#which students are you looking at and saying 'hm I don't BELIEVE you could write this well on your own.

[clonerightsagenda]

An instructor accused students of using chatGPT to write their papers after 'detecting' this by.... pasting their papers into chatGPT and asking it if it wrote them. So that's going great.

[signiorbenedickofpadua]

"lecturing" for the wip game! xo @hardly-an-escape

Certainly, my dear ❤️ I believe I've described the premise once before, but I'll give you a little recap anyway as well as a snippet! Perhaps this will somehow help this poor fic get out of WIP hell... I know how I want it to end, but I just can't figure out whether to throw some smut in the middle or just...skip it, uncharacteristically enough... A wise reader may at this point ask, "Why don't you just write the ending first then and decide later if you feel like calling it done or if you want to add a sex scene?" Well. That's a good question. Hm. I'll have to think on that.

So, anyway, it's a human AU wherein Professor!Hob (well, lecturer, technically) holds a series of intro lectures on Literary History. A certain tall, dark mysterious stranger sits in the front row every week without fail, watching and listening very intently. Of course, Hob does his best to ignore how attractive this guy is, because god dammit he's trying to be a better person these days and hooking up with his students does not help with that. Except...is he actually a student...? *the soundtrack in the background turns mysterious*

You may find out if you read the snippet below and also PART TWO and PART THREE since several of you asked about this WIP! (List of titles in the og WIP game post here.)

PART ONE

Part of the problem was that the man always sat in the front row, thus giving Hob far too good of a view of his full body, which was just as unfairly gorgeous as his face. His proclivity for the skinniest of jeans did nothing to help Hob in he Sisyphean task of keeping his eyes away, nor did the fact that he kept looking right back.

Of course, Hob was lecturing, and so it was to be expected that his students would look at him when he talked, but he also expected them to look away at least some of the time. At their notebooks or laptops as they took notes, for example, which this bloke never ever seemed to do. Sure, it was not an advanced course by any definition, and he might have a good memory, or was one of those people who preferred not to distract themselves with taking notes during lectures, instead refreshing his memory by studying at home later. Or perhaps he didn’t care about getting more than a barely passing grade for a basic course like this—except he appeared to be paying rapt attention at all times. It was likely this intense focus which made it so hard for Hob to just ignore him. He had taught plenty of good-looking people throughout his career, and it had never been a problem until now. He was quite practised at turning off the part of the brain that noticed such things, and, even when he did notice, it normally didn’t fluster him like this. The man just had a…a weight to his gaze, somehow. His pale eyes were piercing, and Hob could practically feel them boring into him even when his back was turned. He also believed that he had caught them wandering over his body every so often—lingering on his arms when he rolled his sleeves up to combat the heat of a fully packed and poorly ventilated classroom, homing in on the sliver of tummy skin exposed as he had to stretch up to turn the projector on with a pointer when the damn remote control malfunctioned again, and fixating on the hint of chest hair visible that one time he had accidentally left one too many buttons undone on his shirt. He really, really wished that he had not noticed any of this, because the only thing worse than being attracted to a student was being attracted to a student who reciprocated. Fortunately, the man had done nothing to indicate that he intended to actually make a move on Hob, which was some small consolation. In fact, many tortuous weeks passed without him saying a single a word, never raising his hand to answer one of Hob’s questions or ask one of his own, never approaching him after lectures with queries about the curriculum or the final exam, never even talking to his classmates. All he did was sit there, in the same place every time (front row, third seat from the right), silently staring at Hob while nursing a cup of coffee from Bennie’s café two buildings over. Then, every week without fail, he quietly slipped out of the room exactly five minutes before the time was up and the lecture ended, presumably to rush to some other lecture on a tight schedule. Hob could only hope that he checked the information he put up online about suggested reading and the end-of-term examination, since he never stayed to hear Hob’s reminders at the end of the lectures.

[epickiya722]

Kind of a weird question but if uro was a high school teacher, what subject do you think she would teach?

Weird you may say, but that a fascinating question right there! Ooooh, it really is making the gears in my head turn.

Hm... okay!

I have three answers for this one!

One, a literature teacher. The literature teachers I had in high school were all "spontaneous" in some way. Like, I feel like Uro would be that teacher. She would be engaging and passionate about what she teaches. I headcanon that she would be into literature because reading is like an escape for her, a way to feel free and have an imagination. Which I think is fitting considering that's what she wants to be in canon. I feel like she'll do like writing sessions with her students in which allows them to have free range on their style and topic because she doesn't believe in limits to creativity. She would want her students to express themselves.

It's also why I think she would be an amazing art teacher. Again, as with literature, art would be a way for her to be expressive by using creativity and she would want the same for her students. You cannot tell me she wouldn't have a huge painting of the sky on one of the walls of the classrooms. She'll give them a prompt like "paint a red door" and no matter how each style looks, the student still gets an A as long as a red door is in there somewhere. She'll tell them "there's so much you can do with one thing as long as you let yourself feel free enough to create".

A third option is a dance teacher. Even though we only have her in the manga so far, she still moves like a dancer to me. Even got the build like one. And that outfit she wears reminds me of what a dancer would wear. Also, dance is another creative way of expression, feeling free. I can imagine she would tell the kids to choose a favorite song of theirs and come up with a dance routine and no matter how bad they think it is, she will still applaud them for it.

[Funny enough I was just thinking about what other story I could write for her and Yuji (they are cousins to me) and I was thinking dance AU because I feel like they both could be great dancers.]

Simply, I think Uro would be a teacher that specializes in something creative. She may get a few kids that don't take the assignments they're given seriously but she wouldn't give up on them because she wouldn't want them to feel like they can't do something great and they can't feel like themselves on her class. She would want them to feel like it's a safe space for them to express themselves and if they need tips, she will offer them. She won't be stern, but still won't let them just get an easy pass.

[franstastic-ideas]

Hm.,, Arven, maybe? And Juliana, if you’re okay with doing two at once!

~Arven~

First impression

He was a little spicier in his introduction than I expected!

He wasn't Bede 2.0: Electric Boogaloo, but that, "I wasn't talking to you. You two can shove off." was pretty rude.

Impression now

The himbo was inside of him all along, Arven just needed a friend to bring out that side of him.

He's... also very possessive of that friendship. But with everything he's been through, how could he not be?

Favorite moment

YOU KNOW WHICH ONE: 🤝🏻

Idea for a story

I'm refraining from writing any SV stories until after I've played both parts of the DLC, but I have pondered more than once about how he might react after learning The Treasures of Ruin are in Juliana's possession.

Or her having returned to Area Zero not only without him, but alone.

Unpopular opinion

I feel as though sometimes people project their own parental issues onto Arven and ignore how he really feels in canon.

Favorite relationship

His and Juliana's, of course~

I had a feeling there was shipping potential in those two even before the game was released, and I was RIGHT.

Favorite headcanon

"And of course everybody knows me, Arven! My loves include cooking, my Mabosstiff, and-"

I am entirely convinced he was about to say 'and my little buddy' before he was cut off.

~Juliana~

First impression

As soon as I knew about the academic setting and got a look at her design, I immediately decided she would be a straight A student.

Impression now

She's still a straight A student as well as someone who carries this attitude out of the classroom, and I do appreciate how the game actually gives me the choice to make this part of her personality with unique responses attached.

Favorite moment

When Juliana saves all of Paldea, but can't ever tell anyone about it because she and her friends were in a restricted area.

Idea for a story

Since Arven's grades seem to canonically be in the toilet, I think a fic where she tutors him could be fun.

Unpopular opinion

Concerning her canon age, I don't believe she's that much younger than Arven and Nemona, maybe two years at most.

Favorite relationship

Hers with Arven, if that wasn't obvious enough already!

Favorite headcanon

I like to think that Gloria is her cousin since it's heavily implied Juliana moved from Galar, as well as the strong resemblance they share with one another.

[aliasimagines]

It Was You All Along // Dave Lizewski

requested by a lovely anon 💕

Can u write dave x fem!reader where reader Always had a crush on him but he kinda ignored reader bc of Katie but then someone popular asks reader out and he gets jealous and y/n dresses up super hot and he realizes he fucked up

word count: 1809

a/n: i hope this is close enough! ❤️ (i couldn't think of a different title but this one reminds me of Agatha All Along xd)

"Hey, Dave! My folks are gone for the weekend and I thought we could have an X-men watch party. Wanna come?" 

"Sorry I can't, I'm hanging out with Katie." 

"Again?" you ask a bit louder than intended,causing a few people to look at you in the hallway. You continue with a lower voice "Aren't you like, tired of all the lying? Like, what if she finds out that you're not actually gay, hm? Cause you know she will, eventually." 

"Why do you care so much?!" Dave says, clearly frustrated. 

You raise an eyebrow. 

"Oh why would I? Maybe because we have been best friends since diapers, you stupid asshole!" you say not caring if some students hear you or not, anymore. "But you know what, you are right. I shouldn't care. Go play pretend with Katie but don't come to me, crying when you end up getting your heart broken." 

"Don't worry, I won't." he snaps back. And you turn around and leave but not before flipping him off. You felt the angry tears rolling down your cheeks as you zigzagged between the chattering teenagers. 

You couldn’t  believe how Dave could be so blind! He only had eyes for Miss Perfect. Whom by the way, is a real bitch and would go back to ignoring Dave or calling him a freak if it wasn’t for his little gay act. 

Somehow you made your way over to the restroom and locked yourself into one of the booths.

Dave couldn’t even see you as a potential “love-interest”. Eventhough you were the one who always were there for him, you were always there when he called, running to him like a lost puppy. And he couldn’t even care less. And you hate him for it. But you hate yourself more for still liking him. 

It’s not like you can do something about it, if you could, you would have. But that’s not how it works, so you are just crying your guts out on the toilet trying not to think about Dave.

In all honesty, you have no idea how you made it through the day. You almost cried during biology but you caught yourself after a few lonely tears. You could feel Dave’s gaze on you but there was no way you would look at him. As soon as the last bell rang you were out of school, hurring past Tod and Marty, not being in the mood for them either.

The next day wasn’t any different, you didn’t hang with Dave, Tod and Marty like you normally do. You didn’t sit with them at lunch, instead walked over to the only empty table you saw and placed your tray there. You mounched on your food, completely unaware of your surroundings until you hear the chair next to you being pulled out. You look up to see Matthew Greendale, resident hottie of the school sit next to you. 

"Hey, sorry, it's not a problem if I sit here, right?" he asks. You eyed him suspiciously. 

"No, it's fine." 

It's fine?! You mentally scold yourself. You never even spoke to this guy, outside of literature in first year. Why would he sit next to you? 

"I didn't want to sit with all the other "popular jocks" he answered you unspoken question while taking a bite of his canteen-hamburger. “They’re fun and everything but it’s nice to get away from them sometimes.”

You think of your friends who are sitting a few tables away and you can’t help but agree with Matthew.

“Yeah, I feel you.” you say without thinking.

“Hey..We used to sit next to each other in freshman year, didn’t we? It’s y/n ,right?” 

You nod with a smile, honestly being surprised that he remembers you.

“Yeah!”

“I haven’t really seen you around a lot. But when I do you are always hanging with those comic book nerds.”

“Hey! Comics are great.”

He puts his hands up in a defense.

“Oh no! I didn’t mean it as an insult. Some comics are good, my little brother made read one last month. It was actually great.”

“What comic was it?”

“Oh, uhm..It was about some kind of blind dude in a devil costume.”

“Daredevil?” you ask with a giggle.

“Yes, that one!” he laughs too.

The two of you continue talking until the end of lunch break. He is surprisingly fun to talk to and he even offers to walk you to your next class after lunch. You had such a good time you didn’t even think about Dave, heck, you didn’t even notice him literally glaring daggers into Matthew.

“What’s up with you, dude?” Tod asks snapping Dave out of it. 

“Yeah, Dave. What the shit is going on with you and Y/N?” Marty asks too.

Dave forrows is eyebrows. Yes, what the shit is going on with the two of you? Every since yesterday's 'fight' with you he can't stop thinking. About how he spends most, if not all of his time either with being Kick-Ass or, rather with Katie. It used to be different. He spent every second with you and he just threw you away so he could maybe get laid. And sure, Katie may be hot as fuck but she is.. Well, she is not you. 

"We had a fight, yesterday. I.. And she was right." he explains with a grimace. "But why the fuck is that Greendale asshole is with her?" 

"You jealous or something, dude?" 

"Wha- Of course I am not jealous! Why would I be? You guys are nuts." 

Jealous… The word rolled around in his mouth like a new flavored milkshake he never tasted before. 

Could he be… Jealous? He never thought of you that way, you were always his best friend. Just that. But.. The more he thinks about it the more he can't stop that twist like feeling in his stomach. 

That night he can't focus on crime fighting. All his thoughts are tied to you. Whether he likes it or not, memories of you keep popping up in his mind. How didn't he notice your beautiful smile before? And your laugh? It's like a beautiful melody. And… Gosh! When did he become such a sappy teenager? Oh and another thing.. He kept trying to think of something else, anything else like Katie for example but he doesn't care anymore! 

Dave goes home early with a frustrated growl. The remaining hours of the night he spends with tossing and turning and daydreaming instead of sleeping. 

(the next afternoon, Atomic Comics) 

Dave bangs his head against the wood table once again. A tired groan leaves his lips when he hears Tod almost choking on his iced coffee. 

"What the tunk, Tod?" Marty and Dave ask almost at the same time. The dirty blonde haired boy keeps pointing outside the huge window that they are sitting next to at Atomic Comics. 

"Is that fucking y/n?!" 

Now all three of them look outside the shop and see you, all dressed up nad seemingly waiting for someone. 

"Holy fuck!" Dave whispers. He stares at you, with his mouth a gap before jumping up from the booth they were sitting at and rushing outside the store. 

"Y/n! Y/-" he yells almost tripping on thin air. 

"Dave?" you question, quickly turning towards him. Damn, you missed him. No! Yeah, you did… "What do you want?" 

"What do I- What, can't I talk to you?" 

"If you wanted to talk you would have in these past days!" you say. Yes, you might have missed him, but it's not like you're gonna show it. "Now, if you'll excuse me, I am waiting for my date to show up." 

"Your.. Your what, now?!" 

"My date" 

"You can't go on a date!" 

"And why is that, Lizewski?" 

"Lizewski? Really, you're calling me by my surname? Are we in such a bad place right now?" 

"I don't know, you tell me. Are you going to tell me what i can and can't do, hm?" 

"I didn't mean it like that. I just…" 

"What, it's fine when you say it but when I do it with you about Katie I'm the bad friend?" 

"No,it's just-" 

"Sorry. Matt's here." you point to the street across the road where you saw the boy walk towards you. "I gotta go." 

You start walking away but Dave grabs your wrist. 

"Please, don't." he mumbles. 

"Why not?" you snap at him but your expressions soften upon your eyes land on his saddened face. 

"I- because I don't want you with him. O-or anyone." 

You raise an eyebrow. 

"What?" 

He took a deep breath before looking around. Matt was waiting patiently by the traffic light so he could cross the road. Dave quickly began explaining. 

"You were right. About Katie. I was such a dickhead, I am so sorry, y/n. I am sorry for ignoring you over her and and.." from the corner of his eye he sees the traffic light turn green. "Shit! I don't want you to go out with Greendale cause I.. Because I like you. Like really fucking like you. And oh my god you look so fucking hot in this outfit, not that you're not always hot but holy shit. I know we are just friends and you don't think of me that way but I ju-"

"Oh my god! Do you ever shut up?" you yell before pressing your lips to his. Dave stumbled back a little, but quickly recovered and kissed back. Your hands cupped his face and his hands grabbed your waist in response. You both tilled your heads, deepening the kiss earning loud knocking from Marty and Tod as they watched the whole scene through the window. Not that you noticed any of it. You didn't hear the passing by car honk at you nor the yells or whistles. You also did not notice Matthew walking away with a sad smile after seeing the two of you. Your touches intertwine and you're pretty sure you heard Dave moan slightly which causes you to giggle into the kiss. You both pull away gasping for air. You look down at your shoes, hoping to hide your flushed cheeks. Dave scratches his back and looks around nervously only to see his two idiotic friends making kissy faces. He lifts his middle finger for them before clearing his throat. 

"So.. Khm.. I guess you like me too?" 

You let out a soft chuckle.

"Yeah, I do." you say looking at him with a smile.

"That's.. Fuck. That's great." he replied genuinely happy. "Wanna get out of here?" 

You nod and you take off. You take Dave's hand and he intertwines your fingers with a smile. Maybe he is truly a superhero. He helps people and he gets the girl of his dreams. The happy ending. 

Dave Lizewski taglist : @sethcohenluvr @your-hispanichufflepuff

[mrshamada-dorian]

firewall; byakuya // gn! ultimate hacker s/o

alright so this is kinda short, but i wanna do a sorta test to see how well received this is before i release part 2. this is really my first time writing an x reader story (since i normally write for myself) so if you have any tips or critiques, please let me know. i'd really appreciate it.

cw; none i believe.

byakuya never thought this day would come. he was sure that his company's networks were well-made and impenetrable. but not even the best hackers could figure out how to stop the virus that was currently attacking the great Togami Corporation. it was very frustrating that something as trivial as a stupid virus was hindering his company. in spite of that, he eventually had to resort to unwanted measures.

walking into the library of hope's peak academy, he quickly scanned the room until he found his target; the ultimate hacker.

byakuya wasn't too fond of the so-called ultimate hacker. scratch that; he wasn't fond of them at all. he found them irritating. it seemed like everything they did provoked him. from the way they talked to the way they walked, they were annoying. even their very presence was annoying. ever since he had the displeasure of meeting them, they've always felt the need to attempt to "put him in his place," as they once so adequately put it. 

as if his place wasn't above them.

but togami had to put that aside for now begrudgingly. the fate of this company was going to rest in the hands of the person who was currently sitting in the back of the library with an unimportant extra talking to them as they typed away on their laptop.

"come on (y/n)." he heard the extra say as he walked up. "i'm really close to failing that class." 

togami watched as the hacker shook their head. "i've already told you no. i warned you the last time i changed your grade that i only do it once a semester since the teachers would easily notice. but you decided to waste it within the first month of school. now it's your problem to fix."

(y/n) ran what they called a "problem-solving" business. students who had problems in school come to them to have their problems solved. like, for example, having their grade changed one letter up or getting the answers to the next big test. their "business" was very lucrative but also very private. not everyone could just come up and ask for what they wanted from the hacker. they had a very complicated referral process to ensure that not everyone knew what was happening. more importantly, to keep the teachers from finding out.

although it was unethical, he couldn't deny the fact that it was successful and a great testament to their skills, seeing as the faculty had yet to find out about it.

the random student was about to open their unimportant mouth again when (y/n) looked up at byakuya as he finally reached them. a condescending smile spread on their face.

"well, if it isn't his majesty. what do you want?" their voice was harsh as they spoke. byakuya clenched his teeth to keep the retort he wanted to say down. he wanted to get this done as quickly as possible so he could get back to being a king amongst these commoners.

"you're going to help me fix the servers of the togami corporation." byakuya was unwavering as he spoke.

(y/n) scoffed at his words. "hm...that doesn't sound like asking." 

togami felt his irritation growing steadily. "that's because i wasn't asking."

the hacker's back straightened up as they looked up at him challengingly. "well, you should be asking. especially since your company is in danger and i don't work for free, togami. maybe you should try again and see if i give you the honor of a yes."

so that's the angle they're going for. they were just going to be annoying for the sake of being annoying. which in turn irritated him more. well, byakuya didn't have time for their shenanigans today and was more than willing to put them back in their place.

byakuya put his hands on the table and slightly bent down to get within eye level with them. an intimidation tactic. "you should feel honored to be acquired by someone as superior as me."

the tension in the air was growing thick by the minute. anyone could see that this was going south quickly.

(y/n)'s eyes narrowed. "why would i ever-" their voice was starting to get louder when the random extra interjected. "um, guys?" the duo whipped their heads to the poor student that got caught in the middle of it unwillingly. 

"what?!" they both snapped simultaneously. the student slightly jumped at how scary their synchronization was. "people are staring…" the two looked around, and sure enough, many people were staring. but luckily, the bell rang, singling the start of the passing period to get to their next class.

(y/n) sighed in defeat while packing their stuff up. after they slipped their laptop into their computer bag, they slung it over their shoulder. standing up, they turned to byakuya. "after school, room 247. meet me there. don't forget you owe me." the hacker said. 

byakuya watched as they walked away, not able to get a word of objection in. well, he couldn't exactly complain if he was getting what he wanted, right?

[elysianslove]

hihi, can I request smth! Idk of this comply to your request rules cause I can't find it in your blog (sorry!!) The request is hc with Atsumu, Kuroo and Iwaizumi with an s/o that is considered a bitch by people. Like they don't let anyone walk all over them, people are scared of them but admire them esp in terms of academics but they're actually v loving and a big clumsy mess.

hii!! yeah i don’t really have a set of rules for requesting mainly cause i couldn’t think of any haha, but your request is more than okay! i’ve been obsessing nonstop over atsumu especially recently, and today wasn’t the best of days for me, so this was nice to write heh. thank you for requesting it. i hope you enjoy <3

miya atsumu 

atsumu is obsessed w you

seriously, he is just enamored by you. the way you hold your ground and always stand up for yourself, never letting anyone saying anything about you pass by you, your presence so intimidating. he loves it so much. he’s especially fond of the way you’re not even a bitch, you’re just confident in who you are, and everything you’re good at.

he observes from afar at first, the way people shrink in comparison to you regardless of your height. your aura just seems so. powerful? he really wants to approach you, and because this is miya atsumu, the first thought that crosses his mind is this person needs to be mine <3 no he will not take criticism.

so he does. approaches you, introduces himself in a way like you’re already meant to know who he is and he’s just doing you a favor. his heart breaks into tiny little pieces when you just go, “sorry, but no.” 

like literally just that you don’t go in detail or anything. you just reject him so plain and simple it’s actually worse than a full fledged out angry rejection. osamu’s so impressed he ready to have you added to his future will. 

he grows on you, though, over time. atsumu’s so quitter, and your rejection had only spurred him on. he would’ve backed off, because is a consent king, as they all are and should be, but you’re always so prepared with a quip back at him and you never actually push him away. it’s like a flirty game of tug of war between you two. eventually, he asks you out again, and just for old time’s sake, you jokingly say no lmao. all blood drains from his face that you actually kinda feel bad.

generally, he’s very proud to have you as his s/o. he himself has dealt with people constantly being put off by him and his attitude, so to see you deal with it so well is kind of? encouraging? uplifting? yk? 

he also likes how people are both scared of you and admire you. like. he relates to them! you’re incredible! 

he’s always snickering when he sees a student approach you literally trembling like a leaf and asks for your help in something academics related. you always say yes, which is something that just. pinches at his heart. the student is also always so surprised at the fact that you’re willing to help. god. atsumu will never have enough of their reactions to you. 

when you grow more comfortable with each other, and he discovers what you’re truly like, the person you really are beneath, atsumu just straight up falls in love. he didn’t think you could be any more perfect for him, honestly. 

he’s loves the way people are so intimidated by you but he knows that just a few minutes ago you were doodling little hearts in his notebook. 

a part of him wants so many more people to be aware that sometimes you can trip over air, and that you’re not as elegant and stoic as everyone thinks you are, but then he’s reminded of the fact that only he knows you’re truly like this, and he shakes that part of him off. atsumu genuinely adores knowing this additional, secret part of you. he doesn’t think you’re fake at all for having what’s seemingly a facade. he just thinks not enough people know what you’re truly like, and that you’re a gem, truly. 

he’s also like weirdly obsessed with the two of you as a couple? he knows people are intimidated by him, and it’s so painfully obvious people are intimidated by you. he just. eats that shit up. 

he’d also be really supportive if it ever gets to you. super ready to fight anyone. he’ll always tell you “these fake bitches don’t matter babe we the only real ones 😼💯” god havejkdkd 

anyways i been fantasizing about having miya atsumu as my bf somebody help im going insane 

kuroo tetsurō

kuroo knows of you. everybody does. you’re like, exceptionally good at being one of the most talked about people and also being the most mysterious person in school. the duality has him heart eyes for you. 

what probably catches his attention is the way people talk about you, in general, but specifically regarding academics. he overhears a group of people like whispering to each other about you while you’re just standing there minding your own business. they’re just encouraging one of them to approach you and kuroo’s like hm ! let me butt in bc why not ! 

as a joke, he slides up next to you and points at the group of students and whispers, “they’re talking about you.” 

this obviously ticks you off and without looking back you stomp over to the students and just go, “if you have something to say about me say it to my face!” and kuroo’s just watching like ,,, damn that’s hot. the students are so confused and ten times more scared than they first were and one of them just squeaks out that they only wanted to ask for help and you just , “oh. okay! :D.” kuroo’s just ,,, he’s losing his damn mind. 

he finds you really interesting, honestly, the way you’re just so strong? like mentally especially. you’re really mature, and you have a strong sense of self. he admires that about you, and continues to love that even when you start dating. 

he does ask you out, and he’s a little surprised you said yes, he’s not gonna lie. but you did, from the first time, and he just took you out to a simple picnic date. it was very cute, and the whole time he made you laugh and you were a completely different person than what he had first seen and expected. 

he really likes the fact that you’re really confident in yourself in that you won’t let anyone step on you or walk all over you. like he just loves watching you hand someone’s ass to them because they decided they wanted to make a smart comment about you. seriously, he’s insanely in love with it. 

he realizes pretty quick that the only reason people are so thrown off by you or are scared to approach you is because no one really gives you a chance to be yourself? like they’re always expecting the worst from you, having heard all these terrible things about you that half aren’t even true, that they don’t even bother trying to get to know you. and that fact really bothers him a lot, he’s not gonna lie, because he believes you’re the best person he’s ever had the pleasure of meeting. 

he really loves that you don’t let it bother you though. he’s impressed with how it doesn’t matter if some friends turn out fake, because, in your words, “good riddance.” 

the two of you kind of feed off each other’s energies? like he’s super confident in himself, and so are you, so you two only benefit each other in your presences. 

to put it simply, kuroo is incredibly impressed with who you are as a person, and it warms his heart so much how you’re so incredible of a person in so many ways, in that you neither let anything pass you by, and in that you’re the cutest, kindest soul he knows. 

iwaizumi hajime

brat tamer #1 <3 

i think iwa genuinely doesn’t care. not about you! about the things people say. like he hears so many rumors about you and he’s like .... ok. oikawa’s always feeding them to him but he’s just? not bothered by it? doesn’t care? it’s irrelevant information for him anyways? 

but then. 

but then. 

he walks past a scene where he sees you just destroying this poor kid. you’re verbally destroying him. the kid’s buried six feet under at this point. you’re not even yelling, but the guy’s shrinking under your gaze and your words and iwazumi’s so mesmerized by the way you do it so flawlessly. you don’t stutter because you’re so sure of your words and so confident in your stance. iwazumi. hums in approval. like. hm. good for them. as they should. 

after that he starts paying more attention to anything he hears about you, because he wants to know more. he doesn’t know why. he just does. and then he hears all these different things like “they’re so good at everything they do they can’t be real” and “i would never speak to them if they were the last person on earth” like ? he’s so confused WHICH IS IT

so, because iwaizumi’s a pretty straightforward person, he approaches you. 

do not confuse this though, because iwa is a blushing and flustered mess as he asks you to hang out. he’s never done this before, and this is not his style, but he’s just so interested in who you are as a person he was doing it before he realized it happened. 

the way you react is so? sweet? 

it’s so different than that day he saw you murdering that guy for talking smack, you seem so light and loving he actually feels his heart beat a little too fast in his chest. 

as his s/o, iwaizumi likes that he can trust you with yourself. like a part of him will always have that protective side to him, because that’s just the person iwa is, and he’ll always feel the need to step up and speak for you. but another part of him is really amazed by the way you can and are so able of speaking up for yourself. he feels really proud at the lack of insecurity. 

he also feels really smug about being with you. because he knows people are intimidated by him, and especially by you, but now that you’re together, he feels untouchable, and he knows you are too. he likes that feeling of power a little too much. 

if you ever step out of line at some point, iwaizumi will definitely let you know. he’ll point it out, and if you resist, he knows how to get you down off the pedestal. he’s had brat taming training for years lmao 

but he doesn’t think you’re a brat, not at all. in fact, he thinks you’re the sweetest person ever. he loves the versatility of your personality and attitude, in that you’re not just black and white and there’s so much more to you, there’s always grey in between. he likes that you’re endlessly dimensional and that he’s always learning something new about you. 

he especially loves the side of you that’s so soft spoken. it’s so endearing to him how you’re one moment so angry you could murder someone in cold blood but then all of a sudden you’re pinching his cheeks and kissing the tip of his nose telling him how cute he is. 

yeah iwa really loves you hehe <3

[arigatouiris]

an inconvenient crush // kenma kozume x reader (1/2)

Author’s Note: A new story?? SO SOON?? Thank you for all the love for my previous Kuroo story, it meant the world to me. I write for myself primarily, yes, but it brings me SO MUCH JOY to know that my words reach you. It helps with the motivation to put them out more often. Thank you. This story is very close to my heart because I’m a gamer, although I don’t stream. I’m more like Kenma though, personality wise. Haha.

Word count: 5k+

Pairing: YouTuber! Kenma Kozume x Streamer! Reader

Summary: YouTuber Kozume Kenma has had the biggest crush on Twitch Streamer, (s/n) (y/n), who in actuality simps heavily after Kenma's secret YouTube persona, puddinghead0.

What happens when their paths cross?

Kuroo is honestly tired of Kenma's second-guessing, and (y/n) is a bit of a crackhead.

Warnings: unrequited love, one-sided crush, slight angst, pining, crackhead reader, internet bullying, slang, gaming references, haikyuu manga spoilers, fluff

C h a p t e r O n e : puddinghead0

Kozume Kenma suddenly turned existential when his eyes shifted to his phone screen for the 12th time in ten minutes.

Was he always doing this? Was he always obsessed with his phone to a point where he'd constantly check for notifications? Did this mean he was deeply lonely on the inside and wanted approval from people on a virtual platform, which meant that the approval was also virtual and none of it was real? Did it mean that he craved to nullify the growing void in his chest by distracting himself with a black mirror that showcased light that could permanently impair his sight?

He let out a breath and forced himself not to look at his phone. He didn't care. It didn't matter. That's what he always said.

    "Hey!" His classmate/room-mate screamed from the entrance to his flat, "Are you watching her stream? Posted two minutes ago!"

His phone was definitely slow. He had been checking his phone but there was no notification. Letting out a breath, and giving himself a mental reason to actually check his phone, Kenma opened the notifications tab to see the one notification he had kept his eye out for had been buried under ridiculous facebook notifs.

An inconvenient crush, that's what he told himself whenever he looked at you. You were a streamer, a bit different from what he did on YouTube because you were primarily on Twitch. There were reaction videos of you on YouTube, which was where he found you, but damn—how could one be pretty while rage-quitting a game? It was abnormal. Nothing about you was normal; college student/Twitch streamer, an apparent baker in your mother's bakery, game reviewer for Sony, and you were insanely cute.

    "She's getting to that part," his roommate commented from behind Kenma's back, while Kenma really just wanted to watch the video in peace, "Shit, she's gonna cry."

You did cry, quite a few times, and too easily if he could add. You cried at the ending of God of War, you cried to The Last of Us (which made sense, but you were perhaps just bawling throughout the entire game), you cried in a game called Detroit: Become Human, you cried far too easily, but you never really quit. He loved how passionate you were about games, and it was the sort of passion he could completely understand.

    "Oh shit," You said in the video, your eyes scanning all over the game screen, "What's happening? What's happening?"

Kenma chuckled at how cute you were, god, you were killing him. You looked worried, and he could visibly see a sweat drop on your forehead, but you were so focused that it didn't matter. Suddenly, there was a screaming sound from the game you were playing, and your eyes popped open as wide as they possibly could and you just sat there, unmoving. He loved how you never squealed or made any loud reactions, except when you were in a fight with a difficult boss, but whenever something traumatic happened, you just froze and sunk it all in. You were currently playing the second part of The Last of Us, and a traumatic scene was definitely happening. Kenma had just finished playing it the night before, so every scene you were playing was familiar.

    "I officially hate this game," You said, your voice breaking and he desperately wanted to hold you, "Fucking hell."

    "God, she's amazing." Kenma's roommate said, eyes turning into literal hearts.

    "Hm." Yeah, she is, Kenma thought, but could never really say.

As a YouTuber himself who streams games, he was aware that you were not as popular, and it was a fact that he really didn't like. Sure, you were on a less popular platform, but Twitch was incredibly popular by itself as well. He also understood the bias that came with being a female gamer, and while it sounded ridiculous to him, Kenma was one of those people who believed gaming required no gender.

He adored your content, and he secretly adored the hell out of you, so seeing you soar would only make him happy.

    "I... I can practically feel what pain she's feeling right now," You spoke about the game, a lone tear threatening to leak out of your eye, "But! We shall persevere. I've been waiting 7 years for this game, so I won't let... won't let something like this halt my interest. Let's see if this has a point to it all."

God, he adored you. But, Kenma considered it an inconvenient crush because of course, the world was small. The first big crush he has on someone and he hoped it would remain over the internet, but it just had to become something more tangible, something that could make him weak in the knees.

You, a college student/Twitch streamer, an apparent baker in your mother's bakery, a game reviewer for Sony, insanely cute, and also happened to be one of his YouTube channel's biggest fans.

He had only recently discovered your personal twitter handle, and dear lord, you were simping after him with no remorse. It wasn't as if he was all you talked about, but he had also noticed the trajectory of the games you were playing were on par with his own timeline. Kenma had finished his final stream for The Last of Us II just the night before and you had now started playing it. Right before that, it was Bloodborne, and before that, it was Final Fantasy VII Remake. However, your public handle was a lot more professional and despite knowing that it was there, he hadn't sent you a follow request because well, Kenma called himself an introvert in every matter but Kuroo just said he was shy.

While he knew that he could easily approach you and have you know he knew of your existence, Kenma preferred not to get into such detail. It was comfortable admiring you from afar, and it was comfortable being where he was—he had his company to work hard over, he was also a computer student and a YouTuber. Sure, he had his hands full especially after calling you abnormal for something that he himself was doing, but he never really fit into a bracket anyway. Kenma's latent obsession with you was something he wasn't particularly proud of and this wasn't because it had anything to do with you, but simply because he didn't want to make a big deal out of it. Change, in many ways, scared him. And by changing the structure or dynamics of him admiring you in secret, while you admired him not so secretly, Kenma was certain that it might not lead where he may have wanted it to go.

Surely, Kuroo was against this sort of caution, calling it cowardly and saying it lacked passion; but Kenma knew it was just a crush. There was no way he could deduce the kind of person you were based on how you gamed or reacted to games, based on the little tid-bits of information you gave out while playing those games, or even how you openly spoke about how much you admired 'puddinghead0's videos. Kenma hated Kuroo for giving him that name, but he was too lazy to come up with a new one.

    "Also," You sprung up in the final two minutes of your latest video, "I'm on Patreon, now! I honestly have no idea how it works, but if you really like the content I make and want to support me, you can become a patron and wish me luck!"

Kenma waited for his stupid roommate to go out of his room before he could open Patreon and find your link, which was thankfully in the description. Without a second thought, he donated to your profile but cussed instantly when he realized what he had done.

He had sent you a donation as himself, as 'puddinghead0's Patreon.

Without a second thought, Kenma called Kuroo and explained what had happened.

    "That is why, Kenma, you need to check a thousand times and not let blind love navigate your actions—"

    "If I knew you were going to spout such nonsense I wouldn't have called you."

He could hear Kuroo snicker while he ran a hand through his hair. Kenma groaned before Kuroo said, "How bad is this, Kenma? She'll be happy. Of course, this means she'll know you watch her content, but how bad can this be?"

    "I didn't want her to know."

    "And leave her devoid of the happiness of having her idol appreciate her content? You're cold, Kenma."

    "You don't understand. What if... What if she tries to contact me?"

    "You, my friend, have not even shared your personal account anywhere. The only way she can contact you is by commenting on your videos, which I am sure you check constantly to see if she did comment, or Tweeting, which she does every three days."

Kenma blushed at the accusation because it was true.

    "She won't know who you are. Besides, there's no harm if she even does contact you! Just tell her casually that yeah, you like her contact. I don't see what the big deal is."

    "Of course you don't—"

    "Oh, she's tweeted something."

Kenma's entire body froze. Leaving Kuroo on the call, Kenma opened Twitter on his laptop and there it was, your latest tweet.

I am trying NOT to freak out over puddinghead sending me a donation on Patreon, pls save my soul, I am dead.

Kenma groaned before hearing Kuroo laugh once more, "She's adorable!"

I know that, Kenma thought before feeling his entire face flash up. Ending Kuroo's call, Kenma looked at your public profile before then moving to your personal one. He wasn't following that one either, but he wanted to see your tweets, he wanted to know more about you—he wouldn't deny any of these facts, but Kenma believed it was far too idiotic to dream of getting to know you through a virtual media. He wasn't even the sort of person to become close to people he met in real life, how could he allow himself a virtual friendship?

The thought staggered him, and the idea behind it was what kept him at bay. Kenma wanted to know about you, talk to you, learn about who you were and what you were doing, but he felt the media that connected you was what separated you.

It wasn't cowardice at all if he was just sticking to the facts and being real.

*

The next day, Kenma walked to his class by himself, listening to the latest podcast by Joe Rogan. While the external sound wasn't entirely muted, Kenma could discern sounds of people talking, cars moving around, and other noises even though he was playing the podcast on full sound. However, there was one sound in particular that stood out. Kenma paused before turning to his right, noticing a crowd of people had gathered there, with some sort of event going on. He didn't pay attention to half the events that his college conducted, his mind was obviously quite busy elsewhere, but when the announcer moved around in a weird Joker cosplaying outfit, Kenma was a tad bit intrigued.

Was it gaming related?

He slowly moved toward the crowd before finally being able to hear what the anchor was saying.

    "We've got prizes for the top three best performers, and one of the participants is the one and only (s/n) (y/n), streamer from Twitch!"

Kenma froze, half-minded to run the hell away from there. But, it seemed as if his feet were stuck to the ground. How had he not known this? Didn't you always announce the events you go to? Why were you suddenly here? A second later, he spotted you, hair put up in an updo, a plain black tee, and regular jeans. You were smiling, but some part of that smile seemed a bit hesitant.

    "We will be playing a bit differently today! Instead of the usual Fortnite battles or Apex Legends, we'll be going went and battling out on Red Dead Online! And of course, if you beat (y/n) here you earn bragging rights!"

He noticed you shift in your position a little bit, clearly uncomfortable with the attention you were getting; it didn't even look like you wanted to be there. Kenma could feel his chest hurt, and his palms were sweating now. That's all it is, he told himself. An inconvenient crush, an inconvenient crush, that's all.

Kenma sighed before noticing how he barely knew anyone there and was almost thankful for that fact; but before he could thank his stars, a hand threw itself around his neck and sprung him forward, earning the attention of not just everyone there, but especially you.

    "We have our first participant," It was his goddamn roommate, "Kenma's a brilliant gamer!"

Kenma's eyes immediately found yours, and you were looking at him with wide, confused eyes. Although this was set in the open and the atmosphere was quite cold, Kenma felt nothing but warmth radiating all over his body at the mere sight of you; you were just a few feet away, and you were giving him a rather sympathetic expression, and god, you looked so fucking pretty—

    "That's great! Sign up, ya'll! Winner will be winning a brand new DualShock 4!"

Oh fuck, Kenma thought before he felt his heart beginning to pound. He was now seated beside you, and he could practically shrink into non-existence. You were unmoving, and you weren't looking at him, but would you have looked at him if you knew he was puddinghead? Insecurity swarmed his being and he could practically feel steam escaping his ears but a moment later, he thought he'd die.

    "This was so last minute," you said, rubbing the back of your neck, "The anchor's my cousin and she's so demanding."

    "Oh," Kenma said, feeling his heartbeat skyrocket, "I see."

    "Yeah! I mean," You giggled now, "I'm not even good at Red Dead Online!"

Kenma smirked, knowing the fact already. You struggled with Red Dead Redemption not because you were bad, but because you couldn't progress with a plot so divisive. You wanted to explore more, and since the game was so vast, you barely bothered with the Online version. You turned to him now and tilted your head.

    "You're a gamer, I heard? Kozume-kun, right?"

Fuck, she knows my name, "Y-Yeah. I game when I'm free."

    "Do you have a Twitch or YouTube?"

There's no fucking way I'll answer that, "No—"

    "Ah, you must really be having a great time then."

Kenma blinked before turning to you with confusion. What did you mean?

    "Don't you enjoy streaming?"

    "Ah, no, no," You flailed your hands shyly, and Kenma believed he could combust, "It's not like that. I just think, after a point, streaming becomes more for the fans than for yourself. I used to do it for me, but now... I'm needed in places like this for promotion, and I need to have a Patreon if I'm popular or it'll look weird, I don't know... Too many restrictions. I just love gaming, you know?"

Kenma found himself smiling, "Yeah, I know. I've seen your videos."

    "Oh?"

Kenma's eyes widened. He wanted to slap himself on his forehead.

    "I—I mean, y-you're popular."

    "Thanks! You're really sweet, Kozume-kun!"

Fucking hell, Kenma placed a hand on his forehead, She's too cute.

    "Say," you said, a sly tone to your voice, "Do you want to get out of here?"

    "I'd do anything." Kenma honestly agreed.

But, you couldn't just up and leave. You were called here as Twitch streamer (s/n) (y/n), and that meant your behavior was restricted. As much as you seemed to hate said restriction, Kenma was certain that you wouldn't go against it. It could take a big blow against your viewership, and you wouldn't take that chance.

A second later, your hand gripped his wrist before you shot him a wink. Kenma's heart jumped to the skies before you pulled him away from the crowd, with participants lining the entrance to enter their names. Sure, you were doing something bad—your cousin wanted you there, but not once had she even asked if you wanted to be a part of this event. Just as Kenma was pulled in without his consent. You weren't a competitive gamer, and you were not going to be, even if it was for someone else. After running away a fair distance, Kenma felt the part of his wrist burn right where you were touching him.

    "I think I need to run more in real life and not just as Ellie." You said, and Kenma chuckled.

    "Running's good."

    "I used to run track," You said, turning to him. "Now I run in games and that's it."

You have no right being that cute, he thought before clearing his throat. He slowly pulled away from you, which made your eyes widen before shooting him an apologetic smile. He was a bit confused as to what you had done, did this mean you didn't care about losing followers?

    "You might think that I've committed career suicide," You scoffed, "Honestly, this is the bravest I've been in so long."

    "What do you mean?"

You shrugged, "Ever since I became a bit popular by streaming, I've just... I could feel myself change with the way my viewers wanted me to be? I don't blame them or anything, I just think that the love I get from them makes me yearn for more. And that yearning leaves me... inept to be myself. It's the downside of wanting to remain popular, I guess."

    "It's not like you can't be yourself and still be popular." Kenma added.

    "Yeah I know," You said, "I mean, just look at puddinghead0, we don't even know what he looks like, and wow. I adore his content."

Kenma froze once more. Was this being recorded? Did Kuroo finally tip you off and was this being filmed for his reaction? Whatever it was, he wasn't going to reveal to you now.

    "Y-Yeah, I think he just doesn't care."

    "I wish I was more like that because I end up caring. I like the comments and the views and the love. Agh, it's such a weird complex moral question. Don't even get me started."

Kenma laughed at your reaction before you turned to him and stuck a tongue out. Kenma rolled his eyes before waving a hand at you.

    "If anything," Kenma said, looking at the ground, "You didn't lose this follower today."

Your eyes widened at his statement. You smiled before nodding, and let out a chuckle.

    "Thank you, Kozume-kun."

*

Locking the door to his room, Kenma began to edit for his latest video. He was making a review for The Last of Us 2, but his mind was elsewhere. He still hadn't told Kuroo that he had met you, which would only cause the black-haired man to tease him relentlessly. Letting out a sigh, he felt sleep douse his eyelids as he continued the edit, right before a notification popped up on his phone.

It was you.

He narrowed his eyes before checking the date and time; it was unusual for you to stream live on random days. He'd learned your pattern by now. You'd been doing this for a couple of months, and it was quite easy for him to know just when and what time you'd begin. However, the screen for The Last of Us 2 was open and you looked like you had just stopped crying. His heart broke at the sight, and he instantly closed the tabs to his own edit, before opening your video on his monitor. You were taking deep breaths before chuckling.

    "Hello to everyone that's still with me," You sounded so broken, Kenma felt helpless as he continued staring at you, "You might be wondering why I'm... yeah. So, I did something and I guess I got punished for it? I was forced into a game contest and I think walking out of it made some of my followers mad. I even spoke to this other person about walking out and honestly, it didn't hit me then that what puddinghead's doing takes a lot of courage."

    "Ah, fuck, (y/n)," Kenma groaned.

    "I guess even when I expected to lose followers, I didn't expect the hate? Some of the comments were just... nasty. I..." You sniffed, "...I didn't expect that you would hate on someone for making a personal choice? And I didn't do it to offend anyone, I seriously don't know how the internet works. Oh, oh wow—" You looked troubled and Kenma could see why. "—losing out on viewers now, great. 'Don't be a whiny bitch', 'This is why girls shouldn't game'..."

You took a deep breath before calming down and saying the few words Kenma feared you might eventually come around to say.

    "This is (y/n), signing off to a world where gaming is appreciated and is not filled with a community of hate. Hope to see you there."

And the stream ended.

Kenma sighed before leaning back, no thought in his head. He knew for a fact that his room-mate must have seen the stream as well, and Kuroo would be calling him about the entire ordeal just to ensure he had something to say about it. Kenma, on the other hand, felt like he had practically pushed you to make this decision and partly felt like taking the blame, despite the common sense telling him that he had nothing to do with it. You weren't the sort of person who would jump at something without a second thought, and even if he didn't know you personally, he had been following you and your streams for months now. It felt like he knew that part of you quite well.

Kuroo was the first to call. Kenma stared at the phone for a bit before letting out a breath and getting back to editing his video. He only had to add commentary, and his mind was already circling on what to say.

Uploading the video took him exactly two more hours, after having missed three calls from Kuroo and twelve messages. At one point, Kuroo had even stopped contacting Kenma, thinking he was busy with something, and he was spot on. Kuroo's eyes wandered on the new notification about his friend's YouTube channel, which was weird considering it was not yet time for him to post something. He knew quite well that Kenma might have definitely seen (y/n)'s stream, and wanted to desperately talk to him about it, but without a clue of what the boy was thinking, Kuroo simply clicked on the notification and let the video play out.

It was the review for the game, The Last of Us 2, and Kuroo knew while giving the review, which was around 8-9 minutes, Kenma would speak his thoughts that were a tad bit uncensored toward the end. He'd talk about the drama surrounding the game, he would even bring up the entire hate that this game was receiving, but instead—Kenma had a rather strange dialogue instead.

    "One thing I don't understand is how toxic the gaming community can be, at times," Kuroo paused, narrowing his eyes at his friend's words, "While we welcome new gamers to the entire journey of learning and discovering the joy of gaming, we also tend to put them down if they didn't adhere to a certain trend. I came across one such incident happening to (s/n) (y/n)'s Twitch channel."

    "Holy shit!" Kuroo sat up straight, eyes wide as saucers at the bold move his friend made.

    "I'm part of this community and I think I have the right to call out how toxic we are in general," 

Kenma's voice didn't even waver, but after knowing him his entire life, Kuroo could deduce that the boy was a bit angry, 

"(y/n) didn't particularly do anything wrong, and she's received some nasty comments about being a female gamer, and I think that's...just disgusting. She has all the right to either attend or ditch a gaming event, and no one has to be forced to do something they don't want to do. We all have games we don't like despite being gamers, we don't have to do it all. I support (y/n), and I'll admit, I'm saddened by how her fans have treated her. Her content is great and I have immense respect for her. I hope she decides to come back and stream more. That being said, I think The Last of Us 2 is..."

As he got around to talk more about the game, Kuroo knew that this was a huge step for Kenma, and he had no idea what suddenly made the boy rethink his entire decision on never bringing her up. Now that he had, he's indirectly initiated a conversation with her, she'd definitely try and reach out now—in any way she possibly could, just to thank him at least.

Kuroo noticed his phone ringing a second later and a grin made its way to his lips.

    "What just happened?"

    "I met her, Kuroo," Kuroo almost had the wind knocked out of him, "She was at my college campus. I was walking back to my room since classes were canceled. There was some sort of gaming event. She didn't want to be a part of it, and neither did I, and we ditched. It was—"

    "You like her more now, don't you?"

When Kuroo received nothing more than silence from Kenma's end, he was certain. His precious, introverted, best boy had fallen for someone. It was a proud moment, almost.

    "You have to tell her—"

    "Kuroo, this... this is all I want to do."

    "That's bullshit, and even you know that."

    "What? You want me to open up to her and tell her I'm the YouTuber she's been gushing about for so long and I was the one who kind of pushed her into doing what she did, and so that she can hate me afterward for hiding the truth because I wouldn't be losing out on anything and she—"

    "Whoa there, Kenma. I'm just saying go talk to her as her favorite YouTuber. You're overthinking this."

    "No, you're underthinking this. I did what I had to do. It was... hard to see her like that."

Kuroo let out a sigh but before he could say anything, Kenma had already ended the call. That boy needs to grow a pair, he thought, a bit annoyed at Kenma's nature of avoiding his feelings. While Kenma believed it was for the best, he knew he was simply running away from it. Kuroo knew his friend adored (y/n), but the boy couldn't categorize that as real feelings because he's met her just once. Finding something real virtually scared him more than finding something real in real life, and while Kuroo wanted to understand that, it only annoyed him because Kenma wasn't even trying.

When you watched puddinghead0's recent video, you were jaw-dropped in awe and absolute admiration. Tears filled your eyes, but what was more was how his voice now seemed a tad bit familiar, though you didn't pay any heed to it since you've been following this channel for an entire year now. It moved you to know someone you've been admiring has been watching your content, but at the same time, he was speaking up for you? You wanted to thank him, you wanted to send him a message and say you were incredibly grateful for what he's done and the only way you knew you could say something was on Twitter.

So you mentioned him on a tweet and poured your heart out within character limit. You wondered if he would notice your tweet since you've mentioned him countless times before, but even if he didn't, even if he paid you no heed after all of this, you were still grateful. However, a second later, you received a new follower. You blinked upon noticing that it was Kozume-kun from the other day. A soft smile fell on your lips at the soft recollection of running away from a gaming event, after which everything spiraled, but you didn't in any way blame him. Your mind again drifted back to puddinghead0 and you sighed.

I'd kill to see him, man, you thought, eyeing your tweet of him dreamily.

A second later, there was a notification. You almost spat out your heart at the mere words: puddinghead0 likes your tweet.

puddinghead0 likes your tweet.

puddinghead0 likes your tweet.

    "Oh my god—" You choked on air. However, a second later, you found it difficult to remain sitting on your bed.

Don't thank me, I hope you're feeling better. You didn't deserve any of that.

Is that a—

...deserve any of that. <3

Fuck me.

Kenma almost dozed off in class right before it ended. It wasn't like it was school where the teacher would wake him up after noticing him asleep, no one really bothered. Kenma was pushed awake by the momentum of the class once it was over and he leaned back before gathering his things. Tightening his hair tie, he casually walked out of class and got to the campus. He spotted the event area, where the gaming event had occurred and instantly spotted his room-mate and a bunch of people gathered there. Rolling his eyes, he walked away from there, not wanting to gather any attention.

    "Kenma!"

He had failed. Kenma froze to his spot before turning to spot his room-mate dashing over to him, a wide grin plastered on his features. Wrapping a hand over Kenma's shoulders, his roommate brought him to the others he was talking to, before releasing him.

    "You're that guy (y/n) ran away with during that event, right?" One of them asked, and Kenma didn't bother to respond.

    "Why did she run though? I mean, it doesn't make sense for her to just up and leave."

    "I've been telling you," The same guy said, "She's not the one playing those games. She's just the face."

Kenma frowned. What is this dick talking about?

    "Man, I think that's harsh," His roommate said, "I just think she's too chicken to play in front of people—"

    "She's literally a streamer." Kenma said, rolling his eyes.

    "Yeah, but why did she—"

    "If you can't understand that she doesn't owe you shit, then there's no helping it. She didn't want to play at that event, and she didn't. I don't see why you aren't calling me a fake gamer for running too." Kenma snapped.

The others shrugged, "That's because we've seen you play—"

    "It's bullshit." Kenma said before walking away. You all are bullshit, he thought before the frown on his face settled into an uncharacteristic glare, directed at what who knows what.

A moment later, he felt his phone buzz with a notification. Kenma opened his phone and saw that he had a message from you, but what confused him was—

The message was directed to Kenma and not puddinghead. His heart jumped as his fingers roamed over the notification, wanting to open it only when he was in the comfortable confines of his room. Swallowing the bubbling anxiety, Kenma fought the urge to smile as he continued walking back, unaware of what the Twitter message could be. It would normally take him around 12 minutes to get to his apartment from campus, but that day, Kenma merely took 7.

On reaching his room, he finally allowed himself to open your message.

(y/n): Hey! I've taken a break from streaming for now, just wanted to let you know. I don't know why I'm sending you this message, but talking to you that day made me realize that I don't really need to seek approval constantly. Also, puddinghead liked my tweet and I'm a bit too happy so I needed to gush, don't @ me

Kenma chuckled, feeling his heart jump at every word you'd said. He knew you didn't realize that you were gushing about him to him, but that didn't matter. He wanted to gush about you too. He felt a stone stuck at his throat at how real all of this felt, despite having only seen you once.

Kenma Kozume: I think he's the sort of guy who isn't too loud about the things he likes. And I think a break is a good idea, (s/n).

(y/n): Call me (y/n), came the immediate response. Kenma's eyes widened at the fact that you were online, and that the two of you were currently exchanging messages live.

(y/n): Yeah, I got the feeling from his videos that he's perhaps a private person. I'm still really glad that he supported me, I can't thank him enough. I'm feeling much better already!

Kenma smiled, I'm glad that you are.

(y/n): Also

He blinked.

(y/n): Do you want to co-op at Bloodborne? I'm trying to get a platinum, haha.

    "Fuck," He let out a breath before chuckling uncharacteristically. "You can't be serious."

(y/n): I'll send you my PSN, and you can add me as a party member. Only if you're up to it, I mean.

Kenma Kozume: Sure, sounds like fun. Also

Kenma gulped. He felt like this was showing off, but he didn't care. He was going to say it.

Kenma Kozume: I already have platinum in Bloodborne. :)

(y/n): Ah, screw you.

Kenma chuckled. He wouldn't admit it, but his heart was hammering against his chest and his palms were sweating. Soon, he'd be connected to you via the DualShock and the two of you would be co-oping in a game that was designed to make players fail. He wasn't too sure how much more his heart was going to take, and while he knew he had to tell someone, for some reason, Kenma wanted to keep this a secret. It wasn't because he was ashamed or he didn't want anyone to find out.

It was simply because it was too good to be true, and he didn't want to lose out on a chance to get to know you more. Because, if this kept up...

If this kept up, Kenma was surely going to fall in love with you.

[yunho-es]

Member/s: Wooyoung (ATEEZ)

Genre: soft

Warnings: swear words

Words: 2043

Before reading, I want you to know that I don't use any names or Y/n's because I know many people don't really insert their names, they read it as Yin 😂 I also write in first person pov because I think it's easier to read and imagine yourself in that situation

Beads of sweat slowly rolled down my forehead as I pulled out a piece of paper from my sleeve. I knew that the exam would be hard, but I wasn't expecting it to be this detailed. Thank God my friend made me write it all on a small piece of paper. At least I will get a positive grade. Of course he made me do it, he passed the school with those. Thankfully, he didn't go to medicine school. If I ever ended up on his surgery table, I would die.

Three more minutes until the end and one more question unanswered. The teacher noticed me shifting in my seat, but she knew I always get good grades. She finally stopped looking at me and gave her attention to a group of boys trying to switch their papers. I glanced one more time at the piece of paper and put it back in my sleeve. Just as I finished the answer, the bell rang. Half of the class groaned, probably because they didn't manage to finish in time. I took my backpack and left the paper with my name on the main table.

"Good job! Honestly, your exams are always my favorite to grade. I'm really happy to have a student like you."

"Thank you, Mrs Johnson. See you on Monday."

Once I got outside I noticed the sky already getting dark. It was just 5 pm and winter was already doing it's job; the roads were wet and slippery from mixed rain and snow and it must've been under 0 Celsius. Usually I walk home because it's not far away, but my school uniform, rain and cold weather didn't go well together. I was just about to call my roommate when I felt car lights on me, followed by a familiar voice.

"I think quicker than you do." Wooyoung smiled as he opened the door. "Get in please I don't want to spend the next week taking care of an annoyingly picky roommate. I have plans to get drunk and do something stupid."

"You do stupid things anyway without drinking. So save the money and the time. And oh, save me from embarrassment." I get in the car sticking my tongue out at him. "Did you cook anything? I'm starving."

"No, of course. I slept the whole day." I look at him, hoping to see a smile on his face that would give me a sign that he's joking. "Don't look at me like that, I was tired from the night shift. I'll take you to McDonald's." he drove out of the school parking.

"I don't want trash, Wooyoung. I want food." I groaned. He told me that he would try cooking something, but it's been a week and he didn't do anything. "Please buy some pasta and tomato sauce I'll make something."

"Honestly, I really don't feel like waiting. And McDonald's is f**king awesome!" his hand reached out to turn on the radio. "How can you not love the little purple box full of 12 golden beauties?"

It did sound good, but we haven't eaten any "real" food for a month and my stomach started to ache. Living with Wooyoung has its bad and good sides, the bad sides mainly being his laziness and stubbornness. Speaking of stubbornness, of course he took the left turn towards McDonald's.

"What do you want?"

"What a polite way to ask me. You've loosened up I see." I frown at him. He rolls his eyes dramatically and turns towards me with his whole body.

"Your Highness, what do you wish to consume today?"

"That's just too much."

"What the h*ll do you want? I'm taking 3 burgers and fries and you aren't touching them." the brown haired boy points his finger towards my face. I squint my eyes at him, then bite his finger. "Crazy woman."

"Hello, may I take your order?"

"Hello, yes. I'd like a..."

***

"Is this place good enough for the Queen?" Wooyoung spoke with his mouth full of fries and ketchup. We sat on the roof of his car on a parking lot near a river. The place is good enough for the Queen.

"Eat before you speak, what's wrong with you?" I laugh at him, seeing that he spilled the ketchup on his t-shirt. "No girl will want you like this."

"To be honest I'm not interested right now." he replied immediately.

I'd lie if I said that my heart didn't sink a bit. Whoever said that boys and girls can't be friends was right. One side always catches feelings, big or small. In my case, I believe it's a small crush. He's the only boy I hang out with, so that must be why.

"Why?" I allow myself to ask.

"I had a little crush on a girl but I had to give it up." he kept stuffing his mouth with food, trying to avoid the conversation.

"And...?" I look at him expecting more. But he keeps his mouth shut and folds the paper of the burgers in his hands.

"Are you thirsty?" Wooyoung offers a can of soda, still looking at his fingers.

"Yes, thank you." he opens the can for me, first taking a sip himself, then giving the green beverage to me. I drink the whole can almost immediately.

"You could've said earlier that you were thirsty, I had water in the car." his tone visibly changed. He sounded more serious now, as if he just wanted to go home and lock himself in the room. "Want another one?" he reaches for another can.

"I think I have one more sip here." I throw my head back trying to drink every single drop of the refreshing juice. I slowly started to lean back, forgetting that I'm not in the chair but on the roof of the car. "Sh*t!" I curse as I almost fall on the rocky floor.

"Hey!" Wooyoung quickly reacts and grabs my hands, pulling me towards him. All the empty cans rolled down on the floor, making loud noises. "You good?" he asks, eyes on my face.

His hands felt so warm around mine. I really didn't want to let go. "I'm good." I pull away, trying to get down to collect the cans.

"Leave the d*mn cans there. You almost fell down. Do you see those rocks down there? What if you hit your head? What would I do?"

"I'd pay to get your car cleaned from my blood, Wooyoung." I laugh, but when I notice that his face didn't change, my smile drops. "What's wrong? Why isn't it funny when I say something like this?"

"Behind all these jokes you have to understand that you are very important to me and I have a soft spot for you. If anything happened to you my life would stop. I'm a serious man behind all my sarcastic jokes. Please watch yourself, because I can't do it all the time. It takes a second to turn a peaceful situation into a disaster."

I stare at him with my mouth a little open. I'm surprised at his words, I never heard him talk like this. I manage to say a sorry, turning my head away from him.

After a few seconds of silence, which seemed like hours, he got down and picked up all the cans, then offered me his hand. "Be careful." I put my hand in his, slowly getting down on the floor. "What dumbass even puts these rocks on the parking lot?" he picks up a few of them and pushes them away, leaving the bigger and heavier ones where they were.

"I think because they don't want someone else to have the spot." I watch as he tries to move a few more rocks. "Leave it, you're gonna hurt yourself. Let's just go back home, please?"

"Alright." he leaves the rocks and opens the door for me. Then he proceeds to enter the car himself. "But just for the record, I could've moved those rocks." his lips curved in a small smile. He can't help himself.

***

It suddenly became quiet in the house. Wooyoung layed on the sofa, watching the TV, and I sat on the floor behind the coffee table with my back leaning on the sofa.

"I'm a bit disappointed that we didn't take any photos." I pouted, scrolling down my Instagram feed. He didn't respond. I kept quiet for a few more minutes, then broke the silence again. "Do you think you could pick me up tomorrow from school again?" again, no answer.

I turn around towards him and see that his eyes are closed. He fell asleep while watching the TV. I took a blanket from my room and layed next to him under it. It's not my first time napping with him, but most of the time he refuses. He says that he is a kicker in his sleep and that he doesn't want to hurt me.

The sofa in our living room is quite small so I have to basically lay on Wooyoung. Just as I close my eyes, I feel his hand around my waist, bringing me even closer to him. Now my head was on his chest and I was surrounded by his scent and warmth. This must be what heaven feels like. Usually when we sleep like this together, it takes us a few hours to fall asleep. Mainly because he can't stop making jokes and I can't stop laughing. But this is different. It's calm. It's beautiful.

I couldn't tell if he was asleep or just pretending. He held me close and rubbed my back slowly. "Wooyoung?" I tried calling.

"Hm?" he responds sleepily.

"Are you okay?" I look up at him. His eye are still closed, but his fingers are still drawing tiny patterns on my waist and back.

"Mhm." again, I receive a short answer. When I try to move and give him some space so he can sleep peacefully, he opens his eyes to look at me. "Please don't move. I want to sleep like this." one of his hands moved my hair from both of our faces. "Please?" he asked, almost whispering.

I have never witnessed this side of Wooyoung. His voice was different, his movements were different, his eyes were different. This is the Wooyoung I wanted for myself, but couldn't have him. It took me a few longer seconds to realise that we are staring at each other, doing nothing but breathing quietly. Once his hot breath fell on my lips I couldn't help but close my eyes and sigh. Right now, I hoped for one thing to happen.

"Why can't I have you like this every day?" his soft voice whispered. I try to speak, but as soon as I move my lips, I feel something soft brushing against them. My breath stops and I force myself to open my eyes. He's looking down at my lips as if thinking if the next step is smart to do. I allow myself a moment of bravery and I put my hands on his chest, getting closer to him. "F**k it." he mutters, finally putting his hands on my cheeks and pressing his lips against mine.

His lips must've been the softest thing to exist on this planet. I tried to move, but my body was frozen. I couldn't do anything, just lay and enjoy the softness and the warmth of his lips. He pulled away for a second, trying to say something, but when he didn't succeed, he went back to the older position. Then, again, he pulls away.

"You are so sweet. You taste like I always imagined." the red cheeked boy whispers, brushing the tip of his nose against mine.

"More, please." I manage to say. My lips and throat are dry, my mind is going crazy, and my stomach is witnessing fireworks. Wooyoung smiles, still not letting go of my cheeks. "Please." I get impatient.

He leans in again, this time kissing me with more passion. It stopped being sweet and soft, now only one word existed in my mind: more. And he happily listened.

[rowenna-887]

so,i finally did i!

i want to write this oneshot(?),but i didn't know how to out this on the screen.

but anyway,there it is a little oneshot about the relationship of Rowenna with her mother.

𝔀𝓪𝓻𝓷𝓲𝓷𝓰!

english is not my first language so can have some mistakes on the write.

also,the base of Lilianna is for VK group (I don't remember which one)and her hair is from this group.

i hope you all enjoy!

－－－－－－－－－－－－－－－－－－－－－－－－－－－

𝑅𝑒𝓈𝓊𝓂𝑒:

after a long time not seeing your mother,Rowenna take some courage and invited her mother to have a conversation.but things don't end up going as she expected.

its was a rainy day. Rowenna was sit on chair on the outside of the Cosy Bear,drink a coffee expresso,anxious.

For the first time,after she leave her the house of her parents,she would meet with her mother.

Lilianna,her mother,was a serious and proud woman. and of course,that Rowenna leave her house and not follow the old costumes of the Vanhouter's family,would made Liliana REALLY upset with her,at the point that she dis-considered Rowenna of part of the Vanhouter's family.

despite that,Lilianna accept her invite to meet with her. That's make Rowenna more anxious.

"why she would accept the invite??she didn't worry about since i left home,so why the hell she would accept???"

while Rowenna was thinking,she dind't noticed the presence of someone sitting on the in front at her.

"hum-hum"the figured make a fake cough,making Rowenna look her.

it was her mother,despite she being really different that Rowenna remember,she recognized her on the moment that she look her in the eyes.

it was of her mother that she take her eyes.an very light blue eyes,that remember dragon eyes.it was the only good thing that she tooked from her mother.

"hm... hi...mom" Rowenna say hesitant

"long time,Rowenna" Lilianna say almost formally."what you want to talk to me?"

Rowenna froze.she didn't know what to say,she expect an "how the tings going" or "are you ok?" or even that Lilianna start to talk about her boring life and hard job working on the Vanhouter's company.

hesitant,Rowenna start to talk."Akemi want me to talk to you.She said that you change your mind about me being an totally failure."

at first,Lilianna just look her,with that incomprehensible look.then,she sigh and say

"Akemi...told me that you make a fashion company.and i start to though that maybe you start to go on the right direction.like your sister did."

Rowenna start to feel angry.She think,that for a moment,your mother change,but not,she still compare her with her sister,like she always did.

"no,i didn't did like my sister,i'm doing what i love.the only thing that Akemi is doing is taking care of your perfume's company.it's different".Rowenna say coldly.

Lilianna look her.She was not surprise,but she have a disappointment look on her eyes.

"your sister loves her job.if i didn't inherited the company of my old family,we wouldn't have all this money on our hands."

"i don't have that money!"

"but you could.if you didn't leave your family."

that's it.Rowenna was really upset right now,she knowed it would be like this,like the old times.why she believed her mother could change?

but before she could say something,the waitress came.

"what can a offer to you,miss?"the waitress was a young girl,with a blond hair stuck two ponytails,looking indifferent.Rowenna have sure that she was a student,maybe for the high school or from the university

"two coffee expresso and a croissant,please."Lilianna say already taking the money and giving to the waitress,that goes away.

"i don't want more coffee."Rowenna say coldly.it was a lie,what she really need on this moment is a big coffee expresso for distracted from that.

"you don't need to drink,just take it."Lilianna say indifferent,pretend that she didn't notice the coldly on the daughter's voice."look,your sister is doing fine,she have an a job,a husband and a house!i know you want follow your dream,but you can work with the family!and you can have all this and more!"Lilianna say,from the first time,let some emotion comes out.

"i already have a job!i know that have the possibility of everything goes wrong,but right is all right!my company is doing really fine,and a don't need a husband."Rowenna couldn't believe what her mother was saying to her.She just accept the invite for try to convince her for go back to the family?and give some stupid complain about her leaving the family?

"what you mean you don't need a husband?at least you have an boyfriend,right?"Lilianna say incredulous

"no,i don't have a boyfriend!i have a girlfriend!"Rowenna put her and on her mouth after she realized what she said.

the table was quiet.Rowenna is not looking anymore on her mother's eyes. no one of they want to talk,maybe for the shock or maybe because they didn't know what to say.

the waitress came back with the coffees and croissant,not noticing the tension on the table.after some minutes,Lilianna was the first to talk.

"you...have an..girlfriend?"Lilianna ask in shock.

"...y-yes..."Rowenna say hesitant.

Lilianna look to her still shocked,and after some minutes,she sigh"so...that's why you left home?"Lilianna ask hesitant

"no!i...left home because..i don't want to follow the stupid costumes of our family!and...when a left home...i was dating Castiel,a guy of the school."

"so...your saying you date a man,but your dating a girl right now?"Lilianna ask hesitant and confuse.

"yeah.i'm pansexual."Rowenna say looking like she take a stone of her chest.

"pansexual"Lilianna repeat like the words didn't make any sense to her."what that's mean?"

"it's mean that i can be attracted for any person."Rowenna say like she say that everyday,still not looking on her mother's eyes.

the silence fill the table again.after some minutes,Liliana say.

"can..i meet her?"Liliana say hesitant.

for the first time,since that conversation start,Rowenna look to her mother,she was confused and principally,shocked

"you...want to meet her???"Rowenna was more anxious right now.she was scared that was just her imagination playing jokes.

"yes..can i?"Liliana ask,for the first time,gently to Rowenna.

"hm...she is..working right now.but if you wanna,i can invite you for a dinner for another day."Rowenna say i little to excited to Lilianna.

"i will accept the invite then."Lilianna say getting up."so,i will see you again on the dinner,Rowenna.have a good day."Lilianna speak leaving the table.

but before she go away,Lilianna turn around and say to Rowenna "i forgot to say,i'm... proud of you done,daughter.despite i think that the ways the you decided to follow for make your dream of create fashion mark was wrong...but i still love you,like a mother should do."and after this line,Lilianna go away.

For the first time,since the meeting,she was happy,and relieved.your mother didn't judge her and was proud of her!she couldn't believed on that.

Rowenna relax more on the chair of the coffee shop and drink her coffee expresso.despite that today is a rainy day,Rowenna could believed that she seem the sun for one second.

[cinnamoday]

Hi , can I request sebek that is being protected by their s/o that they were badly injured. Maby losing their memories or in a coma. Even tho I'm not a riddle stan but when I read your writings made me go blank for a sec. I really love how you write the angst! Pls don't forget to take care of your self!

out like a light

sebek zigvolt

semi short imagine

angst

gender neutral reader

note: aw thats so sweet! uh sorry if you wanted a happy ending but i assumed angst bc of the prompt-

.・゜-: ✧ :-　　-: ✧ :-゜・．

“With no kiss goodnight Would we ever fight when I'm away?”

“who are you?” the tone wasn’t meant to sound rude. it was a genuine question that escaped your lips. sebek froze. he has been staying by your side the entire time you were out cold for weeks. fortunately, the concussion you got from falling during your flying classes wasn’t that severe and, as the doctor had predicted, you woke up after a few weeks. 

as soon as sebek saw your shining orbs, he knew you were back. that everything would be back to normal. apparently that wasn’t the case as you had memory loss (also another thing the doctor predicted). it was said that the memory loss wouldn’t last very long and that if sebek continued his normal routine with you, your memory would come back naturally. the green haired freshmen was determined to make his partner regain their memories.

sebek cleared his throat to answer your question, “i’m your. . . boyfriend? at least, that was what you used to call me before you lost you memories.” he stated, slightly wary that you wouldn’t believe him. to his surprise, you smiled at him. oh, how he missed that smile of yours. the smile that would brighten his day no matter how happy he would be feeling, his morale would increase after seeing your grin. sebek tried to stop himself from tearing up and let out an airy chuckle. “hm, so what’s your name?” you asked, still sounding confused. 

“sebek zigvolt. your name is y/n l/n. . . if you don’t remember,” this was the first time anyone has ever seen sebek quiet and timid. usually he’d be boasting about malleus to anyone he would interact with, and that’s usually you. but before you lost your memory, you would enjoy his passionate talks about malleus. you were already close with the tall, dark fae. it was cute to see your boyfriend talk about him. you weren’t really bothered if he rarely talked about you to others.

“hm, i was going to ask my name next,” you chuckled, “uh, did i lose my memory, perhaps?” you asked again. sebek gave you a nod. the rest of the day went by normally, if you could call it that. sebek and the rest of diasomnia along with ace, deuce, and grimm helped you recover your memories. you felt loved. 

though, after losing your memories, sebek has vowed to himself that he would never put you in danger and, therefore, has become a little too overprotective of you. he basically downloaded jamil’s personality and combined it with his eccentric yet strict attitude. you didn’t really know how to react to it since you don’t remember what he was like before. so, you let him “protect” you from anyone. 

you were slowly getting your memories back, but of course, disaster had to strike at the worst times. upon entering the diasomnia dorm with sebek, you noticed something was definitely not right. you dropped your books, grabbed sebek’s arm and ran towards the building where the students stayed but halted to a stop once you noticed a tall, looming figure that seemed to resemble a dragon. what was that? you asked yourself, but before you could turn to sebek and ask him what was going on, he swiftly brought out his magic pen with the familiar green gem at the point of it. your eyes were mesmerized by the beautiful gem but shook your head and focused on the monster in front of you. 

“that’s. . . the young master,” sebek gulped, pushing you behind him, protecting you from the very person he serves. it was an overblot. how did this happen? how did malleus lose his calm? his composure? sebek gritted his teeth and searched around for the other members of diasomnia. he spotted lilia landing upon impact and getting up shortly after, gripping his magic pen. the pink and black haired male was badly injured. this must’ve been going on for a while now. 

the battle seemed endless. everyone was growing tired and you all had to get through to malleus so he would stop wreaking havoc. you stopped mid battle to rest but images of your lost memories flashed in your mind like a film reel. you opened your eyes once more and tried to help sebek in any way you can (which isn’t much but encouraging the others and boosting their motivation as they get through to malleus).

you were almost there. you were all almost done with the battle. malleus seemed weak enough to attack. 

but then, you see an attack heading straight towards sebek. in a spur of the moment, you jumped out of your spot and launched yourself towards him, causing the attack to have an impact on you instead. sebek was in a daze after feeling your weight on him and how his back hurt when he landed on the concrete. his eyes widened noticing the state you were in. lilia and silver saw what had happened and landed the final blow on malleus. meanwhile, sebek was panicking over how badly injured you were. he didn’t know what to do. tears streamed down his face. he hasn’t made enough memories with you. he hasn’t even caused your memories to come flooding back!

“y/n. . . y/n. . .” he whispered through his sobs. malleus had already been returned back to normal and saw what he had done. he was filled with immense regret and guilt after seeing the state you were in. you were in pain. it wasn’t enough pain to make you wish it would go away though. it more so felt like you were floating on water and the water was so cold that it hurt your body. you grunted, wanting to get up. opening your eyes, you see the rest of the diasomnia dorm around you as sebek held your fragile body. what will he do?

“sebek,” you spoke out, remembering everything, “i remember,” you gasped. everyone was stunned. why now? why at the worse time you would regain your memories. “hey, i don’t have much time left. even you know that.” you coughed. sebek couldn’t say a thing. what should he say? “so, remember this,” you took in a deep breath and gave him a sad, loving stare.

“believe me, we will meet again. until the limits of the sky, i will search for you.” and that’s when your body went limp. you no longer moved. your body was cold. all that was heard were the screams of agony sebek had let out after realizing you were gone. 

-

this loss had been hard especially for sebek. what’s running through his mind, knowing that the reason his lover is no longer by his side is because of the master he served? it was hard on him. he didn’t know what to do. malleus, on the other hand, was guilty more than ever. he had just destroyed the source of happiness of his servant. 

“sebek,” malleus started. the green haired male turned to him, a blank expression on his face. malleus sighed and gave him a serious look, “you don’t have to serve me anymore. i know. . . how much you’re going through right now.” sebek wasn’t fazed in the slightest. he cleared his throat and breathed in and gave a sad smile, “i can’t abandon you, young master. after seeing y/n leave me, i can’t possibly let the people close to me get hurt.”

.・゜-: ✧ :-　　-: ✧ :-゜・．

a/n: PLEASE FORGIVE ME IF THIS WASN’T THE KIND THAT YOU REQUESTED MSNMREJDF

[annabethy]

Okay so idk if you're taking requests but we don't talk enough abt the fact that percy was jealous of luke too so can we please get a jelly percy drabble from your marching au because annabeth was worried about him in college but like what about him leaving her? Also your writing is god tier

jealous percabeth!

Percy whistles in appreciation, wrapping his arms around Annabeth’s waist from behind. “Damn, girl.”

Annabeth turns her head and elbows him fondly, turning around in his arms to give him a quick kiss. Percy tries to hold it for a bit longer, but she pushes him away after a few seconds with a sweet smile.

“I know I’ve only seen you in this uniform, like, a million times, but it just keeps getting better and better every week,” Percy says. “Drum major fits you.”

“Mh-hm.” Annabeth tilts her head, blatantly scanning him up and down. “Says you.”

“Oh? Are you saying my uniform gets you going?” he teases.

“I’m saying it makes you a little less ugly than you normally look,” she says. “Why do you think I started dating you in the first place?”

“Because I’m your best friend and you love me.”

“Because you were drum major and I loved competing for you with the other girls,” she corrects.

Percy sniffs. “I see how it is.”

Annabeth rolls her eyes, wrapping one arm around his neck to pull him in for another kiss. She holds this one longer, and Percy can’t help the smile that forms on his lips as she does so.

“You know I love you,” she says, muffled against his lips. “Don’t be silly.”

“I’m not silly,” he protests, pulling away when he hears Chiron yell at them from somewhere over his shoulder, saying something about not wanting any band babies. “Would a silly man go get you skittles from the concession stand during break?”

“Not a silly man at all,” she says, playing with the silver sash on his uniform. “Unless you only get me skittles and not a sprite.”

“And to think I was going to let you conduct fourth quarter,” Percy laughs, looking over her head as someone dropped an instrument down the stands. “Is that what you want?”

“Yes, please.”

Percy nods and places his hand on the back of her neck to drag her head closer and press a sweet kiss to her forehead before he turns around to stalk to the mess of band kids.

He was a man with a mission, dodging around the students at the football game. He was a bit surprised that there were so many people there this time, but he plows through them, wanting to get back to Annabeth before third quarter ended. The lines of the concession stand were long, and he stood there impatiently, shifting from one leg to the other. He genuinely believes that there should be some rule that seniors get to skip the line because right now, it was just filled with a bunch of freshmen who thought going to football games would get the seniors to notice them.

Well, he supposes it did, but not in a good way. More of a I-want-to-throw-this-fourteen-year-old-in-a-trashcan kind of way.

By the time he finally had the sprite and skittles in hand, it was almost five minutes later, which left him only fifteen minutes of a break before he had to be back on the podium.

He hurriedly approached Annabeth from behind, a wide grin on his face because let’s face it — he was kind of in love with her — but he stopped in his tracks when he noticed a guy standing tall in front of her. There was an uncomfortable feeling building in his gut as he took in the way the unfamiliar face looked at her. Percy stood out of her sight for a few more seconds, trying to control whatever was bubbling under his skin before he made his presence noticed.

“Hey,” Percy says lightly, glancing at the guy before turning to Annabeth. “Who’s this?”

Annabeth’s face falls at his tone of voice for a split second, and if he didn’t know her as well as he did, he might not have noticed at all. “Oh, uh— this is Ethan. He’s the drum major from the other band. Ethan, this is our other drum major Percy.”

Alarm shoots through Percy as he notices that she didn’t say boyfriend.

Ethan sticks out a hand in greeting, but Percy just stares at it, unaccepting. Somewhere in the back of his mind, he knows he was being irrational, but right now, all he can think about is how much he hates the way Ethan is looking at her.

“It’s nice to meet you,” Ethan says, retracting his hand awkwardly. “You guys had a great show. You’re definitely going to be getting a superior at MPA.”

“Thanks,” Percy says shortly, trying to stifle the fire inside him. Ethan’s eyes were still on Annabeth and that needed to end now. “We’d say the same, but we weren’t actually watching your show.”

Annabeth blinks at Percy, surprised. “Well, I was paying attention and I thought you guys did amazing,” Annabeth clarifies.

Percy sees red. “You weren’t watching their show,” he says with a tight smile. “We were sitting in the back messing around the whole time, baby.”

Ethan’s face falls and Percy feels a twinge of victory. “Are you two dating?”

“We are.” Percy’s arm snakes around her waist as she stays silent. This time, there’s an unreadable expression on his face, but he’s too busy trying to make it known that Annabeth’s his girlfriend that he doesn’t pay it any attention.

“I’m sure your director loves that.”

“Excuse me?”

“Having both of your drum majors date? Sounds like a bit of a mess if you ask me.”

“No one did,” Percy says, a glare in his eyes.

Annabeth’s hand rested on Percy’s back, rubbing in a calming manner. He could tell she was trying to warn him.

Ethan raised an eyebrow. “You brought it up.”

“Actually, you did,” Percy points out.

“Okay,” Annabeth interrupts, turning to Percy. “We should be heading back to the stands.”

Percy doesn’t even try to respond, instead pointedly laces his hand with hers and turning around to stalk off, not giving Annabeth a chance to say goodbye to Ethan. He pretends not to notice Annabeth’s rushed wave over her shoulder.

He had planned on going back to the stands, but last minute, he decides to walk right by it and towards the dark area behind the football field. It takes Annabeth a minute to catch up, and then she’s looking at him, confused.

“Where are we going?”

Percy doesn’t answer. He keeps leading her into the unlit area of the field, treading through some unkept grass. There were no students over here as he brought her behind an empty building.

“Why are you—” Annabeth was cut off as Percy pushed her against the building and settled his mouth over hers.

Percy could still see Ethan behind his eyes, staring at Annabeth in a way he shouldn’t — in a way Percy found repulsive. He tried to forget it, to remember that she chose him, as he kissed her hard, pouring everything into it.

“Percy—” Annabeth breathes against him, her hands pressing to his chest, feeling his heartbeat beneath her fingertips. “What’s going on?”

“I love you,” he says instead, his hands travelling down to settle on the backs of her thighs. He bites on her lower lip, worrying it until he catches a little sigh coming out of her mouth.

“You’re jealous,” she notes breathlessly as Percy trails featherlight kisses down her neck. “Why— are you jealous?”

Percy goes back to her lips. “He was staring at you,” he says with one kiss to her lips. “And it wasn’t in a friendly way.” Another kiss.

“You were jealous,” she teases, pausing as his hand palms her thigh. “But we probably shouldn’t do this right here.”

“Are you sure?” Percy reaches behind her to unzip her uniform’s jacket. The zipper disengages silently. “You don’t want my lips on your throat?” His words were punctuated by a sharp kiss to her neck. “My hand between your thighs? Are you sure you don’t want that?”

“We only have five minutes before we have to be back in the stands,” Annabeth protests.

“I can make five minutes work.”

“Percy,” Annabeth gently pushes him away. “We’re in the middle of a dark field during a football game,” she says, and the spell breaks.

Percy steps back to press his hands into his face. This feeling inside of him wasn’t going away, and his brain is on fire. He needs to feel her beneath his fingers, to be reminded that she isn’t going anywhere, but she was right. They were at a school event, and if someone was to catch them — he didn’t even want to know what would happen.

“I’m sorry,” he breathes.

“Hey,” she says softly. “What’s going on?”

“I don’t like that guy,” Percy admits, dropping his face onto her shoulder in embarrassment. “He was looking at you gross.”

“He was being friendly.”

“He wasn’t,” Percy says miserably. “We’ve met a lot of guy drum majors, so trust me when I say he wasn’t looking at you as a friend.”

“How was he looking at me?” Annabeth manages, stifling a laugh.

“Stop teasing,” he groans.

Her hand comes up behind him to trace the small of his back. “I’m not teasing you. I just want to know what you’re thinking.”

“I’m thinking that he was staring at your boobs, and I wanted to punch him.”

Annabeth does laugh this time, and he pinches her side. “I love you.”

“You’re making fun of me,” he says. “Don’t make fun of me.”

“You wanted to have sex in the middle of an empty field during a football game,” she points out.

“I didn’t say that.”

“You were jealous,” she says again.

“I was jealous,” he says. “I’m sorry.”

“You don’t need to be jealous or sorry. You know why?”

“Why?”

Annabeth brings Percy’s face to look her in the eyes. He feels a warm feeling race down his neck as she gazed at him softly. He can feel a calm breeze blowing through the night sky, ruffling his hair. The moonlight shines on her blonde hair, making it look silver in the dark, and it feels nothing short of perfect.

“Do you remember what you said to me on senior night?”

Percy smiles, remembering their first night together. “What did I say?”

Annabeth squeezes his forearm, knowing very well that he remembered. “You said that we were forever. You’re not getting away from me so easily.”

“I did say that, didn’t I?”

“You did, and I believed you.”

“Good, because I meant it.” Percy leans in close so he could see her individual eyelashes and smell her clean hair. “Forever.”

And he really likes the sound of that. He can see himself in five or six years with a ring for her, and in a decade with a kid or two. He can see a family with her — a future with her — and he knows that no one person who probably plays trumpet is going to change that.

“You’re stuck with me,” she whispers, leaning closer and breathing slowly.

“That’s not a bad thing at all,” he says, closing the gap between their lips. Finally, the thought of the other kid is not on his mind. The only person he’s thinking of is Annabeth, and he may only be eighteen with barely any wisdom about the world, but this sure does feel like forever.

[nalyria]

God Michael! 🤣🤣 I finished playing Shadows of Saintsfour about two days ago during the Freeplay event and my LI was Michael.

I played SOS awhile ago but didn't get pass season 1 because I thought the series was super predictable which made it boring, but WOW DID IT PICK UP IN SEASON 2, esp 3!!! I can't believe it got better within those 2 seasons. I thought the story would be dragging on for no reason, but was pleasantly surprised that season 3 and season 2 were tied together with 1. And they existed in one cohesive story! I can't believe that I would have never, and I mean NEVER, would have touched this story again if it wasn't for the Freeplay event. I completely underestimated this story... I would have missed out this gem. Now I see why this is one of the more well-liked and popular book of the app now.

That being said, I love Michael. No not love, I ADORE him. Seriously.

I never screencap game moments but I had to for Michael. I never felt so much adoration for a character that made me want to do this 🤣🤣. I love the romantic scenes between MC and Michael and the conflict that was presented in season 2. And his asshole-douchery flaw....

In his next line, he says he's worried about you. He's just worried, but still Michael, no need to bring your girlfriend's friend down. ESPECIALLY WHEN THAT FRIEND HAS BEEN WITH HER THROUGH THE THICK AND THIN THAN YOU DID IN SEASON 2 and 1!!! (ofc Michael saved MC's life in season 1, but Derek has been sticking with MC when Michael hasn't, which is alot)

However, his sweetness towards MC is altogether too much. I wish he had more interaction with her friends tbh. But now I present the last line (I think) and perhaps the best from Michael...

So sweet 💕. Gosh he is still fallen head over heels for us 😳😭 like the first time. The sex scene with him was also so sweet... the line said everytging about him is familiar, yet there is something new to discover. 🥺I love how protective he is of MC and how absolutely loyal he is to her. He runs away with her FFS!!!! He leaves a gang and family with an equally traumatized brother just to be with her. He leaves everything for MC and if that doesn't scream Bae material, I don't know what else. He is the epitome of a ride or die partner and I cannot, I don't think, can feel the same attachment to the other LI's in this book. Probably John though lol.

I was super anxious during the train station scene because I thought I didn't have enough points with Michael for him to run away with me and the writers made it seem so, so I tapped pretty fast, half reading the lines in trepidation. When I read that he actually came and then we held hands as the train departed... my heart... 😭💔💔💔💔 RC don't play with my heart like that 🤣🤣🤣

That aside, I wish Michael had a bigger role in season 1, 2, and 3. He did in season 1, but he stopped appearing frequently, esp in 2 and 3. I thought he would appear more often because he's MC's bf. And it would make more sense for both of them to search together. Even unromanced, it would still make sense for Michael to hang with MC's group because they're the only ones who are really actively looking for Bobby. This would have led to more dynamics and interest in MC's friend group..alas, this didn't happen. A missed opportunity IMO but I suppose his absence could be explained by this: he has his own life. Lol. Or a different way of doing things. Still doesn't really make sense to me, but oh well. I still very enjoy his route and his development nonetheless.

I also wish other LI's had more moments with MC. I heard Stephanie was sidelined, not sure though because it was as though the main love interests would only appear around the time our chosen love interest appears. Not sure how much that is true since in season 1 I didn't romance her. Strange how she barely appeared in my route though. I thought she would help us more or become part of the gang, but she didn't. Disappointed because I would have def liked another best friend besides Candy and again, more layer to the friend group. Her interaction with Michael would have def be interesting.

I also wish that non-romanced main love interests appeared more than the Black dragons. To me, I don't think their role fit with the story very well if you think about it. Luke and Stephanie def would. Stephanie's grandma is acquainted with Mrs. Hill and is a witch; Luke's family's hold over the cursed painting. I wish the black dragons' appearances were at least shared with the non-romanced ones. Like I wish I knew what Luke and Stephanie were up to in detail. It was seriously strange for Luke to not be around when Bobby was missing and that he never tried contacting us. In both seasons 2 and 3, I couldn't stop wondering what they were up to and missed them (although Luke drugged us lol).

So imo, the black dragons' role should def be less than Luke and Stephanie. Definitely weird, but it is what it is.

Speaking of the Black Dragon's, Aaron is a hot daddy. Like GOD DAMN. I couldn't help but flirt and kiss with him although I was scared that it might ruin my relationship with Michael 🤣🤣🤣. Cherry.. i would like cherry if he was drawn better. At first, I couldn't like him because of his sprite but his personality is ahh, so mischievous, I love it. I would have picked Aaron over cherry though LOL.

I would replay season 3 to romance them again, but the scenes are very few and I already played most of them. I'm just missing their final sex scenes really, so it's not really worth it to replay the entire season just to get their ending and final sex scene lol.

I can't bear to cheat on Michael with Aaron or cherry, I can't do him dirty like that. Like for FFS, Aaron married Luke's sister and we never, at least imo, build the same heart wrenching connection we do with Michael compared to them. And the fact that he freaking left everything in his life for 10 years to be with us!! Like nooo I can't!! 🤣🤣 there aren't enough scenes with the side characters to justify the cheating 🤣🤣 Michael is too gentle and sweet for the hurt.... but i did cheat on him with Derek HAHHAHA mostly because 1996 Michael wasn't available so I thought something happened so I was like ALRIGHT GUESS WE FUCKIN'. I was tempted to choose Derek over Michael because Derek has been with us more than Michael has. Not to mention, he really cares for MC. Wish there was a 3p ending with both of them 😭😭 they're both super loyal to MC and would lay their life down for her.

The same thing with John too. I can't bear to see Michael grieving over MC and MC picking John over him... can you imagine Michael dying and finally seeing his dearly desired dead gf in DreamWorld but only to see her gettin' it down with some guy who tried to kill everyone in the past? 🤣🤣🤣 nah man I can't do him dirty, especially when Michael saved us from the Faun. Speaking of that event, it was weird that there wasn't a conversation/consequence from Michael who saw John kiss us LOL. And he definitely heard us talking about the intimate moments we shared HAHAHAHA. Though, John's short route is terribly cute. I really enjoyed it tbh. Surprised that we didn't have any repercussions for cheating on Michael with him. Moving on, I watched his ending on YouTube and it was super bittersweet.😭

I honestly like his route a bit more than Aaron's. Or equally. Can't decide! Aaron's route is basically MC still in love with her old crush who used to intimidate her and was exciting since he's someone you wouldn't acquaint yourself with, especially as a young, inexperienced student. And then coming back as a mature woman, and still knowing that you're in love with him and he is still too, ah so cute. That moment you share with him in the snow on the swings 💕💕. Honestly I feel like that moment MC needed a proper adult figure to comfort her so that scene was a bit weird and made me think, hm, MC is probably crushing on him because he is older, hot, and is sort of providing a parental comfort to her lol. In my HC universe, MC crushes on him, but it quickly dies because she was vulnerable in the moment. I'm happy that that moment didn't escalate any further and that Aaron didn't chase MC unless MC did in the end. It would have been very weird because it would have been a moment where he, as an adult figure, take advantage of MC. Then again, it's fantasy/fiction. To each to their own eh? I still enjoyed it. I honestly could personally relate to the line where Mc says that the experience and age (something like this) provided comfort to her, so that moment felt awfully sweet to me.

In the end, there could only be so much you can push in in a story game app.

I still really enjoyed this story. Despite the flaws I pointed out, I love this story to every bits. I find this much more entertaining than SOTF, so I'm glad that it is written the way it is. Perhaps I should write a post about SOTF in the future since I'm close to finishing it, but I don't think I will since I don't like it much.

[when-they-write-stuff]

I've only just discovered your blog and I'm already in love with your writing. If you want to, could you do 30) “Just remember, if we get in trouble, you're deaf and I don't speak English.” from your prompts list for sterek?

Aww, you’re fantastic! I had fun with this one <3

- -

“Just remember, if we get in trouble, you're deaf and I don't speak English.”

“Stiles,” another voice said, sounding nervous. “That’s a terrible idea. You don’t know anything other than English.”

“Yes, Scotty, but if we get into trouble, nobody needs to know that, do they?”

Derek heard the sound of a sigh and curiously moved across the bar, picking up an already clean glass and rubbing at it like he was actually doing his job. Two kids sat on the stools with their backs to him; one with dark floppy hair and one with shorter brown hair and nervous fingers tapping against the bar counter. 

Moving behind them, Derek cleared his throat. They both spun around and the paler one startled with a squawk, nearly tumbling off of his seat. His friend reached out and steadied him at the last moment.

“Can I get you two anything?” Derek said, studying both their faces. The paler one leaned forward with a small grin, amber eyes dancing.

“Two rum and cokes, please.”

“ID?”

The boy with the floppy hair made a sharp noise in the back of his throat. The other kid elbowed him and grinned at Derek again, before pulling out his wallet. Derek took the ID handed to him and studied it, before raising a brow.

“What the hell kind of name is that?”

“Hey, dude!” The kid protested, looking offended. “You can’t go around saying things like that. So not cool!”

“It’s Stiles,” the other boy said, nervously slipping his ID over the counter too. “We call him Stiles.”

“What the hell kind of name is Stiles?”

“It’s my name, asshole,” Stiles said, glaring. Derek huffed and looked from his ID to his friend’s— Scott McCall— and then pushed them both back. 

“There’s no way you two are twenty-one.”

“Excuse me!” Stiles said, flailing a little. “The ID says it, does it not?”

“Clearly, it’s a fake.”

“I’ll have you know I am only a few months away from being twenty-one,” Stiles said, with a whiny note in his voice. “And it doesn’t make sense that I’m old enough to vote and live on my own, but not drink. Can’t you be a pal and overlook things just this once?”

“Two cokes,” Derek said, undeterred. “Coming right up.”

“You’re a terrible person.”

Derek ignored him and turned away, grabbing two glasses and two cans of soda. He couldn’t deny that he’d been half-tempted to give the kid a break, but if Laura found out she would have his hide. And that’s the last thing Derek needed.

Scott wasn’t paying any attention when Derek slid the two drinks over, but Stiles was watching his face. The kid had a mischievous glint in his eyes that made Derek nervous, and an uptick to his lips that made his stomach flip. Stiles leaned forward, ignoring his drink, and rested his chin on his palms.

“So, what’s a fine gentleman like you doing in a place like this?”

“I work here.”

“Well, clearly,” Stiles said, snorting. “But come on, dude, you’re too pretty to be working in a club like this. Those eyebrows were made for the billboards.”

“My eyebrows.”

“Very sexy,” Stiles said, nodding. “Ten out of ten. You kind of look like you could tear me apart with your bare hands and I don’t think that should be such a turn on.”

Derek rolled his eyes, unable to help it. This guy was something else. “You’re ridiculous.”

“No, I’m Stiles. And you are?”

Derek stared at him for a moment. Then he grunted and turned away, and Stiles made a noise like a dying cat. 

“Wait, dude, I’m sorry! No more dad jokes, I swear. I’ll be good.”

Slowly, Derek turned back around. The mischievous gleam had left Stiles’s eyes and he offered out a hand, fingers wiggling through the air. 

“My full name is Mieczysław. But most people call me Stiles because that’s all they can really manage.”

“Mie— whatever— sounds nothing like Stiles.”

“Yes, but Stiles is fun to say, right?”

Derek sighed and took his hand, feeling a little ridiculous. “I’m Derek.”

“Derek Hale?”

“Yes,” Derek said, narrowing his eyes. “What of it?”

“Dude, your sister owns this palace! I basically just called it a dump, how have you not kicked me out already?”

“I’m tempted,” Derek said. “Would you like me to?”

“You know, I’m gonna pass, thanks.”

Derek smothered the urge to chuckle. For some reason, he didn’t feel the urge to give the kid the boot. Instead, he was kind of hoping Erica or Boyd would come relieve him of his shift already so he could sit down and have an actual conversation.

Which was stupid. Of course.

“So, Derek,” Stiles said, putting extra emphasis on his name. “I have no doubts you have people hitting on you twenty-four-seven due to the—” Stiles gestured through the air and then pointed at his face. “Eyebrows. But if I went on a limb out here and asked for a number, would I be successful?”

“Probably not, but you could try anyway.”

“Playing hard to get,” Stiles said, grinning. He was confident in a way that made Derek feel impressed instead of annoyed. It was… annoying. Or something. “I like that. Should I use a cliche pickup line or just flat out ask?”

Derek only smirked. Stiles’s grin widened and he thought for a moment.

“I bet my number sounds nicer than yours,” he said after a few seconds. “Want to hear it?”

“That was terrible.”

“Okay, then. Give me your number, so we can rant to each other during GOT.”

“Seriously?”

“If you give me your number,” Stiles said with a wink. “I promise to spam you with pictures of cute puppies on a daily basis.”

“That was a little better,” Derek said. “But still terrible.”

“Yeah, well if you think I’m terrible at flirting now, just wait until you flirt with me over the phone.”

He was relentless, Derek had to give him that. He nearly considered making Stiles come up with some stupid pickup lines a little more, simply because he was enjoying him trying, when a hand touched him on the shoulder. Derek jumped and spun around.

“Oh shit,” Laura said, a smirk tugging at the corner of her lips. “I don’t think I’ve ever snuck up on you before, Der. Having a nice conversation?”

“Der?” Stiles said, his eyes lighting up. “Oh my god, that’s adorable!”

“Shut up,” Derek said, glaring at his sister. “Laura, what are you doing? Aren’t Erica and Boyd on shift tonight?”

“I could tell you were having fun,” Laura said. “So I gave them an extra thirty minutes. You know what they like to get down to in thirty minutes.”

“That’s so gross, please never speak to me again.”

“Hm,” Laura said, looking over at Stiles. She offered a hand, which he took with a bright smile. “You’re cute, kid. But clearly not twenty-one.”

“Why does everyone keep saying that? I could be!”

“Not dressed like that, you’re not.”

Stiles looked down at himself; his plaid t-shirt and baggy jeans. His face colored red and he shrugged, looking back up. “I’m getting there.”

“Then maybe I’ll second guess kicking you out.”

“That would be very much appreciated,” Stiles said with a grin. “Though Der here tried that line too.”

“Oh,” Laura said, turning back around. “Did he?”

Derek rolled his eyes. Before he could say a word, though, Stiles’s phone was blaring and the kid cursed, fishing it out of his pocket. He looked at the screen, then sighed, flipping it off. 

“I’ve gotta go,” he said, turning to his friend. “Scotty, you still with me?”

Scott looked like he’d spent the entire time staring across the club. Derek followed his gaze to see a brown-haired girl dancing with a red-haired girl, completely oblivious to her admirer. Scott’s face was colored pink when he nodded. “We leaving?”

“Dad gets home in fifteen and if I’m not around to make dinner, you know he’ll order a pizza. Or worse, two.”

Derek was surprised to feel a sudden rush of disappointment at hearing that. He couldn’t believe he actually enjoyed talking to Stiles. The guy was annoying as hell, but amusing too. And Derek didn’t actually hate all of his pickup lines.

Stiles thought his eyebrows were sexy.

Shaking his head, Derek turned around and busied himself in cleaning the opposite counter. He could feel Stiles’s eyes on him and for a second, he thought the guy would say something. But then Scott said something Derek didn’t catch and Stiles started away.

Derek glared at the floor.

“Nice,” Laura said, patting him on the shoulder. “You almost had him there, little bro.”

“Shut up,” Derek said, shrugging her off. “Tell Boyd and Erica it’s my turn for a break, would you? And I’m not going into the break room until it’s been thoroughly sanitized.”

Laura only chuckled and started away. Derek glared at nothing for a second longer, before turning around to clean up the glasses Scott and Stiles had left.

Except, there was a napkin left too. One with the worst handwriting Derek had ever seen, reading; “I like your face, Sourpuss. Text me?”

Underneath was a number. Derek shook his head and huffed, but tucked the napkin into his pocket. No one would ever know if he was smiling slightly at that, or if he searched the club one more time looking for an idiot in plaid.

So maybe Stiles was the stupidest name Derek had ever heard. But the kid was a good flirt.

And he thought Derek’s eyebrows were sexy.

- -

I don’t usually do one-shots as AU’s, but this one started writing itself and I decided to just roll with it. Thanks for the prompt, my friend, I had fun!

(Support your overcaffinated (so much so) student writer? Seriously, I’d adore you guys so much). https://ko-fi.com/rh27writer

[theeeveetamer]

Helloo! Hm, if you don't mind, I have a request for some more of the modern omegaverse? Particularly how Leo and Takumi met, or the scene with good ol protective Ryoma :)

Alright here we go. I know nothing about this is specific to high school, but in my modern Omegaverse I always envisioned Leo and Takumi being high school sweethearts.

I had a lot of fun writing this, so it ended up being really damn long. Like, almost 40 pages. Couple of notes: I know Mikoto isn’t their canon mother but since she has an established relationship with all of the Hoshidan sibs I think she’s easier to write and makes more sense in Omegaverse. I based this on my high school’s class scheduling, which was four classes a semester, 90 minutes per class. We called them blocks but most places have ‘periods’ so they’re referred to as such for simplicity sake. Finally, I’ve arbitrarily decided that America’s drinking age is 18 in this fic because it should be.

Tags: Omegaverse, High School AU, Omega!Takumi, Alpha!Leo, falling in love, Lower Middle Class Leokumis, Mentions of child abuse/alcoholism

AO3 Link: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17282396

“Alright are we ready?”

“Yep! On three!”

Takumi slid his finger under the lip of the envelope, and his friends followed suit.

“One… Two… Three!”

They all tore the glue seal, some more elegantly than others. Hinata got impatient half way through and just ripped the envelope down the middle. Oboro’s wasn’t much better, but at least she’d managed to tear it lengthwise like she was supposed to.

They all pulled out their class schedules at the same time and compared.

“Alright I have geometry first thing… Ugh.” He groaned. He liked math as much as the next guy, but that early in the morning?

“Damn, I have it third.” Oboro pointed out. “But we have the same teacher, so we can at least do the homework together.”

“Wait, I thought we were taking that next semester!”

They tried to schedule their class preferences so that they matched up, but that still didn’t guarantee they would get classes together. Hinata always mixed up at least one class and took it in the wrong semester.

“No, Hinata. We were going to take art next semester, remember?”

“Well shit.” He laughed. “You guys’ll still help me, right?”

Takumi rolled his eyes. “Of course.”

“C’mon Takumi, what do you have next?”

It didn’t take them long to hash out the schedules. He was on his own first period, but he and Oboro had gym together fourth period. He and Hinata shared American History during third period, which also meant they had lunch together. They were all taking different language courses anyways, so he knew he’d have at least one class by himself.

With that settled he was scanning his schedule again just to ensure they shared the same teachers.

“Fuck…” He muttered under his breath.

“What is it?”

“I just realized that we have Izana for history.”

“So?”

Hinata was the oldest in his family and Oboro was an only child, so they didn’t have the ‘benefit’ of having older siblings go before them. Sometimes it was nice because he knew which teachers were good, and sometimes it was awful. If he had a quarter for every time a teacher said ‘Oh, Shirasagi? Are you Ryoma’s little brother? Well he was a joy to have in class!’ he’d be loaded.

“Ryoma and Hinoka both had him! They say he likes to play matchmaker with the Omegas in the class. Plus, he assigns a lot of group projects.”

“Ugh, great! You’ll be my partner right?”

“Obviously, dude.” Even though working with Hinata usually resulted in both of them getting distracted and goofing off until last minute, he wouldn’t have it any other way. As long as he got his A he didn’t really care how the project got done.

Though, he was concerned about a little more than just the group projects. There were definitely more Alphas in their school than Omegas, and ever since he’d presented he’d been dealing with dumb ‘matchmaking’ teachers. Heck, they were doing it before he’d even presented! And pretty much every time it happened the Alpha fell head over heels for him, and he absolutely did not reciprocate.

He couldn’t even count the number of calls Mama needed to make to the school about it on both hands. And whatever number that was, he’d probably have to double it to even get close to the number of overstepping Alphas Ryoma beat the shit out of on his behalf. In fact, most Alphas were beginning to treat being seated next to him as a death sentence, which wasn’t exactly doing wonders for his romantic life. The only Alphas in their grade willing to go within fifteen feet of him were Hinata and Oboro.

He tugged anxiously at his collar. Oboro seemed to notice because she finally changed the subject.

“Well, we only have a few weeks left of summer! Let’s not waste it thinking about school!”

“Damn straight!” Hinata agreed.

“Come on, Mama said dinner would be done around six. And hey, she bought a ton of popcorn for movie night!”

_________________

The first day back was always the worst. Farewell to staying up until four am and waking up at noon, hello dragging his ass out of bed at seven am. At least Ryoma was a senior this year, so Mama let him take the car to school. Hinoka took shotgun and he sat in the back with Sakura. She was fiddling with the strap of her messenger bag and biting her lip nervously.

“You look cute today, baby sister.” She really did. He could tell she’d woken up early to do her hair and makeup, and she’d picked out one of her favorite dresses. It was a far cry from his ratty old jeans and tshirt or Hinoka’s athletic shorts and tank top. He hadn’t even bothered to comb his hair out when he woke up, he’d just thrown it in it’s regular ponytail. He almost envied his sisters’ shorter hair.

“T-Thanks! I’m just so n-nervous, you know?”

“You’ll see! High school isn’t so scary!” Hinoka threw over her shoulder from the passenger seat. “Heck, you’ll be sick of it before long!”

“Come on Hinoka. Let her have one day before you make her jaded.” Ryoma chuckled.

“You’ll do great.” He patted her hand. “Let me know if you get lost okay? I can help you walk to class.”

“A-Alright.”

______________

The day went pretty quickly. It was the first day, so most of the teachers were just going over their syllabi and doing some dumb icebreakers so the class could get to know each other. It was mind numbing, but at least he could doodle in his notebooks and just pretend to be paying attention.

He’d been silently dreading third period all day, and all was well until then. He wasn’t sure what he wanted. It would be nice to sit next to Hinata, but if Izana really was a matchmaker then that could make things awkward. Then again, he’d rather things be a little awkward with his best friend than get harassed by some Alpha that needed to learn the definition of ‘boundaries’.

Hinata was already inside the classroom. He waved at Takumi from around the middle of the classroom and motioned to the empty seat beside him. The desks were laid out very strangely: Each row had six desks, and  three columns consisting of two desks pushed together.

“No alphabetical order?”

Hinata shrugged. “He just told us to sit wherever.”

The man in question was currently behind his computer at the front of the room. The bell rang, but he still seemed intent on whatever he was working on. A few minutes of idle chatting later he stood up and stepped to the center of the room.

“Good afternoon everyone. I’ve created a randomized seating chart for you all. Please come sit in your new seat when I call your name.”

They were about ten desks in when the pattern became obvious. Of course every Omega just so happened to be paired with an alpha, despite the sizable portion of Betas in the class. Randomized. Sure.

“… Shirasagi, Takumi!” He squinted his eyes at the paper for a moment. “Weird, I think I had your brother. Or was it a sister?”

“It was both…” He mumbled dejectedly as he took his seat.

“Alright then let’s see… Windmire, Leo!”

Oh gods. Anyone but him.

Their brothers had been feuding since Ryoma’s freshman year, he couldn’t even remember what about. Something about a failed science project that both of them insisted wasn’t their fault. After that it was pretty much silently agreed upon that the Shirasagis would avoid the Windmires, and they would do the same. He’d never personally met Leo, but he’d heard stories. Mainly about how he was a stuck up pretty boy.

And yeah, just looking at him walk across the room he’d believe those rumors. He had a way about him that was hard to miss. He never slouched or shuffled; He strode along like he was above it all. And he was tall. At least six foot or so. Which, Takumi supposed wasn’t all that impressive for Alphas in general, but at fifteen or sixteen most of them were still growing and stood at around five foot eight to five foot ten. That meant he was constantly looking down his nose at everyone else. It was a little intimidating, at five foot six he’d pretty much stopped growing, and he was considered tall for an Omega. Sakura was only five foot two.

The blonde dropped his newly acquired textbook and notebooks down on the desk next to him. They didn’t say a word to each other as Izana finished assigning seats. It seemed like his siblings hadn’t exaggerated: Every Omega in the class was paired off with an Alpha. When that was done he handed out the syllabi and moved back to the front of the class to go over it.

“In this class I believe in learning the value of teamwork! So, you’ll have four group projects. Three due throughout the semester and one final project. Your project partners will be the person you’re sitting next to. No exceptions. These are big projects and will require outside work, so be sure to get your partner’s contact information.”

He heard the Alpha beside him audibly groan. He was, quite frankly, a little offended. Sure he and Hinata goofed off, but he was still a straight A student damn it! Where did this asshole get off?

They suffered silently through the remaining eighty minutes of class until lunch. When the bell rang he reluctantly turned to his seatmate.

“So…” He was loathe to do it, but unfortunately he had to. “We should probably exchange numbers.”

The Alpha rolled his eyes as he pulled out his phone.

“I’m sorry, do you have a problem with me?”

“Just don’t tank my grade. It’s bad enough that I have to associate with a Shirasagi, but an Omega?”

Ah, there it was. The old stereotype that an Omega couldn’t be smart, too. Boy, was this asshole in for a rude awakening.

“Look, I’m not happy about this either.” He growled as he typed his number in. “But I’m not about to get a B just because I’m stuck with you as a partner.”

With the exchange done he collected up his backpack and met up with Hinata, who was waiting by the door for him.

________

“Ugh, can you believe that guy!” He groused, shoving his sandwich into his mouth. Hinata was similarly scarfing down his food, but they were sitting on their own because Oboro had a different lunch.

Between complaining he was also scanning the room for Sakura. She’d texted him that they had the same lunch and he wanted to make sure she wasn’t sitting on her own. He finally caught sight of her – she was kind of hard to miss with the pink hair – sitting a few tables away with her friend Hana and some blonde girl he’d never met. Reasonably assured she was in good hands, he continued his complaining about Leo.

“I mean, the nerve of the guy! Implying that I can’t do work just because I’m an Omega!”

“Yeah, I can’t believe it either.” Hinata added through a mouthful of chips. “I mean, I’m pretty sure I would have failed algebra if it wasn’t for you.”

“Exactly! I mean–” He realized quickly that he probably shouldn’t be insulting his friend’s intelligence just to prove a point. “Sorry, Hinata.”

His friend just waved him off. “Don’t worry about it. Come on, let’s talk about something else.”

He tried to keep his attention off of the blonde Alpha, but he kept catching him out of the corner of his eye and getting infuriated all over again.

__________

The rest of the day was, thankfully, pretty uneventful. He’d almost forgotten all about Leo and his prissy attitude until he got home and he and Sakura were helping Mama with dinner. He and Sakura were chopping up vegetables while she prepared the meats. Hinoka was still at baseball practice and Ryoma was in his room working on his college essays.

“So how was school?”

“Great!” Sakura started excitedly chattering. “Hana and I have a lot of classes together s-so that was good! And I met a r-really nice girl named Elise in first period!”

“That’s great, sweetie! What about you Takumi, did you have fun? Make any new friends?”

He shrugged. “Not really. But there was this one guy in my history class…”

“Oh? You met a boy?” She raised an eyebrow.

“Mama! It’s not like that! He’s… He’s completely insufferable!” He let out a frustrated sigh. “Mister Izana paired us up for every class project, and this dumb Alpha thinks I’m stupid just because I’m an Omega!”

“Oh dear… Well I’m sure it won’t be so bad. Once he gets to know you I’m sure he’ll warm up.”

“I dunno, he’s a Windmire. They’re, like, predisposed to hate us or something!”

“I’m sure he can’t be that bad. You know what I always say, never judge a book by its cover!”

“Yes, Mama.” He rolled his eyes. Of course she didn’t get it. She hadn’t even met Leo, she had no idea how rude he’d been!

He finished up slicing the vegetables and Mama shooed them both out of the kitchen so she could finish cooking. He didn’t have much to do since there wasn’t any homework, so he decided to bum around on his laptop until dinner.

He hadn’t really intended to start cyberstalking Leo, it had just kind of happened. It started when he tried looking up the Alpha’s social media, but the guy was a ghost. None of the Windmires seemed to have any online presence, and the only pictures he found were from what he was guessing were Leo’s friends. He’d just wanted to get a general idea of the guy, but after an hour of coming up blank finding anything became an obsession. How could he not have anything online? It was just so weird!

He finally stopped when Mama called them all down to dinner, and he realized how ridiculous he was being. So what if he couldn’t find any information? Why should he care about this asshole anyways? He shut the laptop and hurried to the dining room.

____________

The first month or so went by without too many problems. He and Leo mostly just ignored each other during class, and once it was over he made a quick escape to lunch with Hinata. They didn’t get the details about their first project until late September. It wasn’t much, just a paper. It was about three pages and due in two weeks, so he wasn’t too worried about it just yet.

He stuck the project requirements into his folder and headed down to lunch. The second he left the room his phone buzzed in his pocket.

We should get started on this project today.

He glanced over his shoulder. Leo was literally standing ten feet away from him. Was he for real?

He pulled his phone back out to respond.

Dude, you’re literally standing right there. You couldn’t talk to me?

He watched as the blonde’s phone buzzed and he typed his response. This was ridiculous, was he really so conceited that he couldn’t even talk to him?

Look who’s talking.

“Ugh!” He stuffed his phone back in his pocket. “Come on Hinata, let’s go.”

All of lunch was a back and forth.

The project isn’t even due until two weeks from now.

I’m not going to fail this class because you wanted to wait until last minute.

Fine! We can start working on it tonight then! Your house or mine?

Better do yours.

Alright, meet me by the exit after school. My brother will drive us.

Gods, what an arrogant asshole! As if waiting a week would kill them! If he were working alone he could get it done in two days! Not to mention the fact that he wanted to start working on it on a Friday night! Sure, Takumi had just planned to stay in and watch movies, but that didn’t mean he couldn’t have had plans!

Sakura was already waiting by the door, along with her blonde friend. She waved at him as he approached. “B-Big brother! This is my friend, Elise.”

“Oh, uh, nice to meet you.” Now that he was closer he could see that she was an Omega as well. The heat suppressants could make it hard to tell sometimes, but only Omegas wore collars like that. Hers was made of dyed black leather and it was studded with little purple rhinestones to match her black and purple dress.

“Ta-ku-mi,” She enunciated every syllable in his name carefully. “Did I say it right?”

“Y-Yeah, that’s right.”

“Well it’s nice to meet you too, Takumi!” She beamed up at him. Geez when Sakura said Elise was friendly she wasn’t kidding. They hadn’t known each other five minutes and she was already chattering away like they’d been friends for decades.

Leo turned up a few minutes later. Takumi caught sight of him down the hall, and he seemed confused as he approached.

“Elise? What are you doing here?”

Did they know each other?

“Aw, Leo! Did you make friends too?”

The Alpha side-eyed him and then shook his head. “Absolutely not. We’re just working on a project together. What are you doing?”

“Xander said I could stay over at Sakura’s tonight! We’re gonna get together with Hana and Effie to do girl stuff!”

“Did you ask father too?”

She pouted. “You know how he is.”

“… Alright, but you need to finish your homework beforehand.”

“Yeah, yeah. Camilla already gave me the lecture. Sakura and I are gonna get it all done before dinner.”

So, Elise was Leo’s little sister? He hadn’t really considered the possibility that Sakura’s new friend was a Windmire, but he supposed it made sense. He’d forgotten about the youngest sibling since she was the grade below him and they’d never had classes together or anything.

It was almost cute watching them; It reminded him a lot of his relationship with Sakura. That didn’t mean Leo wasn’t still a complete asshole, but he supposed even assholes had their moments.

Ryoma finally came down the hall, backpack slung over one shoulder and spinning his keys around his finger.

“Who are your friends?”

“We aren’t friends.” He and Leo said it in unison. Ryoma raised and eyebrow, and Sakura giggled.

“W-We’re just working on a project.” He finished lamely.

His brother shrugged his shoulders, but he was glaring daggers at Leo already. It wasn’t angry, more like don’t you dare fuck with my little brother, asshole. Leo shifted uncomfortably under his gaze.

“Alright, well let’s get home.”

He’d never really felt self-conscious about his house before. It wasn’t the biggest, and it certainly wasn’t the nicest. He’d known Hinata and Oboro for so long that none of it mattered because… Well it never had before. He didn’t know much about Leo, but this stuck up pretty boy was probably used to nicer stuff.

Mama couldn’t work because she didn’t have an Alpha to sign off on it. Papa made pretty good money, but after he died they had to cut back and make do on the insurance money. They only owned one car since Mama only left to do errands, and she could do those once they got home from school.

Their house was a standard split-level with three bedrooms and a basement. He and Sakura actually shared a room, and Ryoma and Hinoka did the same. Mama took the smallest room and his older siblings had the master bedroom. The basement was a general family room, with a nice but old flat screen TV, an old Nintendo that he’d found for twenty bucks at a neighbor’s garage sale, and a big sectional couch. The upstairs had a much smaller TV and couch that Mama mainly used to watch the news. Or to stop arguments when everyone wanted to watch something at the same time.

The nicest piece of furniture they owned was probably their dining table. Mama had been saving up for a new one for years because the old one was too small for a family of five, and she liked it when they all ate together. Plus, one or more of their friends usually came over for dinner more often than not and she liked entertaining company. It made the small space a little cramped but Mama always made sure it was clean and overall it was pretty cozy.

They all kicked their shoes off, and Takumi tried not to look at their guests faces when they stepped inside. He wasn’t sure if he could stop himself from punching Leo in the face if he got condescending about it.

“Come on. We can work on our project in my room. Sakura, are you and Elise okay in the living room?”

“Y-Yeah no problem!”

It would be a little too cramped in their small space with four people in there. Usually when they did homework they all set up on the dining room table and did it together. But he didn’t want to disturb Ryoma and Sakura since he and Leo would probably be pretty distracting with their talking.

Mama greeted them at the top of the stairs.

“Perfect timing. Ryoma dear can you give me the keys? I need to go grocery shopping.”

“They’re in the key bowl by the door.”

“Great!” She looked over their two guests. “Are you two going to be staying for dinner?”

“Oh, right! Mama this is Leo, and that’s Sakura’s friend Elise.”

“Nice to meet you Missus Shirasagi.” Leo extended a hand for her to shake.

“Please, you can just call me Mikoto.”

“I don’t know how long Leo and I will be working on our project, but Elise will definitely be here for dinner.”

“Alright I’ll buy a little extra then!” That went without saying, though. Mama always bought extra for guests. She grabbed the keys and headed out, and Takumi led Leo down the hall to his room.

“Takumi!” Ryoma called out to him from the living room.

“What?”

“Leave the door open!”

“Ryoma!” He could feel his face heating up. Gods, like he would ever do anything with this guy!

He left the door open anyways, mostly because it was better than having Ryoma randomly barge in and “need something” like he always did if Takumi shut the door.

There wasn’t a whole lot of room to spread out. Most of the space was taken up by two twin beds. Their room was about ten feet wide, and there was about four feet of open space between the beds. They each had their own nightstand, and there was a dresser shoved in the closet. It was a pretty wide closet, but they had to share. Three of the four dresser drawers belonged to him, but two thirds of the closet belonged to Sakura because she owned so many dresses.

All in all, it was pretty obvious what belonged to whom in the room. Sakura had a lot of decor of her namesake: Her lampshade and bedspread both featured cherry blossom patterns, and she had a variety of little bobbles including a little glass cherry blossom tree that Mama made for her by hand. She also had a few canvasses hanging from the walls with several different designs, one of which featured cherry blossoms once again. Most of it wasn’t her choice, it was just what people bought her for birthdays and Christmas. It was a good thing she liked pink.

His side was a little plainer decor-wise. In addition to his bed and nightstand he also had a bookshelf that was overflowing with books on history and philosophy. There were so many that he’d begun stacking them on top of the shelf as well. On top of those books an old Shogi board was perched, just in case any of his siblings ever wanted to play with him again. They had a few other board games on the top shelf of the closet. Sometimes they had game nights on the weekend, but for the most part they went untouched. His bow and a quiverfull of arrows were currently leaning in the space between the nightstands. He didn’t really have anywhere else for it, since his kendo equipment was underneath the bed and there was no more room in the closet.

“Sorry it’s not very big.” He dropped his backpack on his bed and pulled out his laptop. Mama bought them all the same cheap little chromebook one year for Christmas when they were on sale. It wasn’t the best, but it got the job done.

Leo just shrugged and followed suit. His laptop was bigger, but it also looked pretty old. He brought out the charger as well.

“Got an outlet somewhere? The battery on this damn thing is burnt out.”

Once they were finally set up on the floor he pulled the assignment sheet back out of his folder.

“Alright, looks like we have to discuss the fallout after the civil war. Three pages, double spaced, yadda yadda. And a presentation to the class.”

“You haven’t even read the assignment yet?”

“When was I supposed to read it? Izana gave it to us at the end of class, and I wasn’t going to read it over during gym class!”

“Gods I’m going to fail.” The Alpha muttered under his breath.

“Hey!” Takumi growled. “Would you stop treating me like I’m some ditz! I’m trying to get an A too, you know! So just start the damn powerpoint and I’ll start the paper.”

He flipped his textbook open to the relevant chapter and started scanning for information.

The Alpha sighed. “You’re right. I’m sorry, I’m just used to my partners slacking.”

Well of all the things he’d been expecting, he certainly hadn’t seen an apology coming.

“I-It’s fine. Let’s just get this done so I can actually enjoy this weekend.”

They worked for a solid hour, only talking to ensure that their points matched up. He was probably a third of the way done with the rough draft of their paper, and Leo was about half done with the powerpoint when they were interrupted by Elise entering the room.

“Leeeeooo!” She called from the door.

“What is it, Elise?”

“Can you help me with math?”

“Have you done all of the problems you can solve?”

“Yep! And Sakura helped me with some, but there are a couple we can’t get.”

“And you finished your other subjects?”

“Uh huh! We did those first.”

“Alright, I’ll come help you in a few minutes.”

“Okay!” She skipped back down the hall and sat down with Sakura at the dining room table.

Leo shut his laptop and shoved his books back into his backpack.

“I thought you wanted to get this project done?”

The blonde rolled his eyes. He was just now noticing, but had they always been that color? Or was the dim light in his room playing tricks on his eyes? He hadn’t really been paying attention, but he swore he would have remembered such vivid red eyes.

“This is exactly why I start projects when they’re assigned. We don’t have to do it all today.”

He left all of his things on the floor of Takumi’s room and headed back out into the main living area.

Takumi had managed to get all of his homework done in class today. He was pretty bored in geometry, so he usually did the homework as he was taking notes. Plus with ninety minute classes their teacher usually gave them half of that time for homework. His language class usually made it a point not to assign any homework, and their history class assigned the project in lieu of any real homework. So he decided to take his laptop into the living room and start picking out a movie for tonight. Ryoma had disappeared to somewhere, probably over to Saizo’s house to hang out.

He was actually currently stealing his good friend’s netflix, and with October on the horizon most of the queue was horror movies. It was just easier to stay logged in since they usually hung out at his house. Hinata didn’t usually mind, as long as he didn’t hog it or remove things from his list.

Elise and Sakura really only had two math problems they couldn’t get on their own, and once Leo walked them through the first one they didn’t even need help on the second. He got the sense that this was something Leo did a lot, and he’d be lying if he said he wasn’t impressed by it. Maybe he wasn’t as stuck up as everyone seemed to imply.

“So,” The Alpha finally spoke directly to him. He’d been so focused on his computer that it startled him. “You like horror movies?”

He shuddered at the thought. Horror movies always made his nightmares so much worse. “No, actually. This is my friend’s account. I take it you do?”

“Mhmm. That’s too bad, I know a few good ones you might enjoy.”

“… Nothing too scary?”

“I suppose that depends on your definition of scary.”

“Hmm… Well I don’t do paranormal. Hard no on anything paranormal. I also don’t really like monsters or ghouls or anything like that.”

“Home invasion?”

“Yeah I think I could do that.” If he were being honest he would have said not in a million years, but he also didn’t want to seem like a complete wuss.

He grinned. “I have the perfect movie. Do you want to watch it on my laptop?”

“W-What? You mean, right now?”

He shrugged. “I’m here, and obviously we’ve both already checked out of this project for today. Besides, I don’t want to leave in case Elise needs me for something else.”

Just then he was saved by the bell – or rather, his mother.

“Takumi! Come help me get the groceries in!”

He hopped up and ran to the car, thankful to get out of that conversation. Maybe he wouldn’t have to watch a horror movie after all.

“Would you like some help with those?” Leo asked, indicating the bags she was carrying. She handed them off to him gratefully and he finished getting them into the kitchen. Then Leo helped him bring in the few bags from the car, and they were done in one trip. He tried to help put things away, but Mama shooed him back out into the living room.

Leo was standing by, waiting for him to get done.

“So, how about it?”

“I don’t know if we have time for a movie. Mama when is dinner?”

“Oh don’t worry about it sweetie. There’s plenty of time for a movie.”

Fuck. Looks like he was doing this.

“Alright, sure. Sakura will probably want the basement so she can get ready for her sleepover, so we can watch it in my room.”

With Ryoma out he could finally shut his door. It wasn’t that he wanted to do anything, he just liked having the privacy. Leo set his laptop up on the bed.

“Turn off the lights.”

“W-What?”

“Come on, it’s a horror movie. You have to set the mood!”

He flicked the lights off and sat down. He tried to keep a respectable distance, but it was hard when they were watching on a laptop. They had three or four inches between their shoulders at best.

It was a little weird, if he was being honest. He’d never had an Alpha on his bed unless it was Hinata or Oboro. He hadn’t realized how weirdly intimate it was until he was sitting with the blonde. His heart was racing, though that was probably just from the movie. Though, by the end of it he was actually clinging to Leo’s arm and hiding his face in the sleeve of the blonde’s hoodie.

They were nearing the end of the movie. By now there had been a few tense moments of this woman trying to escape her would-be killer, and a few jump scares to set his nerves on edge. She was trying to crawl back in her window while the killer chased her, and he had to stop himself from shouting go, go, go, go!

The door to his room slammed open and he screamed. Not a yelp or a cry of surprise, he actually yelled out in terror and hid his face behind the Alpha’s shoulder.

“Takumi?” It was just Ryoma. Apparently he hadn’t been as gone as Takumi thought him.

“Gods, Ryoma! You scared the shit out of me!”

“My apologies. I just wanted to know if you needed anything.”

“Yeah! A new damn pair of underwear! Geez Ryoma, can’t I have the door closed for five minutes without you barging in!”

His brother put his hands up in surrender. “Alright, alright. Finish your movie, mother said that dinner will be ready soon.

As soon as he backed out Leo chuckled. “I didn’t think you would be that scared by this movie!”

“I-I wasn’t scared! He just surprised me is all!” He scooted away from Leo and drew his knees up to his chest.

“Of course, obviously.” Leo nodded. “Alright pay attention. We’re almost at the end.”

They very end of the movie was more action packed and didn’t have as many jump scares, so it was a little easier to get through. She managed to fight off her attacker and call the police in the end. And hey, the cat didn’t even die. When the credits started rolling Leo shut his laptop.

“So, what did you think?”

“The entire plot of this movie could have been avoided if this woman just owned a landline.”

“That’s… Exactly what I always say.”

There was an awkward lull in the conversation. After a moment he finally responded again.

“W-We should get to the dining room. Mama is probably waiting for us.”

He reached for the light, but in the dark he didn’t see the stack of books hanging a few inches over the edge of his bookshelf. He accidentally bumped them and brought the entire pile down.

“Shit!” He muttered. He managed to flick the light on. Only five or six books ended up on the ground, and he quickly picked them up and re-stacked them on the shelf.

“The Stranger?” Leo picked the top paperback off the stack and flipped it over.

“Well aren’t you nosy!” He shot back, defensively. Most people that saw his book collection automatically labelled him a huge nerd, including his older siblings.

“I’ve been trying my hardest not to snoop, but it’s kind of hard not to notice when you’re a complete klutz and knock over piles of books. Besides, it’s one of my favorites, I couldn’t help bringing it up.”

“I actually haven’t finished it yet.” He admitted. “Nihilism isn’t really my thing, and I can’t stand the main character!”

“Really? I think it leans more absurdist myself. How far did you get?”

“Uh, I think I was about half way through part one.”

“You should try again. I promise you won’t be disappointed.”

He took the book from the Alpha and tossed it on his nightstand.

“You know, for a pretty boy you’re kind of a dork.”

He was into philosophy and history? What was next? Would Leo tell him that he’s on the school’s chess team?

“I could say the same of you, Takumi.”

Wait, did Leo just call him pretty? Did he just call Leo pretty? To his face? Oh gods, like he needed another reason to go red as a tomato. He hurried past the Alpha and took his seat at the table with the rest of his family and Elise. There were seven places set at the table. Ryoma was sitting on one end, Mama on the other, and Elise, Sakura, and Hinoka on one side. That left two places on the other for he and Leo to sit. He took his usual seat nearest Mama, but Leo hung back a moment. He checked his watch.

“Actually I think it’s time I headed home.”

He wasn’t about to stop Leo, though he was a little disappointed. He’d just found out that they had so much in common, and he’d been kind of hoping that they could chat more.

“Please stay for dinner at least! Sakura was just telling me about how helpful you’ve been, it’s the least I can do.”

He looked conflicted, but he ultimately sat down.

“Thank you, ma’am.”

Mama smiled at him, then leaned over and whispered conspiratorially in his ear.

“Is this the boy you’ve been complaining about? He’s so polite!”

“Mama please!” His face was already red enough from that earlier pretty boy comment.

“So, Leo.” Oh gods. Ryoma was going to do this to him? Tonight? “You’re working on a project with Takumi?”

“That’s right.”

“Uh huh. How’s your GPA?”

“Ryoma…” He muttered under his breath.

“I have a perfect GPA, actually.”

“Good, good… Because, you know, my brother doesn’t waste his time with stupid men.”

“Ryoma!” He growled. Mama patted him on the arm.

“Now come on Ryoma, he’s our guest. There’s no need for this.” Yet. He could hear it in her voice. Gods, had his entire family gone crazy?

The rest of dinner went pretty normally, aside from Ryoma’s incessant what-are-your-intentions-with-my-brother grilling. When it was over he helped Mama clear the table, and Leo excused himself.

“I really must get going.”

“Do you live far? I can drive you home, if you’d like?” Mama called out from the kitchen. She was in the middle of doing the dishes, and Ryoma was helping her dry.

“It’s not far.” He answered quickly. “Really, I’d prefer to walk.”

“Alright. It was nice meeting you!”

Ryoma was just glaring daggers at him over her shoulder. Takumi pushed him toward the stairs and followed him into the entryway.

“Uh, sorry about him.”

Leo just shrugged. “Believe me, I’ve seen worse. Why don’t we get together on Sunday to finish the project?”

“Y-Yeah, sure. Sounds good.”

“I’ll text you.”

He headed out and Takumi shut the door behind him. It was still pretty warm out, but he hoped Leo didn’t have to walk too far. It was starting to get dark, and it looked like it might rain later that night.

All in all he was no longer absolutely dreading seeing Leo again. Hell, he was a completely different person than he usually was in school! He’d even called Mama ‘ma’am’!

He headed back upstairs to see if any more help was needed. Sakura and Elise had long since retreated into the basement to get things set up, and Hana and Effie would probably be there soon.

“Your friend seemed nice.” Mama was just finishing up the dishes and wiping her hands on a nearby towel.

“I don’t like him.” Ryoma slammed a plate down in the cupboard a little harder than usual.

He rolled his eyes. “You don’t have to like him, Ryoma. We’re just doing a class project together. Besides, he hates me anyways.”

It was true. Just because he was polite didn’t mean he liked Takumi. He was probably just minding his manners for once.

“Oh I don’t know about that, sweetie. The two of you seemed to get on just fine.” She had this glint in her eye.

“I told you, Mama, it’s not like that.”

“Good.” Ryoma muttered under his breath.

Gods, what a pain! He loved his brother, but he could be too overprotective sometimes. Heck, he still glared daggers at Hinata, and they’d been friends since they were five!

“I’ll be in my room if you need me.”

He spent the rest of the night watching dumb youtube videos to try and shake the horror movie from his mind.

_____________

Saturday went by pretty uneventfully. He and Hinata went to kendo practice in the morning and then they spent the rest of the day bumming around the park while the weather was still warm. Then later that night Oboro came over for their regular movie night.

Hinata hooked his laptop into the TV and started flicking through the movies. He and Oboro were already sitting on the couch with a big bowl of popcorn between them.

“So how did working on your project with Mister Prissy-pants go yesterday?”

“Actually, not terribly. It was, uh, actually kind of fun.”

Both of his friends stopped what they were doing and looked at him.

“Woah, hold the phone. You had fun. With Leo?”

“I mean… Look, he was still kind of a dick but I don’t know. We have a lot in common, and he was actually really sweet with Mama and his sister.”

Hinata whistled. “Well looks like it’s the end of the world everybody. Oboro, do you still have that zombie invasion action plan we wrote up?”

She shoved him. “Who said it was going to be a zombie invasion?”

“Who said it wasn’t?”

He was thankful that they didn’t push the subject, at least. Mama had been giving him that look ever since and Ryoma kept pulling him aside to have the talk. Just the memory of it made him shudder, and he was glad that Hinoka needed him for something before he could really get into it.

“I know you don’t like them, but can we please watch a horror movie? I know of a really good zombie flick now that you mention it!” Hinata urged.

Zombie movies, strangely enough, didn’t really bother him. Maybe because he knew how unlikely a zombie apocalypse was, and most of the movies were pretty bad anyways.

“Fine. But no more until Halloween!”

He started playing the movie and sat down on the couch next to Oboro. They were only about ten minutes in when he got distracted by a text from Leo.

Hey, sorry but I’m not going to be able to meet tomorrow.

What? Why?

Some family stuff came up. Sorry, we can talk about it more on Monday?

Alright, just don’t go tanking my grade with your slacking.

“Hey!” Oboro snapped her fingers. “Eyes on the screen!”

“Sorry, sorry!” He shut his phone off and set it aside.

He was a little disappointed. Maybe Leo got scared off by his family after all? But still, they could have met up at the library or something. He just hoped his overbearing brother wasn’t about to be the reason he failed a class.

______________

After awhile he started wondering what exactly came up to stop Leo from working on their project. Just three days ago he’d been so insistent that they get the project done immediately, but now he was delaying?

Though, it didn’t take him long to figure out what had happened. He walked into third period, and the first thing he noticed was the blonde in the second row. His left eye was swollen and bruised up. Takumi took his seat and set his backpack down.

“Geez, what happened?”

“Oh this? It’s nothing.” He brushed it off. He didn’t seem interested in talking about it, so he dropped it. Whatever it was, it wasn’t pleasant.

“… Did you want to get the rest of this project done today? I was thinking we could go to the library after school.”

“Yeah, sure. Sound’s good.”

He couldn’t pay attention for the rest of class. He knew it wasn’t any of his business, but he couldn’t help speculating. What the hell happened? Heck, he wouldn’t be at all surprised if Ryoma hunted him down after he left their house. Not that it’d happened, he could think of plenty of people that would want to punch Leo in the face.

______________

They decided to head to the library separately after school. Takumi arrived first. It was a pretty big library, and they’d agreed to meet near the back. There was a section specifically designed for teens to hang around in. There were a few tables, some computers, and a couple of board games, TVs, and even a game console. He didn’t usually come back to this section, but it was the most recognizable one so he’d picked it on a whim.

He was currently sitting at the chess table they had back there. He didn’t really have anything to do until Leo got there, and his phone was running low on battery so he was absentmindedly moving the pieces around.

There wasn’t really anyone else around, so he perked up immediately once Leo came in.

The Alpha nodded at the board. “You play?”

“Oh gods, you are a chess nerd. I knew it.”

Leo shrugged and dropped his backpack on the ground next to his chair. “My father used to play with me when I was a kid.”

“That’s nice.”

“Yeah, it was… Do you want to play a game?”

“Sure, but I’m not that good. I prefer shogi.”

“Show-gee? Is that like chess?”

“Yeah, a bit.”

As it turned out, Leo was quite good. He won pretty easily, and as much as he wanted to let his competitive spirit out he pushed his chair out and moved to one of the tables.

“You don’t want to play another game?”

“Oh believe me, I’m going to kick your ass in the future. But Mama wants me home for dinner so we should probably work on the project.”

They managed to finish up their project over the next two hours of working. He finished the paper, Leo finished the powerpoint, and then they swapped to proof read. He was pretty happy with the work overall, but he did veto some of Leo’s color choices for the slides.

When they were done he packed up his things, and Leo did the same.

“Would you like me to walk you home?”

He didn’t live too far from the library. It was about half way between their high school and his house. All together it would be about a fifteen minute walk from there to his house, but Mama and Ryoma wouldn’t usually let him walk anywhere by himself. They lived in an okay neighborhood, but they definitely bordered on a bad part of town. Another fifteen minutes of walking past his house and there was nothing but ramshackle ranch houses and trailers. He’d originally planned to call up Ryoma or Hinoka to get a ride, but it was a nice day, and if he had Leo with him…

“Are you sure? I can get a ride?”

“Don’t worry about it, it’s on my way.”

“Y-Yeah, sure.”

It would be nice to get some time to talk without his family or school projects getting in the way. He was vaguely aware of the fact that he was actually starting to like Leo. But hey, how couldn’t he? It was like someone reached into his head, pulled out all of his favorite things, and stuffed them into the body of a tall, pretty Alpha. And those eyes? Gods, those piercing, red eyes. It almost wasn’t fair.

He found out that they had even more in common on the walk home. His favorite food was beef stew, which was kind of like a soup. Though it was second only in his heart to tomatoes. Takumi had brought up the subject accidentally, and Leo had begun rambling on about them.

“… And when you bite into them! Gods it’s divine!”

“Woah, hold up. You eat raw tomatoes?”

“Yes, don’t you?”

“No. Actually, I don’t think anyone does.”

“You’re missing out.”

He scrunched up his nose. “Gross.”

Leo gently nudged him as they walked. “Hey, don’t make fun. Someday I’m going to have a garden full of just tomato plants. Then you’ll see.”

Takumi pushed him back, just a little harder. “Don’t be such a weirdo, then!”

Those fifteen minutes almost went by too fast, and before he knew it they were standing at his front door. He didn’t really want to say goodbye, but Ryoma would probably just embarrass the hell out of him, and if he didn’t come home for dinner Mama would be upset.

“So I’ll uh, see you in class tomorrow?”

“Couldn’t miss it if I wanted to.” He answered dryly. It was one of those jokes that wasn’t really a joke, the kind Takumi couldn’t help laughing at.

Leo waited for him to get inside the house before he left.

“Takumi? I thought you were going to call for a ride? You didn’t walk home alone, did you?”

“No Mama, Leo walked with me.”

“Really, he did?”

He rolled his eyes. “He was just being polite. He said it was on his way anyways.”

“Is it?”

He shrugged. He’d just taken Leo’s word for it but he didn’t check to see if the Alpha had turned back the way they came or not.

“I’m going to finish up the rest of my homework. Do you need anything?”

“No I’m fine dear. Dinner in an hour.”

Ryoma and Sakura had long since finished their homework, but Hinoka was still sitting at the dining room table when he put his backpack down. She’d probably just walked home from practice and taken a shower – Mama always made her take a shower before dinner so she didn’t stink up the place.

He loved Hinoka, but he didn’t really get to spend that much time with her. Once she got to high school most of her free time was spent either at practice or hanging out with her teammates. That, and she and Ryoma were quite close. Pretty much anything he shared with her got passed on to his brother, whether he wanted it to be or not. He supposed it made sense, he was far closer to Sakura and they were far closer to each other, but it made it much harder to relate to her.

“So…” She opened up the conversation. “Leo?”

“Oh gods, not you too!”

“Hey, I’m not judging! I think it’s great that you’re getting along! He’s a good kid.”

“He’s sixteen, he’s not a kid. And how would you know what he’s like?”

She shrugged. “Just the impression I got from him at dinner. And sometimes his sister helps out at bake sales and things for the team. She talks about him a lot.”

He did vaguely recall a busty, purple haired Alpha coming by a few times in the past to see Hinoka. She hadn’t been around long enough for him to register the connection, but now that he thought about it he did hear quite a bit about Camilla. Mostly jealous rumors from the girls in his grade, or the guys bemoaning how she only ever seemed to flirt with other girls.

“Well you don’t have to go running to Ryoma. Like I told him, we’re just doing our class projects together.”

“Alright little brother. I believe you.”

_______________

The due date for their first project came and went. They got an A, obviously, and strangely enough Takumi couldn’t wait for the next one. He and Leo worked well together, and it was nice having a project partner that didn’t distract the hell out of him for once.

In the meantime, they started spending more and more time together. In addition to his Saturday movie nights with Hinata and Oboro, he and Leo had a Friday movie night now too. Sometimes they watched them in his room, sometimes the basement. They’d begun switching off between B horror movies and terrible sci-fi flicks. Sometimes they didn’t watch a movie at all, they just played video games or a board game or just talked.

It was a few days before Thanksgiving, so they’d decided to have their movie night after school on that Tuesday instead. Though they’d never gotten around to picking a movie. His computer was lying a few feet away, HDMI cable plugged in and idling on the Netflix home screen.

He was lying down on one end of the couch, knees bent, and Leo was on the other. Their legs were just barely close enough to touch.

“What do you guys do for Thanksgiving?”

“Nothing really.”

“Really? Nothing?”

“Father hates holidays.”

“Your father sounds like a dick.”

The Alpha snorted. “You don’t know the half of it.”

He’d been wondering for awhile. Leo never talked about his family, or at least he didn’t talk about his dad. Over the past few months he’d been slowly piecing some things together, but the picture was still frustratingly incomplete.

“… Hey Leo?”

“Yeah?”

“You remember that black eye you had a few months ago?”

“What about it?”

“… How did you get it?”

He immediately regretted asking. Leo sat up, and Takumi mirrored him.

“I’m sorry. You don’t have to tell me if you don’t want to.”

Leo just shrugged. “Why bother hiding it? My father isn’t exactly the most even tempered guy. He kind of flipped his lid when Elise came home that Saturday morning. Kept ranting about how she was whoring around with Alphas – I guess he smelled your siblings on her. I tried to stop him from throwing her out.”

“Oh… I’m sorry.”

“Don’t be. It is what it is.”

Takumi scooted closer to him. He didn’t really know what to say, so he did what he always did when one of his siblings was upset. He hugged him. The Alpha seemed surprised, but he didn’t pull away.

Leo smelled nice. Like a forest on a sunny, warm day. Like dirt and grass and… honeysuckle? It was a lot to take in at once. And he was so warm and his skin was so soft…

Footsteps pounded down the stairs, and he pushed the Alpha away quickly just before Ryoma could see them. Leo scooted back quickly and he turned to his computer screen so Ryoma wouldn’t suspect anything.

“Are you two doing okay down here?”

“Get out of here, Ryoma! Mama told you not to bug us!”

He was trying to hide his blushing face from his brother, but it was a losing battle. He might have been mistaken, but he thought he saw a small tint to Leo’s cheeks too.

“As long as the two of you are… getting along.” He gave Leo the I hope you aren’t fucking around down here look before he went back upstairs. Gods, he was only fifteen, why did Ryoma not trust him to keep his hormones in check?

“A-Anyways… Do you want to spend Thanksgiving here? I’m sure Mama won’t mind, she always makes too much food.”

“You don’t have to be nice to me just because of my father.”

“It’s not because of that! I would have invited you, anyways. Geez, who doesn’t have a holiday celebration?”

“… I’ll think about it. And thanks for the offer.”

______________

He’d been friends with Hinata and Oboro for a long time. They were both Alphas, but he’d never felt anything special for them. He’d never gotten butterflies in his stomach thinking about them, and he’d never spent hours going through his closet to find the right outfit before he saw them. But here he was, Thanksgiving morning, doing exactly that.

He tried to justify it. Well we’ve never had guests before. At least, no guests that weren’t Hinata, Oboro, or one of his siblings’ friends.

But then wasn’t Leo just one of his friends, too?

Mama was okay with him coming over, just like he knew she would be. Ryoma was less than thrilled, something about how he was “too young to be dating”. Whatever, he’d get over it. He and Leo weren’t even dating. He wasn’t even sure if the Alpha liked him.

He pulled at least five things out of the closet and laid them over the bed. He was staring at them hopelessly when Sakura came into the room. She was already dressed for the day in an oversized orange sweater-dress and some plain black leggings. She even had a pair of matching orange slippers and a matching headband and gods he’d never envied girls for having so many cute clothing options, but he was right now.

“A-Are you trying to look good for Leo?”

“Help.”

He’d never in a million years admit to crushing on someone to his older siblings, but Sakura was different.

“J-Just be yourself! I’m s-sure he likes you just the way you are!”

“Yeah, but I still want to look nice! But I also don’t want to look like I’m trying to look nice, you know?” He’d been wearing sweatpants and plain v-neck t-shirts the last couple of times they’d hung out. He couldn’t help himself, it’d been Friday! That was his comfy day!

“A-Alright, let me see what I can do.” She giggled.

It wasn’t too far off what he’d normally wear, in the end. She pulled out one of his usual black v-necks and a pair of jeans, but she also managed to dig out an old button down that he was pretty sure he’d gotten as a hand-me-down from Ryoma. The sleeves were a little long, so he just rolled them up to the elbows and left the front unbuttoned.

The only accessory he really owned an extensive collection of was hair ribbons. Mama usually bought him the same thing for every birthday or Christmas: A book and a hair ribbon. He loved both, so he wasn’t complaining. Sakura found a plain orange one to match the Thanksgiving theme and he quickly tied his hair up with it.

With that all sorted, they spent most of the rest of the day cooking with Mama while Ryoma and Hinoka cleaned up. They didn’t really do the traditional American thanksgiving, instead Mama tried to cook everyone’s favorite foods. There was almost always miso soup for him, salmon for Ryoma, and pickled vegetables for Hinoka along with rice, duck, a salad, and some stir-fried vegetables. She also made tea, and Sakura’s favorite mochi for dessert.

It was a pretty big task to cook it all, and they always had a ton of leftovers. Mama joked that she was glad they were finally old enough to help her out, since she used to do all of it by herself.

Hinoka popped her head in around four o’clock.

“How many places should we set?”

“Hmm… I think we’ll be having nine?”

“Nine? Who all is coming?”

“Well there’s the five of us, Leo and Elise makes seven… And since they’re coming I told them to just invite their whole family, so Xander and Camilla makes nine.”

He heard Ryoma groan from the living room. “You invited Xander?”

“Well I wasn’t going to invite everyone but Xander! That would be rude, Ryoma!” She yelled back.

He’d considered inviting Oboro and Hinata as well, but Oboro was travelling to visit family this year and Hinata’s parents were inviting over some relatives so he had to be at home. Plus, he’d avoided having Leo meet his friends thus far. Not that he was embarrassed of them or anything, he just wasn’t sure how well they’d all get along.

Everyone arrived around five, and he ran down to get the door before Ryoma could jump at it. Only Camilla, Leo, and Elise were at the door, and the eldest was holding a bottle of something. It was lightly snowing outside, so he ushered them in quickly.

“Thank you so much for inviting us, dear!” She handed over the bottle.

“Yeah, no problem. Make yourselves at home.” He hung their coats up on the nearby coat rack. Camilla and Elise ran upstairs, but Leo hung back with him.

He pulled the bottle out of the bag to get a better look at it.

“Sake? Where did you guys even get this?” As far as he knew, none of them were of age. Well, Xander might be eighteen, but he wasn’t there.

“Father won’t miss one bottle. He doesn’t even like sake, it’s just been sitting around the house.”

He shrugged. Mama sometimes drank sake, and usually she would let them have a taste around the holidays. He just put it on the kitchen counter and started getting down the serving dishes for the food. Camilla wandered in a few minutes later.

“Is there anything at all I can help with?”

He’d never seen an Alpha offer to help with kitchen stuff, but there was a first time for everything. Ryoma and Hinoka would usually help out, but only if directly asked.

“Oh don’t worry about it. You’re a guest! Besides, we’re almost done here. Just go take a seat, dinner will be in a few minutes.”

He caught a few snippets of conversation as he and Sakura carried dishes out to the table. Mainly Hinoka and Camilla discussing what the baseball season would look like come spring. Ryoma occasionally added to the conversation, but overall it was nothing he was too interested in. Elise must have been in the bathroom, and Leo was boredly sitting at the table. It didn’t take long to get everything on the table, so when it was all ready he took his usual seat next to Leo.

“Won’t Xander be joining us?”

“I’m afraid he had to work, actually.” Camilla answered. Mama took the empty plate away and he, Leo, and Hinoka all shifted over a little to make things even. He ended up sitting directly across from Sakura, Leo was in front of Elise, and Hinoka was facing Camilla.

“This all looks wonderful ma’am! I hope you had some help!” Camilla added as they began passing things around the table.

“Yes, Takumi and Sakura are quite the little chefs now!” She laughed. “I remember when they were little they tried to help cook and they nearly burnt the house down! Little Takumi came sprinting down the hall, hair singed to drag me out of bed… And what do I find in the kitchen? Ryoma and Hinoka standing over a smoking pan and Sakura crying in the corner!”

They all laughed about it now, but he remembered that year all too well. That was the year Papa died. He was maybe five? Mama didn’t get out of bed for weeks unless it was to take care of them, and little seven year old Ryoma thought it might help cheer her up if they cooked for her. Of course they were kids so none of them knew how to cook. It got her out of bed, though. It was easy to laugh at in retrospect, but at the time it had probably shocked her back into being alive and a mother.

But it wasn’t really the time for such discussions, so he laughed along.

“Mama kept the knives out of reach and I wanted to make soup. So I just dumped whole vegetables into a pot of water. Didn’t even turn the stove on. I thought her head was going to explode!”

“Kids just do the strangest things, don’t they?” Camilla added. Though, wasn’t she still a kid herself? “When we were little Elise wanted to play princesses, and unfortunately poor Leo was the only one around at the time. Elise dressed them both up in mother’s clothes and used up every last bit of her makeup! By the end they both looked like something straight out of a clown horror movie!”

“Oh? Is that where the love of headbands stems from?” He teased, nudging Leo’s foot under the table. The Alpha scoffed.

“Coming from the guy with a collection of hair ribbons.”

“Hey, don’t knock ‘em. Do you even know how hard it is to use scrunchies when you have all of this hair?”

“Why not just cut it?”

He mock-gasped. “Blasphemy.”

Leo kicked him playfully under the table, and he laughed.

Thankfully, it ended up being a very bearable holiday. Ryoma didn’t spend half of dinner re-grilling Leo like he usually did when the Alpha came over, and his brother even seemed to get along with Camilla. Plus, after dinner they all went down to the basement to watch dumb holiday movies. It was a pretty big couch, but with eight people was still a squeeze. So, naturally in the interest of making space he had to get as close to Leo as possible.

He wasn’t on top of him or anything, but he was practically glued to his side. They also didn’t have too many blankets in the basement, so he and Leo had to share. About half way through the movie the overwhelming scent of honeysuckle and grass and Leo was starting to get to his head, and he was getting antsy. They didn’t normally sit this close when they were alone, and his Alpha scent was doing very weird things to his hormones.

He started fidgeting with his hands, scratching his nails down the leg of his jeans or tapping his fingers. Leo tapped the back of his hand with his knuckles. He froze, and once he was still the Alpha grabbed his hand and laced their fingers together under the blanket.

He was at a complete loss for words. At no point did Leo’s eyes leave the screen, but he did squeeze his hand when Takumi looked over at him from the corner of his eye. He felt like he was about to explode. Leo was holding his hand. He could have died happy then and there.

When they left he was on top of the moon. Maybe Leo did like him back. He was so giddy he could barely get to sleep.

________________

He was hopeful when he returned to school the following week, but the Alpha didn’t seem keen on acknowledging that anything had happened. He didn’t bring it up, and it certainly didn’t happen again. Even when they were completely alone in his basement.

He wasn’t sure what he’d been expecting to happen after Thanksgiving, but it certainly wasn’t nothing. They finished their last two projects together, and they kept their regular Friday night hangouts, but nothing happened.

Tomorrow was their last day before the end of the semester. He and Sakura were already in their pajamas and ready for bed, but they weren’t sleeping just yet. He was lying face down with his head buried in the pillow, and she was sitting on the end of his bed with him.

“I don’t know Sakura, maybe I’m an idiot. I thought he liked me.”

“Maybe he does? I m-mean, he did hold your hand.”

“But that was a month ago! Why hasn’t he done anything else? I thought he’d ask me out or try to kiss me or something, but he’s acting like nothing happened!”

“W-Why don’t you ask him out then?”

“Are you crazy? What if he said no? Gods it’d be so embarrassing!”

“Maybe he’s j-just waiting until the end of the semester?”

He looked up from his pillow. She had a look to her that immediately set something off in his head.

“Sakura… Do you know something?”

She giggled. It wouldn’t be unusual… She was friends with Leo’s little sister, and Elise was becoming notorious for being a bit of a blabber mouth. Sakura got up and scurried back to her bed.

“C-Come on, it’s late. Worry about it t-tomorrow.”

It didn’t make him feel better, but it did give him a little hope.

___________

He waited anxiously for third period. It was the last day of classes before winter break, so most teachers didn’t have anything for them to do. He had his Geometry final in the morning, but that was about it. He hadn’t even bothered studying because even if he completely failed he’d still be getting an A in the class. Third period they were just doing presentations for their final projects, and he and Leo had already presented theirs.

Leo leaned over to him when he sat down in class.

“Hey… Can you wait for me after school? I want to ask you something.”

His heart was already pounding, but now it was doing double time.

“O-Okay.”

The rest of the day couldn’t go by fast enough. He barely even touched his lunch, and Hinata spent the entire time teasing him about his “future boyfriend”. He didn’t want to get his hopes up too high. For all he knew Leo wanted to talk about something completely unrelated.

When the end of the day came he anxiously waited by the exit for Leo. Ryoma still had to drive them home, but he hoped that his brother wouldn’t show up and kill the moment until after Leo had asked him whatever he was going to ask him.

The Alpha was with one of his friends, the white-haired one with the eyepatch. They looked like they were debating something, and eventually Leo gave an exasperated sigh. His friend apparently got his way, at least if his giddy look was any indication. The other Alpha sniggered and pushed the blonde his way.

“Hey, Leo!” He tried to be casual, but his excitement was bleeding through in his voice.

“Hey, uh… Look this is going to sound stupid, but Niles wanted me to ask…”

“Uh huh?”

“I was just wondering…”

“Yeah?” He tried not to get his hopes up, but damn were his hopes up.

Leo sighed.

“How much would it be?”

“For what?”

“For you to blow me in the bathroom.”

He had no words. He just gaped at the Alpha for a minute, and finally stuttered out an “Excuse me?”

Ryoma was less calm about it. He’d apparently been coming down the hall behind Leo, and unfortunately for the blonde Alpha he’d heard the whole thing. His backpack thunked to the ground behind him. Leo’s eyes widened as Ryoma grabbed him by the shoulder and turned him around.

“What makes you think that you can talk to my brother like that?”

“W-Woah, hey hold on-”

But he didn’t get to finish his sentence. Ryoma punched him straight in the mouth. Leo recoiled, then bolted in the opposite direction. His brother tried to run after him, but Takumi grabbed him by the arm.

“Ryoma no!”

“You’re just going to let him disrespect you like that? I know you like him, but come on Takumi!”

“He’s not worth it. You only have one semester left until graduation, do you really want to get suspended or worse?”

That seemed to level his head. He took a deep breath, then picked his backpack up off of the floor.

“Come on. We’d better get home before I change my mind.”

The drive home was a quiet one. As soon as they were home he dropped his backpack in the entryway.

“Hey how was school?”

“I don’t want to talk about it.” He called over his shoulder and ran up to his room. Mama tried to follow him, but he slammed the door and curled up in bed.

What an asshole! Just when he’d started actually liking Leo, he goes and acts like every other Alpha! Was that all he was to these people? A set of fucking holes? They had so much in common, they’d had so much fun together over the past few months, but all he cared about was getting his knot swallowed? Fuck it, he was never talking to another Alpha ever again. They could all shove it, for what he cared. He’d just die alone.

He’d just resigned himself to wallowing in self-pity when there was a soft knock on the door.

“Not now, Mama.”

She came in anyways and sat down on the end of his bed.

“Ryoma told me what happened. Do you want to talk about it?”

He sat up and let her wrap an arm around his shoulders. He buried his face in her shirt and just let the tears loose.

“I thought he r-really liked me! I’m s-such an idiot!”

“Shh, it’s okay baby. There’ll be other Alphas.”

“They’re all the same! They’re just looking for somewhere to stick their dicks!”

“You’re still young. There’ll be other Alphas. I didn’t meet your father until I was in my twenties.”

“Yeah, but Papa wasn’t awful!”

She let him cry it out, until his chest hurt and his eyes were dry and he was sniffling and hiccuping. It probably took a good three hours, but she didn’t leave his side. She just held him and waited. Only once he’d cried himself dry did she speak up again.

“Why don’t I take you all out for dinner?”

“You don’t have to do that.”

“Consider it a reward for your good grades?”

“We haven’t even gotten our report cards back.”

“But I know you all did wonderfully. Come on, it’ll be fun. You can have all the miso soup you want!”

“… Alright. Thanks, Mama.”

He blew his nose and washed his face off. His eyes were still a little red and puffy still, but he grabbed his coat anyways.

Everyone else was already ready to go. Ryoma must have filled them in too because Sakura ran over and gave him a hug as soon as he got to the living room.

They almost always went to the same restaurant when they went out for dinner. It was a little Japanese place on the other side of town. Mama liked to go there sometimes because that was where she and Papa met when she used to waitress there. The food was pretty good, and they ran special all-you-can-eat sushi deals so they could get a lot for pretty cheap. Plus, Mama got a discount.

Everyone tried their best to keep it light. He ate about five bowls of miso soup, and by the end of it he was feeling a lot better. He even managed to smile at a few of Hinoka’s dumb jokes.

By the time they were done it was snowing pretty hard outside, and it took them awhile to get home in the blizzard. It was already pitch black outside, but when they pulled up to the house there was someone sitting clearly on their front stoop. He caught a flash of blonde hair as their lights went past, and he heard Ryoma swear from the front seat.

“That bastard!”

Mama pushed him inside the house as soon as they were in the garage. Takumi tried to follow her, but she stopped him.

“Just go talk to him, sweetheart.”

“But Mama–”

“I understand, just ask if he wants a ride home. I’d send your brother to do it but…”

He rolled his eyes and pulled his scarf over his nose. Leo stood up when he saw him come out of the garage. His lip was busted and bloody, and he was shivering but otherwise he seemed fine. He brushed off a fine dusting of snow from his shoulders.

“Takumi I–”

“Don’t.”

“Look, I understand if you don’t want to talk to me, and after I say this I’ll leave if you want me to.”

“Fine. What are you doing here?”

“I just wanted to say that I’m sorry.”

“You’re sorry?”

“Yes.”

“Why? Why would you say that to me in the first place?”

“It was just a stupid dare. I was going to apologize afterwards, but your brother kind of decked me and I wanted to avoid being beaten to a bloody pulp.”

He shook his head. “You don’t get it! It isn’t funny! Do you know how many times I’ve had Alphas seriously say that kind of stuff to me?”

“I’m sorry. I didn’t realize that you would be so hurt by it, I thought it would just be a dumb, harmless joke. There’s no excuse, and all I can do is apologize.”

He was shivering like crazy now, and his cheeks and nose were bright red. He must have been standing out there for awhile if he was in such a shape. He knew Alphas ran a little warmer, but Leo’s coat wasn’t very thick to begin with and he didn’t have a hat, gloves, or scarf.

He let out an exasperated sigh and grabbed the Alpha by the wrist.

“You’re going to freeze to death out here, come on.”

He dragged him into the house. Ryoma was already waiting for them in the foyer.

“What is he doing here?”

“Don’t start, Ryoma.”

Takumi pulled him into his room and swapped Leo’s coat out for one of his thick wool blankets. He tossed his own coat and scarf aside and sat down next to the Alpha on the bed.

“… Thank you.”

“You looked so pathetic out there.”

Leo chuckled. “I must have just missed you, I’ve been waiting for an hour.”

An hour? It must have been ten below out there!

He bumped him with his shoulder. “You’re an idiot. Why didn’t you just text me?”

“Because I felt like an ass, and my father took my phone away when he saw the split lip.”

“Still, it could have waited until tomorrow. You could have frozen to death.”

“But I didn’t.”

“No, I guess you didn’t.”

Leo shivered under the blanket. He pulled one half of the oversized blanket over his shoulder and scooted closer. Leo’s skin was cold to the touch, and now that they were in the light he could see his lips had been turning a bit blue. His blonde hair was dripping as the snow melted off of it, but he rested his head on Leo’s wet shoulder anyways.

“Takumi?”

“Yeah?”

“I wanted to ask you something, too. I mean, I meant to ask you something after I completed Niles’s stupid dare.”

His heart was beating out of his chest. “What was it?”

“I wanted to know if you would go out with me? I mean, the theater is doing some showings of old documentaries and I thought you might want to go with me… But I understand if you don’t want to, after all of this.”

“Y-You mean like… On a date?”

“Well… Yes, that was the intention?”

He’d been waiting for this for months now. And, in spite of the events of the day he was still ecstatic.

“… Swear you’ll never talk to me like that again?”

“For as long as I live.”

Leo didn’t hesitate in his response. So, neither did he.

“Alright, but you’re on probation. And you’re buying the popcorn to make it up to me.”

“Of course, I am a gentleman after all.”

“A gentleman that asks Omegas to choke on his dick?”

“Not all Omegas, just the ones I like.”

He laughed in spite of himself.

“Well, good luck getting Ryoma to like you after that one.”

“Baby steps, Takumi. Baby steps.”

[bnheadcanons-scenarios]

Sooo... I'm sorry to ask this, I know you are so busy, and don't need to do If you can't, okay?! You're too much important! But, well... I can request a SoulMate!AU Bakushima...? Like, with the string-things, or that of the birthmark, you know? I really love your scenarios, really! I hope you get well,

YOU DON’T UNDERSTAND

I LIVE FOR SOULMATE AUS!!!!

I’ll write for you as long as I can! I can’t guarantee I’ll be fast about it but I’ll do my best!!

Also I wrote one here a while ago;) and I’ve had a wip of another one saved for like forever so I decided to finish

–

They say that you just know that they’re your soulmate when you see the tattoo.

Many people who don’t believe in soulmates or who are too afraid to find theirs or for some other reason covered up their tattoo at all times to prevent ever finding their other half. However, a majority of the population kept theirs uncovered.

Kirishima never hid his soulmark. Why would he? He was extremely proud to have a soulmate and wanted to show them off to the world. You know, if he ever found them. And he desperately wanted to find them, which was half of the reason for designing a topless hero costume. That way, he could proudly show the world the tattoo that he was given at birth.

He touched the grenade that rested over his ribs, fingers tracing over the explosion that was the backdrop, smiling softly as he thought of his soulmate. What kind of person was his soulmate for him to have such a design on his body? Mina once told him that they must have an explosive personality, to which he just laughed and rolled his eyes.

His hand lingered on the ink for a second longer before he put his uniform shirt on, buttoning it up and straightening out the wrinkles. He tied his tie and put his jacket on before looking at himself in the mirror. With a final glance, he smiled at his reflection before grabbing his bag, running down the stairs and out the door, excitedly bidding farewell to his parents.

The walk itself was uneventful but Kirishima’s mood was sky high. After all, he was about to start his first day in the UA hero course. Who wouldn’t be excited about that?

The closer he got to campus, the more excited he became. As he approached the gate, he heard a loud, excited shrill followed by footsteps rapidly approaching him. He turned just in time to see Mina run at him before she launched herself into his arms. Kirishima caught her, arms wrapping around her waist as hers wrapped around his neck, spinning her around. After a few seconds of excited screaming, earning them some strange looks from the other students, Kirishima set her down. They continued to talk as they walked to class together.

“Ah! I’m so glad we’re in the same class Kiri! Oh! Do you think our soulmates are gonna be there too? How awesome would that be if they were! Our soulmates could be potential pro heroes too!”

“Man that would be pretty cool!” His hand reflexively went to his ribs as he saw Mina bring her wrist up to look at her own soulmark that she’s had since birth. Thoughts of their soulmates disappeared when they entered their classroom, excitement returning full force as the day started.

–

The first half of classes went by pretty uneventful, though there were some interesting people around. The main one that stood out to Kirishima was the angry blonde kid in the back of the class. He was loud, vulgar, and just plain rude in general but for some reason, Kirishima thought it was funny and kind of adorable. What shocked him, though, was that he seemed to quiet down as soon as lectures started and actively paid attention to class.

At some point, he found out that the loud, angry, attractive guy was none other than Bakugou Katsuki, the top student in class. Immediately, Kirishima was even more impressed, and also confused as to when he started to mentally call Bakugou “attractive”.

Lunch came and he immediately found Mina, who had introduced him to two other people in their class, Sero and Kaminari, who he just clicked with. He talked to them as they walked to the lunchroom and decided to sit together. While they were eating, however, Kirishima started to zone out and apparently started staring at Bakugou, who was sitting at the other end of the table. He snapped out of it when he saw red eyes stare back at him. Kirishima smiled and waved over at him but only received a scowl in return before the blonde turned away from him, the tips of his ears dusted pink.

“Dude, don’t even try. That guy doesn’t seem like he’d get along with anyone,” Kaminari told Kirishima, the other two agreeing with him.

“Hm, doesn’t hurt to try though. Plus the dude is top in the class so he must be pretty good at everything.”

“Yeah, except being nice to people.” Kirishima just shrugged and changed the topic, asking Kaminari and Sero about their pasts.

–

After lunch came training and, unfortunately, they couldn’t wear their hero costumes yet. Instead, they had to wear their gym uniforms. As Kirishima was changing, he felt someone lift his arm up and touch his soulmark.

“Bro! That’s such a cool mark!” Kaminari proclaimed, pulling Sero over to look at it too. He just scratched the back of his neck sheepishly as they looked at the details of his tattoo.

“You know, they say the more detailed the mark, the stronger bond you have with your soulmate and, damn Kiri, your mark is pretty detailed.”

“You’re right, Kami, his even has shading!” Sero pointed out.

“I wonder what the grenade means though.”

Before Kirishima could open his mouth to say something, he heard a locker slam and Bakugou to storm out of the locker room, scowling. The three exchanged looks before shrugging and finished getting dressed to start their training.

–

Throughout the quirk assessment, Kirishima couldn’t help but watch his classmate, all of whom were extremely strong. However, his mind kept wandering to Bakugou and how he was especially talented and seemed to have complete control over his quirk. It also seemed eerily familiar, which was a weird thought to have but just shrugged it off to him just being even more impressed with how cool and manly the other is.

He made it a point to catch up to Bakugou on their way to the locker room, trying to be friendly.

“Your quirk is so cool dude! It’s super strong and flashy! I bet you’ll get plenty of offers after graduation with a quirk that useful!”

“I know. Now get the fuck away, Shitty Hair.” Bakugou opened his locker door in Kirishima’s face, scowling at the other before turning to lift his shirt over his head. As Kirishima was about to walk away, he caught a glimpse of something red on the other’s side. Curiosity got the better of him as he paused and looked at the color longer.

What he saw was a tattoo of a red, sleeping dragon settled on his ribs, scales and other features drawn in incredible detail, the shading expertly done. Kirishima felt as if his breath was knocked out of his lungs, barely able to stop his hand from reaching out to touch the ink. He felt a strong pull towards the tattoo. Kirishima snapped out of his trance when Bakugou’s arm lowered to his side, covering up the mark.

“What the fuck are you staring at? Are you a fucking perv on top of being an obnoxious asshole?”

Kirishima couldn’t speak, instead slowly lifting up the left side of his shirt, revealing his own mark. Bakugou’s gaze went down before he two froze, just staring at the mark, eyes blown wide in shock. Eventually, he looked back up, face expressionless. Kirishima managed a shaky smile while the other scowled again.

“Well, shit.”

–

A year later and Kirishima was nuzzled into Bakugou’s side, both shirtless. Kirishima was tracing the dragon on his side, following the curves with his fingertips.

“You know, Mina was right.”

“Hm?”

“She said that my soulmate had an explosive personality since their mark was a grenade.” He looked up and chuckled. “I say that describes you pretty well.”

Bakugou went silent for a moment, his arm pausing from where it was rubbing circles on Kirishima’s bicep. “My mom used to tell me that dragons symbolized protection and support and strength.” He looked down at the redhead. “I’d say that’s pretty accurate too.”