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#he looks more like a kicked puppy than usual (am not complaining)
kimquatz · 1 month
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i need ichiban to stop lookin' at me with them big ol' eyes in infinite wealth
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getosbunsblog · 1 year
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Jealous Levi
Y’all were in his room about to watch some new ass show. You went down in his beanbag corner, face planting into your favorite one. You were exhausted. this is the fourth marathon this week.
“WAKE UP!! YOU NEED TO SEE THIS!” As he shook you. Ever since you two became closer friends he’s been stealing you and having you watch all of these shows. Not that your complaining. But sometimes it’s a bit much. “Levi, I think I should go to sleep, I’ll watch it with you tomorrow” he looked like a kicked puppy. You felt so bad. But you were exhausted. Suddenly he sat up and said “ok I will too, we can sleep in here” you chuckled “Levi you don’t ever sleep, It’ll be ok I’m just really tired” you rubbed his shoulder and exited. He blushed and watched you walk away. He tried to have fun but he couldn’t. He was utterly bored without you. Maybe he’ll check on you. Yeah. Make sure you made it down the hall safely. He started walking down the hall and creaked open your door. You were not there. “Oh my god, where did she go!!??!” He ran to mammons room because it was the closest and slammed the door open. “MC IS NOT IN HER BEDROO-“ he cut himself off when he saw you in mammons bed wrapped around him. Slightly jolted awake because of Levi. “WHY ARE YOU WITH HIM?!” He yelled. You sat up and looked at him. “Oh, He saw me walking past and called me in here for something real quick” Levi started fuming. You had time for stupid mammon but not HIM?!? Your best friend. Mammon pulled you back down “ignore him, he’s just bein Levi again” he said to you. He turned his head to meet Levi’s eyes “go to bed man, it’s like 3 in the mornin” Levi stormed out and almost gagged remembering that mammon sleeps naked. We’re you naked too. You had his shirt on though. Omg why were you wearing his shirt. Levi knew it, you didn’t see him as more than a friend. You were out fucking mammon of all people?!?
You haven’t heard from Levi for a day, unusual for him and you. You knocked in the distinct pattern you always do. No answer. You opened his door slowly and saw him in his chair. He was playing a video game without headset on. “Hey, did you not hear me?” He didn’t even turn around “no, I did. I know you’d let yourself in, you always do” he sounded mad. You sat down in your seat he got for you and sat in silence watching him for 45 minutes, till you finally asked “Levi, what’s wrong?”
He whipped his head around and glared at you “go away please” you looked shocked, usually he tells you everything. You sat up and left. No questions asked. He clearly needed to be left alone. Maybe he’s just socially overstimulated or something you decided to hang out with Beel today. But it was one of those days for Beel too. He just decided to take it out on your cunt than yell at you. He pounded you till you couldn’t even walk, you slept the rest of the day in his bed where Belphie later crawled in. Sliding his cock between your thighs. Then I’m your spent hole. Cumming in you like Beel did.
Meanwhile asmo went to check on levi and asked what’s wrong “I know it’s MC. I can sense it, don’t lieeee” his face turned red as he screamed “she fucked mammon” asmo looked at him dumbfounded and bursted into laughter “well, duh. Did you think you were the only one. She’s been with all of us” Levi turned even redder and said “SHE FUCKED ALL OF YOU BUT NOT ME?!?” Asmo again looked surprised “oh, I thought, you both had already had sex” Levi screamed “CLEARLY NOT” asmo laughed again “well did you tell her you wanted too?” Levi tilted his head “I show her my things and we talk” asmo moved his hands “yes, yes, but did you make it known you like her?” Levi then realized his error.
Levi started looking for you. All around the house. Then he made it to the twin’s room. He saw your shoes but not you. He went to the kitchen defeated. There you were sitting on the counter eating a cookie. You looked at him “oh,hey Levi-“ he cut you off “Why won’t you have sex with me?! Am I not good enough?! Huh??” You looked at him and he covered his mouth in embarrassment. “Oh, I didn’t know you liked me like this that. Anytime I would try anything you would shut me down immediately and act all weird” you felt oddly happy. “I- oh. Um” he couldn’t form words. You were right. It did look like he only wanted to be friends. “Oh did it misread you just now?” You asked “do you not like me?” He got down on his knees and clung to your leg dangling off the counter “NO! NO I DO!…..so much” he looked up realizing you had no panties on you felt him grow hard against your leg and you giggled you pushed him off gently and he landed on his butt. You could see the outline of two cocks. You spread your legs on the kitchen counter for him. “You wanna try big boy?” He scrambled up and dove into your cunt”
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yourfatherlucifer · 9 months
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If I killed someone for you (Yunho)
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Yandere!Psycho!Jeong Yunho x Reader
Summary:
He was an amazing man in the relationship, but he had..tendencies..tendencies to do things someone normal wouldn’t do. Like he’s over obsessive. In the beginning he was perfect, flawless even. However, it’s your school reunion, everyone was there, including your old group of friends, which had a few guys in it. Yunho didn’t like it..no..he hates it, he loathes it, the way they touch you when they laugh. Sure, they’re just your friends, but they’re men, men that could steal you away from him. He didn’t want that, he couldn’t have that. Maybe it’s time for his mind to finally break, and give in to his urges. He needs you for himself. What will he do?
Warnings: mentions of violence, mentions of death, overall yandere behavior, possessive behavior, killer behavior, mentions of torture methods, swearing, this whole one shot is a red flag.
(There are several different song lyrics hidden, and I based the high school on the high school I graduated from. And a thank you to @starillusion13 for editing and being my beta reader. I appreciate it so much.)
——
My brown doe-eyed boyfriend was different, he’s perfect in my eyes, he’s everything I ever wanted. He had a sense about him, it was strange, but I thought nothing of it. He'd usually shower me with gifts, took care of my every need, so there obviously couldn't be anything wrong with him. He was the one I always wanted. He was a perfect one except for his possessiveness. I'm not complaining about this but sometimes it goes out of hand and it gets on my nerves. Maybe I'm thinking too much or he is just too caring to which, am just overreacting.
 My mind could just be wrong about him. He's just a little possessive. Right?
“Yunho? Why did you leave your dirty clothes just left in the middle of the floor?” I yelled over his headphones, my tall and lean, and puppy eyed boyfriend sat in his gaming chair.
I assumed he was playing with friends, but this was ridiculous.
I guess he didn’t hear me since he clearly didn’t answer me. How annoying!
Huffing, I kicked his clothes across the room, boring a glare into the back of his head. Jackass.
Whatever, I have better things to do, than clean up after a grown man.
I left our shared room with a slam of the door.
I was getting too frustrated, I should just relax, ignore my boyfriend's asshole self for the time being.
Plus, I have to get ready for a school reunion. I received the text last week and honestly, I didn’t even think anyone from my high school would invite me. I was a loner then, still am.
I suppose I had a couple friends then, not sure they’d remember me though.
-
“What are you wearing?” I heard a voice approach me from behind. The voice had a sharp undertone in it.
“Yunho! Don’t do that, you scared me.” I placed a hand over my chest. Turning around to see him already staring at me with a dark look on his facial.
“I asked you a question. You should answer it.” Why was he always so authoritative to me?
I rolled my eyes at him, “Seriously? So, now I’m not even allowed to dress how I’d like?”
Yunho's eyes glossed over with anger, "Do not back talk to me, why are you dressed all fancy?" That's it. I've had enough of his damn behavior.
"Fuck you, Yunho, you've been nothing but a dick to me lately,always being so possessive. I am going out, I have a high school reunion. If you don't trust me, even though you should. Then come with me. I don't need or expect this from you." I stood my ground, I wasn't gonna take anymore of his bull crap.
He stared me down for a precise moment before he left the room, to our shared bedroom.
About five minutes later, he'd come out wearing a dark blue long-sleeve button up and jeans. The sleeves of his dress shirt were pushed up to his elbows.
When he dressed like this, he was overly attractive, if only he wasn't a dick sometimes.
Rolling my eyes once more, "Oh, so you do want to come with me. Fine, but please, enough with the possessive behavior."
-
When we had arrived at my old school, my gaze was all over the place, it was smaller than I remembered. Still looked fancy in the front. The football field behind the school was visible slightly around the corner and that was where the event had been organized.
 The front banner said, ‘Welcome back, home of the pirates, class of (XXXX)!’
I looked at Yunho, his grip on the steering wheel had turned his knuckles white, "Um..it said the reunion is on the football field, so just head behind the school." With a nod from him, he pulled the car around the large building.
I don't know why, but I felt this looming sense of danger in the air. I really hope nothing bad happens, especially with the way my lover is.
-
"Y/N!"
Who called me? I don't..
I turned my head to the sound of whoever just called my name out, Yunho trailing extremely close behind me.
"Changkyun?" It was my best friend from freshman year, even though he was in a higher grade. I even had a crush on him then, but of course, I couldn't let Yunho know. Who knows what he'd do.
"Hi, dude, it's been awhile." Changkyun had wrapped his arms around me. I could just feel my lover's glare. This wasn't good. So I pulled away as fast as I could from my former friend.
"Yeah, it has, um, this is my boyfriend, Yunho." I turned around, but stepped back as soon as I saw his face. Yunho looked pissed. Like, it was honestly terrifying. I had never seen this look on him. His demeanor radiating a wave of danger to the cold environment of the late evening.
I mean, it was kind of hot, but something about it also didn't sit right with me.
Changkyun looked up, "Damn, you are tall. I'm Im Changkyun, I was Y/N's friend back in school." He held his hand out, but Yunho just stared at him down. Almost like he was threatened by his presence.
I could feel the tension in the air, maybe I should pull him away from this conversation. Yeah that's the best idea.
I grabbed the taller male's hand, "It was nice talking to you, Kyun, but I think we need to go." I chuckled nervously, pulling my lover away.
-
I stared up at him, "What was that, Yunho? Why were you glaring at him? He didn't do anything to you."
"Yes he did."
"What?"
I can't believe him. Was he serious? He did not just blame your friend for welcoming you there. If he continues being such an overbearing person, you might lose your mind before him.
"He touched what is mine, not his, mine."
There was that sense of dread again. MINE. You loved hearing him calling you his but sometimes that made you uncomfortable as if he was referring to some costly property which he wanted to lock it.
"How about this, what if I killed someone for you, Y/N? Would you love me more? Would that get inside your pretty little head, to show you and remind you that you are mine?" All of the sudden, he was leaning down, he had grabbed my wrist.
Oh my god, his grip was so tight, it felt like my wrist was gonna snap right off, "Stop it, Yunho! You're acting crazy! Let go of me, it hurts." I tried pulling away.
He wasn't letting go, and that killer look in his eyes was back.
"I don't care, what do you not understand?"
He was dragging me to the car, "You know, Y/N, I really cannot decide whether you should live or die. I mean, really. You come here dressed like you're going on a date, you let another man touch what is mine." He was laughing like a maniac.
Was he really going to kill me? No, no, he's just upset with me, that's all. I did nothing wrong though!
"Please, Yunho, stop! I love you! I didn't mean to do this, I didn't know he was gonna touch me." At this point, I was a sobbing mess, there was nobody around to save me.
An evil smirk was etched onto his face, after pushing me into the car, he locked the doors. Trapping me in with a psychopath.
As he sped down the road, the radio was almost blasting, he turned to me. "Maybe I should just crash the car, kill both of us! Or maybe, I could bury you alive, pour acid down your throat."
Why was he doing this? I don't want to die!
"Maybe I should just kidnap your little friend, keep him locked up in our basement. I could torture him for days, I could break him. You can watch!"
"Yunho, stop! I am sorry! I won't talk to him again! Please slow down, you're going to kill us." He was ignoring my pleas. The killer look in his eyes wasn't going to fade anytime soon.
"Oh, are you really? You are mine! Not some fucking tiny ass man can give you what I give you!"
He reached over, unbuckled my seat belt. The car sped up faster, this is it. I'm going to die. "Yunho!"
He was approaching a brick wall at top speed, but just three feet from it, he slammed on the brakes. My head smashed into the dashboard, knocking me out.
-
Cold water splashed onto my face, "Wake up, dear."
"Yun..?"
I had a pounding headache, why did my head hurt so bad? Why can't I move?
With my eyes fluttering open, I discovered I was restrained to a chair. My surroundings were definitely very familiar, it was our basement, but why was I down here?
"What's going on, Yun? Why am I tied up?"
The tall frame of my boyfriend was kneeled in front of me.
"Bad girls don't get to have freedom."
"What are you..oh," I remember now, I remember everything, "I told you I was sorry, why are you still doing this to me?"
"Because. I don't forgive you. Until you realize you're mine and stay away from other men, then I will be the perfect boyfriend again."
I shuddered with fear. I was never going to escape this, was I? I will never truly be free from him. I put myself unknowingly into a toxic relationship with a psychopath.
He gripped my jaw to look at him, "Everyday and night, I’m gon’ chase you. I love you, you should only love me."
I wanted to spit on his face, but I just don't know what he is capable of.
Tears were streaming down my face again, "Please, Yunho! I don't want anybody else, I want you! I only want you. I won't look at anyone else!"
He loosened his grip on my now bruised jaw, "That's a good girl, that's what I want to hear." Yunho chuckled, trailing a finger down my cheek.
"Are you gonna be a good girl for me?"
I shook my head up and down so fast, I swore my head would fall off.
'Yes, yes! I'll be your good girl, Yunho! I promise!"
The killer glint in his eyes faded just as fast as I blinked, "Good."
After untying me, he pulled me into a hug, rubbing the back of my head, before leaning next to my ear, "Because you will never escape me."
Oh no..
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bi-bard · 2 years
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Don’t Ask Me If I Believe Me - Gary "Eggsy" Unwin Imagine (Kingsman)
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Title: Don’t Ask Me If I Believe Me
Pairing: Gary "Eggsy Unwin X Reader
Based On: Don't Go
Word Count: 1,014 words
Warning(s): fighting
Summary: Eggsy has sneaking suspicions about (Y/n)’s avoidance. Those suspicions lead to a very upset (Y/n) and a mission about to fall apart.
Author's Note: We deserved the cute story after that last Hannibal imagine I posted.
YUNGBLUD WRITING CHALLENGE MASTERLIST
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It was a strange chain of events. I truly couldn't blame Eggsy for having questions about it.
That doesn't mean that I had to like the questions.
We had started off as friends. Good friends. We had this very strange, immediate understanding of each other. We worked really well together.
Maybe that meant it was inevitable that we would begin developing feelings for each other.
I thought that I could ignore them, and they would go away. Granted, at the time, I also assumed they were one-sided.
The first time that I question if Eggsy saw me as anything more than a friend was during a training session.
I had gotten him pinned to the ground. I had teased him a bit before I even thought to move away from him.
"I won," I said as I leaned back.
"Yes, you did," he replied, pushing himself up on his arms. There was this little smirk on his face as he did. It just looked... different. Not bad, just different.
I had been so focused on his damn smirk that I didn't notice how close he had gotten to me.
"Would the victor like some kind of prize," he asked.
I let out a nervous chuckle before scrambling to my feet. I didn't even reply to him before I walked out of the room. I felt so stupid and overwhelmed and so confused.
It was weird. I didn't like weird.
I started avoiding him whenever I could. I felt bad. Of course, I felt bad. But I thought it was for the best. Ignore it and it goes away. Then, I don't have to do anything about it.
Yeah. It wasn't my best plan, but my planning usually revolved around stopping international criminals, not dealing with dumb puppy-love crushes.
I didn't know how much it bugged Eggsy until we were on a mission together.
We had been in the middle of a fight with this guy with a very strong collection of backup. I already thought that the fight wasn't going our way when Eggsy decided to have a casual conversation.
"Why haven't you been talking to me," he asked when we passed each other.
"Now," I yelled as I kept moving. "You're asking about this now?!"
"Yes!"
"Why?!"
"I asked you a question first!"
"Am I just not exciting enough for you two," the man asked from his little pedestal, looking between me and Eggsy.
"Shut up!"
The man placed his hand on his chest when we both yelled at him at the same time.
It was moments later that the two of us were grabbed and knocked unconscious.
When I came to, Eggsy and I were in some small room, wrists tied to the ceiling just high enough to keep our feet from touching the floor.
"Eggsy," I said. I lifted my foot and kicked him a bit. "Eggsy, wake up."
"Ow," he grumbled. "Do you have a rock in your shoe?"
"You lost the right to complain when you tried to pick a fight with me in the middle of a mission."
He rolled his eyes.
"I cannot believe you," I added quietly, looking up at the note. Simple but effective. I should be able to get out of it.
He let out a sigh before speaking, "Since we're gonna be here a while, wanna tell me why you're avoiding me?"
I looked over at Eggsy. "Is this the time to talk about this?"
"Not like we're going anywhere."
"Just a reminder that this discussion is what got us stuck here in the first place!"
"Then, you should answer my questions so we can ensure that this never happens again."
I rolled my eyes and went back to trying to figure out a way out of this mess. Eggsy didn't seem concerned with that.
"Why are you avoiding me," he asked.
"Eggsy, stop."
"Answer me then-"
"No!"
"You are admitting to avoiding me, right?"
"Shut up!"
"I thought we were getting along really well."
"Eggsy-"
"I really did. I thought we were heading toward something and then, you shut down-"
"Shut your mouth," I grumbled, messing with the knot in the rope.
"If I did something wrong, then tell me-"
"Oh, fuck off-"
"No! Because I care about you! And I want to be with you! If you don't want that, then just reject me straight out! Just avoiding me after we seemed to get along isn't enough of a hint!"
The rope on my hands finally went loose and I dropped onto the floor.
"Tell me."
"Stop, please-"
"If you don't care about me-"
"I do. Alright. I do care about you. A fucking shit ton."
He finally stopped talking for a few moments, just looking at me with wide eyes.
"Fucking love you, you ass," I mumbled as I pulled out a knife and leaned up to cut the rope on his wrists. I stepped back as he landed on his feet.
He stepped closer to me. I quickly stepped back when his hands went to cup the sides of my face.
"No, not right now," I shook my head and walked toward the door. "We're busy."
"Oh, for the love of..."
I heard him walking over. His hand touched my chin, turning my head to look at him. He grinned at me for a moment before leaning in to kiss me gently.
It only lasted for a few moments before he leaned back again.
"I love you too," he mumbled.
He smirked at my shocked expression before going to the lock. I shook my head in the hopes of coming back to my senses. Just as I did, the door was pulled open.
"You alright," Eggsy asked.
I blinked at him a few more times before responding, "Shut up."
He just nodded, that stupid smirk still on his face. I glared at him.
"We should go. We are so busy," he shrugged.
"I hate you."
"Oh, we both know that's not true."
Yeah. He was right.
But I would be damned if I gave him that satisfaction so fast.
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invisiblegarters · 9 months
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Be Mine Superstar Ep 4
Look at our boy Ashi playing detective. I genuinely kind of adore Punn now - he's just so damn earnest. Not liking him feels like kicking a puppy, almost.
Title hanging about to gum up the works, as usual. Man dude. You are pretty but you're not that pretty.
See, I knew Muang wasn't all that bad, although I am kind of wondering what the heck happened to the whole "Ashi wants nothing to do with you" line from the last episode.
Oh, well that's one way to see a doctor. Is it real or is it a reason to find him? I honestly can't tell right now since Muang is busy grinning at him like a besotted fool. Currently my guess is that he's totally just trying to see his crush, lol. This guy.
Oh the height difference really is real and not in Punn's imagination. For whatever reason I wasn't sure last week. Heaven help me I love a good height difference. Ashi what are you up to?
Aw okay so Muang is also trying to help Punn out. Keep up with this kind of thing and I'm gonna have to really start liking you. His manager, however, is kinda dumb, no?
Come change your band aids in my room. Smooth, Ashi. You know, if things keep up this way I might just decide these two are perfect for each other for real, lol.
This home is really pretty, and the staircase has a rail! Okay it's a flimsy plastic thing but it might actually be more sturdy than it looks!
Well, kid's got the smitten looks down, that's for sure.
Fluffy puppy!
Grandma's great. She understands how to watch these kinds of shows. What's the point if you're not talking at your screen.
Oi, the wife thing. No thanks.
This Daddy Muang thing is really growing on me.
...okay, that's a lie. I loved it from moment one. Daddy Muang forever!
Well at least Wan isn't interfering. The manager shenanigans are still my least favorite bit of this show, though.
...did Ashi seriously just ask Punn to be his houseboy? And did Punn kind of turn him down? And then it happened again! Ahsi is really angling for Punn to come take care of him isn't he? And Punn keeps not biting. I thought he'd bite faster. This is definitely not what I was expecting out of this show. Not that I'm complaining - it's charming in it's own way and I'm officially enjoying it now.
I am still assuming that at some point Punn is gonna wind up being a live in houseboy, though.
Ashi: keeps trying to get Punn to take care of him.
Punn: I think I'm interfering too much.
Me: he wants you to be his live in houseboy, honey. Just go do the thing; we all know you want to.
And now Ashi is at Punn's house - oh no, is he gonna see the body pillow and the pictures and the - *cringes*
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harrysmimi · 2 years
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Million To Infinity
Synopsis: One where YN and Harry get into an argument.
A/N: okay, hear me out, this one is shoter than the ones I usually write but it's my favourite.
More of my work
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Harry felt like a piece of shit for lashing out on his wife for not being able to go to the award show with him. She ended up kicking him out of their bedroom now he have to sleep on the sofa. It wasn't that the sofa was way too uncomfortable but he just needed his lovie beside him and cuddle her. He couldn't fall asleep even to save his life!
YN had came back home from work, working an extra shift because she had huge project to look after. The week has been super hectic for her and next couple of days were going to be as well.
Harry was invited to the BRITs, he was even nominated for few major categories. All he was looking forward to was enjoying the night with his love, introduce her to more of his friends in the industry. He'd finally found someone who was very serious with him, he married her not even eight months ago after dating her for two years, keeping it as lowkey as possible.
He even won two of the categories he was nominated for! He so looked forward to celebrate those with his lovie. And he finally felt comfortable enough to take his partner as his plus one at events.
He came back home the night of the function well over one hour after midnight, and she wasn't home. The dress he got her for the function was still on the love seat in their room in corner, untouched. He was way too drunk and high to realise when she came back home and got in bed next to him, apologising for being able to make it to the award show with him, he'd fell asleep grumpy. But YN's cat was there to keep him company till she came back.
Next morning he woke up to a sticky note on the fridge, and breakfast on the table. Even the cat was fed. She'd called him during her lunch break but he was napping his hang over away. Even this night she had came home late, exhausted, ready to just go to bed on an empty stomach as to how sleep deprived she was. Harry was mad but he made her dinner, he isn't going to let her sleep on an empty stomach.
"Hey," she rushed towards Harry the moment she saw him sitting on their bed reading, like he does every night. "Harry, I am so sorry for not making it to the award show with you."
"Yeah," he nodded.
"Hey, I tried Hazza. I'm sorry." She made a puppy face.
"I told you a month prior, baby, you still couldn't make it?" He asked, shutting his book closed and throwing it on his bedside table.
"I know, but this project came in last moment. I tried to put in a leave but I just couldn't. Please, I'm sorry." She reached for his hand carefully.
"You left a fucking note on the fridge even before I woke up." He complained.
"I had to go in early, had a meeting at nine a.m. today." She explained, "why are you mad, I'm saying I'm sorry. I promise I'll come with you next time."
"You didn't even look at the dress I bought you, it's sitting there from past week. You didn't even come to the show this week."
"Okay, Harry what is wrong with you? I am apologising, aren't I?" She got frustrated now, "I work a corporate job Harry, I am not self employed like you are."
"You work with your dad, couldn't he give you a day off?"
"Yes, it's my dad's company but it doesn't work like that. I did tried to take a leave. It isn't my fault the Board decided to take on this huge project!" She answered. "My dad is my boss that doesn't mean there shouldn't be any professionalism in the business!"
"Sure it works that way!" He scoffed.
"Are you being fucking serious right now Harry?" She sighed, "did you ask me if I've been sleeping well or not? I came home at two last night, woke up at five to make you breakfast hoping you'd feel better. You're being a toddler right now!"
"I don't even want to talk to you right now!" She mumbled, going over to the closet and pulling out a blanket, grabbed his pillow from their bed and threw them at him, "go sleep on the sofa!"
"I am—"
The loud sound of bathroom door being shut cut him off.
Him being still mad, he gathered the blanket and his pillow and went downstairs to sleep on the sofa. He lies there for all two hours, he couldn't fall asleep.
He felt bad now. She worked with her dad doesn't mean she can take off days whenever she wants.
Her dad is a very scary person, and very professional when it comes to work. She works at his company doesn't mean she can take leaves whenever she wants. She did took a week off not even two weeks ago when he was touring in US.
He sighed, running a heavy hand over his face. He went back to the bedroom be shared with her taking his pillow with him. The lights were still on and she was sat on their bed facing the door, signing some papers attached in the blue file, sniffling silently. He silently went and sat behind her.
"I'm sorry, I shouldn't talked to you like that baby!" He cooed.
"Go away I don't want to talk to you." She mumbled carelessly scribbling on the corner of every paper in the file. Upon taking a closer look he saw those were physically copies of Board Meeting notice.
"No, I want to. I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry..." And he kept repeating it several times, "I'll never talk to you like that again, that was first and last time. I promise. Please don't be mad baby."
"I asked my dad if I could go home early yesterday, you know he got mad at me. I took a week off before." She cried.
"I'm so sorry baby, I understand now." He wrapped his arms around her from behind kissing her cheek. "Did you not eat the stew I made? It's your favourite."
"I am very tired, I wanted to go to bed." She answered still signing on the papers in her lap. "I don't want to eat."
"Are you not eating because I made you mad? I'm sorry, a million to infinity times sorry, Bunny. Come on, you're not going to bed on an empty tummy." He took away the pen from her hand, grabbed the file and kept it aside.
"No you made feel like crap okay! I just don't— don't talk to me right now. Even after I told you I tried my best you still got mad, when is it that I do not support you?" She grabbed her file back from him. "I can not just put everything on hold and jet off whenever I feel like taking a day off, you knew about it since the very beginning."
"Hey, YN, baby listen. I am really sorry." He continued, with his tone soft apologetic, "I know you can't just do that. It was wrong, I am very, very sorry for talking to like that."
YN just stayed silent for what he said, she wasn't going to let him get away with this when he is clearly well aware of her situation. Continuing to flip through her pages ignoring her husband sitting right behind her with her arms wrapped around her middle, head rested on her shoulder for over five minutes before he spoke again.
"Please say something lovie?" He felt very heart broken for talking to that way, he acted out of feeling really upset.
"All I wanted to do was get home and have a quiet night, Harry and not argue. I am just so exhausted I wanted to go to bed." And she had break down again.
Harry knew she had a lot more pressure on being the secretary of her dad's company because, well, she is daughter of the owner and the CEO himself she has to be perfect at her job. He just did not expected or even thought about it taking a huge toll on her like that. Harry also didn't know what to say next because she never get this upset about anything, yes she is brutal with her silent treatment and she has a lot of patience with giving him a silent treatment, this was just freaking him out inside.
"You are very annoying!" She sighed closing her file. He wouldn't budge from his place.
"I know, but I love you." He mumbled against her skin, "are you hungry?"
"I'm not hungry!" She protested.
"Yes you are!" He pointed out as her stomach made a growl just in time, stood up and walked in front of wiped off her tears before pressing a kiss on her forehead. "Then we're going to bed and you're going to work at your usual time and not early."
"I'm not going to work tomorrow, it's Saturday."
"That's even better, you can sleep in till late!" He chirped, and dragged her downstairs, heated up food, served it nicely on a dish and kept it in front of her. "Bonappétit!" He said.
"That's not for you, lad!" Harry pulled the cat down from the counter trying to eat YN's food.
"You won two categories?" YN asked noticing the boxes that the awards come in on the dining table yet to put up on his shelf with other of his awards.
"Yeah, one was for the album and the other for the single." He explained.
"Awh! I'm so proud of you Harry!" She got up from her chair and went to hug him, he smiled wrapping his arms around her waist resting his head on her chest. "I feel so bad for not being there with you, I know you were looking forward to it."
"It's okay, it's fine," he mumbled. "We have Grammys coming up!"
"Mhm! I'll make sure to go with you and wear that dress you got!" She pressed a kiss on top of his head.
"Yeah?" He pulled apart.
"Mhm, but I'll probably have work my ass off and pile up my paid leaves." She said, "or my dad will seriously fire me."
He chuckled, "now eat up baby, I don't want your dad for getting mad at me for not taking care of his daughter."
"Of course you don't want that!" She scoffed jokingly making him chuckle. "I love you!"
"I love you more!" He cooed. "A million to infinity times!"
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arcanadreams · 3 years
Text
That time you and your demon boyfriend went viral
hi yes hello obey me fandom!! my name is Gabbi and i have never played a single second of the actual game but i have read enough fanon content for the past year to have this idea swimming around in my head and now i am finally letting this accursed thing out of my brain and putting it in yours
also i’m only doing the brothers because any more than that and i’d have an aneurysm probably. oh and shoutout to @obeythebutler and @beels-burger-babe for inspiring me with their works to feel brave enough to write for this fandom
Lucifer:
You and Lucifer go viral on Asmo’s Devilgram story!
You’re in the kitchen helping Asmo with dinner duty and singing along to one of your playlists of human realm music that you like to show him.
Asmo starts filming your cute little dance while you stir the pot on the stove because you are just adorable!
About ten seconds into him filming, Lucifer appears in the doorway with quite the stern look on his face. You know, the one that comes right before a “MAMMOOOOOON” and strikes fear into the heart of all those with functioning eardrums. That one.
He opens his mouth, presumably to tell y’all to shut the fuck up, but then there’s a lull in the music and the eldest can hear your voice ever so slightly above the song’s vocalist and he freezes.
Man stops in his tracks like someone just smacked him in the face with a midair volleyball.
Asmo can be heard stifling a laugh behind his phone.
Lucifer’s face gets so soft and he almost, almost, loosens his metal-rod-through-the-ass posture before you notice him and give a little wave and ask if you and Asmo were being too loud like the considerate darling you are.
Lucifer clears and his throat and says something like, “No, you aren’t. I was just coming to check on how dinner is coming along,” and leaves, after which Asmo immediately presses the post button.
Screenshots of Lucifer’s heart eyes for you go absolutely viral because every demon on Devilgram goes absolutely feral for seeing the eldest demon brother lose his dignified composure. It becomes a meme template. “Get you someone who looks at you like Lucifer looks at MC” and “me at the delivery demon when he shows up with my spicy bat wings” posts become commonplace. (Asmo thinks the memes are totally worth getting strung up with Mammon for laughing at them.)
Mammon:
Much like Lucifer, you and Mammon end up going viral off Asmo’s Devilgram. (Noticing a pattern here?) 
He pulls a silly prank on your asses and honestly I don’t know how you fell for it. But hey, they say “idiots in love” for a reason, so...
You and Asmo are sitting in the common room of the House of Lamentation just chillin. Well, he’s chillin, you’re on the floor studying for an upcoming exam.
The video starts in the middle of a conversation you and the avatar of lust were having.
“No, Asmo,” you say. “Mammon and I don’t use pet names for each other.” Now that’s just a darn lie, and every demon and crow within ten miles of Mammon and you together knows it.
“Really? I find that very hard to believe, MC.~” 
You sigh in response to Asmo’s teasing. “Okay, he has a lot for me but I’m just not much of a pet name person, y’know?” The rest of the exchange goes like this:
“Oh, I totally get it.” *pause* “Hey MC, what do human world bees make again?”
“Honey.”
Cue a sheepish Mammon sticking his head in the doorway at the bluntness of your tone when you answered Asmo.
“Yeah, babe?” he looks like a puppy left on the side of a highway oh my god hUG HIM-
Asmo turns the camera back to his smug ass face and in the background you can be heard tripping on the damn carpet trying to get up and hug your mans. (”MAMMON GET OVER HERE SO I CAN HUG YOU” “W-WHAT? I THOUGHT YA WERE MAD AT ME?!?!?!?!”)
Leviathan:
Streamer Levi? Streamer Levi.
You guys go viral the first time you make an appearance on one of Levi’s weekly (insert cool Devildom streaming service name here) streams. 
It’s completely unintentional. You had been asking him for weeks to play with him on there, but he’s the avatar of envy after all. He doesn’t like sharing his partner, even if it’s with random strangers who have no real access to you.
However, he has his stream on a Thursday instead of a Friday one week, and you come into his room carrying dinner because 1) You didn’t realize he was streaming and 2) No matter what he was doing, the boy needed to eat. It wasn’t unusual for you to bring him dinner, so you had no idea why he was blushing and stammering even more than usual this time in particular. Boy was speaking in beached whale trying to tell you what was wrong.
Then you notice his screen. Oh! “Hi chat!” You wave, setting Levi’s food down on his desk in front of his keyboard. “M-MC!” He full-on whines, slamming a hand over his mouth afterwards when he remembers his viewers could hear that.
Honestly, they’d meme the fuck out of him if it weren’t for the fact that they are FINALLY SEEING HIS HENRY!!! THE MYSTERIOUS MC!!!
Chat is bombarding you with questions while you make Levi eat dinner. And by make him eat dinner, I mean literally feeding this man forkfuls/spoonfuls while he games because you love how flustered he gets when you do that. 
Does it impact his score? Absolutely. Does he care? Not really when you’re pampering him like that.
You start answering chat’s questions about you while he’s chewing so he can’t tell you to stop LMAO-
You’re a natural on stream. The VOD becomes the most popular on Levi’s account in a matter of hours and soon cute highlights compilations of you and him on that stream start making the rounds on Devildom Twitter.
Satan:
There was buildup to Satan going viral, similar to Levi in a way. 
Satan does have a Devilgram, but it’s basically a white woman’s Instagram with added book reviews for variety. Unless you’re a reader his account is pretty boring: candles, books, fireplaces, and cats.
However, after you two started reading together fairly often he began posting pictures of your legs draped over his while you sat together. They’d always be captioned with vague ass pretentious literary criticism. 
This goes on for months, and he gains a lot of (horny) followers after the leg pics start up. He doesn’t really get why but you both joke that it’s because you have some damn nice legs and I mean neither of you are complaining about the new following.
You two go viral when he finally shows your face, entirely by accident.
The post is a video, which is already strange for him and grabs attention. In it, you’re scoffing and reading an excerpt of a book, mocking its understanding of female anatomy.
“I’m quoting here, Satan: ‘her breasts bouncing around like giant pacmen.’ I’M SORRY?? THAT ISN’T HOW BOOBS WORK SIR. WHY ARE MEN ALLOWED TO WRITE?” 
(fun fact that is a very real quote from a very real book I really read last month pls save me)
Originally the camera is focused on your body, with your head out of frame to protect your privacy, but your righteous anger made Satan laugh. Like, a real laugh. The one that makes you and everyone in earshot wonder if he truly was never an angel cause he sure as hell laughs like one but anyway-
When he threw his head back, his DDD angled up just a tad without him noticing, and your face was in view for like .2 seconds. Screenshots of it are making the rounds on Devilgram almost immediately: FINALLY THE LEGS’ OWNER HAS BEEN FOUND.
Satan apologizes profusely but you honestly find it funny and you two opt to just start taking selfies while reading with both of your faces in them from now on. 
Asmodeus:
I’m gonna be real with you: you and Asmo go viral all the time. Pretty much everything Asmo posts can be considered viral because of his social media following and his status as one of the seven avatars of sin.
However, there are some fairly cute highlights to be pointed out among the times you were both featured in a post that blew up.
Your favorite is probably that time Asmo livestreamed on of you guys’ ‘Nail Nites,’ as you call them.
You’re both on the floor, doing your nails and kicking your feet back and forth while talking to chat. A lot of the questions are about your relationship, and there’s a lot of flirting back and forth between the two of you.
A particular clip of the stream does blow the fuck up on Devilgram, though, when someone screen records it and posts it with a bunch of heart emojis edited over it.
“’What colors do you think best describe each other?’ Ooo, that’s a good one, chat!” Asmo claps his hands together excitedly, making sure to be  careful of his nails.
Pretty much everyone expected you to say pink, but you surprised both your boyfriend and your viewers when, after a pensive few moments, you replied with “Hmm...probably yellow or orange.”
“Can I ask why, darling?” Asmo tilts his head in confusion. I mean, yeah, those colors look good on him, but he doesn’t wear them often so he’s wondering about your thought process. 
“Well, in the human world those colors often represent happiness, optimism, and positivity. You’re always the cheerful presence I need in my life when things get hard, so you have the vibe of those colors.”
Asmo proceeds to burst into tears and hug you, messing up both of your nails and prolonging the stream since you both have to start over. But neither of you particularly care. 
Fun fact: Asmo has the clip that demon made of that portion of the stream saved on his DDD and watches it whenever he feels sad.
Beelzebub:
Beel and you probably go the most viral out of everybody. Like this moment is an entire phenomenon across the Devildom internet. 
It’s a video, or well, multiple videos, taken at the end of a Fangol game that Beel’s team had just won. Everyone is cheering and going crazy, yourself included, and you just really wanted to congratulate your boyfriend.
So, like the rational person you are, you elect to climb up onto the railing of the bleachers and wave to get his attention. 
You were absolutely fine up there, and sat all comfortably motioning Beel over to you. He notices, of course, and jogs over, standing right beneath you and looking up. (Back where you were sitting, Mammon is screeching like a hyena in heat and Belphie, who is laying down, has one eye open to glare at him. The youngest knows Beel would never let you hurt yourself; you’re fine.)
A bunch of assorted demons at the game has started filming while you were sat atop the railing since you were rather noticeable. Therefore, there’s a shit ton of different angles of the adorable events that follow:
You slide off the railing, landing right in Beel’s waiting arms bridal style. You’ve got this brilliant smile on your face as you pull his helmet off. None of the DDDs filming can hear it over the crowd noise, but Beel asks you why you just went through all that trouble and you tell him it’s because you wanted to tell him how proud you are.
Soft boy’s chest puffs up and he smiles this big cheesy smile at you reach up to run a hand through his hair. You feel him practically purr at the contact, and with a laugh you pull him in and plant a big ole smooch on him.
The crowd, at least those of them that can see, scream. Everyone is running high on adrenaline and happy emotions; something that cute causes a ruckus!! When you pull away Beel proceeds to put you on his shoulders and you celebrate with him and the rest of his team.
The videos of you two being adorable go completely viral and there are some threads dedicated to stockpiling every single angle taken of the event. Beel is completely oblivious to the attention but you have a lot of them saved on your DDD.
Belphegor:
If you think Belphegor has any sort of social media presence whatsoever then you are sorely mistaken. (Well okay he actually does run some anonymous troll accounts to meme on Lucifer’s posts but that’s neither here nor there-)
Therefore, naturally, you two go viral off of Asmo’s Devilgram. 
Okay so someone in the obey me tag the other say headcanoned that Belphie will go out of his way to nap in ridiculous places and my brain really took that and RAN WITH IT.
So what happens is that Belphie will fall asleep in the fucking weirdest places. I’m talking on top of the fridge, underneath the dinner table, on top of bookshelves...you name it, he has slept there, no matter the effort it takes to get there in the first place. 
And, ever since you two started dating, you would join him. Sometimes it involved putting yourself at risk of great bodily harm, but the little smile he gave when you he saw you fucking scaling the countertop to reach him made it worth it.
So anyway, since Beel adores the both of you to no end, he takes pictures whenever he sees you two napping together, whether or not it is in a crazy place. He sends these to the family group chat because he thinks they’re adorable.
Over a span of weeks to months, Asmo has built up a stock of images of you and Belphie cuddles up in seemingly impossible places. Once he has about ten or so, he posts a compilation of them to his Devilgram with some cheesy ass caption like “The things we do for love <3″.
They become a meme SO QUICKLY. Like UNBELIEVABLY quickly. 
The picture of you and Belphie sleeping on top of a bookshelf, in particular, is a big hit. Memes abound.
“If my girl doesn’t climb up a bookshelf to cuddle my ass, she don’t love me.” “Get yourself a partner who scales bookshelves just to be with your ass.” Etc etc...Belphie doesn’t give a shit but you laugh at a lot of them so he sees that as a good outcome.
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wishesunderthestars · 3 years
Text
Eunoia // Ch. 14
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eunoia (noun): beautiful thinking, the possession of a well-balanced mind, which exhibits goodwill and kindness
Pairings: Hybrid! BTS x reader
Summary: You are a world famous director and you have dedicated your life to your job.You have everything you could ever dream of; wealth, recognition, talent, your friends and family. But loneliness ins’t cured by success. So what happens when you somehow rescue seven hybrids? Can they fill the void?
Genre: Angst, fluff, hurt/comfort, eventual smut
Word Count: 15k+
Warnings: Abuse and violence, past sexual abuse, derogetory language, sexual harassment
Masterlist
Chapter 1, Chapter 2 Chapter 3 Chapter 4 Chapter 5 Chapter 6 Chapter 7 Chapter 8 Chapter 9 Chapter 10 Chapter 11 Chapter 12 Chapter 13
It has been a long time, I know. Thanks for being patient with me. This was supposed to be the last chapter of Yoongi and Hoseok’s part but I just couldn’t fit everything that needed to happen inside or it would turn into a 30k chapter and be even more late, so I divided it into two.
The taglist is now closed.
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Four days felt like a much smaller amount of time than when you had first been informed of your break.  When you heard the alarm the morning you had to go back to work, you were tempted to ignore it and cover your head with the sheets. This was strange for two reasons. You always woke up before your alarm and it was impossible for you to fall asleep again after waking up, even when you were exhausted. But your eyes were heavy and sleep was clinging to your bones.
You reached for your phone and turned off the alarm. The hybrids were waiting for you in the kitchen, breakfast already served. You thanked Seokjin, who looked the most awake. Jimin and Jungkook were leaning against each other with their eyes half closed, small yawns escaping them every few minutes. It was a little earlier than the time you usually left but you had to do some work in the company building before you could go to the studios. Hoseok's injuries were much better, you didn't need to check on them twice a day anymore so you avoided going to their room and waking them up.
The fox hybrid had been opening up more and he looked more at ease with his surroundings. After eating dinner with you on the first night of your break, he had timidly asked if they could join you again. His whole face lit up when you told him they would always be welcome. Dinners had turned into lunches too, claiming that way you didn't have to carry the trays to their room every day.
You weren't surprised at how well he got along with Jimin. His heart-shaped smile had even charmed Namjoon. He was fascinated with every little thing and you made use of your break to show him around the house. It could be a little overwhelming, so you stuck to the basics at first. The kitchen, the upstairs living room, the library (where at least one of you could be found most times) and the cinema room. He looked at everything in wonder, his red tail wagging behind him. Yoongi trailed after you, the bored expression on his face slipping at how happy and excited Hoseok was.
The second day of your break Jimin announced that you would all be watching a movie. He would accept no complaints, not that there were any. You made enough popcorn for a whole movie theater while Seokjin and Jungkook made pizza. You strictly forbade them from putting on one of your movies. You were so deeply involved and connected with them you had trouble watching them without overthinking every scene, line and camera angle. Jimin pouted, joined by Jungkook and a more subtle Hoseok. But you didn’t budge. Jimin huffed and selected a comedy with an actor Seokjin liked.
It was the third day of your break and Jimin had dragged you with him to the guest suite, saying he needed his daily cuddles. You were laying together in his bed as you played with his blond strands. His hair was growing longer and he was complaining that it was falling in his eyes but you loved running your hands through it, your fingers getting lost inside. Jimin snuggled into your side, his tail wrapped around your waist.
“You are very affectionate today,” you said. Jimin let out an unsatisfied noise when you stopped massaging his scalp, so you moved your hand upwards, scratching behind his cat ears, eliciting a small moan from him.
“I am always affectionate,” he said, nuzzling against your collarbones. “You’re just not here and you’re tired when you come back.”
You placed a kiss on the crown of his head. “Sorry.” It was your job. You shouldn’t feel guilty. And yet…
Jimin raised his head, your hand falling from his hair to rest on his cheek. “Don’t be. I just wish you were here more. With us. But your job is important.”
“I guess,” you said caressing his cheek, the cat hybrid leaning into your touch. “I’ll try to get some more time off when I go back to work.” It would be difficult but not impossible. There were often breaks for a couple of days in the filming schedule but you usually spent those revising scripts or reviewing the work of the various departments or attending meetings. Many of those things weren’t actually your responsibilities, they weren’t in your contract, you did them because you wanted everything to be perfect. You could take a step back for once and make up for it later.
Jimin leaned against you, purring happily at the prospect of spending more time with you. He had been clinging to you in the past days after your week-long absence. The first night after making up with Jungkook he had slept with him in their room and you’d thought he would sleep there from now on. But the next night you had come out of the shower to find him laying in your bed.
A talk show was playing on the TV, filling the comfortable silence of the room. Jimin whispering your name had you looking away from the screen. “Hoseok is doing better, right?”
“He is. He’s recovering fast. Why are you asking?” you asked, worried that he had noticed something you hadn’t. Hybrids had much more developed senses than humans that could have detected something you had missed.
“He’s nice,” he said, playing with the fake buttons of your shirt. “He looks so happy all the time and he’s so energetic.”
“He is. See? He’s really getting better.” That didn’t seem to satisfy Jimin.
“What if they want to leave now that he’s better?”
You cooed at him, pulling him closer. “Is that what’s brought this on? If they want to leave we can’t stop them. The door is always open if they don’t want to be here anymore. They only came here because Hoseok was injured and he couldn’t go to the hospital.”
“But can they stay?” His eyes were shining as he looked up at you. “Please.”
“They can stay for as long as they want. But I can’t force them to stay.”
Jimin didn’t say anything more, hiding into your side. Last night at dinner, Jimin had been quiet and withdrawn, glancing at Yoongi every few minutes. There was history between them, one that ran deep and cut just as hard. From little clues and pieces and what Jimin himself had told you, you had pieced together an image of Jimin’s past but you had trouble finding where exactly Yoongi fit.
You hadn’t forgotten Jimin’s words in your office the day you had invited the two hybrids in your house. Yoongi once belonged to the same man Jimin did. They had done something to him and Jimin had been left to the adoption center he had escaped from. Yoongi had been left somewhere else, you guessed a less savory place. But you couldn’t figure out what they could have done to be kicked out. Something Jimin still felt guilty about. Betrayal was a strong and sticky word and it was hard to associate it with sweet Jimin, even when that man deserved that and more.
Yoongi was a mystery surrounded by several brick walls. Only a wrecking ball could break them down. You were the kind of person to knock on a wall and wait for it to crumble by itself when it came to people. At work, if the only way to get through an obstacle was a wrecking ball, you would bring a wrecking ball.
Surprises weren’t uncommon for you (see: Virginia earthquake), you had learnt to face them head on and control the consequences. But that hadn’t prepared you for the string of surprises during your break and the days after that.
The first surprise came with how well Hoseok was getting along with the other hybrids. His endearing excitement about anything and everything didn’t fail to amuse them. He would curl up on the grass, bathing in sunlight, often joined by Jimin who had developed the same habit when spring first arrived. He was curious about everything, asking question after question with his red fluffy tail wagging behind him like an overexcited puppy. All of you couldn’t help but humor him and try to answer his questions to the best of your abilities.
The second surprise shocked you more than the first. It was the third night the two hybrids were eating dinner with you in the backyard. Yoongi usually didn’t talk, opting to focus on his food while observing the progression of the meal. Thus when he spoke, everyone fell silent. He didn’t say much, it only took him a couple of seconds to compliment Jin’s cooking then become quiet again. Jin stuttered through his thanks, flustered at the unexpected compliment. The panther hybrid didn’t talk again for the rest of the meal.
The third surprise was seeing Yoongi and Jimin sitting next to each other, sometimes in silence and sometimes talking. Being pulled to each other like a moth to the flame. It made Hoseok all too happy to spend time with both of them.
The fourth surprise came in the form of a text from a contact you hadn’t interacted with since Christmas. You laid back on your bed, staring at the paragraphs-long text and forgetting about anything else. You stared and stared as if the letters would rearrange themselves, or better yet disappear if you stared long enough.
You didn’t notice how much time you had spent there unmoving until there was a knock on the door.
“Open,” you called.
The door was pushed open and Namjoon walked into the room, his gray hair falling in his face. In the mornings he looked younger. “Breakfast is ready.”
“Yeah,” you said, not moving. They never had to call you for breakfast. Your schedules had become so in sync you arrived for breakfast the moment it was ready or a few minutes early.
“What happened?” Namjoon asked. He approached, sitting down next to you on the bed.
“Nothing happened, I guess. It’s an invitation.” The text had been sent late last night but you had missed it, leaving your phone to charge upon coming back home and not looking at it again. “It’s from my parents. For a gala.”
“Your parents?” The surprise was evident in his face. You didn’t talk much about your parents, those were conversations you didn’t tend to enjoy. Your parents were a topic you weren’t well-versed in and your lack of confidence was irritating.
You looked at the text again, black letters surrounded by gray. “They invited me to a fashion gala. They would really appreciate it if I could attend.” Reading the text again, you wondered if your mother had asked someone else to write it before deeming it persuasive enough to send. “It’s held in Beverly Hills.”
“When?” Namjoon asked.
“Saturday. In less than a week.” It was Tuesday.
Namjoon glanced at your phone. “Do you want to go?”
The answer was more complicated than you would have liked. You didn’t feel like buying a new gown (god forbid if you wore a dress you had worn before at such an event), having your makeup and hair done and plastering a smile on your face while exchanging pleasantries with people you didn’t know for the whole night. But it wasn’t that easy. You hadn’t attended the Christmas event your mother had organized, using work as an excuse, not feeling like showing up at an event in the mindset you had fallen into. Although she didn’t show it, your mother had been offended.
You couldn’t skip another event.
You threw an arm over your eyes, groaning. “I can’t not go. My mother organized the gala, it will look bad if I’m not there.”
“I could come with you,” Namjoon offered.
It would be nice having someone there with you. Namjoon had a way of calming you down and settling your worries but actually remembering those galas made you change your mind. The rich and mighty loved showing off their wealth and power and hybrids were part of that allure. You wouldn’t subject Namjoon to that. You weren’t sure how he would react. You didn’t want to subject him to your parents’ scrutiny either.
“It would be better if I went alone,” you said. Namjoon threaded his fingers with yours in understanding. He pulled on your hand until you were sitting up on the bed, facing him.
“If you don’t want to go, you shouldn’t.”
Only that it wasn’t so simple. Or it was just your human nature making this overcomplicated.
“My mother will be really disappointed if I don’t go. I didn’t go to her last event, either. It will look bad if I don’t go to this one too.” Namjoon squeezed your hand, urging you to continue. “I’m just tired of them. Galas, events, they are all the same and not in a good way. Sure, there are some people worth talking too. I’ve had some great conversations there, but those are far and few in between. Most people are just trying to outshine the one next to them. And my mother only wants me there to complete the picture.”
The powerful and influential couple with their successful daughter. It was an image that haunted you. Most times you tried to ignore it because it wasn’t fair of you to judge your parents like that. They never made you attend those events, they didn’t get angry when you couldn’t make it. But it left a sour taste in your mouth when those events were the only times you saw them anymore.
“You don’t have to be alone there.” Namjoon brought your hand to his lips, placing a soft kiss in the middle of your palm. “I’m always here if you change your mind. It would feel better if you weren’t alone.”
“It isn’t that I don’t want you there. I do,” you said. “But that isn’t a world you want to be a part of, it isn’t really my world either. There, hybrids are just expensive accessories and I don’t want people to look at you like that. Like you are something to be had.”
Namjoon’s eyes were soft on you as he cupped your cheek with the hand that wasn’t holding yours. “That’s how most people look at us. It isn’t something new. You don’t have to worry about me, I’m used to it.”
“But it isn’t right.” You sounded like a five-year-old complaining that the world wasn’t fair because her parents didn’t buy her ice cream but you couldn’t help it. “And it isn’t just the other people, the guests. I’m not sure about my parents either. They don’t know I’ve adopted you. Actually, they don’t know about anything that has happened in my life this year.”
“I understand if you don’t want them to know about us.”
“It isn’t that,” you said. “Not exactly. I don’t want them involved in my business and judging my choices. They- They are my parents and I guess they care about me in their own way but I won’t be able to stay calm if they look at you like they are estimating your price tag.”
Namjoon leaned closer, bringing your foreheads together. You closed your eyes, surrounded by his warmth. “All I care about is for you to feel comfortable and if my presence there will make things worse then I won’t come with you. But if you change your mind, I’ll be right here. Whatever you want, I’m here.”
You tilted your head, waiting for his lips to touch yours. You shared a sweet kiss before there was another knock at the door.
“Namjoon! Did you wake her up?” Seokjin shouted from the other side of the door. “The breakfast is getting cold! I woke up at the crack of dawn to make it!”
You giggled as you separated.
“Let’s go before he decides we don’t deserve food,” Namjoon said.
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 You had to readjust your schedule for the gala. There were many things you had to do in the five days leading up to it. Your mother was so pleased you accepted the invitation she called you the very next day to tell you how happy she was you would be attending. She hadn’t organized a fashion gala in years and it meant a lot that you would be there to support her. The gala was all about the importance of fashion and the unique interpretations of old and new big names in the industry. It would be one of the grandest events of the year, even if your mother was as clueless about fashion as she was about your life. She enjoyed watching the glorious parts and giving compliments, but rarely got more involved than that.
She had arranged for you to meet with one of the designers featured at the event. You could choose a dress from his collection that would be showcased at the gala. Your mother reassured you that they would do everything so your dress would be fitted to your exact measurements and ready for you to wear on time. You didn’t complain. It would be otherwise impossible to find a dress of the caliber your mother expected in such a short time.
The designer came to your house himself with his assistants. He was a nice young man with a tilted accent revealing that he wasn’t originally from the United States. You made small talk about the different kinds of art characterizing your jobs. They took your measurements and presented you with a few options the designer had selected for you. Some were more eccentric than others but all of them were beautiful.
After discussing with him and listening to his opinions, you selected a piece with gold and red embroidery and a flowy skirt. He was very pleased with your choice, going on and on about how good it would look on you. You felt fluttered at how excited he was for you to wear his design.
You had to meet him again a few days later for the first fitting. He offered to come to your house again but it would be easier for the alterations to be at his studio, where all of his tools were.
Jimin had seen the opportunity to spend more time with you and put on his most convincing puppy eyes asking you to take him with you to the fashion studio. You had no reason to refuse, you wanted to spend more time with him too. Somehow Jimin roped Seokjin into coming with you as well. They waited for you outside until the alterations were done. You couldn’t resist spoiling them while you were out so you took them for waffles. From Seokjin’s stuffed face it was safe to say he enjoyed them.
You had to go back to work after the fitting but Jimin was clinging to you not letting you go, which was how you ended up with the two of them at the final table-reading for the first episode of the Raven Cycle. They both quietly watched the actors delivering their lines. Jimin leaned forward in his seat as he got more and more invested in the scenes, snapping out of it whenever one scene ended and you discussed corrections and suggestions.
The atmosphere was light and friendly. You were professionals and you believed in maintaining a healthy environment of communication and mutual respect that left space for jokes and friendships to develop. The chemistry between the actors was important and you found that when they were friends and had a bond in real life too, it showed.
“Okay, that was great. I liked Ronan’s extra lines, we should keep that in.” The writer next to you wrote it down. “It’s getting late so let’s take a small break for a few minutes and move on to scene fifteen and sixteen and we’re completely done with episode one.” Everyone agreed with you and soon chatter was filling the room. You stretched your arms behind you, your body was complaining after sitting for too many hours.
The snacks and refreshments on the table against the wall were dwindling as the table-reading went on. All the important people in the project were there; the executive producers, the writers, the heads of the various departments and of course all the main actors of the first episode. The room with the large table and the many couches and chairs was large enough for everyone.
Three more days of table reading, which was mainly for revisions, and you would be done, leaving around a week before filming was scheduled to start. Just on time. Despite unfortunate surprises and earthquakes, you were on time. Next week you would be back in the studios standing behind the cameras watching years of work and planning coming to life. The first moments of filming in every movie or TV show whispered to you in silver and gold lines that you couldn’t describe as anything else than magic.
You picked up a bottle of water and a sandwich from the snack table, getting caught up in a short conversation with one of the producers. Your scalp was beginning to hurt from the tight ponytail your hair was trapped in. With a pat on your shoulder, the producer left to find the head of the costume department.
Jimin and Jin were sitting on the smallest couch, away from the table in the middle of the room. Jimin’s ears twitched as you settled on the armrest. You handed him the sandwich.
“For me?”
“You have been looking at it as much as you have been looking at the actors.”
Jimin still didn’t take a bite. “I already ate two.”
“And now you will eat one more.” You nudged the sandwich closer to his face. “They are quite small. I think Will has eaten seven since we started.” You glanced at your assistant, he was talking with two of the actors.
Jimin smiled at you like you were sharing a secret before diving into his sandwich. You opened your water bottle and gulped down half of it in seconds.
“Are you sure you don’t want to go? It’s past eight and it will take at least one more hour to finish the last two scenes and wrap everything up.” You had asked them if they wanted to leave three times since you’d arrived and the answer had been the same each time.
“It’s eight?” Jin asked, pulling out his phone from his pocket. You leaned over Jimin to peek at the screen seeing a few texts from Namjoon and Jungkook and notifications from the various apps Jin used. You had texted Namjoon earlier so he wouldn’t worry that Jin and Jimin hadn’t returned home.
“And it will be at least nine by the time I’m done,” you said.
“We’ve been here for three hours. We can wait for you one more.” Jin opened the messages app reading the texts, a smile appearing on his face.
Jimin had eaten more than half of the sandwich, crumbs sticking at the sides of his mouth. “I want to see what happens at the end. Pretty please?”
“We will wait for you,” Jin said. “We don’t have anything better to do,” he added, to which Jimin agreed enthusiastically. You scratched the cat hybrid's ears while he devoured the rest of the sandwich.
What you hadn’t considered before taking them with you was that the table reading would give away many spoilers for the show. Spoilers were the bane of your existence. Not everyone minded them but you disliked them with passion. You had almost strangled Zayn when he had told you a spoiler he had seen on Twitter for the ending of Avengers: Infinity War,  minutes before the movie started. Zayn had been very lucky the lights hadn’t gone out yet. The suspense was one of your favorite parts and that was ruined for you when you knew what would happen.
At least it was the first episode but there was a lot of discussion on how certain parts or pieces of dialogue would connect with later episodes. The fact that it was an adaptation also changed things. You had been adamant about staying true to the original story and keeping in as many scenes from the book as you could. Your additions revolved around character development, the relationships between the characters, and some conflicts that hadn’t been in the book but you had discussed in length with Maggie. In this case, you didn’t know exactly how to define spoilers.
As expected, you finished the table reading twenty minutes past nine. Gathering all your folders from the table, the scripts, and various notes from the writers and producers, you hid them all away in your backpack. Henrietta and the magical forest were coming to life from their voices alone. You could already imagine how captivating it would be on screen.
Jimin was laying his head on Jin’s shoulder with his arm wrapped around the older’s waist. It had taken some time for them to relax in the room full of strangers, some of who hadn’t been subtle about staring. One look from you and their gazes had darted away. It still wasn’t common to have a hybrid, much less three, but you didn’t care how curious they were if they were making Jimin and Jin uncomfortable.
During the first break, early at the table reading, you had been roped into a debate about a possible change in one of the scenes. The two hybrids had kept to themselves, staying quiet and watching. The actress playing Blue had walked up to them with a wide smile and introduced herself. The remaining tension in them was released when she struck up a conversation with them.
“Time to get going,” you said. Jimin looked up at you, blinking drowsily. “Should I tell John to carry you to the car?”
“We’re leaving?” he asked, rubbing at his eyes.
“Thankfully yes so you need to get up.” You had wrapped everything up, saying goodbye to everyone and you were ready to go.
Jin kissed Jimin’s blond curls. “Let’s go and get you into an actual bed.” He got up and pulled Jimin with him, the younger hybrid was clinging to his back like a koala from the hallway where you met up with John to the parking lot.
In the car, you looked at them through the rear-view mirror. Jimin’s eyes were closed, laying his head on Jin’s shoulder.
“Hard day?” John asked, moving the gear shift to the left and then up.
“I’m a little afraid that my scenario might be a little boring,” you said glancing behind you. “It’s too early for him to be falling asleep.”
The car started moving, leaving the dimly lit parking lot behind. “He’s not used to being out for that long,” Jin said smoothing down Jimin’s hair with care. Jin cared for you with everything he had, you tried to do the same but it was close to impossible with how busy you were.
“If it’s my scenario though, I need to rewrite that thing from beginning to end.”
John chuckled. “Good luck telling that to the writers and the producers. They’ll love it.”
They’d love it as much as cats loved swimming.
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 You took the day of the gala off. If you went to the gala tired after work, you wouldn’t be able to put a smile on your face and keep it there. It wasn’t so much that the galas were awful but that you felt out of place in them. Your mother had many connections and she would invite the “best” of her world. Some faces had become familiar, a steady fixture in your mother’s guest lists. Some faces you should be able to recognize but you didn’t, resulting in interactions based on pretending.
At the after-parties of award shows and premieres, you were more at ease. The designer dresses and suits were the same, worn by rich and influential people, but it was people you knew and respected. Your skin wasn’t prickling at the tension, lost somewhere between remembering a name or a company and ignoring the jabs at other guests or the rumors spreading like vines.
The last event you had attended was in New York last September, it had been the event of the year according to your mother. Jacob had accompanied you, hugging your mother and shaking hands with your father. He had stayed next to you from the moment you stepped into the place to the moment you got into the car to leave. You had to somewhat agree with your mother. A lot of interesting people were in attendance, famous writers and journalists, and you succeeded in ignoring the less favorable situations.
Your parents had changed a lot, or maybe it was just the circumstances that had changed and the different perspective you had as an adult. You used to cast them as the absentee parents, an overused trope you didn't find much merit in. It was too simple, too straightforward. They didn't disappear from one day to the next, cutting all contact with you. It was more like the times they were there grew fewer and fewer until they had moved permanently to New York by the time you were eight. Your father had been offered a position he couldn't refuse and your mother loved him too much to leave him alone there. She tried, she tried to stay for you but she had been trying to find a reason to leave your hometown since she was a teenager. The penthouses and neat offices fit her far better than the beaches and town squares ever did.
It started as a few weeks at first. Your father would be staying in the city for some meetings and your mother wanted to join him. His job involved a lot of traveling and in most of your memories, he was holding a suitcase. A few weeks turned into a month the next time, then into a few months you had to stay with your aunt and your cousins. After you turned eight, they were coming back only for a few weeks every year.
When you were ten you stopped answering their calls and refused to talk to them. Your mother still tried, even traveled back to be with you. Instead of staying at your house with her, you stayed with your aunt. Your mother left defeated. It took a year for you to speak to them again. Childish, but you couldn't blame your past self. The cracks in your relationship with your parents were still there. As an attempt to prevent them from widening and growing, you at least tried to attend the events your mother invited you to.
Another one to add to the list.
"Does the duck look ready to you?" you asked Jin. Roasted duck wasn't a dish you had experience with but that wasn't the only reason you called for Jin. Being home for the day you had offered to help Jin cook lunch. Cooking helped take your mind off, focusing on the recipe and chatting with Jin.
Jin left the lettuce he was washing in the bowl and dried his hands in a towel. His steps were careful and measured, one of his hands holding on the counter.
"It looks good," he said. "You can take it out."
You opened the oven, pulling back last minute so the heat wouldn't burn your face. "It smells incredible! I think I got ten times hungrier just smelling this."
Jin chuckled but it was strained. "I'm too good at this." He was still holding onto the counter.
"You won't catch me complaining."
He went back to the lettuce in the sink, his bangs falling into his face and covering his eyes. You wrapped the chicken breasts in foil and let them rest for a few minutes. The figs were caramelized and the potatoes fried until golden. That was about it for the main dish.
Jin was cutting the lettuce so you occupied yourself with making the salad dressing. You worked in silence. It wasn't for the lack of anything to say but a flinch from Jin earlier, while you had been talking, had you lowering your voice and then closing your mouth when you were finished with that sentence. It was only for a moment before he turned away, but it was enough for you to notice. You had asked him if he was alright twice and both times the answer had been the same. After that, it was clear he wouldn't tell you anything else regardless of how many times you asked.
A thud echoed in the room followed, not a second after, by the sound of metal clattering on wood. The spoon you used to mix the ingredients of the salad dressing stilled in your hand. Jin had fallen to his knees on the floor, holding the counted with one hand and his head with the other. The knife laid abandoned on the cutting board next to the lettuce.
For a moment your surroundings blurred from the surprise before coming into crystal clear focus. You rushed to Jin's side, who was trying to pull himself back up to his feet.
"I'm alright. I slipped," he said.
"You slipped? Seriously?" You had one arm around his waist and it stayed there as he leaned back against the counter. "What's wrong?"
"I'm just a little dizzy," Jin muttered. That close to him, only a breath away, you could see how pale he was, the dark circles under his eyes standing out against the white of his skin.
"You haven't been alright since we started cooking. You aren't just a little dizzy, that's not how someone is when they're a little dizzy."
Jin turned his head to the side, avoiding your gaze. "Let it go, please. Only the salad is left. I'll rest after we eat."
"Jin, that's not..." Clueless about how to continue, you pressed your palm to his forehead. In winter your hands were always freezing cold, it didn't matter if the temperature wasn't that low they would turn into popsicles mere seconds after going outside. Only that it wasn’t winter but spring and your hands were as warm as they could be, that’s why it was that much more concerning that his forehead was warmer than it should be under your touch. “You’re burning up. How are you still standing?”
“It isn’t that bad,” Jin said. He wasn’t looking at you.
“It isn’t that bad?” you repeated in disbelief. “Forget about the salad, I’m taking you to your room.”
You were about to turn around when Jin gripped your elbow weakly. “You don’t need to, really, I can finish up here, it isn’t the first time. I can do it.” The sweat that was gathering on his forehead and his tired eyes told a different story.
“You have been cooking while feeling sick?” you asked. Being out of the house almost all day it wouldn’t have been hard to miss and when you came back at night you weren’t that aware of your surroundings, but the other hybrids would have been able to see past Jin’s pretenses.
“Not here,” he said, his voice barely above a whisper.
That’s something you should have expected. You had never met his previous owners but you couldn’t stop yourself from hating them for what they had done to him. Hate was too strong of a word but you didn’t have any other name for the burning in your chest whenever you witnessed how insecure and self-conscious Jin had become of them.
You cupped his cheek in your palm turning his head to face you and you rested your forehead against his, your noses bumping. At the touch his shoulders slumped, his back muscles unraveling under your hand. Jin joked that it was weird that his scent glands weren’t in the same places as other hybrids’ but in strange places like his forehead. You couldn’t agree with him because standing there with your foreheads touching it was just as intimate.
The walk to his room was silent. You opened the door for him and watched him hide under the covers, between the countless pillows and stuffed animals. Before leaving, you placed a kiss on his forehead your lips warming up because of his fever. You wanted to stay there with him and with the way he was holding your hand he wanted the same but the lettuce was waiting for you back in the kitchen and there were five hybrids you had to feed.
Finishing up the meal was a matter of minutes. The dressing for the salad had been made and you only had to finish cutting the lettuce and a few fresh tomatoes before mixing everything in a large bowl. You unwrapped the foil from around the duck breasts and arranged them in plates, adding the figs with the pan juices and the fried potatoes. It looked like something you would order at a five-star restaurant, most of Jin’s cooking did.
The mouth-watering aroma must have drifted downstairs because as you were putting the last touches on the plates two sets of feet were running up the staircase. Jimin looked like he had been lured into the kitchen by some magical force, transfixed on the plates on the counter. He sniffed, making tiny happy noises.
“This smells so good. I’m hungry!” he whined.
Jungkook followed behind, taking a look at the plates and turning to you with pleading eyes. “When are we eating?”
You shook your head at their antics. “I just finished up, you can take them down if you want so stop looking at me like that.”
Jimin pouted, his shoulders raising. “Looking at you like what?”
“Stop that, I know what you’re doing.”
Jimin continued on, batting his eyelashes at you. “What am I doing? Am I not doing good?”
You pinched his cheek, making him giggle. “I thought you were hungry but apparently you aren’t hungry enough if you’re still here instead of taking the food down.” At that Jungkook was quick to take out the large trays and fill them with the plates and bowls.
Jimin went to help before pausing. “Where is Jinnie?”
Jin was always in the kitchen before meals, helping the two youngest carry the trays to the backyard. You didn’t want to worry Jimin, he was very sensitive to how others were feeling. His emotional walls were so thin that your blues and grays bled into his yellow. “He’s in his room resting, he’s feeling a little under the weather today.”
“But…How didn’t we notice anything?” Jimin asked.
You patted his shoulder. “I didn’t either until we were cooking lunch. He just needs to rest and he will be better in no time.” Jimin gazed at the food like it could give him the answers he was looking for, you continued. “The duck is his recipe, he only went to his room after the food was ready.” You didn’t mention how he had collapsed while cutting the lettuce, a knife in his hand and way too many grievous possibilities.
Jungkook picked up the nicest plate, you had made it last and having used the previous six ones as practice it had come out looking the best. “Can I take it to him?” It was well-known that he had a soft spot for Jin, sneaking into his room the nights he was running away chased by guilt. Jin had been the only one he had let in then. But again, they all had a soft spot for each other, it may translate differently into actions but it was the same at the core.
You pulled out a smaller bowl from the cupboard. Let me put some salad in this first.” This was one of the only salads everyone liked, even Jimin who was firmly against eating most greens (Namjoon didn’t like them much either but at least he was trying). You filled a glass with water as well and placed it on the smaller tray Jungkook had prepared. “Don’t wake him up if he’s sleeping, he looked really tired.”
“I’ll be quiet,” Jungkook promised picking up the tray and leaving for Jin’s room.
Jimin went back to arranging the plates on the trays. “He’ll be alright soon, right?”
“Of course he will,” you reassured him. “In no time he will be shouting at Jungkook for eating his ingredients and having fights with any insects that find their way to the garden. Now, let’s take these down because having the food right in front of me and not eating it is killing me.”
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 Jin had a terrible headache, that’s where everything had started. He had woken up and instantly wanted to roll to his other side and fall asleep again covering his head with the blanket. His eyes refused to stay open and everything around him was like he was in a fog. His body wasn’t his own, it was like watching someone else execute each move he commanded, like he had lost parts of his senses. Everything was duller.
Powering through, he got up and made his bed, throwing the blankets over it with less precision than usual and arranging his stuffed animals against the pillows. It was your day off because of the gala and he had to make breakfast for you and the other hybrids.
It was enough that he got a few more hours of sleep as a result of the lack of your morning schedule. He could deal with the world being a little blurry at the edges and his body not cooperating every few minutes.
He made an easy breakfast for the day, which was a little disappointing when you were able to sit and enjoy it for once, but he was physically unable to do anything more. Sitting down would help. After breakfast, he would lay down on the couch and he would be better in no time.
Breakfast came and went and in a few hours, he had to start making lunch. Your offer to help was a godsend with his feet feeling like jelly. He thought he had it under control, that he could get through lunch then go to his room and hide under the covers where no one could see him. Until his legs gave up on him.
The knife slipped out of his hand and he watched its slow descent to the cutting board. In a blink he was on his knees, he blinked again and you were next to him helping him up. Hybrids weren’t supposed to get sick, scientists had engineered their whole being down to the color of their hair and eyes, they could strengthen their immune system as well. His past owners used to say that it was in his head because he was living with humans, that if he got sick the center must have given them a problematic hybrid and that couldn’t be true. He had paid a lot for Jin.
The door opened just enough for you to poke your head in. “Jin?” you whispered, quiet enough to not wake him up if he had been sleeping but loud enough for his hearing to pick up while awake. He lowered the blankets from his face. “Hey, did you finish with your food?”
“Yeah, it’s…” He pointed to the tray on the nightstand, he didn’t have enough strength to take it to the desk. You didn’t comment on the food that was left on the plates.
“Are you feeling any better?” you asked. His head still hurt and the heaviness of his body didn’t subside, but it was much better than when he had been standing so he nodded. “Do you need anything else? I brought some medicine if you want, I read that it’s alright for hybrids to take.” Despite the pain and the weariness of his body, he smiled at you and your research. The way you cared about them was endearing. You pulled out a packet from your back pocket.
“I think I’ll take one.” The constant drumming behind his temples and the back of his head was getting too much. It was so bad it wouldn’t let him sleep.
“I’ll go get some water for you.” You left the packet on the nightstand and picked up the tray with the leftovers.
Jin rolled to his back staring at the ceiling. He didn’t get sick often and he hated how his body was betraying him. You returned with a glass filled with water in one hand and a jug in the other.
“There you go,” you said handing him the glass. You opened the medicine packet and pressed a white tablet out. It was light in his palm, almost as if it wasn’t there. He put it in his mouth and washed it down with water. “You’ll feel better in no time.” You stroked his hair and he had to hold himself back from purring. Being sick he craved affection more than ever before.
“Don’t come too close, you’ll get sick too.”
You didn’t pull back. “Then I’ll have a reason to stay at home. It doesn’t sound so bad.” You tugged at the blanket. “Fancy some company?” Jin scooted to the side, letting you slip in next to him. Something inside him rejoiced at having you in his nest with him. It was ridiculous, having the need to nest was ridiculous, but he couldn’t suppress it. You turned around to face him, your head on a light blue pillow you had picked up from the pile. “Do you mind if I stay here for a bit?”
In the absence of words, he nodded his head. You took a deep breath and closed your eyes. You weren’t wearing makeup today in anticipation of the heavy makeup you would have to wear for the gala. The shadows under your eyes, concealed any other day, were threatening to spill over the rest of your face. The late nights had been many in the past few days, making up for the breaks you were taking. More and more he came to realize that work was your life and you were like a fish escaping water pushing it back.
You didn’t speak, basking in the silent company of each other. Jin let his worries go and, thanks to the medicine, his headache got duller until he couldn’t feel it. He didn’t notice when he fell asleep, waking up to voices.
“…feeling better, the medicine must have kicked in. His temperature has gone back to normal too,” you whispered.
“Okay, that’s good. Our Jinnie is strong,” the other voice said and heat traveled up to the top of Jin’s ears. The voice was unmistakably Namjoon’s and it was so warm Jin wanted to wrap it around himself and never let go. “I think we woke him up.”
“Oh no,” you complained, still whispering. “Jin?”
He opened his eyes, abandoning the comfort of the familiar darkness. You leaning on your forearm peering at him. His heart was beating faster.
“We woke you up, didn’t we?” you asked, looking guilty.
“It’s alright.” He could hear how rough his voice was from sleep. “What time is it?”
“Five,” you said.
He had been sleeping for more than three hours.
Namjoon took a step forward from the door. “I brought you some tea and biscuits,” he said, placing the tray on the now-empty nightstand.
Jin sat up on the bed with his back against the headboard. “Thank you. Can you…?” You picked up the steaming mug and handed it to him, holding it carefully so he wouldn’t burn himself. The plate of biscuits was placed on his lap over the blankets. It was a warm day but the air-conditioning was on in Jin’s room, the weight of the blankets over him promised safety and he didn’t want to be sweating from the heat.
“I’ll be going then,” Namjoon said with a small smile, the two of you exchanging a look.
“Wait.” Namjoon stopped in his tracks. Jin blamed his impulsiveness on the part of him that was controlled by the sugar-glider’s nature. Namjoon shouldn’t be leaving. Namjoon was pack and he should be with him when he wasn’t well, he should be taking care of Jin. One followed the other and it didn’t listen to logic. But he was tired and although the headache was gone, his head was still hazy, so he gave in. “Can you stay?”
The soft smile on Namjoon’s face was enough to wipe away any of his lingering doubts. “Of course I can.” Jin pulled up the blankets inviting him in. Namjoon pulled him closer bringing his forehead to his. The mug shook in Jin’s hold, you covered his hand with yours steading it. Jin realized it wasn’t only his hands shaking as Namjoon scented him tenderly. He felt so weak between the two of you.
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  The makeup artist asked you to close your eyes again to finish your eyeliner. Your makeup had to compliment your dress, like you were a model on the runway and your purpose was to sell the design. You had to admit that it looked beautiful so far, the gold eyeshadow and the dramatic eyeliner. She completed the look with a matte red lipstick while the hairstylist was releasing the last loose curl from the curling wand. You looked like someone out of a movie and tonight you would have to own that.
They helped you put on the dress like you were incapable of doing it on your own. In these cases, everything had to be perfect, including the most mundane of things. The jewelry was modest as not to take the attention away from the dress but enhance the look. A golden necklace with a ruby surrounded by tiny diamonds to decorate the skin the plunging neckline left bare, small diamond earrings, and golden bracelets.
Half an hour left before the gala and you were ready. The charm was arriving a little late so you had to wait before leaving. The stylists took their leave but you stayed at the fitting room/styling section of the closet, which was right under the actual master closet.
The dress fit you like a glove, bringing attention to all the right areas and burying any imperfections. It was the kind of Cinderella transformation the protagonists in older movies used to go through before getting the guy, but it happened all the time to you. A spy in an action movie, a confident heroine knowing how to use her looks, a girl going to a party to have fun and get drunk, that’s more along the lines of the characters you liked to imagine yourself as. You were far from being any of those characters but it was fun to daydream sometimes.
One last look in the mirror and you climbed up the spiral staircase to your closet, turning off the lights behind you. The designer you had met had been pleasant and your conversations hadn’t been awkward. If the rest of the guests, or at least the majority, were like him then the night could be fun.
The hybrids were all in the living room, even Hoseok and Yoongi. Yoongi wasn’t sitting far from them, in a separate sphere, but next to Jimin who was pointing at something in a book. They all looked at you when you came in, the back of the dress sweeping the floor behind you.
“How does it look?” you asked, doing a twirl. The response was delayed by a few moments.
Namjoon snapped out of it first, coming closer to you and taking your hand. “You look beautiful.” He leaned in for your neck before his face scrunched up in displeasure.
“What?” you asked.
He sniffed at the air. “You…”
“Oh, oh,” you said in realization. “It’s the perfume, it’s quite strong, isn’t it? It’s a Christmas gift from my mother, she said she really liked it so I thought I would wear it for her.”
Namjoon tamed his expression but the frown didn’t disappear. “It’s a little overwhelming. It overpowers everything else.” The perfume was too much for you too, it wasn’t surprising that it was too much for the keen noses of the hybrids. The perfume you wore day to day in spring was a lot lighter and you didn’t put on a lot. You had never stopped to think about how perfumes would affect the hybrids.
“I’ll be sure to not wear it again then,” you said, giving his hand a squeeze.
“That isn’t what I meant.” Namjoon scratched the back of his neck. “You can wear it if you like it. It’s just a little much.”
“Well,” you looked at him and the other hybrids conspiratorially, “it isn’t my favorite, either, and if it affects you like that why would I keep wearing it?” Namjoon’s face smoothed out and you noticed Hoseok looking at you with amazement.
You opened the leather clutch and put in your phone and your keys. Your lipstick and powder were already inside along with a pack of tissues. It didn’t fit any more things.
“I’ll be going now. I’m fashionably late enough.” Before going, Jungkook and Jimin kissed you on each cheek careful not to ruin your makeup. Jin had fallen asleep again and none of you were willing to wake him up.
The night could become difficult so you ignored Yoongi’s eyes on you. You didn’t need any more people judging you.
A limousine was waiting for you outside, limousines were practically part of the dress code in these events. John wasn’t with you this time, you had given him the night off. These kinds of events starred in his nightmares, standing in the corner all night not saying a word. That’s how they kept up the illusion. Regardless of how many times you told him you didn’t care about it, he would follow what was expected of him.
The bright lights blinded you when you arrived. Everyone seemed to want to take a look at you. Your heels sunk into the red carpet at the entrance hall, large paintings in golden frames hanging from the walls. You were led up a grand staircase to the hall the gala was taking place. And so the night began…
You listened through speeches about fashion and the vision of the fashion industry and each individual designer. A few parts were quite interesting, but most of them failed to do anything more than repeat the same old ideas again and again. However, the champagne did make everything a little more tolerable. Your mother had been very happy to see you there and she had told you at least three times how beautiful you were. Your father smiled at you, a smile that looked way too political to be for his daughter, the same smile he would put on when greeting the president.
After the speeches were finished, your mother linked your elbows. It was time for the introductions. You put on your camera smile and shook more hands than you ever did at work. The compliments on your work were many, which ones were genuine was a mystery. But it did feel good when the daughter of one of your father’s associates told you how much she loved the finale of season 4 of Paper Hearts and asked you about Six of Crows.
You said goodbye to an older couple and your mother led you to the buffet. A sculpture of a man pinning fabrics on a mannequin stood proudly in the middle, surrounded by plates of food so perfect that it looked more fake than the decorative food pieces you used on set.
Your mother took another flute of champagne from a waiter. “Mr. Jones will be retiring soon but his son doesn’t want to take over the company. It causes a lot of family drama. I heard they only exchange a few words when they meet but Mr. Jones isn’t backing down.” You had no idea what company they had or who their son was but you nodded. “Ah, I wanted to ask you. You didn’t say anything about adopting hybrids.”
Your hand stilled before you could taste the hors d' oeuvres that looked like a sandwich but was too fancy to call it that. “Hybrids?” you repeated.
“I didn’t know you were interested in them,” your mother continued, unaware of how tense you had become. “Certainly not interested enough to adopt four. Are you making a collection?” She laughed at her joke but you only felt ill.
“No, I wouldn’t say that.” You took a bite of the food, trying to swallow it down. You had lost your appetite.
Your mother sipped on her champagne. “That would be a unique one, it could be showcased.” The churning in your stomach got worse. You left the piece that looked like a sandwich aside.
“How did you learn of it?”
“Don’t you read any magazines? It was front-page news.” You had expected that the information would be published sooner or later, you hadn’t been exactly hiding it, but sooner or later was in the future not now. “You should have told me, I would have looked for some high-quality places to buy them from. There are some very beautiful exotic pieces I have seen. Mrs. Anderson, do you remember her? She couldn’t make it this time but she was at the charity event last September.” You didn’t remember her but you nodded again. “She has such a cute chinchilla hybrid and he’s so well-trained too. I hope yours were trained well, I heard it’s difficult to train them yourself. Where did you adopt them from?”
You swallowed down the lump in your throat. “An adoption center in Los Angeles,” you lied easily. Spending hours and hours every day with actors, instructing them about how each scene would seem more natural, you had picked up a few tricks. “I just really liked them and they were already a pack, I didn’t want to break them up.”
Your mother arched a single perfectly-drawn eyebrow, a skill you had sadly not inherited. “A pack? Does that actually exist? Dear, the center must have been trying to give you four hybrids instead of one. Pack,” she tried out the word and she didn’t particularly like the results. “That certainly sounds like some kind of con. What are they? Are all of them wolves?”
“No, they aren’t all wolves. And it was three hybrids, I adopted the other one later from Tennessee with Taylor.”
Taylor’s name brought a spark to your mother. “Oh, how is Taylor? Such a sweet girl, I should have invited her. I will next time.” Your mother had met Taylor exactly once during one of the few of your movie premieres she had actually attended. “Which one did you adopt from there?”
You gritted your teeth, debating how much information was wise to give your mother. “Jin, he’s a sugar glider hybrid.”
That seemed to please her. “Sugar glider? That sounds fancy. I would like to see him up close.” Like you would ever allow that to happen. “He must be a rare breed.”
“He is.”
“Of course, I should have expected that my daughter would decide on a rare breed,” she said as if she was congratulating herself. “I insist you bring him to the next event. I was never that interested in hybrids, too much work, but one would look good in photos.”
“Yeah, I guess he would.” You took a deep breath, it wasn’t the time to throw a tantrum like you were five years old again or puke all over your expensive dress and shoes.
The expression on your mother’s face grew somber. “But four hybrids are a lot, I don’t think I know anyone who owns that many.” She twirled the flute in her hand, waves of the golden liquor hitting the glass and bubbles rising to the surface. “After what happened with Jacob I understand you have been feeling lonely, but hybrids aren’t good substitutes for human company, dear. You can’t rely on them as you relied on him or another man.”
A waiter offered you a glass of champagne from a golden tray. You couldn’t drink too much and risk your tongue loosening but you could allow yourself one more glass to get through this. “I’m not trying to replace him. They aren’t some kind of rebound.”
By her pinched expression, she didn’t believe you. “It’s alright to look for company somewhere else when you feel lonely. I don’t want you to think I’m judging your choices, you are an adult and free to make your own decisions but I’m your mother and I’m worried. You and Jacob were together for so long, we were sure he was the one for you. He was so nice and he took care of you. Your father and I were so happy for you.”
“Not all good relationships last. People change, they grow apart.”
“That’s true. It’s difficult getting out of a relationship after being together for so many years and getting back to your feet. That’s why I understand. I understand that you don’t want to be alone right now but don’t put all of your energy into hybrids. It just isn’t the same. Whatever some people like to say, hybrids are hybrids. They are different from us, they are on a different level. You can’t have the same connection with someone you own.”
Her words continued ringing in your mind for the rest of the night. Your father soon called you to introduce you to one of his colleagues, a successful businessman and politician you had never heard of. The glass of champagne was replaced by another one. You promised yourself it was the last. The owner of a luxurious brand talked with your mother about his plan to expand to more countries and the rehearsed and repeated vision to connect the world through fashion.
You peered at the other guests, all mingling, talking, and laughing. A man only a few feet away from you slapped a girl’s ass. You couldn’t believe your eyes, stuff like that didn’t happen at an event like this. You expected a scene, shouting and screaming and everything in between. Nothing happened. The man that had his arm around her waist only laughed. That’s when you noticed the black fluffy ears on top of her head, they were the same color as her hair and easy to miss. She didn’t have a tail. A silver collar with blue stones the same shade as her dress was secured around her neck. Her shoulders were tense and her head lowered.
In any other situation, any other time, you would have done something. You would have walked up to them and said something, anything you could think of on the spot, even talked to her, made a few minutes more tolerable. You did none of those things. Your parents were there and you had avoided embarrassing them all your life.
The guilt was eating you up, wrapping around all your organs and squeezing, hissing, and calling for your attention, not letting you forget. You had done nothing. If someone had touched your hybrids like that you would have cut their hands off. But that hadn’t been your hybrid, it hadn’t been your place. It hadn’t been your place like it hadn’t been your place to adopt Jin and go against his owner, like it hadn’t been your place to get involved with Namjoon’s pack or Yoongi and Hoseok for that matter. Maybe you had been tricking yourself all along, hiding your selfishness and fear behind the pretense of “not my place”.
Your mother was wrong, you hadn’t been looking for company when you and Jacob broke up. On the contrary, you disregarded everything except work, distancing yourself from all of your friends. It was easy with how busy you were at the time. You would have continued hiding in the Castle and spent your break alone if you hadn’t asked John to stop the car that night. They were what you didn’t know you needed. You had to stop being alone first to realize how lonely you had been.
You couldn’t go back to living like that, waking up and returning to an empty house, having no warm meal and warmer hugs waiting for you. That’s what your life had been like for the longest time and you wondered how you used to live like that. The hybrids were so tangled up in your life you couldn’t find where each thread ended or started. They merged and divided, connecting you all in ways you couldn’t describe.
Taylor had asked you about any crushes when you had been in Virginia, everyone was expecting you to find a new boyfriend after six months or at least start dating but you couldn’t bring yourself to do that. No one had piqued your interest and it wasn’t for lack of meeting new people. It would feel wrong going on a date with someone when the hybrids were waiting for you back home. And that’s where the problem was; it shouldn’t feel wrong. Many people who had hybrids went on dates, couples adopted hybrids together and it should be like that for you. But it wasn’t.
Overthinking was one of your talents and you had avoided like you were being chased by wild dogs. You weren’t one to simply go with the flow but Namjoon’s lips on your own had changed your mind. You were too afraid of losing that that you hadn’t allowed yourself to analyze what you were doing, what that meant for you. Namjoon was your hybrid, you may not act like it or think of him like that but you were his owner in the papers. And it wasn’t only Namjoon, the way you cared about the hybrids was different from the way you felt about anyone else. It was all-consuming and too bright. You felt more for them than you had ever felt about Jacob and that was dangerous.
You excused yourself from the event as soon as it was proper for you to do so. Tomorrow morning you had to wake up early for work and you couldn’t stay late into the night. It was true but not the reason you left. Your mother hugged you and thanked you for coming, inviting you once again to their house in New York. She had been inviting you every time you met and you hadn’t once been to their house.
The window of the limousine was cold against your cheek, your foundation staining the glass. Maybe your mother wasn’t that wrong. You didn’t dare put a name to your feelings but you couldn’t deny that they were there. Were you really that lonely that your mind was playing tricks on you? Groaning, you knocked your head against the glass, hard enough to hear a small thud. You shouldn’t be thinking of them like that, it was wrong, so wrong.
Was it the way the world viewed hybrids messing with you, bleeding into your subconscious? They were presented as the answer to any and all desires, transformed into wet dreams. The media had the power to influence behaviors and thoughts little by little without the person noticing. You had thought you were too clever to fall victim to their molded reality. You knocked your head against the glass again, the driver must have been thinking you were crazy.
The limousine parked in front of the Castle. On other nights the lights would have been turned off by now but tonight they were all shinning, welcoming you home. You fished your keys out of your bag and unlocked the door. The lights were on in the living room in the lowest setting.
“Welcome.” You jumped, almost tumbling to the floor at being startled while taking off your heels.
“Every. Single. Time.” Namjoon laughed quietly. “How do you do this every single time?”
“I was already here, I couldn’t make any more noise.” He got up from the couch, extending a hand to you. You took it and he guided you to the couch. “Did you have a good time?”
The dress wrinkled as you pulled one foot under you but you couldn’t care less. “It was… bearable. I didn’t-” You let your head fall on the back of the couch. Seeing Namjoon up close after the night you had, looking at you with soft eyes like you held the sky in the palm of your hand, everything was coming back. What were you doing here? Your heart shouldn’t be racing like that when you were thinking about the wolf hybrid, your hands shouldn’t be itching to touch him.
“You’re here now, you can relax,” he said trailing his hand from your arm to your shoulder and up your neck. Goosebumps raised on your bare skin. “You’re home.” His breath tickled your face, his lips were so close and you wanted, you wanted… You pushed him back.
“I should go take off my makeup. I’m exhausted.”
Namjoon frowned but he didn’t question you. “Okay,” he said softly. “Your bed must be calling your name.”
“It is,” you said slipping away from him. The absence of his touch left a void inside you. “Goodnight.”
“Goodnight.”
You went to your room with a heavy heart, leaving Namjoon alone in the living room.
♬♩♪♩ ♩♪♩♬♬♩♪♩ ♩♪♩♬♬♩♪♩ ♩♪♩♬♬♩♪♩ ♩♪♩♬♬♩♪♩
 You found the offending magazine in a store close to the studios. Copies of it filled a whole stand. The cover was a photo of you with Jin and Jimin in front of the waffle place the day you had taken them with you to the table-reading. It really was front-page news.
In A Stunning Display of Power And Wealth Y/N Y/L/N Adopts Four Hybrids
Straight to the point, every word chosen precisely to attract attention. A display of power and wealth. Of course, that’s what sold copies. That’s what people wanted to read; how one of the richest and most famous directors of your generation was showing off their wealth and power. Hybrids continued to be a sign of money. To adopt four hybrids meant you were crazy rich, but people already knew that when similar headlines had swept all tabloids just a year ago, brought on by the outrageous purchase of the Castle.
Four pages were dedicated to you and your hybrids, completed with more photos of the same day and quotes from “insider sources”. You closed the magazine and went to the counter. The cashier scanned it without glancing at your face, which saved you some trouble. You almost thought you would have to re-enact the comedic scene of the cashier looking at the magazine, then at you, then back at the magazine, then back at you like a robot that had stopped working. You shoved the magazine in your bag, self-conscious of anyone seeing it on you, and went back to the studios.
Filming would begin very soon, which meant you were swamped with work. Everything had to be perfect because that’s the kind of director you were. A perfectionist. If it also gave you an excuse not to think about the hybrids and all of the implications of the flutter of your heart when you were with them, you weren’t complaining. And if you were a little more distant, that could easily be attributed to your work too.
Sleepless nights became too common, your head was too loud and Jimin laying next to you only made it louder.
Filming started and your schedule changed. Most days you still woke up early and returned late at night, but because each scene required a specific time of the day there were nights you came back hours after midnight. You had promised the hybrids you would take them with you on set but every morning you got in the car alone.
Fourth day of filming and unexpected rain forced you to cancel the outside shooting. You only had outside filming that day. You rushed to make adjustments and switch to scenes that could be filmed inside the studios. The crew would need time to prepare everything for the filming so you had been left with the morning off.
You unlocked the door, hiding inside the house from the rain. It hadn’t rained like that in a long time. The heavens had opened up and the rain refused to stop coming down like it was determined to turn Los Angeles into a gigantic lake. Your shoes left puddles wherever you stepped, you would have to mop the floors later. You took them off and placed them by the door. They had suffered the most, the rest of yourself was relatively dry with the exception of the lower part of your pants.
No one was attacking you with hugs as you closed the umbrella someone from the staff had handed you, the hybrids mustn’t have heard you coming in. If they had heard you, you would have had an armful of Jimin and Jungkook by now.
“Oh, hey Yoongi,” you greeted the panther hybrid coming out of the kitchen. Your tactic with Yoongi was to act like you were talking to someone who didn’t strongly dislike you. The scowls and the sneers had decreased turning into a plastic sort of indifference and that’s what made you pause. His scowl could cut you like a knife. “Are you alright?”
Yoongi stalked past you. “What are doing back?” he asked harshly.
You were taken aback for a moment. He hadn’t spoken like that to you since before you had left for Virginia. “I have the morning off because of the rain. Did something happen here?”
“Why do you care?” Yoongi stood by the staircase, his black tail unmoving behind him.
“Why would I not care?” you shot back. The rain had already ruined your plans for the day and caused you enough stress to last you for a few more, you didn’t have enough energy to deal with Yoongi. “Seriously, what happened? Is Hoseok alright?”
A low growl vibrated through the room, you almost took a step back at the threatening sound. “Don’t you speak his name. Was caring for him another way to make you feel powerful? Is this some kind of sick way for you to gain power over someone?”
You were too tired to handle this delicately as you should, you recognized that and proceeded to ignore it. “What the hell is this about? I just came back from work.”
Yoongi scoffed, it was an ugly sound. “Because you have brainwashed everyone else, don’t think I don’t see you for who you are. Have you sold our story yet? About how you saved Hoseok and nursed him back to health? I am sure that will sell many magazines. Show them all how all-powerful you are.”
Through the haze of the day, the words started to click. “You found the magazine.”
“You didn’t try to hide it.” You couldn’t remember where you had left it, it had probably ended up in the stack of magazines under the living room table. “I knew no one would take four hybrids in out of the goodness of their hearts. Did it work? Was it worth it or are you already getting bored? Maybe you should adopt a couple more. Make more headlines.”
“You have no idea what you’re talking about,” you gritted out.
“That’s what you’d like to think,” Yoongi sneered. “All of you are the same. Hiding in your mansions and looking for the next chance to brandish your name. It’s a constant chase of power and standing, isn’t it? And you’ll use anyone you’ll find in your way to climb higher. I know how it is. You can’t fool me. I’ve been dealing with people like you for years!”
Your pants and your wet socks were sticking uncomfortably to your skin. Your head was buzzing. It hurt because that’s everything you had been trying to avoid. Everything you had promised yourself not to become. Everything you had criticized your parents and their circle for. You weren’t like them. You had never been like them.
“You don’t know me, don’t pretend you do,” you said forcefully. “Do you really think that’s how magazines work? I just call them and tell them I want them to write about me? Put me on the front cover? That’s not it. Even if it was, why would I do that? I couldn’t care less about the power-plays you’re talking about. I’m a director and my work speaks for itself. I don’t need magazines to brandish my name because my movies and my shows are more than enough. The paparazzi saw the chance and they took it. Their goal is to sell and their headlines showcase exactly that; what people would buy. I never hid the fact that I adopted hybrids but I wasn’t flaunting it to the media either.”
“Why should I believe you?” Yoongi growled.
You sighed, a sound full of frustration. “Frankly, I don’t see what else I could do to make you believe me! I tended to Hoseok. I didn’t ask any questions. I tried hard not to cross any boundaries and to make you feel welcome. What more do you want me to do?”
“Nothing,” Yoongi said simply. “Nothing you do can change my mind.”
It was like a stone dropped in the pit of your stomach. You shouldn’t have expected anything else. Yoongi had been through a lot, that much was clear, but it was unfair that he was taking out everything on you. You were paying for the scars other humans had inflicted on him.
“I’m not who you think I am.”
“You don’t know what I think.”
“It’s pretty clear,” you muttered. “Alright, I can’t change your mind, I won’t even try. I know how to pick my battles. But if you really despise me so much then why bother? Nothing you say will change anything. Are you trying to uncover some hidden truth about me and how evil I am? Then what?”
The fur on Yoongi’s tail and ears stood on end. “I don’t care. I don’t care about you, about what you have done and what you will do as long as we’re gone from here. I don’t care for your charity or your pity. Did it ever occur to you that I never wanted to be here in the first place?”
You swallowed, willing your heart rate to calm down. “Then tell Hoseok and Jimin yourself. The keys are by the door.”
You didn’t wait for Yoongi to say anything else, turning around and locking yourself in your room. You laid down on your bed, your hands gripping your hair. The exhaustion this time was beyond physical, beyond mental. Your hands retreated from your hair, sliding down your cheeks. Your fingers were wet.
Later when Jimin and Jungkook knocked on the door, you had to open the door or risk worrying them. They jumped on the bed and snuggled close to you. You held your phone waiting for the call to go to the studios.
You didn’t face any new problems with filming. The actors were all incredible, seemingly one with their characters. You did a lot of filming at 300 Fox Way, the psychic’s house with its mystic aura and weirdly compelling assortment of objects. You instructed the actors, talked with the crew, and analyzed the script down to each comma. Focusing on anything other than Yoongi’s words and your hybrids had turned into an art form.
The sleepless nights didn’t cease, you and the moonlight had become good friends. Jimin’s visits to your room thinned out. He had noticed you pulling away. You didn’t hug him anymore or kissed his forehead before falling asleep, you couldn’t come to terms with doing that after everything that had happened. You had thought that maybe you would sleep better alone but that had been proved false soon after.
You got out of bed for the fourth night in a row. Every position was uncomfortable. Keeping your steps light you left the room. The large house was eerie at night, the living room area with its glass walls looked endless, combining the actual living room, the dining room, and what the real estate agents had called the family room that was really just another living room.
You couldn’t stay in your room on nights like these, it was too contained. The night air on your skin sent shivers down your frame as you walked out on the balcony. It was two days before the full moon and its glow illuminated the world.
What had you gotten yourself into? You wished you could go back to that morning and decline your mother’s invitation to the gala. Maybe, just maybe, then you would be able to sleep, your head wouldn’t be fighting you at every turn, at every chance.
Little pieces of moonlight shimmered and danced on the lake. The calmness of the world was a stark contrast to the mess in your head. You remembered how Jungkook had looked at the lake in awe that very first night, you had noticed then that he looked at Jimin the same way. You wondered how you looked at them and if anyone had noticed.
The moon had no answers for you.
Two golden eyes were looking up at you from the garden, they shone like the fires that had been extinguished earlier. Namjoon tilted his head, inviting you down. A weird sense of deja vu took over. You had lived something very similar before, a night that had changed so much.
You shouldn’t go. You should stay where you were, alone and safe, away from fluttering heartbeats and dangerous warmth. But the night had its way of calling out the risky nature of people. The thrill was so much more enticing when darkness ruled.
Climbing down the stairs, you kept your steps quiet. You never knew which sound would wake up the hybrids. Namjoon was standing by the flower bushes close to the curtain of vines that lead into the forest. He was wearing a dark blue pair of pajama pants and a simple black T-shirt.
“What are you doing awake so late?” you whispered, like everything around you had ears.
“I could ask you the same thing.”
You shook your head. “I have trouble sleeping, remember?”
Namjoon had caught you a few times wandering the house at night, he was the only one who knew that a lot of nights sleep didn’t come to you willingly. His own nightly adventures were more complicated.
“Why are you awake?” you asked him again. “Please don’t tell me you smelled distress or something again or I’ll freak.”
Namjoon chuckled, you had missed it. Keeping your distance meant you only saw them for barely two hours every day. They all tried to not make too much noise with you in the constant mood of ‘tired and gloomy’.
“No, that’s not it.” He looked up, over the trees. “It’s the full moon.”
“You have to be kidding me. Do you turn into a wolf too?”
Namjoon raised his hands in surrender, his dimples on full display. “I’m joking, I’m joking. I couldn’t sleep either and I like being outside at night like this. It’s peaceful.”
You couldn’t disagree with that. There was something alluring about the quiet of the night. You would describe yourself more as a morning person than a night owl but both of them were true, waking up early for work then staying up late for it too.
“Are you alright?” The smile had fallen from his lips.
You squirmed under the intensity of his gaze. “I’m just tired, that’s all. Filming takes a lot out of me.”
Namjoon sighed. “Are you sure that’s all there is? You have been acting differently, did you think we wouldn’t notice?”
You knew they would notice but you had hoped they would think it was because of your work. Work did take a lot out of you but it also used to be the reason you were so much happier returning home.
“It has been going on for too long. You don’t spend any time outside your room or your office if it isn’t to eat. You are avoiding us. Jimin and Jungkook stopped scenting you because they think they’re making you uncomfortable.”
“It isn’t- They aren’t making me uncomfortable. I’m just tired from work and I don’t-” you tried to deny it but you fell short of excuses.
“You were working before too, but it wasn’t like this,” he pointed out. “You were tired then too. Some nights you came back and I could smell the exhaustion around you like a disease. But you smiled when Jimin and Jungkook ran up to you and didn’t let you go, you laughed at Jin laughing at his own jokes. You came to me when it got too loud here.” He pointed to your head.
“We weren’t filming then.” It was a weak attempt but you had to make it.
Namjoon regarded you carefully. Beams of moonlight got tangled in his gray hair turning it silver. He looked at home right there at that moment, close to the trees with the moon shining on him. He was every bit of magic you had ever witnessed.
“This started before filming did. I knew there was something wrong when you came back from the gala. Something happened there,” Namjoon concluded. “I should have come with you.”
You shook your head vigorously. Imagining him next to you while your mother spoke about hybrids like that was torture. “No, you shouldn’t. You shouldn’t have been with me.” You paused to compose yourself. “It wasn’t good, it was really bad actually. It wasn’t the gala itself, there some interesting people and… My mother…” You took a deep breath. “I don’t think I like my parents very much,” you admitted.
It was hard to say after years of half-hearted attempts at mending your relationship with them. All those years apart you had become very different people. You had trouble remembering what they were like before they left you in your aunt’s care. You couldn’t see any traces of them in yourself, you didn’t enjoy what they enjoyed, your interests and priorities, the way you viewed the world were very different.
In the past few days, you had grown to hate your mother’s voice in your head but you had a feeling that it had been much longer than that. The only difference was that before, you had been able to ignore it.
Namjoon came closer, his hand touching your palm waiting for you to make the first move. You took his hand in yours, laying your head on his chest. “That’s alright. You don’t have to like them, no one is forcing you to.”
“But they are my parents.”
He stroked your back gently. “It doesn’t matter, that isn’t enough of a reason.”
“They aren’t bad people.”
“They don’t need to be bad people for you to dislike them.”
You stayed like that for a few moments, taking in his presence. You had missed being in his arms so much, like an ache that couldn’t go away.
He stopped stroking your back, cupping your cheek and pulling back so you were facing each other. “I’m always here for you. I don’t care about anything else but seeing you happy. I’m here.”
“I missed you,” you admitted like it was a secret.
Namjoon smiled softly. “I missed you too.” His thumb caressed your lower lip. There was a tingling sensation all over your skin. “Can I?” he asked just like the very first time.
You let out a shuddering breath. “Should we be doing this?”
“Do you want to?” he asked carefully.
You bit your lip before nodding. He leaned down connecting your lips. It was soft and careful, all the longing and hurt of the past days poured into the kiss. You pulled him closer and he came willingly. You could hear your heartbeat in your ears.
An awful laugh cut through the night. You pulled away from Namjoon like you had been burnt. Yoongi was one with the night, dark like a shadow.
“So this is it? Is this why you adopted them all? So you can have your pick when you’re in the mood?” The expression on his face was cruel, twisted up in disgust.
Namjoon growled, his sharp canines shinning in the moonlight. In that moment, Namjoon looked more dangerous than ever before. “Shut your mouth.”
“I see she has turned you into her dog. How long did it take to tame you?”
You held Namjoon back before he could lunge at the panther. You were afraid that if you let him go, there would blood on their clothes. “Don’t.”
Yoongi took a tense step forward. “That’s right, listen to your owner. Is that what she has turned all of you into? Her toys? Just for a roof over your head and food?”
“Shut the fuck up,” Namjoon growled. “Don’t you dare talk about her like that. You have no fucking idea what you’re talking about.”
Yoongi clenched his fists. There was anger and something else you couldn’t see in the night amidst your panic. “I knew it. I knew no one did what you did without any kind of agenda. Seems like the magazine was right, at least in part. You can’t fool me, even if you managed to fool everyone else.”
With that he was gone, like he was never there.
You couldn’t breathe. Your hand was still wrapped around Namjoon’s wrist and you couldn’t breathe. You counted in your head. One, two, three…
When Namjoon tried to touch your shoulder, you pulled away. “I’m going back to my room,” you said. Your voice sounded shaky to your own ears. Namjoon called out to you but you didn’t stop. He didn’t try to touch you again.
Please comment and reblog it motivates me to keep writing
2K notes · View notes
inkykeiji · 3 years
Text
you’re like a drug to me, a luxury, my sugar and gold
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character: gojou satoru
genre: smut with a sprinkle of fluff at the end
notes: aaaaah first jjk fic ever!!!! uhhh this is honestly just pure smut and punishment, satoru is a Bad Daddy, and it’s set in a curseless AU | title cred: handclap by fitz and the tantrums
warnings: 18+ minors dni, dubcon/noncon, slight size difference/size kink, belly bulge, spanking with a belt, rough sex, minimal prep, minimal aftercare (at first), toxic and unhealthy relationship (satoru is mean n a bad daddy!), daddy kink/slightly implied ddlg dynamics, praise kink, dacryphilia
words: 3.1k
synopsis:
And although you can—and do—get away with a lot, you can’t get away with everything. A little brattiness he can handle, a little brattiness he thinks is cute. But on the days when you’re really misbehaving, purposefully (or not) breaking every rule, acting out and refusing to listen, rejecting any bargain or compromise with him at all—well, he’s only human.
And he snaps.
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Gojou Satoru is a bad Daddy.
He’s a sweet Daddy, a silly Daddy, a Daddy who’s almost incapable of saying no. He’s a Daddy with a massive sweet tooth, a Daddy who frequently allows both of you to have dessert before dinner—sometimes dessert for dinner—and a Daddy who gives his princess nearly everything she desires, weak to your pretty pout and puppy-dog eyes and please, Daddy?’s. He hates to deny you, aches at the thought of you being even just a teensy bit displeased, because he wants his baby happy, always.
It’s his fault, really, you’re saying, insisting, when he calls you a spoiled brat. Because, honestly, it is; Satoru is entitled—he always has been, born with a not silver, not gold, but platinum spoon in his mouth—and his little princess is entitled, too.
Because he gives you anything and everything you ask for the moment the demand leaves your mouth, dotes on you hand and foot, absolutely adores you, lavishing you in the finest silks and prettiest lace, always indulging you just as much as he indulges himself—as much as he has always been indulged, growing up filthy rich.
Because you weren’t always like this; or, at least, you weren’t always this brash about it.
But years of getting exactly what you want, exactly when you want it, has forced your attitude to change, to shift.
You haven’t changed, Satoru tells you one day, a tub full of melty ice cream in his lap as he shovels another spoonful into your mouth, waning sun bathing the penthouse terrace in translucent gold and coral, brilliant colours reflected in his crystal eyes. “I didn’t do anything—I simply revealed your true nature,” A devious little smirk spreads across his lips, eyes glinting in an almost ominous nature, and you shiver. “You’ve always been a selfish materialistic brat, haven’t you?”
Well, you guess he has a point.
And although you can—and do—get away with a lot, you can’t get away with everything. A little brattiness he can handle, a little brattiness he thinks is cute. But on the days when you’re really misbehaving, purposefully (or not) breaking every rule, acting out and refusing to listen, rejecting any bargain or compromise with him at all—well, he’s only human.
And he snaps.
It’s always something little, after a day full of disobedience, that does it, that finally lights the fuse and forces an explosion. Something that would normally be inconsequential, something he’d usually laugh off with a coo and a loving pat to your head.
Because you fought him on bedtime last night, then fought him on going to university this morning. You demanded pancakes for breakfast and when he denied them to you, because he’s got an important meeting in the afternoon and thus hasn’t the time to make them, you refused to eat anything at all—only to whine and bitch and complain about how starved you were for the entire duration of his conference. And yet, throughout it all, he was the perfect picture of patience, endlessly cool and nonchalant in his responses to your multiple tantrums.
Until you rushed into the kitchen in a famished frenzy, diving straight for the cookie jar and shoving three in your mouth.
“Sweets are not an appropriate dinner, baby,”
The words are sighed out in pure exasperation, his thumb and his forefinger pinching the bridge of his nose, lids shut tightly.
Eyebrows furrowing, you tilt your head in confusion, speaking around your mouthful. “Since when?”
His eyes snap open, blazing azure glaring at you with such an intensity it makes you flinch, cookie crumbs turning to ash in your mouth.
“Since forever,” he seethes, mask of impassivity finally beginning to break.
“What?” you laugh around the word, but it trembles. “What are you talking about? You rarely enforce that rule—especially since you don’t even follow it yourself!”
“It doesn’t matter,” he snaps, nostrils flaring with a particularly harsh exhale. “I am the boss, and what I say goes,”
“Daddy!” A sock-clad foot stomps against the marble floor as you whine out the word, arms crossing tightly over your chest. “That isn’t fair! You can’t just—”
“Enough with this attitude!” he snarls, moving like a crack of lighting as he lunges at you, lithe arms embracing you in an iron grip. “I can, and I will,”
And then he’s hauling you over his shoulder, one strong arm wrapped around you and pinning you draped over his body, delivering swift, harsh slaps to your ass every time you kick your feet or beat your fists against his back, while every whine and complaint earns you another spank in his mind, mentally tallying them up and vocalizing the thought a moment later.
“You’re being a meanie,”
“That’s twelve,” he growls.
“I don’t care!”
“Thirteen.”
“So what?”
“Fourteen.”
“That’s nothing,”
“Twenty-five.”
And that—that gets you to pause, but not to halt, not to stop, potent brattiness mixing with fury as it boils in your chest, the need to defy, to disobey, burning through your veins.
“I-I can handle that,”
“Thirty,” his voice is calm—serene, almost—and ice cold. There’s an underlying challenge sown into it, daring you to try him again, to utter another word. He’ll go higher, you can almost hear his apathetic voice floating through your mind; he’ll go as high as he needs to in order to teach such an ungrateful little brat a lesson.
Thirty it is.
The buckle of his favourite belt jingles as he undoes it, that dainty clink! forcing shivers to pebble across your naked skin, pressing your chest further into the foot of his bed, fingers curling in cashmere.
You’ve developed a love-hate relationship with that belt; it’s so fun when you get to undo it yourself, gentle fingers tugging and toying as you squirm eagerly in his lap, yet the clank and clattering of that heavy buckle as nimble fingers skillfully unfasten it and pull it from the loops of expensive trousers is almost menacing, carrying with it portentous threats it fully intends to see through.
He never warns you when the first strike is coming, reveling in the way your muscles are coiled in tension, in foreboding anticipation; basking in the surprised yelp that bubbles up in your throat.
“Relax,” he tells you with a callous chuckle, leather squealing between large, smooth hands as he folds it. “And count,”
It’s his usual response, predictable and scripted by this point, but he never seems to tire of it, notes of delight lacing his voice.
And that first blow never counts.
Gojou Satoru may be a bad Daddy by most standards, but his punishments are harsh, brutal, and cruel, and they happen to be one of the only things he takes seriously in life.
There’s rules to each of his punishments—so many rules he’s made you write them out multiple times, until your hand ached and fingers cramped and the heel of your palm was swollen, so they’d stick in that pretty empty little head of yours, so you never forget—and his spankings are no different.
You are not to move until he tells you to. You are not to speak unless spoken to. You are to count each lash, loud and clear before the next strike lands. Each mistake, each misstep and slip-up and refusal to comply, will earn you one extra slap. The tool is to be decided based on the severity of the offence.  
The belt, all rigid rawhide and sharp edges, cuts into the supple flesh of your ass with each easy, nonchalant flick of his wrist, abrasively snapping against you.
Each collision of leather against flesh sears a tingly sting into your skin, biting rapidly rising welts into your ass and sending spiky jolts of agonizing pain bolting up your spine, the pain fading to a dull throb for just a moment before another blow is delivered.
“Gorgeous,” Satoru murmurs to himself halfway through your punishment, the word nothing more than a little huff of breath. You don’t dare respond, simply crying out the next number as he lands another harsh blow to your abused skin. He doesn’t think he’s ever heard a more beautiful sound, he continues, voice appearing faint and far away, mingling with the combined symphony of the crack of leather and pathetic whimpers muffled by sheets.
“It’s incredible,” he says, louder this time, voice dripping with wonderment, as if he can’t believe he’s created such a magnificent piece—the streaks of blood staining once perfect, unblemished skin; the high-pitched whines and sharp cries of each subsequent number; the resounding slap of the belt against your bare ass that evokes it all.
The whole thing sends a surge of intense power rushing through his veins, the tingling buzz it leaves behind enthralling and invigorating. You don’t need to look at him to know this, don’t need to see the way his eyes shine with it, the way his chest heaves with it, the way his entire body trembles with it—you can feel it in the atmosphere surrounding you, can feel the shift as his ego saturates the air, as his pure superiority bleeds into it, dense and suffocating, stimulating and revitalizing.
It infects your body, seeping in through your skin and flooding your veins, re-instills the need to be submissive, the ache to be good, providing you with the strength to endure.
The punishment lasts for forty-five excruciating minutes, accumulating a total of thirty three spanks—the extra three tacked onto your original punishment of thirty, one for each time you broke a rule. He’s on you in less than a second the moment it’s over, belt dropping to the rug-covered floor with a distinct thump as soft, eager palms roam your sweaty body, lips crushed against yours, still trembling as they spill pitiful whimpers into his mouth.
The luxurious bedroom—all cream and gold and drenched in sunlight—is blanketed by backhanded praises, warning you not to be a brat and just take what he gives. He’s sadistic when he gets in moods such as these, a feral glint in crystal eyes as large hands hastily flip you over—so fast it knocks a gasp of his name from your chest—seemingly unconcerned about the fresh blood oozing from the thin swollen welts that embellish your ass staining his thousand dollar sheets.
“Daddy needs you now,” he growls when you try to protest, breathing erratic as fingers flex on your hips, squeezing and kneading before pressing down hard, a silent order to stay fucking put. “And you’re going to be a good little girl for your Daddy now, aren’t you?”
Of course. Of course, because you are a good little girl, his good little girl.
But he’s a bad Daddy.
And, like a bad Daddy, he defers aftercare—it can wait, he practically snarls as he drags you to the edge of the bed, folding your legs up on either side of your body, knees nearly nudging your jaw; and foregoes prep almost entirely—two slender fingers slipping between your slick folds, prodding your hole and deeming you wet enough to take him.
And you’d be lying if you said you didn’t absolutely love it when he gets like this, when that façade of indifference finally shatters to pieces, replaced with desperation, with urgency, with neediness.
Your head lifts from the plush mattress, neck straining a little as you watch him push his trousers down his thighs through bleary eyes, residual dewdrops of tears clinging to spidery lashes. His cock bobs a little as he kicks the pants off, and it’s just as pretty as he is, smooth and symmetrical and perfect in every way.
“This would be part of your punishment,” he pants out, speaking over your cry of discomfort as he begins to shove his cock into you, little cunt aching as it attempts to accommodate the sudden intrusion. “If you didn’t love it so much, fucking slut,”
“Daddy!” The pet name claws its way up your throat in a yelp, hands scrabbling against his shoulders, nails digging into his flesh through his Armani button-up in an effort to steady yourself, eyes squeezing shut against the severe burn that accompanies the stretch. “Gonna—Gonna tear me in half,”
“You’d think you’d be used to this by now,” Satoru muses, voice already returning to its apathetic playful lilt now that he’s half buried in your cunt, breathing already calmed. A malicious little smirk decorates his lips and he observes you as if awestruck, one of his hands moving to trace the curve of your cheek, cold fingertips soft against your scalding skin.
“So beautiful like this,” he whispers as he finally bottoms out, hips pressed flush against the back of your thighs.
And you are, fresh tears that glitter the way his eyes do in the waning sun streaming down your cheeks, leaving the prettiest streaks of salt staining your flesh; lips swollen from merciless teeth sinking into them, an attempt to silence yourself, to keep those whines and complaints of Stop, Daddy! and Hurts, Daddy! safely stored in your throat.
Your little hole flutters around him, still struggling to adjust to his girth, and his head droops forward, long tongue unfurling from his mouth to lap at the bitter water adorning your face, slow languid strokes from your jaw to your bottom lashes, replacing shimmering tears with viscous saliva.
Saccharine sugar stings your nose, sticky toffee bathed in decadent chocolate and garnished with a touch of vanilla enveloping you in a sickly sweet embrace.
Such a scent—his scent—starkly opposes the vicious snapping of his hips, setting a merciless pace from the very start, blunt nails biting deep half-crescents into your flesh as they hold you in place.
But the pain only heightens the pleasure, contradicting sensations clashing together with every one of his brutal thrusts, cashmere feeling as rough as sandpaper against your raw, wounded ass. Thorns of pain pierce through your abdomen and shoot up your spine, back arching off the bed, and the muscles in your thighs flex and clench with every slam of his cockhead against your cervix.
It’s potent and intoxicating, a heady exhilaration clouding your brain and flooding your veins, and soon there are tears leaking from your eyes again, dribbling into your mouth and mixing with strings of drool that coat the words you’re babbling out.
Blood rushes in your ears, procuring a deafening ring, and you’re not even sure what you’re saying anymore, voice vibrating indistinctly in your chest as saliva soaked mewls ooze from your mouth. Your Daddy’s staring down at you, condescension etched into his pretty features, eyes morphing from dainty crystal to the navy of a tumultuous sea, framed by strands of cream and ivory dripping with sweat.
And he’s so big, too big, stuffing you full to the hilt with each ruthless piston of his hips, mattress trembling beneath you from the sheer strength; and it’s so much, too much, you swear you can feel him in your tummy, can see the way your lower abdomen cutely bulges in synchronization with every pounding thrust.
You must say it in some way, in some shape or some form, because the patronization varnishing his features melts away, sharp smirk dissolving into a genuine grin, blue eyes lightening with pure adoration.
“Such a good girl,” you think he’s saying, through it’s hard to tell when your eyelids keep drooping, hard to hear when a symphony of broken moans and hitched whimpers and the sharp slapping of skin against skin blanket the room, reverberating off the walls of your skull. “You’re such a good, good girl for me,”
Yes, Daddy, you want to say, such a good girl for you, only for you.
“Y-Yours,” you manage instead, locking your arms around his neck and clinging to him.
“Mine,” he growls, possessiveness lacquering his eyes, brilliant and bright and shining with devotion. “That’s right, mine,”
It only takes another three thrusts before you’re gushing all over his cock, the intense spasming of your cute little cunt drawing the prettiest whines from the back of his throat as he rams into you.
“Beg for it,” he demands, and although it’s an order, it comes out more like a plead, desperation sown into his voice. “Beg for Daddy’s cum,”
You obey immediately, words spilling from your lips without a second thought, automatic and instinctual. Please, Daddy, gimme your cum? Please, please, pretty please, want your cum, Daddy, fill my belly with it, Daddy, I need it, need it so bad, please?
He gives you what you want only a moment later, cock throbbing almost violently as he fills you with thick, scalding cream—so much that you’re sure it’s dribbling out of you, trickling down your ass and onto his pristine sheets—and you roll your hips up, attempting to milk him for more.
“G-Greedy,” he pants out, but there’s a dazzling smile slapped across his face, and so much love in his eyes it’s nearly overwhelming, a fresh wave of tears casting a gleaming shield across your own.
He notices immediately, both of you wincing a little as he pulls out, a wrecked little whine escaping your mouth.
“My poor little princess,” he’s saying as he untangles his briefs—Balenciaga, this time—from his trousers, abandoned in a heap on the hardwood.
“Daddy,” you rasp, a frown marring his face, fingers encircling your ankles as he helps you unfold your stiff legs.
“I know, I know,” he’s murmuring as gentle hands pull the soft clothing up your silky thighs. “It hurts, I know baby, Daddy’s gonna make it feel better now,”
A shiver courses through your body, and he tuts, nimble fingers making quick work of the buttons on his shirt, shrugging it off before he hoists you up and drapes it over your shoulders, tenderly threading your arms through the sleeves.
It’s cozy, and warm, infused with his scent—melted sugar and expensive cologne—and you snuggle into it, weak arms pulling the material tighter around your body, swathing it in comfort. Tears prick your eyes again, blearily blinking them clear as you glance up to find him backing away. A noise of indignance sounds in the back of your throat, eyebrows knitting together as you make grabby hands for him.
“I’ll be right back, princess,” he reassures you as he laces your fingers together and allows you to pull him back towards you, voice soothing like a lullaby. Fingers trail along the curve of your cheek then trace the line of your jaw, palms smoothing hair back from your face. “Daddy’s just going to go get the first aid kit so he can clean you up, okay?”
“‘N then food?”
He coos with a little chuckle, cupping your head as he tilts it up towards him, eyes overflowing with fondness.
“Yeah, baby, and then food. Whatever you want, it’s yours,”
Gojou Satoru may be a bad Daddy, but he is also your Daddy, and that makes him the best Daddy.
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unfoundhoney · 3 years
Text
toe the line ; part four ↠
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↠ slimecicle x fem!reader ; angst with that fluffy ending i’ve been promising
↠ masterlist
↠ part one ; part two ; part three ; part four
↠ @ochabby @kiritokunuwu @pyrotechnics84 @nottheotheruser @punzobee @ashturnedtomist @bloopi @enderhoe @plaguenecromancer @prickypearpropaganda @phantom-aurora @starswspacey @orionfromabove @itsoakaa @milkydisaster @i-need-hugs @creation-magician @starlighttaek8 @creatorofstars @sunflowersandotherthings @pillowjj
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You find yourself on Schlatt’s couch again. The rain that started earlier still pours on now. You feign disinterest, scrolling on your phone. Your temporary roommate/host risks venturing into the living room after too much time in the quiet. You see his gaze linger on you for several moments but you ignore him, pointedly.
Carefully, he walks over to the window and peeks out. “Are you just… gonna make him sit out there?”
“He’s an ass.”
“He’s gonna get sick.”
You face him. “Since when do you care at other people’s well-being?”
“Since it’ll get you out of my damn house,” he answers.
You feel guilt suddenly hit you in the chest; you’ve basically invaded Schlatt’s home for the past two weeks and he’s rarely complained. But you’re still trying to be angry, so you just glare at him and turn back around. Schlatt sighs from behind you and leaves you alone again.
You last another three-ish minutes before your conscience wins out. You stand with a huff and leave the living room. The second you open the front door, Charlie is on his feet, turning to face you.
To put it lightly, he looks absolutely pitiful. He’s completely soaked, clothes sticking to his skin and water dripping from the ends of his hair. His glasses are spattered with rain. That’s not to mention the absolutely guilt ridden and apologetic expression he wears, not unlike a kicked puppy.
“I’m sorry,” he says quickly.
“You’re a douchebag, Charlie Dalgleish.”
“I know and I’m sorry.”
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Schlatt was busy in his office like he usually was, which left you alone in the bottom floor of the house. You were laying on the couch on your phone, just trying to distract yourself. All it took was one badly timed “confessing to my best friend” TikTok for all your thoughts to be consumed by Charlie yet again.
Would you even be able to be friends anymore? Would it be too awkward? You’d have to move out, find a new apartment, maybe a new roommate. You wouldn’t be able to text him anymore for whatever dumb reason. You wouldn’t be able to do anything with him. When would it really hit you that you’ve lost your best friend?
As if thinking about him manifested him to show up, you found your (ex?) best friend standing on the other side of the door when you opened it, already substantially wet from the rain.
“Charlie? What are you-?”
“I’m in love with you.”
The world seemed to grind to a halt. How many times had you imagined nearing those words? Way more than you’re willing to admit.
“What?” you said.
“I’m in love with you. I-I know it’s late but I didn’t even really realize until like ten minutes ago so I came here and-“
But after two weeks of living in misery, thinking everything had been ruined between you two only for him to show up unannounced and declare he suddenly has feelings for you? Nope.
“Y/N-“
You slammed the door in his face and went back to the couch.
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Charlie stands in front of you again. He seems to have realized all the mental torment he’s put you through over the last fortnight, continuing to ramble about how awful he is.
“I’m stupid and unobservant and idiotic and every other synonym for dumb because I am. I’m so dumb. I’m a complete dumbass.”
“You are a complete dumbass,” you agree.
“If I could take it back and just be smart from the beginning and save all this from even happening, I would. But I can’t. So I’m just sorry. I’m sorry.”
You look at Charlie for a long moment. Rain continues to fall on him but he doesn’t seem to care at this point. He’s waited out here for close to twenty minutes. Something tells you he’d wait infinitely.
“Did you mean it?” you ask.
“What?” he says.
“Did you mean it when you said you loved me?”
“Of course, I meant it,” he answers immediately.
You don’t have anything else to say.
“Do you want to punch me?” he asks.
You almost crack a smile. “Why would I punch you?”
“Because I deserve it?”
“I’m not going to punch you, Charlie,” you say.
“Okay, I was hoping you’d say that,” he admits.
“You do deserve to be punched,” you tell him, “But I’m not going to.”
Charlie blinks at you unsurely. Then you break, letting yourself laugh. Charlie may be an oblivious idiot, but he’s yours. That’s enough to forgive two weeks of hell.
Charlie falls into laughter with a sigh of relief. You step out into the rain and eagerly let yourself be wrapped in one of Charlie’s hugs.
“I missed you,” he confesses.
“I missed you more,” you say.
“Not possible.”
“I think it is.”
He laughs then grows quiet. “I really am sorry.”
“Yeah, you suck major ass, dude.”
He laughs again and you join him. Your front half is significantly more wet than it was a few moments ago when you separate.
“Can you forgive me?” he asks.
You pretend to debate it, then say, “Promise to leave my journal alone?”
He extends his pinky finger. “Pinky swear.”
You wrap your pinky around his. He’s smiling at you. Nothing about the way he looks at you seems to have changed, but there’s something so obviously different at the same time. You could get used to him looking at you like he loves you.
You tug him forward by his pinky, pulling him in and kissing him. He’s surprised but easily melts into kissing you back. Somewhere deep within your subconscious, something clicks into place and is finally made whole.
You break apart slowly. And then you’re giggling with your foreheads pressed together because everything about this outcome is so horribly imperfect that it’s laughable. He kisses you again, just because he can.
“I love you,” he says.
“I love you, too, you absolute dumbass.”
“Hey, I’m your dumbass.”
You smile and lean in again. “Good.”
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BONUS!
You’re already cooking in the kitchen when Charlie wakes up and joins you. He greets you by wrapping his arms around you from behind and kissing your shoulder.
“Good morning,” he says.
“Good morning.”
You turn your head back and he kisses you properly. He steps out of your work zone and sits at the breakfast bar. It’s quiet in the kitchen for a few minutes as you finish cooking. You’re setting pancakes and bacon onto plates when Charlie speaks up.
“Y/N?”
“Yeah.”
“What did you mean when you said ‘I wish I could be’?” he asks.
“When?”
“That night after I read your journal,” he explains. “I said I was sorry and you said you wished you could be, too. What did you mean by that?”
You remember that night and all the negative emotions you’d tied to it. Now, it’s just a portion of a series of unfortunate events, a funny story to tell your friends and family and children. You also remember why you were unable to apologize.
You set Charlie’s plate in front of him. You take a seat beside him.
“You said you were sorry,” you start. “And I wasn’t. I refused to be.”
“You reused to be sorry for what?”
“Being in love with you.”
Charlie stops. “Really?”
“Yeah. I wouldn’t apologize for loving you. And I guess it’s a good thing, too.”
Charlie leans between your stools, hand on her jaw as he kisses you suddenly. You kiss him back without question. And you’re reminded yet again that forgiving Charlie’s ignorance was the best decision of your life.
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heyiwrotesomethings · 3 years
Text
How Not to Form a Thruple
Sayaka Igarashi x She/Her Reader x Kirari Momobami
A/N: Oh my god this took forever to do. There are just so many factors to consider when trying to make this work and I did not want this to turn into a novel and yet it's still sooo much. Anyway, much love to Sayaka and Kirari but they don’t know how their own relationship works without trying to date another person at the same time. Ririka is suffering, but at least she has Mary. Sorry if there are more errors than usual I had to deal with a cat menace. Also beware of Midari in this fic, you know how she is. And the OC I made isn’t very helpful either. Word Count: 18,395 (Why did I do this to myself?)
~
(Y/n) sighed and slouched in her seat at the back of the classroom, her eyes followed the form of Igarashi Sayaka taking her seat in the front of the room with her arms full of papers and folders. Her bag, looking just as heavy as the load in her arms, had the shoulder strap strained over the desk hook.
“Ugh, you really are hopeless, you know that?”
“Huh?” (Y/n) turned her head, meeting her friend’s eyes just in time to see them roll to the side.
“You’re looking at Igarashi with those dumb puppy eyes again. We’re well into our second year of high school now, shouldn’t you be over her by now? Or, here’s an idea, ask her out.” Tsubasa advised, pretending to be scandalized by their own suggestion.
“Don’t talk so loud!” (Y/n) hissed, quickly looking to see if anyone, especially Sayaka, had heard.
“The whole classroom is practically screaming about gambling and homework (Y/n), no one’s listening to us. Especially not Miss Workaholic over there. So, what’s the deal? When are you gonna finally make a move?”
“Are you crazy? There will be no move making from now until the end of time!” (Y/n) gestured wildly, emphasizing the word ‘now’ and the phrase, ‘the end of time’. “She obviously likes the president... and like is putting it mildly, there is no way I’m going to embarrass myself like that. I mean, when it comes to the president I can’t possibly compete. She’s too beautiful and suave, no wonder Igarashi wants to spend so much time with her.” (Y/n) sighed wistfully and slid further down her chair, openly sulking.
“Sounds to me like you’re simping double time these days, (Y/n).” Tsubasa snickered and kicked at (Y/n)’s foot with their own, producing a muffled groan from the girl who had since buried her head in her arms over her desk.
“You look at the girls in this school and tell me you can’t find easily like, ten of them that you’d immediately give your kidney to if they asked.” (Y/n) grumbled.
“Nah I’m good thanks, I’d like to keep my kidneys as a matched set if I can help it.” They leaned back in their chair and stretched. “Class is starting soon, better get your act together before you get called on and embarrass yourself in front of Igarashi.”
“God that would happen to me wouldn’t it?” (Y/n) sat up and opened her notebook for her first class, scanning the most recent notes with a critical eye.
“Hey, before you get too lost in that boring stuff I wanted to ask you if you heard about the gamble that’s taking over Yumemite’s stage during lunch.”
“I haven’t heard anything. What does Yumemite-san have to say about this? Didn’t she have a concert scheduled at that time?”
“You would know that wouldn’t you, simp.” Tsubasa laughed, poking (Y/n). “She’s sick or something so someone snatched up the stage for the day and they even got permission to broadcast to the whole school. Anyone can come by to gamble and the last person standing gets ten million yen!”
“What’s the catch? There always is one with these no admittance fee gambles.”
“Loser has to do one thing the winner asks each round. Something that can be done right then and there on camera to be broadcasted to the school. What do you think? Will you do it with me?” They grinned.
“Be humiliated in front of the whole school? No thanks, think I’ll pass.”
“Come on, don’t be like that. We could split the money fifty-fifty if one of us wins. What’s the worst request someone could demand of you if you lose?”
“Uh, have you been paying attention in this school?” (Y/n) looked up from her notebook, “A person having the power over you to make you do something for them is almost always worse then owing money. They could tell you to strip or rip your nails off— all sorts of crazy things!”
“I guess I could have been more clear. The winner just asks a question to the loser and they have to answer it honestly.”
“Wait, you’re telling me this is just going to be truth or dare without the dare?” (Y/n) looked at them incredulously. “I know I was complaining before but how is something so boring being broadcasted to the whole school?”
“Beats me, but really, the deal is a lot sweeter now, don’t you think, partner?” Tsubasa batted their eyelashes and (Y/n) lightly punched their shoulder.
“Alright, I’m in.”
***
“Never mind I’m not in!” (Y/n) trembled at the sight before her. The stage was filled with all sorts of creepy crawlies and dangerous looking animals in various enclosures. She made to leave but her friend grasped her arm and pulled her back.
“Too late to pull out (Y/n), I already signed us up!” They smiled brightly as if completely unaffected by the scene before them.
“Did you know about this?” (Y/n) asked, her throat tightening with equal parts anger and anxiety. “This isn’t truth or dare without the dare, it’s like, dare with a light suggestion of truth!”
“I know right? This is gonna be awesome!” Tsubasa grinned.
“Did Ikishima take over your body or something? What the hell is wrong with you!?” (Y/n) chastised through clenched teeth.
“Shhhh, I think the organizer is about to get things started. Don’t think about the risk, think about how awesome it’s gonna be when we win ten million yen! Five mil each!”
“If the more affluent students heard you getting excited over five million yen they would laugh you out of the school.” (Y/n) mumbled, rubbing at her temples to try to fight the oncoming headache she was starting to feel.
“Wow, a lot more of you showed up than I thought you would!” A voice called from the stage, crazy familiar laughter rolled over the auditorium.
“Ikishima actually organized this? Why am I not surprised?” (Y/n) sighed.
“Okay so a handful of you...” Ikishima scratched her head with her gun as she looked around the room. To (Y/n) surprise, the crazy girl suddenly fell to her knees with a cry of anguish. “Yumeko didn’t come? But I invited her directly! How could she stay away from such a gamble when I worked so hard to procure all this shit!” She moaned mournfully and motioned towards all the animal enclosures.
“Uh, so are we doing this thing or...?” Another student called out after watching Midari spread out on the stage floor and sulk for a hot minute.
“Yeah, yeah, just give me a second...” Midari sighed despondently. “Yumeko,” she began, looking to the ceiling, “I made this all for you, enjoy the show... I know you’re watching!”
(Yumeko was in fact, not watching.)
“Alright, listen up everybody!” Midari jumped back onto her feet, her gun tracing over every face in the front couple rows of the auditorium. “Ya ever hear of Fear Factor? Well that’s what we’re doing except not really. Basically, I’ll have you face off one v one. You each get to pick an animal you’d like your opponent to get all close and personal with, the first person to bail loses and if neither bails after five minutes, then the person with the highest heart rate loses. We’ll be monitoring your heart rates with these little wrist monitors to keep you honest. If your heart rate continually spikes higher than the other person, we’ll know and you’ll be out of the competition, not before you let out a truth of the victor’s choosing of course.” Midari smiled wickedly and gestured to the giant screen behind her. “Here is our bracket, let the games begin!”
(Y/n) scanned over the names and was jostled by Tsubasa slinging an arm over her shoulders.
“Look at that, (Y/n). We’re on opposite side of the bracket, I’m liking our odds!”
“Yeah, great.” (Y/n) whined and slowly made her way to the stage. Her name was right at the top of the bracket signaling she would be in the first match.
“Go (Y/n)!” Tsubasa cheered.
(Y/n) grimaced as Midari fixed the cold heart monitoring device to her wrist and another beautification officer hooked up her opponent who smirked once (Y/n) met his gaze.
“Coin flip decides who picks first. (L/n), heads or tails?” Ikishima asked, her breath sticking to (Y/n)’s cheek because of how close she was.
“Heads.” (Y/n) chose. Midari flipped the coin and revealed heads.
“Lucky you!” Midari cackled, “Choose carefully because once an animal is chosen, it will be retired for the remainder of the gamble!”
“I’ll pick the tarantula.” (Y/n) declared, suppressing a shudder. At least now she knew it wouldn’t be able to be used against her later.
“Ahh tarantula-san eyy?” Midari giggled. “I love it, nice choice! And you?” Midari turned to address the other student.
He appeared to be sweating ever so slightly but his smirk didn’t leave his face. “I’ll pick that huge ass snake.”
“Boa-san? Hell yeah!” Midari cackled, looking all too pleased with how this was going. “Handlers, bring out the chosen animals!”
“Hold your arms out, kind of like a cradle please.” The handler asked (Y/n). She had just nearly put her arms in position before the handler looped the middle of the large constrictor around her neck. The upper half of the large snake began coiling around her arm as (Y/n) struggled to hold the heavy reptile.
(Y/n) chanced a glance at her competition who appeared to be holding his breath as the tarantula crawled across his pant leg. He was sitting on the stage, something about lessening the risk to the spider should the boy freak out. (Y/n) gulped as her attention was brought back to the snake. It had raised its head to be level with her own and scented the air between their faces before slithering up and over her head and it began its descent down her back.
“Hey!” (Y/n)’s eyes darted back to the boy who looked noticeably more panicked. “It’s crawling toward my junk!” He screamed as the spider slowly made its way over his thigh.
“So?” Midari shrugged, “What, you gonna bail already? It hasn’t even been two minutes.”
“Get it off me now!” His voice pitched higher, the spider had momentarily lost its grip and slid closer to the boy’s crotch. “Take it, take it!”
“Alright, you big baby.” Midari waved him off signaling the handler to take the spider. “Round one goes to you, (L/n). Sazanka class, represent!”
(Y/n) released a relieved sigh as the weight of the boa was lifted from her shoulders. She massaged her shoulder and almost left the stage before Midari called her back.
“Hey, don’t forget your question!”
“Ah, right, sorry. Umm, what’s your favorite color?” (Y/n) could heard the faint echo of Tsubasa smacking their forehead with their hand in the darkened auditorium and Midari groaned.
“That’s what you’re asking? That’s so god damn boring!” Midari sprawled out on the floor again. “Well shit, answer (L/n)’s boring ass question I guess.”
“It’s green.” The guy breathed, thankful for the low stakes question after his embarrassing screeching over the tarantula.
“Alright, who’s next?”
***
The final round was finally here. (Y/n) had survived a hand full of banana slugs and holding up a adolescent fox bat by its feet before finally making it to the last round with Tsubasa bouncing excitedly as her final opponent. They had made it, no matter what happens now the ten million was as good as theirs.
“Alright! Here we are with the last match! Only a handful of creatures left, what will be used I wonder...” Midari pondered. “Heads or tails, (L/n)?”
“I’ll go heads again.”
The coin flipped in her favor once more and she smiled at her friend. “I know you’ve been eyeing that iguana over there, go make a new friend.”
“I really appreciate that, (Y/n).” Tsubasa simpered. “However,” the sweet smile turned sinister, “Just because we made it to the end, doesn’t mean I’m going to go easy on you.”
(Y/n)’s eyes darkened at the betrayal, her mouth twitched into a frown aimed at her unbothered so called friend. Sweat gathered at her brow. Were they going to pick the literal grizzly bear over there? Or maybe even worse, the—
“I pick the octopus.”
“No way!” (Y/n) gasped.
“Uehehehe, I see you recognize the coloration of octopus-san, don’t you (L/n)?” Midari leered over the other girl.
“Yeah, that’s a blue ringed octopus isn’t it? Those things can kill you and you expect me to hold it?” (Y/n) threw her arms out wide in disbelief.
“I had it brought here for Yumeko, but I’m glad someone is going to play with octopus-san.” Ikishima practically moaned. “Well, (L/n) are you gonna hold it or bail?”
“Of course I-“
“(Y/n), before you answer that question,” Tsubasa whispered, “You should know I’m planning on asking a really good question should I win. You know, related to who we were talking about this morning.”
“You wouldn’t-“ (Y/n) gasped.
“Try me.”
“I give you the iguana and this is how you repay me! I could literally die!” (Y/n)’s heart was absolutely pounding. Hurt and betrayal plain on her features.
“Listen, I don’t know what the hell you guys are going on about, but we are broadcasting live to the school and you have a decision to make. (L/n), whatcha gonna do?” Midari pushed.
“I...” (Y/n) took a deep, shuddering breath, her gaze drifted to the deadly cephalopod. Her eyes closed tightly as she tried to quiet the wild thrumming of her heart in her ears. This was dangerous and stupid, but she’d sooner die than lose and answer that query truthfully. “I’ll do it.”
“For real (Y/n)? Are you crazy-“
“I love what you’re doing here (L/n)!” Ikishima interrupted (Y/n)’s gambling partner with a wheezy laugh. “If I didn’t already have the hots for Yumeko, I’d jump your bones right now!”
(Y/n) grimaced at the vulgar girl and made her way to the octopus’ enclosure, the vivid blue rings hypnotic in the shallow waters of the tank.
The octopus itself was small, no bigger than the palm of her hand, yet she knew that size would hardly matter, it could still easily kill a grown man twice her size.
(y/n) breathed in deeply and pulled up her sleeve, her hand just barely skimmed the water when her supposed friend spoke up.
“(Y/n) you don’t have to do this. You seriously would rather die than talk about your feelings?”
(Y/n)’s steely gaze met her partner who was nervously stroking the iguana in their arms and her frown deepened.
“Use my half of the ten million to pay for my medical bills and or my funeral.” She spoke coldly, carefully sliding her hand all the way into the tank. She would have just plunged her hand right in, but she really didn’t feel like dying today if she could help it. Please god, give me the luck of that one idiot I saw holding one of these things on social media.
Slowly, she nudged the creature into her hand and raised it up a bit so Ikishima could clearly see her dangerous skinship with the octopus. The one-eyed girl let out a delighted squeal but (Y/n) could not hear it over the pounding of her own heart. The tentacles of the venomous creature curled over her hand as if searching, maybe for the best place to bite (Y/n) thought wryly. It began crawling up her wrist and settled on her forearm. (Y/n) felt faint and she could feel the sweat roll off her in buckets, having the octopus sit still was almost worse than it moving.
“How’s it feel, (Y/n)? I can call you (Y/n) now, right? We’re kindred spirits you and I after all. How does it feel knowing you’re one little bite away from almost certain death? It’s great isn’t it?” Ikishima moaned grossly in (Y/n)’s ear and (Y/n) grit her teeth, her jaw tightened painfully. She did not dare pay attention to Ikishima, her eyes belonged only to the small mass now writhing in the crook of her elbow.
A loud buzz shot (Y/n) out of her concentrated state, causing her to move suddenly and offset the balance of the octopus. (Y/n) yelped  in response to the octopus’ renewed hold over her that was much tighter than before. Did it just bite me?
“Five minutes is up! Guess we have to refer to heart monitors for the winner. Though judging by (Y/n)’s face, her heart rate will probably be nonexistent soon!” Midari laughed and motioned to the big screen. The computer scanned over the last two competitors heart rates over the last five minutes and compared the data. It was quickly determined that (Y/n)‘s heart rate was much higher than her opponent’s, making her the loser of this gamble.
(Y/n) closed her eyes and hung her head in shame, if the octopus did bite her, she didn’t have it in her to care. Her life would be over soon anyway once she answered the victor’s question.
“Wait a minute... what the hell is wrong with octopus-san?” Midari screeched, bringing (Y/n) back into the moment.
(Y/n)’s eyes shot open to look at the octopus and she was surprised to see it had changed color to match that of her skin tone.
“But, blue ringed octopuses don’t change color so dramatically as this? What... this isn’t...” (Y/n) could hardly believe it. The small octopus on her arm wasn’t the deadly Australian native, but a mimic, and a talented one at that.
“Hey you! What the fuck is this!” Ikishima berated the nearest handler, gesturing to the tank with her gun.
“A mimic octopus, ma’am. This little baby has a tank adjacent to a real blue ringed octopus and the clever boy just loves to copy the colors. Intelligent little guy, isn’t he?”
“Well, yeah,” Midari huffed, “but I asked for blue ringed octopus-san!”
“We didn’t want anyone to be hurt. We figured you wouldn’t mind as long as you got an octopus.” The handler smiled tightly. God these rich kids are crazy.
(Y/n) managed to free herself from the mimic and withdraw from the tank. She rubbed her arm and watched the small octopus change color again to match the the sand in its tank. She felt so foolish, all her fear had been misplaced and now- she turned to Tsubasa, now iguanaless, and stepped forward.
“Well that was hella disappointing. What’s-your-face gets to ask their question now.” Midari sighed, clearly disinterested. “If I wasn’t so impulsive and hadn’t put this thing together last minute, I would’ve made much better punishments for the losers.”
“(Y/n), please don’t let this ruin our friendship. I only want what is best for you.” Tsubasa rubbed the back of their neck awkwardly.
“If you didn’t want to do that, you’d pick another damn question. Just ask already.” (Y/n) snapped.
“Who have you had a crush on since middle school who you still like to this day?” They asked almost sympathetically. (Y/n) wanted to slap that awkward smile right off their face.
“Igarashi Sayaka.” (Y/n) answered clearly so as to not have to repeat herself before bolting off the stage, Midari cackling behind her.
“You like that stick in the mud? That’s hilarious!” Midari wheezed from the stage as (Y/n) pushed through auditorium doors with a boom and kept running.
***
(Y/n) should have just skipped school. She was basically doing it anyway since she couldn’t go to class. Not when she was actively avoiding three people in said class. Tsubasa she didn’t want to see for obvious backstabbing reasons, Ikishima because she was being... extra herself towards (Y/n) since the gamble and she didn’t appreciate it, and then of course Sayaka... who knew if she was aware of the gamble or what she’d do if she saw (Y/n). She’d probably tase me, (Y/n) thought glumly.
The last few days (Y/n) had exiled herself to the deepest, darkest depths of the library and didn’t leave until most of the students had gone home for the day. She didn’t need to worry about gambling. Despite not talking to Tsubasa, she saw that her five million that was agreed upon was transferred to her account with an, ‘I’m sorry :( <3‘ attached to it so she was set for awhile in the class rankings.
This day should have been no different as she made her way to the back of the library, but she gasped audibly once she took in the figure perched atop her table seemingly awaiting her arrival. She would have backed away if not for the fact that those icy blue eyes commanded her to stay.
“President!” (Y/n) squeaked. This was it, she was so dead. How foolish of her to think she would be able to get away with admitting her feelings for the secretary of the most powerful person in the school without any repercussions.
The president did not yet speak, but motioned (Y/n) to come closer, the way her glacial eyes bore into (Y/n)’s left no room for argument. (Y/n)’s legs moved slowly, they shook noticeably and she feared she might collapse right in front of the president. Finally she stopped and stood a foot away from the president’s regal pose over the table. (Y/n)’s hands wrung together and she scanned the titles of the nearby bookshelves so she would not have to look her intruder in the eye.
“You’re a surprisingly difficult person to find, (L/n) (Y/n).” Kirari finally spoke, examining her pristine, blue fingernails.
“I,” (Y/n) cleared her throat, “I’m sorry?” Her voice trembled, sounding oh so weak in the presence of the apex predator.
“That was quite the show you put on a couple days ago at Ikishima’s event.” Kirari continued, seemingly oblivious of (Y/n) speaking at all. “You turned that drab, mind numbing dullness into something I could tolerate watching with my afternoon tea. Sayaka seemed quite invested as well.” She said, her eyes casually looking up to catch (Y/n)’s again, gauging for a reaction.
(Y/n) didn’t speak for fear of her heart escaping out of the orifice due to how violently it was beating in her chest, in her throat. It was beating so fast it put the whole octopus incident to shame.
“Of course, the novelty of the octopus was shattered as soon as its true nature was revealed, but it was interesting to watch in the moment, sort of like a magic trick, wouldn’t you agree?”
(Y/n) stayed silent, only managing to tear her eyes away from the analyzing blue ones to study her own shoes.
“Sayaka couldn’t believe you would do something so, how did she put it? Irrational? Insane maybe? It escapes me now, but she was muttering to herself in that endearing way she always does when she’s thinking too hard and she just can’t contain her internal monologue.” Kirari’s smile grew a small fraction wider at the memory. “I didn’t see what the problem was. If anything I’d dare say she was being quite hypocritical, given the fact that she had jumped out of a five story building with me not too long ago.”
(Y/n) allowed a look of astonishment to take over her face and Kirari chuckled quietly.
The student council president slid off of the table and approached (Y/n) with confident, purposeful steps, causing (Y/n) to back away until her back hit the bookshelf behind her. Kirari rested an arm on the shelf beside (Y/n)’s head and leaned so far into her personal space that (Y/n) dared not breathe.
“Maybe you would like to give it a try?”
(Y/n)’s lips trembled, still unable to so much as make a sound. Her eyes were trapped by the icy, oceanic gaze mere inches away from her.
“No need to be so tense, it was just a suggestion. I know you are capable of speaking. What must I do to make this a two way conversation?”
“I-“ (Y/n) attempted to clear her throat, taking in a shaky breath, “I- what do you want me to say, president? Why are you here?”
“You’ve caught my interest.” She stated plainly, “To risk your life all to avoid answering a simple question of little consequence. Tell me, are you embarrassed to like my secretary so much? Do you find such feelings disgraceful, or is it because it’s Sayaka?”
“No! No. That’s not it at all, I just- I’m not embarrassed about how I feel. Igarashi-san is amazing. So incredibly dedicated and hardworking, intelligent, pr- pretty,” (Y/n) blushed, “I could never find anything disgraceful about liking someone like her.”
“Why hide it to such a degree, then? Why risk your life to keep it hidden?” Kirari came closer still, drinking in every micro-expression that (Y/n)’s face would betray for clues about the peculiar behavior she was so fascinated by.
“There was just no point in revealing my feelings. They obviously aren’t reciprocated, I didn’t want to make class awkward or ruin the good terms we were on as classmates. If I was to be embarrassed about anything, it would be the idea of receiving a rejection that I was well aware would occur and was trying to avoid.”
“I’d like to propose a gamble.” Kirari said suddenly, (Y/n) could feel the declaration disturb the air around her face, causing a slight tingling sensation that made her lips purse subtly.
“What do you propose, president?” (Y/n) whispered weakly, her back digging almost painfully I to the bookcase, trying fruitlessly to create a semblance of personal space between them. She surprisingly took  in the sudden declaration without question, probably due to how small she felt in Kirari’s presence. She dared not question the president’s seemingly sudden whim.
“A simple game, really. I don’t have time to plan some grand operation unfortunately. Such things are better planned out over the course of several weeks, months or even years. Something Ikishima will likely never learn even after her hastily put together show,” Kirari spoke, digging at the disorganization of the beautification officer while still looming over (Y/n) like it was perfectly acceptable to be so close, “but that’s neither here nor there, the game will be lightning round old maid.”
“What are the stakes?” (Y/n) asked, a hot cold rush ran down her spine as Kirari absently inspected a lock of (Y/n)‘s hair, twining a finger though it before letting the hair slip from her touch. She backed away, finally giving (Y/n) room to breathe.
“If I win, you’ll immediately start going back to your classes and you’ll become a page of sorts to the student council. You’ll be at Sayaka’s beck and call.”
“I don’t think Igarashi-san would care for that. I’m sure she has a very specific way in which she likes things done. I don’t want to be on her bad side more than I probably already am!”
“Sayaka would never say it, but with the added work the election has brought, I’m sure she could find a use for an extra pair of hands.” Kirari smirked, “Now, what would you like if you win?”
“...I guess it would be nice to have some assistance transferring schools?” (Y/n) mumbled after a moment’s thought.
“How practical. You’re about as imaginative as Sayaka I’ll give you that,” Kirari commented, striding to the other side of the table to sit with practiced poise, “well,” she gestured to the chair opposite her, “please take a seat. This won’t take long.”
(Y/n) bit the inside of her lip and sat stiffly in the presented chair. She couldn’t believe she was about to gamble with the president. Such an ‘honor’ was usually reserved for people like Jabami or Ikishima... What did this say about herself, (Y/n) wondered.
Kirari slipped three cards out of her blazer. The queen of diamonds, the queen of hearts, and a joker card. She presented the cards to (Y/n), allowing her to check for any possible tampering. When (Y/n) was satisfied, she gave the cards back with a sight tremor. Kirari reached past the cards, encompassing (Y/n)’s wrist with her hand and drawing out a surprised gasp from the girl. Kirari skimmed her fingers over the exposed skin up to (Y/n)’s own finger tips before finally taking the cards back and shuffling them under the table. All the while (Y/n)’s hand tingled, still suspended mid air until she remembered herself and quickly pulled her hand back to join her other tightly fisted in her lap.
Kirari eyed the cards, newly shuffled, and slid the queen of hearts to (Y/n)’s side of the table. With a reserved smile, she held out the remaining two cards. “Now, which one will you choose I wonder?”
(Y/n) scrutinized the backs of the cards in Kirari’s hand, silently cursing herself for not thinking of marking the cards in some way as she inspected them. Her eyebrows knit and her eyes narrowed in concentration as if that would help give her some sudden clarity, to open up the right choice.
“As much as I’m enjoying this intense look of concentration you are wearing, I do have other obligations that require my attention this afternoon.” Kirari spoke, jolting (Y/n) from her thoughts.
“Sorry!” (Y/n) swallowed and eyed the cards, darting her attention from one to the other at least a dozen times. Finally she sucked in a huge breath and reached for the the one on the right. Then, changing her trajectory at the very last second, she took the card on the left, missing the excited gleam in Kirari’s eyes.
With trembling fingers she flipped the card in her fingers and felt dread as the laughing face of the joker stared back at her.
“Wrong choice I’m afraid, looks like I’ll get a turn after all.” Kirari said.
(Y/n) took her queen and the joker, mixing them under the table until she was satisfied then held them out to Kirari, trying to will her face into impenetrable stone.
Kirari chuckled quietly as she reached out. She teasingly danced her fingers over the cards, gauging for a reaction. (Y/n) looked away from the scene, trying to invoke some kind of ‘I can’t see you, you can’t see me’ strategy. However, (Y/n) felt that she could have no face at all and Kirari would still be able to read her.
Her eyes shot open when she felt the card in her right hand being tugged free, she turned back to the remaining card with an audible gasp. The queen was still in her hand.
“Oh well,” Kirari smiled, “Another chance for you then, (Y/n).”
(Y/n) nodded resolutely, looking between the two cards once more. She took less time to deliberate this go around and took the left card. Incorrect again.
The joker traded hands at least three dozen more times and traded hands quickly. Staying in one hand only long enough to be shuffled and presented to be taken half a second later. (Y/n) found it exhilarating. There was no strategy, no second guessing, just the gamble itself. Taking whatever card they touched first without a care.
The joker had found (Y/n)’s hand again and (Y/n) couldn’t help the laugh of disbelief that escaped her lips. Her nervous frown had left rounds ago, replaced by a content smile. If Tsubasa could she her now, smiling and playing a children’s game with arguably the most frightening person in the school, they would lose their mind.
“I’m glad you’ve come out of your shell and are enjoying yourself,” Kirari spoke up, her eyes looking unusually warm. “However the time is quickly approaching for one of my aforementioned engagements so,” (Y/n) blinked owlishly, her mouth falling open ever so slightly. Kirari took the queen out of (Y/n)’s hand as if she knew she could have done so at will at any time and smirked. “I’ll be seeing you bright and early Monday morning to discuss your new duties.”
As Kirari stood and moved around the table to exit (Y/n) kept blinking at the joker in her hands. “Oh, and (Y/n),” Kirari stopped at the bookshelf momentarily and looked back at (Y/n), seeing the surprised girl turning slowly in her seat to look at her. “Do not be late.”
With that, the president took her leave. (Y/n) looked back at the joker and smiled brightly despite herself. She knew once the novelty wore off she was going to be an anxious mess before Monday arrived, but for now, she was ride out the high gambling with the president gave her. She gathered her belongings and left the library and the school, humming pleasantly with a skip in her step all the way home.
***
(Y/n) hadn’t slept more than a combined total of eight hours all weekend. She had worried her weekend away to the point of feeling physically ill. What had she been thinking to entertain such a gamble? Not only did she need to start going back to class, but now she had to report in to the student council as if she were a member herself.
(Y/n) glanced at her phone again, squinting her eyes at the harsh light,  a panicked groan leaving her as she read the time. It was five-thirty in the morning. She had more than enough time to get ready and be at school before the student council meeting began at seven, but the anticipation was killing her.
She was not ready to see Sayaka. She wasn’t ready to sit next to Tsubasa in class again or get hounded by Ikishima. Today was going to be an all out assault on her emotional state.
(Y/n) stood outside the imposing doors of the student council room, the time on her phone displaying that she was fifteen minutes early. (Y/n) worked to control her breathing, willing herself to take deep, even breaths. Before she worked up the courage to enter, the door swung open with air displacing force strong enough to whip some of (Y/n)’s hair askew.
“I’ll retrieve the file president! You needn’t concern yourself with such menial tasks!” Sayaka strode a purposeful half step out of the room and rammed straight into (Y/n)’s chest, causing (Y/n) to stumble back, but not fall.
“What are you- oh,” Sayaka’s angry retort died on her lips as she registered who stood before her. “(L/n)-san, what are you doing here?”
“Oh, good- good morning, Igarashi-san. I’m, um, I’m here to-“ (Y/n) stumbled over her words looking over Sayaka’s head, unable to even look her in the eye as she felt her cheeks grow increasingly warm.
“Ah, (Y/n), right on time. Early even.” Kirari appeared in the doorway behind Sayaka who looked back at her with a bewildered expression. “Ready for your first day on the job?”
“President! What are you saying? What is the meaning of this?” Sayaka asked, looking between Kirari and (Y/n) as if to try to draw her own conclusion.
“Sayaka, (Y/n) is going to be your errand girl from now on. Sort of a secretary of a secretary situation.” Kirari explained with an amused grin. “I feel like your work efficiency would be maximized if you didn’t have to run all over the school.”
“But president, I can’t just-“
“(Y/n) has graciously gambled away her services, so use her as you see fit.”
The wording Kirari used, left the two second years gaping and thoroughly embarrassed. The awkward silence that followed seemed to be lost on the president and she continued to speak.
“I’ll provide the first task as an example. (Y/n), Ikishima has neglected to return a rather important file that is needed for the composition of a life plan, retrieve it.”
“Yeah, okay.” (Y/n) quickly turned tail and jogged away from the president and her secretary, thankful for every step that parted her from the awkward confrontation and headed to the bowels of the school.
Sayaka and Kirari watched her leave. The latter looking very pleased with herself.
“President, what did you do?” Sayaka asked, studying Kirari’s mirthful face.
“I was merely following up on my promise. I said I’d find out if she was okay, didn’t I? Now you can see for yourself anytime you wish.”
“I didn’t intend for you to gamble her into servitude!” Sayaka’s voice cracked with exasperation. “What was going to happen if you lost?”
“She was going to transfer schools.” Kirari revealed, drinking in Sayaka’s shocked expression with amused satisfaction, “I don’t know what you did to her Sayaka, but she is positively terrified of you.”
“I- I didn’t do anything! At least, I think...” Sayaka poised a contemplative fist over her lips, thinking back from middle school to present, sifting through memories to find anything to the contrary.
“No matter, you’ll have plenty of time to figure out how to proceed,” Kirari waved dismissively, “I never discussed a date of release before the gamble, but I’m sure keeping her in this position after your graduation would be a tad excessive. Now,” Kirari ran her fingers through Sayaka’s ponytail, eliciting a shudder from the underclassman, “I’d love another cup of tea before the meeting.”
***
(Y/n) descended the stairs to the basement floor of the school. She could hear the distinctive hum of old fluorescent lights and boiler room generators, by looking at the rest of Hyakkaou, you’d never think that such a rich school would have such an ancient, decrepit, looking basement.
As she continued clicking down the darkened hall she could hear a muffled, albeit echoing, cackle that would have sent her sprinting in the opposite direction if not for the fact that it was a familiar laugh she had heard disrupt class on countless occasions.
(Y/n) turned down the next hallway, jumping and covering her ears as a shot rang out, painfully reverberating off of the walls.
“It’s like a goddamn haunted murder house down here.” (Y/n) mumbled to herself.
She turned down one more hallway and met a couple beautification committee members loitering around.
“Hey,” (Y/n) addressed them awkwardly, wincing when the small group quieted and eyed her suspiciously, “I’m, uh, looking for Ikishima?”
“Get lost, she’s... busy” one of the grunts replied, a faint look of discomfort, hidden as she pretended to examine her nails.
“It’s student council business,” (Y/n) persisted. As much as she would have loved to peace out right then, there was no way she was going to return from her first errand empty handed. “It can’t wait.”
“No one gives a damn. Trust me when I say you don’t want to go in there.”
“I’ll take the chance.”
“Hey!”
(Y/n) walked passed the disgruntled committee members and banged on the door, the thudding carried down the hall.
“Ikishima! I’m here to collect a file for a life plan!” (Y/n) called through the heavy metal door.
“Damn it! What the hell?” Midari yanked the door open and (Y/n) had to take several steps back at witnessing the severe sweaty, disheveled state the girl on the other side was in. “I was so fucking close and you just cut me off like that? What the hell, that just turns me on more!”
“The file? Now, please?” (Y/n) stuttered out, desperately wishing for a line of brain and eye bleaching products that would make her forget ever seeing her classmate like this. For now she would simply have to settle with getting the hell out of there as soon as possible.
“Wait a minute, why did you get sent here, (Y/n)? The way you pounded on the door, I thought you were Sayaka again.” The girl laughed and (Y/n) mentally gave Sayaka her condolences. “Whatever, there’s a meeting in ten minutes. Why can’t I just bring it then?”
“They probably thought you would forget.” (Y/n) shrugged uncomfortably.
“Hey, you know what, that’s fair.” Midari nodded, “Hang on a second,” she slipped back into the room and came out a few seconds later with a stained and soggy looking piece of trash. “Here, now get lost. Unless you plan on joining me in here.”
“Wh... why is it wet? And what’s this stain?” (Y/n) made a disgusted face as she held the paper away from her, pinching one corner with her thumb and forefinger.
“Don’t ask questions you don’t want the answers to, (L/n).” Midari cackled, the sound continuing on even well after the door had been shut in (Y/n)’s face once more.
On the way back to the student council room, (Y/n) made a pit stop for a ziplock baggie and went to the restroom to wash her hands in the most scalding water she could handle.
***
“That was surprisingly quick,” Kirari smirked from her chair at the head of the table as (Y/n) knocked politely before letting herself in. Sayaka’s head swiveled in (Y/n)’s direction as well, looking more concerned than her amused counterpart. “Were you able to retrieve the file?”
(Y/n) nodded stiffly and presented the file, confined in the plastic of the ziplock baggie like evidence in a murder case, to the president.
“Oh my, it’s hardly legible,” Kirari spoke, her tone suggesting that she may have been mildly impressed by the paper. Or perhaps it was a morbid fascination. “And what’s this stain here?” She asked.
“I don’t know, I don’t think I’ll ever want to know.” (Y/n) replied, placing the plastic wrapped atrocity on the table. Sayaka pursed her lips and nodded as if (Y/n) had spoken some old, wise philosophical scripture.
“Oh well, I’m sure Sayaka can write up a fresh copy later. Congratulations on completing your first assignment, (Y/n). The meeting will be starting soon so please take your position to Sayaka’s right,” Kirari motioned to the girl standing behind her.
“That’s wholly unnecessary, president,” Sayaka shook her head, “We will look silly.”
“Not at all. Surely you can see the logic of wanting my right hand by my side. The right hand of my right hand is by extension, mine as well and needs to be close as such. (Y/n), take Sayaka’s right.”
“Uh, yes, president. Whatever you say,” (Y/n) moved around the table and stood a respectable distance away from Sayaka, directing her attention to the exotic fish swimming in the large aquarium nearby.
“Closer.” Kirari commanded, gently.
Without moving her eyes from the aquarium (Y/n) took a half step in Sayaka’s direction.
“Closer, (Y/n),” Kirari said again, “we must look like a cohesive unit.”
“It’s okay, (L/n)-san, I won’t bite.” Sayaka said, ushering the girl closer with a worried half smile.
“Unless you’re into that kind of thing.” Kirari amended with an amused grin, watching the second years sputter and gasp at her like fish out of water.
When the rest of the council members finally began filtering in, (Y/n) and Sayaka were stood almost shoulder to shoulder while Kirari sat sipping her tea with a satisfied expression.
Although the council had technically been disbanded because of the election, there was still work to be done that could not be held off without threatening the school structure.
“Wow, (Y/n), you really working here now?” Midari asked, doing a double take as she plopped in her seat. “I thought you were just looking for an excuse to see yours truly again.” Midari laughed, pointing at herself with her gun.
“Not really, no.” (Y/n) spoke dryly, arms crossed loosely over her chest.
“Oh that’s right, because you like-“
“Ikishima!”
As the door was violently pushed open to reveal the teen idol Yumemi,(Y/n) exhaled harshly, feeling heat crawling all the way up to the tips of her ears as she continued to watch the fish, not daring to even spare a hint of a glance through her periphery in the direction of Sayaka and Kirari.
“Ikishima, my whole stage still smells like a barn!” The idol gritted through a menacing smile.
“What do you expect me to do about it?” Midari said, swinging her legs onto the table.
“I’m ordering a deep cleanse and you’re paying for it!” Yumemi huffed, taking her seat as well.
“Bahhh, whatever.” Midari waved her off, earning a laugh from Runa as she flopped onto a nearby couch.
The vice president silently made her way to stand at the president’s left, taking a moment to stare between the three people at the head of the table. Or at least, (Y/n) guessed she was. It was hard to tell with the mask.
Yuriko came in last, looking a bit frazzled as she took her own seat. Once it was clear that everyone was situated, Sayaka began to recite the major talking points and the meeting began.
***
(Y/n) swears she almost fell asleep standing up. Only jolting out of her meditative state as chairs scraped against the floor signaling that the meeting must have ended. Her eyes darting to the clock on the wall, revealing that classes would start soon. Taking the time into account, she moved to the wall where she had left her school bag and hooked it over her shoulder before turning back to the president and her secretary.
“I can go to class now, right?”
“Of course,” Kirari gave a slight nod, “just give Sayaka a moment to gather her things and you can go together. Won’t that be nice?”
(Y/n) chanced a glance at Sayaka as she packed her bag full of folders, quickly averting her eyes when Sayaka looked up expectantly from her bag. (Y/n) discreetly cleared her throat, “Sure.”
“Ready to go?” Sayaka asked, shouldering the heavy bag with little effort as she stepped forward. Wow, she’s a lot stronger than she looks.
“Yes,” (Y/n) responded, walking over to the door to hold it open for the secretary.
“Do be back for lunch.” Kirari called.
“Of course, president.” Sayaka nodded, provoking a hint of warmth in Kirari’s charming smile before she turned her back to the door to face the vice president who seemed to eye her intently as (Y/n) closed the door behind her.
They didn’t make it very far down the hall before Sayaka produced a fancy, black, hardcover notebook and held it out to (Y/n).
“I took the liberty of taking notes for you in your absence,” she explained, a small, sweet smile upon her lips.
“Oh, you shouldn’t have, thank you very much!” (Y/n) stared at the notebook with a pleasant warmth building in her chest. She accepted the notebook, accidentally brushing fingers with Sayaka in the process. Her breath caught in her throat as Sayaka’s hand caught her own instead of falling away once the notebook had left it. Her other hand reached up to cup the notebook from underneath when it became clear that (Y/n) was about to drop it.
“It was no trouble but, I’m glad you’re back.”
“Haha, well, one of the president’s conditions of the gamble was for me to go back to class. I guess I couldn’t really hide in the library forever though.” (Y/n) shrugged, trying to be nonchalant while fighting off the emotions bubbling just below the surface.
“You were in the library?” Sayaka looked perplexed as students walked around them, a few giving inquisitive looks as they passed but otherwise hurried to class. “I must have checked there at least three times.”
“You were looking for me?”
“Yes,” Sayaka lightly squeezed (Y/n)’s hand and the notebook between her own, “I even spoke to that degenerate you sit next to, to see if they knew where you were. A useless conversation.”
“Why?” (Y/n) asked with a tremor in her voice, partially afraid of what Sayaka would say.
“I’ll be more than happy to explain at lunch, but we’re going to be late if we don’t start moving.” Sayaka pulled her hands away and motioned (Y/n) forward. (Y/n) fell into step beside Sayaka, heading to their classroom while her heart beat violently against her rib cage.
Upon entering the room mere moments before their teacher, Sayaka smiled kindly at (Y/n) before taking her seat. (Y/n) had her own dreamy look on her face that melted into a steady frown as she made her way to the back of the room and made eye contact with her sheepishly smiling friend.
(Y/n) plopped down in her chair, crossing her arms over her chest with a huff.
“Hey.”
(Y/n) ignored them, focusing her gaze on the front of the room.
“Come on, (Y/n). I told you I was sorry!” Tsubasa whispered, scooting closer, “You can have my notes if you want, you kinda missed a lot.”
“I don’t need them. Besides, you take shit notes.” (Y/n) grumbled.
“How about I let you punch me in the face? Trip me into the fountain outside? What if I buy my favorite ice cream and right before I get to taste it, you knock the cone out of my hand?”
(Y/n) couldn’t help but snort at the suggestion, covering her mouth with her hand and shying away from the look the teacher sent her way before resuming his lecture.
“I really am sorry you know. I’ve missed by best friend.”
“I’m still mad at you, but I’ll be damned if I didn’t miss you too.” (Y/n) simpered.
“Wanna join the crew at lunch? I’ll buy.”
“I can’t actually,” (Y/n)’s smile became a little regretful, “I kind of belong to the student council now so-“
“You what!?” Tsubasa yelled, their voice commanding the attention of the whole classroom, even Sayaka looked back with a raised brow.
“Care to share with the rest of the class?” The teacher spoke coldly.
“No, sorry!” They squeaked, sliding further down their chair.
“Great, try to pay attention, please,” the teacher turned back to his presentation, “Now where were we...”
“Shit.” They sighed under their breath.
“Nice one.” (Y/n) whispered back with a grin.
“Well what do you expect when you drop a bomb like that? What happened?”
“Shouldn’t you be quiet? You’re already on thin ice.”
“What’s the worst he can do, this school is fucked academically anyway. Tell me what you’re doing with the stuco.”
“Okay, just don’t scream... I gambled with the president,” (Y/n) paused, watching Tsubasa cover their mouth and bend over their desk with shock. It was clear they were trying very hard to keep it all together as the lecture continued. “I lost and as per our agreement I have to go to class and assist Igarashi-san with student council duties.”
“Oh my god!” They gasped,
looking between (Y/n) and the back of Sayaka’s head. “Don’t you see what this means?”
“I’m sure you’re going to tell me what you think it means,” (Y/n) rolled her eyes, taking notes on the new slide of the presentation.
“What it means is you’ve earned yourself not one, but two potential girlfriends!” They grinned, flashing a  discrete peace sign.
“That’s not what it means at all.” (Y/n) deadpanned.
“Come on, (Y/n)! Since when does the president find interest in plebeians like us? And don’t you think Igarashi would have been absolutely livid to have the president’s attention on you and not herself? I mean, remember how snippy she was when Jabami first rose in prevalence?”
(Y/n) shook her head, “You’re being ridiculous. I’m probably only in Igarashi-san’s good graces because she knows about my feelings for her and it would stand to reason that she doesn’t have to worry about me taking her place or making moves on the president. And then the president! As if anyone knows why the president does any of the things she does. She was probably bored and thought it be funny to watch me make a fool of myself in front of Igarashi everyday.”
“Just you wait. You’ll be a part of their weird little role play before the month is out, I guarantee it.”
“Don’t say it like that! Also, it’s not gonna happen so drop it.” (Y/n) kicked at the exposed ankle across the lane.
“Do I smell a wager to be made?” Tsubasa smirked through the pain, rubbing their ankle.
“I only thing I smell is someone who needs to mind their own business and start taking notes, you degenerate.”
“Igarashi is rubbing off on you already I see.”
***
After four more hours of hushed interrogation, lunch period began. Sayaka waited for (Y/n) in the hallway and (Y/n) gave her troublesome friend a warning glance, daring them to say anything stupid.
“Hey, Igarashi. Take good care of (Y/n) now, okay?” Tsubasa dodged (Y/n)’s fist and waggled their eyebrows before dashing off to the cafeteria.
“Ignore them.” (Y/n) said, almost pleadingly.
“Right, shall we?” Sayaka motioned in the direction of the student council.
“Oh, is it alright if I grab something from the cafeteria first? I didn’t pack a lunch.” (Y/n) asked.
“No need, I’ve arranged for lunch to be catered to the student council room.” Sayaka explained, leading (Y/n) to the grand, wooden double doors.
Sayaka knocked before entering, holding the door open for (Y/n) to slip in before closing it once more.
“Excellent timing, a house pet arrived with lunch just a few minutes ago.” Kirari informed, moving to the parlor area of the large room.
“Shall I fix your tea, president?” Sayaka asked, already walking across the room to start the kettle.
“Yes, please do.” Kirari nodded before then focused in on (Y/n), standing awkwardly near the fish tank. “Come take a seat, (Y/n). Sayaka will join us soon.” Kirari smiled, gesturing to the lush armchair seated to the left of the loveseat where Kirari regally sat.
“Of course, thank you, president.” (Y/n) sat back in the cushioned chair and although it was the epitome of luxury, she kept her back rigid and both feet firmly planted on the ground, staring at her hands as she nervously picked at the edge of her skirt.
“Still so tense,” Kirari sighed, “What happened to my old maid partner over the weekend? I thought we had hit it off rather splendidly.”
“Oh! That reminds me...” (Y/n) dug her hand into her blazer pocket and fished out the joker card from last Friday, presenting it to Kirari, “I figured you would want this back.”
Kirari pulled one eyebrow up in amusement and reached forward. Much like she had done in the library, her fingers grasped passed the card and took hold of (Y/n)’s wrist. Her icy lips curled into an almost sinful smile as she tugged (Y/n) forward. Not enough to pull her from her seat, but enough to bend her closer with (Y/n)’s arm fully extended, held near Kirari’s knees. (Y/n)’s ears burned as Kirari leaned closer and blew directly into her ear, raising the heat tenfold.  (Y/n) had no escape from the close proximity as Kirari kept her wrist hostage.
“Thank you,” Kirari hummed, “Is this perhaps your way of suggesting we play again? I would happily indulge you for the right wager.”
“I, uh, um-“
“The tea is ready president.” Sayaka informed, placing the tea set in the middle of the table with a barely audible click.
(Y/n) noted the loosening of Kirari’s grip and used it as an opportunity to straighten back up and put as much space between her and the president as possible, but she feared it was already too late.
Sayaka’s shadow loomed over (Y/n) and she clenched her eyes shut. Sucking in a breath, she tried to prepare herself for the volts of electricity that were sure to come.
“(L/n)? Tea?”
(Y/n) slowly looked up at Sayaka, meeting her mildly concerned features before glancing down to Sayaka’s hands, noting the tea cup and dish that were held out to her.
(Y/n) blinked, thanking Sayaka and accepting the tea with shaky hands. She wasn’t going to get tazed? Sure, Kirari had been the instigator of the close contact, but (Y/n) had expected a murderous look at the very least regardless of who started it. Yet, here Sayaka stood before her, offering her tea looking as calm as can be.
“Sayaka, come sit with me.” Kirari implored, patting the spot beside her on the loveseat.
Sayaka moved with barely contained excitement and with her cheeks blushing faintly, she took her place right of the president.
(Y/n) smiled from behind her tea cup though her heart ached. They looked cute together, happy. Everyone in the academy had some inkling that the president and her secretary had some kind of relationship beyond their work on the council, but many assumed that Sayaka was being used. Simply a means to an end that would be discarded once the president grew tired of her. Based on how tenderly Kirari wiped a stray crumb from Sayaka’s beet red cheek, (Y/n) would have to disagree with her peers.
With the attentions of Kirari and Sayaka focused away from her, (Y/n) took the opportunity to eat her own lunch. Wherever Sayaka had catered from was really great. (Y/n) happily ate the food on her plate and enjoyed the fish swimming around the large aquarium, lost in her own world.
“Are we too dull to keep your interest, (Y/n)?” Kirari asked, piercing through the girl’s all too temporary peace. Sayaka peered over at her as well, whatever the intelligent eyes were searching for (Y/n) couldn’t guess.
“Not at all! I was just in my own little world, sorry! Did you need something?” (Y/n) sat stiffly in her chair once more, waiting anxiously for the president’s reply.
“Now that you mention it, there is something I need.” Kirari smirked lazily, a hand resting just below her lips. “Unfortunately now is not the time however. Not until I further discuss the details with Sayaka.”
Sayaka looked just as in the dark as (Y/n) was as to knowing what that meant, but she didn’t ask for any clarification on the matter. Trusting that her president would tell her what she saw fit when the time came.
“Just be more present with us. I want us to all be well acquainted and we can’t have that if you keep floating off.” Kirari added. (Y/n) nearly spat out her latest sip of tea when Kirari’s foot slowly dragged up her leg from her ankle to her calf before sliding back down and returning to its original position.
“Okay!” (Y/n) coughed. Some of her tea seemed to have gone down the wrong pipe.
(Y/n) was tense throughout the rest of the lunch period. Especially when the president seemed intent on making (Y/n) watch her feel up Sayaka. Okay, so it wasn’t like, explicit or anything but, still! By the end of the lunch period Kirari had pulled Sayaka close enough that she was practically sitting in her lap. Sayaka at least had the decency to look embarrassed but Kirari just kept talking to (Y/n) as if this was all normal behavior. And who knows, maybe for the president it was.
(Y/n) had never been more relieved to hear the warning bell in her life. She stood quickly, hitting her knees on the table as she did so. Luckily nothing had broken or spilled.
“I’ll just help clean this up quick then head off to class, is that okay?” (Y/n) winced, trying to discreetly rub her knees.
“Mm, that’s alright. A house pet will get it. You may head off to class. Sayaka and I have something to discuss,” Kirari ran her fingers through Sayaka’s ponytail, “be sure to come straight back here after classes let out.”
“Yes, president.” (Y/n) turned towards the door, counting down the seconds until she could breathe again.
“I’ll see you in a few minutes, (Y/n)...-san.” Sayaka called after her, still looking red. Perhaps even more so from addressing (Y/n) by her first name out of the blue.
“See you!” (Y/n) squeaked, feeling heat rise in her own cheeks. The president calling her by her first name hadn’t even affected her as strongly as it had when Sayaka just said it. Perhaps because Kirari didn’t seem the type to hold much stake in traditional formalities, but Sayaka certainly seemed the type. To call (Y/n) by her first name without asking her first, even with a formal honorific, it almost made (Y/n) swoon, as foolish as that may sound.
(Y/n) fumbled with the door handle and nearly knocked into the vice president by accident. With an apology quirk on her tongue she continued to walk briskly to her classroom.
“She sure left in a hurry.” Kirari hummed, resting her chin on Sayaka’s shoulder. Ignoring her sister flopping down on the couch. She may have been wearing a mask, but Ririka radiated exhaustion.
“I can’t say I blame her, president- Kirari, you were too... physical with your advances.” Sayaka replied, her hands reached up to cup her own cheeks in an attempt to cool them.
“I was just trying to be friendly, perhaps a little enticing, but how else would we let her know where we stand?”
“You’re moving too fast!” Sayaka exclaimed, “It hasn’t even been a full day since she has started interacting with both of us. You need to gradually work up to it, like with the Tower of Doors, like you did with me.”
“I seem to recall touching you just as much before the completion of the Tower, but perhaps you have a point. Should I be making (Y/n) a tower as well? I suppose it only seems fair.” Kirari looked as if she was already planning the schematics before Sayaka interjected, slightly panicked.
“No! No more towers. (Y/n) is smart, but as you have seen, she is not logical to the same degree as I, and you would most certainly kill her. I would not be able to bare it!”
“Oh, but how interesting it would be to test her mind to the limits.” Kirari spoke wistfully. “To have such an unconventional thought process for dealing with her problems. An irrational rationalism, rather oxymoronic, a paradox. Wouldn’t you say, Say-a-ka?”
“I don’t know why (Y/n) felt the need to touch a seemingly deadly cephalopod in an attempt to get out of answering a sensitive question, but you shouldn’t base a rule off of one experience. Stress has a way of making people do things they wouldn’t normally do. That being said, please don’t make her do anything dangerous.” Sayaka pleaded.
“My, so protective. I thought you said you only had a small crush on her before you met me.” Kirari teased, causing Sayaka to flounder about trying to find her words. “It’s alright, I can see the appeal.”
“The next class period is starting soon. What had you wanted to discuss with me?” Sayaka asked, hoping to derail the current topic of conversation.
“A gamble.” Kirari smiled.
“Ah, a gamble?” Sayaka sighed.
“Yes. I need something a little more stimulating than the election to keep me occupied,” Kirari turned to Ririka for the first time since she entered the room, “Perhaps my dear sister could play dealer for this little wager?”
“No.” Ririka deadpanned, the voice modulator giving the single word a bit more bite. “I love you Kirari, and you’re great Sayaka, but I’ve suffered enough watching you two dance around each other the better part of three years. I don’t want a front row seat to find out how you plan to add a third person into your dynamic.”
“No need to be so pretentious. All you needed to say was that you’re too busy trying to woo Saotome to help your poor, little sister.” Kirari shot back with light theatrics.
“I’m too busy trying to woo Mary to help you, yet again, with your own love life.” Ririka said, fishing her phone out of her skirt pocket to check a text before standing up. “Speaking of, Mary needs me.”
“That girl has changed you. Sometimes I worry it’s for the worse.” Kirari’s words poked at her sister’s retreating figure, hoping to get a rise out of her. She found that she quite liked trying to get under Ririka’s skin now that she had grown a bit of a backbone. Ririka did not give her the satisfaction though, opting to just flat out ignore her sister as she exited the student council room.
“So cold.” Kirari giggled.
“President, Kirari, the gamble?” Sayaka asked trying to get her back on track. She had less than two minutes to get to class now.
“Yes, here is what I have in mind...”
***
“What, you can’t go home now either? (Y/n), that is just tragic.” Tsubasa sympathized, patting (Y/n) on the back until (Y/n) slapped their hand away.
“Knock it off. All I need to do is follow the president and Igarashi-san around for an hour or two while the president gambles. Maybe fetch some things along the way. How hard can it be?”
“(Y/n)-san, are you ready?”
(Y/n) jumped when Sayaka came up behind her and turned swiftly in her direction, “Sure thing, Igarashi-san!”
“Bye (Y/n),” Tsubasa crooned with a mischievous grin, “don’t do anything I wouldn’t do!”
“What are you even talking about? You know what, I don’t want to know.” (Y/n) waved them off and moved to fall in step beside Sayaka, following her to the student council room.
The halls had vacated rather quickly after school hours. Students usual were in a rush to get to the gambling dens or go home. Of course there was a small population that participated in extracurriculars as well, but in this school such things were of little importance.
After Sayaka and (Y/n) turned the first corner, the lingering voices from their classroom faded further into the background until all they could hear was their shoes clipping in near synchronization against the floor.
“Just Sayaka is fine.”
“Huh?” (Y/n) turned her head to face Sayaka, noting the flush of her cheeks as they continued walking.
“I have referred to you by your first name so you may call me Sayaka, I don’t mind.” She elaborated, still looking straight ahead.
“Oh! Sure, thank you, um, Sayaka-san.” (Y/n) stuttered out. Before long, her expression looked just as bashful as Sayaka’s. Never would she have dreamed that she and Sayaka would be on a first name basis! (Y/n) was already on a high from that objectively small step towards familiarity when Sayaka did something that nearly sent (Y/n) into cardiac arrest. She held her hand.
(Y/n)’s neck jerked from Sayaka’s pink face to their conjoined hands several times within the first few seconds of the unsuspected contact, her voice was strangled by her vocal chords allowing only the most pitiful confused squeaks to surface until she quickly clamped her own mouth shut with her free hand.
“I’m sorry, I have poor circulation. Y-you don’t mind warming my hand for a minute, do you?” Sayaka’s delivery was almost smooth, but even if she hadn’t fumbled with the line, the look on her face was anything but calm and confident.
“You’re fine!” (Y/n) winced internally. She sounded much too enthusiastic and spoke much too quick. Sayaka was going to think she was a creep for sure now. But no, Sayaka did not seem overly bothered by the quick reply. She actually seemed, relieved?
“We never did get to talk about why I was looking for you over lunch.” Sayaka stated, seemingly content to carry on a conversation while their hands swayed between them with each step.
“No, I suppose we didn’t.” (Y/n) replied. Her heart twinged, thinking back on how close Sayaka and the president had been. She needed to remind herself not to get her hopes up about Sayaka, even if she was currently threading her fingers between (Y/n)’s own.
“You must know by now that I saw the broadcast, Midari’s gamble.”
(Y/n) swallowed audibly, hoping desperately that her hand wouldn’t start sweating. “I figured as much. But the president did tell me that.”
“I see. Well, I wanted to talk to you about what you said. About your truth. I needed to talk with the president about it first of course. Then by the time we had it sorted out, it had been a few days and I had already noticed you hadn’t been in class at all so I had started looking for you. I wanted to tell you—“
“Don’t worry about it!” (Y/n) cut in with a forced smile, “I already know what you’re going to say.”
“You do?” Sayaka asked, (Y/n) almost believed that the secretary had gripped her hand harder just then, but quickly pushed the thought away. Chalking it up to more wishful thinking.
“Yeah, I knew I never had a chance. I was actually kind of hoping you just wouldn’t bring it up, but knowing you, I should've guessed you would want to follow the rules of etiquette and reject me formally.” (Y/n) had said, struggling to keep the melancholy out of her tone.
“(Y/n),” Sayaka actually looked rather pained, but the expression was lost on (Y/n) as the other girl tried to distract herself by looking out the windows they passed. “That’s not what I-“
“There you two are. Having fun without me I see.” Sayaka and (Y/n) whipped their heads forward, watching Kirari walking towards them as the student council room doors closed behind her with a dull thud. “Need I remind you that there are gambles that require my attention?” Kirari smirked lightly.
Sayaka looked momentarily torn before finally addressing her president. “I apologize president. I hadn’t realized we were running late.”
“Oh, you weren’t. I’m just feeling antsy today I suppose.” Kirari shrugged her shoulders lackadaisically before making a show of noticing Sayaka and (Y/n)’s connected hands. “My, I hope I wasn’t intruding on anything just now. Look how close you two are already. I think I might even be jealous.” Kirari said, her soft smirk never once faltered as her glacial eyes pinned the underclassmen in place.
“She said her hand was cold is all!” (Y/n) quickly explained, and although her hold on Sayaka’s hand slackened, the secretary did not take the invitation to remove her hand. “You’re more than welcome to take my place. I’m sure she’d prefer your company anyway.”
“I see,” Kirari’s eyes drifted over Sayaka for a moment, “Unfortunately, I suffer from the same ailment. In fact, I’d argue I’m worse off than Sayaka in that regard. I hadn’t realized you would be so valuable, (Y/n),” Kirari closed the distance between them, surprising (Y/n) by slipping her hand into (Y/n)’s free one. “Mm, yes, I could get used to this.”
If (Y/n) thought Sayaka’s hand was cool to the touch, Kirari’s was literal ice. Were the rumors of her being a vampire true? My god, her hand was down right freezing maybe the blue coloring of her nails wasn’t even polish.
“Well then, the gambling hall awaits. Not that I care to appease the masses, but Sayaka insists I entertain the delusions of the smaller fish.” Kirari sighed.
“I want to see you come out on top of this election, president. Every vote counts.” Sayaka stated matter-of-factly.
(Y/n) just stared blankly ahead as they strolled down the hall, occasionally looking down at her hands, each encompassed by the hands of the president and her secretary who continued to talk around her. She would have pinched herself if she had a free hand to do so.
Before they entered the den, Sayaka and Kirari disengaged, breaking (Y/n) from her trance just in time for (Y/n) to tune into the president’s words now directed at her.
“I do hope you have a vivid imagination, (Y/n). I can’t fathom that any of these matches will be particularly entertaining to watch.”
Sayaka looked the slightest bit irked by the president’s behavior, but it was very subtle. Especially when devotion and loyalty always seemed to shine most prominently when she looked at her. Sayaka motioned (Y/n) to open the left side of the double doors while Sayaka herself opened the right, allowing Kirari to saunter right in. Any ambient noise that they had heard before died instantly upon the president’s entry.
The trio made their way to the back, center table and Sayaka pulled out the vacant chair that would serve as Kirari’s throne for the evening. Kirari sat gracefully, hooking one knee over the other she smiled down at the students who had already gathered around the free seats before connecting eyes with the election committee member who would serve as their dealer.
“Let us not waste anymore time. What are we playing tonight?” Kirari asked. (Y/n) could only see her side profile from where she stood beside Sayaka, but she swore those endlessly blue eyes were glowing.
***
Despite Kirari’s warning, (Y/n) found she was not bored at all. Kirari was a gambling beast. Claiming vote after vote until none remained and the room was quiet for a whole other reason, everyone had left, dejected and voteless.
“Another clean sweep Momobami-san. I’ll be sure to process the votes before the updated rankings come out tomorrow.” Inaho informed.
“I see. Thank you for your diligence.” Kirari replied offhandedly as she rose from her seat. “Sayaka, is my car waiting out front?”
“Of course, president.” Sayaka nodded.
“Let’s be on our way then.”
(Y/n) walked with them until they reached the school gate. Expecting to go their separate ways from there, but when she made to continue past the expensive black car, Kirari stopped her.
“I hope you weren’t planning on waking home. It’s already quite late you know.”
“I always walk home, actually. It’s really not that far. I’ll be fine.” (Y/n) assured.
“If you live so close then come with us. I’ll have the driver drop you off.” Kirari left no room for argument, cementing her position by waving (Y/n) into the doorway Sayaka had pulled open.
“If you insist...” (Y/n) crawled in and sat at the far end of the car. She was amazed at how spacious it was in there and how soft the seats were. The vehicle also still had that new car smell, (Y/n) vaguely wondered if the Momobamis just bought a new car every week.
Kirari crawled in soon after her, followed by Sayaka closing the door tightly behind her. The secretary signaled the driver before pushing a button that closed the privacy window, blocking the driver’s view of them in the back seat.
(Y/n) tilted her head to look out the window however, her jaw was quickly snapped up between icy fingers, pulling her vision back to the interior of the car.
“Not this again.” Kirari tutted, keeping her hold on (Y/n)’s jaw, “Sayaka and I are right here. Surely you could spare us a few minutes of your attention.”
“Sorry.” (Y/n) gulped, feeling the icy fingers slide down her cheeks to her neck before pulling away. Staring at the two of them, their eyes, it was like being caught between the deepest depths of the sea and the furthest reaches of outer space. It was intense, who could blame (Y/n) for trying to look away.
“Ah,” Kirari startled (Y/n) by leaning fully against her side, resting her cheek fully against (Y/n)’s shoulder, “what a dull evening this has turned out to be. It’s only Monday as well.”
(Y/n) felt more weight press her a tad further against the car door and saw Sayaka lean against Kirari in turn like the three of them were toppled dominos.
“Keep pushing on president. The weekend will come faster than you think.” Sayaka assured, reaching one arm over Kirari to cover (Y/n)’s hand that was picking at the hem of her skirt, stilling the movement and further confusing the poor girl.
“Mm, but do I have anything to look forward to this weekend dear Say-a-ka?” Kirari playfully tapped Sayaka’s nose for each syllable of her name, causing the secretary’s nose to scrunch cutely.
“Well, that’s the gamble, isn’t it?” Sayaka answered back, her eyes shifted to meet (Y/n)’s as of trying to convey something to her.
“Mm, I suppose you’re right.” Kirari agreed, joining Sayaka’s hand over (Y/n)’s.
“What gamble? Is it for the election?” (Y/n) asked, dipping a metaphorical toe into the conversation. Even if Kirari seemed to want her attention, that didn’t necessarily mean she wanted her commentary. She still didn’t know where she was supposed to fit in this new role. Kirari, however, seemed pleased with her query.
“No, it’s a separate affair. I’m looking forward to seeing how it plays out. Sayaka rarely indulges me when it comes to such things. Tell me, (Y/n),” Kirari’s eyes glinted, “which of us do you think will come out on top?”
“Kirari!” Sayaka scolded halfheartedly.
(Y/n) felt her cheeks prickle with heat. Was that supposed to be an innuendo or did Sayaka simply want to keep the gamble to themselves? She wasn’t sure. Still, it would be unwise to drop the subject when the president was so clearly waiting for an answer.
“I’m afraid I’m not sure, president.” (Y/n) answered diplomatically. “What are you gambling for, if I may ask?”
“That, dear (Y/n),” Kirari drew in close, “is a secret for another time.”
(Y/n) gulped at the proximity then sighed when Kirari pulled back to play with Sayaka’s ponytail. She was somehow both relieved and disappointed to have her own space back.
“It appears we’ve reached your destination.” Kirari spoke as the car came to a smooth stop at the curb. “Be sure to get a good night’s sleep. Don’t think Sayaka and I hadn’t noticed the dark circles under your eyes.”
“Yes, please sleep well (Y/n).” Sayaka echoed, earning a chuckle from Kirari.
“You also sleep too little for my liking. Don’t think I forgot about that ‘accidental’ phone call at four in the morning last week.” Kirari taunted lightly.
“Kirari!” Sayaka covered her eyes, embarrassed.
“I’ll try to get some sleep.” (Y/n) smiled, stepping out of the car. She bent over to look back in, “Thank you for the ride. Good night, sleep well. I’ll see you both tomorrow.”
(Y/n) stood straight up and closed the car door. She walked to the curb outside her house and waved at the car as it picked up speed and disappeared down the road.
No one else was home. They were either out working or out on business retreats or cocktail parties so the first thing (Y/n) did upon entering her home was yell about the fucking weird turn her life was taking.
***
It was Friday and (Y/n) felt like she had aged thirty years in the last four days. For some reason beyond her comprehension, Sayaka and Kirari had become even more... touchy, since Monday. Every touch, especially from Kirari, seemed methodical. Like they were trying to provoke a certain reaction from (Y/n). What kind, she wasn’t sure. But they would often say some sweet words and get way too close to (Y/n)’s face. Close enough that if (Y/n) didn’t keep her wits about her, she was worried she’d close the short distance and kiss one of them.
“I don’t know what they’re making you do over there in that council room, but I think you need to ask for a vacation or something because you look like shit.” Tsubasa had lovingly told (Y/n) during class.
“I don’t know what they’re trying to do to me.” (Y/n) groaned, rubbing her palms harshly against her eyes.
“What are they doing to you?”
“I don’t even know how to explain. ‘Don’t think I want to.” (Y/n) leaned further into her desk.
“They’re trying to seduce you already, huh?” Tsubasa grinned.
“No!” (Y/n) hissed back. “Stop saying stuff like that!”
“Well, whatever’s going on, you clearly need a break.”
“I would love a break, but in case you forgot, I pretty much sold my soul to the president for the rest of high school. It doesn’t seem like an option.”
“I have an idea. What if you just, broke your legs?” Tsubasa suggested, looking pleased with themself. (Y/n) frowned at them, unimpressed.
“How the hell would that help?”
“Bed rest. Can’t really follow them around all day with broken legs now can you?”
“They’d probably get me a wheelchair. It’s make more sense to fake having tuberculosis or something. Rather than actually break my own legs.”
“Oh now you’re all about self preservation. Where did octopus girl go?” Tsubasa mocked jokingly. (Y/n) rolled her eyes.
“That’s it!”
(Y/n) and Tsubasa jumped in their seats and all their classmates swiveled in their seats to look back at them. Their algebra teacher seemed to have finally had enough of their little conversation.
“(L/n)-san, can you tell me what I just said?”
“No sir, I apologize.” (Y/n) quickly replied, heat crawling up her neck and settling in her cheeks.
“That’s what I thought,” the teacher shook his head despondently before switching his gaze to Tsubasa who looked largely unaffected, “I’m not even going to ask you. I need both of you to stay after class.”
“But, but lunch!” Tsubasa cried, their expression turned on a dime.
“It won’t take long. Everyone else may leave a few minutes early so we can have the classroom to ourselves.”
(Y/n) watched everyone else get up to leave. Her eyes caught Sayaka’s and she felt even more embarrassed at the sympathetic wave she gave her before following the rest of the class out of the door.
***
“Man, that teacher had no chill today, huh?” Tsubasa grinned when they finally came out of the classroom.
“Yeah, now I’m late. Thanks for making me suffer through that talk.” (Y/n)’s frown deepened.
“It’s about time honestly. I was starting to think he had a bias against me.”
“My work shows I’m learning something. You never get above a ‘D’, so of course he’d be more pissed at you.” (Y/n) looked up at the clock on the wall and noted the time,  “I’ve got to get to the student council room. I’ll see you around.”
“Yeah, maybe we should get in trouble more often. I hardly get to see you these days.”
“I’d really rather not make a habit of getting chewed out by teachers. I got to go.” (Y/n) called over her shoulder, already making her way to the student council room. When she arrived, the door was already partly ajar and she heard Sayaka and Kirari talking to each other.
“Time is running out for our little gamble Sayaka. At our current standings it appears that we both may lose.”
(Y/n) paused just out of sight. She had forgotten about Sayaka and Kirari’s secret gamble. With a wave of curiosity flowing through her she stood quietly, waiting to see if she could hear anything else about the wager.
“You do like a challenge, Kirari. I can’t imagine she could hold out much longer though. I’m sure (Y/n) would have kissed me yesterday if you had not sent Midari to interfere.”
(Y/n) knew what Sayaka was referring to instantly. Yesterday, she and Sayaka had paused to sit at the fountain in the courtyard. Sayaka had told (Y/n) she had something in her hair and combed her fingers through it, smiling tenderly all the while. They had been so close, then Midari ran up and belly flopped into the shallow waters, dousing her fellow Sazanka classmates with it. (Y/n) never would have thought Sayaka had actually wanted to kiss her before that moment.
“I don’t know what you mean,” Kirari giggled, “Besides, (Y/n) and I have had a few close encounters ourselves. It’s anyone’s game.”
(Y/n) was in shock. We’re they really trying to make her kiss on of them for a gamble? Her blood began to boil. Was this all just some funny game to them? They knew about her feelings for Sayaka, they had to be making fun of her.
(Y/n) roughly gripped the door handle and swung the door open, startling Sayaka, but Kirari simply looked back with a raised brow and an amused smile.
“I don’t care that I have to be a secretary to a secretary for the rest of my days at this academy, but I refuse to be played with like this!” (Y/n) shot angrily. “Oh, (Y/n)’s so pathetic and desperate! Let’s see if we can get her to kiss one of us so we can laugh about it later!” (Y/n) mocked. “Well, I refuse to be walked over like this.”
“Oh, (Y/n)! It’s not like that I swear!” Sayaka pleaded, stepping towards (Y/n) only for the other girl to step away from her.
“(Y/n),” Kirari singsonged, “you are talking about things you do not fully understand. Come sit so we can discuss this and shed some clarity on the situation.”
“No!” (Y/n) clenched her firsts tightly against her sides. “I need some time to myself.”
“(Y/n), wait!” Sayaka called after her, but (Y/n) was already darting out the door and jogging down the hall.
She kept going, slipping out a side exit and headed to one of the back trails of the school forest. As she continued on, she happened upon a small pond, filled with algae. There was a large flat bolder at the shore that looked about just as good a place as any to host a mental breakdown so she sat there, pulling her knees to her chest. (Y/n) sat there looking at a frog that rested half submerged in the duckweed and algae. She felt her phone buzz in her pocket but she ignored it.
“Fuck school.” She muttered to herself. She was sure it was a text from Kirari. Lunch period had ended ten minutes ago and she was supposed to be in class right now. “I’m taking a vacation day.”
Something startled the frog and it dipped under the water, leaving the duckweed to swirl above the disturbed surface. Then a body came into (Y/n)’s peripheral and sat beside her on the boulder and she jerked her head to fully take in the invader.
“Vice president.” (Y/n) stared at the upperclassman, startled by her ghostly presence “What are you doing here?”
“Kirari tasked me with retrieving you and returning you to your studies.” Ririka’s voice crackled beneath the mask.
“I see. I can’t say I’m surprised, it was part of the deal after all.” (Y/n) frowned pensively.
“It was too easy to find you. Now we will just have to stay here for awhile. I could use a nap.”
(Y/n) stared at the vice president, her mouth slightly agape while she watched the masked girl lay back against the rock. Ririka laced her fingers over her stomach and released a relaxed breath. Though through the modulator it sounded more like a ghostly moan.
“You aren’t going to make me go back?” (Y/n) asked.
“Not yet, making Kirari wait should be a more than fitting punishment for being such an idiot.”
“Hh... huh?” (Y/n) didn’t know what to think about any of this. Was she seriously hanging out with the vice president now? Listening to her call the most terrifying person in the school an idiot?
“She has a uniquely awful way of dealing with her feelings that is simply exhausting. I thought once she and Sayaka got together she’d smarten up a bit, but Sayaka continues to indulge in her nonsense.” Ririka looked up at (Y/n) through the black mesh that covered her eyes, “They really do like you, you know.”
“You must be mistaken, vice president.” (Y/n) shook her head, a humorless laugh bubbled past her lips. “It’s all just for some stupid gamble.”
“I never said they were good at conveying it in a way that makes sense.” Ririka shrugged. “Kirari’s idea of a love letter to Sayaka was a five story tower that came with a four out of five chance of death. You should feel relieved that they dialed it back for you.”
“I don’t understand. I heard them talking. It was all for a gamble to see who could make me kiss them.”
“Did you hear what the wager was?” Ririka asked.
“No, but does it really matter?” (Y/n) sighed, looking back out at the pond.
“The winner would get to go out on a date with you first and the loser would have to pay for it.”
(Y/n) stared down at Ririka incredulously.
“Believe me, I know it makes no sense. They both intend to date you, but they don’t seem to know how to go about asking.”
“But, aren’t they already dating each other? I don’t...” (Y/n) went quiet, trying to piece it all together. Her head was starting to hurt.
“It all started during the tournament. We noticed Sayaka was agitated watching the event, but we really didn’t understand why until the octopus round. Kirari wouldn’t let it go, of course. So she finally got Sayaka to admit that she had a crush on you before meeting her.” Ririka recalled.
“Then they spent the following couple days talking about that, and about the possibility of inviting you to join them on a date and then, yeah, you see where that all spiraled off to.”
“That’s... they really like me like that?” (Y/n) whispered.
“Yes, you have my condolences.” Ririka’s phone rumbled in her pocket and she took it out to check it. (Y/n)’s phone rumbled not too long after.
While Ririka read her sister’s text, (Y/n) read her own.
Five new messages
12:14pm
President Momobami: (Y/n), I hope you aren’t planning on backing out on our agreement. I will give you one class period of reprieve, then you must get back to class. We will talk after school.
12:15pm
Igarashi Sayaka: (Y/n), where are you? I’m so sorry, but I swear it’s not what you think.
12:18pm
Igarashi Sayaka: I’m worried about you. Please come back.
12:19pm
Igarashi Sayaka: Please talk to me. At least let me know that you’re okay.
1:02pm
TsuBAKA: where r u? Igarashi looks feral lmao but srsly what u up to?
(Y/n) sighed and turned off her phone without answering any of the messages.
“It’s time to head back, (L/n)-san.” Ririka stood and stretched, “Please don’t make me drag you back as the president suggests.”
“Okay,” (Y/n) scooted off the boulder and smoothed her skirt into place, “thank you for explaining everything to me, Veep. I’m still kind of worked up, but this really helped.”
“When you work as closely with the president as I do, damage control becomes second nature.” Ririka deadpanned.
When they made their way back into the building it was within the five minute break between class periods. (Y/n) waved goodbye to Ririka before walking into her classroom where students were quietly talking amongst themselves. Immediately she heard a desk chair screech harshly against the floor and she looked up just in time to see Sayaka push her right back out the door. She took her by the hand and pulled her down the hall and turned the corner to a more secluded hallway.
“Ah!” (Y/n) gasped when Sayaka pulled her into a tight embrace.
“Where have you been? Why didn’t you answer my texts?” Sayaka scolded. “We really need to talk.”
“And we will,” (Y/n) pulled back from the hug a bit, “but first we better finish the school day. I’m already on thin ice for violating my contract with the president for one class period.”
“Don’t worry. She understands, we both do,” Sayaka took (Y/n)’s hands in hers, “But before we have to sit through another three class periods, I want to tell you how sorry I am. I promise it’s not what you thought, we just went about it in an entirely inappropriate way and I promise you I’ll do everything I can to make it right!” Sayaka proclaimed, growing steadily louder with each word, making (Y/n) wince, but also smile a small, appreciative smile nonetheless.
“Thank you, Sayaka. You’re well on your way to fulfilling that promise already.” (Y/n) lightly squeezed Sayaka’s hands before letting them go, making the secretary blush. “The teacher will be in soon, better get back to class.”
“Right.” Sayaka followed (Y/n) back into the classroom. Taking her seat, she had finally taken notice of the drumming of her heart. At least (Y/n) didn’t seem as devastated as she had when she stormed out of the student council room, but now she was worried for a whole other reason. Would (Y/n) still be interested in her after all of this, or was it all too much for her?
“What was that all about? Trouble in your office role play?”
“Shut up, Tsubasa.”
***
The classes dragged on and on. When they were finally done, all (Y/n) really wanted to do was go home and sleep the weekend away, but life had other plans.
Sayaka watched (Y/n) gather her belongings intently. As if she was afraid (Y/n) would disappear if she withdrew her gaze. With one last annoying look from Tsubasa, (Y/n) approached Sayaka and they made their way to the student council room together. Sayaka’s mind was whirring with the proper sentiments to convey to her classmate, yet she held her tongue. Deciding it would be best to do so with the president by her side.
Upon entering the room, they saw Kirari gazing into her aquarium. She was seemingly too lost to hear them enter, but of course someone like Kirari Momobami was never one to be caught off guard. Kirari turned to face her underclassmen, offering a slight smile.
“(Y/n), what a pleasant surprise. Are you done with your tantrum?” Kirari teased, much to Sayaka’s chagrin.
“President!” Sayaka warned, cheeks red.
“That depends,” (Y/n) crossed her arms, “are you going to explain yourselves?” (Y/n) doubted that the vice president would lie to her, but to hear it directly from the horse’s mouth would make her feel much more secure.
“Explanations,” Kirari sighed, moving to stand in front of (Y/n), “I don’t do explanations. Not in anyway that makes sense, at least, according to Sayaka,” smile never changing she turned her head to Sayaka, “perhaps you could explain the logistics of it, Sayaka?”
“I should have expected as much,” Sayaka grumbled lightly, earning a chuckle from Kirari. She took (Y/n) by the hand and sat her down on the large, plush couch nearby before taking a seat next to her, “(Y/n) in order to keep this as simple as possible, I’m going to be very brief. I’ll be happy to answer any questions once I present our case.” Sayaka spoke as if she was getting ready to do a presentation.
“Mm, so methodical.” Kirari hummed, taking the empty seat on (Y/n)’s other side, making their thighs touch despite the ample space left on the furniture. Sayaka ignored her and began her explanation.
“The president... Kirari and I, want to date you. Kirari came up with the idea that whichever one of us you kissed first would get to take you out somewhere first while the other had to pay and stay home. It wasn’t our intention to hurt you. We really should have just asked you like the vice president suggested. I’m really sorry.”
“I’m confused,” (Y/n) started, trying to ignore how Kirari kept dancing the fingers of one of her hands up and down (Y/n)’s thigh, presumably out of boredom, “If you both want to date me, why wouldn’t you just... why was the gamble a one or the other thing? Why wouldn’t you both get to go?”
Kirari’s fingers stopped tapping and Sayaka’s face drew a blank. (Y/n) took the silence as a sign to keep going.
“Like, okay, say this somehow worked and one of you took me out on a date. Then what? Did you think you could just... switch off? Were you actually planning to approach me about polygamy or was it supposed to be some kind of surprise? And doesn’t it sound backwards to kiss before we actually start dating anyway?”
“We hadn’t thought about that.” They answered in comical unison after a few moments of dead air silence.
“Wow, now I understand why the vice president is so tired.” (Y/n) released a laugh of disbelief, “You two are kind of hopeless, no offense.”
“I would advise you watch your tongue, (Y/n),” Kirari shifted her weight to loom over (Y/n) with their faces inches apart, “I had previously chosen to ignore your insubordination earlier, but if you’re going to tempt me, a punishment may be in order after all.”
“Here is the new gamble,” Kirari continued, eyes gleaming, “kiss Sayaka, and she wins, kiss me, and I win. Whoever loses still has to pay for the excursion, but gets to tag along. Of course, you could choose to walk out the door if you so desire. Just keep in mind that I technically own you.”
“Kirari! You can’t just coerce her like that! We already failed with the first gamble attempt. I’m all gambled out, can we not push (Y/n) further away please?” Sayaka pleaded.
“I’ll do it.” (Y/n) shrugged, standing up from her seat and turning to face the other two girls still on the couch.
“You... you will?” Sayaka asked. She really couldn’t believe it.
“Yeah, can you two stand up, please.”
“My, (Y/n). I must say I didn’t expect you to take the bait after our misunderstanding earlier,” Kirari stood up, poised as ever, “I’m excited to witness your choice.”
(Y/n) stared between her two choices, eyeing their expressions, their body language, for any last second tells that this was all just a dream or a cruel prank and found nothing. She took in a deep breath and nodded to herself.
“President.”
“Yes?” Kirari smirked. She hardly moved forward before (Y/n) stopped her.
“Could you lean down a little? A little more... great.” (Y/n) cupped Kirari’s left cheek and startled Sayaka by cupping the secretary’s right cheek. She pushed the duo’s heads together until they were cheek to burning cheek and angled their surprisingly pliant faces until they were more or less kissing each other awkwardly with the corner of their lips. With one quick look at her handy work, (Y/n) hummed and leaned in. It was hard to do so with so many noses in the way, but she tilted her head back and managed to land a chaste kiss on both the icy blue and glossy pink lips before her.
“Ha, bet you weren’t expecting that now, were you?” (Y/n) pulled back with a grin. It hadn’t been a sexy first kiss, but it was going to be a memorable one, that was for sure.
After a beat of silence, Kirari began to laugh. Sayaka smiled beneath the hand she had brought up to her lips.
“So now what happens?” (Y/n) asked, feeling a bit smug for finding some kind of loophole in the gamble, until- “MMPH!”
Kirari’s lips met (Y/n)’s fervently and just as quickly as she descended, she pulled back just a hair to speak, her lips brushed against (Y/n)’s now quivering ones with each word. “That’s the best part, (Y/n),” Kirari paused for a kitten lick at the corner of (Y/n)’s lips, “You see, we had discussed what we would do if you had decided to play us both in our original gamble. Since Sayaka and I have both won, we choose what we will do together, the three of us, and you will pay.”
“What!?” (Y/n) felt sweat slide down her cheek, swearing she could hear it sizzle out once it came into contact with the heated flesh. Her tongue darted out of her mouth of its own volition to taste the tacky flavor of the blue lipstick residue Kirari had left on her lips. Kirari was going to kiss her like that and then try to pull a fast one on her like that? “You can’t do that! That was the previous gamble! The rules changed when you presented this new version of it to me!”
“Perhaps you should have asked me what would happen in the event of a tie then. I had decided your punishment would be for me to withhold the trivial information about ties.” Kirari smirked, running her fingers through (Y/n)’s hair. “If it makes you feel any better, your solution was still a bit of a surprise. We had only accounted for you kissing each of us behind the other’s back, not kissing us at the same time. Had you tried to be secretive in your advances, Sayaka and I would have had a lovely night to ourselves at your expense.”
“Oh that’s such—!” (Y/n)’s jaw was pulled to the side and her lips were captured by someone else. This kiss was much softer, and lasted a tad longer. When Sayaka pulled back
(Y/n) had forgotten how she was going to cuss out Kirari, which was probably a blessing.
“I know it was an absolute mess to get to this point, and I can’t believe I’m going to say this, but I’m so glad Midari came up with that idiotic gambling event.” Sayaka smiled, resting her forehead against (Y/n)’s arm.
“Yes, this has been quite the interesting development. I’m looking forward to seeing how this turns out,” Kirari added, speaking more as if this was a science experiment rather than a major change in a relationship dynamic with not just (Y/n), but Sayaka as well.
“You two are so fucking weird.” (Y/n) laughed breathlessly, swinging an arm around both of them to hug them close, “You’re both lucky I like you guys so much.”
“You’re lucky you piqued my interest or you would find yourself as a house pet before you could say mittens.” Kirari easily replied.
“Get along you two. Can we not just enjoy the moment?” Sayaka sighed.
“Are we not getting along? I thought we were doing just fine.” Kirari asked, tilting her head slightly to the side.
“Sorry Sayaka.” (Y/n) apologized sheepishly, hesitantly resting her cheek on the top of Sayaka’s head.
The door to the council room clicked open and Sayaka and (Y/n) startled and moved away from their little group huddle.
“Oh, it’s just you.” Kirari smirked as she watched her sister come in and close the door behind her. “Look Ririka,” Kirari spoke, a hint of excitement audible in her tone as she pulled Sayaka and (Y/n) back to her body, “I’ve got two girlfriends. That’s 200% more girlfriends than you possess.”
Ririka rolled her eyes beneath her mask. “Godspeed, (L/n)-san.”
“You always tell me how unconventional-“
“The word I used was convoluted.” Ririka interjected, (Y/n) snorted.
“But it obviously works,” Kirari continued on, not at all discouraged, “if you need me to set you and Saotome up with something I’ll gladly offer you my expertise.”
“Entirely unnecessary. Besides, if Mary so much as smelled you anywhere near the vicinity of where we were, she wouldn’t be happy about it to say the least.”
“Have it your way, dear sister,” Kirari  shrugged, looping her arms with Sayaka and (Y/n)’s, “we three have much to discuss for our outing tomorrow so we’ll be on our way. I’ll see you when you decide to come home.” Ririka waved dismissively while Kirari guided Sayaka and (Y/n) out the large double doors.
“But, election gambles!” Sayaka’s reminder went ignored.
“Wait, sisters?” Ririka heard (Y/n) ask as the trio left the room and she shook her head. Ririka’s phone buzzed and she checked the text and smiled.
3:32pm
Mary: Hey dumb dumb, done talking to evil incarnate yet? I’d like to get to that movie before the previews start.
3:32pm
Ririka: omw <3️🏻
***
Saturday came and (Y/n) prayed for her bank account. She was far better off financially than a scholarship student, but she wasn’t Momobami level rich. She still couldn’t believe she had to pay after all of that nonsense. She waited outside of her house, casually dressed as per Sayaka’s instructions. When a familiar sleek, black car pulled up to her she got in and was warmly greeted by her dates.
“Alright,” (Y/n) smiled nervously, “what have you two decided on for today?”
“We’re going to drive to the ocean, have lunch at a lovely local bistro, and then walk along the beach. Isn’t that right Kirari?” Sayaka leveled a look at Kirari that screamed no funny business.
“Yes,” Kirari sighed, “I wanted to go to the moon again, but Sayaka wouldn’t agree to it.”
“T... to the moon, again.” (Y/n) slowly parroted. She turned to Sayaka and shared her gratitude to the secretary with a light kiss on the cheek and a whispered thanks for rescuing her trust fund.
Lunch was great, a lovely view of the ocean from the outdoor deck they were dining on. They shared bites of their meals together, talked and laughed. They had a wonderful time and (Y/n) was surprised by the normalcy she felt sitting there with Kirari and Sayaka.
Then they walked on the beach, feeling the sand squish and grind between their toes. (Y/n) carried both hers and Sayaka’s shoes with one hand while the other was entangled with Sayaka’s fingers. Sayaka’s other hand was held by Kirari as the lightly swung their hands with each step. Eventually they slowed down and found a nice place to sit for awhile and watch the waves with some ice cream from a nearby vendor. After their rest, they continued walking along the shore, looking for neat shells and rocks.
As the sky turned pink, they watched how the sun seemed to get swallowed by the sea and they took that as their sign to start heading back home. They made their way back up to the nearest sidewalk where their driver was already waiting for them and piled into the car, giggling and recapping their favorite moments of the day.
They were about halfway home when Sayaka fell asleep. The car being as spacious as it was, allowed for the secretary to be maneuvered so that her head rested in (Y/n)’s lap and Kirari could move to sit on (Y/n)’s other side to leave room for Sayaka’s legs. Kirari and (Y/n) continued to talk quietly together. (Y/n) yawned, prompting Kirari to pull (Y/n)’s head into her chest.
“Sleep,” Kirari soothed, cool fingers rested against (Y/n)’s hairline, “I’ll wake you upon our arrival.”
(Y/n) nodded against Kirari’s chest and dozed off. Allowing the smooth motions and gentle whirring sounds of the car, as well as the even beats of Kirari’s heart, to lull her to sleep.
Kirari watched the blurred city lights come into view from the far window of the car. Her left hand lightly massaged (Y/n)’s scalp while her right held Sayaka’s. The younger girl had a cute habit of sleeping with her hands near her face, sometimes going as far to completely cover her nose and mouth. Kirari often wondered how she could even breathe like that. Kirari chuckled quietly and raised Sayaka’s hand to her lips, giving a kiss before lowering it again gently, the movement stirred Sayaka, but ultimately she remained asleep, snuggling further into (Y/n)’s lap.
Next, she rested her face in (Y/n)’s hair, inhaling the newer scent that seemed to compliment her own and Sayaka’s so well. She could really get used to this. Kirari pressed a kiss in (Y/n)’s hair. Kirari didn’t receive a reaction, but she simply chalked that up to be due in part by the stress of the week wrecking (Y/n)’s sleep schedule.
Kirari would have felt regret for having to wake them both, if not for the fact that she was excited to see their sleepy, grumpy faces staring bleary eyed at her. It was far too cute.
“This isn’t my house?” (Y/n) mumbled tiredly, rubbing her eyes.
“You disclosed earlier that your household is empty most weekends. Sayaka’s and my own are much the same. It will be nice not to have to spend the rest of the night alone, will it not?”
“I guess, but I’ll probably pass out as soon as I touch a pillow.” (Y/n) shivered as the cool night air hit her body. Sayaka, who was also too tired to function, latched on to (Y/n) in an attempt to keep warm.
“That’s the plan, now please, come in.”
If (Y/n) wasn’t so exhausted she would freak out at the vastness of Kirari’s estate. They got into a freaking elevator at one point and then kept walking down the grand corridor passing door after door, until they finally stopped at one and Kirari ushered them inside. Large fish tanks framed the walls, painting the dark room in a soft blue, ambient light.
Kirari guided (Y/n) and Sayaka to the bathroom to brush their teeth and to just get ready to sleep comfortably in general. Sayaka already had her own toothbrush there and scrubbed at her teeth with her eyes drooping shut.
“Don’t forget to take out your contacts.” Kirari reminded her softly before opening a nearby cabinet to supply (Y/n) with a toothbrush of her own. (Y/n) never would have dreamed the girl who came up with the house pet system could be so gentle.
The three girls brushed their teeth and washed their faces. Then they changed into some pajamas that Kirari had provided and made their way to the opposite side of the room where the bed lay. A bed that probably could sleep a family of five comfortably.
Kirari pulled back the covers and crawled in. Sayaka was quick to follow and was unusually demanding, curling into Kirari while also tugging (Y/n) in behind her. They snuggled into the silky sheets, holding each other close. (Y/n) had almost fallen back asleep before Sayaka sat up in bed with a cute, little frown on her face.
“Wait, goodnight kisses.”
(Y/n) almost laughed, simply believing Sayaka was too tired to filter her thoughts and desires, but the Kirari sat up as well
“I almost thought you had forgotten, Say-a-ka. Here,” Kirari pulled Sayaka in and gave her a short and sweet kiss that made the secretary hum happily.
“(Y/n),” Sayaka turned with an uncharacteristic pout, sleepy Sayaka was too cute, “come up, you too.”
“Okay, I’m coming.” (Y/n) sat up, allowing Sayaka to clumsily bump into her lips before the secretary fell back against the pillows, content.
“May I have one?” Kirari smirked, leaning over Sayaka’s body between them.
“You may.” (Y/n) had hardly gotten the words out before Kirari swooped in.
“Good night.” Kirari whispered, noting that Sayaka had already fallen back asleep.
“Good Night, Kirari.” (Y/n) smiled back as she wormed back under the covers to snuggle against Sayaka’s back. Kirari slipped back under the covers as well, draping an arm over Sayaka side and one of (Y/n)’s arms to rub them soothingly with her cool, soft skin.
Before long, Kirari and (Y/n) fell asleep along side Sayaka to the sound of bubbling water and the hum of the fish tanks surrounding them.
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h3art-n-s0ul · 3 years
Text
Grocery Shopping Together part 3
Ushijima, Daichi, Hinata
Genre: Fluff
(Please feel free to reblog and comment)
Part 1 and Part 2
This will be the final part but please leave any requests for any fics or hc's you want to see!
___________________________
Ushijima: Stands in the grocery line for you while you go eat samples
-The patience this man has
-Just wants you to be happy
-Definitely lets you buy whatever you want
-Just obsessed with your smile
-Chivalry isn't dead
-He makes waiting in line a good time
The line was honestly incredible. Unnatural.
“Woah.” You stared in disbelief. The two staff members looked so panicked and you swore you’d never seen a human being move so quickly. Well, at scanning items. The rapid beeping was so consistent, you couldn’t keep up.
“Y/n?” Your boyfriend brought you out of your dazed stupor.
“O-oh. Sorry, I was distracted. Toshi, what are we going to do? It’ll take an eternity to get through this line.” You crossed your arms and huffed.
“It’s alright love. I’m sure it’ll go faster than you think.” His towering figure inclined toward you and he tilted your chin upward.
“And of course you make it bearable.” You smiled when he kissed your forehead.
“Hey, they have a ton of free samples in the back of the store,” He pointed. “How about, you go and try some?”
“But Ushi, our stuff…” You looked downward.
“I’ll stay in line Y/n. It’s fine, lovely.” He dropped his hand to squeeze yours.
“Really? Thank you so much! Love you! I’ll be right back!” You reassured him and ran towards the samples. When you were out of sight, Ushijima couldn’t help the smile that creeped onto his features. You were so damn cute. He would die just to see you all ecstatic again.
A few minutes later you returned with a tiny paper plate, filled with snacks sitting at the ends of toothpicks.
“Here Toshi! I brought the best ones so you could try some of them too!” You fed him each individual food and waited for his verdict with wide eyes.
“Yeah I like this one better than the last one.” He commented. He loved how easily pleased you were.
This was his favorite thing, just enjoying small special moments with you.
___________________________
Daichi: Pushes you around in the cart
-Doesn't want to break store policy
-Like as much as he loves you, getting kicked out of a grocery store is not on his to-do list
-He is just such a sucker for you when you beg
--Already head over heels for you
-Always has to bribe you in exchange for denying you grocery cart access
-He's basically a glorified babysitter let's be real
“Oh my gosh it’s perfect. It’ll look so good on the windowsill in the bedroom!” You squealed.
Daichi couldn’t believe that you were this excited over a tiny potted plant.
“I’m worried you’re starting to like that plant more than me.” Daichi scoffed.
“Well come on, it’s not like you can compete. This is the cutest thing in existence!” You raised the little plant Lion King style into the air.
“Well I mean, almost.” Daichi shrugged. “The plant is second to you.” He tapped the tip of your nose with his finger.
“Ugh you’re such a sap.” You laughed and turned to him.
“Only for you.”
“Well in that case, I am going to take this rare opportunity to ask...Can I please please please ride in the cart, Dai? You know, since you love me so much?” Daichi rolled his eyes. You asked every single time you two went to the store. He was already expecting it. And he was 1000% ready to deny your request as usual. But with the puppy eyes you were throwing at him, that stupid little plant clutched in your hands...It was too much. I mean the guy was only human. He sighed. “Okay. Fine.” He watched your eyes light up. “BUT BUT- Only this ONE time. Got it?”
You nodded fervidly and started to climb into the cart.
It must have looked ridiculous. You, sitting cross legged in a shopping cart, grasping a tiny plant in your lap, while a grown man pushed you around.
Even if you did look ridiculous, you didn’t care. You were perfectly content as long as you were in Daichi’s arms, well er- cart.
___________________________
Hinata: You two race to find items the fastest.
-People aren't really sure if you two are in an actual relationship as much as you're in an enemies with benefits situation, with how competitive you are
-It's always only in the name of fun
-He's still so sweet on you
-He is also fantastic at distracting you which is great unless you're actually trying to be productive
-Super comfortable around each other
It had been a few weeks since you had been grocery shopping and the crumpled paper list clutched in your hand was a mile long.
“I’m sorry you came with me, Shoyo. This is going to take forever!” You whined and leaned against his side.
“Hey Y/n it’s okay! I can help get stuff for you!” Typical Hinata. Internally, he was frantically trying to come up with a way to make grocery shopping more fun for you.
“Thanks Shoyo. You sure you don’t wanna go home? This is going to take a while and I’d much rather just lay in bed and binge watch a tv show with you.” You complained.
“Trust me, I would too. But I promise I’ll get as many things on that list as possible for you!” Hinata smiled brightly and you couldn’t help but think how sweet he was.
“In fact, I bet I can find the things on your list faster than you.” He knew exactly how to motivate you. Competition.
“Oh really? Are you prepared to test that theory, Sho?” You ripped the list in half and gave him the longer half.
“Hey! This is cheating.” He held up his half of the list.
“You’re the one who initiated the competition, and I figured since you were so confident…” You leered.
“Fine. I’ll still beat you.” He laughed and continued, “Meet at the checkout? Winner gets to choose the show we watch tonight.”
“Deal! You’re on.” You shook hands with him.
“Ready?”
“GO!” Both you and Hinata broke into a sprint, heading in opposite directions.
Time skip tilde~
“I still don’t understand how you won!”
“Shoyo. Maybe because you forgot to get a cart and instead haphazardly decided to carry everything.” You rolled your eyes.
“There wasn’t enough time!”
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disturbedbydesign · 3 years
Text
The Widow and the Wolf - Chapter 2
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Pairing: Bucky Barnes x dark!exWidow!reader
Summary: After Natasha Romanoff took down the Red Room, the former Widows scattered to the wind. Raised to be a killing machine and released into the world with nothing and no one, you decided to use your newfound autonomy to take down the bad guys of your choosing. But now Natasha is riddled with guilt for leaving you on your own. She wants to recruit you, rehabilitate you, make you part of a team again. But the rest of the squad has reservations, and no one is more against you than Bucky Barnes.
Warnings: Graphic violence; Mentions of domestic violence, rape, pedophilia, human trafficking, child sex trafficking; eventual Dubcon (not Bucky); eventual smut; slow(ish) burn enemies-to-lovers. [More warnings will be added as necessary but these are the Big Bads.] 18+ only, no minors.
If you prefer to read on AO3, you can do so here.
Chapter Two
It’s almost midnight by the time Garcia is officially gator food, but you’re too wired for sleep. You head out, driving the hour and change to Miami, with a stop on the way to clean yourself up a bit in a gas station bathroom. You check in to the swanky South Beach hotel you’ve decided to treat yourself to, because you’ve earned it. The world is a better place without that man in it, the impressionable young girls of Miami are a bit safer tonight, and that’s enough for you. For the moment, it’s enough.
Your next target is a man you’ve been searching for for a long time, and he’s your own personal project, but tonight you aren’t going to think about him. Tonight you’re going to allow yourself a moment to breathe, to celebrate your victories—a party of one, as usual, but satisfying all the same. You don’t have that much time left before last call at the clubs so you get yourself together quickly and hit the spot closest to your hotel. Even at this time of night, there’s a line to get in, but one look at you and the bouncer is opening that velvet rope and beckoning you inside.
The place reeks of sweat and unchecked hormones as you make your way to the bar, the booming bass drowning out any and all thoughts you might have, which is exactly the way you want it tonight. You order a double vodka rocks and you wait to see what kind of man will approach you this evening: angel or devil. Of course, none of them are really angels, not in the club at this time of night, but some are far worse than others.
You have no problem with decent men. There’s nothing wrong with trying to get laid. It’s normal, it’s natural—you know that now. You’ve even learned to enjoy consensual sex with strangers. At first it was difficult for you—your body having belonged to others for your entire life. But it wasn’t long before you started to enjoy the power of choice, of having control over what your body did and who with.
A man approaches you—brown hair, blue eyes, muscular—and you hate that your first thought is of him but you can’t help it. The Winter Soldier had always been the stuff of nightmares—a ghost story to some, but the Widows knew better. He was terrifying, yes, but the few people who had seen the man’s face and lived to tell about it had always remarked on how handsome he was, even with that cold, dead-eyed stare. You’d seen pictures of him after he came out from under all that brainwashing, and they had proven the reports correct, but you’d never seen him in person until tonight. You couldn’t stand the sight of him in some ways, but in others…
You turn to the attractive stranger and smile, waiting to see what he’ll do.
“Can I buy you a drink?” he yells over the music. You raise your nearly full cocktail in his direction and he smiles awkwardly. “That’s the best line I got,” he says, and he introduces himself with a name you don’t commit to memory.
You give him a fake name and he reaches his hand out to shake. He’s got a disarming personality, but that doesn’t mean you trust him. You know better than anyone that there’s no better tactic than to appear non-threatening. Still, he’s incredibly attractive and you’re in the mood for a party of two tonight.
You let him talk for a while—about his job, about his family—and you pepper in a few lies here and there. He hasn’t laid a hand on you or invaded your personal space in any way that isn’t necessary among the crush of people at the bar. When the bartender signals last call, you decide that he’ll do. You’re rarely wrong about people, and even if you are, you could snap his neck like a twig if necessary.
You allow him to walk you out, expecting him to make a move, but he doesn’t. He just stands there with his hands shoved into the pockets of his jeans, rocking a bit awkwardly on his feet.
You smile and tilt your head. “Nightcap?” you ask, and he follows you like a puppy to your hotel room.
You don’t want another drink and neither does he, but he waits for your signal before he tries anything. You try not to make it all seem transactional, but it’s not like your heart is in it. You let him kiss you and touch you, albeit briefly, and you pretend to enjoy it even though that’s not what you want. What you want is to be on top of him, using his body for the pleasure of your own, and it’s not long before you’re doing exactly that. Your beautiful stranger certainly doesn’t mind, not even when you close your eyes and allow yourself to think about someone else inside you—what his face might look like all twisted up and blissed out, what sounds might spill from his pretty lips, what the cold metal might feel like against your hot sweaty skin.
You make yourself cum and then kick him out (kindly). You’re gone by sunrise. You’ve got places to be.
*****
Natasha sits cross-legged on her couch, a pint of ice cream in one hand and scrolling her tablet with the other. After Miami, you’ve been a ghost. None of her usual contacts have been able to give her anything useful. You’ve gone underground, and she knows she won’t find you if you really don’t want to be found. Whoever your next target is, it has to be somebody big if you’ve covered your tracks this well.
She doesn’t regret not taking you in, even though Bucky had complained the entire ride back about how leaving you there was a mistake. But, as she’d told him, you have to want to come in. Trying to force your hand is not only incredibly dangerous, it defeats the purpose. Natasha doesn’t want to retraumatize you; she wants to help you. There’s no point in trading a floating cage for a gilded one.
She doesn’t realize she’s finished the pint until the spoon hits the cardboard. When she goes to pull another one from the freezer, her phone rings.
“What’s up, Rogers?”
Steve’s voice holds a barely contained anger that Natasha knows well. “You need to come in.”
She should have known Bucky would rat her out, but it still pisses her off. “Steve, it’s getting late. Can we do this in the morning?”
“I don’t know,” Steve replies. “Are you gonna steal another jet in the middle of the night?”
“Technically, I didn’t steal-”
“Natasha, please,” he says, and she can picture the set of his jaw on the other end of the line.
She sighs. “Alright, fine. I’m leaving now.”
When she gets to the tower, most of the usual suspects are gathered around the conference table. Steve looks pissed. Tony looks amused. Sam and Wanda look concerned. And while, to anyone else Bucky would be wearing no expression at all, Natasha can tell that he’s feeling a bit guilty—as he should, he gave her his word. He mouths “I’m sorry” when she sits down at the table and she raises an eyebrow at him that he knows to translate as a middle finger.
Steve tries to speak but Natasha cuts him off. “Save me the lecture, Rogers. I’m not going to apologize.”
Steve’s voice is stern but not unkind. “This needs to be a group decision, Natasha, and as of right now, you’re the only person who thinks this is a good idea.”
“That’s not actually true,” she says. “Wanda? Do you want to tell Steve what you told me?”
Wanda looks a little shocked to be called out but she answers, if a bit hesitantly. “It sounds like she needs help, Steve. Like she’s lost. I… I know what that feels like—when everyone thinks you’re a monster.”
Wanda and Nat’s eyes both turn to Bucky, looking for any recognition whatsoever that he, too, knows exactly where they’re coming from, but he’s completely stolid. Underneath his blood is boiling and he feels like he wants to crawl out of his skin, but the surface remains placid.
Tony pops a blueberry into his mouth and swivels in his chair to face Natasha. “So, let me see if I’m understanding this correctly, Romanoff. You want to bring in one of your former compatriots who has spent the last… what?... year or so on a globetrotting murder spree? Am I getting the general idea here, or am I missing something? I have to be missing something, because if I’m not missing something, this is categorically batshit.”
“It’s more complicated than that, Stark. But essentially, yes. That’s exactly what I want to do.”
Tony laughs. “Wow. OK. Well, Rogers—you and I rarely agree on… well… anything, but I gotta say, I’m Team Cap with this one.”
Natasha crosses her arms and huffs her displeasure.
“I’m sorry,” Tony says, looking around and addressing the room, “but don’t we usually catch mass murderers? Isn’t that kind of our thing?”
The longer the conversation goes on, the more uncomfortable Bucky gets. It wasn’t lost on him that Tony’s eyes lingered on him when he threw out the term “mass murderers,” and he’s learned that it’s better to just let Tony go off when he feels the need. Still, he needs to get out of the room. He needs to take a walk, get some air, push all thoughts of you and this whole mess out of his mind, because if he doesn’t, he thinks he might go crazy.
“Are we done here?” Bucky asks.
“No,” Steve replies. “Sam? Anything you want to say?”
Sam takes a minute to gather his thoughts. “Look, Nat, I understand where you’re coming from on this. I really do. And it would be different if she was willing to come in on her own. But it sounds to me like she isn’t interested. She wants to be doing exactly what she’s doing. You can’t rehabilitate that. You just can’t.”
Steve looks apologetically at Natasha. “I’m sorry,” he says, “but it’s a no. I’m not necessarily saying we go after her-”
“I am,” Tony interjects. “I’m saying that. That’s exactly what I’m saying.”
Steve glares at Tony and it shuts him up. “Leave it alone, Tony.”
“You’re seriously telling me you want to leave this girl on the streets knowing what we know? Come on, Rogers.”
Everyone starts to raise their voice at once—everyone except Bucky, who is already sneaking out and halfway to the door—when Natasha shouts, “Enough!”
She takes a deep breath and blows it out, speaking softer now. “I’ll find her and I’ll bring her in, whether she wants to come or not. But it stays in this room—no cops, no agents, just the team. When I get her here, I’ll figure out what to do with her.”
“Fine,” Steve says, and the rest of the team assents. “Buck, you go with her.”
Every cell in Bucky’s body is screaming not to do it, but he never could say no to Steve. He grunts his agreement, refusing to even look at Natasha before storming out of the room and out into the humid mid-August evening. He walks all the way from Midtown to Brooklyn, but he still can’t shake the malaise that’s settled over him ever since Natasha first came to him with her plan.
Bucky knows that he should understand—and, in a way, he does—but he just can’t bring himself to feel anything for you except disgust. Natasha sees something in you that he just doesn’t see. All Bucky wanted to do when he finally got free of it all was prove to everyone that he was a good man—that he was not the things that he’d done. It took a lot of work and a lot of time, but he’s finally in a place where he’s separated himself from the Winter Soldier. That isn’t who he is; it never was.
Steve always knew that, and Natasha hadn’t taken much convincing. The others, though—some of them still don’t fully trust him, and if he thinks about it for too long, it cuts deep. So when Bucky thinks of you—free now, but still violent and bloodthirsty and absolutely unrepentant—it makes him sick. After all the work Bucky has done, how can Natasha look at you and him and think that you’re the same?
Not everyone comes out of their traumas unscathed. Sometimes people can’t come back from the things that have happened to them. That’s you. That’s who you are. You’re not good, you never will be, and as sad as it may make him, Bucky truly believes that you are beyond redemption. You don’t need to be saved; you need to be stopped.
Bucky gets a text as he unlocks the door to his Brooklyn Heights apartment. He’s been waiting for it, hoping for it, and now he has it. Natasha doesn’t know where you are yet, but he does. One of his contacts in Bucharest has a line on you, and he’s not going to let you get away this time. Much as it pains him, he doesn’t trust Natasha to keep her word to the team and take you in against your will. No, Bucky is going to handle this himself. You may be a Widow, but you’re no match for the White Wolf.
CHAPTER THREE >>>
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dragonsareourfuture · 3 years
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Death Note/GN!Reader — PDA Preferences
⚠️some swearing and mentions of making out and stuff. Still sfw, but Matt’s mentions one or two suggestive themes. That’s about it~
One of my more recent scenarios for ya! I may or may not have accidentally written two entire paragraphs for Mello’s but it’s fineeee.
Mello
While Mello was spending most of his time in the Mafia hideout, he absolutely adored showing you off in front of all his goons. They’d whoop and whistle as he placed an intense greeting kiss to your lips when you arrived, and you could tell he was thriving from not only the attention, but also these powerful Mafia members acknowledging the fact that you’re with Mello, none of them can lay a finger on you without getting absolutely wrecked.
But, as his physical and psychological state dwindled after the explosion and the scar on his face became the first thing people usually saw, he started liking pda a lot less. It made him paranoid that he’d look like a fool cozying up to you when his face looked the way that it did, which led to irritation and then to him just avoiding PDA altogether. It hurt your heart to see him so...defeated, wondering where his bite went. So, if you start to initiate PDA, pointedly giving his scar some extra love, he would be gently eased back into his more confident nature, but it will take time and a lot of patience.
Light
Light thrives off of showing you off to the task force. It’s usually pretty innocent stuff since his literal father is there, too. He’s very adamant about convincing L that “yes, I do have human emotions and I am not a narcissist” so he’ll take every opportunity to hold you close, kiss you on the forehead, anything that clears him even slightly of being Kira. Oh, also because he loves you :)
L
L isn’t fond of the kind of pda where you two are eating each other’s faces in front of the task force or even really holding hands or cuddling. What he does enjoy is when you show him subtle displays of affection, such as calling him “sweetheart” or kissing his hair or forehead, and sometimes he’ll allow you to boop his nose.
He isn’t one for giving the affection in public, but sometimes he will take your hand, cup it in his own, and kiss your knuckles. This is usually used to say “hello” or “goodbye” nonverbally or to just show you that he loves you after a particularly hard day and the task force is still around so he can’t start complaining about them yet.
Matsuda
Having been teased and told to shut up constantly by his coworkers, finally having someone to flaunt provides a major boost to his ego. Whenever you’re together at headquarters he can’t help being all lovey-dovey. Pecking your cheek whenever he walks past you, writing you little notes and not being too quiet about it when passing them on to you, sometimes even encouraging you to read them aloud. This greatly annoys L and when Matsuda says that L’s just crabby because he’s single you have to grab Matsuda and book it outta there before L or Chief can chew him out.
Misa
Misa adores showing you off to literally anyone. She gets a real kick out of bugging Light and Ryuzaki with her ability to go outside and go on dates and do things with someone else without being handcuffed together. Y’know, those usual human rights that most people have. So imagine her delight when she remembers that she can annoy them by simply being cute with you in the same room as them! She’ll act like a koala bear, always latched onto you. She likes repeatedly pecking your cheeks and squishing them up as she insists you look like a “cute little pufferfish” when she does that.
Matt
He literally couldn’t give a shit who’s watching, usually it’s Mello (much to the blonde’s discomfort). Matt does not hold back. He’ll kiss you on the cheek, lean into you as he plays his games, or just fucking grab you and start making out. The Pope could be watching and he’d grab your butt. It literally doesn’t matter to him. In his mind, anyone who has a problem with it can fuck right off because he wants to show his baby that he loves them!
Also, Matt’s kind of a brat. He’ll tease you in public by embarrassing you with physical affection or, if you’re not easily embarrassed by that, he takes to seeing how far you’ll let him go with people around. Obviously you’re not feeling each other up in the middle of a store, it’s more along the lines of hugs, Eskimo kisses, burying his head in your neck or chest while claiming it’s too cold in the middle of summer. That kind of thing.
Near
Shy boy, super shy boy. What can he say? He’s never been the type to really do that kind of thing. Hell, he barely goes out in public to begin with. Although sometimes, though it’s not really “public” since only the SPK is around to see, he will sit by your feet like a cat as he huddles on the floor and plays with his toys. He doesn’t complain when you give him head pats while he does this, and at times if he really wants your attention he’ll place your hand on his head for you. And sometimes, if the stars are perfectly aligned and he actually gets tired, Near will place his chin atop your lap and close his eyes like a little puppy. It’s the sweetest sight, but treasure it when it happens because that is RARE. But that’s about as close to PDA as he gets. If there are more people than the SPK around to witness, it’s a no-go altogether.
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Text
ℂ𝕙𝕚𝕝𝕕𝕣𝕖𝕟 𝕠𝕗 𝕥𝕙𝕖 ℂ𝕠𝕣𝕟 𝕨𝕙𝕠?
about: Quackity my beloved
warning(s): swearing, children, Haribo's Sugar Free Gummy Bears, diarrhea mentions, Quackity's real name
pronouns: none specified
word count: 2.2k
note: Hey everyone! This is my first work, so yeah. Between Quackity and his real name, there is no rhyme or reason, just to let you know. Enjoy! Kisses! <3
p.s. if you want to feel entertained yet horrified search "Haribo Sugar Free Gummy Bears" (or go to the link thing) and just have fun. Double Kisses! <3
The crisp fall air swirled around the newly changed leaves; creating a light ruffling sound that truly set the scene for the evening. Some children were enjoying the festival’s many booths and activities, while others chased around their friends with horror masks and (hopefully) fake knives that they probably got from Cousin Eddie’s costume stand. The sweet smell of freshly candied apples and different pies that were being brought in, for the competitions, really topped it all off. And of course, the sound of my boyfriend Quackity complaining about how cold it was, helped too.
“Mi amor, it’s so cold!” he whined while cuddling into my side even more than he already was, somehow.
“Did you just figure that out now?” — I flicked his forehead, which got me a glare— “I literally told you before we left the house that it was gonna be cold and not to wear your thinner hoodie. Why do you think that I’m wearing this many layers right now?” I ask, gesturing to my clothes.
“Well the sun and I usually have a mutually beneficial relationship.”—he points up to the shaded sun— “the sun will shine on me all the time and I will be warm all the time.”
“That doesn’t sound mutually beneficial—”
“Well it is, because I look good, which benefits everyone— now can we please go do something, I’m really starting to go numb here.” Alex says while letting go of me and tugging his beanie further over his ears.
I nod, grab his hand, and begin to drag him over to where I saw the “Haunted Corn Maze” sign.
The walk to the maze may or may not have taken a minute. And it may or may not have been for the fact Alex and I kept getting distracted by the many different booths that were at the festival.
The town’s yearly Fall Festival took place during the middle of October, about two weeks before Halloween, to be exact, and lasted about a week and a half each time. The festival was home to various activities and stands, such as The Haunted Corn Maze, the Apple Orchards, the Chilli Cookoff, the Pie Bake Off, different food and crafting vendors, along with much much more. The event was more or less a massive tourist attraction that brought hundreds, to the quaint town, to partake in the different festivities.
Throughout every night of the week, there is a different “Highlight Attraction” and tonight’s would be “The Haunted Corn Maze'' (it was just a normal maze every other night, but tonight; the planners made it “Haunted”).
After a painfully long story, by Cousin Eddie, on how the horror masks he sold were in fact stolen, by him, from the original people themselves; Alex and I finally made it to the entrance of the corn maze.
“You know, who’s to say that he’s completely wrong?” Alex asks, referring back to the obviously-tripping man. “I mean, he could have stolen the masks from people that look like the characters in those movies; Halloween’s literally next week, y/n.”
“Alex, I can assure you that no one around here dresses up like Scream anymore— not after last time…” I trail off with a shiver. “Let’s just leave it at this, the late 1600s wasn’t the last time there was an execution for ‘witchcraft’.” I explained.
I look over to Alex and am met with a stare mixed with confusion, curiosity, and terror.
“It wasn’t like I was the one who executed the guy!” I defend while my boyfriend continues to stare at me, horrified.— “He kicked puppies anyway, so don’t feel too bad.” I mumble and kick the pebble closest to me.
“Okay, you know what, I’m just gonna ignore everything you just said and hold your wonderful wonderful hand and we’re gonna go through this fun corn maze and we’ll both have a great time, like we always do when we’re together— without any Scream Mask-dead guy talk! Alright?” — Alex takes my hand and we start walking into the maze. — “This town is so fucking weird.” He mumbles and I hum in agreement.
The Haunted Corn Maze was about the same as most corn mazes you could find in any rural area. It was dense, confusing, and of course, was made of corn. The setting of the sun gave the stalks a bit more of an ominous look, due to the way the shadows loomed and towered over everything in its general vicinity. The maze was fairly large and took up about half of the festival’s lot making it one of the most sought after and time consuming attractions at the Fall Festival.
“So they just killed to poor guy—”
“You literally just said you didn’t want to talk about it.”
“I know but it’s just so bizarre—” Alex began, but was cut off by a small gremlin-of-a-child army crawling out from the corn stalks and towards the entrance of the maze, while maniacally laughing.
“Children of the Corn who?” Alex asks while, once again, looking absolutely horrified yet slightly intrigued.
“Well, at least she wasn’t coming at us with a knife—”
“Yet.”
Alex and I just stared at each other, both trying to figure out if anything normal has happened or has been said in the past few hours…
“You have anything?” he asks, beginning to laugh.
“What do you think?” I ask as we both attempt to keep in our giggles, failing miserably after one of the “demons” makes a demonic shrieking sound.
“D-do you wanna get this done and just g-go—” Alex cuts himself off with a wheeze that rivaled Dream’s.
At this point, we’re both keeled over, immersed in laughter that has been caused by the mixture of the weird stuff said lately, the shriek, and the fact that it was getting later in the night which equals that tired-drunk feeling. We still haven’t moved that far into the maze, but at this point we really don’t care.
After about a minute or so, our laughter has subsided and we are wiping the tears from our eyes that have been caused by both the laughing fit and the pain in our stomachs.
“Alright,” I begin with a sigh and put my hands on my hips. “You up for a bet?”
“Who do you think I am?!” He asks incredulously. “Of course I’m up for a bet— I’m offended that you would even ask me such a question!”
I roll my eyes. “Alright hot shot, easy there.” —We begin to walk further into the maze— “Okay, so whoever jumps first has to eat and entire 5lb bag of those God-forsaken Haribo Sugar-Free Gummy Bears—you know the ones I’m talking abo—”
“Yes, yes, I’m very aware of what you are speaking of.” A now pale-faced Alex quickly interrupts, with a distant look in his eyes.
“Good, good.”
“I don’t know why you’re so confident, you could be the one having to eat Satan’s Candies and be shitting yourself for days.”
“Very true, very true. But I am extremely confident in my will-power to not experience that kind of pain. It’s very good motivation… So, how about that bet?
“Wouldn’t dream of backing down, Mi Amor.” Quackity said with the confidence of someone who’s already been to that kind of hell and isn’t as afraid of it anymore… he has been there, it wasn’t pretty.
We continue navigating our way through the maze, and so far so good. There have been a few that almost got me: Bloody Mary, small children (yeah children, they’re sticky), and a few others. One way or another, my will-power hasn’t failed me yet. Not eating those downright dangerous candies is motivation enough for me to win the stupid bet I made— one that I’m starting to regret. Alex has also been doing surprisingly well, it turns out that his willpower is as strong as mine, but we’ll see how long it lasts (hopefully not too long).
After another jump-scare from a familiar undead scarecrow, I began to realize that Alex and I’s navigation skills aren’t as on-point as we thought they were.
“We’ve been going around in circles.” I state while letting go of my lover’s hand and come to a stop.
Alex looks back to my halted figure and stops as well.
“No, no I’m sure we haven’t—”
“Doll,” I begin. “That was the same scarecrow that we saw the last few times. I thought that there could have been more than one scarecrow, but the surroundings are the exact same—”
“Y/n we’re in a corn maze.” he deadpans.
“You didn’t let me finish. What I was saying is that everything was the same, from the surroundings, to the outfit, to the sounds they made. And haven’t you noticed that no one else has jump-scared us in quite a while, just a scarecrow?”
Quackity looks up at the sky for a minute, staring emotionless, he then brings his gaze back down towards me, looking past my figure. Confused, I followed his line of sight to be met with that same gremlin-looking child from earlier, quickly making her way towards us, with a knife. And with great conviction, not even caring about the repercussions of my actions, I say and do what anyone would say and/or in my situation.
“Aw hell no!”
I turn towards an excited Quackity and just bolt in the opposite direction of the devil’s spawn, not giving a shit anymore. After a minute, I do come to realize that I had just left the love of my life alone with the little shit. I then turn around to go back to get him (I’m not a complete monster), but my steps falter when I see that he is not too far behind me, laughing with the gremlin.
As they get up to where I’m standing, I begin to understand what just happened… I lost the god-forsaken bet.
“Hey, my love, how are you?” Alex asks, amused.
“Shut up.” I grumble, glaring at the dirt beneath my feet.
“Why are you mad at me? You were the one who ran.” he wrapped his arm around my waist and I directed my gaze towards the small girl. “Y/n, this is Amelia. Amelia, this is Y/n.”
“Nice to meet you Ameila. You really scared the crap outta me back there.” I laughed. “You are ridiculously good at your job.”
“Thanks, but I don’t work here.” She says and skips away.
I stare at her retreating figure and try to figure out what just happened.
Quackity removed his arm from my waist, placed his hand on the palm of my back and guided me down the path we’re on. Apparently we weren’t too far from the end, because in a short period of time, we were out of the maze.
“We weren’t really lost. Were we?” I ask while stopping and turning to look at the victorious man.
After seeming to debate with himself he comes to a resolve and smirks.
“I may or may not have led us in circles for 10 minutes to let Ameila catch up to us, so she could scare you.”
I stare at him dumbfounded.
“Hey, that’s cheating!” I whined even though I knew it wasn’t.
“All’s fair in love and laxatives, baby! And you know that I wasn’t cheating, because you never specified that there couldn't be outside sources being paid to make one of our win’s easier.”
“Had to at least try something.”
“I know, dear.” Alex snickers and kisses my forehead.
We continue our journey away from The Haunted Corn Maze and head towards the food stands. Arriving at the candied apple stand we get into the surprisingly long line (it’s like 11pm at this point, but candied apples have no time limits) and wait.
“How’d you even get her to do that?” I ask my boyfriend, directing my attention away from the sign, with the different types of candy apples, and towards him.
“Hmm?” He asks, recuperating my stare. “Oh! Right. I paid her.” “You paid her?” “Yeah!”
“When?” “Well, you know when Cousin Eddie was going off about those masks?”
“Yeah…” I look at him expectantly.
“Well, there was a little girl who was looking at the knives he had—” “There’s some major plot hole here,” I interrupt. “I hadn’t even made the bet yet.”
“You talk in your sleep— anyway, so I thought to myself ‘Alex you’ve got a great opportunity here to scare the shit out of your partner’ so I took it, gave her 5 bucks, and told her the plan.”
I stare at the man in shock—
“Do you guys know what you want yet?” the woman at the booth asks.
“Oh! Yeah. Sorry about that!” I exclaim and tell the lady what I want; Alex follows with his order.
After receiving our apples we both decide that it’s finally time to head home. Arriving at our car, I set myself into the passenger’s side while Quackity gets into the driver’s.
“Tonight was fun.” I hum, putting on my seatbelt.
“It was indeed, my love.” Alex says.
He leans over and gives me a short kiss, one that I happily recuperate. After leaning back into his seat, he puts his seatbelt on, and starts up the car.
“You know what we should do when we get home.” Quackity starts.
“What should we do?”
“Watch Children of the Corn while you snack on some delicious gummy bears.” He chuckles, not even caring that he is this close with me.
This is gonna be a shitty night.
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tanzaniiite · 3 years
Text
ROAD TRIP • SEIJOH THIRD YEARS
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requests: OPEN
warnings: cursing & stupid high school antics
word count: 2.2k
a/n: this idea has been on my noggin for so long omg, enjoy!
please reblog and reply, engagement is both fun & important ✨
[not edited]
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this was fun, should i do more fics like this?
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“Ugh, are we there yet?”
Oikawa whined looking out the window with a forlorn look as if he was in a music video. You glanced at Iwaizumi, who was at the wheel, snickering slightly as you saw his eye twitch in annoyance. The five of you decided to take a road trip, sort of like a last hurrah, for your last year of high school.
This originally started as a small trip that was planned on senior ditch day but Matsun and Makki wanted to do a road trip. And so, senior ditch day morphed into senior ditch weekend. Of course, none of your parents approved this, so you guys were in for an earful when you returned. But as Hanamaki stated, when you got a screaming voicemail from your guardian, “Live in the moment, worry about that later”. And despite that being terrible advice, you listened anyway.
The destination of your little road trip is Tokyo which was a five to six hour drive. Some might say that’s not too long but traveling with Oikawa it feels like an eternity. He was already complaining. That was mainly because he was upset that you got shotgun and he didn’t. Originally you planned on sitting in the back with the disaster duo but Hajime insisted you sit in the front with him. Something about you being the most tolerable. Iwaizumi was obviously the driver because he’s the most responsible out of you five. It’s weird to think you guys just planned this trip just a week prior.
“So what are we doing for senior ditch day?”
You asked setting your tray down and sitting in between Matsukawa and Hanamaki. Issei just scoffed lightly, “I dunno what you’re doing but I’m sleeping” He answered. Takahiro laughed in agreement. “Probably practicing” Tooru replied. You pouted at their lame responses, “Hajime please tell me you have better plans than these losers” You pleaded. Iwaizumi looked up from his notes, “Uh, I don’t know, I’m probably going to come to school” He shrugged ignoring your disgusted face.
“I know y’all are not serious. This is the last year we’re going to be together like this, we should do something memorable”
You declared crossing your arms over your chest glaring at your friends. “Ew, you sound like Oikawa, getting all sentimental and shit” Makki quipped popping a french fry in his mouth. You stuck your tongue out at him playfully. Oikawa hummed, “I mean they do have a point, let’s do something we’ll remember for years to come”. “Whatever, I guess I’m down” Matsukawa added rolling his eyes. The four of you looked at Iwaizumi, who mentally checked out of the conservation a while ago, waiting for his answer. “Count me out, my parents will kill me if I skipped school” He responded, causing the lot of you to groan. “Ugh, can you not be an upstanding student for like two seconds” You huffed leaning your head in your hand. Now the brunette looked up, “You guys know how my parents are, especially you Shittykawa” He stated, pointing his pencil at the setter. “Yeah yeah, we know how your parents are. Y/n’s parents are just as bad” Issei voiced.
You couldn’t help but internally groan, you remember how your guardians reacted when you brought the four boys to your house. “Don’t remind me. Senior Ditch Day is on a Friday, we barely do anything as is since it’s the end of the year” You said, “plus, you’re the only one of us that drives decently” You stated mustering up your best puppy dog eyes. Hajime looked at you before answering, “Fine, but if I get in trouble. You guys will be the ones talking to my parents”. And from there, the planning commenced.
Currently, you guys were only an hour out of Miyagi. Issei was already knocked out, Hanamaki was on his phone and Oikawa was sulking as per usual. “If you ask me if we’re there yet, one more time, I’ll have Makki push you out the car” He threatened his eyes never leaving the road. “Makki wouldn’t do that to me” Tooru claimed which caused ‘Hiro to snort. “Shut up, you know I will” He stated not even bothering to look up from his phone. Oikawa let out a dramatic gasp, “But we’re going 85 miles an hour on a highway!” He exclaimed. “Did I stutter?” Takahiro mumbled, still not paying any attention to his captain’s dramatics.
This was going to be a long four hours.
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You woke up leaning against something super warm, you opened your eyes taking in your surroundings. You weren’t in the front anymore, from what you could see, it looked like Oikawa got his wish of riding shotgun. You sat up rubbing the sleep from your eyes, “Oh, good morning sleeping beauty” Oikawa teased. You were too sleepy and disoriented to come up with a witty comeback.
“Why.. why is Issei driving?”
That’s when you noticed Iwaizumi was the warm surface you were leaning against moments before. “I got tired of driving, we stopped at a gas station and switched places” Hajime explained noticing your confused face, “and you were sleeping so we moved you to the back”. You realized that not only were you leaning against Iwa but your legs were propped up on Makki’s lap. You nodded slightly, still tired despite waking up from a nap. “We spoil them rotten, don’t we?” ‘Hiro commented pinching your thigh causing you to whine slightly. “Shut up” You mumbled leaning into Iwaizumi’s side once again making him chuckle. Matsukawa looked at you through the rearview mirror,
“That’s right, Y/n gets all grumpy when they’re tired”
“Issei… focus on not crashing the car, not on me”
Oikawa let out a low whistle, “Woah, catty much?” He asked rhetorically laughing slightly. You rolled your eyes, “Whatever, how much farther?” You asked closing your eyes. Hajime glanced at his phone, “Two more hours” He replied. Tooru made a choked noise before turning around to face his childhood best friend. “Uh! They ask you if we’re there and get an answer, but when I ask, I get threatened?!” The brunette cried his eyebrows furrowing. The ace rolled his eyes, “Yeah, cause they’re not fucking annoying about it” He retorted. You pointed at Oikawa while laughing at his shocked face causing him to pout and crossed his arms like a toddler throwing a tantrum. “Uh oh, I think it’s Oikawa’s turn for a nap” Makki joked. Matsun hummed in agreement, “Yup, Y/n gets grumpy and Oikawa gets bratty” He laughed.
“Ugh whatever, at least I don’t snore like a chainsaw”
“Says the man who can’t sleep in any other position besides fetal”
“Dude shut up! It’s comfortable!”
Iwaizumi sighed, already knowing this petty argument wouldn’t end anytime soon. He looked down at you, “Who are you messaging?” Hajime inquired, peering at your phone. “No one, just some first years in my DMs” You hummed noncommittally. “You still leading those poor kids on?” Hanamaki asked. Glancing at Makki you pursed your lips, “I’m not leading them on… I’m just entertaining the antics” You replied smiling innocently and batting your eyelashes. “Yo, remember when that one first year confessed to you in the middle of lunch?” Issei asked slowing at a red light. You sat up suddenly, “Oh my god yes! That was so embarrassing!” You exclaimed. “You were embarrassed? Imagine the kid when you rejected him” Iwaizumi countered raising an eyebrow. “The second-hand embarrassment was strong on that one” Takahiro agreed, “Y/n’s a heartbreaker,” He said shaking his head.
You gasped, “I’m not! I’m just not interested in people like three years younger than me” You explained defending yourself. “Well, your choices are limited, since all the people in our grade are scared of us for whatever reason” Tooru stated with his eyes closed and head leaning on the window, looking like he would clonk out soon. “Yeah cause y’all are intimidating as fuck” You claimed. Issei chuckled, “Mm, yeah we kinda are” He admitted. “If they really liked you, they wouldn’t be scared to confess” Hajime shrugged. You smiled widely, “Ok king! My fault” You laughed giving him a high five. “Wait but if we’re so intimidating how come girls are always throwing their panties at Oikawa” Hanamaki questioned.
“Cause he’s not the intimidating one, it’s mainly Iwa and Matsun”
“Matsun is not intimidating, he looks out of it half of the time”
“Not out of it, more like zooted”
You quipped, laughing when Issei playfully glared at you through the rearview mirror. “Bro, remember when Kindaichi found out we were going on this trip and asked to come?” Takahiro laughed. “Stop! Y’all are so mean to him” You said kicking Makki slightly with your foot. Matsukawa snorted, “No cause what did he expect us to say, “Sure buddy you can come!” Like dude nooo,” He mocked laughing loudly. You bit your lip in an effort to not laugh, “Stop this Kindaichi slander at once” You demanded holding back your own giggles. “Okay Y/n, are you saying that you would’ve said yes if he asked you?” The wing spiker inquired giving you a look. “Well.. no—” You started. “Exactly! You’re just as bad as us” Issei interjected.
“No, I am not! You two literally looked at each other and busted out laughing, you didn’t even answer the poor boy”
“Sorry… it was funny”
“That shit was hilarious”
Hajime cleared his throat, “Is Trashykawa sleeping? Haven’t heard him talk in a while” He asked drawing shapes into your shoulder absentmindedly. Matsun glanced at his friend who was definitely passed out against the window. “Yeah, he’s gone” The middle blocker responded.
“Should we draw on his face?”
“Oh absolutely”
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The car was fairly silent now, you guys were nearing the end of your road trip and it was later in the day. The sky was littered with reds and oranges as the sun started its daily routine. The sunset was bold, radiant, and just plain mesmerizing, you couldn’t help but stare in awe. You sighed inwardly, “I’m gonna miss you guys” You uttered looking out the window. Your four guy friends looked at each other before looking at you. Iwaizumi spoke up first, “What’s there to miss? We’re not going anywhere” He asked. “I know that but who knows when the next time we’ll do something like this?” You whispered refusing to look at them because you knew you would start crying if you did. Hanamaki nudged your foot with his hand, “Y/n stop being such a baby, we’ll still see each other—” He started before you interrupted.
“That’s not the point stupid. We’re all going our own separate ways. Iwaizumi’s going to school in America, Oikawa’s going to fucking Argentina, and we’re all going to different colleges. This sucks ass, I finally have a group of friends I love and now I have to leave them—”
“Hey, what did we just say? We’re not going anywhere. So what if we’re going down different paths? Holidays exist Y/n, you think Iwaizumi and Oikawa are gonna stay in America and Argentina all year round? Plus me and Makki’s colleges are not that far from yours, I could probably walk if I wanted to. Now stop sulking, you’re bringing down the mood”
Issei stated his eyes never once drifting from the road. You sniffed and leaned into Hajime’s side more, “Jeez, sorry” You mumbled playing with your fingers. If the car wasn’t quiet before, it sure was now. No one knew what to say, it seemed too early to make a joke about it and it was a conversation none of you were ready to have. But despite not being ready, Oikawa still voiced his opinion nevertheless,
“Well would you look at that, Y/n really does love us. And I thought you hated me”
You snorted, “I do hate you” You teased making a face at him which he gladly returned. But his demeanor suddenly became serious,
“Adding on to what Mattsun said, we’re not leaving forever Y/n. Graduation is like three months away, we still have time to hang out plus we have the summer so there’s that. I know you love us and can’t possibly live without us but I think you’ll manage”
You blinked in response to Oikawa’s little spiel, “You are so corny” You huffed looking down so he wouldn’t notice the small tears in your eyes.
“Ah! So when I do it it’s corny, what about that whole pitch Matsun did?!”
“Hey, I wasn’t corny. I was being real”
“Please, as if, you were just being mean”
“It’s called tough love, it isn’t made for softies”
Watching the two of them go back and forth once again was entertaining. And when Makki and Iwaizumi joined in, it was just one hundred times better. But seeing your best friends interact with one another just made you realize how much you love them. And although this may be your guy’s last high school adventure, it wasn’t going to your last endeavor with this crazy bunch. You smiled slightly to yourself,
“Man, I really do love you guys”
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