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stxrvel · 16 hours

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the disaster (2)

series summary. the holy grail of the seven men who ruled the country's entertainment used to be your friends at school. now, ten years later and between successes and failures, what reason would they have to want to come back into your life? pairing. eventually ot7 x f!reader. content. first of all, english is not my first language so sorry for any mistakes! curse words, we're still on the safe zone, angst if you squint, just silly writing! a/n. hi guys! finally second chapter is out! im blown away with your response!! thank u so much from the bottom of my heart! i loooooved reading your comments <33 pls remember updates are weekly or biweekly! and if you want to be tagged pls say so in the comments! see you next week ;)

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“This is unbelievable! We're going to be rich!!!”

“What makes you think my sister is going to give you any of that money?”

“I created that Instagram account that was tagged in Kim Taehyung's damn story, I deserve a raise!”

“What makes you drones think my daughter is going to give you any of that money?”

“None of you are going to get anything out of that act of feigned innocence. Honey, are you all right?”

It seemed like a light had gone on in the room, four pairs of eyes landing on your still pale, surprised face. The night had been heavy after Yuna's call and you'd had so little sleep that you didn't know how you were functioning at the moment. Maybe that was the thing: you weren't functioning at all.

When you woke up, you thought it had all been a bad dream and that definitely the first exposure you'd had to the guys in years hadn't been because Taehyung came across your books at a convention you decided not to go to and uploaded them to his Instagram account with over eighty million followers. It was impossible, wasn't it? Too crazy.

Maybe not as crazy as waking up to your parents banging on your bedroom door saying that over a hundred thousand orders had been placed overnight and they didn't have enough book production for that much demand.

Be that as it may, Yuna and your mother took care of the communications on the account. You went from having twenty followers (including your family and friends —your father had created an account exclusively for that and only followed you—), to almost sixty thousand in at least twelve hours. The posts you had worked so hard to create and put together were finally getting the attention they deserved, but it had all happened so fast and suddenly that it was too strong to process calmly.

Weighing which was stronger, whether Taehyung's acknowledgment of your existence after so many years of zero contact or that your book sales shot up so immeasurably that they couldn't even keep up with demand, even if a month went by, didn't make things any easier.

“She's obviously still in shock,” Yuna replied to your mother at your lack of response from the living room, right across the dining room where you had been sitting since you had come down from your room. Your breakfast was still untouched on the table, but that seemed to be the least important thing in the room with all the more important news.

“Have the printers answered yet?” your brother's voice through the speaker of your father's phone rang as you blinked, reality settling too slowly on your shoulders. You didn't even want to think about what it meant that Taehyung had done that. Maybe it was simply an altruistic act, wasn't it? Maybe he felt guilt and wanted to ameliorate it somehow. What better way than to do an act of charity?

“I'm on it,” your father was sitting across from you in the dining room, his laptop on the glass of the table as he moved his hands over the keyboard and stared through his glasses at the full tip of his nose. From the way his eyes narrowed, your mother snorted.

“Why don't you get those glasses adjusted if you know you don't see well up close, let alone on electronic devices?” the woman reached over, dragging your father's glasses until they were almost glued to his eyebrows. Your father barely gave her a goofy grin as your mother started shaking her hands. “You better move. I'll do it. You write too slow; you're getting on our son's nerves.”

“Nah, I'm fine. I don't know if y/n is tho.”

Silence returned and you growled internally. Well, that was enough conjecture and assumptions without any information to substantiate them, it was time to get down to business.

“Do you think we should take over this business now?” Yuna completely ignored your stretch and you sent her a confused look.

Your brother exclaimed from the phone in agreement. “I call dibs on the treasury!”

“There's no way you can keep the accounts right! You're studying law.”

“Seojun is good at numbers, Yuna.”

“Ha, with all due respect Mrs. I/n, he must only be good at counting sheep.”

“Hey,” you tried to get attention, getting up from the chair.

“y/n, don't talk, you're still in shock. Can you believe he once called me from the supermarket to ask if he got his change right? He didn't even move from the checkout counter. There were people booing him.”

“Ow, my poor baby.”

“I told you not to say that to anyone!”

“I can't keep quiet if they're speaking lies about you!”

“This wasn't lies! This is about my pride!”

“Nonsense. I'll handle the treasury. I double majored in finance and international relations for a reason.”

“You can't run anything without starting bossing everyone around!”

“It's not my fault you're a good-for-nothing!”

God. It was going to be a long day.

Sorting out the whole printing issue and the number of orders was difficult, but with a couple of stories, interactions with new followers and express delivery of the few copies you'd already had at home for months, the waters calmed down a bit. Now, in the stifling silence of your room, you wanted to run.

“Are you going to stare at the ceiling all night?”

“Maybe.”

Yuna watched you from the bed while all you could do was stare as notifications continued to pop up on your Instagram account and your mail because the requests simply wouldn't stop, even though you had made a thousand clarifications to all the new followers. You were trying to focus on the bright side of things, regardless of whatever reasons there may have been for everything to have happened that way, but with your friend's incessant gaze lying on your bed it made it a little difficult. You knew she wanted to pierce your skull from curiosity, but you wouldn't know how you would answer her questions.

“Is there anything you'd like to share with the class?”

The tension had become a little more latent during the last few minutes, when Yuna saw a specific notification on the account. Kim Taehyung and Park Jimin had followed you. To describe your look of shock might be an understatement, and all you did for the next half hour was run across the room and throughout the house vociferating that you were living a nightmare.

Yuna has known all along that you had never been a fan of the siamese or their clan of friends, but she never knew why exactly. You had to tell her that you weren't interested in fashion, that you didn't like the kind of music Jungkook made, that hip-hop was never your thing, that you weren't interested in dilfs and you weren't interested in dance either. You had to tell her that all the things you once did with them didn't matter to you because it was painful, even if it was hard to accept.

You couldn't remember the times you would go shopping at the small mall in town to buy the trending clothes to put together different outfits with Taehyung and Jimin, then go try them all on at your house and invite the others and even your parents to do an impromptu runway show. You couldn't remember how the genre of music that Jungkook and you listened to all the time on his iPod and your MP3 player was the same one that his entire music career focuses on. You couldn't remember the nights when Yoongi would share his writings with you and you would help him compose a song or two on the piano when he felt brave enough. Or the times when you would accompany Hoseok to his workouts and then watch him create dance routines to his favorite songs while Jungkook sang in the background. You also didn't want to remember the times when Namjoon and Seokjin would sponsor their trips and give everyone gifts without expecting anything in return.

You couldn't remember those things. It was too much to bear for such a weak heart.

“What do you want to know?” you sighed, your body sliding on the chair as the notifications grew.

“How did all this happen?”

“Why do you think I have an answer for that?”

Yuna clicked her tongue, sitting on the bed with the cell phone still in her hands, still staring at the notification that snapped her out of her sanity.

“It's just… this is all unbelievable, magnificent and unreal. But how come you're not so excited about what happened?” Yuna slid across the sheets, to be right in front of you, but you refused to look away from the computer. Every time you thought you had overcome and grown around everything that happened so many years ago, something would pop up to remind you that you still had a long way to go. Maybe the nostalgia was strong, but so was the anger. “Regardless of how things turned out, because I know you're not as big a fan as me, this opens a million doors for you and I don't know why you're not celebrating it like we are.”

“It's…complicated.”

“I don't think so. Tell me.”

Yuna was unstoppable when she wanted to get answers out, but besides the obvious, of course there was something else that bothered you and kept you from enjoying this boom so much.

“It's just that all of this doesn't feel like it was a product of my effort,” you began, letting your gaze wander over the desk. The copies of your books you kept for yourself, the first ones you'd ever printed several years ago, lay there, as tattered as your failed accomplishment. “It doesn't feel like an achievement that my work had exploded thanks to a celebrity whose fans would buy even the toilet paper he uses. A lot of those people won't even read the book. They will just buy it and take a picture of it to say that they have the same book that the great Kim Taehyung read. Many of those books will never have a life, they will just be dust collectors and be reminders that all this did not happen because of my effort.”

“What the fuck are you blabbering about? Of course it's the fruit of your effort! Of course you deserve it!” Yuna got up from the bed and moved the chair around the back to leave you in front of her disgruntled and almost offended face. You could see the words drawn in her face. “You worked so many years to pull this off and after so many bumps you finally can! You deserve to have what you wanted so badly. This recognition will last just the same because many other people will read them and love them and they may not be many, but you will form a solid foundation as time goes on with people who will be truly unconditional and supportive and that will grow over time. Don't look at this so negatively, maybe you skipped a couple of steps, but you had every right to. It was what you deserved after all the effort and dedication you put into this project for so many years.”

Yuna didn't hesitate for a second. Her very serious expression sent a shiver down your spine and you could tell from her furrowed brow that she really was angry at your perception. Perhaps she was right, but without knowing the full background of this specific situation, you were only left to shake your head in assent and send her a grateful smile.

“I guess you're right,” you lifted a shoulder, turning your gaze back to your mail notifications.

“Of course I am!” the smile returned to her face and it didn't take long for her to look back down at her phone with sparkling eyes. “Now that we got the emotional charge out of the way, would you mind telling me how you know Taehyung?”

Your breathing stopped for a second and you cursed yourself because it sounded too loud as you almost choked on your own saliva.

“Oh?”

Play fucking dumb.

“What, did you think I wasn't going to notice? He wrote it crystal clear.”

Yuna wasn't even looking at you, too focused on running her finger over the row of notifications. Her nonchalant demeanor only caused you to panic more. It was as if she had caught you red-handed.

One of the best writers I've ever met in my life, damn you Kim Taehyung.

“Ah… I didn't… I didn't really know him so let's just say…”

“He couldn't have said that for nothing, don't you think? No celebrity would do that unless it was a person they hold in deep regard.”

Yuna had just caught you totally off guard. Maybe you should've focused a lot more on what Taehyung had written before you blocked his user from your personal account and threw the phone in the bottom of your drawer the night before and tried hard not to think about the rest for the rest of the night and all that day.

“It's just that… uhm… we studied at the same school. But for a short time actually. I don't even remember it well actually, ha, ha.”

Your laugh came out too constrained under your friend's narrow-eyed stare. You knew you'd have a hard time convincing her because you were a lousy liar.

“You know, it always struck me as odd that you weren't a fan. Taehyung and Jimin are like the two extremes of your ideal type.”

“Whaaaat?”

“And Jungkook's music is literally the kind of music you listen to, you just don't listen to his. All the other artists in the same genre you do listen to.”

“That has nothing to do with…”

“And even your parents don't claim to know Kim Seokjin when your mother was literally a nurse. She probably worked with him.”

“What does that have to do…?”

“And your brother is a hip-hop fan. How come he doesn't listen to Agust D? He's the best rapper of the last few decades and he's been trending for a long time.”

“…”

At what fucking moment?

“And all of them, plus Hobi and Namjoon, they all went to the same school. They're all friends. And you say you went to school with Taehyung?”

“Ahm… well, yes, but it's not like I would have met the others.”

Yuna looked at you, really looked you straight in the eyes as if that way she could tell what it was you were hiding or as if that solved all her guesses. It was impossible for her not to figure it out if she had already tied up all the damn loose ends.

Since the boys had left one by one, clearly your family was the first to realize how much their departures had affected you. In the beginning there was communication and all, but when Jungkook was the last to leave you lost any kind of link with them completely. You never knew exactly what happened because no matter how hard you tried to contact them you couldn't, not even your parents could talk to the boys' parents. Perhaps they had simply grown up, matured, completely forgetting about their ordinary life in that town.

They seemed to have disappeared from the planet.

Until your family moved to the capital. Jungkook was just starting out as an idol, but he had an amazing debut. He had captivated the entire audience and was too successful almost from the second one. It was a torment to watch them grow professionally little by little because, although you were happy for their achievements and all, you couldn't forget that they had basically abandoned you. And your parents and Seojun had noticed. They had noticed how much seeing them all over the place was bumming you out, so unreachable when at one point they were all in your living room eating your mother's delicious kimchi and listening to your father's anecdotes. Everyone was affected by their departures, but clearly no one as much as you.

That's why, of course, your parents and brother had made a silent vow to keep all media about the boys away from you, because they didn't even talk about it by accident in the house, at least not when you were present.

“It must be a huge coincidence…” Yuna continued and only at that moment did you realize how much you got into your head. Your vision slightly blurred. “I shouldn't accuse you of anything for things like that, should I? What nonsense.”

You were probably as white as a sheet of paper.

“Yeah, it would be too weird… ha, ha.”

God, you had to stop letting out those giggles when you were nervous.

“Anyway, should we order fried chicken for dinner?”

“I think I heard mom say she was going to make japchae.”

“Ohhhhhh, Mrs. l/n's japchae is delicious!”

You let out a laugh watching your friend spring up from the bed and head for the door. She stopped halfway out and pointed her index finger at you.

“Don't tell my mom I said that.”

You made a gesture to zipper your mouth shut and Yuna finally left.

The previous conversation had been so tense that you already felt tired and ready to sleep at seven o'clock at night. Really the whole day had been so heavy for everyone that you didn't know how the lights in the house were still on. For now, you couldn't do anything else, even if orders continued to come in, now everything depended on the printer and how fast the books would come out, so you would have to wait.

Maybe you should rest. You had asked your boss for the day off, but tomorrow you would have to continue working hard. Regardless of the incredible growth you'd had, you couldn't let your work go to waste.

Tomorrow would be a new day. A quieter one, preferably.

a/n: i'll try to have ready part 3 for next week! see you on june 13 at 11:59 pm - GMT5 time!

tag: @rinkud @futuristicenemychaos @pastelpeachess @parapiop7 @kokoandkookie @midiplier @thunderg @lizzymizzy-blogg @ladymorrie @butnotmontana @lovelgirl22 @jjeonjjk7 @aurorathi @ot7stansthings @kunacat @borahaetelevision @mylovingstars @ghostlyworld @talyaaas-blog @slowlyshycomputer @jjk174 @maynina @saintomie @damn-u-min-yoongi @juju-227592

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the-bitter-ocean · 2 days

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(MAJOR SASASAP /2HATS SPOILERS) Wanted to post the writing I did based off of @daily-odile drawing. You could also consider the writing a companion piece to the drawing I did here , as well as just based on the drawings @tealgoat did of her in tales of time swap Au which can be found here and also here. Writing is under the cut:

< You don’t think you can do this anymore. >

< You have tried everything you can think of and it all leads you here. >

< Back to the beginning. >

< You’re back in the shop in Dormont. The owner attempts to talk to you but you tune them out. >

< You leave before Siffrin has the chance of saying his usual lines. >

< You walk until you get to the clearing where you normally go to read the familytale and collapse in a heap on the ground. >

< Your glasses fall. They’re probably broken knowing how rotten your luck is, but you don’t care. >

< You cry quietly to yourself. >

< You’re so so so tired. >

< Your body aches. >

< You were so close weren’t you? >

< You had finally won. All of you had finally triumphed against the king. >

< Something new in a repeated series of failures and monotony. >

< You could try and repeat things again to see if you could reach that ending.. >

< But what would be the point? >

< At best, it was a one time fluke and can never be replicated again.. or.. >

< Or worse .. if you tried to do it all over again.. would that ending become stale to you too? >

< Would you grow to forget how much it meant to you the first time, just like you forgot your allies names? >

< You’re too old to indulge yourself in happy endings. >

< They don’t exist for people like you. You know that now. >

< But.. but..! >

< You refuse to let yourself waste away here.. you can’t .. you.. >

< You wish someone could help you .. someone who could see things in a way that you can’t.. to help get the bigger picture of whatever you’re missing. >

< You wish you can escape.. you don’t want to keep doing this anymore.. >

< You just wish you could be with your family again!!! >

< You want to see and remember them for what they truly are!! As real people and not just the archetypes you placed them in!>

< You.. >

< …!>

< A four pointed object drops into your lap. It seems to have fallen from the sky. >

< It’s hot to the touch. >

< But you don’t mind. You prefer it that way. You’ve felt cold for so long that you’ve forgotten what it’s like to feel warmth. >

< You peer at the object in your hands cautiously. >

< A weird glowing object.. that comes from the sky..Siffrin.. liked to look at those didnt they? The strange small dots? >

< You force yourself to try and remember.. >

< Stars. That sounds right to you even if you don’t remember why. >

< And this one is no different than the gems you wear on your clothes or of your... >

<…>

< Strange..>

<… Did .. the Expressions actually listen to you? >

< Maybe .. but this feels different.. something beyond them even. >

< Your hands are starting to burn. You wince. >

< You bring the star close to you, holding it close to your heart. >

< You let go of your inhibitions. You wish to consume your desires.>

< You bring the star to your mouth and you swallow it whole. >

< You taste burnt sugar and iron and static! >

< You

Feel

Tug

Your

Stomach

And

Y o u- >

_____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

#in stars and time spoilers #isat spoilers #isat act 6 secret encounter spoilers #sasasaap spoilers #start again: a prologue #start again start again start again #in stars and time game #isat game #isat #isat au #in stars and time #in stars and time au #isat fanfic #in stars and time fanfic #isat odile #in stars and time odile #in tales of time #the bitter ocean writes

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brainrot-of-a-thot · 4 hours

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One-shot of Tsubakino helping reader get ready to confess to Umemiya!! Like they help reader with makeup, hair, getting dressed, etc. And have a wholesome conversation where reader is like "why are you helping me don't u love Umemiya too/aren't I your competiton?" But Tsubaki just assuring them that isn't the case and whatnot!! Then reader confesses to Umemiya but he takes it the wrong way and think it's like family type love at first ope but eventually he'll understand when reader explains again though maybe a bit angrily at the end? Up to you!! Also sorry this got so lengthy omg if it's too much feel free to ignore!! I just wanted some platonic tsubakixreader fluff leading up to love interest umemiyaxreader

take it from another love-struck fool [hajime u.]

tsubaki gives you some much appreciated advice and the nudge you needed to finally truly confess to umemiya — if only it could penetrate his thick, family-oriented skull.

a/n: eeeee tsubaki my looove (platonic). I just wanna go shopping and have sleepovers with tsubaki and talk about boys while we do our makeup ;w;

c/w: afab!reader, fluff, not-so-unrequited love, language, clueless!ume, love confessions, very minor angst with fluffy ending, tsubaki is the bestest friend uwu, tsubaki nation pls rise!!

the first time you confessed to umemiya, it was an absolute disaster — but it wasn’t because he flat-out rejected you or anything.

after all, there was no possibility he could of rejected you — not when he didn’t even understand the depth of your confession.

when you’d finally plucked up the courage to say those three, incredibly difficult words, umemiya had simply blinked then beamed at you before exclaiming, “I love you, too! you’re my little sis!”

it wasn’t a rejection, but it stung just like one; and that was how you found yourself on the plush comforter of tsubaki’s bed days later, eyes achy but thankfully dry, spilling your heart out to him.

“a-and he just— he called me his little sister! it’s like it just — flew over his head, or something!” you huffed, trying desperately to bite back the fresh tears that threatened to gather in your eyes. tsubaki had already lined your eyes expertly with liner, and you were loathe to waste his meticulous work. tsubaki was rummaging through his vanity drawer, pulling out a myriad of items; some of them you didn’t really recognize, but you could deduce that they were used for hair styling.

“it probably did go over his head, doll.” tsubaki assented with a hum, hovering his fingers over the splay of styling wands atop his vanity.

you weren’t entirely sure why tsubaki had offered to do your hair and makeup — you knew it was a hobby he enjoyed, knew that he loved doing it for you, especially; heavens knows he’s done it many times in the past.

but all of those times were just for fun… this occasion was on a different level than the ones before it.

tsubaki was offering comfort and encouragement on levels that you couldn’t even begin to comprehend; he was so gentle when speaking to you and so careful when he applied your makeup — he sounded so genuine when he told you to keep your head up, as if he truly wanted to see you achieve your goal of successfully confessing to umemiya.

as if he wanted to see umemiya return your feelings.

you watched tsubaki with careful eyes as he finally grabbed the tool he was looking for — well, tools. he turned to face you and held up the two long styling wands with a smile.

“curled or straight?” tsubaki asked, and for a moment, you had trouble discerning what he meant �� but then it caught up with you, and all you could do was blubber out, “whatever you think is best.”

tsubaki pouted and laid one of the wands back on the vanity.

“I think curls will frame your face a lot better,” tsubaki yipped. he pulled the comfy chair out from underneath the vanity and patted the bottom of it. “now come, sit.”

you robotically obeyed his gentle command and sat in front of the mirror. you scrutinized the layer of makeup tsubaki had applied to your face. it wasn’t anything super flashy, but everything he’d done enhanced each of your features in the best way possible. he truly was incredible at this. tsubaki hummed as he plugged the iron into the wall and set it to the side to heat up. his fingers were gentle when he ran them through your hair, massaging your scalp nicely.

“your hair is so pretty.” tsubaki cooed, that gentle smile on his painted lips. you smiled back through the mirror. guilt was still gnawing at your chest — you couldn’t help the way your skin crawled unpleasantly.

tsubaki loved umemiya — that much was obvious. he’d never tried to hide it, not even from umemiya himself. when you’d started to develop a crush on umemiya yourself, you’d felt so incredibly guilty for it.

you had sworn to keep it from tsubaki; but he was incredibly perceptive, and had pegged your crush on umemiya almost immediately. you truly expected him to feel sour or threatened by it, but he was so genuine when he beamed at you and offered encouragement.

everything tsubaki did seemed far too genuine to be an act… but you couldn’t help but feel a guilty nibble of doubt.

“hey, tsu…” you ventured gently, lacing your fingers nervously in your lap. tsubaki hummed in acknowledgment but kept his focus on your hair as he separated it into smaller sections.

“I… I really appreciate you doing this… but — why are you doing it?”

tsubaki’s hands stilled in your hair and his eyes shot to yours. you couldn’t quite decipher the look in them, but it didn’t appear to be angry; but you swore you could detect the faintest trace of hurt. but tsubaki blinked and it was gone, and his lips broke out into a soft smile.

“you’re meaning to ask why I don’t see you as a rival, yes? or why I’m perfectly okay with you being in love with umemiya, and even helping you out with getting him?”

your eyes widened fractionally and that guilt in your chest turned into a rabid beast. you broke eye contact with tsubaki and stared down at your hands. your throat felt too tight to speak, so you simply nodded.

“that’s simple, love.” tsubaki huffed with a small laugh. steam was rising from the iron now, and tsubaki plucked it up with expert fingers. he began to wrap a small section of your hair around the metal bar. “it’s because I want you both to be happy.”

you glanced back up. tsubaki still had that small, soft, genuine smile on his face as he worked your hair around the iron.

“I’ve been in love with umemiya for a long time,” tsubaki continued. “but I know he’d never return those feelings. and genuinely, I don’t need him to. I’m happy with the way things are between us.”

your heart constricted painfully at tsubaki’s words. you were just the same as him; hopelessly in love with umemiya. but the thought of umemiya never returning your feelings that way… it caused so much pain that it made you physically ill.

it must have shown on your face because tsubaki burst into a mini-fit of laughter.

“I’m sure it’s difficult to understand,” tsubaki affirmed, now finished with the left side of your head and moving on to the right side. “but it’s true. as long as I can love him, and see him happy, then I’m happy. after all, isn’t that all we want for the people we love? to see them happy and being true to themselves?”

you were struck silent. it made sense, it did; but you still couldn’t understand how tsubaki could stand the thought of seeing you with umemiya in the way he wanted to be — how he could remain happy seeing the one he loves loving someone else.

“I know you aren’t ever going to be able to fully understand it, and you’re always going to feel guilty in the back of your head. but that’s because you’re a good person.” tsubaki murmured, softly, running his fingers through the bouncy curls thrown over your shoulder. they looked amazing.

“but I want you to know that I want to see you happy, too. and I know that umemiya would make you as happy as you make him. and nothing would make me happier than seeing that.”

tsubaki meant it. you could feel just how truly and deeply he meant it. you’d promised yourself you wouldn’t cry and mess up his work, but…

“hey, no tears!” tsubaki barked playfully. “you don’t want mascara running down your face when you meet him, do you? speaking of which,” tsubaki had curled the last section of your hair and threw it over your shoulder. he placed the curling iron back on the vanity and used his hands to gently fluff your hair. “you’re all done! now,”

tsubaki waltzed to your side and reached down to cup one large hand over your wrist. you looked up at him and he beamed down at you.

“let’s go get your man.”

it had taken a bit of convincing, but tsubaki had successfully managed to get you into a flower-patterned, light yellow sundress and planted you in front of pothos thirty minutes after finishing your look.

you could see umemiya sitting alone at the back booth, a gentle smile on his face as he gazed out of the window beside him. your heart was fluttering in your chest and you swore your stomach was trying to claw at itself.

“be assertive,” tsubaki had insisted before he left. “word it in a way that leaves no doubt towards how you mean it. that’s what it’ll take to get through his thick skull.”

be assertive? how on earth were you supposed to do that?

you shook away your doubt and took a deep, stabilizing breath. you blew it out from between painted lips and reached forward to grip the knob, then opened the door as casually as you could.

pothos was empty save for kotoha behind the counter — she noticed you immediately and shot you a thumbs up, causing you to blush profusely. at least it was only kotoha here; you weren’t sure if you would be able to confess to umemiya if someone like hiragi or sakura were there.

umemiya, thankfully, hadn’t noticed you yet; but he was quick to do so when you had made it half-way to the booth. surprise painted his features for a second before they melted into a beaming smile.

“hey!” he greeted when you made it to the booth and slid into the seat across from him. your stomach was officially doing somersaults in your body, and you had a hard time maintaining eye contact with him. “tsubaki asked me to come here, so I thought he’d be here, but… I mean, don’t get me wrong! it’s super nice to see you here, but is tsubaki okay?”

you swallowed and willed your cheeks to cool down.

“uhm, yes, tsubaki’s fine—”

“oh, that’s good to hear! so, why isn’t he here? or is he just running late?”

a twinge of irritation rocked your unsettled, nervous gut. this was already incredibly nerve wracking, and if umemiya didn’t stop chattering, you’d lose any semblance of confidence you still had.

“actually, uh, tsubaki asked you here to meet me.”

umemiya’s blue eyes took on a shade of surprise and confusion, and fuck, why were they so pretty? this was starting to become very difficult. oh, no, what if you choked up?

“you… wanted to meet me? why didn’t you just ask me yourself?”

because all of my systems are nervous and I have the biggest crush on you, you thought bitterly, but forced yourself to remain physically calm.

“I, uhm… I wanted to t-talk to you.” you stuttered out, looking down at the table. shit, your throat was getting tight. you needed to hurry and get it out before you shut down or clammed up.

“oh, well, is everything okay—”

“please just stay quiet for a bit,” you rushed out, and distantly, you knew your wording was a bit rude, but you couldn’t have umemiya interrupting you during this. if he did, you’d most certainly choke.

you sucked in a shaky breath and kept your eyes downcast as you started, hesitantly, “the other day… I, uh, I t-told you that I loved you but… I don’t think you understood what I meant.” your eyes were feeling very warm; almost as warm as your cheeks. damn it, you couldn’t stop now.

“I guess maybe I’m to blame for that.” be assertive. “I didn’t word it the right way. umemiya, I… uhm… I’m—”

be assertive.

gathering up every ounce of courage you could scrounge, you lifted your head and met his eyes head on — blue clashed with your own, and umemiya’s face was attentive, and maybe even eager; you felt a bit more confident from that.

“I’m in love with you, umemiya.”

the silence that followed felt like it stretched on for centuries — umemiya stared at you, and you stared back. it was as if everything else had melted away, and your body was vibrating with multiple sensations that you couldn’t even put a name to. nerves, anxiety, dizziness, oh god, why wasn’t he saying anything? was this just some big mistake? what if he didn’t even respond back, or worse, what if he rejected you—

light, warm, bubbly laughter — umemiya was laughing. your heart dropped in your chest and tears pricked at your eyes; you didn’t want to cry, but you couldn’t help the way this reaction hurt. it hadn’t even been one you’d considered a possibility. all you could do was stare at the man as his laughter faded slowly into small chuckles. your entire body was burning, you needed to get away—

“you know, I’m really glad you decided to confess here.” umemiya said, halting your brain and knocking you into a state of confusion. his pretty eyes met yours, and they looked so soft — warm, like a cloudless summer sky.

“I truly can’t think of a better place for a first date. that is, if you’re up for turning this into an impromptu first date?”

at first, you couldn’t quite digest umemiya’s words. a… date?

a date.

a date?!

you nearly choked on your own spit; your heart had abandoned its journey to your stomach in favor of leaping into your throat. umemiya was staring at you, softly and patiently, eyes clouded with something that you couldn’t recognize.

“a… date?” you echoed back, and umemiya nodded.

“a date.” umemiya confirmed before leaning back in his seat. “I mean, I know it’s not how I would have done it — if it were up to me I would shown up at your door with flowers and asked you myself, but… this could work too. if you want it to.”

you couldn’t breathe — you were happy, you were nervous, you were full of disbelief; was umemiya being serious?

his eyes said yes. you swallowed thickly and smiled shyly before nodding. umemiya brightened significantly and gestured to kotoha.

“how about something special, kotoha? it’s our first date so bring us something yummy!”

truthfully, you couldn’t bring yourself to feel any pity for the trouble umemiya was suddenly stacking onto poor kotoha. you were too lost in your own world, happy and warm and fuzzy. you were officially on a date with umemiya — sure, it happened pretty fast and you were about ninety percent confident this was some fever dream you’d conjured up, and you weren’t actually inside pothos but rather outside of it still watching umemiya —

but, if you pinched yourself and still found yourself in this booth, you’d call tsubaki later to thank her.

I’m not completely sure how I feel about this one babes. I swear I redrafted it at least three times. I just hope it’s good enough urghh

#tsubaki x reader #wind breaker #wind breaker x reader #hajime umemiya x reader

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