknames but none are their name)

Word Count: ~3.2

Series Masterlist (w/ ASL) | Read on AO3 | Playlist

Chapter Warnings: Mild violence. Slight reference to general depression and anxiety. Misgendering a bit/wrong name being used. 

Previous Chapter | Next Chapter

Chapter 2

As the cold began to creep further into Jackson, you found yourself busier and busier, picking up any odd jobs you could.

You helped with the farming, the greenhouses, patrol, as well as picking up some mending jobs as you could. It was comforting to have something you could work on at home to quiet your mind.

At night, without anything to focus on, your mind could go off on its own and run into a thick dark forest, getting caught up in the tendrils of leaves and branches blocking your path. It always surprised you how the smallest, most mundane things would catapult you to another place and time, and lately it felt like all of those places were cold and abrasive.

Mornings had become one of your favorite times of day, which was ironic because you used to hate them before the outbreak. Before the outbreak, it signified a slog of going to school, then going to work to slave a way at a job for minimal pay. At the QZ, it had been the same, feeling heavier as the jobs were harder and your days would take more gut-wrenching turns. On the road, they were bittersweet. It meant that you had made it another day, but that was a thought often tinged with regret. Why were you still here? Did you really have to continue another day?

Now, mornings had come to be a bit more peaceful. Even when you woke up from a dream that left you feeling anxious or out of breath, you could close your eyes and take deep breaths while hearing the gentle birds outside your window. There was a thicket of trees near the back of your house that hadn’t been chopped down for wood, and they housed quite the collection of songs.

A few months into living in Jackson, you had started to take morning walks after bad dreams. They weren’t very long, but they generally helped. You avoided the busier parts of town, staying where it was still quiet and you only encountered a few people with smiles and nods. It felt like a warm-up for the social interactions of the day. Once the air had cleansed your mind, you wandered towards the center of town to grab some food.

Today, you had awoken with an uneasy feeling, but you couldn’t remember the dream that had caused it. After a few minutes of walking and focusing on your breaths and the soft crunch underneath your feet, the cold fist that had gripped the inside of your chest seemed to warm up and loosen as you turned towards town.

You had patrol with Eugene later in the morning, but you had a few hours till then. You grabbed food and slid into a spot at the end of a table, away from the few people who already sat around. 

Taking a breath, you zoned out staring at the light that poured in from the window. It reminded you of the way the light would come in your childhood home during winter break from school, when you got up early, still accustomed to the weekly schedule. Laying on the carpeted floor and studying the rainbow that the prism hanging in the side window created next to you.

You were jolted out of your thoughts by a loud clatter directly across from you at the table. You jumped slightly at the unexpected noise and turned around to lock eyes with the person who had abruptly brought you back to the present. 

Ellie winced when your eyes met and mumbled a quiet, “Shit, sorry!”

You tried to school your features into a smile to show that she didn’t need to be sorry. 

She plopped down into her seat and picked up and studied an apple from her plate.

“Joel told me that back when people went to grocery stores, they used to put stickers on apples. That seems too weird to be true though.” She said with a furrowed brow.

You couldn’t help the giggle that bubbled its way out of your throat. 

Ellie smirked and turned her attention back to you. “Soooo…. Is it true?” she asked.

The side of your mouth stayed tilted up as you nodded back at her. Ellie narrowed her eyes.

“Really? It’s not just a joke he was trying to get me to believe?” 

Your smile grew as you nodded again.

“That is so weird.” She turned her eyes skeptically back to the apple before taking a large bite out of it. 

“Soo, Chhhaaaarlie,” She said, drawing out the first part of Eugene’s moniker for you as she chewed, making you squint a bit at the sound of her trying to talk around her bite. She paused for a bit as she finished. “How do you even keep up conversations? Does it annoy you that people just kinda talk at you? Can you talk and just choose not to?”

You raised your eyebrows at her. A smirk formed on your lips at her direct questions. Most people skirted around the topic, stuttering a bit when they asked you something regarding your silence, not meeting your eyes. She made you feel like more of a person than most of the community had as a whole. You shrugged and tilted your head to the side, meeting her gaze.

“Fine, keep your secrets,” she said, squinting at you, before launching into a monologue about what she had been up to lately. How she loved learning but hated school generally. That she thought it was pointless when they stuck to the same curriculum that people had had before clickers existed. She admitted that they learned other things too, but still seemed annoyed at the concept of having to write an essay in the smallest print she could to save paper. Most other things besides notes were written on small white boards.

You got up together as you finished your respective breakfasts. She trailed after you as you went towards the stables, reasoning to yourself that you had enough time to help with the horses, but not quite enough time to go home and rest before your patrol. Ellie stopped abruptly in front of the board where name plaques hung, indicating who was on what patrol, staring at the plaque that had ‘Gabby’ written on it. 

“I didn’t know you were on patrol,” she said brightly. “Maybe I could tag along sometime.”

You gave her a disapproving look. You knew that she must know the age limit on patrols and you weren’t about to be on the wrong side of her brooding dad’s temper.

Ellie let out an annoyed and slightly childish grunt of a sigh in return. “Ugh, I thought you were one of the cool ones.” She dragged her feet as you moved further into the stables.

“Does it bug you that the thing says ‘Gabby’?” she asked quietly. You halted in your motion to grab the pitchfork. Frowning, you turned back to study her. She was far more discerning than you gave her credit for. As she looked at you, it felt like she was seeing further into you than anyone had in a long time and it made your heart stick in your throat for a moment. 

So much good could have come from a mind and heart like hers in the time before, you thought. Although, who knows, she might have been stomped on all the same, just in a different way than the apocalypse had.

After some moments of silence, you shrugged and put on a weak smile. She didn’t seem pleased with your response as she continued to stare at you. 

You nodded your head to the side to indicate that she should probably get going. You pointed at her and then signed ‘go’ and ‘school’ in ASL. You hoped someone had taught her some of the signs you used. You hadn’t ever tried to teach anyone grammar, so you stuck to the basics.

She looked at you and repeated the sign for ‘school’, clapping her hands together more forcefully than you had. “Does that mean ‘leave me alone’?” she asked. You shook your head quickly, not wanting her to think you were tired of her. After a moment, you pointed more directly in the direction of the school and mimed a teacher in front of a board. 

“Oh, school?” she asked quickly. You nodded, the both of you smiling at the moment of shared understanding. “School,” she repeated while signing. You waved your hand in front of her face to get her attention before repeating the sign slower, showing the angle that your hands came together at. She copied you, correcting her hand placement. You nodded at her with a smile. 

“I used to know someone who used that.” She said after a moment, her demeanor changing to solemn. You felt your stomach drop. Had you sent her into a spiral by communicating? You couldn’t bear the thought that your mere existence might cause her pain even without you speaking. It was obvious that she was using the past-tense for a reason. 

After a moment, you saw her raise her glistening eyes to you. She then put a small smile on her face and surprised you by signing to you without prompting. “Endure and Survive,” she said while signing. You could tell that it meant something deeper to her, so you did the only thing you could think of that might provide support. You kept your eyes on her as you repeated the signs back at her with a more serious face than you had used before. It seemed to work, as the corners of her lips turned up despite her wet eyes. 

After a moment more of silence, she abruptly turned, calling out a quick “bye!” behind her.

You stared after her before mentally shaking yourself out of your trance and picking up the neglected pitchfork to start your task. 

Not long after you finished, as you moved on to saddling your horse, a teenager you didn’t know well rushed in, looking stressed. You thought his name might be Jesse. He caught your eye and looked around the stalls. “Did you already muck the stalls?” he asked in a rush. You nodded politely. “You saved my ass!” he exclaimed, making you laugh. “I’ll update the log and get on with it then. Thank’s Gabby!” You nodded and continued your work. 

A few minutes later, you heard the crunching of leaves from outside, signifying that someone else would be joining you in the stables. Assuming it would be Eugene, you whipped around to pin him with a smirk, your hands on your hips. Your smile immediately dropped and your eyebrows shot up as you met a less familiar pair of steely eyes. Joel Miller.

Silence passed as you stared at each other, both seemingly surprised to see the other. You couldn’t quite interpret the look in his eyes at seeing you. It was obvious he thought the stables would be empty save for some stablehands, but there was something else lurking behind that reaction. Something more personal. 

The tension was broken as Eugene strolled in behind him and you both turned to face him. 

“You know each other?” He asked, moving past Joel to start saddling his own horse, aptly named ‘Spot’ by one of the younger children in town. Joel seemed to grunt before correcting himself and replying “Not really, no.” You nodded and shrugged your agreement to his assessment. 

“Joel will be joining us today. There was some evidence of more movement than usual along the trail yesterday,” Eugene explained. “I call this one Charlie, although everyone else calls ‘em Gabby. Neither of those are their name from what I can tell, but this one is just too damn polite to correct us.”

Joel studied you a moment before taking a few steps forward and holding out his hand to shake. “Joel.” he said, while you reached out your hand and shook his. His grip was firm and you thought maybe he looked surprised at how firm yours was in return. He probably was like the rest of town, assuming that because you could get jumpy once in a while in town and were quiet, that you were weak and skittish in general. 

“Don’t let Charlie fool you,” Eugene remarked as if reading your mind. “They are tougher than they look. And a good shot too.” 

Joel’s eye flicked down your body and back up, as if he could somehow assess whether or not you could shoot straight by looking at you. You were a little taller than average for your body type, but the rest of you gave nothing away. After a moment, he either found what he was looking for or gave up, as he turned toward the horse he favored, who was named Whiskey. 

You finished saddling your horse, Nightshade, and then caught Eugene’s attention while indicating that you needed to go check out guns for patrol. Eugene said “Go on ahead, we got ours on the way in.” Going up to the gun shed, you checked out a pistol and a bolt action rifle, before smiling at Robin behind the counter. You were 80% sure that the teenager you had seen earlier was her son. 

When you arrived back at the stables, Eugene and Joel were finishing up. 

“Let’s go.” Joel gruffly said.

“After you,” Eugene replied, staying in the stall as Joel strode past. You followed Joel out of the stables, leading Nightshade behind you, hearing Eugene fall into place in back. As you reached the front gates, you all waited as the tall gates were pulled open for you. 

“How often have you done Elk Creek?” Eugene asked, side-eyeing Joel. 

“Only a few times. I generally go on Alpine Valley or Teton Village.” Joel replied.

“Well, good thing you’re paired with Charlie and I then,” Eugene said, swinging up onto his horse. 

Joel grunted, although you couldn't tell if it was warily or in agreement, following suit as he mounted Whiskey. You jumped up as well and maneuvered yourself in front. You always loved the first glance out into the wilderness when the gates opened. Despite the fear that an open landscape had instilled in you throughout the outbreak, it also allowed you to take deeper breaths. Some days everything about you seemed like a contradiction. 

“Charlie’ll lead the way,” Eugene explained, falling in step behind you next to Joel. 

The next ten minutes were spent in relative silence as you made your way towards the regularly trodden path towards Elk Creek. Your eyes darted around, wary of any movement you saw in the wind. 

Eugene called up to you as you began to enter a thicker area of trees. “They said that there were a lot of footprints overlapping about a mile before the cabin. Said there were definitely some infected if the wonky path they led was any indication, but that there were some other tracks that seemed to cross paths with them that had a straighter trail. Keep your eyes peeled.”

You stuck your arm to the side and gave him a thumbs up, not wanting to become distracted from the path ahead. You pulled your rifle off your shoulder and held it across your front, adjusting the reins until you were satisfied that you could set up a shot and fire quickly if needed.

“Y’all run into infected or raiders on this trail together before?” Joel gruffed. 

“Quite a few times actually, but none were too iffy. Charlie is the kind of person you want as your backup in those situations. Got their head on straight, especially on patrol. And one of the only people I’ve never known to talk too much and distract their partner.” Eugene replied.

You smirked from your place in front of them, feeling slightly bashful to be talked about so directly.

Joel cleared his throat, “From what I’ve heard so far, I’m more worried about you, Eugene.”

Eugene let out a laugh. “Well, that might be a bit true. I know when to be quiet, though. Between us three and your kid, I think we fill in the full spectrum of chattiness.”

Joel puffed out a small laugh. “She could learn a few things from - uh - Charlie here on that one.”

You dragged your eyes away from the path ahead to look back and catch Joel’s eyes. Once your eyes locked, you lifted the edges of your lips up and shook your head.

“Charlie seems to have the opposite effect on those around ‘em. As soon as they walk into a room, I swear the room gets louder, but not due to anything they do. People just seem to take Charlie’s silence as an invitation to unburden themselves of any thoughts they’ve ever had.” Eugene remarked good-naturedly. 

You let out a small laugh at that. You heard the steps of one of the horses behind you stop momentarily at the sound. You bit your lip, wondering if Joel was surprised that you could make any noise at all or if it was something else about your laugh that had surprised him. You mentally shook your head to focus back on the task at hand. You were always nervous in front of new people, but out here, that wasn’t what was important. 

Eugene and Joel continued chatting behind you as you rode. Well, to be fair, it was mostly Eugene talking, with grunts and one-word replies from Joel. When you were about a mile out from where the tracks had been seen, you held your hand up to stop the two behind you. You turned back and signed ‘voice lock’ back to Eugene, to indicate that it was time to stop chatting. Eugene straightened on his horse, but said nothing. 

“What’s that mean?” Joel asked. 

“It means it’s time to stop yackin’, at least out loud” Eugene replied at a lower volume than he had been using before. 

Joel grunted his assent and kept quiet. 

As you rounded the next curve in the trail, something up ahead caught your eye. It looked like a flash of something shiny, which spurred you into action. You halted Nightshade and brought your rifle up, looking through the scope towards the glint. You heard the other two stop behind you. After a moment, you found what had caught your attention, but it only confused you more. 

Tied to a branch amongst the trees far ahead, someone had tied a silver ribbon. An uneasy feeling overtook you as you stared at it. It seemed deliberately put there, but why?

After a moment of tense silence as you looked around the area through your scope hoping to find any further indication of what it could mean, you heard a sudden thrashing sound from both sides of the path. 

You quickly shouldered your rifle and began to unholster your pistol as you heard Eugene and Joel yell something unintelligible to each other. 

A moment later, as you were flicking the safety off of your pistol, you heard a shot ring out from your left. You turned quickly to look towards where the shot came from just as a strong hand grabbed onto your right leg, causing you to cry out in surprise. 

You heard Eugene shout your name as a pain sliced through your calf, and suddenly, you were falling diagonally back off of Nightshade as a force pulled you sideways just as Nightshade reared up on her hind legs. You desperately put the safety back on your gun as you hurtled towards the ground.

Next Chapter

[ephemerasnape]

A Five Hundred Galleon Whore 🔞

"Don’t fight me, sweetheart,” he warned, gently easing her head back by the hair. “You can cooperate,” he continued, beginning to kiss down the exposed skin of her neck, “or I can let every man in my ranks take his fill of you.”

► Victor Rookwood x F!OC

An epilogue for Paying the Piper...

This contains significant spoilers for Paying the Piper so please read that first if you haven't already. It's a quick read.

SMUT - 3,200 words - NONCON / Extremely Dubious Consent

► Read on ao3 or below.

In Oddments & Oddities, the newest shop in Hogsmeade, dim candlelight illuminated two figures of very recent acquaintance – a witch and a wizard. But, most importantly, a man and a woman.

He was taller and she was smaller. She was clad in only her nightclothes, while he was fully dressed. He was armed, whereas she had left her wand at her bedside.

In other words, she was in the best kind of trouble.

The shopkeeper stood barefoot by her till, toe-to-toe with a handsome dark wizard.

“The apple doesn’t fall from the tree, after all,” he’d said - Rookwood.

Elisabeth furrowed her brow in confusion. Apple? Does this mean...?

This man is... Oswald’s father?

Trapped between the crime lord and the counter, Elisabeth barely dared breathe.

“Please, sir,” she squeaked only to be hushed and pulled closer to him by the waist. She let out an “eep” as her body collided with the man’s larger form, separated only by a thin bit of linen.

Elisabeth could smell the unmistakable scent of firewhisky on his breath as he leaned in and began to whisper directly into her ear.

"Don’t fight me, sweetheart,” he warned, gently easing her head back by the hair. “You can cooperate,” he continued, beginning to kiss down the exposed skin of her neck, “or I can let every man in my ranks take his fill of you.”

The shopkeeper shivered and let out a low moan in response to the horrific threat, causing the gang leader to chuckle in response. As he continued to lathe, suck on, and kiss the delicate skin just underneath her ear, Lissie became utterly weak in the knees. But worse - against her wishes, the heat between her legs grew – pulsed.

I want… I need... No!

She felt his thick rod press against her stomach in kind and gasped. Despite having emptied himself in one of his whores earlier, Victor’s cock stood rock hard. But while the man was raring to go, Lissie was torn. Frightened and, she hated to admit, extremely aroused.

“I love you.”

The words rang through Elisabeth’s head as if to say "stop - don’t do this!"

Oswald.. Such a sweet boy.. Elisabeth knew how hurt Oswald would be if he ever found out about this happening. If she allowed it to happen. To continue. And yet, the dark wizard’s firm grip, his masculine scent, the dominance that radiated off of him…

To say she was conflicted in that moment would be a severe understatement. She knew that most witches would give their eyeteeth to be bedded by this wizard. He was handsome, confident, well-dressed, wealthy, and powerful. His voice alone sent shivers down her spine.

But sense had fled Elisabeth Lancaster, and she felt physically unable to resist the dark wizard’s advances.

“Please,” was all the woman could manage – her ardent, unconscious wish to have the burden of this moment lifted from her shoulders.

And so it was.

Rookwood took hold of her hand suddenly, his other arm wrapped tightly around her waist and, without warning, Elisabeth felt herself pulled through the vortex of apparition.

Coming out the other side, the wizard then eased her, disoriented and slightly nauseated, to her knees onto a Persian rug. The room was bright - causing Elisabeth to squint as her eyes adjusted to the light. 

The world spinning around her, Elisabeth nonetheless looked up at the handsome wizard and took in his appearance properly for the first time. He was just as handsome, as striking as before – but now she could appreciate the fine embroidery on his coat, the subtle purple ribbon on his hat, the lines etched into his face.

She also realized that her own features must have been revealed to him as well, and as she crossed her arms over her bosom in an attempt at modesty, his face twisted into an expression that was both scornful and lustful at the same time.

Just when Lissie had started to get to her feet, the dark wizard placed a hand on top of her head.

“Ah, ah” he admonished, reaching for the fastenings on his trousers. “You’ll stay right there. My Scout tells me you have quite a taste for cock, and skill to match,” he explained as he revealed himself.

The shopkeeper felt sick to her stomach. Oswald was not only this man’s son, but he’d apparently told him the intimate details of their coupling.

Lissie shook her head, trying to scatter the negative thoughts racing through it. Surely, he was coerced – maybe even compelled. Imperio, maybe. Yes, that has to be it.

Rookwood’s erection appearing right in front of her face drew the witch’s attention back to the current moment. Struggling to hold back tears, Elisabeth reached forward and grasped the thick, fleshy organ – warm and engorged with blood. Slowly, she eased back the foreskin to reveal the head.

For a second she stared at it, then, looking up at the wizard it belonged to, partly in defiance and partly in submission, she leaned forward and began to lick and suck all around the sensitive crown, causing him to groan deeply.

“That’s it...”

She worked him just as she would Oswald – starting off by teasing and stimulating the head, licking up and down the shaft, cradling his balls.. Working him until he started to whine with frustration and wanted to spill down her throat more than anything. Elisabeth was pleased to notice the man’s hands clench into tight fists as she swallowed him down for the first time.

“Merlin,” he hissed, thankfully allowing her to please him unassisted. The Rookwood Gang leader just watched, pupils blown wide as the pretty witch coaxed more and more pleasure out of his manhood, feeling the pressure behind his balls growing with each passing moment.

Nearing completion, Victor grabbed hold of Elisabeth’s head, tangling his fingers in her deep black hair as he began to maneuver her mouth up and down the length of his cock.

Startled at first, the shopkeeper relaxed into the rough treatment.

“Suck me," he growled, thrusting himself down her throat, howling in pleasure as he shot his seed far past her gag reflex.

"Take it, whore."

Elisabeth scrambled to free herself for some seconds, struggling to breathe around the cock lodged down her throat. Finally, after what felt like an eternity, Rookwood released her and watched intently as she pulled back - surveying her red face, streaked with tears as she wretched and gagged.

“Crying already, Miss Lancaster?” he taunted, tucking himself away. “You made your bed and now you’re lying in it.”

This is what I made myself good for...

Elisabeth began weeping openly then. It was true – she had offered her body to Oswald in place of galleons. She had prostituted herself to the Rookwood Gang.

She was a 500 galleon whore. And now she was being treated like one.

Appearing to take pity on the younger witch, Rookwood placed a hand on her heaving shoulders.

“It isn’t so bad, darling,” he said softly, helping her get to her feet. As she stood sobbing quietly, the dark wizard pulled a handkerchief from his pocket to wipe the tears from her face.

“There, there,” he said, and the witch couldn’t be certain whether he was trying to comfort or mock her. “I’m sure you’re a wonderful witch outside of the bedroom as well.”

Elisabeth sniffed, turning her face away from him when she answered. “Thank you, sir.”

“But that’s not the deal we have, now, is it?” he asked, looking at the pale witch meaningfully.

“No, sir.”

“Good girl,” he answered, beginning to run his hands over her body through her flimsy nightdress, “because we’re not done yet."

Lissie gasped as the man slipped a finger between her folds, finding her quite wet.

“Ah, yes,” he grinned, circling her clit gently, “As I suspected..”

The witch froze, feeling very ashamed of her body’s reaction to the handsome wizard in front of her – she’d been turned on ever since he’d set foot in her shop, to be honest, but sucking cock almost always had this effect on her.

Her body wanted to be fucked, filled by him -- and she suspected that Mister Rookwood would do just that, whether or not her conscious mind agreed to it.

Confirming her suspicions, Rookwood pushed more than lead Elisabeth towards his bed, instructing her to remove her nightgown. Face reddened with humiliation, the shopkeeper complied, pulling the garment over her head to reveal her round breasts and pale skin to his hungry gaze.

“Perfect,” he whispered, stepping forward to take hold of Elisabeth’s right breast in a rough palm, his other hand cupping the back of her head – holding it still as he leaned in to kiss her.

The woman’s hazel eyes went wide, then softened as she relaxed into the kiss, and into his hand kneading her breast. Unlike Oswald’s clean-shaven face, Victor’s scruffy stubble and mustache irritated the skin around her mouth, but his kiss, his touch caused desire to grow even stronger in her belly.

Releasing her head, the dark wizard guided Elisabeth gently onto the bed and began to disrobe – removing his hat, which took a good foot off his height, and coat, hanging them up carefully, then letting the rest of his clothing fall unceremoniously to the floor.

Lying still on his bed, Lissie felt her heart racing as he slowly approached her, ice blue eyes boring into her own, and his erection bobbing ominously with each step. The shopkeeper wet her lips with nervous anticipation as she considered her current situation.

Her pussy was still sore from Oswald earlier. She hadn’t taken anything for it because, well, she kind of liked the feeling. It had been so long since she’d been fucked that she hadn’t been used to it.

Now she’d be fucking two men in a single day. Not just any two men either – but father and son, for Merlin's sake!

Still, Elisabeth lay quietly, part of her wanting this to happen. Needing it to happen.

Rookwood dimmed the lights before settling on top of her, gently prying her knees apart. The witch looked away in embarrassment but didn’t protest as her most private area was exposed to him.

She whined as he exposed her even further by manually separating her outer lips to reveal the glistening folds in between, muttering something that sounded like approval as he took himself in hand, guiding the head of his cock towards her opening.

Elisabeth braced for discomfort, but instead of pushing in, the dark wizard began to slide the head of his cock up and down her wet slit – being sure to traverse its entire length each time.

The witch groaned, and Victor’s eyes were drawn to her dark hair spread out on the pillow behind her, her hands resting palm-up on each side of her head in surrender as he continued to tease her.

He grinned as he noticed the witch underneath him shift her legs apart slightly – urging him on in the gentlest of fashions - but he wanted more than a subtle gesture.

He wanted her full and unrestrained submission.

“Tell me what you want, love,” he said softly, continuing to tease her opening and her clit with the broad head of his cock.

Elisabeth whimpered and moaned quietly despite flushing deeply in humiliation. “Please.. Don’t make me.”

“Oh, you’ll beg for it,” Victor explained, teasing the first millimeter or two of his length into her opening. “You want this, don’t you?”

The shopkeeper sighed, spreading her legs even further. “Yes,” she admitted in the tiniest of voices.

“Yes, what?” Rookwood demanded, thrusting in and out of her wet entrance just the tiniest bit.

“Yes, please, I want it,” Elisabeth hissed, reaching to take hold of the wizard’s hips.

Victor grinned. Close. She’s almost where I want her.

“Am I still forcing you?” he asked and Lissie shook her head.

“Uh-un.”

“Tell me what’s happening.”

Elisabeth growled in frustration. Unable to stand further teasing, the witch attempted to pull his hips towards her, trying to get his cock in deeper.

“Please.. I can’t..” she began, before finally throwing her head back in frustration. “You’re going to fuck me,” she wailed. “We’re going to fuck. Please! Please – I need you to fuck me!”

Satisfied, the dark wizard, slowly and deliberately, began to push forward. “That’s all I wanted to hear, sweetheart,” he groaned as her sheath enveloped every inch of his penis.

“Merlin, you’re tight…”

Fingernails digging into Victor’s hips, Lissie wrapped her legs around his waist. “Please, fuck me!” she cried, and Rookwood obliged, beginning to thrust his pelvis forward at a steady pace – ensuring full contact between their bodies with each thrust.

It didn’t hurt. She could tell she was a little raw but it just added to the intensity of the sensation of this handsome wizard’s girth stretching her.

They both groaned as he began to fuck her in earnest, the room filled with the sound of skin slapping – the wet sound of their bodies connecting where it mattered most.

Leaning forward so that his mouth was right beside her ear, Victor spoke in a low, husky voice: “That’s my little slut, opening her legs nice and wide for me like a good girl..”

Lissie moaned desperately as he continued. Something about the way he fucked – how his body ground against hers in just the right place – it was more pleasurable than any other time she’d been fucked before.

Or maybe she was just that turned on.

“Tell me you love this cock, whore,” he demanded with more malice in his voice than she would like. Still, she played along.

“Yes! I love your cock!”

“And whose cock is it that you need?”

If she hadn’t been so consumed by lust, Lissie would have rolled her eyes at the sheer ego involved in this exchange.

“Gods, please... Mister Rookwood. I need your cock!”

He took hold of her wrists then, pinning them down as he began to pound into her.

“This is what you wanted,” he groaned, and Elisabeth couldn’t be sure whether he was talking to her or himself. “All this time,” he ground out in between grunts. “Messing around with a boy.”

“I’m.. I’m sorry!” Elisabeth cried, secretly relishing being held down and ravished just as he was doing.

“This pussy belongs to me… that little whore mouth..”

The witch nodded, “Yes, yes! A real wizard! A real man! Like you!”

“Mmm,” Rookwood growled, feeling his heavy balls begin to tighten. “You want my cum in you, don’t you, slut?”

Elisabeth’s eyes went wide again as she realized he was planning on finishing inside her. “Yes, sir! Come in me… Please!”

“You want me to come in you?” he reiterated, pounding into her desperately, his movements determined as he approached his release. His voice lowered to a sinful near-whisper: “come right in you…” “Gods, yes, Mister Rookwood. Please!”

Mind addled by pleasure, the dark wizard continued to groan dirty things in the witch’s ear as he pistoned his cock in and out of her cunt as deep and hard as he could go.

Seemingly out of nowhere, Elisabeth noticed a marked increase in the tension between her thighs. “Oh gods,” she whined, widening her legs as far apart as she could for more contact and reaching – reaching for something.

“I’m going to..!” she exclaimed, and Rookwood pulled back just enough to reach between their bodies and rub her clit firmly.

“Come for me, slut,” he ordered. Straining into the contact, his cock deep inside of her, a wave of intense pleasure washed over the shopkeeper, her cunt spasming wildly as her entire body shook.

"That’s it..” he hissed with satisfaction as he felt the witch clench around him, watched her eyes roll back into her head, her cries filling in the room as she came – experiencing her first ever orgasm during coitus.

But the dark wizard on top of her didn’t give her a second to recover, continuing to thrust just as hard if not even harder into her grasping cunt, causing her to gasp as her sensitive sex was crushed between them over and over again.

The witch whimpered, knowing that asking him to stop would be futile, she hoped and prayed he would finish soon as each snap of his hips sent an intense jolt through her body.

On his part, Rookwood was enjoying her swollen pussy immensely, angling his cock just so her increased tightness would stimulate the organ in all the right places.

“Come in me, Victor,” Elisabeth pleaded, “Please – come in m—.” Her words were stifled as he captured her lips in a searing kiss. She wrapped her arms around the dark wizard, kissing him back as his hips slammed against hers feverishly.

Sensing his approaching orgasm, Elisabeth squeezed her inner muscles around him through his last few, erratic thrusts -- his whole body stilling as he emptied himself inside her.

The witch swore she could almost feel him pulsing his release against the entrance to her womb.

Breathless, Rookwood collapsed on top of the petite witch, his softening cock still lodged deep inside her as she lay in a state of near-shock, her pussy, still shuddering in the wake of their deed, began to drip with his seed.

Elisabeth didn’t know what to do, say, or think. She’d just been fucked by the most notorious and powerful dark wizard in the Highlands. A "real" man, but also...

The father of her lover.

The man in question, sticky with sweat, pressed a kiss to her forehead.

“I accept your terms.”

Elisabeth raised an eyebrow. “Terms?”

Rookwood grinned. “You offered yourself to my Scout instead of paying me tribute, did you not?”

“Well, yes, but…”

The dark wizard rolled off of her then, turning his head to look at her meaningfully.

“So I’m cutting out the middle man, so to speak. You’re now to pay me. Directly.”

The witch nodded, stifling tears. How the tables have turned.

“And Oswald?”

“He’s free to do as he pleases,” the wizard said with a dismissive flick of his wrist.

The shopkeeper sobbed with relief. So there might be hope for her and Oswald after all. But would he still want her after he learned, well.. Did he need to learn that she was fucking his father?

“Will you tell him?” she asked quietly, afraid of the answer.

Elisabeth watched the dark wizard’s face as he considered the question carefully.

“If you behave yourself, I won’t tell him. He’ll be told I’ve sent one of my girls to collect your tribute instead.”

Lissie nodded. She wasn’t sure she liked being dishonest about something so important, hiding what was happening from Oswald, but she hadn’t been given a choice concerning this arrangement. At least now she’d have time to think about how and whether she wanted to tell him.

Then another thought occurred to the witch. Hadn’t Oswald mentioned never having known his father?

“Does he know that you’re his father?”

Rookwood frowned. “He does not. And I’d vastly prefer to keep it that way.”

Victor got up out of bed and pulled on a house robe. Going about his business, he glanced over at his new plaything as if confused to see her still in his bed.

“You’re dismissed,” he said casually, pouring himself a glass of Ogden’s Best as she slipped out of bed, allowing her a few moments to begin dressing, her back to him.

He turned then, focusing on the specific portion of her memory concerning his relationship with Oswald outside that of employer and employee.

“Obliviate.”

[cebwrites]

dinner (who's waiting for you)

oc | gen cw: brief suicide mention near the end (sakumo) word count: 1k

Tae's approached by one of his classmates in the academy, they're not close but they've talked on and off while passing around assignments.

The kid says he's fed up with his home life - his dad's snoring, his mom's nagging, the petty fights he gets into with his siblings over toys - he wants to run away and invites Tae to come with because he's "a good guy". Tae doesn't say anything to agree nor object, just wordlessly tagging along while his classmate complains.

They spend the day walking around the village, taking breaks to stop and draw, eat snacks, and practice with cardboard shuriken in the park. Tae even shows off simple techniques like walking up trees or on water to impress his friend for the day.

When the sun starts to set, Tae asks him what he plans to do for sleeping arrangements that night and his classmate draws a blank; obviously, none of this was thought through because they were academy students no older than eight, if even that. Both kids stare at each other while a crow flies overhead.

Tae offers his place after a beat and his classmate enthusiastically agrees, quickly trying to wave away any awkwardness.

On the way there, the other kid boasts about how worried his mom would be right about now and how maybe after today his family would start appreciating him the way he deserves to be. Tae doesn't respond but his acquaintance doesn't take it to heart; he's always been quiet so this isn't anything out of the ordinary.

As Tae fishes his keys out to unlock the front entrance to a house frankly bigger than most his classmate's been to, he mentions between sparkly eyes at the abode that since they've been out so long Tae's parents are sure to be worried too as the door slowly opens - his enthusiasm fizzles out when the darkened hallway and the corners of an empty living room come into view.

Without turning to meet his gaze, Tae simply says that Hyou and Gen-nii were out on missions and wouldn't be home for a while, his brother was staying over at a friend's house for a week, and his father was never here anyway. He... didn't have a mother. So there was no one at home for him to worry.

His classmate visibly shrinks, the weight of his faux pas sinking into and wriggling uncomfortably in the pit of his stomach as he comes up with a sheepish excuse to go home after all. Tae just stares as the boy waves an awkward goodbye and runs off.

A pleasant smell fills his senses as Tae walks through the threshold and turns on the lights, along with an undercurrent of something burnt underneath. A young Pakkun rounds the corner to greet him; Kakashi follows him a second later, panting and complaining that he looked around all evening for Tae.

Kakashi's dinner was simple; meat and potatoes, rice, and a few croquettes, one of which was almost blackened. He told Tae to ignore that one as he took his seat by the kotatsu, making a disgruntled squawk as Pakkun exposed him for being careless by reading comics when he should've been watching the stove. All in all though, not a bad spread for a twelve year old's cooking skills.

As the dog boys argued about the technicalities of burnt food, Tae sat and started piling meat and vegetables onto his and Kakashi's rice bowls; when he got to the croquettes Tae picked up the "charred" one and took a bite without hesitation, stopping the conversation in its tracks.

Pakkun was the first to mention that he shouldn't force himself - that he probably would've stolen it off the table himself later - but as the tears started to drip from his expressionless face, cheek-fulls of rice, and the statement that this was food that Kaka-nii made so he planned to finish ever last bite, even the bitter ones, their expressions softened.

Kakashi got a glass of apple juice from the fridge to help wash the taste down, ruffling the kid's hair as he got back to the table, and Pakkun spent the rest of dinner with his head in Tae's lap - valiantly resisting the instinct to paw for scraps, since his job now was to comfort the boy with his unfathomable cuteness - though he got pets and scratches behind the ear every now again, so he could live with it.

Taeru did, indeed, finish every last bite; to the point where it lead him to a food coma under the tatami afterwards, leaving Kakashi to clean up since Pakkun was tucked comfortably against his armpit.

Kakashi grumbled at first, at no one in particular since the house was empty aside from them, but as his complaints died down and he had a moment to him thoughts, alone again. He was grateful that he never really was truly alone.

When his father took his own life in shame and left a six year old Kakashi to fend for himself, the remaining member of Sakumo's team visited almost every other day to make sure he was alright - either in person or getting Genma and Hyou to make food deliveries. Being fair, Kakashi very much wasn't, but having someone to bother him meant it kept his mind from spiraling too fair.

Some nights he just wanted to be left alone and made that clear by kicking his childhood friends out, but on others it was a welcome respite from the overwhelming noise in his head. Whether Kakashi wanted to admit it or not, they had slowly started to come irreplaceable staples in his life. Almost as much if not more than Minato's guidance, Rin's kindness, and Obito's knuckleheaded behavior.

Being able to pay back the favor now, being asked by the two of them to keep eye on the collective baby brother while Gen and Hyou had to leave the village for a while?

Even Kakashi, as much as of an arrogant brat as he could be most of the time, would just feel like an ingrate if he declined.

[roseofithaca]

Sanctuary

Following on from @idiotwithanipad 's Breathe, set in her Era Swap AU ft our ocs Silver and Amy.

-

"Sss-at? Shha-?"

"Non. Look." Her Ladyship pointed to the embroided image below the word. Four legs, a tail and long whiskers.

"Ah! T'is a moggy! 'Ow strange, I dids think that word be much longer."

"Cat, Marie." Sophie corrected, with a hint of amusement. "C-a-t."

She ran her finger across each letter in the cloth.

"Oh...But why it not be 'sat' then, milady?"

"Do not ask me. Is why I cannot stand the language. Nothing make sense." She said with a shake of her head; "En francais, we do say 'cha'".

"So I be almost right!"

"Hehe, I suppose. Perhaps would be better we teach you French. Your daughter's is coming along nicely." Sophie returned to her seat by the fireplace, returning to her next stitch, intending to make a new hood for Aimée's birthday.

Mary grinned with pride; "Oh, she always been such a bright little button. I often wish she beens born a boy, for noughts reason then she coulds have gone to school, then to one of them fancy learnin' castles - like the Oxbridge. She'd have loved it, she woulds."

Her hands, far rougher than her highborn companion, suddenly paused in her work.

"Ooh! T'was an awful thing I dids just utter!" Mary covered her mouth, "Pay me no mind, milady, I woulds not change my little'en for the world."

"Peace, Marie." Sophie reached across to pet her hand, "You not be the first mother to make such a wish, only out of sadness for a world that denies our girls to reach their potential."

The farmer woman nodded, sniffling. She lowered her hands back down to her needle and thread.

"My husband loves our Aimée more than all he owns, but I am sure he often secretly wished for her to have been a boy, if only to silence his father's ravings."

"Didn't thee ever....milady?"

Sophie paused in thought before shaking her head; "Non. I did feign...disappointment, as was expected. But truthfully, I felt relief. I had thought they would leave a girl alone, let me nurture and mould her as I saw fit. A boy would have been passed into Lord Bone's dirty hands, like dough to be kneaded into pan. Bread. I'd have had to watch him grow into...monster. Like him. Not like Humphrey."

Sadness swept over her face as she realised just how wrong she had been to have thought he wouldn't have cared to take any interest in Aimée. That she would be safe from him.

Now it was Mary's turn to comfort her lady. She finished her last stitch and presented the piece to the other woman.

"'Ow be this, milady?"

A crude but sweet image of two stick figures - in dresses going by the triangles on their bottom halves - holding hands. Underneath were the words 'Maree & Sofee'.

Her Ladyship chuckled. It were a little like receiving a quaint drawing from a toddler. But having got to know her sweet but simple new friend, she appreciated the effort gone into it. She would have it stitched into a pillow for her chambers.

"C'est belle, Marie. Merci beaucoup."

"Yous be most welcome, milady." She smiled back, showing that she remembered some of her Lady's funny foreign words; "And don't yous worry yourself now. You be a wonderful mummy. T'is not as if thou knew what that beast would do to your little'en. Menfolk have their own wicked wiles to trick us into giving them our trust."

"Is true. Perhaps I should have been better joining a convent." Sophie japed.

"Oh, they not all be bad. My John was a dear soul, God rest 'im. And His Lordship, he be a shinin' red apple that fell very far from that rotten tree."

Lady Sophie gave a hum of agreement, a ghost of a smile playing on her face as she turned to look out the window. Humphrey was absent a lot recently, having much to deal with now that he was effectively cut off from his father who had always taken charge of things. He'd employed extra guards for the womens protection, but she knew Aimée needed her father now more than ever. And perhaps Sophie was also missing him more than she expected she would.

A gentle knocking on the open door caused both women to raised their heads. In the threshold stood their respective daughters, Aimée holding the hand of her friend who was looking uncharacteristically downcast.

"Mama, pouvons-nous entrer?" Asked her daughter, oddly polite for once.

"Vos cours sont terminés?" Sophie asked.

"Oui."

"Qu'a dit ton professeur? A-t-il constaté une amélioration?" Her tone came across harsher than she meant it. She knew her daughter was clever, when she applied herself. Of course there had been a lot to distract her of late, but she didn't want for that to ruin her future.

Aimée shook her head; "Une autre fois, s'il te plaît, Mama. Il y a quelque chose d'important dont nous devons discuter d'abord."

"Silver?" Mary spoke up, taking note of how her daughter was hanging back in the doorway, her eyes on the floor. "Darling girl, be thee well?"

The young maid sniffled, her lips twitching as she struggled to put on a brave face. Even Sophie could see that she was not her usual chirpy and positive self.

"Has something happened?" Sophie asked in English, "Aimée?"

Aimée turned to Silver, placing her hands on her shoulders.

"Tell them. Go on." She encouraged.

Silver shook her head; "I can't, milady."

"You must. As I did, remember? And I be right here for you as you were for me." Aimée whispered, fingers squeezing into her friend's dress.

Mary put down her threads and got to her feet, quickly padding over to her now trembling child. Sophie was often struck by the height discrepancy between the two, perhaps Mary's husband had been a shorter man and their girl had taken after him.

She suspected that her friend had been struck with the same sense of de ja vue as she had, as they'd both been sat in the room barely a few weeks prior, when the two girls had entered together before Aimée's confession brought their world crashing down. Except now the roles seemed to be reversed. Sophie felt the dread creep up her ankles like stepping in a wet cuddle barefoot.

"Silver? Love, has something happened?" Mary asked, that flame of a mother's protective instinct visible in her eyes.

The maid's lips parted. She looked up at her mother, frozen for a moment, before she crumbled.

"Mummy-!" Her arms flung themselves around her mother's body and the girl wept openly into her chest.

Mary clutched her daughter close, one hand on the back of her head.

"Oh my darling! My darling girl, what cruel fate have befallen thee this time?!" She fretted, patting her down, "Pray God, that scoundrel hath not returned and harmed thee further?!"

Now Sophie was on her feet, rushing toward her own child.

"Aimée?! Your grandpére....He hasn't-?"

Thankfully, her daughter shook her head, "Non, Mama. He did not cause this...Not directly, at least."

"My baby, yous be shakin' like an 'alf-drowned kitten, you is!" Mary fretted, rubbing Silver's arms as the girl released all of her emotions in her mother's embrace.

Sophie pushed the chairs they had been sat on closer.

"Quickly now, come sit by the fire." She beckoned.

Mary guided Silver over and sat her down, staying close beside, no intention of loosening her arms around her anytime soon.

"Come now, little'en. Tell Mummy what has put thee in such a state." Mary said, rubbing her back.

Silver bit her lip and sniffled, struggling to speak between her ragged sobs.

Aimée stepped forward and knelt down beside her friend.

"Silver. Remember what I taught you in the kitchen. Deep breath now, mon ami."

The young maid nodded and straightened her back, then inhaled deeply, her eyes closed. Her pale fingers curled tightly around her mother's.

"M-Mummy...My L-Lady....I...I..." She rubbed her nose with the back of her hand; "I fear I has brought great danger 'pon us all."

Mary clutched her daughter's hands tight as she told them of the events unbeknownst to them earlier that day. As soon as Silver spoke of deciding to venture into the village on her own, her stomach immediately clenched with dread. She could have chided her for such a silly choice on its own but that were only the beginning of her tale.

Once she recounted the details of how the townsfolk had treated her with such fear and disdain, Mary felt her insides light up like a great furnace, fuelled with anger for them treating her darling girl so poorly. She didn't need to have been there, she had already seen the sneers and turned heads of gossip, back in their town of birth. The simmering cauldren of suspicion that had caused her to flee with Silver in the first place.

"Them wicked snakes! Be there no where with good, trustin' peoples?" Mary grumbled, rubbing Silver's fingers.

"I just don't understands, Mummy." Her little girl cried, "I has done nothin' but help our fellow workin' folk where I coulds, just as thee and Granny taught me! I has given brews to help ease the courses of maidens, I dids make poultices for the grocers boils, and I has never hads any complaints of my services before. Whys they turn on me now? What has I done wrong?!"

Silver's eyes wandered over to Her Ladyship, as if she may have a better chance of supplying the answer.

Sophie shook her head; "It not your fault, child. We live in time of great fear. They look for easy target to pin their worries on."

"Why's it have to be me? I only wanted to helps, I did." Silver mumbled, looking down at her lap. All Mary could see was the same little five year old who had looked so confused and guilty when she were told her ability to see the Unlivings might be mistaken as devilry.

Mary hugged her close again, rocking her slightly. What she wouldn't give just to be able to wrap her daughter up in cotton wool so she may never be harmed by this cruel world.

"It all be over now, my darlin'. Let's them have their rumours and chinwags, we know it not be true. Their silly words cannots reach us 'ere." Mary said, kissing the child's coif.

Silver sniffed; "....That wasn't the end, Mummy."

Mary froze. It was only at that moment she noticed the red stain on her daughter's headcovering. Tomato?

"What happened?" Asked Sophie.

Silver gave a look to Amy, who nodded. The young maid fiddled with the loose thread on her sleeve as she spoke.

"....On my return home, I were....accosted...by some youths. Mere boys. They dids circle me like vultures, hurlin' accusations...some accusin' me of witchery....and others....of sinful acts far more crude. I cannots dare to repeat them in front of Your Ladyship."

Sophie raised her chin. She was savvy enough to guess what kind of rumours these were. It took Mary a few seconds longer, when her jaw clenched. She could have stormed to the village there and then to tan the hides of every rotten lad in town to teach them a lesson.

"They then pelted me with whatevers they dids have on them, veg n' fruit, clumps o' mud-."

"The little toerags! I coulds string them up by their ears!" Mary hissed.

"But Mummy, I...I not be blameless in this tale." Silver admitted, "Before I fled, I...I dids retort back at them....with a curse."

Sophie gasped, nearly reeling back.

Mary blinked, then let out a nervous giggle; "A curse? No, little'en, you donts know any curses, you wouldnts-."

"I know, Mummy, but...I mades one up. I were so scared and I...I just wanted them to leave me be, I just wanted to scare them...And it worked. They fled in terror, they dids, but now..."

Silver broke into sobs again, curling her legs up onto the chair and falling across her mother's lap. It shattered Mary's heart. Even after her torture at the hands of that ogre, her daughter's spirit had remained strong. For this to have been what broke her...

Her Ladyship took in a breath and pinched the bridge of her nose;

"Oh, Dieu nous aide."

Young Amy touched her mother's arm; "Please don't be cross with Silver, Mama. She didn't mean it. She was desperate. When I discovered her in the kitchens just now, she was in a fit of fear and shame. Just ask Trudy."

"That aside...it mays not have been thy wisest moment, little'en." Mary sighed, stroking Silver's head. "But you is not to blame."

"Is true. Even a mouse will bite when chased into a corner." Sophie nodded.

Silver sniffled and raised her large brown eyes to her employer; "Thou not be vexed, milady? I not be cast out into streets? I woulds not blame thee, so long as my mummy be spared, for she hath done no wrongs-."

"You are not in trouble, child." Sophie said as plainly as she could, bringing a small smile from Amy. "They were already spreading lies about us. What is one more story from a gang of ruffians?"

"See, my darling? There be no need for tears now. You is safe and sound with Mummy." Mary soothed, gently lifting Silver to sit back up so her mother could wipe her face with her apron. "Where be that happy little rabbit of mine, hmm? Where she hidin'? I know she be somewheres here!"

Silver struggled to hide a smile as her mother poked and prodded her ticklish spots; "Mummy, stop, I not be five!"

"You be my baby even when you is wrinkled and grey, you 'ear?" She gave her a kiss on the forehead. "And t'is still my job to keep thee safe. So no more solo 'ventures outside this house, understood? In facts, no leavin' with anyone at all withouts mine and our Lord or Ladyships permission first!"

Silver nodded, "Yes, Mummy."

"You too, Aimée." Sophie stated, though it wasn't as if her own daughter ever left the grounds alone.

Amy gave a shrug before nodding.

"But Mummy, there still be people who need help...Womenfolk especially. The men doctors do not now how to remedy them."

"That be their problem, my love. Them lots do not deserve thy charity if they let you be treated in such a way. Stay here where you is appreciated and loved." Mary told her, firmly.

Amy moved forward to touch Silver's arm.

"We don't need them, do we." She smiled.

A little light returned to Silver's face as she looked at the young lady, a shimmer of immense gratitude in her eyes. It warmed Mary's heart to see that she had found such a dear friend.

A clopping of hooves sounded on the gravel outside, along with some murmured voices.

"Oh, finally. Your father is home." Sophie said to Amy, "I will need to inform him of this."

"I'll come, Mama. Silver should be spared from having to relive it again. If that be preferable, my friend?" Amy asked.

Silver nodded, trusting her to be able to retell it accurately; "Merci beaucoup, milady."

Amy smiled and took her mother's hand before the two went out into the foyer, ready to explain everything to Lord Humphrey. Mary felt oddly confident that his Lordship would not be anymore likely to blame Silver for this turn of events.

At the window, a group of pigeons were chirping and pecking at the glass.

"Filthy birds, shoo! Be gone! What has gotten into them today?!" Mary tutted.

"Sweetheart, do tell them to stop." Silver uttered, gazing at an empty spot in the room.

Within two seconds, the birds did calm and fluttered away into the wind.

"Many thanks." Silver sniffled.

"...Be that thy phantom friend, little'en?" Mary whispered.

Her daughter nodded; "Yes. We was workin' on a way for 'im to connect with Lady Amy through the animals, but it be a work in progression. No, ancient friend, please do nots beat thyself now!"

She watched as Silver reached out her hand, as if to calm or cease another. It was not the first time she had witnessed her communicate with those who had passed on, but it always left her feeling a little uneasy, worried for what others might assume if they saw Silver acting in ungodly ways.

"What be the matter with him, love?" She asked.

"He blames himself for my troubles, Mummy. T'was his suggestion that raspberries would bring greater cheer to his Lordship. But he hads no idea of the danger that awaited me in the village. He has never evens been there. And now he be in a state. Remember t'was him who helped rescue me, Mummy, he did."

"Hmm. Well 'ows abouts I make thy favorite for supper, ey? Toads in the 'ole! And thy ancient spirit friend can have a good sniff of the gravy."

Silver lit up at that; "Truly, Mummy? Did thou hears that, sweetheart...? Oh, that hath cheered him up, already, Mummy, he be bouncin' in his furs!"

"Sounds likes I has two rabbits now." Mary said, poking her daughter's nose; "I is just glad you has others lookin' out for thee, little'en."

"I dunno whats I woulda' done if Amy hadn't calmed my spirits, Mummy. She be such a kind soul, t'is hard think it lay behind such a cold mask her grandfather did force her to don. And my ancient friend...he doth fret over us almost as much as thee...He sayeth he know what it be like to worry over 'cubs'. Hehe, that be what he calls us."

"Bless his wild heart." Mary followed her daughter's gaze, hoping the spirit was there to receive her words.

A pair of determined footsteps sounded before Humphrey entered, still in his cloak and hat.

Silver quickly jumped to her feet and bowed her head.

"W-welcome home, milord." She uttered.

Humphrey sighed and shook his head. He'd been looking distinctly tired the last few weeks.

"I hear you've had quite a day of it."

Sophie and Amy entered behind him.

Silver dipped her head; "Yes, milord, and I fully understands if thee wish for me to be- Oh!"

His Lordship had quickly walked over and tugged her into a hug. Mary watched her daughter stiffen in his arms. She couldn't blame her, even she thought such affection between highborns and staff were illegal.

"Silly sausage. What we gonna do with you, ey?" Humphrey tutted, as if she had merely dropped some eggs on the floor.

Silver didn't answer, hoping that was a rhetorical question.

He pulled back and gave her a paternal smile, tucking her chin; "Are you all right now? That's all that matters."

She nodded, "Y-yes, sir. I be well."

"Good, good..." Humphrey moved aside, loosening the tie of his cloak.

"Humphrey. What are we doing to do?" Sophie asked, dread in her voice. "It's not just Silver who they-."

"I know. I know." His Lordship grunted, giving the coal bucket a light kick in frustration; "This is Father's doing. Stirring the pot. I bet he sent his own servants into town to spread these vile rumours. He wants to cut us off, spread it so no one accepts our money and then starve us out."

"Can he do that?!" Amy asked, fearful.

Her father shrugged; "He can try his best. But that's why I've been away so much, doing what I can to keep good trade outside the local area. Stop the flames being lit before they spread. Until then, I need all of you to stay within the grounds of the house. Not just the girls, you women as well. If you have to leave, take Duncan with you and keep your heads down."

"I 'spect they be sayin' I be a witch too." Mary uttered, almost sounding bored.

"And me and Mama?" Asked Amy.

Humphrey and Sophie exchanged a look.

"Non. Ils nous ont propagé des mensonges différents." Sophie tells her daughter, clearly having prior knowledge of this.

"Tel que?"

Her mother paused a moment before continuing; "Que je suis un espion et que ton père est un traître. Que nous sommes impliqués dans un complot visant à renverser le roi."

Amy looked stricken by the words. Both Silver and Mary were able to pick up one word from what else sounded as gibberish to them.

"...Traitor?" Silver whispered.

"Pay no attention. Father will say anything. We can't let him get to us anymore." Humphrey said through gritted teeth.

There was a moment of silence as the four of them stood in thought. His Lordship stood at the window, hands clasped behind his back. The mothers each petted their frightened daughters while the two girls exchanged wearisome glances. Won't this nightmare ever end?

Finally, Humphrey spoke.

"I think what we need right now, ladies...is a holiday."

[jankydem]

talk about your ocs please im actually insterested in it

Hi anon!! Sorry for just seeing this, but I’ve got some stuff! Yay! (A bunch of stuff)

——

This is what Miyu looked like prior to being dollified- a lot less cutie core and stuff.

——

Caleb and Quincy aren’t too keen on each other! I thought it would be funny as their backgrounds are somewhat similar- Being around farms a lot growing up (Caleb’s church was connected to a farm and Quincy’s uncle is a farmer), both having family members in the medical field and as result both have quite a bit of medical knowledge, both having extremely sick fathers, and both being leaders in one way or another. They aren’t like Yori and Haru where they want each other DEAD .. they’re usually just awkward around each other.

— —

Kryan and Keiko were the first Dr ocs I ever made! Kyran being my first ever, being made somewhere in October of 2023, and Keiko being made a month or two later. (I’ve never actually changed their designs! The most I’ve done is change Kyrans shirt colour- and even then I bounce between black and a cream colour)

— —

This is somewhat of a concept of what the camp looks like. A mini little island surrounded by one bigger (MUCH bigger) island. In the simulation/killing games, the bridge isn’t there- in fact Kyran builds another one after chapter one so they can walk around. But when they first arrive it’s not there. Parts of the bigger island are blocked off and aren’t revealed until the chapters are over. On the main island is usual stuff- cabins, canteen hall, sports room (I don’t know if those are thing in camps but they are here), trees, etc. just average camp stuff. The trail room is actually underneath the cafeteria, using an elevator (in danganronpa fashion) to get down there. It makes the cast feel very uneasy the next morning after the trial, knowing that a few feet down a friend was brutally executed just the night before.

— —

During the simulation, Zaien was trapped in a room with no way out for quite some time, hence why they didn’t come to save the others however they could sooner. When they DID manage to escape, it took them almost a month to be able to find a way to communicate with Kenji. Which was stupid, since Kenji went absolutely bonkers. But they instead found a way to communicate with Quincy and warn him since warning Kenji didn’t really work out.

— —

Some mini facts:

Yasuyuki, Kyran, Kellise and Haru all collectively have no idea who their fathers are. Literally none.

The company Kenji is an apprentice at his own families company. They’re known for making electrical appliances. They’re very well known, like apple level well known appliances. Despite making electronic devices, his family is very traditional. He himself is very traditional as well, but that’s only because he genuinely doesn’t know any different.

When Kenji first met the others, he did research for ages to try and ‘fit in’ via YouTube tutorials. He spoke somewhat like “yo yo yo my fellow teens, how’s it hangin’!” That sort of stuff. He felt embarrassed, the others felt embarrassed for him. He also said something very controversial accidentally and has always had to watch what he said ever since.

Kyrans cat is in the killing game. She’s usually in his backpack just chilling there- though she appears occasionally. (If it was an actual game, one of the secret Easter eggs or scene or whatever they are is actually one of the entire cast pampering her as Kyran tries not to cry in the corner).

Zaien was originally gonna be Hajimes sibling or another form of Izuru Kamakura (because of his red eyes or wtv) but I quickly changed my mind after realising that there’s already a sibling connection between Mitzuki and Sonia.

——

SORRY IF THAT’S A LOT!! I have a LOT of stuff :]

[applepiesupreme]

American Apple Pie

Pairing: Low/Mid Honor Arthur Morgan and female OC.

Rating: Explicit

Summary: Savigne Ricci is a temporary guest at the Van der Linde camp. Her path crosses with the enforcer of the gang, Arthur Morgan and despite their differences, a relationship develops between them. Whole lot of smut and fluff, slow burn-ish.

Chapter 16

AOC Link:

https://archiveofourown.org/works/54945853/chapters/143748358

They rode into camp and she slid off as soon as Frost stopped to run over to Cricket. She hugged his neck and kissed his cheek, then talked to him with affection about how much she missed him. Arthur gave her a dry look as he hit the ground but she ignored him. 

“Are you okay my love? Did they feed you well here? Were you nervous coming over? I know, I know! I bet they didn’t give you your treats every evening,” she whispered, combing through his mane with her fingers. “I thought about you all the time! Every day! My big boy.”

She heard Arthur mutter something dark under his breath as he walked by her into camp and she ignored that, too.

“A whole week,” she said quietly, palming his ears as he nodded with excitement, “Mommy is sorry. I had to go. But I’m back now and how is my beautiful, my gorgeous, my amazing, my one and only, my precious…”

“Ya done yet?”

She gave him a poisonous side-eye. For whatever reason, he stood in the middle of camp, valise at hand, waiting for her. 

“I’ll be back later, I’ll find you apples. Maybe we’ll ride out to that tree together. You’d like that, wouldn’t you?” she whispered and kissed Cricket a final time before she inhaled with determination and walked in his direction. 

She saw Hosea by Dutch’s tent raise his hand in greeting and she waved back with a smile. Behind him, Dutch was leaning on his tent pole and walked out of sight when her eyes landed on him. Micah was close by, his face still blue and purple, his stitches still in place but not as deformed as she had hoped he would be, arms crossed, leering.

Her eyes glided to the left and she saw the empty spot where Arthur’s tent used to be. Her brows furrowed in confusion as she walked towards him. “Where’s your…”

She flinched as if burned when he took her hand. He turned and started to walk to the outskirts of the camp where her tent was, ignoring her attempt to jerk it back. Karen walked by, giving her a lecherous smile and she smiled back politely, feeling a blush creep up her cheeks. 

“We’re in camp!” she hissed, stumbling to follow him.

Arthur strolled on with that confident gait as if he hadn’t heard, puling her in his wake.

“Welcome back!” Jack piped up from where he sat and Savigne smiled at him. Her gaze traveled up to meet Abigail and Tilly’s eyes and she helplessly twisted her fingers to slither out of his grip. To her astonishment, his hand clamped down even harder. 

“Have you lost your-”

The rest of the sentence evaporated in her head when her eyes landed on the spot where her tent used to be. Her tent wasn’t there anymore. In its place was Arthur’s tent, but it looked considerably bigger. 

“Uh…where is…” she stammered, “…what’s that?”

She walked the rest of the way willingly, confused and curious. The structure was still the same – the canvas attached to the cart, draped over poles. But the poles were set further away and additional poles had been added to carry the weight of the larger canvas. A second, thicker maroon canvas was draped over the lighter one, currently bunched up and tied up higher. The knots could be released to let it drape over the first layer for added privacy or warmth or adjusted to be pulled up to let light in through the white one underneath. She gaped at it with astonishment – like it was an ancient structure that had popped out of the sea within a fortnight, covered in shells and seaweed. 

Arthur walked up to the flap on the side that was facing away from camp and strolled in. She stood rooted when he released her. The inside looked similar with stacked crates, but there was an addition of furniture of shelves and two chairs pushed against a small table. The bed was quit a bit bigger, still attached to the cart on one side and supported with sturdy legs on the other to stabilize it. Her bedroll was rolled up and tucked into a corner. Her eyes glided over her clothes, neatly folded and placed on a shelf with her books underneath and her basket leaning against it. 

She had the wherewithal to close her mouth as her gaze came full circle and landed on the man standing in the middle. There was an unreadable expression on his face – trepidation?

“What’s going on?” she managed finally. 

He rolled his shoulders and scratched the back of his neck, then took off his hat to throw it on one of the crates. 

“Ya like it?”

“I…sure. I mean…it’s nice. But…” She glanced at her possessions. A distant part of her mind noticed that the books were out of order and for a moment her fingers itched to fix it. “Why is my stuff in here?”

He gave her look that asked if she was stupid and it was probably well deserved. 

“Our tent now,” he said casually. “Yer stayin’ here with me.” Then an added mumble: “At least I hope y’are.”

A long moment passed in stunned silence as she internalized the words. He palmed his beard and pulled a chair closer to the bed and sat on it. Savigne felt herself gliding to carefully sit on the bed across from him, first testing its sturdiness, then relaxing onto it. She swallowed and tried to think but all she could think of was his hand gripping hers to walk her through camp and her heart did a double thump at the meaning of it.

Her eyes crawled around the tent. It felt as spacious as a house after her previous one. The fabric, a creamy white, broke the harshness of the bright afternoon sun, bathing the inner space with a soft glow. It rustled and swayed gently in the summer breeze, moving, breathing as if it was a living thing. It was peaceful in here, quiet and cozy. She never had owned a home but she must have constructed, decorated, painted one in her mind a thousand times. It wasn't the cabin of her dreams, but it was closer to a home than anything else she had lived in before.

She found him watching her, his blue gaze shimmering with apprehension.

“Said I would fix it,” he muttered, sounding somewhat offended by her surprise, before he fished out a cigarette to play with.

Yes, he had said it but naturally she had dismissed it because in all their time together he had never implied that he thought of her as anything more than an affair. He had been gentle and polite, but he had never done the things people associate with affection and devotion: he had never complimented her, had never expressed interest in wanting a real relationship with her, had never bought a gift or even picked a couple of measly flowers for her. The most sentimental thing he had done were the handwritten notes and half of those had been to communicate a departure or to set up a meeting place.

But somewhere, somehow she had made an oversight. She had bought into his reserved and rough facade and forgotten that this was also the same man who had come to blows with Micah, would have killed him if not for the interference of others. For what Micah had done to her. The man who had obviously created a strain between himself and a man he had been obscenely loyal to for decades, his mentor and father figure. For her. And last but not least, had - without delay or hesitation - risked his life. To save her. Now sitting in this tent he had built just for her, had moved away from camp because she preferred it so, among the new furniture he had cobbled together so she would be comfortable, Savigne couldn’t help but feel like he had told her that he valued her all along, but in a language she didn’t speak, with words she couldn’t understand.

”Why did you hide us?” she asked, suddenly unsure about everything, especially her own judgement.

He looked away and ran a hand through his hair. "Don’ matter. I know it was wrong.”

“It matters to me,” she said.

He exhaled a long breath and sat back in his chair, spreading his legs. It was a quiet, breezy summer early afternoon. Most people in camp were gone to wherever they went during the day, there was just the distant chatter of the women talking as they worked. He seemed to be in thought, absent-mindedly playing with the cigarette in his hands. She was used to his long pauses and determined to find out what was going on in that head of his, so she waited.

"Think maybe I envied you long time an’ didn’ know it," he said slowly. "Envied what you had and wan'ed the same for m'self."

”How do you mean?” was the incredulous question.

All she remembered from their earliest encounters was a profound lack of interest tinged with mild distaste towards her. A lot of characters in camp had made her uneasy those first days - she had feared Micah's dead gaze, had been disturbed by the clever spark in Dutch's eye, she even remembered feeling uncomfortable about Sadie's hot, quiet anger, so of course she had also noticed Arthur's hardness and intensity. She could tell that he was a rough man, a man with a mean streak, a no nonsense man. So she had glided around him as much as possible and darted straight to her tent whenever she felt his sizzling azure gaze on herself. Thankfully he had also been the busiest member of the gang and more away then present and not the type to strike a conversation with her, so the first few weeks had passed with what could only be called mutual aversion. Then somewhere further down the line he must have come to a conclusion about her because his lack of interest had morphed into a scrutinizing, judgmental, critical gaze. She had made peace with the fact that he didn't like her because frankly, she didn't like him much, either. If Cricket hadn't been stolen that day in Valentine and he hadn't walked out the bat doors of the saloon the very moment he had, odds were she would have never interacted with him.

He leaned forward to place his elbows on his knees and inspected his hands for a while. 

"You came and went as you pleased." he tried to explain. "No folks hanging on yer skirts. No mouths to feed but yer own…Thought for a long time I didn' like you for it. But...looking back...think I envied it. All you had was yer own. Your money was yer own, your time was yer own, your business was yer own..." He trailed off for a while. "Used t’think I was free," he huffed darkly. "You was more free than I ever was. Guess I wan'ed somethin' for m'self, too." He scratched his beard and looked up to see if she understood, that unapologetic intensity back in his eyes for a moment: "Wan'ed you for m'self."

She dropped her gaze, unable to hold his for a moment, but understood what he meant too well. Growing up around hundreds of other kids didn’t allow a lot of privacy or ownership.

Then he added “I love the gang,” as if he had said something sacrilegious and needed to clarify. “Would die for these folks." She nodded again. "But…I been restless. Tired, maybe.” He massaged the back of his neck. 

"Thank you. For explaining," she said finally and picked lint off her skirts for a short silence. "Wish you would have done that in Saint Denis."  

He snorted. "Tried."

"I might have been..." she trailed, trying to come up with the right word.

His eyebrows ticked up as he sat back to cross his arms.

"...a little..."

His eyebrows rose higher.

"...testy."

"Yeah, that ain't the word."

"Anyhow, that's in the past," she said quickly and ignored his amused hum. “Seems to me,” she sighed, “you should maybe try to do a lot more talking and I should do a lot less thinking.”

The corner of his lips curled and the blue in his eyes was softer when he looked up.

”Yer hesitatin',” he said carefully when the lighter moment passed. “Thought ya wan’ed…more?” 

“I mean I did…” She bit her lip, undeniably nervous at the prospect of becoming not just an actual couple, but one that shared a living space.

“Ain’t nothing to fear,” he said softly, reading her tension. “I don’ bite.”

“I know that,” she huffed. “It’s just…I never lived with someone. Not like that. Feels more…” The word she was reaching for was ‘serious’, but she decided against it. “I’m just thinking it might be different.”

He nodded slowly, focused on rolling the cigarette between thumb and finger. She knew he had never shared a tent, either, so this was new territory for him, too. “Might be different.” His eyes flicked up to her. “Might be better?” he suggested. He crossed his arms again and looked around the tent. “More room,” he shrugged.

She grinned a little and absentmindedly played with her fingers, imagining she could still feel the residue of his grasp on her hand and it made her heart flutter.

“That’s true,” she admitted. “But, for example, I don’t even know if I snore,” she posed.

“I don’ mind,” he said dismissively.

“What if we like things different?” she waved her arm at the furniture.

His shoulders hitched. ”I ain’t fussy.”

She bit a nail. “What if you come in late or I wake up early to go to work and…”

There was a smidge of amusement in his eyes when he looked at her. “Ain’t no big deal.”

”And what if…”

”Savigne…” he interjected gently, as if she was a spooked horse, “…all that don’ matter none.”

Asking the important questions here, are we?

She concentrated on her boots.

"Ain't gonna force you,” he said at last. The cigarette weaved between his fingers, looping back and forth and back and forth. “I ain’t a good man,” he huffed with a bitter tinge, “that don' gone changed. I understand if ya don' wanna.” He jabbed his chin at one of the crates: “I’ll put up yer tent if you say so.”

Jesus, he has a scathing inner voice, too, she thought, surprised. It was sobering, to see a man so self confident and so capable have his own demons to wrestle.

”I do want to,” she said quietly.

He gave her a look, and even though it was well masked, she read his surprise in it. The surprise of a man who had gambled and thrown the dice, hoping for the best but expecting the worst. "Way I see it..." he cleared his throat, "...worth a shot to...” the expression on his face suggested he was trying to recall the right words, “...'take a leap’.”

"What if it doesn't work out?" she whispered, more somber. She looked up from under her eyebrows. "What if you leap and there's nothing on the other side to land on?"

He took a few moments to mull on it before he finally met her eyes, his gaze now clear and steady: “Only one way to find out.”

Times like this she envied Arthur's simple approach to things. He had a straightforward, no nonsense way about it; he didn't shy away from risk, wasn't afraid of failure, didn't overthink the issue. No doubt it was a big step to take for him, too, but here he was, ready and resolved, standing at the halfway point. And that's as far as he would go. If she was going to meet him on that bridge, she would have to do the crossing alone. 

Don't do it. Here there be dragons, Savigne.

The center of the maelstrom yawned ahead of her, terrifying in its darkness. In it, a frontier unknown. The foreboding hinterlands of trust and attachment and commitment. Riddled with the mines of misunderstanding and mistrust, the swamps of jealousy and insecurity, steep peaks of incompatibility, the tundras of dishonesty and the thorny thickets of quarrels. And worse still, somewhere in there, the scepter of that lurking beast: love. Probably pain. Again. Possibly loss. Again. Sadie was wrong - it was madness to agree to all that knowingly, willingly.

And yet...

She glanced at her clothes on the shelf and saw the attempt he had made not just to fold them, but to fold them neatly. The clumsy job of a child, but the effort unmistakable. Seeing that broke something inexplicable inside her and put a lump in her throat. I might actually, really, seriously love this man, she thought to herself, somewhat startled. 

Eventually she had the courage to look up at him and he stilled when he saw it. Then his face twisted with discomfort when he saw the tears building up in her eyes. “If ya don’t like it-” he started gruffly.

“I love it,” she sniffed, wiping her cheeks. “Thank you.”

He nodded once, inspecting his hands and the rigidity of his shoulders loosened a little. Then he shifted in the chair, making a point of not looking at her as she patted her skirt pockets to find a handkerchief, a little baffled by her own reaction. She felt raw and vulnerable, exposed like someone had peeled her skin off. She dabbed her eyes, confused what she was crying about but unable to stop all the same.

”I think I’m just tired,” she sniffed after a few minutes. “Was a long trip.”

Her tears had put him back on edge and he fumbled with his cigarette a little longer before he finally decided to light it. He flicked away ash on his shirt that wasn’t there while he shot a glance at her to check if she was done bawling. The tension in his shoulders eased further when he saw that she was.

“I’ll sleep on the bedroll,” he offered around his cigarette as she was wiping the last remnant of tears off her cheeks.

Not if I have anything to say about it, she thought, amused by his attempt for chivalry. But all she said was “Okay.”

He nodded in agreement and threw his legs on the bed beside her. A moment later he flinched at the look she gave him and retrieved his legs to plant his feet on the ground. 

“No boots on the bed,” she growled, brushing the spot with a hand. “That’s just nasty.”

“Yes ma’am.”

She sighed into her pillow. Turned on her other side.  

Silence. 

She sighed again, a little more dramatically and turned again. 

“Y’alright there?”

Savigne smiled in the dark, then quickly wiped it off her face, lest he could hear it in her voice. 

“Not really.”

Silence. 

“What’s the matter?”

She grumbled something incomprehensible.  

She heard Arthur grunting to sit up on the bedroll behind her. “What’s that?”

“I think my hair smells of steak,” she said over her shoulder.

A long silence that indicated that he was wondering if he had heard her right. 

“I walked in there today without a cap. And now my hair smells of food,” she clarified. 

He groaned in exasperation and she smiled wickedly again. 

“Y’can wash it in the morning.”

“But I can’t sleep tonight.” 

Silence.

“Also, I didn’t get to wipe off my sweat when we arrived. I must stink to high heaven.” All of this was true. She was agitated at the grime on her body and her hair did smell a bit like steak (or at least smoke), but at the moment it was more of an excuse to annoy him. 

“You don’ stink,” he muttered and she heard him lie back down. 

She sighed again and turned to lie on her left, facing him. 

“Woman…”

“What?”

“Ya don’ lie still, 'm gonna tie you down.”

“I’d like to see you try,” she muttered. 

“‘Scuse me?”

She bit down a bubble of laughter. She moved to lie on her back. From the corner of her eye she saw Arthur’s head turn towards the bed. The light in the tent was dim so she couldn’t see his expression but she would have bet real money that he was sublimely pissed. 

She was getting ready to turn on her right again when warned: “Don’t. Turn.” His voice annoyed, flat. 

She flopped back on her left again instead to face him. He clicked his tongue. God, Arthur was harder to rile up than she imagined. 

“You’re very cross today, aren’t you?” she said flippantly.

“Wonder why,” was the gruff response. 

“You’re cross. Luther was born cross. It’s like I have a type.”

Silence. 

“Except for Mr. Dunham.” She watched his body tense like a drawn bowstring. “He was kind of nice.”

“Savigne,” he said lowly a moment later, “yer testin’ my patience.”

A long silence. 

She pushed: “He had soft hands.”

Arthur catapulted to his feet and she flinched and sat up in response. They stood there looking at each other in the dark for a long moment. 

“You ain’t gonna let me sleep, are ya?” he growled and she suppressed a shiver at his tone. 

He took a step towards the bed, then halted in restraint. He was wearing soft cotton bottoms and nothing on top. She couldn’t see his expression but just in case he could see hers, she forced her features to convey innocence. 

“I don’t know what you mea-”

“Woman!…”

She sensed his surprise when she rose to her knees to face him. “What?”

“Ya tryin’ to piss me off?” His tone wary and unsure.

She looked at his dark silhouette against the milky moonlight in the tent. “Come closer,” she said quietly.

He hesitated for a moment, but then padded closer to look down at her.

She gathered her hair to one side and exposed her neck. She looked up at him. “Here,” she whispered. “Smell that.”

He hesitated again, then leaned in to her neck. She stood stock still as his nose touched her neck, his lips brushed against her skin, inhaling deep before he withdrew without a word. 

“Well?”

“Smells fine t’me,” he said carefully. 

She looked at him from under her eyebrows. “Try again.”

Something in his body language shifted. He lightly placed his hand on the other side of her neck and waited a moment to see her reaction. When she didn’t object, he pulled her up a little as he bowed down. His lips traced her neck before a slow kiss bloomed below her ear. When she didn’t move, he placed another one, lower. He stood up again and let go of her neck. His breathing was a little louder. 

“Nothing?” she asked. “I think the soap scent of my chemise is masking it". She crossed her arms to grab the hem and lift it over her head and threw it on the floor. She faintly heard his breath hitch. 

“There. Try again.”

His hold was firmer, more confident this time as he pulled her up without hesitation and gave her neck a long, slow lick with the flat of his tongue. She gasped and closed her eyes, swaying in his hold. Arthur’s hand on her neck slid to her throat and he closed his fingers, gentle but firm and pushed her back onto the bed while he followed, climbing between her legs. His mouth descended on hers, forceful, and she relented immediately. His other hand cupped her breast hard and she arched into his grasp. He kissed her deeply, violently for long moments, bruising her lips and stealing her breath.

“You ‘ave a mouth on ya today,” he whispered into her ear. 

“What are you…going to…do about it?” she whispered back, suppressing a moan as his hand dipped from her breast into her bloomers.

He kissed her again, aggressive and enthusiastic. “Teach you some manners,” was the low grow as he sat up to grip the her bloomers and peel them off her legs. Then he lifted her by her waist to throw her further down the bed as he crawled after and settled between her legs. A split second later his lips were on her folds and she almost screamed in surprise. She tried to scramble away but his hands gripped her thighs and pulled her back as he gave her a long lick with the flat of his tongue. 

She moaned and tried to scuttle off but he was faster and jerked her back again. One of her hands shot out to his hair, trying to move his head away, hissing his name. Then she clamped the other palm over her lips as she felt his mouth on her folds, kissing her slow and sensuous, tongue gently lapping and swirling. No one had ever done this to her before and Savigne’s head swam both with self-conscious embarrassment and the the unexpected pleasure. "Stop!" she whispered, "w-wait...just...oh," she flopped and spasmed uselessly as he ignored her pleadings. 

The hands on her thighs pressed her open as he settled between her legs. She whined into her palm, feeling completely exposed to him. His tongue was like wet fire, exploring her with confidence, his licking and suckling growing bolder the harder she struggled. She knew fighting him was only making it worse so she made an effort to stop struggling and the grip on her thighs relented in response as he hummed against her with approval. Her head fell back on the bed in momentary submission. He stopped and untangled her hand from his hair and slapped it away. 

“Better keep them hands to yerself.” His voice was hard and low. “Or I will bind you.”

She whimpered another pleading but quickly clapped the second hand on her mouth too as he resumed. His tongue gently traversed up and down, sending shock waves through her before it swirled around her clit and suckled. Savigne shot up halfway despite herself at the searing jolt of pleasure and reflexively tried to snap her thighs close again, crying into her palm. His grip instantly hardened to iron in warning, pushing her open her further.

“Oh god, oh god, ohmygod,” she blabbered into her hands, her legs shaking with the strain to close but failing against his hold. 

“I like it when ya fight me,” he drawled, scraping his beard against her inner thigh. Hot breath against her folds as he pressed her legs open to almost a painful degree. “But ‘m gonna take what I want.” 

She felt his tongue curl and enter her, dismissive of her muffled wails in response. He hummed with pleasure, dipping his tongue in and out, then lapping at her like a dog. Muffled cries of gibberish as she felt a finger go in and his lips latch on her again. The finger started to pump, slow and steady while he suckled her bud and she shuddered in ecstasy, her control fraying and her embarrassment forgotten. Finally, another swirl of his tongue against her entrance and Her hips started to sway against him on their own accord as she lost the fight, giving in to the burning pleasure. He moaned his approval and softened his bruising grip, hands moving a leg over his shoulder, caressing it to encourage her as she let go of her inhibitions and rocked against his finger.

Just when she thought it possibly couldn’t feel any better, suddenly the finger curled expertly to touch her sensitive spot and her spine snapped off the bed like a bow. 

She couldn’t form words anymore, stuttering broken syllables instead, hands pressing harder against her mouth, teeth lodged on her lower lip as she was rapidly approaching a terrifying peak.

The finger curled again and his lips closed on her bud and next thing she knew, she saw stars. 

Her eyes fluttered close as she her back rose off the mattress and her body convulsed with the force of her orgasm. He gave her tender licks as she rode through it, a flame blooming through her in the aftermath of the lightning strike. It felt like minutes but could only be moments when she collapsed back on the bed, light headed and breathless. Her muffled wails died off as she distantly felt him withdraw and shift to sit up, large hands tenderly massaging her legs, moving up her stomach, cupping her breasts, then removing her hands still plastered on her face. He brushed his thumb against her split lip as she panted breathlessly before he kissed her, slow and careful, lapping at the cut she had inflicted on herself.

“I ain’t done with you yet,” he murmured against her lips, “don’ move.”

Her head felt like it was stuffed with cotton and it took her a moment to register his meaning. He ignored her protestations as she felt him move off the bed and heard the rustling of his undressing before she felt the mattress dip again. She yelped in surprise as he flipped her on her stomach and made an attempt to crawl away. “Too much,” she croaked, bewildered that he was serious. He snickered and bunched her ankles together to jerk her back. A moment later her buttocks were pulled up as he settled behind her and she felt the swollen head of his cock against her entrance. 

“Should ‘ave let me sleep, little bird,” he said roughly. Her hands grasped the covers in helpless preparation and she moaned, her cheek on the bed, still dazed from her orgasm as he sheathed himself completely. Then he pushed on her lower back to flatten her and crawled to lie on top of her, placing his elbows on both sides of her head. When he started to move, she gasped at the unfamiliar sensation. He was reaching so deep in her, she hadn’t even known it was possible.

He was panting above her, perched on his elbows as he rocked into her slow and deliberate, filling her and stretching her and grunting with the pleasure of it. His skin, slightly sticky with sweat was flush against hers, she felt the soft brush of his chest hair on her back. Her eyes fluttered open with disbelief when she felt her pleasure rise again. Her legs attempted to part reflexively but she was wedged between his strong thighs, locked into her position, unable to move.

“Oh…” she gasped, startled, then again “oh…that feels…oh…”, bewildered by how the embers in her core started to flare up again while she was still in the thrall of her pleasure from merely minutes ago. She craned up her neck, rising on her forearms and mewled, fingers tangling the sheets. His hot breath on her ear as his hips languidly pushed her into the bed, his cock touching spots in her she didn’t know could be touched. Her feet started tapping on the mattress as she whined with the pleasure, squirming to open herself further for him but he ignored her, clamping her legs shut with his thighs, continuing to rock into her.

“Not so…chatty…now…are we?” he growled into her ear before he suckled her earlobe.

“Oh god,” she shuddered, trying to push her hip up to meet him.

“Like that?” he hummed as he gently bit her neck. He chuckled darkly when she squirmed helplessly against him. She felt him grow harder in her with the excitement of her struggle. “You like it when I take ya like this?” He bucked into her sharply and pushed in so deep, her eyes rolled back in her head. 

Her head dropped back on the bed as he left wet kisses on her shoulder, rocking into her with relentless precision, piercing her, parting her with every stroke. Her hands twisted the sheets tighter and she buried her face into the mattress to muffle her moans. Her legs trembled and straightened, toes curling with ecstasy. He groaned with the increased tightness, moving faster as his restrain started to falter. He whispered a curse under his breath and then her name, like a sigh, and she knew he was close. But she was closer still. One of her hands found his and clasped his wrist with desperation and before she knew it, her second orgasm was on her, and while the first one had been steep and sharp, this one was deeper and and softer and she let it wash over her, her shudder of sobs muted by the mattress. 

Her entire body clenched up and went rigid as a board as she came and he growled as she clamped around him. She heard his gasps above her as he spent himself, his hips stuttering. 

She melted into the mattress, muscles soft and pliable like rubber and he collapsed to lie beside her, panting into her hair. Her mind was in a fog, her body a separate thing from her, utterly depleted. Minutes passed as she listened to his breathing and the soft calls of the night, felt her sweat cool off in the warm summer breeze. Her limbs grew heavy and she felt herself drift into a state of lucid slumber, then woke up again when he settled behind her. His big hand on her lower back, caressing up to her shoulders, then down over her buttocks.

“Be honest,” she mumbled when she could form words again, struggling to speak in her exhaustion. “Why’d you move your tent out this far?”

He chuckled, still a little short of breath, his hand drawing tantalizing ellipsis on her back. “Our tent,” he corrected. And then: “Cause ya wail like a banshee.”

She groaned. He laughed, easy and relaxed, and slid closer.

“Think I’m dying,” she whispered, her nerves strumming like strings.

He placed his hand on her ribs and pulled to turn her over on her back. He perched up on his elbow, looking down at her, brushing her wild hair from her face. 

“You look fine t’me,” he whispered, his thumb gently tracing her swollen lower lip again. His fingers glided down her neck, under the swell of a breast, over her stomach.

He lied down facing her, hand splayed on her stomach, thumb drawing circles. It felt strange that they didn’t have to worry about getting dressed, straightening their attire, brushing leaves and twigs off each other’s hair and heading out. That they could just lie here together until morning or even later if they wanted to. 

“We will wake up together,” she drawled a long while later, still unable to wrap her head around it. She hadn't woken up next to someone in years and couldn’t remember what it felt like.

“Depends,” he sighed.

“On what?”

“If ya snore, ‘m leaving.”

“You said you didn’t mind,” she laughed quietly.

“I lied,” was the easy retort. “To make you stay.”

She chortled. Minutes later she was falling asleep again when he shifted away to lie on his back, retrieving his hand. She turned to her side to face him and scooted closer. He was very still, his breathing soft and deep and for a moment she was anxious about it, nervous that it would backfire and wound her in the process. But her curiosity won out and she inched closer still until she was lightly pressed against his side. Any moment now he’ll pull away or he’ll turn his back, she thought and waited in anticipation. A long time passed and he didn’t move at all as she felt herself grow heavy with sleep again. Just before she drifted off, she distantly felt his arm shift and curl around her back to anchor her against him.

[turboweenie]

ocs as obscure references

i wanted to do Sahil, too so im doing him i don't care tagging anyone who wants to do the meme! if you don't have a pal who will tag you, i will do it. i will tag you also @rakofelo again, and @hhongsamie what's up. do lucian

ANIMAL: masked ermine ; barn owl

COLORS: peacock ; gold ; kombu ; skobeloff ; sarcoline ; lilac

MONTH: february

SONGS: i am not who i was, chance peña ; tell, son lux ; midnight dove, shawn james

NUMBER: 5

PLANTS: cinnamon fern ; pine ; rosemary ; lobaria ; mint ; sphagnum ; rue

SMELLS: clary sage ; ozone ; static ; wood smoke ; cedar

GEMSTONE: moss agate

TIME OF DAY: dawn

SEASON: the first frost

PLACES: the slick, mossy hollow of stone just behind a waterfall ; a hayloft at dusk in the countryside ; underneath a stretch of leather hide roped between rough-barked trees, watching woodfire smoke dissipate into the spit of rainfall ; flat-backed in the mud, a knee to the throat ; a crumbling mausoleum, waiting in silence for a century ; a tangle of limbs in the dark, huddled for warmth and companionship

FOOD: blueberry ; roasted acorn ; coney ; apple ; venison

DRINKS: cranberry juice ; chai

ELEMENT: air ; pure oxygen

ASTROLOGICAL SIGN(S): libra ☀ ; scorpio ❍ ; capricorn ↑  

SEASONINGS: cumin ; cardamom ; chive ; spearmint

SKY: nimbus cloud

WEATHER: light snow and rumbling thunder ; spring rain on the coast ; frost on soggy autumn leaves

MAGICAL POWER: barometric pressure 

WEAPONS: wooden staff ; bone knife ; teeth

SOCIAL MEDIA: an empty facebook that hasn't been touched since 2009

MAKEUP PRODUCT: white eyeliner ; blush applied anywhere but to his face 

CANDY: caramelized walnut

METHOD OF LONG DISTANCE TRAVEL: foot 

ART STYLE: classical mosaic ; textile embroidery

FEAR: rejection ; isolation ; the sun that sets and one day chooses not to rise again

MYTHOLOGICAL CREATURE: will-o-wisp ; seelie

PIECE OF STATIONARY: a single, torn-out page of thick, unlined parchment

THREE EMOJIS: i still don't know how to do emojis on desktop

CELESTIAL BODY: comet

[heartfullofleeches]

Oc-tober Day Eleven – Hayride

Yandere Doll Maker Entity/Living Doll – Pin

Word Count: 1.7k

Warning: very brief blood/death mentions

-

Soot covers a needle as unsteady hands attempt to thread it with a red string. Thrown out of frustration, the spool bounces onto the table; rolling into a stand of which a new creation lied. Burlap skin. Yarn string hair. Each of the creature's eye sockets were fitted with smooth, textureless buttons - the combined look creating the image of a farm field scarecrow. All it needed was a stitched smile to complete its look.

"Damn it." Its creator rubs at a group of its many eyes; reaching a shadowy limb across the table to retrieve the spool. The Doll Maker looks at its opposite hand, watches as darkness seeps through the fingers of their gloves. Silk was such a lovely material, but dirtied the quickest. There was a reason why they saved them for special occasions.

The Doll Maker searches through one of the drawers of its work bench and pulls out a pair of leather gloves. It discards the old ones and puts them on before continuing their work. Stitch by stitch, a mouth is birthed across the face of the mask; arched in certain angles akin to a smile jack-o-lantern pumpkin.

Snipping the excess string, the Doll Maker stands. It picks up the mask from the stand and walks over to the mirror. It stares at itself in the mirror. Grey flesh, blackening the further it reaches their palms. Strands of fog branch out from its neck like the twigs on a dead tree; eyes as plentiful as the fruit of a fair harvest. It feels nausea as a dozen of them blink. How disgusting.

The Doll Maker lifts the mask as high as possible. It pulls it over itself once the mask hits the solid area of its head. The tendrils of smog slither beneath it, shrinking and wrapping around its skull for better fit. With this piece, its body is finished. Its hair resembles the color of a broom and strung over its head like a mop; dressed in a tattered old shirt and pants kept up by a string. It wears a with hat with a corner of it patched with another fabric and the rim torn. The Doll Maker touches its face. It feels horrible.

This thing is quite hideous - just like itself. The texture of its skin makes them ill. They want to tear it apart and put on a better looking body, but this form was ideal for its intended purposes.

Standing there, the Doll Maker wonders if the object of their affections could love such a face. It was only meant to lure them home until they had the chance to switch - but what if? That means there could be a chance for them to love underneath, right? For them to find beauty in such a horrid creature?

The Doll Maker's eyes fall to the soiled gloves on the floor. What a silly idea. No human could love this creature, and so it would become something its not - for the sake of love.

The Doll Maker plucks the flyer in the corner of the mirror down; picking up a gardening tool by the front door as it exits.

-

The warm autumn air envelopes you as you step out of the car. Spices and the smell of baked goods carry on its winds. Children laugh in the distance; jumping from behind hay bails to scare one another and picking apples from buckets of water. A larger, technically mature-aged adolescent springs from the rear seat of the car, wrapping his arms around you as he jumps half way onto your back.

"We're finally here. That ride was so long. Good thing I have my favorite armrest to stretch out on."

The man's sibling climbs out the passenger seat; glaring at her brother with judgement eyes. "Would you stop doing that? I don't want their legs giving out before we get to the maze."

Twin, Michael and Mika. Your two closest friends, and guide to the night's festivities. Since you all moved into their hometown for school, they wouldn't shut up about the annual Calloway farm's fair. A festival themed around the pumpkin patch the family grew and managed.

They had it all. Apple cider, fresh pies, games, a maze, and of course - pumpkins. It was the best time of year according to the siblings, and there were rumors of a hayride being adding this year. It would be a crime not to bring you along with all of the hype.

Micheal unchains himself from you and marches a few steps ahead. "Ah, whatever. Let's hurry up. I'm finally old enough to have some of the moonshine without having to sneak away into the barn."

The tree of you venture to the gates of the farm. There, you're greeted by Mr. Calloway himself to welcome faces both new and old. To held with the flow of the fair, you were given a set amount of tickets to use for each activity on hand. The man wishes you a good time before you're all ushered inside. Before you can walk through the gates though, Mr.Calloway asks you to let him know if you see a young man wearing wearing t-shirt with the fairs logo. It's his son, and the twin and him don't have the best history, but he hasn't seen him all day.

"What should we do first?" Mika speaks. "There's the apple picking, pie eating contest, maze..."

"What about the hayride?" You chime in.

Michael chuckles at your naivety. "Gotta save the best for last, Y/n. It apparently Come on, let's go take a picture by the booth over there."

Over the course of the next few hours, you all enjoy the fair. Putting zoo, face paint, eating the various novelties. You eventually decided to do the maze, splitting up to see who gets out first. You overhear Michael's frustration, laughing at his blight. You giggle so much, that you don't notice when you bump into another guest.

"Sorry about that! I- Oh!" Upon second look you realize the figure to only be a scarecrow. You excuse yourself from crossing its path before continuing on. The bushes rustle behind you as you walk away.

-

Winner decided and a few more activities, everyone's down to their final ticket aside you which you have two. It was time for the main event. The hay ride sits near the maze, and right beside the farm's back entrance. With the day nearing it's end, the line strangely wasn't that long. There was barely one to begin with, but that may have been due to the ride's apparent shortness. As it reaches your turn, you walk up to the carnage's driver. They're dressed just like the scarecrow you had seen before; wielding a scythe with a crimson dipped blade. They look at you. Only you.

Michael steps between you. "We'd like to take a ride, please."

The scarecrow turns to him. It shakes its head - pointing at the wagon. There are already a few people inside, room enough for one more person. They then point to you.

"Me? You're saying I should go?"

A nod. Mika grabs your arm. "We'll just wait for the next turn. Thank you.

The scarecrow lowers their wrist.

Michael elbows his sister. 'Eh, just let them go. They still have two tickets left anyway."

Mika scoffs, but lets you go. The scarecrow holds out its hand. You place your ticket in its palm, but it shakes its head again as it retracts it. It points to your own, before holding it out again.

"You want me to take your hand?"

"Yes..."

You hesitant grip its hand. The scarecrow runs its thumb over your pulse as it leans you to the wagon. Instead of seating you with the rest, it sits you right up front. Your friends start to notice something odd, but the wagon speeds off before they can say anything. Mika screams as someone slumps against a hay bail.

The ride begins. It leads off to the crops just outside the main area of the farm; corn and other vegetables growing in the land. Jack-o-lantern's light the entire row. Halloween cut outs are tapped to each fence - bloody hand marks stamped into various ones. The gate that leads completely off the property is blown open and it seems like that's where you're head. You think nothing of it at first; till you see the red sign pointing the other way and hear another body fall over. You feel the scarecrow's eyes on you.

Looking behind you, you see someone laid flat on the hay bails. Their limbs are completely spread out and they remain motionless. You glance at the scarecrow. Something doesn't feel right. Why was everyone so quiet about this?

"Excuss me? I think there's something wrong with them..."

No response. You tuck on their arm. "Hey...-"

Your mouth goes dry as you look behind you once more. A red circle had begun to bleed softly into the hay, centering from the person's neck. You can see a smiling pumpkin on their shirt; the logo of Calloway farm.

"What.. no..."

The wagon picks up speed. Looking at the other bodies, you see more dead people, but there's more - dolls. Human sized puppets crafted so well it was near impossible to tell the difference from afar. You try to pull the ropes from the scarecrow, but they don't even flinch. You think to jump, but at this speed you'd be lucky if you only had some broken bones.

The farm quickly grows further and further away. You scream for help, but it's swallowed by the roaring winds. You come to the horrible conclusion the best option is tempt fate and jump over; an arm shooting around your waist before you can take the dive. A black mist leaks from the seams as you struggle. The scarecrow seems surprises as it reels away, but the smoke quickly ties around you and pulls you to it.

"What tbe hell are you?!" You sob.

The Doll Maker merely cradles you to its chest as you cry-- hoping you'll someday find enjoyment in the ride along the way.

[witchthewriter]

𝑼𝒏𝒅𝒆𝒓𝒏𝒆𝒂𝒕𝒉  𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝑨𝒑𝒑𝒍𝒆 𝑻𝒓𝒆𝒆

𝐇𝐨𝐮𝐬𝐞 𝐌𝐚𝐧𝐟𝐫𝐢

House Sigil: A first quarter moon next to a five pointed star that has a flowing river underneath

House Motto: Unto Ourselves 

Sworn to: In truth, whoever is sitting on the Iron Throne, and in this era it is King Viserys Targaryen. However, because the Manfri’s are ever-moving, (and aren’t power-hungry) they aren’t seen as a threat. 

Descendants of the Rhoynar, an ever-evolving culture that had been progressing more and more each year. House Manfri are direct descendants of those who saw what the world could be, rather than what it is. 

Their progression surpassed many things, particularly in equality. The Rhoynar didn’t pass women over in favor of male leaders, no, women were in line for the throne as well. 

A lot of the Rhoynar culture is seen in House Manfri, for example, it is ruled under a matriarchy. It is because of this, that the House is still alive and thriving, although it does not have ownership of one land. Instead, these people are travellers; never using too much of one piece of earth, nor claiming ownership over one territory. 

Over time the Rhoynar culture has shifted and transformed, but the heart of it remains: freedom, fairness, and creativity. 

The people of House Manfri are allowed to dress however they desire; there are no rules that tell them who they are or how they should be. Women can wear pants, and those that choose to hunt usually do. However, it is typical for Manfri women to don layered skirts, scarves, and shawls. 

Both men and women commonly have long hair in which they braid important traits of themselves into. For example, a feather for freedom and wisdom, beads represent a love for creating and making, trinkets for being noticed etc. It is typical for them to also use the ashes of burnt herbs in and around the eye. It is so the eye’s colour is enhanced and to look intimidating. 

On special occasions they embellish themselves with coins and bells so that they jingle as they move. It’s a physical depiction of their feelings for the event. 

The Manfri men are tall, muscular, and seemingly brooding. Some would say they looked similar to Dothraki men, but they aren’t like them in personality at all. What sets the men apart from the wild horse riders are the fact that they don’t take part in wars, nor do they treat their women so unkindly. 

House Manfri is well-educated in herbal remedies, plants, hand-sewing, hunting and gathering. They have had years upon years to learn how to live off the land, and pack up without a moments notice. 

Their history, what their taught and their stories are told verbally. Passed on from generation to generation gathered with each other in front of a raging fire. 

@leniabranch. 

[yeenybeanies]

Resting Up

repost from my patreon!! i love the big honse man ❤️ he struggles to conceptualize that some smallfolk might actually care about him. ocs | clayton hess & nathan o'rourke 2,089 words mild language warning thanks for reading!! reblogs > likes!! patreon ✨ ko-fi

With the suns beating down, nigh-unbearable in their intensity, it was perfectly understandable that a creature as large as a centaur would want to avoid the midday heat. This was especially true after a morning’s worth of working in the orchard, harvesting the sweet, summer fruits.

Clayton dragged his forearm across his brow and puffed out a worn breath. He hauled behind him a heaping cartload of apples, each big enough to fill his palms and then some. They were juicy, sweet, and beautifully ripe. Clay smiled to himself. This would be a good year for his cider brewing.

At his home, Clay backed the cart into his storage shed and unhooked himself. Sweat saturated the fur underneath the harness, leaving dark, wet afterimages of where the straps had been. His shirt was soaked as well, most notably down his back and under his arms. He grimaced, feeling uncomfortably moist in the hot, stale air of the shed. Outside felt marginally better; there was a pleasant breeze picking up, cooling his soaked body.

The apples needed to be sorted and prepped, but that didn’t need to be done immediately. They could wait until later today, when it wasn’t so warm… or perhaps tomorrow. Clay was by no means a lazy centaur, but it was fucking hot out. He was soaked through, tired, and it was hot out. The apples could wait.

Clay untied his scarf and wrung it between his hands, squeezing out a small deluge of sweat.

Yeah, he was done for today.

He slung the damp cloth around the back of his neck and made a beeline for his favorite tree, a towering, broad-leafed beast that made him look small by comparison. Its wide canopy covered the ground around it in a thick shade. Clay gave the trunk a pat in greeting, then slowly eased his haunches down in a cozy spot between its roots. The grass was soft and cool, soothing to his tired body. Clay settled down further onto his belly and leaned his upper body against the trunk. A yawn pushed its way through his chest, bringing with it a familiar feeling of sleepiness. This tree had seen many of Clay’s naps; just sitting under it made him feel drowsy.

A nap sounded pretty nice right now, actually. No one could say that he didn’t deserve one. Never mind that there was no one about to say such a thing––not on Clay’s secluded stretch of land. It was just him out here, with his orchard and his apiary and his tree.

…

“Mr. Hess.”

…

“Clayton!”

The centaur jolted upright with a gasp, eyes wide and ears alert. He looked around, searching for the voice. Had it been a real voice? Or just something he’d dreamed…? Hell, how long had he been out? Clay didn’t remember drifting off to begin with, but that’s usually how his naps went under this tree.

“Down here, big fella,” said the voice again. Clay’s ears twitched towards it, his gaze following just after.

O’Rourke?

Clay’s scarred brow lifted as the human approached, wading through the waist-high grass. It was an unusual sight. Clay didn’t often get visits from humans. Usually, they only came around when they needed something from him––not that he minded that arrangement.

“O’Rourke,” Clay greeted, his voice lilting in question. He started to push himself to stand, but the man waved his hands for him to stop.

“No need to get up for little ol’ me. You’d only be makin’ me crane my neck more.”

Fair point. Clay shrugged and eased himself back down, legs folded under him. “Of course. Is there something I can do for you, Mr. O’Rourke?” Clay asked.

“Nope,” the man said simply. Clay blinked, confused.

It was usually O’Rourke that came to summon Clay for whatever job or favor the nearby townspeople needed. He was an unusual human in Clay’s eyes. Most humans maintained a degree of wariness, or even outright fear of centaurs––which made sense, given the disparities in their species’ size. Most humans kept their distance. But O’Rourke––the old man approached Clay with no trace of fear about him. His stride was relaxed, jovial; he wore a friendly smile; his eyes shined bright under the brim of his hat. Though Clay had known O’Rourke for many years now, it still threw him off to see a human be so unbothered by his presence.

O’Rourke paused near one of the giant tree roots, giving it a look-over, then stepped up onto it and started to pick his way up its slope. Clay watched on, feeling a little helpless in his confusion, and a tad worried that the man might lose his footing on the rough bark. He cleared his throat as softly as he could.

“So then…?” He didn’t want to be rude, but he couldn’t fathom any other reason for O’Rourke’s visit, if not to ask him for help.

“Haven’t seen you in a while,” the man said. He didn’t look up at Clay, instead focused on the root under him as he climbed higher. “Couple weeks. I was starting to get worried.”

Clay tilted his head. Had it been weeks? He’d been so busy around his home and land.

“You… got worried?” He repeated.

“Don’t sound so surprised, Hess,” O’Rourke said wryly. He flashed a grin to match his tone. But Clay was surprised. Despite the time they’d known each other, he never imagined that O’Rourke considered him enough to get worried on his behalf.

His thoughts on the matter came to a screeching halt when the old man teetered, his balance thrown. Clay lunged forward, a hand darting around to gently catch him before his feet could leave the bark.

“Careful––” Clay said. He swallowed, feeling faintly nervous. O’Rourke didn’t intimidate him, per se, but he did unsettle him. Making physical contact with him exacerbated that feeling.

But O’Rourke just laughed, aiding to the centaur’s ever-growing confusion. The old man slapped Clay’s palm good-naturedly and pushed himself to stand, albeit keeping his hand planted to Clay’s for balance. Clay’s fingers twitched inward, instinctively wanting to provide more purchase.

“Much obliged,” O’Rourke said.

Clay cleared his throat quietly. “Of course. I, um… Did you really come to just… check on me…?” The concept still didn’t make much sense in his mind. No one came to check up on him.

“Sure did,” the old man said. As skeptical as Clay was, he’d never known O’Rourke to be dishonest, or anything less than genuinely kind. “Didn’t mean to drop in on your nap, though. Hope you got at least a little shut-eye before I woke you.”

“No, I––” Clay glanced up at the suns, gauging the time. His ears drooped for a moment; he’d slept for nearly three hours! Who knows how long he would have been out had O’Rourke not showed up. “I slept plenty.”

“Good, good.” O’Rourke pushed off of Clay’s hand once he found a flatter section on the root and settled himself down to sit. Once Clay was sure he was steady, he slowly pulled his hand away. “So what’s kept you away? I know you don’t like us smallfolk much, but a few weeks is a little much, don’t you think?”

Clay sputtered, despite the man’s cheeky tone. “It’s not––I have no qualms with humans,” he said. “I don’t dislike you at all. But I know how humans feel about me, so I… well. I usually find it best to let you come to me.”

O’Rourke studied Clay for a long moment, then breathed out a chuckle. “Not all of us are afraid of you, you know. Some of us know that, despite your size and your gruff exterior, you’re a big ol’ softie.”

Clay angled his ears backwards, feeling a little indignant. He wasn’t soft; he was compassionate. The same could be said for O’Rourke.

“You’re a good man, Hess,” the old man continued, “and you’re my friend. I check up on my friends when I don’t hear from them in a few weeks.”

Friend. Clay’s mind froze on that word. He hadn’t even considered the possibility that O’Rourke might consider him that way.

“Aren’t you?”

“Hunh?” Clay blinked, snapping back to the present.

“My friend?” O’Rourke looked up at him with one brow raised.

“Er...––I… well… I didn’t want to assume anything about our relationship, but I… would like to be. I think.”

The old man barked out a laugh. “Good! ‘Cos you are, whether you like it or not.”

The corner of Clay’s mouth twitched up. He huffed, good-humored.

“So, back to my question: what’s kept you away?”

“I’ve been, erm, busy around here.” The centaur leaned back and rubbed at the back of his neck, bashful. “The hot summer’s made my orchard explode with fruit. I’m trying to keep up, but I’m not sure I’ll be able to use it all before it goes bad.”

“Cider brewing?”

“Yeah. But I don’t think I can make that much cider.”

O’Rourke rubbed his chin in thought. “You don’t make anything else with your fruit? No pies, preserves, jams? Soaps, even?”

“I might have to start with all of this surplus. ‘Course, I’d need to learn how to do all that first. I’d sell it off as is, but humans don’t tend to buy raw megafruit––” he paused, brow furrowed, and looked back to O’Rourke. “Did you say soap?”

A grin spread across the old man’s face. “Sure. I know a lady that makes soaps with fresh fruit. Smells good enough to eat, though I wouldn’t recommend it.”

“Hunh…” Well, there was another thing he could potentially do with his surplus. “But that don’t change the fact that I don’t know how to do any of that stuff. All I know is how to turn my fruits into cider.”

“Well, Hess,” O’Rourke pushed himself to stand, prompting Clay to raise his hands in case the old man decided to take another tumble, “I know some folks that know how to do all a’ that stuff. I’m sure I could convince them to teach you, though you’d probably have to play around with how to do it on your scale.”

Clay watched him, his skepticism returning. “You think you can get your lady to teach me how to make soap?” It was a question, but his flat tone made it sound like a statement.

“Sure! And some other folks too. Wouldn’t want all that fruit to go to waste.” O’Rourke took a step down the root’s slope, but Clay’s hand moved to intercept him. The old man shot him a quizzical look.

“I’ll help you down,” he said, his fingers gently slipping under O’Rourke’s arms. With innate care, he lifted the human from the root, but didn’t set him down yet. “Better still, I’ll take you to the path so you don’t have to fight your way through the grass.”

“See? Softie,” O’Rourke said with a smirk. Clay rolled his eyes and brought his other hand up to better secure his charge while he stood up. O’Rourke peered over his fingertips at the ground below. He whistled a low note. “Damn. I know you’re tall, but it always looks different from up here.”

Clay hummed. He couldn’t say much on the matter; this was the view he’d known since his twenties. He pulled his hands closer to himself, keeping O’Rourke in his shade as he stepped out from under the tree’s. The path to his home was a small hike for humans, but, for Clay, it was a few steps away. He looked around for O’Rourke’s horse, wanting to avoid getting close to the skittish creature, but he saw no sign of it.

“No horse this time,” the old man said, predicting Clay’s confusion.

“Then how did you get here?”

“Truck.” O’Rourke lifted an arm over Clay’s fingers and pointed to a vehicle parked on the side of the path. Clay’s ears perked up.

“You got it fixed?” He approached the vehicle still with a bit of caution, as if he were expecting it to startle like a horse would.

“Sure did! Know what that means?” Clay gave him a blank look. “Means I can come check up on you more when you go disappearin’ without havin’ to worry about giving my horse a heart attack.” His grin was infectious; Clay couldn’t help but give a little smile of his own, and a soft chuckle. It felt a little strange to have a human… care about him, but it wasn’t unwelcome.

“Sure, O’Rourke.”

[emptyacnt]

Scars (Genya x OC )

NSFW, self harm implied (OC has self harm scars)

"You should've gotten married, had kids.."

Sanemi's words echoed in Genya's mind whenever he looked in the mirror. He was self conscious about his scars before the battle, having one that split him straight down the middle.. He seriously doubted any woman was going to be able to overlook that. 

He wasn't a demon slayer anymore, he was just a man. It was difficult, integrating into society and trying to feel "normal". He often saw women he wanted to speak to, but just the idea of it made his cheeks flush deeply and his words get caught in his chest.

Seeing couples together made his heart ache.

By now, even Sanemi was married. That was something Genya never thought he'd see. He tried his best to just keep to himself, to stay out of the way and feel happy for his comrades as they each in turn began to find their special person and start their families. He was at the market the day he found his, looking for ingredients to make dinner for himself. As he reached out for an apple his hand brushed against someone else's. The girls hand had a deep scar across it and she withdrew it, pulling it into the sleeve of her kimono.

"I'm sorry." She said softly. She looked up at Genya's face, he towered over her as he did everyone, and she seemed unphased by the scar that split him in two. Genya was curious about her hand, but knew better than to ask. Her large brown eyes were so sad it made Genya feel sorrowful too.

"No it's my fault, the apples yours." He said, turning away from her so she wouldn't notice him blushing. Even after all this time, he couldn't talk to women without becoming flustered. The girl smiled, but she still seemed sad.

"We can share it, if you want." She suggested. Her voice was so feminine and gentle, Genya found it soothing to listen to. 

"It's comforting to see someone with more scars than me for once." She said. Genya couldn't refuse. 

They sat together on the large protruding roots of a tree, using it as a bench as they split the apple in half and ate together, mostly in silence. 

"I still have more shopping to do, but I was curious about that scar on your hand.." Genya said, trying to break the awkward silence. 

"I have a lot of scars. It's why I'm unmarried." She said. 

"Oh man, me too!" Genya said, more enthusiastically than he meant to. 

"I think your scars are very interesting. I wanted to ask about this one." She said, gently tracing her finger down his forehead, down his nose, stopping at his lips. Genya felt his heartbeat rapidly increase and he turned away from her. 

"I'm sorry, I know it's rude to ask, but I've never seen a scar like that." She said. 

"Uh well, I'll tell you the story if you tell me about your hand?" 

She nodded and smiled at him, and he did his best to smile back despite how nervous he felt. 

He told her the story, of Muzan, the demons, the final battle, how he was cut in half. He fully expected her not to believe him, but she seemed in awe of him. 

"So you're a hero who helped save everyone from demons?" She asked

"I wouldn't say that, but-"

"Please tell me your name! You're the coolest person I've ever met!" She exclaimed. Genya felt like he was going to faint. 

"Uh, Genya. What's yours?" He asked, nervously fidgeting with his hands 

"Rika!" She said. 

"Um, it's your turn now. About the scars?" He asked. 

Rika pulled her sleeve up a bit, revealing the big scar across her hand. 

"I did this to myself. I wanted to sever the vein." She said. Genya stared at her in disbelief. 

"You sliced yourself up?" He asked. 

"Yes. In many places. It's how I handled pain. Emotional pain, I guess. For a very long time." She covered her hand again and looked down at her feet, her brown hair forming a curtain that partially hid her face from him. 

For someone to feel so upset, so hurt they would relieve their emotional pain by tormenting themselves like that.. 

Genya's inhibitions left him, and he wrapped his arms around her tightly, dropping his half of the apple. 

"I'm sorry." He said quietly. Rika hugged him back. It felt so good to be held, she couldn’t remember the last time something like this happened. She nuzzled against him and he held her tighter, idly petting her hair. 

***

 Coming home to Rika made every day feel wonderful. They cooked dinner together, read books together, went for walks, traveled.. Genya had never felt more fulfilled, and sleeping with Rika in his arms made him sleep better than he ever had. One night, Rika seemed restless however. Genya got into position, snuggling up to her as the big spoon like they did almost every night, but she rolled over and used all of her strength to get on top of him, straddling his body.

“R-Rika-chan!” he said in surprise, his eyes widening as she leaned down to kiss him. They had kissed before, but this was different. She ran her tongue across his lips, coaxing his mouth open. His lips parted with a moan, his eyes finally closing as they both pushed their tongues into the others mouth. He rested one of his hands on her waist, relishing the feeling of how much smaller she was than him. He broke the kiss to catch his breath, panting as he looked at her with half-lidded, lustful eyes. 

“Can I kiss your scars?” she asked. Genya swallowed, his cheeks flushing as he nodded. 

“Yes, b-but! Only if I can kiss yours too..” he said. Rika smiled and sat up, straddling him and gently pressing him back down on the futon. She opened his shirt, exposing his chest to her. She started by kissing his forehead, and then his nose, then the scar across his cheek. She kissed the bisection scar where it continued at the middle of his throat, right over his Adam's apple. She continued down, kissing the scars on his chest before returning to the one down the middle, when she reached his naval she stuck her tongue out, licking from there all the way back up to his neck. He shivered and arched his back, grabbing her roughly. 

“Rika-” he choked out. He grabbed her hips in both of his hands and flipped them over. He deftly untied her kimono and opened it, surprised that she was completely naked beneath it. She smiled up at him, gently running her fingertips across his lips as he hungrily took in the sight of her breasts. She shrugged her kimono off of her shoulders, exposing her scarred arms and thighs to him. He had seen some of them before, and they never failed to hurt his heart. He kissed the scar on the back of her hand first, before trailing kisses along the scars on the back of her forearm. He turned her arm over and repeated himself, kissing the scars there too. He reached the top of her arm, kissing the scars just below her shoulder. He moved to her neck, licking, kissing and sucking it. He wanted to leave new marks on her body, marks that represented love and pleasure. Rika moaned softly and whimpered as he kept sucking her neck until a dark bruise formed, he did the same on one of her collar bones. 

"I hope when you see these marks in the mirror you think of me." He said, moving down to experimentally lick her nipple. 

"I want you to be marked with my love, I want you to remember how cherished you are.." his warm breath against her nipple made her shiver and she tangled her fingers in his hair. 

"Gen.. I love you so much.." She said breathlessly. 

"I love you too. Adorable Rika-chan.." He took her nipple into his mouth, sucking as hard as he had on her neck. She arched her back, wrapping her legs around his waist as he thoroughly bruised her nipple before moving to the other one. Rika was a mess already, panting and sweat making her hair stick to her face as Genya kissed her stomach. He ran his large, rough hands up and down her thighs. 

"You're so soft Rika, so cute.." He said, kissing her hip bones and then making his way down one leg, kissing each scar on her thigh, and then up the other doing the same. When he reached her hip bones again he gently parted her legs, blushing deeply as he got a good look at her cunt. He had never seen one before, and it was cuter than he imagined. Puffy, soft lips beneath a tuft of dark brown hair, he spread them gently, purring at the sight of her pink clit and the miniscule droplet of slick escaping her small opening. 

"Gen, I wanna touch you again.." She whined while he was distracted admiring her most secret place. 

"R-right." He said. He removed his clothes, embarrassed by the sight of his own erection as he laid down again. Rika straddled his chest, facing away from him and giving him a perfect view of her ass as she trailed her fingers down the scar over his stomach, unsurprised to see it continued along his cock. She wrapped her hand around his shaft, earning a gasp from him. She leaned down, striping her tongue along the scar on his cock to his tip. With one hand she cupped his balls, gently massaging them as she stroked his shaft with the other and began sucking the tip gently. Genya groaned deeply and grabbed her hips, pulling her ass towards him until her cunt was above his face. He ran his tongue from her clit to her entrance and she moaned, her tongue vibrating softly against the sensitive, leaking tip of his cock. Genya felt so overwhelmed by her, by the delicious taste and smell of her and the warmth of her body. He closed his eyes, sucking her clit gently and squeezing her ass in both of his hands. She gasped, momentarily releasing his cock from her mouth, a trail of precum and saliva connecting her tongue to the tip as she came, her thighs squeezing him as her body trembled. 

He flicked his tongue back and forth against her entrance before probing it with three of his thick fingers. 

“You’re really warm, Rika. Warm and soft..” he mused as he pumped them in and out of her slowly. 

He removed his fingers, licking them clean before gently moving her off of him. She laid down and he laid behind her, spooning her and nuzzling against her neck. 

“Can we do it like this? I love holding you..” he said, one arm underneath her, his hand firmly gripping her breasts while the other hand grabbed her thigh, pulling it over his hips and spreading her open for him. The head of his cock brushed against her entrance as he kissed her lovingly. She kissed him back, reaching behind her to touch his cheek gently as he pushed himself into her, filling her all the way in one hard thrust. She gasped into the kiss and he gritted his teeth, squeezing his eyes shut. 

“Ah- tight.” he purred. Rika closed her eyes, trying her best to get used to his girth.

"Are you okay?" he asked tenderly, moving his hand from her breast to her cheek, stroking it softly with his knuckles. 

"Y-yes, I think so. You're just very big.." she whined. Genya kissed her cheek. 

"We can stay just like this as long as you need." 

Rika let out a deep breath as she began to adjust to his size, she wiggled up against him slightly and he pulled out agonizingly slowly, and then back in at the same pace. 

"Gen please- faster." Rika moaned. 

Genya obeyed, thrusting harder and faster and admiring her face. Her lidded eyes and mouth slightly open as she moaned continuously. 

"You look so pretty like this Rika." he said breathlessly, grunting softly as he felt her tighten around him. 

"Does it feel good? Do you like when I tell you how beautiful you are?" he asked, cupping her face and forcing her to look at him. She could barely speak, she felt so overwhelmed by his warm body, his strong arms and thick cock. 

"u-uh-huh.." she managed. Genya smiled and kissed her gently. 

"My pretty Rika, my beautiful girl, perfect.." he praised, taking her hand and licking the deep scar across it. She gasped, her pussy clenching tightly around his cock as she came. Genya squeezed his eyes shut. 

"Rika, can I flip you over.." he asked, she nodded and he gently moved her onto her stomach. He tried to lift her hips to position them with his, but it was no use. 

"Ahh, my legs feel like jello.." she whimpered. She had no strength in her body it felt like, and so Genya spread her legs while she lay on her stomach, laying on top of her and pushing himself back in. From this position she seemed even tighter somehow, and the weight of his body against her made Rika cry out. There was something supremely comfortable about his cock in her sensitive pussy and his strong body completely overwhelming hers like this. 

"Oh- Rika.." Genya moaned against her ear as he began to thrust, even faster than before. 

"I'm gonna cum- Rika!-" Genya gasped as he came, bucking his hips haphazardly as he let out an uncharacteristically high-pitched whine.

He stayed still for a long while, buried deep within her, relishing her warmth around him and the feeling of her body trembling beneath his until she began to squirm.

"Gen, I love you but you're really heavy.." She said. 

"I'm sorry!" Genya exclaimed, quickly scrambling off of her. He rushed to the bathroom, wetting a cloth and using it to clean her up. He felt a bit proud of how stretched he had left her opening, though the amount of cum made him feel a bit embarrassed.

"Was that okay?" He asked when he had finished cleaning her and settled back down, snuggling up to her. 

"Yes, it was perfect." She said. Genya smiled, nuzzling against her neck. 

"I love you Rika.." He said.

"I love you Genya. You're wonderful.." her words went straight to his heart, and the warm feeling it gave him let him drift into a peaceful sleep. 

[into-the-daniverse]

I'm a slut for a scent related worm, so 7 for Saoirse and Meredith, and if you're feeling incredibly indulgent, Rodrigo, Jacqui, and/or Ambrose? Fuck Syd I'm flipping him off from a healthy distance lmao

The way I could have bet on this coming from you 😂 thank you though I love this!!! 💖

Cute OC Asks

7) What are the OC’s favorite smells? Scents of incense, foods, candles, plants, etc.

Saoirse’s favorite smell is petrichor (and fun fact for those who do not know, anyone who makes a deal with them, or is protected by them, will smell like petrichor to other demons/entities/beings, it’s like their specific mark) but they also like the smell of pine trees and gasoline like gas lamps.

Meredith wouldn’t say she had a favorite smell, but she does like the smell of firewood, as well as any kind of earthy scent, like sandalwood.The most floral she’s willing to go is apple.

Rodrigo likes scents like peppercorn, cinnamon, leather, and amber—but he gravitates towards citrusy scents as well!

Jacqui’s favorite scent is jasmine, and he tends to like “clean” scents like linen and basil, and of course sea salt. He does like sweet scents like vanilla, but can get overwhelmed easily by sweetness.

Ambrose likes rose scented things the most, and tends to like anything that is floral with a hint of something darker, like patchouli or anything woodsy underneath.

[inmyownlittlecorner5]

Bifrost Blues Chapter 1: The Elder Tree

Fandom: Thor (movies), MCU Rating: T Warnings: None Pairing: Loki/OC Summary:  According to the rules, no Jotun shall ever set foot in Asgard. According to the rules, no Prince of Asgard shall befriend a Jotun. According to the rules Rules were made to be broken. Written for @flufftober2021​

Day Two+ >> Read on Ao3+

Prompt 1: winning a teddy for the other

graphic by the author with @ourdiningroom​

1065 AD

It had been a terrible day. 

First, Thor had stolen all of the hveteboller at breakfast, leaving Loki with nothing but eggs and apples (which were wholesome food, but boring, boring, boring). Then Thor had won every single foot race, no matter what fearsome illusion Loki had created to distract him. Either Thor was getting better at telling fantasy from reality, or he was so stupidly brave that he didn’t care when an undead draugar was in his path. Loki clearly needed more practice with his illusions. 

The final straw had been after luncheon, when Thor had run off with his friends to explore the forest at the foot of the mountains. Loki had been right behind them, only stopping into his room for a few essentials (a book to read, and a book to take notes in, and another book in case he finished the first one). But by the time he’d reached the courtyard, they’d been gone. 

“Stupid Thor,” Loki muttered as he wandered through the forest alone. “I hope he falls into a cave, and the Jörmungandr gets him, and we never see him again.”

Nightfall was coming fast. Loki would be in the worst kind of trouble if he did not return to the castle before then. He continued along the forest path anyway. What did it matter if he were sent to his room without dinner when he returned? It wasn’t as if anyone would miss him.

The path he was following took a sharp curve, ending at the base of a mighty elder tree. The wide trunk was covered with branches, perfectly spaced for climbing. Loki eagerly started up the tree. For a time, the irritations of the day faded as he simply enjoyed the feeling of being young and agile.

He was halfway up the tree when he caught sight of a long white skirt above him. The girl wearing it was clinging to the tree trunk, her face pressed against the wood. He tilted his head, studying her, then scurried up the tree until he was level with her.

“Are you a huldra?” he asked, more curious than wary. Maybe her tail was hidden underneath her skirt.

“No.” Her voice was tense and quiet.

“Then what are you doing up here? This is a terrible place for a nap.”

She lifted her head off the tree trunk to glare at him. “I’m not sleeping.”

He would have teased her further, but he was completely distracted by her dark blue skin. “A Jotun! How did you—you shouldn’t be here.”

“I have as much right to be here as anybody else. Are you the king that you order people about so?”

Loki was not afraid of monsters. He narrowed his eyes at the Jotun girl. “I may not be the king, but I am his son. I’ll order anyone I like.”

“You’re small for a prince.”

That was funny, coming from a Frost Giant shorter than he was. “And you’re small for a Jotun.”

“Just leave me alone.”

He grinned as she looked away from his glare. He could outstare anyone. Except father.

“No. Not until you tell me what you’re doing here.”

She huffed in exasperation. “If you must know, I’m trying to rescue my little sister’s stuffed dreki. An Imp thought it would be funny to steal it and leave it at the top of a tree in Asgard. I wouldn’t have come after it, but it’s her favorite toy, and she won’t go to sleep without it.”

Loki glanced upwards. The dreki was dangling from a branch by its twisted tail several feet above them.

“It’s right there,” he said, pointing. “If that’s all you’ve come for, take it and go.”

“I can’t,” she hissed through her teeth.

What a strange girl. “Of course you can. Just go and get it.”

The girl mumbled something he couldn’t make out.

“What was that? Speak up when you talk to royalty.”

“I said I’m afraid of heights. I’m…stuck.”

Loki laughed. How could anyone be afraid of heights? “Is that all? There’s nothing to be afraid of. Look!”

He swung himself from one tree branch to the other, climbing the tree effortlessly. The Jotun girl gasped, which only encouraged him to move more recklessly. With a final jump, he had the dreki in his hand. Then he was swinging back down to where the girl still clung to the tree.

“There’s nothing to fear. I’ve got your sister’s toy,” he said.

“I—“ she began in a shaky voice.

There was no sense in letting her talk herself into more fear. Loki looked her square in the eye, then blinked in surprise.

“You’re eyes—they’re brown. I thought Jotun eyes were red,” he said.

“Our eyes are all different colors. They only turn red when we’re fighting,” she explained. “Everybody knows that.”

He filed this information away in case it proved useful later. “We’re not that far from the bottom. Keep your eyes on me. We’ll climb down together.”

She seemed conflicted, but there was no other choice. Loki kept the pace slow and steady as they worked their way down the trunk. She did not look away from him once.

“I didn’t know Jotuns had toys,” he said. Talking would keep her mind too busy for fear.

“Why wouldn’t we? Don’t Asgardians have toys?” she replied.

“Of course! We have the best toys in the Nine Realms. Do you have books too?”

The fear in her eyes was turning into annoyance. Good. Anger was better than fear.

“Yes, what a question,” she said.

“I beg your pardon, Maid of Jotunheim. According to our history your Realm is somewhat…unrefined.”

“Unrefined?” Her brown eyes flashed golden. “We’re just as good as any of the other Realms. Just because Asgard doesn’t know our ways doesn’t make them unrefined. Why—“

“We’ve reached the ground,” Loki said, cutting of her ranting. “Your eyes change color when you’re angry, did you know?”

He held the dreki out to her, hardly able to contain his laughter. She was angry with him but, as he’d rescued both her sister’s toy and her own self from the tree, she could hardly own it. Without a word, she snatched the dreki and started hurrying off into the forest.

“Maid of Jotunheim, aren’t you going to thank me?” he called after her.

She paused in her flight and turned back to him, her manners as pretty as any Asgardian courtier. “Thank you, Your Highness. I am in your debt.”

“Then give me your name, that I will know from whom to collect it.”

Her anger flared back to life; her golden eyes and dark red hair were fire against the deep blue of her skin.

“My name is Angrboda Galarrsdatter,” she said fiercely.

“And mine is Loki Odinson. Good day to you, Angrboda. I won’t forget.”

She growled as she whirled away from him and ran into the forest. He watched her until he could no longer see the white of her dress or the red of her hair. Then he started back towards the palace, whistling his victory to the night birds as he went.

End Notes:

Hveteboller: Norwegian cardamom sweet buns.

The elder tree is associated with Freya, the Norse goddess of love.

Draugar are something like zombies.

The Jörmungandr, or the Midgard Serpent, is an giant snake.

Huldra are forest spirits with cow’s tails.

Dreki: dragon

In Norse Mythology, Angrboda is Loki’s Jotun wife. For the purposes of this fic, Jotuns are not monsters (whatever the Asgardians say they are).

Day Two+ >>