#dummie predictions

[senka-mesecine]

Season 6 Predictions

― Johnny, Daniel and Mike Barnes show up to the birth of Carmen’s baby late, drunk, dishevelled and hitchhiked home by someone who picked them up from (throws dart of randomness) stuffing the slots of an arcade machine with gummy bears. It is played off as a joke.

― John Kreese who has freshly broken out of jail and a Terry Silver currently in jail (perhaps after his own break out) simultaneously want to kidnap the newborn Jarmen baby. John, so he’d draw Johnny out. Terry, because he has an inexplicable case of the Empty Nest Syndrome.

― Miguel and Robby have a bonding montage where they take better care of their new half-sibling (a little girl named Laura) than either Carmen or Johnny who are off having 80′s theme cosplay sex montages lit in all neons (possibly off making another baby). 

― We get a Fast and Furious style Barbeque cookout where the word ‘family’ is uttered a lot, and for some reason, this family consists of everyone who’s ever tried to kill, maim or seriously injure Daniel Larusso, respectively. Nobody finds this strange whatsoever.

― Kim Da-Eun is for some reason treated like a respected Sensei around The Valley bringing a traditional spin on Martial Arts, clearing her grandfather’s name and legacy from being tarnished and people seem to forget she was right beside Terry Silver torturing and abusing students.

― We don’t get one pregnancy storyline, we get three for all the heroes, because Amanda and Daniel are expecting too (leading to some discourse and arguing between them), and so is a now wheel-chair bound, recovering Chozen and Kumiko. Someone pulls a ‘you’re named after the greatest man I know’ by naming a baby after Daniel.

― Betsy shows up like a sexy, shimmering, wispy ghost to go like ‘John, don’t do it. You are better than this.’ whenever John goes around doing typically John things,being absolutely NOT better than this.

― The plot has no clue what to do with Sam, Tory, Kenny, Hawk, Moon, Demetri, Yasmine, or anyone, so they collectively have a montage of driving around town and babysitting Sensei Lawrence’s newborn with Stingray in the style of something straight out of Baby’s Day Out. Hijinks and shenanigans ensue.

― A young Terry Silver and John Kreese have a stupendously homoerotically charged scene together (on a bed full of rose petals, surrounded by candlelight) in which John Kreese inexplicably brings up Pre-Pubescent Johnny Lawrence, ruining the mood.

― Terry Silver cuts his hair in jail and is in solitary confinement, doing push ups, honing himself and craving ‘Hahahaha’ in elaborate patterns over the wall like Harley Quinn.

#nonsense ramblings #cobra kai season 6 #dummie predictions #cobra kai

[there-are-many-ways-to-smile]

I’m gonna take a wild guess and say Harold was probably buddy buddy with Slappy and the other kids were like “no.. he’s evil.” And they were at his house to rid of Slappy and the fire was an accident but they didn’t care enough to try and help Harold out because he’d probably want Slappy back and they had to destroy him.

#goosebumps 2023 #Harold Biddle #goosebumps prediction #slappy the dummy #although she she wild guess this was just an old song and dance that played out a lot in tv

[savethelastdan]

ugh i cannot express how much i love  that moment in iron widow where li shimin starts choking the pilot in the cafeteria with his own chain after he  threatens zetian.

it is one of several moments that exemplifies why the burn-it-all-down liberatory rage romantic drama is so cathartic for people: 

the world of iron widow is (just like our existing society) a culture of violence.  violence that is not just minimized and accepted, but also entirely necessary for that world to continue to support itself. 

men like li shimin, who by all accounts have the capacity and desire for gentleness and kindness and curiosity, are forced by others in the narrative to be violent instead.

In this very scene, the other pilot is threatening zetian to exploit what they believe is shimin’s inability to control his rage. but it’s not impulsive, possessive fury - he’s being forced to fight back, the same way zetian and yizhi are in other parts of the book, because he knows that if he doesn’t then things will be worse. it is not an impulsive decision, just literally the less worse decision in terms of the consequences. and shimin knows he will be punished anyway, because in a world of violence a victim is never allowed to say “ouch”. 

but it is how he chooses to fight that makes the scene for me. 

because the chain is a symbol of his own oppression. it is the hypocrisy of a world that says his transgression is not in violence itself, but in violating the wrong people (rapists/abusers, apparently). something meant to bring him shame, turned into a weapon. 

he takes a tool of his abuse and uses it to defend zetian, another victim of the system. Only momentarily, and still with consequences; but it still took my breath away. 

(btw i could also talk for days about zetian, who is met at every turn with horror when she enacts the same violence that the boys of her society are encouraged, including by many readers of the book. but if we get into that, then this post will never end...) 

#iron widow #i get it im predictable #in the characters i get attached to #li shimin #wu zetian #very curious to see where the sequel goes #and if these dummies can ever find healing and happiness without a cost

[dazais-guardian-angel]

This post made me realize that with the Walking Alone episode, I can recreate what Aya probably looked like during the new chapter...

...and maybe the next chapter...

But most importantly, what she'll hopefully look like many chapters down the road from now :)

#bungou stray dogs #bsd spoilers #'dana you're coping' hush it's called making a prediction 😌 #planting the seed of the harvest #preparing apollo's dodgeball #✨manifesting✨ #she will cry smile like that again and call him a big dummy for only thinking about protecting her and scaring her like that #telling him all the new songs on her ipod she got that are waiting for him to listen to #telling him how much of a hassle it was to fuck up a rat to bring him back to her 😭😭😭 #*WAILS* #we need a parallel to this scene of her standing holding Kunikida's hand #and her standing next to Bram right before the Horrors occur #so lastly I need her to hold his hand like that please and thank you #god her tears here RUIN me. the animation/art was so detailed. like on her tears and the way her hair moves and kunikida's hair #oh seasons 1 and 2 budget how i miss you *heavy sigh* #also i would be remiss if i didn't mention candiedfright's art of kunikida hugging aya that also made me think of this of course 🥹🥹🥹

[cc1010fox]

Rex: That number is your kill count? Fox: Roughly. Cody: I wasn't...expecting that to be honest... Wolffe: He's lying. Look, he wrote a number above it first, then crossed it out. That's the truth. Fox: No, that's the literal kill count. Cody: ... Rex: ... Wolffe: ... Fox: They were alive before we crossed paths. Rex: Oh...Most of our kills are-- Cody: Droids... Wolffe: I don't--How!? Fox: ...Why do you think I have so many awards? Wolffe: You...work hard? Fox: Doing what? Wolffe: Whatever the chancellor tells you to do. Fox: ... Cody: You protect the Senate. Fox: Coruscant. Rex: What? Fox: My duties extend beyond the Senate. I protect Coruscant. Wolffe: Ok, you protect Coruscant. Fox: ...From? Wolffe: Seppies? Fox: That's...part of it. Rex: ... Cody: ... Fox, popping his tongue against the roof of his mouth: Let me lay it out for you three. Fox: While you're out there sniping heads off of comedic relief training dummies, I have to deal with living, breathing, thinking beings. The living and breathing should make them easier to take down, but the thinking makes them unpredictable. I have to account for their individual beliefs, their morals...their sense of honor...all of which throw logic out of the window. It's not easy to land a droid army on Coruscant, so I don't get the pleasure of predictability too often. Rex: ... Fox: Instead, I have to deal with the citizens of this planet, too many of which don't want us here. They shout at us, abuse us, and have even started a market for us. You know...the skin and organ market. Yes and no. Yes, they have actually harvested our skin. No, I don't mean literal skin when I say skin market. Think collars and chains. How many times have you stood between a threat and the people you're duty bound to protect knowing at least one of those people have spat on your men, attacked them, used them like toys, or captured and sold them? My only comfort is knowing I can turn on them the second they're labeled a traitor to the Republic. And I can pick the worst of them off when there are no witnesses. Cody: ...That's-- Fox: On top of that, I have encountered creatures of nightmares because they just dwell in the bowels of this rotting planet or some pieces of garbage brought them here to sell. If you thought I was protected against watching my men get eaten by a wampa, you are sorely mistaken. Although it was the nexu that kept me up at night. For weeks. Who buys those things? Seriously...At least I put some of them down, but who knows how many they sold? Wolffe: ... Fox: The worst creatures are the ones I can't add to my kill count, though. The absolute worst is Chancellor Palpatine. He doesn't know what my job is and assigns me to literally every job in the Coruscant Guard. I have to do it personally. I'm the boss of the people who are supposed to do those jobs. He is the sole reason I will only sleep when I am dead. Fox: The second worst is 99% of the senators. Entitled, egotistical pricks. I would rather be distributed to desperate families looking for organs than catch the eye of any senator. Thire has to remember which ones show a little too much interest in the clones because we are at their mercy. He can't allow a shiny anywhere near them. If a Coruscanti attacks a clone, it's considered damaging government property, making them a criminal. If a senator attacks a clone, it's considered You better do what is best for the Republic and shut your kriffing mouth. Because treating a clone like a complimentary gift isn't betraying the Republic. Risking one of the Republic's delicate alliances is. Cody: Force, Fox... Fox: I deal with all of that while maintaining an impressive record of mission successes. That is why I have so many awards. Wolffe: ...You have awards, but do you want a hug? Fox: Desperately. All day. Every day.

#Commander Fox #Commander Wolffe #Commander Cody #Captain Rex #Coruscant Guard #Vencuyanir ‖ Queue

[fountainpenguin]

So in love with the Bdubs narrative...

"I stopped trusting Impulse, my secret girlfriend, ages ago because he's flirting with everyone, so it makes sense to side with the guy who's offering me a truce in the form of a clock."

"You can't kick me out of the base just because I'm on my red life. I built this place and I will simply not leave."

/neglects to mention he's still boogeyman when Tango brings him back. Like. why didn't you ride out the boogey curse until next episode and THEN ask to come back, you dummy (affectionate)

"It's fine to kill a teammate because he just set his spawn point in this room and all his stuff will be right here <3"

"Yeah I'll kill my fellow red ally because you promised me a life."

"Impulse, you would never kill me, right?" "... We're soulmates. We share hearts this season... Same team, Bdubs."

"When it was my turn to murder, I targeted the only guy who'd already died (a few minutes ago) because he was already on the way down emotionally; anyone else would have experienced an emotional roller coaster."

"It's okay that I stole from you a while back because NOW I'm coming with useful information. My morality is in the clear."

"I would turn on both my Day 1 allies so fast."

/crying over getting backstabbed, "What have I EVER done to SWEET IMPULSE??"

The entire rest of the episode snarking about how it's no fun to be backstabbed and Tango just "🙃 Thoughts and prayers, that must really suck. it must be the worst to get betrayed by someone you trusted. oh wow. oh man. who would do that? that's awful."

"I'm shooting my mom but it's just a prank."

"I won't defend you from Dad but I might try to stop you two from fighting."

All his allies like "I've just accepted the fact that I can't trust you while Etho's around because you'll betray me for him." / "Yeah, that's fair." They continue to let Bdubs stay in their base. He brags about how Etho lets him play pool in his basement and eat ice cream for breakfast. He would die for this man.

The fact that it's considered predictable that "of course Impulse gave you a clock again" so Cleo just sighs and asks to see it. Yeah of course Impulse clonked Bdubs on the head with that thing for another season, driving home I have not forgotten with every part of his being...

Nobody can trust this greasy little man and yet they adore him. He's just a sweetheart. Cinnamon roll. Everybody's angel. Haha he'll slam a sword through your stomach, loot your body, and walk off. He's never done anything wrong in his life btw.

I love the way Bdubs plays.

#BdoubleO100 #3rd Life #Last Life #Double Life #Limited Life #Posting in honor of finishing his supercut in the wee hours #Wow he really will just turn on a dime no questions asked #ADORE that for him #trafficblr #mcyt #traffic life smp #I still cackle about 3rd Life Crastle Trio. Bdubs and Cleo forcibly assigned Impulse to be their girlfriend and he was like :'D ?? #Like. Boi those two sussed you out SO fast they knew you were in bed with every enemy on the map. crying. spitting. Them... #The line delivery of ''Impulse is no longer our girlfriend'' gets me every time. Kicked out of polycule. Did not mean to join polycule. #Fascinating #Crastle duo #Clock duo #divorce duo #The Clockers #impulseSV #ZombieCleo #EthosLab #TangoTek #Skizzleman #traffic spoilers

[guiltyreverie]

Remedy

Part 1 || Part 2

Pairing: Gojo Satoru x reader

Content tags: enemies to lovers; slow burn; afab!reader; clan issues; LOOOONG fic (check word count), there will be another part

Warnings: slow burn, gojo being a dick (even geto can’t save him here), enemies to lovers, arranged marriage, pain :)

Word count: 17.1k

A/N: I need to cope with current manga events and distracting myself with gojo content works best also why do I have the fucking the tendency to never get to the point (at least explains the length of this fic ._.)

There weren‘t many consistencies in your life, if you were being honest to yourself, after all being a jujutsu sorcerer meant having to predict the unpredictable and be prepared for any possibilities, at least thats what those stupid clan elders drilled into your brain at every possible moment but honestly speaking absolutely nothing could‘ve prepared you for Gojo Satoru to be the worst fucking asshole you have and probably will ever meet. You knew since you were a toddler you were promised to this asshole; binding vow infused with cursed technique and what not, basically it meant you keep the promise to get married and stay with Gojo Satoru or the cursed energy will kill you. At this rate though, you‘d consider just dying instead of marrying him, that‘s how insufferable he is.

For as long as you can remember all your family relatives would tell you day in and day out that you were lucky, you would marry the person that‘s guaranteed to have a successful life and you should be grateful for that but honestly, the moment this spoiled toddler looked at you like you were a cockroach and then called you ugly you have felt anything but grateful. In fact that was the first time you felt such inexplicable rage that you straight up threw your ballerina shoe at him and all your mother could do was pick you up and carry you as far away as possible from each other all while you stuck out your tongue at this dummy that called you ugly. Once you guys were far enough away from each other you had to listen to your mother rant about how you shouldn’t treat the treasure of the Gojo-clan like that or she might get in trouble. It felt unfair and this was only the first of many other scoldings to come.

The second time you meet him, your mother specifically asked you to behave, if not, you wouldn‘t be allowed to have dessert and god you‘d die for that dessert. Keeping the dessert in mind you tell yourself you can do this, he‘s just a spoiled baby after all but the moment he looked at you it already felt like he was itching for a punch. He turned around towards his caretaker and actually asked her: “if he really had to marry you“. This time only the dessert your mother told you about protected him because otherwise he would have tasted both of your ballerina shoes. You almost spat at him that you didn’t want to marry this brat either but your mothers warning glance was the only thing keeping your mouth shut. Then Satoru decided he had enough of looking at your ugly face and just turned around without a single word and left you guys. God you really wanted to throw a stone at him. Your mother looked at you and said: “not to worry because boys are mean when they like you.“. This was the first time you actually contemplated your mothers sanity bc why would someone be mean to someone they like. That’s how you decided to hate your future husband and show him exactly that, no matter the consequences.

The third meeting was actually longer than the other two, simply because this time your caretakers decided that a picnic would be nice and good for you two to get to know each other and familiarize yourselves with one another. This time you were prepared for the inevitable, when your nanny asked why you needed a rock you‘d simply state that it was a gift for Satoru and she gushed over how adorable you were being, what she failed to realize was, that it was anything but a gift for him but rather a meanie hitter in case he‘d be a jerk again. Now you two were facing each other and forcefully greeted one another and the nannies both unpacked their lunch and set it up in the middle for all of you to eat. Now, being the respectful child you were raised to be, you thanked them but Satoru let out a simple „hmph“ and began to eat only to spat it out right into your face. He started to complain about how salty the food was and if it weren‘t for your shock in that moment you would‘ve already hit him with your ‚gift‘ but lucky for him your nanny was already distracting you by wiping away the food in your face and then turning to Satoru to apologize since she didn’t know his food preference. Satoru looked at her in disgust and complained about how she lacks basic cooking skills for a mere nanny. That was also the last time you‘ve seen her on your estate and that really made you hate Gojo tenfold. After that day you vow to yourself to make his life just as miserable but the elders decided to stop letting you guys meet until you both were more mature.

The next time you see Gojo, you were both 8 years old and to none of your surprise he still was the same jerk only this time he pulled your hair and called you a pig but there was no one to hold you back from attacking him with a stick to the point you chased him through the entire estate until you actually tripped and hurt yourself and with tears in your eyes you had to listen to Gojos demeaning laughter while he insulted you one more time for good measure.

That’s how you‘d describe your entire childhood with Gojo Satoru up until you are both in Jujutsu High. After not seeing him for about two years, you could argue that he might‘ve changed but it‘s Gojo Satoru, your hopes are as low as believing this arranged marriage can be canceled.

The first time you see him again was while your teacher was introducing you to the other teams and just seeing his face gave you shivers of disgust. He‘d grin obnoxiously at you and all you can do is scoff, while the teacher talks about teams and what not. You were so enraged at seeing him you couldn‘t even listen to what Yaga was saying.

„Yo, did ya miss me? Bet ya did, it‘s not like you can see a handsome face like this every day.“, Satoru grins and it takes your entire might not to just punch him square in the face.

You grit your teeth at the pest you‘d have to see every day now and take a deep breath to calm down: „I might start to miss your face, when it‘s actually handsome, Gojo.“ you shrug and then glance at the guy with long black hair behind him losing his shit and slapping Gojos shoulder.

„Can‘t say I disagree, Satoru.“ he‘d press in between laughters and Gojo would immediately protest, turn around and kick him while he whines about him not having his back.

You just stare at the long haired guy with an amused grin, then look back to Gojo, almost cringe at him, then turn back to the guy standing beside him, „Geto Suguru, nice to meet you, Y/n. I‘ve heard a lot about you.“ he‘d bow slightly and your eyes almost widen in surprise, how can Gojo be friends with such a respectful guy.

„Knowing Gojo, it was probably only bad stuff“, you chuckle and bow to him as well. You raise an eyebrow, provocatively: „rather it surprises me how Gojo managed to find an actually respectful friend.“ you glance at Gojo one more time for good measure, only for him to grin then stick out his tongue at you

„Not all of us are incapable of making friends.“, he states nonchalantly, but the provocative and amused grin on his face betrays him. It really took almost everything in you not to smash his pretty face into the ground and beat it black and blue, but it seems like Geto was one step ahead by smacking him on the back of his head while he scolds him about being respectful to your fiancé.

Gojo in return simply mocks him, then whines about how you two are ganging up on him while he crosses his arms like a child. You‘d just shrug and then say; „it‘s not our fault, you‘re simply insufferable.“

His pout grows even bigger and you had to giggle because he looked like a bubbling fish, that‘s how ridiculous he was getting. He stopped pouting and kept staring at you, his face neutral. Gojo Satoru always was unreadable to you but in this moment he felt like another mystery of the world. Just what is going on in his head? You stopped asking yourself that a long time ago, there was no point in trying to understand him because you simply never would. The silence between you three was turning awkward very quickly and you decide to pull away from this meeting, deciding that you have much better things to do than have Gojo gawk at your face and most likely start to point out all your flaws and insecurities. You bid them farewell with an awkward smile and head to your designated room for the school year.

With a new place came a sense of loneliness that could hardly be described, it‘s comparable to a lack of warmth that flows from the blank walls that have absolutely zero memories attached to them, but you were determined to fill your heart up with beautiful memories in this place as well. This wouldn‘t remain a blank space; you refuse to allow that. You take a deep breath, your clenched jaw unclenching and your shoulders start to relax; the tension, you didn’t even realize had built up, slowly releasing and you felt like you were able to clear your anxiety slowly. This is going to be fine.

You unpack everything from your belongings and decorate the room, make it feel more like yours. The walls slowly are filled with small photos or gifts from clan members and friends. You smile proudly to yourself and put a frame containing a picture of you and your mom and put it on the desk. You hum happily: „I should buy some decorations whenever I have the time to check out the city“. You start to plan what you‘d like to have and whatnot. Some small plants would be nice but a low maintenance plant would fit your busy schedule more, maybe a cactus, at least you wouldn‘t have to worry about watering it, you chuckle to yourself.

A small knock at the door interrupts your planning process. You turn around and walk towards the door and open it swiftly, only to be faced with one of your teammates, Haname. She smiles and gives you a small wave: „Heya, I was done with setting up and was bored out of my mind, so I figured I should check out how my fellow mates are doing.“, she winks and basically barges into your room and looks around in curiosity. Your eyes widen in surprise when she pushes you away to enter the room and you can‘t help but think of a familiar white-haired pest at her boldness, but hers was more adorable, you didn‘t mind.

You continue to observe her, while she is looking around. Her cheeks seem naturally flushed and she had a round face, she reminded you of a squirrel, but it made her look very adorable. She had a small scar on her chin, it made her cute appearance seem a little more serious. You shake your head at your own thought process, it's rude to observe someone to this extent.

A loud sudden gasp interrupts your thought process, „is this your mother?“, Haname asks wide-eyed, „she‘s absolutely gorgeous, you obviously got those good genes from her, oh my god!“

You widen your eyes for the second time in the span of a few minutes, there‘s a small heat growing on your cheeks at her implied compliment, you knew you weren‘t bad looking but someone complimenting you so straight-forward was a rather rare occurrence.

„She‘s breathtaking, isn‘t she“, you smile in fondness, cheeks still flushed and you couldn‘t help but slowly grow fond of this bundle of energy in front of you.

In response she almost beams: „Absolutely! You‘re very similar to her, y‘know?“

You shake your head a little flustered and grin at her, you might‘ve found a new good friend in Jujutsu High: „You‘re also very cute, y‘know?“

She seems to beam even brighter at your compliment and grins and she throws her hair back in an exaggerated manner: „Thanks, gorgeous.“, she winks at you playfully. „So, do you have any plans for today, or can I kidnap you for the day? I heard from a second year there‘s an insane soba noodle restaurant nearby and I can‘t be bothered to go if I‘m alone.“

You tilt your head at her enthusiasm and seeming extroversion: „Just when did you meet a second year?“, you wonder out loud and laugh. You gesture towards the door: „After you.“, you smile looking forward to this unexpected event.

She nods and takes a step forward: „I just met them while I was checking out the training grounds. They‘re humongous, especially considering the lack of Jujutsu students, anyways they were there training and I watched them. Y‘know get some training ideas by observing and when they took a break I talked to them about the school, classes and so on. They were really nice and helpful! I hope everyone here is like that but you never know.“, she shrugs, as if to say, maybe there are assholes here, too.

You laugh at her enthusiasm and her willingness to talk to just about anyone: „You really do have a way with people don‘t you? I bet you could even make Gojo be nice to you.“, your left hand immediately starts to itch when you think about Gojo being rude to her but that‘s a matter for when they actually meet, which will probably be not far into the future, considering that first year students have classes together, despite being in different teams.

She halts in her movements, turns towards you, tilts her head a little to the right and looks at you in confusion: „Who the hell is Gojo? Do I have to know him? Sorry I don't come from a clan or something so I‘m not that good with sorcerer connections.“, she sighs defeated and grabs the back of her neck apologetically.

You furrow your eyebrows slightly, wondering how to explain Gojo Satoru to her, without complimenting his sorcerer abilities and sadly these go hand in hand; that jerk is a confident bastard and he has reason to back it up sadly. „Well, how do I put this,“, your fingers reach for your chin in a thinking manner, „Gojo Satoru, is the next clan head of the Gojo-clan, he has inherited two insanely strong Gojo-clan techniques, the infamous Six Eyes and the Limitless technique. He will most likely become the strongest Jujutsu sorcerer in the future, but I beg you with my entire combined pride, don‘t ever tell him I said this, or I might have to either kill myself or him.“, you explain and warn her. You sigh already feeling a headache forming at the image of his sly grin, if he ever got to hear you say this about him.

She grumbles in response to the new information: „Oh god, an overconfident man and he has valid reasons for that?“, she massages the space between her eyebrows, „i can already imagine just how annoying he is.“

„The. Absolute. Worst. And because of our insane luck, he is also a first year student,“, you smile at her sarcastically, your voice dripping with fake enthusiasm, „and knowing him, when he finds out you hang out with me, he‘ll also probably try to bother you to no end.“, you grumble at the thought of him bothering Haname, but you know it‘s inevitable, he‘ll probably pester all of the students, it‘s just a matter of time.

She sighs: „Well at least you warned me.“, now she grins at you and takes your hand to lead you out of the building and you follow her lead, shaking off the negative feelings that come with Gojo Satoru. At this point it‘s really just a buy one take two for free deal.

Soon the two of you arrived in the heart of the city, you were surrounded by crowds, people were walking by, tourists were reading a map, children were laughing and running around. You grin to yourself; now this is definitely the heart of this place, a new city means a new you. You can work towards improving yourself, become a better sorcerer, nothing is gonna stop you now.

You look at Haname and smile seeing that she‘s just as infatuated with the city as you. You link your arms together so you won‘t lose each other in the crowd. It would be an immense pain in the ass if you lost each other and you really didn‘t want that to happen on the very first day. When you link your arms together she seems to snap back to herself and she drags you forward, probably towards the restaurant she mentioned earlier. Thus your first day concludes with exploring through the city, buying some plants and decorations for each other's room and getting snacks for late nights while gossiping and wondering about the following school year.

The first day of classes started off pretty hectic, you were the type of person to prefer to sleep in for longer than you probably should, so when you realized you woke up an entire 20 minutes after you initially planned to get up, all hell broke loose. You cursed at your habit and got up as fast as possible. After all, you should at least try to look decent on the first day of school. You silently praise yourself at doing overnight curls, at least this would save you a lot of time. You brush your teeth quickly and do your make up so fast, you‘re finished almost entirely 20 minutes earlier than you usually would. You quickly put on your school uniform and check the time, it‘s 7:40 am. At least you were gonna be punctual and not embarrass yourself on the very first day.

While you put on your shoes there‘s a light knock on your door, you can bet it‘s most likely Haname. You open the door, smile a ‘good morning’ at Haname, take your backpack and step out of your room ready to face the first day of classes.

Soon the two of you arrive at the class, which you managed to find easily because Haname also checked out the rooms yesterday. You find yourself being more and more grateful for her presence in your life; she makes it 20 times easier to navigate through everything.

The both of you step in and are immediately faced with the rest of your classmates, one of them being your new teammate. You smile at him and he gives you a small nod back. Even when you first introduced yourself he didn‘t seem like much of a talker, so a small nod seemed like a good sense of appreciation from your teammate and you nod back at him. Haname went ahead and sat herself down in a free spot behind him, so you shrug and decide to do the same and sit next to Haname. The pest- Gojo still doesn‘t seem to be here and you let out a small relief, unsure if you could handle him and his shenanigans this early in the morning. If you were to be honest, if there ever were to be a bounty on Gojo Satoru‘s head you‘d be the one who‘d have put it up.

The devil seems to work hard today because the moment you thought of this, the door flung open and his pesky voice greeted everyone, his teammate Geto seemed to be with him and greeted everyone in a much quieter tone as well. You grumbled as if someone had just threatened to kill you and your entire family and mentally prepare yourself for the incoming headache which comes kind of hand in hand with Gojo‘s presence.

Gojo turns to look at you, probably already having sensed your death stare from thousands of miles away and grins at you and then the seat next to you. You widen your eyes at him and can already imagine his train of thought.

You shake your head at him: „Don‘t you dare even think about it, Gojo.“, you threaten your voice dripping with the intention to kill him

He looks at you mischievously and hums: „it‘s a free country, though? I can do whatever I want, whenever I want.“, he smiles, his eyes glinting provocatively and he pulls up the chair next to you. „Besides it‘s not my fault you can‘t focus in class when you‘re next to me.“, he grins slyly and it takes absolutely every inch of self-restraint in you not to push him off from the chair.

„Sometimes I feel like you were born just to piss me off“, you sigh in defeat, knowing that it‘s impossible to stop him from whatever he set his mind to.

„Please, honey“, he chuckles and leans closer to you while he rest his head on his hand, you scoff at the nickname and you already knew Haname would have to restrain you in the next few seconds, „you should stop being so self-centered, not everything revolves around you and that includes my birth.“, now he is fully smirking at you in victory.

You narrow your eyes at him and retort: “honey, if the world revolved around me, I wouldn’t have to marry you.”

The rest of the class who had been listening to your bickering, now visibly widened their eyes in surprise. Out of all the things that were to be expected, this wasn’t one of them. Your eyes slightly shifted around and sighed at your slip of the tongue, god you really didn’t want everyone to know this early about your predicament. You take a deep breath and start to take out your materials: “Let’s drop this, Gojo, it’s too early for me to be arguing with you already.”, you say almost pleadingly.

Gojo stares at you for a few seconds, which feels like an eternity to you, waiting for his response. Surprisingly he just slightly nods and drops the topic and you almost narrow your eyes at him again in confusion; Gojo never bothers to listen to you after all. You give him a small nod of appreciation and glance at Haname, who is already looking at you as if you had two heads and you almost sigh out loud again and curse yourself once again for already letting everyone know about your engagement with Gojo. She looks at you as if she was expecting an explanation and you whisper that you’ll tell her later about it all and soon after the teacher enters the room and the lesson starts.

While Gojo isn’t actively bothering you, you can feel him constantly glancing or just straight up staring at you, his constant gaze bothering you, you have enough and take a slip of paper and write down ‘Can you stop staring at me?’ then push it towards his table while still focusing on the teacher.

Gojo almost immediately takes the note, scribbles something down and you can see his spreading grin from the corner of your eyes. He pushes the note back towards you and you read his reply ‘Does my attention distract you that much?’.

Your eyes roll almost automatically, you should have expected this, though, he wouldn’t have stayed nice for too long, it’s too out of character for him. You scribble down ‘yes, you’re like a mosquito’ and push it back to him, this time you were the one grinning in satisfaction.

You can see him pouting and then he suddenly pokes at your side. You let out a yelp in surprise, drawing in the attention of everyone in the room. You grit your teeth in embarrassment and tell the teacher you just hit your knee at the table while adjusting your seating position and as soon as his focus is back on the board you glare at Gojo.

He grins at you and whispers: “That’s what you get for calling me a mosquito”

You glare at him again for good measure and whisper back: “i hate you”

He smiles and winks at you and then decided to focus back on what the teacher is saying, as if he’s ignoring you and your response, his lack of proper response seems to irk you even more and you kick him -not so hard to draw attention- under the table, this time you were the one smiling and he was glaring at you. Now you tried to focus on the lesson but the smile never left your face. As much as you hated Gojo you did love when you annoyed him.

While you copy the board Gojo slips a piece of paper towards you which states ‘it’s not over’ and you look at him from the corner of your eyes and start to wonder just what is going on inside his head when he smirks at you but you knew you had to prepare for the worst; when Gojos little head is completely functioning it doesn’t do small actions. You turn around the piece of paper to respond ‘I’m absolutely terrified :o’ and grin to yourself and push it back on his desk.

He gave one small look at the teacher to check if he was still facing the board and then came closer to your face, specifically your ear. Goosebumps ran all over your neck at the sudden close proximity and you had to fight the urge to scream at him and push him away, you didn’t want to get scolded by the teacher on the very first day. You turn to face him- big mistake- he was so close to your face, your noses almost touched and you could feel his breath on your face. Your eyes widen in surprise and you gulp, ‘why did he have to have such pretty eyes’, you start to think to yourself and you almost catch yourself getting lost in them and you flinch back, you turn around to face the board again and put some distance between you, you are more than ready to pretend this never happened. This was completely new territory you didn’t wish to explore with Gojo.

While you did put physical distance between you guys he had reached something today you never knew he could and that idea of vulnerability terrified you, this man isn‘t to be trusted and liked, at least that‘s what you can be sure about. Even if there was something going on you can still pretend it never did you tell yourself.

The only problem is that reality is a bitch and Gojo Satoru is an even bigger bitch and he notices the faint blush on your ears and has to smirk to himself and you really were unsure if you were ready to face whatever is gonna happen next because you knew showing vulnerability to Gojo never leads to anything good.

The class soon ends and you turn to Haname, ready to pretend like the last few minutes never happened. You link your arms together and as soon as you open your mouth ready to say anything, you feel an arm wrapping around your shoulders and a cinnamon like sweet scent fills you.

Gojo‘s pesky voice fills your ear: „Didn‘t I tell you this won‘t be the end?“ you almost shiver; he is too close.

„Don‘t you have anything better to do than pester me?“, you try to untangle yourself out of his arm but his steady grip doesn‘t let you, ‘oh how you wish you had the strength to crush a man's skull right now‘, you mentally grumble and pinch Gojos arm.

He whines about how you‘re bullying him and that is clearly unfair all while pulling you even closer towards him to the point your entire upper body is touching his and you can feel your heart heavily thumping against your chest; it‘s simply because you‘re not used to seeing Gojo like this, you tell yourself and decide on your next course of action: Ignore him.

You turn towards Haname, completely aware of Gojo‘s arm still wrapped around you, you look at her with a defeated gaze as if telling her ‘do you see what I have to deal with?‘. She raises an eyebrow at the irony of the situation, for people who hate each other, you sure were close to one another.

Geto seems to join your small circle with a chuckle and you have to sigh in relief: „Get rid of him. Please.“ you look at him pleadingly. He was your only chance of getting Gojo off of you. Meanwhile the latter is just chuckling at your demise.

He looks at you with an amused grin and then slightly shakes his head no and you grumble at him; you should‘ve expected this, he is friends with Gojo, he has to somewhat be an asshole as well.

„What happened to your inner moral compass?“, you whine while still trying to get rid of Gojo‘s death grip.

„It left the moment, this got a little too amusing for me to interfere.“, he just chuckles and faces Haname, „i feel like we should get used to this, if we‘re gonna hang out with them.“, he hums.

You glare at Geto: „and here I was genuinely respecting you yesterday.“, now you turn towards Gojo, „if you decide to do this regularly, at least put on some deodorant or shower regularly, you stink.“.

Gojo scoffs at your words: “I’m anything BUT stinky, and you know that. I bathe in more oils than some people ever see in their lives.”, he brags like the spoiled brat he is.

“At least something good about marrying you.”, you glint at him in amusement.

The playful mood suddenly changes and he rolls his eyes and whispers something about being a gold digger and suddenly lets go of you and steps away without a goodbye or anything. Geto looks at both of you confused and you wish you could give him an answer but you didn’t have one either, ‘did you do something wrong?’, you had to wonder to yourself. He follows Gojo after saying his goodbyes with an apologetic smile and your side suddenly feels cold.

You shake your head in a weak attempt to sort your thoughts; this is Gojo, he was never easy to understand and never will be. You have to admit, you hated this, this feeling of doing something wrong but you don't understand what. He knew you were joking, right?

Haname snaps her fingers in front of your face and finally gets you out of your thoughts. She looks at you with concern: “You alright? You look a little shaken up.”

“Yes- no, I'm just confused? Like what was that?”, you say unsure of yourself and about the current situation.

She shrugs: “I don't know, maybe you hit a nerve? I still don’t know the guy but he definitely seems like he has some sort of heavy mood swings going on. Anyways I thought you didn’t care about him?”, she looks at you as if she’s hinting at something.

“And I still don’t.”, you stare at her as if she should immediately disregard that thought, “It was just an odd situation and I don’t know how to interpret it.”

“Mhm, sure you don’t.”, she hums, “anyways, what’s the deal with you guys getting married to each other, despite seemingly not getting along?”, she wonders and waits expectantly for an answer.

“Clan matters, really. We were promised to one another before we were even born.”, you sigh, “so it wasn’t really either of our decisions.”

“Have you never tried to make it work?”, her eyebrows wrinkle up in curiosity and she seats herself on top of one of the desks, “I mean there’s no way out. Might as well try to get along.”

“With Gojo?”, you laugh in disbelief and sit down next to her, “hell would freeze over first.”, you grip her shoulder, “besides, you saw him earlier, he’s ten times worse usually.”, you sigh, still wondering if your little comment actually struck him that badly, Gojo was one complicated human to read, besides you shouldn’t care this much about him, it shouldn’t matter, you hate him and that will never change.

The only thing you want to know is if what you did was wrong so you decide to ask her.

“Anyways, did I go too far? He seemed pretty offended by my comment.”, you wonder.

“Nah”, she drags the word and makes a ‘pff’ sound, “you were joking around obviously, and so was he, he shouldn’t get his panties twisted so easily.”

She is making sense, you nod along, slowly getting reassured by her words. “Yeah, I’m probably just overthinking this.”

“Yep”, she smiles, “so don’t worry.”.

Soon after the first few weeks of classes pass and not much happens between you and Gojo, instead of annoying you like on the first he simply didn’t acknowledge your presence. You couldn’t help but welcome this peace but you also couldn’t deny that it made you uncomfortable, it was too odd, too out of place, something was missing and you hated that you felt this way and you would never admit that.

Now that the basics have been taught the school deems you all fit to finally go on your own missions with the supervision of a teacher and of course the missions would depend on your skill levels and teamwork. Your first mission went pretty well considering that this was the first time you guys were facing curses on your own. Actually fighting and seeing them was completely incomparable to reading about them, especially facing the ones in Tokyo. They are stronger here, even if they’re considered a low rank simply because of the quantity of humans in the city. Nonetheless if you wanted to grow your strength as a sorcerer just fighting curses isn’t enough, you have to train regularly and evolve your techniques, being weak and unfocused can easily lead to your death, you knew that. Hence why you were sparring with Haname right now, with your other teammate, Shinsuke, observing the both of you.

You both wanted to try out your hand at various weapons and improve your hand to hand combat, even if you don’t need a weapon, it’s not bad to have several aces up your sleeve and Haname apparently uses dagger, that she can cut herself with any time, it works best with her blood manipulation technique you only got a small glimpse of it but it seemed to have enormous potential despite being quite self-harming, she mostly only needed a small amount of blood and with further training she’d be able to manipulate the blood of other curses as well without even drawing their blood.

Ice manipulation was your cursed technique and with your vast amount of cursed energy you have inherited thanks to your bloodline, you barely had any limits. Your biggest problems apparently will be facing drawn out battles and having teammates, you can manipulate the ice easily but it needs more refinement, saving your cursed energy and instead of targeting the entire area you should learn to just target the enemy since it could freeze your mates as well. But you figured this will be easier following with the experience you will gain from your missions. That doesn’t stop you from still training in your spare time.

The three of you build up this system where two would spare and and the other observes and gives criticism and possible improvements and then you test them out. Sometimes the seniors or other teams would join and the same system repeats. The only ones who you haven’t seen were Gojo and Geto, heck even Utahime and Shoko have joined you all except for them. It irked you, it felt like he was avoiding you and Geto simply followed his nonsense ideas but you shouldn’t let his childish behavior affect your state of mind nor your good time at Jujutsu High, at least that’s what you try to tell yourself; your mood still gets sour whenever you think of him.

At least Geto is still acknowledging your presence whenever he sees you and gives you a smile or wink as a greeting. He’s like the sunshine that follows your broody mood whenever Gojo is nearby but all in all your interactions with the both of them didn’t exceed 2 seconds. On one hand you were relieved and on the other it still pisses you off that Gojo took a small joke this serious and personal when he jokes and pisses you off all the time and you were supposed to get over it.

‘This guy needs to grow up’, you grumble internally.

You were ready to take up a wooden spear and familiarize yourself with it; this daily training for several hours has helped you immensely with your stamina and focus and it actually helps you relieve some inner pent up anger, you don’t even realize you have until you start hitting something.

More and more weeks go by like this: School, Train, sometimes you add a sprinkle of going out and having fun and there are also the occasional missions you guys have and complete with success and only small casualties.

Your team has grown closer and closer to one another to the point you guys spend almost every minute, except for sleeping, with each other and they’ve grown to be your second family; already saving each other more than you can count and a non describable trust has formed between you.

Currently you were seated in the backseat of a car and boredly looking at the constantly changing scenery outside while silently humming along to the music on the radio. The song was just about to reach the refrain when the passenger princess decided to switch the radio channel again.

“For fuck’s sake, Gojo, this is the fourth time you’re switching the song before it gets good.”, you complain. This guy always manages to ruin any type of peaceful mood you could ever have. “Just connect it to your phone if you don’t like the songs playing”, you offer in hopes you can enjoy at least one song before you have to face your pesky and annoying elders.

Gojo and you were invited to a ‘small’ family dinner involving both of your close family, you didn’t know why but you got called and told to bring Gojo with you no matter how and it was no easy feat. As much as you hated your elders or these family gatherings you still could gulp it down and still attend even if you’d rather die than go to one of these. Gojo on the other hand never attends these and they know that, which means this gathering is important as hell and you’d rather face Gojo’s wrath than your mother’s for not obeying the elders.

The deal was: Gojo attends the gathering and you basically get him at least 20 Mochis daily for two weeks. How this man doesn’t have diabetes yet, is something you have to ask yourself daily; his daily sugar intake is worse than an unsupervised toddlers.

The grown toddler in question faces you and rolls his eyes: “These songs are boring, how can you manage to enjoy them?”

You could feel your eye twitching in annoyance: “Just connect it to your phone then, Gojo. It’s not that hard.”

He shakes his head, and switches to another station, provoking you even further, and he takes a small second to consider his next words, “then I wouldn’t be able to keep pissing you off.”

Your entire body tenses up in annoyance, you can basically feel your fingers tickling, basically demanding to choke him but you have to contain yourself, if he’s dead before you even arrive at the gathering, your mother is gonna scold you. All you can do is scoff and face the window again, if he was hoping for a bigger reaction out of you he wouldn’t get it tonight.

For the rest of the car ride, you ignored Gojos shenanigans, except for a few eye rolls here and there; in the end you were also just human and there’s only so much rage you can keep in.

You guys arrive at your not so humble abode; Gojo rushes out of the car and you have to question his next action, specifically his motive, because not even a second later he is making his way towards your door and you have to hold yourself back from opening the door and hitting him in the face with it. The reasonable part in you, knows a clan member is probably watching you from afar and this is the only reason he’s doing it but it still feels incredibly odd.

Satoru opens the door and holds out his hand, waiting for you to take it, he’s lightly and impatiently tapping his foot, which basically tells you he can’t wait for tonight to be over and done with so you take a deep breath and put on a smile before you grasp his hand and let him lead you out of the car. When you step out, he lets go of your arm and puts his hand on your back while simultaneously closing the door.

He leans down to your ear, his lips lightly touching it; you feel tingles run down your spine, physical contact really wasn’t your strong point, you almost curse at yourself and at the effect he can have on you.

“Let the show begin.”, he whispers and you have to cough slightly in a weak attempt to pull yourself together at his raspy voice being so close to you.

You nod to reassure yourself and repeat: “let the show begin.”

The both of you head towards the house, his hand never leaving your waist and you can’t help but feel comfortable, at least you aren’t the only one suffering tonight; the thought makes you chuckle out loud and Gojo looks at you as if you’re about to go insane. Mischievously you just keep looking at him but it’s only in moments like this you realize just how much he towers over you, he’s almost an entire head taller than you, if he wanted to he could spit on your head and you wouldn’t even see it.

This thought makes you slightly mad and you have to narrow your eyes at him: “Don’t even think about spitting on me or anything like that or I will get you Mochis only for a week.”

He genuinely looks lost for a moment, “Just what goes on in that stupid pretty little head of yours?”, he shakes his head but then grins as if he realized something, “thanks for the idea, shortcake.”, he hums, now happier than before.

In response you groaned, you just had to open your mouth. Now you wish you could unwrap his arm around you.

“Don’t you dare or I’ll spit on every meal you’re gonna eat for the rest of our lives.”, you threaten and you mean every single word.

He hums and pulls you closer towards him before he winks and blows a kiss in your direction. Leave it to Gojo Satoru, to make you feel like you’re on an emotional rollercoaster and have your fight or flight mode activated all the time, and right now, you wish you could fight him, he is basically asking for it, but sooner rather than later you already arrive on the front door and ring the doorbell.

You both take a deep breath and you warn Gojo to behave once more for good measure. Soon the door opens and you’re faced with the clan elder greeting the both of you. Albeit they can’t let you guys step inside without a small side comment about how an engaged couple should show up together more often and you have to strengthen the grip on your purse to hold yourself back from either rolling your eyes or pushing the elder away in annoyance. You fake a laugh and respond that you both are very busy people and rarely can make it together to events like this then head inside and greet the rest of your families.

The two of you engage in small talk with the different family members and go from group to group together. Whenever you guys part from one group Gojo whispers small side comments in your ear as if he was a gossiping auntie and you can’t help but laugh at some of them, no matter how much you hate him, you have to admit he does make wonderful company for events like these.

During the passing of the night Gojo’s hand never left your body, even if he let go sometimes his hand always found its way back to your waist and you can’t help but feel giddy at the realization, if you were in the unknown about your feelings for one another you’d genuinely think the both of you were in love given the plain intimacy between you guys. The worst part is, you could get used to it, in fact you are getting used to it, and you don’t like this. At all. Being vulnerable with Gojo Satoru is never a good sign and you dread whatever comes with being comfortable around him. It’s like you are waiting for the killer to finally catch the unassuming victim and waiting for their impending doom but right now you aren’t in a spot to put distance between you guys.

Finally the both of you are done talking to everyone and make your way towards your and Gojo’s parents, after all they’re the ones who are most likely the ones to be the happiest to see the both of you well and happy together.

Your father looks at the both of you and lets out a small whistle before he looks at Satoru and his face wrinkles up in a huge smile: “Did you finally tame the dragon?”, he asks Satoru teasingly then pulls him into a hug, “I hope she hasn’t been threatening you too often. That anger of hers is unstoppable.”

You gasp at your fathers betrayal and Satoru grins at you victoriously, his eyes basically telling you that he’s got your parents wrapped around his finger and you can do absolutely nothing about it.

“Don’t worry about her, give her a little affection and all her worries and anger are gone within seconds.”, he hums happily.

You fake a smile, wrap your arms around his waist in a half hug and subtly step on his foot with your heel, “How can I be angry at you, when you’re this adorable.”, you coo and your mood genuinely brightens up when you see him slightly hiss in pain.

He wraps his arm around your waist again and slightly pinches your side and you have to hold tight onto him to not show a physical reaction towards your parents.

He then looks at your mothers and grins, “she’s such a catch, isn’t she?”

They laugh at the both of you before they stop and start scolding the two of you: “You should attend these events together more often.”, while the other says: “Do you know how awkward it is to always come up with excuses for why you never attend our gatherings?” and much more until they finally hug the both of us.

Satoru’s father now steps in to greet the both of you and then looks at you apologetically: “I hope Satoru hasn’t created any trouble for you.”

You have to genuinely laugh at this, if he only knew, albeit you didn’t want to give neither your nor his family a bad impression but still wanted to keep some type of honesty so you simply answer with: “Only his usual shenanigans, but don’t worry, he’s improving.”

This time Satoru gasps, “I’m not that bad, I’m a fucking delight and you know it, darling.”

“Satoru!”, his mother looks at him pointedly, “no swearing!”, she scolds him.

He apologizes, but you can see from miles away he doesn’t feel the slightest bit sorry about the slip of tongue.

You engage in further small talk, answering all their questions about your wellbeing, your stay at Jujutsu High and basically everything else.

At one point the gathering seems so normal, so ordinary that you can’t help but wonder why they insisted so heavily on the both of you attending together. There’s no way they would have been this adamant about it if this was just a normal gathering.

Satoru beats you to it, though and asks the question you’ve been dying to know and skillfully mentions he had important stuff going on tonight, “so, what is the purpose of tonight’s event? I even had to ask my teammate to take my mission for tonight”

You had to physically restrain yourself from patting Satoru’s head proudly for coming up with this excuse, at least he can sometimes make that brain of his work.

“Oh,”, your mother smiles, “well there are two things planned on today's agenda. First of all we wanted to announce future plans that would follow your guy's marriage in the future, that involve both of our clans and then we wanted to discuss details of your future engagement party, i mean we still haven’t officially celebrated it.”, she explains.

You look at her surprised: “I thought the official engagement announcement would be after we graduate?”, you wonder out loud and Satoru nods along.

Now Satoru’s mother chimes in: “Please, everybody already knows you two are going to wed each other, might as well get the engagement over and done with.”, she chuckles and you can’t help but gulp.

You knew it was bound to happen at one point or another but actually deciding on a date and being engaged officially makes this entire deal so real and it feels like you can’t hold on to the bubble you’ve been living in for the entire time you’ve been at Jujutsu High. You and Gojo Satoru are actually going to be engaged and there’s no actual change to your situation but something about this feels so much more different to your situation before and you can’t pinpoint why yet.

You take a deep breath and for the first time genuinely look at Satoru. He has a blank expression and even though you can’t read minds you just know he’s going through the same predicament as you right now.

You slightly squeeze him in a weak attempt to get him back to reality, you guys still need to pretend everything is alright between you two. Lucky for you it works and now he’s looking at you. You can see the hidden dark look in his eyes; he didn’t want this and your heart feels like it twists in pain, this is probably the only time you’d be the one who could understand Satoru’s thoughts and feelings better than anyone else and you slightly nod and squeeze his arm in a reassuring manner, no matter what, it’s gonna be ok, you try to convince the both of you. This is the only thing you guys won’t be able to change; you two are gonna end up married, whether you liked it or not.

Satoru takes a deep breath then suggests to discuss these matters in a more private setting some time next week and excuses himself before he goes anywhere but near our parents. His mother looks at you confused and worried.

You grasp her hand and squeeze it lightly to reassure her, “he’s fine.”, you smile and follow after Satoru.

He is outside, sitting on the edge of the terrace currently ruffling through his hair, while you slowly walk towards him. The cold of the night breezes against your naked shoulders. Never in your life before have you had to comfort Gojo Satoru nor did you ever think you would but it seems like there’s a first time for everything. Every fiber in your body is screaming to leave him alone, telling you that it’s not worth it, but you can’t, not when you know, not when you understand and you really hated your caring heart in this exact moment so you bite your teeth and swallow down the cold you’re currently feeling and sit down next to him.

He notices you and lets out an annoyed huff: “can’t you leave me alone? At least for now? Before we actually have to stick together side by side for forever.”, you tense up at his sudden rude behavior, you knew he wasn’t exactly ecstatic about the current events but you failed to predict that he’d be pissed enough to let it out on you and you suddenly wish you hadn’t come outside but you grit your teeth together; you both needed to talk about this, whether you liked it or not.

You sigh in order to somehow gather your thoughts and consider your next words, you need to stay calm.

“I don’t like this either, Satoru, just as much as you do. But we can’t change the inevitable. It is going to happen and the best we can do is try to get along and make the best out of it.”, you shrug and look at him, waiting for his reply.

He chuckles coldly, his face unreadable, the only thing visible in this dark terrace that’s only lightened by the moonlight are his furrowed eyebrows, and he snaps: “Make the best out of it? Did you forget all the past years we have spent together so far? I fucking hate you, y/n,”, he stands up and you get up as well, you wrap your arms around your body, is far too cold out here for your type of attire, “that’s not gonna change any time soon, so stop trying to act all high and mighty as if this doesn’t bother you.”, he takes a step closer to you, you two are only a few inches apart now, “Don’t fucking lie and say we fucking make the best out of it, when we both perfectly know this is literally the worst shit anyone can pull on the both of us.”

You scoff, ignoring the small peng in your chest, clearly offended and annoyed by his attitude: “I’m not trying to be high and mighty, I’m trying to fucking deal with this like a mature human being and you snapping at me isn’t going to change our arrangement, Satoru. Grow up and accept it.”

His hand runs through his hair and you can’t help but let your eyes follow his movement and you gulp, realizing how attractive he looks pissed off and you want to hit yourself for being distracted by this in this type of situation and then the realization hits you, you are attracted to Gojo Satoru and it feel like someone suddenly punched the air out of your lungs.

You are attracted to Gojo fucking Satoru, your future husband, who hates you like the fucking pest and the feeling should be likewise; you almost start to curse out loud at yourself, just why did you have to realize this now out of all moments, while he’s expressing his unending hatred for you, why did you even have to be attracted to him in the first place?

“You see, y/n”, you can see he’s clenching his jaw, “right fucking now, i’d rather wish one of us died, rather than grow up and accept it.”, he almost spits out and you know, he is just angry and he just wants to hurt you right now but something about your sudden realization and then Satoru immediately spewing these harsh words out combined makes you snap and you slap him. Satoru widens his eyes in shock and you almost were surprised at your own actions too, at least you would’ve been, if you were in a normal state of mind.

It's just like you thought earlier, being vulnerable around Gojo Satoru is not a good thing.

You shake your head in disappointment and remark harshly and visibly angry: “Out of all the things I expected when I stepped outside, you stooping this low, wasn’t one of them, but I guess there’s a new low every day for you, isn’t there, Gojo?”, you turn around and step away from him. You can’t be near him, not now, not like this. You both needed to cool down, before this gets even worse than it already is.

You step inside and take a deep breath, you need a distraction, anything will do, you can’t even bear to look at your parents right now, you know when they did this deal, this wasn’t what they were expecting for you, and yet you still can’t help but feel angry at them. They took your right to love and be loved like you deserved from you, instead you had a future spouse wishing your death rather than be with you. Anger is slowly starting to be replaced with sadness and the urge to cry is growing stronger and stronger.

What a fucking fun night, you grumble and do your best to keep your inner tumult together, you can’t afford a breakdown in front of your families.

Your cousin approaches you, having noticed you’re not so okay, she tugs you by your hand and pulls you somewhere more private, “you okay?”, she whispers and she knows you’re not okay but how else would she be able to approach this?

You shake your head: “I need to leave, before I break down this entire house, either with my tears or my anger, I haven’t decided yet.”

She nods, barely following along, “okay”, she goes and grabs her car keys, “where are we going?”, then walks out of the house with you following right behind her.

“Bring me back to Jujutsu High, please. And no questions, I’m begging, I can’t form answers right now.”, you plead and step into her car.

She nods affirmingly, “no questions” and drives you home.

The car ride is quiet, only quiet music playing through the car speakers, your cousin leaves you to sort your own thoughts and even after the car ride when you’re already at Jujutsu High you still feel lost about everything. You thank her and step inside, you’d take her out to lunch one day but now you’re in no state of mind to properly converse or do anything else other than think.

Why are you even so affected by this, this is what confuses you the most, yes Gojo is attractive, you established that earlier, but he hates you and you hate him, nothing has actually changed between you guys, or has it? You groan out loud in frustration. No matter how much he hates you or how angry you are in a certain moment and no matter how much you actually don’t mean it, you don’t wish someone else their death, that was a real low blow of him and you don’t think you could ever look at him the same again.

You sigh, you had no intention of solving this situation, this wasn’t your fault and yet you were still standing in front of Geto’s room. Seems like your feet automatically carried you here while you were deep in thought. You contemplated if you should knock or not but apparently Geto didn’t even let you think about that before he opened the door and looked at you in confusion.

“What is bringing you here, princess? I know I’m attractive but I’d rather not do something with my best friend's girl.”, and now you notice how this might come across but you couldn’t care less right now and he winks apparently not realizing that you are here for everything but sleeping with him.

“Bad timing for jokes, Geto.”, you shake your head, “speaking of your best friend, though, fucking fix his dipshit brain or something and give him something against emotional constipation.”, you grumble, clearly frustrated.

He looks at you even more confused before it dawns upon him, something happened and given that you went to him, it was bad, like horribly, only Gojo fucking Satoru could do this, type of bad.

“I’m going to leave it to him to tell you but punch him at least twice for me, please, I already hit him once, but he doesn’t care about me.”, you sigh and you swear you could see the gears turning in Geto’s head.

“That bad?”, he asks genuinely concerned and you only nod, then apologize for disturbing him, wish him a good night. You don’t even give him the chance to ask any further questions before you turn around and head to your room.

You were absolutely done with Gojo Satoru, you grumbled and cursed him all the way up until you arrived at your room. Once you reach the small space you take a deep breath. Feelings come crashing down like a barely holding up dam broke loose and you curse Satoru even more.

It hurt, it hurt seeing him so pissed off about this, about you and you can’t help but feel like your self worth is completely lacking, thoughts start to spill you never thought you’d think and you know tomorrow you probably won’t care and it’ll just be back to Gojo being Gojo but tonight you cared, you let him in even if only for a split second and it was already enough to make your lips quiver and your eyes threatening to spill with tears, Gojo Satoru is your own personal and he proved that to you tonight. You still can’t believe his implication; he’d rather choose death than get along with you, what does that say about your personality? Your desirability? Were you that ugly or was your personality that unlovable? Your insecurities grow bigger and bigger and you’ve put yourself into a circle of constantly demeaning yourself without even trying to.

You don’t even know how or when you fall asleep; only in the next morning when your alarm bell rings and you’re still in your evening dress with completely smeared makeup do you realize you fell asleep. You look like absolute shit and you also felt like it; but you can’t go on like this. In an attempt to get rid of your pathetic behavior you slap your cheeks hard and mutter to yourself: ‘Don’t give Gojo Satoru the satisfaction of having power over you.’ and you pull yourself together even if it’s out of simple spite, if it keeps you going, it keeps you going.

The dress is being discarded and so is everything else, you take a quick shower and put on your daily makeup and blow dry your hair, you’d simply leave it straight today and out on your uniform; you didn’t feel like attending classes but you’d only repeat yesterday’s events if you stayed in your dorm room, and the circle of toxicity would continue. At least classes would serve as a good distraction.

As punctual as always at 7:40am Haname knocks at your door and invites herself in, she gives you a double take and looks at you, or well, more like analyzes every inch of your body before she simply states: “You look good but you also look like shit, I can’t describe it. Was last night that bad?”, she wonders out loud.

You grasp her hand and lead her out of the room with an exaggerated groan: “an absolute fucking disaster.”, you repeat yesterday's events and she listens attentively and proceeds to curse out Gojo with certain insults you can’t even properly pronounce. Now for the first time you genuinely felt like smiling and reassured, your feelings finally felt valid and you were glad you decided to open up to her.

“Anyways”, you shrug, “let’s stop talking about this, or him, he is simply not worth it anymore, I learned my lesson, I have to put my guard up before I fall into a rabbit hole I can’t get myself out of.”, and you sigh, this won’t be as easy as you hope it will be and you knew that but you have to, otherwise you might actually not make it out of this alive.

The both of you arrive at your classroom and you sit down at your regular seats; the room is quiet, everyone either being occupied with their thoughts or still trying to get a few minutes of sleep before the teacher steps in.

Gojo’s seat is empty, so far, you have to wonder if he’s going to show up today, considering how angry he was yesterday. You weren’t sure if you even wanted to see him and yet here you are checking the door whenever it makes the tiniest bit of noise, you really wish you could slap yourself right now in frustration; stop caring about him, you chant like a mantra in your head.

Then the door opens again and you face the sunglasses Gojo wears every single day; your body tenses up and you catch yourself holding your breath, he is looking at you while you are looking at him and everything stops for a few seconds; you really don’t know how to face him or what to do. Do you behave like usual? Are you even capable of doing that? Or will you ignore him, god, you hate this uncertainty.

The tension between you guys breaks when Gojo is being pushed from behind, Geto steps into the classroom and you’re finally able to look away from them, from him. Your head turns towards the window while you rest it on your arm and you know he’s still looking at you but you don’t think you can handle another fight at the moment.

He seems to be sitting down next to you and you can feel yourself tense up even more, you didn’t think he’d actually sit next to you today and thought he’d switch seats with Geto, but it seems like he’s mature enough for that at least, you think to yourself bitterly.

His gaze doesn’t leave you this entire time and you’re almost about to tell him to stop staring at you, when jumps up and mutters something along the lines of ‘Fuck it’ before you can feel your chair being pushed back and Gojo right in front ouf your face. He was so close you could see his sparkling blue eyes hidden behind the sunglasses and his severe eye bags, to be specific, he looked worse than you this morning and it made you feel some sense of satisfaction, at least you weren’t the only one affected by this last night.

He stares at you and then whispers: “We need to talk.”, the eye contact between the both of you doesn’t break and he keeps looking at you so deeply you could almost think he can read your mind.

“Classes are about to start, Gojo”, you barely mutter out; you don’t trust yourself, your voice to properly speak out right now.

“I don’t care”, he says in a hoarse voice, “what I care about is fixing this.”, he looked at you almost desperate and pleading and you feel your entire strength leave your body when he pulls you up by your arm and drags you out of the classroom and you let yourself be carried away.

The only thought screaming into your mind is ‘I don‘t think I hate him‘, you care for him in a certain way because all he has to do is genuinely look at you and your determination is crumbling at his demand.

When you‘re just about to leave the classroom you can hear a faint whistle; it‘s Geto probably.

Gojo‘s hand is softly wrapped around yours while he still keeps tugging you to wherever he wants to go and you follow him silently while your eyes keep following his tall frame. You don‘t know what you‘re going to face, an apology? An explanation? Neither?

Your entire body is tense, and you doubt the tension will leave you any time soon, before you can even realize you already are in an empty classroom and you‘re anxiously waiting for Gojo to say anything.

He clears his throat and takes a step closer towards you, you take a deep breath and step back -you swear you can see a glint of hurt guilt in his eyes- you know that the physical distance won‘t actually put distance between you guys but you don‘t trust yourself being too close to him at the moment, leading to you perfectioning the mask of indifference towards him, even if you feel anything but indifferent towards him on the inside.

His hand grabs the back of his neck and he looks away, probably contemplating his next choice of words. It‘s rare to see Satoru at a loss for words and you didn‘t think you‘d ever be the reason for that but here you were, waiting for him to open his mouth.

Your foot lightly taps on the ground, your pride not letting you even think about being the first to say anything, he was still the one who screwed up so he should take the first step.

After you wait a few more minutes expectantly, you‘re starting to grow disappointed, if he decided he could cut you off from classes and then proceed to just stand there and look at you; you weren‘t gonna have it.

You raise your eyebrow, impatiently before you finally decide you have enough and then make your way back towards the door ready to go back to class.

“Wait..”, you stop and look back at him expectantly, “I’m sorry, okay?”, he grabs your hands and slightly tugs you towards him, “I went too far yesterday, I was angry at the world but then let it out on you, that was wrong of me.”

“I know, Satoru,”, you make no motion to move away from him, “and I understand, but even if I understand, there are certain things I just can’t overlook.”, you sigh, “I’m not a punching bag nor will I let myself get treated like one.”

“And I won’t treat you like that, I promise”, he pleads and steps even closer, “I really mean it when I say I regret it.”, his hands cup your cheeks, “I’m genuinely sorry, y/n.”, and he looks at you with so much sincerity you have to genuinely question if you aren’t dreaming right now; his hands are warm and you suddenly felt like you needed more of this, more of him.

You need to get rid of this thought, you can’t have more of him, no matter how much you want it; Satoru is unattainable like that.

“It’s okay”, you manage to whisper, afraid that if you would speak too loud, you would ruin this bubble the both of you have surrounded yourself with, “well, it’s not okay, but I accept your apology.”, he lets go of your face and smiles brightly, on a whim you decide to grab him by the collar and pull him really close to your face, his smile slips a little and you can see him glance down at your lips, then look back into your eyes. “You pull this shit one more time and I will make sure, there will be no heir of yours”, you whisper your face traitorously getting closer to his, he gulps, “understood?”

“Understood.”, he whispers, the space between your faces getting smaller and smaller.

You let go of his collar and pat out the wrinkles: “good.”, you back away from him and start heading back to your classroom.

As you make your way back to the classroom you don’t spare a single glance back to Satoru, all you can focus on is your heart beating loudly and rapidly as if you had just sprinted through the entirety of Japan, and your mind wanders, you let yourself think about what would’ve happened if you didn’t stop whatever happened in there. Would he have pushed you away? Kissed you back? Those are questions you’ll probably never hear the answer to and you have to almost physically fight yourself from looking back at him; you were afraid that you wouldn’t like whatever is written on his face.

The class is vividly discussing something and you bow to your teacher and apologize, clearly embarassed for being this late. However the teacher just shrugs you off, someone -probably Geto or Haname- explained why you weren‘t there despite your stuff lying on your desk, Satoru is a few steps behind you and grins sheepishly at the teacher, he then stops Satoru him and warns him to solve private issues out of class time.

You have to hold back a shit-eating grin at being treated much nicer than him and Geto doesn‘t even hold his laughter back and you almost start laughing, too. These guys will be the death of you, you can feel it. Geto grins at you, and you know that‘s his way of checking up on you and you feel grateful for him; he was most likely the one to get the stick out of Satoru‘s ass.

While you and Gojo sit down Haname explains what you had missed during the time you were gone, apparently you guys would be divided into different teams for the next three months. It‘s basically going to be a rotation system, where two members of each team will go to two different teams every two weeks; The reason for that being that we need to get used to working with different types of people and training our flexibility, after all the teams weren‘t going to always be the same either when we are grown up.

The two of you look at each other, you knew you didn‘t want to switch teams so early but their reasoning made perfect sense and you could hardly disagree with them.

They were discussing the importancy of team dynamics and what they need to pay attention to even when you aren‘t used to your team members yet; they even made a list of the do‘s and don‘ts when it‘s the first time you‘re working together.

This also led to the big debate going on right now, who would go where in the first round and because the class was being so indecisive the teacher simply decided to draw lots.

While he was drawing the lots Satoru chuckles beside you: „Don‘t worry, y/n, I‘ll take very good care of you, when we‘re going to work together.“ and you groan in response, but he‘s right, you‘ll have to work with this goofy clown for two entire weeks at some point.

He grins and ruffles your hair, leading to you scoffing at him, while Geto chirps in: „He is as bad as he seems.“ and you have to bury your head in your arms in frustration.

Whatever was out there hated you and loved to see you suffer at the hands of Gojo Satoru. At least they took mercy on you and decided that today wouldn’t be the day you’d have to suffer. You almost sigh in relief when your name and someone else's gets called out and it wasn’t Satoru’s.

Another few weeks pass and you have to admit, it’s incredibly exhausting to always get used to new team mates once you get used to the ones you just got paired up with, you at first thought, yes it would be mentally taxing but not to this extent. The entire dynamic changes and with new members, one minute you’re the main act and then the other you’re the support and then the next second you have to save your teammate from getting annihilated by a blast they didn’t see, and then the same game over and over just with other people.

At one point you work together with Geto and you find out you guys actually get along even better now that you weren’t constantly annoyed by the white-haired manchild, they do usually come only in pairs of two, after all. If you were to describe your relationship with one another it would be like two grannies sitting next to each other and gossiping about everyone and everything and you were actually kind of sad when you guys had to part ways but all good things have to come to an end unfortunately.

Just like the good things have to come to an end, the bad things have to show up sometimes too, you think to yourself, while you can only dread your existence for the next two weeks, Satoru is grinning from ear to ear next to you and almost jumping up in excitement. You don’t have enough migraine pills for the upcoming weeks, you were 100% sure of that.

“Hello, partner.”, he stretches out his hand to you, as a form of greeting, with the same grin as before, reluctantly you stare at it before you take it and he abruptly pulls you towards him; you crash against his chest and almost hit him in the chin for being so rash with you. He lifts his hand towards the other person and waves at them: “Yo!”

He has his arms so tightly wrapped around you, that even when you try to push him away, you can’t escape his death grip, ‘at least he smells nice’, you grimace and greet your other partner. He only lets go when your assigned team leader shows up and even then his arm remains wrapped around your shoulder.

The leader frowns a little upon the physical contact but says nothing and you wish you could bury yourself six feet deep; sadly Satoru will never cease to embarass you.

Even when you guys are on missions he keeps calling you weird nicknames and every time he does, another curse would be sent flying towards his direction but this lucky motherfucker doesn’t even have to dodge since his infinity stops them from touching him and it irks you even more, especially when the teacher scolds you afterwards for being reckless and that you shouldn’t throw back curses at your teammates, no matter how annoyed you are.

Today you were sent to a particularly hard mission because, obviously, Gojo Satoru was in your team and the elders decided that since he’s there nothing is impossible. Curses after curses were coming at you, it was like an entire army of them, they weren’t particularly strong but the sheer quantity of them was what exhausted you - no matter how many times you freeze and crush them many more appear, there has to be some kind of power source but even Satoru’s six eyes can’t figure out where its at at the moment; there is so much to analyze, he needs time, is his explanation and you wish his stupid brain could work faster, your output was slowly getting weaker.

Finally he comes up with an idea, he teleports next to you and asks: “Are you capable of freezing the entire area?”, you look around the incredibly large area, it should be doable, but you doubt you’ll be able to stand properly after that but that’s a matter for later.

You nod at him: “Just step behind me.”, you start rushing towards a relatively empty area and wait for everyone else to step behind you. When they are, you freeze absolutely everything, including the walls and ceiling, leaving only the area behind you, where your team is, unfrozen.

Satoru quickly looks around, then teleports away and shortly after the curses that have been surrounding you disappear into thin air; he did it, you smile proudly and then everything starts to spin and you prepare yourself to get down on your knees but you feel strong arms wrap around you holding you steady.

“You okay?”, Satoru’s voice suddenly appears next to you, he must be the one holding you right now.

“I’m fine, give me a second.”, you hold yourself up against his arms; when everything stops spinning you slowly get out of Satoru’s grip only for your knees to finally give in and at lightning speed he is once again holding you securely.

He puts your arms around his shoulders and lifts you up and carries you piggyback style, you rest your head on top of his shoulder, you blame it on your exhaustion although the faint blush on your face could tell everyone else, it wasn’t just because of that. Maybe if you hadn’t closed your eyes to relieve the trembling headache slowly appearing you also would’ve noticed the slight tinge of red on his ears.

Before you even know it, you fell asleep and wake up in the middle of the car ride back to the school, you look at Satoru sitting at the other side of the car, looking out of the window, it seemed like he was thinking about something and you couldn’t help but stare at him. Your eyes wander from his drop dead gorgeous eyes, to the slight crease between his eyebrows then towards the frown on his face that’s usually covered in a smile or grin and it makes you want to frown as well - the mission went well in the end, why does he look so bothered?

“Good work out there.”, you say in an attempt to make that crease between his brows disappear.

He looks at you and then finally smiles: “Good morning, sunshine.”, now he completely turns towards you, “You okay?”, the crease between his eyebrows appears again, “You went off to fantasyland not so long ago.”

“Yeah, I’m fine”, you smile at him, “just used too much of my powers, too quickly, a little rest and I’m back to the usual.”

A little longer than necessary he keeps staring at you, analyzing you and then finally spills out in a sing-song tone: “You went a teensy tiny bit overboard, didn’t you?”

Now you were the one frowning: “You said freeze everything, that’s what I did.”, you shrug, “besides at one point I did have to let out all this pent up frustration I get from working with you.”

Suddenly he grins at you like a pervert: “There are so many different ways to let out your frustration on me and that’s how you decide to do it?”

Your eyes widen in realization and you hit his shoulder: “I did not mean it like that!”, you grimace, “Fucking pervert!”

Unfaced by your hit, he just playfully rolls his eyes and hums: “Uh-uh, sure you didn’t”

Too embarrassed to even look at him anymore you now face the window and have to scoff, leave it to him to ruin any type of nice moment between you guys and you can see from the reflection of the window, he still has that shit-eating grin on his face - how you wish you had slept through the entire car ride now.

When you arrive back at the school you still feel slightly wobbly on your feet but it definitely was better than before, the driver told you to go and visit the infirmary just in case and of course Satoru volunteered to bring you there; if you were strong enough to properly walk on your own, you definitely would have protested with your entire might but you weren’t really in a place to argue so you just let it be and used Satoru like a crutch and weirdly enough he let you.

Once you were in the infirmary they did a general check up on you and already sent you back to your dorm telling you, you just need to charge up again.

Satoru insists on walking you back to your room and wraps one arm around your waist, you stare at him in confusion.

“You do know I can walk by myself now?”, and attempt to wiggle yourself out of his arms.

He doesn’t let you go and just smiles: “No risks; better to be safe than sorry.”, he winks at you and you swear you could feel his arms wrap even tighter around you.

If you or someone else would ask you ‘When did you get so used to him always touching you in one way or another’, you wouldn’t have an answer to that; it just happened, when or how, you didn’t know either, all you know is at some point it felt odd not having his hand somewhere on your body whenever you were together.

Satoru brought you to your room and when you prepare to thank him and say goodbye to him he walks past you and just sprawls on top of your bed, without a single care and you just stare at him, too shocked to do anything else.

A few seconds later you finally get a grip on yourself and scowl: “Out of my bed, Gojo.”, your eyebrows furrowing in annoyance.

He just moves a little more to the side, probably making room for you, “Don’t wanna”, he pouts and pats the spot next to him, initiating that you should just lie next to him.

‘He’s going insane’, you think to yourself, there was no other explanation for this random clingy behavior; you were sure that if you’re going to lie down next to him you would be going insane as well and sigh, “did you hit your head?”, your head tilts slightly to the left in a questioning manner.

He moves his head towards your general direction and opens one of his eyes, he doesn’t say anything but his facial expression definitely says ‘are you being serious right now?’; you look at him with the same expression until you finally realize he isn’t going to move any time soon.

“At least take off your shoes on my bed”, you grumble and step towards your occupied bed and lie down next to him.

Satoru quickly takes off his shoes and then lies back down facing you, the two of you were so close that whenever you guys breathe out you’d feel the other person's breath on your face and it takes everything inside of you not to freak out or curse at Satoru for putting you guys in this awkward position - two people in a bed made for one person.

At some point you close your eyes and try to sleep but you can’t; not when you know Satoru is lying right there in front of you in your own bed. The two of you weren’t actually touching but it sure didn’t feel like it, instead it felt more like he was touching your entire soul, his presence consuming all of your senses and at one point the only thought you were capable of thinking is ‘Gojo Satoru’.

In frustration you turn around, your back is facing him now - a weak attempt to escape his presence - you perfectly know it’s useless but you’re tired and your head is aching and all you wish is to sleep.

Finally you get used to the heat and soft snoring behind you, at some point it even seems like a lullaby and you drift off to sleep.

When you wake up the first thing you notice is the lack of warmth next to you. You turn around to the spot Satoru lied in earlier, of course he left, before you could even wake up. It was a weird situation to begin with but you still can’t help but taste the sour aftertaste it leaves on your tongue. Satoru isn’t the type to stay, you don’t even know why you’d delude yourself into thinking he would in the first place.

Your warm feet hit the cold ground and you almost wrap yourself in your blanket again but just put on your slippers and a sweatshirt from your closet until you get ready and dressed for the training ground today - the classes today will focus on physical combat and honestly, you were in need of pummeling something to the ground today.

Haname, as always picks you up and you walk together; you contemplated telling her what happened last night but telling her would mean it is a big deal - and it isn’t, you convince yourself. Gojo was just tired after carrying you back to the car and then dragging you to the infirmary so he decided to nap in your room and leave as soon as he got up, it’s completely sensable.

She interrupts your train of thought when she asks: “How was your mission yesterday?”, she nudges you, “I heard you exhausted yourself completely.”

“I’m okay,” you sigh, “just went a little overboard. Not really that bad or anything.”, and nudged her back as a comfort.

The look she gives you clearly says that she doesn’t believe you and gives you a once over before she decides to drop the topic, noticing that you don’t really want to dwell on it.

You look around and see some of your other classmates gathered, some are sitting on the ground and some are warming up and stretching; you decide to follow them and gesture to Haname that you are going to start stretching and she joins you quickly.

You decide to stretch your legs and sit down and touch your toes with your hand, after a few times someone pushes you from behind deeper towards your toes and you curse at them ready to punch whoever is messing with you like this.

Gojo’s wide jerkish grin greets you, you push him away and flip him off - the audacity of this guy. For a second you consider asking why he left but you decide it’s not worth mentioning and you once again push down the tight feeling in your throat.

Geto is right behind him cackling while you glare at him: “Piss me off and you’re next.”, you scowl. They really are going to be the key reasons if you ever switch to the dark side.

These two don’t stop, though instead they join you and sit right beside you; one mosquito on each side. At first you try to ignore them and go back to stretching but then they decide to - as childish as they are - make faces at one another and basically yell loud jokes and there’s only a certain amount of patience you have and you’re running out of it.

You flick the both of them on their forehead: “either stretch or go somewhere else.”, you glare.

They stare at each other for a few seconds and then they continue to bother you; one pokes your cheek while the other pokes your side and then Gojo asks, while he's digging his finger deeper into your cheek: “What’s gotten you so grumpy today, hmm?”

A loud scoff leaves your lips: “How can I not?”, you slap their fingers away, “it’s way too early for your shenanigans.”

The both of them chuckle and you wonder what you have ever done to deserve this until they both get slapped by someone on the back of their head: “leave the poor girl alone.”, the teacher scolds them and you sincerely thank him before you grin at the both of them in satisfaction.

They both grumble but don’t say anything else - they better not- they’re already on your bad side today, you weren’t sure if you could handle more of their relentless pestering.

The class immediately starts after this incident and you can finally let out some of your inner pent up anger.

In your head the training dummy is Gojo and he gets the beating of his life; it’s almost therapeutic to beat up dummy!Gojo and you really wish you could do this more often.

Your life continues the same as always: you attend classes, train, sometimes go on missions, are pestered by dumb (Geto) and dumber (Gojo). Well in Geto’s defense; he’s okay sometimes, especially because he’s the one who stops Gojo from overstepping too much but he sure loves teasing you too and they don’t miss out on their daily intake of annoying you.

Now you guys have reached your second year at Jujutsu High, sadly not all of you have made it and when the first one of your classmates died you felt like the world is about to end but you had to recover and continue this path; you knew sorcerers die daily and sometimes it’s the ones you know.

Everything went fine and you had your daily routine, you had improved massively compared to your first year and even got promoted to Grade 1 - you’ll probably become a special grade in the future if you manage to get a better hold of your reverse curse technique.

Then the incident happened and you weren’t really sure if things were fine by then. Satoru and Geto failed their mission and Geto started to spiral into someone you didn’t recognize as Geto. When you first heard of it you tried your best to console him but nothing you ever said really went to his head and you decided to let him; it was something he had to realize on his own.

As it turns out leaving him alone wasn’t the best of ideas because not long after Geto steps towards the wrong path and kills more than 100 people and turns towards the wrong path. You wish you could scream at him, beat him, do anything to make him regret his actions but he had chosen his path and now he was considered to be your enemy.

Gojo was even more closed off right after this, even more unapproachable, yes he still talked and bothered you to no end but you knew he had closed off his heart and had his walls up as high as possible. He hid himself behind his mask of cheeriness and dumbassery but you couldn’t stop him.

Today was another day you were paired up with Satoru, the only difference now to before is that he didn’t bother with team effort; he’d kill the curse in a few seconds and call it a day.

You grumble at him: “Y’know, you can at least try to let us take part in exorcizing the curse.”, you raise your eyebrows in annoyance.

He shrugs: “it’s not my fault, nor is it yours. I’m simply out of your league.”, he grins and you weren’t sure if he just said that to get under your skin or actually meant it.

Your head shakes in response: “It’s still a team effort, Satoru.”, you scoff, “how am I ever supposed to increase my reverse curse technique efficiency if you always clear the job by yourself.”

He just walks away from you before he turns his head around to face you and smirks: “Now that’s not my responsibility is it?”, he interlocks his hands behind his head and you wish you could kick his knee caps, “besides, look at this from a positive perspective - i finished the job for the both of us.”

“I wouldn’t be attending Jujutsu High if I wanted others to do the job for me”, you grumble and slap his arm in offense.

He chuckles and shakes his head: “Chill, once in a while you can lie low and let me handle it.”

You grumble at him but don’t respond anymore - it’s pointless to argue with Satoru; he'd never bother to see your point of view, not anymore at least. Another thing that had changed; you knew it wasn’t really his fault but there’s only so many times you can excuse him.

At one point you do point out his changed behavior; it was a normal Saturday evening, you were on the way to his family's household to finalize the small details of your engagement party, the car ride was silent - which already was unusual in itself but you expected some complaints from Satoru and it took one faint bitter chuckle on your side for him to question what’s wrong and you drop the bomb on him.

“You changed, Satoru, in some ways for the better, in some for the worse.”, you point out.

He didn’t take it that well; he furrowed his eyebrows in anger and scoffed: “Yeah, it’s called growing up, maybe you should try it, too.”

“You know exactly, that is not what I meant”, you roll your eyes, he knows what you mean he’s just deflecting.

“Maybe, it’s none of your business, y/n?”, he snarls and it feels like he punched you right in the guts; you had expected this but still nothing could prepare your heart for this, “Nobody asks you to care for me or my -apparent- lack of emotional well being”, he snarls defensively.

“But I do care, Satoru!”, you respond, or maybe even yell back, you don’t know, you mostly hear your thumping heartbeat and not your own voice.

He rolls his eyes: “Well then fucking stop,”, he scoffs, “it’s annoying.”

It felt like he stabbed you in the guts, took out your organs and tried to put them back in in the wrong places; you know you relationship to one another is complicated, one time you try to murder the other and another time you’re joking around as if you never had a care in the world and despite these complications you thought he cared -at least to a certain degree- about you, but Gojo loves proving you wrong it seems.

A switch got turned off inside of you and your entire demeanor changed - Gojo wasn’t the only one with his walls up now.

You snicker coldly: “You’re right, caring about you isn’t worth it.”

For a faint second you swear you saw something flicker in his eyes but you refuse to believe it was actually real and it was just all in your head - he doesn’t care, he has proven that already.

He turns back around to face the front and the car is once again filled with silence.

You don’t even want to speak anymore but you had to settle at least one thing: “Remember to act when we’re at your place.”, you sigh, hoping he listens to you for once in his life. “I don’t want to hear our parents nagging us because we can’t get a grip.”

He doesn’t turn around but you can see him nod stiffly - at least you’re on the same page on this matter.

Not long after you arrived at his mansion and you almost felt like hurling out of the car; it felt too exhausting to be in there - it took everything inside of you to wait for Gojo to open the door for you.

When he opened the door, he held out his hand - the same tense expression on his face as earlier and you almost grimaced at him; nonetheless you took his hand and stepped out of the car. You were stiffer than a stick to release the tension, you take a deep breath and try to relax.

‘This is going to be terrible’, you sigh to yourself and a coldness fills you the same way Satoru’s cold hand is wrapped around yours.

One of the servants greets you and invites you in, you glance at Gojo out of habit but he doesn’t even bother looking at you and stares straight ahead. You hold back an eye roll - if this man could be any more stubborn you’d actually blast your own head off.

He puts his arm around your shoulder and you have to tense up, it feels weird to be at odds with Gojo and yet so close to him; you two couldn’t be any closer and further apart at the same time.

He silently whispers: “C’mon, we don’t have all day” and guides you to the dining room.

Once inside you both greet each other's family and sit down to eat; not long after the plans already begin - the choice of flowers, other decorations and so much more, well it’s not like you had much of a choice just like almost everything else that involved your and Gojo’s future. It was incredibly frustrating but you knew it was to no avail - you’d just have to bite your tongue.

The evening is getting worse and worse and the more time passes the more you’re tapping your foot impatiently - you just want to get home as fast as possible and sleep; all you want to do is sleep.

Every time someone commented on something Satoru would give passive-aggressive back-handed compliments towards you, like “weed would look best on y/n” or “she should wear something bright to balance out her personality” and you’re one comment away from actually slapping him - he’s going too far with his sappiness.

When they’re finally done with everything you almost jump out of your seat until Gojo’s mother looks at you with those pleading puppy eyes and you curse your nice heart for always bending to other people’s wills.

You keep staying for even longer than necessary; to the point your back even starts to hurt and you’re almost close to begging Gojo to leave; gladly he beats you to it when he slaps his thighs and calls it a night - you would kiss him thank you if he wasn’t the reason why you were in such a sour mood.

The moment you leave the house you speed walk towards the car - you couldn’t handle anymore of his nasty comments nor his nasty attitude; you just want, scratch that, you need to get away from him.

Without a word you sit down in the car and wait for the driver to start driving. You were beyond pissed but mostly hurt, you wanted to scream at Gojo but it wasn’t worth it, he wasn’t worth it, at least not anymore.

#fanfiction #x reader #author #gojo #gojo satoru #jjk manga #jujutsu kaisen #satoru #gojo x reader #gojo satoru x reader #jjk #jjk x reader #satoru x reader #guiltyreverie

[vauxxy]

the moon ⋆⁺₊⋆ ☾⋆⁺₊⋆

ECLIPSE- PROLOGUE, PART ONE, PART TWO

luke castellan x reader

ABOUT - luke invites you, the strange dionysus girl, to spar with him. luke makes a revelation, and you invite him to hang out.

A/N - hey y’all! it’s been a while!! so here i am, with an introductory chapter to a three parter luke x reader series called ‘eclipse’.

there’s not a lot happening in this chapter, but it’s important to the next chapter me thinks :P

also i think i’m sooo funny 😭 the title will make even more sense soon ok

WARNINGS - swearing n alcohol mention and that’s it

to say luke castellan didn’t like you would be a big understatement. but it would also be untrue.

the reality of his feelings towards you were much more complicated than simply ‘liking’ or ‘hating’ you.

his feelings towards you were completely incomprehensible. and he hated it.

you were just… so strange. the eldest daughter of dionysus, a talented actress, a rebellious girl with a sharp tongue and an even sharper blade. you were everything all at once; and it perplexed him to no end.

maybe that’s why your rivalry persisted throughout all these years. you made no sense, and luke needed everything to make sense. he needed everything to be predictable and understandable.

and you were neither of those things.

but there was also a comfort in the way that you consistently confused him- a sense of irregularity that provided him with the same comfort he would receive from those who were less strange than you were. maybe a bit more comfort, it fact.

it was truly comforting; the fact that you were always there to annoy and pester him when he was training, or at the campfire, or when you asked him to spar.

it was comforting knowing there was always someone there to challenge him- someone there to make him feel the same feeling over and over again… until the feeling changed.

“y/n, i need to talk to you.”

his voice echoed throughout the training grounds, alarming you enough to whip your head around fast to find the source of such commotion.

you were standing in the middle of the grounds, the remains of the practice dummies you were throwing your axe at scattered around the premises.

luke watched your hair move with the soft summer wind as you turned around to face him, no doubt in his mind that you knew exactly what he wanted.

“yeah? ‘bout what?”

your face was a little red and your arms were a little tired from your undoubtably taxing training session. if luke saw you like this a few months ago, he’d chuckle at how disheveled you looked.

but it was not a few months ago.

to distract himself from your appearance, his eyes trailed down to your hands as you tightly gripped your axe. it always freaked him out seeing you with that gnarly axe- throwing that thing around like it weighed nothing.

“hello? about what?” you asked again breathily, swinging your axe back and forth aimlessly as you tried to get his attention.

it seemed as though he had been distracted by something. something strange and pretty and unusual. and whatever it was, he needed to snap out of it before he went crazy.

“i need a sparring partner,” he stated blankly, leaning his back against the nearest pillar and letting out an exasperated breath.

“you’re the only one in camp who can give me somewhat of a challenge. anyways,” he took a good look at you, tapping his fingers against his forearm.

“i’m bored. wanna fight?”

you shrugged your shoulders, recklessly tossing your axe to the side and unsheathing your sword.

“yeah, okay,” you said dryly.

your hair fell over your face as you looked up at him, groaning in irritation at the minor inconvenience.

“hold my sword for a minute?” you asked blankly as you offered your sword out to luke for him to take.

luke looked down at you, amused by how easily you were able to ask him for a favour- even if it was just a minor one. it seemed like you were growing a lot more reliant on him these days. or maybe more comfortable with him? who knows.

“yeah, okay,” he said reluctantly, taking the sword from your hands.

he watched you in silence as you took a step back, running your hand through your hair.

“you really aren't much of a talker, are you?” he asked, smiling smugly as his eyes followed the flow of your hair.

you pulled a hair tie off of your wrist, quickly tying my your hair into a lazy ponytail.

“oh, i’m a big talker. just not with you,” you said bluntly, your voice playful and smug as you flashed him a mischievous smile.

luke liked it when you smiled. he liked to imagine that all the stars in the sky got together on the night you were born, and decided to use their stardust to construct ever feature on your face. your dainty freckles, the shining bright whites of your eyes- the pure magic of your little smile.

‘the fuck is wrong with you? stop being weird.’

you quickly took back the sword, your fingers grazing against his during the little exchange.

“i can tell,” luke commented breathily, raising an eyebrow. his eyes narrowed slightly, before he raised his sword as well.

“you ready? or are you just gonna keep standing there looking pretty?”

“i’m always ready, castellan,” you hummed, taking a few steps towards the middle of the training grounds, and getting into position.

“whatever,” he rolled his shoulders and followed suite. “on three?”

you nodded, and let your body tense up as he started counting down.

“one, two, three-“

Luke lunged forward, stabbing his sword towards your chest. He made good use of the length of his blade, keeping as much distance between you and him as possible.

despite this, you managed to quickly dodge him, your sword clanging against his as you bit down on your lip. you quickly attempted a shot at his waist, your eyes locked on his sword as you shuffled around.

Luke smirked as the two blades clashed together, you going for his legs and him going for your chest. he attempted another stab at your chest, and when you evaded, he kicked out to try and trip you- something he figured would throw you off, or at the very least, off-balance.

you seemed to not fall for such cheap tricks. as he backed away to create some distance between you and him, he smiled. this was exactly what he wanted.

a challenge.

he heard you groan, offering a sly smirk before watching you attempt a sneaky stab at his arm.

your hair bounced with every movement, your technique airy and light- almost unpredictable enough to make him second guess his own strategy.

you speed caught luke off-guard, taken aback by the sudden stab. he definitely wasn’t expecting that.

your fast and swift movements, paired with the excellent control of your blade made him sweat a bit. he had no choice but to back away, before lunging forward with his sword once more.

you quickly dodged his attack, the sound of blades clanging echoing throughout the area as your breaths got heavier and heavier.

you moved forwards, attempting another attack at his chest.

he quickly blocked your sword, moving in with a stab at your neck- but you were too quick. you resisted the attack, hitting his sword with yours. you shuffled around again, attacking his other arm as you took a second to study him and his movements.

you attacked him yet again, moving his blade to block. the same sounds of metal clashing against each other continuing.

your attack at his arm was successful. he’d taken a little step back at the sudden pain.

luke raised his sword for a stab at your side, attempting to catch you right in the gut—this would put you on the defensive for sure… right?

you quickly blocked his attack on my side, left with a little cut on your forearm.

luke was shocked at how easily you were able to defend yourself against him. you had been training and sparring and competing against him for years- obviously you were a talented fighter.

but luke had grown accustomed to winning. now? he felt intimidated.

like knew his arms were his weak spot, but he hadn’t expected you to realize this yourself. your counterattacks came quicker now that you’d discovered the most effective way to get him out of commission.

the two of you were now evenly-matched in the sense that neither of you could land an attack at the other, and this was starting to get exciting.

you started trying to take cheap shots at his arms and legs, pissing luke off further. it was like you cracked the code.

you were winning.

He grunted, breathing heavily. he was struggling to move against each of your quick attacks, trying to match the sheer speed and agility of your balde.

and to his surprise; he was starting to get tired.

as soon as he tried attacking you, you blocked it- hard. this caused the sword to fly out of his hand.

disarming him was much easier after he was tired and distracted.

then, you lunged at him.

you held your blade against luke’s neck as you pushed him to the ground, straddling his hips as you looked down at him.

“do i win?” you asked smugly, restraining his movements.

you had giving luke a run for his money. the best swordsman at camp was now at the mercy of your sword.

while you two were similar in skill across all aspects of fighting, you had rarely ever beaten him in a sword fight.

“yeah, sure, sure you win,” he growled, attempting to shove you off of his lap.

“now get off me.”

he looked up at you, noticing the proud smile plastered across your face. it wasn’t cocky, or smug- it was proud.

and as much as he’d hate to admit it, he was genuinely impressed with you.

you finally lifted your body off his, standing up as you twirled your sword around.

“huh. i didn’t know i was this good with a sword…” you mumbled, looking down at the blade.

luke stared up at you, rolling his eyes as he got up.

“still obnoxious as ever, though,” he mumbled dryly.

luke glanced at your sword for a moment before turning his gaze away. he walked over to his sword, picking it up off the ground and sheathing it as he turned back around to face you.

“you’re not bad. obviously,” he said bluntly, his cheeks red and his face sweaty from the challenging sparring match as he walked back over to you.

“your attacks are unpredictable. quick, agile. you have a good technique.”

you furrowed your brows, a little confused by his kind comments and praises.

“technique? i just kept my eyes on your sword and tried to get you tired enough to disarm you,” you explained, sheathing your sword.

“i’d hardly call that technique. you’re much better than i am,” you added.

that was unexpected. a compliment? or… was that sarcastic? what the fuck is going on?

you were probably just tired; that’s why you were downplaying your achievements. that’s why you were offering him praise despite his shortcomings.

“i’m probably stronger than you, but you’re much faster. agility is just as important as strength,” luke replied, scratching the back of his neck awkwardly.

you shrugged your shoulders, smiling smugly as you took out your ponytail.

“well, i gotta make up for my lack of raw muscles somehow,” you retorted breathily, your tone playful and your voice light as you smiled at him.

you were a child of dionysus- you weren’t supposed to be a fighter, you were supposed to be an actress. but it made sense for you to go against the grain like that. you were an unpredictable, hotheaded, arrogant, theatrical girl… who could also somehow take him in a fight.

luke tried not to gawk at how your hair fell over your shoulder as you shook your head.

as much as he hated noticing it, your hair was really pretty.

it was probably one of his favourite things about you.

luke stared into your eyes as you spoke, his gaze unwavering as he admired your sheer confidence- even when downplaying yourself.

and there it was. the same feeling that had been fucking him over everyday for the past 2 months. a feeling that he was starting to get uncomfortably familiar with recently; fondness. admiration. adoration.

you were the moon. constant, yet always changing. bright, yet most comfortable surrounded by the confines of the dark.

you were his moon.

and you were beautiful.

‘ew, stop.’

luke didn’t appreciate the new soft spot he was harbouring for a certain dionysus girl. he hated how his heart was constantly making space for her. and he hated that his brain was just as complicit.

“i mean, you don’t need to ‘make up’ for anything. muscle isn’t really that important in a sword fight,” he said, crossing his arms as he finally pulled his eyes away from yours.

you nodded lightheartedly, idly running your hand through your hair as you turned your head away from his.

gods, he could watch you play with your hair all day if he could. of course, he’d prefer to play with it himself, but watching you do it was almost as good.

“hm. i guess you’re right,” you sighed, stuffing your hands into the pockets of your shorts lazily.

“anyways, sword fighting is way too much effort. i prefer throwing axes at people.”

luke smirked, rolling his eyes playfully and he looked over at you.

“i still can’t believe you’d choose an axe over a sword.” he couldn’t help but laugh a bit, “you’re so… eccentric.”

“what do you expect? mr. d is my dad,” you said playfully, earning a reluctant chuckle from luke.

“i guess i shouldn’t be surprised,” he replied. “but seriously, who chooses an axe as their primary weapon? why not a bow or something?”

you rolled you eyes, shaking your head at the boy in disagreement.

“the arrows are too flimsy. i prefer wielding something with a bit more weight,” you explained. luke shook his head in disbelief, chuckling dryly.

“you’re so weird… who else uses an axe for their weapon of choice?” he asked out of genuine curiosity, a hint of sarcasm laced in his tone.

“and don’t say something like ‘oh, tons of people’ or something.”

“oh, tons of people,” you repeated, mocking him playfully as you took your hands out of your pockets. you tucked a piece of hair behind your ear, letting out a smug chuckle.

“shut up,” luke scoffed, his usual smirk plastered on his face.

gods, it felt like his feelings were becoming more evident by the minute. he was going insane.

‘you like her, don’t you?’

the thought popped into his head again.

‘shut it out, or else it’ll get awkward.’

he wasn’t about to ruin the fun you were having.

and besides, he didn’t like you. he couldn’t like you.

you were literally the daughter of the camp director. and you were insufferable. or… well- that’s a lie. you used to be insufferable.

it seemed as though age had provided you two with a new sense of maturity; letting your rivalry calm down and allowing you two to finally get along.

and as much as luke hated to admit it, he kinda liked getting to know you. he liked spending time with you. but he always did- that’s why you two spend so much time fighting, right?

luke was suddenly snapped out of his head by the sound of footsteps hitting the floor of the training grounds. he looked up to see your back as you walked away, his eyebrows furrowing at your silent departure.

“where are you going?” he called out.

you turned around quickly, quirking your head to the side.

“the campfire, obviously?” your said, your hands stuffed in your pockets again.

“aren’t you coming?” you asked, staring him down playfully with a friendly smile.

luke’s eyebrows rose, his body freezing as he thought it over.

‘she’s mocking you.’

‘no she isn’t- you’re the leader of the hermes cabin. you have to come to the campfires, dickhead.’

‘can’t be bothered, nah.’

“i have better things to do, thanks.”

He scoffed, crossing his arms over his chest as he stood in the middle of the training grounds.

you raised your eyebrows, a little smirk emerging on your face.

“you sure? because as soon as the younger campers head back to their cabins, us older demigods are going down to the lake,” you said, crossing your arms to mirror his defensive stance.

“… and i’ve got a bottle of wine and half a bottle of vodka hidden under my bed,” you whispered as you took a step forwards, shooting him a mischievous wink.

vodka? that was enough to pull him in, even if they were supposed to have a little rivalry going. but then again, they were barley rivals anymore.

it’s not like he was big on drinking, but he was big on discarding his responsibilities- even if it was just for a few hours.

he paused for a moment, staring at you as he contemplated whether or not he should come to the campfire.

luke didn’t even care if you guys didn’t like each other that much, he still wanted to spend more time with you. besides, he didn’t see the problem in exploiting the way you guys were being a lot more civil to each other recently in order to get a little tipsy.

“yeah fine,” he mumbled, “i’ll come.”

#ECLIPSE SERIES VAUXXY #luke x reader #luke castellan drabbles #luke castellan #luke castellan fluff #luke castellan fic #luke castellan imagine #luke castellan imagines #luke castellan x reader #luke castellan x dionysus!reader #luke castellan x y/n #luke castellan x you #luke castellan pjo #pjo x reader #pjo tv show #pjo series #pjo disney+ #charlie bushnell #percy jackson

[atlasofthestaars]

[MK X READER] New Era - Chapter .013

first part | previous part | next part

NOTE: Sorry these chapters are taking a while, I hope the longer length makes up for it all! <3 Experimenting with a more descriptive style of writing, so sorry if it is a lot!

Would you guys want a repolling of Rain? I’ve been considering it after seeing all the love for Rain recently in the comments, let me know!

Also I went back and added chapter names for everything ! ty for avianlily for the help!

I know it’s Mortal Kombat, but warning for descriptive gore!

FROM THE EYES OF ONE WHO SEES SOMETHING LIFE CHANGING

That night your memories returned to you, for the first time, in a dream.

You found yourself standing in the middle of a grand coliseum. At least, that’s what you remember it as. The walls rose high around the arena to accommodate for the massive amount of seats needed for all the people that filled them. It almost felt like a cage with how high up the walls were. The sun beat down harshly upon you, bestowing you with a thin of sweat upon your skin. The scent of dust and blood mingled in the air and your nose scrunched up at it.

You craned your head up to look into the crowd. The stares of the people were unnerving. It was as if you simply breathed wrong they would be ready to jeer at you. You felt more like a zoo animal rather than a person. You took in a deep breath, straightening your back. You would not let their stares make you cower and back down.

Despite all that, you were not the person of interest among the many who were in the coliseum. The crowd was much more focused on the fight happening in the center of the arena. A bandaged man with glowing eyes was beating Johnny Cage to a pulp as if he were a mere training dummy. Every blow the man dealt seemed to echo throughout the arena with how strong it was. Johnny probably had a few broken ribs at this point. 

The crowd’s approval roared in your ears, but you could only grimace as you crossed your arms. How could anyone find enjoyment in such a sight? You’ve never understood why anyone would enjoy bloody fighting as entertainment. What drove people to enjoy such bloodlust flew completely over your head. You understood enjoying sparring and friendly fights…nothing like this.

Johnny, worn down and bruised, threw a sloppy kick in the man’s direction. Predictably, it was caught. Your eyes widened as you saw the bandaged man reel his arm back. You already knew what was going to happen. You averted your eyes, gritting your teeth as you heard the sickening crack of bone. That man had broken Johnny’s leg like it was a simple twig. You heard a thud, then a groan, and then you knew it was over. 

“Ermac wins!” A voice announced among the crowd’s cheers.

“I’ll help him.” You said to the thunder god at your side. Raiden’s eyes looked at you, an unreadable look on his face, then he nodded. You strode over, looking at the tarkatan who had tried to drag Johnny away. There was a grumble, a reluctant growl, before he let you retrieve your ally. Despite the resistance, you nodded respectfully to him. No reason not to be disrespectful. “Brace yourself, Cage.” You muttered, hoisting Johnny up. You slung his arm over his shoulder, doing your best to keep the pressure of his leg now that he was lame.

“Thanks.” Johnny muttered, a groan leaving his lips. You knew he probably was aching all over. You could also tell he was swimming in and out of consciousness with the weak way his head rested against your shoulder. You looked over to his face, or at least the parts of it you could see, noting how the bruises painted his skin like grotesque watercolor. You sighed, wishing all of a sudden that you had healing powers instead of your shifting ones so you could whisk away his pain.

“Thank me later, try to keep awake.” You chided, your firm tone dissonant with the way your heart was hammering in fear for your ally. He was lucky they showed him mercy, you knew he could have easily been wiped out like nothing. With a grunt of effort, you led him to the back of the crowd, making sure he was situated away from the fighting and beasts Shao Khan let roam in his coliseum. He had enough for today, you figured. Looking up, you noted Kung Lao and Liu Kang walking in.

Relief washed over you as you saw them. They were safe.

Liu Kang had made a beeline for the princess. You sighed, watching him walk past. You had been caught up in the whole tournament and unable to help assist her. Well, at least Raiden had insisted you were more needed on standby than to help the princess. As you watched your long time friend go to assist her, a pit of guilt formed in your stomach.

You should have helped her.

You knew you were justified in staying back, after all you had to be on standby just in case you needed to fight. After all, the number of champions fighting for Earthrealm were much, much less than those for Outworld. But still the guilt grew. 

“Not now!” Raiden pleaded, chasing after the man. “Smoke and Johnny Cage have been defeated, and I no longer sense Jackson Briggs’ and Sonya Blade’s presence in Outworld.” The thunder god cried out, trying to make Liu Kang understand the gravity of the situation. You walked by them now, deciding you better listen in on the conversation. You walked to the right of Liu Kang. “Despite my doubts as to whether you are Earthrealm’s savior, you must fight!”

Liu Kang looked at Raiden, a look akin to a betrayed pet. The pyromancer’s gaze drifted towards you, his gaze seeming to search for something as he looked at you. Your eyebrows furrowed at the expression. Was he looking for your approval? What good would your approval do, compared to a god’s? Still, despite your self doubt, you thought about it. You took in a deep breath, then you looked away, down to the dusty ground. Then, after a moment of contemplation, you nodded your head towards Kitana.

“I have other things to do.” Liu Kang, with the voice of a man scorned, told Raiden. His determination seemed to have been bolstered by your encouragement. The man looked at you once more, his gaze much softer. Instead of the smoldering embers of hate, there were merely cinders. He walked forward, not caring for the threatened stances the tarkatans gave him. Shao Khan’s gaze followed, his cold orange eyes assessing the man. He let him pass, not caring for what he did with Kitana.

Vile man.

“Raiden!” Shao Khan’s voice boomed out, his voice sticking out loud and proud among the cacophony of sounds. He looked all too smug on his stone throne situated in the middle of the arena. He lounged too casually, as if he knew his victory was assured. It riled you up, making you grit your teeth and glare at him. “Put forward a worthy champion…if you can.” 

From the corner of your eye, you spotted Kung Lao moving forward. A mixture of emotions swelled inside you at the sight. The first emotion you identified was pride for your friend at his confidence in his skill. The second was fear, especially after the brutal beatings you had seen Smoke and Johnny Cage take. You feared he would suffer the same fate, if not worse. He had not fully stepped forward, looking towards the thunder god before stepping back into place.

Kung Lao’s desire to prove himself and to fight for Earthrealm was obvious. You tried to keep your mixed emotions on the matter less obvious. You knew your friend had issues with feeling equal to Liu Kang, your look of mixed emotions would only drive him to doubt himself. That among many other things was not what you wanted.

Raiden looked at you first, a contemplative look on his face. For a moment, you considered whether he was planning on throwing you out there. You took a deep breath in, preparing yourself for that very possibility. You were strong enough, you believed, but your faith in your abilities wavered after the brutalities you witnessed today.

Raiden then turned his eyes towards Kung Lao, noting his more eager attitude. It was like night and day. It was as if he were trying to volunteer to pick up the mail, not to fight in a bloody tournament. You knew he was eager to prove himself, but did he not realize the gravity of it all? You felt your nails create marks on your palm from how hard you clenched your fists upon the realization of what was to come. 

It was obvious who he would choose.

“Perhaps you are meant to be the victor.” Raiden said. His words felt like the final nail in the coffin. Your stomach churned with fear as you watched the all too pleased look on Kung Lao’s face. You felt guilty at the conflicted emotions within you. You shouldn’t be doubting your friend’s ability, and in truth, you didn’t. But you just didn’t want to see him get hurt like Johnny Cage and Smoke already did.

“One second.” You said, stepping forward in front of Kung Lao. For a moment, you sucked in a breath, trying to seek the courage to tell him to not do it because of the way your gut twisted and turned. And yet, upon seeing the look on his face, your resolve crumbled. Your gaze dropped, and you raised a hand to rest on his bicep. “Just…stay safe, Kung Lao.” Your fingers pinched at his skin. 

“You worry too much.” Kung Lao told you, your name spilled from his lips with a comforting tone. He placed a hand on your own bicep and pinched it back. A light laughter left his lips, and your lips pressed together. “I’ll make sure to beat these Outworlders and come back victorious, for all of us.” He paused, squeezing your arm. “I promise.”

You could only hope that he kept that promise/

“May the elder gods bless him.” You whispered to yourself as you stepped to the side and watched Kung Lao walk up to take the challenge. You were unable to keep out the hint of fear in your prayer. Thankfully, the sound of the crowd washed out your voice so your friend would not hear it. The air was filled with sounds of disapproval towards him, but Kung Lao preserved. You only hoped that your prayer still made it out to the gods despite all the noise. 

You felt Raiden’s eyes turn to you. His glowing eyes felt like lasers burning into your head with how intense it was. He surely must have heard your plea. You avoided eye contact, keeping your eyes trained on your razor hatted friend. You didn’t want to know what the thunder god’s reaction was to your prayer, though you had a bit of an idea already.

You heard a pained grunt come from behind you, tearing your attention away from the announcement of the fight. You spun around to look at the person who made the noise. Your eyes scanned the crowd, scrutinizing all the faces. With a sigh, you noticed that it had come from Johnny Cage who had moved from his spot. His leg was now displaced from an attempt to move. With a disapproving shake of your head, you strode over to deal with the actor. 

Kung Lao would be fine, surely. You had to have faith in your friends.

“What did I say about moving?” You chided, straightening out Johnny’s leg so it was no longer bent at an awkward angle. You were used to gore and gruesome sights, but you couldn’t help the little hint of distaste you felt upon seeing the injury. At least no bone was sticking through his pants. You couldn’t tell the full scope of how bad it was from his pants, though. “I should help you now that I’m not needed.” You muttered, kneeling down as you took out the medical bag you kept with you.

“Sorry.” Johnny muttered, and you could hear guilt dripping from his voice. “I saw that Kung Lao was going to fight…wanted to see.” He explained to you in a labored tone, his voice lacking his usual cocky tone. He was still slightly out of it, and it was hard to look at his bruised face. You huffed as you pushed the man down so he didn’t strain himself any further than he already did. 

“Don’t talk, don’t move. You’re going to hurt yourself doing that.” You told him, sending him a small glare. It was a half hearted attempt as your gaze softened as you saw how tired he looked. “I appreciate the apology though.” You sighed as you observed the cuts and injuries he had sustained. You reached into your bag, taking a rag to clean the open wounds. “This will sting, feel free to squeeze.” You warned him, offering your hand out as you swiped the rag over the wounds. 

His hand hesitantly took yours. You heard a hiss come from the actor as you began to disinfect his wounds, and you knew from how hard his hand was gripping yours now it must hurt like the deepest part of the netherrealm. You made sure to bandage his wounds properly, watching with slight concern as bits of the bandages turned slightly red. 

“You’re doing good.” You reassured him, running your thumb over the back of his hand which had lessened its grip. “You’re brave for going out there, Cage.” You said, deciding to distract him from the pain by playing up to his ego. You felt his hand weakly squeeze yours. You smiled at him, it was at least reassuring to know he could at least do that.

You nearly jumped as you heard the creaking of metal. Turning your head, you heard the crowd roar in approval as a metal gate opened on the side of the coliseum. A tirgar shokan emerged, and you recalled that he must be the one named Kintaro that your father had told you about. He roared as he exited, the sound echoing throughout the area. The crowd seemed to be bolstered at the display.

With heavy steps, he approached Kung Lao who seemed to be faring well after his last match. He wasn’t badly hurt like Smoke or Johnny was, at least. Relief filled you at the sight. He was okay, and that’s what you really needed to see. You huffed at the threat that Kintaro gave Kung Lao, telling him that he would eat his heart. How brutish.

The match captivated you. You knew Kung Lao was skilled, you helped train him after all, but it was something else to watch him in motion in a real fight. His technique was top tier, and the way he moved with his hat made it feel like it was merely a part of him.

His punches felt impactful with every blow he landed, and you swore you heard the crack of a rib from all the way back here. His hat sliced through flesh and muscle with ease. Kintaro’s blood splattered upon Kung Lao, decorating him with his signs of victory. Long gone was the proud tirgar shokan, he seemed like a pitiful kitten with the beating he was suffering. Anyone who watched could tell Kung Lao had been training his life for this.  

How could you have doubted him?

It didn’t take very long for him to defeat the shokan. With a weak yowl, he tumbled into the dirt. Dust clouds rose up from the heavy impact. For a moment, the arena went silent. Then, the crowd around began to boo and jeer the man. You frowned at the noise. The hate sent his way left a bitter taste in your mouth. Yet, Kung Lao didn’t seem to mind. In fact, he basked in all the attention, spinning and bowing, You sighed and turned away. While he didn’t mind it all, you were uncomfortable with it all. You didn’t want to watch it.

You continued to bandage Johnny up, having paused the task to observe the fight. You furrowed your eyebrows as Johnny began to move. Or rather, struggle to move. You pushed him back, sending him a disapproving look. You already scolded him, he surely didn’t need more lectures? The actor was arrogant and headstrong, but he wasn’t this stupid, was he? It wasn’t until he pointed behind you that you realized he was trying to warn you of something.

“Shao…Khan.” Johnny rasped, continuing to intently point behind you.

“What?” You said, furrowing your eyebrows at the words he said. You turned to look where Johnny was pointing. As your eyes landed on the man creeping behind your friend, it felt like the wind was knocked out of your lungs. You stood, dropping your medical supplies all upon the ground. You didn’t care though. You dashed forward towards the crowd, limbs trying to transform into whatever would get you there faster. Your hand was outstretched to the man. “Kung Lao!” You called out, heart hammering with fear.

“Earthrealm is free-”

You were too late.

Time slowed as you collided with Raiden, but the impact did nothing to tear your eyes from the horrific sight of Kung Lao’s neck being snapped. You barely registered the shriek that echoed through the coliseum as yours, you were far too focused on the sound of his neck being snapped. It was a loud crack paired with the sickening sound of muscle and flesh twisting in a way that the human body was not meant to go.

It was ugly and wrong.

Your limbs felt like they were suddenly made of lead as his body, all too limp and still for a man who had just been breathing a moment ago, slumped to the ground. As it finally hit the ground and dust clouds rose, you felt like you could finally move properly.

You threw yourself to the ground, ignoring the sneer the tyrant sent your way as you dragged Kung Lao’s body into your lap. Terrified prayers to the elder gods hoping that somehow Kung Lao was okay left your lips. You stared down at his head which was grotesquely twisted in an unnatural angle. His eyes were wide open, yet they had no life behind them. Although all the signs were there that he could not possibly be alive, you shakily raised a hand to check his pulse, desperate for anything at all.

Nothing. Just a body that was quickly losing its warmth.

He was, without a doubt, dead.

A scream left your lips as you tumbled out of bed. 

You hissed as you felt the impact of the floor. Thankfully it was not a long fall for you, so at most it would only be a minor bruise. Your side ached dully as you laid there, processing what you just witnessed. Through all the noise in your head, all you could hear was your shaky uneven breaths. You turned to face the ceiling, staring at what you could see with the assistance of the crystal lamp.

What was that?

Your vision was blurry, as if you were looking through a foggy window. You reached up to your face, rubbing at it harder than you needed just to make sure you were even awake. You winced at the rough texture of your hands. Your limb, despite you not willing it to transform, was a reptile claw. Still, it did not deter you from wiping at your eyes. 

Tears were wiped away, and you saw your other limbs were in a sort of disarray. You were mostly not human right now. You stared at your limbs, flexing them and trying to return them back. Your vision blurred again, but this time with tears of frustration. No matter how much you tried to will it away, you could not transform back. 

You were no stranger to gruesome and awful sights in your memories. It seemed whatever life you once lived was filled with grief and pain, it was something you’ve come to learn with the memories you’ve recovered. You’ve seen bloody scenes and lifeless bodies, moments of grief and solitude. And yet what you had just seen had shaken you to the core. 

You’ve never seen someone you cared about, or used to care about, die in front of you.

Your mind raced with the details you witnessed, trying to catalog every moment you had seen. Part of you wanted to squeeze your eyes shut and try to force out the memory. To try and forget whatever you had seen and how it would inevitably scar your memories. Before you could let your irrational thoughts get the better of you, you forced your eyes wide open with a single thought.

You had to be calm to dwell on whatever horrifying sight you had witnessed, you couldn’t let yourself forget. Maybe, just maybe, a calm mind would help your body come back to normalcy as well.

You rubbed at your eyes with the heel of your palm using the other hand which had turned into a bear paw. You counted carefully the amount of time you took to breathe in, trying to regulate yourself. Then, for the same amount of time, you forced yourself to breathe out. The panicked frenzy of blood rushing through your ears settled down, turning into a quiet stream.

Your limbs slowly transformed back into your regular form, and you worried a little less now.

You laid on the ground, sprawled out as you let your body and mind recover from the memory. As your rational thoughts overtook the frenzied ones, you finally let your eyes close. You flinched at the flashes of memory the darkness brought. A broken leg, an angry glance…a snapped neck. You groaned at the vision, trying not to remember that particular part.

Taking another deep breath, you focused on what you remembered. That place indicated a tournament, why else would you all throw yourselves into such bloodshed otherwise? You couldn’t tell if it was the same tournament that you remembered yesterday or not, but it was definitely in Outworld. Kitana was captive, but why? She had been a princess of Outworld, there was no reason she should need saving, especially from Earthrealm.

Why were you all even fighting? Somewhere in the back of your head you knew it was for an important reason. You knew that the thunder god wouldn’t send you into meaningless conflict. You stared up at the ceiling for a few moments more, trying to piece together the pieces you barely had. Why was Liu Kang so upset with the thunder god? Was it because Raiden had doubted he was Earthrealm’s savior?

It couldn’t possibly be, the Liu Kang you knew now was far too humble. But then again, was he always? You weren’t sure, in all honesty, your memories with Liu Kang felt blurred. You let out a resigned sigh as you draped an arm over your eyes. This was far too much to think about for just waking up. You rubbed your eyes once more. 

Maybe right now wasn’t the time to think about all that tragedy. With another sigh, you forced yourself to get up. As you stood, you grimaced at the mess you made of the bed. It was like staring at a massacred corpse. Deep gashes exposing the mattress were left, and the pillows were torn. The blanket you had tangled with as you fell was even shredded.

You reached up and fiddled with the dragon necklace you wore, a habit you developed. You had no idea how to explain the mess you had made. At least, not without either seeming suspicious or having people worry about you. You’ve never lost control before, how could you explain that a dream…no. How could you explain that a nightmare had made you go berserk? Not to mention you could only confide the contents of your dream to Liu Kang, and after the conversation with him yesterday, you were reluctant to. 

You rubbed your face, agitated. You’d deal with this all later, you decided. You were far too stressed out for this right now. You felt a tad bit guilty about just abandoning it, but you decided it was for the best. With how unstable you were earlier, it might act up again if you looked at it too long or stressed over it. Still, even with your rationale, the pit of guilt didn’t go away.

To move past it, you sluggishly moved towards the mirror. You saw your appearance, you looked like you had just been in a scuffle. Grabbing a new set of clothes, you quickly changed into it. You chose not to look at your back. Then, after feeling a bit better about donning a new outfit, you took the time to make yourself seem more composed.

By the time you were done, you looked normal. The only indication of your earlier frenzy was the slight redness of your eyes. That was only when someone got close and really took the time to look at them. You rubbed at your eyes once more, wishing it’d go away faster. Alas, it didn’t work. Shaking your head, you tested out a smile, seeing if you could fool yourself.

Good enough.

Smoothing out your outfit one last time, you stepped out of the room. You took in a deep breath as you stepped into the light. At least the beauty of the palace was somewhat comforting. It wasn’t quite the same as waking up for the sunrise, but it was still a wonderful sight.

Footsteps echoed from the hall. You looked away from the wonder around you to the otherside of the hallway, half expecting to see princess Kitana. After all, who else came down this way around this time of day other than her? Or anytime in general. it felt like. And yet, the person you saw walking from down the hall was perhaps the last person that you wanted to see right now.

Kung Lao. 

“Ah, Kung Lao.” You greeted, hoping the smile upon your lips didn’t seem too forced. You scanned his face. It seemed he was far too tired to notice any strange behavior. The drowsiness that clung to him seemed to go away slightly as you walked closer. A smile appeared on his face. You held back a grimace upon noticing how it looked all too similar to the one he had before he died. “How are you?”

“Tired.” Kung Lao admitted, a yawn escaping his lips. His eyes traveled downwards, and his expression seemed to brighten at what he saw. “I’m glad you like the necklace.” He commented, with amusement twinkling in his eyes. You blinked owlishly at his seemingly random comment before drawing your own gaze to where he was staring.

The dragon necklace. The very same you were fiddling in your hand. Your gaze softened as you looked down at the design, then looked back up at the Kung Lao in front of you. Your eyes traveled to the dragon insignia upon the left side of his chest. Perhaps it was not exactly the same size or design, but the similarities between the two designs of the two versions was enough to made you grip the necklace just a bit tighter. For a moment, you allowed yourself to wonder why there were so many similarities between the two worlds.

Then you stopped, feeling that damned headache remerge at just the thought of overthinking again. 

“Yeah.” You said, nodding as you continued to stare at the design on his chest. Bringing yourself to look up at Kung Lao in the eyes felt like a herculean task at this moment. Your smile melted into one that was a touch softer, a bit smaller. “I really like it, actually.” You looked back at the dragon which you rubbed between your forefinger and thumb. 

“I knew you would.” Kung Lao remarked, a nearly smug grin on his lips. A satisfied expression settled on his lips as he observed you for a moment more. Then, in the next he stepped over so he was by your side. “Let’s go to the Great Hall, I’m starving.” You nodded a small chuckle leaving your lips. You followed him to the Great Hall. Your eyes kept wandering around like a duckling without its mother. They seemed to land anywhere but the man beside you.

Even if you were composed right now, you didn’t quite trust yourself if you were to look at Kung Lao too long. They were just so…similar that it made your chest hurt. You weren’t sure what was quite causing it: the idea that the man beside you could succumb to a gruesome fate like the one you had seen before, or the fact that the man beside you was close enough to the one who had died. It was like seeing an imperfect recreation of the man before.

All too similar to give you a sense of nostalgia and to nearly trick you into thinking he was the same. And yet different enough that you were bitterly reminded that the man you had known as a friend was gone for good. Part of you was comforted by the sameness, but another part of you wished that he was just different so you weren’t reminded of a man whose death was seared into your memory.

The walk there was shrouded in a veil of awkwardness, but thankfully your walking partner didn’t notice. You were too conflicted internally to initiate much conversation, battling yourself with the newfound feelings of sorrow and grief for a man who has passed long ago. You did, however, talk back whenever Kung Lao attempted to throw in conversation.

Would Kung Lao ever believe you that you once knew him, in another life?

You were never more relieved to see the Great Hall than now. Trying not to make your excitement to not be alone with Kung lao too obvious, you slowed your pace just a little to allow the razor hatted man to reach the fire god and his friend first. 

Both Liu Kang and Raiden greeted the two of you cheerily. You smiled upon noticing the more upbeat attitude the champion held today. The nerves that once clung to him the past few days seemed to be gone. Or at least, gone for the most part. The only indication of his nervousness was in the smile that was a little too wide as he handed you and Kung Lao some breakfast foods. Your heart seemed to flutter at the simple gesture.

Well, that was breakfast sorted out.

You gratefully took your portion, and noted the excited way Kung Lao snatched the second serving that Raiden had also gotten him. You felt a little relieved to be falling back into some sort of normalcy after that horrible dream. Eating the bit of food also helped calm you down and not make you feel like you were walking on a tightrope around others.

“So who are you fighting today?” Kung Lao asked, peering over to Raiden. He wiped away the remnants of the food he devoured. By the time you had finished your portion, he had finished both of his. How he managed to scarf down food that fast alluded you to this day. “Not that it matters since you’ll easily beat them.” The former farmer sent his friend a confident grin, to which Raiden returned, albeit not as confident.

“Raiden will be facing the Osh-Tekk known as Ko’atal, or Kotal.” Liu Kang answered. His eyes seemed to squint just a touch in warning towards Kung Lao. The man sent a grin that was only partially apologetic. You felt the familiar buzz of nostalgia in your head at the name. You wondered if there was ever a time you’d stop experiencing this sensation. “He’s one of their best.”

You supposed you wouldn’t. Not until you unraveled all of your memories, at least.

How many more bits and pieces did you have left to find? That question lingered in your head as idle chatter was passed between the group. You didn’t realize how long you spaced out until you were surprised to feel an arm slung over your shoulders. You jolted in surprise at the contact, looking over to see the culprit.

It only made sense that it was Johnny Cage.

“How you doing, Teach?” The actor asked, a wide grin on his face. He leaned his head towards you, his eyes seeming to search your face. He seemed more chipper this morning. Everyone in general seemed in a better mood. Well, everyone but you. You felt a bit guilty that you didn’t share their energy. Still, you put on your best smile. Fake it until you make it, isn’t that what actors say?

“I’m fine, Cage.” You responded. Your eyes dragged over his arm which draped over your shoulders. For a moment, you considered shrugging it off, but there was something about the contact that felt…comforting. “You seem to be in a better mood.” You pointed out, looking back to Johnny. His smile seemed to grow a bit wider.

“I was conversing with one of the princesses yesterday, she was totally giving me the look.” He said, all too proud of himself. You found your somewhat fake smile turn a little real as you wondered what the look on the actor’s face would be if you told him you’ve been conversing with both of the princesses for a bit now. Granted, one was more willing than the other, but he didn’t need to know that. “She’s totally into me.”

“Are you certain she wasn’t just amused by you and your attempts to woo her?” You joked, sending Johnny a look with raised eyebrows. You heard what you thought was a little muffled snort covered up by a fake cough. Looking over, you saw Kenshi covering his mouth with his fist. You could barely detect the amused crinkle in his eyes. 

“Ah, you’re just jealous of how close I’m getting to them.” Johnny teased, you let out a short bark of laughter as you rolled your eyes. His hand rocked you back and forth in a playful manner. In what way did he want you to interpret that? You getting jealous of the princesses, or getting jealous of him? “Don’t worry, Teach, I’m not going anywhere.”

“I know, unfortunately.” You replied in jest. There was a shout of protest from the American at your comment. In the midst of your light hearted banter, you temporarily forgot your woes. How Johnny manages to keep on cheering you up seemed to be a secret talent of his. You wondered if he knew what he was doing, or even was aware of it.

The same fanfare from yesterday played out once more. The entrance of the Empress and princesses was followed by the parting of the crowd. It felt almost comforting to fall into a routine again. You watched as once more, Sindel rose again from her seat on the throne to address the crowd. 

“Yet another day of this wonderful tournament.” Sindel announced, a smile on her face. Her arms were spread wide as she looked among the crowd before directing her gaze at Raiden. There wasn’t quite hostility in her eyes, but you sensed there was a sense that she was becoming just a touch less warm towards the champion.

You assumed, or at least hoped it was only due to how he was progressing further than she had expected.

“You have proven yourself well against Reiko yesterday.” Sindel commended, though that lingering sense of little contempt was underneath her welcoming tone. “Let us see if you can continue to prove your fighting prowess within this next match.” She sat down once more, leg crossed over the other. Her head turned to look at General Shao. “General Shao, whom did you choose to fight next?”

“Your Majesty.” General Shao stepped forward once more. You looked away from the man, deciding that after the dream you had today you really didn’t want to look at him. “I have chosen one of my respected officers, Ko’atal.” 

A figure you have not seen before, at least in this lifetime, emerged from the end of the hallway. He strode forward, his figure muscular, broad, and tall. His eyes seemed to have a hint of glow to them, though they did not shine like Liu Kang’s. Glowing paint was streaked in jagged patterns down his chest and limbs. He strode in with a humble confidence, much different than Reiko before him. Ko’atal’s face was set in fierce determination as he marched forth. 

Just as you predicted, your head seemed to buzz at the sight of him, but you could not glean much else from his appearance.

“Kotal is the pride of the Osh-Tekks, and one of their fiercest warriors.” As the General spoke, Kotal seemed to flex his muscles as if to show off the paint upon his skin. His armor, though had traits of the other uniforms that Shao and Reiko wore, had unique gold embellishments to them. “He is ruthless and loyal, and knows how to take down an enemy easily with the strength he has earned.” You rose an eyebrow at the toned down speech compared to Reiko. Seems like someone has favorites.

“So you are the one who took down Reiko?” Kotal asked Raiden, stopping a few feet away from his opponent. His voice was deep, and boomed naturally. His eyes searched Raiden, sizing him up with a natural caution. It seemed like he respected the man in front of him, or at least as much as he respected any other opponent. Raiden nodded after taking in a nice long breath. “Then let us see how you did it.”

And without much else bravado, the fight began. 

Ko’atal fought in a very brute force style. He knew he towered over Raiden, and used it to his advantage. His strikes were much slower than Raiden, but they were filled with such power that every time he did manage to land a hit they seemed to knock the wind out of the champion. His paint, or were they tattoos? glowed as he fought. They changed color depending on what he did. He even summoned totems within the battle. 

The warrior even seemed to naturally bask in the sunlight that filtered in through the open architecture. It was like he was charged by the light, and used its power against the electricity user in battle.

How strange, how different.

And yet even with the different fighting style, Raiden adapted. He used the bulkiness to his advantage, going in for quicker strikes to counter his opponent. He used his weight against him, having him fumble and falter when he did miss. It only made sense that Earthrealm’s champion remained victorious during the fight.

“It was an honor fighting you.” Raiden said, his breath coming out labored as he recovered from the intense fight. Kotal, sluggish from the exertion, nodded at his words. He got up, seeming worse for wear. Both men seemed to nod once more in respect for the other, before Kotal walked away, taking his loss respectfully.

“Another well fought match.” Sindel complimented, though her smile felt just a tad bit more strained at the sight of Earthrealm’s victor. She cleared her throat as she stood to address the mass of people. “Once more we shall adjourn at first light.” The Empress declared. Then, after another moment, the crowd began to disperse, even more people seemed to send glances at Raiden’s way this time.

“Another well earned victory.” You commended the former farmer. He seemed to brighten up at your words, eyes wide with joy at the praise. He nodded quickly. “Keep it up, and at this rate victory will be assured for Earthrealm.”

“Thank you.” Raiden said, his voice a bit breathy from the battle. You returned the smile he sent your way. Then, the rest of the champions seemed to join in, throwing their compliments towards their friend. “I have never seen someone fight like him before.” He admitted, adjusting his hat. “It was a very interesting fight.”

“The Osh-Tekks have an innate connection with the sun.” Liu Kang explained, his hand gesturing to the sun which shone in the sky. “Ko’atal in particular had a stronger and closer connection with it, which allowed him to fight so valiantly.” He regarded his champion with a smile. “It is exceptional that you took him down.”

“Do you think he would be open to acting?” Johnny asked, looking towards where Kotal had left. Upon seeing all the looks sent his way, he held his hands up. “Hey! I’m just saying this movie I was working on would kill to have someone like him! I personally think I would be doing him a favor.” He huffed, crossing his arms.

“You could start by doing us favors, Cage.” Kenshi piped in, his own arms crossing as he sent a glare towards the actor. “For example, by giving me Sento.” This now prompted a little bickering between the two men. While amusing, you couldn’t help but to let out a small sigh at the antics. Your eyes drifted away from the duo, before they landed on a figure heading your way. You perked up at the sight.

“Ready for your tour?” Rain inquired, a small smile on his lips as he stopped near you. You nodded enthusiastically, the whole tour plan having slipped your mind due to the dream earlier. At least you had something exciting to get your mind off of that. 

“Tour?” Kung Lao piped up. You turned your head to look at the man. He looked between you and Rain, eyebrows raised. It looked like he was trying to scrutinize what was going on, his face changing slightly as he processed it all.

“Oh, Rain’s the High Mage.” You introduced him, your hand gesturing to the man you were talking about. Rain bowed his head. “He offered me to go see the Imperial Academy yesterday due to my interest in magic.” You explained, recalling just how you got into this situation. “I’m quite honored, by the way.” You said, turning your attention back to the mage.

“Can I come?” Kung Lao inquired, his eyes seeming to light up at the prospect of going to a place that had such a high reputation. Your eyes drifted over and noticed how Liu Kang had even taken notice of the conversation.

“Sorry, but you can’t.” Rain said, his voice polite but firm. He offered your friend an apologetic smile. “I already arranged for just one visitor. The Academy is quite strict with who is permitted to visit, but seeing how your friend has such potent magic I was able to pull some strings to arrange a visit.” You looked over, surprise upon your features as you heard about the lengths he went through. 

“Sorry, Kung Lao.” You said, shrugging at the news. You sent him a reassuring smile at the pout he displayed. You put a hand on his bicep, rubbing it gently. You swallowed your nerves upon seeing his eyes, fighting the memories of what he used to look like. “I’ll be back for dinner, don’t worry, okay? I’ll tell you all about it when I return.” You pinched his arm lightly before letting go, only realizing what you had done until after it was done.

“I’ll be holding you to that.” Kung Lao said, your name cheerily falling from his lips. For a moment, you stared at him, hoping that he would return the gesture, but he didn’t. You nodded, looking back to Rain who looked at you expectantly. You nodded at him, watching as he gestured towards the hallway leading to the outside.

“Well, shall we go?” He inquired. You nodded, stepping to be by his side.

“See you guys later.” You said, waving to the group. A chorus of goodbyes arouse, sending you off. You, however, didn’t notice the lingering stare that was sent your way as you left. You both walked in relative silence before you noted how you were alone now. “I’m honored you invited me to see the academy, but I’m a stranger to you, why go through the effort?” You inquired, peering over to the man. 

“You have a very powerful magic, like I mentioned.” Rain answered simply. “And our ideals of growing stronger, pushing past our limits…it’s very rare to meet someone else who understands that drive. I could tell the look in your eye when you said that was genuine.” There was a pause. “I simply wished to extend this invitation as a sign of friendship.” 

“I see.” You said, scanning the man for any sign of ill will. When you saw none, a smile pulled at your lips. “I accept your invitation of friendship then. I hope we shall have a pleasant one until I must go back to Earthrealm.” 

“Indeed.”

The Imperial Academy towered high over you, a place of majesty and wonder. It was almost nearly as tall as the palace itself. It even resembled the palace, being made of the same white stone. To set it apart, black stone of the same quality made up the rooftops of the academy and accented certain arches and overhangs. This provided great contrast to the golden embellishments which were set into the building. Symbols were carved into the architecture, giving the building texture rather than letting it be simply smooth.

Lush foliage draped along the railings of the academy akin to banners. Deep red and purple flowers peppered the vines. The way the flora intertwined with the building imbued it with life, as if the nature here and the building were made to coexist rather one conform to another. It was harmonious. 

It was located a little further on the outskirts of Sun Do, but it was still close enough that one could travel to and fro from the city. It was nearly intimidating to see it. You could practically feel all the power and magic held just from standing outside of it. It was potent enough that you could almost describe the scent of what raw magic was. 

“Wow.” You said, your jaw dropping at the sight of it. It felt almost wrong to be here, especially since you had heard of just how difficult it was to get into this place. “Are you certain I’m allowed here?” You asked, looking over to your companion with raised eyebrows. 

“I was just as amazed when I got here.” Rain admitted, looking at you. A slight amused look was on his face, but he did not appear to be judgemental of your awe. If anything, he seemed to take pride in what he deemed was an acceptable reaction. He looked back at the building, a gleam of nostalgia in his eyes. “But when I finally stepped foot in here, it felt like I finally understood my destiny.” He looked at you once more. “I wish I could say perhaps the same will happen for you, but you are from Earthrealm.”

“A pity.” You said, not knowing how to feel about that last sentence. Your gut twisted with unease. You drew in a deep breath, driving out your nerves. “Let’s hope I don’t get too attached then.” You told him. You could only hope to yourself that your own words would become true. You wouldn’t know what to do with yourself if you found a piece of yourself here, in a place that didn’t think you belonged.

“For your sake, I hope so too.” Rain replied. nodding. His words were tinged with pity, a sentiment that made you feel a bit worse. You didn’t blame your companion for your feelings but…pity was one of the worst feelings in the world. You followed him, stepping carefully over the bridge that led over a stream that was in front of the academy. It bubbled softly beneath you like a little lullaby from nature.

Your fingers trailed along the handhold of the bridge, the bumpy surface becoming engraved in your mind. As you two approached the entrance, the doors loomed even taller, dwarfing both of you. You couldn’t even recall if the palace had doors this extravagant. The High Mage cast a look your way once more, his eyes searching yours. It was like he was searching for validation within your reaction. You offered him a smile, one that he returned.

With a wave of his hand, the doors parted. They glided open effortlessly, revealing the building’s contents with ease. They didn’t even make so much as a creak. The both of you ascended the steps to get a closer look of the interior. 

To say the inside was immaculate would be an understatement.

The grand hall opened wide and tall to accommodate for a grand statue of a woman you couldn’t quite name. Even without knowing her, you could easily tell she was revered and beloved. At the base of the statue was an altar that was littered with gifts and more of the breathtaking nature. The vines and flowers wound and rose around the woman’s carved dress up around her waist and into her arms which were presented forward with hands cupped. Her eyes were alight with life despite being made entirely of stone. Despite all the foliage that grew around the woman, the statue itself was well maintained.

Even with the stunning statue in the center of the hall, the rest of the building was not any less disappointing. The marble stone below, checkered white and black in a hypnotizing fashion was polished to perfection. You leaned forward, and you were met with a smiling reflection that was almost substitute enough for a mirror.

The walls around you opened wide for many rows of hallways that seemed nearly endless. Stairs that were perfectly symmetrical in fashion twisted up and around to lead to a secondary floor that stood a little higher than the waist of the woman before you. These too lead to more hallways of the academy. Just how many rooms did this place contain?

“What do you think?” Rain asked, his voice snapping you out of your admiration of the area. You sucked in a breath, your eyes traveling over the area once more. It was only now that you noted the hustle and bustle of the area. Students rushed around, brushing past each other perfectly as if they were performing a choreographed dance. The footsteps, which would have sounded chaotic and overbearing anywhere else, sounded almost rhythmic. Magic danced in the air, whether it be in the form of sparks, light, or a creature soaring through the air. Some attendants knelt at the base of the statue, mumbling softly.

“It’s amazing.” You admitted, eyes darting around. A few glances of curiosity were sent in your direction, but ultimately no one approached you. It was like stepping out of their little routines would ruin the delicate ecosystem set in this place. “I’ve never seen anything quite like it. It’s like everyone and everything here are in perfect harmony.”

“That is why the best of the best are permitted here.” The mage reminded you with a small tilt of his head. He caught the glance of a student who peered at him. A smile was sent the student’s way, and it sent them into a grinning mess before they scurried off. For a moment, you felt special. After all, you were allowed to be among what must be the most elite magic users to glance into a peek of their lives. Not only that, but you were also accompanied by the High Mage of the royal court. “Come, let’s pick up what I came here for before I give you a tour.”

“You needed to pick up something?” You inquired, peering at the man. Your footsteps tried to match his as he led you down a hallway. Perfectly spaced doors lined the walls. Each was labeled with a neat golden plaque which was also engraved with an equally neat font. “I thought you no longer studied here?” You asked, hoping your tone did not sound too blasphemous.

“I don’t.” Rain confirmed, a small nod showing that he did not think your question was overstepping. “But my studies sometimes require equipment and items that can only be found at this institution, as of late I have been conducting research to help a fellow court member.” You both took a few turns before you arrived at a door which had Rain’s name labeled on it in bold lettering. “This is the laboratory I use at times.” 

Opening the door revealed a neat and orderly space. A tall bookshelf was on the left side wall. It was filled with hefty books and some scrolls. On the back wall was a shelf that was lined with various equipment. Some of them you could guess the usage, but some were far too odd to even think of what their usage could possibly be. 

Then, on the right was a simple desk right next to a table. The desk didn’t have much of note, but you did spot a simple picture frame. In it was Rain with an older woman. His mother maybe? The table next to his desk was the only place that had an indication of disorder. Some paper with notes written upon them were scattered. Vials and tubes bubbling with unknown substances sat upon a higher section of the table.

“Excuse the mess.” The mage said, stepping into the room. With more caution, you followed. He wandered over to the table, picking up a vial that had been bubbling while sitting atop a gentle blue flame. He swirled it, the soft blue being reminiscent of ocean water. “Feel free to look around.” He told you, his eyes concentrated on the liquid he inspected.

“Alright.” You said, your gaze falling on the shelf lined with equipment. You stopped a foot away, squinting at the items. In your head, you tried to guess the use of them from their looks alone to pass the time. One item in particular caught your attention. 

A small cube colored gold sat away from the other items in its own little section. It was rather unsuspecting. You couldn’t quite put a finger on why it drew you in, but you were enraptured by the small thing. Your fingers twitched, wanting to reach out to grab it, but you restrained yourself. A gentle footstep behind you snapped you out of your daze.

“Something caught your attention?” Rain inquired, stepping beside you. He looked towards the shelf, peering at where you had been moments before. He reached out to pluck the cube and looked at you, before holding it out to you. You held your hand out, and the cube, which was heavier than you were expecting, was dropped into your hand. “That’s a magic sensor of sorts. We use it to sense the potency in magic in things, whether it be solutions, in the air, or even in a person. Give it a try.” 

“Okay.” You said, looking down at the cube. You stared at it, perplexed before glancing back up at your companion. You saw his hand squeeze at the air, indicating what you should do. Gently at first, you closed your hand around the cube, before putting all your strength into it. When your hand released, the cube began to glow.

Letters in a language you didn’t quite recognize appeared on the cube. A soft white glow appeared behind them. Your gaze flicked from the cube to the man. A delighted look appeared on his face, like he expected exactly that. Then, cube began to glow stronger before bursting into a flurry of colors. Bright pinks, greens, yellows, colors of any kind began to erupt out. You nearly took a step back, and you returned your gaze to Rain.

His reaction was a mixture of surprise and awe, far different from the reaction he had previously.

After the color show died down, you stared at it for a moment, eyebrows raised. You were dumbfounded, not knowing what any of that had meant. There was a brief silence that hung in the air. You sucked in a breath, putting a smile on your lips.

“Did I pass?” You joked, trying to diffuse the tension. You looked back and forth between the mage and the cube. The awestruck look on his face faded into something that seemed to indicate respect. He nodded as he grabbed the cube. He held it up, looking over the fading glow of the letters before placing it back onto the shelf. There was an undeniable gleam of interest in his eyes.

“With flying colors.”

“I’m back.” You announced, walking up to the table where all the Earthrealmers had been. The tour had gone all afternoon and leaked into the night. You both had been amazed by the fact that time had flown so fast past the two of you. The sky had just begun to turn dark when you had exited. “Did I miss much?” You inquired, looking at the group. You spotted an open spot, right between Kung Lao and Kenshi, and walked over to claim it.

Your mouth watered at the smell of the foods laid out to feast on. Your eyes alone feasted on everything in sight, and in that moment you understood what Kung Lao must feel like. After that realization, you snapped out of it.

“We all did our own thing, for the most part.” Kung Lao responded after swallowing the large mouthful he had been eating. You reached over and grabbed some food that had been out on the table, adding it to your plate. His eyes twinkled with excitement, the same excitement that made you tense up at how familiar it was. He leaned towards you with a happy grin. His elbow nudged your side. “So, how was the academy?”

“It was beyond anything I could have dreamed.” You admitted, cutting into your food. You popped a bite into your mouth, chewing it carefully as you considered the right words to say. It tasted even better than it looked “I was honestly amazed at how much magic could be contained within one place. Magic seemed to spill from even the walls.”  Your eyes lit up as you recalled the grand statue in the academy. “They even had a grand statue to the goddess Delia. She's the goddess of magic.”

“They worship someone else than my main man, Liu Kang?” Johnny asked, eyebrows raised as he looked at you in surprise. He shrugged, and muttered something under his breath along the lines of go figure.

“What else do you expect?” Kenshi asked, sending a sharp look towards Johnny. There was a hint of exasperation in his face and his voice. “Do you really think Outworlders would worship an Earthrealm god?” He paused and sent an apologetic look to Liu Kang. “No offense, Lord Liu Kang.” He quickly added before returning to his meal.

“I take no offense, Kenshi.” Liu Kang replied, a pleasant look on his face. He turned his attention back to you. With a fork he gestured for you to go on. “Please, go on. I would like to hear about your little adventures within the academy.”

You nodded, a wide grin splitting your face. You went on and on, retelling all the wonders you had seen within the walls of the academy. From your lips was the praises of magic and how beautiful it could really be in the hands of those who wielded it. You talked on and on to the point where your food had gone slightly cold. As your speech ended, you noticed the way the others looked at you. Your cheeks flushed.

“Sounds like you fell in love with the place.” Kenshi observed. His eyes peered at you with careful observation. There was no judgement in his voice, something you were thankful for. You spotted a gleam in his eye, even.

“Yeah, the last time I’ve seen you this excited was when I told you that there was another Ninja Mime in the series.” Johnny pointed out, his fork pointing at you. He let out a small laugh. “I didn’t take you as the type to like magic that much, wildstyle. I thought you were all in on the whole teaching people how to fight thing.” 

“A person can have multiple interests, Cage.” You said, rolling your eyes. “But I guess you’re not wrong, Kenshi.” You said, thoughtfully staring down into your plate. Even the marks left by the food you ate seemed to remind you of the swirls of magic you had seen earlier that day. “I ended up liking that place more than I was expecting. I forgot how much I loved to learn about things.”

“Do you think you would take an opportunity to study here if you could?” Raiden inquired, curious brown eyes looking at you. You paused, moving your fork around to push your food. Your lips pursed, and you looked up to see the gaze of Liu Kang staring at you. You remembered, for a brief moment, how this question felt all too familiar.

You tore your gaze away.

“Maybe.” You admitted, shrugging. You felt the burning gaze be lifted from your form as your answer left your lips. “I doubt I would be given a chance anyways, I’m an Earthrealmer.” You said, your gaze now falling down to your plate. “Plus, I think I’d miss you guys too much.” You added on, offering a small smile. 

“We’d miss you too.” Kung Lao said, a wide smile pulling at his lips. His shoulder bumped yours. Your heart warmed at the sentiment. Your little smile grew a little wider as you picked up a piece of food and put it into your mouth. Mentally you replied to him. The mere thought of telling them this sent your heart aflutter and your cheeks went a little warm.

I know. 

Sitting under the moonlight, you gazed up into the stars. You were sitting on the same bench, this time being the one waiting for the princess. You tried to see the constellations, the ones you had learned about earlier today, within the myriad of dots within the skies. This realm apparently had different stars, it was all so…interesting.

“Waiting for me today I see.” Mileena’s voice rang out, capturing your attention. You glanced over, seeing an amused smirk on her lips. You nodded, glancing back up to the starry night sky for a moment more before turning your full attention to the princess. She caught your gaze before looking up to the sky herself. “What is so enticing about the sky tonight?”

“Oh, nothing in particular.” You said, also returning your gaze to the sky above. “It’s just…different from Earthrealm.” Your hand gestured to the stars above. “For example, I learned that you have different constellations than we do back in Earthrealm. I suppose I just appreciate the differences between our homes.”

“Really?” She said, her gaze lingering on the sky for a moment. She squinted, as if trying to see what you did within the sky. “I never thought someone would be captivated by something as simple as a mere night sky.” The princess admits. Though her words felt almost demeaning, there was no bite behind them. It was just mere honesty. She stepped over to the bench and finally took a seat at the other end. 

“I guess it is because our skies are a lot different.” You said, giving the princess a soft smile. “Our skies are a deeper blue, and our stars are not as numerous.” You say, indicating with your hand to the sky. “Some places can’t even see the stars even with a clear sky.” You paused, thinking back to the night sky back home. “But it feels like our stars do glow brighter where I’m from.”

“I see.” She said, her voice carrying a hint of intrigue. She stared at you, scanning your nearly awestruck look. “Not even our astronomers seem to hold the same reverence for the sky as you do.” She pointed out, a teasing tone to her voice. 

“Maybe it’s because they haven’t seen the stars in other realms.” You offer up as an explanation. “Sometimes, to appreciate what you have you must see other perspectives and things that you are not used to.”

“Perhaps.” Mileena replied, a tone you couldn’t quite place down in her voice.

“I must be boring you.” You said, realizing you had rambled on about the stars for a bit too long. You forced your eyes away from the sky, back onto the ground. You cleared your throat and straightened up, collecting your thoughts. “What type of story would you like to hear about today?” You asked, already trying to narrow down which movie to recollect to her.

“I think tonight I would like to simply hear you tell me about the differences between Earthrealm and Outworld.” Mileena said, her eyes seeming to hold a hint of encouragement. “I’ve never heard someone speak so kindly about both realms…it’s refreshing.” Her hand gestured to you, and you couldn’t help the wide smile. “It almost makes me want to seek out these differences when the next tournament comes.”

“If that’s what you wish, then let me fulfill your request, princess.”

And so on this night, the story you told was of two realms, and just how their differences made you appreciate them both a bit more. 

part fourteen

tagged - @bonezisded @lollipopin @simpxinnie @zhivaxo @koisuko

#mortal kombat x reader #kung lao x reader #liu kang x reader #reptile x reader #smoke x reader #sub zero x reader #scorpion x reader #bi han #liu kang #raiden x reader #johnny cage x reader #johnny cage #tomas vrbada #kenshi x reader #syzoth #mortal kombat #mortal kombat 1 #mk1 #fanfiction #mk1 x reader #mk x reader #shang tsung x reader #shang tsung #mileena x reader #kitana x reader #syzoth x reader #ashrah x reader #havik x reader #rain x reader

[bitterkarella]

Midnight Pals: I Want to Believe

Stephen King: hey did you hear that thomas wrote an x files episode? Barker: what? which one? King: oh i think King: i think it was called King: 'thomas ligotti is from outer space' or something Barker: Barker: yeah i don't think it was called that

King: i heard you wrote an x files episode Thomas Ligotti: hm King: you know, i once wrote an x files episode myself Ligotti: hm King: it was about an evil doll Ligotti: did the evil doll represent the existential void of an indifferent universe King: King: uh no King: it was the regular kind

Ligotti: they never actually made my episode Ligotti: they said it was too depressing Barker: damn! whoa! Barker: you? depressing? Barker: get outta town! Poe: clive Barker: i'm just as shocked as you are!

Barker: so thomas this depressing x-files thing you did Ligotti: hm Barker: did it have mannequins Poe: clive Ligotti: yes Barker: whoa! really defying stereotypes today huh tom?

Barker: wait wait Barker: i'm on a role Barker: i'm about to use my AWESOME PSYCHIC POWERS to make another prediction Barker: was there a ventriloquist dummy in it? Ligotti: yes Barker: whoa! 2 for 2! Koontz: are you really psychic? Poe: no dean Barker: yes dean Barker: yes i am

Barker: damn thomas i am totally SHOCKED that you'd write about ventriloquist dummies Barker: i am just so COMPLETELY SURPRISED because that's Barker: like Barker: SO out of character for you Jon Padgett: s-shut up Padgett: leave him alone Padgett: just shut up!

Ligotti: a ventriloquist dummy is a cosmic doppelganger, real and yet not real, a mocking caricature of the spark of life, a reminder of the cruel joke the universe played on mankind that is sentience RL Stine: yeah and also Stine: what if one had a knife?

Ligotti: so mulder and scully face the truth that we are all just in a cosmically indifferent universe, specks upon the tides of fate, subject to unknowable forces beyond human ken that our blinkered minds cannot ever hope to fathom Ligotti: the truth is NOT out there

#midnight pals #the midnight society #midnight society #stephen king #clive barker #edgar allan poe #dean koontz #thomas ligotti #rl stine #jon padgett

[abyssruler]

cyno x gn!reader

Cyno thinks his ears must not be working properly.

“You… what?”

You smile, a jittery sort of twist to it that belies your excitement (or nervousness and apprehension, his ever-suspicious mind supplies).

“A date, um, this Saturday, and you have to be there,” you tell him with all the seriousness you can muster.

He doesn’t understand why he has to be present for your date, but he has no complaints about it. Any man or woman who tries to woo you should be held under the utmost scrutiny to decipher any hidden agendas. (Deep within his mind, he already knows that no matter how perfect they are, he will always find fault with them simply for being the object of your affections.)

So he agrees to meet you at the meeting spot you designated and resolves to thoroughly observe whoever it is that managed to capture your heart under his nose.

✧

It’s been four hours.

Four hours of roaming through stalls, mindless chatter with merchants, arguments ensuing as his sharp eyes and even sharper tongue called out any seller who tried to scam you with their wares, combing through the streets and buying any food that managed to catch your attention.

Four hours — and your date is nowhere to be seen.

There isn’t a hint of distress on your face, however. If anything, you look content, biting happily into the fried skewer you recently bought as you strolled beside him at a leisurely pace.

Another hour passes — another hour of being dragged by his wrist to look at a group of dancers and laughing at street plays and doing anything and everything but being on a date with the mystery person who managed to inflict such a sheepish yet soft look on your face when you mentioned your date to him days ago.

He can’t bear the suspense of it anymore. If your date has tucked their tail between their legs and run and left you hanging, he will see them punished. You look far too calm, but perhaps you’re disguising the hurt that must linger after being ditched without warning.

So he pulls you aside and voices out the question that has been on his mind since the moment you grabbed his wrist and started pulling him along.

“Where is your date? It’s been hours since the agreed upon meeting time and they have yet to show their face.”

You blink at him, confusion painting your features. He frowns at that. You must be covering for them, hiding away your pain so he wouldn’t get mad as he predictably would and go after whoever it is that left you.

(A look of dawning understanding blooms on your face.)

No matter. Even if you try to hide their identity, Cyno can use his resources to discover who it is. It’s an abuse of his power, but he reasons that it is a perfectly justified use of the connections he has as the General Mahamatra. To let such a person roam free, a person who turns back on their word without so much as a warning, he won’t let that go unpunished. Cyno will—

You burst out laughing, hands clutching your stomach as you bent over to catch your breath. He ignores the way his heart quickens at the sound of your laugh, instead looking down at you with a disapproving frown.

“Laughing isn’t going to make me forget this slight against you. Tell me who they are so I can—”

“You dummy!” You gasp out, still breathless from your earlier laugh. There’s a wide smile on your face, the streetlights of the Grand Bazaar illuminating your face and casting it in an almost otherworldly glow. “Did you really think I liked someone else?”

You step forward, leaning in so close he could almost smell the lingering scent of the cologne that you tried on earlier at one of the stores. Your mouth opens—and this is the part where his ears stop working.

“You’re my date, silly!”

The intimate gesture of holding his wrist, hand-feeding him food, the pleased look you’ve been sporting all day since he arrived at the meeting spot…

Oh.

Perhaps he really is a dummy.

#genshin x reader #genshin impact x reader #cyno x reader #genshin cyno x reader #genshin shorts #gn reader #serious x airhead

[there-are-many-ways-to-smile]

I thought creating a bingo card would be a lot more fun lol

#goosebumps 2023 #tv show bingo #I feel like the dialog is mostly right #well like the jest of it anyways #the free spot is slappy's evil laugh because he always does the laugh #goosebumps #I tried to change it up a bit so they weren't all so similar #I'm having so much fun watching the show and talking to other viewers #Fingers crossed for three in a roll #and i'll be happy #lol #bingo card #slappy the dummy #harold biddle #goosebumps predictions

[demonlovingsheep]

An MC who is addicted in helping the brothers maintaining their horns, wings, and tail. Why? Cause :

You have such a huge area on Lucifer’s wings and plucking out the old feathers until their all gone is so satisfying. It’s like plucking white hair from your older relatives, except you don’t even get paid a nickel for each cause this is a volunteer service. Maybe the first or second time, but after Mammon saw you get rich, he was offering Lucifer to groom his wings before you and stealing your job 😡.

MC “MAMMON FACK OFF, THIS IS MY JOB I’M BROKE.”

Mammon “WELL I’M BROKER”

Mc “AND WHO’S FAULT IS THAT?!?!”

Lucifer got annoyed at this and stopped paying entirely. You gave Mammon the silent treatment after that and he begged you to forgive him, which you did eventually.

Mammon’s wings are leathery. Maybe use a lint roller to roll all the dust and stuff off. The sound is nice too. You also can’t help running your finger over the boney parts up to his back, which he will flinch and get fluster.

Mammon “Wha-what are you doing? S-s-stop!

MC: I’m taking the elevator up to get closer to your heart 😘

Mammon *turning red like a tomato* “S-Sh-Shuddap dummy.”

Levi’s tail is like removing dried paint from the wall. If you never seen a snake owner holding onto the snake while it moves to shed, you are missing out.

MC “Levi, your tail is awesome, beautiful, gorgeous, majestic, long, sexy, and….looks tasty. *Chomps*

Levi *jumps from his chair and howls, then he died*

Satan’s bones tail often has gunk between the cracks. You use a tweezer to remove them section by section and marvel at the pile your able to remove.

Satan “MC, don’t go too deep, you’ll touch the nerves and it’ll hurt a little. I’m sure there is nothing there anyways.

MC “No no, just give me a moment. I’m sure there is something in here, I needa- *pulls out a huge chunk of dusk gunk* holy hell.

Satan 😳 “Oh my tail is a bit more flexible now. So that’s the reason why.”

MC *happy cause the pile of gunk got bigger*

Asmo is the same with Mammon. However his wings smell nicer and you marvel at how his wings connects to his back. Not something you see often and you wonder if his wing muscles are stronger since his wings are small in proportion to his body but he can still fly.

MC “Asmo, your wings are smaller than Lucifer’s but it looks a bit small in comparison to your size. How do you fly?”

Asmo: Because everyone loves me darling. And their love powers me and is able to carry me off. Oh ain’t I just the prettiest being of the world ❤️!”

Your eyes was about to roll to the back of your head.

Beel’s translucent wing makes u put a hand under it while you wipe it with a towel on the other side. You were kinda playing with it’s characteristics, tracing the lines that runs through it with your finger. He finds it very ticklish but thinks your adorable.

MC “You know, in the Human world there is a thing called palm reading. It’s where you can predict all sorts of things like when you’ll get married, your luck, you longevity, and everything by the lines on your hand.”

Beel “Really? Well I sure hope that there is a line on my wing that means we will be together forever” *smiles happily*

MC *wraps arm around Beel’s neck, nuzzling him* “You don’t need a line to tell you that. I love you and will be there forever!”

Lemme grab that floof at the end of ur tail dammit. Belphegor’s tail is like a cat’s toy and you can’t resist just targeting that floof, oohh that floof. And you will take care of it as if it’s a small fluffy animal. You will bath it, blow dry it, brush it, and top it off with a bow tie. Finally you give it a kiss and this whole dam time Belphegor is getting jealous of his own tail LMAO.

Belphie “MC, give me more attention up here.” *pouts*

MC “No! I want to spend more time with Luna.” *Rubs face against fluff*

Belphie “Luna? You named my tail? What about Belphie? He needs attention too. *Lifts tail away from your hand*

MC “NOO GIMME BACK LUNA U MONSTER!”

Belphie: >:(

*I thought this would be a short post but as I started to write, it just keep going, holy.

#obey me #obey me shall we date #obey me belphegor #obey me mammon #obey me belphie #obey me leviathan #obey me lucifer #obey me asmodeus #obey me beelzebub #obey me satan #obey me crack #post after midnight be like #I was just going and going #hell there wasn’t even suppose to be quoted and stuff. #obey me headcannons #tails horns and wings #Levi isn’t dead yet

[shy-urban-hobbit]

Care to go up against me, Princess?"

Ciri looked over from where she'd been whacking seven shades out of the training dummy to where Lambert's cat, (' Aiden', her brain supplied), was leaning against the wall. She was sure he hadn't been there a minute ago.

"Why?" She asked warily, Geralt's warnings about cat Witchers coming to mind.

Aiden shrugged, "Everyone else is busy and I'm bored. Vesemir gave me the okay to oversee your training for the day. Would go and bother Lambert but learnt the hard way not to do that when he's playing with his bombs. It gets messy, and not in a fun way."

Jaskier, who had been sat bundled up by a brazier watching (read: babysitting. Ciri wasn't stupid), snorted a laugh.

"You can tell me to piss off and I can see about trading with Eskel or Coen. I won't be offended" Aiden offered with an open smile. He'd recognised Vesemir's olive branch straight away but he wasn't about to use it to make the young cub uncomfortable.

She looked between him and Jaskier, the bard merely shrugging as Ciri mulled it over. He couldn't possibly be that bad if Vesemir had allowed him to stay and with Jaskier sat right there and Eskel just in the stables, she wasn't technically alone with him…

"Alright. But just a quick spar."

Aiden's smile grew.

"Don't be afraid to move." Aiden said, leaning on his wooden training sword, Ciri stood bent double as she heaved for breath, aching and frustrated from the multiple hits Aiden had managed to land on her whilst she'd barely touched him, "You keep coming at me full frontal like that you're basically painting a target on yourself. It became predictable, which means it became dangerous."

Ciri straightened up indignantly, "The wolves are always telling me-"

"No offence to the wolves." Aiden interrupted gently, "But they're all over six feet tall and built like brick shithouses. Brute strength and stubbornness works for them. They can take the hits and keep on coming. You, unfortunately, are a bit more breakable." He very lightly poked her in the belly with the end of his sword, "But you're also small and fast. Use that."

He tilted his head thoughtfully, "If you like, I can show you some basics from my school that might benefit you."

"You mean how to fight dirty?" The words left her mouth before she could stop them. To her relief (and confusion) though, Aiden merely laughed in response.

"Is it fighting dirty if it's against something trying to kill you? And out of the two of us, which one has more bruises right now?"

He replaced the training sword and picked up the coat he'd discarded earlier, shaking the snow free, "Again you're free to say no, but the offer stands. You too, if you like." He said looking towards Jaskier, or more specifically, the small dagger at his belt as he made to leave, "I'm curious if you can actually use that."

"Wait."

Aiden stopped, waiting for Ciri to continue.

"Learning a couple of things couldn't hurt. Could it?"

Geralt smiled as he made his way back through the gates. The sun has almost set and with how treacherous the mountain could be, he knew the sensible thing would have been to hunker down and make his way back in the morning but after three days, he was too eager to see both his bard and his girl. His excitement was short-lived as the sight that greeted him at the other end of the courtyard had him immediately seeing red. Jaskier sprawled on his ass on the ground, Aiden with his back to Geralt but he spotted a very familiar head of blonde hair peeping over his shoulder as Ciri appeared to be struggling in his hold. the pommel of a sword in the hand which wasn't restraining her. Fucking bastard! He knew he should have given in and allowed the two of them to accompany him on the hunting trip!

Abandoning Roach and the game she was carrying, Geralt unsheathed his sword and charged.

"Aiden!"

Jaskier's yell came a second too late as he realised what Geralt was intending. Witcher reflexes meant Aiden was able to move quickly to drop the sword and shove Ciri away from him but not quickly enough to avoid a blow to his shoulder as the white haired Witcher roared furiously, "Get the fuck away from them!"

Aiden immediately dropped to his knees, as he turned to face Geralt, trying to look as non threatening as possible with one hand pressed to his now bleeding shoulder.

"Geralt, no !"

"What the fuck, Geralt?!"

"What the hell is going on out here?" Eskel yelled as he emerged from the stables, nose wrinkling at the overwhelming mixed scents of anger, confusion and fear.

"Eskel. Go get Vesemir." Geralt growled, not taking his eyes off Aiden.

"No need." The Witcher in question appeared next to Jaskier, drawn out of the main hall by the sudden noise. He offered Jaskier a hand up as he took in the scene, "What is happening here?"

"I found the Cat threatening Ciri with a sword."

"You mean this sword?" Jaskier asked moving forward to pick up the wooden blade and waving it in Geralt's face, "We were training, nothing more."

"By whose leave?" Geralt demanded before turning to Eskel, "And you! Where the hell were you when they needed you!"

"Hey!" Eskel snapped, "I've been in the stables since they started this morning. You really think I wouldn't have intervened if I'd heard anything untoward? Which. I. Didn't. They were never in any danger."

" Aiden!" Lambert came running towards them, panicked by the scent of blood and the sight of Aiden on the ground, "What is your fucking problem!" He yelled, squaring up to Geralt, "The old man put him in charge of Ciri's training for the day, he wasn't doing anything he wasn't supposed to be!"

"Forgive me if I don't take you at your word given your attachment. I don't want Ciri learning anything from him. "

Aiden was marginally surprised that Geralt didn't spit on him for emphasis.

" Enough!" Vesemir barked in a tone he knew would immediately bring his pups to heel, "Everyone inside. Now! Eskel, take Ciri and help Coen in the kitchen. Lambert, see to Aiden. Geralt, with me."

Read the rest on my A03!

#the witcher #the witcher fanfiction #aiden/lambert #aiden x lambert #lambden #lambert/aiden #lambert x aiden #witcher aiden #witcher lambert #lambert #aiden whump #geraskier #geralt/jaskier #geralt x jaskier #witcher geralt #geralt of rivia #geralt #witcher jaskier #jaskier

[wandixx]

Hey, idk if anyone remebers this one shot I posted some time ago but! For people who don't want to click, it's about Dani in Gotham hanging out with Duke (Signal) and becoming his kinda side-kick (and she got her own original hero name). Mostly fluff and good vibes

I almost finished digitalizing it and as predicted, it's over 13 000 words hah. It'll be few days before I publish it, some editing needs to be done and my friends asked to read it before, but this got me thinking. And because I love polls, I'll use it

First option wouldn't mean breaking it in some weird places, I have it written as string of scenes so it won't be cut in the middle of the scene, don't worry. Just wonder what will be easier to read

Also, if you have any "Rules of dialog interpunction (or overall editing) in English for dummies" please share a link or go on a rant in reblogs, please, thank you

Edit: because I'm a dumbass, putting it in parts will also make it easier to put trigger warnings on two (three?) parts where this fic goes into less fluff and good vibes places. Nothing overly graphic but these kids are not okay for a good moment

#dpxdc #dc x dp #dp x dc #dcxdp #duke thomas&dani fenton #idk how to tag it #i'll platonically kiss you if you help me i swear #have a nice day dear stranger who got to this part

[cecedownbad]

Not Alone

Summary: Training to be an agent couldn't be any more hectic, or any less a pain in the ass. But a new change never hurt anyone, say, what if that change was a person?

Word count: 1.4k

Warning: Not proofread, fluff, may have written less Leon content than I should have but such is the freedom of writing, can't write combat for shit, no Y/N. GN! Reader.

You can imagine RE2 Leon for this cause it's pre RE4R, that is up to you tho!

Enjoy

The locker room was silent, the subtle creaks of the old hinges were all that caught one's ear. Sitting alone by the benches, a deep breath in, and one out. This was it, time for another round of getting your ass beat.

You slowly force yourself to get up, clenching your fists and gnawing on the inner side of your mouth because here comes another day, another wonderful training session right after your measly breakfast and early morning jog, it's a start to your daily routine. A very shitty daily routine.

"Okay, okay, I practiced last night, this shouldn't be hard, remember to block their hits." With a huff, your hands reach for the door knob and slowly turn it open, hoping that you were miraculously early and no one bothered to get into uniform, you quickly raise your head to see three other trainees, all waiting for the day to start. Two were doing warm up exercises, a few stretches and one was jogging in place, the third one had closed his eyes and holding a training knife in his hands.

You scan the room for any more visitors but there weren't any so you made your way to a corner and began doing a few sets, some planks and push-ups. Going rather smoothly, you trusted yourself to be able to handle doing a push up using one hand. Having done it before, a set of 20 was easy enough to accomplish with a single hand keeping you balanced.

The next part of your warm up, or this practice before the real one starts was working on one on one defence, hand to hand combat was what you struggled with. Throwing a mean punch was not all it took to get by around here, defence was important and although you were great at handling weapons, the sniper rifle being your best, hand to hand combat goes a long way.

You closed your eyes, keeping your breath steady and guarded your body, setting the stature in a solid form, one that was known to hardly break. Breathe in, breathe out, this was going well enough, imagining an opponent in place of the dummy had set things in motion for you.

You were ready to kick the dummy in the side, lifting your leg you packed as much force you could pivot your leg and waited for the dummy to bend to the other open side. However, your leg was stopped half way, not even fully reaching the dummy. You harshly pulled your captured limb free and found the cause of the disruption standing ahead of you. " We're rounding up, calling your name didn't work." The man honing a sharp side part hair dusted his hand off, wearing the same uniform as you did but he carried himself like that of an already experienced agent.

Leon was his name, being whispered about in hallways, nightly playing card sessions, the most predictable area were the bathrooms. He didn't say much, nor did he seem like he wanted to, but the first person you see in the mornings, at even the ungodliest hours were this man. He would be pacing, training by himself or simply reading a book. A natural wall was built around his corner, and only a stubborn few would cross it. Nothing about him was innately alarming. Personal space and time alone is what everyone here needs, but you question your findings at times, does this man ever sleep?

Wiping away your sweat with your hand towel, you gather with the rest of them, standing at ease as the senior agent did his daily checks.

After which, you begrudgingly head on to your station, reluctantly grabbing your training knife. A close up knife fight was another detail you, although struggling, and trying impossibly hard to retain the positions, keeping the knife close at your side while avoiding openings was your most called out flaw. Training alone has its perks but with no one to correct you, or willing to do so, unawareness of improvement came at a price.

Together with the other trainees, you go over the stances, holding a tight grip over your training knife. Your non-dominant hand raised to protect your fatal spots and the dominant one pointed forward, carrying the weapon.

It was time to turn to training with a partner and with your, in a word, hapless moment, you were left scanning for an opponent. That was till you felt a palm tap on your shoulder, and still guarded, you elbow the rather unfortunate fool behind you, hearing a low grunt escape from them. Facing the cause of the sound, it was Leon, though not crippled on the floor from the knock on the side of his abdomen, he still held his side, huffing.

"Crap, you alright?"

"Don't worry about it, I can walk this one off."

"I am so sorry!"

"It's fine, should have called out to you instead."

He gathered himself better after that and got readied up for training. "I suppose you don't mind if we exchange introductions?" This was momentary but who wouldn't love a good, what is your favourite colour session? Audibly and rather in amusement, he let out a chuckle, subtle yet breathy, "An introduction? since when did this place have a need for that?" This was all too entertaining for him, a person in this heartless hole wants to pretend to exchange friendly banter, a first but that was all he has assumed in his own experiences.

"Then, Kennedy-" you eyed the name woven on his uniform, "Let's get started, I'd prefer it if you didn't outright kill me." A smile formed on your face, one that held behind an expression of interest to the man before you.

"Let's."

You circled in, eyeing his movements, holding your breath. You hated all of this, anxiety spewed falsehoods into your brain in plagues of what ifs or maybes. The sweat streaming down your back sent a shiver to your spine, not obvious but enough for you to step forward, causing a flow of reactions from Leon, it wasn't your intention to make the first move but that set things in motion. You aimed for his neck but he was quick to deflect, a clatter of metal startled you but just as your hand slipped, he quickly went in for a place around your ribs.

That motion scared you but be it a fight or flight instinct, you used your legs to tip him over. A faint attempt, he caught on quickly and stepped aside at the perfect moment. This continued on for a while, you made attempts, he deflected, you would narrowly escape his attacks and finally, that was when you called it a quits.

Chugging the water to where your items were placed, the scenes of where possible mistakes were made replayed in your mind, that was how you would critique and better yourself at the company of nothing but the room and the soft breaths after harsh training. "Do you train a lot?" A question passed on from the man that almost could have killed you, if this were an actual knife fight of course.

"Yeah, by myself most of the time, why? Did I do something I shouldn't have, was I too slow? Hold on—"

"No, it wasn't bad, mind if I suggest something?" He stepped closer, hair long that you could see it grazed his nose. This was the first time you could get a proper look at him, eyes a deep blue with a hint of grey that traced the edges of the blue. His lashes lay long on his lids, they were enviously beautiful, his nose was thin but the creases around it had shaped them well. You could gaze at him for a well deserved period, only now realising that his features speak stories of their own fortitude. "Ahem, Y-Yeah sure, what is it?" Holding in your curiosity, you continue the conversation.

"Mind if I join you? I think we'd make a great team." He stated, raising excitement with his tone. "That would be awesome! This is...just for training though right?" You questioned. "Yeah, I mean, only if you're interested, we could handle more than just knife combat, what do you say?" His lips stretch out so slightly, parting to a smile that was so quick to lose sight of. "Sure, I'm in!"

You raise your arm, hand extended to shake his own to form a unit, which he gladly accepted. Was this the start of no more horrible routines? The man entailed in whispers was now your acquaintance, the very man you had only seen but never initiated a definite greeting is now your training buddy. This was new, and with how you took notice of his features, he too seemed curious about the person that he could only manage to glance at, wondering, when do they ever sleep?

"So...do I keep calling you Kennedy or is it time for introductions?"

#leon s kennedy #leon kennedy #resident evil #re4r #resident evil 4 remake #leon kennedy x reader #leon s kennedy x gn reader #no y/n #re4 #re2 #resident evil 2 remake #I enjoyed this one #it's been in my drafts for a while so I hope you enjoyed it too! #resident evil x reader #leon kennedy imagine