#we used to watch his reports(?) or whatever it's called in school

[doctorbitchcrxft]

Something Wicked | Supernatural Series Rewrite | Dean Winchester x Reader

Pairing: Dean Winchester x Reader

Warnings: canon violence, canon gore, implications of verbal parental abuse

Word Count: 4885

Series Rewrite Masterlist

The two boys were bickering over coordinates Dean had received from an anonymous number. 

“Dude, I ran LexisNexis, local police reports, newspapers, I couldn't find a single red flag. Are you sure you got the coordinates right?” Sam asked.

“Yeah, I double checked. It's Fitchburg, Wisconsin. Dad wouldn't have sent us coordinates if it wasn't important, Sammy.”

“Well, I'm telling you, I looked, and all I could find was a big steamy pile of nothing. If Dad's sending us hunting for something, I don't know what.”

“Well, maybe he's going to meet us there.”

“Yeah. ‘Cause he's been so easy to find up to this point.”

You sighed. You weren’t about to get in the middle of this argument and tuned the rest of it out. Alas, Dean won the argument, as he often did. 

You stopped for some coffee along Fitchburg’s main street. The town itself was small, but it was quaint. A little too Middle America for your taste.

“Well… the waitress thinks the local freemasons are up to something sneaky, but other than that, no one's heard about anything freaky going on,” Dean sighed, handing you and Sam your respective coffee orders.

“Dean, you got the time?” you asked him.

“Ten after four. Why?”

You nodded in front of you at the playground you were looking at. “What's wrong with this picture?”

It was deserted aside from one child climbing on the jungle gym.

“School's out, isn't it?” Dean questioned.

“Yeah. So where is everybody?” Sam added. “This place should be crawling with kids right now.”

You and the Winchesters walked over to a woman on a park bench reading a magazine. Dean approached her, saying, “Sure is quiet out here.”

The woman sighed, “Yeah, it’s a shame.”

“Why's that?”

“You know, kids getting sick, it's a terrible thing.”

“How many?”

“Just five or six but serious, hospital serious. A lot of parents are getting pretty anxious. They think it's catching,” she explained.

All four of you watched the little girl playing by herself, and the wheels in your head began to turn. Why would John send you all the way to Fitchburg over a few sick kids?

The three of you made your way up to the pediatrics ward of the hospital to investigate the sick children. Dean and Sam donned suits, and you wore a pencil skirt and heels. You couldn’t lie to yourself, Dean looked amazing in his suit, but you much preferred his usual leather jacket and biker boots. 

“See something you like?” Dean smirked at you.

Your mouth opened and closed, unsure of what to say. He just snickered in response while your cheeks burned.

A doctor approached you and the boys before Dean could taunt you any further. You introduced yourselves and headed down the corridor with the man. “Well, thanks for seeing us, Dr. Hydecker,” Dean said.

“Well, I'm glad you guys are here. I was just about to call CDC myself. How'd you find out anyways?” the doctor asked.

“Oh, some GP— I forget his name— he called Atlanta, and, uh, he must've beat you to the punch,” Dean lied.

“So you say you got six cases so far?” you asked.

“Yeah, five weeks. At first we thought it was garden variety bacterial pneumonia. Not that newsworthy. But now…”

“What?”

“The kids aren't responding to antibiotics. Their white cell counts keep going down. Their immune systems just aren't doing their job. It's like their bodies are... wearing out.”

“Wait, but are there any signs of leukopenia?” you asked. “Any history in these kids of that?”

Dean looked over at you, confused by what you were saying. You continued to talk to the doctor.

“No, actually,” Hydecker answered. 

“What about neutropenia?”

He shook his head as a nurse handed him a clipboard full of papers.

“Then, whatever this is would have to be attacking the bone marrow as well as the respiratory system… Have you done biopsies?”

“No, we haven’t,” Hydecker answered. “I’ll give that a try.”

“You ever seen anything like this before?” Sam questioned.

“Never this severe,” the doctor said. “And the way it spreads… that's a new one for me.”

“What do you mean?” asked Sam.

“It works its way through families. But only the children, one sibling after another.”

“You mind if we interview a few of the kids?” Dean questioned.

“They’re not conscious,” the doctor replied.

You were shocked. “None of them?”

“No.”

“Can we, uh, can we talk to the parents?” tried Dean.

“Well, if you think it'll help.”

“Yeah. Who was your most recent admission?”

Hydecker directed you to a man sitting on a chair against the wall in the waiting room. He looked like he hadn’t slept in days. He explained to you the oldest girl was first, and then his youngest. He told you that her window had been opened, but there was no one who could’ve done so except for his daughter because her room was on the second floor. 

You and the boys headed out of the pediatrics ward and back toward the car. 

“(Y/N), how’d you know all that stuff?” Sam asked you, referencing your conversation with the doctor.

“I like to read,” you shrugged. Sam smiled at your response and walked a little ahead of you. 

Dean came up next to you. “You were really serious about nursing, huh,” he said softly enough so Sam wouldn’t hear.

“I guess. I really do just like to read, though,” you smiled. “I think I just wanted to stick it to my dad. I always thought I’d be happier not hunting. But, uh, I just don’t think I could ever go back to being ‘normal’.”

“Yeah, I get that,” he responded. 

Sam turned back to you and his brother. “You know, this might not be anything supernatural. It might just be pneumonia.”

“No way,” you shook your head, “pneumonia wouldn’t be lowering white blood cell count. It’d have to be elevated for it to be true pneumonia. Infection and all that.”

Sam hummed. “Okay, so then what’s your theory?”

“Honestly? Not sure.”

“I'll tell you one thing,” said Sam. “That dad we just talked to? I'm betting it'll be a while before he goes home.”

***

“You got anything over there?” Sam asked Dean. The three of you had climbed through the home of the last two kids who had gotten sick looking for clues.

“Nah, nothing,” the older brother answered.

“Yeah, me neither,” you chimed in. You moved over to the window and paused. “Hey guys? I really don’t think it’s pneumonia.”

The boys came over and followed your line of sight to a rotted handprint with long, tendril-like fingers. 

“What the hell leaves a handprint like that?” Sam asked.

Dean seemed to get pulled away into his own mind for a moment before he began to look a little sick. “I know why Dad sent us here. He's faced this thing before. He wants us to finish the job.”

Dean raced down the stairs to the window on the back of the house you’d climbed through. You followed him close behind. You would ask him what had happened to him in the little girl’s bedroom later.

Dean explained to you on the ride to the motel what he thought you were hunting: a shtriga.

“So what the hell is a shtriga?” Sam asked as Dean pulled into a motel parking lot. This motel was a little cuter than the ones you’d visited previously; centered around a white cabin with green shingles. 

“It's kinda like a witch, I think. I don't know much about 'em,” explained Dean.

“Well, I've never heard of it. And it's not in Dad's journal.”

“Dad hunted one in Fort Douglas, Wisconsin, about sixteen, seventeen years ago. You were there. You don't remember?”

Sam shook his head.

“And I guess he caught wind of the things in Fitchburg now and kicked us the coordinates,” Dean went on.

“So wait, this…” Sam paused, waiting for Dean to remind him how to pronounce it.

“Shtriga.”

“Right. You think it's the same one Dad hunted before?”

“Yeah, maybe.”

“But if Dad went after it, why is it still breathing air?” Sam’s brows furrowed together.

“ ‘Cause it got away.”

Sam scoffed. “Got away?”

Dean was beginning to get frustrated, and you knew it was a cover-up for whatever was going on inside his head. “Yeah, Sammy, it happens.”

“Not very often.”

“Well, I don't know what to tell ya, maybe Dad didn't have his wheaties that morning,” snarked the older brother.

“What else do you remember?”

“Nothin'. I was a kid, alright?” Dean said defensively. You followed him into the motel lobby only to see a little boy watching TV in one room and a boy around ten or eleven walking out of it.

“A king or two queens?” The boy asked, looking between you and Dean.

“Two queens,” you and Dean answered quickly. “And one king, actually,” you added, stepping aside to reveal Sam behind you.

A woman entered smiling at you both. “Checking in?”

You nodded to her.

“Do me a favor, go get your brother some dinner,” the woman instructed the boy. 

“I'm helping a guest!” he protested, but turned away under his mother’s hard stare. “Two queens. And a king.”

“Will that be cash or credit?” she asked you.

Dean took out his card. “You take MasterCard? Perfect. Here you go.”

You watched him look behind the woman at the boy pouring his younger brother a glass of milk. And there he went again; pulled into what you could only assume was memories of himself and Sam.

The woman before you held out his card to zoned-out Dean, and you took it from her instead. “Uh, thanks.” She handed you the keys, and you nudged Dean to bring him back to reality.

***

Dean explained to you and Sam what shtrigas fed off: children, most commonly. The only thing that could kill them were specially designed wrought-iron rounds while the thing was feeding. They often take the form of something unsuspecting; like an old woman.

“Hang on,” Dean said. “Check this out. I marked down all the addresses of the victims. Now these are the houses that have been hit so far and dead center?”

“The hospital,” you noted.

“Now, when we were there, I saw a patient; an old woman,” Dean continued.

“An old person huh?” questioned Sam. “In a hospital? Phew. Better call the Coast Guard.”

You giggled at Sam.

“Well, listen, smart-asses, she had an inverted cross hanging on her wall.”

You and Sam stopped snickering and looked up at Dean. He raised an eyebrow at you.

And so, you headed to the hospital. Fortunately for her— but unfortunately for your hunt— the old woman with the upside down cross on the wall was just cataract-ridden and crotchety. Upon your return to the motel after thoroughly freaking out the old woman, you pulled Dean to your motel room for a talk before bed.

“What’s up?” he asked, sitting on a chair in your room. 

You sat on the bed across from him. “Where do you keep going?” you asked.

“Huh?”

“Sorry, I just realized how stupid that sounded. You keep, like, disappearing into your own brain,” you responded. “Like in the motel lobby. You zoned out looking at that kid and his brother.”

“Oh, that,” he said quietly. “I, uh, it’s stupid.”

“Dean,” you leaned over your crossed legs and rested your hand on his knee. “I’m asking you. It’s not stupid. I just care.”

“Oh, come on—”

“Dean,” you said. “You made me a pinky promise at that scary asylum. You promised you’d tell me. Please?”

He huffed out a small laugh. “You know how I said my dad hunted this thing before?”

You nodded.

“Well, I’m the reason it got away.”

“How? Didn’t you say it was sixteen, seventeen years ago? You would’ve been ten, dude,” you responded.

“Yeah, but it’s complicated. My dad left us alone in motel rooms all the time. He made me repeat to him what I was and wasn’t supposed to do every time he would go out on a hunt. Sam and I would fight over the last bowl of Lucky Charms from the groceries Dad got us for the week; y'know, stupid kid stuff,” he chuckled. “But it’d been days. I was climbin’ the walls, (Y/N). I had to get some air. I went to an arcade to just… blow off some steam, I guess.

"When I came back, the thing was over Sammy’s bed. I was frozen. My dad came in and shot it a couple times, but it got away. Dad just... grabbed us and booked. Dropped us off at Pastor Jim's about three hours away, but by the time he got back to Fort Douglas, the shtriga had disappeared; it was just gone. It never surfaced until now. Y'know, Dad never spoke about it again, I didn't ask." He looked away from you attempting to swallow his emotions. "But he, ah, he looked at me different, you know? Which was worse. Not that I blame him. He gave me an order, and I didn't listen; I almost got Sammy killed.”

“Dee, you were a kid,” you said softly. He went to cut you off, but you stopped him. “No, let me talk. I know how that feels. My parents left me with Stevie all the time. I would've done the same thing you did. We were kids. We had to take on parental responsibilities. Anybody would be going stir crazy, especially at ten years old like you were.”

“(Y/N)—”

“No,” you told him, grabbing his hand. “You cannot blame yourself. I won’t let you. Would you let me?”

He shook his head.

“Exactly.”

He held your intense stare and rubbed a thumb over your hand. The two of you awkwardly pulled away from each other, and Dean cleared his throat. “Uh, thank you, for, y’know—”

“Yeah, any time,” you said, walking him to the door. 

***

The next morning, you and Sam were teasing Dean about the old woman from the hospital the night before. You were headed to the car to go get some breakfast.

“ ‘I was sleeping with my peepers open’?” Sam laughed heartily, remembering the old woman's strange way of talking.

“I almost smoked that old girl, I swear. It's not funny!” Dean grunted.

“Oh man, you shoulda seen your face,” you giggled.

“Yeah, laugh it up. Now we're back to square one.” He looked over to the ten-year-old blond boy sitting on the bench behind his mother’s office. “Hang on.” He led you over to the child. “Hey, what's wrong?”

“My brother's sick,” he replied.

“The little guy?”

He nodded. “Pneumonia. He's in the hospital. It's my fault.”

“Ah, c'mon, how?” You could tell Dean’s mind was racing just based on his tone.

“I should’ve made sure the window was latched. He wouldn't've got pneumonia if the window was latched,” the boy lamented.

You watched, frowningly thoughtfully, as Dean looked away from the boy. 

“Listen to me. I can promise you that this is not your fault. Okay?” Dean assured him.

“It's my job to look after him,” the boy frowned, tearing up.

His mother hurried out of the motel toward her minivan. “Michael, I want you to turn on the 'no vacancy' sign while I'm gone. I've got Denise covering room service, so don't bother with any of the rooms.”

“I'm going with you,” he protested.

“Not now, Michael.”

“But I gotta see Asher!”

Dean responded before his mother could. “Hey, Michael. Hey. I know how you feel— I'm a big brother, too— but you gotta go easy on your mom right now, ok?”

His mom dropped her handbag in haste, cursing under her breath. You rushed to pick it up for her.

“Listen, you're in no condition to drive. Why don't you let me give you a lift to the hospital,” Dean offered.

“No, I couldn't possibly—” she answered.

“No, it's no trouble. I insist.”

Michael’s mother handed Dean the keys and thanked him before addressing her son. “Be good.”

Dean turned to you before he went over to the car. “We're gonna kill this thing. I want it dead, you hear me?”

You and Sam watched Dean pull out of the motel parking lot, driving much more carefully than he ever did when you and Sam were in the car.

“C’mon,” you said. “You got the keys?”

“Yeah,” he threw them to you. “Where we goin’?”

“Wait, you’re letting me drive?” you asked Sam.

He shrugged. 

You squealed childishly and jumped into the driver’s seat. You couldn’t lie, you loved this car. You loved how the steering wheel felt in your hands and the way the engine rumbled. 

“Seriously, where we going?”

“The library,” you answered. “Town records, national records, internet, anything and everything. Dean wants this thing dead, and I intend to get it done tonight. And I gotta tell you, dude, something’s really bothering me about this whole thing. I mean, I never even formally went to nursing school, but I knew it couldn’t be pneumonia immediately. Why would pediatric doctors be unable to figure that out?”

He shrugged. “I don’t know, but I get you. Something isn’t right.”

***

You and Sam poured through as many books you possibly could as quickly as you could. Sam was at his computer, scrolling with a furrowed brow when his phone rang. “ Hey. How's the kid?... We’re at the library. We've been trying to find out as much as we can about this shtriga… Well, bad news. I started with Fort Douglas around the time you said Dad was there?... Same deal.

"Before that, there was, uh, Ogdenville, before that, North Haverbrook, and Brockway. Every 15 to 20 years, it hits a new town. Dean, this thing is just getting started in Fitzburgh. In all these other places, it goes on for months. Dozens of kids before the shtriga finally moves on. The kids just languish in comas, and then they die… Ah, I don't know. The earliest mention I could find is this  place called ‘Black River Falls’ back in the 1890s. Talk about a horror show.”

Your brain began to make connections between all of those events. “Wait, Sam, put Dean on speaker.” 

He did so.

“Okay, you’re gonna have to stay with me on this one. This could just be me spitballin’, but—”

“Just say it, (Y/N),” Dean said through the phone.

“I’ve been thinking, why wouldn’t Hydecker immediately rule out pneumonia? If he’s such a spectacular and caring doctor, why wouldn’t he know that pneumonia ups your white blood cell count; not depletes it? And the chance of all six kids having a pre-existing condition that lowers your WBC is incredibly low. I mean, why else wouldn’t he biopsy the kids?”

“Okay, WebMD, what does that have to do with anything?” Dean asked.

“I told you to stay with me.” You began typing in your computer searching for articles on the earliest case Sam had found in Black River Falls. “The point is, I think Hydecker’s our guy. Think about it— the center of the kidnappings is the hospital. And any pediatric doctor would be familiar with what pneumonia actually does to a kid’s body.” You smiled sourly at a photo you pulled up of doctors surrounding a child’s bed in 1893. You turned the computer around to Sam. “Boom.”

“(Y/N), that is huge.” He leaned over and lightly punched your shoulder. “Good going.”

“Thanks!” you grinned. “Dean, meet us back at the motel. Don’t deck the guy in the face, please. Not yet, anyway.”

“No promises,” he grumbled.

“Dean—”

“Fine.” He hung up the phone.

“Alright, we gotta get back before Dean explodes,” you told Sam. “Can I drive again?”

“Sure, why not. Just don’t tell my brother.” He tossed you the keys and you giggled.

***

“We should have thought of this before. A doctor's a perfect disguise. You're trusted, you can control the whole thing,” Sam said. 

You and the brothers were back in the motel room. 

Dean threw off his jacket and paced agitatedly. “That son of a bitch.”

“I'm proud of you for not drawing on him right there,” you said.

“Yeah, well, first of all, I'm not going to open fire in a freakin' pediatrics ward.”

Sam nodded. “Good call.”

“Second, wouldn't have done any good, because the bastard's bullet proof unless he's chowing down on something. And third, I wasn't packing, which is probably a really good thing, ‘cause I probably would've just burned a clip in him on principle alone.”

Despite the situation, you found Dean aggressively grumbling about guns very attractive.

“You're getting wise in your old age, Dean,” Sam quipped.

“Damn right. 'Cause now I know how we're going to get it,” replied Dean.

“What do you mean?” you asked.

“Shtriga works through siblings, right?”

You knew what he was getting at. “No, Dean, I don’t like that.”

“What?” Sam asked, clearly not picking up where you and Dean were at.

“(Y/N)—”

“No, dude, we gotta get Michael out of here. I’m not letting you use him as bait.”

“Dean, what?! That’s out of the question!” Sam protested.

“It's not out of the question, Sam, it's the only way. If this thing disappears it could be years before we get another chance.”

“Michael's a kid. And I'm not going to dangle him in front of that thing like a worm on a hook,” Sam scoffed. 

“Dad did not send me here to walk away.” Dean turned away from you and Sam and gripped the edges of the dresser.

“Send you here? He didn't send you here; he sent us here,” Sam replied.

“This isn't about you, Sam. I'm the one who screwed up, all right. It's my fault. There's no telling how many kids have gotten hurt because of me.”

“What are you saying, Dean? How is it your fault?” Sam paused, taking a moment to calm down. “Dean. You've been hiding something from the get-go. Since when does Dad bail on a hunt? Since when does he let something get away? Now talk to me, man. Tell me what's going on.”

Dean proceeded to explain what he had to you last night. Sam gave him the same lecture about how it wasn’t his fault, but Dean began to protest again. “Don't. Don't. Dad knew this was unfinished business for me. He sent me here to finish it.”

You were surprised at the tough facade he gave his brother in contrast to the way he was vulnerable with you.

“But using Michael— I don't know Dean. I mean, how 'bout one of us hides under the covers, you know, we'll be the bait,” Sam tried.

“No, it won't work. It's gotta get close enough to feed— it'll see us. Believe me, I don't like it, but it's gotta be the kid.”

***

Michael was completely against the idea and even threatened to call the cops on you. You and the boys returned to their motel room dejectedly.

“Well, that went crappy. Now what?” Dean groaned.

“What did you expect? You can't ask an adult to do something like that, much less a kid,” the younger brother sighed.

There was a knock at the door, and you opened it to reveal Michael.

“Hey,” you said, surprised.

“If you kill it, will Asher get better?”

“Honestly? We don't know,” Dean told him.

“You said you were a big brother,” Michael started, “You'd take care of your little brother? You'd do anything for him?”

“Yeah, I would,” Dean replied quietly. Your heart swelled at how much Dean and Sam cared for each other.

The young boy nodded. “Me, too. I'll help.”

Dean had hooked up a security camera to the boy’s room, and you and he watched the monitor closely. You were beginning to feel cross-eyed from how tired you were. It was around three in the morning, and your body protested against your will to stay awake.

“You sure these iron rounds are gonna work?” Sam asked his brother.

“Consecrated iron rounds, and yeah, it's what Dad used last time.”

“Hey, Dean? I’m sorry,” the younger brother said softly. “You know, I've really given you a lot of crap, for always following Dad's orders. But I know why you do it.”

“Oh, god, kill me now,” Dean groaned.

You giggled to yourself, eyes returning to the screen. “Dean, look.”

There was a bit of movement off to the right of the screen outside of the window. You and the boys picked up your guns, holding them tightly and waiting for the right moment. 

“Now?” you asked.

“Not yet.”

The shtriga moved closer and leaned over the bed. You could see Michael tense under the covers and draw them closer to himself. The creature leaned over the bed, pushing the covers down. 

“Now?!”

“Now.”

You and the boys burst through the door and began to shoot the creature after Michael rolled away. It flew off Michael’s bed and fell to the side you couldn’t see.

“Mike, you alright?” Dean asked the kid.

“Yeah,” came his muffled reply from under the bed.

“Just sit tight.” Dean approached the shtriga, his gun at the ready. There was no movement for just a moment, before the shtriga shot up and grabbed Dean by his throat, throwing him across the room.

“Dean!” you cried, trying to run to him. The shtriga threw you to the side against Michael’s bed. Your back protested as you tried to roll and grab your gun that had fallen out of your hand in the chaos. You noticed the shtriga leaning over the top of the younger Winchester. Sam’s body went limp and began to go gray as the shtriga began to suck out his life force.

“Hey!” Dean gruffly spat. The shtriga turned to the older brother just to get shot straight between the eyes.

“Nice!” you said. You rushed to Sam’s side and smoothed a hand over his messy hair while he tried to catch his breath. “Are you okay?”

He nodded. “Thanks.”

“You okay, little brother?” Dean called from behind you. You thought it was adorable how much he cared.

You and Sam stood and you tried to help hold the tall man up on his unsteady legs. You guided him over to the shtriga, and Dean shot it three times at point-blank range. The shtriga’s body fell in on itself, disintegrating.

You looked up at Dean, whose face was still set in hard lines.

“It's okay, Michael, you can come on out,” Dean told the boy peeking out from under his bed. He rose to stand beside you, smiling tentatively. Dean put a hand on the boy’s shoulder and gave it a squeeze. You looked on, feeling your heart swell at what you knew was a full-circle moment for Dean. You knew these moments were few and far-between in a profession like yours, and you had learned to savor them in your memory.

***

You and the brothers returned to your rooms to pack now that the monster was dead. As usual, you were finished packing before the boys were and leaned against the Impala waiting for them.

You watched Michael’s mom’s car pull up in the motel parking lot. At that moment, the boys came out to join you.

“Hey, Joanna. How's Asher doing?” Dean asked the mother of the two boys.

“Have you seen Michael?” she asked him.

“Mom! Mom!” the child in question ran up and hugged him. “How's Ash?”

“Got some good news. Your brother's gonna be fine,” she smiled down at the boy.

“Really?” Michael grinned.

“Yeah. Really. No one can explain it; it's a miracle. They're going to keep him overnight for observation, and then, he's coming home.”

You smiled as Sam asked, “How are all the other kids doing?”

“Good. Real good. A bunch of them should be checking out in a few days. Dr. Travis says the ward's going to be like a ghost town,” she explained.

“Dr. Travis? What about Dr. Hydecker?” you asked.

“Oh, he wasn't in today. Must have been sick or something.”

You shot a knowing look to the boys.

“So, did anything happen while I was gone?” Joanna asked her son.

The boy looked to Dean before responding, “Nah, same old stuff.”

“Okay.” Joanna smoothed a hand over Michael’s blonde hair. “You can go see Ash.”

A wide grin spread across the boy’s face. “Now?!”

She nodded at her son, who ran into the car. “I, ah, I'd better get going before he hotwires the car and drives himself,” she told you and the boys. The three of you watched as Joanna’s car pulled out of the parking lot. Sam and Dean turned to you and placed their bags in the trunk next to yours. 

“It's too bad,” said Sam.

“Oh, they’ll be fine,” you assured him.

“That's not what I meant,” he shook his head. “I meant Michael. He'll always know there are things out there in the dark— he'll never be the same, you know?” He paused. “Sometimes I wish that....”

“What?” Dean questioned.

“I wish I could have that kinda innocence.”

Dean walked to the driver’s side door. He leaned on the roof of the car and said, “If it means anything, sometimes I wish you could too.”

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[jujutsukatsuki]

Memories || B.K

|| in honor of someone sending in a hate mail about my writing and specifically part one of this work, which you don’t have to read to understand this. Here’s part two! This is dedicated to that hater! Listen to Memories by Conan Gray to get the full effect! ||

It had been six months since she saw him, since he broke her heart. Since he walked out the door like she meant nothing. She saw him on tv often, Pro Hero Dynamite, every week it was a report about how he saved the city or was accepting a new award for his heroics.

It wasn’t fair.

She stilled lived in the same apartment, mainly cause they had signed a two year lease so she couldn’t leave. She had finally managed to get herself to stop crying when she would look at the old pictures of the two of them.

She watches the rain out the window, a black cardigan pulled around her as she sees the sidewalks puddled with water. She takes a sip of her red wine as a soft knock breaks the gentle silence of the apartment. The cat she had gotten a month after he left her, gently meows and jumped up on the entry table next to the dark oak front door.

The walk to the door is quick from her cozy chair that overlooks the sidewalk. She looks through the peephole and sees red eyes peering through it at her. She jumps before she opens the door.

“Bakugou?” The use of his last name makes his skin crawl, he groans.

“I just.. can we talk? Y/n?” He looks at her, he can watch the gears in her brain turn as she looks at him. She can see how wet his hoodie is and she can’t help but open the door for him.

He slides in and goes to walk into the living room but stumbles over the cat.

“Who put a fuckin’ cat there?!” He grumbled before letting the cat sniff his hand.

She watches him cautiously, like she’s a wild animal and he’s prey.

Somehow they end up on the kitchen floor, Bakugou is wrapped in a blanket, his clothes put in the dryer. Y/n has her back against the cabinets as she watches him, her knees are pulled tight to her chest as if they were a shield guarding her heart from him.

“I miss you.” His voice is rough, she can see the remainder of the black make up he wore under his hero mask.

“I wish you’d stay in my memories.” She bites back, her tone is sharp, callous, calculated.

“I deserve that.” He agrees and runs his hands through the damp blonde streaks, the black cat named Starfire had curled up next to him.

‘Traitor’ Y/n thinks in her head as she eyes her companion.

“I hate what I did to you.. I was trying to pr-“

“So help me god if you say protect me.” Y/n snaps, her eyes watering from the confrontation.

“Y/n.. baby.. you don’t get it..” he tried to reason, his eyes search hers for any hope that he can explain.

“I get it. I got it when I came home to a half empty apartment and you sat me down and then walked out. I understood when you blocked my number. I understood when you had security kick me out of your agency when I wanted to talk to you.”

Bakugou closes his eyes, the alcohol has gotten to his head and he feels ill, or maybe it’s the guilt for his actions.

“You protected me all through out high school and college and I supported you when you were in hero school and starting out and you faced greater threats then whatever it was this time. You didn’t leave me then. So what was it Bakugou? What the fuck was it?!”

His last name on her tongue feels wrong, he wants to hear katsuki from her pretty lips.

“I.. I got scared. I wanted to marry you but I got scared. I wasn’t ready.” He whispers and moves closer to Y/n, he moves to lay on the ground, his head in her lap.

“Please Y/n… I’m sorry… please understand.”

She can feel the tears fall on the bare skin of her thigh, she thinks about the last few months that they were together in her head. The way he had gotten a call about a nine thousand dollar transaction on his card, the way he always would stand in the closet and be staring at something but hide it away when Y/n would come around. His mom texting and asking when they could go get their nails done even when they had never done that before.

Y/n looks down at the sobbing drunk man and sighs, she rubs the bridge of her nose and squeezes her eyes shut. The sound of the dryer going off rips her from all thought.

“I’ll be right back.” She gently maneuvers out from under him and goes to get his laundry. When she returns with the clothes, he’s still on the floor petting Starfire and whispering to himself.

“Your mom is so beautiful, I wish I never fucked things up.. I miss her every day. I know I ruined her but I could fix it.. make it up.. god..”

Y/n clears her throat and Bakugou sits up quickly startling Starfire who scampers off.

“You can sleep in the guest room. You’re in no condition to drive or walk.“

Bakugou stands up, keeping the blanket tight around him.

“Okay,” he agrees and walks to where the guest room was, he loved this apartment, remembered the day the two moved in like it was yesterday. He opens the door and it looks different. Y/n’s things are in here.

“Wrong door.” Y/n says as she crosses her arms over her chest.

Bakugou turns and opens their old bedroom. The guest room furniture was now in here.

“Why?” He asks and looks at her.

“Couldn’t stand to be in there.” She looks away.

He doesn’t say anything else as he goes into the room.

“Oh. Here.” She grabs his clothes from the kitchen counter and hands them to him.

“Thanks Y/n.” He smiles, his head feels gross, he needs to lay down.

“Yeah. Well good night.”

She walks into her bedroom and closes the door, she puts her back against it and slides down it, hands running through her hair.

Y/n lets herself cry, she sniffles as she wipes her tears on the black cardigan. It’s not fair she tells herself that right as she’s fully put back together he comes in here and fucks it all up, it’s not fair that he can ruin her own self image of herself and run back to her like it meant nothing.

She takes her sweater off and puts on a big t shirt and crawls into bed. Within a few minutes there’s a knock at the door and Bakugou peeks his head in.

“Y/n?” He says “I love you.” He finishes.

Her eyes flick to him and she jumps out of bed, the door flying open to see his full body

“No. No. No. No.” she picks up a pillow and starts to hit him with it, all the rage she had built up exploding out.

“You don’t get to say that! You don’t get to come here and ruin my life over again like you did already! You don’t get to make me believe that we could be something again when you already proved that I was nothing! You made me feel like I was nothing! Don’t you understand that you’re holding yourself back from finding someone you actually love?! I was barely surviving after you left! It’s not fair!” She screams at him, tears rolling down her cheeks like the storm that rages outside.

Her face is red and warm and her body feels like she’s laying on hot coals. Bakugou gently grabs her and pulls her into a hug, she can faintly smell the cologne he always used, the one she still kept in her bathroom. She can smell the beer on him as well. She breaks down in his arms, she can barely hold herself up as he strokes her back and holds her.

“Shhh, I got you. It’s okay.” He whispers and pulls her to the bed, he lays down with her on his chest. He keeps a tight hold.

“I’m sorry… I’m so sorry.” He whispers over and over.

They fall asleep like that. When the sun comes up and shines in their eyes, they lay in the aftermath of the storm. Bakugou wakes up first like he always did. Y/n isn’t far behind when she feels gentle kisses on her forehead.

“Morning sleeping beauty.” He whispers

“Hi.” She muttered and closes her eyes once again.

Maybe they didn’t have to be what they were before, maybe they could be something better.

Bakugou gently sits up and holds her.

“I am sorry Y/n.. and I do miss you. Just please.. one shot..”

Y/n takes a deep inhale of the cologne that sticks to his body. She slowly nods.

“Okay.. one shot, that’s all you get.”

“That’s all I need. I won’t fuck up again. I promise.”

[blushweddinggowns]

Nancy furrowed her brow as she went to answer it, just as confused as everyone else, “Hello? What? I-Fred please be quiet for one second! How did you know I was here- I know the article is due but I’m in the- why call me if you aren’t going to let me talk!”

She pinched the bridge of her nose, “You know what? Yeah, just wait for me at school. I’ll be there in a few hours. Yes, hours! I’m hanging up now.”

She sighed, rubbing a hand over her face before addressing everyone, “It wasn’t important. I just have to stop at the school at some point today. But for now we should get going-”

But Wayne wasn’t having it. He turned back to the duo, pointing an accusing finger their way,“If either of you think you’re stepping out of this house you have another damn thing coming-”

“Okay!” Eddie interrupted, reaching out to grab Wayne’s arms, “It’s time to talk in private. The rest of you stay here.”

Eddie dragged Wayne into the back room, Steve following meekly behind. They could still hear them in such a small space, hushed voices arguing in Eddie’s room.

It made Chrissy feel weird, like she was intruding on a family moment. She knew she was, they all were. Dustin even went as far as to turn on the TV, effectively giving them the noise they needed to keep their conversation private.

“Oh my god,” Dustin breathed after a few seconds, “Oh no, oh no, oh no.”

Chrissy glanced at the screen, her stomach dropping when she saw what it was. It was her school photo. Followed with a reporter’s voiceover, “...following a cryptic voicemail, that police suspect was a forced call. Considering the untimely deaths of multiple young women in the town of Hawkins, we need a prompt and quick response in regards to finding this young lady. If anyone knows the whereabouts of Chrissy Cunningham please call your local authorities immediately. 

Oh no. Oh no, oh no, oh no, oh no. She should have known. Of course her mom would go straight to the police. She knew that call had been pointless. Worse than pointless. If she had never said anything then she probably wouldn’t have even realized Chrissy was gone until today. 

“We can’t stay here,” Chrissy said suddenly, already feeling frantic.

“Why not?” Dustin asked, his brow furrowed, “No one else even knows you're here!”

But Robin was already moving, cursing under her breath as she got her shoes on, “Because if anyone looking for her has a single working brain cell they’ll look for me. And how do you find me?”

“You find Steve?” Dustin asked, still watching in confusion as the rest of the girls got ready to go.

“And if you’re looking for Steve,” Robin asked, “Where would you go?”

“Here,” Dustin grumbled, finally catching on. 

“There you fucking go,” Robin sighed, before calling down the hall, “Steve, Eddie, we gotta go. Now!”

“Give us a damn minute!” Eddie yelled back, but Robin wasn’t having it. She marched back there, dragging a confused Chrissy with her. 

The three men stared at them as Robin dug around, talking as she searched, “They reported Chrissy missing so that means cops are almost certainly on their way here. We need to go now-aha!”

She held up Eddie walkman, before waltzing over to Chrissy to put the headphones over her ears. She hummed the melody as she snatched the tape out of Eddie’s player, snapping quickly into the walkman and pressing play.

“There,” She said with a gentle smile, interlacing Chrissy’s fingers with her own, “Now you’re mobile.”

She turned back to Eddie and Steve, her voice softening at the kicked-puppy look on Steve’s face, “We’ll wait outside, but we need to think of a place to hide. Fast.”

“I already know a place,” Eddie sighed, waving them off. He threw his keys in their direction, Robin just catching them in time as he kept his eyes on Wayne, “Go to the van and hide in the back. We’ll be out in a minute.”

Chrissy nodded, and then Robin was dragging her off. She chanced one look back at them, her heart breaking a little at the devastated look on Wayne’s face. She felt so bad. Yes, whatever this was had started before her, but she was the brand new reason she was involved. Why all of these people were now risking themselves for her of all people. 

“This isn’t your fault, y’know,” Robin said quietly as she unlocked the van’s door, the rest of the group talking quietly amongst themselves in front of the beemer, “I can see your brain working over there.”

Chrissy shrugged as she climbed inside, settling in the back. Robin sat beside her, close enough for their shoulders to touch. Chrissy wished Robin would think about stuff like that, how often she touched her. Or maybe Chrissy wished she could start thinking of it less.

“Maybe not everything,” She mumbled, “But it’s my fault you’re involved now. Maybe you guys could have been the bystanders for once if I never happened.”

“I doubt it,” Robin laughed softly, giving Chrissy’s hand a comforting squeeze. ``I got involved by working at an ice cream shop. Don’t underestimate the randomness of this crap. Besides…”

She trailed off, scooting closer to lay her head against Chrissy’s shoulder. Close enough for the warmth of her breath to tickle Chrissy’s neck, “Getting to know you is more than worth the trouble.”

From the latest chapter of this fic

[acourtofthought]

I like the potential of elucien but they currently have no chemistry. How do you think Sarah will go about their story?

For Elucien it's really as simple as forced proximity. Put them in a situation where they're forced to spend "two weeks alone" together (quote from ACOMAF) and I'm 100% certain that we're going to see exactly why SJM mated them. Heck, give me a day with them alone together, no sisters hovering near by, Elain having no choice but to speak directly to him without the heavy shadow of recent loss hovering over her and we'll see it.

I think some in the fandom are confusing Elain's physical attraction to Az as proof that she has chemistry with him but when physical attraction is used to build romantic chemistry between characters it will always result in a shallow love story. Lucien did find Elain to be the most beautiful female he'd ever seen so I'm not saying attraction can't be there but when you have characters giving into that attraction before something deeper has been established, true chemistry is going to fall flat. Having Az tell us he's avoided Elain for a year while she's still recovering from trauma doesn't call to mind that he's someone she was able to lean on, it doesn't make me believe that he feels anything for her because she could have used his friendship during that time (since she wasn't asking for distance) but he chose to stay away.

It calls to mind desperately crushing on someone in high school, where you watch them from afar, hoping for the day you can be together, and then finally you get your wish but you realize you actually don't know this person at all. You're infatuated with the idea of them rather than the real them.

I'm not saying Elain and Lucien have any sort of wild on page chemistry right now but it was kind of difficult for there to be any while she was mourning the loss of her humanity and Graysen. And though there was a little bit of hope that she was ready to move past that by the end of ACOWAR, she regressed in the novella Likewise there was zero chemistry on page between Nesta and Cassian in ACOFAS, when she chose to push him away after the war.

Characters can't have chemistry when they are ignoring their possible love interest, you actually have to see them talking.

As far as how Sarah will go about their story, I think there are a few options.

Right now we have already had Elain volunteering to help with the Trove, Rhys saying that Elain is capable of more than they've given her credit for, that gardening results in something pretty but involves one getting their hands dirty along the way, and Elain saying she'll do whatever is needed.

The options are limitless because of the above.

The issues they currently face are:

Beron allying with Koschei and setting his sights on Spring.

The NC reminding us that they need Springs army as an ally but that Tamlin is even worse after the announcement of Feyre's pregnancy.

Koschei preparing to call Vassa back.

Koschei trying to get his hands on the Trove to free himself so he might rule their world.

The NC could decide they need to utilize Elain's Seer powers and send her to Day Court to help her train. They don't seem very knowledgeable on Seers so Helion's library's might be the best place for her to learn about them.

The could decide a marriage alliance between themselves and other courts might benefit them and Elain could volunteer to marry Lucien because she's so over the concept of love and men after Graysen and Az's rejection that she's decided she'll simply focus on helping the courts rather than marrying for love (the concept was introduced in SF after all and SJM carried it out an arranged marriage trope in HOFAS).

They could send Elain as an emissary "spy" to the Spring Court. Not in the shadows or anything, just acting as their courtier, where she would gather information on the situation there, to be sure Lucien's reporting has been unbiased.

Elain could end up dreaming of the drums of Calanmai and find herself pulled to Spring on her own.

They could send Elain to the continent to retrieve Mor since Feysands daemati range does not work that far and have Lucien accompany her.

Or something SJM imagines up! I don't think any of us guessed how Nessian would end up being forced together in SF.

[headkiss]

upside down

pairing: steve harrington x fem!reader

summary: using the (many) requested prompts: “how do we get out?” “if you die i’m gonna kill you” “i almost lost you” “you need to wake up because i cant do this without you” “do you want me to stay?” being trapped—and injured—in the upside down with steve leads to a new development in your relationship.

word count: 5.7k

warnings: some s4 spoilers, blood?, it’s angsty and fluffy

a/n: hiiii this one took a while to write so i hope u guys enjoy it!!! i also hope the anons don’t mind i combined the requests buuut they fit together so here u go :)

༄

You didn’t think being friends with Steve Harrington would lead you to feel so fond, so protective, over a group of misfit kids. You didn’t think you’d end up tangled with another dimension called the upside down. You definitely didn’t think it would bring you here, at Lover’s Lake, waiting for Steve to resurface after diving in to find a gate.

You didn’t think you’d be in yet another battle with the upside down, but you were. You cared about the people around you, about the kids, Robin, Nancy, even Eddie who you’d only recently met, and you cared the most about Steve. So, in a way, you were glad you were here, glad you could help. You just wished it was over.

You and Steve became close in freshman year of high school, even though you’d known each other for most of your lives. You’d always been civil, kind to each other, but in freshman year, you became friends. You were put together as lab partners in chemistry, forcing you two to be around each other for a period every single day for a year, and you just clicked.

You stuck by each other through it all. Through the angst of growing up and feeling awkward, through random crushes and relationships, through his time with Nancy and the fallout afterwards, through his ‘King Steve’ era. It was like nothing could push you apart, a friendship made to last.

You couldn’t help falling in love with him, really. When he was with Nancy, and your stomach would drop at their displays of affection, you brushed it off. But, when they broke up, and he really leaned on you to get him through it, you just felt him getting deeper under your skin. He cuddled with you and placed kisses on your head like a boyfriend would, but you were only friends.

Watching him dive down into the dark water of the lake in search of a gate to a deadly dimension was not fun for you. No, it had your hands shaking and your mind reeling with worst-case scenarios. You couldn’t take your eyes off of the spot where he dove in, even after the ripples had gone away. You thought maybe if you looked hard enough, he’d float up to the top, back where it was safer. Back with you.

It felt like ages before he finally surfaced, breathing in deeply before reporting back to everyone in the boat.

“I found it. It’s sort of like a baby gate, but still pretty damn big.”

“That’s good, now get back in the boat please.” You tugged on his arm, wanting to get him in the boat before anything bad could happen.

He smiled that Steve Harrington smile at you, “worried about me?”

“Yes actually, so can you get in?”

He pushed himself up, but before he could get in the boat, he felt a tug on his ankle, then he was being pulled. He tried to kick whatever was pulling him down away, but it was useless. He was through the gate, landing hard on his back and groaning in pain. Then, he was being attacked by some bat-looking monsters. Biting and scratching, even choking him and he was panicking.

All he could think about was that if he died, he’d never get to see you again, and he’d leave you behind. Something he promised he’d never do.

You audibly gasped when Steve was pulled away from you, back into the water. Your immediate reaction was to stand up and jump in after him, so that’s what you did. Despite everyone’s protests, you dove right in, no second thoughts. You swam as fast as you could, trying to get to Steve before he was pulled through, but you weren’t quick enough. So, you followed him through the gate.

You pushed yourself through the gate, barely noticing the others coming in after you because of how focused on Steve you were.

Once you got your footing on the other side, you searched around you for Steve. For your best friend. Your stomach dropped when you saw him, laying on the ground with bats attacking him. He was fighting for his life, pulling at the tail wrapped around his throat to try and get air into his lungs. You ran over to him, not even registering everyone else starting to swat at the bats with oars and other weapons.

“Oh my god, Steve.” You were panicking, trying to find something to help get the bats off of him. When that came up fruitless, you decided to just use your hands. You pulled at the bats biting his stomach, ripping them off of him and turning their attention onto you. They were scratching and biting at you as you moved onto the one around Steve’s neck.

Nancy ran over when she was able, using the oar to hit the creature enough to get it to loosen its grip on Steve. Once he could suck in a breath, Steve grabbed the tail of the bat, repeatedly smashing it against the ground before ripping it in half. He was panting hard and he spit a glob of blood out of his mouth.

You noticed his balance failing him, rushing to his side to steady him. “Hey, hey. Talk to me. Are you okay?”

Your voice was what brought him out of his daze, searching for your eyes before responding, “never better.”

You were staring into each other’s eyes then, not thinking about the three onlookers or the deadly things all around. You were so glad he was alive, but he wasn’t in a good state, and you were worried beyond belief.

Robin snapped the both of you out of it when she saw more bats coming your way, “uh, guys. I hate to ruin the moment but we should probably hide.”

Eddie was mumbling to himself before yelling out in frustration, “Jesus H Christ!”

Nancy, ever the responsible one, directed you all towards the forest, “Come on!”

You held onto Steve’s hand as you ran, not wanting to leave him behind. His pace was slower because of his injuries, and you weren’t going to let him stray from the group. You had to keep him right by your side, where you could see and feel him beside you.

After way too much running for your liking, the group had reached skull rock, or, the upside down version of it. The adrenaline seemed to wear off once you were all done running, especially for Steve. He was swaying on his feet, leaning against the rock for purchase as you held onto his shoulders trying to keep him upright. His hands were covering his stomach wounds, like if nobody could see them they weren’t really there.

You weren’t having that, though, so you maneuvered him so his back was against the rock, leaning on it with more stability. You then grasped his wrists in your shaky hands, pulling them away from his body so you could see the damage done. Everyone else was silent, trying to let the two of you have a moment because they knew the kind of connection you had.

You sucked in a breath at the sight of Steve’s injuries, “shit, Stevie. How bad does it hurt?”

“Oh this? It’s nothing, really.” He was trying to cheer you up, even though he was the one in pain. His eyes heavy, but focused on you and your face.

Robin decided to speak up, to try and break the tension in the atmosphere, because it wasn’t a good one. It was fear and pain. “Still as cocky as ever, Harrington. I’m amazed.”

He smiled at Robin, but you were still panicking over him, “does anyone have anything to wrap it with?”

Luckily, Nancy was levelheaded and a quick thinker, and she stepped up to you and Steve, ripping the bottom part of her shirt off to use as a makeshift bandage.

“Think this will work,” she looked towards you, “can you help him lean forward so I can wrap it around his back?”

Nancy had noticed how shaky your hands were, how you wouldn’t be able to be the one to do the wrapping that would cause more discomfort to Steve. She knew you loved him and she wanted to help you. She couldn’t imagine what she’d do if Johnathan was in this position.

You nodded, blinking hard to get rid of the tears you didn’t realize had gathered in your eyes. “Yeah. Of course.”

Your mind was going wild, you couldn’t lose Steve. You’d lose a huge part of yourself if that happened, and you almost did. All you wanted to do was help him but you couldn’t. You couldn’t take his pain away, hell you couldn’t even get your hands steady enough to wrap a piece of fabric around him.

You put your hands back on his shoulders, pulling him off the rock and towards you. His hands were on your shoulders, too. Finding purchase on you not only physically, but mentally. He thinks if you weren’t here with him, he’d have passed out already. From the pain, from the exhaustion. But he forced himself to stay conscious for you, to be able to watch over you and make sure you’re okay.

Nancy spoke up as she knelt down, “this is probably gonna hurt, okay?”

“Yeah, yeah. Just do it.” Steve was taking deep breaths, trying to stay solid and still so she could wrap him up and help the bleeding stop.

You squeezed your eyes shut when Nancy pulled the fabric around him, not wanting to see the pain on his features or the blood seeping through. Though the bleeding had slowed a great deal, you knew it still wasn’t good.

Steve hissed when the piece of the shirt was tied around his waist, throwing his head back to deal with the pain in some way. His hands holding onto you tighter to let some of the pressure go.

“Too tight?”

“No, it’s good. Thanks.”

“Yeah, of course.” Then, Nancy was walking away, leaving you and Steve alone for another moment, motioning with her head for Robin and Eddie to do the same.

As they walked away, Eddie shot the pair of you a confused look, “I thought they were both single.”

Robin and Nancy shared a look; boys were so oblivious. The former spoke up, “they are. But they’re in love with each other, so we’ll give them a minute.”

You let Steve catch his breath, hoping he’d become more steady on his own if you did. You were so worried about him, and you wanted to let him know. Only, you didn’t know how to do that without confessing how you felt about him, and this wasn’t the time for that.

“Why do you always have to be the hero, Steve?”

“What are you talking about?”

“You just had to volunteer to go in. You idiot. I thought you were gonna die, Stevie.”

He cradled your face in his hands, leaning his forehead on yours before talking softly, “I’m alive. You can't get rid of me that easily, honey.”

Honey. It’s a nickname you’re used to. He’d been using it ever since your first year of friendship. It started off as something to tease you with, to remind you of one of the first things you said to him as his lab partner. You had looked at him, and it seemed like your thoughts just flew out of your mouth before you could control them.

‘Your eyes remind me of honey.’

He played it off then, teasing you for saying something with romantic undertones, when in reality he reveled in that comment. He had started calling you ‘honey’ to remind the both of you of that moment, but it’s a memory that's thought of fondly now. You were embarrassed at first, but as he continued to use it, you couldn’t deny its effect on you. It was sweet and you loved it.

“I know. Good, because if you die, I’m gonna kill you.”

It was quiet after that, just the two of you breathing in the comfort of the other. Foreheads still pressed together, his hands now on your waist, yours still resting on his shoulders. He was standing on his own now, though, which was a good sign.

You wished you could stay that way forever, but you were in the upside down and you weren’t safe, no matter how you felt in Steve’s embrace. So, you pulled back from him, looking him over and grabbing one of his hands to guide him towards the others.

As soon as you exited the shelter of the rock, Eddie threw his vest at Steve, who caught it easily. “For your modesty, dude.”

“Uh, thanks.”

Steve put on the vest, moving slowly and carefully to try and avoid aggravating his wrapped injuries. You watched as he did, eyeing his chest and his arms and the way they moved. You were so consumed by him, you couldn’t look away. Consumed by wanting to make sure he was still there, still alive. Consumed by his essence and how pretty you found him, even now. Just completely consumed.

You snapped yourself out of it, though, remembering where you were and that you weren’t alone. That you weren’t safe in his house in his room like usual. Far from it.

“So, how do we get out? We can’t go back there. ‘Cause, bats.”

You asked the question everyone was already thinking about. You were all on the same page: wanting to go home. But, that wasn’t going to happen without really thinking about what to do, and you were so concerned about getting Steve back home. Not yourself, not the others, no matter how much you cared about them. Steve would always take the top spot in your mind.

Robin spoke up next, “maybe we can go to the police station. Get some guns and grenades and stuff. Blow them up and we’re home free.”

“Yeah, Robin, I don’t know about grenades but guns, yes.” Steve spoke to her in his usual sarcastic way, in the way they always spoke to each other. You couldn’t help but smile at their banter and friendship.

“We don’t have to go all the way down town for guns.. I have some in my room.”

Eddie was shocked, but the rest of you had known, having had your share of upside down problems and seeing Nancy wield weapons like the badass she was. “Let me get this straight. You, Nancy Wheeler, have guns, plural, in your bedroom.”

She shrugged, like it was no big deal, “yeah. Let’s go.”

She was a natural leader, and so, everyone followed her when she started moving in the direction of her home.

With a reminder not to touch the vines, because ‘hive mind’ and all that, you were off.

You were all moving together, though the group had split off into pairs. Everyone was still within view, and that was how it would stay in a place like this. You decided to walk on your own, to try and clear your head and focus on getting out. You didn’t want to drag everyone down while you were stuck overthinking about Steve. The boy you were in love with. You just wanted to help, with your full attention.

Nancy and Robin were walking together, talking softly amongst themselves, heads bent slightly to hear each other. They’d become good friends, you thought. There was a balance between the two. Robin was super bubbly and talkative and that forced Nancy to relax a little bit. She was often an intense person, and it was nice to see her let go from time to time.

Steve and Eddie were treading along behind everyone else, watching over the girls and following Nancy’s directions. Steve’s eyes were focused on you, only flickering away to make sure he wasn’t about to step on any vines. He didn’t like seeing you by yourself, completely lost in thought and muttering to yourself frustratedly. He felt awful.

Of course, it wasn’t his fault that he got dragged down, or that he got attacked, but he hated to worry you. You were someone who cared about others so deeply, so completely, that seeing anyone else hurt messed with you for a long time. He wished he could pull you aside, to tell you he’s alive and his heart is still beating and he’s right here.

He just wishes you would talk to him about your fears and feelings. Ever since the Fourth of July at the mall, you’d been different. Slightly closed off compared to before. He couldn’t blame you for that, he only wished you knew that he would listen to anything you had to say. Anything.

Eddie noticed the look on Steve’s face as he watched you, and decided to give him a verbal shove to tell you how he felt. It was clear as day that you loved each other, Eddie couldn’t believe you guys weren’t dating already.

“You know, the only reason I came in here was because of those ladies.”

Steve furrowed his brows in confusion. The idea that people cared enough about him to put themselves at risk was so foreign to him. His parents didn’t even care enough to be at home for more than a couple days a month, let alone try to help him.

“What do you mean?”

“They came in straight after you. But y/n.. she didn’t even hesitate. She just dove in, not a second wasted.”

“She would’ve done that for anyone. That’s who she is.” He was looking at you in a softer way, now. Because it was true, you would risk yourself for anyone in the group. He hated you for it. But he loved you even more because of it.

“I don’t know what’s going on between you two, but if I were you, I’d tell her the truth.”

“The truth..?”

“You know.. that you love her. ‘Cause she feels the same. That was as unambiguous a sign of true love as these cynical eyes have ever seen.”

Eddie gave Steve a lot to think about in that conversation, and he had a way of speaking that was very persuasive, believable. Now wasn’t the time for mushy feelings and love confessions, though. He wasn’t going to tell you something so memorable in a place so horrid. It had to be perfect.

The rest of the way to Nancy’s place was quiet, everyone lost in thought and focus to make it there in one piece. It was overwhelming to think that one wrong step could harm any one of you. It was terrifying.

The sight of the Wheeler house—well, it’s upside down twin—had everyone breathing a sigh of relief. You were all one step closer to getting home, that’s what matters. It was a collective feeling of hope, that maybe this plan would work out.

When you got inside, you walked over to Steve and forced him to sit down on one of the couches in the living room. He gave you a questioning look at that action, his eyes searching yours. Worried and soft and sticky sweet. Like honey, you’d always thought so.

“You’re still hurt. You need all the rest you can get, okay?”

“Aw, y/n, come on. I'm fine!”

“You’re not fine, Steve!” It was louder than you intended, and you softened your tone before continuing, “you’re not fine, and I don’t want you to hurt yourself more. We’re just gonna go upstairs, get the guns, and come back. Can you please stay here?”

As much as he wanted to help, he could see the pleading look on your face. He decided that for you, he’d sit his ass down for a few minutes. Anything to make you less worried.

“Okay. Fine.”

“Thank you,” you pressed a quick kiss to his cheek, which was something you’d done before, but never like this. Never with the added emotion behind it, the lingering of your lips on his skin before moving away.

The others were already in Nancy's room when you got there, the atmosphere shifted. The hope you had before was gone.

Apparently, the house was frozen in time, the day Will Byers had gone missing, to be exact. A time before Nancy had her guns here. So, you were stuck. Once they’d caught you up on the lack of weapons, the room was silent. Nobody knew what to do next or what to say. That silence was broken when you heard Steve yelling from downstairs.

Your stomach dropped, because you thought he was in trouble again. Once you got down the flight of stairs, though, you discovered him walking around yelling for none other than Dustin. What?

“Steve?”

He shushed you, continuing to walk around yelling after his younger friend.

“Listen! Dustin!”

Eddie was the next to speak up, “What are you doing?”

“You guys don’t hear him? Henderson he’s here, like in the walls or some shit.”

You were all trying to listen, to hear what Steve was hearing. Then, you did. Dustin’s voice, sounding out in the room. Only, you had no idea where it was coming from.

The next thing you knew, all of you were yelling for Dustin, for help of any kind. You stopped when you noticed the soft glow, almost glitter, surrounding the light fixture in the dining room. You were all entranced by it, running your hands through it making it glow stronger.

Nancy pulled away, and you all followed, “does anyone know morse code?”

An echo of ‘No’s sounded out, until Eddie rethought his answer.

“Does SOS count? Is that- is that good?”

It all escalated after that. You had to communicate through a Lite-Brite, that was definitely Holly’s, and you had to deal with the classic Dustin attitude. That was a point for Steve and Eddie to bond over.

Now, you were all biking to Eddie’s trailer, where there was another gate that could be your escape. Nancy’s house only had four bikes, which left you sharing one with Steve. Despite all of your protests, he was the one pedaling, you seated on the handlebars.

Everyone was pushing hard on the pedals, trying to go as fast as possible towards the gate to avoid drawing the attention of the bats once more. You were surprised to see that the road was free of vines, when the forest was completely covered in them.

Or so you’d thought.

You and Steve both felt it when the bike hit a small bump, but you’d assumed it was a pebble or something of the sort. You’d been wrong. Terribly so.

Without realizing it, you ran over the tail end of a vine on the end of the road, and it was not happy about it. You felt something slimy wrap around your ankle, tug at it hard enough to pull you off the bike. You didn’t have time to react, to protect yourself, before you were hitting the pavement with a thud. Head hitting the hard ground, and then darkness.

Steve saw it all happen in slow motion. He felt the tiny jump of the bike but shrugged it off. He saw the vine reach out in his peripheral vision and felt the panic begin to set in. He saw it get its grasp on you and he saw you tumble to the ground. He saw your head making impact and he saw you fall unconscious. He saw you hurt. He saw his worst fear right in front of him.

Everyone stopped their bikes when they heard his yell of your name, scared and broken. Steve threw himself off the bike as quick as possible and rushed to get the vine off of your ankle, his hands trembling and vision blurred with tears.

The first person to run over to help was Nancy, but soon after, everyone was working together to get you free. They could all see Eddie’s trailer, you had been so close to being home.

Once your ankle was free, Steve lifted you into his arms bridal style, cradling your head to his chest trying to keep you as steady as possible. Everyone ran the rest of the way to the trailer, and Steve was holding you as tight as possible. He could feel your breaths puffing out against his bare chest under the vest, soft and small, but there. That’s what kept him going: knowing you were still breathing.

When they set eyes on the gate, they saw Dustin, Erica, Lucas, and Max looking back at them, excited that they found you all a way out. Their faces all dropped when Steve came into view holding you, though.

It was a rush from there, to get you through in the safest way possible. Eddie decided to go first, hoping to help catch you on the other side while Steve boosted you up. Once you were through and in Eddie’s grasp, Steve climbed through, needing to be beside you, making sure you’d be okay.

He couldn’t help but feel responsible for what happened to you. If he hadn’t been pulled under, you wouldn’t have swam through the gate. If he had been better at paying attention to the road on the bike, you wouldn’t have hit that vine. You wouldn’t have been pulled off and rendered unconscious.

He was so scared, more than he ever had been in his life. He couldn’t bear the idea that you might not wake up from this, that you would have permanent damage. And it was all his fault. He hated that he never told you he loved you, that he never took the chance. He supposes he should’ve listened to Eddie in the upside down.

When Steve landed on the other side, he rushed over to where you were being laid down gently on the carpeted floor by Eddie. Steve sat himself by your head, facing the same direction as your body. He pulled you up so your head was sitting in his lap.

He was pushing your hair off your face, noticing the cut on the side of your forehead that was still bleeding from your fall. He was full on panicking now. You were bleeding and unconscious and he couldn’t think straight.

Steve completely forgot about everyone else in the room, only focused on you and your condition.

“Hey, come on. Wake up.”

He didn’t know when the tears started running down his face, but they weren’t stopping anytime soon. He was in love with you and you were the only person who knew the extent of his pain and he had no idea what he’d do without you.

“Please. You need to wake up. I can’t do this without you. Please.”

Robin spoke quietly to Eddie, “tell me you have a first aid kit.”

Eddie cursed himself for not having one. He emptied it to use for storage for other items of his and he felt awful. “I don't.”

Nancy ran to the kitchen and grabbed a small towel, something to at least apply pressure to your wound until they could properly clean it up. She walked over to you and Steve, talking quietly, calmly to not freak Steve out.

“Here, to stop the bleeding. Your house isn’t far from here, right? And you have a first aid kit?”

Steve’s hand was sweaty and shaky when he reached out and grabbed the towel from Nancy, pressing it to your forehead right away. “Yeah. Yes I- I have one. I can’t-”

“Okay, come on. She’s gonna be fine, Steve. Let’s go help her.”

Eddie ushered everyone out to his van while he grabbed the keys, making sure there was plenty of room for you in the back seat. Nancy helped Steve carry you out, her hands around your legs and his under your armpits.

They settled you on the seat, with your head on Steve’s lap once again. He continued to press the towel to your head while Nancy sat in the front giving Eddie instructions on how to get to Steve’s house. The rest of the car was silent.

The kids were scared, they looked up to you and cared for you like they would an older sister, especially Max. Seeing you this vulnerable, this delicate, it really put into perspective the amount of danger they were in. Lucas and Max were gripping each other’s hands tightly, silently supporting one another in this moment.

At Steve’s house, he carried you into his room, knowing he had his first aid kit in his bathroom. Nancy went with him, deciding she’d be the one to tend to your head wound because Steve was too unstable to do it. Everyone else took seats in the living room. Heads bent, legs bouncing, nerves and fear surrounding them.

Nancy went straight into the bathroom to grab the kit, while Steve settled you on his bed. He was kneeling next to it, one hand still holding the towel to your head, the other gripping your limp hand.

“Steve? I’m gonna bandage it, okay?”

“Okay. Okay. Thanks.”

He moved the towel away, wincing at the sight of your blood on it. Nancy got right to work, cleaning and then dressing the wound the way she now knew how. Steve thought she was great, but she wasn’t you.

When Nancy was done, she walked out of the room, letting Steve have his time with you by himself, the tears still falling down his face.

He stood and grasped your face in his palms, pressing a kiss to the center of your forehead and breathing you in. Reminding himself that, yes, you were hurt, but you were also alive.

“Please wake up, I love you. I’m sorry. Please.”

Your face scrunched in pain, and Steve felt it under his lips that were still against your head. He pulled back, looking at your face for more movement.

You blinked your eyes open slowly, managing to utter Steve’s name breathily to let him know you were awake. “Ouch.”

“Hi, honey. I know it hurts. I’m sorry.”

He was still crying, but a lot of it was relief now that you’re awake. You regained consciousness steadily, gathering your surroundings and having your thoughts come back to you. What pulled you back the most was Steve, and the fact that he was crying.

“Stevie? Why are you crying?”

“I thought you weren’t gonna wake up. I was so scared.”

You sat up on the bed, moving to press your back against the headboard and patting the spot next to you so Steve would climb in. When he did, you turned to look at him, using one of your hands to cup his cheek softly, thumb swiping away the fallen tears.

“Steve, look at me. I’m alive,” you used your other hand to grab one of his, bringing it to your chest so he could feel your heart beating. “I’m okay.”

“You weren’t, though. I- I thought-”

“Shhh. I know. Breathe with me.”

You took a deep breath, his hand still pressed to your chest, and he did it with you. He was calming down now, but he was still reeling from what had happened.

“It’s all my fault.”

“Don’t you dare blame this on yourself, Steve. Don’t do that. I’m right here, if anything, you’re the reason I made it. Got it?”

He nodded, not finding any words to form a response. He was looking at you so intently now, eyes running all over your face before looking directly in your eyes. He loved you, he’d been sure of that before, but he felt it so deeply now. He’d almost lost you and the fear that shook him to his core wasn’t a platonic kind.

But he couldn’t tell you that. So, he went to get up and let you sleep, but you squeezed his hand hard. He turned to look at you again when you did, and you shook your head at him, signaling that you didn’t want him to leave.

“Do you want me to stay?”

“Yes, please.”

“Okay, honey.”

The two of you sat closer now, shoulders brushing and hands still intertwined. Nancy had come back up to check on you, and saw you in that position. She turned around before either of you noticed her presence and told the others you were okay. They all took their spots on the couches to sleep.

You wanted to tell Steve everything, and you decided you would. You don’t know if the head injury gave you extra courage, or if survival just pushed you to be open, but you started talking.

“Steve?”

He hummed in response.

“Today, being in the upside down and everything, it’s made me think a lot. I want to tell you something, okay?”

“Okay.” He was facing you now, closer together than before, ready and willing to listen to whatever you had to say.

“I love you. I’m in love with you.”

He was not expecting that. But he couldn’t help the smile that spread over his beautiful face at your words.

“I love you, honey. Today, I almost lost you. I’ve never been more scared in my life. I’m sorry I couldn’t say it first.”

You kissed him after that, gentle and soft. He kissed you back, shy with his movements because he didn’t want to hurt you or cause you any more pain. It was lazy, a slide of tired lips on tired lips. But it was perfect because it was you and Steve. It was a long time coming and now that the door was open, it was never going to shut again.

“You did.”

“What?”

“You did say it first. I heard you.”

“I thought you were still passed out. I didn't think you were listening.”

“I’m glad I was. I love you, Steve.”

“I can't believe this. I love you so much, honey.”

You knew you weren’t safe, that Vecna was still out there, and that there was still so much to do. More fighting, more danger, more fear.

But, there, in Steve’s room, finally having shared your feelings, you felt like everything was going to be okay.

[coralinnii]

TWST characters as things my preschool students have done and/or said

feat: Heartsabyul dorm

genre: comedy

note: I will not reveal the children’s identities or information for privacy law reasons

Riddle is the kid you would never have a problem with. An overachiever already and you couldn’t tell whether you were proud or nervous because you couldn’t tell if he was having fun at school. Then, just when you thought he would never let himself be vulnerable, he had a strong-feelings moment over lunch, when he accidentally dropped the tin with his dessert after diligently finishing everything in his lunchbox. You were caught between consoling him and stopping him from legitimately trying to eat his strawberries off the floor.

Riddle, crying: my strawberry…

Teacher!You: Sweetie, nooo… we can’t eat anything that was on the floor, that’s our rule.

Riddle, still crying: hic…but…my strawberry…

Teacher!You, internally: now I’m going to cry! T_T

Trey is always, always trying to feed you with whatever he made in the play kitchen area. He especially has a preference for “making” sweets (weird coincidence). He would come to you and it doesn’t matter if you were working on your child reports or helping another child, he would push a plate of whatever cake (an actual ‘whatever’ cake where he uses a random toy as a cake) and tell you to eat more (is he my mom?)

Trey: Teacher, I made this for you!

Teacher!You: Oh, thank you! What is it?

Trey: A pizza cake!

Teacher!You: O-oh, sound’s great!

Trey: It’s sweet!

Teacher!You: Aahh…g-great!

Trey: EAT IT!

Cater knows every popular kid friendly movie and music that just came out and has the cutest outfits and accessories of said popular movie. Is the youngest in the family so he’s babied a lot which he is starting to not like. Hilariously has a toy phone to call and take selfies. He’s such a sweet kid but he makes you feel so old and outdated.

Cater: Teacher, did you watch [hottest kid friendly movie]?

Teacher!You: Oh, not yet

Cater: Oh…that’s kinda lame. Everyone has.

Teacher!You: … :I

Ace is a brat. That’s it.

Ok, he’s the child that will try to find a way to finish his homework or task so he could have fun and mess around in class. Incredibly stubborn and thinks he’s really sneaky with his schemes but he ain’t being smooth when he’s just hovering around pretending to help clean up his play space. You are literally watching him not do it!

Ace: Teacher, why is that play space closed??

Teacher!You: Oh, it’s still messy because the last person didn’t clean up before we left to the playground

Ace: Wasn’t me!

Teacher!You: …

Ace: …

Teacher!You: Well, if someone cleans it up quickly, we might still have time to play.

Deuce gets so misunderstood. He’s stronger than the other students and he can be clumsy so some of the kids are scared to let him hold anything fragile. He’s such a sweetheart and he’s trying so hard to learn how to control his growing strength. However, he’s not afraid to fight (not physically!) for what he wants and he’s ready to defend anyone he deems in need to protect for example, the infants that sometimes drop by the playground for a stroller walk.

Deuce: We have to be careful, babies are small!

Teacher!You: Deuce, would you like to help push the stroller?

Deuce: Really? Yes, please!

All the teachers internally: Squeee, so cute!

[kairismess]

Hello! May I request osamu when his s/o is caught cheating by the teacher on a test? She was offered a cheat paper by her friend and she took it, then the teacher caught her, Thank you very much!

hearts' day 006.

in which osamu takes the fall for you.

"please, she did nuthin' wrong... i gave 'er that paper, s-so please, don't punish 'er."

the gray haired miya twin lied through his teeth before the fuming teacher that was on the verge of calling your parents, reporting to them about your cheating incident at school. you were a sobbing mess, trying to explain how you weren't going to use the answer key on their test, you were just... heck, even you didn't know why you took it; you just did.

osamu couldn't help but be in awe at your impulsiveness, it truly was thoughtless if you weren't going to actually cheat on that test, but, he knew you weren't the type to do it, much less go through with it. he sighed before speaking up once more to your teacher when they didn't seem like they'd fold to osamu's sudden confession that he was the perpetrator for this cheating incident.

as you sniffled back your sobs, osamu threaded his long, calloused fingers in between your own. he held your hand close to his, not letting you go quickly. he knew what you did was irresponsible, but he knew you had no ill intentions. he kept insisting that he was the one at fault, that the answer key had slipped out of his binder and you found it, about to tell the teacher about it.

"i'm bein' serious... she isn't the one at fault. please, just, whatever punishment you had in store for her, give it to me instead. it's my fault..." he lied once more. the teacher sighed and looked at the two of you underneath their eyelashes. you gazed at osamu with guilt shining in your glassy eyes, wanting to insist he had nothing to do with it, but were too afraid of worsening the situation.

"that's... that's not true... a f-friend gave it, and i..." you mumbled through your tears. osamu looked at you with concern in his eyes after hearing you confess, your teacher raised an eyebrow and watched you sob as you apologized once more for you actions. the teacher soon decided to drop the case after you spoke the truth that osamu had nothing to do with it, and since the teacher didn't want to waste all your efforts in your previous activities, they let you go off with a warning. for now.

after you both thanked the teacher and left the classroom, osamu pinched your cheek. "ya dumbass... you studied so hard for that damn quiz, ya did so well when we studied, why'd ya do it?" he asked you quite calmly, though he was frustrated internally. you looked down at your feet, still ashamed and guilty, and shrugged your shoulders. "i... i felt worried... and thought too much about it..."

"well... don't. because ya did so, so well on your own. ya don't need ta cheat, yer amazin' as you are already, fail or pass, or even with a zero on a test." osamu reassured you, holding your hand tightly and cupping your cheek that he pinched with the other.

and in that moment, you realized that no matter what kind of trouble you find yourself into, osamu would always be there to help you out of it. you felt incredibly lucky to have such a guy as your boyfriend, the tears rolling down your cheeks once more, with osamu kissing them away and assuring you that you are good enough as you are already, period.

[duhragonball]

Dragon Ball Super Manga ch.88-90

The 2023 Dragon Ball Apocrypa Liveblog concludes with the DBS manga's adaptation of the Dragon Ball Super: Super Hero motion picture.

First up, we have this three-chapter prologue/prequel thing starring Goten and Trunks in their lankey teen bodies. It's well-made, but I'm not impressed. Find out the reason why... inside!

Okay, as the image above shows, this is all about the boys' playing superheroes while they're in high school... just like Gohan did way back in Dragon Ball Z. The main difference seems to be that there's two of them doing it this time, and their motives are a little more frivolous. Gohan came up with Great Saiayaman because he just couldn't help but foil crimes, and the costume allowed him to save the day without giving away his identity. Goten and Trunks also want to keep a low profile, but they mostly seem to be doing this shtick because they're on a superhero kick lately. They call themselves "Saiyaman X1 and X2", but their act mainly imitates their hero, Cleangod, who has a franchise of movies, video games, and so forth.

The added wrinkle is that they're also trying to keep this thing a secret from their families, as Bulma and Chi-Chi wouldn't approve of the boys screwing around like this when they should be studying. I guess it was okay when Gohan did it, but times have changed, and Trunks in particular isn't doing so hot on his report cards.

That does keep things mildly interesting. For example, you'd expect the boys to use costume changing watches like Great Saiyaman had, except they don't want Bulma to find out. So Trunks asks Pilaf to make them instead, and Pilaf can't make them as quickly, so Trunks doesn't get his until chapter 88 is half-over, and Goten's isn't ready until chapter 89. And you know, it probably would make things a lot simpler for Goten and Trunks to avoid the Saiyaman stuff altogether if they don't want their moms to find out, since they've seen this trick before. But they're doing it anyway, I guess because they're just that deep into the Cleangod fandom.

However, this still feels like a retread of a storyline we've already seen. Reading this, I feel like I've gotten too old for Dragon Ball. I know that isn't true. I'm looking forward to whatever happens in Chapter 101 onward, and Daima seems promising, even if it wasn't what I had in mind. There's always something interesting around the corner... but I see stories like this one that are more interested in rehashing older material, and it just feels tired and stale. Younger fans may not mind at all, but I see this and wonder if all we have left is just rehashing ideas we've already seen before.

Besides all of that, I'm not a big fan of high school stories, and there's a healthy dose of Trumai... and let's just get this out of the way before we go any further: I'm not that interested in the whole "next generation" thing.

I know there's a lot of fans who really dig the whole idea of exploring what happens to Goten, Trunks, Marron, Uub, Bulla, and Pan. I respect that, but I've never been very invested in any of them. I liked what we got out of them in DBZ, but that's about it. Let me kind of single out Goten so I can discuss this more easily. For the sake of argument, let's just call the "next generation" concept "Big Goten", since it features the teenage or adult version of the character, as opposed to the little guy in the Buu Saga and most of Super. Trunks, Marron, and the rest can be lumped into this, but it's easier to just refer to one character.

Basically, this 3-chapter arc is probably the best "Big Goten" story by default. Your other options are the End of Z episodes which barely do anything with him, or that one GT episode where he fights Baby and gets possessed. Or the Super Hero movie, where he's barely in it.

And yet, we have this 3-chapter arc, and Goten's basically playing sidekick to Trunks. That's not a huge problem in itself. You'd expect these two to be side-by-side, but it's mainly a Trunks story. He's trying to get Mai to go out with him, but she's part of the Pilaf gang living at Capsule Corp, and they have to be useful or Bulma will kick them out. So she's too busy repairing these "helper robots" that malfunctioned recently. Trunks thinks he can investigate the case as Saiyaman X-1 and get Mai the weekend off so she can date him. Goten's just sort of along for the ride. He enjoys the superhero bit, and he likes goofing off with Trunks, so it's all good.

And honestly, you could probably switch these two around and have Goten be the one trying to solve crimes to go on a date, while Trunks is the supportive wingman. But that's the problem. We have this one story, and they both kind of have to share it, and it really doesn't matter which one of them gets the lead.

Like, in this arc, we learn a little more about Teen Trunks. He's not doing well scholastically, he lacks Bulma's talent with computers or science, and... he's still carrying a torch for Mai for some reason. Oh, and he's afraid of ghosts now. It's not much to go on, but at least he gets something. All we find out about Goten in this thing is that he likes Cleangod, just like Trunks. Oh, and Teen Marron has a brief appearance where it turns out she really likes Cleangod too. Also several of Goten and Trunks' classmates enjoy Cleangod. And Dr. Hedo likes Cleangod. You know, that's how you develop your characters, right? You make them all like the same thing.

The point I'm getting at is that for years I've heard that Big Goten is this untapped well of great story ideas and this arc finally gets around to that and... it's pretty underwhelming. That's the big idea? Superheroes? Again? It worked for Gohan because it was a fresh idea when he did it. And it worked for Dr. Hedo because it helped set him apart from Dr. Gero. But all it does for Goten and Trunks is give them another set of clothes. Trunks is still pining for Mai and Goten is still just happy to be here. It's not enough. It's not nearly enough.

So let's move on. The boys head into town one night to investigate the Helper Robots that are mysteriously disappearing. Turns out they've been hijacked by Dr. Hedo's Alpha series androids. Strictly speaking, the Alphas are just corpses stolen from a morgue, reanimated with cybernetics. Remember those goons working at the convenience store in the beginning of Super Hero? Well this is the same group of guys. Hedo's problem is that he's fare more brilliant than Gero ever was, but he lacks the resources and funding to make the kinds of androids that he wants to make. The Alphas are functional, but only just. Their brains are defective, and you can probably only steal so many bodies from the morgue before the cops get wise to you. So Hedo's big idea is to hijack the Helper Robots and use them to manufacture sushi packages for profit. He could build something more efficient for this, but this will have to do until he gets the cash.

Oh, I forgot to talk about how Pilaf built the Helper bots. I'm not clear on what they do, but there's a lot of them in the city, and apparently Pilaf pitched the idea to Bulma and she okayed it. At first I was surprised to read this, but then I remembered that Pilaf had his own Dragon Radar way back in the day. It wasn't as sophisticated as Bulma's, but it goes to show that Pilaf knows his way around technology. This isn't some new thing they slapped onto his character, like Trunks suddenly being afraid of ghosts.

For a second, it looks like Goten and Trunks are discovered by the Alphas, but it turns out Trunks' pals from school have snuck into the production floor, and they're the ones who get discovered, so Trunks has to go in and save them. Except his superhero wristwatch malfunctions, so Goten has to take out the lights to cover for him.

Trunks cleans house, even defeating Alpha 12, who was the strongest guy on Hedo's team. When Hedo himself arrives to find his base wrecked, his only clue is that it was trashed by someone who goes to "Blue Hal" High School. It's a major setback for Hedo, but what really upsets him is that Trunks took an important disc from his safe. Hedo wants to recover it above all else. Ironically, Trunks isn't even that concerned about the disc, since all he really cares about is disrupting whatever Hedo was doing to the Helper Robots. That way he can get his date with Mai, except it won't. Even more ironically, Mai still has to work on Saturday night, because she and the Pilaf Gang have to repair all the Helper Robots Trunks smashed in Hedo's base. Whoops!

Later, Trunks tries to use Bulma's computer to access the data on the disc he took from Hedo's sushi packaging shop. He briefly sees information related to Cell, but he doesn't recognize its significance, probably because he only knows Cell from hearing about it through his family. Anyway, the disc gives the computer a virus, which Bulla removes because that's her big character defining moment in this story. She's basically a carbon copy of Kid Bulma from the Jaco manga, but at least she's not another Cleangod fan.

Anyway, Bulma had decided to start sending Mai to school along with Trunks. Apparently she realized it might be awkward if anyone noticed Mai working for Capsule Corp. and not going to school. This just now came up? I mean, the Pilaf Gang have been here for a few years at least. If anything, it would have been more awkward when Mai was younger, right? I mean, I get it, this is just a way to get Mai involved in the story, but still...

There's also another new student in Trunks' class: Baytah. Trunks' friend Rulah takes an immediate liking to him, but this is pretty clearly a new android created by Dr. Hedo. The Alpha series was no match for Saiyaman X-1, so he created a new Beta class to infiltrate Blue Hal High School and find out who X-1 really is. Beta begins to suspect Trunks, since he displays some above-average performance on the basketball court, but he can't find a way to prove it without giving himself away.

So here we have this weird scene where they're getting soup for lunch, and Trunks is sad that he can't get extra. Then Beta pretends to trip or something, and throws his soup into the air. I guess the idea was that Trunks would have to use super powers to dodge it, or he'd get it all over his nice school clothes. But instead Trunks just sort of shifts to one side and the soup miraculously lands in his bowl. And he's happy because he gets extra soup? How does it all fit in one bowl, though? Is the lunch lady only filling them up halfway? This whole bit is really contrived, is what I'm trying to say.

Somewhere along the way, Mai figures it out and explains it to Trunks, so they know Beta is looking for Saiyaman X-1. So he knows to be careful about showing off his powers, but Goten just picks up a truck during recess to get a tennis ball back for his classmates. See, Trunks, this is how you get the ladies. Mai is like 55 years old. She doesn't care, but if you pick up a truck or two, all these teenage girls will go wild. Right now, these two girls are thinking about how much they wish they were trucks, being held in Goten's mightly-yet-gentle hand.

Anyway, now Beta is convinced that Goten is the one he's after, and Hedo tells him to attack and get the disc.

So Beta reveals he has a goofy superhero suit of his own, but Goten can't fight seriously because he doesn't have a transformation watch yet. Fortunately, Trunks does, so he shows up as X-1 and quickly slips Goten the new watch Pilaf must have made last night.

I'm not thrilled with Beta's design, but I like the concept. Faced with both Saiyamen, he deploys Beta 2, which is a robotic exosuit that can separate and fight in two modules. The Betas are here for the disc, but neither Goten or Trunks has it. Mai does, because Trunks gave her his bag while he ran off to pee or whatever excuse he had to switch costumes.

So Trunks has to save Mai from the Betas, and as he catches her, she briefly mistakes him for Future Trunks, the only version of Trunks Mai seems to have any interest in. The Saiyamen clean house, and the day is saved. Trunks very nearly tells Mai that he was X-1 all along, but Goten stops him before he can spill the beans in front of the whole school.

Okay, but what's the point? I mean, Goten just lifted a truck with one hand a minute ago? More importantly, Great Saiyaman was revealed to be Goten about ten years earlier. Not that I expect these students to remember that, but that's my point: Gohan was worried about everyone finding out he had super powers, and in the end no one cared.

I mean, there's still the matter of not wanting Bulma and Chi-Chi to find out what they're up to, but that sort of doesn't matter? I mean, the moms just want their kids to study more and screw around less. It doesn't really matter if they're playing superhero or going fishing. Their moms know they aren't studying, because they've got the report cards to prove it.

Back at Hedo's (other) base, he realizes he underestimated the Saiyamen, and realizes that he'll have to build even better androids to defeat them. And he's taken a liking to the Saiyamen's costumes, particularly their capes, so the implication here is that the Gammas' designs were inspired by Goten and Trunks' antics in this story.

Later, we finally get to that convenience store we saw briefly in Super Hero. Hedo still needs money, especially if he plans to build something to defeat the Saiyamen, so he puts three of his Alphas to work at the "Mammal Mart". It's Krillin who makes the bust, and for some reason Mai is there too.

Despite his lofty plans for better androids, the best Hedo can manage is to send more Beta series androids after Goten and Trunks. Beta 7 looks like an Elvis impersonator, and he intercepts Goten's school bus, but Goten changes into X-2 and beats him. Apparently this sort of thing has been going on for a while now.

Mai takes Goten aside and reveals to him that they're being watched by a tiny spy-robot. After the Beta-1 incident at school, Mai investigated and learned that Dr. Hedo is a famous scientist in the area, and she believes he's behind all of this. Apparently he's already figured out Goten and Trunks are the Saiyamen, since he's been sending Beta androids to harass them.

Mai's plan is to defeat Hedo by using the school dance to lure him into a trap. The organizers have arranged for a live appearance by Cleangod at the dance, which... seems kind of odd for a high school dance, but nothing about this super-hero business really makes any sense to me.

Like, okay... I've been a comic book fan for over thirty years. I just read a bunch of Golden Age Captain Americas a few months ago. I think I know the genre pretty well, and nothing Dragon Ball Super does with the concept really rings true to me.

In the first place, the Dragon Ball characters are already superheroes. I went from Batman to Superman to Marvel to Dragon Ball Z, and it was a pretty smooth transition. I never stopped liking the other stuff that came before, so it's not like my tastes changed all that much. I just see DBZ as a natural extension of the same stuff I liked in Marvel and DC.

It made sense when Gohan became Great Saiyaman because the only trope he hadn't done yet was the secret identity thing, and the only reason it had never come up before was that he'd never needed one before then. Once he got into high school, he suddenly had friends he wanted to keep secrets from, so he did the same thing Clark Kent did in 1938.

But then you have Goten and Trunks doing it because they think it's neat, and they're fans of Cleangod, who is a fictional character to them. And this is probably because Hedo was doing the same bit in the movie, where he would wear a costume and do the poses because he was imitating other fictional superheroes. So the idea seems to be less about the superhero genre as I know it, and more of this ironic "Let's be comic book nerds and do cosplay, and also we have super powers so we can do more than just pose in the suits."

Which... fine, I guess. The thing is, I don't understand the fascination with Cleangod. I mean, it makes sense for Hedo to be an enormous fanboy, because he's a nerdy scientist. I'm a nerdy scientist, so I can relate. He wants Cleangod's autograph, and I'm running an anime blog in my late 40's.

But Goten and Trunks are not nerds. Neither, it seems, are most of their classmates. They all seem like fairly normal teens, mostly interested in dates and school stuff and snooping around abandoned factories or whatever. But this high school dance is going to feature a live appearance by a man in a superhero costume. That's the sort of thing a circus would do to get small children to show up.

Is this an ironic thing? Like, did Goten and Trunks start out thinking Cleangod was cringy kidstuff, and they just kept getting deeper into the fandom until they started liking it for real? Is that what's happening?

Sorry, I was explaining Mai's plan. Okay, so Cleangod will be doing a meet-and-greet at a high school dance party. Okay. Dr. Hedo is a huge mark for Cleangod, so Mai is certain he will crash the party just to meet Cleangod and get his autograph. And she plans to be there when he does, so she can shut him down once and for all.

And she gets to go to this dance, because she's attending with...

...Trunks. He wanted to ask her to this thing, but she asked him instead, so he's all a-flutter over this, never realizing that she's just using him to get at Hedo. Except.... she's attending this school now. She doesn't need a date to get in. Hedo is the one who has to find some way to get access to the building, because he's not a student.

I like Mai's armor in this scene, although it really never comes into play. Also, Trunks brought Hedo's disc with him, because.... I have no idea. Maybe he doesn't want to risk losing it?

As expected, Hedo does show up for this thing, and I guess it's because Beta-1 is still registered as a student? I'm more confused about this signing event in the middle of a dance floor. This just feels like a hot mess. Trunks and Hedo bond over their mutual love of Cleangod... wait, I thought Trunks was excited about getting to go on a date with Mai? Priorities, Trunks!

Anyway, Hedo confides to Trunks that he had a Cleangod autograph before, but it was stolen, so he's here to get another one. Hold on, doesn't Hedo know Trunks is X-1? I mean, he was sending androids after Goten, so he must know he's X-2, right?

Mai tries to get Hedo, but then Beta shows up, and Rulah explains that he got back into the school, so she asked him to the dance. I really like Rulah. She doesn't know what's going on, but there's a new boy in town and she's gonna make time with him. She's like an Archie character.

Then the cops show up. Yeah, just draw your guns in a big crowd of children, Krillin, that makes a ton of sense.

Hedo uses a smokebomb to escape and everyone chases after him. By the time Cleangod comes out to make his big appearance, everyone is gone except Mai, who isn't impressed. That's the thing I can't square with all of this. The running gag seems to be that superheroes are both cool and uncool at the same time. People were lining up to see this guy, but the punchline is that he totally sucks? I guess? Characters will praise Goten and Trunks' costumes and then later characters will call them corny.

Like, which is it? That's the thing about superhero comics, at least from my perspective. In the real world, you either think Batman's awesome or he's a giant dork in a fursuit. Fine. But in the Batman mythos, just about everyone takes him seriously because he's a mysterious badass. I get it, Cleangod's basically Adam West working car-shows in the 1970's, but Saiyaman X-1 and X-2 are the real thing. They fought robots in the middle of the football field in front of everyone. I mean, no one called Goten corny when he lifted that truck.

Oh, by the way, Dr. Hedo's jalopy is awesome.

Krillin (reluctantly) brings Goten and Trunks along to chase down Hedo, and he fills them in on the situation. The cops have been after Hedo because they think the Red Ribbon Army is trying to stage a comback and they want to contact him. That.... doesn't quite square with the movie, but we'll talk about that later.

Anyway, they get to Hedo's (third?) base and he's got a dinosaur android to stop them. This is the biggest, strongest one he's made so far, but it's still not very sophisticated, simply because Hedo lacks the resources to build anything better.

It gives the Bio-Broly Buster Crew a little trouble, but Krillin disables it with a kienzan, and then Goten and Trunks take it out with a double-team move. And Hedo's going to jail.

So what about that disc? Turns out it never mattered. Hedo memorized all the information on it a long time ago, so the disc itself had no value to him. What he wanted was the case, which contained, in addition to the disc, his prized Cleangod autograph. Remember? The one he told Trunks got stolen? They didn't know it at the time, but Trunks was the one who stole it in Chapter 88.

And that's really dumb, because Trunks did try to investigate the disc in Chapter 89. He didn't get very far, but he still had to open the case it was in, so you'd think he would have noticed the Cleangod autograph inside. I mean, another character might not have paid any attention to it, but Trunks is a huge fan of Cleangod himself.

And if Hedo truly had no use for the disc, why didn't he throw it away a long time ago? In this scene, he says he discarded it, but he must have only done that in the last few minutes, before Krillin showed up to arrest him, since Trunks had the disc before the dance. This whole thing is supposed to be clever, but it's kind of dumb.

Anyway, this whole caper explains how Hedo got sentenced to prison at the beginning of Dragon Ball Super: Super Hero. He could have been given a longer sentence, but according to this story, he agreed to return some of the Alphas back to the families of the corpses he built them out of. This is supposed to be funny, but it's just kind of bizarre. Like, are we saying Hedo resurrected the corpses? I thought the idea was he just used a dead body to build Alpha 12. But this seems to suggest Alpha 12 remembers his former existence. That's kind of fucked up.

Like I said at the beginning, there's a lot that is well done here. Toyotaro's art is on-point as usual, and there's some great action scene with Goten and Trunks. I think the big highlight of the arc were all of the side characters we see at their school, like Rulah and the others. Trunks' math teacher looked pretty cool. The problem is that they were never going to be the focus of this or any other story. It's taken years for Toei or Shueisha to do anything with Goten or Trunks, so their pals may never see the light of day again.

And that's what disappoints me about this arc, because it may have been the one chance of getting a good teen Goten and Trunks arc, and they blew it on this. Did we really need a backstory on Hedo's prison sentence? Did anyone leave the theater not understanding why he was in jail? Was anyone confused as to how he came up with the designs for Gamma 1 and 2's costumes? No. We didn't need this.

One of these days, there will be an official Big Goten story that gets it right. But this ain't it, chief.

[fedtothenight]

tw for graphic description of suicide and cyber bullying

on october 9th, 2023, an italian call of duty cosplayer going by the name inquisitor committed suicide on live tiktok.

for hours his body lay offscreen as hundreds of people watched the stream, and some ironised that the phone set-up, angled towards a glass door to the outside, with no speaking and music in the background, was him being “mysterious”.

then, a hit against the glass door. another one. another one. a man was seen break in, crouch down off screen, receiving instructions on how to perform cpr from a woman still outside, on the phone with a 111 operator.

the live ended just after paramedics came into view, thanks to the reports of some users who had understood what had been unfolding in front of their eyes.

for a day, conflicting information regarding the outcome of his attempt flooded tiktok. it is now seemingly proven that he is no longer on this earth and that his funerals are today, october 11th 2023. in italy, it is common for funerals to happen within a 48-hour window from passing.

inquisitor was 23 at the time of his death.

weeks prior, inquisitor, who had privated all his accounts before reactivating for this last live, was accused of grooming and pedophilia. screenshots came out of him allegedly flirting with a 17 year old and/or a 15 year old. the cod community rallied around the minor(s): he was, to put it in tiktok terms, ‘cancelled’. he was named a p*dophile and a groomer.

other popular accounts, with thousands of followers, posted ‘call out’ videos about him, spreading the voice. the same accounts, the ‘batman of the fandom defending minors’, barely old teenagers themselves, mocked his live as it was happening — claiming it was for clout.

it had since emerged that the allegations were, allegedly, false. yesterday, multiple other cosplayers and users in the fandom posted screen-recordings of the minor admitting that they had lied about their age to flirt with him—who had a ‘minors dni’ in his bio.

it has since further been alleged, with screenshots, that the minor and their boyfriend orchestrated the call out, with the latter, who claims to be in the us army, egging the minor to ramp up their flirting until it became sexting. it is not proven it ever got to that point. the intentions to ruin someone’s reputation, however, were apparently there.

in italy, which is not the usa, and where high school is compasses ages 13 to 20 for those who do repeat years, it is also culturally accepted for someone in their early twenties to flirt or date someone who is around 18.

this is true irrespective of anyone’s feelings about it.

regardless of all that, regardless of whatever amount of the allegations, it not all, were false, a young man is dead and his death was live-streamed to thousands of people. in his own words to one of his friends, who showed some of his last messages, he committed suicide live on purpose to show what the past few weeks had done to him.

it should have never come to this point. at least please let it be a reminder that mob mentality is deadly, that we should never let go of our empathy, and that all suspected crimes, especially if this serious, should be reported to and dealt with by the proper authorities, not people on the internet.

i won’t stay his name because to the best of my knowledge he only gave it out privately, but: he was 23. he loved star wars and worked in a tattoo shop. he lived in bologna. he liked tortellini. he had a cat named loki and a sister who sometimes joined his lives off-screen. he was loved. all this information he gave freely.

although denial still wants to make me hope he made it out, and that he is okay, and alive and well, because what’s what denial does, my thoughts go out to him, to his family, to his friends.

inquisitor, if you're not here anymore: sit tibi terra levis.

[marie-miele]

Five

-Master List-

words:2833

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"Y/N were gonna be late if you don't get up!" Aizawa called from the living room of your shared home. He attempted just about everything he could to get you out of bed that morning: turning on the big light in your room, shaking you, and even pulling out your school uniform just to throw it at you. Nothing seemed to be working so he used his last resort, the tall man walked into your room, untucked you, and pulled you up out of bed.

After many complaints from you, he managed to convince you to get up and ready.

"I don't wanna go today. I'm tired." You whined as you stepped out of your room.

Aizawa finished off the last of his coffee before stating "It's only the third day and you're already acting like this, what am I gonna do with you."

"Can't get rid of me."

And with that, you made your way to school. You tapped your foot the whole car ride, and your eyes observed everything that rolled into their view

As you pulled up to the front of the UA gates where Aizawa always dropped you off, the two of you groaned at the sight of dozens of reporters crowding around the entrance. Getting out of the you both tried to sneak around them as they were bothering other students but unfortunately were caught. A woman rushed up to Aizawa and stuck a microphone too close to his face.

"Please, sir. Can you get All Might for us? Also, you look like a mess, what's your deal?" She asked.

You stood behind him as he answered her question, you always did bad in crowds of people, you could feel your nerves tingling.

"All Mights not on campus today." He responded enthusiastically. "Now get out of here, you've disturbed my students enough already." He was waving a dismissive hand at the woman, then walked away with you quickly following after him.

"How does All Might get anything done with all these media people?" He asked rhetorically

Just a few seconds later an alarm began blaring causing you to release of puff of gas from your hands. You and Aizawa whipped your heads around as you watched the UA Bearier go up, your heart was pounding, you'd never heard anything so loud, the metal grinding against each other as they were rising made your ears hurt.

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Everyone was in their seats when Mr.Aizawa announced that we did "Decent work on yesterday's combat training."

He continued on "I saw the video feeds and went over each of your team's results." Shifting his eyes to the blonde a few seats away from where you sat "Bakugo. You're talented. So don't sulk like a child about your loss, okay?"

Bakugo groaned a response "Yeah, whatever."

Moving on to Midoriya he criticized him for hurting himself again, his quirk confused you; every time he used it he'd seemingly break something but I guess that's the consequence of getting it so late in life.

"So now, let's get down to business. Our first task will decide your future." This sentence made everyone shutter in fear of another quirk test.

"You all need to pick a class representative."

Nearly every one began to jump at the choice of becoming class rep. You thought about what it could be like as you softly tapped the bruise that sat on your thigh. Deciding that you most likely wouldn't be fit for the job you brushed the thought aside, maybe Bakugo would be good at it; he is always bossing people around. The thought made you turn your head to the boy who indeed was volunteering for the job.

"Silence, everyone, please!" Iida's strong voice echoed through the room causing everyone to fall silent, turning your head to the boy went on "The class representative's duty is to lead others. That is not something just anyone can do. You must first have the trust of every student in the classroom. Therefore, the most logical way to fill this position is democratically. We will hold an election to choose our leader." He explained.

A few students questioned him and he explained his reasonings getting Mr. Aizawas's approval as long as it was done before his nap was over.

With the confirmation given; Iida began to set up the voting and graciously you helped him as you had 'no bias' toward any of the students.

Election Results:

"How did I get three votes?!" Midoriya exclaimed.

Angrily Bakugo questioned "Okay, you idiots, who voted for him?" Which caused Sero to retort at him with a slight chuckle "What, did you honestly think anyone would vote for you?"

"What did you just say?! I have a vote!" He shouted back.

You watched all of your classmates' reactions to the voting whilst trying to decipher your own reaction; you weren't expecting to get a vote but you did, suppose one is better than zero; 'but who would vote for me?' you thought as your eyes drifted to Iida who was mumbling to himself about getting no votes. Seeing him like that made you feel a bit guilty, maybe you should've voted for him instead of- 

"That's not true!" Bakugo was still shouting at Sero who was claiming he voted for himself; the blonde was trying to explain that he didn't but rather voted for someone who thought was the only one worthy of it.

Once Mr.Aizawa was fully awake he finalized who the class rep and class deputy were; you were expecting Yoayorozu to be the class rep- though you didn't vote for her- but nonetheless, deputy was still pretty good.

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You tapped your foot under the lunch table you were seated at as Mina, Sero, Kirishima, and Denki spoke with mouths full of food. Mina had convinced you to sit with them and you had obliged, you listened to them gush over how good Lunch Rushes food was and you silently agreed with them as you ate your food. Though to your surprise at the time; Bakugo had sat at the other end of the table from you, as he was supposedly convived by Kirishima to tag along as well but it looked more like he was bribed with extra food from the shark-toothed boy.

Midway through your conversation with Mina, an alarm began blaring through the whole cafeteria.

"Warning. Level three security breach."

"All students please evacuate the building in an orderly fashion."

"What the hell does that mean?!" Sero asked as everyone stood up trying to rush out.

By the you managed to make it into the hallway there was already a large crowd; more and more students began pushing in causing you to be pushed into shoving arms and students who were yelling.

"Stop, you're gonna knock me over!" You said with an agitated growl. You could feel the ringing in your ears; the sound made your body tingle. 'Stop it' you thought. You knew exactly what this feeling was. Getting pushed again; you let out a small puff of gas from your palms. 'Stop it' You were looking at your hands now. 'Stop-' Your thoughts were cut off as you were shoved again but that's when strong arms stopped you from losing your balance as your back crashed with a broad chest.

"Not here." A low voice said in your ear.

Rough hands wrapped around yours to prevent gas from flowing out. As you began turning your head to see who was holding you so firmly; from the corner of your eye, you could just barely see blonde spikes as you were shoved again. Bakugos back slammed against the wall causing him to let out a short grunt; pulling you back into his chest.

On the other side crowd, you could see Kirishima and Denki being pulled away as the boys were shouting for everyone to 'stop freaked out'. Nothing was working on the pacing students until Iida unexpectedly came flying through the air; the suddenest broke your thought as you watched him flip around to the wall, it was clear he was inexperienced in the air you thought as his body hit the wall above the exit doors.

"Listen up! Everything is okay!" His loud voice echoed off the walls "It's just the media outside! There's absolutely nothing to worry about!" He reassured the crowd of students; causing them to freeze "Were UA students. We need to remain calm and prove that we are the best of the best!"

As the crowd calmed down finally; Bakugo awkwardly let go of you and sidestepped away from you, he kept his head turned away from you as if he was trying to avoid your sheepish gaze

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After all the chaos during lunch, most of the students were drained as they made their way back to their classes. Bakugo was putting distances between you; or that's what you thought as he rushed his way to his seat not even giving you a glance as you passed him. Getting settled in; Midoriya and Yaoyorozu stood at the podium front and center of the classroom.

"It's time, class rep. let's begin." Yaoyorozu said to the jittery Midoriya.

"Um..Okay..so we need to figure out who the other class officers will be.." Though your eyes were on the trembling boy; your mind wasn't.

Midoriya continued on as the fingers on your right hand traced your left palm gently "But first, there's something I wanna say. I've thought a lot about this...and I think that Iida should be our class rep!" As he was explaining his reason for this statement you just casually nodded your head along; slowly touching your palm where you could still feel the warmth of the boy who was now avoiding you entirely.

...

At the end of the day, you decided to ride home with Aizawa rather than walk. The older man kept questioning you on how quiet you were being; over the years you had grown to be quite bubbly and open with him- but today wasn't like that at all. You sat with your body leaning against the car door and with your hands clasped around each other.

"I'm just tired, that's all." you tried to reassure him but he didn't seem very convinced.

His eyes glanced toward you as he tightened his grip on the starting wheel "Is it because of what happened with the reporters?"

"...yeah"

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The sun was shining brightly through the windows as you sat in your seat; preventing you from closing your eyes, it was too bright to sleep. Your mind couldn't stop bringing up images from the day prior, you couldn't understand why; Bakugo had touched you before- of course, it was when you were in middle school- regardless, you just couldn't wrap your head around the fact it made you feel differently. Maybe it was because of how long it had been, maybe it was the way he helped you that was different, or some other reason entirely. 

"You'll have three instructors." You tried to stay focused on Aizawa but it was difficult with the little amount of sleep you had gotten. How was Aizawa able to stay up all night as a pro hero and a teacher? 

"Me, All Might, and another faculty member will be keeping tabs on you," He said as his tired eyes stared at your fatigued figure. 

"Sir! What kinda training is this?" Sero jumped to question. 

Aizawa pulled out a card from his pocket and stated what we were to be practicing: rescue. This caused excitement to fill the room of future heroes. 

"Guys, I'm not finished yet- What you wear in this exercise is up to you. I know you're excited about costumes..." He interjected as he used a remote control to release the shelves that held our suits "...but keep in mind that you haven't gotten used to them yet, and they might limit your abilities. This training is at an off-campus facility. Thats all...Start getting ready." He finished as he stepped out of the room. 

And with that, you made your way to the locker rooms. 

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Bakugos perspective: 

The blonde boy was standing facing the doors of the building with his hand placed on his hip. Everyone was outside waiting, except for you; who was still in the school; to no one's knowledge, you were checking yourself out in the mirror longer than you had meant to.

His eyes focused on the glass doors as he ignored the muffled chatter of his other classmates around him. He was watching a dark figure step closer and closer to the doors till you pushed the door open and stepped out into the sun. He eyed your figure, not in a carnal way but curiously. He watched as you made your into the crowd of 1-A, something looked different.

As soon as the thought passed through his mind, he figured out he was indeed corrected as you smiled at Mina; showing off your new gear. 

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Your perspective: 

"See?" You said excitedly

You were showing Mina the bottom of your boots; with much-taken inspiration from the girl, you had asked to get holes drilled into the bottom of them. As well as the new gas mask that was hanging around your neck when Iida blew a whistle and instructed everyone to get on the bus in an 'orderly fashion'. 

Walking in step with Mina you got onto the bus "He's taking this class rep thing pretty seriously huh?" you said looking back at her. 

The girl let out a soft laugh of agreement "Definitely."

...

Sitting next to Iida who had in head in his lap he complained about how the open layout of the bus ruined his seating arrangements. You awkwardly patted his back trying to give the boy comfort for trying his best. 

"Iida, you really need to chill." Mina said on the other side of you.

"If we're pointing out the obvious, then there's something I wanna say..." Tsu interjected looking at Midoryia "...about you, actually."

Panicking, the boy quickly asked what it was. 

"That power of yours, isn't it a lot like All Mights?" This question caught your attention.

And there he was; All Might. He spoke to Aizawa as you just stared at him with wide eyes. Aizawa finished the conversation quickly walking off without you, whilst you just kept oogling. All Might's in Midoriya's corner? You questioned, and then the number one hero looked down at you.

"What? Really? You think so, huh?" The green-haired boy exhorted. "I never really thought about that." His hands were up defensively.

You were staring right at him now, tsu was right; there's no way he wouldn't have noticed, how can you be All Might's number-one fan and not see the similarity? 

"Wait hold on tsu, you're forgetting All Might doesn't hurt himself. That makes a huge difference." Kirishima countered causing Midoryia to let out a quick sigh.

"Still, I bet it's cool to have a flashy quirk. My hardenings cool and can take out bad guys in a fight but it doesn't look all that impressive." Kirishima continued to talk, eventually moving the topic of quirks between most of your class

"Well, if any of our classmates have pro quirks, it's Bakugo and Todoroki."

Tsu quickly responded with an innocent look in her frog-like eyes "Sure, but Bakugos always angry, so he'll never be that popular."

Stammering, Bakugo launched himself from his seat "What'd you say?! I'll kick your ass!"

Tsu wasn't wrong: angry and loud.

"See?" She said with a blank expression.

"Yknow, we basically just met you. So, it's kinda telling that we all know your personality is flaming crap mixed with garbage." Denki spoke to Bakugo ending his sentence with a shrug.

And without fail- "You're gonna regret the day you applied to this school, you loser! I'll kill you!" 

Seeing Bakugo argue with the class and Midoryia's panicked expression made you burst out in a quiet and unexpected laughter. You leaned forward in your seat, closer to the green-haired boy sitting across from you

"Isn't it kind of funny how Sukis the one in class whose getting teased?" You asked the boy jokingly. 

Pulling up next to a dome-like building; Mr.Aizawa began scolding your class "Hey, hey, we're here. Stop messing around" 

"Yes, sir-" You mumbled out as Bakugo loudly stated 'Whatever' with a not very concealed eye roll. 

As you got up from your seat you accidentally cut Bakugo off; causing the two of you to agilely bump into each other. For a moment he just looked at you with a blank stare. 

"What? Is there something on my face?" You asked with a hint of nervousness in your voice.

The blonde quickly grunted and started to carefully push you off the bus. "No, idiot..."

Confusion was all over your face, and Bakugo could tell. The two of you awkwardly walked side by side stepping closer to the entrance of the building. 

...

"Hello, everyone! I've been waiting for you!"

- ┈┈┈┈┈┈ - -- - ┈┈┈┈┈┈ -

Author note:

Part five already??? I hope you enjoyed this :D

@confused-smol-fan @reads-stuff-quietly @b134ch-m4h-ey3z

[peterpparkrr]

Santa tell me

peterpparkrr’s 12 days of holiday drabbles

9. Letter to Santa + Anthony Bridgerton

Summary: Gregory and Hyacinth’s letters to Santa got sent to you and you wrote back.

“Santa wrote back!” Hyacinth shouts as she races through the foyer to Anthony’s office.

“What?” Anthony asks as he looks up from his laptop to Hyacinth who is bouncing excitedly on the balls of her feet on the other side of the desk, frantically waving a piece of paper back and forth above her head.

“Santa! He replied to my letter!” Hyacinth repeated excitedly.

“When did you send Santa a letter?” Anthony asks as he tries to wrack his brain. He’d taken Hyacinth and Gregory to a whole host of holiday-related events over the last few weeks. 

Mum had been swamped with work, the holidays being the busiest time of the year of a caterer. And so He’d taken his youngest siblings to their school holiday program, ice skating in the city center, the Christmas panto, and helped them make so many assorted cookies for their teachers that he still smelled like gingerbread.

But he had no memory of a trip to meet Santa, or of dropping off letters somewhere that would deliver them to “Santa.”

“I put it in the mailbox of the storybook house,” Hyacinth replies in her know-it-all tone that makes whatever she’s saying sound as though it’s obvious. “I wanted to make sure that it got to the north pole in time.”

“Right, of course,” Anthony plays along. “Why don’t you go find Daphne and Amelia and show them the letter?” He redirects his youngest sister. Figuring that as a new mother, Daphne would have plenty of patience for their sister and hopefully figure out what exactly was going on while he wrapped up a few more emails before the end of the day. 

When Anthony finally reappeared from his home office he found Daphne and Simon sitting alone at the kitchen table while the rest of the family was watching a Christmas movie in the living room.

“Look who finally joined us,” Daphne teases as she stands from the table to head into the kitchen. “Let me grab your plate.”

“Isn’t the whole point of being a higher-up at your company that you make the people who report to you work on the holidays so that you can enjoy time with your family in your expensive vacation home?” Simon asks.

“I’d rather not have those employees and their family’s constantly plotting my murder. Thank you,” Anthony tells his brother-in-law/best friend. “Besides, I take plenty of time off to spend time with you lot, it’s still over a week until Christmas.”

“But you make the rest of us look lazy, working all day while we stuff ourselves with your mum’s shepherd’s pie,” Simon replies with a fake pout as he gestures to the second helping sitting in front of him as he pats his stomach.

“You said it, not me,” Anthony quips. “Thanks, Daph,” He adds as Daphne places the reheated plate in front of him.

“So what was all that about a letter from Santa?” Anthony asks.

“Apparently, she put her letter to Santa in the mailbox of the house on Homestead Road, Hyacinth always calls it the storybook house because it looks like it’s out of a fairytale,” Daphne tells him with an amused shrug. “So I guess whoever lives there humored her and wrote back as Santa.”

Simon changes the subject while Anthony tries to rack his brain dying to remember who lives in that house. 

-

Which is why, on Sunday morning, Anthony finds himself standing on the front step of the “storybook house.”

He’s surprised when a young woman opens the door.

“Hi, how can I help you?” You ask as you cross your arms over your chest, your baggy sweater not doing much to block the gust of cold air that blows through the open doorway.

“Hey uh, this is going to sound really weird, but I think you got my sister’s letter to Santa,” Anthony explains with a sheepish look.

“Ah,” You say with a nod and an understanding smile. “You must be one of Hyacinth and Gregory’s brothers,” You reply.

“Greg wrote to you too?” Anthony asks as he groans internally, rubbing at his chin as he tries to formulate his apology to this poor, kind woman. 

“I’m guessing you’re Anthony, at least, I hope you’re the serious brother, I’d hate to think there’s a brother even more uptight than you, you look like you’re going to give yourself a hernia,” You reply with a small burst of laughter.

“I’m sorry, my mum’s swamped with work right now, so I’ve been picking up the slack, but I must have forgotten about mailing their letters to Santa,” Anthony tries to explain.

“It’s alright. It sounds like your family’s been through a lot, and with eight kids I figured you could use a hand,” You reply.

“There was a lot of personal information in those letters, I guess stranger danger isn’t really a thing when it’s Santa,” Anthony says.

“Can I, Did they, what did they ask for?” He asks after a moment.

“You can have the letters,” You tell him. “Come on in, I’ll go grab them for you.”

“They’re sweet kids,” You comment as you lead Anthony through your house into your kitchen. “And they clearly adore their older brother, there’s a very thorough description of the gingerbread versions you made them of your family in Hyacinth’s letter.”

You circle your kitchen table until you find the letters and pluck them up. 

“Here they are!” You tell him happily as you pass them over to him. Watching with amusement as he pulls the lined paper out of the bright red envelopes.

“I can’t believe you really read these, and then wrote back to them,” Anthony says with a shake of his head. “You didn’t need to.”

“It was nothing, really,” You insist. 

“It was nice, I uh, well my family isn’t close by so it was nice to do something festive,” You admit. “I used to write a letter to Santa every year as a kid, and my dad, he would always promise me he’d mailed it to Santa, and a few weeks before Christmas I’d get a letter from him, and obviously, looking back, it was my dad, but I kept every single one of them.” 

“Well, thank you, you made their year,” Anthony tells you.

“Do you- Would you want to come over for hot cocoa tonight?” He asks. “You’ll have to keep your identity secret but uh, we could use some of your festive spirit in our house.”

“I’d love to,” You reply with a smile.

[mode-lfy]

Secret Friend

Liz x Male reader

"Okay, now. Try to let go of the railing and then walk off. I will catch if you fall down." The nurse said.

Y/n bit his lower lips and arched his eyebrows as he slowly let go of the support railings and slowly walks on his own.

He fell down almost immediately. The nurse and his family members quickly try to help him up. Y/n put up his hand and refused any help from anyone. He held on to the support railings and gradually pulled himself up.

Slowly, he gathered all his strength to pull himself up and stand up. He took a deep breath in and out, and then let go of the support railings. 

He finally was walking on his own!

The nurse congratulated him and clapped. His mother shed tears of joy and hugged him. Y/n smiled and laughed after seeing himself finally standing up.

——————————————————————————————————-

"Your legs might still be weak since it's not used to walking much often. So make sure to take a rest and walk when you feel like your legs are weak." The doctor said, looking at his reports.

The doctor then thought for awhile and looked at him. "I recommend you continue using the wheelchair until your legs have fully rehabilitated. Meanwhile continue to train your leg muscles. That's all, come back in a month and we will look at your leg's condition."

Y/n and his parents thanked the doctor and they left the hospital.

"To celebrate you finally being able to walk on your own. Me and your mom will go and buy your favourite fried chicken for you!" His father said.

Y/n cheered. As his parents went to buy the friend chicken, he decided to go around the streets slowly. It's been long time since he's been out of the house, he thought.

Y/n held on to his wheelchair and slowly walked around. "Walking had never felt so nice." He smiled, in thoughts. He tried standing up for awhile before feeling his legs straining and sat down on the wheelchair heavily.

Suddenly, his phone received a call. Curious, he decided to answer it, in case it was someone he knew.

As soon as he answered the call, he heard a voice of a girl crying and saying, "Mom!!! I don't think I can continue doing this... I feel like giving up." The girl continued crying for awhile until Y/n said, "I'm sorry but I think you got the wrong number."

There was an awkward silence and then the voice of the girl replied, "I'm sorry." And then the call was hung up.

Y/n was surprised by this happening, the girl seems to be going through a rough time and was looking for some words of comfort or encouragement from her mom.

He then send a text message to that number,

'Hey, it seems like you are going through something difficult right now and needed someone to talk to.'

'Don't give up on whatever you are doing! Persevere and things will go well soon. :)'

He added a smiley face, hoping that it will make him seem friendly. A read sign appeared under the message sent.

Soon, the girl replied.

Unknown: 'Thank you.'

Y/n: 'No problem! I had some problems with walking recently and today I managed to walk without support for the first time today. So if I can do it. You can too!'

Y/n put his phone down into his pocket before lying back on his wheelchair and was happy he had helped to motivate someone.

He was smiling to himself when his parents came back from buying the fried chicken.

"Why are you smiling?" His mom asked.

"Nothing, I just feel happy today." He replied, still smiling. Happy that he had helped to motivate someone else and the fact that he is able to walk on his own today.

At night, he laid on his bed and was watching YouTube when he thought of that same girl. Y/n messaged the number again.

Y/n: 'Hey how are you doing now?'

Unknown: 'I am okay. Thanks for the motivational message that you sent me earlier.'

Y/n: 'No problem. If you ever need someone to talk to, I'm here.'

Unknown: 'Thank you'

Y/n was happy that he had helped someone, he hoped to go back to school after the holidays ended and hopefully by then, he would be able to walk fully on his own and completely remove any reliance on the wheelchair.

As the days go past, Y/n have returned to school and his legs have recovered fully. He have been talking to the unknown girl too, being friends with her and giving her motivation when she needs it.

One day, he graduated from high school and was extremely happy about it. Talking about it to all his family and the secret friend unknown girl too.

The girl then send a clip of her singing a congratulatory song to him.

Unknown: Happy graduation day! Here is something as a gift for you. Hope it's okay and you like it.

Unknown: Congratulations.mp3

Y/n: Thank you! Let me hear it.

Y/n: Wow! You can sing very well! By any chance.... When you wanted to give up and called me by accident, was it about singing?

Unknown: Yeah...

Y/n: Well... See, you can do it! Not giving up was the right decision! By any chance, are you a trainee or aspiring to be a singer?

Unknown: Well, I'm actually a trainee but Im not telling you any more details.

Y/n: Oh it's ok.

Soon, Y/n entered into a university and started studying. Working part time at a nearby convenience store near his school during the holidays or weekends when he has free time.

A new girl group debut soon and it was IVE. Even during the promotion teasers, he was talking about it to the secret friend.

Unknown: You are excited for IVE to debut?

Y/n: Yeah! I think I like that group already! The members all look so pretty and cute.

Unknown: Ohhh.... Do you like any of them in particular yet?

Y/n: Well... All the members look like nice people.

Unknown: Then what do you think of Liz?

Y/n: She looks cute and is very pretty from what I see in the promotion video.

Unknown: Ahh, for me. I like Liz the most.

Over the next few weeks, Y/n have been keeping up on IVE and even realised that the place where he works at is nearby StarShip Entertainment place.

Y/n: Omg! I discovered that right around the corner of the street of the 7-eleven where I work  at, that's the location of StarShip Entertainment office!!!

Unknown: really?? Maybe now you can get to see some of the IVE members in person.

Y/n: Yes!!! Hopefully... I haven't got a chance yet though.

Unknown: Maybe tomorrow is the day!

The next day, Y/n was working in the convenience store normally at night. When some girls walked in and wearing masks, looking at the items in the store while sometimes taking a peek at Y/n who was the only staff at the time and swiping the floor and arranging the items neatly on the shelves.

The girls brought some items to the counter and Y/n quickly came over to the cashier counter and scan the bar code for the items. As one of the girls was taking out some cash from her wallet, Y/n realised it was...

"Oh my god! Are you guys IVE!?!?" Y/n asked in surprised, mouth wide opened.

"Yes.... We were craving some snacks. So we decided to go come here and buy some." Yujin said as she handed the money to him.

Y/n nodded and started packing the snacks into a bag for them. While he was busy packing, the members all looked at and nudged Liz.

As Y/n handed over the bag of snacks to Yujin, they all turn around to walk over before Y/n called for them.

"Wait!!!" He shouted

They looked back at him, wondering what's wrong.

"Well ugh, can I get an autograph please?" Y/n asked, holding his hands together.

"Sure!" They replied.

Y/n quickly entered the staff room and scrambled for a paper and a marker. He quickly found a bunch of paper and took one along with a marker.

He quickly came out and put the paper down for them to sign. As the members took turns to sign the paper, Y/n's heart was beating fast as he was extremely happy to have met IVE in person and getting their signature.

"Goodbye!" The members waved at him as Y/n waved back happily at them.

Y/n: You wouldn't believe me! I got to see IVE today and asked for their signature!

Unknown: See? I told you that you might get to see them today!

Y/n: You are right! I was so happy to get their signature and meeting them in life!

Unknown: I know!!! You looked so funny when you actually asked if it was IVE and you opened your mouth wide.

Y/n: wait... how did you know?

Unknown: What?

Y/n: Were you there?

Unknown: Well actually, I have a friend in IVE and she told me about the encounter with a guy in the 7-eleven store near their company office. So I'm guessing that's you.

Y/n: Wow! Who's your friend in IVE?

Unknown: (doesn't reply for awhile)

Unknown: Well I'm good friends with Rei and I'm extremely close to Liz!

Y/n: Oh wow! It's cool to be friends with an idol.

Unknown: Well, I guess so.

Next week, after Y/n's exams are over, he was worried that he might not pass one of the exams and ended up failing the subject.

It takes a week for the results to be released and meanwhile at the same time, Y/n was kept worried about it.

Despite the unknown girl trying to talk to him and ask him about his problems, he didn't say about it.

While he was working at night and there were no customers, Y/n felt hungry and decided to take a cup noodle and eat it.

Meanwhile he received a message as he is eating.

Unknown: Hi!

Y/n: hi

Unknown: Are you working now?

Y/n: Yeah

Unknown: well, are you busy now? Maybe you can talk about things that are bothering you.

Y/n: Actually it's just school stuff, I'm just worried about an exam. Don't worry about me.

Unknown: maybe I can help to talk and make you feel better?

Y/n: It's ok... Oh there are customers here. I gotta go now. Bye

Unknown: Bye

Then Y/n puts down his phone and continue eating his noodles slowly while poking at his noodles from time to time.

At the same time, someone is outside looking at him sneakily.

Soon, that person entered the 7-eleven store.

"Welcome to 7-eleven" Y/n greeted the person, bowing down and then continuing to finish his noodles.

While the person looked around at the store, Y/n had finished his noodles and thrown away the packaging at the rubbish bin.

As the person comes to the cashier and makes some purchases for some snacks and chocolate bars.

Y/n scan the bar and takes the money from the person and realised it is Liz!!!

"Oh my god! You are Liz!" Y/n widened his eyes and his mouth was in an small "O" shape.

Liz smiled and giggled at his reaction.

"Yes!" She smiled and greeted him.

As Y/n hands her the receipt, Liz handed him a chocolate snack and asks him if he want to take a photo together.

"Yes! I would love to take a photo!" Y/n excitedly say. Both of them then posed for a selfie together, using his phone and her phone to take one photo each.

"Wow, thanks. I have been unhappy recently. And this really cheered me up." Y/n said after taking the photo.

"I heard someone I know is a good friend of yours?" Y/n asked.

"Huh?" Liz was flustered.

"Oh yes! Uhm her name is Won-Ji." Liz added.

"Oh so that's her name..."

"I tried asking for her name and she didn't want to give at the time." Y/n said.

"Well goodbye then," Liz said.

"Bye!" Y/n waved at her, smiling.

Y/n then look at the chocolate snack that he received.

'Stay happy and smiling :)'

————————————————————————————————-

[buttersmama]

CHAPTER 2 (1091 words)

The class settled down seeing Mrs. Richard enter. Yn resumes his place back behind beomgyu who was still busy reading god knows what. Mrs. Richard clears her throat, commanding the students’ attention. “as you all know, the student council elections are approaching, and it’s time to kickstart the campaign process.”

Several groans and murmurs echoed throughout the classroom, after all the elections were a big deal, coming along with a long list of responsibilities and expectations.

“as per our tradition,” Mrs. Richard continued, “the previous year’s president and vice president will be responsible for organizing and managing the campaign. Organizing and conducting multiple rounds of elections and keeping them in order requires teamwork and cooperation”

All eyes turned to beomgyu the former president and yn the former vice Prez. Hushed whispers erupting once again. With a knowing look, Mrs. Richard announced, “yn and beomgyu, you two will work together to ensure a smooth flowing election this year.”

Yn’s jaw tightened and beomgyu’s playful smile faltered a but at the idea proposed. Mrs. Richard, unfazed by the reactions, fixated her gaze on the notorious duo, “I expect you both put your differences aside and be civil, also meet me in the staff room after the class is dismissed.”

As Mrs. Richard spoke, yn and beomgyu exchanged one lingering glance, silently cursing for being forced to work together- again.

A groan left yn as he rested his head down on the desk, still thinking about the unexpected partnership at the very first week of their senior grade. Mrs. Richard on the other hand went on and on about some fucking emperor and whatever shit he did in his reign. Yn wasn’t interested in that though, his mind wondered what would happen if he were to fail, this ‘partnership’ he had been forced into.

“Mrs. Richard, you called for us?” yn said garnering attention of his teacher. The said teacher glanced at the duo- beomgyu standing behind yn looking bored. “yn, my child, glad you’re here. here,” she handed the folder of a bunch of papers,

“this folder contains the past years’ student council plans and a report on how the previous leaders handled it. I thought it would help you two out, so I fished it out for you. Oh- there’s also a list of students who have registered their name to run for a place in the student council, I believe you two can work great if you were to put your differences aside” Mrs. Richard ended handing over the folder.

“I appreciate it immensely Mrs. Richard. I promise I will do my best to carry out the student council elections” yn says with an assuring smile, pleased with how much his teacher had put into work.

Beomgyu, although uninterested, managed to get out a half-hearted acknowledgement. “yeah, we’ll cooperate”

‘maybe this will work!’

“vice prez, meet me after school?” beomgyu said catching up to yn who was about to leave.

“can’t today, I have work unlike you beomgyu, i'll let you know when ill be free, then we can schedule a meet up” yn said pursing his lips, ready to head home for the day.

“listen, I’m also busy after school, okay? It’s just that I want this to be over as soon as possible” beomgyu replied.

Yn raised an eyebrow, clearly skeptical. “busy doing what exactly?”

“I know its hard to believe but I have a life outside school, Einstein” beomgyu chuckled.

yn’s phone rang, interrupting their bickering, “gotta go choi, see you never.”

Beomgyu watched yn as he answered his phone with a mis of amusement and mild irritation. “always so busy,” he muttered to himself as yn walked away.

Seeing yn walk away, beomgyu couldn’t help but smile, shaking his. “see you never huh? We’ll see about that,” he said softly to no one in particular.

Beomgyu decided he wouldn't get affected by Yn's apparent busyness. He knew he had to find a way to get in touch with him to discuss about the upcoming student council meeting after all that was the main reason Beomgyu had held up the latter. As Yn left, Beomgyu reached for his phone and began to search for any potential leads.

He started by scrolling through his contact list, hoping that maybe he had unknowingly saved Yn's number at some point. But after a few minutes of fruitless trying, he sighed in frustration. "No luck there," he muttered to himself.

Beomgyu then turned to social media, trying to find any hints or clues that might lead him to Yn's number. He scoured Yn's profiles on various platforms, hoping to find a shred of information that could help him.

As the night rolled around, Beomgyu continued his search, and the frustration grew. He even considered asking some of his classmates if they had Yn's number, but he knew that might raise suspicions he didn't want.

Just as he was about to give up, a message notification popped up on his screen. It was Yn. Beomgyu's heart skipped a beat as he eagerly opened the message, not knowing why his heart did so.

Yn's message read: "Couldn't you just ask Yeonjun for my number?"

Beomgyu felt a mix of relief and embarrassment wash over him. Yn's suggestion was so simple and practical, yet he had let his frustration cloud his judgment. He quickly typed out a response, "You're right. My bad."

He hit send and waited anxiously for a response, the seconds felt like hours as he stared at the black screen to light up.

Finally, a message popped up on the screen. He eagerly opened it to find yn’s reply: “I’m free after my afternoon classes, wanna meet up then?”

Beomgyu couldn’t help but smile as he typed his reply, “tomorrow works for me, meet me at the café across the west building?”

Yn’s response came quickly, “cool, see ya then, after 3:00 PM tho”

Beomgyu and yn flopped on their beds simultaneously, feeling a bit giddy after their little chat. Phone close to his heart, yn drifted into deep slumber almost immediately while beomgyu couldn’t help but let out a dorky smile because of god knows whom.

As the night passed by, beomgyu waited eagerly for the next day to arrive, he didn’t understand why their meeting was keeping him on his toes or why he was looking forward to their café ‘date’. Is that what he’s supposed to call it? He wonders.

Woah, when did he start thinking about yn like that?! Get your head straight beomgyu! Yn’s your rival, sworn enemy even. He reminded himself.

Prev. M.list next.

Please let me know if any mistakes, I hope y'all like the new part!

[luverofralts]

Arkhelios Adventures

"Ah, finally. Arkhelios. It's smaller than I imagined."

A woman and her two teenage children surveyed the land critically. For all the talk about Arkhelios on the international stage, actually stepping foot in it was underwhelming. There were a few large estates, some factories and what could questionably be defined as a small strip mall. There was lodging available at least, until the trio could find whatever magical community was always being promoted.

"Alright, children. You know the plan. We'll check into the hotel tonight and start fresh in the morning."

"Yes, Mom," the two chimed in unison.

The trio walked silently into the doors of the hotel, eyeing their surroundings with suspicion.

"Adam! Adam, over here!"

Eero and Despina Darktide waved frantically at their cousin, as if there was any chance that Adam could miss the giant coven building they were standing in front of. After some tension at Theo's house, Adam Darktide promised to at least visit with his cousins at the Arkhelios coven where they lived. It wasn't as old or fancy as Pleasantview's, but it seemed okay to Adam. Smaller covens needed smaller spaces after all.

"We can hang out by the pool," Despina said. "It's pretty quiet back here. No one really comes out here at night."

"I do have to get back soon though," Adam insisted. "My mom will be pissed if I'm late again. The last thing I need is to be grounded."

"Yeah, she's always intense when our report cards get sent home," Eero complained. "One semester we had to clean up after everyone's familars until our spellwork improved. She's not even a part of the coven here, and she still found a way to get what she wants."

"No thanks," Despina laughed. "The only expectations we have are to pass our coursework and not follow down the path of 'dark magic". Whatever that means."

"You're not wrong," Adam laughed. "Try being her son. You two are the only thing she has left of her brother, but I'm her legacy apparently. I'm willing to trade if you are."

"Oh, I learned a dark magic trick," Adam exclaimed excitedly. "My boyfriend taught me it. He's working off the blood magic textbooks that were banned centuries ago. He knows a lot of magic that used to be forbidden."

Adam beamed with pride as he snapped his fingers and a brilliant flame appeared, confined to his hand. The twins watched enviously. There was something off about the flames that they couldn't quite put their finger on.

"It's hellfire," Adam explained. "Demons supposedly use it to disable their enemies. The flames are freezing cold, like a shard of the Void flickering in their hands. Feel it, I can't make it freeze, but you can at least touch it."

Eero boldly extended his hand, completely trusting his cousin. Truthfully, Adam probably wouldn't do the same in that position; there wasn't a certainty that the flames weren't just a trick. When Eero removed his hand completely uninjured, Despina shoved her hand in the flames too.

"That's so cool," she breathed. "They teach him this stuff in school? We never learn anything like this here."

"Well, they only teach Theo," Adam stammered. "The demon sovereign sponsored him so he learns all the dangerous stuff. I'm just supposed to be memorizing chemical properties and how to summon a wand I've already summoned. It's stupid."

"You summoned that dumb wand in the textbook?" Depina gasped. "You're not old enough! Even Wanda has only produced it for a few seconds! I want to go to your school, you at least learn something there."

"Maybe you could talk to your mom?" Eero asked. "She'd listen to you, wouldn't she? We could apply for a scholarship if she doesn't have the money or...or we could get jobs at the restaurant downtown. Please, please can you ask her?"

Adam shrugged helplessly.

"I can try. She really doesn't listen to me much either. Or my dad. Or my stepdad. Last week, she called the king of Crystal Cove a 'pompous asshole' to his face. There's no reasoning with her."

"Damn. Well, hey, we're having a mixer at the academy this weekend, if you want to come," Eero offered. "It's nowhere near as fancy as your Pleasantview parties, but maybe if she drops you off, your mom can see how useless this place really is. I mean, the classes suck, but we do have a lot of fun outside of class. You'd probably like some of our friends."

"Can I bring Theo? He loves parties."

And can save me from meeting a room full of strangers on my own.

"Yeah, sure. Bring whoever you want."

[currentlyfckingurmom]

Arachnoid (part 3)

Series masterlist

“Nuh-uh. Come inside. Come. We need to have a talk, little spider.”

“Yes ma’am,” Rory deflates.

Rory is extremely uncomfortable inside the apartment. Both women appear friendly but guarded, and Rory feels like she’s in trouble with her mom.

“Why are you following Natasha and lurking outside my apartment? That is very creepy, little spider.”

“Oh, I’m not—I’m not a perv or anything, I just—well, I was just making sure I was safe. After the Black Widow showed up at my workplace and everything, I just—I’m sorry ma’am. I really mean no harm.”

“First of all, stop calling me ma’am. Second of all, Почему ты пошел к ней на работу?” She turns to Natasha. (Why did you go to her work?)

“Мне было любопытно. Фьюри заставляет меня расследовать ее.” (I was curious. Fury has me investigating her.)

Rory watches with wide eyes as the two women speak rapidly in Russian.

“Она опасна?” (Is she dangerous?)

“Не для нас.” (Not to us.)

Yelena finally turns to Rory with a sigh. She almost laughs at Rory’s terrified expression. “Stop following us. You will find yourself in a pepper.”

“A pepper? What? You mean in a pickle?”

“Yes, whatever. It means the same thing. Get out of my apartment. And I expect a new plant.”

“Yes ma’am—Yelena—is it okay if I call you Yelena? I’m gonna leave. Just one last thing. What does SHIELD want with me?”

Natasha studies Rory for a moment. “You’re a mystery to us, Rory. You could potentially be a threat. Or a very useful ally. It’s my job to find out which.”

“And if I don’t want that?” Rory asks defensively.

“I don’t recall giving you a choice. Do not get in the way of my investigation.”

Rory looks pissed, Yelena notices.

“I’ll tell you everything you want to know. Pick me up tomorrow at 10 and bring me someone secure. And then stay the hell out of my life.” She pauses. “It’s for your own good.”

With that, Rory exits the apartment and dives off the balcony, swinging further into the night.

Natasha’s eyebrows are furrowed, wondering what set the woman off.

“What the hell was that about?” Yelena asks.

“I don’t know yet. But it appears there’s more to your little spider than we thought.”

At exactly 10:00 the next morning, there is a knock at Rory’s apartment door. Rory stands from the couch and walks to the entrance, opening it for the redhead on the other side.

“Ready to go?” Natasha asks. Rory only nods.

They make their way silently to the car. Natasha is conflicted by the tenseness of Rory’s presence.

“You aren’t wearing your suit.”

“It’s better to be seen with Rory than to be seen with Arachnoid.”

“Why is that?”

Rory doesn’t reply. Natasha is pretty sure she already knows the answer.

At SHIELD headquarters, Natasha leads them to a small conference room.

“This is as secure as it gets. No cameras. Soundproof walls. Transmission-blocking technology.”

Rory nods. “I’m gonna tell you what you need to know. You can assess if I’m a threat and report back to your boss. The details stay here.” Rory isn’t confident that Natasha will keep her secrets, but she hopes.

“Deal,” the redhead agrees.

“I was born normal. I had a happy childhood. Really happy, actually. My parents loved each other and provided everything I needed. I had a little sister named Hailey. The year between high school and college, I interned at Oscorp. When working in a lab, I was bitten by a radioactive spider. Those same spiders later gave Spiderman his powers. It took me a while to figure it out, but eventually I became Arachnoid. My girlfriend, Abby Smith, was killed by a man I was fighting named the Green Goblin. I couldn’t save her. Two months later, I was badly injured in an ambush. My parents and sister were killed in a car accident on the way to the hospital. The cops said there was no foul play, but I’ve never believed that. I finished college with my head down. I kept up being Arachnoid whenever I could. Flash forward and here we are. You know where I live and work. You know my routine. You know everything there is to know. Will you leave me alone now?”

Natasha is silent, a sorrowful wrinkle between her brows. A one-eyed man enters the room with a wide smile, clearing having heard everything said before.

“See now that wasn’t so hard. We thank you for your cooperation. As director of this organization, I am offering you an official position as an agent of SHIELD, Rory. What do you say?”

Rory looks to Natasha with betrayal. “You lied to me. I knew you probably would but I wanted to give you a chance.” She then looks to Director Fury. “I will never work for someone like you. This place has no honor. I held up my end of the deal, so stay out of my life.”

Rory leaves without waiting for a reply, making her way home on her own. When she gets there, there’s a blonde woman sitting on her couch, sipping on a beer.

“What are you doing here, Yelena?” Rory asks with a sigh.

“Wow, not even a ‘hi, how are you?’ So rude. Let me guess, they tried to recruit you?” Rory nods. “You said no?” Another nod. Rory grabs a beer and sits on the opposite end of the couch. “I knew you would. I even told Natasha you’d say no. They try to wrangle me in all the time.”

“But you say no? Even though Natasha works for them?”

“It is not my thing. I’ve been ordered around for too long. My sister trusts Nick Fury. I do not.”

“You don’t trust him?”

“Yes. Keep up, little spider. Anyway, for what it’s worth, I think you made the decision.”

“Thank you, Yelena.” There’s a pause in the conversation. “She betrayed my trust. Natasha, I mean.”

Yelena almost pouts at this revelation. “I would not do that to you.”

Rory clinks her bottle to Yelena’s and puts on a trashy TV show, trying not to let the past few days overwhelm her.

“She seems to think that you like me,” Yelena adds after a few minutes of silence.

Rory looks at her, almost studying the small assassin. “I do.”

“Hm. I think I like you too, little spider.”

They both turn back to the TV.

[gardenofnineveh]

Lucerys is so Princess Diana-coded. Like ever seen that pic of Diana in a blue dress falling asleep days before she announced she was pregnant with Prince William? That’s so Lucerys. Literally the hair, the eyes!

Aemond is also Princess Diana-coded. Behind that tough psycho facade, it’s clear he needs love and help and more love, just Princess Diana did when her marriage with Charles started falling apart.

Engagement -

Media: Are you in love?

Lucerys: Why yes, of course? [blushing and casually showing off his sapphire engagement ring 💍 , yes even the engagement ring is Diana coded 😩]

Aemond: Whatever love may mean… [smiles at Luke cuz my boi mond ain’t a cheater!]

I need the really emotional and real marriage struggles, and Aemond finally going on record after years of staying silent and playing the bad guy in the royal family in the eyes of the public.

Interview -

Interviewer: There were reports of you, your Highness, struggling with self-image and trauma. Is that true?

Aemond: [Think the shy, downturned look from the bts interviews] Hm, yes. Yes, I did. Even though I did not realize at the time, I did. The scar… the missing eye.

Growing up I was not… the most handsome, or pretty, boy around. And people around me made that clear, but the eye situation magnified and intensified every problem I had… with people, family, and friends.

For a while, after the eye, I told myself I didn’t care. I rode Vhagar, the largest dragon in the world. I was doing better in both swordsmanship and my studies than my peers. But there was always something unsettling in my heart. Something I neglected and tried to overcompensate for. Hence, the tours in the Riverlands, the Stepstones. My behavior and so called “acting out” at Storm’s End… It really gets to you when the media always portrays you as the villain because well, I look like one. So I thought, why not let their dreams come true? Why can’t I really embrace being the villain?

It really took years of work and being in a loving relationship and just being recognized for simply who I am for me to really see that. That I was hurting, and I was reaching out for help but not in a way others may understand. That I wanted to have a stable married life and be loved.

Interviewer: How was your relationship with the Queen?

Aemond: Well, there were initially three of us in a marriage, so it was a bit crowded. [classically Diana omo]

She was and has always been a loving and wonderful mother to Luke, and being a father now, I can somewhat see why she was the way she was.

It came down to a choice, between she and me, for Luke. We forced Luke to make a choice. And I, as well as she, knew that I had no chance of winning.

Interviewer: What were your reactions when your separation from Prince Lucerys was announced to the public?

Aemond: Well, we have been living apart for a couple month by then, by the time it was announced on television. We never had an official separation, no. We just thought that living apart would have helped resolve the issues we had with our marriage.

Then the journalists caught wind of it and published photographs of Lucerys attending the Queen’s charity banquet alone, dropping off our children to school alone.

The people, when they saw this… I asked, when it was decided that a statement ought to be made on this matter, that the news is aired before the holidays because that way our children wouldn’t. They were at school, and they were very well-protected at school.

Interviewer: That was the one holiday where you weren’t there with your husband, is that right?

Aemond: Yes, I remember watching the Christmas messages to the country and the morning mass broadcasting on television alone. I didn’t know that Lucerys with 6 months pregnant was our third child. We haven’t seen each other for three, four months at that point.

I remember the red cloak he wore inside the church and really couldn’t hide it from the cameramen when they came outside after service was over. The country was in shock, seeing this live for the first, and I remember being there with them - shocked but a good sort of shock.

(All grown up, communicative Aemond muah)

And Luke would be backstage and be so supportive and proud of Aemond. Lucemond hugs 🤗