#aka my favorite ioryuu trope lmao

[thatlittledandere]

Of Course I Dare!

Pairing: Naruko Io/Zaou Ryuu

Summary: “They do say that kisses given in a game of Spin the Bottle don’t count, but I understand if he still doesn’t dare do it–“

Ryuu slammed his hands on the table and loudly exclaimed: “Of course I dare!” No way would the notorious playboy Ryuu Zaou ever let anyone imply he would chicken out of a kiss! He turned to Io with a determined expression, trying to keep up his confidence.

"Let's do it, then!"

Words: 2354

ao3

Kinugawa-senpai’s words from the training camp echoed in Ryuu’s mind (again) as he was getting ready for school. How could he have been so observant!? Okay, so maybe Ryuu did like Io a little more than as a friend. Oh, to hell with it, who was he kidding? Of course he did. Ryuu Zaou, the master of romance, knew a crush when he had one. Which was often.

But he thought he’d gotten pretty good at hiding his feelings for boys. No better teacher than past experiences. (Ryuu remembered all too well the consequences of confessing to Seito-kun in sixth grade and how they had affected his self-esteem, and was glad he was getting over it.) So how in the world had his senpai (or, judging from Yufuin-senpai’s shameless accusations, senpais) noticed? Sure, he and Io hung out a lot and Ryuu was rather open about the appreciation he had for Io and yeah, he got a little touchy every now and again, but the other members of the club didn’t even know he was bi! There should have been no way!

Ryuu shivered at the word “bi” he had used in his head. He was still getting used to this whole “maybe gays are not that gross after all” thing. Unlearning attitudes was hard, even if learning about bisexuality on the internet probably saved his life. Or his emotional well-being at least. After years of intense self-doubt, denial and even loathing he sort of accepted that side of himself now but…

Io was Io! Ryuu’s best friend! Ryuu was used to falling for people quickly, on public transport, or during group projects in school, or festivals, or whatever, but he’d been close to Io for quite some time, so why now? Why somebody he saw every day and had to act platonic with? He was an open person with his heart on his sleeve, dammit! It wasn’t fair!

… Shit. At this rate he’d soon be late again.

Despite the morning’s distracting thoughts, Ryuu’s day went by completely normally. Nobody suspected a thing. He really was good at this. No wonder, having had months of practice. After settling on a seat in their clubroom, Ryuu flipped out his phone to see a received message from his latest conquest.

Yoshiko: Had fun on our date! Let’s meet up again sometime? You COULD even get a kiss ;) maybe

But how would kissing Io feel like? Ryuu looked back to the kisses he had shared with girls before: the tender brushes of lips, the pecks and bites, the play fights with tongues and licking the insides of each other’s mouths. Hands caressing backs and shoulders, light touches on cheeks and playing with the other’s hair.

Ryuu: oh, arent you eager ;)

Awkwardness after failing to read the mood. The occasional teeth clattering, bleeding after a little too forceful biting and unwanted giggles at inappropriate times due to being too damn ticklish. Can’t have the good without the bad or not-so-good.

Yoshiko: Stop teasing. I know you’re even more impatient than I am.

Kissing, especially on the lips, was something Ryuu considered almost sacred. A way to stop them from being scared, sad or annoying, a way to confirm whether there were deeper feelings involved or not, a way to find surprising sides of people. Almost always a pleasant experience. Always different.

Ryuu: got me there :P hbu next saturday? coffee sound good?

But Io was Io. Not only was he a boy, he was also someone Ryuu had known for a long time, who he knew better than anyone else, who he could do anything – or nothing at all – with, and would always have a good time.

Yoshiko: Gotcha! You know where I live, meet me at 7!

Ryuu knew where Yoshiko lived, yes, but he didn’t know how. He didn’t know how she behaved when she first woke up in the morning and and what was the last thing she did before going to bed. He didn’t know what her parents or siblings were like. He didn’t know what type of shampoo she used, if she brushed her teeth before or after breakfast and if she preferred hot or cold water in the shower.

Ryuu didn’t know any of those things about any of the girls he had dated. He didn’t even know those things about his friends. He had never asked.

But if anyone were to ask those mundane, seemingly meaningless details about Io’s life, Ryuu could answer in his sleep. Io was different.

Breaking out of his own world, Ryuu heard his friends discuss meeting at Kurotama bath the next weekend for a slumber party. (Ryuu missed the start of the conversation, but had a strong hunch it was Yufuin-senpai’s idea.) No specific reason needed; just friends hanging out, chilling, maybe playing some games.

“I have a date on Saturday, but if it’s on Friday, I can make it!”

Ryuu: cant wait!

Friday came and Ryuu made his way to Kurotama, where Yumoto somehow managed to convince everyone to gather around the table to play Truth Or Dare. Something about a chance to learn more about each other, Ryuu thought he had said; the room they were in was kind of hot, Io had opened two top buttons on his pajama top and Ryuu was preoccupied with his collar bones and a hint of the chest he already knew was well toned but damn–

“Ryuu?” Io’s voice broke through Ryuu’s thoughts and he really hoped Io hadn’t seen him staring. Ryuu hadn’t even noticed he’d been zoning out. Damn it, this was becoming a bad habit.

“The bottle is already spinning,” Io kindly pointed out. Ryuu turned his head on the bottle, which stopped at Yumoto.

“Yay!” he squealed. “I choose dare!”

“Damn, what can you even ask someone like Yumoto do?” asked Yufuin-senpai and leaned on his arms. “There’s nothing fun in bossing around someone who doesn’t have a sense of shame to begin with.”

Kinugawa-senpai looked at Yumoto seemingly in thought, his hand cupping his chin. “En-chan has a point, Yumoto is a bit of an unexplored territory...”

“Get a passing grade on your next Japanese test,” suggested Io with a completely straight face. Even Ryuu couldn’t tell if he was being serious or not; it was a ridiculous dare but, knowing Io… He might even mean it.

Yumoto huffed in exasperation. “Aah, Io-senpai, that’s so boring!”

“And aren’t dares supposed to be acted out immediately?” asked Kinugawa-senpai. “Plus, we’ll have no way of making sure he actually does it.”

“True. Hey Yumoto, I dare you to make up a believable excuse for me to ditch this chick next Monday!” was Ryuu’s input.

Yumoto smiled cheerfully and answered without blinking: “Tell her you have a family emergency! She can’t say no to that!”

“Sweet, thanks! Let’s hope she won’t ask for details”. Ryuu didn’t like standing girls up and he liked lying even less, but he had two dates on Monday and had to prioritize. This one was kind of annoying and draining company anyway.

Ryuu didn’t see Yufuin-senpai’s face, he was typing a message, but senpai sounded taken aback. “Eh, you’d think Yumoto had done this before.”

“… I don’t think I want to know,” said Io. With the voice Ryuu knew well, the one that told he really didn’t want to know. Strange how even that sort of voice could sound so endearing coming from Io.

“Me neither,” said Kinugawa-senpai. “Let’s just spin the bottle again.”

Yumoto spun the bottle, and the whole club kept their eyes on it intently until it eventually stopped.

“It’s Io-senpai!”

“I choose truth. I don’t want to embarrass myself,” said Io. Ryuu, who knew what a private person Io was, felt a rush of pride for his best friend for finally trusting their other friends enough to be willing to reveal something – and maybe a little jealousy that he wasn’t the only one he trusted anymore. But then again, none of others could ever have such a strong bond with him, and Ryuu was happy about that. He knew it was selfish, but wasn’t liking someone a little selfish in the first place?

“Right, is there something in your life you especially regret?” asked Yufuin-senpai.

Io averted his eyes from him and – did he just shot the quickest glance at Ryuu? In any case, he suddenly looked a lot more self-conscious.

“My preteen years were… not the proudest.” He spoke, now apparently making a point of not meeting anyone’s eyes. “I tried really hard to blend in with the adults and make them take me seriously by using expressions and vocabulary uncharacteristic to someone my age and by being overly serious and assertive about everything, even when I didn't really know what I was talking about. In retrospect, I was only making a fool out of myself.”

“Is that the eighth grade syndrome…?” commented Atsushi.

“People do call it that, yes.”

Ryuu snorted, and immediately felt bad after seeing Io flinch the tiniest bit. Oh no. Now he hurt him. Io confided in them all and told something he was embarrassed about and his best friend laughed at him. When would Ryuu ever learn to control himself…

“Okay, I get why you would think that’s sort of uncool,” he started quickly, aiming to relieve the tension, “But you knew all those fancy words when you were real young! It’s just one more proof of your intelligence!” He was glad to see Io untense a little.

After that, the game continued like a game of Truth and Dare usually goes, everyone making up equally stupid dares (Kinugawa-senpai had to stuff ten marshmallows into his mouth and say all their names) and learning more truths about each other (Yufuin-senpai admitted to sometimes singing on his free time but wouldn’t give a sample).

Then the moment Ryuu had been waiting for with both fear and excitement came and the bottle stopped at him. He immediately announced he’d be choosing dare, and shot the others a wide, confident grin, daring them to bring it on. God, he had been waiting to show what he was made of!

His grin melted when he saw the way Kinugawa-senpai was looking at him like he had an evil masterplan. Yufuin-senpai shot Kinugawa-senpai a look that clearly conveyed the message “don’t”, but he pointedly ignored it. How characteristic, his “dark side” was emerging…

“Very well. I dare you to kiss Io.” The devious grin from the training camp made a reappearance, much to Ryuu’s dismay. "On the lips."

“What!” Ryuu yelped. He felt his face heat up and turned to look at Io, who looked positively scandalized. They just wouldn’t catch a break tonight, would they…

“Ki… Kinugawa-senpai, it would be too improper to force Ryuu to do something this… intimate against his free will! This is a game where he is in no position to refuse, it’s unfair!”

“Maybe,” admitted Kinugawa-senpai, sounding to Ryuu like he was trying to sound like he might have regretted it. Which he obviously didn’t. “They do say that kisses given in a game of Spin the Bottle don’t count, but I understand if he still doesn’t dare do it–“

It sounded like Kinugawa-senpai was about to continue, but he didn’t get a chance to do so. Ryuu slammed his hands on the table and loudly exclaimed: “Of course I dare!” No way would the notorious playboy Ryuu Zaou ever let anyone imply he would chicken out of a kiss! He turned to Io with a determined expression.

“Well…” Ryuu chuckled, trying to keep up his confidence, and gulped. “Let’s do it, then!”

It… Wasn’t what he was expecting. Not at all, and Ryuu wasn’t sure how to feel about it. There were no fireworks, no explosions in his heart or brain, it didn’t feel like the world around them disappeared or like they were floating through time and space. Nothing like the big getting together in a romance movie or manga.

Ryuu had just done what he usually did: approached slowly, making sure what he was doing was alright; looked at Io’s eyes and lips in turns under his own gradually closing eyelids; noted what Io seemed to be feeling about all of this (he read Io well and was quite confused about what he found; he thought Io had looked somehow… Expecting? Maybe even excited? Hopeful? Unbelieving?? Why?) and finally closed his lips around Io’s lower one, closing his eyes entirely and moving his lips. (For his great relief, Io returned the kiss.) Nothing unusual. Yet this wasn’t like the other times - not only because his partner was of the same gender and Ryuu’s very favorite person.

It was not magical or phenomenal, just natural. Like this was how things were supposed to be, like this was something they had been supposed to be doing for so long. The surrounding world or their friends didn’t disappear: Ryuu was still aware of their presence, he just found himself not caring. He didn’t feel like he was ascending to the Heavens; actually, he felt even more in touch with everything and more present in the moment. This was, on some fucked-up level, his natural habitat. He belonged there, and didn’t want to let go.

But in order to not blow his cover, he had to. Keeping this up any longer could be weird. So, trying his hardest to act natural and nonchalant and not show his reluctance, Ryuu ended the kiss. Only centimeters away from his face, Io opened his eyes slowly and stared at Ryuu blankly, his gaze hazed and unfocused. Ryuu had never seen Io this out of it, and although his own mind wasn’t at its sharpest either and his emotions flew all over the place, he felt a strange sense of pride for being responsible for it.

It was even better when Io’s face broke into a wide, content smile. And if Ryuu’s ability to read Io was still there, several of the emotions the kiss had made him feel were mutual.

Maybe he would have to do some inventory on his calendar app.

#boueibu #ioryuu #ship captain atsushi #aka my favorite ioryuu trope lmao #fucck dammit i've had this incomplete for ages like it's ridiculous #i'm... a bit self-conscious about all the dialogue tbh #i don't write it all that much (i think?) #but nah i'll probably get over it eventually #or be even more 'ew cringe' the futre will tell #this got a lot longer than anticipated?? #i mean my usual fic is like somewhere around a thousand words how did this more than double #((filler that's how)) #((i gave myself the permission to add stuff not directly serving the plot as a pacing tool and build-up)) #anyway what is #what is coherent causation and structure #this feels like it's just some pieces violently slammed together with no coherent plot or goal or anything #i had a point i swear #i just #fuck i #i must have dropped it officer i swear i have it #my stuff

[thatlittledandere]

idk enough about your fandoms so

fandom: uhhhh let's start with super mario franchise

ship: characters with +-5cm height difference (just so you gotta google the heights of your favs)

character: a character that definitely shops at hot topic

(idk if these had to be from the same fandom but for the sake of my mental health please pick different fandoms I've seen enough people lewding bowser)

meme

Literally never played a single Mario game but I know some characters so I’ll try

001 | Send me a fandom and I will tell you my:

Favorite character:

Luigi

Least Favorite character:

not a big fan of Wario

5 Favorite ships (canon or non-canon):

bro this is super mario

Character I find most attractive:

Princess Peach I guess

Character I would marry:

Luigi 

Character I would be best friends with:

Daisy looks cool to hang out with

A random thought:

Incredible what an impact Waluigi has had on the internet. Godspeed.

An unpopular opinion:

My canon OTP:

Non-canon OTP:

Most badass character:

Very cool of Bowser to be both a villain and a single father

Pairing I am not a fan of:

Character I feel the writers screwed up (in one way or another):

Favourite friendship:

As said I don’t know shit but I like thinking Mario and Bowser are friends and the whole shebang is kinda just a game.

002 | send me a ship and I will tell you:

bold of you to assume I haven’t looked up the heights of all my faves at some point  Exactly 5cm, eh? Good news! That’s Souyo! OTP time! 

when or if I started shipping it.

When I’d been into P4 for a few months. Originally branched off of yukichie but then surpassed them pretty quickly sddgsdd

my thoughts:

I can’t fucking do this I think about nothing but them these days. And thinking about souyo, ioryuu, some of my other past or present ships and my OCs... I only know one dynamic sdfssdfg

What makes me happy about them:

Best friends to lovers. They can both get exasperated with the other, but at the end of the day, their mutual trust is deep and they think highly of each other, and even if it doesn’t always look like it, I like to think their relationship really is mutual. GOD.

What makes me sad about them:

Why were those lines left out of the finished game. WHY. Just give us a REASON, ATLUS. Also Yosuke’s low self-esteem my BRO

Things done in fanfic that annoys me:

Mmmm sure there are fics that don’t strike my personal fancy but I can’t come u with anything they’d have in common? I don’t think there’s a particularly souyo trope that annoys me.

Things I look for in fanfic:

Always a slut for character study and introspection and some sort of inner conflict. I WILL read and love every single one with Yosuke’s internalized homophobia saffsfsfd

My kinks:

*sweats* daddy kink... yosuke having daddy kink.... Can you believe there are NO fics of it on ao3? Tagged at least?? CRIMINAL. I can’t write smut somebody please fix this

Who I’d be comfortable them ending up with, if not each other:

Yu is extremely shippable ngl. My second choice for him is Adachi but I only like that ship in very specific circumstances and would NOT wish for Yu to “end up with” him lmao. I guess Rise? They look like they’d be a saccharine sweet lovey-dovey couple and I love that shit.

I can ship Yosuke around too but... the thought of him having an endgame that ISN’T Yu... Makes me sad. Like legit. Maybe in an AU where they never met? Idk. Sorry but Yu is Yosuke’s destined partner, they’re meant to be.

My happily ever after for them:

I like to think they get together in high school, the details of when and how it happens vary. They keep in touch for the third year of high school, calling and or texting almost if not daily, both make it to college in the same city (different schools though), rent an apartment and become roommates, after that it’s kinda just a vague pink cloud of domestic bliss. They meet up with Naoto and Rise who also live in the city as often as they can. Still go to Inaba for holidays. If Yu’s parents are assholes he cuts ties with them the second he’s legally an adult. The Dojimas are his family now and they keep in touch regularly. Teddie stays with the Hanamuras and he and Yosuke start treating each other as brothers. It’s all good and conflict free and they both make new friends at their universities and they’re as supportive as the friends they already had and you know what I didn’t realize how detailed my headcanon universe has gotten. This is just a fracture of it. Jesus Christ. Um they get married as soon as it becomes legal.

003 | Give me a character & I will tell you

let’s go with Ako Bandori (Udagawa)

How I feel about this character:

Goals. I hope she’ll keep that spirit and confidence even if she ever grows out of the goth thing.

All the people I ship romantically with this character:

Rinko ig. Not passionate about it or anything but it does fel like an obvious choice. I like their relationship as it is so I guess I really prefer them as friends but... can’t stop making gamer gf jokes sdsdf

My non-romantic OTP for this character:

like a brotp? Tomoe, absolutely. Supportive big sis 🥺

My unpopular opinion about this character:

I don’t have enough opinions to have an unpopular one lmao

One thing I wish would happen / had happened with this character in canon:

Even more NFO events, we stan a gamer girl.

My OTP:

only got that one half-baked ship :/

My OT3:

idk add Sayo to the mix. The only thing better than a gamer gf is TWO gamer gfs. (aka I haven’t thought about it) ((what? characters outside roselia exist?? nonsense...))

#ya know you didn't have to send something from all three categories #i like answering these so it's a win for me you did but like it wasn't NECESSARY #(i think. that's how i interpreted it sdsf) #about me #lakanakana #asks #souyo #ako udagawa